soy milk

It's weird how earlier stuff in your life can connect with later stuff in your future. It's as if everything is meant to be as it happens. As if everyone's life is already laid out and the decisions made were already predisposed.
I saw Persepolis the other day in my World of the Cinema class. When I found out that we were going to watch this film I had to attend the optional screening. All screenings are optional for this class. So I did.
The reason why I had to attend the screening was because Persepolis is based on two graphic novels titled Persepolis 1 and Persepolis 2, which I read about one year and a half before.

The graphic novels:

Life 'tis crazy.

this is not cool

Green Things

If the grass can be here, there, everywhere.

The leaves can move among nations.

A kiwi exists today.

A lime is squeezed on more than one food.

You can stand on a green hill.

Travel.

The horizon awaits and the Universe, speckled.

tamarind candy

I want to have a conversation with an elder. 
I want them to tell me about their worst day or their best.
I want them to tell me who their first love was and if they did everything they wanted to do up until now and if there is still something missing. 
It would be nice to hear about the most fun day of their lives and the summer in which they had a blast. 
If they had any episodes in which they felt like they were the queen or king of the world and what they collected when they were younger. 
I want to have a conversation with an elder on a given afternoon and listen intently and cling to their every word from start to finish. 
I want to have a conversation with an elder and cry, laugh, smile with them until the sun goes down or comes up. 
Until the flowers no longer bloom anymore and the sun is tired of shining its rays on the people who have not moved an inch since they began talking.
It would be nice to listen to an elder's stories or anecdotes or both.
To hear what their life was about or not about.
It would be nice to have a conversation with an elder on any given day whether it is sunny, cloudy, snowing, or raining outside.

junior mints

There was a time when I would watch Naruto every single day, but I haven't seen it in a while and it makes me sad.

If I was a shinobi (in the Naruto world)....

I would love to be from the leaf village. Everywhere I went I would carry around a Rubik’s Cube in a pouch around my waist. Somehow, I don’t know how, though, it would help me in battle. I would love to play puzzle games or solve puzzles in my free time. Some of my favorite puzzle games would be Tetris, Sudoku, and Bejeweled. I would also love to play Jenga, checkers, chess, and shogi, the latter against Shikamaru Nara.

It would be nice to be from the Hyuga clan and be able to use the Byakugan, but if, for some reason unknown, I was not from the Hyuga clan I would love to be a medical ninja like Sakura Haruno and Ino Yamanaka. This way if I ever feel useless while on a mission I can at least help the wounded.

Just how Naruto loves noodles, I would also love to have a favorite type of food. Preferably, ice cream or peaches. I don’t think I would be a very outspoken shinobi like Naruto who is the loudest ninja and the first to speak. The personalities of Shikamaru and Neji greatly appeal to me, but seeing as to how I am a girl I would have a personality similar to that of Hinata. A bit more outspoken, but reserved at the same time. I’m not sure what my summoning Jutsu would be. I guess a dog like Kakashi would be fine, maybe a chihuahua.

If I was a shinobi I would love to be best friends with Shikamaru. He’s modest and doesn’t boast about his intelligence. We could play shogi together all the time or any other strategy game. He doesn’t seem to be a party person and seeing that I am not a party person either it would be perfect. I would love to master a Jutsu that requires a higher control of chakra like Naruto’s A-rank technique, Rasengan.

I would love to be friends with someone from the Sand Village. I think Kankuro would be an awesome friend. He has interesting puppet skills. I don’t know, it would be nice to paint my face like Kankuro does to his.

If I was a shinobi I think I would read books. I would always tease Rock Lee because of his bushy brows. I don’t know if I would like Sasuke that much, he can be pretty hostile. Tenten Sakura and Ino would be nice people to talk to.

If I was a shinobi I would be from the Leaf Village and put all my strength and effort in whatever it is that I do. If I am on a D, C, B, A or S ranked mission I will always try my best. When I am not on a mission I would practice and hone my skills to be the best shinobi I can ever be.

I drove a van for the first time and it was rad

Yellow Things
There was a banana.

In a yellow basket.

The sun was darker than other days.

Although brighter than the sunflowers.

The sun shined darkness on the dried grass.

When the lemon rolled from the yellow basket.

Onto the floor.

