3. Lion's Mane Jellies

What is love? In my opinion this has to be the most complicated question on the planet. You ask 100 different people, you’ll get 100 different answers. However, the epitome of love in society is most commonly associated with marriage.  Ideally, marriage occurs when two people believe that they have found the other person that completes them, the person they will spend the rest of their life with—in sickness and in health, til death do them apart. So I ask, what the HELLY is going on in America right now? Divorce rates are consistently hovering between the 45% to 49% range. Let’s think a moment to think about that, almost every other married couple you see, their marriage ends in divorce. Why? Specifically in America, the average lifespan of a marriage is 8 years with over 80% of those marriages resulting in at least 1 kid. You would think that a kid would strengthen the bond between husband and wife, but unfortunately that’s not the case.  In the United States, of the marriage...

  Given how eccentric Trump is, I’m sure just about everyone has entertained the idea that he is a massive idiot. However, in my personal headcanon, I imagine the possibility that all of this is merely a facade that Trump shows. Over the many decades he’s been alive, Trump has proven to possess an incredible mind. The ways he’s approached his goals and how he accomplished his objectives prove that he is no ordinary person.  Donald Trump hates failure. The man has made it his signature to always “win.” The man has been involved in more than four thousand court cases, and many of them were because he sued someone. Someone badmouths him? Lawsuit. Forbes says that he’s worth two hundred million instead of eight hundred million? Lawsuit. This level of dedication to sue just about every piece of media that badmouths him borders on insanity, and just goes to show that the man is certainly dedicated to his goals. What makes him more insane is the fact that most of these lawsuits are...

“America, you great unfinished symphony, you sent for me! You let me make a difference. A place where even orphan immigrants can leave their fingerprints and rise up.” Besides its revolutionary hip-hop music about a Revolutionary American origin story, Hamilton uses history as a way to reframe the founding fathers beyond idolized mythologies; it shows that behind all the fame and scandals, people like Alexander Hamilton were really just underdogs that worked their way to the top. In “Yorktown (The World Turned Upside Down),” Lafayette humorously remarks, “immigrants, we get the job done,” in reference to himself and Hamilton for their contributions on the battlefield during the Revolution. This one line always draws cheers from the crowd not just because it’s funny but also because immigrants feel recognized by it for the unseen work they do every day for their country. In addition to Lin-Manuel Miranda’s genius lyrics, his choice of a diverse cast helps to show that modern culture and...

I was scrolling through my previously written blogs today, and I couldn’t find one mention of current geopolitics in the previous few blogs! For some reason, I’ve always been interested in the way nations interact with each other around the world, and the implications of that for ordinary people like us. American involvement in geopolitics has been immense recently, and historically everywhere: we once went on a spree of wars for 35 years over a banana. While whether today’s involvement is in a good or bad way is up to interpretation, there are certainly some conclusions we can draw on the US’s foreign policy stance.  Let’s start with Asia, specifically South and South-East Asia. You’ve probably heard on the news why this region is so absolutely critical for every major power. Not only does it hold half the entire world’s population, but both Russia and China seem to want to control the Indian Ocean and the Arabian Sea. Indeed, Russia has been investing heavily in getting close...

With the semester coming to an end and my Aeries being as frightening as it is, naturally I have put excessive thought towards my grades. I have had sleepless nights worrying about how a B might be the difference between me living comfortably in the future and me living paycheck to paycheck. It is an extreme thought but that’s how it feels when all I do is live and breathe school. I know I’m not the only one though.  According to the Nemour Children’s Health survey, 64% of children 9-13 years old in America worry about school. Is it not worrisome that their concerns don’t revolve around whether or not they’ll be able to view the 7 p.m. airing of Jessie . Now, this is by no means an America-specific flaw but there has to be some correlation.  If I analyze the reason for my paranoia I would have to relate it to my parents. Disclaimer: they really don’t push academics onto me and make it my life’s purpose. However, when you grow up learning the struggles your parents have endured...

The air is alive here. Soft murmurs shuffling in the bright streets down below, buses squeaking, people laughing. Wind swells, rustling as it flows like saltwater between towering buildings.  Stars blink down on it all, beating through the light pollution of the city. There’s Orion and his belt, and there’s the Great Bear—most known in the states as the Big Dipper. I am still in America, after all, and I do not feel like I am not; if I were on the sixteenth floor of a hotel in San Francisco I’d probably feel no different, what with the ocean lapping at the doorstep and wind rudely shoving my hair in my face.  Except, pineapple is sweeter here. I take my eyes off the only two constellations I recognize and the manmade stars below to fish another chunk of pre-cut pineapple out of the flimsy plastic container with my fork. The height of luxury, really; to be so high up yet so close to the ocean, suspended above the breathing city in a structure named after a butterfly named after...

            Three kids, one spot.  This is the basis of the HBO dramedy “Succession,” which follows the lives of the three (and sometimes four) Roy siblings: Kendall, Shiv, and Roman. All of these children are vying for the coveted spot: CEO of Waystar Royco, a media conglomerate that their present, but abusive father, Logan Roy, has founded and built from the ground up. The entire show is based on the real-life Murdoch family, who own multiple reputable news companies like Fox and The New York Post. The main character is Kendall, who is a recovering drug addict trying to gain both Logan’s love and respect; the two things that the patriarch doesn’t give out for free. Succession is perfect for a multitude of reasons: an ensemble of terrific actors, great writers, and the hilarious Will Ferrell as an executive producer. But the real crown jewel is how the showmaker Jessie Armstrong captured the depravity and dysfunction of both American bu...