The End of Summer--Not Always a Bad Thing

August is upon us. With it comes heat and humidity, frequent beach trips, SPF exceeding the numbers you can count to before you get hungry for a popsicle, and of course, that popsicle! Unfortunately, August brings another thing (you can block your ears and shut your eyes but it won't deny this fact): the end of summer (cue horrified gasp)!

Yes, the end of summer means the end of camp (sniffle), the start of school (bigger sniffle), and the start of the inevitable amount of work that seems to stack up overnight as you rest your weary mind. But it doesn't only mean that! To get you out of your "almost-September-blues", we've compiled a list of the wonderful things that the end of summer can bring!

1. A new wardrobe! For those of you who love to shop or be in the loop with the hottest trends, back-to-school shopping is a huge perk as August comes to a close! With sales going through the roof, new colors, patterns, styles, and trends will find their way into your closet in no time.

1a. Not to mention the return of Uggs, boots, and sneakers (for those of you who like to wander barefoot or in flip-flops all summer long).

2. You get to see your old friends/make some new friends! Perhaps you've gone to camp with some kids from your school, or got to see your friends over the weekends. With the beginning of September coming up, you're guaranteed to see ALL of your friends again, even the seemingly unavailable ones traveling all summer long. Not only this, but maybe you'll make some new friends!

3. Your social life is going to flare up again! Yes, with all of the work and pressure and stress of your life during the regular year (getting back into your piano lessons, writing essays, waking up before 11:00 AM), your social life is bound to flare up to. With Bar and Bat Mitzvah celebrations, birthday parties, high school parties, school socials, and just casual get-togethers, you'll be able to dance your stress away!

4. You may discover something you never even knew existed before! Maybe it's your latent ability to play the piano that you discover during a music class at school. Maybe it's your new passion for foreign languages. Or maybe it's just a new you. As the seasons change, chances are you might too.

5. The most exciting holidays are coming around the corner! Halloween, Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, Christmas, Kwanza, New Years', Valentines' Day....the list can go on and on. It's about time that you get mounds and mounds of free food/candy handed to you!

6. You'll no longer have to deal with pests such as mosquitos, flying beetles, or any other creepy creatures you can dream up. You can put away the bug spray and relax-- you won't see these bugs for another year.

7. Weather changes! If you're sick of sweating to death in an air-conditioned room, applying sunscreen every few hours, or just feeling sticky all the time, the autumn breezes and winter snow are welcome guests in your everyday life!

7a. Snow days! Just because school is here doesn't mean it's always here! With the progressing seasons come the progressing weather, ultimately culminating in snowy blizzards, norreasters and the always welcome snow days!

8. For those of you moving on to a new chapter of your lives (whether it's high school, middle school, or just a new school!), a breath of fresh air is deeply anticipated. Get pumped for the unknown which lies ahead (however scary it may seem now, chances are, it'll probably be one of the greatest experiences of your life).

9. The end of camp can bring sadness. It can also bring excitement. Excitement at the thought of next year's camp. Excitement at the prospect of new friends and activities and experiences. The anticipation leading up will make the first day back to camp well worth the wait.

10. As you'll learn in school: what comes up must come down. Just as camp MUST start, it also (unfortunately) must end. As disappoiting as this process is, it's all natural and it's meant to happen for a reason. Just think, camp is so special because it only happens once a year!

Brought to you by Natalie!

Olympic Showdown: Google Doodle Edition

(To be read in a Morgan Freeman voice)
This summer season doesn't only bring back crocs, socks 'n' sandals, and extreme humidity. It brings back the two things that make this country great: the competitive spirit and the internet. The Google Doodle Edition of the 2012th Olympiad is not only a test of mind, but of body, spirit, soul, and fingers. Only two people in the entire world have enough stamina, vigor, strength, and hand-cramp-resistance to partake: Walker and Natalie.
Walker, an original Hollistonian but now a Watertownian, has been training for these incredible games for the past three days. Sacrificing his free time and his willingness to teach, Walker spends every spare moment ignoring campers to click arrow keys repeatedly in a rhythm in order to win the gold coins in vigorous tests of strength, such as slalom, basketball, and soccer.
Natalie, an original gangster of the white-Jewish-mafia hails from the simple town of Westwood. In her free time, in addition to instagramming and "hanging with friends", she puts her well-manicured nails to the test as she clicks the keys on the keyboard like her high heels at a Bar Mitzvah. Wearing her hands to the bone, she practices day-in and day-out to get a perfect score on taxing activities, such as hurdles, kayaking, and soccer.
As these two competitors face-off, their brains, their spirits, their digits, and their hand-toes* will be pushed to the limits of the earth.
On day one of this week-long challenge, the two faced off in hurdles. The whacks of the space-bar shattered the impenetrable silence of the Daily Double room. Walker won 99% of the games, while Natalie, the underdog, won a measly 1%.
Day two was basketball. Natalie beat Walker two out of seven times, as Walker cheered himself on for getting over 30 points in 24 seconds.
On day three, the two "kayaked-it-out" in slalom. As they crashed into the white-waves (aka stared blankly at the screen) the tension was high, but Walker pulled out yet another win, bragging about his 20 second score.
Day four was soccer. The two practiced before and shared tips, seeing as they both went to the same camp and felt the need to help one another out. When they began to play, Walker scored an "insanely" high score of 32, claiming that if Natalie (with a score of 18) could double her score, she'd be at his level. In fact, the entire time that you have been reading this, Walker has been practicing his soccer "skillz" and feels confident that he can pull another win, even making bets and empty promises of frappes at "Isabella's".
So far, Walker has claimed both the gold and the silver medals, meaning that Holliston's national anthem (which is "Jesse's Girl") will be played at the closing ceremonies. Kudos to Walker, for beating a camper nearly a decade younger, and about 5 times weaker than him (to be said in a bitter, mocking tone).

