Politics

Hello all. Welcome back!
Blocks 6 & 7, you have a quick blog to write about posted below this one and then come back to "Politics."

Today you will not actually post, you will word process and print off a copy to hand in by the end of class.

I want you to begin by telling me what your thoughts are on this presidential election. Who would you consider voting for? Why? What issues are important to you and how does where your candidate stand on them support your ideas about him/her? If you do not pay any attention normally then consider this a research project--you must complete. This is not a choice assignment-even if you do not 'like' politics. :-)

Please search out candidates positions online. Look at their web sites. Look at the news sites and search under 'politics' to understand their positions and sometimes to compare what they say they believe and what they actually do. Look to see how they have actually voted on issues to see if they walk their talk.

This is a preliminary project for our elections on Thursday.

Enjoy!
Mrs. Gaboury

See this site for a quick candidates overview
http://www.libertylounge.net/forums/24362-presidential-candidates-issues.html

Break: Melts in Your Sleep, Not in Your Hand

To tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, I didn't feel like I completely earned this winter break. Honestly, I was just getting into the groove of being so sleepy in the mornings I'll try to put my pants on backwards, or having to duct tape a sticky note to my head before I go to sleep so I can remember exactly what's going on tomorrow. For most of the other breaks, the sense of relief we get when we realize that we can completely blow off virtually anything we want to until our Sunday night panic attacks smack reality in our faces is a godsend. Not so for this break, sadly enough. I was quite fed up with being tempted with (seemingly) limitless procrastination, and what do I see stretched out in front of me when I finally get to crash-land on the Friday before President's Day? A whole week to my own, simply begging me to do just that. I'll pass, thanks.
After the initial hissy fit, however, I have to say I quite enjoyed myself. Assignments dished out for the break were not as coronary-inducing as I thought they would be, and I was summoned to quite a few friendly get-togethers for various occasions. Getting to see my friends out of school but in familiar places is like having a somewhat nondescript dream that I and all other participants remember perfectly. For some reason, you can't be sure it really happened because it wasn't exactly normal. But happen they did, and they were much appreciated at an otherwise boring moment out of time.
Breaks can never really be completely satisfying for anyone, because the mind is just getting used to the idea that it's free to pursue its own interests when it's beaten down again. Summer vacation allows time for us to stop our brains from rotting on our own, without smeone telling us that we have to think deeply. Summer vacation is being allowed to get out of the middle of the ocean and take a nap; week-long breaks are getting to stick your head out of the water for a quick breath before a wave shoves you under again. So, it's always a mixed feeling, being back in the Pacific that is our school. Then again, I'm a pretty good swimmer.

BrEaK

I love breaks. How else can I say it? This break was definitily a more realxing one which was nice since we're traveling on Easter break. I spent one day doing alot of friend stuf - that was fun! My family went ice-skating; once with my dad which was a special treat. I enjoyed moving back into my bedroom (we recently painted it) and I spent some time just chillin' down there. My sister and I took long walks wandering in the woods with my dog and I even had time to indukge in one of my favorite activities - cooking! We (my family and I) treated ourselves to a few late-night movies as well. I would like to quickly thank all my teachers (except for one) for not giving me homework over Febuary break. I would also like to let Mr. Frey know that I forgive him for making me write a DBQ over break.

When I think about/compare a break like Febuary break to summer vacation, they are not the same. Really, in my mind, the year is broken into to parts: the school year and summer vacation. I look at a break during the school year as a time to rest and recharge. Summer is a different world. As I have said before, I live up in the Adirondacks during the summer because my dad runs a voys camp up there. Summers are not relaxing. I work along with everyone else at camp. It's amazing and I can not wait to go!!! Don't get me goin' on how excited I am. I have a great dislike for summer assignments; when summer and school it becomes toxic.

Breaks are great whenever! I love them!!!

Break

Break was great… it was a refreshing change of pace. During school I always feel like there is so much to do and like I’m going crazy. It was so great for one whole week I got to sleep in as late as I wanted to, well except for the day when my Dad woke me up at 5:30am to go skiing. So over break I went skiing a couple times, and then I just lounged around in my PJ’s which was fabulous!
When I think summer break I think no homework(except for those lovely summer reading projects), sun, friends, swimming, and lying around at the pool. Summer break is long and relaxing compared to a one week break which is just some time to calm down. I love summer break, but sometimes towards the end I get a little board and I start to miss my friends. And then I kind of want to go back to school. So sometimes I feel like summer break is to long, but I definitely feel like one week is not enough time.

Over the break I got done most of what I planned to do. I had baseball practice a couple of times, and played a little basketball. I also achieved my goal of relaxing, and recooperating after a long, and strenuous basketball season. I hung out with my friends, and went out. Sleeping a lot was deffinetly a highlight. Summer vacation will still be what I look forward to most. Baseball will take up most of it, but I don't mind that at all, as long as we win, and I play well. I also am anxious to play basketball, and be outside working hard to improve. My goals are to get work done around my house, and keep the lawn in vintage form. I can't wait to hang out with my step brother Luke. The word baseball brings to mind the great summer nights. On these nights we practice a lot, and prepare for games and tournaments. Our team usually goes out to eat afterward. These are very good times, and I am excited to continue them this year. The word ocean brings to mind the beach. Going to the beach so many times in the past, and all of the good times with my big family. I am excited to go to the beach in North Carolina this August with my family. The break off certainly did not compare to the good times to come this summer. I am anxious to get the school year over with, and enjoy the summer.

