The End.

I guess this is it. My last blog post. Wow, this year really did go by quickly. It feels that only yesterday I was making a list of potential blog entries to write about through the course of the year, but this is the last part of "That's So Elliot". So I wanted to wrap up this blog with one final entry.

At first, I hated the idea of a blog project. The assignment was very vague (a recurring theme in this class, no shade, no shade), so I had no idea where to even begin. So my first entries were not that great, but as time went by, I slowly began to love the freedom I was given to write about whatever: reflections on class, really weird extrapolations of a unit, personal pieces, and just random thoughts that I needed to share. I have also had so much fun reading others' blogs that have really great content from a large number of perspectives.

But what really made me love these was the variety of emotion contained within them. Some blogs made me laugh so hard that Eric actually told me to be quiet from his room, some left me thinking for days, some made me cry, and those are only a few of the emotions that these blogs carried. It made me realize how truly writing carries emotion, and the fact that I knew all of the authors further strengthened it. When I read a blog, I imagine the writer talking directly to me, which makes everything so much more personal and emotional then just reading a piece by a faceless author.

In fact, blogs were actually my favorite part of this class, as I was really able to express myself to the world with no filter and as much time as I needed to really phrase my thoughts the way I wanted to. I also learned a lot about my peers by reading their posts through the topics they wrote about and the style in which they wrote. I could even hear their tones as I was reading the blogs, especially Georgia's sassiness (which I greatly admire). Overall, I really enjoyed this project in all its aspects.

And one last thing: gifs. A true staple of this blog is gifs. So I put up my top three gifs from this year that are truly iconic. Btw, it is not pronounced jif, it is gif *cough* Jack *cough*

Mr. Yee spinning after saying Macbeth...no more explanation needed

This is both funny and painful at the same time...Mr. M/Jerry is, in the words of Zach, STRAIGHT UP SAVAGE but you can't help but feel Dr. J's pain as she is knocked to the floor and he head whips back. RIP.

Speaks for itself.

And with that, I leave you with two really nostalgic songs that just make me happy and sad at the same time. Remember to pray for our final exam grades. It was lit, fam.

Goodbye.

The (Only) Annual Blog Awards!

So this year has come to an end, and before I post my final blog (which will go up at 11:59 tonight), I wanted to mention other people's blogs. As much as I have enjoyed the blog project this year, I feel that our class as a whole didn't spend enough time reading each other's blogs and reflecting on them, which is a shame. So much thought and creativity has been put into each and every blog but is largely ignored, and the only thing we get out of it is a letter grade at the end of each quarter. So I decided to go through everyone's blog and post my favorites on here because there are some really amazing posts and entire blogs from this year, marking the...

ONLY ANNUAL BLOG AWARDS!!!!!!

And the categories are:
Funny af - the funniest blog post
WTF! - the strangest blog post
Awww - the most touching blog post
That's deep, man - the most in-depth blog post
Cool - the best blog layout/aesthetic
Blog Post of the Year
Blog of the Year

Disclaimer: These are just some of my personal favorites but there are a lot of other great blogs that I didn't mention so I would strongly encourage all of you to browse through others' blogs! Also keep in mind that each blog post can only win one category.


Funny af
"The Kim Kardashian App is Ruining my Life." -Georgia (Happenings from Hell)
I don't even know where to start with this one...but basically I just couldn't stop laughing while I was reading this post. Georgia's description of the app is just so hilarious and you can just hear her sarcastic tone while reading it. Simply the best thing ever. My favorite line is "well I mean she really became famous after she released that sex tape, but I am still waiting for that to be one of the quests in the game." Iconic. If you haven't read this blog, read it right now. If you have, read it again. You won't be able to get through it without laughing.
Blog Post

WTF!
"FUCK" -Jeannine (40...)
This post literally fits into the title of this category and truly embodies the "wtf" title. It is about the use of the word "fuck"...yea I don't really know what else to say about it.
Blog Post

Awww
"An Ode to the Jerry Mirliani" -Marta (Prose Before Hoes)
I think that we were all shocked when the legend himself Jerry Mirliani announced his retirement. He has always been a vital part of this school's community and he will be dearly missed by everyone next year. I know him, but not on as deep a level as some people, such as Marta, who has taken his AP Music Theory (RIP) class this past year. This blog post tells the story of her and Matthew finding out about his retirement, which really captures the shock that all of us felt.
Blog Post

That's deep, man
"Eyebrow Fleekness: an Important Part of Women's Lives Through History" -Georgia (Happenings from Hell)
This blog pretty much marked the start of this year's blog project, with this extremely in depth history of eyebrows that was written after our class's fascination with the woman's eyebrows from Rashomon. I'm 99% sure Georgia did more research for this blog post than I did for my entire history research paper...whatever. Anyways, this blog really did mark the start of something new. Excellent.
Blog Post

