5th Beloved

   Q4 Week 3 - Music By Raymond Yu (Image of multicolored music notes floating away)     Memory and language are interconnected, memory is not fully dependent on language. To further the discussion on the relation between language and memory, languageless memory must be discussed. My most vivid memories without language have been with music. Although I have poor memory relating to sights, I have often gotten memory callbacks from music. One of my most memorable is how I have tied a piece of music to a piece of fiction. Although the piece of music is completely unrelated to the fiction, I used to think about how fitting it was for the webtoon whenever I practiced playing the piece and it has now been permanently etched into my memory. Whenever I hear the music, Victory by Two Steps From Hell, I think of the webtoon, Tower of God.     Another instance of this has occurred when I play a song on repeat while studying a topic. Oftentimes, when I listen to the so...

 MUSIC AND MEMORY I wanted to talk about the best night of my ENTIRE life for our last blog before I was distracted by other things, but now it is time to circle back. April 1st. I have been a huge Tyler, The Creator fan as long as I can remember. He was actually one of the first artists I got into when I initially started listening to music. Over the years he has easily become my favorite artist for a multitude of reasons beyond his music even, so being at his concert on April 1st was so surreal. I don’t even know how to put it into words guys like you do not understand. But as I was experiencing post-concert depression in the weeks following, I reflected on how much music meant to me. Music has become such an integral part of my life to such a crazy extent, which even you guys may recognize because practically all of my writing/blogs are about music. So as our blogging journey almost comes to a close, I wanted to talk about the tie between music and memory I mentioned early this ...

  Week 15 (Missing Memories) - 4/27 [6:20] I’ve been dancing hula for almost thirteen years. I was inspired by Lilo & Stitch, and my mom decided to put me in classes when I was four. I caught on really fast, and it was the only hobby that really stuck. I took a bit of a break last year (for obvious reasons) but besides that I’ve had classes every Friday for as long as I can remember. Despite how much I love hula and all the culture that goes along with it, I feel like the memories I should have around it aren’t there. I’ve been with the same hālau (group/class) for the past ten years, but I can’t say that I know my hula sisters very well at all. We’re close friends on Instagram, but I don’t think that counts for much; I can’t even call us friends. I don’t really have the memories I should have for having been with them for so long (besides that one time our kumu [teacher] messed up the song and we all stood on the stage staring at each other for a whole verse). I have no idea...

 AP EXAMS      I am seriously going to hate May 10. The one day where there is 3 AP Exams back to back is the day I have all three. I already knew that the two AP Physics C exams would be on the same day back to back, but I was not expecting APENG TO BE RIGHT BEFORE THAT.      I am almost 100% sure I will forget something super important either on the argument essay or on the physics exams. When I read the argument essay prompt, I know there will be that one thing I should have known but I forgot about. Then in the physics exams, I will probably forget something like the work energy theorem or something about simple harmonic motion. I might even forget F=ma (it would be hilarious if someone actually forgets that). I might even forget the easiest stuff about circuits for E&M. Theres so many things that can go wrong with having APENG and AP Physics C AP exams back to back, and seriously cannot wait for it to be over. Did I mention I have a full on in...

Yi-Kuan Cheng Benedetti AP English P5 23 March 2022 Quarter 4, Week 15: To Fan a Dying Fire The memories you remember aren’t always the happiest ones. The memories that are the hardest to forget are always the sad ones. I used to dabble a bit in poetry, especially when I’m feeling particularly trapped in my own emotions. While it is a super effective way for me to vent in a way that feels less pointless than essay texts to a random person on my discord friends list that don’t really care what I’m saying, writing poetry also tends to augment the memorability of whatever I’m writing about. But here’s the kicker: I have literally never written a happy poem that isn’t hot garbage. So instead, today I will be sharing with you all a poem I wrote in the aftermath of my first heartbreak. To Fan a Dying Fire Oh to fan a dying fire To fuel each flap With memories of warmth  That the flames used to give To fan a dying fire To disregard the creeping hunger, frost, and fatigue, For the feast ...

