Unexpected Expectations (Expect-ception!)

Man, I missed this baby. Sorry to all for the long absence, I guess I just needed a break from blogging for a while. I've had so much going on, good and bad--let's just call it a "chronic writer's block." On the bright side, I have finally set up my Tumblr account, which I'll post a link to in a bit. It will take some time for me to get settled in and to get used to the whole thing, learning the ropes and whatnot. As for this blog, I will probably still keep writing in it, mainly if I have a long list of events to talk about. But for other, mini updates, those will be up on Tumblr, along with my other craziness I can find there, so be sure to give it a look-see! Anyway, without further ado, let's get right to it.

First off, this won't focus on a set of current events as usual. Rather, I will recap what's been going on in my life these past two weeks. Business as usual. School, work, friends, family, you all know the drill. Things are going fairly smooth, but will be crunch time soon, though, what with finals coming up and whatnot, so that's gonna be a hell of a ride. For all you musical purists out there, don't get mad at me when I say that for the first time, I've listened to a Motley Crue song. I've never really been into the "old" stuff, though I've heard countless good things about it, and now that I've gotten into this particular band, I might actually update my music playlist on my phone (wink wink). Why did I start now? Well I remembered way back in the day when I, too, was a scene kid listening to Asking Alexandria and Black Veil Brides and whatever other stuff the kids are into these days. I will admit, I do like a few of their songs, I mean, music is music, no matter how "good" or "bad" it is. I personally don't like getting into beefs over how rock or music in general is "dead." New stuff will pop up as time progresses, and not every single band or group will sound the same. Music as a whole, however, will always be the same, and that's what I love about it. Anyway, I was reminiscing over those good old days, and I decided to look into the bands that inspired today's groups, and I was pretty much hooked. Motley Crue is my first, now I'm thinking of my next target...

Speaking of Asking Alexandria, I was totally caught off-guard when I heard the news that Danny, their ever-egocentric lead singer, has left the band as of January 22nd. As I said before, I went through my early teen years listening to these notorious "rockers," for lack of a better term, and now that their frontman has decided to out of the blue abandon ship, it's like "Whaaaaaaaaa??" Now I know there are some of you out there reading this thinking Shut up scene kid! Asking Alexandria sucks balls, uuuuggggh! Listen to real music! Go die you emo f*g! Okay, I'm gonna kindly ask you to watch that tone of yours, mister. As I said before, I listen to all kinds of music, and I'm just surprised that someone with as much momentum and success as Danny Worsnop would abandon the very band that made him who is today. Well, we should all take this moment to bow our heads in silence and mourn the loss of a landmark band that contributed ever so much to the rock/metal industry. This is indeed a very sad time for all of us....now please tell me you all caught that sarcasm ;)

Moving on, I am currently going through a rather pivotal moment in my life that I never thought I would see. As you probably know, my father and I have not been on speaking terms for about a year now, and I was beginning to think that there would be no chance at reconciliation. As fate may have it, though, I was wrong. Long story short, graduation planning has begun for most of us seniors, and now that I am gathering names for people I will invite to the big event, I considered contacting the old man. I mean, no matter our differences, he is still my father. He is the reason I am here right now writing this post. And I am his only son, so I just can't deprive him of the experience of seeing his spawn graduate. Just goes to show how important it is to always put family first, no matter how ugly and sour circumstances become. I just don't know how to feel about all this, especially since we agreed to meet up one of these days to catch up. Will it be awkward? Will it be normal? Will it get heated halfway through our convo? What the hell will go down when we see each other again? As always, only time and fate will tell...

Well, there's my update peeps. Again, I apologize for the two-week absence. I guess I just need a break once in a while to focus on my life and process everything that's going on. Thanks for reading, and until the next one. As always stay safe out there everyone :)
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A War on Creativity

Got a lot to say for this post peeps, so get comfortable and enjoy. Let's do this...