Reese's peanut butter cups

That's such a weird thing to say

I see the same people everywhere

Secret blog, one year gone

I think I sleepwalked

October

I was clueless.
In the black of night.
I woke up to the sound.
Of the wind on my shoulder.

songs I would put in a film

Sometimes I think of stuff that I would write if I wrote a book someday.

nerds candy for 39 cents

Ender's Game

I had never read science fiction before Ender's Game.

I did not pick up this book on my own either.

On an ordinary day in book club of my first year in high school the librarian asked the three book club members, yeah there was only three, to pick a book we would want to read and he would buy it for us. I told him that I didn't know what book to pick. I had not idea, the others had no idea, so he said something along these lines, "How about I pick your books?"

 The book club was reading Blood and Chocolate around this time, which I actually thought was an interesting book. It's a supernatural werewolf novel. Although it is short, I finished it in three weeks because I also had school work to do.

During the next book club meeting the librarian brought the three book club members books that he thought we would like. I don't remember what he brought everyone else. He brought me a box set of three books in the Ender's Game series. They were Ender's Game, Ender's Shadow, and Shadow of the Hegemon.

I had never heard of these books, so it took a while for me to finally begin reading them. I attempted to read Ender's Game two to three months after receiving it. The topic didn't interest me and I couldn't understand the book completely. It wasn't the right time, so I put the book away. Time passed. Three years later I picked up the book again and, this time, I read it from cover to cover. I had never read science fiction before. I had never dared to venture into this world before. After reading Ender's Game I read Ender's Shadow, which has a similar plot to Ender's Game, but it is told in the viewpoint of another character named Bean.

Whenever anyone asks me for book recommendations, Ender's Game is always one of them. Somehow, though, everyone ends up choosing a different book.

After I finished reading Ender's Game, I placed it on my book shelf and forgot about it.

One year later when I started college Ender's Game was one of the required books along with Invisible Man and The Handmaid's Tale for my English class. Invisible Man and The Handmaid's Tale are pictured below. I would recommend these books. They are different and deal with issues such as race and gender roles, respectively. 

                        

Now, back to Ender's Game.
I thought I had lost my first copy of Ender's Game, so I bought a second one this time. I read it again from cover to cover along with the other two books required for the class. Now I own two copies.

I also found out that there is going to be an Ender's Game movie coming out in November. I'm excited to see the "Buggers" fights and the Battle School.

needle in the hay

piles and piles of nothing

September

Riding on a bus.

Reading a book

Remembering to discuss.
Radiating the look.

plainsong

Lollapalooza 2013

I wish I could live in a Cure concert forever and ever and ever and ever.

My sisters and I decided that we would go to Lollapalooza in 2013 no matter what did or did not happen.

I quietly sat in my College Algebra class waiting until the clock struck 10:25 a.m. some day in June or July because my sisters were in school and I was the only one who would be able to purchase the Lollapalooza tickets. As soon as College Algebra was over I ran to the library, logged on to a computer, and went on the Lollapalooza website. I had to buy four tickets, but only two went through because it turns out that my sister did not have enough money on her card. I panicked and went home. Luckily, we found out that someone we knew had bought many Lollapalooza tickets and we asked that person to please save two for my other sister and me.

Then the day of the concert came. My sisters and I woke up early. I kept thinking about The Cure. I really wanted to see The Cure. We took a bus and a train to Grant Park. The security was crazy. We had to pass through many layers of security, which felt like we were walking through many layers of cake. haha, When I reached the last checkpoint my wristband would not scan and I was sent to a tent in the corner to see what was wrong. At this point I panicked. Was I going to get into Lollapalooza? Did I have to go home? Luckily, my wristband was fixed. I was told it was on too tight.

The first band that we saw was Wild Nothing. I had heard some songs from Wild Nothing before and since no other band that we wanted to see would play at the time, we went to see them. I keep listening to Paradise over and over. It's a great song! Wild Nothing played from 2:15 pm to 3:00 pm.

