Christmas Movies

Each year around this time, you start to see an assortment of the different Christmas movies being aired on the television. You see classics such as The Christmas Story and It’s a Wonderful Life. You also see the more recent films like The Grinch and Fred Clause. When I see these movies, they always remind me of the times when I was younger and always get me into the Christmas spirit. When I was real little, I remember watching the Christmas Story and always being amused by the young man who got his wish when he got his bb-gun. Then I always remember when the boy goes out to shoot his new toy and end up hurting his eye, just like everyone said he would if he got that gun. I was able to relate to this movie quite well because I too always wanted a bb-gun when I was younger. I can recall several Christmas’s, that after I got finished with all of my gifts, I would search around the house in hopes of finding the gift that was hidden like his was in the movie. Unfortunately, I never found my hidden bb-gun. This was probably a good thing though because, I would have probably followed up just like the movie did and ended up shooting myself in the eye. Another movie that is more recent for me is The Grinch. This movie is one of my all-time favorites. I love this movie because it was more modern and just always makes me laugh with all of the dry humor. One movie that we as a family always watch is Christmas Vacation. This movie makes me and my family laughs every year. It seems that every year we watch it; it just gets funnier and funnier. Chevy Chase is a terrific actor and does an excellent job portraying what the average family man goes through during the holiday season. These movies always put me in a great mood and that is one of the great things about Christmas.

Buffalo Bills Comeback

The Buffalo Bills have been in a slump for the last ten years. In 1999, the bills made the playoffs, since then, they have yet to return. After 1999, the bills have gone through five different coaches and a hand full of different styles. People have had a difficult time finding a way to win in Buffalo. Growing up, I have only known the bills to be, at best, a five hundred team. I missed the glory days with Kelly and Reed and Tasker and Smith when the bills were the team to beat. I have missed the days when fans would actually be excited to go to the game because those games meant something, and they knew that they would be in for an exciting thriller. These days, it hurts to say but the attitude in the stadium is just not the same. Each year at the season opener, a glimpse of that excitement comes back in the stadium but quickly fizzes out. The attitude that I receive when I enter the game now is that it is a pre-season game and fans are just waiting for next year. It is said to think that a great football town like Buffalo has had so much difficulty winning. Each year, games continue to sell out here which tells me one thing. That one thing is that there is still hope in this town. I have faith that one day, the Bills will turn things around and when that day comes, the fans will be here, ready to go. And when the Bills become the top team again, all the bills haters will begin to jump on the band wagon and all the true fans will laugh as these people try and convince us that their heart was always with the team. We will always know who the true fans are. The Bills Will Be Back!

NFL Draft

I often think about what it would be like to be a professional athlete. Every year I watch the NFL draft where college athletes are selected by teams in the NFL. Each year, ESPN does a background story on a number of the players involved. When I watch these stories, I see a lot of similarities between the average kid and these young men who are starting their careers as professionals. They start these stories off by beginning from their childhood. They show what these young men went through when they were kids and what their lives were like. Some of these men were blesses to be in a great situation where they had a great family who was supportive and dedicated. An example of this type of player would be like Peyton or Eli Manning. When they were kids, their father was a quarterback in the NFL and for them; it was easy to see what their future could be like. When they were in high school, they had a lot of connections from their father and they were easily acknowledged for who they were. The other half of the players that you hear about were not as fortunate. Often times, these young men were brought up in violent neighborhoods where they had hardly any family support at all. Sometimes, you hear about young men who got caught up in the gang life, and were fortunate enough to be touched by someone and were able to change their lives around. An example of this would be Tyrone Wheatley. Tyrone Wheatley grew up in Michigan and lived with his mother. His father was not in the picture and he lived in a bad neighborhood. He was forced to grow up at a quick age and learned to be a man. Tyrone became a tremendous football player and was also a 3-time track and field state champion. He earned a full scholarship to the University of Michigan and was a first round draft pick in the NFL. When I watch these stories, I see how much these men went through in their lives and it inspires me to be the best I can be.

Poem

Friday Night Lights

14 to nothing,
Before the half
All the games, but one, have passed
Seasons ending early, due to injury
Compares nothing to the loss of a brotherhood; a family.
Friday night lights
So many dog-fights
In the end, we all sacrificed
To me football is a thing of the past
Just one more thing I wish would last

Stepping out on the field one last time,
Brings a tear to my eye
A half-hour past nine
Time to pack up, and head back home
Never again will I touch that end zone
The big hits are gone
No more players of the week
No more happy valleys
Or Thursdays to eat; before the game
No more fame

I’m proud to have played football for this team,
For that I’m not ashamed.

