Knockaround

I don’t know about you folks, but I myself am one of those people who just must have a pair of sunglasses whenever I venture outside during the day.  For most people, sunglasses aren’t just used to protect their eyes against harmful UV rays but to be a fashion statement as well; a reflection of one’s personality if you will.  Up until recently I was one of those people who would drop a pretty penny on a pair of fancy, name brand shades whether it be because I wanted others to think I was made of money or just because I thought price was directly correlated with quality.  Now I’m not denying that high quality sunglasses come at a cost, nor am I saying that I’ve got a suitcase full of cash stashed away for a rainy day or a hot date.  What I am saying is that I’ve found a solution to what has been a costly obsession with stylish shades.

            Unfortunately for me, I seem to have pretty poor luck with holding on to a pair of sunglasses for any extended period of time.  After losing several pairs of high priced shades, I finally came to conclude there had to be a less expensive alternative.   Luckily, just a few weeks ago out of the blue I noticed one of those super irritating ads while I was surfing the web, only this one was just what I wanted to see.  Over the past few weeks I’d been suffering from sunglasslessness and having to painfully endure the brightness of the sun every time I stepped foot out the front door and had no intention of purchasing another pair of over-priced shades that I would be likely to lose within a months time.  Unbelievably, some well-written algorithm had somehow figured out that I was desperately in need of a cure for my ailment and provided me with the perfect advertisement that linked me to knockaround.com. 

            Knockaround was the perfect solution to my desire for stylish shades but without the high price tag of the brands I usually gravitate towards.  Of course I was a bit skeptical about actually purchasing a pair online before trying them out because I had no idea what they would look like on me or if they would fit my face properly.  As it so happened, my roommate was the proud owner of a pair of Knockaround glasses himself and was actually on his third pair.  I know what you’re all thinking right about now; there is no way it played out like this, but oddly enough it actually did.  So I tried them on, got some third party opinions, and made the decision to go ahead and purchase a couple pairs myself.   By no means am I exaggerating when I say that it has been one of the best investments I have made, to date. 

            The variety of sunglasses that Knockaround has to choose from is virtually endless due to the fact that they provide a customizable option.  While customization costs a little bit extra, they are still way more affordable than the brands you find perched upon the faces of billionaires with money bags for paper weights.  The original Knockaround style is priced at just seven dollars, and the most expensive pair they offer has a price tag of $34, not bad for a completely customized design.

            I am a very satisfied owner of Knockaround sunglasses and highly recommend their products to anyone in the same boat as me.  They provide a quality product at an incredibly reasonable price.  Knockaround.com also has a variety of accessories including belts, bags, t-shirts, and knocchis.  With all the different style combinations and varieties of sunglasses along with other accessories, you won’t find it hard to meet the $50 minimum to earn free shipping.  

Jeremy Bugbee

Bunny Jumping: The Best Sport Ever or the Greatest Sport Ever?

     The new sensation sweeping the nation this fall is certainly to be Bunny Jumping. Formally called kaninhop, this Danish sport (I’m using the term loosely) compresses all the adrenaline of watching horses leap over inanimate objects into a much smaller, more manageable activity. Kaninhop was invented in the late 1970s by a person who apparently had a terrifying amount of time on their hands, as well as a rabbit. It is a ferociously fuzzy sport that will have you on the edge of your seat in a matter of seconds, fully out of your seat in a matter of minutes, and back at your house in a matter of hours reevaluating the life decisions that brought you to such a frivolous competition. 

The sport (I still have trouble calling it that) has deep roots in Scandinavia, and has recently permeated the United States as well. Kaninhop enthusiasts are recruiting new fans every year, and hopefully this season they will have a large enough fan base to hold their competitions in their local YMCA rather than having to settle for the middle school gym. The bunnies involved in these competitions train tirelessly, and their trainers must also practice holding the leash with medical precision. If the leash is to become taught, it could spell disaster for the rabbit as it soars through the air. To combat this very real threat, trainers use an inordinately long leash which, in addition to keeping the rabbit safe, allows the human to move as little as possible. As you can tell, both the rabbit and the trainer must be in top physical form if they want to compete in organizations as prestigious as the American Association of Sporting Events for Rabbits. This group has multiple competitions within it, such as the long jump, the high jump and the elite crooked competition, all of which demand unwavering focus and determination. Like it or not, kaninhop is en route to becoming the next big thing around the globe, and if this article hasn’t prepared you well enough for that impending reality, check out this informative video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ptyKSiRyQ4Y.  Happy hopping!

