Memories

Now I know that I have blogged about memories before. But these memories are different. These are our memories of high school. In 3 months, life is going to change. We will no longer be walking the halls of UEHS saying hello to people we grew up with. So as our days are dwindling down I would like to take a moment and recap on some of my favorite memories.
10. Pissing off librarians for my gum popping
9.Senior locker area.
8.Senior studyhalls, even when its not your scheduled period.
7.Mrs. Penna and the KE!
6.Broz class. She hated us all. If only she knew how we felt!
5. Americans going to Italy
4.Italians coming to America
3. Mr. Friend and his honors classes
2.Lunch detention with Marisa after having a paper towel roll fight during a biology lab.
1.Steve Wasko yelling I was a bitch in OIPs on a Friday because I said he couldn't get a girlfriend if he continued the loud and obnoxious burps. Everyone turned around and that lunch was silent.
0. Mrs. Krieger's communications class!

Highschool has definitely been a wonderful experience full of memories. It will be hard leaving friends and teachers to whom you have grown so close with. But I think we are all ready to move on in our lives.

Smoothhhh

Today, I had a huge desire for a strawberry banana smoothie. So my and my mommy went to the good ol' Price Chopper and got some strawberries and bananas along with some other groceries. When we got home, together we made these delicious smoothies. So here I am and I'm going to teach you how to makes these smoothies!

What you need:
4 large strawberries, fresh or frozen
1/2 c. milk
1 ripe banana
5 ice cubes
1 1/2 tsp sugar (opt.)
blender

1. Wash and remove stems from strawberries.
2. Peel banana
3.Combine strawberries, banana, milk and ice.
4.Blend until perfectly smooth.
5.Add sugar.
6.Blend for 1 minute.

Now go try it! It's amazing!

Baby Gap.

Ok. Let's talk about this. Yesterday evening, in the humble restaurant of Nick's Pizza, a boy, not naming names, was saying his farewells, and bid his friend..(no names mentioned her for privacy reasons)... but a fellow classmate of ours...lets call him Person X, adieu. His manner of saying goodbye to Person X, was actually quite rude. He said "Later, BabyGap." Come on people. How mean is that, calling someone BabyGap for the way he looks or his height and body type! Seriously. That's like calling a teenage girl with low self-esteem Lane Bryant or some little obese boy The Burger King or something completely rude like that. Person X seemed to remain cool and collected. The 5 waitresses on this Friday evening, were completely disturbed by this. No one can make fun of Person X and his height, except those girls. Not only that, the boy has not been working there very long to have developed this sort of joke around relationship for Person X. I mean the whole BabyGap comment was absolutely hilarious. It makes perfect sense, but it's just one of those things you shouldn't say in public. All I have to say is don't worry Person X, those girls got your back! We really are proud of how you assessed the situation.

oops.

Yesterday, I blogged. But unfortunately, forgot to click "publish post". Here was what my Friday post was:


Chocolate cake. Actually dessert. It's the one most amazing thing. It yummy and soft and full of sugar and so absolutely delicious. The way certain cakes just melt in your mouth. Chocolate cake is my favorite. I don't really eat a lot of chocolate, but this cake, in particular, the one from my dads restaurant is out of this work, amazing. Perfect layers of chocolate mousse and that fluffy chocolate-ness. Desserts are all amazing really. Cheesecake, peanut butter pie. The classic italian desserts, tiramisu and cannolis. A-MAZ-ING!
Well after all this chocolate cake talk, I'm going to indulge now in a piece I secretly took from the restaurant!!Yum yum in my tum!

Challenged

Today I must have insulted Adam because of his lame post Wed. night. I don't want to hear about your life and information I already know. So he challenged me to come up with a topic for him to write about. Thinking of topics was very hard, but after I referred to some conversation starter cards Volkswagen has sent to me, I gave him a few choices. Everyone tune in to his post tomorrow. It better be good. And for the record, only Adam gets pizza.

The picture is disturbing, but Adam better hide if this isn't a satisfactory post.

