The Ugly Truth

The Ugly Truth 

In response to “The Ugly Truth about Beauty”, an essay by author and comedian Dave Barry, I have to say that I concur wholeheartedly on almost all of his points. As a man, I cannot say I don’t appreciate the lengths women go to in the pursuit of beauty; nor can anybody else, really, without sounding disrespectful or unappreciative of the effort they put forth. Being attractive, is, well, attractive. However, I feel as if in a majority of cases, women can become less concerned with the original purposes of beauty products and more concerned with the opinions  of other women on whether they made themselves look sufficiently better, or did it so poorly that they actually looked worse. Because of this, the entire concept just deteriorates into some sort of silly contest between women as to who wore it better. They honestly become their own worst enemy due to too much introspection (something that we as teens know quite a bit about). The entire point of the items are to enhance beauty, yet people skew the concept to the point where the actual effect garnered is quite contrary. For example, around the time of school dances, women go out and spend preposterous amounts of resources on how they look, to the point where most people would truly prefer standard makeup. Aside from that point, I feel like Dave Berry hit the nail on the head with his satirical viewpoint on beauty, and I commend him for that. Also, spray tans are the worst.

-Brandon Smith

9/24/15 

The way that I wasted my summer.

The way that I wasted my summer.

Wednesday, July 29th 2015

The summer is a boring time. When it is the school year I always hear people complain about how they wished that it was summer, and they couldn't wait to finally be finished. During the school year, there are sports, and people, and performances, and all of these things to occupy your time. On the first day of summer is when all of that ends, so you have to find some way to waste your time. I have and issue with not having anything to do that is actually meaningful, so I got a job. I worked in a very fast paced pizza place that is always packed with people (like Mrs. And Mr. Priest.) I worked on the majority of weekdays and most weekends. So I worked practically my entire life away for $121.64 that first week. That is how much I am paid for dealing with the rush, the angry customers, the slippery floors, the ice machine and coke always needing to be changed. One person got so mad that he took all of the napkins out of all of the dispensers and covered the tables in them. But the people that I worked with were funny and nice, and I learned some very interesting things. I also got to see firsthand the perks of having a job and some time management. I really hated having to quit, but sometimes things happen so that one can reach the next major stepping stone in their life. I guess it’s time for mine.

-Brittney Ditto

Captain's Log Day 1

 

                    

Captain’s Log Day 1

            I am now to start the commemoration of not only the end of my space voyage but also the beginning of my adventure on this strange new planet I have decided to claim for myself.  Because of this, I am giving it the name of Summer. I did this because I wanted it to have a name as beautiful as it is.  The features that really stand out to me are the towering trees that measure in at well over 100 feet tall and are designed much differently than what I’ve grown accustom to back on my home planet.  These are covered in not leaves but foliage closer resembling needles, and they bear fruit that seem to be inedible because of the hard spikes and waxy covering on them that produce a smell that would attract only flies.

                Another one of the outstanding features that I’ve observed is the outrageously high temperatures.  These temperatures are not only high but also have a range anywhere from 97 degrees to something so hot it will not register on my thermometer. As a matter of fact, the heat actually melted my thermometer, and now it no longer works.  What seems to be even crazier than the heat is the fact that the locals here find it not only normal but comfortable. I most certainly disagreed with that because back where I come from the average temperature is a much more hospitable 76 degrees.  Not only was I not prepared for the drastic heat change but neither was my gear because once I left the ship to plant the flag I made especially for this occasion( It had my face on it), my shoes spontaneously combusted. Thankfully, my crew was Jonny on the spot and peed out the flame before any real damage could be done.

                Because of the monumental occasion I celebrated by treating my crew to a special meal I made personally called Boy Scout Chicken.  Because this meal was hearty and delicious everyone ate plenty and went to sleep.                 

 

                       

                                                                                                                     Larry Tilley

                                                                                  

 Gracie Wilson

Pontoons, Tubing, and Summertime

    This summer I went to Greers Ferry Lake. The waters were blue, the skies were clear, and the weather felt wonderful. It was sunny with a high of 92 degrees. With me at the lake was my sisters’ family, Gail, Jonathan, Tom, Jaden, Mason, Cole, and Dean. The trip to the lake was absolutely horrendous. Everyone except for Gail, Tom, and Jaden were piled into Emily and Jonathan’s Ram truck. Cole and Mason fought the entire way there and none of the kids slept at all during the trip. I have never been through anything more nerve racking in my entire life. Once we got to the cabin, we realized that there weren’t enough beds for everyone. Cole, Jaden, Mason and I had to share a small bedroom made for only two people. Cole and Mason didn’t mind sharing a room, but Jaden and I did.

    The next day, we rented a pontoon for six hours. At first, I didn’t think that six hours was very long on the lake, but I was definitely wrong. It felt like we would never get back to that crowded cabin! We brought an inner tube from home to pull behind the pontoon and all of the kids got to ride on it almost the entire time we were there, only taking time to stop and eat. Cole and Mason fought the entire time they were on the tube together and Jaden jumped in every time that she could. Eventually, Jonathan called the kids back on the pontoon for a time out and gave Emily and I a chance to ride. Once we got back to the cabin I realized that I had a very bad sunburn. One of the worst ones that I have ever had. Needless to say, I couldn’t get comfortable that night.

