Warbreaker

Hello!

               Trying to get my page count up for AP Language and Composition has been a recurring theme for my Sunday afternoons as of late. Not really, but still, introductions are hard to write, so you’ve got to live with it. This blog post is going to be about a book that I’ve read, though. It’s called Warbreaker, by Brandon Sanderson.

               The book starts off confusing, and doesn’t get much better throughout the course of the 400-odd pages. I understand that in many books it is necessary to allude to things you don’t understand in order to keep the audiences’ attention. In this book, however, it is way over-the-top and it makes the book read very poorly. I’m not a big fan of how convoluted the storyline was, as well as how it was told from the point of no less than three characters.

               The next thing that I’ve always loved about many fantasy books is that the author often creates an entire new universe, complete with currency, systems of government, and occasionally magic. Sanderson tries to do that in this novel, but it comes off as cliché and poorly done.

               The one thing that I think the author does very well in Warbreaker was the character development. I’ve always loved the characters in all of Sanderson’s books, and this one was no different. He did a wonderful job in making you understand the characters and want to be a part of their story.

               Overall, I was really disappointed in Warbreaker, I expected a lot better. Many of Sanderson’s other books are far better, especially The Way of Kings. That’s why it makes me sad when I read garbage like Warbreaker. I’d give it a solid 4 out of 10, but only because I really like some of the characters. Anyways, go read it, or not, I don’t care. (306)

AP Exams

Hello!

               It’s that time of year, the time where everyone freaks out. Friends are forgotten, meals are left uneaten, sleep is unattained, textbooks are dusted off and cracked open for the first time. My friends, the AP exams are coming.

               This will be my third year taking an AP exam, but only my first year taking more than one exam. I’m going to be taking the exams for AP Chemistry, AP Language and Composition, and AP US History. Now, I’m a pretty confident student, and I think that the AP Lang exam will be pretty straight forward, but the AP US History and AP Chemistry exams are going to be the end of me, almost guaranteed. It’s a lot more than just a normal final examination, in my opinion. In an AP exam, instead of having a general review of everything we’ve learned over the course of the year, it’s an intense, in-depth review. That’s not the way that we’re taught to learn throughout the course of high school, so it’s kind of annoying.

               So about two weeks ago I started reviewing for these exams. My “process” if it can even be called that, is to buy the first review book that I see, and read it. Cover to cover, page by page, the entire bloody book. And take notes. It’s time-consuming, inefficient, and probably won’t even get me a three or higher on the AP Chemistry test. It has worked for me in the past, though, and is probably how I will continue to do things. On the off chance that it actually works, I’ll be really happy.

               It’s not just the students that are on edge about the tests. The teachers either hate them or have to get students ready for them, there’s not many other options for them. As a teacher, you have to deal with students missing a ton of your class during the weeks of the exams, because they take all morning or afternoon. On top of that, you have kids that are missing more of your class time for review sessions, etc. Teachers that have teach AP classes also have to be preparing the kids for the exam early, and on top of that they have to be teaching new material and whatnot. As a teacher, that has really got to suck. But really, they should be helping us out too. Don’t get mad when we miss your class, it’s not our fault. Really, it’s tacky.

               So, AP exams. They suck. No one enjoys them, if you do you’re crazy. But  I wish you luck in taking them, and wish you luck in having your teachers not get pissy with you. (447)

Antigone

Think: all men make mistakes

But a good man yields when he

Knows his course is wrong,

And repairs the evil: The only

Crime is pride.

                This is an excerpt from the play Antigone by Sophocles. Although the section is short, sweet, and to the point, it’s full of meaning. Sophocles puts forth the opinion that since everyone makes mistake, the only people that are bad are those that don’t give up when they know that they’re at fault. I would consider his words to be very true; the only crime is pride.

                Sophocles is a playwright, and with that job comes the obligation to make things dramatic. When he says that the only crime is pride he is generalizing for the effect of drama. Obviously prideful people aren’t the only criminals in the world. Many things are actually crimes, like setting fire to someone’s car to running naked through a crowded shopping mall. What Sophocles means is that the only moral crime is pride.

                From the beginning of man people have been doing things that were considered bad. Stealing food, money, and land have persisted since people first hunted, minted coins, and held private property.  If you’re convicted of such an offense, you will most likely be punished, and that’s the way it is. What Sophocles is saying is that it doesn’t matter what physical crime you commit, it’s how you own up to it.

                Growing up around a parent that works in and around a jail has influenced me greatly. I often hear stories about criminals that have seen the light, whether it be religious or otherwise. They then recognize that they were wrong in doing what they did to earn them a spot in the orange jumpsuit. Many of these people will still live in chains for the rest of their days, but they will be absolved – perhaps not in the eyes of others, but in the only way that counts – in their own eyes.

                Examples of pride can be seen everywhere, especially among the stubborn. My father, for example, has a “stubborn streak a mile wide.” He will start something and not let anyone tell him how to do it better, even if he’s being so counterproductive that it hurts to watch. When he’s presented with a better way to do it, then obviously the better, more efficient way is wrong. Pride certainly frustrates the hell out of everyone, even if you don’t call it a crime.

                Everyone makes mistakes; it’s the nature of trying. Owning up to those mistakes is important, though. It makes us better people by realizing that we were wrong. The enlightened criminal is still a criminal in all the legal ways, but he’s free as a bird in all the ways that count. (462)

Fishing!

Hello!

               This post is going to be all about fishing. Shout out to Sam for hitting me up with this topic. As the weather gets warmer, and it gets more tolerable for people to be outside, I’ve started fishing again. I made it a tradition last summer to go fishing almost every week, at least once. Unfortunately, during the last summer I didn’t catch a single fish. Not a one. It was awful. I went for weeks, enduring sunburn and poison ivy in order to catch a fish. And I never did. It was very possibly the most disappointing event of the summer. This summer will be different, though, I’m sure.

               Fishing is an epic sport, one of the best varieties. It’s man against beast, and it’s a vicious competition. You have to spend hours tying knots and baiting hooks in order to get out at 5 in the morning just to suffer failure when you don’t catch anything. Then you, the outdoorsman, are required to curse the fish into the darkest depths of hell. Because that’s the way that games are played.

               It’s also not really just a game of sport, it’s a game of wits. To be a really good fisherman you have to have the mindset of the ancient fishermen of yore. You have to be the fish, swimming amongst the shallows. But you also have to be outsmarting the fish, too. You have to know where it’s going to be before it’s there.

