What is my preferred style of music? I don't think I can answer that with a single genre. In fact, it is easier to make a list of genres I don't like. Mainly being opera in general and a some older (classical) music can bore me, but even there I am starting to tolerate it more than before and I wouldn't be surprised if it left my dislike list within a few years. Well after looking back at a list of music genres I'd add k-pop (I haven't really heard it but I assume I don't like it) (and ik that's ignorant but shut up), country music (mostly), gospel, folk, AND ALL KIDS BOP. To get an idea of what music I do like, go here > https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLeIRtG_FuxYya8idUczr93w9Sm-23YRck, where I have compiled more than 475 songs that I really like (for the most part). To sum up the playlist genres, I'd say it's mostly hip-hop, pop, electronic, rock (and post-rock), or some combination of those genres. The reason I like these songs is because many of them appeal to me beat wise and have catchy rhythms that connect with me on an emotional level, while others appeal to me lyrically and I am able to relate or at least reflect on the lyrics of the song. I mainly listen to music to calm me down when studying, to pump me up when working out, when I'm bored and need a form of entertainment, or I desire background noise while I'm doing something else (like typing up this blogpost).

The Book I am currently reading is Sir Conan Doyle's The Hound of the Baskervilles. It was originally published in London in 1902 from which it made 150000 shillings. It was originally made into a movie in 1939, later in 1959, and most recently in 2002. So far I am enjoying reading the book. While the prose is certainly complex at parts, it is not too hard to understand. The plot is the main reason I like the book because there is a ubiquitous air of mystery and it is fun to see all the details Sherlock Holmes notices and how he is able to construct them to form elaborate ideas and schemes. I'd rate this above most books I've read in school, although I wouldn't say it is my favorite. When asked if we can learn just as much about writing from reading a blockbuster bestseller like The Hound of the Baskervilles as opposed to "classic" novels. Despite the fact that bestsellers often make more money and are commercialized than "classic" novels, it would be a grave mistake to assume that little could be learned from them. At the very least a writer can learn how to write a book that appeals to the masses. But more than that, at least regarding books like The Hound of the Baskervilles, your skill and sophistication as a writer, as well as your reading strength can greatly improve too, just like reading a "classic" book, sometimes not as much, but oftentimes about the same.

Captain Underpants - The Most Abhorrent Book of Our Time?

Did you know that Captain Underpants is one of the most banned books of the 21st century, even more than Fifty Shades of Grey. If you didn't know, the Captain Underpants series was written by and illustrated by Dav Pilkey from 1997 to 2015. The reason it was banned, according to businessinsider.com  was for its "offensive language", "partial nudity", "violence", "misbehavior", and "blackmail/threats." I think that these points should be disregarded because, for starters, the content is not as serious as the titles suggest (ie. "offensive language" but the worst word in the books are poopy) and every aspect of the book is used to create a comedic effect and is not meant to, nor could it, be taken seriously. Furthermore, shielding kids from "offensive" words like poopy is not only ridiculous, but in fact this is terrible parenting, as this is not a healthy way to raise a child for the real world, where much harsher words and actions are inflicted, and not only that, but you are stopping your child from getting into and enjoying reading, which in itself is a feat of despicable parenting.

Favorite Book of All Time

When I heard we were asked to write about a favorite book we've read, my mind immediately went to The Ultimate Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy. The Ultimate Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy is a comedic science fiction novel written by Douglas Adams. While reading the book I found myself laughing out loud at certain parts as well as in deep thought and speculation in others. Overall, I would greatly recommend reading this book, especially if you like aliens, science, and comedy. 

Video Games - Good or Bad?

Anita Sarkeesian released a YouTube video titled "Damsel in Distress: Part 1 - Tropes vs Women in Video Games" (which I would recommend watching, if only for the amount of buzz surrounding it.) This video sparked enormous controversy in the gaming world as it called to question the misogynistic and violent nature of many video games. The main point in the video is that a lot of video games undermine the power of women, for example putting them in the role of damsel in distress, in order to create objects for the "strong" male character to save and claim upon victory. Sarkeesian goes on to say that these misogynistic representations of women have real world consequences as men now feel superior to women who also feel a new sense of inferiority.

