The World's Most Pressing Problem

I was asked to write a short essay about the world's most terrible problem. Clearly, this is solely based on opinion. I included my essay below but was wondering about what others feel is the world's most pressing situation.

The world’s most pressing problem is intolerance. On my first day of high school, I anxiously walked into my English class, found an empty desk and sat down. As I waited for my teacher to start introductions, I looked down at my desk. I found a swastika. My anxiety soon turned into sheer terror- I was already nervous enough about starting a new school. The next week I joined the Jewish Student Union and discussed what happened. Immediately, I began to feel better and more comfortable in my new school.

            Everyone has a right to their own opinion and the burden then falls on others in regard to how they act on it. If they choose to openly intolerant, then fighting erupts and countless numbers of innocent lives are lost. People need to accept (not necessarily agree with) other people’s ideas. Whether the situation is as minimal as picking a restaurant or as grave as religious property rights, it is our reactions that truly cause the most damage. 

'Tis the Season...

...for college interviews.

Now that my applications are finished, I have started the college interview process. According to admissions representatives from various universities, interviews are a way to show a school that you are interested in their academic programs and a time for you to get your questions answered. So far, I have gone on two interviews. My friend is going on her first interview this weekend and asked me for tips. I compiled nine pointers for her to remember and thought it would not be such a terrible idea to share them with all of you lovely people. Please keep in mind that this is what I have learned from the interviews I have been on. Every interview is different. Therefore, I present:

Chelsea's Guide to the College Interview

1) If you are applying to a school via Early Decision, why is that school your first choice? Saying that you have wanted to go to that school since you were six is not totally sufficient. Give a legitimate reason. What attracted you to the university?

2) If you love a school's emphasis on cultural diversity, let your interviewer know.

3) If you love a school's emphasis on community service, let your interviewer know. Tell them about some of the service you have done. If you have spearheaded any of these projects, you should mention it. All the cool kids are some sort of leader in their own way.

4) Do not go into the interview knowing nothing about the school. You should have already researched the school when you were making your college list. Do some more research before the interview. If you like a certain part of a certain program, mention it.

5) Interviews can also be a time for you to ask questions. Write down a few questions before the interview and leave some space on between each question. Ask your interviewer if you can take notes while they are speaking. Have two "power" questions. Power questions are the questions that will make your interviewer remember you most when writing you an evaluation. One of your questions may be about admissions criteria. This is the perfect time to ask. You can also ask light- hearted questions such as "Are there any prominent campus traditions?" and " How is the food?"

6) Do not be late to your interview. These people took the time out of their busy schedule to give you the chance to succeed. Arriving late might imply that you do not care about attending the school you are interviewing for. Do not insult your interviewer. Insulting is mean. Arrive at least ten minutes early and give extra time for travel, especially if you are taking public transportation.

7) Dress appropriately. As one who is a huge fan of a sweatshirt and jeans, let me be the first to recommend a pair of slacks and a nice shirt. Remember to dress comfortably. I know how nerve- wracking an interview can be; you want to be as comfortable as possible.

8) Tell them your goals. They want to know as much about you as possible. The more they know, the better they can present  your application to the admissions committee.

9) I know that this sounds a little bit ridiculous, but make sure your breath smells fresh. The first time I had ever met an admissions representative, the one thing on my mind aside from getting my question answered was how my breath smelled like my tuna wrap that I had for lunch. Spare yourself the embarrassment- bring gum.

Again, I urge you to remember that every interview has different components and the best thing that you can do before an interview is relax. My personal preference involves reading books by comedians. To be specific- read Billy Crystal's autobiography- 700 Sunday's.  You'll like it. A lot.


Good luck to all and to all a good night!

Jews Gone Wild

This past Saturday (November 6th) was Hollis Hills Jewish Center's fifth annual comedy night: Saturday Night Laughs 5. The night was filled with jokes, wine and nosh. 

Saturday Night Laughs 5 revolved around Catskills resorts of the twentieth century. Tables included Grossingers, Kutscher's, the Raleigh and more. Each table had a picture of the hotel, menus from various Borscht Belt hotels and an excerpt written by the Jewish Center's prominent cantor, Sol Zim, discussing his time in the Catskills.

While waiting for the comedians to take the stage, refreshments were sold and two quite loverly ladies circled around the room with a video camera, capturing jokes from the audience. The two delightful young lasses are currently editing their footage and plan to show Hollis Hills Jewish Center members in March 2011. There is also talk of the project being put on youtube.com but nothing has been confirmed.

Comedians of the night included Randy Levin (who has been seen on Evening at the Improv), Sherry Davey (one of Improper Magazine's "Top 10 comedians in NYC") and Tom Ryan (whose credits include multiple performances on The Late Show with David Letterman). The comedians were excellent and many were found crying of laughter throughout the show.

The audience was then given a short time to eat dairy dessert, provided by the temple's Men Club. (The Men's Club is having a bowling expedition soon. Check out hollishillsjc.org for more details.) Again,  more jokes were captured by the charming young women. The evening ended with raffle prizes provided by over thirty sponsors. Raffles ranged from ultra- soft blankets to a year's free membership to the Guggenheim Museum in Manhattan to New York Knicks tickets. Unfortunately, the writer of this blog did not win any of these prizes. However, she  has said that she will survive, just like Gloria Gaynor.

All in all, Saturday Night Laughs 5 was sensational. The evening was run by Melanie Katz and Jaye Solomowitz, prominent figures in the Hollis Hills community (although they live in Bayside). Regarding this evening of laughter, Melanie and Jaye said "We wanted to thank everyone for their help in making Comedy Night a great success."