               Perhaps it’s my lack of these skills that causes me to be a poor fisherman. Or perhaps it’s because it really takes a completely different set of skills all together. Either way, fishing is actually pretty awesome. It’s really actually very relaxing. You can just chill and enjoy the changing weather as you stare into space for a while. Although it’s not the most active or involving sport, I still enjoy it quite a bit.

               So my goal for this year is to catch a hundred thousand fish, none of them smaller than eight inches. If that doesn’t turn out I guess I can settle for two fish, one of them bigger than eight inches. If all else fails, I’ll probably resort to changing my summer activity to hunting or something. Because god knows that can’t be more difficult, right? Either way, have a great day. This is Matt, and I’m out. PEACE! (400) 

Prom recap

Hello!

               Last night and early this morning was prom for Kennedy, as well as eight other schools in our area. As a junior, I usually wouldn’t have gone, but my girlfriend is a senior so she invited me. Since I’m a junior, I didn’t go to all the assemblies for seniors about what was going on when and whatnot, so I had no idea what to expect. I was simply there to look pretty and drive her around, pretty much. Since I’m a junior, though, I got to have a pretty objective view of the whole thing, and overall I was not disappointed with how it was done.

               First off, there was the Grand March. Essentially, it’s a giant photo-opp for everyone, and you can get your pictures taken professionally. This was perhaps the worst part of the whole thing. At least, the line to get your pictures taken was the worst. My date didn’t want to go up on stage in front of everyone, so we didn’t. We did, however, get our pictures taken. The line was maybe 40 minutes long when we went, which is too much. Seems to me like they could have streamlined the process a little bit.

               The next part of prom was the dance itself, which was very cool. It was held at some fancy country club, which was pretty cool. Very suave, very elegant. The DJ that they had there wasn’t the best, but they played some decent quality music, stuff that you could dance to. There wasn’t many slow songs, though, which was kind of unfortunate for all of those that suck at any other kind of dancing. There also wasn’t a huge amount of grinding, which was very cool. Although I have nothing against grinding, it’d still be kind of ridiculous at such a formal event. So I’m glad that people weren’t super dumb about it. Overall, the dance had a very nice atmosphere.

               The final part of the evening was the Post-Prom thing. Once again, with this I had no idea what to expect. I had heard from a few people that it was supposed to be very lame. So I was pleasantly surprised when it turned out to be really, really fun. They had a ton of free food, and I mean a ton. They also had an open gym, a bunch of different games, and a hypnotist. The hypnotist was pretty cool, he made everyone do a bunch of stupid stuff.

               All in all, I had a really amazing time at prom. I have high hopes for our prom next year.

Weird Al Concert Recap

Hello!

               About a week ago I attended a Weird Al concert! This post is going to be about my experience at said concert. So if you don’t like it, get the hell out! Except I’m really going to be polite and say that perhaps you should read another one of my posts instead.

               So a little over a week ago my friend sent me a text saying that Weird Al was going to be performing at the Paramount later in the week, and that I was going to go. Honestly, the first thing I thought was “who is Weird Al?” Later I realized that he was the artist that produced parody songs such as “Amish Paradise” and “White and Nerdy.” I had heard these songs before, but never really cared who produced them. But since I enjoyed some of his works, I decided to be a good wingman and go to the concert with my friend.

               The first issue that I encountered with the concert was the price. It was anywhere from 35 dollars to 55 dollars for tickets. Now, as a poor high school student that is actually a pretty significant amount of cash. So although it was a really cool concert, it was kind of dumb that it was so expensive. Another issue that I had with the concert was that it was on a Sunday night. I know that they have a very strict schedule for concert times, and we’re lucky that we got to have the concert at all, but still. Sunday night, it lasted until 11 o’clock, and we had school the next day. That’s not the best.

               All in all, though, the concert was a blast. It was maybe two hours long, and he did a ton of different songs. We got two (!) drum solos, which is funny if you’ve ever seen a Weird Al concert. He also did a costume change after almost every song, after every two songs at most. It was great, he dressed up like an Amish dude for Amish Paradise, he dressed up in a fat suit for Eat It, and he dressed up like a jedi for The Saga Begins. Overall, I loved it. He gave the concert an aura of light-heartedness and fun, which is great.

               To anyone that has the chance, I’d say that they have to go! It’s not even a suggestion, it’s a command. You’ll most definitely enjoy yourself. (406)

Hats.

               Hello!

                              Let’s talk about hats. Hats are now considered a cliché, or even a fashion no-no. At least, this is what I’ve been told, because I have no idea what’s what when it comes to fashion. This confuses me, however, because hats used to be a staple of fashion. Wherever you went, everyone wore hats. Men wore hats, women wore hats, children wore hats, cats wore hats, dogs wore hats, EVERYONE WORE HATS. That’s because at the time it was considered a social necessity. Now, it’s not. It’s not just that the hats are no longer a staple of fashion that bothers me, it’s the seeming lack of reason as to why that bugs me. Fads in general are weird. Why is something popular one day but just plain stupid the next?

               An example of a big fad is the great #YOLOSwag epidemic of 2012. It seemed like everywhere you went people were dropping hashtag YOLO like a rapper drops rhymes. It was ridiculous, and everyone had to have known it, but did it anyway. Now, when people look back, they say that it’s stupid, “oh my god how did I ever do that.” Another example of a common fad is the hashtag thing itself. People began using the hashtag symbol to highlight a particular topic on Twitter. Then people started using them all the time, on Facebook, and even in common speech, which is ridiculously stupid.

               Anyway, don’t fall for fads. I suppose that is the point of this very short blog post. Fads are dumb, you’ll probably regret it. Like big hair from the late seventies. BIG HAIR WAS AWFUL. (272) 

"Because I Have To" Becomes "Because I Want To"

Hello!

               This poetry assignment has really gotten me thinking, folks. And by poetry assignment I mean the assignment that required me to write “Because I Have To,” the post right before this one. When my English teacher assigned poetry, I was really put off. I absolutely hate writing poetry. Especially poetry that has to fit in a rubric. Especially poetry that everyone has to write. Especially poetry that everyone has to read in front of everyone.  To me, it seems like you are really taking the “soul” of the assignment and watering it down to the point where it doesn’t mean anything. I say as much in my poem, as well as the commentary. So, because it’s what I do, I bitched and moaned about the assignment. I vowed to write the snarkiest, angst-fueled poem in the history of angsty teenage poetry.

