Category: Senior Literary

I haven’t read much throughout the past month, but I am about half way through The Diary of a Teenage Girl by Phoebe Gloeckner. The book is an interesting read and I would overall recommend it to anyone who likes coming of age stories. This is the book for you in that case.

The book is based off of the authors diary entries when she was a teenager. It’s even formatted like a diary in which it has doodles and dates above each entry. Sometimes it feels like you’re literally reading someones diary.

The main characters name is Minnie and she is a very wise yet naive girl. She likes having fun and being a little rebellious at times. She lives with her mother and younger sister in San Francisco. The story is set in the 70s which is also interesting. The story’s plot is based on Minnie’s life experiences at this time in her life.

I love the language of the book. The writing style is like no other that I’ve ever read before. The character development is also very interesting and relatable as a whole.

So far, I’m absolutely in love with the book. It has comic strips at times as well and sketches embedded within it which keeps things interesting and helps the reader visualize what is going on. I would recommend it to anyone in need of a good read at this time.

I’m sure you’re all wondering… Kerri, what has become of you during this quarantine?

Animal Crossing: New Horizons.

I am a simple woman. I don’t require many things to live a moderately happy life. I wake up and immediately play Animal Crossing. I play Animal Crossing before I fall asleep at four in the morning. Anytime I’m not playing Animal Crossing, I’m getting obsessed with a different musical. We all know how disastrous that is. I’m wiling to bet at least half of the senior class has heard me recite entire musicals on cleaning night, or has witnessed me break into a room to show someone whichever character I have deemed my favorite. Rest assured, as soon as we’re back, I’m going to resume this.

This game is an absolute 10/10.

I can do literally anything in this game. I can make friends, I can talk to said friends. I can trap them inside their home by digging holes all around their house. Not that I do that– I actually really enjoy all my villagers. My New Horizons villagers, New Leaf is another story.

In my award winning essay entitled “My Non-Qualifications,” I list out the reasons I would be a horrible mayor, using only examples of the things I have done in Animal Crossing. After playing the newest game, however, I have found that most of the issues I had, I don’t have anymore.

Am I still financially incompetent? Absolutely. I’m making mild efforts to not be financially incompetent. I have yet to pay my in-game home loan, but now I have to know that Tom Nook is staring into my soul from across the room when I do contribute the absolute minimum to the house which I have forced him to build.

There is no need to time travel in New Horizons. There’s just enough you can accomplish on a daily basis without messing with the flow of time. There was once a time I was disturbed by my inability to time travel in the human realm. Animal Crossing; New Horizons has taught me that I don’t have to time travel. I can be okay with the normal flow of time if I put my mind to the important things, Like hitting rocks and mailing ominous letters.

I want to also mention that I absolutely love the graphics. Its very simplistic, and I love the cartoonish look. The one thing that absolutely confuses me, is why the fish are the most detailed things in the entire game. half of them look incredibly realistic. It throws me off.

I do recommend giving any of the Animal Crossing games a try! Especially while we’re all stuck at home. Animal Crossing is a synthetic outside world, and I am the Sophie of some odd production of Mamma Mia (2008) who runs around singing ABBA songs.

 

 

 

This was an English Composition assignment. I decided to critique an article on how boys are affected by the femimist movement against assault. Because I feel the matter is interesting, and should be further contemplated, I wanted to share my critique on a larger board.

 

The article “The #MeToo Balancing Act in High School” by The New York Times journalist Andrew Reiner is discussing how the #MeToo movement is affecting young men in society. The movement is centered around young women speaking up about their experience with sexual assault and how it should be avoided, but in this article, Reiner reaches out to high school boys to see how they feel about the movement. I must admit, it was insightful despite its slightly mediocre format and language.

Reiner opens the article by explaining a guy named Chris’s experience with the movement. Chris talks about an event his all-boys high school co-hosted with an all-girls high school where the girls talked about the #MeToo movement and made a lot of the guys feel attacked. Chris made it clear that he does not stand for sexual assault, but the girls made the guys feel that their natural, and societal-taught instinct (such as making the first move when he has romantic feelings) is wrong.

