Dear Pico

Dear, Pico Ski Way

I love skiing! I love Pico! I've been skiing since I was a very very little girl. My mom had the little kid ski leash hooked onto me and taught me how to pizza and french fry at a young age. I used to unhook it when she wasn't looking and book in town the mountain. I went to Newton in Strafford VT. They had a half day every Friday and we would all go skiing at Dartmouth Ski Way. It was so much fun! I miss it. When I got to high school I found out about the student season pass at Pico and immediately bought it. It's an amazing deal. 89$ for  season pass with no black out dates along with other perks. Usually a season pass is 400$ to 500$, so its obviously an amazing deal. I'm sad for two reasons. I am going to loose my ski buddy because he is going to China this year, so I need to find someone else to go with. Not easy. I'm also sad because this is my last year to get the student pass because I'm a senior. The pass doesn't apply to college students. I will miss the mountain when I go to college. I have had some amazing memories at Pico. I will see you soon!!!

Love, Iva

Pickle Juice

Does anyone else like drinking pickle juice? This might sound weird but pickle juice tastes pretty good. It's one of those guilty pleasures where you know it's something your not supposed to do, but it sure is rewarding. This is strange coming from me since I used to hate pickles, but after my brother brought a jar home I thought, why not? One day I tried to drink some straight out the jar and it tasted really good. That started turning into something where if I got a chance I would drink straight out of the jar.

Bless the Snow Day

Honestly, I am so grateful that today is a snow day. I had so much work due in so many classes that I can finally sort out. There are still so many college supplements I have yet to finish, which I am finally going to have the chance to start writing and/or editing today. I need to work on polishing my two violin pieces that I want to record and send to colleges, as well. There’s a large variety of work I need to get done. But, despite the fact that I seem to be academically drowning right now, the snow is indeed very pretty. It’s been snowing for the last four or five hours I believe, and I love snow. It looks gorgeous, the brisk cold air is refreshing, and despite the fact that sometimes limbs freeze outside, the festivities and beauties that come with the winter season make it totally worth it. I have been downhill skiing since the age of five, and I’d really love to get out and ski more this season. I haven’t been able to ski a lot over the past few years, and it’s so unfortunate. I really hope I change that this year, especially before I leave to go who knows where next fall (even though I know I’ll be able to come home and visit for a good amount of the vacations, winter ones included). I also just realized that with the joy of this winter season and the vacation, I still need to buy all my gifts for my friends. Oops. Oh well, that will be sorted soon enough. HD is this weekend, and it’s super fun to see everyone look really good because they actually put in effort. So, I suppose, amongst the disaster that is school and everything pertaining to it right now, everything else is pretty chill (no pun intended).

My Opinions on the Dress Code Motion

I care much less about whether people can show their belly buttons in this school than I do about the underlying patriarchal norms that the dress code motion brings to light. What does it say about us that we are establishing rules that regulate/police women's bodies in a very different way than they do men's? Because, let's be honest, wording which allows/disallows people from showing their belly buttons in this school will affect girls, not boys.

The patriarchal, heteronormative powers which have constructed the norms of our society have defined what a woman should look like and how a woman should dress. As a result, women's clothing is more revealing and tight, displaying women's bodies in a way that would look ridiculous if done to men. Women are praised and appreciated for wearing revealing clothing in certain contexts. In others (and as in the proposed dress code), however, they are punished for wearing the very clothing which our patriarchal society deems "attractive."

I understand that school is a work environment. I understand that wearing revealing clothing makes teachers uncomfortable. And I don't personally feel compelled to wear clothing which shows my belly button. But I think that any conversation about regulations for what women can/cannot wear needs to take into account why women wear what they do. It needs to acknowledge how the patriarchal powers which govern our society encourage women to wear revealing clothing but consequently punish those who do.

