Youth Are Awesome, commonly referred to as YAA, is a blog written by youth for youth.
YAA provides the youth of Calgary a place to amplify their voices and perspectives on what is happening around them.
Youth Are Awesome is a program of Youth Central.
Any views or opinions expressed on this blog belong solely to the author and do not represent those of people or organizations that the blog may be associated with, unless explicitly stated. All content is for informational purposes only.
On March 15, Calgary witnessed another marvelous fashion show! PARKSHOW Spring/Summer 2014 was truly an event to attend, everything about it, from the atmosphere to the fashion, was perfect. Many local designers had the opportunity to showcase their magnificent work on the runways, and were also around prior to the shows talking about their clothing lines and selling their pieces. I felt as though their spring collections were beautifully inspired and very creative.
A lot of the designs were very intriguing and would definitely be worn by everyday teenagers. I know its hard to find inspiration upon what to wear to school everyday, or to work, or honestly, even to the mall, so when I came across the clothing line CAMP Brand Goods I couldn’t resist but to share it with you all. Its the perfect blend of being comfortable and looking fabulous. Here is a quick sneak peak into CAMP’s spring/summer collection.
CAMP Brand GoodsPhoto Taken By: Chuck SzmurloPhoto Taken By: Chuck SzmurloPhoto Taken By: Chuck Szmurlo
The looks from Forge were glamorous, casual yet classy! What could possibly be better?
Photo Taken By: Chuck SzmurloPhoto Taken By: Chuck SzmurloPhoto Taken By: Chuck Szmurlo
A few other bold and gorgeous looks from various designers:
Photo Taken By: Chuck SzmurloPhoto Taken By: Chuck SzmurloPhoto Taken By: Chuck Szmurlo
The show was beautiful, the evening was splendid and the fashion was fierce. What more can a girl ask for?
Infographics are a great way to visually present information. They have creative and sleek methods of design and presentation. I will be posting a series of Infographic of the Days over the next weeks. These are the ones that are interesting or that catch my eye.
Today’s infographic gives name to Dr. Seuss. We can all agree that Dr. Seuss’ stories are fun to read, but did you know that there are also wise words in them? This infographic made by Mamiverse has words of wisdom that may change your perspective, or be a source of motivation for a period of time. Enjoy!
taken from [http://visual.ly/dr-seuss-words-wisdom]
Most every teenagers in the present day own at least one electronic device. They occupy our time during the day with social media, games, work and other activities. As useful, amusing and distracting these devices are, they may also be a culprit in the lack of sleep plaguing many modern youth. There are many reasons for this, ranging from anything from ignorance, minor addictions and even melatonin suppression.
The most obvious reason for teens losing sleep over their devices is ignorance. They simply choose to not pay attention to the time and stay absorbed in whatever they happen to be doing online. This is not only an issue in terms of sleep or lack thereof, but also is a part of the development of further problems and problematic habits.
This leads into my next point. Many adolescents are developing such a dependance on their electronic devices that they are developing addictions to technology. These can be minor or major, depending on the afflicted person. It’s gotten to such a point where you hear of nomophobia, of the fear of losing one’s cell phone. This addiction and constant need to keep connected to the world over the web feeds teens’ seeming incessant abuse of technology, even into the dark of the night, when they should, in theory, be sleeping.
Not only does the constant yearning to be in contact with the world make young people more likely to stay up late communicating with others, but the blue light emitted by most electronic devices suppresses the production of melatonin. Melatonin is the hormone responsible for helping us to fall asleep. But according to many studies, the blue-toned light coming out of our cell phones, computers and tablets delays the release of melatonin, likely because it simulates being outside during a clear sunny day, when one would not be sleeping.
So it’s a bit of a double whammy: not getting to go to sleep as early as needed and not being able to fall into proper REM cycles as quickly afterwards.
Looking back, some of my tips for teens with problems with losing sleep over electronics would be:
1. Understand that sleep is more important for your health than whatever banal activity you’re doing on your phone.
2. Put it away at least 30 minutes before you plan to go to sleep. This way, you have time to start pumping out that melatonin before you get into bed.