               I tried to do it, too. I spent hours contemplating what to write about and how to write it. I poured a lot of time into making it the best poem it could possibly be. I tried and tried and tried, and then when I got done trying I tried some more. When it was finally done, I looked at it and I was proud. It was something that I put the time into and it paid off. And I realized when I was done that I had actually really enjoyed the project. It was really pretty fun.

               So what I’ve learned from this is that if I actually put effort into something, I enjoy it. Hopefully that remains true with everything, because I’d start putting more effort into a lot of things if that were the case. I mean, wouldn’t everything be just a little more awesome if you didn’t think of them as a job or chore, and instead thought of it as fun? I think that a profession in which that is the case is everyone’s dream. Think of the possibilities! Digging ditches and flipping hamburgers would no longer be a dead end job that you’re stuck in for the rest of your life! It’s now your dream job! . . . But maybe that’s too much to ask.

               Instead, perhaps it would be fruitful to simply put more effort into everything you do. That way you can feel much more accomplished when you do get something worthwhile done. I know it worked for me! Anyways, I’m done with this post. If you’d like, go read my poem and leave a comment on it. My AP Lang teacher wants me to submit it to the literary magazine from my school, but I’m not sure. (439)

Because I Have To

Because I Have To

A Literary Work by Matthew Finley

Because I have to

Forge my jumble of thoughts and words,

Beautiful in an abstract way,

Like ancient dinosaur bones into ugly black oil

Into a single

Over-refined

Point.

Because I have to

Pour meaning into the shallow pool

Of phrases that aren’t meant to be deep.

When I say the walls were blue

I mean that they

Were simply

Blue.

Because I have to

Craft a masterwork of tropes and schemes

Laid out to be judged not by man

But by our master The Rubric.

Like Socrates hung out on trial I’ll be punished

For saying what I

Believe.

Explanation of Tropes and Schemes

A Literary Self-Analysis of Because I Have To, by Matthew Finley

Syntax:

                One of the first things that I decided to include with this poem is the idea to end each stanza with a single word in the last line, as seen in lines 7, 14, and 21. It naturally brings each stanza to a close and finishes each thought.

Repetition:

                At the beginning of each stanza I included the phrase “Because I have to.” It emphasizes my criticism of the system we use in modern language arts classes, as well as tying each stanza into the poem itself.

Personification:

                In the third stanza of the poem I discuss the grading system used for these types of assignments. I use capitalization to personify the rubric used to grade them, as well as addressing it as our “master” in line 18. I did this to attack the almost prison-like atmosphere that results from being graded by a rubric.

Allusion:

                In the 19^th line of the poem I talk about Socrates, a man who taught about government in a style that was not good for the government at the time. They promptly took care of him by jailing him and eventually executing him. The allusion to Socrates once again emphasizes the prison-like atmosphere discussed in the above section.

Simile:

                In the first stanza, specifically line four, I use the phrase “Like ancient dinosaur bones into ugly black oil.” At this point I’m talking about the watering-down that occurs when peoples’ thoughts are placed into circumstances where a four year-old with a red pen could grade them. Comparing these two things with “like” makes it a simile, and if I do say so myself, an apt one.

Metaphor:

                In the second stanza, lines 9 and 10, I use a metaphor to compare phrases that aren’t deep to a shallow pool. This both continues to support the main theme of the poem, as well as being a play on words. You see, a shallow pool lacks depth.

Imagery:

                In the fourth line of the poem I use both “ancient dinosaur bones” and “ugly black oil.” These words can bring startling pictures to the fore of your mind, and continue supporting my point that forcing something complex to be something so simple destroys its quality. (495)

Clean Your Room!

Hello!

               Many kids are yelled at by their parents for various reasons throughout the course of their childhood. Most kids get yelled at to take out the trash, do your homework, eat your vegetables, and much more commonly – clean your room.

Everyone has a room, a place where they sleep, a habitat, whatever you want to call it. Everyone has a different way to keep their stuff organized, and they get comfortable with how their stuff is. So there are a few problems with messing with peoples’ rooms. Firstly, it destroys their carefully crafted order. If you’re anything like me, you know exactly where everything is in your room, all the time. When someone comes and messes with my stuff, I can’t find anything! Even though it’s “clean” by their standards, it’s completely messed up by your own. That’s just not cool. Also, peoples rooms should be a place where they can go and just chill. To just chill one must feel like they have privacy. If someone messes with their room, that’s an invasion of their privacy. DICK MOVE. Finally, adults usually make children clean their rooms when they’re having company over. If people come over, they’re usually friends or possible friends. These people should get to know the real you. I mean, yeah, your house shouldn’t be an absolute pigsty, but you shouldn’t have to Jesus-clean it just to have friends over. I can see where parents come from, but really. No one has a house that’s pristine all the time, and people should get to know the real you.

Getting to the point, perhaps in the ideal situation parents and kids would compromise. A child’s room should not be absolutely filthy. I mean, there are some levels of cleanliness that must be maintained.  But parents shouldn’t be neo-Nazis. No one likes it when their stuff gets messed with, because it screws with the order their room’s in, messes with their privacy, and creates unrealistic expectations for the future.  So perhaps compromise is necessary, but unfortunately very few people actually give a damn, so I’m going to debase this entire post by saying that compromise isn’t possible. Nothing will change about it, and parents will continue to yell at their kids about the same things for generations to come. That’s how the relationships work!

Petition to Nature

Hello!

               Let’s talk about weather. Specifically, let’s talk about how weather in Iowa sucks. Majorly sucks. We have too many extremes. In the summer it breaks 100 pretty regularly, and in the winter we get sub-zero temperatures without breaking a sweat, pun intended.

               Many examples of Iowa’s stupid weather are available in the past few years. One example of Iowa’s stupid weather is this past week. It started off sunny, with temperatures in the high fifties and low sixties. It was glorious; the ability to sit outside in shorts and a t-shirt was truly wonderful. Then everything took a turn for the worse as the week drug on, and it got really cold. I suppose it can’t qualify as “really” cold, because it was only high twenties and low thirties, but it was a lot colder than it had been earlier in the week. The sudden change was awful, and made for a miserable day or two for people who were wearing shorts and t-shirts and flip-flops. What was even worse was that on Friday we had freezing rain and some snow! From sunny and warm to windy and snowy all in a week. That’s some pretty crazy weather. Make up your mind, Iowa!