Then after Wild Nothing we had to choose between Tegan and Sara and Two Door Cinema Club. We ended up choosing Two Door Cinema Club. As we walked to the stage where Two Door Cinema Club would play my sisters', my sister's boyfriend, and I bought a burger to eat. Never again. Never again will I eat a burger that tastes like cardboard. I ended up eating about half and I saved the other half for later that I never ate. When we arrived at the stage where Two Door Cinema Club was supposed to play Alex Clare was playing, so we waited. When he was done playing we hurried to the front to be as close to the stage as possible, and we waited for close to one hour. Two Door Cinema Club came in stage at exactly 4:30 pm. We left a bit early because Grizzly Bear was going to play from 6:00 pm - 7:00 pm on the stage where Wild Nothing played on the other side of Grant Park.
This was Two Door Cinema Club's set list:

1 - Sleep Alone
2 - Undercover Martyn
3 - Do You Want It All?
4 - Wake Up
5 - Come Back Home
6 - Sun
7 - I Can Talk
8 - Next Year
9 - Something Good Can Work
10 - Handshake
11 - Eat That Up, It's Good for You
12 - Someday
13 - Cigarettes in the Theatre
14 - What You Know

The third band that we saw was Grizzly Bear. I have to admit that I had not listened to much of Grizzly Bear before I went to the show aside from their most well-known songs. Even though I did not know several of their song the show was amazing! They had floating lanterns on the stage that lit up throughout all of the show. I guess this was a reference to their music video for their song Two Weeks.

Grizzly Bear was playing on the same stage as The Cure and we were pretty close to the stage, so when Grizzly Bear was done playing we pushed our way to the front. I could see the stage kind of clearly for there was a tall person standing almost in front of me and I am short. But I did manage to move to the right of this person so that I could see as The Cure's instruments were brought on stage.

The Drum Set

I cannot begin to explain how excited I became as the time neared 8:00 pm at the Red Bull Sound Select stage. After waiting for one hour, the night was becoming dark and the people in attendance were starting to scream. Slowly, The Cure walked on the stage. Robert Smith grabbed his guitar, Simon Gallup his bass, Roger O'Donnell stood at his keyboards, Jason Cooper sat at his drums, and Reeves Gabrels picked up his guitar and they began to play.

I almost cried. The excitement around me was crazy!! I couldn't believe that I was seeing The Cure live in concert. It all felt like a crazy dream. This was the setlist:

1 - Plainsong
2 - Pictures of You
3 - Lullaby
4 - High
5 - The End of the World
6- Lovesong
7 - In Between Days
8 - Just Like Heaven
9 - From the Edge of the Deep Green Sea
10 - The Walk
11 - Mint Car
12 - Friday I'm in Love
13 - Doing the Unstuck
14 - Trust
15 - Want
16 - Fascination Street
17 - The Hungry Ghost
18 - Wrong Number
19 - One Hundred Years
20 - Disintegration

 Encore:
21 - The Lovecats
22 - The Caterpillar
23 - Close to Me
24 - Let's Go to Bed
25 - Why Can't I Be You?
26 - Boys Don't Cry

I took many pictures:

 

And one or two videos:

Plainsong

Lullaby

Disintegration

Caterpillar Girl

After what felt like two short hours The Cure left the stage. Slowly, the crowd began to leave, I put on my sweater on for it was getting cold, and we walked to the entrance to Lollapalooza. We waited here for my cousin who had worked at Lollapalooza. She was able to meet and take a picture Ezra Koenig from Vampire Weekend, Sam Halliday from Two Door Cinema Club, and a band from London, Palma Violets.
Then we went to a Mexican Restaurant called Los Comales before we went home.
It was a fun day.
It was an awesome day.
I will never forget this day.
Never.

Sometimes I forget stuff.

I discovered a little math "trick" that I think is of no use, but it is interesting.

If you have the number 19 you can multiply 1 by 9 to get 9. Then you can add 1 and 9 to get 10. Now you have 9 and 10, which equals 19.

The same goes for 29:

2 * 9 = 18 and 2 + 9 = 11
18 + 11 = 29.

And for 39:

3 * 9 = 27 and 3 + 9 = 12
27 + 12 = 39.

For 49:

4 * 9 = 36 and 4 + 9 = 13
36 + 13 = 49.

59:

5 * 9 = 45 and 5 + 9 = 14
45 + 14 = 59.

69:

6 * 9 = 54  and 6 + 9 = 15
54 + 15 = 69.

79:

7 * 9 = 63 and 7 + 9 = 16
63 + 16 = 79.

89:

8 * 9 = 72 and 8 + 9 = 17
72 + 17 = 89.

99:

9 * 9 = 81 and 9 + 9 = 18
81 + 18 = 99.

109:

10 * 9 = 90 and 10 + 9 = 19
90 + 19 = 109.

119:

11 * 9 = 99 and 11 + 9 = 20
99 + 20 = 119.

129:

12 * 9 = 108 and 12 + 9 = 21
108 + 21 = 129.