Personally, I think that the misogynistic nature of games does not create a misogynistic society, perhaps reinforces and certainly reflects that society, but rather misogynistic games are merely a product of a misogynistic society. In all honesty, any dislike for women that is produced from video games is created ten fold by women who complain about misogynistic aspects of those games. In regards to video games as a whole, some may claim that violent video games lead to violent tendencies, while supporters say that they inspire creative qualities in kids, but I find that both of these arguments deal with insignificant subtleties and that for those who really wanted to effectively attack video games, you could criticize their addictiveness and why that's bad. But here's my counter: fuck off, I need something to make this shitty existence more enjoyable. 

Uh Video Games

In all honesty, I don't think I've ever been shocked by a video game, song, or TV show for it's violence, racism/cultural insensitivity, or misogyny. Call me desensitized, but I am only shocked by things that actually directly reflect the writers views, so some news outlets or YouTube videos, or perhaps an unsuccessful joke, but I find that most games, music, and TV shows fail to do this. Part of the reason why I am yet to be significantly offended by such things is perhaps because I haven't watched/listened to the most controversial video games, songs, and TV shows. I think that almost any joke is good if it is funny enough and that almost any joke will offend someone or another.

Games and media are made with one purpose, to entertain, while making profit of course. Part of this entertainment requires controversial images and representations to be presented. Personally, I disagree with calling video games sexist by portraying women with "unrealistic proportions." This is simply because I find that for just as many unproportional women in video games, there are just as many overly muscly men. If anything these representations of men and women alike only cause desire for a healthier and more fit body. Now I could go into a whole argument countering myself but I'm not going to because I like video games.

I guess one final note is that any complaints people have with video games should be directed at the inner workings of society and not the games themselves. For it is us as a culture that designs and determines the acceptability of all video games.

My Favorite Game

My favorite game is probably soccer. In soccer, the objective is to kick the ball, in the shape of a sphere, into the goal, 8ft x 24ft rectangle, opposite the one you are defending. Your goal is to do this more than your opponent in the 90 minutes you are allotted.  You are only allowed to kick the ball and can't use your hands unless you are throwing it in from out of bounds or are the goal keeper. I like soccer because of the skill and athleticism that it requires and the excitement and competition you feel when playing. It is fun to make a good play on the ball or do a good skill move and make someone else look stupid, but most of all, it is an amazing feeling to score a goal. From playing soccer I learned that it is important to be big and athletic, and that you can improve on, at least the latter, by playing soccer.

My Exciting Hidden Figures Review (This Will Change Your Life!!!)(Not Clickbait!!!)

The instructor said:
write a truthful poem about yourself,
beginning where Hughes begins.

The only problem is:
If I don't find my life interesting enough to write about,
Who will?

I am fifteen, white, Rochester born and raised.
I was a toddler when I made my first joke
A shrewd feat of irony
The mere act of wiping crumbs
off my parents faces,
each of us laughing exuberantly,
And yet it was so much more.
For over the next decade it,
the act of telling jokes,
became my life style.

Comedy has aided my quest for friendship,
distracted me from overbearing problems,
and even altered my view on many aspects of reality.

This did have it's drawbacks though
mainly conflict with teachers
and members of authority.
I couldn't tell you
how many times I've faced strict punishment,
not for getting into fights,
but simply for joking around.
Not to mention the distaste
that arises among peers
as a result of some of my jesting actions
or the distractions the ubiquitous
world of satire places before me.

And even as I'm writing this
I am unable to resist
the occasional laugh or
amusing thought that materialize
to save me from my boredom.

novni.com is a good website for writers and readers a like. It allows writers to share their stories anonymously with the website where others can choose to read what ever interests them. The goal of the website is to inspire and uplift others and it even offers therapy.

infowars.com is a biased source of news. It provides a right extremist view on the world and the political state of America.

ap.org is a reliable source of news. According to makeuseof.com, ap.org is one of the least biased news sources in existence. It covers worldly news although it is located in New York City.

futureofthebook.org is a website that is devoted to the criticism of pop culture. The author, Michael Lawrence, seems to have created the website in order to rethink and evaluate the current situation of  popular culture, particularly regarding online news.

facebook.com is a very popular social media website. Millions of people use facebook to chat with friends, post statuses to their timeline, to see what others are doing, to save progress on games, and even to call with friends.

This meme is one I found particularly funny while searching for "offensive memes" on google. It utilizes the funny expression of the commonly known, and kid friendly, face of shaggy from scooby do in correspondence with a very shocking statement to produce a hilarious effect.

