Up until last month, I thought I was invincible. I had gone the whole school year without getting sick once. Yet, here I am stuck with the fourth cold I’ve got in the span of 30 days. I can’t remember the last time I could breathe through my nostrils when I didn’t have to stand up every 10 minutes or I would drown in snot. What is going on? There is some vicious cycle where everyone around me keeps getting sick- they mutate it, and I get the disease again. I know I’m part of the problem but I am very upset!
And this week, not only did I become re-infected with the same, dreadful disease that I had spent the last month battling, but now I have allergies. I am all for the super bloom California is gearing up for since all this rain, but now I don’t think I will ever feel comfortable again (at least until this Summer).
“There’s a big confusion in this country over what we want versus what we need,” Morrie said. “You have to be honest with yourself. You don’t need the latest sports car, you don’t need the biggest house. The truth is, you don’t get satisfaction from those things. You know what really gives you satisfaction?… Offering others what you have to give…I don’t mean money, Mitch. I mean your time. Your concern. Your storytelling. It’s not so hard.”
Regret, emotions, family, forgiveness, death, marriage, money, and fear of aging are just some of the topics Tuesdays with Morrie addresses. Every chapter is chock-full of valuable lessons that anyone could benefit from. If I could make everyone on the planet read just one book it would be this one. It’s perfect because the book is extremely motivating and reflective, however, it’s not too deep and a pretty easy read. I genuinely believe the world would be a way better place if everyone just picked up this book.
Before reading Tuesdays with Morrie, I hadn’t read anything by Mitch Albom. Actually, I hadn’t read much non-fiction (at least not much that wasn’t in a textbook), so I wasn’t sure what to expect. But the story drew me in very quickly. Mitch Albom spent each Tuesday with Morrie, his former professor, who was very ill. As I read about these visits, I realized that this book was really about how we spend our time.
Tuesdays with Morrie reminds us to slow down and appreciate each other. I’m not much for reading but I have absolutely enjoyed this book.
I picked up a new PS4 2 weeks ago, Throughout the last week and a half I’ve been spending too much time and money on this device. It’s been over two years since I had my last one, so I’ve been catching up on everything that I missed. Fifa has got to be one of my favorite games at the moment, I play it almost every day. Before almost every soccer match, I play a game of Fifa and envision myself doing the same thing I do in the game. I’ve also been playing a game called Overwatch, which I played for most of my childhood. This game was recently revised and now it is Overwatch 2 which has gotten some criticism because people loved the Original version. At first, I was opposed to the new game as I missed the nostalgic feeling that I got from the original Overwatch, however, as I play the game more I begin to appreciate the game more.
I’ve decided to write an entire blog post about toast. Because toast is incredibly underrated. It is simple, versatile, and delicious. See for yourself.
Avo toast: It’s a classic. Buttery avocado, plenty of salt and pepper, lemon juice, olive oil, paprika, everything bagel seasoning, basil, plus maybe some arugula – chef’s kiss.
PC: Me
Eggs, etc: Scrambled, poached, or fried; salted and peppered; paired with some smoked salmon and spinach; on a piece of buttered toast; and you’ve got yourself a finger-licking slice.
PB toast – Peanut butter or Nutella with fruits galore is just so yummy.
Greek yogurt toast: Don’t hate on it until you’ve tried it. I dollop on a generous scoop of yogurt and top it off with honey, fruits, and a sprinkle of cacao nibs/granola for a crunch.
Goats cheese and roasted grapes toast: I’m not sure how my mom seasons the grapes – I do know she uses balsamic – but they come out of the oven SO delicious. Together with sourdough and goat’s cheese, the combination is to die for.
Something is special about summer, it’s probably the almost total lack of responsibility but I like to think about the subtler parts like the way everything is always bright like an overexposed photograph. I love the way the sun casts shadows in the summer and how leaves perfectly block the suns beating rays making glowing green arrows that flutter in the wind. I love how the heat overwhelms you and forces you to jump in a pool or the ocean or maybe close the windows turn on the ac and watch a movie. I love eating snacks with friends and doing things too energetic for the stresses of the school year. I loved last summer when we went to the beach in the morning and started the day at the beach, or, after a hot day jumping into the cool seawater as the sun set or when it was pitch dark out yet the sand still held the sun warmth from the previous day. I loved the summer of covid. I’d sneak out for a ‘bike ride’ only to lounge at the river preserve for hours on end. I loved 8th-grade summer, that warm night in woodland hill sleeping on the living room floor with my dad, or the night after seeing my whole life packed into boxes in the foreign garage I now know so well. I’m glad I was here for summers, playing GTA and eating those sour candies, late nights in the RAV with the AC on, or learning to surf on the shitty red board. I’m scared about losing summer—being so caught up in my life that I forget to enjoy it. Still thinking about school, work, and money all while the sun glistens down and the tree makes its perfect shade. Im scared to be like my parents, unaware of how beautiful it is outside. Lost in my own head never letting out that final sigh, that feeling of needing nothing more and wanting nothing less. Im scared I was going to never have summer again. I don’t want to lose something special about summer.
