Pippin

Pippin is a big, silly, long-haired orange and white male cat.  He is goofy and gets into things.  (Right now he is investigating behind the computer.)  He likes to sit on math homework and get reassuring tummy rubs.  Pippin has a way of greeting me where I put down my hand for him to sniff and then he rubs up against it.  He tries to be snuggly with everyone, including Suli, our chubby tortoise shell cat who doesn’t actually like other cats.  That’s why we had to get Pippin his own two cats.  It started when we fostered a litter of four kittens for the Humane Society.  When the mother of the four got too sick to stay with us, Pippin took over as the kittens’ mama.  We often saw one very large long hair orange and white male cat happily curled up with four tiny vigorously purring fuzzballs.  He was an excellent mama!  He would let the kittens tag along with him around the house.  And he would give them cat baths and play with them gently.  As the kittens grew up they took to settling down on our shoulders.  Pippin saw how comfortable and snuggly they were up there and decided to try it himself.  Now, he is rather larger than any of these kittens, so he ended up draping over our shoulders in a not quite so snuggly manner.  

Since we were fostering the kittens, there was an agreement that we had to give them back when they were old enough to get adopted.  Darn.  That is always the hardest part of fostering kittens, and it was the hardest part for Pippin too.  When we gave the kittens back, Pippin kept looking around the house for them, perhaps wondering where they’d gone.  We could tell that he missed them and was a little lonely too.  Suli was no help.  A few months later when we visited the Humane Society, we found that two of the kittens were still there, black sisters named Lynn and Lilith.  We had a family meeting to discuss getting one of them for Pippin, and decided that we had to get both of them since it was impossible to choose.  Besides, the best toy for a kitten is another kitten.  Pippin was ecstatic!  He had two cats to snuggle with again.  Now, a year later, Pippin takes his spot in the middle of the sandwich and the two black girls sleep on either side of him.  Suli sleeps alone.  They are all four happy cats.

-lf

love

Austin Jones

Composition I

5/24/12

Blurb: FINAL!

Love, what is love?  What kinds of love are there? How many kinds of love do you experience in a day? Who can give and receive love? Love, to me is any affection of any kind given by one and received by another. The denotation of love is:  1.a profoundly tender, passionate affection for another person. 2.a feeling of warm personal attachment or deep affection, as for a parent, child, or friend. 3. sexual passion or desire. 4. a person toward whom love is felt; beloved person;sweetheart. Can any one love any one? These are pressing questions that need to be answered.

I will start by addressing the kinds of love there is. The first that pops into my head is the love between two people that hopefully results in the two becoming married. The love between two should be forever but not every person has an opportunity to say “I do”. Any person can say “yes” to their special someone but, can only say “I do” in five states and Washington D.C. in the United States that support same-sex marriage. . Love should be available to anyone and everyone, everywhere. Love should not be illegal. 

Anyone can give love and anyone can receive love; even though we are capable of giving love, some never give nor receive love. Everyday people are rejected from their families for being different and everyday people are beaten or tortured in their home by their families. People are discriminated, let only killed for being different. These people almost never get to experience love, the love from their parents or love from anyone in the family, they are pushed away and labeled an outcast. These people can never give love back to their families because their families don’t love them back. Although all of these people try to give love, no one is willing or there to accept it.

Love is not just love that should end up in marriage or the love you get from your family; you experience love in just about every way. You most often experience love from your friends. Your friends give you love in different way, such as a pat-on-the-back, giving you a hug, or a genuine “hello, how is your day going”. You can also experience these different kinds of love from coworkers and even neighbors. Love, even in its simplest forms can be the most effective, if only people would stand and hand it out. Hand it out to your friends, family, neighbors, co-workers, boyfriend/girlfriend, or complete strangers; giving love out to people, anyone will definitely brighten up their day!

