Lost.

Have you ever been so wrapped up in your own life that you completely forgot about the outside world? That's been me for over the past week. For those of you who were unaware, my dad lost his job before school began and has been on a new opportunity lookout ever since. I got to spend this past weekend in Madison, WI and am now in Des Moines, IA. No, Jake, I'm not moving to Bermuda. Nice job on trying to convince me though. Props.

Anyways, just so I wouldn't be completely oblivious, I scrolled through different news article titles to give myself a general idea of what's been going on in the world. Nothing new. Just different names and places in similar situations. But if I tried to talk about any of these said events with anyone I would make a fool of myself. I would be that person everyone loves to hate, the ones who act like they know everything, but in reality they have no idea what they're talking about. It's all just bull.

How many times have you found yourself in a conversation where you're suddenly lost? You wind up just nodding your head in agreement, murmuring noncommittal words.

In last year's PBW, Alosha wrote a rant about politics. His piece is not in front of me right now, but if I remember correctly I can highlight the main point- too often do people form an opinion based on what they've heard or read, then they talk about this bogus opinion like they're experts on the subject, when it would honestly just be easier to admit they know nothing.

His ideas were somewhere in that ballpark. My original idea for this blog was based around that. I would research an event, learn about it and then form an opinion to share with my readers. Quickly, I learned this was easier said than done. For two reasons. One, I can read multiple articles on a subject, and as much as they claim not to be, there's biased in them. And two, you can never know enough about something, you're always learning. If I wanted to completely, honestly educate you, then this blog would be my whole life.

Professional bloggers, they research, they blog, repeat. That's their lifestyle. Unfortunately, I'm a high school student and don't have that kind of time on my hands. If I had that kind of time my blog posts wouldn't be written between midnight and 2am. Although it does seem that my best ideas form then.

Obviously, this blog needs some new direction. What, I haven't decided yet. But I'll let you know when I've researched it and drawn a conclusion. (:

Interview with Rock on Young Savior

Recently, I've been listening to the bands that follow me on Twitter. One of them was Rock on Young Savior. Listen to their music here at Purevolume. My favorite song by them is, "So Cinematic." It's a soft and light tune that's reminiscent of Daylight West. After connecting with the band, Rock on Young Savior, that hails from Southern California, I was able to ask them some questions; the following is the reply they sent me!


"Here are our answers:

What are each of your names and what do each of you do in the band?
Jordan Hart: Vocals, Guitar
Sam Platz: Guitar, Vocals
Zach Harper: Bass
Lee Taylor: Drums

When did you guys decide to form? How did you choose your band name?
We decided to form back in June. We got our name from a lyric in the song "Big Casino" by Jimmy Eat World.

For those who haven't heard about your band how would you describe it?
We're an alternative rock band that writes catchy, heartfelt songs.

Do you write your own music? What inspires your lyrics?
Yes, we do. The inspiration for the lyrics comes things we've gone through or are currently going through.

Who are your biggest influences and favorite bands?
Our biggest influences/favorite bands would be Jimmy Eat World, Blink-182, Thrice, AWOLNATION, The Starting Line, House of Heroes, New Found Glory and many more.

If you could tour with anyone, what would be your dream tour lineup?
We'd love to tour with Jimmy Eat World, Blink-182, House of Heroes, and AWOLNATION.

When will your EP drop? Do you have any big plans in the future?
Halloween! And we have big plans for the future. Some of which include getting signed and touring.

Can you share any band secrets? Anything quirky you'd like to tell your fans?
We're big fans of 80's music and movies."

I judge stupidity.

This weekend I was scrolling through the news stories on my phone trying to find one interesting enough to write about when I came across, "Mother pushes daughter out of train's path but can't save herself." The first thought that ran through my mind was, "Ahh, a mother's love. The daughter must have been trying to commit suicide and the mother made the ultimate sacrifice to save her." Wrong. The mother, Susan Dilbene, 33, was taking her two year old daughter on a walk in her stroller. She came across the train tracks, the arm had come down warning of an oncoming train, and she still crossed it. THAT IS YOUR OWN STUPIDITY. I didn't and don't feel bad after I read that she had practically, voluntarily, killed herself. Forever judging you.