I would couldn't describe to you my "coming-out" story about being a geek or nerd because while I am a fan of the internet and it's countless services and while I may be somewhat of an outcast (all though this has declined in later years) I would not consider myself a geek or nerd but rather someone who possesses qualities of geeks and nerds alike. Since I can not tell you about this "coming-out" story I will give you a classification of the different kinds of nerds and geek that exists. Type 1: The Eugene. The Eugene is your stereotypical nerd who lacks in the categories of friends, good looks, charm, and, often, a will to live. Most Eugenes turn to the Internet for a safe space where they can act in their true Eugene form through the process of role playing, joining fandoms, and exploring the weirder/shadier parts of the web. However, in the unfortunate case that a Eugene can not find safety within the internet, it is very common that they will take their anger out on others, often weaker than them or at school via a gun. Type 2: Memester. This person is never one of the "popular" kids at their school although they can generally form friendships with fellow memesters, unlike Eugene's who remain secluded from the rest of society. Memesters value the internet for it's endless supply of memes, as the title suggests, and video games. They will browse the web forever in a spurt of boredom in search of way to achieve a quick laugh or long period of entertaining gaming. Type 3: The Victoria. This type of nerd uses the internet for the sole purpose of achieving greater knowledge, generally based on performing better in school. They will browse the internet for hours doing research or typing up an essay for school. They often like to type way more than is expected and turn it in well before the due date in order to impress their teachers. When they are not on the internet it is very common to find them buried in the middle of the third book they are reading that week. 

If I recall correctly, as a young child I rarely interacted with a computer to do little more than game and the occasional school assignment, and all though I can not pin point a specific memory of this, I assume it to be true. I do have some faint memories of me using a school computer to play on gaming websites such as y8.com, miniclip.com, or gamepost.com. However, my true child gaming dreams were complete upon my discovery of Roblox.com. Despite my craving for video games I never owned a computer, and still don't (all though I essentially dominate the family computer today), and I don't have any memories of the family computer that I assume we had, other than the clunky desktop in the basement that was never used. I have a much more active relationship with the Internet in comparison with all other forms of mass media. I find the internet to be much more useful as it can provide entertainment, whether it be through video games or videos, knowledge through articles, google searches, and videos, and it keeps me updated on my friends and the relationships around me through instant messaging and social media. I find that most other forms of media can only provide one or two of these ideals whereas the internet covers all three, and very often, covers them better than other forms of media.

Think about the media technologies in your life when you were growing up. How did you watch TV shows, listen to music, or communicate with friends? How have those technologies changed since you were very young? 

As a kid I rarely interacted with technology, except to watch the occasional pbs kids tv show. I did not have a phone, computer, console, ds, or any other type of electronic device. However, this all changed in sixth grade when I got my first tablet. Oh the times I've had with my tablet, all of the places we've been, games we've played, messages we've sent, videos we've watched, but that all ended in a sea of tears when I opened my book bag one day to find it cracked. Unable to look at it the same I sent it away, far far away, to the repair shop where I was told they would fix it up in no time. Unfortunately, cut to nearly six months later, and they were still "working" on it. When we finally did receive it, it appeared to have multiple internal issues and it broke completely within a week. It was around this time that my sister got her first phone so I was given her tablet. It would never be the same but it would still suffice a long with the new family computer. Cut to a few years later and I received the phone I have today. Originally I was opposed to the idea of wasting money on a phone, for why would I need a phone when I already had a tablet for gaming? Right? But I had not considered the ease of access a phone provides. For example I could now carry my phone anywhere via pockets and a phone is much easier to whip out and start using as opposed to a tablet, I also had the added benefit of making calls through a phone. Now me and my phone are practically inseparable, aside from the shitty chargers that leads to it's weekly death, but other than that, we do everything together. I have noticed this pattern in my peers as now almost everyone today has consoles, video games, and social media.

A media product that I enjoy and use often is my phone. The phone has countless uses, but I mainly use it for relaxation, finding information, and communication. The phone's ability to excel in providing me with those three key factors of human life gives it much importance. For example your phone allows you to discover new breaking news, scientific discoveries, information for school projects, and even just to answers questions you are dying to know. The phone also gives us access to video games, music, art, and many other calming activities. Finally the phone provides a means of talking to friends, family members, boy/girl friends, and even strangers whom you've never met through applications such as social media, calling, video chat, commenting on videos/chat forums.

