Good Reasons for Sleeping In

 2/29/12

I have compiled ten good reasons for sleeping in. The number one reason to sleep in is because there are no kids at home to wake up at six a.m. This doesn’t happen very often in my house so we try to take advantage of it as often as possible. The second reason for sleeping in is that you work overnight and who really knows what sleeping in is when your schedule is that messed up. You can sleep until nine pm and you always have the excuse “I worked all night last night.” The third reason to sleep in would be because your alarm did not go off because of a power outage the night before. You can’t use this as an excuse very often but occasionally it will work. The fourth reason to sleep in would be that it is President’s Day and you don’t have anything to do on President’s Day. The fifth reason could include something about having to console a friend who is going through a tough time by giving him someone to drink with so he wasn’t drunk and alone. The sixth, seventh, eighth and ninth reasons are used in deer camp every year by someone. Number six is “I waited for the sun to come up before I went to my stand hoping I could scare some deer towards your stand.” Number seven would be “I knew everyone would be hungry around ten and decided to stay here and make sure we all had breakfast. So why don’t you get a fire going and we will make some eggs.” The eighth reason to sleep in is  “It was so cold last night in the tent that my legs were frozen to the floor and I couldn’t get up.” The ninth reason is “I was going to get up early but no one woke me up.” The tenth reason to sleep in is because the lake is too foggy at five thirty in the morning and you couldn’t see where you were going anyway.

2/29/12

Why was today such a bad day? This is not going to sound good but my daughter moved home today. I thought that my wife and I would be enjoying a house to ourselves by the end of the week. Our youngest son is leaving for college 600 miles away on Thursday. At first it was hard to imagine the house being empty but as we got closer to school beginning we came around to the idea of not having a house full. It grew on us and now all we have is disappointment, because our oldest is needing a place to stay.

I will say it isn’t a huge surprise, she has never had a job. She spends most of her time living in new age hippie camps growing organic vegetables and living in a shanty with a tarp for a roof. I guess really I don’t blame her for wanting to move back into a real house with modern conveniences such as a toilet. If it were up to me I would have told her “No, you can’t move back in again.” However it wasn’t up to me. You know how that works!

I love my daughter, but we just don’t really see eye to eye she is into the occupy movement, a member of PETA and a self-proclaimed Obamaniac. I guess if you were to describe her you could say she has no work ethic, she only eats plants, and she will vote for whoever MTV tells her to. This couldn’t be any further from me and the old lady. We have worked for everything we have and enjoy a good rare steak. I have always worked many times I worked somewhere I really hated because my family needed the insurance. I never dreamed of the government providing me with it. Man how the times have changed.

 I suppose I can handle my daughter living with us for a little while the real issue is going to be her boyfriend who just asked me if his band can set up in my garage to practice. That was the last straw I wanted to tell him to cut his hair and get a job, but my wife told me I had to be nice.

Pets

2/29/12

I wanted to write about what the best pets are, but I thought it would be more fun to list what the worst pets are. I think number one would have to be the Madagascar Hissing Cockroach. I do not understand why any boding would possibly want a pet Cockroach, much less a huge one that hisses. I guess the whole idea of bugs as pets seems kind of odd anyway. Number two would be a chimpanzee, I want nothing to do with a pet that has to wear a diaper. If it can’t be trained to go outside then a pet should just stay outside. Plus I once saw an episode of Oprah about a woman who had her face eaten off by a chimp. That doesn’t appeal to me. Monkeys in general are out in my opinion. The third worst pet I think you could have would be a skunk. I don’t like the idea of accidentally seeing a skunk much less waking up to one running around my house every morning. I know you can get their scent glands removed but I don’t want to take a chance that they skunk smell may actually cover up a worse scent. In addition skunks are one the major carriers of rabies. The fourth worst pet you could have would be a snake. I don’t really know anyone who likes snakes. I think this is an ancient survival mechanism that we have inherited from our ancestors. I don’t like mice either but still I don’t want to have to feed them to a “pet”.

I know that many people keep all of these animals as pets, but I wouldn’t allow any of these in my house. I am a dog person and I don’t really care for cats, but I would have cats before chimps, roaches, skunks, or snakes. I am sure there are reasons why people like these animals but I think it is for the shock value of being able to say “here is my pet roach”.

