The Silmarillion: Requires Dedication

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Taking place long before The Lord of the Rings, The Silmarillion by J.R.R. Tolkien, published posthumously and edited by Christopher Tolkien, is a summary of thousands of years of history. Central to the book are the Silmarils, artifacts created by an elf named Feanor with the light from two tree that preceded the sun and moon. These trees themself were successors to two great lamps. However, the central plot of the Silmarils has lots of context surrounding it, and all the elf family trees, conflicts, and artifacts are explained.

The main antagonist is Morgoth, the master of Sauron and greatest evil in the entire lore. He is a Vala, but all the other Valar reject him because he is evil.

Some central stories are those of Beren and Luthien, Turin, and of course, Feanor.

Beren and Luthien are star crossed lovers, Beren being a human and Luthien being not just an elf, but an elf with an overprotective father. Beren is tasked with retrieving a Silmaril from Morgoth to win Luthien’s hand.

Turin is a human that was raised in a magically protected territory of Doriath, almost exclusively by elves.

Feanor’s story after creating the Silmarils starts when Morgoth steals them, after which Feanor commands his entire people to fight Morgoth.

Overall, the Silmarillion is a difficult read; however, reading it provides a ton of insight on why and how things happened in the Lord of the Rings.

The Silmarillion by J. R. R. Tolkien is available to check out from the Mission Viejo Library. It is also available to download for free from Libby.

Squats and Tips

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My Labor Day was one of usual day, and my mom took me to the gym. I did squats today. Beginning of joining the gym, many of my exercising “forms” are incorrect. Before I injure myself, mom got me personal trainings which is one-on-one training. Now I know what correct forms are, I see many people are using the machines and exercising in incorrect way. Let me share what I have learned some tips. Today I would like to write about squats. 

Squats: 

– Front Squat

– Back Squat

– Sumo Squat 

– Jump Squat

Tips: 

  • First, you can’t let your knees go past your toes while doing a squat. 
  • Second, you must arch your back.
  • Third, you must squat like you’re about to sit on a chair. 

When my trainer told me this I had a hard time fixing my squatting stance or form but over time I started feeling better because my stance was better. 

The first squat I did was the front squats. They are supposed to work on your quads and glutes, back squats, sumo squats, jump squats. Most of the squats worked on my legs. For the jump squat, I was supposed to jump as high as I can and I got really pushed by my trainer so that my legs felt like twigs. 

After I worked out, my muscles were pumped up. This is a good thing to happen after a workout. It shows that my muscles have worked enough to where the muscle cells have been tearing and starting to build up the muscle. 

Protein: 

Make sure that you take protein after you workout within 30 minutes, because your muscles become like a sponge for being able to take a lot of protein so it is best to take protein right after you’re done with your workout. Then I went home and took my best nap I have ever had. 

Netflix Series Review: The Flash

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The Flash is by far one of my favorite TV series. It’s like a mix-up of sci-fi, action, and adventure centered around the DC Comics legend, the Flash. Warning-Pilot spoiler. Skip through if you want to avoid knowing the details and want to watch it yourself.

The series’ first episode, “Pilot,” follows the story of a brilliant forensic scientist Barry Allen; his life gets turned upside down as he tries to deal with his mother’s murder and his father’s wrongful conviction. Talk about a rough start.  

When struck by lightning and awakened from a comma, Barry is gifted with the ability to move at superhuman speed and power beyond comprehension. This blasts him into a world where seconds are stretched into eternities. With the help of his mentor, Dr. Harrison Wells, Barry embarks on a riveting odyssey of self-discovery, learns how to control his godly abilities, and uses his newfound powers to protect Central City from an onslaught of malevolent forces. Beneath the mask and behind the lightning speed, Barry faces the ultimate struggle called life- balancing his pursuit for justice with the intricacies of his private life.

Through all the twists and turns of his new identity, he forges deep bonds of friendship and even finds love. He works with his new friends and allies to help Central City crime free.