Nicknames.

my entire life I never thought you could make as many nicknames with my name, Maria, as people actually have. My real name is Mariella, but its a bit difficult to pronounce, so my parents shortened it to Maria and thats what people have called me. But over the years I have gotten a number of nicknames. When I was about 7, my mother called me Mars. She liked Mars Bars so I think that's where she got it from. That trickled down to my older and younger sisters. In the 4th grade, Jourdana started calling my Mia, like Mia Hamm. That lasted a while and thats what she still calls me to this day. My little sister then moved to Mary Pie, where she got that, god only knows. Adam Pav began called me Maria Sofia. Then it may have been Pav or someone else started calling me Concetta Cheese after they learned my nickname was Concetta (con-cch-eet-ta). My sisters moved to calling me Mary or Marieh (ma-re-eh). Not Marie, I don't really like that name for myself. The most recent are ella from my best friend, Brittany Danek and Tony Seliga has joined the group that calls me Mary. So nicknames are fun. It's a little hard to get used to all the names but I love them!

Gluten-Free

This blog by Gluten-Free Girl is very interesting. It's a blog giving out recipes and is all about food and what people who can not eat food with gluten can do to substitute. The pictures look yummy and the recipes are quite interesting. I think this blog is great for people who have this dilemma and need to spice up their gluten- free life. I really appreciate the blog because up until a few months ago, I didn't even know the condition existed until my father added gluten-free pasta on the menu at the restaurant. I never realized that there were so many gluten-free people. Check out the blog for more! http://glutenfreegirl.blogspot.com/

art for fun!

So as I was playing on the StumbleUpon site this site came up. It is the coolest site. All you have to do is play with your mouse and movie it around and click and colors and paint come on. Its fun for artsy and not so artsy people. Try it! If you want a clean canvas just press any key on your computer. Heres the site! Enjoy!
http://www.jacksonpollock.org/



Another really cool blog is by Mr. Picassohead. Its not so much this person telling a story or discussing something, its you as the visitor creating art. There are various categories to choose from and colors and with all these shapes you create works of art that are much like Picasso. There's an entire gallery. Really cool. Check it out. http://www.mrpicassohead.com/create.html?skin=original

If art isn't your thing, try this. I don't want to go into detail But its possible to win, I did (after10 minutes) http://www.pagetutor.com/idiot/idiot.html

My Sister

Today, before leaving the house, me and my older sister got in a huge fight. The fight was over her taking our Christmas present Wii up to college with her. I was so pissed. It was my gift too and I positive her inconsiderate roommates are going to break it. We fought and I mean fought. Throwing things and swearing. But after I left for my little road trip and she went back off to school, I actually felt bad because I didn't say goodbye. This entire day actually wasn't as fun as it should have been because she wasn't there and the fight from earlier today still hadn't been recovered so in the back of my mind it was and still is bothering me. I don't have the guts to call her and apologize and she hasn't called me. We are both very stubborn and I will not be the first to call her. She took the Wii! I have a good position to be mad! I still love her and I feel bad. I know this is going to still go on for the next few days and there will be many more fights. I guess we are just going to have to wait and see who apologizes first and what becomes of our Wii.

Play Time!

So yesterday and most of today my computer internet service was wacko so I only feel it necessary to post tonight! So today I went down in Allentown, PA to spend time with the few cousins I have here in America. All day all I did was play games and I have taken into careful consideration how fun games actually are. I played games with little kids and older adults and it was very entertaining. Growing up, I loved the board game Candy Land, Princess Lolly is my favorite. I hadn't played it until today and I actually had forgotten how freaking cool it is. Always hated Monopoly because the game never ended so we didn't even attempt that one. Chutes and Ladders. Cranium. Apples to Apples. Foosball. Pool. Some card games. Like seriously, I really forgot how awesome games are. I mean real, not Wii games. I felt like a kid again today and I loved it! So when the John Tesh Radio Show tells you to play games, do it!

Back in our day.

ok. Ypu know the times that we talk and say "remember when we were young...." and adults look at us and think we are crazy because we are still young and have had no experience? But I was thinking we are getting pretty old. I mean most of us are 17 and 18. And yes, we have so much more to live through with college, and careers and families and the list can go on. But really take a look at the past 18 years and we really have lived through a lot.
I bet you all you used to play pongs or pods, ( those little round thingys that you would throw that heavy metal circle thing on the stack of paper circle things). All of us girls played with Barbies and wore those shiny butterfly clips in our hair. TY beanie babies. Ninja Turtles. Star Wars. Furbys. Tae-Bo. Skating ( Skate Estate), Tickle Me Elmo. Gum ball machines. Powerpuff Girls! Many of us wore WWJD bracelets.We all wanted to read the books that won the Newberry Award. Swing sets. Highland Park and all the Carousels. The crazy Disney movies that everyone loved. Brittney Spears, N'Sync and the Backstreet Boys craze. Janet Jackson, Boys II Men, Spice Girls, Hooty and the Blow Fish, Hanson. Titanic. Forrest Gump. VCRs. Full House, Family Matters, California Dreams, The Waynes Brothers. Oprah Winfrey. Martha Stewart. Bill Gates. The huge desktop computers like Gateway and IBM. Billy Clinton and his gf Monica in the White House, The first Bush, OJ Simpson, Columbine High School, I mean the list of our young lives can go on forever.
Now look. Ipods, computers, text messaging, AIM, BLOGS, facebook, emails, youtube, having jobs, parties, downtown. Young Bush, school shootings, DVDs, etc...Our lives have dramatically changed with the times. So I mean we are still young, but I guess you can't say we didn't live through nothing!

