Music

I love rap. Rap uses deep words, deep thoughts, deep meaning. I am an emotional person. I see rap as an escape, from the real world. The new world is described as a reformation in the Renaissance of Europe – its rebirth.  I use rap as an escape. I escape from feelings; it numbs the happiness, the energy, the excitement, the pain. Rap does not teach hate. I walk around with my headphones blaring, I do not idolize rappers because they talk about shooting each other, or because I think “swearing” is “cool”, I don’t like it because I can relate, or because they say music alters moves, and talks to you. I like rap because it tells you a real story. It blatantly tells you the truth, not cushioning each word with love, but stabbing away at the emotion that flies with each word. Rap is a poem, the flow of passion. Rappers are not screaming lyrics, just so you can’t understand what their saying. They are releasing all the hate, the love, the grief, and the sorrow. Spewing word dedicated to their true feelings, trying to get it out within their three minutes of recording time in the smoky sound booth. That’s commitment.

            On a broader level, a lot of people do not like rap. After interviewing and researching the three main reasons rap is disliked is because, it explicit, disrespectful, and cultureless. Rap is not about “bagging” on someone you hate or dislike. It’s hardly hate at all, it’s about the struggle faced within the slums or ghetto. Many think that as soon as Tupac was shot, rap became vulgar and disrespectful. The words used in rap are just expressive ways for rappers to heal the various emotions. Mainly women think these words are rude and directed towards them, yet the rapper who wrote them was expressing their own feelings. Rather than running around shooting each other rap is another way to heal. Heal the pain, the stress, the drama – not drowning. Rap may have “lost its culture” to some people, but Tupac and Biggie were just the beginning of greatness, they paved the road. Now we’re all walking down it. Day by day. Night by night. Rap is most definitely explicit, but in the end it adds a flare to the song and it would not be rap without its explicitly thriving words.

            I also think that at the end of the day no matter what genre of music you like it will always depend on who you are. Nothing defines you other than the way you simply are. The songs on your ipod represent the sounds and lyrics that you enjoy or could even relate you. When I have a crappy day I head home and put my headphones on, I don’t only do it to tune out everything else, but so I can listen to the message the writer, instrumentalist, and artist is trying to get across. The musical bar is set high and will continue to expand.

(503)

Into The Wild question 3

When the news surfaces to the outside world about Chris McCandless death, his parents, friends, and sister are all most disturbed. Being such a good student growing up and aspiring athlete his parents let Chris do as he pleased. He didn't party or focus too much on his social life, but he did focus on contributing. The love and passion he had for adrenalin and adventure ruled his life. Straight out of High School Chris immediately embarked on his journey through the Alaskan "bush". Contrarily things took a turn for the worst when his life came to an end when fate decided to feed him poisonous sweet peas. No one could identify Chris in the area his body was located, but when the news reached his parents they knew it was their son Chris. Instead of becoming bitter and filled with grief they honored Chris. " After Chris had been identified, Carine and their oldest half brother, Sam, flew to Fairbanks to bring home his ashes and those few possessions..." being a family they honored Chris and had him cremated. All his father could think was " how is it, that a kid with so much compassion could cause his parents so much pain?" Although sadness arose, there was zero grief. Finally Chris' mother was the most obvious in her sorrows. "... She breaks down from time to time, weeping as only a mother who has outlived a child can weep, betraying a sense of loss so huge and irreparable..." Being a mother you'll always be most upset if you out live your own child, but the series of unfortunate events to occur lead to a very misfortune loss, but Chris lives on through story after story. 

Waters of Babylon

QUESTION: why has John’s tribe gone back to a more primitive way of life?

