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It seems like everywhere I turn there are advertisements. I can't seem to escape them.

I can't even enjoy listening to my music without being interrupted by annoying advertisements. Every once in a while I wouldn't mind seeing one, but it is becoming a tad too excessive. Also, most of the time the advertisements are pointless and don't even strike your attention.

I listen to music all the time. The first thing I do when I get home is turn on some sort of music. I would frequently go on Pandora to listen to whatever radio station I desired. They would occasionally play some commercials right after a song, but lately those occasional commercials are becoming traditional. 
Not being able to listen to my music without a commercial between every two songs is starting to irritate me. I understand that they have to pay for their radio station in someway though, so I guess I shouldn't be complaining.



Word of the Day: Nonessential: Having little or no importance

Thanksgiving

The time for family to get together and catch up has already gone as quickly as it came. Not only do you get to see family during thanksgiving break, but you also get to see all your friends that have gone away to college.

I loved having everyone back again, it felt like summer had returned. It was a short lived summer though, and it was tough seeing them all leave again.

I can't wait until winter break comes around so I can see everyone again! I had so much fun spending time with all my friends that I haven't seen since the summer time.

It's crazy to think that, that will be me next year coming back to visit my friends and family from college. Only having that short amount of time to catch up with everyone will be so strange. I will make the most of it though. I just have to be sure to spend an equal amount of time catching up with my family, if not more, compared to my friends.

Thinking about how much my life is going to change is scary and exciting. I do not have a clue what to expect so that is a tad frightening, but I want to know how my future is going to play out.

Ghost of Your Past

Have memories ever started flooding back to you?

Your in the middle of raking the leaves and then suddenly time turns back 10 years earlier and you find yourself sitting there in a big leaf pile throwing the leaves around all bundled up with your favorite pink puffy winter coat on.

Or you suddenly your running around grabbing the leaves from the air before they can touch the ground, gathering them into a pile trying to see who can make the biggest leaf pile in your family.  

Sometimes when those memories start flooding back it's a little overwhelming. I find myself wondering where all the time has gone. I definitely don't feel like much has changed until I look around and realize that time has been slipping through my grasp.

It is hard to realize that my childhood is gone, but at the same time, my life is just beginning. I have to admit it's a little frightening not knowing what to expect, but I'm anxious to know how my life will play out.

My goal is to make as many memories as I can. I want to make life as memorable as possible. I want to have the least amount of regrets possible.

So take chances. take risks, and make memories. 


Here is a poem that I came across recently that I thought accompanied what I was feeling:

Old Memories

by : Carice Williams

I treasure sweet old memories
As time goes swiftly by.
A few bring smiles of happiness
And some tears to the eye.
They all are precious in their way,
Reopening doors of old
That have been shut these many years--
What pictures they unfold!
These dear old, sweet old memories
All play their special part
In bringing joy and opening up
The latch strings of the heart.

Time Truly Flies

It doesn't seem like too long ago that I was just entering the big high school as a tiny freshman, wondering the long halls trying to find my way to each of my classes hoping there would be people I knew. 

Now four years later I'm not worrying about finding my classes, I'm stressing out about college applications. What colleges do I want to apply for? What colleges are even reasonable? What colleges are good for me? What do I want to major in? 

As I'm sitting here listening to music the song Calender by Panic At The Disco came on and part of the song says "put another X on the calender" which really illustrates how fast time is flying. As another day goes by the time approaches to graduation, and then soon after college, and then the rest of our lives.

Everyday we wake up most people just go through their daily routine, most the time without even enjoying little things that are going on around them. We don't take the time out of our day to do new things and enjoy life. Our motto's seem to be "Well there is always tomorrow." Just as Annie sings "the sun will come up tomorrow." It's true that we always have tomorrow, but lets not forget about today!

Everyday we should try making new memories by making each day memorable. We need to do things that we normally wouldn't do! Something new within our everyday lives. 

Word of the Week: Time: The indefinite continued progress of existence and events in the past, present, and future regarded as a whole

Fun Filled Fall

Let yourself be engulfed with the fall spirit!

There is plenty of things to do in the fall including thinking about college apps, school work, and fall sports, but lets not forget to enjoy it. There is just so much we can go out and do!
For instance who doesn't love going out and picking a variety of apples and then making apple pie after?
Just imagine:
You finally arrive at the apple farm anxiously waiting for the tractor to come take you to the apple trees.  The tractor finally arrives and you eagerly step onto the hayride.
You pick your favorite hay pile to sit on and as the tractor pulls you towards your destination the smell of apples and hay are lingering in the fall air.

