6. Leopards 2024

There are not many things I can name off the top of my head that particularly aggravate me, but I can confidently reveal that one is the dramatic wrestle with the power outlet in the wall at the dead of night. With my phone clinging onto life at 2%, it’s no laughable circumstance—I’m mindlessly jabbing my charger here and there as the walls of my once familiar room become uncharted waters in the darkness. The battle draws on as I strike again and again and again, each futile jab driving me past the bare thresholds of patience, and finally climaxes when I roll up my sleeves and pull out the trick from underneath: my phone’s flashlight. I act swiftly, before the flashlight can counterproductively drain the final stretch of charge, and plug the charger into the outlet in one clean, effortless swing. Not more than a second passes before my phone relaxes, its source of sustenance once again being replenished. War is over. amazon.com /Electrical-Sticker-Fake-Wall-Outlet After a similar bout ...

Humor really is the solution to everything.  Awkward situation? Just make a joke. Trying to ease tension after a stressful event? Just laugh it off. Had a bad day, or feeling down about something? Just watch a funny show or movie. I know any time I'm feeling down or bored I immediately turn on the TV and watch my favorite sitcoms (my personal favorites include The Office  or Brooklyn Nine-Nine).  Humor in its versatility is what keeps us going, in all its different forms; dark humor, sarcasm, dry humor, wordplay and puns, and many many more that you've probably heard stand-up comedians use. And this isn't just simple speculation, there's an entire science behind it, too.  https://pittnews.com/article/157413/opinions/opinion-now-is-the-time-for-humor/ Research by Mayo Clinic staff highlights both the short and long-term effects of laughter. The short-term effects include stimulation of organs, soothing of tension, and the ability to "activate and relieve your stres...

Sometimes I wonder if my brain is too powerful. That is to say it's too powerful at computing the wrong ideas.  Now, imagine a newborn baby, his name is Billy Bobby Brown or BBB for short. Now, perchance I decided to trap this baby and cut off all outside contact and influence and essentially isolated them from everyone else in the world. From the beginning of their lives to the moment that they're 18, they will be confined in the space that will be their home day in and day out, where you will force feed them false knowledge about everything. In their world, 2+2=5, a and b are the last 2 letters of the alphabet, good means bad, basically anything that you can screw up, you screw it up (you will teach them how to survive and cook and stuff so they can be part of the next step). They will learn this false material until they're 18 and "graduate" from your house, and then, you will immediately throw them out of the house with enough money and basic necessities for h...

  Power, a force that shapes the destinies of individuals and societies, is a concept that has intrigued humanity for centuries. In the realm of pop culture, the eternal battle between heroes and villains provides a fascinating exploration of power dynamics. One iconic duo that embodies this struggle is Batman and the Joker. These two characters, with their clearly opposing characteristics and ideologies, offer a unique view on power, morality, and the struggle between good and evil.  While Batman gains his power through physical and intellectual means to protect Gotham City, the Joker contains a different kind of power – one rooted in chaos and unpredictability. The comparison of their abilities creates a contrast between heroism and villainism. On the flip side, the Joker emerges as a character whose power is rooted in anarchy. His lack of a proper origin story and his chaotic behavior challenge the very foundations of morality.  (image from Devianart) While Batman embo...

Different things make different people happy. A plushie makes me happy, but maybe a piece of chocolate or a warm hug makes you happy. We might like different things, but what we share in our little moments of joy are our smiles. Without fail, we all express our content with a smile, a grin, or a maybe even a smirk. Most of us believe that the rest of our day is all sunshine 🌅 and rainbows 🌈   because of a certain object or situation that made us happy, but it's usually only because of that split second smile. The "this is the best day I've ever had!!!!" 🎉 feeling can be traced back to the neurological effects a smile incites. In short, a smile can increase mood-enhancing hormones while decreasing hormones like cortisol and adrenaline that contribute to stress. When you smile, you also exercise muscles that trigger your brain to release more endorphins, which further relieve pain and stress .                    ...

