Category: Junior Literary

This week’s blog was going to be a show recommendation that I’ve wanted to do for a while. 

My freshman and sophomore year were spent waking up early and watching tv before school. I started with friends, then the big bang theory, futurama, and many others. I’m surprised I got through so many shows in just two years. 
Anyways, one of the most memorable shows I watched before school was Bob’s Burgers

Bob’s Burgers Doesn’t seem all that appealing at first, and I can’t quite pinpoint what I like about it. Maybe its Bob’s attitude toward everything, or how crazy the youngest child Louise is. But throughout the show there are some interesting episodes. 

If you’re looking for a show that produces good morals and life lessons, I advise looking elsewhere. I’m not saying that this show doesn’t have anything to offer, but… it really doesn’t have much to offer other than mindless entertainment. 

There was no real character development, or plot, or much of anything that I can remember, it’s humor wasn’t even that unique. It’s by far one of the strangest shows I’ve enjoyed and watched all the way through. 

There were only two characters that I think had some struggle throughout the series, and that’s Tina and Bob.
Bob obviously had to keep his shop afloat and work for his restraint, but I think Tina was the one who struggled the most. I don’t remember if she finally found someone, but I do remember her going through each season trying to find the lover of her life. In a weird way, she reminds me of Mable from gravity falls. 

My favorite character was by far Teddy. He was interesting and added a colorful output on each episode he was featured in. I can find him relatable in some ways, not really, but I did think he was funny. 
         All in all, its a hit or miss but It can be entertaining if you turn off your brain and just enjoy it. 

Earlier in the semester, we had some demo monologues we had to write for an assignment. Here are some leftovers

BASIL GREENE:

And I’ve always been surrounded by… You know. The thing. I think it’s just something ingrained in me, this sludge stuck to my body. Something I was born with until it grew and grew and now it’s just—me. It’s just who I am. Everyone wants to feel sorry for me, but I don’t think I even feel sorry for myself. Maybe I’m not fine with it, but I’m used to it, you know? Is it so bad to get used to it? To not be afraid of it anymore? I’m hanging my feet off the edge of a dock and know the water’s dangerous, but to not be afraid? As if the monster waiting for you at the bottom of the creek is… Friendly, even. I’ve known him my whole life. I see him clawing at the bottom of my feet, but I’d still like to believe he’s friendly. I’m never going to get rid of him, so I’d like to believe he’s friendly.

UNNAMED

It’s just… Terrifying. They’re never gonna see each other again, never gonna know each other’s faces, they were a split moment in each other’s lives. They were twined at the hip, they were inseparable, and their friendship still ended all the same. Their lives still ended all the same. Isn’t that terrifying? Nine seasons of watching something and they don’t even know each other’s names by the end. Nine seasons and it’s like you wasted your whole life.

I hate unhappy endings anyway.

UNNAMED VILLAIN

My name is one with fear. You do not hear it, do not taste it, but you know it. I know you know it well. You fought me many a time, and as we grace this song and dance, I wonder how long you will keep standing. How long before the foundation you’ve built us on collapses and you finally realize with all you’ve given, you still find nothing in this world to matter. I can reap it from the ground and rip the flowers from the weeds and I can tear the world asunder, and you’ll lose. And all this fighting, this pitiful fighting you wish to amount to, will be worth nothing. This work, this pitiful beautiful work you do, with every step and glide, as if you were a dancer, is only placing you like a buck in an open fire. And bucks can run, all they want, but everyone knows man has the gun.

The process of creating a poem is one that I wish that I even had close to down. It’s one of those things that are pretty much as sporadic as the mood swings that I wish I could overcome. Anyway, I didn’t mean to go that deep into a tangent in such a short amount of time. When it comes to my own personal development of artistic literary pieces it is always usually dictated off of one factor, that being the title, and whether I think of the idea for the poem itself first, or whether I think of the title first. For this specific piece that I am going to be sharing today I decided on the title first. This wasn’t because I couldn’t think of what to write (it was) but because I thought of it and how many metaphorical vises I could attach to it. But anyway here is the poem itself, I want to hear all of your opinions and process though too. I will touch on that in a second.

Pomegranate seed 

Love me like a pomegranate seed

An aperture of translucence.

A reddish glow.

