Friends for Everyone

I was looking for ideas of things to blog about and one suggestion that I got was the friends that some day you'd like to met. That got me thinking and I decided to make a list of friends that I think everyone should have. I have already found some of them and some of them I hope to find some day.

The List: In No Particular Order

1. A girl who's always there for you NO MATTER WHAT.

2. Someone who knows your views and whole heartedly agrees.

3. Someone with completely different opinions to share ideas with. 

4. A guy who tells you that you look pretty no matter what, in a non lovey way. 

5.  A friend who doesn't mind relaxing and being immature once in a while. 

6. A college (or older highschool friend) who's been though what you're going through and will give advice without judging. 

7.  Someone you know who lives perhaps in another state so you can tell them all the drama and problems in your life without worrying that they'll know who you're talking about. 

8. The friend who's arms you can fall into for a hug always, at anytime. 

I know that I'll think of more to add as time goes on. What about you guys? What type of friends should every person have? I know that there are many more to add to my list because one can never have to many friends. 

9. Somebody who is practical and down to earth yet sympathetic, to put your problems in perspective. -Snowflake

Voteearth

Also be aware, today is Earth Hour! From 8:30- 9:30 your time, please consider turning off your lights to raise awareness of the growing problem of global warming. 

Abuse and Rihanna

Written by our very own Snowflake! If you have article, story, drawing, poem, etc, that you have made which you would like posted email it to gwebbies@gmail.com

Usually I'm not one to take the entertainment news seriously, but the story of Chris Brown's assault on Rihanna caught my eye. As surprised as I was at Chris Brown's actions, I was even more shocked at how teenage girls across America reacted. I was literally gaping when I read the facts: 46% of Boston students think that Rihanna is at fault for the attack, and 52% believed that both were responsible, even as Rihanna was rushed to the hospital for her injuries. So what's up with that? After doing some more research, I found out that almost 10% of teenagers report being hit or slapped by a boyfriend or girlfriend -and many teens don't report these incidents, so the numbers are likely even higher. And domestic violence isn't something that only happens in inner-city areas -it's a problem all over. Culturally, some people say, factors such as hip-hop music give an image of an aggressive male, saying that violence is the answer. I personally am not sure music is to blame, but I think that the lack of negative response on the part of teen girls in cases like this is scary. Chris Brown allegedly choked Rihanna, yet teenage girls repeatedly send the message that Rihanna somehow set him off. This may be true, but assaulting Rihanna isn't the way to solve it! The saddest part to me is that many of these girls have been victims of dating abuse, but they still think it's okay. I think this really exposes a glitch in our culture that desperately needs to be fixed.
-Snowflake

What a Terrible Joke

Like most people I was always horrified at the racist and sexist and just plain terrible jokes that a lot of high schoolers (and even some fully grown people) make. 

Q. What do you tell a woman with 2 black eyes? 

A. Nothing, you've already told her everything. Twice. 

When someone told me this, my mouth and the mouths of those around me just dropped. We didn't even have anything to say. Why would someone even say something like that? Finally my friend Clara gets out, "That's horrible." The person responds happily, "Yeah, I know!" 

So why do people say things like this? Do they think it's funny? Is it for shock value? Is it out of ignorance?

I think that in a way, these jokes are a direct reflection of how far our society has come in the past 100 years. Hearing them is a reminder of how different things are now then when our parents grew up. Times are changing and we need to realize that. 

The second related thing is telling people how terrible these jokes are when they are said. Now I'm all for saying "Wow that's terrible," and standing up for our rights, but do people really need a lecture for saying jokes like the one above? I certainly know people who think yes, but I think no. I'm sure that 99% of the time, these jokes don't come from ignorance. And I am pretty sure that people don't truly find these jokes hilarious. I think that they say it for the shock value and lecture only increases the shock. 

On a slightly different point, my friends and I sometimes say things like this to each other because of how ignorant other people sound saying them. We mean it to laugh at the people saying the joke not the joke itself. Does this make us horrible ignorant people? I should like to think not. 

I'd love to know what you guys think. Agree with any of this? Disagree? 

Identity

I worry about how other people judge me every day. But more important than how other people view us is how we view ourselves.

 How do you identify yourself?

 By your age?

 Gender? 

Religion? 

Interests? 

Where and how do you see yourself in the world today? 

How about in your school? 

Among your friends?

 If you were to make an "identity chart", what would be on it? 

-Snowflake

Animal Adventures

Just recently I went with 21 other kids from my school down to Florida. We went to a camp at Busch Gardens. If you like animals and ever get the opportunity to do this, it is most definitely amazing and totally worth the money. 

We went behind the scenes and worked with the keepers, we helped them clean animal cages before the park opened and hand fed animals like giraffes and sloths. One day we went over to Sea World, we saw Shamoo and the dolphin shows and feed sting rays and dolphins. In our free time, we wondered around with friends going on rides and getting henna tattoos. We stayed at Mzinka Lodge at Busch Gardens, though we were so busy that we didn't spend much time there.  The whole camp is made to help give kids experience in zoology is they are interested in going into the field. I loved the experience and think I may go back by myself next summer. 

