Janie

     In the book, Their Eyes Were Watching God we are presented with Janie, a African-American woman in the early 1900's. She grew up with her grandmother so she had her grandmother's teachings, which included things about love. At the young age of 17, Janie was married. But she was not happy with this marriage, She expected to eventually fall in love but she never did. And her second marriage didn't go so well either, her being just a trophy wife. For almost 40 years, she has never found true love, mutual love. So this begs the question, is there really true love? 

     If you like to think in technical terms love is just an increase of hormones when you feel attracted to another person. This usually applies when your body/mind thinks it has found a good mating partner. But, if you would like to think in the abstract ways, love is really hard to describe. You can be shallow, opting to fall in love with a person's appearance, or you can fall in love with a person's personality, their beauty coming secondary. I like to think that there is no one true love that you hear about in fairy tales, but love of those around you. No matter where you are, you will always find someone that you like. If you think about it realistically, if you only had one person in the entire world that you would truly love, then the chances of you finding that person are very slim. Going back to the story, I think Janie is just trying to find that one person who doesn't want her to be submissive to him. As long as they say the right things, have the right morals, she will fall in love with him. There are many people with those traits, but sadly there are just a lot more people who don't.

     So I don't believe in true love, or "the one" but I do believe that you will always find someone to be attracted to. But that doesn't always mean they feel the same way about you.

Classmates I am Thankful For

     In the morning, I do not look forward to my day. It's the morning and I have a whole day ahead of me. I'm still tired and I don't want to do anything. I usually don't start talking until 11ish. But there are some classmates who make my  mornings way more enjoyable. I'm thankful to Juan Goodum for making my mornings enjoyable. Without his jokes I would be probably be less amused throughout the day. Thanks Juan for always making things interesting and I hope you never stop.

     I am also very thankful to Adam Flam and Quincy Hirt. When you guys volunteer your opinions, I get a new perspective on things. I see a different point of view on things. And most importantly because you two always raise your hands, that means Mr. McCarthy won't pick me as frequently. Thanks guys for helping me avoid being called on.

     That's pretty much who I'm thankful for during first period. There are some other kids who are worthy of some honorable mention, Sally Keller and Brandon Nguyen being two. Both are thanked for the same reason as Adam and Quincy. Once again, thank you all who keep me awake in the morning and for allowing me to not talk during a class discussion. 

A Principle We Should Keep

     In the book "The Road" by Cormac McCarthy, we see society break down and lawlessness ensue. And where there is no law, people tend to get crazy and do anything to survive, eating people for example. But in these situations (apocalyptic) and in everyday life, what are some principles that everyone should have/keep? I, for one, think that you need to take life as it is and stop complaining all the time. People are crazy when it comes to something they don't like. My brother works part-time at Dunkin Donuts and when he works the register, he gets at least two complaints a day. And the complaint is for something so trivial. He told me that one time, a lady was complaining that the coffee was too strong when she ordered it black. People need to stop complaining and starting acting. Stop blaming other people and fix it. Even in Apocalyptic movies/shows or in any setting that forces people out of their comfort zone, people complain way too much. Stop feeling sorry for yourself and move on. We all have seen that one person in the movie/show who's freaking out, huddled in the corner asking "Why is this happening?" The real question that should be asked is "We're in this situation, so what do we do now to get out of it?" I absolutely hate angsty teenagers, in TV shows and reality. Get over yourself, stop going on Facebook, Twitter, and Snapchat just to complain about how much your life sucks. No one wants to hear it. There are a lot of other people in the world who have it worse than you. If your life sucks, try to do something about it. At the very least talk to someone, and I mean face to face.

     I believe that you should be proactive in life. You need to take things as they are and move on. Don't rely on others to comfort you because they most likely don't care about what your saying. If you feel bad, find something to cheer yourself up. If you are in an apocalypse, don't freak out (harder said than done, I know) calm down and think about what you should do to survive. And if you think the coffee is too strong then put some cream and sugar in it; stop whining and do something yourself.

Ernest Hemingway

     I have mixed feelings about Ernest Hemingway. I both admire him yet look down on him. On one hand, he's the epitome of masculinity. He was good looking, he knew how to hunt, fish, and survive in nature; he fought in both World Wars and could entice many women. But on the other hand, he was really bipolar when it came to his kids, one moment he's yelling at them, the next he's praising them; when he was with them, he was a loving, almost too loving father, but when he was away from them, he hardly ever thought of them. 

     Hemingway is a hard person to understand. During his childhood, his mother dressed him up as a girl, making him wear girl clothing until he was the age of 6. So it's understandable that him trying to be masculine his entire life was to make up for his early childhood. If I was forced to wear girl's clothing until 6 years old, I would also try to assert my masculinity later on in life. But it's these masculine traits that make me admire him. He's very confident and not afraid to get down and dirty when push comes to shove. He knows how to survive on his own in nature unlike me who has lived in the city his whole life.

