Category: Junior Literary

There is something magical about my literary classroom. Something about the giant windows, the dark wooden floors, the red mushroom lamp. There is something about the way the beige walls and the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards  posters stare back at you. There is something about the endless sounds of typing and creaks in the floorboards that puts a writer’s soul to rest.

There is something awful in the way coffee smells in the afternoon and how eyes burn form staring at a bright computer screen for hours on end. Something about how your fingers begin to cramp from typing. Something about the way your shoulders slouch under the weight of an impending deadline.  There is something about the panic of having only today to finish an assignment that puts a writer’s soul to rest.

There is something infuriating about the untended bookshelf that is collapsing under the weight of books stacked miles high and the leaky Keurig that keeps so many awake. Something about the conflicting opinions that makes your head begin to ache. Something about the criticism that makes you roll your eyes. There is something about the computer shutting down before you can save your work that puts a writer’s soul to rest.

There is something about my literary classroom. Something magical. Something infuriating. Something awful.

Something that puts my soul to rest.

I wake up one morning earlier than I usually would.  The sun has not even fully risen.  I lie awake in bed trying to persuade my unconscious mind into succumbing to sleep once again, but it eventually wins out and forces me out of my bed.  I get dressed and make my way downstairs.  I make a bowl of cereal and start to eat it in silence.  After a few bites, I decide to turn on the TV.  I walk into the living room to get the remote, but I am surprised by what I find sitting next to it on the couch.  I find a corpse sitting there looking as if he is just relaxing.  I stand still staring at it, not knowing who the body belonged to or what I was supposed to do about it.  I eventually decide that I should call 911 and tell them that I’ve found a dead body sitting on my couch which they immediately question, but I have no answers for them.  I finish the phone call and proceed to do the same with my cereal.  After doing so, ambulances and police cars pull up with sirens blaring.  I open the door to let them in.  The paramedics confirm that the body is in fact a dead one though I felt pretty confident in my personal assessment of the body’s state of being.  The police officers questioned me, but I had as many solid answers as I did minutes earlier on the phone.  They eventually put the body in an ambulance which I found ironic and drove him away.  As they drive away, I go back into my bedroom, brush my teeth as well as my hair, and just finish preparing to leave in general.  I look down at my watch and realize that it’s time for me to leave.  I go to head out the door, but realize that I don’t have my car keys.  I check the kitchen counter, my beside table, and just about everywhere else that I’d think they could be.  I look over my living room and see my key chain poking up between two couch cushions.  I grab them, but as I do so, I smell something awful.  I hold my breath, and get outside.  I sigh to myself and hope that getting my couch cleaned won’t be too expensive.  I then get in my car and drive to work.

modern man // arcade fire

we were stuck.

we all were.

we’d gotten ourselves caught up in the suburban life, allowing ourselves to succumb to the fate of growing up in a small town and never getting out of it.

or worse: getting out and finding ourselves crawling back home.

but i always wanted to get out. i always wanted to run away from the community that never truly made me feel welcome.

and i knew i could. i knew that one day i would drive past the welcome signs and never once look back. i knew that my life wouldn’t stagnate in the town i never really belonged in.

so they ask, “who do you want to be?” “what do you want to be?”

and i reply, “i want to be a writer.”

“pick something more realistic,” they demand. they wanted a change, something practical.

so i give it to them.

“i want to be a teacher.” “i want to be a doctor.” “i want to be a hematologist.” “i want to be a pediatric surgeon.”

sure, the dreams i told them i had were still things i was interested in, but they weren’t passionate. and i think dreams have to be passionate for them to become anything at all.

i let them change what dreams came out of my mouth, but they could never change the dreams the grew from my brain like wildflowers.

i kept my dreams to myself and watched as they left their own dreams behind. i watched as they assimilated to never leaving the state to go to college, and never leaving the county to start a family. i watched people bloom and wither away into caricatures of the american south.

i saw people open their mouths when asked what they want to be when they grow up only to close them again, returning to the question with something thought more appropriate by the adults who had their dreams shattered by suburbia. they’d let suburbia cloud their ambitions and hopes, and they were trying to make us kids do the same.

but i wasn’t going to let them turn me into another suburban machine. i wasn’t going to let them make me be something i didn’t feel. they weren’t going to poison the wildflowers that grew in my brain.

after all, it was those very wildflowers, that very determination to be what i wanted to be when i grew up, that brought me here.

I’m just going to do this off of the top of my head because I think it’s better that way.  We edit too much, and we censor ourselves.   There is something raw to listening to someone ramble; you get to know their true thoughts off of the top of their head.

I’m always afraid that the thoughts off of the top of my head aren’t good enough.  I don’t know enough weird facts.  I know a lot about sharks, though.  I’m scared of the ocean, and I’m scared of sharks especially.  That doesn’t mean that I’m not going to get into a shark cage if I ever get the chance, though.  I live for the thrill.

