Manual Transmission

     Once upon a time, I was hanging out with my friends, lets call them joe and rick. The three of us were at rick’s house, and we had some time to spare before going to meet some other friends. We weren’t sure what to do, and we brainstormed some ideas. Finally, rick had a great idea “I’m going to teach you two how to drive stick!” It sounded like a fun idea but also somewhat dangerous, considering rick wasn’t an expert stick driver. When I mean he isn’t an expert, I mean he has to stalls out the engine in order to park it because “it’s easier”. That being said, he was able to drive around the neighborhood smoothly and at no point did I fear for my life. He took us to parking lot near his house for a nice place to practice. Joe and I were nervous to try. Joe was recently licensed driver, who had never tried stick, I hadn’t even taken drivers ed, and like I said before, our teacher was pretty inexperienced.

     I don’t know if you’ve ever driven stick before, but its tricky. To start the car you have to keep your foot on the clutch while you change from brake to gas. Then take your foot off the clutch very slowly while still keeping your other foot on the gas, until finally the car starts to move. Also, if you do anything wrong throughout this process, the engine will stall out and you’ll have to start over again.

     First one behind the wheel was Joe. He starts the engine, begins the process and wham! The whole car shakes vigorously with no sign of forward acceleration. “What the heck?” Joe yelled. “You hecking idiot, I said take your foot off slowly” rick responded. Joe’s next few attempts weren’t any better, but eventually he got the hang of it. He drove around that parking lot beautifully. “Do you want to try?” Joe asked me. “Yeah okay” I replied.

     This wasn’t my first time behind the wheel, but my no means was I accustomed to that feeling. With one foot on the gas and one foot slowly lifting off the clutch, I breathed slowly and stayed focus. It was the moment of truth. My foot was off the clutch completely and I pressed harder on the gas. Vroom! The car zoomed off faster than I anticipated, but I quickly took back control of the car. I was a stick prodigy. I was all-powerful, nothing could stop me…for a whole minute, until the engine stalled out. I shamefully turned off the car and got back in the passenger seat.

     To this day, I don’t know what I did wrong. That’s just how life goes, you never know what will stop you. If I want you to take anything away from this story it’s that you’re never really in control. SIKE just know that stick sucks.

Avatar is Cool

SPOILER AHEAD ( for Avatar: The Last Airbender)

     Some tv shows are better than others, that’s a given. It’s also true that preference is subjective. My all time favorite tv show is How I Met Your Mother. Plenty people hated the ended. Even I’ll agree it was pretty crap. Some tv shows go beyond personal preference. Usually a tv show is aimed towards a certain demographic, and anyone beyond that demographic will find it unappealing. There are some tv shows that cover so much. I think everyone should at least admire the ambition and appreciate the well-rounded material.

     To me, that tv show is Avatar: The Last Airbender. As a kid I watched Avatar and I found it fun through the slapstick humor and exciting action scenes. The way that Avatar is presented, it would seem that the intended audience is children. However, the way that the show tackles more “adult themes” makes it universal.

     For example, take the character Zuko. At the begining of the series, he is shown to be a character driven solely by rage. As the audience, we are lead to believe that he is the main villain. He even mentions multiple times that his mission is to hunt the avatar. Throughout the series, he faces many tough situations that tear him towards good or evil. His family (the real main villains) lure him with temptations of power. While at the same time, he could join “team avatar,” who are working towards bringing peace. It’s difficult for him to choose the right path, because he has been taught to reject the avatar, but he doesn’t feel right in his family. By the end of the series, he is devoted to saving the world with “team avatar.” It’s great to see Zuko’s personal growth and his overall character development. Most of all he goes to show that Avatar isn’t a typical children’s show with a perfect line between good and evil.

     I’ve got to say, I feel weird reading this much into it. It’s kind of like taking away a part of my childhood. Nonetheless, that’s what I think of Avatar.