A Great Poem

I had to read the poem "The Flea" by John Donne (published in 1633) for AP Lit, and these are the annotations I made with it when I read it alone + when we went over it in class. It's a witty and complex poem about.... sex. Of course.

(Ignore the other poem. I didn't really look into that one as much.)

It was one of my favorite poems we read, honestly. It's fascinating how creative this poet was about asking for sex.

Outdoors.

The sunrise was perfect this morning. I woke up at around 6:30 to the sounds of nature outside my tent. It was still extremely quiet compared to the loudness we're used to at home (though most of us don't notice it from being used to it). I unzipped the door and stepped out into the crisp morning air. It was only a little bit cold, not even enough for a hoodie. I looked around. Now clear in the barely rising sun were the mountains surrounding our campsite. They weren't extraordinarily tall, but it was oddly comforting to be enclosed in a small clearing between the hills. I gazed east towards the rising sun. Blue, pink, and orange painted the horizon, half-illuminating the hills behind me. The view was fantastic. This is what I live for, damnit. I didn't ruin the moment by taking a picture. Being in nature today was the perfect start to the vacation I didn't know I needed, especially after my frantic state of mind during finals week. In the spirit of camaraderie, me and my friend climbed that hill to look out in the horizon later that evening.

As soon as I got to the top and the wind started blowing on my face, all thoughts vanished, and I disconnected.

Awww

Today when I was coming back from a camping trip, we took a stop for lunch at In-N-Out (a California staple, duh). As I was devouring my food, I saw a young couple come in with a little baby. When I walked past them about to head out, I caught a glimpse of the mother trying to balance a straw on the baby's nose, which I found to be quite adorable. Aww. The mom looked animated and bubbly trying to entertain the baby. 

I had to share that to start off the holidays with some happiness.

A Peak View

 It really was a peak view. Better in real life.

In the Library

Today was one of those days where you're doing something and you just stop and think about what you're doing for a bit. And since I'm one of those people who has as place to jot it down, I decided to document it here.

    After school, I was in my school's tiny library working on some homework. It was around 3:30 in the afternoon, so by this point everyone had left campus. I don't know about other schools, but my school's library is quite bare with only a few tables and chairs. The book selection is pretty much non-existent besides some textbooks, and the rest of the space is used for miscellaneous storage. 

    I love the dead silence while working—I could literally hear the scratch of my pen on the surface of the paper every word I wrote. Sunlight poured into the windows from a setting sun as the shadow of my pen danced around the page. That was pretty cool.

   I stepped out. The cold December air hit me as I looked out across campus to the sunset. It was just around 4 o'clock, so I figured it was time to head home. I love when the campus is virtually empty and I walk out feeling accomplished. 

I went home after.

"But she made mouths in a glass"

 Call me crazy, call me a loser, or call me an idiot.... but what if people made no faces when they took selfies? 

When I see posts online of people and they make these faces, I wonder if it'd be weird if they posted themselves in the exact same setting making a blank facial expression. Picture this: you're a teenage girl exploring the world and relishing in your experience, but not without stopping every 5 minutes to take a selfie or picture for Instagram. Imagine that instead of making a "terrible fish" or putting on a cheesy smile, you stare into the camera without changing your face at all. No frown, no smile, no emotion. Would it catch people off guard? 

I'm sure people have done it.

Some Summer Experiences

    I did quite a bit this summer, but since I've been busy ever since it ended, I never got around to talking about it on this blog. I have so many pictures, videos for YouTube, and ideas for writing that have been rusting in the back of my brain (and computer files) for a few months now. Now that it's Thanksgiving break, I have a more time to put them out there, so here it is.

    The beginning of the summer was pretty lowkey. I spent the first few weeks going to morning practice Monday-Thursday for cross country. As much as that sounds horrendous for the start of summer, I didn't think it was that bad. I'm a senior now, so I've learned to enjoy parts of it enough to convince my mind that it isn't bad. I pride myself on being able to do that, because from an outside perspective it is arguably one of the most unenjoyable things to do, especially in the morning. Essentially, I focused on having fun with my friends during the runs and being grateful to get in fresh air and exercise early to leave the rest of my day open for whatever. Anyone who does cross knows how good it feels when you go on a run that actually feels enjoyable, like damn, I'm enjoying myself? Doing my best to have this mindset as much as possible made it, dare I say, fun. 

    So those weeks flew by pretty quickly, and by this point it was around mid-June. My family had plans to go out to Joshua Tree and Las Vegas, but I was the only one not going. It was nothing personal; one was a girls-only trip and the other was an anniversary trip, which obviously have no place for me :). I'm a seventeen-year-old kid (at the time 16), so I didn't need a babysitter or anything for the two nights they were gone. If I'm honest, I rotted and recorded a YouTube video (the vibe coding one) for the majority of the time I was alone. That video showcased a lot of what I'd been doing instead of being responsible and feeding myself: ricing Hyprland in Arch Linux to get it to ex-act-ly how I wanted it. Yeah, I know, it's a bit cringe and discord mod-ish, but it was fun, challenging and wasted a huge amount of time. If you're wondering, I did NOT wear knee-high socks while doing that lol. 

    After they came back, we went to Cambria at the end of the following week. If you know anything about that town (if you could even call it that), then you might be thinking that it'd be boring for a teenager to go there during the Summer. Hell no. Despite there being almost no flashy, crazy attractions there, I had a great time. I packed a bag full of clothes, an Arch Linux laptop, and a 3DS before heading out to the quaint town four hours away. We stayed south of the Fiscilini Ranch Perserve on a hilly street parallel to another ranch. This made for a surprisingly scenic view out of my bedroom; it was so cool waking up to the cloudy grey light peeking through the window and seeing the hilly forest on the other side of the street. I should've taken a picture of it. It's one of those things you appreciate on vacation because you don't have it back home. 

