Bergeron Post 13

For a night, I was a foreigner in a house full of people who drove into the country yesterday. Their mouths form words differently than mine and the men lock themselves away in a cloud of cigar smoke while the rest drink wine like water. "Are you American?" They asked and I did not know how to respond, for we were in America. Of course I was. The adults drank enough to make me feel a little drunk, even though I had not had a drop to drink. It was loud. A chaotic music. And somewhere, in all of that noise, I found him beside me and it all made sense.

Donaher Post 14

"You can't run from your problems"

"Watch me!"

"Wait, where are you going? This was supposed to be a philosophical discussion!"

But Gina was already gone, leaving Johnson in the dust.

Lex Luthor: 14

My family and I are not specifically religious, and I know many families that are not religious either yet, we all celebrate christmas, not as in the birth of Jesus, but in the holiday spirit of giving gifts and being with friends and family. This sensation is something that all people want, a sensation where you're together with family, that tingly sensation in your soul. I feel this when wrapping presents and giving them to people, the joy on people's faces when they receive a gift that means something brings a feeling indescribable.

Cianciolo Week 14

At a Christmas party there was a Yankee swap. While I ended up with a snoopy stuffed animal, my friend won a set of two shot glasses in the shape of a woman's torso. Everyone was the same age, but it is funny to see the gap in "maturity".

Kristen Post 14

When I was in elementary school and I started reading books, I thought it was the weirdest thing that characters thought in words instead of abstract... something-ness. But I wanted to be just like a fictional character, because, you know, that was awesome, so I started thinking in words too. But lately my head's been going back to thinking in that something-ness, and it's a lot harder to verbalize what I'm thinking, but there's a lot of surreal things happening in my head now, which might be better. I don't know. Thinking is weird.

Sydney Kim Post 14

A lot of my friends are upset over college applications and Ivy League schools and medical programs. It's times like these where DJ Khaled's wise words of wisdom come into play:

"Major Key: They don't want you to succeed. But we gonna. Bless up."

-DJ Khaled

In the end, most of us are going to be fine.

Hackley 14

• Saw this thing on facebook about what scientists thought the world would be like in 2045 → one thing they believe is that there will be robots designed to be controlled by thought alone. What if the robots developed to the point that they became smart enough to reverse that science and control the minds of the scientists?

Rochon 14

Looking back at my time in high school, I'm grateful for the mistakes I've made along the way. I don't think I could go back and redo any of it, but if I was given the chance I don't think I would want to change anything- otherwise things would be too different than they are now, and that would be a shame.

O'Neal Post 14

We have let clocks become our rulers. Time only exists because we say it does. It is unnatural and keeps us from achieving our full potential of happiness.

Lauren 14

I want to write a story where there's a Light Side and a Dark Side and someone's the Chosen One to save the world because the prophecy says so but the main character (who's on the Light Side) actually isn't the Chosen One because it's revealed that the Chosen One is leading the Dark Side. The MC is also revealed to be an heir to the Throne of Light. But in reality, the "Light Side" is what the true villains call themselves because they think they are the saviors of society and angels sent from heaven, and they see the true heroes as the cancer of the world that need to be destroyed, and so they call them the Dark Side because the villains believe they are morally justified in what they are doing, and the story never portrays their actions as evil because their perspective is all warped, until the truth is revealed.

The scary thing is, all true evil that exists in our world has this perspective. They don't see themselves as evil. And that's what makes true evil incredibly dangerous.

Lex Luthor: 13

You can't have everything in the world. Where would you put it all? ~Steven Wright

Gregg 14

When my sister and I were little, we had this plastic toy keyboard that my dad bought in hopes that we would actually want to play the piano some day. The keyboard came with demo songs that were supposed to help kids learn. So instead of actually trying to learn how to play, we would press the demo button, turn the volume and speed all the way up, and play jingle bells on repeat. We would then slide the keyboard under our parents’ door after our bedtime with jingle bells still playing.

Long story short, my dad ended up throwing the toy out the front door and into the woods. We never found it again. But guess what I bought my sister this Christmas.

Jain 14

Story (Poem Idea): A story about time. You can manipulate the story using black holes, and speeds greater than light speed, which would make it fun for the reader. 

Mathews 14

This generation has become too spoiled. Kids these days are too addicted to the internet. It really frustrates me. I can’t believe kids have access to infinite knowledge. Back in my day, we only had 

Rochon 11

I think missing someone is the greatest of all evils, especially if they don't miss you back.

Rochon 10

My sister got into college over the weekend. I'd been at a swim meet, and when she first found out I was the first person she wanted to tell. She was hiccuping and sobbing so hard into the phone that I had to hold it away from my ear. When I told her "I'm proud of you" she replied with "Thank you for being my sister." The bond between us is truly insuperable.

Rochon 9

It's a shame that some of the loveliest people dislike themselves so much because they're consumed by the negative aspects of their lives.

Cianciolo Week 12

My mom forced me to go to a church Thanksgiving dinner which ended up being more fun than I expected. But while sitting and eating I saw the Communion cups being filled and had an overwhelming urge to run up and drink every single one of them. What would they have done? Hold me back from doing Communion, or just let me drink them all?

Wiser XIII

A conversation after dinner:

Me, while eating a candy cane: What if walruses in the North Pole had candy canes for tusks
My mom: Then I guess they'd have a sweet tooth
My dad: That was so quick. She was so quick.

Kevin Brooks post XIII

That moment when a word from english class perfectly describes a presidential candidate. (The word was demagogue. Guess who.)

Hackley 13

• My worst vacation ever was to Tennessee when I was 8. We had a layover flight, and when our first plane got delayed we missed our second plane, but somehow our luggage made it onto the plane. We were stranded in the airport for eight hours and when we got to Tennessee our luggage had been shipped back to MA. On our way to the hotel we got lost in the mountains for six hours. Now my sister and I were young and annoying after all this travel, so my mom made us walk next to the car until a bear was in the road and we had to get back in for safety. My dad was really sick with pneumonia so my uncle took care of us. He nearly accidentally knocked me off the edge of a cliff. It was awful.

Gregg 11

The literature books they give us in English are such a waste.

Gregg 13

My sister recently mentioned the name of a character we made up when we were really young. He was a really gross cat named Aaron, and we used to draw pictures and write stories about him all the time. I had completely forgot about Aaron until she mentioned it and I suddenly got the most intense nostalgia. It's times like this that I realize that I actually appreciate my sister no matter how much we hated each other as kids. I actually miss her now that she's away at college.

Lor lor's post # *dun dun dunnnn* 13

I've always wanted to create my own language. Tons of sci fi and fantasy writers have created entire languages for the world of their stories, like Quenya from Lord of the Rings, the Na'vi language from Avatar, Klingon from Star Trek...I think it would be really cool to play with. If words are candy, then I want to be Willy Wonka.
(well, willy wonka is a tiny bit creepy, but you get my point)

Donaher's spooky post 13

A bug might have gotten caught in my car's heater because it smells like burning bugs sometimes when I drive. It went away eventually, so it's probably ash now.

UPDATE:
There's more smoke-smell and I think some stuff is coming out from under the hood. This might be some sort of metaphor for my life.

Cianciolo Week 13

Imagine that the earth is an ever-spinning eyeball of a much larger being. When we see the sky and the sun that is when we are on the side of the eyeball facing out of the being. The being sees the sun in the distance at the same time I see it, but someone on the opposite side of the world is seeing the inside of the being's head which is speckled with stars.

Waszak 13

We were driving past a river and there's a walkway with benches facing the water, but there's more benches facing the main road than the actual water. Why would they design more benches to be looking out to a loud busy road like that?

Kristen Post 13

Remember when a lucky penny on the ground was the best thing that had ever happened? Why do we ignore pennies now? Is this some kind of real-life symbol of lost innocence? Or is it just that pennies are worth nearly nothing and they don’t matter? Or is some kind of weird proof that no one is sentimental? Or that no one believes in luck? I’m confused about pennies.

O'Neal 13

Math is truly universal. Languages vary from place to place, but no matter where you go math still means suffering.

Sydney Kim Post 13

10 Uncomfortable Words

1) trickle
2) dribble
3) fleshy
4) moist
5) flap
6) chunky
7) perspiration
8) curd
9) creamy
10) daddy

Life can be uncomfortable, but you just have to deal with it and move on.

