REHUGO

Reading: I don't remember much of the fourth grade but what I do remember was the ELA test. It was one of first major tests I had to take, but unlike most major tests I have taken in my life I actually remember a lot of it. I remember it being a large collection of short stories. I remember one of them being about the moon being stuck in a well, another about machines run by wined up gears, and another about a man who was riding a horse at night. I was not a very good reader for most of my life but I remember reading these stories and I remember them more than anything I read in AP Literature  last year.

Entertainment and Arts: Like most people, I love to watch movies. I would not say I have a favorite genre or period of films, I might just have a favorite film in every category, but I have notice recently a trend in modern films. It seems that the modern film industry has stopped trying to make original films or at least stopped trying to make unoriginal films seem original. 2011 was dubbed the year of the sequels, because of how many movies released were just continuations of other movies. I don't have anything against sequels but I was repelled from going to the movies this year, because I wanted to avoid a feeling of deja'vu.

History: In 1258, the mongol empire invaded the city of Baghdad. It was a total massacre and is believed to be the beginning of the end to the Islamic golden age. There is one story from this siege which has lasted throughout the ages. In Baghdad stood the house of wisdom, which was believed to be the largest library at the time. During the siege, the mongol invaders destroyed the library, took all of the thousand years collection of books, and through them into the Tigris river. The river ran black for weeks and to this day there are traces of ink at the bottom of the Tigris.

Universal Truth: "Life means suffering" This is one of the four noble truths of Buddhism. No matter what happens in life, at some point everyone will experience suffering. There is no way to avoid suffering. That being said, at some point everyone will experience happiness as well. There is no way to get rid of either feeling, happiness and suffering will always be there, its just how much of which is experienced.

Government: I don't like to think about government that much, it just ends up making me very upset. I do not like how big of a part politics play in social lives. Democrats won't talk to Republicans and vice versa. I feel like Government has just come down to a coke and pepsi argument instead of actually trying to work things out and get things done, people involved in government seem to be obsessed with making the other side look bad. When people are put into categories, we no longer see them as people anymore, and when this mentality goes all the way up to the U.S government, makes me feel like the government has resorted to a childish, back seat brawl.

Observation: During the summer, I saw a firefly on my stairwell early in the morning. It had stopped flying and was only letting out small blinks. I stood and watched it for a while and I felt bad for it. I never likes bugs, but the poor thing was slowly dying on my stairwell, and I wanted to help it, but I did not know how. After a while I left it there and when I went back a few hours later, I could not find it anymore. I still think about that firefly, and it makes me feel good that I will not let it be forgotten.