My first roadtrip with a bunch of almost-journalists to Daytona!

What happens in Daytona stays in Daytona! Not really, I got alot of stuff on video and what do you expect when a conference is held at a hotel on the beach and it's all expenses paid? We party like Journalists. so this is what happened from what I can Remember....

DAY ONE

There were five of us. Kyle, our editor-in-cheif, Gustavo, the managing editor (second in command) Rogianne, the south campus bureau chief, Alexa, our design editor and Me, the features editor. The plan was to meet early in the morning on south campus, and our Advisor Jen would drive the rental car down from west palm where she lives. That plan quickly went to hell when
1) both the guys were late to meet us and
2) the car wouldn't start in Jen's drive way.
Kyle was the last to arrive, but Gustavo had overslept, so we piled into Kyle's death trap of a car and drove over to Gustavo's to wake him up. After a few minutes of waiting and a fun pic with the girls infront of his house, the girls piled into Kyle's car. Since I'm not exactly comfortable in it, I rode (and bonded) with Gustavo to Jen's in west palm, where she figured out what was wrong with the car (absolutely nothing, the car key was plastic and clunky and she didn't know how to turn it on, the woman she called for help didn't understand the problem and neither did Jen's husband. Everything was good by the time we got there.)
 It was 9:45 by the time we finally left Jen's in the van and to prepare ourselves for the long ride up, we entertained ourselves. It was awesome, because it felt like we were going to disney world, but it was the "Florida College System Publication Association's 53rd Annual Awards Conference in Daytona. The title is a mouthful so it's FCSPA for short. anyways we did this. Kyle is the one on the phone, Gustavo is next to him, Rogianne is next to me and Alexa is in the passenger seat.

If you couldn't tell, Kyle pranked called some girl from Gustavo's job about her degree at FIU. always the Prankster. These guys are like Pauly-D and Vinny, bros til the end, completly inseperable. So adorable!

The rest of the trip up was pretty chill, and by the time we got to the Hotel, we missed the welcoming. The day was still early, so after checking out my awesome room and eveyone else's we went our separate ways until dinner, after all, we just spent like four hours in a mini van. we got our name tags and journalistic goody bags Alexa and I went across the street so could get cheap and cute flip flops. The shop was adorable and pretty cheap. We met with Rogi at the pool after checking out (and nearly being knocked over) the beautiful powdery white sandy beach that was right outside my window, then we hung out in the indoor fancy jaccuzzi. This is when things get kind of college-y. After the Dinner with a bunch of other community college newspapers, we (as in the staff and I) went up to the guys' room (because they shared a room and all the girls got their own room!) and found out what the guys did while we were at the pool
 and beach. They were buying tons of cheap beer. That's right, how many underaged drinkers were in that room? Three out of  Five, and I won't say which three, or post the massive collection of emptied bottles from the two night trip. That's on Gustavo's instagram. I can almost taste the bitter, foamy beverage settling on my tounge the more I think about it. Bud Lite is the drink I'll forever associate with Daytona. I eventually made it back to my own room and found myself feeling a bit homesick, since the only thing I had brought from home was the stuffed spock Josh got me. Tipsy thoughts left me thinking about life, love and what would've happened if there was one of those awkward office hook ups happening. We don't work in an office, but still. AWKWARD!! 

DAY TWO
My alarm went off at 8am, but after remebering just how much everyone drunk the night before, I didn't expect anyone to be up. Turns out I was the last one up and out of my room. I tried to eat breakfast with everyone across the street at Denny's but I got there late and only snacked on Gustavo's toast before the first workshop of the day, which happened to be held by a Multi-media Journalist from the Orlando Sentinel. It was absolutely gorgeous outside, but we had to be inside for th workshops the majority of the day.

If you can't see the picture, it's me holding the microphone from the speaker, which says Orlando Sentinel. That dude was awesome and finally gave me an official title for my career, which is Multi-Media Journalist, because I would love to work for an online newsoutlet, like Yahoo! or The Huffington Post, things like that. the speaker talked about all the kooky and fun things he reports, like a star wars convention, a bacon-off, which is exactly what it sounds like, and other fun features stuff. I didn't see much of the group on the second day. I was still slightly hungover from the first night and everyone wanted to attended different workshops, like Alexa for Design, Kyle for some kind of group exercise, Rogi for something I can't even remeber, and Gustavo for sports reporting. We got a pretty gross boxed-lunch, and mingled with other colleges. I didn't eat it, making me hungrier, crankier and desparate for a nap, so I ditched the Editor's roudtable (which was all the editors that came get together and discuss their problems, share Ideas, and network.) for take out breakfast (The grand slam for 6 bucks!) from Denny's across the street and a four hour nap before the big dinner and awards banquet.

