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Never go to class without a mason jar full of iced coffee

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Quarantine has prompted me to finally learn how to use the sewing machine i got 5 years ago. Now im not saying im any good but after years of watching project runway i think i have a pretty good idea of whats going on.

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To shave or to not shave my whole head? That is the question of the day. Do i even have the right clippers. Nope. Will i regret it who knows. Im in a real carpe diem mood these days

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Day i don't even know anymore of quarantine.

Ive lost all sense of time, 5pm has become the new 8am. Every day of the week is just a wednesday, not really interesting but not necessarily bad. And yeah i blame this one on EMMA, MC and maybe even filiatrault. It is what it is. Ive never wanted to stay inside for the rest of my life more😂

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Eye can't see you

Blog #9

Me and my eyes have always had a rocky relation ship. Believe it or not i haven't always worn glasses, I've actually only worn them since about 4th grade. I used to love seeing people with glasses, just because i thought they looked smarter or cooler.

Well i got my wish when i needed a pair of reading glasses, spoiler alert i got tired of them pretty fast. That little purple pair was the ones i had through most of elementary school. My vision was getting worse because i would read in crappy lighting, soon enough my farsightedness started to fade and i was having all kinds if vision problems.

In about 7th grade my eyesight did a complete 180, and i now needed glasses for far away instead of up close. Somehow I no longer needed reading glasses. So i get my pair of glasses, nothing too strong just to help me see a bit farther. Well, cut to the next year my prescription gets stronger again, then the next year it happens again.

I went to the optometrist not too long ago and I told her the usual about how I’m getting headaches and how my vision has gotten worse. This time around she has me back to doing the up close eye tests and she’s testing the strength in each of my eyes. It turns out that one of my eyes is slower than the other. And like the old lady that I am, I also now need bifocals. As if that wasn’t enough, my prescription also tripled in strength. How lucky am I?!

Having bad eyesight is the strangest thing. You’d think that something you have no control over would be easier to access by everyone. My prescription lenses cost about 130$, without the frames. I guess it’s good that the government covers it while I’m under 18, but it’s going to be a rude awakening once I need to change my lenses as an adult. I don’t understand why this thing that I need to be able to see, a necessary basic human function, isn’t even covered by my moms garbage insurance.

So yeah, I guess I need to start taking better care of my eyes or I’ll end up with bulletproof lenses by the time I’m 30.

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Hermes

Blog#8

This is my dog hermes. He's a pure bread german shepherd and he's almost 10 years old. And yes he is named after the messenger god, but i think my dad just thought the name sounded cool.

He has a bit of an attitude problem, all this dog ever does is talk back to me. I swear when i tell him to stop barking he mocks me.

The story behind how I got my first pets is actually pretty funny to me. My parents had just gotten a divorce and were still very much in the petty phase that follows. My mom decided to get a cat since she knows that they trigger my dads asthma, and my dad decided to get a puppy because my mom hates dogs with a passion. They figured the animals would be somekind of statemwnt i guess. I still have both of these pets, and my moms house is strictly cats and my dads is just my dog Hermes.

Hermes is a doggy school drop out, he wasn't listening and never learnt how to be social with others. Even though he can't necessarily talk, you can tell when he's being sassy. He gets an attitude and ignores you if you come home smelling like someone else's pets. He'll throw a tantrum and bark if someone looks at him the wrong way, he's kinda crazy.

He's very much a part of our family, he eats dinner with us, he lives with us, he keeps us company. Its hard to imagine what itd be like without him, but i'm not in denial i know that time is coming sooner than later. I'd just prefer not to think about it. On a more morbid note my dads friend has a farm in mirabel where he raises huskies and australian shepherds, so its not like i won't have another dog after. Not that id ever be able to replace my dog though.

This dog has lived with me in LaSalle and Verdun with no problems. But when we moved to chateauguay, he starts going through some sort of rebellious phase. Maybe it was some sort of teenage rebellion i thought to myself, that's if dog years are even real anyways. But then i got to thinking, my dog should be a wise 70 year old in dog years by now, not a teenage delinquent.

