Time Era

If there were one time period that I could return to, it would probably have to be the 1920’s.The 20’s seemed to me like they were a pretty happenin’ time to be living in America. First and foremost, the best part of the 20’s in my opinion was the music. I like the fast paced jazz and swing music, because it is really good to dance to, and we all know that I sure love to dance, which brings me into my next reason. The Charleston was the big dance of that decade, and is something that seems like it would be a lot of fun to do.  Also, cars were brand new in toe 20’s, and if you had one, man were you cool. The 1920’s were also a time where women started to become more and more racy and exciting, which must have made it fun to be a man in that decade. You could pick these women up in tour new hip cars, and take them to dance parties where you would do the Charleston, while listening to jazz music in the car ride to the dance. That sounds like the perfect scenario to me. Everything that I find appealing about the twenties can be recognized in one simple evening on the town. But besides the music, cars, dances, and girls, baseball was also a pretty big deal and was on the up rise. Players like Babe Ruth and Hank Aaron were in the prime of their careers, making history that would withstand the test of time until this very day, right before everyone’s eyes. Knowing that these athletes would turn out to be some of the best players in the history of baseball, I would make bets on them and do everything possible to get an autograph.

Choice Blog

For this choice blog, I would like to write about one of the happiest moments of my life. Spring 2006, as the Buffalo Sabres were in the midst of e legitimate Stanley cup championship run, they found themselves in playing a game 6 at home against the eventual Stanley Cup champion Carolina Hurricanes. The entire city was buzzing all week long in anticipation of the game, and tickets were impossible to come by. I had never wanted to go to any particular sporting event so badly. I tried winning them on the radio, collecting coins to buy them, and I even tried convincing my friend Ryan who is a season ticket holder to take me along. None of which were successful, and I as crushed. I thought I as going to have to watch the biggest game of the season on my tv, but thankfully I as wrong. Around 4oclock my mom strolled through the door with some wonderful news for myself, and some terrible news for my sister who wanted to go to the game as well. She first called my sister into the kitchen, and all I heard was faint whispering, capped off with a shriek, as my sister stormed off to her bedroom in tears. My sister couldn’t attend the game as she had a soccer game, ha ha ha. I, on the other hand was then informed that my mother, by some crazy stretch of imagination, somehow got tickets from someone at work, and was that we were using them. The scenario couldn’t have been more perfect. While I was attending the biggest game of the year, Sarah, wasn’t. to make a long story short, the Sabres brought the game to overtime, and Daniel Briere got loose in front of the net, and slipped the rebound past Cam Ward o send the series to game seven. It was amazing, and was something I will remember for the rest of my life.

Interview

I had distinct pleasure of interviewing the Bulldogs very own, Emily Zuchoski. Emily is actually a pretty interesting person that has many different and unique interests. Some of which include shopping and ice skating. She likes to do these activities on the weekend and when she is not in school. She is also an avid country listener, and told me that Luke Bryan is her favorite of all. She’s also a big hockey fan, and likes to follow the Buffalo Sabres very closely. Her favorite movie is Miracle, which tells the story of the 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team that overcame impossible odds to achieve a goal that nobody gave them a chance of doing, and winning the gold medal. It really is a great movie, and is an instant classic for any sports fan. One television program that she particularly enjoys watching is Man Vs. Food. This really surprised me, because she just doesn’t strike me as a Man Vs. Food type person, but I guess looks can be deceiving. Emily has a favorite food as well. Mashed potatoes, but it doesn’t just end there. She prefers zero gravy, and likes to douse it with butter, bacon, and ranch dressing. It’s like taking mashed potatoes to the next level, and I love it. When it comes to school, Emily is a huge fan of psychology and sociology, with Mr. Cayea. Her absolute least favorite subject however is science in general. One person that Emily looks up to is Sarah Palin. Emily wants to be just like Sarah when she is older, and believes that Sarah should be the next president of the United States of America. So, as you can see, Emily is a very unique and interesting person that we all have the distinct pleasure of sharing a classroom with every other day.

Choice Blog 3

For my third and final blog I would like to talk about some of my favorite Buffalo Bills players. I have decided to highlight my top three. Coming in at number 3 is Bills’ strong safety George Wilson. Wilson is a class act, and his story to the NFL is something that any sports fan has just gotta love. He came into the Bills organization as an undrafted free agent wide receiver. Former head coach Dick Jauron gave him a shot at playing defensive back, and he hasn’t looked back, on his way to becoming one of the Bills biggest playmakers on defense. I remember witnessing his pick 6 against the Cowboys on Monday night football in the first start of his career, and immediately loving the energy and passion that he plays the game with. Off the field he is extremely active in the community, and is someone that you don’t hear about much, simply because he isn’t always getting in trouble with the law. Next, my number two favorite player on the Bills is nose tackle Kyle Williams. Kyle is a former fifth round draft pick by the Bills, and not much was expected out of him coming out of college. However, like Wilson, Williams sort of flew under the radar, kept his mouth shut, and just kept working to finally earn himself a starting spot right in the middle of the Bills defense.  Being a football player, these are the players that I appreciate the most, the low profile, hard workers. And finally coming in at number 1 is center Eric Wood. Another guy that you don’t hear much about, but that is an extremely important piece of the Bills team. I remember from the second we drafted him, just loving his style of play. He keeps his mouth shut, and plays hard every play. Also, he is a blue collar player for a blue collar city which makes him an instant favorite amongst the fans But above all else, he is nasty. I just love watching him finish his blocks and then look for someone else to pop. That’s by far my favorite aspect of his game. Also, his resilience has been phenomenal during his short career so far in Buffalo. After sustaining a leg injury that appeared to be career threatening, he was playing football again next fall and appeared to be at full strength.

