Learning This Week: Week 3

So this week was busy and I had to put my passion project on the burner but I did make a few recordings.


Note: There is no music and it's just my voice, the weird breaks are going to, eventually, be replaced with music. The song is Armor For a Rainy Day the recordings are different versions of the song because I don't know which way to sing it, maybe you can help? Anyway, hope you enjoy and that they aren't to bad.  In the comments say what you want I can handle a little constructive criticism but don't lay it on too thick, these are just beginning drafts.

(Note: Watch the Volume it's kinda loud.)

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1tNYLr7cxnM2lbWDGIx9FP0RVLtg_QNS2



https://drive.google.com/open?id=1oQHzS9aESn4hXy3GzutAHUIkBT4VYIQS


I'll definitely edit this post and add one or two more versions so please check back in on this page, I would add more tonight but since I'm at home there's a lot of background interference and it's annoying.
Again hope the song sounds okay and I know I listened to both they aren't that good; I also know that a couple of times I took deep breaths and they came through on the audio, my bad. Comment your thoughts I'm excited and nervous to hear what you have to say.

This Weeks Learning: Week 2

Alright well this week and weekend were extremely busy so I only really had a little bit of time to work on my passion project but I'll go over some of the stuff I learned and most of it was scientific benefits of listening to music and I rewrote one of my songs and I'll add the lyrics for that at the end.

I pulled this information from https://bebrainfit.com/music-brain/  . The site had multiple links to more specific studies and details on the studies referred to. Now to start new advantages in technology have led to the development of a new branch of research called neuromusicology. This branch of research explores how the nervous system reacts to music. According to one of the studies, both playing and listening to music can reduce chronic stress by lowering cortisol. By listening to sad music you are better able to heal on an emotional level. Listening to music increases production of a neurotransmitter dopamine which causes you to feel good it also increases your productivity and creativity while you work or study. One thing I found specifically interesting is that listening to shuffled playlist can give you a bigger dopamine boost when a song you really enjoy gets played and you're not expecting it. Another thing I found interesting was that apparently "Listening to music makes people more inclined to spent time and energy helping others" (I know spent should be spend btw). Anyway, the article also included that the best music for focus and productivity depends on your personal preferences in music but it should be something you enjoy listening to. Totaljobs.com and a music psychologist teamed up to make the Sound of Productivity Quiz which will place you into one of two categories; one being people that become more proficient when listening to music (79%) and the other people that were more proficient with no music playing (21%). If you fall into the category of people that are more proficient while listening to music it will create a playlist of music that ideally while promotes more focus and productivity. I know I'm asking a lot but I'd like it if you guys would take the quiz and see where you fall and test if the playlist actually works for you. I plan on doing it and adding the result to my next post. 

Alright, that pretty much concludes the basics of what I learned but no I'm posting the updated lyrics for my (work in progress) song Killing me Slowly.

You knew what would happen didn’t you, could have stopped it all if you wanted to.

you had to much fun standing in the middle of our war but now it's either side that stands to

lose because you couldn't choose.

(Woh Oh)

(Oh Woh)

You're playing with my heart baby can't you see.

Pull a string here, clip a string there, now I'm falling through thin air screaming I love you.

You make me want to stay while you're pushing me away, killing me slowly, killing me slowly.

You make me want to stay while I watch you walk away, killing me slowly, killing me.

You knew this would happen didn’t you, dividing me straight in two, now the wars

begun because I won’t let you win.

You're playing with my heart baby can't you see.

Pull a string here, clip a string there, now I'm falling through thin air screaming I love you.

You make me want to stay while you're pushing me away, killing me slowly, killing me slowly.

You make me want to stay while I watch you walk away, killing me slowly, killing me.

And it's not like you don’t want me, It's just that you don’t love me. Because if you did

there'd be no need for him. But I’m just here to clean up the wounds he leaves

never to be your one and only.

You’re playing with my heart baby can't you see.

Pull a string here, clip a string there, now I'm falling through thin air screaming I love you.

(I love you)

You make me want to stay while you're pushing me away killing me slowly, killing me slowly.

You make me want to stay while I watch you walk away killing me slowly killing me slowly.

Said you’re

killing me slowly killing me and now I see I was never meant to play this game,

never meant to win the war.

You're killing me, killing me slowly but you never listen no you never listen to me.

And now you’re pushing me away.

And I’m just watching you fade

killing me slowly, Killing me slowly.

Slowly killing me.

Passion Project Week 1: The Big Reveal

Alright so...... this is the big reveal to what my Passion Project is going to be. Now, I realize not everyone that sees this is in the loop so I'll explain. In my AP Language Class, we are changing our blog post assignment and making it a Passion Project in which we had three original choices and then pick one of the three. A Passion Project is something you work on (often outside of your chosen career pathway) that gives you satisfaction, happiness and puts your mind at ease. It's your escape. Your tiny or even huge contribution to the world. My three choices were; Cooking, sign language, and music/lyric writing. Now without further-ado (Insert epic drumroll here), my Passion Project is......

