is my musical taste different from people

How does your musical style taste differ from your family (parents/siblings) or friends? Discuss your reaction to this type of music and explain why you dislike it, but your family member (or friend) likes it.

My musical taste is different from my mother because she doesn't like R&B and she doesn't like my sister's music because my sister likes rap. My mom reacts strangely to our music tastes because it seems improper to her. She's also new to that style and doesn't like the profanity and themes that the songs contain.

I don't like my mom's music because it sounds weird. Vietanamese is a tonal language, in which pronunciation is super important in order to convey meaning. That means that songs can't be that expressive or the words may be something else. This explains why all her songs sound the same to me.

music growing up

What style of music did you grow up listening to? Do you still listen to this type of music? Why or why not?

Growing up, I listened to whatever my mom liked because I had no free will in that decision. Besides, I did not know any other type of music to recommend. If it wasn't my mother playing music, it'd be my sister. My mother listened to Vietnamese music, that had hints of folk and EDM in the instrumentals. They are pretty weird. They replay all the time because my mom prefers remixes. My sister loves R&B and rap, and I listen to more of her music.

I like my sister's choice of music more because it's English. Also, they're pretty enjoyable to hear on car rides.

I LOVE QUEENS

What is your preferred style of music? Who is your favorite musical artist? Why? What appeals to you about the style or art?

I don't listen to music as a hobby but I love listening to music when there is no sound in the background. I cannot focus without having any sort of white noise, excluding the noise from my peers. I feel like time is slowed down when I'm doing work without music. However, when a song is playing and ends, that's about three minutes that passed and I didn't realize. It's a time checker for me and it's also great since it's music I like... speaking of music tastes:

I like all types of music, depending on the artist and how well they sing over the instrumentals. The only genres that don't go by this rule is country. I hate country, it sounds cheesy to me. I guess the genre I listen to the most is R&B. Now... to go onto my favorite artists.

I consider a favorite artist as someone I repeatedly go back to and keep up with. I only have one person like that; Ariana Grande. I mean... I listen to people like August Alsina, Kehlani, and Bryson Tiller but they're not "favorites."

I love Ariana because her music is very easy to listen to at any time. None of her songs get extremely annoying over time except maybe Popular Song, Put Your Hearts Up, and Bang Bang... which are all singles and were made to be overplayed. I dislike Heatstroke too but only because Ariana is wasted on that song. She could've done so much more.

Her albums are so fun to listen to, especially Dangerous Woman. My favorite album, however, is My Everything because it's more nostalgic and I feel more connected to that album.

Ariana is so appealing because she's so unproblematic aside from that doughnut incident. She supports many charities, minorities, women, and inspires children. She doesn't really inspire me but I really like what she tries to do. Her mix of R&B and pop music is so niiiiiiiice.

Ariana Grande - My Everything Album
Ariana Grande - Dangerous Woman Tour @ Buffalo, New York
Ariana Grande - Unreleased Songs (that are still iconic)
Ariana Grande - Jason's Song (Gave It Away)
Ariana Grande - Into You @ Trianon (honestly the best note ive heard in such a long time you will be surprised when you listen to this)

the kite runner

Title: The Kite Runner
Author: Khaled Hosseini
Published: May 29, 2003 in the United States
Publisher: Riverhead Books
Box Office: 73.2 million USD (movie) ... became New York Times bestseller for over two years.

Over the break, I read the popular The Kite Runner because it was one of the books out of the multiple choices I had to read from. I didn't regret choosing this book though. I actually really enjoyed it and managed to finish it in two days. The book is very emotional and full of awful moments that are somewhat resolved in the main character's attempt at redemption. The book was bittersweet. It was the first time that the protagonist was terrible in human nature and I loathed him for some portion of the book but gradually accepted him for who he was when he started facing the loss and hardships that he once placed on other people. I'd recommend it. It starts slow at first, which I didn't mind but I know some will. Towards the end, the action does pick up and I enjoyed it a lot for that. I'm still really sad about many events from the book but I don't think the book would have as much of an impact without these events occurring.

This book and "school" books are somewhat different. The Kite Runner is more brutal with its themes and there is no sugarcoating any of the tragedy that occurs within the novel. Some stories in school, although having rough themes themselves, generally hinder the themes because they may not be appropriate... for our age. We may not understand them. We might think the events of the story isn't teachable. I highly disagree with that since I believe the school system babies high school students when it comes to literature. I hate reading classics over and over again.

Speaking of classics, I'd prefer reading blockbuster bestsellers over them. Perhaps reading both is even better. Yes, I know reading several century old books is good for the future but they are boring. They have weird language in them that no one speaks in anymore. Yet, schools still push teenagers to read these books for the simple novelty of reading them. Oh, they're important. You should know this. Books within the recent decade don't compare to any classics. Shut the fuck up. I hate when teachers and parents say this because they usually say this with a superior nature in their tone. Excuse me. Please recite page thirty seven of Hamlet by Shakespeare before you act like you're intelligent for reading Jane Austen books in the fifth grade.

Anyways, that's just what I believe. It'd be nice to read The Kite Runner in class but unfortunately, the book is too long for teenagers and they will most likely immediately turn from it and read the book on SparkNotes instead. You can't force a kid to read after all. Unless they're in Creative Writing!

the perkzz of being a wallflower

There are a lot of books that have been banned for multiple reasons but the one that will be discussed today is The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky. The book was published on September 21, 2012 and racked a box office of 33.4 million USD.

This book was banned because there were many parental complaints about the book's depiction of homosexuality, sex, masturbation, and the supposed glorification of alcohol use and drugs. One parent specifically voiced that they were against the idea of censorship but believed in appropriateness. These parents feel that schools are not to decide what is appropriate for their child.

