Summer Carnival Returns

Hey! It's been a little while since I made that last post but I'm finally making one again

Also my laptop is getting old and some keys don't work so I can't use commas or periods or anything lol and I don't have the patience to copy and paste them right now

i might just use a semicolon instead

so before I get into what has changed in AJ itself I'd like to explain what's been going on for me in the past month

i've still been working hard everyday to achieve great things in basketball

school's almost out for me now too i only have six school days left and everything's been going fine in school right now

and yeah

however i have been having some thoughts lately and here they are:

i dont really have any true friends at school; i hate to say it but its true; my friends are so hypocritical at times and get annoying; also; no friend really has aspirations that i know of and i think thats the downfall of many people; they settle with average and arent mature at all; even though i might not even act mature lol; at least i can be that way when it matters

i miss the older days when i had aj friends lol

and finally; ive really been wanting to travel the entire world lately; places like grand teton; yellowstone; alaska; australia; africa; europe; china and many others sound s interesting; but i also find that basketball has a major impact on the culture of many places and i just want to see it; i cant explain the feeling; but i want to go around the world; see the views; learn about the culture of basketball or anything in particular; and just experience life at its best without dropping my passions

anyways; enough of my thoughts

on aj the summer carnival has returned! this event is open for everyone and returns annually

im not super big into aj anymore but ill definitely give it a visit

hopefully it'll have some new features these year

and that wraps up all i have to say

sorry for this poem-like post but my keyboard is in horrible shape and i couldn't write this any better lol

Finally Posting?!?!?!

It's Penguin here, lol!
I think Penguin is cringey now. Like, I'm being referred to as my AJ username. I can't explain it.
But yeah, here I am. Making a post. Today's my last day of spring break and I had the motivation to post.
I don't even know if I feel like making a catch up post. I'll just sum up some quick stuff. Everything's been fine. I'm just waiting for school to end though; it's so boring at this point. I've still been at the gym working on basketball everyday. I don't know if anything else is that different.
I've been feeling nostalgic lately, but also hopeful for the future. I miss the days I posted a lot and talked with my friends here. I even miss the days when my friends at school were different and more childish. Now I just look forward to the future to see what hard work will bring. I heard in a video once by Devin Williams, a popular trainer, that "Improvement is like a drug. There's no better feeling in the world." I can relate to this on a spiritual level. And for everyone else, even you, there's got to be a passion that you love and this quote relates to everyone because of that. However, besides that quote, I have other things on mind besides my current IRL life. Sure, I love the sport I play and the things I learn, though I just feel bored and hopeless every day. I wish I could connect with friends more, real life and internet, train for basketball with other people that have a similar liking, and be able to have fun every day, whether it be at school, on the court, or anywhere. I feel like I'm not having fun lately or just enjoying life.
So, here's my plan:

- First of all, I'm going to continue training for basketball. Every day, putting in the work more than everybody else. But I'm going to try new things with my training and do more research on the topic through Youtube. Hopefully, my friends/other people that like the game will at least find a better liking or passion in the sport or something besides constantly staying at home doing nothing.
- Get through school but have a positive attitude. Honestly, I'm not being challenged that hard in school right now, and I feel n motivation. I'm tired everyday and waiting to get out of school. Prepare for next year, as I've signed up for AP classes with my friends.
-Find more motivation. If I want to go to college for both basketball and academics, and actually go to a good school, I need to motivate myself more and keep a more positive view on everything. I need to have more fun, too.
- Start posting more? I need to connect with you guys much more than I do now. I sincerely miss everyone I talked to. I miss when I was a stupid 11 year old, lol.

So I guess you can expect more posts soon. I'll try and respond to comments I haven't read. Also, I'm going to post on the Animal Jam Community soon, so stick around for that.

My Shop Update

Hey!
I haven't posted in a really long time. I've had the time to post, but, you know, I've just been tired every day after basketball practice so I usually just get my homework done and watch Youtube for the rest of the night. I have weights as a class, too, and it contributes to my tiredness.
Anyways, my basketball season is over now. It's truly become one of my passions. This season, I improved a whole lot, and I finally started to become "good". I met my expectations and started scoring points in the double digits. I still have a lot to learn, though, and I look forward to continuing my personal practice during the offseason. I'd really like to go to college for basketball, but it's probably not going to happen. The chances are so small. Even if I did get offered a scholarship for the sport my senior year, I'd likely decline it as I need to focus on my academic path, as I think I have a gift for academics more than sports. That doesn't take away the fact that basketball has pretty much become my favorite thing ever at this point, though.
So... that's pretty much all I have to catch up on. School's been pretty easy as I took all hard classes in the first trimester, and in the second trimester of the school year they've been easier. I think this might be the first post of 2019, too...
Now onto the whole point of this post. There was a super interesting update this Thursday. AJHQ introduced to us the My Shop feature.

This update is obviously one of the most interesting updates we've ever had. I like that AJHQ is starting to put some features in the game to make it better. So, what are the pros and cons of this?
Pros: AJHQ will make more money from people buying gems and diamonds off memberships. This will improve the game. Also, it gives gems and diamonds more of a purpose being in the game. It's a highly requested idea that AJHQ has finally implemented. Finally, this gives people more of a chance to earn currency besides recycling items. It's like a resell app or page on Facebook. I really like this idea.
Cons; It could mess with the rarity and currency system, it will be hard to figure out exact values of items in means of currency, and it's only for members.
What is your opinion on this new feature? I overall think it's positive, but there will always be a few bad things about introducing something new. Anyways, that's all I have. I hope to post again soon.

