Chiquita on Gene Kehoe's Request

I was watching the news the other night with my mom, and there was an update on the Michelle Kehoe trial. Basically what happened was this woman killed her son Seth, 2, and attempted to kill her other son, Sean, who was seven at the time of the attack. She cut both of their throats. Sean survived the attack, but Seth didn't. The attack happened in October 2008. Her trial started in October of this year, and she was found guilty on November 5th of several charges including: First Degree Murder, Attempted Murder, and Child Endangerment Causing Serious Injury.
Earlier this week, Kehoe was sentenced to life in prison for the murder charge, 25 years for the attempted murder charge, and ten years on the child endangerment causing serious injury charge. The attempted murder charge and the child endangerment causing serious injury charge will be served concurrently, which means at the same time. These sentences will be served consecutivly to the first degree murder charge. Basically, all this means that there is no chance in hell of Kehoe ever seeing the light of day outside the prison walls ever again.
Along with all this legal stuff, there is a no contact order in place between Kehoe and any member of her family, including her husband. This no contact order was not requested by the family. On the day of sentencing, Gene Kehoe, the father of the children and Kehoe's husband, asked that the no contact order be lifted so that Gene could speak with his wife, and that their son may some day be able to visit his mother in prison, if he wished. The judge said for now, no. When Mr. Kehoe was getting off the stand, he asked if he could hug his wife. Because of the no contact order, the judge said no.
I understand that Michelle Kehoe doesn't have any rights anymore because she is a murderer and prisoner. What I do not understand however is how the court got the right to restrict Gene Kehoe's freedoms. He is being punished because of his wife's crime. Mr. Kehoe believes his wife to be mentally ill, and he said he will eventually forgive her for her actions because of that. I think that is only healthy of him to do, and I think it is wrong of the court to disallow him the right to see his wife. I think this because he's free, so he should be able to do what he wants with the situation.
There may be more updates on the Kehoe trial, and if there are I will keep you updated. You may find the details of the trial here.

Chiquita on Snow Day Number One

Mr. Evan's "seriously doubted" we'd have a snow day on Tuesday... and the students win again! Yes! I love it when that happens.

Day One of Three Snow Days was great! I woke up begrudgingly, as I do every morning that I have to get up early and go to school. Right above my headboard is a window that looks out onto the street. Rubbing the sleep out of my eyes, I raised the blinds. There was no street to be seen. There was just snow. It was level with the curb, and then some! Apparently the wind was blowing in the direction of my neighbor across the street's house because a drift had formed along the side of their house. It was at least four feet high. Liking my chances, I went into the living room and turned on the television. I waited for my que, and when it rolled across the screen, I fist pumped (yes, I actually fist pumped. Don't laugh) and at the same time my mom walked in the front door. (She works nights.)

"No school I take it?" she said.

"Nope! Woo hoo!" I cheered. Then I went back to bed. It's an unwritten rule in my household that I do not get up before noon on snow days, simply out of principal. Later in the day, Cory came over to get me (he only lives like two blocks away, so it wasn't a bad drive or anything). We hung out at his house and watched the Breakfast Club. I hadn't seen it in a long time, and it was a good pick for a day where we were stuck at home with not much to do. That night I got the best sleep I've had in a long time. It was the best snow day ever.

Chiquita on Christmas Time

I love Christmas time. My family gets to get together and eat a bunch of good food, exchange a few Christmas presents, and just hang out watching videos of when my brothers and I were younger. It's always a nice reminder of how blessed I am to have my family.

To me, Christmas really isn't about getting exactly what I want or cooking the perfect meal. Sure, I like to get expensive things for Christmas that I wouldn't normally be able to convince my mom to buy for me, but if I don't get it, I'm not disappointed. I like to buy small gifts for my family, and I know they like them just because I thought of them. It's not like I have to spend a million dollars on everyone at Christmas. And I don't want them to spend a ton of money on me either. I would much rather have them bake me some cookies and come over and eat them and spend time with me. I guess I'm simple like that.

I hate what Christmas has become. All the shopping and fighting and people DYING trying to find the perfect gift. I mean, the lines on "Black Friday" are ridiculous, all for a sale. Why buy the expensive gift in the first place? Where are the gifts from the heart? Sometimes, it makes me sick. I want anyone who reads this to take a step back from all this holiday rushing and just be thankful for what you have for a moment. Sheesh.

Chiquita on Fern Gully

I was alone at my house the other night. Ok, I wasn’t actually alone, Duncan was there, but he’s a cat and he never goes anywhere, so he doesn’t really count. My mom was over at my brother’s house babysitting my nephews, and I just happened to have nothing to do. I’d spent most of the day on Facebook, catching up on the latest gossip and making plans for my 18th birthday on New Year’s Eve (eek! So excited!). After I’d done that for a good five hours, I’d gotten pretty bored.
I was looking around my living room for something to do, when I noticed a large cardboard box sitting in the corner behind the lazy boy. I wondered what it could be. I thought maybe it was a Christmas present. Curious, I went over to look inside. The top was folded closed, but not taped. I opened it up, only to discover it was a box full of my old kids’ movies on VHS. I was about to shut the box and move on to something else when something caught my eye. She was a girl with black hair and light blue eyes. She wore a shirt with one shoulder that showed her belly, and a frayed skirt. Her wings poked out over her head. Her name was Crysta, and she was the main character in Fern Gully, my favorite movie of all time.
I looked over my shoulder, making sure no one was around. The cat stared at me accusingly, but I ignored him. I took the VHS from the box and went over to the TV. I turned the VCR on, and I was actually pretty surprised it worked. I popped the tape in. I fast forwarded through the previews, and then settled in on the couch and watched the movie. This was probably the best idea I’ve ever had. The movie was just as amazing as I remembered it. The harrowing tale of a little fairy and her new friend the shrunken construction working was nothing short of heartwarming Best day ever, but don’t tell anyone. My favorite part in the movie is when Goanna (Tone Loc) sings to Zak (Johnathan Ward), the shrunken construction worker. Here's the video of it.

