Over Thanksgiving break, I decided to finally watch Perks of Being a Wallflower. This movie was recommended to me by so many people and I just never got to watching it. So, when I did, I realized why they were recommending me this movie.

This movie centers around a freshman named Charlie. He goes into high school thinking he is going to hate it, but then soon finds out how fun it can be. He makes a bunch of new senior friends who take him on all kinds of fun adventures, and he becomes way happier than he was before. When he makes a mistake and gets abandoned by his friends, he starts going into a darker and darker place. Eventually, they all make up and things seem to get a lot better. But, when they all leave for college, he goes right back to that dark place, deeper than before. So deep he has to get help for it. But the help really works, and he is able to get out of it and make the most out of his life. Throughout this movie, he struggles with things from his past. These things have way deeper meanings, and that is seen as the movie progresses.

This movie was based on a book of the same name. After watching, I got the book and started to see the similarities and the differences between the two. So far, they are pretty similar story-wise. A few things were changed, but overall, they both are really beautiful stories and tell it great in their own ways.

This movie was probably the very first movie I’ve ever cried to. I don’t usually get emotional when watching movies, but this one really got me. The music in it was beautiful and it had really amazing scenes. It really encapsulates the “young and stupid teens” experience. Many of the things in the movie are really relatable and had me feeling a connection with the movie.

This movie will continue to be one of my favorite movies ever now. I don’t think anything can surpass it and if you think there is something that can, PLEASE LET ME KNOW!!! But, if you have not watched this movie, I really recommend you do so. Your life will be changed after. Also read the book. I’m not done with it yet, but I can’t wait to continue reading because I am hooked.

Amanda palmer is one of my favorite artists at this time in my life. I used to listen to her but not like how I do now. A lot of you may have even heard her before without knowing that it was her! Here I will be naming some things she has done and talk about my favorite songs from them.

1. Dresden Dolls

The Dresden dolls were formed in 2000. With, of course, Amanda Palmer and Brian Viglione. The two played at Halloween party together and formed the duo afterwards. Amanda did the vocals and piano, along with ukelele and a harmonica while Brian played the drums, bass, and guitar. The group was inspired by Kate Bush, Cyndi Lauper, and Laurie Anderson. One of their most popular songs is “My Alcoholic friends” and “Coin-operated boy” My favorite song by the duo is “Missed Me” (go listen to it.) The duo broke up in 2008 but continued to have reunions. 

2. Evelyn Evelyn

This duo was made in 2007. While on tour Amanda and her friend Jason Webley found these girls on myspace, they were made by the Neville sisters. The two listened to the one song they had posted and fell in love with the song and the two conjoined twins, Eva and Lyn. They asked them if they wanted to record a song, and the creators agreed. They recorded multiple demos before it was actually released in 2010.  The most popular songs are “A Campaign of Shock and Awe” and “Have you seen my sister Evelyn?”. My favorite song from this is “Sandy Fishnets”! 

3. Amanda Palmer (Solo)

In my final category I will be talking a little bit about her solo account. Amanda went solo in June of 2008. The exact month I was born! Her first solo album was “Who killed Amanda Palmer”.  Unfortunately, I’m still getting into her solo music so I can’t speak too much about it. But! My favorite song that she has is “Runs in the Family”. Her music is amazing and the way she sings always hypnotizes me and I think everyone who reads this should give these songs a listen!!

Day 78- Well, I found something alright just nothing to do remotely with a cure. I can tell you though Macy was lying to the whole crew about her rare food illnesses which made her throw up every day. Her “rare” illness was Rob’s baby which is a lot to unpack and why she would write about her work affair details in a work computers file baffles me. I honestly could care less about what they were up to now. I’m just pissed that I learned what goes down while I’m sleeping and that I’m no step closer to finding this dumb cure. 

Day 80- I finally found an entry that didn’t look like a middle schooler’s attempt at writing work safe contraband! It seems like I need to mix two different compounds together to subdue the radiations affects. The only problem is this has only been performed on inanimate objects. I’ve seen Macy pour these “cures” over things ranging from dolls to spoons. During all these tests the objects start to bend and contort I can’t imagine my friend moving in those ungodly ways and let alone the agony it would put them through. I have decided I will go out and collect more samples. I feel bad but I need to find something infected with radiation and living I think wildlife is the safest choice for now.  

Day 80- Do you know how damn hard it is to catch a squirrel? Well, the answer is very it is very hard especially one that is mutated with radiation I swear it made it faster than a normal one. Today though I caught three which I hope are enough for the tests I’m going to have to carry out. I feel awful harming these animals but honestly, I’m sure maybe curing them is a better shot than the pain they are currently in. Half of them look more like naked mole rats than squirrels from all the poisoning they have in their system currently. Honestly, I’m sure maybe curing them is a better shot than the pain they are currently in. Half of them look more like naked mole rats than squirrels from all the poisoning they have in their system currently. Tonight, though I’ll let them rest I’m sure they are terrified of me already based on how bad I was at capturing them and how much I was cussing while doing so. 

