Chris…. 'Nuff Said

I remember when the times, they were easy

I remember the girls, they weren’t sleezy

I remember when we didn’t play sports in gym class

I  don’t remember when the boys and girls began to fuse

I  don’t remember when life wasn’t so confused

I  don’t remember when all the fights began to start

I don’t remember when all the friends grew apart

I don’t remember when I shut the bedroom door

I don’t remember when I just didn’t care no more

I remember when the kids balled out and didn’t smoke the haze

When their one plan after school wasn’t to get blazed

Now it seems like the gonga is all the craze

I don’t remember when I grew up

One day I was fine and then I suddenly blew up

Now educational is a natural disaster

Theres almost no difference between the student and the master

Now kids are bringing the terror on others; and

This is the story you need to remember

This year, our school had budget cuts just like many schools across Connecticut and the country. Well, one area that suffered the mos was our sports. I play baseball and basketball, and my coach for basketball was Mr. Greenberg. He is an extremely good coach and mentor. He also coaches softball, which needed a new pitching machine badly. So, my mom and other parents of kids that played on his sports teams came up with the idea of a roast. People would have to buy tickets, and then they would enjoy our coach’s funniest moments.
     This was a good idea, but just selling tickets was not enough. So, like most good events, we had a raffle. People could buy as many tickets as they wanted for a chance to win their favorite prizes.  One of the prizes being offered up was being able to be principal of our school for a day. I got that opportunity this past Monday, the 9th.
     I walked in to the office, expecting to be greeted as Chris, but to my surprise, the adults in the office called me Mr. Gerzabek. This day started off really well. As our principal got me acquainted in the office, I took a look around her office. There were loads of papers, so many things needed to be signed, and just a lot of hoopla going on. It was quite a sight to see what goes in to making our school the quality it is.
     My first task was to stop in every room on the 8th grade floor and check on the teachers. At first, we did the team to my left. Mrs. Wright said that we should tell the teachers positive things and things they needed to work on. I didn’t feel comfortable telling them things they needed to work on, so I just watched. I did the same thing for the next team, but when we got to my team, I had some fun. I told my teachers things they should do, all in a joke. It was fun.
    The rest of the day went by pretty quick. I sent some emails and tied up some loose ends. It was pretty fun, but the best part was seeing what goes into making this school run.
   The experienced opened my eyes, and now I have a new perspective on school.

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As you all know, Prince William and Kate Middleton are getting married. I’m pretty sure all of the world knows that they are getting married. Personally, I could care less because they are not in our country. I mean, just a couple hundred years ago we were fighting them for independence, and now we’re showing their wedding on national television? How about we worry about our problems; like the economy, Iraq, and Afghanistan. Those are just some of the problems this country has. Instead, we are goingthrough all this trouble so Americans can see them get married. Also, it is at a late hour so people have to stay up extremely late. Also, President Obama isn’t even going. If the leader of our country isn’t going then he must not be worrying about it. So why should the rest of the United States? So what I’m trying to say is, get our priorities straight, fix our country, and then we can do things that we want, but now we should focus on things that we HAVE to do.

* I meant to write the title twice*

Have you ever heard adults or older siblings say that a specific teacher was awesome, and then when you have them teach you later on in life you find out you don’t like them? Well, that has happened to me on several occasions. You see, I have an older brother and through the years, him and I had,  for the most part, the same teachers. He liked some that I didn’t and vice versa.
     I am happy to say that this year, that trend was broken. My brother had the same team I have this year, and he told me what some of the teachers are like. As I got to know the teachers, they fit exactly into my brother’s descriptions.  Now don’t get me wrong, I like all of them; just some more than others.  We both agree on who is a “good” teacher and a “bad” one. My social studies teacher, Mr. Bogush, is one teacher that my brother and I agree on. We both agree he is a extremely good teacher, and his style os one I will remember.
      In Social Studies class, we are discussing the Oregon Trail. I made a connection to him and some of the emigrants that moved West. He teaching style is not on the “beaten path”, unlike all the emigrants that went West on the same trail. I like that. In his class, my self confidence has grown and now when I go up for a presentation, I am excited rather than nervous.
     So, Mr. Bogush, I would just like to say keep up the good work and keep on teaching the way you are because you are truly changing lives.

