I love break. Over this break I first went to the Mojave desert; with my mom my brother my brothers friend and me. We taught my brother’s friend Asher how to ride a dirt bike. we went on a ride every day with all our family friends. At night we sat around the fire playing games and telling stories. The Colborns were there too. Their son took me on a ride in their side-by-side and it was so cool to watch the dust fly by while we did donuts. Then we came home for one night and left in the morning for Bend Oregon. I drove part of the way with Asher and part of the way with my mom. once we got there I got to see all my Oregon friends. It was so much fun to be in the snow. I snowboarded for three days with my brother and his friends before I got hurt. then I just hung out with my friends and my cats.
I’ve only broken one bone in my whole life. I had never had stitches until a few weeks ago. I’ve never had surgery or a cast. Even when I broke my heel I only had crutches for a week and a boot for a few months. When I fell and cut my leg open to the bone I stayed surprisingly calm. It had been a chill day of snowboarding through powder. I didn’t even realize it was cut at first. As soon as I noticed I told my brother’s friend to get ski patrol and called my mom. I told her I was going to the hospital and I needed stitches. Once the ski patrol got there they wrapped my leg. I almost passed out when I first saw it but I didn’t cry. I tried to stay rational because I knew I had to be an adult. The only time I cried was after I had been waiting for 2 hours to get stitches and they started to numb my leg with the needle. It didn’t hurt that bad, it was mostly just scary.
I hate that love is just a word someone made up. Nobody really knows what it feels like because it’s just a concept. Why can’t we have soulmates that we are drawn to like in movies and books? Falling in love with someone is not like a zing from Hotel Transylvania or a bond like in A Court of Mist and Fury.
Life is lowkey insane concept if you actually think about it. Like, what do you mean thousands of years happened before I was born, and there will be so many after I die? I always feel crazy when I think about it, but for real, how do we know about the universe? How did we make things like light bulbs and phones out of rocks and dirt?
Is there a word for feeling lonely but also like you don’t want to talk to anyone? Because that’s how I feel all the time. I feel like I’m a pretty social person, but I don’t like being around people, and I also don’t like being alone. I also think that I’m a genuinely happy person, though, so maybe I just like to complain or something.
I have never felt so understood by anyone as I do by my best friend. I care about her so much and I feel like she can see all of the thoughts in my brain. I wish that I could take everything that hurt her upon myself because she doesn’t deserve anything that has happened to her. I am afraid that I will never meet anyone like her ever again so I am grateful for every second we spend together.
It would be so nice if food just didn’t taste like anything. I feel like I would be so much happier because I would eat so healthy. Nothing tastes so good that it makes me second guess that either. I am such a picky eater and I’m sick of choosing the thing I hate the least. I don’t know if that makes sense but basically, I just want to eat healthy and not have to deal with everything tasting and smelling so bad.
I wish I was really good at art. That would be such a cool skill to have.
Throughout my life keeping my room clean has never really been a priority until this summer. Growing up my family always mocked me about my room being messy and I shrugged it off. They never understood how overwhelming my room was to me I would just look around and see the piles of clothes on the floor growing and my messy vanity along with my nightstand full of an assortment of opened drinks and snacks. During the summer I went through a rough patch and one day decided to deep clean my room. This took an entire day but at the end of it all I felt so accomplished and slept so soundly. I realized that having my room be a sanctuary in the chaos of my brain was extremely relieving. I began maintaining my room and making it a daily priority. There’s something about coming home after a long stressful day to a nice clean room and being able to just decompress and relax that nothing compares to.
The holiday break is coming up in just a week, but that also means finals. I’m really happy this year. After all, I won’t have a final on Thursday because I not taking a language this year. I’m also super excited for next week because my brother is bringing his cats down, which are actually my cats. I haven’t seen them in months, and I miss them so much. Anyway, back to finals, I’m super scared for my chem final. I feel like I have just completely forgotten everything I know about it. Also, I don’t understand why we have to have a final for AP World like we’re gonna have an AP test anyway, so I don’t understand why he is torturing us with a final, too. I love Christmas. I’m so bipolar in this blog. Hopefully, you can’t tell I’m just trying to meet the word mark… ok I’m here bye.
I just came back from the Death Valley camping trip. It was a backpacking trip that was 4 days and 3 nights. Overall, The trip was fun, except I was sick right before I hopped on the van to start the journey. On the first day, it was mostly travel. On the van ride, we each picked 3 songs and created a playlist; after around 1 hour, everyone was already asleep. We had 1 stop at the gas station throughout the whole ride. We got some snacks and hopped back in the van to continue the journey. The dinner was pasta, but I was sick; I couldn’t taste or smell it, so I couldn’t tell if it was good or bad. It was around 5 degrees Celsius at night, which is around 36 degrees Fahrenheit. On the second day, we hiked with our day packs into this little valley. In the afternoon, we went to this crater from a volcano that had exploded billions of years ago. We played some spike ball inside, which was cool, but the hike back out of the crater was not it. Anyways, the temperature on the second night dropped to -5 degrees Celsius, which is 23 degrees Fahrenheit. On the third day, we backpacked a little without using vans or cars. I had the worst nosebleed on this day; it wouldn’t stop for around 1 hour. I used many tissues and paper towels to stop the blood. With the sickness, it was a terrible experience. However, now that I’m back from the trip. I would have enjoyed the journey more if I wasn’t sick. The views, from the sea salt flats to the rocks, valleys, mountains, and the stars, were unforgettable.
