Week 6A: Yearly Awards

Most Interesting Part of this Class: Watching “Into the West.” I really liked that show.

Most Boring/Useless Part of this Class: Probably the stuff that we read that everybody complained about because we didn’t understand what it was saying.

Hardest I Laughed in This Class: Maybe when Brigs sang the “Circle of Life” song, but most likely it was something that Hish said/did that I cant remember.

Thing That I Learned That Will Be Most Useful to Know in the Real World: Learning about frontiers and how they still exist and watching “Into the West” because it inspired me to explore personal frontiers.

Best Thing About Brigs as a Teacher: Laid back. I don’t think that he ever yelled and he always has a wise-crack or comeback for anything we say.

Thing Brigs Could do to Make This Class Better For Future Classes: Maybe more time or practice for the Make Your Mark project.

Week 5A: Dumb Laws

I think that one of the dumbest laws is that smoking is legal. We have all this information about how it increases the chances of cancer and heart disease and it kills people but we still do it. What I hate the most is that it affects the smart people who decide that they don’t want to smoke because they inhale secondhand smoke. If smoking was illegal then Americans would be a lot healthier and more convenient because we wouldn’t have to worry about choosing smoking or nonsmoking sections of restaurants.

Another dumb law is that people who live in Hawaii may be fined if they don’t own a boat. There is plenty to do in water without a boat. You can swim, surf, snorkel, lie on the beach, play beach soccer of volleyball, etc. Also what if a family cannot afford a boat?

Week 4A: Dollar Dollar Bills

If I had $5,000,000 I probably wouldn’t spend much of it for awhile. What I am really concerned with right now is how I am going to afford to go to college. I know that I will get some scholarship money but to make sure that I have enough money to cover the expenses I will assume that college will cost me $35,000 per year for 4-6 years (depending on what I study). In that case college will cost me $140,000-$210,000.

There are a few things that I would buy now or during college. I don’t know for sure what kind, but I would get a new iPod of MP3. I don’t think that it would cost more than $200. I would also get the nicest soccer cleats and shin guards that I can find. These would cost me maybe $300. I would also play soccer with Illinois Fusion. They are a club team that I want to play with now but it is expensive. That would cost me around $1000. Any other money I would spend would be on going to sporting events such as the Chicago Fire or Bears or Bulls. I would spend maybe 2 or 3 thousand dollars on this.

After college I would still have around $4,785,000 left. I would spend more on things like gas, food, movies, and birthday or Christmas presents but I would also be getting money from working and bank interest.

Week 3A: If I were a...Superhero

If I were a superhero I would be Violet from the Incredibles. I think that it would be the best superpower to be invisible because I could always know what is going on without anyone knowing I was there. The bad guys could not catch me but I could always catch them. It would be nice to be able to use force fields too because then I could keep myself safe even if the bad guys did know where I was. I could also use force fields to entertain myself. They would be like those giant balls that people get inside and then they roll around in them. I could do that whenever I wanted too.

Week 2A: A Star is Born

If I could star in a movie it would have to be a sports movie. If you have ever seen the movie Goal: The Dream Begins it would be sorta like that. I love that movie because it is about soccer and it’s inspirational because the main character has to overcome so many obstacles. This would be a good movie for me because I am good at soccer so I could do all of the soccer skills for myself instead of using doubles.

I would shoot this movie in England because that is where the best soccer in the world is played. I don’t know who I could use for costars because I would need kids my age but I don’t know many actors/actresses that are my age. For my wardrobe I would just wear clothes like a regular teenager.

The story would be about this kid (me) who is a good student and could probably do whatever he wants to do but all he cares about is becoming a soccer player. He is even further driven to the soccer field as he often struggles with relationships. There is one girl, Cadence, in particular who is his best friend but he never knows where their relationship should go. They both are frustrated.

I get invited to a soccer camp in the summer and I get noticed by scouts from Everton and they invite me to try out for the U-17 team. I go to the tryout but I perform terribly. I do not make the team and then I come home angry. I have no one to blame but myself but I am angry at the world in general. Cadence has enough of it eventually and she talks some sense into me. Then I go back to the tryouts the next year and I make the team.

This movie is basically the story of my life.

Week 1A: funny scary or scary scary

The scariest moment of my life happened five years ago at my house in my kitchen. This was when my sister and brother-in-law lived with us. My niece Emma was a little over a year old and my nephew Alex was not born yet. One night my sister Marci came and told me to take Emma downstairs but then they said to take her back to my room. Basically they just wanted us to stay out of the way. Before I could get Emma back to my room some of my neighbors came in. It was the mom and dad and their 18 or 19 year old daughter. My brother-in-law was in the kitchen and the dad confronted him. He came in saying stuff like “You think you’re some tough guy!” and my brother-in-law responded “I don’t know what the hell you’re talking about” and he was warning my neighbor that he would sue for assault. Then he yelled for Marci. I heard all of this from the next room and I was scared to death. I was in 4th or 5th grade and had never heard anything like this. I ran to the hall and started getting my shoes on, crying the whole time, and was planning on running. Anywhere, I just needed to get away. My sister Rosie came and drove me over to the same neighbors’ house. All the other kids my age were there so we played games the rest of the night. Even though I was in no danger it was a very scary scary situation.

Week 8: Gothic Garb

It is easy for me to pick my two favorite Halloween costumes because I have only ever dressed up twice. The first time that I went trick or treating I went with my older sister because she had a friend who had a little brother who was my age. We were probably five or six years old. I dressed up in a Superman costume. I loved that costume because it made me feel like I could fly. I don’t remember if I chose that costume for myself but if I did it was because I thought I was so strong when I was little.

