Adele Laurie Blue Adkins is giving teens a positive role model to look up to, showing boys and girls that a positive self image is everything.

When told by her manager that she needed to lose weight her response was quick, “I don’t make music for eyes. I make music for ears.” And with that her platform was made.

Adele was born and raised in a family that wasn’t exactly musical, but the support she gained from them was outstanding.

When she was little she would put on small concerts for her mom and friends using lamps as stage lights.

“As soon as I got a microphone in my hand, when I was about 14, I realized I wanted to do this,” said Adele.

Since then she hasn’t stopped.

Starting with singing Destiny’s Child and then moving on to be known as a soul singer, Adele has really changed the way music is thought of.

She appeals to not only teens but adults of every age as well. I think it’s safe to say Adele has made a whole new genre of music all on her own terms.

You have stars like Lady Gaga and Katy Perry for whom part of their music is their look, showing a little too much skin.

Adele has changed the way that people see themselves by realizing she doesn’t need to show herself to others in order to sing well.

“My life is full of drama and I don’t have time to worry about something as petty as what I look like.” Adele said.

If everyone saw it the way she does I can only image how happy this generation would be.

It might be only music but to so many people out there it is much, much more than just music.

Adele is more then just a singer, she’s a role model, she’s a fighter and she’s an inspiration.

But hopefully, that can change.  Being different doesn’t consist of wearing the same old thing that everyone else wears and shopping where everyone else shops.  It means branching out and wearing something you personally think looks good and not what looks good on other people.  It means trying out new patterns, colors and fabrics and not sticking to the basics.

So, to solve this problem, when you get dressed for school in the morning don’t think about what others are going to think about your outfit.  You’re overlooking who matters most when picking out an outfit–yourself. 

It’s not a bad thing to go along with current trends, because that’s why trends are there, to be followed.  But if you want to take part in a trend, make it your own.  Accessorize your ensemble unlike anyone else to make it truly different and trendy.

Personal style expresses who you are, and if everyone dresses the exact same, how can anyone be noticed at all?

Sadly, Bachmann announced that she is no longer running for president after finishing sixth in the Iowa Caucus. So, what are the American people supposed to do for entertainment now? Sure, she had absolutely no chance of winning, but it was nice to have her around.

So now we are left with six Republican candidates. I have given each candidate a special nickname and my own personal opinion of them.

Rick… I Forgot His Name…. “Oops.”: Rick Perry has made a fool of himself many times and to put it delicately, his mind just isn’t all “there”, if you get what I’m saying.

Velvet Thunder: Mitt Romney is a smooth talking man and has the best chance of getting the nomination, but he has to make sure he doesn’t put his foot in his mouth like he has done in the past.

Rick Sanitarium: It freaked me out when Rick Santorum placed in a close second behind Romney in the Iowa Caucus. His views on everything social are crazy, such as introducing amendments that would allow creationism to be taught in schools and comparing gay marriage to polygamy. If he were to become President, I would move to Canada. (NYtimes.com)

Scared Puppy: Ron Paul has your run of the mill Conservative views. He could be a viable candidate, but I don’t see him as an assertive enough person to lead our country.

Black Kettle: Newt Gingrich had a $500,000 Tiffany’s bill, so no, I do not want him in charge of fixing our economy. He has also been married three times, but wants to “defend marriage.” I am sorry Newt, but you give hypocrite a whole new meaning. (businessinsider.com) (CNN.com)

Forgotten Child: Out of everyone running, Jon Huntsman is my personal favorite. It is nice to see a candidate that agrees with science, unlike his opponents. He believes in global warming and evolution, which sets him apart from the other candidates. But sadly, he is in last place out of the six people running. It would be nice to see him run as an Independent in the election, because of his moderate views. (Washingtonpost.com)

Ladies and gentlemen, let’s face it, this pool of candidates is a joke. Think of the 2012 Presidential Election as a marathon between Obama and the six candidates: Obama is in first place, in second place is Mitt Romney with a broken leg, Newt Gingrich is in third with two broken legs, Rick Santorum is missing a leg, but is still hobbling around the track. In fifth place is Rick Perry, running around the track the wrong way. In sixth place is Ron Paul, but it doesn’t look too good for him since he fell asleep on the track and in last place we have John Huntsman, who is missing both of his legs, but just will not give up.

