Book Review- "The Pillowman"

          This term I read the phenomenal play script, "Pillowman", by Martin McDonagh. This play is exciting from the beginning. What McDonagh deals with as his theme is the importance and power and necessity of telling a story. He presents this theme in away that is entertaining and clever. Not only does he utilize this manipulation of time, but there is also the interesting notion that we are listening to a story of a bunch of characters that like to tell and listen to stories. The overall feel is definitely a little creepy. McDonagh has a very unique voice throughout this pieve, and although he does not create amazing personalities, his style is entertaining enough on its own; the stylized dialogue is semi-poetic and is interesting to listen to and has a smooth flow to it.

          This play is extremely dark and sadistic, yet hilarious in multiple parts and generally funny throughout. I loved how McDonagh used the pieces of literature that are popular, like the Pied Piper and made a twist on it. His use of alliteration is profound and it is always somewhat self-assuring when you can understand a joke or piece of alliteration within a piece that you are reading. This play was a bit challenging, because it was hard at times to keep in mind what was going on simultaneously in certain scenes. Overall, I loved this play and despite what most reviews I had read on this script said, I think it was very well written. I had the opportunity to see part of it performed by some very talented actors at my school and they did a superb job. I highly recommend this script for anyone looking for a quick page turner!

Tweet, Tweet

          Twitter. To the non-tweeter, it is a social network that is pointless and confusing, but to the avid tweeter, it is the ability to live your life, 140 characters at a time. Twitter is the ability to express whatever you are feeling; use a hash tag; show your followers the latest picture that you took; bash someone without saying their name; sing a song without uttering a note; be best friends with your favorite celeb; quote your favorite movie; tell the world what you are doing; a drama outlet for high school students; be a leader of numerous followers; stalk your favorite people; keep up with the minute by minute or second by second activities of your secret lovers. Twitter is nothing and everything at the same time.

          To a celebrity, Twitter is an outlet to thank your fans; send out your latest music release; advertise your upcoming event; tell your adoring fans what you are eating at the moment; get in a fight with your ultimate enemy. To the follower, Twitter is where you stalk your favorite celebrity; find out where the party is at this weekend; find out the sores of your school's sports team; get the fact of the day; look at the love quote posted. Twitter is nothing and everything at the same time.

           Living your life one-hundred and forty characters at a time can be challenging, but that is what Twitter is. Tweeting, hash-tagging, mentioning, trending, and following are what Twitter is. Twitter is nothing and everything at the same time.  

40 Days and 40 Nights

          Lent started last week on Ash Wednesday and being the Catholic that I am, I have come to that time of year where I have to decide what I am going to do for Lent. This year, I have decided to give up two things that seem to be a part of my every day life; coffee and meat. Two essentials, right? It has been less than a week and I am definitely going through a withdrawal, more with coffee than with meat.

          When you give something up for Lent, it is supposed to be something that has importance to you so that you are making a sacrifice. So, being the heavy coffee drinker that I am, I decided to do without my caffeine friend for the next forty days. I am on day five and let me tell you, this is so hard. I am one of those people who wakes up with a cup of coffee and then has another sporadically throughout the day. I am so addicted to coffee, the smell, the taste, the warm sensation, pretty much everything about it. On Ash Wednesday, my friends and I went to Starbucks. Be proud of me readers, because I didn't give into the temptation, I got a tea and soaked in the wonderfully glorious smell of the coffee around me. Needless to say, I cannot wait until Easter and rest assured, I will wake up and drink a humongous cup of the best roast of coffee ever.

          My feelings towards giving up meat are completely different. I have always wanted to try being a vegetarian and so I am really excited. I will admit that I was tempted today by my favorite kind of pasta salad that has little bacon bits in it. I have been keeping up with this sacrifice very well. I think it is because a lot of my friends are vegetarians and I have their support. Also, my mom gave up meat so my meals at home are easy to work with as well. I feel bad for my sister, though because she has to deal with our meatless meals, but my mom has been pretty good about making our meals be something that could have meat in it, like noodles and you could have meat sauce or just an Alfredo sauce. We will see if I crack even though, I have complete faith that I won't. Easter please come fast!  

One of the Greats

         Tonight is Oscar Sunday, the 84^th award ceremony where all of the movie greats gather together to acknowledge each other for their amazing accomplishments. Billy Crystol hosted the Academy Awards this year and I can honestly say he was not my favorite host. When they were announcing “Best Female in a Lead Role” I sprinted into the living room. I knew that I wanted either Viola Davis for her work in The Help or Meryl Streep for her work in The Iron Lady to win. I absolutely love Meryl Streep and was thrilled when she won.

