Farewell

Hello fellow blog readers (if any of you actually exist), today is a day that I find more sweet  than bitter. I am writing my last blog post, so this is farewell. Throughout the year I was to write three blogs a week for a class assignment. I started out not knowing what to write about, because I wouldn’t really say I had anything that I was passionate about. Once we started doing reflections after every trimester, I would look back at my blog posts and realized that I may have a passion after all: music.

I think I’d be lying if I said that this school year wasn’t tough; physically, mentally, and emotionally. It seems that  the only thing  that really got me through all the ups and downs was music. I learned not only that I loved music and that it made me feel good, but that I also was able to appreciate all types of music. Weather it be in the words, or the beat, or both, I always could find something that was beautiful. I think that’s something special. I also learned this year the types of music that I was more interested in. I found new bands and listened to different types of genres that were not my regular go-to. It was amazing to have something new to listen to, and now it’s what I look for; something new. It’s so cool to look back over the year and be able to see myself grow as a person through writing. Even though I wasn’t always 100% into this assignment, I’m glad that I got the chance to do it. It helped me to get my feelings and thoughts out when I wasn’t able to form a coherent thought. It helped me escape from any real life problem that I didn’t want to think about by listening to music and then writing about it. It helped me to vent about things that I felt strongly about; like one of my previous posts about drunk driving (DON’T DO IT. PERIOD.) It helped me realize that I may in fact like writing for fun, but probably not for a class assignment. I may not be very good at it, or maybe I am, but either way I feel that this assignment helped me grow as a person and as a writer.

So farewell friends, I hope you enjoyed reading about my random rants over my obsession over Ed Sheeran and One Direction, and I hoped that you ended up learning something about me, and the things that I’m passionate about. Peace out.

Current Day Society

When you sit down and talk with your parents about their generation, and your generation, there are definitely some similarities. The cliches in high school are almost always there, but what’s so different about our society today is the violence that is always among us. With the rise of social media and the way that it runs our lives, people have the opportunity to say things that wouldn’t often be said face to face. Violent video games can brainwash kids, and the access to weapons is so different than it used to be. Our society’s safety is at risk 24/7, and with the events that have taken place over the last couple of years, you just don’t know where something bad could happen. It’s scary to live in a world today where shootings are a reality, and you have to always be prepared for the worst. I think of my little brother and sister, and always worry what could happen at their schools when my family isn’t around. You never know what this world will throw at you, and that’s scary.

When you step back and look at the political and psychological side of this, how are you supposed to pin point one certain cause of the violence among these kids? Bullying, video games, social media, music, violent movies; all of these things can play a role, but you can’t say one thing is the reason and another one isn’t. The controversy over gun laws comes up, and weather or not they should be banned. Are guns the problem though? The people doing these shootings are sick, they’re not stable. You can’t necessarily blame the gun for the shootings, but it does play a role in  these situations. How do you stop something when you don’t even know the root cause of it?

You always have to step back and be grateful for your family after things like this happen. You can never take a day for granted, because you never know what may happen.

Girl Power

Today as I was laying outside, I was reading some of my old Seventeen magazines. I’ve always loved reading through these magazines because of all the tips inside, as well as the push that the editors give you to strive for you goals and to be a powerful and confident young woman. I read through two old copies, one of which had an article all about Selena Gomez, the cover model. Her pages were all about being confident in your own skin, and how thankful she is for the great friends she has to support her. Something that really stuck out to me that she said was “I think girls need to love girls more.” Being a seventeen year old girl in high school, I couldn’t agree more. It amazes me how cruel girls can be to other girls because they’re jealous of how a girl looks, or her talents and the hot boyfriend she has. I have heard girls say “I hate girls” so many times that I’ve honestly lost count. All I can think is why? Why do you have this sudden hatred for your own species? I  think girls are incredible beings capable of so much more than we’re given credit for, and we go through so much to get to the places that we want to be. We’re degraded by men, and told that we’ll amount to nothing. It’s not fair, so why put other girls down that are working just as hard as you? Who cares if they’re pretty, or have a special talent that you don’t have. That doesn’t mean you’re not pretty, and you have your own talents to be discovered. Girls need to support one another and stop judging based of bad experiences that we’ve had with bad friends.

