The Strange Chicago Blog

I went home the other day already having a terrible day and expecting it to become even worse. I was getting into fights with my family the night before and I didn't think they had forgivin me yet. So, I went home and to my surprise everything was fine and it seemed like nothing even happened the night before at all. It was strange and I couldn't really comprehend what was going on so then I began to think and as I was thinking I realized that they are my family and are always going to be there for me and care for me. I always learn new things everyday and sometimes I just relearn the same things if I forget and I think yesterday was one of those times. Finally, from a regular event that happened a few days ago I relearned that family will always be there to forgive and love you.

Yazie's Life Soundtrack  1. My House by Flo Rida 2. Next To Me by Emelie Sande 3. Sunday Candy by Chance the Rapper 4. Stand By You glee version by Cory Monteith 5. Perfect by Simple Plan 6.This is Gospel by Panic! At the Disco These songs would be the soundtrack of my life because I think they all illustrate some type of important event in my life. For example My House is very important to me because It was playing on what so far has been the best day of my life with the people I love. Another example is, Next To Me by Emelie Sande and it was playing when I was going through one of the hardest times in my life and I just needed inspiration. So overall I think these songs just demonstrate v ery important times in my life wether happy or sad.

"The Dreamer" by Pam Munoz Ryan is a great fiction/fantasy book about a little boy and his views on life. Throughout the story it shows a little boy name Nafalti and how he is not like everyone else, he's a dream or visionary as some might say. He sees things in a different way than others. For example, a ocean isn't just a ocean to him, its another magical world that leads to a new adventure. He sees things differently like this throughout the story though his family is not so supportive of this. In the book you really see Nafalti grow and you have to read to find out what adventures he goes through and what his family says about it. This book overall was very intresting and very out of my comfort zone. I never would have pictured myself reading this book but I am glad I did! To see how the characters developed and story developed was amazing and very well written. It had twist and turns and was overall a good read. It goes through so many obstacles and yet tells

I was in lunch yesterday and everything was like normal just like dozens of days before but something happened. I came to a realization. We were in the lunch line when the simplest thing happened, I was talking and out of nowhere my best friend Luisa just started dying of laughter, figuratively of course. I didn't think I said anything funny but she obviously found something different. Then I decided to  analyze  the situation a bit longer and it hit me, something so simple can make someone laugh or make someone's day. I thought it was amazing, and to me it really showed that it's true what they say, it's the little things in life that really count. Overall, it may not have been a big thing or situation but with it did come a big lesson and realization.

End of the year!!! I honestly don't know wether to be sad or happy. Everyone is splitting up and going  seperate ways and it's getting hard to say goodbye. All the memories, courses, friends, and teachers will be missed. It will be hard to let go of middle school but at least I know that I have great things coming my way next year like high school and soon after hopefully will be college. Sometimes growing up is sad but other times it can be fun, though, with growing up comes more responsibility meaning, I have to be more organized which sometimes is a struggle. Despite everything,  middle school will be missed along with the people I have had to grow up with throughout the years.

In this blog post I am going to be very cliche and such a girl as some people would put it. I am going to tell you about one thing that really saved my life, and as you may know, its my boyfriend Sam. He saved me from a really hard time. I was broken down and afraid, fighting with my mom and having problems at home I didn't know what to do. Though, he showed me everything was going to be okay and that my perspective isn't nessasarily the only perspective. I honestly don't know what I would've done without him, I was so stuck in my own little world that I never realized maybe I need someone to help me with my problems. It really made me see that sometimes it's not always good to be alone and that we need people top help us with hard things that can potentially come crashing at our lives. All in all, Samuel really saved me from a hard time and helped me overcome all that darkness that was beginning to swallow me up and the funny part is, I don't even think he rea

My favorite subject is ELA because I've always had a passion for writing and reading a great story. It always makes me happy when I get a new book or have to write a narrative. I am always daydreaming and when I write my imagination can really come alive and run wild. Not only do I just love narratives but I also really love argumentative writing, I really enjoy a good debate. Within my writing I really try to implement  words that I Just learned or that might be harder for others. For example I would try to use words like Flabbergasted or Copacetic, something most people will wonder about and hopefully look it up to learn a new word. In conclusion, I just really love ELA and everything it has to offer!

