The high school will be losing its current band director to another school district. Congrats to that district because Mr. C really is a great director! At the same time we will be welcoming the Middle School director Ms. H This is when the problem of heartlessness and acceptance of responsibility comes in.

I neglected to join the high school band after playing for three years, because I didn’t feel like it was right for me any longer. In high school it was like a cult movement and I didn’t feel like I would fit in for a very long time. That was it for me and I chose another extra-curricular (Radio!). Even this was taken with a lot of commentary, which I will not get into on this site.

While in the middle school I started with Mr. C. I personally felt as though after sixth grade I was learning nothing new. This bugged me and I was happy to see a new director at the beginning of my eighth grade year. I was convinced to quit but thanks to the new teacher, I stuck around. I found that they were by far the best band teacher that I had been in class with and learned more in one year than in Sixth and Seventh Grade years. this teacher was, of course, Ms. H.

The thing that helped me learn was the fact that Ms. C challenged me and made me want to learn musical skills as opposed to simply expecting me to. In this time she made the entire class, including myself, take responsibility for their learning and expand our horizons while teaching us at the same time. According to other students, this made her a bad teacher. Wait, WHAT? That is correct. Making us take responsibility and challenging us made Ms. C a bad teacher. This folks, is the backward logic of students lacking courage to go above and beyond with anyone except their first band director.

Needless to say, her current move to the high school this coming year is not going over so well. Students are using Facebook and various social networks to bash one of the best music teachers the music department has ever had! Firstly, show some courage and take it elsewhere instead of having mommy and daddy take it to the school board for you. Oh, that’s right, they are taking this to the school board.

The school board would make sense I guess… But wait! They are taking it to the school board’s PUBLIC MEETING. They really show no mercy. Heck, they show no decorum! They are resorting to public humiliation to stop a teacher from getting a position. This further proves that these students have no sense of human emotions.

Here are a few cloaked remarks about Ms. C;

is definately going to that school board meeting.

(Great spelling by the way.)

When asked about which meeting she is referring to she stated,

uhm, the school board meeting next week. where they are going to decide important things about our band. and yeah i know rachel. OHHHH boy.

Further Commentary;

Heard some people were writing a letter or somethin to the admin. I’d like to help if I can……..

(Regarding? You got it, the new teacher.)

So, in essence, I have no respect for any of the folks who have not even given an amazing teacher a small chance. You are simply showing immaturity and carelessness. When this screws up your entire department, you have nobody other than yourselves to blame.

I was recently given the ifrogz iPhone 3G case as a gift from a family member, and was thrilled with it as soon as I opened it. Of course, it was black and orange so what do you expect?! The first thing I noticed was that it was very sturdy. I previously had been using a rubber cover, mainly to avoid scratches. This was decent also but that is for another review.

The sturdiness worried me at first. I don’t want a case to make my phone look bulky. I really like the look of the iPhone without a case, and in fact preferred it that way. The case was in two pieces, the larger one being orange. The bottom was black. The two pieces slide onto the phone and interlock, giving it a very secure but not damaging fit. This was yet another thing that I liked.

The previous rubber case would pick up lint from my pocket, causing dust buildup inside the case. This actually caused scratching on the phone’s corners. I did NOT want this to happen again. Thinking about this I hesitated to put the case on my phone. Finally I broke down and put it on.

In the next few days I noticed that the phone didn’t slip out of may hand anymore. This would obviously extend the life of the phone. I was beginning to love the case.

Something like a month later I decided to remove the case and see the damage. There wasn’t any! No dust had made its way into the case. Better, yet there were no scratches on the back whatsoever. Great case!

In summary:
I would suggest this case to anyone who asks about it.
It protected my phone in an exceptional manner.
It is so cool looking you won’t want to take it off.
And finally, It is a great buy for the price! (In my opinion.)

1. A Large Screen version of iPod Touch

2. Steve’s departure from the company (Sell your stocks now. Seriously, stop reading and sell!!!)

3. Updates to Macbook Pro (a 17″ model) and Mac Mini line

4. An update to iLife and possibly iWork

5. Push Notifications for iPhone *Crosses fingers*

6. Snow Leopard

7. No sign of Steve whatsoever. Apple has already confirmed this, however there are still people out there that think he will show up “Cameo” style. Not gonna happen. Press release said it all.

Of these, I am most convinced that the first one will happen, and praying that two does not.

My iPhone had begun to crack starting at the edge of the 30-pin connector and growing into a nice hairline crack. I was really disappointed to see this, as I had been obsessively careful with the phone, so this type of thing would not happen. I immediately reviewed the day and realized I had not done anything to cause the crack.
Knowing this, of course, I called Apple while I was at school (best teacher ever). They basically told me that they couldn’t finish the service call before the schoolday was over (15 minutes). I said this was okay and they gave me a case number.
As soon as I got home I made it a priority to call back, and after emailing the rep a couple pictures of the crack, he decided to send me a brand new phone, free of charge. I was, of course, thrilled! I thanked him profusely and went on with my day.
I finally received the box and shipped the phone off. I couldn’t believe the attention to detail in everything down to the shipping supplies. The sent me TAPE. I did not even have to track down tape to pack the phone. Apple never ceases to amaze me with their customer support!
Four or five days later, I had an appointment and had to come home from school early. On the trip from school in the car, my mom asked me why on Earth Apple had sent me 2 iPhones instead of one. Of course I replied that she couldn’t be right. It must be to ship something else back! Nope Apple really had sent me two brand new iPhones.
I, being the amazing person that I am ;), immediately called Apple (only after thinking about keeping the phone :P). When I got on the line with the guy, he sounded flabbergasted that they had sent me two phones. He mentioned that this had never happened. I told him the days they were received and the serial numbers, and he told me how things needed done.
But, the cool part happened at the end of this call. He asked me my age, and I told him. He then replied that he was thrilled that I was honest about it, and forwarded me to his boss or whoever. His boss yet again commended me and asked if there was an iPhone accessory that I had my eye on for my iPhone. I told him I really liked the Apple bluetooth headset. He said he would overnight it personally that day!
This simply proves why Apple has such a faithful user base. Apple has always had the best customer support I have ever used. And, as far as paying for support, it is worth it.