    If you're unaware, the climate in Cambria year round is pretty cold. It's not freezing, but it's enough to make a person from Southern California go "wow! it's cold" when they step outside and it's 60 degrees in the middle of June. To a runner, however, this weather is the equivalent of hitting a jackpot. I ran every single day while we were up there, and every single run was excellent and refreshing. It's hard to describe how it felt in words, honestly. I still feel the cool air hitting my face as I sprinted down the hill towards the ocean. It's probably my absolute favorite place to run; the scenery, the weather, the hills, the fact that there's almost nobody there...I could go on. I saw so many cool houses while running, weird streets, and breathtaking views from the top of the hill overlooking everything. Even if you're not a runner, I'm sure anyone would appreciate a walk in the Fiscilini Ranch. How could you not?

    I mentioned that I brought my 3DS, but it was mostly to take pictures. That sounds stupid, but hear me out. The 3DS camera is one of the coolest things ever. I often roll my eyes when ASB students add filters and effects to our morning announcement videos to give it a 90s look, since it's really obviously edited and trying to hard to be "unique" and "retro vibes". In my opinion, the 3DS accomplishes this better and more authentically. It's a shitty 0.3 megapixel camera, but it gets that effect so right without looking tacky or forced. I'll show you a picture so you can see: 

    The lighting in the photo is pretty bad, but that's probably because of the clouds. I'm not a photographer or anything, so I think this crappy camera is perfect to mess around with to get these liminal, nostalgic looking photos. Here's one more that I took:

    I had a ton of fun taking photos in a place like this, which has more nature and woods than anything. I took several strolls on the trails within the ranch, ranging from dried grassy fields to weird forest-y areas along a creek. Like I mentioned before, I have plenty of videos to post on my YouTube channel from all these walks, uniquely shot on my 3DS.

    Other than the time I spent in nature revitalizing myself, I read a few books on my laptop and spent time with my family during the rest of the hours of the days. I know that Cambria isn't the most crazy, populated destination with crazy night life and tons of stuff to do, but the enjoyment is what you make of the place. 

    After we came back from Cambria, it was early July. We had a good 4th of July splashing about in the pool since it was hot back home. I felt sad to leave the cool weather behind, but life goes on. I probably haven't mentioned it at all on this blog, but I've been in Boy Scouts since I was ten. If you're in BSA, your troop likely goes on annual Summer camps to a designated camp for a week. Our troop usually stays within California, but there's plenty of camps to choose from. My favorite are probably the ones on Catalina Island, which I guess isn't technically in California. This year we went to Whittset near the Kern River. As you'd probably expect, it was hot as shit. What a switch up.

    It was probably one of the last summer camps that I went to, so I made sure to make the most of it. I got to shoot a shotgun for the first time, even though I could have done that 3 years ago :3. I did it wrong at first, which made the gun kick back hard into my chest and give me a mean bruise. It hurt, but it was kind of funny to see how me and my friend basically did the same mistake. After I got the hang of it though, I was really enjoying it. It is incredibly satisfying when you make the pigeon burst into a million pieces after feeling the loud bang. I also appreciate all the extra stuff BSA teaches with a firearm merit badge. I naively tried to get the rifle shooting merit badge as well, but couldn't complete it in time. I chose to shoot shotgun instead of the rifle most of the time, leaving me no time to get the requirements in—maybe it wasn't the best idea to take 2 shooting merit badges at the same time if you're not exactly a good shot. It's kind of hard to get the shooting requirements, but I'll admit that I'm not that good at rifle.

    The rest of the camp was pretty fun despite the sweltering heat and constant need to drink so much water. I took some hikes with my troop, participated in the frigid polar bear swim, and recorded several other funny/stupid moments with my troop members. I'm kind of bummed it was probably my last camp, but I'm still glad I cherished it and didn't let it go to waste. 

    Around the time I camp back from camp was Dominic's birthday, which I remember well because he posted a couple videos documenting it. From the looks of it, he had a fun birthday. 

    Four days later, we were leaving the house again to take a flight to Kauai, Hawaii.

    I still remember the indescribable feeling I get waking up early to head to the airport. The airport is pretty stressful, but once you get past TSA, it's chill. I spent the 5 and a half hours on the plane playing Super Metroid with noise cancelling headphones. It sounds incredibly corny, but when the plane experienced turbulence and Samus Aran was fighting a boss or escaping somewhere, it actually felt like I was playing in 4D. I somewhat enjoy flights where I can lock in on a video game without being able to cheat or get distracted by something else. Plus, I can type "neofetch" so everyone on the plane knows I use Arch BTW.

    We landed and headed to our AirBnB that overlooked a lusciously green golf course. I might sound like a tourist when I say that Poipu is my favorite area on Kauai, but there's just so much to love about it, especially after this trip. Before we left for Kauai, my friend from XC told me that he was going to stay in Poipu around the same time as me. It was a surreal feeling to know that our trips were going to link up and that we were staying only a mile apart. Once he arrived, we agreed to run together and hit the beaches to snorkel. The weather in Kauai (and the other islands) is not ideal for running because of the humidity, but we managed to survive. After our runs, we'd hit up the beaches around the Poipu area in search of a turtle. Each day, despite our tireless efforts swimming out, we never quite found one—until the very last day. 

    The last ditch effort was to search on the small dock in the Koloa Landing resort where people often spotted turtles. Right as we were about to give up, I saw a brownish thing in the water before realizing it was a turtle. It was so cool. <image> It was probably headed back out to sea since it was morning.

    So, the rest of that trip was great. I think I'll rememeber it the most because of the crazy experiences with my friend (imagine going somewhere like Kauai with a high school friend).

    My summer concluded full-circle with my cross country team when I got invited to go to Big Bear to train. Damn, that trip was fun. We headed with our team up the windy roads to the mountains. It felt surreal to be in Big Bear during the summer when all of my memories of this place are when it's snowing and freezing cold. I remember eating warm stew in the comfort of our log cabin as it snowed on outside, looking out into the woods. I don't remember much else of that trip (it was a long time ago), besides the NES looking zapper in one of the rooms...it's all really vague.

