"Should Drill Baby Drill! be Kill Baby Kill!"

Sarah Palin came up with this 'catchy slogan' to promote herself, but I don’t think she is too loud about it right now. My parents watch closely the CNN broadcast of the horrible oil spill (actually it is more of a gush than a spill) because we have a place in Florida and because they are concerned for the environment and because they are angry over how it is being handled by BP. I didn’t really give it much thought like most people because it does not affect me personally, but when you stop and look at what is happening it is a total catastrophe. I look at the pond study from last year and all of the little living things that make up our small part of the water world. There is a very delicate balance of microorganisms and those that live off of them. I try to imagine what would happen to that ecosystem if it has crude oil introduced into it. That is the future facing the entire Gulf coast and into the marshes that are host to millions of different species of wild life. This marine environment supports life form all over the world and is refuge for everything from bacteria, to bugs, to birds and everything in between. Why then does it appear that BP is indifferent to the situation. The CEO has been saying that this is just a little spill and is acting like someone spilled some salad dressing in his pool. Over 15 million gallons of unnatural crude oil and increasing daily does not seem small to me. Perhaps if the CEO lived in Louisiana or on a boat in the Gulf he might feel different. Scientists are indicating that they believe the oil will reach the east coast of Canada and the west coast of Norway. The entire world is affected.

The death toll in the marine environment will continue for decades and will affect generations of people all over the world. Our food will be affected, the lives of fisherman will be ruined, fish birds and plant life will be destroyed all so we can continue to drive our cars to the mall to buy plastic toys destined for the landfill. Doesn’t paint a very rosy picture. Will this be the push we need to invent new energy sources? My Dad and I drove a car called a Tesla that is totally electric. Completely without gas. And it is very fast and practical getting over 500 km to a single charge. Why then are we still driving technology invented over a 100 years ago? Politics. Politicians like Palin are screaming Drill Baby Drill so they can claim they are saving the economy and creating jobs while their friends are allowing BP to not install a $500,000 valve that would have prevented all of this mess. I saw on the news today that BP has spent over $900 million trying to fix this disaster when they could have saved all of that by doing things properly.

I worry that we are going to continue not learning from our repeated mistakes. I worry that this is just the beginning of bigger killer environmental events all over our world. We have to make sure we don’t kill our environment and ourselves by becoming too smart and greedy for our own good. Nature has a way of taking care of itself and the things that are trying to harm it. It is hurricane season starting next week in the Gulf. Mother nature may turn on the people of the area and turn their little oil venture in to more of a lesson in caring for the environment. Kill Baby Kill may be nature’s way of teaching us that valuable lesson.

I commented on Katies blog.

In a recent discussion with my Dad about the internet the question was debated whether I thought it was more like Fire or the Car. I was understandably confused at the time and may still be a little as I write this essay, but I think I get the general idea. Let me explain. Is the internet such a life changing force in our lives that it is as important as fire was to early humans, or is it more similar to the automobile that made our lives easier.

My Dad believes that it has changed the way we communicate, interact, conduct business, shop, find mates, etc so much so that it has completely changed the way we exist on the planet. My position is that the internet is just an evolution of the computer and telecommunications being brought together into a single tool which is similar to the horse and wheel being transformed into the motor car. Having said that I get flushed just at the thought of not being able to send a text or connect with friends on Facebook tonight. Maybe there is a bit of both in our positions?

Ultimately we need to look not at where the internet came from or what importance it had for past generations or how it has changed or improved our lives, but instead we have to look at whether it is going to be used for positive results or against all of us in the long run. This technology is a teenager right now and the rebellious stage has begun. People – good and bad – are learning how to use it to their own gain. We are seeing medical solutions for terrible diseases posted while at the same time how-to-build-a-bomb sites continue to pop up. The internet is being used to search for missing children who have in some cases gone missing as a result of web stalkers. Online stock trading has caused the markets to fail and then rapidly recover because information is so easily available. I think that the internet is at a point in its growth where it will soon be determined if it will survive as it is or if we need to change it to protect our way of life.

Our parents struggle to make decisions together when trying to raise us as teenagers. Imagine how difficult it will be to get a billion sets of parents to come to the same conclusion when each has a different perspective. Like the automobile it can help us move about and accomplish great things but in the wrong hands it is a weapon. Like fire, it can sustain life or take it. In the case of the internet, we need to decide as an online community what we want it to be when it grows up.

Mushy Peas to M&Ms and all the Stuff in Between.

OK, so we are supposed to be recounting the best and the worst and some aspects of what is neither from the entire year or even reaching back into last year. Essentially I am looking at things using "the big picture".

When I think of things that are really horrid or tough to swallow, excuse the pun, red peppers - not the hot kind - and mushy peas rank way up on the list. Well that is where I also have to rank Tanamakoon and the whole How How experience. My parents thought it was such a great idea, perhaps inspired by our school outing, that they made me go back for two more weeks. If it had not been for Olivia I would have struck out on my own without a concern about bears, drowning, or the killer Hermit.