Frankly, I think this ban is stupid. These parents are babying these children who are entering high school and have probably been aware of these topics already... some kids probably masturbated before too. These parents need to let their children learn about these topics in school and understand how it affects social life and academics. I also think that the argument of disliking censorship but preaching about appropriateness is stupid. You can't have one without the other! That's playing both sides and in this case it sounds really idiotic. Parents need to stop being so sensitive and children need to start maturing. You're in high school already. This book should not be banned.

Source: http://www.bookweb.org/news/perks-being-wallflower-banned-after-parent-complains

print or digital reading?

Personally, print is so much better. It's not on a screen and as a person who wears glasses, that hurts my eyes sometimes. I love holding an actual book in my hand and it makes me want to read more by flipping each page. I feel more accomplished having a physical copy. I don't like digital reading because it's on a device that can connect to the internet. That means I'll be doing something else on the internet besides reading.

Print just looks better too. Pages feel and look nice compared to an all white screen and that can't be creased and cared for. I get nothing done digitally reading. I know this because I tried myself.

books and more books

What is your favorite book of all time?
What was your favorite graphic novel?

To start, I think my favorite genres to read is young adult, mystery, and thriller. I love suspense in a story and plots that revolve around questionable topics which could also fall under magic realism.

For a long time my favorite book was Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli but is it really my favorite if I don't remember anything from it? I didn't think so either.

No other book has connected me. Nothing resonates with me and I don't know why really it's probably because I don't look beyond the characters and empathize with them.

My favorite graphic novel (as America dubs it) is Yona of the Dawn. I haven't read it in a while but I have really fond memories of it because for once, I love the characters so much. Every one of them too. I can recall all of the events clearly and analyze them very well. I'd have so many hundreds in my English class if we were asked to analyze this series over multiple assignments. Or maybe they'd be zeros because I have too much to say and I can't turn it in on time.

The point is, I love that series so much for its plot and character development/interaction.

anita sarkeesian's views on women in videogames

Today in class, we watched a video of the damsel in distress trope in video games and how these women are portrayed. Sarkeesian mentions these concerns in a matter of fact way.

The video is here.

There are many popular characters who are staples in video games such as Princess Peach and Zelda that are examples of the damsel in distress. Sarkeesian notes that many people overlook this offensive trope as they throw it off as unimportant.

The video is noteworthy in pointing out such a trope. Personally, I've never actually looked at Princess Peach and saw beyond her. Wow! She needs protection! Video games must hate women! The message in this video is that the role of women should be better portrayed to be equally as strong as men in other popular games.

This affects our culture because underlying misogynistic themes are still present in social media today. While I agree with the message that Sarkeesian addresses, I don't like the fact that she doesn't acknowledge female characters that are strong. They exist too? You can't exactly talk about a topic without talking about any sort of improvement in the past few decades.

the threat!!11

A video game that portrays many forms of violence and misogynist views is Grand Theft Auto. My brother was playing these games when he was 8 and at the time I didn't understand how wrong it was, but I still knew that that type of game shouldn't be for a child. My parents really didn't like it after my brother described the contents of the game but they didn't stop him from playing either. Nowadays, he's obsessed with gun games and it's most likely from GTA. I think all of the violence is unsettling.

These games are produced to stir controversy and make more sales based on the media coverage it will get based on this. These games affect me personally because it numbs the initial shock of violence and seeing negative components in games doesn't surprise me anymore. I see it as normal. These games affect my family, like my brother, by making them devote their free time to this genre.

I don't think the graphic nature in video games is a huge social issue. There's bigger problems to deal with in the world such as racism, sexism, etc. Many people play these video games but do not actually go out and do the same actions the characters in the game do. I play games with aspects that would not be appropriate in real life such as imprisoning animals to call my own but I do not actually do it. Many people in school discuss gore but would not do murderous things either. I think the world needs to address other issues before attacking video games because the platform is one way to escape all of the problems in the world and just relax.

gamemes

I don't have a favorite game because I don't feel any connection toward many. I like Fire Emblem, Animal Crossing, the Tales of series... but they're not a "favorite" at all. However, the Pokemon franchise has been with me ever since I was three years old and it's childhood nostalgia and fondness toward the series that makes me continue to like it. I already made a presentation on the series... but I'll reiterate for those who are still confused. Pokemon is a game where you have multiple objectives which is all up to you. You capture Pokemon and travel all over the designated region of the game (depending on what game you get). You can fill up the Pokedex, battle in tournaments, casually play with friends, and more. You play these games on mostly handheld consoles like the DS or 3DS but there are side games available for the Wii and WiiU.

I like the series because like I said before... it was my entire childhood. The Pokemon are extremely memorable and I don't really know tbh lol It's fun to mess around in the game with people and go through the story although it could be a little better.

I learned that there's a massive community for the franchise and it's easy to make friends based on the subjects you enjoy. The internet provides communication over huge distances. Collaboration and strategy is important to win Pokemon and many other games. Pokemon has also taught me that there are douchebags who like to hack and ruin the fun for everyone. Is there a benefit? No, not really. It's just fun and takes up your time but in a good way.

Aside from video games, I guess I should talk about other medias. I like the card game Killer but it's not that common in America. I learned how to play in Vietnam. The rounds are quick and I win many, many times. I know the game by another name but I don't know how to spell it. You start out with 13 cards and your goal is to get rid of all of the cards through sets of doubles, or triples, consecutive chains, singles, etc. Each card has a power level and each card of the same number is broken into power levels of suites. You can't place cards weaker than the last card thrown down and it goes up until the number is too high. Then the last person who set a card down starts the round over and work their way up again. It's better verbally explained. I like it a lot but unfortunately I can't play it with anyone in America besides my family because none of you know it.

hidden figures!

This is my review for the movie Hidden Figures!! Enjoy. It's really educational and profound.

yellow

I am fifteen, Asian, born in Rochester, New York.
Born in a household with three siblings and a single parent.
I wonder if it's that simple?

