Could you imagine falling out of a plane, and having no way of slowing yourself down? This is something a family friend of my parents named Jeff Schmidt, had happen to him. He attended The United States Military Academy at West Point, for schooling and as a result you owe service to the army for the schooling. One of his training missions consisted of skydiving out of airplanes to get experience. Sky diving was something he had completed numerous other times, but in this one instance everything went wrong. He was planning on it being just another day when his whole life would be impacted.
He was in the plane and it was his time to jump, he jumped and was now free falling, when it came time to open the parachute the unthinkable occurred, it was twisted up and didn’t open the way it was designed to. I couldn’t imagine the thoughts racing through his head at the time, and how he could manage to stay calm. He was twisting around and dropping at an increasing rate, and ultimately smacked the ground. As a result of the fall he broke his legs and everything from the waist up. Amazingly after all of this he is still able to walk today. He told me about a man who came running over; panicked and yelling “where is the dead man.” This event is something that changed his life forever, he wasn’t able to keep being a part of the army, and went into his career in law.
I first met Jeff as I played football with his son in elementary school, and he was the coach. I would end up playing with his son in football until high school. As a result we became close family friends, and all of us went hunting and fishing all the time together. He was and still is a very intelligent and motivational man, with all of his experiences and ways of motivating others. Due to the sky diving accident he had to have many operations and surgeries to get rid of the many injuries incurred from the event.
As he is growing older, more and more problems are coming out, and mostly due to the fall. He suffers from a lot of arthritis as you may expect, and has pain at all times. He can separate his shoulder just by raising his arms, and has learned to tolerate a lot of pain. He is unable to hunt any more due to the gun kicking back on his arm, and risking hurting his shoulder. Another thing that bothers his everyday life is a problem he has developed with his throat. From impact of the fall his throat almost feels like it is collapsing on him. He usually cannot talk for longer than a sentence or two before he has to clear his throat, because it feels like he is about to choke he says. The worst part about that is that the doctors don’t have a way to reverse it or prevent it from getting worse. He was a very successful lawyer and even his career has been affected. From the throat problem, it caused him to need to leave his career on disability. He was unable to speak for an extended period of time in a courtroom, which is vital for a lawyer to be able to perform, causing him to leave his life career on disability. The good thing about Jeff is that he still has his joking personality and seems to always be happy when you are around him.
It is always sad to see people grow older and suffer from different age related problems. To add to the problems everyone gets with old age, Jeff has to deal with the effects of his skydiving accident that occurred more than 30 years back. It was undeniably a life changing event that he was blessed to survive, but along with that there are many consequences that have changed him physically as a person. As you may expect, in order to get into the Military program at West Point, you cannot just rely on your brains, but you must be a very athletic and healthy person, and as a result from the fall it has dramatically affected his previously active lifestyle. This is the type of event that occurs in one person’s life that they feel for the rest of their life.
Friday, March 6, 2009
Thursday, March 5, 2009
My Mix
Son's Gonna Rise- Citizen Cope
100 Years- Five For Fighting
Someday-Flipside
Sky's the Limit- Lil Wayne
Heart of a Champion-Nelly
Live like you were dying-Tim McGraw
Life is a Highway-Rascall Flatts
Good People- Jack Johnson
Get Up-50 cent
Headstrong-Trapt
Why are these songs important to you? How or where did you first encounter them? (Through a friend? The radio, television, the Internet, or magazine?)
These songs honestly dont have very much meaning to me. I dont find myself trying to relate to the songs that I listen to. These are just songs that I enjoy listening to. I heard most of them on the radio or my friends told me about them. Most of them are pretty mainstream.
What does your mix say about who you are? How much do your musical choices reflect your sense of self and the subcultures you belong to?
100 Years- Five For Fighting
Someday-Flipside
Sky's the Limit- Lil Wayne
Heart of a Champion-Nelly
Live like you were dying-Tim McGraw
Life is a Highway-Rascall Flatts
Good People- Jack Johnson
Get Up-50 cent
Headstrong-Trapt
Why are these songs important to you? How or where did you first encounter them? (Through a friend? The radio, television, the Internet, or magazine?)
These songs honestly dont have very much meaning to me. I dont find myself trying to relate to the songs that I listen to. These are just songs that I enjoy listening to. I heard most of them on the radio or my friends told me about them. Most of them are pretty mainstream.
