While working on my 20% project this week, I finished storyboarding and moved on to the sketching. My plan is going well so far, and I’m doing everything on time. In my own time, I will be working on more of the backstory of the characters, which may help me if I feel the need to change anything in the future. I didn’t need to make any changes to my plan for the next few weeks, but I will need to work on it at home if I want to keep it that way. I expect to be able to finish up sketching by Friday, and there’s a slight change I could start lineart that day if things go quickly. I’m not having many problems, but the first day of working did slightly put me behind. However, drawing this comic is something I love doing, so I’m expecting to be right on schedule!

For my 20% project, I decided to make chapter one of a comic about my original characters. My goal this week was to begin storyboarding, and I accomplished that goal. I drew the vague scenes for the first third of the chapter, and I will do more at home. I also know where the rest of the chapter will go after that, but I need to refine it. Storyboarding is usually a fast process, especially if you already have most of the ideas and scenes in mind. However, I wasn’t in class for a lot of the class period we got to work on our projects, so I need to work on it at home. My friends also gave me advice on a few ideas and scenes to include, so I will be able to include those. Next week I want to finish the last of storyboarding if it’s not already done, and begin fully sketching the panels. I am glad I chose to make this for my project, as it is something I enjoy and am very interested in doing.

Last week, I went to the theater to watch the Minecraft movie with two of my friends, my dad, and my little brother. My brother and I have been asking for tickets since the first trailer came out, but I had no idea that we’d be going on opening night! It was all planned within a day, which was surprising for me, because my mom usually hated having last minute plans. Two of my friends had told me that they were seeing the movie later that day, and asked me if I could go with them. I was unsure at first, knowing my parents might not let me  because of how sudden it was. When I got home, I was hesitant to ask them, but I am so glad I did. It was a struggle to find seats right next to my friends, especially with how many of them were already taken, but luckily we were able to buy the tickets in time. I showered, got dressed, and texted my friends to let them know I was on my way. We were almost at the theater, but once we took our normal left turn to get there, we had to stop. The lane was closed! It was almost 7:20, the time the movie would “start,” but I knew there would still be previews. I was nervous about getting there in time, especially because my friends started to text me, asking me where I was. When we finally got to the movie theater, we still had to wait in line to get our snacks. My dad was already annoyed at having to come with us this late, so it was needless to say he was especially upset when the line took so long. I raced to meet my friends at our seats, and we were joking about the quotes in the trailers for the movie, when we heard applause throughout the theater. We were laughing, clapping, and cheering with the rest of the people there. My dad seemed in better spirits after the movie, and was joking with us about it. My friends and I still make talk about our time at that theater.

This month I read the novel 1984 by George Orwell. I am not currently done with this book, I am on page 205. 1984 is a dystopian novel about a man named Winston Smith, who works for an organization known as the Party. As a member of the Records Department in the Ministry of Truth, Winston’s job is to rewrite history to make it satisfactory for the Party. However, he begins to hate the organization which he works for, making small yet impactful rebellions against the Party. He soon meets Julia, a woman who shares his same values.

I enjoyed this book because of the dystopian aspect of it. A lot of the plot is based off of the fictional objects and factors of the universe, and the author does an amazing job of telling it. He does a great job at describing everything in the book, even if it is confusing sometimes. The book is sometimes a higher reading level, which I don’t mind, but it makes me look up a few words sometimes. The characters have obvious individual personalities, and their own beliefs and struggles, which makes them feel even more real.

My favorite character from the book is Winston. Even though he has faults and opinions that are obviously wrong and immoral at times, it shows that he’s a product of his corrupt environment, and has grown to think that some very wrong things are okay. However, he has many times where he is a good person, doing what is necessary to help others and make sure that the Party doesn’t grow its reach even further than it already is. One character trait he possesses is his rebellious nature. He is very defiant and a free thinker, unlike many other characters in the novel. “DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER” is one quote that shows this. Big Brother is a figure in this book that is seen as their ruler, controlling everything in their superstate known as Oceania. Winston wrote that phrase down in his diary, which may be seen as small, but it is still extremely dangerous to do. However, his need to rebel against his dishonorable leaders compels him to defy them anyway.

My favorite quote from this book is “War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength.” The quote is the Party’s widely known slogan, and arguably the most popular phrases from the novel. I like it because it is referred to several times, and shows an example of how contradictory the characters can be while still believing it makes perfect sense. In my opinion, it perfectly depicts just how much the Party can get away with without the majority of people complaining.