Rochon Post 13

The word "love" has lost it's meaning. When you tell someone you love them, love them with your entirety-unless you want them to go about believing that they don't deserve love.

Jain Lucky #13

"Don't look on your failures as signs of defeat, but as failure." - Michael Ni

Mathews 13

Today I was at my girlfriend’s house and her grandma was over. For whatever reason, we were looking through her older sister’s yearbook, and whenever there was an indian kid on the page, her grandma said “Look Manish! Indian.” Yes. That is what I am :^)

Nelson 13

I want to travel as much as I can later in life. I have learned so much about other countries and cultures in history and language courses over the years, but I have never actually been out of the country. I have this perception of the world, but who knows what it is actually like? It happens on a small scale when I go to places I don't know; I have all of these expectations about what it will look like and what will happen, but reality is completely different from what I imagined.

Madie 13

What happens when people run out of music? When every combination of words, chords, and notes has been strung together and already exists?

Madie 12

Detachment is often  a misinterpreted word. People commonly think it means owning nothing, but in reality it means nothing owns you.

Victoria Post 12

It is terrifying to me that I am going to take the SATs this Saturday. Something I have been dreading since the 6th grade, the summer days when my mom piled a bunch of SAT textbooks for me to work on between my two swim practices. I didn’t understand a single page of the textbook, and I just bathed and relished in the fact that the day was nowhere near. But the day is looming around the corner, and I have no idea how I am going to take it. It feels like the pressure of 5 years is now stacked upon my shoulders, and I feel as unprepared as ever, even though I actually understand every page of the workbooks sitting on my desk.

Reid 12

When someone zones out I wonder if it is because someone hyper focused on one idea and therefore everything else fades out or if their perception of reality becomes so general that they see everything and nothing at the same time?

White post 12

I enjoy tedious things that others would likely find boring. Putting stamps on envelopes, making copies, rolling cigarettes, (for my brother, not for me #saynototobacco.) The repetition soothes my weary mind.

White post 11

For the longest time I've had this idea in my mind for a story about a girl who goes time traveling into the future and befriends a girl from the present day and they form an unlikely and humorous friendship.

Garrett Post 12

Something that surprises me is the body's innate ability and instinctual tendency to heal itself. This is seen through bruises, broken bones, paper cuts, etc. But also through dreams. Dreams are the body's way of fixing itself, using the time to solve problems within the mind. Last night, after a rather long week, I had a dream I was running through grass along the ocean. My dog was running by my side. I just kept running and running, feeling more free and alive as it went by. Today I woke up feeling almost completely healed.

White post 10

Whoever entrusted me with the responsibility of being a "legal adult" should honestly rethink that decision because I don't know who the hell thought THAT was a good idea but clearly they were highly misinformed.

Christina Prato Post 12

Words mean nothing if actions show the complete opposite. If someone that you trust says something to you- then you believe them right? But if they act on the opposite of what they said then it takes a turn for the worst. Moral of the story: Actions speak way louder than words

Garrett Post 11

It’s weird when you walk through a city, and remember that all the buildings you look up to where once just in somebody’s imagination. It was once just some guy's idea that found themselves onto blueprints paper and were somehow built into real life. In that sense, walking through a city is synonymous to walking through a dream.

White post 9

I want to start writing down all the quotes I find written on bathroom stalls, desks, tables, etc; and make a book or some kind of poem out of them. What a story that would be.

Christina Prato Post 11

I have the deepest affection for intellectual conversations. The ability to just relax and talk. About love, life, everything and anything. It is always good not only for you but for your soul and well-being.

Christina Prato post 10

If you think about it, you could save so much money by just giving up one daily thing. For example, if I stop getting iced coffee every morning at Dunkin Donuts I could save $60 dollars every month which means in a year I would save up to $720 dollars. That is a lot of money to just spend at Dunkin Donuts. Think about money and how valuable it is because you can become rich.

Garrett Post 10

We just all arrived here on Earth. We opened our eyes one day and learned who we are. We all think we know what we’re doing in some way shape or form but in reality none of us do. We take ideas from others and think that’s the way to live - but no one knows how to live. Someone along the way said “The goal in life is to make money, buy a car, then die.” or “This is what you’re supposed to believe in” and some people said “yes that’s true!” and others said “wait a second no that’s wrong” and it somehow trickled down into our cultures and our parents and our own lives. And we think we know everything, we think there is a set plan, but there’s not. We opened our eyes one day, and now we’re just winging it.

Waszak 12

What would a world without time be like?

Christina Prato week 9

I'm 17 and I have to make a big life decision of what I want to be when I grow up when I can't even decide if I want coffee or hot chocolate in the morning.

Waszak 11

Sometimes dreams are weird because I had a dream I went to a college that really isn't for me and ended up loving it. I woke up and started to wonder if my subconscious is going against my conscious.

Garrett Post 9

I wish there a was a way you could hear what people were listening to through headphones.

Donaher week 12

I hope people realize that the more they disparage puns, the more puns come to replace the fallen. It's a punfortunate truth and you should just let it happen, [Name Redacted], you can't stop it.

Jain Post 12

I see people argue that the current young generation is too coddled, and that everyone is a "Special Snowflake". That we have never been denied anything, that we get participation trophies for everything. That whenever we are offended that others have to care. Apparently these people like to listen to the local minority and ignore most of the world that gets along fine. 

Waszak 9

The stress created when time is being crunched is enormous and can really bring out the worst in people.

Hackley 12

• The word crisp is the only word that starts in the back of your mouth moves to the front as you say it

Kristen Kim Post 12

A Brief Biography: A girl who floats by with her chin up and her teeth clenched, with dirt pounded into the soles of her shoes. Her bones are made of dust and her skin is pale in the moonlight. She is a modern tragedy.

Bergeron Post 12

A story idea that I had while working on a research paper - A college student begins working on a very important research project on a musician from the sixties. In doing so, she uncovers some interesting information about the musician's wife, his muse and the subject of a good deal of his songs. Through further research and traveling to the places he lived, the student begins to uncover the mystery. It turns out his "wife" wasn't his wife at all, simply a Petrarchan love whom he was madly enamored with from afar. The public simply believed she was his mysterious wife when in reality she barely knew him. The student's project eventually leads her to meet the musician and he tells her his twisted life story.

Wiser XI

A character named Solomon who is not so very wise.

Rochon 12

Your situation doesn't define you. The problems and unfortunate things that you think are shaping your entire life are simply just an outcome-not who you are as a person. You may not be depressed, but you have depression. It's all about perspective.

Wiser X

What if we could transfer our energy to other humans? Or our emotions? It would drain us, but rejuvenate them. What if someone kidnapped people exclusively to drain their positive energy? What if one person had depression, and so everyday their significant others drained themselves in order to make them happy, and the other person didn't even know so they just believed they were beginning to recover? What if someone drained themselves so fully to help another that they ended up destroying themselves?

Lex Luthor: 12

I often wonder if trees can talk but they refuse to because humans have destroyed so many of their kin. What if like cats they can understand us but refuse to acknowledge it.

Sydney Kim Post 12

The Haribo gummy bears are really good. But if I eat too many of them I start to feel nauseous.
Anything taken, eaten, or used in excess is dangerous. Moderation is key.
At least, that's what I try to tell myself as I finish the last gummy bear in the bag.

Wiser XII

In World War II, the Germans used to take picture frames and hang them crooked in houses, hiding grenades behind the frames and knowing the 'Muricans would not be able to resist straightening it. So when they went to straighten the frames...kaboom.

Lor Lor 6x2

One of my favorite things is to watch an airplane flying overhead and wonder who's on board, where they're going, and why. Maybe someone famous is up there. Maybe there's a scientist headed for a remote Pacific island for a research project. Maybe someone is up there who I'll meet in a few years. Maybe my soulmate is in that plane, sailing with the clouds.

O'Neal 12

We Should Capitalize Every Word Because Every Word Is Special And Important Even If It's Not First.

Gregg 12

An Owen Wilson romantic comedy where he tries to hit on a woman and hilariously says the wrong thing. What a funny new idea!

