The best part about summer is that I can read what I want. I just finished Lock and Key by the phenomenal best-selling author, Sarah Dessen. Lock and Key is about a 17 year old girl named Ruby who was abandoned by her mother. Ruby is then moved to her sister’s custody where she plans to spend a couple months before her 18^th Birthday; once she is 18, she will not have to rely on anyone else, just herself, the way she likes it. Ruby cannot make her journey alone; she needs help. People are more than willing to help her, but will she let them? Will she let Nate, her genuine next door neighbor, help her? Will he receive help from her in return when he needs it most of all? I have now read all eight of Sarah Dessen’s novels. Lock and Key is my second favorite of her books after Someone Like You.

High schools require students to read classical, verbose, and difficult novels, and this causes students to forget the joy of reading. When I tell teens that I love to read, most of them tell me that they either hate to read or that they only have time to read their school books. I feel that I can only truly enjoy a novel if it is my choice to read it. I loved the novel All Quiet on the Western Front, but I think I would have enjoyed it more if I was not “forced” to read it. I think high schools should allow students to read free choice books occasionally

I encourage you not to spend your entire summer on the computer, watching TV, playing video games, etc. Read a good book.

- Danielle Douvikas

Now that summer’s here, the last obstacles barring hours of Internet surfing are history, at least for the next few months. But before you rush out to check up on all of your friends online, think about the variety of ways you can change the world for the better, just by using your computer. Here’s a short run-down of websites that make a difference without even needing a credit card.

FreeRice (www.freerice.com): This website acts as a digital vocabulary test, offering one tricky word accompanied by four possible definitions. The twist to this site though is that for every correct match, the United Nations World Food Program donates twenty grains of rice to hungry people throughout the world. So, in under five minutes a day, you can help feed the world, in addition to boosting your vocabulary, which never hurts the next time an SAT or in-class essay rolls your way. Outcome: over 36 billion grains of rice have been donated to date.

GoodSearch (www.goodsearch.com): By far the most convenient of the sites I’ll list, GoodSearch is a charitable alternative to Google. In the space below the search bar, type in the name of your choice charity or foundation, and then for every search you make on that site, one cent will be donated to that organization. Too lazy to stand up to that Google bar in the corner of your browser? Go to GoodSearch and download the application that gives you a GoodSearch bar in that corner instead, so that all of your searches can help the world. (If you’re out of ideas, try selecting Heifer International, which donates animals to third-world areas in order to boost agriculture and food production.)

One (www.one.org): By signing your name and e-mail address to this site, you will be included in one of the largest movements to pass legislature that benefits the poor and the hungry throughout the world. Mass petitions go straight to your inbox, where you can add your name if you want to, or just go to the website and brush up on the issue if you’re out of the loop.

Click to Give: This series of five sites is strung together by a common button that, when clicked, donates to each respective site. Every click, for example, on the Animal Rescue Site donates 0.6 bowls of food to rescued animals, while every click on the Rainforest Site works towards saving 11.4 square feet of rainforest. You can also work towards helping the world through the Literacy Site, the Hunger Site, the Child Health Site, and the Breast Cancer Site. And for more incentive, if the Breast Cancer Site garners 8 million clicks by the end of June, its primary sponsor will donate $10,000 for additional free mammograms.

So the next time you’re online, just think about the difference you can make by spending time on one of these sites.

To all lifeguards who were ever on duty while the eight-year-old me was in the pool:

I apologize for all of the afternoons I spent with my friends seeing who could float like a dead person or stay on the bottom of the pool the longest. I have to admit, it was a pretty fun way to spend the afternoons. But after spending one of my first days as a lifeguard breaking up 8th grade “dead man float” competitions, I realize that I’m probably responsible for a few heart attacks.

And a future warning: at public pools, please don’t pretend to be dead. It sounds obvious enough, but most people never realize the harm until they step up into the guard chair. After all that practice, you might be too convincing and cause a big mess. Plus, going off the diving board is much more fun anyway.

And I do not do well with change.
 

