Oh Brother, Where Art Thou Sister

Your topic this week is to talk about what it is like to grow up with a brother or sister or both.  If you don't have any brothers or sisters, what do you think it would be like?  What is it like growing up without any siblings? 

Maybe this might not be the great conversation stimulator that the cartoon prompt was; however, I grew up with an older brother, a younger brother, two younger sisters, a younger step-brother, and a younger step-sister.  This is me with my brothers in 86 or 87 I think...

For me, the question isn't will I be able to write about this topic.  The real question is how much do I really want to tell the world about this topic?  For example, do I start off by telling you how much I love my brothers and sisters?  Or instead, do I tell you about the black eye I went to school with because I got into a fist fight with my older brother?  Should I be embarassed that he punched me in the face so hard, I'm not sure which hurt more-the punch or hitting the ground after he connected?  Granted, I got up from the floor even quicker than I hit it...so should he be embarassed that he ran to his room and locked the door?  To this day, I will not forget the embarassment I felt going to school with a black eye from my brother. 

Yes, that's the older brother who gave me a black eye.  This picture, believe it or not, was taken around 98 or 99...my black eye disappeared.  This picture is a black eye that isn't going to disappear anytime soon...

Still, a black eye beats getting hit in the face with a metal bat.  That story would be about my younger brother.  We were in our neighbor's back yard playing homerun derby.  He would pitch a tennis ball to me 10 times.  Then we would switch.  The one with the most homeruns (over our other neighbor's fence) won.  I'll start off with this...he had no chance to win.  I think I had hit 8 of the 10 out.  He had missed his first three or four.  So, I started to pitch him inside.  I hit him once, and he said I'd better not throw inside again.  I said ok, and then I pitched inside again.  He charged the mound.  Now, if you've ever watched a baseball game where the batter charges the mound, you'll notice he drops the bat.  My brother isn't necessarily a baseball player.  He brought the bat.  I didn't run or dodge his swing...why would I?  What brother hits another brother with a bat...in the face?  Mine. 

That's the younger brother around 98 or 99...true, he doesn't inspire fear.  Put a bat in his hands though...

I don't have many memories of my sisters when I was younger.  Not that they weren't there.  I remember eating dinner with them...but I didn't get into fights with them, and they weren't playing homerun derby with me.  They were probably off playing with their Cabbage Patch doll or whatever it is girls do when they are young.  Now that I think about it...it's kind of strange that I don't remember hanging out with my sisters at all.  Oh well, I'm over it. 

That's my youngest sister...I think we were dancing at a wedding.

That's my sister who is finishing up college right now.  I'm pretty sure that's not her normal face.

I love my siblings, brothers and sisters alike, and I would do anything for them.  However, we had wars and we used weapons.  Now my older brother is married with a few kids and running a business.  My younger brother is teaching philosophy at Notre Dame.  What am I doing?  I am blogging about them...apparently I took one too many blows to the head growing up.

P.S. You like that title?  In the business we refer to that as an allusion to a great movie!  Sounds like an upcoming blog topic...

Senior Composition 2nd Semester

Please type your name as a response.

Do you like driving and listening to music? Then you must love Car-toons! HAHA.

Your choice topic this week is to discuss some of the greatest cartoons of all time. 


Personally, I think with the downfall of quality cartoons, we have seen the downfall of a quality society.  It used to be you could flip on the television Saturday morning and go through a ridiculous lineup.  At 8:00 A.M. I might start my morning off with a little Berenstain Bears.  Never heard of it?  This is a crime I say.  Then you better believe I was going to watch Disney's Adventures of the Gummy Bears at 8:30.  That's right.  It's not just a candy.  I wasn't allowed to watch Smurfs, but that's not a problem when you can choose between watching Jim Henson's Muppet Babies or Slimer! and the Real Ghostbusters.  These are cartoons you can hang your hat on (I don't even know what that means, but it sounded pretty good).  What happened to Voltron?  He-man and the Masters of the Universe?  Even Fraggle Rock.  Gone, gone, gone. 

Remember Thundercats?

No mas.
These cartoons were killed off by the 90s leaving few survivors. 

