cal ear and friends 4

This is my third year of working on this magazine and gathering material and putting together each issue still feels as exciting as the ones that come before it.

I’ve been learning a lot about my hobbies, interests, friends, and myself in general through these magazines, and as corny as it feels to say it, I’m so grateful that I am surrounded by so much creativity and kindness in the communities I interact with. I’ve met a lot of cool people within the last few months, and with them, I’ve made so many fun memories.

Whether this is your first time looking through one of my magazines, or maybe you’ve been keeping up since the issue I made in my freshman year, I hope you enjoy the photos, drawings, stories, and everything else. Enjoy! Claire

serious business here…

Atschool,thereareanumber ofplacesmyclassmatesliketo spendtheirbrunchandlunch breaks at. Since sophomore year, my friends have spent our free time at the amphitheater (when it’s not pouringrainoutside,anyway). Whether we’re pretending to fight, cramming homework five minutes before class starts, or being iPad kids together, the amphitheater hasn’tfailedus.

Evenifwe’refreezinghalfway to death, melting into puddles,orbeingblownaway bythewind,myfriendsandI have yet to change spots to spend time. There’s nothing stopping us, but we’ve essentially claimed this spot for so long that we don’t feel likemoving.

I have a number of funny memoriesthattakeplacehere fromthelastfewmonths.

get a load of these guys!

Wind, Rain, or Shine: our time at the amphitheater

On Bring Anything But a Backpack day, Kaeden brought Leboneski(hislife-sizeskeleton Halloween decoration) to school and we kept taking the skeleton apart to flail its limbs at each other. We received a handful of strange looks from our peers, but it was really funny.

I’m writing this in mid-March, just a few days from my birthdayparty.Mymomtoldus to put together a playlist of songs we want to sing during ourkaraokecontest.Myfriends andIhavebeenhavingalotof funwiththistask.FromWeezer and Radiohead, to Cocomelon and Gummy Bear, we’ve been blasting our playlist on full volume at the amphitheater; I feel a little bad for the admin who have to listen to “Cotton Eye Joe” and “Wheels on the Bus” every day, but we haven’t gotten any complaints from themyet,soit

shouldbeok,right?

I’veseenalotofchangesinmy schoollifelately,butI’mhappy tocallallofthesepeopleinthe photos here my friends! We matcheachother’senergyquite well and I always feel welcome around them. I’ve known most ofthepeopleinourlittlegroup since elementary school, but it hasbeennicegettingtoactually knowthemthisyear.

Lately, it feels like the only thing that remains constant in mytimeatschoolischange,but havingmyfriendsaroundkeeps me anchored. I always look forward to seeing them when I

it’s the same thing every

“IT ALL FEELS SO MONOTONOUS!” is a phrase I find myself thinking quite often when I’m getting through my classes. SometimesthismonotonygetsboringandI yearnforsomethingassmallasasubstitute teacher, or a bigger disruption to the sameness (like a field trip!), but other times, going through the same routine every day feels comforting. Even if the weeks go by feeling as boring as the one before it, I think I’m beginning to appreciate the smaller details in each day, and it’s making me enjoy each day more—even if it’s just by a little bit. Here aresomeoftheupsanddownsIwantedto share.

THE END (of working on the yearbook) IS HERE!

I’vebeendoingyearbooksinceseventhgrade,butthe satisfaction that comes with ending the last deadline with all the pages submitted never leaves. Each yearbook is made with lessons we learned from the previousone,andseeinghoweachyear’seditorslearn to improve the process of designing the book is so interestingtosee.Istillcan’tbelievethatIonlyhave onemoreyearofyearbook;thestressandexcitement hasflownbysoquickly!

Now that we’re done with the book, “study hall” has begun,butbystudyhall,ImeanbringingmyiPadto schoolandworkingonthisprojecteverychanceIget. I know I can’t take this free time for granted though—distribution is right around the corner! This is also my last year where I have to distribute the yearbooks at Senior Sunset and thinking about that makesmefeelsoweird!It’salwaysbittersweetsaying goodbyetotheyearbookseniors,butit’sbeenfunwith themandalotofthemtrulycarriedthisbook.

time…or is it?

Class, tutoring, and everything else

TO TUTOR OR BE BE TUTORED: TUTORINGATTHEMIDDLESCHOOL!