Now thinking back to some many months ago, in the cold classroom of driver's ed, I can remember having a guest speaker telling us about railroad safety. When he said that people still die at railways, I understood, when he said that hundreds of people die annually, I wanted to call his bluff. Part of me didn't want to believe there were actually enough people out there who would try to race a train. But apparently, there are. I'm sorry that there is no cure for the common idiot.

Parental Controls

Here I am just trying to finish the required blog post amount for the week, typing away on my laptop when the internet goes down. Not because of some glitch, but because of parental controls. Now, I'm going to be seventeen at the end of this month and I'd like to believe my parents trust me as much as the next person. They don't. I have half a mind to go hit the reset button on the router, but instead I resort to my thumbs and phone. Is there a daughter of the week award...? I could easily hit the reset button and disable every password my dad has set. I keep a bobby pin next to the router for emergency cases like this, but I know there's a trust agreement where I don't break past anything my parents have set up. I have been known to do that in the past. I could also, just as easily get my butt out of bed and walk upstairs to another computer that doesn't use the wireless internet and thus has access 24/7, except I'm far too lazy for that. Obviously, or I wouldn't be doing homework after midnight.

But besides that, my phone has parental controls that shut it down at 1am every night, or morning, whichever you see it as. My parents still, embarrassingly enough, keep a baby monitor in my room. Sometimes I wonder about the parenting skills, but I'm the first and only child, which makes me a guinea pig for all punishments. I will say that to this day I have never been grounded. My usual punishment was, and still is, having something taken away. Here's a basic list of what I usually lose:

• Computer privileges, which doesn't work out as well anymore because of school and homework, although the internet goes down every night like clockwork.
• Cell phone, but in the end I need it in case of emergency and they only threaten to take it. But since it shuts down at one I can never actually do that much damage.
• iPod, since I listen to music to fall asleep at night, only now I just use my phone, so if I lose my iPod no tears are shed.

In the end, as a last resort, my parents end up taking away...wait for it...my books. This is why I question their parenting. I mean, I love my parents, but I also love reading- My bookshelf is full. When I was younger my mom said that books distracted me from my work. She's right. The maids come every Friday and instead of getting ready for them, I'd read. Instead of homework, I would read...back when homework and reading were not the same thing. I guess since I didn't have a social life grounding me had no effect. And taking away a device only does so much, people in the stone age lived without them, I can adjust, eventually.

This post really does relate to anything, it's just a rant where I'm complaining. To tie it all together here's a picture of my bookshelf. Enjoy.

Rest in Peace Steve Jobs, and our Apple stock.

The famous man behind the genius of Apple, you know- that iPod you have, your Macbook and possibly the phone you own? All thanks to Steve Jobs, who passed away today. Rest in peace, Steve. Apple released the news and a brief statement today, AFTER the stock markets had closed. Smart move there, Apple. If you wanted to sell it in after hours trading because of the massive hit you predict, too late, it's already dropped and you've lost out. Maybe when he resigned it should have been a hint, or maybe the release of the iPhone 5 that didn't happen. If you sold it while it was booming, A+ for you. If you bought it back years ago when stocks were less than a dollar, you're probably a millionaire.Otherwise you're out of luck. Let's have a little faith and hope that it'll recover quickly, maybe even buy some more, as they say, "Buy low; sell high."

My deepest sympathy goes out to Jobs' family, friends and co-workers.

10/4/11

Today is a monumental day for music. We Are the In Crowd's first full length album dropped, as well as Mayday Parade's self titled CD. I've been streaming them from the new AOL Play app I invested in. I love them, I would buy them them both if I were you.

We Are the In Crowd is made up of five members: Tay Jardine, Jordan Eckes, Mike Ferri, Rob Chianelli and Cameron Hurley. They rock like Paramore, but with their own style. I know all of the songs from their original EP and was lucky enough to see them live this past August. After facing technical difficulties they were only able to play four songs. "You're not quite Satan, but I really think I hate you."