Choice Blog 2

For my second blog, I have decided to talk about some of my favorite moments from throughout my entire high school football career. There really are too many to put all of them in this single blog so I have decided to highlight the top 5. Coming in at number five goes all the way back to my sophomore year. I was the starting left tackle that year, and we were going into arguably our toughest game of the season by traveling to Lackawanna to take on the Steelers. The entire game was intense, just a fun tough game to play in. We came out on top as huge underdogs by winning I believe it was 12-0. Number four would have to be my junior year when we were playing Hornell for the first time. I remember I wasn’t getting in too much, and I just wanted to get in to help my team, and make a difference. I remember it was a third down play and they tried running a reverse, and I read the play perfectly and smothered the kid for about a thirteen yard loss.  It felt so great to just to make a big play for in a big situation for my team. Number 3 was running out of the tunnel at the Carrier Dome to open my senior season. It really was a unique and once in a lifetime experience. Besides the heat, that was a really special day that I will remember for a very long time. Coming in at number 2 is without a doubt when Nick Foss sacked Christian Smith on the 2 point conversion at the Ralph my junior year. Nobody deserved to make that play more than Beef, and I was just so extremely ecstatic for him. He finally got a chance on defense and made the biggest play of his life. I still get butterflies thinking about it. Finally, I would have to say the number one moment of my high school career had to be the way our team played in the last game of my high school career against Hornell.  We came out and knocked the crap out of them right from the start of the game. Nobody in an Alden uniform feared this team like so many teams in the past had. To see the team come within a minute of accomplishing something that had haunted me personally for the past year, and just let it slip was beyond devastating, and is something that will stick with me for the rest of my life. But the one thing I promised myself after the loss in my junior year was that if I do lose to this team next year, I can look myself in the mirror and say that there is not one more single thing that I could have done to prepare for this game, which I kept in my mind throughout the entire offseason in preparation for this game. However, I think that going through that entire experience just made the bond between my teammates, coaches and I even closer, which is something that we will all cherish long after football is out of the picture, which is what really matters.  

Choice Blog 1

For my first choice blog, I have chosen to write about what I plan on doing this weekend, given that today is Friday. After school I plan on getting dropped off at home and I’m going to first get something to eat, probably a clementine or granola bar, then I’ll probably talk to my dad for a little bit to catch up on things and discuss our days.  Then I am going to go up to my room, put on a pair of sweatpants, and put in NHL 12 to play the Sabre’s game for tonight against the Florida Panthers.  If I don’t win on my first try, I’ll keep playing until I do. I’ll probably stay on X-box until about four when I will head over to my friend Ryan Snyder’s house, because he some other guys and myself will all be attending the Sabres game tonight against Florida. After the game I’ll probably be forced to spend the night at Ryan’s house, which I am very much dreading. It will most likely consist of facebook and watching Ryan play NHL, fun fun.  Saturday is going to be a pretty laid back day. First and foremost, Saturday morning I will make a trip out to the galleria mall to get clothes for my football banquet on Sunday. I really want to wear a sweater vest because I’ve always wanted one, but have never gotten around to actually purchasing one. I also plan on working on some college applications and using that day to catch up on some homework because I have a lot of it this weekend. Saturday night for now is open for me, but I’m sure I’ll end up going to Joe Foss’s house or something, since that is what I do pretty much every Saturday night. Sunday is going to be a day dedicated entirely to football, as the Alaskan Bullworm’s take their first step towards their first ever fantasy league championship on Sunday. Around about 3 o’clock however, I’ll be forced to come to life, and get into the shower to get ready for my banquet. Sunday night should be a night full of mixed emotions at the banquet, but I’m looking forward to one last get together with my team and coaching staff.

