F = 8 Living People to Emulate

Frank Ocean- He made one of the best songs known to man, a classic hit. He also probably has more money than I thought possible.

Joe Flacco- He's an NFL quarterback and extremely well known. He has millions of fans who have never met him.

prince Fielder- He's an MLB 1st baseman and extremely famous. Also he has a ridiculous paycheck and won the home run derby in 2009.

roger Federer- Another professional athlete. I aspire to be one of these regardless of the sport. Getting payed a ridiculous amount to play a game would be too awesome.

brett Favre- He lead the Packers to an NFL super bowl victory and was on the cover of Madden 09.

Forrest griffin- He's a professional UFC fighter. Probably one of the meanest people on the planet, a superb fighter. I'm a huge fan

Larry Fitzgerald- One of the best wide receivers the NFL will ever see. He's going to leave a mark that won't be erased for some time.

Marshall Faulk- A vicious NFL running back, nearly impossible to take down. Makes more money then imaginable and does what he loves for a living.

TU Tuesday - Culture

"What to do when burglaries get out of hand? In Denmark, police think they might have the answer: Turn to the experts themselves, the housebreakers." Since all other tactics attempted by the Denmark police to lower the number of house thefts have failed, they have decided to take a new approach. Arrested burglars will have to be anonymously questioned about their methods of house theft. To be more specific, the article states "The region, which has seen a 60 percent annual surge in break-ins in some areas, will ask robbers questions about their typical targets, motives and disposal methods for stolen goods." The Denmark police are trying everything they can to diminish this increasing and re-occurring problem in their country. So far nothing has worked, but hopefully new methods will bring an end to this criminal mischief. This article connects to the poem "WHERE IS OUR HUMANITY TODAY?"  by Elizabeth Padillo Olesen. The last stanza in her poem reads, "When citizens in our one world, cannot sleep in their own homes, because of the nightmares of criminality, we raise the common question,"Where is our humanity today?"." This applies to the very real and serious problem of house theft and other criminal activity taking place in Denmark. Innocent citizens have to be constantly watching out and being worried, they have no time to fully relax and rest. Hopefully these new police tactics will change that soon, the citizens of Denmark are hopeful.

http://www.voicesnet.org/displayonepoem.aspx?poemid=197107
http://www.timesunion.com/news/article/Danish-cops-recruit-robbers-to-stem-burglaries-3335792.php

Valentine's Day

One time I felt especially loved was when I was around 12 years old. My brother's friend has been staying with my father, my brother, and I at my dad's apartment. He had been there for almost a full 2 months. Suddenly he had decided to leave my father's apartment, with the destination being rehab. My brother's friend was 21, named Sean, and had begun to develop into an almost brother figure in my life. He was a great kid. He constantly attended church, every Sunday. He was always helping to diffuse situations in the household. He had a great heart and was one hell of a kid. As me and my brother were assisting to pack his luggage into his rides' car, it came time to say goodbye. I went for the normal handshake but Sean pulled me in and gave me a hug. He then said "I'm gunna miss you brotha" before leaving for Syracuse to pull his life back together. This moment clearly has been a powerful one to me, I've remembered it since.

Dreams are lined up against the wall

Unnamable

Dreams are lined up against the wall
one by one they all fall
Ruined and wasted by bad choices
and now you re-hear the advice in voices

Dreams are lined up against the wall
overcome with a feeling of hopelessness
All assumed dead but one will still crawl
remembered forever, it is ageless

Looking back now was it worth it?
Not even close, I'd take it all back in a moment
So next time think before you act at all
picture your dreams lined up against the wall

Comic Connection

This comic relates to my life not by it's sole story but by the comic "Calvin and Hobbes" as a whole. The name of my 2nd cousin is Calvin and this was and will always be his favorite comic. At some point during a family holiday celebration I noticed his extreme focus on a book. It happened to be Calvin and Hobbes and he introduced the comic to me, giving me a short background on the history of the kid Calvin and his ridiculous imaginary adventures with his imaginary stuffed animal friend, Hobbes. My brother was also introduced to this addicting comic. Once my parents recognized our admiration for the comic, they bought us a book with a collection of Calvin and Hobbes comics. Every holiday that involved gifts, from then until we out grew it, my parents would get me and Diego more and more books with collections of these comics. From this comic me and my brother began branching off to other comics. Our favorite for the longest time was the Garfield comics. I can proudly say that at the age of 15 I am no longer reading comics.

Original poems 3

Original poems 3

Diego-Ladder Poem

Diego
My brother
Goofy and Funny
Best big brother ever
Not the best role model
But I love him
And miss him
Making changes
Improving

Loneliness-Free Verse

Worst feeling ever
Even worse then bored
And I hate being bored
More then being stabbed by a sword
Everyone needs company
Be nice to that weird kid
Even if your friends don't approve
He'll never forget what you did
Things like that mean so much
5 minutes and you'll make their day
And remember you're never really alone
God's always there just pray

June-Sestina

Damn I love June
What's not to love?
It's my birthday month
Turning 16 this year
Get my permit and drive
And best of all summer

I absolutely love summer
My favorite month being June
I can't wait to drive
Just in time for Junior year
The freedom I'm going to love
Just 5 more months

I enjoy any summer month
Good things happen during summer
Best summer was this year
When school ended in June
I fell in love
This summer I'll drive

and I'm so excited to drive
In 5 short months
I will most certainly love
driving during the summer
Starting last day of June
And continuing for years

The end of Senior year
Out of the lot I'll drive
Someday in June
A glorious month
Starting off the summer
The season I love

