Junior

I'm back, hello!
It's been a while since I've made an entry, but I've finally brought myself to write.
So, school starts 10 days from today and I'll officially be a junior...it's crazy I know. And I have no idea what I'm going to do with myself this year. It'll either be extremely stressful, or mundane (Which I'm sort of hoping it will be) and hopefully much more exciting.
I don't have as many things planned this year as last year, extra curricular wise, so this year should be slightly less stressful.

You know what I've never understood?
The fact that it's 2013 and yet, women aren't paid the same amount as men.
Especially if it's a job that requires "hard work" (Which really shouldn't matter anyways) It's like "Oh, you want to be a construction worker and do the same exact job as a man and do the same amount of work? Oh, because you have a vagina, let's pay you less, because you're obviously not capable of doing that job, so we're just going to not give a shit and pay you less, because it's a good excuse for our company."
I'm 15, going on 16 years old, and I really don't want to have to worry about getting a job, and worry about not getting paid enough. I highly doubt any of this will change within the next 20+ years, (Which is really sad.) You don't hear much about it in the news. And for once, I'd just love to not be discriminated against because I'm a woman. I'm not weak, I'm not saying I'm more superior than a male either. I'm saying that we're all human and that I can equally complete at ask that requires just as much hard work as a man can.

New York City

So I recently got back from my trip. I went backpacking around NYC like an average tourist for the first time and hell, it was quite the experience. The bus ride was about 4 and a half hours from Northern Massachusetts to New York City, and it went by faster than I thought it would.
Our first destination when our bus stopped was at Central Park.
We toured around by a tour guide holding a light saber. How cool is that?
So he told us a bit about the history of New York City.
Yoko Ono (John Lennon's widow) Lives in one of the top floors of this apartment. It was said by the tour guide that New York City was a getaway for John Lennon, and he was and wanted to be treated like an average citizen. An area in Central Park was dedicated to him. "Strawberry Fields" It's called, after the song "Strawberry Fields Forever" by The Beatles. Another amazing landmark that we saw was the "Imagine" circle, I suppose you can call it.

"The mosaic, in the style of Portuguese pavement, is at the heart of a series of open and secret glades of lawn and glacier-carved rock outcroppings, bounded by shrubs and mature trees and woodland slopes, all designated a "quiet zone". A woodland walk winds through edge plantings between the glade-like upper lawn and the steep wooded slopes; it contains native rhododendrons and hollies, Carolina Allspice, Mountain Laurel, viburnums, and Jetbead. Wild shrub roses and a mature pink Magnolia soulangeana flank the main walk. At the farthest northern tip of the upper series of lawns enclosed by woodland are three Dawn Redwood trees, which lose their needles but regain them every spring, an emblem of eternal renewal. The trees can be expected to reach a height of 36 metres (118 ft) within 100 years, and eventually they will be visible from great distances in the park." [x] It was a truly breathtaking sight, and I'll never forget it.
Now moving on to something that I was extremely excited about and looking forward too. As everyone knows, I'm a huge Doctor Who junkie. The last episode that included The Ponds was "Angel's Take Manhattan" There were ongoing jokes between me and several friends about The Statue of Liberty as we watched her (I'll talk more about that later) But most importantly, I saw some amazing areas where they had filmed. Amy is seen in one of the scenes dropping some food down to ducks over a bridge:

