Monthly Archives: January 2020

How Mission Viejo Differs from Seattle

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I moved from Mission Viejo, California to an island in Washington by Seattle. I lived in Mission Viejo for the first 18 years of my life, and never moved. Moving to Washington, I don’t know how much of what I’ve noticed is specific to cities or is state-wide. Nevertheless, here are the random differences I’ve noticed.

  1. Axolotls are Illegal in CA

Axolotls only exist naturally in one polluted lake in Mexico, so catching and taking home wild axolotls is highly illegal due to their high endangerment in the wild. Because of California’s proximity to Mexico, axolotls are not allowed as pets to prevent axolotl trafficking. They are also illegal in New Mexico, New Jersey, Virginia, Maine, and Washington D.C. Don’t ask me why they’re illegal in the other states. But they’re legal in most states, including Washington, because they are distributed humanely.

  1. People Aren’t as Friendly

In Mission Viejo, everyone is always smiling and trying to look happy. Washington? Not so much. The gloomy weather leads most to not want to leave the house and gaze sadly out the rain-spattered window. It’s hard to seem happy when it’s always raining and foggy, and people in Washington just don’t care enough to portray themselves as happy. There are ups and downs to this. I feel people in Orange County are more fake nice and always trying to get on your good side to cash in the favor later, while people in Washington aren’t concerned about what you think of them and are more honest with their feelings.

  1. It’s Rainy

California is very sunny. Growing up 15 minutes from the beach, I didn’t realize how special that was. In Washington, if it’s sunny out, vendors will abandon their shop to stand outside in the sunshine. It’s a state-wide event. People will wear sundresses and constantly be talking about how nice of a day it is. When it’s sunny in California, it’s just a day. It’s crazy how a lot of the world only sees the sun a few months of the year.

  1. Everyone is Pale

I didn’t realize how much sunscreen I was using in California! Up here, you don’t need sunscreen. Ever. And everyone is super pale. In Orange County, everyone is always talking about how they need a tan. Here, everyone is pale and proud of it. I have not seen a tanning salon. It’s nice to be so comfortable with my pale self, as I always felt ashamed of not having a tan in Mission Viejo. But it’s weird having people not care about having a tan after being in Orange County!

  1. They Drink Coffee All Day

I thought people in California drank a lot of coffee. But I hadn’t been to Washington. Coffee is their water. Everyone always has a cup of coffee in their hand, even at 6pm! There are cafés everywhere, as well as drive-up coffee stands in every parking lot. I’ve never seen one in California, but they’re everywhere in Washington! Starbucks started in Seattle, and I think that says it all. People up here drink coffee all day, every day. I have never heard someone say, “You shouldn’t drink coffee right before bed!” They do not care. They drink it as their dessert. Washington is also the only state to have free coffee at every rest stop. They really love their coffee.

  1. Racial Diversity

Both Mission Viejo and Seattle are diverse. Both have mainly Caucasian people, but Mission Viejo has significantly more Hispanic people and Seattle has significantly more African American people.

  1. Storage Units

There are storage units everywhere here. I don’t know why, but here’s my theory. Orange County is newer, so people move there with few belongings, knowing how high rent is going to be. In the Seattle area, there are many retired people who don’t have space for their growing belongings and can’t afford a new house. But that like folding laundry and having band rehearsals. Storage units are used more actively here, opposed to dusty places you forget your own.

  1. Everyone is Sad

Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) is real. It’s depression due to lack of sunlight, and it’s very present in Washington. For example, there is only light out from 7:52am-4:16pm in WA on Dec 15, 2019m only about 8 hours of daylight. On that day in California, there are about 10 hours of daylight from 6:47am-4:44pm, California almost has two more full hours of daylight! Having less Vitamin A causes depression, which is probably why Washington’s suicide rates are above the national average, while California’s rates are below.