Choice Blog 1

For my first choice blog, I have chosen to write about what I plan on doing this weekend, given that today is Friday. After school I plan on getting dropped off at home and I’m going to first get something to eat, probably a clementine or granola bar, then I’ll probably talk to my dad for a little bit to catch up on things and discuss our days.  Then I am going to go up to my room, put on a pair of sweatpants, and put in NHL 12 to play the Sabre’s game for tonight against the Florida Panthers.  If I don’t win on my first try, I’ll keep playing until I do. I’ll probably stay on X-box until about four when I will head over to my friend Ryan Snyder’s house, because he some other guys and myself will all be attending the Sabres game tonight against Florida. After the game I’ll probably be forced to spend the night at Ryan’s house, which I am very much dreading. It will most likely consist of facebook and watching Ryan play NHL, fun fun.  Saturday is going to be a pretty laid back day. First and foremost, Saturday morning I will make a trip out to the galleria mall to get clothes for my football banquet on Sunday. I really want to wear a sweater vest because I’ve always wanted one, but have never gotten around to actually purchasing one. I also plan on working on some college applications and using that day to catch up on some homework because I have a lot of it this weekend. Saturday night for now is open for me, but I’m sure I’ll end up going to Joe Foss’s house or something, since that is what I do pretty much every Saturday night. Sunday is going to be a day dedicated entirely to football, as the Alaskan Bullworm’s take their first step towards their first ever fantasy league championship on Sunday. Around about 3 o’clock however, I’ll be forced to come to life, and get into the shower to get ready for my banquet. Sunday night should be a night full of mixed emotions at the banquet, but I’m looking forward to one last get together with my team and coaching staff.

Music

                I honestly don’t think that I would be able to choose a specific favorite genre of music. I listen to all sorts of music, usually depending on what type of mood I am in that particular day.  I also don’t really know how to exactly classify a band I like listening to into any specific genre. Genre’s aside, one artist that I have always loved listening to ever since maybe 4^th grade has been Bob Dylan. I can honestly say that he has been my most consistent musical artist throughout my life, having listened to him with my parents in the car from the time I was very young all the way up to this point where I now listen to him on my own. Dylan has an unmatchable ability to address certain problems or issues about anything through his music, and does it all while painting an extremely vivid image through his lyrics. And even if you don’t enjoy listening to his music, pretty much everyone has to respect that fact that he has consistently been putting out music for well over 50 years, and has not slowed down a single bit. I believe he is among a select few people in modern music who have been able to do this so successfully.  Although I’d have to say Dylan is my favorite, there are so many other groups that I would consider in my top favorite artists. One genre of music that I have found myself spending a lot of time listening to throughout the past year or so has been rap, which is odd because before maybe last November, I didn’t much care for this genre. One artist in particular that I have taken a liking to has been Kanye West. This has led to me listening to many other rap artists over the past year or so.

Choice

Playing hockey during the winter with my friends at the park is for sure my favorite winter activity. Nothing beats hitting the ice with my friends and playing hockey for hours on end, or pretty much until the ice is too chewed up to even skate on anymore, which is extremely choppy. Some friends that I like to do this with are Ryan Snyder, Adam Strasser, Dan Basinski, Joe Foss, and Bill Penny. Of all of the kids that I play with, the second best is probably Ryan, second only to yours truly.  Ryan has very good hand eye coordination and has good balance on his skates. He is also deceivingly quick, which most people probably wouldn’t expect. I like to have Ryan on my team because I think that we have good chemistry when we’re on the ice together. Ryan likes to pretend he is Steve Montador when he plays, because that is his favorite player.  Adam Strasser is the goalie for my friends and I when we play. Adam, or Strass as we like to call him is actually pretty good at playing goal. He’ll make one unbelievable save, and everyone will be like “woah”, then the next second he’ll let in a simple little wrist shot from Bill Penny, which brings me to my next point. Of all the kids that we play with, I’d probably have to say Bill Penny is the worst, and in pretty sure that everyone else would agree with me, including Bill. Bill doesn’t really “excel” in any particular aspect of pond hockey, he is pretty much average to slightly below average in every category, except of course body checking. Bill likes to disregard everything else and be his team’s enforcer, which usually leads to some pretty bloody brawls that I always end up coming out of on top, because I’m awesome at every aspect of pond hockey.

Favorite Book

                Although I wouldn’t really consider myself a big reader there is one book in particular that I really enjoyed reading, which was A Series of Unfortunate Events. I read that entire series when I was in fifth grade, and I could literally not put them down. I think that this was probably the only series that I read that I really enjoyed, however instead of reading books I like to read articles online or in the Buffalo News. Reading the newspaper to me is an extremely relaxing and enjoyable experience. Nothing beats kicking back in the recliner and taking a load off to read about what’s going on in our area. The section I mainly focus on as you can probably imagine, is the sports section. Topics within this section can range anywhere from the Buffalo Bills, Buffalo Sabres, and Buffalo Bisons, to the Western New York Flash, Rochester Americans, and High School Sports. All of which I like to keep a close eye on. Another place where I do most of my reading is on the internet. I would probably say that I do the majority of my reading on websites and online databases because of how convenient they are and how often I am on the internet. Some of these websites include NFL.com, NHL.com, MLB.com, and the Huddle, where I can stay up to date on all of my fantasy football news and reports. The final place where I find myself doing much of my reading is of course, the toilet. Nothing passes the time better than a nice Time or National Geographic magazine while you’re doing your thing in the lavatory. When I do this I will read pretty much anything that’s sitting in there whether or not it’s something I’s interested in, just because it gives me something to do to pass the time.

