Fellow writer and state journalism competitor Chris Yoder already gave you his take and a summary of Friday's events at Eastern Illinois University, where the Uni journalism team won the IHSA c

Aaaaaaand it's Oscar time once again. It seems like just yesterday I was watching last year's Oscars, wondering who on earth Marion Coti-yard was, and rooting for "Juno" because it was the only movie nominated that I had seen.

Paraskavedekatriaphobia: fear of Friday the 13th.

Yesterday was Friday the 13th, a day that has plagued the superstitious for nearly 200 years. Even if you aren't superstitious, chances are that the day holds some sort of meaning for you.

"Do you have a book called, um, 'Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's ... Stone?' Or maybe it's 'sword.' I can't remember," I asked quietly yet confidently. The woman standing by the computer had helped me find practically hundreds of books before.

"Of course."

Note: All times are Central.

10:59 a.m. — Hey, VP Biden just kissed a guy! How cute. Hey, we also have a new VP!

11 a.m. — The only one of these musicians I've heard of is Yo-Yo Ma. He was on "Arthur" once. I think perhaps he was portrayed as a mouse? Or a dog? I don't remember. But he played his cello. I don't remember why.

Due to the fact that the debates can't seem to last very long on the TVs in our house, and the other fact that I was far too lazy to move to a room with a TV in it, I decided to watch the debate tonight online. That way, I could watch while filling out music surveys on Facebook (read: doing my homework).

The end of May means a lot of things — finals, graduation, summer, three months of freedom, and, most importantly, the end of the current television season.

Most specifically, this Wednesday will mark the close of the seventh season of “American Idol.”

I am not, by any stretch of the imagination, a runner.

Unless I am playing some intense Ultimate Frisbee or am trying to get somewhere really awesome in a short amount of time, I absolutely positively despise running. It makes every fiber of my being scream in pain just thinking about it. It makes me want to curl up into a ball and cry.

Recently, I have gone on a total reading spree. Every free moment I've had in the past week (when I wasn't catching up on a little bit of extremely important television) I have spent reading.

With the summer and its ample reading time coming up, I thought I would take a moment to recommend some of my favorite books/series to you.

Last night, I logged onto Mugglenet, a Web site which I rather embarrassingly frequent. It features all things Harry Potter, from book mistakes to character name origins to a spell encyclopedia to the most recent Potter-related news.

It seems like everybody and their mother are going to or holding parties on the weekends. Not pool parties, or backyard barbecues, or pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey parties. These are
let’s-be-rebellious-and-get-really-drunk-and-high-because-our-lives-suck-so-much parties.

And I have a question.

Why the heck would anyone think that sounds like fun?

“American Idol” is back!

Usually, I find Spirit Week really irritating.

The weeks move so slowly after winter break that I'm usually not in such a good mood. I'm tired of waking up early, coming to school, doing homework, and sitting in classes full of teachers and students who are in just as lovely a mood as I am.

A year or two ago, I sat down and turned on the TV just in time to discover that "The Terminator" was playing on TV. I had never seen this famous movie starring the governor of California, so I decided to watch it.