short term purposes that grow; a blog about plants

entering a jungle

The jungle's heat met the sweet smell of snow
The red door jingled, trapping the soft glow

Leaves, flowers, tangled together as one
Sprouting colors, inhaling the bright sun

Spikes and prickles come in short and in tall
The cool lick of winter fire, sparks withdrawal

A busy canvas of spattered green paint
Crunch underfoot and rustle of leaves faint 

Trays lined displaying parts of our world

To choose with one grasp, once the fingers curled

Earth in hand, love in heart, held close to chest
Disappearing into night, at last, rest

Plants are living too;

There are all kinds of plants, from all over the world, growing in a variety of sizes, colors, and shapes. Each unique in their very own way, just like people. Plants do so much for us, and yet we continue to ruin their homes, they are one of the few things that the world need to grow and survive. Humans could die off, animals and plants would live together in peace and the world would not be harmed. Thats why I view plant as such a key aspect in our environment.

Why I love plants:

I love having plants because it enables me to wake up in the morning and feel a sense of purpose, they rely on me to provide water and care. They are also a great way to spend time, caring for each individual one. It's so compelling how something so exquisite can need so little to survive. Plants are important in my life because they are always there, no matter what they are next to you shedding beauty into the world, even when they are dying. They radiate a warmth to a room that can only be described as life. It brings me joy to see every new leaf, sprouting at barely a few millimeters large, entering the world with fresh eyes. I love how peaceful they are, moving so slightly that you can’t even see it. Growing so slowly that it takes weeks to see a difference.

Having your own:

Succulents are great plants for beginners and my personal favorite, for they require minimal needs, yet done so much with. They are so beautiful and unlike any other houseplant, their fat leaves are adorable.

      ★ proper ways to take care of them:

• When to water?

Even watering succulents is easy because most send you a sign when they are thirsty. The the majority of succulents their leaves will become squishy or soft when they lack water. The simple approach to this, is watering them around every two weeks, or when they send you a sign. Although it is clear when they need water, it can be confused with when they are being overwatered. Similarly to when succulents need water, their leaves will become squishy when too much water is provided. When the soil is too damp it can cause roots to rot and your plant to die, so be sure to only water every once in a while, most succulents can go long periods of time without water. 

• Not enough sun? 

A good sign that your succulent is not getting enough light is when the stem starts becoming leggy and leaves disperse further and further apart, with a rosette at the end. This happens because the plant is growing towards the light source to access more light. Try to keep your full grown succulent in direct sunlight. 

Propagation;

What is propagation?

Propagation is a form of reproducing plants. It can take a while for it to fully grow, so it requires patience and care. Certain plants can root faster and have higher percentages of success rates. Propagation most commonly performed with house plants, most specifically succulents, for their fat leaves store energy that can be passed down to the new succulent. The process usually starts from a cutting or leaf and can be done in multiple different ways. Although sometimes the plant lacks the cells that are required for propagation. This can make it so that only roots will emerge and no bud, or the opposite when a bud grows, but no roots.  

Removing leaves or cuttings;

All propagation starts with a leaf or cutting, but there are specific ways to go about removing a leaf so that it does not die. When removing a leaf to propagate you don't want it to rip at all or show flesh. Slowly rock it back and forth till it is loose and then twist to pop it off. If it is not a clean cut the leaf will most likely die or rot. Leave the cutting out in semi-direct sunlight for 2-3 day, this allows the exposed section, where the plant was cut, to callus over. Without this, the cutting would absorb too much water and this can cause it to rot. Once the leaf or cutting has sat, you can usually see the callus, as a brown mark or bump.

Propagation methods;

      ★ Water: Propagation by water is what I found to be quickest, although it does require more attention.

• When propagating with water, you begin with a cutting or leaf. 
• You then let it sit in semi-direct sunlight for 2-3 day
• At this point, you prepare your water, you need a jar of some sort, one that suits the size of your cutting. You also need plastic wrap and water. Start by filling your jar to a bit below the top and cut a piece of plastic wrap to go over the top. Retrieve a pair of scissors or knife and poke a hole the size of the end of your cutting, and put your cutting in it. The end should just about touch the water or hover above it, place it in direct sunlight and wait. 
• Check on it occasionally and you may have to add some water. 
• Once large roots begin to form you can choose to transplant it into soil, where you water it lightly every week, be sure to keep it in direct sunlight and a bud will begin to form. 
• Once the succulent has grown to be larger than the size of a quarter or the mother leaf has died off, you can gently remove the leaf being sure not to harm the new plant. This is a similar process for other house plants, although when enough roots form you can just plant it in soil and let it grow normally.