Top 3 Movies

Because I have seen so many movies that I like over the years that I’ve really enjoyed, it took a lot of thought and consideration to narrow it down to just 3 movies. However, after a lot of thought I have come up with my top 3. My number three favorite movie of all time would have to be Toy Story. This has been one of my favorite movies for as long as I can remember, and is truly a timeless classic. Anyone who says they don’t like Toy Story is clearly just embarrassed to say that they like a Disney movie, because they are for “little kids.” Disney in my opinion makes some of the best, Pixar especially. I’m not going to take much time to explain the plot of Toy Story because pretty much everyone has seen it multiple times throughout the years.  Toy Story, number 3, nuff said. Coming in at number 2 is a movie that had the potential to be number one, is Napoleon Dynamite. Seriously, if you think Napoleon Dynamite isn’t funny, you should see a doctor ASAP, because there’s something wrong with you. I can still recall choking on my popcorn the very first time I experienced this motion picture masterpiece, and it has happened multiple times since that day, and I look forward to sharing that movie with as many people as I possibly can because it is just that funny, that everyone needs to see it. Napoleon Dynamite, number 2, again, nuff said .Finally, coming in at the top of my list my favorite movie of all time, Forrest Gump.  Forrest Gump is a movie that shows us significant events that occurred in America such as Watergate, Vietnam, and the assassination of the Kennedy’s, through the eyes of a man with an IQ of 75. This movie will make you laugh and cry at the same time, and is one of the reasons it is so widely loved. So that just about does it for my top 3 favorite movies, but I’d now like to take a look at some honorable mentions that didn’t quite make the cut. The Big Lebowski, Hook, The Mummy, Aladdin, and Edward Scissorhands all were taken into great consideration when forming this list.

3 wishes

If I had three wishes, I know for sure what the first one would be. That would be the ability to fly.  Flying would honestly be one of the coolest things to do. First of all, you could go wherever you want, whenever you want, and with absolutely zero effort. This means no more waiting around for when it is most convenient for your parents to drive you places. You can now just fly. Also, I wish that I could be the only person that could fly, because I don’t feel like sharing the air with a bunch of other people all the time, and then it would just get too crowded and take away from the entire experience. My second wish would be the ability to travel through time.  This to me would be the second coolest thing that you could do. Relive every single moment of your life, and change anything that went wrong, and go back and mess with people who don’t know what’s going to happen. Also, I could be looked upon as some super being because I could predict the future, and fly, in which case I would probably have a statue or something built after me, which would be pretty awesome. Another final wish that I would like to come true is that I could eat anything I wanted all day and never get full or sick of that food. And also that the food would have no negative effect on my health, therefore I could sit and eat all day long, and not have to worry about it. I would probably eat mainly chicken wings, pizza, chicken finger subs, Mrs. Foss’s mac n cheese, and steak. I’d have to buy an industrial sized fridge, but my investment would definitely be well worth it.

Choice

Breakfast is by far my favorite meal of the day, however I unfortunately only get to have a good one a couple of days a week because I am always so rushed in the morning with school. When I prepare my own breakfast it usually consists of two eggs cooked sunny side up. Add a little pepper to them while they’re cooking, and they’re simply to die for. Next I like to lightly toast 4 pieces of whole wheat bread, and spread a nice even coating of butter over them, because toast without butter is like Christmas without Santa Clause, it just isn’t right. If I’m feeling especially daring on that particular morning, I’ll even fry up some sausage or bacon, or whatever meat we have in the house to add to my royal feast. So finally when the eggs are finished cooking, the toast is toasted, and the bacon is baked, it’s time. I grab the sports section of the Sunday news, obtain the bottle of franks red hot sauce from the door of my refrigerator, and park it directly in front of my television. After I’ve sat down, I refuse to move until my plate is licked clean, and I am ready to begin my day. This means I must holler to my mother over the sound of the vacuum cleaner and ask her in my most pathetic and desperate voice to get me a glass of orange juice. This usually doesn’t work, so I just go thirsty. After I’ve sat down, I mean business, and I don’t mess around. If that means I go thirsty, so be it.  Upon finishing my delectable dish that was 100% self prepared,  I like to sit and reminisce about the masterpiece that I not only created, but in a very instant destroyed, and I feel proud be me.

After high school

After high school, I am not completely certain about what I wasn’t to do yet. For starters, I do know that I will be going to college for sure. Without a college education, I probably won’t be very successful in life. When I am in college, I would like to somehow stay around football. I am considering playing D3 football at a college somewhere, but I am uncertain about where I would want to play, and if I even want to or not. If I do play football, one place that I am considering is Alfred State so that I could play with my friend Nick Foss. Also, I do think that I have the grades to get into that school, so that is one of my potential options. But that would be a really great experience to be able to play football with one of my best friends again. I also would need to get a job after high school ends so that I could pay for living expenses while dorming at college. I will need to pay for food and things of that nature, so a job would be essential. Also, I need to find some way to get a car before college starts, so that I can get around when I am at college, and I won’t be confined to such a small area. And if I get a car, then I need to pay for gas, and car insurance, and all that good stuff. But some options that I have been considering studying at school are some time of sports management, or something along the lines of a personal trainer. These are two things that I am extremely interested in, and that I would passionately pursue when I get out of college. Also, being involved in them would mean I get to stay around football for the majority of my life, which is what I want to do.