    The weather was perfect this year. Chilly in the morning, but no higher than mid-70s during the day, which made for perfect morning and afternoon runs. The real problem with running up there is obviously the altitude. Holy. fucking. shit. I didn't feel it in the first run, but I really felt in on the long run. I couldn't block out the pain as I slugged up the annoyingly long hill (like a 2 mile incline),  gasping for air. That run was pretty rough, but I pulled through. 

    When we weren't running, we were doing leisure stuff like bowling, go-carting, playing pickleball, swimming in the pool, or playing video games in the room. This made the two runs a day feel like cake. On the last day, the entire team gathered in the hot tub and fucked around for a bit. We did so many more things that would take pages to describe. In short, it was a great way to end the summer off. 

    Looking back, this was one of the most fun and fulfilling summers I've ever experienced in my life, and one that I'm glad I documented well. Could I have volunteered, done an internship, advanced my education? Sure. Am I regretful that I didn't? Hell no. I wouldn't trade anything for enjoying myself and living life. I'm absolutely not saying you can't have a great summer while getting ahead of the game, but my preferred way is letting go and embracing the word "vacation" to explore my own interests. I'm fully aware that many people aren't as fortunate as me to be able to travel and go places, but I still believe you can make Summer fun by making the best of it. My friend Dominic (Dominator) didn't go anywhere, but from the looks of his videos and what he told me, he had a great summer as well. It's weird for me to say stuff like this because I'm naturally a bit more cynical and negative (sorry), but I still like finding positive things in life! 

    I shared my summer and what made it great, so I encourage you to do the same and relish Summer break any way you can.

Lit Update

 As I sit here doing annoying homework from other AP classes, I'm thinking about my AP Literature experience right now. It's definitely a lot more intensive than AP Lang---especially my specific class (and teacher). The one aspect I really enjoy about it, however, is the poetry. Any time we read poetry (which was a lot at the beginning of the year and rarely now), I get sucked into it and really love it. All of the poems we read were absolutely fantastic. It never fails to amaze me how fucking genius these authors were. I like the idea of Question 1 FRQ asking about a poem just to fuck with the people that thought this was only a prose fiction reading class: hahahahah.
    Poems make you scratch your head at first even to just to understand what it's saying, and even more so to understand where it goes. When you finally get it, with the help of your teacher/other peers, it is the most satisfying experience you could have in an English setting. It may sound extremely geeky and try hardy---and that's because it is---but it doesn't matter. Poetry is fucking cool.

Thoughts of Jane Eyre

As I've been reading Jane Eyre, I've been noticing her style and craft, especially in her use of vivid descriptions of the nature around her. In nearly every chapter thus far, Jane pauses her recollection of events to talk about the scenery of where she is; she does this when she's at Gateshall, Lowood, and Thornfield. Here's an excerpt from Chapter 9, for example: 

"April advanced to May: a bright serene May it was; days of blue sky, placid sunshine, and soft western or southern gales filled up its duration. And now vegetation matured with vigour; Lowood shook loose its tresses; it became all green, all flowery; its great elm, ash, and oak skeletons were restored to majestic life; woodland plants sprang up profusely in its recesses; unnumbered varieties of moss filled its hollows, and it made a strange ground-sunshine out of the wealth of its wild primrose plants: I have seen their pale gold gleam in overshadowed spots like scatterings of the sweetest lustre. All this I enjoyed often and fully, free, unwatched, and almost alone: for this unwonted liberty and pleasure there was a cause, to which it now becomes my task to advert."

Here she describes the surroundings of Lowood as Spring was in full bloom. According to sources online, the purpose of her constant recollection of the landscape is to mirror and reveal her inner emotional state, and to show the internal and external restraints she faces. There are a lot of other reasons why as well, but I refrained from looking at them so as to not spoil anything (normally I don't mind spoilers, but it's taken so much time to read this book that I want some satisfaction).

So far, I think the book is pretty good. I especially love the pictures that are in digital versions of books from Project Gutenberg by F. H. TOWNSEND.

 

Money as a Bookmark

    Since I've already started reading for my AP Literature class, I thought it would be appropriate to talk about what I've been using as my bookmark. Yes, I'm aware that this is probably the most trivial thing to focus on, but it's something that actually has a context behind it. 
    When I was in elementary school, I remember going to the Scholastic book fair and immediately skipping past all the literature to divert my attention to the junk-y items. You know, the small trinkets near the register like the phone erasers or themed pens. Admittedly, I think--along with many others--this defeated the point of the book fair by distracting kids from getting books (on the contrary, one could argue that a kid with little money to spend would only be able to buy the trinkets, since books are obviously going to be more expensive). However, the bookmarks near the register were probably the only thing that I wouldn't consider "junk", since it actually aligned well with the whole idea of books and reading. Perhaps a kid would've been encouraged to buy a book if they also got to buy a cool bookmark to use. 
    But of course, I never did that. Even from a 3rd grade perspective, I didn't find the need to spend money on a glorified piece of paper, especially for a tool that merely marked the page I was on. I could literally just dog-ear the page. Further, I barely even read at all (on my own), so these seemed like a total waste of money... right?
    Well, not now! When I saw my friend using a bill of a cuban peso to mark his spot in King Lear, I immediately remembered that I had a 20 Mexican peso bill lying around in my room. 20 Mexican pesos as of now is very close to 1 USD, so honestly if I lose it I don't mind that much. I can't remember how I got it, but I literally haven't had a use for it until now. 
    Ironically, the thing I thought I'd never spend money on became the money itself. Maybe it's better, though, since I doubt (nowadays) the bookmarks would only cost a dollar. 
    Point being, never sleep on a random object becoming a bookmark...