Cool
Blogging with Cristalba18 by Cristal
This blog is just very aesthetically pleasing with a panel for each post. Yup.
Blog

Blog Post of the Year
"Perfect is never good enough" -Julia (John the Baptist Says...)
Don't be fooled by the title, this post is actually not soppy or cliché like it may seem to be. This is an astounding blog that not only covers a deep topic, but is written beautifully. I don't want to talk about it too much because the only way to really do it justice is to read it thoroughly. Really amazing.
Blog Post

Blog of the Year
A Blog With A View by Emily
This blog is brilliant. Emily did a really amazing job with this, as all of the posts make the reader deeply ponder all the topics that she brings up. The entire blog brings entirely new perspectives to issues that we discuss in class and deeply analyzes aspects of the curriculum that we spend very little time on. However, none of it is foreign and she does a superb job relating everything back to the core themes of this class. My personal favorite post is "Put Yourself in Someone Else's Shoes", which puts a clever twist on the phrase as she physically puts herself in new places. It also has a great photo journal that accompanies it. I strongly encourage you to check it out.
Blog

lol fml

honestly wtf even was that exam? passage analysis from passages that we haven't read? NOT TODAY SATAN!!! also those images that we had to analyze but the photocopy was so dark and grainy that i spent like 10 minutes figuring out wtf was even happening aka 8% of the exam time????? and write from the second person?? what kind of demonic exam even was that. and that essay...i don't even know what to say. mess.

and then the 2 hour mark was called and i had to just stop...whatever. gtg.

Temporary Home

Throughout the year, the central theme of this class has been "home". It is the activity that we did on the first day and have revisited the idea recently to talk about displacement from home. However, the idea of home has been omnipresent throughout the entire year. From our origin stories unit in which we discussed our original home to Macbeth in which Macbeth's goal was to make the throne his home to the Dystopian unit in which society tried to alter its own home in a failed attempt to better it, home has been the foundation for the entire curriculum.

However, the idea of "home" extends far beyond the confines of literature studied in English class. It is a constantly morphing concept that mixes both the physical and metaphysical aspects of our homes that changes for every person. Some have more than one "home", whether they are refugees forced out of their own homes or people going out into the world to find a new home. Home can also include more emotional aspects such as family, and for many people it includes both.

Soon, our class will be going off to college and beyond. So then what will we consider to be home? Alexandria, where many of us grew up? Wherever we end up living? Where our family lives? I imagine that most of us will have more than one home and won't be limited to a singular place. College will be a home, but Alexandria will also be one. However, we will eventually leave college behind, so will it still be a home? Or just a previous, temporary home? After we leave a place, are the emotional connections to that location strong enough to hold the idea of home to that place? I doubt it, so from my point of view, intermediate stops in life just become temporary homes that last for a short time then fade into our past.

But since every small stop along life will only be home for a limited period of time, do any of us have permanent homes? Throughout life, people are constantly changing and evolving into new personalities, so no one place can ever be a constant home. In that case, the entire human race could be considered a diaspora, as we are always moving further away from our birth "home". We will all move away from where we grew up at one point, whether physically to another city or even emotionally to a new state of being within the same geographical location. Therefore, every place we consider to be "home" is only temporary.

This brings me to one of my all-time favorite songs, "Temporary Home" by Carrie Underwood. Now I'm not at all a fan of country music, but this is actually a really good song. However, it is the lyrics that are really outstanding.

In the song, there are three verses, each of which tells a vignette about a person's temporary home. However, it is the final verse that questions the temporality of life:

Old man, hospital bed
The room is filled with people he loves
And he whispers
"Don't cry for me, I'll see you all someday"
He looks up and says
"I can see God's face"

This is my temporary home, it's not where I belong
Windows and rooms that I'm passing through
This was just a stop on the way to where I'm going
I'm not afraid because I know
This was my temporary home

In these lyrics, Underwood is stating that life entirely is a temporary home and it is not until after we die that any of us can find our true home. I, however, believe that there is no such thing as a permanent home. Humans are always changing, so there is never a point at which we are completely settled.

Anyways, those are just my thoughts on what home in in the grand scheme of life, and I want to leave you with these two questions: Is life a temporary home? Is there ever such thing as a permanent home?