There are a lot of people I’d like to dinner, but my top three are my friends Sydney and Nina, and my band teacher from school. First of all, I’d invite Sydney because she always lets us have some of her food whenever we eat. She’s also very fun to be around, and would make us all laugh. I would invite Nina because she’s my best friend out of anyone, but I haven’t had the opportunity to spend much time with her. I would love to hang out with her outside of school, even if it was just for dinner. I would also invite my band teacher, Ms. Hua, because she’s my favorite teacher. She’s really relaxed around us, and it would be fun to have her at dinner with my friends.

If I could have any job in the world, it would be an archeologist. First of all, I would choose this job because I love history. Having a job where I can help educate other people about history from my findings would be amazing! It is so exciting to me to find more information about things that happened way before humans, and even when humans were still starting to emerge in the world. We can learn so much from history, especially archeological findings, and I would love to contribute to it. Another reason I’d want this job is the amount of time you get to spend outdoors. A lot of archeology is spent outside, traveling, and doing a lot of hands-on activities. I’m a much better learner and listener when I get to do physical stuff and not just sit inside. It would be interesting for a majority of my work to be actually doing what I like to do. The last reason for wanting this job is getting to meet other people who also care about history and learning more about it. A lot of people I know don’t share the same interest I do in this topic, so it would be refreshing to meet and talk to people who have a passion for archeology and history too.

Someone has made me invisible for twenty-four hours! I wouldn’t go to school, because who would go to school on a day like this? One of the things I would do first now that I’m invisible is the most stereotypical thing to do, which is somehow take money from a bank. Although it’s unlawful, I would give it to my parents so we would have extra money left aside after paying bills and taxes. I would also use the money to put into investments, so I have more money when I need it. I would also sneak into a movie theater to watch as many movies as I want for free! I would get to watch movies that would’ve been sold out, or movies my parents didn’t want to take me to. Another thing I would do that day is go into a fancy restaurant and take food from the kitchen. After that long day, I would definitely want a dinner like that!

One day, as I was on my phone, I suddenly got a text from my mom. The message said “Just so you know, your Dad and I are planning a surprise for your birthday.” I was both confused and excited. Why was she telling me about this now? My birthday is months away! I eagerly replied to the message, asking her what it is. However, she refused to tell me. “I can’t tell you, then it won’t be a surprise anymore!” She responded. One of the only hints she gave me was that they were renewing my passport. I immediately knew it would have to do with traveling! No matter how many times I asked her where we were going, or tried to guess the destination, she wouldn’t give me any more hints. Still, I wouldn’t give up that easily. I finally got her to give me another hint! She sent one hint: the cruise ship emoji. I was shocked! We were going on a cruise for my birthday? I started texting her even faster, asking her which one it was and a bunch of other questions, but she again refused to tell me. All I knew was that my birthday plans just got much more exciting!

I live on an abandoned tropical island. I got there by a boat. I wake up everyday at around 8 AM, in my house a short distance from the shore. My house isn’t too big, but it’s not a hut either. On the island, I usually eat fish, other sea creatures I can find, different fruit from the trees there, coconuts, and other items I can find. I eat breakfast, and then take a walk around the island. Sometimes I fish in different areas in my island, and other times I go further into the trees around my house and look for things I can forage. Sometimes I come across berries, fruit, and occasionally, I’m able to knock down a coconut. There are other animals there too, like a couple birds and lizards. When the weather is warm I can swim in the ocean around my island. Most of the time the water is nice and cool, which feels like an ice pack on those hot days. At night I watch the sun set over the horizon, the pastel colors painting a beautiful landscape on the beach. When I finally go to bed, the sound of waves crashing on the beach and a soft breeze through the leaved of the trees sends me to sleep.

“We must all face the choice between what is right and what is easy.” This is a quote said by the character Dumbledore in the book series Harry Potter. I believe this quote means that choosing the easy thing, however it may impact your life or the others around you, can be done quickly and, well, easily. However, that decision may not be beneficial, or the right thing to do. I can relate myself to this quote because sometimes I find myself wanting to choose to do something that may be cutting corners, or not benefiting anyone, but I realize that I need to do the thing that is right. It may be harder, more difficult than the other option, but it’s better in the long run.