3. Sea Nettles

Charles Manson never killed Sharon Tate or Leno LaBianca. He never wrote “Death to Pigs” in blood. And yet, those murders are what he’s remembered for today. So while he didn’t physically commit the murders, his influence did the job for him, especially when his followers were high out of their minds on LSD (most of the time). The Manson “Family” wasn’t really ever a family. It was mostly a group of young, lost kids under the influence of a freak of a man who thought he was God. Most of the kids in the 1960s, just like today, were just hungry for a sense of belonging, and maybe a little rebellion. Charles Manson gave them that, but only after stripping away their original identities. He gave them nicknames like “Tex,” “Sadie,” or “Squeaky.” Once you stop being Susan or Patricia, and turn into “Och” it’s much easier to believe whatever role Manson gives. The drugs didn’t hurt either (well, unless you count the murders). Manson’s long speeches about “Helter Skelter,” the Beatles, and ...

I, in Data Opening up Amazon feels like a fortune teller session. The fortune teller predicts my future -- my destiny -- through their seemingly illogical questions and tasks they want me to complete. Similarly, I peer into a version of myself that the corporation wants me to be -- without control and emerging from an algorithm that is a “black box” to me. Based on my search history , their algorithm suggests to me the highest likelihood of the next item that I need: they assume who you are, or who you should grow to become.  Image from Pavil Danyuk When the algorithm gets my wishes correct, the effect is uncanny. As I scroll past an item I never knew about, my heart connects instantly and my brain desires it, it is as if the algorithm read the deepest, subconscious layers of my brain and pulled information from it. It is equally revealing, when it chooses an item I definitely know I do not need. It is a bet, a guess on the kind of person I am, gambling with their limited knowledg...

"Mask" Manipulative. Deceptive. Predatory. Sadistic. They seek control. They can hide who they truly are. They view people as objects, targets, a “trophy” for them to keep. They desire pleasure.  There are multiple theories that exist to try and understand the psychology behind a “mask”.   Some argue that it's due to environmental factors; some say it's because of personality traits; some say it's because of biological factors. Or some will say it's a mix of all. They all, however, will most typically have the same personality: manipulative, deceptive, predatory, sadistic. Most aren’t even psychotic; they’re real human beings who can distinguish between right and wrong and aren’t clinically considered insane.  One easy way to find the identity of a “mask” is by taking a look at their childhood. They may not be manipulative, deceptive, predatory, or sadistic at a young age. However, they may have strange interests, including “a fascination with fire, cruelty to...

The Bug in the Family September 24, 2025     Over the weekend, I read a fascinating novella named " The Metamorphosis " by Franz Kafka . It follows the young character Gregor who woke up one day to find himself as a bug. Gregor is the sole breadwinner for the family: he works very hard to keep his family stable. This role in his family is what shaped his identity. His transformation into a bug stripped him of his ability to go to work, his key role in the family no longer functioning.     What frightened me the most was their reaction of the family:  fear, anger, disgust and rejection. The mother faints when she sees Gregor: his father is stunned, slowly turning hostile, and the sister (the worst one) is initially concerned. She gives him food; however she eventually starts to resent Gregor for she had to take on more responsibilities.     We can see throughout the story, a shift in identity in Gregor. Once a the lifeline of the family--keeping them fe...

At the age of 33 , Jessica was diagnosed with Stage 2 Invasive Ductal Carcinoma (IDC), a type of breast cancer. She went through numerous treatments, including chemotherapy, radiation, and surgery. During this painful process, she lost her hair. Many of us don't realize how much something as simple as hair means to us. It’s taken for granted. We see it as simply something that we have to spend time washing and wrestling in the morning to lie flat. However, for cancer patients, as they go through chemotherapy, hair loss becomes something that they are aware of; they run their fingers through their hair only to pull back and find voluminous clumps of hair sitting in their hand. It’s only at that point of “losing” that people realize exactly how much it means to them, and how hard it is to lose it. Whenever they look at themselves in the mirror, they see the absence of something that was once a part of them and used to represent their confidence, femininity, or connection to their tru...

    Imagine you are on stage — flashing lights, a roaring crowd watching your every step. Your band begins to play the first song of the set, one that has been heard around the world. As the first notes start to play you bring the microphone up to your mouth and take a deep breath — until you realize something. The audience, united, begins singing the lyrics back to you. Taking out your earpiece you immerse yourself into the moment fully thinking — “I made it.”      On the surface music is described as words and sounds meshed together to make art, but if you can go deeper you will see that music can be more than that. It has the ability to evoke feelings that sometimes words can not even describe. It is a tool that can be used to impact the masses and bring together those you would have never expected.       A study done by Harvard in 2021 proved how music is not only tied to the soul but to the heart as well. The study concluded that...