Memory is an integral part of a human’s life. Since a lot of us may already be aware of how memory works in humans and due to my curiosity of how a dog’s cognitive processes work, I wanted to write this week’s blog post about a dog’s memory, in case you are curious as well.  According to “How a Dog’s Memory Works,” dogs have a different system of storing, processing, and recalling memories than humans do. For some background knowledge, humans have episodic memory, which allows us to “ have the ability to store and remember vivid and explicit memories. ” This memory allows us to think back and reflect on these experiences, and even relive them in our minds if we would like. Dogs, on the other hand, do not have episodic memory. Their memory system is called associative memory, which means “they remember events based on associations, and not actual memories. For example, if you put on your sneakers before taking your dog for a walk, your dog will be excited every time you wear them.”...

     In 9th grade English Honors, we were given our final project and essay in the beginning of quarantine. I don’t quite remember what the prompt for the essay was, but I managed to relate it to the Disney movie Ratatouille . Originally, I wanted to write about food memory; basically the sense of nostalgia or the feeling of the home that a dish could bring to a person. This is based off of the scene when Anton Ego tries the ratatouille and has a flashback to his life as a child and the dish his mom used to make him when he came home. Obviously, in real life, the nostalgia is not that dramatic, but it is still there.      At the time I was also reading a webtoon titled Gourmet Hound (I highly recommend reading it for good drawings of food) about how food is connected to home. The author was inspired to write the comic when she moved from Hawaii to Nebraska for college and none of the food tasted right but even a dish faintly familiar to her made her homesic...

Faith Qiao Ms. Benedetti  AP English 11 27 April 2022 Memories in Attack on Titan Attack on Titan was one of those anime that served as a normie's entrance into the culture. The series came to me back when I was in fifth grade which was around two years after the first season. The premise of Attack on Titan is based in its setting: the last flicker humanity is trapped inside three walls because beyond the gates are Titans eager to consume their flesh and bones. However, one day, one of the three walls is busted down, what now? Well, to Eren Yeager, who saw his mother get eaten by a titan, the answer was simple: kill all Titans.  For those who have not experienced Attack on Titan, I will quickly propose some dilemmas for you to consider in the comments: If you had the power to change your own past, would you? But again, your experience is what shapes you in the present, would you change the past knowing that it would change the person who you are today? Things were easy back th...

 Image Source I spent Spring Break 2022 relaxing and exploring, and I developed a fascination with rocket science during this time. After constantly seeing the book  Ignition!: An Informal History of Liquid Rocket Propellants  in my "Top Picks for You" section of the Amazon website, I finally decided to give this classic a read.  The book is a joy to read, largely thanks to author John D. Clark's dry sense of humor and god-given ability to connect the ramblings of crazy Russian scientists to industry-wide movements. Every chapter is filled to the brim with chemistry knowledge and gold nuggets of trivia for a space exploration enthusiast such as myself. Yet, the preface of the book still managed to stand out to me: Clark states that at the time of writing his book, little has been documented of the story of rocket propellants, and the space exploration industry of today should learn of their ventures; he explains, “I have discovered that [the professional engineer in ...

 Sean Wang Week 15 - Consigliere “Regret is the most painful thing you can experience in life.” ~ Vincenzo Cassano Am I writing this because I messed up big time? Surprisingly, no. I just happened to start this blog right after the last episode of Vincenzo (a banger show by the way), so here I am. As fun as it can seem at times, life is no game. There are no tutorials to live by, no extra lives to grasp at, and no cheat codes to replace the effort that must be spent. And yet, it is in our best interests to forget all of these constraints and live life to the fullest. Dwelling on the past is a flaw bound to humanity as a whole. In fact, I am confident that no person has ever gone without regretting at least one decision in their life. The concept of hindsight is one that I both love and hate; although mistakes are meant to be learned from, most of the time I just devote my brainpower to wishful thinking and an urge to fix my mishaps with the help of an eccentric scientist and an ev...

