Friday, September 19, 2008

Beige Twist

I had to write a 'personal experience' essay for school. So I came up with this. It happened five or six years ago, but it's one of those memories that's stuck for a while. Thought I would post it up. Haven't written anything for a long time now, so it probably still needs work. It's called Beige Twist.

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As I opened the door that led outdoors, the sunlight fanned onto the wood floor below. It was a sunny, breezy, and slightly chilly fall afternoon. Around 2 o’clock I would say.
Because of the rather dusty and bland building we were in, me and my friends, Thomas and Hannah, made our way outside. As soon as we hit the dusty ground outside, it seemed as if the wind knew it. A large gust swept through the pine trees above and flew down onto us. It felt very refreshing after coming out from the stuffy house.
It was then that Thomas pointed out towards a nearby cemetery and exclaimed, “Guys! Look!”
We all turned to the cemetery and saw what Thomas had gotten so excited about. A large dirt devil, composed of mostly dead leaves, was slowly sweeping its way down the grassy plains of the cemetery. It was picking more and more leaves up as it made its way through.
It was filled with beaming colors of brown, orange, and yellow, right as the sun glazed onto it. Under a pure blue sky, it stood out with amazing brilliance.
Me, Thomas, and Hannah all looked at each other, with the same thoughts all racing through our heads. We then simultaneously bolted towards the whirling funnel. The sound of the roaring whirlwind coated out ears with a rush of noise. We crossed from the dirt path and onto the grassy plain that the twister had been festering. Thankfully it was a slow moving dirt devil, giving us time to get closer to it. Although Thomas fell behind, tripping on a tomb stone hidden in the grass.
Me and Hannah neared the twister. The noise from the leaves clattering against each other combined with the unending gushes of wind, were enough to get us all pumped about the now close funnel. The only other thing you could hear in the background was Thomas’ classic gut laugh that he projected on too many occasions. You could hear it a mile away and know who it was. We entered the twister, breaking the barrier of blown up debris.
The leaves clashed against my face, and the wind reaped through my hair. After that, it all cleared, and we were in the center. It was epic. The noise, the leaves, the sky, it all added to the moment. And yes, Thomas was still laughing his head off.
The center of the funnel was devoid of any leaves, just a plain green grassy circle about two yards wide. But around us, it seemed like there was a wall, a barrier, of leaves spinning violently outside the grassy circle. It was like if you were to reach out and touch the slicing leaves, you would lose your finger due to its speed. Every so often you could see a glimpse of Thomas rushing to us, amidst the spinning leaves. He had a stupid grin on his face. He was probably recovering from his painful laughing episode. Me and Hannah began laughing in the sheer moment and sat down in the grass.
The twister finally began to settle and quiet down. Like confetti, the leaves started to slowly sprinkle down and rest quietly on the ground around us, and it all came to a calm hush.

Monday, September 15, 2008

Week 2-Favre Versus Cassel
















The Patriots have once again, for the millionth time, proved that they are a team, not a collection of good players. And as usual, all week, the media was pitting the Jets, (Who barely pulled out of a game against the Miami Dolphins who went 1-15 last year.) as a team worthy of beating the New England Patriots....riiiight. Where to begin?
Well,we can start with the quarterbacks. I am a Brett Favre fan, he is one of the best quarterbacks in the history of the NFL. He rocks, but he did not show his best game yesterday. He threw a lot of incomplete passes all game, and an interception. He did throw one touchdown, but he could have had a better game. He was crafty as usual, making deep passes on occasion, and doing things to keep a play alive. But he was far from great.
Cassel made his first start yesterday against a Jets team pumped(for some strange reason) over a close win against the Dolphins. Cassel started the game great. He was in control the whole time, and managed the game well. He threw no touchdowns, but also no interceptions and made good decisions in key parts of the game. He almost had a nice deep, downfield, pass to Randy Moss, but Moss dropped it. But, kudos to Cassel for showing a decent performance for his first start. Statistically, he played a better game than Tom Brady did on his first start. That pretty impressive.
Our running game showed great consistency, converting on a lot of key third downs. What is a great asset to our team this year, is that we have between 4-5 high caliber running backs to rotate with, giving us a fresh runner virtually every down of the game. Meaning the defense has a harder time of 'wearing' our offense out. Maroney was sidelined for most of the game with a very minor injury. But Sammy Morris and Lamont Jordon shined against the Jets. Not to mention Kevin Faulk's return. He made an outstanding catch, bouncing it into the air, for any of the defenders, and catching it and converting for a first down.
I must say, Bill Belichick had this game under his control from the very beginning. Him and Jets Coach, Eric Mangini, have had a smoldering rivalry since Mangini left the Patriot's coaching staff and moved into the Jets Head Coach position. But Bill had the Jets outplayed all game. On a fourth down play, following the Jets final time-out, Bill Belichick brought out the offense in an attempt to convert. This caused the Jet defense to swarm the line of scrimmage to stop the play, leaving the backfield completely empty. Then with few seconds left, Belichick quickly called the offense off and brought on the punting team. They punted, and the confused Jets were left with terrible field position for the following drive. Just an example of how the coaching job for the Patriots was impressive as usual.
Next week, the Patriots host those dreaded Miami Dolphins. The Jets beat 'em, that MUST mean something, right? I like our chances of going 3-0 before the bye.


Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Fall/Music


Ahhh, the air has that Fall feeling in it. Best time of year. Apple picking, Thanksgiving, Pumpkin Pies, Tea every bloody morning, and it never gets old. Football has arrived, the trees start to change, and work hours decrees. Its great! :D
However, something I've noticed. Over the past few years, I've noticed that I listen to different bands or artists during different seasons or months of the year. It's weird. And I don't even notice it until about midway through it's happening. For example, it's now September, and things are changing from Summer to Fall. My music tastes are migrating as well. I used to be playing bands like, Cartel, Newsboys, Birthday Massacre, and Kiros.
But now, it's sliding slowly in bands like, Dead Poetic, Coldplay, Future of Forestry, Rush of Fools, and Exit the Ordinary. I don't understand it. I originally thought it was a subconscious transition, like the album of a certain band that I am into came out the previous year around the current time. But it hasn't really happened like that at all. Maybe for a couple, but not enough to warrant it happening on an annual basis. Sure, I can understand anyone who listens to Christmas music...well around Christmas. But I almost have things like: "Summer music," "October Orchestras," and "Thanksgiving Themes." It's weird.
Out of boredom, here's a list of bands I listen to during different time of the year. It could be interesting.

Fall-September through November:
1. Dead Poetic
2. Exit the ordinary
3. Coldplay
4. Future of Forestry
5. Blink 182
6. Rush of Fools
7. Oasis
8. Skillet
9. Stellar Kart
10. Edison Glass
11. Sum 41

Winter-December through March
1. Dean Martin
2. The Rat Pack
3. Blindside
4. Stepa
5. Emery
6. Chevelle
7. Dead Poetic
8. Mutemath
9. Our lady Peace

Spring-April/May
1. The Almost
2. Audio Adrenaline
3. All American Rejects
4. Five Iron Frenzy
5. Roper
6. DC Talk
7. Future of Forestry
8. Leeland
9. Taking Back Sunday

Summer-June-August
1. Red Jumpsuit Apparatus
2. Newsboys
3. Cartel
4. Blink 182
5. Something Corporate
6. Muse
7. Oasis
8. Sum 41
9. Kiros
10. Flyleaf
11. Birthday Massacre
12. Coldplay

Post Soulfest-August/September
1. Leeland
2. Skillet
3. Kiros
4. Stellar Kart
5. Dead Poetic
6. Newsboys
7. Downhere
8. Pointe Blank

Monday, September 8, 2008

Week 1-Man Down


Week 1, Patriot nation took probably one of the heftiest blows possible. Tom Brady, after going 7-11 in passes, and throwing for 76 yards, took a serious blow to his knee and he is done for the season. He will undergo some sort of surgery on his knee to fix the problem, and should be able to play by training camp next year.
Now, some players don't play the same after surgeries like this. Daunte Culpepper had surgery on his knee and never was up to caliber as he was before. Actually, Culpepper used to throw to Randy Moss, back when he really was an amazing quarterback. His days are done at this point though. And frankly, I don't want to talk about that aspect...and possibility. He could very well come back like Phillip Rivers of the Chargers. Rivers started yesterday and after having surgery on his knee, played strong against the Panthers even though they eventually lost. Tom Brady is a very durable quarterback, and he tends to bounce back fast. I def. hope that his situation turns as well as Phillip Rivers.
What a lot of people are forgetting though is...we are still a team with or without Tom Brady. Thank goodness backup Matt Cassel decided to finally play well when needed. I was thankfully surprised to see him bullet a touchdown to Randy Moss. And I plan to see a lot more of that with the outlook of coming season. Also our running game stepped it up with 50 yard games from both Laurence Maroney, and Sammy Morris. I'm sure there will be a lot more of a running game this season with our franchise quarterback out of commission. And honestly, against the Chiefs, our defense not only played a better game than most last season, but had a huge goal line stand in the end! Granted, it was the Chiefs. But, we were down and without Brady and our team made a stand.
We won and I still believe, with all the other captains on offense and defense, we still, at least will make a serious playoff run. Week 1 is in the books, and what a painful week it was. But, we are 1-0 without Tom Brady. I think that should mean something. Heck, It's not like Bill Belichick got injured.
And like I said earlier, our defense was amazing. Limiting NFL icon Larry Johnson to little more than 70 yards was incredible. Kudos to the Pats, who always find a way to win, and are veterans when it comes to overcoming immense adversity.

Tuesday, September 2, 2008

Oh Come Let Us Adore Him, Christ the Lord

I recently have been listening to the band, Rush of Fools. My friend, Mike, got me into them, and they really have great, inspiring music. Really encouraging music, particularly in the areas of pushing on in Christ, forgiveness, and giving praise. I love their music.
What is really odd, is that they came out with a Christmas album featuring the song 'Oh come all ye faithful.' And I've been blasting it for a couple weeks now...in August, and September. But what I've noticed, is that the song really doesn't need to be limited to Christmas. The lyrics are wonderful, anytime of the year. So yes, I have been blasting 'Oh come all Ye Faithful' day in and day out with pride. :p
Another song by them, called, 'Undo' really is awesome too. It actually has become there biggest hit so far. It focuses on forgiveness and God's mercy. Great song.
I hope they come to Soulfest. There music really has been a great uplifter for me.