Okay, okay, I know it is kind of sort of a chick book. Yes, I am talking about Twilight, anyway I got it for Christmas and finished it yesterday and I get it. Twilight written by Stephenie Meyer is a book about a girl named Bella and her romance with a boy…er…vampire named Edward. What lured me into this book was the fact that numerous of my friends had read it and recommended it highly. There are already two sequels out for it: New Moon and Eclipse. Both Twilight and New Moon are on New York Times bestseller list.

 Back to what I thought, so there were parts that dragged on for me, the romance parts of course. A big chunk of this book is basically Edward and Bella saying they love each other. That got boring for me after a while, so what kept me reading? I really liked the supernatural aspect of the book and how Meyer created a unique vampire that doesn’t go by the books. There is also so action and suspense here and there, which kept it exciting. Her writing style was simple and easy to follow. I like that in a book. I like this book, it might be worth checking out, plus they are making a movie out of it. Way cool.

-Sean Krimmel

I hope it rains a lot over winter break so that I have a good excuse to spend some time in the theaters watching the many movies on my list—Charlie Wilson’s War, Golden Compass, Walk Hard, PS I Love You, There Will Be Blood, Atonement, it goes on and on. Also, I’m definitely going to see Kite Runner a second time. If you’ve already read the bestselling book by Khaled Hosseini (do that first), it’s time to head out to Pleasant Hill to catch the screen adaptation. Though the movie can’t necessarily compare to the original book, it’s still  a must-see for everyone. The portrayal of Kabul is vivid, the storyline gut-wrenching yet inspiring, and the global significance apparent. Although the movie fails in capturing the many subtle layers and textures of human emotion, viewers are guaranteed to walk away heartwarmed. So give yourself an early gift with tickets to Kite Runner—you’ll love it.  Happy Holidays everyone.

~ Sarah Henningsen 

This past Tuesday, my father and older sister left for Europe, eagerly anticipating four days in London and six days in northeastern Italy to attend my father’s friends wedding.  They return on December 28th, just in time to ring in the New Year, if not for Christmas.

Their departure opened a can of worms for me.  Although we’ve had the occasional birthday and other minor holiday apart–I celebrated one birthday in Washington, D.C., with my dad one year, and my sister’s 19th birthday was spent alone in college–Christmas has always been a true family experience.  Our family may not subscribe to any religious faith, but Christmas is the time of presents and dreams coming true.  I’ll receive a few practical, educational gifts on my birthday; Christmas is when “Santa Claus” brings CD’s, books, and movies.  It’s a guaranteed week off for everyone in my family, to celebrate and enjoy the season of giving.

So the question is: why leave me behind?  The answers of school, homework, and SAT prep are obvious, but they don’t make my feelings any easier to bear.  Because although I still have my mom to share the holiday season, I can’t help but think that with only half of my family, Christmas can only be half of what it used to be.

-Aliya

Just a thought: ambulances are scary. Okay, now for more detail. Last weekend my friend and I decided to see ‘August Rush,’ so being spontaneous, we went to ‘This Christmas.’ An ambulance appeared behind us and we were in back-to-back traffic unable to move over. We got out of its way eventually, but it got both of us thinking just how scary ambulances are. It’s not really the actual ambulance, but the idea of it. The thing is, if you get in their way someone could die – literally. We both discussed all the intricacies of this scenario and decided, yes it was the worst. If you get in the way of a cop car all that can happen is an expensive ticket. Handling something yourself is much different than knowing you were part of the reason someone lost a life. Just a thought, from a couple of teenage drivers.

-Sean Krimmel

I just watched Atonement and it was brilliant. The movie itself jumped back and forth in time and followed different characters points of views, the way it was done was beautiful. Plus, it was like a period piece and everything was amazing. There was this once part, I won’t ruin the movie don’t worry, on the  beach at Dunkirk and it was so cool how the camera moved around the scene. I highly recommend  this movie for everyone to see.

-Sean Krimmel

He may look like an 12 year old still waiting for his voice to mature but Tay Zonday is in his mid-twenties and can produce one of the lowest, strangest, and most revolutionary voices our generation has seen. The YouTube video sharing phenomenon has catapulted him to fame across the nation within the last few months. Rarely do we get to experience singers with such distinct and unique voices. Zonday is not only a talented vocalist, but an accomplished lyricist and keyboardist who single-handedly writes all compositions. If you haven’t already heard the memorable tune “Chocolate Rain”, which was recently recorded in a Dr. Pepper commercial for their new Cherry Chocolate drink, look up Zonday’s ballad “Someday” on YouTube or download the free MP3 on his website.

~ Sarah Henningsen

When I was eight and didn’t understand the definition of college, I latched onto Stanford as my ideal school. The thought carried into my teens when I, a newly minted thirteen-year-old, asked for a Stanford sweatshirt and a tour of the campus for my birthday.

My parents bemusedly conceded, and we dragged my younger brothers there for the day to shop and walk around.

At sixteen, I attended Nike tennis camp at Stanford and further cemented my love for the campus and its food. My samples of the dining hall cuisine left me suitably impressed with its spaghetti and perfectly browned blueberry muffins; my dorm room at camp rested under the shade of a friendly oak and was a short walk from Jamba Juice and the Taube Tennis Stadium.

To me, Stanford was a city unto itself, a beautiful place representing a future far away.

