Category: Good Reads

So, I’m sure everyone knows about evolution. The idea and theory that animals evolve overtime to fit their environment. Evolution is a debatable topic. Many people believe that relying on science is the best way to go about discovering once living creatures. Other people believe that evolution shouldn’t be a topic of conversation because it goes against religion. Whatever point of view you have about evolution is okay. There’s no rule or law that says you must believe that everything originated from one animal. I’m just saying that the idea of evolution is cool, and it’s backed up by some solid evidence. So, we’re going to talk about the evolution of whales. There are more than eight animals that scientists identify to be ancestors of whales, but today we’ll only be talking about the median three. 

Pakitcetus:

Pakicetus is an extinct animal from South Asia that lived during the early Eocene period, about fifty million years ago. It is classified as a cetacean, an aquatic mammal, because it lived around oceans, and had a specialized inner ear that most cetaceans developed. It lived both in and around water, walked on land, and was carnivorous, meaning that it ate fish and other animals to survive. Pakicetus looked more like a wolf than a whale. Scientists who studied the extinct fossil say that it had a snout, tail, and large molars that gave it the ability to break down tough material. The most shocking difference between Pakicetus and other modern-day cetaceans is that it walked on four legs and was covered in fur. Pakicteus is what scientists regard as a transitional ancestor, meaning that it serves as the groundwork for current cetacean creatures and it signifies cetacean’s transition from land to water. There is no specific cause for Pakicetus’s extinction. The animal likely went extinct due to environmental pressures that interfered with how well it could survive.

Kutchicetus:

            Kutchicetus existed during the Early to middle Eocene Era, and like the Pakitcetus, it lived in Pakistan. Many of the animals were also found in India. Kutchicetus is the smallest cetacean, and fossil evidence shows that it also had a snout, like the Pakitcetus. It had a tail, and four limbs that helped it to swim and walk on land. I think this animal was one of the last ancestors of whales to swim and walk. After the Eocene period, there is an event (not sure which) that likely changed all organism’s ability to adapt, so the Kutchicetus won’t have use for four legs, other than for swimming properly. It has a thick tail, hip bones, and elongated vertebrae/spine. The Kutchicetus has body proportions that are unlike other cetaceans, but similar to other land-living creatures, like otters.

Dorudon:

            Dorudon lived during the later Eocene period. It was one of the first creatures that evolved to look like the modern whales we know today, except it was a lot smaller. It measured about five meters long. Dorudon didn’t have any legs or body hair, and it lived in warm seas. Many fossils of this creature have been found in Egypt, New Zealand, and West Sahara. I also think this is the first whale to be so widely populated and so well adapted to its environment. Because of Durodon, whales have taken on traits that make them more adapted to swimming, which is what they do best. 

If you’re interested in all the different species of early whales, I recommend that you watch a more detailed version of this on YouTube. There is so much information out there that breaks down the habits and biological traits of extinct whale ancestors and other animals. I truly love learning about this, and hopefully in the future, I’ll write more about the other species as well. 

9. Momma = 4:43

“Until I realized I didn’t know sh*t”

The song begins with Kendrick talking about his success. He knows all the things he accomplished, and he even says, “This feelin’ is brought to you by adrenaline and good rap.” Everything he has done brought him success but it also back home and he is glad about that. He says, “I would say it got me get a plaque, but what’s better than that? The fact it brought me back home.” Kendrick then goes on to talk about everything he knows, which is everything. He knows himself and mortality; he knows the streets, religion, and politics. It goes on for a very long time, and as we know Kendrick is very educated so it may be true that he knows all these things to some extent, but he ends his knowledge with saying he realized he knew nothing when he returned home which means he is acknowledging that if he knows everything it means nothing without his home. In verse 3 Kendrick begins talking about a little boy he met in South African that resembled him when he was younger. This relates him to him returning home to Compton, showing how he was still connected to the people around him despite being away for a while. The boy says, “Kendrick you do know my language/You just forgot because of what public schools had painted.” 

