It's Okay to Have Your Own Opinion!

 Have you ever had times where your friends agree upon who's the hottest member of One Direction and although you would have said one of the others, you just agree with them? Well don't! You don't always have to follow the crowd when it comes to things..
Examples:
 Liking a particular team. Usually it's because either everyone likes it, it's the state team or the team is just really good. Take it as example the yankees. People in New York would like the team and the team is really good. But then there's me who chooses the underdog and the team who's nearly 1,000 miles away (or it seems) the Orioles. Yes, you get made fun of, but you dared to be different so..
 A favorite thing. Shoes, trading cards, whatever you collect. In the case of shoes, people spend $400.00 just to get their friends Micheal Jordan shoes so they could match and be "bros".
 Their favorite place to shop. Say someone shops at Forever 21. Say their friend says they shop at American Eagle. They'll lie and say they love American Eagle even though they never set foot in the place in their life.

So, if you ask me teens this day and age are also pressured by their opinions. Everyone of this generation thinks you all have to be in the same utopia wearing the same shirts, shoes, pants and own the same cases and shop and the same stores. But dare to go outside the box of the utopia!

How to Be Popular

 Nowadays, many teenagers are caring more about following "the crowd" than just being themselves. So in schools like mine there are quite a few crowds of them. So you want to know what you need/have to do in order to be popular?

1. An I-phone- everybody has it! Make sure to have cool cases and to wear it in your back pocket
2. Break the I-phone's screen or back. Everyone else's is broken too! And be sure to color in the back with markers
3. Buy all the expensive clothes from Coach, Juicy Couture and Ann Taylor-and not Forever 21 because that's too babyish
4. Make sure your backpack and lunchbox is from Vera Bradley and have a carry-on bag for all your other things-makeup, brushes etc.
5. Beats headphones wear them in the morning when you walk in from the bus. Everyone will think you're so cool. Then accidentally break the earphones to drive your parents crazy.
6. Don't complete the homework. Claim that your cat got lost or died would do the trick. If they tell you to do the homework then scribble down random answers or copy. But if you get caught... Sorry!
7. Write with pen. Pencils are for losers away!
8. Think you're too cool for class and avoid listening and instead talk with your other popular friends.
9. A job... it pays off for all the debt you caused your family..

This is a parody. Understand that if you fit into a lot of these categories then you might want to consider if you are who you want yourself to be. Understand that you don't need to fit in just by buying something and it doesn't make a difference or huge impact on who you are. Why should you judge someone on what they have? It's better that those people have economic-stability compared to some's struggling welfare just because they want the stability of being at the top of the chain.

Advertising This Day and Age

Do you remember when advertisements were ONLY on televisions? Well, not any more. Now we cannot even log on websites and watch videos because of an ad.
 In some cases people use youtube for school because we all know on teachertube it's a bunch of useless videos that kids made. So when you want to watch a video as soon as possible, you don't want to be interrupted by an ad.
 Take this by example- today I wanted to go on mlb.com and I couldn't or well at least within the 5 seconds the ad was loading. On there, you cannot exited out of the ad until the ad closes it up itself within 5 seconds. Crazy, huh? Talk about ads showing in schools- once in Language Arts class we were trying to watch a 60 minutes segment and a Viagra ad popped up. Talk about awkward.
  It's crazy. Some of these ads should be separate videos. Some could range from 30 seconds to 3 minutes. Usually you can skip the ad, but in some cases you cannot.
 So what do these ads teach us? To buy things? Or just to show how stupid companies really are?

So next time an ad pops up, just click "skip ad"

Fans Taking It To Too Extremes?