Mathews 12

I used to have this blue sweater last year. It was a really bold blue. My friend once called it “Sonic Blue” and after that I started wearing it really often. I thought it was the coolest thing around, until I accidentally left it in the drying machine and it shrunk. Now my brother gets to wear my super cool Sonic sweater.

Nelson Post 12

You know you live on a farm when getting chased by a flock of menacing chickens is a daily struggle.

Nelson Post 11

Whenever I drive by a police car, I can feel my heart stop for a second, even though I am doing nothing wrong. This should not happen, because the police are out there to keep us safe. I think movies and media too often mock police or make them seem evil, which is not the case.

Cianciolo: Week 11

I have a vivid memory of riding an elephant even though my parents insist I never have. In my dream I was riding an elephant which became a horse, so I woke up and asked my parents if I ever rode a horse as a child, which I apparently did when I wasn't even one, so it was probably a horse, and not an elephant.

Cianciolo: Week 10

It might be a nice change to be the prey sometime. To be hunted down just to feel what it is like. We didn't really get to the top of the food chain, we just kind of got out of it.

Cianciolo Week 9

People tend to measure the world in terms of their height or max reach. As a kid I could never touch the lowest branch of the tree in my front yard.  I had always seen that height as some ever increasing height that I would never reach. As I got older the branch seemed to raise at the same rate as I was growing. As a teenager I have spent most of my time in my room or with my friends, so I never am in my front yard. The other day I let my dog out in the front yard and the branch was at my chest. That infinite height I saw as a kid is now shorter than I am. Growing up is terribly depressing sometimes.

Madie 11

When people say "I love you" or "I hate you" why do we take it so personally? They are telling us about themselves. "I love you" is a phrase we so often associate with ourselves as if by being told those 3 words tells us we are worthy, but in reality when someone says that they love you, it's a statement about them not you.

Brooks Post 9

The media will sometimes ask questions literally designed to damage your reputation.. Why?

Victoria Lee Post 11

My friend and I had a discussion about the reality of the world.

I was trying to say that we are judged first on how we look, and only one type of beauty is appreciated in this world. It's a reality. And I had to accept that. I didn’t want to kid myself.

She said, yes, that may be how the world is today. But I believe that it isn’t right. I believe that the world can change. That’s not what I believe, and I refuse to see the world in that way. And maybe that’s incredibly unrealistic and terrible of me. Maybe that’s crazy. Maybe no one else believes me. But it’s better than just accepting that terrible truth and degrading yourself that way. It's better than not trying to change.

And I was suddenly reminded--

the greatest, most magnificent people are who they are because they thought differently. They didn’t question the crazies-- they questioned tradition. They didn’t accept it. They changed things. They thought of ideas light years ahead of themselves and changed the world.

I smiled, because I was suddenly reminded of what gave me hope for so long. And it gave me back the faith and spirit that I have been lacking all this year. And I thanked her for it.

Victoria Lee Post 10

My friend was heartbroken today over the terrorist attacks. "How did the city of light become a city of darkness?"

Well that's the thing. The City of Light is called that because it shines brightest when enveloped in darkness. The brave heroes fight the hardest when evil comes out to destroy.

Do not give up. You are still the City of Light.

Now, more than ever.

Kristen Kim Post 11

My cat has a strange obsession with knocking over the plant by the foot of our stairs. He knocks it over several times a day, after which someone will put it back in its place. I wonder if seeing it put back every time makes it a kind of insurmountable challenge for him, a game that he feels the need to win. Or maybe he's just personally offended by cacti.

Bergeron Post 11

A line that I completely forgot I wrote but for some reason really like:

"When the sun rose on their home, the fear that life had made a cynic out of her still hung around her throat. And so without another word, she and her husband gathered up her unnamed son and their future tragedy, quarantining him again to the back seat of a car, blankets over his head, for when they looked at him, they no longer saw a little child, they saw a monster. They drove as many miles as there are strange ways to love."

Donaher week 11

AAAAAAAAaaaaAAAAaAAaAaAaaAAAAAAAAAaAAaaaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaAAAaaAaAAAAAAAAAAAAaAaaAAAAAAAAAAaaAaAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaAaaaaaAAAaaaAAAAaaAAaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaAaaAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaAAAAAAaaAAAaAAAAAAaaaaaaAAAaaaAaAAAAAAAAAAAAaaaAaAaAAaAaaAa

–A poem from born of a severe caffeine high

Sydney Kim Post 11

Justin Bieber has changed a lot these past couple of years. People can change. For better or worse, it's almost unavoidable. Everyone changes eventually. Unless you're the sun. Then you don't really change.

Hackley 11

• I really hate being home alone late at night because my dog likes to stare at the wall. She becomes really skittish and fixates on one spot, she’ll pace back and forth crying and then stop to growl at that one spot. It’s always the same spot and it freaks me out.

Not Amish (Although he is the coolest person ever) 11

I’ve noticed that I don’t get offended very often at major things, but I get offended way too easily if someone does something small like not giving me enough space to sit. For example, today my friend ordered Chipotle for me, but they said no cheese even though I wanted cheese (since I am well known for hating cheese, although I like it on pizza and quesadillas since you can’t really taste the cheese and it adds a certain texture to the food, but otherwise I still don’t understand why people like cheese. It just smells so bad). So I just ended up with a sad taco with chicken and beans and salsa that was gross. I was so upset that I just lay down and did nothing for a good two hours.

Brooks Post 11

It's funny how we wish for general things to happen to us, yet when they finally happen to us we reject them because they aren't what we want. (As in wanting to hang out with someone, but a person you dislike wants to hang out with you so you say no.)

Alexus Rogers: 11

 Story Idea: A dense crowd of trees creates a dome type thing. It seems like any other ordinary pile of trees, but only the most curious who dare to enter into it find out that it's actually a door to an alternate universe

O'Neal Post 11

I clicked on the link, and as the video of Ben Carson saying gay people don't exist played, I felt myself slowly disappearing.

Lauren double-1

I never thought two adults could have a conversation about gluten and credit cards and whatever while completely submerged in their own romantic world--saturated in soft cutesy voices, gazing into each other's eyes, sighing, acting all cute, practically oozing ~tension~, as if any second we'd all have to flee the store to give them some....privacy.
I almost felt uncomfortable watching it, as if I had walked in on something I had no right to barge in on--I mean, it was a public grocery aisle with about twenty other people milling around, but still.
But as I got to thinking about it, how cute is that? I want that kind of relationship, where the cuteness never dies out.

Reid 11

Somedays I just want people to blindly agree with me because I just don't want to argue.

Donaher week 10

For future reference, do not microwave the following:

• metal
• plastic
• tree sap
• cell phones
• people (unless they're into that sort of thing)
• other microwaves
• clouds
• fire
• popcorn that is on fire
• intangible items such as thoughts or religion or cats

Jain 11

Story Idea: A medieval era type of story, knights, and all that stuff...... BUT IN SPACE

Nelson 10

I was driving behind my mom, who was driving the horse trailer, when someone tried to pass me on a 1 lane, 50 mph road. I don't think the person realized that the trailer was in front of me, but they could have easily caused a huge accident if they had kept going. I can't understand people who drive like maniacs to get somewhere. It's always better to be late and live to see another day.

Wiser IX

I wonder if dads get together to discuss home improvement and enjoy...Netflix and drill.

Wiser VIII

I think Tantalus's punishment was one of the worst punishments of all. Not being able to eat or drink a thing when the word tantalizing comes from your name? That's rough, buddy.

Donaher week 9

We should just replace orchestra and band instruments with kazoos. In fact, replace every single instrument in the world with kazoos. Wedding processions accompanied by a chorus of plastic buzzing. Nothing would be taken seriously.

Alexus Rogers: Post 10

Story Idea: Cat burglars. People who steal cats for the sinister purpose of starting a cat army to take over the world. (They can control the cats' minds and cats can talk, they just refuse to.

Reid 10

The painter took their makeshift brush, coating their canvas in layers of water, causing the house, the driveway, and the gray tarp to wash away the dirt and grim and left only a pale mirror, reflecting the weeping sky above.

