Treasured Memories

When loved ones die, it's hard to let them go. You know the cliché saying of "When you love something you have to set it free." Well that's harder than it looks, and I know from experience. People find different ways to hold on to them for as long as possible. From carrying around pictures of them to wearing their wedding ring. Recently I've come across a very ingenious way of keeping those that have passed on close to your hearts and it's just two simple words. Treasured Memories. 

Last Christmas my grandmother received a gift that she will cherish forever. It was a teddy bear made out of one of my grandfather's old shirts. My grandfather pasted a couple of years ago from cancer and my grandmother is still staying strong. However, I did see her shed a tear or two when she tore off the paper of the box that contained a beautiful blue teddy bear.  

The women who is responsible for this wonderful masterpiece and creative idea is Mrs. Marjorie Rock. She is located in the small eastern Iowa town of Jesup Iowa, and is always welcoming new costumers. She is the sweetest little lady and she knows how to talk. If you get her going on a topic, there's no stopping her. Mrs. Rock was once a home economics teacher at the local high school. Once she retired she decided to continue her love for sewing by creating this little business of Treasured Memories.  

She makes all different sizes and it doesn’t take that much material either. Depending on the size of the bear, it's no more than thirty dollars for one bear. Last summer I had her make a medium sized bear out of one of my grandpa's old quilts for only twenty dollars. It took her no more than three weeks to make; she would've been done sooner but she made four bears total, one for each of my sisters and I. She did such a great job and it's a great way to remember the ones I have lost. 

Each bear comes with a bow, a tag with her contact information, and a nice hand written letter explaining the significance of the bear. It's amazing how she can take something as simple as a quilt or a t-shirt and turn it into something that will be cherished and loved forever. If you wish to contact Mrs. Rock, feel free to email me and I can get you her contact information. 

Word Count: 417 

Show Choir is Indeed a Sport

It bothers me when people say show choir is not a sport, because it is. Yes I understand that it's not a very physical sport compared to some, such as football or soccer. But it takes a lot of work to put a show together. At most, we have three months off, otherwise we're practicing every week for a couple of hours. It takes a lot of stamina to get through a whole show and perform it well. If you don't believe me, take a look at Cedar Rapid's Kennedy High School's Varsity show choir Happiness Inc. in their prime back in 2012. Most of the people who say show choir is not a sport, haven't seen nor performed in a show choir. You shouldn't judge something you have no experience with. 

In a soccer tournament, the players probably play four or five times for around and hour to an hour and a half, depending on how well their team does. In a show choir competition, a singer would perform for about twenty minutes then be done, unless they make finals which adds another twenty minutes to that. I understand that a sport like soccer has more physical activity. However not every sport requires the players to do intensive physical activity for long periods of time. Take cricket for example. That is definitely not as active as show choir but it's still considered a sport to many people around the world. 

Show choir auditions are help in April. Then you have the months of May and June off. Most directors have choreography camps during the months of July and August. Once school starts at the end of August early September, practices start to be once a week. Come October, practices are scheduled for twice a week. These twice a week practices are constant until January hits, then we practice even more. January through March is classified as show choir season. We have competitions almost every Saturday, as early as five o'clock in the morning to as late as one o'clock in the morning the next day. So it can be said that these show choir competitions are literally all day events. About a month or two after the last competition, we have something that's called the "Going Out Concert" which is one last performance of our show before the seniors leave and the year is officially over. So needless to say, if you're involved in show choir, it's pretty much your life. 

Singers have to learn to breath from the diaphragm to get a good breath support for each note. Your diaphragm is a muscle. It takes a lot of energy to breath from the diaphragm, not to mention on top of the dancing. If a performer is truly going full out and is committing himself or herself to the performance, they should walk off the stage out of breath and sweating through their clothing. During practice, our director will make us do crunches, pushups, sit ups, etc. He will also make us run the length of the school, then perform our show directly after that. Not only does it take a huge amount of stamina, it also takes a lot of mental ability too because you have to be constantly thinking about ten different things at once. You have to think about your breathing, the dance moves, your vowel shape, the note you have to sing and when to sing it, etc. Most people think we just get up there and sing a simple song and dance a simple dance. People shouldn't judge something that they don't know much about. Keep that in mind the next time you see a show choir perform. 

Word Count: 614

Advertisement Corrupting Our Youth

When most people watch TV, they usually either skip the commercials or get up and do something such as go to the bathroom, get food, or sometimes both. For those of you who do indeed watch the commercials that play in between your favorite show, you may or may not notice some very interesting details. The commercials directly targeted towards kids are very gender specific and are subconsciously telling our kids how to act and what's socially acceptable for boys and girls to play with.  

Here is a commercial advertising Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Action Figures. This commercial is obviously aimed towards the male gender because it promotes fighting, power, violence, competition, etc. Advertisement companies want to appeal to boys' violent and commanding side of their personality. But what they don't realize is that by targeting young boys like that is harming their social life. They're being taught that they have to be commanding to get what they want and to be destructive. This type of ad is discouraging boys to be nurturing and sensitive. Commercials such as this one have been subconsciously telling boys that they have to be tough and being soft is for sissy. This is why they grow up to be men that don't show their sensitive side because they're afraid they will be called "gay" by another man that was reared very similarly. Boys are taught at a young age to never show they're weaknesses, and this is why we have the men we have today.  

Boys are not alone in this fight against gender roles. Here is a commercial for Bratz's Magic Hair Salon. Notice how there are only girls in this commercial and no boys. This is classified as a girl toy because it involves a doll, which is not "manly" according to society. This commercial is just as corrupted as the commercial targeted towards boys. This ad is promoting beauty, popularity, self-image, perfection, etc. Teenage girls have a hard time with their self-esteem and this is a perfect example as to why this is the case. They're taught at a young age that they must be pretty because of the campaigns behind the dolls they played with as kids. Through these commercials, girls are not encouraged to be creative and intelligent. There's also the fact that many games and toys that are classified as "girly" all have to do with housework and taking care of the family. This kind of corruption is telling the female youth that their place in at home, and not in the work force. Girls deserve more than that.  

These commercials for toys and games are not all bad. Many advertisements targeted towards boys are encouraging building, imagination, constructive play, etc. Nowadays you see many companies offering little boys toys they can build themselves, which teaches them building and algorithm. For the toys aimed at grabbing little girls' attention, they encourage imagination. They want little girls to imagine themselves as grownups and going to the mall or hanging out with friends at the beach. They get the imagination through role playing with dolls.  

It's amazing that what you let your kid watch can affect them so much later on in life. I'm not saying you shouldn't let you child play with these toys or be exposed to the commercials. Just let them know that they have a choice and there's no pressure to choose a certain one. They are the ones who ultimately choose which toy to play with. If it's not the one classified within their gender role, just let them know that's it's ok to like something different. 

Word Count: 604