I am currently taking Oral Communications at STLCC. I figured it would be good to get the class out of the way before I leave for college because I will need it either way. So, it’s our third week since classes started and my first speech will be this Wednesday. It’s a four minute speech–which for most public speakers–would seem like a piece of cake. Well, I hate speeches. I for some reason am okay with presentations because we get to plan them out ahead of time. Yet, I’m not okay with speeches? I know what you’re thinking. What are you talking about, you can prepare for a speech ahead of time too. While that is true, there’s a certain type of relief knowing that you will have a presentation in which you can look back at your PowerPoint or maybe even have another person presenting with you. However, I am absolutely dreading this speech. I am in full panic mode because I feel like I will go up there and screw it all up. There’s literally only eleven people in my class, so I have no clue why I’m so nervous but I am. It’s an informative speech so we get to pick the topic and prepare our speech outline before class this Monday. I’m still thinking about my topic, but I swear these four minutes will last an eternity. My biggest fear is just forgetting what I have to say or even like stuttering. I also do this thing with my hands where I basically fidget with whatever I can find or I move them as I talk. I need to force myself to not say “um” or “like” before every word I say. Just typing all of this out makes me so nervous I am dreading this so much, but we’ll see how this goes! Wish me luck!

So originally I had said I would be mainly focusing on art, music and fashion. However, this became a very difficult task due to the fact there isn’t always new music, or news about fashion or art reviews to do. I’ve decided that I will now be blogging about literally anything. From my classes and personal life to maybe even a concert I went to the night before. I will still be writing music, art and fashion reviews though. I just wanted to not narrow it down to only those three. Doing reviews is always nice because there’s so many different places you could go to and different things you could do. My past blogs have had no correlation and I realize that now. I blogged about my Music Appreciation class, then about an ancient Aztec instrument and about my sleeping schedule. Therefore, I would only assume my blogs will continue to be as random as they have been. I will try to switch it up and not always write about the same things. I might also write about some makeup tutorials or basic DIY videos from online. I find that those help out a lot with different sorts of things, however, I just need to figure out how to attach video links onto here. That’s just a basic run down of what kind of blogs I will be writing about. I just decided to type it all out because the trend of blogs I had been publishing had nothing to do with my first blog in which I established the types of blogs I would be writing. Hope you guys enjoy!

What is a sleeping schedule? For most people I’m sure it’s going to bed at 8:00 PM or 9:00 PM and waking up at 7 AM. Where as for me, a sleeping schedule doesn’t really exist. I partially blame my phone, but also blame myself. I guess I could use the “I’m in high school, so I stay up doing homework” excuse, but then again that’s not really the case. Typically I stay up pretty late, and I’m talking about 1:00 AM to even maybe 2:00 AM late. Then I wake up around 7:30 AM or maybe even later (I snooze my alarm a lot) and then continue to get ready for school. I’m going to be completely honest and say that I typically run out the door because I’m always running late. Then after school I usually have something going on like volunteer hours or work so I come home super tired and take a nap. Hence the fact I go to bed past midnight. My naps are definitely one of the biggest causes as to why my sleeping schedule is non-existent. Now that I come to think about it, I don’t really get a night’s worth of sleep. I basically take two big naps and that’s all the sleep I get. Although, don’t get me wrong, I absolutely love sleeping. During the summer and on the weekends it’s all I do, but during the week I just can’t seem to go to bed before 11:00 PM which is crazy. I am trying to cut back on naps in hopes that it will help me sleep earlier at night but I have had no luck. Then again, it is only like the third or fourth day of me doing it.

The ancient history of the Aztec, Maya and Inca Civilizations has always been so fascinating to me. The first time I actually learned about them in school was probably in Eighth Grade, but I didn’t actually get really into their history until Sophomore year in my World History class. I learned about an instrument that the Aztecs made which was known as the “Death Whistle.” No one really knows the actual purpose for this instrument, but it is believed that the Aztecs used it as an intimidation tactic in war. I had never heard one before in my life until today. It’s probably one of the most terrifying sounds I have ever heard. It basically sounds like a screeching zombie. These Death Whistles were also believed to be used during human sacrifice rituals as well. It’s made using clay and ever since it’s discovery more and more anthropologists have become fascinated by it. This whistle is a part of the aerophone family because the sound is produced by air vibrating within the instrument. In 1999, there was a finding of a cadaver holding a whistle, and from then on researchers carried on the theory that they were used for human sacrifices. At first, the sound starts out pretty noticeable but not too loud. Then the sound picks up a bit more, and finally in the end the sound is so loud that your ears even begin to feel discomfort. To me it sounded like someone was screaming so I cannot even imagine what it would sound like to have so many whistles playing at once. What amazes me the most, however, is that they had these in ancient times. How did they first discover them? In other words, how did they come up with this idea to create this type of whistle? The instruments sound differs from any other instrument sound.

Today I sat in my 2:15 PM Music Appreciation class. I have a love for music of all genres, so when I saw it as an option for classes I decided to take it. Honestly, I literally thought we would be listening to music and appreciating it. However, it’s much more than that. Our teacher often brings up stories of his past in relation with music and so far we’ve been listening to ancient and prehistoric music. He asked a very good question today. He began playing a song from the prehistoric era in which you just hear percussion and chanting. He began dancing and we all just stared at him trying not to laugh. He was feeling the music, and he kept telling us to close our eyes and enjoy it. He told us about how a couple years back, he played the same song to a group of kindergartners and they began dancing around. He played the same song for a group of third graders and they all danced around full of joy as well. So then he asked, “why aren’t you guys dancing?” We all shrugged and just stared at him. He said, “it’s because you’re afraid to be frowned upon in society. You’re told all the time, what you can or can’t do. What’s wrong with dancing? Nothing. You’re just afraid of what your peers would think. We live in a society where rhythm is established and if we dare to break that rhythm we are weird. Everyone says the pledge of allegiance in the same tone. Everyone prays at Church in the same way.” And that I found was very interesting. We often don’t think of just how limited we are in society, simply just because we care about what other people will say. There was absolutely nothing wrong with dancing, but even after he established that issue he then again asked for everyone to dance and feel the music. And again, no one danced.

I was struggling a bit to find topics for me to blog about because even though I love reading blogs and watching tutorial videos on YouTube, I never really thought I’d be doing it myself. I thought of what it is that interests me and that’s easy– art. music and clothes. I guess I could just make a blog for myself and talk about the things going on in my life and such, but I realized that might get boring after a while and let’s face it, most of you wouldn’t care. So I decided that my blog’s main purpose will serve for me to talk about those three favorite things. I may occasionally rant a bit too or sidetrack onto other topics but I would like to focus mainly on those three. I hope to write reviews on new music released or upcoming artists. As far as art goes, I would like to write critiques on famous paintings or if I, myself, am working on a piece then I would like to write about my ideas or a pieces and get some feedback from you guys. Clothing topics will include me writing about different brands and new releases. It will mainly be street wear and I will also get into shoes. I believe art, music and clothing are all related to each other in a sense that they’re all a form of expression. I am very excited to begin blogging. Overall, this blog should be more for entertainment rather than giving advice. I hope you guys enjoy, and please feel free to give me feedback.

Thanks for joining me!

Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton