SOL #31: The Last Slice Of Life

I'm writing this a day before I post it just because I feel like it. I can just write about what kind of experience this was and then set a reminder for me to post it tomorrow. This Slice Of Life thing was pretty neat because you get to read everybody's origin stories and important events in their lives and such. Writing out blogposts daily for a reward seems cool until you feel like you're running out of ideas. With the seventy falcon dollars, you can buy yourself thirty-five days worth of recess. That's at least a month. Maybe I should start spending more using the SOL reward and the falcon dollars I already have.

SOL #30: Sticky Notes Are A Doodledaddler's Best Friend

Among all the doodledaddling tools I have, sticky notes are one of them. I use them quite often and are helpful in a variety of situations. They can be used for reminders or important notes. They can be used when taking a sheet of notebook paper out is too much work compared to taking out a sticky note from your pocket. I like to use them when I need to write something down or jot down a few notes. It's my personal preference to use sticky notes instead of a mini notebook or such.

SOL #29: A Cure For My Nostalgia

Call me childish but I have deep regards for old video games such as the old LEGO Star Wars and Batman video games. Those are the games I grew up playing before I got a PS4. I was thinking of buying one of these old video games for my PlayStation Vita (basically Sony's version of a Nintendo DS). I especially wanted "LEGO Batman: The Video Game," which was one of the classics. The problem was that this wasn't available for PS Vita. I had to settle for the sequel, "LEGO Batman 2: DC Super Heroes." It'll be good enough. I have a bunch of childhood memories from that one as well. It's not the first one but I'll settle.

SOL #28: My First Oktoberfest

My first Oktoberfest was last year's. My parents knew it existed but we never went. I was planning on going with my friends last year but there was one minor detail. By minor detail I mean issue that can ruin the fun and experience of being able to hang out with my friends. This detail was my mom. I don't mean any offense but I was honestly glad she didn't end up going with me. She was originally going to but then that morning she got mad because we were having issues with finding clothes for me to wear at an upcoming party for my sisters. Because she got mad, she lost track of time. When we got home from a few stores, she remembered that I told her I wanted to go out. Thankfully, she was sympathetic and let me go alone. By sympathetic I mean she probably thought I was supposed to be there by the time I told her that my friends would get there. Why didn't I want my mom to go? Because she would've been a killjoy. I believe that she would've been too strict when it came to things like what I bought or what games I played and a bit more.

SOL #27: The Old Xbox

We were all pretty young when the Xbox and PlayStation 1 and 2 was out. Me and my dad used to have our own Xbox. It was great. It was incredible even. I played the Incredibles video game which focused on events that took place right after the film's cliffhanger. It was one of my favorites but I wasn't too good at it. Another favorite was Need For Speed Hot Pursuit 2. I barely even remember the game but I know that we had it and I loved it. Me and my dad both loved cars and racing games. There was this basketball video game where I didn't play good but I pretended I was playing as Micheal Jordan and was winning. We also had a snowboarding video game which was really fun. These were the video games I played before I even had my own Nintendo DS.

SOL #23: Summer Goals

In sixth grade, my summer was basically just playing video games indoors. In seventh grade, my summer was playing video games with friends along with a few parties. I have several goals for this summer. One is to learn C++. C++ is a programming language used for programming and coding. I also want to expose myself brick coding, coding but you attach bricks instead of writing out lines of code. Along with those, I also want to get a few platinum trophies for my video games. I'm also thinking of getting out of the house more and spending more time with my friends.

SOL #26: The Journey And The Destination

Some people believe that it's all about the journey rather than the destination. The road you take is more fascinating that the place you're going to. I understand the saying and why people believe in it but I have a saying of my own. No, it's not "I know where you go for fourth block." It's that it's about both the journey and the destination. My biggest experience with this is going to Mexico for winter break. Yes, I enjoyed staying over in Mexico and riding ATV's. What I enjoyed just as much was the road trip there and back. I really liked sitting in one spot with my earbuds and music popped in. I get to see all the sights, terrain, roads, and buildings.