Brought to you by Natalie, winner of the bronze!

Top 10 Google Doodles

You've probably noticed by now that when you log onto Google their logo seems to change day to day to something weird and whacky each time! These creative and crazy logos represent and celebrate something every day, and some hold significant importance to many people, while others are fun games to commemorate a big event! Here are our Top 10 Favorite Google Doodles*:

10. Hurdles - In order to get into the Olympic spirit, you can make an animated man jump over hurdles using your keyboard!

9. Basketball - To pump up spirit regarding Olympic basketball, you can make an animated woman shoot baskets as she backs up on the court! Towards the end of your 24 second period to do this, you can make three-pointer shots!

8. Pac man - To commemorate the anniversary of Pac man, you can play an arcade game of Pac man!

7. 79th Anniversary of the First Drive-in Movie - You can watch a little movie in Google's drive-in movie theater

6. Peter Carl Fabrege's 166th Birthday - These intricate Fabrege eggs are cool to look at!

5. Robert Moog's 78th Birthday - You can play an animated synthezier on Google! What more could you ask for?

4. Gideon Sundback's 132nd Birthday - The creator of the zipper must be remembered on Google! You can even zip and unzip an animated zipper onscreen! Yet another way to waste time....

3. Friedrich Frobel's 230th Birthday - The creator of Frobel toys and the concept of kindergarten. Where would we be without him? Probably not reading this....

2. Synchronized Swimming 2012 - A great design for a great Olympic games!

1. Dia Dos Namorados 2012 - Brazilian Valentine's Day, generally celebrated on the 12th of June, is just like our Valentine's Day! A beautiful and heart-warming design is celebrated on Google

*In no particular order

Brought to you by Natalie!

TWEETS

Everyone should check out this site to investigate our new Twitter! We will be posting many awesome things there - today, we tweeted our instant reactions to the Noontime Show.

Here's today's issue!
Volume 43, Issue 11B

CYJ

Natalie, from Daily Double: Journalism Workshop, also attends a camp called CYJ, which stands for Camp Young Judea - it's a Jewish camp. We brainstormed some other things CYJ could potentially stand for:

Camp Young Jedi (a camp for Star Wars enthusiasts)

Christian Young Jazz (Jesus jazz camp)

Checker Your Jails (a law-enforcement and home decor camp)
Clomp Your Jomp (camp for percussionists)

Choose Your Jews (Jewish dating camp)

Check Youself, Jim! (A warning for Jim)
Cheat Yesterday's Japan (international espionage)

Cannibals Yell Jibberish (a very confusing camp)
Clowns You Jab (a medieval circus camp)

Cynical Youthful Jaguars (for big cats only)

Chew Your Jellybeans (candy camp)
Chase Your Jack-o-Lanterns (a kooky Halloween camp for lil' spooks)

Color Yellow Jets (someone has to paint planes, right?)
Calamity Yippee Jamboree! (yipee!!!!)
Chumps You Jump (learn to rob people)
Comics You Jettison (learn to draw - in space!)
Crazy Yams Jungle (eccentric gardening)

For more information on these camps, when they run, and if enrollment is still open, please contact Mike D.

-Natalie and Walker

Guest Editor!

Today's issue is guest-edited by Natalie, my fabulous friend from Daily Double: Journalism Workshop. She picked which articles to publish, touched them up, and did the layout. It's cool to get a different perspective, since Emily and I tend to put it together the same way every day.

Volume 43, Issue 7B

The Fab Five -- Olympic Coverage

In this year's summer Olympics (hosted in London), athletes from all over the world have come from near and far to compete in a series of different events. No doubt a standout amongst these chamipons has been the Fab Five (hailing from America), consisting of McKayla Maroney, Gabby Douglas, Jordyn Wieber, Aly Raisman, and Kyla Ross of women's gymnastics.
The girls won the second gold medal for the US's womens' gymnastics team (the first being won in 1996)! Along with a lot of hype, praise, and gold, the girls got to pose for the cover of Sports Illustrated.

Gabby Douglas earned a score of 183.596, barely beating Russia, who came in a close second place.

Jordyn Wieber placed third on vault and fourth on the floor, also contributing to the victory. Despite all the drama swirling around her with her unfortunate incident concerning her moving on past the preliminary rounds, Wieber felt that it was a team win!

McKayla Maroney scored a 16.233 in the team's first group competition on the vaults, wowing the judges with her composure, precision, and performance.

All in all, the Fab Five certainly lived up to their name and worked really hard to get to where they got to.

Brought to you by Natalie!