I remember this one time i clipped him onto his leash and then when he made the usual run for it i tugged him back towards me. Well the leash is somehow in my hand and the dog is already halfway down the damn street. Now im chasing him into some dudes backyard at 2am because i didn't put his leash on the right loop. I'm faking him left and right like i was a basketball player or something. And its not like this is a one time thing either. This dog is an escape artist sometimes. Thank god my street is pretty peaceful.

My dog is turning 10 this year, he's actually only a year younger than my brother. He's getting old and grey but he still has the energy and strength of a puppy. I'd say i wish you could meet him and see why i love him so much, but he'd probably try to eat you, or maybe he'd like you more than he likes me. You never know with this one.

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The best Christmas movie ever.

Blog#7

Dec.11th 2019

This one is dedicated to a few friends, you guys know who you are.

Die hard is arguably the best Christmas movie. I mean I personally think it’s a Christmas movie, I watch it every year on Christmas Eve. Now some of my friends have started an interesting debate in our group, and it’s made me wonder. What makes a movie a Christmas movie?

When I think Christmas movies I think things like the grinch, die hard, the santa clause and Elf, but what makes these Christmas classics “Christmas movie certified”?

Is it the festive music?

The town all decked out in christmas decor?

The shopping centers full of gifts to buy?

Or is it the christmas joy between family members?

I think the movie just has to be based during the festive season, other than that all is up to the director. Whose to say that Santa Clause can't be a badass, gun wielding, cop 80's Bruce Willis this year.

Sorry to break it to all the die hard haters, but I think the movie more than passes the christmas classic certification.

Die Hard is about an estranged family where the dad (McClane) is trying to make it home for the holidays. Seems kinda like the standard hallmark movie plotline, but this movie has an action and comedic twist to it.

He encounters a grinch like antagonist, the terrorist Hans Gruber, and his possey. And he must defeat them to free his wife and the other hostages, so they can all make it home from the christmas party.

John McClane is basically santa clause with a machine gun and a lot of funny one liners.

Shirt reads " Now I have a machine gun. Ho ho ho"

In the end he saves christmas, brings everyone holiday cheer, defeats the hostages. He decks those terrorists halls. And the credits scene was even set to the christmas classic "let it snow".

Anyways that's my rant for the holidays. Merry Christmas, happy holidays everyone. See ya next year.

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That kid with the colored hair.

Blog #6

Nov.27th 2019

I'm not sure if you've noticed.. but I stand out a bit from the crowd no matter where i am. It might be the faded, once neon pink hair, or my "unique" septum and nose ring combo, maybe its my 8 ear piercings. Who knows?!

My whole life I've always stood out from everyone else in some way. Not that that's ever a bad thing, I actually pride myself greatly on my sense of individuality and uniqueness. I don't only stand out appearance wise, but I'd say i have a pretty interesting personality too. Another thing that could be seen as different about me is my music taste. I really enjoy classic rock, 50's music and even broadway. My taste is really diverse, I can jam out to almost anything.

I think a lot of my individuality related back to the way i was raised. Its no secret that my parents were really young when they had me, I feel like them being so young made it easier for them to relate to me. When i wanted to get my ears pierced a third or fourth time my mother happily obliged because she knew the feeling of being able to express myself creatively was important to me, as it was to her at that age. When I wanted to dye my hair purple we sat down together in my bathroom choking on bleach fumes together, because she wanted to let me express myself. I think she was also happy that i asked her instead of doing it without permission like she had at my age.

Of course i expected that not conforming to society's norms would have its own set of consequences for me. Being unique was something that people either loved or hated about me. There's this one interaction with an old woman in a walmart that ill never forget, at the time i believe i had neon purple hair. This old lady had the audacity to look me up and down then tell her husband that there must be something mentally wrong with me. I starred back and her and asked "excuse me?" and she then went on about how kids these days express themselves too freely and how ill never get a job looking the way I do. Mind you, we were in the hair dye isle, all i could think to myself was that its okay for nosy Nancy over here to be dying her white hair this horrendous shade of orange/copper but not for me to have bright colored hair, what a double standard.