SOL #25: Platinum

I have a personal quest that I used to think was pointless and time consuming. I was inspired by Clement and his tales of having to play over his favorite video games over and over. This quest is to get the platinum trophies in my video games. Video games have trophies and achievements that you can acquire for fun. When you get all of the trophies, you get a special platinum ranked trophy. An example is "Destiny 2." I finished the story, I'm not getting the extra content, and my friends barely play it anymore. Why don't I just delete it? I actually did but then a friend of mine wanted to play with me so I downloaded it again. Now I'm focused on getting all the trophies so I can get the platinum and show Clement that he's not the only one who puts hours into video games for useless achievements.

SOL #24: 70 Falcon Dollars And A Field Trip Down The Drain

As the title suggests, the seventy falcon dollars and field trip that I was trying to achieve by doing SOL everyday is no longer an option. I didn't write out a slice of life yesterday. I'm not too bummed out about it. At least I get some falcon dollars for being able to write my slices of life for twenty days straight. We're nearing the end of the year anyway so I can start spending my falcon dollars on recess and betting falcon dollars in games of 8-ball with Maddie. I can give my leftover dollars to the seventh graders in Mrs. Larson's class. It was fun while it lasted but I don't really see the point of doing SOL if I can't get the falcon dollar award for ten days straight. SOL ends on the thirty first with is only eight days away. Again, I'll satisfy myself with the twenty day award.

SOL #22: Everyone Has A Dark Side

Everybody has a dark side. There’s little to no exceptions to this belief. I believe that everybody is hiding something about them intentionally or keeping something away that can harm someone’s reputation. When I say “dark side,” I mean an unexpected twist to somebody’s personality. For some people, this can be something that happened during their childhood. For others, it could be something far worse than just a childhood event. Even if you think you try to have no secrets, there’s always something that almost nobody except yourself knows.

SOL #21: How Epic Games Gets Away With What EA Can't (Part 1)

In this first part of the topic, I'll be describing what EA tries to do with the video games they publish and how much their plans backfire. Electronic Arts (EA) is famous in the gaming world for publishing games such as "Plants VS. Zombies," "Star Wars Battlefront," the latest "Battlefield" games, and many more. As of late, the public's trust in EA and EA's reputation have dropped to an all time low. This all started with "Mass Effect Andromeda." The "Mass Effect" series was a huge favorite for many gamers. The latest title in the series let down fans by giving them a rushed game. Rushed video games usually mean bad news. The content, and in this case the facial animations, of the game won't be at its full potential. Rushed games also mean that important pieces of the game's story will be sold as extra downloadable content (DLC). If you pay $60 for a video game for its story, you probably wouldn't want to pay an extra $30 for something that was supposed to be in the game that you payed $60 for already.

This was only the start of EA's downfall. Their next huge mistake, which caused a bigger outburst than the last, was micro-transactions. The series that they picked on this time was "Star Wars Battlefront." The sequel was released and sold for the standard $60. What ticked people off this time was the multiplayer mode. Many people like "Battlefront" because they can use fictional characters from the movies to fight against opposing players. EA however locked these characters behind paywalls. In order to buy them, you could use your real money to buy them or pay a huge amount of in-game currency. The problem with the currency was that you didn't earn much per match and you needed a lot to buy the characters. The in-game currency was of course sold for real money as well. Gamers eventually found a way to tie a rubber band around their controllers so that the game would think someone was behind the wheel but in reality, your character was probably just moving around in circles. Rubber band or not, the currency earned was around the same. Micro-transactions are implemented in many other games which don't get the same hate that EA does. The difference is that EA took it too far.

SOL #20: Potato Hotspot

As of right now, I am typing my slice of life on my phone. If you’ve read my previous post, I’m using my phone to connect my devices to the internet. I connected my computer to my mobile hotspot but there was no internet. I couldn’t get to Blogger. The good thing is, I have a bookmark on my phone’s home page for Blogger that automatically logs me in. This saves me the hassle of manually logging in.

SOL #19: The Thing About Study Guides

Today in STEM Physics, we reviewed our tests. There was something on the first page of our packets that ticked many of us off. Earlier, we did a study guide with questions from the test. On that study guide, we had a multiple choice question and figured out which was the correct answer. On the test, we had the same exact question and roughly the same answer choices. The right answer on the test was different than the one we chose on the study guide. We did the study with our physics teacher so he gave us and walked us through the answers. I even have pictures of both the test and study guide and a voice recording with our physics teacher's response to our outrage.

