Sunday, November 27, 2016

MY MAD DREAM OF AN ESSAY

Remember that time you ate that spicy [potato] just before you went to bed on the night before the big [concert]?  Oh, that weird dream you had about the 2016 presidential election.  When you woke up you couldn't quite remember the [mad] details, but after reading "On Self-Reliance" and "A Sound of Thunder" it's all coming back to you now.

The dream started badly.  You were in line with your family at a [parking lot] waiting to be sent to [the Dentist].  Everywhere you looked there were posters of president-elect [Mr.Oooopsies], looking like a crazy [niffler] who could eat a whole [block of gold].   

Suddenly, there was Ralph Waldo Emerson telling you, "[What I must do is all that concerns me, not what the people think]." You realized that you have something to contribute to the world so you decided to [scream].  But it wasn't easy.  First you had to put on a fancy [band tee] and [purple hair] and then you had make a [time turner] to go back in time to the [public place] so you could convince people to learn about the candidates and the [political issue you care about most].

But right there in the [concert venue] there was a giant [Acromantula] and it started [yell] ing at everyone.  People started to [panic].  You grabbed a [microphone] from a nearby [dinosaur egg shop] and yelled [HEY LOSERS, LISTEN UP!!!!].  Everyone stopped and listened, so you kept going.

My speech:


Just think about how every little choice we make impacts us and our future in a great way. If you think your vote doesn't matter, you thought wrong. EVERY vote counts. If you decide to use your vote stupidly and vote for Harambe or not even vote at all, there would be one less vote for the candidate you have the least problem with! Then imagine all of the other people who think the same as you: "my vote doesn't matter." Then we would have a ton of people not voting and they still complain about the results. We all cause chain reactions. From deciding when to leave your house or to even staying home. If you left your house, you would probably come across several people and exchange some words which would cause either positive or negative impact. You could've made someone's day good or bad. Or if you decided to stay home that day you might have not been able to bump into someone who would have eventually become your best friend. You all probably still think this is a bunch of bolonga, but it's not! If I didn't get the history class I am in now, then I wouldn't have met my new friend, Carly. If I didn't wake up early every day for two years to go to school in a different city, I wouldn't have met my best friend. For example in a story I read called A Sound of Thunder, the main character, Eckles, travels back in time to hunt dinosaurs. He was supposed to stay on the path but he ended up stepping on a butterfly. What's the big deal of him killing a butterfly, you ask? When he went back to the future the election results were different. A tyrant won and in our case, it would be Mr.Oooopsies. Now I'm not sure if the reality we're in is "the original" one or not, but in any reality we're in, we all have choices to make that will impact society. Ralph Waldo Emerson was a genius. He wrote, "What I must do is all that concerns me, not what others think." and "Envy is ignorance, imitation is suicide". Society now a days look the same, wear the same things, listen to the same music, and even act the same. Even conforming to society can cause chain reactions. If you're not yourself, then you would probably not meet some genuine people who like you for you or even meet someone that you'll become close to. I aspire to become a nonconformist. I don't listen to much mainstream music/music that is currently popular unless I actually like it, I wear band tees/hoodies, I have fan accounts,  and I "obsess" over certain celebrities. That might be embarrassing to admit but, I'm really tired of caring.  Let me tell you about something that recently happened. I used to have really long hair my entire life. If I wore it in a ponytail, my hair would still be past my waist. For some reason this whole year I wanted to dye half of it purple. Okay I know this is long, but hear me out! I bleached and dyed half of my hair in June. I was SO happy!! However, whenever I went to a store or a public place, I would worry that all eyes were on me and thought I was getting judged. At the end of July, I started thinking about how everyone at school would think about my hair. It gotten so bad that i decided to cut it. My hair became the shortest it has ever been. I was so unhappy because I missed my long and now purple hair. When I got to school this year, I noticed everyone started dying their hair as well. I realized what I did was because of caring about what people think and now I'm regretful. Once my hair grows back, I do plan to dye it again and wear it proudly! Anyways to end this long rant, please consider voting. You'll probably think I'm mad but, I'm from the future. Before you think I'm more insane then I'm actually am, trust me when I say the Tyrant won! It's all  because all of you people who think your vote doesn't count! Everything we do causes a chain reaction. From each step you take or what you pick for dinner. Everything creates an impact. Let that sink in.  I'm going back to the future before you guys place me in looneyvill or this time turner stops. Thanks for listening! 

