Thursday, October 30, 2014

Breaking the Clock



By Jasmine Simpson
Dear reaper of time,
Please set me free.
Your eternal prison cannot hold me now.
Your chains of age cannot break my fortitude.
I will never again bow down
Not to your name
Not to your reign
As tired as I am, time will not escape me.
Though weak I may be, time will never rule me.
For long have I suffered and long have I cowered.
Dear reaper of time,
I recall what you’ve done.
You once shattered my mind.
These forgotten faces, where are they now?
With the ticking of your cursed clock, you’ve taken everything.
My treasured dreams
My golden hopes
You’ve only returned tainted memories.
So no more will I remember you.
With the blazing pleasure of the sun, I will commence my new life.
My desire is to start anew.
My journey is to better days.

Seasons of Memories


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By Alexis Brian

The leaves, they fall, so golden and brown.
My eyes fixate on their designs as I stare at the ground.
The laughter of children as they cherish the day.
But the hours grow colder as the day fades away.
This is the season for giving and thanks.
With one special day for candy and pranks.
Time spent with friends can’t get any better.
These are the memories we will cherish forever.

Friday, October 24, 2014

Four Essential Ways to be Positive


By: Jasmine Simpson
Don’t deny it. You have (on more than one occasion) had a very bad day. We all have. That is merely what it means to be human. What is there to do about it? Most would be too tired to try doing anything. In all actuality, there is no likely method to having perfect days every day. That’s impossible. It is possible, however, to have significantly more positive days.
In order to share with you readers a few simple ways of having better days, I have devised four effortless habits that I feel every person should form:
#1: Be Your Own Best Friend
Who do you think knows you best? Is it your mom? Your best friend Ricky across the street? Sadly, it is neither. The person who knows you best is yourself. No one else knows what you really want out of life. No one else is better at laughing at your jokes. So why not embrace yourself?
When you accept that you are your own best friend, your confidence will grow. Don’t rely on others to make you feel awesome. They may not be skilled enough in that department.
#2: Avoid Ticking People Off and Just Smile
There is truly no better way to further ruin your day than by insulting someone. You may feel like you are ready to unleash your inner turmoil on everyone having a good day, but that really won’t make you feel better.
Chances are, the backlash you receive will make you feel significantly worse. Instead, smile at them. This lets them know that you want them to have a good day, and they will likely return the favor.
#3: Stop Wallowing in Your Own Pit of Misery
Yes, that’s right. You tell yourself that your day is going to be awful. It will be awful. Instead, do the opposite and tell yourself to have an awesome day. It will make a difference in the way you go about your day and in the way people view you.
When others see that you are trying your best to be positive, they will aid you and try their best to make you happy too.
#4: Don’t Be Afraid to Crank Up the Volume
Everyone knows the best way to get the mood going is through some classics. So don’t hold back the music. Whistle tunes in the hallways. Sing lyrics in the shower. Blare music in your car. If you want to have a good day, then don’t pay attention to what others think and just let it go.
 
Follow these methods and you may just be more positive. Share your results with others. If you have any other awesome ways of being positive, tell us in the comments!

This World

by Alexis Bryan

It’s funny how someone's life could change in a minute.
You could lose almost everything or you can win it.
Some people will try and change the world as they get older.
While others, well they seem to just grow colder.
I don’t care if I change the world or just one thing.
Just as long as I let my own voice be heard as I sing.
Sing the song of your life and who you are.
Yes some people may be offended when you embrace your scars.
But none of that will seem to matter to you anymore.
All you need to crave is to be unique, to be YOU.
Now lets see how many people take a clue.
It doesn’t matter if you are alone, there is plenty of burden to share.
The only thing that matters is to know that you care.
So don’t let those people change you or make you hide.
To you the only thing that should matter is the person that is inside.


New Hobbies

by Alexis Bryan

When you watch a Hawaiian luau, a Hawaiian party or feast, you may see what is called poi. In Hawaii though, they mainly spin fire on two sides of a staff. A couple of years ago poi was introduced to Gothenburg, Ne. I have personally been doing poi for about three to four years.

I was introduced to poi by my younger brother while I was still in highschool. There were about two people in Gothenburg that started this. It was just a harmless hobby that captured the eyes of many--freshman Bailey Rickertsen being one of the many.