SOL #18: No WiFi

It's been a whole week without WiFi. My dad didn't pay the bills so I have to resort to using a mobile hotspot on my phone. My computer, PS4, and when PARCC is over, my iPad, has to use my phone as its makeshift modem. It's not as bad as I thought. Connecting devices to my phone's hotspot can be tricky but after that, I have almost no trouble at all. I can write my blogs and play video games with the hotspot. My only main issue is my PS4. I'm a PlayStation Plus member which not only means I can play multiplayer video games but I also get two free games each month. This year, I got "Ratchet & Clank," and "Bloodbourne." I wanted to download the latter and see how difficult the game was for myself but downloads take an eternity. On Friday, I had to update one of my video games in order to play with my friend. The update file was around 1.25 gigabytes but it took around twelve hours to download. For now, I'm stuck with the games already on my PS4 until my dad switches to a different internet provider. Xfinity's prices were raised to the point that we were paying around $100 a month including Netlix.

SOL #17: Procrastination

Normally, I would’ve done my slice of life  earlier but I’ve been busy today. And by busy, I mean I’ve been out of the house with my family, babysitting my sister, and playing video games. It’s become routine for me to defer my work until the last moments. If it wasn’t for Slice Of Life, is be playing video game right now without worrying about homework. I know that SOL is voluntary but I’d really like those seventy falcon dollars. I’m not sure how many falcon dollars I have but I don’t think it’s a lot compared to the average HMS student. The field trip is another bonus. I don’t know how long the field trip takes but if I get to skip a school day, then I think it’s worth it.

SOL #16: 7th Grade Flashbacks

There's so many things from last year that I wish I could relive. One of them is playing video games with friends. I bought "Need For Speed Rivals" because Clement and Julian Estrada, a former HMS student, had it too. I know I only got the game to play with them but I think it was worth it. I had fun racing Clement and Julian. We'd use abilities and powers that you could equip on your cars to wreck each other. They were able to do more things in the game since they always had better cars and could use tricks that they'd practiced more than me.

I'd also play a lot of "Call of Duty: Black Ops III" with a bunch of kids that I got to know around the school. We'd have fun free-for-all matches or one v one's fought with sniper rifles. The point of these guns in both real life and video games is distance, penetrability, and damage. Of course, these matches were fast-paced and there has little to no time at all to find a safe spot and aim. The fun in these matches was in being able to fight in close-quarters. If I wasn't doing homework, I was playing video games with some pretty cool kids. I don't play as much with most of them anymore but I miss the fun from those moments.

SOL #15: Mrs. Navolio Vs. Mrs. Given

I think I speak for Lorin, Dylan, Lalli, and me when I say that Mrs. Navolio's math class is way better than Mrs. Given's. Last year, I had Ms. Given with Dylan and Lorin. I'll admit that I've learned in that class. My problem wasn't the lessons but the class itself. Mrs. Given was pretty strict. I mainly remember her making us show our work, something I'm not a big fan of. I'm pretty sure the point was to get the answer using math. It's not a big deal if I get the right answer and show enough but not all of my work, right? To Mrs. Given, it was. Basically almost every single equation or operation had to be written down.

Mrs. Navolio's class is way different. I have Lorin, Dylan, and Lalli in my calss. Mrs. Navolio knows that we go to STEM at Morton. After only one or two of the topics that she taught the class, she let us sit at our own cool kids table for some of quarter one, and all of quarter two. After that, two of us sit at one table with two other kids and the other two cool kids sit at another table with three other kids. Ever since sometime around the beginning of quarter two, we only had the main objective of doing everything in Summit. Basically, we do self-paced lessons on a bunch of 8th grade topics. I, Lorin, and Dylan finished all the main lessons (I'm not sure if Lalli finished too.) Now we get to do work for other classes or read. My favorite way to spend my free time in this class is just turn on some music and think about life while I read or do a slice of life.