I wore my new dress thanks to the wetseal, and that was the 10th floor hallway. My room was way at the end, like the shining. Kyle wore a replica of Michale Jackson's Beat it video, and he wore it with pride as he went and accepted most of the awards that we won, which inclluded first place for best design and general Excellence. it was a great night for BC. Kyle even did the spin when he accepted the first award. His fearlessness is something to admire, and his sanity throughout somethings is something to question. I'll totally miss him when he graduates.

There was a dance held for us and it was nice to just dance and let go with everyone, even if there were some bad dance moves here and there. At the same time as the dance, the hotel held a kareoke night, so after a long-island iced tea--courtesy of a very nice guy who from Palm Beach State College--Rogi, Alexa and I sang the oh SO popular kareoke song, Don't stop Believing by Journey. I like to think I wasn't all that messed up. The girls had my back.

The guy holding my phone was named Scott, we never got his last name. we did, however, nickname him McLovin, from Superbad. From what I remember, he said he'd only joined the paper two weeks ago and was offered this awesome trip. I don't even remember what college he was from! I hate to say it, but as much as I responsibly drank with my co-workers, I don't remember much else, other than mingling with our rivals from Miami Dade college, who ended up being really gracious about the dozens of awards they won comapred to us. Two girls from The Reporter, Claudia and Chelsea, actually hung out with the guys, and I tagged along simply to finish my beer because kareoke made me thirsty, and we totally hit it off. Not sure how the guys felt about it, but I didn't care when it was happening and I don't care now. It sucks that the theory girls talk was proven, but Women talk way more. At the stroke of 2am, I left the party in the guy's room, simply because of a famous and true quote from How I met your Mother, Nothing good ever happens after 2AM.  So I went to my room and set my alarm for 8am again because we were supposed to be meeting in the lobby to leave at 9.

DAY THREE 

I woke up at 7:45 surprisingly well-rested, but I shifted over and saw my suitcase and all my clothes scattered on the bed closer to the window. I wanted to feel more at home, so there was a mess on the floor on one half of the room. I got up, showered and started packing because I really wanted to see the goregeous beach one more time before being stuffed into the van and going back down home, which I was excited to do because I had plans with Josh, but I didn't want to leave this all expenses paid paradise. 

Yes, I bought 5 pairs of shoes and like 7 different outfits, even though there were two shirts I didn't wear. repacking everything plus the flatiron in the bathroom was hard, but I found saturday Morning Cartoons, so I felt right at home again. I was ready to go home. You don't see much from the pictures because the actual pictures are kind of big, so I made them smaller. Eventually I finished everything and got to take in the sights one last time. I met up with everyone who was oddly quiet, and for a second, I panicked and thought I made a huge ass of myself, but I saw Claudia from the night before and she told me what happened after I'd left. again, Women Talk. and Laugh hysterically. I won't say what was said, but I'm glad she was safe with her situation. We traded numbers, and I'm still going to try and find her on Facebook, later. After that little hilarious conversation, I made my way to the beach and took these: 

We finally piled into the mini van and head home, and although I didn't anticipate the amount of homesickness I'd have, I didn't want to leave. No one was coming back next year because everyone would've graduated by then. It was an intresting learning and bonding experience. We won awards, found out who's a bigger partier and got some tips on how to design an even better newspaper.

It was a pretty awesome, slightly fuzzy weekend.

Pitch Perfect made me want to sing and dance, until I realized I'm bad at both.

I actually got a chance to see the funny movie at sawgrass almost two weeks ago, thanks to the preview screening. I can't get the cups song out of my head!

At a glance, Pitch Perfect may seem like someone took the concept of Glee and made it into a movie. Well that initial assumption is wrong because unlike Glee, that features high school kids singing through their everyday problems, the movie centers around a cappella college level competitions between the boys top singing group appropriately called the treblemakers (one of the many puns in the movie) and the girls group called the Bellas(LOL at the fact that Kendrick's first movie was in twilight with that whiney character Bella... )It’s like glee in the sense that they’re singing the musical’s hits, the group has a collections of freaks, geeks and weirdo’s, and there is one obnoxious (but undeniably talented) star who lives and breathes songs that are decades old. 

