Last Podcast on the Left

Last Podcast on the Left is a true crime, comedy podcast that includes both real and fictional horror stories. They cover topics from serial killers to demons to cults: You’ll surely be able to find any horrific creation imaginable on this podcast. The creators, Ben Kiessel (producer), Marcus Parks (researcher), and Henry Hebrowski (comedian and actor), having been long-time friends, took a unique approach using playful commentary to create a lighthearted tone for such dark stories. Each normal episode is around one to two hours long, and each “side stories” episode (shorter true crime cases) is around half an hour to one hour long. 

Stuff You Should Know

Stuff You Should Know is an iHeartRadio podcast that provides all the relevant information needed on current events—especially social awareness. They provide you with the most important information to know in an engaging, fun manner; each normal episode is around an hour-long, and each “short stuff” episode is around 15 minutes long. This podcast has everything you need to know to become a more informed person. 

Call Her Daddy

Call Her Daddy is a feel-good—confidence booster—girl boss-type podcast. Host Alex Cooper (with Barstool Sports) dives into subjects such as relationships, confidence, social scenes, and embarrassing moments in each of her episodes. Each episode is around an hour-long, but it goes by fast. Cooper regularly has guests on her episodes and gives a lot of great insight on common problems many girls face. She connects with her audience by inspiring many women with the confidence that they need to put themselves out there and have a good time. 

rSlash

Have you ever spent hours and hours getting sucked into Reddit stories? If so, this podcast is for you. rSlash is a podcast that reads Reddit stories with emotion and funny voices. Each episode is around 20 minutes long and is the perfect option if you are looking for a fun escape from your normal podcast routine. I can assure you that you’ll never get bored with this one!

After getting rejected from another online music program due to her age, Segal had the idea to start her own business where teenagers, like herself, could share their love of music with others. “The idea came to me in one flash— the word ‘quarantunes’ just came to me,” she said. “I knew that I could gather a bunch of musician friends that I know, and teach music lessons, and donate the money we earned to charities to help others.”

One of Segal’s favorite parts of running Quarantunes is seeing the impact of the organization in the community. Along with raising money for charities, Quarantunes has a feature where the organization donate instruments to people who can’t afford them. “The most heartfelt moment, I think, was when a man reached out to me for a keyboard,” Segal said. “He told me that he had been wanting to start pursuing music for a while now, but had to chose between that or his bills. Of course, bills had to come first. He also told me that his brother, who is mentally disabled, was staying with him due to the virus, and he wanted to be able to play music for him.”

So far, Quarantunes has raised $35,000 for charities such as the Center for Disease Control Foundation and the Save the Music Foundation, and that number is continuing to grow each day. Segal’s business now has over 800 students and over 200 teachers working together to help promote music education across the world. “If you, or anyone you know, are interested in trying out music, Quarantunes is the way to go!” Segal said.

Athletic wear

With students stuck at home for at least a few more weeks, it’s essential that we keep ourselves entertained and sane; working out is one of the easiest ways to do so. Although it might be difficult to force yourself to exercise when a plethora of junk food and Netflix lie in the next room, it’s important to stay active. No matter what exercise you plan to do, whether it’s practicing a sport or the Chloe Ting 2 Week Shred, the outfit you choose matters. In these photos, you can see my carefully chosen outfit for the last day of my workout program. On top, I have on an old volleyball practice shirt, which is my favorite workout item because of the dark lightweight material. I paired it with white Lululemon shorts and Nike tennis shoes to complete the look.

Venturing outside

Due to California’s stay-at-home orders, traveling outside the house is a rare event. But, one of those unique events, when stepping outside or looking out a window, is seeing a plethora of Palo Altans strolling through the neighborhood streets. Walks not only allow us to stay active and get the blood moving in our bodies, but they also provide the opportunity to breathe in the fresh air. Though, when  stepping out of the house, it’s essential to be fully clothed.

The first item is simple but also crucial: the T-shirt. A cute old camp T-shirt or one you have gotten for free works excellently. Next, you have bottoms. The weather has increasingly warmed up, so the best option is your most comfortable pair of running shorts. They can either match perfectly with your old camp T-shirt or clash—whatever works for you. Then, we have shoes. A simple everyday shoe, such as a tennis shoe or sandal, works perfectly for walks. To finish off the outfit is the newly required face mask.

Working from home

While we are confined to the comfort of our homes, it’s easy to remain in pajamas and lounge around, looping through hours of YouTube or TikTok while fostering the bad habit of unproductivity. However, I have found that forcing myself to get out of bed, get dressed and put on a light layer of makeup not only makes me feel better, but increases productivity by allowing myself to get schoolwork done more efficiently; getting ready like I would for school helps recreate the school setting which encourages me to do schoolwork inside of laying in bed.