Cringe warning ahead! Please proceed with caution. Recently, my friend asked her dad to make her a sandwich. Her dad said, “Abracadabra, now you are a sandwich.” Haha. Cringe .  That’s probably what you’re thinking. You’re probably laughing or groaning—or both.  Every year, dad jokes make millions of people around the world roll their eyes and sigh in exasperation. Thousands of children become traumatized. However, let me ask you a question: Why did the dad joke cross the road? The answer: Because it has the power to make you laugh on the other side! Laughter is a universal language; this gives dad jokes unbound power. It can bring together different generations and people from different cultures. For example, many people from around the world came to the new chef’s restaurant because his dishes have international flavor. During awkward social situations, dad jokes can lighten the atmosphere.  Dad jokes can secretly carry a hint of wisdom, having the perfect blend of humo...

This February is Black History Month, so I am doing a history project about a famous figure for my US History class and I chose Michelle Obama. When I was younger, I always saw her as a role model because she was on the news advocating for youth health but I never truly understood the full impact of her actions. After researching her for this project, I understood that she is truly a remarkable woman as she used her position in the white house to advocate for issues like health, racial equality, and gender equality.                She started off with a strong background with an education at Princeton University and Harvard Law School. She later joined the Chicago law firm Sidley & Austin. Her hard work and passion for justice is a common theme throughout her life. Later when she became the First Lady, she focused on reducing obesity since over 68% of Americans struggled with weight-related health issues in the 2000s. She started with Th...

                          Image from Google I recently read the article Unlock the Power of Your Dreams: A beginner’s guide to lucid dreaming , and I found myself fascinated by the concept. I had heard of lucid dreaming before, the idea that a person could be conscious in a dream, but I was completely unaware of its various benefits. To begin with, according to the article, people perform intellectual tasks far better while lucid dreaming. A 2018 study from Frontiers in Psychology found that participants who were actively engaged in a lucid dream were more successful in solving the puzzles presented to them than those who were awake. A similar study in 2014 from Consciousness and Cognition determined that lucid dreaming enhances creativity. Participants lucid dreaming were able to come up with far more creative solutions to a problem than those who were awake. Again, the participants were in a lucid state! Furt...

  Are Power Structures Inherently Wrong? Power structures are all around us, whether we like it or not. Our parents, teachers, such adult authority figures, as well as people our own age, leaders of clubs we’re a part of, captains of sports teams we’re a part of. With that level of power comes the ability to give direction and enforce rules and punishment. With that in mind, no one particularly appreciates being ordered around, having rules enforced upon them, being punished, and having to worry about the security of their position or privileges being stripped away if they retaliate.  Having experienced both ends of the spectrum in extracurriculars I’ve been a part of, being on the “lower” end of the rung as well as holding a significant amount of power and say in a given environment, I know what it feels like to be upset with the way I was being treated but still not feel secure enough to speak up without risking the little respect people did have for me. Later, when my posit...

2024. Another election year.  How can we be sure who to elect, how do we determine which candidate is promising? Well, one popular way to look at it would be to ask questions. What policies do they actively support that we agree with? What about them is intriguing to us that we would like to see more of in the country?  Well, how we perceive political figures depends highly on their technique of speaking, and how they present themselves to the country. In other words, the political rhetoric used by politicians is powerful in how it shapes their public opinion.  For example, you may in many debates and interviews, political candidates use a certain type of diction or imagery to phrase a policy they support or wish to bring forward in America. This implementation of rhetorical devices in speech is especially important to gain media appeal.  As linguist Chi Luu mentions in her article , "well-known powerful figures automatically have the attention of the public." With t...

Money cannot buy you happiness. Perhaps we can agree that happiness doesn’t explicitly come with its own price tag—there are no shelves in Costco lined with happiness crammed in bottles, or Amazon vendors selling happiness with free shipping. But how many people can argue that money didn’t buy the clothes on their back, the roof over their head, the food on their plate? Their education, their dreams, their future? marketplace.org Naturally, most would mention that these are simply the basic necessities—sure, many people would be unhappy without them. The power of money, however, presides over even the intangible aspects of life . Money buys time; from the fraction of a second saved loading a page faster on an upgraded computer to the years saved from being able to retire early, money has its impact on time in nearly every way. Money buys experiences; it’s difficult to travel the world and indulge in its many cultures without a pricey plane ticket or its equivalent. Money buys opportuni...