But unlike Glee, the lead Beca, excellently played by Anna Kendrick (And Can I just say I love the makeup done for her the entire movie?! Bravo!)  reluctantly joins the Bellas after being cornered (Literally) by co-captain Chole, played by Brittany Snow with a flattering red dye job. Beca offers a new take on the old music the Bellas sing, and while everyone else is on board, co-captain Aubrey, played by Anna Camp, insists that traditional songs from the 70s is the way to go. The movie is a funny look inside the cut throat college a cappella world. The Bella’s top rule is not to fraternize with the enemy, which would be the very handsome trebles, (and Beca’s love interest) Jesse, played by Skylar Astin, and the captain of the treblemakers (haha!), Adam DeVine, who also stars in Comedy Central's post college slacker comedy 'Workaholics'

There’s more to the movie than just competition, it touches on issues such as love, trust, restoring a reputation and acceptance, something that both Beca and Aubrey fight for. The movie also features fresh faces, most notably the break out star Rebel Wilson who plays the crass and hilarious Fat Amy. Wilson had a small role in 2011’s bridesmaids. 

The premise is a bit tired, getting the rag tag group of well-meaning a cappella singers ready to compete against the boys group, while battling within their own group. Even though the montage of both groups doing ridiculous, meticulous and just funny workouts last about three minutes, you know there is only one group who will humiliate themselves on stage. one way they keep eachother on their toes is competing in a Riff-Off

 It’s got that adult sense of humor mixed with lame-but-funny puns with America’s top 40 soundtracks. The singing wasn’t auto-tuned and no one lip synched, it was pure talent on the screen. It did considerably good during its limited release in 335 locations nationwide before it’s released all over on Oct. 5^th. It’s a move a studio like universal has never done, but the move proved profitable results with 5.2 million over the weekend.

Some of the songs covered were Kelly Clarkson’s since u been gone, and Rhianna’s Don’t stop the music, along with the mesmerizing mash-up of Bruno Mars' 'Just the way you are' and Nelly's 'Just a dream'. The soundtrack has four and a half stars already on iTunes and is worth the money if anyone is into fun, danceable music.

Overall Pitch Perfect had its genuinely funny moments thanks to mega- scene stealer Rebel Wilson and Anna Kendrick’s sarcasm against Anna Camp’s pristine attitude, which can very well give glee’s Rachel some serious competition. 

The Shore gets shut down: How will MTV survive without it's 'T-Shirt time'?

This was also published in My School's Blog!

Jersey shore is cancelled? Maybe there’s hope for MTV, but I highly doubt it.

The news of Jersey Shore being cancelled brought on cheers and jeers from teens and young adults around the Twitterverse. Sure, there’s not going to be any more ‘T-shirt time’, GTL (Gym, Tan, Laundry for those of you fortunate enough to have lived under a rock for the past few years) or grenades (if you didwatch the show, this is a good thing).  But the cancellation of the eight Guidos and Guidettes got a lot of attention, good and bad, while they were on the air. Is this a sign that MTV is starting to go back to its roots of being MUSIC Television? Don’t get your hopes up! In an interview with Entertainment weekly, executive VP of programming Chris Linn made a statement about the new series of shows for the fall. “As you know, we’ve always taken a portfolio approach. We have numerous other franchises that continue to do well, from Teen Mom to The Challenge to Awkward, so we’re excited about the diversity of franchises. We have a number of new launches, like our new scripted series Underemployed on Oct. 16, we have the new reality series Catfish on Nov. 12, and a ton of new series in the pipeline. As fantastic as it’s been for Jersey Shore to burn as brightly as it has, it gives us the opportunity to put efforts behind our new series.”     

So why is it really being cancelled after six seasons? It’s not (just) because Snooki (Nicole Polizzi, the wildest of the bunch) had a baby boy with her boyfriend Jionni, and not (just) because The Situation (Mike Sorrentino, the oldest member of the group at 30!) had a stint in rehab and is coming back to the shore house sober for season six, but because it was just time, according to Linn. I think it was a strategic move on their part, because this phenomenon had maybe a year or two left tops before they started doing crazier and stupider things just for shock value and milking the ratings for everything it’s got.  If viewers still want their Snooki fix, her spin-off show with cast mate JWoww (Jennifer Farley) has been renewed for season two, which will probably focus on Snooki’s parenting skills with her new born baby boy, Lorenzo.

