Sara Bowker

Let's be honest. Most teenagers aren't going to spend winter days off of school going to the gym for two hours every day. At least for me, my first desire is to sit all bundled up on my couch and play some video games.

The country may be in a panic about childhood obesity but with the freezing temperatures in January and beyond, and snow -- or currently the lack of -- outside, how in the world could we be active?

Hey, all you teens with smartphones -- remember they're a privilege

There you are sitting around with a phone that can only make calls and text, surrounded by friends who can pull up YouTube and Facebook at a glance, on their phone. A few years ago, this occurrence was rare, a real novel idea. Now smartphones are spreading like wildfire.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, at least to some that is.

A form of beauty, a form of art, makeup can be so much more than what you watched your mom put on before she'd go out for the day. And is it a skill? Is it a talent? Or is it the mind?

The face is a blank canvas. The makeup is your paint, and you are the artist. Now to create the works of art, do you have to be Michelangelo or can you be a child with a dream? To me, makeup -- special effects makeup -- can show a new world to those who see it.

"Pikachu, I choose you."

"I summon my Blue Eyes White Dragon in defense mode."

These are common phrases that almost any adolescent knows, from Pokemon and Yu-Gi-Oh. Pokemon, Yu-Gi-Oh and Magic: The Gathering -- to some, each one is a simple or stupid card game; to others, it is a way of life.