Swimming: Sport of the Devil?



Everyday at swim practice the swim team goes through rigorous sets and circuits. These practices just keep getting harder and harder as the weeks creep by. There are long sets and then sprinting sets. Both seem non-stop to all with only a few seconds to try and get your breath. We are pushed to the very edge of are abilities and are nudged to the point of oblivion. On more than one occasion a few swimmers need to 'take a break' to relieve their mouths of unwanted stuffs. If swimming is so difficult and painful then why do us swimmers do this to ourselves? In the beginning of the school year when we start to swim again after the summer the workouts aren't that hard because there's new people who don't know how to swim and many people didn't practice during the summer. But as we all get back into it and everybody knows how to at least do every stroke then practices get harder and faster. By the time you realize that this is more pain than anything else you can't quit because your bod is addicted to it. If you suddenly stop then your body gets very confused and aches even more to be moving. You have withdrawals from the excited/scared feelings you would have right before jumping off the blocks for a race. Swimmers just can't quit for the simple reason that it'll cause even more pain.

When I think of stars I first think of their brilliance and then I think of the hope that they bring to many people like myself. Since I've been little I have always done the whole wish-apon-a-star-thing and whenever I think back to those days of when I actually thought it was real I think of how happy I was. Stars inspire even the smallest of people. They have a great power to make people believe in something better. Why? How can something seemingly so far instill into us something so powerful? I think it's because stars are small to us yet they are brilliant. People might see them and think of how something small can make a difference in something so huge. Even if it's just one star in the sky you can see it and the difference it makes to the darkness. People crave something like that in their lives. They might see a likeness in their lives that the stars could represent people and that even one person can make a difference no matter how big or small. Stars are very symbolic of hope and wishing. They are something that everyboby can feel the effects of but never will be able to touch just like hope. You can feel hope around you but it's not tangible. It makes people happier to think of how something better can come.

The Profound, Focused, Thoughtfully Deep One (aka The Weird One)



Corinne. An outrageously insightful girl. She looks down deep for things others(mainly Becky and I) just don't seem to find or don't care to. And then again, in return she doesn't seem to see some simple things either. What makes her so Corinne-ly? I have found in roughly the whole year I have known her that you just can't describe or explain her in a sentence or two, believe me I've tried. She has and incredible way of thinking which can be used for good or bad depending on her mood. Outwardly docile and sweet, she really has these hilariously critical views of others and their clothing. Listening to her you really see all this pent-up frustration of her knowing what they're doing wrong but being incapable of fixing it. Her Corinneliness makes her so she wants to help or fix anything that's wrong. Her mind is so complex in thinking that she confuses many people all the time and she gets so frustrated over this also that sometimes she explodes or implodes depending on the day. Frustration is a big part of what makes her Corinne. She is so much smarter then everyone else and we just don't seem to comprehend that. All of this makes her incredibly patient and uncomplaining. It's just purely Corinne.




(Corinne I love you and this is all lovingly written! don't worry The Becky is getting it next week)

The All-Around-Best-Cheer-er-up-er

Warm chocolate chip cookies have been proven time and time again in being a true anti-depressant. It really is no wonder with their warm chocolatey goodness, soft center, and slightly crunchy edges. Just recently I've had an experience of them making my day and two others' day better. It didn't seem to be a good day for any of us and then we started talking about the "famous favorite" and are day seemed a little brighter just at the thought of the perfect little delights that had this amazing healing ability. Now what is really the key to their power? it has to be the warmth. Usually bad days are cold, dreary and have no hope, but surprisingly the little amount of warmth cookies bring seems to soothe the cold out of your day and fills it with hope. The quintessence of a cookie just happens to be the chocolate chip cookie. It makes anyone smile through its pure warmth.

..::12 Erratic Hours::..





Working for twelve hours in one day is a crazy feat that I hope never to experience again. Why is working twelve hours so insane? Working at a movie theater poses some difficulties that make it not conducive to that much work, such as, constantly being on your feet, interacting with not so happy customers, and the major cleaning at the end of it all.


Your feet are certainly strong for putting up with all the activities that goes on during the day, but they must have a limit. I believe my limit was reached yesterday during my double shift at work. I have been used to working my usual shifts of six hours for a while, but it did take some time for that to happen. My feet were killing me about seven hours in. The end of twelve I was so ready to just sit for the same amount of hours. Working for that long is not good for anybody's feet.

Others' attitudes truly do affect your own. When I tried to talk to someone and offer them something else they would just snap at me like I should know what they want or don't want. I would just be especially nice to those kinds of people but it does put you off of your good feelings towards anyone for the rest of the day. When customers treat you like your stupid for twelve hours it really starts to drive you crazy. By the end of the night you'll have been freaking out that you're so tired you don't want to do anything at all. It makes your whole body hurt as well as your feet.


When you close the movie theater you have a lot of cleaning to do before you can go home. You must clean the popcorn popper, the warmers, the dishes, the counters, the floors, and any other random thing that the managers feel like forcing you to do. After already having an aching body and feet the last thing you want to do is clean for two hours. Cleaning the popper is what takes the most time if you do it right. That is what I had to clean and it took me longer than usual because of my achiness. It was totally and completly the craziest day that I have worked there. Twelve hours is no good; it has made me appreciate how much easier the usual six hours is because of all the problems it gave me.