In the end, he realized that by embracing the hero within, he could unlock a future of limitless possibilities. The Flash is not just a TV series; it’s an exciting account of a teen turned hero and savior through triumph, camaraderie, and indomitable spirit. 

It’s now summer vacation for most of us, so if you have time to binge-watch any TV series, I recommend trying The Flash. Trust me, you won’t regret it. So grab your snacks, cozy up on the couch, and enjoy the show. Hey, it’s summer, after all. 

Enjoy the show!

Bella H.

Why is Taylor Swift rerecording her albums?

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Fearless (Taylor’s Version)

As famed singer-songwriter Taylor Swift continues to expand her discography as a prominent influence on the 21st-century music industry, you may be wondering why she is releasing a “Taylor’s Version” of her past albums. The short answer is, she is rerecording and rereleasing her first six albums, of which she does not own the original recordings.

In 2005, Swift signed with Big Machine Records, which owns the masters (original recordings) of her first six albums. Under Big Machine, Swift did not own her music and was thus unable to control the way her songs were used. Big Machine sold to music manager Scooter Braun, who then sold Swift’s masters to Shamrock Holdings. As a result, each time Swift’s original recordings from her first six albums are streamed or bought, profits are gained by Braun. In 2018, when the Big Machine contract expired, Swift made the switch to Republic Records, where she made sure to acquire possession of her future masters. She now owns the four albums she has released since then—Lover, folklore, evermore, and Midnights.

Red (Taylor’s Version)

Taylor Swift is now in the process of rereleasing her first six albums—Taylor Swift, Fearless, Speak Now, Red, 1989, and reputation. She released Fearless (Taylor’s Version) as her first rerecording in April of 2021, Red (Taylor’s Version) in November of 2021, and most recently Speak Now (Taylor’s Version). The rereleases of these albums showcase her stronger and more mature vocals on all the songs she has written throughout her career.

As part of the rereleased albums, Swift has released new tracks “from the vault,” called “vault tracks,” which are songs she wrote for the original album that were never released. She has released six vault tracks for Fearless (Taylor’s Version), nine for Red (Taylor’s Version), and six for Speak Now (Taylor’s Version).

Speak Now (Taylor’s Version)

Swift is three album rereleases away from owning all her masters. She writes, “Artists should own their own work for so many reasons. But the most screamingly obvious one is that the artist is the only one who really knows that body of work.” So if you want to support Taylor Swift in her journey as an artist to own her art, make sure you stream Taylor’s Version!

-Lam T.

Book Review: Math With Bad Drawings by Ben Orlin

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When you think of math, you probably won’t think of fun at first. However, about a year ago I was looking for a book that was both educational and entertaining, and I found the book Math With Bad Drawings by Ben Orlin. It’s not that well-known but is still a great book, using its witty sense of humor to explain math concepts as well as helping to make math accessible. It’s funny to read and so interesting that you’ll want to read it again and again.

The book helps to explain math concepts such as geometry while never ceasing to keep you entertained. Even though this book is about math, it is one of the funniest books that I have read. It also uses language that anyone can understand when talking about math, making the book more accessible to any reader.

The book also uses doodles to help explain the math concepts in the book, as well as a way to keep the book interesting by adding additional jokes and enriching the book overall. There are many humorous scenarios and explanations throughout the text, but my favorite part is the section about probability that is included in the book, in particular an explanation of how the lottery works.

I enjoyed the detailed explanations in this part, as well as how it used examples from the real world to make this part more understandable. The best part, however, were the doodles, which not only helped to explain the complicated processes behind the lottery, but helping to entertain with a continued sense of humor and using jokes to help explain the concept.

In summary, I enjoyed how Math With Bad Drawings was entertaining and easy to understand. It is similar in style to What If? and XKCD by Randall Munroe, as both help to make math and science concepts accessible and entertaining. There are also many other books in this series, such as Change Is The Only Constant and Math Games With Bad Drawings, so be sure to check these books out! Overall, Math With Bad Drawings is an amazing book that’s great to read anytime whenever you want a laugh or just to learn something new.