  1. There Are Fewer People

Just Orange County has a population of roughly 3 million, while all of Washington is 7.5 million! And Washington is half the size of California. There’s is a much lower population density state-wide in Washington, but Seattle is very packed. There are also just fewer people overall. California has a population of almost 40 million, over 5x that of Washington despite being twice as big!

  1. It’s Right by Canada

In California, people go to Mexico on the weekends, but in Washington, people go to Canada on the weekend. Both states border another country and seem to have more people visiting the US than Americans traveling across the border. Washington is the go-to for Canadian gamblers due to legal casinos and is more of a place to visit for foreigners, while Mexicans seem to move to California.

So yeah! Those are the random things I’ve noticed from basically moving from the Mexican to Canadian border of the U.S.

-Jessica F.

12 Books to Read in 2020

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Happy New Year! One of my New Year’s resolutions is to spend more time reading new books, and I hope that this post inspires you to do the same. With that, here are 12 books you should read during the 12 months of 2020: 

  1. 1984 by George Orwell: This book highlights the importance of individual rights and freedom, and serves as a cautionary tale meant to warn readers of the dangers that the future may hold.
  2. The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett: This classic mystery novel is a must-read for any enthusiasts of the genre. This suspenseful story is filled with action and intrigue and will keep you guessing until the very last page.
  3. The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton: This is a very popular book read by students, and is known for its authenticity and powerful life lessons. Its characters are very relatable, and teach readers the importance of friendship and family.
  4. Cannery Row by John Steinbeck: Steinbeck tells the story of multiple characters living in Monterey, a town that relied on its fishing and canning industry. This story teaches readers resilience and the importance of a community.
  5. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck: Oftentimes, history is told from the perspective of the victors. However, this novel illustrates the Great Depression from the perspective of people that are struggling to find work, which makes it feel genuine.
  6. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak: This popular novel takes place in Nazi Germany, where a young orphan named Lisel learns to read and befriends a Jewish boy named Max that is hiding with her foster family. This story illustrates the importance of friendship and kindness and shows just how powerful words can be. 
  7. That Was Then, This Is Now by S.E. Hinton: Although this is one of Hinton’s lesser-known works, it is an incredibly authentic and moving story that shows readers how our experiences change and shape who we are. 
  8. Frankenstein by Mary Shelley: This well-known story is one of the greatest horror stories and works of science fiction in literary history. Frankenstein is an incredibly intriguing story that teaches integrity and compassion.
  9. Life of Pi by Yann Martel: Life of Pi is a survival story that uses metaphor to depict the dark side of human nature. Its gripping suspense and powerful symbolism make it a literary masterpiece, and a must-read for everyone.
  10. Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand: This book tells the inspiring true story of a soldier in World War II, who is captured and held in a Japanese prison camp until the end of the war. He endures torture and abuse during his time at the camp and teaches readers resilience, strength, and perseverance.
  11. The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho: The Alchemist tells the tale of a boy on a search for treasure, and along the way, learns about the world and himself. This book teaches the importance of personal growth and discovery and shows that the real treasures in life lie within our hearts.
  12. 12. Wonder by R.J. Palacio: Wonder is an incredibly moving story about a young boy who faces bullying due to his appearance, but finds friends that support and help him. Another version of the book also tells the story from the perspective of one of the boy’s bullies, who is facing difficulties of his own that he tries desperately to hide. This books teaches compassion, empathy, and the importance of friendship, and is an essential read for everyone.

-Katie A. 

Why a Met on Demand Subscription is Better Than Any Other Streaming Service

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Have you heard of the Met Opera on Demand streaming service?! Let’s be real, probably not. But I know many people who have Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Prime to stream from… so I think this is might interest y’all, teens! It’s award-winning, recent, full length, HD performances from the Metropolitan Opera House. And it’s the best thing ever. Stop using Netflix. Cancel that Hulu subscription. Forget your Amazon Prime password. This is all you need in your life right now. Here’s why the Met Opera on Demand is better than any other streaming service.

