Invisible Desert House? by Clayton Davis

As part of a desert art exhibition in California, an artist has designed a house in the desert that is created to blend in with its surroundings and be essentially camouflaged. How is it camouflaged in the desert you ask? Probably just painted to look like sand right? Nah, way cooler. The house is built entirely of mirrors. The mirrors reflect the image of the desert back at you (what typical mirrors do) and this gives the house the illusion of being camouflaged into the background or "invisible". It's a really cool looking house, even the insides of it are made of mirrors. Click here to see some pictures of the house. Unfortunately, it isn't a permanent installation. The exhibit ends in a few months, and with the end of the exhibition, the house will be torn down.

Tim Tebow Just Isn't That Good at Baseball by Clayton Davis

When I say the name "Tim Tebow" you probably think of football. After all, he was an excellent football player, for a time. He won the Heisman award in college and then had some successful seasons in the NFL when he first got there. If you follow sports at all, you probably know that he decided to make the swap to baseball last year. He hadn't played baseball since high school, but who cares. It's not like he'd be going up against people who have been playing baseball consistently since they turned 4. No big deal. Well, long story short, he's not holding up very well in spring training this year. Click here to see the full ESPN article that includes an interview with Tebow about his performance.

Spring Break Pros and Cons

By Kyle Kuykendall

Its March again, which means Spring break! The week that is full of parties and NO school. Now, this week is a fun and crazy week but it isn't always a good thing. Here are some of the pros and cons to Spring Break.

The pros to spring break is its one of the best times of the year to have a little break from school. You and your friends can pile into a car and hit the road to wherever you wish to go. The beaches are filled with kids who are off school, and all of the parks are filled. The weather is nice and cool because of spring rolling in, and that means sunshine and cool breezes to top it all off. Yes sir spring break is a blast, but it isn't always fun and games.

Some of the cons which are closer to reality than the pros, consist of the fact that it's a whole week for a break for school. Now let me explain. When you go and hang out with your friends on a weekend, you know that when Monday hits, it's dreadful. So when you get a whole week off, the Monday that follows is awful. And I won't lie when I say that a lot of people, myself included wait till the last minute to finish work that's due the coming up Monday. And another reason why it's not so good is that you will have a lot of inexperienced drivers on the road, normally with 2 or more friends which can lead to crashes and a lot of injuries. There are also a lot of college students who will become intoxicated at some parties they attend, which could lead to car accidents or other petty crimes. But that is not always the case. 

All in all, spring break is a lot of fun, but the way you spend celebrating it could have you in the hospital, or left with amazing memories.

Why Spongebob Squarepants Needs to End

By Kyle Kuykendall 

Spongebob Squarepants, you don’t have to watch to show to have heard the name. Truly this show has been one of the most renowned shows and will go down in history. It has truly defined a generation, myself included. The show was my childhood summed up in a TV show and many others feel the same way.

But the sad truth of this marvelous show, is that Nickelodeon has been milking the show ever since season 7, which lasted from 2009-2011. Nick still produces new episodes and they are stepping into their 11^th season. But the mass majority of Spongebob fans will in fact tell you that the old episodes were by far better.

Now of course there are still some die hard fans who appreciate the new episode on account of the fact its Spongebob. I would be one of those people as well, but its just sad at how absurd and un-entertaining the show has become. Now before you say that it has always been absurd, let me say this. It has always been absurd, that’s a given, but the level of absurdity that it possesses now it far more annoying than it used to be. If you grew up watching it you would know that yes it was stupid, but it enacted stupidity in a way that was funny, and not in a way that is just horrid.

One of the main reasons that the show has lost its likeness, is because Nick has kept it going longer than it should have. If I further explain that its that as I said before, ever since season 7 in my own preference, the show has lost all of its originality and its creative use of humor. The seasons that were prior to that, season 5 and 6 were better than season 7 in the sense that they were funnier. But the season before that (1-4) were by far the greatest. They were humorous, creative, and used a form of comedy that was so entertaining that so many people enjoyed it.