All of the time I am categorized by being "white", but what does that really mean? When people look at me they don't ask me what is my ethnicity they just say I'm white, or make the assumption that I am. Though, the truth is, I'm not. I am a mixture of things and I don't just see myself as being white. It's not a bad thing to be white don't get me wrong but it's just not me. I wish people would ask me what ethnicity I am, because I would very explicitly tell them, but I guess I can't have it all. So, whenever someone chooses to call me white I'll just simply tell them what I see myself as, and if they can't except that then they're not worth my time.

This is a poem I wrote last year and was posted once before. I just loved it so much and thought it was very precise example of what's been going on lately and it also connects very well to the article that inspired it. This poem really means a lot to me and although it might not be the best it is still very close to my heart. It is about a man who killed another man for being a different race, in other words he killed someone for no reason. This also is very special to me because it's not another  cliche where the cop kills the African American instead it shows its not only cops who kill innocent people. The Article of Inspiration: Peter Liang What did he do? Did he hurt you? Was his skin color not good enough for you? Was the crayon green when it was supposed to be yellow? Brooklyn New York   Firing guns with no back up because you feel like it Are you kidding me? The nerve. Officer Peter Liang is the name Is that what you say? But how could you li

One of my most valuable possessions are my Lokai bracelets. A lokai bracelet is a bracelet made of rubber and has a black and white bead. The white bead has water from the highest point on earth, Mt. Everest. The black beak has mud from the lowest point on earth, the Dead Sea. The beads represent a meaning of balance, when you've reached a high, stay humble, when you've reached a low, stay hopeful. I love these bracelets because when I'm mad, happy, sad, angry, or anything I take a look at one of my bracelets and remind myself to stay balanced, and that balance is key. Overall, I really love these bracelets because they determinate   me on keeping my balance and remind me to be the best I can possibly be.

Fools Gold by Melody Carlson is about a Young Girl named Hannah who loses herself. She is a young girl from Australia and her parents are missionaries. She doesn't quite act the same and when her parents leave her with her uncle this summer, she truly realizes this maybe isn't the life she wants, or is it? In the book Hannah is faced with many obstacles and she really gets to see some natural ugly teenage drama. Throughout the book she is mortified numerous amount of times and for what? She then becomes face to face with a choice that can possibly really effect her in life. You have to read to find out the path she takes and if fitting in is worth loosing herself for. I really loved this book and thought it shared so many valuable lessons. Not only that but the book also displayed many issues and events that are so relatable and can effect you in a big way, especially if you're a teenager. I would give this book a 4 star rating out of 5 because I wish the ending had mor

Freedom Writers was a great movie. It had everyone's attention and was very eye opening. The movie really made you appricieate life and what we have. For example  many of these kids were very articulate and would say nearly everything that came to their mind which was really hard at first. Another example in the movie is that almost all the kids showed some sort of problem in their home life wether it was violent, homelessness, or even having choosing between family members. The movie showed that it was hard no matter what the situation is and that no matter what it's always better to try your best rather than just give up like many though of doing. Overall Freedom Writers was a amazing book and was an excellent choice by the teacher to show it because of its many lessons.

The movie is very similar to what we've been reading because it shows a lot of the same events. For example in the texts we've read it says that there were gas chambers and Jews who were worked to death which was demonstrated  in the movie when the man found all those bones or when they told him about what they do to kids. Another thing that was shown in the movie that was also shown in the articles were when the Germans thought their race was superior and when the Germans banned Jews from certain places like at the party the dad was a waiter at and the girl was saying Aryian children are superior. These examples show that the movie did a great job of displaying the horrible acts of the Germans to the Jews during the Holocaust. Not only were the actions the same between the movie and articles but also were the emotions. For instance in many of our articles it says that the Jews felt helpless, overworked, tired, and hungry, in the movie all of these feeling were shown by the J

"Forgotten" You wanton, quiet memory that haunts me all the while In order to remind me of her whom love I send. Perhaps when you caress me sweetly, I will smile, You are my confidante today, my very dearest friend. You sweet rememberance, tell a fairy tale About my girl who's lost and gone, you see. Tell, tell the one about the golden grail And call the swallow, bring her back to me. Fly somewhere back to her and ask her, soft and low, If she thinks of me sometimes with love, If she is well and ask her, too, before you go If I am still her dearest, precious dove. And hurry back, don't lose your way, So I can think of other things, But you were too lovely, perhaps to stay. I loved you once. Good-bye, my love!

