Here's a Good Title

Christmas break ends today, which means this time tomorrow I'll be back at school. Yesterday, I went to the YVCC bookstore to buy my books and they only had one of them in stock. Mom ordered me one offline and I guess I'm just going to have to wait the other one out. Over break I was looking after our neighbor's dog Jake and I already miss him. Although I'm not gonna miss walking him in 20 degree Crackima weather. I'm also watching Tracie and Mike's cat again. The first couple days he was great because he still thought they were home, but once he realized that they abandoned him he got real whiny. Despite his meowing, he's a pretty good cat. Likes to nudge my face a lot.

-Matthew

El Plaza De Yakima

Besides weed, the Yakima Herald Republic's favorite topic of discussion is the new plaza the city wants to build downtown in the Olive Garden/Capitol Theater/Orion parking lot. Judging by the number of obstacles they seem to be having, along with the large amount of letters to the editor condemning the project, you would think the plaza would be an impossibility. At some point in time, it seems like the plaza has ceased to be a question of "will they" and is now a question of "when will they."

Like most of the idiocy that goes on in this town (the underpasses, the backwards facing and far-too-small Red Robin) I'm not a fan. I'm not sure what exactly the city thinks this plaza will accomplish, but they sure want it bad. I don't see why. There's already a plaza that's been on that lot for 13 years that they plan on relocating to make room for the new one. Where they want to put the old one, I cannot say. There is literally nowhere in town I can think of that has the room for all of the junk "art" from the old plaza. If I were to take a guess, it would be that the city of Crackima is probably going to ruin one of my favorite parks by sticking it there.

If the city takes away that parking lot in favor of a canal and some concrete I'm gonna be pissed. It is already the hardest place to park in the entire town (need I mention that they just built another restaurant that utilizes the lot?). And I, for one, do not want to walk a couple of blocks, potentially in the snow or with my 89-year-old grandmother, just to get to get an overpriced raspberry lemonade. Anyone who thinks that spending at least $14 million on a plaza (you know they're gonna need more money) will be worth it is kidding themselves. A plaza will contribute nothing to this town, and the only people it will attract are druggies looking for a spot to make their deals.

-Matthew

The Great Uniform Debate

An interesting topic came up in Communications the other day. My teacher was trying to get us to talk about "controversial issues" but since my entire Communications class hates to communicate, no one really engaged in the discussion. That is, until she brought up the subject of school uniforms.

Now this is something I know about all too well. I wore uniforms for a whole 12 years. Pretty sure that's some sort of world record. Every day from 1st grade through senior year I was forced into the same clothes as everyone else by overlords who attempted to take overthrow the world my private schools. the grade school uniforms at St. Joe's were the worst. White polo and blue pants ugh. By the end of the day no one's shirt was clean. Sometimes the stains from the playground couldn't even come out so the little brats would be running around with polos that were a lovely shade of murky grey. Middle school got slightly better. We could wear 1 of 4 different colored polos (navy blue, green, white, or light blue), and either khaki or navy blue pants. Not sure why they waited until middle school to give us more uniform privileges. I liked to think of them as a slightly reward for enduring 5 years of torment. The worst part about the St. Joes' dress code is that we couldn't wear any cargo pants or shorts. Considering actual dress pants are expensive and not all that available in the boys' department at Target, my mom would just
~On a side note I still can't wear polo shirts without getting sick to my stomach.
 ~~On another side note the whole no cargo rule might be a factor in why I wear cargo shorts pretty much every day from March to October.

High school was even slightly less strict. At Westpark, we had to wear any color of  t-shirt, polo, or button down with the school logo on it (available exclusively through Lands' End). Naturally I stayed far far away from the polos and only got t-shirts. For pants we originally had to wear
khaki, black, or blue pants or shorts (cargo included!), but a lot of kids just wore jeans every day so Pastor Colleen changed the rule.

Despite what a lot of people think, uniforms weren't that bad.But do I think public schools should adopt them? Emm no. Most of the people who say uniforms should be instated probably didn't have to wear uniforms as kids. Wearing uniforms does not make all kids equal. Everyone still knows who the rich kids are and who's buying their uniforms from a Goodwill rack. Uniforms don't stomp out bullying or stop kids from picking on each other for things other than clothes. Dressing alike doesn't increase grades or stop little boys from harassing their female classmates. These are myths. If anything, uniforms are even worse for poorer families. Those lands end t-shirts were like $20 a pop! And even Wally World's dress pants ain't cheep.

Take it from someone who wore uniforms, and lived to tell the tale.

-Matthew

*note: I am in no way affiliated with St. Joseph/Marquette or Westpark Christian Academy and everything I say (as always) should be taken with a grain of salt.

Muffy=Me

Group Project Aftermath

I guess 2014 is the year of the group projects for me. I've had three so far in Psych and one in Communications. College certainly hasn't changed my opinions of them, I still can't stand them. For our group project in Communications we had to have a panel discussion about a "controversial issue." My group chose prostitution, and my job was to argue the cons of legalizing it. Researching the cons of prostitution was actually somewhat challenging because apparently most people think it should be legal. So anyway we do our presentation and I was up last and I thought I did a pretty good job. The goal of our presentation was just to show the two sides, not anything else. Well, somehow my highly opinionated teacher didn't get the memo. She gets up to the front of the classroom and starts trying to change my mind about legalization of prostitution and I'm just sitting there like what the heck. I'm just hoping this doesn't affect my grade.

-Matthew

October 13th Update

Might be a strange entry from me, but I figured I should update. As much as I wish I have been coming on here to write, I haven't been. I could tell you I have been super busy with school, but that would be a lie. No, the real reason I haven't been posting is because of severe sleep deprivation and all the wonderful side effects that come with it (i.e. headaches). Going to the doctor tomorrow, hopefully that will help somehow. When I don't sleep I can't focus on anything. Makes homework impossible and paying attention in class almost as hard.

I'll be back soon

-Matthew

I Be Done

Last day of summer quarter was today. I call it summer quarter because that is its proper name and "summer school" sounds like I was being punished instead of choosing to be there..... Anyway, I take my final on Tuesday and then I am free until school starts in late September. School took up a lot of time, but it's better than cramming another class into next year's schedule. I will be continuing at YVCC and I'll be taking psychology, art appreciation, and communications (necessary for AA :P) for fall quarter. I am still trying to figure out what career path I want to take, but no education is ever a waste and an AA degree allows me to go in whatever direction I choose. Thank you everyone for any support you have given me in my first year of college. The transition from high school to college was easier than I expected, but that doesn't mean I didn't have my share of late nights, early morning cram sessions, high levels of caffeine consumption, and feelings of complete loneliness. But at the end of the day it was a great experience for me, and it has been the first thing in my life that has ever truly felt like something I have accomplished all alone.

-Matthew