Last Blog, better get full credit... Please.

Well, the blog is over. This is the last one. I must have a television advertisement, so here we go:

Do you like to read? Do you like adventures? Do you hate to read? Do you enjoy travelling? Do you like anything? If you answered yes to any of these questions, then A Thousand Splendid Suns is right for you. This is the second novel written by Khaled Housseini, the best selling Afghan American author. The first novel was an immediate New York Times best seller, and this novel is on the charts as well. The story tells the tale of a young woman in Afghanistan during the Russian takeover whom is a bastard child. She receives plenty of prejudice and discrimination from everyone around her, even he own biological father. She escapes Afghanistan to be I America and she continues to face hardship.

This novel is an easy read of around 300 pages and you will not want to put it down. Just like Housseini’s The Kite Runner, A Thousand Splendid Suns is action packed from start to finish. This novel is truly a roller coaster ride that doesn’t stop. You will find yourself sweating, crying, laughing, and hurting with the characters of the novel. It is heart wrenching as well as comical at parts, but remains very serious throughout.

This book is sold everywhere, and if you tell the cashier you know the author personally, you can pick up the book for free! But this can only be done if you have a registered place of birth on the same street as Housseini or have a family tree that stems to at least a fourth cousin of Housseini. Nothing in life is free, which is what my mother has always said.

(This commercial will open with people reading, getting involved in adventures, and travelling, and then an √ going across the screen. Then some random guy in a sport coat and tie is going to come on screen and read from the script. He is going to look a little awkward, but he will also be confident. He will be a paradox in that way and he will look good. During the part about the layout of the book, he will be sitting in a comfy chair, satin, wearing a robe now by a fireplace, holding the book and shaking it around as he talks and sips tea and eats cheese cubes. But then when they go to the part about where it is sold, he will be back in his sporty, classy attire and he will be I front of a Barnes and Noble, Half Price Books, Borders, target, etc. Literally everywhere. There will be a store rolodex showing everyplace to go. Then, when he gets to the disclaimer, the man will talk so fast that no one can Actually hear what he has to say, so they all assume they can get it for free and then go get one, pay for it… Hug Profit. Then a shot will show a bunch of children reading the novel in a beautiful garden as the title of the book flashes across the screen….)

Fin.

Drew Harris is forever my hero. Forever and ever.

-B

The LAST PROJECT

What Have I learned in High School?

There are so many things, but I mean, let’s be real… I will learn more in college. But considering I still have a few days left, we might as well focus on high school for now. One of the first things I learned is to write everything down.

I used a pen (blue or black, rarely green) and a pad of paper that could easily fit in my back pocket of my jeans.

I bought a 12-pack of 100-sheet pads of this size that I could use. I used 1 pad a day, only on weekdays, and never when there wasn’t school. Occasionally I use an extra page here and there, but for the most part I stick to this system. On these pads of paper, I write homework, schedules, girl’s phone numbers (this actually happened in school one time), and really anything I cannot forget. Once I did it, or talked to whomever, or put the number into my phone, I would cross out the item. If I do not have the time to deal with one of the items, it gets transferred to the next day. I throw away the pages each night. Since I bought a 12-pack, I figured I can use them all the way through college without having to replace them. If I wrote it down, it got accomplished, but If I never wrote it down, it would probably go forgotten.

At Mariemont High school, it is easy to accomplish a lot. All you need to do is talk. Being shy gets you nowhere in this life. You have to go out and get what you want and you must start with talking. Once you talk, then you walk. Say then Do. Be yourself and talk.

Show up. “Seventy percent of Success is just showing up”- Woody Allen. You cannot do anything without showing up and can’t do a lot without showing up on time. So don’t be late either.

Try hard. I mean, c’mon, that’s an easy one…

The Most Important Thing I learned…

Friendship. This may sound silly, but friends get you through the worst of times and enjoy the best of times with you. Without a group of friends or one friend, everything can be quite lonely. Everyone needs to feel love, and when we go out into the world, Mom and Dad are too far to love us when we need it. This is where friends come in. We crave the love of others.

What should I have gotten? (Really: Where did the teachers strike out?)

I kind of wish I learned more of video editing and all that with Mr. Goetz. I have been in videos of all sorts, including the hit documentary Kick Drum Hearts, and several classroom productions, but I know nothing of video editing. I lovemaking videos, I have good ideas for videos like skits and things of that sort, but I just don’t know what to do when given the task of cutting film to match it up in the way I want. This is I guess where friends come in. Glad I learned that! But I mean, look at this picture, Luke is simultaneously cutting different parts of the movie to make it into a sequence, and If you look closely, I am in both frames.

