Month: May 2013

Aryeah

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There once was a very tired editor who would spend all day grading and posting blogs. By the end of the day she would look over so many blogs that her arms would get sore from grading.

Her exhaustion would show in her demeanor by the end of the day. She would drag her feet across the floor as she approached her car.

She would schlep herself home and open her computer to articles and blogs ready to be edited, and everyday she would stay up until they were all finished.

She never took breaks and always worked incredibly hard for her classes.

This editor is our editor-in-chief Aria Ellett.

A valiant soldier

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Red never thought this day would come. He had been drafted. He had overheard the officers saying that this war was a lost cause and the draft was a death sentence. A soldier’s life wasn’t valued in this army.

He worked in basic training for a year becoming the most battle ready soldier in the military.

The time came for his first battle. The officers told him the future was at stake.

He approached his position and got in.

He was flung through the air at great speed.

He was honored in a way only the angriest of birds can.

3 Stars.

A Dark Day

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vrgr

A hill awaits on the mountain top.

The sun beats strongly upon it.

However the rays will not last long.

Instead clouds appear from above destroying all life.

The wind was fierce, the trees shook.

Slowly day turned to night, the weather became as sharp as icicles.

The animals froze.

The leaves fell down.

The only good thing was the amount of Justice.

Violence

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So, as I’m writing this, I’m finishing watching the excruciatingly long “Django Unchained“. Before this movie, I’ve been somewhat okay with Quentin Tarantino’s overly violent films, but this one is just absolutely ridiculous. However, the reason I didn’t like it wasn’t because the script was written by a five year old or because the acting was probably the worst I have ever seen, it was because of the unfathomably ultra-violent content.

Just watch this scene from Django Unchained and tell me if it doesn’t make you a little uneasy.

Viewers Discretion is Advised

I can’t begin to imagine why anyone would be into movies like Django, Saw or any of the other modern movies that rely on violence to draw a crowd. Movies like Django are only memorable because you see gunfights where the blood rains down in the scene and makes it impossible to see what’s happening, or scenes where naked hillbillies get their junk blown off.

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Rainy Chicago.

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During this Spring break I headed to Chicago for my very first time.

However, I didn’t expect it to be rainy all week. But thanks to the rain, I had such a precious chance to enjoy a different Chicago.

The most rainy day was the day I went to the Millennium Park for the “Big Bean” sculpture. Its actual name is “Cloud Gate,” a public sculpture by Indian-born British artist Anish Kapoor. Constructed between 2004 and 2006, the sculpture is nicknamed “The Bean” because of its bean-like shape. “Made up of 168 stainless steel plates welded together, its highly polished exterior has no visible seams.”

It was inconvenient to visit under a rainy but when I got closer to the “Bean,” i realized that it could be a good opportunity for me to see the city in another way. The shiny silver bean became more vivid surrounded by the gloomy air, which made it more lonely somehow. The water drops slide down from the smoothy sphere as if it is crying.

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Too Far Away

Daphne PsaledakisLeave a comment

One of the downsides of going to a boarding school so far from home is that sometimes you feel that you’ve been left out of the family. Sometimes when I’m talking to my dad or brothers on the phone they talk about things they’ve done, and I get to feeling a little bit left out.

I realize that it comes with living away from home. I would not trade my amazing life here at OVS for going to the punchbowl or Smash Burger back home. But hearing about it does make me miss it.

Another thing I miss is making decisions with the family. Over the past four years we have moved three times, and all three times I have not been able to choose my room, or the furniture that goes into it. The result? Home doesn’t feel like home.

I know that I am far away, and that I have another life here at school. And it’s a life that I love and would not trade. But I do miss home. I miss being able to relax all the time. I miss designing my own room and being excited about where we are moving. I miss my family. I miss my dogs. I miss not being there to watch my little brothers grow up. And sometimes it all makes me feel like I am too far away.

