Music and Confusion

Before I go to a concert, I always get a little nervous. It’s not the moshing or the loud noise that scares me, it’s the idea that I have to dance. Should I dance? That’s what you do at a concert. Even though that’s what everyone else does, I don’t think I should be dancing. I’m not a good dancer.

So then when music is playing, what should you do?

This is now the dilemma I face everyday when Ms. Serensky plays music before Bobbie’s Blog Banter. What do you do when music plays? If you know the song is it appropriate to sing along? What if you have a terrible voice? I have a terrible voice, but I love belting out a good tune. However, I don’t think my English class is quite ready for that torture. So if singing is off the table, that leaves…humming? I have a feeling that would bother other listeners. I suppose you can tap your hands or move your head or foot. That’s really awkward when you don’t know the song. Then it may just look like I have a tick or something. Its definitely weird just staring at the other people around you. Or watching Ms. Serensky to see what she is doing. I’m sure that would make her feel very uncomfortable. There are so many options, but none of them seem right. I guess I can just observe what everyone else does and mimic that so I won’t seem weird. I guess that’s what I’ll be doing when the music’s playing: spy on everyone else.

Unless anyone has any better suggestions, prepare for my eyes. Staring straight at you.

p.s. Ms. Seresky- I love the music at the seeing the way it ties in to your banter, I just now have this confusion at the beginning of class every day. 

Dread

All day today (and unfortunately for the past couple days), the only thing on my mind was the approaching days of school. Every once in a while I would tell myself "Wow. I can't even believe I will be in school in [insert number here] days. Break went by too fast." Then, tonight, as I once again dwelled on the fact that at 6:30 a.m. tomorrow I will not be sleeping as I have been for the past 2 weeks, but I will be dragging myself out of bed and getting myself ready for school, I remembered the homework I have due tomorrow. Calc. Bio. English. Wait.. I thought it was called a break? Guess not. So, I logged in to Blogger, ready to make a comment and find another topic to blog about. After reading Henry Gilbert's blog (shout out!), I felt comforted by the fact that I wasn't the only person suffering week after week to think of an interesting, English-related blog topic. At the end of his blog, he wrote about indirectly characterizing himself. This got me thinking. Sure, I can indirectly characterize myself, but I would not be nearly as critical as us AP English 12-ers are when we do this to characters from our books. From my actions, I would indirectly characterize myself as a pessimist. Since Wednesday, I have have the dreaded feelings that come with the return to school after break. Why would I let this ruin my break? I still had FIVE days. It is completely ridiculous that I couldn't put the negative aside and enjoy sleeping in, no school work, and lazy days. Even though that may seem harsh, I don't think it's 1/10 as bad as the nasty things we harsh out to poor Gogol, Ashima, or almost any character in The Namesake. So, I'd like to open the floor to my fellow mean, cruel, loathsome, classmates. How would you indirectly characterize my behavior? Please, do your worst.

It's Christmas Time in the Cit- Asylum

I am in a fog. 11:14 p.m. My feet ache, my eyes burn, I just want to sleep. I had a full day of Christmas craziness.

Looking back on my day, I don't think I've ever felt more in common with the patients in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. I could even take it a step further and think about my week. It honestly was insane. Everyday this week I woke up at 7:00 a.m. for work. Then I tried to complete the tasks on my many lists so I could get everything done for the approaching holiday. At home, constant demands from Nurse Ratche- I mean, my mom, consumed my time. I cleaned the kitchen, swept the floor, did laundry, wrapped presents, picked someone up, dropped someone off, went to the grocery store and the post office,  addressed cards, and cleaned even more. (I wish I was joking-  this was my exact day today). I couldn't help but laugh when I noted my mother's role as Nurse Ratched, followed by the realization that Gonzo, my little black dog that followed my moms EVERY move, greatly paralleled the Big Nurse's little minions.

Adding to the craziness was my sister, Cassie. A smart girl, running errands helped to avoid cleaning and she so generously offered to come with me. Whenever it became time to clean the kitchen or help cook some item, she conveniently made herself seem busy. In the asylum that is the Sferra household, Cassie is Harding. She knows exactly what she's doing and she is very smart with her decisions and actions. My observations as Bromden have allowed me to see straight through her facade; the Big Nurse hasn't quite caught on yet.