Alexus Rogers Post 9

The other day I was driving up my friends driveway (An EXTREMELY steep hill/ driveway) for the first time. Mind you I'm terribly afraid of driving up hills. During this time, my little brother, Blakey, was playing a video game with extremely loud music. Just as I started driving slightly up the hill, Blake's music started playing a jaws like theme song that was slow at the start of the hill and once I reached the steepest part of the hill, Blake's music reached the climax. Add to that my mom's incessant laughter at Blake's music. To say the least, this was probably one of the most stressful moment I've had in my life.

Jain 10

After seeing the story "Concussion", and how a character faces the world by himself. The doctor has evidence proving that people are hurting themselves, but no one wants to believe him. They are more concerned about money, then their own safety. The character has to go through adversity to be sucssessful. 

Victoria Lee Post 9

I never want to be rich, because it seems corruption is inevitable with money, and the thought of corruption scares me. But what scares me even more is the idea that corruption may not scare me anymore one day.

Kristen Kim Post 10

The word 'soft' is probably my favorite word. Every meaning it has is just so soothing and calming and comforting. It also just sounds soft when you say it. Say it. It feels soft in your mouth. Soft. Soft. Soft.

Waszak 10

When you look at cars driving by when you're standing at the side of the road it looks so intimidating to be driving one of them, but once you drive one yourself, it seems almost safer and less threatening.

Mathews 10

I completed my pokedex for the second time in Pokemon today. I was given a shiny charm as a reward, so now I am catching every single shiny pokemon (which is a pokemon that is colored differently than normal pokemon of the same species, with a 1 in 8000 chance approximately of finding them). Why am I wasting my time with this. There’s no reward. Who knows.

O'Neal Post 10

Our generation is too coddled. We are upset by insignificant things, and when something actually important is upsetting, we shut down, reject all different views, and refuse to have a dialogue. We think we have the right to never be uncomfortable. Anybody who disagrees with us is an idiot not worth listening to, and our opinion is the only right one. We must become more open to discussing things that make us uncomfortable or upset, rather than just shutting down and refusing to listen. A one-sided argument is not an argument at all.

Madie 10

Just because one's actions are understandable, it doesn't make them justifiable.

Alexus Rogers: Post 8

One day in the mall, there was an older gentleman in line behind me. The cashier had just given me my change when it was the man's turn in line to pay, he couldn't get the change out of his pocket so I handed him the fifty cents from my leftover change. While I walked away he was stuttering about how he could pay and he was just getting the change now. For some reason this still haunts me, I feel as if I had offended him and hurt his pride. In this way, was it really right to do the 'right' thing?

Hackley 10

• how close are actors realistically to their characters? Must be semi close because the director saw something in them at their auditions that made him/her see the actor as the character.

Kevin Brooks Post 10

It's sad that someone defending our country gets paid less than someone making burgers and fries at a fast food joint.

Sydney Kim Post 10

"I love writing with wet lead."

-Rebecca

You do you Becca. You do you.

Lauren post DIEZ

From a story I'm writing:

"Just start at the beginning."
"All right..."
"Are...are you sure you want to talk right now? We can pick this up another time--"
"No, no it's fine. Um...i guess it started...do you know what snow is?"

Bergeron Post 10

I wonder if my car, Nemo, notices the change. For years it's been nothing but him and my dad, a loud Filipino man constantly swearing in Tagalog. Now it's just some teenaged girl who's constantly screaming. I wonder if I make my car feel youthful.

Gregg 10

Today, an adult who I barely know picked up a book that I was holding and asked if I knew how to use it. He then looked all over the book and asked me where the "on" button is. Why does my generation get blamed for being exploited by capitalism?

Nelson Post 9

I don't believe that true justice exists, because I don't think any amount of money or the imprisonment/death of a murderer could ever make up for the loss of a loved one.

White post 8

What if every time someone died there was a radio that blasted "Another one bites the dust" worldwide but because someone dies like every seven seconds it was just perpetually playing on like a constant loop recording and every time an important event happened in your life "Another one bites the dust" would just be playing solemnly off in the distance even during like the inaugural address and stuff like that would be effing hilarious I'm sorry but it would be

White post 7

Like hot soup, I have burnt the tip of my tongue with all the words I have not said.

White post 6

I often have to catch myself and remind myself that it is more appropriate to say "What are you planning on going to school for?" than "What do you want to be when you grow up?" I still find myself saying that. And although it sounds childish, it's true. We are all still growing up, evolving, changing. We never stop.

White post 5

Whenever I tell people I don't want to vote for president they act all offended and look at me as if I have three heads. "But that's your right as an American citizen" they say. But the truth is, quite frankly my dear, I don't give a damn. (Hahah see what I did there :p) None of my heroes will ever be found in the White House. And no matter how hard you try, you can't take your money with you when you die.

White post 4

GALILEO LOOKED AT THE EXACT SAME STARS THAT I AM LOOKING AT. WHAT?1!??!22NEQIURHT8EW

White post 3

The other day a young boy waited until I was all the way up the staircase and still held the door for me. What a nice young lad. Humanity is not dead.

Madie 9

Eternity isn't some later time. Eternity isn't a long time. Eternity has nothing to do with time. Eternity is that dimension of here and now which thinking and time cuts out. This is it, this is it. If you don't get it here you won't get it anywhere and the experience of here and now is the function of life. -Cyne

Madie 8

A dream:
I was in a mental hospital and had no idea why I was there. Everything was white and even the workers were dressed in all white. I tried to talk to them and ask why I was there, but they ignored me and didn't even appear to be hearing me.
They began to move all of us patients from our rooms down the hall to a large room that looked like a high school cafeteria, except everything was white and pristine. On each of the "lunch" tables they had many blank sheets of paper and some markers. They sat us down and gave us no instructions.
All of us soon were bored and felt compelled to write and/or draw. I started to scribble psycho therapy all over my paper. Looking around I saw "bad brains", "I wana be sedated", "here today gone tomorrow", "now I wana sniff some glue", "gimme gimme shock treatment", and many more Ramones songs/lyrics.
The people working began to notice what was being written and were trying to shuttle us all out and back to our rooms in a hurry. I was trying to tell them it was all songs, but once again they acted as if they couldn't hear me. They began to take me the opposite direction of all the rooms, and I had no idea where they were taking me. Then I heard some girl screaming "you're gonna kill that girl" and I started to panic.
Then I woke up.

Bergeron Post 9

I was listening to the song Kill v. Maim by Grimes and I realized how utterly strange she is. Her voice and style are just plain weird (Like seriously this song is wild). Weird enough to make me think that she's some kind of alien who's been sent to earth to deliver some sort of important message to humanity, but the only way she can communicate with us is through techno-pop.

Reid 9

I wonder what humans would do if we found alien life but we were the more advanced life form. I'd like to think we would be peaceful, but somehow I doubt that we would be.

Donaher week 9

"If a bull got an eye shot out, would the archer have scored a bullseye?"
       - The last words of Edric St. Petersface, who met his tragic end in a comedy club full of legally blind bovine customers.

Jain 9

Story Idea: Two characters. Walking on beach. Dialogue. Meeting after years. Tragedy in the past of both of their lives. Talking to try to get over it.  

Mahtews 9

I spelled my name wrong but I'm too lazy to go back and change it.

Today, my friend gave me a story idea: A man has a pile of sticky notes and each time he writes a wish on one, it gets granted. But with each sticky note he uses, his lifespan decreases. This is coming from the same guy who walked around after school eating a lettuce.

lauren post 9

Today I lay in an orb of sun that decided to join me in my room. I was listening to some soft piano music, and then when I opened my eyes, three hours had gone by, and the globe of light had deepened into a dusty rose-gold and had moved elsewhere.
I gazed at the hazy dusk hues waltzing around the room, every inch of the wall, ceiling, and carpet their personal dance floor. Rose and indigo held each other close, and I lay in the shadow of vermillion and violet while they wove a tapestry of emotion above my head.
Watching the twilight crescendo into this dance of colors and then slowly meld into the night electrified every molecule of air with a sort of limerence almost, and it was so beautiful that while I know there was a philosophical life metaphor wiggling and singing in its own dance behind the curtain of colors, I was too entranced to think about much else--I was stitched into the tapestry.
It was just a really beautiful moment.

O'Neal Post 9

What does how we wear headphones say about us? Does one earbud in signify openness to the world, the desire to not miss anything, or something else? Do both earbuds in signify introspection or ignoring the world?

