Author: Tiara Jones

This is Tiara J, and I love reading and writing Mystery and Thriller. "How to Survive Your Murder" is one of my favorite novels and my favorite show is "Only Murders in the Building". I’m not dark, I just write for the shy little girl years behind me while also obsessing over Stephen King movies. Europe is my dream destination; I want to write many books there. Favorite Quote: “I always wanted to be funny. I never really planned to be scary.” -R.L. Stine

You’re the one crying! Not me :(

Of course, I knew my very last blog for MSA was going to be about moments that are based on reflecting about time or about the journeys we take. Not creepy or chaotic like my first blog. That itself seems like a lifetime ago.

Let’s talk lovelies. Or just read, it’s what brings us together best.

These past two school years have been the best story for me yet. Coming into MSA, I was ready to not get close to others out of habit of not fitting in. I was worried that I would lose my passion thinking I would be amongst those who would make me feel as if my craft isn’t up to par, coming from an old environment when writing was considered inferior to things like sports and homecoming court. I’m so happy by the fact that those nightmares didn’t occur.

When I stepped into the Literary classroom, I found that I was surrounded by passionate individuals who had a voice and a strive just like me. And they weren’t here to step on me, but instead to lift me up so that I could stay and be taught by their own experiences. I love being surrounded by other artists and their individual styles a lot. Like A LOT. Shout out to my senior class, their diverse voices are amazingly clever and bold, and every day since Junior year, I knew I struck gold with them as my classmates. Amelia, Carter, Chanel, Cooper, Crislyn, and Sone’t; thank you with my full being for adding to the indents that carve me into a better artist.

Thank you too Dr. A! Being under your instruction has helped me find a path to my voice. Now I’m ready to take a path with more creative freedom.

Throughout my time here at MSA I have grown quite a bit from the old person I was being just to survive. I’ve learned what type of people I truly like surrounding myself around and I’ve learned that those people are usually the ones that I feel comfortable getting silent around. I’ve learned to separate anger from stress and sleepiness from burn-out. MSA has also taught me that it’s okay to want to be in solitude sometimes. Being alone doesn’t mean you’re lonely. Being alone has given me time to adapt to learning new things by myself because people I know aren’t always going to be around the corner when I turn. That’s very much important to me because I come from a place where everyone sees everyone and everyone knows everything about you. That doesn’t give someone a chance to discover themselves when people know every move you make and each choice you decide. Getting a chance to decide for myself has been the biggest fresh breath of air. Writing was my main escape from people, but now it’s no longer just an escape but a haven that I spend time in so I can spend a moment out of reality before I run back to it. It’s great when I don’t mind reality.

This whole experience has been worth it, and I can dive into all my gratefulness for my time here and all the people that are some people to know, but I’ll be here all day. So instead, I’m going to go back to my roots with the movies. This time, I’m dropping movies that sum up how I feel about this journey we’ve been through.

MADAGASCAR 3: EUROPE’S MOST WANTED

Madagascar was basically a movie about these animals and their self-discovery journey, right? Well, they all learned something new about themselves every movie. Marty proved he was unique and not like the other zebras, he discovered individuality. Melman learned confidence and courage. Gloria learned self-acceptance and true love. Then Alex not only learned loyalty, but he found his family. Throughout my school life I’ve found different members of my family, and like any family some became estranged, and some taught awful lessons that I needed to learn eventually. But here at MSA, this family taught me acceptance. I first watched this movie in the Malco theater when I was in first grade with my aunt and my cousins. We went to McDonalds after, and I even remember the drive, the fireworks shop we looked at was what I really remember seeing. Sadly, my aunt passed not soon after from cancer. It hurt because that was one of the lessons about life that I learned early. Life’s journey isn’t always grand, but it’s the small moments that you cherish with people you love that are the most important. Like in Madagascar they went on all the wildest trips with each other, but they didn’t take any moment for granted. They also stuck together until the end. Class, y’all gave me a lot of those moments. Honestly.

SING

Y’all know that part in the movie when Meena is trying to get Moon to stop having a pity party and he tells her “You and me, we’re both afraid for good reason. Cause deep down, we know… We just don’t have what it takes.” Yeah, y’all know the part. Welp I’m pretty sure we all had that feeling at some point during our 13 years of school. But listen, the moment I love the most in this movie was at the end. When they are all lined behind that ribbon, and they clip the ribbon revealing a new beginning. One that they worked so hard for despite the doubt. We’re living in that moment right now. After all these times we’ve wanted to give up, we didn’t, and now we will finally be able to cut that ribbon. And just like for Moon and his father, all the self-doubt and pity parties you recovered from will be worth it. Just close your eyes and listen to the applause. You deserve it, after climbing up from rock bottom to see the moon.

TOY STORY 3

I got sick of watching this movie every day in fifth grade during state-testing. Now, my heart is breaking remembering what this movie did to me. It made me think that this moment would be so far away. But now it’s 23 days away starting today. Wow, okay, tearing up a little. But this is the biggest feeling that I feel right now. The feeling of letting go of old memories from your childhood so you can make new ones for your future into adulthood. Right now, we’re all Andy’s. And just like how he left his toys staring behind him, try not to get sad as you walk away from all the random friends you met at the water park, all the teachers who gave you headaches, all the bus rides when you really wanted to laugh at those kids who weren’t supposed be funny, and the bits of missed school days when your heart swelled at snow days, and it’s okay to get in the car like Andy. All of those you may leave behind will understand.

But yeah, again I just want to say thank you all and I hope to see you reign in your success in the future. And like what Buzz said to Woody on his way to his next chapter,

“To infinity, and beyond.”

Book Tok is the reason I sleep til’ noon the next day.

Since coming back from Spring Break, I have found myself staying up on my phone gasping and crying, being dramatic, and all of the above because of one thing. Books.

I am losing sleep over Book Tok and Book Gram, and everything else that has me adding to a TBR list that hasn’t even started physically, barely even mentally.

You guys listen, the reason I am about to ramble about this is because all of these books that are brought to my attention usually start with those reel quotes or questions. Like, have you passed those reels on Instagram where it shows a book where the ending was like this song? Or as writers I’m pretty sure we have all seen those one-line prompts. You know, the ones that are like tell me the first line of your favorite book to try and convince me. Then there’s the ones that want you to talk about a character you’re creating, but when you finally have a chance to see how much you know about that character it all just comes up blank. Everything I see about those books just leads to rabbit holes that give writers advice until I’m on the side when someone is hating on a book I actually loved for no reason. So now I am just going through author rage bait until it gets really chaotic.