1. You Can Learn a New Language

Operas are in English, Italian, French, German, and loads more languages! They have subtitles in English, German, French, Spanish, Russian, and Swedish! Opera is slow and repetitive, so it’s a great way to learn languages! If you’re learning German, for example, it might be useful to have English subtitles on an opera like Die Zauberflöte (which side note is a beautiful production… it’s just so pretty to watch, it’s like watching a moving painting). You’ll understand all the German being sung with the English subtitles, and some new vocab might stick in your brain if it’s being sung in a catchy tune over and over. I think learning a language through song is a great way to learn new vocabulary, and get an ear for the language. “Comic operas” like Die Zauberflöte and Carmen even have spoken dialogue. The opera singers’ pronunciation is amazing when singing and speaking!

2. You Can Learn History

Opera loves to take place in ancient times, and tries to be as authentic to the time period as possible! When learning history, sometimes it’s hard to picture the time period. Watching an opera in the time period you’re learning about really helps you picture what you’re learning. Also, many operas are based on true stories. For example, there are three operas about Adrienne Lecouvreur, a French actress who mysteriously died in 1730. Or Boris Godunov, an opera about real events in 1584 surrounding a real Russian tsar. Or Doctor Atomic! It’s an opera about the test of the first atomic bomb. And all of these have full HD videos of the performances! There’s so much history to learn with this subscription.

3. You Can Learn About Books

Reading Shakespeare in school and struggling to picture the action? Well, Met on Demand has you covered! Hamlet, Macbeth, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and more are full-length operas that come with this subscription!

Der Ring des Nibelungen (although Tolkein denies it) is the basis for The Lord of the Rings. Don’t believe me?! Watch it on Met on Demand to see the shocking similarities.

The opera Marnie is based on the book that inspired the Hitchcock classic of the same name. (the 60s movie where the lady gets stabbed in the shower to strings going EEK EEK EEK).

There is also audio of operas based on The Great Gatsby and An American Tragedy, which are books titled of the same name.

If you look up the operas on the website, I’m sure you can find more book-related stuff.

4. It’s Relaxing

The Met’s performances are beautiful. The performances are visually dazzling, and the singing is world-renowned. It’s a nice thing to just have on quietly in the background. If the stunning video is too much, there are recordings dating back

-Jessica F.

The Gilded Age by Mark Twain and Charles Dudley Warner

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The Gilded Age by Mark Twain

The Gilded Age is a novel published in 1873. The novel boldly reveals the decayed darkness of the capitalist development stage after the American Civil War by means of realism. The author makes a bitter satire on the bourgeois democratic system and exposes the speculative epidemic, corruption and bribery prevailing in the whole country at that time. Through his own experience and by witnessing the social phenomenon, the author employs exquisite artistic techniques to depict social reality and condense it into the novel, so as to fully present the scene of corruption to the readers.The period from the end of the Civil War to the beginning of the 20th century became known as the Gilded Age because of its widespread use to describe the corrupt politics and vulgarity of materialism in the United States.

From the end of the Civil War to the first half century of the 20th century, the United States experienced a period of rapid economic growth. The end of the Civil War cleared the way for the development of capitalism, and a large number of workers and immigrants provided the United States with abundance of cheap labor. The continuous discovery of mineral deposits and the nascent technological revolution brought abundant resources for the liberation of productive forces. By 1894, the United States had become the world’s largest country by virtue of its industrial output. However, rapid economic development has not brought people the same happiness. A large number of migrant workers in cities lead to the increase of urban operating load; air, water and noise pollution can be seen everywhere; workers’ income security does not match the scale of enterprise development; the problem of food safety is extremely serious; infrastructure construction in urbanization lags behind; corruption involving collusion between government and business occurs frequently; the anxiety of the people at the bottom and the impetuous mentality of the society are increasing.