Usually someone wishes they learned things that are all philosophical, but I took philosophy, and there is nothing philosophical about the trade of video editing. It’s just one of those things I never got.

As a whole, I feel I played the game of high school just right. I made some friends (let’s be honest, some lifelong, some not, but still good to have around), learned a lot in the academic sense, learned more about myself and social trends and tendencies. I mean, the one thing I cannot wait to do is friend all of my FORMAL teachers once I have that diploma. HA. But yea, I am pumped for the next step. I am not nervous at all. Mariemont has prepared me well. And I couldn't have gone through it all with my hero, especially English...

Drew Harris is my hero.

-B

Reason, Mother/Daughter, More

I consider the purpose of the novel written by Khaled Housseini is to inform. This is very similar to the reason of his first best seller, The Kite Runner. In both novels, the author tells a story of someone in Afghanistan in the 70’s and 80’s that wants to get away and be free from the USSR and the Taliban. In A Thousand Splendid Suns, Mariam shows the female perspective on what was going on in Afghanistan at the time. The Kite Runner showed the story through the eyes of a father and a son, and Mariam shows the other side of the story through the prejudice she is subject to for being considered a bastard. What Housseini is trying to explain to the world is the path and hardship of those in Afghanistan. His first novel came out in 2003 and this novel came out shortly after. At that time, America was opposed to anything labeled Afghanistan. Housseini wanted to show the world that not all Afghans are evil. They are people, just like you and me, and they can make mistakes (sometimes major ones) and they have their own flaws just like everyone else. Mariam just wanted to get to know her father, like any bastard child separated from a parent would want. Mariam’s mother wanted Mariam to appreciate her and stop thinking foolish things, but Mariam was not going to let the men in power and society keep her from getting to know her father, being a successful woman in Afghanistan, and being free.

A relationship I did not like throughout the course of the novel was the almost artificial relationship between Mariam and her mother Nana. Nana was there to care for her daughter and try to teach her how to survive in life. But Mariam didn’t want to listen. She was more interested in her father. She didn’t listen to her mother, and when she was most rebellious, she came home to see her mother had killed herself. Mariam had so many unanswered questions about life and her father, and she took her mother for granted. So when she needed her most, Nana wasn’t there. His made me dislike their relationship. Mariam was not respecting Nana enough, or realizing her importance until she was gone.

If I were to add a chapter to this novel, it would be early in the novel and it would be more in depth about Nana before she had Mariam. This novel would help explain her upbringings and help the reader see why Nana does what she does.
She wakes up early each morning to help prepare breakfast for her master. Her mom was a servant to a relatively wealthy man that worked for an oil company in the area. She and her two sisters worked for around seventeen hours a day to all of the needs of their master and his family. These three young servants were demanded to care for two adults and their three kids. Their duties included washing dishes, washing clothes, cleaning the house, serving guests, and sometimes even helping bathe their master. They were often abused and never felt safe at while serving. They felt that at any moment one of the masters would snap and kill them. They worked for this man and his family for a long time, and were sold when they were in their teens to another family. There new master would father the child of Nana in the future. Both of Nana’s sibling died due to starvation at the last house, so Nana was in it alone now. She was always worried even still of possible attacks from her master, but this new master turned out to be nice and kind to her. He never raised his voice and rarely was angry. These qualities ended up being reasons for her attraction to her master, which inevitably led to a baby that Nana would name Mariam.

Society

There is an obvious connection to society in this novel. The novel shows and depicts women and their role in Afghan life. Nana tells Mariam that the only thing she must learn in life is to "endure," instead of learning a formal education. Women are discouraged from learning in Afghanistan and are discouraged from forming any form of relationships since they are nothing but property, it seems. This is interesting as the novel points out several female bonds that occur during the novel, such as Nana and Mariam, Mariam and Laila, and Mariam and an admirer in prison. All of these bonds are shown to prove that women can overcome the power struggle in the worst of times by sticking together.

Another theme that represents society today, especially in the Middle East, is honor of one's family. This is considered the most important in certain cultures to be successful in life. Since Nana had a bastard child, Mariam, she was to live a life in shame for having a child out of wedlock. This shame Mariam has to live with her entire life and ends up killing Nana. This novel is not the first story where this kind of shame ends a family in murder or suicide or a form of exclusion from society.

