Relax People!

I am not 100% sure were I am going with this post but I feel like I need to get some things out there. I know that for a lot of college students, finals are coming up and time seems as if it is working against you. You have so many projects and exams to study for that you feel like the world hates you and wants you to fail miserably. If this applies to you I want you to know that you are wrong. First of all the world can not possibly hate you, and secondly you are being overly dramatic. I know some teachers can be very tough and sometimes no mater how hard you study for something you will never get the grade you want. But listen to me when I say IT IS NOT THE END OF THE WORLD! If you do your best to prepare for a test, all you can do is your best and hope that it is enough. Do not complain to the teacher that the test is to hard or that it is not you fault. It is. It is up to you how you do. I am so tired of hearing people complain that the teacher does not think that they have a life. Trust me, the teacher knows because they have a life too, and they have to grade everything that you turn in. I know that it easy to blame someone else when you do not want to take credit for something, trust me I have done it many times in my life. But now I am old enough to realize that I am responsible for my own choices.

Another issue I have is when people rub their grades in other peoples faces. Just because you get a better grade then someone else does not mean that you are smarter then them and therefore "better" then them. Everyone is good at something, but not everyone is good at the same things. An example is that I am awful at spelling but I am fairly good at grammar. All I am saying is that you should try to be modest about things when you do not know who it will make others feel. You may be degrading and putting someone down when you wave your achievements in their face. Now, it is different if you are having a conversation with someone and the topic comes up. I am not saying you should not talk about your achievements you just should not be arrogant about them.

I guess at this point I am just ranting. I think what I am trying to get at is that if you think your life is bad you should know that someone, if not many, have it worse off then you. Getting a bad grade does not mean that it is the end of the world and that you are worthless. Also, getting great grades does not make you a better person then anyone else. So if you are worried about something that is not going to change your life; relax, breath, and just do your best. It will turn out okay.

Friends, Family, and Big Fat Failures.

This past weekend was a busy one for me. The play, A Midsummer Night's Dream, was taking place this weekend at SU. For anyone that does not know I am a Theater major with an emphasis in production and design. Well anyway, I was running the sound board for this play so my parents, aunt, uncle, and cousin were coming up to see it. Saturday morning I also had a track meet at Shippensburg University. Since Ship is on the way from my house to SU, my mom came up to the meet to watch me throw. I was nervous as always but right before my flight was getting ready to throw, one of my best friends, Kristy, showed up. She goes to Ship so I had told her about the meet earlier in the week. I had not expected her to remember because with finals coming up I thought she would be very busy. I was very surprised and happy when I saw her; however, she made me even more nervous. My first throw was okay but not quit what I was hoping for. The second throw I fouled. Before my final throw my coach came up to me and said, "Now fucking throw this one like it is land marks and I will be fucking pissed if it sucks." I am not even kidding. That is exactly what he said. So while I was trying not to be any more nervous then I already was, I also knew that I needed to take it seriously since championships are next weekend. So I went into the circle and I tried my best. Once I let go of the hammer, I felt like it sucked. It felt slow and just not how it should. But, I took it as a mark and left the circle. Once I left I realized how far the hammer actually went and I started to get excited. When I found out that I got a PR of over five feet I was really happy. My throw was 38.93 meters. So since my very first college track meet a few weeks ago, I have broke the women's freshmen record in hammer at SU three times.

Later that day, my mom and I met up with the rest of my family and we went to dinner at BJ's. We talked about a lot of things like the play and how the past few nights had went. I told them about Cobra Starship coming to SU and how they used the bathrooms in the theater area so a lot of people got to meet them. Also, the same night the fire alarm went off right before the play was about to start. We had fake fog for the play and apparently someone thought it was real smoke and pulled the fire alarm. Anyway, after dinner they dropped me off at the theater so that I could get ready. Everything went great and they liked the play which was good. The next morning we all went to breakfast before they headed home.

Sunday night was the last night of the play. I was there extra early and I had made sure that I was completely ready, or so I had thought. When the lights came on and my cue came to start the music I accidentally stated the wrong song. The director was right in front of me so I immediately went into panic mode. I turned it off and the girl on stage that was supposed to be singing was just standing there not knowing what to do. Everyone started to laugh and the director yells out "Start again!". So the girl goes back behind the curtain and this time I get it right. The rest of the show goes great and the whole time I was so nervous that the director and stage manager were going to yell at me. After it is over I find out that it was okay and that no one was even mad. Most people in the audience even thought it was part of the show. However, I still feel bad and I do not think that I ever want to run the sound board ever again.

Meeting Andrew McMahon!

