Author: Morgan Crosby

Back at it again with the blog posts! Now, what to blog about… Okay. So, I’ve talked about my thing with watching food videos, and yada yada, but I’ve gotten into another food-related video genre: street food. Just Saturday, I subscribed to three more YouTube channels. I’ll include the links at the bottom of this post, naturally. Gotta share it with you guys!

My best friend and I already plan on going to Japan one day, but the videos solidified it for me. Now I just have to figure out what would be the best time for us to go. I personally want to go during the fall because it won’t be too hot or too cold, but I also want to go to a matsuri (Japanese for ‘festival’), and I’d have to see what festivals would happen around that time. On top of figuring out the timing of a trip out of country, one would have to factor in finances, availability, transportation while in Japan, and other things that I can’t think of off the top of my head. But all that won’t really bother me: I have an affinity for planning trips or events.

Back to the topic of street foods though, it’s actually pretty cool to watch the vendors make the food. Like I watched this video where they were making taiyaki, a fish-shaped cake that usually has some sort of filling (like red bean), and it’s so neat to watch!

This is taiyaki, by the way.

Maybe I’ll make it one day… It just won’t have the fish shape because I don’t have that mold.

Anyway, that’s my new obsession! So if I ever get any free time, you’ll most likely find me watching something from any of those three channels.

Making Taiyaki 

Street Food Channel

Travel Thirsty Channel

Aden Films Channel

The year is drawing to a close, and this will be the last blog post of the year 2018. This year has been a trip honestly. I don’t even remember January much, let alone October. But I think I’ll do a review of this year for this blog post. So we’ll see how much I remember!

Seriously, I remember nothing. Though January hosts the birthdays of my mom and my cousin, so happy birthday to them! Oh wait! I met this really cool girl, and we got super close. Her name’s Lindsey, and we met in my journalism class. It was crazy how close we got in about a month. It got to the point where some of our classmates thought we were dating, but nope. Not true.

February was a fun month. Why? Because the Winter Olympics (Feb. 8-25) went down! I tuned in especially when men’s figure skating came on. I was rooting for the Russian skaters, Mihkail Kolyada and Dmitri Aliev, and American skater, Nathan Chen. The hype for Chen was crazy – he was supposed to be the first male to land five quad jumps at the Olympics, but when he competed the first night, the pressure got to him and he didn’t land them. But that changed for his final skate. He not only landed all five of his quad jumps, he added an extra quad to redeem himself. It was awesome. There was a kid in my grade who was also into figure skating for the same reason I was (Yuri on Ice), and we’d talk to each other about the skate programs everyday in our first block. Man… That was nice.

March-April

Two more months I remember nothing about. Next!

The only thing I remember from May was New Student Day, here at MSA. It was nice meeting all the seniors and getting to see some of my peers. But that’s about it besides school ending.

June-July

Celebrated my birthday in June, spent as much time with Jennifer as I could, got to see family… Got on a boat for the first time! Yep, lived on the coast for 16 years and had never been on a boat. That’s a summary of the life I live.  Also spent the latter part of July buying stuff for my dorm.

August-September

School. That’s all I remember in this span of time. 

Ah, October, also known as Morgan’s favorite month, it just had to be featured! So what happened this month? This awesome band know as Ice Nine Kills released their album, The Silver Scream, on October 5th.  Leading up to their release, all I did was listen to them. Every. Single. Day. It was beautiful. And the album was worth the wait, in my opinion. Also, Halloween happened, but I wasn’t home for that so there aren’t any memories associated with it this time. 

November-December

Absolutely nothing. Except maybe a little bit of stress, but I’m actually managing it well! So it’s not that bad.

So I’ve noticed yet another habit I’ve “developed” since being here at MSA. I love taking pictures of trees. Why? I have no clue. Remember that lovely picture I posted in the last blog post with Chloe and the tree? That’s just one of the many pictures I’ve taken. 

