points for mastery

"Ahhhhhhh....yes"
-Karl Geisler, APUSH teacher at Baldwin High School

It's funny how things from your past make segway into the present. In a recent speech for my CAS class, I had to do a double take as I walked up to the podium because I instantly felt like I was doing a PFM. I could see the bewildered look on my classmates' faces as they solemnly prepared to try to bullshit an answer they didn't look up in the unfortunate case that they were called for one of the dreaded PFM's. I still remember the first PFM I ever did. I was 15 years old, in 11th grade, and scared shitless because I was told the day before(when we received the questions) that I could be called and should be ready to deliver an answer to any one of 15 questions that I had to prepare for the next day. I think the question had something to do with New Spain, but I can't quite recall the whole thing. I jumped back from that to the speech I was giving last week. The assignment was to find four poems and give your interpretation of each poem. Apparently, I wasn't prepared well enough as I completely froze after I finished reading a selection from Wordsworth. Then, I recalled back four years ago as I was standing in a similar spot, and I learned a valuable lesson: To be a great orator, you have go be a great bullshitter. That's all an articulate person is anyway; someone who can quickly bring up an answer to a question that's being asked on the spot. Therefore, I went into a rant about how Wordsworth took a walking tour with his sister around England and that's where the inspiration for a lot of his poetry came from. After finishing with a selection from Keats, the professor said he was impressed by my "good selection of poetry" and "well prepared, excellent interpretations." Hey, you know what they say, what you don't know can never hurt you.

Thanksgiving break was a pretty enjoyable one for me. For Thanksgiving, I played football from about 12-2, and it felt good to actually be able to tackle someone while playing football. At around 4, I went over to my uncle's house. I can't think of a better place that I'd rather spend my holiday because I get along well with almost all of my relatives. My uncle is always entertaining as we talked about what's been going on, gambling, and a recent trip he took. Apparently, while traveling, he was invited to watch the Michigan/OSU game at....Muhammad Ali's house! That was crazy to hear. Ali is an icon, and as my uncle was telling me about this, he said that even he was doing double takes wandering "Am I really in this guy's house? The same guy that knocked out Joe Frazier, won the heavyweight belt, and redefined the sport of boxing?" Just amazing to say the least. I also got to see my aunt kathy and cousin mary who I really only see twice a year(thanksgiving and christmas), but we left before my other cousin nick showed up with his girlfriend and son. After that, we went over my dad's mom's house to visit the other side of the family. As much as I hate to say it, I'm intrigued at the proposition of living with my grandma and pap for a week whenever my parents go to Mexico. Supposedly, they're going to be staying over my house for at least 3 of the 7 nights, which leave the other 4 open for speculation. Friday, I golfed with my brother, my dad, and my cousin Mike. It was probably the most beautiful day of the whole month and it was definitely an enjoyable time even with my brother getting on my nerves. Later that night, I re-acquainted with two men that I have not seen in a long time: Rob Rossi and Tom Choijnicki. We played pool and went out to EnP afterwards. At EnP, I saw ivana(like usual), but didn't really recognize anyone else other than the throngs of TJ fans celebrating their win at Heinz Field. I can't really say that I root for or against TJ, they're just neutral in my opinion. I think that I would like them a lot more if I didn't hear about some of the illegal activities that their players engage in. Saturday was full of poker and college football. I went deep into ANOTHER MTT, and fell victim to bad luck again in the third hour finishing 54/1275 or so. Later that night, I saw some other people I hadn't seen in awhile and got back in touch with another long lost friend: Captain and Coke. During 11th grade, that was my drink of choice, and the sweetness of the drink brought back the bittersweet memories of that year. I think when all was said and done we all went to EnP again, this time to the one in South Hills Village. Sunday, I watched(unfortunately) the Steelers get run over by the Ravens and the Saints triumph in the Georgia Dome. The Saints are the feel good story of the year, even if it's been a whole year since Katrina. After the game, I went over sarah's to hang out with her and kathleen. We watched reruns of monk before going out to applebee's to eat. Afterwards, we headed over to alyssa's(maybe?) to chill. I had a drink spilled on me, beat grace in floor hockey, and lived one of the funnier moments of the year involving kathleen and this dude from chile. A story to be told in the future to say the least. Finally, we ended off by going over peanut's. Charlie was there and I'm glad to see that they've found each other because they look to me to be very compatible personality wise. When all was said and done, it was a weekend that I couldn't complain about.

I'm going to leave you with the brief words of William Carlos Williams. This is definitely a poem that you have to think about to get, but once you do, it's well worth it. Enjoy.

The Red Wheelbarrow
By: William Carlos Williams

so much depends
upon

the red wheel
barrow

glazed with rain
water

beside the white
chickens.





mh