Shapes crafted ever so

meticulously that it’s

as if it was molded

at the fingertips of

Gaea herself.

Love me even though none of that matters.

For the beauty of

an individual seed does

not span beyond the 

confines of the fruit’s rind.

As does the beauty

of any physical being,

when left in a room

full of people.

500 seeds to a single fruit.

My beauty is not my own.

Yet it is I who is awarded with the privilege of your love.

Whether you like or hate this poem is one thing, I don’t even know if I like it but I hope the publication I submitted to likes it enough.  But anyway there are a couple things that I wanted to touch on when it comes to the process of writing poems. For the most part I think that majority of the things in which I have written have originated not from a title but from an overall idea of the piece. However this one does not specifically possess that same background, and to be honest I am not exactly sure if I need to do any other poems like this, I know it is important to have a strong basis however I don’t think that there was for this piece, it was only the two words that created the title. So I just want to hear everyones opinion on itt. :))))

For this week’s blog, I thought I’d talk about the Chinese Prince of Lan Ling, Gao Changgong. But before I do, I want to give you a little bit of side information that is important.

Thousands of years ago in ancient China, beauty was more important for men than it was for women. Men wanted to be pale, slender, and tall. They wore light shades of foundation and put on lipstick. They also had very long hair. People didn’t cut their hair back then, because bodies, skin, and hair are given to them by their parents. Because of this, they must not be damaged. Cutting hair was seen as disrespectful to parents and barbaric. Because of this, it became a punishment reserved for extreme crimes. Now onto the story

There was once a man in China who was so handsome, he felt self conscious. He was the fourth son of Gao Cheng who was the elder brother of the emperor of Northern Qi, making him a prince of Northern Qi. He was given the name Prince Lan Ling as his land was known as Lan Ling. He was also a powerful general of Northern Qi. He worried that his feminine looking beauty wouldn’t intimidate his enemies so he would wear a mask into battle to seem more fierce.

The emperor at the time happened to be Gao Changgongs’s cousin, Gao Wei. Gao Wei was constantly worried that his cousin, Gao Changgong, would overthrow him as emperor so one day he sent a cup of poisoned wine to Gao Changgong, which led to his death. About four years after his death, having lost one of its greatest generals, Northern Qi was destroyed by Northern Zhou which resulted in all of the members of the Gao royal family being brutally slaughtered. In a roundabout way, Gao Wei signed his own death certificate when he killed Gao Changgong.

Fun facts: 

1. Prince Gao Changgong appears in a dramatized TV series called Prince of Lan Ling. It’s most likely called this as he ruled in LanLing county.
2. Prince Gao Changgong also appears in another TV series called Princess of LanLing
3. I have heard Prince Gao Changgong appeared in the video game Romance of the Three Kingdoms, but I don’t know if it’s true or not.
4. Also, I’m pretty sure that none of the historical pictures of Prince Gao Changgong survived to the present day.

Character playlists are exactly what they sound like: song playlists that are themed around characters. I’ve always loved the idea to them, but I struggle to create any myself. When choosing songs to represent my characters, I tend to ping-pong between being extremely nitpicky or looking for a specific vibe, leaving the pickings scarce. A part of me thinks it’s neat it’s so hard for me to find fitting songs, because perhaps that’s a testament to how out there my characters are, but that may be giving myself too much credit. In any case, as of now I have two character playlists- one for a whole group (12 songs) and one for one character (8 songs.) For this blog post, I figured I’d pick some songs from said playlists and talk about them!

Icicles by The Scary Jokes

The first thing that drew me to this song was the cover. Pink? Check. Playful imagery? Check. Scary or surreal imagery? Also check- all of these things line up with a certain pastel puppeteer of mine. Bonus points for the joke theme and violent lyrics, because that’s also right up her alley. I say this in the best way possible, but this song sounds like it would be on a stressed out teenage girl’s playlist for 3:00 am mental breakdowns. That vibe is also extremely fitting; I love it. The overall meaning of this song, at least in my interpretation, is dealing with repressed anger due to trauma, which is another check for the character box. She doesn’t repress her anger too much anymore, but she did so daily in her past.