I swear i have friends whose parents have met me then confessed that at first they didn't want me hanging out with their kids because they thought i might be a rebel or a bad influence. I've been told by people that i must be an attention seeker for doing these things, or that I must not get enough attention at home so I must be acting out. On the other hand some people absolutley love it, i have friends who say that they feel like they can live out their hair fantasies through me because they don't have the courage to dye their own. Honestly I really loved hearing that.

Little do most people know.... this pink haired, pierced ridden kid is quite the opposite of a bad influence. I've been in the honors list all of high school and am in all advanced classes. I might me a bit impulsive when it come to cutting my hair, dying it or piercing myself out of nowhere, but i am not a bad kid. I like to live life a bit on the wild side when it comes to these things. Not every thing that is different has to be a bad thing, sadly that's something that a lot of people still need to realise. Sometimes you just need a little color in your life.

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Bravery In Battle

Blog #5

Nov.12th 2019

What is courage?

Courage is defined as "The quality of mind or spirit that enables a person to face difficulty, danger, pain, etc., without fear; bravery." There are many different types of courage that exist within all of us. There is said to be at least 6 different types; physical, social, moral, emotional, intellectual and spiritual.      

In the olden times one's courage was determined by their strength and bravery in battle, in a way it still is. We all face battles in our lives, some big and some small, and everyone has the courage somewhere inside of them to fight them. As Eleanor Roosevelt once said, "You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You must do the thing you think you cannot do." This quote has really resonated with me this year though almost every challenging decision ive made.

This year I've been doing a lot of things that were out of my comfort zone, to be fair, most things are. Taking small steps towards being more confident with myself and with the choices I make. I tend to second guess myself a lot and I've been really trying to push myself to do more things that make me uncomfortable. I guess you could say ive been trying to build up my intellectual, emotional but most importantly my social courage.

This year alone, I can say I've made a lot of progress. The picture above may seem like just a busy metro station to you, but to me it's one of my biggest fears. That may seem stupid considering I grew up taking the metro almost everywhere, but theres just so many things about it that make me uneasy. The doors with no sensors that can and will close on you at any moment, the strangers whos stares you can feel pierce you, or feeling like there's a million people in a small moving box where you're all fighting for room and air. The whole concept of the metro makes me uncomfortable, but still I force myself to endure it, each time it seems to get a bit more tolerable. 

Taking the metro seems to be the least scary of all the things I've done this year. I've managed to talk to new people, make new friends, and even visit the busiest city in the world, these were all really big steps for me. Ive learnt that not every change a person makes has to be big though, I've done a lot of small things that I am proud of too. Trying to speak more in class, speaking to politicians at our school and most recently even facing another one, if not my biggest fear of all, public speaking. I got up in front of a bunch of kids with my friend and spoke at the remembrance day assembly, and for once I felt really proud of something I had accomplished. It made me want to do something like that again.

I know this is not what would typically be condidereded bravery or courage by society's standards but it is to me and I'm starting to value that more and more. Now I may not be up against an army of warriors but I am still fighting my way through a battle. And I think that I have shown my fair share of bravery throughout it. I have shown bravery in one of the toughest battles to be in, the battle against yourself, the battle against your fears and insecurities, the battle that i will one day emerge victorious from.

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Taking a bite of The Big Apple

Blog#4

This June I went to New York with our school. New York is known by many names; “The big city", "The big apple" "The city that never sleeps" or even "the greatest city in the world". I have to say these names really set my standards high for my New York experience New York is often portrayed as a city for the dreamers, somewhere people move and everything just seems to go perfectly for them. That's one of the things I was hoping to experience a bit of and bring back home with me. I can't say that going there made all my dreams come true, but it certainly crossed off going to new york from my bucket list. On the other hand, it also added moving there one day to it. New York exceeded my expectations, it was a magnificent opportunity to have had.