In conclusion, love should be respected in all forms.  To separate two people from each other based on old and unfair traditions is completely unfair and unreasonable.  If we could learn that love is universal and powerful, we wouldn’t have to make any marriage illegal. Love no matter what form so be respected and never unavailable to anyone. Love, the bond between to human being is strong, ever growing, and never will be broken.

aj

Dude.

The word I choose is dude.  Dude means ‘ a stylish fastidious man ‘ which has obviously changed over time.  The word probably originated from the German language in the late 19th century. Dude is used all too commonly considering the fact that the word dude means ‘fool’ in German dialect. If someone was to call another person by dude, they would be calling them ‘fool’, which in my opinion, would be offensive. But, not many people know the origin of the word, so, it doesn't really matter.  -djp

difference

What word do I want people to know the true meaning of...What word do I want people to the true meaning of? Most any word can mean many things and most any word can mean different things in a different context situations, we all know this to be true. But what is the true meaning of a word, is it the first intended purpose of the word or is it the reference that is most used? When you hear the word: “different” what is the first thing that pops into your head is it the difference of two numbers or two unlike things? To me different is the difference of two numbers or two unlike things. Although these situation that use the word different as its intended meaning, we should not use the denotation of different for a excuse to bully or discriminate against anyone or for that matter any thing.

The denotation of different is as follows;1.  not alike in character or quality; differing;  dissimilar: The two are different.2. not identical; separate or distinct: three different answers. 3. various; several: Different people told me the same story. 4. not ordinary; unusual. These definitions can actually used in the situation of a person being different, but they should be used to identify the differences in people, not to label them as different. The word different should never be used in the situation to call someone different because are different from the “norm”. Let's face it there is no “norm” and they never will be; sure you can have people who think they are better, pretty or some other ridiculous excuse that they are better than anyone else. We are ALL HUMANS and no one is better than any other. People have been using different to describe the differences between two things for ages, and up until or recently people have been using the word different to bully, discriminate, or oppose harm to another. Different:  A word that knows no face, shape color, or race and a word with a very ugly connotation.

-Austin Jones

behind the scenes

The point of going to see a show, is to see the show. But the real show is what you don't see. What you do see is so well engraved into the actors brains that they could do it in their sleep, but they do give the performance 100% anyway. Behind the scenes of any show are stories that could (on some days) easily show up some pretty good comedians. Towards the end of the process of putting on a show, all of the actors are running on low amounts of sleep, so they can be very unpredictable and funny when no one is looking.

Rehearsals are the best and worst times of a play. They go from not knowing anyone to knowing each other like family. From nothing to a full play or musical. The most chaotic processes known to man... not really. They consume one's life anywhere from two weeks to three months. It all depends on the theater company, the scale of the show, and how long until the next show after the one at hand. All of that time is spent memorizing, learning, and even improvising to find the right move, or sound for something. In every show rehearsals also enclose tech week, which is when the directors, actors, and techies all learn all of the light cues. In some theaters that have much more stage to cover, more lights, and less time to rehearse, this week has lived up to a very sinister nickname: hell week. I have been told of a show where it took three days to get through 90 minutes of one show.  Thankfully this doesn't happen much in the Bemidji area, mainly because we don't have as many light riggings that more major theaters have to work with individually.

Backstage is one of the best places to be, especially if you know the show as well as the actors. The funniest thing I can imagine ever happening in theater is someone taking a camera and filming both the show and what happens backstage, then putting both recordings side by side. The resulting film would include many hyper actors trying to pass time until they have to go back onstage. With a strict no talking policy, this is very interesting. It mainly consists of multiple people lip syncing to whatever is going on onstage, and even taking on specific characters to act out the scenes where no one is watching. There is nothing short of entertainment back there.