Terror adhaerens by Yuki Kajiura

I could not create this list without mentioning a track by Yuki Kajiura, especially when it reminds me of a special interest character of mine. Contrary to the cute cover, this song is an embodiment of dread and hopelessness. The string instruments, which is something I always look for when it comes to this character, create such a sharp, creeping melody. When listening to this song, I can perfectly see a gray, blank landscape with foggy clouds and muddy soil. The song also kicks into a desperate tone further in, but desperate in a way that makes me think of gritted teeth and self destruction. Needless to say, it went straight into the character playlist. I do wish there were more fast paced, fuming songs with string instruments, though.

ព្រោះតែអូន (Because of You) by Sinn Sisamouth 

This song is more the source of inspiration than it is a direct character assignment, but it still reminds me of a character. This song is a Khmer oldie themed around love, and the sound immediately caught me. Something about this song is just so… sunset-sunrise sky colored, and it makes me think of sunlight and devotion. Listening to it lead to the creation of a motherly, yet stubborn Khmer woman with orange clothing and sunflower embroidery. She’s grown since her creation, but I definitely think this is a song she would enjoy. The meaning would remind her of her passed husband. (Sorry about that, by the way.) (You’re still not getting him back though.)

End of the Universe by Gooseworx

This is such a wonderfully goofy song, complete with a sense of otherworldly power and imminent doom. Those aspects alone, paired with the fact that this is carnival music, fits so extremely well with my pain-obsessed clown who should not have been given the power to exist outside of reality. Seriously. Who thought that would be a good idea. Oh, wait, I made them. Anyways, moving on, I think another reason this song fits so well is because of how unserious it sounds. You will never see this character take a singular moment seriously, even in the face of the atrocities they commit on a daily basis. The title itself also makes my brain happy, as this character’s story heavily revolves around universes and immortality. They have been at the end of a universe plenty of times, and there is no exit in sight. 

Ok this is probably not going to be that long, but I hope the title didn’t scare some of y’all I know K-pop can be a little, but I don’t really care. So, we are going to talk about my K-pop era or more importantly my K-pop Era playlist on Spotify. There are songs in here by the same person or group but I’m talking about the songs not the people/groups singing.

————————————————————–

Yes or No by Jung Kook     9.5/10

So, this song is sung by Junk Kook, a member of the K-pop group BTS (Bangtan Boys). This is the song that inspired this playlist, there was no reason I made my K-pop era playlist beside the point of me just wanting and playlist that had only K-pop songs.

Seven (feat. Latto) 20/10

Now this song right here is what got me back to listening to K-pop in the first place. It’s just so good (I know you are going to read my blog Tiara you cannot comment about this song at all)

3D by Junk Kook (feat. Jack Harlow) 10/10

This is a really good song to listen to if you’re just getting into K-pop.

MEGAVERSE  40/10

This is Stray kids, a K-pop band I listen to the most. Megaverse actually came out November of last year right when I started back listening to K-pop, and besides a couple of their other songs Megaverse is my favorite.

Future Perfect (Pass the MIC) by ENHYPEN 25/10

This is a group I just recently started listening to and all I have to say is that right now this is my favorite song of theirs well this song and CRIMINAL LOVE.

BANG BANG BANG by BIGBANG 40/10

This is another banger group. This is really the only song from them that I listen to because most of their songs I don’t really vibe with but on Just Dance 2019 this was the only song my brother wanted to dance to. 

POP! By NAYEON 9.5/10

This is another artist who is part of a group but also has some solo songs. I haven’t really listened to a lot of her songs mainly because I like listening to TWICE, the group she’s part off more often.

Make A Wish (Birthday Song) By NCT U 60/10

Now for our boy band crazy people these boys are my third fav boy group. Like most of the boy groups in this blog they are absolutely, positively fun to look at listen to.

OK so that’s it for this blog tell me what you think in the comment. Have a good day everyone.

When I was a youngin,  I used to be so happy to go to my grandmother’s house for many reasons. 

Some days it would be because of the joy of seeing her, other days it was because I wanted a delicious, hot soulful meal that she would have waited for us on the stove after a long day, then there was one of the most common reasons; I was ready to watch the  Qubo channel.  

Mostly with every encounter when I have the chance to bring up this station, a lot of people tell me they have never heard of it.  I don’t be shocked when they tell me that, I actually get excited because that means I can bring up all of the amazing shows from my childhood and talk about a lot of memories associated with those shows.  Which is literally what this blog is going to be about today, we are about to have a little rundown on the Qubo kids fan favorites. 