10. Hood Politics = 4:52

“They give us guns and drugs, call us thugs”

This song begins with Dr. Dre portraying one of Kendrick’s old friends who have been left on voicemail. The voice is laughing at him over becoming a rapper telling him, “Don’t tell me they got you on some weirdo rap sh*t. No socks and skinny jeans.” A lot of Kendrick’s friends growing up weren’t used to his new lifestyle since he couldn’t talk with them daily and most of them took offense to this behavior. Kendrick starts the chorus by calling everything boo-boo (the funniest thing ever to me). He’s been A1 since day 1 and everyone else and boo-boo! He goes on for bit naming things, but the main focus of this song are “politics” of the hood/rap, with Kendrick saying he doesn’t care about these politics despite being a very political person. He speaks on gangs/cliques who fight with others about different neighborhoods. He even talked about the LAPD saying, “The LAPD gamblin’, scramblin’, football numbers sladerin’.” Which is rereferring to certain scandals they have been in and tried to cover up. “Football numbers” refers to a term being served in prison. Kendrick also says, “From Compton to Congress/Demo-Crips and Re-Blood-icans”, Which talks about how some officials talk down on these communities despite being a big part in communities being separated and being against one another. He also references the book “DemoCRIPS and ReBLOODlicans: No More Gangs in Government” that was written by Jesse Ventura, who was a former Minnesota governor about how certain places are marked certain colors (red and blue mainly), which seems like it’s separated as a gang territory. Kendrick uses this allusion to point out hypocrisy in some government officials. The poem continues in this song, “But that didn’t stop survivors’ guilt/Going back and forth/Trying to convince myself the stripes I earned/Or maybe how A-1 my foundation was/But while my loved ones was fighting a continuous war/Back in the city/I was entering a new one.”

11. How Much a Dollar Cost = 4:21

“My selfishness is what got me here”

Kendrick starts this song by saying, “How much a dollar really cost? /The question is detrimental, paralyzin’ my thoughts.” Kendrick is pondering the actual worth of a dollar, but this entire song is Kendrick questioning his moral because he introduces us to a homeless man asking him for a dollar. Kendrick refuses to give it to him, assuming that he’ll be using it for drugs despite the homeless man begging for the money to have food. The man also starts to convince Kendrick he doesn’t want the money for drugs saying, “My son, temptation is one thing I’ve defeated. Listen to me, I want a single bill from you. Nothin’ less, nothin’ more.” Kendrick even goes on to tell the man he doesn’t have it despite just buying gas. We’re at a gas station! The chorus is sung by James Fauntleroy in the perspective of God, saying, “It’s more to feed your mind/Water, sun and love, the one you love/All you need, the air you breathe” This voice is telling us that life itself is worth more than a singular dollar, and these things are really all you should need in your life. The homeless man is in disbelief over Kendrick not giving him the singular dollar he had asked for, and Kendrick begins angry as he wonders why this man is so upset with him. He even says, “Until I could see/ A reason why he was mad, a stranger like I was supposed to save him/Like I’m the reason he’s homeless and askin’ me for a favor.” Kendrick is infuriated with this man, even saying that he was being guilt tripped by him. He begins telling the man he needs it all and that he has nothing to give out to him, even calling him a bum. SO, the big reveal comes as the man says, “Known the truth, it’ll set you free. You’re looking at the Messiah, the son of Jehovah, the Higher Power/And I’ll tell you just how much a dollar cost/The price of having a spot in Heaven, embrace your loss, I am God.” This tears Kendrick apart the next line being, “I wash my hands, I said my grace, what more do you want from me?” His selfishness caused him his spot in Heaven.