- Eric Richard

Why BMW.

     My passion for the ultimate driving machine started when I graduated high school in 2006. My parents bought me a 1991 BMW 525i, immediately the enthusiast inside me started to grow. My best friend, Jordan, at the time drove a 1992 525i, we did absolutely nothing after our classes but drink beer, smoke cigarettes, and turn into grease monkeys, oh how we thought we were badasses. Every Wednesday night Jordan and I would go to this gathering called, “car night” at an euro auto service shop called Touring Car in the tiny town of Stallings, NC; Dan, the owner has been hosting “car night” for the past 20 years and has only missed and I quote verbatim, only a handful of Wednesday in the past 20 years. There we got to put our cars up on the lift, free of charge, and personally work on them. A few guys from the service department at Hendrick BMW came every week; thus I befriended them too. Once, I was in the loop with these guys I got hooked up all the time with whatever I needed for my car. 

     After hitting a real high mileage on my car last March (2011), I decided it was time to let her go and look for something a little newer since I was saving money for it. I bought a certified-preowned 2006 BMW 325i and I fell in love. The car had a sport package, which meant it sat a little lower, had a little more of an aggressive off-set with the wheels, and tightened suspension; the car drove and handled like a dream. 

     

     On Sunday, June 15, 2011 at 6:00 AM things took a devastating turn. I was involved in one of the worst car accidents I had ever seen. I collided with another vehicle at the intersection of Fairview & Sharon, which is the large intersection near South Park Mall. I was traveling on Sharon and the other vehicle was on Fairview; our paths crossed at the dead center of that intersection. My car did a 180 into the front of the Verizon wireless parking lot and the car I hit flipped three times into the side parking lot of Harpers Restaurant. 

     The police officers said they hadn’t seen an accident this bad in years. The only thing I remember is getting out of my car at the scene of the accident and then waking up in a MRI. The injuries I sustained we only from the seatbelt and airbag: broken nose, broken eye sockets, busied ribs from the seat belt, a small abdominal hernia from the seat belt, and a minor internal bleed in my liver also from the seat belt, and whiplash from hell. I was only in the hospital for 36 hours. The first responders said it was a miracle everyone survived but amazing how I was able to open my door and get out of the car. I’m glad everyone in the other vehicle survived too; however, their injuries were serve life-threatening and spent close to two weeks in the hospital. 

     Both of the car was scrap metal, destroyed beyond belief. I’m honestly feel that my car saved my life and spared me from far worse injuries. You never think these types of accidents can ever happen to you but they can. Shortly after the accident I decided to find a BMW I really wanted, after a few weeks I bought a 2009 M-Sport package 328i in LeMans Blue (limited production color). But no matter what car you drive, please remember to always wear your seat belt! 

Krisztian Martin

A Celebration Of Charlotte

         2012. The year that Charlotte held the Democratic National Convention (also known as the ‘DNC’). This was a great opportunity for a city [Charlotte] that is blooming rapidly and with such momentum.  Charlotte has a lot to offer and with the vast amounts of people that are brought in by an event like the DNC, there was no better time to show one’s Charlotte pride than during this extraordinary event.

            The faculty here at Queens University of Charlotte was quick to brainstorm different ideas for the students to be involved with the DNC while simultaneously learning more about communication in a hands-on environment. The Knight School of Communication decided to put together a course to engage the students with information about the convention and inform those who are out of state ( like me!) a little bit about Charlotte history. This turned into a two day seminar/discussion panel that would include many talented speakers from entrepreneurs, environmentalists, artists, and media scholars. Then after days of observing information about the queen city, we were asked to put all we learned to use while volunteering for the DNC. This course was called COMM 360.