This weekend has been one of the longest weekends of my life. There has been great moments and terrible ones. I guess the only place to start is at the beginning. Friday, April 9 was where it all began. At 12pm I was sitting on a bus on may way to a track meet at Bloomsburg University. When we got there after a 45 min ride I was so happy to finally get off of the bus. One of our coaches drove, and I am not exaggerating when I say she ran over three curbs and almost hit a car and a pole. Needless to say I never want to ride with her again. Anyway, after we arrived we realized too late that Bloomsburg is in the mountains and the track is the highest point placed right up on top of a hill. After checking my phone I found out that it was 45 degrees with winds of 15mph. It was freezing and no one was prepared. The throwing events that were taking place on Friday were women's hammer, men's hammer, and women's javelin. I was throwing women's hammer, and for anyone who does not know what that is it is a metal ball attached to a long wire with a handle.

The throwing circle, we soon found out, was extremely slick. One of the girls on my team fell while warming up because it was so slippery. All of the girls throwing hammer did very poorly. The girl who is the best on our team did not get any marks because she could not get any grip on her shoes. The men's hammer did not go much better either.

Later on that day, my friend Nicole picked me up from the track meet and we went to dinner. After dinner we went back to Bloomsburg University to wait in line for the Jack's Mannequin concert. Around 7:30 we were let in. We ended up being right at the front of the stage! It was so exciting and I almost could not believe it. The girls next to us were wasted before they even got there. Later during the concert one of them even pulled a small bottle of Yeager out from between her boobs. They were the loudest group of girls I had ever met. I have to say though, they were very nice and also interesting to listen to. The cover band was surprisingly good. The singers name was Kevin Hammond and there was only one other guy with him playing a percussion box. He had a singer songwriter kind of style. I was impressed by how good they were live.

Then after they played for about 45min, Jack's Mannequin came on! Just so every one knows, they are the first and only major band I have ever seen in concert. The first time I saw them was in February of this year because they came to Susquehanna University. I know that only two concerts is kind of sad but what can I say. Anyway, Andrew is amazing and anyone who has not seen him live really should. The concert was awesome of course except for the crazy mob of people behind us. They kept shoving us trying to get to the front of the stage. By the end of the concert only one girl pushed her way to the front, and she attempted to say that she did not mean to. Yeah right! She knew what she was doing.

After the concert was over my friend bought the cover band's CD and then we set off to meet Andrew. We found the group of people waiting by his bus and we prepared ourselves for the long wait in the freezing cold weather. Only after about 30 minutes, the two guitar players came out. Then about 2 minutes later Andrew came out. I was more excited then I thought I would be but I did not act crazy I promise. My friend and I ended up being very close to the beginning of the line. When it was finally our turn I had him sign my iPhone cover since it is all white. She got her ticket stub signed. Then, we got our picture taken with him using my iPhone camera which unfortunately does not have a flash. At this time it was midnight. The good news is I was able to lighten it on my computer. Anyway, Andrew was so sweet and I am very glad I had a chance to meet him.

I ended up going to bed around one in the morning. Although it was worth it, it was not a very smart choice. In the morning I had to get up at 7 am for the rest of the track meet at Bloomsburg. Saterday there were more events therefore more people went so we took a bigger bus. Again it was freezing, but at least this time the sun was out. At 10 am a had to throw shotput. Like the day before, no one did well in the throwing events. The meet was over around 4pm or a little after. The worst part about the day was that all the throwers ate were bagels because the runners ate all of the food that was supposed to be for our lunches. Needless to say I was really hungry and had a massive headache most of the day. Also, I am now sunburned so my inter face looks like Rudolf's nose.

Later on that night, I went to Applebees with some of my friends from SU, and then we went to the movies to see Date Night. It was hysterical. By the end of the day I was so tired that I immediately passed out as soon as I got in bed. Today, I am doing as little as possible and it is very nice.

A New Book Idea

So I have this crazy idea for a book. It will be about the different people you meet on this earth. I have had this vision for a while but I have never really done anything past just thinking about it. There are so many types of people out there, and all can be categorized into groups. Some examples of what I am talking about are the aggressive drivers, the ignorant racists, the people who do not know how to dress their own age, the crazy cat ladies, and on and on. These are the people that you know, that you might be related to, or they might just even be you. Now, I am not saying that all of the people in one group are exactly the same. I am saying that they just so happen to have certain qualities that are very similar. Also, some people may even be in more then one group. I am also not saying that these people are bad people. I guess I could even put myself in some of these groups so I should say I do no think that we are bad people. I believe that there are just certain qualities about us that are extremely obvious.