The First Flight Around The World

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I was researching historical events that happened on my birthday when I came across an interesting one. The first around the world flight landed on September 28, my birthday. It took 175 days to complete it. But how did it happen? 

First up was the preparation. The U.S. Army Air Service, Coast Guard, Bureau of Fisheries, and Navy all donated fuel, oil, engines, and spare parts. There were going to be four airplanes; Boston, New Orleans, Seattle, and Chicago. As you can tell, they were all named after American cities. 

The objective of this treacherous journey was to display to the world that airplanes were a valid transportation method for all to use, and to advertise the new Douglas World Cruisers. Each plane could only take 300 pounds worth of supplies, meaning they couldn’t afford to take parachutes or life preservers. 

The four planes took off on April 6, 1924, in Seattle, Washington, heading west. They flew up the coast of Canada through Alaska. Alaska had freezing temperatures, thick fog, and violent, unpredictable storms. While traveling through, Seattle crashed. Fortunately, both the pilot and the mechanic were saved, but it was so early in the journey and they had already lost a plane. Luckily, the rest of them made it through Alaska. 

In May and June, they started venturing into Asia. Asia had typhoons, humid weather, and extreme heat. Japan was excited about aviation, but also suspicious of the planes provided by the military. They gave the pilots a harder route, in order to keep their military secrets hidden. Even with the harder route, they were able to make it through southeast Asia. 

In June and July, they started across India. Instead of fog and rain, they now had the humid tropical jungles and sandy winds of what is now Iraq and Jordan. 

At last, they made it to the edge of Europe in August. Now they had the daunting task of crossing the Atlantic Ocean. Keep in mind, these were old planes, and therefore needed to stop very often. The Navy stationed large ships along the route for when they needed to land. The journey to Iceland seriously tested the pilots’ skill. Heavy fog forced them to fly close to the wild waves. They were going 90 miles per hour with very little visibility. On top of that, towering icebergs floated in the sea, the pilots just narrowly avoiding them. They made it to Iceland, and from there went to Greenland. The conditions were the same, foggy and violent. From Greenland, only Chicago and New Orleans could make the trip to Labrador, Canada. Boston suffered serious damage, and couldn’t continue the journey. 

Once they entered the US, the pilots were crowded with fans at every stop. They flew down the east coast of America.

At last, they reached their final miles. The World Flight center was overflowing with eager crowds, waiting to see the latest American aviators. They crossed the desert to San Diego, and went up the west coast. Chicago and New Orleans landed successfully at the World Flight center in Seattle on September 28, 1924. They took 74 stops, and covered about 27,550 miles.

AP Human Geography As A Freshman In High School, Is It Worth It?

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So, last year I was a freshman at my high school and I took the college level course: AP Human Geography. After taking the national exam at the end of the school year, I remember thinking to myself: “was that year’s hard work all worth it?”

First of all, lets talk about the benifits of taking this rigorous course:

  1. Pushes you to really focus and do work – Due to the pacing and toughness of this course, it really forces you to lock in during class time and also study times because if you don’t, you will be very behind
  2. Develops time management skills – The amount of vocabulary, notes, and concepts that you will have to review constantly is absurd, and it will seem impossible at first, but this allows you to use your time management skills to figure out your priorities.
  3. College credit – If you get a good score on the national exam, It will count as some college credit, letting you skip some classes when you get to college.

Now, for the negatives:

  1. Limits your free time – due to the amount of studying required, you will have decreased free time at home
  2. The class can be very frustrating at times – A lot of times you will not understand or remember the concepts, and it will leave you very angry and frustrated.

After all, is the class worth it? In my opinion, yes, because the all the negative aspects that personally experienced could have been easily solved by better time management skills

-Torres H.

