American Idols? | Teen Ink

American Idols?

May 11, 2009
By unearthlyhaphazard GOLD, N/A, New York
unearthlyhaphazard GOLD, N/A, New York
15 articles 0 photos 176 comments

Favorite Quote:
"There are three rules for writing the novel. Unfortunately, no one knows what they are."~W. Somerset Maugham


Looked at your spending lately? Well, what have you spent the most money on? If you lived in Woodrow Wilson’s family, you’d have spent the most money on, not clothes, but books! Do you ride on horseback constantly? If so, you might have been a great friend of Calvin Coolidge, who rode a mechanical horse almost every day. Trying to find a gift for someone special? Ask Jimmy Carter, who made his wife Rosalind sign the letters I.L.Y.T.G (I love you the goodest) to him. Appalled? This is just the beginning.
LIVE ME SOME LIFE!

Presidents, even though all of them except for George Washington lived in the White House, led their own private lives. However, that didn’t mean that they always lived it normally.

1 in 10 people are left-handed, and it’s even rarer to find ambidextrous people. Our 20th president was one of them. James Garfield was multilingual, too, and was able to write with one of his hands in Greek, while simultaneously writing in Latin with his other hand. How come I can’t do that?

Do you like staying up stringing decorations, yelling at caterers, and writing out gazillions of invites for a party? Unfortunately, presidents didn’t have a choice. Were their parties always that awesome? Er, no. Take James Know Polk. At his parties, the following weren’t allowed: music, alcohol, and dancing. Care to join me in turning down his invite?

We’ve had presidents since April 30, 1789, when Washington took office, so presidents didn’t always have TV, computers, and i-Pods. When Benjamin Harrison and has family installed electric lights, they were too afraid of getting shocked, so they never turned them off! Have you ever heard of wasting electricity, Ben?
HOBBIES, ANYONE?

No matter who or where you are, everybody has hobbies to while away time!
Gambling is ILLEGAL- unless you’re over eighteen, that is, which is why many adults gamble. Presidents were adults, right? They gambled, especially Warren G. Harding, who has a rep for being our worst president. He once bet all the White House china on a deck of cards. Reckless? Totally. Especially since he lost. Tough luck, buddy!

Any of you play a sport? If you were Harry S. Truman, you wouldn’t have been able to, as Harry wore thick, expensive classes as a child. Sports were definitely off-limits. Don’t feel too bad for him, though. He became exceptionally talented at playing the piano, and even thought about becoming a concert pianist.
WE LIKE THIS!

You probably know your best friend’s favorite color, food, song, book, store, etc. Did you know a few presidential favs?

Girls are usually the fashionistas, right? Not in this case. Chester Alan Arthur was fashion crazy. He had more than eighty pairs of pants (think about all the laundry!) and changed clothes several times a day. No wonder his nickname was “Elegant Arthur”.

All of us have that one special food that we know we shouldn’t eat, but we do anyway. For Ronald Reagen, it was jelly-beans. He always tried to save the coconut ones for himself! He has my empathy.


When it comes to quirks, the presidents have done it all! Well, it makes sense if you think about it. They rule the country; they should rule this, too!

The author's comments:
We all think of presidents as heroes. But are they? Are they really?

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This article has 12 comments.


on Aug. 8 2009 at 12:20 am
unearthlyhaphazard GOLD, N/A, New York
15 articles 0 photos 176 comments

Favorite Quote:
"There are three rules for writing the novel. Unfortunately, no one knows what they are."~W. Somerset Maugham

TheUnknownGuest, I really appreciate that you've commented on everything I've written. Thanks a ton!!!

on Aug. 8 2009 at 12:00 am
unearthlyhaphazard GOLD, N/A, New York
15 articles 0 photos 176 comments

Favorite Quote:
"There are three rules for writing the novel. Unfortunately, no one knows what they are."~W. Somerset Maugham

Thanks a million, TheUnknownGuest! It was kind of tough looking up the habits but luckily, I had this book on had. My teacher graded it out of a 100, but she took off points because my intro wasn't broad enough and I spelled something wrong. But it was OK, because she was right.

on Aug. 7 2009 at 6:08 pm
TheUnknownGuest GOLD, Woodbridge, Virginia
14 articles 4 photos 110 comments

Favorite Quote:
I can't remember it clearly, but it went something like this:

"The past is the past, the future is the furture. But now, now is like a gift, which is why it is called present."

