Okay, so I’m sure that you all have seen this video already, but if you haven’t please, please check it out! Great message, great cause! Stop at Nothing, people! Bring Kony down!

Happy S.A.D! S.A.D., singles awareness day, and Valentine’s day all have the same evil intent. It takes all the singles in the world who are perfectly happy to stay that way and make them want a relationship. Or at least make them feel incredibly lame if they don’t. All people do the whole day is parade around with their lovers saying, “Oh look what he got me! Isn’t he just the sweetest?”. At which point any wise or happy single would want to vomit, but being the good friend that you are you smile and say, “Oh yeah he is! You are so lucky, girl!”. Jealously is not a particularly good feeling and that’s all today is. I really hate Valentine’s Day, and all of my friends are perfectly happy to stay single as well. That’s one good thing at least. Happy Singles Awarness Day. Stay single! You’ll be happier.

 Well the first of December has roared by leaving our little hamlet frantically scurrying around like mice for all the things on their Christmas lists. Kids (I will admit myself included here on this list) are anxiously awaiting this Saturday night: Winter Formal. Oh yes ladies and gents, the one night of the year were we exchange our jeans, Uggs and sweatshirts for dresses, hairdos and heels. The eighth grade wing of the Middle School has been all abuzz with rumors of who’s going with who and what everyone is wearing. You almost can’t help but to get swept up in the whole process of the thing. Yeah, I guess in that sense I’m not so different from the rest of the people my age.

There’s something about a live Christmas tree all lit up in a dark house that just kinda warms my heart a little. Call my corny, I don’t care. Winter is a very special time for me. It’s when I feel the most at peace with the world. Standing out in the woods watching the snow fall around you is truly magical, especially when you can still hear the water rushing under the ice. Not that the ice and I have always been on the best of terms in the winter. I’ve had my share of moments when the ice cracks out from underneath me. If you’ve ever seen Titanic, then you remember the part when Rose is hanging over the side of the ship ready to jump and Jack is talking about how cold the water is in the winter. I believe he said something like, “it hits you like a thousand knives stabbing you all over your body.” He’s right. Take my word for it.

All the same the woods in the winter is hard to compete with beauty-wise. Absolutely stunning. And so quiet! I love the silence of it, the feeling that you’re completely alone on the face of the Earth. I could just sit out there for hours. And don’t even get me started on how good alive Christmas tree smells. Merry Christmas everybody. Here’s to your Christmas traditions, whatever they may be.

Yours,

AKK

 Empty. That’s how I feel. Like a piece of my soul has been cut away with a jagged knife to leave an ugly, gaping hole. But even as this mortal sadness fills my chest, my limbs feel energized, my mind keen.Try to guess what caused this feeling, try. Death? No, seems plausible, but no. Loss of a friend? No, if a friend were to leave me, then they weren’t a good friend. Or I wasn’t. Loss of a boyfriend? Ha. As if. No, none of these perfectly normal things plauge me. A book. The simple end to a story. Let me explain.

In my life there are many things that are good. There a few things that are wonderful. But there is nothing that is beautiful. I’m not talking about in the literal sense, no there is plenty of beauty in that form. The beauty I’m referring to is something with meaning, power, impact on your life. I think there are a lack of things like this not just in my life, but in the world as well. It is the greatest joy in my heart that I tell all of you about the most beautifully meaningful story I have ever had the privilege to experience. Life of Pi. There is no life lesson that I can think of that this tale doesn’t cover. Hence the clash of emotions.

Books are a haven for me. They offer an escape from the strife of the world. They make you someone else. They take you away. By the simple act of reading, you are freed. People so often complain about their lives. I’ll admit I do to. About how busy it is, how stressful it is, how tiring. But they don’t know they have a perfect escape, a haven, where they can be freed like I am. Like I was by Life of Pi. Experience it yourself. And do me a favor: please don’t just download it on your Kindle. Go out and buy the actual paper book. I promise you won’t regret it.

Yours,

AKK

This weekend was my team’s last tournament/games of the season, and considering our previous performances in league play, I know I wasn’t hoping for a lot. But, we rallied, busted our a**es (as our coach says), and before we knew it, we were walking out on the championship field! Now, that’s not to say that we didn’t have our problems this weekend, because we did. Turns out, a few of the girls knew by the third game that we were already in the championship, and so didn’t try as hard as they normally would. Well, as you might imagine, that didn’t sit well with Pedro or the other 1/2 of us who were working our butts off. After a long, long, angry (and somewhat tear-filled on our end, well, at least mine) speech by Pedro, we were friends again. Most importantly, we were excited, revved up and ready to go! And go we did, all 90 minutes. This resulted in my 8th championship game and first championship win. And I thought second place felt good! Man! There’s nothing like a good, solid victory on a Sunday afternoon. I have to say, as we were all hugging goodbye, I got a little choked up. I mean, I love these girls! I’m really gonna miss them this winter! It’s a long way until spring, five months until we go back out on our beloved patchy field, start off with running and end two hours later with our ten minute joke time. And we can’t forget the heart of our team! Pedro! He’s like a free psychiatrist we get to see three times a week, except instead of asking us random questions about our personal lives, he just makes us laugh and then run three miles. It’s an incredibly effective method. Yeah, I’ll miss these people. From Jordan (Goalie) to Dariah, Morgan, Me, Kaite and Olivia (defenders), to Blaire, Natalie, Emily M, Carter, Me, Maddy, and Lauren (midfielders), to Deneene, Emily W, Parks, and Me (forwards), we make up a pretty awesome crew. By the way, I said me so many times because I play all those positions at one point or another during the game . It’s a crazy sport, for crazy people, so we all get along famously. Most of the time!