-KG

The Break: Several Disconcerting Events

Some parts of the break was very interesting, but most of all despondantely boring. The first funny event happened on Sunday, when i went to my friend's Tyler Wagner's house. He was hosting an OM meeting, and a few other of my friends were there, too. Yes, i know that my various critics will say that going to somewhere besides my house and school is impossible, and that the sun turning out to be a large, buttery pancake would be more likely. However, i did indeed go, but when i was trying to get there, along the Alps Mountains, mind you, the sign for the appropriate turn-off disappeared. Mysterious. Deciding to turn anyway, seeing as though i had traveled 1.4 miles, as depicted by the map, two walkers assaulted us. Well, assault is kind of a harsh word. Jumping at the car in a drunken state seems more correct, and it was funny nevertheless. The road ended up being the correct one, with the missing sign half-buried in the middle of the road. Once i reached the house, we imeadiately started working on the scenery...blah blah blah...zach got transformed into a Smurf...blah blah blah...the castle was painted blue...and finally, we had airsoft. I wont give you the details, but it ended up with several double layered battlements of cardboard with holes in them and over damaged property. After that, the only interesting thing that happened was later on next Saturday was Peter Keller's birthday. It was quite fun with more airsoft for a few hours, several rounds of Mafia, and Poker. Fun times.

BREAK!!!!! (thank the lord!)

Overall I had a very fun break, But then again any thing is better than being at school...Well almost anything is better...Any way, I diid many things that I would call fun. I started out the break with a three day stay at the great escape indoor water park. My siblings and I deeply enjoyed it. It's always nice to get away from home once in a while, but then when you get back it's nice to home...That way you can take a vacation away from your other vacation...After this "adventure" I had a greater one, My cousins came over... My cousins are about the same age as my little sisster. They are also twins which makes it even harder to watch them. But some how I made it through watching Laurel and Noah( My cousins) Kaitlin (my sister) and My four year old brother. I still can't believe they went for the quite game. The quite game is something me and my friends made up to keep the little one(s) quite. The rules are farly simple...The one who can be quite the longest wins and the one who is loud looses, and since my family is very competive they hate to loose so I got away with about 6 minutes of quite. This was very awarding for me because its ussaully hard to keep them quite for 2 minutes let alone 6. After my cousins had left I did nothing very important besides watch a few movies and play my wii sytem.
I think that the work break dose not have the same mpact on a person as the word vacation and the word vacation does not have the same impact as when you put the word summer in front of it and it becomes summer vacation. Break is only about a week off from school but summer vacation is a whole bunch of months off of school. Plus summer is beter than any other month.

break

My break was ok. it was surely nothing to brag about thats for sure. I got to go to dance with sarah and see everyone cause i havent seen anyone in a while. we ran our dances and are getting them ready for our competitions coming upp!! =] im like soo exceited and nervious at the time. i mean were going to the palace theater and performing there twice, and then going to syracuse and performing there once. its scary but sounds like alot of fun. my brother got shipped away for a couple days to hos friends house so it was nice to have it quiet and not having him nag on me all day. yep everything else was pretty boring. oh wait i did go ut with my freidns friday night starting the break for my other friends birthday. yeah so i did do something else.


I like having breaks every once in a while. I mean after being in school for a long period of time you just need to like stop. I think generally for alot of people the begining of breaks are more fun because your just like laaaa but then after a while your like ok im bored. Its like that with eather the week breaks like we just had or like summer vacation. I mean everyone at one point is like ok im bored i miss seeing peple every day... unless your a hermit. Summer vacation is long and drawn out. yes you get to do alot of fun things during the summer but you also get ALOT of down time. i tend to loose contact with alot of people over the summer.. i dont know why i just seem to. i know im a loser but i seriously luive in the middle of abosule know where. i have no neighbors. im exactly 15- 20 minutes away from EVeRYTHING. its like retarded. But anyways.. vacations are good. its time were you can like veg out and like sort things out. the stress of being in school leaves for that amount of time and you can just be blahhhhhhhhh. =]

Break

Break was really fun. I went to las vegas with my cousin Taylor who is 13 and my grandparents. We stayed at a hotel called circus circus which was in the middle of everything fun to see. There was a indoor theme park we went to twice that was actually in our hotel. There were so many rides, there were roller coasters, water rides, ones that spun and went up high, some that hung upside down for a couple seconds and so many more. My cousin Taylor and I rode all the rides and went on alot since the lines weren't that long. It was fun how Taylor went on all the rides because she usually is afraid of rides like those but she isn't anymore. She went on every ride I did which made it more fun.But the plane ride was also pretty fun too. Taylor was never on a plane before and she used to hate roller coasters so she was nervous about it. We were going to leave on 2/16 at 3:00 and stop in ny city for a layover and then go to las vegas but our plane was delayed to leave albany to 4:41. So, when we got to ny city we had to rush to our plane and they had already started boarding. But while we flew to New York City I saw the statue of liberty. I was glad because I never saw it before even though it was hard to see from the plane. Taylor liked the plane ride so she wasn't nervous any more. Once we got on the plane again It felt like the plane had trouble moving and we heard a big bang. It ended up that the bar pulling the plane back broke and the wheel of the plane was stuck in a ditch which caused a longer delay. Once we left and arrived in las vegas it was 11:00 at night there and since there was a 3 hour time differance it was 2 in the morning here. So we checked in, put our stuff in our room and went to get dinner. In the morning we walked around and brought things and met my grandpas friend that moved down there a couple years ago. He showed us around and brought us at night to this street where there was something that looked like a roof over the street, and at night there were lights on it that made it look like it was a movie playing over it. It was really cool and it was huge. Then on monday morning we went to the theme park in the hotel in the morning and then my grandpas friend brought us to see the Hoover Dam. Then on tuesday we walked around again and we looked at the hotels. One called MGM there were lions in this glass thing where you could walk under it and see them through the glass above you it looked cool. Then this other hotel that had water in front of it that shot up in the air and moved with the music. Another show we saw was one in front of a hotel called treasure island and it was a show with boats and had fireworks too. Then we saw a majic show on friday and went to the theme park again. But also on thursday there was this this hotel called New York New York and it had a statue of liberty that they made to put in front of it and on the building was a roller coaster that flipped and had drops that me and Taylor rode. Also there were two other hotels we saw with rides. There was the stratosphere which was like 133 floors and on the top there were rides. One brought you up fast and dropped and it repeated. Then there were two other but they both hung off the building but I didn't go on those but they looked fun. Then the one hotel called the Sahara there was another roller coaster there. It also went backwards and i was going to go on it but we didn't get a chance. I am going to go on it next time we go there though. We left on saturday at 10:40 their time at night and stopped at philidelphia at 6:00 our time in the morning. Then got back on a plane at 9:30 and arrived in Albany at 11:15. But on the plane ride from philifdelphia to new york it was funny because my cousin was pressing the light button and accidently pressed the button for the lady to come that served the drinks and it made a loud noise and made the blue light go on above our seat and it was funny since we didn't know how to turn it off and we wondered if you pressed it again if it would make the noise again or if it would turn off. so, we just left it alone and it was still on when we got off in Albany. Then on sunday night I was so used to the time differance of 3 hours it was hard to fall asleep and adjust to the time but since I had a overnight plane ride that made it alittle easier. My grandma said we may go back again next february. I hope we do because it was so much fun. But it felt like it went by so fast.

I think there is a differance between summer vacation and winter break. I think of it how summer vacation is time to get ready for a new grade and relax for a whole 2 in a half months. But during winter break you know you will be going back to the same grade in a week so it isn't such a break from school as summer vacation. But during breaks you can sleep in like in vacation too but it if you wanted to you could use it to catch up on schoolwork too.

Winter Break

During winter break, I had a very exciting time. I looked forward to sleeping in until eight o'clock. I looked forward to staying up until twelve o'clock at night or midnight. I looked forward to playing my PlayStation and helping my mother with daily chores. During school weeks, I have to get up at five o'clock and after the whole week of getting up at eight o'clock I was exhausted yesterday.
When you use break as opposed to summer, there's a huge difference. Break means we still have to go back to school but summer means freedom. Breaks you cannot do as much as in summer. In the summer you can volunteer for a very long time, it's warm out, there's a refreshing breeze, and you can spend more time with family. But, break means still school, sometimes cold, rainy(occasionally), and not as much time with family. To me, the summer's better than any break but of course winter because Winter break has my birthday in it, which of course is an awesome day.
Over the break, I planned on sleeping, PlayStation, spending time with family, shopping(maybe), my birthday and SNOW !!!!! Well, sleeping, PlayStation, and spending time with family happened a lot. Shopping and snow happened very little. My birthday happened for only one day. But, that day was full of laughs. My older sister Nicole and I with my mom enjoyed a day of laughs jokes and of course fun!! The day ended with my sister Nicole making me a card that was really funny, funny meaning something that I think is funny. For example my sister falling out of a chair, before I go help her, I laugh for a very long time.
But, during summer, I volunteer at the hospital so I am not home when my older sister Nicole is(she's at work). But my mother and my other sister Heather is home. Summer means summer reading assignments which I love because I love reading and writing and during the summer. If there was no summer reading assignments, I probably wouldn't read or just free write about anything. Summer also means fun and exciting water fights which occur every week in our family. Summer means my dog jumping into the pool and me rescuing him. Summer means my dog getting baths in a kiddie pool because he's too big to fit in the bathtub(no offense). But my dog still feels like he is royalty just because he gets a bath. How ridiculous is that, when I take a shower I don't feel like royalty.
On the first Saturday, I did nothing and lounged around all day. On the first Sunday, I did the same. On Monday, I cleaned the whole house with my family(early spring cleaning). On Tuesday, I was out all day with my family enjoying myself. On Wednesday I played the PlayStation again all day long. On Thursday, I lounged around all day. On Friday, I watched one movie and played games. On the second Saturday I was out all day long with my family. On the second Sunday I typed an essay for social studies, did homework, and played on PlayStation. Yesterday was my birthday so I went out to eat and had fun all day long.
But overall I love summer way better(volunteering, dog, family):)

Break vs. Summer Vacation

Break was fabulous! It was very relaxing. I bowled with some friends, and then we went back to my house and had dinner and stuff. It was fun. We played Ghost in the Graveyard...good times.... I also watched Project Runway a lot. Thanks to my mom, we taped like...every episode.

