Tales of Tenth Grade

TRANSCRIPT Should we go check that out? I don't see why not. Oh damn it's a dude. Is he glowing? HEY DO YOU NEED HELP? Uhh... Where did you come from? Who... who are you?  What do you mean?  You just fell from the sky? Oh... Who are you ? I... don't... I don't know... Hey this is just like that Death Pigeon song! Ya know... about the guy... Who fell from the sky? In a bolt of lightning? 

As I compose the last blog post of my sophomore year (I hate to be cheesy, but it’s kinda surreal even just writing that), I’m at a loss of what to discuss. A majority of my blog posts this year (or, let’s be honest, ALL of my blog posts this year) have been rants, so I figured that maybe for this blog I should do something a little different. I’ve always loved writing poems, but I haven’t composed any in a while (aside from the recent English assignment, of course). So, for this blog post, I’ve decided to write a (very short) free verse poem inspired by the late hours I keep (which unintentionally began to derail into a poem about the stars whoops). Admittedly, it is not the longest of poems, nor is it the most eloquent, but nonetheless here it is (: celestial bodies i am one of the night  it is i who knows the moon,  i who embraces her coruscating light with the familiarity of an old friend i seek solace in the evanescent stars in their comforting glim...

I know this is past midnight technically, but I honestly forgot about the blog post for May. It just feels like everything is out of whack. The world is going through a pandemic, there are riots on the streets, and nothing is going right. Everything is just wrong, and I need a good rant. I think everyone deserves a good rant right about now. I have become so antsy, and can barely sit still (not like i couldn't sit still before). But the point is, .... there is no point i dont know what I'm saying anymore THE WORLD IS CHAOS!!!!111!!!!1!11!1 I've been trying to pass the time watching netflix and bingeing shows. I've been drawing more, and writing music. (I've also become obsessed with Katya Zamolodchikova, a drag queen who is absolutely insane) But still, it seems like a new bad thing is happening every day. We have a deadly virus, murder hornets, rising rates of depression, anti-racism movement and riots, etc, etc, etc. I think it might just be the beginning ...

     The way I tend to listen to music is I'll have two or three albums that I'll listen to on repeat for a month or so, and then I move on to a new set of albums.  I find I can't listen to music while I'm working or doing something else, I'm too easily distracted by what I'm listening to. Instead, what I ususally do is I take time to listen to an album all the way through and do nothing else other than focus on the music. This means I really only listen to maybe an album a day, so I don't get bored of any song or album very quickly. I know  this is a really weird way to listen to music,--I don't even use playlists--but it's what I've done ever since I've had Spotify.       This style of listening means that every once in a while, I need to find new music to listen to. This happened to me earlier in the week, and this time I decided I wanted to find something that I had never listened to in my life. And so my journey of scrolling through the ...

The recent protests turned riots happening America right now mirror many riots of the past, but there is one aspect in particular I want to talk about. The 1992 Los Angeles riots were a result of the aqcuital of  all 4 police officers in the beating of Rodney King. The riots were extremely violent and arson and looting was everywhere, resulting in damages to the city of over $1 billion dollars. Almost half of the damages dispraportionaley affected Koreatown, a settelment largely made up of Koreans, as the riots were most violent there. When the rioters first began to arrive in Koreatown, police was called and they arrived to try to stop the rioters. However, as it begun to become more violent and shots were fired by the rioters, the police completely abandoned Koreatown, leaving the civilians there to fend for themselves. Coincidentally, roads between Koreatown and wealthier towns were blocked off and police lines were drawn at independent cities like Beverly Hills and West Hollywo...

On May 25, an african-american man named George Floyd died in Minneapolis, Minnesota. When he was arrested for forgery, a police officer named Derek Chauvin choked him by kneeling on his neck while he was lying on the street, handcuffed. Three other officers watched and did nothing while he became unresponsive and eventually died. While this happened, Floyd was saying he couldn't breathe and passing people called for the officer to get off him, but he ignored them. This has been a big deal recently, and it sparked outrage across the country, especially with the Black Lives Matter movement. Protests began on the street where this happened, but many of them soon turned into riots when people took the opportunity to loot and burn stores. More protests followed in cities such as Chicago, Louisville, and Memphis. Many of these turned equally violent, with police cars being destroyed and buildings being lit on fire. Some of the people being hurt by this are small business owners, and th...

