Category: entertainment

The Great Adventures of Tim Part 1

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photo credit to http://www.readretro.com

Tim is a student at a small school. He is known by all his teachers and classmates and he is a very responsible student. His life was very normal and things always seem to work out just fine. Until, one day, during his math class he asked to use the restroom. When he went to the restroom he got sucked down the toilet and popped out in a 2D world.

Immediately after entering this 2D world, a giant Ape took a princess. The princess said “Save me time. You’re my only hope.” The ape ran off. Tim was confused and didn’t know what to do, so he went forward. It was his only choice ,considering the world was 2D.

He jumped from brick platform to brick platform until he reached a wall with a door. He entered the door and a new setting appeared. Now there was not only brick platforms but there were coins and angry muffins walking around. The angry muffins chased him, so he instinctively ran, collecting as many coins as he could. He ran through about 5 doors before he reached a merchant. The merchant had what appeared to be an apple hat. Tim was unsure if it was a hat or an actual part of him, so he just didn’t ask. The Merchant sold apples, but these were not just any apples. They had the ability to make whoever eats it large or shoot fireballs.

Tim Bought one of each apple and when he went to pay he pulled out coins and a star he found. The merchant instantly said “HIDE THAT STAR!” Tim asked why and the merchant continued: “The star has the ability to make you invincible. Its your only hope to defeat the ape.” Tim put it away, then asked how the merchant knew about his mission. The merchant was unsure, he just did.

Tim moved on to the next door. Through this door was a bunch of slanted platforms. At the top of these platforms was the ape. He was holding a bunch of barrels, and then he heard the princess scream for help. Tim rushed up the platforms as fast as he could as the ape began to throw barrels. Tim jumped and jumped over the barrels until he reached the top. The ape said in a very confident voice “Do you think you can beat me?” Tim reached in his back pack and ate all the apples and the star. Tim became an invisible fire shooting giant and attacked the ape, winning the fight in seconds. He saved the princess and was talking to her when he suddenly appeared back in the restroom. Only three minutes had passed since he left the math room. He went back and sat down at his desk still confused about what happened.

Time to Change

kennyroo

Feminist: A person who believes in the social, political, and economic equality of the sexes.

The basic idea of Feminism revolves around the sole principle that because our human bodies are designed to perform differently in order to procreate – our intelligence, social functions, capabilities, and rights should be considered equal.

The word “feminist” has picked up a negative connotation in recent years. Why is that? How did independence turn into “man-hating”?

Men and women pay the same for college tuition. So, how does it make sense that we could leave college, get the same job, but as woman I make 75-cents for every mans dollar?

Women were, and in certain ways still are, treated as inferior to men.
Sexism began as early as Aristotle, who claimed that women were ‘imperfect’ men since they did not contain a male reproductive system.

Children are taught in princess movies that a prince has to come and save the day for everything to be okay. How about we teach our daughters that they can save themselves instead?

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Emma Watson speaking about feminism and her campaign, “He for She” at the U.N. Photo Credit: socialnewsdaily.com

Actress, model, and spokeswoman, Emma Watson, was named U.N. Women Goodwill Ambassador. She gave a life altering speech recently on this very subject, feminism. The speech left the entire room in tears and on their feet clapping – both women, and men.

We expect society to change – when as a society, we do not do enough to change it.

ASITs, attention! ASITs, begin! Work more, work more!

indigoshell

Sometimes, our classes and courses get cancelled. Sometimes, we have 28 ASITs and not enough relevant classes to stick them into. The ASITs without a job, or wanting to do something different, can do Chores.

Chores are basically what they sound like; they’re chores. Some Chores are easy, like refilling Turtle Pond (the size of a very large kiddie-pool), or difficult, like deep-cleaning an enclosure (taking out all the shavings, scrubbing down the walls, then bringing in 2-4 more bags of heavy shavings and emptying them).

Some ASITs (me) request to do Chores because they don’t have to deal with numerous amounts of people. Some people are just put into chores simply because there really isn’t anything else to do.

Chores were then renamed “Projects” because, for some reason, the word “chore” seemed to have some sort of negative sound to it. None of us agreed, but of course it’s not any of us changed it anyways.

The three Golden Rules of being an ASIT are:

1. Always ask for more work
2. Always be enthusiastic
3. Always follow the rules

ASITs are always working, so if you ever take a rest, you better be sure to either hop back to work in a minute or two, or that everything is done. Then, when you’re finished – you’re not really finished until you ask someone for more work and they say that everything is done.