OLD FASHIONED!

Hey guys and welcome back to another update post!

So I've decided to make an update post for the fun of it. Why not? I have nothing better to do right now, lol.

Here is the new item in stores today, helping us celebrate New Year's:

Now, since it is December, we get daily Jamaaliday gifts! And I don't now why I'm doing this, but here is today's gift.

The Snowflake balloon usually returns every year.

What do I do now? Usually, if this were 2016, I'd continue the post by adding on a segment about random stuff. Conspiracies, new features, and other things were the topics i used a lot. I have nothing else to think of right now so I think I'll end this post.

I made this post out of boredom, though also because I do want to get back into posting, and I just wanted the feeling for it again. I may be posting more in the upcoming days as I still have 4 days of winter break left. Stick around.

Catching Up Before Christmas

Hi people. Yep, back at it again with the lame and awkward post intros.

I've decided to try and make a post that catches up with you all before Christmas gets here. Let's get right into it.

Everything has been going pretty good for me lately. I've gotten a break from harder school classes and basketball season is going way better than last year. Besides that, that's pretty much all I have to say about myself lol.

What should I talk about now? Well, I do have a few topics on mind.

#1: What can we expect from The Animal Jam Spring in 2019? To be honest, I'm not sure about this. I'd really like to post regularly again or even get posts every other day that are detailed. This blog isn't all dead yet and I still have hopes for the future. Like I always say, I don't plan on leaving anytime soon. But I can't promise I'll be perfect on posting, I'm pretty lazy these days. 

#2: What about Animal Jam? This is the big question. So many people have quit and everyone is saying the game itself is getting worse. In my opinion, the game is getting a little worse based on the past few months, but I truly believe there is more in store for AJ in the upcoming years. It's a great game, even if you've grown out of it. Everyone on here has been intrigued by it at one point or another. I also don't think AJ is shutting down yet, either. It still makes good money and there are many players.
Umm... I can't think of any other topics. I guess that's about all then. Hopefully in 2019 our community can have a new Youtuber rise up and make everyone happy again. Maybe this blog itself could become the main source of AJ media! (ha, that's a joke)
To end this post, I'd like to say there is a lot more I could talk about. I just don't feel like writing any more. So...
I wish you all a merry Christmas! (or any other holiday you celebrate!)

A Common Trend

Unless you've been living under a rock for the past year, you'd have realized a common trend on AJ: everyone is quitting.
I haven't quit. I still plan on sticking til the end. I haven't posted in forever, though, and I'm working on a post to catch you all up on my life. That'll be for another time, though.
So yeah, people keep quitting. Even Aparri has quit, and he made a video about his departure. Like him or not, he had a major impact on the game and it sucks to see him go.
Bloggers have been quitting, too. Both the Youtube and Blogger communities have lost members. What's causing this?

There's two main reasons...
#1: AJ is not the same game as it was in 2014-2016. Those were probably the best years for the game overall. Today, we have worse updates, and AJHQ is focusing more on Play Wild.
#2: Older AJ players are growing out of the game. Yep, people are starting to realize life isn't just a computer game.

It's really, really sad to me to see people quit. It's not just because they were friends, or because they were good content creators, it's also because this may be the downfall of AJ. I don't want to lose this game as it has made a huge impact on my life and still does. The community doesn't thrive anymore as there are less Youtubers and Bloggers.
It just sucks. I hope that AJHQ starts putting more effort into updates, and we an get more Youtubers to start helping improve the quality of the game and community.
Anyways... I just needed to say all that.

School Rant

Okay, so, I've been absent for a long time.
The work for school has been so much lately, especially since all my core classes are honors. I literally get homework every day, and from 2-3 classes. Then I have to get my workouts in for the day. I pretty much don't have time to post. The time I'm done with everything is like 11 and I don't feel like writing an entire post.
Maybe, I could just still be transitioning into a school mode. But I have been in high school for more than a month now.
Besides that, I have a test in science every 1-1.5 weeks, a math test about every 2 weeks, a history test (which isn't that hard) about every 2 weeks, and a Spanish test about every 2 weeks. I enjoy English, though, as it's my strong point, and there aren't really tests- just essays and a lot of homework.
So, what's the point of all this information I'm sharing with you? I want to explain my opinion on the modern school system.
I've always been the type of person that desperately needs to get straight a's, just because I was taught that way. I can't say I have the best grades now lol but I'll probably end up doing anything in my power to raise them back up before they become final grades. But, as you can see, it's almost as if school is about getting good grades, and not learning to become something in the future you want to be. It's all about acing every test, memorizing useless information, and getting straight a's. Is that the only way to get into a top college? This causes so much stress to thousands of people. I thought learning was supposed to be positive.
I think that school should be graded on your willingness to actually learn and study the material to get a clear understanding, how much effort you put into it, and your progress over time. People would be learning more if school was this way, and it wouldn't be nearly as stressful.
Now, I get that school makes us take certain subjects in high school and doesn't let us choose a major that early. That's what college is for, because a lot of high schoolers still aren't certain about their future.
To help explain my argument, here's a video that explains a lot of what I said.

Of course, school has their reasons. I probably have flaws in my argument, too, and I'm sure a lot of you will disagree with me. What's your opinion on school?

I'm Really Busy

I'm pretty busy, to say the least. That, and when school comes, it's harder to find the motivation to post. I'll probably post something tomorrow, though. I literally have a test in science every week and that is starting to get difficult with all the studying and other homework. Anyways...
Bye. Lol.