Assignment 21 - Beppy Badgett - An Obstacle

The summer before I went into fifth grade was going to be so fun. It was my first summer living in Kentucky, and I really missed all my friends and family in Maryland. On June 13th we took off on a road trip back to Maryland, we planned on staying in a motel that night and arriving at my cousins early on the 14th, my sisters birthday. Everything was going as planned, we arrived closer to 3 pm, but my whole family was so excited it didn't really matter. My aunt has 9 kids, and when we pulled up to their house, I got a hug from each of them. We quickly ran inside and everyone settled down into their various activities, my mom was talking to her sister, my dad was playing ping pong with some of my older cousins in the basement, and my cousin, Ruthie, and I decided to go on a walk. I pulled on my flip flops because i didn't want to take the time to tie my sneakers, they were a little big, but I didn't really care. As we ran to the front door, I suddenly slammed to the ground, I had tripped over the edge of my shoe. I got up, thinking everything was fine, but I was wrong. My sister screamed. "BEPPY, WHATS WRONG WITH YOUR ARM?" I looked down and she was right, my right arm was bent in the shape of an "S". The next few hours went by really quickly, my parents rushed me to the ER, and I woke up with a cast past my elbow and an orange popsicle. It was still my sisters birthday and we had missed almost all of it. I felt terrible, the next day I just sat around sulking. I couldn't draw with chalk, or play baseball with my cousins, I couldn't even brush my teeth. I was right handed and, my right arm was stuck in the shape of an "L". When my dad left to fly back to Kentucky, we took a picture, and I specifically remember hiding my arm behind a flower pot. My life was over, I would never have fun or be able to wear long sleeve shirts again. After I was done throwing my self a pity party, I decided to suck it up and at least try to have fun. I spent 30 minutes trying to brush my teeth with my left hand, and eventually I got it. Next I tried playing baseball, that didn't really work, but I don't like baseball anyway. I learned how to write pretty well with my left hand, and my cast became a good self defense mechanism against my sisters trying to attack me. This obstacle that had seemingly ruined my summer turned out to be the thing that made my summer. It wasn't really that bad, and it left my with a good story to tell. It made me who I am today, a person who can brush their teeth with both hands.

Assignment 21 - William Begley - Breathing and Running

I have asthma and a deviated septum which means my nose is messed up and I can only breathe from my left nostril. I have also always loved playing sports and particularly ones that make you run a lot which is a bad match for a guy that can't breathe very well. In elementary school I was always one of the fastest but I was never the one that could get 80 on the pacer test. I got mad. I've always been extremely competitive, not the kind of competitive where I want to win the game or beat my friends, I want to be the best. I try hard to make sure I always am as close to this as possible. Running was always a specific challenge for me because I was built to suck at it, I was also a chubby kid and never felt like the most athletic but I knew I had to be. So, I started running as hard as I could whenever I could, on the pacer test, in gym class, during field day and I got better. Fifth grade is when it all started to come together for me and I got the fastest mile time and the farthest in the pacer test in my gym class. This wasn't enough for me though and I knew I had to try harder, so in sixth grade I joined the football team so I would be forced to run. During sixth and seventh grade I just kept getting better then during tryouts for the eight grade team I really started to feel my asthma and couldn't run, I had to stop and I wasn't allowed to do football that year. That made me more angry than I would like to admit and I just kept working. Now, I can safely say I am a stronger runner than a majority of my peers and my asthma has become so unnoticeable I often forget about it. I haven't worked as hard to improve my running recently but just earlier today I tried timing my mile for the first time in years and can do a 7 minute mile comfortably so I think I've done pretty good.

Assignment 22 - William Begley - Caltech

I am fairly certain I won't get accepted but I've always wanted to go to California Institute of Technology. It has one of the best aerospace engineering programs in the country and that's the specific field of engineering I've always been most interested in. This interest in their program is one of two main factors in my selection of this college. I also just want to live on the west coast, and specifically California as it's a hub for my two biggest interests, skateboarding and cars. I grew up with my dad and cousin, Jack, both loving cars. My dad has a 1999 Jeep Cherokee Sport that he loves and is working on almost everyday in someway, he loves to create capable and practical off-road vehicles as he has now raised the Jeep and added massive tires to create his dream car. Jack is involved with a different facet of cars and has a 2015 Subaru WRX STI. He loves creating fast and cleanly constructed cars and has taken many steps to create his own personal WRX. This caused me to have a deep interest in vehicles since I was little and want to go to California where great car companies and racers began. Caltech is perfectly placed for me to experience the rich car culture of California.

Assignment 20 - Beppy Badgett - How to cook the perfectly crispy potato

Over the break I have been very bored, so with all my free time I have started cooking, A LOT. I'm not good at cooking but one of the recipes I've discovered, thats actually really easy, is for very crispy potatoes.

1. First, wash and slice about 5 or 6 potatoes into 1/2 inch thick pieces, next add the potatoes to a pot of salted water and bring it to a boil. Cook them for 5 minutes, this gets the insides soft like mashed potatoes, providing a nice contrast to the crispy exterior
2. While the potatoes are boiling, place a baking sheet in the oven as it preheats to 450 degrees
3. Drain the potatoes, and place them in a large bowl with 2 tablespoons of olive oil and 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Mix with a rubber spatula, I've found its actually best if the potatoes get a little scraped up at this point, it gives them more texture and a larger surface to crisp.
4. Repeat step three, adding 2 more tablespoons of olive oil and another 1/2 teaspoon of salt
5. Next, remove the baking sheet from the oven and coat it in a thin layer of olive oil. Quickly place the potatoes flat on the pan and put it in the oven for 17 minutes 
6. Take out the pan and flip the potatoes over, bake for another 12 minutes 
7. Remove the potatoes from the oven and enjoy 

I recommend eating them as soon as possible and adding Old Bay seasoning, once cooked, for maximum flavor.