Although it is entertaining to make fun of the Republican candidates, it is still very frightening that this is the best we have to offer. Out of all of the Republicans eligible to run for President, we get stuck with these six clowns? You could say that I am being harsh, but if you plan on running this country, you better be the best of the best. And sadly, these six are the complete opposite.

After getting a Spotify account, I can honestly say I’m an addict. One may ask how someone can be addicted to simply listening to music on the computer. I still haven’t quite figured it out, to be honest. But with Spotify, you’re always wanting more. I constantly find myself browsing albums I’ve been planning on listening to, stumbling upon new artists or browsing the 90′s radio station. With each new find, I think to myself, “I’m glad I have Spotify.”

Another interesting feature with Spotify is that you can easily see what your friends are listening to. It’s convenient to be able to find out what everyone else is listening to and is connected with Facebook to ensure that you can easily share your music to everyone, not just other Spotify users.

Many of my friends and family are skeptical. They don’t understand the general purpose of Spotify. To all of those who wonder why they need to get Spotify: I don’t know about you, but every time I hear a song that I love, it makes me a little bit happier. Same with finding old music from when I was a kid. Wouldn’t it be great to have all that music in one place, no purchase or 90-second demos.

So what are you waiting for?

I will be straight up with my stance on this issue. I am completely 100 percent against Prop. 8. I believe that everyone deserves the right to love who they want to love and to marry who they want to marry. Allowing gays and lesbians to marry each other is in no way going to damage families or tarnish marriage.

Saying that you are trying to protect marriage makes you look like a four year old that doesn’t want to share. Marriage is only for you, and not for the other kids. This mentality is childish.

Or the ridiculous argument that you are trying to protect families. Please tell me what is damaging to a child that has two dads or two moms. Is your argument that you would rather have a child stay orphaned than get adopted by two loving parents? Or are you the four year old kid that doesn’t want to share being a family? If that is what you believe, then all you are is selfish.

There is also the religious argument. The argument that God doesn’t accept gays, that he doesn’t like them and that he thinks they are an “abomination.” Well, if that is what he thinks, then he should really stop creating gay people, because he is really just causing his own problem.

But wait, are you one of those people who believes that people choose to be gay? If someone “chooses” to be gay, there are many things to look forward to. You will most likely be bullied by your peers. You may be disowned from your family. You may be told that God hates you. Or the most obvious one being that you won’t be legally allowed to marry in 43 of the 50 US states. And, lets not forget the suicide rate. According to the Suicide Prevention Resource Center (SPRC), gay teenagers are one and a half to seven times more likely to commit suicide than straight teens. 

Enough of my ranting and instead a history lesson about Proposition 8. It was introduced in 2008, and was passed Nov. 5. In 2010, Prop. 8 was overturned in the case  Perry v. Schwarzenegger. U.S. District Chief Judge Vaughn R. Walker ruled that the proposition violated constitutional rights.

Walker’s ruling was appealed when he revealed that he was gay and in a long term relationship with his partner. Many supporters of Prop. 8 argued that Walker’s sexual orientation made him biased.

This accusation makes no sense to me at all. As a judge, he took an oath to serve the constitution, his rulings are what are best for the country, not himself. He made this ruling because he believed that Prop. 8 was unconstitutional, not because he would benefit personally.

This accusation is also very hypocritical. If a straight Christian judge had said that the proposition was constitutional we would not be having this conversation. People could make the argument that he wanted marriage to be between a man and a woman because of his religious beliefs, and what his sexual orientation was.

This appeal is simply an excuse for an attempt to make what he ruled false. It is just another attack by prejudice and hateful people against love.

 How would you feel if you were not able to marry the person you loved? No matter what your religious or political beliefs are, we are all people, and we all deserve the same rights.

