April 2007 Archives

Everyone, at one point or another, feels as if they are controlled by
another force. People throw away their own opinions and conform to what
others want them to do. Andrew Largeman, played by Zach Braff, suffers
from these symptoms in the 2004 movie "Garden State."

Anyone else have this math course?

This is the story of a girl whose boyfriend beat her up. He beat her up many times, until one day he took it too far. The girl called the police and had her boyfriend arrested for domestic violence.

This made him mad. The boyfriend made his bail within 24 hours and showed up at the girl's door the next night, with a loaded 9 mm gun.

The girl did not live to tell her story.

Have you ever wanted to get new music but didn't feel like going to the music store? Thanks to the Internet, there are many easy ways to find and download new music quickly and easily. Here are some places to start.

It's that time of year, the time when schools charge exhorbitant amounts of money for a dance, and girls spend even more on dresses, nails, shoes, and hair. But is prom really worth all this trouble?

Eastern York High School junior Chenoa Shenberger has found herself with quite the busy schedule. Not only is her time filled by school and an array of honors English and pre-calc homework, but she also has a part-time job as a waitress, extracurricular activities such as marching band and musical pit, and the essential teenage social life. In addition, she had been working a second part-time job as a sales associate at Burlington Coat Factory.

With a schedule like this, Chenoa is left balancing not only platters of pizza and pasta, but also a full plate of activities.

I'm going to college this fall, and I've been looking for items I might need for my dorm room - anything that would help me survive. The handiest item on my college grocery list is Pyrex's 4-cup measuring cup.

Last year, if someone were to say the word "Lafayette" to me, I would have thought of Marquis de Lafayette, the French general and ally of the U. S. in the American Revolution. I would have had no idea there was a college named after him - in Pennsylvania, no less.

"Identity" is one of a slew of new game shows to hit television in recent months. After a brief, one-week run in December, NBC brought back the show in March, airing at 8 p.m. Fridays.

Hosted by the charismatic Penn Jillette (of the comedy-magic duo Penn and Teller), "Identity" is a show that deals with first impressions.

The best day of my life April 20, 2006, the day I got my driver's license. I'm going to be honest, this was the best day of my life. OK, maybe I'm exaggerating, but it at least makes it to my top 10 list of best days ever.

Students, educators reflect on the irksome nature of names.

Names.

Could the topic get any broader? That solitary expression knowingly covers so much of the English language it would be hard to pinpoint one true word to describe the term. Even name has a name: the word itself!

However, probably the first thing that comes to one’s mind when hearing the word “name” is something along the line of Sarah, Jacob, Madison, Daniel… the list goes on. Actually, the list would most likely go on for miles and miles, being that everyone out of the 6,525,170,264 worldwide population has a name unique to each and everyone one of us.

But as innocent as names may seem, they can often be the basis for stereotyping and frusteration...

I love cake! Ice cream, the band, cake with flowers on it, cake with "You're Over the Hill" written on it, wedding cake, funeral cake (!?!), baby shower cake, and the saying "That's a cakewalk."

HOWEVER

Jeff Yalden, the Mtv Made coach, spoke at our school today. It was rad.

George Orwell uses pigs and animal rebellions to symbolize Communists
and the Russian Revolution in "Animal Farm," an allegorical satirical fable told
through the eyes of England barnyard animals.

Click to enlarge

So yesterday we had high school students from all over the county visiting the newsroom as part of journalism workshop.

The Teen Takeover editors usually do a short presentation during this annual workshop to let students know about the staff and what we do and all that jazz.

Since Katy and Jen were off, I had to fly solo for the presentation, and let me tell you, I was terrified.

I always get into my King mood during spring.

I guess sickness is just going around - my family's been sick since last week.

My dad bought a box of Cold-Eeze brand lozenges - cough-drop like drops that are supposed to shorten colds and give some relief.

I have a drop with me: The wrapper says it's cherry flavor.

It must mean "cherry tree". It tastes like a plank.

And the box says you're supposed to suck on them, not chew them.

EW. I feel like moldy bread. Soggy moldy bread.

(A trivial rant)

By JENNIFER VOGELSONG, Daily Record/Sunday News

The Keebler Elves don’t do a bad job with graham crackers, but in this month’s blind taste test, the York Daily Record/Sunday News Teen Takeover staff voted Honey Maid the best of the crunchy bunch.

Generic store brand? Don’t even bother, they advise.

Normally people do this at year's end. BUT, this is a fiscal year we're talking about.

With less than two week until my senior prom, my last-minute-for-everything lifestyle is creating a little bit of stress. I ordered my prom dress from a store online after trying probably every dress in the greater part of Pennsylvania on with no luck, and I am still anxiously awaiting its arrival. I like getting things in the mail rather than buying them because there is always risk that comes with the mail and I like to live on the edge.

What is it about spring that makes you want to clean?

I guess that old cliché "spring cleaning" is true.

On Friday night I cleaned out my nightstand and gathered a heap the size of a beach ball, and last night I reorganized my CD tower and ended up with quite an impressive stack of stuff to throw away.