Music/Lyric Writing!!!!!!!!!(Insert epic cheering here)

Alright, hopefully, you are all excited about this pick. If you have been reading the rest of my blog you'll know that I love music and have begun writing songs and I have posted a few on this blog. My inspiration comes from my everyday life and is a pop/rock style, kinda (varies every song). I love all different kinds of music and I think music has given me a lot, so I've gotta say thanks to all the people out there for making music. I write because it's my safe place and its something that's totally mine. Mine to mess up, mine to change, 100% mine. But just because it's mine doesn't mean I won't share, I want my songs to have an effect on people and hopefully have people relate to the songs and for it to help them get through something in their lives. Another part of the Passion Project is researching and covering what benefits come from it. For songwriting, a research question could be, what mental benefits stem from listening to music. Alright so that pretty much covers what my Passion Project is but I'll also be adding the songs a write onto the blog as part of my improvement and at the end of the semester, I'll perform one of my songs for my AP Language class.😁

P.S.- This will all be apart of the main blog because I can not make a second page and add to it, only make multiple pages.

Welp.... I Found a New Pass Time

First off, winter break is over, which means school is back in session and that means more blog post and the first one of the semester is writers choice which brings us to this point right here.

Okay so I started watching an anime called "March Comes in Like a Lion" over the break and I've enjoyed it so far because the plot is interesting plus I really like the art style. The plot follows Rei Kiriyama who is a professional Shogi player in high school. Now I'm not going to talk about the anime in this blog post but I totally recommend it. What I want to talk about is Shogi which is Japanese chess. Now the reason I picked it for my blog post is... well... I just think the game is interesting seeing how it's a strategy game that can take hours if both players are good and since I already like chess I thought it'd be fun to learn how to play this chess variant. I've played a few online matches with bots and I like it more than chess because the rules make it more tactical in my opinion. Speaking of rules I should probably tell you what they are but I only know the basics so this isn't a master guide to Shogi or anything. Shogi is has a 9 by 9 layout rather than the typical 8 by 8 layout of western chess. First I'll talk about the different pieces and how they move. Note you can move only one piece per turn. The Pawn can only move forward one step you have 9 Pawns to start. The Rook moves vertically or horizontally any distance and you have one Rook. The Bishop moves diagonally any distance and you have one. The Knight moves one step left or right and up two steps; you have two nights. The King moves one step in any direction. You only have one and the point of the game is to take the other King. Now Shogi has some pieces that Western chess doesn't. First, the Lance which moves forward any distance and you have two. Two Silver Generals which move one step forward or diagonally. Finally, the Gold General which moves one step per move any direction but diagonally backward. All pieces capture in the same way they move.
Alright, all the pieces are have been covered now we get into what makes Shogi so cool. In Shogi all  pieces except the King and Gold General can get promoted. The pieces that get promoted are able to move in different directions. The Pawn, Knight, Silver General, and Lance all get promoted to Gold Generals meaning they move the same as Gold Generals do. A promoted Rook has the same moves as a normal Rook plus he is able to move one step diagonally both forwards and backward. A promoted Bishop has the same moves as a normal Bishop plus can move any direction one step. Basically, they both become Kings along with their normal moves. To promote pieces they must enter the promotion zone which is the three rows furthest away from the player. Once promoted they stay promoted till captured. The other thing that makes Shogi cool is that the pieces you capture become yours to use. You can drop these pieces anywhere they can make a legal move. Pawns are the only exception, they must be dropped on a vertical row. So I hope the image below helps with all the moves and stuff. If you want to play use the same link as the image. I guess I'll apologize for nerding out but I find the game fun and think you should give it a few tries. Thanks for reading!!!