The boys would later challenge the double standard of girls being able to hit guys, but guys cannot hit them back. Then girls shut them down and said they shouldn’t have to answer such questions. While even I have witnessed women growing tired of this always being the first come back, I find it to be a fair enough question. If they cannot hit us, then we cannot hit them. If they cannot sexualize us, then we cannot sexualize them. A double standard has developed; I cannot deny that.
Speaking to the younger generation of men was a good idea and seemed like great sources to get the information the article was searching for. He even reached out to some college women who are close friends with guys who must be too cautious to ensure they never accidentally touch a woman and offend them. These women helped even out the bias issue that I was noticing in the article before.
This is a very serious subject matter because it seems that as the feminist and #MeToo movements have grown and women’s voices have gotten louder, men and young boys don’t really have a voice to explain themselves. They are constantly being labeled negatively for accidents, or they have become too afraid to even call a girl pretty in fear of offending them. It is clear that Andrew Reiner wants his readers to look at this matter seriously and consider how it is affecting the opposing gender, but I feel like it is important for women to thing about as we move forward in the feminist movement. We want to be equal, right? As of now, I feel we have overpowered in many ways and things do need to eventually even out.

   The Diary Of A Teenage Girl is in my top five favorite books of all time . Before I even begin, I would like to say that this read is painful. These pages are riddled with sadness and distress, confusion and recklessness, and an overall naivety so easily mistaken as maturity. Minnie Getz is a complex human being whose curiosities and experiences are reflected somewhere within the eyes of every young girl, and every grown woman who have grown from it. Though her experiences are strange and straining to read, I feel her in my own heart so greatly that I was unable to put the book down for even a moment.

   The writer of the novel’s name is Phoebe Glockener. The novel is composed of her actual diary and memories and interpretations she wrote along with them as an adult. I think she changes her own name in the book and the names of the characters for safety purposes, though she remains quite silent about her reasoning. It’s actually halfway a graphic novel; Minnie is an aspiring cartoonist who enjoys drawing disturbing images in her diary that depict situations she is going through, either literal or metaphorical. 

Minnie’s diary comes to life when she is fifteen years old. She explains that she has to write it all down because her life has “become very interesting as of late.” This roller coaster of a read begins by revealing that Minnie has lost her virginity to her mother’s boyfriend. What a way to begin a novel, right? Monroe is the name of this thirty five year old man. Minnie finds herself falling into a twisting world of secrets while surrounded by her alcoholic and drug ridden mother, a best friend with no depth or personality other than her beauty, a jealous stepfather who holds himself to be a better man than any other (though towards the end of the book it is revealed he has slept with Minnie’s cousin who is her age, making him no better of a man than Monroe), and rich kids she is surrounded by at a private school in San Francisco that Pascal (her step father) insists she and her sister attend. 

Set in the seventies, the book follows memories recorded by Minnie’s own hand of addiction, adventure, perverseness, and the depths the mind a fifteen year old girl can travel to. This book is dedicated to “All the girls when they have grown.” And I recommend them to bury their hearts into the secret life of Minnie Getz. 

I knew from the moment the theater went completely dark, and green spotlights began to circle the stage, that I was going to be in for a ride.

Picture this, you’re sitting next to me in a theater in Jackson, Mississippi. I begin tapping your shoulders wildly, loudly stating that Demeter just rolled on stage. She is always the first character to enter in “Jellicle Songs for Jellicle Cats.” I know every word to this musical. I know every word in the poetry book. Whichever route this takes, I will be able to recite it in its entirety.

This was an absolute experience.

The dancing was above and beyond, there were some crazy talented people in the cast. Each of them had a range of skills– everything from modern moves, to ballet. I really have to acknowledge how much energy it takes to do this show, there were some dancers that never seemed to catch a break, it was constant movement. The choreography was amazing, I loved it.

At one point, the rockstar cat jumped off of stage, ran into the audience, and danced with a middle-aged man. This was one of my favorite parts, as the woman sitting behind me loudly proclaimed “Oh my gosh… that’s my neighbor.”