Chiquita on Failing to Switch Gears

I suck at Math. I always have, and I probably always will. I suck so terribly at it that this term I was put into a class called “Applied Math. I had no idea what to expect when I showed up at class first hour on Monday. (Sociology was dropped to make room for this class. Boo.) I came in and the teacher told me to have a seat. I sat in the third row. The class is made up entirely of acquaintances and not a single person that I ever really talk to. With that being the case, it was easy for me to focus on what the teacher was talking about.
As I listened to the lesson, I became increasingly irritated. The students in the class mocked the teacher as he tried to do his job. They are the type with little or no respect for any kind of authority. The type who will not attend any kind of school (be it a two-year, four-year, or trade school) after graduation from high school. The type who have millions of better things to do during this time, like sell drugs or break into cars. I don’t mean to stereotype, but do you blame me? At one point during the hour, one of the guys in the class commented on how all the administrators supposedly thought he was a drug dealer because he was always on his phone. To this the teacher replied, “Is it true?” and the kid replied, “No! I didn’t sell any drugs this year!” Obviously, he meant to imply that he had previously sold drugs. Apparently, he thinks selling drugs is cool. Yea, pretty cool dude. So is working at Mickey D’s until you overdose at age 40, actually.
The class continued like this for the entirety of the period. As I listened to the conversations around me, I actually felt myself becoming less intelligent. My brain slowed down for a moment and I feared it might stop functioning completely and I would forget how to breathe and they’d have to drag my lifeless body off to the nurse’s office and I’d never make it to AP Lang.
Thankfully I managed to make it to the ring of the bell and wander mindlessly to AP Lang. When I sat down in my seat, I was feeling rather sluggish. Mr. Ayers started speaking and I found myself struggling to keep up with him. Frantic, I pulled out an essay and began to quickly read through it. Thankfully this worked and I began thinking like a normal person again. It was really weird feeling so sluggish in AP. I think it’s because my brain doesn’t have to work as hard in Applied Math as it does in AP and it just hadn’t realized it was time to wake up and get moving. The whole time I was in that class I had that song “Fly Away” by Lenny Kravitz playing in my head. “I want to get away; I want to get away….”

Chiquita on Senior Year

And the school year drags on. I’d say I’m running a fever of about 106.8. What illness am I suffering from you ask? Well, none other than the infamous Senioritis. Seriously, I go to class every day, and the whole time I sit, I count the minutes until the final bell rings. Several of my friends are in college, and I’m really the only one who was left behind to continue wandering the halls of our not-so-beloved high school. I humor the teachers, answering and asking a few questions here and there. I tolerate the other students, seemingly working well with others when really I’m only thinking about how the more I speed this along, the sooner it will be over and then I’m that many minutes closer to graduating and getting the hell out of here. I know of a country song by Trace Adkins called “You’re Gonna Miss This”. At one point in the song, he sings in his twangy voice

You’re gonna miss this, you’re gonna want this back, you’re gonna wish these
days hadn't gone by so fast. These are some good times, so take a good look
around.You may not know it now, but you’re gonna miss this.

When applied to my current high school situation, that’s the biggest load of crap I’ve ever heard. I’ve done my time in high school. I was never very involved but never overly isolated either. I’m just not that into the whole “school activities” thing. I just really want to finish everything I need to get done and move on with my life. I’m sure when I’m a grown adult and have teenagers of my own, I’ll probably regret not taking more of an advantage of my high school years. But right now, I just want this to be over already. It’s been a long 13 years, and I’m really ready to just be out on my own. I’ve already started making plans as to where I’m going to be living after I graduate. If things work out as planned, I’ll be moving to Iowa City to live in a house with two of my good friends, Erin Van Kirk and Brooke Harlander, as well as a couple other girls. As far as schooling, I’m going to Kirkwood for two years before pursuing my dream of being an elementary school teacher. That being the case, I have some options as far as my first year as a college student. Hopefully, I’ll be able to take my general classes at the Iowa City campus. If not, I’ll have to take them at the Cedar Rapids location. Depending on whether or not I have a well-paying job in Iowa City I may have to move back to Cedar Rapids at the end of the summer to an apartment closer to the Cedar Rapids campus. If that ends up being the case, I already have another girl I could room with.
When I think about all of this, I just see these last several months at Kennedy as a waste of my time. I’m sitting here at this school, being told when I may eat my lunch, when its “appropriate” for me to go to the bathroom, and all the other rules, when in a few months I’m going to be supporting myself, making my own way in the world. I’m just too excited for it!

Chiquita on Another Concert! Woop woop!

FOREVER THE SICKEST KIDS!!!!!!!!!!!!