Who?What?When?Where?Why?....

If I were to go on a date, or a luncheon if you will, with a character from my novel, it would be with Drew Harris,.... no wait, Jalil, who is Mariam's biological father. He is a rich man, who slept with a servant, Nana, and had a baby. Mariam must live with being considered a bastard, which is highly frowned upon in this society.

I would enjoy a meal at Bombay City, right next to Magic Wok in Mariemont because it is close to the type of food that Jalil would enjoy in his native Afghanistan and that it is geographically close, making it easy for the both of us. I bet it's cheap too.

We would eat Lunch on a saturday. Nice and Chill

I would eat with him because of how he feels about his life. Whether or not he was a failure, considering it was because of his mysterious personality in the eyes of Mariam. Because she wanted to be with him, Nana ended up killing herself. He tried to stay away, but Mariam wanted to know her father. What was his thinking when he slept with Nana, a servant? How did he deal with having a completely different second family?

This would be an interesting conversation, and Drew can come too.

Drew harris is my hero

-B

Main Character and all about that

The main character in this novel is Mariam. She is considered a 'bastard child' because her wealthy father impregnated his servant, Nana. She is told about her place in society from the second she could comprehend words. She was told to always know that she was a bastard.

This reminds me of Cinderella. Cinderella has a very different story, but she is told from the beginning that she is less that her stepsisters. But she still has hope and overcomes adversity in the end. I am hoping that Mariam will do the same.

Mariam deserves to have her story told because of the hardship she has to endure as a woman and a bastard in Afghanistan during the 1970's, where the country is taken over by the Russians and is very corrupt. She faces prejudice every day and is at a time where she will no longer take the prejudice or discrimination from men in her life.

I bet drew is reading his book much faster than i am....

Drew Harris is my hero

-B

Actors

Who could be the actors for these main characters in the movie?

Mariam- Frieda Pinto. Was the adult Latika in Slumdog Millionaire. She is pretty and could play this part well.

Jalil- Javier Bardem. He loves acting in foreign films and he is a tall and handsome man.

Nana- Nana could be played by

Hakim- Kal Penn. He is from the Middle East and he is an intelligent actor capable of a serious roll.

Laila- Natalie Portman. The character is beautiful, and so is Portman, plus her career is thriving right now.

Drew Harris could be one of the extras because he is my hero.

-B

Books

The book I have chosen is One Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Housseini. This novel is almost a sequel to The Kite Runner, which was also a Best Seller. This novel tells the tale of a woman in Afghanistan in the 70's as opposed to a boy. I chose to read this novel because I read The Kite Runner last year, and I liked it a lot. I like it so much that I bought this novel. Unfortunately I have not had the time to read it, until now. So I can't wait to get started.

I hope that Drew finds a book as thought provoking as mine...

Drew Harris is my hero.

-B

SRP Yo

Ok, SRP is done. Pretty much school is done. Really, there is one more month until AP tests and then I will probably skip every day the rest of the quarter (don’t worry, I am only kidding). But yeah, here is my relection. Let’s take a look back on my performance, shall we?

A. When I dive back into SRP mode, I am thinking about all my sources. I had about thirteen or fourteen to start with, which I believe four or five of which were over twenty pages long. So I definitely had a lot of reading to do. The thing is, is that I didn’t read all of it. I really should have. My quotes would have been a little better if I had done so, and my overall understanding of my book and my sources would have been that much better. So this is what I would like to redo, if given the chance.

I feel like I wrote fairly well. I have always felt pretty confident with my writing abilities, and in this paper, it was the same way. My quote integrations were flawless (been learning them since like seventh grade, c’mon). So my quote integrations were good and overall I would say my writing was pretty good. So that’s what I think I did well on.

Poor: time management. The entire week we had in the library before the paper was used, I did not use to my full advantage. I should have been writing and editing all week, but that is not what I ended up doing. The weekend, I worked a little on Saturday and woke up early on Sunday to really knock it out, but I did not take the adequate time to edit more and more and thoroughly modern… I mean thoroughly go through my paper over and over before turning it in. I did feel a bit rushed, even though I didn’t think I was. So yeah, that is what I did poorly on, time management towards the end of the paper.