First and foremost, the channel can only be found for people with Antenna TV.  At least that’s what it used to be; I haven’t watched  Qubo since I was in the 5th grade.   When you think about Qubo though, I want you to visualize Cartoon Network and Nickelodeon having a baby.  That’s the best way I can get you to picture it without knowing the show lineup, which I’m about to give to you anyway. 

JACOB TWO – TWO

They call him Two Two,  Jacob Two.  First off, this show has one of the coolest theme songs, y’all should listen to it when you get a chance.  The main character is a boy who has a really bad stuttering problem, and he always says things repeatedly and his last time is also two-two. 

The main plot is him going on a lot of mystery adventures which he tries to solve with his friends Buford and Renee.  The show doesn’t have an overarching theme, it’s more of just a go with the flow show.  If I could compare it to a show in this day and age, I would say it’s like T.A.W.O.G                                                There’s a bit of everything in there, to ghosts, evil principals, haunted houses where the janitor Mr. Sour Pickles work and some more stuff.  I personally love the inner mini story that stars Jacob’s weird neighbor that’s secretly a Canadian spy.   

Pecola  

You know what, going down the list is bringing me to happy tears with the warm memories.  Also, I just suggest y’all listen to all of these theme songs because they are so bright and catchy.  

But, back on topic, Pecola is set up like Minecraft, but they are animals.  The main character, Pecola, is a penguin whose personality is optimistic and helpful.   He’s also curious and hyperactive which sometimes causes him to wreak havoc on his cubed town.  His favorite dessert is also banana pudding.    

FUN FACT, for those who like anime, Pecola is considered a Japanese – Canadian anime.    

PEARLIE

Who loves Fantasy with fairies and pixie dust?  Well, I did and that’s why Pearlie is one of my favorites, there is so much stuff I can say about this show, but unfortunately, I have to keep it short. 

Pearlie is a Park fairy appointed by the Fairy Headquarters to keep the park safe.  She has the help of her friend Jasper who’s an elf, but he’s lazy and doesn’t really do anything.  Then there’s my favorite character, Opal, an outback fairy from Australia sent to learn from Pearlie about the park.  They are all a group of friends that venture around the park to fix problems while eating pink cupcakes that look scrumptious to me to this day.   Too bad the antagonist is Pearlie’s evil cousin, Saphira, because I actually like Saphira and her assistant bat.  They don’t really do anything but throw trash in the park and try to get them discovered by humans, which Pearlie always stops anyway, so it really doesn’t matter. 

ARCHIE’S WEIRD MYSTERIES

List gets this straight first; this is the original Riverdale.  This cartoon came before that show on Netflix and the cartoon itself came from the comic series with the same name.  As some may know, the show is about a group of teenagers in the early 2000s, Archie Andrews, Veronica Lodge, Reggie Mantle, Betty Cooper, and sometimes Jughead Jones, who go around solving supernatural mysteries and then they write them in the school newspaper.  The show is pretty chill now (unlike how Riverdale portrayed them), but when I was younger it was scary.  This show is what made me  go through the phase of being scared of the movie theaters.  It stopped now, though every now and then I sometimes think about that episode.  

This is it for now, but there’s so many shows that make up my whole childhood that I want to discuss.  Maybe I will go back to these, have a good day until next time.  

Gosh, it feels like these blog dates always come as a surprise. 
I was really struggling with a topic this week, but I eventually found one. 
Tuesdays with Morrie.  (This is going to be a book rant.) 

So, Tuesdays with Morrie is a really good book that I think everyone should ought to read, and the best part about the book is that it’s a true story. 