In a home with holes in the walls and cracks in the tiles,
all one witnessed was myself and my Irish twin brother
jumping off beds, stairs, and our two story home.

Mother finished high school but never went to college.
The sister who went to college dropped out,
and the other dropped out of high school.
My father, to make it better, dropped out in fourth grade.
I wonder if it's that simple?
Growing up in a household, being Asian.

Awards, report cards, and expectations fall on me
as my brother sits on his homework
while playing games on his PlayStation3.
Drained from my hobbies,
there's less time in the day to relax.

My world is in my phone,
much like my family whose eyes
look at screens more than each other.
It's the only way to burn time,
exhausted from work and school
in order to go back and repeat the process again.

The tiles are still cracked.
My three dogs make new holes in the walls.
The life that ever breathes from my home
is that of the characters on the screen,
both ones with voices and letters on keyboards.

i love web surfing

Surfing the website, I found these links:

1) Owl Purdue Online Writing Lab
- So this website is really helpful in learning additional techniques for your stories and how to improve. It's a great resource that also teaches you how to cite work and shows frequent grammatical errors that you should avoid.

2) CNN
- This news source can be really biased politically. The link isn't a direct link to the front page, but an article that others have seen as, "biased." This isn't good for a news source because opinions and emotions don't matter toward the actual report of the event. They also have the "fake news" tagline attached to them.

3) Most to Least Trusted News Sources
- The link will send the reader to a study based on how the general population of America trusts news sources. The Economist and BBC are the top two sources that people tend to trust more than others.

4) Kongregate
- Since I've mentioned y8 too many times already, I'll just use another gaming website. Kongregate also has its wide variety of games spanning from PVP, tower defense games, adventure, etc.

5) Metacritic
- Metacritic has ratings and reviews for many pop culture platforms. Games, televisions/movies, and music are at the top of the website if a viewer is interested in reading articles from those genres.

6) Periscope
- I didn't want to use extremely popular social media websites like Facebook, Instagram, or Youtube because that's basic. Periscope is a way to broadcast your daily life in real time. People can come into your livestreams and watch what you're doing.

7) Increasingly Verbose Meme
- This meme starts out with a picture with a catchphrase. It starts to get worse. The picture gets uglier and the catchphrase is changed into a more specific, longer way of saying it that ultimately leads back to the beginning.

The internet has lots of things to offer guyyysssss

was i ever a nerd or what

Growing up, majority of people thought I was a nerd even if they didn't tell me this personally. I didn't really care if they did. My usual reaction is simply blowing it off and denying it but I'm just messing around. I pretty much fit the classic definition minus the fetish they have for computers. Just kidding! Their obsessive love for computers.

I played games growing up. That's all I did. I stayed away from my young female classmates and I didn't necessarily bonded with them very well because they didn't relate to the things I liked. I was mainly friends with guys because they played games. I also tend to have better than average grades... I know that sounds super egotistical but I'm just bringing this up because people who have called me nerd in the past point to my grades as the first reason.

I didn't "come out" as a nerd. I just let that name stick by me loosely but I don't denounce or accept that name. It's just how people see me but it's not in my power to change opinions.

my bae the internet

B. What was your first encounter with the internet like? What are some things you remember using the internet for then? Describe your relationship with the Internet compared to other forms of mass media: radio, television, film, books, etc.

My first encounter on the internet, as mentioned previously, was games on y8.com. As a kid, I found websites that were demographically aiming for children so I found myself on websites like Pokémon, ... Roblox, any other gaming website, etc. To sum it up, at the time I thought the only purpose of it was to play games. That's all I've ever known as I moved up from the DS.

My relationship (ooo) with the internet is much more romantic than any other form of mass media because I use the internet more frequently. The more I found myself using it, the less with others. I never really used the radio. I stopped watching television altogether after discovering YouTube. I wasn't a huge fan of films. I read books less and less (except for this class, you guys make sure that I read a handful of books).

In conclusion, I'm in love with the internet and the internet loves me :)

computers made me love again

1) Describe your first experiences with computers and the internet. A. What was your first computer? What did you use it for? How did you react to it? Describe your memory to the best of your ability.

I can remember my first time using the internet. The first computer (laptop) I've ever used was the one that my neighbor's sister brought over when I was about seven or eight years old. The neighbors has a son that's my age, so when we were young he would come over to hang out. When his sister brought it over, their son acted pretty intelligent about it and made it seem like I was inferior because I didn't know what it was, but okay. The first website I ever went on was y8.com. I don't know if that website is still relevant and popular anymore. He pulled it up because it's a website full of games that ran easy with the laptop. One of our first games was an RPG/Adventure game and we (the son, my brother, and I) had so much fun taking turns on that game. I honestly thought the laptop and the internet was the next best thing. Prior, I mainly played games on my DS and Gameboy but this was a huge step up. Overtime, I would beg my mom to let me go over to their house so we could play more games on that same website on the actual computer they had at home. I won't lie, I was selfish about it but oh well. I was eight.

My first actual computer was from a company called Vaio. It looks like this:

 



My dad bought it for me for my tenth birthday. I instantly fell in love with it because now I didn't have to beg my mom and uncle to let me borrow their phones to play games on! Anyways, I didn't use it for games that much anymore. I spent a lot of my time on social media and Skype in order to talk to my friends. Those days were really enjoyable because they were carefree. I spent lots of time during the week on my laptop lol. Okay, I lied. Now that I'm thinking about it, I actually spent a lot of time playing games on this too.

an article from wired?

Article: iPhone 8 Review: Apple’s Best and Most Boring Phone

Author: David Pierce

Link: https://www.wired.com/2017/09/review-apple-iphone-8-and-8-plus/

This article is about Apple’s latest installment in their line of phones; the iPhone 8. Pierce talks about the new additional features the phone has that differentiates it from their previous successor, the iPhone 7. While he notes that there isn’t any difference in the appearance of the product (no size change… still no headphone jack… etc), there is improvements within the system everywhere else. Especially the further enhanced camera. What makes the new phone boring in Pierce’s point of view is the release of the iPhone 8 alongside the iPhone X. Its counterpart is far superior because it provides more features and does better than what the iPhone 8 does best. Pierce claims that the iPhone X is Apple’s “vision of the future,” not the iPhone 8.