So since I have established that Tanamakoon is on the left side of the scale there are some middle points that are worth mentioning before I get to the M&Ms. For instance, although Pond Study was cold and sleepless, we were all in it together and we figured out a few cool things in the end. Even though Haiti is still having issues and we should not lose sight of that, Dance for Haiti was a memorable occasion that raised awareness and money for the cause. Field hockey has offered another great series of events that have taught me alot about team work and about what it takes for our senior team to win five times at OFSAA. Amazing! I hope we can keep that flame burning and the streak alive!

So onto the M&Ms of Middle School. It is interesting that Middle School starts with an M don't you think given how important Ms are to M&Ms? Anyway, Round Square takes the cake! I would give up M&Ms forever to be able to do that again and I think that says it all. It was the pinnacle, the top, the best chance I have had to date in my fourteen years on this 3rd rock from the sun to see other people from other lands and experience some very cool things in just a few short days. I continue to have daily connections with the people I never knew existed. I hope to remain friends for life - kind of like a BFF, only more global - with these guys and maybe one day travel to see them where they live. That would be a great start to a bucket list, don't you think.

So, there it is. Middle School wrapped up in a nice food analogy that we can all sink our teeth into.

New Brunswick

Wow what a great event!!! I am so lucky to have been able to go. I learned so much about foreign lands, their cultures, their music, and what they experience on a daily basis that differs so much from my life. The friends I made have already translated into a facebook expansion and my 'New Brunswick Mother' has shown new ways to overuse "LOL" in her messages. The people there were amazing. Some of them wore cool dance costumes straight from the Discovery channel while others appeared to have been dropped in from the cast of a play. From the differences in drinking age – 14 in Germany – to the lack of good shopping resulting in a Walmart extravaganza for the visitors from Singapore, we all realized that we have many similarities. We were able to come together to help build a Habitat for Humanity home – I think someone should inspect our work – and we all enjoyed the Bay of Fundy – very cool. We shared music, laughs, and good times. Who would have thought that people who not only had never met before, but also had no knowledge of each others country or life situations, would come together in only four days.

This gives me hope that if we can do it, anyone can. This just proves that most people are good and have positive intentions. All we have to do is be open to listening to them and learn from them. Just because we are different does not mean we are really different. We just have different experiences, but deep down we all want the same things in life. This was a very cool realization for me as I never would have thought it was possible. Now I know that anything is possible and that we need to unite with others on this small rock we call Earth.

Lessons in Volleyball...

I was fortunate this past weekend to participate in the Nationals in Sherbrooke Quebec. I along with my team mates have decided to look upon this event as a lesson in life that came directly from the teachings of our competition. This is not like the wisdom provided by a teacher or a parent, but more like the insight offered in a UFC match where we cannot escape from the cage and the big sweaty psycho keeps kicking our butts.

Looking back some time before the lessons began, there are some great memories. I arrived in Montreal from New Brunswick after a great time at Circle Square thanks to Mrs. Gallagher, and suddenly I was charged to play. My Dad picked me up and we drove for a couple of hours to the hotel. There was no indication that I was totally exhausted from the trip until I hit the hotel and crashed for a few hours. After that I had some moments of total confusion about what time is was and generally what was going on. Maybe that is why I struggled a bit at the start of the first game where the first lesson began.

We should have won, but we didn’t because as a team we are totally unable to chill. I mean we have total panic attacks and completely freak out. That leads to bad passing, bad setting, not great hitting, and even spottier coverage. That leads to a chain reaction from our coach (coincidentally my Dad) that starts with his face tightening up followed shortly by his voice volume rising. This is often followed by someone being called off the bench and another person having a seat.

The real lesson came in the second game when a player I knew from Madawaska – call her Amazon for short – took us apart serve by serve and showed us that we really fail to pass well when under pressure. Well the rest of the day went along that same other even though we improved a lot from the start of the day.

This was a trend that continued the next day despite all of our efforts. We did win a game, and it felt great, but it was a short lived feeling as we fell back into our old ways. The final outcome was that we failed to medal, but you had probably already jumped to that conclusion on your own. However, I think back to the lesson that came out of it and it was overall positive, believe it or not.

I learned that we took a bunch of girls who had little volleyball experience and we worked hard to achieve things we never dreamed were possible. We then achieved the opportunity to attend nationals even though none of us honestly believed we would ever get there. Our coach told us day one that we would be going , but we really thought he might be crazy. Now we know different. We also learned that we can’t sit back and expect to win. We had to go out and take what we wanted because no one was going to just give it to us. These were all great lessons that will take me and my team mates into the next year of play for the Ravens. Anyone want to join us?

Volleyball Provincials

This weekend sure was an exciting one for me and my volleyball team "Royal City Ravens". Our weekend started of at 11:00 on Friday morning ranked 56th out of 70 teams in Ontario, because of an unfortunate loss in an earlier tournament. Even with this low ranking, we went into provincials with a good attitude, and definate improvement in skills.

