Month: January 2024

Coming back to school

pottymouth818Leave a comment

Coming back from Winter Break is always a struggle. Before leaving, you’re in a routine and have got everything nailed down. When you return it feels like starting everything from scratch. It’s hard to get back into school mode. This concept is what makes part of the second semester harder as a whole. Although we get more things to look forward to and more breaks, the academic part is more challenging. All of these beautiful breaks we get make the school part all the harder once the break has ended. In the first semester, despite it feeling like a never-ending marathon of school work, you find a nice rhythm in the consistency.

Additionally, what makes the back hard is having to come and live again by the school’s sleep schedule. Over the breaks, I consistently go to bed at around 3 am and don’t wake up until the afternoon the next day. Bering back at school and having to wake up at 7 am or earlier is a harsh reality check. All I want to do is sleep.

You know what’s interesting? All California high schools are required to have an 8:30 start time now. Go figures it began the year after I left. Anyways, I would much appreciate this enacted at OVS, after all, it is what Gavin Newsom wants and how can we be OK with disappointing him?

“School Background” by Words as Pictures/ CC0 1.0

My break.

graypenguinLeave a comment

The year-ending and New Year’s holidays are always very busy. Three weeks fly by and I wish I had one more week off. I saw my family and many friends during my vacation. I feel a sense of relief when I go back to my home country.
Eating delicious food, going shopping, and sleeping in my own bed all make me happy.
At the beginning of this year, I participated in my old school’s New Year’s kickoff party, and it was a great time to see friends I haven’t seen in a year and teachers I haven’t seen in a long time.
The most fun thing I did during this vacation was going skiing with my family. My brother and I went snowboarding and my sister, dad and mom went skiing. I hadn’t skied since the 6th grade, about 6 years. At first I was very worried if I could ski well, but when I finished the first run, the old feeling came back. I had a few sore muscles, but more than that, I was able to spend time with my whole family, and everything was fun and we had good times.
Next time I see my family, I want to go on another trip to a different place.
I have wonderful memories of this vacation to see not only my family but also a lot of friends. When I was in the second year of junior high school, I had a takoyaki (octopus dumpling) party with five of my best friends from the same class. I also met friends from my current school when I went to my grandmother’s house. It was such a busy vacation that no matter how much time I had, it was never enough. I am already looking forward to going back to my home country and seeing my family again.

pc;me

Big Bear

kittenqueen3Leave a comment

This break my best friend joined me and my mom on a trip to Big Bear. The trip was a mess from the start we planned it 2 days before we left. I had gotten a new snowboard and decided to put the bindings on myself which was one of my first mistakes. Mieke spent the night at my house the night before and we got food poisoning so going on such a long drive the next day with an upset stomach was definitely an experience. I had only seen a few photos of the house and was not sure what to expect. As we got their this house looked like something out of a trailer park. My mom nicknamed the house the “shameless shack” and it did live up to the name. Mieke and I explored the house to find old burnt bread on the porch. We walked through the backyard where the hot tub was supposed to be and it was a shed blocked by cinderblocks with a padlock. We went to our room and it literally smelled like feet. To turn on the heater you had take off thee panel of the heater and light a match. Luckily my mom is a d1 complainer and was not happy so we switched places. The second place was so much better and bigger. We still had a super fun time but personally I would not recommend booking.com

Pc:”Snow Forest” by Matej/ CC0 1.0

The Weather Recentley

uwucutiepatootieLeave a comment

Recently, the weather has been horrific. I don’t even know what I’m supposed to wear. It’s too hot to be wearing puffers and lots of layers but it isn’t warm enough to wear just pants and a top. In the morning it is literally in the thirties and I’m forced to go outside to go to the bathroom to get ready and to go to breakfast. The warmth of the classrooms always varies so if I decide to wear pants, a long sleeve, and a jacket but when I’m in a warm classroom, I’m dying of heat. The air is also making my skin so dry and red and it’s not it. Most of my clothes are meant for warm weather so this is horrific. All I want is for the weather to be in the seventies and to start dressing normally. I only have so many hoodies in my closet and at this point, I feel like I’m wearing the same thing every day.

“Snow Cold” by Snapwire/ CC0 1.0

Shoutout to my mess! 

baka228Leave a comment

Recently I have found a special satisfaction in photographing chaos. There’s something about the disordered mass of cosmetics, trash, or whatever else that resonates with me. I see something incredibly organized within these piles, as if they are exactly where they are meant to be. Throughout my life, my parents scolded me for the mess in my room, and I always obediently cleaned up after myself.

But what’s so bad about my disorder? I know exactly which pile contains the needed top or blouse, so what’s the problem with my things being exactly where I want them to be? In essence, our entire life is a disorderly sequence of events and people, from which we choose those that suit us. Throughout my life, I have never been a fan of perfect plans and schedules; they suffocate me. I choose chaos for myself, letting everything be wherever it wants to be, no other way.

pc: me

DO THIS TO BE HAPPY

Closed AccountLeave a comment

The truth is, we as a species are the ones responsible for the greatest lie we have ever told ourselves.

Toasters, TikTok, physics and much of the other progress that is intended to satisfy the human need of happiness has ultimately distanced us from it.

Cold, hungry, dirty, without their phone to scroll through, but surrounded by their mate and their tribe – that was the peak of human happiness which our ancestors have figured out a long time ago.

Except, they did not have the psychedelics. Us – 1: Our ancestors – 0.

Oh, wait… Stoned Ape Theory (Source: Wikipedia).

A campfire, a freshly killed game, a twentieth child, and an intertribal respect – that’s what it means to be happy. I am sorry, kids, but I think this is the moral of the story.

