Monday, September 29 - I'm Weirded Out

 

The Song That I Listened To While Writing This

 

                “As soon as I arrived, I could sense that something was out of place…” That’s as much as I had typed up on my computer. This was so frustrating for me, I couldn’t think of anything else to write! I mean, of course I could write some suspenseful story following this simple phrase, since this was what I was told to do in class, but nothing is coming to me. October is coming up in just a few short days, so writing a scary story to go with that given prompt would really make sense wouldn’t it? Well, that’s just something that I can’t seem to do right now. Now don’t get me wrong, I love Halloween and I especially love the genre horror. I have a huge soft spot for scary stories and movies, that’s something that I can’t emphasize enough. However, nothing is really coming to me. Looking around the room, it seems like a lot of people are already done with their stories. I bet their tales are creepy or dramatic, but me? Nah, I don’t think so. I mean, we were told to write a story starting with the given phrase, so I don’t think that I’m doing anything wrong here. Why not write a story describing how hard it is to write a story? It’s still a story isn’t it?     

                As far as I’m concerned, I’m pretty sure that I’m thinking out of the box here. Sure, writing a generic scary story to follow the prompt is something that I could do, but why not do the opposite of what people will expect? Maybe a few of my peers ditched the simple and expected scary story idea like I did, but do you think anyone else in the room was crazy enough to do what I did? I don’t think so. This is creative writing, so why not get a little more creative? The word is in the class description anyway. Heck, it’s even in the title! You other writers hearing or reading this know what it’s like to have writers block. It really sucks! So that’s why I decided to let me story take a different turn.  A little bit of laughter goes a long way, so maybe I could get a few chuckles out of writing this.

Thursday, September 25 - Bad Mistake

 

Keep Kids Safe On The Internet

 

                  It was my fifth grade year and I was currently attending Elementary school. My class had been in the library that day, working on the computers for an assignment. The teacher at the time said that after we had finished our assignment, we could all use the computers freely. Naturally, my friends and I all sat together on one row. Now having free time, we decided to look around at random websites. I’m not sure how, but we all ended up on this weird ghost website. The site had pictures, videos, and stories about ghosts. Being kids, we saw interest in what the website had. I mean, it wasn’t blocked or had anything inappropriate, plus we were curious to see what was on there. Nothing was too scary or eye-popping, we were just scrolling around through the pages out of boredom anyway.

                All of a sudden, one of my friends had told the rest of us to click on this one video that was in the video streaming area. “The one with the rocking chair,” they said. “Just watch it.” So, we all followed what they said and clicked on the video. My friend to the left scooted closer as we clicked play. It was just a video of a chair rocking back and forth. There wasn’t anything that scary or even paranormal about it. Anyone could rig a chair to do this. That’s when things got interesting. Let’s just say that I wasn’t ready for what came next.

                The video played on as the chair slowly rocked. My heartbeat was slow and calm, while my eyes were locked on the screen. Suddenly, there was a pop up. This incredibly frightening ghost woman runs to the screen and screeches. A huge rush of panic hit me as I squeaked loudly and threw my hands to my face. I hunched over in my chair, completely shocked and terrified at the sudden outburst that came from the video. As I hid my face in my hands, I could feel tears prick at my eyes. I blinked them away when I felt a hand be placed on my shoulder as the teacher and my friend tried to comfort me. “It’s okay, it’s not that bad after you look at it for a while. It stops being scary,” my friend on the left told me. I thought she was crazy. No way was I going to look back at the screen. Although, I reluctantly lifted my head at the teacher’s request. Avoiding the stare of the computer, I focused on my peers and other students in the library. People had their eyes focused on me due to the loud squeak and small scene I had caused. I could feel the adrenaline and anxiety course through me, causing my stomach to do a backflip.

