1 week of Blogged Quarantine

    Currently in my area, nothing is open except grocery stores, walgreens, and gas stations. What used to be a place filled with people due to the immense number of places to eat near me is now a ghost town. I used to go to the subway near me at least twice a month to get my favorite sandwich, a footlong on Italian herb and cheese, with turkey ham, bacon, mozzarella, and provolone toasted, along with lettuce, onion and green peppers. Not having that sandwich for an extended period of time is sad, because it's a really good sandwich and I highly recommend. I used to get that sandwich before track meets, on my way home from school, on weekends when I’m hungry, it was my favorite sandwich and CONVID-19 had taken that sandwich from me. Almost brings a tear to my eye that I will not be able to taste that amazing bacon turkey and ham, covered in melted cheese again. We aren’t sure how long this quarantine will last but it needs to end soon because the first day quarantines over and subways open, I'M GETTING THAT SANDWICH.

    I listen to music all the time, so much so I bought myself a $250 pair of headphones with my money earned working at Panda Express part time. I felt my cheap earbuds I had bought from the New Trier bookstore weren’t giving me the optimal sound I wanted to hear when listening to my music. My taste of music isn’t what most would expect either. I listen to mostly Alternative Rock, Classic Rock, and Punk Rock, which many see to be extremely out of the ordinary. I used to only really listen to Hip Hop and rap, but i started paying more attention to the songs my dad was playing in the car and I just loved how the guitar and drums, and the bass sounded with the lyrics. The first band I had ever played attention to in the car when my dad was playing music was blink-182, and their song ‘First Date’ was playing, I loved the fast paced beginning with the sound of the lead singers voice mixed with he electric guitar. It all sounded like perfect music to me. I began listening to more of blink-182 songs, falling in love with the bands overall sound. I slowly extended my liking in the genre, starting to listen to bands like Green Day, Nirvana, Counting Crows, and Pearl Jam, etc. What started has a small playlist with only a few Blink-182 songs is now a diverse playlist with over 300 songs.

    The best thing I have eaten over quarantine is probably my self proclaimed world famous egg sandwich. The sandwich is served on a toasted pretzel roll, with two eggs cooked sunny side up. Bacon is obviously added along with my favorite vegetable, the onion, and to spice it up a medium load of sriracha sauce drizzled over the onions and bacon. I have made this sandwich almost everyday during quarantine mostly because its delicious, nutritious and I have made it so many times its almost impossible for me to mess it up. It all started freshman year when I used to have football practice every morning. Well when I would bike home from practice no one would be home so I’d be left to fend for myself for a few hours. I would just make the egg sandwich everyday and I never got tired of it. To be honest I am kind of using it as an alternative to the subway sandwich I love so much. The process has evolved over the years as well, I used to grill the onions but now I prefer them raw, I used to use two separate pans, one for the bacon one for the 2 eggs, now everything is thrown on one pan to make clean up easier, and I used to not add sriracha, and now its not complete without it.

   

What Roles Can Create Change?

What Roles Can Create Change?

By: The Central News Network (Charlie Frenzel)

    Every human life on earth holds a role in society, many of the roles may seem unimportant or unneeded but each and every role has the free will to conduct change, they may not be able to create much change, but their existence will cause everything to play out accordingly to how to effect it, everyone has the power to affect the outcome of something, no matter how big or how small. However there is an issue with people discriminating against those who they feel don't serve an important role, and that their actions of change are unneeded and will only hurt the anticipated outcomes of those who discriminate. Most people find their role from where they come from, some are given the choice to play whichever role they choose if they work hard, and others are forced into roles because of their poor starting hand. However, those who are discriminated against and are being told that they do not play a necessary role tend to come together which each other. “They were bound because they suffered under the weight of the Dream, and they were bound by all the beautiful things, all the language and mannerisms, all the food and music,” (BTW&M). These people found commonalities in each other, and realized each other’s suffering, they realized they are stronger together and that they needed to create change, One of them may can only create small amounts of change, but with an entire community all those small changes can create bigger change, guiding them on a path to equality.