I'm at a loss of what to clean now because I have gone through all of the places in my room that could possibly hide old stuff to be thrown away.

Maybe I'll attack my sister's room. There's certainly enough junk in there to keep me busy for a while...

My mom wanted me to take a break from people this weekend.

This morning, I added layers.
Now, I'm takin' em all off.

Anyone doing something interesting this summer? Like climbing a mountain or going to some exotic location? Or just hanging around?

I would like to know. Obviously, I am doing nothing, or you would have heard about it.

Congratulations to all the seniors on the Teen Takeover staff recognized in the "Senior Honor Awards: 2007" insert in the York Daily Record this morning: Sophie Bushwick, Katherine Hartman, Jenna Jenkins, Laura Livaditis, Samantha Provenza, Michelle Renn, and Justin Shapiro.

Only three of us weren't listed among the students in the insert: Toni Hernandez, who goes to New Oxford High School, which wasn't represented; Nick Ryan, and me.

Nick and I are home-schooled. No home-school students were honored.

My dad's grandparents came from the Carpathian mountains in Ruthenia to the United States. They settled in Northeast Pennsylvania. They were Byzantine Catholics, and their church services were done in Old Slovanic. My dad says he still remembers some songs in Old Slovanic.

My dad's father was at Pearl Harbor when the Japanese attacked, and he was also one of the first U. S. Air Force officers. He attended the University of Pennsylvania, one of the colleges I'm considering.

When my great-grandfather came to the U. S., his brother came with him but decided to live in Ohio. Recently, my dad got an e-mail from a Mokris in Ohio. Pretty cool.

Other than that, I don't know much else about my family's history - except that my mom's aunt married a Pickett. He's descended from General Pickett, who led Pickett's charge in the battle of Gettysburg.

Following Brittany's lead, I thought I would share some of my family history..at least the interesting parts! My dad's family is from Sicily, Italy and directly related to Bernardo Provenzano, who was the leader of the Italian Mafia in the 1950s. He joined the Mafia in his early teens and rose to the top, creating a successful crime world in Sicily. He had been on the run for some 40 years and was finally caught last year, when the police tracked down a package of clean laundry his wife was trying to send him. He is now being kept in a high-security prison in Italy, under surveillance 24-7 and will remain there for life.

I thought this connection brought some pizazz to my family tree and my dream is to go to Trapani, where he is being imprisoned, and hear his account of his intriguing life story. :)

Over dinner the other night, my friend and I started to discuss our ancestors, where they came from, important things they did, etc. We found out that one of my paternal grandfathers was a British general in the colonial days, and fired what is know to be the first shot at the Boston Massacre (not so pleasant, I know). My friend said that his ancestors founded a town in Connecticut, which now carries their last name.

I find genealogy to be fascinating, so I thought it might be cool if everyone posted something cool in history that his or her ancestors participated in. It will definitely make for an interesting read for everyone.

As I said in my meet the staff post two months ago, this salad is as good as ice cream.

You know whats really good?

Once you register to vote, make sure you vote for former speaker of the house Newt Gingrich (if he runs for president).

See my previous post on why you should root for Newt.

My birthday was last Saturday, so I finally got to register to vote.

This is the Pennsylvania's website for voters.

And this is the voter registration form.

I also registered for the draft. Click here for the Selective Service website.

This post isn't what you think.

As I've been posting like crazy....I just wanted to be the one to post the 200th entry! WHoo! Thank you, that is all. :)

http://www.atomicbooks.com/

I'm reading it. You should too.

I found this VERY amusing!

I love it!

The weather outside was cold. Security had taken my toothpaste away from me within the first hour. The others were surprisingly pessimistic, disregarding what was about to happen. I spent almost $10 on what was probably the grossest pasta I had ever eaten. A few hours to spend, and I had nothing to do but wait for it. This may not sound like an ideal beginning, but these events were the start of the best “it” I can imagine—my trip to Spain and France.

Does anyone else get supersticious on Friday the thirteenth? I usually do, just because I'm the supersticious type, but I have to say, I think that I have put this belief to rest. I've never really had a "bad" day on the thirteenth. In fact, I had an absolutely wonderful day today.

Take note that I waited to post this until I was home for the day (didn't want to jinx it). I have not gotten rid of all my supersticions yet.

Happy Birthday to you,
Happy Birthday to you,
Happy Birthday, Kelly Marie Hanson,
Happy Birthday to you!

Susquehannock presents "The Music Man" this weekend.

1) We're getting them back.
2) Teachers are having them.

I'm a nerd.

A body can only handle so many cups of hot tea, especially when they have been force fed for the last week through a horendous cough.

I have had this "thing" for the past week and I can not seem to get rid of it. However, I am not writing this blog to complain about my fever, nagging cough, or chills (ok, maybe I am, just a bit). But I have a question to ask of all the good people of the blog. Why do I still go to the doctor when I am sick just so that she can spend three minutes with me to tell me that there is nothing she can do, oh, and make sure to pay on the way out. While I understand that I should go so that I can make sure that I am not coming down with Ebola or some other form of a deadly disease, I resent the fact that I drag myself across town for this when I already feel near death.

