Mary Mathis's cover of Skinny Love by Bon Iver

Skinny Love - Bon Iver by MaryMathis

I cannot express how talented this young lady is. She's a junior at Kennedy and Good Lord she's great. Just click the link and listen.

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I'm a Rude Hallwalker

After reading a blog post by Amy, a classmate, I have decided to analyze myself as a hallway walker. Her post can be found here: http://amybrowzee.blogspot.com/2012/09/the-hallway-epidemic.html 

I recommend you read that first, otherwise, this post will not make entire sense.

In Amy's post, she classifies four different types of hallway walkers.  “the stoppers”, “the shovers”, “the texters” and "the I’m too cool to walk any faster”people. I am in no way at all criticizing her blog or opinion, but the concept made me laugh. "Breaking News: New type of hallway walker emerges at Kennedy High School."  I’m going to be honest with you and myself. I’m a “shover” and a “texter.” I think I’m a “shover” because I’m a “texter.” Many of my teachers don’t allow phones to be out during their class. It is because of this that the hallways of Kennedy are filled with “texters.” I find myself texting because I a) need money for lunch, b) want to know what’s for lunch, or c) I’m tweeting about something that happened in my last class or “#thingsIhearinthehallway” More likely the latter of the three options. On the rare occasion that I’m not tweeting and I actually am texting, I surely don’t run into people. This is a skill I have mastered, believe me or not. When looking down to text, you must also be aware of what’s ahead of you. For example, I have my head down sending a text message to my mother: “Hi Mom, I don’t feel good. Can you call—“ BAM! Someone walks right in front of me and I run into them. Well, I don’t run into them, but I’m sure you would. Here’s how to avoid that situation. While your head is down, keep your vision focused a bit higher, looking just past the top of your phone. This allows you to see a variety of fashionable, or not so fashionable, foot wear. This footwear is going to be various lengths away from your own footwear. Use your judgement to either stop and let fancy foot Fred pass or swerve around fancy foot Fred. Voila! You avoid a collision with Fred.

I know I said I’m a “shover” but I’m not near as bad as the upperclassmen at Kennedy. If you stop in my path, I’m going to politely say “Excuse me” and smile. If you don’t get the hint, I’ll raise my voice and as a last resort, move you by myself. I’m not big by any means, but I have places to be so move. If you want to get an attitude when I push you, I don’t give a shit. You irritated me when you stopped to say “Hi Babe” to your significant other. As if you two weren’t just texting. C’mon kids, move along. 

Adding onto Amy's hall walkers, there are also "the ninjas." These are the hall walkers that lay low, are probably shorter than the rest of us, and can maneuver through the halls and congested foyer without bothering anyone. They are almost never seen by the average high school hall walker. These are the ones I like. They are my favorite.

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Public displays of affection. *DUH DUH DUUUHH!!*

PDA is not necessarily a bad thing. I’ll admit I like to see people happy with someone but DEAR LORD PEOPLE this is school, not your honeymoon. With that being said, acceptable PDA consists of the following.

• Hand holding: Let the rest of us miserable high schoolers know how darn happy you are with one another by holding hands. Hand holding is not disruptive, doesn’t want to make anyone vomit, and is a nice gesture to your significant other saying you’re proud they are yours.
• Hugging: Please notice I said “hugging.” Nowhere will I ever say “nuzzling.” One particular couple at Kennedy thinks it appropriate to nuzzle when they say good bye to each other between classes. I don’t use the term “nuzzle” lightly, folks. The boy in this relationship is shorter than the girl and he rubs his head on her chest as a pet would do. This is not only disturbing, but just kind of weird to do at school. Nuzzle on your own time, please.
• Kissing: I enjoy when my significant other gives me a kiss before we leave each other. One. Kiss. Barely a kiss, actually. In public, it’s a peck on my lips or forehead. No one wants to see me make out with my significant other so I doubt anyone wants to see you make out with your significant other. Give it a rest.

PDA at school is a controversial topic because teachers and students feel differently about it, but also because students are conflicted themselves. If you aren’t sure what’s appropriate for school, think of it like this: If your grandma walked up on you and your significant other, would you be embarrassed by what she would see? If so, don’t do it in public. Chances are, it’s making other people uncomfortable, not just Grandma.