Johns Tribe reverted back to a more enhanced primitive way of life. John journeys to a forbidden place, where he sees dead men. He’s in search for the Leader of the God’s. John is not fond of his lifestyle, so his hopes for this journey, is for the outcome to benefit everyone in a positive way. The forbidden place is found to be the ruins of New York. Falling bombs caused fires and the war left it as if hurricane Katrina on steroids hit. Due to this war John wanted to make life good again. He wanted to strive for the best life for himself and his tribe. The Tribe went back to a more primitive way because he saw the ruins and dead men and didn’t know how to actually live. He improves everyone’s lifestyles and tells his father they need to change how they live.

The Interlopers

The theme of The Interlopers is friendship, survival, and suffering. All the words are connected in a way. The two men are enemies in the beginning and fight mon-stop. The symbolic meaning behind this story is that no matter what happens god is always watching over you, and to dig deeper into the symbolic meaning, when it comes down to it human nature says you'll do anything to survive. So when the two men were nearly crushed by the tree they hit survival mode and immediately band together in order to keep themselves alive. They do this so they do not suffer. Imagine being stuck under a tree alone, with no one to help you, with wolves lurking near by. I would rather the tree have killed me, otherwise I'd be overwhelmed with fear, anxiety, and helplessness. At the end of the day the moral or theme of this story is, cliché? Yes, but keep your friends close keep your enemies closer. The men needed eachother to survive, so being enemies I guess you could say the unfortunate event turned them to friends.

WEEKEND!

This weekend was another intresting weekend with the Peterson family. Saturday morning we made our regular trip to Dunkin Donuts and then we were off! I usually listen to my music on the Itrip on the way to Foxwoods, but my mom was extremely moody on this perticular Saturday morning. However, no one knew why. I had my headphones in the whole car ride, but i could hear my brother in the back yelling at my mom for no specific reason. I tunned them out, and enjoyed my iced tea. I can't begin to explain how grateful I am. My parents always tell me to thank god and to share what I have, but I thank god for such great parents. Later that day we arrived. Foxwoods is spilt into three parts. We usually stay in The Great Cedar, but because it was mothers day weekend we stayed at the MGM Grand. It wasso nice, I was obssessed with the beautiful room. The shower was like heaven. I took about four or five showers. After my brother and i walked around a little my mom called me and asked if we wanted to meet her at a restaurant. I declined because we fought prior to her invitation,Mao I finished my movie on net flicks in the room while my dad napped. I got a little hungry though, plus my movie ended... So I called sue, my mom, and asked her to meet me at a restaurant downstairs. I grabbed my sunglasses and my phone then met my mom outside to eat. I got a salad because we normally have a big dinner. Idid realize until me and my mom actually started talking that we haven't bonded in awhile and it was well over due. It was nice to spend time with her and there were a lot of things going on in each others lives we'd been missing out on. After we went into Pandora and I showed her the charm I want, then she used the famous "ask dad." so of course I asked dad, I told him I wanted the evil eye charm. It was a greek region protective eye. I'm Albanian, so I found it really cool! Our last stop was theCranberries concert for mothers day. Originally my dad was gonna take my mom, but he was really tired, so I got to go instead! My brother didn't mind much because that would mean he got room service and for some reason he thinks that the greatest thing to ever be invented. So we got to the show at about 8:30 and I was amazed. The crowd went wild and I thought it would be some boring seventies group, but the signer was a great crowd pleaser. She could really relate to her fans, she definitely did her job well, and loved it. Now I love spending time with my family and I'll love them until the day I die. We may not always get along, but I one hundred and ten percent appreciate when we spend time together!

The twilight zone

Corey's sentence to live on an asteroid for fifty years is over the top. Hands down. Massachusetts states the 'death penalty' is too much as capital punishment, but I'd rather die than go through a day on Corey's shoes. I get bored if I'm left home alone for more than a couple hours, i would not last a day alone... Stranded... On an asteroid, nor would I last FIFTY YEARS. Corey may, or may not be guilty, but if the state is trying to punish him, sending him where they did is vindictive. They can strip him of his clothes, his family, his life, but  not his rights as a human!

