tribute to cod

A Man of Service

Kenneth “Cod” Brandt dedicated his life to service; service to his country, service to his family, service to his community. He was a strong, caring man who was always placed others before himself.

               Cod was born in Postville, Iowa in 1923 to Ray and Melinda Brandt. Though He had many aunts and uncles, he and his older brother were the first generation of his family to graduate from high school. While he was a teenager, he had few small jobs working at a popcorn stand and a B&B clothing store.

               After high school, he was drafted into the army and sent to Europe to fight in World War II. During this time, Cod served under General Patton in the 8^th Armored Division of the European Theater and most notably fought in the Battle of the Bulge. He was a tank commander and was part of the reconnaissance group, which in his words meant “you go first.” He risked his life for his country everyday by being the first in the line of artillery. Reconnaissance soldiers went ahead of the rest to scout territory and were the ones to make contact with the enemy. Cod was willing to give his life for his country, a thing not all men can do.

               Once Cod came home, he got married and spent the rest of his life with a young woman named Betty Byrnes. Cod owned and operated gas stations for the majority of his life and later worked as an insurance adjuster after he retired. He was just an ordinary man in small-town Iowa.

               Cod did some extraordinary things, though. He and his wife did many things for their community, including the running of St. Vincent DePaul Thrift Store for 25 years, helping the less fortunate. Even after the store was no longer under their control, they stayed in contact with the new owners and constantly asked if they needed any help. They also drove by the store every day to check on it and see if there were any donations that needed to be taken care of. Cod served on the Board of Directors of the Food Shelf of Allamakee County, donated blood regularly, was a part of the Zoning Committee of Allamakee County, and donated to many causes in his community. He coordinated many Thanksgiving meals for the county and even helped give rides to the meal site. He was an excellent example of the qualities of devotion and respect. Many lessons can be learned from the way this man chose to live his life.

               In his community, Cod bought a run-down plot of land next to his gas station and fixed it up. This was one of the many projects he took on to better the community without being asked. The well-being of others was something that was constantly on his mind. He brought in new industry to Waukon which helped his small town prosper. Cod even aided his poverty-stricken Aunt Esther by buying her a trailer to live in. He did these things throughout his life all the while being humble. He never let anything stop him; not poor economic conditions, Alzheimer’s disease, or his three battles with cancer. He never let anything bring him down and was still smiling in the last days of his fourth and final fight with cancer. His service touched many people around him, and you can still see his kindness today in the beauty of his small town and in the gentleness of his family and neighbors.  

Tour of Kennedy High School cont.

If you go upstairs, you pass the terribly smelling labs and the awkward teachers trying to be cool. You then pass by the old teacher who is finally retiring this year after starting when the school opened in the 1970s. He taught some of the teachers here now, and not the young ones. Then you pass the weird rooms that never have the same teacher in them the whole day long. If you turn, you pass the math teachers that students pretty much hate and then the room if the teacher that “resigned”’ because of accusations of relations with a student last year. If you go back to the foyer and take a direct right, you pass a few random LA rooms and the Japanese room, plus the main office where you go when you get in trouble, like when the guys in the junior class pass around a purple turtleneck to wear for every school picture. Then you pass the band hallway that always has people in it no matter what time it is. Then you pass the art hallway which never has people in it. Then you pass the choir and orchestra hallway which is where many dirties like to hang out. It’s super awkward to trying to shove by them when they are just standing around cussing up a storm and you want to go to class. Next, you pass the cafeteria where there is bad food and weird open mike lunches and fights. A massive grindfest also occurs there twice a year at Homecoming and WPA. Then, you pass the weird pod entrances to the auditorium which is always full of creepy dirties PDA-ing. In the back there are the green room and dressing rooms where many a dirty has been caught doing the nasty.

