Photo Hunt

Someone who taught me something: Mr. Snyder not only taught me academically, but also to be confident in my own skin and that hard work can make anything and everything possible.

Something that will always remind me of KHS:  I've had a lot of great memories here, and a lot more to come.  Just seeing the chief head will always bring back all of them.

Interesting angle:  The wear and tear of the lockers that most students don't even use anymore have been covered up with the symbol of love, a heart.

Something a little kid might notice and find interesting: I mean how could they not find a dinosaur head interesting? Heck I still do.

Something handwritten: A whiteboard in Mrs. R's class, who did more for me my freshman year then just teach me the correct time to use a semicolon.

Someone I'd like to be more like: Mr. Mello of course!  He's awkward, but he also has the kind of confidence in himself that most of us would dream of having.

Something Beautiful:  What could be more beautiful than a reminder that everyone has beauty inside of them.  People forget that these days.

Something square:  A bag of food from the vending machines...You know what is awful? How they're only open part of the day.  I swear it's abuse.

Something from nature:  Rocks, I know not the most interesting thing in the world, or so you think.  They're actually pretty cool.  Earth science "rocks."

Something round:  The clock that changes at the slowest pace...It's the object that determines when I get to go home and eat until I fall asleep.

Iconic Photo? Or Internet Accident?

             I decided to take this assignment to a different view point than most my other classmates.  It’s safe to say that most of them did a huge tragic or remember able event caused by psychopathic terrorists or something.  What people don’t realize, a huge event doesn’t have to happen for a picture to become iconic.  Of course, the pictures of the World Trade center are devastating as well as school shooting memorials. Those are all important events that is near so many of our hearts in America. I just feel like so many of these pictures we call “iconic” make people sad because it shows how messed up our world is as well as the humans in it.

                I being a person who enjoys twisting assignments into ways people wouldn’t quite expect, decided to do something a bit humorous and something that teenagers on social media have seen.  I don’t think adults understand how powerful social media like twitter and Instagram truly are.  Think about it, one person who has 3,000 followers’ tweets a picture and each of them tweet it again and so on and so on. What ends up happening? It spreads quicker than a wildfire.  I know you are probably reading this and you know exactly what I am talking about.  You know exactly the picture I am referring too.  The only sixteen year old I have ever heard of get famous for absolutely nothing other than being at the right place at the right time, and having absolutely gorgeous hair of course.  That’s right, I am talking about Alex Lee, who is now known as Alex from Target.

                I know you’re probably sighing and thinking why in the world I am writing about Alex from Target when the assignment is supposed to be about iconic photos from the 2000’s.  If you really think about it though, this kid became internet famous from one stalker chick taking a picture of him while he was working at target, and tweeted it.  It was just his luck that the people of twitter found his account.

               I understand how overly talked about this guy is.  I just found the situation absolutely hilarious.  Other people not so much.  I get he didn’t do anything to become famous but it is just the power of the internet! He had nothing to do with getting famous whatsoever so I think people should just give him a break. I get he did nothing to deserve it and he did take the whole internet famous thing a little too far, but you would too if you had an entire country telling you that you're gorgeous. Not many people can pull off going from 300 to 600k twitter followers in under 24 hours.  It’s our fault he’s famous, not his. Even so, it was probably the most entertaining thing ever to watch him spread nationwide in one day.  I was definitely amused by it.

                As you can tell, I took this assignment to a weird and probably annoying angle.  You’re probably rolling your eyes as you’re reading this but whatever.  I found it incredibly humorous to find that teenagers on social media have that much power.  Who knows, one day we might take over this country and make everything simpler and maybe better, I mean we have the power part down already.  No I’m just kidding.  Honestly though, the whole Alex from target situation made me laugh and so that is why I decided to use it for my assignment.  I mean the picture did go viral so I guess you could say it’s iconic.

This is Me...

This is me.

There is nothing special about this picture.

It is just me

With my split end infested brunette locks

And my golden skin that dries and shrivels in the winter

This is my face being clogged with buckets of makeup

And it’s my smile that I try to use to make others happy

It is me being me.