3. Don’t let it control your life. There’s more to life than technology.
4. Self-moderate. This is tough, but you need to find a way to balance use of technology and other more important things, like sleep.
Recently, for a math assignment I had to make a title page. There were zero limitations and it challenged me to think creatively. How can I combine math and art to produce a creative piece that has many levels of depth? The answer was staring me in the face; it was fractals!
Fractals themselves are just mathematical equations that are represented through patterns and images. Some of the ones I tried to draw (not an easy task, I fear) included the tree fractal, the dragon fractal, the Sierpinski triangle, and the T-square fractal. All of them seemed to go on infinitely and my hand was definitely beginning to notice that.
I’m no Picasso by any stretch, but fractals can be created by anyone through practice and dedication, no joke. As long as you can draw a straight line, you can exceed as a fractal artist.
For fractals, precision and accuracy are the biggest challenges you’ll encounter. Sure, making them on the computer using some sort of software can get you the exact fractal, but drawing them by hand is where the fun’s at.
This is some fractal art I created and composed into a scene with a house, a tree, and some clouds. There is absolutely no limit as to what you can create with fractals!
I picture I created using only fractals.
But fractals are not just found in math and art; they can be seen right out of your window, in nature. One of the most famous examples of this is a sea shell, in which the Fibonacci sequence is used.
After 17 days, the search for survivors onboard the Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 came to a grim conclusion. The news was officially declared by Malaysia’s Prime Minister Najib Razak this past weekend, concerning the plane that was last determined to be lost in a remote area of the Indian Ocean west of Perth, Australia.
The loved ones of the victims cling onto each other for support. source
Dressed in black, the Prime Minister Razak informed family and press that the search for Flight MH370 has ceased with the conclusion that the plane plunged into the depths of the Indian Ocean and that there were no survivors.
“This is a remote location, far from any possible landing sites. It is therefore with deep sadness and regret that I must inform you that, according to this new data, flight MH370 ended in the southern Indian Ocean,” said Prime Minister Razak during his address.
Besides the incomprehensible fate of Flight MH370 of 239 passengers destined for Beijing, the reaction of the families of the victims of Flight MH370 was furthermore devastating. Family of the flight’s victims culminated at the Beijing Hotel as the news broke. A woman collapsed, sobbing out for her son. Paramedics stood by with stretchers as some collapsed, upon hearing the news. A young woman was carried out in the arms of a loved one. Without any tangible facts to bring closure to many of the loved ones of the victims of the flight, the news was undoubtedly painful to digest.
The news was beyond devastation for family and friends of Flight MH370. source
It was reported that family of the passengers of Malaysian Airlines Flight MH370 was informed before the statement by the Malaysian Prime Minister. The message, believed to have been sent by text is as follows:
“Malaysia Airlines deeply regrets that we have to assume that MH370 ended in the southern Indian Ocean. As you will hear in the next hour from Malaysia’s Prime Minister, new analysis of satellite data suggests the plane went down in the Southern Indian Ocean.
On behalf of all of us at Malaysia Airlines and all Malaysians, our prayers go out to all the loved ones of the 226 passengers and of our 13 friends and colleagues at this enormously painful time.
We know there are no words that we or anyone else can say which can ease your pain. We will continue to provide assistance and support to you, as we have done since MH370 first disappeared in the early hours of 8 March, while flying from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.
The ongoing multinational search operation will continue, as we seek answers to the questions which remain. Alongside the search for MH370, there is an intensive investigation, which we hope will also provide answers.
We would like to assure you that Malaysia Airlines will continue to give you our full support throughout the difficult weeks and months ahead.
Once again, we humbly offer our sincere thoughts, prayers and condolences to everyone affected by this tragedy.”
Although the search for the plane continues with the efforts of the international community, the search for survivors has ceased.
The passengers of Flight MH370 were primarily from China on a routine flight set for Beijing from Kuala Lumpur. The Chinese government was less willing to quit the search for survivors. “We are still racing against time,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said. “As long as there is a glimmer of hope, our search efforts will carry on.” (NY Daily).
