Welcome to Obamaland I Have Seen Your Future and It Doesn’t Work.
By: James Delingpole
Publisher: Regnery Publishing, Inc.
2009
205 pages
1-90, 171-205
Sarah Emsick
Book review Final
AP Government
15 December 2009
Welcome to Obamaland I have Seen Your Future and It Doesn’t Work.
Just looking at the title of this book and you can already grasp the main topic of discussion, Obama and what our Countries future holds. It’s not one of those books that has a mysterious title or a hidden meaning, its big and out there to proclaim its cause. Delingpole, a British political journalist, begins his book by comparing our new US president, Obama, to the controller of Britain for the last 12 years, Tony Blair. Through out the book Delingpole gives the readers his view on todays politics and tomorrows.
Delingpole splits his book up into ten chapters, he lets the reader into his mind and visit his thoughts on the wrong doing that has been not so secretly going on his country for the past 12 years. He writes his political novel more as a non-fiction story of his life with a spin on it. The antidotes that Delingpole describes through out his novel are the starting of his political enlightening. He flows through the political world with a sense of humor and enjoyable stories.
Delingpole’s chapters are given titles that don’t quite make sense at first, but as one starts to read , the titles are quite funny. The first, Never Trust a Hippie, was Delingpole’s awakening in a way. He bases his awakening to the political madness going on in Britain at the time by using an Glastonbury concert. Glastonbury is an event that was originally like Wood Stock, it started in 1971 and is still going strong. He has listened to many singers and sang along, well he doesn’t really have a singing voice, to all of the greats. But at one event the singer was interacting with the crowd and getting them to sing along to his political song about the Second Gulf War. Delingpole realized that he supported the war and that it was wrong to sing along, “ Why Should I let this guy bully me into voicing an opinion I don’t hold?” (Delingpole 17). This is action made Delingpole take a look around and he began to view the world differently.
Delingpole, through out his chapters, likes to compare the lefties and the rights. By this I mean the liberals and conservatives. Often the left side is seen like the more glamorous side to vote for. You don’t have to justify your reasoning on why you chose the lefty side, “Vote Blair, vote Obama and your work is done: you have said all that needs to be said about the kind of person you are.” (Delingpole 23). But if you chose to vote for a rightist, you are judged and have to come up with an answer as to why you would want to go down the dangerous route and vote for someone who is a monster. Delingpole often points the finger of blame to the left side of the political system saying, “In fact almost everything that’s wrong with the world is the fault of the Left, as I hope fully to demonstrate in the course of this book.” (Delingpole 26). Delingpole writes that the Left side often are candidates who oppose war, are often younger and more popular, care about the environment, love all races and genders and the world eats it all up. While the Right side on the other hand is often seen as closed-minded, extremist, don’t care about the environment, and are truly evil. But as one who reads Delingpoles book, even though the world is overpopulated with lefties, he knows that he is right, and that is his main purpose on writing this book.
The most intertaining chapters in the book where the chapters that delt with the Health Care Program and the Global Warming policy. These chapters were not as funny, because it is something that we are dealing with in America right now. The health care system in Britain is called, “The Envy of the World”, the NHS (National Health Service). In the chapter Delingpole describes the horrible state that their hospitals have become sense the free health care system was passed. If you become hurt, you have to make the choice to either wait in the hospital and not get treatment, not the treatment you deserve, or just not go altogether. Delingpole argues that Americans are wrong in thinking that the health care system there is better than the current one, “What it makes you is a grown-up nation: one that has wrestled with a morally contentions problems and come up with the only fair and just answer.” (Delingpole 45) The only way that we can work is with a system that involves money. The whole concept of the free health care just doesn’t add up. And this Delingpole warns is the future of Obama’s Health Care Plan.
Delingpole touches many other topics that effect the world today like, the war, gun control, and the influence politics has on the youth. These are all topics that not only America but the whole world has had to think about getting control over. The environmental chapter called, Barbecue The Polar Bears, has a very different outlook on global warming than most of America. He believes that the Global Warming is a myth, and that if the temperature is really changing, the world is going through a Global Cooling. Delingpole expresses his opinion on global warming by saying, “What depresses me hugely as a professional journalist is how complicit our media have been in spreading the Global Warming Myth.” (Delingpole 98) The news is spreading all over and not all of them are facts or truths. Obama has declared that the Global Warming is actually happening because of all the facts have become clear. Yet, Delingpole believes that he knows nothing about the myth and has only seen and heard what he wants to from in formers like Al Gore. Delingpole ends the chapter saying that we should not be worrying about the dangerous Polar Bears, but that we should focus on our own lives.
Delingpole is a very interesting writer, his voice is splattered over every page of this book. This book was very enjoyable to read because Delingpole is a very quirky and funny writer. He writes in a way that would make anyone understand politics. Although I do believe that some of his ideals were quite out there, I do agree with many of his claims. Delingpole has been through a socialist economy, even if Britain didn’t know it and he can see what America is in for because Britain went through the same thing. Although the title seems straight forward it’s not all just about the president of the US, and the information inside has points that effect the world as a whole.
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Monday, December 14, 2009
Blinded By Might Why The Religious Right Can’t Save America
By: Cal Thomas and Ed Dobson
Zondervan Publishing House
1999
1-193
1-90Blair Emsick
Book Review Project
AP Government
15 December 2009
Blinded By Might Why The Religious Right Can’t Save America
The title of this book, written by journalist Cal Thomas and pastor Ed Dobson, gives the innocent passerby a huge misconception. Judging from the title this book looks like it was written by a couple of left wing atheists (okay…that‘s a little harsh). Turns out the book was actually written by two adamant followers of Jesus Christ. The two men were also deeply involved and associated with the Moral Majority, a Christian political group that took a strong hold on America during the 1980’s founded by Jerry Falwell and played a huge part in electing President Ronald Reagan. The phrase “Don’t judge a book by its cove,” never seemed to truer after a passerby picks up the book and starts reading it.
In the introduction Thomas and Dobson make the purpose of their book quite clear. “We seek to influence the greater corporate body of the church and in doing so, leave a far greater imprint on culture.” (Dobson,Thomas. 13) The authors of the book intend to inform as well as influence their readers. The book appears to be mainly aimed at the audience of American Christians, whom many have had a violent reaction to it. Thomas and Dobson write, “Many of those who need to hear this message are the least interested in hearing it.” (7) Thomas and Dobson share an unconventional view on their Christianity and the political spectrum. They write in the introduction, “We have come to believe that a delicate balance exists between church and state and if each fulfills its proper role, the other is positively affected. But if one assumes the role of the other , or ignores and rejects that role, then both suffer.” (Thomas and Dobson. 12)
Cal Thomas worked for five years with the Moral Majority side by side with Jerry Falwell. Ed Dobson worked for almost fifteen years with the Moral Majority and often took the place when Falwell wasn’t available for television interviews and debates. The authors use their vast knowledge, experience, insight working within the Moral Majority, and watching Christianity grow bigger then it ever has in politics to provide a profound and enlightening, and quite controversial, view of Christians role in politics and the government. Dobson and Thomas identified many of the failures of the Moral Majority. Two decades ago the group The Moral Majority fought fervently against pornography, gay marriage, abortion, drug use. Dobson and Thomas urge the reader to look at the way these issues stand today. A poll taken in 1973 and again in 1991 asking the public if they were for or against abortion was compared in the book and the outcome was practically the same. After all the Moral Majority did for America in the 1980’s it seems that today nothing has been accomplished, in fact America appears to be worse off. “This was the Moral Majority’s greatest failure,” writes Cal Thomas (Thomas. 36)
The book is not simply a harsh pessimistic view of the social ills of America and a commentary on how none of them will ever be solved and that America will eventually swallow it’s self whole. No, the book provides a much deeper and enlightening message. Darold H. Morgan, who urges audience to read the book, wrote in Christian Ethics Today that, “The strength of this book is the repeated statement that it is only in the power of the Christian gospel, applied to the human heart, that transformation of people can take place. Legislation and manipulation of political position and power cannot change lives. The preeminent task of the Church is to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ. The Religious Right people have made a fatal mistake in making political power take precedence over the spiritual power latent in the Christian gospel.” The Wall Street Journal Also provide a positive review of the book, “Now there’s a fresh and very different line of criticism, coming from inside the world of conservative Christians….Cal Thomas and the Rev. Ed Dobson describe the Christian political movement as a paper tiger.”
Throughout the book Thomas and Dobson explain there work with the Religious Right, its flaws, and eventually why the left. Then the authors go into a more deeper message about faith and the social and cultural conditions of America. Dobson writes, “The Christian understands the wrongs of society are not merely social ills. As such, these wrongs require spiritual help, not merely political Adjustment. Ultimately, there are no permanent solutions to the problems of a society in a fallen world. But that does not mean that we should retreat to a monastery and allow social anarchy for the rest of the world.” (Dobson. 48). The authors then go into a descriptive way as to how Christian Americans can save the social ills of America. Thomas writes that to fix these problems we must start from the bottom up, not the top down. What he’s saying is that we can’t fix these problems by passing bills, holding fundraisers, and electing a republican president in the office to put ideas in people’s heads. No we must start from the bottom and move up, get a little dirty. Start with really influencing the people these social ills effect. Cal Thomas came up with the idea to give a woman a sonogram before she goes in to have an abortion, a tactic that has decreased abortions nationwide.
After reading this book, I’ll have to admit it is not for everywhere. It provides a message that may offend some people, but also provides a message that any person from whatever religious or political affiliations should share. That America has a heart wrenching amount of social ills that need to be solved. Whether through governmental action, or through actions from groups like The Christian Coalition these social ills with a lot of dedication, hard work, and sacrifice maybe one day be solved.
By: Cal Thomas and Ed Dobson
Zondervan Publishing House
1999
1-193
1-90Blair Emsick
Book Review Project
AP Government
15 December 2009
Blinded By Might Why The Religious Right Can’t Save America
The title of this book, written by journalist Cal Thomas and pastor Ed Dobson, gives the innocent passerby a huge misconception. Judging from the title this book looks like it was written by a couple of left wing atheists (okay…that‘s a little harsh). Turns out the book was actually written by two adamant followers of Jesus Christ. The two men were also deeply involved and associated with the Moral Majority, a Christian political group that took a strong hold on America during the 1980’s founded by Jerry Falwell and played a huge part in electing President Ronald Reagan. The phrase “Don’t judge a book by its cove,” never seemed to truer after a passerby picks up the book and starts reading it.
In the introduction Thomas and Dobson make the purpose of their book quite clear. “We seek to influence the greater corporate body of the church and in doing so, leave a far greater imprint on culture.” (Dobson,Thomas. 13) The authors of the book intend to inform as well as influence their readers. The book appears to be mainly aimed at the audience of American Christians, whom many have had a violent reaction to it. Thomas and Dobson write, “Many of those who need to hear this message are the least interested in hearing it.” (7) Thomas and Dobson share an unconventional view on their Christianity and the political spectrum. They write in the introduction, “We have come to believe that a delicate balance exists between church and state and if each fulfills its proper role, the other is positively affected. But if one assumes the role of the other , or ignores and rejects that role, then both suffer.” (Thomas and Dobson. 12)
Cal Thomas worked for five years with the Moral Majority side by side with Jerry Falwell. Ed Dobson worked for almost fifteen years with the Moral Majority and often took the place when Falwell wasn’t available for television interviews and debates. The authors use their vast knowledge, experience, insight working within the Moral Majority, and watching Christianity grow bigger then it ever has in politics to provide a profound and enlightening, and quite controversial, view of Christians role in politics and the government. Dobson and Thomas identified many of the failures of the Moral Majority. Two decades ago the group The Moral Majority fought fervently against pornography, gay marriage, abortion, drug use. Dobson and Thomas urge the reader to look at the way these issues stand today. A poll taken in 1973 and again in 1991 asking the public if they were for or against abortion was compared in the book and the outcome was practically the same. After all the Moral Majority did for America in the 1980’s it seems that today nothing has been accomplished, in fact America appears to be worse off. “This was the Moral Majority’s greatest failure,” writes Cal Thomas (Thomas. 36)
The book is not simply a harsh pessimistic view of the social ills of America and a commentary on how none of them will ever be solved and that America will eventually swallow it’s self whole. No, the book provides a much deeper and enlightening message. Darold H. Morgan, who urges audience to read the book, wrote in Christian Ethics Today that, “The strength of this book is the repeated statement that it is only in the power of the Christian gospel, applied to the human heart, that transformation of people can take place. Legislation and manipulation of political position and power cannot change lives. The preeminent task of the Church is to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ. The Religious Right people have made a fatal mistake in making political power take precedence over the spiritual power latent in the Christian gospel.” The Wall Street Journal Also provide a positive review of the book, “Now there’s a fresh and very different line of criticism, coming from inside the world of conservative Christians….Cal Thomas and the Rev. Ed Dobson describe the Christian political movement as a paper tiger.”
