Metaphor/ Rambling on the American Frontier

     The American frontier, along with all of the "back to the roots" movements that relate to it, is perfection. Perfection, of course, in the sense that there is just the right amount of imperfection. It is the culmination of all the right thoughts taken from Western ideals mashed onto an untamed landscape with limitless potential. Being able to settle your own land in the middle of nowhere and start a home on it from nothing is something that doesn't happen that much these days. There's so much work that's put into it: Building a house, growing food, defending the property, trading with other settlers. It requires an immense amount of work, but that's what makes it worth living. By founding a home on the American frontier, you're devoting your entire existence to a way of living.
     What adds infinitely more to that way of life is when it's coupled with the "greatest hits" of modern technology. Having a limited amount of electricity wired to your house, perhaps just enough to supply entertainment (video games, electric instruments, etc.) and lighting, could be accomplished with a solar/wind power combination. Heating could be installed geothermal-ly, and refrigeration could be possible with cellars. At the absolute most, a phone line/fiber optic cable could be hooked in for communications purposes. A car may be needed for commuting to the nearest town to make enough money for taxes and entertainment, and there are perfectly capable cars that can be bought without the worry of constant gas-guzzling. What this boils down to in the end is living an existence that combines old, natural living with the "essentials" of the current age.

Metaphor (And favorite food)

My favorite food are fruits and veggies. They are very satisfying in taste, but don't leave a lot to the stomach. I guess you could say they are almost addicting.

Ninjas Kittens

Kittens are ninjas, always sneaking around,

stalking my feet and not making a sound,

why are kittens so adorable,

for they wear disguises to kill the vulnerable.

Now the poem is ending and I must give it a rest,

but watch at your feet or you will be a bloody mess.

Favorite Foodi

I was asked what my favorite food is. I responded with everything, except carrorts, tomatos, and basically any green vegetables.
Also, apparently women are like cheese because they both have milk in them :D

Spring Break Adventures

What do I plan on doing over spring break? Well, I don't entirely know.
I gave up chocolate for lent so I plan on eating a lot of that. I also look foreward to spending time with relatives... and Skyrim.

Breaking the Breaks

As a teacher, I catch snippets of what happens during spring break. A lot of it sounds like wholesome fun. And a lot of what I hear is what parent's nightmares are made of. As far as I've gathered, the negative experiences students have involve the usual: alcohol, drugs, and risky behavior. I imagine scenes like in the movie Project X except with more palm trees and beaches and things happening over the course of several days in what may or may not be a crime-ridden developing nation.

That's kind of scary. And yet it's become a rite of passage for many juniors and seniors. Often with parental endorsement. This does NOT apply to all kids, but definitely to some.

Yet even in the best scenarios, spring break is often an excuse to be self-indulgent. I get that. I love being self-indulgent: I've got my smartphone, my Playstation 3, my iPad mini, my DirecTv, some sperrys, some Hilfiger, some Ralph Lauren . . . the list goes on and on. And you know what, many of our kids have as much or more than I do. So there comes a time when I wonder if a traditional spring break trip to Florida or Mexico or elsewhere is really just cherry on top of an already overflowing ice cream sundae.

Maybe it can and should be different -- at least for ONE of four spring breaks in high school.

For the last, oh, about eight years or so -- as NHS adviser or Student Government adviser -- I've wanted to put together an alternative spring break. I've hoped for a spring break where students volunteer to go help some people in need. This is not a new idea. Where I first taught, it was a tradition to go to a different location and do something charitable like help build a house. There were typically few students who went -- maybe eight to ten -- but it wasn't about the size of the group. It was about the intent of the group.

I feel it's much more life-affirming, more global, more humanitarian to give up some time to help others. And I'd love to provide this opportunity to students at DeWitt High school. I think there is a need for doing something that big, of having a kind of adventure that doesn't deal with risque behavior. Oh, even the kids who go once on this kind of spring break trip may still partake in such risque activities, but at least they'll also have had an experience that asks more of them.

So, this year I've actually asked a student to begin planning a spring break trip. That step alone is as much or more than we have ever done before. Perhaps during spring 2014 we'll have a new option available for students. Surely there will be plenty of places that need assistance. It may even be likely we could help communities still suffering the effects of hurricane Sandy just like the Louisiana took many years to recover from Katrina.

I hope students and the community are supportive of this trip and we can make an alternative spring break a tradition at our school.

Spring Break!