FOREVER THE SICKKKESSSTTTTT KIDDDDSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!! YESS!!!!!!!!!!!
Translation: Ike, Rachel, and I have conned Rachel’s mother into once again chauffeuring us to Des Moines for a concert. This time, it’s going to be at People’s Court (best concert venue EVER). That’s the place where 3oh!3 held their legendary (at least to us) concert. The bands that are going to be there are; Forever the Sickest Kids (of course), My Favorite Highway (Insert from Paige “My Favorite Highway? I prefer any highway that gets me out of here.” That was legendary.), Sing It Loud, and Artist vs. Poet. Originally, we weren’t even planning on going to this concert, considering we’ve already seen FTSK and MFH live. But then Ike caught wind of it, and FREAKED OUT. He and Rachel were talking online when he heard about it, and he spazzed out for about an hour. He’s calm down to the point of being able to function like a normal human being, but he’s still insanely excited about it. I’m excited too. I love concerts. Once we decided we wanted to go, we had to convince Rachel’s mom to take us. Rachel used a different approach this time. She went for the “can I drive there?” tactic. It worked, because her mom refuses to let her drive, so it was easy to just be like, “BUT MOOOMMMMMMM WE HAVE TO GO!” and throw a fit, so she caved and said, “Calm down, Jesus. I’ll take you. Relax.” Now all I have to do is convince my mom to let me go, but I’m sure that won’t be a problem. So here we go again! I can’t wait until next Wednesday!

Chiquita on Being Sick, as Usual

So I have this autoimmune disorder called Lupus. Because of this, I get sick pretty easily, and when I do, I get really REALLY sick. I remember one time when I got pneumonia I had to be hospitalized. It was the first few weeks of seventh grade. I went to school on the first day, and I didn’t come back again for three weeks. It sucked.
So here I am sitting here running a 102-degree fever, and feeling as though my muscles are failing me. It hurts to move. I have a terrible cough, I’m having trouble breathing, and my chest is all congested. What’s that sound like to you? To me, it’s sounding like the flu.
I was sitting in my living room earlier, coming to terms with the fact that I wont make it to school tomorrow (bummer, right?) and watching some TV. 60 Minutes was on, and they had this story about a guy that’s my age that has H1N1. Now I’m freaked out. That poor kid can’t even breathe on his own. I’m sure what I’ve got is just the old-fashioned flu and I’ve got nothing to worry about. I just can’t help being freaked out! My whole drink a lot of orange juice and take vitamin c pills thing hasn’t really been working out. I don’t like orange juice, and every time I go to the store I forget to buy the vitamins. I’m failing. I can’t be sick because if I’m sick I can’t go to school and if I can’t go to school I’m going to get behind and if I get behind I’ll never get caught up and if I don’t get caught up I wont pass my classes and if I don’t pass my classes I wont graduate and if I don’t graduate my life will suck AHHHH!!!!! So yea, I’m just going to assume this illness is all in my head, and if I tell myself I’m not sick, then I won’t be sick. I think that sounds like a pretty good plan. As for tomorrow, the drill sergeant aka my mother says that I can’t go to school again until I am fever free for 24 hours. Which means no school tomorrow, and probably no school Tuesday. I don’t like where this is going. I have plans to ride a bus to all the cool haunted houses around and if I don’t get to go, I’m going to be so mad. I always miss out on stuff because I’m sick. If I’m not dead, I’m going. The End.

Chiquita on Hit the Lights Yeah Yeah!! (post concert)

Best. Concert. Ever.
Rachel and I needed to get a few things done before we left at 2, so we left school early. We went to the bank and Best Buy and grabbed a bite to eat. After fifth hour, we picked Ike up at his house. Then we took him to the bank. I hadn’t slept very well the night before, so I was in serious need of a nap. Ike and I had had an intense best two out of three Rock, Paper, Scissors contest that morning to decide who got the back seat on the way home. He beat me, dang it. Anyways, that meant I got the back on the way there, and that was fine by me because that way I could get my nap on the way there. Rachel’s mom got home around 1:45, and we left as soon as her friend that was also going with us got there. I fell asleep right away in the car, and I didn’t wake up until we got there. The doors opened at five, and we got there at four, so we decided to go to this restaurant/bar place we always go to before concerts. Ike was hungry, so we all decided to get food. I got a salad, Rachel got mozzarella sticks, and Ike got a French dip. Rachel and I ordered sprites, and they tasted like chalk. When we asked the waiter about it she said she thought the diet sprite might have accidentally got hooked up to the regular sprite, so we got Pepsi’s instead. They were pretty good. It took a while for our food to come, so by the time we were done eating, it was already five. We didn’t have to wait outside at all which was good because it was freezing out.
The first two bands, This Time Next Year and Sparks the Rescue, were ok. I wasn’t overly impressed. The next band was Fireworks. I wasn’t aware they were playing there. They were really good. I think this is due in part to the fact that they had a lot of fans in the audience, so people got more into it. At one point, a guy jumped on my back, causing Ike and I to bump heads, and me to see stars for a second. The next band was There for Tomorrow. There was nothing wrong with the way they played or anything, I just didn’t really like them. Finally, Hit the Lights came on. And guess what? I was in the FRONT ROW baby! YEAH!! It rocked, everyone went crazy, and I really enjoyed myself. I know all the words to most of their songs, so I got really into it. At one point, Nick Thompson, the lead singer, was right in my face! I sort of forgot the words to the song he was singing for a second, because I was in awe of Nick. They put on a great show. It just rocked in general. Oh, and we’ve decided Ike is a permanent fixture in our concert trips. It was an interesting experience having him along! Can’t wait until the next one guys!