This post is about my experience of doing yard work for the past 3 MONTHS! First I'll give some background information to really explain it. During corona, my dad hasn't been able to work since he is a dentist and it hasn't been approved for him to go back up until a week ago. With this free time on his hands, after 9 years of saying he was going to do it, he finally did it, we are re-mulching. This plan has been in the works for longer than I can remember, so think about how it looks now. I'll answer, really really bad. I was afraid this was going to happen the second they announced quarantine and my fear came true. It was about the second week of staying at home that I noticed he had his work pants on, which is never good for me. He grabbed gloves, a shovel, and a trash bin and headed to the yard. My mom, brother and I looked at each other in panic, we all knew what this meant. We sent ourselves to our rooms to and got changed, mentally preparing for what it's...

Across the globe, over a million species are at risk. Without the budget or resources to save them all, one must beg the question “which ones do we save?” I read a BBC article detailing a project in the U.K. which proved to be a success when two spoon-billed sandpipers were born, members of possibly the most endangered bird species on the planet. Getting to this point took the people running the project 10 years to achieve. The utmost precaution is taken to ensure the chicks don’t fall dead, like wearing hairnets around the enclosure so no hair falls in and entraps them. Both the birds have “shovel-shaped bills”, an identifying characteristic of their species. This is the first time in a decade that these sandpipers have been bred in captivity. The eggs that came before them were imported from Russian nesting grounds when only a few hundred of them existed. This was the first step the “Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust” (WWT) took to protect this species. So why did we save those species and...

Over the past few months of quarantine, I have watched tons and tons of shows and movies on Netflix. I usually run Netflix shows in the background while I am doing something else, so I get through them pretty fast. Here are some shows and movies that I have watched and my review of them: 1. All American The only reason I got into this show was because my brother would be watching it while I was doing schoolwork, so I decided to give it a shot and I was not disappointed. This show is about a high schooler named Spencer James who is the star quarterback at South Crenshaw High. He is recruited by a man named Billy Baker who is the coach for Beverly High School. This show is full of drama (seeing as it is classified as a drama) and takes a look at what it is like to live in a neighborhood with gang violence and more. I would definitely recommend it. 2. Outer Banks I feel like if you're a teenager and you haven't watched this show, you're a little behind. Outer Banks be...

Saying Christmas is my favorite holiday is a bit of an understatement - it is my favorite time of the year. I know it must seem crazy to be thinking about Christmas because it will be June tomorrow, but for some reason it is all I am thinking about. Maybe this quarantine has got me in a funk, but I am in the holiday spirit. My family thinks I am insane because I have been singing "Deck the Halls" around the house, but I decided to put my Christmas mood to good use by writing a poem about it. To be completely honest, at first I didn't like the free verse poem assignment because the fact that it could have any structure made it harder. However, when I stopped overthinking, I was coming up with poems left and right and was enjoying writing them. I was feeling nostalgic and wrote this free verse poem about Christmas day as a little kid: The smell of warm ham fills the kitchen. A little girl tip-toes down the stairs to see how good she's been this year. The floor sen...

I can sit down and list all the negative things about quarantine (like I am almost 16 and the DMV's are not open yet), but being my optimistic self, I would much rather prefer to list all the good things the coronavirus has brought. 1. More quality time with family Before quarantine, my family and I were too busy with sports that we weren't able to spend a lot of family time together. Now, I feel like I have really connected with them (especially with my sister). 2. Having more time to binge-watch Netflix shows (do I need to say more) 3. More time for school work Because of this little blessing in disguise, I am able to take my time and hand in work that I am proud of 4. Hanging out with friends now is more meaningful than it was before I took seeing my friends in school for granted. I miss seeing them every day, so that's why whenever I have the opportunity to hang out with them, I always try to make the most out of it. 5. Finding new hobbies/passions For example,...

In a response to the unjust death of George Floyd riots are breaking out around the country. Many business and store fronts have been looted and burned in an attempt to avenge George Floyd's death. Despite the atrocious acts that happened I do not believe violence is the answer. It is stated by George Floyd's wife that the destruction going on would "devastate" Floyd. Although reforms are in order, rioting and burning innocent businesses is not the way to bring about that reform. I believe these riots would be very effective in changing policies if they remained peaceful. Once a movement turns to violence it's cause becomes irrelevant. The best way to honor the late George Floyd is to change policies peacefully and have the police officer that murdered him have a fair trial.