That’s not the point though. The point is, through all of the book community I have come across some really neat quotes (first lines) or some books that I may actually want to read one day. I also have come across some neat advice that could actually be beneficial. And while there is a lot of good that comes with the book media, I have come across some funny interactions because of unpopular opinions that I’ve come across. I am going to talk about a little of everything in between.

QUOTES IN BOOKS THAT SOUND LIKE RIHANNA’S “STAY” AUDIO

“Don’t let the cereal eat you. It’s only a fucking box of cereal, but it will eat you alive if you let it.” – Girl in Pieces

The cereal! Like dude, I wonder what the context was here. I mean, I haven’t read this book myself, but I have friends who have, so when this popped up on my book media, I was like, this line is genius. I know the book itself is centered around teen mental health and self-harm, so for this to be one of the lines in there just lets me know that I can expect some mic drops and fire motifs.

“but there are worse games to play.” – Katniss Everdeen, Mockingjay

I have read the book and watched all the movies, so this line hurt me. I mean, it’s sad that this was true, today you could apply this to a lot of scenarios, and it could still be true, depending on the context. In Mockingjay, I valued a lot of decisions that Katniss had to make, no matter what may have been hard, I don’t want to spoil it, but at the end of the movie franchise, I applauded what she did. It made sense. If you disagree, well let’s just agree to disagree. She just wanted to put a final end to the carnage.

“People say you don’t know what you had until it’s gone. Truth is, you knew what you had, you just never thought you’d lose it.” – Peeta Mellark

Again, I know this story like the back of my hand. This line right here is sadly true, and people experience this type of pain every day. The context behind this just made me want to look at the sky as I floated away in the ocean.

“The worst feeling is when you want to go home, but you are already there” – Our life

Excuse me, I’m just going to go and stare at a wall now.

What is this and why did I feel this way last Summer? I don’t know if I have the willpower to read this book, but if I ever do, I’m going to have to sit in the dark next to a window that gives the view of rain outside while I smell the scent of cherries and chocolate chip cookies or something to go through the motions.

BOOKS’ FIRST LINES THAT GIVE THE SAME VIBE AS THE ARCANE EXPLOSION

‘The last time I attended a funeral; I ended up with a broken arm.” — The Fine Print

I started this series, it was good. I haven’t completed the series, but if it’s as good as the first book, then maybe I shall. That line is unexpected and catches the attention immediately. It also gives the explosion vibes because I don’t know how I should take this, but it leads up well.

“I wonder what kind of sound it would make if I were to smash this glass against the side of his head.” — November

See look, this line is intriguing, and it gives a great insight onto a small part of the narrators’ personality. I would finish this book based on this line if it weren’t for one thing, Colleen Hoover wrote this. And I do feel some type of way about Colleen Hoover. What do you all think, would this line still make you read the book?

“I have a heart for every year I’ve been alive” – To Kill a Kingdom

I’ve been wanting to read more fantasy lately, but you know, it just piles up with the rest of the books, BUT I’ll get there eventually. I heard that this book was gut-wrenching and almost like a movie in the best way possible. And the title, I mean come on, that title DEVOURS! Hooked immediately. And I just wonder, are those the hearts that were collected from the enemies that tried to destroy them, or are they actual hearts in their body? I need to know.

COULD’VE DROPPED SOME ADVICE BUT IMMA GATE KEEP CAUSE THE WORDS STARTED WORDING TO WORD COUNT, SO HERE’S BOOKS THAT BOOKGRAM MADE ME ADD TO MY LONG TBR LIST

FIVE TOTAL STRANGERS

It’s a Young Adult thriller by Natalie D. Richards. The book is about five college students who get stranded at an airport during a snowstorm. They’re strangers to each other that all find out that they’re all headed in the same direction. So, what’s a better idea for them to get where they need to be, then ride 6 hours together in a rental car. The idea works at first, until the main character realizes that her travel buddies are hiding something dangerous. Now she must uncover the truth before the trip turns deadly.

I want to read this mystery. Everyone says that even though it’s a thriller story, it kind of has a bunch of sad moments that give you a gut wrench. My type of book.

YOU CAN TRUST ME

First and foremost, the cover is so pretty, but after reading the synopsis it’s so misleading.

When Alana’s best friend is found deceased in a pool, the cause results come back to be a date rape drug from a drink that was supposed to be for Alana. The boys that are suspected to be responsible aren’t held accountable in any form. Alana hates this so she decides to find out which of the boys did it before she becomes the next target.

It’s supposed to attract the readers of Holly Jackson and Karen McManus, which is literally me, so of course I want to read it.

I had more books, but I passed the word count, so until next time.

Insert Je te laisserai des mots by Patrick Watson

The Stars are Grey

First off, don’t mind the title of this blog. I just came up with it randomly. This isn’t going to be an excerpt of anything like that. Instead, I’m once again talking about that diverse piece of media that we call television.

Recently, I started watching two shows that I never thought I would ever watch before.

The first one is a pretty popular show that I have finally been convinced to watch, Grey’s Anatomy. I am already on the second season, and why I may not be addicted, I have been doing a healthy amount of binging.

The second is a reality TV show that I just finished watching in Earth and Space Science called Stars on Mars. The show was pretty light-hearted and kept me engaged throughout. It was a competitive show, and since that was part of my class work, it was pretty cool.

GREY’S ANATOMY

I think everyone has likely heard of the famous medical drama, Grey’s Anatomy.

If you haven’t, the show is about a group of interns, the main one being Meredith Grey, and their journeys as they grapple with life as doctors who basically go through the motions of humanity.
While watching this show, I already decided that I don’t like a couple of characters.

One of the first ones I really don’t like is Alex Karev. He’s one of those interns that are cocky and think they’re better than everybody, all while being vile and making crude jokes.

Now he does have some moments when he’s an actual good guy. Like it was this one episode when he was helping this kid get from under his abusive father. Karev showed he could be humane in that episode. But I heard that he actually gets some great character development.

So, I guess I’ll have to wait and see that.