               Another example of our crazy weather is the flood in 2008. The water level rose like crazy, really fast, to a really high point, without precedent. The flood left hundreds of people without homes and thousands without power.  All of this happened because of our crazy weather, and it affected so many people.

               It’s not just these incidents that are upsetting about the unpredictable weather here in Iowa. There are a bunch of reasons why it sucks. For one, it’s annoying to actually have to watch the weather. Every morning in spring I have to get on the internet or read the paper to see what the weather’s going to be doing so I can dress accordingly. It would suck to be one of those people earlier this week who were wearing shorts and t-shirts when it was snowing. And let’s face it, most people are just too lazy to read the paper every morning for a season. Another reason it sucks is that it pushes a lot of people away. Most people like warm weather, so when you’ve got this crazy extreme weather, people hate it. So the point of this post is to petition Nature to change how the weather works here. Good luck. (410)

Get to the Point!

Hello!

               Since I’ve been a wee lad I’ve heard the phrase “less is more.” Whether it’s in advertising or other things, it’s gone into my ears hundreds of times. That phrase has recently come into a different light as I’ve started to get annoyed by people who can’t get to the point.

               There are many situations where rambling can be useful. For example, when trying to stretch out what should be a 150-word post into a 550-word post. That’s really nice, especially when you have to meet a specific word count by the end of every week. In general, though, rambling is annoying. Even though it’s annoying, it’s still considered acceptable when done by most people. Students, friends, mechanics, postmen, authors, engineers, cashiers, bakers, baristas, and many other occupations can get away with rambling without significant repercussions. There are some professions, however, that cannot. For example, teachers. When a teacher rambles to their class, it’s just plain dumb.

               On most of the days at my high school classes are 55 minutes long. That’s already pretty short, so ain’t nobody got time for dat. If a teacher talks for 25 minutes about what we’re supposed to be doing during the class period, then that leaves only 30 minutes left during the class. In itself, that’s not too bad. I can live with a teacher explaining something new, unusual, or difficult to us for a large portion of the class period. When a teacher explains the simplest nuance of something that we’ve gone over, however, is when I get pissed. And it’s not just me, it’s everyone. No one wants to hear the same thing repeated forty seven and a half times just because teachers like to hear themselves talk.

               Get to the point. That’s the point of this post. There are three main reasons why getting to the point will benefit you in the long run. The first reason that being concise is good is that people will actually pay attention to you. If you’re not giving short and to-the-point statements, people are going to tune you out. Second reason you should be concise is so you don’t piss people off. Some people are required to listen to you, if you waste their time they get mad. The third reason that you should get to the point is because you waste your own time. You’ve only got so much of it, so don’t waste it by rambling on.

               That is all. Point of the story, DON’T WASTE MY TIME. (418)

Spring is in the Air

Hello!

               Waking up this morning I heard something that I haven’t heard in months – birds chirping outside my window. That, as well as the warm weather we’ve had for the last two or three days tells us something – spring is in the air! All winter people have been waiting for the snow to finally melt, the grass to get green, flowers to bloom, and the weather to turn warm. That time of year is finally here, so I’m pretty excited.

               There are a lot of little things that I love about spring, and they seem so insignificant in the long run. For right now, though, they mean a lot. Firstly, the weather itself. I love it when it’s hot. I would take warm weather over chilly weather any day of the week, any time of the year. Most people will complain that it gets too hot in the summer, and they start wishing for winter. I’m a big fan of the heat all the time though, and wish it was hotter a lot of the time. It’s not just the heat that I like about spring, it’s everything. The birds come back, which is awesome (as long as they’re not crapping on your car). The grass turns greener, which makes everything look a little less dull, and let’s be honest, who likes a dull landscape? The same goes for flowers, because they start to bloom right about now too. Everything’s just nicer during spring than during winter. Even the smells are better.

               Secondly, I am a big fan of the activities that come with spring. I’ve never been a big swimmer, so I don’t go to the pool often, but I can relate with people who do enjoy going. I have always been a big hiker, so once the snow melts I start going backpacking and hiking a lot more. It’s great fun, a year or two ago I went up to the Ozarks for a week during spring break and backpacked around, it was the perfect weather for it. A lot of other activities open up around this time, too. Bicycling, running, soccer, basketball, and a whole slew of other outdoor fun can be had during spring that can’t be had during winter. Springtime is the time to get out and play.

               Finally, I’m a big fan of the miscellaneous stuff involved with the changing of the season. For example, the Easter holiday comes around. I’m not a big religious person, so I tend not to celebrate the holiday itself, but I love the candy. So every year on the Monday after Easter I always go to the store and buy a ton of discount candy.

               So I’m a big fan of the spring season, even if it’s just the small things that make me happy about it. So go outside, have some fun!

PROM?

Hello!

               Prom is coming up! Three weeks from yesterday people will be at Prom. Since it is coming up, lots of guys and girls have been asking their prospective dates in various ways. I’ve seen a little bit of everything this year, from good to bad. I know it’s high school, and a lot of people have “standard” expectations on how they’re going to ask or get asked, but people need higher standards. I mean, there’s so much cliché, over-used ways to ask people to Prom. You’ve got the standard, boring, P-R-O-M banner hanging somewhere.

               There’s so many better ways to ask. I’ve seen a couple really nice ones this year. For example, a friend of mine got asked IN BACON. What guy doesn’t like bacon? Another nice way I’ve seen is a friend figured out what the parking tickets at our school look like, got something similar, wrote PROM on it, and stuck it under the wipers of her car. Someone else I know wrote a girl a freakin’ song! And he performed it for her in front of a big group of people!

               What I’m trying to say here is if you have the chance, do something with style! Make a bang, because even if it doesn’t work out, at least you’ll have had fun, yeah? Give it a shot!

Boobs, boobs, everywhere.

Hello!

               Every day as an American you are probably subjected to at least one advertisement. Whether it is an ad for cologne, ice cream, the latest hit movie, a new pop band, a computer processer, the new gaming console, a new video game, you’ll see something. These ads are becoming more and more prevalent in our consumer-based society. You see them on billboards, running across your computer screen (Especially in the form of those annoying advertisements before Youtube videos.), pasted on walls, before the actual movie on the big screen, on television, and on the radio, to name just a few.