12. Complexion (A Zulu Love) = 4:23

“I made a flower for you outta cotton”

This song starts off by saying, “Complexion don’t mean a thing (It’s a Zulu love).” In this song it talks about the color of your skin and how that shouldn’t dictate the type of person you are. Zulu love is relating to the Zulu philosophy which translates to “human kindness” or “humanness”. In verse 1 Kendrick starts off saying, “Dark as the midnight hour or bright as the mornin’ sun.” Then he goes on to say that he doesn’t care about anyone’s complexion, and it also refers to how many different colors African Americans can be despite all being Black people. In the next line Kendrick talks about being snuck into a window by a White girl who he gave a flower made of cotton to, and he tells her he’s “ten toes down/even if master listenin’, cover your ears, he ’bout to mention complexion.” Kendrick is infatuated with this girl and doesn’t want “master” to stick the idea of racism into her head. Later in the song Kendrick introduces Rapsody who wrote her own verse for this song. She talks about complexion and how darker Black Americans usually feel inferior to those around them, she even says, “Light don’t mean you smart, bein’ dark don’t mean you stupid.” She ends her verse saying, “Black as brown, hazelnut, cinnamon, black tea/And it’s all beautiful to me/Call your brothers magnificent, call all the sisters queens/We all on the same team, blues and pirus, know colors ain’t a thing.” The song ends on a sad note with Kendrick saying, “Barefoot babies with no care/Teenage gun toters that don’t play fair, should I get out the car? /I don’t see Compton, I see something much worse/The land of the landminds, the hell that’s on earth.” This elaborates on the communities that have been formed with people holding hate against one another and oneself, and people being fearful in their own neighborhoods, usually young teenagers. 

13. The Blacker the Berry = 5:28

“All them say we doomed from the start cah we Black.”

Kendrick starts this song off with a monologue about everything being black., but the background vocals say, “They want us to bow/Down on our knees/And pray to the God/We don’t believe.” It’s speaking of how a lot of people want African Americans to submit in this modern society despite suffering for so long. Kendrick goes on to say, “I own black, I own everything black.” which is him saying that African Americans deserve more than what has been giving to them. In the first verse Kendrick calls himself, “the biggest hypocrite of 2015” and says, “Once I finish this, witnesses will convey just what I mean.” SO, we will come back to that line at the end. Kendrick says that he’s been feeling this way since he was sixteen, that America never liked Black Americans despite the actions made to give us more freedom. He says, “You never liked us anyway, f*ck your friendship, I meant it.” Kendrick even lists characteristic stereotypes of Black Americans saying that his hair is nappy and his nose is round and wide. He turns to the audience speaking to us saying, “You hate me, don’t you? /You hate my people, your plan is to terminate my culture.” Kendrick even calls himself a “proud monkey,” which is him taking a word used against Black Americans to reclaim as his own. He even talks about how he was born during the Reagan era, addressing this by saying, “You sabotage my community, makin’ a killin’/You made me a killer.” And this addresses how drugs were put into impoverished areas and led to many killings, that Kendrick had witnessed himself. The line, “The blacker the berry, the sweeter the juice” alludes to The Blacker the Berry: A Novel of Negro Life written by Wallace Thurman during the Harlem Renaissance. It’s simply a positive affirmation to darker African Americans, but Kendrick ends this pre-chorus saying, “The blacker the berry, the bigger I shoot.” which alludes to a darker skinned person being more likely to get hurt due to their skin color. In the Chorus, Kendrick gets Assassin to sing where he talks about being treated as lower due to being Black. He says, “How you no see the whip, left scars ‘pon me back/But now we have a big whip parked ‘pon the block.” Which talks about luxury, but this American dream of materialism is another form of oppression. At the end Kendrick talks about Zulu and Xhosa, two of the biggest tribes in South America, who might go to war which reminds him of gangs in Compton. He accepts that it doesn’t matter if he likes to preach with the Panthers, referring the Black Panther party. Or say that Marcus Garvey has all the answers, the man who supported the “Back to Africa” movement saying that all Black Americans should get on a boat and sail back home. He says he tries to celebrate February like it’s his birthday, and eat watermelon, chicken, and drink Kool-Aid on the weekdays, or jump as high as Michael Jorden. He just goes on about stereotypical things that he wants to enjoy, but he ends the song saying. “So why did I weep when Trayvon Martin was in the street /When gang-banging make me kill a n- blacker than me? / Hypocrite.” 