If you were to turn the other way from the foyer, you would pass other LA rooms and then the guidance counselor’s office which you never enter unless you want to drop a class. The nurse is also around there, but she’s not actually allowed to give you anything and only allows you to lay down for about fifteen minutes if you feel sick, all the while talking loudly so you can’t sleep at all. Then you pass the other healthy vending machines that serve no purpose and the recycling bins hat never actually were recycled until this past year. Then you go down a hallway with the terrible lockers and random French and LA rooms are. The special needs classes are also down here. The gym is here too, but you never have to take gym at Kennedy unless you are a bum and never do a sport or actually fill your schedule. Although, gym doesn’t sound too bad because I hear you either walk around the track the entire time or play things such as badminton.

Well, there’s Kennedy for you. I hope if you ever have to actually go there, this has helped you a bit. If not, that’s ok too.

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Tour of Kennedy High School

Kennedy High School is a jungle. Here is a simple tour through its crazy twists and turns.

               The front of school has a horse shoe drive where Carl monitors for students parking there. No one really knows his job description, but he’s who you blame if you get a parking ticket. He’s actually pretty nice, but it isn’t fair that he doesn’t give you a ticket if he recognizes your car and he likes you. There is a pond in the patch of green in the horse shoe which serves no purpose. There aren’t any fish or anything, just rocks, weeds, and water.

               Once you enter the door, you see a big staircase. This is the foyer. The corner/half by the picture case and attendance office to your right is the “dirty corner”. People who don’t shower, smoke pot, and do way too much PDA (public displays of affection) inhabit this part. The other side is where all the freshman and African Americans hang out. The middle part is for the seniors. There is a senior bench right under a TV that has weird inspirational sayings on it all day long. That bench is for seniors only. Sometimes they come sit on it during class just because they can. The jocks congregate by the vending machines that are borderline under the staircase. There is a weird wooden triangle thing opposite the vending machines that no one pays any attention to. I think there’s a map on one of the sides but I’m not sure. To your right is the attendance office where people sign out when they fake sick and where their parents bring assignments they forgot at home. To your left it the activities office which serves o real purpose other than to be the place you turn in your sports physical forms and to pick up fun certificates.

               When you go up the stairs, on the first landing is the entrance for the Upper IMC. After you go through a creepy detector to see if you are going to steal a book, they scream at you to sign in. Then you can either use a computer here, down one level, or down another level where there is a small ladder and tiny door that leads to directly under the stairs. No one actually knows why it’s there. This is where you go when you skip lunch to do homework you forgot to do. There is also a secret room where hey film the announcements each day. Which is pretty much two guys reading a piece of paper and then Dr. W (principal) steals the mike to elaborate whenever she wants.

If you go back to the first level an go straight back to the right, you pass part of the LA department and then loop around to the cool social studies teachers who all have white hair and are some sort of coach. Then you turn left and pass the teachers’ lounge where kids go in to get pop, popcorn, and coffee for themselves but pretend a teacher asked then to get it for them. Then you pass the not as cool but still okay social studies teachers and then turn into the foreign language hall where you can hear weird music videos being blasted on the smart boards to bored students.

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How to Write a Blog

               This is how to write a blog.

·       First, find a topic. You can pick anything at all! You can create a fictional story, review a book, tell someone how to do something, badmouth a person you know (not advised because this is the internet and nothing is private), share a recipe, show appreciation for someone, suggest a product, or pretty much anything- this is your blog post and you can do anything you want with it!

·       Next, organize your writing. Some people can just write exactly what they are thinking and just pretty much throw up words on the page, but it’s best to plan out your thoughts. You can write out an outline or scribble some thoughts on a piece of paper. This can be very helpful, especially so you don’t forget anything.

·       Then, write your blog. Take your thoughts and put then to words. You can do anything with this. You can choose any tone you want, use any type of diction formal or informal, write in short sentences, long, or a variety. You can sound very learned or just make your post an informal greeting. This is your post and you decide what you want to convey to your audience. Your style of writing helps you express your purpose. Normally whatever comes naturally is the best for your blog.

·       Last, revise. Check for spelling errors and weird wording and content errors. This is pretty much a no brainer so you don’t sound like a blithering idiot. You want your blogs to make sense to your readers. You could even have others proof read your blog for you.