My Weekend

 My family rarely spends time together. We go to Foxwoods on weekends, but now-a-days the thrill factor has faded. We usually stay in The Great Cedar, and sometimes if my brother and I take friends we take the shuttle from building to building. My favorite thing to do there is play elevator tag, but that's a whole different story. Now my dad is a pretty generous guy, we get along well, and I look up to him, but I dread when he makes us go to Foxwoods, up until now.
 This weekend was one of my top weekends by far. On Friday I unfortunately had to attend school, and then a doctor’s appointment, but then my mom, brother, and I left for Connecticut. The drive takes about two hours, and my brother, Ethan, is younger than me, so if you have a younger brother you feel my pain… Luckily, I beat him to the front seat so I got to play “DJ”. My favorite genre of music is rap, which couldn’t be more opposite of my mom and Ethan’s preferences, but hey you win some you lose some, right?
 We stayed at The Mystic Marriott, because Foxwoods didn’t have any rooms available for this particular weekend, but to be honest, I liked staying at The Marriott a lot better. It was really nice there; the service was good, their restaurant, The Octagon, was delicious, and the pool was ridiculously warm! Normally I don’t swim because I get cold relatively easy, but I swam a good amount of time this weekend. After we arrived we didn’t have much time to eat, but we drove over to Foxwoods after check-in and watched The Counting Crows perform live. They aren’t as popular as they used to be, and I don’t regularly listen to their music, but it was a fun thing to experience.
 Saturday came quick; we woke up and drove over to The Mystic Aquarium. My brother and I weren’t too excited, and we tried getting out of it, but at the end of the day, I had a good time. When we first got there, they had a huge tub where you could go touch sting rays, and when I touched one it felt like actually jello, they’re bodies, I guess you could say, are so smooth. Next we watched the sea lion show, their biggest sea lion weighed in at eight hundred pounds, he was the male dominant, and his name was Cocoa. There was also a baby sea lion, her name was Skinner, and she was three years old. Most adorable thing I’ve ever seen. We saw many other animals, but my absolute favorite sea creatures for some reason are starfish. I got to hold a giant star fish. I just think they look and feel so cool. They remind me of SpongeBob.
 We got back to the hotel around three, and just as we were walking in my dad was walking out, so instead of leaving he stayed and treated us to a wonderful lunch. I got a Panini with turkey, my favorite. The rest of our little vacation was relaxing, which is just what I needed. My mom and I went to get pedicures at the spa, and the lady who did my toes was a little on the crazy side so she did my nails for free, but I’m sure it was just because she was really nice
 All and all, I love my family, and it was extremely nice and generous of my dad to treat my family like he did. I had a great weekend and had a few new experiences!
(word count 607)

Conclusion

Every year multiple students drop out of school. Students might not love school, but when they show zero enthusiasm and say they hate school, nine out of ten times, they’ll look back and appreciate the education they’ve received. A lot of kids drop out of school, most of the time it’s due to poverty, repetition of they’re parents, and influences of others. If I were to ever drop out of school, I’d know I wasn’t going to fully reach my potential, or life goals. I value the education my town, parents, and society is able to provide me with, so dropping out is only stabbing yourself in the foot.

Vacation

            In the days building up to summer, the weather is getting warmer and the days are getting longer. This April vacation was a reminder of just how excited I am for summer. How nice the days will be, how much freedom we’ll have, and school will be out! April vacation was like a preview of the long months ahead. June, July, and August… my favorite words to hear.

            The things I did for my April vacation were basically the same things I do over the summer. Over the weekend I spent most of my time with my dad, it’s rare if he’s home on the weekend, so I took advantage of the fact he was. I woke up Monday morning and went outside to feed Jenny; a big brown horse. She’s beautiful. Her favorite thing to eat is bananas. It made me laugh when I first discovered this, because what horse likes bananas? I guess Jenny does. I spent relatively an hour a day with her. Then, I would go home and check my phone. If a friend texted me then we’d make plans to hangout, if not I’d make them myself. I kept myself extremely busy, from soccer practice to getting ice cream; this was hands down the best vacation ever.

