March 2009
Monthly Archive
I’ve always been musically challenged. I could never sing, I consistently got last chair in orchestra, and - despite the years of lessons my parents have coerced me into taking - my piano playing skills are pretty much nonexistent. Maybe that’s why for the first - oh, twelve or thirteen years of my life, I listened to practically nothing but songs like “Beethoven’s Sonatina 14 in G major, Ops 141.” But that’s okay - because now I’m making up for lost time, happily drowning myself (and Beethoven) in plenty of Linkin Park and Coldplay. So, one day, while looking for more cool songs that would make Bach turn in his grave, I came upon the Rolling Stone’s “Best Songs of 2008.” Of course, being the poor, deprived child that I was, I recognized practically none of them. They all sounded pretty good… but how exactly do you know a song’s good when you’ve never heard it before?
So I was curious. While I might be pretty musically ignorant and thus not entitled to an opinion, I sure there of people who can tell apart Metallica and Vampire Weekend (who the heck are they?) So, what do you guys think? Who is better - Kayne West or Duffy? Coldplay’s “Viva la Vida” or “Human?” Here, without further ado, is a link to what what the Rolling Stones calls the “best” songs of 2008:
Best Songs of 2008
By Hannah Ross
Amp writer
Did you know that 80 percent of the world’s sickness is from poor sanitation and drinking unsafe water? I didn’t until I attended a water purification conference March 20 hosted by Edge Outreach at Dardenne Presbyterian Church.
Edge Outreach is a faith-based nonprofit organization that works in countries such as Haiti, Kenya, Guatemala, Costa Rica and others. Last year, the organization brought pure water to 26,000 people and conducted vision screening clinics in Romania. Edge operates a headquarters in Louisville, Ky., where teens and adults come from all over the country to perform mission work.
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Tags: Edge Outreach, Hannah Ross
By Kiran Kaur
Amp writer
Never underestimate the power of a bake sale.
For Tara Suri, 18, a cupcake is not just batter and icing, but a manifestation of philanthropy itself.
Four years ago, Suri, who lives in Scarsdale, N.Y., started H.O.P.E. (Helping Orphans Pursue Education).
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Tags: Helping Orphans Pursue Education, Kiran Kaur, Tara Suri
Jillian Stockdale traveled to Ethiopia to meet the young boy she sponsors
By Sarah Haas
Amp writer
It was the eve of one of the best days of Jillian Stockdale’s life, and she was terrified.
Stockdale, who is now a freshman at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, was about to meet Muluken, the Ethiopian boy she sponsored through Compassion International. Although she and Muluken had been corresponding for years by mail, Stockdale could not stop worrying about how Muluken would react to her and her gifts. Even in the midst of her panic, however, she did not regret her 12-day tour of Ethiopia or her involvement with Compassion International.
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Tags: Compassion International, Jillian Stockdale
It’s always a bit odd when you’re born on holiday - maybe you were born on Christmas and you have to double up on presents or stay with annoying cousins - but I bet you don’t have it as bad as me.
Because I didn’t get to be born on a cool holiday like Halloween or New Year’s like the rest of you over privileged people, no, I got to be born on the worst day possible - namely, April Fool’s Day.
Yes, yes, I know what you’re thinking ha ha, that’s incredible, nice joke and all to which I protest but it’s true! It’s true! I’m not lying. But, oh, wait. No one believes me. It’s April Fool’s. For years, whenever somebody asks me what my birthday is and I tell them, I get virtually the same response. Gasp. “No way!” Stunned look. Moment of sympathy, followed by spasm that could be a suppressed laugh. Happens every year, I guarantee. Most of the people I’ve met have been fairly nice about the whole thing - I’ve never even been seriously pranked, which means either that my friends are incredibly nice or incredibly uncreative. (No offense, guys - you’re still super incredible!)
So for those of you out there who will ask, well, here’s your answer. Gasp, laugh, point-and-stare-rudely - just get it over with now. There’s no need to look so stunned when I tell you my birthday. Heck, what’s so important about April first? I bet in Zimbabwe or Yemen it’s actually the date of some incredibly important arcane ritual by some arcane cult.So there.
Oh, and one more thing. This year, on April Fool’s Day, please go easy on me.
I’ve got writers block and it’s really bad. It’s been this way for a while now and I can’t seem to get out of the funk. I love to write, I really do. I know if you look at this site some of us teens aren’t writing enough or even at all, but I am trying. I just can’t seem to think.
Some say writing doesn’t take thinking. You just sort of let your mind wander off and then wait for it to come back to you. I think that could be a method, but I sometimes have to think. Maybe that’s my problem.
I wrote that Dachau article and I don’t remember it. I truly don’t. It’s new to me each time I read it. It’s like having amnesia on one thing. I didn’t think. I let the feelings flow and no matter what anyone says, it was probably some of my best work.
Yet the book I am writing I’ve drawn out charts, character analysis’, a timeline, a history, etc. and it’s also one of the best things I have written. I am confused. Sometimes the talent just flows out because it needs to and sometimes it has to be thought out or it ends up a terrible mess.
One thing I know, the stress I deal with stunts my creativity quite a bit. I’m giving up guitar lessons. It’s heartbreaking for me because I’ve played for going on five years, but I don’t have the time to work, plan for college, perfect Into the Woods, direct a show, write for this site and my newspaper, high school, friends, family, AND squeeze in time for myself. I bit off quite a bit more than I can chew and I didn’t even realize it. That kind of thing stunts a person and stresses them out.
Well, at least I’ll never look back on my life and say I didn’t do enough… =)
Sorry I haven’t written though guys. At least not written actual stories. Our first video story should be up soon and I’ll try to write a story with it, but I am trying!
Tags: AMP, Lauren, stories, Stress, writer's block
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