IneverthoughtthatIwouldactuallyenjoytutoring the snotty middle schoolers, but I guess anything can be enjoyable when you have friends can can witness all the nonsense with you. Since I started last semester, the students have mellowed out to some degree, but lately, there have been more tutors(highschoolstudentsinneedofNHShours) than kids that show up to tutoring, so it has been almost relaxing, which is strange because literally no one ever has put the words “middle school students” and “relaxing” in the same sentence before.Eventhekidsthatshowupdon’tevenneed tutoring most of the time, whether it be because theyunderstandthematerial,orbecausethey’retoo busy watching Fortnite clips on the school computers, but it’s fine; it makes the hour more bearable.

MEETINGHERE,MEETINGTHERE

I joined a few clubs this year, but one of them ceased to exist at the start of this semester,andtheotheronestoppedhaving meetings. One of them stayed alive (to a certain degree) though. Although my attendance was absolutely atrocious with NAHS (sorry Jegg), I think it was my favorite club that I joined this year. I had bad experiences with this club a couple of years ago because the officers at the time were super unorganized, but Jegg actually took this club places and we did stuff! Fun stuff! Many of these meetings happened when I had to photograph other clubs for yearbook, but I always liked stopping by to sayhitomyfriendsintheclub.Wealsogot to design stickers and Jegg had them printed,whichwassupercool!

what’s in my backpack?

raincoat camera backpack cover (for the rain!)

Here are a couple of my must-have items in my backpack (not to scale):

hair ties and hair clips (originally 3 hair ties - camille stole one of them)

wipes pencil pouch!

misc. folders & issue 3

sketchbook

measuring tape (for my graphic design class!)

spare change tissues papers)hundredsbinder(&of

Old cameras and good music!

One of my New Year’s Resolutionsthisyearistosee more live music. After taking photos for my last issue, finding more shows to go to and photograph came to the forefrontofmymind.

Thismagazinehasallowedme tousemyloveofdocumenting my life a purpose. When I go to these events, I now purposely try to take good photos of the bands, which sounds kind of silly now that I’m writing it out, but until very recently, I didn’t think I had that much of an interest in photography. I’ve never beenverygoodattaking

these bands

photoscomparedtomypeers in yearbook, so I didn’t really focus in on skillset. I think being able to photograph events I have a genuine interest in changed my perspectiveonthisthough.

Obviously,inordertoimprove at any skill, a person has to practice and actively learn to get better, and I don’t think I really did this until I realized that I was having fun when I was taking photos at music-relatedevents,whether it be at my school’s orchestra concerts or the Valentine’s show at Impulse Music Co. (myfavoritemusicstorein

mylocalarea).

All the cameras I've used for photographing these shows have either been my grandma’s old digital camera that I’ve been using for the last year or so, or my dad’s nine-year-old Nikon that I still don’t know the ins and outs of. I should probably investinbetterequipmentfor thiseventuallyifIkeepdoing theseprojects,butI’veyielded someprettydecent(tomylow standards, anyway) results with the tools I have, and it makes me excited to keep going to these events to take photos.

I saw some different bands playoverthelastfewmonths. WhenIwasatImpulseMusic Co.’s Valentine’s Show, I was originally there to watch Thalassa play, but I also stayed to see Cellswan and MKNAOMI play, and I was blown away by their performances! I was thoroughlyentertainedandall the bands made paying the fivedollarsverywellworthit.

I also went to the Heart Destruct Music Festival’s Tryx¡, which was the first show from student-run organization. I had so much fun there for a number of reasons, but seeing all the bands play, the audience enjoying the music, and also playinginabandforthefirst time made me want to do it again(butmoreonthatlater). ThebandsIhadn’tlistenedto

prior to going to this show were the bands War Pact and Atavan.

Atavan, the first band that played, had these scream-y vocals and emo/math rock-inspiredriffsthatIreally enjoyed.Eachofthemembers (besides the drummer) kept switching instruments throughout their set and I thought it looked kind of funny,buttheyhadthisreally cool-looking Squier Paranormal Offset Telecaster that really caught my eye. I alsocouldnotstoplaughingat one of the members’ shirts; it wasoneofthosemuscle-print t-shirts (shown in the photo above), but every time that personwalkedpastme,Itried so hard to contain myself. Anyway, they sounded pretty good.

