Friday, May 13, 2011

Any Topic Essay


I want this school year to stop NOW!!  I have had enough of school and I want out. 
This has been a long year.  Although, this year has seemed to go by faster than the other years, it still seems long. The end of the year always seems to be the longest part.  Especially when there are only a few weeks of school left, the year really seems to go in slow mo.  In the closing months of the school year, I sort of transform into a lazy and unproductive person.  I don’t feel like doing much of anything. 
I get so sick of all the assignments and tests that we have.  I just don’t want to do them because I don’t want to be there.  I hate getting long assignments when I already have a ton more of assignments to do. 
I get sick of waking up in the morning to my stupid alarm clock.  The constant beeping in my eardrum drives my insane!  I have little energy in my drained body as I get up and out of bed.  I start slowly getting up and lumber towards the door.  I walk towards the bathroom to take my shower with my eyes still half shut.  After my shower, I go eat breakfast and watch Sportscenter until it’s time to go to school. 
I dread the school bus as it comes over the horizon on the highway.  The horrid, yellow color tells me I am going to an awful place.  The annoying sound of chatter by little children makes my head want to explode.  The constant pestering of the little children makes me want to lose it!  I hate the incredibly uncomfortable seats on the bus.  My knees digging into the seat ahead of me causes great discomfort. 
I get sick of the same sights everyday.  I get sick of the same vision of the school building slowly getting closer and closer.  I get sick of the walking into the building and going to class.  I think the only way I get through it all is from the great high school students in our school. 
The high school students are so caring and responsible.  They also are a lot of fun to be around.  They kind of mentor me and guide me.  They give wisdom and advice.  They especially help me get through the school year. 
I love the thought of the countdown to the end of the school year.  I love the thought of knowing there are only so few weeks left in the school year.  Then summer comes!  I find rest and satisfaction knowing that I have passed another year of school and moved up to the next grade.  Oh! How I can’t wait for the summer!

Monday, May 2, 2011

         Celebration Essay


 My celebration essay is on my dad.  There could have been a lot of other people who I could have written this essay on.  But, I chose my dad.   My dad has had a huge impact on my life.  He has really influenced me in many ways.    First, he has helped me get out of tough times and has shown me how I need to have a positive attitude all the time.  A positive attitude changes everything! 
My dad is middle-aged.  He is about the same age as the other fathers of my classmates.  My dad, like me, has lived on a farm for just about his whole life.  He has told me that he loved growing up on a farm.  And that it is a whole lot better than growing up in a city. 
Meanwhile, my dad has some dislikes about his life growing up too.  He has told me how his dad (my grandpa) was extremely strict to him.  Which is weird because I can’t see my Grandpa being really strict at all.  He really mellowed down.   My dad tells me how there is a huge difference in the way he was treated and the way I am.  I am spoiled! 
My dad told me how he grew up doing chores every day on the farm. 
         I am truly blessed to have him as my dad.  He has really helped me through life and made me become who I am today.  He has shown me how to act properly, to be polite and to be respectful.  Another thing, he has taught me to be aggressive and to aim high towards your goals.  He has relentlessly taught me how to handle all kinds of situations…the right way.  I also was taught by him to take what I’ve been given and to deal with it.  He also repeatedly told me to accept what I can’t change and to get over it. 
         Of course, he’s taught me to work hard and to do every job well the first time.  He has told me to respect and listen to my teachers, pastors, boss and anyone else in authority over me. 
         At this point in my life I have become a much more mature and responsible young man.  I have definitely changed from what I used to be.  Before, I would cause headaches and make my dad furious because I disobeyed him.  I used to be extremely lazy and unproductive.  Now I’m still lazy but I have come a long way from where I was. 
         Most important, without my dad I would have never been led to Christ.  He helped me come to know Christ and have a relationship with Him.  Christ has saved me thanks to my dad’s determination to make me a believer.  He helped me get my heart right with God and come to know God’s great love and His plan for me.  My dad has helped me with a lot of things, but helping lead me to Christ was definitely the most important. 
         Finally, I intend to pass on the things my father taught me on to my family and then their family too.  Thank you dad for being such a great father and raising me the way you did.  No one can take your place.