It's Literature Time

    Throughout this next year, this blog will start to take shape to center around my next AP English course, AP English Literature and Composition. This is supposed to be the more difficult brother of the AP English classes. I'm proud to say that I'm going to be taking both in my high school years. Yeah, I'm taking other AP classes, but who gives a shit about those?
    This is an English blog, after all. AP Lit is a notoriously difficult class in many high schools because of the absurd amount of reading you're required to do (and effective reading, at that). You're required to read a good amount of fiction novels, plays, and poems from various time periods with varying degrees of difficulty and style + craft. And no, they're not those "fun" type of books like Harry Potter and The Summer I Turned Pretty. The books you actually read are fairly challenging books that have complex themes and many literary elements, neatly packaged with that classic, confusing language. 
    I'm not going to sugar coat it---reading Shakespeare is hard and takes a lot of patience. However, I think the reason we read a ton of Shakespeare is to become proficient at looking at complex text quickly to write an essay about it on the test. In reality, merely looking at the text isn't going help you write a good essay; rather, it's analyzing it and looking at it closely for a good, defensible interpretation of whatever the prompt is asking. If you can get good at understanding the basic meaning quickly, though, you have more time to read it closer and process your thoughts in planning the essay.
    If you thought AP Lang had a tight timer, then you may be even more surprised to know that AP Literature's timer is worse. This time, you only get 2 hours to do all 3 essays, instead of 2 hours and 15 minutes. This is likely because you don't need to read a bunch of sources, but you still have to read a work of poetry and a work of prose. If the poetry is complicated, good luck trying to read it fast and strip it for meaning in 40 minutes. Then, be ready to do that again for the prose essay. By the way, this is assuming that you split up your time evenly.
    Of course, there are multiple choice questions, this time 55 for some reason. It's just another gauntlet you'll have to endure, but honestly I expect that now.
    I received a guide book from my teacher that goes over strategies and tips for writing the essays, so I'll be sure to refer to that and report what I found helpful here. Get ready for a lot of  posts about a particular book or about a poem.
                                                                                                                     

Watching Dominator's "Making Breakfast" part 1, potato scene

    About 3 weeks ago, my friend posted 3 videos of him cooking breakfast on his YouTube channel. Today, I wanted to talk about the first scene of the first video.
     From the first video, it appears as though he's using his phone to record everything, as evident by the lack of his two hands appearing in the frame at the same time. This makes sense, as he is alone throughout the videos and does not have expensive equipment that would allow him to attach a camera to his body. 
    In the first part of Video 1, Dominic appears to be cutting some potatoes that were skinned off camera. He performs a cutting motion with a large kitchen knife and jump cuts to a frame of the potatoes cut in half. This was presumably done to save time on the video and because of a need for 2 hands. After this, the video cuts to him putting some avocado oil to grease the pan. It is unclear if the stove is on. In the next shot, he is placing the halved potatoes through a vegetable dicer with a clamshell-type mechanism. It is white and green. He continues to put potatoes through this tool to dice the potatoes, but eventually one of the potatoes gets stuck in the dicer because the bottom tank was filled. Initially, he tries to push the potato through, but it fails to move through. However, because he already applied force, it becomes wedged between the blades. Instead of emptying the potatoes into the pan to create more space, he forces it further. This makes the potato more stuck. Finally, he gives up and places the potatoes into the pan to create more space. Interestingly, instead of reattempting to push the potato through the blades with the empty container, he says to the camera "It got stuck..." and tries to pry it out with his hands. He claims that he "didn't think this through at all" and that you can "add it to the hot take of bloopers, wow". He gets it out with relative ease and cuts the potato by hand. 
     What's intriguing about this particular scene is the fact that he does not realize that the dicer is full, despite already cutting many potatoes beforehand. Also, it's strange that he didn't just put the potato back through the machine, especially since it was already 25% of the way through the blades. It's hard to tell from the video, but perhaps he didn't because potato became mangled from the blade or not in tact enough to go through the tool. It's funny, and should definitely be added to the bloopers.
 

More Zelda (Link's Awakening/Oracle) Inspired Dungeons

 Well, since I've been playing a lot of Zelda recently,  I decided to find more random images online and imagine they were dungeons. Here goes.

 

Level 1 

Bathroom Maze 

 

I imagine that each stall requires a small key to open and that the toilets warp you to different underground portions with puzzles. The mini-boss would be a hand dryer and the boss would be a toilet, obviously.

 

Level 2 

Love Library at San Diego State University

 

 When I visited this campus a while back, I remembered that the main library was a gigantic dome that goes deep underground for many floors. It was massive. Definitely a real-life Zelda dungeon. 

 

Level 3

Parking Garage

 

Multiple floors, dark, and a boss at the roof. 

 

I'll keep updating with more stuff later.  

Something I've been writing.

 This is a random line from something I've been writing for the Creative_Writing_Projects folder on my Mac. It's unserious and not really well-written. But, ever since I read a Redditor's play about "The Din Tai Fung Scandal", I wanted to give it a shot. Lol.

DEUTERAGONIST: What she gave you was a look. That’s it. Not a damn legal document. Not an invitation for sex. Not a damn wedding invitation. Just a fuckin’ look, bro. The rest? That was you, in your busted lil’ head. 

 

(Beat. MAIN_CHARACTER shifts.)

 

MAIN_CHARACTER: So what now, huh? I’m just the neighborhood creep? Some walking red flag? That’s who I am now?

 

DEUTERAGONIST: I’m not saying that!

MAIN_CHAR: You bullshittin’ me again, man.

 

Yeah, I know that's not really how you format a play. When you read a play in books/ebooks, it kind of looks like that.  

 

The Seed Satchel to Success

I thought I'd never be able to do it, but I did:

Yup. This little high schooler with Redditor writing skills actually managed to get a fuckin' five on AP Lang. 

Honestly, I didn't really feel too confident in my ability to do super well on this exam before taking it. I'd read my sample essays and think: Yeah, these aren't at all like the ones College Board puts out as actual good examples. I felt like my blog writing was just a way for me to tell myself I was getting some writing practice, even if it wasn't actually helping me. 

But looking at this score, maybe it did..? For all I know, this 5 could've been 1 point away from being a 4. A scoring scale this small could mean anything.  

Of course, I'm proud of myself for this. I feel like this fades a lot of (not all) doubt that I was actually O.K. at writing.

 I'm not saying that I am good at writing or that the learning stops here (as cringey as that sounds), I'm just saying that I can do a good enough job at writing to get by.

I feel it's better to be honest about my abilities. While I may have gotten a 5, my writing still needs a ton of work in certain areas. And I think I'm willing to work on that as I continue to write in this blog.