SOL #14: Running Out Of Ideas

I know we're not even halfway done with the month but I, like many others, am running out of ideas. I'll admit I still have one topic that can be used for at least two slices of life but besides that, I think I'll have no good slice of life ideas by March 20th. I told this to Vince and Dylan and now I'm going to use my own piece of advice. Why don't I just write about running out of ideas. The whole point of Slice Of Life is basically just to write every day of the month. All I need to do is just fill one or two paragraphs about ideas or the lack of ideas that I feel that I have and I'm done. See what I did there?

SOL #13: Tax Refunds

I saw this idea on a padlet and I thought it would be nice to use the idea. What would I do with my tax refund? Some people like having small chunks of money taken from their paychecks so that they get it back during tax season. Others like to have their paychecks without taxes but then pay all of that back during tax season. I prefer the former because that turns tax season into a second Christmas. I'd probably put most of it in a savings account but keep a good chunk with me. That chunk could be used for just about anything. I don't really know how much money I'll spend on whatever in the future.

SOL #1: ATVs On The Wrong Side Of The Road In Mexico (Part 2)

Me and my cousins were on our way to the ranch. It wasn't too long before we started driving on good old Mexican red soil. In video games and movies, off-road driving is rough. There's crazy turns and uncontrollable cars and such. In reality, off-road driving is just driving on a really bumpy road that gets your outfit dusty. The black hat I brought from Mexico probably still has ranch dust.

The way we were taking was familiar becuase I've driven there before with my dad. Eventually, my cousins started taking a buunch of wrong turns and we ended up lost on the ranch. They called my uncle for instructions and we started driving again. We drove out of the ranch into a highway that I haven't seen before. With the traffic, there was no way we could go to the right side of the road.

I like to say that I drove an ATV on the wrong side of the road in Mexico to grab people's attention. When people hear that, they probably think I was driving fast and dodging oncoming cars like a maniac. This isn't at all what happened. We went slow and drove on the shoulder of the highway. We eventually found another entrance into the ranch and went to my sister's birthday party.

SOL #11: My “Destiny” Obsession

From fifth grade to the end of last year, I was obsessed with a video game series called “Destiny.” A friend told me about it and I thought it looked really cool. Who doesn’t like fighting big bad aliens around the solar system and playing that one really hard mission over and over just for a few in-game consumables, right? I bought the first game in the series and all the extra downloadable content (DLC) which made me spend either seventy or ninety dollars.

The sequel was available for pre-order last summer. I pre-ordered it just for in-game bonuses and to play a demo of the game a day earlier than the people that didn’t pre-order. Months later, trailers and news about the first DLC for “Destiny 2” came out. Before, I thought I’d probably buy all the DLC but I thought about why I shouldn’t. Bungie, the creators of “Destiny,” was going to do the same thing they did with the last game. Release two DLCs in the first two years of the game’s release, then impress everybody with a special DLC in the third one, and try to do the same with the forth one but screw up and resort to pre-order bonuses. That’s when I decided not to spend any more of my money on “Destiny.”

SOL #10: Saturdays

Saturdays for me have changed since the time we came back from Mexico. My mom's dream is to become a teacher so she's taking classes at Morton College. She signed up for one on Saturday mornings, which means me and my dad have to take care of my sisters (and we all have the house to ourselves) until around two in the afternoon. This would be great for me because then I'd be able to play video games all morning. I said "would" because my dad also has to go somewhere on Saturday mornings. I think he was asked to make an extra room (a confessionary) in a church downtown in Chicago. He usually takes until eleven or twelve in the morning, but that can seem like days when I'm stuck babysitting my sisters. At first, everything is perfect. My sister's will be watching Netflix or playing on their little tablets for the first half hour. After that, a problem like my sisters not being able to decide who picks the next movie/TV show or the little one (Lucy) being jealous of Gaby because she's using her school iPad. I'm honestly not good with children. I don't know how babysitters do it. Either way, I manage to survive the few hours before my dad comes home. After that, I play video games for a couple of hours. Sometime between one and two, I start my weekly cleaning routine. When I'm done cleaning, I start my homework or start reading. This way, my mom comes home to me looking like a responsible young man doing his homework.

SOL #9: ATVs On The Wrong Side Of The Road In Mexico (Part 1)

One of the favorite things I did in Mexico was ride an ATV. My Dad had one that my uncle kept locked up in a garage, along with another ATV that belonged to one of my uncles. Me and a couple of my cousins would ride them constantly. I was even allowed to drive by myself, as long as my cousins were also driving. I'll admit, my cousins get wilder on the ATV than they usually are. Sharp turns, high speeds, and public roads are all routine for them.