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

FOOTBALL VS. RUGBY

                                             
    Football is one of the most popular sports in the United States today.  While rugby is one of the most popular sports in England today. 
    Football and rugby in a way, are very similar, and in a way, very different.  If you play football, rugby will come fairly easy to you. 
    Football has been around for almost as long as rugby has.  Rugby was invented by a man named Web Ellis, in 1823.  Web Ellis got the idea of inventing the sport rugby while playing a game of football (now known as soccer in America).  He had the ball kicked to him.  He picked it up.  But instead of kicking it back or running with the football (soccer in America), he ran towards the goal line and yelled, ''TRY!''  That is said how rugby was invented.  The rugby ball was originally made from a pig's bladder and its unique, oval shape is still to represent it.  Rugby became a proffesional sport in 1995 and will be featured in the 2016 Olympics. 
    Football was invented not long after rugby was invented.  The game football was invented in 1876.  A man named Walter Camp came up with the idea of football after seeing the game rugby that Web Ellis came up with.  Walter Camp came up with the idea of football after seeing rugby and soccer and sort of combining the two. 
    Football has widely become one of the most popular sports in the United States today.  The game of football became a professional sport in 1942.  It now has the name NFL, or The National Football League. 
    Football has really changed since it was invented over 130 years ago.  Now football has helmets with extra padding to protect the players from concusions.  Way back when, the game of football was played with leather helmets.  The ball that the players used to play with was made of pig skin hide.  Now the football is made from rubber and the helmets are made of plastic. 
    The sport of football has been around for almost 70 years, now.  But the game of professional football may come to an end.  The NFL may be forced to do a lockout of the game of football. 
    There are some similarities and also differences between football and rugby.  One is that in rugby, you can only pass the ball backwards, not forwards.  Where in football, you can pass the ball forward and backwards. 
    Another difference is where in rugby, the game is about 80 minutes long.  While in football, the game is usually over 3 hours long.  So between a football game and a rugby game the time difference is around 100 minutes.  
   There are also some similarities of football and rugby.  In rugby and football, you can lateral the ball backwards to each other.  Also in both sports, you can tackle eachother for the ball. 
    Rugby and football also have similar and different terms.  In rugby, when a player does an illegal move, he is temporarily suspended from the game.  In football, if a player does an illegal move, a penalty marker flies and there is a loss of yards.  The field in rugby is called a ''pitch'';  and in football it's called a ''field''.  Rugby and football have some similarities in terms.  The terms tackling and fumbling are both used in rugby and football. 
    If you know how to play football and you want to learn to play rugby, it will come fairly easy. 

Friday, April 8, 2011

                                                                                                            
      The Vikings’ Stadium

   The Vikings shouldn’t build a new stadium.  The Vikings have had talks about building a new stadium for the past few years.  They have also complained about that the Metrodome is getting too old and Ziggy Wilf wants a new stadium.  Well, we just don’t need a new stadium.  We can keep playing in the Metrodome.
    The Vikings’ new stadium, if they build one, would cost an estimated $700 to $900 million dollars.  The Vikings are not worth the money.  It is not worth over a half a billion dollars for a new stadium, just to watch a football game.  And of all the teams to watch, they want to build it for the Vikings. 
    The Vikings are not the team they used to be in the past.  They have become a below five hundred team.  They also have lost their desire to play the game hard and have lost their ability to win football games.  If they had to build a new stadium, the Vikings would not play hard in it.
    By the way, where would the money for the stadium come from?  Who would have to pay for it?  The taxpayers of Minnesota would have to pay for it most likely.  Think of the outcome of this decision.  The people of Minnesota would have to pay their hard earned money on a new stadium.  Most Minnesotans would be very angry with this law.  Minnesotans would think it’s ridiculous to add another tax to their list.  The people of Minnesota are taxed enough already.  We don’t need another tax on stadiums. 
    We already have enough taxes on stadiums already.  We have to pay taxes on the Twins’ stadium, the Wilds’ stadium, the Timberwolves’ stadium, and the Gopher’s football and basketball stadiums.  Minnesota taxpayers have to pay about $545 million on the Twins’ stadium, Target Field.  Minnesota taxpayers have to pay about $120 million on the Timberwolves’ stadium, the Target Center.  Minnesota taxpayers have to pay about $450 to $650 million left to pay on the Wilds’ stadium, the Xcel Energy Center.  As for the Gophers’ football and basketball stadiums, Minnesota taxpayers have to pay about $500 million on the Gopher’s football stadium and about $280 million on the Gophers’ basketball stadium. 
    The total would add up to over $189.5 billion!  That’s how much Minnesotans have to pay for stadiums, just to watch sports games!   We don’t have to spend another $700-$900 million for another stadium.  Our pocketbooks will really be hurting.
    The Vikings should just repair the Metrodome.  They should (well they are going to anyway) fix the roof of the dome.  The roof collapsed last year due to snowfall so they should replace it with a new, sturdy roof.  And not an air-supported dome either.  The Vikings could also rebuild the structure of the stadium and fix the turf.  The players have complained a lot about the turf, how it is one of the worst artificial turfs in the NFL.  So the Vikings can fix that too.  It would be a whole lot cheaper to just do repairs instead of building a brand new stadium.
    It doesn’t add up to build a new stadium.  Minnesotans would have to pay taxes on it for years.  And then when it’s done, we may not even like how the stadium looks.  So to build a new stadium for the Vikings just shouldn’t happen now.  Because we can’t afford it!