Chiquita on the Hit the Lights Concert Yeah Yeah!!! (pre-concert)

In less than 8 hours, I will be at the House of Bricks, seeing one of my favorite bands live. I have listened to Hit the Lights for a long time. I was first introduced to them by my best friend Rachel, with whom I share a love of this genre of music. I feel like the genre would be somewhere between Electronica and Alternative. Other bands that will be there include; There for Tomorrow, Sparks the Rescue, and This Time Next Year. I haven’t really listened to the other bands a ton, but I’ve checked it out and they all sound pretty good. Normally it’s just Rachel and I who go to the concerts, but this time our friend who’s in our Philosophy class, Ike, is coming with us. Ike is quite a character, so the trip to Des Moines and the concert should be pretty interesting. I’m excited to see what Rachel’s mom, who is giving us the ride, will think of him.
Anyways, back to Hit the Lights. They formed the band in 2003, and the name came from some 80’s movie that I’ve never seen. The band members are: Nick Thompson on lead vocals, Omar Zehery on guitar, Kevin Mahoney on guitar and back up vocals, David Bermosk on bass and helping out with the back up vocals, Nathan VanDame on drums, Paloma Saenz on guitars and some vocals. My favorite album of theirs is called, “Skip School, Start Fights” and my favorite song is “Drop the Girl”. I’m super excited about this concert, maybe it will top the 3oh!3 concert? Hmm, I don’t know about that, that concert was probably the best I’ve ever been to! I will definitely let you know if its good though!

Chiquita on Life, Sometimes

Yesterday I had a really interesting and pretty sad experience. I’ve had this friend for a long time. We grew up together, fought as children, lost touch for a while, as we got older. Last year, I got a job at a pizza place in town, and my friend just happened to work there. He’s one of those people that think they are so cool. He’s really cocky, and I know him well enough to know he’s no hot shot, and I have to laugh at him when he puts on this front that he does. I wasn’t aware he worked there. On my first day, he walked in wearing one of the pizza place’s shirts, and I joked with the manager that I quit, as my long lost pal sauntered up to the counter with the same grin on his face that’s been stuck there since we were tots. We joked and teased each other like back in the day. Months passed and eventually our friendship and teasing turned into flirting, and finally blossomed into a relationship. For a long time, all we did was have fun. We hung out with childhood friends and people I hadn’t seen in years. It was just a really good time. Eventually though we just became too much for each other. I think it has something to do with the fact that we are so alike. We’re both stubborn as the day is long, and we are both always right. We began to argue and fight all the time. I just can’t handle yelling and fighting, so I just completely removed myself from the relationship. I blew him off, constantly ignored his phone calls, texted him back with short, one-word answers. Eventually he gave up on me, or so I thought. Last night he texted me, wanting to talk about it. I’m the kind of person who sometimes you hurt me, and I just need to go away and be hurt, alone, for a while. Unfortunately, he wasn’t having any of that. I suggested that maybe we just needed to take a break from each other. He couldn’t do it, for reasons of his own unknown to me. I guess I understand that. So, since we couldn’t see eye to eye, we decided that its over, and then he said goodbye. I asked him, “Is that it? You’ll never speak to me again?” He said he was sorry, but no, he wouldn’t, and that was it. Poof. Gone. I guess I’m just really shaken up by this. This person that I’ve known for all of my life no longer wants to be a part of it. I’m just feeling really abandoned. I mean sure, this was the guy I was dating, but besides my best girl friend, he was probably the closest person to me. He knows everything about me. He calmed me down when I cried my heart out the night my cat died. This person knows everything about me, he has all this personal information that no one really cares about, and he just got up and walked out of my life with it. Am I too young to understand this? Is that was this is? I just don’t see why the world has to be like this. Am I really going to see him at the grocery store some day, and we’re just going to act like the thousands of hours we spent together just never happened? Am I supposed to walk by him with my beans and loaf of bread and pretend like he’s not standing right there? I know I’m young, and I’ll probably move away and have my own life in some other town. But right now, this city is pretty much my world. The people I know and love are all I’ve got. How am I supposed to know who is going to get up and leave me standing in their past, and who will always be there? I think I’ve learned a very important lesson here. Cherish the people you love, and love the life you have just as it is right now, because tomorrow it could be totally different, maybe in a good way maybe not. I guess that’s it.

