Michael Brown Should Be Alive and Well

There has been too many stories and incidents in this world that involve police, shooting and killing unarmed people. When I was a young kid, I wanted to be a police officer when I got older. After growing up a bit, I do not want to be one anymore. I would not want to be apart of a service that uses their power to abuse people and ruin certain peoples lives. Even if I did not use my power to abuse, I would be ashamed of myself for being associated with a service where some people do use their power to cause problems. As a young kid, I always said I wanted to help people. I wanted to make sure everyone was happy, but now I know that the likeliness of everyone being happy is very slim. However, I want justice or those people who have it more difficult than I do. Police are meant to serve and protect the people that accompany a city or town. They are not meant to abuse and fight against the people when conflicts arise. Police can get away with too much these days. Laws are made to protect the police and the people of higher power, rather than the general population. I don't want to live in a society where the only people who are protected are the people who have more than everyone else. People think that the Michael Brown incident has been the only incident of this kind, but in reality this happens way more than most people would expect. There are certain actions and crimes that do deserve a little ore intensity, but for the most part, the actions that these police have taken are unreasonable, and are the worst possible way to solve problems. Police should be taught how to deal with different situations in a peaceful and understanding way, rather than shooting anything whenever wherever they want. A cop should be frowned down on if he has to use his weapon for problems like this. I know that certain problems may need these sorts of pressure, but not his one. Darren Wilson had no intention to arrest Michael Brown if he shot him six or more times. Even more than once was too much. Even one single shot on Michael Brown was unreasonable. If Darren Wilson wanted Michael Brown to stay alive, he wouldn't have shot him all those times. It was an act of hatred and violence, not protection. Police can get away with so much stuff that a normal citizen can get murdered for. I don't know what kind of justice that is but it isn't working, and it needs to change.

One Time For Your Mind

"The mind of a man is capable of anything - because everything is in it, all the past and all the future"
- Joseph Conrad

       Joseph Conrad was a British writer, who has written the novels "Lord Jim"and "Heart Of Darkness". Conrad was born on December 3rd, 1857, in Berdychev, Ukraine. He lived at sea while he was employed in the French and British Merchant Marines. After 16 years of being in the in the British Merchant Marines, he left the sea and decided to move onto land. That is when he began to write his short stories, and later become a highly successful author. Joseph Conrad's written work combines many experiences he faced while traveling the world in the marines, and focuses on the dark sides of human nature. Joseph Conrad died in England on August 3rd, 1924.


   Joseph Conrad is saying that our minds are everything. Everything we feel and everything we do, it all comes from our minds. Our minds allow us to interpret and understand different things and create new and unique things. Our minds are the past, and all the future. We, as people, are all connected to the past, and we will all account for what happens in the future. Our minds will always be the same, even if we do get smarter in the future, we will still hold an image and think about the past to deal with what we might face in the future. We hope for the future to be good to us, every single person on this earth has. 100 years ago we hoped for a better future, and today we still hope for one. Our minds will never change, it is just how they are, and how we are. This quote to me, makes it seem like the future is meaningless, whatever happens, happens type feel. What happened was always going to happen. It also makes me feel hopeful for the future that if our minds are all the past and all the future, then we can carve a pathway to a good future. We create our future so that we can be more comfortable, but when that future becomes present, we always think about what's next.

Ape Shall Not Kill Ape

The quote "Ape shall not kill ape" was popularized by the clothing brand "A Bathing Ape," as well as science fiction media franchise "The Planet of the Apes." It may seem like the quote has nothing to do with Remembrance Day, but I believe it has to do with the subject of war among human beings. At the beginning of the film "Dawn of the Planet of the Apes," the main character, Caesar, is the leader of an incredibilly intelligent group of apes. Caesar is very wise, and throughout the movie he repeats a line over and over again, "Ape shall not kill Ape." Caesar doesn't believe in solving problems with his own kind by using violence. The apes work together to provide a better life for all, and when problems come up they usually solve them in a peaceful way. I don't know why humans can't do the same. Humans should not kill other humans, especially over unimportant things like oil, money, and land. We need to get our priorities straight and worry about the things that really matter. I believe that when a war starts and the people that are involved in it say that they need to be there to make it safer and solve the problem, they end up making the problem go from zero to one hundred real quick. I believe that trying to solve problems with violence doesn't do anything but make more problems. I don't want to say that the young men and women who joined the armies around the world died for nothing. They are all honourable men and women and they deserved better than having to go to war. They believed they were fighting for peace, but the wars have never stopped. You cannot fight for peace. It doesn't make any sense to fight to stop fighting. Going to war is an old-fashioned way to solve problems. It has been proven that it doesn't work because we keep having to go to war, so people need to find other ways to solve these problems. It is time as a planet to start making better decisions that will benefit all countries and all the people. The only problem I have with Remembrance Day is how we don't pay our respects to all the other people from different countries that died in these wars. All around the world people have lost fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters and friends. We should remember that we have caused just as many deaths or even more than what we have experienced against us during these wars. We are not the only ones that have lost close ones. The whole world has been negatively affected by all of these wars, and it is time for us to respect one another and change the world for the better. Humans should never kill other humans.


Rest In Peace to all people from all around the world who died because of these awful wars. Peace and love to all of the families who have lost their beloved ones.