Bank Rock Bridge

Now I tried not to get over-emotional as I saw the sight in which The Doctor reads Amy's last page. I admit it, I didn't cry, but I did get a little gloomy. It was as if I could see the doctor sitting there. (Okay enough Doctor Who talk)
I also saw where the last scene in one of my favorite movies "The Avengers" was filmed, where Loki is taken captive.
After our tour of Central Park, we were allowed some free time in Times Square, which was the most amazing in my opinion. It was huge, amazing and so surreal. It was overwhelming. Sometimes people can be rude and not say excuse me. (We were tourists, what did I expect? I honestly have no clue.) But it was amazing. I managed to jaunt around the M&M factory which was extremely interesting. My favorite part of the day was visiting the 9/11 memorial. Now I was only about 4 years old when the terrorist attack occurred, but it didn't mean that I didn't have the right to mourn. It was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen in my entire life. I walked around one of the "Footprints" of the waterfalls twice with a friend, and we looked at the other briefly before leaving. Now I didn't get a picture of it, but my teacher told us something amazing about "The Survivor Tree" Out of everything that survived of the attacks, there was a tree that somehow stayed intact, despite everything. It's still there and it's chained down into the ground to prevent it from harm. The story brought tears to my eyes.
Now the last of our adventures was taking a group picture on the red steps in Times Square. (Which I unfortunately have not scanned on my computer)
Day two was the most overwhelming of our adventures in New York City.
We had so much to do in so little time. (I was there for a period of three days, by the way)
The day included the Harbor Cruise, large amounts of walking, a Broadway play, and clambering up several flights of stairs up the Empire State Building. By the end of the day, the buses were filled with many tired, emotional and home-sick teenagers. (But it was a good time)

Now I was worried about the Harbor Cruise. I had only been on a boat one other time, and that was when I was about seven, and went to Niagara Falls on the Sierra Mist. But it was beautiful. We got an amazing view of The Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island and the skyline of New York City itself.
I felt the wind in my (Short) hair and it was so beautiful to be out on the water. If I had the chance to do it again, I would! 

After a few hours of jaunting around Times Square, we were on our way to Broadway. I saw "Spider-man" which I won't talk too much about, it was one of those "You had to be there" experiences I suppose.
After our Broadway play we grabbed some dinner at "Dallas BBQ" and made our way to The Empire State Building. We clambered up god knows how many flights of stairs and finally made our way to the top. But the walk was worth it, I know that much.
We made our way back to the hotel after that adventure.

Now day three was meant to be relaxing. We got our official tour of NBC studios which was so amazing. We got to see where Saturday Night Live, The Dr. Oz show, and Late Night With Jimmy Fallon were filmed, which got me extremely excited. It's also the heart of where The Today show is hosted! After that, our group (This was a choral and band music trip) performed at the bandshell in Central Park which was again, another amazing experience. After this we took a tour around Lincoln Center and were shown around the music and dancing that the amazing area had to offer.
And that's all folks! Hope you enjoyed my little anecdote of my trip!
(NOTE: 100+ photos weren't included due to the formatting of my blog template, check the rest out here)

Feminism and Inequality in Society

Sexism is a large problem in today’s world. Not many people think about it in their daily life. It happens everywhere, which is why we have feminism. Feminism is extremely important to understand in today’s society.

Women should be more aware of gender equality in their everyday lives. “I want young girls to know that they should dream big and that if they put their minds to it, they can accomplish anything.”  Women today, especially young girls, need someone to look up to. Unfortunately, not everyone has this advantage. Girls need a role model, someone they know will make good choices. Women need to become more exposed to the fact that they should have some sort of education on feminism.

“Today’s fashion and advertising industries have decided to glamorize this narrative.” (The fact that an average dress size is considered “too heavy” for models. In the 60’s for example, many women were known to be housewives. They were expected to stay home and cook, clean and take care of the children. They were often without jobs, as being a housewife” was one of them. Women were often and sometimes still are assumed to be less capable of completing hard tasks than men.

Today, women still aren’t sometimes considered political leaders. “In the 70’s, the government equality become resistant.” When a woman won primary, the news reporters laughed and did not take the situation seriously due to the fact that she was a woman. Often when a male’s candidate’s looks get criticized, it’s a way that feminizes him, believing that it is suddenly acceptable for the community to criticize women. People were telling Hillary Clinton to “De-sex” herself and look weak as a result of male candidates discouraging her for her position.

The community should understand the importance of feminism in the world. Not only were women being treated unequally in the 20^th century, but they are continued to today.  For instance, the fact that women are still being treated unequally is upsetting and extremely discouraging for young girls today. As a result, they may grow up believing that men are more superior to women, and this is a huge dilemma. Unfortunately, one can only be exposed to such information in certain places. Sexism is everywhere; workplaces, schools, stores. It’s a reoccurring issue that needs to be taken seriously and continues to expand every day. With the help of many people, this problem could be resolved in time, with much work and effort from the community.