Assignment 20 - William Begley - How to Start a Manual Car into 1st Gear

I am still a fairly new driver in comparison to many on the road but a skill I have that a fairly large amount of other students don't is the ability to drive a manual car. I am no expert and you can definitely feel it when you're in a manual car with me but I do know how. I won't go through every step of driving a manual car but I will go through how to get started from a stop.

1. Start with the car off and your left foot on the clutch pedal (far left) and a foot on the brake.
2. Start the car with both feet on these pedals pressed all the way down and move the shift knob into the first gear position.
3. Keep the clutch completely pressed and remove your right foot from the brake and onto the gas.
4. On every car there is a certain distance into the clutch press where it "activates" and puts the car into neutral but it will be around halfway through its motion where it will activate. Release the clutch to about halfway (where it activates) as you slowly give it power and keep the RPMs at about 1500 (have to read RPM gauge in gauge cluster).
5. While you're doing this step the car is put into neutral (that's what the clutch does), so it will roll if you are not on even ground, I recommend practicing on as flat a surface as possible. Continue giving gas as you stop pressing on the clutch and you will begin moving forward then it will act mostly the same as an automatic while driving (except for changing gears).
6. In order to stop, remove your foot from the gas and completely press the clutch and use the brake normally. You will hold down both the brake and the clutch as you turn off your car. On most cars you should turn on your emergency/handbrake when parking but many older vehicles will have a worn out one so I prefer to not use this step.

Now you know how to start a manual car into first gear, keep in mind you can only go about 15 mph in this gear and will also have to learn to switch gears, that's the easiest part though.

Assignment 20- How to make a mug cake- Ava Nielsen

First, gather all your ingredients.

• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 2 tablespoons cocoa powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• Pinch of salt, optional
• 3 tablespoons milk
• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
• Splash vanilla extract, optional
• 3 tablespoons chocolate chips

First, take your flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt and mix them all together in a mug of your choosing. Once mixed, begin to add other ingredients, starting with milk. Once you've added milk, vegetable oil, and a bit of vanilla extract, stir in 3 tablespoons of chocolate chips(or more!). Once everything is mixed, simply put the mixture in the microwave for 1 minute 30 seconds. Once its done, I like to sprinkle powdered sugar on the top. Enjoy!

Assignment 23 - Matthew Klee - Country?

Okay, so I know a lot of y'all aren't country music fans, so, if you're not, just don't read my blog post, it's that simple. I was very surprised to see Mr. Logsdon listening to Gaslighter by the Dixie Chicks, now, I can't say I'm a huge fan of the Dixie Chicks since the lead singer went crazy and cut her hair but I do appreciate your attempt at country music. The playlist I've created here is just a feel-good playlist I listen to on car rides to tennis (because I need some music to amp up my mood before a stressful match or grueling practice).

#1 - Hard to Forget (Sam Hunt): Okay, first of all, I don't think it's possible to go wrong with anything by Sam Hunt, he's most definitely my all-time favorite country artist. If you're not a Hunt fan like me just bear with me, get through the first 20 weird seconds of the song and it gets immensely better. Now, the song isn't necessarily super upbeat or anything but it's just relaxing and you can really enjoy listening to it during a car ride.

#2 - House Party (Sam Hunt): If you didn't like my first Sam Hunt song choice here's the opposite end of the spectrum. This is upbeat, impossible not to sing along to, such a good song, even though it is definitely aged. This is probably just my overall favorite country song.

#3 - Down to the Honkytonk (Jake Owen): Alright, here's a real country sounding song. This song is just a feel-good laid back type of music. It's relatable, has a steady constant beat, honestly, it's even funny at certain points. There's no big show of vocal mastery but that's what makes this song perfect for a relaxing car ride or destresser.

#4 - One Man Band (Old Dominion): Honestly I have no clue how I ever found this song, I've been listening to it at least since sophomore year and haven't gotten tired of it yet. Now, be warned, this isn't as upbeat or exciting as the others, but it's just so relaxed and if you actually listen to the lyrics it's amazing and tells a story like all good country songs should.

#5 - Boys 'Round Here (Blake Shelton): This song is about as redneck as you get, honestly I think it's kind of hilarious, but the beat is great and so are the lyrics. This is sort of a pick-me-up song that's fun to turn all the way up as you're cruising down the back roads around where I live.

Assignment #23 - Andrea Dubon - The BEST playlist

viejitos pero buenos - oldies but goodies
While i do love a lot of the new artists coming out in the past decade it is absolutely undeniable that these songs have and will continue to slap no matter how much time passes. None of these genres match, so this isn't in any order, but the energy is there and that's what matters

Gasolina - Daddy Yankee: Absolutely fire and will always remain a crowd favorite as it almost guaranteed to get people dancing or at least singing. I felt legally obligated to include this and it sets the energy of the playlist. - good to play in any situation

Ta'Encendio - Oro solido: If you don't know mambo then you'll have to learn cause their is no way to listen to this without dancing. The energy that this song gives me surpasses that of any redbull and if your dancing right i guarantee you'll be sweating by the time this is over. - best for dancing

Ella Y Yo - Aventura, Don Omar: Think Mariah Carey's "We belong together" but spanish. The tone of the song more melancholy than most since its telling the story of a guy explaining to his friend that he's been having an affair with his wife but it's still a banger. Despite the language barrier i'm almost positive you'll be able to feel the shift in the story throughout the song. (p.s. if you look up the lyrics it's absolute TEA). - again good in any situation

Te Extrano(bachata version)- Xtreme: While romeo santos is still the king of bachata this song represents the genre best. Like most bachata songs this is a love ballad but its still fun to dance to with friends. -dancing duh or your just really in your feelings

Vivir lo nuestro - India, Marc Anthony: I cannot stress how much i love this song. The message of equality is beautifully supported by both voices in this song. Even if you don't know the words i heavily recommend singing along at full volume -any situation but especially in the shower

Arroz con Habichuela - El gran combo de Puerto Rico: As the title says this is literally a song about rice and beans and gives very dad energy. -most situations but best in the kitchen

Que locura enamorarme de ti - Eddie santiago: He's better known for "lluvia" but I think it's a bit overplayed and like this one better since it has a happier tone while still talking about unrequited love. -like its genre salsa its good for dancing and eating too.

