Food for thought

I'm sitting on the couch watching Jamie Oliver's food revolution and it's really made me start thinking about what I ate for lunch during the school year and what my family's been eating a lot lately.  He did this thing where he showed this family that at out almost every day how much they eat in a month in fast food.  It's crazy, it didn't all fit in the SUV.  The school board is forcing out the crew out, but the school employees are fighting the board to help their school and community be healthier. 


The L.A. USD is trying to force them out, so they're opening a healthy shop right by the school.  Jaime Oliver thinks it's stupid and backwards that the schools aren't interested in helping the kids and the community and so he's going into the board meeting and is going to film during the public comment session.  "It's important not to piss off the board." says Jaime.  They're suspicious when they are thanked.
 "This is not a boutique cafe administration, you need to know that."  "As the officer, it is me and I have made the decision.  It's fit and right.  It's clean.  They may not all like it, but it is food.  We're feeding them."  That's what Raymond what's-his-face said to Jaime.  Um, earth to Raymond what's-his-face: IT'S A UNIVERSAL FACT THAT KIDS HATE CAFETERIA FOOD.  MOST CAFETERIA FOO TASTES LIKE CARDBOARD, RUBBER, OR SPONGE.  HINT: THAT'S NOT HEALTHY!!!!! 


I realized just how much instant ramen I ate during the school year.  We;re talking three or more packs of ramen that came in packs of 24 each.  And there are so many preservatives in there.  It's really nasty when I think how much of that crap I ate.  Add in what I ate at Wendy's up until about a month ago, and it's nauseating to think how much that junk adds up.  


I'm starting to realize how lucky I am to know how to cook.  I can actually cook healthy stuf for myself, and I need to start doing that more.  I need to stop eating so much candy and junk food.  I should know better, diabetes runs in my family. 


I should also pack healthier lunches when school starts again because then I won't want any junk from Wendy's or the vending machine that no longer accepts coins.  We should start a little cafe inside Linworth and all bring ingredients for stuff and share recipes.  If stuff needed to be heated/cooked, we could cook it in the microwave. (By the way, someone should help out Willie by cleaning them, they're totally disgusting.)

Freshman year

What a journey this year has been.  There have been so many random twists and turns of fate that I never could have predicted at this time last year.  I find myself looking back on a year that hit me in the face. 

Freshman year for me, in a way, started in February 2010 during percussion camp.  Mickey called us then-eighth graders freshmen, because for us, the marching band season had already started and that's what we would be in the fall.  I got to know Nick and Teresa better, and I met Joe.  Sarah and Jessica didn't crop up till auditions.  I already knew the other freshmen.

Through various "section bonding" get-togethers over the summer, I became comfortable with the rest of my band family.  Band camp came around and I got to know a lot of the bandies better.  It was like having one crazy-huge family.
Band was a lifesaver, because it meant I entered high school with a good number of friends who were upperclassmen and really cared about me.  When people picked on me, I could go to my band friends to vent and get advice. 

Arena scheduling at Linworth was overwhelming for me on the first day of school.  It meant an overwhelming amount of chatter and general noise, not counting Larry's air horn.  There were so many people, and all of them were so unique that I felt like I didn't fit in because I wasn't as unique.  So I hid in a corner as far away as I could get from the air horn and drew pictures till lunchtime and till my turn to sign up for classes.  I had never felt so shy in all my life. 

Kilbourne was even more of a challenge to adjust to. The moment you walk into the building, you're hit with sound.  Talking, footsteps, locker doors slamming, chairs scraping against floors, doors being slammed shut, the obnoxious bell, announcements...it seemed like too much.  I was surrounded by popular people in most of my classes, which made me feel self-concious because I wasn't exactly popular.  So I kept my mouth shut, studied, wrote, and drew in my sketchbook.  I was retreating into my own little world. 

Winter and indoor drumline changed my world yet again.  I grew closer to my drumline friends, and they helped me come to terms with the fact that my friend Delaney, who was in the hospital with cancer that was pretty advanced, was not going to live much longer.  The whirlwind of pracices and contests kept me busy so that I wouldn't dwell on the fact.

Second semester brought arena scheduling again, but it was far less stressful this time because I had been through it once already and some of my old friends had transferred.  After classes, I began to reach out and connect with people more, becoming more social than before, probably because I wasn't as busy. 