Monday, March 21, 2011

 
                                                                         Matt Meyer

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe


    The title of the book I choose was ‘The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe”.  The author of this book is C.S. Lewis.  C.S. Lewis writes a lot of books about fairy tales, talking animals, and mythical creatures.  This is the first of seven books in the series.  This book is a non-fiction book because it deals with a lot of talking animals and things that wouldn’t normally happen in real life. 
    Here is a brief description of the characters.  The oldest, and the leader of the four is Peter.  Peter makes the decisions and keeps the other three in order.  Peter also does his best to protect the other three from any danger. 
    Susan is the second oldest.  She also keeps the others in order.  She occasionally doesn’t agree with Peter’s decisions and lets him know about it. 
   Edmund is the second youngest.  He is the mischievous one of the four.  He gets into trouble and causes arguments between them.  He looks for ways to start fights and start big problems. 
    Lucy is the youngest of the four.  She is the curious, and adventure seeker of the four.  She is always looking for new adventures and looking on the bright side.  She also has the biggest imagination of the four. 
    Aslan is the king of Narnia.  He is not a human.  He is a lion.  He shows justice to those who need it and when they need it.  He also has a kind, compassionate heart to those who need it too. 
    There is also a witch in the story.  The witch is an evil, cold-hearted person.  She is the villain of the story.  She is also white-colored, and has a selfish attitude witch. 
    My summary of this book is that four children, from London move to a professor’s house, or mansion really.  They had to move there because their house was getting air-raided.  The timeline in this book is when World War II took place.
    Inside the mansion, Lucy finds a wardrobe.  The wardrobe is filled with fur coats and wood floors.  But, there is no back in the wardrobe.  Lucy keeps walking and steps on snow and finds herself next to evergreen branches.  She finds herself in Narnia.  In Narnia it is snowing year round, because of a witch’s spell.  An evil, cold-hearted witch rules Narnia.  She has made it snow year round and she took the throne away from Aslan, the real king of Narnia. 
    The four children are to be part of a prophecy.  They are to be the next kings and queens of Narnia.  They are supposed to rule with Aslan, the rightful king.  But, the witch wants to rule Narnia with them.  She wants them to keep Narnia under a spell. 
   The four children have to help Aslan get the throne back to him.  There is war going on between the two sides.  Aslan’s side is trying to stop the witch, while the witch’s side is trying to stop Aslan, but Aslan confronts the witch and the witch kills Aslan. 
   The witch thinks her side has won and they have defeated Aslan.  Aslan rises from the dead and kills the witch.  Aslan goes and saves the rest of the people of Narnia who have been put under a spell by the witch.  The four children take over the throne of Narnia with Aslan.
    This is a good book because it has the characters resemble people in the Bible. In the story, Aslan resembles God.  He is the ruler of the world.  Aslan also resembles God in the way he acts.  He acts with power and with compassion.  Aslan also resembles Jesus.   Aslan is crucified, like Jesus, but not on a cross.  Aslan also rises from the dead, like Jesus did.
    This book could help people who don’t know God.  The book could get them wondering about God and could turn them to Christianity.
   The witch even resembles Satan.  Aslan rises back from the dead and defeats the witch.   And Jesus will do that someday to Satan.   The witch tempts us like Satan does.  The witch, or devil tries to get us to turn away from God, or Aslan.  But, Aslan, or God is always victorious in the end. 
     An exciting part of the book is when one of the witch’s wolves is chasing after the children.  The wolf is snarling, and growling and is right on the heels of the children.  The wolf wants to capture the children and have them turn to and rule the world of Narnia with the witch.  The children are running for their lives.  They are racing up trees and running for safety. 
  I recommend this book for anyone who hasn’t read it yet. 