B. Next year, boys and girls, read your sources, read your book, and think live and breathe SRP until it is over. Now I read my book, and I read the majority of each of my sources, but I know for a fact that some people did not do either of those things, so don’t, it’s stupid. Think, live, and breathe SRP until you turn it in. This will only better your performance on it. Don’t be dumb, and please work hard. That’s all folks.


Now here it is, last one of da kuarta. WOO HOO.
I only completed my paper for my hero anyway…

Drew Harris is my hero.

-B

Music make me Loose Control

Okay, so here's the deal, I was at this thing, and I played the drums. This dude who I have never even met played the song "free Fallin" by Tommy Petty & the heartbreakers, and i played the drums for the song. He was like "okay I am gonna play this song, let me make sure I remember the chords...." So He played the opening chords, And I was like "I CAN PLAY DRUMs!" So I went up on stage and got behind the drumset. The guy was psyched, so we both got ready for the song he was about to play.

So he starts out, and I am ready to play, but the first note I am supposed to play, I mess up. Terrible right? So i mess up, but pick myself right back up. I play the whole song and end with quite the drum solo. We shake hands and I have not seen the guy since.

This is what this picture is about. It is faded and from stage right.

It was one of the funniest and coolest things I have ever done. In the photo I am playing someone else's drumset. I almost broke a couple of sticks and was close to even breaking the drumset in general, because you know i go hard.

So pretty much, I did this all for a good laugh. It was awesome, but I only did it because Drew Harris Is My Hero.

-B

DingDing, Let's Get it On

In this photo, you can see two gorillas, lunging at one another in order to kill. Or at least it seems that is their intention. It is easy to tell that these gorillas are Silver-backs because of their silver backs. The gorilla on the left has his mouth as wide open as his jaw will allow, and it can be assumed that the gorilla on the right is doing the same. Both gorillas have raised an arm with the intention of punching or scratching their opponent, much like a human would. This seems to be the nature of their being. I imagine that the whole point of this debacle is to assert male dominance, because isn't that the reason we all fight? All I know is that the gorilla on the left is much larger than the one on the right, and I think that the one on the right is in for a real beating. It will be impossible for him to assert his male dominance after being broken by the Alpha male.

This is not very similar, but one time at a MHS football game, this year, I turned around and slapped Johnny is the face. I cannot remember why, but it was for no reason pretty much. He, i guess to assert male dominance, maybe just because..., slapped me back, and so we started slapping each other, back and forth, getting harder and harder. We each took about three or four turns and then I let him have the last hit. I don't know how it happened, but each of us released stress and shook it off. It was so odd.

I don't know, this photo reminded me of that. But if it were Drew Harris that was behind me, I would not have slapped him, because....

Drew Harris is my Hero.

-B

Poetry

Poetry on PhotoPeach

The Constant Lover by Sir John Suckling










Suckling’s poem describes a man, who after only three days, is in love with a woman whom he had just met. He describes how she is so beautiful and has such a pretty face that without it, he would have several partners other than her. He says that time will tell that he truly loves this girl, and he will prove to be a ‘constant lover.’ The only repetition in the poem is the phrase “constant lover.” This represents the man trying to show that this thing he feels is not just a fluke. He is in it for the long haul. He has only known her three days, but he is trying to tell her that he knows. The rhyme scheme in this poem is a-b-c-b, and it has that pattern throughout, although not rhyming with the first stanza. Just the pattern of a line, another line, a line, and then a fourth line that rhymes with the second. The tone of this poem is excited. The man is not writing the poem to the lady he is love with, but rather just a poem describing his love with someone he knows. He has to tell someone. There is a metaphor about time and the molting of wings. This represents the time it takes to shed a bird’s wings. There is alliteration in line 7 describing the “whole wide world.” This is a form of hyperbole, as he says the whole world. Clearly this is an exaggeration. He claims he can discover the whole world while still remaining in love with this woman. The shift in the poem is at the end of the second stanza. This is where Suckling goes from talking about the time that he loves her and how long he will love her, to talking about how if she wasn’t pretty he would find other women.

Drew Harris is my Hero.

-B

Stained, but the good kind

Stained glass is one of the most beautiful forms of art since the medieval era. For the most part, stained glass was used for religious purposes and placed in churches. The sun would shine during services and the beautiful colors would shine through the window onto the congregation. These works of art are very popular and are still used today.

This picture is a beautiful design of what looks like a sun, but has many other shapes inside of it. It looks like there is the face of an owl in the center, and has alternating colors going around the circle. I think that this piece could be in a church, but from the picture there is no way of telling.