          My favorite role of hers would be a tie between her role in The Devil Wears Prada and Julie and Julia. Both equally amazing roles, but both completely different roles. In her role in The Devil Wears Prada , she plays the editor in chief of one of the world's top fashion magazines. She is basically the “Dragon Lady” and works side by side with Princess Diaries actress, Anne Hatheway. These two are a great pair and play off of each other so well. She encompasses this character that you absolutely want to hate. She is so so mean, but you have to love her because she is Meryl.

          In her role in Julie and Julia , she plays the infamous chef Julia Child. This role is super funny and quirky. In this film, she works side by side with Amy McAdams, who she also works with in the film, Doubt which is a completely different role. Meryl Streep and Amy McAdams are a really great acting duo. I love watching acting pairs who are in different films together, especially these two because in Doubt , they play a two nuns who are very serious and in Julie and Julia , they don't exactly work in the same scenes, but Meryl character acts as the inspiration for Amy's, and throughout the movie you see the similarities that the two have in each other.

Though I haven't seen The Iron Lady , I intend to. From what I have heard she encompasses a serious character, but also includes her subtle sense of humor. Meryl Streep is just an amazingly versatile actress and is my role model. I hope that someday I can be an amazing actress like her.

POS! (Parent Over Shoulder)

Have you ever felt like your parents are always getting into your business and want to know everything that is going on? Or maybe they do everything for you and solve all of your problems. Whichever one it may be, it could potentially change the way you live your life. Helicopter parenting is negatively affecting the way kids grow up.

Helicopter parenting has very few positive impacts on children. A research done showed that kids with helicopter parents were more engaged in learning and were more satisfied with their college. Barbara Dafoe Whitehead, a social historian, who thinks helicopter parenting is ok states, “Over-parenting, is not letting our kids take the consequences of their actions, swooping down to rescue them, and the result would be a spoiled brat. But helicopter parenting is entirely different, and I think it is a positive style of child-rearing.”

Contrary to that opinion, Susan Newman, the author of Nobody’s Baby Now: Reinventing Your Adult Relationship With Your Mother and Father,  indicated, “When parents are making decisions for their children all the time and protecting them, when they get out on their own they don’t know a thing about disappointment.” This is a very true statement about many parents out there. They are afraid of watching their children fail so they are overprotective.

With parents being over protective, children have a lack of exposure to the real world. When children have a lack of exposure, they are unable to develop the skills needed as an adult. When a child is in a situation of making a decision, parents should allow the child to try and deal with it themselves before stepping in and helping.  Parents step in to help make decision because they can’t stand to see their child in pain, by doing this their child is unable to develop the necessary social skills needed. Parents think they are helping their kids; consequently their children will grow up and won’t be mentally and physically tough enough to survive in the real world.

Furthermore, a study at Wollongong University in Australia showed that not only did over parenting affect a child’s emotional and social development it could potentially affect their physical health. Problems may include weight gain, underdeveloped motor skills, and lack of emotion.

Children of helicopter parents have also been shown to be more “stuck up,” meaning they feel like they are better than everyone else. Parents have been found doing their kids projects, homework assignments and even writing college essays. Parents say they do this for their kids because they are embarrassed of their previous failures and want to show how good their kids really are. With parents doing this for their children the child may grow up thinking nothing is ever their fault because instead of making their child face challenging situations, they make it disappear instead of allowing the child to learn and grow from it.

Reducing the amount of parenting you do may be a difficult thing to change but in the long run you are helping your child out. When helping a child make independent decisions don’t always provide your input because that will make them think differently. Also when they are making more superior decisions take a step back and allow them to understand the consequences and how their decisions help determine the way they live their life and not yours. One of the biggest things you can do as a parent is to allow your child to make mistakes. Remember everybody makes mistakes, with making mistakes; it creates learning experiences for both you and your kids. Ally Birgitte declares, “It's not about accomplishments, but about relationships. Just like our children are valued for who they are, not what they do, we as parents need to realize that it also works the same for our children. They love us, not for what we do, but for who we are – their parents.”

            Always remember that you aren’t always going to be there for your kids, allow them to experience failure and make their own decisions or they will never make it in the real world. Sometimes you may need to take a step back and think if what you are doing is affecting your child’s future. Allow your kids to have a life, because being a helicopter parent negatively affects the development of your child which will negatively impact their future.