Catalina la coja - Los silver star: Being honduran my mom would've disowned me if i didn't include this. - fantastic song to dance punta to or when drinking pina coladas (you'll know when you hear it).

Soltera(remix) - Lunay, Daddy Yankee, Bad bunny: It came out like last year but i thought i should include something younger. For best results definitely listen to this at a party. -party song or if your newly single hence the title

I could honestly keep going but this'll be too long. If you read all this and didn't check out the songs know i'm giving you a thumbs down.

Assignment 22- Katelyn Rowell- I'm a Redhead :)

You can probably guess my most unique trait by taking one glance at me. Yep, I’m a redhead. Growing up, I hated my hair and complexion. Before my family moved to Kentucky, we lived in El Paso, Texas, a city right on the border. Living so far down south, I stuck out like a sore thumb. I remember coming up to my mom in tears when I was really little, asking her why I couldn’t have straight hair and tan skin like all my friends. I hated the attention my bright hair and pale skin brought. To this day, I often envy my sisters who have dark hair and tan easily. But at some point or another, I decided to stop hating my ginger genes and just embrace them. Yes, I turn into a tomato after staying in the sun for a minute, but, besides putting on sunscreen, there’s not much I change about the situation. In elementary school, we were always told something along the lines of, “What makes you different is what makes you special.”  Even though it's cheesy, it's true. Instead of wishing to be like everyone else, you have to embrace what you have. So while my ginger genes and I did not get off to the best start, they have instilled in me qualities that I appreciate today. As you go through life, there will be some bumps in the road. But instead of complaining about your situation, you just have to accept it and make the most of it. You might even like where it ends up taking you. As I move out and go off to college, I’ll face challenges. But I hope to always stay positive and make the most of what I can.

Assignment #22 - Andrea Dubon - sneaking into college

I've made it abundantly clear before that i have no clue where i'm going to college just that it'll happen eventually. I do however know that i'm going to be riding onto any form of special programs my college offers. We all know that colleges love saying they're "diverse" and "progressive" while also being an institution that discriminates and disproportionally assists minority groups but considering i can't single handedly destroy this system i'll be doing my best to finesse it. If it means being the token hispanic on their pamphlets or doing orientation tours on the campus diversity i'm sure i'll be playing on all these things to appeal more to colleges. With the competition to get accepted into college rising i feel that at this point what separates me from other students will end up being our experiences as that'll be what's most prominent in our essays to them. However cliche it may now be i feel that my parents worked too hard as immigrants, and people, for me to not somehow take that with me in my journey to college and use my experiences to the best of my ability.

Assignment #21 - Andrea Dubon - Obstacles

Resource hoarding. I've said it before and i'll say it again but i think that at this point in time it's perfectly justifiable to eat the rich. I say this because the other day i was scrolling through twitter and saw that if you were to make $7000 dollars an hour from the when jesus was born Jeff bezos would still be richer than you. Now we all know not to believe everything we read so i did the math which would mean that up until now you'd earn 123.9 billion next to bezos' 129.9 billion. At this point i'm sure y'all know what face i was making cause this is horrifying to think that people like this exist yet the world is filled with issues like climate change, poverty, and hunger . Now multiple solutions to hoardings like this have been posed but the issue lies more with deciding which it'll be. While i don't know if i'll be having a hand in this i do hope to see improvements in this issue within my lifetime.

Assignment #20 - Andrea Dubon - How to make ceviche

Basically sushi and guacamole, don't come for me y'all cause the shrimp is cooked if it's done right.

1. Wash, devein, and cut shrimp into bite sized pieces

2. Soak in lemon juice over night (don't be lazy and skip this cause it'll be raw).

3. Drain the shrimp, save some of the lemon juice and place in your intended container.

4. Prep cut up bell peppers, cilantro, onions (doesn't matter what kind it's just preference), and tomatoes and put in with your shrimp.

5. Season with salt and pepper, and some jalepenos if y'all are extra.

6. Chop up and mix in avocado last so it stays fresh. 

Now enjoy :) with tortilla or plantain chips. 

Assignment 21- Concussions Aren't Fun - Katelyn Rowell

Earlier this year I got a concussion, and my recovery turned out to be more difficult than I initially expected. During the first few days, I couldn’t even look at my phone without my head aching. I couldn’t talk to a family member for more than thirty minutes because it was too much stimulation for my brain. Anytime I tried to focus on my homework, I would just feel really dizzy. Ever since I was little, I’ve always liked to stay busy. Whether it’s taking my dog on a walk, going to practice, or reading a book, my mind is always occupied. But, with a concussion, you can really only sleep, eat, or stare at a wall. Although it wasn’t very fun, my concussion taught me to be more patient and appreciate the little things in life. Although you might not realize it initially, little things like the ability to walk to the end of the street or stare at your phone are gifts. Even though I was only out for a week, this experience taught me to appreciate everything I do on a daily basis.

Assignment 22 - What Sets Me Apart? - Jordan Grady

What sets me apart? 

Though I’m not the most outgoing person, I still try my best not to get lost in a crowd. In contrast, up until middle school I was quite the opposite. Just another girl, socially anxious and self-sufficient. These days, I’ve learned the value of pushing myself to get involved, thanks to my friends and the organizations I am a part of. We’ve heard it time and time again, “the student who leaves the building at 3:15 is not as well off as the student who’s involved in their community.” This has proved true for myself. I’ve found it easier to balance school and other aspects of my life as a result of my participation in too many clubs to count. Once that initial cog was turned, my communal involvement became a continuous machine. I guess you could say this is what sets me apart - my dedication and interest in these organizations.

Assignment 20- How to Tame Monsters- Katelyn Rowell

Babysitting is no easy task. With four kids, one yorkie, and endless dangerous objects in a tiny house, I’ve learned that things can get pretty crazy. In my two years of babysitting, I’ve seen almost everything- vomiting, screaming, kicking, fighting. You name it, and I’ve probably dealt with it. Despite the craziness, I’ve picked up a few tips and tricks over the past couple of years. Since I always babysit from around 5:00 at night to 12:30 in the morning, I’ve developed a pretty effective routine.