Not as much as I love
The school I've been in for years
What a change this summer
When I can finally drive
Only 5 months
What a glorious June

 

Original poems 2

Apology

Sorry Dad
for being a teen
and causing you
great amounts of stress

Just 3 more years
And ill be gone
leaving you
with gray hairs

3 kids
must be hard
but you stay strong
I love you Dad

Swift


Squirrels are
interesting animals
quick and squirrelly

Always on the move
choppy movements
always so alert

searching around
for their buried nuts
hibernation starts soon

moving frantically
panicking due to
the lack of time

Opposites

Never been so tired
Can't get anything done
Content with the day
My mind can't focus

Can't get anything done
So much energy
My mind can't focus
Want to go out and run

So much energy
Don't know what to do
Want to go out and run
But I think I'd rather sleep


Never been so tired
Don't know what to do
But I think I'd rather sleep
Content with the day

 

Original Poems 1

Acrostic Poem

Makes me forget
Unnecessary and unimportant
Stress that is unavoidable
In life, music is life
Changing

Strong Words

Fighting viciously for freedom
for liberty
for the day the unstoppable
is stopped
Chief walking with swag
in his infinite power
be powerless
use Stealth to achieve liberty
lose everything to gain everything
infinite
equality

Terzanelle

I am unstoppable                          
Nobody can beat me                    
That's improbable                        

Nothing special about me              
An unwavering will to win              
Nobody can beat me                    

Addicted to sin                            
Sacrifice needed to succeed          
An unwavering will to win              

Nothing is guaranteed                  
Doubt will fill your mind                
Sacrifice needed to succeed          

An unwavering reason you need to find    
Keep you going through those times          
Doubt will fill your mind                            

Victory isn't always, just sometimes
I am unstoppable
Keep you going through those times
That's improbable

 

Grandpa

Goes by Manuel

Few distant memories

but they're definitely good ones

if only he was around longer

he would be proud

had 4 great kids

a fairly quiet man

bad Alzheimer's 

successful doctor

for the little time I knew him

he will be missed

 

Thanksgiving

A glorious feast

Mom forgot the yeast

Eating til' I pop

Even then I won't stop

Fried turkey on my plate

I can't even wait

To stuff my face

Me and my brother race

My plate is completely full

Mashed potatoes, gravy, stuffing

Not even 10 minutes later

Left on my plate there is nothing

Now I'm falling asleep

Because I have turkey idis

I eventually pass out

You would think I was Irish

 

 

 

Small
Furry
Scared

Quick
Agile
Determined

Gray
Wild
Crazy

Furry
Tailed
Squirrel

 

Haiku

Priorities change
Blindly following/trusting
God will guide me right

 

Ultimate Poem

I want to hear a poem that flows together better then peanut butter and jelly
I want to hear a poem that makes me want to be more friendly
I want to hear a poem that's like music to my ears
I want to hear a poem that I'll remember for years

I want to hear a poem that's lyrically genius
I want to hear a poem that leaves me speechless
I want to hear a poem that reminds me what's important
I want to hear a poem that is absolutely brilliant

 

 

One day we'll stop waiting for change with our hands in our pockets

One day we'll stop wasting time with our eyes on the clock

One day we'll stop going to war with our nuclear rockets

One day we'll stop paying attention with our money on our minds

Keep your chin up

For the first times I went up to visit Diego, I was obviously very upset when it came time to leave. The first 3 or 4 months that we visited on the weekends I cried when we had to drop him off. I'm not too prideful to admit to that. While there I made friends with a few of the kids Diego dormed with. One time one of the older kids pulled me to the side and gave me a slight "pep talk." He told me that my brother needed to be there, which I already knew because I had been told that hundreds of times. Even though I knew this it still made me sad. Then he went on to say the perfect thing. "Everytime he sees you sad, it makes him sadder that he's not there for you, you don't want him to regret being here do you? Keep your chin up." And from then on I haven't cried when dropping him off because I remember those words. I want my brother to be happy that he's there and not have to worry about my well being, he should be focusing on his.

TU Tuesday

http://www.timesunion.com/local/article/Giants-hope-Cruz-goes-dancing-2933465.php

"But not to us here in Albany. We knew." And later goes on to say "Funny, because here in Albany, we kinda did." = repetition ; a word, phrase, or idea repeated in a piece for emphasis.

"Behind the scenes, Cruz remains the same humble, fun-loving kid who reveled in spending time with fans along Autograph Alley at UAlbany." = imagery: painting an image in the mind of a reader

"Before he became the salsa-dancing star receiver who charmed the football world with his rags-to-riches story," = foreshadowing: giving the reader a sense of what will happen in the future

"Giants hope Cruz goes dancing" is an article by Pete Lorizzo which talks about the "Undrafted rookie-turned-star receiver', Victor Cruz, and the Super bowl game Sunday. In the Superbowl game, "The Giants will face the New England Patriots." The piece talks about Victor Cruz's success story. It talks about how he went from being undrafted to being "Not just one of the biggest stars on the Giants." The figurative language used in this article helps the writer give a better sense of who Victor Cruz was before, and after. "Cruz remains the same humble, fun-loving kid." Later on in the article it reads, "This happened so fast, and he never let it go to his head." The repetition used in the article shows the reader emphasis on the fact that it wasn't as much of a surprise here in Albany. It was almost expected that Victor Cruz would become an amazing wide receiver. The foreshadowing used helps set up the series of events within the article. The piece takes you on a journey through the short career of a star who hopefully will not be short lived.