What does your mix say about who you are? How much do your musical choices reflect your sense of self and the subcultures you belong to?
I do you think at times you can tell alot about a person from their music and their personality. I think it may show that I like the type of music that can pump you up, or some country that has a cool lyrics to it. The person who looked at my song list had me right on, he thought that based off the songs that I like sports, hang out with friends alot and that I would dress relaxed. I thought it was kind of funny when I looked at it and he guessed that much correct information from my mix.
What would people learn about you by listening to your mix? What wouldn’t they be able to learn about you?
I guess they could learn that I like the mainstream rap and country that goes around and that I am a into athletics, due to the fact that some of these songs are used for pregame songs for some sporting events. It may be impossible for someone to automaticall ydetermine what type of person someone is by just listening to some of their music, but for some things it may be a good indicator.
What does your mix indicate about your connection to something larger? How is it a reflection of the larger culture?
Im not sure how my mix would relate me to something larger. Possibly that I like to listen to music current with my age group for hte most part, and dont live in the past.
How well did you do making inferences based on your classmate’s list of songs? What did you get right? Wrong? Explain.
I am not sure how well I described the person, based off their music. We didnt get to see the person who had each mix and their inferences made about them. If we would have gone over who each of us had, I do feel like most of the perceptions we got from each others music could have had some truth to them.
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Throwing a Baseball
Most people learn to throw a baseball at a very young age, and have to fine tune a few small things to get the most out of every throw. It seems like everyone who throws a baseball has a different throwing style, whether it is sidearm, three quarters or just a little hitch to their motion. Most of the time if someone has an awkward throwing style, their arm will get sore or injured easier than the people with better form. In order to achieve the best form possible, there are a few steps to follow.
The first step to throwing is to get your whole body stretched out and to loosen up your arm muscles as much as possible. Stretching before throwing will prevent injury and make throwing easier to start out. Along with stretching it is important to play catch from a short distance to loosen up your arm, then you can start backing up slowly and lengthening your throws. Before you can start playing catch you will have to understand how to hold the ball, position your body, and how to throw the ball. The first step is learning how to grip the ball, you should have your pointer and middle finger on the top part of the ball, and your thumb should kind of support the ball. It will help to grip the ball so that your fingers cross over the seams, to have control on the ball. Your grip can cause the ball to tail to the left or right if you don’t have the correct grip. The next step is your stance for throwing. Start out by planting your back foot, which is the same as your throwing arm, at an angle of about 45 degrees away from your target. Then with your front foot(non throwing side), step forward and point that foot at your target, leading with your non throwing shoulder. To check your form, both of your shoulders should have an imaginary line straight to your target. If your chest is facing your target before you are starting to release the ball you are dramatically reducing the potential velocity of your throw.
The next step is the actual throwing. With the grip we already went over, put your arm down to your side then extend it straight back as far as possible and at head height. After your arm is as far back as possible and feels comfortable your wrist should be cocked backwards, and relaxed. Making it look like the ball is facing the opposite way of the target and your knuckles facing the target. The next step is bringing the ball forward by pointing your glove at the target and bringing the ball forward at about ear level. Once the ball is near your head, start slowly releasing it, while also bringing your glove into your armpit. This will cause your arm to whip through the zone and get the maximum velocity, and control.
Follow through by having your arm go diagonally in front of your body. Your arm should be in motion across your body, causing your back leg to kick forward in front of your body. You should allow this to happen because it will help your accuracy and also the velocity of the throw. If you stop the follow through it will steal some of the power that generated from the throw.
If you follow these small but important steps, it will prevent injury and help you throw the ball with accuracy and velocity. As I said earlier many people have varying throwing techniques that work for them. It is all about personal preference and what feels right. If this throwing style feels right for you, that is a very good thing. This style is probably the best form in order to prevent injury and get the most out of every throw.