The Gilded Age is more of a social survey than a novel. It reveals and criticizes the reality of life in American society during this period from several aspects. Corruption, opportunism and plunder, as well as the social noise and smoke of wealth, are presented to the reader in the images of politicians such as Dilworthy and Colonel Sellers. The Gilded Age combines humor and satire, with unique personal wit, profound social insight and analysis. Humor not only plays a role in regulating life and releasing worries in this novel, but more importantly, enables readers to deeply observe reality, life and society. Society is mercilessly exposed in the humor of The Gilded Age, and the oddities of the underclass are kindly mocked.

-Coreen C.

Book Review: Dangling Man by Saul Bellow

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Dangling Man (Penguin Classics): Bellow, Saul, Coetzee, J. M. ...

The text of “Dangling Man” unfolds in the form of a diary. The story follows the complicated psychology of Joseph, the Jewish protagonist, who resigned and waits to enlist during World War II. Joseph had planned to use the delay in enlistment to relax and enjoy his freedom before joining the army. Joseph had no peace of mind. He stayed indoors all day long, lost in his own inner world. Joseph peeks into the world through the closed room, the emotional catharsis in the diary, at the same time record the emotional changes and the world. He did not know who he was, could not find a place in society, and gradually became a lonely patient rejected by his family and abandoned by his friends. Joseph had to talk to his alter ego, the surrogate elf. Joseph swung back and forth between the ideal and the reality, with loneliness and bewilderment constantly attacking him. He even began to doubt about family, marriage, friendship and future, and finally became a dangling man free from the society.

The heroes in Bellow’s works all have good wishes for a better life and the meaning of life. It is the consistent ideal of Bellow’s heroes to pursue perfect self and then perfect social life. However, life rewards them with hurt again and again, so they choose to flee. An inescapable paradox lies between their search and their flight. Just as they dream of playing the lofty role of helping the world and saving the world, in real life they are victims. The eternal contradiction between ideal and reality is reflected in them vividly. No matter how good they are in their professional fields, they are extremely clumsy in real life. Although Bellow’s heroes also persistently pursue their own ideals, they are fundamentally different from the traditional heroes. The traditional heroes leave behind a noble beauty of tragedy with arduous struggle, final failure, and destruction while the hero of Bellow leaves behind a paradoxical color.

-Coreen C.

Book Review: Herzog by Saul Bellow

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Herzog by Saul Bellow - Reading Guide: 9780143107675 ...

Herzog, the hero, is a university professor. He is knowledgeable, kind and sensitive, but he is at variance with the real society. He was married twice and divorced twice. The second wife, Madeleine, was fooling around with his best friend and drove him out of the house. Like an outsider, Herzog wandered about outside the family and society, but he could not find a spiritual way out. He was extremely miserable and lonely in heart, and he kept writing letters to all kinds of people, exploring and searching for the meaning of survival. He knew that he would not be understood, but regarded as a lunatic. But then he felt happier and more peaceful than he had ever felt before. Herzog came to visit an old flame, but immediately left without saying goodbye. Later, he returned to his childhood home and took an old gun that his father had left behind. He wants to kill Madeleine and Valentine. But after seeing Valentine patiently bathe his little daughter, he lost the will to kill. Soon after, he had a car accident. The police found his gun and detained him. His brother paid the fine before he was set free. Herzog in his middle years was bewildered, dizzy, mentally broken and helpless. In the end, Herzog and his lover Ramona return to their country home and found a home in love and nature.

The name of the protagonist of the novel focuses on a middle-aged Jewish intellectual seeking psychological balance, trying to find a foothold in the process. Herzog is a Jewish historian who teaches in the university. He is a senior intellectual who advocates rationality and bourgeois humanism. He believes in the development of social civilization and cares about the living conditions of human beings. Two failed marriages, his best friend became the lover of his second wife, and his emotional difficulties drove him almost insane. Because real life is everywhere against him, the hero fell into the habit of writing letters in the crazy meditation of a deep spiritual exploration. He vented his frustrations in words or in his head in a thousand letters but never sent any. He wrote to family members, relatives, friends, newspaper editors, even enemies, and prominent members of society, living and dead. Here Bellow does not directly show the readers Herzog’s personal life experience, but lets the isolated intellectuals in real life reflect his confusion in the process of trying to state the past, search for rationality, clarify thinking and find themselves.

