America's Past Time

Staying loose is a very key necessity in this game. The dress is very formal for a sport. Full uniforms with belts and different colors. Some of the colors are bright and vary according to a particular mascot, others are simple white and gray colors with stripes. Metal cleats are needed to dig into the dirt as runners round the bases. The cleats give traction on the solid, sometimes slippery ground. A hat is required on the field and a helmet is needed to set foot in the batter's box. The game is decided by balls and strikes, offense and defense.

The rituals for the players and coaches are extreme. Some fans are as dedicated to the rituals, if not more, as many of the coaches and players. Many have their own routine. Some eat certain meals, listen to certain music, or pass around signature hand-shakes to other team-mates. Some even purposely do different activities if they're in a slump or had a bad game. The rituals vary greatly and have only evolved and expanded throughout the years, and there have been many.

The rules of the game are very classical and formal. The game has changed slowly as technology has evolved, but the game is insistent on sticking to its roots. The rules are nearly perfect and in my opinion took a genius to develop the rules and fundamentals of the game.

Many people would argue that America's past-time is boring. Some people have said, "There just isn't as much action as football or basketball." This is true, but it is a harder sport to play than those two. Baseball is not as physical as football or basketball, although basketball isn't very physical at all, but how many people do you know that can hit a 95 mph fastball? Or an 85 mph curveball for that matter.

Football and basketball take a lot of practice and dedication, but you have to be born with many physical advantages to play the game at the collegiate or professional level. You have to have height, speed, strength and coordination to play the game. Baseball takes these qualities as well, but the practice it takes get to the collegiate or professional level is extreme. The great thing about it is that anyone with some athleticism can do it if they do the work, but few are capable of such a task.

David Eckstein is a 5'7, 175 pound MVP of the 2006 World Series. What other sport could he achieve such a feat? Other than golf. Another example would be the 2008 American League MVP Dustin Pedroia, who is slightly bigger than Eckstein at 5'8, 180 pounds. I could go on and on but I believe I've made my point. It isn't their size or strength that make them great, it's the hard wok and dedication the two of them possess that have turned them into playmakers.

America's past-time is great because anyone can play it. It broke the color barrier in sports, helped the country get through World Wars, as well as the Great Depression, and is played throughout country fields, city streets, and third-world countries. People find a way to play the game. Whether it's a traditional ball and bat, or a stick and boucy-ball. People have played and watched the game for more than 100 years, and even though the game has been tainted in recent years, beaseball and its fans will find a way to get through it and make it great again.

Starry Night

"Starry Night" is Van Gogh's most sought after and replicated painting. People have based songs, and other merchandise on this painting. It's difficult to shy away from it. Van Gogh painted "Starry Night" while in an asylum in Saint-Remy in 1889. Some believe they 11 stars are a religious reference to the verse Gensis 37:9. Whether it reflects a religious reference, Van Gogh based other paintings on the stars and night. People can relate to this painting because people feel comfortable and at ease. The sky keeps the viewers eyes moving with the swirls of the clouds and the stars. The movement keeps the onlooker involved, while other factors take hold.

.....is like....

Hope is like holding on to a cloud. While you are laying there on the roof, on a bright sunny day, you may think you could almost touch one. Even though you may not be able to, you hold on tight to the idea that you can. So you day dream, about grabbing on to that cloud, and flying away on it. Hope is what propels us to the next day, the next big thing, the next place in our lives. Hope is what keeps us going through the monotonous tones of everyday life.

Relief is like having a weight lifted off your shoulders. Relief is when you were younger diving down for that dive stick. Even though you got a big breath right before you dove in, you know you can't hold your breath any longer. So you are swimming as hard as you can to the bottom, you grab the dive stick, and touch the bottom with your feet. You push off as hard as you can! When you reach the surface you gasp for air. So relieved that you made it to the top for that breath of life.

Jealousy is like clinging to your neighbors mailbox. You see that they have the perfect car, perfect house, and perfect family. You watch from the outside because you can see that what they have is exactly what you want. You are jealous of their perfect red Mercedes, their 3 small little children that hunt Easter eggs in the yard, and you wish that your house had french doors and green shutters. So, you stand there clinging to their mailbox. The exterior of everything they have. The mailbox is at the end of the driveway, so far away from what they own, but close enough to just get a glimpse of the "perfect life."

hope is a fat guy

Hope is a fat guy standing in front of a salad bar. He dreams of the day his waist is back to normal. The tomatoes and carrots are his instrumens of obtaining his desire--the ladders he must climb--the hill he must run up. But he's determined. The bacon bits and creamy ranch are his pitfalls. The Big and Tall store will be a distant memory if he can just eat that first bite.

Longing is a lightbulb. Full of bright burning energy, but trapped within a delicate casing. If the glass is broken and it can escape, everything goes dark. No matter how badly it wants to explore the world outside the fragile glass, it would be doomed to failure.

Jealousy is cauliflower. It's just as good as broccoli, but no one wants to eat it. It sits there on the salad bar and thinks, "i taste just as good, i'm prettier, and i won't get caught in your teeth--why the hell won't you pick me?!" It just sits there glaring at the broccoli--everyone's favorite--and dreams of the day it can grow legs or be able to go kick broccoli's ass. It dreams of being the lone vegetable on the fat guy's salad, yet no matter how hard it tries, it just can't be seen as good as broccoli. It sits there...green eh white with envy.