The first step to throwing is to get your whole body stretched out and to loosen up your arm muscles as much as possible. Stretching before throwing will prevent injury and make throwing easier to start out. Along with stretching it is important to play catch from a short distance to loosen up your arm, then you can start backing up slowly and lengthening your throws. Before you can start playing catch you will have to understand how to hold the ball, position your body, and how to throw the ball. The first step is learning how to grip the ball, you should have your pointer and middle finger on the top part of the ball, and your thumb should kind of support the ball. It will help to grip the ball so that your fingers cross over the seams, to have control on the ball. Your grip can cause the ball to tail to the left or right if you don’t have the correct grip. The next step is your stance for throwing. Start out by planting your back foot, which is the same as your throwing arm, at an angle of about 45 degrees away from your target. Then with your front foot(non throwing side), step forward and point that foot at your target, leading with your non throwing shoulder. To check your form, both of your shoulders should have an imaginary line straight to your target. If your chest is facing your target before you are starting to release the ball you are dramatically reducing the potential velocity of your throw.
The next step is the actual throwing. With the grip we already went over, put your arm down to your side then extend it straight back as far as possible and at head height. After your arm is as far back as possible and feels comfortable your wrist should be cocked backwards, and relaxed. Making it look like the ball is facing the opposite way of the target and your knuckles facing the target. The next step is bringing the ball forward by pointing your glove at the target and bringing the ball forward at about ear level. Once the ball is near your head, start slowly releasing it, while also bringing your glove into your armpit. This will cause your arm to whip through the zone and get the maximum velocity, and control.
Follow through by having your arm go diagonally in front of your body. Your arm should be in motion across your body, causing your back leg to kick forward in front of your body. You should allow this to happen because it will help your accuracy and also the velocity of the throw. If you stop the follow through it will steal some of the power that generated from the throw.
If you follow these small but important steps, it will prevent injury and help you throw the ball with accuracy and velocity. As I said earlier many people have varying throwing techniques that work for them. It is all about personal preference and what feels right. If this throwing style feels right for you, that is a very good thing. This style is probably the best form in order to prevent injury and get the most out of every throw.
Out of Comfort Zone-Dress Up
The clothing I chose to wear was just a really bright pink T-shirt. I am not the type of guy who likes to wear pink, therfore it fit the role of taking me out of my comfort zone. I didnt want to go too far overboard, because I didnt want people making up false assumptions about me. For example, like the example wearing makeup, (wasnt even a thought to do that) I wouldnt want to walk around all day and be known as the guy who wore makeup by people who didnt know why I was doing it.
I actually wasn't treated differently by my peers, I think it is because some guys do wear pink. It just wasnt something I liked to do, but I dont recall my friends saying anything until I told them what I was doing. I know for sure my friends in highschool would have given me crap for wearing the bright pink shirt, as a joke, but maybe its just because I knew them better.
Like I said, I didnt hear anything about my clothing, but I am sure some of the kids in our class heard some laughs or whispers about what they were wearing.
I can still say that clothes have alot to do with someones personality. We wore our flashy clothes for a class, therefore that obviously doesnt represent the persons actual style or personality, but it was more of a joke. I feel it is fair to say that clothes do have alot to do with a person, because people do choose what they wear. I dont think that saying clothes can say alot about a person should be negative thing as some might percieve that statement. Rather it is an oppurtunity for people to express themselves and their individual style.
I actually wasn't treated differently by my peers, I think it is because some guys do wear pink. It just wasnt something I liked to do, but I dont recall my friends saying anything until I told them what I was doing. I know for sure my friends in highschool would have given me crap for wearing the bright pink shirt, as a joke, but maybe its just because I knew them better.
Like I said, I didnt hear anything about my clothing, but I am sure some of the kids in our class heard some laughs or whispers about what they were wearing.
I can still say that clothes have alot to do with someones personality. We wore our flashy clothes for a class, therefore that obviously doesnt represent the persons actual style or personality, but it was more of a joke. I feel it is fair to say that clothes do have alot to do with a person, because people do choose what they wear. I dont think that saying clothes can say alot about a person should be negative thing as some might percieve that statement. Rather it is an oppurtunity for people to express themselves and their individual style.
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
My Findings
After looking into this assignment it has really shown me the culture and many different things that go into every university. Most universities are very similiar and their main goal is to inform students about topics and help them develop skills for the future. I have became more knowledgable about our university like the Blugold question and about the different sculptures on campus.