                My face heated up out of embarrassment as I turned back to my friends and teacher. She told us to stay off of that site and get onto ones that we were familiar with for the remainder of the class. We nodded and closed out of said website. For the remainder of the day, I couldn’t look at my classmates. While they totally forgot about the incident and brushed it off, it was still a big deal to me. Out of embarrassment, I pretended to be reading a book all day to avoid people. From my friends’ coaxing, I stopped trying to hide my face from everyone. The embarrassed and anxious feeling wouldn’t leave me for the rest of the day. I guess you could say that my big mistake was scrolling around on websites that I was unfamiliar with. You should always be wary and cautious when it comes to the internet, especially as a kid. There are just some things on there that people don’t need to see.

Wednesday, September 24 - Endearing Quality

 

Do You Think You Are An Ambivert?

 

                 I personally feel like one of my better qualities is my openness to people. Although I may have a harder time communicating with people and conveying my feelings to them, I am a people person and love interacting with others. Even if I am just sitting there quietly with someone, I am content. Being an ambivert, I find it easy to be around people, even if our words are few. My introverted attitude around new people could possibly not show my more bubbly side, but I don’t think that’s too big of a problem. I love people and seeing other people’s perspectives, as well as listening to them talk. It’s always pleasant to talk to someone similar to you, but it’s more enlightening to hear someone’s view on things as well. It isn’t very easy for me to go out of my way to talk to people, but don’t worry, I’m more than ready to sit back and listen to what you have to say with an open ear and open mind.

                My openness doesn’t just apply to people, it also applies to my interests and hobbies. I like things from music and art, all the way to science and history. I could sit through a romance, horror, comedy, or action movie easily. My open and back and forth personality makes it easy for me to like a lot of different things. Philosophical or creative, science or fantasy, rock n’ roll to orchestral, my wide view stretches across to many different subjects, people, and activities.

Tuesday, September 23 - Strange Fruit

 

The Information I Used About Mangos

 

                The Gaumful, also known as the egg-bearing fruit, is a sweet type of fruit found in the south and south-eastern areas of Thailand. They are red with dark purple, curled, tassels on the exterior, and have a harder, waxier exterior. The interior is softer and is colored sunset orange. Now their appearance might be strange, the stranger part of this food is what’s found on the inside. If you carefully cut open one of these fruit, you can find a curved, white egg growing inside of them. Being a newly discovered food, it is unsure if animals, insects, or even the fruit themselves are responsible for this. We are unsure if this egg is edible or if it contains any sort of organism or seed inside of it.

                Despite the fact that these fruits grow eggs inside of them, they are still edible and quite sweet. After you extract the egg, you can use the shell of this fruit to fill it with practically anything. You might want to be careful with what you fill it with though. The insides have a type of nectar that coats the inner shell that gives the fruit its sweetness. According to natives of Thailand, mixing a spicy filling with the sweet shell is very popular and loved.

                There are no known relatives to it, but some research point to mangoes as a distant relative to them, due to very similar inside taste and consistency, as well as being grown and harvested around the same area. Thailand is known to be one of the top mango growers in the world, coming in third, just under the People’s Republic of China and India. Since the Gaumful fruit is similar to the mango and grown near them, it wouldn’t be a surprise if they started being harvested and sold world-wide along with the mangos.

                Gaumful fruits seem to not only survive, but thrive in Thailand’s hot, humid, and rainy climate. From this information, we can assume that the egg-bearing fruit could also survive in countries near the equator where rain and heat are present. Tropical southern islands might start importing and growing these fruits of their own when more are harvested and raised.

                Thailand is not currently exporting many of these fruits, but it is now widely eaten and sold to inhabitants in Thailand. Many are cut open and filled with many different flavored fillings, such as, spicy, sweet, salty, and other fruit flavored pastes. Since they are a hit in Thailand, they might become popular with the other people of the world.

Wednesday, September 17 - Alphabet Soup

 

My Music For Today

 

Always you are there,

Beside me, by my side.

Calling for you, you will always come

Dashing straight towards me.

Even on my bad days, you come

Far away, or nearby, you run to me.

Grand times are laid ahead for us,

Hollering, screaming, laughing, playing,

Igniting a spark in my heart, a friendly one.

Just a kind of feeling you get when you hang out with your best pal,

Kind, nice feelings that jump through you when you run and play.

Lazy days are laid ahead for us, yet you’re still there,

Muggy rainy days are on their way,

Nothing, not even the rain, can stop our fun.

