Does a Picture Have to Tell a Story?

Okay, here's the thing: Instagram is like a plant. 

This sounds crazy, but hear me out. You must attend to it regularly and make sure it looks healthy.

In order to uphold a good Instagram, you must make sure you post every once and a while, but not too much. Much like a plant, you should water it every once and a while, but if you water it too much, it could drown and die.

The second step is to make sure it looks good. If your Instagram were a plant, you would want to make sure it looks healthy, and not on the verge of death. People nowadays like to have an Instagram that looks good as a whole, not just individual pictures alone. For example, when you look at the page alone, people want to see the lines of three pictures look good together. Almost as if the pictures were taken just to go together. This sometimes needs the assistance of filters or editing, but nevertheless it is what people worship.

This happens to be a line from my main Instagram account with blue tones.

Mr. Parker reminded me that a picture is worth a thousand words. He explained that pictures can tell a story, and then asked me what story I wanted to tell through my Instagram. I was stumped. I honestly hadn't thought about it that way. In my opinion, I have been trying to document moments in my life, but not necessarily tell a story. I also feel like I can speak for other people in the Instagram community when I say that most people don't think too hard before they post. The only thing they think about is how well it will fit with the pictures they already have posted on their account.

However, there is one moment in which these rules don't apply. This instance is when you have a Finsta. A Finsta is an Instagram that is more of a second, "fake" account belonging to someone. On this account, you have full freedom to post as much as you want without any worry of judgment. It is more a place where your closest friends can follow you instead of many people. It is also a place where your username can be some crazy joke that no one but your friends understand.

A couple of my friends and I have these so-called "Finstas." I'm not going to publicly put mine up here, but even if I did, I probably wouldn't accept anyone who tried to follow me. On my Finsta, I feel like I have the freedom to post things that don't go very close together like on my main account.

If you want to feel free, take my advice. Make a Finsta, feel free.

Anyway, carry on. 
xx Em

The Only Holiday Teenagers Really Care About

Okay, here's the thing: April 20th is a very big deal to the teenage culture.

Although I happen to be one of the few students out there who doesn't participate in the act of smoking pot, I'm very aware of this day.

Wednesday, April 20th, was a very celebrated holiday around the town of Park City and places around the world. My friends and I where honestly just making fun of the whole thing because of the people who were clearly on Cloud 9 and trying to make it through the school day. It was especially hilarious because of the fact that there was increased security on Wednesday as well. And for good reason.

It is a pretty old occurrence for people to take pictures at 4:20 pm (or am, for the night owls out there) and joke about drugs and pot and other sorts. Again, my friends and I, being the ironic idiots that we are, take these photos and send them to each other as a joke.

But what some people might not understand is that April 20th is a huge deal. You don't have just two minutes a day to grasp this photo worthy opportunity, but you have a whole day.

4/20/16 also happened to fall during our schools "Drug Awareness Month" which I find hilariously inconvenient. After laughing about that at lunch and finishing the day of school successfully, it was time to go to swimming.

As I arrived at swim practice, I made a few jokes about the date as I had all day and then my swim coach walked in and screamed, "Happy 4/20 Everyone!" He then explained our sets for the day, in which he had successfully snuck in multiple sets including mentions of the date.

During one of our first sets, I realized it was around 4:10 pm and I looked to my coach and asked, not really expecting much, "Hey Mike, do you think we can take a team picture at 4:20 on 4/20?" He just smiled at me and shrugged. I didn't know how to interpret that, but when he stopped us and told us to crowd around our swim lane he said, "Everyone say 4/20!" Which resulted in this beauty of a picture.

Can you spot the drowning Lucas? (Taken by my swim coach, Mike Werner).

Truly a golden shot right there.

And even on the one day Elise couldn't make it to practice because she was at the donut shop for a Spanish project, she left us with some wise words. "Why blaze, when you can glaze?"

Anyway, carry on.
xx Em

P.S. How hilarious would it be if this was 420 words. I checked it's not. What a shame.

San Francisco Was a Blast

Okay, here's the thing: I want to move to San Francisco.

Over Spring Break, Hannah Hall and I took a trip to the beautiful San Francisco with my family to visit my aunt Bonnie and my uncle Bruce. Since we left on Saturday, April 2nd, and we were driving, we got to San Fran on Sunday afternoon.

This picture of Hannah was taken on the beach from the first night.

On Sunday night, my family, Hannah, and I took a small hike on a trail that led to a beach. Throughout the hike, Hannah and I took many photos on my trusty camera that I took with me everyday throughout the trip.

It was a very calming walk after being in a car for two days straight. We explored the beach and found some ruins of a building with graffiti on it. We climbed all over them and watched as the sun set behind the water. As the sky turned dark we walked back to my aunt and uncles house before we were off to dinner for the night.

Speaking of food, the amount of asian cuisine that we ate throughout the week was more than I had expected. I ate so much fried rice, it probably got into my bloodstream. But that's beside the point.

Throughout the weeklong trip, we visited some of the attractions around the city and walked around to stores that were close by.

One of the places we went was the California Academy of Sciences. In the Academy, we went to the aquarium, where we saw many different types of fish and plants. It was very calming because of the colors that were experienced while we were down there. We also went to the planetarium part of the Academy. In the planetarium, we saw a show that was led by the staff called Incoming! It was about the asteroids and meteors that have effected the makeup of our earth. It was super interesting and was cool because of the setup of the observatory. We were able to sit back and watch the large screen as the British man spoke over the intercom.

On the hottest day we were there, we visited the beach. It was a different beach from the first night. This beach was accessed by a very long and winding road. The water was very cold as well. I felt like I got a brain freeze every time I dunked my head underwater. The saddest part of that whole day was that I didn't even get a tan. It was a disheartening realization.

And of course, we went across the Golden Gate a couple times while we were there. It was a short drive across the bridge, but it was worth it.

Overall, I loved being in San Francisco. I know how expensive it is to live there, but honestly, I'd give anything to live in such a cute town like that. I plan on visiting again soon, even if it means my limbs might get frozen off in the water.

Anyway, carry on.
xx Em