With the recent snow storm in Calgary on the first day of spring, I decided to investigate if Canada really did have the coldest weather around. Here are the top five coldest countries in the world.
5. United States of America
From http://www.theguardian.com/
When you think of America, you probably imagine the warm sunny beaches and the glitz and glam of Hollywood, but snow and freezing temperatures are a norm in many parts of the country as well. America has a huge span of land that encompasses many different climates, from the tropics of Hawaii and the sun-kissed beaches of California, to the bone-chilling cold of Alaska. In the American Midwest, temperatures dropping well below 0 are the norm.
4. Greenland
From http://www.theguardian.com/
Greenland has a very low range of temperatures so it stays cool year round. Because of its close proximity to the Arctic Circle, Greenland’s temperature does not usually exceed 10° Celsius, even in the summer months. The lowest temperature ever recorded there was -66° Celsius. The very cold temperatures of Greenland causes a layer of ice to be present in the country year-round and the low humidity levels will leave you thirsty.
3. Canada
From http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/
Canada is cold. Seems like an obvious statement, doesn’t it? Canada, similar to America, has a huge land span, but every province and city has had its fair share of snow. The temperature ranges from all the way from -30° Celsius in the winter, to around 24° Celsius in the summer. So at least we have the sunny days ahead to look forward to.
2. Russia
From http://www.taipeitimes.com/
Ah Russia, the land of intricate architecture, famous writer and poets, and snow. Russia, much like Canada, is known for its freezing temperatures. In some parts of the country, -45° Celsius is the average. Even during the summer months, the temperature does not warm up very much, the average being around 20° Celsius.
1. Antarctica
From http://www.howstuffworks.com/
We all knew this was coming. Antarctica, this cold, icy desert, seems to be a whole different planet! The temperatures can range from -60° Celsius, to -20° Celsius in the summer months. We Canadians can all find solace in this information; at least we get warm temperatures in the summer!
You use it for tea, soup, cakes, toast, and even as medicine, but honey might not be as sweet as it seems anymore.
Since 2006, researchers have noted a significant decrease in the population size of bees in North America. An estimated 10 million beehives have been wiped out, a tragedy worth $2 billion. But what’s causing this beepocalpse? Is it overconsumption of honey? Or maybe urbanization has a role. Scientists have considered a number of factors that could be causing the death of bees including pesticide use, malnutrition, habitat loss, etc., but they have now pinpointed a specific cause.
From http://thenutrifarm.com/
According to http://www.naturalnews.com/, Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) is the leading cause of the death of the bees. CDD is when worker bees abandon their hives, leaving the queen and a small measly amount of bees left to pollinate for them. Some of the chemicals linked to CCD are found in fungicides and pesticides. Around two years ago, Health Canada’s Pest Management Regulatory Industry started to re-evaluate samples of dead bees and was considering altering pesticide standards.
A bee specialist, Dr. Reese, explains the significance of bees to us as consumers and patients as honey is a medicinal food. Go to http://youtu.be/UIKnLqK8g_4 to see an interview with Dr. Reese to learn more about this cause.
From http://renegadehealth.com/
But no matter how late the action is taken, it is still a positive advancement to secure the future of our pollinating friends, and us as humans. Bees pollinate at least 80% of the crops we rely on for survival and are part of an extremely delicate and intricate ecosystem. They are vital to our sustenance on this planet and we need to start spreading the word!
So next time an annoying bee seems to buzzing around you, remember, they might not do that much longer.
I don’t know about you, but my lips get very dry and I am always on the hunt for a new and better lip balm. That is, until my mom suggested making them myself.
From http://www.layoutsparks.com/
For this recipe to make a sugar scrub for your lips, you will need:
1 teaspoon of olive oil
1 tablespoon of white or brown sugar
½ teaspoon of petroleum jelly (optional)
Your favorite scented oils or spices (optional)
To make this scrub, first mix your olive oil, honey, and sugar. At this stage, you can also add your scented oils or spices (personally, I like to use some cinnamon for the smell and flavour). Next, mix your ingredients until it turns into a viscous paste. You can now choose to add the petroleum jelly or not. I like to add the petroleum jelly because it makes the paste a bit smoother and it also stays on your lips longer.