Throughout the book Thomas and Dobson explain there work with the Religious Right, its flaws, and eventually why the left. Then the authors go into a more deeper message about faith and the social and cultural conditions of America. Dobson writes, “The Christian understands the wrongs of society are not merely social ills. As such, these wrongs require spiritual help, not merely political Adjustment. Ultimately, there are no permanent solutions to the problems of a society in a fallen world. But that does not mean that we should retreat to a monastery and allow social anarchy for the rest of the world.” (Dobson. 48). The authors then go into a descriptive way as to how Christian Americans can save the social ills of America. Thomas writes that to fix these problems we must start from the bottom up, not the top down. What he’s saying is that we can’t fix these problems by passing bills, holding fundraisers, and electing a republican president in the office to put ideas in people’s heads. No we must start from the bottom and move up, get a little dirty. Start with really influencing the people these social ills effect. Cal Thomas came up with the idea to give a woman a sonogram before she goes in to have an abortion, a tactic that has decreased abortions nationwide.
After reading this book, I’ll have to admit it is not for everywhere. It provides a message that may offend some people, but also provides a message that any person from whatever religious or political affiliations should share. That America has a heart wrenching amount of social ills that need to be solved. Whether through governmental action, or through actions from groups like The Christian Coalition these social ills with a lot of dedication, hard work, and sacrifice maybe one day be solved.
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Thrown
Chapter 1
Thermostat:
I woke up to the sound of my mother arguing with some unknown person. Her voice was shrill and antagonizing. “This is absolutely ridiculous! I refuse to pay a cent!” I envisioned her hands on hips yelling at some innocent man. “They have been checking my thermostat for free for the past…my whole life…no I’m not paying a cent!” I pull the covers over my head to try to drown out the noise. It is 10:48 a.m. My body aches, from to much sleeping, my head feels empty, will this feeling ever go away? I switch positions again, more muffled arguing from the living room. I lay on my back, my chest feels to heavy, and there’s this ache in my thoughts, just before my subconscious takes over.
I wake up an hour later to my mother on the phone. “Jill? Yeah can you believe they tried to charge me! I swear this is ridiculous, they’ve been checking my thermostat for free for the past…” I suppose I should get up, it’d be to painful to stay in bed. With these numbing thoughts that I’m sure will eventually paralyze. This isn’t apathy, this isn’t healing. This is…the scar tissue, permanent? Most likely, but I can only hope with years (oh..years can I last that long?) that it’ll fade. It’s time to get up
I sit at the kitchen table, my mother is across the phone still yacking her head off. I always feel odd eating breakfast in the afternoon, but waking up and eating lunch would feel wrong. Brunch? Too formal. All I can hear is the sound of my masticating. Cereal for breakfast. My mother continues her conversation as I tried to drown the sound out with my chewing… “I swear the world today is so upside down, so crooked and backwards….” Chew Chew Chew Chew. “Alright Jill talk to you later! Yep…uh huh….Buh Bye”
Silence. My mother stares at me, I can’t tell if the lines on her face are worried or annoyed, I don’t look up. “Beth you have an appointment with Lilly today at 2 right?”
Lilly? Two? I think still not looking up. “It’s Saturday” she says with a slightly worried slightly annoyed tone. “Yeah” I say pretending I knew all along. “Alright be ready.”
2 o’clock. It’s 12 now. Two hours for sleep. I crawl back into bed with a slightly heavier stomach. I tried to hide under my covers, but I can feel it, no matter where I go, as if it’s watching me. As if she’s watching me. I shudder at the pronoun and my cereal threatens to make it’s way out of it’s warm bed. I wait desperately for sleep to take over, feeling just as disasterous if not worse as when I walked out of it a half hour ago. She She She She. The words jab into my head. Forcibly painfully. I clutch my skull. Till I’m not conscious any more.
Chapter 2:
Lily
I remember it so vividly and I can’t help but feel like my brain does it just to spite me. What did I do wrong? Why do the good memories fade and whether while the bad ones become more deeply etched in as each day passes. I remember the day. I remember I had been thinking about a magazine article I had read about Mcjagger. He was from Ohio, not Okonkwo but about an hour away. I remember if he could get so famous why can’t I? I feel foolish now remembering my thoughts. People always desire honor, and fame, we don’t deserve that, we don’t deserve nothing. Then everything seemed to shatter and Mcjagger being from Ohio was a fickle thought. I looked up at the street and I heard the thud…..
“BETH!” my mother shrilly screams “Let’s go! We have 6 minutes to get there!” It’s 1:54. We’re always late.
We arrived to Lily’s office at 2:26. I slipped into the waiting room and found it empty with the exception of a pouty looking over weight mother discussing something the the secretary at the front desk. “So if my daughter refuses to go to the meetings the insurance stops paying.” The secretary looking flustered and noticed me, “Beth,” she said slightly annoyed “Lily is waiting for you.”
I had been going to Lily for about 6 months, after it had happened. The insurance gave me some temporary psychological disorder and sent me here. This wasn’t a real phsychologist office. Not to say that Lily wasn’t a real psychologist she had the placks on the wall and everything but she worked for the insurance company. It was a cheap one.
It seemed like everything in my life had been that way. I didn’t resent this, I was used to it. I even took a little pride in it. People with brittle bones had to go to real psychologists and paid tons of money to cry about problems that weren’t really their.
Did I have a problem that wasn’t really there. I don’t know. The insurance company sent me here. That is all.
I thought about the woman at the counter. A lot of kids don’t like coming here. For the past few months I’ve seen all sorts of them come in and out. I never really minded Lily, it always seemed normal that I should dislike her. When my mother first brought it up she stated it solemnly as a loss cause. Almost as if she knew that I’d refuse to go, but I didn’t mind it, there were some aspects that I didn’t like but Lily was nice.
I walked into Lily’s office and found her sitting in her chair writing something. The room was dimly lit with two chairs and a coach. There was a mini fountain trickling on one of her shelves amongst various books from psychology to young adult. I sat down and started playing with a zen garden which sat next to a big vanilla candle. This is what I didn’t like about this place. Everything was so strategically placed.
“How are you today Beth?” Lily asked me putting what she was writing down and looking up at me. I tried to figure out something to say. How am I today? I regular question, but did I know how I feel?
Lily didn’t like me to call her Mrs. Sanchez, when we first met she insisted on me calling her Lily, but I hated the informalness of it all. She wasn’t just Lily she wasn’t my friend. It used to upset me a lot. Why should I tell everyone to someone who does not care about me? “I do care about you Beth,” She insisted one afternoon. “I know because I’m your patient you want to see me heal.” I said my voice heavy in teen angst, “but what if the insurance company suddenly decided I was okay, and they stopped paying for these sessions?” She sat silently waiting for me to continue. “I would disappear from your life and you would disappear from mine. The End” “What’s the point of all this”
I could tell she wasn’t sure what to say. She shrugged and said, “We’re trying to heal you, I don’t know what else I can do for you, all I know is that until the insurance company stops paying for these sessions, I’ll be here for you.”
I don’t think about it anymore. It just leaves me dizzy if I do, so all I can do is come to these sessions and try to figure out whatever it is I’m trying to figure out.
“How are you doing?” She asked again, with an unfailing patience I could never hope to have. With Lily sometimes we talked about it sometimes we didn’t.
“I don’t know…” I mumbled telling her the plain truth, “I’m not bad, but I’m not good either. I’m like some particle in the air letting the air push me and take me where it goes…” There was truth in what I said, that is all I knew. Lily paused, whether it was for dramatic effect or if she really did not know what to say I did not know. What is something interesting about Lily is that she believes most people can be fixed, by one way or the other. I left the end open would if somebody can’t be fixed? What if I can’t be fixed, but then again am I even broken? Was I even made in the first place?
This is what silence does. Silence is so good; distractions have saved me since the incident, distractions sweet loud distractions. “Interesting…so you believe you have no feelings what so ever that you’re just going with the flow?” She asked regaining her composure. “I guess so..” I replied. “Are you happy with this? Mad about it or feel nothing about it. Is it easier this way.”
I tried to process all what she was saying she was speaking rather fast. “I’m not sure, I’m not mad about it doesn’t make me really happy either, I just feel unsatisfied, starving, yet full at the same time.”
She laughed unexpectedly, “You’re such a contradiction.” She said, I thought about It, I suppose it’s true.
She turned serious again, professional Mrs. Sanchez. She adjusted her skirt, moved the non existent hairs from her face. “Now Beth, we have to think about this…Is this whatever floats your boat, if that’s what you want to call it, is this healthy. Can someone live like this? Is it normal? Is it sane?”
“Does it matter?” I said immediately regretting it. Lily responded simply. “If it didn’t matter we wouldn’t be here, so while we’re here let’s pretend it does matter. I don’t know how you feel but this matters to me, you matter to me.” She looked at me, I was never good at reading people, was she lying I didn’t know, did it matter?
(There’s a possibility.)
“I have to think about this more, Beth, for once you have me slightly speechless, there isn’t a problem, but then you’re not fixed. Now I shouldn’t use that word fixed, heal is a better word or “get better” you don’t need fixing…just some tinkering.”
“The mind is a strange thing.” I said letting the atmosphere take me in, wanting to forget about being broken and being fixed.
“Ahh, the human is a strange thing, it isn’t just our minds, there are impulses drives, emotions, aches, pains, and numbness all at once.”
“Numbness….” I said as I slowly began pinching the side of my arm. Lily was silent for a while. “This is quite interesting though….is it unheard of? I’m not sure, I’m sure the numb really said anything about it.” Lily had a funny way sometimes of talking out load to herself.
“Well,” she said glancing at her watch, “There is something else I have been working on for a while. It concerns you.” She said looking up at me. I felt a muffled curiosity reach my brain. “Next week I’d like you to meet someone, can you handle that?”
Who did she think I was? I could meet people I could be social. “I know you can handle it,” she said as if reading my thoughts, “But you may or may not like what this person has to say or what they represent. But I think it will help you immensely.”
I felt curious and yet I couldn’t believe her. I was quiet on the drive home, my mother filled up the silence with obnoxious talk radio. I tried to imagine who Lily would want me to meet. Another crazy person? A person who’s a specialist and what I’ve been through, some post traumatic stress disorder scholar? She said someone to help me immensely…hmm. I stared out the window at the occasional pedestrian, my mom always avoided the street the accident happened on, I’m not sure if the avoidance made It better or worse.
I tried to listen to the voices on the radio. “It is not right for a woman to with hold sex from her husband, it is a crime.” My thoughts turned back immediately to this person. Lily what have you got in store. Until next Saturday….I wait.
Chapter 1
Thermostat:
I woke up to the sound of my mother arguing with some unknown person. Her voice was shrill and antagonizing. “This is absolutely ridiculous! I refuse to pay a cent!” I envisioned her hands on hips yelling at some innocent man. “They have been checking my thermostat for free for the past…my whole life…no I’m not paying a cent!” I pull the covers over my head to try to drown out the noise. It is 10:48 a.m. My body aches, from to much sleeping, my head feels empty, will this feeling ever go away? I switch positions again, more muffled arguing from the living room. I lay on my back, my chest feels to heavy, and there’s this ache in my thoughts, just before my subconscious takes over.
