My Opinion On... Dogs!

     Hello, world. I did a post like this a while ago, but with pictures of toast. This week, I decided to bring back the style of writing and share with you my opinions on various canis lupus familiarises. Let's roll over to the pictures!

 

This dog caught my eye as soon as I glanced at it. Those innocent eyes set in that mane of soft fur truly mane you want to hug this dog and take him/her home. However, when you think about it, that fur would take a lot of work to keep clean and perfectly groomed. In addition, since this color of fur would show dirt very easily, the dog may be discouraged from playing and having fun. Maybe not, but either way, this pup brings to light our tendencies to favor pretty things (and animals), even if the beauty is impractical and annoying at times.

This gets 5/10 muddy paw-prints from me

10/10 on froooooooooooofyness though

This pupper came up when I image-searched for "stupid dogs," and sure enough, Google didn't disappoint. This doggo makes me feel strangely happy inside. Although that tongue thing is a little weird and those eyes look genuinely creepy in that moment, this dog is kind of inspirational, if you think about it. He/she wasn't afraid to run around really fast with that weird face on, no matter who was watching or had cameras out. Maybe it was running towards a squirrel or just for fun, but in both of those scenarios, we can learn a lesson from this doggy; always be as confident in yourself as you would be if no one was watching, because what you consider a flaw might be quite the opposite.

9/10 muddy paw-prints from the Nandyster here

This dog was picked solely because this photo shows the truth; that not all cute dogs are cute all the time. For a dog to look like the Before picture, he must first be bathed and go through a phase of looking like the After. Even though this picture was meant to be funny and show how hilarious a wet dog can look, it also shows how the phrase "beauty is pain" has some truth. Although I hope this doggie wasn't hurt in this bathing process, he/she definitely endured some discomfort (I know this because my dog vehemently despises baths and I haven't met a pet who likes them yet) to become the fluffy dreamball he/she surely became afterwards, which should be appreciated. Similarly, we should give some credit to those who make beauty their art, since, as this photo shows, it's not always rose foot baths and sugar scrubs.

This pic gets 7/10 muddy paw-prints

This is obviously the cutest dog out of all of these photos. No one can compare to the Casper. No dog on this planet has the same soft fur on his head that he's always pushing into your hands to be petted, or the same pink tongue that likes to lick your hand when he's happy. Other dogs may have already done everything he will ever do and more, but no dog can say they won the hearts of a certain Nandy and her family like Casper can. I had to use an old photo since I haven't seen him in almost a month, and I miss him so much writing this is almost making me cry. Casper, we'll see you in just a few more days, and hopefully you'll be as happy to see us as we will be to see you. Ruff on!

This photo gets... 15/10 gold paw-prints.

Thanks for making it to the end of this doggolicious collection of rants. Tune in next Furiday for... something to be decided! Aren't my puns paw-sitively purrfect? 

ok i'll stop

     In the year of 2015, the 196 leaders of the largest intergovernmental organization on the planet got together and decided that the world was great, but it could be way better. And obviously, the only way to truly improve anything anywhere is by setting goals. So they set some goals; 17 of them, to be exact. These goals, to be met by 2030, are meant to help give every human access to what he or she needs, from food and water to basic rights and an education. They are meant to make the world, simply put, a better place.

 Introducing the United Nations Global Goals for Sustainable Development, the key world in that name being global. These goals are for the world, not just a specific part of it. Do you or somebody you know live on Planet Earth? If so, please visit globalgoals.org where these benchmarks are written up in their entirety, as well as instructons on what you can do to make your contribution, such as using bar soap instead of liquid soap in bottles (it works better, too), donating functioning but unused items to local shelters, and spreading the word. Find a goal that speaks to you and do everything you can to help meet that goal. Get obsessed, get informed, and get to work, because humanity needs everyone to step up and help out if we're ever going to meet those standards. There are so many random little things that we can change about how we live that can have a positive impact on our world, and yet, are not thought of or practiced. But now, it's time to change that, for "The world is not given by [our] fathers but borrowed from [our] children" - John Madison.

 inspiration : Pissed Off For a Better World by Hank Green of the Vlogbrothers

     It was pouring rain an we could see that, outside the windows of our hotel in Mysore. However, we manged to board our cabs without coming into contact with the cold water, thanks to a conveniently placed awning. We thought there would be another one outside our destination, the famous Mysore Palace. Oh, how mistaken we were...