But now, as my future grows closer and I whittle my college list down, I find myself hesitant to scrawl Stanford’s name onto my list. Trapped in indecision, I have mailed SAT and ACT scores, requested transcripts to be sent there, and given out recommendation envelopes with Stanford’s address.

But while I love the idea of bikers balancing books on their backs, friendly professors and eternal sunshine, I do not have a strong academic reason for attending. Strangely, whenever I gather the nerve to scratch Stanford off my list for good, I find myself getting jittery.

My conscience starts yelling at me.

Why not just try? I fear that I don’t want to apply because I’m scared of being rejected from a school I once idolized. I have submitted other applications with considerably less trepidation. In early November, I sent off Georgetown’s application early action. As I count down the days until Georgetown Decision Day, also known as December 15th, I continually open up Stanford’s supplement, wondering whether to apply. The decision terrifies me.

I can’t seem to ditch my childhood Stanford whims, but I can’t justify wasting any more time on essays and worrying if I do not think I am going to attend.

I sit here, four days before Georgetown delivers its verdict, and I am scared. I have documented my accomplishments and my dreams, and poured myself into fill-in-the blanks and neat square boxes.

But what if I’m not good enough? What if what I hoped to be when I was a child is simply not who I have become? My future is not just a sun-kissed fantasy anymore. I need to stand up and make decisions. I need to stop worrying about whether to apply and start realizing that rejection is OK. So am I applying to Stanford? I would have to say yes. Childhood dream or not, some things just need to be tried.

I keep stumbling upon articles about Facebook.

This one is about Beacon, a Facebook application, that, from what I can gather, tells all the user’s friends exactly what he/she has been doing not only on Facebook, but on other websites as well. I don’t know how this works (after reading about it I didn’t want to add the application!) but it seems to be stirring up quite a controversy.

And this one made me laugh; it really rings true. The all-powerful Facebook relationship status!

-Allison Levitsky

Last Saturday, I had the extremely rare pleasure of going to see a movie…in theaters…less than two weeks after it had premiered! Even more wonderful, it was a choice time to spend some one-on-one time with my dad, whose schedule is about as packed as my own on most weekends and all weekdays.

I had made the somewhat risky choice, though, of going to see “Enchanted”, a movie that one can only describe as the quintessential chick flick.  Not action, not adventure, and definitely not horror.  It wasn’t even a standard romance. The audience consisted mostly of 6 to 8 year olds; the closest people to my age were some preteen girls wearing lipgloss and dress-code-defying tank tops despite the chilly winter day. The fathers in the audience bore pained looks.

I’ll admit I was worried. I myself am not a “girly-girl”.  I don’t reach for mascara in the morning, rarely wear skirts, and my split-ends are hacked off with scissors instead of conditioned into glossy tresses.  I feared that if I myself was worried about the movie, my long-suffering dad (who would have much rather seen “Beowulf”) would be disgusted.

As the movie started, my anxiety increased. “Enchanted” was animated, to a much greater extent than I had thought. My dad hates animated movies!  When the singing started, I was horrified.  I knew that singing and dancing are ranked about the same as animated movies in my dad’s opinion.  True, the script was funny and there were hilarious references to previous Disney movies, but I had lured my NYC-raised dad with the promise of a New York setting–a place that didn’t seem remotely related to the cheesy, song-filled, animated paradise before us.

But I didn’t need to be worried.  The plot carried, my dad and I both cracked up, and even the songs went well.  My dad leaned over to whisper a running commentary during the New York scenes, explaining where exactly in Central Park or Manhattan a scene was taking place.   As the credits rolled, he even made me stay back to see the names of some of the actors.

Walking out of the theater, I asked him if he’d liked it.  He grinned.

“I could have waited for the DVD,” he said. “But seeing a movie with you was worth the extra money.”

-Aliya Deri

I just got home from seeing the Spice Girls reunion show in San Jose and I must say; I’m impressed. I’ve been a fan of theirs since around third grade and I can remember my friend Bridget and I spending our spare time making dance routines to “Spice up Your Life” and “Wannabe”. I had pen cases, shirts, dolls, and pretty much everything else Spice Girl under the sun.

So you can imagine that when I got a call from a friend saying he had four tickets he needed to sell for their December 4^th show in San Jose, I jumped at the opportunity to finally see one of the defining bands of my childhood.

To put it simply, the concert went above and beyond my expectations. Although I’m almost positive Baby, Ginger, Posh, Sporty, and Scary Spice were lip synching for at least part of their performances, the choreographing was amazing and their clothes were fabulous!! Roberto Cavalli did all of the designs for their outfits and they looked amazing. There were at least six different costume changes throughout the whole show and every outfit was better than the last.

Above all else though, the music was better than I had hoped for. I mean, I knew they wouldn’t fail to please the audience with the classic songs my generation grew up to, but the Spice Girls also wowed everyone with their solo acts and new material. Throughout the whole show, each Spice Girl showcased their own individual talents from Posh’s fierce runway walk, to Ginger’s incredible rendition of “It’s Raining Men”.

Being someone who is an avid concert attendee and a high school student always looking for a new upcoming band to listen to, being so excited about a Spice Girls concert doesn’t seem very cool. But I must say, standing there belting out the songs that became a soundtrack to my childhood with the very people I used to sing along in the car with made me feel like I was back in third grade all over again. And let me tell you, it was incredible.