Shopping

2/29/12

I hate shopping. I think that my distaste for shopping comes from the fact that I need someone else to supply things for me and I cannot be self-reliant. I know that being self-reliant is a great idea, but it is probably not very feasible in our modern society. I think that the reason for this is because we as a society enjoy our free time and conveniences. This doesn’t mean I can’t hope to one day be more self-reliant but I will never be to provide all myself with all my needs. Another reason why I hate shopping is people; I am not a people person and although I don’t like to say it I may be slightly anti-social. Part of the reason for this is because of lack of manners people sometimes demonstrate. Or maybe it’s just my lack of tolerance for others. I think my wife and I would have different opinions on this. For these reasons when I go shopping it is in and out. I know what I need and I generally know where it is. If I don’t know where it is I don’t need it. This applies to the grocery store, gas stations, Wal-Mart and especially the mall. I especially dislike the mall. I can handle outdoors stores for a little while but even there I start feeling stressed out after some time. The one place I know of that I may enjoy shopping would be the Branson Landing. It has the Bass Pro outdoor store, a few great restaurants as well as being outdoors, which makes me feel a whole lot less contained. The best part is if you don’t mind walking around in the rain and cold you may be one of the only ones there. It may be helpful for me to be around people more. I am sure I could learn to be more sociable. However I do not see this happening.

Too Old For......

2/29/12

I was talking to my wife one evening last year and she had said, “I wish you played some sort of sport so the kids and I could come watch you.” I jokingly said “You can watch on of my fishing tournaments.” Believe it or not that was not the kind of sport she was referring to.  I was never really an athletic person and I am not in the best shape of my life so I just kind of blew this off. Around two weeks later a friend of mine from work asked me if I had ever played softball. I told him no and he tried to convince me to fill an empty spot on his team. I tried to tell him that I on a softball team was probably not going to help the team out. He then told me who all was on the team and I realized that with a recreational softball team it was more about enjoying the game than being an excellent athlete. Then I remembered my wife telling me she wished I played an organized sport. In the end I agreed to play and after the first practiced realized that while not being the best player on the team I wasn’t the worst. Then I realized that I was one of the oldest people on the team. Only two were as old as or older than me. We played a few games and I realized that my belief that softball isn’t that physical was quickly broken. I was sore after each game and I realized just how out of shape I was in. It wasn’t until about the sixth game when I realized maybe I should not be doing this.

I thought I would slide into second base and ended up dislocating my left kneecap. This was very painful but nothing new to me I had trouble with my knees when I was younger. I ended up being off work almost all summer long and was not able to do much of anything. This made me realize that I was probably too old to play softball for fun and my wife hasn’t asked me to play any more sports. 

My Favorite Movie

2/29/12

My favorite movie of all time would be “The Lonesome Dove Saga”. I can remember when I was a child and first saw this made for TV movie. I was fairly young and do not remember seeing the whole movie. I do however remember seeing the part where the boy was attacked by the water moccasins and killed. This horrified me, they showed the snake biting the boy’s face! I was only 4 or 5 at the time and this may have been the scariest thing I had ever seen on television (we did not have cable). Even though I was scared by this I really enjoy the movie still today. “Lonesome Dove” and “Dances with Wolves” can probably be accredited to my enjoyment of westerns. I think we got a VHS version of “Dances with Wolves” from McDonalds for some reason. As an adult when it is cold or rainy outside I will sit down and watch “Lonesome Dove” even though I rarely make it through all six and a half hours.

If you were to ask me “Why do you like Lonesome Dove?” I would have to say it is because of the polarity Robert Duvall (Augustus McCrae) and Tommy Lee Jones (Woodrow Call) brings to the movie. Gus is very laid back and easy going he seems to move about and live life with a smooth glide, while his good friend Woodrow is very rigid and all business. These two characters but heads often but you can tell they both care about one another as only lifelong friends can. The differences between these two characters make them both likeable in my book. I like this film for the different dynamics brought to the screen by these two actors I think it accents the plot very well.

Is it Spring Yet?

