RE: Holidays.

"The winter season! Oh geez I can’t wait till it's cold and snow is on the mountains." -Dominique Ocampo

October’s almost over, which means November’s coming up. It’s finally that time of the year, the most wonderful time of the year! The Holiday season! There’s so much to love about the Holidays; the holiday spirit, family gatherings, Starbucks’ holiday menu, no school, Thanksgiving, no school, Black Friday, Christmas, & New Years, and did I mention about no school yet?! & etc.  Seeing Christmas lights decorated everywhere, people in winter clothes, seeing people’s attitudes changing into a better & a positive one, Holiday sales, Christmas shopping, toddlers writing to Santa, outdoor ice-skating, being with the ones you love, etc. I’m pretty excited for all those events that are coming up.

And for those that don’t know yet, I basically love Christmas Songs. I sing them all year long. My friends would question me why I sing Christmas songs all the time. And there’ll be times where you’ll see me driving around, just blasting and singing obnoxiously to Christmas songs. I know, it’s a bit weird, but it’s never too early to be thinking about Christmas. My holiday spirit just happens to be there year round! :}

CE: Hit & Run.

"A two-year-old Chinese girl run over by two different vehicles and ignored by at least 18 passersby has died, in an incident that has shocked the nation and ignited public uproar over what some called a moral numbness seeping through society." I've been hearing about this from quite a few people now, but haven’t seen the video with my own eyes until today. This girl gotten run over by two different vehicles and was left in blood. She was ignored by more than a dozen, because they didn’t want to get themselves to trouble. This shows how people put themselves first even if someone else is severely injured. Seeing this really depresses me. It made me realize how selfish we’ve all gotten these days. How are people okay with just ignoring this toddler, passing by as if nothing has happened? What’s going through their minds when they saw that? Do they not care about another’s life? No one cares about others these days. All they think about are themselves. We need more people in this world that are willing to open their eyes and realize sometimes the best the thing to do is think about others before they think about themselves.

FREE: Rejection.

I’m sure many people have a little fear of getting rejected; where you want to be somewhere, but the answer was “no.” When it comes to rejection, I’m practically scared shitless.
For example, what if someone’s asking someone out, but they get rejected from the other person. I’m sure that person that asked would feel like complete shit, because the person that they want to be with denied them. But that’s not what I’m trying to refer to.
I’m referring to college, my dream college. I’ve been wanting to go to University of California, Irvine for a while now. Irvine is a beautiful city that is located in the coast of Southern California.  I’ve heard about how well their medical department is and I’ve been interested for way too long. I know that UC Irvine will be one of the UCs I’ll be applying for this month, but I also know I don’t have the grades for it. I’m not trying to doubt myself, but it’s only the truth. I know getting rejected by this college would definitely be hard for me; I can already imagine myself getting a rejection letter from them, but hey, it’s always worth a try right? And even if I don’t get in for undergrad, I know I won’t give up. Maybe for grad, I’ll try again? Oh wells, we’ll see. Life’s not fair, and we don’t always get what we want anyways.

CE: Free Education.

“Students in Chile have been holding nationwide demonstrations to demand free and quality education for all, accusing President Sebastian Pinera of shutting his ears to their demands.” There have been protests for two days and they’re continuing on with it. They’re attempting to make Chile - the so-called Latin American success story - a country where equal opportunity is more than just a slogan. Everyone should have free quality education rather than having just decent education depending on how much money you have. It’s unfair and is a disadvantage for those children whose family incomes are low. Earning money is awfully difficult for a family, but taking someone’s education away because of that is wrong. Every student should be given an equal amount of education for free even if they’re rich or more. You can’t buy education, you can only gain it. We students in the United States are given free education in public schools. We choose public schools for a reason; not everyone can afford going to a private school. But we gain the same education and knowledge as one and another. Paying more doesn’t necessarily mean we learn more. Free education still teaches us what we need to know. But many of us take that for granted. We usually don’t realize how lucky we are for having free education. Some don’t take school seriously, so they’re slacking off to the point where they’re failing and not learning anything. We should be thankful for having free education while other kids elsewhere are paying to learn the same amount we are learning.

FREE: Tattoos.

I just saw Hoan’s tattoo right now, so I’ll do a little post about it.

