Animal of the Day: Turkey

I know these have become sparse because my schedule is bountiful but today I have time and this break I have had the desire to write (and I shall put more of that toward AP Lit and Journalism and Scholarships) but for now, Turkeys!

Today's domesticated turkeys are descendant of the wild turkeys of Mexico. Turkey's got their name, despite being native to the Americas, because Spain imported domesticated to Great Britain from Turkey and surrounding countries.

Adult males are called Toms and Gobblers. Teenage turkey males are called Jakes.

When a male turkey gets excited his wattle and snood fill with blood and turn red and his face becomes blue, unless he is ready to fight, then his whole face turns red. The snood is the eloquent flap of skin that hangs overs  a male turkey's beak.

Turkeys harbor from 5000 to 6000 feathers. I bet you thought I was going to write germs or parasites or something more gross than feathers.

Males and some females have small beards that grow from their breast.

Wild turkeys are agile flyers. A turkey gobble can be heard a mile away

What better day than Thanksgiving for ANTI FEAR LIST THURSDAY!

1. Elderly dutch lady I saw downtown admiring the music statue and when the music came in she delightedly exclaimed, "muziek!"
2. Visiting the TARDIS with the Kniepers
3. Left handed football catch for fairness and my finger's sake. 
4. Muffled pterodactyls
5. Cabbage and creepy Abi stage humor
6. Extremely kind and considerate (do you call male baristas baristos?) who warmed my jp's thermos before filling it with coffee because it had been sitting in the cold
7. Reuniting with Raquel and talk of future adventures and doodle and armadillo exchange and mocha peppermint latte
8. Ally's talk of the magicalness of lady finger bananas
9. Mrs. Pierson's speech on why I should get my finger looked at and then finishing it off by allowing me to take a spoon only if i stopped all arguments
10. Being confused because an Australian guy answered the phone when I called AMC
11. Impromptu quest to GR with Sophi to see Day of the Doctor but it was sold out so I sang and played an angsty snowman uke song but we watched Catching Fire which was superb 
12. Joe forgets what a camel is called

Sophomore Choir!

I was going to re write an essay because I am in a writing mood except I don't agree with the corrections that are asked of me so instead I shall write of Sophomore year of West Ottawa choir.

Sophomore year I became a member of the West Ottawa Select Women's Ensemble. I remember how much I looked up to the upper classmen of the choir and how amazed I was to find myself in  a choir with them. My choir skills greatly improved as WOSWE is a fast paced, high level choir.

We traveled to Fort Wayne for a conference called ACDA. We sang some of the most beautiful literature I feel I shall ever sing such as "Faith is the Bird" and "When it was yet Dark." I believe singing "When it was yet Dark," which tells of Mary Magdalene's distress at finding the empty tomb, was the first time I felt shudders of emotion run through my body while singing with a choir. Music is powerful, even more so when voices join and dwell together in the same story and emotions.

Fort Wayne was a lot of fun and I made memories involving Chinese food in beautiful churches, accidental very odd disruptive noises, "Glorious Church", ranch, baby changing stations, awkward encounter with prestigious composer, and the best of all, Mrs. Pierson and Mr. Pierson performing a traditional African dance.

For the first quarter of the year I could not be in Concert Choir due to scheduling conflicts. I was not happy. I felt like I was missing out on a family. I remember the joyous day my schedule allowed me to reunite with my choir family. Mrs. Pierson had the choir sing to me and I felt home.

Sophomore year I became very close with our choir accompanist at the time, Ms. Bergsma. She was like a big sisterly role model to me. She always shared food in exchange for doodles and water colors I made for her A group of friends and I and she loved to eat outside the choir room, under a tree, at lunch. She had a purple zebra blanket choir kids would thieve at different intervals for warmth and comfort.

Choir is what connected me with theater. After many self conscious and unsuccessful auditions in middle school, I auditioned for Lord of the Flies and was gifted the opportunity to play Piggy. The experience was unique and growing. We shaped the show to be a message against bullying so I called upon many bad memories from middle school life and dangerous places dearly loved friends of mine had been in. But it was healing, and fun to act and to this day I love acting.

Near the end of the school year I was blessed with the opportunity to travel to New York City with WO choirs. I got lost multiple times, once in a giant Macy's, and once in the hun and suits of armor exhibit of the Metro Museum. I formed closer relationships with fellow choir members. Improvisational uke songs on a long bus ride does that to you. We also had meaningful experiences such as visiting the 9/11 memorial and singing in a retirement home. Mrs. Pierson preaches that she would not travel with us if there were no singing and no growing opportunities. Based on the many fun adventures I had in NYC I know Canada will be a blast.

I shall end my rambles here. To check out my Oh Canada! progress go here: http://www.gofundme.com/53tr1s

I

I want to have dreams again. Literal dreams

Anti fear list Thursday!