Not only is backstage one of the funniest places to be, it is also one of the most chaotic. Most theaters have to work around set changes, so they have to keep everything backstage. I still wonder how Walker School kept everything backstage in their performance of Peter Pan. They had seven pretty big set pieces that all had to hide. Most actors also have multiple roles or costumes for their character. So they must rush backstage and change, sometimes including hair and makeup. In my opinion, one of theater's most impressive tricks is not somethings like making people fly, but the art of the quick change. I've heard from a friend of mine that he once had to change while running down one flight of stairs, past the orchestra pit, and back up another flight in about twenty seconds. One of the longest ones I know of takes about one minute, and I know it doesn't sound all that impressive, but believe me it is. The actor had to go through full prosthetics for a character, and she had multiple people around her working on it. I've also seen multiple changes actually done on stage. Those are the ones that impress me the most. These people manage to change hair, costume, in a matter of seconds in front of everyone.

The final part of a show, and one of the saddest, is strike. Strike is the destruction of the set that became a second home to the actors, collection of props and costumes, and final clean up of the theater. Everyone must take part in this, or face the shame of being lazy and leaving the work to others. How long it takes depends on how big the set was, how many pieces there were, how they were attached, and how much the director wants to keep for next year. It usually takes a couple hours to get absolutely everything done, and by the time it's all done, all the actors who stayed for the whole strike go home and collapse. The task is very tiring. Having to have built multiple sets for Walker, I did also have to participate in strike, and I usually found it fun because I got to take down some things that were quite a pain to build. But as an actor, I do find it painful to watch as it goes down. Strike means that the show is over, for real. When people say they are in denial about it, strike is what brings up the realization that it's all over.

Shows are extremely fun to watch, and that's why I love them. But please realize reader, that the performing isn't the hard part. The actors know the show inside and out. They even know many of the songs and scenes that they aren't even in by heart. The hard parts are what the audience never sees. Just because it's hard though, doesn't mean that they aren't also fun. Next time you go see a show, please think about all of the hard work that truly goes into it, and all the fun that the actors are having because of it.

-ls

tarantula

We all know the stories about tarantulas, the movies show giant spiders that can cause death with one bite!  But have you ever thought that maybe these spiders are gentle giants?  The word tarantula came from Southern Europe where people believed that the vary large and hairy spiders that lived there were dangerous.  They gave this spider the name, tarantula.  What these people were actually dealing with was the wolf spider.  The wolf spider is from the genus lycosidae which is related to the tarantula's genus theraphosidae, but is not the same.  People eventually immigrated from Southern Europe to the Americas where they found large hairy spiders that had similar characteristics, behaviors, and habitats that the wolf spider in Southern Europe did.  They mistakenly thought they were seeing the same spider that had terrorized them back home.  The name tarantula was brought with the new immigrants and was given to an entirely different spider.  Yet the name was adopted and used by general population of the Americas, and it is still widely used to describe very large, hairy spiders throughout the world. - vf

Charbux

In 1971, three local Seattle residents opened up a small coffee shop in Pikes Place Market in Seattle called Starbucks. Since then this local, independent business has grown into one of the largest corporations in the world. Starbucks is a large part of many peoples mornings, a lot of people rely on their morning coffee in order to start their day. Something that a lot of people tend to overlook when they are getting their coffee at Starbucks, however, is the customer service. Almost every time that I have been into Starbucks, whether they are busy or not, the barista never seems to show any sort of patience or emotion. They don't take the time to be polite and smile, or ask how you are; they just want to take your money and give you your overpriced coffee. I have not once had a barista there that is smiling and looks as if they are happy to be working there. This in no way makes me want to go back and order another $5.00 coffee if I know they are not going to take the time to show a little courtesy to their customers. Not only do the employees show very little courtesy, but they also show a lack of knowledge and experience in preparing coffees. The last time I was there, I ordered a latte with one pump of peppermint, a simple order for anyone with any knowledge of making coffee. When I got the latte, it tasted plain, I soon realized that there was no peppermint in it. When I told the barista what was wrong, they replied by saying this, "Oh, we don't serve peppermint flavored espresso." I had to explain to him several times that I didn't want peppermint flavored espresso, I wanted peppermint flavored syrup added to my drink. When he finally understood what I was asking for, he looked at me with disdain and took the previous drink from my hand, saying sarcastically, "Well sorry, this time I'll make it perfect for you." 

