Senior Recognition Night = 3 hours

Oh, the joy of long and boring award ceremonies. Senior Recognition Night is always the first week of May and is notorious for being "the longest night" next to graduation. As it is explained in the title of the ceremony, almost every senior is recognized for their achievements and are given scholarships, awards, and medals. The counselors, principals, AD, and some teachers attend to present us these awards. Though it was painfully hot and stuffy, it was actually not that bad.

Looking at the program for the night was a little overwhelming because our high school offers so many awards, scholarships, and opportunities to win medals so all we heard most of the night was clanking of metal. Our parents were so proud watching us walk across stage like 50 times, snapping tons of pictures throughout the night.

The funniest and most unexpected part of the night was that we had to stand on stage for what seemed like a really long time underneath the hot stage lights. It did make it easier, however, to recieve awards because all you had to do was step down the risers and walk across stage as opposed to coming up from the audience. Everyone looked so cute with their dresses and nice shirts and ties, but here's some advice to upcoming seniors. WEAR COMFY SHOES and something cool. Don't wear a sweater, those people were pitting out by the end of the night...hardcore.

So even though Senior Recognition Night was supposed to be 10 hours long, stifling hot, and ridiculously boring...it was not that long, just as hot, and sort of boring. It was fun to see what your classmates have achieved and don't forget, it's a special night for the parentals! :)

First Time Fake-Baking..

Have you ever seen Final Destination 4? I sure hope you remember the scene where the two girls completely fry themselves in tanning beds because they were locked in. Okay, so that couldn't really happen, well maybe it could, but that's besides the point. Even before seeing that movie, I've always been against tanning. I'm an athlete and I'm outside all the time anyways, so I've never really felt the need to indulge in the light bulb experience. But the other day I had a minor meltdown about how I will look at prom.

Playing tennis gives you the worst tan lines in the world. First there is the infamous one, on the feet, because we wear tennis shoes when we play. Then we have a shorts/skirt tan line on the thighs. Then depending on what kind of dress/top you wear, there's always a racerback line or in our case this year, a turtle-neck (not really) line because our dress is conservatively cut on the top. This creates problems especially since the weather hasn't been as nice as it should be. There hasn't been many opportunities to soak up the rays/even out tan lines so I figured what is the easiest and quickest fix? That's right, I'm giving in.

I promised myself that I'm not going to get addicted. I don't want to be some of those people that like to go every other day. Ewwww. I'm looking into going a few-five times just to even out and look my best for prom. I'm pretty scared because I've never gone, but I'm hoping to bring some friends along to make sure that Final Destination 4 will not happen to me.

Facebook Addiction

Yes. I admit I have a problem. With Facebook becoming one of the most popular social networks on the internet, I can't help but say that I've been sucked in as well. I first got a Facebook when I was a freshman or sophomore and I thought it was the sweetest thing ever. It was definitely an upgrade from Xanga (a blog website) where you posted things about your daily life, then had friends comment on the crazy middle school drama you wrote. Facebook started out as a social network only for college students, but later opened up to high school students, and NOW everyone can join and it's free (as it says on the login page). Creepy right? Facebook is nick- named stalkerbook for a reason here, folks.

Though it has some down sides, it's definitely a great past time and way to procrastinate. I often find myself playing Scrabulous or looking through pictures when I really should be doing that AP biology essay due tomorrow. Now there are so many applications such as Bumper Sticker, Jetman, Pieces of Flair, and "What's your stripper name?" that it's hard for most people to get away. They've even opened up a new tab system and have added a chat which is very similar to AOL Instant Messenger. I'm sure Mark Zuckerberg is making the big bucks now, but why shouldn't he? He's created a way for college students, high school students, families, friends, etc. to come together and be able to communicate in endless ways.

One of the most beneficial things that Facebook has done for me is someone made a group from the college I will be attending this fall and it has allowed hundreds of accepted students to be able to chat, have a discussion board about various college topics, find roomies, and make friends. It's been really great to chat with future classmates and will be fun to meet the people at orientation and in the fall. Even though Facebook is a ridiculous addiction, it's a good addiction...maybe.

Cirque du Soleil

If you want to see something amazing and unbelieveable, go see Cirque du Soleil. I went on Friday night with my boyfriend and his family and it was honestly the most ridiculous thing I have ever seen in my entire life. This is no circus folks. As much as it sounds like, "oh there's going to be sweet animals there and stuff"....heck no. This is nothing like what we saw as little kids. Plus, clowns are scary anyways.

With tons of vibrant colors, singing (that's in a completely different language!), dancing, trapeze artists, acrobats, everyone in spandex suits, it's one of the best performances I've seen. I believe that each show is pretty different but for the most part the show goes through sort of a story plot. I got to see the Saltimbanco show which is Italian. It literally means "to jump on a bench". Believe me, they did much more than just jump on a bench. The show is inspired by the hustle and bustle of big cities and has sort of an urban feel to it. Saltimbanco presented an interesting and fun way to look at an imaginary city.

The show went through several acts, all in a two and a half hour show. There were Chinese poles in which acrobats would climb up with no support or harness holding them up. The trapeze artists were ridculous and were literally flinging each other around and catching the other with their feet. The artistic bicycle was pretty cool, where one guy rode a bicycle in every way imaginable. The Russian swing was literally a human catapult and they would increase their height and fly off into the air doing back flips and twists then landing on a mat. I can't describe how high they flew in the air, it was probably to the point where they almost hit the ceiling. From the picture you can see that people stacked up on top of each other and did flips from that high in the air.

