A Nice Day...

So, today was quite nice. I spent the majority of it relaxing, practicing bassoon, and enjoying my free time... Not a bad life! I updated my profiles on zinch.com, cappex.com, and fastweb.com, so that my scholarship chances are greatened. :)

In my internet adventures, I've discovered amazing stop-motion videos by someone who calls him/herself "PES". I really enjoy them, though! Here's my favorite, "Western Spaghetti".


Cool, isn't it?

Next order of business, I'm just learning of this case out of the Mohawk Valley (relatively close to me). A lawsuit's being filed from the NYCLU on behalf of an openly gay 14 year old boy. Being openly gay, he was subjected to years of verbal and physical harassment, according to the lawsuit. Apparently, administration did nothing to prevent/deal with this. Now they're being sued because of it. I think that the boy and his parents are doing the right thing. Comments under the news article suggest that thousands of lawsuits could be filed like this... my response is, "Why not file them? We need more attention to be drawn to bullying and harassment in schools." As a student, I see firsthand the effects of bullying. Students that are bullied usually undergo years of harassment that is uncalled for. Check out this story here and here.

I'm considering writing reflections on some big summer events for me; when I do, they'll go right here!

The schoolyear is approaching fast. I'm happy to say that I'm looking forward to it. Clubs are meeting early so we can discuss the upcoming year, and I'm actually getting psyched for these plans!

Speaking of school, I'd love to discuss a recent news story. In New York, low-income families were given an extra $200 per-child for "school supplies". If I understand this correctly, a millionaire decided that he would contribute to this because "as a child, he was poor, and he always remembered the money he got for school supplies". That's all well and good, but this was a truly disastrous plan in execution. Most of the people receiving the money had no idea what it was for until after the money was spent on things other than school supplies. And for those that did know, I'm sure that many of them put the money towards "more important things". Their children will still come to school complaining that they can't afford notebooks and pencils. How do I know? These children are my classmates. I watched my single mom drop over $100 on my brother's school supplies alone, and does she get welfare money? No. She pays taxes that go towards ineffective programs like this. I apologize for ranting like this, it just seems a bit unfair. Everyone's suffering, Paterson.

Well, that's all for now. I'll check in soon!

Fun links!

So, did anyone catch Obama's slip up on Jay Leno's late night show? He said he was awful at bowling, and compared his skills to "the Special Olympics or something". He later apologized to the Special Olympics, before the show was aired. He also invited some Special Olympics athletes to come bowl or play basketball in the White House with him. Here's an article about it.

Speaking of the Special Olympics, they have a new campaign against the R-word. Unfortunately, too many people believe that it's alright to describe something that they dislike as "retarded". The Special Olympics has started a movement to put an end to the ignorance. Here's their website.

Tomorrow is World Water Day! Help me campaign for Water for Life! Check out their site.

On a much different note, here's an interesting case of what appears to be extreme bullying. In my opinion, the school should have stepped in before things got to this point. See the article here.

Check out a new artist who's absolutely great: seanfournier.blogspot.com. He also has several free songs that you can download. :) Enjoy!

Have a great night! See ya!