It’s been a crazy ride for the shore cast. UNICO National, a service organization of Italian Americans, has asked MTV to cancel the show before because of their portrayal of stereotypes of Italian Americans, and their use of the term Guido, which is an ethnic slur towards Italians. Even the governor of New Jersey said the show was negative for New Jersey and encouraged everyone to see the famous shore for themselves rather than watching it on MTV. 

 It’s definitely not the first time MTV has gotten controversy over a show. Teen Mom is still on and going strong, even though there were reports all over America that girls were getting pregnant on purpose to be casted in Teen Mom 2. Whatever happened to Music being played on MTV? My advice to MTV is if they won’t play Music, drop the M, and replace it with an R for the many reality shows it’s known for showing.

This over hyped show of college-aged kids (excluding the Situation) partying hard, getting into bar fights, public intoxication and on again-off again relationships are the reason why so many loved to hate them. Still, the cast was charismatic and actually had moments of sincere friendship and introduced new vocabulary to us. It’s hard to say they won’t be missed, but it’s a win-win situation. They get their lives back to normal (whatever that is for them) and we only have one show left on MTV that seriously needs cancelling.

How I survived the rain--or the "catastrophic" tropical storm Issac

My first day of quarantine was full of frustration to say the least. I use the term quarantine because my house happens to be the only house on the block with the window shutters up, blocking out the rain, strong winds and happiness. My mom and brother had spent all late afternoon and early evening putting up shutters around our Miramar home without my help because even at 20 years old, I still have the ability to whine like my glory days of 14. (FYI, I whined about how stupid it is to be scared of rain and wind, which is essentially what the STORM is.)

I woke up to my loving boyfriend calling to ask how hard it was raining. He's calling from West Pines, a twenty minute car ride. Even though he called at 9:30am, my window made me think it was midnight thanks to the shutters. He and I had plans to spend the storm together watching movies in my room, but paranoia must have had my poor mom up all night because she stopped me before I could pick him up. I couldn't risk opening the door without the possibility of down power lines and getting struck by lightning. (Let me take the time here to just say that if you're planing to live at home during college before switching to a real university, DON'T DO IT.) There goes my romantic Sunday. As much as I hate to admit it, even though it was just rain,  my overprotective mom had a point, it was dangerous to drive, most of my neighborhood driveways were flooded with standing water. I was already having car troubles and Josh has been recovering from his car accident for almost three years..we can't risk it.

My Sunday was doomed to be spent in the house with my mom and brother. Here's some background on my family which no one really knows; My parents got divorced a year ago, so to keep us afloat, my mom works A LOT. I see her for maybe twenty minutes on a good day. We text often so it's not like she was a complete stranger to me. My Brother just started his junior year of high school, he plans on becoming a cop when he graduates, so he's in and out of the house a lot. we're also text savvy. With my school, work and social life always meshing, I'm out of the house a lot too, so when we all had breakfast this morning, the weather seemed to effect everyone's mood. Grouchy, irritated, hungry and bored. We were trapped in the house, like well, anything trapped that desperately wanted out. I'm so bored I can't think of a simile! With tensions high and patience lower then normal, I couldn't hide my boredom from my stressed out mom and annoyed brother who's friends were outside because it was just windy. Friday and Saturday were great, spending time with my boyfriend is always fun. It was Sunday that kind of, pretty much ruined it.

There's always next weekend (optimism rears it's ugly head.) Next weekend seems so far away!

I turned on the TV only to have all my local channels focused on the meteorologists, which I suspect is the only reason they would want to become weather men/women is to report on disasters or "catastrophes" such as this storm, and keeping people locked up in their homes like they're hiding from zombies. Plus disasters have a way of bringing people together in a twisted way. I quickly grew bored of the drama on the News and pushed aside my boredom and frustration by watching a Danny Phantom re-run. My fascination for this series is a bit weird, but it's what makes me happy and for the next hour and a half, it entertained me.

