the bird on fire

The Bird is the Word: Sophisticated Schoolyard Shenanigans

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Our new Spring Semester middle-school team of bloggers warmed up this week with a creative exercise–responding to a Poets&Writer’s “The Time Is Now” Creative Nonfiction Prompt.

Our creatives were asked to write a spatial autobiography of the objects in their home or room, to tour their favorite things while weaving into the passage the memories attached to them. In this week where so many of our LA loved ones have lost the places where they feel most at home, we were moved by the comfort and association Morgan Richardson draws from her special place. The class voted it the spatial autobiography that best captures the essence of the writer.

The loud whistle reminds me of leaping off the starting block

The lane line reminds me of swimming as fast as I can each race

The green field reminds me of warm ups in winter before swimming

The bench reminds me of where I slick my hair and put on my cap each day

The kick board reminds me of challenging myself and becoming faster

The little pool reminds me of when I first stepped foot in the pool

The shallow end reminds me of moving up levels, scared but prepared

The water jug reminds me of jumping out of the water thirsty and parched

The deep blue pool reminds me of the place where I feel happy and most at home

Fall Check-In: Palm Valley Class of ’25 Highlights

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We conclude our Fall check-in with the Palm Valley School Class of ’25 with a collage compilation of seniors Kyle Knight, Kiera Nash, Preston Pillard, Riley Jorgensen, and Bianca Torres.

Kyle, like Kristina Panagiotaros in a previous post, voted for the first time this last election. Here he’s pictured with some keepers of democracy, California poll workers.

On our birthdays, we get to do what we want. It’s our party. Kiera insists on going to the beach.

Seniors worked on retaining the title of #1 Halloween Door in the universe. A little bit sadly, but ultimately graciously, they passed the trophy to Mr. Spurlock’s class this year. It was a peaceful transition of power. They devoted after-school time to cutting, gluing, coloring, painting, taping. Above, we see Preston apparently supervising, Riley sketching, Kiera and Bianca coloring jack-o-lanterns.

Seniors on the Move

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PVS seniors have had a busy few months. They’ve been applying to colleges, voting, putting on dances and Nest events, eating crumbl cookies. Let’s check in with Enzo Lomsky, Anais Lee, and Alex Ratner, and see what they’ve been up to.

Enzo’s been up and down the West Coast, likely traveling with a little AP Lit Dostoevsky.

Not to be outdone by Lily’s trip to Rome, Anais went to London.

Alex may not be on the move (okay, so actually he’s checking out USC and UCLA today); but, he is “moving” in the kitchen. How many different ways do you think Alex can prepare chicken?

What’s Going on with our Senior Class?

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Good stuff!

The seniors in Advisory made collages summing up fall events and feelings. Last post, you saw Zach happily eating crumbl cookies, Lily making future plans for a life in Rome, and Mirabelle taking time for fun and friends. Now, let’s take a peek at how seniors Kristina Panagiotaros, Abby Assefa, and Cindy Wang assess the first quarter of their last year of high school at Palm Valley.

Kristina, along with several of our seniors, turned 18 just in time to vote–first time ever–in November’s elections. They displayed proudly their “I voted” stickers.
ASB President Abby is on top of everything, but she also makes time for the fun, the music, the family, and the fun. It’s important.
Cindy nailed it. The seniors have expressed immense relief at submitting those college applications. Being done with that stress apparently feels like a vibrant sunset at the end of a very long day.

Seniors Say . . .

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We asked members of our Class of ’25 to sum up how their senior year is going so far. They created collages. We’ll start with seniors Zachary Kazmouz, Mirabelle Lee, and Lily Jones.

Zachary is all about the Crumbl right now.
Despite working assiduously on everything academic, writing supplement essay after supplement essay for college admissions, AND supporting her non-profits, Mirabelle makes time for fun and friends.
Lily‘s still basking in the glow of summer travel with the family. She is smitten with Rome.

Stay tuned for more updates from our PVS Senior Class of ’25.