What you don’t see though, is what I choose not to show.

They say a picture is worth a thousand words.

I say this picture is worth one.

A lie.

What you can’t see from this picture is my story

You have no way of knowing

What is behind the girl with

The split ends

And the dry skin

And the layers of makeup

And the smile.

I’m a girl with a hard past

But a bright future.

I’m a girl with a mending heart

But also a caring one.

I’m a girl with a story.

A story of

Smiles

And tears

A story of

Happiness

And pain.

This picture is me.

But it’s me on the outside.

You have to stick around

To see the real me.

Nightmare for a "Scaredy-Cat"

        

The morning sun peeks through the blinds illuminating the light green walls of my bedroom. The dust particles catch the light causing tiny shimmers of light in the air. I don’t want to get out of the warmth of my bed.  That means I have to begin my day, October 31st.  Halloween, me least favorite holiday of the year.

                From the kitchen down the hall, I hear my mom call me for breakfast.  I force my head down on the bed and sandwich myself between the bed and my pillow, dreading waking up.  Then I heard my stomach grumble and I realized I was starving, so I rolled my eyes and got out of bed with a moan.  “Why couldn’t it be Thanksgiving?” I thought “At least it’s acceptable to gain 20 pounds in a 12 hour period on that day.”

                I groggily stagger to the door gripping the doorknob and opening the door.

“RAHHHHHH” screamed my brother and sister in masks hop out of the bathroom, attempting to scare me.  I just stare them down with a cranky look on my face and give them a pat on the back for the nice attempt. I continue on to the kitchen, longing for breakfast.

“Good morning mom, what’s for breakfast?” I ask excitedly. 

“Your favorite, French toast!” she replies as she sets the glass plate in front of me.  I look down at my French toast and see what I guess is supposed to be a finger. 

“Really, you too?” I stab the finger with my fork and put it in my mouth.  “Its gummy body parts, I saw the bag of them when you came home from the grocery store.  Nice try.” 

“We will get you, don’t you worry.” My mom said with a devious smirk on her face.

                I roll my eyes and shove finger-free French toast into my mouth.  I have never liked Halloween, I hate being scared and I hate costumes and I hate the fact that it’s all about death and blood and gory stuff that I don’t care about.  Why can’t Halloween be more like Christmas? At least that holiday has a fun fat man in a red suit eating cookies and bringing kid’s presents.  That’s a good holiday.

                The rest of the day went by in a blur.  I went on like any other day.  That is until my family made me go trick or treating with them.  I complained and argued, no surprise there.  I used every excuse in the book. 

“I don’t feel good,” “it’s cold,” “I don’t have a costume.”

                Nothing worked, so I was walking around outside with my arms crossed, watching annoying kids dressed as princesses or ninjas, ring doorbell after doorbell begging for candy.  How lame is that? If you want candy, you can buy it yourself.  I hear my mom talk to me from a few feet ahead. 

“Okay Mikala, you've got the next house.  Go on, ring the doorbell or else you’re grounded.”

“Mom! That is totally not fair!”  I said angrily “You know I hate Halloween.”

“Too bad, go” She replied forcefully.  Of course, they picked the scariest house on the street.  This house scared every kid in the neighborhood.  It’s said to be owned by a vampire who sleeps during the day and only comes out of her house at night to haunt the neighbors.

                I walk up to the porch.  Spider webs blanket the corners of the walkway and claw marks indent the hard wooden door.  The rotten steps creak after every advancement made.  From the corner of my eye I spot two beating eyeballs with piercing green light nearly illuminating the porch.  The creature sprints across the welcome mat.  I flinch, of course, it’s a black cat that crossed my path.  Great, bad luck.  The mat in front of the door reads, “You’re not welcome.” Why have a welcome mat if nobody is welcome?  The thin windows on either side of the door have signs that say ‘no trespassing’ and ‘do not disturb, or else.’  Does my family want me to die? I finally decide to ring the doorbell.  As I do, I immediately regret it as I hear footsteps getting louder and louder as they make their way to the door.

