We can still be thankful in 2016

Yeah, I know, 2016 has been a CRAZY year!  Trump is now president, gender fluidity has become a new symptom of Special Snowflake Syndrom, and many people are now fearing for their lives and livelihood.  But, despite all of this craziness, we can still be thankful in 2016.

The Cubs won a World Series

Even if you're not a Cubs fan, like me, you still have to marvel at the fact that you got to see them win after 108 years; you witnessed sports history go down.

We had the FREEDOM to vote for our leader

Instead of having it chosen for us, or having the position of President passed down through a lineage, we all got to participate in the choosing of our leader via voting.  Even if your favored candidate didn't win, you and many other people still had the privilege to vote for your favored candidate and give them the chance of winning. 

Leonardo DiCaprio won an Oscar

We've all been waiting for this moment!  Hollywood has finally recognized the amazing acting talent that DiCaprio was gifted with!

The ice bucket challenge helped with ALS research

Thanks to the ice bucket challenge, many donations were given to ALS research foundations.  Because of the extra funds, doctors were able to find the gene that causes ALS, which makes us one giant step closer to a cure!

We got more Harry Potter this year
I personally am not a Potterhead, but a lot of my friends are and they were all overjoyed at the news of another Harry Potter book/ screenplay being published and of having a new movie come out!  Even I enjoyed seeing Fantastic Beasts in theaters.

Toys "R" Us has instigated a "quiet hour"
Toys "R" Us has started a "quiet hour" in their stores where the lights are dimmed and the facility is cleared of all loud noises so children with Autism can shop there! (this one was my favorite!)

We got MORE Captain America this year
I am (very obviously) a Captain America fan, and so are a lot of my family and friends!  Captain America: Civil War may have crushed my soul and dried me of all my bitter tears, but it was so nice to see good ol' Cap, Bucky, Sam, and the rest of the Avengers in action again.

Christ is still in control and he always will be

All of the craziness is happening for a reason, GOD hasn't left us nor will he ever, so we have no reason to worry.  If we trust and rely on Christ, instead of our faulty government run by fallible man, we shall always come out on top.

See?  We can still be thankful in 2016 and every year after.

The case against Meghan Trainor

Meghan Trainor hit the mainstream radio in the summer of 2014 with her hit single "All About that Base"; a song all about body positivity... well, sort of... Here is my case against Meghan Trainor.

"All About that Base" is basically a shoutout to all the big girls out there, telling them that they're just a beautiful as those, quote unquote, "skinny bitches" (that is an actual lyric in the song).  Now, big body positivity is a great thing!  No one should be pressured to conform to an impossible standard of beauty!  Problem is, Meghan shames those who aren't big girls.  She throws a lot of mud at people who are skinny, which is the opposite of body positivity.  She's basically saying that if you're not a curvy girl, then you're a "silicone Barbie doll".  Big is beautiful, but saying that you absolutely have to be big in order to be beautiful is not a message we want to spread.  All bodies are beautiful, big or small.

Or what about the song "No"?  It's all about how to say "no" to any unwanted male company.  Again, this song does have a good-intentioned message; "no does not mean convince me" is a great message to spread!  But... the way Meghan tells girls how to do it is not.  "Lick your lips and swing your hips, girl all you have to say is'no'", I mean really?  Fist of all that extremely rude and provocative, second, that'll only piss the annoying guy off.  And if he's pissed off, you could get seriously hurt, or even worse.  Saying 'no' is great, but do so kindly.

Last, and certainly least, is "Dear Future Husband".  Today's culture is all about gender equality, which is great!  This song embodies this; not letting your husband walk all over you and expect you to act as his personal slave is great!  But, turning the tables and expecting the man to do all of the work and make all of the sacrifices is not equality!  Anyone in a semi-functioning relationship, romantic or not, knows that the hardships of relationships should be shared, not assigned.  Men, don't treat your spouse like a slave, and women, don't expect your spouse to carry the whole load.

Meghan Trainor seems to have good intentions when it comes to her song lyrics, but you know what they say about good intentions; they're the pavement on a road that no one wants to be on.

What's up with The Good Dinosaur? (SPOILER ALERT)

Pixar!  We know and we love 'em!  They gave us the blockbuster hits such as UP, the Toy Story trilogy, and the ever popular Inside Out!  But The Good Dinosaur?  Pixar what were you thinking?!  Well, they were thinking of a younger audience, that's what they were thinking.

The Good Dinosaur is thought to be one of the cheesiest and most childish Pixar movies of our age.  But I would have to disagree.  I can see why some people didn't like The Good Dinosaur (I'm getting tired of typing out the entire title so I'm just going to call it TGD from now on), it was clearly aimed at a much younger audience than usual.  But, that doesn't particularly mean it was a bad movie.