-Coreen C.

Book Review: Humboldt’s Gift by Saul Bellow

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Humboldt's Gift (Penguin Classics): Bellow, Saul, Eugenides ...

Born into a Hungarian Jewish immigrant family, Von Humboldt Fleischer had the romantic temperament of a poet. Many things were sacred in his eyes, and he dreamed of transforming the world with art. But his success did not last long, and he was vilified by some unscrupulous writers. By the end of the 1940s his romanticism was out of date and the era of fanaticism and poetry was over. Art could not transform society, so he tried to get involved in politics, but his bad luck was so bad that he was sent to an insane asylum. Although he was released from the hospital, he soon died in a New York tavern and was buried in a funeral mound. Charles Citrine was the son of Russian Jewish immigrants. After his rise to fame, he went to New York to follow the great poet where Humboldt helped him to become a university lecturer and to write a historical play based on him.

While Humboldt was very poor, Citrine’s play was a hit on Broadway. Fame was followed by money and beauty and he lived a life of luxury. The temptation of material broke his worship of the authority of art and his pursuit of serious thoughts, which made him lose his creative inspiration. At the same time, he could not get rid of the intellectual disposition. His life is full of material and spiritual contradictions, both want to enrich the human soul, but also want fame and wealth. His soul was lost in uncertainty and anguish. After years of spendthrift, divorceable wives, dissolute mistresses, lawyers, and social gangsters trying to cash in on him, he went broke and ended up in a cheap boarding house in Spain. Just when he was at his wit’s end, he was presented with Humboldt’s bequest — two script outlines, one of which has been made into a movie and has become a worldwide sensation. Humboldt’s gift not only saved his life and future, but also gave him a deeper understanding of Humboldt’s pain and madness along with the fate of intellectuals.

“Humboldt’s Gift” is a genre painting of contemporary American society. No street, no building, no car, no dress, and no hairdo is imaginary. Even fictional characters are based on real people living in the real world. “Humboldt’s Gift” is a panorama of American society on a grand scale. From hooligans to senators, from the White House to chicken joints, from mystics to mafia-controlled booty shops, poets, scholars, cultural crooks, big money gamblers, judges, lawyers, psychiatrists, and moneymakers, the list goes on and on.

-Coreen C.

Book Review: The Adventures of Augie March by Saul Bellow

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The Adventures of Augie March: One Book, One Chicago Fall 2011 ...

The Adventures of Augie March tells the story of Augie’s life from 1920s to 1940s. Augie worked as a newspaper boy, a handyman in the army, a sailor in the merchant ship, went to Mexico to seek opportunities. Even as a thief in the drifting years he threw himself into a new line of work and suffered all kinds of indecent treatment. As Augie grows into adulthood, he discovers that society is a tangled web of absurdities from ideals to reality. He felt that he was in a vaguely hostile world full of constraints surrounded by people who wanted to influence and change him, all trying to shape Augie into the person they wanted him to be. Along with his girlfriend Thea, Augie sets off on a journey to Mexico, but the failure of hawk training, physical damage, and his girlfriend’s betrayal make his dream come to nothing. The trip to Mexico not only left Augie severely injured physically, but also plunged his spirit into a pain that could not be healed. Emotionally, Augie becomes a loner, living in a world of opposition and disappointment. All this makes him seem like a marginal man who has been randomly thrown into the world, abandoned and helpless. The world was nothing to him now.