Anywhere you go, you’re bound to see at least one person with a tattoo.  Tattoos have gotten really popular over these years, to the extent where it’s over rated in my opinion.  Don’t get me wrong, I still want one later on in my life. But people these days get tatted of the MOST randomest and pointless things ever.  Some gets tattoos of pictures, words, and symbols that they think are cute, but it’s not even meaningful. A tattoo is permanent. Ink is injected into your dermis of the skin; therefore it won’t go away in days or years. Once it’s there, it’ll be there for a lifetime, unless you get it removed, which you’ll have to go through pain and cash out a lot.

I find people that get tattoos of their boyfriends’ and girlfriends’ names are stupid. I mean it’s cute, but what’s going to happen if you two break up? Their name’s still going to be on your skin. Then there are those who gets tattoo of a random picture and symbol. What do they even mean to you? If that picture has no meaning, then shit, you might as well get a picture of my face for your next tattoo. And the symbols? Do you even understand and know what they symbol stands for? Tattoos aren’t cheap either.  I wouldn’t want to pay for something I’d want to get removed in a few years.

If you’re going to get a tattoo, at least get something you wouldn’t regret in the future. Don’t get a tattoo, just because everyone else has one. Don’t get it because it’s cute. Don’t get it because you just want one. But get it, because it actually means something to you, motivates you, or defines you.

FREE: Senioritis.

Definition of Senioritis from Urban Dictionary:

Senorities- noun. A crippling disease that strikes high school seniors.
Symptoms include: laziness, an over-excessive wearing of track pants, old athletic shirts, sweatpants, athletic shorts, and sweatshirts. Also features a lack of studying, repeated absences, and a generally dismissive attitude. The only known cure is a phenomenon known as Graduation.

Seniorities, a disease that all high school Seniors experience during their last final year in high school. We all know that it has already hit us. Those symptoms already apply to us. We’re tired of all the shit we’ve put up in school. We’re ready for a break. All the waking up early to learn, all the homework that the teachers had assigned, all the test that we must study for, and etc., are not exactly what we wanna do anymore. We’re ready and just wanting to graduate already.  As nervous we are for the future, we just want high school to be over with. We’re ready to walk the stage and after we do so, we’ll be ready to say “Damn, we did it.”

RE: Senior Year.

Response to Brenda Trieu's post.

“Senior year is supposed to be your best, easiest, and most fun year out of your high school experience. Well, so far I am not feeling it.
So far, all I’ve been experiencing are stress on the last few SAT’s, college apps, homework and tests. What happened to “Oh Senior Year’s gonna be a chill year.” So far, nothing’s chill about that. We’re all slowly progressing on finishing our college apps, still trying to figure out on where to apply for and stressing out from curiosity if we’ll be getting accepted to our dream school or not.

“Senioritis is definitely kicking in my system, and it is taking over my mind.”

This applies to almost all of the Seniors. We all know how Senior Year grades doesn’t matter as much anymore, therefore we’re all trying less and putting school work off till the last minute.

“Finally, I can’t wait for the day where all our hard work pays off, and we finally get to branch off in our different directions, inching towards our future goals, seeing how far we have come.”

I cannot wait until graduation..The day where we’ll all have our last moments together, where we’ll walk the stage and (some) of us at grad night. A whole chapter ending where a whole new chapter will begin to start.

RE: Sunglasses...

"All I'm trying to say is being original is a great thing and isn't a bad thing. Be yourself and express yourself everyday no matter what people say. Because without it you wouldn't be your true self. Yeah yeah... people may criticize you about it, but in the at the end of the day who's there? You.. not them. Be happy with yourself, be different, and just be........ YOU." - Justin's blog.

               Everyone these days are trying to fit in with each other. Pretty cliché if you ask me.  Everyone copies each other and nothing’s ever original anymore. You’ll see someone one day, and the next, you’ll basically see a duplicate of them; dressing, acting, and having an attitude exactly like them. What happened to being yourself? What’s more important? Satisfying yourself or someone else? Yourself. You’re the only one that’s either going to be satisfied or not satisfied with yourself at the end of the day. Being yourself is the only way you’ll satisfy yourself. Why does it matter if someone criticizes you for who you are? If they don’t like you for who you are, then fuuuuuuck them.  You don’t live in a world that revolves around them and you certainly don’t live to please them. Please yourself and only yourself. You’ll be happy once you’re your true self.
                Where is the originality these days though?

