Slice of Life 31/31!!

Ode about the Mental Approach to Life

     People have different ways of thinking about things, and different ways of thinking about things they do.

     In the age that I am experiencing now, many are figuring out how they think about things, and what to do.

     For some, they think about things in a wise way, and keep to themselves.

     For others, they don't think about what they are doing a whole lot, and burst out with energy.

     Both can help any situation,

     And both can be happy and sad.

     

     To get out of a sad moment, there is one thing that always works: If something touches you.

    

     Not physically touches you, and not something that reminds you of something else,

     But something that reminds you of yourself.

     Something that you can relate to.

     These two different types of people can come in lots of forms,
     And think about things, and do things very differently.
     Some hate themselves for everything they do,
     And some love themselves for everything they do.

     Some hate others for things they do.
     Some love others for things they do.
     And some don't fit any of those categories.

     Some find light in everything, and bring light to others,
     And some do the opposite.

     Yet even those who do the opposite can find light in things, relate to things, be touched by things.

     There are those of us who ponder these topics, searching for things that can bring the light out of everything.
     We wonder if there is something that can help everyone.
     We wonder what helps each individual person.
     We wonder if it is possible to touch everyone.

     So, in my pondering, Everyone has a perfect way of approaching life.
     Yours is perfect.
     His is perfect.
     Hers is perfect.
     Because everyone can be touched.

     And I hope I have touched you.

     Happy end of SOLSC everyone!!!

Slice of Life 30/31

   I slowly massage my legs, trying to get them to stop aching from my adventure earlier today. Spring Break has just recently started and my mom and older sister just left to go on a trip to Italy partly for my mom's work, declaring it was strictly girls-only. My dad and I then struggled with deciding what to do, because we wanted to somehow top Italy. We realized that that is pretty much impossible, so we wanted to try some new things back home in Colorado. Then, last night after a Colorado Rapids game we left for Vail, trying to get back into skiing.
    I know, I know... you are thinking: What am doing, living in Colorado and not going skiing all of the time? I asked myself the same question, and I guess it is just because my family is really busy all of the time.
    However, I did not go skiing, but I went snowboarding for the first time, which (from what I remember when I skied when I was little) is a lot more fun than skiing. I had a personal lesson-thingy, which i usually don't enjoy but my instructor was nice and understanding. His name was Paul, and he was a childish, funny, and helpful when I was snowboarding with him- he is the kind of man I want to grow up to be (minus the childish thing). I thought I did pretty good at snowboarding for my first time, and I also had some pretty good wipe-outs.
    Bruises cover most of my body, but they are good bruises. You know they are good bruises when you get them doing either a good thing or a fun thing, and I just did a very fun thing.
    After the snowboarding, dad and I walked back to the little condo and had lunch. I now find myself sitting on the couch in our condo eating chips, watching a March Madness game and doing absolutely nothing else. The massaging helps, and I stop to lean back and savor the sweet simple moment.
   I now realize three things:
   I love my dad,
   I love snowboarding,
   and I love Spring Break.

Slice of Life 29/31

     I hear a great hum as I walk into the seating area, and the claustrophobia goes away. Inside the corridor where food is sold and where the bathrooms are it was shoulder-to-shoulder, everyone trying to get to their seats as fast as possible. We finally got to our section in the historic field, and made our way to the seats. Walking down the concrete stairs was an interesting sensation, because I furthered away from my family, but got closer to my heroes.
     I do and will always believe that Arsenal is the best soccer team in England, and are contending to be the best in Europe. Ever since I knew there was an English Premier League I knew there was the Arsenal, and I knew they were my favorite team. This winter my family and I left home in Colorado to fly out to one of the best cities in it world- London, and see our relatives. Before we see them, however, we get to have some fun and somehow my dad got us tickets to watch Arsenal play against an easy team- Cardiff City. Better yet, we managed to get tickets right next to the sideline, which made it harder to see the field, but made it a lot easier to see the players. That is because the Arsenal bench is fifteen feet away from our seats. I feel energized and excited as I get deeper into the stadium, going ahead of my family and skipping to the seats. Our seats are A-5 though A-9. A-5, A-5, I repeat the instructions in my head.
     Finally the seats emerge, and they are closer than I thought they would be to the bench. Before admiring the situation, I settle into the my seat of A-9 and put the game program down. The seats are still wet from the constant shower London suffers, but I don't care. I sit back and look ahead. Just in front of me are the Arsenal team, warming up for the game.
     I recognize each and every one. I am used to seeing professional players at games, but not these. These are celebrities. World wide known people, and I am sitting right next to them. This is going to be a fun night.
     My family eventually joins me, and we wait for the stadium to get louder and louder in the anticipation of world-class soccer.