 Here it is! Chloe seems to also have a habit – ruining my beautiful shots. She’s always in the picture somehow, which is actually somewhat amusing. If you don’t think she’s there, always look at the sides or in the corners. You’d probably find some of her hair there because of the wind blowing, and all that stuff. 

It’s strange, but I love the vividness of the greens, oranges, yellows. And now, they’re gone. Winter is coming, fall is leaving. Fall did its job, making the trees beautiful before wiping it all away, but oh well. I have the pictures. In fact, here’s a couple of them! 

 A nice little collage of my nature shots… I don’t really know why I’m so attracted to the trees. Probably because where my house is located there are no trees. Just fake grass, sand for dirt, and all that other lovely stuff. Hmph, oh well. Although, just like every other kid, I always wanted a tree house. Of course there was always one little problem: we didn’t have any trees. For a good bit of my life, we stayed in apartments. I think it was around maybe fourth grade when we moved into a house. But alas, no trees still. But it had a huge yard, so I had room to play, and there was a shed where I would mess with the pool table until my parents kicked my siblings and I out of it for safety reasons.  

Anyway, I love trees. They’re just really pretty to me, and I enjoy looking at them. I’m contemplating making a story that is almost like The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein, but not exactly because it wouldn’t be a children’s story. You’ll find out more after I’ve written it.  

I’m going to take a break from my fall appreciation type posts for this week because it starting to wind down. In just 3.4 weeks, it will be winter (December 21), meaning we have 24 days left in fall. So for now, I’m going to post this really short poem that I wrote for… someone. I might expand on it more and probably take inspiration from our many strange conversations that I just love. Without further ado, here is “You!”

You 

I wonder if you know just how much you affect me.                                                    Just about every second of my day is centered around you.                                      “What are you doing?”                                                                                                       “Are you okay?”                                                                                                                       “I hope you’ll text me soon.”

You drive me nuts in the most amazing way possible,                                                 and it’s because I love you.                                                                                                   All I ever want is to be wrapped in your arms.                                                                   I want to feel your breath on my skin,                                                                             Your lips on my neck.                                                                                                                I want you by my side and I need you there now.

I wonder if you know just what you’re doing to me.

But even if you do know, I still like it. 

It’s not my greatest work, but it came from my heart, so it’s okay! Now that it’s out there, next week will be our regularly scheduled program of fall appreciation posts! As a little hint for what it may be about, here’s a special picture I took. 

Well, my favorite month is over now, but I’m still in the fall mood. Though, I type this while currently wearing a Christmas sweater… But that means nothing. There’s now a bite in the air that was previously missed in October, and now it’s November, so you know what that means! 

Gobble gobbling, turkey-eating, belly-stuffing, kitchen destroying, Thanksgiving! Honestly, the only way for me to get into the spirit of Thanksgiving is by watching a bunch of cooking videos. Now, Chloe has seen my habit: watching cooking videos while I’m hungry. I don’t know why I do it, but I enjoy seeing the creations, so I guess it’s like I’m mentally feeding myself? I’m not exactly sure why I do it. However, not all of them are Thanksgiving “themed”. Most of them have been from other cultures like Vietnamese, Chinese, Japanese, French, British — just to name a few. I like watching all these videos because it gives me an idea of what I’d like to make one day. Most likely, my family wouldn’t eat it, but my best friend and I would have a blast making it! I’ve made crepes for Mother’s Day one year, and my family loved them then. Even my picky little brother enjoyed them. My sister… she’s another story. My dad liked them as well, though through the process, he was nagging me. But that’s what he usually does. 

Anyways, Thanksgiving. So I have this app called “Tasty”. Tasty is basically a YouTube channel that started their own app that shows all their videos they’ve made. They have this thing called “Tasty-est Thanksgiving” which is just a collection of recipes and hacks for Thanksgiving. I think I’ve watched almost all of them, but mostly the ones that I would consider making.  