I wake up an hour later to my mother on the phone. “Jill? Yeah can you believe they tried to charge me! I swear this is ridiculous, they’ve been checking my thermostat for free for the past…” I suppose I should get up, it’d be to painful to stay in bed. With these numbing thoughts that I’m sure will eventually paralyze. This isn’t apathy, this isn’t healing. This is…the scar tissue, permanent? Most likely, but I can only hope with years (oh..years can I last that long?) that it’ll fade. It’s time to get up
I sit at the kitchen table, my mother is across the phone still yacking her head off. I always feel odd eating breakfast in the afternoon, but waking up and eating lunch would feel wrong. Brunch? Too formal. All I can hear is the sound of my masticating. Cereal for breakfast. My mother continues her conversation as I tried to drown the sound out with my chewing… “I swear the world today is so upside down, so crooked and backwards….” Chew Chew Chew Chew. “Alright Jill talk to you later! Yep…uh huh….Buh Bye”
Silence. My mother stares at me, I can’t tell if the lines on her face are worried or annoyed, I don’t look up. “Beth you have an appointment with Lilly today at 2 right?”
Lilly? Two? I think still not looking up. “It’s Saturday” she says with a slightly worried slightly annoyed tone. “Yeah” I say pretending I knew all along. “Alright be ready.”
2 o’clock. It’s 12 now. Two hours for sleep. I crawl back into bed with a slightly heavier stomach. I tried to hide under my covers, but I can feel it, no matter where I go, as if it’s watching me. As if she’s watching me. I shudder at the pronoun and my cereal threatens to make it’s way out of it’s warm bed. I wait desperately for sleep to take over, feeling just as disasterous if not worse as when I walked out of it a half hour ago. She She She She. The words jab into my head. Forcibly painfully. I clutch my skull. Till I’m not conscious any more.
Chapter 2:
Lily
I remember it so vividly and I can’t help but feel like my brain does it just to spite me. What did I do wrong? Why do the good memories fade and whether while the bad ones become more deeply etched in as each day passes. I remember the day. I remember I had been thinking about a magazine article I had read about Mcjagger. He was from Ohio, not Okonkwo but about an hour away. I remember if he could get so famous why can’t I? I feel foolish now remembering my thoughts. People always desire honor, and fame, we don’t deserve that, we don’t deserve nothing. Then everything seemed to shatter and Mcjagger being from Ohio was a fickle thought. I looked up at the street and I heard the thud…..
“BETH!” my mother shrilly screams “Let’s go! We have 6 minutes to get there!” It’s 1:54. We’re always late.
We arrived to Lily’s office at 2:26. I slipped into the waiting room and found it empty with the exception of a pouty looking over weight mother discussing something the the secretary at the front desk. “So if my daughter refuses to go to the meetings the insurance stops paying.” The secretary looking flustered and noticed me, “Beth,” she said slightly annoyed “Lily is waiting for you.”
I had been going to Lily for about 6 months, after it had happened. The insurance gave me some temporary psychological disorder and sent me here. This wasn’t a real phsychologist office. Not to say that Lily wasn’t a real psychologist she had the placks on the wall and everything but she worked for the insurance company. It was a cheap one.
It seemed like everything in my life had been that way. I didn’t resent this, I was used to it. I even took a little pride in it. People with brittle bones had to go to real psychologists and paid tons of money to cry about problems that weren’t really their.
Did I have a problem that wasn’t really there. I don’t know. The insurance company sent me here. That is all.
I thought about the woman at the counter. A lot of kids don’t like coming here. For the past few months I’ve seen all sorts of them come in and out. I never really minded Lily, it always seemed normal that I should dislike her. When my mother first brought it up she stated it solemnly as a loss cause. Almost as if she knew that I’d refuse to go, but I didn’t mind it, there were some aspects that I didn’t like but Lily was nice.
I walked into Lily’s office and found her sitting in her chair writing something. The room was dimly lit with two chairs and a coach. There was a mini fountain trickling on one of her shelves amongst various books from psychology to young adult. I sat down and started playing with a zen garden which sat next to a big vanilla candle. This is what I didn’t like about this place. Everything was so strategically placed.
“How are you today Beth?” Lily asked me putting what she was writing down and looking up at me. I tried to figure out something to say. How am I today? I regular question, but did I know how I feel?
Lily didn’t like me to call her Mrs. Sanchez, when we first met she insisted on me calling her Lily, but I hated the informalness of it all. She wasn’t just Lily she wasn’t my friend. It used to upset me a lot. Why should I tell everyone to someone who does not care about me? “I do care about you Beth,” She insisted one afternoon. “I know because I’m your patient you want to see me heal.” I said my voice heavy in teen angst, “but what if the insurance company suddenly decided I was okay, and they stopped paying for these sessions?” She sat silently waiting for me to continue. “I would disappear from your life and you would disappear from mine. The End” “What’s the point of all this”
I could tell she wasn’t sure what to say. She shrugged and said, “We’re trying to heal you, I don’t know what else I can do for you, all I know is that until the insurance company stops paying for these sessions, I’ll be here for you.”
I don’t think about it anymore. It just leaves me dizzy if I do, so all I can do is come to these sessions and try to figure out whatever it is I’m trying to figure out.
“How are you doing?” She asked again, with an unfailing patience I could never hope to have. With Lily sometimes we talked about it sometimes we didn’t.
“I don’t know…” I mumbled telling her the plain truth, “I’m not bad, but I’m not good either. I’m like some particle in the air letting the air push me and take me where it goes…” There was truth in what I said, that is all I knew. Lily paused, whether it was for dramatic effect or if she really did not know what to say I did not know. What is something interesting about Lily is that she believes most people can be fixed, by one way or the other. I left the end open would if somebody can’t be fixed? What if I can’t be fixed, but then again am I even broken? Was I even made in the first place?
This is what silence does. Silence is so good; distractions have saved me since the incident, distractions sweet loud distractions. “Interesting…so you believe you have no feelings what so ever that you’re just going with the flow?” She asked regaining her composure. “I guess so..” I replied. “Are you happy with this? Mad about it or feel nothing about it. Is it easier this way.”
I tried to process all what she was saying she was speaking rather fast. “I’m not sure, I’m not mad about it doesn’t make me really happy either, I just feel unsatisfied, starving, yet full at the same time.”
She laughed unexpectedly, “You’re such a contradiction.” She said, I thought about It, I suppose it’s true.
She turned serious again, professional Mrs. Sanchez. She adjusted her skirt, moved the non existent hairs from her face. “Now Beth, we have to think about this…Is this whatever floats your boat, if that’s what you want to call it, is this healthy. Can someone live like this? Is it normal? Is it sane?”
“Does it matter?” I said immediately regretting it. Lily responded simply. “If it didn’t matter we wouldn’t be here, so while we’re here let’s pretend it does matter. I don’t know how you feel but this matters to me, you matter to me.” She looked at me, I was never good at reading people, was she lying I didn’t know, did it matter?
(There’s a possibility.)
“I have to think about this more, Beth, for once you have me slightly speechless, there isn’t a problem, but then you’re not fixed. Now I shouldn’t use that word fixed, heal is a better word or “get better” you don’t need fixing…just some tinkering.”
“The mind is a strange thing.” I said letting the atmosphere take me in, wanting to forget about being broken and being fixed.
“Ahh, the human is a strange thing, it isn’t just our minds, there are impulses drives, emotions, aches, pains, and numbness all at once.”
“Numbness….” I said as I slowly began pinching the side of my arm. Lily was silent for a while. “This is quite interesting though….is it unheard of? I’m not sure, I’m sure the numb really said anything about it.” Lily had a funny way sometimes of talking out load to herself.
“Well,” she said glancing at her watch, “There is something else I have been working on for a while. It concerns you.” She said looking up at me. I felt a muffled curiosity reach my brain. “Next week I’d like you to meet someone, can you handle that?”
Who did she think I was? I could meet people I could be social. “I know you can handle it,” she said as if reading my thoughts, “But you may or may not like what this person has to say or what they represent. But I think it will help you immensely.”
I felt curious and yet I couldn’t believe her. I was quiet on the drive home, my mother filled up the silence with obnoxious talk radio. I tried to imagine who Lily would want me to meet. Another crazy person? A person who’s a specialist and what I’ve been through, some post traumatic stress disorder scholar? She said someone to help me immensely…hmm. I stared out the window at the occasional pedestrian, my mom always avoided the street the accident happened on, I’m not sure if the avoidance made It better or worse.
I tried to listen to the voices on the radio. “It is not right for a woman to with hold sex from her husband, it is a crime.” My thoughts turned back immediately to this person. Lily what have you got in store. Until next Saturday….I wait.
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Sarah Emsick
6009 Franklin Street 68014 Omaha, NE
Home Phone: (402)-614-1698
Cell Phone: (402)-213-9181
Education:
Harrison Elementary - 7 years
Lewis and Clark Middle School - 2 years
Central High School - 3 years, 2006 - Present
Experience:
Coco Keys Lifeguard:
- June of 2009- Present
- Keep Coco Keys safe and clean, while enjoyable for the guests
- Always making sure the guests are happy
Teaching swimming lessons:
- Omaha Public Schools
- The teacher aide
-2006-2008
Child Care:
- Church Nursery and Sunday School helper
- From 2003-2008, Emmanuel Fellowship
- Babysitting From 2004-Present
Sarah Emsick
6009 Franklin Street 68014 Omaha, NE
Home Phone: (402)-614-1698
Cell Phone: (402)-213-9181
Values to hold
Parents, the people who shape us in to who we will grow up to be, making sure that we grow in knowledge and love. They share their warmth and kindness and they protect us from evil things so that no danger will ever be present. One should never have to fear for the life of their own or the life of their parents when they are still very young and still looking up to their parents for guidance when things turn ill. But, when ones parent are not in the right mind set because he/she has been drinking alcohol all night what is one to do? Does one run and hide, confront him/her, help, or lay in bed dreaming of the terrible things that could happen if they were to do something stupid while drunk? Should you wait it out and see if you can make it through the night or should you call some one and tell them what is going on? So you decide to wait it out and by the morning they will not remember any thing and you will not bother to mention the nights previous tales.
This may sound horrible, and it pretty much is, but I want to start off by saying that my mother is a wonderful women. Any day and every day she is my super hero and she just amazes me on how she made it through this far. Yes life was pretty rough and crazy when I was little. My mother was facing depression and she didn’t know how to deal with the pain. She never took her pain out on us, her children, but she almost drank her self to death and that almost ripped our family apart. My mother has been sober for almost 5 years now and she has made some great changes in her life because she have chosen a different path. One great accomplishment that she was finally able to achieve was to becoming a music teacher after many years of hard work and focus.
Alcohol and drugs are not something that I am quick to run to, I am not a fan of either. They have both personally effected my family in the negative way and only terrible things can come from messing with chemicals that change your way of thinking. From personal experience, I value my own state of mind and I do not plan taking any thing or drinking any thing just for a few hours of fun. If people do not know how to cope with the world with out the help of other substances than how do they plan to get through the rest of their lives? I do not want to be limited in life, addicted to some thing that I will never be able to give up. I want to live freely and happily, substance free.
When I ended my Junior year, I was feeling the pressure from both of my parents to get a job, most of the nagging was coming from my father’s end and he saw to it that I get a job. His slogan and favorite saying when talking about college and the future is, “Once you get this done you’ll be set for LIFE!” sure dad it is really that easy. But because of the parent pressure and million and one job applications I finally succeeded in snatching a job. Blair, my twin, and I ended up working at the same place, Coco Keys, and so every thing was fun and great over the summer because I had my sister there. But once school started I had to deal with both the dead line of homework and projects all while keeping up with my work schedule. I still find it a constant struggle to choose between work or school. If I have to work one night I know that I will not be able to finish my homework for the day because there will just be no more gas in the engine. This Senior Year has been probably my hardest year at Central, but I am giving it my all.