When I hear summer vacation, I think sunshine, no homework, (except for those summer reading projects) and swimming. Also sleeping. But when I think of breaks, I think lounging around and doing homework that evil teachers assign us. I have to do chores normally, and I don't really get more chores when I have free time. I don't voulenteer. I babysit my sister and my neighbors sometimes which is fun. Summer vacation and breaks are two different things for me. Summer is longer of course, and you have more time to hang out with friends and just take a break from the craziness school is. Most of the pressures of school are lifted, and its a good time to relax.

Breaks are a smaller, less sunny version of summer, and I'm always thinking about school and homework, and what I need to get done. Summer vacation is a LOT more uplifting than breaks. But when you take a vacation away form home over breaks, like to Disney World or the beach, thats a WHOLE different story...

Winter Break

This winter break I was really just looking forward to relaxing. I really needed a break because I am so busy! I had fun, but it got kind of boring. When we go on breaks, I miss seeing everyone. I'll make plans with my close friends but there is people that I'm friends with that I only see at school so I miss hanging out with them. Even with my close friends I didnt really do anything over break. I did dye my hair though. I did that on monday, the beggining of break so then I was really excited to go back to school so people could see it.

I dont really like summer vacation that much. I think I like just one week breaks more. I do like to travel during summer vacation but for the same reasons I miss seeing my friends everyday. Also, over summer vacation my hand writing gets really bad. I know thats stupid but its annoying, there is always a change in my handwriting! I also think that I gain weight in the summer which I don't like at all. And, everyone gets all tan and I stay white. It is totally not fair how that works. I do like the relaxing aspect of it. You have nothing to do for two and a half months and its good to take away from the craziness of school.

Vacation and Breaks

This break I was really looking foward to my soccer tournament in Massachusets. Unfortunatley I wasn't able to make it because I was sick for a majority of the break. So since I was housebound for most of my break I was pretty much bored. I sat around and did nothing which is nice for a little while but not for the whole break. During my breaks I like to do stuff with friends which I didnt get to do at all. Break and summer vacation for me are the same....but different. Breaks are well a break from everything. Breaks let you have fun, relax and pull yourself together so you are able to go back to work or school. Summer vacation let you relax but then because its so long it gives you a chance to go out and do alot of different things. During my summer vacations I like to be active. In the beginning of summer vacation I like to relax and just sit at home but then after a week or so I like to go out and hang out with friends and go places. But come to think of it I like to go places any time of the year. I love visiting different stated or different cities. Its alot of fun. This summer I most likely will still be working the job that I'm doing now which is fine. It gives me a chance to get out of the house and earn some money. Plus I like my job so its easier to go. I just love summer vacation because I love the warmth and the sun and the water. Its just so amazing.

I think breaks are good and I think summer vacation is so much fun. Breaks are good for taking time out of your work to let loose have fun and reorganize yourself. Summe vacation is good for doing that and then exploring. Both are just really enjoyable and I love them both so much!!!

Break it down now y'all

The break: Oft-praised and ever so anticipated. "Spring: The time when a young man's fancy turns to love"? Well, perhaps; if the fancy in question is the prospect of a vacation from school and the accompaning stress and responsibilities.

But as for myself -- I do not share the common adoration of the break. In fact, I was downright saddened by the prospect of the Februrary break this month. It appears to me that often, things start getting really good right before a recess from that thing. My enjoyment of school saw a grand crescendo leading up to that second week of February, and although I was not sad to have a break from homework and my less-liked classes, I missed the social aspect of school.

However, I look forward to summer vacation significantly more than the common recess. I think this is because summer vacation is an entity of its own, a new period of the year, while school breaks are merely a halt in the nine-month school process. While most breaks are only about a week or a little more, summer vacation is long enough to really do stuff.

This past February break, my family and I vacationed in Florida, the unfortunately and seemingly permenant home of my maternal grandparents. While I missed my friends greatly, and very much enjoyed seeing my grandparents. Now that they have moved to Florida full-time (sniff), I can only see them around three time a year, which, to use a common phrase, stinks. Familial reunions aside, Florida is really fun -- my grandparents' apartment complex has two heated pools, a ping-pong table, and a fitness room at our disposal; in addition, it is literally two minutes away from the public beach and the broadwalk.

Although I don't have any contact with my friends, save for some instant messaging, I love vacationing in Florida because I rarely get bored, whereas this is a huge and frightening danger if I were to stay home. But I still get to sleep late (!!!). Which is, of course, fundamental to enjoying vacation, as anyone will testify. I very much enjoy having no shortage of activities as if I simply loaf around all day or all break, I feel lazy and therefore inadequate as well as bored. Florida is the perfect mix: swimming, beaching, walking, biking, exercising, or tanning (just kidding)for more defined activities, and then I can read, write, talk to my grandparents, IM, or break out the ol' drum practice pad back in the apartment.

All in all -- breaks are generally good, summer vacation is better (if there's enough to do), and Florida is good but only if you're not there for too long because then it gets irritating. (Every time we go down, there are more and more high-rise condominiums destroying the beautiful beachline!)

Oh, and the highlight of the Florida trip? Two magical rides in my dad's friend's MUSTANG CONVERTIBLE. Yeah.

Hmmmm.. This break went realllyy reallly fast and i didn't even do anything fun! that doesn't seem right!

anyways i had to feed my neighbors cat while they were in friggin Aruba but it all turned out well because i just fed wee little yankee everyday anf cleaned his nastyy poopayyy . I earned forty dollars for the little that i did and they also baught me bootie shorts with aruba printed on them.. veryy cuttteeeee

also i babysat these other kids on tuesday named angelina and anthony and then on wednesday i babysat other kids named evan and tori.that paid pretty well and im a loaded.. well actually not really

Fui a el centro commercial con mi madre y Yo compromuchas ropas! La ropas son muy bonita.
have fun reading that sucker mrs. gabouryyy..haha i kill myslef[ laughing that is] muah ahaha

ok back to normal ... well it was a pretty unproductive [ besides babysitting] vacation but i loved it !!