Our Homes

"Home" is the word on which we started this year in class, and it the same theme on which we are ending it. When asked on what home means, I said:

“Going home” is a concept that varies wildly between each person. Home can be taken in either a metaphysical sense, a physical sense, or even a combination of the two. I believe that there is a spectrum ranging from completely physical (i.e. a house) to completely emotional (i.e. family), and everyone’s “home” is somewhere on that scale depending on each person. It can be affected by many factors, with the primary one being how a person grew up. I grew up moving to a new house every few years in different countries, so I have learned not to grow accustomed to a physical place for being my home, as it is constantly changing. Therefore my “home” is very close to the emotional end of the spectrum. For me, “going home” is returning back to my family and our peaceful but constantly evolving house. However, others who have grown up primarily in one house tend to have a more physical sense of home. Based on our recent class discussion, many feel that their home is the place in which either they or their relatives live. In addition, at the beginning of the year, many people drew their physical house as home. Both interpretations of home are valid, but I feel that it all boils down to the climate in which one grows up that determines where “home” is. “Going home” also can vary, as some people have more than one home, whether that is a group of people, a house, a city, or even an entire country. When I “go home” everyday after school, I am walking from school to my house. When I “go home” over break, I am flying to Houston to visit my grandparents. Every few years, I “go home” to London, my birthplace. Although my current “home” is mainly my close family, I have many homes throughout the world that become “home” at different times. As I grow up and live life, I expect to have many new places to call “home” - my old high school, my college, my house, and so on. “Going home” is a loose term that has many different meanings for different people that constantly evolves and adds new meaning to itself.

In class on Friday, we shared each other's essays on what "home" means. I shared with Ben, and, as I expected, he held a much more physical sense of home in his mind. Ben has grown up in one house, so he considers his home to be primarily his house, as well as his state and country. This physical place has always been where he is most comfortable and free, so he associates that with "home". This differed for me, as no one house has become a place of comfort for me, but rather the people and small memories within my house that travel with me.

One interesting idea that Ben brings up is that people cannot be "home" because they are constantly changing and are not a stable place that we can come back to, as they will never be the same, unlike a house. Although this point is true, I feel that it only strengthens their connection to "home" even more, as my idea of home is also constantly evolving. My family and I experience our lives together, so when an experience changes us all, my idea of home changes with that too. It is also this aspect that allows me to feel more comfortable, as anything wrong can be changed. While Ben prefers a stable house that he is always able to return to, I find security in my constantly evolving metaphysical "home".

Rape

As I was working hard on Antigone's political campaign, I discovered that she is a huge feminist and, despite being from Thebes, relates much more to today than I originally realized. She pushes against the male-ruled constructs of her society to do what she feels is right and refused to let her gender define what she can and cannot do. Another story that deals with feminism in a different way is The Handmaid's Tale, which shows an extreme dystopia in which women are inferior to men in all aspects and feminism in non-existent. By depicting this society, the author is pointing out flaws in our current society. Both of these stories are pro-feminism and are largely relevant today.

One term that I would quickly like to go over is "feminism". It is the social, political, and economic equality of women to men – not superiority to men. This is a point that many people struggle with, saying that they are not feminists because men and women should be equal (which is completely incorrect), so I just wanted to clarify this word. All people should be feminists.

One instance of feminism in The Handmaid's Tale is when Janine confesses that she got raped. All of the women are taught that rape is their fault for leading the man on. As disturbing as this is, it is what is largely taught in today's society. Women are commonly taught not to report rape because it will hurt their reputation, and many are believed to be lying. Even if they do report it and their cases eventually make it to court, the majority of cases are dismissed by the judge for lack of evidence. However, there can be evidence in the form of Rape Kits, but most of them go untested and are even destroyed in order to make room for other evidence by the police.

However, the most astounding part is what is taught: women are taught not to be raped, while men are never taught not to rape. What's more is that the media chooses to ignore this and does not shed much light, if at all, on rape culture. One example of this is just from the last Oscars ceremony.

On February 28, 2016, the 88th annual Academy Awards (also known as the Oscars) were held. The purpose of this ceremony is to recognize excellence in film and motto picture-related topics. It is regarded as the most important film award ceremony and the highest achievement for those in the industry. One of the categories is the Academy Award for Best Original Song. This category recognizes the best original song composed for a film. However, this year, it failed to do so. Instead of giving the award to the most deserving song, Lady Gaga's "Til It Happens To You", the Oscar was given to "Writing's On the Wall" by Sam Smith.

"Til It Happens To You" is a song composed by Lady Gaga and Diane Warren for the 2015 movie The Hunting Ground. The song not only contains stellar vocals delivered by Lady Gaga, deep lyrics, and masterful production, but most importantly a message. The song deals with the heavy topic of rape. In fact, the song draws from Gaga's and Warren's own personal experience, as they are both survivors. It has received critical acclaim for addressing the issue, as well as for Gaga's vocals. The lyrics are composed from the writers' own experiences of being raped on college campuses, and this emotion is channeled throughout the song to create a masterpiece full of meaning.

