A Sea of Ink

The free press is the fourth estate, equally important to the fabric of any democracy as a nation's legislature, executives, and judiciaries. Journalists protect the citizens by holding accountable those in power. Without journalism checking up on the actions and motives of the higher-ups, investigating and exposing covered-up wrongs and sinister plots, society would fall into chaos, deception, and become everything George Orwell feared. Without the dissemination of news, without the education of the people-- censorship and ignorance leads inevitably to oppression and blind loyalty. Just look back at Nazi Germany, look at the Soviet Union, and then look at today. To me, reporters represent what superheroes would look like in the real world, Robin Hoods in real life. To me, Clark Kent's vocation as a reporter represents no coincidence. This current trend of vilifying the press is scary. In fact, it feels apocalyptic. "Fake news" is not a pair of words to toss out...

Happy World Ballet Day! For those of you unfamiliar with the annual event, World Ballet Day is a holiday which celebrates the love and sharing of dance with an all-day livestream including classes, rehearsals, and interviews from the world's top ballet companies-- the Bolshoi Ballet, the Royal Ballet, San Francisco Ballet, the Australian Ballet, the National Ballet of Canada, and other, smaller companies like Ballet West! The dance community worldwide is unified in one joyous celebration, beyond all boundaries of language and country. Ballet is one thing that brings me great joy--dancing it, watching it, creating it...ballet is a key part of my personal culture. Had the stars not misaligned against me, I'd be enrolled in classes now. Unfortunately, I suppose I must have a different purpose in life--but that will not keep me from enjoying the art. In honor of this occasion, I'd like to share my favorite ballet class warmup trends, all of which I have seen worn by dancers...

I am extremely pleased to finally announce the launch of my fashion blog! Check out my newest project,  Chicer Than Sneakers . The site will explore ways to stay trendy on a budget, style tips and tricks, fashion alerts, and more! I've thoroughly enjoyed working on the website so far, and I hope you all will enjoy and be able to learn from it. (I will still be working on posts for A Sea of Ink, even as I build Chicer Than Sneakers. No need to worry about inactivity on this blog.) Have any requests for either of my blogs? Let me know in the comments below! Thank you, as always, for your readership.

On May 5, 1865 in Pennsylvania, a girl named Elizabeth Jane Cochran was born. She would become known, however, by a different name: Nellie Bly, a pen name which would soon be plastered across the front pages of newspapers from sea to shining sea. Cochran got her start in 1880 with an angry letter to the editor of The Pittsburgh Dispatch , arguing against traditional gender roles on the behalf of unmarried women in her society. She was daring, she was fierce, she was ambitious, and she was full of fire. Her passionate letter resulted in employment at the paper and Elizabeth's transformation into the reporter Nellie Bly. Nellie's first work was an article entitled "The Girl Puzzle," and then she was assigned to investigate the plight of girls working in factories. After this series of investigative articles, she was pushed to write for the "women's pages." Bly rejected this and instead undertook a six month foreign correspondence job, living in Mexico ...

Today marks the 88th anniversary of the birth of Audrey Hepburn, on May 4, 1929 in Brussels, Belgium. She passed away on January 20, 1993. Audrey Hepburn to me is a beacon of inspirational light. She was not just a movie star: she lived through World War II, fighting the Nazis with the Dutch Resistance by carrying messages and putting on secret dance concerts in order to raise funds, and came close to starvation prior to liberation by the Allies. She gave up stardom in order to be the best mother she could; she put her family and other first, before her own agenda. She dedicated her final years to UNICEF, traveling to struggling countries such as Somalia to raise awareness of starving children's plight. She used the fame she was blessed with to do good and change her world. She was not traditionally beautiful, never thought she was attractive, and created a whole new genre of fashion for unconventional beauties. She remained humble while in the public eye, maintained a polite att...

Trojans Top Students in the State Kelly Walsh Seniors Rank as National Merit Semifinalists The National Merit Scholarship program chooses 15-20 Semifinalists from Wyoming every September; this year, two are from Casper—Harriet J. Norcross and Jonah S. Spicher, KW seniors who excel in both academics and extra-curricular activities. Last fall, approximately 1.6 million high school juniors took the PSAT test and entered into the running for a National Merit Scholarship. In early September, 2016, 16,000 seniors were chosen as Semifinalists. In Wyoming, only 17 seniors were chosen; two of those students are from Casper, and both attend Kelly Walsh High School. Jonah S. Spicher and Harriet J. Norcross will learn in February, 2017 if they belong to the 15,000 students who will become Finalists in the program. The National Merit Scholarship program, established in 1955, awards three types of scholarships to students based on “ their abilities, skills, and accomplishments—without reg...

Eastern Europeans Flock to UK Number of immigrants working in the UK increases following Brexit decision.            After June vote for Britain to leave the European Union, the number of Eastern European migrants working in the UK has increased, due to concerns that immigrants will be barred from the country post-break.            According to the Office of National Statistics, the number of Eastern European migrants employed in Britain grew by almost 50,000 in the months between July and September alone. These figures show that, since the Brexit referendum, the total number of non-UK workers has increased by 241,000 to 3.4 million.            “This is yet another large increase in the labor force driven by an increase in foreign workers,” said the chairman of Migration Watch UK, Lord Green of Deddington. “This continuing in...

Creating a Holiday Classic The Moscow Ballet Nutcracker Behind the Scenes “I remember when I was little, really little, I would watch the NYC ballet every Christmas. I thought that was the coolest thing ever,” said 15-year-old Sophie Pickett, a dancer at Rising Star Tumbling and Dance Studio. “My mom had these pointe shoes for decoration in our house and they totally fit me at the time so I partied around in those during the Nutcracker, and that’s when I was like ‘I want to do this. This is cool!’” 29 Casper ballet students joined 40 professional dancers onstage December 7 th for a performance of the Moscow Ballet’s Great Russian Nutcracker. Following auditions with Moscow Ballet dancer Olena Nalyvaiko on October 17 th at host dance studio Beautiful Feet, the selected dancers were taught their choreography by Nalyvaiko herself, and then given seven weeks to rehearse. “It’s not just like one practice and its perfect, it takes so much work and time and dedication to this for...