I like this article because it informs me about the latest technological advances in the world. Well, for Apple on the other hand. I know that Samsung already has additions to their phones that Apple is just introducing for theirs. I think any iPhone release is interesting because people go crazy for it. It’s amusing to see people fight for it and have wars over which phone company is better. The article also teaches me more about the iPhone 8 because until now, I wasn’t aware of what was new about it because the only thing that media generally covered was the iPhone X instead. It’s fine though. I’m sticking to my iPhone 6S because I don’t have my own money to buy it. Even if I did, I’m not slapping a thousand for any of these phones. I like my headphone jack.

media technology growing up

I watched television through the actual television. I didn't have access to computers or streaming services such as Netflix at the time. I only got these products when I was about eleven and Netflix just this year. I wasn't an avid listener of music growing up as a kid, but now I use my phone and services such as Apple Music and Spotify to listen to what I like. Lastly, I also use my phone to communicate with my friends through instant messaging, rather than calling. As a kid, I wasn't allowed to go to many places with my friends because my mom worried about me. So, I always relied on my phone since I was eleven in order to talk to them at anytime after school. I should also mention that my family is a thing, and of course I care about them! My phone can reach them too.

These technologies have changed my life because it makes it easier to access the world and continue being social. It developed my knowledge of culture and the popular shows in America. It helped me pass time and not die in boredom. Furthermore, my phone in particular is a great resource for me to go to in order to help me do my schoolwork. Don't worry, I'm not plagiarizing though.

(I don't know why the text is so small, can't seem to fix it)

the beautiful (but harmful?) phone

Hello there, it's been a couple months but I've returneddd to my blog and I'm here to tell you about media products:

A media product I consume on a daily is my phone. It's a device that I can do many things on. I can call, of course, text message, go on the internet, play games, etc. The product is helpful to me because it kills my free time when I'm bored and have nothing to do. I can call my family in the case of an emergency or alert them that I'm okay. I can also call emergency hotlines like 911 when I need their assistance. I can keep touch with people that don't live near me and get responses from them immediately. I can talk to a community of people through my phone about the things I like and enjoy, and form friendships that way. My phone is a really good way for me to stay social and be up to date with the latest news in the world.

At the same time, the phone can be seen as a harmful product in the eyes of perhaps the older generation. It can be harmful in that it takes time away from personal quality time. Many people tend to stare at their phone screen than up to the person they're spending time with because people have a tendency to check their messages as soon as they get one. Since it takes away time, people can miss doing important tasks because of their phone. Eating, loss of sleep, and exercising are some examples. It's also harmful in the fact that staring at a screen too long can hurt your vision. Staring at a screen produces eye fatigue after long periods of time and excessive amounts of that can be extremely irritating.

In my opinion, I don't think phones should be banned. It's beneficial to people if they use it responsibility. If you know you've been losing sleep by staying on your phone, it's your fault, not the phone itself. In order to address the possible concerns regarding the phone, children and teenagers need to be aware that they should prioritize other things other than their phone. Perhaps give them other activities to keep them busy, instead of always reverting back to their cellular devices as a pass time.

and then there were none

For the past two weeks, I've been working on the genre of mystery and now I have an opinion on it. First, we had to read the book And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie, a well-known mystery author, in order to get an idea about how to write a mystery story that can reflect the story. The book was interesting and the plot is really cool but I didn't like the simplicity of the deaths. I was hoping for a death to be more complex and wild instead of the author simply killing a character off to go with the poem that inspired the story.

I really appreciate how everything gets tied up, especially in the conclusion when the murderer is finally revealed by the very end. I wish the story wasn't so short because I didn't have enough time to like even one of the characters.

I had the opportunity to write a mystery draft and so I did. My story is different from the plot line of the story in which my character wakes up next to a dead body and gets framed for being the murderer when in actuality the narrator has no recall of doing so. This is the premise but I also added a twist to it... The process was good. It was easier to write because the plot kept me genuinely interested. I didn't stress over what to write. I learned that plots have to be clear and solidified because even a vague story will throw a reader off and they might not like it as much. Information and clues toward a crime cannot be given to the readers because it takes away the appeal of figuring out throughout the novel. I found that I liked writing mystery stories and I hope to write more in the future. Especially over the summer since my ninth grade year in writing is nearly over.

mystery genre

Like many genres such as fantasy and science fiction, horror also has a lot of sub genres associated. Some of these sub genres that I found interesting is:

1. Suspense - It's a thriller where the protagonist is being hunted down as they try to find the criminal.
2. Crime - This is mainly about the bad guys and how they are smart, organized, and daring. It's interesting because it's not about the good in people.
3. Legal/Medical - These people know about laws and anatomy and can help a crime. The perspective from their eyes can provide insight since they know more than an average family member trying to avenge a loved one.

I like the mystery genre. I like trying to guess and discover new pieces of information as I go. I love plot twists and how an author might turn a story for the worse. I haven't seen or read that much but from what I know, it's fun. The one thing I don't like about mystery is that one has to be very unique if they want an original story. There are many cliches in mysteries and an author needs to figure out what will fit the plot so that the end is not obvious.

my fantasy storyyyy

Recently, I've created a draft for a fantasy story. I attempted to take the genre into my hands and make my own twist to it. Now that I've completed the draft, I have a couple of things to say about the whole process.

I liked that through writing the story, I knew coming in that anything is possible. I can do whatever I want with the story because it's fantasy and the setting is in a world where the sky isn't the limit. I wrote anything without worrying about its flaws or the logic that came with it. I also liked how I can create more about a character's characterization, including their weaknesses and powers.