                What these advertisements do is magical, really. They can convince me of all sorts of things whenever I happen to see them. Take for example the awful infomercials that come on TV at 3 o’clock in the morning. Whenever I’m being a night-owl (All the time) and I’m watching them, I can see something happening to me. I mean, all it really takes for me to want a new 3-in-1 blender unit is a skinny Australian man screaming at me “Buy now and you can get TWO for the price of ONE, that’s right, folks: TWO for the price of ONE!”

                In all actuality, though, it’s pretty awesome what advertising companies do. They can tailor the perfect ad for the perfect situation, bringing a product to their desired audience in an essentially perfect system. For the sake of science, I’m going to show you what I mean through example.

                Take this ad and look through it closely:

 

                We’ll start analyzing the advertisement with the intended audience. The product is intended for women, probably young ones. That’s because the product is bras, duh. The ad is not specifically tailored to women, though. The amount of skin that’s showing is sure to at least get the attention of any young males browsing the most recent issue of “People.” These young males will want to try to push the product onto their girlfriends or wives.

                That brings me to the next point about the ad, which is how it works. The first thing the eye is drawn to is the women, of course. Namely their tits, to put it frankly. These women spout sex appeal like I spout worthless facts about turtles. Most young people, who aren’t yet completely comfortable with their body and all its failings, are going to want to look like the models in the ad. By placing their product in the ad Victoria’s Secret is associating beauty and sex appeal with their bras. “If you buy our product, you’ll look more attractive” is the main message in this ad. After you get over the initial shock of seeing such scantily-clad women, your eye will be drawn to the words. “New!” in bright pink letters will keep your attention, and then “I love my body” will once again put your mind on your own body.

                That’s all I’m going to do on the analysis of the advertisement, but I’d just like to say again that it’s a wonderful business. Some people call it manipulation, but I call it a form of art. (524)

Oh how I love you, Mt. Dew

Hello!
          My name is Matthew and I am a MtDewAholic. I drink it like it's water, and that's not a good thing. Studies show that it can cause cancer and stuff. NO ONE LIKES CANCER. So I've got to stop drinking Mt. Dew. That is all.

Ireland Recap

Hello!

               This spring break apparently wasn’t all it was cracked up to be here in Iowa. It was supposed to be cold and rainy, and there was still snow on the ground. To make it worse, the last day of the break it was actively snowing. Who wants snow on their spring break? I blame global warming. In other news, I didn’t spend my spring break here, I spent it in Ireland! I’ve already talked about everything I wanted to do, so this post is mostly going to be a recap, as well as some pro tips in case you’re internationally traveling anytime soon.

               Firstly, Ireland was fantastic. Going over there as a first-time international traveler, I had no idea what to expect. So when we first stepped out of the airport in Dublin and they had a bunch of high school kids there to welcome us to Ireland, I knew we were in for a very interesting time. In America, everyone is going where they need to go at a billion miles per hour. That means a lot of people end up coming off as rude. In Ireland, it’s way different. Everyone we met was very nice, and would stop and talk to us for a while. Therefore – The average person we met in Ireland was more polite than their American equivalent.

               The next point I’m going to make is the scenery. While descending in our plane onto Irish soil, everyone was looking out the window and talking about how green everything was. This was a huge contrast to Iowa, where everything is brown and frozen. Things are green over there even when it’s below freezing. That’s just talking about the grass and trees you see everywhere, too. There were a lot of really cool sights otherwise. We saw Blarney Castle, which had very beautiful grounds. Then there was the Giant’s Causeway, which is without any exaggeration the prettiest thing we saw on the trip.  It’s essentially just a very odd rock formation that happens to be right next to the Irish Sea, which makes it infinitely more majestic.  Point Number Two – Ireland was super pretty.

               The third point I’m going to make is about the cities. We went through Dublin in the Republic of Ireland, as well as a city called Limerick. In Northern Ireland we went through Belfast. These cities were laid out very nicely, with residential and commercial districts within walking distance of each other. This means that there were a lot more methods of transportation, as well as a lot of people riding around on bicycles. All of the cities just seemed a lot more people-friendly.

               A final point that I’m going to talk about is security. I’ve always assumed that security was pretty tight everywhere you went, but that’s really untrue. See, coming home from Ireland to the United States we had to go through Irish security first at the airport in Dublin. They actually laughed at some of the kids – All because they tried to take off their shoes. We Americans didn’t think anything of it because that’s what we’ve always done at airport security.

               Anyways, Ireland was fantastic. That is all. (530)

Texting V. Talking

Hello!

                My AP Language and Composition teacher has assigned us a blog post for this week. Although I would usually complain for several paragraphs about the tyranny involved in deciding what our so-called “free writing” is about, I really don’t mind. It gives me a topic to write about, and the topic she’s given us is actually pretty fun to think about. So in the interest of picking battles worth fighting, I’m going to get started.

                Social media is something that a growing number of people – both old and young- are becoming interested in. To some early adapters social media is already ingrained in the very framework of their being. Without it many know that they would simply cease to exist, their Facebook-less bodies wasting away in front of a blank computer monitor. The prevalence of such types of social media in society has brought, and is continuing to bring about changes in the way we act.

                Many years ago there was an era that, for the sake of clarity, I will now refer to as “the Dim Times.” Oddly enough, however, is the fact that during the Dim Times people were actually exposed to more light than they are being exposed to now. This strange phenomenon is due to people actually going outside instead of staring slack-jawed at a glowing screen while they creep on their friends’ friends’ friends’ friends on Facebook. In any case, in this past era people communicated through a slow, unwieldy, time-consuming form of communication called “mailing letters.” A person would sit down with a pen and piece of paper, usually with a very clear purpose in mind. They would write a reasonably long, thoughtful letter, and proceed to put it in an envelope and send it across town or across the country. This whole process could take days or even weeks to complete. Another archaic form of communication is the “phone call.” People would actually use their voices to convey various types of communication. It’s almost absurd what people resorted to in Ye Olde Times.

Compare that to the communication style of many today. A text message usually contains anywhere from 10 to 160 characters and takes approximately 13 seconds to send. An even more indirect method of communication is the Facebook or Twitter post. Many people will put vague phrases on the internet that leave nothing but a wasteland of confusion in their wake. Another downside of these near-instant forms of communication is the different ways that a text or tweet can be interpreted. For example, the one-word reply of “Okay,” will be endlessly debated and scrutinized for deeper meaning. Why didn’t they include a smiley face? Why didn’t they add an exclamation point? Why didn’t they say more than that? The list goes on. Compared to texting, a telephone call is simple! Through the natural inflection in someone’s voice emotions are easily expressed. This makes it very clear when you’re talking to them on the phone.