The ride there, in a nice little taxi, revealed many surprising things. For part of it, it seemed as if we were driving through a river, which really made me appreciate the great service storm drains do for our roads. Anyway, we thought, it can't be that bad at the real palace, right?

We got out at the side of the road at an alternative entrance to the palace. Our next task was to get onto the sidewalk, but to do that, we had to cross the aforementioned 6-foot wide muddy river. And I was wearing socks an cotton flats! Needless to say, we got *a little* damp.

That's when our umbrella broke.

That was our situation; half our party under a tree offering meager shade, with a broken umbrella to supplement it, waiting for 3 more of us from a different taxi and getting drenched. That's when a very suspicious-looking man under a large plastic umbrella offered us some shade. Me being me was like "is this safe?" My mom, already wet to the bone, just shoved me over. So now we were sharing an umbrella with a generous but somewhat raggedy man we just met. Thanks!

The other half of our party arrived, bringing us to a total of 6 wet adults and 1 cranky toddler. After scouting the area and deciding there was no hope, we decided to go back. But alas, the Uber app decides not to work. So the 7 of us pile into an auto rickshaw for 3 and ride home.

life is recursive at times

and that's nice.

a routine can feel

like a worn blanket

comforting and essential.

but sometimes the blanket wears out

holes appear.

people come in whilst you try to sleep.

they say "fix your blanket; it has holes"

they stick their fingers through the gaps

cold and electric

shocking you awake

and you say "yes, i'll fix the blanket

but let me sleep first"

for you know that sleep-deprived and crabby fingers

create more holes

but the people don't stop

they think because you are asleep that you will forget

but how can you forget

when it is your blanket in the first place

how can you forget 

when you're the one who feels any drafts 

let in by the traitorous apertures

sometimes, it gets hot under the blanket, okay?

sometimes, i need the holes

to let in the breeze of change

they say variety is the spice of life

but you think that the only right spices 

are those that complement your basic flavors

fine

the dish tastes better if the cooks all agree

but the dish tastes better with a chef's personal touch

i said i'll do what needs to be done

i said when i'll do it

i can even tell you how

but please

give me my space and time

don't prod me

for i do my best

when not followed by the sharp ghosts of your words

when clear-headed and free from the sharp metallic screech of your repeated commands

which, the first time sound like a delicate chime

and now sound like a knife against steel

i do my best

when calm and not harried

when not badgered, hounded, chivied, or nagged

when i'm

     not

          this

               annoyed

     Most of us non-recluses can agree that traveling is great. The new sights, smells, and cultures can really put your insignificant problems into perspective (or make you feel worse, if your problems are actually significant), but let's face it; the actual process of traveling is kind of a pain. It is so much of a pain that I have decided to dedicate an entire post to its damnation, as is very apparent if you read the title card. 

     First, let's talk about road trips. Being stuck in a cramped car for hours; yay! Although looking out the windows of the car can be nice, it usually gets boring. The sights are usually limited to highway signs, dusty hills, random stores, or the occasional pretty natural sight. And don't forget the excessive joint pain and the hours holding in your pee until you find a rest stop. But anyway, my main reason for this post was to rant about planes.
     AIRPLANES! Climb aboard and get to your destination on the fastest commercially available method of transport today. enjoy luxuries such as recycled air, freeze-dried noxious-smelling meals, 10 minutes of good window views and hours of horrible ones (if you're in the 20% who actually get a window seat, that is), bathrooms used by many airsick passengers (sick with fun, amirite?), an joint cramps that are literally out of this world. You will be treated as a V.I.P (very irritating passenger, that is) by a sleep-deprived flight crew. Don't forget to take advantage of our half-functional entertainment systems or listen to the sounds of babies crying and people snoring that surround you, all for the low low price of, well, a lot. Call 1-800-TAKE-A-BOAT today!
     Seriously, I hate planes. Whatever, at least they land at one point, and getting out is the best feeling ever.

I can barely type on this weird new keyboard, so I'll stop now.