The city has this magical feel to it when you first arrive, but I'm not going to lie, the longer you stay the more you start to notice the less lovable things about New York. Eventually, the smell of pee and hot garbage just starts to feel normal, I’d rather smell that every day instead of manure. Everything is so big and bright, the building, the billboards, the street performers. It was all just so captivating, there was more to experience around every corner.

Being in New York was a lot to handle at times. The city was so crowded and actually really stressful and hectic to circulate, but it was a nice change from living in the middle of nowhere. When I said New York is the place where dreams come true, I wasn't lying. When we were there, we went to go see "Jersey Boys" on Broadway, anyone who's friends with me knows I never shut up about my musical theater obsession, but that's a topic for another blog post. Back to my point, we went to go see the broadway show and it was THE BEST PERFORMANCE I HAVE EVER SEEN. I love older music, and these performers really did Franki Valli and The Four Seasons justice. They portrayed the reality of the stereotypical American dream of making it big in New York in such an inspiring and passionate way. You could really tell that they loved their jobs. Since that day, I have been dreaming of what life would be like for me in New York, imagining all that I am capable of doing. It's almost like the city put a spell on me that day because I have been thinking about it non-stop since I got back.

New York is a city full of art and performers, it has a very rich musical history and its where many of them went to make their dreams come true. On our trip we visited Strawberry Field, honoring John Lennon and his memorial in central park that reads "Imagine". John Lennon was a symbol of hope for many people and his song Imagine is just a pure masterpiece. 

"Imagine theres no countries

It isn't hard to do

Nothing to kill or die for

And no religion, too.

Imagine all the people

Living life in peace"

His song is about imagining the unimaginable. Imagining a better future, imagining peace, positivity and a better and brighter future for us all. I think he was especially popular in New York, not only because he lived there, but because his optimism and perseverance were easy to relate to for these people. Much like the city itself, I think this song resonates with many people because it gives them hope. Hope, hope for the future, hope for change, hope for all the dreamers. It gives me hope that one day I'll finally get out of this small town and make it in the big city one day. One more thing John Lennon and The BIg city have in common, is that they both make anything seem possible. 

"You, you may say I'm a dreamer

But I'm not the only one" -John Lennon

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What is an avid reader?

Blog post #3

I'm not sure if I'd call myself an avid reader, don't get me wrong I love reading though. All my life my reading level has been higher than everyone my age. One of my favourite memories is from grade 4, I had just transferred to a new school so i had to do a mandatory reading assessment. After they evaluated my french they told me i already had a highschooler's reading level. Since that day i have been reading college and university level books. Another fond reading related memory is when my moms college teacher let me spend a day in their english class 2 years ago, since i had been reading Sylvia Plath's "The bell jar" with them. It was a really cool experience. My problem with reading is my attention span, I can be fully captivated by a book and finish it in a day, or i get exited and start 3 at the same time.

I have so many books that I've only read through half way, its kind of becoming a problem. Another problem i have with reading is my shopping addiction. The amount of money i spend in chapters annually is ridiculous, considering how many unread books i still have.

My taste in literature has always been unique, I've always been drawn to diary style books or classic novels. I may love Harry Potter but it just doesn't leave me feeling the way old books do. When i read a classic, its like I'm traveling back in time, its just crazy how much the world has changed. My favourite books I've read have to be Alexandre Dumas "The Count of Monte Cristo" and Homers " The Odyssey". I think I'd like to end this blog with a question for you... Based off of the books I like, could you recomend me another good classic that you think I'd enjoy?