This is getting kinda long, and I actually want people to read this, so I will save the other songs for another blog. Oopsie!!

I recently had the pleasure to watch a film that has been recommended to many a multitude of times. I only finished yesterday, however, I’m obsessed. The symbolism, the writing, the characters, and the plot. It’s all so perfect. The film I’m talking about is Meeting Joe Black.
I’m not the best at avoiding spoilers, so if you haven’t seen it, I advise that you stop now and watch it. This is a movie worth going into blind. I unfortunately had a small part spoiled by my roommate, and I think it took away a small aspect that would have made it all the better.
So, I’m warning you now, that I will be going over spoilers.

Meeting joe black is a movie about how death takes human form. From context and dialogue, we can tell that death has been very lonely. He said himself, that if we were to take our understanding of time, multiply millinea by infinity, and take it to the deepest depths, we would only see a glimpse of how long he has been around. Death wants to—for lack of a better word— take a tour of life. He wants to experience whimsy and wonder. After millenia (times infinity) he wants to explore the world the the body of a mortal.

To do this, he confronts a man who’s soon to depart from the world. Bill.
Bill is an extremely wealthy man soon to reach his 65th birthday. Death confronts him, telling Bill that he would extend his time on earth to however long Bill could keep him entertained. Death sticks by Bill for most parts of the movie, side by side. Bill introduces Death to his family. Not as death, but as Joe Black. No further information is given, and he keeps himself very secretive from the group. 

Death takes many likings to being a mortal, one specifically that I found the most humorous was how much Joe liked peanut butter. Throughout the three-hour movie, in random scenes, he’ll be eating a spoonful of peanut butter. I thought it played fairly similar to how Ryuk from Death Note liked apples. Anyways, Joe Black seems to take an interest in Bill’s daughter Susan. Susan is a Doctor, and that plays a very interesting part throughout the movie. 

When Joe wishes to see Susan, he goes to the Hospital where she works. There is SO MUCH symbolism in this scene. Joe is dressed in all black, while the doctors are in white. Death commonly being associated with black, and life with white. Joe stands dressed in a slim black suit, and white doctors push their way past him wearing white.  The irony of Death standing amidst people who save lives. I don’t know, I just thought that made such an interesting scene.

Joe goes on to fall in love with Susan, and Susan with him. There’s something almost poetic about how Death falls in love with a doctor. I think it shows a unique and interesting balance that 

Can only be found in very few movies.

Joe falls so deeply in love that he tells Bill he’s taking Susan with him when he leaves. Which I assumed meant to take her life with him. However, this contradicts the deal that Bill and Joe made with one another. If Bill willingly complies and works with Death, he wouldn’t harm his family. Death seems to have no morals in his word. He tells Bill it doesn’t matter, and he’ll take Susan regardless. I love this next part

Joe Black: I don’t care Bill. I love her.

William Parrish: How perfect for you – to take whatever you want because it pleases you. That’s not love.

Joe Black: Then what is it?

William Parrish: Some aimless infatuation which, for the moment, you feel like indulging – it’s missing everything that matters.

Joe Black: Which is what?

William Parrish: Trust, responsibility, taking the weight for your choices and feelings, and spending the rest of your life living up to them. And above all, not hurting the object of your love.

Joe Black: So that’s what love is according to William Parrish?

William Parrish: Multiply it by infinity, and take it to the depth of forever, and you will still have barely a glimpse of what I’m talking about.

Joe Black: Those were my words.

William Parrish: They’re mine now.

I love how Bill turns Joe’s own words against him. I had to have rewatched that scene nearly six times out of sheer appreciation.