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Stand Up 2 Cancer

In a recent charity event for cancer, Stand Up 2 Cancer, Taylor Swift released her new single titled 'Ronan' by singing it live. I swear, this song could make a grown man cry for an hour. Her song tells the story of a mother who lost her four year old son, Ronan, to cancer. Taylor has always been known for songs a teenage girl can relate too, however,  'Ronan' is a much different, softer side of Taylor.

I have always been a fan of Taylor Swift. She is a great artist, makes fantastic music, and always tries to be the best role model for young girls. I repsect Taylor for choosing to sing about a story that really touches the heart. She gave up her regular "teeny bopper, heartbroken, independent young lady" attitude to make the story of Ronan known.

Taylor Swift was a great choice of artist to sing this song because she is so influencial. She is constantly scrutinized because people are waiting for her to do something wrong, controversial, illegal, or frowned upon. Since she is a major name in country music as well as pop music, her song was heard all over the world. One hundred percent of the proceeds from her song were donated to research about a cure for cancer.

The story was even more touching because it is about such a young person but also because cancer affects so many people all over the world. In my family, my grandpa and grandma both died from cancer and my mom is currently dealing with cancer treatments. If you haven't heard Taylor's new song, I suggest you watch the video with lyrics, then the live performance. I'll put the links below. When you watch both videos, think of someone you know who has cancer or someone who has passed away because of cancer. Props to you if you don't cry.

Lyrics video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0J2OF1S3iSI&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Live performance: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CS7JrI-JPOc&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Happiness

Show choir is a big part of my life. In fact, its the most important thing to me other than my schoolwork. During the time period of November through early March, I spend more time at school practicing for show choir, at performances, or competing for show choir than I spend with my real family. I like it this way though. I have never been so close with a group of people than my show choir family. There are show choir moms, tech dads, the director, arranger, choreographer, tech crew, band and the ensemble. Each part of the show choir family is equally as important. 

Show choir moms are the right hand ladies to our director. Out of the 4 main moms, each has a designated job. The boss lady, Momma T, oversee's every part of show choir. She critiques at practices, helps with costumes, and plans community service things.. We also have a food mom, Mrs. Meyer. She is the one to provide the food. She calls local restaurants to ask them to donate food or she makes all of the food herself. Last, but certainly not least, Momma Craig. She is much like Momma T in that she does almost everything. She helps with the food, costumes, hair and makeup, and ordering of things like clothes. The moms make us look good.

The tech dads are important to us because without them, we wouldn't have props. Happiness does a novelty number as part of our show every year. This novelty number would be nothing without props. Each year the novelty is different but props never fail to enhance the number.  Our tech dads also help with "baby raisers" which are an extra set of raisers that the group puts on the stage before we perform. We use two levels of baby raisers. Other things the tech dads do would include driving the trailer to competitions, making sure everything goes right backstage, and being there to support us. The tech crew is a student group that helps during the performances. They place props where they need to be, set boxes up if we need them, and help with costume changes. 

The director is there to guide us in the right direction. He teaches the notes, tells us the dynamics and musicality, and then lets us do our own thing to make it right. He makes us sound good. He gets on our case about choreography that isn't clean, makes us clean it, then we run it until every time looks how it is supposed to or even better. The choreographer is responsible for teaching us the moves. He makes the songs look good. 

Last is the choir/ensemble. It's our responsibility to learn the notes correctly, do the dances well, and bring all of the concepts together. If we don't commit to everything more than 100 percent, we don't do our job. When we do our job, we do it well, and we win. Winning isn't the ultimate goal, but it sure does feel nice. 

Zookie

If you aren't from the Cedar Rapids area, or even if you are, you might not be aware of the deliciousness we call the "Zookie." A local pizzeria, Zoey's, is credited with this heavenly, calorie-filled, sinful dessert. Seriously, look at this.

WHAT COULD GO WRONG? Nothing. The answer... is NOTHING. Let me rewind. 