1. Start off with games. Ideally, it’s best if you can get the kids outside. Play tag or throw a ball with them. Do anything you can to get their energy out early so that you don’t have to put up with screaming kids who want to wrestle at 11:00 later that night. 

2. After playing outside with them for about an hour, take them in to eat at 6:00. This is where it gets tricky. You have to make dinner while entertaining a three year old, a four year old, a crazy eight year old boy, and a thirteen year old girl who just wants to be alone. Usually, I try to get the kids to play some sort of game. Whether it's playdough for the younger ones, or UNO for the older ones, try to find something that will occupy their minds and keep them in one spot so you can keep an eye on them while you make their dinner.

3.Usually, the older kids don’t put up a fight when it comes to dinner time, but you’re going to have to put in some effort with the younger ones. If you play your cards wrong, you may just end up with two screaming little girls who don’t want to be within three feet of their chicken nuggets. If the kids you’re babysitting are like mine, they won’t want to eat more than two bites. So, instead of yelling at them, try to make it a competition. Complement one kid on how much they’ve eaten. Soon, their little sibling will be seeking compliments about how much they’ve eaten as well. Before you know it, they will have eaten almost all of their food. If this doesn’t work, you can always try bargaining. If they take five more bites of food, they can watch five extra minutes of TV later.

4. Soon after dinner, it will be time for the little kids to go to bed. As you get one ready for bed, have the other watch Mickey Mouse. Read them a couple of books, and before you know it, they’ll be asleep.

5. When you babysit four kids, it becomes really easy to forget about the older ones since the younger ones require so much attention. I use the time after I put the little ones to bed to talk to the older ones. Ask them about school, help them with their homework, watch a TikTok they just made. Kids usually act up because they want attention. If you listen to the kids you’re babysitting and show them that you care, they will trust you in the future and give you an easier time.

All in all, babysitting is a tricky job. But once you get it down, you’ll find that it’s a fun way to make good money.

Assignment 21 - Finding Balance - Jordan Grady

Coming into junior year, I noticed that one of my biggest personal dilemmas was finding the time for completing homework, maintaining a social life, participating in extracurriculars, etc. There didn't seem to be enough hours in the day. Finding the perfect balance between different facets of my life was challenging, but overcoming the urge to maintain a rigid schedule allowed me the freedom to do so. In the past, I found myself sitting at my desk and working on homework well into the night, isolating myself from other people and tasks. Rather than putting this pressure on myself, I’ve learned that overcoming the obstacle of an imbalanced life was quite simple. If I spend over an allotted amount of time on homework in a night, I leave it for the next morning. As an early riser I often found myself twiddling my thumbs, waiting to leave for school. Now I have time in the mornings to finish my work, as well as time in the evenings for other tasks. Once I let go of those rigid objectives I had set for myself, balance came along easily.

Rob Gilligan - Assignment 22 - Show them who you are

Generally, I feel like I am a pretty non-diverse and non-unique person. I am a straight white christian male from an upper middle class family living in the suburbs. It doesn’t get more commonplace than that does it?  I guess my character, and the way it has evolved over time, would be what sets me apart. For most of my life until about maybe fifth or sixth grade, I was a relatively quiet person. Although it may not seem like it now, I was the person who was shy to talk in front of the class and meet new people. I am not quite sure what changed, or what switch was flipped, but I have become the person I am today, generally loud, occasionally obnoxious, and very “out there.” For better or worse, that is how I’ve changed. But that isn’t entirely true. In a way I have overcompensated for my antisocial personality trying to be the antithesis of it. There are plenty of days when I just do not want to talk to anyone, just keep to myself and not be seen. Yet, I still talk to everyone around me. I know how hard it can be to leave your personal bubble and express yourself. I always try and do my best to talk to people who don’t seem to be as social as everyone else because I know what it’s like. I guess that would be what sets me apart. 

Rob Gilligan - Assignment 21 - Get up and Go!

One of the most difficult problems I face is also one of the most basic. Often, I wake up and have fantastic plans for the day. I’m going to get all my homework done, head to the gym, spare some time to eat, plan, and think, and then maybe hang out with friends later. And then, I just sit… and sit… and sit some more. One of my biggest obstacles is simply getting going. Once I start my day, I can accomplish a lot and be highly productive. But, if I am unable to actually begin that laundry list of plans aforementioned, I end up doing nothing. I’ve found two solutions to this problem. One is a cold shower. As dreadful as it may sound, a cold shower has a multitude of benefits both physically and mentally. It’s good for your skin, wakes you up and makes you more alert, provides stimulus to your body, among various other things. The second solution I’ve found is making a to-do list. Although many people find them tedious or annoying, they are highly effective for me. I am a very goal driven person, and creating a list of these goals motivates me to complete them. Once I’ve begun to complete these goals, I don’t want to quit until I’ve completed them all. That’s how I have overcome the obstacle of struggling to get started.

Rob Gilligan - Assignment 20 - How to pick a team

So you’re just getting into sports and what to know what team to root for. Today I’m going to teach you how to decide which team’s bandwagon you want to jump on. The first step is obviously to find a good team, but not one that’s too good. See, the key is to select a team that it won’t be obvious you just became a fan of. For example, don’t pick a team that is a perennial powerhouse, or is just coming off a championship. You want to pick a team that is young, on the rise, and showing potential. Once you’ve done that, you need to be able to defend your fandom to others. Learn some cursory facts about the team like their best players, best seasons, best coaches, etc. Once you do that, you need to be able to provide justification for being a fan. Find some random connection to the team in some way. Perhaps one of their players went to the same college as you or one of your parents. Maybe the coach is from the same city as you. Now all you need to do is stay up to date with all your team’s happenings. If you want to be a real fan you could follow the news surrounding the team and watch all the games. If you just want to be a poser, find a talking head on TV yelling about your team, and regurgitate their opinions. Great! Now you’re all set with a new team. 

