Gabriel Winter - Why white chair

     I have a question that I need answers for, why do people buy white chairs for their houses. Think about it we sit on chairs everyday most of the day and sometimes we are dirty and spill things or accidentally drag in mud. So why do we have white furniture in our house if we don't want it to get dirty. I fish pretty often and get dirty all of the time. We have a white couch in my living room and I am so afraid to touch it in fear of making it dirty that I will avoid it by 3 feet just in case I accidentally get dirt on it somehow from 3 feet away. I can't come up with any explanations other than we just love white things so much that we don't care about our comfort and enjoyment in our own homes. 

https://www.wayfair.com/furniture/sb1/white-accent-chairs-c416225-a75218~274799.html

Week 9 - Discovered a New Bike Trail

So this week, I (like the title suggests) discovered a new bike trail. Well, kind of… You’re technically not supposed to bike on it, but not many people really use it anyways, so I think I’m fine. If you are familiar with the Spanish River Library, there's a little path around the lake there. If you cross the bridge and keep walking around the lake there's a little opening to a trail through the preserve on dirt. Inside, there are little plaques with info about animals and a really nice pavilion overlooking a smaller, natural, pond. It’s not as technically challenging as most bike trails, but it’s within biking distance of my house - which is AWESOME. Another nice thing about this trail is that I’ve only gone on it a couple times, and I’m not super familiar with the twists and turns of it - this makes the ride more exciting and less routine. Because the trail isn’t used so much and it’s through a preserve, there's more wildlife like birds, iguanas, and turtles. One of the annoying things about the trail is that the path is very narrow and some of the wild brush has spikes or sharp leaves so I get pricked every once and awhile.

I made a new 10 mile route that takes me from my house to the library, around the loop, and then back through some non-gated neighborhoods. It takes me about an hour to ride through, but I don’t rush. It’s a nice time for me to either spend time with my brother or just reflect on my day (if he’s too tired to come).

Week 9: Amy Kraft - The Why College Essay

        The “Why” college essay is stupid, especially now. Students this year are expected to write about a 200-600 (depending on the school) word essay about why they want to attend that school, or why they want to study their intended major specifically at that school. Except, most students who are applying to colleges this year did not have the chance to tour, let alone visit, the school because of Covid. The next and most logical way of writing this essay would be to do extensive research on the college. The only issue is that the school’s websites absolutely suck. I was writing why I want to study my major at a specific school and their website was horrible; when I tried finding research projects going on, they simply just gave me the title of the project. How am I supposed to write a detailed essay if they don't give me any details to write about? Then when I tried looking for internships they offer, they sent me to the advisors. What school does not show any of their pre-med internship programs on their website?

        Another reason why these essays are the worst is because for most of these schools I don't have a concrete answer to why I want to go there. Except for the school, I am ED too, most of the other schools on my list are just on my list because they are good schools in great locations. Now, I know that sounds naive, but it's true; I know enough of the basics about the school that I know it would be a good fit for me. 

        In my opinion, these essays should not be one of the mandatory supplements. I understand that the school wants to see if we as students would be good fits for their school, but I think we could show much better if we would be a good fit though talking about our hopes and dreams, if that makes sense.

Ariel Magin- Week 9 Bird Demolition

    Today my cat, Chrissie, presented a wonderful surprise for everyone. She caught a bird and brought it, or what was left of it, to one of the back doors. This bird was utterly destroyed, with scattered feathers everywhere and blood-covered appendages at awkward angles, not to get too graphic. It felt like I was watching National Geographic. This isn’t the first time she’s caught a bird and disparaged it with such ferocity and efficiency. Every now and then Chrissie brings around some poor, dead lizard, bird, rat, etc. and displays to everyone her fine work. 

It actually is amazing how quick her reflexes are and how attentive she is. She’s like a small killing machine and when she’s on the prowl you just know something isn’t gonna be around much longer. 

There’s really only one downside to Chrissie’s hunting prowess and that’s cleaning up her “trophies.” I’m always tasked with cleaning up the guts and other miscellaneous debris from the dead animal. I’ve also stepped on such “trophies” a few times which isn’t pleasant at all. Sometimes it’s so gory that it looks like a murder scene and I feel like a cop inspecting the area and trying to deduce what exactly happened. It isn’t too hard, however, to guess what happened as the bloodied carcass and accompanying satisfied cat spell out a pretty solid picture. 