                My heart is beating faster than a snare drum in a band.  I see the doorknob slowly turn and suddenly the creak door turns on its hinges gradually.  I see nothing inside, no furniture, or light, nothing.  It’s just darkness.  I debate running off the porch, as I do, I feel a wrinkly hand grab my ankle.  I belt out a terrified scream.  Long nails reach into my skin as I struggle to set myself free. 

                I tell myself to turn around and start fighting for myself but immediately after I do, the hands grip is loosened and I hear an evil laugh coming from the doorway.  I couldn’t believe it, it was my dad.  He had a glove with wrinkles and long nails on and he had all black clothing on.  It’s official, I absolutely HATE Halloween. 

10-29-11

        This isn’t for an assignment.  I found out the other day that my parents had showed my grandpa my writings about his late wife, who I call my grandma.  Or even my best friend.  I was told that my grandpa read my pieces and he cried, but he didn’t cry because he was sad. I decided to write another piece in remembrance of her on this day. He told my parents that he loved how much of an impact that the woman he loved made on my life.  It’s true, when she was here, she was the person who I knew could do no wrong, at least in my eyes.  I would see her smile lighting up the entire city purely because of the gracefulness of her presence.  I have yet to find another individual that had the potential to save the world like my grandmother did.

                Today marks the third year anniversary of her death.  At 8 PM tonight, I will be out having ice cream with my family.  She sure did love her sweets, especially ice cream.  We won’t be celebrating of course.  We miss her every day, but what we will be doing is remembering.  Remembering the kind of woman she was.  I will think about how she always put her family above herself.  I will look back on the all the times she read me stories or sang me her goofy song before bed.  I’ll remember how I always loved taking baths at her house because she had the most fun toys for the tub.  I’ll be reminiscing all the holiday’s spent around a dining room table, just enjoying the time we had together. I’ll hear her laugh in my head, spreading throughout every bone in my body until I can’t help but laugh right along with her.  She was genuinely one of the most kind and strong woman that walked the Earth.

  My grandmother wasn’t much of a griever.  She always told us to see the good in every situation.  Before she died, she told everybody that her funeral was to not bring any tears.  She wanted us to remember and be thankful for the time she did have and the time she got to spend with us.  Now, the no tears thing was a little too high of an order.  I remember the funeral like it was yesterday.  That church was packed full, I didn’t even know half of the people in that room. The amount of tears shed on that day could fill the seas. It just made me realize how loved and adored she was. It is unreal to think how many people’s lives were touched with my grandmother’s personality and selflessness.  At the same time, I thought about how many people broke down in dread when hearing of her passing.

                There have been so many times in the past three years when I would be so angry at the fact that there are awful minds in this world, and they are alive whereas my grandmother isn’t.  I never understood how bad things happen to the best of people.  I still don’t, and probably never will.  I guess God just wanted her all to himself, I mean I can’t blame him.  I just wish I could have said one last thing to her before it all. 

                October 29^th will always be the worst day of the year.  All this day does is remind me of the thing I lost that I can never get back.  I’ve become the person who is afraid of change.  I am terrified that if I let go of one thing, that I will regret it and have no way of getting it back.  I’ve become afraid to let myself do what will make me happy in fear of disappointing or hurting someone else who means just as much to me. Nothing hurts worse than that feeling of permanent loss.  That feeling where you’re stuck in one place because the person you needed by your side to keep going is gone and can’t come back.  It’s been three years since I lost my grandmother.  Although some might say I should be over it my now, I disagree.  It was the first person in my life that meant the world to me that was taken for good, and it feels like crap. I’ve managed to move on with my life and find happiness in other things.  Nothing in the entire world could stop me from missing her though.

                I think people underestimate the power of one person.  I know society spends way too much time telling someone that they can’t or that it’s impossible. The only way something is impossible is if nobody had the guts to try it.  It was once thought to be impossible that humans could go to space, but we proved that wrong.  Every day people are proving that the impossible is most definitely possible.  The immensity of a grandmother’s love has the power to survive anything, even death.  She may be gone, but even if I can’t physically see her or hug her, I feel the presence of her love.  That vastness and clarity in a persons’ love is what can turn the death of a woman into something bearable.  I never thought I’d realize the fact that she is still here.  I was so caught up in the sadness of the loss that I never stopped and just talked to her and let her listen to me.