In the middle of the spring, Delaney passed away.  It was tough to try to deal with.  She was 15, newly so.  It didn't seem fair that her life had to be so short and that she should have had to suffer so much at the hands of cancer.  I was tempted to just shut down completely and watch the rest of the world stream by, while I stood motionless in time.  But my counselor pointed out that Delaney wouldn't want me to just totally shut down, because that wouldn't help anyone.

The pain has numbed with time, but the start of true marching band season has helped too, with distractions like teaching the incoming freshman how to play the different instruments.  I pity the freshman who got stuck playing the rack this year, but it's not nearly as dangerous as when I did it.  Back then, it had been dubbed "The Cage of Death".  The old one that was given that name broke into four pieces towards the end of last fall.  He'll get used to putting all the stuff on eventually.  I'll be there to give advice.

With the craziness of graduation parties, birthday parties, and end-of-the-year parties, the past few weeks are a blur, but I have a feeling this will be a great summer vaction.

Maybe it's just me...

Sometimes I wonder if people are truely frightened of people who are kind and friendly.  I know that last fall, I thought it was almost unreal when the people in the marching band at a school I visited were friendly enough to provide dinner, provide water and all made at least one friend in our band.  I practically expected a monster to jump out at me at any second.  It was kind of unnerving. 

I like getting to know people and making new friends.  Even if I have only met a person once or twice, if I think they're a good person or have traits that make them a good friend, I will keep in contact with them.  I will send them friendly texts and try to talk to them.  If they're doing something, like maybe they have a band, or they play a sport (that sort of thing), then I try to go out and support them. 

Yet when people don't return my messages, I feel like the awkward, over-friendly freak.  I start to think that they think I'm weird and embarrassing and awkward.  Then it just spirals into my own paranolia from there.  I worry a lot about what other people think of me.  When people make remarks about me, they have no clue how much it affects me. Is that normal, or is it just me? 

My opinion on the Dream Act

I would like to share my opinion of the Dream Act, a bill that basically proposes that if an unregistered immigrant graduates high school and/or goes in the military for two years, they can automatically become an official US citizen.  This would give many young immigrants a chance at citizenship.  I think this is a good idea because if they are educated, they will not be tricked as easily by con-men and other shady characters who would try to fool undocumented immigrants into joining their schemes, stealing money from them and such.  Even a simple GED or high school diploma opens up far more jobs and better pay than any job that could be offered to those without diplomas.  I also think the military service idea is good because if you are willing to serve in the military to become a citizen of the country whose military you will be in, it shows you are loyal to that country and are serious about becoming a citizen.  Plus, for those whose families otherwise could not send them to college, the military would give them a valuable, higher education.  They could prove their loyalty and learn at the same time, which is a great concept if you ask me.  
   It's terrible that undocumented immigrants are being made the scapegoats for the recent recession.  People are always looking for someone to blame when things go wrong.  Any talk of closing our borders or limiting immigration into the US is hypocrisy, because America is a melting pot of ethnicities and cultures.  We are a country formed from immigrants and descedants of immigrants.  America has always been the place that is veiwed as a haven for all.  That's how it's been since the beginning of our nation.  People came here as immigrants for religious, ethnic, economic or political reasons, because they thought they could make a new life in this place.  We're appalled when we learn about how African-Americans and the Irish were treated when they came here, but we are treating Hispanics and Middle Eastern immigrants in a very similar way.  They deserve a shot at citizenship just as much as the rest of us.  I think in some ways they deserve it more because they work for it.  We must remember not everyone is lucky enough to be born in the United States and automatically become a citizen.  Those who come here in search of freedom, of jobs and for a new life truely believe in our country and may be more dedicated to it than we are.  Therefore, making it easier for dedicated, good immigrants to get citizenship is a good thing.  It could greatly increase patriotism and American pride, which seems to have run low lately.