Warm Bodies: "He's still dead but he's getting warmer" (Contains spoilers)

Warm Bodies is an extremely thrilling action love story that takes place during a zombie apocalypse. This movie caught my attention because not only is it from a zombie’s point of view, but because the zombies can speak. The setting takes place in an abandoned airport where zombies roam.

“R” is the main character. A man around the age of his late teen years. He is accompanied by several other zombie “Friends” when he witnesses the mayhem that Julie and her crew are creating when they are set out on a mission by her father to destroy the zombies.  And that is when R falls in love.

Julie is baffled when she finds that R is attracted to her. She threatens to kill him, but when he makes a sincere gesture of friendship, she allows him to take her away to his “home” (Really an abandoned airplane.)

Over the course of the time, Julie allows R to take care of her and assist her with avoiding the zombies.

Now here’s the catch: Julie’s father is the head of the military command which is in charge at the time, and is skeptical of whether or not R is safe around Julie when she reveals how he is changing both emotionally and physically.

The situation is resolved in the end when Julie and R flee and her military powered father and his assembly end up chasing after them both. They are forced to come face-to-face with her father. When R is exposed for who he really is, Julie’s father gives in, and eventually allows the zombies and humans to live together in peace.

School Problems

As a 15 year old sophomore in high school, things can be tricky. You're still trying to figure out what you want to do, who you are, what your sexuality is, who you like and dislike, what your strengths and weaknesses are. As a teenager, what I've found is most common in high school today is that fitting in can be one of the hardest things you'll have to do. Sometimes you might have to talk to different people and find similar interests. It took me almost two years to be friends with the people I talk to now. And it's difficult. You have to find people that make you happy, and that you can trust.
          Now, high school is very serious. Freshman year is pretty much the year where you can almost stay a middle schooler in some ways. But in sophomore year they don't take it anymore. I hear people complaining about the amount of homework we get, but yet they want to go to college. It just doesn't seem to make sense to me at all.
          Also, what a lot of people have a hard time with, (I know I do) is trying to focus in class. You have cute boys/girls (sometimes) around you that you want to stare at, you have your best friend just inches away from you where you're eager to gossip about the newest break up in the school, and you have your phone in your pocket. What I find most helpful is sitting away from your friends, and if possible when asked to partner up, work alone. It's not because I'm a loner, it's because I work best alone and because I want to get my work done. Now some people may find this silly, but it's something that's worked for me for a long time.
         So I hoped this helped. Especially from someone who goes through things like this every day and struggles.

Elementary

God. It kills me, because (Joan) Watson’s deduction skills are getting so good, and Sherlock is slowly realizing that she’s beginning to do the same as him, and follow him. Because at first, she was just

supposed to watch him, right? She didn’t have to take part in any of these cases or help him out, but she does, because they’re becoming closer, and she trusts him, and he trusts her. And that’s the beautiful thing about their relationship.
It's amazing how their relationship has progressed. They overall trust each other more, and I think what they're building is not only a romantic relationship, but also a healthy relationship/friendship as well. It was all said without words in the episode in which Joan asks Sherlock's father to stay and he says no, but she stays anyway, because she can't imagine her life without him.

Interview

One of my best friends, Sierra, had to interview me for an English project, so I figured I'd put it up for your enjoyment.

Sierra: Who is your biggest inspiration?

Me: Kate Middleton

Sierra: And why?

Me: Because she started out as an average person and showed that you don't have to have a lot of popularity to make a difference in the world.

Sierra: When did you start to like her? I know thats a weird question but i don't know how to phrase it

Me: Around the end of eighth grade.

Sierra: What is your favorite thing about her?

Me: Hmm. Probably her effort to make a difference in the world.

Sierra: Okay how do you think she will impact the world?

Me: I think that she'll show that just doing even little things can make a big difference, and by doing this she'll show people things in the world that need to be noticed that have gone unnoticed.

Sierra: That's deep

Me: Hell yeah it is. It's the truth.