That's not to say the 90s assassinated the best without giving in return.  The 90s brought about some classics: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Darkwing Duck, Talespin, Chip and Dale: Rescue Rangers, and Ducktales.  But I remember the bad too: Attack of the Killer Tomatoes, Eek! The Cat, and The Tick.  It was the beginning of the end. 

Needless to say, I miss Saturday mornings.  Give me the Tupperware bowl of cinnamon toast crunch and 2% milk.  Give me that one time where I could actually eat in the living room (on the floor) and watch cartoons for about three hours straight and know that all was right in the world.  Yes, I know.  What do I know?  I know on some deeper level what I really miss is that innocence.  I know I miss that freedom from responsibility.  But, as I learned one Saturday morning, "Knowing is half the battle. G.I. Joe."

P.S.   What about the great songs that went with all the best cartoons?  You can probably still sing some of them.  Test yourself:

Teachers will stop the flood after a broken Levy

It's Thursday.  I've been reading things online about the failed levy from Tuesday.  It's pretty sad.  There was an article about how we will be "restructuring" next year.  There is no definitive answer as to how we are going to cut the six million needed to operate next year.  I'm kind of scared...I read another website that was put up in opposition of the levy.  Again, it was pretty sad.

The majority of the website was aimed at showing how schools, Gahanna specifically, spend irresponsibly.  It explained how teachers were paid entirely too much--especially when comparing the amount paid to the hours worked.  You know the person who wrote/developed that website was not a teacher.  This person never graded one research paper that took 45 minutes to get through.  He or she never spent time creating new units to motivate and interest students.  This Gahanna resident never created the study guides, quizzes, and tests to go with those newly developed units.  This community member never spent the time emailing and calling parents to talk about progress students were making in class.  Furthermore, the creator of this website never thought about the fact that all of this is done after the forty hour work week for which I am overpaid.

It would be interesting to see what a school looked like that this person described.  Thankfully, we won't ever have to see that.  The teachers I know will continue to show up an hour early every morning at the high school to allow students access to computers so that they can work.  They will continue to grade and lesson plan after the school work day is over.  That's the reality. A teacher's work day ends most days when they go to bed.

Those summers?  When those summers are not spent revamping units, or taking more professional development courses, teachers need those summers to recharge a battery that has been drained.  A school year can burn teachers out.  Without the summer, teachers wouldn't survive.  It must look nice from the outside, but join this profession if you dare.  Check the statistics of teachers who leave the profession within the first five years...it's not for the weak, nor is it for the clueless individuals who think teaching is an occupation that allows for a forty hour work week with summers off.

So, form your groups of opposition.  Create your websites.  Distribute your pamphlets.  Pronounce that we are overpaid and underworked.  The levy failed.  It was a blow to the school and the community.  You were able to keep a few more hundred dollars in your pockets each year.  At what cost?  Will it be worth it?

They refer to us as fiscally irresponsible--as overpaid.  When the budget is cut by six million and the dust has settled, will the sacrifices made be overlooked once again?  I hope not.  Like I said at the beginning, I'm kind of scared.

We showed up on Wednesday.  We showed up on Thursday.  We will show up tomorrow.  We will work even harder despite being attacked.  We will attempt to minimize the damage done by those in the community who didn't understand the implications of their vote.  We will continue because too much is at stake: the students' education and our nation's future.

With the Windows Down in the Winter

I'm looking forward to this week.  Not the grading...never the grading.  However, I am looking forward to everything else.  My seniors are reading their This I Believe essays.   These essays are always fun and interesting.  I'm expecting some great essays.  My sophomores are wrapping up major units.  Two classes are finishing To Kill a Mockingbird and two are finishing research.  This week is also the end of the first grading period...let's hope everyone has their game faces on.

What does the title have to do with this?  Nothing.  However, the past week or so I have been humming, whistling, and singing a lot of Christmas carols in class.  One of my favorite parts of this time of the year is driving with my windows down and heat on.  Nothing like having warm air blow on my feet and cold air blow on my face.  Strange?  Maybe.  Do I care?  Doubt it.

