Nazi Zombies, wait what?

So, my brothers play this Nazi Zombies thing all the time which is part of some Call of Duty game. Since I am just an absolutely awful at video games, it bugged me how much they play it.
But last night, Natalie and I decided to give it a try.
We forced my older brother to teach us how to play, and we were instant fans. Instead of doing math homework, which was the original plan, we played Nazi Zombies for an hour straight.
We got to round 3, which apparently is not much of an achievment, but we were proud.
As Natalie said, "There are just too many. Too many zombies for two little girls"

Cranky

I have a bedtime. It's at ten o'clock on school nights, but ever since school started this year, I haven't been going to bed until 12 o'clock. And I don't get to sleep in in the mornings because I have to get to school really early to avoid traffic (traffic stresses me out) and so I can get morning tutoring for AP Chem. So if I ever come across as cranky or rude in the morning, I blame it on my lack of sleep and frustration with school. After coming home from golf, I'm just so tired all I want to do is eat and go to bed (yes, golf does take up quite a bit of energy)but instead I have three hours of homework to do (sometimes it takes me four or five because I don't understand math or chemistry). So since I'm so tired I only do the homework due the next day causing me to wait to the last minute for long term assignments. I'm so behind in everything right now. All I do on the weekends is try to catch up with homework. I was considering just not turning in some homework assignments or winging some tests and projects so I can just focus on my APs but in all my years of school, I've always turned things in on time, gotten good grades on tests and earned 4.0s. It doesn't seem likely that I can keep it up this year, and I just can't seem to get myself to take it easy. Apparently junior year is the one colleges look at the most, and it's the year I'm doing the worst. I'm still going to try, but this is sure one long year I have ahead of me...

Cataloging the World

Imagine being judged solely on appearances. This is already happening in our society today. How? Think about it.

The definition of appearance according to dictionary.com is the state, condition, manner, or style in which a person or object appears; outward look or aspect.

Dig a little deeper. Our appearance includes how we look, who we surround ourselves with, what we choose to do with our time...everything. Our appearance is how we are portrayed to anyone who does not know us. This is because without knowing a person, our appearance is the only indicator of who we are to said person.

Everyone is subject to this discrimination, or stereotyping as we know it. Don't believe me? Here is a major stereotype that is plaguing our society today: Middle Easterners are terrorists. This doesn't pertain to you? Here are more: blondes are stupid, women are bad drivers, and Asians have a high IQ naturally. Still just playful banter? Maybe these will hit home: cheerleaders are airheaded, jocks are arrogant, people who sit near the library are different, and people in the library are nerds.

Stereotyping is an essential part of our society, yet detrimental at the same time. People are judgemental. It is in our nature, and whether we choose to or not, it happens.

What do these preconceived notions do? They are often dismissed and regarded as nothing more than artificial derision. But they do more than that.

Stereotypes categorize people. Sometimes this could be positive or negative though right? Wrong. What about the stereotype that Asians naturally have a high IQ. This could be taken as a positive stereotype...but what about someone of Asian ethnicity that has difficulty with anything academic. That person is now subject to ridicule because they do not fit their "stereotype."

Stereotyping has no positives. It is not helpful. It is often very hurtful and holds our society from moving forward.

The definition of discrimination according to dictionary.com is treatment or consideration of, or making a distinction in favor of or against, a person or thing based on the group, class, or category to which that person or thing belongs rather than on individual merit.

By this definition, stereotyping is a form of discrimination that we all partake in everyday...whether we are fully conscious of it or not. Just think about where your thoughts may stray when you see someone for the first time, or what you may say about one person to your friends. Realize that this is discrmination, and that people should be judged on their individual merit...nothing less.

Living without TV

For over a year now I have not actually watched TV. In May of 2009, we shut down our membership with Dish network planning to switch to something else. It never happened. People always ask me how I can stand not watching TV and to tell you the truth I don't miss it. I still watch movies and some shows via hulu.com, but only occasionally on the weekends. I'm glad that I don't have television to distract me from all the homework and activities I already have going on, or else I would never get anything done. I'm able to savor the rare occasions when I do get to watch shows since it's not always readily accessible.

In my opinion television has become too prominent a part of our society today. It's a great source of entertainment and occasionally education but I believe that people would be more productive if they didn't spend sooo much time sitting around. I've also noticed the influence commercials have. I never really noticed commercials when I used to watch TV, but I notice people talking about commercials more now since I have no idea what they're talking about, having not seen any recent commercials. I consider myself fortunate to have the opportunity to live completely without the influence of television as it has give me more insight into the role of the media in our community.

No More Facebook

So, I've decided that Facebook has become too much of a time waster for me. Frankly, I'm sick of getting flooded with everyone's information, and I'm more sick of not being able to pull myself away from it all. So I decided that I'm going to go back to the days of not having a Facebook. I changed my password to a random set of numbers that I wrote down, so I won't be able to log on, then gave the new password to my mom. I'm going to try this for two weeks, and I'm going to see if I feel anymore relaxed, because, to be honest, I need more rest! Although it's not complete, I'm going (semi) wireless for a while, so if you need me, I'm incomunicado (via Facebook at least)

Aint No Party Like an S Club Party!

I dont know if you've all heard about it, but I'm starting a new club this year. It's called S Club and its pretty much the highschool version of Soroptimist International, an organization that volunteers to improve the status of women. S Club of Rocklin High will not be focused on just women, but the club will do a lot of volunteering in our community. They have S Club at a lot of other highschools already, and I just thought it would be a great way to get involved in starting a club on campus. We had a table at club rush and had a lot of people sign up to join. I think it had to do with the giant retro boombox that we had blasting "S Club Party" by S Club 7. Me and my friend Lindsay are running the whole thing, and we're already scheming lots of ways to make this as fun as possible. Including lots of food at meetings, which are during lunch in K3. The first meeting is October 6th, so if anyone's interested in joining, you should come by and check it out!

Busybusybusy!!!!

Everything has been so crazy! I do not think that school has ever been this busy before, but I love everything! :D

I was looking for something interesting to blog about, just to mix things up a bit, and I found that the new Idol judges were named. In the first place, I think that Idol is a bit overrated at this point. It has become boring because it has been dragged out way too long. I used to love watching this show, but I will probably only watch the auditions this year, if that. I have not watched it in a few years, and now Simon is gone! He was the best judge!
So, anyway the new judges will be Jennifer Lopez and Steven Tyler. They will work with Randy and Ryan Seacrest. I think it will work out okay, as these new additions do have knowledge about music and show business. Not only are the judges different, but there will no longer be celebrity mentors and contestants may stay in their own genre of music for every performance. I think this will make the show less exciting, because performances will always sound the same...
I think American Idol's time has passed.

(I added the link!)