The book follows our main character Mitch Albom and Morrie. Mitch is a graduated college student who has become obsessed with money, and work. 
He has a wife, but the relationships is stale, and I don’t remember him talking about children.
Morrie is an old professor who hasn’t much left in the years of his life. He was diagnosed with ALS meaning his bodily movements would come to halt rather soon. 
Mitch was a student of Morrie back in college. They were good friends throughout but eventually lost touch after graduation. Mitch learns of Morrie’s soon to be death and decides to visit him one last time.  Which just so happens to be on a Tuesday.
Mitch realizes the value in the knowledge that Morrie holds from living +8O years. So he asks if he can come back next Tuesday. Morrie agrees and every chapter of the book is a different conversation they had. 
There are chapters on Marriage, Religion, Work, Money and much more. 
I think its one of the most useful books I’ve read. With some really helpful advice as well. 
Morrie calls the meeting they have every Tuesday his “Final Project.”
He wants Mitch to write a final thesis (which is actually this book) about the things he learns from him. 
Morrie said, when he was diagnosed with ALS, he thought he didn’t have anything left to offer. Until he realized he had his experience. He began to advise dozens of people over the course of his soon to be death. But he made Mitch his Priority. 

I think this book has a lot to offer. It definitely put a lot in perspective to me, and it’s a short read as well. 

This story has been adapted quite a few times in plays and short films, and every time it was readapted, it was just as good. 
I think a lot of times people don’t think about death too often, or at least not the reality of it and how quickly it comes. I think reading this book helped me understand it just a little more. 

So for next week’s blog I am thinking that I really want to implement something on the informational/political side, which I think is going to take a lot of work/ research/ and finally the observation that that is a very serious topic. So for this week’s topic I am going to do something on the opposite end of the spectrum. So for this week I am going to be talking about my top ten foods that I have ever kept in my dorm.

Number 10- Acaci Bowls

While I do not get these as much as I want just because of the main fact of how expensive they are I really really enjoy them. I am aware that I botched the name, however I am struggling to remember how to incorporate accent marks on a keyboard so we will work with what we have I guess. They are an iced smoothie type bowl made up of a special kind of berry as well as optionally granola and a number of possible toppings like avocado, berries, and yogurt.

Number 9-Cashews

I am aware that this is an odd choice, but I swear I will destroy some cashews anytime that I get the chance. Cashews, like most stand-alone nuts, are one of those foods that I grew into overtime but now that I actually have started to like them, I don’t think that my opinion will change anytime soon.

Number 8-Chiobani Mixed Fruit Greek Yogurt

So, on my journey to try to slightly improve my diet I have started consuming these things, and while at first it took me a minute to like the taste of Greek yogurt it, as well as cashews, is beginning to grow on me. These cups are really convenient in the fact that I get to eat them whenever I wake up really late some mornings when I actually feel like eating breakfast. 

Number 7-Cheesecake

I know what you’re thinking, this seems really inconvenient to have in your dorm room, and you’re right. However the only time that I have ever had it in my dorm is when my parents got me one to have for my birthday, which I’m not sure if I even needed to say that but, anyway, cheesecake. 

Number 6-Yogurt Covered Raisins

I stand by these things. I have stood by them since I was a kid and I will continue to do so, if you disagree, we will have it out in the comment section of this blog, I guess.

Number 5- Strawberries

When you live in a dorm room sometimes it can be hard to keep fresh fruit for a long time, however this is not a problem for me when it comes to strawberries, that is in part because I eat them too fast for them to even kinda start going bad. Even though I wouldn’t say that they are my favorite fruit I would say that they are up there for sure.

Number 4- uveggie ramen

So now is where we start to get to the list of my favorite foods that I know I am going to continue eating even when I leave MSA, because oh my god they are so good. I have found that there are a number of really good ramens that I have discovered this year but I have to say that this one is my favorite. It originally was supposed to just be a ramen that me and my gf who doesn’t eat meat could enjoy together but it slowly has become one of my favorite ramens of all time.

Number 3- Brown Sugar Mochi

I found it surprising that this one was so high on the list, this is mainly because I absolutely despise ice cream mochi, however as someone who really likes boba this I was conflicted, but being it is both brown sugar and just normal mochi, I found that I really enjoyed it.

Number 2-Brown Sugar Boba

These are so incredible, I found them at 5 below in Mccomb a few weeks ago and I need to go back, the ones at walmart are so bad, I NEED THE 5 BELOW ONES

Number 1-Trader Joe’s Orange Chicken

This will forever and always be my favorite dorm food as well as frozen food as a whole. I really enjoy trader joes for a number of reasons, however my only gripe with them is that they aren’t in MS. Which even though it makes me sad I guess I can kinda understand. And even though this is the hardest out of the ten to prepare I still stand by the fact that it is by far the best.