Ohh i also most forgott! i just found out that i am going to nyc with highschoolers from my church and were going to see the POPE!!! =) wohhhoooo i loveeeee goodddd ahaha


- peace out a town down [ aka melissa]

Break

I really looked forward to break just because I got to sleep more. At first I didn't have any plans, except to go to Alison's house on Saturday, then just sit around and hang out. But I ended up doing something almost every day. I went out to lunch with my sister and my grandpa for my sister's birthday. We were there for, like, 3 hours. I did something in the morning one day but I can't remember what and that afternoon I went to Amy's house. I stayed there for 3 or 4 hours and we were on the computer the whole time. It was fun to just hang out, not having to worry about school or homework or anything. I also went bowling then to Madeline's house. It was so much fun, we played ghost in the graveyard outside in the snow and her porch and driveway were so icy so everyone kept falling. And Sarah almost froze her feet off because she was stupid and was wearing ballet flats in the snow. Oh yeah, in the beginning of the week my family and I (minus my brother) went to see Alyssa's prom dress and then we went to Target for a little while. On Saturday Emily and my mom went to the movies and saw Step Up 2, then on Sunday we went shopping. Overall my break was pretty relaxing and fun.

Break and summer vacation to me mean different things. Break is what it says, a break from school. I like to just relax during breaks and do more vacationy stuff during the summer. Break also still has the anticipation of school, while summer you can just forget about it (until you remember that you have summer reading projects or something like that). I like breaks and summer a lot, but eventually I get very bored and need school back (mostly just to see my friends).

Break?

Breaks from school are always a jovial occurrence. Although, the used to better when I did social things, but nonetheless, this was a particularly good one. It started out when we drove to Cleveland on Saturday. We arrived that night and had an awesome dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe where I saw the first musical instrument that effectively frightened me. The next day my parents and I went to the Rock and Roll hall of fame where I laid my eyes on Rock artifacts, including John Lennon's Sgt. Pepper Jacket, Elvis's guitar, and instruments from all my favorite bands. The next day we drove home. Monday through Thursday were veg out day's, and I truly did nothing. On Friday, I went bowling with my friends, and at night successfully became invisible for about 10 minutes. The next day, I had some people over to my house for a birthday/airsoft party, which was a blast. And to end the week was my 15th birthday, on which I got several Cd's, got stuck in Downtown Albany, and translated several passages from Spanish to English. All in all, it was a nice break from real life. Oh yea! I also successfully enriched uranium on Wednesday. That was cool.
-Peter the purple panda.

MMYYYYY VACATION!!

I'm so excited to write this because my vacation was AMAZING. I mean, usually I use vacations to relax but I was all over the place.

From Friday (heh heh heh, you guys were in school!) to Sunday, I was on Long Island with my whole entire mom's side of the family. It was a lot of fun because I got to meet my uncle's new(ish) girlfriend and we got to catch up a lot.

I went to the mall with Lauren to visit Julie at the mall, because she works at this hair care place next to Journey's. We "snuck" in (because we wanted to surprise her... when I told my mom that she was like, "Why wouldn't you be allowed into the store?") and I stuck my head out from the shelf and she was talking with her mom and a girl she works with, saw me, and was all, "YOU'RE A LIFESAVER!" She asked her mom for a five minute break and was gone for twenty minutes.

Then on Wednesday, Lauren and I went to Jeepers with her little brother (but we totally had a lot more fun than he did) and then we had to go to Miller's. Nick (Lauren's little brother) was told he had to stay with us, but he was really bothering us that day so we ran around, hid, and played secret agents.

Friday was Lauren's "party", which wasn't really a party because everyone bailed out. It turned out just being Julie, Lauren, Christine, Tricia and I sitting in Lauren's basement, listening to music, questioning each other's beliefs and leaving voice mails on Jake Fisch's phone, who decided he wasn't going to pick up. ("Hello? ...Yeah? Oh, what's up? ...Hey, that's cool man. Listen, I gotta go though so... bye. Oh. LEAVE A MESSAAAGEEE!") Julie and I slept over at Lauren's and we were trying to watch Moulin Rouge on the DVD player in the basement, but it's kind of crappy and picked up on the scratches. So we just kind of talked until three in the morning and fell asleep on the pull out couch.

SUNDAY WAS THE BEST NIGHT EVER!!! On December 15th; Brand New, Thrice and MeWithoutYou were supposed to be at the Washington Ave. Armory for a show. The show got canceled because a snowdrift sort of... collapsed onto the roof (or, as Jesse Lacey said at the show, "So we were supposed to be here... but the sky decided it was going to fall or something).

The show was rescheduled for last night and please understand--Brand New has been in my top favorite bands for the past three years and they never come around here, even though they're from Long Island. Thrice and MeWithoutYou couldn't come because Thrice is doing a headlining tour with Circa Survive (Gabs: haha, you probably have no idea who these bands are) and I'm pretty sure MeWithoutYou is touring with Say Anything(?).