Have you ever had (as a sports fan) times where your favorite team looses and you see other teams celebrating in the near distance? Well, you're not alone. No matter where you go you'll see them. Even at your favorite team's home stadium.
 But, for some reason I question occurrences like this. Say last year your favorite team, the Ravens lost against the Patriots (which actually happened) now I would imagine that Patriots fans celebrated as their team was going on to the Super Bowl. The Patriots didn't care about the Ravens fans and were practically shoving this in their face. Now in 2013, the Ravens defeated the Patriots and went on to the Super Bowl and winning it. It is sort of like the Patriots fans got a taste of their own medicine.
 So the point I'm trying to get at here is that fans shouldn't be bragging about their team when one day they may be in the exact same position as the loosing-team's fans- karma does good.
 So yes, you can be happy about your team winning but don't take it to extreme levels of bragging and violence because karma will come back and haunt you.

Corrupt Magazine Companies

 Hello. I am actually typing this on the kindle fire my family shares.

Some days, I go to the library and pick up some magazines. Usually, I get some Better Homes and Gardens books. My Mom, however gets those tabloid magazines like People and Us Weekly. Some days after finishing my reading, I read those.
 In those magazines I read, there is many false reporting all about celebrities. Now I don't know much about them but sometimes I see it in the news and in other magazines.  It's mainly in Us Weekly. They lie about celebrities love life, family and untold secrets.
  Now take it as example, Kate Middleton. When her and William split up, Us Weekly spoke of secrets why- the Queen hated her, she was a partyer and much more. Well luckily Kate never knew because she lives in England. Well, look at them now. Married with one kid of their own. I swear there hasn't been one magazine cover where she isn't on it. Give the girl a little privacy!


Corrupt magazine publishers = STALKERS

Sorry this is condensed- my finger hurts!

Our Generation

 Our generation sucks. Everything is going down the drain. Letters, reading books, games are now filled in by new-world technology. Am I the only one who's thinking this is evolving way to fast?
  Don't get me wrong these ideas are good and make everyday life easier, but there are a lot of cons to this idea. If some parents don't put a limit to the use of their children's technologies it may put a strict risk on their child's weight. I know, usually all Nintendo's have parental controls (mine does) but no one really uses it because it needs internet connection and usually NONE want to connect. But I usually use it for a limit of 30-40 minutes every so often.
 But there are some people (like my sister) who have NO limits. But the problem-causing thing is her laptop which has no apps to place limits. So my sister is up usually till midnight on her social media networks. Unbelieveable.
 Another issue is social media networks. It's handy to find people you lost touch with, but sometimes it can get a little too extreme at least when it comes to teenagers. Many get bullied and face neglect often resulting in suicide. So people! Don't judge a book by it's cover!

To be continued...

Candy?!?

Have you ever opened a bag of let's say sour patch kids and grabbed a flavor out of the bag at random? What's the chance of it being seemingly everyone's favorite, the red kind?
 Usually I end up grabbing a lime, lemon or orange. Let's face it. For most people they only like the reds. I know I do. I usually end up having to force myself to eat the others first.
 But do you ever think that companies purposely do that? The companies know what everyone's favorites are. It is quite odd how many people like the reds and blues out of candy boxes. They want the consumers to buy more of a certain candy so they can have more and more of the "favorite" candy. I just realized that. They also make the candy bags very large and sell it for a cheap price.


Don't forget to view my other blog- www.camdenreading.blogspot.com

The 21st Century

 Remember the world before texting? You played outside, physically talked to people and they actually listened to what you were saying and not looking down at your phone. Admit it. You've done that and have gotten scowled by the person. Now it's gotten out of control.
 One day my family was vacationing at Hampton Beach. The place we stayed had no breakfast so we walked to a nearby McDonalds. I wasn't looking out the window but my mom was. She said a guy out the window who was texting walked right smack into a pole and ended up walking away like nothing happened. That has never happened to me before. Luckily because I decide not to text in public, or when I do just reside at a nearby bench in order to.
 But nowadays, no one can write out "talk to you later", "be right back",  and"later". In some cases so extreme by using numbers as a code. This is really taking away learning how to spell.
 Another issue is there are 6-year olds who have iphones. Even I don't! I see them in their back pockets just like the "big kids" Even 5-year olds use their parents ones to play temple run!
 Don't get me wrong, cell phones are good. But what ever happened to face-to-face or letters? I think this transition from old-world technology to new-world technology transitioned way too fast. I can't even catch up. I feel like one day the world of letters and socializing is lost to this generation and may soon be gone as we know it. 