Don’t Forget

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A compilation of “Forget-me-nots” by 8th-Grader Jackie Padgett

I find it very difficult to remember things, especially things from when I was younger, so I decided I wanted to do a “Don’t forget” or “Remember you said this” type of blog. I was also interested in what people of different ages wanted to remember. So, I asked two questions of two kids from every grade:

  1. What is something you don’t want to forget?
  1. What is something you don’t want people to forget about you?

Starting us off is…

6th-Grader Calum Webster with an indecisive response:

  1. What is something you don’t want to forget?

“My dog, I think.”

  1. What is something you don’t want people to forget about you?

“I don’t know, umm, I don’t know… oh, uh, I’m good at basketball, wait, no, actually sure.”

6th-Grader Grace Ghaly has a confident reply:

  1. What is something you don’t want to forget?

“I never wanna forget my friends.” 

  1. What is something you don’t want people to forget about you?

“My attitude.”

7th-Grader Sam West quickly mutters out a reply while getting ready for his soccer game:

  1. What is something you don’t want to forget?

”When I ate that breakfast burrito from the gas station it kinda hurt if you know what I mean.”

  1. What is something you don’t want people to forget about you?

”That I hold the record for the fastest unrecorded time of solving the Rubik’s Cube. Joking.”

7th-Grader Lorelei Behr says something very thoughtful:

  1. What is something you don’t want to forget?

“I don’t want to ever forget about my friends, even when they move away.”

  1. What is something you don’t want people to forget about you?

“I don’t want people to forget the things we laughed and cried about together.”

8th-Grader Hudson Fossey replies with a simple answer:

  1. What is something you don’t want to forget?

“The time I built a trailer for a gokart with my cousin and then having him shoot a bow and arrow off of it.”

  1. What is something you don’t want people to forget about you?

“I don’t really care if people forget about me.”

8th-Grader Ava Kerber shares a silly, but real, response:

  1. What is something you don’t want to forget?

“Umm, when I was born.”

  1. What is something you don’t want people to forget about you?

“Umm, that I was alive and a human on this planet.”

9th-Grader Zander Eaton replies with a math-focused answer:

  1. What is something you don’t want to forget?

“My times tables.”

  1. What is something you don’t want people to forget about you?

”That I remembered my times tables.”

9th-Grader Louisa Richardson gives an imaginative reply: 

  1. What is something you don’t want to forget?

“I don’t want to forget my imagination. I love that I have a sense of, um, creativity.”

  1. What is something you don’t want people to forget about you?

“Ugh. I guess I hope people don’t forget that I care about them.”

10th-Grader Rory O’Kane shares a sports-related answer:

  1. What is something you don’t want to forget?

“Sports.”

  1. What is something you don’t want people to forget about you?

”Sports.”

10th-Grader Melina Brodeur gets some help with her response from Louisa Richardson:

  1. What is something you don’t want to forget?

“What got me to where I am.”

  1. What is something you don’t want people to forget about you?

Louisa inserted, ”Your sparkle!”

11th-Grader Alex Ratner:

  1. What is something you don’t want to forget?

“My friends and family.”

  1. What is something you don’t want people to forget about you?

”My gaming abilities.”

11th-Grader Kristina Panagiotaros:

  1. What is something you don’t want to forget?

“My friends.”

  1. What is something you don’t want people to forget about you?

”Me altogether.”

12th-Grader Sawyer Falzone says:

  1. What is something you don’t want to forget?

“My I.D. and glasses.”

2. What is something you don’t want people to forget about you?

”That I’m not a horrible person.”

12th-Grader Landon Elder a quick but significant response:

  1. What is something you don’t want to forget?

“My lovely experiences.”

  1. What is something you don’t want people to forget about you?

”That I existed.”

I was actually surprised to get a few serious answers. I really thought most of them would be jokes. Since the way I chose people was completely at random (and whomever I saw first), if I didn’t get to you, leave a comment of something you don’t want to forget.

I Will Never Ski in Spring Again.

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By 8th-grader Jackie Padgett

During Spring Break, I decided to accept the invitation to go skiing with my friend. Last time I skied it wasn’t necessarily bad – but that was almost three years ago. I was also not prepared at all and that led to my, not so great, skiing experience that wasn’t even necessarily skiing as I… walked down a slope. After looking back at this trip, I have found three main reasons that led me to tread down that mountain: 

1) Equipment, 

2) Personality, 

3) Technique. 

Don’t feel bad about laughing in any part of this story; I survived the humiliation and danger.