A lot of people likely disagree with me, but I kind of don’t like Meredith. I don’t know why, her personality just seems like a lot to me. I know she’s just stressed with her mother and stuff, but a lot of moments are filled with her projecting. I promise I’m not trying to be different; that’s just literally how it is for me.

Anyway, back after a day because I caught myself doom scrolling with 8 minutes of class left.

The reason I started watching the show in the first place was because YouTube shorts wouldn’t leave me alone and kept giving me Grey Anatomy edits. Therefore, after seeing some interesting cases that I had to watch to finish, I just said “What the heck.” If it gets to the point that I need to stop watching them before I become addicted, I know how to stop.

I do want to mention one of the interesting cases that I’ve seen so far. In an episode of Season 2, this man was in the hospital because he was eating dolls. Yes. He was eating doll heads, ten of them to be exact. So, when his body started acting up, he had to go and get surgery to get dolls out of his gut. I didn’t get it. I honestly thought he was a brewing serial killer, especially since he swallowed them with the hair. Actually, the whole Grey crew wanted to know why he did it.

They didn’t ask him until the end of course. The guy said he got a kind of satisfaction from it.

He asked them if they wanted to know exactly how. I was so mad when they said they would rather be left in the dark. Like, to me that just seemed like lazy writing. Maybe the writers just couldn’t think of a mind-blowing reason for the plot. I mean, you can get real creative with a person who eats dolls. It was like a doctor episode of Criminal Minds for a moment.

STARS ON MARS

Star on Mars is a competition show that I just finished watching on Tubi. The stars are just a random diverse selection of celebrities. I’m talking about famous pop stars to ice skaters in the Olympics. Mars is a space station simulator built in the middle of a desert somewhere in Australia.

I did it again, argh, Insta won’t let me work.

In this Australian simulator, the stars stay there for a month, and each day someone gets eliminated or extracted as they said after doing difficult tasks, until there is one brightest star left in the galaxy. I know it sounds kind of straightforward, which it’s kind of is, but the drama was still there. I mean, there was some drama because people wanted to win so badly that it turned into a whole political game. A great example of that was this ongoing feud between Ariel Winter and Lance Armstrong. I don’t feel like getting into that. But the contestants that were picked were mostly people I didn’t know, so it was interesting learning about these new people.

There were a lot of comedians placed in the game that actually added a fresh humor aspect.

Then there were a lot of sad moments when the crew would eliminate themselves for the people they grew close with or because they missed “Earth.” Actually, the whole time I was watching this, I felt a bit claustrophobic for them, because they’re isolated for a whole month with only the production team as contact outside the experiment. And it didn’t help that they had to work in the hot desert every day. It gave the challenge depth because I knew I couldn’t see myself doing it.

Anyway, that’s my small talk about what I’ve been consuming lately.

Go check out Stars on Mars, you may enjoy it.

Who Did It Better: Frozen? or Break?

As we all know, every story that is created is just another version of a once classic story.

We all watch TV shows that come from a cliche plot, or we read books that have the same overused trope. You know what I mean. If you have ever watched one Hallmark movie, then you have seen them all.

Well in this case, these two movies I’m talking about have the same plot, but the way they were executed, MAJORLY DIFFERENT. Well maybe except for the ending. But most movies have the same type of surviving character, so that was a given. But besides that, there were extreme differences that left me viewing each movie as if it was a readaptation of an original. But the new version is better! In my opinion.
This post will have spoilers, so if you think you may want to watch these movies one day, here’s the warning.

FROZEN

I honestly feel like I’ve talked about this movie before. Just in case I didn’t though, here’s a summary. Frozen is a horror movie about survival, not a distressed sister. In this Frozen, there’s a man who takes his girlfriend and his best friend to a ski resort. At that ski resort they cause some problems on their final night after convincing a ski operator to let them go down a cliff one more time before it closes (they did this in bad weather by the way, who’s fault? let me be quiet) and the first operator leaves and tells the second operator that there is only one group left. Which is wrong, because there was a family before the friends got on, meaning there were only TWO groups left! Two I tell you! With that misinformation, the second operator shuts down the ski lift, because it’s the final ride of the week. Yep, you heard me. It’s the weekend now, which means the ski resort will be closed over the weekend. Now the three friends must survive.

With that out of the way, this is the part where I start contrasting the two movies.

THE CHARACTERS

In Frozen we have characters who are somewhat flat. They majorly stayed the same throughout. If they did have their big development, it would probably be seen in just the last five minutes of the movie. There were just three of them, and spoiler, one of them died in the first ten minutes of the movie. And yes, it was the boyfriend. And yes, he started as the mediator and died as the mediator. So, then we’re left with the best friend and the girlfriend. I didn’t like any of those two honestly. You know when movies usually give you someone who you want to live, I didn’t get nothing out of those two. The best friend was really just being a jerk and wishing half the time that the girlfriend died instead. And the girl, she was just complaining about a good share of the movie. Also, they didn’t give me high stakes. Whenever they were to talk about their lives, I was just thinking; is that a good enough reason for you to want to live though. I know how that sounds, but we all know that in a story there should be some kind of goal. A reason for them to truly want to escape outside of the fact that they just don’t want to die. The best friend was just scared of death and the girl just really missed her cat. I mean, not saying that those aren’t valid reasons, but will those things really motivate you to just survive? So, to me, the characters in Frozen didn’t have much depth to them.

THE SETTING

The setting was a single chairlift in the middle of an abandoned ski resort. It’s freezing and it’s slowly getting dark. That kind of setting should make you feel suffocated in a way. It should keep your breath hitched throughout. For Frozen, I do remember keeping my hands clenched in a fist. I think the setting was neat. It also did seem as if it could be a likely scenario in real life. So, the setting did add a lot to the story.

THE DEATHS

These are survival movies, which means that the way the characters don’t survive is greatly scrutinized. Their deaths could be symbolism. Their deaths could tell stories, their deaths could be red herring or call backs. In Frozen, their deaths were very graphic and gruesome.

This is a huge spoiler coming up.

So, earlier in the movie, the friends were discussing what they feel would be the worst ways to die. Yeah, yeah, I know. And the boyfriend’s answer was being eaten alive. This, of course, comes back to bite him. Literally. In an attempt to escape and get help, the boyfriend jumps off the chair. Note: The chair is about 40 feet above ground. So, when he falls, he breaks his legs. The audience literally sees his bones poking out. Then while he’s just accepting his fate, some wolves close in on him. Then he’s eaten. Yeah, that’s how that went. Then after that, the other deaths are calmer. There isn’t much importance in the other deaths. To me, it just seemed like the movie needed some characters to die, so they were just written off.