So... Sybris and Men Women and Children decided to follow along for the one night "tour". Sybris kind of sucked. They were like Paramore but everything sounded the same, the singer was terrible, and the only thing somewhat decent about the band was their drummer.

Men Women and Children own a (somewhat small because I only have so much to go around) piece of my heart. They were setting up and they kept sticking neon lights on the edge of their stuff. One of the drum's had one, the singer/synth man (there were two, but one of them didn't sing) had a pink one on his synthesizer... but the singer's was the best of all. His mic stand had a neon green light plastered on it. They started in with a song and I found out yesterday they changed the chorus from "A-E-I-O-U Nothing" to "A-E-I-O-U... swearwordIwon'ttypeouthere YOU!" They had so much energy and were so good live. Their music was like synthy hard rock with catchy lyrics and dancy tunes. The crowd was moving and they even added in a little, "Hey. So guys, everyone has to move. Because we need to make this a frickin' party before Brand New comes out."

Brand New had the coolest stage presence ever. Jesse Lacey (he's my hero and the lead singer) was a bit weird in the begining because everyone else in the band were all over the place and we was just kind of stalking around, low to the ground. He warmed up a bit after the fifth song and half the time, I wanted to cry because it was so beautiful (I know, I know... Brand New and beautiful in the same description) because I've wanted to see them for so long and their lyrics kind of saved my life from some pretty scary things. I really connect to them so somtimes singing "Jesus Christ", "Play Crack The Sky", "Okay, I Believe You But My Tommy Gun Sure Don't" and "Deggrasur" with 5,000 other people can really get you emotional, especially when you can connect with his devilish lyrics and perfect interludes.

Their encore started with the guitarist just on stage, playing a three minute, perfect solo and then everyone else came on, Jesse and he traded guitars and they wound up having three guys with guitar sticks on there by the end (there were eight people on stage). One of them was their actual drummer, the other drummer just had two congos, two cymbals and a snare and there was a guys standing next to him who would play the cymbals with him and hit his sticks together to make a clapping sort of sound. The one who would do the clapping sound, at the very end, sprinted across the stage and into the drummer's kit--knocking him over. The drummer had a small amount of time to crack up, pick himself off the ground and finish his drums.

I loved every second of it and would love to do it over again... even with the raping of the vocal cords.

lalala

So this break was fun.Boring in its own aspects..but it was fun. I basically was home alone for the first few days because my parents work.Wednesday I spent the day with Rebecca at the studio.Of course we all know that the studio is Isabelle's School of Dance.So we hung around there with the competition team for what seemed like forever, only running three of our four dances in the six hour period.But hanging out with the girls and guys there is totally awesome because we only see them on Wednesday and Saturdays.That day was fun.No doubt.Then the rest of break was kind of a bore. Except Friday when I almost froze my feet off and laughed hysterically with my friends.Welcome to bowling with freaks that we are.We were idolizing a stuffed carrot.Yeah.Exactly.The whole bunch of us did fairly well [ James !].Well some of us did well. After the wonderful bowling the whole gang went back to the wonderful Maddie's house and did our favorite thing..eat.haha.And some of us [not myself of course] played Dungeons and Dragons.mhm.The most fun was ghost in the graveyard outside.Now Maddie didn't inform me to bring boots or anything so I wore ballet flats.At least I had socks.Which is a rarity.And ballet flats and ice and snow and falling = frozen feet.Luckily I went inside [BY MYSELF !] and sat by the fire and commandeered Maddie's cat.Of course Amy*, Stephanie and I attempt to make people fall on the ice, being the humanitarians that we are.Then I had dance...again.Which was fun..again.haha.So break was good for me.Fun really.

Break and summer vacation are like two different worlds.Well..to me at least.In summer I can do whatever. I can go for a walk down to my neighbors barefoot, play some football, take a million bazillion pictures.In summer I don't have a care in the world.In summer I have my brother.We are WILD in the summer. Playing our games that we made up in the backyard and prefecting our "swings" [dont ask]. In summer there's Summerfest too. I love Summerfest. And in break...not Summerfest.I can't wait for summer even though I WILL not doubt miss my friends whom I don't se eon a regular basis.

Well sorry for the length.Isn'y usually this long.
But whatever.

Sarah !

Vacation/break/whatever...

My vacation was really good. It was relaxing and gave me a chance to re-coup after a pretty hectic couple of weeks. It was fun to do nothing. ya know?

On Friday, I went to Morgan Kunz's house and we went to Youth Group at her church. (I'm not really a church person, but it was really fun none the less.) And then we went back to her place and watched "White Noise 2" (which was good, but weird). The next day we went to this thing for 4H and helped little kids do crafts and stuff, that was a lot of fun...

Then I went babysat that night. That was awesome cause i love those kids like they are my own. They are 3 and 4 years old, a boy and a girl. They were really good for me, so it made my life easier. Then i went to my grandma's house and talked on the phone till like... 2 in the morning. then i had to get up for church at 7, so that was fun. Then out of nowhere, i was asked to babysit for the entire day on Monday. so, i did. (made $120 in less then 2 days, so i wasn't exactly complaining...) so by that point, i was beyond tired. it was ridiculous how tired i was.