The only class that I am very happy with is Radio. The teacher, as always, is AWESOME. Those of you from school know she is the video teacher as well as TV and Radio. I will be ON the school’s station, which runs 24/7. I am so verrrry excited.

That is about all for now. TTYL

Boring is exactly the kind of person that I have never wanted to be. Yet, I have been settling for the easy standard of mediocrity. The standard of being boring in my life. That is not good enough, nor will it ever be. When people ask me how I am doing I always respond in the same way. “So, So,” or “Okay”. Never do I say “Pretty Good” This is a small thing, but I know for a fact how being around people who are doing well or are happy can change the entire experience.

Listening to Troy, who I had the pleasure of spending most of the week last week with, amongst many other great folks, helped me see what was wrong with me lately. Ya know, I never thought about how to be more positive, or how to be more friendly, or, God forbid, more exciting. I started to realize that I have been on autopilot for the last 2 years.

I have always told myself that I want to be one of those people who is constantly doing something exciting and new. And, I feel like MonaVie is one of those things. Yes, it is juice, but it is bigger than just juice. The people that I get to hang out with because of this product are amazing!

I wrote this post because of something that Riley said to me after dinner a couple nights ago. He, in essence, said he did not want to be one of those people who went through the same routine every day. He wanted to be someone who was exciting. He just didn’t know how someone could spend their life bored and alone. I know! I’ve been doing it for two years.

That is going to change. Just within the past two days I have seen how much better a day can be when you spend it with a positive outlook. Your outlook on life even improves when you stop hanging around with negative people. I intend to do both of those things. I intend to be the outgoing, adventurous, friendly, happy, and positive person that I was before my life got turned upside down. Which, I am now realizing may not have been as horrendously horrible as I thought it was.

Things will be different. Things will be better. My life shall improve. My life will no longer be blah, but instead vivid. And whe asked how I am I will be “Great!” Thanks to anyone I mentioned in this post. You know who you are.

Why Vote For Hillary?

A look into the Clinton Supporters mind.

Andrew Case

8th Grade Persuasive Essay • Middle School • March 24, 2008

Why Vote For Hillary?

Just a few of the many reasons.

Election 2008

My Thoughts on Election 2008!

Are you tired of all of the warped political banter on the news lately? Well, you can simplify your life by making a single decision. If you tune out all of the news about candidates and make a wise and informed choice, you will no longer need to listen to the banter. When making your wise and informed choice Hillary Clinton is by far one of the best political candidates because she wants to fix the current NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement) situation, she wants to provide healthcare for every American, and because she is not afraid to state her views on various major political issues.

First of all, NAFTA is currently in a very bad state. The standards that were to be established by enforcing  this agreement are no longer being followed. This is a very unfortunate thing because NAFTA has always had great potential to help America. When NAFTA was enacted it was to  help open trade between The US, Canada, and Mexico, and to help improve working conditions for laborers in all three countries. Unfortunately in just sixteen years these standards have begun to be ignored, in turn dropping the standards for working conditions in these countries. Hillary CLinton wants to “fix” NAFTA by telling the other countries involved in the trade agreement that the US will pull out of NAFTA unless working standards are enforced as they were written in 1992. Do you have a family member who works in a factory with unfortunately poor working conditions? Hillary wants to help THAT family member.

Second, America’s healthcare system is in need of very intensive and major reform. People die every day because selfish insurance companies refuse to pay their medical bills. Insurance companies refuse to cover things like ambulance bills because they are not “pre-approved”. Maybe you are supposed to get the ride approved in the last few seconds of consciousness before you pass out from falling from the top of a building. America is letting these insurance companies commit murder every single day! Why would anyone ever stand for this!? Hillary does not stand for this type of utter manslaughter. Hillary wants to enact a universal healthcare plan for every single American. That is  correct, every single one.  How can America afford this you ask? Hillary wants to take back the money that big businesses have been stealing form middle class Americans for years and years. 

Third, but most definitely not last, Hillary is not afraid to state her views on the numerous political issues in America today. She will not accept support from violent groups of people. Hillary’s campaign, unlike others’ is not based on buzz words and empty promises. Barack Obama always only says enough to sound good to all of the Liberals/ Democrats. He has never really stated an opinion on the big issues. Hillary is a candidate who will stand for what she believes in. And she believes in America!

Yes, Hillary wants to fix NAFTA, Reform healthcare, and can state her opinions confidently, but these are just a few of the very numerous reasons Hillary Clinton will make a great president for a great country. I hope this makes you think about who you really want as the President  Of The Untied States Of America for the next four maybe even eight years! Now, go turn of the CNN political garbage’ and relax knowing you are informed!