Fishing Outings

One day I was very bored after school. I was at home and looking for something to do. I noticed the weather was very mild that night. It was about 65 degrees and sunny. Fishing would be a great pass time. I hadn't fished in my pond at all this year so I thought I would give it a try. It usually takes a lot of warming up before the fish start biting in there so I wasn't expecting anythying too great. I tied on a samll jig with a twister tail and made my first cast. I was realing in my line and all of a sudden I saw and felt something swipe at my lure. I didn't catch the fish, but it was a good sign. I knew that it was most likely a curious little bluegil that didn't have a big enough mouth for the hook. This gave me hope for the rest of my time out there. I made a few more casts and the same thing kept happening. I wasn't getting any solid bites. Then, after about 10 minutes, something awesome happened. I was realing in my lure and it was fairly close to the top of the water so I was able to see it. It got about 4 feet from me and then all of a sudden I saw this big flash. It was a big crapie! It latched onto my lure, and took me by complete surprise. This was the only fish I caught that day because I only made I few more casts feeling quite satisfied with just that fish. Another fishing outing I want to share with you all is one that I didn't participate in. My uncle went down to Lake Mcbride two nights ago. I couldn't go because I was working. I was disappointed, but I knew there would be other times. Anyway he discovered that the crapie were spawning. He caught 15 that night. This is good news for me because that is my favorite time to go to the lake. You can easily catch about 20 fish when this is happening. This provides for an extra special and exciting time. Those are a couple of the latest fishing outings this spring.

Tordado Alley

Most of you already know that Iowa is in the Tornado Alley of the United States. Today is the first time this year that we have had evidence of this. A storm system came through the area yesterday, but brought mostly just heavy rain showers. Today was a different story. It was the most humid day this year by far. You could feel yourself moving through the dense air. This is one of the ingredients for a harsh storm. I knew we were supposed to get some heavy storms, but I didn't know how bad they would be. You can never be too sure about the weather forecast, especially in the state of Iowa. The weather is very unpredictable here. Anyway, I was at a graduation party when I heard the bad news. The small, but well-known to me, town of Central City was hit by a tornado. Where I was it wasn't even rainining. I couldn't believe a tornado had hit Central City already. I thought it was too early in the year for the tornadoes to kick in. I know this town very well because the Wapsipinicon River runs directly through it. It has a dam that is great for fishing, and a state park that provides awesome camping. I was very surprised at this news. I am not sure at this time the damages of the park, but I think they are minimal. Hopefully everything will be back to normal before the camping season gets into full swing. This just goes to show you how unpredictable Iowa weather is.

A Chorus Line

Kennedy High School is well known for its drama program. People know that we usually put on spectacular shows. We do a fall musical, a winter play, and a spring musical. I have only been a part of two shows here at Kennedy. The first one I was in was a musical of "Cinderella". This occured last year. It was, for the most part, a success. I wasn't a big part of the show, however. I was in the chorus and appeared only a few times throughout the show. I am currently in the musical "A Chorus Line". This production is about an audition for a broadway musical. You get to know each character throuout the audition process. I was lucky to get a principal role in this musical. My character name is Don Kerr. He is a ladies man and is very confident in himself. He used to work at strip clubs in his hometown of Kansas City, Kansas. I enjoy playing this character because I think it fits my personality, and therefore is relatively easy to portray to the audience. I feel like this show has a wonderful cast. The dancing and singing abilities are outstanding. The acting is also very good. Everyone really gets into their characters. I think, for the most part, everyone has a part of their real life personalities in their stage personalities. We have worked very hard, and rehearsed for numerous hours trying to make the best product possible. I am a senior this year so this will be the last time I get a chance to do anything of this sort. Hopefully I can leave it all on the stage and give great performances. I am greatful to be a part of this incredible show.

Perfect for a bonfire

Bonfires, in my opinion, are one of the most enjoyable spring activities you can do with your friends. The weather in the spring is usually very nice and great for having them. The nights are usually a little chilly which is good because the fire will take care of that no problem. On Friday night the weather was outstanding. The temperature was cool, but not too cold. The sky was clear as a bell allowing us to see the stars very clearly. The fire was big and bright. We used a lot of wood that night to keep it that way. The fire pit we were at was well constructed. After the fire died down a little, we got some marshmallows and roasted them over the fire. There is nothing better than the taste of golden marshmallows roasted over a fire. We could not have asked for a better night. There was one incident that did not go too well for me. I was cooking a hot dog over the fire. I wanted to check and see if it was done. When I but my mouth on the hot dog my lips accidentally touched the flaming hot steal poker that they were on. My lip now has an outline of the shape of the poker on it. It did not hurt too bad, but it was just one of those things that you know you should not have done. Anyway, everybody else made it without hurting themselves. In conclusion, the nice weather and bonfires bring a lot of fun and pain. Either way they are a good time.

Chamber Choir

At Kennedy High School the vocal music department is known for having great choirs every year. Mr. Ziegler is the main director and Mr. Sands is the assistant director. I am lucky to be in the elite choir in the program. We call it chamber choir. We meet every other day during 6th hour. Some of the songs we are doing include: "Virga Jesse", "The Uncertainty of the Poet", "Lay a Garland", "Fauna Canzona", and my favorite "In Remembrance". These songs are much more difficult than the ones sung in regular choir. They give us a good challenge, but I think we handle most of them quite nicely. Every year this group goes to the state ensamble contest. This is most likely not the kind of contest you are thinking of. Groups do not compete against each other, they compete against a rating system. A one is the highest, then a two, then a three, and so on. This contest was at Linn-Mar High School this year. We arrived there at about 2:30 pm with a perfomance time of 3:10. It took a while to find where we were supposed to be, but we managed to find it. The songs we would be performing were "Virga Jesse", "The Uncertainty of the Poet", and "In Remembrance". We got to choose the songs we performed by a vote. These three are all very good songs that everyone in the choir liked. We also felt very comfortable with how they sounded when we sang them. This made it easier to perform them in front of a judge. During our performance an audience member's cell phone rang. It was quite distracting. Somehow we managed to pull ourselves together because we ended up getting a one! I was very happy to find out this news later in the day. It felt good to know that we were the best that we could be, and the judge liked our songs.