So first a little update on what's been going on in "Markville." Not much to say, really. Everything has been going smoothly, but I will say there is major change for me on the horizon. As some of you may know, I, along with my fellow AP students, have been suffering in my classes, specifically AP Stats, but there is some light at the end of this tunnel. Call it "giving up," call it whatever you will, but I have finally decided to take the first steps towards dropping that class. I have tried week after week, day after day, to make the least bit of progress in that class, with no results whatsoever. I know some people think otherwise, but I believe that it is better to drop that class and spare the trouble of watching my GPA dip than to stay and keep on suffering and wasting my time and effort. Now I bet there are some of my fellow AP Lit classmates reading this and thinking Bro, why not ditch AP Lit instead? You know our teacher is impossible to deal with! Get out while you still can!! I'll be honest, yes it is a pain to have to deal with preaching over teaching almost half the time, but keep in mind my major has to do with writing (hell it is writing), so I'm willing to go through the trouble of dealing with our teacher in a class that will undoubtedly help me in the future than struggle in a class that's helping me not in the slightest bit.

One last bit before delving into today's topics, if any of you reading this are into Anime (or not), you all should check out Tokyo Ghoul. I'll admit, I was a little incredulous on what to expect for this, as I myself am not into Anime or Manga, but when my bro introduced me to it, I was HOOKED. For those of you who do watch Anime, TG specifically, the new continuation of the show, Tokyo Ghoul: Root A, premieres today, and I just finished watching the first episode, and I must admit...it was okay. I mean I haven't read the Manga (yet), so I can't comment on what was left out or anything like that. Obviously I'm not a big-time Manga/Anime fan, but I will say that I am pretty stoked for what is to come and what's to become of the series. If you're not into that stuff, you should definitely give it a try. You will not be disappointed. On with today's stories.

Parlez-vous Freedom?
So I'm sure many of you--if not all of you--know or at least heard about the bloodbath in Paris not too long ago which was carried out by a group of terrorist sympathizers. The attack on Charlie Hebdo, a French newspaper, is another example of the consequences brought by the blessing of free speech, as well as the more-harm-than-good sentiment of religion. Now I'm not gonna single out any one particular religion, but I will say that this is why more and more people become unaffiliated with these beliefs. There is no such thing as a "religion of peace," especially not whatever it is these terrorists are promoting.

Where to begin? Well first of all, I stand by the employees at Charlie Hebdo, and they have my 100% support of the way they go about flaunting their creativity. I feel like this what all newspaper/media companies should do. Just give the world the finger and show everyone how they truly feel regarding certain topics. I mean that's exactly what I do in my blog posts. I give my honest opinion on what's going on in the world and when it comes down to expressing myself, nothing else matters to me. This is what I want to do with my life. Write. Express myself. Make my voice heard. These terrorists and other opponents of free speech think they can get away with their actions and deter the future of journalism and free expression? Nope. You are dead wrong. I am fully aware of the risks that come with the package. I mean all you hear about in the news these days is journalists getting their heads cut off or massacres like this one. But you know what? If it is my fate to die doing what I love to do, then so be it. Freedom of speech means everything to me, and to have that blessing in this country full of wrongdoings is something I do not take for granted.

Second, this is exactly why (no offense) the religion of Islam is looked down upon. Now, obviously, just like with cops, not all Muslims are terrorists or terror sympathizers, even if it seems like it. And to be fair, I don't just have a bone to pick with this particular religion. I loathe religion as a whole. As we all can see, it just brings more harm than good. Religion is the main reason we as humans are divided and are tearing each other to pieces. The way I see it, religion and the practice thereof is simply a way to keep us on a leash. A way to prevent violence. Tradition. It means nothing. But some people just take things way too seriously. Speaking of which, I see nothing wrong with the depiction of Muhammad that sparked the violence. Other major religious figures (and non-religious) are satirized in some form or another, yet no one ever seems to give a hoot about that. That's the beauty of freedom of expression. That we can speak or draw what's on our mind without worry of being reprimanded. These terrorists want to take that right away from us. But it won't work. This blessing is here to stay, and I'll do my best to fully exploit that right when I'm writing front pages for the New York Times or some other major newspaper in New York (which is my future home, just FYI).

Who Let the Dogs Out? Not PETA, Apparently...

Take a look at this photo here:

See anything wrong here? Yeah neither do I. All I see is a boy harmlessly standing on his pet dog, a large dog, mind you, who doesn't even seem to notice that there is a much smaller human being standing on him. But, this was another no-no for, you guessed it, PETA. Jesus Christ, here we go with these people again...