THE SURVIVOR

Both movies had the same survivor. It’s just one of them didn’t fight as hard as the other did.

In this movie, the survivor closed the movie so easily and so quickly. The whole time I was just thinking, “If it was so simple, why couldn’t the characters just do this in the beginning?” It made no sense; it didn’t seem impossible to live. Why did they set it up as if it was? When the survivor did the bare minimum to live. Then the movie had one of those open-ended endings.

I just shook my head in disappointment.

BREAK

I’m going to go ahead and say it, but I think Break was better. This may have nothing to do with it, but it was a Russian movie. Anyway, Break follows the story of five people, two women, three men who originally want to celebrate New Years Eve on top of a mountain, but instead it turns into a fight for their life after they get stuck in a gondola lift. To start off, I loved the fact that we got a couple again, but this time, they split up. Yep, one of the friends gains some common sense (the inciting incident was the same as Frozen) and decides not to go up the mountain. It was refreshing, because now I’m wondering, oh what’s his role if he’s not stuck? Then and there I know it’s going to be good, because we have someone on the ground. Also, Break did seem a bit extreme, but the behavior seemed a little more realistic to me.

THE CHARACTERS

The characters are flat in here also, but at least this time their individual personalities are more diverse. Only talking about three of the characters, we have an influencer (the girlfriend), the jerk (the villain basically) and the golden boy (the sad boyfriend) that all played their roles well.

The characters actually stuck to me, I genuinely felt bad for some of them. Also, the stakes! The stakes were so high. I won’t go over all of them, but a huge one was that the girlfriend was pregnant and one of the men was going to propose! They had something to go back to. How they felt conflicted about some of these things were relatable. I understood them. I really didn’t want to like them because they did that to themselves, but I really wanted to see them live.

THE SETTING

The setting was so isolated. It was that one lift 11,000 feet above ground! Even though it had more resources for the characters to work with, it was scarce and easily damaged because it was an old lift. There wasn’t anywhere for any of them to go. Then it didn’t help that there was an icy waterfall under them. I know. This whole set made me feel the chill, especially since it cut to the scenes where the one with the sense was driving in his warm cozy car. The setting was full on body shivers.

THE DEATHS

Won’t go into detail, but all the deaths had a purpose. They all had a cause and effect that kept amping the stakes. Every loss had a contribution. But I do want to note, unlike the sacrifices from Frozen, this movie had deaths that were a result from fighting based on human flaws. If you would watch it, you would know what I mean.

THE SURVIVOR

This survivor stood on business. That’s all I have to say. They did what they needed to do, all while keeping their morals.

But yea, go checkout Break. I think a lot of you would love it.

2024 Wrap Up for whatever was on my mind

Shows

Some of my favorite shows were wrapped up for their final seasons (or so they say) in 2024.

So why not talk about some of them, especially the ones that left me crying at 4 a.m. during Thanksgiving break.

Only Murders in the Building

I’ve talked about this show before and about half a month ago, I finished the fourth season. Which they say is the last season, but if you watched the ending, then you know that has to be a lie. It has to be. I mean, they can’t just leave the dead doorman sitting in the fountain without any justice, right? Right?!

Anyway, the whole show, to me, had some of the best plots. And I genuinely loved all the characters and the cast who played them. That’s why I have to give them their flowers by adding them to my wrap up.

If you all haven’t checked this show out yet, I highly recommend that you do. This isn’t a regular whodunnit show.

Arcane

NO ONE SPOIL THIS FOR ME! I haven’t finished Season 2. I’m planning to, but I want to talk about what I’ve watched so far. I’ll try my best not to give any spoilers.

Seeing these characters again had me crying silently. I mean, any of you who watched Season 1 may understand my cause of distress. Personally, my favorite characters are Jinx and Kaitlyn. I don’t know much about that now. I think I’m leaning more towards Victor than Jinx because I’m liking Victor’s story more, currently. Again, I haven’t finished it, so that may change. Now with Kaitlyn, I’m kind of iffy here. See, because I don’t know if I’m loving where her character arc is going. She seems more reckless to me. But I do still see old Kaitlyn there. Also, after what she went through, she does deserve to shake things up a little.

Back to my point, I have heard that this is reportedly the last season. So, I’m going to add it to my wrap up. Arcane, you are the best show I’ve watched so far.

Death’s Game

Unless you watch K-Drama, most of you will not have any idea what this show is. But that’s okay, because I’m going to talk about it anyway. Death’s Game, y’all, y’all, this short show left my jaw on the floor. It was so serious that I emailed some Youtubers to watch this show. I’m totally not embarrassed. But anyway, Death’s Game is a South Korean fantasy anthology mystery thriller that is based on the many lives that’s taken over by the one life of a man who decided that his life wasn’t worth living anymore. Yes. This show was sad. But yes. This show kept my attention throughout. I mean the way they executed its theme, chef’s kiss. Listen, in the email to the Youtuber I said; It’s a beautiful story about redemption and the moral theme is executed neatly. It has a diverse mix of thriller, action, and romance. There are moments that make me cry and there’s moments that make me want to shake the main protagonist. I mean it too. That’s why it made my 2024 wrapped highlight.

Movies

If I’m going to talk about shows, then I have to talk about some of the movies I’ve watched in 2024. That may be a lot, I don’t know. I can’t even remember the beginning of 2024.

Moana 2

This automatically came to mind because I just watched this Saturday and felt that it was the best Disney movie that came out this year. I was like, no wonder Wish wasn’t as good. Disney had to make sure that all their elbow grease went towards Moana 2. This movie to me, was quite different from the first but in the best way possible. For example, the music was on a different level. The lyrics to all the songs were on point. And I’m not belittling the work of Lin-Manuel Miranda for working on the first Moana, it’s just the music in this one gave me more symphonies, and they weren’t just lyrical, but had more meaning. If that makes sense. I just think you need to watch it.