My brother, Taylor, who is only 18 months older than me is graduating. I cannot believe it. We attend a small private school and are only one grade apart which means our paths cross quite often each day at school.  Now, he is preparing to move on and leave me behind.  How did the time go by so fast?

 
It feels like it was just yesterday that we were both toddlers and Taylor had to try to stop me from eating my play-do. One day he ripped off all the heads of my Barbie dolls, which was really funny at the time, but made me cry later when I went to play with the headless Barbies. I remember the time my brother and I were running around the fireplace, and I pushed him accidentally into the fireplace. I still feel awful everytime I see the scar from the stitches on the back of his head (sorry Taylor, my bad).

When we were about 11 and 12, we would have intense water balloon fights, which he always ended up winning regardless of my great efforts. When he was 12, he persuaded me to “roast marshmallows” with him by placing a plastic bag of marshmallows on top of a lamp, and we nearly burnt the house down. We were not the average brother and sister. We rarely fought; we were friends. In public, I am quite shy. When I am with my brother, I am quite different, more myself. He, on the other hand, is really outgoing.

 The summer before seventh grade, I would pitch to him (always wearing a helmet for my protection) to improve his baseball. He taught me how to throw a football pretty well which was awesome. I loved to race him in the swimming pool. I am not so sure he liked it because he could never quite beat me in swimming (even to this day, lol).

 
When we started high school, I became even closer to him. We had German together for three years where he sat next to me. I take full credit for helping him achieve a B+ grade in the class. He is a very fun person, but at times too social. I helped him focus and forced him to study. We spent many late nights trying to master this difficult language.

 
Sometimes people would say to me, “You must hate having a class with your brother. I could not handle having a class with one of my siblings.” I would respond with, “Surprisingly, it’s a lot of fun.”  I just cannot imagine what it will be like when my brother is away at college, and I will be in high school without him. I will not see him in the hallway yelling my name out to embarrass me. I will not be able to get on him for not doing his homework or driving too fast. He is nice to me always; he is never mean to me.

I went to my first prom this year, and we both saved a dance for each other. It makes me sad to know he will not be at the school dances next year. I always take a picture with my brother before going to dances; it has become such a norm. Now I will not have my brother in my photos. I turned seventeen a couple weeks ago and my brother woke me up early to surprise me with a trip to Country Waffles for a birthday breakfast. I will always remember that breakfast.

 
I feel like my brother’s graduation will mark the end of our childhood and the beginning of adulthood for the both of us. Sure, he will still come visit me, but I will never be able to return to the days when my brother and I were mischievous little kids, partners in crime. We are not children anymore. The end of my junior year and Taylor’s senior year means that I have to start preparing for college, another chapter in my life filled with completely new people. I will inevitably forget half the people I was friends with in high school, but my brother will always be a part of my life.

My grandmother always told me, “You are my blood.” I never did understand what she meant by this, but now I realize that she meant that I am family and I am her first priority. I do not think I will ever have a friend that loves me as much as my brother does. If someone hurts me, he has my back. 

 
So, Taylor when you go to college, try not to get kicked out of class after only thirty seconds like last Wednesday. If you ever need help with homework, call me, or if you have girl issues call me, or if you need money, food or fashion advice, call me, or – Taylor, just call me…

– Danielle Douvikas

The Week of May 28th Awards:
Best Song: “Brainless” by Sunny Day Sets Fire. It’s a great song, despite the fact that every repetition of the word “brainless” jettisons me into a mild anxiety about next week’s final exams.

Best Project: My history group’s 1950s sitcom, complete with retro Rice Krispies commercial and Elvis Presley performance.

Best Feeling: Sitting in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull and being able to pick up on all the historical context clues from the 50s, from “I Like Ike” to an “anti-red” rally to Mutt’s greaser get-up.

Funniest Movie: My Big Fat Greek Wedding. I’ve seen it enough times to memorize most of the Greek spoken in it, but it never loses its originality. It’s one of those movies that doesn’t stop being funny over time, and with each viewing there’s some new detail that makes me burst with laughter.

Best Number: 5. As in days of school left until summer break!