Newer forms of communication certainly have their uses. Sending someone a list of things that they need to remember is easily done through e-mail or text messages, and allows the recipient to have a hard copy that they can hold on to. It’s also much faster than sending a letter through the mail, taking only seconds instead of days. These new ways to get in touch with your friends also gives you a chance to get ahold of them even if they’re busy – just shoot ‘em a text. They also have some very serious downsides, too.

The amount of detail that goes into a letter or phone call is immense. You can convey more information with a single letter or phone call than you could in fifteen or twenty text messages. This means that people are less likely to be confused, worried, or upset by a phone call or letter than they would be by a Facebook post or text message.

So although new ways to get in touch with people are nice, it’s also very cool to get back to our roots and send that occasional letter or call your friends every once in a while.

Thanks for reading,

Matt Finley

(696)

Turtles

Hello!

               Recently several of my friends have been asking me why I have such large amounts of affection for turtles. I suppose there are several reasons why I think that turtles are the superior race of animal, but I’ll only list a few of the better ones here.

               Firstly, turtles are the pet that keep on giving. Turtles live an insanely long time for such small creatures, so it’s likely that you’ll only have to buy one during the time you’re interested. Next, turtles require very little in terms of attention. If you’re a person that’s out of the house a lot and don’t have time for the intense amount of care that a dog or cat requires, then the turtle might be the perfect pet for you. Thanks for your time. 

Senioritis

Hello!

               As the new term rolls around here at Kennedy high school, I’ve noticed people slacking more and more. Perhaps it’s because people are realizing that it’s third term and they’re loosening their belts in preparation for the long summer vacation ahead. Perhaps it’s because students are naturally losing steam after trying hard for the past two terms. Whatever it is, it’s happening. This can lead to the assumption that grades during third term are not as good as grades during first and second terms, a fact that has been agreed upon by everyone I’ve asked.

               This leads to the topic of “senioritis.” This is when people, specifically seniors, lose interest in school towards the end of their high school career. Although this is pretty normal, it can also be very detrimental to their high school experience. In all of my recent conversations with college admissions officers, they’ve said that they look at a variety of things, but one aspect that they carefully evaluate is an applicant’s senior year. If a student slacks off their senior year, admissions officers say it is a sign that this student will not be as well suited to the college experience as a student that works diligently throughout their high school experience. So the experts recommend not slacking off, what a surprise. Really, though. If you want to pursue your education in an institution for higher learning, you should probably not screw around your senior year. Use common sense and I’m sure you’ll come out fine.

Ireland

Hello!

               So in the next few hours I’m going to be boarding a bus on the first day of my spring break. This bus is going to take me to Chicago, where I’ll get on my first international flight. From there, I’m going to Ireland! That’s right, Ireland. I am so excited right now, and I’m just going to take some time here to point out a few aspects of the trip.

               Firstly, our itinerary is pretty killer. Except for the few days where we’re traveling ALL DAY, like tomorrow, it seems like there’s going to be a lot of stuff to do. Starting Sunday the cool stuff begins. We get to march in the St Patrick’s Day parade. In Dublin, Ireland. That’s like, the epitome of everything St Patrick’s-y. To be broadcast across international television. I’m pretty excited. After that, there are a few more performances, which is pretty neat. We also get to do some very touristy-stuff, such as the Knappogue Castle Medieval Banquet. Another big deal is the Titanic Centre, which is a museum devoted to the Titanic. What makes it cool is the fact that it’s located on the last port of call for the Titanic. Then  we have to perform some more, and this time with the orchestra that’s going along too. Then we get to see the Giant’s Causeway, which is pretty awesome. We get to spend a bunch of time in Dublin after that, we get to do some other cool stuff, then we get to spend another billion hours on a bus on the way home. And then a plane. Then a bus again.

               Now there are some other benefits of going to Ireland besides getting to see a bunch of cool stuff. One of the perks is getting to meet a lot of new people. Because going to Ireland with the 30 or 40 people that are going from our school would be super expensive, the Cedar Rapids school district decided to open the opportunity to all three public schools in our area – Washington, Kennedy, and Jefferson. This means that I’ve been hanging around with people that I’ve never met before, which is pretty nice. My section has two people I’ve never met before, and then a couple that I vaguely know. There’s also the fact that I get my first over-seas experience, which is neat. WE ALSO GET SUPER SEXY JACKETS AND BASEBALL CAPS.

This trip isn’t as cool as it could be, though. I mean, don’t get me wrong – I’m really, really, really, really, really excited. I cannot even describe how excited I am to be going on this trip. But in the future, there are things that could be made better, maybe. First off, at some point we’re going to be staying in two different hotels. I realize this is because of a lack of space, and nothing could really be done about it, but it means that we don’t get to choose our the people that are on our bus. This means that at certain points during the trip we’re going to have to hang out people that we don’t necessarily want to. Another point that I’m going to make is that we don’t get as much free time as we could possibly have. I know that this is because we’re going to be overseas and don’t want to “get lost” or “wander off,” but still. A few years ago the band went to Washington DC to march in a parade there, and it was really fun. We got a full day to wander around the Mall, and just to do whatever. There’s not going to be much time for that kind of stuff in Ireland this year.

               Now for some fun facts about Ireland! The Republic of Ireland gained their independence in 1922, and became a republic in 1949. Dublin is the Irish capital, and there are only about 4.6 million people as part of the population. Northern Ireland is a part of Great Britain, and has about 1.8 million people as part of its population – we’re going to see Northern Ireland when we go to Belfast. Ireland has two official languages; Irish and English. Irish is a type of Gaelic language. Ireland has free public schooling. Ireland gave birth to a ton of different writs, from Jonathan Swift to Oliver Goldsmith to William Yeats, James Joyce, and Thomas Moore. The Great Potato Famine, which saw the movement of my ancestors to America, killed almost 1.5 million people. One of the most interesting things about Ireland in my opinion is that St. Patrick’s Day as a holiday was never widely celebrated in Ireland until recently. Although it was celebrated, it was never done with such gusto as you can see now.

               So if you can’t tell, I’m pretty excited about this whole trip. I have a lot of plans, a lot of hopes, and I’ll definitely blog about it when I get back. Hopefully with pictures. I want a Leprechaun. 