Teacher

Throughout the years, I have had the distinct privilege of having many great teachers and coaches. There were so many that I took into consideration, that it was hard to pick just one. But when it came down to it, I feel confident that I made the correct decision in choosing Mr. Domino. I had Mr. Domino for Environmental Science my sophomore year, and I must admit I was far from thrilled when I first entered his classroom, as I had no interest whatsoever in learning about the environment. But there was so much more that I gained from this class through learning about the environment. I learned that everything that we do as human beings either directly or indirectly affects nature, whether it be positively or negatively. I also had the opportunity to learn a lot about how our sports fields are managed around the Alden district, and I now understand some of the limitations that our grounds crew is held to. I learned so many things that I probably would’ve never taken any time to learn about without taking that class. But the main reason that I found this class so enjoyable was because of Mr. Domino’s unmatched passion for teaching environmental science. He used fun, engaging activities that got us out of our seats and involved with what we were learning, rather than just sitting back and taking notes for 80 minutes straight. He also was able to use his own personal life stories to teach us the curriculum because he involved with so many programs involving the environment. His interest in this subject is what got me interested. I constantly found myself sharing things that I learned from him with my parents or friends or telling them the next witty joke he made in class that day. Mr. Domino, you’re the man.

Alex Morgan

Since I was given the choice to write about whatever I want for this blog, I have decided to take this opportunity to write about Alex Morgan. Alex is a forward playing for the Western New York Flash, and has developed into one of my favorite athletes over the past few months. Morgan first caught my attention this past summer during the FIFA World Cup. Prior to this summer’s tournament, I had absolutely zero interest in soccer in general, let alone woman’s soccer.  However, as I watched the underdog American team come back time and time again, I was captivated. Particularly when they played against Brazil, and it looked like they were down and out, until Abby Wambach scored late to eventually send the game to penalty kicks where USA took down the Brazil powerhouse. Through all of this excitement, one player really caught my attention with her finesse abilities, ravishing looks, and her signature pink headband.  That was Alex Morgan. I continued to follow her to the very end of the tournament until the United States lost to Japan in penalty kicks. Although I was heartbroken because at the loss, I was ecstatic to find out that she played for Western New York’s home team in the WPS, the Western New York Flash.  I even created a Twitter account so that I could see what she is up to at all times.  Finally, I was able to get some friends together and go to a Flash game out in Rochester. The night was a gloomy and soggy one, but it in no way was a symbol of my mood. I was thrilled just to breathe the same air as this human being. The game itself was pretty boring, but after it ended was when the fun really began. I was the first one down to the edge of the stands to greet the players as they walked off the field. Morgan must have been captivated by my dashing looks, as I was the first one she decided to come sign for. So, to make a long story short, she signed my ticket, and I toughed her hand. NBD

Favorite Class

Throughout my many years of school, there have been a lot of enjoyable classes. But my favorite was without a doubt when I took 20^th century wars my sophomore year with Mr. Kryszczuk.  I enjoyed this class for many different reasons, but mostly because we got to learn about something that really interests me, which is war. Also, I had a lot of friends in that class with me, and I even had my sister in it too, so if I was ever stuck on the homework, we could just work on it together.  The way in which the class was instructed was the best part. What we did was briefly learn about the war, and then watch a movie that related to it. For example, we would learn a little bit about world war 2 for a day, then we would spend 3 days watching Saving Private Ryan. And the best part of all of this was that I had it first block, so it was a nice way to sort of ease into the stressful day of school that was ahead of me. And if for some reason I didn’t have my geometry homework done that was due second block, I was usually able to get it done in this class during the movie, because movie days were usually pretty laid back. Another part of the class that I liked was playing the role playing games. Basically we would split up into pairs and were given a country and would have to make alliances with the other countries around the classroom to try and further ourselves in the game.  The game was full of back stabbing and distrust, and it was a lot of fun. However, I always found my team being knocked out in the first round because I made too many alliances, and was stabbed in the back by people I thought I trusted.

