Final FINAL

1. Explain one or two ways your writing has improved (or not) over the semester. Include a few examples from your posts over time, with analysis and links to the original posts, to illustrate how the improvement(s) happened.


I feel that writing consistantly over the year has greatly improved my writing over the year, not only with quntity, but also with quality. With writing so much though, it might tend to burn some people out, and give people more troubles with writer's block. However, with our quickwrites, they really helped me find a way to get past writer's block. If you just keep writing, you will eventually think of something to write. This doesn't work with everybody though, it is all about finding what works for you.

In the beggining of the year, I felt like there wasn't enough for me to write about over the year to keep writing as much as we were. I thought "there is no way I am going to make it through this year writing this much", but it only took a little bit of inspiration for me to get through this year. My one true inspiration for writing this year was sports. Everything related to sports helped me get through this year. I think almost everybody can relate to sports in one way or another, so it also helped with people staying interested in my blog over time. I also saw on google analytics that sports was one of the more popular subjects for blogs throughout the year. So I read a few parts of other people's blogs and wanted to sort of stray away from the most popular things people talked about the most. Unless I was completely set on something I wanted to blog about, I would look for something that sounded interesting and a little exotic. I would also not blog about something if I started writing about something and would get stuck a lot. If I couldn't write about 200 words no problem, then I would look for a new topic to blog about. So I tended to avoid writers block all together by just blogging about specific things that I knew I wouldn't have a problem with. If it works, it works.

4. How do the things you read influence what you write about or how you write it?

Almost everything I write about was written by someone else. I got most of my topics from ESPN and would read interesting stories and blog about the first one that sounded interesting to me. I would then summarize the what I read in my own words, and give my opinion on the topic. For example, one of my main topics in the year was the Bay Area football team, the Forty-Niners. Over the year, I analyzed them and even made predictions for all things 49ers.

Without ESPN, there would be a lot of things I wouldn't even know about, because I am not one of those press people who are able to find out about everything (How do they do it?). So without my sources, I don't think I would have much to write about, and I probably would have had a lot more missing assignments in this class. I am horrible at coming up with stuff to write about on my own. Like some of my other posts non-sports related, I have noticed, tend to ramble a little bit. That or they are redundent because I was running out of stuff to talk about. But thanks to sports and people who cover sports for a living, I was able to make it through the year without much trouble, other than those darn pesky monthly reviews. It is hard for me to review other people's work, especially books. There are some books that people just rave about, so when I read the book, and I don't like it as much as they did, I feel bad writing something negative. This is why I think monthly reviews were the most hard part of the year, but that is just my opinion and will most definitely change as you move person to person as everybody's opinion is different. Some people may say that they disliked the weekly blog posts, but honestly those were the best blogs for me. They were free topic and made it much easier for me to avoid writers block and express my opinion without feeling too uncomfortable.


8. How do you like having a blog? How has blogging changed the way you write, the way you think, or the way you think about writing?

Being a blogger has been pretty weird. If I didn't have this class, I don't think I would ever have or want a blog. I never really liked writing about what I did that day or anything like that, so I never saw myself having a blog or an online diary or anything else like that. But having a blog has definitely changed the way I think. When I hear an interesting story online or from someone else, I think to myself "Oh, I could probably write a blog about that" or "That sounds like something I would want to blog about".

Writing has become easier over the year, and I hope I can carry that through to next year to when I am a junior and will probably be needing to be writing a lot more than I did this year. This year, I only had to write in about 2 classes, English and History. I can't predict the future, so I can't tell you I will be writing more next year, but I can only prepare myself.

Blogging has been pretty weird for me. People sometimes come up to me saying they saw what I blogged about, and start asking me all about it. I don't necesarily like having one, but I also don't necesarily dislike having a blog. While blogging has helped with my writing for high school, I am not one of those people who like showing their feelings toward everything publicly. I hate having to have to give my opinion on almost everything I write about, because honestly, sometimes I don't have any opinion towards something. But still, blogging has done more good for me over the year than it has done bad in my eyes. And in the end that is all that really matters to me. Is what I am doing going to give me some new found experience and knowledge? And I think that blogging has done exactly that, so it was definitely successful for me.

Monthly Review

The novel "Killing Mr Griffin" by Lois Duncan is about a group of teenage high school students who are sick of their English teacher and decide to play a prank on him. They want to just scare him, but when they find he has died from what they did, they have to come up with a plan to cover up what they did. With the fear of going to jail entering their thoughts, they scramble to come up with a plan to cover up what they did and how to make it so no one ever found out.

2. For what audience(s) is this book intended, and how can you tell? (In other words, for whom would you recommend this book?

I feel like this book was written for people about the same age as the people in the book. So pretty much anyone around the age of 14-20 who faces drama during their school year from their teachers. A real moral from this story is to not let the drama and all the things that happen to everyone get to you. You just have to find a way to get through it and deal with it and don't let it dictate your life.

"'That Griffin's the sort of guy you'd like to kill"

This quote is about what a student in the story is feeling because he feels he has had enough of his teacher. There is just one thing that really pushes him over the top into saying that. Sure everybody over reacts, but I don't know many people who would go this far as to say they would want to kill one of their teachers. The only thing is, at the time, he didn't really plan on killing his teacher, just scaring him into begging for his life like Mr Griffin made one of his students beg to retake the class. At an age like being a teenager, it is critical to keep your emotions under control. A lot of teenagers are going through puberty, so their hormones are rushing. As a teenager, it is important to understand that you won't always be happy, it is just about not sinking too low when you are down.

I would recommend this book for anyone who is going through high school and feels like they are never feeling their best. So pretty much, anyone who is going through school, it is normal to not feel your best, just don't let it hold you down for too long or over reactions like this kind of story can happen. It is also not that bad of a book for people who have already gone through this sort of thing, or anyone who over reacts, as this is a real wake up call for them.

1. What was the author's purpose(s) in writing this book, and how can you tell? How well was this purpose achieved?

This book, I think, was written to let people know that everybody goes through difficult times, it is just that the successful ones are the ones who can cope with it, get through it, and move on with their lives. You just have to take punches as they come, and hope it all turns out for the best. Something that really helps me get through things is thinking, "OK, my situation is bad, but there is someone out there in a much worse position than me, so I can live and get through it."

So the next time you feel like your life can not get any worse, just think, there is someone out there without a roof over their head, without a guiding person in their life, going through probably ten times worse of things than you are. Suddenly your problem doesn't seem so bad.

"'Hell no. Just scare him. Shake him up some.'"

This quote is about the thought process that the students were going through due to them over reacting. If they thought things out and tried to fully understand what they were talking about doing, they might have actually realized that they were crazy for thinking that they could get away with something like that.

So this is my advice as a fellow teenager who goes through crazy things, take it all in YOUR stride and realize that things could be much worse. I think I can tell that this was the author's purpose, because I read it all, and truly felt that this was the meaning of the book. The author puts a lot of detail into the regret that some of the students have after going through with what was meant to only be a prank, but turned out to be cold blooded murder. While the author does exaggerate a little, sometimes that is necessary to fully get a point across. I mean, just look at some politicians, they over exaggerate with statistics for themselves and against their opponents for their own personal gain. The author of this book is no different, expressing their ideas in a book and sometimes using a bit of over exaggeration to get their point across.