"Writing's On the Wall," on the other hand, is a meaningless song composed for Spectre. The lyrics are dull and Sam Smith, the singer, stays in an unbearable falsetto voice the entire time. The song received overwhelmingly negative reviews from critics for its unoriginality and dullness, as it is extremely forgettable.

So why did "Wall" win? Because it is easy. The song is from a revered series, and Adele's brilliant "Skyfall" most definitely aided to this decision. It may also seem to the uneducated listener to be a quality song, using many cliché production techniques that seem sophisticated. But I believe that the main reason is that they want to avoid the topic of rape. It is so much easier to give an award to a meaningless song about (love? it remains unclear) than to award a emotional song that deals with a controversial topic – remember that this is the same committee that did not nominate a single black actor. As long as this issue continues to be ignored, no possible steps can be made to fix it.

Rape is rape. And rape is never the victim's fault.

The (Professor's?) Tale

UGH! Why would Margaret willingly choose to end the book like that?! So I just finished The Handmaid's Tale and wow I am upset. If you have not read the book, there will be spoilers so proceed with caution!

I loved the way the book ended...or at least until I turned the page to discover more. The final chapter ends with Offred being taken by the Eyes, who could either be the real deal or from the resistance - no one knows. What a great ending, right? Or at least until I turned the page to find an epilogue. In the "Historical Notes" section, it is 2195 and there is a transcribed lecture on the Republic of Gilead. In this speech, it is revealed that Offred recorded the entire story on a set of tapes. Although her future remains unknown, we find out that Gilead had eventually fallen.

This completely ruins, at least for me, the progression of the story. The book was written to illustrate the status of women in Gilead, which is almost an extreme exaggeration of society today. However, I grew to care for Offred as the story goes along, and almost live with her as she faced challenges. The book is written extremely well, as I found myself engulfed in it and feeling the emotions that she felt. And when the final page ends, the feeling left is utter desperation and longing to know what happens. This is perfect. This is how the book should have ended.

But the author decided to keep going. She chose to time jump into the future, after the fall of Gilead, to provide us with no information on Offred. We, the readers, learn nothing about what happens to her, so what is the point? Although we find out that the republic no longer stands, this takes away from the confusion that plagues the reader at the end of the actual story, and its only purpose seems to be to provide catharsis, but that is the opposite of what the reader should get. As the reader become Offred throughout the novel, the two should stay bonded at the end, rather than Offred having one destiny while the reader essentially lives on until 2195.

At the end of the final chapter, Offred is taken by the Eyes, who could either be from the actual government, meaning she gets tortured, or the resistance, meaning she gets freed. The reader never finds out, and leaving the reader in this desperate feeling at the end fulfils the intended theme of the book, while jumping ahead into the future but still not revealing her fate does not leave a feeling as extreme as the original.

The final flaw with the epilogue is that it reveals that Gilead eventually falls. But this takes away from, at least in my view, the entire point of the book. The book depicts an indestructible society that cannot possibly be overthrown and has absolute control on its citizens. It is this society that forces women into submission and prevents them from escaping their terrible situations. This entire society is an exaggeration of today's society, in which men are far more privileged and valued than women, and there seems to be almost no way to achieve absolute equality between the sexes. By creating the all-powerful government of Gilead, the author is exemplifying the system that oppresses women and demonstrates the lack of hope they have. However, by saying that this system fails, she is taking away from the structure that the entire book set up by providing hope. This goes agisnt the whole mood and many themes in the book, and ultimately leaves the reader with a much lighter mindset after finishing the book than the reader would have been left with if it had ended on the final chapter.

So basically, if you ever read The Handmaid's Tale, it is best to stop when the book should have ended: the final chapter.

We are alive because of Islam

So a while ago, I saw this on Snapchat (courtesy of Jeannine for sending it to me thanks) and wanted to share it with y'all. In the forth quarter, there will be a large post about Islamophobia, but I just wanted to share this infographic. With the presidential campaign going on, terrible things have been said by the GOP candidates (especially D***** T****) and their supporters about Muslims, yet Islam has contributed so much to the modern world.

The calculations done to balance government budgets and taxes are courtesy of algebra, an Islamic invention.

Glasses (and contacts), which these candidates and their supporters use to SEE are courtesy of Islam.

Coffee, which they all drink? Courtesy of Islam.

Hospitals in which Republicans have received life-saving medical attention and babies are born are, of course, a courtesy of Islam.