It's about time. The US haven't put astronauts into space on US territory since 2011. Since then the US has been using Russian Soyuz rockets and have been sending astronauts into space from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Sending astronauts into space isn't anywhere near cheap which is why the Russians were charging the US $75 million to send an astronaut into space, with the the most recent trip being a $90 million ticket. The astronauts were supposed to take off on Wednesday May 27 but with the weather not being in NASA and Space Xs favor (thunderstorms) they put off the launch till the following Saturday. The astronauts took off a little after 3:20 on May 30 on a much better day. At the time of writing this they are very close to arriving on the International Space Station. NASA still doesn't know how long the astronauts will be staying on the ISS, and to be honest I think they would be more than happy to stay up in space for as long as possible with the way ...

Before I had no idea what do for my blog i was like,"I've learn a lot what do I talk about." Then I remembered this modern day hero assignment that we did in class during the hero's journey section. Coincidentally enough it was also about military hero. Salvatore Guinta or Sal was born in Iowa on January 21, 1985. He was just a normal guys working at a subway. He never really thought about joining the military until he heard an ad from local recruiting that promised a free t-shirt. So he went to the recruiting office talked with them and got his free T-shirt and decided to enlist.  He was assigned to the  503rd Infantry Regiment, 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team which was base in Vincenza , Italy. Interestingly enough, he met his wife in Italy who was on an internship  there. After a little bit, Sal was deployed in  Afghanistan for a year. In a little skirmish he was shot in the leg and four other soldiers died from a bomb explosion. Even though that was a terribl...

This is my final vlog, it took a full seven hours to record edit and upload. I'm a little sad because I had fun doing these. I hope you like it. It's not a normal video or anything so be prepared. It's also not good at all bring your hopes down. Okay, final words: the final vlog

As June and the end of school approaches, many people are looking into what our summer will consist of.  Will we continue to social distance, or will it be like any other awesome summer?  Although it did not seem promising a few weeks ago, things are starting to look brighter for our summer fun. As of Memorial Day weekend, New Jersey Governor, Phil Murphy, has eased restrictions to allow a gathering of 25 people outside of buildings and 10 people inside if social distancing remains "intact."  As soon as the day after this small gathering was permitted, I saw a gym hold a class outside.  Even though the members had to remain 6 feet apart, it was a step towards the "normal" lifestyle we once had.  Furthermore, non-contact sports as well as summer camps will be able to resume on June 22.  Although soccer is not among the list of non-contact sports, this reduced restriction provides hope that there will at least be a soccer season next fall.  Additionall...

At the beginning of quarantine, every day felt exactly the same. I would wake up around 11:30, do homework, watch Netflix, eat, and then go back to sleep. It felt like I was copying and pasting that same routine for 3 weeks straight. After I had had enough of this lifestyle, I came to the realization that it NEEDED to change so I tried to find some new hobbies. Hopefully, this blog will give you some ideas on how not to go insane (like I almost did) in the midst of this quarantine. 1. Sunset Rides/Adventures - Every night around 8:15 on days that it is somewhat warm out, my siblings and I take an adventure to see the sunset. We live on a golf course so we sometimes ride the golf cart to a ledge on the golf course to see the sunset. Other nights we simply ride our bikes around on the street while admiring the red and pinkish sky. This is by far my favorite new activity that we have been doing to maintain sanity. 2.Hiking - Another outdoor activity that my family has been doing lat...

I recently decided I need a vacation. I've been stuck at my house almost three months now, and I want a change of scenery. I've decided that I should make a list of some places that I would want to go, if I was able to (I love the beach, so they're all beaches haha). 1. Lake Tahoe I really want to go to Lake Tahoe. There's so many fun activities to do there year round. In summer there's jet skiing, parasailing, paddle boarding, and hiking are just a few. In the winter there's normal skiing, snowmobile tours, and snow tubing. The lake is gorgeous and perfect for swimming. There's plenty of stores to shop too. 2. The Maldives The Maldives looks like the perfect place for a vacation. The over-water-villas look so fun, so I really want to stay in one at some point. You can also have dinner under the ocean in the Maldives. One restaurant, named Ithaa is located 16 feet below sea level and is made up of glass walls. As you eat, you can watch the marine ...