We don’t have many traditional Thanksgiving traditions (like breaking the wishbone from the turkey) in my family, but we do usually congregate at someone’s house. That’s usually my grandma’s house, but sometimes we’ll have family come over to our house. We also have themes, sort of, of what kind of food we’ll make. One year, we did more cookout/Cajun foods, and another, we did finger foods, so stuffing was not on the menu that year. I wonder if we’ll have a theme this year because I haven’t heard anything from my parents yet. I just know that my dad wants to fry a turkey. I swear, he always wants to fry a turkey. But I think I have a few ideas of what I’d like to make. Now, if I actually get to make something is a matter of finances. 

I wrote a journal entry back in September that I titled “Ashes”. I don’t remember if there was a prompt to it or not, but it went some places. I know I let a couple literaries read it, but I don’t think everyone did, so I’ll share it here! I felt like it was perfect, given the special day coming up. Just as a warning, there is a bit of gore (sort of?) and mentions of (technically) murder. Please don’t take offense to it!

Without further ado, here is “Ashes”!

There’s a plant in the window that makes oxygen for me. I breathe in its creation and breathe out pollutants.

I watch its leaves flutter in the breeze as sunlight shines through them. The day is quiet as I watch this little plant. I give it water and a bit of fertilizer to help it grow. My little plant is special to me.

Because my little plant holds a secret.

Within its soil, there are bones and ashes. THey came from my ex boyfriend. I cut his finger off and used them to fertilize the soil. I burned the skin off his arms and mixed the ashes in with his fingers.

I smile as I look out the window to the massive oak tree in my backyard.

You don’t want to know what I did to the rest of him.

So that was “Ashes”. Yeah, I don’t know what happened there either, but you bet two whole dollars that I just shortened that some and entered it for that 50 word horror story contest! Along with another piece, but that won’t be shared just yet!

Here’s one fall poem that I also wrote back in September, titled “The Beast”.

It’s coming. 

It’s time.

It’s getting cooler.

The world around me is dying.

It’s all so beautiful.

The beast is waking up.

Its jaw is unhinged, letting its cool breath wash over the earth.

It’s quieter – there’s hardly any buzzing now. I enjoy the quiet.

Fires are starting. Families are gathering.

Finally they’re all together again.

The leaves flutter free from the grasp of their prison.

The golds, reds, and oranges twist and twirl in the wind

as the brown ones skitter and dance in the streets.

The air is crisp and the beast smiles lazily,

its breath gently blowing as it closes its eyes again.

Fall is here, and it’s time to celebrate. 

My favorite thing about the latter half of the year is that ABC Family (now Freeform) has these “X Days of Halloween/Christmas”. Right now for the wonderful month of October, they have “31 Days of Halloween.” While here, I haven’t been able to actually watch it, but when I go home, that’s what I plan on doing. Maybe Saturday, my friend and I could watch it while we bake or hang out or whatever. I like that Freeform provides a schedule for their movies. Here’s the link for the movie schedule.

I can’t believe how much this month has flown by. This year has flown by too. It’s crazy, really. But I guess that’s time for you. Always moving, never stopping for anyone. We will continue this slow, never-ending march of time until we come to an end. 

But anyways! I love fall. Fall is awesome. I’d write a poem about fall, but it’d just be stupid. Nothing could truly capture my love for fall, and that’s okay. Because I know how much I love fall. And that’s all that matters to me. 

Maybe I’ll attempt at a poem for fall, but that’ll be the next blog post. Till then, ciao! 

So Monday, October 15, 2018 was our monthly coffeehouse, and that was interesting to say the least! The theme was “Under the Red Sky/dark fantasies”. All the poets on program and those that signed up were all great. I also read some poems, and I think one of them was equally liked and disliked. For those of you that didn’t attend Coffeehouse, I’m including my poems that I read. 

The first poem is titled “Red”, and I’m not exactly sure what made me write it. But please do enjoy it!

