Organization in School

     There are two different types of people when it comes to organization in school. You have the person who color coordinates their subjects, highlight and has a place for everything. Then there is the type of person who throws their papers randomly in their backpack. Your organization process wavers as you go through the school year, I know from experience.

     Let's talk about the person who highlights and sticky notes everything. At the beginning of the year you start with a fresh planner, fresh highlighters, fresh sticky notes, and fresh notebooks, etc. By the time you get home from the first day of school you have everything perfectly highlighted, sticky noted and coordinated in your backpack. Just wait until you get to the middle of the year. By the time you get through your first final, all of the perfect organization is gone, everything is a scribbled mess. Yes I think everyone has gone through this phase at least once a year.

     Now there is the person who just shoves random papers into their backpack, no organization skills at all. I bet every single person has encountered someone whose just pulls a pile of paper containing their science, history, math and who know's what else. Those are the kinds of kids teacher dislike the most. If that method works for you then hey who is stopping you I guess.

     When it comes to school organization, there are different ways people tend to organize, it all depends on what works for you. If throwing papers into your bag randomly works for you, then go ahead. If you want to highlight and sticky note everything and that works for you, then go ahead. Organization is all about what works for you, no matter what way you do it. Sometimes when you try new things and they don't feel right and you find yourself going back what you used to do, that is kind of what organizing is. Someone thinks you do a bad job with organizing so they try and change it, but that makes it worse. Find what works for you.

Album Release

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     When following your favorite artists/ bands, you go through a journey with them. You follow their up's and down's and something that can easily go up or down is the album release. Artists can spend up to months or up to multiple years writing their album. A lot of stress and hard work goes into making an album, so when it comes to the release date, that can be the most stressful time for artists.

     Over the years of following different artists and bands, I have noticed patterns and differences when it comes to making an album. The most accomplished or the most awarded artists are the one's who take multiple years to make an album. Take Taylor Swift for an example, it took her 2 years and five days to make her current album. Taylor Swift sold over one million copies in just the United States alone in the first week! The 1989 album has won multiple awards ranging from Album of the Year at the AMA's to being nominated for record of the year at the Grammys.

     After looking at Taylor Swift's success, you look at artist's who write albums in maybe a year or less. Those are the type of artists who are just pop up artists, they are in their peak stage and the artist wants to put out as much music as possible in the amount of time they have. The artist's that release music every year are the one's who may not be in the music industry for very long and they can not take two years to write an album like Taylor Swift because they never when their popularity might die down. I'm saying it about everyone, but for some artist's like The Wanted, they only have a short amount of time.

Provided by Google

     Another trend that I see is the leaking of albums. When an album is leaked, basically all of the hard work and excitement that goes into the release date goes down the toilet. Most artists put a smile on their face and say it's not a big deal, but actually on the inside the artist feels disappointed. You put a release date out there so that way you can let people know the album is coming soon, get excited and be patient. So if you are one of those people who try to leak an album, or tell people to leak an album, you need to stop because the artist who made that album wants everyone to hear it at the same time when it is suppose to be released.

     Album release day is the day that the artist finds out if their hard work is a success or fail. Usually if the artist does a lot of promo or get's people to spread the word about the album before it's released, it is usually a success. The release of an album can take however long the artist want's to take to write it. Generally the longer it takes to write an album the more successful it would be, it depends on the fan base. The album release day is the most important day of an artists career no matter what, all of the work you have put into making that album is finally shared to the world.

    

Postseason/ World Series

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      Right now in the baseball world, the postseason is in full swing. Last week was the final week of 2015 regular season baseball. The postseason is for the teams who come out on the top in their leagues. The first round is the team who came in first for their league and the wild card winner. The wild card winner comes down to the second and third place teams and they play one game and that one game determines if they go on to the first round. After the first round, the second round is the NLCS and the winners from that will play in the World Series. It will be the National league vs the American league in a seven game series. Whoever wins that series is the World Series champion.

     Many baseball fans look forward to the month of October the most because that is when the World Series is held. It can be the best month ever or the most depressing month. For my dad and I, it is the most depressing because the Yankees were knocked out in the wild card game. For my mom, it is the best month ever because the Cubs are dominating in the first round right now.

