The Dash

According to Shane’s World 151,650 people die a day.  How do you remember them? On a tomb stone they always have the name of the one that died, the inscription the family leaves behind like Beloved Son and Husband, the date of birth and the date of death, but between the dates there is a dash.  I think the dash is the most important part of the grave stone. The dash stands for all the years between birth and death. What will people think of when they see the dash on your grave? Will they think you were too obnoxious or will they remember you at all? The choices you make each and every day determine the outcome of the rest of your life.  Your choices determine how people see you and how they will remember you. I live by the term your choices determine your destiny.  It tells me to think before I act.  If everyone in the world thought before they acted we would have less suicides and criminals plus the world would be upside down. You would think more about the long term effects rather than what makes you feel best at the moment. Each choice determines the rest of your life.  Will you be known as the one who’s always drunk the one who’s never trustworthy or as the best friend and one that always makes you smile? It’s hard to live your life everyday trying to be perfect so don’t.

My favorite quote is from Stephen Manes in her book Be a Perfect Person in Just Three Days it says, “Congratulations!  You're not perfect!  It's ridiculous to want to be perfect anyway.  But then, everybody's ridiculous sometimes, except perfect people.  You know what perfect is?  Perfect is not eating or drinking or talking or moving a muscle or making even the teensiest mistake.  Perfect is never doing anything wrong - which means never doing anything at all.  Perfect is boring!  So you're not perfect!  Wonderful!  Have fun!  Eat things that give you bad breath!  Trip over your own shoelaces!  Laugh!  Let somebody else laugh at you!  Perfect people never do any of those things.  All they do is sit around and sip weak tea and think about how perfect they are.  But they're really not one-hundred-percent perfect anyway.  You should see them when they get the hiccups!  Phooey!  Who needs 'em?  You can drink pickle juice and imitate gorillas and do silly dances and sing stupid songs and wear funny hats and be as imperfect as you please and still be a good person.  Good people are hard to find nowadays.  And they're a lot more fun than perfect people any day of the week.”

It may be impossible to be perfect, but when you think your choices determine your destiny you tend to be not just a good person, but a great person. How will you be remembered? What will your dash say about you?

A Catalyst For Rowing

     The Rowing team at Palmetto High was the guinea pig last year for Manatee County School District.  They were the only Manatee County School that had a rowing team.  This year Southeast has joined in on the mission to spread rowing throughout the county.  On Sunday Palmetto will be competing in the Sarasota 5000 rowing regatta in Osprey.  Southeast is unable to attend because they are waiting for their boats to come in.  Manatee and Lakewood Ranch High Schools want to start a rowing team but with the economy being as bad as it is, it is impossible to buy boats and equipment.
      Manatee High School principal, Bob Gagnon said he is hopeful that his students who are interested in rowing could participate this year with a program at Palmetto or Southeast.
     I think it is amazing that Palmetto was able to start this trend.  It is definitely going to help encourage Palmetto by competing against friends that might go to a different school in the district.  It is crazy that little Palmetto was able to start a catalyst for other schools to join in. I am excited to see Southeast and other programs grow because of Palmetto.

 

I Scream, You Scream, We All Scream for Chocolate!

     Each year people eat chocolate. You never think someone is counting how much you spend on it.  There was a survey on USA Today about the top 5 chocolatiers of the world compared to USA in 2011.  The results may shock you.

     Freia is Norway's leading chocolate manufacturer.  Freia has been offering delicious chocolate treats since 1889.  By the 1900's Freia was the named the leading Norwegian brand in sweets. Freia is one reason that Norwegian chocolate leads the chocolate industry.  In Norway each person spends 209 dollars a year on chocolate.

     One of Ireland's most loved chocolatiers is Lily O'Brien.  Lily O'Brien is named after the founder’s daughter. Mary O'Brien discovered her love for chocolate after recovering from a severe illness. 

     Mary O'Brien made it her motto that "Each and every chocolate has been created from the passion and pleasure we all share - we hope you enjoy tasting them as much as we enjoy making them for you!" Annually, each person in Ireland pays 182 dollars for chocolate. 

     Auer chocolate is widely known in Switzerland.  They started their business in 1939. Their chocolate has continued on for 5 generations.  They are striving to better themselves each year.  Switzerland is said to be the major chocolatier of the world but in the count down they come in third.  Only 172 dollars is spent on chocolate by each person in Switzerland a year.

     Green and Black's are considered one of the UK's best chocolatiers. In 1944 they launched the world's first Fair-trade Mark product.  This chocolate is an organic chocolate. People in UK each buy 150 dollars worth of chocolate a year.

