My Defining Quote

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"If you always put limit on everything you do, physical or anything else. It will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them." Bruce Lee.  Quote obtained from http://www.authorama.com/essays-of-francis-bacon-50.html

 I actually liked a lot of Bruce Lees quotes after reading them and it was really hard to pick one. But, I said in my mission statement before that I want to be the best me in all aspects of my life. This quote relates to that idea of pushing yourself to be the best you can be. When I say all aspects of my life I literally mean all because if I slack in one then I will begin slacking in others till I just don't care anymore.  For example, I haven't been able to push myself toward the next plateau in Cross Country this year because of an ankle injury. Three days ago on Wednesday, I was finally able to start running after a 4-week break. The day after that Wednesday we had a meet in Goddard on a course called Lake Afton and it's the most difficult course we run all year. I had to run JV which already bothered me but it couldn't be helped. I ended up finishing with a time of 21:47 in 7th place. If you don't know a time of 21:47 is extremely slow. My twin brother is running an 18:24 and that's where I'm supposed to be at time wise. I love competition and being beat by him is the most frustrating thing in the world because last year I would always finish right before him and now I'm not even running at my freshmen year pace. I'm on a plateau and I'm struggling to go beyond it. This quote also relates to an essay written by Sir Francis Bacon by the name of "Of Studies". This essay covers the importance of studying the areas you find yourself lacking in and by doing so you remedy the defects in your mind.  This perfectly relates to me and this quote of wanting to better yourself and go higher and higher in the world. I think everyone should try and improve themselves in as many areas as possible because it will make our society grow in a positive direction. Society is made of individuals and their individual knowledge, ideas, and beliefs. If people try and go beyond their plateaus society will, therefore, be pushed beyond its plateau. This post was supposed to focus on why this quote relates to me but I couldn't help myself and had to bring in some other points that this connected to. Hope you enjoyed the read and please comment any thoughts you had on the post.

Monster Hunter World

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Ok so I'm jumping right into this and all try and make this understandable to people that aren't gamers and people that don't no the series.

Overview-
Monster Hunter is an action role-playing game developed and released by Capcom spanning many sequels and adaptations. Counting the latest game 5 main game titles have been released. When I say main games I mean games released for consoles. The first game was released in 2004 for the PS2 and Capcoms come a long way since then. Monster Hunter games follow a common theme of an up and coming hunter (you) trying to make an honest living hunting giant monsters. In the past, the games have had both offline and online play. Monster Hunter World is a special title in the series because it is the first title to have a simultaneous release date in both Japan and America, and it is also the first the series has united the global player base by incorporating cross-region play with an all-new in-game multiplayer drop-in system. Along with both of these features, Monster Hunter World is the first Monster Hunter game to have an interactable environment and seamless open map. The point of the game put simply is players must kill monsters to both improve their player skill and equip their hunters with gear made from harvested monster parts. Like most RPGs, Monster Hunter is based on a quest system. You get a quest, complete quest, then receive rewards based on that quest.

Monsters/Enviorment-
Monster Hunter games have had a wide variety of different monsters with different attack patterns and behaviors its what makes the game so enjoyable. You must adapt to the monster as you fight and learn from your mistakes. In the game, there are different sizes of monster and what I mean by that is there is the small monster that is either there as an annoyance or for environmental purposes and there are large monsters which are the ones everybody has fun killing. From game trailers and demos there is a hand full of confirmed monsters in World as of now. Each Monster Hunter game includes new monster but then normally bring back a few from other games. So far there are Rathos, Diablos, Barroth, Great Jagras, Anjanath, Kulu-Ya-Ku, Jyuratodus, and two unnamed monsters. If you're interested in images of the beast Click Here and it will take you to a site where you can look at not only the monsters I've mentioned but the smaller monsters too. The environment is pretty easy to explain. Like I said the map is open and monster can move around as they please. This is new to the world and so is the destructible and usable environment. As a hunter there will be times when you can use the area around you to your advantage. It's up to you to see and take these opportunities but just no monsters can use some of them against you.

Armors and Weapons-
In Monster Hunter armor is split up between the hunter's different body parts.(helm, chest, waist, etc.) Armors give hunters well armor and depending on the armor equipped different stat buffs and resistances. For example, an armor made from materials of a fire-breathing dragon will make that hunter take less damage from fire. Armor aesthetics always look similar to that of the monster they are harvested from unless it's a basic starter set. Weapons take a little more breaking down. They're 14 different weapon types and they fit into 3 different categories: light, heavy and technical. light weapons consist of the Long Sword, Dual Blades, Sword and Sheild, and light Bowgun. Heavy weapons are Great Sword, Lance, Gun-lance, Hammer, and heavy Bowgun. Technical weapons which are by far some of the coolest are Charge Blade, Switch Axe, Hunting Horn, Bow, and finally Insect-Glav. For videos on these weapons and more specifics on Monster Hunter World go check out Arekkz Gaming on Youtube, this link takes you to his channel then just find his Monster Hunter World playlist.