                The day I lost my grandma was the day my life changed.  I think about her every second.  Involuntarily, my mind reverts to thinking what my grandma would do in a certain situation.  Although I often fail at being even close to the same level of person she was, I know she’s still proud of me.  People always leave, but even though she’s gone, she’s here, somewhere, watching me.

               

        They say it’s impossible for one person to change the world.  If anybody could have done that, it would have been my grandma.  Her almost intimidating wisdom about the way life is could have made society think twice about how unfair and cruel it could be.  I truly believe she could have left her mark on this planet if she would have had more time.  The thing that gives me comfort though, is knowing she was able to work her magic on my family and friends.  Everyone that met her loved her and saw her as an inspiration.  My grandmother may not have been able to change the world on as large of a scale as I knew she would have been capable of, but that doesn't mean she didn’t change someone’s world.  That someone is me.  My world was changed and made better just by having her present.  Isn’t it amazing that one woman can have such an impact on another’s outlook on life? If I could see her again, I would thank her for teaching me what it means to be a family member, neighbor, friend, and human.  I love you more than you will ever know grandma.  I’ll see you soon.  I miss you, thank you for changing my world.

Halloween

     

       

 ~Using items around the house to make something creative and fun is my specialty.  I make craft whenever I can and it’s something I feel like I’m good at.  I make my Halloween costumes most of the time.  I’ve never been a fan of this holiday, I can’t do scary stuff.  Besides, most of the girls at school already have two faces, why add another? No but really, making my Halloween costume makes the day more enjoyable for me.

                My favorite Halloween costume I made was a few years ago when I dressed up as popcorn. I used a box and cut out a hole in the bottom and cut out a zig zag pattern at the top and then covered it in red and white vertical stripes to make the popcorn box.  And then I put another piece of cardboard on the top and cut out another hole for my body to go through.  On this, real popcorn was glued all over in a big mound.  The last thing I did was punch small holes on the side to put some leather straps to keep the box up, and boom.  I guess the whole “you are what you eat” saying applies.

                ~My absolute favorite part of Halloween is the candy.  I eat that stuff way too much, it is kind of unhealthy.  I love my chocolate, but I will literally eat any candy that is put in front of me.  Actually, it doesn’t have to be in front of me. I’d chase it down the street if I had too.  Anything unhealthy or sugary, expect me to eat it.

                My favorite candy would have to be Twix or Hershey’s milk chocolate.  Low-key I have an obsession with gummy Krabby patties.  I was never allowed to watch SpongeBob, but that candy was delicious, and Halloween is the only time I have a chance to get some of it.  If you’re looking for candy that kids will like, chocolate is the perfect way to go.  If you want to do something a little different, you can never go wrong with something gummy or hard candy.  Just know, that candy has to last children an entire year, so don’t be stingy.  Give them as much as possible.  Now their parents might not like that too much, but is trick or treating about the adults? NO, so let the kids enjoy their holiday.  Fill their pillow case to the brim, and you’ll see about a million smiles on Halloween night.  I think Halloween needs a little more treats and a little less tricks. 

Immensity

Music blasting

Bonfire blazing

Summer beach parties every weekend

Don’t think about tomorrow,

Party hard now

Was their motto.

Me not so much,

A walk on the cool night sand does me just fine

I look down yonder

The moon’s light is shattered by the ripples in the water

The stars are clothed with the smoke bellowing

From the bonfire

The shore is blanketed with seaweed,

Hiding it from view.

The stench of rotten sea creatures mask the

Soothing salt water.

Why these flaws should be characterized as

Wrong?

Scars on the surface shouldn't determine

Its immensity

Or worth.

Its true beauty is immense in itself.

Just have to give it a chance.

I feel sorry for those who don’t see the

Immensity

Of judgment and mistreatment

Our world is imperfect.

But it’s still a good one.