Archery

My whole life I have been interested in archery. Longbows, cross bows, anything. I’ve won contests for it, and hope to get my own longbow soon. Since I was an infant I have always looked up to the archers in movies, such as Legolas from Lord of the Rings. The way archers movie interests me, how they are strong and agile too.

My cousins, sister and I at the King Richards Fair, the year I won the archery contest.

Batman

Batman has been my idol my whole life. While most young girls are raised watching Disney Princess movies and playing with Barbies, I spent my childhood watching Batman and reading comic books. I’ve owned countless action figures and comic books. I also used to constantly dress as batman and run around my house. Batman was also a way for me to bond with my dad because we were both interested in him and the comic books.

My sister, her best friend and I on Halloween when I was 4.

Culinary Culinary has been a huge part of my life ever since I was little. My Meme was a caterer, so whenever I went to visit her we would cook together. When she moved to Arizona, she gave me a few of her recipes. After a while I started to cook them on my own. Ever since then I have been cooking and creating recipes. Some of my idols are famous chefs, and my dad has always influenced my cooking too.

Cheesecake I made last month.

DarknessEven when I was younger, darkness has never affected me. It inspires

me to draw and write, thinking of what could come from it. Darkness hides the mysteries of the night, and that has always interested me. I will sit up and listen to the creaks and hums of nighttime and let my imagination wander. I also like to adventure into the night. While most people are afraid of what is hiding in the dark, I’m not. I find that it is a mystery, and only our imaginations can tell us what is going on.

Picture I took at Meagan’s house of smoke through her strobe light.

Poe has always been a large influence on my life. My sister and both my parents have always had an interest in him too. His dark poems and detailed stories have always caught my eye and inspired what I write. When I was younger, I used to read his poems an draw what I saw. My imagination always accelerates when I read his works. I have the whole collection of his works, and I read them when I need to be inspired.

From my favorite poem by Poe, ‘The Raven.’

Edgar Allen Poe

Ferrets

When I was 8, my mom decided to get my sister and I ferrets. I have gotten very attached to them, and we always would get more. We always had rescue ferrets to give them a home. Over my lifetime, I have had 11 ferrets. When I was younger I used to spend countless hours playing with them. Ever since I had moved to Massachusetts, I had to left my ferrets behind at my mothers in New Hampshire.

My ferret Cocoa and I last year.

Gabrielle Gabrielle is my oldest and only sister. We would fight a lot as children, but as we matured we fought less and less. She is 17 now, and moving out of the house in the fall. We have had many memories together, but ever since I moved to Leominster we haven't seen each other in a while. Gabi and I would always play video games together, never taking a break. She has influenced me and helped me through most of my life.

A picture of my sister Gabrielle.

Halloween` Ever since I was younger Halloween has been my favorite holiday. I love running around scaring people. I also love the real meaning of Halloween, Hallow’s Eve, which is a Pagan holiday. Lately I have been throwing Halloween parties. When I was about 5 years old, one of the best nights of my life was at a Halloween party. I’ve also always loved to get candy, and the food. The best Halloween of my Halloween I have had was this year with Meagan, Ali, and Kaylah.

Meagan, Ali, Kaylah and I on Halloween.

Illustrations

I have a whole family of artistic people. Illustrations and other forms of art are a large part of my life. I have always loved the illustrations in children's books, factual books, and poetry. If one day I become a poet, I’m going to illustrate everything myself. I am making a collage for my bedroom soon. Its going to be friends represented by rainbows. When I was in elementary school, we had an illustration class. We would take different stories, read them, then draw an illustration.

Picture I drew for the short story my friend was writing.

Jimmy Neutron

Jimmy Neutron was my favorite show from when I was a kid. I used to go around and try to create what he did when I wasn’t watching it. I used to try to get my hair up the way he did. I also was always into technical things, so what he did always interested me. I used to sit and watch Jimmy Neutron with my cousins and sister too. We would always take different characters, pretend to be them, and go on adventures.

Kittens

I have always been engulfed in kittens. They are completely adorable, and really fuzzy. I have had over 25 cats and kittens in my life. My cat Tigger has always been my favorite, but I had to leave him in NH. I have always had a cat named Fluffy, she is a short, black haired cat. I had to leave her in New Hampshire too. Right now at my dads, I have a long haired Himalayan cat named Dolche. She is the devil in cat form.

My kitten Dolche.

LiteratureLiterature has been a huge part of my life. My favorite authors are

classic poets and authors like Shakespeare, Dickens, and Poe. They have inspired me and my drawings and writing. I love to sit and read for hours on end. I have always had a passion for reading, even when I was only 7 I was reading the Harry Potter books. If you give me a 400 page book, if it is interesting I can sit down and read the whole thing within a couple of hours. I have always thought of books as a gift, and they couldn’t ever be replaced in my life.