It was my sister Lucy's birthday party. My family decided to celebrate at a ranch that some of my aunts and uncles live at. We were given permission to take the ATVs to the ranch as long as we drove on terrain instead of public highways. To get to the ranch with a normal car, you have to drive on this highway that actually goes to the city's exit. The ranch isn't beyond the town but you still need to take that highway. My uncle told my cousins where to drive and what turns to take and such. I couldn't understand all of what they were saying but I could tell that my cousins were having trouble understanding the directions. Either way, we got on the ATVs, me using my dad's ATV and my cousins taking turns driving the other one. And that's how it all began.

Poetry Reflection

1- Poetry has a significant place in my life. Whenever I feel like expressing how I feel about a conflict in the present or past, I might write a poem in private. I keep these poems in the Google Drive of my personal email. These poems mainly express how I feel about the past which make them a part of me. I wouldn't say poetry is a huge piece for exactly everybody. Take Dylan for an example. He made a haiku about not wanting to write more poems. I assume that there's people in the real world such as Dylan that don't like expressing themselves with poetry. Different people probably express themselves in different ways, like using prose to write how they feel or drawing out their emotions.

2- Poets can use past events and experiences of their life to influence the poems they make. Many people use significant events like the death of a loved one or discrimination or something else they faced. Strong and intense feelings of regret or happiness or melancholy can also affect poems. Robert Frost and his poem, "The Road Not Taken," is an example of this. The poem is about decisions and Robert hints at the fact that he regrets not picking a certain choice. A real life decision that Robert experienced and him choosing the path that he did could've led to him writing this poem. Events of the past influence poems because these are usually their personal idea mines that they use for writing poems. Sometimes poets just want to express themselves and how they feel in the present so they use conflicts that they are currently facing as well.

3- "Childhoods" By Angel Hernandez
Childhoods
They're many things
They can be plain fast food burgers
or a sweet chocolate bar
that you want to keep swirling in your mouth
They can be Warheads
Sour for a while
but sweet all the way after

Distant memories
that everybody misses
and thinks about every once and a while
The ones that shape and mold
clay into people
The favorite part of some people's songs
that they want to listen to
again and again

-The idea behind this poem is childhood. Things like candy, clay, music, and food is used to compare childhood using metaphors. This is to express certain ideas like childhoods being the favorite part of some people's lives or childhoods being sour at times but also sweet. The way that these metaphors are structured into these two stanzas adds to the meaning because it makes the metaphors sound reminiscent. The first stanza mainly compares childhood to sweets. The second stanza is more about what people think of childhood and how people miss it every now and then.

"Good Bones" By Maggie Smith

Life is short, though I keep this from my children.
Life is short, and I’ve shortened mine
in a thousand delicious, ill-advised ways,
a thousand deliciously ill-advised ways
I’ll keep from my children. The world is at least
fifty percent terrible, and that’s a conservative
estimate, though I keep this from my children.
For every bird there is a stone thrown at a bird.
For every loved child, a child broken, bagged,
sunk in a lake. Life is short and the world
is at least half terrible, and for every kind
stranger, there is one who would break you,
though I keep this from my children. I am trying
to sell them the world. Any decent realtor,
walking you through a real shithole, chirps on
about good bones: This place could be beautiful,
right? You could make this place beautiful.

The structure in this poem compares and contrast the good and the bad in this world. This poem also uses the repetition of "though I keep this from my chilldren." The meaning behind this is that the world has something unfortunate for everything good. There's as least as much bad as there is good. The poet also explains that she is metaphorically trying to sell the world to her children like the way realtors sell homes that aren't worth their price to customers. Both the customers and the poet's children can make the house or world a better place. The main structure used to support the message is showing something positive in life followed by something negative. The poet goes on to say that these are the facts that she doesn't tell her children because she wants them to make the world beautiful.