Are you interested in animals? Would you want to be a keeper? Are you interested in behavioral sciences? Have you/ would you take the opportunity to do something up close like this? 

The picture is of me petting the animal ambassador armadillo. 

An Issue...

I was just wondering, what are your positions on prostitution? We were having a debate about it in class, and this could be an interesting topic for discussion. Comment with your position.

New Talking Ipod Shuffle

Apple unveiled the new iPod Shuffle last Wednesday. Ok, you think. Whatever, the shuffle still stinks because you have no idea what song you are listening to. And it is here that the 3rd generation Shuffle has you beaten. This tiny 1.8 inches tall by 0.3 inches thin (that’s smaller than a battery) music player can talk to you. Wait, what? Yep, a new feature aptly named VoiceOver means that the MP3 player can talk to the user in 14 languages, telling them the artist and title of the song they are listening to. It even announces the names of your playlists. And when your battery needs charging, VoiceOver can tell you that, too. The new Shuffle also has 4 GB storage, 1000 songs worth, and a fancy new set of earbuds, with the controls on the cord.
What do you think about this? Is it worth the $79?

3.141592653589793238462643383279

So the title is pi as far as I know it by memory. Why is this at all relevant?  Today happens to be Pi Day or 3.14 the 14th day in the 3rd month.  Pi is the irrational number that is found when dividing the circumference of a circle by the diameter or π=C/d. 

At my elementary and middle school, we always made a huge deal about the day. We had a whole school assembly with competitions. There was who could say the most pi from memory (the record this year was the same girl its been the past few years with over 200), who could recite the Greek alphabet the fastest from memory (alpha, beta, gamma, delta, epsilon, etc) (I can do the whole thing in 3 seconds), best pi artwork, best skit based around pi, best pi costume and the best song written about pi (my friends and I won that in 8th grade by rewriting the lyrics to the Harry Potter song, you know the one that goes Snape, Snape, Severus Snape, Dumbledore). 

The whole point to this post? Well there really isn't one other than to remind you to value your math and watch Harry Potter Puppet Pals. Oh and it's also and excuse to say good bye for the week. I'm headed of to sunny Florida for the week where I may or may not have access to a computer to write to you all. Farewell and Omega. 

(Thats the last letter in the Greek alphabet and it didn't really fit in that sentence but it seems right somehow so I'll leave it.) 

Spooky

So besides the fact that my friend and I happened to nearly kill ourselves painting a bathroom without ventilation, (yeah i don't recommend it) today is also the 2nd Friday the 13th that we've had this year. For many it is a day filled with superstitions and thoughts of bad luck. Personally I believe that science and logic points away from superstition but I'd love to know what your thoughts are. The day is said to have originated from two separate symbols of bad luck, the number 13 and the day Friday. 

 Have you heard of any crazy superstitions? Or do you know of any that make you go "Hey, I see why people could think that"? Does your luck seem to change on Friday the 13th? Do you know anyone those people that won't go out of their house on Friday the 13th? 

Random Incomplete List of Superstitions

1. If you spill salt you pick it up and through it over your left shoulder. 

2. If you break a mirror you will have bad luck for 7 years. 

3. Walking under a ladder gives you bad luck.

4. Putting a hat on a bed is considered bad luck.

5. As is opening an umbrella inside. 

6. A bee visiting your house is a sign a visitor will come soon. 

Hallie Marie gave me many of these ideas and a link to a helpful website that you can visit here. 

Call for Smart Girls

I know that we have been mentioning the stimulus package quite a lot lately but for me and perhaps some others out there, it is completely over my head. I hear it and roughly understand the concept but other than that, I'm lost. I was hoping that some of you ladies would do some research and share your knowledge with me. If you could email me your informational and opinionated articles on the stimulus plan by next thursday that would be awesome! Then I can combine them, and post a piece up here to help me and any other semi confused people!

gwebbies@gmail.com

Obama's First Few Weeks

Here is a debate starter written by Snowflake!

First Impressions

You knew I couldn’t keep my mouth shut about politics for too long, huh? Haha. Today’s political debate is about… Obama’s first few months. Even though it’s only been about 10 weeks, it seems like Barack Obama has been the president for ages (or maybe it’s just me). In this short amount of time, he’s had to face down an economic crisis, make tough decisions about Afghanistan and Iraq, prove that he means business and he’ll be responsible, and, oh, yeah, try to please the American people. This is no easy job, and even though I don’t like his policies, I have to cut him some slack –the poor man has to deal with an enormous national deficit and an America with a rapidly sinking morale. However, I’m not going to go easy on him when he’s spending almost $800 billion dollars on a “stimulus” package, and then talking about “fiscal responsibility” and “not leaving a huge deficit to our children”. I didn’t support the plan from the get-go, and my negative feelings towards it have only strengthened as time went on. But there is one thing that I’m really enjoying about his presidency, and that is that he makes you feel good. There’s an aura that surrounds him, the kind of feeling you get when you eat chocolate –it’s just a feel-good feeling. It’s a fresh start, and that’s a nice thing –it makes you appreciate why presidential terms are confined to eight years. I can’t predict what’s going to happen in the long run, but these are my first impressions of President Obama. What are yours?