I think the author was very successful in this, well at least with me. I feel like I will never over react (of course I will eventually) when something bad happens, because I will always think first,"Hey, it could be worse". I just hope either the book, or my review will open some people's eyes about how truly lucky and blessed they are to have what they have in life, and to really not take it for granted. So if you feel like your life can't get any worse, stop, think, and realize how blessed you are.

So overall, I really enjoyed this book and would recommend it for people who know what I am talking about when I say that everybody over reacts, and it is just how you deal with it. I enjoyed the fact that the book had pretty short chapters and each chapter focused on someone different, but still linked them to the main plot of the story. So my suggestion is, if you are in the mood for an eye-opening book, go pick this one up.

Finale

So this is the last free topic blog post for me for this school year and quite possibly my last ever, so I want this one to be one of my best. My favorite sport of the year is well gone as football ended in February. Basketball is coming to an end with my favorite team, the Lakers, on the verge of their 18th NBA title, if they are able to win only 6 more games out of a possible 12 this year. That is only going .500 for the rest of the season and the coveted championship is theirs. The only thing is, they are playing the elite teams in the NBA so it definitely will not be a walk in the park. The Finals start June 3rd and by that time, school will almost be over and the only thing standing between the students at Alameda High and summer will be finals, only a different kind. We won't be playing basketball, we will just be taking about 10 hours worth of tests of everything we have learned this year. That's it.

I am really lucky that I enjoy almost all sports or else I don't know what I would be blogging about right now. There are a few sports I don't hate, but definitely don't enjoy as much as other people probably do. One of those is baseball. I just hated playing it as a kid, so watching it isn't much better for me. This is difficult for me because a lot of my friends play baseball for Alameda High so they are always talking about it a lot when we hang out. I just find it boring and too slow paced for me to enjoy, but who am I to talk, I play golf and actually like watching it sometimes. I guess if you play something, it is easier to watch because you can appreciate what the pros are doing and go out and try to copy them. Inspiration always makes things easier to do, so what is more inspiring than watching another human being doing something great at the sport that you play. So I can understand if you play a sport like tennis or golf, and like watching it because I am in a similar position.

There are of course sports that are entertaining if you play them or not, like football and basketball. Well, maybe not basketball because I used to play when I was younger, and still kinda "play" pick up games like during P.E. But football is truly America's sport. Nobody, NOBODY says football is boring, and if you find someone who does, go get them checked at the doctor's. Football is fast paced and always entertaining unless some team is getting the crap beat out of them and it's a blowout, which is kind of rare. And if you can't tell by now, I love watching football and basketball, and with those seasons almost all done, I will be bored out of my mind during the summer when I'm not doing something with my friends. So there it is, quite possibly my last free topic blog post ever. Hope you enjoyed this and all my others.

Love

The rules of love change from person to person and relationship to relationship. Most of the rules are made up for specific relationships due to everybody being different. Then again there are some rules that apply to every relationship like no cheating, but even rules like that can vary for different relationships. Usually, the guy asks the girl, and the guy does almost all of the stuff like pay for dinner and stuff that the girl wants. He also usually is responsible for picking the girl up and just being nice in general. The girl, on the other hand, usually gets to choose what she wants to do and the guy will pretty much have to do whatever the girl wants to make her happy, or she will be angry.

The consequences for violating the rules is usually breaking up and ending the relationship, or sometimes people forgive each other and give it another chance. This is usually the case for people who have been together for longer and feel more comfortable with each other, and don't want all the time they spent with each other to go to waste. There is give and take in relationships and finding the balance is sometimes hard to do. With relationships that are longer, the people know each others boundaries and the balance is much easier to find, but with relationships that are newer, the balance is paper thin, and there is not as much give and take in it as other longer relationships.

So all in all, relationships are almost all give and take, and it takes a lot of things going right to make one work. People who don't know how to sometimes settle, usually have a harder time in finding a balance with someone else to have a good relationship with.

Lit Circle Letter 2

"'You mean-not tell anybody?' Susan said in amazement.
'Why should we do that?'
'Why, because-because-there's a man dead!'
'Would he be any less dead if we told people?'
'No, of course not. But you can't just have somebody die and not report it."

This quote shows the scrambling that the kids in Mr. Griffin's are going through after Mr. Griffin died when he wasn't supposed to as they put it. They meant it to only be a joke, but when they left him out in wild unattended for too long, the teacher they all hated was dead. The plan was to "kidnap" him and make him beg for his life, just like he made one of his students do when he was in class the previous year when he caught him cheating. So as revenge, the kid wanted to make Mr. Griffin beg for his life, but when Griffin refused, the kid became frustrated. Since he was on the basketball team, he decided to just leave him out there until after his game which would be about 7 hours time total. But when the innocent girl and the Senior class president go out to check up on him, they find that he is dead and start to panic. They all have their alibis as to where they were in case Griffin got mad about the kidnapping, but now they might need them for something much more bad and they could actually end up going to jail for this.

I'm really enjoying this book and how it is starting to unravel. It is interesting to see how they decide to handle their situation. Since they thought out the pre-kidnapping so deeply, they didn't even think something like this could happen and go this wrong. So when it did, they didn't have enough time to figure it out and actually solve the problem. So it will be interesting to me to see how they deal with that and the solutions they come up with to solve their problem they started with what they meant to only be a joke.

Postseason

This week was eventful as the NBA playoffs are continuing. The Lakers swept like they were supposed to beating a beaten up Jazz team in 4 straight games completing the sweep. Their next opponent is the Suns who also swept their opponents, the Spurs, in 4 straight games as well. The eastern conference is being dominated by the Orlando Magic who ALSO swept their opponents the Hawks by beating them in 4 games. The only team not to sweep is the Celtics who have good reason to not sweep as they were playing everybody's favorite team to jump on their band wagon, the Cavaliers. The Cavs had the best record in the NBA this season, but then again they play in the East which is much weaker than the West is. This was Lebron's last year in his contract with the Cavs so he probably won't be coming back after 2 straight disappointing seasons with the Cavs. They have had the best record in the NBA for 2 straight seasons but still haven't won a title either of those years. And with the best player in the league, that isn't cutting it.

This off season is going to be one of the biggest ever when it comes to free agents and how many high caliber players there are entering free agency this year. LeBron, Dwayne Wade, and possibly Chris Bosh are all going to be free agents meaning they can sign with whatever team they want to for as much money as they are offered which will be higher than a lot of people will ever make in their life.

While having the best team, but still no championships, the Cavalier's head coach is on the chopping block. To be honest, he didn't do that much, because how much do you have to do as a coach when you have the best player in the NBA on your team? Now he will most likely have to prove himself without that best player, because he will most likely be leaving for some other town this off season (see above). So this will be his year to prove himself as a coach, trying to make the playoffs without his star player who carried his team's weight on his shoulders the entire time he was there.

The Atlanta Hawks also let go of their coach following their early exit from the playoffs at the hands of the Magic who swept them in 4 games in record fashion. Well, they didn't really let him go, they just aren't going to re-sign him after his contract expired on Monday. This one I don't really understand though, as he brought the team from almost nothing (winning only 13 games in 2004-2005) to actually being something (making the playoffs the past 3 years and winning 53 games this season). So for you future head coaches out there, keep this in mind. No matter what you have done for your team, they will always be looking to upgrade you for something they feel is better, even if it isn't.