Now all the hard work is done! All you have to do now is apply it and have smooth, healthy lips. Leave the scrub on for around 2 minutes, and then remove it with warm water. Apply every two or three days and have gorgeous lips, all year round!
You can also store this scrub to use it for later.
On Nov. 7, 2013, the latest member of the “I’ll just kill some time and play this game – oh dear I’ve been playing for an hour now I should stop, but after this round – actually, um one more -oh gosh it’s been three hours I should probably put this down,” franchise was released. Plain Vanilla Games released the new “Candy Crush Saga,” “Bejeweled Blitz,” or “Farmville;” however, they dubbed it “Quiz Up.” Does the game involve feeding farm animals candy in order to make jewels? Unfortunately not; however, Quiz Up does combine many different games into one.
This game is free, both on the Apple iOS app store, as well as the Android Google Play store. You can sign up for an account (which has the sole purpose of keeping track of your record, and allowing you to add friends, and challenge friends) using Facebook, or simply by creating a new account with the Quiz Up database. A Facebook created account has the perks of already adding all of your Facebook friends who have the game into your “friends list,” which allows you to track the progress of your friends, as well as challenge them.
There are 434 topics in which you can play in, which are bundled up into 14 convenient categories: arts, business, educational, games, geography, history, lifestyle, literature, movies, music, nature, science, sports, and TV. Within each category, are many subcategories which makes this game so special and addictive. There is a category for everyone, and unlike most trivia games, which are broadly divided into categories with no subcategories, the game literally has a category for everyone. For example, within the movies category are the subcategories: Movies – General, Action and Adventure, Animation, Back to the Future (which is all about that specific movie), Batman (which is once again, just about Batman), The Big Lebowski, Bollywood, Caddyshack, Christmas movies, Classics, Coen Brothers, Comedy, The Dark Knight, Disney, Drama, Forrest Gump, The Godfather, The Golden Globes, Harry Potter, The Hobbit, Horror, The Hunger Games, Indiana Jones, James Bond, Kids and Family, Lord of the Tings, Martin Scorsese, Marvel Universe, Mean Girls, Meryl Streep, Movie Quotes, Movie Stars, Movie Titles, Name the Movie, The Oscars, The Oscars 2014, Pirates of the Carribean, Pixar, Quentin Tarantino, Rocky, Romantic, Science Fiction, Spider-Man Trilogy, Stanley Kubrick, Star Trek, Star Wars, Star Wars OT, Twilight, Wes Anderson, and finally, Woody Allen. If there was not a single topic within the movies category that interests you, head on over to the Quiz Up website to check out every single topic, because typing out the subcategories for the movies category was more than enough exercise for today, thank you very much.
Be known to the world! SourceBEST IN THE WORLD! Source
Without the “in app purchase” junk, all categories and subcategories are offered; therefore, you do not need to pay just to “unlock more,” as many other apps would have it. The only in app purchases that are offered are purchases which double, triple, or quadruple XP point earned in a victory; however, unless you are striving to be the #1 in your country, or in the world in a specific topic, XP “add-ons” really make no difference. The fact that you are challenging people across the world, in real time, in different topics of trivia, is already fascinating. Composed of seven questions per game, with a time limit of 10 seconds per question, Quiz Up is a fast faced, super fun game. I would love to spend the rest of this post explaining more about Quiz Up; however, you should just check the game out!
With achievements that you can unlock, titles that you earn beside your name every time you advance 10 levels in a category, and stats about your record, Quiz Up is a game that you just can’t put down. What if your win-loss ratio is not good enough for you? What if you just have a few more levels before you unlock a new title? What if you saw somebody wearing a title that you so desperately want to unlock? What if a friend has challenged you and you’ve lost?