The True Spooks

I personally feel that Halloween is an enjoyable little holiday. Despite being very dark and ghoulish, everyone that participates seems to have a great time. I have always been a fan of Halloween. Even if it was snowing outside you would find me out on the streets knocking on everyone's doors. I don't know why some people think it is so bad to celebrate Halloween. They probably were never allowed to dress up with their friends and experience the fun of getting free candy. Everyone has their own unique opinion however, and I can't disrespect those people just because I believe something else. Halloween brings people together. Whether it be little kids trick-or-treating with each other or adults having spooky house parties. It is a great way to meet people that you never knew lived on your street. I feel Halloween brings a unique connection to people and it makes people feel happier and kinder to those around them. For example, Christmas is very private. People only celebrate it mostly with family members. While on Halloween people get to celebrate with almost everyone! Everyone is involved and it becomes one big party. For the people that think Halloween is a problem that needs to be stopped, in my opinion, has their priorities all wrong. Halloween is meant to be fun, it's only not fun when you have a negative attitude towards it. My point is that there are bigger problems around the world that need to solved rather than some little holiday that happens one night per year.

A Connection Stronger Than WI-FI

          As a young boy song lyrics/poetry were very important to me. I was never good with words. I never wanted to talk to people it seemed, and if anyone tried to talk to me they would probably only get a one word answer. Conversations with other kids never lasted longer than five minutes. I couldn't talk at all. After a while nobody even tried to talk to me because I just didn't know what to say. I couldn't find the right words to say to them so, I didn't say anything. The songs I listened to helped me to speak. I started to look up the lyrics from my favourite songs and see how the artists used those words, and how they made people feel a certain way by just painting a picture with them. I find it amazing how lyrics can make people feel angry, happy, sad, or any of the other emotions. I also find it interesting what sort of music people listen to while they are happy or sad. Poetry to me is just expressing an emotion through writing and trying to connect with other writers or people reading your words. When people write poems or lyrics they try to make the reader feel a certain way, or think about a certain situation that has happened to them. Connection is what is so powerful behind the words in music and poetry. Poetry is important for all people because without that connection with others, it is hard to understand the world. I have learned so much from listening to music 24/7 and reading the lyrics to songs, as well as writing my own poems. It has taught me that the most important tool we have in life is the ability to speak, connect, and just be ourselves. Write the words that you feel inside you, whether it be one or one million. As long as it's true to you and what you believe, you will find a connection that is hard to ignore (and stronger than any WI-FI connection). I believe everyone can be a poet because everyone has a story that can be told in a unique way only to the person telling it. For me, I still find it hard finding the right words to use for poems, or blog posts, but I write down what I feel and what I believe. I believe that any written works that people have done that bring connection to people around the world is poetry. It doesn't have to be a poem, or a song. Just words that bring feelings to you and others.

This May or May Not Be My Best Work

This quote is very inspirational for me. I believe happiness is extremely important in everything, including work and assignments we have to complete in life. If you aren't happy with what you are doing, it is not going to be your best work regardless of what the instructor's expectations are. It's the instructor's goal to keep you motivated and inspire you to do better, not just teach the curriculum and then disappear from the students. For example, if I am not motivated in a class like Math, I probably won't do homework or listen that much. With a class that motivates me, like Writer's Craft, I will get assignments in on time, and be happy with what I have done. I believe there are ways to be happy with assignments while following the instructor's expectations. You have to look forward to the instructor reading or marking your work. Just be happy with the work you have done, and if you get a lot of criticism that's alright. You can't learn anything from compliments. For me, criticism is kind of bitter sweet. I like when people tell me what I can do better to improve something, but I don't like when people tell me my ideas are wrong or dumb. I think that's a problem with school systems today. There is too much stuff that is considered "wrong" nowadays in school. So many ideas just go to waste because people criticize in the wrong way. That's just me though.

Jack London Told Me To

         Jack London, born John Griffith Chaney,  was an American author, journalist, and social activist. London began writing in 1893, when he was only 17. That same year he ventured on a sealing voyage, and had almost been killed by a typhoon. When he got home, his mom pushed him into writing his story and submitting it into a writing contest. London won first prize, beating out university students from Berkeley and Stanford. He wanted to dedicate his life to writing, but had troubled finding publishers. London began to find fame and fortune when he was 27 with his novel Call of the Wild (1903). A story about a dog which became a sled dog in the Yukon. London was always writing, and made it a practice to write 1000 words a day or more. He had substance abuse problems with alcohol and often wrote about his lifelong battle. However, he kept pursuing his dream. London had quite a bit of health issues, which included Kidney Disease. This disease ended up taking his life in 1916, at the age of 40. 

“You can't wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club.” 

Jack London, 1903

- Jack London

          I can connect with this quote because I have a very hard time finding inspiration to write, and basically everything else in life. To get inspired you need to put yourself out there, and experience things out of your comfort zone. Just like Jack London did with his sealing voyage. I like being in my comfort zone though. I always wait for things to happen, and most of the time they never even happen. So, I just got to go after it with a club and do what I need to do. Even though I find it hard getting inspired to do things, I want to be inspired to do those things. It sounds crazy but it's the truth. I want, and need, to be pushed out of my comfort zone. Once that happens, I will get the inspiration to do anything. I also think inspiration is very important in life because without it we wouldn't advance in the world, we would be stuck. Inspiration makes things happen. Whenever you get inspired to do something, make it happen. Don't wait for a better idea to write down later, just write and you will achieve greatness.