I had the official dance recital on Saturday and it went awesome! My parents both said it was probably the best one they had been too, and I felt like I did good. No major mistakes, and every dance went pretty well, so I was happy with myself. I can't wait until the DVD comes out so I can actually see how well or bad it went, haha.

But I'm pretty proud; this first year of dance, or HipHop, at the studio definitely has left an impact and a great impression. I couldn't have invested more fun or time into somewhere or something else. Once apart of the family like dance studio, they welcome you with open arms, and make you feel so much a part of the 'dancing family' it's awesome. Definitely looking forward to next year, even though I have to sit the first month out (due to that wonderful surgery here in a couple of weeks.)

If any of you parents have kids that are interested in dance, let me know! This place is REALLY great to get them involved, and they will be treated and taught with great interest. Expenses aren't at all bad, one class runs around $40 a month, and that class usually meets up about 4 or more times a month (usually once a week, but sometimes maybe an extra practice.)  Let me know, it's great place for them to grow up, learn some dance moves, and endure into a part of a great community!

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Tomorrow, you will notice a change when you log into your account and glance over at your "My Stuff" box in the top right corner of People section pages.  No longer will you see a huge profile picture and a bunch of big buttons leading to your profile manager.

Now, you will see a small profile pic next to your latest "friend update" (more on that in a sec), above the latest updates from your friends on the site and four "My Tools" buttons that drop down to reveal links to where you can add or edit content and manage other parts of your profile.

If you click the "Open My Inbox" button below your new friend updates, you'll go to the front page of your new Personal Inbox.  From here, you can manage everything your email notifications and friend invitations, as well as your friend updates.

If you use social networks like Facebook, you're familiar with the idea behind friend updates.  From your My Stuff box or from your Inbox, you can jot a short "update" about what you're doing that will be seen by others in their update feeds and on your profile page.  There are plenty of privacy options here too--you can choose to let anyone see your updates, to not use the udpate feature at all and turn it off, to let only those you've friended see your updates, or to choose specific people on your friends list to see your updates.

Apart from the update feature, you can also make other choices as to how you receive information from Bakersfield.com and from whom you receive information.  You can choose to receive emails from jsperber@raisingbakersfield.com--comment notifications, friend invitations, "send a message"s--in your email only, in your onsite inbox only, or both.  And you can also choose who can and cannot contact you via "send a message," guestbook messages, and blog comments, through the "blocked users" manager.

Check out our FAQ for these new features, explore around, try stuff out, and let us know when you have questions, concerns, or ideas.

Enjoy!

Ryan Pedigo
Web Technology Evangelist

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Before hitting high school, I felt like time went by a second at a time. Now it's like it goes by a year at a time. Going through high school and coming up to senior year was unbelievable. Then senior year itself was hardly memorable it went by so fast. Now I'm out of high school and all the friends that I have that are seniors are already graduating.

It makes it so hard for me to believe that a whole year ago this day, I would be walking across the stage tonight at 7pm. For many, you're probably like, "You're entirely still young." This is true, but if time keeps going by like it does, I won't be for much longer. And sadly, I don't think there is any way to slow it down. Friends and I have talked about it many times, and it's a depressing thought that already a year ago (seems like less then a month) it was our special night, we were in the spotlight, and we were turning to the next chapter of our life, which for many was college.

Now we're practically already in the middle of the chapter? It's like this chapters of our life aren't out of a Nicholas Sparks, or some other writers huge thick books, but out of a child's book. They seem to, now, just keep flipping right on through.

Growing up I always took for such granted when someone would say, "Enjoy life kid, because it's short," or "Have fun while it lasts." You know how kids give those wimpy smiles and then walk away; well I was one, and now I'm the one trying to tell younger friends, "Enjoy everyday all you can, because all this flies, and highschool is gone in no time." But them as well have no idea and don't seem to believe it.

I really didn't think about it much until the talk of the last day of school is here, or I passed my finals came. Of course at the end of the school years you hear it everywhere. Now when I hear it, it literally makes me stop and take a quick glimpse back through my memory of those memories I have through HS and especially graduation.

Anyhow, I definitely know 100% that many, if not all of you can relate. What a great superhero power that would be if you could stop time.

I want to give me congratulations to every kid, student, young adult that made it here in 2008, as well! What a great year it has been, I know for me, but my 2007 class will always be sitting here in the back of my head.

Being you are a resident here on Raising Bakersfield, you probably have or are going to have a kid shortly. For many it may be your first, for many you may already have experience.

For those that have experience, you may already settle along the lines of what I'm about to blog about: whether or not to allow your kids to endure sports or activites that are dangerous and over the boundaries of acceptable. Sports of these examples: motocross, go-karting, snowboarding, skiing, etc. you get the point of that. Basically the sports that aren't necessarily offered in school.

Now being the parent of your kids, of course you have the authority; but should they always be authoritized in subjects of trying different, dangerous sports. There are some parents that allow their kids to do these and support them through it; then there are also the ones that allow them to do it, but have no or very little support for them; and then there are the parents that just plain say no, stick to golf or something. :)

As for me, sadly I'm not much of a team player when it comes to sports. Why? Because I hate the feeling of letting someone down because of my mistakes, or having to rely on someone else. I don't totally avoid the fact of being on teams, but I do my best to stay clear of them as much as possible. Because of this, the activites/hobbies/sports I do today include: Golf, Motocross, Snowboarding/Skiing, and HipHop. Yes, there is that one, hiphop. Believe it or not, dancing is a team sport, unless done solo, but this is beside the point I'm trying to clear.

Now for me, none of these sports were necessarily my idea, but introduced to me by my parents (mostly my father, which is usual,) though I believe, if I chose to do something like this, there would be no negative reaction toward it; this including costs. My father was very true in being supportive and allowing me to do the activities I enjoyed (that were legal) to keep me steered away from those activities that no parent wants there kids to get involved.