We had another soccer game and we finally won!! We played Nordhoff JV and we won 8-0. It feels great to win and I really do think our team played well. Pretty much all the people who usually stay on the bench got some time in the game which they typically do. I played defense the whole time and the ball only went onto our side of the field probably less than 5 times. We have another game on Saturday against Cate, which we will most likely lose. If this is the only game we win all year at least it felt good. I like playing defense but midfield is my favorite. Wish the rest of my team luck against Cate this weekend because they might get demolished. I wish I could be there to help the team but I’m also excited for my horse show. I also think if I were to go I would definitely get hurt and it would just suck to go all the way to Carp on a Saturday just to lose. PC:Google
Hoodies are my absolute favorite piece of clothing. There’s something about their comfy, soft fabric and oversized fit that feels like a calming warm hug. Whether it’s a chilly school morning or a lazy weekend afternoon, hoodies are perfect for any time. I love their compatibility you can pair them with jeans or, workout clothes, or even use them as a comfy layer while relaxing at home. The front pocket is also super convenient for keeping my hands warm or carrying stuff like my phone or keys. Hoodies come in so many colors, designs, and materials, making it easy to have a different one for every color. No matter the season, a hoodie always makes me feel comfortable. I way rather feel comfortable than anything. Hoodies allow me to be both comfortable and cute. I probably own around 40 hoodies they are a staple in my closet and forever will be.
During the one week break, I will leave school early to fly to New York. This morning, I woke up at 6 in the morning to finish packing the rest of clothes. My ride was booked at 7 in the morning. I had to wake up early since I had to finish laundry. Anyways, the main reason I have come to New York is to study for the SAT, since I only got 1000 to 1100 in the PSAT right now. My goal is to be getting at least 1450 by the end of this intensive training program. I met my english tutor when I was in 1st grade. He taught me english until 6th grade. He has started a company just for helping students with the SAT. He invited me last summer to join this program for this week. It is an eight-day program and it will start tomorrow, Saturday 8:50 in the morning. There will be other 7 people joining. Hopefully all goes well and I can get a better score on the SAT. The schedule for the rest of the 8 days is… starting at 9 in the morning the classes start and they end at 6:30 at night. I will be going to the gym after too to stay in shape for the upcoming basketball tournament right after the break.
A while back, I reviewed all the books I did for required reading in high school, and nearly all of the books in the “almost masterpiece” tier were from Ms. Whipple’s classes. I don’t know how she keeps getting away with this, but I’m adding Merchant of Venice to this tier. (The most I will say about Heart of Darkness is that I put it in the “I respectfully tolerate” tier.)
Before I read Merchant of Venice I actually thought I would put it in the “respectfully tolerate” tier, as I thought it would have aged too poorly for me to be invested in. My only exposure to it was a Jewish youtuber I liked using the play as the ultimate example of a poorly aged classic, so I feared the only thing I would find in it would be garden variety antisemitism.
Though after reading it I suppose I know why we’re learning about it. It’s true, parts of the character Shylock, the main Jewish character in the play, and especially the way other characters treat him that make me cringe. People call Shylock a dog and Lancelet, the most “love to hate” character in the play, outright says he should hang for his religion. But once I read about Lancelet tricking his blind dad into thinking he’s dead, just for the kicks of it, I began to wonder if my disgust towards the characters is meant to be the point.
All of the Christian “heroes” have unsavory qualities, even outside of their antisemitism. Portia mocks the men who want to marry her because they are foreign. Bassanio is a gambler and wannabe gold digger. And what most surprised me was how Jessica, Shylock’s daughter, sells her dead mother’s ring to buy a monkey. As a Jewish convert to Christianity, the other characters act like she is her father’s moral superior, but her actions only make the rest of the cast’s moral standards suspect.
At this point, I can’t help but wonder if Shakespeare was on the better side of history, that he really try to write Shylock as the most sympathetic character in a sea of terrible people. He has some of the best lines, many of which sufficiently call out the injustice of his world, and his villainous actions can’t hold a candle to many of Shakespeare’s tragic heroes. My bread and butter are works where nearly everyone are equally terrible people, as it makes the halfway decent ones stand out all the more. So I can’t help but find that Merchant of Venice scratches my itch, so into the Unofficial Whipple Tier it goes. I don’t think it’s quite on the level of works like Invisible Man, which are stories that I think anyone can get something out of it. I still get that youtuber’s discomfort with Merchant of Venice, so I’m not making this messy story required reading for all of humanity. For all my low expectations I still think it needs an inventive production to bear stomaching for modern audiences.
OVS Journalism Blog 
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