Source: Netflix           Last night, I was scrolling through Instagram before I went to bed around 1:00 am and saw a small notification that said “Time to go to bed.” Annoyed, I ignored the prompt and went back to 30 minutes of doom-scrolling. This morning, I woke up sleep-deprived and annoyed, wondering why I would give up my precious sleep to watch a few reels. Then, I was reminded of The Social Dilemma .           The Social Dilemma is an educational documentary by Jeff Orlowski that revolves around the excessive usage of technology in our lives. The film starts with a quote from Sophocles, “Nothing vast enters the life of mortals without a curse” implying that though there are many positives to technology, there are undeniable consequences.            Contrary to other documentaries, this one takes a unique approach to conveying the problem by introducing five main characters and creatin...

guys as much as i hate having people write boring blogs im lazy and dont feel like coming up with an original idea sorry to whoever will be inevitably forced to comment on my huge rant about whatever i feel like talking about and good luck trying to decipher anything that i say in this jumbled mess of words that has no flow no punctuation no capitalization no separations between paragraphs and honestly fails to meet any standards that are probably expected of apeng students you know today has been such an interesting day i woke up went to school went to class got out of class went to flex got out of flex went to class got out of class went on lunch break went to class got out of class and then went home i think its quite an interesting day with no dull moments whatsoever anyways i think the biggest problem that i have is that i think that men are just so pretty i do wonder what people think in their heads sometimes like i feel like half the things i see go on in school and everywhere e...

Blue is supposed to make you feel relaxed. Orange is supposed to help students focus. Red is reminiscent of vibrant passion and fury. Over millennia, society has assigned different values to different colors (e.g. innocence to white, fortune to green, mystery to black) as well as varying degrees of power to the six primary pigments.  Color psychology was founded in the 17th century and was based on Isaac Newton's discoveries related to the color spectrum. Many psychologists believe that colors can draw reactions from people based on their hue. There are two primary ways colors can influence people: emotionally and behaviorally. Each color possesses the ability to incite emotions and bring back specific memories. For example, colors like red, orange, and yellow, warm-toned colors, share the ability of evoking feelings of fervor, energy, and vitality whereas cool-toned colors like blue and green convey a sense of tranquility, balance, and wisdom. Color Psychology - conversioner.com ...

As far as I can remember, I grew up a shy person. Communicating did not come naturally to me. Words were more forcefully projected from my mouth to avoid being labeled an outcast. I simply preferred to be alone. Though I did gradually change, due to communication being a skill required to survive, this change did not come so quickly.  I still reminisce about the times that I would avoid all my friends in an attempt to be alone with my thoughts on the Brier Elementary School swing set. I swung through recess while random thoughts that piqued my interest fled my brain. In contradiction to my dreadful fear of being alone, I liked being alone.  (I still have it though its condition is not particularly good) In third grade, my favorite teacher, Mr. Mcgee, introduced me to a book called  Shredderman: Attack of the Tagger . I have no idea why I liked this book or if I liked it in general, but I became obsessed with reading since then. I read all sorts of books such as  Perc...

 The Powerful Plastics                When I discovered that “Mean Girls,” a movie most know and love, was getting a remake, I was thrilled, as one should be. When I discovered that Karen was going to be played by a South Asian woman, Avantika Vandanapu, I was already opening my computer to buy tickets for the movie. While this may seem like an ordinary matter of casting, this choice is a larger deal than it seems.  In the original movie, though Karen proves to be a loyal and funny friend, it is clear that the focal point of her character is her cluelessness and dull-mindedness. The writer of the movie revealed that Karen is “not the smart one of the group.”  With these qualities of Karen being canon, it is no surprise that those producing the remake of the movie preserved them. What is surprising, and unexpectedly powerful, is the choosing of a South Asian woman to portray them.  Often referred to as the “model” race, Asi...