If you follow these simple steps you are sure to have a rockin’ blog! Don’t worry about what your readers will think, though. This is your blog so even if you don’t have any readers, it just acts as an outlet for you. Let it be the therapy or fun past time you need it to be. J

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Pleasantville

The movie Pleasantville touches on many important aspects of the 1950’s era. It touches on civil rights, conformity, sexuality, utopian thought, and education.

            The major hit at civil rights in this movie is the “No Colored” signs that emerge throughout the town when townspeople start to live in color rather than black and white. This is a direct reflection to the attitude of whites toward African Americans during the civil rights movement. The characters in this movie reflected history because they were subject to violence, but they tried their best not to succumb. They held meetings and tried to brainstorm how to make their society better and equal while trying to stay as peaceful as possible. The attitude in this movie is the exact same as racism in history.



            This movie also accurately reflected the utopian society and conformity that accompanies the 1950s. Everyone was fixated on the “perfect life”. Consumerism was big and everyone had to have the same nice car and white picket fence. The American society had a very happy and utopian exterior. No one spoke out very much in the happy towns like Pleasantville. This town was perfect- the basketball team ever missed a basket, the temperature was always 72 degrees, the firefighters only had to rescue cats from trees, and the mother looked flawless and had dinner ready when the father got home. This lovely patriarchal society seemed to have no glitches, but this movie challenged that utopian thinking.



            The education in the fifties was starting to change. They still had basic schooling, but people became a bit more aware of things in the outside world after World War II. For instance, “duck and cover” was taught as protection for bombs. Also, things that weren’t normally talked about, such as sexuality, became a bigger part of society, as sort of reflected in this movie. Towards the end of the fifties, the conformity of the earlier times was being challenged by groups such as beatniks. By the sixties, the traditional values prevalent in the fifties were starting to get shoved out the door, which this movie starts to show.



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Forrest Gump

            Forrest Gump is a very entertaining movie, but although it does hold factual information, it has been embellished a lot. A lot of things in this movie actually happened, but the fictional character of Forrest Gump didn’t actually take part in them because, well, he’s fictional.

Let’s start at the beginning.

            I seriously doubt that Elvis Presley got his famous hip-swinging, knee-jerking dance moves from a small boy in Alabama. I also doubt that a boy with braces on his legs who could barely walk would one day miraculously start running from some bullies, have his braces break off, and be totally cured of whatever ailment he had. It’s possible and inspirational, but highly doubtful. I also feel as though it is not a common thing for a mother to get her partially mentally disabled child into a school by “dating” the principal. I bet it has happened, sort of, but not frequently.

            In the case of Jenny, her story is entirely believable. Because of her abuse as a child, she had a troubled time growing up and got involved in many bad situations. Sadly, this situation happens too many times in America.

            Forrest’s involvement in the Vietnam War is entirely plausible. He very well could have met a friend and then have him die, but rescue many people in the process and receive a medal of honor for his bravery. Also, all of the hippie protest gatherings were sabotaged just like in the movie. Also, there were Black Panther meetings like the one Forrest gets brought to. The Bubba-Gump Shrimp, on the other hand, probably was not founded the way the movie shows. The US did get invited to a big Ping Pong thingy in Asia, but the whole Forrest Gump part was a fabrication. Also, the Watergate scandal was not busted by a person looking out the window of his hotel room and calling the front desk to say that the lights are probably not working.

            I doubt that a man actually ran across the entire United States and attracted followers form all over and only stopped to eat, sleep, and go to the bathroom. That would be insane. I also doubt that he actually wiped mud off of his face into a smiley face design and gave a guy a t-shirt design or stepped in dog poop and made a bumper sticker slogan. All of these little instances in the movie are cute and funny, but they never actually happened the way the movie says they did.

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EEEEWWW Saliva

I hate saliva. It is disgusting. Dirty dishes are one of the most repulsive things in the world to me. I just cannot handle them. My parents want me to get a summer job, but my options are severely shortened by the fact that I refuse to handle other people's, especially stranger's, dirty dishes.

