Sonnet #2

 I have not forgotten to post the part three of the exciting saga "The girl of the entry "A letter"", but it is still in development (You can't expect that an epic story like this one would be short"). Meanwhile, enjoy a sonnet that I wrote. 

With her sweet eyes she saw how sad I lived, 

With her red-fire hair she attracted my sight, 

With her lovely, girly voice, my desire thrived, 

And to love her makes my existence bright. 

With such tenderness, she used to call me "my boy", 

And I called her "my girl" in my deep sleep. 

Whenever we talked, I felt so much joy 

That I could hear with great force my heart's leaps. 

Now this muse is gone to far away lands, 

But I have her memory well preserved. 

She's here in my darkest moments, and 

She helps me in the nightmares that I've lived. 

Give me your hand, and take my hand as well, 

And while we walk, our desires to us tell.

What do you think?

Favorite Teacher

When I arrived to the US on 9th grade, one of the many things that I saw different from the Mexican Middle School from where I came from, was that instead the teacher would walk from room to room,the students now walk from teacher to teacher (Which now reflecting, it is a better and more efficient system).  It was incredible how much you can tell from one teacher’s personality based on his or her room or lesson,  for example, Mrs. Hudler has a very colorful personality to my opinion because in her classrooms the three most dominant colors ( blue, green, and white) somehow illuminates the room in some sort of pastel color, and the magic is that no matter if we read a gory story as Macbeth, or the gloomy Beowulf, the colorfulness of her classroom doesn’t go away, and I always imagine that her classroom is some sort of metaphorical carrusel, or -if you understand my idea better with this comparison- the inside of a hippie combie (but instead of smoke, it smells to cinnamon). But dear reader, this page is not about Mrs. Hudler (ha! Got you!); Yes, Mrs. Hudler has been my favorite teacher in my senior year, but when she assigned me this page during the Ragnarok, she said “This page is about your favorite teacher of all your four years of High School”, and since Mrs. Hudler is only my favorite teacher of senior year, she doesn’t fall in this category (but I do feel admiration and appreciation for Mrs. Hudler, in fact I will right now look to the starred night and look for a group of stars that form a woman with a book, and call her the “ Mrs. Hudler’s Constellation”, like Zeus did with Chiron, Perseus and greek heroes’ mentor). I am going to talk about a teacher whose classroom is not as “hippe” as Mrs. Hudler’s, or is not as goofy as Mr. Kohlhase, or was not as popular as Mr. Laney (Radiology teacher who was popular because he was supercool), but rather to a teacher who retired when I started my senior year, but while he worked in Med High he used to put us often 2- hour videos from the eighties, and to be honest, I would sometimes fell asleep in his class, in fact, once I fell asleep for 15 minutes!

Dear Reader, I suppose you wonder “Well Alejandro, If you used to fell asleep in his class, then how could you have the face to write in this space that he was your favorite teacher?” Well, let me explain…

I had Mr. Wertz on both Freshmen and Junior Year. I had him for Biology 3B and Environmental Science 3A (I still remember the class periods). And he wasn’t a pretty much exciting class, like I said before, he used to put us most of the time Two-hour videos from the eighties with primitive visual effects, but somehow the learning sticked to my head, it was like those kinds of hypnotic sessions where you go in and came out without remembering nothing, but in my subconscious I felt that I did learned something, and by next class period and for the exams I remembered everything. So Mr. Wertz made me learn easily, without putting any effort, which is something cool because you can use your resources in another thing.

He didn’t talk too much, and most of the time he looked sad, and when I was in Environmental Science he used to play the paper of “the prophet of the Judgement Day”, but he had a pretty interesting life, for example, he was attended to a college that was near a nuclear plant in Pennsylvania and the plant had a nuclear meltdown (wikipedia “Three Mile Island accident”), then he taught in a South African elementary school during the Apartheid, he almost met Nelson Mandela, and he left that life of excitement in South Africa to come to the valley to teach High School kids. This example tells me that you don’t need to be loud to have an exciting life, but just to be focused.

Finally, during my freshmen year, I think he was one of the few people who believed the most in me. You see dear reader, he would help me with his class, and encouraged me to study, when I was discouraged by the other classes (but this only happened in my freshmen year, all the other years were different).

P.S. Have you noticed that there are not scratched out words in this entry?