Another article I read was about AnnaSophia Robb, the cover model for an issue that came out exactly a year ago. I’ve been a fan of AnnaSophia Robb since she was in Bridge to Terebithia, and now she’s starring in one of my favorite TV series, The Carrie Diaries. I look up to her in so many ways, and this article proved to me why I should. She strives to do well in life, and she worked hard to not only get her role in the Carrie Diaries, but also to get into her dream college, which she did. She had to make a big decision between taking the role, or going to school, and she chose to take the role. She said that she doesn’t like to half ass anything, and I really like that attitude. I have big dreams of my own, and I often think that these dreams are hard to reach. She made me realize that I can accomplish anything I want with hard work and determination, and that once I get  there I will feel so accomplished. People may put be down and tell me I’m not good enough, but that should never stop me from getting to where I want to be.

5 sauce

Let’s take a moment to appreciate the very weird, quirky, yet talented band 5 seconds of summer. I started to really get into this band recently, when I was introduced to their music by a friend. I didn’t know much about them, but I started looking up some of their songs on YouTube. I knew that they got their big break after going on tour with the one direction lads, but otherwise I knew nothing of them. Me being me, I not only youtubed their music, but I also looked up interviews and anything that I could find of them. They’re an Australian pop/rock band, and they’re extremely talented. They started out just playing music in the garage, nothing too serious. Three of the boys went to school together, and their drummer Ashton is a few years older and had already graduated. Their lead singer Luke has probably one of the best voices that I have heard from such a young star, being only seventeen, now eighteen. After watching numerous videos of them on YouTube, I learned more about their personalities and how freaking weird they are. I love that they’re a little bit different, and I personally find them really funny. They are of course on social media, and I of course follow them all. Recently they all randomly started tweeting pictures of ewoks, which are from Star Wars. They all changed their twitter pictures to ewoks and added the word into their twitter name. They kept tweeting ewok jokes and how they were starting an ewok revolution and all of this stuff. Most people would find it so strange but I thought it was the funniest thing ever. They are becoming bigger and bigger, and I honestly don’t know how to feel about it. I’m proud of their success, but I will never, and I honestly mean NEVER want to hear one of their songs on their radio.

That is all.

Imbeciles

Growing up, and going through middle school, I feel that everyone was a little bit too concerned with everyone else. Those were the days when you wanted to fit in completely, so you shopped at the same stores as everyone else, and styled your hair the same, and were interested in the same things. You would sit around with your friends and just discuss the things that you heard about other people’s personal lives, as if it was no big deal. After transitioning into high school, you have a better sense of who you are as a person. You learn what you like and don’t like, and you realize that being who you are is what is most important. For me, I also realized that I don’t want people sitting around being concerned about my life, just as I shouldn’t be worrying about other people’s lives either, because it does not effect me. With that being said, I never would judge somebody for the things that they choose to do in their free time. If you drink at parties on the weekend, go for it. If you smoke, whatever. If you get yourself into some pretty deep crap and do some stupid  things, cool, keep doing you. The only time, literally ONLY time I will not only judge you, but lose all respect for, is if you drink and drive.

We’ve all heard the tragic stories of accidents because of a driver who was under the influence. Maybe we’ve seen actual footage, because in drivers ed we were basically forced to watch a video that was literally called Red Asphalt to pretty much convince us that driving is the scariest thing in the entire world. Driving can be dangerous, even when you’re completely sober. You have to be defensive and careful, and teenage drivers are already careless enough as it is. Now let’s not play dumb here and act like high school teenagers don’t drink, because they do. And let’s not act like high school teenagers aren’t put into situations where they will have to literally make a life or death decision on weather or not they should drive home drunk. Unfortunately for some of my peers, they choose to do so. I just can’t even fathom the idea of ever wanting to do that. You know the consequences, and you know you’re not supposed to. Let’s take a minute and forget our selfish thoughts and realize that it’s not just us on the road. There are other drivers out there who could be driving home from grandmas house and get hit by an idiot like you because you were careless enough to drink and get behind the wheel. It just makes me sick. I don’t want to have to worry about driving home from a friends house and get hit by some idiot who wasn’t thinking. I know that I would never put myself in the situation where I had to drink and drive, and I thankfully I know that if I were ever unsafe that I could call a family member or friend to help me. I also appreciate the only teacher who has brought this topic up to my class. He’s not going to play dumb and act like as seventeen year olds we won’t ever be put into that situation. He told us a story of some kids he knew in high school who did something that stupid. It was a deathly accident, and it just so happened to occur on a road quite near my home. It scared the shit out of me to be honest, and made me lose even more respect for the kids who continue to do this.

I’m not trying to sound like a mother here, but PLEASE just do not drink and drive. Either don’t drink, or have someone else drive. It’s really that simple.

