Time

Dear friend, 

It's interesting to think that most people have a tough time "living in the moment". When isolated, the phrase seems tacky and forced, but when truly thought out, I'm convinced not a lot of people are good at doing so. Humans are constantly living in thoughts of what is going to happen in the near or far future: "I can't wait to go to camp this summer," or even a thought as simple as "What's for dinner tonight? I am super hungry," are crossing people's minds as they go about their day. It is more comforting to think of the future in positive thoughts, but there are always the negative ones that exist as well: "What if this goes wrong?" or "I don't know what to do after I find out the truth about that." More-so with the negative future thoughts than the positive ones, people should focus their wandering brains to the current moment. Focus on what is now. What are you doing now? What does it feel like now? What is the atmosphere of where you are now? We are always going to be approaching the future, but we're never going to get there. It is good to think about the future is doses as deemed appropriate depending on the time of your life, but one can't always lead their life depending on what the result could be later on. One can never be sure what is going to happen tomorrow, or a week from now. I personally hate "What if" thoughts or phrases, because there is no clue as to if they are going to happen; and most of the time, they cause more stress than joy. Stop thinking, and start living: I know that that's what I want to do. 

Rosh Hashanah Musings

Today is Rosh Hashanah. For me, that means today will be filled with comments like "why are you at school" and "you shouldn't be here." Occasionally, a Jewish peer might venture to tell me that I'm a "bad Jew." Although I know these comments are (mostly) meant as jokes, they really bother me. First, who is anyone to tell me what I should be/should not be doing with my faith? Why does anyone feel the right to set a premium or requirement on my religion, instructing me on how I should or should not behave? Frankly, I think I have jurisdiction over when/how/why to practice my faith, and if I don't think going to temple is important, I shouldn't have to deal with inquiries into my religious behavior.

At the same time, I have wondered why the majority of my Jewish peers are willing to miss school when I am not. Maybe I really am a bad Jew? Or maybe I just don't care enough? Is that a bad thing? I can try to justify my attendance to school by pointing to the lack of adequate homework accommodation policies in school. But, at the end of the day, I do choose to come to school. What does that say about me?

Turtles

I've always thought that turtles were some of the coolest animals in the world. First of all they are able to swim in the water and crawl on the land. When they are in danger, all they have to do is pull their head, arms and legs into their shell and they're fine. Also baby turtles are some of the cutest animals I have ever seen.
I actually once had a pet turtle. This turtle was left to us, as a gift of sorts, by Yugo, a friend that moved to Japan. It was not a very special turtle, just a regular painted turtle of average size, no bigger than my face. This turtle wasn't a very interesting turtle, all it ever really did was swim around in its tank or sit bathing in its lamp on the artificial rock on the surface of the water. I never really knew how to take care of this turtle, just fed it everyday and cleaned out the tank every so often. In fact, the most interesting thing to watch was probably when it ate its food, small pellets of turtley nutrition. Eventually this turtle became to much of a hassle, and my mother made me set it free. And so we drove to some pond, and released it into the wild.
Sometimes I wonder if my turtle is still out there somewhere, happily swimming with new turtle friends it has made. I wonder if it knew how to handle water deeper than its tank, if it somehow drowned in the pond we set it free in. Wherever it is, whether still in its pond, or above us in turtle heaven, I hope that it is happy.

Dear Alfie

Dear Alfie,

You, my friend, are probably my favorite thing that exists in my life right now. I feel really rude calling you a “thing”, because really, you’re not a thing. You’re much more than a thing. You’re my dog, and I think you’re absolutely brilliant. To be completely honest with you, you’re kind of an idiot, but I guess it’s okay, because everyone here at home loves you. I mean, supposedly your entire breed is hard to train, but nonetheless over these past three years the biggest things I can give you credit for are going to the bathroom only in places you’re allowed to go, and promptly rolling over for a belly rub every time someone gives you the slightest amount of attention. I mean, you’re fluffy and soft and super lovable, so no one really complains that you jump on people legs desperately seeking their love as if you don’t get enough at home (which we both know is very, very, false). But you’re small, not the smallest of all dogs, but a solid fifteen pounds so you get away with it. It’s all good bud, because I love you, and I still love you even when you sleep on my pillow or in the middle of my bed. I guess it’s alright so I don’t see a need to really stop you. You do you, kid, you’ve gotten away with it this far, and quite frankly, I don’t think there will ever be a time when you won’t.

It is My Time to Climb

After traversing the mountains of Azerbaijan in nothing but a simple loincloth and my trusty crocodile skin boots, I have decided I am ready. It is my time to climb. My ability to lead a climb is second to none, I show no fear when bouldering the likes of the Eiffel Tower, and the calluses on my hands are so impenetrable that I am no longer able to write by hand. My interpreter, Alfonse, is actually transcribing this for your reading pleasure while I am currently hooking and clawing my way up Everest. If I could give you, humble reader, the smallest bit of advice to become a great climber like me someday, it would be to join Climbing Club every Friday after school at the UVAC swim center for some great climbing fun. Practice makes perfect and perfect makes me.

- Benjamin Ralston Daniel IV
P.S. Its just a prank bro

So, we're in a world where Hollywood is running out of ideas and is starting to adapt popular books into movie or tv adaptations. Many of these adaptations like Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, Game of Thrones etc. were met with positive responses and huge fanbases. However, there are naturally bad adaptations of books. Hell, some people even hate on adaptions with overall positive responses because they didn't follow the books. This brings up the question of whether the books are always better. To be fair adaptations can't get every single aspect of a book onto the screen whether that be time or budget constraints, and even running out of material to adapt. Writers have to weave their way through by cutting off the fat in order to keep the adaptations at appropriate lengths and sometimes cutting out entire plot lines. In the other case where the writer run out of material to adapt they have to either create filler a fluff to buy time or come up with their own endings.

The behavior of hating on an adaptation I first observed was that of my friend. My friend disliked the Harry Potter movies because they didn't follow the books. I would later experience this myself when I started watching the later seasons of Game of Thrones after I finished reading the books. Since George RR Martin hasn't finished the books the show runners now have to create an original ending for the show. I noticed that I disliked the show as characters started acting in ways different from their book counterparts, entire storylines are dropped, and main characters not dying when they make a fatal mistake. All these elements in the books were fading away and becoming more like a generic fantasy show. As such my enjoyment of the show dropped. 

However, one solution I came up with to lessen the pain was trying to treat the show as its own thing. The adaptation should be able to stand on its own and not have to piggyback off the books. Characters actions should instead be judged on whether it's consistent with their character arc in the adaptation. Granted this is difficult to do as in the end they are based off the books and in the case of Game of Thrones their changes are more noticeable. In the end the dilemma of judging an adaptation based on knowledge from the books is unlikely to go away, but it's also unlikely that people will get to see their favorite characters come to life on the screen and also unlikely that long running franchises would do a reboot to follow the books better. After all, reboots would also face a similar dilemma.

Dear EBA's

Dear Everything But Anchovies,

I miss you! Everyone in the community misses you too! We let you down. I'm sorry. You were a staple in our community. Where are all of the college and high school students going to go for their pizza at 2 in the morning? Domino's? Well domino's doesn't sell amazing buffalo wings, or delicious hamburgers and sandwiches. Where will we go to get brew city fries on a bad day when we need to stress eat. Even though you don't know it you got me through every midterms I've had at Hanover High. You fed me and my friends when we were hungry after school dances. You were important in this community and you are missed.