I knew that I should be angry at either…

A. Pujols for leaving a team that JUST WON THE WORLD SERIES for more money after saying that he would take less to remain a “Cardinal for life” many times or…

B. The Cardinals for not doing everything possible to keep one of the greatest players in the history of baseball and the most beloved athlete ever in St. Louis.

Someone had to pay.

But after chewing on it throughout the day and then chewing some more, I realized that I can’t blame either side for the decision that they made. All of our irrational feelings aside, both sides did what they thought was best.

I can’t blame the Cardinals for drawing a line in the sand and not getting sucked into a bidding war for Pujols. They know how much he meant to the team and the city, but decided that a nine-year, $200 million deal was the most they wanted to offer.

Any more than that and the Cardinals would end up kicking themselves down the road. Sure, having Pujols absolutely makes them a better team this year and probably the next two years after that.

But what happens if his notoriously bad elbow gets worse, he starts hitting .270 and can’t even play first base in the fourth year of a ten-year deal. Those are legitimate possibilities that would leave throwing $25 million away for years.

Then what?

At the same time, it’s hard to knock anyone for turning down an extra $50 million. It’s easy for us as fans to turn on Pujols for this, but how many of us wouldn’t also take more money and play somewhere where it doesn’t snow in April?

We overestimated the value of playing in “Baseball Heaven” and that’s on us. It’s unfortunate and it probably means that Pujols lied at times, but it’s the truth.

So maybe the best thing we can do is move on, because if we are true fans of the Cardinals, we won’t let the ghost of Albert Pujols get in the way of supporting the team. And more importantly, we can never let this tarnish the memories of his 11 years as a Cardinal.

That would be the worst loss of all.

But the worst part is that both sides are okay watching it end and moving on.

Maybe you have to be a fan of one of the schools to understand, but the Border War is a big deal to both sides. Missouri fans don’t hate any other school half as much as they hate Kansas, and the same goes for the other side.

Especially when it comes to the St. Louis area, thousands of kids are raised as fans of one school or the other and end up attending one of them. I’ve seen it for myself and that adds to the intensity.

Even when the Kansas football program is irrelevant, which is almost always, the basketball matchup usually lives up to the hype. The powerhouse Jayhawk basketball team can usually expect a hostile game when they visit Mizzou Arena.

So it’s a shame that the two schools, but mostly Kansas, are about to let Missouri’s move to the SEC end a 150-year rivalry that began
during the Civil War.

College football and basketball revolve around the passionof historic local rivalries like this one more than any other sport, which means that schools should do everything possible to keep them alive.

So even if Kansas is bitter or jealous about Mizzou upgrading to the SEC, it needs to realize that fans and players would prefer meaningful games against the Tigers instead of some random a Big Ten team in non-conference play.

And does Mizzou expect to replace the Border War with a manufactured rivalry against Kentucky or Tennessee? Good rivalries take decades
to develop, 150 years in this case. Neither side will find anything else like it.

College sports are losing their collective souls more and more by the day. Money continues to be the motivation behind every action that
schools and conferences take.

If schools want to prove that the actual games and competition still matter at all, and they won’t agree to a playoff in football,
the least they can do is keep these rivalries alive.

Give the fans what they want. Give college football what it needs.

I set up camp in the front of the premier line for Breaking Dawn: Part I at the Wehrenberg Chesterfield Galaxy Theater at 8:30 pm Thursday night. By 9:30, the lobby was packed. It’s easy to say that the next four hours may have been the longest of my life.

As lines were moved into theaters, I would have sworn I was having a premonition of Black Friday. From line-butters to angry, tired fans growing anxious, an army of females and few males rushed the four auditoriums showing the movie.

While the middle aged “twi-moms” were entertaining, nothing beats the characters that surrounded me. If sitting next to seniors Jordynn Martin and Claire Norfleet who cried over every scene wasn’t enough, the night kept getting better.

During an emotional exchange between Edward and Jacob, there was a leakage directly behind me. For what seemed like a minute straight, I kept hearing a steady flow of liquid. As my curiosity peaked, I looked around to see several movie-goers standing up and staring at the row behind me. As I turned my head, I witnessed a teenage girl pulling her pants up. I saw naked, bare butt.

