Tag Archives: Features

March 1, 2013 · 12:30 pm

Coming Home

By: Lucy Pruitt

Staff Reporter

Mary Kate Waldron Photo

TOGETHER AGAIN
Junior Mary Helen Peden is surprised during her 3rd block show choir class by her father Major Chris Peden, whom she had not seen in nearly a year.

After serving his complete deployment in Camp Arifjan, Kuwait, Major Chris Peden has returned his home of Hattiesburg, Mississippi. He is currently assigned to the 1184th Deployment Distribution Support Battalion in Mobile, Alabama. The group’s job is to facilitate the movement of cargo to and from a Seaport of Debarkation (SPOD). The SPOD is generally the point that all logistics from main battle tanks to food items enter the theater of operation to support an ongoing mission.

Major Peden’s training to deploy actually started in March of 2012. His unit went to Fort Dix, New Jersey, for three weeks to train on basic soldiering skills prior to actual mobilization. This training consists of marksmanship, land navigation, and combative skills. The group mobilized at Camp Shelby on April 16, 2012, and they went through the soldier readiness process (SRP). They then completed unit validation, which certified the soldiers to complete the mission at hand. The unit landed in Kuwait on May 9, 2012, where they were attached to the 595th Transportation Battalion. Many of the soldiers were deployed to Afghanistan, as well as the United Arab Emirates. Major Peden served as the Brigade S4 (logistics officer) providing oversight and planning to the 595th Transportation Brigade and all subordinate units. The unit completed its mission and left Kuwait on February 3, 2013.

Upon returning home, the idea to surprise his daughter, Mary Helen Peden, of his arrival was proposed by his wife, Cindy, and the youth minister of Heritage United Methodist Church, J Nelson. Though Peden knew her father was planning to come back home soon, she did not know he was intending to come to the school. Then on February 5 Major Peden arrived at the school during Peden’s third block show choir class. Little did she know she would be interrupted in the middle of her class to see her father for the first time in a year. She knew her dad was coming home but had no clue as to when she would actually see him. Peden’s mother kept the date a secret from her.

The year without her father was a difficult time for Peden. “The hardest part of him being overseas was the separation and not being together as a family,” she said. There were multiple holidays, celebrations, and traditions that were not as family oriented because of his absence, such as her birthday, church events, Oak Grove and MSU football seasons, Thanksgiving, and Christmas.

“I was so happy and relieved to know he was home,” she said. “I love my dad, and I was concerned for his safety.”

“We were both very excited about my coming home. As to who was more excited, I believe you could call it a tie,” Major Peden said.

This was Major Peden’s second and final deployment. His last deployment was also to Kuwait with the 1181st DDSB (Deployment Distribution Support Battalion) in 2009. He has plans to retire from the military in June of 2013. “My father had served in the army during WWII, and I felt that it was my patriotic duty to join the military to do my part. The military has provided a good opportunity to give back to my country,” Major Peden said.

Major Peden’s service in the United States Military is much appreciated by all. The Pedens’ story is just one of the many stories of Oak Grove students with family members serving in the military.

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December 14, 2012 · 1:30 pm

Quinn achieves dream, signs on to play softball for LSU

By: Samantha Papp

Staff Reporter

Constance Quinn, 17, first stepped onto a baseball field at the age of three and transferred to softball at the age of ten.  Quinn has now made the agreement to continue playing softball throughout her college career.

On November 13, Quinn formally signed her commitment to play softball for Louisiana State University.  Quinn is the first softball player from Oak Grove to sign with an SEC school, and this is an accomplishment that Quinn has dreamt of her entire career.  While the idea of playing for a prestigious softball team like LSU may be intimidating to some people, Quinn views the thought as encouraging.  “Knowing that I will be playing on a team that recently went to the World Series is exciting,” Quinn said. “To know that the coaching staff has interest in me and believes that I will be instrumental in the team’s success gives me faith in myself.”

Throughout her softball career, Quinn has been awarded a multitude of honors. Among these honors are four Most Stolen Bases awards, two Most Valuable Offensive Player awards, Most Valuable Player 2011, All-Division player four times, All-State Player 2012, and Gatorade Player of the Year 2012.  Quinn also received the honor of playing in the 2011 Triple Crown Sports All-Star game, which aired on ESPN.