Hackley 9

• Do you realize that we bury people in tuxedos and dresses so the zombie apocalypse will be a formal event?  

Kristen Kim Post 9

Do you ever wonder if the world actually ended on December 21, 2012? What if we're just ghosts who don't know that we're dead and we're just wandering around deluded into thinking that we're alive? That might explain a lot.

Gregg 9

Why does love have to be a strictly romantic thing? You can love your partner, your dog, your bed, your car, the soup your mom makes when you're sick, your best friend, and anything else imaginable. Sure you love all of those things in completely different ways, but it's still love.

Sydney Kim Post 9

Raspberries are the princesses of fruit. They're super delicate. You can't even run them under water or they'll fall apart. But then again so do blackberries, and strawberries, and blueberries. Maybe we're all little fragile fruit princesses.

Victoria Lee Post 8

My friend Lily loves to read about crazy, outlandish people and their insanity. I like to read about average, normal people and their insanity. I guess we all love to read about insanity.

Gregg 8

If I miss you when I'm 5 miles away, what will it be like when I'm 2000 miles away?

Will the amount of distance really affect anything, or is it just the concept of every added mile that makes it seem so much worse?

Kevin Brooks Post 6/VI

It's worthy of insanity when somebody restricts you from doing something "because they said so", without even giving a valid reason. Unless it affects themselves, they shouldn't have a right to restrict you from doing something without a valid reason.

Mathews 8

I realized while typing the previous journal that people could say “Here’s a present for your birthday AND christmas!” It’s happened before but I’ve never really noticed. That sucks. A lot.

Chinchilla: Week 8

From a dream:
I was watching TV when a music video came on. Lecrae and Flame, two r
appers, started rapping a song I did not know. The first verse was Lecrae, then came the chorus sung by a woman with short black hair which was longer on the top. After the chorus Flame took the second verse. The girl then sang a bridge which ended in a spoken word verse by Lecrae as the string instrumental slowly faded out.
I woke up in the living room on my couch after my nap and didn't think anything of my dream. A few minutes later I realized that I was singing the song. The song did not exist and as I went to write it down it all drained from my head and I could not think of even the tune. The song was lost forever in my dream, and I hope that someday it will come back to me.

Christina Prato #8

Basking in the crisp autumn air, leaves gently rustled on the concrete while swaying farther away from me. As my sweeter was blowing and my hair pulling back from the perfect fall day wind, i thought- could life get any more beautiful?

Garrett post 8

Ten years ago, I realized that I would live a very long life and wouldn't be able to remember every little moment because they would be replaced with more important ones by my brain.
So I looked at the lamp dangling down from my ceiling, attempting to download the whole entire image like a picture into my mind to never forget.
I tried to remember that image for a week straight, hoping I would remember it for the rest of my life even when the context was lost. It worked, and ten years later it's as if it was yesterday.

Christina Prato #7

If you be yourself, all of the puzzle pieces will eventually fall into place.

Dinoher week 8

Dream: Jurassic World. A kid falls off that tram thing and is left behind despite chasing after it and yelling. So, in order to survive, he lives amongst the dinosaurs and climbs trees to escape the nasty ones. Dinosaurs include the Raptor Squad and triceratops This goes on for a week until the kid finally reaches the gates. BUT WAIT! He can't just knock on the door. Something fishy was going on here. Something baryonyx-y, if you will. The kid fell off the tram, but there were no search parties. There must be some sort of conspiracy. He decides to go back into the forest and discovers the Alpha of the Raptor Squad, but it's not Chris Pratt. The kid tells Not-Chris-Pratt that something suspicious is going on. Not-Chris-Pratt agrees, and they go off to solve the mystery. The dream ends after that, presumably because Chris Pratt is not in it and therefor not worthy of continuation.

Christina Prato #6

Why must society be so judgmental? How will we be able to fix the view of the world? it's impossible.

Reid 8

"Oh man! I wish I could go back in time and just change that"

I would never want to go back in time to change anything. Our experiences make us who we are if we ant back in time to change every mistake or embarrassing thing our future and present selves would changes. Our experiences help us grow and become who we are If I went back in time and changed all my mistakes I wouldn't be me.

Christina Prato #5

Music can be a good escape from reality. It can clear your mind to help you feel better.

Waszak 8

Why is it that our bodies need specific sleeping conditions every night.. because it gives me anxiety that my roommate in college will not abide by my special sleeping things(which the survey can't cover) and it will stress me out all year long. #collegestressesmeout!!11!!!

Nelson Post 8

We must remember to never blindly trust or accept authority. Authority can be wrong and the only thing empowering them is us.

Wiser VIII

What if a vengeful spirit of November decided to punish those who tried to make the start of November the start of Christmas?

Bergeron post 8

An excerpt from the voice of a character: "Al I can hope is that he gets some sleep tonight. That's all I want. He's gonna turn into a ghost one of these  days, and I think he'll still be sleepwalking then."

Kristen Kim Post 8

Do you ever look at something and think that you're a witness to something that will go down in history? Things are happening right now that will revolutionize society and some day people are going to learn about them in classes, hear about them in lectures, read about them in books. It might just be words and fragments that don't matter to them, but you get to watch these phenomenons happen, you are lucky enough to see it as all goes down.

Christina Prato #4

Smile at someone that you don't know because you can make someone's day.

O'Neal Post 8

Nudity is such a strange taboo. We all have genitalia, we all know what's going on down there- so why is it so unspeakable that you can't say "penis" without the room erupting in nervous giggles?Does this quirk add to the human experience/culture, or does it add to the already restrictive set of societal constraints?

Brooks 8/VIII

If the gameplay of a game was as good as some of their cinematics videos, they'd be a lot harder to put down.

Hackley 8

• Love slaves, use your parents credit cards to buy vodka, had to fart really bad in front of girlfriend and ran away, crapped his pants in second grade, belly-drumming and head patting, doesn’t have a brain because his head makes a noise when he hits it= the things that Mr. Humphrey has taught us

Jain #8

A Story idea: a story about someone writing a story. What is going through their minds as they go through the writing process? Where do they struggle? Where do they have a spark of light?  Why are they writing the novel. 

Lauren 8

Have you ever had a moment where everything just fell into place? When the broken links welded back into a strong chain, the final piece secured in the puzzle, when every inner dimension aligns to open up the path to destiny? 

It's really a beautiful moment. 

Rochon Post 8

The best thing to do when you're sad is hug a dog. They listen with open ears, responsive tenderness and unjudgemental courtesy. Dogs truly are a man's best friend.

Sydney Kim Post 8

Apparently there was a really good sermon at church the other day. I tried to think back to it, and realized I had been sleeping during that service. Catching up on some sleep that had eluded me the night before. Sleep is important. But so is God.

It is imperative to find a balance between everything that is important.

Rochon Post 7

If no one had a conscious regarding conversation topics, what do you think would be said?

Alexus Rogers: Post 7

"There's lots of money out there. They print more everyday. But there are only 5 golden tickets out there in the world." quote from grandpa Buckett from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (The version with Johnny Depp).

Alexus Rogers: Post 6

Courage is when your scared out of your mind of doing something but you do it anyways. It's when you have tears pouring down your face but you still give your speech. It's when Bob Marley gave a concert even though he was shot the day before. It's when Lucy Burns and Alice Paul refused to plead guilty to the charge of obstructing traffic when she was protesting for women's rights in front of the white house and then when they were forced into a workhouse where they went on hunger strike due to the injustices.

Wiser VII

What if someone could compact and channel pure sunlight into a weapon? A sword made of sunlight? What about even a gun? Could we solidify other forms of energy into blades or bullets? Nuclear, wind, heat? What if there was a gigantic arena where warriors came from all around to display their prowess with the different forms of energy they're able to utilize?

Wiser Post VI

I wonder if our brain ever gets fed up with the meat puppet it has to control. What if muscle spasms are your limbs trying to fight back?

Madie 7

Each time I meet somebody new, they are a million pieces of other people I have met. They are his eyes, or her hair, or his laugh, or her voice. If I get to know them, they eventually become their own person in my mind, but the ghosts of others remain.
Who am I to the people I meet?

Donaher week 7

"What? Who even has a diary?" he scoffed, thinking nervously back to his diary. Should he write this encounter down?