#freescott

Dear Scott,

Hanover High misses you so much. I don't understand why you got fired really. People have told me it was because the caf stopped making a lot of money because you were serving healthier food. I don't know if that is true, but if it is I am discussed. Students ask for you to sell healthier options and things that they actually want to eat and when you tried you were fired? This plays into wrongful termination and the problem in America with obesity. It's amazing that kids at this school even want to eat healthy, now was are going to tell them they can't because it will cost to much? And in the rich town we live in? You knew everyone names in the school. That's amazing! There is over 700 kids here and you care enough to learn their names? Your a great person. I don't know about other kids but coming in and talking to the caf guys helped calm me down when I was stressed. It was like taking a break. From the moment I walked into the caf everyday since I was a freshman you all said hi and talked to me about my life. I appreciate every conversation you had with me. After you left the school started to boycott the caf. They wrote letter to the company, made complaints, and calls. We made you letters that everyone signed. We cared. I just wanted you to know that we all miss you and won't give up hope that you'll come back!

Salty

Something I noticed during my job is people want soy sauce with their sushi even when the eel sauce is already on top of the sushi. I can understand people wanting to dip sushi in soy sauce when it doesn't have any other sauce on it, but doing it with eel sauce on makes the sushi taste really salty. This is just my opinion, but I feel at that point the soy sauce detracts from the flavor more than it adds.

So Much Stress, for Such Little Gain

This is kind of just a vomit of ideas.

There just seems to be such little point to getting so worked up over every little thing that happens to you in life. It just seemed to be the norm in this school, so I didn't really question it for a time. "You have to work hard, get into college, get a 'great' job, and live the dream," that was the motto to live by, but what does that truly get you. Sure some great education, but also debt and probably some mental breakdowns. Sure a high paying job to buy more stuff with, but what if it's something you don't want to do and what if it's not even stuff you need? Everyone seems to want and want and it turns into a need, a lust, for what? It is all happiness that we are seeking in the end, so just do what makes you happy what you think will make you happy. Sure you might mess up, but what's the harm of starting over. Everyone in this school is already better off than most of the entire world, privileged, I think you can afford to make a few mistakes. Life is short, so make it meaningful to you (not society or "the man").

What's the Area Under the Curve of Sexism?

I am tired of boys second-guessing my answers to questions. I am tired of boys trying to answer questions I pose at the teacher before my teacher can respond to them. I am tired of boys only asking my male partner about how we did something on our project, even though I know just as well.

Sexism in math and science classes at this school is real, and it gets worse the higher up you go. In my math and science classes, my and my female classmates' views are slower to be trusted and quicker to be questioned. I have checked answers with male classmates who, seeing that their answer differs from my own, try to point out where I have made my mistake. It is only when they see that a male classmate has also gotten my answer that they turn back to their own work.

Math is one of my favorite subjects, but I do not like classroom environments where I am doubted and questioned because of my gender. Or ones in which I feel pressured to suppress my questions – to hide any signs of intellectual weakness – for fear of playing to male classmates' views that girls aren't as good at math or science. And it's hard to not wonder whether this treatment of girls in high school math and science classes relates to the treatment of professional women in STEM fields.

Reading Aloud

Dear Mr. Bourne,

Sometimes, things work out way better than for which you bargained. Which is great. And obvious. Everybody knows this. Although I have to say, there was one time this happened to me, and although it was a minor occurrence in the grand scheme of things, it will forever stick in my brain and be a happy memory that’s pleasant to relive.

My classmates and I were sitting in Mr. Stone’s class in a circle, opening The Tiger Rising to read aloud Chapter 6, I believe. There were some students who were already assigned roles to read, but there were also two more characters being introduced in this chapter, whose parts evidently also needed reading aloud. The part for which I volunteered was the sassy southern mother. After I volunteered, I remember Mr. Stone saying, “Just go for it. Have fun with it and give it your best shot.” And after I read one of my parts, the enthusiastic and encouraging stares I got from all of my classmates were unbelievable as I vaguely heard Mr. Stone jump up and down and yell in excitement for my apparently perfect embodiment of the sassy southern mother in the novel.