Although Quinn has no difficulty attaining awards, she admitted that attending LSU was not an effortless accomplishment.  Instead of spending her time sitting at home, Quinn took the initiative to practice and work out by herself.  “I’ve had to practice and pray about it every day.  I worked on my techniques and mechanics, and I mentally prepared myself,” Quinn explained.

Quinn has overcome numerous adversities throughout her recruiting journey.  “I’ve been in slumps, and sometimes my focus wasn’t on the correct thing,” Quinn said.  “I knew there was a reason for my being in a certain situation, and that God wouldn’t put me under anything I couldn’t handle. I prayed and asked God for His help.”

While numerous other opportunities were available, Quinn explained that she has never wanted to attend any school aside from LSU.   Quinn has been on numerous unofficial visits to the school, beginning her freshman year.  “One visit, the recruits and I were watching a sports highlight video from one of the games, and butterflies hit me,” Quinn said. “I knew then that LSU was exactly where I needed to be. I have definitely achieved my dream by going to LSU.”

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November 9, 2012 · 12:30 pm

Baseball, softball players bat against breast cancer

PLAYING FOR A CAUSE
Senior Payton Sheffield explains her senior project and introduces breast cancer survivor Donna Stanley to throw out the first pitch at her ‘pink’ softball game. | Photo by Mary Kate Waldron

By: Taylor Parsons

Staff Reporter

Payton Sheffield grew up playing softball. “When I was little, I used to watch all these ‘pink’ games, and I’ve known since middle school that I wanted to do one,” Sheffield said. A pink game is a softball game which is used as a fundraiser for Breast Cancer Awareness. The $372 made from Sheffield’s game, which was held October 29, went to the National Breast Cancer Foundation. The first pitch was thrown by breast cancer survivor, Donna Stanley. Before Stanley threw the pitch, Sheffield said, “You always had a smile on your face; thank you for that.” From there, the game began.

Boys and girls went head-to-head in a softball game with a trophy of bragging rights, lead by the competitive boyfriend/girlfriend duo of Jansen Bounds and Samantha Papp. Although Papp predicted a terrible loss to the boys’ team, everyone came out, knowing it was only a game, with a goal of raising funds, support, and awareness.

Both boys and girls showed off their pink wear. Girls sported pink glitter war paint and a variety of pink headbands, bows, and ribbons. The boys, unexpectedly, took an even more feminine approach. Ryan Cone dressed up his game t-shirt with a hot pink sports bra on the outside, complimented by pink zebra-print leggings, and Kirk McCarty decked out his jersey with tiny pink shorts and white tights. This game was one with style.

Commentary was provided by the witty pair of Andrew Adams and MacAlister Parker. While Adams and Parker took their swings of the bat for the boys team, Kirk McCarty took over the commentary. From there, the honor of commentary was passed to John Addison Ford, who took it upon himself to report his game findings from sitting behind second base.

Although the commentary microphone switched from reporter to reporter, the title for MVP of the girls’ team sits rightfully in Kristen Martin’s hands. “We were all really there to have fun,” Martin said. Martin is a regular on the softball field, and that certainly came in handy in the game.

Contrary to Papp’s initial bet, the girls came out with a 24-18 win over their scantily clad opponents. “I love how I can remind Jansen whenever I want that my team won, but then again, he got me out, so I can’t brag too much,” said Papp. Bounds responded, “It was a tough loss, but we all had fun, and that’s all that matters.”

Payton Sheffield’s Pink Softball game was a hit among students and parents alike. In the words of Kristen Martin, “We were doing something beneficial for those who have or had breast cancer, and we had so much fun doing it.”

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· 12:30 pm

SISTER, SISTER: Senior-freshmen Sibling Dilemmas

by: Lucy Pruitt

Staff Reporter

For most high schoolers, freshman and senior years are the most exciting. But for some freshman, like me, it’s even more fun because he/she has a senior sibling. Having a sister who is at a completely opposite side of the high school spectrum is really interesting and helpful at times. Because she has already successfully completed most of her high school career, she often helps me decide what I should do or be involved in, or at least tries to influence me.

Cartoon drawn by Andrew Adams

My sister Caroline and I have always looked alike, but now more than ever. I get stopped by teachers all the time in the hallway asking how I played in the volleyball game last night or if I did well on a test. Some of them don’t even realize that I am not my sister until after I tell them. I have had many of the teachers my sister once had, so I am very accustomed to being called Caroline at school. When I know that my sister is not around, or that no one named Caroline is around, I typically end up responding to it as if they had said Lucy.