Chiquita on Cheating

Yesterday, I had to take a really hard test. I studied for it all weekend. I slaved over the study guide for hours. I asked anyone who was around for help. I worked and worked, and prayed for a good grade. When I went to class yesterday, I tried my best to be confident. I knew I wasn’t going to get an A, and I’d be extremely lucky if I got a B, or even a C. Basically, I’ll be happy if I pass it. So the teacher passes out the tests, and I take it. I was the second one done. I don’t know if that’s a good thing or a bad thing. Then I go back to my seat and take out some other homework, still begging God to just please let me pass that test. I just happened to glance to my left to see one of my classmates pass the person in front of them a piece of paper filled with the questions and answers from the test I just handed in. In my mind, I exploded. I seriously wanted to punch those two in the face. I was so mad. I studied hard all weekend, and I’ll still probably get a crappy grade. It’s just not fair. Some people get by so easy, never really doing any real work. Normally, I’d just be like that’s crap, but whatever its not my business. Not this time. This time I’d had enough, I was just too mad. After class, I hung back. I waited until I was sure both of the cheaters were out of the room, and then I told the teacher what I saw, and I was told it would be taken care of. I know I did the right thing, but I still feel bad. I don’t have a problem with either of the people who I caught cheating, I like both of them just fine. Although that doesn’t mean I should let them get away with cheating on a test. Honestly, I’ve copied my fair share of homework over the years, and I’ve let people copy mine. I understand that copying homework is wrong, and I try to do it as little as possible. Really, I only do it when I really have no other choice. I’m not trying to justify my cheating, please don’t take it like that. I always feel bad when I do it. I mean, even if the person I copy from copied from someone else, somewhere along the line, someone had to do the work. I feel like its not fair to whoever actually did the work that all these people get the points just for knowing how to move a pencil on some notebook paper. I feel this is especially the case on tests. I mean, like I said, somewhere along the line someone had to do the work, someone had to complete that study guide; someone had to slave over it. I guess though if that person wants to let someone copy their test, then it’s their own fault, and they should be punished too. I mean, if I ever got caught cheating on the test, I would have nothing to say for myself. I know its wrong and I shouldn’t do it, not matter what. I just think it’s really inconsiderate of someone to cheat off someone else’s test. I think a little less of people who do that. Actually, I think a little less of anyone who cheats on anything. Yes, this includes myself. When I copy someone’s homework, I don’t think about it like I am now, but when I really consider it like I am now, I can’t help but think what a jerk I am. What a jerk we all are.

Chiquita on Soccer

My entire life, for as long as I can remember, I’ve been a Cubs fan. My whole family is, but especially my grandmother. From the time I was born until I was in second grade, my mom worked as a nurse at Mercy Hospital. She worked nights on the weekends. Because of this, my brother and I spent a lot of time at my grandparents’ house. I bonded with both grandparents a lot during this time of my life. My grandfather had been in the Navy for most of his life and he was really into computers and he worked for Rockwell for something like 30 years. He used to let me sit on his lap and play Pac Man on an ancient, early generation Macintosh. I was never really that interested in computers and technology, but anything he wanted to tell me about them I absorbed wholeheartedly. My grandmother was the typical old lady. She played bridge, went to lunch with other old ladies, and sat in the “front room” and read the paper. That’s not how we bonded though. My grandmother and I bonded over, of all things, baseball. More specifically, she and I loved the Cubs. We’d sit on the sofa in the den, and watch the game. I was an active little girl, always hyper, always running around, but when the Cubs were on, I was 100% zoned in on the game. Sometimes kids from the neighborhood would come to the door and ask if I wanted to come out and play and I’d shoo them away, telling them I couldn’t come out today, the game is on. That basically how the tradition between generations grew into my sort-of obsessive love of the game. For a long time, baseball was my sport, I played on an all boys (except for me) baseball team with my brother from the time I was seven until I was 12 and the league said I had to play softball. I wasn’t interested in other sports at all. If there was a bat, a ball, and a diamond, I didn’t want anything to do with it.
I’d pretty much always been like that and I still was until about a week ago. My friend and I had a crazy week of schoolwork, and we were both really stressed out. One of my guy friends plays for the Mount Mercy Soccer Team, and he happened to have a home game over at Kingston, so we decided to take a break from our horrible academic week and see what all the fuss was about over soccer. Long story short; WE LOVED IT! I love soccer. The action, the wild running up and down the field; its awesome. The way we almost score and then ahh! We just miss it!! The whole game was intense. There was even a fight and a kid got a red card! It’s good in a way that’s different from baseball. Baseball is a slow game that builds, like a good story with a twist ending. Soccer, on the other hand, makes me tired just watching. Its action, action, action! I just love both the sports now. I’m not saying soccer is going to take baseball’s place in my heart or anything. I’m just saying, I seriously underestimated that sport. It rocks!

Chiquita on the Smartboards

I can’t remember there ever being a time when there weren’t chalkboards in every classroom. I remember when white boards became cool. It must have been about second grade, and I was basically in awe. So when I came in to my physics class, and the chalkboard was gone, and in its place was a gaping hole in the wall, I was a little surprised. I wasn’t there on Monday or Tuesday so I hadn’t heard about the “smartboard” situation yet. Once I was brought up to speed, I was kind of mad. I’m just saying I think the whole idea is kind of stupid. I mean, we could use that money for a lot of other things. But nooo, we have to get all fancy. I’m tired though, so I’m not going to rant about it now. I just wanted to touch base with everyone and let y’all know that there will be more discussion of this on here. All I’m saying right now is, “Biggest WASTE OF MONEY EVER”.