Another reason is that the new episode are written by new writers, who obviously have no good sense in humor. The humor they use is so modern, which instantly makes it bad because what is considered humor now days, to children at least, is just awful. If you were to watch an episode from season 2 and then proceed to watch one from season 10, and you will see a night and day difference between the way the story of the episode is panned out, and the way it attempts to be funny. The older writers of the show had such creativity and such amazing use of humor that wasn’t so crude.

Spongebob is one of my favorite shows and will always be. And it is the favorite show of millions of other people. But ask any of them that have watched it for years, and they will tell you that it needs to end.

An Open Letter to SAC Day Students by Emily Winningham

I’ve been struggling to figure out what to write for my final blog post. I want to leave behind something meaningful for our Quirky (ha *kneeslap*) readers and for the Journalism class of 2018 to look back on and think, “Wow, Emily really made me think about something here.” So as I was thinking and hoping someone might actually think that, I have decided to write an open letter to the students I’m leaving behind this year as well as future students who won’t even know who I am. 

Dear SAC Day Students of 2018,

If you’re even reading this, I just want you to know that you’re not alone in anything. If you’re a senior, freaking out with stress for all the colleges you need to apply to, don’t fret. I mean, don’t put it off and procrastinate either, but take a deep breath, take each day one at a time, tackle each obstacle individually, and ask for help if you need it. 

That advice can actually apply to anyone, no mater what grade you’re in. Whether you’re a freshman, a sophomore, a junior, or a senior. It’s the best advice I’ve learned and the best advice I can give. 

The next best advice I can offer is to find good friends and keep them close. I’m not lying when I say I have literally found and made the best friends I have ever had at both SAC Day and HAAC Day. There are people here who will care about you, accept you, and love you exactly as you are. when you find these genuine friends who feel like family, you seriously need to keep them. They’ll be your greatest allies in this chapter of your life.

Keep yourself firmly rooted in God. I can’t stress that importance enough. Yes, there will be days you’ll feel like God is against you, or you’re not even sure you’re following His plan for you anymore. But He’ll never leave your side, and when life gets fuzzy and crazy, He’ll make it all clear again if you give Him the chance and the time.

SAC Day has literally been the best schooling experience I have had, and as a senior, I’m not ready to leave it all behind because it’s become comfortable and familiar. This is my only year at SAC Day, and I already knew a lot of people because I went to HAAC Day last year, but even the people I didn’t know embraced me really quickly. I really hope 2017-2018 is a great school year for all SAC Day students. 

Sincerely,

Emily Winningham

The Darker Side Of Mary Sue

by Hannah Herndon

Many writers are familiar with the terms, “Mary Sue” or “Gary Stu” which generally refer to characters who are seemingly perfect in every way, and are only lacking in the way of flaws and depth.

As much as we try to avoid creating these kinds of characters, it can be hard to avoid when we sincerely want our characters to be likable. Many videos and articles addressing the Mary Sue issue recommend adding flaws to your character and challenges for them to face in their journey. These things can help add needed depth to characters and make them more believable and relatable.

However, I have recently noticed a flip-side to the Mary Sue dilemma, and I’m a little disappointed that it doesn’t seem to have a name. I’m talking about characters who are essentially the reverse of a typical Mary Sue, characters who have too many flaws, and not enough good in them.

I would argue that this is still a Mary Sue.

First, let’s look at what makes a Mary Sue bad:

Mary Sues are good characters taken to an extreme level of goodness. As much as we want a hero to be good, we don’t want them to be gods. One of the beauties of stories is being able to see yourself in them, and a character who is perfect in every way will make a story hard to read without rolling your eyes, and steal a lot of the joy of the story from the reader.

On the other hand, a character can be given so many flaws and shortcomings that they become a glorified villain. If a character is all bad, they can be every bit as annoying and unrelatable as a typical Mary Sue.

This “Dark Side Mary Sue” is not to be confused with an Anti Hero, though Anti Heroes seem to be particularly at risk of becoming this type of Mary Sue.