Free Choice
Bio-Poem
Where I'm From
Spine Poem
Found Poem
Nonsense Poem
Apology Poem
Choices Poem

SOL #8: The Gum Connoisseur Part 2

Orbit really isn't the best brand. At least not when it come to mint. If you want real mint gum, get 5 Gum. It has good taste and a kind of sting in your mouth. I prefer flavored gum because there's already such a thing as normal mints. When it comes to flavored gum, there's two kinds. There's traditional flavored gum, and then there's the one-of-a-kind Hubba Bubba. Hubba Bubba is basically the world's longest stick of gum rolled into a circle. You unwrap that circle of gum and rip out your preferred length. The texture and taste of Hubba Bubba is in my opinion the best brand out there. The most common flavor is bubble gum but there's also other flavors like a berry mix and orange-y flavor.

Spicy gum is a whole new story. I haven't had any since my stay-over-at-my-grandparents'-house-on-four-day-weekends years. I remember Red Hot gum as just sticks of gum that bring a punch to your mouth. I'm not sure why it exists. We already fruity and berry mix flavors and mint gum. If you want something spicy and actually good then eat a bag of spicy chips or drink some hot sauce or something.

SOL #7: The Gum Connoisseur

Every is a connoisseur for something. For some people, it's computers or video games. For others, it could be food. For me, it's gum. I know it's called chewing gum and it's supposed to last you more than just ten minutes but I chew it for the flavor. One of my favorite brands and flavors is Trident's Tropical Fruit gum. I chew one stick for five minutes and it loses its flavor. That's when I wrap open another stick. Bigger wad of gum, more flavor. I usually go up to three or four sticks at most. I know that I'll end up spending a fortune on gum but isn't that why they sell value packs that save you four dollars per pack at Cost-Co?

Being an obsessive gum chewer, I know all about different types and brands of gum. I'm writing this chewing Orbit's Peppermint which isn't good on my standards for mint gum but better than Sweet Mint and Spearmint. Orbit mint gum isn't that good because of its half-stale texture and lack of that sting you get in your mouth when you chew real mint gum. They didn't have Trident at Cost-Co so I'm stuck with Orbit for the next two weeks.

SOL #6: The Netflix Loophole

Recently, I asked my dad to help me out with our Netflix account. I had the account logged in on my PS4 and I mainly used it to watch “The Office” and whatever else I wanted to in private. I was going to watch another episode of “The Office” when I was prompted to either log in to start a free trial. I tried possible emails and passwords yet none worked. I couldn’t believe it. I’d have to eat my Flaming Hot Cheetos with nacho cheese while watching “The Office” in the living room. I asked for help and after a grueling while, we were able to change the password and write down the login details. I was happy. I could now watch whatever I wanted to in the privacy of my own room. I can wake up and sneak an episode in my morning routine. This happiness was short-lived as my dad came back downstairs with bad news. My mom didn’t want me watching Netflix on my PS4.

This was just like the time she said I couldn’t have an antenna for television. I tell myself that she probably thinks I watch “Criminal Minds” in my spare time. I’d watch that with my dad when I wasn’t even in sixth grade. In all reality, she doesn’t want me watching anything she thinks is inappropriate for me. It’s funny when I think that because she knows I like “The Office” but she thinks “Friends” is too inappropriate.

It was a bummer that I couldn’t have Netflix on my PS4. Not too long after, I thought of a solution. If I had the correct email and password, I can just use the app. I can then watch whatever I want, whenever I want. They’ll probably only find out if they see the app on my phone, but I have it well hidden on my phone. Mom, you were close, but no cigar.

SOL #5: Christmas Traditions

Every family has their own traditions and ways they celebrate Christmas. Some families celebrate it the day of, and many others, like mine, celebrate at midnight on Christmas Eve. My family tends to celebrate with my mom's family. Both families go to church at midnight. On Christmas, church takes up around one or two hours. After church, we all drive to my grandparents' house. There, we all get together and eat posole. Posole is a Mexican soup made with chicken, white hominy, and red, spicy soup.

While we're there, we watch Christmas movies on Netflix or TV stations. After we're done eating, we exchange gifts. When I was younger. I'd sleepover at my grandparents' house with the new toys I got. I'd have so much fun staying over because I was away from home and playing with toys and board games. Now I'm older and there's barely anything fun to do besides play the video games that my uncles have. I have my own PlayStation so I never feel like playing their games unless I want to play the games that my parents wouldn't let me play. Times have changed but I have fond memories of Christmas at my grandparents' house.

