Tabula Rasa
Happy New Year
Welcome back SVGS students! Tabula Rasa would like to wish you a Happy New Year and the best of luck in all that 2015 brings to you! This year as we all return to SVGS lets work harder and work together to make this the best semester yet, after all for Seniors, it will be our very last that we all spend together.
Cycle.
By: Anonymous
…that arrives with ease and the best intentions in mind. Summer ages to fall as the foliage falls in a flurry of fiery colours. The heat of the day cools to assail the senses and invigorate a sense of peace. Fall withers to winter and leaves a small spark of life in a barren, white land of snow. The spark of life illuminates the landscape and gives way to a luminous environment where the warmth of thought and cold of snow coexist together in harmony. The light intensifies to give the spark a flame that changes the snow to steam. Steam fires, powers, and fuels the heartbeat to accelerate it alongside the renewal of life in the persevering landscape. Animals fall out of hiding as the world becomes vivid and vibrant once more. Spring arrives with showers and storms that carefully attend to the world and allow summer to enter. Summer brings with it sunshine that heats the world. Like a phoenix, the world falls, then is reborn by a small, fiery star of hope. There are good times and bad. The tides turn and everyone faces hardships, but in response life allows for blessings and miracles that consume the difficulties and manifest happiness in the moment. This is a perpetual cycle of life, loss, and regret. There may be bad experiences that thrive in the past and bad times lurking in the future, but because this cycle repeats effortlessly, every situation will have a glimmer of hope. Good times will return and, hopefully, they will be greeted with joy and appreciation when they present themselves, for this is an infinite cycle…
By: Anonymous
…that arrives with ease and the best intentions in mind. Summer ages to fall as the foliage falls in a flurry of fiery colours. The heat of the day cools to assail the senses and invigorate a sense of peace. Fall withers to winter and leaves a small spark of life in a barren, white land of snow. The spark of life illuminates the landscape and gives way to a luminous environment where the warmth of thought and cold of snow coexist together in harmony. The light intensifies to give the spark a flame that changes the snow to steam. Steam fires, powers, and fuels the heartbeat to accelerate it alongside the renewal of life in the persevering landscape. Animals fall out of hiding as the world becomes vivid and vibrant once more. Spring arrives with showers and storms that carefully attend to the world and allow summer to enter. Summer brings with it sunshine that heats the world. Like a phoenix, the world falls, then is reborn by a small, fiery star of hope. There are good times and bad. The tides turn and everyone faces hardships, but in response life allows for blessings and miracles that consume the difficulties and manifest happiness in the moment. This is a perpetual cycle of life, loss, and regret. There may be bad experiences that thrive in the past and bad times lurking in the future, but because this cycle repeats effortlessly, every situation will have a glimmer of hope. Good times will return and, hopefully, they will be greeted with joy and appreciation when they present themselves, for this is an infinite cycle…
Reviews By Luke Fields
Going to see The Battle of the Five Armies was very personal for me. I had seen the original Lord of the Rings trilogy when they had been in theaters. To see the film series at an end was very sad, yet at the same time I was almost thankful. Like many fans, I highly anticipated the release of the first Hobbit. Also like many fans, I was disappointed with the final product. Turning a 300-page book into three full-length movies might not have been the smartest move; however, Peter Jackson brings it back around in a stunning finale. The Battle of the Five armies is exactly that, a roughly 2-hour long battle sequence. The movie, however, is carried by the strong performances of its many talented actors and the suspense and humor woven into the story. The performances of Sir Ian McKellen and Martin Freeman are especially moving and Orlando Bloom put in an impressive performance as Legolas. All that being said, The Hobbit trilogy is nowhere close to the original trilogy as the original trilogy was an absolute masterpiece. The Hobbit doesn’t feel as serious or down-to-earth as The Fellowship of the Ring or The Return of the King. There are bits of humor in The Hobbit trilogy that simply don’t make sense and distract from the plot. While The Hobbit might not be as good as the original, it certainly attempts to be which is very admirable. But don't let me lead you into thinking The Battle of the Five Armies isn't good because I would recommend it to anyone who is looking to be entertained. However, if you want movies that will keep you on the edge of your seat and make you experience the full range of human emotion...stick with the original.