It is early in the morning.  The stars and moon are still out but they're are not visible.  The are out shown by the neon lights that engulf the Vegas Strip.  From my room, I can see the majestic volcano of the Mirage.  I can see the fireworks erupting from the Sirens of TI.  I can see everything but the stars.  I decide it is time to reunite with my beloved stars.  I leave before anyone can notice my absence.  I go to reclaim my stars.  I start with going to the Grand Canyon.  I see my lovely stars.  They are there but barely visible over the rising sun.  I wait until they appear again and when they do, I am at peace again.  I then go to Zion where I make sure my beautiful stars are still visible.  I go to Arches where the setting sun matches the the reds and oranges of the surrounding mountains.  Then when the sun is set, I once again see my stars.  My stars are what is left to remind me of my beloved.  For before he went, he told me he was going back to be one with the stars.  So when I am sure my stars are still safe and still whole, I feel such peace and I know, I can go and rejoin my stars.  To become one with my stars and have eternal night with my stars.

(Okay, this was written sort of quick and turned out way more sappy then I was thinking.  It was supposed to be an adventure story in Vegas but, what can I do? :))

"The Eighties" is Gross

     The 1980s was probably the worst decade between the 50s and today. I try to find good albums that were made then, and I suppose there were a few, but by and large everything from that era sound "Eighties-itized." It's the ultra-slick, huge drum, electric electric, CD-friendly sound that sterilizes you on contact with your eardrums. If there's anything that defines gray, it'd be the Eighties. The fashion, while in some ways colorful, seems to be in over-pastelly, grey-to-the-max tones of bleak corporate fluorescent inflections. Business, the economy, Reaganomics *shudders*, and IBM computing were all becoming bigger parts of the mainstream public. It's no coincidence that the barcode, the ugly, ugly, ugly mar on every single buyable product since the middle of the decade, emerged along with the heightened focus on money and corporations.
     All of the warmth and analog wonderfulness of the 60s and 70s were erased when the Eighties rolled around, with digital recording and compact discs taking over the place of magnetic tape and vinyl records. It's like, after having nice-sounding recordings for twenty years, they thought it'd be a good idea to completely switch up the method of recording. Due to its status as a new thing, it was heavily adopted by the industry. CDs came along with this digital wave, flaunting increased carrying capacity and portability at the expense of anything sounding nearly as good. Of course, this definitely wasn't an instant drop off into the musical abyss; rather, there had been a gradual decline in music quality since 1968. That was the year that humongous quantities of students and protesters took to the streets in violence, which marred the optimistic, psychedelic attitude of music from the previous year. There was still hefty amounts of excellent music being turned out, but perhaps not as much as the previous year. 1969 perhaps had more quality records than the previous year, but it ushered in the new decade, so it was a different sound. Many albums from the year were more laid-back/acoustic, maybe country-ish or else back-homey. Woodstock kind of solidified that. 1970 was similar to this, and 1971 was kind of the last high water mark. There numerous, numerous classics released that year. Progressive rock, a more complex extension of psychedelic music, kind of peaked in this era as well. 1972 was the year that decline became very evident, with glam rock, heavy metal, and slick production began coming into play more. By the mid Seventies, a whole lot of songs were super-slicked. Disco was the last straw for the Seventies. That, along with punk rock, put the public's listening interests too far off the edge for saving. John Lennon's shooting just brought into the mind what was already all but clear: Music had went off the deep end. It's a real shame.

Also, Happy Valentines Day!

To All the Girls I've Loved Before

Do you remember me
Girl at the LIFT
retreat at Camp au Sable
in 1990?
I hardly knew you but I remember
The hayride we took in the February chill
Our breath painting the air
in the glare of the tractor lights
and the counselor's searching beams
You were leaning against me
Your jaw-length red hair warming my chin.
I had met you just the previous day
But liked the way you smelled,
And the freckles on your nose,
And your smile drove away the cold.
A few weeks later --
At the Pathfinder fair --
I avoided you, turning when I
Caught sight of you from afar
Already having forgotten your name.
But do you remember mine?

Well, happy Valentines Day.