SOL #4: Nostalgic Video Games

When people think of old video games that bring them nostalgia, they think of old shooter games or retro puzzle games, or Super Nintendo games. When I think of the games I used to play, I think of my old Nintendo DS, Diddy Kong Racing, LEGO Batman, and LEGO Star Wars. I got my DS, I also got LEGO Batman and Star Wars. These games were a major part of my childhood.

Old LEGO video games were usually made up of three to six parts or chapters. Each chapter had around three to five levels. LEGO Batman had six chapters total. Three of them were in Batman and Robin's perspectives while the other three were playable by the perspectives of the villains that were featured in the chapters. For example, The first chapter stars The Riddler. The hero mode of the game had you play as Batman and Robin. The villain mode let you play as the villains in the same chapter such as The Riddler. Another chapter let you play as the Penguin and the third let you play as the Joker.

SOL #3: Video Games And Real World Lessons

Many people think that most video games in the market are violent for today's teens. From the way I see it, many of these violent video games have important lessons for the real world. Sometimes themes are incorporated into video games as a part of the plot for the game. Sometimes the themes aren't important to the game but are something extra to learn or take away from.

A commonly used theme I'd like to talk about is revenge. "Watch Dogs," made by Ubisoft and released in 2014, was a game that had a story focused mainly on just that. The player learns that the protagonist, Aiden Pearce, had a niece that was killed by an assassin. The assassin was supposed to kill Aiden but he screwed up and now Aiden's niece is dead. Because of his past and an empty hole in him for revenge, Aiden gets to work on finding out who ordered the hit on him and why.

While he goes on his unforgiving rampage, Aiden works with a young hacker. I forgot to mention that the game takes place in a smartphone equivalent of a city. The game is centered on Chicago if Chicago had everything controlled by a private company and corrupt politicians. Sewers, cameras (which are placed basically everywhere, even inside homes without people knowing), traffic lights, locks, and more are controlled by one software. The young hacker helps Aiden hack almost everything in Chicago to solve his unsolved questions.

The hacker that Aiden works with is eventually killed. You may have heard the phrase "an eye for an eye makes the whole world blind." A lot of people die just to satisfy Aiden's revenge. This doesn't really happen in the game but a relative or friend of one of those victims could go on the same killing spree that Aiden has, making a cycle of revenge and death.

That's one theme that "Watch Dogs" focuses on. Another theme is technology and its vulnerability. The software controlling Chicago was easily hacked by you. This applies to any computer or software in the real world. Every piece of technology can be hacked in some way. Computers, drones, car radios, TV's, even smart homes are just a few of the targets. "Watch Dogs" illustrates what could happen if we had smart cities. They can be easily controlled by authorites but can be hacked almost as easily. The last mission in the game shows what would happen if a maniac gained full control of a city. Sewers and steam pipes bursting everywhere, traffic lights going haywire, and bridges rising at the most unfortunate moments are just some of the possibilities. This is just one video game with a couple of important themes that many deem violent.

SOL #2: The Pop Tarts

Me and Maddie used to play a 8-Ball Pool online a lot. Last year, I went to a party at a church in downtown Chicago. We were celebrating a priest's birthday. There wasn't much for me to do besides play on my phone so I decided to challenge Maddie to a game of 8-Ball. Back then, I lost my stash of falcon dollars and I was running low so I'd challenge her all the time to make bets of two falcon dollars per game.

Maddie decided to play as well. After a while no longer than ten or fifteen minutes, Maddie wins. She's the better 8-Ball player. We were both bored so we texted for a while. Out of the blue, she says she wants Pop Tarts. She tells me that she's in bed and they were a few inches away. Apparently, a few inches is too far for Maddie to reach. The next day, she tells me something hard to believe. Everything she texted and did last night was in her sleep. She beat me at an online game of 8-Ball Pool in her sleep. She carried on a conversation in her sleep.  She craved Pop Tarts in her sleep. There weren't even any Pop Tarts at her house at all. (She told me that too, I'm not sure if there's actually any Pop Tarts at her house.)