Now these activities I am talking about are: drugs, drinking, gangs, violence, skipping school, and things along those lines. As we all know, this is heavy within our society today, and keeping the younger generation, your kids, out of these types of things is the struggle and goal in todays parenting. Within a teenagers prospective, I hope I can show you ways to do this, and what went through my mind when I came upon offerings of these things, or opportunities.

Like I stated before, my father was a very supportive person, not just to me but every single one of my friends. He was sometimes the first for one of my friends to go talk to. This is something that is very important for parents I believe, don't waive you child's friends off, but treat them as like you would your child. Make them feel comfortable, and be that parent that they don't mind come over or seeing. My father can now 'hang out' with my friends and I like one, because he has given them such a sense of secure and respective feeling.

Along with this, be active in your child's life. If they do dance, don't miss a recital, if they do football don't miss a game. As for me, my friends and I did motocross, and my father missed one race ever (that he was actually on his way out to;) but this is compared to the many races that I had done. 1 of over 100 races? Not bad. Sadly, it would be the first race that I ever won, and after all his hard work and dedication along with mine, he would miss that moment.

Having someone like him there with all his support and determination to have behind me was only a booster. After awhile, when I would make important, or even fairly important decisions, I would think about how it would effect my parents. Would they be ashamed or happy? Would they lost respect for me or gain more interest in me? This was true even through the many times I was offered an illegal substance or joining in on a 'wrong' action. Knowing after all he did for myself through motocross, the time, the dedication, and even the money (not even as important) that he did for myself, I could do one thing for him even if he didn't know about, and that was make the right decision.

Having these types of impacts on your child's life, on your child's friends life can definitely inspire and help the way they grow; and not only that, but they way his friends grow. It'll help with who they choose as friends, or what type of boyfriend/girlfriend they bring home. Activities like this can help with school, using it as a threat of being taken away if something isn't improved. In my case, 8th grade year my parents said I could only get a new motorcycle if I got straight A's. Believe it or not, I ended up graduating 8th grade with a 3.96 GPA; why not a 4.0, well one A just happened to have a minus or - behind it, which neglected me from the 4.0. First time in my life I ever got straight A's all because of this activity I loved to do, and the passion and support I received from my parents behind it.

Even though many of these activities cost some dollars, and can be time consuming, what's more resourceful? Having your kid ask to buy him new snowboarding boots, or having him ask for $20 bucks that some drug dealer will receive? Spending that time of yours watching him grow and mature through a sport with smiles, or hardly ever seeing them at all? Having a lifetime of strong, bonding relationships and great memories to always fall back on, or watching your kid walk out of your life once he turns 18?

Of course, this is all through my opinion and my experience, but if it wasn't for my parents presenting me the activities and life I live, not being someone my friends and I can lean on, or even not guiding me towards what my faith is today, I probably wouldn't be writing this today. I guess I somewhat exceeded and dragged across the lines of what I initially was trying to cover, but then again all of this is crucial and should be considered. Don't be too strict, that creates rebellion; allow them into the sports they want to try, dangerous or not. Trust me, my parents have visited the emergency room a couple times, but they didn't punish me because I got hurt, after all you can get hurt walking down the street or getting in your car. Try your best to accept and get to know their friends. And lastly, help them find what they believe in, what their faith is. Of course this is what they believe, but you are definitely the inspirer.

Hopefully this makes sense, and I didn't go on too long. There's a lot, and if I didn't come off quite clear let me know. I hope this does some justice for you!

I'm sure many here have been injured before, and taken the steps to having to attend the doctors office, and then being sent out to get x-rays or MRIs or something along those lines. Thing that sucks the most is, after you get those pictures or whatever done, you have that little waiting period to go back to the doctors office just for him to tell you how much you really are, I guess you could say, screwed?

As for me, I'm in the waiting process as of right now. I injured my knee about 3 weeks back, and finally was able to get to Dr. Hamilton. He had x-rays done in his office the same day, but the pictures showed no sign of major bone damage, just a little. So next step was sending me off to have MRIs. The next morning I got up early, wrestled through the lengthy, horrible process of lying in the round machine and listening to it's annoying noises. Then I was on my way again to wait through the dreadful next week of what kind of 'cure' the doctor has in store.

Well, my mom being a nurse, and I having the MRI place send her the results, I already know the expected outcome of the process, which I guess you could say makes it worse. I already know I have a torn ACL, broken fibula head, complex tear of the meniscus, joint effusion, and all the other good stuff; I just don't know the doctors idea of treating it. Being 19, I've already had 3 different surgeries to fix injuries somewhat like this, but more on the lines of broken bones. Many have already told me not to mess up my knees, and I already had knowledge of this. They've all said that it takes forever, or just never heals period.

So now it is somewhat the dreading process of going back in tomorrow morning, and then again the nervous and anxious feeling of what he has to say. I'm not sure if I want to get it over with, or secretly hide in a corner and just never go. I know I'll have to just to get it over, but I'm not sure of anyone wanting to hear the good ole "S" word, that has urgery followed after it.

I'm hoping if this is the case he will be allowing the postponement until after June 7, the reasoning being so I conclude my HipHop dance year with the year end recital at Bakersfield Harvey Auditorium (BHS). I understand dancing is probably not the best cure, but also the minimal movements that I do within it is no more then the amount of walking I do each day. I actually probably move my knee less in dance then I do walking up and down the stairs each day, or simply walking out to my car.

With all this said and done, just keep crossing my fingers and praying until I hear the real diagnosis. Who knows, maybe I'll get lucky, I guess I just have to be optimistic with an already busted up knee.