Bullying

Bullying is a major problem now a days amongst teens throughout the entire world. People see someone that is different or not exactly like them and they feel the need to put them down, or raise themselves above these individuals. The fact that people think they can tell someone that they are worthless based off of stuff like their appearance or sexual orientation is just sad. This is an extremely disappointing and hurtful topic for many people, and it must be dealt with, and now people are taking more serious steps to preventing bullying as a result of a 14 year old boy from Western New York that took his own life as a way of coping with bullying. Jamie Rodemeyer had been tormented and teased by his peers to the point where he could not take it anymore and committed suicide. Jamie was an avid fan of Lady Gaga, and she was one of his biggest fans because of her support for homosexuals like himself. Bullying is something that cannot be easily prevented, but teachers in schools everywhere are doing their best as a result of this particular incident. I believe that there should be no toleration for bullying, and that if swift action and discipline is taken, that it will show others what will happen if they decide to bully somebody and then they might not go through with it. Also, if people are being bullied, they need to tell someone of authority immediately, because it will in most cases be dealt with before that individual lets the anger and frustration build up so much inside that it gets to the point where they see taking their life as their only possible option. If kids talk about it, and bring light to the subject, it is more likely to be stopped, but talking about these types of things are hard for many adolescents.

Restaurants

Alden is home to many of my favorite restaurants. Some of these include Carbones, Geoffano’s and Subway. But when I think of my favorite, there is only one that stands out in my mind. John & Mary’s. I think that John & Mary’s has the best overall food in town. Their pizza is min my opinion their only weak point. Usually when I order myself a pizza from John & Mary’s, it tends to be extremely doughy and does not taste as if it has been cooked fully through. And being a person that prefers their pizza crispier than the average person, you can understand why I would see this as a problem. But besides that, everything else is phenomenal. Their subs are second to none around here. My personal favorite that I find myself getting most often when I order from there is a hot ham. This sub comes with hot ham, melted provolone cheese, mayo, fried hot and sweet peppers, and fried onions. To most people this seems pretty nasty and disgusting. But to me, is to die for. In fact, I just had one last night for dinner, and let me tell you, it was out of this world. Next on the list of John & Mary’s best subs is without a doubt just your plain, basic turkey sub. As I mentioned before in my blog about my favorite foods, turkey sub was right up there with the best of them. The roll is toasted to perfection, and the turkey is the perfect amount. Unlike at Geoffano’s, who puts excessive amounts of turkey on their subs. Then, just like on the hot ham sub, you need to add the fried hot and sweet peppers, and onions to top it all off. Finally, the chicken wings at John & Mary’s are pretty decent, but would lose horribly if were they put up against Geoffano’s.

School Lunche Rules!

Of All the school lunches, my favorite is without a doubt soft shell tacos. Tacos have been my favorite school lunch for as long as I can remember. I really don’t know what it is about them that makes them so good. The meat is pretty good, and it has a unique flavor to it, which I really do like. Then you must add a lot of hot sauce and salsa to your taco. Finally, you add jalapenos, cheese and lettuce. Finally, you have the perfect school taco. But with the taco comes even more delicious side entrees. It comes with tortilla chips, corn, and my personal favorite, churros. And if you feel like adding even more flavor to your already delicious taco, you can do what I do and put your chips and corn right into the taco for that extra blast of flavor. Although taco day is my favorite lunch, there are a few very close contenders that I would like to take some time to recognize. First of which would have to be chicken patties. The patties are always very crispy and are served with mac n cheese which is really good. Also, they put out blue cheese and hot sauce to smother your patty with, which is my favorite part. After chicken patties would have to be grilled cheese day. Grilled cheese day is usually every other Friday, and I almost always find myself getting a double lunch every time it rolls around. The grilled cheese is smothered with butter and is extremely crispy, just the way I like it. Also, you can get tomato soup with it, which by itself isn’t all that special, but when you dip your grilled cheese in it, it makes for one excellent combination of delicious cafeteria foods here in Alden.

Bills vs Pats

This past Sunday was one of the greatest moments of my life without a doubt. This happened when my favorite football team, the Buffalo Bills, finally beat the New England Patriots for the first time in over 2000 days.  It was so amazing to see them finally pull it out on the very last play of the game with a field goal as time expired. After all of the close losses over the past 9 years or so, they finally were able to beat the team I hate most in the entire world. After the game concluded, I exploded with joy and was immediately hugging every person that I could find with any type of Buffalo Bills apparel on that I could find.  I haven’t fully recovered my voice that I lost from screaming at the game, but that is completely alright with me. The Bills needed all of their fans to be loud and enthusiastic on Sunday when they were on defense, and I accepted that challenge, and really embraced it. But the best part of all of this was knowing for the final 3 minutes of the game that the Bills were going to end up winning the game because all that they had to do was run the clock out then kick a very short field goal. You could completely tell that this was truly aggravating the Patriots and their coaching staff, as they committed a couple of penalties out of frustration near the goal line. Also, Bill Belichick, the Patriots head coach had a timeout taken away from his team from arguing with the referee about a certain call. This made me the most happy out of any event that day, for this man has made me very angry over the years, and it made me extremely happy to see him so angry.