Someone once told me that I had lived too much in too short of a time.  I was bored because I was an adrenaline junkie.  I don’t know whether or not that’s true; I just do whatever makes me happy.  I follow my heart no matter what.

I often get really bored with life.  I need constant change, and I thrive on it.

I don’t like to share things about myself.  The things that you know are not in my comfort zone of things to tell people.  I suppose that’s why, sometimes, I overindulge.  I like to be out of my comfort zone.  Being comfortable makes me uncomfortable in a way–not in the heart pounding way that I want, but rather in a way that makes me want to tear my hair out.

I suppose that’s why I wait to do blogs until the last moment.  I don’t follow directions that well because in a way, that makes me vulnerable in a way that I do not ever want to be again.  I used to follow every direction every uttered to me.

I don’t know where I’m going with this.  I don’t know where I’m going in life.  The truth is that I’m lost, and I’m just rambling because it’s 8:21 PM on Wednesday night.

I’m lost in life right now.  The thing that scares me the most is that I don’t know what my passion is anymore.  Writing has lost a lot of its zeal now that I’m forced to do it.  I’m terrified that one day, the appeal will slip from me or bubble and boil into something as dreadful as work.  I used to play a lot of instruments, but that just doesn’t bring me the same feeling it used to.  Besides, I always feel like I’m missing out on life if I’m not doing something adventurous.

I just want passion, and I’ve followed my heart so recklessly for so long that I think I’ve done a lot of what I wanted to do.  It really upsets me sometimes.  Sometimes I’m afraid that people love me for my quirks and for the things that I do instead of the things I say.  It’s weird, I know.

I’m weird in a lot of ways.  Anyways, that is all.  Have a nice day.

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/190417890478034496/

Link above shows picture inspiring the poem:

Apartment Mentality

Four tiny walls

tiny kitchen

tiny molded toilet and overdue rent

angel white tapestry

separating scenes of the city and sounds of

lost people remembering again

blue speckled pots and pans and spoons

falling from countertop to living room

floor, the door concrete and

warped in the dark when speakers below blow

brilliant red chords with no room to reach out

so they reach up instead

dirty socks line the doorway, Chinese takeout

the last excuse to leave the room

a dove perch on the open balcony, as far as the

eye can see

nothing but little people doing little things

smalls as dust mites or spider bites

scrambling like eggs in a frying pan across the expanse of

big city spread out beneath

each person looking up and biting off small

chunks of their own sky, that is,

within 1000 square feet of carpet.

 

I collect dirt on Tuesdays

to annoy my parents on Thursdays

As I ram it down my throat twenty minutes before a family dinner

“Too full to eat another bite”

And then pat my stomach for good measure

No one questions the dust beneath my fingernails

Or the sand that coats my teeth

“A new fad you’re too old to understand”

Laughter

My finger wiggles its way between my lips as my teeth rip through two months of hard work

spitting the remainder on the floor

“So can I leave”

They don’t stop the forks from hitting the plate with a loud crash

or the smacking, spit flying across the table to land on my unwanted chicken

I stir it with my mash potatoes, pretend its a new dressing

Its better than gravy I can assure you

My mind seems to say,

before I shovel a spoon full into my mouth

I let it roll around in in my gums  before swallowing

it goes down in pieces, no smooth transition

“Delicious”

A fork is pointed towards me, saliva coats its tip

I lick my lips

“Yeah, it took me all day to finish, I knew you would like it”

Laughter

My leg jumps at the sound hitting the table with every audible chew

chattered tooth, mingling with metal

I can hear an earthquake rumbling up my throat

But I swallow it down, like my morning vitamins

less healthy I know

But what else could I do to soothe my nerves

exploding like fireworks underneath my skin

I drink more water

Someone made a joke about my past mistakes

Laughter

I pop my  neck and feel it sprain

Not before I laugh too

it’s bitter to my ears, too loud, too much
So, I stop the laughter with a piece of casserole

that seems to drip down my chin messier then I intended

Laughter

My sister finishes, silverware banging on an empty plate with purpose, silence,

an announcement: “I’m finished first”

No, words just subtle acknowledgment

The chair imprinting holes in the floor screeches back

Another does the same and another

I count below my breathe four in total

There is no noise,

the silence becomes friendly

It sits with me for the remainder of my meal

Its funny I know choked by noise

to be caressed by the quiet

but even I couldn’t resist the small giggle escaping my clenched teeth

Soft

Just a whisper above a breathe,

but sweet in this empty  space

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Guys. Lolita is such a great movie. There’s just so much wrong within it. Immoral relationships, toxic romance, a man on the run, incest(possibly), it’s just so great.

The movie kind of makes you feel bad for the male lead, Humbert Humbert, when in reality he is a pedophile preying on a young girl. He’s portrayed as a misunderstood man trying to rekindle a love he lost as a young boy. We seem to always sympathize for those who have lost and that’s where you must start to remember that Humbert is a grown man, preying on a little girl.