     It is not only the customer service that gets me, that alone I can look past, but there are other reasons why I dislike Starbucks, one of which is the quality of their espresso. When the espresso is mixed into a drink with other ingredients such as milk or chai, it tastes fine, but itself alone is unbearable. This is partially because of the way that Starbucks roasts their beans. They purposely over roast their beans so that they can get a uniform flavor throughout all their products. It is a shame that this uniform flavor that they try to accomplish is absolutely horrible. While some coffee shops will use a dark roast to create a spicy,smokey flavor in their espresso, Starbucks seems to roast past this point, that is why theirs turn out to have a burnt, chalky flavor. Another reason for this flavor is greed. Starbucks wants to make the most and spend the least money possible, that is why they keep their beans much longer than they should. They tend to keep their beans up to about six months at most after being ground, this however allows a lot of the flavor to escape. So instead of buying new beans and only keeping the ground ones for a few weeks like they should, they server the customers month old beans that aren't at their prime. This isn't complained about often, however, because most customers there don't know what good espresso should taste like, and are happy with being served this sad excuse for coffee because they get it quick.

     Now some people would say that they are able to look past these things because Starbucks represents something much larger than just coffee, it is an example of the American dream. It started as a small coffee shop being run by three teachers, and became one of the largest corporations in the world. I can't argue with the fact that this company is extremely successful, especially with such humble beginnings, but what I can say is this; in many places where a Starbucks opens up, it destroys somebody elses hopes and dreams for creating and expanding their own business. Independent coffee shops often stand no chance against this corporate giant, the fan base for Starbucks is obviously larger and it sucks away customers from the local businesses. The way that Starbucks kills other companies is no accident, in fact, a common practice for Starbucks is to buy out their competitors' leases in order to keep competition down. This practices in turn takes away the chance of many others to successfully become an example of the American dream. Wouldn't you say that destroying other businesses with your financial superiority just to gain the upper hand is a little unethical?

Basketball Phrases

In the sport of basketball, there are several words or phrases, which could be a kind of slang, to express the player’s emotions on the court.  These have developed over time to make an appropriate, motivating way to convey the player’s energy with what he/she has just done.  The three phrases I researched were:  “all day,” “get that crap out of here,” and “hacked.”

When players are on fire, they tend to say “all day” to their defender.  This means that the player can keep playing the way they are for the whole game, mainly to embarrass the victim of their awesomeness.  Using this phrase also gets the crowd excited because they know that those two players will try to rival the other’s efforts throughout the whole game, creating a dazzling display of fancy dribbling and tough jump shots.  But if the player that’s on fire cannot keep playing the way they were, they get humiliated and their reputation is stained from their cockiness.

Blocked shots are arguably the most exciting thing to see on the basketball court.  This is also the best motivator for a player on the court that some call “The Garden of Eden.”  When there is a very good block that goes flying, the player has the right to say “get that crap out of here!”  The blocker wants their opponent to stay out of their way, out of their “house.”  The glory felt when experiencing this feeling of blocking a basketball “out of the park” cannot be explained:  it can only be imagined.

Everyone gets into the game after a few good crossovers and touch jump shots.  Eventually, fouls are inevitable, but some of these fouls are missed by the ref and aren’t called.  Hard fouls are the best, though.  Players usually say they got “hacked” by their foe.  This is a way to voice their disappointment without getting in trouble, but if they take it to far, a technical foul will be called.  Their emotions will be “hacked” after that call.

Basketball has been here for over a century, so some slang was unavoidable.  But this makes the game more exciting to watch and hear about.  Basketball slang will continue to evolve as time goes on, and it will continue to motivate both the audience and the players.  It will continue to make a difference in the very game basketball.

~Chamalmy

Favorite Social Networks...