This picture is displaying propaganda because it's trying to demonstrate to people not to bother speaking out and to just stay quiet instead. This picture is probably sending this message to the Jews, Gypsies, and Disabled people since they were the main targets during this time. For example on the website titled "German Propaganda Archive" to translate the poster it says,  “Shame on you, chatterer! The enemy is listening. Silence is your duty.” This shows that the Germans wanted to silence people and control them so much that they would be afraid to speak out. Overall this poster is a exmple of the Germans trying to control and silence the people by not giving them the voice they should have.

The Fiction book I read was I'll Give You The Sun by Jandy Nelson. I'll Give You The Sun was a realistic fiction book that was beautifully written. This book was about a set of teenage twins who are very different yet so alike in a weird kind of way. Ones artsy, quiet, and very in tact with his creativity, yet, the other is more sporty, loquacious , and popular. Then something happens unexpectedly and their world seems to turn upside down. Not giving to much away, overall, this is an amazing book written in two perspectives, both perspectives telling the same story in different times, to then come together to have big realization. I think I'll Give You The Sun was a great novel that really made me think about things in a very differnt way. This book had realistic problems that anyone can go through, these problems were so interesting and awful that you may have never even thought of them. Before reading this book I thought twins were pretty cool and that it would be awe

The Non-Fiction book I read was a autobiography titled  Bossypants by Tina Fey. Throughout the book it talked about Tina's life and how she got to where she is today. It describes her childhood and how she wasnt like a "typiocal girl", instead she was a tomboy and had to go through things on her own like her first period and her first crush. She then talks about her journey through improv and the different places she preformed like second city in Chicago. Later in the book she talks about how she started to perservere through challenges and different discriminations against her in certain skits. After she pushed through and started to get recongnized it resulted in her becoming famous. Overall this book was about Tina Fey's  journey to how she got to where she is and the steps she took to get there. I thought that Tina Fey's book Bossypants was phenominal ! It was funny, witty, entertaining, and so much more! I don't really like Non-Fiction books but I ca

When I was about six years old I thought it would be a good idea to convince my aunt to take me to Kiddie Land. Being so young and adorable I convinced her very easily, I also convinced her to take my favorite cousin Angie! It was all very exciting and I was so happy. When we decided to leave my cousin asked me if I wanted to race to the car. My aunt being the sweet lady she is said with great profundity said it was best not to race, so I did it anyways. As we were racing it felt so great, wind in my hair, laughter all around, and being around my loved ones, it was amazing. Then something happened, I suddenly didn't feel so great anymore it was like all the sunshine and rainbows had disappeared and turned into darkness. It was in that moment that I tripped on a rabbit hole and fell face first onto concrete breaking my nose. Blood was gushing everywhere and I couldn't stop crying! I felt so stupid and so ashamed knowing that if I would've listened to my aunt this would'

My famous person who I would personally love to meet would be the great Frank Sinatra himself. I would choose Frank because he is in my opinion one of the greatest musicians of all time, not only that but also such a interesting man who's been through so much. When meeting him I'd love to go where he writes his music to find out where he gets his inspiration and where all his ideas come from. I'd first ask him what was it like to create such amazing music? I'd then ask what was it like to be arrested at such a young age? One of my final questions for him would be if he had any regrets and if so, what were they? I would ask him that last question because it's nice to know that even someone so great had problems and things he wished he could fix or take back just like non famous people would. Overall, Frank Sinatra would be worth meeting because he was such an innovative person who had so much to offer and a phenomenal artist as well.