Okay...where to start...he's a KID. A KID. KIDS like to have fun with their pets in other ways that are "worse" than simply standing on their dog's back. If this photo wasn't posted, PETA wouldn't even be getting their dirty paws into business that's not theirs, as they always do. Hell, I had a dog (100x smaller than a lab) who was practically tortured by my younger cousin, and yes the pooch was afraid of the little rascal, but he still loved his owners dearly as if nothing ever happened. Kids do the craziest things with their pets on a regular basis (pulling their cats' tail, throwing their birds into the air, etc), but that's just how they roll. If PETA doesn't hear about it, they butt out, but as soon as they catch wind of something as trivial as a small kid standing on his much larger companion's back, all hell breaks loose. C'mon now, PETA. Why not go after the people who are purposely abusing their pets? Ever thought of that? Nope. Standing on a dog's back is worse than actually hurting it, right?

Rise of the Millennials

So I'm sure many of you heard Kanye's new song "Only One" on New Years Day right? I'm not a fan of the guy myself, but the song was decent, and hey-yo, Paul McCartney! Then came the Twitter rage... Some of Kanye's fans seemed completely lost and were praising the rap star for giving this "new" star exposure. Whether they were serious or not is up for debate, but the reaction to the tweets were priceless. Left and right there were Twitter junkies losing their heads, preaching "I don't wanna live on this planet anymore" crap over, what, five, six people who didn't know who Paul McCartney was. Assuming this handful of people was serious, yes it is quite an embarrassment. Yes we should all be facepalming at their complete slowness. But--again, assuming they were serious--we shouldn't lose our heads and go all nuts just because a tiny percentage of Kanye's fans know no other music other than his. There are still major bands out there that have been around for some time that I'm barely starting to catch up on myself, but what do you expect?? Sure, we don't live under a rock, but it's not like we are the gods of music or something. We can't know every single artist out there. Now, assuming they were joking around, it is pretty funny, I suppose, but again, this kind of humor can attract the wrong attention from the millennials...

Close

So that's the end of this post, peeps. If you made it this far, thanks for reading. Hope you are all having a great week. Stay up to date, stay safe out there, and until the next post. :)

Monkey See, Monkey Do

Hey all, hope 2015 is going great for yas! It sure as hell is for me! I've never felt so pumped up and ready for a new year (plus, my lucky strikes, shall we call them, have only been making things so much better!), and I have just so many fresh vibes and high hopes for what is to come. This is gonna be a hella great year, I can feel it...

Anyway, pardon my absence; I've been a busy bee as always, working day after day after day, then having to pull another all-nighter this past Sunday to finish--scratch that, to do--my two weeks' worth of homework that was waiting for me with open arms for the last minute. Glad that's over with. I finally have a chance to have some "me" time, now that I have a 3-day break from work starting today. So let's dive into this thing.

I will start off with a bit of an update on what's been going on in my life besides school and work. So if you've been keeping up with my blog in the past week or so, you know that I "broke up" with my "unofficial" significant other (it's quite complicated, I know). Well, really, we just stopped talking for good after the fiasco with the "other guy." But this actually turned out to be a real eye-opener. As it turns out, she had a "thing" with someone else before me, then, of course, the new guy, and now she's left with no one. Turns out the new guy has a lady of his own, leaving her with no choice but to come back to me. But I've learned my lesson. There was no way in hell I was gonna expose myself to become attached to her again, so I broke off any sort of connection with her, and now I'm back to doing my own thing. I don't wanna give away too much, but let's just say that when that door closed, another flew wide open for me, and even though that opportunity was short-lived, it was still a damn amazing time. Coincidentally, this happened when I was at my lowest point, having gone through so much pain and, um...depression, this "new door" helped raise me back up, and now I'm myself once again, up and running, and ready for action. Aside from that, everything has been going well for me this new year, so far. There's definitely greater things waiting for me on the horizon.

Moving on, I'm gonna rant a bit on what's been going on lately on Facebook concerning the "copyright" BS that's got everybody losing their heads. If you don't know what I'm talking about, check these links out:

ABC News Article

USA Today Article

But I mean, c'mon, about 95% of people have a Facebook account. And about 99% of people have at least one friend or know someone who completely fell for this hoax about "copyright" or something of the sort. I know quite a bit of them, and every once in a while since this whole thing broke out, my news feed would show the Copy/Paste post. Shame on you, my friend. You're just another blind sheep who fell victim to mainstream media's corrupt clutches.