6009 Franklin Street 68014 Omaha, NE
Home Phone: (402)-614-1698
Cell Phone: (402)-213-9181
Education:
Harrison Elementary - 7 years
Lewis and Clark Middle School - 2 years
Central High School - 3 years, 2006 - Present
Experience:
Coco Keys Lifeguard:
- June of 2009- Present
- Keep Coco Keys safe and clean, while enjoyable for the guests
- Always making sure the guests are happy
Teaching swimming lessons:
- Omaha Public Schools
- The teacher aide
-2006-2008
Child Care:
- Church Nursery and Sunday School helper
- From 2003-2008, Emmanuel Fellowship
- Babysitting From 2004-Present
Sarah Emsick
6009 Franklin Street 68014 Omaha, NE
Home Phone: (402)-614-1698
Cell Phone: (402)-213-9181
Values to hold
Parents, the people who shape us in to who we will grow up to be, making sure that we grow in knowledge and love. They share their warmth and kindness and they protect us from evil things so that no danger will ever be present. One should never have to fear for the life of their own or the life of their parents when they are still very young and still looking up to their parents for guidance when things turn ill. But, when ones parent are not in the right mind set because he/she has been drinking alcohol all night what is one to do? Does one run and hide, confront him/her, help, or lay in bed dreaming of the terrible things that could happen if they were to do something stupid while drunk? Should you wait it out and see if you can make it through the night or should you call some one and tell them what is going on? So you decide to wait it out and by the morning they will not remember any thing and you will not bother to mention the nights previous tales.
This may sound horrible, and it pretty much is, but I want to start off by saying that my mother is a wonderful women. Any day and every day she is my super hero and she just amazes me on how she made it through this far. Yes life was pretty rough and crazy when I was little. My mother was facing depression and she didn’t know how to deal with the pain. She never took her pain out on us, her children, but she almost drank her self to death and that almost ripped our family apart. My mother has been sober for almost 5 years now and she has made some great changes in her life because she have chosen a different path. One great accomplishment that she was finally able to achieve was to becoming a music teacher after many years of hard work and focus.
Alcohol and drugs are not something that I am quick to run to, I am not a fan of either. They have both personally effected my family in the negative way and only terrible things can come from messing with chemicals that change your way of thinking. From personal experience, I value my own state of mind and I do not plan taking any thing or drinking any thing just for a few hours of fun. If people do not know how to cope with the world with out the help of other substances than how do they plan to get through the rest of their lives? I do not want to be limited in life, addicted to some thing that I will never be able to give up. I want to live freely and happily, substance free.
When I ended my Junior year, I was feeling the pressure from both of my parents to get a job, most of the nagging was coming from my father’s end and he saw to it that I get a job. His slogan and favorite saying when talking about college and the future is, “Once you get this done you’ll be set for LIFE!” sure dad it is really that easy. But because of the parent pressure and million and one job applications I finally succeeded in snatching a job. Blair, my twin, and I ended up working at the same place, Coco Keys, and so every thing was fun and great over the summer because I had my sister there. But once school started I had to deal with both the dead line of homework and projects all while keeping up with my work schedule. I still find it a constant struggle to choose between work or school. If I have to work one night I know that I will not be able to finish my homework for the day because there will just be no more gas in the engine. This Senior Year has been probably my hardest year at Central, but I am giving it my all.
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Rifle Team
Row 1: Connor Lasly, Mayra Gaytan, Jordan Marescalco
Row 2: Adam Sheridan, Brandon Hall, Kyle Stevens, Logan Miller
Orienteering Team
Row 1: Torrell Booker, Donovan Kopystynsky, Devin Bigelow, Gabriel Bridgeford, Ryan Peatrowsky, Mayra Gaytan, John Hogan, Kris Malleny
Row 2: Steven Bovill, Kyrie Lynch, Brandon Hall, Connor Lasly, Jordan Marescalco
Row 3: Chris Dady, Michael Rieger, Adam Sheridan
Courtesy Patrol
Row 1: Connor Lasly, Torrell Booker, Devin Bigelow, Devon Chonis, Mayra Gaytan, John Hogan
Row 2: Steven Bovill, Gabriel Bridgeford, Kyrie Lynch
Row 3: Xiomara Avalos, Donovan Kopystynsky, Tamerea Marion, Jaeden Carter
Row 5: Gage Dawes, Tyler Shearer
Staff
Row 1: Logan Miller, Torrell Booker, Mayra Gaytan, Jordan Marescalco, Matt Wolford
Row 2: Adam Sheridan, Kyrie Lynch, John Hogan
Row 3: Sheylah Olvera, Alisha Floyd
Not pictured: Seth Pope, Spencer Welton
Drill Team
Row 1: Torrell Booker, Devin Chonis, Ryan Peatrowsky, Mayra Gayton, Jordan Marescalco, Matt Wolford
Row 2: Steven Bovill, Kyrie Lynch, Connor Lasly, Cassandra Hannah, Gabriel Bridgeford
Row 3: Tyler Shearer, Brandon Hall, Michael Rieger
Row 4: Nick Rosa, Adam Sheridan, Gage Dawes
Row 1: Connor Lasly, Mayra Gaytan, Jordan Marescalco
Row 2: Adam Sheridan, Brandon Hall, Kyle Stevens, Logan Miller
Orienteering Team
Row 1: Torrell Booker, Donovan Kopystynsky, Devin Bigelow, Gabriel Bridgeford, Ryan Peatrowsky, Mayra Gaytan, John Hogan, Kris Malleny
Row 2: Steven Bovill, Kyrie Lynch, Brandon Hall, Connor Lasly, Jordan Marescalco
Row 3: Chris Dady, Michael Rieger, Adam Sheridan
Courtesy Patrol
Row 1: Connor Lasly, Torrell Booker, Devin Bigelow, Devon Chonis, Mayra Gaytan, John Hogan
Row 2: Steven Bovill, Gabriel Bridgeford, Kyrie Lynch
Row 3: Xiomara Avalos, Donovan Kopystynsky, Tamerea Marion, Jaeden Carter
Row 5: Gage Dawes, Tyler Shearer
Staff
Row 1: Logan Miller, Torrell Booker, Mayra Gaytan, Jordan Marescalco, Matt Wolford
Row 2: Adam Sheridan, Kyrie Lynch, John Hogan
Row 3: Sheylah Olvera, Alisha Floyd
Not pictured: Seth Pope, Spencer Welton
Drill Team
Row 1: Torrell Booker, Devin Chonis, Ryan Peatrowsky, Mayra Gayton, Jordan Marescalco, Matt Wolford
Row 2: Steven Bovill, Kyrie Lynch, Connor Lasly, Cassandra Hannah, Gabriel Bridgeford
Row 3: Tyler Shearer, Brandon Hall, Michael Rieger
Row 4: Nick Rosa, Adam Sheridan, Gage Dawes
Monday, November 9, 2009
Thrown
Chapter 1
Thermostat:
I woke up to the sound of my mother arguing with some unknown person. Her voice was shrill and antagonizing. “This is absolutely ridiculous! I refuse to pay a cent!” I envisioned her hands on hips yelling at some innocent man. “They have been checking my thermostat for free for the past…my whole life…no I’m not paying a cent!” I pull the covers over my head to try to drown out the noise. It is 10:48 a.m. My body aches, from to much sleeping, my head feels empty, will this feeling ever go away? I switch positions again, more muffled arguing from the living room. I lay on my back, my chest feels to heavy, and there’s this ache in my thoughts, just before my subconscious takes over.
I wake up an hour later to my mother on the phone. “Jill? Yeah can you believe they tried to charge me! I swear this is ridiculous, they’ve been checking my thermostat for free for the past…” I suppose I should get up, it’d be to painful to stay in bed. With these numbing thoughts that I’m sure will eventually paralyze. This isn’t apathy, this isn’t healing. This is…the scar tissue, permanent? Most likely, but I can only hope with years (oh..years can I last that long?) that it’ll fade. It’s time to get up
I sit at the kitchen table, my mother is across the phone still yacking her head off. I always feel odd eating breakfast in the afternoon, but waking up and eating lunch would feel wrong. Brunch? Too formal. All I can hear is the sound of my masticating. Cereal for breakfast. My mother continues her conversation as I tried to drown the sound out with my chewing… “I swear the world today is so upside down, so crooked and backwards….” Chew Chew Chew Chew. “Alright Jill talk to you later! Yep…uh huh….Buh Bye”
Silence. My mother stares at me, I can’t tell if the lines on her face are worried or annoyed, I don’t look up. “Beth you have an appointment with Lilly today at 2 right?”
Lilly? Two? I think still not looking up. “It’s Saturday” she says with a slightly worried slightly annoyed tone. “Yeah” I say pretending I knew all along. “Alright be ready.”
2 o’clock. It’s 12 now. Two hours for sleep. I crawl back into bed with a slightly heavier stomach. I tried to hide under my covers, but I can feel it, no matter where I go, as if it’s watching me. As if she’s watching me. I shudder at the pronoun and my cereal threatens to make it’s way out of it’s warm bed. I wait desperately for sleep to take over, feeling just as disasterous if not worse as when I walked out of it a half hour ago. She She She She. The words jab into my head. Forcibly painfully. I clutch my skull. Till I’m not conscious any more.
Chapter 2:
Lily
I remember it so vividly and I can’t help but feel like my brain does it just to spite me. What did I do wrong? Why do the good memories fade and whether while the bad ones become more deeply etched in as each day passes. I remember the day. I remember I had been thinking about a magazine article I had read about Mcjagger. He was from Ohio, not Okonkwo but about an hour away. I remember if he could get so famous why can’t I? I feel foolish now remembering my thoughts. People always desire honor, and fame, we don’t deserve that, we don’t deserve nothing. Then everything seemed to shatter and Mcjagger being from Ohio was a fickle thought. I looked up at the street and I heard the thud…..
“BETH!” my mother shrilly screams “Let’s go! We have 6 minutes to get there!” It’s 1:54. We’re always late.
We arrived to Lily’s office at 2:26. I slipped into the waiting room and found it empty with the exception of a pouty looking over weight mother discussing something the the secretary at the front desk. “So if my daughter refuses to go to the meetings the insurance stops paying.” The secretary looking flustered and noticed me, “Beth,” she said slightly annoyed “Lily is waiting for you.”
I had been going to Lily for about 6 months, after it had happened. The insurance gave me some temporary psychological disorder and sent me here. This wasn’t a real phsychologist office. Not to say that Lily wasn’t a real psychologist she had the placks on the wall and everything but she worked for the insurance company. It was a cheap one.
It seemed like everything in my life had been that way. I didn’t resent this, I was used to it. I even took a little pride in it. People with brittle bones had to go to real psychologists and paid tons of money to cry about problems that weren’t really their.
Did I have a problem that wasn’t really there. I don’t know. The insurance company sent me here. That is all.
I thought about the woman at the counter. A lot of kids don’t like coming here. For the past few months I’ve seen all sorts of them come in and out. I never really minded Lily, it always seemed normal that I should dislike her. When my mother first brought it up she stated it solemnly as a loss cause. Almost as if she knew that I’d refuse to go, but I didn’t mind it, there were some aspects that I didn’t like but Lily was nice.
I walked into Lily’s office and found her sitting in her chair writing something. The room was dimly lit with two chairs and a coach. There was a mini fountain trickling on one of her shelves amongst various books from psychology to young adult. I sat down and started playing with a zen garden which sat next to a big vanilla candle. This is what I didn’t like about this place. Everything was so strategically placed.
“How are you today Beth?” Lily asked me putting what she was writing down and looking up at me. I tried to figure out something to say. How am I today? I regular question, but did I know how I feel?
