AHAH Moments (Alternatively Titled: Why You Shouldn't See Shrek the Musical If You Are Prone To Becoming Emotionally Invested In Things One Should Not Be Emotionally Invested In)

Have you ever had that AHAH moment where you discover something about yourself? Whether it be discovering country music makes you happy (if this is you, I suggest therapy) or that you are really good at drawing anime mouths, the satisfaction of knowing more about yourself is really cool. 

For me, like many things in my life, the AHAH moment isn’t about something nifty, but rather something that could suggest I need therapy (like my plan for if Donald Trump becomes president, one day, maybe I’ll share it as long as you promise NOT to call authorities after). 

My AHAH moment all started last night, when I saw Shrek The Musical. 

It was put on by my high school’s drama club (kudos to all of you!) and I only saw it because a good friend of mine was the third little pig and a guard. She was incredible and I am so glad I went. The play was positively hilarious. 

(image source: Sherk The Musical Blueray)

Although, despite the excellence of everyone involved, what really made me laugh was the Big Bad Wolf. If you’ve ever seen any remix of Shrek, you know the emphasis and humor surrounding the cross dressing wolf. 

It’s a pretty funny emphasis and the subtle humor surrounding the character is really laugh-out-loud funny. 

I know I was definitely laughing-out-loud.

 Last year, my mom and siblings took my grandparents to see Shrek The Musical at the Egyptian Theater. They all said it was hilariously risqué and totally worth going to see. My mom said there was even a FULL song about the big bad wolf’s cross dressing habits!

The cool part of all of this, is the fact I was not expecting the humor to be there. It was a high school production, so I wasn’t anticipating unsubtle dirty jokes to begin with, but where I live, risqué is pretty frowned upon.

So, seeing this lovely humor that I enjoy so much in a the high school production was very, very nice. Although, I totally wish there was more. I think there could be so much character development with the Big Bad Wold and I wish it was explored more. 

Spoiler alert: I’m the person who saw Mission Impossible 5 and complained there wasn’t enough character development and plot. 

Thus, the fact that I wanted to see more of the arguably least interpreted character in all the stories ever is not unlikely. 

The unlikely part, was my AHAH moment. 

My AHAH moment was pretty horrible; I was having feels about Shrek The Musical. Feels as in “a wave of emotions that sometimes cannot be adequately explained” (definition courtesy of Urban Dictionary.)

This is horrible. This is a disaster. This is probably why I need therapy. 

Why is it so bad? 

Because I am literally having emotions for a movie about a bunch of ogres who SHOULD BE MAKING HUMANS RUN AWAY SCREAMING. I am a human yet I am not running and screaming, but actually becoming emotionally invested in Shrek The Musical. 

I don’t want to be emotionally invested in Shrek The Musical. I don’t want to be emotionally invested in half the things I am (One Direction, I’m looking at you), but Shrek The Musical is a whole new deal. 

So, like any sane person would, I started to complain horribly to my mother and friend (not the one in the play). 

The conversation pretty much went like this: 

Shaun: Ahhha no! Woe is my life! What did I do to deserve this?

Friend: (to my mom) Do I respond?

Mom: (to me) Honey, are you okay?

Shaun: No my life is over! I am having emotions about Shrek The Musical! I need character development for the wolf! Aha this cannot be happening!

Friend: Not another Mission Impossible! Shaun, I thought we moved past this issue.

Shaun: (wailing uncontrollably) 

Mom: Then write your own play!

Shaun: But the play I want would make you and dad look at each other and ask where you went wrong!!!

Friend: (unsupportive laughing) 

Mom: But writing it is not doing it! 

Shaun: (wailing uncontrollably and wondering "what is life?")

As you can tell, no one in my life was very supportive of my crisis. They thought it was funny! 

Woe is me! Woe is my life! Woe to the fact I can’t have a normal AHAH moment. 

Lots of Love, 

Shaun 

Parental Super Vision Is NOT Necessary In Casinos

Everyone has that one friend whose parents are strict. Not just strict as in “don’t sneak out” or “don’t drink.” But crazy strict, like “PARENTAL SUPER-VISION IS NECESSITY ALWAYS” strict. 

For awhile, I thought that friend was me. Then, on a glorious fencing trip to Reno, I realized I was wrong. 

Before I go any farther, let me give you some background. 

There are five nationally competitive fencers at my club, two girls and three boys. The five of us are pretty close, we travel and train together, which leads to us spending a lot of time together. While traveling, the parents go off at night to do adult-y stuff and we get to hang out. 

This story takes place in Reno, Nevada. We were finished with out events for the day and had all night. Reno is like a more relaxed Vegas. We stayed in the convention center where the NAC (North American Cup) was hosted. The hotel attached to the convention center had a casino. It was a pretty crappy casino (in the standards of a teenager), but it was also pretty cool, because unlike Vegas, we could go everywhere. We may have gotten lost a couple times, but that’s part of the fun. 

The hotel, also had a pretty sick hot tub. Sadly, the hut tub was located outside so it required lots of running and towels to get into it without frost bite. 

Back to the story. 

It was the third night, we had finished our events and had the night to hang out before we went home. The adults were being boring adults and we simply could not be in the casino any longer, so we went to the hot tub

We went swimming the night before and the night before, so we had a routine (which didn’t include parents!) The difference between this night and the previous nights (and why my revelation took place), was the fact we invited our friend. 

Our friend was another fencer, she lived in Idaho and was a couple years older.  She wanted to come (hint: we were the cool kids in our league), so she had to do the unavoidable: ask her mom. 

This was where my shocking revelation came in. Where my parents were cool with me running around the casino and going in and out of the hot tub (but not dye my hair because heaven forbid!), her mom was not. 

