blog 48

Blog 48

Hurricanes that flood cities. Tornadoes that level towns. Tsunami's that completely derail one of the most technologically advanced nation's on Earth. The power of nature fascinates me. Even as humans become incredibly sophisticated and seemingly capable of solving any problem, we will never be able to tame the raw power of the natural disasters of this world. Almost every day, we hear of some sort of storm, earthquake or flood that tears lives apart. While it is always incredibly sad to hear of these terrors, it is at the same time very intriguing. It makes me realize how insignificant the little problems in my day are. While I wake up and worry about how I am going to get my coffee before I hurry off to class, people elsewhere may have just had their town washed away by a tsunami, or flattened by a tornado. The awesome power of these storms is at the same time terrifying and beautiful. But possibly the most amazing feature of natural disasters is that even though they cause incredible destruction, some are extremely beneficial to the surrounding environment. Take floods for example, rivers such as the Nile in Egypt and the Mississippi flood periodically and therefore cause the surrounding soil to be extremely fertile. This periodic flooding of the Nile was the reason the ancient Egyptian civilizations were able to thrive in what would otherwise be an inhospitable desert. Wildfires provide the heat to crack the otherwise dormant seeds of certain types of pine trees. The paradoxical destruction and benefits of the natural disasters of this world are simply fascinating.

blog 47

Blog 47

I honestly am not sure about who the first girl I liked was. I'm guessing it was a kindergarten crush, from my time at Bonaventure Elementary in Weston, Florida. My most memorable crush would definitely be on my fourth grade teacher. I thought she was the most beautiful woman, and therefore thought everything she said was golden too. I have had many memorable crushes though. I had an eighth grade crush on a girl named Shelby Richards. I was so infatuated with this girl. I had just moved to West Jefferson Middle School from Fitzsimmons Middle school, and Shelby was pretty much the first girl I became friends with, due to the fact that the friends I already had at the school from meeting them in basketball were friends with her. I honestly am not sure about who the first girl I liked was. I'm guessing it was a kindergarten crush, from my time at Bonaventure Elementary in Weston, Florida. My most memorable crush would definitely be on my fourth grade teacher. I thought she was the most beautiful woman, and therefore thought everything she said was golden too. I have had many memorable crushes though. I had an eighth grade crush on a girl named Shelby Richards. I was so infatuated with this girl. I had just moved to West Jefferson Middle School from Fitzsimmons Middle school, and Shelby was pretty much the first girl I became friends with, due to the fact that the friends I already had at the school from meeting them in basketball were friends with her. The funny thing is that I ended up dating her my senior year of high school!

blog 46

Blog 46

I don't have many pet peeves, but there are a few things in life that infuriate me. One of which has to do with rec basketball, that is, playing pick up basketball games at places like the RPAC or Jesse Owens North. I absolutely hate it when you gets these little jerks who think they are the shit at the game. They throw up shots from five feet behind the arc, miss horribly, and yell “OH MY GOD!!!!!!!! I make that all the time how did I miss!!”. These kids are the worst. Now, I'm a pretty good ball player, but I am nothing special. These little shits are terrible. They are usually short and stubby, but they have this attitude that they are awesome at life. They're not. They actually suck. They are terrible. In the unlikely event that they actually make a bullshit shot that they toss up without looking from a spin in the air behind the backboard, they proceed to vocally state their dominance in the sport. I really hate these types of basketball players. I cannot stand it when I see this. In all honesty, it just makes me want to play harder so I can embarrass these little bastards. Another pet peeve I have connects with the previous one. I hate cockiness. Arrogant assholes bother the hell out of me. I can't stand people like this. They are rude, hard to talk to, and don't contribute to society. These people really just make other people feel bad.