Lily didn’t like me to call her Mrs. Sanchez, when we first met she insisted on me calling her Lily, but I hated the informalness of it all. She wasn’t just Lily she wasn’t my friend. It used to upset me a lot. Why should I tell everyone to someone who does not care about me? “I do care about you Beth,” She insisted one afternoon. “I know because I’m your patient you want to see me heal.” I said my voice heavy in teen angst, “but what if the insurance company suddenly decided I was okay, and they stopped paying for these sessions?” She sat silently waiting for me to continue. “I would disappear from your life and you would disappear from mine. The End” “What’s the point of all this”
I could tell she wasn’t sure what to say. She shrugged and said, “We’re trying to heal you, I don’t know what else I can do for you, all I know is that until the insurance company stops paying for these sessions, I’ll be here for you.”
I don’t think about it anymore. It just leaves me dizzy if I do, so all I can do is come to these sessions and try to figure out whatever it is I’m trying to figure out.
Chapter 1
Thermostat:
I woke up to the sound of my mother arguing with some unknown person. Her voice was shrill and antagonizing. “This is absolutely ridiculous! I refuse to pay a cent!” I envisioned her hands on hips yelling at some innocent man. “They have been checking my thermostat for free for the past…my whole life…no I’m not paying a cent!” I pull the covers over my head to try to drown out the noise. It is 10:48 a.m. My body aches, from to much sleeping, my head feels empty, will this feeling ever go away? I switch positions again, more muffled arguing from the living room. I lay on my back, my chest feels to heavy, and there’s this ache in my thoughts, just before my subconscious takes over.
I wake up an hour later to my mother on the phone. “Jill? Yeah can you believe they tried to charge me! I swear this is ridiculous, they’ve been checking my thermostat for free for the past…” I suppose I should get up, it’d be to painful to stay in bed. With these numbing thoughts that I’m sure will eventually paralyze. This isn’t apathy, this isn’t healing. This is…the scar tissue, permanent? Most likely, but I can only hope with years (oh..years can I last that long?) that it’ll fade. It’s time to get up
I sit at the kitchen table, my mother is across the phone still yacking her head off. I always feel odd eating breakfast in the afternoon, but waking up and eating lunch would feel wrong. Brunch? Too formal. All I can hear is the sound of my masticating. Cereal for breakfast. My mother continues her conversation as I tried to drown the sound out with my chewing… “I swear the world today is so upside down, so crooked and backwards….” Chew Chew Chew Chew. “Alright Jill talk to you later! Yep…uh huh….Buh Bye”
Silence. My mother stares at me, I can’t tell if the lines on her face are worried or annoyed, I don’t look up. “Beth you have an appointment with Lilly today at 2 right?”
Lilly? Two? I think still not looking up. “It’s Saturday” she says with a slightly worried slightly annoyed tone. “Yeah” I say pretending I knew all along. “Alright be ready.”
2 o’clock. It’s 12 now. Two hours for sleep. I crawl back into bed with a slightly heavier stomach. I tried to hide under my covers, but I can feel it, no matter where I go, as if it’s watching me. As if she’s watching me. I shudder at the pronoun and my cereal threatens to make it’s way out of it’s warm bed. I wait desperately for sleep to take over, feeling just as disasterous if not worse as when I walked out of it a half hour ago. She She She She. The words jab into my head. Forcibly painfully. I clutch my skull. Till I’m not conscious any more.
Chapter 2:
Lily
I remember it so vividly and I can’t help but feel like my brain does it just to spite me. What did I do wrong? Why do the good memories fade and whether while the bad ones become more deeply etched in as each day passes. I remember the day. I remember I had been thinking about a magazine article I had read about Mcjagger. He was from Ohio, not Okonkwo but about an hour away. I remember if he could get so famous why can’t I? I feel foolish now remembering my thoughts. People always desire honor, and fame, we don’t deserve that, we don’t deserve nothing. Then everything seemed to shatter and Mcjagger being from Ohio was a fickle thought. I looked up at the street and I heard the thud…..
“BETH!” my mother shrilly screams “Let’s go! We have 6 minutes to get there!” It’s 1:54. We’re always late.
We arrived to Lily’s office at 2:26. I slipped into the waiting room and found it empty with the exception of a pouty looking over weight mother discussing something the the secretary at the front desk. “So if my daughter refuses to go to the meetings the insurance stops paying.” The secretary looking flustered and noticed me, “Beth,” she said slightly annoyed “Lily is waiting for you.”
I had been going to Lily for about 6 months, after it had happened. The insurance gave me some temporary psychological disorder and sent me here. This wasn’t a real phsychologist office. Not to say that Lily wasn’t a real psychologist she had the placks on the wall and everything but she worked for the insurance company. It was a cheap one.
It seemed like everything in my life had been that way. I didn’t resent this, I was used to it. I even took a little pride in it. People with brittle bones had to go to real psychologists and paid tons of money to cry about problems that weren’t really their.
Did I have a problem that wasn’t really there. I don’t know. The insurance company sent me here. That is all.
I thought about the woman at the counter. A lot of kids don’t like coming here. For the past few months I’ve seen all sorts of them come in and out. I never really minded Lily, it always seemed normal that I should dislike her. When my mother first brought it up she stated it solemnly as a loss cause. Almost as if she knew that I’d refuse to go, but I didn’t mind it, there were some aspects that I didn’t like but Lily was nice.
I walked into Lily’s office and found her sitting in her chair writing something. The room was dimly lit with two chairs and a coach. There was a mini fountain trickling on one of her shelves amongst various books from psychology to young adult. I sat down and started playing with a zen garden which sat next to a big vanilla candle. This is what I didn’t like about this place. Everything was so strategically placed.
“How are you today Beth?” Lily asked me putting what she was writing down and looking up at me. I tried to figure out something to say. How am I today? I regular question, but did I know how I feel?
Lily didn’t like me to call her Mrs. Sanchez, when we first met she insisted on me calling her Lily, but I hated the informalness of it all. She wasn’t just Lily she wasn’t my friend. It used to upset me a lot. Why should I tell everyone to someone who does not care about me? “I do care about you Beth,” She insisted one afternoon. “I know because I’m your patient you want to see me heal.” I said my voice heavy in teen angst, “but what if the insurance company suddenly decided I was okay, and they stopped paying for these sessions?” She sat silently waiting for me to continue. “I would disappear from your life and you would disappear from mine. The End” “What’s the point of all this”
I could tell she wasn’t sure what to say. She shrugged and said, “We’re trying to heal you, I don’t know what else I can do for you, all I know is that until the insurance company stops paying for these sessions, I’ll be here for you.”
I don’t think about it anymore. It just leaves me dizzy if I do, so all I can do is come to these sessions and try to figure out whatever it is I’m trying to figure out.
November 9th, 2009 Always Dizzy
It is strange being back. As if I had been in a big whole all weekend and I had just climbed out of it. When I look back on it I just fall. People seem different, but at the same time they feel achingly the same. The things they say, the things they laugh at. It is high who is different, and I know it will fade. I walk through the hallways and see face after face after face. It is all the same. We’re moving forward, we’re moving to 4th hour 5th hour 6th hour. This trip has given me some strength, some nutrients to carry me ever onward. I can’t look back at this writing because it will all end up gone. There is a difference between Vanity and Pride says Jane Austen. Vanity is how we think the world sees us, Pride is how we see ourselves. These ideas have been floating in my head and not much else. What else can I say? Flying is what I expected. Airports are sort of lonely average places. They’re not like the movies. You don’t see Young beautiful lovers running through them begging their other half to stay. People come, people go. They’re always moving. Some wait though. Some work here. And I am just another face. Coming and going. Flying is what I expected. It’s a form of public transportation and like all the public buses I’ve been on is constructed to fit the needs of all people. It had been used by all sorts of people. And it seems a constant theme in my life, as some remain forgotten and some are quiet and ambivalent. This is a constant, deflated expectations. Once I get to wherever I’m going I find that I’ve forgotten something where I was at, and long to go back. There always seems to be something missing. In everything I go and I everything I do. I have found lately that I have internalized this notion and it has become a sort of characteristic in me. Yesterday I went to the Pennsylvania University campus. It was one of the most beautiful places I had ever seen (the only college campus I have seen apart from UNO’s) There were students every where walking and talking studying, going somewhere. And I longed to be one of them walking down these streets, and have some place to go, somebody to meet, something to do. But I knew deep down, that there would be something ticking if I were them. Some impending doom –there always is-. There would be nothing there would be everything there would be something wrong. I knew If I went to school here, it would never be as good as it seemed. But maybe it would. Maybe this is just my internally defense mechanisms installed in order to make things seem not as good as they seem, but really they are. And to be quite honest I have no idea how to feel anymore. Someone. Somebody tell me how to feel. This weekend seemed to spent in lusty awe. I want, and I am in awe that such lives could exist. But secretly I know it’s never as good as it seems. Is it just me? Is it always not as good as it seems. It reminds me of a book when I was little. To little girls who lived across town from eachother. They stared at the other ones house and wished if only they lived there. The other one wished the same thing. Some how they switched homes for a day and realized that their own house looked just what they wanted it to look like. The story ended up happy, but will I end up happy. Why must everyone be happy. I heard a little blurb on talk radio. The man said something along the lines of why does everyone think god owes them something. Whenever a natural disaster happens the nations cry how could God do something like this. Why doesn’t he answer my prayers? What does he owe us, what have we given him?
The best thing I can hoped to be is humble and loved.
It is strange being back. As if I had been in a big whole all weekend and I had just climbed out of it. When I look back on it I just fall. People seem different, but at the same time they feel achingly the same. The things they say, the things they laugh at. It is high who is different, and I know it will fade. I walk through the hallways and see face after face after face. It is all the same. We’re moving forward, we’re moving to 4th hour 5th hour 6th hour. This trip has given me some strength, some nutrients to carry me ever onward. I can’t look back at this writing because it will all end up gone. There is a difference between Vanity and Pride says Jane Austen. Vanity is how we think the world sees us, Pride is how we see ourselves. These ideas have been floating in my head and not much else. What else can I say? Flying is what I expected. Airports are sort of lonely average places. They’re not like the movies. You don’t see Young beautiful lovers running through them begging their other half to stay. People come, people go. They’re always moving. Some wait though. Some work here. And I am just another face. Coming and going. Flying is what I expected. It’s a form of public transportation and like all the public buses I’ve been on is constructed to fit the needs of all people. It had been used by all sorts of people. And it seems a constant theme in my life, as some remain forgotten and some are quiet and ambivalent. This is a constant, deflated expectations. Once I get to wherever I’m going I find that I’ve forgotten something where I was at, and long to go back. There always seems to be something missing. In everything I go and I everything I do. I have found lately that I have internalized this notion and it has become a sort of characteristic in me. Yesterday I went to the Pennsylvania University campus. It was one of the most beautiful places I had ever seen (the only college campus I have seen apart from UNO’s) There were students every where walking and talking studying, going somewhere. And I longed to be one of them walking down these streets, and have some place to go, somebody to meet, something to do. But I knew deep down, that there would be something ticking if I were them. Some impending doom –there always is-. There would be nothing there would be everything there would be something wrong. I knew If I went to school here, it would never be as good as it seemed. But maybe it would. Maybe this is just my internally defense mechanisms installed in order to make things seem not as good as they seem, but really they are. And to be quite honest I have no idea how to feel anymore. Someone. Somebody tell me how to feel. This weekend seemed to spent in lusty awe. I want, and I am in awe that such lives could exist. But secretly I know it’s never as good as it seems. Is it just me? Is it always not as good as it seems. It reminds me of a book when I was little. To little girls who lived across town from eachother. They stared at the other ones house and wished if only they lived there. The other one wished the same thing. Some how they switched homes for a day and realized that their own house looked just what they wanted it to look like. The story ended up happy, but will I end up happy. Why must everyone be happy. I heard a little blurb on talk radio. The man said something along the lines of why does everyone think god owes them something. Whenever a natural disaster happens the nations cry how could God do something like this. Why doesn’t he answer my prayers? What does he owe us, what have we given him?
The best thing I can hoped to be is humble and loved.