I have a strong appreciation for stained glass. Last year, I took the class at MHS taught by Larry Austin, and no we are not related. Id say it is the best art class at school. I made some pieces that I am truly proud of and have hanging up around the house. It is a great class and more should take it.

I like art, but I am not that good at it. I wish I was, but I am not. I feel like I have good ideas, but I cannot put them on paper. Now Drew has great ideas, but i don't know, I think he has the same trouble I have. But this 'problem' did not affect me in Stained Glass. So maybe, if you can't draw or paint or sculpt, glass is the class for your @$$ (bleeped out).

God, I really hope Drew can read this before the end of senior year is over. He's gotta take the class. I look out for him because he is my hero.

Drew Harris is my hero.

-B

Love is All You Need, Love is All You Need (echoed)

It was a long time ago. I think I might have been twelve years old. But I was in Indianapolis at a swim meet, and it was early February. I always remember because I would always be driving back from this meet in Indy at the start of the Superbowl, and only make it for the second half.

But one year, it was different. It was strangely warm, but this canal, that is in the picture that runs through downtown Indy, was still frozen over with still very thick ice. So a couple of friends and I naturally went out to play on the ice, throw rocks at it from the bridge in the picture, and just have fun. The building on the right was the hotel we stayed in. We had a blast.

But being February, and Valentine's Day coming up, love was in the air. I was running toward the bridge when I saw a man and woman standing in the very center of it. She looked bashful, almost like one of the Seven Dwarfs, red in the face, nervously looking at the ground. She was holding a bouquet of flowers that her man, the man next to her I assumed, had gotten for her. It was about noon on Superbowl Sunday, and it was then that I said he was going to propose to her. They were in the center of the bridge, with a beautiful city around them still sleeping, a comfortably warm February day, she was holding flowers and he was standing close to her. It seemed almost too perfect, like that of a movie.

I leaned over to my buddy Trey Van Dyke, who now lives in Texas and attends Texas A and M, and I said, "dude, he is gonna propose." Trey looked at me weird and ran back into the hotel, but I just stood there, glued to the cement. I couldn't leave. What if I was right?

It seemed like minutes for me, must have felt like hours for the man, but was only seconds in real life, and he slowly got down on his right knee, hand in hand, and asked his woman to marry him. I guess she said yes, because soon after, the man jumped up and they embraced like never before. They even began to kiss each other, which was weird for me, considering I don't think they knew I was there. So I pointed to the guy, as if to say "you are the man" and I ran back into the hotel. What a sight.

Valentine's Day is a loving one. I will surely show my loved one's what it's all about, especially my hero.

Drew Harris is My Hero.

-B

"I'm Hungry..."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bfx7izBNHeI

This clip above shows clips from an episode of the hit television series, Seinfeld. In this episode, George tries to tell his girlfriend that he loves her.

This episode is poking fun at modern society and their fears of commitment, love, and settling down. Relationships tend to end because of one person or the other and their fears of committing to someone else. So when George conquers that fear, he hits another road block, she doesn't feel exactly the same way.

Modern society uses the word love in everyday language, such as "I love pizza" or "I love that new shirt you are wearing," but when it really counts, it is hard to get past the teeth.

We are afraid to say "I love you" because we are afraid of what it will do to relationships. Commitment is a fear just like a fear of heights or rats. And unfortunately, everyone is too selfish to commit anyway. We are scared of what another person would do to add 'clutter' to our lives.

Love these days has a very negative connotation. When you love someone, you do things for them, right?

Doing things = Work. Work is bad.

Sorry, but love songs don't make young ones 'oooo' and 'ahhh' like they used to.

Drew Harris = My Hero.

-Baustin

White Stripes, Gray Day...

I have said this before and I will say it again: I love Jack White.

Jack white, for the past fourteen years has been the lead guitarist and singer for the band the White Stripes. The band was formed by him and his wife in 1997, and they split sometime after, but kept the band together. They have released six studio albums, one live album, a documentary, a box set (complete with White Stripes record player), and several bits of memorabilia over the years. But on February 2nd, 2011, they shocked the world forever, or at least shocked my world forever.

On their website, they released a statement that said that their band was going to discontinue their coalition and that they we not going to make music together as the White Stripes.

