New Blog?

You may think that I'm going to be juggling too many blogs around, but I beg to differ. All the short stories that I've written are going to be transfered to that blog, and all the upcoming stories I post will be on that blog. If you enjoy reading them, follow that blog as well as this one. This one will be mainly about opinions and other things like that. I'll put the link to my new blog in a while when I've sorted everything out. Thanks!

I Won a Contest!

Yeah, so I entered this poetry contest (yes, I write poetry). My mom actually convinced me into doing it, although I was against it the whole time, because I don't mean to toot my own horn here, but I knew I was going to win because my poetry is good, I have to admit it. I did win, (most credit goes to my other family members for editing, printing, enveloping, and stamping) and yesterday I went to the Awards Ceremony which was downtown. After dinner and the live music was over, the awards began and they called me up to read my poem. There were at least one hundred people there, so I was a little nervous, but not as much as last year (I'm so good I won last year too). The poet laureate handed me my certificate which had my poem glued on the back on it. I read, then obtained my cash prize of $15 which isn't much, but it'll buy me a new iPod case and some other accessories. I'm kind of glad that my parents convinced me, but now I'm in trouble because I didn't attend a workshop (which you were encouraged to go to after the Awards Ceremony) I was supposed to attend. I didn't go because it's two and a half hours on teaching me how to write poetry about small things in everyday life. To be honest, I don't really enjoy writing poetry, but I'm good at it. Same concept with math. Anyways, since I didn't attend, my parents are mad so I guess I should have gone to, but I really didn't want to. Anyways, I just wanted to share it. Salutations.

Lost (a short story)

AJ started chasing after his dog that ran into the woods. He dashed around trees, jumped over logs, and skipped over rivers to catch up to his dog. But, he soon lost sight of him soon. AJ collapsed under a tree, and sat for a few minutes to catch his breath. As he stood to set off again, he realized that he had run into the middle of nowhere.

AJ was completely unfamiliar of the area he was now in. Everything around him looked the same. He was't scared though. Actually he felt quite content being in the dead silent woods. It gave him a chance to listen, and observe.

There were the sounds. Water gushing through the stream, moving quickly and swiftly. Birds, humming their everyday song, that echoed through the tree bark. His footsteps were a distinct sound against all others. He could listen to each footstep, crackling against the dry leaves and snapping the weak branches.

AJ, began walking towards the direction he came from and guessed that he would eventually reach his new home. As he stepped on the damp dirt, he breathed in the crisp air that the woods had to offer. It was much different then what he smelled at home. At the time, dinner was probably the scent in the air. He then remembered home, and hoped that his mother wouldn't get worried. AJ also worried about his dog, which he hadn't named yet, because he was a new edition to the family and AJ was starting to bond very nicely with him.

The sun was still raised high in the sky, and a warm air was against him. It wasn't too warm, but it felt comfortable. The rays felt good against his face, after all that running. As he walked back, he kept calling out hoping that his dog would hear. But there wasn't much luck.

For the next hour he was walking, the sun gradually faded behind the mountains and at its peak point, it was hiding just behind the mountains; flashing a pink and orange wave against the dark, blue sky. The temperature also dropped by a few degrees, but AJ didn't feel cold. After all, it was a summer night.

Now, AJ could see the fireflies, glowing against the darkness, almost illuminating it. They were like small fragments of a flashlight. He wondered what would happen if he captured them all in a jar. They blinked rapidly as he walked by.

A strong hunger bit him in the gut, and he knew he had to reach home fast. Soon enough, the moon shone brightly against a solid black with small twinkling specks of white. The moon was at its brightest this night, or that's what AJ thought. There was much more light in this new area he now lived in. In his old house, the city lights penetrated the beautiful stars that covered the night sky, and the moon seemed like just a plain circle in the sky. Now, when he was in the woods, it seemed like much, much more.

He leaned against a tree for a short resting break, when he spotted large light up ahead. It was coming from a window. His house was just up ahead!

AJ dashed ahead, quickly passing the trees, with a swift breeze now against him. When he came closer, he broke into a jog, then started walking. Up on his porch was his golden retriever, his eyes closed tightly. His new name was Woods.

The Earthquake of Japan (short story)

Ryo pulled out the last weed from the farmland. It was midday, and he was done with farmwork. Now came everything else. Sweat drenched his worn out, muddy shirt which he used to dry the perspiration on his face. His face was grimy, and red from the intense heat that he had to face while doing farmwork.

He turned around and started walking back to his master’s house when he felt a great shaking. The ground started throbbing, and Ryo was catapulted to the ground. His hat flew several feet away from him as he fell. He dug his short fingernails into the soft dirt and was hidden behind the stalks of corn. For the next two minutes, he tried to stay on the ground and kept low for some reason. When the shaking had finally ended, he pulled himself up.