Having a senior sister has many perks. One of them was knowing when Senior Roll Night was. I was able to stay up until the seniors came to throw mounds of toilet paper all over my yard. When the parade of cars came that night, my dad and I turned on the sprinkler system in the front yard to watch the seniors run, soaking wet, to their cars, my sister being one of them. I viewed this experience as a jumpstart to high school.

Having my sister in high school with me also has its low points, such as my reliance on her for transportation. On the day of the Petal game, my sister was charged with the incredible responsibility of taking me home. I ran to the parking lot because she told me she was running out early because she had to be home quickly. When I got to her empty parking spot, I stood in the middle of it and looked around for her car, but it was nowhere in sight. She had forgotten me. What was worse, though, was how she didn’t even realize she had forgotten me until she was halfway home and I was calling her. By the time she was leaving the parking lot with me, she ended up being near the last to leave. For the record, she did apologize.

My sister often shares with me how her friends always tell her that I have absolutely no concept of seniority. Because these seniors are always around me, I really consider them my friends, too. My sister lets me tag along sometimes when she and her friends go see a movie if I have nothing else to do. When people my age order me to do something and expect me to do it without question, I refuse.  So why should it be any different if you are a few years older? Although, I’m sure when I’m a senior, I will completely disagree.

Contrary to popular belief, having a senior sister did not make my first days of high school much less scary. It did help to see some of “our” friends in the hallway give me comforting looks, but it didn’t help at all when she yelled “FRESHMAN!” in my ear and pushed me into a wall during the second week of school. I wasn’t offended by it. My friends were laughing so hard anyway, I couldn’t help but yell back “JERK!” High school wasn’t nearly as scary as everyone told me it was going to be. People said the seniors would be big and mean, but they just seem a couple of years older. Maybe that’s just because I knew a lot of them.

I love having a senior sister. It’s an ongoing joke in my family that Caroline paved the way for me in high school, and she probably did. But either way, it has always been nice to be the baby sister, as long as she refrains from doing something really dumb in second semester that would leave me to blame.

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· 12:30 pm

Changes in latitude: Life outside of continental USA

By: Katie Williams

Staff Reporter

Americans have a tendency to forget that there is an entire world beyond the continental United States. Every service we could possibly need is provided. We also fail to see any cultural differences, even though the United States is made up of people of all cultures. At one point or another, our ancestors had to immigrate.

“The biggest difference between America and the Ukraine would have to be the way people act. Americans are a lot friendlier. Ukrainians tend to be more serious; they don’t joke around,” Nikolay Drake, sophomore from the Ukraine, said. Although Olivia Diaz, freshman, lived in Hawaii, she says there are several unique cultural differences. “For your social studies class, you take Hawaiian history. It is similar to how we have Mississippi Studies,” Diaz said.

Also, we often forget about how easy we have Americans have it.  Hailey Ainsworth, sophomore, lived in Ecuador and remembers all of the poverty near the city of Quito. “I would watch people carry jugs of water around. The water wasn’t clean either. My family had to filter it before we drank or cooked anything,” she said.

The United States is a country built on freedom, and the opportunities for success are almost limitless. The public education system is what makes the opportunities possible. “America provides a way for you to get a really good education and go to college. Here, you can have a really good future.” Drake said.

Mikayla Jordan, freshman, spent part of her childhood in Germany, because her dad was a part of the military. “There are some significant differences between Germany and the United States. I remember how clean Germany was, and if your yard and other property were not well-kept, you were frowned upon.” Jordan said. “I also loved how Germany had more distinct seasons.  Summer was hot and winter was cold.”

Although there is entire world beyond the United States, America still has traits and opportunities that appeal to people of other countries.

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October 12, 2012 · 1:30 pm

Goodbye stress hello success

By: Lucy Pruitt

Staff Reporter

Being successful in school requires hard work, determination, and motivation, but sometimes doing everything needed to feel successful can bring overpowering stress. So, the question is, how do we do everything and still stay sane?

