Jarren Smiths Blog

Sep 28 I used to believe in Santa Clause. I know that sounds silly especially because I am Jewish and have always been a critical thinker. But when I was younger I truly believed. When my grandparents invited me over to celebrate Christmas I gleamed with excitement. I planned a trap, I would sit near the chimney hidden all night waiting for Santa. Checking the alarm clock my grandparents had in their living room it was around 12:00 at night. I began to wonder to myself if he was fake just like the tooth fairy but I could not. How did the cookies disapear my family hates cookies and sugar, where did the presents come from how did my dad keep them from me for so long? Santa must've known what I wanted I put my letter in the mailbox all by myself. He got it right, too, he got exactly what I wrote to him. He came to me in a dream the night prior on the 23rd telling me hes coming. Looking back this absolute obsession and rationalization of saint nick led my brain to come up with an answ...

 Sep 22 I feel as though Fences, from a readers perspective tried to fit too much into a small play. The characters had dialogue and interactions that were either throw away lines or used to portray a point already hammered into the ground. We spend a lot of time with the characters so when Troy goes on his 100th rant about how hard his life is or tries to over explain something it gets tedious. I wish we had spent more time with Alberta and Troy together so we can see that laugh out loud love life attitude Troy was talking about, instead we just heard more of him and Rose yap along. It was very well written but more baseball allegories from Troy were getting tiresome. I think the theme of like father like son is the cycle of abuse that continues between Troy and his father along with Corey and Troy. Troy is a hateful man who is also a racist and even though he had a lot of potential growing up, like Corey, he ended up a sad drunk bigot. A personal relationship I share with this th...

 Sep 21 I was not present for the end of Fences as it was Yom Kippur today a jewish holiday but I will still state my opinion. I believe forgiving someone is not forgetting what they have done, but embracing it. To forgive means to realize there was a problem, and that this person has overcome it and asked for forgiveness, not to erase what happened but to move forward or to improve one's relationship. If you cannot forget how an action or consequence has made you feel you should not forgive, and if you feel as though you have not matured through a poor decision and seriously ask for forgiveness you should not apologize. I had a previous relationship ended over cheating, its not like the girl did not like me or anything she just made a poor decision in bad faith. I was given time, endless apologies, reassurance, compliments, and even money and gifts. It all meant nothing as it was all hollow, the money gifted to me by an ex girlfriend feels dirty in comparisson to money sent via a ...

 Sep 17 I believe that trust is the most integral part of any relationship, cause once you break trust it does not matter how many apologies you provide that person will never trust you again. To fully trust someone means exactly that, fully trust, there is not kind of trust. When a person lies to you or behind your back all the trust and integrity built up over years or how ever long is stripped away never to be returned. That is why in fences when Rose finds out about the other woman from Troy all of the trust and relationship building was gone, they no longer had chemistry, Rose constantly asking Troy about where he is or where he is going and then does not believe him no matter what he says. 

Sep 18 I think Cory is portrayed in the movie as more of a wimp but in the play hes seen more equal to troy that's what makes such a narrative shock when he beats him in a fight, but not entirely so as Cory does'ent want to hurt his father. Its very powerful stuff and I find it relatable as I have had clashes with my alcoholic father. Nobody comes out on  top all parties lose because they fight. I think Cory is going to repeat this hateful cycle unfortunately, and the movie did a good job of displaying the weaker man he is and has yet to become.

 Sep 15 I believe all parents owe their children love. Love is the most important thing to the human race and society. If parents cant provide manners, care, money, or passion they still must love their kid. Parents who don't love their kid do not care about them or are just messed up. 

 Sep 14 A time I chose to do what I needed to do over a time when I wanted to something was sadly the final game of the Warriors 2025-2026 season. Play-ins vs the Suns was our last chance to get into the finals and I would die for this team if I have to, the eagles are obviously a team of mine but the warriors are my one true team. I had to go in and pickup a prescription for my mom, she was sick at the time and was unable to do so herself, I did not complain or wine and even though I missed the entire 2 hour game because of lines and traffic I still do not feel bad, warriors lost the game but I was able to help my mother.

 Sep 11 I think that parents should love their kids but don't have to like them, even though they are the most important figure in their kids life they shape who they are, an extent of not liking your kid is not liking yourself. My step dad hated me but for some reason felt the need to take care of me, I felt the responsibility to help him too even though I hated him

 Sep 8 I've never really put up fences in my life if I'm being honest. I've always been a very open and outgoing person, not to an obnoxious level I hope but emotionally I've let people in and hear about my problems if they so choose. I like people to know about the person I am deep down inside and to be welcoming to as many people as possible, I enjoy being myself to everyone I meet. Physical fences are something I put in, touch boundaries, things I'm not comfortable doing like drinking, a lot of those types of fences. My physical body is delicate and I already poorly take care of it, so I'm not getting into a car accident on someone elses accords.

 Sep 10 I believe it's ok as a sense of its not offensive to ask someone, but frowned upon and should make you think less of a person, depending on what it is and the situation of both people are. If my friend won the lottery and ive been with him for years, he better give me 10,000 for free if hes a new millionaire. if everybody in a family is coming together to get a nice 1200$ laptop people should contribute. if a man asks someone else for rent money, or food money it is frowned upon. but then money to fuel a drug addiction is evil and under no circumstances should be provided.

 Sep 4 I unfortunately was not able to attend the mask reveals, but my mask represented a lot about where I come from and the values that I hold dear. Learning about cara and jacks mask while creating mine helped me peel back a layer I feel like we had and I learned a lot about jacks past with music and motorcycles, and how artsy and creative cara really is.

 Sep 3 I believe a time that I truly belonged was at camp, a lot of people have been going for years and years so everyone truly knows each other and knows its such a joyful and social place. all employees who worked there where friends with everyone, whether they be from Ireland, Scotland, whales, Britain, Japan, Columbia, Israel, Mexico, Australia, Canada or new-zealand everyone got along and everyone had an amazing time together.

 Sep 1 A fear I have overcome, which may be hard to tell, is my crippling fear of people. people to me were always scary because growing up I had met so many different kinds of people. Whether its people from the deep south of Alabama, Georgia and Louisiana or the high rise city's of Chicago and New York city. So many different people have impacted my life from an extraordinarily young age, which now I realize has allowed me to relate too and practically communicate with many many many different people, but as a kid it was scary. I never was able to socialize in pre-k and its led me to develop a permanent disadvantage to socializing because the first friends I had to make on my own I wasn't able too and was bullied by them, some of them attend lakeside even now, seniors just like me. It all began there but people can be violent, judgmental, hateful, and even frightening. I was not able to talk to anyone due to fear of them hating me, I'm not sure why I try and be as nice an...