Monday, November 2, 2009
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Emsick 1
Blair Emsick
Mrs. Martinez
APLAC
October 2009
The Double Shift
It is a beautiful Sunday morning, to warm for October, to bright for 9:30 a.m. Leaves fall lazily to the ground and everyone else in my house is asleep. I am working the double shift at CoCo Keys; 9:45 a.m. to 9:45 p.m. I get there and spot another guard Annie, we walk to the break room together talking about UNO and color guard. We walk into the break room and are welcomed by fellow tired faces. I clock in and put on my shorts and coco keys t-shirt. Big Dan our newest supervisor asks me what position I’d like to go to. “Surprise me.” I reply he says, “Alright river backyard.” We sit in the break room for a while more joking about who had a hangover, while folding towels, when Dan tells us to head out. So all of us 11 guards head out. The park feels empty and warm as I watch the other guards head to their positions. I try my best to mentally and physically prepare myself for the 12 hour day. I notice three dripping trash bags someone forgot to take out from the night before,
And also notice that one of guests from Saturday night thought it was appropriate to defecate on the steps(as a lifeguard you deal with a ridiculous amount of poop). I whistle one of the head guards over and show him the mess, he rolls his eyes and gets supplies to clean it up. I reach my spot put my tube on and settle in for the day. It’s just another
Emsick 2
morning at CoCo keys.
This place seems to be as much as my home as it is my prison. With about 40 other guards somehow we’ve all managed to become pretty close. We’re like a big family or inmates, waiting for our sentence to come to an end, waiting for closing time, but the majority of the time you’re not talking to other guards you’re watching your water. Sometimes I’ll get asked by a guest if we get bored walking back and forth just staring at the water. The truth is we can’t get bored. Working a 12 hour shift one has to find something to occupy their mind, or else they might go insane. I memorized the alphabet backwards once (Z, Y, X, W, V, U, T…) but most of the time I day dream. What if that man right there had a heart attack? What if I suddenly started seizing would any of the other guards save me? What if I get a 36 on my ACT. I think that’s one of my favorite parts about working at CoCo. I can let my thoughts turn and fall where they may, sometimes I create a whole different life in my head, but sometimes on a bad day with only me and my thoughts I can feel your mind slipping away from me.
The day lurches forward slowly, I take my break and gossip in the break room with Heaven, another guard. 3 o’clock rolls around and I see my sister Sarah come on to work the evening shift. Five more hours till closing time I think (plus a half our of cleaning then an hour of in-service.)
At CoCo Keys one sees a lot of things. I meet hundreds and hundreds of people a week and learn a lot about the world. It’s a place where families come old and new, unconventional, and conventional come to relax and have fun. The oddest part is that everyone seems to be happy. Sometimes I find myself wondering can people really be this
Emsick 3
happy? CoCo key even as a my work place offers a temporary escape from the world, where your only worry is when if it going to be your turn on the slides. Is it ironic that I find my sense of place, at a place that is so disconnected from the real world? I’m not sure
I really enjoy meeting and talking to all the guests at CoCo. I build connections with these people, if only for a day, and I really feel at home meeting and talking to all the guests. We have this motto at work, “Make their day” but often I find that the guests make my day.
The evening is winding down and I anxiously watch my watch. CoCo keys is lit up almost majestically and it is one of the coolest things you’ll ever see. Our Supervisor closes the park a half hour early because all the guests have gone. All the guards are feeling good as we get assigned our jobs. I’m assigned women’s restroom and finish at 8 o’clock the time we usually close. In-service doesn’t start till 8:45 so the other guards and I sit and hang out in the break room. Finally in-service begins and we head to the lobby. Tonight’s topic: CPR. For an our we practice cpr on an adult, child, and infant. Finally 9:45 rolls around and my sister and I walk out to my car discussing interesting guests we met, or weird tattoos we saw, and I glance back at the glowing building. Even after a 12 hour shift I find myself I little hesitant to leave.
Blair Emsick
Mrs. Martinez
APLAC
October 2009
The Double Shift
It is a beautiful Sunday morning, to warm for October, to bright for 9:30 a.m. Leaves fall lazily to the ground and everyone else in my house is asleep. I am working the double shift at CoCo Keys; 9:45 a.m. to 9:45 p.m. I get there and spot another guard Annie, we walk to the break room together talking about UNO and color guard. We walk into the break room and are welcomed by fellow tired faces. I clock in and put on my shorts and coco keys t-shirt. Big Dan our newest supervisor asks me what position I’d like to go to. “Surprise me.” I reply he says, “Alright river backyard.” We sit in the break room for a while more joking about who had a hangover, while folding towels, when Dan tells us to head out. So all of us 11 guards head out. The park feels empty and warm as I watch the other guards head to their positions. I try my best to mentally and physically prepare myself for the 12 hour day. I notice three dripping trash bags someone forgot to take out from the night before,
And also notice that one of guests from Saturday night thought it was appropriate to defecate on the steps(as a lifeguard you deal with a ridiculous amount of poop). I whistle one of the head guards over and show him the mess, he rolls his eyes and gets supplies to clean it up. I reach my spot put my tube on and settle in for the day. It’s just another
Emsick 2
morning at CoCo keys.
This place seems to be as much as my home as it is my prison. With about 40 other guards somehow we’ve all managed to become pretty close. We’re like a big family or inmates, waiting for our sentence to come to an end, waiting for closing time, but the majority of the time you’re not talking to other guards you’re watching your water. Sometimes I’ll get asked by a guest if we get bored walking back and forth just staring at the water. The truth is we can’t get bored. Working a 12 hour shift one has to find something to occupy their mind, or else they might go insane. I memorized the alphabet backwards once (Z, Y, X, W, V, U, T…) but most of the time I day dream. What if that man right there had a heart attack? What if I suddenly started seizing would any of the other guards save me? What if I get a 36 on my ACT. I think that’s one of my favorite parts about working at CoCo. I can let my thoughts turn and fall where they may, sometimes I create a whole different life in my head, but sometimes on a bad day with only me and my thoughts I can feel your mind slipping away from me.
The day lurches forward slowly, I take my break and gossip in the break room with Heaven, another guard. 3 o’clock rolls around and I see my sister Sarah come on to work the evening shift. Five more hours till closing time I think (plus a half our of cleaning then an hour of in-service.)
At CoCo Keys one sees a lot of things. I meet hundreds and hundreds of people a week and learn a lot about the world. It’s a place where families come old and new, unconventional, and conventional come to relax and have fun. The oddest part is that everyone seems to be happy. Sometimes I find myself wondering can people really be this
Emsick 3
happy? CoCo key even as a my work place offers a temporary escape from the world, where your only worry is when if it going to be your turn on the slides. Is it ironic that I find my sense of place, at a place that is so disconnected from the real world? I’m not sure
I really enjoy meeting and talking to all the guests at CoCo. I build connections with these people, if only for a day, and I really feel at home meeting and talking to all the guests. We have this motto at work, “Make their day” but often I find that the guests make my day.
The evening is winding down and I anxiously watch my watch. CoCo keys is lit up almost majestically and it is one of the coolest things you’ll ever see. Our Supervisor closes the park a half hour early because all the guests have gone. All the guards are feeling good as we get assigned our jobs. I’m assigned women’s restroom and finish at 8 o’clock the time we usually close. In-service doesn’t start till 8:45 so the other guards and I sit and hang out in the break room. Finally in-service begins and we head to the lobby. Tonight’s topic: CPR. For an our we practice cpr on an adult, child, and infant. Finally 9:45 rolls around and my sister and I walk out to my car discussing interesting guests we met, or weird tattoos we saw, and I glance back at the glowing building. Even after a 12 hour shift I find myself I little hesitant to leave.
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Jungle Boogie
After the homecoming game was almost rained out the central football players came back tp the field a little wet but ambitious, and they triumphed.
Central won the first game of the season against the Grand Island Gators. After Central‘s first victory everyone was ready to celebrate at the homecoming dance
. Homecoming took place earlier this year on Sept. 12, compared to the past years October dates. Although the search for the perfect dress and shoes was a little more rushed then up, Central students showed up and were looking swell.
The Pom Squad and sponsor, Jane Luethge came up with the theme and were in charge of decorations.
“Mrs. Luegthe came up with the theme Jungle Boogie and it sort of turned into a tropical rain forest theme”, says Pom Squad member Catherine Carter (12).
The pom squad arrived the morning of the dance at 7 to decorate the gymnasium and the cafeteria.
“We split up into groups of 4 and 5 and everyone had their own tasks to accomplish,” says Carter. “I was in charge of putting the backdrop on the bleachers.”
The homecoming king and queen were seniors Ayomide Adekunle and Alexis Page. Adekunle was surprised at the announcement
“I really didn’t expect to become homecoming king,” says Adekunle, “When they put the crown on my head all I could do was smile, I was so happy.”
The D.J. played favorites such as “Boom Boom Pow” by the Black Eyed Peas, oldies such as “Iris” by the Goo Goo Dolls, and “Thriller” by Michael Jackson.
The music stopped at 10:30 p.m., and after a night of dancing, laughing, and singing everyone could agree that Homecoming was an unforgettable night.
After the homecoming game was almost rained out the central football players came back tp the field a little wet but ambitious, and they triumphed.
Central won the first game of the season against the Grand Island Gators. After Central‘s first victory everyone was ready to celebrate at the homecoming dance
. Homecoming took place earlier this year on Sept. 12, compared to the past years October dates. Although the search for the perfect dress and shoes was a little more rushed then up, Central students showed up and were looking swell.
The Pom Squad and sponsor, Jane Luethge came up with the theme and were in charge of decorations.
“Mrs. Luegthe came up with the theme Jungle Boogie and it sort of turned into a tropical rain forest theme”, says Pom Squad member Catherine Carter (12).
The pom squad arrived the morning of the dance at 7 to decorate the gymnasium and the cafeteria.
“We split up into groups of 4 and 5 and everyone had their own tasks to accomplish,” says Carter. “I was in charge of putting the backdrop on the bleachers.”
The homecoming king and queen were seniors Ayomide Adekunle and Alexis Page. Adekunle was surprised at the announcement
“I really didn’t expect to become homecoming king,” says Adekunle, “When they put the crown on my head all I could do was smile, I was so happy.”
The D.J. played favorites such as “Boom Boom Pow” by the Black Eyed Peas, oldies such as “Iris” by the Goo Goo Dolls, and “Thriller” by Michael Jackson.
The music stopped at 10:30 p.m., and after a night of dancing, laughing, and singing everyone could agree that Homecoming was an unforgettable night.