Chiquita on the Ethics of Belief

**This was written last week, but for some reason never got posted, so ignore the today’s and last night’s, they’re more like last Wednesday and the night before**

Today in my philosophy class only six of the 23 people did the reading that was assigned last night. I just happened to be one of them. Our teacher really hates it when we don’t do the reading. Actually, I think it really makes him genuinely sad. So when he asked who did the reading and only six of us raised our hands, he declared us his favorites and said we will now get special treatment. Then he asked us to gather our things and come with him. He led us to the social studies office and had us take a seat. He gave us coffee, and told us we are officially a study group. Then he left. Our discussion started out with us reading through W.K. Clifford’s “The Ethics of Belief”, and analyzing each paragraph. Clifford was arguing about the existence of god, sort of. He was arguing about how you should argue. Anyways, we’d been dealing with the argument of the existence of God, and how we should approach it. Well, we ended up getting into the argument itself, and it turned out to be one of the best class periods ever. Carol* is a Christian, and she was saying that unless you believe in God, The God all Christians believe in, and you ask for forgiveness for your sins and are saved, then you go to heaven. If not, you go to hell. It’s as simple as that. Dexter* argued that Gandhi wasn’t a Christian, but he really was a genuinely good person and he did so much for the world, is he going to hell? She said I hate to break it to you, but yes. Another kid, Bill*, argued that there absolutely was no God and believed die hard in the Big Bang Theory. Most of the time, the argument was pretty respectful. I sort of struggle with this argument myself, and it made me question my beliefs all the more. Personally, I believe that if you believe in Your God, no matter what religion you are, and whether or not you have been saved, then you go to heaven. I believe murderers and rapists and people of the like don’t get to go to heaven. I don’t think people that believe in many God’s get to go to heaven. I believe if you believe in an all-powerful, all knowing, all good, divine being, and you live your life to please him, or at least try to, then you go to heaven. I used to believe what Carol believed, but after this discussion, I’m not so sure about all that. The post discussion I have is that if there is a God, how could he just be like that? “If you don’t believe in me, and only me, and beg me for forgiveness for your wrongs, then you may rot in hell”. I just don’t see that as being very realistic. Carol said she struggles with that too, but that that’s just how it is. She doesn’t like it, but religion doesn’t have to be all about what you want. Sometimes its exactly how you don’t want it, and you just have to deal with it. I just think that’s all wrong. I guess I haven’t really come to a conclusion on this one either. I’ll get back to you.
*Names have been changed, of course.

Chiquita on Battle of the Sexes

These days I would say it’s pretty even as far as how much women are valued in society compared to men. Our principal is a woman, a lot of our public officials are women, and Oprah is a pretty influential woman in today’s society. It’s taken a lot of time – centuries really- for women to get where we are today. Women weren’t even allowed to vote in the United States until 1920. That was only 89 years ago, and Women’s suffrage did not become international law until 1948. That was only 61 years ago! That being said, I’d like to discuss a situation that arose last weekend, what was said, and my reaction to it. There’s this group of guys I know, they’re really into pickup games of football. They play in several different areas, mostly in schoolyards or at parks. Anyways, I’m not much of a tomboy, but I was hanging out with a few of the guys when game time came around. Rather than have them drop me off at home, I decided to tag along. When we got there, it just happened to be my luck that one of the guys bailed at the last minute and they needed one more “guy” to make two teams. One of the players says to me, “You know anybody you could call that’d be down to play, right now?” I said no, but I’d like to play. Another of the players then informed me that, “This is tackle football, honey, we don’t play with girls”. This is when I got a little angry. None of these guys are all that big, they’re mostly soccer player types, shorter guys. I said coolly, “I’m not afraid of being tackled, first of all, and second, I really don’t think you could catch me anyways”. Well, they let me play. I don’t mean to brag, but I did a pretty amazing job. I played the position where you run way out and catch the ball (wide receiver?) I scored four touchdowns. I only let them catch me once, and I got right back up after the tackle like it was nothing even though it hurt like hell. Afterwards we all went to Buffalo Wild Wings. The whole time we were there, all they could talk about was what a “beast” I am, and they kept saying how I really played like “one of the guys”. The more they made me out to look like a guy, the more I wanted to tell them they had it totally wrong. It was like the personification of an inanimate object. I really don’t understand it. I’m not one of the guys. I’m just a girl who happens to be good at a “man’s game”. I just think its kind of stupid that in order for them to think that I have any skill, I have to be “one of the guys”. I don’t understand why football is a man’s sport, or why any sport has to be a man’s sport or a woman’s sport. These guys aren’t much for intellectual conversations and I was outnumbered 20-some to one, so I didn’t bother bringing it up in the conversation. I haven’t really reached a conclusion on this topic just yet, so perhaps I’ll come back to it after further investigation or whatever.

Chiquita on Homecoming

Just a short one tonight kids. I think homecoming is way too over rated. Girls go out and buy expensive dresses, and then sweat it out hoping someone will ask them. They spend countless hours and a bunch of money on hair and makeup, they go to dinner, get pictures done, and then drown in their own sweat in the school cafeteria. I used to be really into the whole thing. I don’t know what it is. Maybe its because most of my friends are older, or that my boyfriend is in college and doesn’t dig the whole high school homecoming thing. Or maybe it’s because now I pay for all of my own stuff, and that would include hair and makeup, dress and accessories for homecoming. Anyways, I decided not to go to the dance. Instead, my boyfriend and I went out to dinner. We went with another couple, they guy is good friends’ with my boyfriend, and his girlfriend is in my grade and goes to my school. We had a really good time. Afterwards we went and saw a movie, and then went over to their house and they had a little after party and some kids came that actually did go to the dance. All in all, it was a pretty good homecoming.

Chiquita on Totally Pointless but Still VERY funny websites

I’m embarrassed. I kept telling myself I would absolutely not blog about this. I keep wanting to, but I keep telling myself no. So screw it.