Foriegn Differences
After reading My Freshman year, we have all heard the stereotypes and things the foreign students say about us and our university. After Jordan and I talked to Chee from China, he said the system here has many more options for students than in his country. He did admit that the classes do seem more laid back as well. I think it proves the points made in My Freshman Year, I think it may be true that our classes are more laid back, but I somewhat disagree when they say that you can go to an exam here and not study the info and get a b or higher. For me at least I dont think it is that easy, ike Rebekkah Nathan says in the book.
Students Study Habits
I interviewed multiple kids and most of them preffered different studying environments. I talked to a student named Adam who likes to study in his room with his stereo playing at the same time. Drew said he likes to study in the basement of Murray Hall, Joey studies on his bed, with headphones on, and the other Drew I surveyed prefers to study in a fairly quiet place, which is usually his room. Finally I did talk to one student named Jake who actually likes to study in the main library at night in order to be the most productive. I think it is interesting that with only 5 people that I interviewed, they all prefer different places to hit the books. Myself I have to study in a quiet environment, usually my room is the place I prefer as long as it is fairly quiet.
What's a Microfiche??
Microfiche is like micro film, it is usually incredibly small print on slides, it would be impossible for our eyes to be able to read them. In order to read the slide you must use a special lense that is part of the micro fiche reader machine. It is usually used to archive books, magazines, and newspapers, it allows the library to save much needed space. It would be very expensive and space filling if they just had the hard copies of all the individual microfiche's. These are located on the second floor of the library in many different file cabinents.
Newspaper...
After looking in the library for about 30 seconds I came accross many different newspapers. On the second floor of the library there is an area that holds many current newspapers, from local, national and even world newspapers. It is very simple to find the one you are looking for. This shows us that if we really care to stay up on current events, not only could we find news on our computers, but we can just go down to the library. I found a New York Times, that was from February 20, 2009. One of its headlines was; In Budget Deal; California Shuts Down $42 Billion Gap. It focused on the new economic plans and how they will effect all the states and specifically California.
Whats a BLUGOLD?????
What is a Blugold? Thats a good question, I have heard different ideas including; a misspelling of bulldogs, a mythical bird. According to an old spectator article I found, it is more of a state of being than an actual thing. "Blugold means doing or dying," ex athletics director Dean Willis Zorn said in the 1967 article. "It would be hard to get used to doing or dying for something else." So the answer is that our mascot is nothing, its actually a spirit that we all carry with us.
"Sprites"
This is a statue I found near the river in front of Schofield Hall. It is a statue called "Sprites" it was done by Paul Granlund and given to the University of Wisconsin Eau Claire, in 1978. It looks like 3 women holding each others legs and arms, I really dont have an idea what is could mean. Possibly teamwork or that we are all here together and are here to help each other.
"XF"
A symbol XF is a something hopefully none of us come accross in our days of schooling. It stands for academic dishonesty, or otherwise plagiarizing. As we know, if the form of academic dishonesty is found to be serious enough the student can be kicked out of school. At Wichita State University, the students who recieved an F on their transcript didnt want it to be mistaken for cheating or plagiarizing, therfore they wanted their school to adopt the XF symbol. If a student were to get an XF grade it could make it very difficult for them to transfer to other universities or possibly even get a job.
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Impressions
What We Wear
There is no doubt that the clothes people choose to wear ends up being something about them that is judged. There are many stereotypes out there based off of peoples styles, like; “gothic,” “preppy,” “tomboy,””emo” and many others. In some cases these stereotypes can be unfair, but I do feel that what people wear can tell us something about the person. People choose what they wear, and most of the time the clothes they wear makes a statement about them.
Everywhere you go, there will be people that express themselves differently and have very interesting styles. If you walk around campus you will see many styles, people wearing pajamas to class, people dressing in suits and nice dresses, and the typical jeans and sweatshirt look. The clothes we wear can definitely be perceived as many different things. I believe things that people wear can definitely tell us something about the person, like if someone is wearing all packers sportswear one-day, it is fair to say that they are a packers fan. Along with that, I think if someone is wearing a long black trench coat and big leather boots, they are trying to express themselves differently than the majority of people would dress. I may agree with people when they say don’t judge someone on what they wear, but I can also go against that because people do choose the clothes they wear and understand the impressions they give off by whatever style they choose. I think people who choose to dress a lot different than the “norm” are trying to be noticed by others as being different. If they didn’t want the focus added to them they would just try to blend with the majority of the people, I respect people who dress differently and think it would take a lot of courage to wear some of the outfits I have seen.
