In this blog post, I have created a scene about a special moment in my life. This moment is when The Philadelphia Eagles were finally, Super Bowl LII Champions. In this blog post I hope to walk you through my experience and help you relive the best moment of my young life. It is a brisk winter night on Sunday, February 4th up in Fairfield, Connecticut. Going to school in New England, I was surrounded by nothing but Patriots fans, I have been hearing nothing but trash talk for the past two weeks. I think to myself, “once the birds win, then I will really let them have it.” The time is now 6:00 PM and my roommate and I are currently both having nervous breakdowns. Both being from the Philadelphia area and being die hard Eagles fans we could not think of a more important moment in our lives. Not to mention that all of our other friends are from Boston and are Patriots fans. The nervousness is getting to me, I am starting to feel nauseous, so I run to the bathroom and vomit in the trash can. I am now ready to go. The rest of the Philadelphia fans from our dorm (not many) pile into my roommate and I’s room, for kickoff is about to happen. Many eagles chants are being bellowed from our mouths as loud as possible. I get on my knees, say a hail mary, and then get into my chair to watch the game with my fellow Eagles fanatics. Once kickoff happens my roommate says to me , “if we win, this will go down as the best day of my entire life”, I could do nothing but agree with him. We crack open some of our Eagles Bud Light cans, and proceed to watch the game. After a stressful first half the eagles lead 21-12. Normally I would be happy with this, but in the moment, I cannot relax because I know that Tom Brady does not lose often. “Until I see that Eagles green confetti after the game, I am not gonna believe this”, I thought. Luckily around halftime is when our gameday food is arriving. I smell nothing but, chicken wings, pizza, bud light, and the possibility that I am gonna see my first Eagles Super Bowl. As soon as the second half started, I could do nothing but feel absolute panic. The Pats start to do nothing but throw Rob Gronkowski the ball. This makes me extremely nervous because within a few minutes, they have went down the field for 6 on us. I say aloud, “if we can’t stop Gronk, they are gonna run away with it”. The room agrees with me. After a hectic third quarter, I am now relieved to see that we are still in the lead 29-26. With a quick field goal in the beginning of the fourth quarter, we are now on top 32-26. As soon as I sigh with relief, Gronk catches another touchdown for the patriots, which puts them on top 33-32. I sink into my chair and scream bloody murder. After a nauseating few minutes, Foles connects with Zach Ertz for a quick TD. I jump up and yell, “Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!, go F***ing Birds!!!”. Another hectic few minutes fly by with a strip sack and the Patriots getting the ball back with seconds to go. I could not believe what I was seeing, it has come down to the last play. Tom Brady slings the ball 50 yards in the air, I hear nothing but my own heartbeat, the ball hits the ground. We pause, then all start screaming and hugging when we realize that we have one Super Bowl 52. I immediately run outside to meet up with the few other Eagles fans from around campus and enjoy our glorious victory in the rain. As seen above, I am quite anxious during the final minutes of the game.
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In this blog post we will be reading and writing about three different articles, by three different authors. They are, ‘Teach Writing as a Process Not a Product’ by, Don Murray;
‘The Daily Writing Routines of Great Writers’ by, Maria Popova; and ‘Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life’ by, Anne Lamott. It was January 21st, 2017. The Philadelphia Eagles were playing in the NFC Championship against the Minnesota Vikings. Arriving around 3pm to make sure I can get enough tailgating in before kickoff at 8. My friend Sean and I bought Box seats from a Scalper just before we went into Lincoln Financial Field, on the elevator ride up to the level where our seats were, we thought about who else would be in there with us. Once we arrived on the floor, I walk in to see that I am in the same sports box as famous authors, Maria Popova, Don Murray, and Anne Lamott. I approached them and overheard them talking about nothing other than the writing process. I had to figure out a way to join in this conversation. So I walked over and introduced myself, “Hi, my name is jack, I am an aspiring writer and would love some advice and insight on the writing process. I just have trouble getting started sometimes.” Don stepped in and said that having trouble getting is totally natural, and then went on to say, “Instead of teaching finished writing, we should teach unfinished writing, and glory in its unfinishedness. We work with language in action. We share with our students the continual excitement of choosing one word instead of another, of searching for the one true word.” [1] His reasoning was that if we learn about unfinished writings, we will have an easier time completing the writings because we will see an actual process, instead of just seeing a finished product. Maria then added that she always feels compelled to start a new piece or finish a current one because that’s the way her mind worked. She said, “My passions drive me to the typewriter every day of my life, and they have driven me there since I was twelve. So I never have to worry about schedules. Some new thing is always exploding in me, and it schedules me, I don’t schedule it. It says: Get to the typewriter right now and finish this.” [2] I was happy to hear both of these testimonies about the writing process, but I still felt like I did not know what I was doing. Then I was reassured by Anne, when she said, “very few writers really know what they are doing until they’ve done it” [3] I then went on to tell them that, “my process is pretty basic. I gather information, and then just see what comes to me”. They all gave somewhat approval, but I knew that there was still much work to be done with my process. Don then said to me “Writing is the act of producing a first draft. It is the fastest part of the process, and the most frightening, for it is a commitment.”