It's Time to Vote Once Again!

As many of you know, today is election day. I have to admit that the first thing I think about when the first Tuesday of each November arrives is the ability to sleep late. Then I realize that I get to sleep late because everyone I know that is eighteen or older are voting for the people that they feel will best represent them. 

I was going to go off on a rant regarding politics but ABC News Special Vote 2010  has started to report some major news:

Republicans just took control of the House of Representatives. In addition, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi has been replaced by the Republican Representative John Boehner (Ohio). I wonder if Americans' decisions at the voting booths reflected their disappointment with the Democratic House of Representatives, their dismay with President Obama's time in the Oval Office or something else. Frankly, I think that their decisions were mostly influenced by Barack Obama's policies. However, people need to realize that President Obama has not run for the House of Representatives since 2000... and he lost. Therefore, I am really interested in finding out why people in states that were blue for the 2008 presidential election turned red this year. 

Ideas?

My Ode to Rocky Horror

At my insistence, tonight was my friends' first time watching the Rocky Horror Picture Show. For those of you that have not seen this amazing movie, the RHPS is the story of a young couple whose tire goes flat and must go to a nearby castle to use a telephone. The movie's cast consists of Tim Curry, Barry Bostwick, Susan Sarandon, Meatloaf, Jonathan Adams, Charles Gray and a few others whose names I cannot remember at the moment.

Anyway, my father and I picked up my friend to bring to my other friend's house where we were going to watch the RHPS. As we were stuck in traffic, my father and I tried to explain the essence of the movie without mentioning the actual plot. "There is a lot of make up and you will think that it's weird." Well, my friends and I went out for dinner and got ready to watch the movie. I warned them again. "This is my favorite movie of all time but you will think that it's strange." We started the movie. They watched me mouth along with a majority of the songs and burst out into "The Time Warp".  By the end of the movie, they were in love.

Therefore, I exposed my friends to the Rocky Horror Picture Show a couple of hours ago...and we all really enjoyed it.

There's a party in my tummy, so yummy, so yummy

I am told that the children on "Yo Gabba Gabba" sing this song fairly often. More importantly, these song lyrics began my college essay. Most importantly, there is a party in my tummy. There is an homemade applesauce party and it quite delicious (and kind of nutritious). Since this applesauce is so amazing (and I do not have many apples left), I figured that you peoples should have the recipe to make it on your own.

You'll need: four apples, water, a hint of cinny- cinny- cinnamon, a sharp knife, a plate or something else that you don't mind cutting on (like a carving board or something), a pot that can fit four cut up apples, sink with clean running water and a stove top.

Now that you've got everything...:
1) Wash your apples. This recipe requires cleanliness. (Even if you are a messy person, I promise you can keep your "work station" clean. If I can do it, so can you.)
2) Cut up the apples into large chunks. Put the apple chunks into the pot. Feel free to eat small pieces rather than putting it in the applesauce. Remember, an apple a day keeps the doctor away... However, please leave enough for your apple delicious-ness.
3) Add just enough water to barely cover the apple chunks.
4) Cover the pot and put it on the stove. Turn on the stove to a medium- high setting. Leave it there for about 15 minutes. Watch some television...Read other "Anchor in the Making Posts"...
5) Check on your soon-to-be- applesauce. Try to mash up the chunks. If you need to "work" to mash the apple chunks, leave it cooking for another two minutes. If you can mash, mash away! It will start to look like applesauce. Add your hint of cinny- cinny- cinnamon.
6) If your chunks were not mash- able, try to mash them again. If not, repeat step 5 until you can get into some hardcore mashing.
7) Turn off the stove. Burnt applesauce is not that tasty.
8) Let the applesauce sit for about ten minutes. If you do not let the applesauce sit, you will burn your tongue which I can tell you is extremely unpleasant.
9) Enjoy! You just made the world's best homemade applesauce!

Speechalicious-ness

"You can get anything you want at Alice's Restaurant. "

This weekend I have my first speech competition of the school year. I finally found my little 8.5" by 5.5" binder last night and have been preparing all day since I got home from school. I did not take a single second off because I want to beast the competition. Speech is something you pour your heart into. Doing your best at a competition (regardless of the actual results) can give one the best feeling in the world.

I enjoy performing comical selections of prose and poetry. At the end of last season, I decided that my  prose would be a ten minute version of The Witches by Roald Dahl. However, as I began practicing yesterday, I could tell that my audience was bored out of their mind. I usually feed off of the audience's energy and a dead audience would not help. Therefore, at about eleven thirty PM last night, I contacted my speech mentor (also known as my sister, Alyssa) and told her that I was desperate for a new prose piece. She gave me suggestions and I took the potential book with me to school. I did not look at the book during school. (I was too focused on other things...like being a student.) I got home and I flashed through A.J. Jacob's Fractured Fairytales. Between finding the best (and my favorite part) of his series of messed up fairy tales and voicing his characters and preparing my poetry piece (Arlo Guthrie's Alice's Restaurant), I did not stop until I finished. In addition, my mother and father sat there for the numerous times that I performed my pieces. (For the note, I did greatly appreciate it. It made my life four thousand times easier.)

I am really anxious for this weekend.  Five minutes before I perform my pieces, I might internally freak out.  As of right now, I am excited. I'm sure you know why, of course. I'll tell you why.

"You can get anything you want at Alice's Restaurant."