*rewinding sound*

On Sunday, I received horrible, heartbreaking news. By heartbreaking, I do mean my heart really did break. That's as far as I"m going because I refuse to make this a diary post. Last night, my mom decided to take me out for a girls night, my best friend, Nicole, included. Our evening started at Applebee's where our waiter had no sense of humor, wouldn't let us do two checks to use two coupons, and was obviously not happy to be at work. Unfortunately, he took it out on us so we returned the favor. My mother only left a 15% tip. (Sorry, Bud!) Beyond our sucky waiter, we had a great time. Mom enjoyed some great beef nachos. I enjoyed one or two of them as well. Nicole had a 9 ounce sirloin and I ate entirely too much pasta.  Dinner conversation consisted of jokes, talk of boys, and laughing probably louder than acceptable in a restaurant. I apologize if you were in Applebee's at the same time as us. Applebee's has a similar dessert to the Zookie. Please observe:

Not even close to the Zookie. I'm sure you now understand why we left Applebee's and drove a little over five minutes to Zoey's. 

A breakdown of The Zookie:

• One Chocolate chip cookie 
• Size of a small pizza 
• Deep dish pan
• Said cookie (see above) is barely cooked through giving you the "melt in my mouth" sensation. Straight out of the oven, the heat radiates off the cookie and the chocolate chips are still melting.
• Three scoops of vanilla ice cream
• BIG SCOOPS
• Drizzled with a ton of chocolate syrup
• Three dollops of whip cream
• Just kidding. They're more like heaps.

Mom, Nicole and I walk into Zoey's ready to demolish the Zookie. After what seemed like an hour (about five or ten minutes), our waitress brings our Zookie to the table. We stared for a moment and all at once, dove in. It took the three of us fifteen minutes to finish the Zookie. Proof:

If you live in Cedar Rapids and are having a bad day, week, month, or need an excuse to splurge Zoey's is the place to go. Order a Zookie. You won't regret it.

Fall Football

My high school football team had their first football game last Friday, the 24th of August. We lost, 17 points to 6, to a team that we were supposed to beat by a huge margin.  The Cougar football team also took the field two nights ago, August 31. Again we lost, this time 33 to 41. Yes, I'm a girl but I'm going to state a few common mistakes from both of these games. 

1. We can barely complete a pass.
   This seems like a common sense thing. In fact, all of the points I'm going to make are. If you think your quarterback is going to throw the ball 25 yards, go 30 and let the player behind you make up for the difference. There were numerous plays in the first game where this was a problem. Our receiver stopped running just short of the length of the throw. If this problem hadn't occurred, we could have won the first game and done it with ease.
2. It takes 4 or 5 of our players to tackle one opposing player.
   This one isn't so much common sense as it is strength and agility. Our defensive line is small. I'm just going to be honest. No one looks at the D-Line and gets intimidated. I sure wouldn't and I'm a 5 foot, 4 inch female. The boys on the field have great difficulty keeping up with most of the opposing offensive line therefore making it even more difficult to tackle the ball carrier. A more specific statement to the second game: if there is one particular player who seems to be the best on the line, defend him more than the others. This is referring to the visiting team's running back. This young man had the Cougar defense running in circles and into our own players. I later found out, this young man is a well known sprinter at his school.
3. Our "spirit section" lacks spirit.
   The best part about Friday night football games is coming together as a student body and cheering for your team. This can only happen if you actually cheer. I have never played football so I am taking the word of those who have when I say it is easier to play a game when the crowd is excited. If the crowd stands there and does not cheer, you don't feel as excited or energized to play. At the August 24th game, our "spirit section" stood in our designated spot and that was that. Cheers were started but died out within 20 to 30 seconds. The "spirit section" at the second game on August 31 was much better. I would like to believe this is because our school had the Fall pep assembly that day. The competition between grades to get the spirit stick is greater than that of our football team against the opponent. Unfortunately, that is not anywhere close to an exaggeration.

Fall football also exists in college football on Saturdays. Kick-off for the University of Iowa, Northern Illinois University game was at 2:30 on September 1. I regret to inform you that I couldn't watch this game because I had to work. Although I didn't see the game, I do know Iowa dodged a bullet by scoring a touchdown within the last 5 minutes of the game. I'm proud to say I'm a Hawkeye fan. I bleed black and gold.