The very cameras that are used to spread pictures of rallies and video cameras that are used to broadcast candidates saying they want to ban Muslims were a courtesy of Muslims.

These are just a few of the Islamic inventions that heavily impact the world today and are used by the very people who want to ban Islam, destroy mosques, and punish Muslims for their own faith.

The Dystopia Awakens

As we delve into the dystopian unit, I can't stop thinking about how the most recent iteration in the Star Wars series is a perfect example of a dystopia: after the fall of the Empire, the entire galaxy is left in chaos and a new power must arise to provide order, which is the First Order. Although they are portrayed as villains in the film, are they really? After all, systems are descending into utter chaos and becoming separated from each other, but the First Order is able to reunite these systems while technically providing protection to its people. If you think about it, the group really has its people's interests in mind sue to the failing New Republic. Even most people (aside from the Resistance) seem to be content with the new rule, as it keeps them safe and cause no direct harm.

The Midterm

The midterm project was, to say the least, a challenge. In case you were unaware, the last few weeks, our class been working feverishly on the midterm project: a political campaign. From character analyses to history papers (but without theses...T Humps would not be happy), this project analyzed every possible angle of each character and time period we did. I was Antigone. And by the way, I would just like to mention my clever (or at least clever to me) campaign title: Antigone Regina; it is inspired by Oedipus Rex, but with "Regina", meaning "queen" in Latin as opposed to king (rex). I felt that this flew over many head, so I just wanted to point it out.

But back to the project. I personally feel that it was a little overcomplicated, with 6 big steps (and a secret seventh...shhhhhh) including multiple papers and a concluding symposium. I really enjoyed looking through the text to find clues about Antigone's character, then using those to form political positions. This really helped me to explore her character and motives for her actions. By focusing in on only her, I got a much better understanding of the text as a whole, as opposed to what I got by reading just the lines in the fall.

Despite this, I felt that the project involved a little too much, so I was jumping around from step to step that included a large variety of aspects that are needed for a campaign. For example, the history paper-esque step was focused very little if at all on the actual text and character, and it was essentially just a list of information. It goes against what we are taught in both history and English as it had no argument or thesis, so it was literally just a summary. Although it is definitely important to know the time period and issues at that time, I think that it would be better to link this step with the issue statements step so that it would have been focused directly on Antigone, not other aspects of Thebes. This was also a problem, as the Thebes presented in Antigone was not actually a real place, so I had to use a mixture of the history Athens, sketchy articles, and the little information presented in the text to make conclusions.

Another step...

Basically the midterm project...when you finish one step, Mr. Yee be like^

The Worst of Both Worlds

In honor of seemingly everyone in The Real Inspector Hound playing multiple characters and/or living a double (or triple) life, here is this.

A to Z: Things I Hate

So over this long weekend, I have been trapped at home (like I literally cannot get out), and what is a better way to spend that time than by reading other people's blogs?! It was very fun (for me, at least) to admire/judge my classmates' blogs, from Julia's "Perfect is never good enough" (really beautiful) to Georgia's "The Kim Kardashian App is Ruining my Life." (I don't even know how to describe it...). Along the way, I gathered inspiration for my blogs (I'm writing about my blogs in my blog...meta af). Today I will be basing it off of Julia's A to Z list of her favorite foods. I, as a very cynical person, decided to put my own twist on this concept and do a list of things I hate to kick off the third quarter! Please enjoy and don't get offended!

AP World History (except DMAC...he's chill)
Bad movies (aka rom coms, About Elly, most historical films, ones with too much talking, About Elly, pretentious movies, overly artsy ones, About Elly, etc)
Conservatives
Dabbing (it is basically sneezing without sneezing honestly people wake up)
English papers
Fetty Wap
Grades
Homework
iPhone reliance
Jar Jar Binks
Kmart
Leonardo DiCaprio (there is a reason he remains Oscar-less)
Marta's stuffed cat
Non-deserving award winners/nominees (see this year's GRAMMY nominations...)
Overly dramatic actors
Pretentious/phony people (the older I get, the more I relate to Holden from Catcher in the Rye)
Quadrilateral proofs (#tb to last year's final exam)
Romeo & Juliet
Salty people
Trump, Donald (and Ted Cruz)
U (as in the abbreviation people use in texting [along with "ur"], like your life is not so busy that you can't type an extra 2 letters)
Viagra commercials
Waiting
Xerox machines
Yams (basically a rip off of sweet potatoes)
Zyzzyva (this word just annoys me when I look at it)

Fate.