Favorite Foods

I would like to take some time in this blog to talk about my favorite foods. Spaghetti and meatballs is by far without a doubt my absolute favorite food in the world. However, I prefer the sauce homemade and I like the noodles to be whole grain. Spaghetti sauces come in many different flavors and consistencies. Many people like their sauce thin and plain, without anything going on. I prefer my sauce with to taste like an explosion of all different flavors. I like it spicy, hot, and with cut up sausage and other types of meat in it. I also put more than enough sauce on my noodles, because like most, I need the extra dipping sauce for my breadsticks or garlic bread.  However, when I am eating spaghetti, I need to be drinking milk with it. One other food that I really enjoy eating is watermelon. Honestly, in my opinion, it is the best tasting fruit out there. I can literally sit down with a spoon and eat an entire watermelon in under an hour, and I enjoy every single second of it. And it fills me up, so I am satisfied for a couple of hours until my next meal. Also if you don’t like to drink water but you want to get the nutritional benefits that water provides, then watermelon is the food for you. Finally, my third favorite food would probably have to be turkey subs. Turkey subs with just turkey are extremely flavorless and boring. Add some mayonnaise, cheese, lettuce, onions, peppers, and ketchup, and you have yourself a fine tasting sub right there. You can also get your turkey subs on many different flavored sub rolls, but they usually only come on whole wheat or white bread. I personally prefer whole wheat, but will eat my turkey subs either way.

Favorite Season

I love all the seasons of the year. Each season has its own pros and cons, however it is nice to live somewhere where you get all of them each year, this way I don’t get bored of the same season year around. However, one season stands out in my mind as my favorite, and that is autumn. Autumn, in my opinion, has by far the best weather of all the seasons.  It is the perfect time of year to wear sweatpants and hoodies, and the sleeping weather is simply perfect. Nothing beats waking up on a Sunday morning, putting on a pair of sweatpants, and parking it right in front of my television all day watching football. Another reason that I love fall is because its football season for me, which I really enjoy. Fall is also the one season out of the year that I don’t really mind going to school. During the fall I haven’t been in school long enough to be sick of it already, so I sort of enjoy school until fall is over, then I just get sick of it. Autumn in my opinion has two of the best seasons in Thanksgiving and Halloween. Personally, I can’t think of a better holiday than sitting around watching football and eating a lot of food all day. One of the things that I love most about autumn is the fall foliage. I just love walking outside during fall to see all the beautiful leaves all over the place. There is also a very distinct smell that you experience when you are out among nature during autumn, which I really enjoy. Autumn also means that my mother will be buying candy corn, which is probably my favorite candy, and is something that I don’t eat at any other time of year than fall.      

Facebook

Like most of my peers, I do in fact use facebook. Facebook is a fun and easy way to see what all of your friends are up to throughout the day. And it’s also a great place to connect with old friends that you have not seen in many years, and to see what is going on in their lives. Also facebook is useful for adding famous athletes that you don’t know so you can see what their personal lives. Some athletes that I have added over the years are Alex Morgan and Michael
Jasper.  Facebook is also a good place to share pictures that you take with your friends and pictures of special moments in your life.  However Thursday nights during “Jersey Shore” season is not a good time to be on facebook. This is when facebook is most active, and I just try to stay away as much as possible during that particular hour. Also you get the occasional, “dsfjsdjfopm” status, which still makes no sense to me, but it seems to with everyone else.  Some more negative problems that are associated with facebook are that some people use it as an outlet to bully people, which is not a gooid idea. When you do this, that particular kid tells their principle and you usually end up getting into a lot of trouble. So basically it just really isn’t worth it, and it actually makes you look pretty foolish if you decide to bully other people over the internet. Facebook can also be used as a great way to spread awareness about a certain event that is coming up in the near future. You can do this by creating an event and sending it to all of the people that you want to attend it. This gets the word out about that particular event in a quick and efficient manner.

Comfortable writing about

When I am writing, the main thing that I enjoy writing about would have to be sports. I like writing about sports because they are something that I feel that I know a lot about, and as a result I feel like I am good at writing about them.  The main sports that I like to write about are football and the Buffalo Bills, and hockey and the Buffalo Sabres. I also enjoy writing about fantasy football news because I am a very serious fantasy football player, and I feel that I have a lot of knowledgeable and in depth advice to give. Something else that I enjoy writing about is myself.  I obviously like doing this because I think I’m a pretty interesting subject to write about, and it comes pretty easy to me, because I already know everything. To be completely honest, I’d be pretty interested in reading about “Michael Steffan” if I weren’t me.  History is something else that I am pretty good at writing about. I owe a lot of this success to my 11^th grade U.S history teacher Mr. Foss. He taught me how to write a very unique way to write articles about history which I found very useful, and as a result scored very well on my history exam. I also think that I have a pretty good understanding of a lot of historical events, and that helps me succeed in writing about history. Pretty much anything that I think that I know a lot about, I am good at writing about. But besides that, I guess I can write about pretty much anything that is assigned to me, so long as I do a little bit of research beforehand. So therefore, I will write about anything that is assigned to me in this class.

