Sunday, October 29, 2006
I was putting Gracie to bed earlier tonight. It was one of those moments that warm a parents heart and brings them to tears. I told Gracie, as I was tucking her into bed, that one day when she was grown up and after she falls in love with a man, I was going to have to walk her down her wedding aisle to give her away. Gracie in her little sweet mousy voice that was on the verge of crying says to me, "No. I want to stay with my daddy". I love her.
Saturday, October 28, 2006
Why I couldn’t complete my homework
This morning when I woke up, it was my sincerest intention to get off work early to complete my homework assignment. The day started off normal, I got up at 5:15 am, I made coffee and breakfast, did my workout, showered and dressed for work. I gave my good-by kisses to my wife and baby and I was out the front door.
While driving to work, I decided I wanted another cup of coffee, so I stopped at my favorite coffee shop to get a cup of joe. It was inside the coffee shop that today’s events took a turn for the worse. There seated at a table before me was my arch nemesis, Dan Rather. Dan Rather is an evil incarnation of myself. Everything about us is opposite of one another. The only thing we share in common is that we both have news caster names. I drink coffee, he drinks tea, I like blue, he likes red and I am good looking and well, he’s pretty ugly.
I stood there in complete disbelief. I could not take my eyes off of Dan. With some sort of sixth sense, he slowly lifted his head from his cup of tea and turned his head slowly towards my direction. His evil eye met my stern stare and it was at that point I knew there was no escaping this fight. My nemesis carries a bitter stone. After our last battle many years ago, in which he was defeated, he vowed to return with vengeance. Today was the day which he chose.
A few people quickly left the coffee shop knowing a battle was about to take place while others stood as stone and as quite as night. Based on our last meeting I knew this was going to be a long hard battle. I had always hoped deeply in my heart that this day would never arrive. I was disappointed, but determined not to lose and more importantly, to end this rivalry once for all. Dan slowly stood from his table and then slowly walked towards me all along holding his evil stare on me. I took a deep breath and said to him “ Bring it…Bitch!” With lightning quickness he shot out his right hand, as I did mine. A thunderous sound erupted when our hands met one another. Together we recited the battle call of the old, as tradition insists. “1-2-3-4, I declare a thumb war!” With that, the battle had begun. One of the employees went to the phone to call the police, but was stopped by another co-worker, telling her “let them settle this between themselves.” The people that were left in the coffee shop began to cheer as my nemesis and I broke in to a sweat fighting,
At one point, I almost lost the fight, as a bead of sweat rolled into my eye. The sting of the sweat made my eye close, making me partially blind. I felt his thumbing getting the better of mine. That is when I heard the faint voice of my deceased thumb wresting coach. He said to me “ Mike, use the force. Use the force.” My eye reopened and my stare was now of intense determination. I could see that my look of intensity startled Dan. It was then with the swoop of my thumb that I pinned my opponent and won the fight. The crowed went nuts! It truly was a great victory. Dan put his head down and left the coffee shop with his head down. His second defeat crushed his pride and put such a weight around his neck that he was no long able to look up. Instead his humiliation kept him looking to the ground. As you can imagine, the battle left me drained emotionally and physically. Worst yet, the fight left my thumb unusable or the rest of the day. I was unable to grip a pen properly and extensive use of my thumb would cause cramping, which unfortunately, prevented me from writing my homework assignment for today.
This morning when I woke up, it was my sincerest intention to get off work early to complete my homework assignment. The day started off normal, I got up at 5:15 am, I made coffee and breakfast, did my workout, showered and dressed for work. I gave my good-by kisses to my wife and baby and I was out the front door.
While driving to work, I decided I wanted another cup of coffee, so I stopped at my favorite coffee shop to get a cup of joe. It was inside the coffee shop that today’s events took a turn for the worse. There seated at a table before me was my arch nemesis, Dan Rather. Dan Rather is an evil incarnation of myself. Everything about us is opposite of one another. The only thing we share in common is that we both have news caster names. I drink coffee, he drinks tea, I like blue, he likes red and I am good looking and well, he’s pretty ugly.
I stood there in complete disbelief. I could not take my eyes off of Dan. With some sort of sixth sense, he slowly lifted his head from his cup of tea and turned his head slowly towards my direction. His evil eye met my stern stare and it was at that point I knew there was no escaping this fight. My nemesis carries a bitter stone. After our last battle many years ago, in which he was defeated, he vowed to return with vengeance. Today was the day which he chose.
A few people quickly left the coffee shop knowing a battle was about to take place while others stood as stone and as quite as night. Based on our last meeting I knew this was going to be a long hard battle. I had always hoped deeply in my heart that this day would never arrive. I was disappointed, but determined not to lose and more importantly, to end this rivalry once for all. Dan slowly stood from his table and then slowly walked towards me all along holding his evil stare on me. I took a deep breath and said to him “ Bring it…Bitch!” With lightning quickness he shot out his right hand, as I did mine. A thunderous sound erupted when our hands met one another. Together we recited the battle call of the old, as tradition insists. “1-2-3-4, I declare a thumb war!” With that, the battle had begun. One of the employees went to the phone to call the police, but was stopped by another co-worker, telling her “let them settle this between themselves.” The people that were left in the coffee shop began to cheer as my nemesis and I broke in to a sweat fighting,
At one point, I almost lost the fight, as a bead of sweat rolled into my eye. The sting of the sweat made my eye close, making me partially blind. I felt his thumbing getting the better of mine. That is when I heard the faint voice of my deceased thumb wresting coach. He said to me “ Mike, use the force. Use the force.” My eye reopened and my stare was now of intense determination. I could see that my look of intensity startled Dan. It was then with the swoop of my thumb that I pinned my opponent and won the fight. The crowed went nuts! It truly was a great victory. Dan put his head down and left the coffee shop with his head down. His second defeat crushed his pride and put such a weight around his neck that he was no long able to look up. Instead his humiliation kept him looking to the ground. As you can imagine, the battle left me drained emotionally and physically. Worst yet, the fight left my thumb unusable or the rest of the day. I was unable to grip a pen properly and extensive use of my thumb would cause cramping, which unfortunately, prevented me from writing my homework assignment for today.
Tuesday, October 17, 2006
Today was the first meeting of the Literacy Club that I started at Orosi High School. I was surprised to have so many kids show up for the first meeting. I was honestly expecting 5 to 6 kids, when in fact 13 kids came to the meeting. As a club, we are going to read through the Alchemist by Paulo Coelho together. We are also going to start a blog together and explore language arts through music, books, poetry, and writing. I am really excited about this club. Reading and writing has become a passion for me over the last few years, though by how often I update my blog you would think otherwise. I am also hoping to take a few field trips with kids, perhaps to the San Francisco Public Library. If nothing else, these kids would just love to go to Borders for some coffee and book browsing. Something as simple as going to a stupid over price book store, which we take for granted here in suburbia would mean a lot to these kids who live in the rural area.