Assignment 20 - How to Win Tic Tac Toe -Jordan Grady

As a veteran babysitter, I’ve spent my fair share of time partaking in childhood favorites - go fish, uno, old maid, etcetera. When it comes to games in general, I’m quite competitive. Over the years I’ve learned some of the oldest tricks in the book when it comes to winning. That being said, today I am going to teach you how to win tic tac toe. Always.

1. Choose your player - this is not part of our winning strategy, but it is crucial nonetheless. X’s or O’s? Hugs or kisses? I’ll let you decide.
2. Who goes first? - The first move will not be necessary for our winning strategy. Be courteous and confident, give it over to your competition. 
3. Corners, corners, corners - When your turn comes around, CAPTURE THE CORNERS! Once you’ve marked three of the four, it leads to guaranteed success. Is your competitor moving horizontally? Blocked. Is your competitor moving diagonally? Blocked. Is your competitor moving vertically? Blocked. Their three-in-a-row chances have been crushed. Now is your chance to play defense, we wouldn’t want a stand-still on our hands.
4. Take your win in stride - Once you’ve captured the corners, it’s a straight route to Victory Valley. Hit your competition with a “good game,” and enjoy the sweet smell of success.

Assignment 23: The Perfect Playlist

A Blast From the Past

"High Fidelity" (2000) was a film that was remarkably ahead of its time. The film tells the story of Rob Gordon, a washed-up music junkie (played by the fantastic John Cusack) who spends his days creating perfect 5 song playlists. There's his playlist for his worst break up ever, his playlist of the top 5 soul tracks released between 1955 and 1965, and his playlist for his ex-girlfriend's dad's funeral.

Today, thanks to Spotify,  Apple Music, YouTube, and Pandora, creating a "perfect" playlist has never been easier.

On the other hand, Rob probably would be appalled by the slapdash way some of us throw together any group of songs above a certain tempo before we head to the gym, or take all those below a certain tempo and thoughtlessly label it “chillaxxx.” As Rob forewarned, “The making of a good compilation tape is a very subtle art. Many do’s and don’ts. You’re using someone else’s poetry to express how you feel. This <beat>  is a delicate thing.”

So for this blog assignment, create a "perfect" playlist for something. It could be your perfect playlist to listen to at the gym (boring!), perfect playlist for a rainy day, perfect playlist for anything. . . be as creative as you can. Once you have chosen a topic, select 5-10 tracks for this playlist, noting the song and artist, and write a few sentences explaining why you chose this song, what this song adds to your playlist, why you put it where you did, and how it works with the other songs you selected to create a cohesive perfect playlist.

Then create that list in Spotify (if possible) and share the link with mathhugh@aol.com 

In all honesty this is my way to crowd source interesting music so don't be a dolt and make a joke list please.

Minimum of 150 words - due Sunday, April 5 at 11:59 pm

May 10 is the last day to make up blogs 23-25

entry inspired by former Academy student John Cowgill

Assignment 22 - Matthew Klee - College, I guess...

I'm so ready to go to college, but I have so many places I'd like to go and so many vast differences exist between them. So, for this blog post, I'll focus on going to a college that's small and that I could play tennis at. I've grown up, as far as I know, very privileged, I've never worried about where my next meal would come from or if my parents would split up. But, recently I have struggled with getting my parents on board with what I want to do with my life. As you can tell from my other blog posts I'm pretty passionate about athletics and playing tennis. But, my family is most definitely NOT a sports family, my sister swam in high school but no one in my family has ever had the desire to commit to sports and do anything with them other for enjoyment. However, I find sports enjoyable because of my love to compete in them, to be honest, I don't really enjoy playing sports "just for fun" or "just for exercise." So, it has been quite an obstacle for me to try and get my parents to understand that I really want to commit to something they know nothing about. I've worked really hard, especially during junior year, to inform my parents about the benefits of my athletics and what I can with tennis. So I would most definitely say that my parents have been a huge obstacle or condition that I've had to work with during my high school years. I've worked through doing everything I can to get them to let me play tennis, I meet their academic, social, moral, and family requirements and make sure I excel at them so they have no excuse to restrict my tennis. It shows my motivation, dedication, and passion for what I do.

Assignment 21 - Matthew Klee - Obstacles

Okay so here's going to be yet another post about tennis, bare with me please. This past year I've been playing A LOT of tennis. I've been hitting (in the past 6 months) every day of the week for around 2 hours a day, so yes, I'm committed. But once I started playing so much I started developing wrist problems. Now, the common injuries for tennis players are what's called tennis elbow and shoulder injuries and of course, I got what I would consider the worse one, tennis elbow. In my case, it's caused by overuse of my wrist because although it's called tennis elbow the injury really concerns the muscles that control wrist movement, and since my tennis game involves putting a lot of top-spin on the ball, my wrist gets used a TON. At first, I didn't know what was up, I would just start taking Advil or whatever I had on me to get through the pain for a 2-hour practice at UK or whatever I had going on that night, however, eventually, it stopped working well enough for me not to notice its effect on my game. So, I decided to make a plan to overcome this. I bought a brace, and through the help of Web MD and my mom (nurse practitioner) I figured out a plan to give my wrist the most rest time I could and ensure it didn't get into any positions for straining during nonuse (by using the brace). I was able to overcome this problem before it got bad and caused me to have to take a break from tennis luckily, I still deal with this problem but it is now manageable because I have a plan that works to keep the injury at a minimum.

Assignment 22 - Averi Ricks - Oops another post about my injuries

So, I've been sitting here for over an hour trying to think of formative life experiences that I can write about. I have to say, Mr. Logsdon, my life is kinda boring. The most interesting and impactful thing that's ever happened to me in all my 16 years of life is tearing my ACL last semester, and I have every intention of writing mainly about that on my college essays. What I've learned from that is the importance of hard work. I was behind on my schoolwork from the day I had surgery to the end of January. I didn't even have a winter break because of all the work I had. Getting back on track with school while keeping up with my leg literally took a lot of blood, sweat, and tears. Blood from taking care of the scars, sweat from physical therapy (which I still dread going to most days), and tears from constant pain and stress :). This experience shows that I'm a very hard worker and that I push through even the worst of circumstances to accomplish what I need to. Judging by this, I guess college would be a good fit for me because I aspire to be an engineer and that requires a lot of hard work. 