Then I went to my dad's house and did NOTHING. it was fantastic to do NOTHING. But then Morgan Kunz came over and we played Wii for like.... ever. that was a lot of fun. she went home 2 days later... and um.... didn't do anything after that. We went shopping on Saturday... And we saw "The Spiderwick Chronicles", (WHICH WAS GOOD FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO WERE DOUBTING IT WAS... Sarah... cough cough)

That was my vacation. After thinking about it, it was not a uneventful as i thought it was. But it was good because it was not a stressful as a vacation would have been at my mom's house... but anyways...

~Victoria

The break was a very nice and relaxing well.......break......from school. I didn't do much, but since I am a total video game junkie I spent a lot of time playing Team Fortress 2, Half Life 2: Episode 2, Audiosurf (really cool, look it up), and Sins of a Solar Empire. Lately my head has been a mess, and the break was a very nice to time to just kind of sort everything out. I feel revitalized and ready to move forward with both academic and social activities. The rest of the break was speant either talking to friends online for hours, or hanging out with them at my house. Oh yeah, and I stayed up fairly late and slept a lot. That was probably one of my favorite parts. The only other thing I can think of is that I watched a lot of movies and since I'm bored, I'll list them; Die Hard 2: Die Harder, Breach, The Davinci Code, Jumper, and I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry.

Compared to summer this break was nothing in terms of relaxation or the ability to forget about school. Unfortunately, the weather was also not quite as nice, and my skin probably needs to see more sun.

Breaks

Pretty much all I think when I hear 'break' or 'summer vacation' is sleep. I don't get enough of that. Well, other things too. I never have time anymore to read long books, or play video games, or make experimental cookies.
Both my parents work full time, so I have to babysit my sister every weekday, and we never have plans because of that. If any of my friends make plans, I can't go unless we can get cover for her (or if it's on the weekend). And no one ever makes plans anyway. I'm not always able to have people at my house. Basically, breaks all stink - we still have homework during them. I don't do many chores, I don't have a job and I don't volunteer. I forget to eat meals and I never have anything to do.
Summer vacation is fun at first, but I still end up nearly suffocating from boredom after a week or two.

Breaks stink.
--Ali

Break is an awsome word to hear after months of school. When I know that break is coming up my mood gets happier and more relaxed. I have to say that the breaks throughout the school year are great but nothing is like summer. I love break for one main reason. Sleep. I tend to only get about 5-6 hours of sleep on a average basis and I'm usually tired. When break comes i can sleep in and "Catch up" on sleep. I put "Catch up" in quotations because it's mainly an excause because its impossible to catch up on sleep when you missed sleep 6 days ago. The only problem with break is everyone is busy or gone on vacation. I dont go anywhere because we just built our new house and were still working on it.
This vacation was ok. I got alot of sleep but some of my friends were out in Florida and I wasn't. I spent most of my time hanging out at home with some friends and drawing. My plans were to hang out with our group of friends consisting of about 20 people but it ended up only about 10. One of the best moments of the vacation was being able to see one of my best friends come back from college.
The only problem wth break right now is that my dad thinks "Hey the kids are home! Make them work!!" So its about 7:30 and my dad comes in and starts to wrestle me and sit on top of me telling me to get up. sanding the drive way, fixing the hot tub, doing the dishes are just some of the many chores that i have to do. As for summer I'm basically home free. I usually spend about half my summer at friends houses and at camps. What I really want to do is go somewhere next break. I have never been to disney, orlando, or anyother country. I feel as if I'm missing out on some things.
I still love break and summer break is usually a blast!

Break and summer vacations brings different thoughts to mind because summer vacation is more fun and longer lasting and you have time to do what ever when ever. But break is fun but you have to make sure you do whatever it is you want to do in a certain amount of time. I enjoy both though because they both give you NO SCHOOL!!!

This break I was looking foward to playing baseball all day, and that is just what I did. I palyed from 7am to 2pm almost everyday. I also looked foward to and did dump pickin in rich neigborhoods. They throughout some good stuff. this year my big find was a mechanics chest with about $1000 worth of tool.

I did some beach doin in florida(thats were i went) i chilled on the beach and spent time with the family.. I was suposed to meet a freind down there but I did not have enough time to go see him.

In the summer i do alot of work. I dont mind it though cause its easy work for good pay. I dont have alot of responsiblity in the summer after work besides a couple chores. But for the most part I do baseball, Fourwheelin, Paintballin, good old fashion chillin.

this summer i am planning on reading "libral facism" i think it is going to be an awsome book.

Vacation :]]]

Vacations are always fun. We need vacations to just take some time off. They're really nice and after a while a while you just need a chance to relax. Before break I wanted to paint my room cool aloe [a pretty spring-y green color], spend time with my friends and see my sister when she comes home from college.
I spent three days of vacation with two of my friends: Nina and Cait, which was amazingly fun. I chilled with my brother, Eric and sisters, Grace and Anna, for a while too. We celebrated two birthdays. One for Grace because her birthday was in December and one for Doug, my half brother whom just turned the big 3-0. I did paint my room and it turned out great. It was a lot of worth but it's worth it. It brightened the room up quite a bit. Now my room isn't a chalky purple color. Yay!
My room still isn't put back together yet, so I had to sleep on the couch. But I'm going to finish today and sleep in my own bed in the green room. I'm excited :]
So, break was very fun and it was a nice relaxing week. I hope you had fun too!