       ★ Dirt: In my experience dirt is the second fastest method of propagation, it works best with roots that were previously developed in water.

• Starting with a cutting or leaf, you leave it out in semi-direct sunlight or on a windowsill for a few days or until a callus forms. 
• Move the cutting to a container with soil, just lay it on the top, or bury the end a bit. 
• You can then dampen the soil every 3 days or so, when it begins to dry, you can easily do this with a spray bottle. 
• roots should form in a few weeks, and a bud will appear. 
• wait for the bud to be large enough to remove the mother leaf, do so carefully without breaking roots.  

       ★ Air: This is by far the easiest way, but I found not as successful and fast.

• This requires you to place the cutting is mostly-direct sunlight, or on a window sill and wait. A callus will appear on its own and then roots will begin to grow. 
• Roots will form and once large enough can be transplanted into soil.

Note: The leaf can sometimes dry out and preventing it from growing, if notice this occurring, you can switch to water and hopefully the leaf’s moisture will return.

I hope that this inspires you to go out and buy a plant and care for it with the love that I do. Try propagating, watch it grow into something that makes a difference in this world, even if its purpose is too small for anyone else to see.

Why are Guns a Thing?

Why are Guns a Thing? That is what I am going to try to answer. I’m going to talk about how they were invented, how they've changed over the years, and if they should exist.

How were guns invented? Guns were invented in China in 142 A.D. when it was first mentioned as it would “fly and dance”. At first, people were trying to make a potion that let you live forever, but they ended up inventing gunpowder. In 33 A.D. a scientist by the name of Ge Hong wrote down the ingredients for gunpowder-

1. sulfur

2 charcoal

3. potassium nitrate

When gunpowder was first invented no one really had a true use for it, and for a while, it was pretty useless. But then people started using then in fireworks which would make parties or celebrations very exciting to be at. Then in around 900 A.D. the first “guns” were invented. They looked like a mini cannon on a stick and back then they weren’t always super reliable. Also later then cannons were invented and gunpowder started to spread.

Guns first started to spread across the globe in around 1100 A.D.. At first, gunpowder was just supposed to be a secret weapon, but after a while, the Romans and Islamic empires started to figure out how to use gunpowder for guns. So slowly over time guns spread all over the world. But in my opinion, England was the most affected by guns when they arrived. In around the 1300s, England got guns and used them to fight. The three main advantages to guns were-

1. Distance
2. More power
3. Fewer people needed to operate

For a ram back then you would usually need around ten people to operate it but for a cannon, at most, it was three. Eventually, all people really fought with was cannons or guns. So about one thousand years in the future now we basically only use guns to fight. The US has around 393 million guns, which is 42% of all the guns in the world.

Should guns exist? I think not. Now if guns never were discovered who knows how many wars and battles wouldn’t have happened. But then again if they didn’t happen then what would our world look like without guns? No one can really guess because so many things have happened because of guns. In 2015 13,286 people died from firearms, and around 900,000 people die each year. So according to that around 1% of people in 2015 died of guns. Which even though it's a small amount, it's too many. In addition, guns are now basically apart of our culture. Think about all the video games in the world that involve guns, there's a lot, and it's to the point where guns are probably sometimes why people buy games, for the thrill of “holding” a weapon. So with all these school shootings, it's showing that this is really not good. That is why in my opinion guns should not have been invented.

Main source: https://quatr.us/china/gunpowder-ancient-china.htm

Frida Kahlo: How She Made an Impact

Frida Kahlo was a Mexican Artist who lived from 1907 to 1954. Frida is important to me because first of all, she was Mexican and secondly, she had a big impact on Mexican artists. Since she was an artist in the 1900’s, it just feels to me that she was carrying on the Artistic Revolution through her drawings. Frida’s father came from Germany, but Frida claimed that he was Jewish and Hungarian. Frida’s mother was a Mexican Catholic.