Assignment 21 - Averi Ricks - Hurting My Shoulder

This past volleyball season, I hurt my shoulder while serving. Right after, I could barely lift my arm to set the ball, which was a huge issue because I'm a setter. I was able to set normally again after about a day, but I couldn't hit or serve. I thought that it was just something I could shake off and that I'd be back to serving and hitting in no time, but instead I couldn't do either for about two or three months. Not being able to serve sucked because it meant I got a little less playing time and I also couldn't practice my serve, which I had been working on a lot at the time. Not being able to hit also sucked because hitting is really fun and I always hit every chance I got. I got pretty discouraged during these months because it was really annoying having to ask people to serve for me during drills and I wasn't able to hit when there were chances for me to. I had been going to the athletic trainer before every practice to work with him, but eventually I had to start going to actual physical therapy twice a week to work on it. In the beginning, I would serve at least once during practices to see if it had gotten better, but of course it never did. I had to learn to be patient, because my eagerness was hurting my shoulder more. As I'm dealing with my ACL tear now, I'm telling myself to be patient and not try anything out of my current abilities because I don't want to set myself back any further like I did with my shoulder injury.

Assignment 17- Noah Ford

Iron Man is a great movie, with excellent character development and amazing computer generated images. If you ask me, the costume ideas are fantastic with the re-usage of the original iron man suit an excellent plot twist. However, I disliked the amount of time that was spent leading up to the climax. This took one hour and 36 minutes to get there! And not only that but the main villain intentionally revealed himself! The director had the reveal going, but then the villain swooped in (implausibly by the way, how is someone face to face with one character to be face to face with another character five seconds later) to attack Stark.

As a whole, I thought that the plot was very plausible (given that it is a Marvel movie about superheroes) and so were Stark's inventions. My only issue with Stark is that while he created a very realistically rough suit of robotic armor, the generator for the armor was not convincing. For example, what is the likelihood that a high-tech never-before-seen generator could be created by reusing materials from missiles? Very low. There isn't enough correlation between needed parts! Much less a generator that has a GLOWING BLUE CIRCLE from non-glowing parts of a missile! But other than that, all the other inventions were extremely plausible. The filmed creation process of the invention really helped with that. The staging was fantastic for that purpose and incorporated genuine humor to assist the process.


Overall, I really enjoyed the movie, and would highly recommend it to any fantasy viewers.

Assignment #19- Noah Ford

The thing about advice is that while it frequently is considered inane and repetitive, that is because good advice doesn't change. There isn't some magical new advice that gets invented. Advice is the passing of knowledge to someone else based off of your own experiences, and lets face it, the world fundamentally doesn't change from generation to generation. Sure there are some technological advances, but the major aspects- wealth, hunger, employment, and other matters- don't really change. Advice from one generation is easily applicable to another generation that is like 300 years later. For example, the advice, "practice makes perfect," is used so often because repetition is what makes you better at an action. The more you do something, the better you get at it. Another example is the "don't do drugs." Drugs are bad for you. Period. Not doing drugs will leave you better off and prevent you from ruining your life with an addiction. Anyways, there hasn't been any foundation shaking advice that I've been given. The most applicable one is probably practice makes perfect because I have played or am playing three sports. I played baseball and soccer, and am currently playing golf and practicing archery. So I understand and apply myself to the practice of those sports, because at the end of the day, practice does make perfect."

Assignment 18- Noah Ford

To be completely honest, I don't aspire to anything high. I am much more relaxed person. I hate traveling and my bucket list reflects that. So, with that in mind, here are my goals.

Firstly, I love Dungeons and Dragons. I frequently have four hour sessions with a few of my friends on Sundays, and recently I just ordered a figurine from our Dungeon Master. I have two boxes of terrain that can be custom pieced together for whatever environment or situation you need. I have three textbooks of material for D&D, and a couple board games. So saying, my goal for before leaving high school is to get a character to level 17 and slay a couple of dragons. I already have a level 13 and a level 6 and a level 9, but the level 13 is currently, let us say, out of order. He isn't dead, but just unplayable at the moment. Anyways, the reason I chose level 17 is because that is the peak power moment for fighters. That is the level they get a +6 proficiency bonus, critical on 18-20, and the quadruple attack per attack action. My level 9 character is a fighter that wields an anchor with a (this will eventually change, as the anchor isn't fully enchanted) +2 to hit, does 2d10 damage + my STR modifier + 1d8 lightning damage. Did I mention he critically hits on 19's and 20's. If you do some quick math, then 15% of the time I will be critical striking, and if you assume that I deal maximum damage per critical strikes and critical strikes four times, that will currently be 224 damage. Now, if I use my action surge, that would be eight critical strikes resulting in 448 damage. And so yeah, a kraken has on average 478 health.... He has a 22 AC and has 118 health. He is the epitome of a level 9 fighter. Anyways, yeah. That's my goal for a D&D character, because I enjoy big numbers.

In fact, here my Dragon born Fighter:
[insert picture here]

My goal for college is much more normal and not nerdy. I simply want to find 10 or more people that I can call best friend and be with for the rest of my life. It isn't that I don't already have really good friends. I have Swazey and Sam, but I just want to expand my goon squad.

As for my bucket list for life, I really don't want much more than to be successful as an engineer and get to retire early. I don't plan on going anywhere, I just want to chill at my house with my friends. I don't like traveling, so my dream is to relax at home and do whatever whenever.