1009:

100 * 9 = 900 and 100 + 9 = 109,
900 + 109 = 1009

1019:
101 * 9 = 909 and 101 + 9 = 110
909 + 110 = 1019

This is the pattern until I believe infinity since it also works for 10,009 and on and on. I guess as long as the ending number is a 9 then this math "trick" will work. *shrugs*

24 hours

August

I've written one trillion words on a piece of paper.

But one word on a wall.

There are no limits.

Boundaries for letters within lines.

I don't like my clothes anymore

I saw Metric with my sister, other sister, cousin, sister's boyfriend, and my other sister's friend and it was fun.

Except there is one problem. We forgot the camera, so in this post I have no pictures or video to show to myself.

I feel that whenever I am about to leave to a concert something happens. When I was going to see Crystal Castles my dad took the car keys and my sisters and I only have one phone, so it was difficult to contact my youngest sister to tell her that we had to go on the train. We share that one phone except that I never use the phone or have used a phone in probably over a year. I guess I can live without a phone. *shrugs*

Back to Metric.

My sisters and I entered a contest for free tickets to see Metric. We had to post on Twitter and Facebook and Instagram. I don't have an Instagram because a phone is needed for that. Anyway, we decided to enter the contest that day before it ended, which was in reality less that twenty-four hours before the contest ended. I posted about seven posts to that contest and I really thought that I would not win. I never win anything, so before I went to school I checked my e-mail and I saw this in my e-mail:

I clicked on the e-mail, which then sent me to a webpage and I received a second e-mail that read like this:

And in the second e-mail it said this:

Yay! I had won two tickets to see Metric, but then I didn't know who to take and so I asked my cousin. My other little cousin was supposed to go, but as we were about to leave we found out that the show was 17+. In a short time we had one extra ticket. However, this was resolved when we quickly thought of inviting  my sister's friend. While we tried to get a hold of him on the phone my other sister's boyfriend's bicycle tire got a flat and my cousin was hungry. Everything was hectic....

We quickly picked up my other sister's boyfriend, my sister's friend, and we still had to pick up my sister from her job, which was kind of far away. All of this was accomplished in a reasonable amount of time for we still got to the concert around 8:15 pm. When we entered the venue My Gold Mask was playing.

After what felt like less than ten minutes they ended their performance and a bit later Gemini Club played. They put on a great show. The lead singer even quoted John Lennon with this quote, "Would the people in the cheaper seats clap your hands. And the rest of you, if you'll just rattle your jewelry." Ironically, we were in the front. There wasn't many people.

Metric took a while to go on stage, but when they did it was like a giant had opened its eyes to let out the world that had been hidden underneath.

They played songs from all of their CD's I believe.

When I think of Metric I think of my graduation day from high school. Before I graduated and when I was at home I kept listening to Give Me Sympathy over and over again. Metric reminds me of my high school graduation three years ago.

After the show everyone was hungry, so we went to eat at a restaurant called El Solazo. I ate two tacos and an horchata. It was a great night. An awesome night. Exuberantly beautiful and exciting in every way.

P.S. I only have two sisters. My sister and my other sister I just didn't want to mention their names.

splashing fruit all over my shoe

unit circle

The Place Where I Was Born Tiny

I miss the place where I was born.

Next to the ocean.

Near the trees.

But to return.

To the place where I was born.

Beside the trees that sway.

Close to the breeze that never leaves.

Far.

Yet so close.

Yet so remote.

In my memories.

I wish on the day.

I will visit.

Go back to the place where I was born.

candy crush saga

July

You are twenty-one.

One day, one hour.
You are forty.
The seconds were minutes, I know.

poptart

Everyday I wonder and ponder and sonder.
What is it that I want to do?
I really like math and writing, but which one a little bit more?
Can I do both for the rest of my life?
If I write will I wish I had chosen math?
What if I chose math and I forgot how to write?
Can I write in numbers?
Or solve math equations with words?
Where will I be in four years?
How faraway is four years?
I hope I am where I am meant to be.
I really do hope.
I wish that I am where I want to be.

I ate gelato

How I Became Interested In Reading Books and Often

I still remember the first book I ever bought. It is called The Chocolate Touch.

