Quentin Tarentino’s Underrated Gem – Death Proof

Quentin Tarantino is known for a plethora of films, most famously Kill Bill and Reservoir Dogs. But that’s not to say those are his only good films.

Over break, I was yearning for a movie. A Tarentino movie, to be exact. That’s when I look at my ‘To Watch’ list in my notes app, and I see the movie Death Proof.

I look up what the movie is about. “A stuntman who kills women with a modified car labeled as ‘Death Proof'”. That… doesn’t seem interesting. Well, not to me at least, since I’m not into cars that much.

Well, to my surprise, I really liked this movie. The music, the visuals, the makeup, the comedy, and the actors. Despite being considered a “flop” to Tarentino, this movie is held very close to my heart.

I recommend it to people who are into cars. I didn’t understand half the things that the actors were talking about when they were talking about cars. Whoops.

P.C. – “Death Proof” – Google

Stressful Two Weeks

Imagine this.. you’re having a wonderful day. The flowers are swaying in the light gusts of wind, the sun is shining, and there’s no cloud in the sky, and it seems like a good day! That’s until this guy comes up, a very nice-looking man, and proceeds to take a wood plank out and hit you on the head a few times, Looney Tunes style.

Well, not actually. Yet, it seems like the guy was nice, but he ended up hurting you. That guy resembles the two weeks before break. Sure, you were a bit uneasy about this guy walking up to you, but you didn’t know he was gonna hit you several times.

There is one week left before the break. Last week? Last week sucked until the weekend. Along with this week, or what the future holds. 2 tests in your hardest classes on Thursday, and 3 easy on Friday.

I’d call that a double whammy, but considering last week had a lot of tests, too… jeez, it’s only gonna get better till break.

Still, these few days might be the longest of my life. It’s okay, my bed awaits me each time I get home. And all next week.

P.C. Google – “double whammy png”

Drivers ED… Yeesh

Just yesterday, I decided to start drivers ED. The reason why is that every day after school, instead of waiting for the bus to come at 5:20 after school to get home at 6:00 (🫩), my friend Zooey would drop me off at the lower campus. Feeling bad, I brought it up with my parents to start drivers ED.

Of course, I have to jump through hoops just to convince them. “You can only stay in the Ojai area and Oak View!” No Ventura..? Where everything is?

Sparing arguing, I sucked it up and listened to what my boundaries are and how I can’t drive Creek Road (That’s.. one of the roads you need to go on to get to my house..), and my dad let me buy Coastline Drivers ED.

Well, better learn to drive now before I go off to college (hopefully out of state) because who’s gonna entertain my brother during breaks when I come back? He won’t be of driving age. It’s okay, I’ll drive him to the places that my parents won’t drive to.

P.C. – Google “person driving”.

New Interests

Throughout the past week, well, technically through break, I found myself looking into more things I haven’t picked up for the past two to three years. One of these is Fallout, with the second season just dropping in December, releasing episodes every Wednesday.

Whenever the first season came out, in 2024, I had heard about the franchise through my old friend. Victor. He grew up on the games, and he’s been begging me to play Fallout New Vegas. I downloaded it on my Xbox, and I played for a bit, till I encountered a roadblock in the gameplay, my younger self getting frustrated.

I let go of the game for a while, focusing on more school and other personal endeavors, such as writing and drawing. That was until I watched the second season with my dad, my interest sparking again.

Discouraged with FNV, I decided to download Fallout 4, one of the more recent games, on my computer. Slowly chipping away at the game, I play it every night, and I yearn to finish it.

The show? Good. I like it. I recommend it to anyone who likes postapocalyptic stories and well-written characters.

P.C. – Google

Overambitious

I consider myself a tad bit overambitious, and I don’t even know why. I feel like it’s my need to live up to my parents’ expectations of me (hell, even surpass them), and also to give my younger brother a good example to look up to, because I never had that, since I am the eldest sibling. I just wanna seem impressive for my age, y’know?

I’ve been working on several novels since the 6th grade, adding random characters, plots, and just a bunch of random stuff to them, but never actually having the time to write at all. I want to get at least one of those drafts actually published to the public, but by the time I actually have free time, I’m exhausted, and I don’t wanna do anything and sleep/doom scroll.

Though this urge to write more, draw more, or even just play music more has to come from somewhere. I don’t think I will ever know. Definitely not soon.

P.C. – Pinterest

Giving Thanks

In around 4 days (by the time I’m writing this), Thanksgiving will be here. Known for its turkey, family, and the unison of the pilgrims and the natives (oof, wish it went down like that), it’s a good season overall.

There are a lot of people to thank this season. Here are the people and things I’m grateful for:

  • My younger brother, William. You’re honestly one of the funniest 8-year-olds I’ve ever met. You always look up to me, and I try to be a good role model for you, even if I might not seem like the best influence of an older brother. Playing video games and watching TV shows, you will forever be the best person to do that with.
  • My mom and my dad, for supporting me no matter what, even if you don’t necessarily understand me. I know you’ll love me no matter what, and even through tough times and difficult decisions, I’ll still love you. Whether it be on the boat, at a concert, or in another country together, I will love you guys for supporting me and loving me.
  • My girlfriend, Evelyn. In 6 days, it will mark our 8 months together. I’m grateful that you will understand me and love me no matter what I do, and listen to me and my interests for hours on end. I love making gifts for you and going on dates, showing you pictures of my dog, laughing with you, and sitting in silence. Looking forward to the future with you.
  • My dogs, past and present. Hobson, Emma, Rincon, Pidus, Mondo, and my puppy, Snoop. I wish that you could understand me and how much I love you and how you were always there for me. Hobson, I’m gonna miss your grave when I move out. Snoop, you might be a piece of crap sometimes, and taking my socks out of my room, but you’ll always be amazing even when I move out of the house for college. Emma, Rincon, Pidus, and Mondo, I know that you guys are working dogs, but you’re very special in my heart.
  • Music, in general. Music was always there, helping me go through the toughest times of my life, and helping illustrate and make everything have a story.
  • All my friends who don’t go to OVS. Even if we might not see each other that often, you guys will always be in my heart, and if you need me, I’m always open.
  • All my friends who go to OVS. I can always rely on you guys for anything, whether listening to random crap that happens in my life, hanging out with each other every other weekend during breaks, or messing around for fun.
  • Cartoon Network, for shaping my childhood.
  • Mr. Alvarez, for helping me discover my love of writing and expressing myself through words, and for Humanities, a class that sparked my interest in philosophy and changed my life.
  • And last but not least, my struggles. My struggles made me realize that I’m gonna make it further than I would’ve ever gotten, motivating me to become better than I am now.