Something we hear many times is the line, “dress to impress” and it definitely has a place in this society. The ways people dress can create both positive and negative assumptions about them. For example, if someone chooses to wear a suit or nice dress around it can show they are serious about something they are dressing for. Along with that if someone is walking around in ratty pajama pants and a torn up t-shirt it may be fair to say that person doesn’t care what others think about them, or that they just woke up.
As we all know job interviews are based off of many first impressions and the way one chooses to dress for one can tell an employer a lot about their personality. People realize that job interviews are based greatly off first impressions. The way we dress can definitely help out the cause. Earlier in this semester I had a 2 hour class all about professional appearance for my business degree. The main focus of the class was to explain to us that we only get one first impression and they gave us many options for dressing nice in order to look as marketable as possible to employers.
After thinking in depth, about what clothes says about a person, I can say that it offers a look into that persons character, and can actually tell us a lot. Like I stated earlier, people choose what they wear, and I feel clothes are a way for some people to really express themselves as an individual.
There is no doubt that the clothes people choose to wear ends up being something about them that is judged. There are many stereotypes out there based off of peoples styles, like; “gothic,” “preppy,” “tomboy,””emo” and many others. In some cases these stereotypes can be unfair, but I do feel that what people wear can tell us something about the person. People choose what they wear, and most of the time the clothes they wear makes a statement about them.
Everywhere you go, there will be people that express themselves differently and have very interesting styles. If you walk around campus you will see many styles, people wearing pajamas to class, people dressing in suits and nice dresses, and the typical jeans and sweatshirt look. The clothes we wear can definitely be perceived as many different things. I believe things that people wear can definitely tell us something about the person, like if someone is wearing all packers sportswear one-day, it is fair to say that they are a packers fan. Along with that, I think if someone is wearing a long black trench coat and big leather boots, they are trying to express themselves differently than the majority of people would dress. I may agree with people when they say don’t judge someone on what they wear, but I can also go against that because people do choose the clothes they wear and understand the impressions they give off by whatever style they choose. I think people who choose to dress a lot different than the “norm” are trying to be noticed by others as being different. If they didn’t want the focus added to them they would just try to blend with the majority of the people, I respect people who dress differently and think it would take a lot of courage to wear some of the outfits I have seen.
Something we hear many times is the line, “dress to impress” and it definitely has a place in this society. The ways people dress can create both positive and negative assumptions about them. For example, if someone chooses to wear a suit or nice dress around it can show they are serious about something they are dressing for. Along with that if someone is walking around in ratty pajama pants and a torn up t-shirt it may be fair to say that person doesn’t care what others think about them, or that they just woke up.
As we all know job interviews are based off of many first impressions and the way one chooses to dress for one can tell an employer a lot about their personality. People realize that job interviews are based greatly off first impressions. The way we dress can definitely help out the cause. Earlier in this semester I had a 2 hour class all about professional appearance for my business degree. The main focus of the class was to explain to us that we only get one first impression and they gave us many options for dressing nice in order to look as marketable as possible to employers.
After thinking in depth, about what clothes says about a person, I can say that it offers a look into that persons character, and can actually tell us a lot. Like I stated earlier, people choose what they wear, and I feel clothes are a way for some people to really express themselves as an individual.
Friday, February 13, 2009
Food Review
Matt Kruger
February 12, 2009
Jasmine Krotzman
Food Review
Food Review
Applebee’s- 4745 Golf Road, Eau Claire, Wisconsin 54701. (715.831.1255)
This family restaurant has been around for years in just about every city around the country. It is located in a competitive area for restaurants. Buffalo Wild Wings, Red Robin, Texas Roadhouse and many other options for food are within a mile or so. As most Applebee’s are, this one also seems to be very successful and very busy. Usually you can go in and sit right down, but watch out for the prime eating times as there may require a brief wait in line. This restaurant is a great place to bring a family or take a client out to lunch. It not only offers a sports bar atmosphere, but also a fairly professional setting for a casual meeting with a client. The motto of the restaurant is “Welcome to the Neighborhood.” This implies that they want to make everyone feel comfortable. There are dim lights that seem to keep the environment calm and unintimidating. The walls are filled with antiques and televisions playing sports games. The atmosphere is filled with peoples’ voices; some laughing and some almost yelling at one another in the bar area. This creates a fun and interesting place to socialize and grab a bite to eat. This is really a restaurant for everyone. For example, I was sitting across from a family of five, and behind them were two men in suits. This shows the variety of the environment and proves that it’s a place for anyone to go.