SuperFastReview of "Warm Bodies"

Hello!

               This post is going to be a quick little review of the movie “Warm Bodies.” It came out fairly recently – recently enough for it to still be at theaters when I’m writing this. I’ve never seen the plot attempted before. It’s a zombie apocalypse movie, but from the point of the zombie. This zombie promptly falls in love and engages in other crazy zombie-like shenanigans with his zombie buddies. Although it’s a cool plot, the beginning of the film seemed too drawn out and the ending seemed too rushed. They could have done a little bit better, but not much. I’d give it 7 out of 10. Awesome! Bye.

Food Inc

Hello!

               So recently in my AP Language and Composition class we’ve been watching a documentary called “Food Inc.” This documentary is about the industrial food industry of today and also discusses the small-farm based society of the past. Throughout the film and throughout the discussion our class had on the topic, a few things kept popping into my mind.

               The first thing that concerned me about the documentary was the fact that it only presents one side of the argument. Throughout the entire film they never refuted their counterarguments, which is ridiculous. You cannot trust any documentary that doesn’t show both sides of an argument. For example, in the film they talked about a business called Monsanto. This company produces a pesticide and a brand of soybean which resists this pesticide, a very good combination for soybean farmers. The film complained that it was unfair of Monsanto to patent these soybeans, because it forces people to buy their product. I don’t really believe that’s unfair, because it’s just an attempt for them to make money - it helps run the American economy!

               Another example of this film being less fair than it could be is when a woman begins talking about e-coli. E-coli is an illness that can be passed to humans through a variety of means, including unsanitary conditions in the meat-production industry. Although this information was very objectively given, the woman giving the information proceeds to talk about her child, a young boy who died of this illness. Lots of heart-wrenching pictures are shown, and it’s all just very sad. This is unfair in my opinion, because too much emphasis is put on this one aspect of the story – almost half an hour worth of this kid. This blatant appeal to pathos is obvious if you’re looking for it, but it really skews the story.

               Finally, something that I really didn’t like about the documentary was the whole idea that people are complaining about America having too much food. For the first time in the history of the modern age we have the capability to feed our own nation and the world as a whole. It is so stereotypically American of us to complain about where this food comes from instead of taking it as a blessing and not questioning it.

               Since we first domesticated animals we have been keeping the biggest and best of our herds for breeding. Is this really any different than what we’re doing today by producing bigger and better chickens? Our chickens are ready for the slaughter in nearly one third of the time it used to take, and they produce more meat than ever before. Our cows also grow faster, produce more milk, and yield more meat. How is this a bad thing for our country? How can we complain about where our meat comes from when we can produce it in more quantities and for much cheaper than most other nations in the world? Yes, there are cases of animal abuse and unsanitary conditions. But these are few and far between in comparison to the benefits that we get from them. According to Daily Finance the price of a pound of ground beef in the United States averages around three dollars and fifty cents. In Europe, the price of a pound of ground beef escalates quickly from around five dollars and fifty cents all the way up to eleven dollars. So we should count our blessings and appreciate our cheap beef.

               In conclusion, the documentary “Food Inc” is very one-sided. It doesn’t show the two sides of the story, and tries too hard to tug on our heartstrings instead of giving is cold hard facts. I think that a lot was left out of the documentary, such as the very low price of meat in this country compared to others. It is very un-cool of us Americans to complain about something that we have too much of.

WPA - Who Pays Anyway?

Hello!   

Once again, it’s nearing that time of year for my very own Kennedy High School. The signs have been posted, the tickets are ready to be sold, love is in the air, and rejection stagnates in the gutter. Our “Woman Pays All,” or “WPA” dance is the weekend before Spring Break, and reminds me of so many problems with these types of dances.

                Firstly, I’m going to talk about all dances in general. In an attempt to be as non-sexist as possible, I’m going to address simple facts. Both guys and girls go to these dances. Both guys and girls dress up. Ask any guy what he’s going to wear to a school dance, and there is a high probability that he’ll tell you he’s going to wear the same black dress pants he wears for everything else, a nice shirt that he already owns, and he might buy a new tie. Ask any girl, and there’s a high probability that she’ll tell you that she’s going out to buy a whole new outfit for the occasion – from dresses to shoes and jewelry. Not only is this a waste of your money, but the companies that cater to young women realize that you’re buying new dresses for every occasion and take advantage of this by beefing up the prices and raking in the dough.     

                Another problem I’ve noticed with this dance in particular is the whole idea of “woman pays all.” I think that it’s fairly sexist, and frankly it just presses sexist idealism onto our impressionable American youth. Having a WPA dance implies that men pay for everything on all other occasions. I’m not an expert, but I’m pretty sure that’s considered sexist. Women in a relationship should be paying equally as much as the guy. Or at least the ratio can be based on a simple wage-rate calculation that I’m sure we’re all too lazy to do. In any case, it’s dumb that we have to set aside a specific time of year where our teenaged men can give their wallets a break.

                In conclusion, there are a lot of things that are wrong with high school dances. Don’t even get me started about the so-called “dancing” that goes on at these events. I mean, really. Are we in a brothel or a high school cafeteria? ANYWAYS, take a break from buying new clothes and wear something you’ve already got. If you’ve got someone that really likes you, I’m sure they’ll think you’re just as pretty. And women out there that ONLY pay at this WPA thing . . . shame on you. I apologize for ranting, it happens sometimes, to perk you up, here’s a picture of a turtle. HERE!

Fix Your Blog

Hello!

               I realize that I’m going to be kind of ranty in this post, but that’s okay, because if you don’t like it then you can GET OFF MY LAWN. But I’ve been reading some blogs lately, mostly because my teacher required that we read and comment on some of our classmates’ blogs. And I’ve noticed a lot of stuff that just bugs me about some of the blogs I’ve seen. Easy stuff, that’s easy to fix and requires just an extra minute or two of your time – which isn’t much when you’re doing these blogs for a grade.

               One of the biggest things that bugs me is when people use their blogs as a diary. I mean, occasionally throwing in a post or two about something cool that happened to you over the weekend is fine. But making every single one of your posts go something like “ER MER GERD I WENT TO THE MALL THIS FRIDAY AND BOUGHT SOME CUTE SHEWS, AND, LIKE, ER MER GERD THERE WAS THIS CEWT GUY WORKING AT THE REGISTER, LIKE, LULZ,” is not acceptable. No one wants to hear that crap from their best friend, but they especially don’t want to hear it from someone they’re barely acquainted with.

