#slice2015

This is it.

This is the last day of the March Slice of Life challenge, as one could probably surmise from the influx of posts with titles along the lines of “A Bittersweet Goodbye to SOL” or “Thank God It’s Over: I Have Bio Objectives Due Soon and I Don’t Need Any More of This”. I have to disagree with my peers who resonate with the latter statement. Throughout this entire month — with all its highs and lows — I was able to get an unprecedented glimpse inside the fascinating (and occasionally, surprising) thoughts of my classmates, learn about new and interesting topics, and, most importantly, improve my writing.

At first, I was averse to the idea of writing a blog post every day. But Slice of Life allowed me to write about experiences that I normally would not have reflected upon, and focus on conventional, ephemeral moments of my life in acute detail. Every day of blogging felt liberating, like I was able to spew word salad and write in a relaxing stream-of-consciousness style (though admittedly, I got lazier towards the end and started writing shorter poems). Also, since Tumblr was more isolated from the rest of the SOL blogs, I felt like I was writing only for myself, and that was really enjoyable.

Writing in verse was the best part. Aside from the advantage of using up more white space to look more productive, writing poetry allowed me to take in those details of my life verse by verse, stanza by stanza. Most would complain about having to meet the deadline of 11:59, but I thought it was refreshing, calming even, to write a poem each day.

Most importantly, SOL enabled me to explore my thoughts about the world and my experiences in a single verse. Through quiet introspection, I was able to look at details in my life with a sharper eye.

This has been great, really. Thank you, Mrs. Gross.

Over the past month, I’ve gotten used to doing these blogs before I go to bed. I’m kind of relieved that I’ll have a little more relaxation every night, though. And I’ll have rehearsal 4 days a week after break, so not having to write a blog whenever I get back will be very, very nice.

I was also very excited that I actually kept track of my comments in Google Sheets with the dates and the comments. Except I didn’t put it in the google doc that we were supposed to. And I didn’t put links. So I have to go back and find all of the links. Oh well. I’ll get over it. I commented on pretty much the same people’s every time, anyways.

Since tomorrow is April 1st, I’m going to be on high alert for April Fools pranks. Good thing I don’t have French tomorrow. THere’s no way we would get things done on April Fools. I also have to actually do the comment thing, and I have rehearsal from 6-9, meaning I won’t be home from 5:15-10. Great. Just great. Like I said, a blog post tonight is way better than tomorrow. I’m glad March is over.

As an end-of-March treat: here’s some links to me singing in stuff:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sg58eZjwlTI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RXiBjuvFjRg

Day 31

It’s the last day??? I thought I would do something different, so here are some quick, not particularly good drawings that I started a while ago and finally finished today because I thought the idea was worthy of a “last but certainly not least.” (I’llprobablydrawmoreofthese.) And also, a related poem.

Won’t you love me

and release me.

My mind is a cage,

but I will break free.

I am bursting,

exploding.

Love me no longer

in shadows.

The world is a prison

but we will crack the windows.

We will burn down the walls.

The universe will not be able to hold us down

Love is limitless.

We have no boundaries.

Tell us to change,

but it’s not us that has to.

We’ll paint it in the sky

out of clouds and stars and sunlight.

We’ll set explosions for the world to see.

One foot in front of the other,

step by step,

we’re not going back.

This is only the beginning.

We’re just getting ready

Day 30

(The title is a quote commonly attributed to Robert Oppenheimer who created the first atomic bomb. He was actually quoting a Hindu scripture, his own translation of it apparently.)

Carefully

counting seconds.

Do not be a moment late.

For I will burn through clouds.

For I will bury those who wait

in darkness,

in shadows.

Do not hesitate.

For I will rupture the earth.

For I will crack its surface open.

Do not wait for me to come.

For I am smoke.

Seeping into unsuspecting lungs.

Kissing the lips of strangers

so they open their throats to me.

For I am thunder.

Heart-stopping noise.

Splitting open ears.

Breaking through skulls.

For I am dark clouds.

Billowing into the sky.

Coating the blue

in a thick haze.

For I am fire.

Burning holes in this world.

Bringing the sun closer.

Setting the air ablaze.

I am death.

Coming in the moment when you’ve

just woken from a nightmare.

I will destroy.