In conclusion, Quiz Up is a brilliant game, and I am going to stop writing on it, so you can go download it and play on it, and I can continue to unlock more titles, and beat more friends!
While scrolling through the internet, I found this set of intriguing pictures of countries made with various foods. Created by photographer Henry Hargreaves and New-York based food stylist Caitlin Levin, the culinary photographers call the food maps project “a playful representation of out interpretation of food from around the world.” The foods used in each country show how iconic they are in being a part of the cultural identity of that place. One example of this Italy, created with tomatoes because of how much they feature in the countries cuisine, despite not being native to it. According to the both of them, “This project speaks to the universality of how food unites people, brings us together and starts conversation — just as we hope these beautiful maps will do too.” Personally, I love it a lot because I feel that what they use to represent the countries is really suitable, not to mention mouth-wateringly tasty! Here are just a few of them:
China, represented with different kinds of noodles.Italy, with all kinds of tomatoes!The United States, with corn based foods.South America with citrus.
I would love to travel Africa or Latin America one day. What UBELONG does is that it provides a great opportunity for you to go abroad and try something new! Especially someone who is a budget travelers I can for sure say that UBELONG program is well worth it; from what I have read. In addition the duration is one week and even up to six months. The cost could be anywhere from $250-4,320. They are great prices because the include all accommodations, meals, full-time support, orientation as well as project supervision. Some of the programs that they offer include childcare in Peru. Also, law/human right works in Cambodia. In addition to all that there is agriculture in Ecuador. Volunteers who try this program will for sure gain an intimate amount of knowledge, the destination that they go to, and participate in hands-on work that would include cultural and recreational activities.
SE7EN
This is a network that showcases free and low-cost opportunities for volunteers. There is a huge range from teaching theatre to the disadvantaged children in the Latin American county known as Nicaragua. Furthermore there could also be renovating a townhouse that turns into an art retreat and/or gallery in Italy. SE7EN’s aim is to place many international volunteers in interesting as well as life-changing environmental and/or social projects. And all of these would take place in the all and any corners of the world. Of you have a tight budget this is definitely the organization for you as it creates immense possibilities of exploration for your friends, family, and yourself.
WINROCK
I love to travel, and if I can help the environment it is double awesome. We always have to consider the consequences of our actions in the environment today because they predict the results of tomorrow. Go get those resumes ready. This organization is a pretty competitive volunteer program for people who are budget travellers. It picks the most qualified volunteer candidates and thus places them all over the world. Winrock’s program includes helping the corral cattle in beautiful Ethiopia. Also it could be improving a homes gardening as well as adding seed production in Bangladesh. In addition it could be managing a forests biodiversity in a sunshine filled country known as Lebanon. I would say for a budget traveler a great asset is that the airfare – often which is the most expensive feature of a traveler – is paid for.
I’m still fascinated with the Northern Lights, so why not put a local spin to it? Here’s an amazing timelapse of an aurora sighting just over pretty much the top of our roofs:
The boys of One Direction definitely are tattoo-obsessed! The only exception would be Niall. They are always getting new tattoos. Some of them are matching ones while others are random ones, and much more. I would have to say that Harry and Zayn have the most tattoos. However, Liam and Louis are for sure in the running! To be honest though I cannot really picture Niall covered in tattoos. Can you?
RIHANNA
She is always rocking a new tattoo! Fans who are dedicated to her always consider getting the same tattoos as her. She is defiantly one of those people who won’t stop with the new ink anytime soon. She looks great with them.
CHER LLOYD
I absolutely think that Cher Lloyd and all of her tattoos are fabulous! Some of her tattoos are tiny and delicate but they still make her look so rock! She has tattoos all over her. I especially love how she is able to embrace all her tattoos yet still looks really classy on red carpets. I think her tattoos are awesome.
DEMI LOVATO
Demi has lots of ink. A cool fact is that she gets most of them done by famous tattoo artist Kat Von D. I think the birds on her arm are so symbolic and represent her struggle. Demi is really expressive. She even dyes her hair tons of cool colours. I really think that we will be seeing tons of new ink on Demi in the future.
