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”.