blog 45

Blog 45

When I was in 6^th grade my family and I took a trip to the awesome city of Rome. We were currently living in the town of Harpenden in England at the time, so it was a short flight to the Italian capitol. It was around the time of Thanksgiving, and was our first of that holiday overseas. The country of England did not celebrate the holiday for obvious reasons, so my parents wanted to celebrate it in our own way. The city of Rome can be described only as incredible. The architecture is beautiful, old, and historic. The thought that almost every building in that city is older than the majority of the dwellings in the United States is crazy. Each block we explored was deeply intertwined in history. We walked at least ten miles each of the four days we were there. We walked to the jaw dropping coliseum, the impressive Roman forum, the amazing Pantheon in the heart of Rome and many other places around the city. We also entered the Vatican City and saw Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel, a striking experience. While all this was amazing, the very best aspect of Rome was the food. The food was insanely delicious. The thousands of pizza places scattered around the city are by far superior in quality to anything you can get in the United States. The gilatto, Italian ice cream, was unspeakably delicious. I still dream to this day of the treat that was the main seller of thousands of carts on every block. We would stop at a gilatto stand four to five times a day. Simply incredible. My tastebuds are still recovering from the orgasm of the mouth I experienced with the food in Rome.

blog 43

Blog 43

The best present I have ever been given was the video ipod my parents gave me for my 14^th birthday in middle school. This is the most useful device I carry around. I still use it today. I have probably around three thousand songs on there, and ten movies- The Greatest Game Ever Played, Oceans Eleven, The Dewey Cox story, Pineapple Express, Sex Drive, Lord of the Rings the Fellowship of the Ring, Lord of the Rings the Twin Towers, Lord of the Rings the Return of the King, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, I Hope They Serve Beer in Heaven, Star Wars New Hope, Star Wars the Empire Strikes Back, Star Wars the Return of the Jedi, Star Wars the Phantom Menace, Star Wars the Clone Wars, Star Wars the Revenge of the Sith, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, the Shawshank Redemption, South Park Bigger Longer and Uncut, Harold and Kumar go to White Castle, Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay, The Bourne Trilogy that consists of the Bourne Identity, the Bourne Supremacy, the Bourne Ultimatum, the Pirates of the Caribbean the Curse of the Black Pearl, the Pirates of the Caribbean Dead Man's Chest, the Pirates of the Caribbean At World's End and Super Troopers.

blog 42

Blog 42

It's dirty, exhausting, and hot, but you'll get twelve bucks an hour. This was the hook that pulled me into the job I had last summer. I worked for my cousin's steel company, Hinton Steel, in the warehouse. This job was grimy, hard work, and difficult, but the pay was great. It was definitely a love-hate relationship. I hated getting up early, the 45 minute commute, and the fairly long days. I loved the money, the guys I worked with, and the accomplished feeling I had that I worked hard to earn something. I worked 40-hour weeks, 8 hours a day. The days were hot and sometimes pretty slow. At the start of the summer, I had absolutely no idea what I was doing. I had to learn the layout of the warehouse and the technique of pulling, cutting, and loading the steel quickly, but I had the help of my coworkers: Victor, Juan and Jose. All three warehouse workers were Mexican, with heavy accents, and knew very limited English. Victor was a funny guy, and was a little hostile at first, but it didn't take long for him to warm up to me. Juan was friendly from the very beginning, and is incredibly smart and talented at building whatever device is needed for the warehouse. Jose was the difficult one. I spent the most time with Jose because we were both in the front of the warehouse loading cars and trucks, while Victor delivered steel and Juan did fabrications. Jose was hard to impress, and was a touch “miestro”, as I called him. But, with persistence, I got him to accept me and we became friends. This job was a great experience for me. I learned much about dealing with people and coworkers, and the virtue of hard work and the benefits behind it.

blog 41

Blog 41

The Latin American culture fascinates me. These people seem to enjoy life so much, from the dancing to the partying to the music. I visited Costa Rica when I was a third grader and I loved the laid back attitude everyone seemed to enjoy there. Nature also seems to be a huge part of Latin American culture, with the seemingly endless rainforest and beautiful beaches. They are more connected with their surrounding then many other cultures of the world. Latin American culture can also be very roudy. They have for centuries had many rebellions, as has the rest of the world, but also there can be a lot of crime down in South and Central America. The drug cartels that currently reside in Mexico and Guatemala just filled in the void that the Colombian cocaine enterprise left when it crumpled. The cartels in Mexico are very problematic not only for Mexico, but increasly for the United States of America as well. When it comes down to it, the U.S is the only reason the cartels are so strong and widespread; we have the largest number of customers.