So our trip started with us driving 10-12 hours up to Salt Lake City, Utah, and if you’ve ever been in a car that long, it could be the best or worst experience. Luckily, this one was good. We stopped in Las Vegas for a bit, went to Area 15 for the interactive art in Omega Mart and stopped at a Terrible’s gas station.

As advertised, they did in fact have clean restrooms, and also a grocery store set up for the vegetables. There was real food in Terrible’s, which is rare for gas stations. Photo Credit: My friend’s mom

Once we made it to my friend’s house in Utah (which feels like years away from civilization), we needed to prepare for skiing the next day. 

Skiing Problem #1: Equipment 

For skiing, you have the basic ski equipment: the skis, the boots, the pants, the sweaters, the jackets, the mask, the goggles, the helmet, and the poles. With skis, you preferably want them as long as the length of your foot to your nose or eyes (from what I’ve heard). Last time I skied, I was 11. I have grown quite a bit in those two years, so my old skis are too short. Similarly with my boots, they’re too small now. Luckily my friend has two older brothers, who weren’t on that trip with us, so we decided that I would use a pair of their skis. My friend and her brothers all have their skis and boots “tailored” to fit perfectly, so whichever boots fit me would relate to what skis I would be wearing. I ended up having skis a couple inches taller than me, not too bad, but it did make it more difficult to turn which also helps you slow down (this will be important later). The other equipment was fine. The goggles were a little big, which got snow in my eyes a couple of times–but that was okay. 

I’m on the left, and my friend is on the right; you can see how my skis look big and a bit awkward. My ski mask fell down on this slope, and I didn’t even notice until the next morning when I saw my sunburn (I swear I wore sunscreen). Surprisingly, the sun is very intense on the mountains.

Skiing Problem #2: Personality

If you don’t know me well, then you probably don’t know that I’m scared of falling and that I’m very “risk averse” (as my friend likes to say). These two things aren’t great when going down a ski slope. When you ski, there are different tiers of slopes: you have the greens which are pretty flat and easy, the blues which are a little harder and less flat, the blacks which are vertical slopes with moguls (little bumps in the mountain that are fun to some people), and finally there are the double blacks which I don’t even know how to explain–they are just like the black slopes but 10 times worse. 

A good example of slope tiers from Ski Profiles

Skiing Problem #3: Technique

Once we made it on the lift, up to the slope, I started to panic. Below me, I saw people wipe out left and right and others speeding straight down the slope. There were very different people on very different levels with very different techniques. Once we got off the lift and I looked down the slope (after watching my friend easily ski down it), I felt more relaxed. So, I started skiing down doing my little swerves across the mountain, but I wasn’t really turning fast enough, so my “free fall” moment was too long, which made me go faster, which I didn’t want to do. 

This homemade graph points out the little “free fall” moments where you go straight down before you turn. 

The problem was that the snow was pretty slushy, and I had never skied during slushy snow season before. I had never skied in the spring. So, I was pretty inexperienced in this type of snow, and, instead of turning, I would go straight down as my skis would get caught in the slushy snow. Being the wise and professional skier that I totally am not, I panicked and went into pizza mode which eventually let me pull off to the side of the slope, and I just stopped. I definitely thought I was going to go off the mountain when I reached the side. I was literally eight feet away from the “point of no return” rope (that’s what I like to call it). Then, and this is kind of embarrassing, my friend’s mom was like, “You got this! You made it down almost half way! Hooray!” and blah blah blah, super supportive, very kind, but I was not going down that mountain. So I just refused to move! Isn’t that great?! My friend’s mom eventually got fed up with me standing still for what felt like years, so she took off my skis and went straight down the mountain with them and waited for me at the end. Then, of course, I took the walk of shame, and had many people come up to me asking what in the world I was doing and what happened to my skis. After that walk, I retrieved my skis, and I skied down the rest of the run (the area was much flatter, I think; I really don’t remember it much at all).

It might look like I have skis on, but I don’t. I’m just struggling to walk. Also this photo does not do justice to how steep it looks. 

Side Note: I will not be giving the name of the slope because many people could have easily gone down it without having to walk. I witnessed everyone skiing past me – even five year olds. 