Three websites. 1. fmylife.com 2. textsfromlastnight. 3. mylifeisaverage.com. BEST WEBSITES EVER. I should have been doing my homework last night, but instead I read posts on MLIA (that’s right, its legit enough to have an acronym) for three hours. In the back of my mind, I’m thinking about how lame I am. I just don’t care though. The stuff that people post on there is just so funny sometimes I laugh out loud until my mom says, “What are you reading? You should be doing homework!” So I read it out loud, and she laughs too. I’ve decided that these websites were made for people like me, who have a very weak (strong?) sense of humor, and laugh at things that normal people don’t find funny. I’m going to give a few examples from each site on here, because I feel like everyone needs to know how funny these sites are.

Example 1 from www.fmylife.com
Today, my parents yelled at me for 10 minutes without letting me get a word in edgewise for getting a 48 on my test. They took my phone, unplugged my internet, and took my car keys. They wouldn't listen no matter how many times I told them "It was out of 50". It actually was. FML

Example 2 from www.textsfromlastnight.com
“(609) Considering the fact that your still in jail Im gunna go with no.”
Example 3 from www.mylifeisaverage.com
“Today, I decided to tan on the balcony. I took my top off and my neighbor came out and saw me. He's a guy. So am I. We greeted each other. MyLifeIsAverage.”
Today, I was having a pretty crappy day. So I came home and got on the internet and started reading MLIA, that’s my favorite one. It made my day so much better. Its nice to know that other people find the littlest or dumbest things funny.

Chiquita on Taylor and Kanye

Ok, with all the hype about Kanye and Taylor, I might as well jump on the bandwagon and give everyone my two cents. First of all, I have a lot of respect for Taylor, and I admire her a lot. I follow her on twitter, myspace, and facebook. Every time she posts something, it reminds me of something I would post. I love that she’s not all glamorous, like she thinks she’s this big diva rock star girl. I love that she is so down to earth. I’m not in love with her music, although some of her songs are pretty good. With the way everyone thinks they are so cool and the biggest celeb in the world today, I love that Taylor is all “Hey, I’m just a country girl with a dream come true, I just want to sing.” That being said, even before all this Kanye vs. Taylor (vs. Obama, haha) I thought Kanye West was a jerk. I seem to remember a few times when he has shown up in the media for doing something cocky or arrogant. Really, he’s just an attention whore. It’s kind of sad that he has to act like an adolescent in order to get in the spot light. I know this is hypocritical considering I’m only fueling the fire by confessing it on a whim, but I wish everyone would just ignore it, because this is exactly what Mr. West wanted when he invited himself up on stage to interrupt Taylor’s moment. Is there anyone out there that respects Kanye as a person? I don’t think so. What’s to respect? He just made Taylor look good and himself look like a jackass with what he did. I think Taylor was really mature about the whole thing. I like the music of both artists, but I’m not going out to buy a Kanye album any time soon, or ever for that matter. The sooner this guy fades out of popularity, the better. He acts like Diddy, and he hasn’t earned the right to. That’s just my opinion on the whole thing.
http://www.youtube.com/user/taylorswift?blend=2&ob=1#play/all/uploads-all/1/x2hRdQnbzKQ

Chiquita on Stopping to Smell the Roses

This week started pretty late for me, so Wednesday was a really busy day. I’d say Wednesday is pretty early in the week, but I slipped so easily back into the motions, I barely noticed as the weekend became a distant memory. I spent the day rushing around, getting makeup work from when I was sick Monday and Tuesday, doing labs, worksheets, and taking tests. Along with doing all these things, I let a call from my sister in law go to voicemail. Shortly after, I found five seconds to listen to it. “We haven’t seen you in a few days. Your nephew has something to say…” and then the voice of my adorable nephew, Aiden, cut in, “Micky! Where are you? Come to my house! I love you!” and click, that’s all. So yesterday evening, when I had a million things to do, I instead headed next door to my nephew’s house. He saw me coming, and popped in the window, waving and shouting, “Micky is here! Hooray hooray!” I came in the house only to be pushed back out the door. Aiden was pulling me towards the garage where we keep his wagon. He was chanting, “To the park! To the park!” And so Aiden and Aunt Mickey were off to the park. When we got there, we went down the slides, played with the woodchips, and then we went for a walk to the garden. He ran ahead of me, jumping around and picking up rocks along the path. Finally I caught up with him, finding him in a squatting position, tiny hands on tiny knees, his face in a flower bush. With no regards to park regulations and things of the like, he grabbed a handful of flowers and pulled them from where they were rooted in the ground. “Micky?” he said, “Come here. Smell. Come smell the roses!” and I did. As I smelled, I had to suppress a giggle. Granted they were not actually roses, Aiden had a pretty good point. I’d been annoyed all day at how much stuff I had to get done and I really didn’t have time to go to the park. With the mood I was in, he was totally right. I just needed to stop and smell the roses.

