"Some people feel the rain. Others just get wet.” ~ Bob Marley


There’s a spiritual side behind the rain. The clouds come together and waltz and let their tears glisten the dry ground with their happiness. The ground lets itself be nourished by the water for a brief moment. It lets the rain deceive itself because there is no more strength to deal with reality. The dancing becomes a dynamic bass, revolting against the delicate posture. Da-doom. Ba-doom. The tension increases, clouds rubbing against one another. Static, tension, pressure. All has reached its climax. A bolt of lightning breaks free and the clouds whirl. No regrets on letting the fire ruin its fun. The ground lets the drops molest it. The rain cuts and bruises the skin with no mercy. The earth lets go. It takes the beating without regards. 


It gets wet. 


-Cynthia S.

“I put all my genius into my life. I put only my talent into my work.- Emerson

Genius vs. talent. I sometimes feel like geniuses are so irreparably nuts it is impossible for them to channel it into actual, productive work. The fact that Steve Jobs was actually able to put all of his creative genius into the very thing I am typing on right now is pretty unbelievable for me. Genius loves crazy. I agree with Emerson that, in order to actually create work, one has to put aside genius and focus simply on the good, ol’ talent. Genius is like talent’s little ADHD sister.



Writing about this now though makes me sad, because it makes me realize that I myself am not currently a genius, nor will I be in the years to come. If anything, the amount of information NYU makes me retain will only put me in a deeper downward spiral. The only hope left for me is talent, which I maybe have. And I mean maybe like: my mom told me one time I was a good writer and my sister tells me I have nice clothes. But, am I really going to change the world? I’m gonna write it a poem or something? Give a few people some nice outfits? Well, now everything just seems really depressing. I should probably just get out of my seat, head towards the door, walk out, and “be the change I want to see in the world”. The thing is, I never really liked that quote. It’s so subjective. Like, the change you want may not be the change an 80-year-old man in the Philippines wants to see. Whatever, i’m over this. I’ve reached the end of the page and I’ve managed to fully drive myself crazy. Maybe I’m genius?


-Kelsey Garcia

I have my faults but changing my tune is not one of them."

Isn't our vice that makes us who we are? Take Kanye for example. Great singer, great beatmaker but all that match his big ego. He sings about the money and the girls he is getting but then again what rapper doesn't?  But Kanye's ego is just something else. You don't really see an artist getting up on stage to interrupt another artist or wearing Louis Vuitton all the time and bragging about himself 24/7. Everybody knows and respects Kanye because of his flaws. Flaws make us who we are and I'm pretty sure they are elicited by society not ourselves. I mean, what is Ne-Yo without a hat? or Nicki without her wigs? What's Kanye without an ego? What is human without flaws?
Flo!!

“All our final decisions are made in a state of mind that is not going to last.”

-Marcel Proust

Every thing we do, each decision we make whether it be split second or well though out relies on how we feel at that given moment in time. Who here can honestly tell me that they have been thinking with unwavering rationale for their entire lives? I know I would be lying if I claimed to that. When you’re five you don’t know what to care about, when you’re ten you care about yourself and what other people tell you to care about, when you’re 16 still care about yourself, probably above all other things, and what people think of you, and when you’re 18 you don’t know what to care about nut whatever it is you were totally caring about it before everyone else was. And what you care about greatly effects your choices. While they may seem concrete at the time, everything is transcendent, nothing is beyond the reaches of change and influence. Especially not in when you’re 18.

“The real problem is what to do with the problem-solvers after all of the problems are solved.” -Gay Talese

the problem: a young black boy walking around with his hood up

problem-solver: the neighborhood watch for a suburban community in Sanford, Florida

solution: shooting and in effect killing the young man

Nearly a month and a half ago one of the most publiciczed shootings of a non-elite occured: the tragedy of Trayvon Martin. The 17 year old boy was shot supposedly out of selfdefense by the 20-something George Zimmerman. He was not held by police at first, which upset many people, however, that is now the last thing on their minds. There was talk of racial profiling, slurs, and the great question was it really “self-defense.” The boy’s parents spoke out, words of sadness and horror came rolling out of their mouths, instantly gainig the sympathy and embrace of the American public. They just wanted an arrest, to see that the justice system was working – even for the black community where it has so often proved otherwise. “Its not going to bring Trayvon back” they said but its better than passing over him.

problem: the unwarranted death of an innocent boy

problem solver: the justice system of the state of Florida

solution: arrest made of one, George Zimmerman on charges of 2nd degree murder

The real problem is what to do with the problem-solvers after all the problems are solved.

Well, everyday arises new problems, that needs to be solved. Some problems take longer than others to solve, but after solving all the problems, the problem solvers have a problem to solve. They are out of a job unless a problems arises. So what do they do? They create an even bigger problem so that they may keep busy. That's how the world goes round, although problems have not come to stay, problems are created to keep the problem solvers, solving problems.

It is only shallow people who do not judge by appearances. The mystery of the world is the visible, not the invisible.