At home, I get the choice to either set the table before supper or clear it after supper. I obviously choose to set the table. Some people think setting the table is boring but I don’t mind it. I think it's a whole lot better to touch clean dishes rather than dirty ones. I can't even handle the saliva of my own family. I can only clear my own dirty dishes, and sometimes that even grosses me out. My dad also gives me the choice to either load the dish washer or unload it. Unload, duh! Loading the dish washer is even grosser because you have to turn the dishes on their side and so things can fall off and actually touch you. EWW. Some days, though, I don't have a choice. My father makes me handle the dirty stuff. It's traumatic. Sometimes I wear gloves if I can find them.

I hate having to clear the table when we eat pasta. Something about the red marinara sauce makes everything worse. It's not that it reminds me of blood or anything, it's just more disgusting than the other meals. Steak and meat like that is better because there is less human saliva left on the plate. You only use your silverware so you don’t really have a big chance of getting your hands dirty on a messy plate. I really hate it when sauce spills out the side of a plate and then you touch it. I feel like throwing up when that happens. I also hate touching people’s silverware so I try and balance it in the middle of the plate so I don’t have to come in contact with it. I do the same thing with napkins. I like when people already leave their napkin on their plate so I don’t have to touch it at all. But if I do have to touch it, I either just use two little fingers and grab the corner, or pick it up inside a clean napkin to protect my hand. I hate touching glasses as well because you not only have their hands and fingerprints to deal with, but you have their lip marks as well. Total saliva. Plus you have to deal with any possible liquid that slid down the side of the glass too. My last pet peeve for dishes is sauces. I hate when a sauce is all over the plate. It’s even worse when there are multiple sauces mixes together. It looks like something very repulsive. I would rather make dinner and set the table and do laundry all together rather than clear the table after just one meal.

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Darwinian Thought

Charles Darwin founded the theory of evolution, which basically said that animals rely on the rule of “survival of the fittest”. Darwin figured out that evolution was present, but he had a lot of holes in his theory-which he knew about. If he was able to do DNA test like we are able to today, he would have had access to the answers of many of his questions. All you really need to do to understand evolution is to map genes and find mutations. When a new species or variation of a species develops, it is due to a mutation. The species survives if a mutation is helpful to the animal. If it fulfills its purpose- which is to survive and reproduce successful offspring. For example, if a mouse has a light colored coat and lives in light sand, than that trait is beneficial. If the mouse moves to dark rocks, its light coat will stand out to predators so it will be seen and eaten. If a mutation arises where the coat is dark then the mouse will survive on the dark rocks. This mutation would be beneficial and so it will survive and be passed on to many other generations.

Darwin suggested that humans are descended from apes and was ridiculed for it. IT is accepted in science today, but the puzzle now is how we can have 99% of the same DNA as chimps, but be so different. Our hands are a big difference. Our hands are more versatile and dexterous. Scientists found a difference in DNA having to do with a switch connected to the use of thumbs that accounts for our differences. We also have a mutation that makes our jaws smaller then chimps and so our brains keep expanding and growing. To find out more differences between chimps and humans, scientists need to look for spots that are different between humans and chimps but the same in chimps and other animals. Most of the differences were actually in “switches” to control genes, no in the actual genes. Half of the differences were related to the brain. A small change can have a profound effect because of the switches in DNA.

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The legend of Wade cont.

He worked with Britney a lot. He even had an affair with her. He not only got to choreograph, but also help write, direct, produce, and mix the music for her award show performances and a few of her world tours. When he worked with Britney on her 1999 world tour, he was only seventeen. He was younger than Britney herself! The same thing happened for Wade with the group NSYNC. He played a large role in many of their hit songs. He then got a deal with the Universal Music Group, which opened a lot of doors for him. From there, Wade made a lot of connections and became even more popular. Let’s keep in mind that he’s only about twenty years old at this time. That’s insane!!