As a child, Frida had suffered polio. Polio is a disease that causes an inability to move ad when she was a teenager, she almost died in a bus accident. She had multiple fractures in her spine, ribs, and collarbone. She also, broke her foot, dislocated her shoulder, and shattered her pelvis. Frida went through 30 operations and ended up in a body cast. Frida knew that at that point, she should focus on art. 
In Frida’s lifetime, she drew approximately 200 paintings, sketches, and drawings. Out of these 200 drawings of hers, 143 of them were paintings, and 55 of those were self portraits. Her first ever self portrait was in 1926 and she named it,”Self-Portrait in Red Velvet.” Frida felt that self portraits were something that she had to keep coming back to. She states,”I paint self portraits because I am so often lonely, because I am the person that I know the most.”

Frida’s love life didn’t go so well. She married Diego Rivera in 1929, when she was 22 years old. She then divorced Diego in 1939 (I couldn’t find out why) to later remarry a year later in 1930. Even then, they lasted until Frida passed away in 1954 at the age of 51. It didn’t take Diego long to find another partner, because it only took one year for him to marry once again to Emma Hurtado.

Frida Kahlo is an important artist to me because she went through really tough times in her life and she is a real inspiration. Her paintings show the rough things that she went through and it makes me feel more sympathetic to everyone who not only went through bad times, but just had to go through something bad in their life. For example, Frida’s,”The Two Fridas” is a drawing of two Fridas. The whole drawing represents how Frida married, divorced, and remarried to Diego. One Frida (the left) represents the Frida that loved Diego and would not leave his side and the other Frida (the right) shows the Frida that Diego wanted nothing to do with. This drawing shows that in her heart, she had a pain that was made by Diego when they divorced but also the love she still had for Diego. This painting makes me feel kind of sad for her because it seems like she is going through anger and in love at the same time which can be hard. I could not really relate to her but for me it seems like it is hard to go through mentally.

All in all, I think Frida Kahlo is a great artist that puts a lot of feeling into her drawings. She shows what she has been through in her drawings. I think that it is really cool that she puts a lot of emotion into her drawings and isn’t afraid to put out what’s on her mind or what she has been through.

Image 1
Image 2

Batteries: They power my Everyday

Batteries: They Power my Everyday

voltaic pile

Batteries power a lot of things. from flashlights and clocks to cars and computers, they are everywhere in modern life. But how did batteries rise to power? (pun intended) the first battery was made in 1800 by Alessandro Volta (which the electrical measurement alessandr was named after. [jk, there called volts]) his first "battery was a stack of alternating zinc and copper plates separated by cloth or cardboard soaked in brine (very salty water). these first batteries had about an hours worth of life.
so how did we get from that to batteries today? in the next section, I will be talking about lithium and lithium-ion batteries. after that, I will talk about common household batteries.

lithium-ion battery

Lithium Ion batteries are the power source for most handheld and on the go electronic devices, such as laptops, tablets, and phones. I use three devices daily with lithium-ion batteries. my phone, my Chromebook, and my Ipad. they use them in handheld devices because they hold a charge for a long time, they are rechargeable, and have a high electricity density, but most importantly, they are small and compact. THANK GOSH. I would hate to have to carry around a car battery with me just to talk on the phone or play candy crush or have to change out the batteries every five minutes just to play minesweeper. these batteries can hold a charge for much longer and can be efficiently recharged.

Common household batteries are the batteries that you think of when you hear the names Duracell or Energizer, the ones you pair with a pink bunny. and yes, the pink bunny works for both. in the US and Canada, Energizer has a pink bunny, but everywhere else, there is the Duracell bunny, who's also pink. confusing, right? but those little bunnies aren't all the things that these batteries power. they power anything from flashlights to tv remotes, electric razors, to instrument tuners and more! they are very versatile, but they can't be recharged.
that's why they use these bad boys in smaller electronics, rather than your phone.

Batteries are important to my, and everyone else's, life. they power most of our cordless devices, allow us to reach new and unexplored places, and free us from the confines of a wall socket. they are important to me, and they help me be free and go and have fun.