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Fridays for Future

Blog post 2

September 30th

 I originally had a whole other topic to write about, but I thought that with recent events such as the global climate strikes, it would make sense to post this one now. The ped day that we had Friday was to encourage us to go show our support at the Montreal climate change march. There’s no way you haven't heard about the climate change movement that has sparked the attention of millions in the past year. It all started from a 16-year-old girl named Greta Thunberg, who decided to skipped school every Friday and sat outside of the Swedish parliament until they acknowledged the climate crisis we are facing.  I wouldn't necessarily call myself an activist or an avid environmentalist, but I do think climate change is a big problem that we should all be concerned about. As you can see in the picture, some teachers and students from C.V.R participated in the Montreal Climate strike. Miss. Evans offered our class the opportunity to fill up the remainder of the places on the bus, but to my surprise, only myself and 3 other 10th graders wanted to go. I think it is really inspirational how Greta managed to get millions of teens to go out and protest for their futures. She has sparked a viral movement and raised awareness about the graveness of the environmental problems we are facing. The number of people that showed up in Montreal was unbelievable, but what’s even more incredible is that around 4 million people were gathered to protest around the world on the same day. The whole march was amazing, my favorite part had to be the passion you could see oozing from some people. The creative and shocking signs people had were pretty cool too, one person even climbed a pole to steal the giant Trudeau poster before the march. I was also proud to see so many other students from schools across the city. I read that it was around 500,000 people that showed up, 500 000 young people calling on their leaders for change. Now that’s what I call making history. Greta's speech to Justin Trudeau basically told him he isn’t doing enough, but she also said that she tells that to every politician she meets. Plante, the mayor of Montreal awarded her with the key to our city after this monumental event.

Now, what I wanted to talk about was the amount of backlash this poor girl is facing online. It's not just angry climate change deniers that are hating on her, its presidents and politicians all across the world. These people don’t realize how much power their words have, imagine how it must feel being attacked by some of the most powerful people just for trying to change the world for the better. I think it’s a bit extreme to compare her to Hitler or to say that she is just being used as a political puppet. I’ve also seen people make fun of the amount of passion she has when she speaks, personally, I really enjoyed her speech at the UN, I found it very moving.

 Like many people, I just try and do my part to cut down on my environmental footprint, small things like composting or having a reusable water bottle. It may not seem like its making a huge difference but trust me it all adds up eventually. Ironically after the march downtown, most of the protest signs ended up in the garbage bins near the metro, however, the recycling bins were also full though.

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Blog post #1 From crowded streets to cornfield neighbors

Growing up in the city is a huge part of who I am today and making the drastic move to the countryside hasn’t been a particularly easy change for me. I grew up living in different parts of LaSalle and in Verdun, so naturally many would classify me as a city kid. I was always surrounded by buildings and always had something to do, although we couldn’t really play outside much it was still a fun place to grow up. 

Shortly after I moved to Chateauguay and I remember my mom making a comment about how country it was out there. We loved how peaceful it was, yet it was still somewhat urban. Once we moved to Ormstown I realized just how country it was out here and how ridiculous I was for believing Chateauguay was the countryside. There's a lot of things that I miss about the city like, but there are also new things that I love about the countryside. I used to love that my childhood best friend lived the next door over in my building, but now it can take anywhere from ten minutes to an hour and a half to drive to my friend’s houses. I used to be able to walk to school and walk to the store or movie theater, but around here we have like 3 places to shop. I would much rather hear the cars speed past at night, instead of the terrifying fisher cat screams. (seriously those things are scary) Other than that the changes haven’t really been that huge. One weird thing I've noticed is that my nose is a lot more sensitive than my friends from around here. Personally, I can’t stand the smell of manure when I drive past a farm or gasoline, but everyone else around here never really seems to be bothered by it. I guess I just haven’t become nose blind to it yet. However, there are many things I like about living here too, I like how it's not constant construction around here, or how friendly (or overly friendly) your neighbors can be. I also like the idea of living in a small close-knit community, even though we are not involved in it.

Adjusting to the different lifestyle out here hasn't been that hard it's just that everything seems different than what I'm accustomed to. Sometimes it's hard to relate to people out here, can you believe that it took me like a year to understand what tractor pull was, or to understand why people show their cows and chickens at the fair. The city kid instincts in me will never disappear, I actually plan to move to the city whenever I can. A good portion of my time is already spent in the city, most of my weekends are spent in Montreal or somewhere on the west island. Sometimes I miss the busyness of the city, not all the time though, especially not when I’m stuck in traffic.