Day 82- Ok so the first trial did not go as planned I tried to give the squirrel some medicine to calm it down since the little guy was shaking and foaming at the mouth. Instead, though it seemed to do the exact opposite, and he started growling? I didn’t know squirrels could do that or make such noises, but it scared me, and I promptly put Fred back in his cage! 

During the Christmas Break, I went on a trip to Atlanta. This trip was one of my Christmas presents. We don’t have any family there or anything, but it was a fun experience. We explored the city for 2 full days but 4 in total. During our visit, we visited many attractions including, The World of Coca-Cola, the Georgia Aquarium, the Chik-Fil-A College Football Hall of Fame, and many others. The city was not as crowded as I thought it would be, the streets were nearly bare in areas where there wasn’t that much to do. All of the food I tried was immaculate. There was truly never a dull moment. I went with my family: Cory and Darrian, my foster parents, and Maddox, my little brother. We stayed in probably one of the fanciest hotels I’d ever been in. The floors were marble and some chandeliers hung from the vaulted ceilings. It was a beautiful sight. 

The first day consisted of a long road trip there. We stopped at Buc-ee’s as part of our tradition to do so on vacation. The journey was long, I slept most of the time to allow myself to charge up before the adventurous 3 days ahead of me. If I wasn’t asleep, I was watching Arcane on my iPad like the iPad kid I am. When we got to the hotel, we took everything up to our room. We instantly left to find food because we were all pretty hungry. On our journey through the streets of Atlanta, we found a wing place that was baseball-themed. The workers all wore baseball jerseys and they played different games on the TVs around the restaurant. After eating, we went back to the hotel and eventually fell asleep. 

The second day was an action-packed one. We woke up and went to arguably one of the largest Waffle Houses for breakfast. After that, we explored the Olympic Park where the Olympics were held many decades ago. We then went across the street to the Georgia Aquarium. This is one of the largest in the world so I knew it was going to be incredible. We went through every tunnel that consisted of different animals and creatures. My personal favorite was the see-through tunnel with the whale sharks. After the aquarium, we went to the Chik-Fil-A College Football Hall of Fame. It was interesting to see all who have been inducted as well as when and why. There were different displays of trophies and awards around the building. There was even a small portion of a football field where kids could run drills and have a great experience. We then went and got nitrogen-infused ice cream. When you ate it, smoke would come out of your mouth. It was super cool. We then went back to the Hotel to rest for a little before going to dinner and Ikea. 

The third day was very quick-paced. We went to the World of Coca-Cola first where we tried all of the different drinks they offer in different countries as well as learned the history behind the famous brand. We then went to the Civil Rights Museum to learn about how people gained equal opportunities as others. We then drove to the Braves Stadium to explore. After that, we went to a giant food hall called Ponce City Market. It was a really cool experience to see all of the different cultures there. 

The fourth day was our last, we packed up our things from the hotel and loaded down the car before heading to the Atlanta Zoo. This zoo was incredible, they had so many different kinds of animals and reptiles to look at. My favorite was the Red Panda exhibit. After the 3 hour journey through the zoo, we finally made the car ride home. I slept most of the time again due to being exhausted from our adventures. 

Like most people, I am not one to stick to my New Year’s resolutions. I have a lot of difficulty keeping up with lists of goals no matter the occasion. Like, I can make a grocery list and still not be able to complete it. 

Last year, I made some New Year’s resolutions. Honestly, there were some good ones in there. I wanted to lose weight, read 10 books, publish some works, keep my room clean and work out. But the only resolution I achieved was getting accepted into MSA.

Clearly, change starts with me.

So this year, I will actually try to reach my goals. I’ve made some broader resolutions for 2025 and I’ve cut myself a lot of slack. I’ve also written it in a style that is more personal to me so maybe it’ll actually get through this thick skull.

The first resolution I made was “be yourself” in all caps followed by an explicit. This is obviously my number one goal. Last year, I noticed that I tend to hide my own personality, afraid that other people won’t like me for who I really am. But the thing is, I do it unintentionally. When I’m around people that don’t make me feel true to myself, I change my personality and unconsciously gaslight myself into thinking that’s the real me. So I honestly don’t know who Steph is but I’m working on that, trust me.

That resolution actually had a little more context to it. I wrote, “don’t snuff out your own light to be mysterious for the guys you like, if they don’t like you for your true self, they won’t like you ever,” and I think that’s beautiful. I really need to listen to myself more often because I can give pretty good advice (I think). Maybe I should be a therapist. Right now I think I should be my own therapist, though.

Another resolution I made was to keep my room clean again. I swear this time will be different because MSA has made me a cleaner and more organized person. I will admit I trashed my bedroom when I first got home for Christmas Break but I left it sparkling! I can’t wait to go home.

I also have a resolution that says “go to church.” I think it’s pretty simple. This resolution comes from a flaw of mine where I want to go to church until I’m waking up and trying to get out of bed for it. It also comes from a goal on my bucket list where I want to attend a church service from every branch of Christianity. I’ve already got Baptist, Episcopal, and Catholic checked off my list. I think that’s pretty impressive for me.

