The Spiders Rise pt. 2

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Parts of the following blog are fictional accounts.

Tuesday
I’m always the first one back from breakfast, so the dorms are quiet and still. Halfway down the hallway, a drawing of a cartoon spider flutters to my feet from it’s position on the wall. It was an omen, I swear it was. There was a spider in the dorm’s cutlery drawer when I was looking for spoon to make hot chocolate with.

The girls went to bed that night feeling weary but quite hopeless. We all knew that the relentless torture would not ease up yet. “Third time’s the charm,” they say.

3am and the all-too familiar sound fills the dorm. I laid awake in bed for 20 seconds or so, contemplating just staying in my room and facing the consequences.

Apparently, I wasn’t the only one with that thought, as I was the first person out of the dorm. The other humans took their time coming out because they knew that there was no fire and no danger.

We’re all tired. We’re all bickering.

Wednesday

No sign of our 8-legged friends anywhere, so I felt internally relieved. The other girls felt hopelessly exhausted and didn’t have as much knowledge as I do.

All was quiet that night. Not a peep, not a ring, not a twitch.

Thursday
6:40am and I’m brushing my teeth, eyes still closed and dozing off in the silence. A friend screams and points to the wall – a large brown recluse, crouching and staring at me from the mirror. I bring him outside and try to calm my beating heart, now definitely awake.

There’s the cartoon spider at my feet again. I had stuck it back onto the wall on Tuesday, and today… Well, there it is.

9pm Thursday. I’m prepared for their final attack.

Friday
5am and I was woken by the smell of smoke. It was faint enough that the fire alarms didn’t go off.

There were about (aw heck no) a dozen spiders on my floor.

They all ran under the crack of my door and I followed them out into the hallway and out of the dorm. It was hot outside. Like, fiery hot. Actually, there was a huuuge fire outside the dorm that singed the edges of my tie-dye shirt and curled the ends of my braided hair.

The fire alarm finally went off but the dorm didn’t jump like it usually did.

Everyone was sick of the fire alarm. Every single one of them stayed in their beds and covered their ears and groaned. Nobody was awake enough to smell the smoke or to even bother to check the hallways, where smoke was coating the ceilings.

The dorm dogs ran outside silently, followed by a cat and several hundred more insects of all shapes and sizes.

I thought I was dreaming, which is why I only laughed and waved at the dorm.

Bye.

Photo credit ifiberone.com

Goodbye.

Loving Your Life

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What is life, anyway?  I have struggled far too long with realizing why we are here on this planet. But recently, I have finally understood what I believe to be the purpose of life.

We are all here for different reasons, with different talents and different things to do. Not everyone will be able to do what they want- there will always be obstacles standing in the way, but the fun is in the journey. There are many things we can do- make lots of money, travel, go on adventures.  But the most important part of life, to me, is loving those we are surrounded by.

It took me a long time to realize this, but now I understand. There is no point to living a life where you don’t love those who love you. It doesn’t get you anywhere, it only sets you back and fills you with negative feelings. Why should I do this to myself? I am so happy that I have finally learned one of life’s greatest lessons- loving others infinitely. This love for people is the one thing that can never be bought or stolen, and it is the most basic necessity and reason for living.

I love you, Mom.

The Countdown to Summer

kennyroo

I’m ever so patiently waiting for long summer days, and even longer summer nights.

I would always rather be at the beach, but that urge is actually attainable during my favorite three months of the year.

The way the warm sand feels on the soles of my feet, the warm sun beating down on my shoulders, and the shock of the cool salty water brings me to a happy place like no other

There is no need to go to bed early for an upcoming class or even worry about homework.

These next few months are going to feel like a life time, but I know it’s worth the wait.

https://i0.wp.com/www.law.indiana.edu/lawlibrary/blawg/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/summertime-blues.jpg
Photo Credit to: http://www.law.indiana.edu

Shark Bait Ooo Ha Ha!

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Recently Sharks have been spotted in the ocean off the coast of Ventura…

Sharks in the ocean? Not again.

Six sharks were spotted quite close to shore near Ventura South Beach.

Still wanna go for that morning surf?

Previous to this warning, there have been multiple incidents off the Ventura Coast involving sharks.

The sudden emergence of these creatures makes me wonder why they have chosen to come a little too close for comfort.

After doing a little research on the subject of shark’s behavior, many (probably false) websites accused the animals of coming near shore to look for people.

Most of me doesn’t believe this due to the fact that sharks do not have a behavioral history of purposely attacking humans, but what if they actually are coming closer for more food?

All I know is I will NOT be going in the ocean for quite some time.

Photo Credits: http://www.treasuregurus.com

 

Cop Control Part 2

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Photo Credit: media.jnr.com

The tables have turned.

Just as I was beginning to think that the police were running rampant, recently multiple officers have been victims of civilian shootings.

The true question is; what was their intent?

This question applies to the officers involved in the many shootings of African-Americans, generally men, over the past few years. However, recently because of the Ferguson case in particular and the many other shootings by police officers in the U.S., people have been taking matters into their own hands.

Patterns show that generally white male police officers profile African-American males because of arrest records and generalizations that they are more violent than whites or Hispanics. Because of this profiling, they are more likely to take drastic measures when threatened or have suspicion.

These incidents can be argued against. Many accusations use the word “discrimination.” Are these truly acts of discrimination? Or officers who are posed with a deadly threat in which they responded with a deadly action?

The only people who know the truth are the officers and the victims, which recently have been the officers themselves.