Image credits:
Voltaic pile
Lithium-ion Battery
Common Batteries

Learning to Love Golf

Yep, I play golf, and nope, I am not an old guy, and I definitely do not own plaid pants. When I started playing golf in fourth grade I had no idea how much it would change my life. I have found that it has helped me become more balanced in my sports and academic life. Soccer was starting to get more competitive, and school was starting to get more challenging. I really needed something fun, and not so serious, so that is when my dad suggested that I should try playing golf. I was very skeptical of the idea at first because I did not know very much about the sport, but once I started playing it a lot, and became more comfortable with it, I started liking it more and more.

I have learned that golf is just as much a mental game as it is a physical, if not more. Playing golf is like being on a rollercoaster. One second you’re bounding with joy, and the next you’re about ready to throw your golf club across the lake. That's what makes golf such a mental sport, because it is important to have the ability to forget a bad shot and move on to the next, or “flush it” as my dad says, because if you dig to far down into the hole of negativity, it is almost impossible  to climb out.

One of the things I love about golf is that my whole family plays, or at least engages in it. It is the perfect family activity because you can play golf no matter what age you are. Also, if you are visiting a new place, you can always explore the golf courses nearby because that's the beauty of golf, no golf course is the same!

From when golf was invented to now, there have been many advances in golf technology, including the invention of the golf tee. It started out that instead of using tees (because they had not been invented yet) golfers used mounds of sand to tee up the ball. This became a huge mess because people started using the sand from the bunkers so there was no more sand left! That is when Percy Ellis created the first prototype of the golf tee in 1892. This lead to Mathews' invention of the “Victor Tee” in 1897, and then to Dr. George Grant's invention of the first tee including a spike in 1899. The tee that was the first sold to the public was the Reddy Tee, invented in 1922 by William Lowell. The tee was the closest, of the four types, that looked like that modern tee today.

Even though I was doubted golf when I started, I still stuck with it and it has been one of the best things I have done in my life. I hope this is a good life lesson that even though something does not seem fun or interesting it can always catch you by surprise!

Credits:

History of golf tees and image credit

Image credit

Learning in Two Languages

I very vividly remember my first day of first grade. The beige square tiles leading me to my classroom. The bright posters on the wall illustrating strange characters and the distinct sound of little kids’ exited chatter. I settled into my small plastic chair and turned my attention to the teacher. That morning seemed quite like my old school. Soon enough it was lunch time and I skipped cheerfully to the cafeteria, the worries of the weeks before washed away. As I was lining up to go to afternoon class a tall long haired girl tapped me on the shoulder. I turned around and she asked me “do you know Japanese?” I replied with the obvious answer “no”. She looked at me puzzled and ended the conversation with “well I guess your gonna fail”. Confused, I turned away and followed my line up the stairs. My parents had told me a few weeks earlier that I was going to be going to a new school where I would learn Japanese, but I don’t think I ever totally comprehended what that meant before starting. When we reached the hallway to my classroom instead of going to the class I had been to in the morning we went to the one next door. Inside of this classroom a strange alignment of characters were plastered everywhere I looked. A lump started to form in my throat as my teacher showed me to my seat. Then suddenly the teacher started talking in a strange language. Everyone stood up and began to move towards the carpet. Holding back tears I followed them and sat down. The teacher began to point at a calendar, enthusiastically waving her arms around.

Takayama

This was the beginning of my journey learning Japanese through immersion at a public magnet program located in Portland, Oregon. My school was a Preschool through 5th grade school and I started in first grade. Half of our day was spent in Japanese and the other half in English. When I began there I knew no Japanese and neither of my parents have any connection to Japan. When I was in first grade I began to learn the first of three alphabets, hiragana. Followed by katakana in second grade and beginning more seriously with kanji in fourth. In our Japanese class we had one main teacher and one intern who was visiting from Japan. The Japanese teachers only spoke to us in Japanese so we learned grammar and new words not through memorization, but through listening and using. Because it was immersion we also did half of our work in Japanese. In addition to actual lessons about Japanese we were learning math, history, and science in Japanese as well. Doing “normal” work in Japanese meant we were able to diversify what we were speaking about and made it more relatable to the real world.