On days when I’m sad, you rush to me, excited and happy,

Purposefully you try to make me smile and laugh again,

Quite a pro you are at doing this.

Right away you’ll make my frown turn into a smile,

Sending all the bad feelings away.

Tomorrow is on its way, and you still run to me.

Undying friendship is what we have,

Vanity, hate, abandonment, none of these will ever come between us.

With your wagging tail, you’ll wipe that all away.

Xbox, board games, books, and talking are things that we can never enjoy together, however,

You are my pet, and we will always be best friends.

Zero days are laid ahead for us someday, but even then you’ll come to me.

Tuesday, September 16 - The Spoon's Perspective

 

Signs of Anxiety and Anxiety Disorders

 

Oh my God. Oh God, oh God, oh God. Everything happened so fast. There I was, just sitting there in the drawer, happy and content, minding my own business. Then they came. The next thing I know I was in a bowl of ice cream and then thrown in the sink with a few of the other survivors. Oh my gosh, I don’t think I can handle this right now. Just, give me a second to calm my nerves because I am definitely on the verge of a panic attack here. Woah, okay I think I can do this. Sorry, but this is what happens when I don’t take my calming medication.

Oh right, the story, okay. Um well, what happened next? That’s right, next came the blinding light. Yeah that’s it, I think. Oh I feel so faint, I can barely think straight. So okay, the blinding light came and then I was in the air. Wow that sure was something. It’s not the first time I had been up in the air, but I don’t think I can ever get used to that feeling. My stomach is just too weak. Alright, anyway anyway, the next thing that happened was I was in this giant box, of sorts. My friends, family, neighbors, all of them were in there. Even the tea spoon, ah, so tragic. Well we were all crammed in, other utensils were touching me. It was incredibly upsetting and I had gotten to the point that I was breathing hard and was maybe about to have a panic attack? But I’m a brave little spoon so I hung in there. Oh gosh there were so many utensils in that little crowded area; I just couldn’t breathe in there!              

What next? Oh, um, that’s right! It started getting warm and there was water gushing everywhere. Not like the water that came from the white light kind of gushing, no like I mean Niagara Falls kind of gushing! At least, I think it’s like Niagara Falls. The humans set me on top of a paper with a picture of this “Niagara Falls” on it once. Ew, so many germs. Humans sure are disgusting. You don’t even want to see what’s inside their mouths, just ew! I’m not even gonna try to describe it since I didn’t take my anxiety medicine today. Okay back to the story and what not. The water was gushing, it was dark, everyone was screaming and panicking at this point. Don’t even get me started on how I felt, not like you would care anyway. But just for the record it was terrible, I was so ready to cry that day. I would “huddle up” if I could, but I won’t let my body bend that way. Don’t  mention this to Rod, but I’m pretty sure that being bent is a one way ticket to the trash. But, Rod still probably looks better than me. Not like I’m judgmental or  anything, I mean, I have some spots here in there. Maybe some scratches.

That’s right the story, oh God I hate myself for not staying on task so much. But um, anyway, everything was hot and sticky and wet. It was awful, truly truly awful. Dreadful really. That’s not the worst part though. Next came the bubbles. Oh God, the bubbles! Why the bubbles?! Bubbles everywhere, water spraying, screaming. The horror and tragedy of it all makes my stomach queasy. We were then set to something they later called the “rinse cycle.” More like the cycle of Death am I right? Well, you probably wouldn’t understand how we felt. Not like I’m discriminating against you or anything, but just throwing that idea out there. Finally it was over and we were all set back in that drawer. That whole experience traumatized me. I probably have PTSD now. Wow, what lousy friends I have, sending me on a ride that they knew would scare me. I told them that I wasn’t ready for the big rides but did they listen? No, they didn’t! I would get new friends but I’m awful and no one likes me, so I might as well stick with them for a while I guess. Oh God, thanks for listening to me, even if you’ll never understand my pain. Why did I even tell you all of this anyway, you probably don’t care! I’m gonna give myself anxiety if I don’t stop now. Even though my anxiety isn’t my fault. It probably is actually. I’m the worst.