If you thought “twi-moms” got worked up over Twilight, you can only imagine how they responded to public urination. Within five minutes, the movie was paused for an announcement from the manager, who offered the rows surrounding the puddle to move auditoriums. What concerned me the most was not the actual act; however, no one reported to clean the mess up. It really put a damper on the whole experience.

Overall, I had a good time. I was able to wear my “I Heart Vamps” t-shirt and go un-judged, spend an evening into the a.m. with my girlfriends and see several teenage girls sob over the silver screen. Aside from the smell of urine (never thought anyone could actually pee themselves from excitement), I enjoyed the exhaustion and enthusiasm. As for the actual movie, I enjoyed it more the second time I saw it. While some scenes were cheesy and predictable and others went unexplained for nonreaders of the saga, it was still enticing to see how the series unfolded.

Even though Friday morning was miserable, it was worth it.

Suddenly, it was on the brink of mating season. The zookeepers skeptically looked at the penguins, then to each other, then back to the penguins. You see, dear children, African penguins are endangered. Thus, the two males were torn apart from one another because, well, their sperm was needed. Buddy and Pedro reached out for each other with tears in their eyes as they were separated.

In the spring, zookeepers say that the couple will be reunited. But for now, the two remain without their true love.

Ok, so this was all exaggerated. But still, is this not the WORST fairytale ever?

I mean seriously, the zoo insists on telling the public that Pedro and Buddy may not wish to reunite after their few months with the females.

Come on! This is not Brokeback Mountain, these are two adorable penguins! There doesnt need to be some crazy plot, they just need to be together. End of story.

Here’s what I truly do have to say about this though.

I think it is sort of great that the public was actually somewhat upset by the separation of the gay penguin couple.

If we as a people are becoming so socially accepting that we protest for the rights of not only homosexual people, but homosexual penguins, then I think we might be on the road to having a much more open-minded society.

Though we won’t know until the spring if Pedro and Buddy will go hobbling back into each other’ wings, we can at the very least nod to the people who wish for equal rights in this world, regardless of how hilarious the protests can be.

A lot of people blog about fashion, so it’s hard to find a great one that makes you want to come back and read it every day. It took me a while to find my favorite blogs, but once I found them, I knew I’d made the right choice.

My absolute favorite blog is www.bryanboy.com. It’s written by Bryan, an eccentric, young guy who has an inside for everything fashion. He gets to go to fashion shows in foreign countries all the time and writes amazing reviews of them.

He also blogs about his personal style, which is interesting because it’s menswear. However, he doesn’t have a lack of brilliant reviews on women’s collections. You can follow him on Twitter at @bryanboy.

Another great blog is seaofshoes.com, written by Jane Aldridge, a college girl. While she is younger than most successful bloggers, she isn’t inexperienced.

She, like Bryan and many other bloggers, attends fashion events and travels the world.

Although her blog has the word “shoes” in the title, it’s not limited to only shoes. She blogs about her personal style and accompanies it with professional pictures of herself taken in scenic areas of her native Texas. You can follow her on Twitter at @sea_of_shoes.

I’m also a fan of Rumi Neely’s fashion blog, fashiontoast.com. Neely is friends with Bryan, and they have the same style of blogging.

Both travel, observe, blog, and repeat. But while Bryan is based in New York City, Neely blogs more about Californian style. Her style is very bohemian and casual. You can follow her on Twitter at @rumineely.

One of the most exceptional—and not extremely well known—blogs I’ve read is igorandandre.blogspot.com written by Danny Roberts.

Roberts reviews fashion collections, but he also paints and puts his pictures up online. His paintings are of famous people of the fashion world, and they’re amazing. He has a different style of painting that’s really unique.

If you visit his blog, Igor + André, you’ll see that his paintings are also for sale, and they’re not too expensive. I’m dying for a few for Christmas! You can follow him on Twitter at @IgorandAndre.