Get your servings!

So last night, I had a huge craving for fruit. Fruit. All I wanted was that sweet, juicy, colorful, yummy fruit. So this morning I woke up, told my mom and she made me this delicious fruit smoothie with strawberries, bananas and oranges. Now heres the thing. I rarely eat the correct servings of fruits and veggies. And every now and then my body goes insane and craves them like crazy. Thats what happened last night. I guess maybe I should eat better. How about you, do you get the correct servings that food pyramid tells you to??

I'll take you there!

I think the coolest thing would be if you could go anywhere, whenever. Like a portal. For example, we got the week off from school. If it was possible, I'd be in Italy right now. You wouldn't have to pay for a plane ticket or anything. Just for the door to be installed. Jump in the door and WAllAHHhh..... Italy! Get to spend the week with the family. It should be able to work for whatever. Social studies. Actually go back and watch good ol' Tommy J write that Constitution. How freaking sweet!!! This is gonna be my new idea for the Invention Convention! Anyone got any questions, comments, concerns or suggest, you know where to find me!

Calleigh Duquensne

My dream job is to be Calleigh Duquense from CSI: Miami. Her job rocks. She gets to find clues and evidence, work in labs, wear the white science coats and goggles. She gets to carry a gun and a badge. She is super lucky because she works in Miami, Florida. It's so pretty there and warm! I'm jealous of her abilities! I mean, come on, I could never be a ballistics expert in my life! So here to you Calleigh with your awesome job!
(Shes the blonde chick)

Dr. House

I have just finished watching my last episode of my dvds of the hit TV show House. I have become so obsessed with the show that I spend hours a day just watching the episodes one after another. In the past 3 weeks I have watched over 35 hours of this show. Thats a lot of time. Why do we Americans get so attached to a TV show that if we miss it we go insane? I know plenty of people who can not go a week without seeing the new episode of Gossip Girl or the OC. This is an addiction. And not a very good one. We can't wait to see what happens next week, what the drama is gonna be and who is gonna die or get shot or whatever. Maybe we should re- prioritize whats important. Reading a book or watching One Tree Hill. Well I would choose One Tree Hill. Unfortunately, I guess I don't practice what I preach seeing how my TV shows have been a high priority.

Boredom

Today is Sunday. My day off. No work, school or dance. Now you must understand that 6 out of 7 days I am running around the state of New York. Either to work with Rugs at the pizzeria or dance in Nor-bitch. So you must be thinking that I should enjoy my Sundays. But you are very wrong. On Sundays I am incredibly bored. I check my facebook and current blog about a million times. I fall asleep, watch about 5 episodes of House and my current dilemma is thinking of something to write in this blog everyday! As I was growing up, I was told by my parents Sundays are supposed to be family days that you stay with the family. But as we got older, our family Sunday kinda became individual day. Our lives have become so busy that even though it may be my day off, its not for the rest of my family. This in turn leads to my boredom. Do you think American's need to take a step back and relax from their crazy lives? The crazy days make us go in hyper mode that the days we are free we go insane because we have nothing to do. In Europe, their days are so relaxed, yet they are successful, have more family time and I'm guessing are rarely bored. I don't really know what the answer is, but I sure can't wait for Monday.