After I made it down the entire slope, we went into the little lodge where they had a buffet and I got myself a pumpkin bread, my absolute favorite (though this version put too much nutmeg in it, so it was pretty intense). I walked around while my friend and her mom skied five or so more slopes without me. I was very glad I didn’t have to continue. Have you had any embarrassing moments like this? I’d love to know so I don’t have to feel like too much of a coward.

A Look into The Masters

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By 8th-Grade Blogger Jack Edelstein

As Spring colorfully rolls in, I often look forward to many things: more daylight, vibrant flowers, blue skies, and a nice middle ground between hot summers and chilly winters. But, what I look forward to the most is The Masters. The Masters is the most prestigious tournament in golf; every person who plays golf wishes to go or even play in The Masters because of how iconic it is. Here is this rich, history-filled event.

Photo Credit: youtube.com

Where and When?

The Masters is held in the very exclusive Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia, about 150 miles east of Atlanta. The Masters generally happens during April; this year it was April 11-14.

“I shall never forget my first visit to the property which is now Augusta National. The long lane of magnolias through which we approached was beautiful. The old manor house was charming. The rare trees and shrubs of the old nursery were enchanting.” – Bobby Jones. Photo Credit: usatoday.com.

The Start of The Masters

Founded by golf legend Bobby Jones and investment banker Clifford Roberts, who also served as former chairman of The Masters (1934-1976), the first ever “Masters” happened in 1934. At the time it was not called The Masters, instead it was the “Augusta National Invitation Tournament” because Bobby Jones thought that “The Masters” was too egotistical (masters.com). It was then changed to The Masters after five years (1939). 

Photo Credit: augustachronicle.com

The Green Jacket

The Winner of The Masters is presented with the The Green Jacket. The Green Jacket does not just represent The Masters; it represents the honor of being a Masters champion. The tradition of The Green Jacket dates back to 1937 when the members of Augusta National Golf Club wore them to allow tournament patrons to identify the club members (masters.com). Then, in 1949, Sam Snead became the first Masters champion to be presented with The Green Jacket (masters.com). Only the winner of The Masters can take The Jacket outside of Augusta National Golf Club property. The Jackets were made by Brooks Uniform Company in New York City until 1967 when the Hamilton Tailoring Company in Cincinnati, Ohio, took over The Jacket construction (galvingreen.com). The Jackets are a Masters Green with gold buttons engraved with the Augusta National Logo. The finishing touch is an embroidered patch with the logo on the left breast pocket (masters.com).

Photo Credit: townandcountrymag.com

The Menu

When The Masters began, Clifford Roberts realized that feeding the crowd that came would be necessary. At the time, The Masters was still a new event, so the organizers used the residents of Augusta kitchens to make cheap, easy-to-make sandwiches, snacks, and drinks (masters.com).

“We want the experience to not only be the best but to be affordable. And we take certain things very, very seriously. Like the cost of a pimento cheese sandwich is just as important as how the second cut (of grass) is going to be.” – Augusta National Chairman Billy Payne, 2007 (masters.com).

Iconic Food Items at The Masters Consist of . . .

  • Egg Salad Sandwich ($1.50)
  • Pimento Cheese Sandwich ($1.50)
  • Pork Bar-B-Que Sandwich ($3.00)

I’ve tried the sandwich flavors, and I think the Pimento Cheese is the best with the Pork Bar-B-Que being a close second.

“We were particularly pleased to learn that you could provide a really good sandwich for twenty five cents.” – Bobby Jones and Clifford Roberts in a letter to one of the original makers of the pimento cheese sandwich. Photo Credit: intentionalhospitality.com.

Amen Corner

Amen Corner consists of holes White Dogwood (hole No. 11), Golden Bell (No. 12), and Azalea (No. 13). This tricky three-hole stretch can determine a player’s score. These holes have notable water features, and only three players have ever aced (hole-in-one) at Amen Corner. Another significant part of Amen Corner is the two bridges going over the water: The Hogan Bridge, named after two-time Masters champion Ben Hogan and The Nelson Bridge, named after Bryon Nelson, another two-time Masters champion (masters.com).

Hole #13, named Azalea, is particularly challenging due to its dogleg left fairway format. Photo Credit: masters.com.