Assignment 25- Uniquely me- Abby Shadwick

I am a variety of things. A daughter, granddaughter, volleyball player. But my most prized asset is that I am a sister. To two people, in fact. Without my sisters, I am not the same. I am thankful to my sisters for challenging me daily to be more empathetic and patient. My sisters, Sara and Emma, have definitely molded my values. Without my sisters, I would not value family like I currently do. But because I know them inside and out, I am thankful to have such incredible individuals like them to lean on. Sisters can honestly be the most fun friends you have. Especially if your sisters are immensely funny and fun-loving like mine. Since they know everything about me, they know how to push my buttons. But on the other hand, they know what inspires me, as well as all of my hopes, dreams and ambitions. They know how to encourage me in difficult times, and challenge me when I'm not being the best Abby I can be. They know how to make me laugh with the most random movie quote and Office meme, because they know I love the Office so much. I was honestly gifted when I was born to have these sisters, especially ones so close in age. My life would be much more monotone and dull without them and their spontaneity and humor. Because they have seen my lowest moments, I am 100% comfortable being myself with them- which is rare for me in relationships outside the family. It's cliche to call them built in best friends, but that is what they are.

Assignment 22 - Peter Marino

I have always wanted to be a surgeon. When I was three years old, I was prescribed glasses. This made me want to be an eye surgeon. I also had people who inspired me as well. My uncle is an eye surgeon, and ever since I was little I watched him perform Lasik surgery. My dad’s best friend is an eye surgeon as well, and he has been my eye doctor since I was three. I am not set on being an eye surgeon anymore, but I still intend to be a surgeon. I have always been interested in anatomy and the human structure and form, and that is why I have always excelled in biology class and anatomy. To obtain their degrees, both my uncle and my eye doctor attended the Univerity of Kentucky. This is also where I intend to go to school. It would be nice to live in another part of the country for a while, but I would rather have less debt when I left. I have visited several colleges and UK seems like a good fit for me. I am inspired to study anatomy and physiology, and hopefully, this path leads me to become a surgeon one day.

Assignment 20 -Matthew Klee- Clean Your Cars Please!

Okay, something that I find really troubling in the modern day is that almost no one takes care of their cars! Whenever I catch a ride with my friends their cars are disgusting inside and out, and when I address this problem they say it's clean when in reality, all they've done is clean out their trash. My version of clean must be a lot different than society's, or at least teenagers'. So, today I'm going to teach y'all how to wash car in an efficient and effective manner. Step one- find a hose and a bucket, along with this you'll need a brush (make sure the bristles are not rough as to not hurt your car's paint) or a rag (preferably an old one but it needs to be smooth), as for soap, I would stay away from dish soap as it's pretty rough on car paint however if that's all you have, it's better than nothing. Now, what you'll want to do is pour your soap into the bucket (probably count for about 5-8 second of pouring soap) and then turn your nozzle of the hose onto shower or just put your thumb at the end of the hose if you don't have a nozzle and put water into your bucket making sure it has enough force to get soapy. Then you'll want to let your rag or brush soak in the soapy water, while you're letting that soak you need to wet down your car, just spray your car with the water, but make sure all your windows are up! So, next, you'll take your brush or rag and I like to start with the hood of the car, I first start with the top as to control the water flow, I clean and scrub the windshield followed by the entirety of the hood and then the headlights and grill. Once this is done rinse off all the soap and check for any dirty spots you may have missed. Repeat this with each panel of your car making sure before you start with soap on each part that the car is still wet. I usually go hood to driver's side doors to the trunk to passenger's doors and then I go around with a finer brush (a toothbrush in my case) and clean as best I can the wheels. Now, it depends on what kind of hub caps you have on your car, but mine has lots of small spaces that a normal brush or rag has difficulty reaching so this is why I use a toothbrush. I make sure to clean it a lot as the wheels are typically the dirtiest part of my vehicle. I then go around and rinse off my car one last time. After this, you will need to find some towels (they must be dry and not rough, I use old shower towels) and dry all the crevices and surfaces of your car as to not leave water stains. Now you are done with the outside!

Assignment 21 - Peter Marino

When I was twelve years old, I broke my arm while playing soccer at school. At the time, I was playing on a very good baseball team, and I was a pivotal player. It was heartbreaking at the time because I knew it would be months of recovery before I could do anything. The season was already more than halfway over and I knew I wouldn’t be able to play in the regular season or the tournament. This also meant that I would not be able to play on the all-star team that would be playing in the Little League tournaments for a chance to go to the world series. It was one of the most frustrating things I have ever had to go through. To just sit on the sidelines and watch my team play without me. I ended up never playing another game of baseball ever. This was in part due to my arm breaking. I still cannot throw a baseball to this day a lot before some pain starts to come back. But also, my love for the sport died. I learned that my love for the sport was not the sport itself but in the competitive nature of it.

Assignment 20 - Peter Marino

HOW TO MAKE SMOKE COME FROM YOUR MOUTH (without a vape)

In the seventh grade, I saw this clickbait video on how to make smoke come out of your mouth. For some reason, I was really determined to learn this so I became an expert on it. The first thing you want to do is take a deep breath. Then you want to hold your mouth and nose closed so that no air escapes. Then you want to start making clicking noises by clicking your tongue on the roof of your mouth. After doing this for about ten seconds, you should start to feel a lot of moisture in your mouth. At this point, you let go of your nose without letting any air out, and then you make your fist into a ball. You put your fist over your mouth and blow as hard as you can without letting any air out. You should start to look like a chipmunk at this point. When you can’t do it anymore, you open your mouth slowly, and smoke should start to come out. It probably won’t happen the first time, as it took me a dozen or so tries to get it my first time. But you should be able to do it if you followed the steps.