Ryo dusted the dirt off his clothes and turned around to see his farmhouse. It was completely destroyed. The roof had caved in, and torn apart the lower floors. Debris was scattered everywhere, and as he jogged closer, he could spot many of his and his master’s possessions under or next to the rubble. Then, he spotted his journal which he wrote in everyday. Quickly, he ran to it and saw that the cover page was completely ripped except for the top right corner. Many pages had been ripped out and dirt had covered it. Any other possessions he owned were not visible except for a few small items like a toy yo-yo he used to play with as a child.

Ryo was confused, saddened, and scared all at the same time. Master had gone out to buy groceries, and Ryo was all alone without any possessions, or even a phone. Some scary thoughts flashed in Ryo’s head, like if Master had passed, or was injured. Master was his guardian. He cared for Ryo, fed him, and bought him things. Without Master, he was dead.

For a few minutes, he scavenged the debris but everything was buried, or broken.

The nearest neighbor lived three miles away. Ryo knew he had to get there. But it would take a while; at least an hour or two. For ten minutes he sat on the ground thinking about a better solution. But, he couldn’t think of any better solution. That was his only one. After a while of thinking, he became drowsy and fell asleep.

He woke up when he saw a car driving up to his house (that was trashed). The car however wasn’t Master’s which dropped Ryo’s hopes. But there had to be someone in the car who could help him. It was a black van that drove right up to Ryo. On the side, he read the words: 緊急車両 (Emergency Vehicle).

Ryo felt a smile on his face. A kind looking man stepped out with mostly black clothes.

“私と一緒に来てください。これで安全です,” he said. (Come with me. You’re safe now.)

A tear dragged down Ryo’s face, and he entered the car which took him back to the city, which he knew he was safer than being alone.

The city looked worse than his farmhouse. Buildings had collapsed, and cars were flipped over. There was a traffic of cars that blocked the roads once they got to them. However, they were able to make it.

Ryo felt bad about those who didn’t make it alive. There had to be some who didn’t make it. He kept thinking of Master, however. The generous man who raised him to what he was today. Terrible thoughts went through his head, but he turned them off. Ryo was worried about Master, and also about the other people who were affected. But he tried to think happy thoughts. The man driving didn’t talk very much. The sun tapped into Ryo’s head and once again he fell asleep, as the van proceeded through the earthquake of Japan.

Earthquake in Japan (by MasterArtsYS/BunkerDudes)

Earthquake in Japan? :(

As you may know, there was recently a massive, 8.9 magnitude earthquake in Japan. I read about it, and feel horrible about all the people that were affected by this tragedy. There were one hundred aftershocks, with ten of them being over a 6.0 magnitude, and two being over a 7.0. After the quake, there was a huge tsunami, that killed hundreds of people. The effects were so powerful, as to being carried all the way to California, where there were a few waves that were higher than usual. In Japan, the highest wave was around 23 feet, and cause major destruction. I viewed a video of a man trying to escape his car, unable to because of the waves that rushed in, and slammed him back into the car, where he was trapped.

I feel very bad for everyone affected by it, and for relatives and friends of those who were affected. I think that we should try and donate some money to a charity that will support Japan. For the full article, visit http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110311/ap_on_re_as/as_japan_earthquake

http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_theenvoy/20110311/ts_yblog_theenvoy/watch-raw-footage-of-the-japan-earthquake-and-tsunami

Finally... the iPad 2!

Yes, it is true, the all new iPad 2 was released today. To be honest, I think it looks pretty neat, and I would want to pick it up, but it still lacks many features that the other tablets that are currently available have. First of all, let me tell you what all the things it has.

INCLUDED IN THE NEW iPad 2: The all new iPad has improved from the previous generation, a lot. It has a 1GHZ dual-core A5 chip, two cameras (front and back like the iPhone 4), a faster CPU, and a 10 hour battery life (same as old iPad). Another built-in application that is added is Photo Booth which you can use to make photos you take with the cameras all funky.

PRICE: $499 for 16 GB, $599 for 32 GB, $699 for 64 GB. 3G- $629 for 16 GB until $829 (NOT SURE ABOUT THE MIDDLE PRICES).

WHY IT LACKS: There are obviously many reasons why the other tablets are superior to the iPad. For all of the iPods and iPhones, and also the previous iPad, the home menu has looked the same. Just showing the applications. With the new iPad, they could've done something different to the iPad's home screen. This is however just my opinion and I know many people would be let down if they did change the interface. All in all, I think that they could've put the iPad down, and maybe start working on something else in it's place. It really hasn't met my expectations. Another thing that it's missing is flash.

MY RECOMMENDATION: Anything else would be better, because I think that it isn't worth the money for the same iPad. They didn't put a twist or surprise me. I knew most of the things that they released ahead of time, and they should have put one component in that would completely surprise me. Anyways, my recommendation would be the Motorola Xoom if you're needing a tablet right now. The Motorola Xoom has a smart, and fun to use interface, and it's something new, not something we've seen before. The iPad is something that we've seen before. However, I myself will wait for another couple months before browsing. I know something else will come out that will impress me a lot. So, sorry, but the iPad 2 was a let down for me. :(