Mr.Wertz

Ragnarok

One of the things that I find interesting in Norse Mythology is how some myths relate to real life. Of course, not in a literal sense, because if it was literal, then you would hang out with Odin in the Valhalla for real , or party with Frigga in her realm; Thor would actually ride a chariot on the clouds pulled by goats and using Mjolnir ( the hammer) to make lighting, and giants would exist. Some elements about Norse mythology have some (metaphorical) parallelism with real life (like what Indiana Jones says about El Dorado in Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull, in which he realizes that El Dorado mythical city was not made out of gold, but was a center of learning which for the Incas and Amazonian tribes was the most valuable wealth.). One example of the Norse parallelism is the Ragnarok, which is the Norse apocalypse in which the gods are engaged in a final battle.

In mythology, the Valkyries (the warrior goddesses) go down to earth in the battles, and select those who are going to die in battle, half of those killed in battle are taken by the Valkyries to party with Odin in the Valhalla and prepare for the Ragnarok, and the other half are going to Frigga to rest. Then, the last humans that are left in the world, Lif and Lifthrasir,  go to have shelter in the a tree from all the events in the Ragnarok which is followed by the arrival of three winter with no summers between (in other words, a three-year winter). During this long winter, Fenris the wolf escapes his bonds, Loki (god of mischief) escapes his prison, The ice and fire giants rally against the gods, the dishonoured dead spirits from the Underworld turn against Asgard led by Hel, and the World Serpent rises up, then all of go to assault Asgard and when Heimdallr (god guardian of Asgard) sees them coming, he will blow his horn to warn the gods for a last battle.During the battle, Odin is swallowed alive by Fenris (the wolf) who is killed by one of Odin’s sons, Thor kills the world serpent, but shortly dies because of the poisonous bite that the serpent gave to Thor. Heimdall, dies while slaying Loki, and Tyr (god of bravery) dies slaying, Garm, the Hellhound. Then starts raining ice and fire, the earth sinks into the sea and the nine realms in the Yggdrasil crumble, and giant wolves eat the sun and the moon, leaving the earth into darkness. Then the world rises from the sea, Lif and Lifthrasir (they are boy and girl) get out from the three and repopulate the earth, the surviving gods meet in a field (Where once was Asgard) and tell memories, and everybody enjoys the new world that emerges from the sea after the Ragnarok.

Thor against the A̶P̶ ̶e̶x̶a̶m̶s̶ world serpent.

The mythological event of Ragnarok, looks (metaphorically) almost the same like the last nine weeks of senior year, which also happen to be the last grading period of all High School for the class of 2015. Because you see, this is the time of the year when senioritis hits, therefore those who feel confident about their success are going to feel comfy and start to slack off now that they think that they have nothing to lose, then before spring break, three cold fronts came to the valley and there were only around twelve hours (at most) of sun between each cold front, then teachers prepare their most difficult and nasty exams designed especially from keeping students from graduating, for example, my math teacher designed an unresolvable problem that he nicknamed “The beast” (Fenrir), my CNA teacher gave us a long list that we need to get checked off at the clinical’s site before the first week of April if we want to get CNA certification (the ice and fire giants), my biology teacher is giving us quizzes every class (the dishonoured dead spirits led by hel), In art class we are going to have this ugly, nasty final in which we need to draw a self portrait of our self in detail (Loki escapes his prison), and AP exams (the world serpent). Then when we came back from Spring break, whoever is the one whose job is to ring the bell, that one will ring the bell to mark the beginning of the last nine weeks, and with them, the beginning of the end and the warning of our last battle (Heimdall blows his horn). During this period, students will suffer great amounts of stress, and some are going to fail important and decisive exams. According to a teacher in Med High, statistically the average number of seniors who don’t graduate is five, (which is more or less the number of gods that died during the Ragnarok). Then if you don’t graduate, your parents, teacher, and friends are going to make a big deal about it and they are going to remember you like the dumb student that didn't graduated on time, and everything will turn dark against you (ice and fire rain, earth submerges into the sea, Yggdrasil crumbles, and wolves eat the sun and the moon).
But those who prepared well and made it to the graduation will live to see the new beginning, which is college life, life away our parents (for those leaving the valley), and freedom to live for ourselves, starting a new life in which we, the students, will start independent lives and be responsibles for ourselves (world rises from the sea, and Lif and Lifthrasir will come out from the tree). And finally those who made it will attend Class reunions to tell memories from High School (meeting of the surviving gods where once was Asgard). The real life Ragnarok will not be a literal battle, but rather a new beginning that will be good for us and will be a turning point in our lives.