            On the really warm days, I would wake up around eleven and tan in my driveway. One morning my brother and his friends were already in the driveway playing basketball, so I played horse with them and won! Unfortunately I got a little burn on my back; it reached about eighty two degrees that day. I pretty much begged my mom to go to the beach everyday of the week, but she had no choice… she had to work. My cousin Jason and I walked to the Ashland Reservoir. We swam to the island together, I took about thirty minutes, but we both had to stop half way there because it was exhausting. Next time I might just need some floaties, maybe those Elmo ones for each arm.

The most entertaining thing I did over vacation was hangout with three of my close friends. We had a huge pasta dinner, then walked to the high school and played with a bow and arrow. Where I got a bow and arrow, I couldn’t tell you, but lucky the arrow was just wood and didn’t have a tip. I suggest not playing with any kind of weapon… I got a splinter, but luckily I got it out!  

Finally, as vacation came to a close I realized how tired I was! I had a soccer game on Sunday and my club team beat the number one team in Massachusetts! The Stars, my guess is they’ll be running laps at their next practice. After my game I came home, had some Brie cheese and French bread then took I nice hot shower. Then I threw my comfy pajamas on and took a nice long nap. A great ending to a phenomenal vacation!

(500 word count)

Summer '10 Lesson Learned

In the summer of 2010 I was about 13. As a 13 year old I was curious. I’m normally a curious person, about pretty much anything and everything. On this particular August night I made the choice to drink, not the smartest of choices, but looking back it was less of a choice and more of a decision. The night is a complete fog; all I remember is waking up with a huge bandage on my leg. I felt dizzy, so I tumbled into the bathroom and splashed cold water on my face. I felt a sharp pain where the bandage was. I truly did not know what was under that white gauze pad. I slowly peeled it to the point as to where I could see the purpose of its presence. There was a cut about 3 inches deep and a good amount of skin missing. I was terrified. It looked as if I had been mauled by a pit-bull.  I noticed there was blood on my shorts, so being as compulsive as I am, I bleached them and put them into the washing machine. I walked downstairs; my dad was sitting on the couch. I asked him what happened, he told me in my own attempt to walk down the porch stairs I fell on an already cracked milk bottle. A little later, I found myself thinking back to the night before; I had a horrible head ache and felt as if I was going to vomit. Disgusting? I know. My brother helped me all through the night. He told me he slept on the flow next to me because he didn’t want me to get hurt. I will never forget what he said, nor will I forget that night. I have a scar on my leg shaped like a heart to remind me every day. I don’t think of this as unlucky, I don’t think of it as a mistake, and I don’t think of it as misfortune. I think of this time period as a life lesson. I learned a couple different things. The legal age limit for drinking is set as 21 for a good reason. Some people, especially kids do not understand the power or addiction to liquor, but they don’t need to understand, because it’s not made for us. It doesn’t make you cool, you don’t have a better time from alcohol, you don’t become invisible either, and it makes you stupid. Stupid in the sense that, it affects your proper decision making. You don’t think of the repercussions of your actions, you don’t think of the consequences, and you certainly don’t think of what it does to your body, or the toll it takes on specifically your under developed liver. I made a mistake, but I learned that no matter whose party I go to, or how many of my friends are drinking, alcohol is simply something I don’t need or want. I can still have fun without it, and you know I’m glad I learned that rather than getting behind a wheel or doing something even more stupid.  (517 words)

What is an Essay?

"An essay is a piece of writing that gives your thoughts (commentary) about a subject."
My opinion of an essay is a piece of writing that you can write about a directed subject, and event, something personal, anything you want. You can just keep writing and writing about your chosen topic. Writing is supposed to be all about something you call your own. Something you write and something original. A piece of writing that can be used as an article, report, or documentation even of something significant that has happened in your lifetime. relatively important...