2/29/12

Spring is right around the corner we have just a few more weeks of winter. I would say that spring is my favorite time of the year. This has not always been the case. I remember when I was a child I always loved fall with the leaves changing color and the cool evenings. Lately though I have a noticed a shift from fall to spring. I look forward to the first few warm days every winter. A warm day in February will cause me to imagine the white bass and spoonbill beginning their annual runs up cool Ozarks Rivers. I start thinking that there will soon be morel mushrooms popping up in the woods from their leaf covered beds. When I open my front door I imagine the sounds of turkey gobbling in the woods looking to join a group of hens. There are many things that tell me spring is on its way besides those first few warm days that make me want to pack all my jeans away. These tell-tale signs of spring include chicks at the feed store, the seed packets everywhere you go, and sale flyers from Bass Pro Shops. I believe that all of these things create a biological change inside of me, a transition of sorts, one that makes me realize I have not been able to enjoy the weather lately. I begin to get “cabin fever” when it starts warming up! I thought this affliction was just something you experienced when you had a freezing cold winter and not a mild one. I am glad I know the way to cure this. I think I will start organizing and cleaning up my fishing tackle, start cleaning up my garden, buy some potting soil and start some tomato and pepper seeds, and go ahead and buy some day old chickens. I will be able to find something to keep my mind off of the fact that it is still not quite spring but just the beginnings of the slow transition to nicer weather.

Looking Back

2/22/12

There was once a chance I didn’t take that sometimes I wonder if I should have. I try not to look back and wonder what if, but it is inevitable. What if I had paid attention to the road would I have still have wrecked my vehicle? “What if I would have…?” It doesn’t matter who you are, everyone thinks these things. I would almost argue that it is human nature to look back and wonder if you would have done things differently. Would you be better off?

I have heard about friends that ended up doing great things and friends doing nothing and I can imagine that if I had been closer to one group or the other would I end up the same. Very few of the friends who I associated with during my first few years of adulthood went to college. We all have the same type of job. We get paid well for not requiring an education and there really isn’t very much of a chance to make a whole lot more than we do now. I wonder if we are all friends because we ended up close to the same place in life or did we limit ourselves by our associations?

I am sure if I would have gone to college right after high school my situation today would be different but would it be for the better? I like to think “No”, there isn’t much I would change in my life right now. The situations that I put myself in developed the character I have now and if I went back and changed one thing it may end up making a different element in my life worse. Or then again maybe this is just what we learned from time travel movies. They always seem to warn that changing the past can change the future with negative consequences.

We shall not bathe

2/22/12

I have decided that we should all skip bathing for a week and I came up with ten reasons why. My number one reason would be that with everyone bathing every day we waste a lot of water and it is not like water is a renewable resource we have to conserve as much water as we can. Well on second thought that doesn’t seem like a very good reason I just learned that the polar ice caps are melting and that causes more water in the oceans. My second reason would be that we could add time to our days by skipping baths. I believe that everyone would enjoy a longer day and this would make it seem possible. My third reason is the amount of energy used to pump the water and heat it would be eliminated and this means that we become less reliant on foreign oil. Reason number four would be that it is healthier for our skin. The chemicals in soap can’t be healthy I mean have you ever tasted soap? Also, I heard somewhere that the hot water can dry your skin out. The fifth reason why we should refrain from bathing for a whole week is so that the people who are not fortunate enough to take baths would feel better about themselves at least for a week. I get enjoyment out of being able to make people feel better about their selves. Reason number six is that dread locks are really cool and without washing our hair we could all have dreadlocks. Reason number seven would be that dirt is a good sunblock and with the rising number in skin cancer cases this could be the next best thing to a cure for cancer. Reason number eight would be that we can put a crunch on body wash and shampoo suppliers. If we didn’t bathe for a week there would be a huge surplus of shampoo and soap and that would lower the cost of these products. Reason number nine would be that it could increase business for scent-blocker clothing brand. They need the business, they just settled a lawsuit over whether their products actually eliminate 100% percent of human scent. Reason number ten would be that with the new move to all natural products the next big thing will logically be all natural colognes and perfumes and we would be two steps ahead of the game. I think that if we were to skip bathing for a week it would change our personal lives and society as whole. However, I still haven’t completely changed opinions on the need for daily bathing.