ESSAY: Going For The Look.

In the society we live in today, many companies use image as a way to attract customers into their stores. They use this method to lure customers. They hire specific people who can only help raise the number of customers. But these days, the employees are not the definition of what it’s really meant to be. To us, the customers, we see employees as people who help us and provide us with what we really need. To the business industry, they’re just a “model” to sell the merchandise. In the article, “Going for the Look, but Risking Discrimination,” Marshal Cohen believes that employees are one way to advertise the products, but I completely disagree with that. Everyone shops because they’re looking for new clothes, items and what not. We buy the things we like and things that are helpful for our daily life. We don’t just buy anything and we don’t buy things, just because someone else looks good in it.
When I go shopping, I could care less of how and what the employees are. They can be a male, a female, or a transgender. They can be Asian, African America, Mexican, or American. They can be short, tall, skinny or fat. They may or may not have the best appearances, such as having a nice body, flat stomach, nice curves, nice eyes or hair, has tattoos and piercings everywhere, or even have special needs. As long as I get a good service care, then I’m pretty content with the workers. What they do and how they look can’t change the quality of the item I want and they certainly can’t make a specific product better or worse. The way an employee looks like can’t always get a customer to buy their clothing. People buy clothes and shop at where they want to go at places that fit their style. Everyone has a different taste in clothes. If they like something they see, they’re likely to buy it. We all look different in different clothing. And if someone else is wearing something they like, it doesn’t necessarily mean that it’ll look nice on them as well. We buy clothes that we tend to look decent in, not others. Having an employee that has the “look” does inspire us to get the same look as them, but it doesn’t necessarily mean we’ll actually buy the clothing.
One of my favorite stores is Forever 21. Not because their employees has the “look” to work there, but because their clothes are actually affordable. Some of their really cute clothes come in the most reasonable price for me; therefore I shop there more often than any other places. But that’s not the only reason why I go there, but their clothes attracts my attention, making me want to go into their stores and see what else is in there. When it comes to Abercrombie and Fitch, they have topless guys outside their store, attracting girls to go in. I mean, sure it gets my attention and I eventually get dragged in there and honestly, they do have a nice body, but it doesn’t make me want to get something from there everything. Yes, I do like their clothes, but it’s not something I’d always want get. Take a look at their price. A simple colored tank top there can be up to $15, which is unnecessary. I can go anywhere to buy something like that for $5 or less. Can the employees at Abercrombie make everything cheaper in there? No, they can’t.
Another reason why I rather shop at Forever 21 is because I get better customer service there. People there are often walking around asking if you need any help, a bag to hold all your clothes, start a fitting room early and what not. They’re more welcoming to the customers, which everyone would want. I don't always get the same service at Abercrombie. Most of the time, they'll just welcome us in the front and ask if we're finding everything okay and that's about it. They're not always asking questions unless you do yourself.
Everyone should have an equal opportunity of getting a position for a job as well. Not everyone is born with “good appearances” and not everyone’s attracting to one another. They’re genetics and it’s not something you can change. Of course, it’s not illegal to hire specific people for the job, but it is discriminating. “If you’re hiring by looks, then you can run into problems of race discrimination, national origin discrimination, gender decimation, age discrimination, nation and even disability discrimination,” says Olophius Perry, direction of the Los Angeles office of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Getting discriminated for something you did not choose to get is unfair and judgmental. Employees who are chose to work may not have the skills to work as well. Giving good service care takes skills and choosing anyone from the main street that has the “look” is not always a good idea. Everyone should have the equal opportunity to work in a position in whichever job they prefer.

FREE: Homecoming!