WarPactwasmoreofametal band. I’m not too big into metal music, but they sounded really good too. My bandmateshadbeentalking

about how good this band soundedandI’mgladIgotto hearthemforthefirsttimeat thisshow.

While working on this, I also got to see Thalassa play a couple of times (both at the Valentine’s show and Tryx¡) and they sounded great--but when do they not? I’m really gladIgottotakebetterphotos of them this time around because the last time, my camera wasn’t working properly and I was standing toofarawayfromthestage.I alsosawYoshidaplayagainat DENO, another HDMF event. They played with three other acts and I had a great time there. I met so many nice people there and it was so muchfun!.

I don’t have enough space to put all of my favorite photos with all of this text here, so take a look at some photos I like on the next couple of pages!

some of the coolest people out there!

another open mic, joining a band, and other fun stuff!

taking over the world?

Impulse Music Co. hosts open mic nights on the first Wednesday of every month. After playing in front of peopleforthefirsttimeback in December, I knew I wantedtoplayagainthenext timeIwasableto.

FebruaryrolledaroundandI decided to sign up again to play. I covered Ovlov’s “Where’s My Dini?” which is oneofmyfavoritesongs.My friends, Esther, Anika, and Jackson came to watch me play and it was a lot of fun!

MyvoicewassoshakywhileI was singing and I bumped intothemicrophoneacouple times, but it didn’t make me love playing on Impulse’s stage any less. It was also pouring rain on this day, so in and out of the store to shelter my guitar before and afterplayingwasfunny.

I’ve been wanting to play music with other people for as long as I’ve been making music under the cal ear name,sowhenmyoldkarate classmate, Aiden, asked me to play guitar for The Biting Thumbs, I knew what I wantedtodo.

Preparingfor Tryx¡ wassome of the most fun I’d had in months, and I was so glad that I was able to learn new music play it with Craig and Aiden! When we actually played at the show, I had such a good time (despite messing up every song…oops!). I met some really cool people at that show and playing in front of peopleinthebandmakesme want to play at shows even morethanIdidbefore!

For the last four years, I’ve been having birthday parties at my house with my friends. We usually run around theneighborhood,doa numberofactivitiesmy mom plans out, and other fun ways to pass thetime.

Iwasn’treallyplanning on having a birthday party this year, but my mom asked if I wanted to do something this yearandtoldherthatI did. She ended up placing an order for a karaoke machine and I worked on a guest list. Aweekorsopassedby and it was the day of theparty.

My friends and I spent the whole day screaming into the karaoke microphones, playingtug-of-warwith my brother’s friends (my friends and I won everytime),andaftera

few hours, my remainingfriendsandI spent close to two hours discussing which teacherscouldwinina 1v1 fight against each other; it was a very seriousmatter.

Omkarwenthomeafter wefinishedourbracket forthisdiscussion,and a little bit later, so did Paulo. Paulo left via Uber, but the driver’s profile photo on the appwasthismanbiting his lip, so we worried that Paulo would be abducted. He was not, fortunately, but he was exposed to the driver’s baconfume-riddencar.

AfterPauloleft,wetold Ductowalkovertomy house,buthegotlostin my neighborhood at 10 p.m. Luc, Tuna, and I ran around the neighborhood to find him, and we eventually did.Wedraggedhim

over to my house and he was a little too fascinatedbytheseIcee popsicleswehadinthe freezer and he couldn’t properly inflate a whoopee cushion. My friends and I kept laughing hysterically at fart noises for the whole time we were at the party (we are so mature).

My brother’s friends stayed the night after thepartywasover,soI locked my bedroom door and went to sleep relatively undisturbed. Iendeduptakinganap

for two hours the nextdaythough.

I had a lot of fun spending time with my friends and family on this day. I almost lost my voice from screaming duringkaraokeandI woke up super tired the morning after, but it was all very worth it and I’d gladlydoitallagain. The people I’ve been surrounding myself with lately are all so cool!

it’s party time! my 17th birthday (ft. my friends!)

thank you!

I hope you enjoyed reading this issue of CAL EAR & FRIENDS! Your support means the world to me and I hope you stick around for future issues :)