Fate: a power that is believed to control what happens in the future. Fate itself is self-explanatory; however, the real mystery lies in its ability to change or ensure fate. If that last sentence doesn't make sense, it's because it really doesn't. It's mind-bending to think that fate can change (or preserve) fate. If you are confused, look at this:

"Oh, and I don't care about the vase."
"What?" I ask.
"Don't worry about it when you knock it over, I never like that vase anyway."
"Where?" I respond, turning around. As I spin, my coat flies out, knocking a vase off the shelf and I look to the floor as it smashes into a million pieces.
"There. But, like I said, it's fine."

So a man enters an oracle's home, and since the oracle can see the future, she knows he will knock over her vase. But how does he knock it over? Think about it: the reason he knocked it over was because she told him that he would. But if she hadn't said anything, the man would've taken off his coat and the vase would've been fine. Right? Or would he have knocked it over in another fashion, making the prophecy come true, whether told or untold? I think that the latter would have to be correct, going back to the definition of fate. According to that definition, fate has to come true whether told or not. Yet there is still a flaw with that: what if fate takes into account the telling of fate? Meaning that fate wasn't that the man would knock over the vase; the fate of that even was that the oracle would tell him that he would knock it over, causing him to knock it over, making the oracle not a person who is able to see fate, but rather just a part of fate. Mind-blowing.

Another prime example of fate being told is in Shakespeare's Macbeth. The witches are able to see the future, allowing them to tell prophecies to Macbeth and his posse. But does this actually make them come true? Let's take a look. In Scene 5.1, they tell him three things, all of which come true. But how?

"Beware Macduff!" - This first one is pretty straightforward: Macbeth is told to beware of Macduff. But his actions that follow are the interesting part. After hearing this, he has Macduff's entire family killed—angering Macduff and prompting him to attack Macbeth. But if Macbeth had not been told this, if he had not killed Macduff's family, might he have lived? After all, Macduff was only pushed over the edge after learning his family was killed, so without that final straw he may not have led an army against Macbeth.

"Macbeth shall never vanquished be until Great Birnam Wood to high Dunsinane Hill shall come against him." - This section leads Macbeth to think he cannot be harmed. After hearing this, he ignores advice to be cautious from his advisors, as he is under the impression that an entire wood cannot come to his castle (which is technically correct). Because of this, he sits in his castle relatively unprepared for the attack to come, eventually leading to his demise.

"For none born of a woman shall harm Macbeth." - The final part of Macbeth's downfall is even after the first two parts of the prophecy come true, he is still to arrogant to realize that the third will come true as well and acts invincible. If he had been in a sensible state of mind without being clouded with false arrogance, he likely would have realize that his doom was upon him and fled to save his life. However, he thought that it was impossible to not be born of a woman, so instead he stayed.

These false confidences that the witches ingrain in him cause his downfall, but would he have survived if they hadn't told him? Shakespeare presents this prophecy to be inevitable, the one and only future. But if he hadn't, or if the witches hadn't told Macbeth, would it have still come true? I think not, as Macbeth is a smart man and would have most likely avoided his "fate." However, the whole point of fate is that it has to come true and cannot be changed. Therefore, if it was not told to him, would it still be fate, or simply a mindless trialogue told by some insane women?

In conclusion, my view on fate is that it always comes true. If it remains untold, the audience does not know it, so it is assumed to come true. When a fortune is told, it is guaranteed to come true by the telling of it, as a character's attempt to either alter it or follow it will ultimately end up in its completion. And if the telling of fate changes a character's motives, then that telling was part of fate, but just never told to the audience. Therefore fate can never be wrong.

About Cait.

Caitlyn Jenner. This is a name that you have heard even if you have been living under a rock for the past year. Previously, she was Bruce Jenner, who was launched into the limelight after winning a gold medal in the decathlon at the 1976 Olympics, earning him the unofficial title of "world's greatest athlete." He also became an American hero by reclaiming this title from the Soviet athletes who had won it in 1972, which was an important boost to American morale during the Cold War. Following this victory, he dabbled around in various careers such television, movies, motorsports, and business, Flash forward about 20 years and he is now a star on the thought-provoking reality show Keeping Up with the Kardashians. This is when his transition starts.

In 2014, rumors began circulating of the possible change. He was moving out of the media's attention and played a far less prominent role in the TV series. He was secluded away from the public eye, and the rumors started. At first they seemed absurd: America's Greatest Athlete, classified as one of the "manliest" people, changing into a woman? But as time progressed, they seemed closer to reality. Perhaps a change really was underway. This was confirmed during his 20/20 interview with Diane Sawyer, airing on April 24, 2015. However, it wasn't until June that it really hit the public that he is now she.