Donaher week 6

Mad Max, but everyone is driving those plastic Little Tykes (TM) cars.

Donaher week 5

Playing a low C# for over 46 measures in a largo really puts your life at a new perspective.

Bergeron Post 7

An idea I had between classes - A young, jewish, Russian magician in 1882 adopts the concept of transcendentalism, which is waning out in the United States, and makes it his life philosophy. When the May laws are put in place by Alexander III, restricting the jewish people of Russia, the magician decides to make pilgrimage to the United States to the grave of Ralph Waldo Emerson, who has recently died (April 1882), and live freely there. With him, he takes a childhood friend who has recently been betrothed to an obsessive husband and they escape the country using his knowledge of slight of hand and her intelligence, living out their own offbeat love story under fake names.

(Also a side note - I ate an entire bag of Doritos during a physics test and that was pretty inspiring.)

Garrett post 7

Worms have it all. All they do is build cool tunnels, eat dirt and help flowers. What a life to be lived.

Garrett post 6

Will we ever run out of music? Not just random sounds and noises, but actually decent sounding songs and melodies. Will there ever be a day when the last combination for a melody will be made? What will be the last song and what was the first?

Garrett post 3

I hate losing things, especially little insignificant things. Just knowing that they are in the world existing and I can't reach them is so frustrating. There should be a "find my iphone" like app for everyday objects.

Kevin Brooks post 7/VII

Why is it that decaf "coffee" is still called "coffee", yet the thing that gives it its name, caffeine, is no longer present in it? (Yes, I understand that caffeine is slightly present in decaffeinated coffee but still, food for thought.)

Cianciolo: Week 7

In the summer I spend most of my time at the beach. When I come home, my feet are always covered in sand. The sand gets dragged all throughout the house and specifically into my bedroom. I wake up in the morning and instantly step in sand, a feeling I have grown to love. But that is only in the summer at the "Cape house" as we call it. Most of the summer I wake up and have nothing to do so I leave the sand on my feet. When I am working I must wipe my feet before I put my socks on. This morning I woke up, sat up in my bed, and wiped off my feet out of habit, even though my feet had not yet touched the ground.
I believe these subtle conditioned responses are important to an individual. The subconscious decisions you make when no one is watching are true indicators of who you are. The acts are so mindless that there is no stopping them. They reveal something about you that is unknown to even yourself.

Waszak 7

Why is it that when you go to market basket and get "freshly picked" apples it's like they're taken off the shelf and just thrown into a bag that says they were "freshly picked". The apples that you actually get from the orchard are much better, so I think market basket should stop lying to us. #firstworldproblems

Lauren 7

There's always someone out there.
Someone you see often, maybe have talked to, someone you know on a superficial level.
But when you begin to talk and the conversations deepen, first brushing, then punching through, to the core of life and purpose and the meaning of everything, you realize you have more in common with them than anyone else. You share the same world, but for the longest time, lived as ghosts to each other.
Then, instant connection, and you just *understand*, and your life is swept up in an avalanche of light.
Isn't it a beautiful thing, to think about how many more hidden gems are buried in the earth of our lives, waiting for us to find them?

Hackley 7

• I nearly got really hurt from my horse, but my life didn’t flash before my eyes like they say it does in the movies and books; everything just got really slow but sped up at the same time

Reid 7

Sometimes you just want to feel someones presence. Today I moved closer to a friend of mine in trig, even though I knew that I wouldn't talk to them in class because I had a test. I thought about this and have no idea why I did it. Was it so I didn't feel alone, or was it something else?

Kristen Kim Post 7

Someday, our entire universe is going to crack and break and fall apart and there will not even be a single fossil in memory of who we were. In billions of billions of years, it's not going to matter what your GPA was in high school or how much money you made. There is going to be no trace of all the things that ruled our lives, no testing booklets, no reports of falling stocks, no eviction notices. All of these things are going to be particles smaller than dust and there will be no one alive left to remember they existed at all. No one realizes that these things do not matter. Why aren’t you living the way you want to? Someday, the only thing that will have mattered is how stupid the human race was to have let happiness go in exchange for paper and numbers and rules.

Sydney Kim Post 7

My brother walked into an elevator door. He thought it was open, but it was closing and he ran right into it because he wasn't paying attention. You can miss a lot if you're not paying attention, like an elevator door.

Mathews 7

One time, when I was young, I wrote a story. It was something that I thought was really cool and original, something that no one else could think of.  I thought it was great. Just a few years later I read it again and realized it was the same as the story of Sonic 06. I’m embarrassed.

Gregg 7

I think my cat is a demon who manifested itself in a fluffy cat body because at the same time every night he howls and runs at top speed through my entire house. Also he tries to chew on everything he can reach and I don't know what's up with that.

Jain Numero Sept

The planets Jupiter, Venus, and Mars will converge to within 1° of each other this week. An awesome view of the orbital mechanics. They are so far away from each other, but to us they seem to be almost touching each other. 

Nelson Post 7

Can we blame a piece of technology for all of our problems? Isn’t the real problem the people who are operating it?

O'Neal Post 7

If you leave a light on forever, uninterrupted, at what point does it stop working? Does it eventually shatter, or does it just slowly grow dimmer? In what way is human life like this?

Nelson Post 6

I came across a prompt while doing college applications that asked what I would redo in life, but I believe mistakes make people stronger and smarter.

Victoria Lee Post 7

I wonder how it feels to push back the barrier in your mind that makes you retreat from suffering, from starving, from fully experiencing the coldness, the instinct that makes you return to feeling normal again. We never allow ourselves to experience these extremes, but if we did, I think that would be what it means to be truly numb-- to be lost in one feeling, unable to turn away. Not what we usually consider numbness as, being lost in no feeling at all-- that seems more like normalcy.

Waszak 6

I was in the in class suspension room (for a college meeting i don't know why it was in there) but anyways, there is nothing else on the walls except for a picture of waves crashing on a lighthouse and it made me wonder why is it necessary for that picture to be in there, and why for one picture in the room they chose that.

Madie 6

How terrifying it is that our minds are so powerful they can change memories we already embedded into our brains to create a different story than what actually happened.
The way I remember you, is it real?

Madie 5

I think I still hear your music in my dreams

Gregg 6

In freshman year, I thought it would be edgy to have a tattoo, so my friend and I got together some pen ink and safety pins. While the ink took to my friends skin perfectly, and she was able to create cute little flowers with needle dots, the ink refused to stay in my skin. So now I have a little triangle made up of a few faded, black dots. The funny thing is that I’m not even ashamed of my makeshift tattoo. The more I look at it, the more I like it.

Cianciolo: Week 6

From a dream:

I was with my friend Brendan on top of a hill in Westford discussing our physics project and saying we were the only ones in the world who understood anything. On either side of the hill were huge wooden catapults for a game where we would have to kill the dragon priest in the tomb at the top of the hill before he killed us.

We had to aim the catapult at the tomb as soon as the dragon priest (above) left the tomb (below), or we would die. The one to miss with their catapult would be killed by Mr. Bowen.

Bergeron Post 6

I live in a cold place, so I wear a coat. When it started snowing and I needed a scarf, I drove in my very own car and bought one with the money I earned. I like to drink tea and write in cafes when it rains. I know how to get anywhere I want to go in town. I play guitar until my fingers go numb. Sometimes I like having the TV on, other times I despise it and I'm only happy when I choose if it's on or off. I like silence and noise and certain periods of progress. And no one can understand why I've never hated living alone.

Rochon Post 6

He looked at me and I was home. All of my insecurities I'd had before getting in the car disappeared. It was me, him, and our usual life conversations with no awkward pauses. Find one like that, one of the good ones.

Kristen Kim Post 6

Things end all the time. Seasons change, friends leave, love is lost. The clock never stops ticking, and things never stop evolving, and it is tragic every time to watch things that matter to you dissapear from your life.  Why does loss keep hurting when it never stops happening? Why do humans get attached to anything when they know that they can never keep it? Maybe people were made to feel pain.

Victoria Lee Post 6

Education is one of the greatest gifts in the world. To know things, to see the world in a way you never could have seen on your own. And education is everywhere, too. Learning never stops. You keep learning about other people, places, and perspectives, even the second you step off school grounds.