To make matters worse, the movie sexualizes the heck out of Lolita herself. She’s about 14 or 15 years old, a fire ball, and a free spirit. Just a sassy teenager enjoying her days. She’s portrayed as a young girl who’s basically too grown up for her own good and is made out to be the ring leader of the whole show.

Throughout the movie Lolita seems like the mastermind behind all of the events, and in some way or another, she partially is, but it is also the fault of the Hum himself and there’s no denying that.

I honestly wish i could just tell you all the entire movie here in this blog but i’d rather you guys watch it AND/or read it and tell me your views on the issue.

http://www.onlinefmradio.in/videos/showvideo/Lolita-1997-Full-Movie-x6kLJVytJY1i

https://gomovies.pet/film/lolita-9614/

https://edisciplinas.usp.br/pluginfile.php/234330/mod_resource/content/1/Vladimir%20Nabokov%20Lolita%20Penguin%20Modern%20Classics%20%202000%20%281%29.pdf

Long-distance friendships are difficult. You cannot be physically there for them, you can’t help them when they’re sad, when they want to go buy something for another friend or a particular event that they need nicer clothes for. You can’t hang out with them on the weekends or the days that seem like you just need to go on a drive with that friend that makes you feel as though everything is just fading away, and you have no problems in the universe and that nothing can ever bring you down again. There is no going to the movies or the mall, just because you’re friends, and that’s what you do. No traditions that you two always take part in that you made up yourselves, no sleeping over at one another’s houses. They can’t meet your new cat or look at your newly dyed hair in person, and cameras never quite catch the color just right. You can’t run through Wal-Mart together, just for the hell of it or drive through a fast food restaurant together or introduce them to your parents properly. It’s extremely difficult to give them birthday presents or Christmas presents or little Valentine’s Day notes because you’re the only Valentine each other needs, so instead, you have to substitute for writing her something because she’s always said she loved your writing and sending her a picture. Which never feels as satisfactory as you want it to. There are no late night drives to that place you always go to or any going to concerts together or all but dragging them along with you to some event or another you were forced into attending so you won’t be as bored with them there as you know you would be without them. Never have you felt that sense of overwhelming joy and contentment as you sit with your best friend with them or what it’s like to know you always have someone and somewhere to run to when you need to be anywhere but your own home. Instead of hearing constant nagging about how you go out so often, you get to hear your parents complain about how you are always inside and on your computer or your phone. And no one seems to realize just how freaking hard it is when your best – and nearly only – friend is thousands of miles away and that, yes, it is possible to form a connection with someone whose face you did not see as soon you met them and that you can only talk to through some type of screen. And how, what you desire most in the world is to see them, hug them – just be with them. But you can’t because they’re so far away.

Firstly, let me just explain my argument before I get called heartless or insensitive(which I certainly do agree with).  I do like animals in general; what I do not like is the idea of domestication. I think animals are useless as “friends” to humans in households- that’s not why they exist. When I state that I absolutely cannot stand puppies or kittens or toddlers or even the sweet-sticky-cuteness of both of these relatively appreciated creatures, I mean it. Why is that a bad thing? I have reasons to back up my statement, the first being:

• We tend to elevate the aesthetics that come from animals, and we ridicule them to millions of pictures, scratchy outfits, and high-end dog/cat food. We are not able to ask what these animals want, whether or not they hate ear scratches or throwing a ball monotonously back and forth; we cannot speak for these animals (obviously).
• We are allowed to eat cows, chickens, etc., but not dogs or pigeons? Is this not discriminating to the poor animals we have no heart for? That being said, I have nothing against eating animals, but I think that is extremely odd that we condone the mutilation of some animals for food, clothing, etc. and just keep others as pets.
• Secondly, pets are useless besides trying to get away from actual human connection and instead opting for a chill cat or hyperactive Yorkie. I don’t want to be misunderstood, but I think some people grow up to become “cat ladies” just because they despise human connection or feel like no one will accept them as who they are. Does this mean that this “cat lady” has cats that love her? Who can figure this out if pets can’t speak for themselves? Maybe we are hurting animals by domesticating them more that we are helping them.

Side note: (Guys I think pets are okay I just really have no other reasons for hating “cute” pets besides me just thinking they are grotesque.)

My next confession is on children- those disgusting, annoying, absolutely nasty little heathens we take pride in calling our own. I cannot stand small babies because I don’t like the idea of two people having the responsibilityto fill a newborns’ head with whatever kind of education, ideaologies, mantras, etc. they choose. This is how serial killers are formed. Don’t get me wrong, some parents do a great job of aising their child to be a responsible citizen in a community; others raise their kids to be sexist, etc. and when the child grows older that’s  all that kid will know.

Also, have you ever realized how insanely dirty children are? Toddlers eat anything that will fit into their mouth, from stale popcorn on the floor to Legos. That’s terrifying- I think that they are just warming up to learn how to eat people.