Basketball is starting up soon too.  This is also something I love about this time of the year.  There is nothing like basketball.  Walking into a gym you hear the sound of the basketball bouncing off the floor and shoes squeaking on the floor.  You hear whistles and cheers.  You can see the sweat dripping off of the faces of players working together to accomplish a goal.

Well, the bottom line?  "It's the most wonderful time of the year."  If that doesn't start you singing Christmas carols, then you need to brush up on your seasonal songs.  While you do brush up, look forward to the unexpected snow days.  They are coming.  Christmas break?  Right around the corner.  Basketball games?   Absolutely.

This I believe Essay-Take Two

Playing the Percentages

Did you know that 99% of all relationships do not work out?  It’s true.  For some people that number even jumps to 100%.  Sucks for them—apparently they didn’t get the memo.  Or perhaps they got the memo all too clear.  Relationships are overrated. 

            I remember my first girlfriend.  It lasted all of one day.  She sent a friend over to ask me out.  “Hey, Matt!  Stacy really likes you.  She thinks you’re cute and wants to know if you’ll go out with her.”  Thinking back now, I realize how lame I was.  But I responded with an emphatic yes; after all, when it’s your first girlfriend, you can’t be too picky—even if she did have the most annoying voice ever.  Seriously, her dog, Fritz, would agree with me.  Fritz only came when called so that she wouldn’t continue to call.  Needless to say, I was grateful she asked me out through one of her girlfriends whose voice bordered on tolerable. 

            I was in 6^th grade and my relationship began during 4^th period lunch.  By 8^th period I was once again single.  At least she had the mercy to break up with me through a note, which was short, sweet, and very much lacking the high pitched tone of her nightmarish voice. 

            This was to be the first of many doomed relationships.  A short time later I experienced my first kiss with a girl I dated for an entire week.  You gotta hand it to God—he creates the universe in a week. All I can come up with is a kiss and a brutal break up. 

            But these are the experiences that have transformed me into the man I am today.  I am called a cynic by some and jaded by others.  But the undeniable fact is that relationships are a joke.  Don’t get me wrong; I love girls.  Like I said, you gotta hand it to God.  He knew what he was doing.  But the whole relationship part…well, we screwed that up ourselves. 

            I have had what I consider three major relationships in my life.  My first was while I was in college.  Sarah.  She no longer speaks to me.  This is not because I am the jerk that I tend to claim to be.  Her reasoning: she moved across the state and met someone and wanted to make sure she got over me.  So she cut all lines of communication.  Nice.  That one was worth the time. 

            Strikingly similar was my second major relationship.  This one was post-college.  Abbey.  She was finishing up college as a fifth year senior while I had been out for two years.  We made it work for a while, but the distance put a strain on the relationship.  We mutually decided it would be best to take a break until she was done with college so we would not have to deal with the distance. 

            A short time later she met a guy who was still in school and he did not want her to speak to me anymore.  She agreed.  As I have clearly demonstrated my belief in God and his greatness, I think it is only apt that I likewise admit to the existence of the Devil and his cruelty.  Where do I see it?  Relationships.  The devil and girls.  Who woulda guessed it. 

            I just got out of the third relationship recently.  A good year and a half with her ended in one day.  So here I am.  An older, wiser man.  I haven’t lost sight of the truth.  I see that there is only one relationship that will ever work out: the relationship that ends in marriage.  I repeat—the relationship.    Singular.  One relationship out of all of ‘em.  For those keeping track out there…that would be 1%.  Could it be any clearer?  Relationships suck.  They always have and always will. 

            People will argue that you learn and grow from failed relationships.  Great—make that argument.  I have grown.  I have grown to be less trusting of girls and to open up as little as possible when talking with a girl.  And yes, I have learned.  I have learned that relationships don’t have much going for them.  You want companionship outside of marriage?  Get a dog.  I did.  We watched a movie last night.  You want to be able to have a conversation outside of marriage?  Buy a parrot and teach it to speak.