Vacation

During break I went to Arizona to visit my grandparents. I went from Saturday to Thursday. The weather was pretty nice. When I came back I pretty much sat around my house and didn't do anything. My vacation was pretty relaxing. I looked forward to doing nothing over break. I think that summer break is totally different than February vacation. First of all, the weather in the summer is way better, and second of all, you don't have as many chores and you aren't like ughh in three days I have to go back to school. No your like yay I have three whole months till i have to go back to school. Also during this vacation I don't have any sports and I am kind of bored. But in summer I get to look foward and practice for tennis, and when I am not doing that I go to alot of different camps, and I just hang out and swim and my parents want me to get a job. So yeahh that's pretty much it.

-Katie Schultz

Summer Vacation vs. Spring Break

Homework, tests, essays, they can be overwhelming. Without breaks, I would be a sleep-deprived, mindless zombie. Weekends are nice and all, but I usually spend them trying to recover from the schoolweek and get some rest. This is why breaks, every-other month or so are ESSENTIAL, to the mind and body. They are a big-warm hug for your spirit. They give you a time to really relax, and forget about the multiple tests and reports due when you come back. However, as the week passes and you count down the days till you get back to school you realize you have a lot work to do, and so you're back to procrastination, putting things off to the sunday before school.
Summer breaks are different, instead of a big warm hug they're like a shot of expresso. Of courrse the first week might be relaxing enjoying your lack of responsibilities, but after that there are so many fun things to do; sang out with friends, summer camps. Going to the beach has always been my favorite summer activity. I love everything about the beach, building sandcastles, doing handstands in the water (a feat I could never accomplish without the decreased gravitational pull), or just floating around. However, this coming summer may be different, before, I've never been able to or wanted to get a job. This summer I want to get some kind of job, even if it's bagging groceries or scooping ice cream. I'll miss the days of lounging around during the summer, but I'm always up for a new experience, and if I can make money doing it, thats just an added bonus.

No School You Say?

ahhhhhh, break. how i love you so. breaks i think are essential to getting through school without blowing your brains out. personally i get really stressed out during school so when we get a week or so off it really is important and allows me to recover from school and get back on track. with a break you just get a chance to do nothing, which is great! you can just chill, hang out with your friends a bit and then you are ready to go back to the evil institution of school. this break i got to go bowling with some friends. there i mastered the potty shot. for those of you who don't know the potty shot is when you go up to the lane, spread your legs and use both hands to swing the ball through your legs. doing this i got three spares and two strikes. so that was great. the only other stuff i did during vacation was massive practice for an audition which was on Sunday for a theatre summer program.

vacation it very different. you don't really have the feeling that school is right there. you actually have time to do stuff with your life. you can go somewhere, get a job, go to a camp, or whatever. there is so much time to really concentrate on something you enjoy and school doesn't get in your way. it also gives you a chance to make the transition into the next year.

so a break is relaxing, but vacation is exciting. they have very different feelings to them but they are both very important to getting through school. without them i would probably go insane, like more so then usual, which is bad, very very bad.

Nothing Doing

I have to say I greatly prefer summer vacation to breaks in school like the one we just had. During summer vacation I know that I have a multi week break and don't have to worry about schollwork that I am putting off. WhenI have single week breaks, like last week, I never plan anything, and just, pretty much, do nothing, desppite this, I am always feeling like I shopuld be working on schoolwork and not procrastinate. On summer break, I plan things so that I can have fun instead of just laze around and gain weight.

Breaks and Vacations

Unfortunately my break was not as fun as I hoped it would be this year. I knew that my break wouldn't be very good because I was getting my wisdom teeth out the wednesday we had off, but it turned out to be worse than I thought. Before the appointment though, my break was going fine. Over the weekend I went to Syracuse to see the basketball game Syracuse vs. Georgetown. Also, that Monday I had track sectionals where I ran the half mile pretty well and didn't do as good as I could in the 2 mile. That Monday I also started taking penicillin as an anti-biotic for the surgery. Tuesday I went shopping at crossgates and saw Juno, which was rreally good. Wednesday and Thursday I did absolutely nothing but sit on the couch and eat pudding and ice cream. Friday I went to my grandma's house to visit my aunt who came from North Carolina. They set up my trip down to visit her over April break. i'm going to be flying down there and back by myself for the first time. The rest of break I just stayed home. There is a big difference between breaks and summer vacation is that breaks are just a relief where summer vacation is more exciting. Also, summer is a time to get everything you put off done and go on big vacations where during breaks everything is down-sized.

BREAK!

So February break...

It was an enjoyable time. My plans consisted of hanging out with friends, spending time with my mom, and just sleeping in till noon. I went bowling (I got a stike!), went to the movies, learned how to make chicken parmesion, and watched Lifetime movies when I woke up in the afternoon (each time reaching for the tissuebox).

But break is far different from summer vacation. Summer vacation is exciting and amazing and you can do so much but yet it still goes by in the blink of an eye. Break is just a sigh of relief and a relaxing time...

So overall break was good...but now I'm sick and I don't have a voice, and there are only 3 weeks left of musical practice...and "AHHHHHHHHH"! Back to school, back to chaos, and back to reality...

breakkkk

During break i was at a friends house everyday. It was fun. i went skiing and saw Hannah Montanna 3D.I went to peoples houses and just hung out. I love sleeeping in but i also love my friends. I fainted at my friends house that was bad and i had to go to the doctors. Now i have to eat healthy uhhh. Break and summer vacation are different because during break you might have homework and over summer you dont. during summer you can just relax. i dont have to do anything over summmer or break. I ususally go on vacation during breaks or summer not during school because you miss so much work and i dont want to make it all up.

kristin