    The next day, we didn’t have the pontoon. So, Jonathan was looking for things in the cabin that could keep everyone occupied. He found a deck of Uno cards and we played for hours. All of the kids except for Jaden watched Netflix while the older people played cards.

    Saturday, our last day on the lake, we had the pontoon again. This time I made sure that I put on sunscreen. Sadly, I only put it on once when I first got out there. Another day of nothing but riding on the inner tube and basking in the sun. My first sunburn had subsided and I had learned my lesson. Finally, we loaded up and headed back to Valley View. I was so happy to be home.

    Everyone had an amazing time at the lake and it was a blessing to be able to go.

"One Game at a Time" Cannon

Here lately I’ve really been thinking about baseball. I haven’t ever been really excited about playing baseball until, the past season. This years Riverside High School team may have been the best yet. And to think that before the season started, I wasn’t even going to play. At the last minute, I said to myself, “why not?” and “what else do I have to do?”

So the day of the first practice, I decided that I was going to play. I don’t regret my decision one bit. Looking back, the decision I made to play baseball that year was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made.

This year was probably the best season and the best team I have ever been apart of. From going undefeated in conference to being district champs, and to my favorite game of the year when we were the underdog to Woodlawn but ended up beating them 6 to 1 in the second round of the state tournament were just some of the memories. Oh, and not to mention when we beat Walnut Ridge 2 to 1 to gain the regional championship (after they had beat us in the regular season by the same score).

The whole season was full of memories and excitement that I will cherish and remember forever.

Unfortunately, like all good runs, ours came to an end by a devastating 4 to 1 loss to Magnet Cove in the state semi-finals. I will sincerely miss the seniors that were part of this amazing team, but I cannot wait to see what the future holds for Riverside baseball.

Always remember, “Heros get remembered, but legends never die”. I believe that the players of Riverside’s baseball team of 2015 were all legends!

My Art-- Allysa Weaver

Allysa Weaver   

                              My Art

            Dance is an escape for those who feel music; however, if you're a true adventurer, you do not need music to escape the feelings. Once you know the dance of life, everything around you becomes a prop, a costume, a spotlight. Music becomes something you feel; music is no longer just something you hear. Dance is a lifestyle; it is the way I live my life. Dance is more of a friend than a sport. It is more of a security blanket than an art. When dancers enter the stage, they lose all ties to the world. All dancers must stand together because as the world sees us, we are nothing, but as we see one another, we see everything that is beautiful in the world. 

             I was able to teach my very first dance camp recently. It is so refreshing to see such liveliness in young girls and their love for such an amazing form of art. Something that older girls lack a lot of the time. Older dancer sometimes have the tendency to goof around in class sometimes when our instructor has repeatedly told us to hush. Some take for granted what other kids would love to do every day.

            Dance is physically demanding, mentally exhausting, and emotionally freeing. A dancer pays such a small fee to get something so big in return. 

Over the years, I have put blood, sweat, and tears into becoming the dancer I want to be. When I say I've put blood into it, I mean I have danced on my feet for hours until my toenails cracked open and my toes and feet split from the pressure. When I say sweat, I mean I've sweat, physically yes, but I've sweat emotionally, causing myself to become sick but running the dance one more time anyways. When I say tears I don't mean tears because I did not win the title I wanted; I mean tears because my body aches, and my muscles are too tense to move.

            Being a dancer is hours of lying awake at night going over the combination that was taught in class that day because there was a section that was too complicated to perfect. Happiness is finding the love and passion for something that can be either lively or completely heart wrenching.

            Dancers get offended when people say that dance isn't a sport. Dance is physically demanding just like basketball, football, baseball, volleyball, and soccer. But to me, dance is an art.  beautiful, graceful, and lovely. 

I am an artist. 

 I have been reminded of that recently. 

            I may not always be able to dance, but I always be a dancer.

"You better slow down. Don't dance so fast. Time is short, the music won't last..."

Hometown Nazareth-Where Zach Was Really Bored! ----- By Zach Poe

            July 23^rd was the last day of Vacation Bible School, better known as V.B.S. The theme this year was Hometown Nazareth-Where Jesus was a Kid! I went to V.B.S. all week, and, truth be told, it was starting to get a little old. The group that I led with Cannon Smith is called Asher, and our subgroup, which we called family groups, was known as Asher number one. Throughout the week, I had about seven kids total, but there was never more than five there on the same day.

            The kids in my group were Kason, Brayeson, Gabe, Brian, Nathan, Teddy, and Nolan, and they were all going into either the 3^rd or 4^th grade, which is why I was so surprised at how well-mannered they were. Overall, they were a pretty good group, and while boys are going to be a little wild, they weren’t nearly as bad as some of the other groups that were at Vacation Bible School.

            At first, Cannon and I had a group composed of all girls and another group leader, who happened to be female, had only boys. Because of this, I asked if we could switch groups, and everybody was fine with that. That was how I ended up with my awesome group. Even though it had been a long week, I felt really blessed to have been given the opportunity to sit, learn, and have fun with that great group of boys. I wouldn’t trade that week for anything.