---------
In case anyone is wondering what a Niffler or a time turner is:

   

Saturday, November 26, 2016

Thanksgiving Break 2016

I'd say my week was pretty productive. Appointments, Chores, and errands galore.










I also visited my Nonna as much as possible. Thanksgiving wasn't the same without her home but I'm thankful that she's getting better. I barley had time for myself which resulted in me staying up late to text friends but I'm a night owl anyways. cx I did meet up with a friend of mine since middle school. I see her about once a year because she lives in Lompoc but we still text each other everyday. We both LOVE the Harry Potter series and we've been looking forward to Fantastic Beasts and Where to Them for a whole year.








I was squealing when the Warner Bros. Logo came on screen because I was so excited for the movie to start.😅 I can go on rambling about how good the movie was but this post would be VERY long haha. It was so good that I might see it again. Can't wait for the next movie in 2018!!!! I've also been doing homework whenever I get the chance. There was so much to do this week that it went by so fast! Needless to say, this break was well needed. My room is all organized now and doesn't look like I'm a hoarder, appointments are done, the Thanksgiving chaos is over, and homework/studying is a work in progress. It was nice to spend extra time with family and be reunited with old friends. Hope everyone has a great rest of the weekend!(:

Friday, November 18, 2016

Literature Analysis #3

"The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" by Mark Twain
(*May contain spoilers*)

1.What drew me to this book was that my dad kept telling me that I should read it because he enjoyed reading it. He knew I loved "To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee and said it kind of relates to that novel. I was a little hesitant at first because I would rather read things that I have on my reading list so I expected it to be an average book. What I expected wrong. I ended up loving it.

2. What got me going through the first 10 pages was the main character, Tom Sawyer. The story starts off with him being mischievous and quite funny. His personality was really interesting and I think that contributed to why I didn't put the book down.

3. I finished the book pretty fast. Everytime I had free time(even if it was just for a few minutes), I would grab the book and start reading. Like when I got to a class early or finished an assignment early.

1. Tom sawyer is a mischievous boy who lives with his half brother, Sid, and his aunt Polly. Tom gets into trouble ALL THE TIME. As punishment his aunt would make him do work like whitewashing the fence. Instead of doing the work, he would trick his friends into doing it for him. Kind of like reverse psychology. If Sid did something wrong, Aunt Polly would still get Tom introuble because sje just asumed he did it. Tom goes out with a new kid named Becky and they are together until Becky finds out Tom liked another girl before her so they break up. One thing that happend was Tom and his friend, Huckleberry, were at a graveyard and they saw someone kill Dr. Robinson. As they run away beacause they were frightened, the whole town thought that they too were dead. He ends up going to his funeral and testifies against the murderer in court but the murderer escaped the courthouse. Tom tries to get back together with Becky. Tom and Huckleberry find the murderer, Injun Joe, who is trying to bury treasure. Tom and Becky get lost in a cave for days after a school picnic. Then the story ends with Tom and Huckleberry finding the treasure.

2. I don't think there is just one theme to this book. Adventure is a really big theme in the book because Tom seems to be always sneaking out at night or exploring somewhere with Huckleberry. Another theme could be rebellion because he always breaks the rules everywhere from home, school, Sunday School, etc. Friendship is an important theme aswell because Tom and Huckleberry become really close and a reason why is they feel like sort of outcasts of their families so they relate to each other and go on lots of adventures.

3. I think the tome of the novel is nostalgic. The way the author wrote every single detail of Tom is like that he had many things in common with Tom when he was a kid. The author is looking back at his childhood and remembered  how he is like and the memories he has.

4. Diction/Syntax: This novel was published in 1876 so the diction and syntax is really true to that time frame. That means that no one speaks that way anymore so it can be hard to understand what is happening sometimes.

In conclusion, I really enjoyed everything about the book. I like how the boys have a great sence of imagination. I would recomended this novel to anyone who doesn't know what to read next. I know it's old and it may come across as boring, but a least give it a chance. It's a classic. :)

Thursday, November 17, 2016

About Yesterday's Discussion.......