Wow! you probably looked up many things for this to be possible! I agree with your comments!! Did you get an A? I hope so!! If not... than... well that'd be weird cuz of how awesome it is!!

on Aug. 5 2009 at 5:46 pm
unearthlyhaphazard GOLD, N/A, New York
15 articles 0 photos 176 comments

Favorite Quote:
"There are three rules for writing the novel. Unfortunately, no one knows what they are."~W. Somerset Maugham

*Takes a bow* Thanks a lot, tigeress3!!!

on Aug. 5 2009 at 3:53 pm
tigeress3 PLATINUM, Dayton, Ohio
35 articles 0 photos 78 comments
You've given the reader a new outlook on presidents! I applaud you!

on Jul. 30 2009 at 12:35 am
unearthlyhaphazard GOLD, N/A, New York
15 articles 0 photos 176 comments

Favorite Quote:
"There are three rules for writing the novel. Unfortunately, no one knows what they are."~W. Somerset Maugham

Thanks, SaraB.! This was actually an English assignment (we had to do a feature article), and all the facts were all over the place, until my teacher told me that I had to connect it. I'm glad I finally worked that out! So, once again, thanks a lot!

SaraB. GOLD said...
on Jul. 28 2009 at 11:28 pm
SaraB. GOLD, Phoenix, Arizona
12 articles 6 photos 215 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Whatever you are, be a good one" Abraham Lincoln

This is really interesting. People always think of presidents as these important, semi-boring people, but you presented these random facts in a way that makes them seem more normal... if that's what you want to call it. lol. And actually, nonfiction can definately have opinions (unless you made up the opinion, then it's fiction.) Opinions are just not facts. Keep writing!

on Jun. 9 2009 at 6:53 pm
unearthlyhaphazard GOLD, N/A, New York
15 articles 0 photos 176 comments

Favorite Quote:
"There are three rules for writing the novel. Unfortunately, no one knows what they are."~W. Somerset Maugham

Katelyn (can I call you that? Please let me know if you wouldn't like me to), you have to idea how much it means to me. My friends aren't really interested in commenting on my writing that much, so thank you, thank you, thank you. Oh, my poems came out. Here are the links, if you want to check them out:

TeenInk.com/raw/Poetry/article/113921/Half-Alive/

TeenInk.com/raw/Poetry/article/113922/Suspended/

TeenInk.com/raw/Poetry/article/113923/Why-Not/



See ya!



~unearthlyhaphazard

on Jun. 7 2009 at 10:48 pm
hey_itskatelyn PLATINUM, Willis, Texas
21 articles 0 photos 217 comments

Favorite Quote:
“God, of your goodness, give me yourself; you are enough for me, and anything less that I could ask for would not do you full honour. And if I ask anything that is less, I shall always lack something, but in you alone I have everything”

continued from the 1st comment that got cut off:

I learned sooooo much from this article. It was a super great idea. I think you should definately keep writing! Great work and keep it up!!!! :)

-Katelyn H

on Jun. 7 2009 at 6:18 pm
unearthlyhaphazard GOLD, N/A, New York
15 articles 0 photos 176 comments

Favorite Quote:
"There are three rules for writing the novel. Unfortunately, no one knows what they are."~W. Somerset Maugham

Thanks so much, pinkvolleyballgirl! You're comments are totally right. I'll remember to keep them in mind if I decide to write another article like this again. (It was actually an English assignment.) I actually have submitted a couple of poems, but they're still under review. I'm working on a story to submit right now. I'll let you know when they get posted. And, once again, thanks a million!

on Jun. 4 2009 at 11:40 pm
hey_itskatelyn PLATINUM, Willis, Texas
21 articles 0 photos 217 comments

Favorite Quote:
“God, of your goodness, give me yourself; you are enough for me, and anything less that I could ask for would not do you full honour. And if I ask anything that is less, I shall always lack something, but in you alone I have everything”

Oh and if you have any questions, email me at vballk8lyn at yahoo dot com.

on Jun. 4 2009 at 11:38 pm
hey_itskatelyn PLATINUM, Willis, Texas
21 articles 0 photos 217 comments

Favorite Quote:
“God, of your goodness, give me yourself; you are enough for me, and anything less that I could ask for would not do you full honour. And if I ask anything that is less, I shall always lack something, but in you alone I have everything”

Hey uneartlyhaphazard! Thanks for commenting on my poem! I think you should write some poetry...Maybe try something really creative. This was good. I do have some suggestions:) When you are writing something nonfiction, try to avoid using first person (me, i, we). Its just more professional. There are no opinions in nonfiction writing. Keep that in mind. But in poetry and fiction, go for it!!! I do like all of the random facts in this article, i learned sooo much!!! Keep up the good work!!!!