               Another thing, you’ve got to learn to use punctuation, as well as paragraphs. You see if you dont use any sort of punctuation your sentences can get pretty annoying I realize that some of you guys are doing your blogs from your phone which is okay but still use punctuation or I will find you. And paragraphs are things too. I mean, you’ve got to use them. They help break up your blog post or else it becomes one giant, monotonous block of text that no one wants to read. It is visually unappealing, and no one wants an ugly blog.

               So, in conclusion, make your blog awesome. Use those things like your mama tought you. Really. Periods, question marks, APOSTROPHES. You have to use them, because these blogs are for AP Lang, and the point is to make you write better. That starts at home, with your blog. If you use them in your blog, your other writing will get better, too. I guarantee it. And you can always get your money back if this post doesn’t work to your full satisfaction.

Alternative Class Ideas

Hello!

               In most schools, classes are pretty much the same. You’ve got your biology, chemistry, and physics classes for science. Then for math you’ve got algebra, geometry, and calculus. Then you’ve got a whole smattering of other classes for Language Arts and Social Studies. If you’re like any other teenager, you’ve probably asked your teacher “why does this matter? Where am I go to use this in the real world?” And if your teacher’s like most of those I know, they’ve probably answered with “just do the work, don’t ask questions.”

               So my proposal is that we introduce some classes that actually pertain to what we’re going to be doing after we leave high school. There would be two classes, one called Stuff You Should Probably Know How To Do After You Get Out Of High School, and a more advanced version called Stuff You Should Probably Know How To Do After You Get Out Of College.

               The more basic class, Stuff You Should Probably Know How To Do After You Get Out Of High School, would teach some more basic level stuff, of course. For instance, the delicate, artistic way to hold a spatula whilst flipping burgers. There would also be simple, easy-to-follow tutorials on how to dig good quality ditches, and how to apply shingles to a roof appropriately. But really, there would be some very useful topics covered. Stuff like filling out a resume, applying for a job, and how to deal with crappy bosses would all be on the agenda.

               The advanced class wouldn’t just deal with stuff you do after college, but what to do during it as well. How to make ramen noodles every night for four years would be the prime focus of the class, seeing as ramen is a delicate food that requires hours of careful preparation. You’d also learn how to sit in a cubicle for the rest of your life, and deal with carpal tunnel. Really, though, you’d learn a lot of the same stuff as the basic class. How to fill out a resume, how to deal with bosses and whatnot. But you’d also learn how to manage your schedule during college, which is something that a lot of people struggle with in their first few years.

               So although these classes probably won’t  get instituted anytime soon, I still think it’s a pretty good idea. I mean, they’re things that would actually be useful in the future, as opposed to learning linear programming in calculus.

Take All The AP Classes!

Hello!

               So very recently at my school we had to sign up for our classes for next year. And this year is no different from every other year, where they beg us to take as many of the advanced classes as we can. They tell us that if they’re too hard, we can always drop down a level to the more basic classes. I’ve found quite a few problems with that whole system of thought. So this blog is going to try to explain them, but it might end up being a tad bit rant-ish. If you’re not a fan, get out now. (While you still can.)

               The first problem that I found was that if everyone’s awesome, no one is awesome. What that really means is that if everyone takes AP classes, they don’t really mean that much anymore – they become the standard, the “bar” that everyone has to meet. And since our school is pushing everyone to take as many AP classes as they possibly can fit into the seven hour day, that’s what it’s moving towards. And since the grading scale for AP classes is weighted, it makes it even more difficult for kids that don’t take AP classes to get to the top of their class.

               The second problem that I’ve seen with making kids take AP classes is that they’re pretty hard. I mean, I’m not an expert, that’s for sure. But I’ve a few AP classes in my first two years of high school, and I’m taking three this year. Although while you’re taking them they don’t really seem that hard, they’re definitely not easy – especially when compared to non-AP classes. So making kids take hard classes that they might not be prepared for would definitely be detrimental to their GPA, and therefore their chances of getting into a good college.

               This brings me to my next point – making us take AP classes seems like it isn’t for our benefit, but for the benefit of our school. Yeah, it makes the school look pretty nice that they have the highest number of kids taking AP classes in the state, but it doesn’t take into account the kids that are failing because they’re taking classes that are above their level.

               So in conclusion, taking AP classes is nice, but brainwashing kids into thinking that they should take as many AP classes as possible is a bad thing. It would definitely hurt them in the long run. 

Got Sleep?

Hello!

               So recently I’ve begun to notice how many of my friends and acquaintances have been complaining of a lack of sleep. “Yeah, I was up ‘til three in the morning” isn’t uncommon to hear in the hallway. On the flip side of this, I have also heard that teenagers are most likely to sleep the most, and need the most sleep overall. So in the spirit of my research posts from earlier this week, I’ve compiled a list of questions that I found interesting, and their answers from various online sources.

               How much sleep does the average teenager need?

               According to research done by this group, the average teenager needs 9 hours and fifteen minutes until they’re an adult, and then they need eight hours and fifteen minutes.

How much sleep does the average teenager get?

This was actually the hardest piece of information to find, and there wasn’t any definitive answer. Teenagers are all different, and polls of big groups were inconclusive because teens get anywhere from 4 to 14 hours of sleep a night. Teenagers also tend to sleep on odd schedules, sleeping less on school nights and making up for it on the weekends.

              

How does a lack of sleep actually affect you?

Lack of sleep can hurt a teenager in many ways. The same group says that lack of sleep causes learning to be more difficult. It also affects your physical performance, making it harder to perform well. You look worse, you feel worse, you become more moody. You also can develop some more dangerous side-effects, like drowsiness while driving. There are over 100,000 sleep-deprivation related deaths every year in the United States.  So the real deal is, what’s more important to you – texting your friends for an extra hour or performing well in life?

What percentage of teens have sleeping disorders, and what disorders are most common?

Almost all teens have what’s called delayed sleep phase syndrome according to this site. That means that they go to sleep later and want to wake up later too. Besides this, a very small percentage (below 1%) of teens have sleep apnea or chronic insomnia.

So overall, I was not very surprised with the information that not many teens actually have chronic insomnia. Us teens just tend to have pretty screwed up sleep schedules, which is not abnormal. So, to all of you who have gotten very little sleep in the last few days, fret not! It’s normal.

                                                                                            Thanks for reading

Matt Finley