BERNIE (2011)

This is a movie based on an actual crime that happened, but the movie is a literal comedy. I mean I felt so bad when I was laughing, but the movie stars Jack Black. I mean, throughout the movie it was like these witness accounts told by these hillbilly people (I promise this was how it was being portrayed) from like the same neighborhood that was telling the most insane jokes and encounter statements. I mean, I don’t know. It was something. Any who, the reason this movie made it to my 2024 wrap is because it was quite interesting. I did do research on the actual case, and I don’t know, you’ll have to look at it yourself to understand. But without looking at the case, the movie was neat. I think the cinematic story was quite interesting. Also, Matthew McConaughey was in there and he played his lawyer role well too. But yea, this made it to the wrap also.

Podcasts

I’ll make this quick.

Rotten Mango and Murder with My Husband

These are true crime podcasts, but both styles are different. If you listen to these types of podcasts, then you should check it out.

React Cast

Quite lighthearted and funny. If you get tired of music for a moment and just want to chill, then this is the podcast.

What I took from Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “The Minister’s Black Veil.”

The Minister’s Black Veil provided a question that stood out to me. “How can we judge others for our sins if we can’t face our own?”

In Nathaniel’s short story where he uses a minister to play on the condemnation of human conditions, I saw that he used the reactions of the townspeople to show how humanity gets uncomfortable when others’ faults reflect our insecurity. The people’s opinions contributed to the reality of society and that helped deepen my understanding.

For context, I’ll give a brief summary of what the story is about.

The Minister’s Black Veil takes place in a small town where gossip travels quickly, and the people use each other’s imperfections to place themselves on a higher pedestal. Mr. Hooper is the presenting character, and he is also the town’s reverend. Which was pointed out to be quite remarkable as “Mr. Hooper, a gentlemanly person of about thirty, though still a bachelor…” which was intriguing in the eyes of the people.

In the story Mr. Hooper goes to be the priest at a funeral, which he very first reveals his new identity with the veil. This is also where I first see some of the answers to the question I focused on earlier.

At this funeral the narrator points out the opinions the people have about Mr. Hooper as a reverend. Some felt uncomfortable, for example one person said, “I can’t really feel as if good, Mr. Hooper’s face was behind that piece of crape.”

Then there was a woman who expressed that Mr. Hooper making the choice of wearing the veil was inappropriate by saying “I don’t like it,” muttered an old woman, as she hobbled into the meetinghouse. “He has changed himself into something awful, only by hiding his face.” There were more of these opinions, a lot of the people in the church saying that Mr. Hooper has basically gone crazy.

To me, that statement was ironic in spite of the fact that the people were having these dramatic reactions because a man just decided to wear a veil. But what if that’s it? What if their reactions were normal? Maybe we would have all felt the same if we started seeing ghosts the day Mr. Hooper walked in with a statement.

During that funeral there were just comments of disdain and disappointment. Everyone just speculated about Mr. Hooper, but none of them said anything to his face. They didn’t ask him why he was wearing the veil. I believed it was because they couldn’t see his face. From that whole scene there was a reflection of society in reality when things are questioned, and gossip is stirred. The townsfolk were like gossiping schoolgirls, they didn’t even attempt to ask about his intentions, since they couldn’t see his face, I think that meant he had no right to reflect on his own purpose with them.

People’s faces and minds can be considered as veils. They hide our inner thoughts and our inner intentions. For some, those could be things that could be distasteful to others. But we also use our facial expressions to conceal our judgment. I mean, there are people who can smile in the face of their enemy. “But can some people interpret a face? You may ask. And that answer is, “Well, of course!” And with that in mind, there’s some people who raise their eyebrows when people cry. When someone reflects your inner pain, you may find yourself uncomfortable too.

There was a woman who said that she saw Mr. Hooper in hands with the spirit of a deceased girl at the wedding which came after the funeral. It wasn’t true. He most definitely wasn’t prancing around with a deceased girl. That point in the plot though was showing what the people were judging him for. And spoiler, it was just speculation!

Mr. Hooper was just doing his sad preaching, but the woman started a rumor which spread. And I guess by that point, they just had a collective delusion. That delusion was disguising their own faults, as long as they focused on Mr. Hooper’s.

The day after that, people everywhere talked about the veil. Which to all the mothers, pastors, and children was more than just a piece of cloth hanging down his face, but instead a symbol from his heart that resembled a fearful secret between him and them.

That secret, to me, has to deal with their own personal self – struggle and now it feels like their reverend is mourning their soul because their personal self-guilt is eating them up inside. I know that just got dark, but I mean-

Listen! This is how bad this got! (Mr. Hooper and his self-reflecting veil.)

In the middle of the short story Mr. Hooper went back to his home to his wife, Elizabeth. After some commentary they basically have this discussion about the veil of course. She told him that she thinks that if he must wear that mask then he shouldn’t wear it in public then she asked if she could see his face and he explain how it all started.

He didn’t take it off, but he did hint that one of the reasons he was wearing a veil was because everyone wears a veil every day. His veil was just visible.

Elizabeth didn’t think that was a good enough reason, so with a sorrowful farewell.
She left Mr. Hooper hidden under his dark veil.

To sum up what happened after that, I’m going to provide this statement from the story,

“In this manner Mr. Hooper spent a long life, irreproachable in outward act, yet shrouded in dismal suspicions; kind and loving, though unloved, and dimly feared; a man apart from men, shunned in their health and joy, but ever summoned to their aid in mortal anguish. As years wore on, shedding their snows above his sable veil, he acquired a name throughout the New England churches, and they called him Father Hooper. Nearly all his parishioners, who were of mature age when he was settled, had been borne away by many a funeral: He had one congregation in the church, and a more crowded one in the churchyard; and having wrought so late into the evening, and done his work so well, it was now good Father Hooper’s turn to rest”

Mr. Hooper passed while still wearing that veil. Before he died though, he gave a monologue with his final breaths that basically called out everyone who made him as if he’s a monster all because he wears his sins on his face. But there will be a day when everyone has to take off their visage.

So, yea, what I got from this short story is that basically judging others so we wouldn’t have to judge ourselves is a big thing in the world. It’s so bad we even make each other seem as if we’re monsters, but we are all monsters deep down.

I read this story in ninth grade, and didn’t fully understand it at first. So, it was interesting getting this refresher after I just randomly thought about this while looking out the window one day.

Who else has heard of Beowulf?

If you haven’t, it’s okay, I just recently read this epic tale myself. Also to note, Epics are long literary poems that tell tales of heroes and legends. It’s literally an Epic.

