Since October, my writing has improved more than I can believe. In 2013, I was only focused on showing exactly what happened. My writing nowadays is more about my feelings. Instead of what happened, how do I feel about what happened? Not only is it more interesting to read, but more fun to write. I have a lot more to say, and getting the thoughts out of my head clears my mind, and gives me something to look forward to every week.
In India, monkeys run free. Swinging from branch to branch, happy and content. They aren’t bothering anyone (aside from when someone taunts them, and the monkey is forced to jump from their branch, and chase the person down until they are close enough to steal something shiny), especially people from the countryside, who are used to seeing jungle animals such as leopards and huge snakes appear in their backyard. They don’t mind at all.
To these people, monkeys are like neighbors, or like the little brother that you occasionally tease and make fun of, but you love them. They don’t feel the need to lock these creatures up, sell them as pets, or use them for lab experiments. What’s worse is, some people think every other living creature is below them. As long as their phone is in their back pocket, and they have their bluetooth earpiece on, no one else, and nothing else matters. They can’t be bothered.
People like this need to remember that humans are animals too. My perfect society would be one where people are one with the environment. Where animals can coexist without places like the dog pound, a cruel jail for animals. But it’s not like we know what the pound feels like. Some people couldn’t care less.
I can imagine myself in the future walking outside my house with monkeys in the trees next to me. I would treat them like neighbors, and let them be. I would have a good honest job, that doesn’t at all involve mistreating creatures with beating hearts (preferably something that fights against it). In a place with no pound, and lots of vets, we would be one with the universe, environment, and other humans. We would all be one with nature, because in my mind, this is how it should be.
I drew a green girl yesterday.
Scraggly hair, droopy eyes,
She’s majestic and beautiful,
But why does she cry?
In spring she’s bright and happy,
In winter her colors fade.
In summer her hair is so long it can touch the ground,
In fall she blooms again.
At night the wind whistles through her hair,
Her dreary wails can shatter glass.
In the dark she whispers to me:
“I wish you, too, could be a tree”
And now as long as I may live,
What I wouldn’t give…
To be a tree, forever to see
The world through the eyes of mother nature.
But I realize that can never be.
I will never be a willow tree.
I’m forever to see the world,
Through only the eyes of me,
A painter.
— Anonymous
Reflection:
Often we try to be something other then we are. Some lifestyles are the same every minute. Change can bring different results, instead of the everyday plan, where the results are always the same. This poet, or “painter” dreams of what she draws. She wants to get out of her life for just a split second, and escape. But she know that she can never do that, because no matter how far away you are from your home, there are always things there waiting for you, nagging you to constantly think about them, stress over, and obsess over them. The life that her fantasy girl lives in is her escape. I think the green girl is like an alter ego. She’s telling herself, you are a tree, you are one with nature, and this should be your life. But her life is not that simple. No one’s is.
I remember the cube TV, the big bulky VCR,
and singing along to the songs in my memories.
Watching made-up people’s lives,
and fitting them in with my own.
That brave girl that I adored,
gave me power, and strength,
to step up with no fear.
How to face my fears.
She knew the importance of family,
but the necessity of friends.
Had goals,
unlike the other Disney girls,
who wanted nothing but to find a prince who’ll save her life,
fall in love,
get married,
and live “Happily Ever After.”
She put her loved ones before her dreams,
and found happiness in the end.
The girl power proved to me,
that her father was wrong.
She was no disgrace,
she is the perfect daughter.
An iPad is like a tiny computer, but in my opnion, it’s better. Some of my favorite apps were actually websites first, but it’s just so much more convenient on a pocket-sized object. These apps are the reason I love smartphones and tablets.