Nowadays Wade is still doing choreography, especially for So You Think You Can Dance. He won an Emmy Award for his dance “Ramalama” in 2007 and a nomination for “The Humming Bird and The Flower” the same year. With all of this choreography publicity you might doubt his actual dancing skills, but that would just be foolish. In fact, in 2010 when So You Think You Can Dance had “Ramalama” perform again, one performer could not make it so Wade stepped in. It was amazing. Wade also goes around with other famous choreographers with The Pulse On Tour. This is a workshop that goes around the United States and lets ordinary people (LIKE ME!!) learn choreography from him and other people. When I went there, it was one of the best experiences of my life. I even got my picture taken with him! Not many people got to do that because after me, a huge mob came and his security guard said “no more!” Look up Wade on YouTube. You will be amazed. He is so talented and famous and he’s not even thirty yet!

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The legend of Wade

Wade Robson is an amazing choreographer, performer, director, and so many things. He is famous for his work with Michael Jackson, Britney Spears, NSYNC, and Emmy-award winning choreography on FOX’s SO You Think You Can Dance. He also travels around the United States sharing his talents with people all over through workshops and such.

Wade Robson was born in Brisbane, Australia September seventeenth 1982. When he was four years old, he loved the music video of Michael Jackson’s Thriller, and learned the dance perfectly. By age five he became a professional dancer around Australia. When Michael Jackson went to Australia, there was a lookalike contest. The prize was to meet Michael Jackson. Wade entered this contest and won. When he met Michael, he danced for him. Michael was so impressed that he invited Wade to join him on stage at his concert the next day. This marked the beginning of Michael and Wade’s friendship. When Wade was eight, he appeared on Australia’s TV show Star Search. At the age of nine, wade decided to move to the United States to further his dancing career with the help of Michael Jackson.

By that time, Wade had appeared in many music videos of Michael’s. He also was featured in commercials, movies, and TV shows like Full House. When he was twelve, he decided that he wanted to teach dance. He became a teacher at the famous Millennium Dance Complex in North Hollywood, California. He became their “rock star teacher” and his classes were always full. At the age of fourteen, he got his first professional choreography gig with the group Immature. (haha funny because he worked with Immature when he was only fourteen…) His work with this group and other like things caught the eye of Britney Spears. Wade had started to develop his own style of dance accompanied by his own mixed music.

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Perfect Match

Perfect Match

Picoult, Jodi. Perfect Match. Washington Square Press. 2003. Print. (368 pages)

            Jodi Picoult did a wonderful job writing this book, just as in all the other books of hers that I have read. She illustrates a story so beautifully and is able to make it come to life. She makes you feel like you know the characters in her story and yet she keeps you guessing. She is constantly switching the protagonist in her stories. One minute you sympathize with the victim of the crime, the next the perpetrator and the next the simple bystander. This book was no different.

            I give Picoult props for constantly picking controversial subjects to center her stories around. This particular book centers on the molestation of a five-year-old boy by a priest. Picoult is very well read in this subject and gives the reader in sights into every mind involved in this book. She lets you enter into the mother’s mind, father’s mind, and even the silent little boy’s mind. She stirs emotions and brings about discussion and challenge to rules. She discusses the taboo part of our culture with no fear.

            This book was a little predictable, though. Having read Jodi Picoult books before, I could sort of find a pattern to her books. It started with a big event, and then came the court case, a twist, and then a surprise ending. Even though I didn’t know exactly what the twist was going to be, I knew it was coming, which took half the fun out of reading it. Don’t get me wrong, this book is a very good and I recommend it to anyone, but it just seems a bit too familiar to someone who has read Picoult before.

The Last Lecture

Pausch, Randy. The Last Lecture. New York: Hyperion Books. 2008. Print.

I haven’t read an autobiography in a long time, and I have definitely never read one like The Last Lecture. This book does so much more than just go through the events of a man’s life. It illustrates Pausch’s life beautifully and then gives a lesson to go along with each story. The best part about this book is that it doesn’t focus on the generic lessons of life that everyone emphasizes over and over. It takes broad lessons and then breaks them up into smaller, more manageable and understandable teachings that the reader can grasp onto. The book was also very cool and unique in the fact that it took all of the small lessons and tied those in to the larger message of “follow your dreams’ that Pausch was trying to convey.