  Q4 Week 2 - Connections By Raymond Yu (Image depicting multicolored connections between pins)     Memories and language. Both of these would be worthless without connections. Both memory and language rely upon connections to function, without connections, both would be worthless. Memory needs connections for retrieval to function; language needs connections to have meaning. The need for connections, amusingly, connects these two subjects, along with a whole host of others.     Memory relies on connection to function. Retrieval is one of the most basic of memory's basic components, alongside encoding and storing. Retrieval is the process of recalling a memory from the neurons in which it is stored deep within the brain, and retrieval needs connections to properly activate. For information to be retrieved, the brain needs to make the proper connections between the current circumstances and memories related to it. Connection can also occur between two memories, t...

Yi-Kuan Cheng Benedetti AP English P5 23 March 2022 Quarter 4, Week 14: i forgor 💀 I have wanted to vent about my terrible terrible memory for a very long time. When we were still on the power quarter, I told myself that the first post I would write had to be about my bad memory. Ironically, I forgot. I hope you all enjoy this more anecdotal blog about my memory mishaps (wait that was unplanned and sounds really cool butI also really want to title this “i forgor 💀”). Forgetting things is fine on a small scale, it can sometimes even be funny. Like Raymond touched on in his last post, I often walk into a doorway, forget what I originally wanted to do, then remember as soon as I walk away. I also cannot remember birthdays at all; I have a max capacity of storing 3 birthdays in my head at once. Both of these are relatively harmless, but it gets really bad when I forget the big stuff. For example, I forgot to turn in my familyID for boys tennis team! And as a result of that, I am unab...

    Since Yi-Kuan had taken my idea to write about his script for the Yearbook promotional video, I have decided to write about my experiences in Publications class instead. Yearbook has been an experience I'll remember for a long time, especially since all of our work will be physically put into a book that I can keep, unless I lose it. From the harshness of the first deadline, to the ease of the second and the stress of the third, each were experiences that I won't be forgetting anytime soon.     But what gets lost in the pages is the effort behind the scenes. Before taking Publications, I never really thought much about how it was made or the lengths people have taken to produce such a big book. For example, getting seniors to submit their portraits had proven very difficult. Finding people for coverage, doing interviews, learning photography. There's also the graphic design portion, communication, teamwork, and time management. A lot of these things are things th...

  Week 14 (The Good Ol’ Days) - 4/6 [6:55] “I wish there was a way to know you’re in the good ol’ days before you’ve actually left them.” This quote was brought to us by the legendary Andrew Bernard from The Office , and I could not agree with him more. I would consider fifth through sixth grade to be my good ol’ days. I was on good terms with practically everyone in my grade, I had met my best friends at that point, and I was living the life any eleven year old would want. I think our generation is pretty lucky, considering most of us had fun childhoods and we got the opportunity to grow up at a reasonable pace. My experience in sixth grade was extremely different from my sister’s. She’s extra self-conscious about how she looks, she has more enemies than friends, and (as I’ve mentioned previously) she uses questionable language and gestures that sixth grade me didn’t even know about yet. I guess I’m just really lucky to have had the experience I did, but at the time, I probably ...

Me and my grandfather. Last Saturday, my parents went on their routine visit to my grandparents' place. What started as a 15 minute trip to drop off eggs, milk, and some vegetables took a sinister turn: an ambulance was called to rush my grandfather to the hospital. The week before, my grandfather had gone through an open-heart surgery , a dangerous procedure where the chest is completely cut open and the heart is stopped. My entire family was nervous during the whole affair, and we cried with tears of joy when the doctors announced that the surgery was successful. We thought the health struggles that had plagued my grandfather for years were finally over, and we'd have many more years to make memories with him. As my father walked up the stairs of my grandparents' house on Saturday, he found my grandfather in a gut-wrenching state. I will censor all of the details here, as they are quite graphic, but it was enough to make my Dad dial 911 immediately. We later discovered th...