Ever tried to be helpful and enthusiastic for every second you’re with campers? Neither have I, because it’s utterly exhausting. Unless you’re naturally an extrovert, there’s no way to always be enthusiastic. I wasn’t known for my enthusiasm. In fact, I was known for how stoic I was, but nobody gave me grief about it because it was my “thing.” Believe it or not, we can be punished for not being enthusiastic enough. One or two bummers could ruin the whole ASIT crew’s night.

Underwear For Sale

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Nowadays, Americans are so materialistic that they’ll go to great measures to own anything once belonging to someone famous.

For example, many girls between ages 10-16 would go crazy over Harry Styles’ used tissue. To be in possession of an item that he once touched, no matter what it is, would be honorable to them.

Currently, Queen Victoria‘s bloomers are being sold for nearly $10,000. Although appealing to a different audience, it is ridiculous nonetheless. Granted, they did belong to a past queen, but to pay thousands to own a pair of underwear seems absurd.

Photo Credit: http://www.express.co.uk

These bloomers are not the only item of Queen Victoria’s from the 1890’s that were sold – her stockings went for about $2,000.

Besides the fact that she was the queen, a selling point for these articles is their size – she wore them at an older age, after having eaten lots.

Society is so focused on materials, and “brand names”. This scores someone a pair of ancient royal panties, so really, there’s no problem.

ASITs, attention! ASITs, begin! Cry a lot, cry a lot!

indigoshell

A 14-hour workday is not easy for anybody, especially not for teenagers aged 15 to 17. You have to, have to, follow the rules, or risk either being asked to leave camp or be demoted back to being a camper, which, speaking from experience, is a rather sad experience.

Being an ASIT gives you a lot more freedom. You don’t have to sign in and out during free time whenever you want to walk around camp, you’re allowed to have your electronics (phones and/or laptops), and you don’t have to be under constant Counselor supervision.

But with great power comes great responsibility. We, the ASITs, know more than campers, and often know more than Counselors too. During Morning Rounds, it’s our job not only to clean and water the animals, but to check for sick or dead animals. It’s usually and ASIT that discovers a dead or dying animal first, even before any Animal Specialists. Following that job is having the responsibility to not let any campers (or gossipy Counselors) know that an animal had died. Usually, a short “oh Dallas went to the vet” is enough to quiet a kid down.

ASITs are aged 15-17, so often times campers that are 17 years old won’t want to listen to a 15-year-old ASIT. “Threatening” them with a Counselor works most of the time, but some campers can be stubborn. Some rules are tough, annoying, or seem meaningless to the Camper and the ASIT too, but it’s there for a reason and ASITs do everything they can to keep campers and our animals safe.

The most frustrating part of being an ASIT may not be the hard physical work but dealing with animals and people who just don’t understand why things are they way they are.


Then there’s our mold problem…

News Flash

kennyroo

“If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all.” Young kids are taught this daily. Where did that principle go?

Pop-culture instills a competitive state of mind into children all day, everyday. How do we, as a society, expect for the next generation to come out any differently if we are all stuck in the same cycle?

This cycle may be better known as the idea that lowering somebody’s self esteem somehow makes yours grow.

While this topic may be more prevalent for girls, boys have it just as rough. We’re all just in the rat race to be better than the next. We all are too stuck in the idea that taking someone down raises you higher. News Flash! No matter how much you thrash somebody else’s reputation, yours does not rise.

I dare you reader – I dare you to give a sincere compliment to three people in the next 24 hours. What does that take out of your day? Maybe 5 minutes in total. But to them, that will probably make their day.

gossip
Photo Credit to: http://janessajaye.com/

ASITs, attention! ASITs, begin! Put ‘cho shoes on, put ‘cho shoes on!

indigoshell

A full day of being an ASIT starts at 7:15am and goes to, on a bad day, 9:30pm. Which is nearly 14 hours of work and “work.”

Morning rounds are the first thing we do every day, even before eating breakfast. After breakfast we clean our ASIT lounge and then head off to morning courses and classes

An ASIT tradition is that we take about 10 minutes to put on our shoes.

Courses are week-long commitments that can range from Riflery to Adopt-an-Animal. Classes are just for an hour. Seniors (ages 12-17) have courses in the morning and Juniors (ages 7-12) have classes in the morning, and ASITs are split up to assist with classes and courses.

Sometimes, assisting can mean you’re an extra pair of eyes and you get to join in with the class. Sometimes, assisting can mean teaching the campers how to be safe with the animals.

ASITs usually help with Junior classes and courses, as younger children in general need more supervision. Some classes and courses, like the Jungle or the Habitats, require more supervision because of special animals.