I’ve been thinking about doing more creative story writing, I probably won’t, but, here’s an idea for one:
There’s a person in a village/town of some sort in a cold somewhat barren landscape. Some bushes and plants grow but for the most part, there’s just not much life. But there is a lot of ice, specifically a large glacier. He’s lived in the same house his whole life on the edge of the town. When this man was just a child the glacier was miles above the town but slowly the hundred-foot wall of ice crept up toward the village. Now, while the town does have history there, the fact that this glacier is going to wipe it all out was well known for years beforehand, people could watch it over a year travel a few hundred feet, over a decade travel a mile, and so the town moved everything except for the building out of the glaciers path. Everyone has a new house not far from the original town but kind of live between the two. Until the last few months, the man has been fine to leave with only some memories attached to the shabby old town, but in the months before he notices a plant growing just beyond the confines of his backyard. He becomes attached to the little sprout, and then the plant, and then the small bush, and as it’s growing his attachment to it is growing. He becomes almost obsessive sitting next to it all day watching the wall of ice get closer to destroying this little thing that he loves (I think there’s an element of him being alone I want to explore in the beginning) and then the wall is 10 feet away from this little plant, and then its three and then one. And on his last day with the plant he watches as this wall gets inches away from everything he loves and then it’s getting pushed to the side and finally it’s gone mixed together with everything else that the glacier has picked up.
Idk just what I’ve been thinking about the last few days
Wow Wow Wow. These snacks are delicious. It’s rare to have such wonderful and thoughtful snacks brought to journalism, I mean a lot of the time people don’t bring anything at all. I am immensely enjoying the combination of the salty Cheetos with the sweet and amazing chocolate Pocky. Pocky is really an amazing snack, they can get a little sweet, but other than that they have the chocolate covering on the biscuit stick kind of thing. It’s very unique to have this combination. I also think I like them because they were very popular in Bali when I was living there so they definitely have a sentimental value. today has been a pretty weird day, I think the rain throws off the mood a bit around here, plus, with the Mammoth trip out and all the kids getting in trouble this whole week’s been kind of off. It all culminated today I think. very strange. Anyway, I think this is about the word minimum and this isn’t my best blog so bye.
As part of surfing for sports, inspired by Logan’s running journal, Logan and I decided to make a surf journal of each session we had over the week. We surfed Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday this week because Logan’s leaving to Mammoth. We had this idea on Tuesday so that’s our first day. To explain the data at the top of each day: The Santa Barbara East Bouy (closest buoy to Ventura) collects information 24/7 about conditions at sea. The first piece of info is wave height, then the period in seconds, then the strongest swell direction, then tide on the beach (not collected from buoy), then wind speed and direction. Onshore means the wind is blowing from out at sea onto the beach, this is generally considered bad and creates “mushy waves” as opposed to off-shore winds which, generally speaking, create barreling waves, but more realistically steeper and better-formed waves. So here are the first two journals for this week.
3 really good waves, learning how to stomp on the back of the middy and turn it. Walk to nose to gain speed. Lul period was challenging and messed up the session a little mentally.
Emanuel: One really good wave plus some other shorter ones. The good session got better in the end as the tide rose and the wind died down. Felt really good turning and working on my Steez
3/8/234.3ft @ 10s, 270 W,20mph cross-shore
Emanuel:Ben, Kenya, Logan and I surfed all on longboards. Good session despite very small waves and high wind. Ben lost the fin to his board so I surfed finless which was more fun than I thought it would be. It required a lot more strength and body control which actually felt like a good way to train in those aspects of surfing. Waves were supposed to get bigger as the session went on but honestly, conditions got worse. Maybe because we were deeper in the bay in a less exposed area to swell.
I recently got new speakers for my stereo. They’re the MB Quartz 502s which were a little over 1000$ when they were purchased, but I got them for much much less on Craigslist from this guy living off of Foothill named Jeff. I was pretty excited to upgrade my system as the last speakers I had came with this house when we bought it and were mounted outside on the patio so they were pretty damaged. MB Quartz used to make a bunch of audiophiles high-end speakers but they were purchased in the mid-90s and started to make much lower quality ones (these are from before the purchase), nowadays they make boat and auto speakers. These things look and so super good although I think in the upper end they sound a little metallic, for this reason, I added one of the sets of older speakers which has a much warmer (overly warm if played alone) sound. With the combination, the whole stereo setup I have been building really comes together and I’ve been enjoying building this sort of thing.
I miss being little. Everything was so much easier then. I had no significant responsibilities, no pressure, and no school stress.
My days consisted of barefoot cartwheels in the grass, sweet mango lassies, and swimming lessons in the fading afternoon light.
I fell asleep cuddling my mom under mosquito net canopies, or listening to “Quelqu’un m’a dit’ if my parents were out for date night. I took baths in a red bucket just big enough for a petite 6-year-old with her knees folded to her chest (the shower was too scary). I collected shards of shattered glass behind the school gymnasium, which my friend and I called our secret treasures. I read stories on our yellow balcony overlooking a sea of rice paddies. I accompanied my dad to the grocery store just to get a Chupa-Chups lollipop at the register.
These were the simplest of times. Back then, my greatest challenge was pulling a comb through my tangled hair or remembering my times tables. How quickly things changed.
OVS Journalism Blog 
You must be logged in to post a comment.