I went to see TGD pretty soon after it's premiere in November of 2015.  I went with my little cousins whose ages range anywhere from 3 to 9 and then there was me at 14 years old.  I absolutely loved this movie!  Dare I say it was better than Inside Out.  Now don't get me wrong, I love Inside Out as much as the next teenage blogger, but I just happen to love TGD more.  I laughed way more often and a lot louder at the jokes in TGD than at the ones in Inside out.  Not to mention, TGD dinosaur didn't have a character thrown in there solely for him to die and make the movie sad *cough* Bing Bong *cough*.  Yes, Arlo's dad did die, but he actually had a purpose in the movie and his death actually meant something to the story other than to make the movie sad or emotional.  TGD is a funny and cute story about love, loss, friendship, family, courage, determination, and understanding; exactly what we are to expect from Pixar.  Yes, TGD was aimed at a younger audience making it a little more cheesy than other Pixar movies, but this movie is DEFINITELY worth a watch

Over and out!
<3 Ary

This week in History: Breaking into his car?!

Okay so, this really happened on 9/21/2016, but I realized that if I posted a "This week in History" every time something weird happened in History class I might as well rename my blog "This week in History" (TWIH, I'm getting tired of typing out the entire title).  So I'll put the date that the events I tell you about at the beginning of each TWIH.

THIS WEEK IN HISTORY! *please read in an announcer's voice*


TOPIC ONE: Dr. Parker usually keeps a huge family sized bag of Smarties candy in the backseat of his car.  Once the Juniors of last year discovered this, they had this joke where they would try and break into Dr. Parker's car and get the candy.  They went all out for this joke!  They would bring wire hangers, lock-picking kits, anything that could possibly unlock a car.  I assumed Dr. Parker knew about this and it was just a huge joke that he had with the Juniors.  Turns out it wasn't a joke.  Before class started, my class and Dr. Parker were telling the new students about jokes we had the previous school year.  Eventually, the conversation turned to the fact that Dr. Parker keeps candy in his car, "I remember how the older kids would try and break into your car and get the Smarties in the backseat!" I laughed.  Dr. Parkers expression dropped,
"what?"
"Y'know, the joke you and the Juniors had where they would pretend to break into your car?"
"we didn't have a joke like that..."
"So, you didn't know about this?!"
"No!"
"So they were actually trying to break into your car?!"
"Apparently!"

So that was my week in History.  I shall come back soon with another crazy tale from my crazy class!

Over and out!
<3 Ary

No big deal

 You know those episodes of TV shows where a character loses one of their possessions?  Now I don't mean in the comedic way where the object they're looking for is in their pocket and they go on this wild goose chase for no reason.  No, I mean when they lose a special object.

Maybe it was a ring that looks like the ring their favorite character, whom they consider a friend and have a very deep connection with, wears.

Maybe it was a bracelet from their mentor, reminding them that they are a guardian angel to their friends and family.

 Maybe it was a handmade bracelet from their best friend reminding them that their friend loves them and is always thinking about them.






Maybe it was a gift from their sister that came during a rough patch in their life brightening their day just a little.







You know what I'm talking about.  The episode where they're frantically looking for that once special object that they lost or misplaced and everyone around them is like, "dude it's no big deal, we can just replace it," but they really can't because it won't have the sentimental value.   They can't replace it because the replacement will never have the same memories and emotions the original had within it.

Guardians of the what?

                 This is a totally unnecessary post but I just need to get this out of my system.

These tow movies have more in common than just similar titles.  I've noticed that when described vaguely, these movies are exactly the same.  Watch and you'll see what I mean.

The main character is a rebellious, sarcastic, and free-spirited young man who is somewhat self-centered and snarky.  He has no family so he lives alone and just wanders around causing trouble.

 There is also this very comedic quiet character.  He doesn't say much, but he's still lovable.  This is also the character that dies saving the other characters only to come back to life.

There is also the main female character!  She's kinda small but she's still kicks butt.  She might even be a little attracted to the main character, but we're never quite sure.

 Then there is the anthropomorphic animal character.  This character is not too fond of the main character but tolerates them anyway.  They have their classic weapon that they always use; other than their quick wit of course!

 Now we come to the big burly character with the awesome tattoos and cool swords.  They may not understand sarcasm too well but that makes them all the more comical.

The villain of the film is a dark and sinister character who wants to destroy our band of heroes and acquire a very valuable object to take over the world and gain ultimate power.






















See what I mean?  I would give more examples on how these movies are scarily similar, but this post is getting long.  Do you think these movies are the same?  If so, in what other ways are they parallel to each other?  Tell me in the comments!

Over and out mi Picassos!
<3 Ary

Apology

Sup Picassos!  So I have a confession to make.  I have not been putting my full effort into my blogs.  I have been going through some things and I'm getting busy now that the school year is starting; not to mention the One Week Writing Challenge kinda drained my creative juices.  I want to say I'm sorry.  I should be putting more effort into this blog!  I've decided to take a 1-2 week hiatus to recollect myself and write up a bunch of blog drafts and gain my composure back!  Then I'll return new and improved!  So, I'll see ya in a couple of weeks!

Over and Out!

<3 Ary