Red

The sky looks like a pulsing heart,
pulled fresh from someone’s chest.
The pink clouds pass slowly, appearing to be forever stuck.

Below the bright red sky, chaos ensues.
Blood spills.
Heads roll.
Death rules.

Humans attack each other on the streets.
Siblings turn against siblings.
Wife against husband.
Father against son.
Homes are ruined, forever stained with red.

The red sky weeps red tears.
The moon gives the world a red tint.

Everything is red.
The ground is soaked with the blood.
The grass is no longer green on the other side –
It’s red.

Now, the second piece is titled “Monster”. This is piece that probably received mixed reactions from the crowd, but I still enjoy it and find it… amusing? It’s up to you to determine. Also, there’s tad bit of gore involved, so you’ve been warned!

Monster

The monster doesn’t live under the bed.
The monster doesn’t live in his basement.
Or in his attic.
Or in his closet.

The monster is freely moving.
He comes and goes.
He steals the screams of children and adults alike.
He takes the form of his greatest nightmares,
and makes it so real, he considers gouging out his own eyes.

He can’t handle the sight.
The smell.
The sounds.
His body shakes and trembles.
The monster stalks closer.

“You’ll never escape me, Johnny.”
“Yes, Papa.”

Blood coats the walls.
Mama’s head is bashed open, her brains become the new carpet.
The smell of her rotting flesh perfumes the air.
Her life essence drips from the head of the hammer.

“She tried to escape, Papa.”
“Good, Johnny. You’re learning.”

Johnny was the monster.
Papa was the monster.
And they’ll make you into a monster too.

That “Johnny.. Yes Papa” thing was a complete coincidence. I’ve never actually watched those videos, but those were the names that I picked while typing. Oops.

I’m not sure about you guys, but I’m enjoying October so far. Not so much the school aspect, but everything else is great.

Ice Nine Kills has released their new album, The Silver Scream, and I must say, it is fucking bomb. I love it so much, and I’ve been listening to them everyday since last Monday in preparation for this album. All the songs are based on different horror movies like IT, The Shining, Friday the 13th, that’s just to name a few. And they’re all great. I recommend everyone listen to it, and some of their other songs like Hell in the Hallways or The People in the Attic, based on Stephen King’s Carrie and Anne Frank, respectively. It’s all great to me because of the stories behind the songs or the allusions made in them. INK’s album Every Trick in the Book was their experiment at creating songs from other media. And they perfected it to me. To true lovers of literature or movie buffs, some of their songs may seem to be a flop, but I give them all a solid 10. And it’s just in time for Halloween, making it so much better – a smart marketing tactic, if you ask me. 

The song A Grave Mistake resonates with me. It’s about The Crow, a movie where a man and his soon-to-be wife are murdered, however, his life doesn’t end there. On the anniversary of their death, the man comes back to avenge their deaths. Some reason, the song hits hard to me, with lines like “buildings burn and people die all of the time” and “you can’t save yourself/ or save your soul”. They may or may not affect others the same way they do for me, I guess that’s just your opinion. I’m not here to preach about the greatness of Ice Nine Kills or anything, I’m here to say “Hey, check this out. I think it’s pretty good, and I’d like it if you gave it a listen.” I didn’t say it like that to my best friend though… I demanded her to listen it, but that’s different! Anyway, those lines I mentioned before. I think they affect in such a way because of how blunt it is. Buildings do burn and people do die. It happens daily and there’s nothing you can do to stop it. Same thing for saving yourself. You can try your best to not bring yourself closer to your end, but there are some things that can’t be prevented. It’s simple as that. I think that may be the point of the song: to show how helpless we are against life. With that being said, I’m gonna leave a couple of links to the songs mentioned and to the album. Please do give them a listen!

A Grave Mistake – The Crow

Hell in the Hallways – Carrie

The People in the Attic – Anne Frank

The Silver Scream

Go listen. Or else…