Screenshot was taken from
 https://japanesechess.org/shogi2014/ 

Semester Reflection

So yeah.... the first semester of my Junior year is over. I feel like I've grown more this semester than I did all of last year. I've also had lots of new experiences like visiting colleges and in the musical, I  was able to get a smaller lead with young Clyd. Another thing relating to music is my involvement with Arkhighs, which I have enjoyed a ton. Being able to sing to go to Butler for Show Choir Festival and just being able to learn more about my voice and own taste in music has been great and I can't wait for next semester's BVS. For me, high school sports sucked this semester because of my ankle and not making it to state. I'm super excited for track next semester seeing how I'm running 25 miles a week and I'm getting back down to normal times I feel like it's going to be a good track season for me and the distance team. As a student, I feel like this semester I was the most stressed out I have ever been thanks to AP Language and AP U.S History but I intend to stick both classes out through the second semester. Thanks to both classes I feel like I've improved when it comes to note-taking, annotating and just analyzing what's in front of me. Another thing that this semester has taught me is that I need to just go for things and stop hesitating. For example, I stopped worrying about what people would say about the songs I have been writing and I got great feedback and I know I'll keep writing more music and I would love to perform one of my own songs as soon as I get music to it of course. I think I might have matured this semester too. By which I mean I fill more ready right now than I ever have for next semester and after that. Though there are plenty of self-improvement I need to make. Most of them are small things like keeping a cool head when I get frustrated and not being so nosey. One of the bigger ones being I need to focus on what's right in front of me and what I can control. I look forward to next semester and hope it will improve me as much if not more than this semester. When I started this blog, in my mission statement I said I wanted to "be my best me" and I'm still not there and I doubt all be there at the end of next semester either because all learn about other things I need to improve on. I think we're always improving and I hope everyone has improved in different aspects of their life this semester and that they stick with the blog through the end of the year.

https://previews.123rf.com/images/matriyoshka/matriyoshka1510/matriyoshka151000042/46276233-Education-concept-students-e-learning-teacher-open-book-school-subjects-college-university-vector-il-Stock-Vector.jpg

Truth or Deceit: Which has a Greater Impact on Society?

A question like "Which has a greater impact on society, truth or deceit?" is rather vague but nonetheless easy to answer because obviously, deceit has way more impact than honesty.  I say this because people find it much easier to lie than, to tell the truth. The art of deceit is a powerful tool and if you master it you can fool even the most untrusting person. People are greedy and for many lying and manipulating is an important part of gaining more money, power, respect, etc. This mentality has had huge impacts on society. For example, the Watergate Scandal in 1972 in which some of  President Richard Nixon's Re-election committee members broke into the Democratic National Committee Watergate headquarters and tapped the phones and then stole important documents. After the connection to Nixon was revealed he resigned from office. Read more HERE. Another example of a President lying to the public comes from Ronald Reagan when he stated that "We did not- repeat-  did not trade weapons or anything else for hostages- Nor will we." This statement went against covert operations that had been going on for years prior to. Read more HERE.

Another reason deceit plays such an important role in our society is that it's one of the only things we see. The media controls what the public views as important and relevant, through the attention a topic gets.  The media focus on illegal drug abuse in the late 1900s and early 2000s caused the U.S. to lose billions in a hopeless war on drugs. As I learned in the Culture of Fear the real problem with drug abuse in the U.S is legal prescription drugs. I have learned lots about the media from the book the Culture of Fear. Some of it including their disregard for accurate information. One example from the book is a mass media story about Cindy Gracia a 10-year-old girl that was pregnant. In reality, she was 14 years old and her name was actually Adella Quintana. Like I stated earlier people want money and if a story is good and it will give them ratings they run with it as long as they can for a pretty penny. One thing that all Americans and all people do that makes deceit have more impact on society is the fact that we push our blame from one group to another and fix none of our problems. Liars, the misinformed, and the ignorant all contribute to the lack of truth that is available in our society. When it comes down to it we can't really be sure if lying is more powerful than the truth because it all depends on each person's perspective. We can for sure say that if we continue down a road where we lie to make further progress we will get to a breaking point. This breaking point is a social collapse. Once to this point were finished. The sad thing is we can already see it happening in the world today in both internal and external conflicts. Internal conflicts like the Charlotte Riot on September 20th, 2016 and Anti-Trump riots since his election. External conflicts like the war in Syria and Iraq or the unrest between the U.S and North Korea.

What I'm Thankful For

I hope that everyone's Thanksgiving was amazing and that they enjoyed the time with family. This post will cover only a few of the things I'm thankful for this year.

Family/Friends- 

 I am super thankful for all the family and friends I have for supporting me and just dealing with me on a day to day bases. More specifically I'm thankful for all my younger cousins, my nieces, and my nephews for letting me mess around with you and be a kid again. I love all of you guys and I don't know what I'd do without you. I am thankful that I have friends that worry about me when they don't have to and that they try their best to help me when I struggle with stuff. Thank you so much.

Music- 

 I've always loved music and it's a big part of who I am. I'm grateful that I get to be a part of our choir department and that I get to spend so much time doing what I enjoy with people I get along with. Since I have started writing lyrics I'm thankful for all the music artist have made because it influences me to write and I hope that I will continue to write and get feedback on this blog.

My Life- 

 This one is a really broad category and overlaps the other two but I have to say this in broad that I am grateful and thankful for the way my life is. I get to do things I enjoy and I never feel like I have no one or nothing. I have great friends and family and my life is relatively peaceful with drama here or there. I sometimes take this for granted and this year I really thought about It because my Thanksgiving was one of the best I've had in years.

Thanks for reading and I am now working on a third and the idea for a fourth is floating around in my head. All release the lyrics for the third one by next week.