Environmental vs Regular Bulbs

 When you walk into a grocery store or a Walmart, you go down the aisle in need for a light bulb. There is only one-two packs of regular light bulbs and the rest are those "swirly" light bulbs. But are those really better?
Cons
 Recently, a light burned out at my house (a regular) and was replaced with a swirly light bulb. This room is fairly large. Now the room is this dull tint because of the light bulb. It's annoying because you cannot read or see anything without turning on a second light.
Non-Compatible with some lamps made before light bulbs presence.
 Pros
It is long lasting. I have for the lamp on my desk and I swear it's lasted for more than a year. I would recommend these light bulbs for close-distance but not for ones hanging or long-distance.

Regular Bulbs
Cons
Non-Environmental, Lasts awhile- but not as long as the Environmental bulb.
Pros
Compatible with mostly all lamps, lights up a large room better than an Environmental bulb.

The Story Behind Clothes

You've seen it. You go walking in the mall and you see a cool shirt, dress or pants. You walk in the store and your first instinct is to look at the price tag. What do you know? That Aero, Hollister, or Abercrombie shirt costs 50 bucks. Why you may ask?
  Clothes are so expensive because it helps pay off the workers who make the clothes. Remind you, this is like the Industrial Age. People are crammed into sweatshops with no heat in the Winter or air conditioning in the Summer. There can be 10-20 workers crammed in one room working on 1-style of clothing. The workers get payed minimum-wage ranging from 5 to 20 cents. No, the don't get to keep any of the clothing either. I guess it's really true that history repeats itself. 
  But there is also another story. You know, Americans are the number-one country ranked with unhealthy people. In China, the largest fry box you can buy at McDonalds is a small (those ones you find in the happy meals). So, stores use the "guilt" trick to get people to not buy their correct size. As a matter of fact, the bigger the size the smaller the waistline. This is used to make you feel extremely fat. It's sad because teenagers everywhere are starving themselves just to fit in a smaller waist line to be defined as "perfect". But really, these teenagers aren't fat it's the consumers that make them who are.

Don't forget to check out my other blog- www.camdenreading.blogspot.com

Why Should Books Cost So Much?

 Some days, I walk into Barnes and Noble with a $25 gift card looking for some summer reads. By the time I pick out about maybe three or four paperback books, I start to add up the total to remain under the budget of the gift card. By the time I add together only two books, the price already reaches maybe $20. How many books can you buy with the remainder of $5. My guess none. My question is why?
 When teachers tell us why this generation cannot get off their cell phones and i-pads and for once read a non-electronic book. But nowadays, money is tight with the economy down and maybe we cannot afford to pay for $10 books. I mean teachers don't know how it is because they get the school's money (sometimes) to buy the books for their classroom for them.
 I understand the book price goes towards paying the publisher and author  but if nowadays adults encourage us to read and make a budget of wants and needs- is a book really a "need'? What I am trying to address is to all adults encouraging teens to read and manage their own money, how do they expect us to buy more of a "want" (or well the parents) while trying to manage money?

 To anyone already paying full price for books, here's some recommendations.
 Find out if your area has a used book shop. I have one located a few minutes away that sold me almost every Meg Cabot book there is. They have everything down to kids books to SAT prep. You never know what you'll find. It's like a thrift shop.
 Go book sale hunting. I went to one at a local library. This library was a little far away, but it was worth it. I liked their philosophy of $5 per bag and you could fit many, many books in one bag.
 Thrift Shops have excellent book selections as well. You never know what books you need will be there.