Blog Homework #3: Trayvon Martin Shooting

I don't know all the details to the Trayvon Martin shooting but I do know some. He was a 17 year old boy who was shot in Florda by some guy named George Zimmerman. The guy was a self-appointed neighborhood watch captain and apparently told the police that he shot martin in self defense. That is why they didn't arrest him. I also know that this has been hgue in the news for quite some time now and there are a lot of sketchy and unresolved issues and details involving the murder. This happened over a month ago so it is getting pretty crazy.

My opinion on this whole sitaution is that it is very sad and it is unfortuante that such an innocent kid had his life taken away from him by some random guy for no reason. It sucks to have to hear about a story like this. I think it's pretty crazy how much opublicity the story is getting and how long the case has taken. I feel bad for his family especially his parents. I can't imagine getting a phone call one night or having someone come up to my house and telling me that my son has been murdered. I don't know what I would do. I think this whole thing ties in with the essential question "How are we, as individuals, products of our environments?" This relates to the guy who killed Trayvon Martin because he had a gun and did a stupid thing with it. Maybe he grew up around violence like that or was not raised the right way in his family or community. This would definitely be a logical assumption because normally people are good at heart and wouldn't just kill someone without a troubled past or a serious motive. It's just an overall sad story and something you hope doesn't ever happen again.

Blog Homework #2

Lesson from the Garcia Girls Book

There were a lot of things that someone can learn from the book How The Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents but personally I learned that it is never a good thing to hold grudges on people or stay mad at them. The conflict between Sofia and her father Carlos was very important in the story and it taught a good lesson. Carlos was mad at Sofia for a few reason and because she was not happy with Carlos, Sofia ran off and got married in Europe to Otto. They then had two kids. After a while Sofia wanted to make things right with her father so she tried throwing him the best birthday party ever. Although it didn't turn out so well, Sofia still tried and her relationship with her father got better. I learned that life is too short to stay mad at people, especially the ones you love. You can't waste your life holding a grudge on someone when it probably wasn't even a big deal in the first place. You have to try to makes things right with the other person and not be mad at them. You have to learn to forgive and forget, and if you can do that things will work out. Sofia and Carlos did a good thing by trying to fix their issues with each other and it was the best thing they could do in the long run. By being mad at someone, not only does it hurt you but it hurts the other people around you like family and friends. That is why it is never a good thing to stay mad at people and it is not good to hold grudges, especially for stupid things. These are a couple valuable lessons that How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents has taught me. It is one of the many lessons that can be taken from this story.

Blog Homework #1

March Madness

Since it's now March and Spring has just begun, I think it is appropriate to talk about the NCAA Tournament in this blog post. March Madness is the best month of sports in all of sports because of the crazy games and all the upsets and unexpected things that happen. You never know what is going to happen because just because you are the best team doesn't mean you are going to win it all. Actually, the overall #1 seed or the best team overall doesn't win the tournament most of the time. That is the great thing about March Madness and it is the reason why it is the best tournament in sports to watch. You get to see a bunch of college kids playing their hearts out unlike the guys in the NBA who only care about their next big contract or being on SportsCenter's Top 10. These college student-athletes are out on a mission to prove themselves and that their team is the real deal. Over the past few years there have been some crazy tournaments involving a ton of buzzer beaters/game winning shots, "Cinderella" teams going to the Final Four, and a ton of madness. That it was makes this tournament so awesome. This link here shows the pasts tournament winners, best performances, huge upsets, and a lot more...       http://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketball/ncaa-tournament/history. On top of allt hat, every year people all over the world fill out brackets attempting to pick the perfect bracket and there is always that one team that ruins it for everyone pulling off a huge upset and going deep into the tournament. Recently we have seen a bunch of teams ruin brackets such as Norfolk State and Lehigh winning as 15 seeds this year. You can follow all the games and check out all the scores on ESPN... http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/. Finally, here is a link that gives a good summary of everything about the NCAA Tournament... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NCAA_Men's_Division_I_Basketball_Championship.



