Disappointment of an Olympics fan

During the 1998 Nagano Olympic Games, I was six years old and a budding figure skating fan, glued to the television watching not cartoons, but Tara Lipinski’s gold-medal winning performances.  I crayoned homemade signs reading “Go for the Gold, Tara!” and once she won that gold, well, anyone passing through our cul-de-sac knew, thanks to the posters plastered to the front windows of our house. The Olympics had me hooked. Fast forward 12 years. I’m 18, and the Olympics are on North American soil, turning Vancouver into Canada’s new capital for 17 days. No surprise,... Read more

Hamilton Town Center vs. Clay Terrace

Shopping is the one thing most of us find relaxing and enjoyable, well maybe just most girls. I like to think of it as, retail therapy. People in the Noblesville area have easy access to two nice locations for retail therapy, Hamilton Town Center and Clay Terrace. In comparing the two, I prefer Hamilton Town Center. Yes, both have very similar stores, (list below), but the set up of the stores and the addition of the IMAX theatre makes for an amazing day with everything you could ever want at your finger tips. Most of the resturaunts are the same but with Noodles and Company, Five Guys, and Olive... Read more

Take the anti-insult challenge

If you stop to think about it, you hear insults so many times on a daily basis that you couldn’t ever possibly keep track of it. High school is a constant wave of negative language, so much so that most people have developed “selective hearing” in regards to the majority of it. How many times has everyone heard (but not really listened to) the expressions, “That’s so gay!”  or “Don’t be such an idiot!” or “Shut up, nobody loves you?” Probably far too many. I know I have. It’s tiring to hear such an immense amount of negativity—and many don’t even realize it. When... Read more

I’m not an international spy

Everyone faces racism every day, everywhere, whether they realize it or not. I’m half Indian and half American. Ever since September 11, 2001, my mother, who is from India, and my sisters and I have faced everything from dirty looks to complete isolation. September 11th goes down in history as a day that affected every American. But because I’m a little more tan than my classmates, the event triggered a kind of racism in my life that I had never seen before. My father’s mother was afraid to go out into public with my mother. She thought going on a long trip with her would put her in danger... Read more

Holmes packs an exaggerated punch

Sitting in the Great Escape theatre for my own personal premier of Sherlock Holmes, I mentally prepared myself what I expected to be an intellectually challenging film. What I received was not what I was expecting. The movie quickly proved that it was to be classified as an action film, which is not so close to the novels by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.  I suppose with Robert Downey Jr. posing as Sherlock, I shouldn’t have expected anything more, but I still had my moment of wishful thinking. Doyle’s original works tended to leave the reader lost up until the last possible moment, where the mystery... Read more

Texting lingo you never knew you never knew

As technology becomes increasingly more active in our everyday lives, we have developed a culture for it that’s all our own. Example: the abbreviations used in text messages – the stuff that drives English teachers up the walls. You may be a devoted texter, but do you think you know the whole shebang? Test your skills with a list of texting lingo you never knew you never knew. ?4U ………………………………………………………………………….I have... Read more

Texting takes away from reality

As technology progresses I have noticed that students (and even adults) will do anything to stay in touch with people through the school and work hours. Students texting under desks or even trying to find a new way to unblock their Facebook. Sometimes you can even catch an adult, who is supposed to be working, texting away as if there is nothing wrong with what they are doing. In the work world I do not think that students will be able to handle real world confrontations with their coworkers, bosses, and even clients. I cannot help but wonder what the work environment will be like as I grow older.... Read more

Animal doesn’t live up to radio hype

To those who routinely wake up in the morning feeling like P. Diddy, Ke$ha is a common name. The new singer has recently been burning up the iTunes charts and playlists across the country. I’m not usually the type to listen to popular “radio music.” I’m honestly much more into pop bands whose music will never reach the mainstream. But admittedly, the second I heard Ke$ha’s “TiK ToK,” I knew I found a new favorite song even though I had no reason to like it. It was pretty generic sounding. It didn‘t relate to my life whatsoever. I guess music just works like that sometimes. When... Read more

Sci-fi Avatar makes a splash at the box office

The hype for the newly released sci-fi thriller, Avatar, is well worth the hubbub. Maintaining a high standard was definitely on the mind director James Cameron as he was spending the movie’s $237 million budget. The story begins in 2154, with the introduction of a Marine, Jake Sulley. His identical twin brother had been chosen for a series of experiments on the planet Pandora using a surragate to gain an extremely rare metal that is very valuable on Earth. Jake’s brother dies right before he is deployed to Pandora, and Jake is sent in his place because he has the same DNA as his brother,... Read more

Disney’s latest is something different

This time, the Disney princess isn't a princess at all. Illustration from www.disney.com After watching The Princess and the Frog, I was a little befuddled. Yes, befuddled. Isn’t it supposed to be a Disney movie? It wouldn’t be surprising if the viewer forgot this fact. Where’s the majestic castle setting, the 100% happy ending, the Barbie-pretty princesses, the guy falling all over himself to win the affection of the girl? Not in this film, apparently, and I find that a marked improvement. In a throwback to classic children’s films, it’s not computer-animated, but an actual hand-drawn... Read more

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