my letter to santa

Dear my best bud Santa,

So for this Christmas I have everything I want all planned out. Let's start with a new car stereo. I'm tired of the one I have, since it scratches my CDs and holds them hostage. Another car accesory I want is a keyless remote but maybe this isn't just a want. I think it's a need. What if I'm kidnapped by a creeper just because I couldn't get my car door unlocked with the key in time? A keyless remote would keep me safe. And of course I want some new clothes, don't all teenage girls? A new hoodie from pacsun, some new jeans should do good. My ugg boots are all dirty and gross... so I definately need a new pair.
Since I just got my ears double pierced, I would love some new ear rings also. Also I need some money for the Arizona trip, yeah that'd be nice. And that's about it.
Until next time!

with love,
katherine

happy holidays

Some of my favorite past memories for christmas is probably those Christmas's when I was young and got sooo excited I could barely sleep. Back when I believed in Santa and everything was all magical. Nothing like running down the stairs to the sight of lots of beautifully wrapped presents.
As tradition, after opening the presents my family and I pack up even more presents and drive to my aunts house in Omaha. My aunt lives in a really nice neighborhood and all the houses have a ridiculous amount of lights streamed all over everything. It's really spectacular. My cousins and I are really into video games and last year they got a Wii so we had a lot of fun with that, and we even got Grandpa to join in. And surprisingly he is very good at bowling.
Now this year I've already got all my shopping done, and I swear I've spent over 200 dollars. There goes my JCP paycheck for this month. But that's ok because I love giving gifts! Almost as much as I love recieving them : )

New York Times reporters

I reviewed Janny Scott who writes for the news section. She won the Pulitzer Prize in 2001 for an article called “How Race Is Lived In America."
Someone asked her how to take better notes while in a interview. I read her response and found it very helpful. Scott said it was ok to ask for someone to hold on a second while you get stuff written down in a one-on-one interview.
She explained why she wanted to be a reporter, also. I read it and found it interesting. In one question somebody asked, she explained how to get the most honest quote. She also made up the idea for a certain section in the feature of the new york times, called the "Portraits of Grief."

world of the NY day

Today's word of the day on the NY times is nascent, which means coming or having recently come into existence.

The thick clouds nascent from the grey sky.

crazy thanks!

There's so so much in my life to be thankful for. First off, I thank my friends. They make life ten times easier. Without them I wouldn't have many reasons to smile. And my family. They're always on my side, even when I'm wrong. They don't pressure me to be perfect, only to try harder and do my best. Sometimes I wish they were in my life more, maybe I'd be different. I'd like to thank the money my family has. It may sound narcissistic but without money I wouldn't have a house or clothes or food or any meaningful material thing. I guess I should be thanking the jobs we have instead.
I love Thanksgiving. Even though we have it in my house and our dining room is small and we pack twelve people at the outrageously long table. And my step-aunt comes, and she always drives my aunt and mom crazy. And doesn't help with dishes. But none of that matters. It's just that we're all together for once. And that's important.
So I'm thankful for the craziness of Thanksgiving.

money

I strongely dislike my job but it's money, right? Well, I'm to the point where I don't care about making money anymore. I have to quit or I'll probably have a mental breakdown.
My work is pretty vigourous; stocking shelves, cutting my fingers on the edges of the shoe boxes, cleaning everything within reach, and dealing with cranky old ladies. I miss my old job, which was at the waterpark. It was a million times easier then this new one. Plus I had fun, and made new friends. I'm not really interested in making friends with the cranky, too serious older people I work with.
I can't stand it. And when I'm done with work, I feel like I need to treat myself in some way. So I waste the money. I bought new jeans, new outfits, and a bunch of food. But no matter how much money I make, I don't feel like it's the place for me.
There's not many job opporunities in Fremont anyways. All the good jobs are already taken, and all the unfun ones are open. I hope that I can quit my current job and switch over to some place actually more exciting, a place where I'll actually sort of like the kind of things I do day to day.
Does that place even exist?

Hope!

I've always thought hope was a pretty word, and, to me, it's the reason we live. Without hope people wouldn't have reasons for doing what they do.
If you hope to provide a better life for your children, you'll treat work and life seriously.
Hope is the reason we keep working, keep striving.
I hope that I'll become an author someday. I'm passionate about it, and I work hard writing my books, being sure to insert the best words, and express my opinions to the fullest.
Because I'm full of hope, I'll keep doing my best until my book is published and in the hands of every person who knows how to read!

believe

I believe in a lot of things, like most people. Like I believe that people should always get opportunities. Without opportunities, no one would even get a chance to follow their dreams. If someone doesn't get an opportunity to get a job, or meet someone, or express their feelings then they'll never be able to do anything.
It makes me sad to think that people never get the chance to try. How will they know if they're able to do something if they never get the opportunity? You can spend the rest of your life wondering if your good enough, or wondering how things would have turned out if you had taken the opportunity to try.
Opportunities are just really important I guess!