Yours,

AKK

Have you ever read that book that your really enjoyed up until the last, say, 10 pages? Well, I just experienced that again in the Horse Whisperer. Great story, great plot, decent writing, and then….. it died. Man! I was so ticked when I read the end I could have died. I found myself saying, “That’s not what’s supposed to happen!”, “That doesn’t make any sense!”. It was such an overwhelming disappointment when over 500 pages of my time and energy was wasted at the very end. The ending just didn’t make sense with the story. I wasn’t upset because the ending was sad, though it was. I was upset because the problem was never resolved, although the author made it seem like it was. The main character was unhappy still, which is ok, but she wasn’t unhappy for the right reasons, if that makes any sense. The love interest of the main character dies, fine, it made sense for that to happen. But the main character got pregnant, and seem to think that that solved her problems. It didn’t. And that’s how the book ends. It wasn’t just because I didn’t want it to end that way, the characters, the story itself didn’t want it to end that way. Do you ever feel like that? Like the very core of the story is screaming that something is wrong, that it was published too soon? Tell me what book made you feel this way!

Yours,

AKK

Tomorrow is the end of the first nine weeks. The end of the first of four long, grueling periods of 45 days that all add up to 180 full days of school. Fall break is next week, and I must say, it could not possibly be coming at a better time. At our middle school, we only have one advanced class per team, and so we are in ALL the same classes together. Needless to say, after 45 straight days of hearing the same jokes said by the same people, we have officially started to get sick of one another. Well that’s life. You don’t always like the people you work with, or learn with in this case. If there are any students who read this, then I hope you had a great first nine weeks back to the salt mines, and if you’re an adult, well, at least you get paid. By the way, The Breeders Cup is less than a month away! I’m so excited! Somehow I always manage to have a big out-of-town tournament on that weekend, this year is no different. With any luck, the horses will be surging up the track at Churchill Downs while I am surging up the field ready to take some girl out. Ah, sweet competition. Except I don’t think our parents bet on who is going to make it to the ball first!

Yours,

AKK

 With the new trailers for the winter movies coming out right now, my sister and I (we can’t help but to be a little movie obsessed) have be making our list for the winter season must see’s. As of right now we have Anonymous, The Raven, Buck, War Horse, We Bought a Zoo, and Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows. That’s a lot! I shall synopsis the movies one by one just for you.

In Anonymous, the story delves deep into Shakespearean conspiracy, telling the story of the man who supposedly anonymously wrote all of Shakespeare’s work. It should be pretty awesome, probably going to go see that one, but could wait until it comes out on DVD.

On the topic of old literature, we have The Raven about the murders in Poe’s stories coming to life. I like this one because it seems to be filmed in a very similar way to Sherlock Holmes which is one of my favorite movies. Plus it’s a period film, so it get’s extra brownie points there. It looks really scary though, so maybe not for the faint of heart, but it seems like a good story. So again, will most likely be attending but will not be able to sleep for the next month. Woe is me. Or POE is me, haha. I pat myself on the back.

Buck is more like a documentary, and is already in theaters so if you want to see this, you’d better hurry. The story is about Buck Brannaman who is a ‘horse whisperer’ in real life. I want to go see this for obvious reasons (read my “About Me”‘ page) An animal lover must see, I would think.

I read the book War Horse a long time ago, and don’t really remember everything that happens, but I do remember crying my eyes out and loving the book. I highly suggest looking up the trailer if you have read the book before because the movie is from Spielberg, so it’s sure to be a winner.

We Bought a Zoo is about a single father of two wh0 quits his job and decides to move to the country. He and his children fall in love with an old house and then find out that it is, in fact, a zoo. For the sake of the advancement of the plot, if not realistic, they buy the zoo and try to bring it back to its former glory. This one looks like a classic feel good movie.

And last, but certainly not least: Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows. I loved the first one, so I have high hopes for this one, but am concerned that Rachel McAdams isn’t in any of the trailers. I don’t know if this one will be as good, but I’m still going to go see it.

Yours,

AKK

It came. Like the dove telling Noah the Ark was approaching land, a cardboard box sat on my front porch yesterday afternoon when I got home from school. Do you know what was in that box? My limited addition adventurer hat. Lucasfilm ltd. Yes, My authentic Indiana Jones hat came in the mail for Halloween. You might say at 14 I’m too old to be doing the Halloween thing. I don’t care. Next to Christmas, best holiday of the year. And this year, as my grad hurray exiting the trick-or-treating scene, Indy returns. This is sure to be a whip-cracking good time. Baha.

Yours,

AKK

Anybody who knows me knows I love horse racing. Anybody who knows me also knows that my favorite racehorse is Zenyatta, my favorite jockey is Mike Smith, and my favorite trainer is John Sheriffs. On November the 4th, there is a huge party kicking off one of the biggest things in the racing year, the Breeders Cup. Zenyatta is hosting the 1st ever Zenyatta Celebration Party, which is basically one huge Zenyatta love fest. All of the people I mentioned will be there and giving our autographs. Obviously I really want to go. But it’s $170 for one ticket, and I’ll have to pay for it myself probably, which will be a stretch. Ah well, if  I can’t go, then I will be with our fair ‘Queen Z’ in spirit!

Yours,

AKK