    Since some human beings are seen as pawns in the chess game of life on earth, they are forced to act a particular way in order to avoid uneasy, and or life threatening situations that that those who discriminate put them in when they feel offended or feel as if those who they discriminate should be put in there place. Ta’Nehisi Coates describes this in his book Between the World and Me when he says “I make no sudden moves. Disembodiment,”. (114). Those discriminated against are forced to play by the rules of the of those who choose their role, and are able to constitute more change. They have to take into account that what they say may not have the same weight as what a person who got to choose their role, and can create change far more effectively and wide spread. Most importantly however were the repercussions of falling out of line. Ta’Nehisi Coates also explains this when he says in his book Between the World and Me “but oh, my eyes. When I was a boy, no portion of my body suffered more than my eyes,” pg (116). Coates is explaining the visual terror he experienced as a child living with a role he was born into and witnessing those who we seen as falling out of place punished brutally. Witnessing horror, and suffering creates fear especially in a child, they will never forget the tragic events they witnessed and they will carry the pain they feel forever, slowly pushing themselves to act out in anger against their oppositions.

    These feelings of superiority, fear, and suffering are nowhere close to coming to an end. Even today we still see stories every day regarding discrimination and racism towards those who were born into a role they cannot succeed in. In a news article by the New York Times titled “I got tired of hunting black and Hispanic people,” New York police admit to being told that they should leave White and Asians alone, and to target blacks and Hispanics. This proves that there are people who discriminate harshly and use their role to create change in their favor that is obviously against a specific group. This is a significant problem, mostly because this shows that in many cases African Americans and Latin Americans should not even trust those who are supposed to protect them. They are not being treated equally and it is because their role in society is being seen as lesser and unneeded compared to those who were able to choose their role and create change as they chose.

American Values, But Not Really

American Values, But Not Really

By: The Central News Network (Charlie Frenzel)

          When thinking about American values one thing that may come to your mind is the nationalism that many Americans claim to have, whether its representing the red white and blue, waving the star spangled banner, lightning fire works or even just say “MURICA!”many Americans would say they value living in their United States of America. Although many of those loving nationalist citizens are very quick to criticize the country and even make fun of the country they so feel so lovingly for. 

         It is not uncommon to see memes on social media such as instagram, twitter, and or reddit that are making fun of the United States. These memes come in many different shapes and sizes, sometimes making fun of the country and its people as a whole, sometimes making fun of specific states, and sometimes making fun of the political figures that run our country. Most of the time however it is Americans making fun or talking down on other Americans, or Americans making fun of the country. There is however a boundary that Americans have made, a line made in the sand determining who is aloud to make fun of America and other Americans. For example many Americans are very quick and show not regret or remorse in making fun of the the United States or the people in the United States, but once a European comes into the mix and starts bad mouthing the United States in a very similar, if not the same way many Americans are, those Americans immediately take it as a sign of offense and start defending the country as if they still feel the revolutionary war is going on. Many of the jokes that Europeans will make about the United States is about our gun laws, child obesity, health care, the school system, and even drastic events such as school shootings. Many of these jokes on America are written and publicized through memes posted on meme pages, and many young Americans take these personally immediately going to the comment section to share there opinion supporting there country then throwing another insult on Europe or on whoever posted with one thought on there mind, if they bad mouth my country I’m going to bad mouth there.

          

           However, those young Americans taking there opinions to social media to defend the state of the country and the problems within are the same Americans that posted they were going to leave the United States if Trump became president during the 2016 election. Many may say that they value living in the United States and all the benefits that come with living in, but those many are the same criticizing the country. The citizens of the United States dont enjoy  being thought of as lesser to other countries, we hold a strict guideline in out mind that we are number one and there is no country in the world greater than the United States of America, but we love to make fun of the problems within , bad mouth the people in charge of our country and bash on the mistakes we make as a country. So do we truly value living in the United States or are we too quick to judge as young Americans in a growing country.

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