That was a fun class, and I guess they may have been right, as attitude is something I most definitely do not lack.

School Routine - Good or Bad?

I am feeling very annoyed with how routine school is becoming. In each of my classes, we follow a weekly routine where the same assignments are due on each day of the week. In my French class, for example, we always have a vocab quiz on Tuesday and a culture discussion on Thursday. Or in my Physics class, we have problem sets due every Tuesday and an X an quiz on Wednesday. I realize that I never do any new type of work -- I do the same type of assignments over and over again, only with different content and increasing difficulty. Sometimes regularity is nice and establishes order, but this is beginning to feel robotic and like my only purpose is to churn out work. 

Halloween and Scary Movies

Today is October 31, 2017. Halloween. What a fun day. I think I can speak for most people to say Halloween can be a fun time of year. Even though I get scared super easily -- and tend to be super jumpy in life in general -- I still love scary things. Scary movies are so much fun. I might be shaking in fear by the end; but the excitement of watching, the anticipation of what’s going to happen next, and the fear of hiding into the backs of your seat; it might make me sound crazy (which I might be just a smidge), but scary movies and Halloween are exciting things to look forward to in the year. This Halloween, I dressed up properly for the first time in a long time. I suppose I can say I was Esmeralda from The Hunchback of Notre Dame. I dressed up in Hippie-type, Gipsy-type costume and a bunch of people said I looked like that, so I went with it. I ended up at a friend’s house afterwards, and a group of seven of us hung out and ate candy, drove around Lebanon, and then I went home. It was a pretty chill Halloween.

Winter is the worst season

Winter is, by far, the worst season. I detest winter with a burning passion. It is by far the worst season. If this hasn't come across yet, I hate winter. It is just way too cold. You walk outside and then spend every moment of being outside wishing you were inside. You get runny noses, cold hands, and dry skin. Sure, you can do things like skiing, but let's be honest, everything else kind of sucks. In seasons such as summer you can do all sorts of things, such as boating, water skiing, and laying out in the sun. There are infinitely more things to do in summer than in winter, and you can do these things in a pleasant and enjoyable environment that is not conducive to illness. I don't think I have ever gone through a single winter season without getting sick in some way. This often includes multiple colds, and at least one illness that is more severe. In the summer, however, I rarely get sick. Finally, imagine this scenario: waking up to warmth and sunshine, going outside and seeing blue sky and green grass, and then making your way down to the local lake for a swim, before going to have a nice picnic. Now imagine this scenario: waking up in a freezing cold home, dressing in approximately 13.4 layers of clothing, running to your car to go to school that will take 27 minutes to actually warm up, and then spending the rest of your day avoiding going outside because it is too cold. Which scenario sounds better to you?

Calculus Kinda Sucks

This was a complaint about calculus, but I've realized it's just a hard class and not specifically the teacher's fault. It's past college applications time, so I'm a lot less stressed. I don't really know what to write about now, but I'm just generally more relaxed and kind of done with the overly stressed out peers. I think people just need to take a moment to realize things are going to be fine.

LOUD NOISES

Dear Person who fires off a cannon in the middle of the night,
why do you fire a cannon in the middle of the night? Now, what happens probably isn't a cannon but something else. However, whenever I try to sleep at night something really loud goes bang in the middle of the night. I have no idea what it is. Sometimes it's loud and sudden, and other times it sounds like fireworks going off in the distance. In the end could you just stop creating loud noises in the night because people are trying to sleep and your sounds are making people wonder what they just heard.
Sincerely,
Person who hollers on top of his roof in the middle of the night

Creating God in our Image

While watching a video on the analysis of the core philosophy behind the show, Mr. Robot, I happened upon an interesting thesis posed by Ledwig Feuerbach, an atheist philosopher of the 19th century whose work influenced that of Karl Marx. Feuerbach suggests that we created God and imbued him with our highest principles: love, justice, wisdom, etc. But over time we as a species forgot that we created God; we then looked at him and thought we are so similar to God that he must have created US in HIS image, therefore, inverting our original relationship with him. I found this to be a very interesting theory because looking at God from the perspective of a religious practitioner, one can see a being with qualities so supreme they are unattainable by the common man. God has infinite knowledge, an unbending sense of justice, and wholehearted love for all his children. But like Man, God has also been shown to be jealous, wrathful, and even vengeful. In this light, God represents the ideal state of Man with his inevitable conditions instead of Man as an offshoot of God.