However, what I didn't like isn't because of the genre but mainly from how I wrote it. Some things felt repetitive so in the future I hope to create scenes that are fresh and will always keep someone on their toes. I want a fight to have a very dynamic background to it, different from other ones each and every single time. Other than that, I actually like writing the genre. Definitely an easier genre to write than science fiction...

fantasy loves

Okay, so I don't watch movies at all so I'm just going to list what I do know lol:

• Yona of the Dawn by KUSANAGI FUCKING MIZUHO
• Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood
• A Lull in the Sea
• Rokka: Brave of the Six Flowers
• Akame ga Kill

These are some examples of animes with the fantasy genre but in all honesty, I only enjoy three out of five of them. Numbers one, three, and four. A Lull in the Sea is also a really nice show but I don't consider it as one of my favorites and Akame ga Kill is just a whole mess of characters, plot, setting, and conflict. It's one of the most messiest things I've ever seen but it's just an example of what can go wrong in the fantasy genre.

Yona is about a princess who turns 15, and on the night of her birthday, her father is killed by her cousin who wants to take over the throne. She's forced to escape her castle with her bodyguard to avoid being killing as well. She wants to protect herself and her friend so she seeks help from a priest who tells her that she should find the four dragons and unite them under her. She sets on a journey to find them.

A Lull in the Sea is about a new species of people, those that can live underwater. These people can go into the land but they need to return to the sea to avoid their skin cracking and becoming hydrated. The social dynamic of this show is interesting because the sea people and land people have different and bad opinions of each other. Then one day, a hibernation of sorts falls upon all of the sea people and they are forced into a very long sleep. The protagonist, a sea person, isn't affected by this because they were on land when this happened. This story is about how the protagonist lives with his sleeping world and the world above.

Rokka is about a monster trying to destroy the world and God, trying to save the world, gives six people the power to band together and take the monster down. The six people must unite at a certain location and then set on a journey together but once they meet up, they realize that there's seven of them instead. This is confusing. The line is drawn when the group realizes that someone is a fake and the show revolves around finding the fake of the group.

the hobbit book review

The Hobbit by J.R.R Tolkien is about the adventure of Bilbo Baggins, someone that genuinely should have a distaste in adventures. Here's my personal opinion on the story.

In all honesty, I can see why this story would be popular for little kids. It's a lot of adventure and action and make-believe things, so many younger audiences would be interested in this type of genre. The thing is, little kids can't read The Hobbit so just watch the movie instead. Unpopular opinion but this book was pretty boring to me. The action didn't really hold my attention and some things felt dragged out in order to hold suspense but it didn't have a good impression on me.

I had no attachment to any of the characters, so it was hard to empathize and be anxious for them. I don't care about Bilbo or Thorin or the other dwarves, not Gandalf or the enemies, etc. If I had to stretch, I like Beorn. He was pretty cool.

One chapter was extremely annoying to me and it was when Gollum and Bilbo wanted to have an intellectual conversation about riddles that I could care less for because that part could have been shortened at least 10-15 pages but no, you had to make it longer in order to make the movie have a better time stamp. A lot of scenes in this book are like this actually. It would have been so much better shortening the book and maybe it would have been a lot better.

That's about it for now. The Hobbit is a hit or miss.

the martian chronicles book review

The Martian Chronicles is the second book that I have read from Ray Bradbury and this time around, I wasn't as disappointed and uninterested. It was more intriguing and the story building was quite nice. However, I did have some problems with the story.

This story is about humans landing on Mars and starting a new civilization. In this process, they drive out the Martians and circumstances don't go so easily. Many of the problems in The Martian Chronicles are real. What can humanity do about the Martians? Will they turn the world into an industrialized business? What about those that want to escape poverty and prejudice?

Most of the problems, besides maybe one or two of them, are resolved by shooting someone. Oh, you don't like someone? Take out your gun and shoot them. This way of problem solving became so repetitive after the first three chapters, the first three expeditions, of the book. I wish that Bradbury would come up with another way to resolve things. Nothing is interesting about shooting someone as dark as that might sound.

The chapters in the story, regardless of the amount of shooters there were, were appealing. I liked the chapters "-- And the Moon Be Still as Bright", "The Martian", and "The Silent Towns" because there was a lot going on. Martians were explored and mentioned and their mysterious powers were observed. World building in this story is nice.

According to science fiction fans, The Martian Chronicles is unlike the other stories of the same genre to come out of their era. It is interesting because it has more speculative thought than a ton of action. I can respect Bradbury for doing this.

The Martian Chronicles is definitely better than Dandelion Wine. I wonder if there's a correlation between the Tom in the book versus the one in Dandelion Wine. DW was much boring. I'd choose The Martian Chronicles any day over its other successor (for some reason).

best-selling science fiction

Some of the current bestsellers in Science Fiction:

• The Burning World by Isaac Marion
• Silence Fallen by Patricia Briggs
• The Turn by Kim Harrison
• The Starfishers Trilogy by Glen Cook
• Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman

From what I can tell, readers nowadays are into alternate universes or the involvement of species other than humans. There's not much technology, cyberpunk and biopunk alike. The titles also don't give an indication of the plot just from reading the title, so most likely readers want to be surprised as they go and figure out the meaning of the title themselves.

If I had the money, I'd probably purchase New York 2140 by Kim Stanley Robinson because it's most likely about the city in that time frame. I love New York. It'd be interesting to see the author's take on the city in that time period.

listen

So I went on a Science Fiction website to read a short story under the category Disaster, and I came upon a story that I found really interesting. It's called Listen.