And if you're reading this and you're one of them and you got offended, #SorryNotSorry. Educate yourself and get the facts before doing something stupid like falling for this kind of crap. But I won't lie, I myself have fallen for hoaxes like this and others in the past, sometimes to this day. I'm not perfect. All I'm saying is at least get your facts straight before doing something like this. It feels like the "Send to 20 People or You Die Tonight" chain messaging days all over again. I thought they were dead and gone! This is 2015 people! We should know better by now. ;P

End of post. Thanks for taking time out of your day to read this, peeps. Pardon my inconsistency. Hope ya'll have a great day and a great year! Again, always get your facts straight before falling for internet hoaxes. Stay safe peeps and until the next post. :)

I leave ya'll with another favorite of mine by my favorite group, Sick Puppies. Enjoy.

Deuces 2014!

First things first, Happy New Year everyone! Here's to a fresh start, a clean slate, and a new opportunity to make great memories and live life to its fullest!

Time to reflect on the past and look ahead to the future. 2014 had its good, bad, and ugly, and without a doubt, 2015 will, too. No matter, this year will be our year, fellow seniors. Finally graduating, finally taking a huge milestone towards the rest of our lives, and all in all, this year will undoubtedly bring us more than a few amazing moments to cherish forever. 

Saying Goodbye to 2014

Although last year was pretty much an embarrassment in many crucial aspects (music, gaming, and humanity in general, to name a few), there's no denying that it had it's up moments, both in society and in my own personal life. 

In the past 365 days, I:

-dug my way out of a 5 month relationship that was getting nowhere with someone not worth my time,

-made new friends, lost a few (and regained one), and broke off other relationships that were hurting me more than they were helping me get through life--in particular, my father, who was probably the heaviest burden on me and holding me down the most out of all obstacles I faced,

-experienced major change when I moved out of my home where I lived for the first 16 years of my life and into a new apartment, where I now have lived for about four months, which also spawned even greater change for the better,

-landed my first job at McDonald's, where I met a variety of personalities, good and bad; specifically, my once-best work buddy, with whom I had a really close friendship until things went downhill, which proved to be a blessing in disguise, as the whole event turned out to be a real eye-opener

-finally learned the struggle of balancing school, work, and a social life, while still enjoying the perks of having real money in my bank account

-discovered my passion and my talent for writing, which gave birth to this baby, my own blog

-and finally, I grew closer with my true friends, improved my once-rocky relationship with my dear mother, and experienced other amazing moments that I will forever cherish and look back on when I'm a senile old man.

Obama's executive action is undoubtedly the best thing to ever happen to us in 2014, as it opened TONS of new doors for those who came to this country illegally as well as those of us who are the sons and daughters of those who did. There were a few other great changes in society here and there, but for the most part, 2014 was not the best year for humanity. The influx of police violence, the rise of annoying new age lingo ("bae", "bruh"), and other gear-grinding fads like the Ice Bucket Challenge, which was a noble cause corrupted and turned into a game, just to name a few. Who can forget what an embarrassment this year was for the music industry?? That's right, I'm pointing my finger at you, Anaconda! Plus, the increase in money-thirsty corporations didn't make things any better. One can only hope that this year will see the return of ingenuity and originality for our entertainment.

Welcome, 2015!

Despite this past year's flops, I think we can all leave that in the past and look forward to the greatness to come this year, right? New friendships, fresh memories, an increase in minimum wage (my personal favorite!). Here come all the New Years resolutions that no one is gonna stick with! But hey, I could be wrong, and there are more than a few people who actually stay true to their resolutions, and I plan on being one of them, as soon as I come up with one...

Anyway, let's all take a moment to give thanks for a renewed 365-day passport, eh? Let's make the best out of this year, and every year we get to live our lives. Hell, enjoy every second of it; not everybody gets to see the dawn of a new day, let alone a new year. So let's raise a toast to 2015. May this year be better than the last, may we meet great people, may we be great people, and may we make amazing memories to cherish for a lifetime. 

So that's all for now peeps. Hope you all recover well from your hangovers, and for those of us who work today, let's bear through it! Happy 2015 everyone! :)