The tractor finally comes to a stop and you eagerly run off to your first apple tree. You search for that perfect apple, looking high and low. Jumping trying to get that one apple from the branches that are a little too tall for you. You finally finish filling up your basket and make your way towards the tractor again. While on your way back to the car you share stories of how you found your perfect apple, or how you found one that was half eaten.




 Another thing that I can't wait to do this fall is go through haunted houses! There is just something about them that gets your heart racing and adrenaline pumping.
Picture this:
Your walking into the dark haunted house clinging to the person besides you. You know someone is going to pop out somewhere but your not sure where. Are they behind the curtain? Are they behind that corner? Did they somehow creep up behind me?

Your eyes are frantically scanning the room covered in cobwebs. Then you come across your first encounter with a ghoul dressed in all black, scars on their face, and in their hand they are holding what appears to be a hammer. You quickly dodge them escaping into the next room filled with baby dolls sitting on the shelves. They appear to all be                        staring at you.

You try going to the next room without being discovered but then in the corner a little girl with black pig tails dressed in a white gown comes stalking towards you saying come play with me.Then to your relief she goes back in her corner and allows you to pass into the next room.

Your then faced with a room covered in mirrors. Your not sure which way is the real path, and on top of that maze, to your horror you see clowns are popping out of no where, and with all the mirrors your nightmare is multiplied.

You somehow manage to find your way out of the clown maze and your finally set free welcomed with the cool air that reminds you that your safe and out of the house. You realize that you've been digging your nails into the person's arm that was standing next to you and you quickly release your vice grip.

Word of the Week: Carpe Diem: Seize the Day.  

Images found on good images

A Beautiful Mind

Could you imagine not knowing what's real or imagined; not knowing that the little girl you've been having a conversation with for hours is just imagined; not knowing that your roommate you've shared the most stories with doesn't  exist; not knowing that the loyal pet dog you've had all your life is just a figment of your imagination?

That's how schizophrenics live their daily lives. Due to an excessive amount of dopamine levels in their brain, they are overly sensitive to stimuli and perceive things that aren't truly there. 

The movie A Beautiful Mind, directed by Julian Schnabel, helps capture the life of a schizophrenic. John Nash, played by Russell Crowe, is a Nobel Laureate in Economics who suffers from schizophrenia. He isn't the average schizophrenic though, he discovers that he has a mental illness on his own.

Russell Crowe, to better understand the character he was portraying, spent some time with John Nash. He said that John Nash is super intelligent and he would've never known that he was a schizophrenic because he acted so normal. 

John Nash asked to stay off medicine because he knows he can handle his hallucinations. Still to this day he sees them, but they are part of his past now that he knows they are in his mind. 

Normal schizophrenics need help to overcome their delusions and hallucinations. They need the assistance of strong prescribed drugs that will help them live their lives as normal. 

The movie A Beautiful Mind really opened the eyes to people to know how schizophrenics are, and how they live their lives. Most schizophrenics are even more less fortunate than John Nash because they can't tell what is real or what is imagined. 

Word of the Week: Schizophrenia:  a severe mental disorder characterized by some, but not necessarily all, ofthe following features: emotional blunting, intellectualdeterioration, social isolation, disorganized speech andbehavior, delusions, and hallucinations. (dictionary.reference.com)

What Do You See?

Welcome to the world of optical illusions (:

Have you ever caught your eyes playing tricks on you? You can blame that on your brain. Optical illusions are caused by your brain making assumptions on what it doesn't completely comprehend.

Pictures can be perceived differently by each individual depending on the way that certain individual's brain sees it. For example in the picture below:

Another way optical illusions work is by after images. After images are caused by the cones in your eyes over working and getting fatigued. They eventually adapt to the over stimulation of the certain color or colors being looked at. Stare at the black dot for 20 seconds then look away and let the after image brighten up your day.

In the picture below there is another neat example of this:

As you stare at the black cross in the middle of the circle you will start to see the a blue circle appear and then eventually the pink dots disappear all together.

Optical illusions are also caused by the colors around the object, just as you will see in the picture below:

Optical illusions are very interesting to observe, but it's also neat to find out what causes them. Our brains are funny things. They don't like when something doesn't make sense, so they fill it in themselves.

Did you know we all have a blind spot? Yes it's true. In our eyes there is a spot in our retina, the back of our eye, where the two nerves form the optic nerve. The optic nerve forms our blind spot, because there are no rod or cones in that area. 

We never notice our blind spot because our brain fills it in for us. Still don't believe me? See for yourself.

Close your left eye and stare at the plus sign with your right eye. When the black dot disappears you have found your blind spot! You may need to get closer or further from the cross, but eventually the black dot will disappear. Info from http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/bb/blindspot1.html

As you can see there is plenty fun and educational things you can get from optical illusions.

Word of the Week:

perception: the act or faculty of apprehending by means of the sensesor of the mind; cognition; understanding.