Family Vacations

2/22/12

When I was a child we didn’t often take vacations. When I was 10 my parents asked my brothers and I if we would rather have a camper or go to Disney. We chose a camper. We would often go to Texas during the summers and stay with our grandparents, but we didn’t have what I consider to be an actual family vacation until I was 12. We went on a cruise to the Bahamas. After I had children of my own I decided we would try to take a family vacation at least every other year. Our first family vacation we went to Port Aransas, Texas. I like to spend a lot of time fishing, my wife loves the ocean and the kids like sand, dolphins and hermit crabs. So last May we decided that we would try the Gulf Coast in Alabama. We rented a beach house on Dauphin Island, Alabama. We wanted to go to Pensacola but the last thing I wanted to do was stay in a condo. So we moved our search west a little and found Dauphin Island. It couldn’t have been better the Island was more family friendly than Pensacola. We really enjoyed the rich military history of the area. There were forts, battleships and the Blue Angels. My two older children made a song about the Blue Angels and sang it all the way home.

This was our first family vacation that included all three children and I realized that although it makes it nice to be able to go somewhere new and unexplored. The more important thing is that we all take time away from the everyday grind we endure, and spend time together doing all the things we enjoy. I will continue traveling with my kids, because I can still remember that cruise to the Bahamas and how much I enjoyed being able spend time with my family.

When I Grow Up.

2/22/12

My 6-year old son has been on a kick that he is going to be the President when he grows up. This is cute he always wears a tie around the house and he pretends to be on TV saying, “The United States of America I am the President.” I was thinking back on this and don’t believe I ever wanted to be the President. This never appealed to me and still doesn’t. I can remember I wanted to be an Astronaut, but I do not like flying or being up high on anything. I am not sure if I would like floating around and not being able to enjoy gravity.  I came to an early conclusion that I would not make a great astronaut.

After I decided Astronaut was out I don’t really know what I wanted to become. However, when I turned eighteen I thought I would like to be a sailor and almost joined the Navy. I have a great respect for our military personnel, but I do not believe it would have been for me. All I knew at this time was I was through with school. The next thing I wanted to be was a factory worker. No kidding, I liked the idea of making good money and having a steady job that I could make a career out of. Now that I realize that I can make a pretty good wage in a factory and the benefits can be excellent, it rarely tends to be enjoyable. I have realized I am not through with school.

This has brought me to the conclusion that I need to do something else. I have always kind of thought that it would be interesting to be an engineer. I was just too afraid to go to school. Engineering degrees require a lot of math and that is one thing I never enjoyed in high school. I wasn’t bad at math I just didn’t enjoy it. These were the first classes I started when I started college and turns out my math classes tend to be more enjoyable than the rest. I have decided that I am going to be an Engineer when I grow up.

Ryan on Politics

2/20/12

Politics interest me, I would classify myself as a Conservative I belief that we should restore the country to what it once was by allowing the people of this great Nation to succeed and by encouraging people to do so. I am not against governmental aid all together, but I am against people feeling it is more beneficial to live off of handouts than work. The idea that we are Americans and are entitled to things can get really annoying. This year is the year of the Presidential Election and we have to choose a candidate who will attempt to defeat one of the most articulate speakers I have ever seen. Although the President is very articulate he has not been a very effective leader in my opinion. This is all blamed on opposition within Congress. I think that most Americans believe this, however I don’t. I see the big fight over opposition as what it is a public relations scam. The current president has not been the only president that had to fight an oppositional Congress. This is taken care of by meeting in the middle. Which side is being more stubborn in my mind comes down to which side has more to gain by telling the media “they just won’t work with us.”  I sometimes think that American Politics have become a joke I mean how many times do I need to hear that Republicans are pro-life and Democrats are pro-choice on the issue of abortion? Why does this make one candidate or the other more effective as a President? Why does the county coroner’s political affiliation matter when he is checking someone for a pulse? Personally I try to vote in every election I can. Sometimes I get annoyed that so many people won’t vote, but can I really blame them? I do, but not because they are un-American or even un-Patriotic. Many of these people are just sick and tired of attempting to care about the things a select few think they should care about.

Writer's Workbench

I felt that the writer’s workbench was a great resource to assist with learning writing skills. I felt that the topics were directed more towards journalistic writing rather than creative writing. There were a few examples of creative writing. However the majority of the tips were easier for me to apply to journalism than creative writing. 