Euphoria is a popular teenage drama with messy story lines and dramatic teenage lives. On the surface, it looks like glitter and drama, but the writers of the show specifically use language to build the characters. The way each character speaks full reflects their identity. Fezco: the drug dealer. Fezco’s speech isn’t slow because he’s thinking about big questions. It’s slow because his brain and mouth are always a step behind each other, probably thanks to all the drugs he’s using. The writers do this on purpose by giving him short sentences with long pauses and dragged out drawl. Even if you had never watched Euphoria before, you would be able to tell something was off by the way he talked.  That’s the point. His speech matches the life he’s in. Lexi: the high achiever. Lexi is completely different from Fezco, and so it her speech. Her words are clean and organized. That matches the person she is: the student with good grades who spends her time organizing plays for the school. H...

S tealing Identity; Deepfakes Run Rampant In the famous movie franchise, “ Mission Impossible ” starring Tom Cruise , there are these really high-tech masks that can change your facial features to match that of another person. It is perfect for reconnaissance and enabled Cruise to gain intel about his opponents. However, today you do not need this fancy Hollywood prop to trick others. Deepfakes are edited pieces of media where artificial intelligence is utilized to swap in someone else’s identity. With just a phone, deepfakes allow people to replicate and even steal another person’s face and voice.  Image via Caswell One of the most worrying incidents occurred in 2022. The Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelenskyy commanded his soldiers to lay down their arms and surrender to Russia. But, this was all fake and not created by Zelenskyy. In fact, Zelenskyy later responded to the video, stating “We are defending our land, our children, our families. So we don’t plan to lay down our arm...

Colors of the Self      Artists have so much variety when it comes to their medium. It could be painting, drawing, modeling, cooking, or even dancing. There are no limitations to an artistic style, and that's why there can be such a wide range of expressions. An artist’s identity is revealed in every choice they make, such as colors or materials. When a person isn’t set by bounds to do, they have the full freedom to do whatever they desire, and it is psychologically proven that a person is more likely to express themselves through this. For example, if a person gets requested to cook one of their specialties, it would be whatever they feel in the mood for. Or, in a coloring book, a person can choose any color they desire to fill in the blank pages with a black outline. Whether it is the entire rainbow or just a selection of 2 colors, this is a person's choice, therefore expressing the hidden parts of their identity.      Psychologists have studied how this ...

  Last weekend, I was relaxing in my room when my brother suddenly burst through my door holding a glowing console. As I looked at him in confusion I caught out of the corner of my eye what read in illuminating white letters, “ Hollow Knight: Silksong ” with music blaring in the background. Hollow Knight is a 2-d action-adventure video game that was released in 2017. Just last week the sequel Hollow Knight: Silksong was released. My brother convinced me to start playing and I immediately fell in love with the intricate art style and complex background music. However, fighting the enemies, not so much. Despite that, I became really invested in the story line. I realized though, I did not know anything about the actual character I was playing.            In games such as Hollow Knight you are going through the story not really knowing much about yourself. It is because as you are progressing through the game you are not trying to learn more ab...

Cyril Nadar-Week 2 9/10/25       The oldest and strongest emotion is fear, fear is what allowed humanity to be careful in the wild the wild. It allowed them to survive, the sensation of overwhelming dread allowed our ancestors to live and thrive until the modern age. For me, what makes me have the same overwhelming feeling of dread are spiders.     I really hate spiders. I do not know why I hate spiders or when I started to hate them, but I know that I will always fear them. I know that spiders do wonders for our world, eating a massive amount of pests which allows farmers to grow more food. Their venom is used for medical purposes helping people across the globe. The silk that they weave is incredible, it is actually stronger than steel by weight.How- ever, just the way they look, and move absolutely terrifies me.     It is just something about how they look, 8 dead eyes, just writing these words conjures images that give me the chills....

Growing up, I didn’t know what my hair was. I didn’t exactly bother to do anything with it because I had my mom who would braid my hair every morning before school. I never needed to know what hair type I had or what shampoo was perfect for my curly hair. I didn’t even know there were hair products for my hair. All I knew was to sit still for my mom while she braided two pigtails, my go-to hairstyle for every single day. As a girl, hair has always been something to worry about. I always have to plan ahead for my hair, from figuring out my wash days to deciding what hairstyles I want to do. It wasn’t until middle school that I realized I could do so much with my hair and that it was so different from what I thought. During COVID, I started researching more about it. I saw many people on the internet with the same coily hair I had, showing it off, using products I never even heard of. And then I became determined to get my hair to look as good as theirs. Having the same bouncy, defined,...

As a young kid, everyone wants to be famous. We all wanted to be the one standing on the podium, acting in front of a camera on set, or singing our hearts out to a sold-out stadium. At that age, our aspirations only held up because we were aware of the positive aspects of being a celebrity; fancy cars, cool clothing, an insane amount of money, and supportive fans. However, it’s a lot more complex than that. There are just as many negative aspects that almost overpower the positive ones. Whether you are an NBA basketball player, an actor in the latest TV show, a singer at Lollapalooza, you have no choice but to be in front of the cameras outside of your job and exposed to society’s judgements. Take athletes, for example. Many athletes, from F1 driver Carlos Sainz to tennis player Naomi Osaka, have expressed their surprise and how overwhelmed they’ve been when it comes to the sheer amount of media work that they have to do. While their main job may be on the track or on the court, they o...