This was an interesting read. A long one, but it still eventually caught my attention. I wouldn’t have read this story on my own though. I read this for a class assignment and for it to be a learning experience for my test. This story was kind of wild.

For some context, Beowulf is a 3,182-line Old English poem about a Scandinavian warrior who helps this king defeat this monster. Then he goes to defeat some more monsters. The warrior of course is Beowulf, and he’s described to have the traits of loyalty, courageousness, and wiseness. He is super strong and can even hold his breath for hours. So, you know, what you would expect a classic hero to be like. The monster he went to get rid of is named Grendel. He’s described to be a giant monster with clawed hands and feet and jagged fangs. But his appearance has been depicted in different ways, but this is what is in the poem.

Beowulf did end up finding Grendel and the battle ended with Beowulf cutting off Grendel’s limbs. This is where the journey starts

After killing Grendel, Beowulf was awarded with land and some titles. He became a notorious hero, and since his fame grew big, more people requested his heroic help.

So, the next person he ended up battling was Grendel’s mother. Yup, she was like, “I’m about to avenge my son and no one is going to stop me”.

Beowulf’s battle with her though was kind of tougher to beat. To point out, she was a sea-creature monster that lived in a black lake that was boiling and filled with monsters.

She was biting his shoulder, trying to gash out his eyes, and some more stuff. From what I remember reading, at some point it seemed as if the monster defeated Beowulf. Which was a bad thing that led to a bigger bad thing. The first bad thing was it leading to some of Beowulf’s army betraying him by abandoning him without checking if he was actually gone first. Which led to him getting revenge, but back to the battle. Beowulf did defeat the sea monster. He killed her by slicing her head off. The poem itself got really descriptive about it.

Like I said, Beowulf was out here doing some things. Heroic things as they call it, but for it to be a poem it was some real serious actions and descriptions.

Before the next battle Beowulf had to teach his people a little lesson about loyalty. So, he did what most heroes in epics would do and threw the severed head of the monster he defeated onto the dinner table while everyone was eating. Yep. Just tossed it while they were enjoying their mead.

It doesn’t stop their y’all. But at this point I had gotten kind of tired while reading and missed a big plot which I’ll eventually get back to, but I did read the last battle.

It was against a dragon. Yes! You heard it folks, he battled the huge reptile that steals everyone’s jewels and things like that. Now, this battle was huge, and usually I would tell you how it ended.

But! I’m not going to do that this time.

Use this as your motivation to read this Epic and experience the journey along with me.

On a new note, I’ve found out that the battles had some symbolism in them.

Memories that keep me up at night.

I’m still not tired of talking about Summer yet. This is why you will all read about some more summer topics. Don’t worry though, this time it’s not requests or ratings. This is about me and some interesting stories that involve my family and me.

WE THOUGHT THE WORLD WAS ENDING

It was a hot Saturday evening when my sisters and I were interrupted with the loudest sound, it sounded like an explosion. It was insane. The second oldest sister, we gone call her Dru, was almost out the door for work when she suddenly covered her head and slammed the door shut. My twin and I were like; “Girl? You, okay? What was that?”

She made the funniest expression, then she nervously laughed and said “Yea. I’m okay. But should we just be sitting here?” We all looked at each other then we heard the third oldest sister, we gone call her Meme, saying “We should maybe look out the door and see what that noise was first.” We all looked at her because what she said was crazy.

Dru shrugged; “I need to go to work, so whatever it is, it better be gone by time my car starts.”

We all didn’t know what to do, so we just watched her as she opened the door.

And I kid you not, as soon as she opened that door we heard the noise again, and following after it all the lights in our house went out. Meme and Ciara started screaming, Dru was laughing (She laughs when she’s nervous) and the commotion went on for about 7 seconds before Dru tried to open the door again. We heard the noise then we saw this big spark in the sky. It literally looked like some kind of big ball of fireworks were formulating in the sky.

Dru said in a high-pitched tone; “Ya’ll what is happening?”

Meme responded with; “Clearly we are looking at the same thing as you.”

I commented with; “Maybe the world is ending?”

Ciara suggested; “Call Momma, maybe someone on Facebook knows what’s going on.”

Dru shook her head; “We don’t have time for all that”, then she opened the door again which made the lights come on just to come right back off.

Meme yelled; “Dru stop!”

Dru whined; “I’m not doing anything!”

It was so chaotic that the neighbors had to look outside and stare at the sky with us.

Also, I didn’t mention this, but our family friend, Smiley, was cutting the grass which he stopped doing when the commotion started.

Dru asked Smiley; “Do you know what’s going on out here?”

Smiley responded by saying; “I think something got into the powerline because it was sparking.”

Meme groaned; “Dru? What we gonna do?”

And Dru said; “I guess I’m taking y’all to work with me.”

THERE WAS A ZOMBIE OUTSIDE OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT

Everyone was sleeping peacefully in the night when suddenly we all heard this big old “UGHRGHUGHRHH!” This is the only way I can explain it. It sounded like a zombie was pulling out its brain and it hurt really bad. It sounded so disgusting and scary.

I was committed to sleeping through it. So was Dru and our mom. Then there was the oldest sister, we gone call her Popo, and Ciara. They were closer to the sound, and it was louder to them, and they made that known greatly.

“Tiara, Dru? Do y’all hear that howling?” Ciara whispered that in my ear, as I was trying to sleep. I don’t remember what I told her, but I remember her asking a sleepy Dru the same thing. She said, “Y’all wake up! It’s getting louder.”
Which, she wasn’t lying. The howling hybrid gurgle was starting to sound like someone was suffering. I tried my best to sleep through it, but I failed. I got up out of my good sleep and followed Ciara to where the sound was the loudest.

When I got to the room, I saw Popo looking out the window. She had her headphones secured tightly to her head so she could find the source without bursting her eardrums.

“Welp. I don’t know what that sound is, I can’t see anything outside. I ain’t going out there…” Popo stated while she was shutting the curtains.

“I think a cow, or something got loose,” I said.

“URGHUGRUHGRU!” We covered our ears when it got louder.

We didn’t know what to do, so most of the time we just walked around the house like chickens with their heads off.

We just wanted to sleep. Sadly though, all we could focus on was the zombie out there fighting for its life as it choked on its heart or something. It was awful. Wouldn’t recommend.