 

 

Relativity

raining17

Compared to the entire universe, all life on earth is miniscule.

There are countless studies explaining this relativity, and they really put everybody’s individual problems into perspective.

Yeah, if your significant other breaks up with you or you fail a test that really sucks, but you are one of seven billion people in the world. Each and every person has problems of their own, all to varying degrees.

There are eight other planets in the solar system, and billions of solar systems in the galaxy, each with many planets. There are then over 100 billion galaxies in the universe. So really, earth, and people in particular, are quite insignificant.

Photo Credit: upload.wikimedia.org

Take a step back, and look at things from a different point of view. Immediate life is hectic and each problem seems magnified. Compared to the rest of the universe, however, what seems like the end of the world is actually an insanely small aspect of life. The universe is endless, and everybody and everything are small pieces that together, make it up.

Paper Towns

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Photo Credit: pbs.twimg.com

The highly anticipated movie poster for author John Green’s Paper Towns was just released, sparking interest and excitement in all fans.

Journalists are scrounging for material to write about – putting out article after article on the movie, and the poster in particular. Some articles are reaching as far as to write about how actors Cara Delevingne and Nat Wolff look like siblings, simply from the similar appearance of their eyebrows.

However, since Cara’s popularity did stem from her brows, this could be relevant for her.

Other writers are confused about the message the poster is depicting – unlike most movie posters, this one does not give much of the plot away. Many fans are complaining about this, but some are appreciative of the mystery.

This poster has brought mixed feelings from fans of the book and fans of the actors alike. An opinion that has been agreed upon, however, is how much excitement the release of the poster has brought, and how highly anticipated this movie is.

Crow Craziness

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Currently, the human species is the smartest on the planet.

I repeat, currently.

I walked into the living room and my mom was watching a TED Talk on her iPad. About what you may ask?

How freakishly intelligent crows are.

Crows have the intelligence and communication skills of a six-year-old child.

Scared? I’m just getting started.

Crows have the ability to plan, recognize faces, hold grudges, conspire with one another, and have incredible problem solving abilities. 

A university in Seattle conducted an experiment where students wore face masks and tagged each of the crows with different colored anklets to identify them, which they didn’t enjoy.

Each time the students would put on the face masks, the crows who were tagged would find the student wearing the face mask that tagged them and proceed to swoop down and harass them

Talk about holding a grudge.

Remember that next time you shoo away a crow.

You’ll know who pooped on your car.

Photo Credit: thumbs.media.smithsonianmag.com

 

The Spiders Rise pt. 1

indigoshell

Sunday
11pm (on Saturday) and I’m piling wet clothes into the drying machine. A few socks fall to the ground and I feel an ominous tingle touch my spine while reaching for them. In the gap between two machines is one of the largest spiders I’ve ever seen in my life, about an inch long with legs. Now, I’m not afraid of spiders, but I could’ve sworn that this one was looking right at me.

Photo cred – Spiders.us

That night (or morning), all was well until 3am. Alarms blared and the whole dorm seemed to shake as 40 girls fell out of bed. The fire alarm had been triggered, and the standard protocol was to all file outside into our circular driveway.

I was in such a rush that I forgot my shoes and glasses, which normally wouldn’t be a problem. It was dark out and the little moonlight we had were shadowed by the bodies of stumbling girls. Twice I nearly fell down the stairs.

The real kicker? There was no fire. And we all knew it.

Monday
While making tea that morning, a (rather normal sized) spider scuttled across my feet and made its way out the door. Spiders are very normal occurrences around the girl’s dorm, but most of them actively avoid humans. So this was a very, very odd thing to experience early in the morning.

Everybody went to bed that night as usual, not suspecting a repeat of the night before.

5am came around and the same shrill sirens went off, startling the dorm and ejecting the girls into the cold. I remembered my shoes this time, but it was still cold, dark, and disorienting. 5am was an odd time for us to wake up, as most girls wake at 6:30 anyways. I considered staying up, but I couldn’t keep my eyes open long enough to decide.

I knew that this was just the beginning.

White Students Terrorize an American Classmate

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I recently watched a shocking video where a little boy named Harsukh Singh is terrorized by his classmates who claim he is a terrorist. It seems to be a common occurrence when he rides the bus, because he felt the need to film it. Why is it fair that one child can be excluded from the rest of his fellow-American classmates, and be blamed for a series of horrible events that happened all over the world?

I guarantee that the boy is not responsible for the World Trade Center, the Boston Bombing, or Charlie Hebdo. In the video he says “Kids are being racist to me and calling me an Afghani terrorist. Please don’t act like this towards people like me you don’t know. I’m not Muslim, I’m Sikh”.

The bullies think they are different from a terrorist. But the definition of a terrorist is someone who inflicts fear and has a political aim. I believe it’s more than just scaring the government; it’s about inflicting terror into the people, making it seem like not even the government can help. Everyday, United States citizens make people who look like Harsukh Singh feel like they are the bad guy and go out of their way to verbally, or even sometimes physically, attack them.

Each person who contributes to creating the terrorist stereotype is, in fact, a terrorist themselves. Maybe not individually, but in the bigger picture a large number of people bullying people of one specific skin tone is a form of terrorism.

Harsukh Singh is a smart boy, and he has already changed many lives by realizing the real way for power is through social media. I hope that a big news story is written on this, and the title should be “White Terrorists Terrorize an American Student”. Nowhere in that story should they blame Singh, or even mention religion. Even if this video isn’t covered in the news, hopefully the bullies will look back on this and realize what they did was wrong.