On June 1, 2015, Caitlyn Jenner revealed her cover for Vanity Fair, revealing her name and body for the first time to the scrutiny of the public eye. From that moment, her life began to rush by. She changed from being an elusive figure to  being everywhere you turned, becoming even more famous than Kim Kardashian herself.

But this post isn't supposed to chronicle her life; rather, I am sharing why I personally don't like her. Now, this has nothing to do with her gender change. It is not my position to speak for her or decide what her gender identity is; that's completely up to her. But what she does with it is not laudable.

First of all, there is the constant exploitation of her transition—done solely by her. From constant interviews, magazine covers, books, and even her own reality show, she is raking out as much cash as it will allow. And these are based around one thing: Caitlyn. Her reality show, for example, does not focus on the transgender community, but rather on her. It is about her becoming a woman and how that affects her and her family. All about her. It does not go beyond her world, or talk about real issues; it is simply a way for her to get people to watch her be her, all while getting her more money. Another instance of her exploiting her change is the reveal itself. Instead of simply revealing it through social media, she appears on the cover of Vanity Fair, with an exclusive interview inside. Although the exact amount has not been disclosed, it is only reasonable to think that she was paid a large sum of money for this. I mean, Vanity Fair must have gotten a great deal of ad revenue from both website visits and magazine sales following the reveal. And a portion of that would of course go to Caitlyn Jenner.

In addition to her making profit on her change, she has also bestowed herself with the title of being an activist for the transgender community. At multiple events, she speaks on behalf of the transgender community as a whole. As with all events for oppressed people, a major point is the struggles that they face, and how to improve them. At these events, Caitlyn speaks about her struggles. But what struggles? Receiving mean 140 character Tweets? Not having full public acceptance? The truth is, she hasn't faced a quarter of what the rest of transgendered people face daily. She has assumed the face of the "leader" of the community, but speaks about non-important issues. Yes, bullying is a big problem and it should be spoken about, but compared to the other issues that they face, it is miniscule. There are so many bigger issues, such as legal job & healthcare discrimination, disownment, and hate crimes including homocide against the transgender community, but she does not focus on those. Someone who has actually faced those should be speaking, not a multimillionaire who lives above the general public in the safety of fame and fortune.

Yet another issue with her is her views of women's struggles. In an interview, she said the biggest issue of being a woman is looking pretty and deciding what to wear. Yes, that's right. Not wage inequality, institutionalized misogyny, or public insensitivity to rape, but rather "How do I look today?" This blindness and ignorance to women's issues is disturbing and even dangerous. It is despicable that she chose to become a woman for the body alone, paying no mind to the responsibilities that come with it.

The final major problem with Caitlyn Jenner is her views on the LGBT community. She claims to be a supporter and advocate of the community, which is a good thing, right? Wrong. Because she's not. She has explicitly said that she does not support marriage equality in an interview with Ellen. What?! How do you claim to fight for public acceptance if you don't even support the people in your own community? How do you claim to be and LGBT activist if you don't support the L, the G, or the B?

This is why Caitlyn Jenner is using her gender transition in the wrong way, as it is merely a gimmick for her to gain more money and fame. She has become a disgrace to the LGBT community by not supporting the LGB, and failing to recognize the constant struggles of the T. In becoming a woman, she has not even taken up the role of being a feminist and fighting for equality, but instead sits back pondering on what to wear. Her problem isn't becoming a woman; it's everything else.

The Fine Art of Procrastination

If you know anything about me, you know my favorite activity (or rather lack thereof): procrastination. If there is a paper assigned, there is a 99% chance that I will write it the night before it's due; the other 1% is that I will write it the day I need to turn it in. After all, it's called the due date for a reason: the date on which you do an assignment. I often receive flack for it from my teachers, parents, and even friends. But why? Yes, I get that you supposedly do better if you don't save it to the last minute, but is that even true? I mean I will put the same amount of effort into something if I do it a week before as I would the day before, but merely at an increased speed. In addition, saving something for the last minute gives me a lot of motivation. If I sit at my computer and say, "Ok, I'm going to write this paper that's due next week now," chances are I will open a document, think, then close it, only to wait a week before opening it again and writing the entire thing. That's because I have 0 motivation to do it. In that very moment, I could be doing something way more fun that I enjoy, rather than write a paper. "But you can have fun later if you do it now!" Yes, but why? I will ultimately have the same amount of time to play and work, no matter which order I do it in. Except if I do work second, I will actually have more time for fun. Think about it.

By saving something for the last moment, I increase my efficiency at that task through increased motivation. Let's say, for example, I have 6 hours and a 3 page paper to write. If I start that paper at the beginning and work constantly with no distractions, I'll probably finish in 2 hours, leaving 4 hours of extra time. This is because in my head, I know that I have plenty of time, so I will naturally overthink everything. I might spend 5 whole minutes trying to rephrase an awkward sentence because I can. I won't be very focused because I know I don't have to be: I have 6 whole hours!