-Snowflake

International Women's Day!

This is a piece written by and_then_hannah_was_all_like. If you'd like anything you like to be posted on this blog email us at gwebbies@gmail.com

International Women's Day (IWD) is a global day celebrating the economic, political and social achievements of women past, present and future. First celebrated in 1911, it is now an official holiday in China, Armenia, Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bulgaria, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Macedonia, Moldova, Mongolia, Tajikistan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan and Vietnam. Since IWD was first celebrated, we have seen a significant change and attitudinal shift in both women's and society's thoughts about women's equality and emancipation. 

While in some places women are still not paid equally to that of their male counterparts, women and men still are not present in equal numbers in business or politics, and global women's education, health and the violence against them is worse than that of men, great improvements have still been made. We do have female astronauts and prime ministers, school girls are welcomed into university, women can work and have a family, women have real choices. The future for girls today is looking a lot brighter than those of our mothers and grandmothers.
Check out the website at: http://www.internationalwomensday.com/

-and_then_hannah_was_all_like

Dress Code?

My middle school at what seems to be a pretty average dress code. No spaghetti straps, shorts must go below finger tips, belly must not be showing. But now at my high school, the dress code is lenient to say the least. Basically we have to be covered as if we were wearing a one piece swimsuit and shoes. I also have friends who have some pretty... interesting dress codes. One of my friends school dress code says that they don't have to wear a uniform but all of their clothing must be tan and navy blue. 

What about schools that have uniforms? I have heard compelling arguments for and against them.  

Pros:

 They discourage bullying based on what type of clothes you wear. 

They make it easy to identify intruders. 

They save parents money. 

Cons: 

They encourage conformity and inhibit individuality. 

They can be uncomfortable and distract from learning. 

They can be a lot of money. 

It's sort of funny that one of the biggest factors on both sides seemed to be money. The pro uniform people believed that it would save parents money not having to buy their kids the latest trends and because you could have just a few uniforms that your kids would always were. 

The people who were against uniforms said that for some one who shops at second hand stores, buying uniforms would be a lot of money. Also, the uniforms couldn't be worn on the weekends, so you would still need more clothes. The other point that they had is that even with in uniforms there are designer brands and kids will always notice things like that no matter how much we don't want it to be true. 

Personally, I'm against uniforms. I think that even as teenagers we have the right to express ourselves. As for dress codes,  some dress codes are a really good thing. I know some schools that didn't have a dress code until male teachers came forward and said that they were being distracted by girls low cut shirts. (Yes that does creep me out a little bit.) However, I personally feel that there is no harm in wearing a tank top. If some one wants to wear short shorts, they should be allowed to. 

What is your school dress code? Do you wear a uniform? What is reasonable for a dress code? 

Earth Hour '09

In the latest issue of New Moon Magazine, there was an article about Earth Hour 2009 (co written by my sister :D ) but I wanted to bring the idea to whoever else may be reading this. 

This day began in Sydny, Australia in 2007 when millions of homes and business's turned off there lights for one hour to promote energy awareness. People of all nationalities from all parts of the world have pledged to turn of their lights this year. Many famous land marks and cities that never sleep will be dark. So I'm asking you to  take part in this also. For one hour from 8:30- 9:30 on Saturday, March 28 what ever time zone you are in I am asking you and your families to turn of those T.V's, pull the plug on the computer's and black out the lights in your house. 

Fun things to do in the dark: 

1. Take a shower in the dark. Or you could take a bath with candles around it. It's really nice to  Technically this still requires using power because water takes power to pump but it's still fun. 

2. Ok, perhaps it's only me, but simple things that I normally don't enjoy are so much more entertaining in the dark. For example, try cleaning your room with Absolutely no light. It's really funny. 

3. Have a dance party in the dark. It's fun to be able to dance with out worrying that people are looking at you (especially if you're like me and can't dance at all) 

4. This was most definitely the most fun of all of them. My sister and I each invited a friend over to celebrate Earth Hour with us. Then we played Sardines with them. My sister and I had a slight advantage over our friends because we knew the house, but it was totally different playing in the dark. ( I walked into our couch.) For those of you who don't know, Sardines is like the opposite of Hide and Go Seek. One person hides and every one tries to find them. Once you do find them, you secretly go into hiding with them. 

My friend and I were both stealthily crawling  across the floor trying to find my sister, (we had to crawl because we couldn't see where she was) when we both felt a hand touching the other. We both started screaming and then collapsed in a heap laughing when we realized it was the other person. 

Will you flip the switch? Do you have any other idea's of cool ways to spend the hour? General thoughts on the climate? 

For more information go to earthhour.com

Start All Over

The orb28 blog is closing down on Saturday, but I have come to really enjoy blogging so I am going to continue on here. This is in no way affiliated with New Moon Girls Media, though we do love them and plan to continue following them. 

This is a place for us girls to stay connected and hopefully for more to join us. If you have anything you would like posted on here email Gwebbies@gmail.com

"We must always have old memories and young hopes."

~Arsene Houssaye