STAC Trip Dec. 16

As usual, I'm late with putting up a blog post. But anyway, last week STAC went on another one of their fabulous trips. We went to the Guggenheim museum. I've never seen any museum like this one in my life which is really that long but you get the idea. All of the art work was hanging from the ceiling. I found this very unique and an interesting way to show art. I also noticed that each piece of art had a similar duplicate. This, I'm pretty sure, is not a coincidence and was planned. I would love to go back to this museum at a one point.
We also went to see a Shakespearean show named "Cymbeline." This was my first Shakespearean show. This show was absolutely phenomenal. The acting was exquisite. The actors were really into their roles and although the show had many serious moments, it also had many comedic moments. I think that having some laughs when you have a show with many serious moments is important because if the entire show has a serious tone to it, there is not a large range of emotions.
Overall, this STAC trip was great. I can't wait until our next STAC trip. But, I do not think that any museum will be as unique as the Guggenheim.

Army of the 12 Monkeys

In my opinion, The Army of the 12 Monkeys was a freaky movie. Someone creating a disease that killed 99% of the human population is realistic. That could actually happen at some point in the future. That's why I found this movie to be so freaky! Most of the movie was realistic. Well, I don't really know if time travel will be possible. Obviously it's impossible now, but we don't know what we will be able to do in the future. Someone from the future could come back. What do we know? But, you can't change time. So even if a deadly disease was created and killed most of the human race, it can't be change. Time is time, what happens, happens and it can't be changed. So that's why the Army of the 12 Monkeys is so freaky to me; because it is somewhat realistic. That's what makes movies freaky for me; something bad happens and that bad thing is realistic.

Rules are Created For A Reason

Why are there always so many rules wherever you go? To insure order and safetey. What happens when people don't follow the rules? Bad things, very bad things. Although rules are very annoying at times, they help keep society safe. Saftey is or should be a priority in everyone lives. Yes, rules are broken all the time and if the rule is something small like don't text during a movie, that's really not going to harm anyone. But when other rules are broken, it can lead to severely bad things. For example, getting into a brawl. Fighting is against the rules just about everywhere except warzones. Fights to the extreme can lead to death. One bad thing leads to a chain of pain, suffering and sorrow. What good comes out of that? None in my eyes.

Something New

In STAC today, the acting people were put into groups to create STAC Live commericals. Now this year being my first year in STAC, I really wasn't sure what to expect. The only limits on the commercial was that it eventually needs to connect to STAC somehow, it must be exactly 50 seconds, and everyone must play the same character (that's my group's specific limitation). The last limitation was new for me. I have never been in a production or project where everyone had to play the same character. I didn't see how that would work out with everyone playing the same character. But, then I remembered Metamorpheses and how in Vertumnus and Pamona, Vertumnus was portrayed as a farmer, soldier, fisherman, and someone picking apples. Each person was still the character Vertumnus but different actors were playing Vertumnus. So, that eventually led me thinking that is one way we could do everyone playing the same character. That idea helped my group or at least me branch out into more ideas.
I'm curious to see as to how this commerical will turn out!

Thanks.

    Thanksgiving passes every year and I never really thought about what I am thankful for. I found that disappointing because that is one of the main points of Thanksgiving. So, I made this year different. The things I am thankful for are typical and I've been told that. To me, that doesn't matter. If you appreciate something, that's all that really matters.
    I'm thankful for my family and friends. My family is always their to support me in everything I do and they're there for me when times are hard. My friends are bascially an extensions of myself. We enjoy the same things. We've built up so many memories together. They're there for me when I need them and almost never let me down.
    I'm thankful for my good health. Many people in this world are deathly ill. Their lives cut short by something they can't even see; it's awful. Knowing someone who has a deadly illness is bad enough but actually having the illness? The pain and suffering the person and their family must witness... I can't even imagine. I'm grateful I don't any deadly illnesses and I feel sorry for those that do.
   I'm thankful for art. I tried imagining the world without art and I really couldn't. Such a huge chunk of my life is art. Even the smaller aspects of art, the simpler things like color. Living in a black and white world does not compare to a world of color. The wonders that art brings us. The product of human work and expression must be in one's life because without it, life will be dull.
  That's what I am thankful for. For those of you who have not thought about what you are thankful for, think about right now and ask why.

