Reframed: Writing

Interesting thing, writing. It is a way of expressing and a form of art. It is fun at times but then again it can be a drag. English class is an example of this. “Why?” you may ask, well it’s just the way you execute it. The ways we do it in my English class is both, we either write for learning skills or in some lucky cases, it’s exciting and interesting.

So the activity that we did this particular day is a curious one. We got into groups of four and made a character. It could be an existing one or a whole new one. We were told we would write for a certain amount of time and then pass it clockwise and introduce our characters to our partners. After we received this information we got our mission and we executed it accordingly. Mine was to introduce my character into the others’ stories and kill a character for extra credit, and if I survived in each I would achieve that. The mission we each got was thought to be different than the next but of course our English teacher throws a curve ball at us, THEY ARE ALL THE SAME!!! Classic Mr. T, you never know what you will get (but that’s the fun part!). So we do our writing thing and my character keeps killing another character the same way with a gun. As I do this I realize that the sloth, that’s the other character, keeps turning evil. The gears in my head start to turn. “It seems rigged…” I think as I’m writing. Never-the-less I keep writing and only killing the sloth with a gun (no it’s not cruel its writing). When it’s all over we turn it in.

The next day we get ours back and read them. To my surprise as I read the others I see that everyone had the same mission: to kill a character and each one dies at least once, so no extra credit for us. To a surprising shock its either everyone else is living with the sloth dead or the sloth living and everyone else is dead. An inserted quote “neither can live while the other survives.” If you love Harry Potter as much as I do here you go. We all get a kick out of each of ours because a zombie apocalypse keeps appearing except in the original writer’s story.

So we are given an assignment next after reading them. We have to choose our favorite and we can fix anything in it that is necessary i.e. spelling, grammar, transitions, and any additions needed. We choose the least awkward one, the story that first comes with zombies and everyone lives! (Except the sloth…). After that we turned them in with “The Chosen One” on top. To make it even better we are told that we will compete for the best story, which will be interesting to experience.

To help you guys out I will explain the characters in each to make more sense. My character is a muggle-born with green hair, purple eyes, freckles, and her name is Perry. She was going to receive her acceptance letter to Hogwarts but under certain circumstances that plan was crushed. My friend’s was an elf princess named Elestie who lost her parents and was trying to find them. The sloth, named Cornelius, was looking for his lost giraffe named Lupita. The zombie apocalypse story had a black male, Louis, who is from Left 4 Dead the video game. I will also add in pictures to paint a picture for you. Hope this helps to make sense.

This is my character Perry, and I drew it.

This is Cornelius the sloth and Lupita.

This is Louis, the zombie slayer.

Finally this is Elestie the elf princess.

-The White Crayon

The Grateful Dead

I have a friend who really loves The Grateful Dead. So much so that she uses that subject to talk to the guy she likes; they bond over their love for that band. Lately I’ll let this play while I do whatever it is I’m doing in my room; homework, social networking, talking on the phone, etc. It’s good music. Yay for having friends who listen to good music.

xoxo,
The Musician

I Refuse to Prepare to Die

I’m really sick of adults who have, apparently, forgotten what it’s like to be in high school. I know that sounds extremely cliché, but it’s true.
It doesn’t make sense to me that after having experienced their own adventures as teenagers, that they would be so unsupportive of ours.

Just to update you adults on some information about kids:
1. We don’t like school. At all. Ever.
2. We are going to make mistakes.
3. We don’t want anyone’s advice because we’re actually going to do what we want anyways.
4. We are going to do stupid things. Don’t freak out.
5. We want to go to parties.
6. We are more interested in the opposite sex than anything else.

Lately a lot of the adults in my life, from parents to teachers to friends and family, have all seem to forgotten that they used to be a teenager too. Please stop telling us to focus so much on the future; you have to let us enjoy the present. Don’t tell me not to be sarcastically rude to my friends; that’s our young and stupid sense of humor, and it makes us happy. Stop recommending that I get more sleep; I’ll sleep when I’m dead. No, I don’t want to eat healthier and start exercising; that sounds gross.

Adults try to make us focus on the future. In high school we should focus on college. In college we should focus on grad school. During grad school we should focus on what job we’ll have. While we have that job, we should figure out how to save our money. While we’re saving our money, we should think about the long-term things we’ll need them for. Then we should create a retirement fund. And then finally, it comes time to retire and we can for once focus on that moment, and we’re going to realize that life PASSED US BY.
I don’t want that to happen to me. I’m not going to focus so much on the next step that I forget to enjoy this one.