Advance Transit Rant

The Advance Transit is the bane of my existence.

Every morning when I park in Thompson, I have to deal with this wretched invention. The bus idles in front of the few parking spots I am allowed to park in with my Town of Hanover pass, forcing me  to park further away from the entrance in less convenient spots. If I am lucky enough to avoid the AT in the morning and get a good spot, when I want to leave in the afternoon, the AT is almost always planted in front of my spot. When I let the driver know that I'm blocked in, he doesn't leave for 3 more minutes or so, "waiting" for any more passengers who might get on the shuttle. Seriously, how many Dartmouth employees are trying to get from the Thompson parking lot into town at 2 in the afternoon? Are there so many people who use this service that the shuttle needs to run every five minutes, making it nearly impossible for me to avoid?

And even if I don't encounter the AT when I am trying to park, the AT drives slowly throughout town, causing significant delays and traffic jams. Just this morning the AT stopped to let someone off a few feet beyond the RMS drop-off intersection, causing a traffic jam and forcing all cars and students trying to cross the street to wait 30 seconds at a standstill as the passenger got off.

Why, Advance Transit management, do you put your stops right off of busy intersections? Or why do you have a shuttle that runs every 5 minutes throughout the work day and parks right in front of parking spots that people need to use? I think that as much as the AT helps people, it also harms people, and I would like to see reform in the AT system to remedy some of these problems.

An Ode to Coop Chicken and Fries

Dear Coop Chicken and Fries,

You are the love of my life, the apple of my eye. When I am feeling down, I know you will always be there to pick me up. Had a rough Calculus test? You'll be there; I know from experience. Your warm, crispy texture brightens my day and soothes any ailments, both emotional and physical. I might even have an addiction to you. Earlier this afternoon I walked to the Coop, repeating to myself the whole way the mantra, "I will not get Coop chicken. I will eat healthy today." But when I walked by you, let's just say that was my fatal flaw. You were fresh out of the kitchen, gleaming in the heat lamps, just waiting to be eaten. It was before the usual lunch rush and you remained relatively untainted, privy to my eyes only. Seeing the beautifully crispy exterior, I was unable to walk away. I ordered an entire box, saying to the person behind the counter "Fill 'er to the brim" (actual quote). I may have spent eight dollars, but it was all worth it. I believe that almost any problem can be solved via Barbecue chicken and french fries. I am left so satisfied after eating my meal: there truly is not better way to spend my lunch money. You, Coop chicken and french fries, have been instrumental in my emotional well-being throughout the past three and a half years. Truth be told, saying goodbye to you might be the hardest part of going to college.

Yours truly, Atticus

Why Fall is the Best Season

Fall is the best season of the year; although, its competition consists of a season where everything is dead, a season where everything is wet all the time, and a season turns lots of people into walking cherries--swollen red faces suspended on long reedy stalks. Fall has no downsides. The weather is always perfect, just cold enough for you to wear a sweater, but not cold enough for a down jacket. The trees are undergoing a metamorphosis from sticky, vibrant-green to the mellow colors of yellow, orange, and red. Fall just inspires a sort of stillness of the soul, the combination of both cool weather and warm yet colors creates a surrounding environment too calm to be upset. Sure I can go inside and be as upset as I want, but as soon as I step outside I just want to walk around and enjoy the day. I also love the crinkle of dead leaves like an incessant reminder of my own mortality--how I should do what I love and work hard for the benefit of the world. I’m only here for a short while so why not get the most out of it. That is why fall is perfect because it lures my thoughts away from the stresses of school and the overall drama of life to the beauty and peace of nature, which sadly might not be around by the end of my days. Looks like I’m getting a little angry and political, guess I should go take a walk.