Monday, February 28, 2011

The Jamaican Killer

                                                               The Jamaican Killer

   
    I was lonely.  I sat in a prison cell, on a cold, hard prison bed.  I was there for a crime I didn’t commit.  I know who the real killer is.  He’s still out there, and he has my father.  He wants to kill him.  I must get back to and rescue my father. 
    Rewind to about a week earlier.  I sit comfortably in my soft, leather seats, with the radio blasting out AC/DC.  I grip tightly to the steering wheel.  The speedometer reads seventy-six, as I roar down the highway. 
    I turn on an intersection and go to a downtown basketball court.  My friends are hanging out playing some ball.  I step out of my Chevelle and come up to them.  They welcome me with hugs and handshakes.  “How you doing Fred?  Good to see you.” greets Dusty.
“Now we got our fifth player and we’re ready to go.” said Jeff. 
    The guys were playing a bunch of young, Jamaican kids.  They all looked to be about seventeen.  My friends and I have a four-year advantage on them.  Except for Dusty, he is seventeen, too.  The Jamaicans said, “Let’s start the game.”  “We’ll let you start with it.” said Dusty.  We checked the ball and the Jamaicans started off with it.  These guys looked like they never played basketball in their life.  We whooped them!  The Jamaicans couldn’t hit any of their shots, while we were hitting all ours.  I drained about eight three pointers.  Jeff had a few dunks followed by an occasional reverse lay up.  When the sun went down and the Jamaicans couldn’t take it anymore, we decided to head back home.  I hopped back in my ’69 Chevelle and cranked up some Van Halen.  I drove back to my apartment. 
    Some days I like my apartment, and some days I hate it!  Ever since I got laid off at the car shop, I 
have had to sell almost everything.  I had to sell all my furniture, half my clothes, and I couldn’t pay the rent at my nice apartment.  So I had to move to this much cheaper and rundown apartment.  I still got to keep the ’69 Chevelle, though. 
    Also since I moved, I lost my father.  A Jamaican gang captured him, when he was coming home.  I don’t have my mom with me anymore either, because she died when I was five years old.  I go up into my apartment and open up a bottle of Jack Daniels.  I drink down the whiskey, while I’m resting on my ripped up, old couch.  I notice a piece of paper taped to the door.  I walk up to it.  It reads: 
    “ I know who you are.  I have your father.  If you want to see him alive again come find me.  –Dante’”
  I fall back into my couch.  I am stunned to know that my dad is alive and that someone has him.  I hop in the Chevelle and drive up to Jeff’s house.  He lets me in and I tell what happened.  I ask him if he knows who Dante’ is.  “Yes I know who Dante’ is.”  said Jeff.  “I used to work with him.  He seemed nice, but sometimes he was creepy and mysterious.”  continued Jeff.
     I ask, “Do you know where he lives?”   
    “Yeah, he lives in Johnson’s old house.” answers Jeff.   
    “I know where that is.”  I said.  I drive on over to Dante’s house and find no one home.  I ask the neighbor if they’d seen him.  They tell me that Dante’s been gone for a few days.  “Well, what car does he drive?” I asked.  “He drives a 2002 Dodge Ram.” replied the neighbor.  I want to go look for my dad, but I am exhausted.  So, I head back to my apartment and crash into my bed.  I wake up the next morning and I am still tired.  I only got four hours of sleep. 
    Most of the night I spent having nightmares about my dad.  I get the phone and call the police.  I tell them to keep a lookout for a 2002 Dodge Ram.  I wait the whole morning and I get no call back from them.  So, I decide to go to the beach to try to get my mind off of my dad.  There are a lot of people at the beach, as always.  There are a lot of tourists and Jamaicans at the beach. 
    I sit down at a bar that is made to look like a hut.  I ask the bartender for a Sam Adams.  I try to think of other things by looking at the people on the beach.  But that only makes me think of when I was little playing with my dad.  I can remember playing with my dad and splashing in the water.  He would throw me up into the air and he would catch me above the water.  I can remember my mom resting on the sand under the sun.  I can remember my mom sun tanning and building sand castles with me.  We would laugh and play together all day at the beach. 