Slice of Life 28/31

     I continue to work the small brush across the watercolor paper.
     Adding the final details like the fur on the bison.
     I am standing out of my chair, a position I take usually while painting.
     I have been taking many art classes at the Art Student's League.
They are kind of fun.
     Today is the last day of this camp- it is called "Creating Creatures."
     I have been doing good in the camp, developing lost of new art skills.
     If you didn't understand from the name, we draw/paint animals in different mediums.
     For my last painting I decided paint a bison, grazing in a hot field.
I am kind of proud of it.
     I have nearly finished the animal, yet I haven't done any of the background.
     I drag the small brush slowly and carefully along the hump of the bison.
     I observe the small painting, looking for anything to make better.
     I decide there isn't anything I can do, and step back further away to look at it.
It looks kind of good.
     The teacher floats around the room as usual, and soon comes over to me.
     He looks uncomfortably over my shoulder, taking in the small painting as I did.
     "He looks a little lonely, doesn't he?" The teacher says in a comical voice.
     "Yeah, I guess so. Should I add his pack?" The teacher nods and inches away.
It might look cool like that.
     I start by taking a bigger brush and create a sweeping hill with a beige color.
     After that is done, I take long creating tons of small bison along the horizon of the dry terrain.
     I start with dots, and as the group gets closer, add more details to each one.
     Now my tough-looking bison has lots of friends, all grazing in the hot climate.
They look okay.
     There is one last detail I am missing.
     I take the same large brush and dip it into the water.
     Then I add blue.
     Lift it.
     And
     touch
     it
     to
     the
     paper.
     Then drag
     It across, creating
     A pleasant and beautiful blue sky.
I like it.

Slice of Life 27/31

   I run back to the beach grinning, as my sister plays in the shallower ocean water. Our time in California has been fun, visiting friends and staying at a nice hotel, nothing has gone wrong. Not until now. I continue slowly making my way back to the refuge of the warm beach and sweet parents, trying to find the most efficient way to run in water up to your thighs. The waves are slow and small, an unusual thing for this beach.
    Suddenly, I hear my sister yell, half in excitement and half in being scared. She runs quickly back to our parents and leaves me in the cold water. Confused, I look to her, then spin around, only to see a large blob rising up. That blob was water. Lots of it. I increase my speed as I realize what is happening, think I might be able to get away from the huge, sudden wave. I don't see it, but I feel its presence behind me, my little mind tricking my senses into think that I am about to be swallowed by a monster.
     I hear the wave start to crash down just behind me and realize that it is too late to get to the beach. I take one last look at my petrified parents and get enveloped by the water.
My body spins.
Flailing in the white water.
I swing my arms around in an attempt to get back up.
The crashing noise stops.
The wave rolls on itself on the beach.
And my small nine-year-old body floats up to the top.
     I swing my head up violently and break the barrier of water up to the oxygen above. I try to gasp. I can't. I can't breath. Why can't I breath?!! I start to run back to my parents anyway. They start off to me.
     By the time I get to land, I can breath again, but before i was in so much shock that my body just didn't want to. My mom and dad hug a towel around me, continually asking if I am alright. I realize I am fine, and we slowly make our way back up to the hotel room.

Slice of Life 26/31

    This week I read the book called "Legacy" by James Michner.
    Unless you are a James Michner fan, you probably haven't heard of this book, which is something I like about this book (it isn't well-known). If you know anything about James Michner at all, you would know that he writes novels on history, and they are extremely long and perhaps dry. The thing about this book is, is that is it actually quite short (250 pages) and is very interesting if you like history. I like history, so I enjoyed this book very much.
     It is basically about the legacy of the Starr family, and how they have each impacted American history. It starts out with a man in the 1960's who was accused of being part of a scandal in Iran, and needs to speak his innocents in front of a type of Senate. Before he does this, he looks back to his extensive ancestry for some kind of guidance, and for ways to use the patriotic advantage in his court case. It then starts with the first of his ancestors to live in America (Jared Starr) and talks about every one of them in history. Surprisingly, this is a true story and each of the members of the Starr family had a big impact on history and have extraordinary stories to tell. Some of them can get a little boring, like the longest of the stories told was of a man named Simon Starr who was part of the convention to write the Constitution. He has a signature on it, and leading up to that it talks about all of the things decided when writing the famous document, which was kind of interesting to me.
      I am not sure this book is for everyone, though. It goes through some events in history that aren't interesting for the average person that doesn't like history, and I thought it was cool, but is you know me, you know I really like history. It is one of those books that takes a certain person to like it. Besides that, I think Michner is actually a very interesting, intelligent, and overall goo writer, so I think if you are up for it, everyone should read this book.  

Slice of Life 25/31

   A little while ago I bought a video game called Empire: Total War. I am not going to talk about the game very much, but more about what the game made me think about. It was an okay game, with nice controls and for the certain person (me) it is really fun because it simulates a battle in the developing stages of weaponry (1800's). What the game made me think about, however, was the cost and the importance of war over the years.

                                   I Don't

   Diplomats, politicians, and regular people don't want war, and say that they don't want to cause war, yet we always find ourselves in the thick of it. I think that has to mean that fighting isn't caused by people, but really just society. Everyone says another person started it, which is usually true, but then the other person says it was the first person's fault. All of this leads to it being a complete mystery as to who actually started the whole thing. Even Hitler has his reasons.

                                   Think
 
    The world has lost millions upon millions of lives due to wars, which makes you think, where would we be if war just didn't exist? I wonder if we traveled to all of the planets in the universe with a civilization like ours, if they would all be struggling with war too. I'm not sure we could even be as far as we are today without war. It has brought so many advancements for the human race, good or bad.

                                    It Is
   
      All of that being said, I still don't like it. I marvel over learning about it because it is so interesting to me, but I would hate it if it was going on in my time period. Everyone would. Unless you are some kind of maniac that wants to destroy humanity, you want yourself and everyone around you to be safe. I think about it every time I play Empire: Total War, but I don't let it damage my experience of it. Even though war can be good, I don't think it is

                                  Worth It