Warner Brother’s decision to set back the latest Potter movie eight months, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, crushed millions of fans – including myself. I have been awaiting this film for over a year now!

I planned on having a huge party before the midnight airing on November 21^st with Harry Potter food (Cauldron cakes, licorice wands, pumpkin pasties, sugar quills, butterbeer, pumpkin juice, ton-ton toffee, acid pops, Bertie Botts every flavor beans), costumes (I myself dressed as Hermione Granger), and Harry Potter trivia.

Why was this heart-wrenching decision made? Simply to make more money. I, and millions of fans, feel like a little kid that has just been told Christmas has been delayed, for a very long time…

What do you do when it is 110 degrees outside, and you cannot afford air conditioning? Go to the library! Pick out a good book, look though magazines, surf the net, and soak up the free air conditioning. That is what I did today.

The heat is intense right now, so find ways to stay cool. Drink lots of water, lots more than you usually do. Stay in the shade or indoors. Use sunscreen! Eat cool foods like watermelon. Watermelon tastes even better on a hot day.

If you hate the library, go see a movie or go to other public places and absorb their air conditioning. Get your body wet, then dry in the sun. When the water is evaporating off your skin, it gives you an awesome chilly feeling. Slow down your strenuous activities or reschedule those activities during a cooler time of the day. If you do not feel well while exercising, stop! Listen to your body.

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

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

“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!

“Danielle, are you a little stressed out?” my friend asks me.

Well, I think to myself, I have my AP English and AP German tests coming up in a few weeks. Prom is a few weeks after that. What will I wear? Will I have a date? Should I go if I do not have a date? Then, I have a championship swim meet on May 17 where I will be swimming the 500 free and the 100 back. I have three SAT subject tests to take on June 7. My ACT is a week later. My teachers are piling on the homework. All I have time for right now is school and swimming. I do not understand pre-calculus at all; it is more of a foreign language to me than German is! I keep telling myself, Junior year is almost over, just two more months to go … Will I survive?

“Just a tad,” I replied. – Danielle Douvikas

It’s that time again. The top twelve contestants have been selected!

 David Cook is my favorite vocalist. When he sings I’ve thought he is the next Chris Daughtry. I absolutely love Brook White for her sweetness. Carly Smithson is probably the best female vocalist, but I still cannot get over the massive tattoo on her arm. Jason Castro is so taciturn. My friend Allie thinks he is so cute with his dreads.

Amanda Overmyer is exceptional, but I lost my liking for her once she received a DUI. I do not know anyone who likes Ramiele Malubay after viewing her scandalous photos. Chikezie seems so nice, and he has a great voice. Kristy Lee Cook, is just as Simon says she is: forgettable with no personality! My guess is she will be the first to go. Michael Jones is so hot with his Australian accent. David Archuleta is cute in a little boy way; he is 17, but looks 15. He is very talented, but gloomy as Simon says. Seyesha Mercado is great too, but my friends all think she is a bit conceited. David Hernandez was…um…a stripper. Yeah…um…not sure if I like him anymore.

This is a very talented season. David Cook is my favorite, but who will the winner be…They all can sing this year; there is no Sanjaya in this group!

– Danielle Douvikas

Have you ever felt the majestic feeling of getting back an “A” essay from your teacher when you assumed that the highest marks you would receive would be about a C. Well, this happened to me today. My teacher told my class at the beginning of the period that she would be handing back our essays on Billy Budd. I prepared myself mentally for failure because my previous essay was unfortunately a D+.

My English class is an AP course, so it is quite a challenging course. I felt like after the previous essay that as much as I loved English and reading, I might never be a good writer. English has always been my best subject. Math and Science have always been difficult for me, but I never seemed to have problems with English until I reached the AP level.

 My teacher handed back the essay, and I flipped it over immediately. I erratically flipped through the pages until on the very last page, I saw my grade. It just cannot be an A. No, it has to be a D, maybe it just looks coincidently like an A. Then I saw the comments my teacher left for me on the page. All she wrote was nice work. I could barely contain myself. A permanent smile etched itself across my face. My classmate immediately asked me eagerly, “What did you get.” I got an A.” I whispered. “An A,” he said, “I was happy with my C.” My two friends both received Ds, and I felt sympathetic towards them because that was what I got last time.

 Essays are tremendously difficult to master. I finally feel like after taking Honors English since 7^th grade, I can now write a “good” essay. It has finally “clicked” for me. Just because English feels impossible now, does not mean that it will be. Sometimes you have to fail at something first to later succeed at it. With hard work, dedication, and passion, you will be sure to succeed in all that you do.

- Danielle Douvikas

On Wednesday morning, after studying so hard the night before for my AP German and my AP English midterms, I woke up with the flu and hives. “Mom,” I whispered, “I don’t feel good…” My legs were turning purple and my lip was swelling with hives. “Oh Dani,” she said, “You know why you are getting sick. You are just getting nervous about your tests!”

I knew this was a definite possibility. What if the only reason I am sick right now is because of nerves. Am I really that mental? “I am sick,” I replied, “I feel like I am burning up.” She believed me when I was not entirely sure whether I believed myself. Am I really sick? I sure do feel sick. She gave me medicine for the hives, and I then fell into a deep sleep.

I woke up hours later still with a headache and flu symptoms. I forced myself to study for my tests. My teachers responded to my mother’s e-mails, and they were genuinely nice about my absence. They arranged for me to take the tests on Friday if I feel better. I am now studying for my History and Biology finals still not feeling well. My stomach is full of butterflies. Are these “butterflies” the reason I am sick? Will I be sick tomorrow morning when I have to face two highly important examinations?

– Danielle Douvikas

J.K. Rowling, the famous author of the spellbinding Harry Potter books revealed that the beloved character of Albus Dumbledore is a homosexual. When Mugglenet.com polled its viewers 43.7% were apathetic, 28.2% praised Rowling for her courageous and admirable ways of accepting all people regardless of their sexuality, and 28.1% wished she would have omitted this information.

This has absolutely nothing to do with the books, so why would J.K. reveal this insight? Maybe she was not getting enough interest since the series just ended. She sure got everyone more interested in her books after this shocking revelation! She definitely did not reveal this to sell more books because she already is the second most wealthy lady in Britain, after the Queen.

Basically, her decision disturbed the exact same amount of people that she uplifted, and the rest did not care. I think most people should really not care, the books are finished. Something that has nothing to do with the books should not alter Harry Potter fans’ passion for the books.

– Danielle Douvikas