8th Grade

Looking back on all of my years of schooling, I have had a lot of good years, and met a lot of people that I have really come to have a liking for. However, one year really stands out in my mind as the best year. That year would have to be 8^th grade for sure. During 8^th grade, I met a lot of friends that I am still friends with today, and I had some of my favorite teachers. One of those teachers was my math teacher. She taught me how to solve math equations like none other. I learned so much about life in general just by simply being in that women’s presence. Wow, I really liked that teacher that taught me about math. If I could, I would go back in a heartbeat, just to spend one more day in that teachers 8^th grade math class. However, there was more to 8^th grade that I liked besides my math teacher. This year was really fun because I felt like I “ruled the school.” Me and my friends had so much fun being the oldest kids in the school, and not having to try and avoid the bigger kids in the hallway.  Fun nights were also really fun in 8^th grade. In 8^th grade I spent a lot of time playing hockey at the park after school with my friends. We would always pretend that it was game 7 of the Stanley Cup finals and that we were the Buffalo Sabres, trying to clinch our first franchise championship. I was always Sabres Ales Kotalik, because he was always my favorite player. And my friend Ryan was always Teppo Numminen.  Playing hockey was probably one of my favorite parts of 8^th grade. But the main reason that I chose 8^th grade as my favorite year of schooling was because I really enjoyed taking math that year, because I really liked my math teacher that particular year.                         

8th Grade

Looking back on all of my years of schooling, I have had a lot of good years, and met a lot of people that I have really come to have a liking for. However, one year really stands out in my mind as the best year. That year would have to be 8^th grade for sure. During 8^th grade, I met a lot of friends that I am still friends with today, and I had some of my favorite teachers. One of those teachers was my math teacher. She taught me how to solve math equations like none other. I learned so much about life in general just by simply being in that women’s presence. Wow, I really liked that teacher that taught me about math. If I could, I would go back in a heartbeat, just to spend one more day in that teachers 8^th grade math class. However, there was more to 8^th grade that I liked besides my math teacher. This year was really fun because I felt like I “ruled the school.” Me and my friends had so much fun being the oldest kids in the school, and not having to try and avoid the bigger kids in the hallway.  Fun nights were also really fun in 8^th grade. In 8^th grade I spent a lot of time playing hockey at the park after school with my friends. We would always pretend that it was game 7 of the Stanley Cup finals and that we were the Buffalo Sabres, trying to clinch our first franchise championship. I was always Sabres Ales Kotalik, because he was always my favorite player. And my friend Ryan was always Teppo Numminen.  Playing hockey was probably one of my favorite parts of 8^th grade. But the main reason that I chose 8^th grade as my favorite year of schooling was because I really enjoyed taking math that year, because I really liked my math teacher that particular year.                         

This school year

This school year is definitely going to be a lot of fun. It is my senior year, and for most people, senior year is full of excitement and memories that will last the rest of their lives. However, there are a few major goals that I plan to accomplish academically this school year. Number one, I plan on passing all of my classes, and earning my diploma at the end of the year in June. In order to do this I must pass Social Studies, Gym, and English 12. All of which are my strongest subjects, so as long as I show up for school on a regular basis, I should be able to accomplish my initial goal for this school year and graduate. Another goal that I have set for myself this year is to pass a class that is going to be very challenging for me. That class is chemistry. I plan on coming into class every single day and working my very hardest to make sure that I am able to pass that regents exam in June. I am confident that with my unmatched work ethic and determination, and also with the help of Mrs. Geck, I will be able to do alright in that class. And considering it is pretty much the only challenging class that I am in this year, it would truly be a shame if I were to fail it. One final goal that I wasn’t to accomplish during this school year is dance harder than I have ever danced before in my entire life at every single dance. I really enjoy dancing and have my entire life, and given that this is my final year in high school, I will go mall out on the dance floor. From homecoming all the way to prom, my goal is to be the best dancer I can possibly be, and to leave it all on the dance floor.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               

Summer 2011

This past summer, I did a lot of fun and exciting things. I spent most of my free time with my friends and went to the movies a lot. I went to the beach a couple times with some of my friends and threw the football around, which was fun. I also went to my friend Ryan’s house and had a “home run derby” in his front yard. Being the monster that I am, I hit 6 homeruns with 10 outs and won. Although my competition was not very competitive, however it was really fun just to mess around and get some laughs out of it. I also spent a lot of time playing volleyball at my friend Joe’s house on his new beach volleyball court that he got in his backyard. Much like the homerun derby, I was really good at volleyball, and spiked that ball like a champ. When I wasn’t hanging out with my friends, I was mainly just working out for this upcoming football season. Much of this time was spent with working out at“Absolute Performance”, located in the sports performance park in the eastern hills mall, which is a program that I started in May to help myself get stronger and faster for football. Now that football season is upon us, I definitely feel that working out there was a wise investment because I feel that I am much faster and stronger every time I hit the field. I also got my first job this summer, working at Tim Horton’s. However, I only worked weekends because I learned really early on that I do not like working and would like to put it off for as long as I possibly can. I guess that making frozen lemonades and Iced Capp Supremes just isn’t my thing.