    The day turns to night and most of the people have either gone home or to a hotel where they’re staying.  I am still at the bar and I still have my dad on my mind.  I stare up at the moonlight.  It reminds me of when my dad and I would stay up and watch the stars through a cheap, toy telescope.  I ask the bartender for another round. 
    Suddenly, this guy comes up to the bar.  He has a blue jacket, black pants, a cigarette in his mouth, flip-flops, and a golden watch.  He looks like he’s from Europe.  He has a thick mustache and his hair is thinning around the top of his head.  He turns his head and glances at me.  Then, he turns back to the bartender.  His eyes bulge out of his head.  He turns back to me.  He asks, “Are you Fred Montero?” 
    "Yes I am." I say.
    He drops his arm down into his jacket, and pulls out a small pistol.  I slowly back up and then sprint towards the parking lot.  He aims his pistol at me and he fires it.  The bullet misses me and puts a dent in a car hood.  I quickly duck down behind a pickup.  I hear his footsteps come towards me.  My heart beat races.  I hear him reload his gun.  He is standing on the other side of the pickup.  I throw my Sam Adams bottle at him.  The bottle shatters and smacks him on the side of the face.  I stand up and find his wallet next to me.  I pick it up and look at his driver’s license.  The man’s name is Dante’.  My heart stops.  I can’t move.  This man has my father.  Dante’ slowly gets up from the ground.  We see each other.  He reaches for his gun.  I take off running again.  He shoots, but hits a man walking by me.  The man hits the ground dead.  Dante’ just killed this man.  Dante’ is coming towards me.  I say to him, “Where’s my father?” 
     “You don’t need to know that?” said Dante’. 
    “Why did you take him?” I asked. 
    “Well, a few years ago I was charged for the murder of three people.  Your father was working the case against me.  I was found guilty by the judge and was sentenced to life in prison.  I escaped and plan to kill him and anyone who tries to stop me.” said Dante’.
    Dante’ pointed the gun at me.  He cocked the gun back.  “I plan to kill even you.” said Dante’.  Suddenly, sirens were heard in the background.  Dante’ took off and I was surrounded by cops and a dead man Dante’ killed.  The cops brought me in for murder. 
    I was lonely.  I sat in a prison cell, on a cold, hard prison bed.  I was there for a crime I didn’t commit.  I know who the real killer is.  He’s still out there, and he has my father.  He wants to kill him.  I must get back to and rescue my father.  I take a spring from the prison bed and use it to unlock the door. 
    I escape out of the prison and head back to the crime scene.  I find a blood trail on the ground.  It must have been from when I hit him with the bottle.  I follow the trail and I end up at an old, abandoned warehouse.  I step inside and see, through an open door, three men, Dante’, and my dad in a room.  I pick up a gun on the ground and slowly step into the room.  I knock down the first man from behind him.  The two other men come rushing towards me.  I fire the gun at them and they both fall to the ground dead.  I see my dad and run towards him.  As I’m trying to untie my dad, Dante’ jumps on me from behind.  We wrestle each other and Dante’s gun goes rolling across the ground.  I push him off of me and pick up the gun. 
    I see Dante’ now has my dad at gunpoint.  I don’t hesitate one bit.  I fire the gun.  I hit Dante’ center in the chest.  Dante’ falls to the ground dead.  I go to my dad and untie him.  We embrace each other, with tears in our eyes.  It’s over.  The killer is dead.  My dad and I are together again.  THE END

 

Monday, January 24, 2011

I Go Back

Whenever I smell
the smell of a freshly-graded
dirt infield
I go back to a late-June day.
I am at the plate
with the tying run
on first and two outs.
I swing at a
high fastball
and connect for a
towering walk-off homerun
I trot the bases and jump into
my teammates arms at home.

  But this is just a dream
My real story is walking
up to the plate
and striking out.
The players and the crowd
find it as routine for me.

Things I could do if I were a Hockey Puck

I would slide
around on the
frozen ice. 
I am constantly
being drilled by
player's hockey sticks. 
I get passed to other players.
SMACK!
I am hit into the
glass pane.
I manouver past
defenders.
I get shot
towards the goal.
I score!