Friday, October 16, 2009
Key Club
Row 1: Fang Bin Zheng, Edna D'Souza, Jordan Somer, Olivia Bell, Henry Gentle, Irene Haorei, Erika Guembes, Brent Julus
Row 2: Wei Zhaw, Che'Lynn Thompson, Darrien Howard, Yvette Medina, Alicia Miranda, Ke-Shay Augustine, Mecia Augustine, Sha-ann Augustine, Shalonda Brown, Naya Swain
Art Club
Row 1:Matt Tillwick, Daniel Ellis, Laura Richwine, Kayla Tibbles, Jeni Mcpeck
Row 2: Lea Stenslokken, Dawaune Hanes, Katie Samsen, Max Burgess, Evan Stoler, Anisa Aden, Briana Davis,
Row 3: Rachel Carlson, Riley Maxwell, Diamond Davis, Sarah Paul, Myles Davis
Row 4: Clarence, Anita Hodge, Bridget Monson
Row 5: Lee Lohman, Mrs Simmons, Mrs, Taucreti, Mrs Warren
not pictured: Yanira Perez Flores
Row 1: Fang Bin Zheng, Edna D'Souza, Jordan Somer, Olivia Bell, Henry Gentle, Irene Haorei, Erika Guembes, Brent Julus
Row 2: Wei Zhaw, Che'Lynn Thompson, Darrien Howard, Yvette Medina, Alicia Miranda, Ke-Shay Augustine, Mecia Augustine, Sha-ann Augustine, Shalonda Brown, Naya Swain
Art Club
Row 1:Matt Tillwick, Daniel Ellis, Laura Richwine, Kayla Tibbles, Jeni Mcpeck
Row 2: Lea Stenslokken, Dawaune Hanes, Katie Samsen, Max Burgess, Evan Stoler, Anisa Aden, Briana Davis,
Row 3: Rachel Carlson, Riley Maxwell, Diamond Davis, Sarah Paul, Myles Davis
Row 4: Clarence, Anita Hodge, Bridget Monson
Row 5: Lee Lohman, Mrs Simmons, Mrs, Taucreti, Mrs Warren
not pictured: Yanira Perez Flores
Thursday, October 8, 2009
Adventure Club: floor: Katherine Scarpello, Thomas Grabenschroer, David Monson, Natalie Wilkinson
Row 1: Joann Wiggins, Amanda Wiggins, Bailey Newman, Sabrina Schrack, Lauren Bandel, Kassy Seffron, Brenna Panison, Gabriel Bridgford, Imagine Uhlenborck, Alex Bogatz
Row 2:Joseph Cool, Eduardo Estrada, Katie Fosmer, Stephanie Thomsen, Irene Haorei, Kylie Weatherfield Kayla Schwery, Danielle Wallace, Sean Summerfelt
Row 3: (?) Jorge Estrada, Shaleigh Karnik, Lea Stenslokken, Lauren Southard, Amanda Pounds, Connor Mcneely, Charlene Adams,Sunday Thvok
Row 4: Edgar Azpeitra, Janetta Godbolt, Skyler Thomas-Koehn, NaQuecia Rollerson, Terrel Brown, Jack Larson, Stevie Behrens, Tia Spencer, Sean Froeming, Harrison Leitch, Sean Froeming
Row 1: Joann Wiggins, Amanda Wiggins, Bailey Newman, Sabrina Schrack, Lauren Bandel, Kassy Seffron, Brenna Panison, Gabriel Bridgford, Imagine Uhlenborck, Alex Bogatz
Row 2:Joseph Cool, Eduardo Estrada, Katie Fosmer, Stephanie Thomsen, Irene Haorei, Kylie Weatherfield Kayla Schwery, Danielle Wallace, Sean Summerfelt
Row 3: (?) Jorge Estrada, Shaleigh Karnik, Lea Stenslokken, Lauren Southard, Amanda Pounds, Connor Mcneely, Charlene Adams,Sunday Thvok
Row 4: Edgar Azpeitra, Janetta Godbolt, Skyler Thomas-Koehn, NaQuecia Rollerson, Terrel Brown, Jack Larson, Stevie Behrens, Tia Spencer, Sean Froeming, Harrison Leitch, Sean Froeming
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Picture 019- German Parliament Building in Berlin
Picture 313- at the amusement park HeidePark
Picture 154- at the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp
Picture 645- the millionth Volkswagen made. at the Volkswagen factory
P1020222- my host sister Anabel and I on the Potsdam sightseeing tour bus
P1020248- my hoste sister Anabel, her sister Amelie, and me at a McDonald's
Picture 313- at the amusement park HeidePark
Picture 154- at the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp
Picture 645- the millionth Volkswagen made. at the Volkswagen factory
P1020222- my host sister Anabel and I on the Potsdam sightseeing tour bus
P1020248- my hoste sister Anabel, her sister Amelie, and me at a McDonald's
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Adventure Club: floor: Katherine Scarpello, Thomas Grabenschroer, David Monson, Natalie Wilkinson
Row 1: Joann Wiggins, Amanda Wiggins, Bailey Newman, Sabrina Schrack, Lauren Bandel, Kassy Seffron, Brenna Panison, Gabriel Bridgford, Imagine Uhlenborck, (???)
(?)Row 2: Sean Sommerfelt, Danielle Wallace, Kayla Schwery, Kylie Weatherfiled, Joseph Cool, Stephanie Thomsen, Katie Fosmer, Katie Brock
(?)Row 3: Amanda Pounds, Connor Mcneely, Thomas Hood, NaQuecia Rollerson, Irene Haorei, Skyler Thomas-Koehn
(?)Row 4: Jack Larson, Sean Froeming, Lauren Southard, Harrison Leitch, Tia Spencer, Lea Stenslokken, Jorge Estrada. Eduardo Estrado
(?)Row 5: Janetta Godbolt, Shaleigh Karnik, Terrel Brown, Edgar Azpeitra, Charlene Adams
(?)Row 6: Stevie Behrens. Sunday Thvok
Diversity Club:
Row 1: Luke Compton, Jordon Somer, Peter Bock
Row 2: Kelsey Magnuson, Clara Kincaid, Catherine Haorei, Danny Pachman
Row 3: Joshua Irvin, Helen Erickson, Caitlin Hochwender, Sarah Emsick, Hannah Emsick
Row 4: Navarr Christenson, Matt Tillwick, Emma Marr, Elijah Quincy Skolfie
Row 5: Irene Haorei, Olivia Bell, Daneil Ellis, Blair EmsickRow 6: Deziree Patterson, Megan Taylor, Josh Dewitt, Jenivieve Mcpeel
Row 7: Thomas Grabenschroer, Carnetta Griffin, Carletta Griffin, Danaya Swain, Emma Erickson, Chelynn Thompson, Djenaba Kelly, Jaila Carter, Tamika Nauden
ACE Tutor Group
Row 1: Jordan Somer, Jackie Johnson, Tyrell Galloway
Row 2: Molly McVay, Carletta Grffin, Mikaela Kelly, Enrique Perdomo, Mr. Hamill
World Language Club:
Row 1:Catalinae Ramirez, Sarah Damn, Bailey Newman, Elizabeth deLaittre, Dominique Edwards, Danaya Swain
Row 2: Tennehya Monrovia, Erika Guembes, Haley Burns, Lashae Ludi
Row 3: Boder Gartina (?), Denisse Torres, Sorcha Desmond
Andrea Angelina, Mekenzie Kerr, Hannah Grossman, September Symens, Ella George, Jordyn Gray, Ruth Hilledbran, Bridget Monson, Mecca Slaughter, Josh Dewitt, Sam Bertina, Andrey Giambattista, Kaisa Haines, Maren Elnes, Deziree Patterson,
Mark Sanchez, (??), Thomas Grabenschroer, Kiya Dwens, Delphine Roussel, David Monson, Malin Thomas, Nuadoar Jueni Kim Chool, Jeff Sill, Natalee Minthorn Jane Boaeka
Science Olympiad:
Row 1: Catherine Carter, Carmen Lau, Taylor Olsen, Megan Taylor, Brooke Talbott, Irene Haorei, Harrison Mcminn, Maya Gogoi,
Row 2: Giselle Tran, Avery Zaleski, Clark Ikeza, Mitch Hezel, Sam Blazeck, Brevan Jorgenson, Tim Guilzic, Kart Pavlilc
Row 3: Catherine Haorei, Madeline Hug, Josh Dewitt
Row 4: Erik Albertine, Matt Aguilar, Jerry Frerichs
Latin Club:
Row 1: Catherine Carter, Alexander Parks, Mrs. Ryan. Joe Jamrozy, Emelia Phillips, Marin Krause, Audra Novak, Kimmon Smutz, Ayah Nuwah, Emma Marr, Ross Harding
Row 2: Brian Tyrey, Niyachang Johnson, Jesus Velasquez, Cassandra Lyons, Colleen Kilcoyne, Laura Richwike, Rebecca Smolen
Row 3: Erin Weis, William McNally, Ashley Ziska, Madeline Ferber, Claire Fergsen, Hannah Emsick, Charlotte Taylor, Jesse Groff, Nick Leuschen
Row 4: Hannah Harlow, Anna DiRuocco, (?)Katherine Scarpello, Kyleigh Dunn, Cassandra J. Hannah,Amanda Schniederman, Maureen Kulkowski-Farran, Em J Rennoee, Clara Harlow, Alena Billings, Amanda Schniederman, Kassy Seffron(?), Anna Shipman, Maggie Fey, Amanda Smith,
Row 6: Tim Lackner, Adam Lacroix
student democrats:
Row 1: Brian Tyrey, Ross Harding, Jesus Velazquez, Katherine Scarpello, Cassandra J. Hannah, Ayuh Nuwah
Row 2: Marin Krause, Colleen Kilcoyne, Sorcha Desmond, Emma Marr, Thomas Grabenschroer
Row 3: William McNally, Hannah Harlow, Delphine Roussel.
Row 1: Joann Wiggins, Amanda Wiggins, Bailey Newman, Sabrina Schrack, Lauren Bandel, Kassy Seffron, Brenna Panison, Gabriel Bridgford, Imagine Uhlenborck, (???)
(?)Row 2: Sean Sommerfelt, Danielle Wallace, Kayla Schwery, Kylie Weatherfiled, Joseph Cool, Stephanie Thomsen, Katie Fosmer, Katie Brock
(?)Row 3: Amanda Pounds, Connor Mcneely, Thomas Hood, NaQuecia Rollerson, Irene Haorei, Skyler Thomas-Koehn
(?)Row 4: Jack Larson, Sean Froeming, Lauren Southard, Harrison Leitch, Tia Spencer, Lea Stenslokken, Jorge Estrada. Eduardo Estrado
(?)Row 5: Janetta Godbolt, Shaleigh Karnik, Terrel Brown, Edgar Azpeitra, Charlene Adams
(?)Row 6: Stevie Behrens. Sunday Thvok
Diversity Club:
Row 1: Luke Compton, Jordon Somer, Peter Bock
Row 2: Kelsey Magnuson, Clara Kincaid, Catherine Haorei, Danny Pachman
Row 3: Joshua Irvin, Helen Erickson, Caitlin Hochwender, Sarah Emsick, Hannah Emsick
Row 4: Navarr Christenson, Matt Tillwick, Emma Marr, Elijah Quincy Skolfie
Row 5: Irene Haorei, Olivia Bell, Daneil Ellis, Blair EmsickRow 6: Deziree Patterson, Megan Taylor, Josh Dewitt, Jenivieve Mcpeel
Row 7: Thomas Grabenschroer, Carnetta Griffin, Carletta Griffin, Danaya Swain, Emma Erickson, Chelynn Thompson, Djenaba Kelly, Jaila Carter, Tamika Nauden
ACE Tutor Group
Row 1: Jordan Somer, Jackie Johnson, Tyrell Galloway
Row 2: Molly McVay, Carletta Grffin, Mikaela Kelly, Enrique Perdomo, Mr. Hamill
World Language Club:
Row 1:Catalinae Ramirez, Sarah Damn, Bailey Newman, Elizabeth deLaittre, Dominique Edwards, Danaya Swain
Row 2: Tennehya Monrovia, Erika Guembes, Haley Burns, Lashae Ludi
Row 3: Boder Gartina (?), Denisse Torres, Sorcha Desmond
Andrea Angelina, Mekenzie Kerr, Hannah Grossman, September Symens, Ella George, Jordyn Gray, Ruth Hilledbran, Bridget Monson, Mecca Slaughter, Josh Dewitt, Sam Bertina, Andrey Giambattista, Kaisa Haines, Maren Elnes, Deziree Patterson,
Mark Sanchez, (??), Thomas Grabenschroer, Kiya Dwens, Delphine Roussel, David Monson, Malin Thomas, Nuadoar Jueni Kim Chool, Jeff Sill, Natalee Minthorn Jane Boaeka
Science Olympiad:
Row 1: Catherine Carter, Carmen Lau, Taylor Olsen, Megan Taylor, Brooke Talbott, Irene Haorei, Harrison Mcminn, Maya Gogoi,
Row 2: Giselle Tran, Avery Zaleski, Clark Ikeza, Mitch Hezel, Sam Blazeck, Brevan Jorgenson, Tim Guilzic, Kart Pavlilc
Row 3: Catherine Haorei, Madeline Hug, Josh Dewitt
Row 4: Erik Albertine, Matt Aguilar, Jerry Frerichs
Latin Club:
Row 1: Catherine Carter, Alexander Parks, Mrs. Ryan. Joe Jamrozy, Emelia Phillips, Marin Krause, Audra Novak, Kimmon Smutz, Ayah Nuwah, Emma Marr, Ross Harding
Row 2: Brian Tyrey, Niyachang Johnson, Jesus Velasquez, Cassandra Lyons, Colleen Kilcoyne, Laura Richwike, Rebecca Smolen
Row 3: Erin Weis, William McNally, Ashley Ziska, Madeline Ferber, Claire Fergsen, Hannah Emsick, Charlotte Taylor, Jesse Groff, Nick Leuschen
Row 4: Hannah Harlow, Anna DiRuocco, (?)Katherine Scarpello, Kyleigh Dunn, Cassandra J. Hannah,Amanda Schniederman, Maureen Kulkowski-Farran, Em J Rennoee, Clara Harlow, Alena Billings, Amanda Schniederman, Kassy Seffron(?), Anna Shipman, Maggie Fey, Amanda Smith,
Row 6: Tim Lackner, Adam Lacroix
student democrats:
Row 1: Brian Tyrey, Ross Harding, Jesus Velazquez, Katherine Scarpello, Cassandra J. Hannah, Ayuh Nuwah
Row 2: Marin Krause, Colleen Kilcoyne, Sorcha Desmond, Emma Marr, Thomas Grabenschroer
Row 3: William McNally, Hannah Harlow, Delphine Roussel.