A few of the tips I found interesting were Polish Your Jewels, this section talked about the importance of the words you use in short stories. The author talked about “writing with video images and natural sound.” An example of this was the sentence, “They were shipped to market in rail car after rail car after rail car.” This sentence gives the reader the image of a rail car because it actually kind of looks like a rail car. This idea piqued my interest I have always enjoyed reading a good book, especially one written by an author that can draw a picture in your mind with words. It really helps to connect the reader to the writing.

Other tips that I really thought could help my writing were the ones on verbs including using passive and active verbs. Or using active verbs instead of passive verbs I suppose.  I learned that verbs can be used in both present and past tense and still be active. The author also compared verb qualifiers to barnacles that slow down your prose like they can slow down a vessel. He says that these should all be removed during the editing process. I also enjoyed the section on sentences I am always worried whether my sentences are long enough. However I also worry that my sentences get too long. I learned that sentence length is not as important as the structure of the sentence. Sometimes a long sentence can be useful in your writing.

My pet peeve

              One of my biggest pet peeves would be technology. I guess it is not the technology itself but possibly the way people use it these days. I understand that having a phone that will do everything can be a big help sometimes. I feel that our socialization is actually been degraded by technology. I do not believe that subtleties of our communications can be accurately conveyed through text messages. I am not against having and using technology, but when someone texts me an invitation to something I get irritated. I can’t think of anything more impersonal than a mass text message invitation. Really? Am I that unimportant that you can’t take 3 minutes to call and invite me to something? I mean you are asking me to attend your graduation party for 3 hours, and you won’t take the time to send me a formal invitation.  Text messaging is not the only issue I have with technology there are many more. My five year old son comes home from school wanting a cell phone so he can play angry birds. I don’t have a smart phone so I ask him how he knows about angry birds. It turns out that the 9 year old neighbor boy has a cell phone. Why does a 9 year old need a cell phone? I believe it is sad when I see a family of 5 and no one says a word to another for a full hour while waiting for a table because they are too busy playing games on their phones. If we don’t stop depending on our cell phones what are we going to become. A friend of mine was telling me the other day that he can actually record a message and send it to someone this way he doesn’t have to text message. I just laughed and said “yeah you know we used to call each other and do that instantly”

The thrill of the hunt

             This journal entry will talk about the reasons I enjoy the outdoors. I enjoy hunting and fishing as you can probably tell from my other entries. My hobbies tell a little about me, but the real importance can be placed on why I enjoy these hobbies.  Do I just enjoy eating wild game? Am I in it just for the trophy animals? What specifically do I enjoy about being outdoors? For me being out on the lake, on a barrier island fishing, or in the woods is relaxing yet at the same time exhilarating. When I am spending time trying to outwit the weariest creatures in the woods I can’t help but doubt that this whole world came into existence by accident. I feel that being in the midst of nature gives you an appreciation for life that you can’t get anywhere else. I not only gain appreciation for my life, but also the life of the animals you are trying to outwit. I know there are many reasons that people participate in outdoor activities. Such as to supply a source of food or in search of a trophy, although these reasons are legitimate if the game is pursued ethically, they aren’t what I do it for. If I gain an appreciation for the creatures I am in pursuit of, and challenge myself to a fair chase. I always gain something whether I am a successful hunter or fisherman or not. I once had the opportunity to listen to two whitetail bucks fight right over the ridge from my stand for over 20 minutes. The only glimpse I had of these two deer was a split second before they ran over the ridge. I didn’t take a trophy deer that year but I experienced something that very few people have. I often make my own fishing lures, this allows me to feel as if I am more closely connected to the fish I catch. The excitement of catching a fish on a jig that you hand tied or a plug that you shaped and painted is awesome. Those are the reasons I enjoy my hobbies. I think that these days many people would rather open their front door and shoot something than actually spend time in the woods. This is not me; I want the solitude and challenge of being out of my element and entering the home field of my quarry where I don’t have as many advantages.  

