5. Childhood(:

Growing up, I went to White Lake Campground every weekend for the entire summer.  I met a lot of people and are still friends with them to this day. (: We went down to Goldstand's Beach on the warm summer nights and spent all our money on the go-carts and put-put.  People had cookouts every Saturday night, it was a close family-like relationship with everybody who came down.

Growing up, all of us girls in my family went to The Pink Tea Cup (when it was open) and had a Sunday brunch.  My favorite memory was when I dressed up and just being out with my family made it so much more special!  The fact that the place had to be shut down because it didn't make enough was depressing but the time we spent there was worth it. (:

Growing up, my mom and I took a trip out to Maggie Valley every fall to go horseback riding at Cataloochie Ranch.  That's where I bonded with my mom and had gotten really close with her, we talked about everything that was on our minds and we didn't let anything stop us from spilling our guts.  When we had those moments I wouldn't have changed them for the world, they made me into what I am now. <3

Growing up, I went to North Dakota to visit my mom's side of the family.  We had cookouts and went to the pool when it was warm enough.  We visited in the winter also, but that was rare because of all the snow they got. My grandparents spoiled me and gave me everything I wanted because we hardly ever saw them.  I miss my family up there and I want to go back soon.

Growing up, I visited Bele-Chere, a 3-day music/art festival in Asheville, NC, with my aunt and uncle.  My uncle has family up there so we stayed with them and went downtown all day Saturday and we listened to bands and looked at art, it was the highlight of my summers.  It was so boiling hot that when we walked down the street we were covered in sweat, as nasty as it sounds, it was not that bad because everybody was the same way.  We spent tons of time in the musems and shops located on Main St. that were filled with evreything you could think of.

4. Artist Bio(:

Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll was born in Barranquila, Columbia.  She is Columbian and produces hispanic and american music, gives everybody kind of the best of both worlds.  Shakira has been around since 2003 but I haven't heard of her until 2006 when she came out with "Hips Don't Lie."  He music is fun to listen to when you're looking for a little pop with a twist to it, she has really good music (:

3. West Side Story-- Remake!

I believe that other races have to try harder to fit in.  But you just have to find the people that will except change and new people, there are just some people who will never accept anything new unless it benefits them, truth be told they will probably go no where in life.  This shows what other races have to think about when the thought of  moving to America is raised.  I'm embarrassed that human beings, just like whites, have to be thought of so differently when the only difference is the color of their skin.  People need to grow up and realize we arn't set back in the 60's anymore, diversity is the new thing and we just need to acccept it and move on with our life.

2. Current Events

Stirring Up A Bloom Off Patagonia

They say art comes from people and animals, but that is not always the case.  Two different ocean currents stirred up a different nutrients and microscopic plants just in time for the summer solstice.  The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA's Aqua satellite captured the picture when the massive phytoplankton bloom exploded off the Atlantic coast of Patagonia on December 21, 2010.  Using seven different colors of spectral bands, scientists were able to highlight the differences in the plankton communities across the ocean.

Out of the mix of warmer, saltier coastal waters from the suntropics and the colder, fresher waters from the south, explodes this creamy, milky green-blue mixture.  When the currents collide they pull up nutrients from the deep ocean bottom.  Mix in some sun and there is a vast amounts of phytoplankton (food) for everything, from fish to whales.