And as I prepare for AP English Literature. Yes, it still has 3 essays. And a lot of books. 

**BTW, I got a fucking five on APUSH too. Insanely shocked about that.

eBook Readers

    Since it's summer, I have the luxury of a bit more free time to do stuff like reading. Don't get me wrong—I'm not some fantasy-obsessed bookworm who spends every waking moment buried in books. I read casually when I feel like I've wasted too much time on YouTube. I usually read general non-fiction because I like normal language without any over-descriptive wordy paragraphs. I wouldn’t say I hate fiction—Gatsby and TKAM are some of my favorites—but it’s not usually my first choice. 
    Whenever I read, I almost exclusively do it digitally. Some people hate it because it doesn't give the same feeling as reading a normal book (obviously), but I don't mind it that much. Honestly, I don't really feel like buying a real book. Granted, I do miss the smell of the book, the feel of turning the pages and the satisfaction you get seeing your progress. The good part of the eBooks, however, is the vast amount of books you can carry with you and the ability to read at night. I can carry thousands of books in my pocket to read anywhere. I can adjust the font, size and the background color. Best of all, I can highlight and annotate the text much easier (without trying to awkwardly use sticky notes to avoid ruining the book).
    Indeed, annotating the text as I read is perhaps the biggest reason I choose to read books digitally. Even though I'm a slow reader, I typically forget a big portion of what I read from any given book after a few weeks go by. If I'm reading passively and not interacting with the text (by annotating), I find it much harder to remember what I read and what my thoughts were about it. 

Let's take the example here with Faulkner's The Sound and the Fury. 

I have simple annotations to provide a reaction to the text in a random e-reader on Apple Books: 

    Admittedly, this is a bit basic. You can make the annotations more interesting by converting the ePUBS to PDFS, which will then allow you to draw freely on the pages. Unfortunately, all the features that ePUBS offer on most software goes away (meaning no more dark screen or changing the font size). 

    Just doing this made me remember a bit more of what I was reading. After I finished this book, I felt like I could better recall each chapter's main idea. If I couldn't then I had my notes and highlights to remind me what piqued my interest.

    Give it a shot. 

Ummm..

Lifeguard: Can I get your name?

Kid: No.

Lifeguard: Umm... What? 

Almost at a year

    Summer’s finally here, which also means it’s been nearly a year since I started this blog.  Although my posts have been sporadic and short, I plan on dedicating a bit more time to this blog and my YT channel over the summer now that I have more time.
    And yes--I am aware that I kind of ghosted New! SMW2 again for the 50th time. I will get back to it and finish the game eventually, I promise. I haven't feeling up to playing video games on my channel anymore because it's kind of boring to watch a bunch of let's plays--it's been done to death. They've gotten kind of boring to make and to watch. Even though gaming videos aren't "it" anymore, making videos is still enjoyable. You might see some other forms of content on my channel this summer.
    Some people have found great success on uploading screen recorded videos of a ton of random stuff (for example, Bog, one of my favorite channels for his unique style and captivating videos). If you're talented enough, you can make something as mundane as installing Arch Linux, setting up a virtualization program, using a video editing software, or using a text editor interesting and fun to watch. But that takes a lot of effort and time. I don't care that much, even if it would be nice to have high-performing videos. Plus, not everything has to be a screen recording.
    Many other high-achieving channels post content of in real life stuff, showing experiences and items from the real world. To me, this seems like a sort of romanticization of everyday life--it's not typical to hold a camera everywhere you go and try to get the optimal footage from every event. But this doesn't mean I'm against it. I absolutely love seeing other creators on YouTube document their daily lives, whether that be going to a place for vacation or hanging out with friends. Does it slightly give main character syndrome vibes? Maybe. Is it sometimes obnoxious to hold a camera in public places? Maybe. Is it fun to watch? Hell yes. 
    I'm guilty of romanticizing parts of my life in this blog. Even though it's not a video, talking about my favorite Bic pen or describing my messy desk or writing about my morning coffee in great detail is sort of doing the same thing. And it's fun to do, so why not?
    Dominic also did a form of IRL content when he posted the video of his morning walk to school and some sprinklers. Filming this probably allowed him to escape the mundane of daily life and the slightly saddening reality of a boring walk to school. Without any of the fancy edits and graphics, he managed to present his life in an ideal and intriguing way. I mean, aren't you curious the way others live? I want to see the POV of someone walking to school on a busy street in the morning. 
    Oh, and those two videos he posted of IRL stuff got far more views than any other Dragon Ball Legends video he posted before. 
    All this has given me some inspiration to post some IRL content of me outside. It's more fun to film and watch. Plus, I have a bunch of footage of past things I did when I felt like being a "vlogger" and recording. It's a little demoralizing holding a camera up, but who cares.

Using Google Drive as an organizer for academics

    What is this feeling?
    I organized my Google Drive for my senior year of high school (next year) with a goal of maximum organization and productivity. It seems a bit weird to already be focusing on next year, but I want to make sure that it goes smoothly. All of my school work, whether physical or digital, will be stored inside the Google Drive with their corresponding folders. I have folders for every class, and then within those more folders for each unit of that class. This way, all the work for each unit is clearly labeled and easy to find. Additionally, I will put the dates of all the work in the name of the document, since it can get pretty confusing (quickly) when the document was assigned/created. Keeping dates also helps in case an issue comes up with grading or similar assignments. 
    Although my school computer runs slowly, it still manages to handle Google Drive well enough, so I don’t have any issues accessing my work during at school. This is really useful when I need to reference notes or homework—especially for reviewing specific concepts, like a math formula I’ve forgotten.. This year I've noticed that I've frequently needed to reference past things from the year, but didn't have an organized drive with those things. I didn't even bother making a physical "drive" with binders and folders, since I am much less organized in real life. Plus, the papers get really heavy after a while and easily damaged. 
    Having a well-organized and resourceful Google Drive with plenty of study material will make getting through the AP classes more bearable (Yes, I am definitely taking AP English Literature and Composition). This will also make studying for said exams more efficient and effective. It will be much easier to locate all the content I've received and use it to create new study materials based on what I already have. This year I found it hard to find all my damn history notes to study for the topics, leaving me all on my own to finding new study resources (because most of my notes were either lost in the abyss or damaged).
    I know it will be difficult to stick to this organization--who doesn't want to just shove the work in your bag and forget about it? I need to have some discipline to take the time to scan my work or upload it to drive, even after being exhausted from working on it at 11pm. It's time to be like a real high schooler commit to this plan.
    My drive also has other folders unrelated to school work like music, audio, videos, images, ROMS, save files, novels, and creative writing. Keeping other miscellaneous stuff like this organized also helps it from interfering with organizing the school work when it starts to get messy.  
    We'll see how this turns out.