     Zotter Chocolate is the Austria's best chocolate brand.  Daily Telegraph says, "It has amazing flavors, with light and creamy fillings that include balsamic caramel or lime and honey." Josef Zotter the maker of Zotter chocolates says, "We are not just part "ORGANIC" but totally, we follow the "FAIR TRADE" principles not just in part but with full conviction, and we don't just pretend to produce chocolate but have the entire production process - from "BEAN-TO-BAR" - all under one roof."  In Austria each person spends an annual amount of 112 dollars on chocolate a year.

     Hershey is the USA's most popular brand.  Hershey started in 1894 after Milton Hershey decided to add a chocolate coating to his caramels.  In 1900 the first Hershey's Milk Chocolate Bar was enjoyed by Americans.  USA is still lacking the chocolate lovers that Norway, Ireland, UK, and Austria have.  Sadly, Americans only eat 58 dollars worth of chocolate a year.  This is confusing since I always thought we were unhealthy people.  Perhaps we eat more candy than other countries around the world.

Safety over Security

            On Saturday, September 10th at around 12:30 in the morning there was a shooting at The Club Elite in Palmetto.  Twenty-two people were injured. Two people died including the bouncer and a twenty five year old.  Some believe it was a drive by where they shot everyone standing out front. The dead bodies were covering the ground to preserve evidence until about ten in the morning.  Some people believed they kept the bodies out just because they were African Americans.  When my dad got to work he said puddles of blood were surrounding the area.  This massacre has become big news in the area.  Now people in Palmetto do not feel save someone could drive by and shoot them down at any moment. 

            The case is still lacking the shooters identities but the streets have buzzed about who did it. Safety is the key issue behind finding the shooters.  People who know who did it are scared to tell officials.  They want to make sure they are safe and loved ones are safe.

            Rev. Cory Brinson of Spiritual House of Praise says, “The witnesses know that the criminals shot twenty-four people while trying to kill a few.  They would think nothing of shooting them, too.”

            I think that if I knew who it was it would be hard to stand up and say it.  I would fear for my safety.  You would have to trust the police force to protect you no matter what.  Hopefully someone will step up so that Palmetto can sleep at night.

Harmful or Harmless Homework?

         Homework is suppose to help you with your school work so that you can understand what you learned. Too much homework on the other hand is bad. If you are given too much homework you do not want to learn, you get frustrated, and it is hard to find time for other things. Teachers are suppose to allow only two hours of homework a day for high-schoolers. Some classes seem to think they are the only ones that assign homework and want to take both hours for their class. If a student goes beyond two hours of homework then their brain starts to shut down and they are not focused on the work which hinders the whole reason for homework. Many classes homework will last longer than two hours. If it hinders you to do more than two hours of homework then why do teachers want you to finish it in more than two hours.

         With the odd and even day schedule teachers are use to allowing four hours for homework instead of just two. They still need to allow time for other classes homework. It is harder for first period classes to maintain two hour homework when their other classes are given four hours. I experienced two hours of homework in only my first period class everyday for the first week of school. It was hard to keep up and now on the third week of school it is even harder to keep up.

Kung Fu Panda 2

    The lovable Po is back on a new action packed, comedic adventure.  Today I got to see Kung Fu Panda 2 and it was very funny. It had an action packed story line pulled together with some funny parts for an amazing movie the family would love. If you go to the theatre expecting a kids movie you will be disappointed it is amazing for all ages. It gave you an understanding on why Po is so different. It gives you the beginning of the story you never knew. I believe it really brought out the main characters and showed more from their past. It is a lovable sequel that will probably become a trilogy. It was definitely a success, but don't take my word for it check out what people said at http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1664708/kung-fu-panda-2-reviews.jhtml.

Oh My the Pirates got Problems!

    Today is Friday the 20th. Besides that today is the day that Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides comes out in 3D and IMAX. I know some people that are very excited to see it but before you see it you should know some problems they overcame while filming this movie.

    First of all, Keira Knightley and Orlando Bloom didn't want to be in Pirates 4 because they felt that their characters were exhausted with their adventures. The writers had to write the script without them causing the writers to create new characters like the first mate played by Penelope Cruz.  Another big problem is that Penelope Cruz became pregnant during the filming. They had to make a different corset for her that was made of elastic instead of the buttons it had originally. It became difficult to film. They would have to film her from different angles not showing her baby bump. They even used her sister in a few scenes.

    These problems have been solved and I am extremely excited to see how they fixed these problems. I especially want to see if I can tell the difference between Penelope Cruz and her sister. Hopefully this film goes beyond the others; giving the Pirates ending a nice bang.