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     For the 2015 postseason the National league is made up of; The New York Mets, the St. Louis Cardinals, the Chicago Cubs, and the Los Angeles Dodgers. The American league is made up of; the Kansas City Royals, Houston Astros, Toronto Blue Jays, and the Texas Rangers. These teams have all
had their up's and down's throughout the year, but the reason that they are here is because these teams have come through in clutch positions. If you break under pressure, you won't even get a whiff of the post season.

     Every year in the month of October there is the World Series, just like there is a Super Bowl, the NCAA Final Four, the Masters, etc. The World Series is for the die hard baseball fans that support their team constantly no matter what. Take the Cubs fans for example, the Cubs have done poorly for as long as I can remember, and now they are doing great! The fans that stuck through that rut are the die hard fans. The postseason is when the teams really need to come through and perform their best and use all of the changes they have made through the season. The World Series is the most exciting time in baseball, it is what everyone works toward.

TV Shows: American Horror Story

Murder House

     American Horror Story is a very popular television show that started in 2011. The thing that makes this show so interesting is because every season has a beginning, middle and end. I would caution using the word series because of the fact that every season has it's own story line, meaning you could watch the third season without watching the previous two and not be confused because it is a new story line. For example last season the story line was based on "Freak Show", and it was all about the characters living their lives in freak show. This year the show's story line is "Hotel" based on it being in a hotel, it has nothing to do with last season's freak show.

Asylum

     Since every season has different story lines, you get new characters, old characters, in every season. Here are some veteran actors, it looks like Jessica Lange who has played Constance in the first season, Sister Jude in the second season, Fiona Goode in the third season, and Elsa Mars in the fourth season, but it appears she did not return for the latest season. Evan Peters has been in all five seasons expect for the third season. Sarah Paulson has done all every season except for the first one. A new character that is bringing a lot of attention to the show this year is, Lady Gaga. Lady Gaga is the warden of the hotel and she is also a blood sucker, her character name is Elizabeth or the Countess, Lady Gaga is also rumored to be in the next season as well.

Hotel

     As I mentioned earlier, every season has it's own story line, they are all interesting in their own ways. The first season was called 'Murder House', and it is around a family who is living in a house that is haunted with ghosts. The second season is called 'Asylum' and is based in Massachusetts in 1962, and it's about the story of treating the criminally insane. The third season is called 'Coven' and it follows the witches who survived the Salem Witch Trials. The fourth season is called 'Freak Show' and it is following the characters lives as they live in freak show. The current season is 'Hotel' it follows the lives of the people inside the hotel, and the guests that will never check out.

 

American Horror Story is highly anticipated for different reasons. The first reason being because it just came out with the fifth season, being highly anticipated. Also because one of the new characters is very popular for her music, Lady Gaga. Everyone is very excited to see how a singer would do in a horror tv show. Lastly because people want to see what the new story is, how it is going to be different and more enticing from the other seasons. If you have never seen American Horror Story before but want to watch this season, it is okay because again, you don't have to know what has happened in past seasons to understand this season. There are all new character names and backgrounds.

*all information came from this website; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Horror_Story
*all photos are provided by Google

Movies vs Books

     Movies and books are two different things but they are also the same thing. A movie has a story and plot to follow and so does a book. The problem there is, when you're a reading a book that get's turned into a movie, the story and plot might change from there. Have you ever read an amazing book and then they announce it will be a movie, but when you see the movie, major things are missing? That has happened to me with several movies.

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     When reading The Help, it had the most amazing story of following a white female writer who wants to interview the help (African American women) for a book, and the book was based in Jackson, Mississippi in the 1960's. That was a very hard time because that was around the time when Kennedy was shot, making the African American population very nervous. It was very hard for this white female to interview the help, because if the white women the help were working for found out, they would be fired instantly. In the end, the woman did get her book written and what happened after that is what was vastly different in the movie. When the movie changes what happens after the book is released in the movie, it is taking away the plot and story point that I loved from the book.