I’m just overall grateful for everything that’s happened to me leading to this moment, both the good and the bad. I’m happy that currently I have a roof over my head and a full stomach every night.

P.C, – Pinterest

Juno – Movie

This movie was the first to ever make me cry. It is a coming-of-age comedy-drama (woah, mouthful) about Juno, and planning her unplanned pregnancy while also going through life and school that comes along with it. I find myself reflecting on the movie, from its soundtrack to its storytelling, it’s overall just an amazing movie.

The movie’s humor reminds me of Napoleon Dynamite, which is also an amazing movie, if you haven’t watched it, with a mixture of Superbad, which is also an amazing movie, if you haven’t watched it. It’s just so dry, yet also so well done, and it looks like it had the budget of a McDonald’s Happy Meal, but it’s amazing.

Now, I’ve seen a lot of movies, but this one is definitely one of my favorites. Sure, the description I said above sounds like a show you would watch on Netflix whenever you really don’t want to, but you have finished your favorite series, and it’s amazing.

P.C. – Pinterest

Bugs

Normally, I love bugs. Beetles, bees, centipedes, or anything remotely interesting to look at that other people see as gross or weird. It brings me comfort, in an odd way. Though I like bugs, I don’t like them in my living vicinity.

Ants have been scattered throughout my bathroom, which was odd, because I didn’t have anything open or food or anything in my bathroom, so of course, I tried to kill as many as I could. They were annoying. Getting on my towel, on my sink, just everywhere. I finally killed them all, until today.

Today, after dinner, I was walking to my room, saying goodnight to my parents. Then, I see about a million of those six-legged creatures beneath my feet. Obviously, weirded out, I cleaned them up, killing around 6 or 7 generations of them, since my mom was recovering from surgery and my dad just wanted to relax. I like ants for the environment, but maybe not in my house and on my bare feet.

So now I write this blog to you, with ants crawling up my legs and down my arms, going into the parts of my computer. They’re.. they’re just.. everywhere.

P.C. – Google, “guy cleaning floor”

Kids’ Shows (With A Dark Turn)

As a child, I used to watch shows. I’m sure we all used to, either it being PBS Kids, Disney, Nickelodeon, or Cartoon Network, or comics, or any media given to someone as a child. I grew up on Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network, mainly watching SpongeBob, Gravity Falls, or any other show streamed on the public networks.

I eventually grew out of it, but I still can’t stop watching a few shows meant for kids. That was until I got turned to Adult Swim, where I watch Smiling Friends, Superjail, Futurama, Moral Orel, and a few smalls here and there. Sure, all of these shows are equally messed up and dark, but they’re animated and not meant for kids.

The main reason I’m writing this blog is the second season of Fionna and Cake, the spin-off of Adventure Time, and its release. I remember watching all of Adventure Time in a single weekend, just so I could watch the spin-off’s release, which has more mature themes than its counterpart.

Since I had watched the first season and the first episode of season two, I rewatched all of season one. Again. For the third time overall. I noticed little things, but also the overall picture to how messed up Adventure Time actually was.

I’ll spare everyone spoilers. Despite the lengthy 10 seasons, I recommend watching if you like shows with Hella lore and well-written characters.

P.C. – Pinterest

Live In Denver

This past weekend, Panic! At The Disco played at the When We Were Young Festival in Las Vegas, the same one I had gone to the year before to see My Chemical Romance and Fall Out Boy. The reason why I didn’t go this year was that it was my friend’s birthday, and I had already seen the main headliners (P!atD and Blink-182), and because tickets were a bajillion dollars, like how they are every year. It was fine to me until I saw videos of the concert.

Now, I had never been a Panic! At The Disco superfan, but you kinda have to whenever you’re into the prominent 2000s emo music bands that influenced each other (examples – MCR, Fall Out Boy, AFI, New Found Glory, Jimmy Eat World, and The Used), especially ones that are intertwined with songs about each other. So, of course, I know some history of the band, such as Ryan Ross (guitarist) falling off the face of the earth along with Spencer Smith (drummer), the downfall of Brendon Urie (singer and pianist), and other random drama that had happened with the band that made them very 50/50 hated and loved among the emo community.

But what about the set of the WWWWYF show? The same one as Live in Denver in 2006. The massive glowing sign that was behind them, the extra performers, it’s almost like the same thing, except for some of the original members being gone, except for Brendon, and later to be shown, Spencer.

Along with performing all of ‘A Fever You Can’t Sweat Out’ and a few other songs, they released an HD performance of Live in Denver on their YouTube channel, with a new tour.

It’s funny because I had seen them before they broke up for the fifteenth billionth time. Time to blow a crap ton of money on tickets. Anything for A Fever You Can’t Sweat Out.

I.C. – Biri182 (Youtube)