After that year I never really wanted to go trick or treating. There was always some kind of party at the Assembly of God church in Minier and I always went to that. I still got a ton of candy but I got to play fun games to get it instead of running around to people’s houses. I guess I liked that better because I was scared to ask people for candy.

The last time that I went trick or treating was 7th grade I think. A bunch of people went to Lyndi Leesman’s house before and after trick or treating. I didn’t have a costume but someone gave me a Clark Kent costume to wear.

Week 7: Grizzly Man

If I had to be spending 6 months alone in nature I would want to be stranded on a tropical island similar to Gilligan’s Island. I chose this island because I will not have to worry about being killed by wildlife and there will be plenty of food and fresh water for me. On this island I would see many tortoises, lizards and iguanas, and many birds that live near water such as seagulls, cranes, and pelicans. There will be many trees with tropical fruits like bananas, pineapples, papaya, mangos, and coconuts.

Everybody wants to go to tropical islands for vacation, but would they want to go by themselves with no modern conveniences? No because it would be very difficult. I will have to deal with animals trying to steal my food and finding shelter to hide from tropical storms. Survival will not be my only problem though. I will also struggle to keep myself occupied because it will get very lonely and boring being all alone.

I will enjoy my trip to the tropical island because it will be beautiful, but who wants to eat bananas and fish their whole lives? I will be ready to come back home.

Week 6: My TV Show

My sitcom would air on one of the ESPN stations because otherwise it probably wouldn’t get many viewers. Every show we are going to take athletes or teams that play one sport and then we are going to have them play each other in another sport. Wouldn’t it be fun to watch the Chicago Blackhawks (hockey) play the Chicago Bulls (basketball) at Wrigley Field (baseball)? There would have to be some rules like everybody on the team would have to play a certain amount of the time. It wouldn’t be fun if they just took the best players and let them play. I think this show would be entertaining because it would be fun to see how bad some players are at other sports or it would be fun to see how good some players are at other sports. Also we could pick individual superstars such as LeBron James and Albert Pujols to play each other in Tennis or Golf. I would love to see this as a tv show.

Week 5: Censorship

I don’t believe that censorship is a good thing because that is taking away the author’s right to free speech. However I do believe that some books should not be allowed in school. Some subjects are inappropriate for children to read and many parents would be upset about some of the books that their children may find. I have seen examples of censorship in our school but not from books in the library. The censorship that I have seen is the information that is not always put into our history books. Earlier this year Mr. Brigs taught us interesting facts that we had never heard about important people and places in American history. Those facts have been censored because our government and school systems don’t want to blemish America’s reputation.

Week 4: Last day to live

I’m not ready to die yet, but I guess it’s good to have a plan just in case. If today was my last day then I would go to Menno Haven in Tiskilwa, IL. Menno Haven is a Mennonite camp and it is my favorite place in the world. I would want all of my camp friends to be there, including Mike, Gunnar, Hannah, and Christina even though they can’t go anymore because they are seniors. I wouldn’t have anything special to say to them, I just want to be there and hang out. We would play ultimate Frisbee and Persecution. Then we would go to campfire at the cross. I would also do the high ropes courses because I have always been too scared to do them, but if I’m going to die anyways then who cares?

Week 3: Confused Students

Every Friday our English class goes to a computer lab and looks up our blog topic and then we offer our thoughts about the subject. Today is different however because Brigs forgot to post a topic on the class website. What are we supposed to write about?

Even though we have only had 3 weeks of school, I was already prepared to give the “Best Teacher” award to Brigs. Then he forgot our blog topic. This mistake could cost Brigs dearly and he better pick it up if he hopes to get the coveted award.

Maybe next time he does something cool, like Michael Jordan’s Hall of Fame induction, he could take me with him.

Week 2: My Animal

If I was an animal instead of a human I would be a wolf. Wolves are not the biggest or fastest animals and they cannot take down their prey single-handedly. I relate this to my life because I have never been the biggest or fastest athlete and I am not talented enough to win team sport games by my own talent.

Wolves are able to hunt and kill prey that are larger than them because they hunt in packs and they work together to take the larger animal down. That is what I like about being on a team, it doesn’t matter how good each individual is, it is all about how the players on a team work together to attack the other team.

This may be a Hollywood version of a wolf, but when I think of a wolf I can hear it and picture it lifting its head to the moon and howling. I don’t scream at the moon but I love being outside under the stars and the moon on a clear night.

Week 1: A Special Meeting

If I could choose one person to meet and spend time with, I would choose Zinedine Zidane. I wouldn’t be surprised if I am the only person in this class that knows him, but Zizou -as he is known- is one of my favorite soccer players who have ever played. He is retired now but he used to play his club ball for powerhouse Real Madrid in the La Liga in Spain. Zizou was a native of France and he played for the French national team.

The aspect of Zidane’s game that is the most praised is how much control he has over the ball. Also it seems as if it is impossible to get the ball away from him. He keeps the ball so close to himself and uses his body to keep himself between defenders and the ball. He is a great passer and has one of the best imaginations in the game. He tries dribbling moves and passes that most people would never even think of.

Zidane retired from professional soccer after the 2006 World Cup. France was in the World Cup championship game against Italy, when the red card happened. In the second overtime Marco Materazzi and Zidane were exchanging words and then Zidane lowered his head and drove it right into Materazzi’s chest! Zizou was shown the red card and was ejected from the game. That altercation could have been the difference in the game because Zidane was not able to take a kick in the shootout after the game.

If I could meet Zinedine Zidane, I would be content to stand in the yard and juggle with him for hours. It would be awesome to see the things that he could do and hopefully learn some new tricks. If I could ask him any question I would ask, “What did Marco Materazzi say that made you so angry?”