Halloween

We were talking in English class the other day about how much Halloween costumes have changed over the years. It used to be that people would dress up as common characters like pirates, superheros, zombies, witches etc. These ideas are still popular, but now there are the "sexy:" witches and "leg avenue" pirate costumes. I guess the knowledge issue here is why this change in what is deemed acceptable has occurred. My theory is that these new racy costumes reflect the desire of society to look attractive, which goes back to the influence the media has (like ads) on the public. If one does not feel comfortable wearing one of these costumes, as many don't, there are few other costumes to choose from. I wonder if there will be a change in the future back to more conservative costumes? Or maybe they will get even worse...

Supporting friends

I have found that recently a few of my friends have been experiencing some challenges, and so I have tried my best to be supportive and help them as best I can. My knowledge issue with this subject is how to be the most helpful. Sometimes it's hard to tell if it is best for the specific situation to be silently supportive in the background, or to try to talk about the problems the person is experiencing. I guess another way to look at this is if there are circumstances when being helpful is not really possible so it's better to be harmless. It can also be difficult to be supportive when you have not personally experienced the issue that your friend is currently going through. I just try to be kind, present, and try not to make it worse by saying something wrong. It's tough, but I think it is very important to put in this effort for the people you care about.

Week after MEA

So apparently the week after MEA is supposed to be super intense? I guess I was not aware of this, but if feels like right now everything is culminating into these next two weeks, creating a large ball of stress and panic. First of all, we now have two research papers to worry about, the IA and the EE. I am especially nervous about the EE, since it can really impact if you get the Diploma or not. Also, the musical opens in a week, so the rehearsal schedule is picking up and things are getting quite stressful there too. In addition, the November 1st deadline for many colleges is quickly approaching, which means we also have to get those college essays finished up. Woofta! I guess it doesn't really make sense to complain, since we signed up for all of this. However, I still like to. I feel like I have already blogged several times about stress in my life, but I can't help it, it's just so relevant! Another thing that is really going to test the couple Dip Cans in the musical is the fact that next week is Tech Week for the musical, which means that we will be staying at school rehearsing from 2:45 until 10 or possibly later. And our EE first draft is due on Wednesday of that week... Yikes! I am going to encourage myself to look at this as a challenge, or a sort of game. If I can make it all work and get it all done, then I will have won. We can do it guys! I know you all have a bunch of other stuff going on, just like I do, and I appreciate you guys (microagression) for it. We can do it. GO TEAM!

Vote No

I just want to start out by saying that I do not wish to debate the politics surrounding the Vote No/Vote Yes ordeal. What I do want to talk about is the voting process. I recently found out that on the ballot, where you can check Vote Yes or Vote No, if one simply leaves it blank for whatever reason, then the vote is counted for the Vote No side. Regardless of one's personal feelings on this issue, I feel like this is ridiculous! The whole point of an election is to have a fair process for the public to decide how the government will run in their state. This totally gives an advantage to the Vote No side, and I feel like the playing ground should be equal for both sides. A lot of people probably will leave that section of the ballot blank, because they are undecided, uniformed about the issue, or other reasons. However, if they do this, then their intention of not voting will not be honored because their ballot will go in the Vote No pile. This post has nothing to do with my personal feelings about this subject, but I think that this sly trick is unfair to the people and makes the whole voting process biased toward one side.

Opinons of others

To what extent (hehe) should a person listen to others' opinions about oneself? If you are doing something (such as wearing a certain clothing style, coloring your hair, getting a piercing) that one of your loved ones does not approve of, should you stop doing it to appease them? It's a tough subject that really should be taken on a case by case basis. I think that if you are following a certain fad, or something not super important in the grand scheme of things, and it upsets someone close to you, that you must think about what is more important: this trend or the feelings of that person. I've recently had experience with this. I think that you should choose your battles; don't make a big deal out of something and cause problems between you and someone close to you about something that isn't worth fighting over.

The one

A friend of mine, Simon*, and I were talking about relationships the other day. He asked me if I believed that there is "a one" for everyone, like we hear about in the movies, tv, music, etc. I had to think about this one for a while. (I don't want to get in to all the religious/spiritual explanations). Is there really one person that each individual is destined to find and spend their life with? It's a rather crazy concept. Simon said that he thought such an idea did not exist and was not plausible. Though I do not entirely believe this idea, it's hard to wrap your mind around, I think that there are very few people that really match up with you perfectly. I also have heard of people dating around and not settling for happiness once they find it because they want to know if there is someone better (or a better match) for them out there. This goes back to the saying that there are "more fish in the sea." I don't really agree with this totally because it's not like any random person will match up with someone. I guess, in this conversation, we were just musing about this subject, never really coming to a solid conclusion.