So, there's a ton of stuff I have'nt talked about but I'm hopping this has gotten a few of you interested in the game. The links I've put in will take you to the sites and give a more aproerate describtion then mine. Check out Monster Hunter Wiki for more information and if you go to the link for Arekkz Gaming you won't find what you're looking for on the school computer because it's restricted, so make sure you use your phone for that part. I absolutely love this game already and I can't wait for it to come out next year. Thanks for reading!!!!

If You Only Knew

    If you only knew..... well there's not much to say. I'm an identical twin. I love music and I watch anime. I mean this is a hard topic for me. I'm just a boring guy and there's not much going on behind the scenes. But I guess I'll dive right in and give it a shot. I guess all talk about how  I want to be a lyrics writer.

I love music. I listen to all different genres and types of music. I go from Christian rock to country to 90's pop. But I listen to more alternative rock and metal than anything else. This does not mean scream-O because even I have trouble listening to that. I mean Bands like Three Days Grace, Linkin Park, Breaking Benjamin, Yellowcard, etc. Because I listen to theses bands so much I want to write songs similar to theirs. But, I don't know how to play any instruments and I can't really read music. This makes writing music with notes and everything impossible. So instead I just come up with lyrics and sing them how ever I think they sound best. I normally get the lyrics just my singing when I'm bored and coming up with them as I go. I don't have a song that's finished but I've started a few, three to be exact. One's called Shot In The Dark. As of now, it's the one I want to finish the most.  The other two are, Lighter and Middle of the Sea. Shot In The Dark is about how I took a chance asking a girl out. Middle of The Sea is a song about rejection and Lighter is a song about finding someone that brightens your world no matter what. I'm not sure what the music to them would be and I constantly change how I sing them. I would also like to perform theses songs some day. I don't have enough songs thought up to even begin coming up with an album name or band name, though I would probably name the band Hollow Dreams. This is just something I work on from time to time and not something I openly pursue. It's nothing more than a hobby and a fantasy. I know it's not realistic and that's why I don't tell people about it; that and the fact that if I tell people they want to see the lyrics but they're not finished so I won't show them to anyone. I'm always looking for new material so comment your favorite bands and songs. Thanks for reading and I can't wait to hear your thoughts on this post.

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What Makes Me Tick?

To be honest I'm not sure what makes me tick. I've never really thought about it. But it's my prompt for this weeks blog and I intend to answer it to the best of my abilities. I guess I'll start by picking 5 things that describe me or things I enjoy doing.

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1. Honesty
2. Surrounding Myself with Challenges
3. Making the Most of Any Experiences
4. Fear of Failing My Expectations 
5. (this one sounds a little weird) Watching Other People
6. Being Myself 

I know theses sound self-centered but the fact of the matter is, they're what makes me tick so they should be self-centered.

First, honesty. I think honesty is one of the most important parts of any family, friendship, relationship, or partnership. I know that's a cliche saying but it's true. Honesty has a more profound meaning to me though. Because when you lie, you're trying to distract yourself. You may say it to another person but it stems from you not wanting to admit you're trying to hide a flaw, problem or mistake. I hate lying. Flat out despise it. But I still lie, even when I know the truth behind why I'm lying.

Second, surrounding myself with challenges.  I want to grow and be the best I can be. An easy and effective way to do that is by surrounding myself with people, or events that cause me to grow. It's the underlying reason why I do cross country, track, take a few AP classes, volunteer for club events and even play video games. Yes, I get enjoyment from theses activities but some of that comes from the challenges and the competition. 

Third, making the most of any experience. Lifes full of ups, downs, lefts, and rights. I want to gain knowledge from every turn and then figure out how I'm going to use it. No, I don't plan on using it for grand things; I plan to use it to make my life and the life's of people close to me easier. For every good or bad experience, there is something to take away. I always try and take it and more if I can.

Fourth, the fear of failing my expectations. I don't like to lose and I don't like to fail. When I don't meet my own expectations it frustrates me so severely that I can't get past it. But, I have to say that my expectations vary depending on the project and my attitude toward it. Along with this I find time precious and avoid wasting it.

Fifth, watching other people. I know this comes off as weird and perverted but hear me out. I want to understand others, why they do this over that, stuff like that. So I watch peoples behaviors and try and draw out connections and disparities. For example, watching someone struggle to fit in and resist peer pressure and watching their friend struggle to decide if they should step in and help them or not. I'm an observer. I like to take things in gradually. It's part of the reason I find this class so irritating. 

Extra Sixth, being myself. I've said it and I'm saying it again, I want to be the best me I can. So, being myself is obviously important. This also relates to my hate of lying because not being yourself is lying. I dislike fakes. I understand putting up walls but you should always be true to yourself and stand up for the things you like even if it makes you seem like a fool to some. If you're one of those people that disagree with me and think that you should have a different mask for each person or social group I understand your point of view and can't say I disagree since I do the same but, I must say it gets tiring keeping up with all the different mask.  Because I don't get enough sleep anyway I'm working toward being myself even when it might put me out of the group. Thanks for reading! Please leave a comment if you want to see a post on something specific, something not on the teacher's list.