It is funny how objects and moments that seem insignificant to some can hold a lot of sentiment to other individuals. This plane that is seen in the image below is one of those examples that apply to me. In case you couldn’t tell, this is not a real plane. It is a toy plane that my dad bought in the LAX airport the first time he came to the United States. At the time, I was a six-month-old child in India who had never left the country. My dad went to LA on a work trip and came back within a few weeks, which was when he gifted my brother and me this toy.  We ended up moving to the United States many months later, but when my father bought the toy, none of us had any idea that we would be making a huge move across the world (especially my parents, since they spent a majority of their life in India). Growing up, my family’s transition from India to America did not strike out to me, since I was only one years old. The only home I remember being raised in is my home here, although my f...

Faith Qiao Ms. Benedetti English 11AP 6 April 2022 Memorize      POAS is over, it ended yesterday. Three months of anticipation and tribulation culminated in a 5 to 7 minute speech on someone I spent hours reading and researching about. The nights before that speech were dreadful to say the least. My actual research paper was a failure in terms of content, I basically had to redo my entire critique section to draft the script and create the presentation. And of course, I spent my time memorizing it.     Sure enough, every time that script came out of my mouth it began with the phrase "My fellow American citizens" but every time the lines that followed would change. It changed so much that a seven minute speech I scripted turned into a barely six-minute speech that I improvised. And honestly, I feel like I did terribly. Everything that I wanted to say couldn't be said; I had either forgotten too or overlooked its significance in its position on the presentation. ...

 POAS ^ something similar to my outfit on thursday      It's almost over. Thursday will be my presentation and the pain of POAS is over. Will I remember what to say? Do I know what I will say? No. Not at this time.     As far as I've seen, all of your presentations were really good. Do not think you did bad, you actually did really well. And I know I will mess up: either I will forget something or it will just be bad. Who knows.     Hopefully I remember what to say, because if I don't I will be screwed. All of you guys who did theirs on flip grid are lucky: you cannot really forget what to say; you can have your script right in front of you or you can do it in small chunks. So much easier. And I would have done it if I got time to (I definitely did not procrastinate). Well I can't do much now.     If you notice by now, I did not talk about language and memory, but technically I did. I was talking about me remembering ...

Sean Wang Week 14 - Start a Riot On Spotify, there are two types of users. There are those that make playlists for every mood, and there are those that throw all their favourite songs into a cluttered compilation that they call a playlist. Being a member of the latter category, I always find it intriguing to scroll through my playlist and reminisce about the times that were.  In 8th grade, I greatly disliked anime. That being said, I thought anime soundtracks were more  phenomenal than any classical song I had ever learned; thus, I decided to learn how to play "No Game No Life" on piano, my first of many anime covers. Although J-pop is not my most listened to genre these days, hearing an anime song still makes my heart feel heavier, weighed down by the knowledge that those youthful years will never be reclaimed.  In 9th grade, near the beginning of the school year, the school suddenly closed during first period due to a water leak in the Rotunda ceiling. I distinctly reme...

ASB AIN'T JACK At around this same time last semester, I wrote a blog about how much I loved ASB. But a lot has happened since then, so in this blog, I feel like I have the liberty to share the downsides of it.     I grew up loving the concept of being a leader. Being elected multiple times, to young naive Deeta, looked like a sign that this was what I was meant to do. It felt like I had found my purpose and I genuinely loved doing what I did.     I continued to take on Leadership positions once I got to high school. I threw myself all in and even though I faced setbacks here and there, I found myself still loving whatever I ended up doing. But this all changed this year. This year I was constantly overworked by ASB, so much so that I have often missed assignments in my classes and I haven't slept more than 4-5 hours in months. I literally sacrificed my GPA, my sleep, my mental health, and even time with the people I love just to be the best "lead...