Warren Harding wasn't a particularly intelligent man whose hobbies included drinking, gambling, and womanizing. However he was also irresistibly good looking. By using his appearance, Harding steadily advanced from local Ohio politics to the presidential seat. Harding was the epitome of elegance, grandeur, and radiated all that was presidential. Most historians agree that he was also the worst president in the history of the United States. Our first impressions present us with an evil in society. They make judgements for us, before cognition even has the ability to process what we perceive. Did you know that an extra inch of height in the corporate world is about $789 a year, and that Ted Bundy - rapist and murderer was extremely handsome. Judgment is part of us - we process it before anything else. It is our job to try to piece together the things we see with what we don't. The mystery lies within the gap.

It is only shallow people who do not judge by appearances. The mystery of the world is the visible, not the inviisible.

I could never understand why people say "Oh, I'm not judmental. I don't judge people." And trust me, I include myself among those people. Knowing who to be and not to be friends with is judging. Having a preference on who to date is judging. I feel like people misunderstand the word judging and gets all sensitive about it while they, themselves, judge people everyday. Anyway, who cares about what people think of you? Aren't we living for ourselves? If I have a weird style and you wanna judge me for it, then fine . Judge me but at least tolerant me. People tend to forget the real meaning of judging and exclude people in their lives just because they feel like it. Is it really that hard to tolerant people? Tolerance is not hyprocrisy. It's just a way to accept people with your heart and not with your mind.

Flo!!

"The worst of it is over now, and I can't say that I am glad . Lose that sense of loses- you have gone and lost somethning else"

How exactly are you suppose to know what you want if you are constantly told what to do? I mean the world is so messed up nowadays. It was always like that but it's just getting worst. The people that tell you to be yourself are the same people that critize you when you make a mistake. The people that tell you to deam high are the same people that crush your dreams and make you fell like you are nothing. And the ones that tell you that it's not about the pricetag are the same ones that brag about their Manolo shoes and their Gucci bags. Point is, life is a jungle and the only thing you gonna be is a lion. Not a cute little eagle up in the sky, trying to find its way. NO! A lion! Because at the end of the day the real question to ask yourself is not "Who do I really want to be?" but "Can I be who I wan to be?"

Flo!!

“The worst of it is over now, and I can’t say that I am glad. Lose that sense of loss- you have gone and lost something else.” -Amy Hempel

People lose a lot of things including that which they can’t obtain in the first place. For example love. You hear the saying, it’s better to have loved and lost then to have never loved at all. What is that? If you lose love, you will want to forget you ever had it in the first place. Isn't that the same as never to have loved? It is like saying you caught the wind and then lost it so now you are in the same place as someone who hasn't caught it.

When I was 7, I remember losing my first tooth. My mother had placed a dollar under my pillow to replace it. When I was 13, I remember losing my best friend. She hadn’t died but just moved to another state. I had found a new friend within a month. After two months we said we were both each other’s best friends. When I was 15, I lost my sense of responsibility and along with that my virginity. I regained responsibility 9 months later.

~Katherine J

"A riot is the league of the unheard" MLK

A riot is the league of the unheard

Martin Luther king phenomenal patience and great follow of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi great practice of civil disobedience is something's truly to remember. I do not know how someone doing the time can go on without getting into a riot. I respect this great leader in many ways. He fought the system with his nttellegence and not his fists. No wonder he had so many people follow and risk their lives for his. He wanted peace for the people of color and thus he gave up his life for it. The riot is unheard of because to prove a point men always want to use violence which s not always the case. He words to inspire others to follow the right path and still get what they needed in life the equality and the non segregation of schools. In modern day riots are unheard of nether not because of him but because people do not have the intelligence to do do. Martin Luther King Jr.was special there will never be a another him. He fought for the good of the world not the bad. It shows the character of a man that will be remembered till the end of civilization. Till the ice age and the sun gives out the riot is still unheard of.

Leo

"In prison, those things wothheld from and denied to the prisoner become precisely what he wants most of all." eldrige Cleaver

Freedom isn't what he wants most of all? To feel the sunshine touch his face, to breath the warm air of spring, to devour a big thigh of fried chicken and appease his thrist with a cold grape Kool-Aid, that's what the man wants. Why would an animal be given such a luxury? No, wild animals stayed in cages, away from society. Because that's what he was: a wild one. He was always treated like one anyway. He doesn't even think he's a human being.What's love? He does not know. He never knew what it was. He never felt it and never will. They say human make mistakes. Well, he is not a human. He just a wild one.

Flo!!

"There are 4 kinds of homicide: felonious, excusable, justifiable, and praiseworthy" Ambrose Bierce

First of all, there shouldn't be any homicide. I mean, we know we are not suppose to kill but we do it anyway and it's always the same story. Bad guy kills good guy, good guy's friends kill bad guy and that's felonious and justifiable. Girl was being raped so she smacked the rapist's head with hammer and that's justifiable and excusiable. A country goes to war, ends up winning after killing millions of people but stops the domino effect of communism and that's praiseworthy for people. Point is we always find a reason for our killings. No matter how much we justify it, it's still wrong. Men's gonna keep on killing because men gonna keep on living. There's only one kind of homicide and that's felonious.

Flo!!