People often inquire about developing a ‘voice’ in writing. Whether it’s an essay or a step by step cooking tutorial, everybody has their own hint of personality that shines through in their compositions, making it their unique style of writing, however, how do we develop or recognize this voice?
Finding a voice for writing can be a challenging task as many people can’t explicitly recognize the difference of their voice from others. One solution to this can be to share your work with others and implore for an honest opinion of your work. Asking for truthful comparison between your work and others’ compositions can be a step further taken. These tips can assist you in recognizing your specialty in writing; what makes you different from other writers. Since others are more sensitive to the nuances that differentiate your work from theirs, they can play a large role in identifying your voice.
In a writer’s piece, there are also many devices that identify style: does your writing use logical interpretations of a situation or emotional elements connecting to the situation? These inquiries are some of the most vital steps that need to be taken in order to fill in the missing pieces of your voice. What are the missing parts? Some of these fragments or clues can be considered through what voices (in terms of writing devices) you use: active or passive? Active voice gives readers direct involvement in your composition and lucid explanations while passive gives readers a chance to engage more on a thinking level. This is caused by the sentence structures these two tools use. While active voice is when the subject performs an action on an object, passive voice is when the object and subject are switched (in comparison to active voice) and, instead of having the subject perform an action on something, the object is being affected by the subject. For example:
“Amy disliked Mary” is active as Amy is the subject and Mary is the object.
“Mary was disliked by Amy” is passive in that the object has switched places with the subject, creating a new focus on the object.
These tools can be extremely impactful in writing, since passive and active voices permeate through your piece constantly, and the small choice between the two devices could mean all the difference.
Another tool that can be used to identify your style are your pronouns, word choice and description. Do you use “I” or “you” to relate to the audience or do you utilize “she” and “he” so you can tell the story from third person? Do you like to describe every detail or do you like to leave that up to your audience’s imagination? These are all useful parts to a writer’s voice as every sentence and how you design your composition matters. Such examples include how Harper Lee never describes Scout directly in To Kill a Mockingbird but manages to draw the reader in just though the character’s narration of the story and indirect quotations of other characters. Authors can also use specific pronouns to relate with their audience, such as asking questions beginning with “have you ever”. These devices are all effective when searching for a voice.
Some tips that I managed to extract from my little experience:
– Don’t be afraid to look at other people’s writing styles and use them yourself. Sometimes you can find that you are more comfortable using someone else’s writing style than your own, and that is completely fine. It is NOT always necessary to have your own writing style, but you can use other people’s styles to shape your own voice.
– When you are experimenting and writing your literary pieces, try adding in different factors that may effect your writing, such as sophisticated vocabulary and different varieties of sentences (Examples can be: using a passive voice or active voice and seeing which one may be more comfortable to write in).
– Just write! Most of the time your unique voice is developed subconsciously and is unnoticed until you write. After writing, analyze your composition and see if there are different tones and personalities that seep through the words. Compare your writing to other pieces, and try to see how your writing differs from others’ writing.
– Reading more and experiencing more varieties of voices can help you grasp a general idea of what you would like your voice to be like.
For a little more insight into how to develope a voice, look below for video or click here: Writer’s Voice – George Wier
Hope you enjoyed reading and I hope this was of some use!
I know this video has been viral for a while, but yet I don’t think enough people have seen it yet. At first, the concept may be a bit weird, but the video is very compelling, fascinating and quite beautiful really. You get to see the reactions of each “couple;” some awkward, some passionate, some just a quick peck and others a long an intimate kiss. I also love the fact that there are gay couples, straight couples, mixed race couples etc. It also made me think, what happened afterwards, did they go there separate ways and never speak again? Did some of them go out for lunch afterwards or go on a few dates? I guess I’ll never go but at least I can make up my own fantasies and scenarios in my head about what happened once the cameras were turned off. Enough about my opinion, what did you think of the video? Leave a comment bellow on your thoughts on this video or if you have any suggestions for another video we should use as the video of the day!