Let me end the post with one of the sad jokes my friend sent me to distract me from my flight dread.

a: what's the difference between a tuna, a piano, and a pot of glue?
b: IDK
a: you can tuna piano, but you can't piano a tuna
b: LOL. But what about the glue?
a:I knew you'd get stuck there
b: -_-

I got off school yesterday as if it was a horse with an uncomfortably hard saddle that most people couldn't wait to dismount. However, my seat was warm and comfy, and I was good at riding this thing. I'm certainly going to miss seventh grade; it's one of the last easy ponies I will ever get. eighth grade is all about preparing for high school, and the American high school education system, from what I've heard and seen, is substantially responsible for the mass amounts of cortisol in the bloodstreams of adolescents today.

See all those big words? That's "Nandy, it's time for you to grow up and act like an almost-high-schooler" Nandy talking.

Today, being the first day of summer, is also a day of deep reflection and reminiscence. For me, an iconic song (in my mind) is as effective as an iconic smell when it comes to bringing back not just superficial memories, but the feelings that accompany them. I know that last summer, I spent almost every weekday at my taekwondo class preparing for a black belt. At least once a week, my mom and I would get some boba tea after the class, which I'd sip on the way back home. Then, I'd usually go to the pool, chaperoned by my maternal grandparents, who were visiting us at the time. I know that I felt happy and that the water was my favorite place to be (it still is, behind the ocean). However, knowing I was happy is shallow compared to the bliss songs from the period like "Unforgettable" and "I'm the One" can bring. Even if I didn't particularly like these songs when they came out, they are now some of my favorites, just because of how they are like time machines to me. They take me back to the distinctive feeling of the Summer of 2017, a summer of taekwondo targets and blue pools.

This summer, my family and I will be traveling. I'm not going to say when or where (safety) but know that if the uploads are a bit inconsistent (or more frequent because I might be bored), it's because of my iffy computer and/or internet and/or free time access. 

Until my next post, enjoy this longer rant-type post, courtesy of my now cavernous schedule. I am literally doing nothing.

Oh, wait- that's a lie. On Tuesday, my new Fitbit Charge 2 arrived, so let's just say that meeting that 10,000 step goal has been a top priority of mine. I'm surprised to find out that I am not as much of a couch potato I thought I was; it's been really easy to get 10,000 steps a day so far. Hope I didn't just jinx it.

So anyway, I hope you enjoyed this post and my new blog signature, courtesy of the aforementioned cavernous amount of unscheduled, potentially potato-state-inducing amount of empty space I have in my schedule.

  

     *I made that graphic myself - no template or assistance at all! Are you proud of me? No? Ok*

     Hello, Candies. In honor of the end of school, I decided to do a post on a thing that has bugged me this entire year; my roller backpack. Don't get me wrong; I think roller backpacks are useful, especially when your backpack weighs like 25 pounds (11 kg). Still, though, they can be an extreme discomfort in the posterior in the following ways:

1) Puddles are the enemy of roller backpacks. Rolling through them gets everything inside wet, so I hope you enjoy slightly moist pencils and erasers. Also, when it's raining, people with roller backpacks have 2 choices. They can either let the backpack get wet because there's no way you can fit yourself and the backpack under an umbrella or you can wear the backpack on your back and get a hernia from the weight of the wheels. -_-

2) GRAVITY holds the backpack to the ground, but it also punishes you for every slip of your finger. If you happen to walk too close to a doorframe and your backpack catches in it, it will fall over and cause everyone within a 2-meter radius to put on their judgey-judgey hats and give you the side-eye until you stop blocking the doorway. Or sometimes, they won't wait for you, which brings me to my next point...

3) Feet of other people. Inevitably, especially in a crowded school hallway, you will run over someone and/or trip them. Honestly, I stopped caring after the 2nd day of school when this happened because of I apologized to everyone I ran over, I would be about 31.41 minutes late to every class ever. And passing periods are 4 minutes long. It's not that I'm not sorry, but its kind of hard. The least you could do, annoyed victim of foot flattening, is accept my apologetic look and not make a big hairy deal about it to your friends. In addition, maybe try using those marbles stuck inside your face to LOOK FOR MY BACKPACK! It doesn't take a genius. Also, half the time, I run over you because nail could probably outpace you so I cut past and try to get to class. Just sayin'

Thanks for reading my rant and my last post as a 7th grader, because next Friday, IT WILL BE THE SECOND FULL DAY OF SUMMER VACATION!

bye!