A media product that is harmful to the public is extremist news sources such as infowars and buzzfeed. These extremist websites push their radical agenda, all though not all buzzfeed articles are like this as they do post a significant amount of articles with the intent of amusement rather than a political statement, that ultimately leads to more racism, sexism, and extreme feminism, all of which plague society. All though such extreme news sources do offer various ways of viewing the world, which is important in a democratic society, they tend to lead to the oppression of others which is not healthy in a democracy. I think that they should be removed in order to create a utopia of similar thinking, generous, kind, and uncultured humans. However, this does not seem like a utopia as the society described does not include many of the things that makes us human. So I say that those media outlets should be left in existence but actively opposed by the masses, rather than this silent majority set up we see today. I would like to end by pointing out it is far too early in the human progression for anyone, much less me, to accurately predict whether or not the removal of such media devices will benefit or hurt society in the long run. 

And Then There Were None Review

So the last creative writing book I read for the year was And Then There Were None. I'd say that it was definitely one of my favorite books that I've read so far this year even though it caused me to get triggered about two things. For one the ending was spoiled for me bc people told me who it is, and two we had a test on it that I thought I would have time to read for but then it was started early so I got 3/15 when I could've gotten an easy 15/15 if it was on Monday like I expected, and I think that difference affects my MP4 grade by like 5%.......................................... 

Anyway, the book was definitely well written and all though it seemed to overwhelm you with characters in the beginning, I found that I got to know and understand each character throughout the course of the book. The book also cleverly gave clues as to who the murderer was without giving it away so it was still an interesting surprise for the average reader at the end. I liked how the soldier poem corresponded with the deaths of the people all though I thought it was rather obvious that that was how it was going to be before I even read the first page. Uhm, what else... The book wasn't boring as there was action and suspense on nearly every page. I would tell you what my guess for who the murderer was throughout the book, but as I said, I knew who it was from the beginning. But, this also provided an interesting perspective as I was able to analyze the murderers actions, words, and thoughts and use this to determine what clues the author gave to allow the reader to try and figure out who the murderer is before it is revealed at the end. So yeah, I would recommend you read this if you are interested in mystery.

Fantasy Assignment Review

So recently I did a fantasy story assignment and I think it went pretty dokey okey. I liked my story although I wish I could have more time in the future to write it. I ended up writing 8 pages but I skipped the whole middle part and a ton of details and I didn't go back and edit for time's sake. (ps i normally do 2 pages max for writing projects) But yeah, from what I wrote so far I found it interesting and thought it was well written for what it was. (btw fantasy is one of my least favorite fiction genres.) So overall I did enjoy writing it but I wish I had more time, or rather will have more time because if i had been given more time in the beginning I would still have done about the same amount of work.

My Thoughts on Fantasy Movies

I have watched many Fantasy movies and read many fantasy books, but I must say I prefer many other genres over fantasy because I, like most people, read and watch fiction in order to escape reality and to imagine what another reality and the characters in that reality are like, however I find that I like to imagine realities that are plausible to occur either in the future or that may have happened in the past. I find it hard to imagine a reality in which dragons, wizards, and magic exists, and therefore am able to connect to the story less as it is less relatable to me in the real world. I have watched many fantasy movies like the Lord of the Rings series, the Harry Potter series, and a bunch of other superhero and magic stories. Overall I found them intriguing but does not bring about real world questions and concerns like sci-fi or realistic fiction does. Also I find that other genres of fiction have a lot more to do with controversial interactions between characters and their environment that cause us to wonder what we would do in that situation where as fantasy has to do more with characters overcoming magical and unrealistic obstacles and challenges. For example one sci-fi movie I watched was passengers and after I watched that I was forced to wonder if I would have woken the girl up in order to improve my life but end up destroying hers where as a fantasy movie like the Lord of the Rings provides a much less interesting question of wood I survive if I were to fight a dragon or something like that. This is most likely due to the fact that Fantasy is primarily based on the interaction between "human" like creatures and monsters which would be a lot harder to create a love story or anything of real emotion since we have a much harder time thinking of loving a dragon or something where as other fictions are based on "human" on "human" relationships which generally bring about more emotion and interesting interactions (at least to me).