LUCAS

     Lucas realized that Claus was probably dead out there somewhere, so he set his sights on finding purpose in something else. As he stumbled around Tazmily and around the Nowhere Islands, he came across many magical magypsies that could do many magical things to him. Now, we won't name what exactly they did to him (especially in the hot spring) but we can name what the did to help him. They gave Lucas many useful PSI powers and mementos of their existence when they randomly died, even though they lived for like 400 years. They also gave Lucas useful tips to look for some magical substances that makes them feel amazing, like you had endless wealth and found the holy grail.
    Whenever Flint or Lighter tried to stop Lucas from absent-mindely going out, he'd angrily yell at them and tell them to stop thwarting his plans to find the magical goodness. He wondered why they couldn't see the vision of finding the magical substances. Like earlier when Lighter's house was burnt to a crisp and Lighter broke his foot, but refused to become enlightened and find the holy grail and instead returned back to building that stupid cabin. These actions were probably to keep Fuel safe but Lucas couldn't help but see the goodness of the hearts of the people. 
    Inwardly, Lucas is sad and depressed and wants to change to be like them. He's a cold soul who ruins everything! That's what we know him for! Deep down, though, Lucas wishes to fully find the holy grail.
    But it feels like he's been chasing this dream for lifetimes and he's wondering if it will ever end. It seems as though ever since he met those magypsies his life his life has been engulfed by this damn substance.
    How did he get here?! How long has he been here?! He's starting to question if it was even real! A real substance that could change your life?! What?
 WAIT A MINUTE....
THOSE DAMN MUSHROOMS!!!!!!!!
    He realized he didn't need to be depressed anymore. The whole world clicked now! And he realized that he was mad trippin' right about now.

    Looking for magical substances?? LOL! He laughed to himself and realized that once he found the faithful little pile of shrooms lying on the floor and decided to snack on them, he began to significantly hallucinate. He'd been having a pretty good time, and none of what the magypsies told him was real. Damn, these were some good ass shrooms, Lucas thought.
    As he looked at the people around him, he realized that none of them were real, but rather just bugs and insects from the forest he walked into. 
    Lucas got up and left, feeling sort of sad that none of the things he experienced were real. He really was just a lost soul, but who cares, since now he has a bunch of shrooms that can help him escape.

AP English Lang: It's done

 That's right; today I took the AP Lang exam that is now fully digital at 8am. 
    I'm glad it's over. It was undeniably a long test. By the end of my second essay, I was drained. For the sake of myself, I'm not going to talk entirely about the content of the test (don't worry I will once scores are out). My responses were kinda ehh. 
    It's actually hard to write a good essay in 40 minutes, especially when the clock is ticking and you've never seen the topic before. The challenge, for me, comes from thinking from the nooks and crannies of my brain for examples I could use for the argumentative essay or details I could use for the synthesis essay to further expand my argument and be "sophisticated". But really, it can be hard to come up with things to say (even if you know you've got them in you somewhere) when you aren't familiar with the topic. Plus, sometimes the prompt is a little vague, so I don't know if I'm really answering the question 100% correctly. 
    Either way, what's done is done, so there's no use stressing over every aspect of how you did right now since nothing you do is going to change it. I'm glad it's done, and I'm also glad APUSH is over. APUSH, if you're wondering, wasn't that bad.

What does MeThinks?

    Me thinks that it's kind of insane that I've spent nearly 2 hours on LibreOffice today. Happy Mother's Day!
    Before celebrating, I was intensely writing a few poems and stories on LibreOffice, which resulted in my Mac saying I was using it for 2 hours. Isn't that crazy, though? It's like the only time when my screen time isn't just RetroArch or YouTube. I find it insane that I was actually able to not get distracted by all the other stuff on my computer and write for a bit. Also, it might not even be completely accurate, since I was switching between LibreOffice to Google Docs. I can't make up my damn mind between those two. I love LibreOffice for its customization and looks, but also love that Google Docs is cloud based so I can access my document when I feel like using my Linux laptop. The font selection on Google is unmatched, though. 
    So, what should you take away from this? Be proud of yourself if your screen time usage is majority on something like books or productivity. Sure, you might not exactly be using the screen less (which is the most ideal thing), but at least you're being productive.

Strawberry Honeeeeyyy

    Got random motivation to write in my blog while studying for AP exams.
    I'm guilty of having a tiny cup of coffee at 7pm, which is probably a bad idea to get some sleep. Oh well--it was really good. Strawberry chocolate coffee by Kauai Coffee. That flavor combination sounds weird in coffee, but it's so subtle that you'll barely notice it. But there's a hint of it, so you get that essence of strawberry with a bitter (good kind) hotness. The coffee doesn't have an odor of artificial strawberry or chocolate either, which would really gross me out. According to their website, it's naturally flavored. I enjoy other flavors like toasted banana, regular chocolate macadamia, and vanilla macadamia. I know it's weird that I'm gooning over coffee, but it's probably the only thing worth getting up in the morning for. And no, not the crazy speciality coffees like a cappuccino or latte. Sorry, but I'm not that typical teen who gets Starbucks in the morning to flash around at school. Stop your sad form of exhibitionism.

