Music Is Key

Okay, here’s the thing: I care deeply about music. 

Some people may agree with me here, and some people may not. It kind of just depends what kind of person you are. 

I trust that my love for music started at a very young age. This is because my father used to sing me to sleep. From when I was a newborn all the way up until I told him to stop. This was around kindergarten or first grade I believe. This may or may not have broken his heart. 

Either way, it made me appreciate really good music. Not the pop stuff that gets overplayed after four days, but the good stuff. At least in my opinion. 

Did my dad play this “good” music to me when I was little? Honestly, I don’t know. If you really want to get a taste of what he liked to sing to me, just listen to this. According to him, it was the first song he learned how to play on the guitar, and the first song he ever sang to me as a baby.

First of all, I believe there is a perfect playlist of songs to go to a certain mood. I also believe that music can cause memories to resurface. Whether these memories are happy or sad, a certain song can cause you to remember the feelings that you had in the past. 

For example, whenever I hear the song “September” by Earth, Wind & Fire, I have a memory from when I was around five years old, and my dad took me to see the movie Night at the Museum. That song played at the end of the movie, and, on our way home, it started playing on the radio. It was a weird coincidence, but my dad and I totally jammed out to it all the way through the song.

I also believe that music can make you cry. 

Not only have I witnessed this on live television shows, such as American Idol, but it has also happened to me. Quite recently actually. 

My favorite band released their album, and I was very “emo" about it. I listened to the whole album in one sitting, and my friends and I freaked out about it for an hour after it was released. We didn't care if we didn’t get sleep that night, we just needed this new music.

This particular album got me feelin’ some type of way, and I was very overwhelmed, and the tears came. At first they were excited/happy tears, but as I truly listened to the lyrics they got extremely deep and I lost it.

Picture this: a teenage girl at 11:30 PM sitting in her room with out any of the lights on, curled up in a ball on her bed with headphones in, and tears streaming down her face as she shook with excitement and sadness.

That was me! I know a bit pathetic but you get my point.

Next, I believe that the way you interpret music all depends on time and place. 

For example, if you just got broken up with, and you're feeling pretty down about it, you could hear a song that you know pretty well already, but you might relate to the lyrics more and it could make you burst into tears. You might also hear a happy song, and it could change your mood around completely. Although, if you heard these songs in a different setting, you would have a different reaction to them. 

Lastly, I believe that music is an escape. 

Whether this means that you are the person making the music, or if you are just a listener, it can be a small getaway from reality. Once you plug those headphones in to your ears and the music begins to drown out all of your worries outside of the music, you can feel like you are traveling away from your troubles and into a state of relaxation. Almost like a drug without health risks.

At least thats what music does for me. If you don’t feel the same way that’s just fine, but I thought I would share either way.

Anyway, carry on.

xx Em

Courtesy of Near Pictures (also how I look while listening to my tunes)

How NOT to Snorkel (Flop Friday #2)

Okay, here's the thing: standing up is lethal.

I learned this fact over Spring Break 2015, when I rented a house in Mexico with two of my close family friends, Leo and Lucy.

About midway through our week's travels, all of our families decided to go snorkeling right off of the beach where the house we were staying at was located. I had gone with my dad a couple days before Lucy and Leo's families had arrived, so I knew what we needed to get for gear.

Lucy and I had gotten our gear picked out, but Leo was still having some troubles trying to get flippers that would fit his feet. We were standing next to the side door that lead to outside as Leo was trying on one of the last available flippers that might fit him.

As we were standing by Leo as he tried on the flippers, Lucy's mom, Christina, was coming in from the beach and opened the door that Leo was standing by.

All of the sudden, Leo started yelling, but we didn't know why until we realized that he had been holding on to the door frame, and when Christina opened the door, his thumb was smashed between the frame and the door.

Many slightly panic filled minutes later, Leo, Lucy, Christina, Kristin (Leo's mom), and I were all standing around the kitchen island. Leo had his thumb in a cup of ice water, and everyone else was talking to Kristen to fill her in a bout what had just occurred. Then, all of the sudden, Leo fell forward on to a bag of chips that were on the counter.

