Stone Soup contributor and 20-21 intern Anya Geist, 14, talks to Liam Hancock, 12, about inspiration, persevering after rejection, and the Writing Workshop. 0:19 – How were you introduced to Stone Soup? 0:32 – What is your favorite thing about writing? 1:00 – How did you decide to submit to Stone Soup? 1:21 – How did it feel to have your story accepted? 1:46 – Was the accepted story, “Slaying Monsters,” one of the first stories you’d written? 2:14 – How did it feel when you were rejected the first time? 2:42 – Have you submitted anything else after your first acceptance? 3:00 – What was it like to write a book two years in a row? 3:39 – Do you feel like you grew as a writer between submissions? 2:54 – What inspired you to write “Slaying Monsters”? 4:35 – What is your favorite part about the Writing Workshop? 4:56 – Do you find that the writing you do for fun is different from the writing you do for school? 5:56 – Is there anything else you want to talk about? 6:10 – Do you have any writing advice for your peers? 6:47 – If you could tell somebody about Stone Soup, what would you say?
Young Bloggers
A Day in the Life of a Sixth Grader
7:15 am- When my alarm goes off, I always wonder if I could just throw it on the ground, then go back to sleep. Well, I can’t do that, actually, because my dad is my alarm and I would be in trouble trying to throw him at the ground. 7:15 is the worst part of the day. After the alarm goes off, the quiet, peaceful house starts to wake up: my dad yelling at us to wake up, my little sister screaming at me to give her clothes (which I don’t have), my mom going through her makeup desk wondering which mascara she should put on, and me trying to find my favorite hoodie. 7:30 am- My hair is all sticky and oily and my mom screams at me to take a quick shower. I know not to argue because if I do, I have to look sticky, smelly, ugly, and oily when I go to school. When I’m in the shower, I instantly regret it because it’s soooo cold. But you can’t just get out of shower when you’re already wet. So I just stay in there for five minutes and then get out and runnnn to my room for warmth. 7:45 am- What you are probably imagining is a lovely and fancy breakfast full of warmth and happiness. Well, if that’s what you are thinking, you are wrong. My breakfast goes like this: my little sister complaining that she has way too much food, me arguing with my sister, my mom telling my sister to just eat, and my dad screaming at us to be quiet. That’s how my breakfast goes. And because of my sister, I don’t think I can eat properly with my eardrums half missing. 7:50 am- I do a quick double check just in case I forgot my iPad. And if I do have my iPad, I check if I have my science folder. If I don’t have it, you never want to know what my science teacher would say! She would say: “Honey, remembering your folder and your homework is part of your responsibility. You will get a zero if you forget. Don’t be sad because this is your fault, not mine.” And then I make sure I have my pencil case because you never know if anyone’s going to lend you a pencil. 7th period- SPANISH TIME! I love Spanish. Not because I can speak it very well. But I enjoy the class because my Spanish teacher is so kind. She rarely gives any homework and lets us play a fun game on Fridays! I also do extra Spanish on Tuesdays, which is awesome! I also have a friend in both Spanish classes, and he is interesting and funny. When we were learning the Spanish word “cero,” which is “zero” in English, he said, “Zero. The meaning of life.” It was hilarious. I think that he is one reason why I can survive 7th period! 9th period- Have you ever had a nightmare? Well, I bet you do. Let me tell you my nightmare: gym. Gym drives me crazy. I really wish that they made gym optional. Gym makes me wish I was invisible for 80 minutes. Yes, I have some friends who make going to the gym easier. But you can never get away from my gym teacher’s yelling: “Get away from your friend, Lauren!” or “Put your mask on before I send you to the office!” or “Lauren, do the jumping jacks! They are not that hard!” Following all those instructions drives me crazy! 10th period- If you had a nightmare, there are always good things too, right? And my good part of the day is woodworking! Woodworking is so much fun. You get to cut, paint, polish, sand, and file. First, you choose what you want to do. Then you cut, file, and sand. You make sure the wood is pretty and smooth. Then it’s the best part! You paint your wood. There are millions and millions of different colors. Salmon pink, light blue, purple, orange, cream yellow. There are so many of them! And you lastly, do your polishing. That makes your project extra shiny. Tutoring- I do a lot of online tutoring. Some of them are not that bad. But others are horrible. You have to sit in front of the computers forever! The teachers give a bunch of homework. There is not much to describe about my tutoring except the word boring. Homework time- You always have to do homework, right? Well, about 7:00-9:00 p.m., I have to do my homework. I always don’t do it for two hours. Sometimes I have a little homework and sometimes I have a massive amount of homework. It’s hard, but it’s worth it. Rest/Bedtime- Finally! After the stress of going through the whole day, why not treat myself a little? This time of the day, I call my friends, watch TV, or play with my sister. It’s my free time and my bedtime too. I cross my fingers in hopes that I don’t have a lot of homework for this time. Then I go to sleep crossing my fingers (again) that my dad wouldn’t come too early and scream at me to wake up all over again!
