"A Blank Sheet of Paper"

"A Blank Sheet of Paper"

I am a writer.

I simply write what I think.

That gives me my voice.

GENO: IN PERSUIT OF PERFECTION

I started a new book this week. It's an autobiography by Geno Auriemma, who in my opinion is the best women's basketball coach of all time. (sorry Pat) haha. He has won back to back national championships at UConn, consisting of some of today's best players in the WNBA, like Diana Taurasi and Sue Bird. The plot of the book is basically Geno going through the years starting from about 1980 through 2005. He talks about the individuals seasons, all the different players that impacted the games, and his feeling throughout his coaching career. It's super interesting!
I have actually enjoyed reading this week. Instead of just reading two and a half hours, I read four. That's seriously one of the first times I've ever read more that I was forced to. Oh yeah, back to the plot thing. I guess the different seasons are kind of like the episodes Dr. D mentioned in class: each having their on climax and  resolution. I  think I'm going to enjoy reading this book a lot. Geno is hilarious too! :)

Reading Response: Griffin and Sabine

Well this is supposed to be the second paragraph,  but my computed decided to freak out and make me type here. These books have postcards written to both Griffin and Sabine, with occasional letters. It's a sweet story, but gets very complicated in the end. Griffin begins to doubt that  Sabine is even real. Basically, he kind of goes insane. It's an out there book with some far fetched stuf f in it. I thought its was OK, but I bet some people would like it a lot.This week, I read a strange book. Well, books. It's a series of three short books, consisting of about twenty pages each. They are not normal pages though. The story is about the interaction of a famous artist and a fan in love with his work through postcards and letters. Over time, the two fall in love and plan to meet each other one day, but come across many obstacles in the
ir way.

Unite

My teammates and I were doing our running workout on Friday, when Coach K came outside and gave us an inspirational talk. He basically said that if he wants one thing, it's for us to be united as one. He wants us to play as a team and not focus on ourselves. One person can't win a state championship, it has to be won as a group. This will most likely be our main struggle as a basketball team this year.
Our team is full of very talented people, who are big scorers. We are all extremely close and love being around each other, but I worry that on the court, we'll forget all that and only focus on ourselves scoring our fifteen points. A team will never work like that. You have to be unselfish and as they say, be willing to "take one for the team." It's going to be our main obstacle to overcome this year.

READING RESPONSE

This week, I finally finish my book Split. Overall, it was a pretty awesome book. It always kept me on my toes. You never know what will happen next. The only bummer was that it was kind of an open ending. It has some good morals in it though. Like, the people you know will always be there for you is your family. I live by that rule everyday.
For my next book, I think I'll read a book about one of the best women's basketball coaches of all time: Geno Auriemma. He coaches for both Uconn and the women's USA team. From what I've seen, he is very upfront with his players and treats them the same he would a team of guys. I respect him for that, and hope I can learn more from this book. Oh yeah, he coached two of my favorite WNBA players too: Dianna Taurasi and Sue Bird.

Literacy Narrative

Alright, so, I kind of already know what my literacy narrative's going to be about, but I want some feedback to see if you guys like it. We're going to have to go way back to sixth grade with Mrs. G. She seriously taught me to enjoy writing and gave me the confidence to know that I was at least half decent at it. I give her credit for making English my favorite academic class.
After class one day, she pulled me aside and told me how much she like reading my writing and that I had developed this thing called voice. Now, to an eleven year old, I first off, needed a definition of this. After she explained it, she said it was something usually taught around eighth grade, so that was definitely a confidence boost. After that, I put more thought into writing and learned my strengths and weaknesses. I am very thankful for what Mrs. G has done for me.

Reading Response

I really enjoyed reading Split this week. It was an exciting section of the book, when Jace and Christian return to their home in attempts to rescue their abused mother. They both discover some things about their past. After much persuasion, their mother denies their offer, and they return home. Alone.
I noticed how much effort Swati Avasthi, the author of Split, puts into conveying a strong voice quality into his writing. He makes me feel like I'm inside Jace's mind, experiencing the struggles in his life. He uses descriptive words and vivid detail in order to make the scenes as realistic as possible. I love his writing and  respect it completely.

Comments Response

(This blog is in response to Alex Dumas's comment about our running for basketball.)
Alex-
First off, thanks for the compliment on my blog. I'm glad you enjoyed reading it! I think we both feel the same way about this year's running and weights. It's definitely tough, but it needs to be done, especially if we want to do well in playoffs this year.
I guess it's all about who was the advantage, whether it's strenght, height, or speed. We all know that our team isn't exactly full of height. We don't have anybody that's six feet or anything, so that means that we have to be that much stronger, faster, and better in every aspect of the game. I think that this early training might be the key to our success this year as a team. We'll just have to see how it goes!

Split: Bad Habits Passed On

So, in my last post, I told you about the book "Split" and explained to you a brief part of Jace's life, filled with abuse from his father. This week, I found out that Jace had once hit his own girlfriend, obviously not thinking, and felt horrible afterwards. Maybe the saying, "The apple doesn't fall far from the tree," actually has some meaning to it.
From what I've read, Jace does not support his fathers abuse to his mother at all. It disgusts him in ways I can't explain. Well, he sure was shocked when he caught himself throwing a punch at his girlfriend out of anger. This is what some people don't realize: If a child sees one of his parents doing something, he is likely to do it too. It's just as simple as that. Not only does Jace's father put his family in danger, but now his son he is passing it on to his son. It was the first thing that came to Jace's mind when he got mad at his girlfriend because that's what he grew up seeing. This is just adds to how horrible abuse really is.

This Week's Training

Left. Right. Left. Right. It's the only thing going through my mind. Just keep going. The scorching red track rubbing against my blistering feet. Sweat dripping down my back, all I can is hear the panting of my teammates and can hardly keep myself from collapsing. 
I slowly find myself falling behind. This can't happen. I'm not going to be seen by my teammates as "the weak runner." As a freshman, I'm just trying to prove myself. Don't let all your hard work go to waste. Push through it. Left. Right. Left. Right. It becomes mechanic, and I feel myself getting faster and faster. Before I know it, I'm back with my teammates. We finish our run and cross the finish line as a team.