What you should know about Leo, is that he jokes around. All of the time. Lucy and I, who had been around this joking sense of humor for a couple of days started laughing at what Leo was assumably joking around about. But, when he knocked over the cup of ice water, when he fell, we started to worry.

"Leo, you spilled the water, stop!" I remember Lucy saying seconds before we realized what was happening.

He wouldn't have taken the joke to the point where it made a huge mess, so we know that something was seriously wrong. As we all realized that he had passed out, and were about to help him, his entire body gave out, and he fell to the floor, taking the bag of chips with him to the ground.

We were all shocked, but Kristen's reaction was the worst. She began screaming bloody murder for help, and immediately started crying. My mom ran in and lifted Leo's head to make sure he was okay. Kristen was still having a breakdown because her son had just collapsed when I heard a voice coming from the ground say, "Mom. I'm fine."

It really was a scare, but the rest of the week went by great. Although we had to spend the rest of the day making sure nothing serious had happened to Leo after the fall, we still had a good time.

This photo, taken by my dad, perfectly captures the events that occurred in the hours after Leo passed out.

The moral of this (literal) flop story is, if you have been injured, please sit down. If, for some reason, your injury leads you to faint, the only place you can go from standing up is down. And there's a very large chance that you won't land on a nice fluffy pillow. The only pillow Leo got was an unopened back of tortilla chips, but they didn't do much to help.

Anyway, carry on.
xx Em

STRESS RANT LET'S GO

Okay, here's the thing: eighth grade doesn't do shit to prepare you for ninth grade.

For me, eighth grade was an absolute breeze. There wasn't the pressure of having to do well because of college, and there wasn't anything too difficult that needed to be done.

Yes, I did take that test in seventh grade that enrolled me in the eighth and ninth grade Honors Math program, so I ended up taking tenth grade Honors Math this year. Not only did I register for this class, but I also registered for Honors English, AP Geography, and Honors Biology on top of that.

Why did I put myself through this hell? Well you see, I didn't think it would be this bad.

Last year, I loved History, and even though I knew that Geography isn't the same thing, I thought that it couldn't be that bad. Also, the whole "college credits" thing appealed to me, so I wanted to give it a try. I also enjoy English, and thought that I might need a little bit of a challenge, so I decided to take this class. For Biology, it was honestly because I didn't want to take Earth Sciences, and the school district had recently changed that you had to take a test to enroll into it, so took the opportunity I was given, and enrolled in all the possible Honors courses at Treasure Mountain Junior High.

Of course, there are the upsides of each of these classes. In AP Geo, my teacher, Mr. Jeffrey makes at least one Donald Trump reference a week. I highly despise that joke of a man, so I approve of every joke Mr. Jeffrey makes about him. My Biology teacher, Mr. Christensen, is hilarious and, for some reason, my friends and I refer to him by his middle name ninety percent of the time. There isn't really a reason for that, it just kind of became a habit. My English teacher, Mr. Parker, who has already been mentioned in this blog, is very funny as well. His class was also where this blog originated. Even my Math teacher can be chill sometimes.

I can manage pretty well most of the time, but lately, I've had other experiences. The end of the quarter is coming up soon, so many of my classes have been finishing up projects that we've been working on and giving out unit tests before finals.

I know I shouldn't care as much as I do, but I sometimes, I feel like the pressure of doing well in ninth grade makes me kind of crazy.

Courtesy of Hannah's Tumblr

Last week, for example, was very stressful, and I didn't quite know how to deal with everything I had on my plate. It was the first week that High School Swimming was in session, so I had to get used to the whole new schedule of my after-school activities. I had missed the previous Friday, so I still had some catching up to do. I was two days behind on my AP Geo reading, and the last vocabulary quiz of the quarter was quickly approaching. I had to make up a Math investigation that I missed, do the homework that went with it, and, since my class is flipped, I had to watch the lesson for the next class. In English, I had to get a rough draft finished for the social issues research paper we were working on by Monday.

I was constantly in a state of catching up, and I had no time to rest. As I explained to my friends when the week was nearing an end, I was at about the same point of stress equivalent to Britney Spears in 2007. If for some reason you don't know what I'm talking about, let your eyes view the photo on the side.

