Cynicism Central

  The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger It follows sixteen-year-old Holden Caulfield’s adolescent journey of angst and alienation as he leaves his prep school and moves to New York City. I chose this book because it poses an interesting idea about coming an age while also presenting a new perspective on wealth that I rarely see in literature. This book is appealing to me becuase it widens my idea of what humans think of themselves and their surrondings. Animal Farm by George Orwell Orwell tells a fairy tale of a revolution against tyranny that ends in even more unjust totalitarianism. The animals on the farm are rife with idealism and desire to create a world of justice, equality, and progress. However, the new regimen attempts to control every aspect of the animals’ lives. Similar to our own world George Orwell is the most prominent author when it comes to ideas of authortanism and I was interested in how a fairytale spin might make this story more compelling and much more emoti...

    Honestly, the fact high school ended has never occurred to me. Perhaps when I finally understand that it is over will, the emotions come rushing in. I don't tend to cry and events such as graduation, so who knows😁. High school to me, is a relatively positive experience. Made some friends and had some fun along the way along with a significant investment academically. Did it meet the expectations of what high school was from the perspective of an 8th-grade Varun? Not really. By that, I rarely have expectations for our surrounding world; I merely see and react.  I deal with the consequences or events as they come. It is what it is.  The most significant thing from high school is the tax on your mind that expectations tend to have. The constant commitment to achievement is draining and in the end, that same goal that is worked to can often be reached with minimal worry and a more relaxed mindset. A change in mentality helped me deal with various significant life-ch...

  Oftentimes music can be referred to as poetry. Complex meanings contorted together with different tones and pitches to create a unique piece of art that is able to convey emotion. It is for all intent and purposes an art form. Within the art of music there is a certain artist that stands out for his complex meanings and lyricism. I know it’s generic but it’s undoubtedly Kendrick Lamar ( don’t worry Eminem I still love you).  In the modern era of rap most artists tend to forgo topics that are relatively controversial to instead rap about wealth and various other materialistic objects and paint them in an idealistic way. They almost say “ Look at my life, look at the money I have, look at the amount of women who are with me, and look how happy I am”. They tend to blend together to something a little less than a catchy song.  A good example of this is the song below  The chorus: Tell 'em get up out my face now 'fore I grrt Are you dumb, stupid, or dumb, huh? Play me ...

(Example of Photoshop) (Iconic Quote) Every year I tend to reflect on what exactly occurred. Most of the time I just think about the funny parts. Did someone make a particularly funny joke? An example of this would’ve been when Surya smashed into an innocent person's mailbox. Examples such as this make my year worth it to say the very least. Though sometimes I often do things that are uncharacteristic of me. I actually indulged in serious contemplation after looking at this prompt. The most prominent thing I initially thought of was college decisions. College has always been the end goal of my high school. Like many others I was motivated by the fact success in life is completely dependent on the prestige of the school you attended. Yet eventually I understood college admissions have a certain randomness to them that is difficult to calculate. So I didn’t put much stress on the outcome.  My favorite phrase came in particularly handy throughout this year.    “Another L ano...

       The orange rays slowly faded from the room. Its beauty is slowly fading, its absence ominous. Like moths to a flame, the depraved were drawn to the screen. Though I think it’s slightly rude to describe my movie-addicted cousins as depraved, I think it captures the true extent of their need for entertainment. A young and bright Leonardo Di Caprio face lights up the screen with the words “Wolf of Wall Street.” Of course, my extended family was considered zealots in the well-established DiCaprio fan base. This new movie was met with anticipation considering it was rated R and seen as interesting for an adult audience with an absolutely star-studded cast. Actors such as Jonah Hill, Mathew McConaughey, and Margot Robbie. Though, of course, at the age of ten, I lacked any conceptual understanding of the movie simply of action. Soon I was kicked out after my much older cousins realized that this movie was not made for my demographic. It wasn’t until I was of age th...

    POV is an interesting concept. Every individual human has its own unique POV that simply cannot be understood by another human in shape or form. Yet we as humans are self-absorbed. We cannot see how the world is perceived by everything else. Everything else you ask? Well of course I mean animals. Animals probably view each other in different ways to us humans. Some are so inherently dependent on each other for their survival that they must view their lives in a specific way.  Take the life of a fly for example such creatures don’t choose a way to live. They live by a simple set of commands, sleep, eat, reproduce and die. Though their eyes can see over 1,678 different angles they can’t appear to look past themselves. Perhaps that is why they are unwaveringly prevalent in our world today. So they would take the perspective of a first person in their life story. Such is nature in that it offers different ways to view the world.  Though take something social such as ...