"Prepared To Do Anything"

When you listen to “Prepared To Do Anything” And your mind just traces back to everything that John and Sherlock have been through, and how their friendship just started out as this little tiny thing, and then he saves Sherlock’s life, not once but almost twice (with Moriarty) and then you think of all the laughs they’ve had and how important that their friendship was and how John can’t survive without him and how he didn’t know he couldn’t live without him before he even met him, and now he’s sitting somewhere in his flat, thinking that Sherlock is genuinely dead, when truly he’s out there, thinking about John, wanting to tell him the truth, but he can’t because he has to protect him, because he cares about John. Because he loves him.

Derogatory Terms

Sometimes it sickens me.

I hear left and right at my school-a high school- kids using the word “Rape” as a word for attack. It truly sickens me for many reasons.

You never know who it’s going to affect around you. You don’t know if the person you just said that in front of had been raped, or known someone who had been raped. It’s a touchy subject, I know, but people need to take things like this more seriously. And honestly, I don’t understand why more adults-even they use it sometimes- even teachers, don’t do anything about it. I hear it and it drives me absolutely bonkers, and whenever I try to step in, someone always ends up saying “Don’t take it so seriously, jeez.” And you know how that makes me feel? That makes me feel pissed off and not powerful. And men aren’t the only ones saying things like this, I’ve heard girls say it as well.

My point is, no matter what the situation, it’s not appropriate, nor kind, to use “rape” as a term for being attacked. Go grab a dictionary, look up the word “rape” and then look  up the word “attack” in a thesaurus. There you have it.

Being Different

Why do we have to be so similar? Why do we have to ask so many questions? (The irony in this post is already getting ridiculous)

Why do we have to be asked why we wear what we wear?

I could walk into school with my hair dyed pink, but yet be wearing a new shirt. What’s the first thing someone’s going to notice?

You guessed it. The hair.

People have the problem of noticing the big things about people; the things that stand out the most.

People have the right to be different. If you’re a girl and you don’t feel like wearing girl clothes, that’s fine with me.

But suddenly everyone needs to judge. It’s a need. People feel the need to barge in on other people’s lives and judge them. Who’re they to talk? They’re the people who wear Abercrombie and Fitch every day, and have to have matching clothes and boots with their posses. It’s just straight up fucked up. And it makes me upset.

That’s the beautiful thing about being different and unique.

I don’t believe in such things such as “Goth” or “Punk” you’re what you make yourself, and don’t let anyone tell you different.

Memoir

[The following is a memoir that I had to write for my English class, so I decided to write about my deceased cat]

Have you ever had the thrill of welcoming a new pet into your family? In the autumn of 2007, I welcomed my kitten Rocko into my family. He looked like a cow. A small cow, with black and white spots. He could just barely meow at two months old. He was the first to come to me when I walked into the room.

Getting a pet is usually a lot of work. You have to adjust your schedule, your routines, and possibly the way you act. But it’s enjoyable. You’re not alone, and you have someone to talk to. When I first got Rocko, I had to keep him in my room to keep him from torturing and attacking our older cat, Max. Later on they soon warmed up to each other and became close, and before I knew it, Max was taking care of Rocko as if he was one of his own. At five months old, Rocko was into everything. He was scratching at the couch, pestering Max, and he was extremely hyper and running everywhere, and couldn’t stay still for a couple of seconds.

A horse was how you could describe him. Well, not as I described him. My family said that he was big enough to put a saddle on. Weighing twenty pounds, he could be large enough to ride, my family thought. My family members had always disregarded Rocko, and paid more attention to Max. Rocko was a little ditzy, and wasn’t the smartest, but I did love him, and there wasn’t a single reason I could think of to not love him. Although he was big, Rocko was extremely skittish. If you were sitting on the couch, and moved your leg just slightly, he would jump five feet into the air. He was also scared of thunderstorms, and by surprise, ants and spiders as well.

Today, I don’t have Rocko or Max. Rocko sadly passed away last year around the beginning of January. He was only three years old, but the time I had spent with him was fun, exciting and made me feel overjoyed. I still miss him to this day, but it makes me happy knowing that he’s with Max, and that they’re both happy.