I refuse to prepare to die.
So, if you’re an adult who lately has misplaced your teen spirit memories, take them out and dust them off. Look back and smile! You don’t remember any of the nights you got a good night’s sleep, now, do you?
Carpe diem boys, seize the day.

xoxo,
The Musician

The “Jelena” of Monte Cristo

Who else read Count of Monte Cristo? I currently am being forced to. Okay, not forced. There are some parts to the story I enjoy reading. Naturally, I was mainly interested in the love triangle between Dantes, Mercedes, and her cousin, Fernand Mondengo. For those of you who don’t know, Fernand was in love, and I mean, obsessed in love, with Mercedes. Mercedes repeatedly turned him down, as her heart belonged to Dantes. Now, Dantes was sent to prison for 14 years, I think. So, clearly, Fernand was not going to let this be. He constantly reminded Mercedes that Dantes was probably going to be in prison for life. Eventually, his family was lead to believe that Dantes was dead. Dantes was dead, as in, not coming back. Now Mercedes didn’t know what to do. She couldn’t go on without her true love, but she couldn’t stay single forever could she? Guess who she ends up with? Go ahead, guess. Yup, Fernand. Even though he knew she would never feel the same for him as she did for Dantes, he was desperate and in love, he took it anyway. Now Mercedes and Fernand are married. Cousins, married. But, this is a novel, so its okay.
Now, if you knew me, you would know I have not gone far into the novel, but I have read far enough to know all this. It kinda reminds me of all the Jelena drama. For those of you who have been living under a rock, Jelena was the name given to the teenage “couple” Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez. I say “couple’ because throughout the relationship, they have spent more time straight up creating drama versus actually dating and having a good time together. They broke up not too long ago, but guess who management did not leave alone? Obviously, they are back together, or so people say. Now I know what your thinking, what does Jelena have to do with Count of Monte Cristo? I am a teenage girl, and I related the love stories within both.
You know its amazing, no matter what I read or come across from classic literature, I can somehow relate it to modern teenage pop music. I know a lot of people don’t have an interest in, and rather hate this music. But, I don’t know. It’s just something I’m passionate about. That can also be related to the Count of Monte Cristo. As far as I have read into the book, all I have seen from Dantes character in concern with Mercedes was passion. She was his passion. She was his reason to live, to keep holding on, to get out of this prison. It was not freedom he wanted, it was her. And look what she did. Look what she did. Now the debate goes on between me and a few friends on whether or not she was to blame. See the drama, see how it definitely relates to modern teenagers. I’ll leave you all with this. Stay beautiful everyone.

-The Fire

Street Art

Thought I’d share with you some pictures from a street art community board I follow on Pinterest.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

xoxo,

The Musician

Words to Live By

During our English class, our teacher Mr. Theriault gave us an assignment to write down a quote that we follow. It could be a quote that was said in a movie or book, or a quote that we can make up on our own. There are some quotes that are funny, random, or just something that comes to our mind. But I sometimes see that in some quotes, they are words of wisdom or experience for generations to come or words of motivation and morale. Whenever I read or hear words or a single phrase that captures my attention, I think about the meaning of the phrase and how it might apply to my life. If it’s an important life lesson, I learn from it and always remember the quote. If it’s said to a person important in life, I am touched and moved by the quote as if someone said it to me.

Now I’m not sure how many of you out there are fans of Kingdom Hearts (videogame or manga series), but this includes a lot of quotes that have had my interests. For instance, when Kairi, one of the main characters, tells her friend Sora, “Don’t ever forget, wherever you go, I’m always with you”, I feel how she expresses how even when she and Sora will be apart, they’ll always be together in their hearts. The unbreakable connection of friendship (or in this case love) can be understood in these words and they made me think about how even if when we might not see our friends very often or if we someday have to leave the nest, as long as we keep those we care about close to our hearts we are giving ourselves hope of one day seeing them again. And one of my favorite quotes are in Kairi’s letter to Sora:

“Thinking of you, wherever you are
We pray for our sorrows to end
And hope that our hearts will blend.
Now I will step forward to realize this wish
And who knows
Starting a new journey may not be so hard
Or maybe it’s already begun.
There are many worlds,
But they share the same sky-
One sky, one destiny.”
This would mostly be the most popular part of Kingdom Hearts. Kairi expresses how she’s always thinking about Sora and that they will always be together, no matter how far or how long they might be away from one another.