Before their full album had dropped they released a single, called, "On Your Own." It's my favorite song at the moment; I listen to it multiple times a day. Maybe it's the beat, the lyrics- I'm not actually sure, but I love it. "Before you have to go, before you have to go, I just wanted you to know, wanted you to know-you're on your own." Emphatic repetition? My next favorite song is a slower song, the first of it's kind in We Are the In Crowd history, "You've Got it Made."

On the flip side of that, my favorite Mayday Parade song is, "Priceless," which is a fast paced song, until you reach the end. I'm lying. I actually, to be completely honest, don't have favorites, I love them all equally. I'm just trying to fill up this post. What I would consider a 'favorite' song is just whatever one gets stuck in my head and I end up memorizing quickly. Mayday is headlining the Noise Tour by Journey's with We Are the In Crowd and I'm going to see them both, again, in a few weeks. Yay! Just anything that isn't Seussical, please and thank you. Listen below to We Are the In Crowd's, "On Your Own."

The SAT.

This morning, I took the SAT. And that's all I can tell you.

This past week a group of students in New York were caught in a cheating ring. Read the article with more details here. A college student from Emory University, Sam Eshaghoff, was paid between 1,500 to 2,500 dollars to take the SAT for over half a dozen different high school students. Every year 2.25 million students take the SAT and only 2,500 cases are reported suspicious. According to a news article here, that's only one-tenth of one percent. How do they even pull if off? I've read two different books about cheating on the SAT. Both I would recommend and own, if you want to borrow them.

The Taker by J.M. Steele



Carly Biels should have it made. She has a terrific boyfriend, good friends, and she's popular. Okay, her parents have really high expectations and her dad is a Princeton alum, but she's got decent grades, so that should help her get into his alma mater, right? Wrong. When the SAT scores are released, hers just aren't good enough. Panicked, she becomes involved in a shady deal to cheat next time by having the mysterious Taker fix her score. Before she knows it, she's committed, her boyfriend is pushing her too far too fast, and her friends are well on their way to their own successes. Feeling desperate and alone, the teen turns to super-smart nerd Ronald Gross for tutoring. To make matters worse, her best friend, the editor of the school newspaper, takes investigative reporting seriously when rumors of a cheating ring start floating around the school. As Carly's life turns upside down, she is haunted by the choices she has made under pressure and finds out that people may not be what they seem. The protagonist's obsession is a bit much, but she is a sympathetic character, and Steele creates enough tension and interest in the various subplots to make this an enjoyable read.–Roxanne Myers Spencer, Western Kentucky University, Bowling Green 


and


Crunch Time by Mariah Fredericks 





After skipping out of an SAT prep class, juniors Leo, Daisy, Max, and Jane agree to meet regularly at Jane's apartment for their own study group. They all work hard, seem to improve their test-taking skills, and forge friendships in the process. Soon, Max reveals to best friend Daisy that he wants more than friendship from her. Daisy, however, falls hard for Leo, who appears to fall back but doesn't know how to be devoted in a relationship, especially when he is drinking. Jane is the rich, beautiful wallflower whom Max could ask out if the idea occurred to him. After the SAT, a senior high scorer confesses that she was paid to take the exam for someone else. The whole school is in an uproar as the senior refuses to disclose the cheater's name. When two members of the study group are among the suspects, things begin to unravel. The extreme preoccupation with the SAT and getting into good colleges becomes somewhat weighty during the course of the novel and some of the plot elements test believability. However, because it is, for the most part, insightfully told from the various viewpoints of the four main characters in short, quick-moving segments with true-to-life dialogue, the story is redeemed. Readers will wonder what will happen to the friends as they embark on senior year at the conclusion.–Diane P. Tuccillo, City of Mesa Library, AZ 


Now, why would someone cheat on a test? The pressure. Honestly, I wasn't as nervous as I could have been. Maybe it's because I'd taken it before in middle school just for the heck of it. Or maybe it was Andrew Flagel, now a VP at Brandeis, former head Dean of Admissions at GMU, and his reassuring that SAT's are only a big deal because WE, the students, make them a big deal. "Maybe they'd mean more if we ever gave them to you again in college." And as one of the articles above said, many universities are going away from the standardized tests, SAT and ACT. The essay is just going to have to be enough. For better or for worse, we'll find out.