Asgard’s L̶G̶B̶T̶ ̶p̶r̶i̶d̶e̶ ̶p̶a̶r̶a̶d̶e̶ bridge, Bifrost. The rainbow bridge joins together the nine realms of the Yggdrasil.

The new world that rises after the Ragnarök.

Top 10 favorite games

Everybody needs games, because if people don’t play, then people get mad, bored, and then start to do bad stuff, and like a saying says “ Ocius is the mother of all sins.”. This list is about my favorite top 10 games, and includes both video games, and board games.Dear reader, if your parents have told you that video games are bad for you or they are going to cook your brain, or stuff like that, I can say with all the freedom of the world that such arguments ARE BULLSHIT!. There is no scientific evidence that proves this, in fact science demonstrates the opposite, for example it has been demonstrated that video games improve brain capacities, besides, video games are a form of art because it tells you stories in the game, they have a plot and you need actor to play the voices in the game. Position 1 is my Favorite game.

10.- Chess

Classic game, for people who actually are clever, and one of the few sports that heavy and unfit people can play. The game itself is epic because it recreates a battle between two armies. It is so epic that once during the cold war, an American player, and a Soviet Player were playing the final match in a chess world cup. the American won.

9.- Risk

Like chess, but the difference is that the board is a world map. It was based on the Napoleonic era, so the game figures look like soldiers from 1800’s.  The objective of the game is to lead your armies and become the next Napoleon (not Napoleon Dynamite) and conquer the world. Easy, right?

8.- Uno

The classic card game (for non-gamblers) to play after a semester exam in class, and also to break up friendships as well. You have 7 cards and you have to get rid of all of them first, but if you have one left you have to say “Uno” or you have to grab seven more.

Friends? That is the last thing you have when you play Uno...

7.-Mario Kart DS

Mario -who has decided to stop looking for the d̶u̶m̶b̶ Princess Peach who has been kidnapped by Bowser more times than Liam Neeson's daughter in the Taken franchise- now plays karts race. In this game, you drive a kart and like in all race games, you have to make it first to the goal to win, but is not that easy, because the other players are such an <insert rated R word here> , and they will throw at you bananas, turtle shells, lightings, ink, bullets, and other stuff to win the race in a u̶n̶honorable way. Dear reader, if you choose to play Mario Kart DS (start playing Mario Kart version for DS or newer, the older version’s graphics are crap), choose Yoshi, he is the most complete racer.

6.- Scrabble

Always that I play scrabble, I play it in Spanish because it is the only version that I have. In scrabble you grab seven letter from a bag and try to form words, and according to the letter you use you get points, and the winner is the one who has more points, you can form any word you want, but unspoken rules t̶h̶o̶s̶e̶ ̶t̶h̶a̶t̶ ̶c̶a̶n̶ ̶b̶e̶ ̶b̶r̶o̶k̶e̶n̶ say that “Thou shall not use the f-word, s-word, a-word, p-word, c-word, d-word”, and the rules of the game say that you cannot form Proper names such Alejandro, Microsoft, Mcallen, etc. You get the idea.

5.- Clue

The game in which you play to be Sherlock. You have to solve a murder case about who killed a millionaire and with what weapon where. I have The Simpsons version, so you have to find who killed Mr.Burns and with what weapon (poisoned doughnut, Saxophone, etc). Like chess, and most games from Parker Brothers, this game is so epic and you will have a great time with it.

Oh my Gosh! I need that version of clue! Imagine Dwight K. Shrute looking for the murderer of Toby Flenderson. That is what I call creativity.

6. Conker's Bad Fur Day

A video game for Nintendo 64 and Xbox. It is about a red squirrel named Conker who tries to find his way to his home with his girlfriend after a night at the bar, but gets lost and gets into many ordeals to save his life and find his way back to home, like in a greek epic, but also like in a greek epic, it has a lot of gore and dark humor, so it is rated M for Mature audiences, and kids should not play it b̶u̶t̶ ̶b̶e̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶h̶o̶n̶e̶s̶t̶,̶ ̶t̶o̶d̶a̶y̶'̶s̶ ̶k̶i̶d̶s̶ ̶p̶l̶a̶y̶ ̶i̶n̶n̶a̶p̶r̶o̶p̶i̶a̶t̶e̶ ̶g̶a̶m̶e̶s̶,̶ ̶w̶a̶t̶c̶h̶ ̶i̶n̶n̶a̶p̶r̶o̶p̶i̶a̶t̶e̶ ̶m̶o̶v̶i̶e̶s̶,̶ ̶a̶n̶d̶ ̶d̶o̶ ̶i̶n̶n̶a̶p̶r̶o̶p̶i̶a̶t̶e̶ ̶t̶h̶i̶n̶g̶s̶ ̶i̶n̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶i̶n̶t̶e̶r̶n̶e̶t̶,̶ ̶s̶o̶ ̶w̶h̶o̶ ̶c̶a̶r̶e̶s̶?̶.

