Friends who Andover together, stay together!

Summer School?

Well, what I want to say firstly is I apologize for my lack of posts and I want to continue by telling how things are going for me I Phillips Academy. It's a pretty old school, nearly 250 years old. It's still publishing USA's oldest school newspaper and owns an area of 500 acres. George Washington's grandchildren and great grandchildren have attended this school and is known by a large society. It's name can be seen in Dan Brown's last novel, The Last Symbol, and is told as a hard school, even by Robert Langdon, the wise professor.

Coming to my opinions, the first weeks were full of loneliness and misery. Then came the idea of leaving. Dancing was my minor and until then, I never enjoyed it. My mom came to drop my sister off and when she was about to take me from Andover, I started liking my classes. Oh wait, I never mentioned my classes. My major is Drawing and Painting, the largest and most important art class in the school. My minor was the Intensive Dance Program. It made me feel sore in the first two weeks but my body got used to it later on. We did all kinds of dance, including ballet, jazz , hip hop, pop and even a bit of rock.

In our last week, we now started practicing on the stage and we go over all the dances. When you have the opportunity, check facebook for some photos!

USA

Flight is not THAT boring when you've got a bud:)

The Funny Thing About Lip Balm :Another article that I liked

Almost 20 years ago, Carmex lip balm scion Paul Woelbing agreed to help manage the family business back in Franklin, Wis. It was a happy homecoming, except for the hours spent answering customer letters. The day’s mail frequently included notes from folks who had heard there was something addictive in the Carmex. Some claimed the company added fiberglass to rough up lips, creating a cycle of dependency. Woelbing was shocked. “It’s an ugly mess out there!” he said. “How do we stop it?” But Grandfather Alfred, who cooked the first batch of Carmex on the kitchen stove in 1937, wasn’t worried. “Ah,” he nodded, when Paul showed him the letters. “You’ll see this periodically.”

Grandpa was right. Years later a San Francisco librarian launched Lip Balm Anonymous, a Web site offering a 12-step program for addicts. (Step 1: “We admitted we were powerless over lip balm...”) Hundreds wrote in, detailing their struggles with Carmex, ChapStick and Blistex. Google “lip balm addiction” and you’ll find 320,000 pages where folks swap rumors about balm-industry tactics (now they’re targeting children!) and debate the merits of going cold turkey. There’s even a 24,000-member “ChapStick Addiction” Facebook group where members catalog their ordeals: “Stuck at dentist with chapped lips, ChapStick outside in my car!” I feel their pain. I buy my balm in 24-tube cartons and never leave home without it.

What’s remarkable isn’t the persistence of lip-balm conspiracy theories, but how common this line of thinking is. All sorts of industries are dogged by self-proclaimed junkies who blame nefarious manufacturer plots. Diet-soda drinkers say artificial sweeteners trigger a vicious cycle of carb cravings. The Internet is full of people who say deodorant makes them smellier and moisturizer dries their skin. Then there’s the growing “no ’poo” movement embraced by those who say shampoo sends our oil glands into hyperdrive. (The same idea occurred to me when I noticed that my dog, Louis, has clean, shiny fur despite his refusal to bathe; my own dalliance with the shampoo-free lifestyle lasted just six days.)

Maybe it’s the economy. When money’s tight, pricey personal-care products start looking like problems rather than solutions. And it’s hard to resist the idea that we can achieve perfection simply by reclaiming our natural, pre-CVS selves. But I honestly can’t quit the lip balm. Can you really get hooked? Carma Laboratories’ Woelbing, who reapplies up to eight times a day (for testing purposes, of course), says it’s impossible. Our lips don’t get worse when we stop using, he says; they just revert to their natural state, and when the air is dry, “that might be a little painful.” Dermatologists say he’s right—sort of. With overuse, the camphor and menthol in medicated balms can dry the lips, while ingredients like beeswax spur an allergic reaction in a small percent of the population. But that doesn’t equal a physiological dependency.

In fact, the folks at Blistex conduct focus groups on heavy users and have discovered they have something in common: They describe themselves as fidgety people who need a security blanket. “These are the pencil chewers and finger drummers who need something in their hands,” says Blistex President Mike Donnantuono. “They’re using it psychologically.” He has a point. While we love to blame our dependencies on evil conspiracies, it’s usually the compulsive lotion users, the hygiene freaks and the orally fixated soda guzzlers who develop a problem. At least my habit is cheap. As Donnantuono puts it, “For a couple bucks, you get to feel better.” That’s a statement any lip balm addict can appreciate.

Read more: The Funny Thing About Lip Balm - Spending - Budgeting - SmartMoney.com http://www.smartmoney.com/spending/budgeting/the-funny-thing-about-lip-balm/#ixzz0t39v2eFg
Read more: The Funny Thing About Lip Balm - Spending - Budgeting - SmartMoney.com http://www.smartmoney.com/spending/budgeting/the-funny-thing-about-lip-balm/#ixzz0t39lHcpv
Read more: The Funny Thing About Lip Balm - Spending - Budgeting - SmartMoney.com http://www.smartmoney.com/spending/budgeting/the-funny-thing-about-lip-balm/#ixzz0t39eThdo

Read more: The Funny Thing About Lip Balm - Spending - Budgeting - SmartMoney.com http://www.smartmoney.com/spending/budgeting/the-funny-thing-about-lip-balm/#ixzz0t395hJxA

Are You Usually the Dumper or the Dumpee?

I just read this article and want to share it with you, it's from the Single-ish Dating Blog by Erin Meanly.

I’ve had three really good girlfriends get dumped recently. What is up with that?! Not only am I sad for my friends, but all this dumpage has got me thinking. I’m starting to see a pattern.

I think we believe that there’s equality in dating because we can ask a guy out or plan a date or pay. But in the end, and based on what I’ve seen, we women don’t have as much control as we think. (Unless you’re a ball-buster like the (fictional!) Avery in Jerry Maguire.)

It seems like the conclusion of a relationship is almost always up to the guy, or it always starts with them. Yeah, maybe we dump them, but it’s rarely because we don’t like them any more. It’s often because they’re acting disinterested or immature and therefore making us miserable, so we have to give them the boot. Or maybe it’s just that we’re willing to put more work into a relationship, so we don’t realize as quickly as they do that it’s not right.

I’m almost always the dumpee. With dating, I tend to let the guy be the aggressor. If a guy is cool and we get along, and he acts super sure and happy and interested in me, then I can really be won over. That's when the guy pulls the plug. And since I'm so passive, it seems like if I weren’t dumped all the time, then I would’ve married like 50 guys by now. And they might have all been wrong. Well, I probably wouldn’t have gotten to the altar, but still! That’s scary!

So, is it for our own good that they choose to dump us? Is it good to be the dumpee? Are you usually the dumper or the dumpee? Which would you rather be?

Summer Study

Hey! While you are laying down, sipping your lemonade, maybe getting your toes in the sand or the pool, I'm in the computer lad in my summer school, working. I've been taking art and intensive dance classes for the last few days and I'm exhausted already. USA seemed like a shopping heaven to me before I came here and started studying in this legendary school. I'll be reporting when I can randomly and I hope all of you the best of summer! (although I'm really jealous:))