A couple of days ago, an article I wrote for the paper went to print, talking about my life without a MySpace, Facebook, or cell phone (click here to read the story). It got my family and I thinking, how many people actually text other people just to look busy in an awkward situation? Furthermore, how many people would be willing to give up these technological conveniences and little luxuries? Would you ever give up your Facebook or your cell phone? What incentive would provoke you to do it? Share your thoughts.

I used to just be interested in the 1950s. But now I’m pretty much obsessed, at least with the music. In one of the first projects I’m genuinely excited about this year, my history group and I decided to make our own 20-minute sitcom to show the culture of the “Fabulous 50’s”. In my ‘grueling’ research, I uncovered a bunch of songs that make me itch to get out my fourth-grade Halloween poodle skirt and start embarrassing myself by trying to swing.

1. Yakety Yak- by The Coasters. If you’ve ever heard this song before, you’ll for sure recognize it from the distinctive title (or from October Sky perhaps).

2. Hound Dog- by Elvis (Presley, for those who have never heard of rock ‘n’ roll, fried squirrels, or Vegas). It seems pretty obvious to choose an Elvis song, but he’s a legend for a reason, and this song proves it.

3. Catch a Falling Star- by Perry Como. I’ve found the tune catchy since I first saw The Princess Diaries, but luckily now that I’ve tracked down the original version, I don’t have to deal with squeaky, high-pitched adolescent voices singing it.

4. That’s Amore- by Dean Martin. Who doesn’t want to be musically transported to a summer in Italy?

5. Que Sera, Sera- by Doris Day. Another one of those songs that could have outlived the 50s based on starpower alone.

6. Earth Angel (Will You Be Mine)- The Penguins. One of the first noteworthy crooner songs, a staple of the 50s, as cheesy as it is.
Click this link to hear this song on-line.

“No offense, but your hair looks awful today.” “No offense, but that skirt is really out of style.” “No offense, but your boyfriend is ugly.” Let’s face it: When girls say “no offense” before a statement, they are usually saying something offensive. Some girls are mean. It is a fact. Some girls chose to intentionally hurt other girls.

For me, this meanness goes back to when I was five years old. I was in kindergarten and I had Cinderella valentines. I was really excited, so I told the girl next to me. She gave me a repulsed look and said, “I hate Cinderella.” I was a crushed little kindergartner. When I was in about 5th grade, a girl in the clique I was in said in front of me, “Danielle just hangs out with us because she has no one else to hang out with …” In junior high, I ran into one of the supposed “popular” girls in the hallway (I always wondered why everyone thought she was so popular because she only would speak with a small number of people that were the only people worthy of her presence. I thought popular meant that you had a lot of friends)? She said insolently, “Move.” I timidly ran away. I wish I would have had the guts to stand up to her. What makes her any better than I am? When a girl says to you, “Ooh, I like your dress, where did you get it …” What the girl really wants to know is “How much did you spend on it. Did you get it at an ‘in’ store or just Target?” I have been asked that question a multitude of times.

The truth is that we girls act exactly like the girls in Mean Girls. In the movie, Regina says to Cady, “You are really pretty.” “Thanks,” Cady says. “So you agree, you think you are really pretty.” Regina concludes. This dialogue seems like an overstatement, but in reality is not.

I think every girl has experienced how it feels when some girl is having a huge party and leaves you out. My friend Sophie felt this way when one girl on her softball team had a sleepover party inviting the whole team except for a couple girls. The girls came to the game the next day wearing make-up from their party, huddled together talking loudly about their fantastic get-together. The few uninvited girls felt separate from the team and hurt. Girls should not have to invite everyone to their parties; however, they should try to have them surreptitiously without hurting feelings. Mail your invitations instead of handing them out at school. Girls who give their invitations out at school almost desire to make people hurt or jealous.

So how do you deal with the mean girls in high school? Avoid them. Find friends you can rely on. Do not let the girls that think the world revolves around them affect your high school years. Stay confident and true to who you are. Think about it, if the only way they can feel good about themselves is making fun of you, their self esteem must be extremely low. It hurts when mean girls treat you this way, but you may not be the only one who is hurting; in fact, they are hurting more than you are.