NBA/NHL/NFL

This is my first blog in two weeks and it has been an active two weeks for sports. Both the NBA and NHL playoffs are under way and the second rounds have started in each league. So far, California teams have been doing good as the Lakers advanced to the 2nd round in just 6 games against the Thunder while it took the San Jose Sharks only 6 games as well to handle the Avalanche. The Lakers are now underway with their second round series with the Utah Jazz (where there is no Jazz) and have gone quickly up 2-0 in the series. The Sharks haven't been doing too shabby either going up 3-1 against the Detroit Red Wings. They were up 3-0 but lost a blowout game against the Red Wings in game 4 in Detroit. The Sharks now have a chance to clinch the series with a win in San Jose in front of the home fans.

The Raiders also started off my Spring Break by trading for Redskins quarterback Jason Campbell who has been doing good for one of the worst offenses in the NFL for the last few years. The move is a great move and filled one of the big holes that the Raiders had entering this season. Some questioned when they chose not to draft Notre Dame quarterback Jimmy Clausen in the second round and instead filled a hole they had on the defensive line. But the people in the Raiders office knew what they were doing. In somewhat of a surprise move (not to me, I called this last year after the Redskins head coach was fired), the Raiders traded a 4th round draft pick in next years NFL draft to the Redskins for the underrated (at least to me) quarterback that could easily be a franchise quarterback.

This was also a sign that the Raiders were admitting defeat with their number one draft pick in 2007, the one and only JaMarcus Russel. After having below average years in 3 years since being drafted number 1, the Raiders showed they were ready to move on by trading for Jason Campbell. Many question JaMarcus' drive to play football at a professional level. In what was a shocking move to almost nobody, the Raiders released Russel on Thursday. Many thought JaMarcus had plenty of opportunities to prove himself, and failed at almost every chance, and was staying in Oakland too long. After being benched mid season last year, travel man back up Bruce Gradkowski took over at quarterback and led the Raiders to come back wins against playoff caliber teams like the Bengals and Steelers. He apparently didn't fit what Raider's owner Al Davis was looking for, as he started the talks with the Redskins to trade for Campbell. So in just a week and a half, the environment for the Raiders has almost completely shifted due to good draft picks during the Draft, as well as realizing what your team needs and making the right moves to go out and fill the positions you need.

Lit Circle Letter 1

"From his seat behind her she hear Jeff Garrett mumble under his breath, 'That Griffin's the sort of guy you'd like to kill.'"

That quote really summarizes the first section in a quick sentence. The story is about a high school teacher nobody really likes for his tough grading system and unforgiving traits. After a confrontation during his class one day with one of the "popular" boys in the class, Jeff, he doesn't realize that one of his students would go as far as to say something like that. Jeff's friends even think he is just joking, but after talking to him about it, they realize he is serious and honestly thinks they could pull something off to only scare him, at least that was the plan to begin with.

The plan was to have someone lure him to staying after school, kidnap him, blindfold him, take him up to the hills, and watch as he begged and pleaded to show what it felt like to not be in control. I haven't read what actually happens to him yet so I don't know exactly what happens during their plan, and if anything went wrong, but judging by the title of the book, I'm pretty sure something does.

The person that they use to lure Mr. Griffin in is a "nerdy" girl in the English class as she is a junior in a senior lit class and also the main character. I don't fully understand why they chose her. I know the book tries to explain it, but not in full detail. They just say that Jeff thinks that Mr. Griffin wouldn't suspect Sue, the girl, to be part of something like the kidnapping so she wouldn't get in trouble because it would seem like just a coincidence. I still don't fully understand why they would chose her if they never talk to her and why she actually went along with them.

Monthly Review

5. Find out about the author. How did they end up writing this particular book? Is the author's true life reflected in the book in any way(s)?

The author that wrote Hole In My Life is Jack Gantos who was born in Mount Pleasant which is located in Pennsylvania. He started writing when he was very young and was inspired to write when his sister told him she could write better than he could. He started off writing about simple stuff that happened in his daily life. After going through elementary school and middle school, Jack completed high school and wanted to enroll in a school in Boston for his writing career. The only problem is that he didn't have enough money for college. He needed about 10000 dollars fast and an opportunity arose. He was to navigate a boat that was smuggling hashish or hash. He was caught and eventually sent to jail, but only had to serve 6 months to 6 years due to him being charged as a minor.

In jail, Jack vowed to turn his life around upon being released. This book is the story of his life in high school and up to him getting released from jail. It starts off a little backwards as it starts off with his life in jail. It then jumps to him talking with his dad about the people in the town and how he was surprised that his dad knew so much about everybody in the town but didn't know that Jack was going to be one of those troubled people he knew so much about. The story then jumps back to junior/senior year in high school for Jack and talks about how he never finished his junior year in high school so he is worried he might have to repeat it. When he and his family move to Puerto Rico, Jack can not enroll in a public school because he doesn't know how to speak Spanish. He can't enroll in private schools there because his family does not have enough money. He is forced to move to Florida and live on his own while he completes his senior year in high school. He moves in with a family friend of his dad. After treating the family and the house like crap, he gets kicked out that house and lives in his car for a few days before finding an ad for a motel room in the local paper. He goes to check it out and ends up renting the room as the rates weren't too bad for what he got in return. He received a moderately sized room and even had a maid come in and clean up for him. The owner of the motel and Jack actually developed a friendship after Jack lived there for many years which would actually come into play later in the story after Jack is caught smuggling.

I think Jack Gantos ended up writing this book because of his experience in jail and realized that he shouldn't have wasted his youth years like he had and he was trying to get his message out to this generation's youth. I am sure that jail is a life changing experience to even the toughest people that live in those cells, but only some have the ability to actually do something about their life. So when Jack got out of jail, I imagine he wanted to turn his life around immediately and did so.

He started writing children's books after his release. He also became a professor at the college he attended, Emerson college.

1. What was the author's purpose(s) in writing this book, and how can you tell? How well was this purpose achieved?

Like I said before, I think he wrote this book to educate people about his life and the trouble you can get into when you get desperate. He also wanted to educate the youth to not get involved in these kinds of things and be careful with who you get involved with.

I can tell this was his goal because of the amount of detail he goes into about what he actually did and the details of what happened to him. After reading some of those things, I don't ever want to do anything illegal and I don't know how anybody could, unless they were more desperate than he was. And after reading all the stuff he did, I don't know if you can even get as close as he did to pulling it off. The book took place in the 70's and let's face it, the security isn't what it is now, back then. So if he couldn't pull it off with the worse security back then, how could anyone expect to pull it off now a days? Yes, technology now work better at hiding things, but that technology works for both sides. So security is probably getting 2 times as strong while you think you are getting the upper hand.

Yes I think the purpose was achieved. Just read that last paragraph. Does it sound like I will be doing anything like what he was talking about anytime soon? So with me, yes he was very successful in his goal if that was, in fact, his goal for writing this book. If it isn't I don't know what he was trying to convey. So if his goal for writing this book was anything other than what I have said, it wasn't very successful. Maybe he should just say that that was his goal, and play if off if it wasn't.

All in all, I enjoyed this book, but not nearly as much as the last book my group and I read. That book was called Down These Mean Streets and I feel had more action front to back. So it made me want to just keep reading more and more. But that's not to say that I didn't enjoy this book at all. I did enjoy it as both are great books. This book is good if you feel like you need inspiration to live your life to the fullest and need that extra little nudge to convince you. So if you fall into that category, I strongly suggest you read this book.