Anti heroes are basically characters who lack particularly heroic characteristics. This may mean that the character is heroic for selfish reasons, or that they aren’t especially willing to be heroic, or something similarly not associated with a run-of-the-mill hero.

These can make for really interesting characters, but like anything else they can be taken too far. What may have started out as a deep and beautifully imperfect character can all too quickly become a dehumanized monster who is hated by readers.

This is not to say that a character like this cannot be used. In fact, monster-like "heroes" can be quite well done if they are somehow redeemed as their character grows through the course of their journey.

But if they show no growth, and are always monstrous, you can’t really expect people to like them much.

Basically, I’m saying that there are many ways the Mary Sue can hide in characters. Sometimes it’s the blatant, in-your-face, pink, fluffy, meaningless character, and other times it’s in a more subtle way.

The best way to avoid creating one of these characters is to keep them well-rounded: let them have flaws, but don’t make them heartless. Let them be selfish and stupid at times, but don’t let that be all they are. Let your characters be humans.

It’s hard to find the balance between too perfect and too flawed, but it is possible, and there are plenty more articles and videos out there on this sort of thing.

Here are some links to the ones that have helped me the most:

For a video by youtuber Tyandaga about how not to make a Mary Sue, click here.
**Ignore the ponies, the advice is useful even for non MLP fans**

For an article by author Gail Carson Levine giving her prospective on the Mary Sue, click here.

Writer's Block

By Allyson Reyna

I will be honest, as I am writing this I have no idea what this will turn out to be. I am simply writing whatever comes to mind. Dependent on whether or not I delete what I am currently writing, this may or may not be posted. I do not really know though. For some apparent reason, whenever I am thinking of writing articles for the blog, I have writer’s block. You see, I am a much better fiction writer than non-fiction. When I am writing for said paper or blog than my article should be appealing to said specific audience. However, when I write for myself or for fiction, I am able to write in the compelling way in which I enjoy. This is not from fear of being judged for my writing but more-or-so me being compliant with the general audience on whatever will be published or posted. I decided to try and get out of writer’s block by going to the “trusted” internet and typed into Google, how to get out of writer’s block.

*** Something that is stated in the blog post I linked is this, “You do not overcome writer’s block by reading articles on how to overcome writer’s block.” Well said, well said.

If you are interested in reading the article I found, click here:

https://goinswriter.com/how-to-overcome-writers-block/

A Post.

 By Kyle Kuykendall

Pres. Donald Trump address Congress for the first time on Tuesday, February 28. In that speech he covered many different points but one of the most renowned points he made in the speech, and quite frankly his career is addressing the now deceased Navy Seal, Ryan Owens. Owens wife, Carryn Owens was in the crowd as Trump honored the Navy Seal, which was followed with applause which lasted an incredible 2 minutes long. It was one of Trump’s moments that is sure to go down in histor

http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/02/28/517849426/in-emotional-moment-of-speech-trump-addresses-navy-seals-widow

Why I Can't Wait For Beauty and the Beast by Emily Winningham

By now, surely everyone has heard of Disney's live action adaptation of Beauty and the Beast, hitting theaters March 17th. Just like anyone else who loves and has seen the original animated version, I cannot wait to see this one, starring Emma Watson as the beloved Belle.

I believe Emma will make the perfect Belle, as she has all of the right features to play the iconic princess. Not only this, but the actress is very bookish and smart. Also, Emma Watson was born in France, much like the Parisian Belle, who starts out as a mere peasant girl in the French countryside. Being a strong feminist means Emma will surely live up to the role of Belle, who stands up for what she believes in and doesn't allow herself to be pushed around.

I cannot wait to see other beloved characters come to life, like Lumiere and Cogsworth, and Mrs. Potts and Chip. Lumiere has always been one of my favorite characters from Beauty and the Beast and I have high hopes that the live action film will give him just as much sass and tender qualities as his animated counterpart.

Then there's just the music. Beauty and the Beast is very much a musical with masterpiece songs to progress the story forward and also a score just as timeless as the unforgettable song, Tale As Old As Time.

If you would like to watch a video on the actors of the film discussing what Beauty and the Beast means to them, click here.