I use multiple websites to keep up with life, news, and friends. I use Facebook, Youtube (yes, it is considered a social application), MyYearbook, Google +, and Twitter to keep up with everything. But overall, Facebook is my personal favorite.    

    I like Facebook most because of its general ease of use. I also like it because it has a lot of great games that actually make sense. Sometimes when I’m bored, I’ll just go onto Facebook and talk to friends. I’ve used Facebook for over four years, YouTube for five years, Twitter for about a year, Google + for approximately two months, and MyYearbook for a few months. So, what I’m saying is, after a while of using several applications a person can adapt to using so many applications to keep up with life. -dp

Break A Leg

In fifth grade I was enrolled into an actual school, after being homeschooled by entire life. From fifth to eighth grade, I was in the school play every year. As my confidence and love for acting grew, I auditioned for bigger roles. In my experience, the “extras” aren’t frequently granted a “congratulations” or “good luck”. However, last year, as I was about to go on stage playing a fairly large part  in the musical Grease, I heard, “break a leg, Kalli!”

At the time, I was preoccupied with listening for my cue and I’m not entirely sure that I thanked the person. I have since then thought about why people say that to performers, anyway. If I had never heard the phrase “break a leg before,” I would be slightly taken aback and my response would most likely not have been thank you. Since when, I thought, had wishing someone to break a bone become good fortune? I can now answer my own question. So this is for eighth grade meL the earliest known example in print was in Edna Ferber’s 1939 A Peculiar Treasure.# 

But, really, where are the origins of the notable phrase. The answer is: all over the world, literally. In Greece, during Elizabethan times, smacking their chairs on the ground was the audience’s form of applause. If crashed hard enough, the legs of the chairs would break.# In Ancient Rome, for a form of entertainment, gladiators would fight to the death in coliseums. By wishing the gladiators good luck, they were wishing that their opponent would only cripple them, but not take their lives.# 

People all over the world, for centuries, have been using “break a leg” as a saying of good luck. Have people for centuries been superstitious, not wanting to jinx a performer by wishing them success? I don’t know that for sure. But what I do know for sure is that every time I hear “break a leg,” I won’t have to wonder where the phrase originated. 

love, love, love

LOVE! You hear the word every single day and if you don't hear it you most likely seen it, but what does it really mean? If you asked a book worm, he/she is more likely to say that it's an intense affection towards someone. If you ask a five years-old, she/he would say that you really like someone or thing- like how he/she loves pizza. If you ask a super religous person, he/she would say that it's God. So, why can't I tell the world what I think about love?

To tell you the truth, it's cliche! I am not saying that I am anti-love, and I don't beleive in it. I am just saying that its lost its meaning. The reason why I beleiive that its lost its meaning is because it over used! Not only is the word losing it's meaning and being over used, it's being used incorrectly. People say that they love cake but what they should be saying was that they like the taste, texture, and smell. When they say that that they love spending time with someone, they sould really be saying that they enjoyed spending time with them. The next time you are about to use the word love, think if you are using the word right and change it to like if you think that it doesn't fit you idea of love. (And, yes, I do make the mistake of using love incorrectly sometimes.)

-be

Shawty.

In the beginning, shawty referred to a short person or child, but the span of the word has grown to include any and all people, especially a girl that is attractive; it is mostly used as a term of respect to others or just a way of addressing someone, like Wassup shawty, instead of hey Man.  It is written in ancient legend that the word shawty originated in urban Atlanta, when Derrell Brown called his wife shawty. It spawned a sensation across the world that would change the lives of many people. 

       When I first was called a shawty, I wasn't sure what to think of it, but now my life revolves around it. I can't live a day without someone calling me Shawty, it makes me feel as if I'm important, or special, and I believe if people start calling more people shawty, the world would be a better place.