Lit Circle Letter 3

In part 3 of Hole In My Life, the story starts off with Jack going to court for his involvement in the smuggling of hashish or hash on a boat. The only reason he even thought about accepting an offer like this was because he wanted to go to school for his writing career and this was a quick way to make that money. He is sentenced to a 5010B which is in his words "a youth sentencing". With that ruling, he can be sentenced to anything from 60 days to 6 years.

After finishing the book, I realized I did not like this book as much as I did the last one. This book kind of faded off and didn't have as much action as the last one my group read. The last story Down These Mean Streets had a lot of action throughout the story and never really stopped. This book started off with a bit of action when he is in jail and really didn't have anything until he gets busted on the boat smuggling hash.

As Jon said, this book is pretty easy to understand what he is talking about in context. I never really began annotating this book like I did Down These Mean Streets and I am sure that will make the monthly review more of a challenge when I have to type it. It is even making the lit circle letters harder to type as I have to go back to the book to find specific things I wanted to talk about. When I looked at the questions for the monthly review, a couple jumped out at me. "Find out about the author. How did they end up writing this particular book? Is the author's true life reflected in the book in any way(s)?" is really the one that stuck out for me and look forward to answering this one as I think it will be kind of easy to answer.

Sports

So I'm starting this post off very different from my usual posts. I am starting off talking about hockey. Yes, you heard me, hockey. Tonight (the main reason I am doing this post so late) was the 2nd game of the Shark's playoff series against the Avalanche. It got almost as suspenseful it can get. It went into overtime with the Sharks winning in thrilling fashion. Now I know a lot of you out there really don't like boring, low scoring sports such as soccer and baseball, but believe me, this sport is nothing like those. Its the suspense of soccer with the low scoring and amazing goals, combined with the hard hitting of football all adding to the perfect combination that is known as hockey. Now add in the suspense of sudden death overtime much like in football where the first team to score is the winner. And let me tell you, I was sitting at the edge of my seat for the entire overtime period. Cringing every time the other team shot. Hoping every time the Sharks shot. I can tell you playoffs always make a sport more interesting.

Here is where the post goes back to the usual stuff. The NFL draft is next Thursday and of course the speculations leading up to who's drafting who will by far bypass any real suspense during the actual show. Yes it is a show ever since it began getting broadcasted in prime time during the week. Hint hint this is the first year it is getting broadcasted in prime time and the first round is on Thursday night, with the 2nd to something rounds on Friday, then everybody stops watching. So this is really a team's chance to build itself up for the future and possibly fill that last hole that is keeping them out of the playoffs.

With the 49ers trading to get Ted Ginn Jr. Friday, it only adds to the playoff caliber team that they have. It adds a fast slot receiver and a lightning fast return man. The return man is a very important player on the team as he sets up your team with either great or horrible field position. He also adds a threat that can score against you during any kickoff. So with a 2 in 1 player locked up, this kind of clears the picture for who the 49ers really need to draft on Thursday. And with 2 picks in the first round and a weakened Cardinals team, the NFC West is almost theirs already. All they have to do is go out week after week and play consistently like they were at the end of last year.

And did I mention that the two bay area baseball teams are leading their respective divisions? And very surprisingly, baseball seems to actually be pretty entertaining. Whether it is the fact that the local teams are doing good, or the fact that baseball actually seems to be speeding up which was one of my main knocks on the game. Either way, if baseball keeps up like this, it will be a very entertaining year.

Lit Circle Letter 1 & 2

My book for the second lit circle is called A Hole In My Life. It is an autobiography written by Jack Gantos. In the first two parts of the book, Jack starts off in jail talking about the different people in there and also his dad who taught him a lot about the town they lived in and the people that lived in it. In his time in jail, Jack fears most about being attacked. But not only that, he fears being attacked by someone who he would never expect to attack him. The story jumps ahead to when he is 19. He and his family move to Puerto Rico where Jack hopes to get back into school after never finishing his 11th grade year. He doesn't want to repeat that year so he never brings it up and hopes it slips through when talking to schools about enrolling. The only problem is Jack doesn't speak Spanish so he can't go to the public schools. His family is too poor to afford private schools where English is spoken so Jack moves back to Florida alone where he hopes to get a high school diploma so he can get a job to help support his family. He is responsible for himself now. He moves in with a family who put a roof over his head and a place to sleep. In return, he treats the house horribly and the family too. He always gets drunk and throws up everywhere. As a result, he gets kicked out and is forced to live on his own. He finds an ad in the paper for a motel room that is being rented out for cheap.

While reading the book, I didn't take as many notes as I did while reading the last book and that made typing this a little more difficult because I had to go into the book and look for individual paragraphs looking for details that I wanted to talk about. I did a lot of the reading at home especially when I didn't have any homework because of the Holocaust week being this week. So that really helped with being able to catch up because I didn't do any reading over Spring break. I find it difficult to read during class because of how many distractions are in there and I just find it difficult to completely ignore everything that is going on. Plus when I read it at home it is usually right before I go to bed. I don't know why, but I feel I retain information way more when I am sleepy than when I am sitting in a class distracted. But I will still try to read during class because that way I can still talk to people in my group when we are in class.

I am liking this book more and more as I read more of it and I think I will actually like it more than the last book my group read. Both books are talking about troubled childhoods and the results of not having a strong relationship with any parents or an authoritative figure. I think both authors wrote their books to educate the youth of today and talk about what happens when you get into trouble early in your life. Their lives are fine now, sure, but that is because they turned their lives around quick after realizing that you only get one life and that you shouldn't waste it. I am definitely looking forward to reading more of this book and hope that when I finish, I will have a new outlook on things in my life.

My Writing Goals For The Fourth Quarter

Some of my writing goals for the final quarter are to just make it to the end of the year. While the blog posts are getting easier, it is still sometimes difficult to come up with 500 words each week about a new topic. The 500 words don't seem as difficult as they did when we first raised the limit up to 500 words, but they are definitely not as difficult as the old 300 word posts. For example, the 300 words required for the lit circle letters seem so easy now that we are typing 500 words weekly.

I plan to still write about sports each week, because like many things in life, sports are constantly changing. You can't just type one post about a story because that story is bound to change eventually. It's like starting a task, assuming it's done, and not checking in on it ever again. There will always be more to talk about on a specific topic.

I don't want my posts to be repetitive, but it is always important to sometimes re iterate what I am trying to say or prove in each of my posts. This is why a lot of my posts are similar, but never identical. For example, look at my two posts about the 49ers. Sure they are about the same team, but the things I am talking about are of course different. From an earlier post:

"Hearing Alex Smith to Michael Crabtree for a Touchdown is something I can get used to over the next few years. Last weekend Alex Smith came in for "relief" of Shaun Hill who quite frankly wasn't getting it done. In one half he threw for 206 yards and 3 touchdown passes. Last week also marked the first game for long time holdout Michael Crabtree who caught 5 passes in his opening game. Many consider those 2 plus other offensive threats the future of the 49ers and let me just say that the future is looking bright."

Now compare that to a later post about the same team:


"Back to football talk now. The Forty Niners laid the wood against the Cardinals and one of the ESPN writers is quoted to saying that the owner of the Cardinals only owns the team 363 days a year, the Niners own them the other two. That basically sums up the season for the Forty Niners as they either do great against a team or completely suck and can't do anything football related to save their lives. When the Niners beat the Cardinals 24-9 on Monday on National Television cemented their place in the eyes of all football watchers across the US. They are for real and here to stay with a bright future of young players coming up as the next generation of 49er's football. A good sign."