Netflix: Every little fantasy world I live in, every thing people get annoyed at me for constantly talking about, and every cheesy rom-com that I won’t admit I’m obsessed with- it all began on one app. Anything that looks remotely interesting instantly broadcasted at the simple touch of a button. I find myself clicking on the next episode, even when I promised that was the last one. They have recent movies and shows, old 70’s and 80’s movies (my personal favorite,) documentaries, musicals, and so many more. There are even categories inside categories. For instance, inside the romance genre, the movies are organized into romantic comedies, romantic dramas, etc. Netflix is the perfect way to kill time and something exciting to look forward to at the end of the day.
Spotify: This app is the perfect way to discover new music, see what your friends like, and organize every favorite song into a playlist. If you’re anything like me, you’re in a different mood everyday. It might not seem like it, but I feel like a different person every minute, because my thoughts and ideas are constantly changing. I change my future job, future college and the way I act almost each day. One day I think,” Maybe I want to be a poet,” and the next day, I’m a bio-medical engineer! For someone who can’t make up her mind, do you really think I want to listen to the same list of songs everyday? That’s why I need something to organize music for the kind of mood that I’m in on that particular day. These are my reasons, but spotify is perfect for everyone, not just the girls who can’t make up their minds.
Pinterest: One of the reasons I love Pinterest, is that I love cooking. Pinterest has the most innovative recipes that I’ve ever seen. They also have very helpful cooking tricks, and things to make that I would’ve never thought of in a million years! One trick that I read, and haven’t been able to forget since, is how to make chocolate bowls:
Step 1. Melt some chocolate.
Step 2. Blow up a balloon to your particular size.
Step 3. Dip the balloon in the chocolate, and set it in the fridge to cool.
Step 4. Once the chocolate has hardened, pop the balloon, and take it out.
See how cool that was?
Pinterest is great for discovering fashion tips, quotes and well, almost anything. I find myself constantly screenshotting everything that I see.
HeardonTV: HeardonTV is an app that helps you find a song that you heard in a TV show, or movie. Some of my favorite songs were found with this app. They have almost every TV show imaginable. When you click on them, they show every season, and within that, every episode. Also, people can contribute songs that they recognize. It’s like Shazam, but better, because if on the show, the song plays in the background, and the characters are talking, Shazam won’t recognize it. HeardonTV will.
Bandsintown: Everytime this app sees a band that I liked on Facebook, they instantly send me an email telling me if the band is close and their proximity. I have gone to countless concerts, buying countless tickets with this app. They also recommend bands that I should listen to. I have so much fun with the resources this app gives me.
Apps are great. They are convenient, fun, and useful, but everything I just listed has sentimental value to me. Spotify helped me bond over music with my sister, my mother and I read cool cooking tips on Pinterest, and my dad and I watch Battlestar Galactica on Netflix almost every weekend. They aren’t just tools to help me have fun; they are common interests, the beginnings of friendships.
Non-cooked pizza? Dairy-free chocolate cheesecake? Sounds gross right? Wrong. There’s nothing I like better than eating at my my favorite restaurant in town. Sure, it might be an acquired taste, and not everyone may like it, but real Austinites will.
Right down the street from Town Lake, nestled in a corner between propaganda, the hair salon, and a jewelry repair place, is a raw food café. Beets: the only place in Austin that doesn’t cook their food. Vegan uncooked food might sound unappetizing, but it’s actually delicious. The vegan cashew cheesecakes taste just like real cheesecakes, because when they soak the cashews and grind them up, it tastes kind of like milk. All the food substitutes at Beets are spot on, and taste just like real food, if not better.
If there’s anything that I like better than the food, it’s the people. Every time I’m there, somehow me and the people next to me strike up I conversation. In the background I can hear cooks and waitresses humming, trickling of fountains, and people laughing. Health posters and paintings of nature are tacked up on the walls. To the left, there are cooking classes, everyday. They show how to make and have vegan raw food 24/7.
All in all, the family feel makes everyone welcome, and the fact that it is so close to Town Lake is convenient for most hungry health nuts, who like to exercise. The reason why this is my favorite place in Austin is because of how perfect it is for the only hippie, up to date city in Texas.