The menu was vast and offered something for everyone. It mainly focused on appetizers, burgers, and salads. I ordered a cheeseburger and fries and they offered different toppings for the burger like lettuce, tomatoes, onions, and anything else you desired. Smells of everyone’s food near me circulated around the restaurant and finally reached our table. Every time the kitchen door flung open, everyone at our table stared, but the food never seemed to be for us. Finally our waiter was hurrying over to the table, “I’m sorry about the wait” she mumbled. She then set down a huge platter full of oversized portions on each plate. “Cheeseburger with fries?” she asked as she held up the plate, then set it down in front of me. The smells swirled up to my nose and I couldn’t wait to bite into the big burger. The slightly toasted bun was positioned to the side of the burger, resting on top of the steak fries which were loaded with seasoning. A long pickle was cut in half and stretched half way across the plate. Once the burger was put together it looked just like the massive one on the menu. The outside of the burger looked slightly charred with little bits of seasoning coating the patty. It was then time for the first bite. The flavors bolted into my mouth very quickly after biting it, but quickly faded as the condiments overrode the burger taste. The burger was cooked to perfection with a slight pink tint to it. There was nothing very unique about the burger yet it seemed to be perfect. The fresh bun had a soft crunch to it that brought out the juiciness in the burger. The unique part of the meal was the fries; they had a special seasoning on them, making them explode with flavor. As the plate cleared, I noticed how filling the burger actually was. This is a meal that will hold you over for a fairly long amount of time, and considerably delay the urge to eat directly after this meal.
The menus were very neatly organized and the food on the menu looked very intriguing and full of flavor. The thing about Applebee’s that attracts the majority of the people is the family friendly atmosphere and the more than affordable menu prices with the average meal ranging from $7 to $15. The waiting staff is very helpful and they all seem to enjoy the duties involved in their jobs. All the employees smile and make the best possible atmosphere for a family restaurant. The service is reasonable for the amount of people each waiter tends to, and the food is cooked swiftly and brought out to the table in a short period of time. For the money this restaurant definitely gives you the “best bang for your buck” as the portion sizes are very large and the food is of great quality.
February 12, 2009
Jasmine Krotzman
Food Review
Food Review
Applebee’s- 4745 Golf Road, Eau Claire, Wisconsin 54701. (715.831.1255)
This family restaurant has been around for years in just about every city around the country. It is located in a competitive area for restaurants. Buffalo Wild Wings, Red Robin, Texas Roadhouse and many other options for food are within a mile or so. As most Applebee’s are, this one also seems to be very successful and very busy. Usually you can go in and sit right down, but watch out for the prime eating times as there may require a brief wait in line. This restaurant is a great place to bring a family or take a client out to lunch. It not only offers a sports bar atmosphere, but also a fairly professional setting for a casual meeting with a client. The motto of the restaurant is “Welcome to the Neighborhood.” This implies that they want to make everyone feel comfortable. There are dim lights that seem to keep the environment calm and unintimidating. The walls are filled with antiques and televisions playing sports games. The atmosphere is filled with peoples’ voices; some laughing and some almost yelling at one another in the bar area. This creates a fun and interesting place to socialize and grab a bite to eat. This is really a restaurant for everyone. For example, I was sitting across from a family of five, and behind them were two men in suits. This shows the variety of the environment and proves that it’s a place for anyone to go.