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Part 1: LAPD Drugs

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On a cold and foggy day in down town Los Angeles two cars are parked side by side. Window to window hands exchange different bags. I am not sure what’s inside the bag, but I know it couldn’t be anything good.

I follow these two cars as I watch from above, on top of the bridge that they are under. As they drive away I exit the bridge and pull up behind one car. A flat black Dodge Challenger with red break calipers, and chrome handles. Pinstripes run down the side of the door. A chrome tip muffler extends out from underneath the chassis, it is a sound many cars do not make. We stop at a red light, the Challenger is rumbling so loudly that my mirrors are shaking. The man looks in his side mirrors, I am afraid I have been spotted. His face is tattooed, head shaved, and stretched ears. He looks like a high level thug.

I am no cop, just a person who was in the wrong place at the wrong time, but I am not one to let something like this go. My name is Jax. I am just an average person. I wear a suit to work every day. I sit in a cubicle from 9-5 Monday-Friday. I live alone with my two dogs, no woman, just a single guy trying to make a living. Witnessing this exchange was not my idea of a Saturday morning, all I wanted was to drive to the beach in peace, but these stupid asses had to go and mess it up.

I see the Challenger turn into a parking lot. I drive passed his tail lights and turn around the corner. I don’t want him to think I am following him. I park along the curb and watch as he goes into the store. He comes out of the Vons with no bags, but he has been in there for almost 45 minutes. I run inside to ask a clerk if he bought anything, she tells me no. She’s an innocent looking girl, blond hair, blue eyes, and infinity symbol tattooed on her wrist. She looks trustworthy and I figured while I was in there I’d ask her for her number. She hands it to me on the back of a receipt. Julia is her name, I didn’t see her as a Julia, but it fits. I told her I would call her later, but that I had business to get back to. She asked me what I was doing, but I said, I’ll have to tell you some other time.

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Spring is in The Air

Daphne PsaledakisLeave a comment

Spring is my favorite time of year. Why? Because back home in Colorado, it’s when the snow starts the melt. The grass begins to turn green, and the flowers start to bloom. Here at school in Ojai, the weather goes from foggy and cold to sunny, and almost unbearably hot.

In Colorado, spring means the end of a cold winter, which a couple months in, everyone is already sick of. Flowers start to peek out, and it’s when they have just bloomed that they are the prettiest. The grass is green, and the rivers rush with all the snow melt-off. It’s perfection.

Spring also means that the school year is coming to an end. Classes start turning their attention from the everyday lessons to the upcoming finals. Senioritis kicks in as the seniors prepare to throw their cap in the air.

The sun finally peeks it’s head out from behind clouds, flowers decide it’s warm enough to come out of their shell. The world seems awake again. That’s why Spring is my favorite season.

Infinity.

eternity1030Leave a comment

Recently, I have been obsessed with this little symbol – Infinity.

Because I see that symbol a lot not only in my math textbooks, but also on the advertisements and even on the streets. Therefore, out of my curiosity, I did some research on it’s history.

Infinity refers to something “without any limit, and is a concept relevant in a number of fields, predominantly mathematics and physics.” The English word infinity comes from Latin infinitas, which can be translated as “unboundedness”, itself calqued from the Greek word apeiros, meaning “endless”.

The symbol “∞” refers to the concept of infinity. The symbol is just so popular that I found accessories like neckless and rings that are made in the shapes of “∞.”

However, I really think that the symbol is more than just a math symbol which looks cute to people. The design of this symbol is creative and incredibly fits its meaning. When we write it, We can start wherever we want due to the shape of “8.” But wherever we start, we all always end up at the same spot and then just trace its trail for forever and forever. And that’s the amazing part I discovered about this little guy.

As time goes, the symbol also becomes a common metaphor. People use it to compare with life, time and love. People use the sign to make vows.

The “infinity” is an inspiration and sometimes courage.

It means eternity.

It creates endlessness.

It embraces promises.