On a hot day, I would wear a dress, skirt or shorts matched with a nice T-shirt. On a cooler one, I put on jeans or other pants paired with a long-sleeved shirt or sweater. To finish the look, I accompany it with jewelry and a belt. If you’re struggling to get everything done, try swapping sweatpants for jeans–it will make a difference.

        Senior Justin Chiao and Molly Wilkinson expand on their experiences being multisport athletes. Chiao doing Track and Cross Country and Wilkinson doing water polo, swim and previously, soccer, both have to deal with extra long days all year round. 

        Unlike athletes who participate solely in one sport, multisport athletes like Chiao and Wilkinson have to stay in shape for every season. Chiao expands on his vigorous training schedule, “I train year round with a one week break in between seasons.” In fact, each practice takes anywhere from one to three hours each day. All of these days out of the school year definitely add up. 

        It’s pretty clear that doing sports take up a lot of time and effort. Student athletes especially have to manage their time well because they already have less free time in their day. “A normal day [during swim/ water polo season] would be going to school and heading to the pool right after” she said. “I eat a small snack then have about two hours of practice. After that, I go home, shower, eat dinner, and hopefully start homework by seven p.m..” Because of the minimized hours they are faced with, time management is key. Starting work late after a long day of academics and athletics is not easy. 

        Aside from doing sports, schoolwork and even outside work, finding time for other activities can be a struggle. “It [sports] makes it a lot harder to have time to be social and even if I have the time, sometimes I’m tired and just want to rest” Wilkinson expressed. She does, however, bring up the great point that with each sport, you get the great opportunity to meet new friends and grow new relationships, “If you have good teammates, being at practice can become social time and you can still make time for other people. It’s just harder” she said. 

        On the other hand, balancing academics is a similar, but different struggle. From late practices to late meets, balancing school work is a skill that is acquired after time. “Sometimes meets interfere with my school work because I get lazy after running and I usually don’t do the work” Chiao said. “However, I usually have the time.”

        Even with the large time commitment, Wilkinson and Chiao have always found joy in their athletics. “I’ve learned that no matter how hard it is, or how much it hurts, you will feel good after and the reward will almost always be worth it!” Wilkinson expands. Sports also can teach important life lessons. They allow people to experience real world problems and give them incentive to do better. Chiao opens up on how the competitive aspect of sports has helped him grow, “I learned that no matter how hard you train, there’s always gonna be someone faster than you, so you always have to give it your best.”

Pets have a great impact on people’s lives and can even change them for the better. “Although I adopted Waffles when I was only 10, it helped me become more responsible because I had to help out,” Mahesh said. “I think it’s a great idea for families to adopt a pet while their kids are young, so they can start learning important life lessons earlier.” 

Ever since day one, their love for each other has been booming. Mahesh recalls her favorite memory with her furry friend. “After coming back from a week in North Carolina, my dad picked me up from the airport and brought Waffles and he was very excited to see me,” she said. “Seeing him made me so happy because he reciprocated the love and joy I had for him.”

Waffles doesn’t always follow the rules. “Our old house had a doggie door that led to to the backyard from our house so waffles could use it to go out whenever he wanted to. So once when he went outside he dug up the dirt under the back door and crawled out and basically left and started exploring and we didn’t notice” she said. Then we heard barking outside of our door and realized that he was at our front door waiting to be let in and we realized what he had done.”

A usual day in their life starts off with a morning walk followed by breakfast. While the family is away at school and work, Waffles usually spends his day barking at squirrels outside the house or taking long naps. Once someone returns home, they go for another walk then spend some time together. Sometimes, they even go to dog parks such as Mitchell Park and Ramos Park for good exercise.

As a crucial member of the Mahesh family household, Waffles comes with them to visit family in San Diego. In fact, he even enjoys the long car rides. Sometimes, he even rides the plane with them and always manages to make many new friends at the airport. 

     Skating has been growing in popularity around campus. It is not uncommon to see people bringing their boards to school and showing off tricks after school has ended. 

      Like many sports, skating culture and the skaters themselves are heavily impacted by the way they are seen. “A lot of people have a vision of skaters [as] people who don’t care about anything and are really inconsiderate, but I think skaters are actually the opposite,” Shah said. “We get kicked out of probably 50% of the places we skate at and we don’t even do anything bad.”

      Oftentimes, many people hesitate to start skating because of the fear of being called a “poser;” however, Shah explains how his experience was not like this at all. “I think the skating community is a really positive environment and it’s really easy to tell when someone is a skater or not,” he said.  “I think some people use skating culture to their advantage for attention in some circumstances, but at the end of the day, that’s their choice and they’re the ones who end up looking bad.”