Unless you love Connecticut high school basketball, you might not know who this beast of a basketball player is. Well, let me inform you about hi a little bit before I get into the “guts” of this post. He is a 6′ 10″, 260-pound big man who goes to St. Thomas Moore high school in Middletown, Connecticut. I did not know who he was until last year, and am I glad I know who he is now. He is the #1 high school basketball player in the state and the #1 recruit in the nation for the class of 2012. I saw him play once, and I was in awe. He dominates the game, and has a good attitude. He is being recruited by some of the best universities in the country including Louisville, Kentucky, West Virginia, Connecticut, Pitt, North Carolina and Georgetown. Now comes the “guts” of the post.
Since not a lot of really good, like D-1 college players, come out of Connecticut ( like Kuran Iverson, Andre Drummond, and Kahlil Dukes), it is only once in a while you get to someone really good that is a neighbor of you. I idolize those three players because of three reasons. They aren’t letting the national attention get to their heads, they’re local, and for college they’re considering staying home at Uconn. I like the fact that they aren’t going to abandon the state for fame and fortune. I admire them for that. So this is a message to Kuran and Andre, please go to Uconn so we can win another national title in 2014.

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I am almost confident that mostly everyone who has access to a television or computer knows that the company Apple is one of the leaders in everything from laptop sails to the newest features in phones and Ipods. They are mostly notorious for their Ipod, Iphone, and Mac laptops. I have all three of them, and I want to write a post about them. I want to dedicate this post to Steve Jobs and all of the employees who work at Apple for a job well done.
     All of my friends have an Ipod, whether it be the Itouch 4 or Itouch 3 or one of the older ones. This is by far the most popular way of listening to music. I only know a few people with Mp3′s or Zunes. I got the new Itouch4 for Christmas, unaware that I had an upgrade for a phone coming up in January. I thought  didn’t have another one for a year. At Christmas I wanted the Iphone4, but I was under the impression that my upgrade wasn’t due for another 12 months. Therefore, I went out and bought the new Itouch4 with the two cameras and facetime. It is awesome. There are still the same features as the 3rd generation Itouch, but much more. One of the most cutting edge features is the implant of Facetime. You can now look at who you talk to while you talk to them. That blew me away.
     I’ve been using Mac laptops for about 5 years now, and I am happy I made the switch from HP laptops. While HP laptops are very nice, I prefer Mac. I now have the new MacBook Pro. I love this computer, but my favorite part is the nice high-quality camera. I go on Oovoo a lot, and some of my friends are hard to see. I don’t have that problem, and I’d like to thank the Apple employees for their hard work.
     Phones and phases come and go, and you never know what the newest thing is because companies are continuously coming out with new ideas to upstage the other. The biggest battle in the phone world just might be between AT&T and Verizon. Up until this year, I used the Envy phones because I was just grateful to have a phone, but I thought it was time for a new phone. I have to wait for an upgrade, and I thought I didn’t have one until 2012. Neither me nor my mom knew, so we called Verizon and asked. Low and behold, I had one for March. My mom said I could use this as a birthday present. I waited, and it was well worth the wait. The Iphone4 has become my way for Facebook, email, and all other things electronicly. When Verizon anounced that the Iphone was coming to Verizon, I immediatley swiched my interests from the Droid X to the Iphone. I love it and all of my Apple products. I would just like to say keep up the good work, and I can’t wait until the new thing comes out.

The word leadership can be defined in many different ways. I guess it depends on the person. The definition I like to use comes from a quote by Harold R. McAlindon. He said to not follow where the path may lead, but to instead to go where there is no path and leave a trail. This quote defines leadership because to be a leader, you have to have courage. By making your own path, you leave a legacy for future generations to study. If you are going to go along the beaten path, you may succeed in whatever you do, but you will not be considered a leader. Leaders take risks. Leaders make their followers believe in them because they know that they are going to end up being right even if they seem wrong in the beginning. Leaders make their own legacy and simply do not follow in any one’s footsteps.
When I die, because we all will sometime, I want people to say good things about me. For example, I was a good father or I succeeded in life or I lived a full life. All these accolades may be fine for some, but I have very high expectations of myself. I want my family and friends to say that he changed the lives of the people that surrounded him or that he surrounded himself with. That would be the number one tribute to me. During my life, I try to take charge and lead people into the most successful situation whether it be in sports or the classroom.
Many people have life goals like make a certain amount of money or get a certain job. I to have similar goals to that, but I want to be known as a leader. I want to pass on knowing that I was on top. The only way to know that I am top is when as rapper Lil’ Wayne put it, ” Only heavens right above you”. This line in his famous song,”Right Above It’, means that you can’t be considered on top until the only person above you is God. That is a pretty good place to be.
So, in conclusion, this post probably could have been something other than leadership because it is mostly about what I want to be known as when people talk about me, but that is the characteristic I want them to qualify me with. I want to be known as a leader, and if that is the only thing people call me then I consider my life a success.