Monday, September 15 - What the Deuce?



   About the Artist

 

              There isn’t really much of a story to this abstract piece of art. There is, however, a meaning behind it. Look at the painting. What do you see? A woman with flowers, and an abundance of strange things surrounding her, a beautiful character foil. What does it mean though? The painting is trying to express that no matter where, or with who, or even why, the beautiful girl will always be what she is. A beautiful girl. Such a stunningly gorgeous female will always shine above the rest, even in the strangest of places. She is a diamond surrounded by rubies, emeralds, sapphires, opals, pearls, and any other type of stone, gem, or mineral you can think of. She is the diamond that will radiate the most light.

                In rooms and cities filled with the crudest, wildest, and most exotic creatures you could ever see, she will be the one the others see first. Hide her in the middle of a crowd full of beasts and the elegant lady will be the one to catch the most eyes. In the slums of the city, sinking in with the patterns of the sea, gracing the clouds and stroking the green hillsides, this woman will be the center of it all. This lady is the light, the fire, the sun, even the moon. She burns brightly in the sky and will never be shot down. Forever, she will outshine the stars themselves, who explode by trying to let their own lights break past her glow’s barrier. Put her wherever, and with whomever, and you will see. Let there be chaos, disasters, wild parties, and you will see that she will be the calm. She will still be the one that everyone looks to. Even when the day comes when her light is supposed to extinguish, it will burn clearly for all to see. The passion and beauty that radiates from her sleek body will spread and touch the world. No, it will grab onto the world and drown anyone that sees it. It will never let go, even when it should be gone. This special kind of presence will live on in the hearts, minds, bodies, and souls of the people.

                There really is no story to this painting, just a feeling. A message really. Put it together and call it a sensation. A sensation that will live on with this woman’s beauty and grace forever.

Thursday, September 11 - Music Critic

 

The Lyrics and Real Meaning Behind the Song

 

               “Pumped Up Kicks” a new song written by popular band, Foster the People, has risen up the charts within the last few weeks and stayed ranked at the top. In an interview concerning the song, the band explained that they, “Wanted to write a song bringing an awareness to all of the kids now a days that have issues with their identities, especially young cowboys growing up in the big city.” Due to the rise of boys growing up to be cowboys in society, the band wanted to write a song telling kids that it’s totally fine to chase other kids around with guns to show them who runs the town. “I mean, I can see where they’re coming from. When I was younger I tried to shoot a pellet in my neighbor’s kid because she wouldn’t leave me and her brother alone. There’s nothing wrong with being a cowboy, it’s just who you are,” one of the members had to say. “We’ve all been through that time in our life when people try to suppress our inner sheriff. Maybe after hearing this people will start to realize these kids’ identities and let them ride around on horseback and shoot outlaws freely.”

                Although a hit with radio stations nation-wide, we don’t know how much more positive or if any negative attention this song will draw in. Word has it that more kids have been behaving wildly in class and have been threatening to shoot more “outlaws” since this song has come out. It appears that this song is doing exactly what the band members wanted to spread. Awareness and safety to all of those who can’t keep their inner west down. This song is inspiring and has defiantly made a large impact in the nation.

Tuesday, September 9 - Film Review

 

The Official Movie Site

 

                  The new action and science fiction film, Hugo, raised many questions and sparked interest in those who have gone to see this film. Questions such as, “Is it really okay to dangle a boy from a clock tower and record it because he won’t read his lines right?” Or ones such as, “Do you really think a boy could die from being whacked in the head with a wooden board for not cooperating on set?” One concerned mother had to ask after seeing this film. Well considering that most people came to see this film for that one particular scene, the answer must be yes! At least that’s what most of the kids who saw this movie had to say. Young John Kelsey in the 2^nd grade had to say this after catching the film with his parents and not so supportive older brother: “Dangling from a clock tower looks like fun! Maybe my dad will let me try doing that from his shed.” Unfortunately that’s all we got out of the kid before his mother pulled him away and his brother punched our recorder in the nuts before threatening to throw the rest of us off a cliff into the jagged rocks jutting out of the Atlantic Ocean just like in the movie. Which was also a very exciting scene, some people had to say.