     But Hemingway also has his faults. He is constantly looking for new women to sleep with. He would get a wife, spend a few years with them, have a kid or two, then find a new woman to fill his needs. To put it bluntly he was pretty much a dick to all the women. I'm sure the wives were happy during the marriage but once Hemingway brings another girl to live with them, that's just were it gets weird.

     Ernest Hemingway was cool as a man but sucked as a husband. 

Six 6 Word Stories

You are right above; don't leave.

I softly merge into the sky.

Lilies silently chase away your worries.

I cry; don't leave me behind.

Sparkling ashes drift along your flames.

I know you are right above.

John Proctor, a Hero or a Stooge?

     When we define people, we must be careful with our words. Words have multiple meanings to different people and if we don't have the same understanding of a word, then what we mean could be mistaken for another meaning. An example of this is when I say John Proctor is a stooge in the Crucible. When I say stooge, you might think of a fool or idiot. I thought that when I first heard The prompt for this blog. But if you look at the dictionary definition of a stooge you get "a person who serves merely to support or assist others, particularly in doing unpleasant work." John Proctor does not fit the definition word for word, but he does serve/assists others. You see this when he helps his friends, being their voice when they are scared/unable to use their own. He does the dirty work, he stands up for his friends and the wrongly accused. John, in the end, helps his wife, sacrificing himself for her. He gives up his life for his friends and family. And when asked repeatedly to confess, he holds out until the end, and even then he maintains his name. But there is a problem with just saying that John Proctor was a stooge. The word stooge is a derogatory term, and John Proctor deserves something better than being called stooge. He might have served others but he did so with the best intentions at heart. He deserves to be more than just a stooge.  So I'll call him a heroic stooge.

There Goes the Neighborhood

     Have you ever had a new student join your class? Especially if they are from another country? Have you ever noticed how your classmates react? They bombard the new kid with all types of questions, "where are you from?" "what's it like over there?" "what kind of culture is over there?". And when we receive items from other countries or even other states we over hype it. Just because it's foreign we think that it is special. People are innately curious about new things. We see this throughout history. The Native Americans; when the Europeans first came over, they thought that the gods were coming to Earth. They valued anything they got from the Europeans. They traded their food and materials for junk, broken glass, plates etc. Sadly our curiosity gets the better of us at times, and like the old saying goes, "curiosity killed the cat."

   And it did. The Native Americans were nearly wiped out by the Europeans. By the time Christopher Columbus died, historians believe that he was responsible for the death of over half a million natives. Chicago has a population of around 2.715 million people. Now think of almost a 5th of that population is gone because of one man. One out of every five people you know are dead. Neighborhoods are literally gone, wiped out. 

     But what happens nowadays? Let's put this in to some context. Let's say a close-nit neighborhood in the suburbs, all of the same religion, all of the same ethnic roots. But what would happen if a new family come? A family with a different set of beliefs and a different set of origins. What would happen? Well a clash in culture of course. People don't like new things. Sure if it's little things it's fine but when a giant change occurs, people start to get tense. In school it's fine because school is a mixing pot of people, but when it happens so close to home, you start to become uneasy. The kids would probably get along fine unless the parents say something, but it's the parents who will have a problem. The parents have been living a certain way for a long time and when something disrupts it, naturally people become upset. They start to argue who is better or why others should change. They want the different people to be just like them. They criticize each other's religion. They bash each other's Gods, food, and  style choice. Of course, there are exceptions, they all pretend they're friends but we all know they talk behind each other's back.

    We saw this type of conflict with the Europeans and the Native Americans. The Europeans saw something different and decided that they should change. Both sides attacked each other, saying which way of living was better or whose morals are better. But, as we know, the Natives didn't win that fight.

Me

     Hi, I'm Victor Medina. I was the one of smartest in my class during elementary school and I always tried my best. Being Asian, my mom always told me to focus on school. She told me "school first, social life second," well maybe she didn't say exactly that but she always told me and my brother to focus on school. And I did just that; I focused and blocked out any distractions. Unfortunately that included friends. I wasn't that social as a kid; I would always keep to myself and therefore wouldn't have much friends. If it weren't for my mom I would probably wouldn't have a lot of my friends today. I know it sounds embarrassing and contradicting but that's how it was. I transferred to my elementary school during the first grade and was scared to death. My mom met another Asian mother and that's when I met my best friend. Our moms forced us to be friends, but it all worked out. I considered him to be one of my best friends even today. 

       Entering High School, I did open up a bit. I was lucky; being the only one in my graduating class to go to Whitney Young, I didn't know anyone there besides my older brother. I met one guy at lunch and we became friends. Through him I met other people and I opened up. I became more outgoing and talkative. Just a bit though; don't expect me to talk much in class, I hate being the center of attention. But I guess in order to do well in this class I need to learn how to speak well with and in front of others. I guess time will tell if I do well.