Freshman Lauren Pitts, athlete, accelerated student, and avid club member, tells us her way to stay calm, cool, and collected. “When I get stressed, I listen to music,” Pitts said. “It really relaxes me.” Pitts is involved in many different activities in the Hattiesburg area. These include being on the Oak Grove High School varsity soccer and junior varsity volleyball teams, Fellowship of Christian Athletes, Beta Club, Mu Alpha Theta, and U-15 girls Hattiesburg Futbol Club soccer team.

Pitts’s schedule is never ending. Her fourth block in school is soccer, so on any normal Monday or Wednesday, she goes from school soccer to school volleyball to club soccer to finishing up school work late at night. Her volleyball games are typically on Tuesdays and Thursdays; because of this, she has to cut out her club soccer on volleyball game days. On Fridays, she starts the day with FCA and ends with OG volleyball.

“My mom thinks I’m never home,” Pitts said.

In addition to juggling clubs and activities, Pitts also excels in academics. She has never made lower than an A on a report card and is in two accelerated classes.

Stress in teens is typically caused by disorganization and lack of time to relax because of a busy schedule. Knowing where everything you need is and being able to locate it easily is a great way to decrease your stress. “I try to keep things in the same place by having certain places for certain things,” Pitts said.

With a crazy schedule, Pitts doesn’t have much time to relax, so she does everything she can to make her life less stressful. “I don’t have much time to just chill,” Pitts said. “Sometimes I just feel like quitting, but when I do, I look around and try to find someone who will push me to be a better person or player.”

Finding motivation in everything you do can help you get through the stressful times. “My motivation is competition. It’s fun to compete in practices and games.”

Different things make different people stress out. Some people may seem to not stress at all. Maybe your way to de-stress is listening to music, too, or maybe taking bubble baths and drinking herbal tea works. You might try lots of different activities before you find the right one. Organization, motivation, and your own way to de-stress can help you say goodbye to stress and hello to success.

SPORTS, SCHOOLWORK, AND STRESS
Freshman Lauren Pitts balances academics and athletics by staying calm both in the classroom and on the field. | Photo by MARY KATE WALDRON

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· 1:30 pm

Culinary Arts serves up scrumptious servings of success

By: Olivia Diaz

Staff Reporter

Oak Grove is making room for a new and delicious class this year: Culinary Arts. This class offers more than just hands-on cooking experience; students in Debbie Miller’s class are expected to work on group and independent skills with the course curriculum presented to them. It’s a course that can be taken in one semester or in one year. No matter how a student completes it, Culinary Arts is worth two credits. This year, three block classes are in Culinary Arts I, and first and second block classes last until Christmas, whereas third block class lasts all year. When the next year rolls into play, these students will be able to take Culinary Arts II for one semester. The state requested and voted for the course, and the class was soon added as an elective at OG.

“The Career Technical ‘umbrella’ wrote a proposal saying, ‘we need this Career Technical program in Lamar County’,” Miller said. “So, the state researches, comes down, and looks at the center in Purvis and here.”

As far as culinary experience goes, this first-year teacher has been working for Lamar County since 1999 as a bookkeeper. Miller’s cause for this was that she had the proper qualifications for a restaurant internship; this was the steady path she was approaching. If that weren’t enough, she was sent to Birmingham by the state and is expected to train there for two more summers.

Aside from her gained experience, Miller is inspired by her admirable former director from the Career and Technical Center in Purvis, Rita Bush. Bush told Miller that she was required to take the ACT test for this new teaching certification.  This was something she had never had to worry about before since she suitably remained a hard-working wife and mother and never bothered to continue her education any further as an adult. She had her doubts about scoring high enough. But luckily after taking the test, Miller did great and was able to continue her certification process.

One major project required in Culinary Arts class this year involves teamwork and creativity in recipes. Students are split into two groups and are expected to cook an appetizer, an entree, and a dessert. A menu is required in each group, and students buy the ingredients they need for their recipes. Three judges are added in the mix as well, and this whole project will teach culinary students how to enhance and spread their recipe ideas beyond the platter.

However, this isn’t the only task students are expected to complete. Curriculum notes are taken, posters are designed, Power Points are created, and much more. In addition to cooking, students learn safety and management skills. Miller teaches her students about safety expectations, such as those involving fire safety, class expectations, and lab expectations.

Miller’s favorite part about the course is her students. She enthusiastically takes each and every one to heart and believes that they are wonderful, generous, and respectful. Miller firmly believes that they are concerned for each other and have grasped the tasks they are given. It’s no surprise that most of her students seem to feel the exact same way about her.