Another 10/10 moment dance-wise was the Victoria and Plato scene. Victoria was so flexible, it was incredible. However, my favorite thing about this was that, after this dance, I received two texts from two different people asking about what just happened.

 

The music was played live, which was something i think added a nice charm to it. There were times when the actors wouldn’t be singing as strong, or there was a person slightly out of sync with the music. However, there were some moments where they truly shined.

Grizabella nailed the note in “Memory”, that’s a given. What truly impressed me was a cat that I didn’t care much for prior to seeing it live. Gus, the Theater Cat, sang The Awful Battle of The Pekes and Pollicles. I was not expecting this actor to suddenly start singing the way that he did, but it hit me in my soul. absolutely incredible. Considering he had just sang a song about how he’s old and dying– but then to suddenly go screamo opera on us? I just sat there, I couldn’t blink.

As for costumes, they were all adorable. I especially loved Alonzo, Rumpleteazer, and Cassandra. Cassandra’s costume lit up, which was not at all something I expected. I understood that Mistoffelees’s costume would light up, but then Cassandra’s lit up too?! and the lights would change color in sync to the music! absolutely spectacular, the costume designers outdid themselves on this one.

My one costume complaint was that Macavity wasn’t scary enough.

Overall, this was a great experience. I truly ascended into the Heaviside layer in that theater, that night.

 

 

 

This month’s review will be on a song that has been getting me through Senior Year! The name of the song is “Don’t Call” by Leon Timbo. The song is basically about having that one friend you can always call on, no matter what. My mother used to listen to this song a lot and, occasionally, I will find her still listening to it, of course. I have always understood the meaning of the song, but it never held any value to me. Now that I have had to endure the infamous SENIOR YEAR, I listen to this song every day when I wake up. That friend, for me, is my mother. I talk to her at least twice a day, once when we first get up and once in the evening. Without further ado, here’s the song:

Don’t call come get me, cause I need your help.

I’d fall in my misery, if you weren’t there.

I know I’m a mystery, and shuga that ain’t fair.

Don’t call come get me, and I’ll be right here.

 

Promise me no questions, and I’ll promise you no lies.

You can come stay if you wanna, pray if you wanna, but I need your time.

I can’t trust myself in this state I’m in, and your my God sent.

And if I cry, ride it out with me, fight it out with me if your my friend.

 

Don’t call come get me, cause I need your help.

I’d fall in my misery, if you weren’t there.

I know I’m a mystery, and shuga that ain’t fair.

Don’t call come get me, and I’ll be right here.

 

You may not have the answers, you may not have no words at all.

I just need your company here so love on me now.

I can’t trust myself in this state that I’m in no, no so…

Ride it out with me, fight it out with me, if your my real friend.

 

 

 

 

Don’t call come get me, cause I need your help.

I’d fall in my misery, if you weren’t there.

I know I’m a mystery, and shuga that ain’t fair.

Don’t call come get me, and I’ll be right here.

 

I ain’t got a whole lotta friends, and I ain’t tryna make this no revenge.

I need you.

Help… help…

 

Come get me.

I’m not doing so well, no.

Come get me.

Don’t pick up the phone and call me, get over here.

Come get me.

Oh I might do some things I’m not supposed to do,

be somewhere I’m not supposed to be, I’m here.

Come get me.

I need my friend, I need my friend.

Come get me.

Nobody understands me, quite the way you do.

Come get me.

Don’t give up on me, don’t give up on me.

Come get me.

Your love is healing to my soul.

 

I’ll be right there.

I’ll be right there.

I’ll be right there.

There.

 

This song reminds me every morning that I have someone who is willing to stand with me in any situation to love and guide me truthfully. We love to see it.

On August 8, 2014, a then unknown indie game developer named Scott Cawthon released a game titled “Five Nights at Freddy’s.” The game had you playing as a security guard named Mike Schmidt who was hired to work the night shift and make sure the animatronics stayed safe. However, unknown to this unsuspecting guard, these animatronics are out for blood, and with limited power and resources, your goal is to stay alive until 6 am for five days. With over 20,000 downloads today, this game shot indie horror games into the spotlight on YouTube and created a new era for such games. However, even though this game was a massive success, a question must be asked: just how much of the same formula is too much?