Dear Johnny Cash

Dear Johnny Cash,

You have been my idol for most of my life. I’ve always been in love with country music, but you are the founder. There is a legend for every genre, Michael Jackson for pop music, Ella Fitzgerald for jazz, John Mayer for singer songwriter… you are the king of country. Your wonderful genre has developed and changed so much throughout the years, but every once in awhile i’ll hear a new artist that reminds me of you. I went to see your museum in Nashville last year and it was a truly memorable experience. You live on in everyone's memories through your music, image, and love for June. Your image of the man in black and all you stand for shows how passionate you were about the problems in society. You always wore black to remind people that there are still bad things happening in the world and you swore ti never wear a suit of white till the world was a better place. If you were still around i'm sure you sadly would still be wearing black. Your love for June Carter was so strong in your music that it has lived on through the years and there are still many references to "a love like Johnny and June" in so many songs. I wish I could have met you! I think we would have gotten alone.

~Iva

War Against Celery

Dear Celery,
I hate celery. The flavor from it is bitter and for me ruins my meals. Now I'm okay with having celery on the side of a dish since I can just set it aside and not eat it. What I hate is when something has celery imbedded inside of it. For example, shredded tuna the stuff you find inside a tuna fish sandwich. Tuna tastes perfectly fine, but then someone decided to put celery inside of it completely ruining it. Whenever I get a tuna fish sandwich I have to pick out all the tiny bits of celery out in order to eat the sandwich. Apparently celery was put inside to give it more of a crunch but that's stupid. It becomes a big pain to pick through the tuna and take out all of the celery. I don't go out and eat that much but whenever I go somewhere the chances of the tuna having celery inside of it is high. The only exception would Subway. What other thing do people needlessly put celery in?

How I Acquired my New Orange Water Bottle

At the end of my Dartmouth class last Tuesday, everyone was packing up and leaving the classroom. I saw an orange Nalgene bottle sitting on the ground by one of the chairs, and I remembered who had been sitting there that day, so I thought I would just run out and bring the girl her water bottle. But when I left the room, I didn't see the girl anywhere. I contemplated bringing it back to the classroom and leaving it with the professor, but then I was worried how weird it would look to show back up in the classroom to drop off the water bottle just five minutes after class ended. So it seemed that my only option was to bring the water bottle home with me and bring it back to class on Thursday.

I started walking to my car. I felt very odd carrying this random girl's water bottle, and I hoped she wouldn't see me from afar and think that I stole her water bottle. I kept looking around for the chance that I might see her walking around. It was a really hot day though, and as I was walking I got so thirsty and tired and I couldn't help myself, so I drank out of the water bottle.

When I got home I felt very odd about having this random girl's water bottle (which now had less water in it then when I took it from the classroom) and about drinking from this random girl's water bottle. And then I thought how weird it would be when I showed up on Thursday and said "Hi, I took your water bottle home and now here it is." I started to regret that I didn't just leave the water bottle in the classroom in the first place.

When Thursday rolled around, I brought the water bottle (which I had now emptied out) to class. It was sitting in my backpack for most of class, and I swear the girl was looking at it and probably thinking that I stole her water bottle. At the end of the class as she was leaving I knew I had to say something, so I called out to her and asked her if it was her water bottle. Now, this girl has previously told me that she is from Orange County, so you can imagine the tone in which she then responded "Uh, no?" and gave me a look like I had two heads.

I then found myself in the same conundrum: what do I do with this stupid water bottle?! I decided to just set it down in the classroom and started to walk away, but then I felt odd that my professor had seen me leave this random object in her classroom. So finally I just took the water bottle home with me.

And now I have a new Orange Nalgene water bottle.