            I really liked how Pausch had short chapters each with their own lesson. Some authors try to jam pack a bunch of small lessons into one large chapter, which doesn’t work. That way, all of the small lessons get lost in the reader’s mind. The small break up of Pausch’s book helps emphasize each individual moral being taught and helps organize them in the reader’s mind. I also enjoyed the pictures he placed throughout the book. It was a nice touch and helped Pausch seem like an actual person and it made me feel like I got to know him better through the photos.

            I did not like how Pausch jumped around in the chronology of his life. I see that he tried to organize his book based upon the lessons he wanted to teach the reader, but that made the events of his life jumble up. I got very confused because he started the book at a point in his life before he gave the lecture, which made me think that the book was going to detail his process of creating his lecture, but then by the time I was only a fourth of the way through, the lecture had already happened. He kept jumping from times when he was young to times after his lecture to when he was first getting diagnosed and so on. The jumpiness of the book was hard to get a handle on. I wish he would have reorganized it so that the lessons coincided better with an actual chronology of events.

            If you ever come across this book, I recommend that you read it, no matter what age you are. This book contains lessons for people of all walks of life. I feel like a better person after reading this book and I guarantee you will too.

My AP Bio Experiment cont.

Our results did not actually fulfill our hypothesis. The plants with the most growth were actually the ones with san. The tallest plant was the one with the half and half ratio of sand to soil. The next tallest plants were the three-fourths to one-fourth ratio pots. The least growth came in the only soil and only sand pots. The sand helped the plants grow. The sand made water move into the soil faster and more so, which helped the plant absorb more water and grow more. The all soil pot did not allow as much water to reach the plant which stunted its growth. The all sand pot fulfilled our hypothesis that there wouldn’t be enough nutrients for the plant, but it also allowed too much water to reach the plant and flood it. We were still very surprised to see that the plant grew at all in the pot with only sand. The three pots with rocks in them were actually all relatively the same height. This was because the gravitropism of the plants makes the roots avoid the rocks and obstacles in the soil.

            Our zinnias did not grow at although… That was sad. There were a few conditions that made the growth of our zinnias nonexistent and the growth of our radishes less than they could have in a month and a half. Because this was an assignment, we had to start it in March. This was the wrong time of year to plant these plants. The weather was too cold for the zinnias and radishes to grow to their full potential. If we had started in May and went through the summer, the results probably would have been more conclusive and more reliable. Also, there was a very big rainstorm in the middle of the experiment that may have negatively impacted our plants. I tried to get the pots out of the pouring rain, but I was not home at the time so the pots had to stay out in the rain for about an hour before I was able to move them. This could have flooded and damaged the seeds, especially the zinnias.

            This was a nice and educational experiment that I hope my class mates will enjoy hearing about and my teacher will think was executed well. I get to present it in a few days and I hope it goes well.

(399 words)

My Ap Bio Experiment

For the end of year project in my Advanced Placement Biology course, everyone had to design an experiment and present it to the class. He gave us no guidelines except that we had to record data, keep a journal, have a purpose, have it pertain to biology, and to preset it to the class. Very vague. My partner and I decided to see the effects of different terrain on plant growth. We had to write up a long formal lab report, but I will summarize our experiment for you in this blog.

            First, we got eight pots for our soil. We filled the first pot with all soil. The second pot was filled with a mixture of three-fourths soil and one-fourth sand. We filled the third with a half soil/ half sand mixture. The fourth was filled with a mixture of one-fourth pot soil and three-fourths sand. The fifth was filled with all sand. The last three pots were filled fully with soil, but big rocks were randomly spread out throughout the soil in the first, small rocks in the second, and a mixture of the two sizes in the last pot. We made two sets of the soil mixtures and planted zinnias in one and radishes in the other. We then watered them every few days and let them grow for about a month and a half.

            Our hypothesis was if the amount of sand increased in the pot, the plant would grow less. We also thought that the rocks would stunt the growth of the plants. We thought this because the more sand meant that the plant would have less soil to get nutrients from and so the plant would not be able to grow as tall. We didn’t think the plant in the pot with all sand would grow at all. We thought that the rocks would be too big of obstacles for the plant to avoid and so the plant would not be able to grow very tall or have very thick stems.