-omniscient 

horrific experience

One of the most horrific times of my life was the summer going into sixth grade. I never realized all the conveniences of life I took for granted until the day my life took a turn for the worse. My only intention was to have a fun experience, but unfortunately, I wasn’t thinking of the consequences. The date -July 3, 2008. This day was one of the nicest, yet most disastrous days of the summer. July 31, 2008, was ironically beautiful; birds were out, rays of sun were shining down on the lake making a sensational illusion, and the forest had a particular stunning prospect. Previous months had been cloudy, gloomy, and hazy during this long forsaken summer.
          I was watching my brother ride his scooter that he had recently gotten from our grandparents. The delight on his face as he rode his scooter down our small trail to the lake was consoling. “Kali! Kali!” he shrieked, as he came up from the trail with the scooter in his hands. “You have to try this! It’s so fun!” I took the handles of the scooter and slid the base of the scooter under my feet getting ready to proceed down to the lake. The trail was made up of dirt with vines and roots sticking up from the earth's soil.  I began my small journey down the bewildering trail, mimicking my younger brothers actions. The warm wind was blowing in my face and my hair was dancing all around as I felt the scooter increase in speed. I had picked up speed fairly quickly and my thoughts wandered fast. I began to feel a little frightened because I was going a little too fast for my contentment. I slowed down my speed as I got closer to my destination. As I came to the end of the short trail I was ecstatic and full of liveliness. The scooter came to a slow halt and I quickly gathered myself and ran up the hill with the scooter in my hands -wanting more. Wanting to feel the rush of adrenaline again. 

Just as quickly as I approached the top of the trail I was off again. The speed at which the scooter was going had increased once again, however, this time I didn’t slow down. I loved the thrill of the ride! I approached the lake far more quickly than before, but this time there was no stopping. I figured I would just ride the scooter down the trail, make a turn and start riding up another trail to slow my pace down. Perfect plan, I thought to myself. However, my speed kept increasing and it increased to the point where I had absolutely no control of what I was doing. I bolted down the trail and at the point where I was supposed to make a turn, I didn’t turn quite enough. I slammed into a stump and went flying into the air. I plowed into the ground shoulder first, crashing my head a split second later. I felt this horrific, shocking pain immediately when I hit the ground. Shrieking in pain, I called out to my mother who had seen this whole incident take place. She helped me up to my feet and walked me over to a chair. I sat in the chair for an hour or two shaking back and forth hoping the pain might ease up. But of course, it never did.

 Later, when brought up to the house my mom suggested that I might’ve broken a bone. That thought had never actually crossed my mind. This scenario took place during early afternoon. I remember my mom had promised to go swimming with us later that day and I was super excited because she never goes swimming. It would have been her first time that whole summer. My parents had suggested bringing me into town to have my shoulder checked out, but being as stubborn as I am, I refused thinking nothing was wrong. I spent the whole night in agony being unable to move positions because of the splintering pain in my shoulder. After hours of not being able to sleep and the scrutinizing pain, I began to think I might have a sleepless night. This was indeed what happened. When my room began to lighten up from the sun, a feeling of comfort overcame me. Around seven or eight I heard my dad's footsteps. I tried to build up the confidence to sit up knowing the pain in my entire left arm was going to be more dreadful than it already was. I slowly sat up and a shooting pain went through my shoulder that gave me a feeling of complete discomfort. My parents immediately brought me to the clinic visibly seeing the deformation of my shoulder. The clinic took x-rays of my left arm showing that I had severely dislocated my shoulder, as well as, fractured it. Two different surgeries were to take place and metal pins needed to be placed in my shoulder joint to hold my shoulder and the joint together. 