If you are sensitive to graphic images then don’t look below:

Sienna Tohar - week 9- Learning Not to Rely on an Enlarger

     I don’t want to write this just to complain, but I think we’ve all had our frustrations with the school senior year by now (and I also don’t really have much to write about this week). 

So, this is my second official year of taking AP art and the process of  making a painting for the class hasn’t really bothered me up until now (since the start of this school year). Something I find pretty frustrating is that I don’t get to use the enlarger at school that I would usually use to outline all my paintings before I get to paint them, and I’m trying to not let that discourage me when planning out base sketches on my canvases. Once, during sophomore year, I had to make one of my early portfolio paintings without using an enlarger, and it was not fun! Something about it just didn't feel right, but at the same time, I just didn't want to have to rely on using an enlarger to get down a preliminary sketch (and waste time waiting so that I could use one). I know that when dealing with art and drawing, it’s not ideal to be “dependent” on an enlarger to get down the exact lining of a reference photo, but I’ll admit, it sure makes getting the job done easier and quicker. 

I’m not really sure why, but drawing bigger just feels so weird. I draw on my own time when I can, mostly with sketch pads or mixed media pads (that I would say are pretty standard sized) but it’s so different when dealing with an 18 x 24 canvas. Perhaps it’s because I can’t really draw much detail on them, I have to freehand them, or the pencil lead gets everywhere (and gets messy almost immediately for me), but sometimes I feel like I quickly get the base sketch phase done and out of the way, and other times it could take forever because I just can’t feel satisfied with the outline! 

One good thing I’m getting out of not using an enlarger, though, is that I'm learning to be more independent with those base sketches. I’ve painted with acrylic paint at home just for fun before, but usually, whenever I do, the canvases are still pretty small when compared to the ones I work with for school. And painting a small face feels so different than painting a large one! I got some practice over the summer with free-handing those larger canvases and hope that with time I can trust myself more when getting down base sketches from simply looking at reference photos from my phone or laptop. I went to school to use an enlarger there once this year, and waiting for the day I could go do that made me so behind on the piece!! I had to finish later than the due date and I hated having to depend on going to school just so I could get a basic outline down (even coordinating a time that I was able to go to school in between classes and clubs was stressful since the amount of time something will take or the amount of time you’ll have to wait for someone else is unpredictable. The only time it's really convenient is when I'm picking up more canvases and have a lot of free time). I’m hoping that I’ll feel way more secure about free-handing those large preliminary sketches by the end of the school year! I feel that with every painting this year, the experience is helping!

Are you still schooling from home? How were your adjustments when you first started? Did virtual school help you become more independent or did it mess with your focus? Until next time!

Dana Levine -- Week 9 -- Submitting The Wrong Application

 Before you all get nervous, no I did not submit the wrong application. At least I don't think so…

I submitted my first application just a half an hour ago! I checked over it about 10 times--which is not even an exaggeration. Everyone that knows me knows that I’m an overthinker. But, I do feel that in this situation, everyone overthinks. I could be wrong, but with any big submission or decision, I feel like everyone always checks over it a million times and still feels like something is wrong. I feel like I wrote something incorrectly or missed a section.

I got super scared when I put in my ACT test scores and checked back to the pdf of my whole application to find the testing page completely blank. I was getting extremely frustrated and did not know what to do since I do not have a college counselor at my side to ask the quick question to. I refreshed the page, checked back to the testing section to make sure that I had put everything in, and asked around to people who have submitted applications to see what the problem was. I found out that sometimes the pdf is incorrect so do not trust it. I was relieved and decided that I was making myself crazy and I just needed to submit the application. So, I submitted, and now I’m just waiting for the email that they received my application! Now, I have just one more to submit before November 1st, but I think I’ll be submitting that one tomorrow.

Do you feel the same way that I do with any big decision or submission? Did you check over your application 10 times or is it just me overthinking like usual?

Zach Klein week 9 - Fruit vs Vegetables

Fruits are better than vegetables. It is not an opinion, but a fact. Fruit has much more flavor than vegetables and satisfies your cravings. Have you ever heard of someone craving vegetables? I certainly haven’t. Tasting the juiciness of pineapple, cantaloupe, or watermelon is much more fulfilling than eating a carrot or some lettuce. Almost everyday I eat fruit, but the same cannot be said for vegetables. A salad once in a while is a good call, but not more than once a week. Fruits just have so much more flavor than vegetables. 