Play Review: "Harvey"

                   This past weekend, I had the amazing opportunity to be involved with the show, “Harvey”, at my high school. I am going to take some time in this post to talk a little bit about the show. Here is a brief storyline from the author, Mary Chase, “When Elwood P. Dowd starts to introduce his imaginary friend Harvey, a six and a half foot rabbit, to guests at a dinner party, his sister, Veta, has seen as much of his eccentric behavior as she can tolerate. She decides to have him committed to a sanitarium to spare her daughter, Myrtle Mae, and their family, from future embarrassment. Problems arise, however, when Veta herself is mistakenly assumed to be on the fringe of lunacy when she explains to doctors that years of living with Elwood's hallucination have caused her to see Harvey also! The doctors commit Veta instead of Elwood, but when the truth comes out, the search is on for Elwood and his invisible companion. When he shows up at the sanitarium looking for his lost friend Harvey it seems that the mild-mannered Elwood's delusion has had a strange influence on more than one of the doctors. Only at the end does Veta realize that maybe Harvey isn't so bad after all.” It is truly a phenomenal piece of literature! For more on my thoughts about the script see my post, “Book Review: ‘Harvey’”.

                Elwood P. Dowd is a very hard role to capture. He encompasses this very soft and easy-going attitude throughout the show. In our interpretation of this show, Elwood was played by, Shane Neilsen. Shane is arguably one of the greatest actors to grace the stage at Kennedy High School. This role was leaps and bounds different than any of the other roles he has had in his time at Kennedy. In his role as Elwood, we got to see the more seriously and softer side of Shane, versus his usual goofy self.

                Kylie Hanschman played the role of Veta Louise Simmons, Elwood’s sister. Kylie has acted most prominently in Playtime Poppy children’s shows, so, like Shane, this was a very different stage for her. She far exceeded any expectations that everyone had. Veta is, in my opinion, the most important role in this show. She is also the hardest to play. Kylie perfected the right amount of quirkiness and calmness that was needed to give of the right impression of Veta. I was thoroughly impressed with her performance.

                The entire cast performed very well and made the audience smile. I would like to extend a huge “Thank you!” to the entire cast, directors, and crew for making this a truly amazing experience.

Two Sides to Every Story: Part 2

               Our scholarship system, that is set up to aide students with finances for college, is a prime example of this modern racism. According to the Census Bureau in 2010 the number of white Americans who were below the poverty line was 243,013 and the number of black Americans, 38,965. Given the amount of white Americans that fall below the poverty line in this statistic, one would think that a special scholarship would be available to help those who are students with college finances. Now, white students can apply for a general financial aid scholarship, but that is available to all students. After researching on various scholarship websites, I found that the amount of college scholarships, specifically, available for minorities is countless. If you go and search for a scholarship specifically for a white student, you won’t find one. These scholarship stipulations are something that needs to be re-evaluated. Originally when these scholarships were made, it was to ensure that the public knew that schools were making the effort to make their schools more diverse, but the diversity of our schools isn’t so much a problem anymore. In this day and age, getting a college education is something that people strive for. It is an opportunity that should be available to everyone, which is why scholarships are available. If it isn't right for people to single out others, why is it okay to make a scholarship unavailable directly for one race of people, singling them out?

            Several times I have been in class or in the halls and have been verbally and emotionally harassed by black people and the teacher does nothing about it. A time that sticks out the most is when I was walking through the hall and was thrown and yelled at for “intentionally” ignoring the fact that someone, a black student, was right next to me. This student continued to call me names regarding my race. I didn’t respond to it and kept walking. Why? If I had said something back, stood up for myself, I would’ve ended up in trouble, or have been yelled at again by that same person. Even writing this I am scared for what the response will be.
            A huge controversy in our society is the use of the “N” word. I don’t believe that it, or any derogatory term, should be used, ever. What some people don’t understand is that for a white person to be called a “Cracker” or “Vanilla Latte” is just as offensive as any derogatory term used towards black people.
               Racism is something that unfortunately is a part of our culture. Regardless of where you are in this country, there will be a minority, and that minority will be treated even the slightest bit differently than the dominant race of the area. It is something that we should try to eliminate from our everyday life. A modern racism exists towards white Americans today, similar to the racism that black Americans faced in the past. Every person is unique and different in their own way. As a society, we need to break away from this detrimental stigma, created so long ago, and start to see people for their uniqueness, not the color of their skin.