Infinite Craft

    I understand that it's pretty popular for YouTuber's to base their channel around one game. This can definitely work well for some, even if it starts to feel a bit stale over time. What I never knew, however, was that some people base their entire channel on Infinite Craft. Yes, the game that Neal Agarwal built that runs off your browser is a game so revered that people play it consistently on their channel. From what I've seen, they can spend over an hour trying to get a single item. It's bizarre, especially considering the surface-level simplicity and accessibility of the game. It's not some crazy ultra high graphics next generation game, but rather a humble little white canvas in your browser that contains a whole iceberg of depth and complexity. 
    When I first played it on my channel, I was quite charmed by the mechanics and how easy it was to pick up and start playing. I liked how you could easily see your progress slowly growing as you combined more and more random things together. Because of the game's potential for (literally) infinite items, players have developed strategies to get new items, or "first discoveries". They've also developed strategies to get incredibly obscure and unorthodox things that are near impossible to come across. In other words, I merely scratched the surface of what the game entails. I think it's still worth giving it a second look, given you can save your progress through a download. 
    Now it makes sense to me why there are full channels dedicated to Infinite Craft. It's infinite content, too.

The Unexpected Joy of Tinted, Recycled Lined Paper

    Let’s be honest: lined paper isn’t exactly a hot topic. It’s not flashy or techy. No one’s making unboxing videos about it. It reminds you of school. But recently, I stumbled upon a pack of recycled, college-ruled paper—tinted slightly off-white, maybe a soft gray-beige—and I’ve found myself completely obsessed.
    I picked it up by chance. I asked my parents to lend me any lined paper they could, and they brought this stack home. It was brand new, 500 sheets, and didn't have the usual blinding white that makes your eyes tired after two pages. It had a warm, aged look--like it had stories in its cellulose before I put my Bic Round Stic to work. 
    It sounds weird, but the first thing I noticed when I opened the pack at home was the smell. It wasn’t bad at all—just a faint, earthy scent, like rain hitting cardboard, or the inside of a paper bag after you’ve carried a PB&J sandwich in it. Definitely recycled. Definitely real. No artificial crispness. It smelled... honest? I know that’s a strange way to describe paper, but it fits. Now, since I have the stack sitting on my desk, my entire room is pervaded with the essence of this paper. It makes me feel like I'm in a bookstore as I sleep, work, and play Yoshi's Island. There's something about the smell that floods my mind with nostalgic memories of being in school learning to write my name. 
    It’s not just about aesthetics or scent either. Writing on this paper feels different. There’s a tiny bit of texture to it—just enough to make pencils feel a tiny bit scratchy and pens glide with a bit of satisfying resistance. Most people hate when their pens and pencils feel scratchy, but this paper provides the tiniest amount that becomes enjoyable after a while. Like most ruled paper, it's kind of thin, meaning you can feel the satisfaction of ink indents on the back of a page. After you've finished writing a full page, there's nothing quite like feeling the bumpy surface of the back. Yeah, I press hard when I write.
    The college-ruled lines are neatly printed in a subtly gray-blue ink that blends perfectly with the paper's beige tint. The margin line is pink, not red. This paper feels like someone thought about the experience of writing. 
    Okay, not to sound dramatic—but switching to this paper shifted how I approach writing. Whether I'm writing notes down, practicing essays for Lang, or writing down journals, it's now a habit. I carefully slide out a sheet from the shrink-wrapped stack, being careful not to bend the edges. Then, I write. It makes writing feel more personal, less pressured.
    If you’ve never given a second thought to what kind of paper you’re using—try this. Find some lined, college-ruled sheets that are tinted and made from recycled materials. Preferably, they should be made in the USA. Sometimes, the little things in your workspace are what keep you grounded when everything else feels digital and distracting.

What's on my iPhone?

    As you'd probably expect, I have an iPhone. Considering I have a Mac Mini, this shouldn't come as a surprise. Still, I've never really discussed my iPhone anywhere--until now.
    I prefer the simpler side of Apple, which means that I don't buy the most extravagant and expensive things they sell. I didn't buy an iMac or a Macbook; I bought a Mac Mini. I didn't buy an Apple Watch Ultra; I still use the relatively new Series 7. Instead of an iPhone 13, I went with the SE. I find that most of the cheaper items can still do the most of the essential stuff that everyone needs. My SE can call, text, listen to music, watch videos, and write notes. I'm rarely in need for a really nice camera (which the better models certainly have) because I'm not actively participating in photography. Plus, the cheaper models still retain that Apple magic that makes them enjoyable to use. In other words, you might be losing some features, but you are not losing any part of the experience Apple wants you to have--unless, of course, you believe the experience is based on all the features :(. 
    I find my SE to be quite functional, even after owning it for a few years. Although it's a bit slower and the battery life has degraded a bit, it's still a solid phone from 2022. Oh, and it has a home button.
    When I unlock my phone, all I see is black. I've had a black wallpaper on my phone forever. It's the easiest on the eyes and (technically) takes the least amount of battery life. If you watch any of my videos on the channel, you'll know that the background for my Mac Mini has fluctuated quite a bit. Now, however, I've decided to just stick with a solid navy blue. It's still easy on the eyes and makes the apps stand out the best. 
    Of course, the date and time is in white text, and the battery of my AirPods and watch are in white, too. Controversially, I use military time. I just started and never stopped.
    Once I unlock the phone, it's similarly very simple. I only have 3 apps on the home screen: Safari, Messages, and ChatGPT. 
    Now, I know what you're thinking. Are you a fucking psychopath? I can explain. These are my most used apps, so I felt that these were the only ones that actually need to stay on the home screen. I do not want a home screen full of folders and apps that I never use, because then I'll need to scavenge for the ones I actually do use. In this case, it's not very many. 
    I definitely use other apps like YouTube and Apple Music a lot as well, but I find that swiping right and clicking on them really isn't that bad. Any other app that I may need can easily be opened through the spotlight search (happens whenever you swipe down on the home screen). 
    Most people would probably heavily disagree with me on this decision, but I like to keep my home screen clean. Unlike my Mac's desktop, it's actually easier to keep it clean, so I might as well do so. I never use the widgets or any other feature for home screens because it's also distracting to me. Making my phone as bland as possible has let me use it less. I don't have other social media like Instagram or Snapchat, so other than YouTube there really isn't much else to do. 
    My app dock has some things on it too: Wikipedia and Copilot. This is mostly for information, but I actually barely use these too. I know it's sort of intriguing to look at what other people pin to their docks, but I've always found the dock to be insignificant. Unless you have screens and screens of apps, the dock doesn't actually serve the purpose of giving access to apps anywhere.
    I might have a smaller and weaker phone, but that doesn't mean that it isn't capable. I'm willing to use this thing 'till it dies out on me, because I don't know if Apple will make a phone this cheap and small ever again.