Tolkien Review

Today I will be reviewing Tolkien by the Hobbit. I give a 6.9/10. Personally, I do not like the fantasy genre as a whole and much prefer other fiction genres. The book the hobbit does not vary much in regards to tropes used in standard fantasy. It tells an interesting story filled with action and mystical creatures but it has a rather unfulfilling ending. This is because even though Bilbo, the main character (btw if you don't know who Bilbo is why tf are you even here), and his squad end up gaining back the dragon's treasure, defeating the goblins in an epic battle, and overcoming many other seemingly impossible tasks, Bilbo ends up returning home and instead of being treated like a hero for his accomplishments, he is disregarded as strange.

Martian Chronicles Review

Alright, so today I will be writing a review for The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury, and I'm sure all of your are dying to hear it so here it is. I honestly liked this book a lot better than Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury. One of the reasons I think I liked The Martian Chronicles better than Dandelion Wine is because of the topic. Not only do I find sci-fi stories about Mars to be more interesting than historical-fiction stories about the early 1900's, but I also think that it's a lot easier to relate to the stories because both Ray Bradbury and I have a similar point of view about mars. Let me explain, from the early 1900's to now a lot has changed regarding how a person born in the early 1900's views the time period and how a person born in the 2000's views the same period, but it also creates a gap of knowledge between the relevant politics, fears, language, and even  popular customs and clothing during that period because while Ray Bradbury's Dandelion Wine may be able to relate to an audience born in the early 1900's as his references will be relevant and understandable to that audience while I will be left wondering what the heck Dandelion Wine even is (I later learned it was simply Wine made from Dandelions but I had never heard of that before and I'm sure most millennials haven't either.) The Martian Chronicles on the other hand... Because, neither Ray Bradbury or I have actually been to Mars, we both still have the same view point on the red planet, and science hasn't advanced so far since the 19th century  to drastically change anyone's view point on mars drastically, plus if you add in the fact that his book is based more on fiction than on science, it is a lot easier to accept and read. And once I was actually able to read, understand, and relate (intellectually) to the stories of Mars, it was a lot easier to understand and think about the deeper meaning hidden in the stories. Overall I think that The Martian Chronicles is definitely a better read, especially for teenagers.

A Star Falls Review

Recently I read a short sci-fi post on dailysciencefiction.com titled A Star Falls. Basically the story is about the encounter between an unhappy single mom and an Alien from outer space. The Alien is handsome and understanding and the lady feels herself compelled to reveal all of her most pressing concerns like how her husband left her for a "cocktail waitress." After their conversion the Alien leaves the lady by herself. She decides to follow through on one of the things she talked about. She left her kids at home alone and started a completely new life as a new person far far away where no one knew of her past.
The story uses good word choice and description so the reader can create a good image in their mind of what the setting looks like. You are also able to somewhat relate to the narrator. However, I wasn't that intrigued by the plot. Overall I'd say that it did a very good job of developing characters given only a couple paragraphs and it was worth the time it took to read.

April 2000: The Third Expedition

Today we will be reviewing one of the stories in Ray Bradbury's The Martian Chronicles, which, by the way, I like infinitely better than Dandelion Wine. The chapter I will be reviewing is the 6th chapter, "April 2000: The Third Expedition." In the chapter the third rocket carrying humans is sent from earth to mars and the crew finds themselves on martian soil, only it looks exactly like Earth from the early 1900's. They grew suspicious and begin to look around but they are soon taken aback as they notice that all their dead beloved family and relatives are found within the small town they are in. They take it as a miracle and each crew member follows his/her family into their houses. Unfortunately for the crew, the family members they are seeing are only telepathic mind tricks by martians and each and everyone of them is killed in the night.

On page 32 the novel states "Around the rocket in four directions spread the little town, green and motionless in the Martian spring. There were white houses and red brick ones, and tall elm trees blowing in the wind, and tall maples and horse chestnuts. And church steeples with golden bells silent in them." Which gives the reader a little idea of the looks of the place in which the rocket has landed. It also brings up great mystery as the reader will wonder how there is a place on mars that looks exactly like Earth in the past. The passage occurs in the beginning, just after meager background information is given about the rocket's trip through space. Ray Bradbury uses the setting to comment on the conflict in the story. This is because the setting is part of what is used to deceive the astronauts into thinking that they had landed in a friendly and welcoming environment.