The Masters of The Masters

Players will over time become familiar with secrets of this tournament. The most notable players have been Jack Nicklaus with six wins and Tiger Woods (my favorite athlete of all time) with five. Nicklaus was the first player to win The Masters back-to-back (1965 and 1966) and the first to win it three times (1963, 1965, and 1966). 

Tiger won in 1997, 2001, 2002, 2005, and his “get back” win in 2019 (masters.com). In his first Masters win (1997), he won with a historical 12-stroke lead. Then he had back-to-back wins in 2001 and 2002. Then, after his win in 2005, Tiger had arguably his most iconic Masters in 2019 when after 14 years of controversy and poor golf, Tiger came back in his ever iconic Sunday Red and won it all. Fun fact, when Tiger first won The Masters (1997), Augusta National didn’t have a jacket small enough for him.

The GOAT. Photo Credit: golftoday.usatoday.com.

Conclusion

The Masters defines what it means to be a champion. This tournament is the greatest challenge in golf, and that’s why the players love this course. It is a great honor to have your name in the history books as a Masters champion, and for 88 years players have tirelessly competed for it. In the words of three-time Masters Competitor Mac O’Grady, “This is where God hangs out.” Let us know what you think of The Masters in the comments.

Why Knowing Things is Overrated

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By Gil Maruvada, Senior

Yeah, I’m sure you didn’t expect this from me, but I think knowing things is overrated. Look, I know a number of things, but I think it’s far more helpful not to know things; honestly, most of the time you can scrape by just guessing. 

I’m not going to advocate pretending you know more than you do through blind guesswork, but what I am saying is that knowledge in an absolute sense is entirely overrated. Let me give an example: say you’re trapped in a maze–what’ll help you more, knowing exactly how to get out, or how to solve mazes in general? Of course, the exact instructions will get you out faster, but let’s say you’re in a different maze now; well, you’re going to wish you had chosen the more general knowledge. See, that’s what I mean when I say that knowing things is overrated; knowing a lot about a little is sometimes worse than knowing a little about a lot. Everything is connected. If you understand those connections well enough you can understand them on the fly in your head, even if you don’t “know” exactly what they are.

Knowing things has absolutely nothing to do with being able to figure things out. And, does knowing things have any real value anyway? Well, here’s what Socrates had to say, “All I know is that I know nothing.” If Socrates didn’t know anything, what hope do we have? You never really know anything about anything. Maybe you just made it all up? Here’s an article from Nature, “Subjective signal strength distinguishes reality from imagination“; essentially what it says is that there is a “reality threshold” at which your brain perceives something to be real, and real or imagined stimulus can sometimes cross that threshold. You know that time you could have sworn you heard a noise, or when you saw something unusual out of the corner of your eye, but when you looked, it was gone? Some might call this one of the perils of humans having an overactive imagination, but I would hazard to guess that it’s simply due to a reality that lacks sufficient stimulus. 

One of the oldest thought experiments in philosophy is the idea of a philosophical zombie; essentially what it says is that if there was a thing that wasn’t conscious in any meaningful way but reacted in the same way a conscious being did, how would you be able to tell the difference? Your friends, your family, everyone you know, and everyone you ever met, if they were all philosophical zombies, how could you tell? There isn’t even a foolproof way of knowing anyone outside of yourself is conscious. You trust what a neuroscientist says about the brain, but have you ever seen a brain? Do you know how the machinery works? the physical laws it’s based on? Of course, you don’t. You can’t be expected to know everything either. The only thing you can do is say with some confidence that something is true or false, it exists or it doesn’t. But, let’s be honest; you’ll never really know what is real and what isn’t; you’ll never really know anything. It’s all just your best guess, and that might be enough.

Now, it’s time for me to come clean. Everything in this article is a foregone conclusion I wanted to reach simply by writing the title. I just wrote the title, “Why Knowing Things is Overrated,” and then decided how the article would go. Sure, I cited sources, but only to fit conclusions I’d already drawn by the time of writing. It’s all a narrative that had been formed in my mind from figments and illusions far before any of it was written or researched. I don’t know anything. Now, you might feel betrayed by this revelation, or maybe you saw it coming, but, hey, it’s all just a guess anyway. Remember, you don’t know what you know, and doubly so for what you don’t know. And, I’ll see you later. Bye.