The girl was allowed to join us, but on one condition: her mom supervise. Now let me tell you, nothing ruins the mood more than a parent chaperone. 

don't we look cute???? (image source: actually this was
taken by the strict parent so thank you for your photography)

Picture this: it’s dark out, the only light coming fro the lights inside the hot tub. Steam is rising and the ripples of the water are illuminated. There is nothing in sight but the hot tub. The screaming from the inside kiddie pool is silenced as the last person walks out the door. 

It’s the perfect place to for a bunch of teenagers to hang out. It’s also, apparently, the scariest place imaginable for strict parents. 

It was impossible to have any fun, the girls mom’s eyes looking at us disapprovingly and “subtly” coughing any time she didn’t approve of the topic. But it was all cool,  because the girl's chill (also a really cool fencer) and we got a pretty nice picture. 

On this trip, I learned that I am not the friend with the strict parents. Because no matter how crazy I think it is I can’t have a snap chat or get a third piercing, there will always be the stricter parent. 

Lots of Love, 

Shaun 

(for those who caught that this was a trip for fencing, (and to those who are curious) I did really well during that tournament!) 

Kill Me Now (I Can Learn Math Later)

Is studying considered homework? 

According to  google, the definition of homework is “schoolwork that a student is required to do at home” or “work or study done in preparation for a certain event or situation.” Studying could fall under the second definition,  but the idea of studying does not sound very homework-ish to me. 

This week,  I have zero homework, but about eight hours of studying per class. In result of this, I am more stressed than I have ever been in my high school career. It would be so much easier (probably not more time efficient, but hey! Glee is a great sound track for homework) to just have worksheets and reading. 

It’s not that I do not value studying, I do (really!) I just don’t value spending lots of time memorizing things for a test, especially when there is test practically every period. Which means I spend a week not thinking, but reciting definitions and math formulas.  

It’s very hard for me to dedicated time to studying, especially when there are more than one class that needs studying. Like, do I give each class a half an hour? Or should I be spending forty five minutes per class (like some homework assignments force me to do)? Because if I spend half an hour per class when I have six classes to study for; that's three hours of studying. 

Now we add in the fact there are two tests with different topics in two of those classes? Do I add an hour more of studying? Am I now studying for four hours? 

Four hours of studying sounds pretty intensive; in that time I can watch about four and a half episodes of Glee. Which is a lot more mentally engaging. 

I don’t spend four hours on homework collectively, or even half an hour on one class regularly, so why should I dedicate that much time reviewing the material. It makes zero sense. 

That is my problem with studying. We spend more time going over the material than we do actually learning it. To me, that sounds pretty wacky. 

I spend so much time memorizing math formulas that I don’t remember how to use them by the time the test comes. Or all I know are the exact definitions of geography terms so that, when the test comes, my brain can’t even fathom how to use them in a real life situation. Or I spend so much time second guessing what I already know while studying, that I can’t remember a damn thing come the actual test.

me trying to figure out if studying is homework
(image source: some library) 

Thus, when a teacher assigns studying for homework I am throughly confused. Especially when they ask you to write down how much you studied. So what if I spent fifteen minutes studying if I ace your test? Is that going to make you think less of me? Will you dock points? (That may sound crazy, but I've had a teacher do it!) What will happen? 

Concluding, even after this stream of conscience, I am still answerless on whether studying is homework or not. If you, my lovely reader, know if studying is considered homework, please let me know because I am clueless. 

Lots of Love, 

Shaun 

Mona Lisa V. Me (Spoiler: I win)

In English class Friday, we talked about the art of blogging. That sounds weird, because blogging seems pretty far from art. For example, compare this 

(image source: Leonardo Da Vinci)

to this blog post, and you’re reconsidering your definition of art. Because, lets be real, Da Vinci has nothing on the poetic words a la me. But, somehow, deep in the topic of art, we got to a topic that actually interested me.

You.

I promise it’s not in a stalker-y way. I wasn’t picturing the color of your eyes as you read this post, the way your eye-white’s become red as you don’t blink (which, is not attractive!) 

But in a cool way, like the way where you’re chill and I appreciate that. I appreciate you (again, in a normal, healthy way. Because, do you know what you are?

Now, before I send you into an existential crisis, I’m gonna answer the question with a simple word. Reader. 

You are a reader. You read tons of things and you like some, you hate some. But, that is not why you being a reader is important. It is important because right now you are currently reading. And you are reading my blog. Which is actually incredible. More than incredible actually, wonderful, spectacular, and amazing. 

Anyways, you became the topic of the discussion. We were asked to write a blurb describing you, and wonderful people, I wanted to share it. Below, you will find what I think of you. 

My reader can be either gender, but I think female is more likely. My name may sound masculine, but my voice is pretty feminine. Age wise, I think at least over the age of thirteen is the only real catch, because what I talk about is very teen orientated. Concerning the topic, my reader could know everything or nothing. My blog is very much about my life and the personal struggles of a teenager. With that, there’s a really big hit or miss idea. Some teens can relate entirely and others could have the opposite problem of what I talk about. I’m not sure what my reader wants to know. It’s pretty stalker-y sounding to say their reading my blog because of me, so I like to think that it’s the relatable problems with a funny voice. It’s really easy to relate to my reader because I write as if I’m talking to my friends. Editing wise, this takes a lot of “likes” and “literally” scanning, but it adds a character to a voice. 

I think it’s pretty important to share this with you. I’m not doing it as just a pat myself on the shoulder, look how cool I a thing, there is an actual agenda.

That agenda, like this blog post, revolves around you. I want to know more about you. I want to know what interests you. So, if you love me like I love you, comment something that interests you. Something you struggle with. Something that your just like “damn, I bet this wacky Shaun has an interesting opinion on this.”

Please, send me your love and ideas.

Lots of Love, 

Shaun