For years the White stripes has been one of my favorite bands. They were the first band I saw in concert. Jack was so talented up on stage. When I saw him, he played guitar of course, but also piano, marimbas, mandolin, bass guitar, and sang. He amazed me. He was one of the best guitarists I had ever heard. Since the White Stripes, Jack has joined a few other bands, The Raconteurs and the Dead Weather, where he played guitar and drums respectively. He was also hired to write and perform the new James Bond theme song with Alicia Keys.

I knew that the band would break up eventually, but not yet. My most recent post about the White Stripes has a compelling argument to make one to believe that they were recording another album. How could I have been so wrong? February 2nd was definitely a sad day in history.

Jack, shown above, is shredding. He loves playing guitars that don't necessarily sound great, or are sort of broken, so that when he gets the guitar to play what he is thinking, he, in a way, conquers the guitar. He is wearing all red (one of the band's trademarks, to only wear the colors red, white, and black) and is playing a guitar that he got as payment for helping a friend move in a refrigerator to a thrift store. His black, gross hair is falling over his face as he is wincing and peering down at his wondrous instrument. The microphone has red and white cables covering it like a candy cane.

You know you can always depend on your heroes, that's why Jack White isn't, and Drew Harris IS my hero.

-B

MJ

When people think about phrases such as ‘the best of the best’ and ‘the greatest,’ a few different things pop into their heads. My mother’s cooking, The Social Network, the Beatles, Steve Prefontaine, the MHS teaching staff, Harvard, the New York Yankees (unfortunately). All of these things pop into my mind when I think about the very best. But I forgot one…

Michael Jordan.

A young Mike Jordan was born and raised in North Carolina, went to college at the University of North Carolina, and as a freshmen, was a key player for the NCAA championship basketball team. After completing four years of academics, Jordan was eligible for the draft and was soon drafted by the Chicago Bulls. It was 1984.

Jordan would not only learn to become one of the best players in the league, but to go down in history as the greatest player ever to set foot on a basketball court. He had an attitude towards basketball and competition that no other player had and he lead his Bulls to six NBA titles and the USA to two Olympic gold medals. Will he ever be topped?

No.

This photograph pictures his greatness in an instant as he flies through the air in the 1988 Slam Dunk Contest. He went on to win this contest with a classic dunk from the free throw line, in honor of Dr. J, not Dr. Dre.

Michael Jordan in this photo is soaring through the air, body shining from the flashing cameras in the crowd, while the judges sit and watch this young star throw one down. Michael Jordan took flight that day, and he hasn’t landed since.

Michael Jordan is the best there ever was and there ever will be, but Drew Harris is my hero.

-B

The Old Man and the Bench

In 1931, American people were suffering from the Great Depression. Thousands were laid off, and everyone was struggling to get by. My father was a butcher. He owned his own shop, but he had to let most of his employees go due to the Depression. I worked for free as his apprentice. Every night, at around 6:30, my friend Drew would come get me, and we would play baseball or football or something until the sun went down. Drew was much taller than me, red hair, and freckled. His father worked and owned a bakery around the block from the butcher shop. We had very similar days. He would sweep up and help clean the bakery and be a cashier, and I did the same. We were best friends.

One evening, we were running through the park deciding what we wanted to be when we grew up and we stumbled across a man. He was an old man, with a suit and hat on. He was stiff, but leaned towards us as if he had something to say. He asked us to sit down on the park bench with him. Although anxious, we sat beside him, waiting for what he had to say.

"Lately, I have been come to this bench each night to think. Every night I see you two running past, laughing and enjoying life. Why do you do that?"

"Mister... What do you mean?" I asked him, confused by his question.

"I have worked every day of my life since I was thirteen years old trying to make an honest living, and after working twenty five years for the same company, I was laid off. My wife can't even look at me. My children, a little older than you two, will go off into the world with nothing to show for. I have failed my family. And there is nothing I can do to help them." A tear, small and hidden between the aging in his face, began to slowly drip down the old man's face.

"Mister, everything will be okay. I am sure of it." Drew sounded so sure of himself. I have listened to my father's conversations with my mother and how we had to cut back at home, and how the shop was starting to feel the effects of the Depression. Why did Drew sound so positive?

"Son, you have a lot to learn." the man turned away, and began to weep.

"Mister, just hold on. Everything will work out for the better. Go home and enjoy life with your wife. Think about when you were our age. Things will turn around." Once more I didn't understand why Drew was so sure of himself. Why was he saying all of these things to a stranger?