            Someday I might get married.  If not, I think I’ll survive.  I will say one thing though.  Statistics say that one out of every two marriages end in divorce.  If and when I get married, I’m only gonna do it once.  Because even though it’s only 1% of relationships that work out…I am looking forward to that 1%.  I’ll take my time and when it comes I’ll make sure it is right.  Let me leave it at this: I love girls.  I abhor relationships.  You are too young to understand the futility of relationships.  So heed my belief and know it for truth.          

This I Believe Essay for Senior Comp...

                                      Don’t Just be Alive—Live

You have probably heard the Latin term Carpe Diem.  It means to seize the day.  To some this phrase is overused.  However, I have lived a life that has removed any cliché from this saying.  I believe that everyone should live everyday and every moment to the fullest.

            When I was 22 years old, I went to stay with my grandpa for a week.  He was sick and one of my uncles called me: “Feel like a road trip?”  It was only one week of my Christmas break.  “Sure,” I said, “I haven’t seen Grandpa forever!”

            My grandpa had skin cancer and had recently undergone chemotherapy.  He was also in the process of receiving dialysis treatments for his failed liver.  I helped my grandpa do the most basic chores that I took for granted.  I helped him to and from the bathroom as he was too weak to sit down or stand up from the toilet.  It tortured me to see someone I loved this much struggle to get through daily routines in his life. 

            My grandpa would have moments of extreme clarity where he would talk about some of his greatest memories.  He would tell me stories about my dad when he was growing up.  He told me about meeting his wife, my grandma, who had already passed away.  Regardless of the pain he was in, he still smiled when he told me these stories.  These were the memories that made getting up each day worth it for my grandpa.  He had lived a full life. 

My grandpa died just months later at the age of 86.  Going to the funeral was difficult for me having had recently spent time with him, but I would never give up that week of my life.

            My grandpa’s funeral was not the first family funeral I had to endure.  My mom was just 36 when she passed away.  This moment in my life is a little more difficult to discuss.  Her death was not as foreseeable as my grandpa’s was.  She had an undiagnosed heart murmur and had died suddenly on her way home from work one Saturday morning.  I was just 14.  I learned two important truths from having gone through these losses.

            First, these two situations showed me the frailty of life.  My Grandpa lived a full life.  He lived a life full of passion.  His death was painful, but the positive memories he had made the end sufferable.  My mom, on the other hand, didn’t live a full life; however, I know she enjoyed each and every day.  I have great memories of spending time with my mom, but it seems to me the most vivid memories are more images and sounds.  I can still hear her laughter…an uprising, melodic sound that could take place at any moment.  Also, I can still see her lips begin to curve as she would be on the brink of a smile.  I see the lines forming next to her dark almond colored eyes due to her having given in to that smile.

            Secondly, these two events showed me how important it is to hold onto each moment.  I don’t want to let minor disappointments ruin any part of my day.  My mom died before she should have, but she loved life.  She lived life.  She took joy in each moment.  That is what I learned from my mom and my grandpa.  They both took joy in what time they had.  I know this from my grandpa’s last poignant memories, and I know this from the memories and images I have of my mother. 

            Do not take life for granted.  Do not take tomorrow for granted.  Live everyday and every moment for all it’s worth.  Cherish it.  I have seen first hand that we are not guaranteed a tomorrow.  So don’t put all your hope in the future. 

            We may live a full life and have incredible experiences, or we may die tomorrow.  So make the most of today.  Make the most of the next hour.  Make the most of this minute.  Go to school and have a desire to learn.  Let the knowledge enrich your life.  Learn for the experience and not the grade.  Go to work and enjoy the company of the people you work with.  Joke with them and laugh with them.  Help them find the joy in living for the moment.

            Enjoy what you’re doing no matter what it is you’re doing.  Sing a song to yourself just because you enjoy music…no matter if there are other people around.  Smile at a complete stranger as you would a best friend.  Laugh at your own clumsiness.  Let people call you weird.  You are weird because you embrace the now and can laugh regardless of the situation.

            We all endure tragic moments and moments of complete joy alike.  Enjoy each moment for what it is and the experience and knowledge it gives you.  The only true tragedy there is in life is regret.  So live a life that will remove any possibility of regret.  I believe that is a life truly worth living.