Mistakes are like when people try to pronounce my name. It never turns out the way I think it will.
2009, and it was our first basketball game of the season. We were in the third quarter, there were two minutes left and we could all practically smell the determination and desperation running through the crowd, and my teammates veins. Only I could smell and almost taste the sweat and salty water filling up all of my mouth.
I was sprinting to the opposite goal, and and as my eyes followed the action, I saw that Samantha stole the ball…dribbled it up the court…and passed it to — me? My mind cleared blank, everything slowed down. Parents and teammates were yelling, but I wasn’t listening. The only thing that I could hear was the devil and angel on my shoulders. I subconciously moved, then suddenly—
I was right in front of the basket.
It was a layup: the easiest shot in basketball (as my coach always said), but I was too afraid. Kaylee was right there, it was so easy to just shoot, yet so temping to hold the ball up to my chest, and thrust, lifting it in the air and across the room. In a wave of panic, I passed to her instead of making the shot.
The guilt. That was all I could feel. I didn’t know what my coach was thinking, and I didn’t know what my teamates felt. Dissapointment? Anger? Annoyance? I wondered if they didn’t notice. No. Probably not. But all I was really sure of knowing was that Iwas supposed to be on the other side right now. With my heart in my chest, I gathered up my courage, picked my feet up, and dragged myself away from that wretched spot.
My actions made it much harder for my team to save themselves. The enemy stole the ball, and we lost. all because of me….
To this day, I regret not having the courage to win us the game, just because I was afraid to fail. Although my coach and teammates were able to let it go, I was ashamed, and filled with self-doubt, but I learned that sometimes your only available transportation is a leap of faith, and when it all comes down to me, I know in my heart, next time, I will shoot the basket.
Social media, like Instagram and Facebook can help keep a friendship afloat, but it can also hurt, and sink the friendship down.
One of my very best friends started a fake, anonymous cyber-bullying page on Instagram to target certain kids, and I had no idea until someone told me, making me a part of a vicious line of gossip that never ends. She was completely normal around me, and never used to complain about people, which made it especially alarming to hear about this. Needles to say, it ruined our friendship, as well as a lot of her others.
Even though this experience was scarring, Social Media can also make things a lot easier.
One of my very best friends since birth used to live less than a mile away, our parents were best friends, we would’ve been at the same school, and my sister was “BFF’s” with his sister. Everything was perfect, until they moved to California. Keeping in touch is hard, but we remain just as close with the help of FaceTime, Skype, iMessaging, Instagram, and Facebook.
This proves that maybe keeping Social Media around would not be a bad idea, but when you use it, make sure to be careful, and make smart choices.
I am from a red, white, and green flag with a blue flower in the middle.
From dad forcing me into the life of old classic rock,
And from mom forbidding the words “stupid” and “shut up”, but pretending to not heard them when my sister was being especially mean.
I come from the birthplace of Plano, Texas, and from the smells of yellow curry, and pink lotus flowers,
And from Brother Bear, Mulan 1&2, The Jungle Book, and all Disney princess movies,
From Nathan and Maya, and close friends of the family.
I am from gold, red, green, and brown, the color scheme of our house, warm, and inviting,
From huge gardens, bright flowers, a trampoline, and swings that can absorb my interest like a towel for hours at a time,
As well as I am from that one color-blinding, unnatural seizure-inducing bright turquoise room, owned by my sister, that doesn’t compliment or go with anything in our house.
From a house of love, tradition, and of putting family first, from my home, a habitat like no one else’s,
I am from a trusting household,
I am from home.
Crunchy and blonde,
Sodium high,
Comforting me,
When I crave something fried.
Family size? Please!
You can’t fool me!
I’ll finish that bag,
In just one sitting.
Crispy sliced spuds,
Swimming in oil,
You’re the the one snack,
Health critics can’t soil.