In conclusion, this movie has made me take another look at Life and Death. This movie made death seem so much more beautiful than our books and movies tend to. I think anyone in their right mind should give this film a chance. And yes, it was rather lengthy, However, It didn’t take away from the experience, at least not for me. 

hey everyone, when thinking about what i wanted to talk about this week, i found that no matter what i thought about, it all came back to me, and to me changing.  the biggest change i’ve been thinking about is college, changing where i spend my every day, who i see every day, and what i do in between the sun’s rising and setting. 

it’s not for certain yet, but it looks like im going to be going to the university of iowa. a place known as the university for writers but lately ive known if more for the fact that it is 12 hours away. 12 hours that seem to stretch and contort itself much farther than a plane ride or a days’ worth of bus and trains. stretching much farther from anything and everything that i have come to love. 

and i’m aware im kind of sounding whiney, i get to go to a school i think i’ll enjoy and hopefully ill make friends and a post like this will one day be nothing but an afterthought, but no matter how much i think i might enjoy it, sometimes i wish i could just skip it, go straght to the part of my life that i want to be in, back where im with the people i want to be in a place where i can be me, but what i’ve learned from that wanting is that it isn’t what i need.

if i want anyone to come out of this blog reading learning at least one thing, i would want it to be that if the time you spend unhappy, anxious, or making mistakes was skipped over, you’d erase yourself. and i think this might be one of the few times in which i think i have my past to thank for something. because i know at one time, whether it was me struggling through middle school or freshman year, i wished that i could just skip over all of highschool, now i sit writing this blog at the end of my final year with only one or two more blog posts happy that I didn’t skip a thing. 

the last time that i took the time to write out something that i felt when it came to this subject was actually the last poetry assignemnt, maybe it is cheap to add in a poem that i already turned in but i think it has a lot to do with everything going on at the moment-

(p.s.)

the morning i came to visit,

i took my shoes off at the door.

down next to plants that had long 

since grown out of their pots,

and weeds that had made 

themselves at home in the

cracks of the front porch

i dusted off the handle of

the old screen door

and let the sound of it

swinging open cascade and

echo throughout my eardrums

the morning i came to visit,

i walked into an empty room

that smelled of lavender perfume,

smothered by mildew 

and cigarette butts

the ghost of chandeliers hung in

the form of wires protruding

from the ceiling. the

contents of each room  

now either rest under white

sheets or are sprawled out

across the front lawn.

the morning i came to visit

i filled my bag with empty 

lipstick containers 

and picture frames,

and layed down on your

old mattress, battered and beat

i tried to hear your voice in the 

chirping of the birds outside

the window of what 

used to be your bedroom.

and i tried to smell your smell in the air,

i didn’t smell a thing, even if i 

told myself i did

the morning i came to visit

i knew you had gone out for a while

After writing this poem I realized that all I have been doing is staring at wounds that had healed a long time ago without me realizing, and I think that is part of the beauty of change, and what took me the longest to understand. Sometimes change is just different, nothing more and nothing less. I’m scared of things changing because they might not be as good as they are now, but when it comes down to it think I changed a long time ago, as well as a few seconds ago. It honestly makes me think about this one quote from Jake the Dog I love,

“The shapes are always changing. Changing is their normal state, like us. Even if we’re not changing on the outside, we’re changing on the inside constantly. There’s some stuff about me that I’d been ignoring for a long time. I’m afraid of that stuff. But its part of who I am. As long as I know the shape of my soul, I’ll be all right.”

Frogbloginning (Frog-blog-beginning) 

It’s been a while, hasn’t it? Yet the frog blog still returns! I’ve been looking forward to writing one all senior year, but I haven’t actually gotten on it until now. I just can’t go into May without a frog blog. It’s mandatory to my heart. I love frogs. And information. And sharing information. Basically, I really wanted to do a frog blog before senior year gets out. 

I really do feel like there should be more to say here, though. I mean, graduation is approaching faster than I ever want it to be. We’re getting a class for personal projects. Senior showcases are looming. But I guess part of frog blogging joy is that we don’t have to discuss all that. We just need to discuss frogs! And boy, do I have some frogs to share. Course the hype through your veins. Away we frog! 