My Weekend

This past weekend I hunted in a Predator Tournament. We sat in the cold and wind all weekend in order to try and call coyotes to our stands. The tournament started on Friday afternoon at 4 pm and lasted until Sunday at 4 pm. This was my first predator tournament although I have hunted a few squirrel tournaments. My partner and I secured permission to hunt about 3000 acres and were waiting for Friday afternoon. When I got off of work Friday it was wet and cold and I was not really looking forward to being outside all weekend. It finally dried up and quit raining however it didn’t warm up. We hunted for 6 hours Friday night without seeing a single coyote. I had been hearing the sounds of dying rabbits for so long that I heard them in my sleep. We only called in one coyote all weekend long. The coyote stepped out of the woods across from the field from where I was sitting. I watched him for a few minutes and he wasn’t going to come any closer, no matter how tasty my rabbit distress sounded. He was about four hundred yards away and I missed the shot. That was the first and last living coyote I saw that weekend. The winning team shot 6 coyotes and won over $300. Second place had 3 coyotes and won $175. Third place checked in two, this made me feel a lot better about missing my shot even if I had made it we were one coyote short of money. I had a really enjoyed spending time with friends and hunting all weekend successful or not. I learned a few things about calling coyotes and it is always time well spent when you do something you enjoy. I believe if I ever get the chance I will participate in more hunting competitions like this one.

My Creed

2/13/12

Always remember that your past is not what you are, but merely what made you who you are. I believe this is one thing that is important for people to remember. Just because we are born into, or get ourselves into bad situations, that is not who we have to be. We can be anything and do anything we really want. I believe that statistics end up making people feel that they will only ever be what they are supposed to be. Every single day a new study comes out telling people that they are their past, and that chances are nothing can be changed. The chances are high that you will do the same thing. Just because a large percentage of people that share your background end up a certain way doesn’t mean you have to end up that way as well. Many times it is easier to let our pasts dictate who we are. It is often hard to break a cycle, but I will not let it define me. At the same time we need to accept that our background does make an impact on our development. My biological father never cared to be around me, statistics say that I should abandon my children as well. However I have decided that my past will not decide who I am today. If anything I feel the need to be a better dad because I understand how I felt and the things i struggled with. 

Snow

2/13/12

Today we had a good snow. It was the first one we have got this winter and it is February 13^th. We went out and played with the kids for a little while this morning. My 2 year old was really excited about the snow. He retrieved his snow boots from the closet and I put them on him. He thought he was ready to go play. However all he had on was snow boots and some pants. When he opened the door he seemed surprised that it was cold. After we dressed him real warm he really enjoyed the snow. We all came in and had some hot chocolate.

When I think back to when I was child I realize now why parents never enjoyed the snow like we did. When my kids came into the house they brought wet frozen clothes and boots covered in snow with them. It made a huge mess; my wife gathered up all the wet clothes and put them in the dryer. About the time they finished drying the kids wanted to go back out side and play some more. This lasted a little while and they were ready to go back in again. I think we are in for the day maybe tomorrow will be a little less cold and they won’t get cold so fast.

Even with all the stresses that come with the snow I still enjoy it. I was hoping it would ome a couple of days earlier. The Predator tournament that I hunted would have been more successful had there been some snow on the ground. I love being able to look out across the fields and see the fresh snow. Sometimes I think back to the time I spent in the Rocky Mountains. We had a fresh coating of snow every afternoon.  

Audience

2/12/12

 

             When reviewing the “know your audience discussions” I was able to make some interesting assumptions. I don’t know if I really know my audience from this discussion, but I can tell you I have learned a few things about myself as well as people in general. There were many people that said there attitude was red. The reasons for this choose were mainly fiery or bold. This made me wonder:  Do most people in this class have a tendency to anger easily? This is what I think of when I think red attitude. I also think it could be a way to keep people at a distance.

                We also learned that most people in the class believe that when we die we will go to a better place. This wasn’t a huge revelation. The places most people would like to live depend on other factors in their lives. Generally if people were going to live elsewhere it would be closer to home or somewhere that they had an experience of some sort. I think that this tells us we tend to be nostalgic.  People have many different things they enjoy doing. I was surprised that most of us enjoy completely different hobbies. We are from all around the country and not many of us would trade a day with someone or something else.

                All-in-all we are very different people that happen to be brought together by a single thing. While we share lots of the same ideas we also differ on opinions and preferences. I think that the people in this class represent a good portion of the different ideas and opinions of society. From previous discussions I have noticed that this class represents all different backgrounds, beliefs, ages, and stages in life.