I feel that I have mastered the art of repeating but not being overly repetitive. There is a fine line and I think I am walking it pretty well right now. But that is only my opinion, no matter how biased it may sound. So it is really up to you to decide whether I am walking it well or not. I also think I realized who I am really writing to and that has of course helped my typing. It has made it easier to come up with a topic and to type about that topic.

Lit Circle Monthly Review

The autobiography "Down These Mean Streets" is about a adolescent name Piri growing up in the inner city in the Spanish Harlem. He starts off in a small apartment living with his big family. The apartment is hot during the summer and freezing during the winter. The story follows Piri Thomas as he grows up in Harlem, with his environment greatly affecting who he is. He faces racism, joins a gang, and often has run ins with the law. Throughout the book, it traces Piri's growth as a person.

1. What was the author's purpose(s) in writing this book, and how can you tell? How well was this purpose achieved?

I think the purpose of the book was to educate people about the lives people had to live back then. The world wasn't perfect back then, and it still clearly isn't. It could also be a way for Piri to get his message out there about drugs and how he feels about them. I don't know exactly how he feels, but I am pretty sure that he doesn't approve of them with this generation's youth. But with the possible legalization of marijuana approaching, it might be too little too late. I think I can tell that this was the purpose, because throughout the entire story, Piri focuses on his change in his life usually circulating around drug use and his selling of them. It wasn't achieved, but that may only be me. My view on drug use remains almost the same, and I've never used any other than Tylenol. When I hear about teenagers using drugs like marijuana, I'm not entirely surprised that it is that popular with them. It has been popular since Piri's teen years, so why wouldn't it be still today? Piri did drugs much more worse things than just pot, he was a heroine addict, who got caught selling. In the heat of the moment, he shot a cop and that might have actually been the changing moment in his life. He went to jail, and came out changed man. I think that using jail was definitely the right thing to talk about as I'm sure no drug addict wants to go to jail. It also demonstrates how quickly things can change in someone's life. One minute, you can be selling the most drugs in your life and thing that you are the smoothest thing ever. But it only takes one time to get caught and change your life forever. I think this is the message Piri is trying to show and to me, it was successful.

2. For what audience(s) is this book intended, and how can you tell? (In other words, for whom would you recommend this book?)

I think the book was for all audiences, but mostly for teenagers who are unfortunately already caught up in a life of drugs. When I started reading the book, I thought what my life would be like if I was forced to sell drugs just to make a living. I couldn't really imagine it, especially living in Alameda. However, I know there are people out there that are in this poor position, and are trying to make the best out of it. For those people, I would recommend that they read this book to see that someone out there has gone through the same thing as them, and eventually changed their life around and isn't afraid to talk about his past. Piri's past is a big part of who he is today, and the fact that he is not hiding from it is a big thing. For the people in that tough position that Piri once was in, his life and his turn around has to be inspiring for them.

I can tell that this was written for them because he wouldn't be so open about it, unless he knew that there are people in the same position he once was in. I think he is trying to help them by talking about his life so openly, and letting people know that he was once there. He might even be saying, hey if I can make it from that dark time, why can't you?

I would recommend this book to other high school students (especially those caught up with drugs already) and tell them this is why education is so important unless that is the life they desire. I don't see how they could desire that life after reading that book with such graphic details mostly after his run in with the law.

3. If you've read other books in this same genre, how does this one compare?

I will be completely honest, that all other autobiographies are completely boring to me. They are just answering the same questions every other one has already answered and most of the time their answers are the same or only slight variations of the original. They don't always go in to much detail. But not with this book. Piri leaves no details out (at least I don't think so).

And before, I wouldn't even pick up an autobiography unless it was about someone in sports or someone world famous for something fun. If I was in 6th grade and I saw this book and saw that it was an autobiography about someone who I have never heard about, I wouldn't have though twice and put the book right back on the shelf.

But once I picked this book due to me not being able to find Hoop Dreams, I realized that this book wasn't the usual autobiography. It was interesting from the beginning, and it was different. It wasn't the usual boring same old bland story. It was the truth and nothing, but the truth (again I think this is true). So I was genuinely surprised when I found I actually liked this book. If I didn't always read it right before I went to bed, I probably would have been entertained with it enough to read it all the way through in just a couple of sittings. And that coming from me, a person who never reads books unless it is assigned and for a grade, is a huge compliment (not that that means anything, but still). So if you don't like autobiographies and you think this will be like all the others, don't think that. Pick this book up and read it. Unless you're extremely squirmy when it comes to stuff that is kind of nasty, I guarantee you will like this book and it will be one of the best you have read in years.

Lit Circle Letter 3

In part three of "Down These Mean Streets" it starts off with Piri as a heroine addict who finds himself caught up in the life of the streets. He starts off selling heroine on the streets. That all changed when he was selling with his friends Billy and Danny and they were caught by the police. Piri freaks out and shoots the cop out of bad instinct. He is then sentenced to 5-15 years in prison without parole at first. He is let out 6 years later and thinks about escaping there instead of going to his probation hearing. He ends up going to the hearing where he is sentenced to 3 years probation. After he is let out, he is offered to do some drugs again with his friends, but as a result of him changing, he politely declines. This shows how much Piri changed during his time in jail.

I read the book mostly when I was about to go to bed so I didn't remember a lot of what I had just read. So later, I had to go back and re read the last section. It was a good book, and I enjoyed reading it even though I don't remember some of it. The fact that this actually happened to Piri makes the story that much better in my eyes. My annotating has really slowed down because of how tired I have been as I have been reading it. But re reading it helps me probably more than annotating would. For me annotating has just never really been that useful, but I still try to do it because I realize it makes it much easier to get details when writing something like a monthly review. Instead of having to have to look for something you thought was important, you can just write it down that you thought it was important, and go back and look at it later.

What's New?

So just like I said a week ago, the NCAA tournament is some of the most entertaining TV on. Not only is it entertaining normally, but especially if you have some money on it. An eight dollar buy in with 34 people leaves 274 dollars to the winner. It is still early, but in my group, I am right in the middle. As long as I am in striking distance when it comes to the elite eight, I am still in it.

Some say that the opening round of this years tournament is the most exciting in years. Imagine if you were practically betting money on those exciting games. That just triples the excitement. Jumping up and down when your team wins knowing what the ultimate prize is. Realizing that you are rooting for them today, but next week you will probably be rooting against them. It is the perfect mixture.

For instance, I am rooting for Cornell today because when they won, they got me 2 points for their win being an upset. This weekend, I don't want them to win because I already picked them to lose. If they win, I hate them forever. Well, not forever. But it just shows how quickly you can like a team, then hate them when you have a bracket.

So this last week was really entertaining when it comes to sports. It started off on Saturday night with the fight. To be honest, I wanted Clottey to win just to see someone beat Pacquiao to see if it could be done. Obviously it can't right now. And when he fights Floyd Mayweather, I will definitely be rooting, and probably betting, for Pacquiao. When Pacquiao won, I realized something. This man can not be beaten and the only reason Mayweather doesn't want to fight him is because he is scared to be beaten. Imagine this. You are an undefeated boxer. Would you want to fight the guy who can't be beat right now? Didn't think so.