Today in my Non-Western class we watched a video about Sports teams using American Indians as mascots. On this video were two main groups of individuals. There were the aggressive ignorant racists and the persistent minority protesters. The main team that was being criticized against in the movie was the Illinois Illini. Their mascot was the Illini chief. It was a student dressed up in an American Indian outfit with a eagle feather head dress. The woman that was offended was an American Indian. She was the persistent minority protester. She believed that the mascot was disrespectful and degrading to the American Indian population. She said that the people of the town did not understand how what they were using as a symbol for their teams was mocking the traditions of Indian tribes. First of all, the outfit of the Illini chief was not a traditional Illini wardrobe. Second, the dance that was being portrayed was not an American Indian dance. It was something that the students playing the role created.

Now, on the other side of the argument were many of the people on the school board, in the staff, and also the student body and alumni. These people were representing the aggressive ignorant racists. They believed that what they were portraying with this mascot was tradition. They claimed that it was to represent those people that were on that land before them. They truly believed that what they were doing by having this mascot was the right thing because it is what the majority wanted. It was also a tradition at the school so they did not care that it offended anyone.

I think the problem with this argument is that people do not like change. The majority group was so against changing what they knew as their mascot that they were ignorant to the effects it was having on others. They did not want to believe that what they were doing was wrong because lets face it, no one wants to admit that they are wrong. However, it did offend American Indians and in many ways. I mean, if there were teams called the Kansas Jews or the Georgia Negros, there would be many many people coming forth and standing up against it. The thing is, is that American Indians are such a small population that there is not a lot they can do to make a difference. What is the difference between kunt or red-skin. They are both extremely offensive. Yet there is not a team using a "kunt" as a mascot. It is just not right. As red-skin or the Illini chief are degrading to the traditions of the American Indians. After all, they were driven of this land by most of our ancestors. Don't we owe them a bit of respect.

Anyway, what I am trying to say is that there are many types of people out there. Whether good or bad they are still there. Although we may not understand their ways of life we should at least respect them. And if that means changing what we want to think is right to what the minority tells us is wrong then so be it.

My First Blog

So, this is my first blog EVER. In all of my eighteen years on this earth, I never would have thought that I, Jen Baer, would be one to write a blog. But, here I am blogging away. I guess I have my friend Katy to thank for this. She herself has a blog and it inspired me to start my own. I have always been a dedicated reader, however, I have never been a fan of writing. I guess I just always figured why write my own stories when there are so many other interesting ones already out there for me to discover.

Anyway, this weekend was Easter. I never really understood this holiday. It is a day were you can stuff your face with as many chocolate bunnies, peanut butter eggs, and marshmallow peeps as you want and no one will say anything. Personally, I could never finish an whole peep. They taste like rubber (not that I have ever eaten rubber). However, I do love chocolate and peanut butter. I have to say though, I did not eat any Easter candy Yesterday. I was very proud of myself. I am not usually one to turn down food. It is a weakness of mine. Anyway, back to Easter. Who sat down and said, "Hey lets take bunnies, chicks, and pastel colors and throw them together to represent the day Jesus came back to life"? It just seems like a very strange concept to me. I guess it is just another one of those mysteries that will always go unsolved.

My family does not do a whole lot on Easter. We get up and work out because we always have to work out before we stuff our faces with yummy food. Then we go visit my Grandparents for a little while. Later on, we go home and eat ham, with a few other sides, for lunch. Some years, such as this one, my aunt Lara, uncle Joe and Bailey come over to eat with us. Next is the group nap time that lasts about an hour. After that we always eat dessert. This is my favorite part. The rest of the day varies except for dinner which is always leftovers.

A few years ago when my family at least pretended to be normal, we always did these huge Easter egg hunts. Each kid in the family would have a dozen eggs all the same color. Then they would be hidden all over the yard. Some were easy to find but others were more difficult. I remember, there was always one that had money in it which of course was the hardest to find. Mine for some reason were always pink. This crazy event always took place at my aunt Theresa's house. I also remember that she would make jello eggs. They were so yummy.

Once that ended, we started going to my Grandparents house and then just the past five or so years we have been hanging out at home. I actually like the staying at home thing. I guess it is because I have finely discovered what things are truly important to me. My immediate family being one of these. My family is close. I think that is because we are the kind of people that work hard for what we have and do not care what other people think about us. We also just get along (most of the time). Even when we do not agree, we eventually realize that we do not have to agree on everything. And little things like disagreement should not come between us. I was always told, "You can pick your friends but you can't pick your family." I am thankful every day that I was given the family that I have.