Grey Foam-Nest Tree Frog (Chiromantis xerampelina) 

(Source 1) (Source 2) 

I first found out about these frogs through a friend! They sent me a video of this species making a foam nest, and it was immediately insane. However normal they may look, they aren’t! They’re an arboreal species, meaning they live in trees. Though you could spot them visiting some water source to rehydrate, you probably wouldn’t see them swimming or even just sitting in a lake. To survive dry spells, their skin isn’t as permeable as other frogs, and they change color according to temperature! Dark to light are the colors they can go through. Darkening their color allows them to absorb more heat from the sun, while lightening their color allows them to reflect heat. There’re even more adaptations they have which you can check out if you click the sources. I just know what you’re mainly wondering about: their name. These frogs build nests of foam to hold their eggs! Female foam-nest frogs, which are bigger than the males, secrete a kind of mucus from their cloaca, which they churn into foam using their back legs. The foam will then harden a bit on the outer later, all in all protecting the eggs and keeping them moist. Female foam nesting frogs do this with a lot of males present to fertilize the eggs. They also build their nests above water sources, so once the eggs turn to tadpoles, they can eventually wriggle out of the foam and into the water below. Keeping the eggs out of the water until then increases the chances of survival. Developing into a tadpole only takes about six days for a grey foam-nest tree frog! 

Water-Holding Frog (Cyclorana platycephala) 

(Source 1) (Source 2) 

The water holding frog! Like the foam-nest frog, this frog is pretty much its name, too! They live in areas with dry periods, meaning they’re on their own when it comes to water a lot of the time. For frogs, that sounds pretty impossible, but its actually really interesting how species adapt to live without the things they need. Water-holding frogs go about this by aestivating and burrowing! Aestivation is basically hibernation but in the hot, dry season of summer instead of winter. During aestivation, deep inside their muddy burrows, water-holding frogs shed layers and layers of their skin, all the while secreting a watertight mucus. The shed and mucus lines their burrow, allowing them to maintain their water with more efficiency. And, while they survive off all the nutrition they stored while awake, they may eat their den lining if they need to. It doesn’t end here, either! All of this would constitute the name ‘water-holding’, but the name is from the fact they absorb up to half their body weight in water. They store all of that water in their bladder in skin pockets to survive aestivation. Even if it takes years, the water-holding frog can arise from its burrow again, froggy as always. On the surface, they feed, breed, then fill up on water again to hit the burrow.  

Fringed Leaf Frog (Cruziohyla craspedopus) 

(Source 1) (Source 2) 

Also called the fringed tree frog, and most definitely one of the most colorful guys to ever color. (Not really, but you know what I mean.) You’d think the hues they flaunt would mean danger- toxins, poisons-!- but you’d be wrong! Fringed leaf frogs are safe to handle. For you, at least. Don’t go picking up frogs willy-nilly. These frogs do, however, change color! They rapidly switch into brown hues during the night, then return to vibrancy in the day. They also hide their yellow underbellies when adhering to a surface for camouflage. As for where they live, it’s high up in the treetops. Their eggs can be found on ground level, as they only descend to breed! 

Red-Eyed Tree Frog (Agalychnis callidryas) 

(Source 1) (Source 2) 

And lastly, I thought it would be neat to close with a classic frog! The kind you see in cartoons and logos and whatnot. We all know the red-eyed tree frog, but what do we actually know about it? For starters, they’re nocturnal, like a lot of other frogs. They can also change their color to brownish or dark green! They lay eggs on the undersides of leaves (over a pond) or on the shores of ponds, then leave the eggs soon after. One of the biggest things to me was finding out the purpose of their eyes. Why red? It turns out the red is for a thing called startle coloration! Imagine one moment you’re about to eat a little green morsel, then suddenly it looks up with gigantic, burning red peepers. They’re meant to spook predators out of eating them. Pretty neat! 

Frogblogending (Frog-blog-ending) 

You’d be surprised how difficult it is to get a conclusive call on a frog’s scientific name. Research takes time, but it’s fun, and it only gets better with frogs. Don’t feel afraid to share your own frog facts in the comments below, if you so wish! Or just share what your favorite frog is, on the list or not. There’s so much out there! Until next time, frog blog out. The frogs are never ending!