If we are going to be traversing the universe and uncovering its many mysteries, we first have to figure out what to do with the limitations of our own very Earthly, and very scary nature.

https://cdn.zmescience.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/the-stoned-ape-theory-jim-figora.jpg

my incomparable things

purcyLeave a comment

Lana del ray

Gold jewelry

Lipstick – lip gloss – chapstick

New nails

Sunsets

Bows

Fluffy blankets

Starbucks pumpkin drinks

Astrology 

Claw clips

Hoop earrings

Clean sheets 

The color pink

Fun sunglasses

People who don’t make you tired 

Dried flowers

Poetry

Willow trees 

Tanning

Sushi 

Pajama pants

Vintage – thrift stores

Country music 

Stuffed animals

Fridays

Clean socks 

Stanley ice water

A new lash set

Legos

Getting ready with girls

Purses

Hot chocolate 

Greta Van Fleet – Heat above – Light my Love

Christals

Decorating

Good mirrors

Surfing 

Painting on walls

Rain 

Movies

Gilmore Girls 

Watermelon sour patch kids

Spotify wrapped 

Ultra sunrise monster

Polaroid pictures

Cleaning

Hastin

Journaling 

High heels

Eyeliner

Glitter

Angel numbers

Avocado toast

Perfume 

Sol de janeiro 68

Purple shampoo

Weddings

Coffee shops

Tarot cards

Chewing gum

Plants 

Pintrest 

Everything showers

Candles

Shopping 

Hoodies

Baby tees

Rings

Pickles 

Headphones

Highlighter

Sleeping

The ocean

Baggy jeans

Snow

Uggs 

Bracelets

My Future???

godgoldngloryLeave a comment

My mom and I have always dreamed of starting a bakery together. We both have big sweet tooths and are also both interested in business, so it seemed a very logical course of action for us. I actually think I want to go to college for business, so maybe this could actually be a plausible road for me in the future. Here is a basic rundown of how our bakery would be run and what types of things we would display.

First, we want the interior to be super cozy and welcoming from the moment you walk in. Paintings and colorful patterns would be everywhere, as would plants as well. There would be of course the counter and glass cases that would display our goodies, as well as an area for the cash register. We also would want this to be a place that people could come in and work at – a quiet area to relax and get work done while enjoying baked goods.

As for our menu, we want to have very staple items that are year-round and classic, such as cookie, brownie, and donut variations. We actually want our cookies to be kind of our specialty item and develop a super amazing recipe, although at the same time not neglecting our other sweets. However, we want our super special thing to be our holiday rotation. My mom and I literally spent an entire 12-mile hike talking about and going over all of the holiday-specific items we want to bring about. We talked about Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year, Valentine’s Day, Easter, Fourth of July, and Halloween bakery and candy items, all of which are super creative and unique.

Lastly, for extra stuff, we want to have a selection of drinks to choose from, such as coffee, teas, and refreshers. We also want to include a small international candy station where we buy candy from all different continents to expose people to a small aspect of other cultures and hopefully encourage people to try new things.

That’s pretty much it, and it is all just a dream as of now, but who really knows?

Bakery - cartoon people character illustration, Illustrations ft. bakery & people - Envato Elements

PC: https://elements-cover-images-0.imgix.net/22323cae-5b0d-4a6f-9e7c-2953810dbe09?auto=compress&h=630&w=1200&fit=crop&crop=edges&fm=jpeg&s=e4734372bfbe99579eb79da50e0d7b53

Working at Bliss

progstenLeave a comment

Working at the best ice cream shop in town is a pretty good thing most of the time. It’s all pretty easy work but there are also some stressful times while working there. but I think the pros outweigh the cons by quite a lot.

Pros: 1) Free ice cream once a day and while I’m working there I can kinda just eat as much as I want since we have tasters that are free for other people to have so it’s also free for me since I work there. 2) I’m getting probably (on a bad day) an OVS teacher’s salary in tips alone since they aren’t taxed and it’s in Ojai so people can afford to tip most of the time. Also, the normal wage that I get but the tips are more fun. 3) is that I get to meet more people and have a lot of interactions with people whom I have never met which has helped me with talking and meeting new people and I have learned to have better social interactions because of it. 4) it’s a pretty chill job I don’t have to work that hard (well some moments are rough) 5) I get to listen to music while working

Cons: 1) as I said some moments can be stressful like when a bunch of people comes in at once and something in the back breaks or a topping runs out or an old man/child drops his ice cream and stuff like that. 2) the freaking machines are the most annoying part of the job like in some ways it is easier but if it breaks then everything goes sooo wrong and it’s just very stressful. 3) when someone asks for an ice cream cone instead of just being able to scoop it like a normal place I have to make a tower that if I do it wrong it falls over and 90% of it’s at an angle that is on the verge of falling over 4) closing is pretty rough as well it takes a while to do and is hard on my back.

It’s a fun job though and I need money

What I miss already

poofypuffyLeave a comment

If I leave home, these are a few things I will miss about it:

My sister. It is scary knowing that she will keep growing and changing as a person, and I won’t be able to see her everyday to see that happen.

The weather. 40s and 50s is cold enough for me. I can’t imagine going about your day when it’s any colder than that; the image of walking around outside, going places, while your face and hands hurt from the cold is kind of sad.

Friends. There are still so many things to do together, and it feels there will never be enough time.

The food.

The mountains. When I first came here, my parents oohed and ahhed at the scenery, but I never saw what the big deal was. Now, I feel there is something comforting and familiar to feel wrapped up in the hilly earth. The places where everything is flat feels so lonely; in even large cities built in flat middle-of-nowhere desserts, you can look out on the horizon and see nothing. It almost feels cut off from the world. However, I imagine those cities are more closely knit internally.

Picture Credit: Johanna Zender