Yesterday's descussion was truly mindblowing that I'm still thinking about it now. The fact that there is multiple realities until we observe something is hard to wrap my brain around. Like how the Cat is both dead and alive when they are placed in a box with a food pill and a posion pill. It's crazy to think that my backyard isn't there until I open the door. For a while now, whenever I let my mind wonder, I think about how this reality isn't the only reality. Like there are multiple realities where the world is completely different in each of them. Have you ever thought to yourself while looking at your reflection in a mirror that your reflection could be from an alternate universe? Kind of the same concept. Think about it, each of us would be doing something completely different in each of those "realities" and be living in a different kind of world. What if there are infinite realities? Why do we have to think that the reality that we're living in is the only one? What if Eckles "reality" was already warped a few times? We don't know because we weren't given that information so we automatically thought the reality he was living in was the "original" one. Yesterday we also brought up the topic of time travel. Recently I've been very interested in something called Mandela Effects. The definition is: a collective misremembering of a fact or event. I found out about them because of a person that I'm subscribed to on youtube. Some Mandela Effects are:
people remember Kit-Kat not Kit Kat or Chic-Fil-A not Chick-fil-a.
Have you heard of a kid's book about bears? Others(like me) remember it asThe Berestein Bears. Now it's known as The Berestain Bears.


I remembered this show as Looney Toons NOT Looney Tunes! I remember thinking looney toons like cartoons. Chuck E. Cheese not Chuck E. Cheese's.
Anyways long story short:there is a theory that these misrememberings exist is become Time traveling exists in the future. Every time people go back in time and mess even a little thing up, there is gling to be a ripple effect and some things change. This is why Eckles could only stay on the path and why when he steped on the butterfly, everything changed when he went back to the future or maybe why if you kill dinosaurs there would be no chickens. Just something to think about.(:

Wednesday, November 16, 2016

My Vignette In Time

I remember when I got my dog. I was 10 years old and so eager to finally be getting my first puppy. My parents and I walked into the place were we could choose which dog to take home with us. There were many puppies that were the same breed:shih tzu. I was content at the sight of how many puppies there were. There was about 10 not including the mom and dad. When I first steped into the room, a puppy came up to me and gestured me to hold her. She was different from the other dogs who ignored us. I choose her. Sometimes I wonder if I still would've picked her regardless if she walked up to me or  not. A lot of things would have changed if that didn't happen and I'm really glad it did.
I feel kind of weird that I'm writing about when I first got my dog but it's a special day in my time line. The saying "Dogs are a man's best friend" applies to me. :)

Sunday, November 13, 2016

AN EARTH SHATTERING FART

When I read that there was dinosaurs in this article I got a bit excited. I also liked the idea of time travel because I find that really interesting especially the part where they said if the election didn't go as planned they would use the time machine. I wish I had a time machine so I could change the election somehow. I don't like how hunters go back in time to shoot dinosaurs but that's because I really love animals. The butterfly that caused them to stay in the time period was really interesting and the author seems to be very creative and imaginative. His writing showed lots of imagery. The end where Eckles got shot was very unexpected though and a sad way to end the story.

EMERSON'S CHILD

          TRUMP WON THE ELECTION AND THERE'S NOTHING WE CAN DO ABOUT IT. That sentence is enough to provoke the following emotions: Anger, fear, and disappointment or excitement and content. I'm just going to put this out there that I was one of those in denial and upset people. Mostly everyone who opposes Trump can just sit down alone and have a pity party but that won't change a thing. Trump still won and unfortunately, there is nothing we can do a bout it. Then I realized that Emerson wouldn't just want us here being upset we could speak up about it and learn about this experience. He would also think we're stupid for reacting this way and we're obviously far from self reliance and the whole election was just a big mess.

         Most of the people who are reading this are upset with the election results, and believe me I am as well. However, being upset doesn't really change a thing. Lets look at the qualities Donald Trump possesses. We despise him for blurting out his outrages opinions, how he spoke out of his turn, how he treats other humans or talks about them, how racist he is, how rude he is, etc. I can write so many reasons why I don't like him but essentially all of the things we hate him for caused him to win. He used Emerson's recipe for success. He spoke his mind without filter or thinking of the consequences, he most definitely was himself, and did not even listen to what society/the world said about him this past year. Like Emerson said, "Society everywhere is in conspiracy against the manhood of every one of its members". To be successful we must do the same. What we can learn is to be successful in life, we must do the same thing Trump did: become self reliant and follow Emerson's advice.