In this short story, disaster strikes humanity and humanity is depleting in number. There are other beings out to hurt humans and humanity is growing desperate to change this. They are beings that spread by wildfire for unknown reasons and they were unstoppable. The narrator, is one of the few survivors to live to tell the tale. He witnesses the tragedy. The helplessness of the government, the death of many, and even more. He describes a mark that was stamped on his gene by an Engineer that changed him; most likely unwillingly. The narrator explains that this mark will finally destroy these beings, called the UnAltered. By the end of the story, the "wide world" is empty, but new. This suggests that these strange marks have eradicated their enemies for good.

I like this story and its plot. I love stories that involve tragedy within human society as edgy as that might sound. It forces humans to work together and stick by each other in a crisis. It develops relations that wouldn't have been possible because when everyone is under a life threatening crisis, there's a heightened need for security and comfort.

However, the story wasn't quite clear enough. It took several rereads for me to digest what was going on in the story. Since it is so short, this is understandable, but the story could have been more direct with its science elements to let the reader know what is exactly happening. There could have been less vivid imagery. I also don't really understand the use of repetition for the word 'listen.' I also wish that the story would explain more on that because I don't know how the word correlates with the story. Probably from lack of understanding but it proves my first point.

I'd recommend reading this short story for yourself!
Link to story: http://dailysciencefiction.com/science-fiction/disaster-apocalypse/edward-ashton/listen

trying to enter into a scifi magazine?

Analog & Fantasy and Science Fiction (creative title, isn't it?) are science fiction magazines that a reader will enjoy if they like explanations of complicated technology, otherworldly beings, or simply a twist on human life. They have guidelines that a writer must follow in order to get their story published in their franchise. Here's how they compare:

• They can both agree that there should be no limit to the genre. There has to be at least a specific element in the story in order to make it possible to submit. Science fiction is a broad and huge term and they will accept anything (but it doesn't mean that it'll be published...)
• There is a paying price per word for the story you want to submit for both magazines. There are different prices for Analog, but it's 8-10 cents for a general short story. F&SF charges 7-12 per word.
• Both can take a while to get back to the writer. Analog can take 2-3 months, and F&SF can take 8 weeks.
• There is a format when submitting an entry. Both magazines prefer submissions to be sent online.
• Both magazines refuse simultaneous story submissions.

See now if one day I get a sudden urge to write a science fiction story and get my name out there, I'll probably want to change my writing style now. I need to focus on more descriptive heavy paragraphs and flesh out stories that have plot ideas that aren't clear enough or don't make sense. Science fiction is not the easiest genre to write in, so I need to be more experienced in the genre before taking on the genre full force.

subgenres of science fiction

Science fiction has many sub-genres within its premises, but these are the ones that I really like:

• Social Science Fiction: I like this one because it dives into the mechanics and natures of human society and humans are pretty interesting enough. There can be a satire twist, which I also find interesting to the genre.
• Biopunk: It does revolve around humans again and I like body modifications and genetic altering components in stories. I don't really like stories that describe the futuristic technology as a separate entity from the human. I like when humans are directly involved in the process, rather than the one controlling it.
• Mundane Science Fiction: This explains the wires of technology that exists today in a way that can be interesting. It makes me wonder if we can actually pull some of these off, since the use of actual technology is within the story.
• SciFi/Horror: I like the horror genre. It'd be cool to see a horror based story that uses science elements to justify some of the plot.
• Apocalyptic Science Fiction: Decline in human population and the need to band together to overcome a detrimental situation is thrilling, griping, and entertaining. The only problem I'd have with this genre is if they end in cliffhangers.
• Post-Apocalyptic Science Fiction: Same reason as above.
• Alien Conspiracy: I think hiding history changing information is interesting. It'll be cool how the story reveals this information to the reader and its characters.
• Parallel Worlds: There can be an entire different race of species in the other world. I like the interaction between these alien beings and humans and how they get along.
• Speculative Fiction: I tend to think "What if" for many situations in my life. It's fun to see a story where these questions come to life and humans have to act upon this.

Hope some of these genres pique your interest enough to research more about them!

and the moooooon be still as bright

There's a story I'm going to be discussing in The Martian Chronicles entitled "-- And the Moon Be Still as Bright." This is about humanity's fourth expedition to the alien planet Mars. This expedition, unlike the previous ones, is successful. The team's physician, Hathaway, reports that all the martians died from chicken pox. There's confusion because no one expected an entire race to go out by such a lowly disease. A disease that children can beat. The captain, Captain Wilder, allows the crew to cheer, dance, and drink. This makes their archaeologist, Jeff Spender, angry because they're soiling the dirt of the new world this quickly and easily. He is disgusted that people have the decency to dump beer bottles into the river and ends up punching one of his crewmen. When everyone is sobered up, they explore the town. Spender is amazed by these martians and leaves the team on his own to study the martians himself. This confuses and angers the team because they feel as if he is betraying them, and they send search teams to find him. Unfortunately, there isn't any luck. Eventually, he comes back to the campsite and declares himself as a Martian. He shoots many of the people, killing them. Spender starts feeling sick so he runs to the hills for recovery. Wilder and his remaining team find him and Wilder attempts to convince Spender to stop his actions but he won't falter. He wants to kill all humans so that they won't destroy Mars with their industrialized buildings and pollution. At this point, it is inevitable that Wilder has to shoot Spender. Wilder promises Spender that he will continue his mission and preserve the civilization and life of Mars. Spender doesn't fight Wilder, and accepts his death. He keeps true to his promise as he catches one of his subordinates using ruins to practice shooting, and he ends up knocking his teeth out.

The setting for this story is revealed in the very beginning. "It was so cold when they first came from the rocket into the night that Spender began to gather the dry Martian wood and build a small fire. He didn't say anything about a celebration; he merely grabbed the wood, set fire to it, and watched it burn. In the flare that lighted the thin air of this dried-up sea of Mars he looked over his shoulder and saw the rocket that had brought them all, Captain Wilder and Cheroke and Hathaway and Sam Parkhill and himself, across a silent black space of stars to land upon a dead, dreaming world" (pg. 48).