Here are my favorite fruits (when they are most ripe) in order. If you disagree with the order you can give yours in the comments. Here are the top 5:

1. Cantaloupe

2. Grapes

3. Pineapple

4. Apple

5. mango

The rest don’t really have a certain order. I don’t know if it's just me but even though I like a lot of fruits, I cannot stand eating strawberries. I like them in my smoothies or basically anything else, just not when it comes to eating it by itself. Let me know if that is just me or if any of you are the same with that. Well, what do you guys think. Fruit or vegetables? If you could choose one for the rest of your life which would you choose?

Zoey Blog week 9 - U Miami

    On Tuesday, I visited U Miami! Miami has been one of my top colleges for a while now. I really like how it is somewhat close to home, but far enough away that I can still have the freedom and feel like I am on my own. It is in a suburb near a huge city, with the most amazing restaurants and lots of things to do nearby. The weather is warm, so there’s no possibility of hating the cold weather and wishing I went to a warmer college. The academics are rigorous, but not too competitive so I can still have a social life, and lastly, the campus is beautiful. The school has so many positive attributes, but still, for some reason, I'm not crazy about it. 

People always want what they don't have. This saying is extremely relevant in my life right now when it comes to college. I've grown up in Florida my whole life, so naturally, I want something different. I want a city like Boston. It’s different. It’s busy. It’s lively. It’s cold. I feel like being in a city like that on my own would be so freeing. I would experience so much independence and growth and it just seems so fun. However, my family is pushing me to stay in Miami. Of course, where I actually get in has a huge impact on where I go. But for now, it's a waiting game. So it’s fun to think about where I would go if I got into both schools. 

Liann Rozenberg Week 9 - Laffa and Knafeh

    My absolute favorite food in the world is Shawarma wrapped in Laffa. Unfortunately, the only place where it tastes like heaven is in Israel. If you don’t know what Laffa Bread is, it’s a middle eastern bread that is used to wrap meats like shawarma and kebabs, usually topped with hummus and tahini (I love Israeli salad in mine). It’s like an Israeli burrito. So, my issue is that I haven’t been to Israel in over a year and the Laffa’s in South Florida is either a disgrace or absolutely crazy expensive. There’s a place next to my house that takes $18… Are they serious?? 
My boyfriend lives in Davie and he says there are two really good places next to him. My uncle also lives in Davie and he has taken me to one of those places before, which was good. It’s just really far, so usually hard to satisfy my craving at that moment. So my boyfriend and I went to one, which was really good I could barely finish it because it was huge! I also love that everyone was Israeli and they took my order in Hebrew. 

    After that, we went to get Knafeh… my second favorite food in the world. It is a desert also found in the Middle East and I believe it is Arabic. Every time someone I know comes back from Israel, they freeze Knafeh and bring it back to me! When I eat it in Israel, I get it from Arabic supermarkets or restaurants; their desserts are unbelievably tasty! It is made with shredded filo pastry, soaked in sweet, sugar-based syrup, and typically layered with cheese. When it is fresh and hot, I promise there is nothing better in the world!!! I am really missing my favorite dishes :(

https://www.sbs.com.au/food/article/2020/06/22/discovering-tear-and-scoop-laffa-bread

Have you ever had Laffa or Knafeh?

Yakov Wahnich Week 9 - Another Blog About College Apps

Let’s talk about a totally different, unpopular topic like college applications! 

I’m not sure where everyone else stands, but I’m tired of college applications and ready to be done with them. Unfortunately, even though I’ve already turned two applications in, I’ve got quite a few school-specific supplemental essays to push through before I can turn in my last four applications. I won’t bore you with the details, but these essays are time-consuming, tedious, and brain-draining. As I devote the majority of my time to college applications and essays, I often wonder what the second semester will be like as seniors. 

For myself at least, every year there’s another academic thing that consumes most of my free time: 11th was ACT tests, now college essays and applications. But imagine a semester, next semester, when all our applications are in, there’s no standardized testing to be done, and the most taxing thing on our to-do lists would be AP exams, which we won’t have to worry about for months. What will I do with all that free time? Will the school finally allow us to go out for lunch? Will there be vaccinations in circulation yet? So many questions with so little answers. Regardless of what next year brings, I know for a fact that there will be a 2-3 month period with 0 college essays, 0 standardized tests, and hopefully minimal work from our classes. And that’s enough for me to look forward to. 

 

What are you guys looking forward to next year?

Chaya Brenner week 9 - Wayward Guide for the Untrained Eye

 I couldn’t think of what to write about for my blog post this week, nothing was really inspiring me. But I got a YouTube notification that the newest episode of Wayward Guide for the Untrained Eye was out and I figured why not!