The Adventures of Augie March shows the mottled spirit and soul of modern Americans, vividly presenting the American social condition. In the absurd society, everything is quite different from Augie’s wish — an individual person is ignored, people’s desire is suppressed, and people’s life is devalued. But Augie refused to be controlled and refused to change. So again and again he had to confront the powerful reality of escape and face this meaningless world alone. Life is an endless process of discovery until it reaches death. As long as a person’s life does not come to an end, the accumulation of its essence will not be completed, the spiritual journey will not end, and the process of free choice will continue. Augie’s double journey, both physical and spiritual, as well as his pursuit of meaning of life all emphasize the free choice of human beings. This reflects the essence of existentialist philosophy: man is free in this world, and so is his choice of action. This freedom gives one the right to choose and act in the face of the absurd world. Therefore, people should realize the importance of free choice, dare to make free choice, and create their own meaning of existence through actions.

-Coreen C.

Book Review: Mr.Sammler’s Planet by Saul Bellow

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Mr. Sammler's Planet, by Saul Bellow – 1969 (1977) [Roy Ellsworth ...

“Mr. Sammler’s Planet” is the work of American writer Saul Bellow. The novel describes in great detail a three days trip to New York of a Polish Jew who survived the second World War. He attended lectures, was threatened by black pickpockets, his daughter took manuscripts, and his nephew died. The story is interspersed with untold personal and painful memories of the concentration camp’s dark days—the experience of being buried alive, his wife dying, and him trembling in the tomb. The story has a strong sense of painting the protagonist’s real life in front of the reader. “Mr. Sammler’s Planet” is filled with Mr. Sammler’s musings on such weighty questions as humanity, history, religion, the past and future of mankind.

Mr Sammler’s eyes give the reader a unique perspective on the world. Mr. Sammler had only one eye, and he could see the outside world from only one angle. The beginning of the novel presupposes Sammler’s specific ethical standpoint. Mr. Sammler was blind in one eye, but that did not prevent his interest in the outside world. He still had a special interest in books and papers, implying that he was a man of learning. The author apparently reminds the reader again of Mr Sammler’s patient status. In addition, in this description, the author adds some new information, suggesting that Mr. Sammler is a man of insight, and that his observations of the outside world are worthy of the reader’s expectation which prepares the author to express his views later through what he sees and feels. The description of Mr. Sammler as a patient creates a good foundation for plot development in the novel.

-Coreen C.

Book Review: Henderson the Rain King by Saul Bellow

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Henderson the Rain King - Wikipedia

Henderson, the hero, comes from a famous family. His ancestors are all famous in the political world. Henderson, 55, inherited an estate of $3 million, an astronomical figure at the time, and could have led a worldly life of material comfort, but the prim-life self-proclaimed drifter was never satisfied. In real life, he causes a lot of trouble. He acts rudely because he has a lot of resentment in his heart. His first wife was a good match for him, but he married only to please his father. He loved to raise pigs, but he made a mess of the industry and clashed with his neighbors. He had tried to distract or extinguish his inner voice with physical labor, but to no avail. Rudeness begets rudeness, and anger begets greater anger. Unable to see the meaning of life, he escaped from his original life and embarked on a journey on the African continent. After experiencing the adventures of the Arnevi tribe, Henderson realized the meaning of life, understood the value of human beings, and returned to America with new hopes for life.

Exhausted, Henderson left the United States and began to travel to the ideal land of Africa in order to return to the primitive state of carefree human beings. This trip to Africa is not so much a trip as a self-imposed exile. He had not bought a ticket for the return journey. He had brought almost nothing for use, and most importantly, it was an exile with no destination and no time limit which not only cleansed his mind, but also made him realize the essence of life and the return to his true self. His exile was the only way he could ward off anxiety and achieve his ultimate goal— a transcendent existence beyond time and space. In fact, Henderson the Rain King reflects an intellectual living in an affluent environment who voluntarily gives up urban life and goes to the wasteland to complete the process of spiritual self-redemption. Eugene Henderson the wealthy American experienced a transition from superiority to perplexity, wealth to poverty, boredom to spiritual sublimation in his dealings with the natives.

-Coreen C.