Bradbury uses this setting to illustrate the environment and connections of the characters. The celebration of arriving at night and gathering firewood, unaware of this celebration and can be seen as apathetic, is an example. The mention of the dried-up sea shows how desolate and empty Mars is. There is nothing but a rocket in the area, which signals the arrival of humans invading a territory that is fine the way it is. Bradbury creates tension because the reader can infer that these humans are going to mess up the empty territory, but there is one person that is against it.

the martian chronicles changed literature huh

In response to Tyler Miller's "How Ray Bradbury's 'The Martian Chronicles' Changed Science Fiction (And Literature)," the man has written a very in depth and developed blog post. He makes several points about the science fiction genre itself and I agree with them. Some books of this genre is filled with only action and no prose. It's interesting to find out that that's how the genre originally started out as before the release of Bradbury's short story.

Miller says that the "The Martian Chronicles" is a first of its kind because it has prose and an abundance of metaphors in it. The novel considers how the humans change the new planet and the way it will affect humans and aliens alike. This different perspective is nothing like their predecessors and it became revolutionary for this type of literature.

The one thing I disagree about within this essay is how the story changed the whole of modern literature. That is a huge step and claim. I'll agree that it changes the genre because it brings a different way to telling a story of aliens and technological advances. However, with modern literature, I don't believe the story stretches its legacy that far.

Overall, "The Martian Chronicles" is a good book. It definitely holds ones interest and the metaphors embedded within the story leaves a lingering idea and thought in the readers mind.

dandelion wine's review

So recently, I completed the book Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury. I have many things to say about this book but overall, I found this book not to my taste or interesting enough to keep my attention.

I liked the themes and messages behind certain stories, such as Leo Auffman's happiness machine and the story of Colonel Freeleigh which I critically analyzed in a previous post. I think they are very important messages that everyone should all be aware of. I just wish they were executed better because I ended up reading chapter summaries for all of the chapters to make sure that I understood what was happening. This was pretty much the only thing I liked. Besides the title, I think the title is a clever way to call this book since it's a recollection of all summer memories in the form of dandelion wine.

I didn't really like how there wasn't any plot or point to many of the stories. Many characters are brought in but never return again. I didn't like how detailed some parts were because I didn't feel that it contributed to anything. Some chapters were dragged out. Because the story was so detailed, it slowed the story and I didn't find anything worth mentioning in Douglas's summer.

I learned that I can lengthen my story by being my descriptive and bringing in new characters. Description can help the reader understand what's happening (even though I didn't necessarily get to that point in his chapters).

Lastly, I want to add that after reading my first book from Bradbury, I'm not necessarily motivated to read any more of his works if they have the same style. It's not my preference but that doesn't mean that Dandelion Wine is a bad book in general.

dandelion wineeee

Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury is a story about the summer that Douglas Spaulding goes through. He has many new experiences and many of the same experiences. The story does not center around the boy, but also dives into the lives of other characters living in Green Town that are just as interesting.

The chapters I found the most intriguing was Leo Auffman's happiness machine in chapter 13 and Colonel Freeleigh's final moment in chapter 25.

In chapter 13, Leo is determined to build the happiness machine that will grant anyone happiness. He asks his wife, Lena, for advice on what to implement and Lena calls him out for it. She tells him that it's pointless and that it won't work. Despite this, Leo still has a belief that he can pull it off so he takes the next two weeks building it. He sacrifices family time in order to do this. When he presents the machine to his family, he offers Lena to try it and she does. She can see many places in the machine such as Rome, London, and Paris. When she steps out, she tells Leo her opinion and it is not something Leo expected. Lena tells him that the machine only makes her sadder. It reminds her that she will never actually go to these places for herself. She sees many wonderful sights but they all hold sadness in them that it's only what she sees, she can't experience it for herself. This puts her husband in shock. He's in denial and wants to test it himself but it soon sets itself on fire. As the garage is burning down, Leo can only stare through the window at his family. It is then that he realizes the true happiness machine is his family.

In chapter 25, it opens up with Freeleigh waking up from a dream about the last apple falling off a tree. When his nurse walks in, she reminds him that he can't overexcite himself because it will affect his health. She mentions Douglas's group of friends and the phone calls he makes to Mexico City. Freeleigh tells the nurse that it's worth it even though it jeopardizes his health. He wants to feel and be alive. The nurse threatens to take the phone away and shut the kids out for the sake of the Colonel and exits. Freeleigh gets up in his seat as soon as she leaves and runs over to the phone. He hasn't ran in a long time. He collapses on the floor in the process. He rings the person from Mexico City and asks them to open the window for him one last time. He loves listening to the noises outside the city because it reminds him of nature and life. The person reluctantly agrees and Freeleigh dies listening to the sounds that he has always enjoyed. The chapter ends when Douglas and his friends walk in through the door and see the dead man. When Douglas picks the phone up off the floor, all he hears is the sound of a window closing.

- In both of these stories, the most effective tool in Bradbury's writing is his message about the human condition and the tone that follows with it. Sometimes, people don't realize that the things that make them happy are right in front of them. They find every opportunity to find other sources of happiness, ignoring their own. This notion is told thoroughly in Leo Auffman's story. It explains the nature of humans well. Freeleigh's chapter also explains human nature well too. His chapter is saying that humans will hurt themselves trying to get what they want the most, even if it is simple. It shows sacrifice. The use of character development is also at its key strength here because Leo and Freeleigh are interesting characters. Their personalities and how they act shape what their values and beliefs are and I quite like them.

i love him

I'm a few days late on this but who is going to complain about love? Happy belated Valentines day!!