First Spring Outing

Easter is a day of celebration for many people. It was also the day of my first spring fishing outing. I had been extremely busy up to that day for numerous reasons. School, work, and play practice are the main culprits. I was eager to get out and try the fishing, and that was going to be a great day weather wise so I thought let's give it a try. I knew that it was still quite early and the water temperatures were still very chilly. The fish would not be moving very fast so I would have to use a slow presentation along with live bait. One of my friends had told me that the walleye were biting on the Wapsipinicon River at the Central City dam. This could have very well been true. The fishing on the rivers tends to pick up before the lakes because the water is always moving and the weather does not affect the fish as much. Walleye, Northern Pike, and Muskie are the first fish to spawn. This means that you have the best chance to catch these species. The water temperature only has to be in the upper 40's for these fish to spawn. This is relatively low compared to bass which need the water to be at least 50 degrees or higher. When walleye spawn they go to the dams on the rivers. This is why I went to the Central City dam, in hope that they would be spawning. For some reason, it may have been the mini cold front, they were not biting like I thought they would be. We actually did not catch one fish. However something very peculiar happened that I have never seen before. My father was reeling in his lure and something bit his lure. He started tugging on it and he said it felt like a big one. When he got it to the shore we realized that it was a large clam! The clam actually bit onto the lure my dad was using. I've never witnessed that before, and possibly will not again in my lifetime! So even though the fishing was not the greatest, we still had a good time.

3rd Hour Off

Since I am a senior now I have an hour off of school during the school day. It is 3rd hour. This is the best hour of my day. My three best friends also have this hour off so it makes it extra special. We do a number of different things during this time. Everyday we do one thing like clockwork. This is eating. It is the best part of my day. We go to a bunch of different places. Yesterday we went to Sonic. The day before that we went to Burger King. Other destinations include Wendy's, Daren's Cafe, Arby's, Taco Bell, McDonalds, and many others. We like doing activities when we have extra time after eating. Ping pong is usually one of the daily activities. When the weather is nice we go outside and play a little basketball. Sometimes we go hot tubbing in Daren's hot tub. It is a great time, and I look forward to all of our time together every day. It is a nice break from school.

A Successful Bonfire

If you want to know how to have a great bonfire this is the article for you. The first thing you have to do is collect the wood. You want to make sure you have plenty of wood so when the fire gets going it is easy to feed more wood into it. This will ensure a steady base fire. You want to get three sizes of wood. Small, medium, and large pieces are needed. Tinder, which is the smallest flakes of wood that you can find, must go on the bottom of the fire. Newspaper or some other kind of starting material is recommended also. After all the wood and starting material are collected, the base of the fire must be assembled very carefully. There are many styles of fires that you can make. The log cabin, tee pee, and the lean to are the most common. To construct a log cabin you put the newspaper and the tinder in the middle. Next, put medium to large logs (preferably the same size) on two sides surrounding the tinder. Put two more logs of the same size on top of the previous logs. These go on the corners of the logs. Stack a few more up and then put some small to medium sized logs in the middle. Now all you have to do is light the tinder in the middle and you have your log cabin. The tee pee has almost the same construction. Tinder and newspaper goes in the middle. Put medium sized logs in a tee pee above that. Then add larger logs in another layer of the tee pee outside that. The lean to is the easiest way to make a good fire. All you do is find a thick log and set it on its side. Then, put your tinder and newspaper beside it. Prop up small to medium sticks over the tinder. Light the tinder and add larger sticks when the fire gets going. In conclusion, the log cabin, the tee pee, and the lean to are three great styles of fires that are sure to get you hot!

My Work Experience

I got a job at a new chinese restaurant called Jaimen about two months ago. I had been previously keeping an eye out for a job that would suit my interests. This was a good choice for a couple reasons. First, It was fairly close to my house and school. This makes transportation very economical and less time consuming. Second, I have been intriged by the restaurant business for a while and wanted to see how it all worked. Third, it will give me some needed money for next year when I leave for college. I am thankful for getting the job becuase they are hard to come by nowadays with the United State's economy the way it is. I was lucky that they were hiring when I turned my application in, and got an on-the-spot interview. I was hired right away. Now that I have the job I have a few thoughts on it. I work as a buss-boy, or server assistant as they like to call them. I help the servers clean up their tables and set them after their guests leave. On occasion, I do other jobs such as wash the windows, make drinks, run food, and much more. The work can sometimes be stressful when you have 3 different servers asking you to go do something for them. You are also on your feet for a great deal of time on each shift. This tends to get tiring after a while, but in the end it's not bad work. The food there is absolutely amazing. It is gormet chinese food. The chefs are all from China so it is authentic as well. They do a great job in making it look good as well as taste good. There is only one thing that I have heard people complain about. Since it is a fine dining establishment the prices tend to be a little higher than other places that Iowans are used to. I think it is worth every penny because we try and provide the best service around, and the food is incredible. That is a little about my new work experience.