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Grad Party Trends 2012 cont.

Pork- I enjoy pork, and I even was thinking about serving it next year at my party, but there was just too much this year. Some of the pulled pork was delicious, but others were just weird. I also did not try every one because once you have something you don’t want to eat it multiple times in one day.  Some people had slabs of pork, which is a big no-no. First of all, they don’t really taste good. Second, they are dry and cold. You may put them in a heating dish with juice, but the meat retains neither the juice nor the heat. Once you put the meat on your plate, the juice seeps out, making it dry, and it starts getting cold. Unless you eat it first and fast, the slab is not good.

Catering- This happens every year; people getting their meat and whole meals catered in. this just makes me a bit sat because I like eating homemade recipes from the graduate’s family. Catered meals can be good, but most of the time they include complicated dishes that aren’t worth eating. I enjoy simple, tastey, familiar foods. Also, in my opinion, the party is supposed to feature the graduate’s favorite foods. I find it hard to believe that the graduate a wanted an entire meal catered by a company. I’m sorry. But that sounds like lazy parents.

Dessert Parties- Sadly, quite a few parties this year did not feature full meals. Many people dedicated their entire food spread to treats. This seems like a wonderful idea, but a lot of them are not fun. You find yourself craving actual food. This is especially disappointing if you are expecting a meal, but then you get there and it’s only deserts. Also, when an entire party is dedicated to sweets, you can get some pretty weird stuff that sounds good and looks good but doesn’t taste good at all.

Don’t people know to ask around and inquire what others are serving? This helps the year of food be more diverse. I hope the next two weekends of parties bring a better variety of food.

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Grad Party Trends 2012

I have been to around twenty-five graduation parties so far this year and there have been a few prominent trends that stuck out.

Cupcakes- This year, there were hardly any cakes. Everyone decided to skip the big cake and go for cupcakes. Some were good, but others were just okay. When I started to see nothing but cupcakes at every party, I got bored. Out of probably 15 parties with cupcakes, I had about 3. Plus, all of the cupcakes were awkward flavors like almond and champagne. The frosting was terrible. I don’t like a lot of frosting on cake so you may say this was just a personal opinion, which it is, but the frosting also tasted bad. Normally I can have a bit of frosting but pretty much everyone had bad frosting. Also, everyone got their cupcakes from the same place. In addition to having the same idea, everyone had the same caterer. I couldn’t escape them!! The only cupcake I ate and actually enjoyed was a homemade one from the graduate’s great grandmother’s special recipe. I was surprised I liked it because it was chocolate and I don’t like chocolate cake normally, but this recipe was very good and they didn’t go overboard on the frosting. I liked chocolate homemade cupcakes better than all of the other “professional” fancy cupcakes a bunch of people wasted their money on.

Cake Balls- People these days have this big obsession to eat cake batter mixed with frosting rolled up in a little ball covered in chocolate. Sounds like a recipe for diabetes to me. They are just waay too sweet for me. Plus, just like the cupcakes, people made weird flavors like red velvet and strawberry champagne. I don’t even like the normal flavors of these cake balls so just making these crazy ones is too much. And, just like the cupcakes, if you eat cake balls at every party, you get bored ant do not want to eat any more of them.

Party Potatoes/Cheesy Potatoes- Yummmmmy!! This is the one repeated party food that never got old. This dish takes two of the best foods out there-cheese and potatoes-and combines them into one delectable dish. Some parties had better potatoes than others, but they were all very good. Some were dry, not cheesy enough, too potato-y, or had too much seasoning on them, but they all were very edible. This dish is a classic. I will be serving it at my party next year.♥

(415 words)

Humble Recognition

I believe in truly earning what you get. Receiving something isn’t worth anything unless you work for it. The satisfaction just isn’t there when you know you didn’t deserve what you got.