I'm Lovin' It

He's the love of my life
The way he stares up at me
When I'm smiling down at him
His happiness runs through my veins
And marks his place in my blood
He overflows me and makes me feel full
When I'm at my lowest of moods
Life brightens when I see him
After weeks of him not being there
But when he is right in front of me
I forget the moments when he leaves me
I am so in love with him
And his name just happens to be French Fries.

my favorite genres,,

What I like reading when it comes to genres? That's pretty simple (not that I had to look at a list of genres to see).

1. Fantasy
   a) Dark fantasy
   b) Urban fantasy
   c) Role-playing games
   d) High fantasy
   
   - I like fantasy because it stretches imagination to its fullest extent. You can write whatever you want because it's fantasy. Not everything's real. The writer can be as creative as they want with it. I don't really like bubblegum fantasies exactly... if there's some tragedy or real world connections that are in the story itself, that's really cool. I'm not really huge on otherworldly beings such as fairies or elves, but I really like concept in a fantasy. How the universe is different from ours, excluding the obvious fairies and elves.
2. Mysteries and Thrillers
   a) Detectives
   b) Courtroom/legal
   c) Forensic
   d) Thriller
   e) Horror
   
   - Okay, mysteries are just great in general. I honestly really love stories that can throw me off and surprise me because they're super good to talk about and it'll one hundred percent make me rave. I love plot twists and unexpected turns. They make stories so great. I love how mysteries and thrillers can be manipulative with the writing or the antagonist. I love mysteries when they pose several questions as to who actually committed a crime or what even happened. I just don't like it when not everything is revealed. Thanks for killing the reader. I'd still talk about it regardless lmao

when it comes to writing

For those of you wondering what the rules were:

     10. Write a draft. Then let it rest.
     9. Read a lot.
     8. Never use a long word when a short one will do.
     7. Never use the passive voice when you can use the active voice.
     6. Know and understand your audience.
     5. Recycle and read the good stuff before you write.
     4. Honor the miraculousness of the ordinary.
     3. Good copy=draft-10%
     2. Look at every word in a sentence and decide if they are really needed. If not, kill them. Be ruthless.
     1. Remember: Writing doesn't love you. It doesn't care. Nevertheless, it can behave with  remarkable generosity. Speak well of it, encourage others, pass it on.      

Question 1: Which of the top ten writing rules makes the most sense to you? 

1. Read a lot.
2. Recycle and read the good stuff before you write.
3. Look at every word in a sentence and decide if they are really needed. If not, kill them. Be ruthless.
4. Never use a long word when a short one will do.
5. Know and understand your audience.

Question 2: Which ones do you practice?
- I practice the ninth and eighth one. I read enough as it is so it provides a lot of source material to help me write. I don't really spend too much time thinking of different words to use as synonyms or substitutes for another word. Short words are fine unless the same ones become repetitive.

Question 3: Which ones do you need more work on?

- I need to work on the tenth and second rule. Drafts are very important and I need to realize that the writing process takes a lot longer than what I would like it to be. Many of my errors fall into the second rule. I need to improve on those mistakes and become more clear and concise.               

10.21.15

My English teacher told me a pretty funny story on October 21st, 2015. It was about her husband. He constantly joked with her and told her, "I'm going to bring you a box of roses for you at your job just because." He said this multiple times but these special roses were never delivered.

Until that actual day, when he delivered red roses to the school with a letter attached addressed to my beautiful English teacher herself. She was beyond surprised but she couldn't leave the class unattended. 

So what did she do? She chose me to pick up those roses, with the help of someone else. It has to be a boy, she leaned toward me and laughed. I looked back at her with a facial expression that translated to, "I'm not particularly friends with any boy in this class."

There was only one tolerable boy. I don't know why I felt like it that day, but I chose him to go to the office with. No reason at all, actually. I wasn't friends with him, as stated in the previous paragraph, and I saw nothing in him. He was just one of those other classmates I had.

I don't think I've ever had a proper conversation with him before. He was in the same class as me for four years. Which was surprising, because there's no trace of his face within my memories of those four years.

The boys stopped raising their hands and asking to be picked, waiting for the teacher's instructions. She looked over at him and said, "Are you okay with this?" since he wasn't following the actions of the other boys. He simply shrugged. That was settled. My English teacher sent us off with a pass.

It was silent walking to the office but by the time we got there, the administrators were just as surprised as my English teacher and the liveliness filled the awkward silence.

They shoved us the box of roses and the two of us hurried out of there. My left hand was gripping one side of the box and his right gripped the other side. Walking back up, I said something to him.

I asked a question that would change my life. It would change my life so much that even now it makes me exasperated thinking of how much it impacted me.

"Do you want to be best friends?"

is this a serious intro

Hello, hi. Do you know my name yet?
Okay, it's Jenna if you didn't read the side of the blog. Thanks.

You're probably wondering what gave me the idea to name my URL this but to tell you the truth, I don't know that myself. Figured something too serious would be something I wouldn't like. It's a sorry excuse for not having enough time to come up with a clever name but it's okay because I'm liking it more and more.

That isn't the point of this post though unfortunately. The point is to introduce myself properly.

I'm a Creative Writing major at School of the Arts and I created this blog not because I was told to for a grade, but because I want my sappy, artistic, virtuous, wonderful voice out there. Most definitely.

At this point you still don't really know that much about me but here you go:

• Yes, I'm a teenager. Implied enough, but I'm 15 as of this post.
• I'm getting tired of using actual English in this post so don't be surprised if you see something abbreviated. I'm talking to you directly Craddock lol
• I love many things. Let's see... my friends, my dogs, my family, you know the general. Did you know that I also really love Kija and Ariana Grande? If you didn't know that by now, then hi stranger.
• I'm actually having a lot of difficulty with these bullet points for no reason but it's okay
• Sleep is everything, I say as I'm about to put hours into the night on this blog.
• Is five facts good enough? Sure.

Hope this 'better impression' (I forgot I was supposed to do that) told you more about me... that's what I'm being graded for after all. Hope you find more posts you might find interest in lol