House of Beating Wings: Book Review

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This book has been an amazing fantasy read! I have been trying to find a book that has matched the past fantasy books that I have read (aka: ACOTAR, Throne of Glass Series, Shatter Me, Red Queen…) and this one has met most, if not all, of my criteria! It has those plot twists that I love, the romance, and the world building that is so complex, yet complicated. The premise of this book is about a twenty-one-year-old girl named Fallon who is half fae. She is often undermined by the pure fae and the humans as well.

Half-fae don’t have the rights that pure fae’s have and they are not allowed to use magic. Fallon is stubborn, like most female heroines, and she has a love for animals, especially water serpents. But, she has no magic, which she questions. As a result, people often mistrust her and sometimes she doesn’t even understand what and who she is. However, she has her best friends, Sybille and Phoebus that back her up, as well as the prince, Dante who has been her childhood love.

SPOILERS AHEAD:

Fallon lives with her grandma who is in charge of taking care of her, and her mom who is in comatose state. After she goes out to party one night, she meets a woman named Bronwen who tells her a prophecy in which she will be the Queen of Luce if she collects five crow statues.

With nothing to lose, she goes on a journey to retrieve the five crow statues. The interesting thing is after she collects a crow, they come to life. The more and more crows she collects, she realizes that it can actually talk to her and keeps her company during the journey.

As they get further and further into this journey, she begins to uncover some of her heritage/bloodline, secrets that has been kept from her, and her kingdom’s secrets.

This series is a trilogy, and it is a well worth it read! I am currently on the third book, House of Striking Oaths, and the plot twists, world building, and romance have kept my anxiety and heart rate up there! I really recommend this book for anyone who is in a book slumber and needs a book to take their mind off of things!

Stop Cop City

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Recently UN Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield claimed that the US would again be focusing on ‘conflict-induced famine and food insecurity’ during its presidency over the UNSC this month because she believes it is a national security, economic, and moral issue.

Atlanta citizens have been grappling with the issue of Cop City for quite some time now, and numerous riots have risen due to the severe environmental destruction and financial impacts it would have. Cop City, an unfinished establishment, is meant to serve as a Public Safety Training Center that would allow and nurture specialized training within law enforcement and those working in fire-departments. The building of the establishment first started in the spring of 2023 on an 85-acre plot of land near the South-River Forest. The 90 million dollars going into construction completely goes against what Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield and the US are trying to focus on.

People have been wrongfully shot, imprisoned, and even killed as a result of these protests, and although I don’t personally condone the use of violence in order to make a change, I am very strongly against the construction of Cop City.

I believe that these 90 million dollars going into this project can be used to make a bigger difference within smaller communities in Atlanta; it is more than enough money to be able to provide poorer households with clean water/food, housing, better education, and so many other amenities and basic necessities. 

I have a friend who lives in Atlanta, and she attended a public commentary forum/rally in early June to advocate against Cop City. She told me that the event lasted for about 15 hours in city hall, and what really was disheartening for the both of us was that the council members weren’t even listening to the citizens that were pouring their hearts out by telling extremely personal stories about how this project has affected them. My friend also claimed that most of the council members seemed to be on their phones the entire time, and didn’t even really look up at the citizens on stand.

I feel that a deal or a system can be approached between states regarding a shared training facility, or some other existing space within Atlanta can be utilized. The ensured safety of people is important, but it shouldn’t be at the cost of mass deforestation and death. I think that a state can only be successful if it listens to its citizens, and takes the well-being and opinions of everyone into mind whilst making life-changing decisions.

If you know anyone who lives in Atlanta, Georgia, please spread awareness and say no to Cop City at https://www.copcityvote.com/. 

UC Admissions College Planning Seminar- Tonight!

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We are hosting another great seminar with Collegewise tonight at the library.

Find out all about UC admissions from a former UC admissions counselor! Ask questions, get answers, and feel more confident about your application.

Meet us in the Storytime Room at 6 pm.

See you there!