            As a student that participated in the course, I cannot say enough about how incredible this program was for me. I think that the DNC alone had a big impact on the college students and young professionals in this area, or anyone who was involved for that matter! But what separates the DNC volunteer at Queens from any other volunteer is this class, COMM360. Almost anyone can go online and fill out an application to work at the DNC and while that may be fulfilling for some, Queens went above and beyond that, they created the ultimate communication experience.

            The professors running this course demanded our attention, which in turn was effortless with the shining speakers they brought in to educate us.  Since I am not a Charlotte native, I particularly enjoyed the sections of the panel that discussed the history of Charlotte. I also was very fond of the Charlotte Video Projects that showcased all the corks and glories that makes charlotte so special and unique from any other city.

            After all was said and done with the course, and we were pushed out of the Knight  School nest and into the high speed world that was the DNC I can confidently say that I was not the only student on a Charlotte high! The course put the convention into perspective for me. Not only was this a national convention for the Democratic Party, but to its host it was a celebration- a celebration of Charlotte.

-Adair Kennedy 

The International Junior Golf Academy

           It’s that time of year again.  It’s your fall semester of your senior year and you are getting more excited by the day to graduate high school.  Your graduation party has been planned, your graduation money gifts are rapidly coming in the mail and you already can’t wait to go back to school next fall as a big freshman in college.  Today, that’s the norm for students.  Not for me.

            Being a very young graduation high school senior, I had a different route I wanted to take before heading to a University.  Golf is something I wanted to do in college and I wanted to make sure my game was sharp enough coming into what ever college I chose at the time to make a direct impact on the team.  Back in my early high school days, my family would vacation down in Hilton Head Island, and on that island there was a world famous junior golf academy by the name of the IJGA.  This place had a reputation for developing junior golfers into some of the best high school players in the country.  At first, I would joke around with my parents about sending me to a school where golf was the priority.  They would look at me like I was some kind of fool.  However, as my golf got more serious and we found out there was a post-graduate program at the academy, my parents and I decided that this would be the rest route for me to take.  I was headed to the academy in 2008.

            As all my high school classmates went onto their various institutions, I was on my way to South Carolina to work on my golf game and ultimately sign with a school for the next 4 years.  At first, the academy was fun and I enjoyed it greatly.   Waking up at 7 Monday through Friday for a 3 hour practice, followed by a workout then back to the course in the afternoon to play was a great way to spend your days.  Until about November.  As you know, Minnesota is a cold cold place, and this year was the first year I was able to play golf, outdoors, all year round.  At first, I didn’t think me getting sick of the game I loved would ever come into factor, but the later it got in the year and the more early mornings I had to wake up began to wear on me.  I started to look forward to coming home more than practicing.  It took a lot of will power for me to continue, and when I came home for the holidays, deciding whether I wanted to come back for the spring semester was the top topic with my parents.  However, when I chose to come back, looking back on it now was one of the best decisions I have made.

            For northerners, coming down to Hilton Head to play golf literally all day every day is stressful, and like I said it took me a while to get used to it.  It was tough to realize it at the time, but the academy not only helps their kids become more accomplished golfers, but also stresses becoming more of a strong willed individual.  Looking back on it now, I learned more about myself off the golf course that I can take with me and use for the rest of my life than what I was taught on the range.  My advice to all IJGA’ers right now is to stay positive and to just keep on grinding.  I would go back and do it again in a heartbeat.

Until next time,

CJ DeBerg

Adoption in my Family

                                                       
      Three of my younger siblings came to be in my family through the miracle of adoption.  Jamie and Henry were both adopted from Guatemala and Rosie is adopted from Ethiopia.  I remember when my mom first told me they were thinking of adopting a baby.  She talked to me and my two sisters alone about the subject first, then we all sat down as a family to talk about it together with my stepdad.  I remember not entirely understanding what was going on at first.  The only thing I knew about adoption was what I learned from movies like Matilda and Stuart Little.

            After my mom and stepdad talked to me and my sisters about it we then had a therapist come and talk to us too.  It was part of something called a home study.  A home study is when the adoption agency does a background check on a family looking to adopt for the first time.  During a home study a therapist comes and meets any other members of the family and talks to them about the idea of adoption.  During the home study the agency also contacts close family and friends in order to get their view on the adoption. 