Satisfaction is priceless. There is no greater feeling than being recognized for something you worked hard at. When you put your full effort into something, you get a sense of self-gratification, but when someone else notices it too, that is just icing on the cake. If you receive something because you are related to the presenter or because you cheated the system in some way, you don’t feel content. You only feel guilt. That guilt won’t make you want to improve yourself either. You will just keep cheating and have pile of remorse on your conscience.

There have been many times in my life when I’ve gotten things I didn’t deserve. I have done things such as getting an A in a class when I didn’t really do A-quality work. When I was younger, I used to use my name and my connection through my older brothers and such to get things I wanted. If I wanted a solo or something at a summer camp, I would make a point to talk about my older brothers who were very talented and who’d be coming to see me. I expected them to give me the solo because of who I was, not because of my abilities. It worked every time, except once. That one time, you’d think I would be crushed that I didn’t get that solo. In actuality, I didn’t care that I didn’t get it, I was just mad that another girl got it. Selfish, right? That’s what happens when you’re used to getting things you don’t deserve. It changes you.

I will never forget the time I was surprised by an award. I never expected that I’d get the “leadership crown” for my dance team. It’s a silly tradition, but even so, it is highly respected and sought after. I assumed that this other girl on the team would get it because she’s a better dancer than me and everyone always raved over her talent. When I received it, I was so shocked and touched that I cried. I wasn’t expecting it at all, which made me feel so special. It showed me that I didn’t have to show off to be noticed. It was even my humility that made me a good candidate for that fuzzy, pink crown.

Don’t expect to receive things if you don’t deserve them. Don’t expect an A on a test if you didn’t do the homework. Don’t expect to receive a choir award if you don’t enjoy singing. Don’t expect to be MVP if you don’t try your hardest at practice. Don’t expect anything if you actually do the work either.

The Chair

               There was a chair you always sat in. It was a beautiful chair; very old, but filled with character. It was square and looked simple at first, but had many intricate details if you took a closer look. It had four dark, slender wooden legs with lines carved in them and they had that swirl pattern at the end that turned into a little ball when it came into contact with the floor. The top was covered in black leather. It had wooden arm rests with a small padding of firm leather where your elbows rested. The back had the same, rather firm leather padding and was surrounded in small golden balls. The seat of the chair was very comfortable, though. It was leather too, but it had a lot of padding and was worn down by all the years of use. You could see little cracks in the old leather, but that could never stop us from sitting in it.

               There were actually two of the exact same chairs, but you always chose the one by the window. Every time I went to your small house, I would see you sitting in that chair in the same spot. You would be sitting quite comfortably with your elbows resting on the rests with your fingers laced together and placed on your lap. Most of the more recent times you were sitting there, you had your foot up on the stool. You never really liked having to sit and put your foot up, but she told you and you had to obey. I never quite knew why you had to do that, but I assumed it was just another small thing for your health and didn’t think about it much. You would always be looking out that huge window onto the street. Nothing much ever happened in your small town. Sometimes there would be construction being done on a house, but nothing major. You would always sit and watch cars go by and people out for walks. You always knew when the mail arrived because you would see the mail man come and drop it off every day. If something was happening in that quiet neighborhood, you knew. I would always wonder what you were thinking when you looked out onto that empty street. Sometimes I assumed you were watching something happening because you looked very content. Other times, you looked deep in thought and I just looked at you and tried to read the expression on your face to tell what you were thinking.

               I always liked sitting in that chair. When I was younger and my feet didn’t touch the floor, I would always slide on the leather. No matter what I did, I could never stay on that darn chair. I never really understood how you could sit there for an entire hour and not move a single bit. It constantly was hard work for me to sit in that chair, but you always looked calm and relaxed. Once I got a bit older, I figured out how to sit in it, finally. Having your feet flat on the floor helped a lot. Also, you needed to not move around a lot, which I had trouble with when I was so young. You just picked a position, relaxed, and could sit there for days. After you left, I would sit there just to remember you. I would make sure that I had a time to just quiet myself, sit there, look out the window, and feel your presence. I still think about you every day and look at your picture hanging in my room. I don’t need a picture to remember you, though, because I will have the image of you sitting in that chair and looking out the window, vividly in my mind, forever.

(643 words)