At lunchtime I found a few movies to watch varying from bad chick flicks to very bad chick flicks, to Scooby doo 2: Monsters unleashed. I finally had lunch but I kept feeling trapped, a bit claustrophobic because of the lack of  being outside, so I took a nap while watching Futurama on comedy central, only to be woken up again by my boyfriend who was checking in, like he said he would. He wasn't thrilled to be cooped up at his aunt's house with his kid cousins during this cuddle weather either.

I was quickly running out of things to do, and options to eat. We had a bunch of canned food to outlast a zombie outbreak of three years, but I wasn't going to eat out of boredom, I'd already done that twice. I painted my nails, organized my closet, finished a book and played an IQ game on my phone. an hour passed during all of that.

the rest of my day was exactly that. finding ways to pass the time without actually spending time with my family. not that I was against it, it's..complicated.

There's  no school tomorrow, so my first day of school is cancelled, and I only have classes Mondays and Wednesdays so I only have school once this week, and being the typically and tragically broke student, I don't have much options other then to stay at home and figure out when I work, which is at the villages of Gulf stream down by the beach.

Atleast I have somewhere to blog my boredom, one of the perks of a struggling Journalism student. As I spoon feed myself Nutella and watch The Simpsons on Fox's Animation Domination, I momentarily think about what tomorrow will bring. A boyfriend who missed me, a drive to Tamarac to drop him off, fresh air filled with rain.

Atleast today is over.

How laughter is the best medicine

This was my APA formatted Sociology research paper for last semester in Professor Schwarz's class. It was fun to write a pretty interesting topic. My next paper is going to be just as interesting, entitled "The mind of a shoplifter: why they do it" but until then, here's my first research paper to get a 96% (wrong format for the references!)

They say he who laughs last laughs the longest, and according to several sources, that may as well be true. ^[1]The effect of laughing has been linked to blood vessel expansion in our blood flow and can explain why people with a better sense of humor have a longer chance of longevity. It’s a universal feeling of contentment when we laugh, even if the joke is on ourselves.

Not to forget the concept of ‘an apple a day keeps the doctor away’ but ^[2] Dr. Michael Miller, professor of medicine at the University of Maryland believes that a good laugh along with regular exercise and a good diet can greatly increase blood flow. In a study featuring 300 perfectly healthy men and women, they were shown clips of a comedy movie one day and a more stress inducing clip of an action movie another. ^[3]The difference was that when they were watching the stress inducing clip, their blood vessel lining constricted, reducing blood flow. This proves there is a link between mental stress and blood vessels constricting. In contrast, when the volunteers were shown funny clips, the blood vessels expanded, the same way they expand during cardio work outs.  ^[4]There was a 30-50%difference in diameter of the vessels between laughing and stressing. This also shows how emphatic people can be.

It’s hard to laugh when you can’t breathe, so imagine being diagnosed with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD and still laughing heartily at whatever comic is on comedy central. ^[5] The center for disease control and prevention say that COPD is the fourth leading cause of death in the US and over 12 million suffer from it. Those affected have an increased chance of becoming depressed and suffer from anxiety. ^[6]Research has already suggested that laughing can improve any mood and strengthen immune function. It can also help expel stale air from the lungs. So after a study done by ^[7]Kim Lebowitz Feingold of Ohio State, patients with COPD who laughed at the funny clips shown to them had fewer sick days, but in a twist in the study, those patients who laughed more had more air trapped in their lungs because of reduced usage. Obviously those with COPD have more sick days so this study was a good start towards overcoming it. Maybe in time, all the patients will need just medicine and a few hours of comedy central. Optimism can go far.

Laughter releases endorphins, the body’s natural painkiller, and suppresses epinephrine, the stress hormone. ^[8] Studies have shown that it can increase the number of T-cells which attack viruses, increases gamma interferon, a blood chemical that effects the nervous system and immune system. It can also help patients with disabilities cope with their illness. ^[9]Carol Swell (1996) interviewed Patty Wooten, owner of Jest for the health of it! a business that helps with therapeutic humor programs, observed that people who laughed at disability-related cartoons had already come to terms with what they have. Not every joke is appropriate though, everyone heals through laughter at their own pace. And not everyone is in the mood to laugh after they’ve gotten terrible news. When dealing with depressed patients, ^[10]Wooten is still the optimist.

“What they're going to have to look a little closer for is the joyful moments, the playful moments. I encourage them to believe that it's still possible to laugh.”