Damn, tomorrow's October 14, which is our last homecoming! I remember my first homecoming as a Freshmen. Not many people were spirited in my class, since we were just babies in high school. When pep-rally came, you’d hardly saw gray and hardly anyone were cheering when they mentioned Class of 2012 & we got boo-ed by all the Upperclassmen. We were just so lost and confused with the surroundings. I remember seeing the Sophomores with their orange, Juniors with their green, and lastely, Seniors going all out with their red. They had air horns, flags, posters, red paint all over their body and whatnot. I remember just wanting to be Seniors already and just be able to "rule" the school already. During the homecoming game, we saw homecoming floats for our first time, but surprisingly we didn't lose, because those Juniors were disqualified.
Now this is it. Tomorrow’s our last homecoming. Finally, Senior year Homecoming & pepralley. I know we're all about to go all out with our air horns, posters, flats, and red all over. Time to boo all the underclassmen! HA. SOO, Don't forget to wear red tomorrow guys!

"CAUSE WE'RE GOING TO PARTY LIKE, LIKE IT'S THE END OF THE WORLD,  WE GONNA PARTY LIKE, LIKE ITS 2012!"

CE: Making some bank.

The economy in the United States has not improved one bit. It seems as if it’s getting worse day by day. Much unemployment is still in a desperate hunt for a job. Many employees are getting laid off every day. Of course, finding a job isn’t too easy, and when you do, sometimes minimum wages is still not satisfying. But it’s not only in the United States that’s having a hard time seeking for a job. Unemployment in the UK has reached its highest level in 17 years. More than two and a half million Britons are now currently out of work. This video is about James Franklin who wakes up every morning, hoping that he’ll find a job. He’s been jobless for about 2 years now. He goes to a local charity to use their internet faculties to see what jobs are hiring. Because there are so many employees looking for a job, they are getting paid less and are demanding more. Additionally, new rules say that unless people can prove they are looking for work for several hours a day they might get their benefits removed. British government says that everyone needs to stop moaning for a job and work harder. The government is obviously not helping. It’s not the people’s fault that they’re unemployed. Because everyone’s fighting for a job, looking for one is not easy. There might be an opening, but they have thousands of people to choose from to get that position. With such little job opportunities, getting the money to survive is getting difficult.

RE: Seriously?

A response to Kayluh's post.

“I don't understand why people can't tell you things straight up. Like why do you have to make things hella difficult and go around the question or just not confront the situation at all.”

I can hella relate to this. I can’t stand it when people aren’t straight up with stuff. If someone’s asking you something, wouldn’t you like a straight up answer rather than hearing excuses & them trying to avoid it? I mean how hard is it just to be honest and tell them like it is. It’s too obvious when people are trying to work their way around the questions and that pisses me off.

“I'd rather have someone tell me what was going on than having to wonder what's happening and what you're thinking. It would be so much easier if they told me what their feelings were.”

If something was bothering one of my friends, then I’d like to know. I’m not trying to be nosey and whatnot, but I would wanna hear what’s up and at least attempt to help them if they need any. I hate seeing someone down and it bothers me even more if I can’t do anything about it. Seeing them upset is the last thing I wanna see. I don’t mind if anyone has to vent to me. After all, it is better to let it out than having your situations bottled up and just explode one day.

FREE: I.JUST.WANNA.SLEEP.

I’m pretty jealous of pre-schoolers and kindergartners having nap time during school. I remember when I had it; I didn’t take advantage of it much though. I was always energetic back then, having more than enough hours of sleep at night. When I think back to those days, I picture myself just laying there, talking to others, attempting to sleep because the teachers would try to make us. They would tell us to shush every time someone tries to disrupt the class from napping. I was stupid. If my teachers tell me to shut up and sleep now, I’ll be the happiest kid on earth. I’ll definitely be able to knock out in no time. High School is the definition sleep deprived.

            I feel as if everyone is in need of sleep. I mean, I be seeing hella people dazing off in space and falling asleep as they try to keep themselves up during a lecture or something. The teachers just don’t understand how classes are so boring, how we’re always up for homework, and how we’re waking up early for school is making us lose our precious sleep. Studies shows that average Americans should get at least 7-8 hours of sleep. Most of us sleep for 4-5 hours at most and even 6 if we’re lucky. But that’s not me. I NEED my full 12 hours of sleep. Sleeping late and waking up for zero period is a pain in the ass. EVERYONE knows how much I enjoy my sleep. I can seriously sleep anywhere at any time. Name a place and I bet you I’ve had at least a 5 minuets nap there already.

            I wish high school had nap time still. You know how many people would take advantage of that? Basically everyone. We need us some sleeeeeeeeeeep.