The man stood up, straightened his coat, and adjusted his hat. He pulled out his handkerchief and wiped his eyes and then returned the handkerchief to its resting place. He looked down on us and gave a subtle nod. He walked away, much faster than I would have thought, down to the end of the park, and then ran to his house. Drew and I watched him until he disappeared down the city streets.

The sun was going down, which meant we both had to get going. We said our evening goodbyes and ran our separate ways. The whole run home I thought about what had happened. I never saw that man again, and Drew and I never spoke of it again. It was just an old man on a bench in the park, nothing more it seemed.

Drew Harris was and always will be My Hero.

-B

Fight for Your Right

http://www.rollingstone.com/movies/reviews/the-fighter-20101209

I love this writer. He is wrong though.

Peter Travers has been all over the ins and outs of movies in the last decade, and he is (most of the time) spot on. His analysis of The Fighter is just the same. Markie Mark Wahlberg, after training for four years and working hard to get the movie production off the ground, is a stunning “Irish” Micky Ward (not Micky with an ‘e’). And then there’s the Funk Bunch…

Wahlberg is surrounded by actors and actresses with breathtaking performances. Amy Adams. Christian Bale. Melissa Leo. Directed by David O. Russell. After seeing the movie, I instantly envisioned Christian Bale receiving the nomination for an Oscar for best supporting actor, and then winning the Oscar. He was that good. Remember how huge and ripped Bale was in the Batman movies? Well he lost over 30 pounds to play the role of Micky Ward’s crack head half brother, Dickie Eklund. And Bale, being British, mastered the Lowell, Massachusetts semi-Boston accent. No problem. Travers uses the same word I would have… “Phenomenal.”

But Travers, like I said, is wrong about something. Please do not read further if you have not seen the film, because I am about to reveal a very small part of the movie, so don’t read the rest if you haven’t seen the movie…

In the film, Bale’s character is shown being filmed by HBO in what he says is about his comeback as a fighter. Now in my opinion, Eklund knew the whole time that the movie from HBO was an expose on crack addiction, but Travers seems to think that Eklund really thought it was on his comeback and then was “devastated” to see it was on crack addiction. I believe that Travers is dead wrong.

Why would Eklund talk about crack on camera and smoke crack on camera if he thought the piece was on him and boxing? When his girlfriend asked the cameramen what the piece was on, Eklund buried his head in his hands as the cameramen told her it was an expose on crack addiction. Travers. You’re wrong.

When reading his article, this bothered me.

I loved this movie. I recommend it to everyone.

I hope my hero doesn’t read the whole article if he hasn’t seen it……

Drew Harris is My Hero.

-B

I like the Seahawks alright...

http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2011/01/02/sports/sports-us-nfl-seattle.html?_r=1&hp



Sunday night is usually filled with students struggling to finish their homework for the next day, parents dreading going back to work, and football fans going wild for their favorite teams. Tonight was no different, except I did no homework whatsoever. Sunday Night Football on NBC tonight showed the matchup of the Seattle Seahawks and the St. Louis Rams to determine who would fill the last playoff spot. Both teams were 7-8 going into the game and it was played in Seattle.

Last week, Seattle’s starting quarterback, Matt Hasselback, suffered from a hip injury, putting him out of the game tonight. He was actually cleared to play just before the game, but Seattle wanted to start Charlie Whitehurst, and only bring in Hasselback if it were necessary. This would be an interesting decision by Seattle but it ended up working out for them.

In the first drive of the game, Whitehurst threw a beautiful four yard pass to receiver Williams to take an early lead. This would be the only touchdown scored in the game. The rest of it was up to field goals. Two scored by the Rams and three by the Seahawks.

The Seahawk defense shutdown the Rams’ rookie quarterback Sam Bradford, who says he has only bought a new ping pong table with his money from the Rams. As a rookie, he has been a star for the Rams. He never missed a play for the Rams throughout the entire season and broke Peyton Manning’s rookie completion record as a quarterback. Unfortunately, tonight was not his night to shine.

I watched this hard fought game with my 23 year old brother, Dan. We actually watched every football game this weekend together, barely getting out of our chairs for two straight days. This is why I am writing now.

I had a wonderful break, but I did not see one special person who was on my list these past two weeks: Drew Harris. I almost gave him a call the other day (New Year’s Eve), but I was told he was watching a movie with Abby, so I didn’t bother. Even though I haven’t seen him in a while, he is still my hero and we will be running tomorrow after school together.

Drew Harris is my Hero.

-B