Anyway, Popo ended up going to sleep eventually because she just kept her headphones on. Ciara and I on the other hand, were up until our mom had to get up for work in the morning. She was also irritated by the noise, so she ended up calling a friend of the family to come and check it out. We didn’t go outside to watch the friend investigate but we all heard gunshots outside. There were about two of them.

We didn’t know what was going on, we just knew that the suffering of the “zombie” seemed to stop.

Then our mom and the friend came in. Our mom was laughing and crying. Then she said.

“Y’all can go asleep now. The problem is gone.”

Ciara asked; “What was it though?”

Our jaws dropped when we figured out what the “zombie” was.

The answer was unexpected.

THE SNAKE THAT TRAPPED US IN A KITCHEN (makes me mad till this day)

I was about five or six when this happened, but I remember how chaotic it was.

I was leaving my mother’s room because I was in there watching the big TV and I wanted to see my Team Umizoomi in ultra form when I heard a scream coming from the main room. I bucked it so hard – towards the source (*head smack* should’ve just stayed in the room) because I was scared that one of my sisters was in trouble.

As soon as I made it to the edge of the hallway that led into the main room I was snatched up before I could even see anything. Then when my brain finally processed what just happened, I realized all of my four sisters were standing in the kitchen crying with the door shut.

“What’s wrong with y’all, what happened?” I had asked.

Dru basically balled, “Twin! There’s a snake out there.”

I was ready to cry too, our whole family was scared of snakes, and for our mom not to be home to help us somewhat, we were ready to faint or something. So of course, we were all asking where and how she saw it, and she responded by crying; “It’s black and it’s just out there in front of the living room door! Y’all what are we gonna do? What if it goes into the kitchen?”

In long story short, we were all trapped in this kitchen panicking and crying. We did that for a while until we decided that we were just going to let it sit there and prayed it slithered out the house.

This situation turned into a bonding moment between us as we stayed in that kitchen for such a long time. I mean, Team Umizoomi was over by then.

Then finally, Popo said; “Y’all, come on now. Get a broom, a mop or something, because we can’t stay here all day.”

Since she was the oldest, we listened to her without question.

We ran out the door about to do – nothing, because we all knew we were a bunch of scaredy cats, just to find out that we weren’t even dealing with a snake.

It was a cord. That was attached to the back of the vacuum. We will never let ourselves live that down.

HOPE YOU ENJOYED 🙂

Summer topics continues

Hello everyone…

I’m just about to say there’s no exact topic for today, I’m just going to talk about some stuff.

For example, Summertime movies and shows that I do watch but mostly keep on the TV for background noise. I think I’m going to talk about this recent battle I’ve been keeping up with. May do some house cleaning and remind y’all about some things I’ve requested to y’all on former blogs. We’ll see how this goes.

Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days

I was in like the 3rd grade when I got this book from the Scholastic Book Fair. I thought it was pretty funny as a kid, so of course I watched the movie when it came out. As most know, the movie is about Greg Heffley’s Summer and it’s basically chaotic as he joins a country club with his friend while getting blackmailed by his brother because he doesn’t have a job. It’s just really comical and a nice family movie.

To me now though, the movie is some nice background chaos for when I want to scroll on my phone while I have the living room blinds open to watch the sun. Maybe because the movie is mostly in a Sunny setting and the overall scheme of the movie is sunshine and cool breeze elements is why it’s nice to listen to it. I don’t pay too much attention to it now because I’ve watched that movie so many times that I know each line like it’s my favorite song. Just to clarify, I have a niece and nephews, they’re obsessed with this movie. This is who I play it for now.

Finding Dory

My favorite part of this movie to listen to during the hot summer days is the scene when the van went off the cliff and there was that falling montage with the song “What a Wonderful World” playing in the background. It made me feel something for all those poor fishes as they made their own mini-PSA. Finding Dory screams a summer movie. You can basically smell the chlorine from the screen. It smells like Clorox and ginger if that makes sense, don’t ask me. It just does. So, this is one of my summer movies that I play when I’m about to take that Summer, setting sun, afternoon nap. Especially when the air condition is about to be blowing on 65, it’s a chef’s kiss combo. It’s just something so calming about the moving water noises and the sound of a crowded aquarium that gives me good summer snoozes. Don’t question it until you’ve tried it yourself, which you should. If I can set a vivid image for you, it’s like the feeling when you’ve been in the hot sun rolling in the grass all day and come into the house with air blowing in your face and that cold shower steam coming at you.

Ferdinand

I love this movie a lot. Mostly because I just want to hug Ferdinand, but also because it’s a sweet plot about family and self-individuality. I also love what my niece and nephews learn from it. Ferdinand itself is those summer movies that you play while making breakfast in the morning, or just snacking on cereal until you have to leave for work, or you know just sit around all day. It doesn’t matter how you chill with Ferdinand playing, I just know y’all better stop what you’re doing when that intro song comes on. Y’all know the one that Nick Jonas sang, it’s called “Home.” That’s my favorite part of that whole movie, I drop everything just to listen to it. This gives huddled under a blanket after the air gets too cold vibes. This movie is just a comfort and I live for it.

Luca

Has anyone else watched this movie? I watched it and the ending one-time made me cry.

The setting of the lone island surrounded by that water filled with mysteries was neat to me. I mostly enjoyed the music in the movie, and I thought the characters were so cute.

I put it on my list for summer movies that you can play early-early in the morning when the sun is shining bright on your face and you’re awake. But you refuse to open your eyes, so you just lay there. It’s nice to just listen to the characters’ voices and the instrumental, that itself just gives fresh summer brain vibes. It’s a great start to a hopefully peaceful day.

Everybody Hates Chris

It’s not a movie, but it’s a funny sitcom I never get tired of binging during the Summer.

If you haven’t heard of it, it’s basically a sitcom about a black boy who lives in Harlem, and he’s narrating his chaotic life. Usually, the things in his life that happen are bad, so the name of the show comes from the fact that he thinks everyone hates him.

George Lopez

I love George Lopez’s comedy, especially since this was the show my millennial sisters made me watch every day when I was younger. I didn’t understand most of the jokes he made when I was younger but now every time I watch this sitcom, you bet I laugh.