Responce to "Shame" by Dick Gregory

2/9/2012

I chose the story “Shame” by Dick Gregory. I enjoyed this reading because of the emotion I felt when reading it. He wrote “I never learned hate at home, or shame. I had to go to school for that.” I immediately felt that I could really relate to the author. I have a son who started kindergarten this year. I am amazed at the changes I have seen in his emotional and social demeanor. I would like to be able to protect my children from feelings like this. Even though I know these things are important for their development. I liked how Mr. Gregory explained that there was a girl in his class that he liked. This is another thing that most readers can relate to. By gaining my attention and giving me a sense of relation to his story early on the author made me feel more empathetic to his plights later on in the story. Many readers probably have not been through the same situations as the author. However I think most people can relate to a time when they were embarrassed or ashamed in front of someone they liked.

I had to read this excerpt three times before I fully I understood what the author was truly saying within his writing. I felt that after the author told his story about first feeling shame that he went on and on about the different ways he felt shame. This section caused me too loose a little interest in what he was saying the first two times I read it. This in turn left me scratching my head after reading the last sentence of the work. However after I forced myself to read and really listen to the writing I understood what the point of this story was. I believe the author was saying that the times we could make a difference and don’t are the things we should be ashamed of. There should be no shame in the things that we have no control over. After the revelation I had I believe I would enjoy reading the book that this excerpt came from.

A bad day fishing is better than a good day doing anything else.

02/08/2012

                Sometimes when trying to enjoy a nice day you have some setbacks. Things don’t always go as planned, but just because things go wrong it doesn’t have to ruin your whole day. Earlier this year I had planned on enjoying a nice day on the lake with my dad. The thing is when I go fishing with my dad it often ends up being stressful. 

                This time it happened before we even wet a line. We launched the boat and realized that it was filling with water. We had forgotten to put the plug in. This was no big deal we just needed to load the boat back onto the trailer and pull it out of the water. I backed the trailer back into the lake and we loaded the boat halfway up the trailer. We weren’t hauling it anywhere so that should be okay, right? It wasn’t, the weight of the boat wasn’t distributed properly on the trailer and caused it to tilt backward and disconnect from the truck. When something felt different I looked in the rearview mirror and saw that the boat and trailer were rolling into the water. I threw the truck into park and jumped out. The trailer was under about 4 feet of water.

               This was very stressful. We grabbed a chain and hooked it to the trailer and pulled it out with the truck. Everything went okay. We still needed to load the boat so we made sure the trailer was secure and tried again. This time we got the boat and trailer out of the water. My dad was not in a very good mood at all. While letting the water drain out the boat we inspected it and the trailer and found that everything was okay. I was surprised I thought his prop would be ruined. We ended up fishing anyway and had a really good day on the lake. This made me realize that sometimes the best days start out a little rough. As long as we keep a good attitude we can make the best of the worst situations.

This I believe...FreeWriting

 I believe my family is the most import thing in my life. I have three young children their names are Benjamin, Abigail, and Logan. Benjamin is 6 and is in kindergarten he is the one that loves learning and has always been very creative. I have always been amazed by his imagination. Abigail tends to be more like me and seems very literal. She is very smart and perceptive; she was the one that would never quit asking, why? She just turned four. She was born on January 1^st. Logan my youngest son will be two tomorrow and is also amazing he has always been a listener. Many times if we are looking for something he will go and get it and never say anything just wait until you turn around and acknowledge him. I am getting excited as warm weather nears so I can take them camping. Last year we did not do very much camping because Logan was so young it made it hard to go. This year he will do much better and I hope he enjoys fishing and camping as much as my older two do. My kids keep me very busy but I would not have it any other way. I believe that children are the best thing anyone could ask for.
217 words

This I believe.....

1.I believe in God.
2.I believe that my family is the most important thing in my life.
3.I believe in love.
4. I believe that in order to succeed you must work hard.
5. I believe this assignment just got harder.
6. I believe that if the giants win the super bowl I will be excited.
7. I believe my wife is beautiful.
8. I believe that it rained last night.
9. I believe that thinking of something to believe shouldn’t be this difficult.
10. I believe that I am a good person.
11. I believe that I can do anything if I try.
12. I believe that if I were to go fishing today I would catch lots of fish.
13. I believe that ten minutes may be longer than I had though .
14. I believe that I should be able to come up with at least 20 I believe statements.
15. I believe that it is amazing that my youngest son will be two on February 5^th .
16. I believe that he is growing up too fast.
17. I believe in a lot of things.
18. I believe that the timer just went off.