I recently came across this instagram account, which takes out pictures from old archives, specifically of Los Angeles (@ forgottenmadness_la). They pin down the exact location of where it was taken and often colorize them. These pictures come mostly from the early 1900s. They are particularly interesting to me because I grew up in Los Angeles, so to see how much the city has changed is really incredible. It looked like a completely different place (obviously), but its so crazy when I can actually recognize a building or where something was taken. In one video they posted you can even see the old apartment I used to live in. In general, the entire account is a great example of how much electronics and new technology have changed society.
Shooting Stars and Rising Sun, A Moment Suspended in Time
I remember walking along the edge of the pier, the sound of the sea drowning out my thoughts, and the warm breeze creeping under my T-shirt. It was 3 a.m., and I turned to my friends with the question, “Is anyone thinking of going home?” I could clearly see in their eyes the answer was “no.” I remember how soft music played from the speaker. I remember, as I gazed at the endless and clear sky, seeing a shooting star. That time, I made a wish to be happy, and to this day, every time I see a shooting star, I always wish for happiness. Although I had no plans to sleep, I still put in my night retainers (back then, I never knew where I’d end up at night, so I always carried the retainers in my purse). My lisping voice, due to the discomfort in my mouth, triggered a wave of laughter among us.
Dawn gradually claimed its rights, filling the quiet waterfront with sunlight. At exactly 5 a.m. I found myself in the warm Mediterranean Sea, watching the sunrise that ignited a new day with my best friends. I vividly remember the smell of the sea that day, it was bright and fresh. The wind blew in my face while I laughed as my friends tried to drag me under the water. At that moment, there was absolutely no one around us. We were the violators of silence in the early morning of a sleepy seaside town. Only the sun could judge us for our recklessness, as it became the sole witness to our mischief. At that moment, it seemed that all that existed in the world was us, the sea, the sun, and the music playing in the background.
We climbed out of the water as the song “Show Me The Way. by Vintage Culture” played for the tenth time. In a frenzy of laughter, happiness, and impunity, we began to dance, wet and slippery, stepping on each other’s feet.
I remember how my wet hair clung to my shoulders and face, how the mosquito bites on my legs hurt. I remember the look of happiness on my best friend’s face. I remember the smell of the sea mixed with a sense of carefreeness. I remember the dawn, the most beautiful dawn I had ever seen.
At that moment, wet and happy, I did not realize that it was my last evening with my friends, the people I loved so deeply. In the morning, when I returned home tired, wet, and salty, I received an email informing me that I had been accepted into a then-unknown small school in California.
To this day, I miss the fresh smell of the sea, the warm wind, and the music from the speaker. I miss the dawn terribly. I miss being happy.
PC: me
first drive lesson
I had my first driving lesson and it was kind of discouraging. I feel like I just can’t drive. All I did was drive around a neighborhood for like an hour and a half and park a couple of times. I always feel like the car is in a different place than it actually is, which makes it hard to drive it where I want it because I never know where it really is. And I can’t remember anything about the road rules or anything from driver’s ed except not to park on a crosswalk and to stop at stop signs. I just kind of freeze up behind the wheel and can’t think straight. But actually when I drove on my own with my dad in a parking lot before the lesson I felt fine, so maybe it was just the instructor’s constant stream of passive-aggressive comments throughout the lesson that’s getting me all nervous.
picture credit:https://www.mysafetysign.com/student-driver-osha-caution-sign/sku-s-1249
The Rain
Around where I live, supposedly there is a large storm coming. I don’t like the rain when forced to go to school. Rainy days are meant to be spent in bed watching a movie and drinking hot cocoa. I shouldn’t need to freeze, running away from the rain and going to school. My clothes, backpack, and hair get soaked and I’m uncomfortable and upset the whole day. I think that whenever it is raining where I live, which is pretty rare, school should get cancelled. It is absolutely brutal. At my school, there is a high chance that school will be cancelled due to the rain on Monday. I board at school, but this weekend I went home, so if school gets cancelled on Monday, I will be able to stay inside warm at my own house. I only love the rain when I can admire it from inside but I hate it when I need to be outside with it.
How is my sleep schedule so bad?
It is something that everyone needs in their life; however, it’s something that I lack. To be healthy, you probably need around 8 hours of sleep, depending on how old you are, but that’s the general recommendation. There are 24 hours in each day, and there are things I want to do every day that take up this time. Firstly, school each day goes from 8:10-3:40, so that takes up around 7 hours and 30 minutes of my day!! That’s a lot, but not to worry, I have roughly 17 hours left in the day. Ok, so no biggie. I can just do everything I need at this time, right? Well, you can’t forget about sleep, right? So that’s, let’s say, another 8 hours if you’re getting the right amount. So now we are down to a whole 11 hours in the day left for me to do whatever I want, well, besides homework, which might take 30 minutes to an hour, so let’s just say I have 10 hours left. So, ten hours in the day to do what I need, which seems like enough time, right ?? I honestly have no idea how I don’t get everything I want to do done, like what takes up so much of my time ?? I can’t figure it out at all. If I go to the gym, that takes about 3 hours ( I know it’s not great time management on my part), but that still leaves me with 7 hours to do whatever I want. Am I really on my phone for that whole time?? I don’t think I am because my screen time doesn’t say it’s that much, so I really don’t know. But all this leads to me going to the gym at 10 o’clock or nine if I’m early and then leaving the gym at 1 am and then getting to sleep at 1:30 or two, which is horrible, then waking up at 7 in the morning. So I’m really not sure what to do. Maybe I should make a schedule of my day or something to help. But honestly, I just don’t know. Let me know if you have any suggestions because I’m at a loss. This ended up just being a rant, but most of my blogs are.