So now let's switch sides and say I spent 5 hours not working, leaving only an hour to write it. In my brain, I would divide it up: 5 paragraphs, with 3 body paragraphs, an introduction, and a conclusion, meaning I can spend 10 minutes on the introduction, 15 on each body, and 5 minutes on my conclusion. This will be running through my brain as I type up the paper, so I will pace myself accordingly. My motivation will be to get it in on time and to get a good grade. Instead of typing the aforementioned awkward sentence, I will type it correctly the first time because my whole thought process will be going towards typing the paper well the first and only time, instead of thinking that I can always go over it later so it doesn't have to be perfect. Through this process, I will type nearly the exact same paper, but in only half the time, so in the long run I had a better overall experience in those 6 hours.

Then there's always the "But you'll do better if you leave yourself time!" But how much better? If I save myself time, I'm just writing pretty much the same thing at a slower pace. Of course there will be minuscule differences, but how much are they actually worth? Is it worth putting in an extra hour to raise a 94% to a 95%? For me, the answer is no. I would much rather have an extra hour and get a very slight grade drop than use that hour to get a 95. And then there's, of course, dealing with that one friend who's salty that he spent more time on something but didn't get a higher grade and that it's not fair, but what can I say? This is just the way that I work, and it is a system that works for me, so others should not mind how I do my work, as long as I eventually get it done and do well.

So anyway, that's my view on procrastination. Hope you learned a lil bit.

LIFE CHANGING VIDEO!

We've all been doing it wrong! Here is a video of Kourtney Kardashian showing us all the correct way to eat a Kit Kat bar! Who knew?! I personally found this video truly educational and life-changing. 10/10 would recommend watching.

Kylo Ren: A Gif Story

This is a little collection of Kylo Ren's most iconic moments from Star Wars: The Force Awakens as told by gifs that I have found all across the Internet. Enjoy.

Kylo: I will teach you the power of the dark side

Rey:

Kylo: Nothing will stand in our way, I will finish what you started

Anakin:

Rey: you're afraid that you'll never be as strong as Darth Vader
Kylo:


Kylo: [getting thrashed by Rey] Wait! I can show you the power of the Dark Side!
Rey:


Kylo: Will you help me?
Han Solo: Yes. Anything.

Kylo:

MACBETH

Before even starting Macbeth, the class got into a heated discussion about whether or not to use the name of the play outside of reading directly from the script. We were split on whether to say it when even discussing or not, as some felt that it would be “disrespectful” to those who believed in it to even utter the two-syllable word. I feel that it is ridiculous to not say it because at the beginning of the year, we agreed that it would be acceptable to use whatever language was necessary in the context of the reading. Therefore, I should be able to say “Macbeth” if I want to talk about, oh, I don't know, MACBETH.

Although I do not believe in the curse, some people are superstitious about it and do not want to say it, which is completely fine with me. But it is not their place to tell me if I can say it or not; that’s up to me. As cliché as it may sound, I have the Freedom of Speech and should be able to exercise my right in a classroom of all places, where teachers tell us to express our opinions and share our views without having to censor them, but then I am told not to say the name of a play we are studying?

Here, we see Mr. Yee spinning

after saying the cursèd word.

In addition, the stories that Mr. Yee told us do not contradict this point but further strengthen it. Both of his friends repeatedly said “Macbeth” for the pure sake of annoying their classmates (from what I gathered), which is not at all what I am saying. For those who feel comfortable saying it, they should only say it when necessary (when referencing the play or character), and not just randomly. Furthermore, the two tragedies happened in their own lives, not in those of any of their classmates. So if I were to say “Macbeth,” I am not putting anyone else at risk (...of having a random incident happen purely out of coincidence...) but myself. By voting to ban that word, the class is restricting people from saying a word that could theoretically affect no one but themselves, instead of letting those who feel comfortable to say “Macbeth” say it, so everyone can be happy.

In the following weeks studying Macbeth, the name has been said many times, with many of those times being the same people who claimed it was disrespectful to say it...hypocritical much? As a "punishment" for speaking his name, one has to spin around three times (you can now watch Mr. Yee spin around for eternity following the countless times he has said Macbeth!!!), which makes even less sense than the curse itself. Even if there really was some mysterious curse, standing up to spin around would do nothing to prevent it. Like Macbeth wouldn't say, "You just said my name, so now I will do something bad to you! Oh wait you spun around, nvm." So basically my point is that this whole thing makes no sense. Bye.