If You're Reading This It's Too Late

As almost everyone knows, Drizzy Drake released a new album a couple weeks ago. His album contains 17 songs that you can get on iTunes for $12.99 and with all honesty, I think it's worth it. Obviously it's typical Drake, singing/ rapping about relationships and love in a way that gets to you. I think this album is a little laid back, similar to Take Care, however it also has a couple songs like Energy and Used To that makes you want to get up and dance.

As I was listening to this album, I realized that Drake actually has some deep quotes that are embedded in his music. There's a couple lines in multiple songs that makes you stop and think 'wow, that was deep'. A good quote from Company featuring Travi$ Scott is:

"I don't deserve it. 

She’s just a little too perfect 

She’s just a little too worth it 

I don’t deserve her at all, not not at all."

I mean alone it may not have an effect on a person (most likely a girl because us girls are emotional) however if a guy would tell a girl to listen to this song, it would have a different effect. I guess that same thing goes for this whole album, if you're a female that's having guy troubles this is the album for you. Drake's songs, in general, are about relationships so this album goes along with his older music. 

I'll confess, in middle school (specifically the eighth grade) I basically only listened to Drake. The album 'Take Care' was on one-repeat for at least three months. Being able to successfully sing/rap one of his songs gave me a huge ego-boost. As I was growing up, I wasn't ever a fast reader so when I first learned a rap of one of his songs made me feel so accomplished. It's like finishing a book, the feeling of accomplishment that you spent hours reading words from pages that collectively told a story. 

Coachella

I'm sure a lot of people are quite familiar with the music and art festival, Coachella. This annual event takes place in Indio, California since the early 1990's that started because of a protest against the Ticketmaster. Since then, the festival was liked by many so it was made an annual event. Many celebrities like Vanessa Hudgens, Kendall and Kylie Jenner, Nina Dobrev and many more that go quite frequently. This year Coachella will be Friday, Saturday, and Sunday April 10-12 and April 17-19. Tickets are very expensive, granted they're general admission and cost $375 per person.

At first when I saw how much the tickets were I was completely shocked.  I thought the tickets would only be like $100, no wonder a lot of celebrities go to this even. Who in the world would pay almost $400 for concert tickets? That can pay for a round-trip plane ticket to Florida (if planned months in advance). However I then looked at the list of performers and recognized many names and rethought about the price. Granted the tickets, I believe, are for the whole weekend. If that's the case, $400 is too low. Some people pay $50-$100 for just one of the artists on the list, like The Weeknd or Drake, however with $400 you can see both along with other really good artists and other different genres.

The image above shows the artists that are playing, as well as what days they are playing. The artists go from most well known, shown in bigger and bolder letters and as the popularity decreases, the size corresponds respectively. All the music artists that play at Coachella range in genres, there are some rap, hip-hop/pop, alternative, trap/

There are many great artists this year. Those like The Weeknd, Drake, Vic Mensa, Hozier, ODESZA, Brand New, Marina and the Diamonds and Kygo. Honestly going to Coachella is on my bucket list of things to do before I die. Spending the whole day, outside, in California and listening to a wide-range of music genres and looking at beautiful art with a great group of friends. Being able to dress in cute boho clothes with a flower headband and cute sunglasses, who would complain about that?

Plane Tickets

From my research looking for tickets to California that are affordable to a high school student, I found super cheap, round trip, tickets that were $200-$300. There's an airline named Allegiant that has really cheap plane tickets, and not only to California but to other places as well. I told my mom about this airline, however she already knew about it and told me she used that airline when she went to Las Vegas and it was only about $100 for her round trip ticket.

For some reason if you were to fly on June 28 and come back on July 8, the price including tax is only $259 (www.allegiantair.com) which is pretty cheap considering the price for gas is steadily rising. Plus not a lot of people like to spend about three days driving which is how long it would take if I were to drive to California, not to mention that three days is how long it would take one way, going back would be another three days leaving only a couple of days actually in California.

Staples Center

The Los Angeles Staples Center is one of the most famous arenas that is used for multiple things which the two that are most common are for sporting events and concerts. The arena can hold up to about 20,000 people so if you can imagine how packed it may given that the Staples Center is in downtown Los Angeles, which is the second most populated city in the United States, falling behind New York City.

There has been a time where Justin Bieber rented out the whole stadium to watch a movie with his former girlfriend, Selena Gomez. Tickets for this place aren't cheap to begin with, so Justin renting out the place just for a date with Selena was a big deal, as well as a big purchase. The sad and pathetic part of this story was that he rented out the arena so the two can watch the Titanic. I love the movie and I think that it's a quality film that was put together well but he wasted a ton of money to watch a movie. That's literally, in my opinion, a waste of money, but I guess he's well off so that money that he wasted may not have affected him in a way it might affect an ordinary working-class person.

News: California Has the Warmest Weather Since 1895

As anyone in the midwest knows how miserable and terrible this winter has been, however those on the West coast, specifically California is experiencing the warmest winter in their lifetime. According to The Los Angeles Times the average temperature was about 48 degrees which is about five degrees warmer than the average.