Simple Idea vs. Complex Idea

Alright, so STAC wanted to do something for Thanksgiving. Such a simple idea, was difficult to carry out. Everyone had so many great ideas, it was hard to agree on only one. I thought about why it was taking so long to choose an idea and actually do it while we were deciding what we wanted to do for Thanksgiving. We were making something so basic, so easy, into a something so much more complicated. And honestly, I was not surprised by this. I've slowly been learning that the simpler the topic or idea is, the more difficult it is do. Simple ideas are usually very vague so that leaves a lot of room for creativity but leads to many more questions. More complex ideas are very specific, still contains creativity (but not as much as a vague idea), and leads to less questions because it is more specific. I don't know which type of idea I would rather have. It depends on how I feel. If I am in the mood to work more, I would want a more vague idea but if I am not, a more complex idea would be better. Normally people think vague ideas are better because they are less specific which means less work but if you think about it, it is actually more work.

One Topic, Four Groups, Very Different Results

I find it amazing for the Power Projects that each grade level was given
the same topic of power, and how differently each grade level presents it. It
really shows that one topic could give you many different pieces. I didn't
expect everyone to have the same exact Power Project but I did expect all the
groups to somehow relate power to a Freshmen/Senior relationship. But, only the
freshmen are doing that. I'm actually glad the grade levels are interpreting
power differently because then each presentation would be too similar.
If the presentations are too similar, it will be like watching one presentation four times.
So, what I am really trying to say is I find it incredible how different a person/group can interpret
the same topic.

“If a man had as many ideas during the day as he does when he has insomnia, he'd make a fortune."

The author of this quote is unfortunately unknown. This quote really applies to me. For starters, I am an insomniac. Runs in the family. I got it from my mother. The word insomnia means “the inability
to sleep” for those of you who don’t know. I think that I have it the second
worst in my family. My uncle has it the worst.

Anyway it’s always really hard for me to fall asleep. I think a lot during the day but it’s usually school
related thinking. When I try sleeping my mind just wonders. I am literally in
my own world. I start thinking about anything. What do I have to do tomorrow,
when can I get together with friends, what songs do I like, what will my future
be like, what will I do in the future, where will my friends, family, and I be
in the future, etc. Sometimes I come up with good ideas for something I’m
working on; whether it be for preformance or an essay or homework. If I thought
like this during the day, I think I would have a lot more ideas to share. And
that’s never a bad thing as long as it is somewhat related to what my class is
doing. But even if its not, I don’t have to share it in class. It could be with
a friend or someone else. Basically if I had this many ideas during the day, I
could discuss things more than I do right now. I consider myself a little too
quiet at times. Being quiet is alright at times but too quiet, not so much. I
think this because all my ideas/emotions just get bunched up inside sometimes
and one of those ideas could be great and emotions shouldn’t be locked up. You
were given the ability to feel emotion to express, not to keep to yourself;
ideas were meant to be shared, otherwise only you could use the idea. You could
agree or disagree with this but just ask yourself these questions while
deciding; Why feel anything if you can’t share it? Would you rather have one
person (you) use an your idea or would you rather have many people using the idea?

"Without feelings of respect, what is there to distinguish men from beasts? "

            Thank you Confucious for the everlasting true quote. I feel that the freshmen group had a
severe lack of respect both days when we were working together. I feel that
could be a reason why the freshmen group had trouble. There is definitly more
to the problem but in my eyes, the lack of respect played a major role.

On the first day the freshmen worked together, people were talking over
each other, cutting people off in the middle of their thoughts, and not letting
others speak. We had to resort to a two year old method, called the “talking
object.” You were only allowed to speak when you had the object and of course
this didn’t work. On top of the previous disrespect, everyone was reaching over
for the talking stick. Unfortuneatly for my group, this lack of respect and
maturity did not go well with me. I consider myself to be respectful. I try not
to talk over others. But, if I show you respect, and I do not get the same in
return, you should no longer expect respect back. That tugging at the darkest
and deepest depth of my stomach could no longer be held. I erupted.  My pupils were replaced with pits of fire. I was so through with everyone butting heads, and not being respectful. After
this point the freshmen group finally colloborated and decided to just
vote on an idea and put it into action. So, day one was hell.