“Ms. Miller is very positive, and she’s always got a smile on her face,” junior Lucy Robinson said. “I thought that she would be stricter, but she’s definitely more easy-going. She’s a great teacher.”

Robinson, along with fellow student Dakota Donohue, is  interested in learning or continuing to work on cooking. Robinson had a job at the restaurant Spicy Pickle and has worked at Canebrake as a hostess. Donohue is working at the restaurant Cotton Blues. Both will have been exposed to the different aspects of cooking and running a restaurant.

“Culinary Arts is more than just cooking,” Donohue said. “It’s safety and management too.”

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October 11, 2012 · 12:56 pm

Music Review: The Killers

By: Elizabeth Lee | Staff Reporter

 I’ve always been a lukewarm fan of The Killers; like everyone else, I’d sing along about the mysterious androgynous boyfriend brought into question in “Somebody Told Me” and turn up the volume whenever the catchy intro to “Mr. Brightside” came on the radio, but I never took the time to check out their music any further—that is, up until about a year ago when I really discovered their music and fell in love. Now, as an avid fan of the band, I listen to their brand new album Battle Born and sum it up as, in brief, over-the-top and unoriginal, yet still likeable.

Power chords and retro drum patterns hint at influences from artists like Bruce Springsteen, and the cheesy, overly sentimental lyrics and all-around been-there-done-that feel of this new record is far from the band’s music I came to know and love in their first album, 2004’s Hot Fuss. So what happened? Sometime after the all-American anthems in 2006’s Sam’s Town and the playful tunes in 2008’s Day & Age, lead singer and songwriter Brandon Flowers’s fascinations with sentimentalism, ‘80s rock, and the struggles of the typical American love story melded together to form the modernized throwback rock album that is Battle Born.

Like every other Killers song, album, and lyric, there are plenty of references to the band’s hometown, Las Vegas, and the desert near which they grew up. The name of the album is even a reference to Nevada’s state flag. Allusions like the “lonely Esmeralda County line” and “Charleston Avenue outside the Starlight Motel” are The Killers’ trademarks and are added into the lyrics as often as possible.

“Flesh and Bone” is the album’s spectacular opener and easily the best track on Battle Born as well as one of the few that stays true to The Killers’ signature sound, reminiscent of Day & Age’s “Human.” Next up, lead single “Runaways’” opening line begins with the worn-out imagery of “Blonde hair blowin’ in the summer wind,” setting the tone for the rest of the record—clichéd and melodramatic but still somehow catchy and likeable. “The Way It Was” is a breakup song that sounds like it could have been a hit on the radio about 25 years ago. However, that illusion is shattered with the mention of modern technology on the ever-so-profound “Here with Me” (“Don’t want your picture/On my cell phone/I want you here with me”). The rest of the album changes pace from track to track. “From Here on Out,” an upbeat, laid-back song, sounds influenced by Tom Petty’s music. Other artists that seem to have inspired The Killers’ style on Battle Born are Bono, Elton John, and of course, the heaviest influence, Flowers’s idol, Bruce Springsteen.

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September 11, 2012 · 9:47 pm

Something new is brewing

By: Elizabeth Lee

Staff Reporter

Java Moe’s Coffee Company is Oak Grove’s newest and only drive-through coffee shop. Opened at the beginning of this past July by Oak Grove High School alumnus and former Warrior Beat editor Kent McCarty, his father Morgan McCarty, and Chuck Bennett, the shop has seen success that exceeded expectations. Since Seattle Drip closed earlier this year, the caffeine-

LOVE COFFEE, LOVE PEOPLE
Java Moe’s part-owner Kent McCarty greets his customers with a warm cup of joe.
Photo by MARY KATE WALDRON

driven community of Oak Grove has missed having a quick cup of coffee available in a convenient location, so they welcomed the new business with open arms; some customers have even shared that they drove all the way from the other side of Hattiesburg and beyond just to get a taste of Java Moe’s coffee.

In the weeks prior to Java Moe’s grand opening, social media was abuzz with anticipation. The Facebook and Twitter pages gained over 1,000 followers each before the shop’s windows even opened for the first time, and in return for their support on the internet, each follower was offered a special half-off deal for the entire menu on the day of the grand opening. “We have been really impressed and pleased with how good business has been since the shop opened,” Kent McCarty said.