Time

Dear friend, 

It's interesting to think that most people have a tough time "living in the moment". When isolated, the phrase seems tacky and forced, but when truly thought out, I'm convinced not a lot of people are good at doing so. Humans are constantly living in thoughts of what is going to happen in the near or far future: "I can't wait to go to camp this summer," or even a thought as simple as "What's for dinner tonight? I am super hungry," are crossing people's minds as they go about their day. It is more comforting to think of the future in positive thoughts, but there are always the negative ones that exist as well: "What if this goes wrong?" or "I don't know what to do after I find out the truth about that." More-so with the negative future thoughts than the positive ones, people should focus their wandering brains to the current moment. Focus on what is now. What are you doing now? What does it feel like now? What is the atmosphere of where you are now? We are always going to be approaching the future, but we're never going to get there. It is good to think about the future is doses as deemed appropriate depending on the time of your life, but one can't always lead their life depending on what the result could be later on. One can never be sure what is going to happen tomorrow, or a week from now. I personally hate "What if" thoughts or phrases, because there is no clue as to if they are going to happen; and most of the time, they cause more stress than joy. Stop thinking, and start living: I know that that's what I want to do. 

Rosh Hashanah Musings

Today is Rosh Hashanah. For me, that means today will be filled with comments like "why are you at school" and "you shouldn't be here." Occasionally, a Jewish peer might venture to tell me that I'm a "bad Jew." Although I know these comments are (mostly) meant as jokes, they really bother me. First, who is anyone to tell me what I should be/should not be doing with my faith? Why does anyone feel the right to set a premium or requirement on my religion, instructing me on how I should or should not behave? Frankly, I think I have jurisdiction over when/how/why to practice my faith, and if I don't think going to temple is important, I shouldn't have to deal with inquiries into my religious behavior.

At the same time, I have wondered why the majority of my Jewish peers are willing to miss school when I am not. Maybe I really am a bad Jew? Or maybe I just don't care enough? Is that a bad thing? I can try to justify my attendance to school by pointing to the lack of adequate homework accommodation policies in school. But, at the end of the day, I do choose to come to school. What does that say about me?

Turtles

I've always thought that turtles were some of the coolest animals in the world. First of all they are able to swim in the water and crawl on the land. When they are in danger, all they have to do is pull their head, arms and legs into their shell and they're fine. Also baby turtles are some of the cutest animals I have ever seen.
I actually once had a pet turtle. This turtle was left to us, as a gift of sorts, by Yugo, a friend that moved to Japan. It was not a very special turtle, just a regular painted turtle of average size, no bigger than my face. This turtle wasn't a very interesting turtle, all it ever really did was swim around in its tank or sit bathing in its lamp on the artificial rock on the surface of the water. I never really knew how to take care of this turtle, just fed it everyday and cleaned out the tank every so often. In fact, the most interesting thing to watch was probably when it ate its food, small pellets of turtley nutrition. Eventually this turtle became to much of a hassle, and my mother made me set it free. And so we drove to some pond, and released it into the wild.
Sometimes I wonder if my turtle is still out there somewhere, happily swimming with new turtle friends it has made. I wonder if it knew how to handle water deeper than its tank, if it somehow drowned in the pond we set it free in. Wherever it is, whether still in its pond, or above us in turtle heaven, I hope that it is happy.

Dear Alfie

Dear Alfie,

You, my friend, are probably my favorite thing that exists in my life right now. I feel really rude calling you a “thing”, because really, you’re not a thing. You’re much more than a thing. You’re my dog, and I think you’re absolutely brilliant. To be completely honest with you, you’re kind of an idiot, but I guess it’s okay, because everyone here at home loves you. I mean, supposedly your entire breed is hard to train, but nonetheless over these past three years the biggest things I can give you credit for are going to the bathroom only in places you’re allowed to go, and promptly rolling over for a belly rub every time someone gives you the slightest amount of attention. I mean, you’re fluffy and soft and super lovable, so no one really complains that you jump on people legs desperately seeking their love as if you don’t get enough at home (which we both know is very, very, false). But you’re small, not the smallest of all dogs, but a solid fifteen pounds so you get away with it. It’s all good bud, because I love you, and I still love you even when you sleep on my pillow or in the middle of my bed. I guess it’s alright so I don’t see a need to really stop you. You do you, kid, you’ve gotten away with it this far, and quite frankly, I don’t think there will ever be a time when you won’t.