As an angry Junior in high school and being freezing (one of the worst things one the planet by the way), I just want to buy a plane ticket to California and just stay there. The midwest and parts of the East coast has experienced the worst winter in the longest time. Buffalo getting many feet of snow, record low temperatures throughout the cities in the midwest, all meanwhile California has higher than average temperature.

If only weather was distributed more evenly. I'm not saying for the snow and the cold to disappear completely, but instead of California being warmer than average, it can give the extra couple degrees to the midwest where it has reached record low temperatures. It makes sense, right? Then the midwest wouldn't be so undesirable.

For those in the midwest: can you all imagine being on a warm beach with sand that makes you want to melt on it. Or in general, can you imagine just being on a quality beach in the middle of January? I know the answer to the question I'm about to ask but why did Mother Nature create winter? Like I know science is the reason why winter is a thing but if this were American Idol and I was a judge, it would be a huge no from me. I admit snow is pretty when it's falling from the sky, and actually if you take the time to watch the snow fall, it's an amazing site to see, however at some point the beautiful white snow becomes the grossest brown color from the dirty ground, and it also becomes slush that is gross to step in.

Shark Week

Shark Week is basically a week long dedication to the species in which Discovery Channel shows films about sharks and their habitats. I dont know why but sharks interest me. The reason why I find sharks are interesting, is because sometimes they attack people and but then other times they do not. It makes me wonder why. If I smelled really bad, would a shark attack me? Or do they attack only if they are hungry? Also I wonder how sharks can smell blood miles away. Sharks are considered to be a species like (smaller) fish which brings me to wonder why and how sharks are more complex or smarter than regular fish. Like if they lost a tooth the teeth would grow back which I'm going to assume is a trait that was inherited.

The Great White Shark is the most famous species of all the sharks. Since sharks are a group of fish, some people have actually killed them to consume or to sell it's meat. Some that has tried the shark said certain parts are nasty if not taken care properly however if the shark was cared for properly then they are the most tasty fish meat. To be honest, I don't think I would ever voluntarily eat shark meat. I think it's similar to when people eat crocodiles/ alligators and frogs, a select few of the population likes the meat.

A weird thing I've come across before while on the discovery channel is some television show where there were a couple people in a locked cage that's surrounded by the massive creatures. They basically observe the sharks and have the feel of 'swimming with the sharks'. Obviously those people run the risk of getting eaten by one or getting attacked, but I assume those people don't care. Even some surfers run the risk of getting attacked. One of the most famous shark attack incident that involved a surfer was Bethany Hamilton, also known as the author of the book Soul Surfer which was later turned into a movie. In Soul Surfer, Bethany Hamilton talks about her life as a surfer, the attack, and how it had impacted her life after. One major drawback from the attack was that she lost her left arm. Over time she has learned to deal with what happened as well as she learned how to surf using just her right arm. Bethany actually posted not too long ago that her and her husband are having a baby that's due this year.

Clippers

The Los Angeles basketball team is called Clippers. They were founded in 1970. They had different colors throughout the years, red, royal blue, gray, navy and white. They were called the Buffalo Braves when they were first founded. That was until they came to California. Back in the 1900's, they are not a famous basketball team. They are often referred to as losers. It changed in 2010, that was when the Clippers started to get wins. They say it was because of the addition of Blake Griffin and Chris Paul. Since then, the Clippers were doing great in the basketball industry. Even though the Clippers has gotten better recently, they still have not won a NBA championship.

Another and well known basketball team that plays for Los Angeles is the Lakers. They were founded in 1947. Their head coach is Byron Scott. They won 16 NBA championships. They play very well compared to the Clippers. At least that is what I think. The first win was in 1954 and the last was in 2010. Their colors are purple, gold, and white. Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant used to play for the Lakers. Both teams play in the Staples Center.

I think basketball is cool. There are a lot of different sports out there that people watch. Basketball is one of the sports I think to watch. Although personally, my favorite team is the Miami, Heat, Clippers and Lakers play for LA. Basketball is fun to watch especially if you see the players having fun. It is also fun to watch with family and friends. Even though I did not play basketball in High School, I still find it fun to watch.

I think it is important to know the basic rules of basketball so I am going to tell you some. The basic rules of basketball is that 2 teams each have 5 players who try to score a basket. The hoop is at least 10 feet off the ground. When a team has a ball and try to get a basket, they have to move the ball by dribbling or passing to another teammate. If a team scores then the ball goes to the other team. There are terms like defense and offense. Defense is the team that does not have the ball and are try to block a score or get the ball back. The offense is the team that has the ball and are trying to score. When a player scores they are awarded 2 points. If they score out in the 3-point line, then they get 3 points. They have break times or gaps between each play but it varies if you play basketball in High school, college, or professionally. There are many ways to get the ball.  You can steal the ball or the other team makes a foul or violation in the game. There are also different positions you can be like, center, guard, or forward.

Basketball is a fun game many people play. You can play basketball all by yourself, though that would be sad and awkward. I like to play basketball in P.E. during our warm up time.