Ray Brabdbury Article Response

The article I am reviewing is titled: "How Ray Bradbury's 'The Martian Chronicles' Changed Science Fiction (And Literature)." The article basically said that Ray Bradbury changed science fiction immensely because he was able to merge the genre with literacy fiction. Before that science fiction was thought of as being written with poor prose and on the basis of an optimistic imagination but after The Martian Chronicles many future science fiction stories took a pessimistic view of the fate of humanity and they focused less on science and more on characters and character interactions.

Here's the article if you want to learn more: https://tylermillerwrites.com/2016/09/14/how-ray-bradburys-the-martian-chronicles-changed-science-fiction-and-literature/

Also the article sucks because of spoilers.

• 
  

Back at it again with those Dandelion Wine Reviews

Yay, now I get to say whatever shit I actually think about the book! It felt like you were reading a story in which the author was constantly jacking off to metaphors and 5 syllable words. Keep in mind that I have nothing against using uncommon words or poetic devices such as metaphors. But fuck, it gets annoying when it's every other sentence and it completely limits your ability to understand and grow attached to the actual story (especially as 9th graders) because if you are constantly trying to understand what a sentence means literally, it is generally very hard to translate that into what it means in the context of the story, or it's deeper meaning. I also noticed that it seemed to change topic very suddenly throughout each chapter, for instance one time the book was describing the interaction between Douglas and Mr. Sanderson, the owner of the shoe store, and he only went on for a few sentences before saying "There was a sound of growing thunder." Which, by the way, added nothing to the story. And this brings me to my final point, the book constantly refers to or ends chapters with a very detailed description of the setting. Again, this is not a bad technique to use once in a while, but it seemed like it was used constantly throughout the book.

On the brightside, this book has taught me not to use the same writing techniques over and over throughout a 300 page book because it annoys the shit out of all audiences under the age of 15. 

Dandelion Wine Analysis

In my opinion, Dandelion Wine is boring as the shit. However, that doesn't mean it's written poorly. A few of the stories that I "liked" (relatively) were the story of the happiness machine, and the story of the Witch ladies. In the story of the happiness he successfully described how true happiness resides in caring for other humans rather than in a computer like machine. He describes a man who seeks to build a machine that can make anyone happy. But, while he is creating it the machine wedges it's way between him and his loving relationship with his family. Also, when people enter the machine they feel happy at first but then they feel sad because they realize that all things displayed in the happiness machine will be unattainable to them in real life. This causes the inventor, Leo Auffman, to realize that true happiness resides in family. This is a brilliant way of describing the human condition in which we seek out love and the need to care for others. He also describes the scene taking place using very descriptive and poetic language.
Another intriguing story written by Ray Bradbury was the story of how Elmira Brown thought that Clara Goodwater was a Witch. In this chapter Elmira Brown believes Clara Goodwater to be a Witch and when she goes to the Honey Suckle Ladies Lodge in order to become the head of the organization after a vote, she is beaten nearly unanimously voted against and Clara Goodwater ends up as the leader, only for Elmira to fall down the stairs and miraculously survive uninjured and she is allowed to become the President of the organization. This story was well written because not only was it described in great detail and poetically, but it showed how humans are so easily deceived by outside appearances and how we sometimes ignorantly fail at being able to empathize for and understand others.

An Awkward First Kiss

Aren't they all?
Cold wind whipping at my
half zipped coat.
Or half unzipped.
We both stand there shivering.
Dinner is over,
gifts have been exchanged,
and now it is time for the thought
that has been prying at the back of our minds
for 4 months.
I move in for a hug.
But this hug is different,
This time our heads face each other
and our eyes pierce one another's skull.
We lean in and..
No.
It is not right.
We stop, midway.
5 minutes of silence ensues.
Feet inch closer and closer together,
people walking by,
unconcerned of the event moments away from occurrence.
Shadows dance with the moonlight
as we gave up into the night sky;
there are no stars,
just an infinitely vast black blanket
caging us all inside.
Regardless of the blanket we are still shivering.
We try one more time.
This time it feels right.
We reach in, heads facing, but...
Our heads turn away yet again.
Oh! But it is too late.
The hug is inevitable and has begun to take place.
And I can feel the weight of all of my friends and family
and they say do it.
And I listen.
Some may call it a peck
but a first kiss,
no matter how awkward,
is still a first kiss.