It is My Time to Climb

After traversing the mountains of Azerbaijan in nothing but a simple loincloth and my trusty crocodile skin boots, I have decided I am ready. It is my time to climb. My ability to lead a climb is second to none, I show no fear when bouldering the likes of the Eiffel Tower, and the calluses on my hands are so impenetrable that I am no longer able to write by hand. My interpreter, Alfonse, is actually transcribing this for your reading pleasure while I am currently hooking and clawing my way up Everest. If I could give you, humble reader, the smallest bit of advice to become a great climber like me someday, it would be to join Climbing Club every Friday after school at the UVAC swim center for some great climbing fun. Practice makes perfect and perfect makes me.

- Benjamin Ralston Daniel IV
P.S. Its just a prank bro

So, we're in a world where Hollywood is running out of ideas and is starting to adapt popular books into movie or tv adaptations. Many of these adaptations like Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, Game of Thrones etc. were met with positive responses and huge fanbases. However, there are naturally bad adaptations of books. Hell, some people even hate on adaptions with overall positive responses because they didn't follow the books. This brings up the question of whether the books are always better. To be fair adaptations can't get every single aspect of a book onto the screen whether that be time or budget constraints, and even running out of material to adapt. Writers have to weave their way through by cutting off the fat in order to keep the adaptations at appropriate lengths and sometimes cutting out entire plot lines. In the other case where the writer run out of material to adapt they have to either create filler a fluff to buy time or come up with their own endings.

The behavior of hating on an adaptation I first observed was that of my friend. My friend disliked the Harry Potter movies because they didn't follow the books. I would later experience this myself when I started watching the later seasons of Game of Thrones after I finished reading the books. Since George RR Martin hasn't finished the books the show runners now have to create an original ending for the show. I noticed that I disliked the show as characters started acting in ways different from their book counterparts, entire storylines are dropped, and main characters not dying when they make a fatal mistake. All these elements in the books were fading away and becoming more like a generic fantasy show. As such my enjoyment of the show dropped. 

However, one solution I came up with to lessen the pain was trying to treat the show as its own thing. The adaptation should be able to stand on its own and not have to piggyback off the books. Characters actions should instead be judged on whether it's consistent with their character arc in the adaptation. Granted this is difficult to do as in the end they are based off the books and in the case of Game of Thrones their changes are more noticeable. In the end the dilemma of judging an adaptation based on knowledge from the books is unlikely to go away, but it's also unlikely that people will get to see their favorite characters come to life on the screen and also unlikely that long running franchises would do a reboot to follow the books better. After all, reboots would also face a similar dilemma.

Dear EBA's

Dear Everything But Anchovies,

I miss you! Everyone in the community misses you too! We let you down. I'm sorry. You were a staple in our community. Where are all of the college and high school students going to go for their pizza at 2 in the morning? Domino's? Well domino's doesn't sell amazing buffalo wings, or delicious hamburgers and sandwiches. Where will we go to get brew city fries on a bad day when we need to stress eat. Even though you don't know it you got me through every midterms I've had at Hanover High. You fed me and my friends when we were hungry after school dances. You were important in this community and you are missed. 

PLAYOFFS!

For the first time since the Giants won the Super Bowl we are back in the playoffs.  After an average past few years, the Giants are back in the playoffs where they belong.  They have a championship type defense, with an offense that is beginning to play much better.  If their offense continues to improve like they had been at the end of the season, and they defense continues to shut down the opponents offenses, I think they have a great chance of being successful in the playoffs.  The only problem is that the Giants will be playing the Green Bay Packers who have been playing like the best team in the league recently.  Even though, I think it will be tough I definitely think it is possible for the Giants to excel in the playoffs.