Monday, September 21, 2009
Jungle Boogie
After the homecoming game was almost rained out the central football players came back tp the field a little wet and ambitious, and they triumped. Central won the first game of the season against the Grand Island Gators. After Central‘s first victory everyone was ready to celebrate at the homecoming dance
. Homecoming took place earlier this year on September 12th, compared to the past years October dates. Although the search for the perfect dress and shoes was a little more rushed then up, Central students showed up and were looking swell.
The Pom Squad and Mrs. Luethge came up with the theme and were in charge of decorations.
“Mrs. Luegthe came up with the theme Jungle Boogie and it sort of turned into a tropical rainforest theme”, says Pom Squad member Catherine Carter (12).
The pom squad arrived the morning of the dance at 7 in the morning to decorate the Gymnasium and the Cafeteria.
“We spilt up into groups of 4 and 5 and everyone had their own tasks to accomplish,” says Carter, “I was in charge of putting the backdrop on the bleachers.”
The homecoming king and queen were Ayomide Adekunle and Alexis Page.
“I really didn’t expect to become homecoming king,” says Adekunle, “When they put the crown on my head all I could do was smile, I was so happy.”
The D.J. played favorites such as “Boom Boom Pow” by the Black Eyed Peas, oldies such as “Iris” by the Goo Goo Dolls, and “Thriller” by Michael Jackson.
The music stopped at 10:30, and after a night of dancing, laughing, and singing everyone could agree that Homecoming was an unforgettable night.
After the homecoming game was almost rained out the central football players came back tp the field a little wet and ambitious, and they triumped. Central won the first game of the season against the Grand Island Gators. After Central‘s first victory everyone was ready to celebrate at the homecoming dance
. Homecoming took place earlier this year on September 12th, compared to the past years October dates. Although the search for the perfect dress and shoes was a little more rushed then up, Central students showed up and were looking swell.
The Pom Squad and Mrs. Luethge came up with the theme and were in charge of decorations.
“Mrs. Luegthe came up with the theme Jungle Boogie and it sort of turned into a tropical rainforest theme”, says Pom Squad member Catherine Carter (12).
The pom squad arrived the morning of the dance at 7 in the morning to decorate the Gymnasium and the Cafeteria.
“We spilt up into groups of 4 and 5 and everyone had their own tasks to accomplish,” says Carter, “I was in charge of putting the backdrop on the bleachers.”
The homecoming king and queen were Ayomide Adekunle and Alexis Page.
“I really didn’t expect to become homecoming king,” says Adekunle, “When they put the crown on my head all I could do was smile, I was so happy.”
The D.J. played favorites such as “Boom Boom Pow” by the Black Eyed Peas, oldies such as “Iris” by the Goo Goo Dolls, and “Thriller” by Michael Jackson.
The music stopped at 10:30, and after a night of dancing, laughing, and singing everyone could agree that Homecoming was an unforgettable night.
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
:)
Cancer at 15
By: Blair Emsick
Hannah Harlow didn’t expect to find out the she had an 8 pound tumor in her right ovary when she went to get her annual sports physical this summer, but this is exactly what happened.
“The doctor was feeling around my stomach and said, ‘That’s not normal…’”, says Harlow.
Harlow had no inkling that she had a tumor inside of her, but she knew something was not normal.
“I just thought I had put on a little weight”, laughs Harlow.
After her sports physical Harlow’s doctor sent her to the Children’s Hospital where Harlow had to take a series of different tests. She had to take tests such as an Ultrasound, and an ET scan. Later that day, after Harlow’s test were completed she went back to the hospital to get her results.
“The doctor was really blunt about it, he just said, ‘Alright want to see pictures of your tumor?”
Harlow was shocked as she looked at the pictures of her eight pound tumor inside of her. The tumor was about the size of a 6 month old fetus. Harlow was supposed to have surgery immediately to remove the tumor but she was going to Europe for two weeks. Since her tumor caused her no pain her doctor permitted her to go on the trip and scheduled the surgery when she came back to Omaha.
Harlow had her surgery and the tumor was removed, unfortunately the tumor was attached to one of her ovaries so they had to remove the ovary as well. After the surgery Harlow was relieved of her tumor and completely healthy.
“I was really out of it for a few weeks after the surgery, but once I recovered from surgery , I could really feel the results of the surgery, It was great.”
However the story isn’t finished. A few weeks after her first surgery Hannah received a call from her doctor telling her that the tumor was cancerous and that they had to do a follow up surgery to see if there was any more cancer inside of her, this is called Staging.
“Staging is basically where they cut you up right down the middle and the doctor takes samples from each organ to see if it’s cancerous,” explains Harlow.
Fortunately all the cancer inside Harlow was completely gone, she is now healthy and normal, with one ovary, and Harlow can now put the whole ordeal behind her and look forward to the future.
By: Blair Emsick
Hannah Harlow didn’t expect to find out the she had an 8 pound tumor in her right ovary when she went to get her annual sports physical this summer, but this is exactly what happened.
“The doctor was feeling around my stomach and said, ‘That’s not normal…’”, says Harlow.
Harlow had no inkling that she had a tumor inside of her, but she knew something was not normal.
“I just thought I had put on a little weight”, laughs Harlow.
After her sports physical Harlow’s doctor sent her to the Children’s Hospital where Harlow had to take a series of different tests. She had to take tests such as an Ultrasound, and an ET scan. Later that day, after Harlow’s test were completed she went back to the hospital to get her results.
“The doctor was really blunt about it, he just said, ‘Alright want to see pictures of your tumor?”
Harlow was shocked as she looked at the pictures of her eight pound tumor inside of her. The tumor was about the size of a 6 month old fetus. Harlow was supposed to have surgery immediately to remove the tumor but she was going to Europe for two weeks. Since her tumor caused her no pain her doctor permitted her to go on the trip and scheduled the surgery when she came back to Omaha.
Harlow had her surgery and the tumor was removed, unfortunately the tumor was attached to one of her ovaries so they had to remove the ovary as well. After the surgery Harlow was relieved of her tumor and completely healthy.
“I was really out of it for a few weeks after the surgery, but once I recovered from surgery , I could really feel the results of the surgery, It was great.”
However the story isn’t finished. A few weeks after her first surgery Hannah received a call from her doctor telling her that the tumor was cancerous and that they had to do a follow up surgery to see if there was any more cancer inside of her, this is called Staging.
“Staging is basically where they cut you up right down the middle and the doctor takes samples from each organ to see if it’s cancerous,” explains Harlow.
Fortunately all the cancer inside Harlow was completely gone, she is now healthy and normal, with one ovary, and Harlow can now put the whole ordeal behind her and look forward to the future.
What is this turning in to?
Trip to a Foreign Land
By Blair Emsick
Niki Holzapfel got the experience of a lifetime when she had the opportunity to go to Germany through the German American Youth Society Exchange Program this summer. This Program shares a twin city with Omaha in Germany called Braunshweig in Northern Germany. In the program each student in the exchange program is matched with a host family and a host partner. Then the American student will go to Germany for three weeks, and then the German student will come to America for three weeks.
Holzapfel first found out about the Exchange program from her German teacher at Central. Her father asked about an exchange program during open house, and her teacher recommended the German American Society's program. It turned out to be a success and Holzapfel was able to become involved in the program, and go to Germany.
“My host family was the Hesses, my host partner was Anabel“, says Holzapfel “During the weekdays, our American group would go on daytrips to various places like the Volkswagon factory, the Braunshweig police station, the Beregen Beisen concentration camp, and neighboring cities like Hamburg and Berlin”, continues Holzapfel.
Holzapfel’s eyes were open to a whole new different cultural experience in her three weeks in Germany.
“It’s a lot greener then people then the United States. People walk and ride bikes much more then driving…An effective transportation also makes it incredibly easy to be a teenagers”. says Holzapfel.
Holzapfel spent her three weeks in Germany growing very close to her host family. They took Holzapfel to places such as the North Sea, Bremerhaven and to the Harz Mountains. She also did a whole lot of shopping with her host partner Anabel.
“I loved my host family. I still keep in touch with my host family, they’re absolutely my second family” laughs Holzapfel.
Holzapfel was able to see and whole new side of the world, and was awakened to a whole new culture, an opportunity students rarely get to have. However “Germany was surprisingly Americanized” says Holzapfel,“There are American songs on the radio, American movies in the theaters, and American stores in the shopping centers. It showed me how much of a cultural influence we are.”
Holzapfel says she is planning to go back to Braunshweig after she graduates.
“In the end this trip opened my eyes to the amazing beauty in the world. It also made me want to travel more. This whole exchange was amazing, I would recommend it to anyone who was considering traveling to Germany”
By Blair Emsick
Niki Holzapfel got the experience of a lifetime when she had the opportunity to go to Germany through the German American Youth Society Exchange Program this summer. This Program shares a twin city with Omaha in Germany called Braunshweig in Northern Germany. In the program each student in the exchange program is matched with a host family and a host partner. Then the American student will go to Germany for three weeks, and then the German student will come to America for three weeks.
Holzapfel first found out about the Exchange program from her German teacher at Central. Her father asked about an exchange program during open house, and her teacher recommended the German American Society's program. It turned out to be a success and Holzapfel was able to become involved in the program, and go to Germany.
“My host family was the Hesses, my host partner was Anabel“, says Holzapfel “During the weekdays, our American group would go on daytrips to various places like the Volkswagon factory, the Braunshweig police station, the Beregen Beisen concentration camp, and neighboring cities like Hamburg and Berlin”, continues Holzapfel.
Holzapfel’s eyes were open to a whole new different cultural experience in her three weeks in Germany.
“It’s a lot greener then people then the United States. People walk and ride bikes much more then driving…An effective transportation also makes it incredibly easy to be a teenagers”. says Holzapfel.
Holzapfel spent her three weeks in Germany growing very close to her host family. They took Holzapfel to places such as the North Sea, Bremerhaven and to the Harz Mountains. She also did a whole lot of shopping with her host partner Anabel.
“I loved my host family. I still keep in touch with my host family, they’re absolutely my second family” laughs Holzapfel.
Holzapfel was able to see and whole new side of the world, and was awakened to a whole new culture, an opportunity students rarely get to have. However “Germany was surprisingly Americanized” says Holzapfel,“There are American songs on the radio, American movies in the theaters, and American stores in the shopping centers. It showed me how much of a cultural influence we are.”
Holzapfel says she is planning to go back to Braunshweig after she graduates.
“In the end this trip opened my eyes to the amazing beauty in the world. It also made me want to travel more. This whole exchange was amazing, I would recommend it to anyone who was considering traveling to Germany”
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