        Emerson would look at us(the non Trump supporters) and think we're reacting stupidly to the results of the election! Everyone is acting as if Trump is causing the end of the world. A lot of our reactions are because of society. Admit it, we had a political meme overload all throughout the social media platforms and there was no escaping it. Society wants us all to believe what they want us to believe. Emerson would like that we branch away from society, form our own opinions, and be independent. "Society is a wave". I think we can agree with what other people has to stay but it's important to not go with the flow. Emerson thinks we each have something unique to say so we should speak up. "Else, to-morrow a stranger will say with masterly good sense precisely what we have thought and felt all the time, and we shall be forced to take with shame our own opinion from another." Most people don't want Trump as our next president and part of the mistake that was made was just thinking about not wanting him but not doing much about it. A lot of people kept that to themselves and didn't speak up about it. A lot of people who are able to vote didn't even vote or promote the other candidate but they are one of the biggest complainers right now. They waited for something else to happen in order to start speaking up and I can just feel Emerson frowning at us right now. 

         Emerson would want us all to move on and make big changes for the better. That means self-reliance. This election is proof that you have to be self reliant in order to get what you want in life. He would like individuals to speak up without hesitation and say what they truly believe. We didn't so now we have someone we don't think is fit to become president is becoming president.  "Do not think the youth has no force". In that quote he is talking about infants and such but I think it applies in this topic to people who aren't old enough to vote yet. We all have a voice and just because we can't vote doesn't mean we can't influence the election in any way. If you wanted Hillary, I think we could of all promoted her more by starting friendly conversations and spreading the word any where we can. As a country, he would like us to not do crazy things, set aside our political differences and unite but still have freedom to believe different things and to not conform to society. What I'm saying is he would just want us to move on and give Trump a chance because life goes on and there's nothing we could do about it but we can make changes as individuals. If everyone makes changes s individuals(become self reliant), then society will change as well.
       
        Overall, I think we can all learn something from the election and the candidates involved. We learned what we can do better in the future and we can truly do whatever we want in life if we just trust ourselves and become self reliant. What we can take away from this was if you are self reliant you get anything you want in life either that is achieving a goal, getting a job, or even participating some way in the election and I think that is what Emerson wants us all to do. 


Emerson Presentations Day 4

Here are my notes from Thursday:

Wednesday, November 9, 2016

Emerson Presentations Day 3

Here are my notes from today. I'd also like to give recognition to everyone who has presented the past few days. Everyone is so creative and I've been enjoying being apart of the audience.(:

Sunday, November 6, 2016

MY EMERSON

What I'm doing for my project is making a CD using a playlist I'm creating that includes songs that have to do with some of Emerson's main ideas. I'm also going to decorate some kind of cover for the CD using a photo shop app that shows an artistic vibe I got from Emerson. I think the cover art is going to go along with the quote "Man is his own star"⭐️.

Hope everyone's having a good weekend.(:

Wednesday, November 2, 2016

EMERSON FOR THE YOUNG BUCK

How I would explain Emerson to a 10 year old:
Emerson is a guy who believed that adults are cowards, and kids like you are geniuses. This is because you guys say what's on your mind without hesitation or filter. Don't change that. That's how you're going to get what you want in life. Adults think too much, fear of getting judged by others so they keep their ideas to themselves, and don't say anything sometimes which results in not getting what you want. Now teenagers are classified in that sad category Emerson calls adults.  Also be yourself, I know you hear this many times but actually be yourself. If you like bows, keep wearing bows even if people tell you you're too old. If people tell you dress a certain way, don't dress the way they tell you to, Dress how you think expresses yourself or makes you happy. After all, you can only find happiness and peace within yourself and no one(or anything can bring you peace but yourself. That new toy or iPad would bring you happiness, but that happiness is temporary. New things come out everyday and it's never enough- you're going to want more and it would never bring you that internal happiness and peace us humans crave and desire. What you want to do in life is no one's business but yours. Do what you want in life. You're the only person who wakes up with you everyday and goes to bed with you everyday at night. What I mean is you're the only person that is with yourself 100% of the time so you can't depend on people to make you happy or you do things/help to make them happy all the time. It's not selfish to do the right thing for yourself. You have to because it's your life and no one else's To sum this all up: Speak your mind, ignore society's pressures, and look for happiness within yourself. This will attain you self reliance and even confidence. Don't loose your "I don't care what people think attitude" because that's what is going to  get you far in life. So basically stay the same. (:

Tuesday, November 1, 2016

EMERSON SAID IT

One thing about myself is I tend to be negative. I rated Emerson's ideas 10/10. They are really great ideas and the world would be so amazing everyone applied these ideas to our lives. However, I feel that for everyone to do so would only happen in an utopian world. So here are a few quotes and ideas ,from today's discussion, that I agreed with full heartedly and some that I just thought were cliche and kind of a "been there heard that" type of thing.