Valentine's Day and Happiness

Bonjour World! I am new to this blog so I should formally introduce myself. I'm Diego, and today I will explain the happiness of Valentine's day. Valentine's day can be the best day or the worst day of the year. It just depends if you have a GF/BF. I, myself, has just gotten a GF of my own three days ago. After a movie date on Sunday (which was great), I knew that I needed to ask her out. Monday: I was telling myself, "Okay, you've gotta do it. You've gotta do it." Tuesday: Same deal. Trying to be courageous. She sat by me on Tuesday at lunch but it was.... embarrassing. I left to throw away my trash and when I was walking back, she was walking out. She said that she "needed to ask about a test" when I asked her out suddenly. She smiled and said yes. We said our goodbyes and she left. I stood for a second then walked up to my friend. For our purpose, he's XYZ and his girlfriend is ZYX (just for the fun of it). Well XYZ told me that we should sit by ZYX. That was where my GF used to sit . When I looked, she was telling her friends about what just happened. ZYX was the table next to my GF so I don't think that she knew where I was. So today is Valentine's day, my day of happiness!

A less than Happy Valentines Day to you all

Happy Valentines!

Say the roses in the hands of giddy girls

As the halls are filled with the scent of flowers

on a holiday of Hallmark romance

But Alas!

I've no rose of my own

and I drift empty handed 

from class to class

The same as years before. 

Happy Valentines!

Say the students 

whether it be glad or sad

or horribly sarcastic

They still say Happy Valentines!

whether they be coupled

or alone

...This really is an awful holiday for single people. 

Anywho, I hope you lovely couples have a good time whilst I enjoy my icecream.

Happy Singles awareness Day!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

Happy freaking singles awareness day. I almost have a girlfriend but for the moment I am FOREVER ALONE DX. Ahh well. There's always tomarrow.
-Alex

The Monster Under The Bed

Go to sleep, its not real

Close your eyes, its okay

Its a lie, its a lie

Eyes widen in dismay

Its real, its real

Check under your bed

The Monster resides there

But its all in your head

Fueling wicked dreams

And grinning wicked grins

Its real, its alive

Its cloaked in haunting sins

Go to sleep, its not real

Close your eyes, its okay

Its in your reflection

Gone when you turn away

Look around, beyond the glass

Beyond the face, beyond the mask

All that's left to see is you

Where's the Monster gone, you ask?

Check in the closet 

And under the bed

Check in dark corners

And inside your head

The Monster destroys

Causes anger and strife

It grins and grins

as it ruins your life

But your life is yours to ruin

The Monster yours to tame

For you and the Monster

are One

and The Same

Computers

You know, if high-quality digital pen and paper had been sold on a commercial level ten years ago, there would probably be a lot more online drawings on the Internet. And if you think about it, most touchscreens even today aren't ideal for making pictures on. It makes you think about what the best kind of computer there would be in the world, but we already know the answer to that. Organic computers. That'd be us humans and other carbon-based denizens of Earth. We have the potential to do so much with our minds, but we're not putting in the right fuel. If you want a car to run, you give it gasoline, not paint. If you want a human to run, give it water, not Diet Pepsi. To the point, though, is that if you think about it, the current concept of computers can only ever achieve so much. We haven't yet invented a computer that can replicate a human, and in our current digital, metallic/silicon way of looking at it, we may never will. Our bodies are formed the way they are for some reason or another, and ignoring that won't get us to where we need to go. It's something to really ponder.

bark

Post title

Hello, I'm Cody. The world is a pretty cool place, and I suppose blogging is a way to share that feeling. Alex signed me up for a Google Plus account, but I really should have made a Blogger. It matters not, however, if you look at it in a different perspective. We could be doing this on Usenet right now, and that would be infinitely more awesome. Petty quibbles such as Google Plus versus Blogger do not matter in that context. 

>Usenet

Joes Post

Why hello my fellow bloggers, I am Joseph and I love metal music. I was at a concert on Tuesday and joined in my first mosh pit and also crowd surfed for my first time as well! I think that my poetry is quite delicious for the eyes and i feel that it will show how my life has been through my dark days. I also write lyrics and have one successfully recorded thanks to my sisters ex-boyfriend. I also believe that music is an empowering way to show your emotions.

Introduction (Please don't judge me)

Hello. * congratulates self on originality*
   I'm here because I got invited and based on the number of things I get invited to I wasn't really in any position to pass this up.
   I really don't know what I'm going to post yet, but if man can go to the moon I can (probably) come up with something entertaining to say. I'll hopefully start officially posting tomorrow so until then, byeeeeeeuh.

   Hey, hey, hey... THE GAME.

In greeting

My name is Cara, and I am President of the Creative Writing Club here. From this blog randomness and silliness are to be expected, as well as poetry and other such writing type things. The other members will be introducing themselves as well. We decided to start a blog to get our lovely lovely creativity out there, and I hope it will be enjoyed by many. If everything on the blog vaguely resembles Resident Evil 6, we do apologize. Such things happen.
Happy blogging!