Our first 3 games went by without any issues, and as my Dad, or 'Coach Jason' would say, we put on a clinic. In one of the games, I managed to serve 21 serves in a row, out of the 25 points. So, with all of our success that day, everyone was pumped for Saturdays game...accept for the fact that it was at 8:00 in the morning, which meant a 5:00 wake up call. Not cool. So lets just say, the morning came and went and we were still pretty much sleeping on the court, which led us to lose a game against a weaker team.

The rest of Saturdays games were successful and we were told that on Sunday we would be moving onto the quarter finals. But, once again we had an 8:00 game, but this time, it was a MUST win, because it would either lead us to 1st place, or 9th. So my dad told everyone to eat a lot of breakfast and drink a large Tims hot chocolate, hoping to wake us up and raise our energy level. Unfortunatly, I think our team had to much energy because we ended up hitting the ball so hard that we lost 19 points to hitting the ball out of the court. Not good. In the end we lost that game which meant that we had no chance in winning gold, but we still fought hard in the game that followed, and ended up winning to a team we had lost to earlier.

To conclude, my first experience of provincials was a very good one, and I can't wait until nationals next month!

Bucket list

Don’t rush me! According the average life expectancy charts I still have some time to go. If anyone has seen the Bucket List you will now that the result of fulfilling it is not necessarily positive. But, I get the concept we are working toward here so I will play along. I would prefer to look at this like the Pot at the Beginning of my Rainbow instead of a rusty old bucket. Soooo, in my lovely shinny solid gold with diamonds encrusted pot I would like to put the following, with an option to add more items as time goes on:

1. Scuba diving on the Great Barrier Reef (GBR). This will require me first to get my diving license (no ‘r’, yet) which I plan to do in the next couple of months so the only thing I need to figure out is how to make my way to Australia. I am thinking I could stow away in Katies luggage or something next year. Do you think she’ll notice? The great thing about Diving on the GBR is that it may easily lead in to the next thing on my list which is

2. Swimming with sharks. I know that this may not be everyone’s cup of tea, and as you know sharks are one of my biggest fears in life, but think of it. Would it be cool to be within a breath of death while knowing that you have more things to complete on the Pot of Gold list so nothing can happen at that moment? I am generally terrified of sharks and the ocean in general so I thought this might help me in the end. Which brings me to the third thing on the list. While in Australia, I should do as the Aussies do and go

3. Bungy jumping. Hey they invented it and have been doing it reasonably safely for more years than I have been alive so I am all in. Some of you might have heard that roller coasters throw me off a bit (actually they make me throw up, but that is a different story) so you might doubt that I would strap a bunch of rubber bands to my ankles and jump off a perfectly good platform. However, I love the feeling of heights and the view would be great so. Height and scenery are the two aspect of my next item on the list which is to

4. Climb the Eiffel Tower. Built in Paris for the World Fair it was never meant to stay around this long (I learned that from my sister Lauren’s project), but it has ended up being an icon for Paris and a tourism magnet. MY parents think it is all a ruse to get to Europe, connect with Leena, and tour Paris and beyond. They are likely right, but hey if an educational trip to discover the marvels of steel engineering is what it takes then so be it. Maybe when Leena and I will make our way to Italy, since we are only a short train ride away, where I can

5. Learn Italian! Hey my Mom is part Italian, which makes me part too so it might be nice to understand my heritage. The good news is that I like pasta, bread, balsamic vinegar and oil so I won’t starve even if my language skills suffer from my lack of practice. You see, I believe that my Pot of Gold should bestow upon me the ability to speak Italian (and play the guitar, piano, and sing) with little to no practice. Isn’t this how life was supposed to go? I am finding out, bummer, that it takes more hard work than I had ever imagined so it might mean that I just have to stay longer in Italy!! Maybe if I am able to perfect my language and music skills, I can

6. Meet Justin Beiber. Maybe even on stage??! Ok, I know that is pushing it but wouldn’t everyone just freak if I did? I would. Consider that just a year ago Justin was hanging out a few kilometers from here trying not to get beat up by the nasty types at school. Now he is travelling the world, hanging out in Paris – maybe I can meet him at the Eiffel Tower, Hmmmm. Wow hoe things change. Did you ever think you would see Justin on TV on SNL like on Saturday? This makes me wonder if I can fulfill my next list item which is to

7. Be on TV! And not for getting arrested or anything like that. Something cool, something fun. I actually missed my debut opportunity at the Regional Science Fair when the news reporter interviewed the girl across from me, probably just making due because I wasn't there. I was probably over chatting with Cassie, or trying to avoid the judges, and missed my gig. Maybe next time... Which brings me to the last item on my April 2010 list and maybe the first item on my April 2011 Pot of Gold list. I want to

8. Go to at least 20 different places in the world!! I know this is not overly specific, but that is the beauty of it. When I get to each of these places, I can have a new list for every stop! That is the way to create a sense of eternity for myself. If I keep creating lists, then I need to be around to keep checking them off! With at least 69 years to go, I don’t want to limit myself to what I know now so I will keep my options open.