It doesn’t take a genius to know that laughing is good for you, not just your body but your state of mind, and laughing at yourself could show some humility and bring down some people’s egos. ^[11]For example, in 2009 Comedy Central’s longest running show, South park spoofed celebrity rapper, Kanye West as an arrogant, belligerent, jerk who didn’t get the play-on words of the fish stick joke one of the boys had come up with, and gets frustrated with everyone calling him a gay fish. ^[12]Kanye wrote on his blog that the episode hurt his feelings but he’s working on his ego and thought the episode was hysterical. Laughing at yourself is just as important because no one like a person who has an overblown ego, or someone who can’t take a joke.

Personally, I think there’s more to it than just a good laugh. After a tough day at work or school, most people relax by over eating to cope with a bad day. It almost seems like unwinding in front on the TV is healthier than eating a massive meal to make up for all the times you were hungry throughout the day. Sitcoms have a way of lifting the spirits. It’s not the most conventional thing to use as medicine, it certainly won’t cure cancer or anything but because the research is so young, it’s nice to see doctors and scientists thinking out of the box.                                                            Work Cited

^[1-4] European Society of Cardiology (ESC) (2011, August 28). Laughter has positive impact on vascular function. ScienceDaily.

^[5-7] Ohio State University (2011, August 2). COPD patients with sense of humor feel better, but laughter may be bad for lungs. ScienceDaily

^[8-10] sowell, C. (1996). mdausa.org. Retrieved from http://www.mdausa.org/publications/Quest/q34laughter.html

^[11-12] http://rapnewscenter.blogspot.com/2009/04/kanye-wests-reaction-to-south-park.html. (2009, april 19).

Cheer camp or Boot camp? The story of an almost-cheerleader continues

Conditioning started this week for the new school year, and the only way I could be any more pain is if we did the exercises in stripper heels. So far, I'm the only girl "on hold" that's been exercising and learning chants and cheers with the other actual members of the squad. Since the Lady Seahawks don't advertise alot, (or at all, really) there's only five of us total. They're hoping to get potential new girls to join at the freshman frenzy next week.

I can't perform at the frenzy because I'm not officially on the team, and I (might) be with my fellow Journalists with The Observer booth in the back. If you recall, I'm going to try out again in a few weeks after my dancing skills have improved, (or have gotten better to the captain's standards.)

 I like to think I've come far in training and chanting this week, but the major cut back in calories have me a bit woozy. Here's some (slightly questionable) things I learned my first week at Cheer( and sometimes boot) Camp.

Monday: Boot camp
The heat in Miami can make even the tannest girl pink and give a killer farmers tan. We didn't even get a chance to stretch our legs, because our captain believes its best to do it after a workout. After the campus run, (which is basically running around south campus in 90-something degree weather) I was second to last, but was huffing and puffing like a kid at fat-camp, something I'm extremely mad about. It was then that I learned about the rule about which fruit, veggies, teas, juices and salads are acceptable in the diet (man, I hate that word!) I'm now on. I'm also prohibited to eat after 7pm. Usually that rule is around 10pm at my house because dinner is served at 7. I won't dig into the Nutella chocolate jar, I won't have pizza for dinner because mom felt lazy and there's nothing in the fridge (but frozen pizza and a variety of hot pockets), But I sure as hell will eat after 7 if I feel like fainting from hunger.

Tuesday: Cheer Camp
Still sore from Monday's exercise, (sixteen hours of sleep, and I still felt like I slept on pins, needles and rocks.) We ran around campus again, but thanks to the rain (Florida' crazy weather comes through for me!) we ran three-fourths of the campus, and I learned the cheers and chants and practiced with pompoms! The only things I learned (that greatly affected the cheers and the girls,) was that since the school isn't insured, we can't do any kinds of acrobatic stunts, in case we get hurt, in which case, we all have waivers to prevent us from suing the school. (Not me, I'm insured but not willing to drive to Hialeah for a signature!) The other thing I learned is that there aren't any kind of scholarships for cheer and dance--so practice everyday 10:30am to around one is pretty much voluntary. Crap. At least being on The Observer gives me scholarship opportunities. It really sucks for the girls, though. They work really hard.