I disagree with what I wrote, but who cares.

An AI generated prompt for AP English Language and Composition, Question 3:

    

In recent years, discussions around the concept of "quiet quitting"—a term used to describe employees doing only what their job requires and nothing more—have sparked debate in professional, academic, and social circles. Some argue that this trend represents a healthy boundary between work and personal life, promoting mental well-being and rejecting hustle culture. Others believe it reflects a decline in work ethic, responsibility, and ambition, potentially harming both individual growth and organizational productivity.

Carefully read the following prompt and write an essay that develops your position on the value of "quiet quitting" in modern society.

In your essay, you should:

• Develop a clear thesis.

• Support your argument with appropriate, specific evidence.

• Address opposing views or counterarguments.

• Organize your ideas logically and use a formal style

    "That's not part of my job description". You may have heard this crude and somewhat irreverent phrase thrown around when a superior asks an employee to do something, but it has some partial value in today's society. The concept of "quiet quitting", which describes employees who do the bare minimum of what their job entails, has recently been a hot topic of argument in today's professional workforce. With the state of the current emerging workforce, it is safe to assume that this concept will not be going away soon. Our society has become more lax and less focused on working hard, so it may be better to accept the concept of "quiet quitting". In modern society, the idea of "quiet quitting" is necessary for the enrichment of personal life and for the rejection of large corporations.
    In the age of Generation Z, the old-fashioned mindset of working extremely hard at one's job has sort of fizzled out. In fact, most Gen Z's hardly even want to work. When they do, employers describe them as lazy, entitled, and too sensitive. Our generation simply does not want to work as hard as we used to, so it's nearly impossible to try to force these ideals upon us. Instead, the practice of quiet quitting may serve as a beneficial step for individuals to better themselves and flourish beyond the workplace. Doing the "bare minimum" will give time for individuals to develop their own hobbies, focus on self-improvement activities like exercise and meditation, and make the best version of themselves for when they do work. Focusing on one's own self improvement may actually resolve the issues of being lazy and entitled. That way, the work Gen Z's do put in is actually quality work. They aren't burned out. An employer would likely rather hire an employee that works on themselves, gets adequate rest, and is respectful to others versus a bogged-down workaholic. It might seem lazy, but the impacts of giving space to the individual (at the expense of manpower and a productive workforce) will outweigh the negatives.

    Quiet quitting is also a passive and safer way to reject the greed of large corporations. In reality, your position in a job means almost nothing to the corporation as a whole. If you work for a large corporation like Walmart as a clerk, your single help is a small footnote of the company's worries and concerns. Corporations will try to pay their employees as little as possible in order to make the most amount of money. This is why a lot of them are minimum wage jobs--if they could pay their employees less, they probably would. They have no trouble laying off hundreds of workers, proving that they in fact do not care about you. It would likely be pointless to take your job as serious as possible, since the people that do the bare minimum are getting paid the exact same as you and are likely valued the same (unless, of course, they're a superior) to the company. Quiet quitting can be a way to reject these corporation and their greed, and show that you care about the job as much as they do.

    As us teens enter the workforce, it's important to distinguish the difference between creativity and overworking. There should be no reason employees do nothing at work, but there should be no reason that they do more for free. Stagnation and lack of creativity in the workforce may stem from quiet quitting, but they will also stem from burnout. In a capitalist society that frequently values profit over human beings, we must be open to rejecting these ideals and respecting ourselves. There must be a balance between the two sides. Quiet quitting is a good reminder that work should support life--not consume it.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    I still disagree with a large amount of the points I mentioned. Plus, this topic is so complicated and nuanced that it's nearly impossible to get a good argument in just one essay. I think some companies actually do care about their employees, and believe that we as a society still need to get used to the fact that we gotta get up off our ass and go to work, even if we don't like it. No, it's not fun. No, it's not always enjoyable. That's why it's called work.

AP English

Since I frequently focus on the FRQ portion of the AP Eng. Lang. exam, I wanted to talk about the multiple-choice section. 
    Honestly, it's annoying.
    On the real AP exam, you're given 60 minutes to complete 45 multiple-choice questions that pertain to the given passages. In other words, 60 agonizing minutes to complete 45 cryptic questions on the most boring stuff you'll ever read. It's standardized test B.S. at its finest. You're given a bit more time because you have to read, but you still gotta move that ass quickly if you want to finish without spam clicking the last 5 questions. 
Some of the passages are honestly O.K., especially the ones that claim "The passage below is a draft", since it's basically like if a normal student wrote it. Others, however, are excerpts from random works from the 1800s derived from who the hell cares. These are usually awful; the language is old and confusing, they're long, the topic is often abstract, and they're boring. The questions that follow are also pretty challenging, so if you didn't really understand what you read, then you're going to be lost. I really don't understand the obsession with 1800s writing from Britain. 
    Because my teacher has made it a routine to give practice MCQ tests every week, I have become a bit more skilled and proficient at the MCQ portion. If I'm being honest, it takes practice and exposure to become better at these tests. You can’t exactly "study" for questions like these, so the best way to improve your score is by taking practice tests and carefully reviewing each question to understand why you got it right—or where you went wrong. My teacher actually goes over why each of the answer choices were incorrect, which really helps in understanding the distractor choices and how to better understand the entire question (and not just understand the correct choice). 
    Plus, if you really think about it, 45 questions isn't that much. It sounds like a lot at first, but it will go by quicker than you expect. The MCQ certainly isn't the worst part of the test—it's obviously the essays.