     Being fair towards movies, I believe the reason movies have to take out details in books is because people don't want to watch a three or four hour movie. You go to movies because they are nice pass the time activity that you can stay awake for, but if it is a three or four hour movie you might find yourself dozing off or getting bored.

     With books you can read a 500 or 800 book and be able to take breaks from it or stop whenever you want. What I mean is that when reading a book you could read 5 chapters and set it down to come back to later. With movies you have to sit there for the entire one to two hours, maybe pause to fill up your popcorn or drink. Reading a book can be as long or short as you want, you can read a book in a day or 2 months, it all depends on you. To some people that might seem boring and take forever, but after reading a book you feel like you accomplished something and you can share the information from the book with other people.

     Movies can be perceived as the better option between choosing a movie or book, but if you really look at it, books are more interesting. The reason books are more interesting is because they are able to fit every little detail the writer wants, making it that much better. In movies you have to cut out parts to make the movie be at the right length. Movies are still a nice way to spend time but having a good book with you at all times is an even better way to pass the time.
    

Birthday

     Everyone has a birthday and everyone celebrates them differently. Some people might have a huge party bash and invites everyone in their grade, while other people might have just have a small celebration with their family, or you might not celebrate your birthday at all. Birthday's are one of the those times that happens in everyone's life at some point. Some people may not celebrate Christmas, Easter, Halloween, etc. With birthday's everyone has one, everyone was born on one day making it your birthday.

     On your birthday generally that is the day you might feel most important, especially if it is your golden birthday (if you can remember it). Everyone is coming up to you and wishing you a happy birthday, your friends might give you gifts, you get a cake from your family. Personally for me on my birthday, my parents and sisters have to be nice to me all day and get me a gift and presents, I don't throw huge parties, maybe a few friends stay the night. But I know there are people who go all out and invite their entire grade even if you don't know everyone.  

     Generally the people that I see throw huge parties are in movies or in books. They describe their parties being thrown in their mansion house with beer and junk food with lots and lots of people. Or you might see in movies the popular girl wanting to throw the best party ever, so she hires caterers, a dj, maybe a live band if you're feeling crazy, and also possibly it has a dress code.

     In real life I do not see those type of things, what my friends tend to do is get together with the family on your birthday over dinner and celebrate with gifts and cake. Then on the weekend get together with your friends and doing stuff like bowling, pool party, rock climbing, scavenger hunts, sleepovers, etc.

     Birthdays happen in many ways, it's just based on how you view them. Also birthday's are in everyone lives, unlike maybe Christmas or Easter, everyone has a birthday. They can be the best day because you feel like the most important person or they could be a bad day because people forget or you might not celebrate it, that is a morbid way of thinking though. Overall everyone has a birthday and everyone celebrates it differently wether it is in real life or in a movie.

Social Media Today

     Back in the 80's and 90's the only real technology there was, was maybe a VCR and a huge home phone. Now, there are touch screen cell phones, touch pads, flat screen T.V's, touch screen watches, so there are many ways to access social media. Social media is turning into the new of communication. Yes people did communicate through emails but that was just a faster way, then writing a letter. People communicate through Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, etc. People seem to do/say more bold things on social media, because you are not talking directly to that person, here are some examples.

     On Twitter and Facebook, we have seen an increase of cyber-bullying on those websites. I feel like people tend to say bolder things on those websites because they are just typing it. You can't see the person's face as you say the hurtful things, all you see is a computer screen.  Back in the day
people had to say those hurtful words to the persons' face, and the consequence usually came right away. On social media the consequence might not happen for quite awhile, or not at all. This is one of the reasons why people tend to have a bad thought towards social media.

     A more positive side of social media is how news travels very quickly. That can be a negative but for things like hurricanes and world disasters, we can find out right away through social media and start to donate. Also through Facebook you can use it to check up on family members that live in different states. I use my Facebook to check on my two older sisters who live in Minnesota and Florida, that way I can make sure they are doing okay. Social media can be a good thing at certain times.

     Social media today has its positives and negatives in their own ways. Social media helps bullies accomplish their goal of beating people down, but I do know there are people out there who are trying to bring down those bullies. Social media can be a positive with getting news out and making sure you are still connected to all of your family members as well. View social media as you like but just know there are the negatives and the positives.