2001: A Space Odyssey, Reviewed by Abhi, 12
Let me set a couple of things straight. First off, if you are looking for an exciting sci-fi movie that keeps you really engaged every second, this is not for you. If you’re looking for movies with simple yet effective plots, this is not for you. 2001: A Space Odyssey is one of the most brilliant yet confusing movies I’ve ever seen in my life. But no matter what age you are, I highly recommend watching this movie. 2001’s story is about the evolution of mankind. Men discover a black monolith, which lead to the first sign of new alien intelligence. The signal leads to Jupiter, so five men head to Jupiter along with their robot HAL to figure out what’s there. But certain strange things happen along the way. This film is notable for many reasons, but the most important reason will probably be the brilliant special effects. This film, although it may not seem like it, was made in 1968, before man even landed on the moon! This film gave the concept of A.I, space travel, alien intelligence. All the good children’s books, like The Giver, The City of Ember, and Ender’s Game exist because of this movie. Even my own book, Three Days Till EOC, was inspired by this movie. This film is strange. It can never be fully explained or understood. There are many long scenes with nobody talking and just seeing the vast wonders of space. The ending, even five decades after this film came out, is still something nobody has understood. Even though it’s rated G, 2001 is one of the most cryptic and most engaging movies, told with almost zero dialogue, which I thought could never be achieved. It constantly keeps you excited, but not like other films or books. See, most books and movies have really exciting action scenes with characters jumping off buildings, or characters running for their lives and a monster taking over the town (The Alex Rider series, Godzilla and Alien are all great examples). But 2001 is engaging, without any of those elements. No exciting music, no dialogue, no sounds, no exposition and background to explain what’s happening. It’s a strange movie you have to really think about to understand. This film is directed by Stanley Kubrick, and he has directed really awesome films, but all of them require some thinking to understand. He always has ridiculous ideas and puts them on film (check out his other classic, Dr. Strangelove). Most of his movies are great, but this one is easily his best. HAL is a robot, but he is a creepy and weird character, as we see him slowly malfunction into madness. The opening called “The Dawn of Man” perfectly resembles human society in an interesting way, showing apes fighting, working together and acting curious when a very strange object leaps before their eyes. Unlike movies told with lots of exposition through a character or opening title sequence (e.g., Star Wars), 2001 tells the story through hidden details and little, cryptic hints. During a really easy-to-miss scene, a bone is turned into a weapon, which cuts later in just a brief second, into a spaceship. These cuts look perfect, brilliant and amazing. 2001 is strange and criminally underrated. When I hear most people think of “sci-fi movies ahead of their time,” they say Star Wars or Alien, but they forget about the most important movie of them all. Without 2001, we wouldn’t have Star Wars, Ender’s Game, Ready Player One, blah blah blah I can go on and on! It’s a very self-aware film about mankind, society, and predicted the future far ahead of its time. 2001 is a thrill ride I recommend everyone in the Stone Soup community to watch at least once, because it is the true definition of a great sci-fi film.