Birthdays

Something that I’m beginning to realize that is fairly upsetting is the fact that I no longer get excited for big days such as Christmas or birthdays. This week, I’m turning 17, WHOO HOO. Seventeen is kind of  that in between birthday because nothing too special happens besides the fact that I can now legally go to rated R movies. Sixteen you can drive, and eighteen you’re an adult, so seventeen you’re just kinda there for another year. But the point is, is that as my birthday was getting closer and closer, I realized I didn’t get super excited. Yes, it’s always fun to have a day that’s essentially all about you, and where you get presents and all that jazz, but when my mom was asking me what I wanted, and what I wanted to do to celebrate and what I wanted to do for dinner, I realized it was more stressful than it was fun. I no longer have strong desires for presents, because I honestly feel that I already have everything I need. I could always go for some more clothes and shoes and what not, but that’s not too specific. After being asked what kinds of food I wanted, I realized that I don’t really have a favorite food and because of that my whole life has been a lie. (I ended up eating grilled chicken and buffalo chicken dip so I guess I must really like chicken.) I also wasn’t sure how I wanted to celebrate, because I didn’t want anything huge like a “party” but I still wanted to do something with my friends. (bonfire.) Now I’m not trying to say that I don’t enjoy birthdays, because I do, but I just wish that they were still as fun and exciting as when I was a little kid. I’m grateful for all the things I receive on my birthday and all the nice messages. I wish that I still got those butterfly like feelings the night before and had a hard time falling asleep because I was so excited to be a whole year older. I wish I still was able to invite all my classmates to the playstation to run around and have fun. Apparently sixteen and seventeen year old kids are not allowed in the tunnels. 😦 I just wish that birthdays could still be all that they were before I started growing up and stuff started to get more real.

“I’m bored” “watch netflix”

With school getting closer to an end, and summer being so close that you can almost touch it, students are beginning to think of summer adventures and activities to partake in. For me, I already have some fun things going on this summer that I’m really looking forward to, but I also have a lot of time to figure out things to do during the day when I’m not working or in another city at concerts. If you are someone who knows me well, you would know that I’m a huge pinterest user. This site is amazing; it gives me ideas for so many cool crafts and is full of useful information. For those who don’t know what pinterest is, let me just fill you in real quick.

Pinterest is a website where you essentially ‘pin’ topics that you like. You can find awesome food recipes, ideas for weddings and home decor, and projects to do around the house. That is the general idea, but I because I’m not an adult and am not so worried about weddings and home decor, I tend to pin different things that are more suited for me. There’s cute clothes, hairstyles, makeup, quotes, food, and DIY (do it your own) projects. I have made it a goal of mine to go through my boards this summer and look at the things I have pinned under DIY and other categories to find fun and interesting things to do. I’m hoping to try out some of the recipes I’ve pinned, as well as try some of the projects and bucket list ideas I’ve pinned. To anyone who is stumped on things to do, I suggest you make yourself a pinterest and find some awesome things to partake in. You will not be disappointed.

For those who don’t want to get involved with the oh so wonderful pinterest, I’ll give you some other ideas of fun things to do during the summer.

1. Get a bunch of your friends together and just drive. Blast some good music, roll your windows down, and just soak in the freedom of summer. Drive to a small town and walk around the little shops.

2. Play a sport just for fun. Sand volleyball is always fun, and you don’t have to join a league to play. You don’t even have to be good, as long as you’re having fun. Pick-up soccer, basketball, football, baseball, and kickball could all be fun if you’re with people you enjoy.

3. Go to the beach and just relax.

4. Splurge on concert tickets for a really good band. Summer concerts are the best and you’ll have the best time of your life.

5. Do an art project or if you’re a girl make your own high-wasted shorts or fun 4th of July t-shirts.

6. Make a fruit/veggie smoothie. Smoothies are awesome.

7. Lay out in the sun and soak it in. READ A REALLY GOOD BOOK WHILE DOING SO.

8. Go for a bike ride or a run. You might feel dead before/during/after but you’ll feel accomplished and healthy.

9. Go shopping and spend too much money on something that you’ll later regret.

10. Watch netflix. Netflix will never fail you. If you don’t have one, steal your friends password.

So here you are. If you have nothing to do, do something on this list. There are obviously endless possibilities of things that you can do, so don’t limit yourself to the things on this list. Think outside the box and spend time with people you enjoy. Also, LAUGH A LOT.