I feel like I shouldn't feel as stressed out about school as I am, but, as Abbi explained in one of her recent blog posts, it is how we've kind of grown up to believe. She said in her post that, "their grade matters more than their education," which, sadly, is very true to many. Students worry too much about their grade to actually learn anything.

I wasn't quite ready for a week like last week so soon into the year, but I managed to get most of the things on my plate finished. I had to adapt to everything that was going on because I didn't know what to do with myself.

If you don't get anything from this blog post, remember this. Eighth grade is a smooth boat ride compared to the waves of a storm throughout ninth grade.

Anyway, carry on.
xx Em

How to Emotionally Scar Your Friend (Flop Friday #1)

Okay, here’s the thing: don’t do what I did.

Welcome to a new installment of the Salty Stressball blog. Flop Fridays, in which I write about a time in my life in which I, or someone I know, ended up as a flop. Urban Dictionary defines a flop as something that fails miserably, but you could also interpret "flop" in the literal sense, meaning something has fallen in one way or another.

This flop happened only a few weeks ago, when I was invited to go to Lagoon Amusement Park with my friend Emma (yes, we do have the same name). On the drive to Lagoon, my friend Abbi was texting me. For the past year or so, Abbi and I have made many trips to Lagoon together, so the fact that I was going with someone else made her a bit… salty (haha). Most of the time, our conversations over text (and in real life), are full of sarcasm, so I knew I didn’t need to be too worried about this. 

You see, whenever Abbi and I go to Lagoon, she won’t go on the Rocket ride with me. This is because, somehow, Abbi heard about a little girl who was squashed underneath the ride as it fell back to the ground. This is a very valid reason to be terrified of the ride, so I don't ever try to push her to go on it.

I ended up going on the Rocket with Emma, and for some crazy reason, my brain decided that it would be funny to mess around with Abbi about this. So, on our way home, I texted her.

Me: Um hi. Something really bad happened at Lagoon, today.

Abbi: Which was?

Me: Well, you know the ride that you never want to go on?

Abbi: Yes… Oh gosh… What happened?

This was the point at which I could’ve turned around and gotten myself out of this mess, but, unfortunately, I kept going. 

Me: I went on it, and when the ride came down, my foot got stuck.

Abbi: ???????

I knew at this point that she was already worried, but I assumed that she didn’t really believe me. I thought that she was just going to go along with me and laugh at the joke, but I was very wrong. And my next response didn’t help me in any way.

Me: So, I am currently hospitalized.

Abbi: ARE YOU SERIOUS????

I was happily giggling to myself at this point because I knew I had fooled her, but I didn't want to make the situation too awful. I knew she believed me so I tried to get her to realize I was joking by responding in only short words or phrases.

Me: Yes.

Abbi: EMMA, OH MY GOD!

Me: I am in pain.

Abbi: DUDE!

The next part of this “joke” is what I was the most proud of. I responded with the exact picture below, without any context.

Courtesy of Tom Brezsny

Yes. I know. A picture of Ashton Kutcher and the “You Just Got Punk'd” title. 

This probably seems terribly cruel to most of the people reading this, but in my mind, I was a comedy genius. Abbi didn't agree.

Abbi: ...I am in literal tears. I hate you so much.

Me: YOU CRIED?!

Abbi: I CRIED FROM PANIC!

What followed this reply was a lengthy explanation in which Abbi told me that, when she saw I had texted her, she was going to pretend to be mad that I went to Lagoon without her. She had everything planned out, but when I said that I was hospitalized she was taken aback, and blamed it on herself. Abbi had no reason to blame my "injury" on her, but her brain did, either way. She then told me that she was going to say something about how it was karma for not going to Lagoon with her, but as she was frantically typing that, I sent the picture, and she lost it.

The following day, I saw Abbi at school. She wouldn't talk to me for a while, but when she finally did speak to me, the first thing she said was, "You emotionally scarred me."

Whenever this occurrence surfaces in conversation, Abbi never forgets to mention how much she hates me for it. She also talks about how she will get me back for it eventually, which in return, makes me a bit paranoid to be honest.

I hope I have reached out to you soon enough in your life that a prank hasn't ended as a flop for you. If so, try your hardest not to prank your friends in this sort of way. I recommend the classics that don't scar anyone; it's your safest bet.

Anyway, carry on.

xx Em