I know that not many people are big fans of Justin Bieber, but I have heard a few of his songs and the one song that is inspiring to me is “Believe”.

“It didn’t matter how many times I got knocked on the floor.
You knew one day that I’ll be standing tall.
Just look at me now.
Everything starts from something,
Something would be nothing,
Nothing if your heart didn’t dream (with me).
Where would I be
If you didn’t believe?”

In this set of words, Justin is saying that because he had people who believed in him, he was able to live his dream of being a famous singer. Now think for a moment: would you be in the position you are now if you didn’t have friends or family that support you and have helped you pull through? We all have hopes and dreams that we want to achieve, but sometimes it takes a little support from the people who care about you to make those hopes and dreams a reality.

There are many quotes out there in the world just waiting to be heard. Some might be unusual, and others might contain words of wisdom. Some quotes can be in depth or can be plain and simple. But sometimes behind a certain quote can contain meanings that can apply to our everyday lives. And whenever you feel like thinking of a good quote, ask yourself: What words would you want to live or be remembered by?

-The Little Artist

Moment of Failure (with “This is My Now” cover)

Today I found myself in English honors 3rd period, as I do every day Monday through Friday. I was actually on time to class today, so things were already looking good. I didn’t know however, that Mr. Theriault (I call him T) was going to tell us such an inspiring story and give us such good life advice, that I would end up dwelling on it the rest of the day and contemplating my entire life.

T talked about a number of great points, and I loved every word of it. One thing he mentioned was that everyone has moments of failure. Sometimes, he said, it is good to share our failures. Usually the stories we want to tell are the ones where we come out on top, the ones where we are the hero/heroine. He said that, then, we do things to lose ourselves and get away from our bad situations.

I’d like to share with you one of my personal failures, and my methods of coping.

We high school kids are so gosh darn insecure. I get really close to people really fast and then I’m disappointed, sometimes heartbroken, when they don’t live up to who I thought they were. Sometimes I’d rather belong anywhere than nowhere. Honestly, I wouldn’t recommend this to anyone else. I always have a good number of friends, but there are many people who I’m only friends with for a short time and fade away from quite rapidly. This is especially true with guys. I jump into relationships way too quickly. It usually results with the later realization that this kid was a jerk and I am yet again, heartbroken.

It happens repeatedly and I end up feeling like I’m not good enough for anyone. I get really sad and I just want to crawl in bed. Then I’ll go home and fight with my dad and be short with my best friend and when I finally get into bed I just cry because sometimes that’s all you really can do.

I deal with pain by listening to music. Either really sad music or really angry music, usually fairly loudly. Some sad songs I use: “Jar of Hearts” by Christina Perri, “Fire and Rain” by James Taylor, “Miserable At Best” by Mayday Parade, “Hopeless” by Train, and “Comfortably Numb” by Pink Floyd. Some angry songs from my “grrr” playlist: “Gives You Hell” by The All-American Rejects, “I Can Do Better” by Avril Lavigne, “Kiss With A Fist” by Florence and the Machine, and “Awful” by Hole. The last song I listen to will be something uplifting and inspiring, such as “Who You Are” by Jessie J, or “This Is My Now” by Jordan Sparks.

T talked about how sometimes we spend too much time in the past, and our parents spend too much time in the future and sometimes so do we, and we really need to just STOP for a second, and focus on right now. I don’t know how my life’s going to be going in 5 years from now, but I know that right now, things are alright. I’m not doing perfectly and I’m always fighting with someone, but I’ve learned how to breathe, and be alright. T said that “happiness is NOW.” Tonight I just now made a recording of me covering “This is My Now”. I only did one take, all the way through. Just me sitting in my room in my pj’s, on my laptop which has bad sound quality but oh well.

Sometimes it’s good to be sad. It really is. You have to admit your mistakes and figure out what you’re going to do next time to make things better. You’re in control of your life. Might as well do whatever you want and be whoever you want. Things will change, and it’s all going to be okay. But for the time being, focus on right now. This is your moment.

Seriously guys, “When all else fails, bagels are good.”-T

T said he’s inspired by how brave we as teenagers are to get up every morning and go to school even when things are really bad in our lives. I wonder if he knows even half of how inspired by him we are.

xoxo,
The Musician

Stand Out

One of the songs that inspires me to be yourself and be unique.

-The Little Artist