Audrey's Poetry Corner
"If I were..." By: Audrey Russell
If I were to take my heart
And spill it on a page,
I wonder what I’d find there.
Would the insides fall
in squelching piles
Would they seep into the page
or would they flow like mercury
Or would they bounce away?
Would the skin, once emptied,
Sag with want
Or constrict and fold within itself,
Relived
or would it change at all
Except to have become
So fragile as to
shatter with a sob
or dried so strong
and rough
That I, in touching it should bleed?
You tell me.
If I were to take my heart
And spill it on a page,
I wonder what I’d find there.
Would the insides fall
in squelching piles
Would they seep into the page
or would they flow like mercury
Or would they bounce away?
Would the skin, once emptied,
Sag with want
Or constrict and fold within itself,
Relived
or would it change at all
Except to have become
So fragile as to
shatter with a sob
or dried so strong
and rough
That I, in touching it should bleed?
You tell me.
She does it anyway.
She wakes up,
at 6:30,
every morning
without fail.
She hates it,
but She does it anyway
She sits for 7 hours,
every day
like a zombie.
They say it’s good
for Her.
She objects,
but She does it anyway
She works Her butt off,
every practice
despite the pain,
yet she isn’t noticed.
It’s pointless,
but She does it anyway
She tries
to do what people want.
She tries,
to look pretty.
It never works,
but She does it anyway
People hate
when She’s sad.
They want it
to go away,
yet they don’t try.
They’re more
comfortable when, She smiles.
She can’t,
but She does it anyway
Her friends hate
Her laugh,
but they hate
Her sobs more.
She can’t hold them back,
but She does it anyway
The world pretends,
to know love,
but there’s too much
hate.
Nobody truly loves anymore,
but She does it anyway.
She wakes up,
at 6:30,
every morning
without fail.
She hates it,
but She does it anyway
She sits for 7 hours,
every day
like a zombie.
They say it’s good
for Her.
She objects,
but She does it anyway
She works Her butt off,
every practice
despite the pain,
yet she isn’t noticed.
It’s pointless,
but She does it anyway
She tries
to do what people want.
She tries,
to look pretty.
It never works,
but She does it anyway
People hate
when She’s sad.
They want it
to go away,
yet they don’t try.
They’re more
comfortable when, She smiles.
She can’t,
but She does it anyway
Her friends hate
Her laugh,
but they hate
Her sobs more.
She can’t hold them back,
but She does it anyway
The world pretends,
to know love,
but there’s too much
hate.
Nobody truly loves anymore,
but She does it anyway.
In a recent article published in the Wall Street Journal, the author (Eric Metaxas) states that the parameters for a planet to be able to support life as we know it were grossly underestimated; so much so to the point that Earth shouldn’t even be able to support life. He states that all of this overwhelming evidence points to the involvement of a higher power. It certainly is not hard for me to believe such a thing. After all, in the article Metaxas claims that, “if the ratio between the nuclear strong force and the electromagnetic force had been off by the tiniest fraction of the tiniest fraction—by even one part in 100,000,000,000,000,000—then no stars could have ever formed at all.” Is it possible, in the face of overwhelming odds, that there is a God? The fact that we, as humans, were able to develop as a species to the point where we have multiple vibrant cultures across the globe is nothing short of astounding when you realize the hurdles in the way of us existing at all. In Douglas Adams’ The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, when the supercomputer “Deep Thought” is asked for the answer “to life, the universe, and everything” after some thought the computer simply replies “42.” That being said, it is possible that maybe nothing has anymore meaning than 42 does. It is likely that we will all go our entire lives never completely knowing the answer and it is highly possible there is no answer. Either way, the decision is entirely yours.