I was miserable enough as it was not being able to move my entire left arm or dress myself, but, I couldn’t even go to the bathroom or take a shower without assistance. People can’t wear casts on their joints so I was given a sling. Even if I had just moved my finger, I would feel a throbbing pain in my left shoulder. I dislocated and broke my shoulder during the nicest month of summer. I couldn’t do any summer activity that I usually did such as, swimming, biking, climbing and much much more. It took months of time and physical therapy for my shoulder to eventually heal. During this period I also had a rare tick-born illness disease that made me very sick. I had other problems as well, however, I would prefer not to mention these problems because it tends to make me feel uncomfortable. To this day I still don’t have complete movement of my left shoulder and have much less strength in my left arm. What remains is an abnormal scar on my left arm from the two surgeries and a noticeable deformation in my left shoulder.

When I think back on this rough period though, I don’t look upon it with regrets. This experience taught me some valuable life lessons. It was from this horrific experience I learned how fragile life is and how lucky I am to have good health. I learned to make better decisions and think before I act. I learned how everyone makes mistakes and how almost everyone takes everything for granted. Most importantly, I learned the true meaning of life.

-kb

True Meaning

My older brother Josh has Asperger’s Syndrome, a part of the autism spectrum. Josh has to be one of my favorite people in the world.  Actually, Josh’s autism is one of my favorite things about him.  It makes him who he is - unique.  I would be a completely different person if I hadn’t been able to learn from Josh.  He taught me to never give up- no matter what people say- and to truly be proud of who you are, despite labels and misunderstandings.  However, some people beg to differ.  I have had personal encounters with “the misuse of “retard” or “retarded”.  Once, a troubled, teenaged boy stated upon being offered help by my mother said, “I don’t need your help.  I’m not one of your retarded kids.” I was shocked by this snide remark pertaining to my brother and others like him.  This was one of the first times I had heard somebody use “retarded” as if it was ambiguous in a hurtful way.  The way my brother handled it, however, was quite interesting.  “Yeah, retarded,” He said, lips pursed, after the boy left.  “Retarded like a fox!” A grin crept across his face as well as my mother’s and mine, laughter slipping out of all of us.
    This instance began opening my eyes to how often this term is incorrectly used.  It isn’t fair that people or things should be labeled this way.  It may be hard to imagine, Reader, but think about it.  What if it was your brother, your sister, your cousin, your parent, your friend, or even yourself?  It is truly hurtful.  People don’t deserve to be hurt like that.  These people that are being called brainless and dumb can be some of the most successful people in the world.  Bill Gates has autism, and so did Albert Einstein.  Those are some of the greatest and most successful minds known to mankind!  My goofy older brother graduated high school, entered the United States Navy and graduated boot camp on track to become a Navy SEAL.  He was deployed, returned, and is now going to come home, enroll in college and study to become a music teacher.
    The step that needs to be taken towards a clarified understanding and lesser amount of misuse of “retard” and “retarded” is simply by informing others.  People need to be informed about the misuse and true definition of these words.  The only way I learned was through growing up with my brother.  If people don’t know the true definition, how will they be able to correctly use the word?  You don’t even have to start big.  Begin with your friends and let the news spread.  Encourage the correct use of the word and politely inform those who misuse it.  If somebody ignores or disagrees with you, move on.  Just a few people are a large enough amount to get something going.  This is the call to action, the time to rise.  Please, help make sure the true meaning is heard and understood.    

HS    

swag!

Have you ever said you have swag? Do you even know what swag means? You might not want to say you have swag after I tell you one of the true definitions of swag!

Today people use in many different ways, from saying that they look cool, or even the way they're are dressed-  they have so much swag. The latest people to make the term really popular is Pauly D and Justin Bieber. Pauly D has his own brand of T-Shirts that say swag. And, Justin Bieber made it popular with his newest song "Boyfriend" where he repeats swaggy about 20 times.

 Well, it's finally time to find out what the true definition of swag:   A suspended wreath, garland, drapery, or the like, fastened up at or near each end and hanging down in the middle; festoon. Is that what you thought swag meant- that you are a pine tree decoration? Justin Bieber, is that what you really thought swag meant? You're a home decoration? Pauly D, do you really want to have shirts saying that? 

Yeah, I will probably keep on saying swag swag swag!