                Audience members were shocked and moved to tears while watching this film, most likely due to the fact that it was mostly a movie about antagonizing and torturing a young actor. But hey let’s just forget to censor that and let kids go and see it right? Apparently, that’s what the director had in mind. “I wanted the movie to have a certain […] feel to it. I wanted the audience to be on the edge of their seats. Now could you please untie me and let me go?” Director Martin Scorsese had to say. Well, that’s all we have to say on this movie. If the cops ask if you’ve seen us, tell them that that one kid got to us first. Stay tuned for next month’s movie review.

September 8, Monday - America, Fairyville?

                 Although never seen or identified, the mischievous creatures are almost always present. They could be, or are, the gardener, the veterinarian, a caretaker, or perhaps even a Plummer. As time passes on, they will change their form accordingly, to fit the time or place in society. But who are these elusive creatures? Why, they are fairies. They may not be the cute, two foot tall beauties with wings, but that doesn’t mean they are not real or take part in the society. Your society, their society, even my society. The fairies look like the average human and even take on human jobs. In fact, it is not unusual for this type of species to work with humans in the slightest.

                One fairy in particular, is named Janice. A water-bending fairy hailing from the west coast of the United States, she holds a passion for water, and especially aquatic animals. So it is no wonder that she works at an Aquarium in California. There, she does what the other humans do. She feeds the animals, helps clean the tanks, welcomes visitors, and takes people on tour groups throughout the facility. You can see her happily and passionately educating people on the wildlife and their habitats, as well as their behaviors and personalities. Not only that, but she remembers to inform people on the importance of keeping the animals’ habitats clean and safe for their kind.

                Sometimes after hours she will stay and speak with the animals, asking them about their days in the Aquarium and calming them to sleep. She’ll re-clean the tanks by using her power over water, and then bid them goodnight. Surprising to someone who didn’t know of her kind, she doesn’t sleep in the aquarium. She’ll go home to her flat in the city. She will eat regular human foods, sleep in regular human beds, and of course wake up to an average alarm and go to work.

                That doesn’t sound too out of the ordinary, right? Just an average girl that has a passion with her job and attends work and social activities regularly. She is one of the many fairies that do this scheduled routine each day. One could say that there is nothing extraordinary about it. It could even be described as mundane or average. With no suspicion, and no need for any, these creatures will work happily beside other fairies and people alike, usually taking their job seriously with a passion.

                So even if you don’t believe in the existence of these creatures, please respect others and their jobs around you. You never know if you’re dealing with a fairy or not. And remember, they are known to cause mischief to those disrespectful around them.

Friday, September 5 - Aliens in Egypt

 

A Timeline of Ancient Egypt

 

                The year was about 1325 BC set in Ancient Egypt. King Tutankhamun, or better known as King Tut, was the ruler of Egypt. Not one of the biggest and best, but still very important. The King’s daughters who were born came out dead. Right now, the King isn’t exactly happy about that. The young ruler had been quietly mourning the death of his kids when news arrived, saying that foreigners had come to speak to him. “I do not wish to speak with anyone at the moment,” he told them. “Leave me to be with my sadness. Whatever it is, it can wait.”

                Although the messenger knew of the king’s sorrow, he insisted that he come at once. The news must’ve been important if he was needed at a time like this. After much coaxing, the king made his arrival on the scene. Large, brightly colored machines were parked on the sand and two figures stood at the front of the Egyptian crowd. “Is this your ruler, King Tutankhamun?” They inquired. The king, now present in front of the two strangers, stared them up and down with wide eyes.

                “What are these creatures? Why do you hide your faces? Why are you mocking our Gods?”  He asked them. The two figures, wearing the animal masks, looked at each other.

                “You cannot see our faces or you will be forever blinded. We are Gods, do you not see? We have come to take resources back for…” They foreigners trailed off.