I bought this book from the Scholastic Book Club flyers that my 3rd or 4th teacher passed out to the class. I remember that I bought the book when I was nine or tenth grade and I had never read a book in its entirety before. Since it is always really difficult for me to like a book instantly I kind of left The Chocolate Touch to the side for a while. Then, I believe I had nothing to do one day and I saw the book and picked it up and began to read. I remember most of the plot up to today and I wish to buy the book again because I lost it a long time ago. After The Chocolate Touch I didn't read much until sixth grade where it was mandatory to read to take tests to obtain points to reach a goal that the teachers set for all students. My goal was around twenty to thirty points with each book being three to five points or sometimes two. I had to reach these goals in half a year and for the other half of the year the points either stayed the same or increased. My points increased sometimes. In eight grade was when I became a compulsive reader. I indirectly challenged two other students that were big readers. I read books faster, but slow enough for me to take my time reading and this was when I discovered the world of Harry Potter. Harry Potter books were worth a lot of points and I needed fifty. During this time I read Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets along with books like The Chocolate War, Of Mice and Men, Night, and other books that I cannot remember right now.

I was happy with the award I received at the end of eighth grade. I thank the other two students who indirectly challenged me to read more. I wonder where they are now. I wonder what they are doing.

 When I entered high school I did not read as much, but after my freshman year in high school I kept reading Harry Potter during the summer to the point that I made my dad drive me downtown to Borders in the middle of the night to pick up Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows sometime in July 2007, and it came with a poster that I still have and will cherish forever.... and ever.

June

Tectonic plates.
A moonquake.
Loud sonic boom.
Craters on the moon.

tan tan tan, tan tan

it's too hot outside D:

May

I like dark chocolate.

And walking alone on streets.

Where no one knows.

That I don't belong.

I received the best score I have ever gotten on a math test the other day

Fool vs. Cool

What is it like to be cool?

To be seen as more than a fool.

How much have flowers cried?

There is more,

just try.

Or if not.

But if yes.

Do not change.

If you do.

Marvel over the fact.

Flowers refuse to be picked

by someone cool.
They prefer to be picked by a fool.

Is it possible to be that smart?

April

What does it matter.

 To anyone.
Are you confused?
It was only a joke.

I need to learn how to grab a brick from the bottom of a pool by tomorrow

Movies That I Bought Recently That I Love

Beetlejuice – I first saw Beetlejuice when I was around seven or eight, I really cannot remember my exact age. I do remember, though, that I saw Beetlejuice for the very first time, late at night, with my sister that is one year younger than me. We built a fort with the couch cushions because, at the time, Beetlejuice was to us what the scariest movies of today are to us. The forts made us feel protected. We saw Beetlejuice late at night, since that was when it aired. I vaguely remember falling asleep on the couch and hugging my blanket close to my chest throughout most of the movie. I even said, “Beetlejuice!” three times out loud at some point to see if it would work. It didn't.

V for Vendetta (It came with Watchmen, but Watchmen I only like) – It was raining and trees were falling outside when I first saw V for Vendetta for the first time. I probably placed this movie on hold at the library and picked it up sometime during the summer of 2010. I understood the story, but the volume on my desktop computer was so low that I didn't understand some of the dialogue. It wasn't until I read the graphic novel a year later that I finally understood clearly what had occurred. I usually love movies like this; movies that make me think. V for Vendetta kept me so engrossed that I even forgot about the rain and chaos that was outside.

Hocus Pocus - I was fairly young when I saw Hocus Pocus for the very first time. I don’t think I saw it from beginning or until the ending, only in small segments or from the middle to the ending. I cannot remember. What I do remember is the witches, the Sanderson sisters, and I don’t think I had seen other movies with witches before Hocus Pocus aside from Halloween Town. Anyway, I loved the thought of being able to make potions and coming back to life after a virgin lights a candle.

[ I couldn't find the movie. 

I don't know where it went.

 Maybe I thought I bought it, but I didn't.

Or maybe I did.]

Good Will Hunting – If there ever was a time when a movie kept me seated and focused, it had to be Good Will Hunting. I recently saw this movie and it caught me off guard. I mean, who wouldn't want to know someone like Will Hunting. I would. To me, this was one of the best well written movies ever and to think that Matt Damon and Ben Affleck wrote it is impressive. All the evidence, knowledge, facts, and dialogue allows for viewer to think and question the movie. This is why I am glad that it was nominated for 9 Academy Awards and was the winner of a Golden Globe. To see that others recognized it in 1995 or 1996 made me happy. I hope to one day write something as remarkable as Good Will Hunting.