Chiquita on illness

Every year, I get sick. Like, seriously sick. It sucks so badly. Late fall term, or early winter term, I get behind on my work because I miss so much school. Yesterday, I started feeling a cold coming on. You know, stuffy nose, itchy throat, the usual. I should have just stayed home, but being the commonsense-lacking teenager that I am, I decided to go out with my friends. That was a definite fail plan, because now I am sitting here, kleenex’s piling up, the tussin dm bottle getting more and more empty. This sucks. So, as a result of my going out last night and waking up this morning convinced I was near death, I’ve made a resolution. I hereby promise to take care of my health, and myself starting now. My plan consists of lots of orange juice, vitamin c pills, and not a lot of going out. I am convinced that going out last night contributed considerably to the way I feel this morning. This being my senior year and all, I think I should probably buckle down and focus on keeping myself healthy, and concentrating on my schoolwork. This is probably going to be a pretty hard promise to stick to, but I’m going to have to work on it if I want to come out on the other side of this school year with something I can be proud of. So, here goes nothing.

Chiquita on a non-fight

**I’m leaving names out of this one, because that’s not the point of my story**
It was bright and early this morning, around fifteen minutes to eight, and I’m walking to the cafeteria with Rach. Once we’re there, I see that a bunch of people are outside and that’s when I realized today was the free pancake breakfast. We go though the lunch line to buy a couple bottles of water and then head outside for some pancakes and sausage. We’re just standing in line, yawning in the morning light and talking about Halloween costumes. All of a sudden, two guys are right at my feet. One is yelling and pushing the other, and the guy who is getting pushed keeps saying “hey sorry man I was only joking.” But the other kid is having none of it, and he punches him in the face. For the next two seconds I’m thinking, “Oh no, they’re going to fight.” The kid who just got punched is on the football team, and I don’t know him very well, but I’ve seen him around and he’s a pretty nice guy, and a pretty good ball player. And I’m thinking, “Great, they’re going to fight and this nice kid is going to be suspended and kicked off the football team.” It all just seemed really wrong place, wrong time. Fortunately though, I was wrong. The kid just said, “Hey man, I said I was sorry, are we cool?” But apparently they were not cool, because the kid hit him again, and then AGAIN, and the kid fell down. No, he didn’t freak out and get up swinging. He just stood up, and continued to apologize. At this point, some teachers came to settle things down. Both guys were led away, and the one who refused to throw a punch did eventually come back for his pancakes, and the day went on as it normally does. I guess it was just nice to see someone have enough respect for himself to realize that throwing a punch is never a solution to a problem. What could have been a really terrible day for him went on to just be another game day, because he chose to do the right thing. I appreciate the example that that kid set today.

Chiquita on Goodbyes

Funny that my first entry is a goodbye? Yea, I think so too. But anyways...
Originally, this entry was written out on notebook paper on September 7th, 2009 at 3:42am. I had just gotten back from a good friend's house. His name is Haben. Before he came to Cedar Rapids to go to school, he lived in England but he's originally from Ethiopia. Most of the friends that frequent Haben's house are the same sort of people. Foreign kids going to college in America. There is Ibraham, Haben's roommate. A quiet, respectful young man. There is Mandela, a crazy fun goofball. There's Shedrak, who thinks he's a G, wearing a flat bill baseball hat and "kicks" all the time, he's a cool cat. Then we have Suhaib and Muris, two guys from around here. Muris went to Kennedy, and Suhaib went to Wash. They're pretty cool guys. Then Jenny, from Sweden. She's gorgeous, and her personality makes her absolutely beautiful. Next is Adam and Ashley, an adorable brother-sister duo. Finally, there is Youmna, Adam and Ashley's cousin from Senegal, Africa.
Youmna, 15, visited for the summer. When she first arrived, she barely spoke English. Her native language was French, and since Adam was the only one of us who was fluent, he did all the translating for the first week or so. Youmna caught on quickly though, and before long she was cracking sarcastic jokes at us, in English! She was adorable, and we all accepted her right away. The whole summer was our group, hanging out at Haben and Ibraham's and going to the beach. We were family, and that apartment at Kirkwood was our home. I've never met a more accepting group of people. If you were friends with one of us, you were friends with us all. I truly believe this summer was the most memorable of all my summers, and i owe it all to that amazing group of people.
That night, our last night really together with Youmna, we got her over there, just for one last time. When everyone was finally there, and the cake was all decorated, we sat Youmna down on the couch. Inevitably, the slow clap began. Then out came the cake, with everyone cheering. We set it down on the table in front of her, and her eyes filled with tears. She hid her face in her hands, and in the small living room packed with all her friends, she cried. The tears rolled down her cheeks, and you could see in her eyes that it was a sad cry, because she was leaving, but still a happy cry because she knows how much we love her and will miss her. Then out came the card, filled with many I love you's, and all the funny things she said, along with promised trips to Africa, one of which was from me of course. And as she cried, i had to bite my lip and turn away, fighting the tears welling up in my own eyes.
For a few more hours, we did the usual. We played music and sang along, took pictures, and laughed until our stomachs hurt. We had some cake and made our last memories of this unforgettable summer. All too soon, it came time to go. There were hugs all around, and i hid in the corner, making sure I was last. Finally, she came to me. I choked on my "I'm going to miss you" as the tears began to fall. I held my friend for what may be the very last time, although i hope not, and together we cried.
I remember laying on the beach. I asked Youmna, "When do you have to go back?" and she said, "In September." I remember thinking, "oh, that's a million years away." And now look, its today. I said the whole time at the going away party, "I'm coming to Africa. No really, I am. I'm coming to visit you, I'm serious." Maybe some day I will. I sure hope so, because I'd like to think of this as a "see you later", because no one likes goodbyes.