After the amazing success of FNaF 1, the expectations were high for Cawthon to create a follow-up to this game. So, in just four months, Cawthon released “Five Nights at Freddy’s 2” This time, instead of four animatronics, there are twelve animatronics to take care of. There are no doors- you have to use a flashlight and mask to make yourself “look” like one of the animatronics. Along with this, if you don’t keep a music box wound up, the Puppet will 100% come for you and end your game. Many people found that this game was much better than the last, and praise was poured onto Cawthon for not only making a better game, but establishing a story and using better game-play mechanics. Personally, I love the new mechanics; it freshens the gameplay and puts more control in the player’s hands in controlling the game instead of just depending on random number generators.

And then… four months later… the third game came out. Five Nights at Freddy’s 3. This time, the setting was in a haunted house based on the lore, and there is only one true animatronic in the entire game. Although there are “phantom” characters that will jumpscare you, they won’t end the game, and the jumpscares the animatronic gives are… really barely jumpscares at all. Many people agreed that this game was a large step down from the previous game, and many gave it a poor rating. And sadly, I have to agree with these people. Although the game answered a lot of lore questions- and brought up even more- I found the gameplay overall to be even more monotonous than the first game, and was overall very disappointing.

Once again, four months later- Cawthon seems to really like four month gaps- another game was released. Five Nights at Freddy’s 4. And honestly? This game is one of my favorites.

If you ever see me in class head-banging, lip-syncing, or making odd faces, I’m probably listening to some of my more recent favorite songs. As the year progresses, more music is added into my library, and I learn to love more songs and artists. While I titled this blog “My Bangers,” it’s actually going to focus on one song, but I might come back to it later and add more to my list.

This month’s banger is “Degenerates” by I the Mighty. The song is essentially about Brent Walsh, the singer, and his friends (lovingly dubbed “Degenerates” as he mentions in an interview with New Noise) celebrating the new year and how he felt in that moment, then when he returned home, Walsh felt empty. For me, the song is such a universal experience, even if you haven’t gone through anything like it. 

There are several reasons why I love this song: the lyrics, the melody, how much I relate to it. The second verse is what I relate with mostly, but it’s more in a wholesome way.

And I breathe in the scent of coffee from the kitchen
I hear the laughter spilling from the other room
So I drag my body up and join the living
An exception almost right on cue

That one verse manages to encapsulate every weekend I spend at home. When she wakes up, the first thing my mom does is brew a pot of coffee. By the time I start to wake up, all you can smell is coffee. From the living room, my mom, and maybe my dad, will be posted up on the couch, watching the news or Dr. Phil. After a while of hearing them laughing or talking, I’ll slide out of bed and trudge into the living room, often gaining remarks of “Oh, look who’s decided to join the land of the living!” or “Look at that hair!” I’ll roll my eyes at them, plop down on a couch with a blanket, and join them in whatever they’re watching.

Walsh mentioned that the song is about “finding your place.” Sometimes I find myself questioning where I belong or where I fit in, whether it’s in the world or in school, but then I look at where I am, and I realize that this is the best spot I could be in. At least, that’s what I can assume. If I believed in any religion, I’d wonder why that entity created me, but for now, I am content to survive. 

This is a long quote, but I think it’s vital to understand both the song and the emotion he’s trying to convey through the “story” of “Degenerates.”

The song encompasses the overwhelming feeling of gratitude I had for my life and the people in it that weekend, and the emptiness I felt when I was in solitude upon my return. It led to the realization that, when you <I<truly feel something, it can create a void in its absence. I’ve found that life tends to try to balance itself. Without the lows, you don’t truly feel the highs and the reverse is just as true.

Being the slightly pessimistic person that I am, this quote helped me understand not just the song, but even myself a little bit more. I encourage all of you to give it a listen sometime. Especially if you might be feeling a little down.