President Barack Obama. A leader. The same thing I want to be considered when I die.

On Thursday, March 10, 2011, an enormous earthquake hit off the coast in Japan. It was an 8.9, or some reports say a 9.0, on the Richter scale. That earthquake triggered a massive tsunami. The waves were 18 feet high. That monstrosity of this wave caused enormous amounts of damage. The tsunami took many things, including many people’s lives. The number is too many to count, and the damage will most likely cost an excess of 1 billions dollars. I can’t even begin to fathom how horrible it would feel knowing that your house is gone, all you belongings, and quite possibly any one of your family members. I’d help if I could, but I don’t know how.
      On Friday, March 11, another tragedy happened, but in the United States. Actually, in my home state of Connecticut. There was a Coach bus, heading back to New York from the Mohegan Sun Casino in  Uncasville, CT. Be in mind that the road conditions were fine despite the rain from previous days. Suddenly, the bus hit an overhead sign. You know the signs that say what lane to get in for a specific destination.  Reports say he was trying to get into another lane when he hit the sign. The roof of the bus split on half. It flipped over, and then the inspectors start counting the bodies. Fourteen people died that day, and the rest of the passengers are in serious condition in the hospital. Many reports say different things, but most people and inspectors believe he was speeding, but the driver says that he was cut off by a tractor trailer truck. I don’t know exactly what happened, but I do know that those people’s families must be extremely sad and depressed. I want to extend my most heartfelt sorrow to those people. I am extremely sorry for what happened to those people’s families.
      So basically, this post was not to inform you about tragedies around the world, but to let people know to be careful and prepared for any situation.

Men do less than they ought,
unless they do all they can.
Thomas Carlyle

This quote inspired me because, well let’s face it, it’s a fact no matter how you slice it. What it means is, don’t do anything unless your going to give your all and don’t do something unless you are going to do everything in your power to succeed. I was online and this thing came up on my sidebar saying, ” Great Leaders: What they thought.” That title immediately got me interested because well, there is so much in history that historians aren’t sure of, and if people know what some of the best men of all-time said, then I have to know. I looked through some of the quotes. There were quote by Napoleon, George Washington, and Albert Einstein and many more, but I never heard of a man named Thomas Carlyle. I clicked on his name and it lead me to a website with many quotes by him and other famous people ( I don’t really know if it is OK to call him famous becuase I didn’t know who he was, hahahaha). This quote caught my attention, and I am making a promise to myself that I am going to live by this. I am going to try my hardest, give all that I can, and if not, then I won’t do the thing. What do you ( my readers) think?

Over the past two or so weeks, the NFL and NFLPA have been trying to reach a new collective bargaining agreement. If an agreement is not reached, there will be a lockout. Don’t forget the extra amount of pressure put on Mr. Goodell and the owners and players to come up with a compromise if they want to play football. If an agreement is not reached by Friday, March 4, then the next deadline to come up with an agreement is August 1. By then, if no agreement has been reached the season will most likely not happen. Anyway, back to the lockout. I don’t think people realize how badly this would affect all of America if there was no football for a season. Obviously people would make jokes about not being able to watch football, but what could that lead to. Usually people are watching football on Sundays, whether it be at 1:00 or 4:00, or even Sunday Night Football. But, what would happen if there was no football. People could either use their free time productively, or they could do something bad that could hurt people.  If they do something bad, that could affect the whole flow and attitude of Americans. This could provoke bad actions, and that would be bad. So not to put any more pressure onRoger Goodell and the NFLPA, but if you want America to be happy then I’d suggest to reach an agreement soon.

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