Lexi, I'm hesitant to say, is McMurphy. Not only is she very loud, but she always, and i mean ALWAYS, finds a way to stir up trouble. She does not have a hard time getting Nurse Ratched angry, and she's very similar to Harding, just with a little more physical presence.

If this all isn't crazy enough, there are also three vegetables sitting in my basement. My two brothers James and Matthew, and my dad: Chronics. They do absolutely nothing all day but sit. Completely useless.

This week consisted of nights staying up later than 2:00 a.m. just to bake, followed by days schlepping around everywhere or cleaning (we're always cleaning here). This constant chaos has hit me like some severe electric shock. As I sit here now, my final night of this madness, I look around and see a kitchen full of sprinkles, cookies, mixers, pots, cookie sheets, icing, and dishes, I feel a heavy fog sweeping over me. My natural instinct is just to close my eyes and let this fog consume me, throwing in the towel, leaving the mess to the morning. But I can't let that happen. I've got to push past this fog, set down my computer, and take control. Once I'm done, there will finally be an end to this Christmas madness.

Fame

Blogs are everywhere. Before this English assignment, I read a few blogs every day without even noticing that they were blogs. There exist so many well-known, professional looking blogs, that I often forget they are written by people just like me; sitting in front of their computer, staring at blogger, and trying to be interesting. There's only one difference: these people have made it big. One blog I check very often is the blog Bakerella. Her love of tasty treats turned into a fame; she has appeared on the Today Show, created a book with her creation of "Cake Pops" (I own this book and it is awesome!), and a recent post had her baking with Blake Lively (from Gossip Girl, for any boys reading this).  She's definitely made it far beyond the internet world. Another very famous blogger, Perez Hilton. My sister and I read his blog every single day, and sometimes for way longer than we should (I actually have it open in another tab right now). The last blog I read frequently is Cupcakes Take the Cake, a blog completely dedicated to cupcakes in all forms, and sometimes other delicious confections. This blog always confuses me, because I absolutely love reading and seeing all the different cupcakes, but it stresses me out because I just see all kinds of things I want to make. Anyway, writing about all my favorite blogs was not actually the point of this post, I just got a bit overzealous when I thought about all of them. My true intent was to write about my plan. I'm going to be next. I want to be a famous blogger. Now before you all start judging me, I don't mean from my English blog. I'd like to truly make an interesting blogs with people that follow because they want to, not because they have to comment in order to earn points. I'm feeling a sort of Julie and Julia type of thing, where I make a goal for myself and follow my progress for the internet world to see. I'm not sure I could handle something like that right now, but it would definitely be a fun adventure to take in the summer or even a few years down the road. However, since I have nothing to do right now, I decided to Google "how to be a good blogger," and this is the list I found:

1. Industry Knowledge

I'm not even sure what this means, but I'll go with it. I suppose before I find a theme to my blogging I need to make sure it's something I know well. I guess that makes sense.

2. Passionate

Ok, so I have to find something I'm interested in and feel strongly about. 

3. Writing Background/Experience

Pshh...AP English 12. Check.

4. Organized

I do like making lists.

5. Strong Work Ethic

This may be pushing it. I'm not really sure why I need this trait to be a good blogger, since blogging is more of a hobby than a job. I'm going to look over this one. 

....

The next two points were just dumb. So I chose to skip over them. 

8. Goes Against the Grain

I need to find something unique to blog about. This will take time in thinking chair.

9. Social Butterfly

I do like to talk. 

10. Enjoys Sharing and Helping

The only thing I can think of that I don't share is my popcorn. So I think I'm in the clear since no one can steal popcorn via the internet. Helping.. I can work on that.

So, from looking at this, I think I may be heading down a road in which I can become a good blogger. It would definitely take some time to find out what I would want to write about (I think I would need to find a definite point of interest, because my life is not entertaining enough to blog about).

If you could blog about anything you wanted (not related to AP English), what would YOU blog about?