The menu was vast and offered something for everyone. It mainly focused on appetizers, burgers, and salads. I ordered a cheeseburger and fries and they offered different toppings for the burger like lettuce, tomatoes, onions, and anything else you desired. Smells of everyone’s food near me circulated around the restaurant and finally reached our table. Every time the kitchen door flung open, everyone at our table stared, but the food never seemed to be for us. Finally our waiter was hurrying over to the table, “I’m sorry about the wait” she mumbled. She then set down a huge platter full of oversized portions on each plate. “Cheeseburger with fries?” she asked as she held up the plate, then set it down in front of me. The smells swirled up to my nose and I couldn’t wait to bite into the big burger. The slightly toasted bun was positioned to the side of the burger, resting on top of the steak fries which were loaded with seasoning. A long pickle was cut in half and stretched half way across the plate. Once the burger was put together it looked just like the massive one on the menu. The outside of the burger looked slightly charred with little bits of seasoning coating the patty. It was then time for the first bite. The flavors bolted into my mouth very quickly after biting it, but quickly faded as the condiments overrode the burger taste. The burger was cooked to perfection with a slight pink tint to it. There was nothing very unique about the burger yet it seemed to be perfect. The fresh bun had a soft crunch to it that brought out the juiciness in the burger. The unique part of the meal was the fries; they had a special seasoning on them, making them explode with flavor. As the plate cleared, I noticed how filling the burger actually was. This is a meal that will hold you over for a fairly long amount of time, and considerably delay the urge to eat directly after this meal.
The menus were very neatly organized and the food on the menu looked very intriguing and full of flavor. The thing about Applebee’s that attracts the majority of the people is the family friendly atmosphere and the more than affordable menu prices with the average meal ranging from $7 to $15. The waiting staff is very helpful and they all seem to enjoy the duties involved in their jobs. All the employees smile and make the best possible atmosphere for a family restaurant. The service is reasonable for the amount of people each waiter tends to, and the food is cooked swiftly and brought out to the table in a short period of time. For the money this restaurant definitely gives you the “best bang for your buck” as the portion sizes are very large and the food is of great quality.
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Narration Essay
While the teacher lectured, I stared out the window thinking about the start of high school, and a night of “blatting.” As a young freshman in high school, I, like all young kids, looked up to the seniors, which may have been the downfall of the whole night. A few friends and I were chosen to participate in an event called “blatting” as you will learn, this event was a top secret. We were told to meet in the high school parking lot at 7 pm on a Sunday night, the night before the first day of high school. I begged my parents to let me go over to my “friend’s house” where we were going to hangout for the last time before school started back up. They allowed me to go over there, oblivious of my true intentions, which I, myself, was not even aware of.
I had finally arrived at my friend’s house, and we were all excited to experience what the seniors had in store for us. Our crew consisted of four of us: Ethan, Mike, Kenny, and I. Ethan was the friend of mine who got us signed up for the event in the first place, as his brother was a senior and had the whole night planned out. So we asked, “Ethan, what are we doing tonight?” “Don’t ask me” he replied, “you guys know my brother, I don’t know if we should actually show up…” ”Are you kidding,” we yelled. “What is the worst thing they will do to us? Hit us with a paddle like in all of those hazing movies?” We all rode our bikes to the school and made sure to get there on time. We finally pedaled our way to the lot, where there wasn’t a soul in sight. “Oh no! They said 7 pm, correct?” My friends assured me I was correct. “Beep, Beep” it was them, they brought multiple cars. “Get up against the fence” the big football player said. He then proceeded to put bandanas around all of our eyes, and grabbed our hands and split us up into two separate cars. They put us in the cars, then hollered, “don’t talk” so we sat in silence. There was some death metal blasting, probably in hopes of scaring us even more. They then told us the rules of “blatting,” which consisted of “do not speak a word about blatting.” (With that said, I shouldn’t be writing this paper) We were thinking what did we get ourselves into? Why are we told not to talk? Most importantly why do we have bandanas covering our faces? The car ride was probably around 25 minutes long, and I could hear gravel kicking up on the car, this was odd, considering we live in a populated and developed city. The car slammed to a stop, our doors flung open and we were pulled out of the car. I could hear a river flowing beside us and thought it was getting a little too sketchy for me to keep playing along.