1."Nothing can bring you peace but yourself"
When I read this quote on Sunday, it immediately captured my attention. It made me stop thinking about my weekly routine or whatever responsibilities I have at this point in my life and tried to remember the last time I was at peace with myself. I couldn't. "Once I graduate, I can be peaceful and happy with myself" "once I loose this amount of pounds, I'd be at peace with myself" "once I get this, then I can be peaceful". Why wait later to be peaceful and for these things or events to bring you peace when you can be peaceful all by yourself now? Life brings obstacles after obstacles and new materialistic items are brought up each day. Once you get what you want, you're going to want more. Once you overcome something, life is going to throw something else in your face again. It doesn't stop. So might as well be peaceful with yourself and your life. Yes, this is a great  idea but it sounds like something that comes across of a motivational poster. It's hard to be at peace with yourself especially since we're deep into the flow of society now, that it's hard to search for peace outside of yourself.

2. "What I must do is all that concerns me, not what the people think"
Someone's point this morning went something like "you can't depend on anything or anyone to be there for you all the time. You're with yourself all the time." When I heard that, I remembered a quote that a singer named infinite Weaver said around last year. It popped in my head this morning because I remembered pausing the video when I watched it and wrote what she said on my phone's notes. "It's not selfish to make the right move for yourself. So that in the future, you live a long and happy life and you don't drag people around along for the ride." This whole concept really just spoke to me and actually gives me a bit of motivation. It's your life and in the end you have to make yourself happy and sometimes being selfish is a necessity. Yeah, helping another person and being there for someone is wonderful and all but again, it's your life. You have to choose between living it for yourself, doing what you want and die as a happy person or living your life for everyone else and die ending up not doing what you wanted to do to make you happy and feel like you lived a good or successful life. (Here's the link to the video I was talking about incase anyone was wondering: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W_zzdN5WQ5I )

3. "Man is his own star".
It can be reassuring that everyone isn't just a tiny spec in this huge universe and is an actual star but this is just another cliche quote to me. Where's the proof? There are billions of people on this planet yet the universe is such a humongous and diverse place. What kind of impact do we have on this infinate universe?

4."It recedes as fast on one side as it gains on the other. It undergoes continual changes; it is barbarous, it is civilized, it is christianized, it is rich, it is scientific; but this change is not amelioration
Yesterday in class, there was a discussion on what the word amelioration meant. Everyone seemed to have a different definition and they said it in terms of religion. I found a different definition when reading this on Sunday: the act of making something better or improving it. After finding the definition, what Emerson said in this quote kind of made sense to me. What I think he is saying is all men and women have an idea of improving society but no one does anything about it I agree with this idea because it's true. We have ideas on improving society(aka ourselves) and not going with the flow but we don't change anything because we have gotten so used to the way things are now that it's almost like we don't know how to change them.

5. In every work of genius we recognize our own rejected thoughts: they come back to us with a certain alienated majesty.
He's saying that when we see something genius, we see our own thoughts that were rejected. I feel like Emerson in this quote is giving everyone too much credit or trying to give us more motivation (here I am being a Negative Nancy again haha). What I mean is the reason why I disagree with this quote is because I think some people come up with some ideas that you and I would never come up with in our life. I also feel that everyone comes up with different ideas that no one has ever heard of in their life. This is because every single one of us thinks differently and have our own perspective of things. Yes, I think sometimes this quote can be true but it isn't correct all the time. 

Another thing that stuck out at me in class today was when we were talking about fortune. It was thinking about it and I have agreed with this concept for a while. It was something about how if we do something truly amazing and someone does the same exact thing and they get rewarded but we don't, then we kind of feel that life is unfair. I feel that all of this is true, this is just my opinion, but it seems to be that some people are just extremely lucky and that the cards are always in their favor and then there's people like me who feel absolutely unlucky and feel that we are never going to be rewarded in life because life is just simply unfair. That's just me being pessimistic as usual but that's what I thought during the time.