Those were all of my New Year’s resolutions for 2025. Of course, I’ve got some that I’m not willing to share and I’ve probably got some more that I’m planning on adding. I’m really curious about everyone else’s resolutions if they have any, I know some people like to break their goals up by the month or week. I spent New Year’s day in my room on my Nintendo Switch watching the Animal Crossing: New Horizons countdown. I’ve watched it with my best friend the past 3 years but it was just me and my villagers this year.

I wish everyone a Happy New Year (even though I’m a little late) and I also wish myself a Happy New Year because I need it.

Seconds turn into a minute. As his eyes slit, and his new reality begins to hit him like a train. He sees his driveway below him, but his feet don’t touch it. They are far above it in the air. His window is a few feet behind him. Nothing supports him, yet he still stands up in the air. His body feels as if it weighs nothing at all. 

“Okay, what do I do now?” he asks himself while he floats motionless. He thinks back to how he’s seen it in superhero movies. He tries throwing his arms in the air which just makes him look dumb. He then tries to lean forward. That makes him just spin like a wheel. 

“How are you supposed to do this?” he asks while dizzy and frustrated. 

“Make your own momentum,” a voice says. Eve’s body jolts as he looks to find where it came from. Once again, no one is in sight. His body tenses up as he tries to ignore what just happened. He begins to rationalize it by playing it off as a memory. He remembers someone in a superhero show saying that you created your own momentum when flying. You just have to press off of it. 

Eve puts his legs in a squatting position and throws his arms into the air. Then, he throws his arms and legs down. He feels his body get thrown far up into the air. Nothing can stop him. He flies further and further into the sky. He turns his body like you would turn a skateboard to switch directions. He soars through the clouds. His eyes begin to tear up as he’s never seen this kind of view before.  

He struggles to turn but begins to get the hang of it. He is the only person in the world right now who can feel this feeling of exhilaration and excitement. He points himself upwards with his arms wide open. He then closes his eyes and stops thinking while trying to end all the momentum he has so he can fall and land. 

Wind flies past his face as it pulls his hair upwards. His stomach rises to his chest as he falls closer to the ground. He tightens his face as he tries to focus on his flight. He tries to slow his descent down. The more he focuses the less he realizes how close the ground is to him. The less he realizes he’s not slowing down. 

When he opens his eyes, he can see how close the ground is to him. He freaks out and kicks his feet. This launches him forward. He tries to slow down, but nothing is working. He is close enoguh to fly through the streets. Windows break as he breaks the speed of sound.  

“Oh, Shit,” he says as he sees a building in front of him. It’s a small mom and pop shop that he uses to go to with his mom all the time. They used to have some of the best retro games there. The two owners were so sweet to him. They’re a nice old couple just trying to find something to do during retirement. 

This building used to mean so much to him. Now it is a pile of rubble along with the long line of buildings that goes for a few blocks. Eve lays at the end of this trail of destruction. His eyes are wide open as he can’t believe what he has just done. Who knows how many people died in that. He now has blood on his hands all because he got a little too curious.

PBS kids! The channel I only watched besides boomerang, Nick, and Cartoon network. PBS kids was the only cartoon channel we could catch at my grandma’s house since she didn’t have cable. PBS kids is a big part of my childhood, and I know it’s a big part of some of yours, so I will be talking about some shows that I enjoyed that I barely hear about anymore! This isn’t a ranked list! It’s just in order of what I remember.  

1. Word World

I genuinely loved this show as a child. I was always a kid who liked words I think, I was in spelling bees and had so many story books and maybe word world is a part of that. From the theme song to the delivery of most of the jokes I loved this. I have a memory of this playing in the background while doing multiplication cards. I thought I was Einstein man.

2. The electric company

Truthfully, I don’t remember much from this show other than the theme song and how much it reminded me of fresh beat band at times. This was one of my childhood favorites, maybe I’d remember if I went back and watched some of the episodes, anyways that guy with the hat is kind of creepy,, why’s he looking like that.

3. The Berenstein bears

Ah yes, the show that no one could agree on the name of! I honestly read the books more than I watched this, but I always related to the little girl bear. She was kind of my goat, and I’ll never forget the book where she couldn’t stop biting her nails and they wrapped them up in bandaged. (Was it a book, and episode, or both?)

4. Cyberchase

A show that I still watch to this day, because I think it’s the only one on this list that still runs on tv. (Don’t quote me on that!) I have fond memories of this show and thinking that the bird really sounded like that parrot on Aladin. Anyways, this was a problem-solving skill show. I think it’s mostly math, but all I remember from that show is math. Also, I think Buzz and Delete are my favorites, I’ve always wanted a friendship like they have </3

5. Martha speaks

Ending the list with my GOAT!! I love you, Martha!! (For those who don’t know she’s the dog). As a kid who talked a lot, and who talks a lot now, Martha was always one of my favorite shows, because I love words, and she always made me feel so normal to talk a lot. When I was younger, I always knew big words, I loved spelling words, I loved knowing the meanings so I could tell people what they meant. She was and always will be my idol. I love you; Martha Speaks. Also, guys don’t feed your dog alphabet soup!! They might end up being smarter than you.