Day 29

I have to be off book by the end of break. In case you don’t know, off book is a term for when you have all of your lines, blocking, and songs memorized (you’re no longer using the script anymore, therefore “off book”). There’s always the possibility of calling “line” in the middle of a scene if you forget something, but it is generally frowned upon if everyone else is off book.

Today, I decided to spend a lot of time going over my scenes for Mary Poppins without looking at my script. I don’t have too much dialogue in the show, but when I do, it’s important enough that I have to get it down word for word. I’ve never really had a part whose lines were too hard to memorize. They all were either small enough that it didn’t take long to memorize, or interesting enough that I wouldn’t forget my lines. One summer, however, I did have to memorize 70ish lines in 2 days. It was incredibly stressful, but it is completely necessary when you commit to being in a show. Plus, once you get your lines down, the fun part starts and you get to actually start building your character. The character I play, Miss Andrew, is really fun to play so far, even though I’ve been running through all the scenes reading down at my script.

My final thoughts about SOL:

Overall, I think SOL was a very beneficial and entertaining adventure. I’ve always liked writing blogs since the very first time we did on edublogs. Reading blogs is like getting a glimpse into someones life or mind without seeming stalky. However, unlike some vlogs on Youtube which document every minute of someone’s seemingly awesome, but boring life, blogs are usually very enjoyable to read. 

Blogging everyday really seemed to give me a better glimpse of myself as well. Trying to blog every single day really tested my dedication, and even though I missed a few days, I am still pretty satisfied. I have learned that:

1. After about 7 days or so, I was really out of ideas, and had to be somewhat creative to prevent sounding like an utter bore.

2. Trying to be creative is a lot harder than I thought, so I disappoint myself by saying (admitting) that some of my blogs were utter trash.

3. Do it for the blog. For a couple of days, and yes I mean that literally (I did it for 2 days), I tried doing something exciting so that I would have something to blog about. SOL taught me to live life daringly and that YOLO. 

In this final SOL blog (don’t worry, I won’t stop blogging forever), I will be issuing a challenge. 

I will be giving a mystery, somewhat like one of Karan’s previous post. The solution will be complete and utter nonsense, so for this blog, I want you guys to comment some of the most idiotic suggestions you can. 

If anyone can solve it, I will be utterly amazed. 

Every afternoon, William would walk back to his house from the bus. And every afternoon, as he turned the corner of Levito and Woodsmen avenue, he would walk past a certain house. He would always look up, and there, sitting in the attic, was a woman looking out through the window. No one really knew why she would just sit there from 3:30 to 3:45 every day and just leave. She always has though. 

William, being the very curious boy he was, always was curious on why, and every day, he would tell himself that one day, he would ask the woman why she, like clockwork, does this every single day.

One day, William was so curious that he threw a rock at the window to see what would happen. All he wanted was a reaction from the woman. Every day since then, he would throw a rock, but nothing would happen. 

One day, in school, William had to stay after school. He was supposed to meet for a TSA competition. What really surprised him though is that his partner wasn’t there. This made him very angry, as they were working on a project every single day until 5 o’clock. Not only that, but his mom had also been telling him to stay away from his partner as he was a troubled kid. He never understood this because he was very friendly. Anyways, he angrily got on the bus, and went home. 

His mom picked him up, and dropped him off at home. 

2 hours later...

It was now 7:45, and William was missing. His mom searched everywhere for him. As she drove down the lane, she found him, banging on an attic window trying to get out. 

Explain what happened. 

I just got back from my middle school’s production of “High School Musical.” I was, obviously, a long time member of that drama club, so of course I had to go. It was great! Some of the kids that I’ve been in tons of shows with I saw perform tonight and they were amazing!

Although the cast was only about 60 people this year (last year there were about 80), they put on a show that had me clapping my hands off at the end. I knew they would. They made it as good as (or even better) than the movie that I first watched at age 6. I miss being in such large scale productions, but being in the audience is just as great! This is the first time I have sat in our huge auditorium on the other side of the stage, watching all of the work that that they put into it come together and cheering at the final speeches for the eighth  graders.

When I was in these middle school shows, it was just called the “Millstone Township Middle School Drama Club”, and now they’re called “Eagle Productions” and have a logo and everything. The sets were perfect, too. Overall, I am so amazed by how much everyone has progressed since I have last seen them.