Unbeknownst-That's a funny word.

Anyway, the chicken had more than one reason to cross the road.

1.) To get to the other side.
2.) There was a "chick" over there.
3.) Chick-fil-A was having a special.
4.) The walk light was on.
5.) There was a garage sale.
6.) He was late for class.
7.) He was chasing Harrison Ford while impersonating Tommy Lee Jones.
8.) He was chasing Wesley Snipes while impersonating Tommy Lee Jones.
9.) He was chasing someone for an autograph, "chickened" out, went to turn back, and got plowed by a car.
10.) The ambulance broke down a block away from the emergency room.

Apollo Academic Team at GC Regionals

So this past Saturday Apollo hosted the KAAC Region 3 Governor's Cup Regionals. After many of us advanced in our written assesments from District competition and the quick recall team got in by the skin of our teeth, we were pretty pumped to get in and kick some tail. As it turns out, there is really only one word that can describe the day's events: bittersweet.

Pros: 4 people advanced to State in 3 tests, and one in Composition, the Quick Recall team beat the heck out of Henderson and Owensboro High School (the school that narrowly beat us at District) and in the breaks between the lunch and the second match, Rock Band all around.

Cons: While I'm happy that I can go to State in my written assessment, it's a hollow win. I was only one point in front of Kiersten Richards, and that turned out to be the point that denied her a placing. It's truly a shame, because we all know that she put a tremendous amount of time and effort into studying for it. In my opinon, she absolutely deserved to go, but life is just unfair.
We were also beaten by our arch-rivals, Grayson County, and let's just say that they aren't the most gracious of winners. After beating Owensboro and getting into the 4th round, we had a lead on Edmondson County going into the second half, but they came back with a vengeance and stomped us out of contention. So Quick Recall was out.
The FPS team had competed on Wednesday afternoon, but we wouldn't find out any results until the awards ceremony on Saturday. At the awards ceremony, they call FPS results in reverse order from fourth up. Fourth place: Some other school. Ok, we're still good. Third Place:...Apollo High School. I wanted to scream. Turns out, we also missed State in FPS by a one point technicality, which makes defeat all the more hard to swallow.

In the end, we may not have achieved everything we had hoped for, but we came darn close. I know that with a little more knowledge and a bit of luck, we will triumph in the competitions to come.

A Surefire Classic

Too many times lately, I have heard the phrase, "like in the good-old days". I think there is a certain longing in all of us that wants to experience our lives again in childhood or in the generation before us, when things seemed to be simpler. We cling at memories and fight to remember the way things used to be, in hopes that we may revive it one day. I think one of the best ways to not only feel nostalgic and suave, but also to brighten someone's day, is to write them a letter. Write. Not Type. On a piece of stationary, or a card, stick it in an envelope, lick the stamp, and put it in the mail. You would be surprised at how nice it is to receive something like this in the mail, often at a time when you least expect it. That's my challenge for you readers. Write someone a thank you letter, for no particular reason. "Just because" is good enough. What are friends for, now?

Alice in Wonderland/Willy Wonka/Anything you like.

The new movie remake has been airing trailers, and quite frankly, while the movie looks absolutely loony, I am somewhat attracted to it. This leads me to ponder, why do things that are uncharacteristic to our nature sometimes appeal to us in a big way?
I'm a huge fan of the movie, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. Not the one with precious-Johnny in it, but the original. Gene Wilder, while his interpretation of Willy Wonka seems tame to that of Johnny Depp's, he was the better of the two in my opinion. He kept the character just barely tangible, so that the effect was someone we could relate to, but also someone that we subconsciously envied because of his freedom of actions and whimsicality. Why can't we all be that unique and admired? Obviously, we can't. In the movie The Incredibles, the villian states that through him, everyone can have super powers; everybody can excel. And if everybody's super, NO ONE IS. That is because a people, individuals in everyday society, iconoclasts if you will, are head and shoulders above everyone else. If suddenly everyone had the capability to be someone really special, for example, Einstein, than the whole connotation of the word, Einstein, would be lost. If everyone is as smart as one of the smartest people, then everyone is the same. Nothing is exceptional about that.

The best reasons for doing nothing.

Being dead.
Being Asleep.
Being Switzerland in a military conflict. (Because they do lots more than nothing in everything else.)
Having a snow day.
Being Paralyzed.
Being given a beating. (But seriously, who does nothing when that happens?)
Being a big fat politician in someplace.
Like Washington.
In all of these things, the people who aren't performing action technically can't help it. It is in their nature.
Now, obviously sometimes, people who have to capability to perform an action choose not too. Like a couch potato. Or someone who is clinically depressed. The couch potato chooses not to move because they are lazy. The depressed person does not move or act because they figure, why bother? In this sense, philosophers are clinically depressed. Or lazy. Or both. But they do think an awful lot. So I suppose that counts for something.

Several Ways in Which to Express Negatory Feelings without Actually Saying So

I'd rather that you didn't.
Please don't.
Stop. That's enough, Randy.
Absolutely not.
Non.
Never in a million years.
When Hell freezes over.
When pigs fly.
I'd love to, but I'm staying home to work on my cottage cheese sculpture.
Ewwwww.
If you do, I swear I'll...et cetera *censored* et cetera.
Why don't we do it my way?
Why don't you go do something else.
I'M watching T.V.
I do not want to play with you.
Oprah just isn't my favorite person.
I already saw that movie.
You are ugly.
I do not wish to conversate with you.
Non, s'il te plait aller.
Nope.

Silly things.

Here are some things I find to be extraordinary silly.
Musicals.
High School Musicals.
Tabloids.
Celebrities.
Celebrity Fan-boys.
Celebrity Fan girls.
Political Parties.
Blank-Americans.
Japanese youth.
Hello Kitty.
Dora the Explorer.
Go Diego Go.
Smart Cars.
Cadillac Escalades.
"Bling".
Project Runway.
America's Next Top Model.
Hillary Duff.
Miley Cyrus.
Hannah Montana.
Her parents.
Nickelodeon, as of late. What a shame.
The Disney Channel. The Anti-Walt.
Couches.
Laptops.
Blackberries.
Texting.
MySpace.
Telling people your schedule throughout the day, from your waking moment to your late bedtime, along with relationship conversations with your significant other via Facebook status updates.
Giggling.
Snorting while giggling, especially if female. How unattractive.
McDonalds.
Burger King.
Walmart.
Kmart.
Cosmopolitan Magazine- 100 ways to please a man? Give me a break, that list is 97 things too long. Let him drive, make him a sandwich, and don't talk during the commercials.
Lady Gaga.
Kanye West.
Taylor Swift. (You see now I take no prisoners.)
Jay Leno.
David Letterman.
Conan O'Brien.
Bill Clinton.
George Double-You Bush.
Having to ask to go to the bathroom.
M.I.A.
Paper Planes.
The 2006 Tour de France.
Rhythmic Gymnastics.
Running in place at a stoplight while jogging.
Bottled water.
99 cent items.
Pennies.
Robert Pattinson.
Taylor Lauter.
Androgynous names.
Janet Napolitano.
Indoor pets.
John L. Woolley.
Dentists.
Orthodonists.
Psychiatrists.
Fortune Tellers.
Zoroastrianism.
Jehovah's Witnesses.
Furbies.
Tickle Me Elmo.
Non-cookie eating Cookie Monsters.
National Public Radio.
Rush Limbaugh.
MSNBC.
Fox News.
Keith Olbermann.
Charles Barkley.
Hillary Clinton.
Michelle Obama.
Laura Bush.
Sarah Palin.
John Madden.

Just because these are silly doesn't make them bad.