The second day, was no different. I knew from the second we had to work on
this project again, something bad was going to happen. It started off alright,
but then we started to talk about the day before. Then the first day’s problem
became the second day’s problem. We started to talk over each other, cut other
people off in the middle of their thoughts, and butt heads. I tried to jump into
the conversation in order to keep everyone quite but I was not given the
chance. At some point, someone chimed in and said we all need to be qiuet when
others are talking, and I agreed, that’s what I have been trying to say. For
some reason, this comment had to be ridiculed. Someone else told me I can’t be
like that. And then that person mimicked my comment in a stupid immature
disrespectful way. And it took every piece of strength that I had not to get
very annoyed. I’ve never been treated this disresepectfully from my friends. I
eventually left to use the bathroom and I was told to sit back down by someone.
I said I’m going to use the bathroom. After school, I was told that after I had
left, my statement of “I’m going to the bathroom” was given air quotes. If I
had known about this right then and there, I would have been very disappointed.
When I returned from the bathroom, I kept my mouth shut.

So these past two days working with the freshmen group has helped me
understand Confucious’ quote of “Without feelings of respect,
what is there to distinguish men from beasts? "Without respect, we are no
different from beasts. I will hope on Monday, if we break into our groups again,
this will not happen. We all have voices that deserve to be heard whether we like it or not.  So please, let’s give every voice a chance.

STAC Goes to Manhattan

My first STAC trip was yesterday, September 23. It was probably the best trip I've ever been on. No, it WAS the best trip I've ever been on and it always will be. It won't forget this trip for a long time.

The museums had incredible art; even though some of the art was really bizarre. The paintings were amazing and the sculptures were astounding as they always are. That's why they're in a museum; because they're amazing. The play was so funny! Instead of using lines to show emotions, the actors would actually say the emotion which I found hysterical. Towards the end, the stage and house lights were turned off and I thought one of the actors was moving my chair which was really freaky but maybe it was my imaginations. Best play EVER.

But besides the museums and the play, being able to roam around Manhattan was also great! It felt great to be free and go out on our own for a few hours. We went shopping in the Village, roamed around like tourists, and relaxed with good friends. It was a great feeling and I can't wait for our next STAC trip!

Something Different

Today in STAC, we did some acting. I really enjoyed the part
where we walked around and changed our emotions based on what we heard. The next
part, “felt more like public humiliation” as Danny Magaldi mentioned in his
blog.  I felt completely out of place, publicly humiliated, and just a complete disgrace to acting itself. In my eight years of acting, I never felt like I didn’t know anything. Today was totally
different. I felt like it was my first day of acting! It was so strange. I’m
really not used to that. I knew I had a lot to learn before, but now I have
EVEN more to learn. Back to square one I guess. Well, I’m willing to relearn
everything because I love acting and everything along with it. I would go into detail
on what “everything” is but I don’t know whether it’s right or wrong anymore. I
guess you could say I’m in the largest state of mass confusion I’ve ever been
in. I guess I have plenty of time to find out what I need to learn and to how
to learn it.

Who Doesn't Like Writing on the Wall?

Today in STAC we did an interesting activity. We wrote on the HALLWAY WALL
outside of the STAC room! I don't know why I find that so entertaining....
Anyway, what we wrote on the wall was our names and connected it to something
we like. We connected that to several words describing why we liked that thing.

This activity was a fun way to tell the other members of STAC and Herricks
High School what we like and what. our interests are. This is also an activity you don’t do everyday. That's the brilliant part. It's different, it's unique! Being different and unique is
great. If everyone were the same and did things the same way, the world would
be boring. If there is to be lesson learned, you are unique and so are your
talents. Let people know what is unique about you and let them know who you
are.

“Each second we live is a new and unique moment of the
universe, a moment that will never be again. And what do we teach our children?
We teach them that two and two make four, and that Paris
is the capital of France.
When will we also teach them what they are?

We should say to each of them: Do you know what you are? You
are a marvel. You are unique. In all the years that have
passed, there has never been another child like you. Your legs, your arms, your
clever fingers, the way you move. You may become a Shakespeare, a Michelangelo,
a Beethoven. You have the capacity for anything.

If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it
is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he
hears, however measured or far away."

- Henry David Thoreau

First Day of High School

High School... How do you describe it? With its jungle like hallways and its
predators. My first day of High School, felt like a trip do a jungle. I had no
idea where I was going most of the time but that's life. In certain parts of
life you go down a path and test it out. Sometimes you don't know what to
expect. Sometimes, you know exactly what will happen. I'd wonder down a hallway
hoping to find the correct classroom. I got lost... several times... but it's
my first day; it's expected to get lost.

Periods 1-6 was a huge blur. But then at period 7, everything slowed down.
STAC time. The moment I stepped into that classroom, I knew it was going to be
a great year. These people had similar interests to mine. Laughter filled the
room, everyone caught up from June and the newbies, (me,) met new people. As periods
7, 8 and 9 went by; I knew this was a start of a new family.