Our lemurs and large (4 foot long) lizard enclosures, for example, need extra supervision, as they can be slightly dangerous or more sensitive as, say, a ferret or parrots.

We have lunch and Free Time for about two hours, as well as Leadership Training, which is basically talks about enthusiasm or how (or how not) break up a fight between campers. After Leadership, Seniors have classes and Juniors have courses, and basically the morning is repeated.

Dinner, then free time, then we have Evening Activity. Activities, like the Bug Hunt and the Fashion show, require the ASITs to prep for it, which could be clearing out 20 tables and 200 chairs or simply spreading out around camp and hiding. Sometimes ASITs have to help clean up after Evening Activities, like putting the tables and chairs back or cleaning up water guns and balloon remains.

Curfew can be from 9:45pm to 11pm depending on how many ASITs we have and how well we’re behaving. Though, after a full day, most ASITs want to sleep by dinnertime.

Take a Look at Me, an ASIT You Will See

indigoshell

You don’t just pay to be an ASIT, you have to work to be an ASIT. You have to work to work. (Many of us ASIT’s have talked about the logic, but nobody has bothered to rebel yet.)

To be an ASIT, you have to have been a camper for at least one year beforehand. Not many ASIT’s are second years, so a few veteran ASIT’s were surprised that I was an ASIT on my second year.

I didn’t look like an ASIT. ASIT’s are like the equivalent to a high school senior, and as I am 5’2 and quite petite, many people assumed I was anywhere between 12 to 15 years old. I’m 17.

ASIT’s don’t only take care of a camel and emus — we get assigned to Junior Cabins (aged 7-11) and help with classes and courses throughout the day (equivalent to a TA in school). So not only did I get incredible hands-on experience with animals of all shapes and sizes, I was also (almost unwillingly) working with children (aged 7-17 but they’re all children to me) for hours and hours of the day.

Although we had ASIT training, new ASIT’s really have no idea what to do, and as most stay for only two weeks, they leave with a feeling of hesitant accomplishment. I (and just a few others) stayed for a solid 6 weeks, from the beginning of the two-week sessions to the end of camp.

I knew I was walking differently and I was talking differently. The way I looked at the (ordinary) campers was different than the way I’d look at a fellow ASIT or a Counselor. Six weeks was just not enough time to be an ASIT.

Have You Ever Seen, An ASIT Company

indigoshell

This summer, I spent a grand total of eight weeks at summer camp. Yes, the same summer camp, but this time I was not a lowly camper.

I was an ASIT. 

An ASIT. Animal Specialist in Training. We, 11-25 of us, wake up at 6:45 a.m. to feed, water, and clean the enclosures of over 300 different camp animals. There are four areas; the Barn, the Animal Learning Center (ALC for short), the Jungle, and the Kennels.

Barn people take care of the Inner Barn, the Back Pastures, the Nursery, the Bird Nursery, and the Creepy Crawly Room.

ALC people take care of the Habitats, the Small Animal Room, the Reptile Room, and the Cat Room.

The Jungle and the Kennels are their own areas.

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I worked (I PAID TO WORK) as an ASIT for 6 weeks, meaning I worked in every area at least once. My pride and joy, where I wished I could sleep at night, was the Reptile Room. I memorized the meals of 7 reptile species in under three days. My greatest moment was walking into the ALC Kitchen and the lead Animal Specialist planted herself in front of me and said “just the person I was looking for! I need you to feed the reptiles!”

Chuckwallas, Mali Uromastyx, Green Iguana, Leopard Tortoise, Plated Lizards, Blue-Tongued Skink, Bearded Dragon, Leopard Gecko. For the sake of my own pride, I listed the reptiles (minus the snakes) that we took care of. For the sake of time and space I won’t write down their meals.

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The Habitats was the next area I memorized. Again, under three days.

Given the time, I assure you I would have memorized all the meals for the animals. I didn’t really try anyways until the last week.

Does YouTube mark the end of the TV?

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With new forms of entertainment such as the internet, or more specifically YouTube, the TV seems to be consistently getting lower use each year.

Maybe it is because people prefer cheaper and more versatile forms of entertainment instead of being stuck with a strict schedule or constant ads.

Another website that is stealing the show is Netflix, a website that allows people to watch TV shows for only eight dollars a month, with no ads and tons of variety. Even though Netflix doesn’t have the newest episodes, it still allows you to watch entire seasons in a row with no interruption.

It is time for the TV to step aside and allow the age of internet dominance to begin, even though some argue it has already begun.

Netflix and YouTube are also widely known for ruining people’s grades in school.