On Belay

Rock climbing is completely different from any other sport out there. Many people think that climbing is dangerous and stupid to do. The truth of the matter is that rock climbing has it’s inherit risks, but there are many ways to limit the danger of injury. Climbing is as safe as you make it. Whoever chooses to climb carries the responsibility to make it as safe as possible for ones self as well as other people. There are not any “rules” in the traditional sports sense; no referee or score keeper in rock climbing. There is more just safety precautions and etiquette to remember. When you’re on the rock, be mindful of other climbers and be respectful of them as well as the land. I can’t tell you how irritating it is to come up to a spot and have trash all over the place and to have annoying people blabbering on about stupid things. Climbing is unique in that you are not usually competing with any one else or against another team. Its just you verses the rock. You are always trying to out do your last climb. It is a test against ones self to push your limits to the up most. The motion of a climber is also unique. It can be as graceful as a ballet dancer, or it can be filled with grunts and spastic lunges to small holds. Climbing is a real testament to the wonder of the human body. It is always amazing to think about the fact people practically stick to the wall on holds smaller than the width of a pencil.
.

The Cafe Terrace on the Place du Forum, Arles, France, At Night

"Cafe Terrace at Night" is a painting by Van Gogh of a coffee shop in France. He painted it in September, 1888. Van Gogh is widely known for his painting "Starry Night". "Cafe Terrece at Night" is the first painting in which he used the starry background in the night sky. Visitors in Arles, France can still visit the site where Van Gogh sat with his easel to paint this picture. I have always wanted to visit France, ever since I was a child, so I love any artwork that portrays it. "Cafe Terrace at Night" has warm, inviting colors that make me wish I could be sitting at the little coffee shop myself in 1888. I love to look at this painting and imagine what the coffee shop is like inside and the French people having conversation over coffee under a beautiful starry sky. It provides a sense of serenity, as if you would have no worries if you were there. Van Gogh is famous for many of his paintings, but "Cafe Terrace at Night" is one of my favorites.

All is Fair in Love and War

Love is like a roller coaster it has it’s high and it’s lows. The ride can take you as high as Mtn. Everest then in a mila second send you plummeting back to earth like a skydiver without a parachute.

Anger is like the calm before the storm. It builds and builds until it finally releases all of its fury in one ferocious action. Like the eye of a hurricane the source of the anger swirls around the problem creating fear and havoc all around it.

Jealousy is like a wicker candle it will burn and stay aglow but can eventually tip over and burn down everything around it. Jealous revenge can start with a simple bee sting but over time it can fester into many stings which can prove to be fatal.

All The Worlds A Stage

I have been acting all my life.  Although I have only been acting on stage since I was in kindergarden, I have in someway or another acted everyday of my life, whether it is covering up my true feelings about a situation or trying to make someone laugh, I am acting.  

My stage debut was when I was 5 in my church's annual Easter drama and that is where I fell in love with the thrill of being on stage, all eyes on you.

You know when you purposely say something a certain way or do something because you know that it is going to affect someone, you are acting.  Everything we say and do we do it for a purpose, although we might not be completely aware of it, we are acting.  As babies we figure out how to manipulate our parents to get what we want; we cry just because we know that we can get what we want by doing it.  We are all actors.

When I am on stage I can be someone different.  I can escape my problems, be free of my personal struggles, I am no longer bound by my fears.  I have new problems and new struggles that are my characters; sometimes they are worse than mine sometimes they aren't, but when I am that new person, no matter how hard it is, I love it.  

Whether I am on stage or just living my life, I am an actor.  

"All the worlds a stage, and all the men and women merely players."

-Shakespeare 

Emotions are Weird

Happiness is taking a shot. It is something most people love. It’s something you usually take part in with other people. Happiness is found easily. And it doesn't take a huge amount to satisfy people.

Jealousy is a germ. Jealousy is something you know is there but you try to ignore it or overlook it. Jealousy is often small but when someone is extremely jealous, it creates a sickness inside them. Jealousy is everyday and everywhere. People deny their jealousy.

Anger is a high heel. Things start out looking smooth and then something sharp and quick happens. Anger is impossible to ignore. Anger can last five minutes, or it can last all day. It comes in a variety of intensities, or colors.

Mickey Mouse

Mickey Mouse is a household name and creates an image of wonder and imagination. He is the face of the “most magical place on earth,” Disney World. As a child everyone dreams of Disney World and meeting Mickey Mouse. I think he represents that fun and the dreams that every child wants to experience. The whole Disney experience and especially Mickey Mouse seems so big and wonderful to a little kid. I have always enjoyed Mickey Mouse, but being a girl, also Minnie Mouse. I remember my first trip to Disney World and the excitement I felt meeting Mickey and Minnie. I was overcome with joy. I still have my autograph book with their signatures. I don’t think I took the infamous Mickey ears off for a month after my trip to Disney World. Even now that I am older the character still brings out the child in me. Mickey represents a world that is full of magic and wonder; and I think that is why he is appealing to so many. I think Mickey takes you away from reality into a world that is unlike any other. As a child, living in such a magical world is the greatest thing ever. As I got older and learned the real story of Mickey and the Disney world, I have an even greater respect for what Mickey represents. It is also exciting to see that excitement you had in other generations. My family will be taking my brother's little boys to Disney World and I am really exicted to see how they react. It is nice to see the innocence of little kids in such a wonderful enviroment. They get excited just talking about it. It is funny how such little things mean so much when you are a kid.