Assignment 22- My Way of Thinking-Hayden Caldwell

In terms of what makes me unique, there’s not a lot of stuff that someone who doesn’t know me too well would see and think “wow, he’s different.” However, people who get to know me will quickly find out that there is a lot separating me and your typical high school guy. Most of it stems from my unusual way of thinking. I have been both blessed and cursed with a forward-thinking intensity that can make a situation very awkward as quickly as it can win me a generous college scholarship. It’s been something I’ve continually had to work at channeling at the right times, because in the soccer state championship hard work and effort are expected, but it’s not exactly the best idea to dunk a basketball on a team of 7 year olds. It’s expected to speak professionally to a state senator, but it’s not exactly the best way to make friends in school. These examples aside, I feel like this generally presents itself in good ways because I commit to friendships and always try to invest in other people. I also feel very comfortable speaking up for what I believe. I can commit to studies and sports. I enjoy all the things I do because I’d rather spend my time out helping people and doing things than alone. I can totally understand people who hate me for how seriously I take myself and what I do. It happens and I hope I can always be patient with those people and exercise self-control. But in response to the college question, any university I attend can guarantee that I’ll give my all to make it a better place. 

Assignment 22- Madison Underwood- A Female in Engineering

From a young age, I have always loved all things math and problem-solving. My combination of competitiveness and stubbornness has always motivated me to never give up on finding a solution. I can't see me working in a field that doesn't include math, and this year I have been exploring the field of engineering more and more. This brings me to my unusual circumstance which is in fact that I want to be an engineer. How is that weird or uncommon? Well, I am a girl entering the field of engineering. There's no denying that this field has a dearth of females, and this has been evident to me more and more this past year. Colleges are creating special days to encourage more and more women to enter engineering. I participated in those of UK and the University of Cincinnati where I noticed that just about every faculty member was male, and that the ratio of male to female student population was extremely disproportional. But this shouldn't have been of surprise to me as I looked around my AP Computer Science classroom the next day and was reminded that I am 1 out of 4 girls in the class, and one of them is my teacher. I make up 1/3 of the female student population in a class that is becoming more and more relevant in the field of engineering. However, as I continue to search for the perfect secondary schooling location for me, I am not concerned with going to the school with the highest population of female engineering students. For my life personally, I prioritize other factors far more than equal gender representation, and I'm actually extremely excited to see so many more schools and organizations taking the initiative to encourage young women to consider pursuing a career in engineering.

Assignment 21- Raising Cultural Awareness- Hayden Caldwell

Something I’ve looked to do for a while since moving to Lexington is become more culturally aware as a person. I believe doing so since I moved here has helped me be more understanding and respectful towards others. This should be a common goal among many in Lexington because it solves problems of racial and cultural prejudice that are all too common in society today. I would hope to do this through roundtable discussions with different types of people around the community. This is an ambitious project and one I obviously cannot start alone. My first goal would be to collaborate with other students and adults alike who share my vision to establish a blueprint for this work. Then, I would hope to work with local organizations to set up times and places for these discussions. If we can get businesses around the community in on the project, it will get the word out way more. I would hopefully be present for many of the discussions and learn even more about the great diversity of Lexington. Hopefully I can make something of this idea to fight fear and spread love in Lexington.

Assignment 20- How to set up an iPhone-Hayden Caldwell

We’ve all attempted to set up our new iPhones and the process has been needlessly complicated. So, hopefully this helps. For now, I’ll focus on setting up a new phone with the objective of transferring old data onto it. 

1. Make sure to back up your old phone. Either through iCloud backup or manual backup (search backup in settings and these options will come up, click on one and press the button labeled “backup”), you’ll want to make sure that it happens relatively close to the time of setting up your new phone because any data like received messages that comes in between the backup and setup will be lost. Do not turn off your phone until setup is complete. Otherwise, you risk losing large amounts of personal stuff.
2. Turn on your new phone by pressing the power button on the right side. You may have to hold it if the phone is shut off. 
3. Select your preferred language. You can change this later in settings if you want. 
4. Connect to the nearest WiFi network if possible so when downloading necessary software, you won’t lose gigabytes on your monthly cellular plan.
5. If given the option between quick set-up and manual set-up, choose manual because it is way more likely to work and actually quicker.
6. From there, it’ll give you opinions for some features that may or may not collect data, so choose your combination of features as you wish.
7. Finally, it should ask you to login to Apple ID. Enter your username and password and it should ask you to choose a backup to download. Make sure to choose one recently from your phone. Yay! You’re finished!

Assignment 22: Your life isn’t boring. (College)

Another personal reflective question, yes I know.  This time I want you to focus on connecting how your uniqueness directly applies to your college.  So you’re gonna have to be thinking about your top colleges and why you are the perfect fit for one another. 

Unusual circumstances in your life:  This may be something you feel is essential to a deeper understanding of you. Discuss the unusual circumstances that provide a better context to your life experience. Consider what this experience(s) reflects about your personal qualities, personality, and character. How do these circumstances influence your perspective and aspirations? How might this background make college a particularly good fit for you?

Minimum of 150 words - due Sunday, March 22 at 11:59 pm

March 29 is the last day to make up blogs 20-22

Post 23 - Abby Shad Playlist

Assignment #23- Abby Shadwick- Songs for Walking in the Hallway
This playlist is designed to put pep in your step on your walks to class. It largely consists of upbeat songs with a catchy chorus to give the listener and extra burst of energy to get through their long school day. 

Dissolve-Absofacto. This song was originally released in 2015 but it has been given a new life to today’s teens because it has been used as a sound on the popular app Tik Tok. This gives it an extra appeal- especially to those who like Tik Tok (which who doesn’t??) It has an electronic feel to it with lots of unique sounds that make it enjoyable to listen to. 

Paradise-Bazzi. This song is all summer vibes. Bazzi has a raspy voice as he sings the words about adventure and vacation. This makes the listener excited for summer and gets them extra motivated to get through school. 

Canyon Moon- Harry Styles. This song is guaranteed to put anyone in a good mood. In it, Styles is reminiscing on happy times, which invites the listener to do so as well even though they might be in an unremarkable setting such as school.  

Only Human- Jonas Brothers. The Jonas Brothers are definitely a fan favorite. This song, released on their most recent album, has no lulls in its very upbeat track. This song will get anyone’s foot tapping along to the beat of the drums. 

Up All Night- Khalid. This song is the type that you like the first time you hear it. And it gets better every time you play it. Khalid’s soulful voice is enjoyable to listen to as a break from teachers voices in between classes