My Bronx Bombers

For a regular-season game, how much better does it get, than sweeping the Boston Red Sox, clinching the AL East and setting off the first real celebration in the history of the gorgeous, new Yankee Stadium?

That, of course, is what can happen tonight.  I will happen tonight.  I would have to say it doesn't get a whole lot better than that as a New York Yankee fan. John Harper of the New York Daily News expressed it this way.

"If only the fans could break out the old "1918, 1918" chant, it would really feel like old times here at the new Yankee Stadium. As it is, this weekend is turning out to be the most fun New Yorkers have had with the Red Sox in town since The Rivalry changed forever in 2004.
And why not? This is a season when the Yankees have reclaimed a sense of superiority between the teams, with the obvious caveat of a possible reengagement in the ALCS, and now they have a chance to make it official by clinching the AL East title today by sweeping these Sox.  Short of winning it all, it's hard to imagine anything Yankee fans would enjoy more."

Harper is right, of course. It's different now, but this would be sweet. Oh, and I don't want to hear Terry Francona's excuse-saying that the Red Sox are not showing all their cards this weekend.  We all know Boston does not want to watch the Yankees celebrate tonight.

Identity vs. Language

        I think identity is being expressed by language, and it's something that stand out to be its own. Let's say there's a group of what, chimpanzees, they are able to communicate to one another through gestures and noises, that no humans can understand perfectly. The relationship between literacy and identity has a lot to do with culture, I think that certain cultures are able to identify best within their own culture.  Neither identity nor language use, is a fixed notion; both are dynamic, depending upon time and place, and other factors.

Why Write!

        

           I never knew that reading about why people choose to jot down their feelings and other words would actually get that hamster wheel turning. Reading about why people write was fun! Orwell and Didion's work have some similar characteristics, but both convey a different message. I found myself able to connect to Orwell more because his ideas were universal, and much broader. It seemed that Didion's work was much more self-absorbed. She spent the entire piece almost talking about Berkeley and her own personal thoughts, like how she often had trouble focusing. However, some of what she says I am able to relate to, even though she focused on herself.
           Didion and Orwell both have a bit of a sour feeling, when it comes to writing, and those who write. Didion clearly says that she is "not in the least an intellectual," and she says she "couldn't think". What is weird is she attended Berkeley, which I believe is difficult to get into. Orwell goes about writing about the larger scale of society and talks about writers in general by saying, "all writers are vain, selfish, lazy..." I do not agree with this statement. How can Didion “not think” but organize her thoughts enough to put them down on paper? Orwell believes that writers are lazy, yet many will write novels that most people almost don’t finish. Overall I agree with Orwell more. The four great motives he describes make total sense to me. I also like Orwell's "Why I write" better because it is easier for me to comprehend, because he doesn’t use as many weird descriptions, like Didion. He just says it and doesn’t use metaphors and other symbols, so I was able to understand exactly what he was trying to tell me. Practically all of Didion's references, and descriptions were confusing to me, I often had to Google many words I didn’t know. Both authors referred to "Paradise Lost." George Orwell also talked about Eugene Aram, which forced me to learn another new thing! Orwell's idea of outgrowing writing once you have mastered it was something I agree with, because I do it a lot, and was able to relate! Orwell was able to open my eyes and make me truly understand what he is writing about, which is why people write, and I agree with his opinions and statements.

Absolutely Bananas

          Here we are! This is my first blog ever! I always used to think, "there is no way I am going to ever use, or even have a blog", but look here! I have one! I still don't really know what I am supposed to write about, because my teacher gave me no direction, which causes me to go crazy, and become agitated. It causes me to scrunch my toes, and clutch my dirty blonde hair, while my muscles are tightening and stiffening. You know that feeling? That feeling where your muscles have been set a certain way and if you move they reluctantly move with you? The feeling where you feel as though you're old and ancient, and your muscles have shrunk? It makes you take on all of those slug like characteristics, and doesn't seem to help you overcome the road block that's causing the issues in the first place.

       Think of it this way, you are alone, walking down a deserted road, it's about 40 degrees outside and your body is chilly. The gusts of wind nip at your pale flesh. You touch your plump rosy red cheeks gently; a penetrating sting travels throughout your body, triggering the "goose-bump affect." You're still walking, -even wondering, there is no sign of anyone else, yet you continue down this gloomy suspicious road, which, most likely hasn't been repaved in years. You're very uncertain, where you are. In this situation, what thoughts would be shooting through your head? Millions would be right?

        With each step you become even more unhappy, most people may feel scared, but for me, I would feel stressed, stressed from the unidentifiable road I am on, stressed from the lack of resources, and stressed because I would have no idea what to do. I would be lost, and defeated. If when I first set foot on the road, I had a plan and was acquainted with where I was, I would have been better able to manage the unknown. Perhaps, I would have wanted to stay longer, because I wouldn't have had that whole "fear of the unknown" implanted in my brain. If I had known where I was, or even how to get home, I would have maybe stopped every once in a while, at one of the many corn fields, or stopped to pick a dainty wildflower, and maybe collect a whole bundle with every color imaginable! I would collect purple ones, pink ones, orange ones and yellow ones, ignoring many of the dandelions. I maybe would have been more open to examining and exploring! I would have stopped to look at everything, from the dirty speckled white horses, to the hairy robust pigs.

            My whole point is, a lot of the time many of us don't achieve our full potential because we have a negative first impression of things. We are reluctant to even be open to new things. If one never opens up to the world and those they care about in it, then they won't ever achieve their full potential. Keep in mind, he has a plan for all of us, it’s just up to us to open ourselves up to him.

             Maybe one person just joined a new company, and they realize that many of the people that already work there are veterans. Everyone knows each other and everything about one another. The work atmosphere there is that of a white picket fence neighborhood. The new comer becomes intimidated. Often, people who are hesitant to be themselves, end up not shining to their full potential, because they hide who they are, afraid of not being able to achieve what is expected of them. When in the long run maybe the company is failing and they hold the key to saving it, who knows! It's just how many of us are, we go through our lives being judged and always just intending to do well but many of us are knocked down once or twice before we actually achieve what we wanted.