But like anything you learn in school, if you never stop to analyze and understand what you've learned, if you never learn to truly appreciate the education, the World then becomes one-sided and black and white. Since you haven't acknowledged the education, your perspective narrows to only what you see from only your eyes. How will you understand other people and ideas? How will you see the World for how it truly is, in it's 3-dimensional and vibrantly colorful way? Even if you don't agree with an opinion, or you don't like a particular subject, it will still always shape your vision, opinions, and judgments, so you can open your eyes to the beautiful world-- the beautiful world that is seen through a million pairs of eyes, hearts, and souls.

Reid 6

"It's all you tiger"~Tony the Tiger This quote is from a satire video about the Frosted flakes mascot Tony the Tiger. The video showed extreme scenarios about how these children tony used to know had turned bad he he didn't know how to help them. It made me think how things change. You think you won't be that senile old grandpa who has to ask kids about how to open and send emails, but those seniors probably thought that themselves when they were young. I wonder what things will change about me as I grow older.

O'Neal Post 6

Do things like awards have any meaning? Are all awards just intrinsically arbitrary? If one small factor is changed, the award could go to somebody else. Awards might just be a way to make us feel like our lives have purpose and our efforts are meaningful (not that that's a bad thing).

Sydney Kim Post 6

The other day, my mom brought home chipotle for dinner. I had texted her my order and was so excited for my burrito bowl. But when I got my burrito bowl, there was no sour cream, no corn, and they had put mild salsa on it. I hate salsa, especially when it's just diced tomatoes. I was so upset with the contents of my burrito bowl, I started crying. Full-blown, bratty, tantrum crying. Senior year is really stressful okay. Everything is so fragile, that when something goes wrong, it all shatters.

Hackley 6

• Why do they get rid of naptime in high school? We need it more than little 8-year-olds with endless energy.

Jain #6

Something funny I witnessed. I was at a Lowell Riverhawks hockey game. Everyone is given glow sticks to light up during the first intermission, to break a world record for most blue glow sticks lit up at the same time. After breaking the record the college students throw the glow sticks on the the ice. All 3,000 of them. This delays the second period.  

Mathews 6

Story Idea (I’ve been working on this for a little while and I’m skeptical to say in the least): A boy (in his edgy, emo 12 year old years) tries to summon the devil. It works, and the devil is mad because the kid interrupted him on a date, so he rips out the kid’s eye by accident. He then apologizes and gives him a new eye that kills anyone it looks at. Approximately 5 years later, the boy walks into his living room and finds Satan wearing nothing but a kitchen apron. The devil is dating his mom, and his mom has no idea that her boyfriend ripped out her son’s eye.

Lauren 6

Why does love need a label?
Platonic or romantic, why can't "I love you" just mean what it means?
I. Love. You.
It's just love, plain and simple, why do we need to worry about the type that it is?

Cianciolo: Week 5

I was talking to someone who said they wished they could go back to the past and kill Hitler. While a reasonable suggestion because of the amount of people who suffered, I thought it was strange. Obviously, the classic response should be "That would change the future for now, so you might not be able to have gone back there in the first place and therefore may not be able to come back to the present." While this is true, it is a thought which has been thought of for years, making it not much of a revelation.
As I thought more about the concept, I thought about killing Hitler in order to save the Jews killed. I realized that this act would only benefit myself, as everyone else in the present would think that none of the Jews were ever killed. This means that killing Hitler would not help the people of today, because there is nothing to have been lost.
The people of today have already felt the pain and it cannot be taken back. In that train of thought, everything that has happened in the present has already happened. This means that time cannot exist in a linear fashion, because we are therefore living in the future.

Kristen Kim Post 5

Today, I visited somewhere I haven’t been in almost exactly a year, give or take a few days. As I enjoyed the scenery, I was struck by the thoughts of how much things change between rotations around the sun. So much has happened in between these suspended moments in time and even as I walked the same pattern of steps in imitation of my former self, I came to the realization that I am nothing like the ghost whose footsteps I followed. I could elaborate and talk about all the differences, but I think the important thing is that I’ve changed, not what the changes have been. It’s a nice reminder that everything is temporary and things get better.

Lauren 5 (the actual 5 because my 4 got mislabeled)

There is a certain boy who walks the same earth we do. His world is a different city, but our lives have only briefly intersected through family friends.
He has experienced what we can never imagine. He has died twice, both revived, and then almost died again.
But when we met, I saw someone living in their own world, guided by the light of his own lantern down his own paved path, where nobody will interfere with what he feels he has to do.
He is described as callous. Unfeeling. Inconsiderate. But look what he's been through. I saw him sprawled on the couch, swallowed up in the world of Borderlands and Mad Max, and I wondered...what thoughts slumber inside his head? How did those experiences change him?
I will probably never know, because we have never talked, at all.
The thought of him always reminds me to never have a quicksilver tongue, never be fast to judge others, because you really don't have an idea what they have been through.

Victoria Lee Post 5

Being alone and being lonely are two very different things. Being lonely indicates you've been ousted somehow-- you're an outsider, not allowed to enter. It's a place where you don't belong. Being alone makes you on the inside of things, just wanting to observe from the outside. Wanting to discover things about a place you've always known.

Hackley 5

• is twin telepathy real in some form? or is it just that they were raised similar so they act similar? My sister and I always wear the same thing without communicating what the other is wearing, and if I’m downstairs singing a song and then go upstairs, sometimes my sister will be singing the same song at the same part. Why?

Reid 5

What causes legends and myths to be born? Is there truth to them? What myths weren't passed down and what myths will be? Will Obama be worshipped as a God? What opportunities have we missed out on that could make us legends?

Alexus Rogers: Post 5

Blakey (my 6 year old brother): "We have 2 mummies and 3 daddies in our family. Because I'm not going to have babies. Because I don't like babies. I HATE babies."

Alexus Rogers post 4

If the population of "mentally unstable" increases to the point of overpowering those who are sane, then who is truly insane? If the majority of people truly believe something and fight for it, who is wrong and who is right?

Waszak 5

The importance of moments is so underrated when all people want to focus on is capturing the moment with a camera. We should try our best to take the moments we treasure in and focus less on trying to capture it because it means more to live it then to look back on it.

Garrett Post 5

what if there was a pill to erase the feeling of knowing something or someone. it only lasts a minute. You take a pill and you see your best friend as if you’ve just met them. you take a pill and read your own writing to see how others see it. you take a pill and look at yourself in the mirror to see how others see you. in a state of depression you overdose on pills trying to forget who you are

Alexus Rogers: post 3

Alice: "This is impossible" 

Mad hatter: "Only if you believe it is" 

When people stop believing things are possible,  they stop trying. When you stop trying, that's when you truly fail.

Wiser Post V

"...when he speaks, his voice sounds the way grease sounds when it pops and snaps to fry chicken, the way cicadas sound on a particularly heated summer night. In other words, it is inherently Southern in its honey-thick charisma."

garrett post 4

what if there was a society where heart attacks are extremely frequent, and there was a drug you could take every time you felt a heart attack coming on to immediately stop it. The drug only works when it’s in the event of a heart attack, otherwise it’s too strong and will kill you. People start dying from heart attacks with the bottle in their hands, but police don’t know whether the cause of death is taking the drug or an actual heart attack. a girl is home alone and feels chest pains and eyes the bottle, if she waits too soon it could become a heart attack that will kill her, if she takes the drug it could just be chest pains and the drug could kill her itself. does she take the pill or not? does she wait until she’s sure it’s a heart attack? askjfnwefspdmflkmws

Waszak 4

The pumpkin spice fad is overrated and instead we should just have pumpkin all year so people don't freak out about it in fall, people who love pumpkin can have it all the time, and we can just live our lives normally with other quality fall things in the spotlight.

Wiser Post IV

Maybe Mother Nature isn't sweet and caring. Maybe she seeks to sap away all of our life forces. Perhaps because she is made of rocks and trees, she needs us to feel for her.

Rochon Post 5

The fact that we teach people how to not get raped instead of teach people how NOT to rape is discomforting. When going out, we're always told to be careful, always use the buddy system, but what do we do when we're just as careful but there are just as many bad people in the world?