Donnie Brush

When I first read this poem, I immediately was able to relate to it. For the past 18 years of my life, high school football has always been a part of it. Growing up, I started my football days on the sidelines, acting as the ball boy for his high school team at Akron. When I was old enough to play, I remember my first practice at AJF football. I remember going home after practice and talking to my dad about how it went. I remember numerous Friday nights when I would finish my practice at little league and my mom would drive me out to Akron, making it just in time for kick off. I remember watching the games from the sidelines and watching how the players acted. These guys became my role models and from that time on, I dreamed of the day that I was the big high school football player, wearing his school colors. That day came before I knew it and now when I think about those days, it is nothing but memories. As I got older, I started to learn the bond that a football team develops. Football is like no other sport in the aspect of teamwork. To be successful, you need to be working hard throughout the entire summer. Every day at 8 am, high school football brings young adolescent men together in the weight room, when a majority of the other students are still in bed. Football is a demanding game and it teaches people a lot about life. You’re going to get knocked down in football and things aren’t always going to go your way, but if you get back up and try it again, that’s what is important. Football teaches young boys to become men and I could not become more thankful for this great game. With my high school days over, it is sad to think that it has gone by this quick. Walking out onto that field under the shining lights is something that I will never forget and will always cherish.

Beauty

What is beauty? Beauty for me is something that a person takes a great deal of pleasure in. Sometimes when people look at something, they instantly see the beauty in it. By this, I mean that they see something that is spectacular for them. They see something that is flawless and it just captures their attention. Every time they look at it, they are swept away by what they are looking at and are always amazed. They see it as something spectacular and it always sticks with them. When somebody sees someone who they believe is beautiful, they are intrigued by what they are looking at. They can’t help but admire what they are looking at. Also, beauty can come in other things rather than appearance. Some people may be considered to be beautiful on the inside. If a person has a great personality and has great moral beliefs, one may consider this to be beautiful. People also find beauty in nature and the outdoors. Often times, images a person sees in the outdoors are just extremely captivating and steal the viewers’ attention. These images can often be described as breathe taking and always stay with that person. Beauty is often times compared to ugliness. Ugliness is defined as being unpleasant to look at. Ugliness is told to be the opposite of beauty and is often times compared with beauty. Ugly can also be described as awful or horrific. For example, if a basketball team loses a game that they should have won or are expected to win and lose; people may describe this as an ugly game. Everybody has their own definition for beauty and ugliness. This is what I think of when I hear these two terms. There are many things in the world that consist of a lot of beauty.

Blog 1

One thing I have learned about myself as a writer in this class is that I have an easier time writing about things I have an interest in. Often, I get assigned these blog topics that I know nothing about and I have a horrendous time trying to come up with three hundred words. It is almost painful trying to write about some of these topics because I just don’t know anything about them. I sit in front of my computer and cringe trying to think about the next word to type. Now, on the other hand, when I get assigned a topic to write about that I have an interest in, I fly through it. The words just pop into my head and a get the topic done in no time. My writing process is somewhat simple. I think about the topic in my head and try to write about it in a logical process that flows together nicely. A couple things that I like to write about are sports, athletic events and things that I am a part of. For example, I enjoyed writing about the athletic association and the pep grant because I take part in both of those groups. Things I don’t like to write about are art, beauty and other things like that. For me, I have no idea what any of those things are and I find it difficult to come up with three hundred words describing it. I must say though, since taking this class, I believe I have become a better writer. With all of the writing we do, it has become easier for me to write about things. I believe that my work has more flow now than it ever has and that it is easier to read. Online publishing has helped me in many ways.

Gnome

One day I was in the back yard admiring the beautiful garden my neighbor had planted when I noticed that the gnome was walking towards me. Stunned at what I was looking at, I stood completely still and watched this figure walk towards me. When he arrived at the base of my feet, he looked up at me and said that he had a lot to tell me. The first thing that he told me was that in the winter time, it gets very cold outside and he would appreciate it if someone would have enough decencies to take him inside when it gets cold. He said that he doesn’t enjoy spending the entire winter buried in snow while everyone else is inside by the nice warm fire. The next thing that he told me was quite interesting. For a while now, our family has had trouble with our garden being torn up by animals. We always thought that it was just the deer ruining the plants and that we would just have to put a fence up to keep them out. The gnome told me that while we were busy thinking that it was the deer causing all of the problems, we forgot to think of the possibility that our dog was the one who was causing all of the havoc. He told me that when everyone is gone at work, the dog gets so caught up in his play, that he forgets where he is running sometimes, often it’s in our garden ruining all of our plants. Silly of us, we never thought that our dog was the one who was causing all of the trouble. Thankfully, we had the gnome on lookout for us.