AHHHH

OK. For all the ladies. I would like you to all take a look at Mr. Adam Pavlovich's blog. He talked about us women being (I quote) "bitchy whenever you bring up another girl or talk to girls that they dont like?". Who does he think he is to call us bitchy? Ladies, correct me if I am wrong, but most of the time, we have a good reason to be bitchy especially towards our men when they connect with another girl. Boys, most girls do not care if you talk, smile, or look at any other girl. It is just you always choose to do this with the WRONG girl. The girl, that before you came along, was disrespectful and rude to your current girlfriend! Thats what your girl hates! And for the record Adam, in a realllll relationship, no one is the "property" of the other. You must work together to make it last. Maybe you should reanalyze yourself and your standards.

Dear Patty...

Today, I was pleasantly surprised when I came home from school today. I had received a letter. Not just any old letter. But a hand written, thought out letter. My friend who now goes to college at Coastal Carolina, took the time to actually sit down and write a letter. What I find so special about this is that we have actually spoken several times ever since she went to college. We have e-mailed, facebook-ed each other, and texted each other. But she traditionally sat down and that special because I was really on her mind and if came from the heart. I feel as if our world is in fast forward that we don't have time to be kind and remind people of how much they mean to us because of technology. Don't get me wrong technology and Web 2.0 are amazing things added to our world and have made it flat and brought us closer to the rest of the world. But sometimes, being traditional, is better. Makes people feel different and special. I feel that the art of writing letters has been lost and replaced. So I challenge you all to think of someone who you may not talk to often, have not seen in a while or may talk to occasionally , and write them a letter. It will make them feel good. See if they write back and then see how you feel. It's pretty cool and different for all of us growing up in the life of technology.

Shake Your Grove Thing!

Tonite is the second night of the MTV's America's Best Dance Crew. Now as many of you already know, I am a dancer. But thanks to the show and shows like So You Think You Can Dance, Dancing With the Stars and Dancelife, I think people who are not dancers have had the opportunity that dance is not all about the ballet shoes. There are different forms and new things are constantly breaking through. The show is entertaining and particularly appeals to a young group of people. I particularly enjoy this show because its normal, everyday people on the show. If you wanna see what I think is the coolest crew,Kaba Modern, on the show click below and fast forward to about 1:45 seconds into the clip.

Lefties.

So as I was doing my homework that i failed to do yesterday, I was having some trouble because I kept elbowing my little sister right next to me. So I feel it is only "right to write" about being left. Growing up and first learning to write, I would automatically use my left. For a while my parents tried to change me, but eventually gave up. And as I grow older I become more frustrated with all the things "lefties" must do differently than "righties". I mean lefties can only sit in specific places to make themselves and others comfortable when writing or eating to avoid bumping elbows. We have special scissors. When we write on paper from left to right our hand smears the ink. The most commonly used buttons on a computer (shift, enter, and backspace) are conveniently placed on the right of the keyboard. When we write in 3- ring binders, the rings constantly get in the way. Bike helmet chin-straps are even made so it is easier to release with your right hand! We get different golf clubs, baseball gloves and hockey sticks. And even pants with only one back pocket have it placed on the right side!
But you know "lefties" are so few that we got some good things too! We have our own day dedicated to us, August 13th . Studies show we are more creative and mentally stronger due to challenges we undergo. And there our even famous people on our side! Benjamin Franklin, Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton, Robert DiNiro, Nicole Kidman and even Marylin Monroe! So though it sometimes sucks, I guess its not all that bad. Just gets a little frustrating.

Physical Education

When our class assignment was to talk about education I immediately thought of our physical education classes, i.e. gym. In all my years as a student never once have I felt that I was doing something worthwhile during my p.e. classes. I always participated to get the grade and not lose my 5 points. Now after actually being presented with the topic of education I thought about how I would express myself. I believe that in gym we shouldn't have to play pickle ball,dodge ball or other lame fitness Friday sports that our gym teachers come up with. Instead I think we should develop units in gym that better ourselves. We should learn more about our bodies and how to make them last longer! I mean we are forced to focus on other subjects during our school day that the information will most likely not be useful to us later in our lives. I think our schools need to spend a little more time perfecting our physical education and actually teaching the students about physical wellness.
Well after writing this blog and surfing youtube I came across this 5 min video exactly expressing what I believe. Its a big long but very interesting and well done.

I Did It!

I did it. I Finally figured it out. I made the blog. Took me a while but I got it and the funny thing is that as I was figuring it out the Grammy's were playing and one of the most famous songs was playing in the background, Rhapsody in Blue. Good song. But as I was accomplishing this task, the music started to build and I felt like I was in a movie. Lame I know.
Ok well its getting late and I better go to bed. Hopefully we will have a "cold day" tomorrow.