Social Norms

With Winter Formal right around the corner, the students of Chagrin Falls have begun to shop for fresh ties and stylish dresses, and while most people change their attires from dance to dance... one thing stays the same. The freaking corsages and boutineers! The red squiggly line just appeared on my screen, under boutineers, but I'm not even going to bother finding the correct spelling– just to emphasize their ridiculousness. EVERY SINGLE DANCE we spend 10 to 25 dollars on these silly little flowers that no one likes to wear. Okay, I concede that freshman year the whole routine of figuring out how to pin a flower onto a sports coat was cute, but around seven dances later it's just getting old. I sincerely feel bad for the busboy who must clean up a table littered with flowery accessories, after a Formal group leaves their restaurant. They itch! They scratch! They annoy! They are idiotic social norms. Thank goodness that finally this year, our group found some sense and decided to rid ourselves of this horrid tradition. It will assuredly lead to a more comfortable, less expensive, and overall better last Winter Formal ever.

Paper

Stop the complaining, papers are chill

The Wonders of Winter

I can sense it. I can feel it. I can even almost taste it. Spring is in the air! I don't know if it's my southern roots, or just a pure hatred for winter, but when I walk outside after school and witness rays of sun beating down on my windshield instead of a freezing rain downpour... I am thoroughly ecstatic. Winter is the worst season by far: it's like a constant cold and tired depression that never leaves. I know many of the Northerners in our class would debate me until the end of time about the wonders of winter; however, here is a list of reasons to despise the awful season.

1. It gets dark faster than Chase's beard.

2. The clock can double as a thermometer.

3. After going to a Cavs game, the only team congruity is their season win total and the wind chill.

4. Hibernation is what I dream about.

5. Every single time someone walks inside with shoes on, that dreaded screech rings throughout the halls.

6. Kids start to where shorts to school the minute the temperature hits 30 (I swear I saw at least four kids with shorts on in the halls today).

7. The NFL season is over.

8. I would rather mow the entire lawn, rake every leaf in the yard, and spread mulch in my mom's large garden than shovel Mrs. Schiferl out of the snowbank along my driveway (true story).

9. Sledding is overrated. Let's be honest, it's fun for 30 minutes then your toes just start to hurt.

10. Everyone looks better and healthier with some color (our english class resembles a stack of printer paper).

I guess Anne Bradstreet leaves us with an appropriate closing quote: "If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant" which I agree with completely. Although, I could deal with a shorter period of misery and still reap the joys of  new and warmer season.

Hooray for the Spring!

TV Guide

With college applications completed, Christmas thank you notes out the door, and the simple fact that the second semester of our senior year has begun, I would like to act like your personal TV guide and recommend a few upcoming shows to watch in the upcoming weeks.

The Office: Hands down the funniest show I have watched on television. Quotable lines galore and a cast of characters who will not only make you cry out of laughter but cry out of love at the end of the upcoming season. Will Ferrell will also make a celebrity appearance on the last four shows of the season, which is sure to be a treat.

Outsourced: A little taste of Indian culture mixed with a large serving of American comedy. This show depicts a telemarketing company set in the place where Ashima and Ashoke call their home (well at least for most of the book). Didn't get enough Bengali culture in The Namesake? Tune in to this laugh out loud comedy Thursday nights at 10:30, or just set the DVR.

Mad Men: An extremely witty and well-written series about an advertising agency in the 1960s. You thought Clive and Vernon seemed wrapped around the aspect of money, wait until Don Draper, the agency's founder, appears before your eyes. Although slightly sophisticated... pshh we are AP English students right?

Super Bowl XLV: Finish the poetry papers early people!! This weekend, the largest watched sports event in America airs, and two mid-western, heartland of America, teams will battle for the crown of "World Champions" (which seems odd to me because not many other countries field a professional football team). The offensively gifted Green Bay Packers and the "steel curtain" defense of the Pittsburg Steelers will surely provide excellent entertainment, so do those papers!

March Madness: It's right around the corner! By far my favorite time of the year to watch sports, 65 hopeful basketball teams will be pitted against one another for the right to proclaim themselves "National Champions" (which seems much more appropriate to me). Brackets, brackets, and more brackets! Nothing would make my year more than to view a bracket filled out by Ms. Serensky and hear the reasoning behind each pick.

So with the extra free time, either read a book or watch one of these shows.