Prom Night: Fun, Friends, Memories,

Prom nights are infamous in this day and age as nights where a lot of car crashes happen because of alcohol and texting.  Prom season is the time during the year when the most teens die in car crashes.  Well, tonight is my first prom night.  I can't wait.  For me, dances are a time to hang out with friends and have fun just goofing around.  Not so much the romanticized versions of dances that you see in the movies.  No date for me, unless the guy I asked who stupidly didn't just say "yes" or "no" decides to turn up.  I'd be partially happy, partially really mad.  I have my dress, shrug and shoes ready and I might get my aunt to help me with my hair.  I usually hate wearing dresses because the majority of them are uncomfortably itchy, frilly, etc, etc.  I'll need to make sure I have time to do my makeup before prom. (This is one of the rare occasions when I think it's ok to wear makeup.)  Tonight will be a night to just hang out with friends and dance till I forget my troubles.  I don't need a boy to be hapy at a dance.  I don't need to obsess over a dance that I probably won't remember who I brought with me by this time last month.  I don't need slow dance drama.  I don't need jealousy issues.  I don't need worrying that I'll be ditched.  I don't need to make sure a tux goes with my dress.  I don't need to cling to a boy all night and not do what I want.  Heck, I do what I want when I want.  I don't tolerate being bossed around. I don't want to deal with the pain of being ditched, or being jealous of another girl because she's caught some boy's attention.  I don't want to deal with the loyalty issues some guys have.  I don't want to deal with some guy asking me to grind, which I think is disgusting.  I don't want to deal with the awkwardness of slow dancing, because I'm a klutz and I always get tongue-tied and awkward around guys I like.  I don't want to deal with guys and their wandering hands.  I don't want to deal with worrying about what some boy thinks of my dress.  I don't want to deal with afterparty drama.  I don't want to deal with awkward dinner dates.  I don't wanna deal with embarrassing wardrobe malfunctions.  I don't wanna deal with awkward texts and stuff like that.  That's why for once, it may be a good thing that I'm going stag to a dance.  Normally, it would just depress me, but this time it may save me from a ton of stressful things.  I'm growing into my own person, realizing that lack of a boyfriend doesn't need to be taken personally.  Enjoy prom season, everyone!

Prom Prep...

Well, there are two days till prom and a lot to do in that time.  The most important thing, at least in my mind is to work out so I feel better about myself when prom actually happens.  Second, I need to find comfy shoes that will go with my dress.  I may have to enlist some fashion help from my aunt to pull that off (money included).  I'm not gonna bother with makeup.  I think I look perfectly fine without it, thank you very much.  Plus, makeup is too much of a hassle.   There's no hope of me learning to dance better before then, and the guy I asked has made it pretty clear he's not interested in coming in the group to see what it's like.  In the meantime, there's ironing to be done, becuase my dress and shrug look really wrinkly.  I also need to figure out what the heck I'm gonna do with my hair.  ( I swear the stuff has a mind of its own!)  I'm definitely not letting my mom drag me to Great Clips like she did before homecoming, because I walked away with a million bobby pins, crunchy curls and a two day case of helmet head.  I also need to find a way to get some sleep in before getting ready for a concert the next day and possibly seeing a play.  Man, it looks like I'm in for a heck of a time, one way or another.

My solution to the "don't ask, don't tell" policy debate

I think it's stupid that openly gay people can't be in the army.  I mean, there are some great people who were in training for the military who had to leave the army because they revealed they were gay.  It's not fair to gay people that they have to stay closeted if the want to serve their country.  I think that goes against the  Constitution because it says all people have the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.  What if simply being allowed to be themselves without having to keep part of them in the closet is their pursuit of happiness.  Some opponents of the repealing of "don't ask, don't tell" say that having openly gay military members housed with other soldiers their own gender is as awkward as if you put the opposite genders in housing together.  Well, if that's all their worried about, then the solution is simple: straight girls with straight girls, straight guys with straight guys, gays with gays and lesbians with lesbians.  Then everyone could feel comfortable and be themselves. 


I say this because I have several friends who are gay, and who would be happy to serve their wcountry but can't because they don't want to go back into the closet after working so hard to come out of the closet in the first place.  They are passionate about protecting the US and are proud Americans, yet this policy is barring them from military service simply on grounds of sexual orientation.  This policy is blatantly anti-gay and prejudiced.  It's terrible that they cannot do what they want simply because the armed forces have homophobic policies.  A lot of homosexuals who have "mission critical" skills like speaking Arabic are turned away simply because they are homosexual.  Think how much more sucessful and/or larger the armed forces could be if all those homomsexual people were allowed to join!  We would have more manpower, more translators, more intelligence.  But as it is, we don't.  It's time to change America's homophobic policies like "don't ask, don't tell" and also allow gay marriage.  Homosexuals deserve happiness and the right to the jobs of their choice just as much as heterosexuals.