Although Java Moe’s is a new business, its menu is certainly impressive, and the quality of the drinks is even said to rival a certain nationwide coffeehouse chain synonymous with overpriced lattes and snobby baristas (side note: Java Moe’s employees are the friendliest, sharpest, most skilled baristas around). When you stop by, be sure to check out the full menu including signature drinks like the Cinnamon Delight, Honeysuckle, Turtle, Dark or White Chocolate Mocha, and the best-selling Java Moe—white chocolate and caramel. These drinks can all be made iced, hot, or frozen, and coffee is available in the form of a latte, cappuccino, Americano, au lait, and regular drip coffee. Frappes are blended in a variety of flavors as well, and drinks like hot chocolate, real fruit smoothies, frozen lemonade, flavored iced tea, hot tea, and Chai tea are offered as coffee alternatives. Baked goods including blueberry and banana nut muffins, made-from-scratch lemon bars, and snickerdoodle, double chocolate chip, and oatmeal raisin cookies are delicious treats that Java Moe’s serves to complement your caffeine.

Located in the former Seattle Drip building off of Highway 98, Java Moe’s is open Monday through Friday from 5 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Saturday 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. Also, be sure to check out the second location, which will open in the next few weeks, in the other former Seattle Drip building in the Westwood Square shopping center parking lot in front of Oscar’s and Rite Aid, and like and follow Java Moe’s on Facebook and Twitter to receive updates like the drink of the week, special deals, and more.

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April 13, 2012 · 1:30 am

McCarty, Dysfuntion Junction continue entertaining readers

by: Anna Kate Baygents

Staff Reporter

When Kent McCarty graduated last year as a Valedictorian, Star Student, National Merit Finalist, and Hall of Fame recipient, most of his teachers and classmates expected him to achieve big things. As former editor of The Warrior Beat, it came as no surprise when one of these included writing. Last September, The Conservative Journal, a popular political blog, was looking to start a new project geared toward a younger audience and needed a writer for it. “I never thought I’d get it,” McCarty said, “but I took a chance and applied.” McCarty was chosen, and The Dysfunction Junction was born. While writing for The Warrior Beat, McCarty wrote a column following his personal series of unfortunate events entitled The Dysfunction Junction. So when trying to decide what to name his blog, he chose to carry over the catchy title “because the only thing more dysfunctional than my life is the

Kent McCarty shakes hands with Phil Bryant at the Governor’s Inaugural Ball. / Submitted Photo

American Government,” McCarty said. McCarty’s first article was a live blog following a GOP debate this past September. Since then, The Dysfunction Junction has grown immensely and has even been mentioned on The Huffington Post for GOP primary predictions as well as spotlighted on Red Alert, another young political blog. Most recently, McCarty joined the staff of The College Conservative, a blog written by college students from all over the country. However, McCarty doesn’t only blog about politics; he is also very involved. On January 10, McCarty attended the inauguration of Governor Phil Bryant where he was able to speak and shake hands with the Governor. A few weeks after, McCarty flew to Washington, D.C.,   to attend the Conservative Political Action Conference, or better known as CPAC. Speakers ranged from Ann Coulter to Herman Cain, yet Sarah Palin stole the show. “I’ve never seen someone so well-received by such a large crowd,” McCarty said. McCarty met Palin and Cain along with other “celebrities” Mike Huckabee, Rick Santorum, and Newt Gingrich. McCarty’s connection with Gingrich, however, didn’t end in D.C. At the beginning of March, McCarty received an email from Gingrich’s campaign stating that they were looking for a chairman for Lamar County, and he excitedly took the position. McCarty was responsible for setting out all of the Newt signs around the county and for calling voters and reminding them to place their ballots on Election Day. Gingrich did indeed win Lamar County. For this summer, McCarty has applied to intern for Mississippi representative Steven Palazzo in the U.S. House of Representatives. He should hear back from Rep. Palazzo’s office soon. McCarty attends the University of Southern Mississippi but has yet to declare a major. “I have so many things I want to do with my life,” McCarty said. “I’m still trying to narrow it down.”Although he doubts he’ll be a professional blogger, McCarty hopes to keep his blog up and running for as long as possible.

Facts about his blog:

700 subscribers

3,300 Twitter followers

1,000 daily visits

100,000 unique visitors

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