I could go on and on forever about what else the show had, but that would ruin it for those who haven't seen Cirque du Soleil. It doesn't even sound that great from me describing it. It's one of those things you won't believe until you see. I sat there half the time with my hand over my mouth in amazement and actually feeling nervous that someone could actually fall to their death. The people that participate in this show have unbelieveable strength and flexibility. I can't imagine doing that as a career. So whenever you get the chance, go see Cirque du Soleil! You won't regret it.

Beating West

The most anticipated tennis meet of the year was on Saturday when the girls tennis team took on West. We played City High in the morning and beat them 9-0. We couldn't wait any longer until we had to play West.

Ever since I can remember we have always had a rivalry with West. They've traditionally had ridiculously good tennis and an amazing coach. When I was a freshmen, we were still battling with them to see who could go to state and who could win the state championship in the end. Though we didn't make it to state my freshmen year, it's still always come down to us and West. That's all we ever really think about, is this particular meet.

The history goes further back though. Sophomore year we lost to West in the state championship final in tough tiebreakers and close matches. That was one of the toughest losses I've ever endured as an individual and as a team. The next year (last year) we beat them in an 8 hour battle that had to be moved indoors due to the rainy weather. I've never experienced a greater win such as that. Winning the state championship over three-time state champs is the greatest feeling in the world.

Saturday was an important meet because we both had something to prove. We have to defend out title, they have to fight back to earn their reputation back. We beat them for the third consecutive time 6-3, and oh, it felt so good. People have really underestimated our team this year because we lost three seniors who were all in the top spots last year. But what people don't know is that there's more to our team than a few decent tennis players. We have a deep team full of competitiors and that's essentially what tennis is all about.

I couldn't be happier with the way we played on Saturday and I hope the season continues to be successful. I can't wait until we make it to state and meet West again!

True Love <33

There's something I always think about when I see shows that are trying to help two people find true love. Oh let's see here...a Shot at Love, the Bachelor, I Love New York, Flava of Love, etc. the list goes on and on. Something I can never understand is why in the heck people are trying to find their soulmate on TV. I'm sorry that I talk about reality TV all the time, but come on, you know it's interesting.

Alright, so let's be honest. I love watching a hunky bachelor go on these romantic dates with all of these women, and treating them all with the utmost respect and care on this major adventure trying to find a girl he wants to spend the rest of his life with. That's adorable and all, but not realistic whatsoever. Come on. Like everyone finds their soulmate in freaking London or on these amazing trips with the somehow "perfect" romantic atmosphere. As for the trashy Shot at Love, I Love NY, etc. etc. oh geez. They are oh-so-entertaining, but oh-so-staged as well.

Who would have thought to put a bi-sexual bachelorette on TV with a bunch of women and a bunch of guys and let America sit back and see what happens. Yes these shows are entertaining and I am not bashing them because they aren't the most tasteful, but because they aren't reality TV. They are simply not realistic at all. The houses are cool and the date locations aren't that bad either, but don't make up stupid challenges to see who wants to "fight for my love the most". How dumb. I wouldn't really like having a camera follow me around for a few months/years or however long it takes to get my whole love story on film. Let alone would I want America watching me make some decision breaking 1209381203 people's hearts along the way.

Regardless of how entertaining these reality tv shows where people try to find their true love for life, I'm not buying into it. Do you realize that most/all people never stay together? "Things didn't work out with Bobby, so I'm back again, watch me now break 31 more peoples' hearts". Seriously? I just don't understand how people think they can find someone they are truly happy with and truly in love with when they have a camera following them around 24/7, the person is kissing like 10 other people at the same time as you, and no matter what someone always gets hurt. Wow, what a thing love is.

THE PAPER!

Who would have thought MTV would come out with a show other than Tila Tequila's "a Shot at Love" or "the Real World"? Last week a brand-spanking new series came out about a high school paper called "The Circuit" from a high school located in California. It's just like any other high school newspaper production, right? No, it's even better! With all of the paper's staff and drama-rama to go along with it, this is probably the funniest show to watch as a newspaper staff member myself.

Apparently in California it's a really big deal to be editor-in-chief. "I'm the big cheese, I'm the big cheese" as Amanda, the ever-so-hopeful future editor, would say. She dances around the kitchen with her Easy Mac and spends all hours of the night on a weekend to work on her essay in order to get the title of editor. As she spends hours slaving away at her computer on a Friday night, all of the other staff members are shown to be out partying and enjoying themselves. Then it goes on to show everyone else stressing out later about their papers, as she's out basking away in the sun by the pool. This girl is crazy.

The staff members are slightly harsh and somewhat cruel to our friend Amanda. Many find her hard to listen to, to take orders from, and simply just to be around in the first place. With a demanding, in-your-face type of personality, the other members find her hard to get along with. She falls ill and stays home from school the day the essays were supposed to be turned in, and her mom had to run in and hand it in for her. The staff goes out to eat later that night, and call her and ask her how she's doing with several bursts of laughter and muttered comments that she could plainly hear.

The funniest part of this show to me was not only how staged it all is, but also the couple that is on staff. As they are making out trying to finish their essays last minute, we also get into their "texting lives" and watch as they text each other IMMEDIATELY after they find Amanda is the new editor-in-chief. I can tell you now, the only reason I'm watching this show is because it's so dumb, it's entertaining. Torch is nothing like this show!