"The Doodledaddler" (Nonsense Poem)

"The Doodledaddler"

Key
Doodledaddle: To acquire a very interesting piece of information about somebody, usually a phone number or where somebody lives, which is usually obtained by coincidence.
Tabblace: Restaurant
Deedling: Spying on or looking at people out of curiosity
Fiddlewiddling: Doodledaddling on a low level (getting somebody’s phone number or social media username without their knowing)
Foodledawdling: Doodledaddling on a high level (legit and illegal stalking, like actually following somebody home on purpose)
Ring Ring Info: Phone number
Spin Spin Click Thingy: Locker
Toodledoo: Chat

The doodledaddling.

I started at a young age

Four years ago

But everybody found out about it 

Last school year.

It runs in the blood, really.

I see it more commonly with my mom.

Accidentally going to the same tabblace

As the school principals,

Or deedling the people outside her window.

I mostly doodledaddle by coincidence,

But many think I don’t.

You can ask me to doodaddle somebody,

So long as it’s fiddlewiddling

And not foodledawdeling .

Someone’s ring ring info

Or their spin-spin-click thingy.

Maybe even who they tooddledoo with

And their social life.

Of course, don’t expect me to find other things

Like where do they go on Friday afternoons

Or find their house keys

Or where they hide the Pop Tarts.

The image shows some of my doodledaddling gear. My favorite sweater is black and has four pockets, three with zippers. These pockets can be used for sticky notes, pens, pencils, power banks, and chargers. Above the sweater is a plain black hat that I got in Mexico. There's also my dad's glasses which I rarely use and a red pointer and flashlight to the left. Finally, there's a radio that I got in Mexico which also serves as a bluetooth speaker. Every good doodledaddler has his or her own tunes to doodledaddle to.

"An Opportunity To Learn"

“An Opportunity To Learn”

It was an informational meeting
at Morton’s cafeteria
that explained enough details
to let us decide.

Should we go to STEM,
Waking up around six in the morning
For two hours of math and physics?

Or should we not go
And enjoy our sleep
and normal school days.

Personally, I like waking up early
I’d miss out on excel
And half of my first block
But it was worth it

Two hours of math and physics,
The types of topics that I wouldn’t learn at Heritage.
Waking up earlier than almost everybody else
And learning things that I’ve never known before
While being with some of my best and closest friends.

If I’d chosen not to go,
I still wake up early for fun
But without the extra lessons
And spending time with my friends

I chose the better option for me
And I’ve learned so much since then.

"The Morton Debate"

"The Morton Debate"

I have insulted
the high school
that you are going to
next year

the one that
everybody else
goes to
as well

the one that
you took
pride
In

Forgive me
not everybody is
an intellectual
and your salty reactions
were pretty hecking
hilarious

If you want context, I was expressing my thoughts and opinions on Morton High School. Of course, not everybody agrees with the same ideas so I became Public Enemy Number One for the cool kids for the rest of that week.

Childhoods

Childhoods
They're many things
They can be plain fast food burgers
or a sweet chocolate bar
that you want to keep swirling in your mouth
They can be Warheads
Sour for a while
but sweet all the way after

Distant memories
that everybody misses
and thinks about every once and a while
The ones that shape and mold
clay into people
The favorite part of some people's songs
that they want to listen to
again and again

SOL #1: Childhood Memories

Every now and then, I like to think about my childhood and how much I long for it. They were simple days. I'd get home from school, finish an easy worksheet for homework, and then have free time to myself until my bedtime. Free time for me was usually playing with Lego bricks and action figures while watching TV. I remember watching PBS Kids and Qubo, the TV stations that kids would watch if they didn't have cable. I'd play with Lego bricks from sets and make my own things like spaceships and other vehicles. The things I made meant a lot to me.

Back then, a year or even a month was an eternity. It seemed to have never come. Nowadays they just keep coming. 7th grade was almost as slow as other years. This year is different. It went by too fast. It's hard to believe that we're in the third quarter when it feels like we should be at the middle of the second. I feel like an entire half of the year just decided to speed itself up. It'll feel like a month of my childhood went by from now until summer. It's funny how all of that works. The elementary school version of me felt that time was too slow. Now I feel that time is too fast.