1. Medival names 

2. Rango and errrrrban outfiteeeeerrrs with Soap and Thom

3. Mu Shu's great flight over the volleyball net

4. Dylan following me around JAmes CAsh Penney and keeping me company

5. Healing process complete I think

6. Human penguin

7. Mr Kukla shall wear an earring once more! 

8. Micah clarifying she was handing me a dollar for the offering, not for myself

9. New adventure coat

10. Grizzly the dog who almost almost let me pet him

11. Cuddling with Annie in English and sharing weird pomegranate arils that aren't so good as just eating a pomegranate 

11. Princess story booyah

Belated Anti Fear!

1. Post youth group jam sessions
2. Parker's wonderful speech
3. Being funny AND making Cabel uncomfortable
4. Reuniting with Daniel!
5. Daniel dropping a boulder on me
6. Princess dress
7. Escaping work for the pac tunnels and kissy wall
8. Coke fountain
9. The log with Annie and thrifting with Annie
10. Unravel the tape interpretative art dance
11. Conspiracy about Jesus teenager
12. Escaping into the first snow haha you left the courtyard open

West Ottawa Choir - The beginning

I remember going in to the high school choir room for the first time, anxiously awaiting my audition. There was a tall Hawaiian guy and a woman draped in a purple zebra blanket sitting behind the piano. I was very confused.

The Hawaiian guy came to be one of my best friends my freshman year, Andrew Klein; he showed me the ropes of West Ottawa choir. Particularly, how to befriend Mrs. Pierson. Admittedly, Mrs. Pierson terrified me at first. She takes music, seriously, as it ought to be taken. Music should be inseparable from emotion. She has helped me to now feel as though, if one does not feel an emotional connection when they sing, they are singing for the wrong reasons and should not participate in  a choir. Andrew Klein got me in trouble regularly for talking out of turn in class (One time, him and our friend Mackenzie decided to poke each of my sides. I was not good with being poked or touched so I screamed and fell on the floor in the middle of a song. Mrs. Pierson was not so happy) , but he also taught me about Mrs. Pierson which, I suppose, made up for the trouble.

The woman wrapped in a blanket was Ms. Bergsma, our old choir accompanist. She is very good at giggling and very very talented at the piano. Ms. Bergsma resigned this past year, but it was a joy having her for my Freshman through Senior year. I shall expand on her more when I make my post about sophomore year, for that is when I remember that my relationship with her started to grow.

Ms. Verdonk was our student teacher my freshman year. At first, I was annoyed that she would sit between Andrew Klein and I and put a cork in our constant talking. But I opened my eyes to the fact that she was doing her job and causing me to do a better job at my own job, paying attention and singing. Ms. Verdonk is quirky and energetic and loves purple and her and Ms. Bergsma became best friends and it was a joy to be friend with the two and share in the love.

I made many friendships in Concert Choir, the choir I have been in since freshman year. To this day Danny and Caleb and Mackenzie and Ricky and Parker, just to name a few, and I reminisce on the many odd and wonderful occurrences of concert choir.

Freshman year, choir meant friends to me. Middle school was rough and offered few friends. I was relentlessly bullied by the majority of my class. When I came to be part of a community that accepted me, even thought I was funny and precious, I knew I had struck gold.

I didn't know it at the time, but freshman year as I stepped into West Ottawa choir, I stepped into one of the biggest influences on my life.

Help support my last hurrah trip to Canada with West Ottawa Choirs: http://www.gofundme.com/53tr1s

Despite the high level of embarrassment some of these or all of the pictures involved, here is a collection of freshman year choir pictures,

ANTI FEAR LIST THURSDAy!

1. Ice cream fundraiser with Oddie and Hava and Micah

2. Compliment battle with Piper

3. Too big tux shoulder

4. The adjective deliciously

5. Rainbow zebra

6. Licking initiation

7. Large coke fountain

8. Learning to not punch and kick people when they stick a paintbrush in your ear

9. Parker delivering coffee to me in first hour so I wouldn't get a tardy

10. Giggling to sleep with Keyanna and Leslie and finding love for sitting on kitchen floors in common with Breanna

11. Squeaking with friends at red robin

12. Mary Poppins shoes 

For

For a long time when I played and sung a song I was thinking of the wrong person and it never satisfied but just now I thought of God and it fulfilled

LATE ANTI FEAR LIST

1. Long riddle quest

2. Mrs Pierson thriving in my laugh cry

3. ACDA and cat dog petting place and accidental punch and crying during Dvorak 

4. Beautiful The Book Thief

5. Team work in art to brainstorm Addie's phone number technique

6. Thomas bringing two coffees is one placebo?

7. Black light games at campus life

8. Mistaking worm for slug

9. Alma meeting

10. Sassy head set banter