If you are upset, control your emotions and do not take them out on an innocent bystander in your life like mean girls do. Displacement is a defense mechanism that teenage girls use frequently. Displacement is the redirection of an emotion or impulse from its original object to another. For example, a mean girl may be angry that her parents are going through a divorce and take that anger out on you.

Boys make great friends because they do not play girl games. Some of my best friends are guys. If my friends Bradley and Andrew think I am in an obnoxious mood, they will just be blunt and tell me. Boys sometimes make more loyal friends than girls do. My brother Taylor says that when he gets into arguments with his friends, they wrestle a bit, and they end up being friends afterwards. No gossip, no talking about each other behind each others’ backs … boys are like an entirely different species that all of us girls could learn from!

Today was the AP english exam, so three essays later, I’m not exactly feeling the whole coherent writing piece thing. so here’s a random round-up of the movies that I watched in the past week.

1. Iron Man- I’m a sucker for all of these new superhero-redone movies, and so it didn’t surprise me that I ended up in an Iron Man theater. But even those who aren’t as fanatic about the opening Marvel montages as I am should still go. Essentially, it’s still a superhero flick, but so many of the now-cliche details have been reworked that it’s pretty refreshing. There’s rock music instead of the overdone tension-building choral numbers, there’s humor from time to time (and it actually works, unlike Spider-Man 3), and the main character really wants to be a hero, rather than the self-victimizing Spider-Man and Batmans of the world who start off moaning about being burdened with greatness. Verdict: go see it, unless you’re being stingy with your movie money, in which case I say make The Dark Knight your summertime hero movie.

2. Paris Je T’Aime- I love love love this movie. It’s made up of 18 short films by famous directors ranging from Gerard Depardieu to Wes Craven, all of which tell a story about love in the city of lights. Some are in English, some are in French, but none are boring or dull. My favorite segments are one about a middle-age American post-woman speaking in heavily Americanized French, and one about a young woman tripping and finding love on the way to evening prayers at her mosque. But if you’re quirky and into mimes or vampires, there’s also something for you in this movie, which really is, as my French teacher said, “a love letter to Paris.”

3. Dead Man Walking- I missed the middle, and potentially pivotal, segment of this movie when I was out of class for the AP US History exam, but what I saw was powerful. It accompanied my religion class’s current discussion on capital punishment, so maybe it was made a little more intense by the buildup. However, it really does put a human face on one of the country’s cruellest practices that’s still in place, as Sr. Helen Prajeen, played by Susan Sarandon, shows her faith through her devotion to helping convicted felon Matthew Poncelet, played by Sean Penn, work through his last days before being lethally injected by the state of Louisiana. Give it a shot, but at your own risk; you really have to be up to seeing this type of movie to not just break down.

4. 8 Femmes- Another French movie, this time about eight women in a house who all mutually suspect each other after the death of the man of the house. It’s almost reminiscent of the movie Clue, but with a more suspenseful and intricate plot, as well as classic French songs worked into the scenes. Oddly enough, it finds humor as well, but not at the expense of the reality of its characters. This one’s good if you’re craving an old-school murder mystery.

When I used to hear the words “country music”, images of a cowboy-hat-wearing, middle-aged man singing about how much he loves the good old red, white, and blue would pop up in my mind. Back in April, however, my friend brought me to the Rascal Flat’s concert. I was very reluctant to go but I ended up enjoying myself more than I ever thought I would. Now I am proud to say that I am addicted to this genre of music. Despite the stereotypes country music seems to have, a lot of the songs and artists do not seem to fall under these generalizations. One thing that I like about country music is that each song seems to tell a meaningful story. In my opinion, this is one of the things that rap music, which is very popular with a lot of teenagers, seems to lack. Listening to country music has made me realize that my ears deserve better than the “went to a club, danced with fine girls, got drunk off Patron” message of a lot of rap music. If you are a newcomer to the county music genre, I would recommend giving Rascal Flatts and Taylor Swift a listen. They are both amazing and their music is more country-pop, which might make the transition a little bit easier.