- Happiness is spending time with my friends - Happiness is dancing when I'm feeling down or like I don't belong - Happiness is singing when I'm sad - Happiness is re-watching glee and never getting tired of it - Happiness is when you have a friend who is almost as crazy as you are - Happiness is when someone knows when you're sad no matter how hard you try to hide it - Happiness is seeing my dog Marshmello after a long time - Happiness is getting into a really good book - Happiness is having someone by your side who really understands you - Happiness is trusting people - Happiness is relaxing after a hard day of work - Happiness is having #12 as my Volleyball number - Happiness is having at least one parent that loves you - Happiness is never feeling alone - Happiness is never giving up on what you believe in

Trait 1: The first trait that I think described Nick was having courage. I think Nick has courage because he was able to take his story and share it with the world even though it might've been difficult. Trait 2: The second trait that I think describe Nick was having the ability to preserve. Nick is very perserverent because he took how he was with no arms or legs and made it a positive thing and something that he learned to live with and is no in a way proud. Trait 3: The third trait I chose that described Nick was confidence. Nick has confidence because he's proud of who he is and embraces it instead of feeling bad for himself and hating life. Connection: Over the summer I got very sick and was told I may not be able to do certain things that I really love to do like dance or play Volleyball. Though I found a way to eventually work around this  and found away to do the things I love and do it safely. This relates to Nick because he was told he couldn't do things like f

The most impactful and inspiring commercial I saw this year was the Airbnb commercial. I think that this commercial was really powerful and inspirational because it just really showed how the world can be such a better place if people just accept one another. This commercial also described the different types of people in the world. For example their religion, ethnicity, who they want as a partner, and much more. I really think that this commercial was really just trying to show people that there are so many people in this world and theres no hiding it so we might as well get along. They're most likely trying to reach everyone who has a problem with people who aren't like them and looking for them to have a change of heart and make a difference in the world. Overall I chose the Airbnb commercial due to its powerful message of acceptance and its amazing way of demonstrating it! Airbnb Commercial

The best advise I've ever gotten was to make the most out of everything that happens to me. For example before living in Berwyn I would always be negative and never was really happy with my life. Though my father sat down with me and  explained  that the only way I could be happy was if I let things go and made the most of everything. After reminding myself and reminding myself I finally started to use my fathers advise and I've definitely noticed I am much happier. All in all my best advise was from my father about making the best of everything and whenever I get the chance I try to spread this great advise as well!

Based on my life and the Ted Talk video I think a area on my life that I need improvement on is thinking more positive before something happens. For example before I went to Volleyball tryouts I told myself I wouldn't make it being really negative before even touching a Volleyball. So, I think that instead of being negative I can do a power pose and become determined and keep telling myself positive things even though the actual me wouldn't probably be saying those things. Overall to become more positive and fix my negativity I can keep happy thoughts in my mind and do power poses to help!

The book I read for this blog was Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K Rowling. This book was about a young boy named Harry Potter who rarely has any social contact with others, is treated badly, and has no friends or family. Though, as the book progresses Harry finds out something that makes his whole life change for the better! After he finds out this life changing event he then has to change everything he knows and get use to new things, at first it is a struggle but Harry has no problem getting use to it. Although, after all these new changes and discoveries Harry makes two best friends along the way, Hermione and Ron, who help him get through any hardships that come Harry's way. Overall this book is about how a little boy named Harry who basically started off with nothing a progesses and goes on all these amazing adventures and some bad adventures as well with his two best friends by his side.

Where I’m from it isn’t all rainbows and unicorns. There’s no love and affection. Just hurt and disappointment. Times have changed though, people have changed, things have changed, I’ve changed. I'm from scars and bruises. Physically and mentally I'm from the  "I don't want you" to "you were a mistake." From hate and lies. From I'll see you later to never seeing you again. Where I’m from my cousin and I have been together since day one She is like my sister And we share a bond that no one can ever brake And last but not at all least where I’m from the sight of my family and friends bring instant joy. That meant I was free of all hardships and torture that was once there. And most of all where I’m from There is good in the bad And bad in good Though to tell which is which is for you to find out on your own.

Over this winter break to spread some kindness around the holidays I did many things. Although, the most important two were, helping my father cook and helping out a close family friend when he needed it. For example my father was supposed to cook dinner and desert for Christmas Eve but he was getting overwhelmed and so I suggested I make the desert so he wouldn't have to stress about it. Another example is when a close family friend named Trinidad came to my house on Christmas Eve because he was supposed to spend it with my uncle who passed away last year. He was very lonely and had nowhere to go so we invited him over. Though as he came over it was obvious he was feeling very heartbroken. I then determined that I should go to talk to him and as I did I interpreted all he really needed was someone to talk to. so I stayed and talked to him because I knew he just needed a shoulder to cry on and someone to be there for him. Overall this break I did two very nice things, I helped o