The idea behind Wayward Guide is that there are two siblings, Artemis and Paul Shoe-Horyn (I’m not sure if that’s actually how you spell their last name), and their job is making podcasts. When they are struggling to come up with a good pitch for their new project, a strange man named Ryan Reynolds (not the actor) contacts them with a possible idea. They decide to take him up on his idea and get roped into the mystery of a small town named Connor Creek. In every trailer and description the writers have made it clear there will be werewolves, though with only three episodes released, we are yet to have confirmation of their existence. 

What I really like about the show is how they release the content. The YouTube part focuses on making their podcast and following leads, you get to see and meet all the characters as they come into the story. But the cool part is that you can also listen to the podcast that they are making! You can find the podcast on their website and on Spotify too. So far it’s really quite good. It’s got a serious feel but they make it very clear that regardless of that, it is a comedy too. The characters are probably my favorite part of the whole thing, they’re each so unique and quirky. 

I might be a little biased toward liking the show though. Most of the actors and the writers are ones I’m already familiar with and love. The show is made by the Tin Can Bros, they are a writing trio who have produced a lot of amazing content in the past. They wrote one of my absolute favorite musicals, Spies Are Forever. The actress who plays Artemis was also Lydia Bennet in the web series from quite a while ago, The Lizzie Bennet Diaries, which I love and have seen multiple times. So like I said just a little bit of bias.

Here are links for the first episode and the podcast, enjoy!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-gebtoq1xQ

https://www.tincanbros.com/wayward-guide

Have you started watching any new series on YouTube or Netflix or anything?

Sammy Hodes Week 9 - Calming Down

     I believe that an important aspect of teen's having good mental health is making sure that they are properly rested. Rest can come in many different forms. Taking naps and meditating are very helpful ways to calm down. Its very easy to be stressed out due to the climate of the world that we currently live in. As a result, I think that it is imperative to make sure stress does not become too crippling. 

    Something that I always do, that may not be considered a form of rest, is taking deep breathes before stressful scenarios. Taking a moment to just breathe and cool the body does wonders for your moods and the way you treat other people. Likewise, Getting outside and enjoying fresh out helps me relax. Just listening to some music and not caring about the world around me is something that I try to do as often as possible.  

    If anyone feels like they need a way to avoid stress and calm down, I highly recommend utilizing some of the tactics I described. 

    

   

    

Gaya Avidor Week 9 - Have You Gotten Your Wisdom Teeth Out?

 So if the title hasn’t already given it away… I’m getting my wisdom teeth out. I’m actually getting them out tomorrow, Thursday October 29th. I’m really scared because I’ve never had to undergo a procedure ever before in my life!!! I don’t like doctors so I’m really not excited about this. I guess the one good thing about it is that I have a pretty great excuse to eat a lot of ice cream. Ben and Jerry’s Half Baked is just *chef’s kiss*. Anyway, I have to get up pretty early tomorrow morning because my appointment is at 10am and guess what? My sister is getting hers out right after me. This will totally be a fun weekend for my mom! So, the doctor has our two appointments back-to-back… Lucky him! I’m actually super excited, though, to see our reactions after the procedure is done. I wonder whether I’ll just be totally sleepy or be energetic and funny. Either way, I can promise you that my sister will be crying. We are total opposites when it comes to dealing with things so I’m sure it will be a rollercoaster of emotions coming from the both of us. I’m also scared that I will just be talking nonstop and accidentally say something bad. I mean, imagine doing that in front of all the doctors… awkward!! So, I’m guessing that most of my weekend will consist of me eating ice cream while laying in different places around my house watching stuff on the TV. But, I could totally pull off a chipmunk costume because my face will be all puffy, which leads me to…. Happy Halloween!

Apples- Gabriel Winter

     I will now be making blog posts about fruits for now on because it is not controversial unless you like vegetables. 

    Apples, a fruit that is red and grows on trees. What makes an apple so good. Is it the crunch or the fact that they are sweet? Who knows. I know all of you really want to hear more about apples don't you. Some people get confused about the difference between apple the brand and apple the fruit. Apple the fruit is one that you can eat and apple the company is one that you can also eat but it doesn't taste as good. Because I am now non controversial Gabe I will also talk about broccoli. Is broccoli good? Some say yes an some say no. I am so happy that I am writing two hundred words about this and not sometime more important for fear of a bad grade. Some say that broccoli is a mini tree. But that is a myth because it does not have the classifications of a tree. Some also say broccoli is a fruit and to those people I say they need to get glasses because it is clearly a vegetable. I would continue on because I have more very interesting things to talk about like is tomato a fruit or a vegetable (spoiler alert: who cares) but I need to save it for another time because it is the only topic I can safely talk about on this platform. 

https://www.britannica.com/science/fruit-plant-reproductive-body

Bella Furst Week 8 | Trying New Foods

 Trying New Foods?

