Die Standardized Tests!

You really appreciate the stress relieving power of knitting when you have to take a three day long test. It's not like we don't take enough tests already- we take multiple tests a week at my school, sometimes in the same subject. Now they want us to take the ISTEPs to battle for funding. The only problem is that my school DOESN'T GET ANY FUNDING. WE ARE CATHOLIC! Now , since I passed the ISTEPs , I'm headed for a barrage of college qualifying exams and AP tests. Not that the state or the government cares. The problem with tests is that you don't improve when you take them. A test shows what you DON'T know. If the government wants to improve the test scores, its going to be by getting the people who take the tests to care, not by getting the teachers and principals to care. Funneling money into education is not going to improve anything, except SOME people's paychecks. You want a better America? Try making healthy food cheaper than junk food so we won't be fat, filtering emissions so we'll breathe healthy, make it illegal to drop out of school for people under 18, reward kids with good grades, stop the pointless war on terror (we came back from Korea and Vietnam, and they're alright now), and stop making us pay so much in taxes! That would make our world a lot better. Just make gas prices go down first.

Homecoming

is coming up soon. Pretty early if you ask me. This Friday, I'm going to the game, then the dance, then my friend's house. Our homecoming is really informal- it almost became a freshman dance. Today, as part of spirit week, everyone dressed up as military veterans, and most of us borrowed veterans' clothes. I was in the top 40 and probably would have won if I had been a senior. I really don't feel like starting my final sweater sleeve yet-I'm a procrastinator. Hopefully I'll have it done by the time that cold weather sets in.

Chicks with Sticks: it's a purl thing

Okay, I know a whole book about knitting doesn't sound interesting (knit 1, purl 2, YO, decrease, Boring!) but this book is amazing for a teenage knitter. It makes everyone wish that finding a magic like knitting can help you make friends, overcome a Learning Disorder, get awesome clothes, remove stress, get closer to your mom, and find out who you really are. Maybe knitting won't solve all of these problems for you, but I happen to know that knitting is proven as effective as yoga for relaxing and removing stress (so if you don't dig all that stretching, KNIT!). The parts about knitting that say the girl was addicted to it, maybe a little too strong. But knitters are all connected in a super circle. Everyone knows its more fun to go shopping with friends than to go alone, and its the same with knitting. It's a communal thing; you do it while talking, watching movies, and hanging out, and pretty soon you have a new sweater or blanket or purse or whatever else you decide to make. It's especially important to the fashion forward people; what happened if you made a sweater that was a perfect fit for you? Everything about it just. . . fits. That's what happens when you knit with friends. . . you just click.