You can have sock poi, which looks mainly like an extra long sock with a small ball in the end of it; pendulum poi, which looks like a rope with oversized hollow bouncy balls on the end; or fire poi, which looks like a chain with a ball or square of cloth on the end of it. There are so many more types of poi that you can find on www.homeofpoi.com.

Poi comes with so many different possibilities, but one thing you can be sure of is that no matter what you choose one of the hardest parts is learning how to use them.

Bailey states, “I would have to say the hardest part of poi is trying to learn new tricks on your own. And trying not to hit myself in the face.”

Some people, including me, have what is known as TERRIBLE hand-eye coordination. With poi, though, you really learn how to exercise this ability and strengthen your self-trust, because it does take a lot of trust in your hands not to hit yourself in the face.

This is just another thing that helps get rid of stress and just pass time.

“I just want to get better everyday and try to get other people to love poi as much as I do,” explains Bailey. So if you are finding that you have way too much time on your hands maybe you could give something new a twirl.


Thursday, October 16, 2014

Out with the Old and in with the New



By: Jasmine Simpson

Look around you. You’re surrounded by mountainous piles of junk and ancient possessions. ‘Where on earth did all of this come from?’ you may ask. Do you really want to know? Well, here’s the dreadful truth: It’s from all those years spent collecting hundreds of purchases.

Let’s face it, at one point or another, every one of us has purchased a random ‘toy’ that we’ve convinced ourselves we could never live without. We’ve all had the exhilarating feeling that comes with bringing home that new pair of boots or that shiny leather jacket from Hot Topic. It’s too tempting to just pass these buy. It’s too tempting to pay for it and have it in your hands mere seconds later. 

So where does this leave us? We are subject to the ever-growing pile of items we really don’t need. Instead of leaving it lying around, do something with it! Trash it. Sell it. Give it to that Potter kid down the block. Don’t just keep it all! 

You still need help getting rid of those mountains? Here are a few tips to speed you along the path of capturing your bedroom back:
1)    Organize your mountains of garbage into three piles: Important Garbage, Useless Garbage, and Actual Garbage.
2)    Get rid of that secret fourth pile you labeled ‘Maybe Garbage’. It honestly will be your downfall.
3)    Toss out that Actual Garbage pile. Seriously, why haven’t you done that already?
4)    Elect a friend or blood-relative to go through your piles. (If they love you they will be honored to do it for you.) Tell them to take whatever their hearts desire.
5)    Once the piles have been picked over by those vultures of yours, filter through the piles yourself. Ensure that a random Maybe Garbage pile hasn’t reappeared during this process.
6)    Take a breather and view the size of your piles. If you truly followed these instructions, your mountains should be valleys by now. If this isn’t the case, then you really shouldn’t have skipped steps 2 and 3. Go back and do it right. Then you’ll be done!

Tada! Your room is significantly larger now. Doesn’t that feel amazing? Ok, maybe right now you feel awful about losing all your cool stuff, but honestly, later on you’ll feel good. 
In the future, you should remember that getting the old stuff out of the way always lightens the load. Who knows? Maybe others will even start flocking to you with their hoarding issues (along with all their awesome junk).

Live without breathing



By: Jasmine Simpson

The higher world rests above my waters; up there lies the past.
Do I truly belong there with all those black memories?
It seems too unfamiliar now.
I must stay below where I am free.
I must be away from the world of sin and sorrow.
That past left long ago, yet shadows linger in my mind.
The obscurities of my thoughts leave traces riddled with darkest deeds.
All these years they have ached to behold the sun.
They ache to breathe once more.
This addiction of the mind is sedated merely with its freedom.
To be free is a fragmentation of fiction.
No reality could deign to such a tragedy as this.
I saw all of those souls; they were born to live by breathing.
They grasped it as their freedom.
Yet in reality, it was their prison.
I saw the frailty of their minds.
None could resist this euphoria of breathing. 
What made their air so precious?
What gave it the power to rule them?
Those above are too naïve.
That utopia we once sought; it is only dreaming.
That world will never have peace.
That world will never be home.
So why do we breach the surface?
Why do we breathe when we cannot drown?