It is almost that wonderful time of the year. That would be the time of the NFL draft. It is now under 5 weeks away and for the first time will be on in prime time Thursday night. If you are a true fan of whatever team you like, you will park yourself in front of the TV April 22nd and watch the 3 hours of the draft. That would prove to everyone that you are a true fan to the game. And don't think that the draft is a boring show. No no no no, it is actually some of the most compelling TV on. The hope you have for your team heading into it, and the inevitable sadness that you have after watching it. Well, here is to hoping that your team does good, unless your team is the Patriots, then I hope your team drafts the worst players available.

And let's not forget about the NBA. The Warriors are still sucking and the Lakers are still winning. What's new?

Down These Mean Streets Part 2

In the beginning of the second section of Things Fall apart, Piri tries to get a job, but is passed up based purely on his race. He knows this because his white friend gets the same job. The people at the job say they will contact him because they are pretty full at the time and aren't hiring at that time. They didn't know that his friend went in right after him and got the same job that Piri just lost. Piri also gets older and the streets get to him as he joins a gang. All of these things shape who Piri becomes and are still a part of him today.

This section of the book was definitely easier to read because a lot more was happening and especially because I wasn't constantly being introduced to new people time after time. It just flows better when you can actually start reading about events that happened and not keep reading details about each new person you read about.

I didn't annotate as much this time mostly because I had to read a lot more in a shorter period of time. I did remember a lot more of what I read though, because I was more focused on reading and not so focused on the other things I usually do when I read like watch TV or look up stuff online. I've also been more tired because of daylights savings time, so I've been getting a lot of reading done before I go to bed.

I actually got a lot of my questions answered in the second section of the book because of how much more of the story unfolded and not that many questions had arisen for me. I'm looking forward to reading the third section of the book, but not really looking forward to the final book review which is only a week away.

Sick Make Up

So my last post was a bit out of the ordinary as it had absolutely nothing to do with sports. Like none whatsoever. Well don't get used to it. It's right back to the usual with this post. I mean how can you not talk about sports with March Madness here? The excitement, the bets, it just makes March the best month for college sports.

The NFL off season began and there have been a numerous amount of signings this year. The off season is a great way to keep up the anticipation in between the Superbowl and the NFL draft. It is like a way to keep your hopes up for your team, no matter how bad they were or how bad they are going to be. You always have your fantasy of how the season will play out and it always ends with your team winning the Superbowl. But let's be honest now. How many teams win the Superbowl? 1? How many people do you think say "I told ya so" at the end of the season after their team wins it, even though they have been saying the same thing for over 30 years. The team could have gone 1-15 the previous season, but that person will still say "you watch, they are going to win it all this season." And that one year that they happen to be right, their friends will never hear the end of it. I feel for you, really I do.

Then of course, there are those horrible band wagoners. They switch teams every year, claiming to be a fan of them ever since they were little. Please... For the record, I only have 4 teams in both the NBA and the NFL. They are the Lakers, the Warriors, the 49ers, and the Ravens. You won't see any hopping over here. I stick with my teams, whether they suck or not. I, of course, will root for a certain team, but not become a fan of that team. Especially if a team I hate is playing. For instance, the Patriots and the Celtics. I hate both teams. So when they are playing on national TV I will tune in to see how the game is going. If it's close, I stick with that game and hope that they get killed out there. Not literally though. But I will definitely root for the other team. Not become a fan, but root. There is a difference for sure. So don't call me a band wagoner if you see me saying I told you so if these teams do good. I of course am being somewhat of a hypocrite, but DO NOT CALL ME A BAND WAGONER.

People ask me, why do you like those teams. To tell you the truth, I like the Warriors and 49ers because they are local teams. I like the Lakers because my brother always use to watch them when I was younger, so I got hooked early. And the Ravens, believe it or not, I like because my dad hates them. Yes you heard right. I tend to like teams that other people in my family dislike, just to mess with them. They always stuck with me though, so that's how that happened.

Food

Today we watched video about food. There were some questions that went along with it that made me think. A lot. In the past few days I have been eating a lot of junk food, but I have always been aware of the effects that those junk foods have on my body and my health. I also realize that the food I am eating is in no way healthy and how bad it actually is. A lot of the stuff in the video, I already knew. But I also learned a lot about stuff I didn't know earlier. For example, I knew about all the sugar in foods we eat or drink everyday. I also knew about all of the different names for sugar and how deceiving low fat foods can be. One thing I learned is how many diseases are cause by people's diet and how many deaths per year in America are due to diet.

I wish I could cook so then I would always know what is in the stuff I am eating. Not that I would know about everything, but that I would at least know about some of the stuff I am eating. The only problem with me and my cooking future is the fact that I am too lazy to really learn about cooking and all of the time it takes most of the time. Anything that takes under 10 minutes to cook, I know how to make. The ramen, the quesadillas, I know all about them. Its the foods that actually take some effort and focus that are the problems for me. I also don't like to cook because I know I can just buy what I want, and it will probably taste way better. I also don't like to cook because I can't really cook what I want at the time. Whenever I crave something, it is usually something not very healthy. Like mexican, or chinese, or something deep fried. Not the greatest for me. But don't get me wrong. I do sometimes crave something healthy. Especially fruit. The only problem with me and my cravings when it comes to fruit is I eat all of that fruit I can find for about a week, but after that, I am so burnt out on that fruit that I don't want to eat it for about 3 months.

But what I can cook, I can cook great. Like quesadillas. I love them because it takes like 5 minutes to make, and you can put almost whatever you want in them. Craving some pop tarts? Just throw them in there. No, actually don't. That would be gross. But when it comes to college, I got cooking down. My menu is pretty much set for my 4 years away from home. I may come back 300 pounds heavier, but you can't say I can't take care of myself anymore. Ok maybe you still can say that. My food may not be the healthiest, but it is cheap and that is probably the main reason I will eat it.

Down These Mean Streets Part 1

Dear Group,

In the first section of the book "Down These Mean Streets", we are given the first part of the autobiography of Piri Thomas. It focuses on his early teenager years and the troubles he went through growing up in the Spanish part of Harlem known as El Barrio. He gets involved in drugs and runs away from his parents numerous times. When this happens, he moves in with his friends sometimes or maybe even his relatives until he can tell they are growing tired of him. With no house, he goes out and looks for a job, but it almost always ends with him selling drugs and even using some to get through.

A number of questions have popped up in my mind when I have been reading this book, especially because of the way it is written. Alot of the language is a little bit slang and if you don't know what it means, it can definitely be confusing as to what the sentence means. I also didn't know that people talked like that back then. It seems that kind of language is making a come back. Unless he changed the writing to make it seem more understandable for people nowadays, but a lot of the language is similar to what it is now today.

I have been annotating on post it notes to keep track of what I think will be important possibly later. Piri has met a lot of people, some helpful and some not so helpful. Piri himself is helpful. One example is how he often gives money to homeless people, but he is also not oblivious to the world. He knows that money will probably be used on drugs and realizes it doesn't affect him, so why should he care? It is just him being helpful to someone else and they can do what they want with their lives. Overall, this book has been great and I look forward to reading some more.