            My family chose to do a closed adoption which is when the birthmother is no longer in contact with the child she gave up for adoption.  When we went to pick up Jamie the entire family went.  It was me, my two sisters Mary and Lily, my mom, my stepdad, and my grandma.  We flew into Guatemala City and on the first day my mom and stepdad had to go to court to sign some paperwork.  On the second day Jamies foster mom brought him to the hotel so we could get him.  I remember when the elevator doors opened, we went over to hold him, and then just took him home.  It was amazing meeting my little brother for the first time and truly a moment i'll never forget.  

-Anna Kirwan 

Living and Loathing: Apartments 101

           There I was, standing over the dead body of my roommate’s pet hedgehog. Of course the one week out of the entire summer that my roommate went out of town, this wretched being had to bite the dust. At the time, the death of this glum creature seemed like a decent reflection of how our “perfect summer” actually played out. Leaving the three of us utterly defeated.

           

            Before I get too deep into this, let us go back to the start of it all…

            At the end of my sophomore year, my two best friends, Anna and Mollie, and I all decided that instead of going home at the end of the semester we wanted to tough it out and live on our own for the summer in Charlotte. All of our parents agreed, under the condition that we must all have a job and were responsible for all financial obligations. We’re all tough, smart girls and we can do it. No problemo. Or so we thought…

            The first step was finding a job. Mollie had secured a job with a local big shot music management group while I committed to a summer as a nanny. Anna hadn’t found a job yet, but she did find us a house pet, Dobby the hedgehog. The next step was finding a reasonably priced apartment. We looked around the city for the best deals but didn’t have much luck. Then our friend, Chad, came to us with a proposal. He was going home for the summer and needed someone to finish out his lease. The place seemed perfect. The price was so low for the summer it was almost a steal! (..red flag) There were no contracts to sign or background checks needed. (red flag) And, although North Tryon (RED FLAG) wasn’t our first choice in location, we could make it work. After all we are college students, so we’re supposed to live like we’re broke and in shackles….right?!

            So the day finally came that we moved into our very first apartment! We were all on cloud nine, floating high and the world could not be a better place when - (*GASP*)

            “Oh, is this our place…?” 

            We all took a moment to take it in. No, it was not exactly as we remembered and yes, it did look a little sketchier than we had imagined, and yes, all of the neighbors are staring, and well, most do not speak English - but we told ourselves that we can do anything. We won’t let the condition or ware and tear of the place get to us. We are three strong, young, beautiful women and we can do this! 

            Two weeks, five roaches, ten nasty looks by the neighbors, one keyed car, and one TERRIFYING run-in with the Hidden Valley Gang King (luckily it was non-threatening) and goodness, we were out of there! So the search for an apartment began again.

            By now Mollie was working full time at her company. My employer had recently been laid off and therefore no longer needed a Nanny, and Anna…well she was still looking for that summer job. After several long days, Anna and I finally found a reasonable apartment. This apartment was on the opposite side of the city - South. In fact, we were so far south we were practically throwing distance away from South Carolina. This time we knew our neighbors, the community was lovely and our landlord was as nice as could be. Things were really looking up and we settled very nicely into our new place.

            It wasn’t long after we were settled into our new place when the serious “first world problems” started to happen. First we were trying to get cable, then water, then electricity, and of course the Keriug broke followed by two of us totaling our cars. Finally, the cherry on top occurred when that poor little hedgehog died. Mollie and I had the pleasure of disclosing this news to Anna, much to her dismay and shrieking cries. Despite all of this difficulty and disaster, we learned what it meant to live on our own in a crash course sort of apartment experience. I have to say that I’m actually thankful for this time, and even came to appreciate the sometimes-questionable cafeteria food at school after having my own horrific cooking experiences– we almost burnt down our lovely apartment multiple times. All in all, my time spent on Winter Oaks Lane was both memorable and enlightening, and I will never forget the time spent and lessons learned with my roommates Mollie and Anna. 




-Adair Kennedy