Maybe I am just delirious from all the cough medicine, but this seems a bit absurd to me.

I hope everyone who celebrates Easter had a good one...enjoy those chocolate bunnies and the many Easter eggs! As a chocoholic, my favorite part of Easter is definately the piles of candy my brothers and I get every year! But seriously, I hope time spent with family was appreciated and new memories were added to the chronicles of the past. : )

This is an awesome guitar duo from Mexico City. Rodrigo plays the melody while Gabriela does the percussion. It's pretty amazing how quickly her hand can move! This is the duo performing on the Letterman show.

A benefit concert for the Four Diamonds Fund will take place Saturday, April 7 at the Dover Community Center at 3700 Davidsburg Road, Dover. Musical performances will begin at 6 p.m. and end about 10 p.m.

Can the term 'less is more' apply to everything?

I have just returned from eating at one of the coolest restaurants ever! A group of my friends went down to Towson to celebrate my friend's 18th birthday and decided to go out to eat at The Melting Pot. The whole concept of this restaurant is fondu! Instead of forks and knives there are colored fondu sticks and each table is designed with two heated squares for the fondu bowls.

I was a worm eating my way into the Big Apple.

If I got to choose who the Republican candidate for president would be, I would pick someone who isn’t even running – yet: Newt Gingrich.

I don’t see anything wrong with the Republicans running now; Rudy Giuliani would probably be a good president. But if the federal government is to function properly, I think the country needs someone like Newt Gingrich.

If you don't like My Chemical Romance, don't bother. Mute it, and watch the video for the visuals. I really like it.

Last Saturday I joined my fellow Girl Scouts on a road trip to Bethlehem, PA. What's in Bethlehem, you ask? Well let's just say that we were looking for adventure. Needless to say... we found it.

What is the best part about being a member of a teenage rock band? In an e-mail interview, Central York High School junior Jake Hammill said that it's "having an excuse to be out past curfew, the girls, and all the cool people that make up the York music scene."

For all of the high school underclassmen out there, beware. No longer do students have to simply keep grades passing (at the very least) to step out the double doors of their high schools with a diploma in hand, but many must also complete numerous competency tests as well as a graduation project. Most schools in the area, at least those in York County, require their students to complete a graduation project. To some, the grad project is the final culmination of what was learned in high school. To others, the project is a hindrance, showing no test of any skills that haven't already been tested. Is the project a help or an obstruction?

Last fall, I applied to eight colleges, three of them in Pennsylvania. If York College had a physics program, I would have considered applying there also - but I wouldn't have looked forward to the application process.

Why?

Because I'm home-schooled.

In the experience of myself and home-school families throughout York County, York College often has a bad attitude toward home-school students.

Can a person change his or her character?

Meet Tater! My first puppy!! My mom decided to randomly bring home this cute little chihuahua on Saturday and I was so excited I had to blog about him. It's my little brother's Easter surprise and he wanted to name it Potato...i have no idea why but that's the sort of thing 11-year olds think is funny. But I refer to him as Tater, I think he's adorable!

Click on image to enlarge

Wow. I never thought I could ever not remember something. I suppose after the doctors knock you out, your memory just isn't as it used to be.

How ludicrous can our fads become? What will it take for someone to say, "This is ridiculous!"

In recent years, young Americans have latched onto a few items that have caused me to raise an eyebrow or two. Heelys, Beanie Babies, trading cards from TV shows like "Yu-Gi-Oh!," deodorants like Axe and Tag that supposedly have the power to attract females, Crocs . . . the list goes on.

However, a new craze is slowly rising that resides in a category far removed from even the most "out there" fads of the past. This new craze is stacking up its devotees as we speak. The "tweens" of today and even some parents and young adults - obviously lost souls - have joined the ranks of the "Speed Stackers" of America.

That's right. Speed Stackers.

ESL students share what it's like to adjust in York County

Many of the plots of today's television shows involve mysteries and cliff-hangers. When an insider leaks information about upcoming episodes to the public, usually via the internet, this is a "spoiler." I stand before you today to confess: I am a spoiler addict. One of my most frequented sites is www.spoilerfix.com, which offers spoilers for several popular television shows in a single place.

"I'm boring but overcompensate with headlines and flash, flash, flash photography."

Stomach ulcers, school formals and SATs. Is this a normal year for a 21st-century high school student?

Ok, we JUST had the meeting. Actually, while waiting for my mom to pick me up...I thought I'd write something for the one and only blog...about what else but graham crackers?!?

It turns out that there is more to the story of Marie Antoinette than history tends to share. Rumor and fact have meshed so that her life - ultimately ending with the French Revolution and her beheading - is often misrepresented. Sofia Coppola's film "Marie Antoinette" offers an unflinching look at the truth behind its namesake.

Jen Vogelsong- Stop procrastinating and write your stories!

Michelle Renn
Age: 18
School: West York Area High School

Name: Michelle Lacroix

Age: 17

School: Susquehannock High School

Where do you work?

I work at Chick-fil-A in Shrewsbury.