Musical

I am a member of the fall musical, Hello Dolly!, this year and I love it so much! I also wrote my ethnography about the musical, so I learned more about the group from that. I really love all the people in the show, and it's great being able to spend time with them. However, regardless of how fun it is, being in the musical is a lot of work. Rehearsals can be stressful, especially since we're starting to get down to the wire and have a lot of work still left to do. Also, on top of homework, that means memorizing songs and lines and practicing dances. Ahh! This sort of ties in to the whole Ovation controversy I have been having. Being a part of these theater productions means so much to me, so I am not going to let IB and its craziness stop me from being a part of them. Somehow I will find a way to do it all. I hope.

Stressssssss

So is it just me, or has IB gotten super intense lately? I feel like we are juggling a million things right now... EE, ethnography, history IA, and then just general homework. Plus, on top of all that, we have college applications that are due pretty soon.I know people were blogging about stress a lot a few weeks ago, but I think it's really getting bad right now. However, there is one reprieve: LATE START. This gift has come at the perfect time. I will be getting 5 more hours of sleep than usual tomorrow. Which means doubling how much sleep I generally get. Also, I will have more time to finish homework if needed. I feel like I have been waiting my entire high school career to be able to have this late start. But anyways, I was just wondering if anyone else felt like IB just recently kicked into high gear.

Friday nights

Friday nights really are my savior. Monday-Thursday nights I am swamped with homework, work, musical rehearsal, and other activities. Yet, on Friday nights, I am free to do what I want to. I don't have to do homework and I can either choose to lay around home and sleep, or go out with friends. I love having that freedom. It really is the only night that I am always open. Saturday and Sunday are usually filled with homework, but mostly Sunday.. I look forward to Friday every week. Tomorrow I plan on going to the football game and then to a friend's house for a small get together. YAY!

Work time in class

Though I really appreciate it when teachers give us work time in class, I find it very difficult to focus in school. I think it has a lot to do with the fact that I am sleep deprived, so I am constantly tired at school. I often fight to stay awake, which obviously does not allow me to work very diligently. However, I do not want teachers to take away this work time, so I think I will try harder to be able to focus. Tomorrow in class I am going to work hard on my ethnography!!

(Thanks to Jackie for this post inspiration, as I share this view)

18

So on Saturday, I am going to be 18 years old... an adult. For some reason, this seems like a very significant birthday to me. Yeah 16 was cool... getting to drive and all that... but I feel like 18 is a monumental achievement. Surprisingly, I am not really that excited this year. I feel like I am going to have a lot more responsibilities for some reason. Yeah I will be voting and will be able to make more decisions without my parents, but it seems like something more. I think one reason I might not be that excited is because turning 18 just means I am growing up. Unlike a lot of seniors, I am not looking forward to school being over. I really love this year. I have a great group of friends, and other people who are really important in my life. I also like my classes, and the idea of leaving everything I know to go to college really makes me nervous. So I guess that's why I am half excited and half not excited to become an adult this weekend.

Taking a break

I have been feeling pretty overwhelmed and unmotivated lately, so yesterday I decided to take a break. Usually, I go home after school and immediately begin working on my homework, generally working on it until I fall asleep. Well, last night I was very tired so I decided to just do my mandatory, 5-minute spanish homework and then I went to bed. At 8:45 pm!! The nice thing about IB (or bad, depending on how you look at it) is that we don't have a lot of assignments that are due the next day. Most of our assignments have long term due dates. Just getting to bed early really helped me in terms of my stress. I think everyone should take a night off sometime soon. It really is refreshing!

Music

So this post is sort of branching off one of Cody's, but I wanted to talk about music. Music is really an amazing thing. Rather than tv, listening to music is what makes me procrastinate while doing my homework. There are just so many different genres and feelings associated with different songs. I just love trying different songs and discovering new artists. Also, I have really broadened my music "vocabulary", for lack of a better term. I also think that music really enriches one's life. It allows you to relax and destress from the day's activities. It's also a really good way to get to know people, because you can learn a lot about them by their taste in music. So overall, I guess I just really like to experiment with different types of music. Well, except rap. Not a fan of that.