I hope you all at least heard of this sitcom. It is kind of like the early 2000s but it doesn’t get old each time I watch it. It stars the comedian George Lopez who portrays an assembly-line worker and family man who goes through difficulties in life. It’s something interesting. During the summer I mostly just let this play during the midnight when I’m up going through rabbit holes somewhere. I have this on for those laughs that you have to hold back because your folks are asleep.

Anywho —

I know most of us don’t check out what each other requests half the time, but I do want to express that I think you all should look at that movie “The Vanished” that I requested about two blogs ago. I also think that a lot of you would love the game “An Elmwood Trail” that I keep talking about. It’s not finished, but listen, it keeps you on the edge of your seat. Also, so random, but has anyone else been keeping up with the Kendrick Lamar and Drake beef? Y’all, I listened to their diss tracks, and it is getting serious out there.

But yea, that’s about it.

Insert Summer Playlist: Breezy Artists

Howdy everyone! As we all know, Summer is fast approaching, and I know most of us are excited for it. Especially when we are thinking about what we’re going to do, like get a job, vacations, summer camps, projects, what’s going to be your anthems for those summer jams, and all that jazz. Well, don’t think too hard on it, because for this blog I’m going to be helping with one of these biggies.

Yep, you know it, I’m requesting some artists that you should drop on your summer hit list.

I’m also going to drop my favorite song by them that has those Summery vibes.

MYLES SMITH

Is an artist that I’ve been listening to a lot lately after being influenced by the song demos and tour moments that keep popping up on my phone.

He’s sort of a new trending artist, but just in case some people don’t know him, his first song “Sweater Weather” was a trending audio on TikTok. Some say he covered it from The Neighbourhood, but other sources say it’s his. He also made this song called “My Home” which I think everyone heard at least once, like while shopping at a clothing store or something.

Now about Myles Smith —

Myles Smith himself is from the UK. His genre of music is folk Americana, R&B, and Pop. His number one song is called “Solo” and he’s going on tour currently for his album Slightly Less Lonely which is really a joy to listen to. He also is coming out with this song called “Stargazing” which I honestly feel is going to be a summer hit.

FAVORITE SONG — “Solo”

There’s a reason why it’s a hit, I love the context of it. The story about true heartbreak was sung in a way that felt disappointed and not sad to me. I feel he portrayed the feelings of it pretty well. The tone is light and not heavy which is going to be so refreshing while driving through the hot summer heat. This is why it’s my favorite song of his.

LYN LAPID

She is kind of a gem when it comes to artists for me. She’s a rising artist who’s journey I’ve been keeping up with since the start of the pandemic and I loved all the music she’s produced so far. She started rising in early 2020 when her song “Producer Man” became viral and gained over 50 million views and she went from there. Her top song is “In My Mind” which is a song that is basically for people that are considered outsiders or different because of how they don’t associate themselves that much socially. It’s basically an anthem for those who were considered the quiet kids that really had whole battles in their minds. It’s good.

Now about Lyn Lapid —

Lyn Lapid is American, but her ethnicity is Filipino – American. She sings Indie and Alternative Pop. Her main aesthetic is cottage core and softie, which she does promote a lot. She has an album called “to love in the 21st century” that’s covering friendships and platonic relationships mostly. A song I really like from that album is “Eastside ”. It’s about long-distance friendships. And fun fact, she studied classical piano and played violin and orchestra for seven years.

FAVORITE SONG — “Saturn”

The beat of itself is so chill and the way she intertwines it with the ad libs are beautiful.
Also, the main point of the song is explaining how sometimes you just want to leave your regular life and go to another planet or something. It gives fantasy book vibes. Also, her voice is just soothing in all her songs and in this one it’s strong. If you just want to escape for a moment at any point in the Summer,

This is what you want to listen to.

LAUREN SPENCER SMITH

She’s been on top of my Spotify list for two years straight. Which, of course she is, her music is majestic and for all of the themes to be interesting topics paired with her strong notes, it’s admirable. Lauren Spencer Smith sings a lot about love relationships, but it’s not just heartbreak songs, she sings more on the issues within the relationships, for example she covers narcissism, she covers manipulation, she covers commitment, she covers the actual love part, but it’s not in a way when she’s just saying she’s sad, it goes deeper than that. That’s why her music attracted me, because she’s telling a story. Her trending song is called “Fingers Crossed” and she has performed it mostly everywhere, she even performed it at Coachella.

Now about Lauren Spencer Smith —

Lauren Spencer Smith is a British – born Canadian. She has an album called unplug that was a Juno Award nominee. She was on American Idol where she made it to the top 20 at 16 years old. She has two Platinum certified singles and more than 1 billion streams from them. All at just 19, well she’s 20 now.

FAVORITE SONG — “That Part”

It is one of her happier songs that covers a long-lasting soulmate kind of love. It’s telling a story that she wants for herself. It’s a soft warm topic, and her voice makes it sound like she’s giving a wedding speech but boho style if that makes sense. I like it a lot, it gives sunshine and the ocean. If you want to just listen to something hopeful this Summer when you feel down, then this is your jam.

DAVID KUSHNER

I feel he’s well known, and everyone has heard that one song “Daylight” at least once. Well, I was one of the people that stumbled upon his audio on TikTok and then went to listen to his actual song and discovered that his music is really cool. His voice is interesting, if rustic was a sound that’s how I would describe his voice. It has some soul in it. The lyrics of his songs that I’ve listened to so far are very poetic and he has a neat way of getting the deeper meanings of his words across. “Daylight” is his most popular song, but it may be surpassed by his recent release “Skin and Bones.” I don’t know, but I’m not worried about that now because I’m waiting for his new release “Buried at Sea” which he sure is taking a good minute to release. But anyway,

Now about David Kushner – David Kushner is an American singer and Songwriter raised up in Chicago before he moved to California. He prominently rose to fame after becoming a TikTok star after releasing his single “Miserable Man”. Then he kept on making music and that’s when he got recognized again for “Daylight” and that became a TikTok sensation also.

FAVORITE SONG – “Burn”

I really can’t explain this one to you, it just gives off a vibe you know. It’s kind of sad though, it discusses pain and betrayal, not really just a summer jam in my perspective. But I recommend it because some others may think differently. Though, if you want to listen to a song of his with a summer vibe, then just keep Daylight on replay.

Any who, it’s May, anyone excited?

Also, Honorable Mention for:

BENSON BOONE – y’all should go check out his new album “Fireworks and Roller Blades”, my favorite song from there is “Cry.”