Over the Top

Growing up in a sports family, most of my games I played usually involved some sort of physicality. One of my favorite games to play when I was a kid was “Over the Top.” This was a game that my brother and I created after watching a little bit too much football on T.V. The point of this game was to stack a bunch of blankets and pillows on the couch and floor to make for a large obstacle to hurdle. Also, these blankets and pillows were put there to stand as a little bit of cushion to prevent any serious injuries. The object of the game was to have one man running the ball, and another one or two men, sitting in front of the couch on their knees, waiting for the runner to attack them. When the runner began to move, the defenseman would prepare to lay a hit on the ball carrier as he sailed through the air, trying the hurdle the tacklers and reach the couch. The couch represented the end zone and the pillows and defenseman stood as the pile of defenders that is created when there is a goal line stand. If the ball carrier successfully reached the end zone, he would be able to run the ball again. If the ball carrier got stuffed, he would then go to defense and a new runner would get the ball. This game was a lot of fun because there were usually a lot of good hits that took place. Over the Top was defiantly my favorite game growing up and sometimes I get the urge to play it again.

Favorite Shows

Growing up, there were a lot of shows that I enjoyed watching. Some of my top favorites were Franklin the Turtle, Ninja Turtles and Bugs Bunny. I liked these shows for a variety of reasons. For starters, I liked Franklin the Turtle because Franklin was always very nice to his fellow turtles and I guess watching turtles just amused me. I remember thinking to myself that I found it weird that a turtle would be talking but that never steered me away from it. I liked the Ninja turtles because they were always an exciting show to watch. They were always action packed and they I had cool names like Michelangelo and Raphael. Plus they always used cool weapons and they always saved the day for people. I often wished I could be a Ninja Turtle after I watched this show. Bugs Bunny was one of my favorite shows of all time. Everything that Bugs Bunny did just made me laugh. The way he looked, the way he moved, the way he acted when Elmer Fudd was trying to shoot him were all things that cracked me up. I tended to laugh most when I saw Elmer Fudd chasing after the elusive creature calling him a siwwy wabbit. All of these shows took up a lot of my time and really enjoyed all of them. Cartoons were something I always loved and they always made me laugh. Franklin was a great turtle and the Ninja Turtles were awesome. They were my favorite.

ART

Art. I don’t really know what to say when it comes to this topic. Many people throughout the world live for art, while others live without it every day of theirs lives. I myself am one of those people who live without it. Growing up, I never really struck an interest in the subject. I always had a difficult time succeeding in these classes and I believe that was because of the fact that I was just not all that interested in it. For other people though, art is something that they live by. From my experiences, art is a way to express your thoughts and feelings through visually presenting what is in your head and body through drawing and images. Many times in paintings, you see artist drawing about something or painting about something that signifies an important moment in their lives. Other people use art as a way of relaxation and therapy. Some people find an interest in the outdoors and wildlife and decide to take pictures of these incredible sites and publish them so the rest of the world can see this beautiful footage. Other people consider art as creating things such as sculptures and statues. People every day find different ways to create art using different materials and different supplies. Some people consider architecture as a form of art. In this day in age, there has been a new style of design in the creation of buildings. Although I have never been very successful when it comes to creating art, I have always been interested in seeing what other people can create. I enjoy seeing the sorts of statues and sculptures that people have created throughout the world that are located in famous museums. I also enjoy seeing the new extraordinary buildings that people are designing these days. That is my take on what art is.

Interesting Picture

When I first saw this photo, it instantly grabbed my attention. One of the first things I noticed about it was how blue the water looked. Something about the color of the water and the amazing clarity of it just attracted me. As I looked at it more closely, I was amazed to see how crystal clear the water appeared and how refreshing the water appeared. Next, I noticed the black material at the bottom of the canyon. For a while I thought about what it could be and why it almost looked like an oily substance. The next thing that caught my attention about this photo was the snowy canyon surrounding this river. The whiteness of the snow just blended well with the color of the water and really contrasted each other nicely. Also, on the right side of the canyon, the shape of the snowy cliff just looked really interesting and was somewhat incredible as to how much curve was naturally made by the snow. While looking into the background of the picture, I wondered if any animals had ever traveled through this territory and if so, what kind of animals were they. I also thought about how steep the canyon really was and if it was almost an optical illusion. Staring at the snow, I wondered if the water I was looking at was actually frozen and had become ice or if it was still in the liquid form. I also wondered if there any fish or sea -like creatures living at the bottom of it. This picture really made me think a lot and really interested me. I liked this picture because of the cast color change and because how it just instantly grabbed my attention. I would surely like to see this exact image one day in person.http://photography.nationalgeographic.com/photography/photos/best-pod-october-2010/#/ice-canyon-greenland-balog_26744_600x450.jpg