Meagan

Meagan Edleston is my best friend. I have only known her for a couple of months, but we have already made so many memories together. Meagan and I have spent long nights talking, and fun nights out together. We share the same interests and love to do stuff together. Thanks to Meagan I have made many new friends, and have been introduced to people that have affected me a lot. Meagan is my best friend and has helped me get settled into Leominster.

My best friend Meagan and me.

New Hampshire

I have lived in New Hampshire ever since I was 5, until recently. I lived in Greenville, and have had a lot of memories there. From venturing to the white mountains, to just exploring my hometown, there were always new adventures awaiting. There was an abandoned building in the center of Greenville, and the night before I left for Massachusetts, my friends took me to go explore it. It was a 20 room old apartment building. That was about the best night of my life because of the memories made.

Meagan and I when we got

lost on a back road in NH.

OctoberOctober has always been my favorite season. Halloween, fall, the

colors and smells all bring back many memories. When I was younger, I used to rake up huge piles of leaves and my friends and I would jump off the roof into them. The thing I remember most about October is when I was 8, my best friend was moving away. The day she left, we put a bunch of leaves on my trampoline and were jumping around. After a bit, it started snowing for the first time that year on the trampoline. We spent the whole day jumping in a mixture of snow and leaves.

My cousin and I outside last October.

Poetry

I have always loved to read and write poetry. Some of my biggest inspirations are poets. I have been interesting in reading and writing ever since 5th grade, and I have stuck to it. When I am older, one of my choices is to go for an English major in college. Poetry isn’t as alive as it used to, and I would like to contribute to bringing that and other literature back. Daily life is becoming more and more consumed in technology, not allowing people’s imagination to wander. People are dreary, no one can think or wonder. Poetry and literature will allow that.

Quote from my favorite poem by Poe.

Quote

“Only the individual can rise to the heights of consciousness and awareness. The more you belong to the crowd, the deeper you fall into darkness.”

“If you ever begin to take things to seriously, just remember that we are talking monkeys on an organic spaceship flying through the universe.”

Hannah Doucette

Reading

Every night, I spend at least an hour with my face buried in a book. I can read 100 pages in less than an hour, and can finish a 700 page book by the end of the day. I have read countless books in my life, to the point where I read ‘The Lord of the Rings’ books when I was 8, when most people would consider it challenging now. Reading stimulates my brain and activates my imagination, which also helps with school. I do many recreational activities that stimulate my brain, and it all helps with my reading. I have a strong imagination and my brain is always going 1000 miles a minute.

Ring from ‘The Lord of the Rings.’

Star WarsI have loved Star Wars ever since I was born. My dads best friend

was the biggest Star Wars lover I had ever met, so he would sit and talk about Star Wars for hours straight. My dad would sit down with me when we still lived in Ashburnham and we would sit on the couch and have a Star Wars marathon. I own almost all of the movies, and many action figures. When I was 10, my bedroom completely consisted of Star Wars bed sets, posters, and curtains. Sometimes I wills still sit down and watch the movies for hours.

Tarot CardsWhen I was younger, my

mom would take tarot cards and read my fortune. I used to find them really intricate and confusing, but when I was 8 my mom taught me how to use them. I would always use her tarot cards and read the meanings of them, and the different ways of setting them up. When I was nine, I got my own set of tarot cards. Instead of traditional tarot cards, they were mermaids and sirens on them. I would always try to read my moms fortune. This year, for Christmas, I got a set of vampire tarot cards. I now know exactly how to use them. The set of mermaid tarot cards I

had when I was 9.

Uncle Buddha My uncle Marty’s nickname is uncle Buddha. This is his nickname

because he is a Buddhist and looks like Buddha. My uncle has a place called Buddhaland behind his house. Buddhaland is a spiritual place where all of the Buddhists in my family, and the rest of us, go to hangout. There is a shower, a bonfire pit, tents, couches, and coolers. Every summer, once a month my cousins and I go and sleepover, spending the night out there alone. Last year, we were hearing things in the woods, and our uncle was telling us stories about spirits in the woods. Buddhaland is up near the Kmart plaza.

Vampires

In my mind, vampires are pale, evil, long haired bloodsucking creatures. I don’t consider the nice, sparkling ‘vampires’ in Twilight actual vampires. Real vampires are Dracula, and Lestat and Louie from the Anne Rice books. Ever since I was little, I had an obsession with vampires. I loved Dracula, and the Anne Rice books. I loved different vampire movies and books, but had a strong hatred for Twilight. I read the books before the movie, and even though they are better than the movies, they still are horrid vampires,..

Wicca

Wicca is an old, pagan derived religion that a lot of my family follows. My father, aunt, sister and cousins are all Wiccan. Even though many people think Wicca is evil, I’ve always understood that it isn’t, and accept when people have different religions. Learning about Wicca opened me up to acceptance, because Wicca is a very accepting religion. Even though I have no religion, for a while I have been looking into Wicca.

Xavier (Professor X)