Kevin Brooks Post 5/V

Imagine if you got grades for your social life, like each time you left a friend you got a grade for how you handled things with them

O'Neal 5

We are like the phoenix- each night our old selves are burned and destroyed, and each morning a new self is born. Humans are constantly in a state of change.

Gregg Post 5

I feel like how messy my room is at the time is directly proportionate to how stressed out I am.

Sydney Kim Post 5

"What a treacherous thing to believe a person is more than a person."
-John Green

Expectations are overrated.

Jain Post 5

My Senior quote: "It's stupid to talk about things you're not. Be your self, and you'll be fine." 

Mathews 5

Today I got something I value more than almost anything in the mail: my limited edition 3DS. How did I become such an insufferable loser.

Nelson Post 5

Make decisions based on who you are today, not who you were yesterday. People become wiser every day, and new information should never be disregarded.

Bergeron post 5

Story Idea: A group of scientists run an experiment in which a child is raised by AI (Artificial intelligence) from infancy. While this experience makes the AI seemingly more human, it makes the human child less human, disconnecting her from basic human emotions.

**Inspired by Tiny Human and Me The Machine by Imogen Heap

Hackley 4

Some people say that the light at the end of the tunnel we see when we die is also the light of being born. I don't believe in reincarnation, but it's still an interesting thought

Kristen Kim Post 4

I want to tell her that I’ve walked a thousand miles in her shoes and I know better than anyone that the shoes are too tight and pinch your feet and have broken glass on the inside. These shoes are Cinderella’s shoes when you are the wicked stepsister, only wanting a life of glamour and respite. I want to tell her that she doesn’t need to marry the prince to be happy, that she deserves better. I want to tell her that the prince is the wicked one, forcing every maiden in the land to try these corroded shoes onto their feet. 

But I bite my tongue, because we can’t all get what we want.

Madie Post 4

We do not know who or where we are, but we at least know when.

Madie Post 3

I heard someone say your name. No, they weren't talking about you, how could they have been? But never the less I felt my ears perk up and my skin flush while my whole body suddenly became tense before I could even process that it was someone else.

I wonder what happens when you hear my name, probably nothing.

Victoria Lee Post 4

Every single hero has to start off looking like you and me.
Heroes are people, and people are heroes.
Friendly reminder that you can change the World.

Kevin Brooks Post 4

Everything can be going all fine and dandy then boom, feelings pop into your life and ruin EVERYTHING.

Nelson Post 4

It can often be easier to change one's mind than to change one's actions. People want to avoid feeling like a hypocrite, but pursue the laziest path to do so, and may end up believing something that is incorrect or morally wrong.

Sydney Kim Post 4

I am a lifeboat. Far out in the sea of despair. Hundreds of miles separated from the chemistry cruise ship. Too far out for anyone to save.

Reid 4

Humans find inspiration for art and creativity in music and color. So what would happen if the world was devoid of color and music? What would people write about? would people find something else to inspire them or would the world no longer have creativity?

lauren 5

Nothing is ever truly black and white. How can a human being, a complex creature of every shade and hue of color imaginable, create a situation with only two doors of opposite outcomes? Black or white. This or that. No middle ground. It's impossible.

Donaher Week 4

Fairy/Disney tales, but as noire pulp-fiction novels.

Red Riding Hood lit her cigar and took a long drag. Out hissed a cloud of smoke that smelled not only of quality, but of danger as she laid out her deal with the Wolf. "I give you these goodies here in this basket, yeah?" she said softly. "And in return... You take care of my dear little Granny."

She smiled as the Wolf agreed, pleased with his cooperation, but also at his gullibility. This greenie hadn't even suspected that she had a Third Party who was just aching to take an ax to a Wolf.
______
Ariel reached for her magnum, prepared to stuff this octopus with so much lead, she could use the body to make a shipment of pens and pencils.
______
"Onaha means family," Stitch spat, the barrel of his gun smoking. Captain Gantu stumbled away from his hostage, clutching his ruined shoulder. Stitch wasn't finished. Snapping in a new magazine, he bore his teeth in a terrible smile and snarled, "Family means no one's left behind." He gave Gantu his final fireworks show.

Rochon Post 4

Today, I went to McDonalds. Waiting in agonizing pain for my food, I decided I would make a new friend. Life is too short to sit around, waiting. Make someone's day, do anything to make someone smile, start a friendship. I asked the McDonalds worker who gave me a free milkshake to take a selfie with me, then asked her if she wanted to hang out sometime. She said yes. Be friendly.

Hackley 3

We were at a Salvation Army mass to support a family friend when the collection came around. The man to my left could only put three pennies into the collection basket, and the man on my right quietly slid in a neat stack of bills. However, the man with the bills had deep furrow lines on his forehead and was balding, but the man with three pennies to give had no wrinkles and a full head of hair even though they were about the same age. How is it that the wealthy man had more to worry about than the man who didn't know where his next meal or change of clothes was coming from?

Cianciolo: Post 4

From a dream:
I had a college meeting with my guidance counselor. I told her the colleges I wanted to go to and she continued to bring up a college that did not exist. I persisted to tell her that I did not want to go there, but she decided I was applying there early decision, which is a binding agreement where I have to go if I am accepted. I told her I would not sign the contract and she told me she already has my signature, and she will forge it and take all the money for my other applications.

Gregg Post 4

The worst part of nightmares is trying to run away and doing that awful dream-run where you push yourself so hard and barely move faster than a walk.

Bergeron Post 4

What if Juliet had died with the wrong lover? I think she'd be a very unhappy ghost.

Mathews Post 4

Today I was a watermelon. You really don’t know what it’s like to be a watermelon. Neither do I, I was actually just wearing pink and green.

O'Neal Post 4

Why does our society value thinking so little? You always have to be doing something, whether it's watching TV or going on your phone or reading or talking. Doing nothing but thinking is seen as odd, and maybe that's why we're so stupid.

Jain Post 4

With Hurricane Joaquin incoming(not really anymore) can we be better prepared for a natural disaster than last time, and with this much warning. 

Victoria Lee Post 3

There is a potted flower on my desk. Whenever they die, my mother replaces them with a new one.

"Why do you always let the flowers die?" my sister asked.

I shrugged. "I don't even notice them." (I know I know, I'm a terrible person)

Just an example of how so much beauty in the world goes unnoticed. Just because it's not acknowledged, doesn't mean it's not beautiful.

Donaher Week 3

HE stood proudly, taking in the sights of regal people not wandering amongst magnificent buildings that weren't there. The smell of pastries not baking floating through the nostrils of the people who never even were. The call of shopkeepers and the babble of hundreds of voices that cannot be heard by anyone. He could see it, smell it, hear it, so it was not real.

There was no one around to ask about it, so naturally he talked all the time about the city that doesn't exist to everyone who wasn't there.
____
SHE sat timidly, watching the boy in sand-dusted, raggedy clothing make his way though the regal people in the market. She could see him gaze about in skeptical wonder at nothing, hear him laugh out loud at the gaudy costumes that he couldn't see. She could see him, hear him, (she never had the nerve to try and catch him), so he was not real.

There were a hundred people around to ask about it, so naturally she talked not at all about the boy that doesn't exist to everyone who was there.

Rochon Post 3

Often times, I feel like a 20 year old woman struggling to pay rent who lives alone w a puppy, but other times I feel like a 7 year old. How am I expected to make life decisions?

Madie Post 2

I never truly understood who I was until I had shattered myself all over the ground and had to pick myself up and put myself back together.

Sydney Kim Post 3

I asked my dad a question about his childhood. He couldn't remember. So I asked him one about when he was in high school and he couldn't remember that either. At that point, I wasn't sure if he really couldn't remember or if he just wanted me to stop talking to him.

Judging from my dad's personality and appearance, he must've had a rough time in high school. If he really couldn't remember anything, then maybe we as humans tend to forget the things we don't want to remember. That as we age, and our brain gets filled with more memories, we replace an old, bad memory with a new, good memory. Well I'm sorry to say this, but in about 50 years, when my child or grandchild asks me a question about my high school experience, I'm probably going to say, "I don't remember." Sorry.

Waszak 3

What if there was a city dedicated to stray animals and having no kill shelters. If they just took all the animals about to be killed and just brought them to the city instead, so they could live.

Wiser III

What if one day your shadow turned into its own person, and you were able to talk to it? What if it turned on you?