5.- Mario Party (Nintendo 64)

Another mario game. A kind of board game in which if you win minigames you advance in the board, and you win if you collect so many stars. Enjoyable, although like in Mario Kart, the opponent will do anything possible to win, even if it means to steal your stars, have you eaten by Bowser, roll over you by a train, etc. Make sure to play Mario Party 3 or newer, older versions are bad.

Look at them, trying to save their lives from falling in the lava by running on the top of balls. Like SAW, but for children.

3.- Frontline Commando D-day

Dear reader, if you are a history fan like me, and admire Captain America, then you will love this game. This games is a mobile game in which you are an American Soldier during World War II, and your first battle is in Normandy in the D-day. Your mission is to advance in France and defeat the Nazis as you advance. Exciting!

2.- Monopoly

The most popular game from Parker Brother which is the most effective weapon to destroy friendships and families since the Great Depression. The game is about how fast can you be the next Bill Gates or the next Prince of Saudi Arabia, and is by buying properties, railroads, services, and by putting hotels and houses on your properties, so when your rival falls in your property he can go to bankrupt. A fun game (to my taste) which also teaches you a lesson: do your taxes, and if you want to be billionaire you have to become a douche (like Macbeth).

Mr. Uncle Pennybags, who some speculate that is based on J.P. Morgan, who is properly rocking the Monopoly mustache.

1.- Minecraft

Without any doubt, Minecraft has well deserved the position number 1. It is the most exciting, epic, and entertaining game that I have never seen. The reason on why I love Minecraft is because I like scouting outdoors and exploring my surroundings like an explorer, and whenever I do that I feel like a Spanish (or should I say Mexican) Conquistador or like Eric the Red when he arrived to Vinland (North America). Unfortunately, because of a̶n̶ ̶e̶v̶i̶l̶ ̶i̶n̶v̶e̶n̶t̶i̶o̶n̶ homework ,I don’t have the time to do these things so I stay at home, but with Minecraft I can explore forests, deserts, oceans, caves, mines, mountains, and a lot of biomes and you can even build your own buildings and make a city with your own hands brick by brick, raise cattle, breed cattle, domesticate wolves, build railroads, make bombs and make them blow and nobody gets hurt(if that is your thing) and start your own hormone-free organic farm. 
There there is also survival mode in which you have to make an intelligent use of your resources, and survive in your little world(is not that little, in fact it is infinite in the PC and Xbox versions) against zombie attacks, skeleton archers, creepers (which are some sort of plant with legs according to science) that explode, Endermen (A version of Slenderman), bad wolves, and zombie pigmen (Biped zombies with humanoid body and pig head). Minecraft is also educational, because it teaches you about using your resources wisely and not to waste it, making out of you a better person for the planet, plus I remember that one day, I had to take the AP Environmental Science, and I had a question that asked about the layers of the ground, so I remembered from Minecraft that on the top most part of the soill is dirt, then solidified sand, and then the bedrock. There was another question about about how to get minerals out from the ore (such gold from gold ore), and I remembered that in Minecraft I have to clean the ore by heating it, so I put it as an aswer and I got a three on the AP (which is good). Also some people especulate that Minecraft also helps you to improve your SAT scores, but there is no proof yet. Also there are some codes called mods that you can install in the program and you can do an infinity of possibilities such mine Uranium, install electricity in your buildings, build a ship, launch nukes, have a shotgun, etc. I love this game because you can many things that are dangerous for people, but the beauty is that nobody gets hurt (like in The Simpson's episode in which Homer creates an alternative universe in which everything is made of legos, and "nobody gets hurt", according to Ned Flanders).

A nuke in TNTs

Ship built by me.

King Tando’s palace in the capital city of Trolledo, in the Tandolish Kingdom. I built the palace, Trolledo’s buildings and the Tandolish Kingdom by myself brick by brick. The part that is on the very top of the palace is a pool, and the water that runs from below the palace is a waterfall.