Wednesday: Boot Camp

We did the lake run (one lap=one mile) but because I've been pretty slow running my first two days, our captain decides to motivate me. We run, but I'm in front the entire time. If I stop, we all go back to the beginning, No matter where we are on our run, and start over (campus runs are about 3 and a half miles) I could see it o the girls' faces, silently pleading with me not to stop running and to jog as slowly as I can. I felt so bad for them, I'm not even on the squad yet and I'll be responsible for their soreness! This made me run the lake on south campus twice a total of two miles in about nine minutes.
Thankfully light rain cooled us off as we ran, and then met back at the lake to do other exercises, we did squats, sit-ups and suicide runs--which I'm guessing whoever thought of the name, actually committed it after an hour of it. Although we were all in great pain, we bonded and gossiped, like all girls do. I learned more cheers and chanting. Even though I wasn't really supposed to learn the official BC Cheer! I caught on quickly, because it was only claps and snaps. Before we left, we were asked to write a list of ten things we want to accomplish individually. My list ranged from becoming a better dancer, to interviewing celebs and writing cool stories for either print or media news outlets.

Thursday: Cheer Boot
Assuming she was tired of being thwarted by the rain, we practiced in the storm. Actually it was because we needed supplies for the display poster they were going to display at the frenzy on Monday, so we drove to our local Wal-Mart, Avoided the big display of Nutella Chocolate, drooled at the appetizing scent of subway, found the arts and crafts we wanted, budgeted and got glittery goodness for the poster board. since that took up more time then we thought, we decided to get our smaller less time consuming exercises out of the way. Unfortunately about a minute in, a storm hit, but since we lost a lot of time shopping, we stuck it out for 10 minutes in thundering hard pouring rain. we did squats, jumping jacks and some calf work out all while we are all completely soaking wet. Guess who didn't bring an extra change of clothes, and has to work in a few hours? This girl! My blow dryer wasn't prepared for the mess I bought home, and after that disaster, I did the most logical thing I could think of. I called out, snuggled up in bed and watched Danny Phantom because rainy days are meant to be spent inside watching awesome cartoons.

Friday: Art camp
I'm saved from a full four hours of practice because of my obligations as features editor at the paper, so I stay for about half that, which is basically the cardio part of practice. We didn't get to that because of our poster board project, so the time I had for working out was spent sprinkling glittery stars and eating one of the various healthy snacks. By the time I had to go, the board needed a lot of work but the girls handled it. They're really understanding and stuff, promising a great workout next time they saw me. So I went on home to change. There was no way I was going to the meeting in gym clothes, even if I didn't work out. Just not in me to look bummy when I'm with anyone outside my house.

Since Monday, I've lost two and a half pounds! The bonding is great, the girls aren't catty or bratty, and our captain truly has our best interest at heart. Sure the dieting is something to get used to, as is waking up early for a god-awful run, but I saw the much sought-after uniform and pom-pom set. So I'm keeping my eyes on the prize.

Betty Smithey's release only brings out questions

According to ABC News (that was featured on Yahoo's homepage), Betty Smithey, the nation's longest serving female inmate was sentenced to life back in 1963 for killing a 15 month old baby on new years day.

Photo credit over here


First off, I know how annoying babies can be after a few hours, but to kill one? I can't imagine what she was thinking right before she stopped a life that barely begun, let alone the aftermath that followed. Smithey had a history of mental illness when the indecent happened, which makes me wonder why anyone would leave their infant daughter (by the name of Sandy Gerberick) with someone who is mentally unstable on New Years Eve.

Originally, she was sentenced to life without parole, but she kept appealing even though at the time Arizona law said only an acting governor can grant clemency to an inmate, which is what acting-governor Jan Brewer did by lowering her sentence to 48-years to life.

She told the board of executive clemency that a letter of forgiveness the victim of the mother sent her 19 years after the murder inspired her to turn her life around.

If that doesn't what will? and I think the mother of poor Sandy probably hated herself for leaving her infant with her, in fact it's not even mentioned if they were related or even acquainted. It's been half a century and the details of her case aren't mentioned in the media, which just furthers the many unanswered questions, the biggest one being that maybe it's for her own protection?

Well, her release is getting mixed reactions from America. Everything from "wow I can't believe she survived in prison for so long for such a horrible crime!" to "wow she killed a baby, she should have stayed in there for life!" and with that, many arguments questioning the system and whatnot.

Personally, the blame is on both Betty and Sandy's Mother. but if the family of the victim can find it in their hearts to forgive the murderer, then maybe, there's a bit hope left for the vicious and grudge holding world we live in.