the theater

I love going to movies, and I love movies so it makes sense. Our movie theater is pretty nice, after they re-did it. But of course the prices jumped up which is never nice.
Sometimes, just for a little adventure, my friends and I travel to the distant Omaha theaters on a Friday or Saturday night, like the Village point one or 20 grand theater.
But after my buds and I shopped at Oakview, we decided to complete our day with a movie at neighboring theater AMC.
We walked in and were immediately floored by the beautiful realistic star ceiling, and the upstairs AND downstairs arcade.
After taking a small tour, we decided to go back outside and buy our tickets. With much argue, we finally settled on Saw V. We got our very pricey $9 tickets no problem, even though apparently at AMC you have to have someone 21 years or older with you if you're going to watch a rated R movie. We found this out after the people behind us got booted out of the theater for trying to see the movie. We just kept our mouths shout about that part.
4 dollars was left over, and naively we were sure that'd buy us a small popcorn and drink. We were especially thrilled about the fact you get to butter your own popcorn. We get to the candy counter, but a problem is born.
small popcorn and drink? - $12
small popcorn? - $6
small pop?- $4.25
We all instantaneously started digging around in our purse for a quater. Finally we got our small Mr. Pibb, but they put so much ice in it the melted ice to pop ratio was very unequal.
Once we found and got settled in our theater, we were stunned by the huge screen. We were so distracted by the movie, we forgot about our small watery pop and popcornless bellies.
The movie experience was nice, but Saw V was stupid and gory and I almost peed my pants and threw up at the same time = )

somethings I've learned

Journalism class has been an expeirence for me. I've learned a lot that makes me a way better journalist. I'm very indecisive, if your around me when I'm trying to make a decision you'll probably think I'm the most annoyingly uncertain person you've ever met. Even though this is true, I'm actually considering journalism as a career but, of course, I'm not really sure about it. But kinda sure.
Somethings I have learned-
1. You won't get a good quote if you ask plain yes/no/sure/nah/maybe kinda questions. You have to dig deep, and sometimes put words in their mouth to get good quotes for an article.
2. No matter how much time you spend working on a article, you'll at least have some sort of mistake you have to change. Well at least for my articles I do.
3. If you have a question about something, whether it's about photoshop or where to put a comma, just ask it.
4. Good ideas for the paper are hard to think of.
5. Deadlines are important

10 top Ideas

TOP 10 IDEAS:

• top 10 favorite candies to eat during a movie
• top 10 best birthday gifts
• top 10 ways to save your money

TOP 10 reasons being a journalism rocks
10. interviewing people
9. quoting
8. meeting new people
7. creating articles
6. knowing about news and events
5. being a part of a staff
4. learning more about people
3. writing great articles
2. improving your writing skills
1. getting your opinions, ideas, facts out there for people to read

Candyland Dream

Dreams seem so real, and sometimes you want them to be. Other times you worry about yourself for having a really crazy, random or violent dream. It's weird how they happen and turn out.
My weirdest dream was when I was in the game Candyland and I got stuck with Mr. Plum. All my other friends got to be with the cool characters like King Kandy and Gramma Nut. I had to eat a bunch of plums and the plum tree was really creepy. Plumpy was more like a crazy monster. It was more like a nightmare, but I woke up wondering what was wrong with me. I hadn't played candyland in like two years, why would I even dream about that?
Later that morning my dad had bought dried plums when he was supposed to buy raisons. He got the two of them mixed up. I thought that was pretty weird.

Selfishness : (

Don't you hate it when people are selfish, when they only have their own best interest in mind? Sometimes you get that feeling where someone doesn't care about you, and they only care about themselves. Personally, I think that's the worst feeling. Everybody wants people to care.
I don't know how many times I've heard someone say, "I wish they cared more." It's dissappointing to think people put themselves first. How different would the world be if we all cared for each other? We'd all be more cautious. Life would be more safe. There'd be more to live for knowing that there are people out there who care.

presidential debate

America has a great deal of problems, and we need a president that will be able to handle all these problems in a constructive and beneficial manner. That's why if you're going to vote (which you should if you ever want to make a difference), you shouldn't just choose Obama or McCain, you should investigate and study these canidates since they're going to be the leaders of our country for the following four years.
I've never met someone who's entirely a republican or entirely a democrat. People are always a little bit of both. It's one of those I'm republican on this issue, unless this happens then I have a democratic view. That's why voting can get puzzling. But you'll find that your decisions will get easier the more you learn about the canidates.
If I could ask the canidates one question it would be; are you truthfully, 100% ready to be the leader of America and take in all the responsibilities?