Time moves faster
Time is going by way too fast.
How come we can’t remember memories from 5 years old and younger. Is it because it went by too fast?
Why does our memory go away? Where does it go?
I hate forgetting things, I never truly forget everything. I just forget what happened but never forget how it made me feel. It is more frustrating because people ask me what they specifically said or did to me and unless there’s a powerful emotion connected to the words I only remember the feeling.
I remember the feeling of starting school in elementary. I remember the feeling of the cold wind nipping at my skin as I ran around the playground. I remember the feeling of dancing with my dad and the frustration of forgetting a word in English or Spanish. I remember the feeling of listening and singing Bruno Mars songs at the top of my lungs.
I remember the first day of freshman year, but that seems so long ago. Sophomore and junior year went by too fast. Now I’m at the end of my senior year last sports season. I might have just had my final basketball game and ended it with a buzzer beater. This month was long and this week was even longer, but something tells me it won’t stay this way.
My final play, my final game, my last year.
Stress
I am so stressed. I have so much homework. I need a week to wind down and relax. I need, at the most 3, hours to get cozy and watch a movie without the ongoing stress and headache caused by school. I want to enjoy hanging out with my friends, but in the back of my mind, homework is lurking. Tears jolt down the faces of students like me. The winter weather, mixed with the massive amount of work, creates the feeling of sickness. The headaches caused by stress just make fewer chances of doing the work that is necessary. Do I get the work done? Yes. But in the end, I got 3 hours of sleep, woke up late, had no breakfast, less social life, and less time to work on self goals and interests. While I write this, I do have a headache. And I do want to go to sleep because it is 10:10 PM. But I still have notes, essays, and readings. Everyone says it’s a part of growing up, but if that’s the case, then I would rather stay the age I get to enjoy my time with friends, playing games, and running around outside.
pc: me
Junior-itis
Sadly, junior year is the most important time of my high school career and the time when I need to get my best grades and have my best academic performance; however, that is extremely difficult.
I’m definitely done with school and everything that comes with it. It is kinda expected that during your hardest time, you get your best grades, but honesty, that has just not happened even with me putting more effort into school than in previous years. I have not been able to get straight As any time in my life, and now that I have the most things going on in my life, I’m expected to get them. Like, come on, that’s not gonna happen.
On top of school, I still have things outside my current life that have a higher priority. However, when I prioritize those other things, my grades start to slip. So I’m not too sure what to do.
I can put my school life ahead of my other life, but that will hinder my mental health. Plus, school just isn’t as important to me as other things, but it’s important for my future (maybe?).
But anyway, back to the topic of the post, I definitely have the junior form of senior-itis, which is slightly different from senior-itis but I just know that my college is riding on this year, so I’m still putting in some work but trying my hardest to put in the least amount of effort and get maximum outcome.
Another way it’s similar to senior itis is that I am very ready to leave OVS. No offense to the school; I just believe I have served my time here and am ready for a little change of pace.
And watching the seniors all get ready to leave to go to college or wherever they plan on going makes it way worse. I feel like I’m picking up their readiness to leave when, in fact, I’m not close to leaving yet.
Although it is all about perspective, because it is unbelievable that I’m already nearing the end of my junior year when I was a freshman not too long ago, so maybe looking at it from another way will help out.
This isn’t something new that people haven’t heard im pretty sure everyone is feeling this. I just needed to write this down somewhere.
PC: https://www.gilbertschools.net/cms/lib/AZ50000423/Centricity/Domain/4/Neely_GOLD.jpg
Silent Oranges, A City Soul’s Retreat
The pink mountains gazed down at me from above as I walked among rows of flourishing orange trees. A silence I had never experienced enveloped me.
In the residential area of the city where I grew up, I lived next to a metallurgical plant, so even in the depths of night, I could hear the humming of motors. In the cities where I lived, the concept of silence became relative. Even in the night, I could always hear a passing car or an ambulance. But at that moment, amidst the oranges, I heard only silence, the kind you read about in books, a deafening silence.
In the last six months, my life seemed to have come to a standstill. I ran from country to country all my life, trying to escape my problems or family. I flew across oceans, hoping that my past thoughts would leave me alone, but they always sat with me on the plane. And now, my life suddenly froze in its tracks. I, a city rat accustomed to dirt and noise, found myself in a small, sunny grove where it’s clean and quiet.
But unfortunately, I cannot find peace in the calmest place in California. My brain tells me to run across the continent as far as possible. I need the dirt, the noise, the people, the movement. But now, I am frozen, stuck in time, unable to understand what I am doing here. Days merge into weeks, weeks into months, months into years, and I gradually go insane among rows of juicy and bright orange bushes.
PC:me
My Romantic Film Aesthetic
I could talk about romance for hours. The idea of teenage love, unexpected love, enemies to lovers, and so many more. I honestly could not pick my favorite romance movie. There are also so many different types of romance movies. There are rom coms, cheesy movies, and ones that crush your whole idea of falling in love as a whole. If I had to choose between movies like The Notebook, Dear John, 10 things I Hate About You, How to Loose a guy in 10 days, Anyone but You, Titanic, Mamma Mia, and Where the Crawdads Sing I could not pick what one was my favorite. The amount of money I would pay to rewatch any of those movies again for the first time. The feeling of watching a new romantic movie that is actually good for the first time is like the best feelings of mixed emotions. I wish there were newer movies that matched the feeling the older romance movies give. Also watching a romantic movie on a rainy day gives so much comfort.
PC:Me
OVS Journalism Blog 
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