Basketball

This week is almost certainly the last you will hear of the Warriors this basketball season until the draft which is almost 5 months away. They played on national TV two times in one week. That is amazing. They have 16 wins this season. There are teams out there with more wins than the Warriors have losses. And yet they give you the false hope that maybe they will actually look good on TV. I mean come on, they came back from 18 down against the Hawks, an Eastern Conference playoff team, and the best of it, it was all on national TV. People come to school the next day, saying hey man, did you see the game last night? It is great except for the part where they have 16 wins. 16 WINS! People around the country probably are asking around, what is wrong with the Warriors? How can they beat a team like the Hawks, but only have 16 wins this season? Then they start questioning the clearly better team. What do you think is wrong with the Hawks this year? I will tell you right now, nothing is wrong. It is just what to expect from a young team who's oldest starting player is 25.

Laker's center/forward Andrew Bynum was fined 25 thousand dollars for being quoted as saying "It's hard to win when it's five against eight." He is talking about the refs being the other three for those of you out there who feel refs are completely impartial. Those people need to get a reality check if you are a serious sports fan or are planning on becoming one. This world and this sport are anything, but perfect. Actually, other than the refs at times, this sport is almost perfect.

The Lakers are rolling other than the 8 on 5 game against the Mavericks Wednesday night. They beat the 76ers 99-90 on Friday night to stay close behind the Cleveland Lebron's for the best record in the NBA. If they had won that game against the 8 deep Mavericks, they would be tied for the best record in the NBA. This is big for home court advantage if it comes down to Cleveland against the Lakers. Home court gets you the all important deciding game 7 in your building with your fans yelling in their team's ears. Still doesn't sound like much? Imagine not being able to hear as your coach is yelling instructions at you. He then gets angry at you for not listening. Pretty frustrating, isn't it? Plus imagine how hard it would be to put a ball in a hoop while barely being able to hear yourself think. Ya it is a pretty big deal.

So the Lakers are 44-15 trying to claim that all important home court advantage and the Warriors have 16 wins and are trying to put as many bingo balls in the lottery for the number one draft pick next year to add to their already juvenile team which might actually need to get older and more experienced.

...

Now that the football season is over, it seems as if I have run out of stuff to blog about. This looks to be the end of my blog...NOT. There are still plenty of sports to talk about especially now that the Olympics are starting. However, for me, it does not really seem like the Olympics. Especially after the death of the Georgian Lugist. I will admit it though, I have been watching. I am sure there have been more exciting Olympics than these, but I am entertained. I have almost been on the edge of my seat and I have even yelled when someone crashes during a race. I almost screamed when the two Koreans crashed into each other. When they went flying into the wall, I thought the one's blades was going directly into the others face.

It is also almost the basketball playoffs. Well not quite, but we're getting there. The Warriors still stink, but they do look promising with their young line up. The Lakers are looking great, even without their star player, Kobe Bryant. They were 4-0 entering their game with the Celtics, and they still only lost by 1. For missing a player who averages about 30 points a game, they would have handled them if Kobe was in the line up. Not only that, but he is the most clutch player in the NBA, no doubt. He has the most game winning shots in the entire league, and without him for that last second shot, the Lakers suffered.

On the other hand, Lebron is one of the least clutch players. He had 3 straight shots to win and/or tie the game in the last minute, and he missed them all. What kind of clutch player is that? How can you be the best player in the NBA, but you can't even hit a 3? MVP? I think we know who it SHOULD be this year.

A Tough Decision

There have been numerous times where I have had to choose between my family and most of the time, my friends. I have always wanted to be able to go out whenever I want, but growing up on Bay Farm has definitely affected me for the worst. Most of the time, my parents have given me the “Do what you want, but I expect you to make the right decision.” What is that? It’s not even a choice for me to make. It's my parents saying I am not allowed to, but they are going to make it seem like I actually have a choice in the matter.

It also affects me when people want me to spend the night. Then I have to tell them that my parents gave me the speech. They know what I am talking about right away and they know that feeling because they have all been there. Guilt tripping is the worst feeling so when my parents do it. I just can’t say no to them.

There has always been one time that sticks out in my mind when my friends were all spending the night at someone’s house about a block away from my dad’s house. He gave me the whole speech and I still said yes after great consideration. He looked so shocked and said he “respected” my decision and was completely ok with it. Throughout the whole night, I didn’t even think about it. That is until I woke up. I had a dream that he didn’t let me go and I was extremely upset. He gave me the speech after a few minutes of fighting, and I choose to go. It seemed so real that when I woke up, I was dreading calling him to let him know I was going to be gone all day probably. He picked up and seemed calm, but too calm for me. I completely forgot that it was all a dream, so I thought he was really mad and just choosing not to show it. It was horrible thinking of what he was going to do when I got back. I couldn’t even enjoy anything.

While I am sure some people have way more difficult decisions to make in their lives every day, I still remember the speech and will always remember it. It’s not like I don’t make hard decisions, it’s just that none of them stick out like this one. All of the other decisions are forgettable.

The speech applies for everything nowadays. Whether it is chores or going somewhere incredibly boring like a distant relative’s house that refuses to have any electronic devices, they bust out the speech. I always role my eyes, and they say that they don’t need my attitude. This of course leads to more arguing and more rolling of the eyes. I hope I am not as annoying to my kids as I think my parents are.

When it comes to the Holocaust, my situation doesn’t even come close to the things that they went through. They were fighting for their lives and they did it every day. I make a “tough” decision every once a month for fun, and they made multiple tough decisions every day for their lives. I can’t imagine what that felt like, or even looked like. When I hear about Hitler, I automatically think that that was a bunch of years ago, like in the 1800’s because of how messed up things were. But no, these things happened less than a hundred years ago. I immediately think “How can something like this happen?” Nobody has had an answer for me, so I am still searching. I guess nobody really knows except for the people closest to Hitler himself and I don’t think they will be talking and sharing their secrets any time soon. So my questions remain unanswered and I remain completely confused about my questions.

All in all, decisions may seem tough to you now, but remember that things could be much harder. I am never going to over think any decision and let my mind calm down. Stress is never a good thing for the body and it can always get more difficult.

The Game of Hype

This week has been boring to say the least. Nothing of interest has happened and I have had a bunch of homework which I had to do because it is the second semester (not that I don't do it all the time). Also nothing interesting in sports has happened so I have been unbelievably bored (and tired) all week. I will just have to make with what I got.

The Pro Bowl was last week and I blogged about it earlier. I stated it was a useless game and nobody had any reason to play in it except for the pay day for the winning team. I mean, nobody from the Superbowl was even allowed to play for obvious reasons.

The Superbowl is also this weekend and it will be extremely interesting for not only everybody watching, but especially for me. I watch football every weekend for the hope that my team will make it somewhere (Miami this year). So I honestly can not wait for this game. I also have a bunch of money riding on it, but I am not gonna say how much or for who.

We have known who was going to play this Sunday for two weeks and it is finally time to get the game going. A bunch of talk leading up to the game is just that, talk. It doesn't get you anything in the game unless your opponent is extremely weak willed and lets things get to them very easily. But it makes for great TV and CBS must be eating it all up for the hope of astronomically high ratings (last year scored a 42 on the ratings which is one of the highest ratings any show has ever gotten). I am just hoping that the game itself lives up to all the hype.