Looking for Alaska

“I mean, it’s stupid to miss someone you didn’t even get along with. But, I don’t know, it was nice, you know, having someone you could always fight with.”

I am huge fan of reading in my free time, and my favorite thing is finding books that make me feel something. After reading the incredible book The Fault in Our Stars by John Green, I decided to look more into his work and read some of his other stories. The above quote is from his book called Looking for Alaska, which is about a boy named “Pudge” who moves to a boarding school called Culver Creek. His room mate is a guy who goes by the name Colonel, and he introduces Pudge to the ways of Culver Creek High. The town is hot; so hot that you sweat in the showers. All of the food is served deep-fat fried, and the school basketball team absolutely sucks. Pudge is a history geek, and has a fascination with historic last words. He meets a girl at school named Alaska, who is a big reader and really psycho in a subtle yet dramatic way. She has an idea of the labyrinth, and how one would escape it. It’s from that moment on that Pudge realizes that there’s something about this girl that just blows him away. She’s quirky and moody, but she’s beautiful and mysterious. It’s the above quote said by the Colonel that got me hooked to this book. while first getting into it, I wasn’t super drawn in, and I was waiting for something to pull me in and excite me. After I read this quote, I knew that the rest of this book would be worth while to read, because it’s such a cool quote and so relevant to the lives of teenagers that it amazes me how John Green is always so on point toying with my emotions.

I personally can relate to this quote, because I used to always fight with someone that I really cared about. There were times when we fought more than anything else we did, but we in turn fought through the low points because we wanted to agree to disagree. That person is no longer in my life, but I sometimes do miss him. It’s one of those things where they’re so different than the person you once knew, so you really only miss the idea of them, rather than their actual being. I think that in high school when you hear about those couples who fight more than they kiss, and you sit there and wonder why they’re even still together, it’s because they don’t want to be alone. They may not get along, but they have someone who they can always rely on to argue with them about things that don’t even need to be discussed. Some people just believe that having somebody to fight with is better than having nobody at all.

“Love isn’t Real”

Something that I have never understood is when people will say “love isn’t real.” It actually slightly bothers me when people say things like that. You are entitled to your own opinion, but it’s something that I personally have never understood. Maybe the person went through a bad experience with a relationship, or  their parents are divorced and it broke their image of what love should be. It sucks when things like that happen, and I know it can seem hard to believe when two people who have always seemed to love each other are no longer together, but things happen and people realize they’re not meant to be. Love is something that doesn’t have to be between a husband and wife or boyfriend and girlfriend; it can be between two best friends and brothers and sisters. Love is something that is so wonderfully beautiful, that it can be hard for people to recognize sometimes. When your best friend is there for you after you’ve had a hard time, it’s because they love you. When you sit around with your brother or sister laughing for hours over stupid things you did as a kid, it’s because you love each other. When your mom tells you to be safe when you leave the house, it’s because she loves you. The things that are said between two people may not seem like much, but love is masked behind those words, and you brush it away because you don’t recognize that these things are being said out of love. I hate to see someone give up on their idea of love because of their parents getting divorced or because they just went through a bad relationship. Your parents are not you, and that doesn’t mean that you’ll end up like them. That bad relationship you just had, yeah it made you stronger. It made you realize how crappy some people can be, and that you deserve a lot better. Love isn’t supposed to make you feel sad all the time, so what you were feeling wasn’t really love. You’ll find that great love someday, you just have to wait for that perfect person to come around and show you all that you’ve been missing out on.

First Impressions

You know what really bothers me? When people will judge you based off an idea that they formulated on their own, or based off things that they may have heard from other people. I admit that I’ve done this in the past, but after judging somebody based off of what I’ve heard from other people then later learning that the person is actually really cool, I stopped doing that. First impressions are important, and do have a lasting effect, but that doesn’t always mean that what you first experienced is who they truly are as a person. When you base your opinion of someone off someone else’s experiences, you’re not being fair to that person. Some people simply don’t get along, and maybe have gone through a bad experience with someone. That doesn’t mean that you won’t get along with them, and that you won’t like them as a person. I find it to be ridiculous when people will say bad things about someone when they don’t really know them, or when they assume that because they’re associated with another person that they’re not a nice person or such. Things like that drive me crazy, especially if someone is basing their opinion of me based off what someone else has said; especially when that source is a friend that I didn’t get along with in the past. You should not tell other people negative things about someone else in hopes that they won’t like them either. It’s rude and immature and will make you look worse than the person you’re talking about.