(Vermicelli Bowl; It's Vietnamese and I swear on my life you need to try this)

I know this title is really strange, but I had no idea what to even call this. Anyways, it seems to have become public knowledge that I’m staying in New Orleans with my brother and since being here, I have eaten a lot. And yes, more than just the two packs of dark chocolate Oreo thins. I’m the kind of person who forgets to eat a lot during the day and usually runs on 1-2 meals per day. My father is also a relatively picky eater, so my mom doesn’t typically make a large selection of dishes.

On the other hand, my brother does. In the last week alone I have learnt that I actually like sushi, but only when it’s made well (yes, this is me directly saying Boca has terrible sushi). I’ve had Vietnamese food that isn’t just pho and miso soup (woah there, lots of Asian food). Different pasta dishes, different fish-based dishes, the works. In just a week and a half my palate has expanded a ton and I’m honestly vibing with it. 

I used to be a really picky eater and my mom had to bribe me with stickers to just try something new. I think if I told myself 2 years ago that I could eat an entire plate of broccoli stalks in two minutes, she just wouldn’t have believed me (and on that note, broccoli stalks are so good, like dude what?). But in any case, I have come to accept the fact that it’s okay to try new foods (except for maybe that Nutella abomination Amy made). Who knows? Maybe my new favorite food won’t be chicken in a month…  just kidding. Let’s not be dramatic here.

Have you had any notable experiences with trying new foods?

Sienna Tohar - week 8 - comfort shows

 Like a lot of seniors right now, I’m basically consumed by my work. I’m having a hard enough time keeping up with how much I need to do at the same time as college applications (but that would have to be for a whole other post). 

    Anyway, while I feel like there’s a lot I can talk about regarding school work, expectations, college applications, extracurriculars, clubs/honor societies, standardized testing, and jobs, I think I’ll save that for another day. I want to focus on positive stuff for now!

Since I’ve had a lot to do all school year so far, my only free time during the day is basically my lunch period (that is,  if I don’t have to attend a meeting or work/study. I’m still busy after school with other meetings and work so it’s easy to just sit and relax for a moment). Something I love to do during lunch at home in between classes is spend time catching up with my latest shows while I eat. Right now, I’m currently watching Schitt’s Creek and I’m completely obsessed! I don’t know what it necessarily is about it, but it honestly feels like such a “comfort” show and just makes me laugh and generally feel better (especially when I have a bad day or receive bad news about something). 

It’s basically about this family who was incredibly rich and suddenly lost everything all at once. A long time ago, the family bought a small and simple town by the name of Schitt’s Creek as a joke, but it ended up being all they had left at that point, so they had no choice but to live there and abandon their fancy-schmancy lives. Each character is so funny and “lost” in their own world, so seeing them deal with real life with all their mannerisms and adaptations is so entertaining (especially the reactions of the town’s citizens to their behaviors and occasional lack of knowledge on basic “regular-people” things). Because the children (who are grown adults) are spoiled and the parents can’t be bothered to do familial activities, the family hasn’t really bonded or connected at all throughout their lives, so through their newfound humility is when we actually get to see them grow through their struggles and become close to one another (since, now, they have no other choice). However, it’s still funny to watch their fruitless yet dramatic arguments, though. A fun fact is that the actors who star as the son and father of the show are real life son and father (they write and produce the show together. Another character in the show is also directly related to them in real life, so they are quite literally working with actual family). 

I started thinking about how in quarantine, it’s so easy to become irritable, especially with family or those around you all the time. I know that both from my end and my parents’, we’ve become a bit annoyed and frustrated at times, but shows like this just remind me of how irrelevant all those small arguments really are. Also, my mom is a big fan of the show (we watched it win all or almost all of the Emmys for comedy series) and she enjoys re-watching old episodes with me, and I love seeing her obsess over the show as much as I do!

Have you been frustrated with your family at all during quarantine? Have you watched any fun comedy shows? Do you have a “comfort” show? Until next time!