                “You are here to take offerings?” King Tut exclaimed, kneeling down before them. The rest of the crowd did the same. “So you are Gods! You descended to our home in your devices, is that correct? You are here to take what is rightfully yours, or are you here to help us build more-“ King Tut was cut off as a blinding light exploded into the area. The light shined for a few minutes, and after a few moments, it died down. Everyone looked around them. A few animals, pottery, and even people had disappeared, as well as the Gods and their flying machines. King Tut rose and exclaimed, “The Gods have spoken and taken their offerings!” The crowd began to cheer.

                “And that was when King Tut met aliens in disguise as Gods and stole things from Earth to experiment on.” A little girl flicked off her flash light and smiled matter of factly at her brother.

                “No, that didn’t happen! You’re making it up!” The brother of the girl yelled. “I’ve never heard of that before. If it really happened then the teacher would have taught us that.” The two kids bickered over the story while their mother came to separate the two.

                “Alright, aliens or no aliens, it’s time for bed,” she smiled. “Come on you two.”

Thursday, September 4 - Historical Accuracy

 

A Timeline of America During the 1930's

Building The Empire State Building

Facts About the Empire State Building

America's Great Depression

 

              Due to the crashing of the stock market in the year 1929, America had hit an economic depression and downfall. The Great Depression is what we called it. People were scurrying around, looking for any job that they could get their needy hands on to help pay for their food and living facilities, even if there wasn’t much to pay for. Not much was affordable at that time, it was a simpler life. However, up in New York City, something they called The Empire State Building was underway. Luckily for the people up in New York, many workers were needed to build this monstrous tower. A little over a year and coming in on time and under budget, the building was now open to use for businesses to rent out space. The building was officially open on May 1, 1931 at 350 Fifth Avenue, between 33^rd and 34^th street, New York City. It really was a wonder at the time. People were hoping that it would bring in tourists and help lift the economy a bit, allowing people’s profits to increase. But you see, the real wonder was what happened a year after the tower was built. No, not because of the money that the tourist trap would rake in, but it was something a little more supernatural.

                In the year of 1932, people all over the country were trying to get their hands on a newspaper. You see, something really interesting happened up at The Empire State Building. And yes, I do mean up. I’ll never forget it. It was a slow day until insanity broke out. People were scrambling to get a newspaper.I remember my brother riding back home on his bike and throwing it down in the front yard before running straight into the kitchen where my mother and I were at. “Look here, look here! Look what I got!” he yelled, waving the paper around frantically. He hurried over to us and dropped the newspaper on the kitchen  table.

                “Well , I’ll be..” my mother said. The newspaper article read, “Mass Hysteria Hits New York City In 1932 After A Report Of A Martian Spotted Atop The Empire State Building.” Below the headline was a blurry black and white picture of what did indeed appear to be some type of person on the roof. Some type of alien. “Gregory, where did you get this?” My mother asked my brother. Very enthusiastically, he told us that they were selling them all over the city. I was too shocked to even say anything. There was no way that this could be true. It was just some hoax made to get more money, right? Being the sharp woman that my mother was, she denied the “proof”  ,as what my brother liked to call it, as well.

                “No, no! It is real, I swear it! Look here,” he pointed to the image of the person on top of the building. “It’s a little man! Don’t you see? It’s Martian it just has to be! Just read the article, it will explain it all!” Now our curiosities at their peaks, we all sat down and read the paper. According to the workers of The Empire State Building, the cameras had been acting up all day. No one was seen going on the roof or coming back down. Nobody knew who that person was, where it went, or where it came from. Some eyewitnesses said that they saw someone on the roof. Others described it in better detail, claiming that there was a white light and some strange flying ship on the air. Honestly, none of us really knew what to think. Our father came home from work later that evening and we showed him Gregory’s finding. He told us that some workers at his factory had been carrying on about the news as well. We asked him what he thought, but all he did was shake his head. We never did get an answer out of him.

                The news was there and then was gone after about a week. It was replaced by other things going on in the country. It seemed like the excitement left not long after the so-called Martian did. My  brother and I didn’t forget about it though. The news still sticks in my head. Maybe it was a Martian, maybe it wasn’t? Maybe we’re just not ready to know.