Blog #7 Work of Art

The Blind Side

There are many fantastic works of art out there in our wonderful world, but I would like to focus on a specific move: The Blind Side. This is a movie (and book) based on a true story of the early life of Michael Oher, who is now an offensive lineman for the Baltimore Ravens in the NFL. Michael Oher started out living a troubled life in Memphis, Tennessee, bouncing from school to school with a microscopic GPA and struggling to live basically on his own without knowing his father and having a mother that was a drug addict and alcoholic with a bunch problems that didn't allow her to take care of Michael the proper way. Anyway, the movie does a great job of depicting the life of Oher and the hardships he went through. It is truly an amazing work of art and had so many people in tears by the end. It is a heartwarming, feel-good story because Michael Oher was able to overcome all his obstacles and receive a full-ride football scholarship to the University of Mississippi (Ole Miss) and eventually was a first round draft pick of the Ravens a few years later. The movie, starring Sandra Bullock as Leanne Tuohy as the women that took Michael under her wing as well as Quinton Aaron who played Michael, is arguably one of the best films I have ever seen and was an all-around success. The way they told Oher's story was wonderful and there were a lot of times that you didn't know what was going to happen, which kept you watching. What was really cool was the fact that you got to see what went on during Michael's earlier years and you could feel what he felt at some points, which is what made the film so great. The actors were spectacular and because the movie was so good, it made me read the book which came first and is written by Michael Lewis. The book was just as good as Michael Lewis really kept the reader involved and she knew exactly what was going on all the time as he went in-depth on a variety of topics and explained everything well. All in all, both the Hollywood film and the terrific book were incredible and they are both amazing works of art that everyone should see and read at some point in their lives. Michael Oher's story is a feel-good story and you will not be disappointed. I give it 2 thumbs up!

Blog #6

Best Food Item

The best food item in the area can be found at... Sonic! Hey, maybe it's not the absolute best food ever and it's a fast food place, but it's some good food. It's new in the area and I have eaten it at a couple of times and I really like it. The have quality milkshakes and a variety of other menu choices to help you out with your food desires. This was the first thing that came into my mind by the way so i'm sure a lot of people will disagree with me on this, but who cares. The cool thing about Sonic though is that you have the ability to pull up to a menu outside in your car, order your food, have the workers there bring it to you, and then you can sit in your car and eat. Thy also have indoor seating so you can really do whatever you want. Sonic is different than most fast food places which makes it a cool place to stop every once in a while. I have only been there a couple times but I liked it so you should all give it a try sometime when you are hungry and need somewhere to stop. It's not your average McDonald's or Burger King so you will enjoy your Sonic experience I guarantee it.

Thing That Annoys Me

The thing that annoys me the most is... being woken up early on the weekends! I mean seriously, it's bad enough that we have to get up at like 6 am every morning for school, having to get up early on the weekends just adds to the problem. I am a very deep sleeper and I absolutely hate being woken up, especially in the early morning. This happens way too often whether it's for a sporting event, a trip that i'm taking, the SAT's (damn they are coming up soon!) or the screaming and yelling from my 9 year old brother downstairs at the 7 am on a saturday or sunday morning, it's the worst thing ever. My brother Jack wakes up way too early and he is literally the loudest individual I have ever met!!!! His nonsense wakes me up far too often and it's a killer to have to turn to the clock when he awakes me and see like 7 am or 8 am on the clock when I usually sleep in until 10:30 or 11 o'clock. That child needs a muzzle when it comes to weekend morning because he is always yacking about something and I CAN"T STAND IT!!!! Seriously he has issues. Anyway, that is hat really annoys me, being woken up early. 

Best Person At Their Job

There are a lot of ways I could go with this statement but I am going to say that the best 6th man in all of high school basketball is... DRUMROLL PLEASE... JESSE HUNSICKER aka Kevin Love!!!! Let's be real here, Jesse is just a stud, he does it all. Everytime he checks into a game I swear its the Minnesota Timberwolves' power forward Kevin Love. The resemblance on and off the court is crazy, they could be twins. Anyway, Jesse is a efficient shooter when he gets the ball in his hands, drilling baseline jumpers like it's his job. Aside from his dirty jumper, he has a variety of post moves and contributes to the stat sheets with solid rebounding and the occasional steal and a few blocks. Like Kevin Love, he can do it all. Love is a human double-double in the NBA and has the ability to shoot 3's even as a big man (he won the 3 point contest). Jesse will surprise people when he pulls up behind the line, just like K-Love. Not to mention, a recent survey showed that Jesse resembles Love more than any other high school basketball player in the world!!!! In other words, he's just a boss. Finally you can follow the best 6th man alive on twitter at @J_Hunsy!!!!!! #KevinLove