I could hear my friends trying to whisper to each other, but the leaders quickly stopped them. A man took my hand and said, “grab my hand, we have to run, I’ll tell you when to get down.” “What do you mean get down?” I replied. So we began running and he yelled “Get Down,” which we did. “Zoooooom” a car flew by. The seniors whispered “okay, take off your bandanas,” we all looked up and we were next to a county road. The football player who threw me in the car was sitting in front of a wooden cross next to the woods. He began telling us a story about a railroad worker, who one day, was eating a pie on the railroad tracks when a train came and smashed the pie completely flat. The story teller then informed us this wasn’t any old pie, it was the best pie the man had ever tasted, and therefore he licked every last crumb off the tracks. “It’s your kid’s job to do the same, grab a pie and put it in the middle of the road. We are not leaving until it gets ran over, and you eat every last crumb off the highway. By the way, you can only use your mouth to get it off the pavement.” We all started laughing, and said “Nooo way, were not doing that, you have got to be kidding.” But we ultimately knew we had to, so we threw them in the road. One by one, each pass of vehicles flattened our pies. It was time to do the deed of eating them. All of us finished our pies; nothing better than having sand and small rocks mixed with your pie, not to mention, after being smashed on a dirty road! This experience was definitely exciting, but overall I didn’t think it was a very worthwhile thing to do, it does make for a good story to tell people of a crazy game that we took part in.
I think this showed me to be sure I know what I am doing, before I go to find another experience like this. It was kind of a fun time, but then again, I wouldn’t even think of doing this if I would’ve known our part of the deal.
I had finally arrived at my friend’s house, and we were all excited to experience what the seniors had in store for us. Our crew consisted of four of us: Ethan, Mike, Kenny, and I. Ethan was the friend of mine who got us signed up for the event in the first place, as his brother was a senior and had the whole night planned out. So we asked, “Ethan, what are we doing tonight?” “Don’t ask me” he replied, “you guys know my brother, I don’t know if we should actually show up…” ”Are you kidding,” we yelled. “What is the worst thing they will do to us? Hit us with a paddle like in all of those hazing movies?” We all rode our bikes to the school and made sure to get there on time. We finally pedaled our way to the lot, where there wasn’t a soul in sight. “Oh no! They said 7 pm, correct?” My friends assured me I was correct. “Beep, Beep” it was them, they brought multiple cars. “Get up against the fence” the big football player said. He then proceeded to put bandanas around all of our eyes, and grabbed our hands and split us up into two separate cars. They put us in the cars, then hollered, “don’t talk” so we sat in silence. There was some death metal blasting, probably in hopes of scaring us even more. They then told us the rules of “blatting,” which consisted of “do not speak a word about blatting.” (With that said, I shouldn’t be writing this paper) We were thinking what did we get ourselves into? Why are we told not to talk? Most importantly why do we have bandanas covering our faces? The car ride was probably around 25 minutes long, and I could hear gravel kicking up on the car, this was odd, considering we live in a populated and developed city. The car slammed to a stop, our doors flung open and we were pulled out of the car. I could hear a river flowing beside us and thought it was getting a little too sketchy for me to keep playing along.
I could hear my friends trying to whisper to each other, but the leaders quickly stopped them. A man took my hand and said, “grab my hand, we have to run, I’ll tell you when to get down.” “What do you mean get down?” I replied. So we began running and he yelled “Get Down,” which we did. “Zoooooom” a car flew by. The seniors whispered “okay, take off your bandanas,” we all looked up and we were next to a county road. The football player who threw me in the car was sitting in front of a wooden cross next to the woods. He began telling us a story about a railroad worker, who one day, was eating a pie on the railroad tracks when a train came and smashed the pie completely flat. The story teller then informed us this wasn’t any old pie, it was the best pie the man had ever tasted, and therefore he licked every last crumb off the tracks. “It’s your kid’s job to do the same, grab a pie and put it in the middle of the road. We are not leaving until it gets ran over, and you eat every last crumb off the highway. By the way, you can only use your mouth to get it off the pavement.” We all started laughing, and said “Nooo way, were not doing that, you have got to be kidding.” But we ultimately knew we had to, so we threw them in the road. One by one, each pass of vehicles flattened our pies. It was time to do the deed of eating them. All of us finished our pies; nothing better than having sand and small rocks mixed with your pie, not to mention, after being smashed on a dirty road! This experience was definitely exciting, but overall I didn’t think it was a very worthwhile thing to do, it does make for a good story to tell people of a crazy game that we took part in.
I think this showed me to be sure I know what I am doing, before I go to find another experience like this. It was kind of a fun time, but then again, I wouldn’t even think of doing this if I would’ve known our part of the deal.
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