My favorite writing genre is Science Fiction. The reason why Sci-Fi is my favorite genre to read (and write), is because I find it very immersing and interesting writing about a possible future world that seems impossible but if given the right causes, could be very believable. I like these types of stories because it puts characters in situations unheard of in the real world but still allows them to react the same way people would today. I generally like science fiction where "getting the science right" is a very big factor in the book, like in the book The Martian by Andy Weir (although Mars' atmosphere wouldn't be powerful enough to create devastating dust storms, or at least the type of dust storm described in the book.) However my favorite book of all time, by far, is the Ultimate Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams which is Science Fiction but is also extremely comical. 

Maya Angelou's List of the top 10 Writing Rules

Maya Angelou gave a list of her top ten writing rules. Personally, rule number 10: Keep rising, makes the most sense to me because it is saying that no matter what may drag you down or block your path to success, you must do everything you can to overcome the obstacle that stands before you. This is very important because if you were not to do this, if you were to let the evil win out and not get back up and fight back, then you would have completely given up on writing and would have no ability to return to it.  One of her rules I need to work on the most is rule number 9: always do your best. The reason I struggle with this rule is because many times when I write I do not have the time or will to do my best whether it is the worry that if I put my heart into something I might not have enough time to finish it and get the desired grade, or whether it is the fear that if I put my all into something and it comes back torn up, that I wouldn't know how to react. Of her 10 rules the one I practice most is rule number 4: Laugh. I love to laugh and therefore I do it as often as possible, I don't know why but that feeling you get when you laugh and genuinely have a good time is one of the most appealing feelings in the entire world and it is one of the things that inspires me to write.

Over the course of my 14 year life I have been able to categorize all people into just 5 groups. The first group are the type of people on the far right who will say and do truly awful things that have an extremely bad negative effect on society. The next group of people is the type of people on the far left who get offended when there is really nothing said or done that should offend a normal human being. Then there are the people towards the middle who enjoy criticizing those on the two far extremes, which is personal the group I partake in. The next group of people can also be placed in the middle and they are the type of people who either don't care or have no means or reason to care. The final group of people is the type of people who cant be place at any single point on the chart of left and they are the people who actually make a positive change in the world. All though they are far and few between, they do exist and we all should strive to become like them. On one final note I would like to say that honestly, as kids we can only really be placed in the middle because 99% of our opinions are formed by our parents and the only two groups in the middle are the people who joke about the extremists and the people who simply don't care, but, there are still people who pretend to be on the far sides.

Pahz Cherelin is currently a ninth grader in School of the Arts. He is taking a creative writing class in which he hopes to improve his grammar. He turned 14 in May. He lives in Rochester, New York with his parents and his 3 pets, his dog Rascal, his other dog Gremlin, and his sister, Tierra. He enjoys writing, sports, video games, and food. He likes writing comically and enjoys writing deep and dark short stories and poems. His favorite book is The Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy; his favorite movie is Deadpool. He has long term depression (not really) because in 1st grade (this is a true story by the way) he met this girl, he did not know her at the time but apparently she knew him. She said hello and was very excited when she found out that they were in the same class. She was so excited in fact that she jumped out of her seat on the bus and made out with Pahz. Pahz did not know this girl but he let her do her thing. Within the week they were boyfriend and girlfriend. They were together all through first and second grade. He thought that nothing could tear them apart… Until she moved to a new school. He was scared and afraid without her. Seemingly a miracle occurred. He transferred schools so that he was in the same school as her. When he walked into class on his first day he was so excited to see her… with another man. That’s right, after only one week of being apart she had already gotten together with another man. And that kids is why Pahz Cherelin has long term depression…

Hopeless lives with his mother Lonesome.  His dad left him when he was a child. He never really enjoyed school. He ignored constant drone of the Teacher and instead focused on the more delicate things, like the dancing snowflakes in the wind outside his poorly heated classroom. The small pleasures in life always seemed to run out too quick, it was as if everything he owned was a grain of sand that was determined to slip through his open fist. The pitter patter of raindrops on compacted cement always appealed to the blinding sunlight. His house is in the middle of a one way street that leads to a dead end. The street has no stop signs, it is just one narrow path that yells “go!” and then demands you to stop and retrace your footsteps. Hopeless did have a lover in school. He sat back quietly admiring her from his reserved spot in the back of the class. He even attempted to talk to her once. He told her he liked her and she told him that she liked him too… as a friend.