Probably the most difficult part of going to this school was that I had no help from my parents at home for my Japanese work. If I didn't know how to do my homework I had to find someone who did

The school I visited in Japan 

or ask the teacher because my parents had no idea what was going on. I think this is a very valuable skill that my school had us learn at a very young age.

After five years of hard work every class ends there time at my school by going on a two week trip to Japan. All of fifth grade we study, fundraise, and practice for this trip. We get to stay in homestays, go to school, visit many historical places, and surprisingly many people's favorite, soak in onsens. While in Japan our class visited a tiny mountain top village and learned how to make a traditional Japanese instrument, ate mochi, and made our own paper. (that villages specialty) We also visited a town called Takayama which was my favorite place on the trip and I highly recommend. It was really amazing to be able to realize how much Japanese I really knew. Especially in my homestay, I was surprised by how fluently I could speak. One of my favorite parts of the trip was when we would walk into a small shop or restaurant and start speaking in Japanese. Everyone in the store would light up and be super excited and it was really cool to see all these people amazed that a bunch of American kids knew their language.

This school was a huge part of my life and got me started on my interest of other places and cultures. Even though I no longer attend a school that teaches Japanese I still take lessons every week so that I never forget what I worked so hard to learn. I think that learning a language at a young age so intensively was an amazing experience that I wish more kids in the US got to experience. Overall I hope that one day people will realize how important it is that kids feel connected to the world and open even more school like the one I went to.

If you want to see a video about the school I went to this is a link to one. It’s a bit old, but I think it shows what an amazing place it is.

Photo Credit: Takayama Photo     School Photo

Life of An Amerikish (American and Turkish)

Life Of An Amerikish (American and Turkish)
First of all, I want to clear up some stuff. No, making jokes about eating turkey in Turkey. It’s getting really old. Please don’t even try.

As a kid who grew up with only two (three when my sister was born) people living with you within a radius of more than 4,000 miles, I wasn’t exactly being exposed to the culture or language of Turkey. My mom and dad were both born in Turkey, I was born right next door to Catlin at St Vincent Hospital. I don’t really remember or know how, but I just learned English and Turkish about at the same time.

Me, Dad, Mom, and Sister

At the time, my dad and mom were 20 years old. My dad went to graduate school and so did my mom. Back then, my dads and moms families did not make a crazy amount of money. Both of them came straight from Turkey to the USA for college and did not have a place to live. They both had to get full scholarships so they could study and live in the USA. In college, my dad and mom were lucky enough to meet each other and got married. My dad decided that he wanted to work at Intel and studies and designs future cpu’s, and so he moved to Portland. My mom got a job at Pacific Foods and later on (like 8 years) got a job at Tillamook Dairy Factory.

I was later born on July 5, 2006, at St. Vincents. When I was about three, my sister was born on May 13, 2009. At first, I didn’t really understand how far away my cousins and grandparents lived, so I didn’t usually recognize them. When I started growing up and learned how to speak pretty well for a kindergartener though, I started face timing them. I had always gone to Turkey to visit my grandparents and they had always come to visit us, too. Once I had really started to interact with them, we would always play card games and do math together.

My sister, dad, and Grandparents

My grandma and grandpa both are math teachers, and luckily for me, numbers and operations in Turkish are the same in English. My grandma already knows a little bit of English, but my grandpa has a very hard time. We can all easily communicate even if it means it is harder for me to talk Turkish.

I started to have lots of connections with the people around me. We had lots of Turkish families that we had to know for a while. The closest one was the Kaval Family. They had two kids who were at the time (2015) 5 and 4 years old. We would go to their house and they would come to ours like every two weeks. Every year all of the close Turkish families would have a new year, Thanksgiving, or special occasion parties at someone's house (50 percent of the time it would be at ours). Now just this Thanksgiving, I had my first real turkey Thanksgiving dinner WITH the Ozlam family!

Speaking of food, I love it! Sunflower seeds are very popular in Turkey. I don’t know this is hard to believe, but I actually had to stop eating snacks because I was getting overweight from SUNFLOWER SEEDS! I love them! I also really like food called shakshuka. It is a mix of tomato-y sauce, eggplant, and potatoes. It is delicious! I think that food makes a difference between turkey and the USA for me.