[4] I was very happy to see that he was willing to work with me on my writing. Maria then went on to say how she liked writing by hand sometimes, “I write with a felt-tip pen, or sometimes a pencil, on yellow or white legal pads, that fetish of American writers. I like the slowness of writing by hand.” [5] What Anne Lamott said next really made me realize how many people struggle with writing. She told me to never be afraid to ask someone for help, “if you know for sure that a smart and civilized person loves your work, you can ask that person if they would be willing to look at your latest work.” [6] “That is very reassuring, I have always been nervous to ask people to review my work because I scared to see what they would say when they critiqued it”, I added. After listening to these writers for a bit, it was time for kickoff. We all sat down and watched the game together. A quick two quarters went by and it was half time with the birds up 24-7. So we decided to continue our conversations I continued to pick all of their brains on the subject of the writing process, and then I asked Don how he best teached the writing process and he said that he is quiet when they first start a draft, “When you are talking he isn’t writing. And you don’t learn a process by talking about it, but by doing it.” [7] Maria told me how important it is to find your perfect writing environment, that Ernest Hemingway said, “When I am working on a book or a story I write every morning as soon after first light as possible. There is no one to disturb you and it is cool or cold and you come to your work and warm as you write.” [8] I was very pleased to hear this because I have always wondered if writing is in anyway related to sports, and I made the connection that no matter what you are doing, you need the appropriate environment. After being given all of these tips from these amazing writers, Anne wanted to add one more insightful suggestion, “there are always a couple of rank beginners in my classes, and they need people to read there drafts who will rise to the occasion with respect and encouragement.” [9] I was officially inspired to pursue my writing. I said, “it is really amazing that you guys are so willing to help out a struggling kid who has the same niche as you”, they all laughed and said they were more than happy to help. This blog is my results after taking The Proust Questionnaire. The Proust Questionnaire is designed to find more about a person through a series of questions. The questionnaire was made popular by Marcel Proust, a French essayist and novelist. Proust firmly believes that if someone answers all of these questions honestly, it will reveal their true nature.
1.What is your idea of perfect happiness? -To me, perfect happiness is having all of my friends and family in good health. The Eagles winning the SB also helped. 2.What is your greatest fear? - My greatest fear is having to do something that hurts people I care about. 3.What is the trait you most deplore in yourself? - Getting worked up over minor things. 4.What is the trait you most deplore in others? - People who believe they have a place in every conversation. (nosy people) 5.Which living person do you most admire? - I admire Carson Wentz because in my opinion, he is the most talented QB in the NFL and he has a true passion for the game of football. 6.What is your greatest extravagance? 7.What is your current state of mind? 8.What do you consider the most overrated virtue? - I believe that the most overrated virtue is worthiness, the reason being is that I don't think we should judge self worth 9.On what occasion do you lie? - The only occasions in which I lie is to protect someone from getting hurt. 10.What do you most dislike about your appearance? - That I am slightly under six feet tall 11.Which living person do you most despise? - I despise Kim Jong Un because he is a cruel leader and a horrible man. 12.What is the quality you most like in a man? - Integrity 13.What is the quality you most like in a woman? - Kindness 14.Which words or phrases do you most overuse? 15.What or who is the greatest love of your life? 16.When and where were you happiest? - I was the happiest when the Eagles won the Super Bowl 17.Which talent would you most like to have? - Be able to play Major League Rugby in Europe. 18.If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be? - Be more calm and collected in stressful times. 19.What do you consider your greatest achievement? - I consider graduating high school my greatest achievement because is it a big milestone in all of our lives. 20.If you were to die and come back as a person or a thing, what would it be? - I would come back as Jeffery Lurie's grandson 21.Where would you most like to live? - I would love to move to Colorado later in life. 22.What is your most treasured possession? - My most treasured possession is my Dog Charlie. 23.What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery? 24.What is your favorite occupation? - I had a moving job over this past summer that I very much enjoyed. 25.What is your most marked characteristic? - My sense of humor. 26.What do you most value in your friends? - I value honesty and knowing that they will always have my back. 27.Who are your favorite writers? - My favorite writer is Suzanne Collins because she wrote, "The Hunger Games" which is my favorite series. 28.Who is your hero of fiction? - I really like Thor the god of Thunder because he is awesome in the Marvel's Avengers series. 29.Which historical figure do you most identify with? I believe I identify with MLK because I believe in equality for all. 30.Who are your heroes in real life? - My hero is my father because he has a great work ethic and is an outstanding Dad. 31.What are your favorite names? - I like any name with a unique meaning behind it. 32.What is it that you most dislike? - I dislike people who are intolerant of others. 33.What is your greatest regret? - My greatest regret is not trying as hard as I could have in high school. 34.How would you like to die? - I would like to die in any way that is quick and painless. 35.What is your motto? - "You get what you give" |
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