well hello there..again

Well hello there again everybody. It has been an immensely long time since I wrote a blog, obviously. Unfortunately, the reason for writing this blog is not an overwhelmingly joyful reason. School has officially begun and homework is now part of my daily agenda. In pondering what to write about in this particular entry, it seemed like a good idea to fill you in about my weekend. To start off, almost every Friday my family and I eat out for dinner. After a long week for all of us, unwinding at a restaurant and enjoying some family fellowship is usually a perfect way to spend an evening. But, this particular Friday no one’s taste buds seemed to agree whatsoever. I was in the mood for pizza, my sister, burgers, my mom, Chinese, and my dad, barbeque. This is a recipe for disaster. So after loading into the car, we drove down Zebulon road weighing out the pros and cons of every possible restaurant in Macon. (Which is a slim few) We landed on barbeque. The next morning I cleaned my room, bathroom, and did laundry, until it was time to go to study group. I continued to spend the rest of my Saturday studying and analyzing Plato in the Barnes and Noble café area with five helpless friends. My weekend finally had a high point on Sunday morning. I went to Cracker Barrel and ate pancakes and bacon with my mom and sister. Afterwards, I enjoyed going to church and spending time reading the Bible, singing songs, and spending time catching up with friends. Well, this brings us to Sunday afternoon, and I find myself still reading Plato, writing a journalism blog, and dreading 7 a.m. tomorrow morning. It will be here before I know it so I am going to wrap this up.

Here come Exams!!!!!!

Life is really not fair at all! This past weekend my sister returned home from college completely stress free and done with her exams. But, as for me; I spent the weekend attempting to study for an AP test and exams with little success. While I was cramming information about the Industrial Revolution and Frederick William IV, my mother and sister were snuggled up eating peanut m and ms and watching White Christmas. Do you realize how hard it is to concentrate when you can constantly hear bits and pieces of a movie from upstairs? It is a constant struggle within your brain to figure out what is happening on the screen while you know you should be studying. Also, over the weekend when my family was running holiday gift errands I was forced to stay at home and “study”. This really just turned out to be mindlessly reading over pages and pages of notes but not absorbing any information. To make things worse I had a cold. Soon this will all be over though. Today is the last full day of school in 2009. What an exhilarating thought. I’ve managed to make it through exams for four years, but this year seems especially difficult. Whether I want it to occur or not, I will be taking exams Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday mornings so I better just do what I attempted to do unsuccessfully all weekend. STUDY!!!!

Christmas!!!!:)

The Christmas season is officially here. Crisp, cool weather, a general feeling of merriness, and of course the yummy seasonal goodies make this time of the year one of my favorites. The feeling you get when you walk into a store prior to Christmas is truly unique. Sometimes there are overwhelming masses of people vying for the early morning sales. While other times when you walk into a decorated boutique and smell a pine scented candle, you feel complete peace and serenity as you peruse the store. One of the new politically correct trends that bothers me is the phrase, "happy holidays" The fact that someone could be offended by something as innocent and simple as the phrase, Merry Christmas, is repulsive. I try to avoid this topic, because it just kinda ruins the mood of the general Christmasy spirit. Visiting a live drive through nativity, singing Christmas carols, and attending our youth PJ's and Carols gathering are just a few of the special events of the season that I enjoy.

The 2009 CMAs

Last night, Taylor Swift was the undeserving recepient of four awards at the Country Music Awards award show. Although I am a huge fan of Taylor and her recent album, Fearless, last night her two performances just could not compare to those of Lady Antebellum, Brad Paisley, and Carrie Underwood. "Forever and Always" was unbelieveble and "Fifteen" was so off key. The nineteen year old superstar sensation has incredible song writing skills and a charming "bubbly" personality, but her voice is simply not good. People really need to realize that being gorgeous and witty and a talented at writing songs does not make you fabulous. Its really just disturbing to think that so many people could be in denial about her vocal ability. I am not saying that I know everything there is to know about vocal ability, but i do know that she is not at the same level as Carrie Underwood or Martina McBride or lots of other previous country stars. Just listen to her album and then listen to her live. She sounds completely different!!! She is way off pitch! Like i said, Taylor writes some of the best songs i have heard, but the vocals aren't there. Really. Do you really think Taylor Swift is Entertainer of the Year material? I dont, but thats just my opinion. Overall the award show was fabulous. Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood served as superb hosts, and the performences were a step up from last years. I also was very happy to see Lady Antebellum rewarded for their excellent work. Too bad the main point of the show, the awards, were screwed up!

Thoughts....

After reading an article about the "separation of church and state" in a public high school I feel the need to express my opinions. I believe that any individual should have the right to express themselves through any measure whether it be religious or something else. I can understand the need to obey laws, but not being able to paint signs with Bible verses at football games is too over the top. I admire the cheerleaders at Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe High for having the courage and convictions to try to include religious aspects at school events. Apparently the crowds that came to the games liked their efforts since they joined in by wearing shirts and making their own Bible verse signs. I grew up saying the pledge of allegiance which includes God's name and praying at school functions. Someone that feels the need to make such a big deal about including God in school functions seems really ridiculous.

Response to, "Who is a Journalist?"

After reading an article discussing the criteria you have to fulfill to be a journalist I will now discuss my feelings. The author of the article suggested that the role of a journalist has considerably changed. It started as someone who just kept a journal to anyone that reported an issue, whether on the t.v., radio or newspaper. I tend to agree that journalism does encompass all of those forms, and that as our world has become more media based an emphasis on t.v., blogging, or radio journalism is acceptable. The author also urged people to consider whether these media forms were just journalism or entertainment. Can journalism not be both? I don't think that there is a definite answer to that question within limits, but I believe that it can be. Local radio personality Chris Krok was included in this article. After hearing Chris Krok on the radio with my dad on the way to school many mornings, while I admit to not understanding all of the issues they are discussing, I find him quite entertaining. But, since he is known to verbally blast people on the radio, my opinion of Krok is that after a while you just want to turn him off. He gets obnoxious. While he has every right to express his opinions on the radio, I find that usually the way he presents his opinions are rude and harsh. That's kinda something for everyone to consider whether they are a part of journalism or just dealing with people. You can usually say pretty much anything if you just present it appropriately.

Today is SAGA day!!!!! YAY

Today is SAGA day at our school, which I am extremely excited about!! Why am I so excited? I am excited because there is a feeling around the school that you don't get pretty much any other day. A school day is usually really lame and boring, but on SAGA days there is a little more liveliness. Students are reading the paper all around the campus all the time. The SAGA is our student produced news paper, which I am proud to be a member of the staff. Not to sound prideful or anything, but students really look forward to the days that we distribute our paper and they frequently ask when the next issue is coming out. The only the thing that really bothers me about SAGA day at school, is when you see the paper crumpled up or ripped up all over the floor. Not only is this environmentally wasteful and careless, but the staff has worked really hard to come out with articles, so to see the work just destroyed it is like ........ devastating. (Maybe that's a little dramatic but its pretty true)One other reason SAGA days are a little unfortunate is because I have to get to school at 7:45 a.m. That is really early for me because I usually get here around 8:11 for the 8:15 bell. I know. It sounds like I'm a slacker, but I am not a morning person at all, so since I have been close to on time the past two distributions I think that is quite an accomplishment. Enough about this. To sum it up SAGA day is awesome!!!!! I can't wait for the next one