      One of the biggest fears about skating is falling. Numerous videos of “epic wipeouts” have been circulating the internet for years now. This has a strong effect on deterring people from starting. However, Shah explains that falling should not be something to be too worried about. “It’s okay to take a fall because that’s part of the process. And the most important thing is to just send it, because there’s no way to learn anything if you don’t ever just put all your worries to the side and just do it,” he said. 

     After lots of practice, Shah was able to go from an “ollie,” where the rider and board leap into the air without the use of the rider’s hands, to a “pop shuv it,” where the rider makes the board spin 180 degrees without the tail of the board hitting the ground. Learning new tricks is often difficult and fairly dangerous but definitely worth it. One of the best parts of skating is mastering new tricks, and learning them is the fun part. “I want to work on my flat ground tricks right now and also get better at doing tricks off stairs,” Shah said. “I’d also like to improve my bowl skating.”

      Skating is great because it breaks away from many societal norms and is a really amazing community to be a part of. It brings people together to engage in an activity they all enjoy. “Almost every person I’ve met through skating has been so nice, positive and supportive,” Shah said. A common misconception about skaters is that they are “trouble-makers” looking to deface property; however, this is simply not true. They are usually just looking for a new place to try out tricks outside of the skate park. 

Neon Colors (early 2010s): This was a time where patterns and bright colors were everything. The popular style for boys was a crowded graphic tee with some form of cargo, or sporty shorts. 

Swag (early to mid 2010s): Swag fashion was a highlight of the decade. Things like snapbacks, baggy tank tops, harem pants, and crazy colored high tops made up the style. That with the pairing of the word “swag” not as something that could be gained, but as something inherent, defined the trend. 

 Vintage (late 2010s): 90’s fashion started to regain its popularity. Pieces like chokers, crop tops, plaid, mini skirts, high- waisted jeans, slip dresses, cardigans and much more started to spike, and especially recently have been dominating in the fashion industry.

Shoe Game (late 2010s): Sneakerheads and a prioritization of “shoe game” became mainstream. It is not uncommon for people to own many pairs of shoes or sneakers and pride themselves in their collections. Nowadays some popular shoes are Jordans, Air Force Ones and Yeezys. 

E-Boy/Girl (late 2010s): TikTok’s E-boy and E-girl fashion have recently been widely dominating. The trend includes dark clothing and an abundance of chains and accessories.

Class was held on October 3 in City Hall from 5:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. Upon arriving, I saw many people that I knew along with their parents. The majority of the people were from Gunn with the exception of a few Palo Alto High School students or people who had been caught over the weekend or during break. The first thing we did before class was take a short multiple choice quiz on the basic rules of the road. After everyone arrived, class started. The class was held by the same cop many people had been caught by. It started off with some basic information on rules and penal codes. After about an hour, there was a short break when we were able to get free helmets. Honestly, this was definitely the best part. Once break was done, the officer talked a bit more, and then we watched a heartfelt video on the importance of wearing helmets for the rest of the time. Before we left, we took another quiz that was a little longer than the first one to evaluate what we learned. 

Although this whole situation was quite annoying and time consuming, I would definitely say that traffic school was not that bad. The lecture itself was pretty chill and I got to spend time with my friends. I also got a free helmet which is a pretty good bonus—now we have no reason to be biking without one. My advice: wear your helmets because it could save your life in an unfortunate circumstance, and also so you don’t have to go through what I went through.

Donating to Goodwill, the Salvation Army or any other consignment stores is a great way to put your old costumes to good use. These stores are also  great places to shop for a costume, or parts of one. You can drop your old costumes, clothes, toys or even furniture off at any store, or find a drop off location that is more convenient for you such as drop off boxes located at gas stations and various stores, goodwill trucks, sometimes located at Paly, and much more. 

An alternative to donating costumes is lending or giving them to others. This is a great solution if you can’t bear to completely let go of your favorite costume. It is also an excellent way to help others in need of a costume for the next year. Swapping costumes with friends and letting others use them (especially if you’ve outgrown them) is a great way to help others around you.

There are many websites or groups that you can sell old costumes on. For example, Gunn has a facebook group called “New Clothes,” where people can sell old clothes, books and even costumes. It is especially helpful during spirit weeks like homecoming week because many people sell their costumes from the year before. For many people, this saves them a lot of stress because it is a cheaper, more accessible, easier way to fulfill their dress-up desires. 

It is also a great idea to save them and use them for future spirit events. As we all know, dressing up for spirit events like homecoming week requires pretty extensive costumes. One of the best feelings is already knowing that you have the materials for a day of dress up. Chances are, if you’ve ever dressed up in a basic halloween costume, you’ll have at least one of the days covered.

Repurposing your halloween costume is a great and environmentally friendly way to make new clothing items. You could turn a shirt into a tank top or even crop the bottom and make the scraps of fabric into a headband. Not only do you get a new shirt that has great memories attached to it, but you also save money and make an environmentally friendly decision by not buying more fast fashion.