The Pro Bowl

I am going to be completely honest right now because I totally forgot about doing a blog post. Now for the actual post. This Sunday is the Pro Bowl and many players are not even going to play in it. This is raising many questions among fans such as "What is even the point" or "why even watch?" By moving the Pro Bowl to before the Super Bowl, the NFL thought that that would bring more of a sense of importance to the game that actually means nothing. Not only are the fans upset, but the players are as well. Why would they move it from Hawaii, many of them are asking. Why should I even risk injury in this meaningless game? These are questions that need answering.

Some solutions are obvious. Obviously move the Pro Bowl back to Hawaii. Next, make the game actually mean something. Reward the winning conference with home field advantage for the Super Bowl the next year. I mean, I do not understand how hard this could be. I'm almost 16 and I am capable of making decisions. Why can't grown men who get paid to do it, do it? It's really not that difficult.

The football "all-star game" is by far the worst and most meaningless of all all star games. Even baseball, which I feel is the most boring out of all sports, strikes more excitement in me. Because it is actually worth something. Why would anyone take a game not worth anything seriously? It's kind of common sense and has blown right over the NFL's executives heads. I will watch the game, but not because of the excitement, but because I want to see the bay area's representatives make a name for themselves on a national stage. So I guess I can't say it doesn't mean anything anymore, but it really is next to nothing.

The Final

10. Where do you get your ideas for blog post topics? What inspires you to write?

Every week during the football season, I have been writing about local football teams and their success or suckness. I don't read newspapers or even other people's sports blogs to inspire me, I just think that, no matter how corny it sounds, sports is the only inspiration someone needs for writing a blog on sports. When people talk about sports and all the stats, there are millions of people who can do that kind of thing, but when it comes to giving an opinion on sports stuff, whether controversial or not, I will always put my opinion out there. Not that my opinion isn't always the most popular one, I feel if I can open the eyes for other people on things that I write about, then I have done my "job".

Another thing that inspires me, is people giving praise and compliments. When I see that someone likes my blog posts or likes about my opinion on something, I think it's awesome. Whether it be someone saying "Oh I really liked what you wrote about and how you wrote it" or "I think you can actually use this for something", it all inspires me.

Now back to the original question, what inspires me to write. I truly feel that whenever I see something cool in sports or in the news or wherever, I want to write about something that makes me feel better. After I finish a post, I look back and see if I feel better after than I did before. For the most part, this was true for all my blog posts. The blog was kind of like a journal and I was able to express my feelings on sports subjects and it felt good.

1. Explain one or two ways your writing has improved over the semester. Include a few examples from your posts over time, with analysis, to illustrate how the improvement(s) happened.

The biggest thing about writing is knowing who your audience is. I used to hate writing for teachers especially when they only like a certain type of writing and it has to be done that way, or they just flat out don't like you or your writing. Writing the blog has improved not only my writing, but also my outlook on teachers and that, yes their opinion should count, but they should also find a balance between their likes and the writer's likes. Like I said earlier, my writing has improved drastically over the semester. I think typing is easier for me, and when I look back and read my first post, I was typing like I write. And if you have ever read anything I have written, you will know it's not my best. There is just something about sitting at the keyboard that makes the ideas flow for me.

"I'm sure many people disagree with this statement, but the of the matter is, Kobe is greater than Lebron. Last year, an incredible amount of people were hopping on the "Cavalier Bandwagon". It seems they jumped off just as fast as they got on which is bound to happen with any bandwagon. To those certain people, I had one simple question to ask them when the topic of who is better got brought up. That question was "Who's sitting at home, and who is out there winning his 4th title?" The silence after that only proved my point more. Lucky for them the Lakers won the title after school ended so they didn't have to try to defend their earlier statements about who is better."

That is a direct example from my first blog post. I feel if I wrote a blog about the same exact subject next week, you would notice a drastic change in the type of writing. The last sentence especially stands out in my mind as the one that doesn't belong. Whether it is just getting back into writing, or if it really has something to do with writing to the audience, I am just glad that the improvement is visible. At least to me it is.

Mark it down Mr. Sutherland, next week I vow to do a blog post about Kobe Bryant still being better than any player in the NBA including Lebron. Not only that, but the Lakers are the best team in the NBA and will win another NBA title. Sorry for going off topic like that, but it's a point that should be noted and hopefully will not be seen as cockiness or over confidence, but rather having a strong opinion on something and sticking to it.

8. How do you like having a blog? How has blogging changed the way you write, the way you think, or the way you think about writing?

I love having a blog. Not only has it changed the way I write, but also the way I think about stories I hear. If I have a strong opinion on something I hear, then I think to myself "I have to definitely blog about that later". Almost every day I come home from school, get some food, and watch Sportscenter. If there are any interesting stories on that day, I store them for later and wait for Friday for all the stories of that week. If I really can't decide, then I just make what I call a hybrid post. While only one of my blogs is actually called that, I have done it numerous times especially when both the 49ers AND the Raiders won over the course of the week. While this was a rarity, I feel my writing was the best when I was happy (of course because they both won).

I like writing, or typing, much better now because it has become so much easier for me to do. Ever since starting a blog, my typing has gotten faster and my ability to organize my thoughts quickly is at it's finest. Sorry if that sounded over confident. I am now able to do a normal blog post in about 15 minutes when the first blog post I did took over half an hour. My ability to get past writer's block has also improved and I am now almost never stuck unless I am writing about something I have no idea what I am writing about (see the quickwrite about liberals and conservatives).

Well that about wraps up all my ideas, and I feel especially good after getting so many ideas off of my chest. Now it is back to the regular old blog posts where I hope to improve my writing even more than I have in the first semester.

Group Work

When we start working in groups, I want to get more ideas from the people in my group. Ideas could be anything from ideas to blog about or ideas on what to put in a certain blog. Personally, I don't have a way to get past writer's block or anything related to it.

I am willing to contribute ideas to other people's blogs on how to make them easier to write. I am now able to write blogs in ten to fifteen minutes when before we started writing quick writes, it would take me almost half an hour. I feel my strategy for writing blogs fast works and could possibly help with other people who take a long time to write.

I think it is less important to work with people who have the same ideas because they have certain opinions on things that I may not agree with.

Some rules I think should be followed is to make sure that everyone gets help if they need it and only if they want to get helped on something. We shouldn't force people to talk about something if they don't want to especially if it is about something private or personal.

Football

The football playoffs begin tomorrow and many have their favorites to win it all. In case your wondering, I picked the Packers and the Chargers with the Chargers winning the Superbowl. Just as quickly as it came, the NFL regular season is over and just a memory of moments of when your team could have done something different to possibly win that big game or make that big play. You will be stuck with those memories until August of next year when everybody feels a sense of hope that their team is the one of the year, but that's only true for one team's fans.

This is true for both of the bay area's teams with new young players coming into both organizations, though the players coming in for the Raiders were quite questionable. Both seasons, however, ended in disappointment as both teams failed to make the playoffs for the seventh straight year. One has to wonder how long people can stay patient hoping that the next season is their season when the previous year seemed just the same. This is the time when you weed out all of the bandwagoners from the true fans of teams sticking with them through thick and thin.

Changing the subject, the BCS National Title game was Thursday with Alabama surviving a late scare by the Texas Longhorns lead by their back up quarterback when their starter, Colt McCoy, was injured on the first drive running the ball and getting hit directly on his shoulder. He said it didn't hurt, he just couldn't feel anything. This was his last game in college, but he does have a bright future in the NFL, so don't expect this to be the last we hear from him. It is sad to see both Football seasons end but next year is hopefully even better than all this year had to offer.