So yeah, my life is not exactly a super rollercoaster ride. I thought that this might be a good thing to write about because of the different culture. If you enjoyed please consider leaving a comment, and if you didn’t, please also consider leaving a comment. Thank you!

Finding Me

I'm okay, really.

8:00

the ringing of the bell sounds out

echoes in my bones

time for class

I’ll choose a blank mask for this one

maybe sprinkle in a frown of focus

unpacking the School Personality from its metal box

raise my hand and try not to look around too much

first rule of class: don’t make eye contact with your friends.

that never happens

School Personality always has snippets of jokes slid across the glass table

of tension

to the person next to me

and humored glances to

the person across the room in the ritual unspoken conversation

9:15

C&C advisory

I’m always late.

walk in with my friend

eyes glued to the ground

trying not to be noticed.

“girls, come in and sit down. you’re interrupting.”

no one else notices us anyway

this is routine.

this is the Invisible Personality.

second rule: nod.

Invisible Personality doesn’t like to argue

they’ll always do anything to blend in

they follow their rules

they’re submissive

but not in the little moments of rebellious eye-contact

to the one safe person in the room

9:30

finally: morning break

choose a smile from the gallery this time

this one’s a little tired, but it’ll have to do.

I’ll go over to the group of girls sitting on the ground

in a messy blob that tries so hard to pass for a circle

lean on a friend’s shoulder

third rule: don’t say what’s on your mind.

this is the personality that gives only what is needed

but cares for me

the Surviving Personality

providing me support in a hug to one of my friends

head resting on their shoulder for one more beat

the beat that tells them that I need them

11:25

chatter fills the hallways:

the sound of kids snatching the moments of conversation

before they float away

games in the gym now

I’ll admit:

I’m no good at this one

the Loner Personality

courtesy of my old school

everyone’s playing basketball or volleyball

on a good day I might find myself shooting baskets with someone

or at least trying

or serving over the net

but I always end it alone.

the smile that I chose expires and I’m left with my empty tired self

as I stretch alone in a corner

always glancing over to the teacher to make sure I look like I’m working

hard enough

the Loner Personality is always good to me

but I’m still here in the corner

watching everyone else with their perfect smiles and energy

11:55

lunch!

a happily exhausted look of longing for the moments when

I call after my friend’s brown bob that is walking away

to wait for me, please.

We’ll go to our usual meeting place

I can say what’s on my mind now

my friends at school always knock my walls down

whether they know it or not

and the rules pinned up collapse as well

the excited snippets of the True Personality pick themselves up from

their fidgety places amongst the

boxes of personalities

they’re unable to pack themselves into one piece

and are always scattered everywhere

providing good-naturedness to the School Personality

and brightening up the Invisible Personality in their subtle stormcloud

laughing can come out of the drawer now

unfolding its dusty wings into the most embarrassing giggles

complaining comes out painted in glowing playful cheeriness and relatability

but then the bell rings again, and I pack up

my lunch and the True Personality with its stickers and colorful messiness

It’s the weekend

time for panic and stress

and covering my face with my hands

stiff from typing

as if I can hide the flaws and rawness of

the Honest Personality

from myself

I open up my planner to the assignments

not enough crossed out

not enough with due dates that aren’t in the past

but then my phone buzzes and my friends are flooding my world with

joy and anticipation because…

A treat came: a sleepover!

the True Personality is up at the break of dawn

and when I look in the mirror, I smile.

This isn’t a mask

This isn’t a personality

This isn’t the

School Personality

Invisible Personality

Surviving Personality

Loner Personality

Honest Personality

It comes from the thought of hanging out with friends

It comes from memories

It comes from nervousness and unwavering encouragement

It comes from loyalty and trust

This is a feeling, an emotion

but there’s no perfect word to describe when

my walls are down

I feel awake and alive

I’m with friends

and my heart is full

It’s a feeling as rich as golden honey

It’s as powerful as the ocean

yet as gentle as a soft summer breeze

It’s laughter.

It’s truth.

It’s me.