Blogging Topic- A Favorite Item of Clothing

I used to look through my dad's high school year book when I was little dreaming that I would one day live  up to the expectations this ten pound book had given me. I would flip through endlessly looking at my dad's young face as a football, basketball, and baseball captain; voted "best all around" by his peers and named his graduating class' valedictorian. My father had achieved a lot in high school just like I hoped to when I was reading this book at the age of eight or so. I noticed in a couple basketball pictures he had a raggedy practice jersey that I had recognized from his closet before so I asked him if he still had it. My father told me that it no longer fit him but I could have it if I wanted it. It was just a plain, heavy, reversible t shirt with one side navy blue and the other side yellow. I slid my arms through it and noticed that it was very heavy. Probably because there were pretty much two shirts sewn on to each other but I liked to think that is was weighed down with all the sweat my father had put into this shirt as a high schooler. Basketball was always his favorite sport and it was an honor to be entrusted with the practice jersey he had worn for four years. 

As I grew older and could finally fill out my father's old jersey it developed more of a role in my wardrobe. It was still a little big for me when I was in middle school but I wore it anyway. If there was ever a pickup football or basketball being played I was definitely in my that old blue and yellow shirt convinced that  my fathers good fortune would come to me through the shirt. I even remember wearing it  to the last day of tryouts for the 7th grade basketball team. A team I eventually made, I credited all of my success to my lucky shirt. My dad was also happy that I loved his old shirt. Some forty years ago he had been in the exact same position as me in the same clothing. 

When I got to high school the shirt was still in my possession and was still being worn prevalently. I wore it under by baseball jersey and when football came around senior year I cut the sleeves off so I could wear it under my shoulder pads. It was still pretty heavy and probably not the best choice of clothing for a hot football game, but I simply couldn't play without it. It now rests in my t shirt drawer in my house because I didn't want to risk losing it at college but I can guarantee you that it will definitely be making some more appearances on the pickup basketball courts this Christmas break.

Blogging Topic- An embarrassing Moment

It had been a rough start to what was supposed to be a great day of golf and father son bonding. My father and I had just finished the fourth hole at Chastain Golf Club and posted yet another double bogey on our scorecards. I put my putter aggressively into my bag and looked to my side to see that my father had the same angry scowl on his face. I reluctantly slid into my seat in the cart and waited for my father. He was so enraged by his play on that Saturday that he told me to drive the cart to the next hole. I slid across and nervously grabbed the wheel because I had very little driving experience and had no idea what was in store for me. We pulled out at a pretty slow pace and 20 feet ahead I noticed a sharp right turn that had always been there but for some reason I panicked. I slammed my my left foot down on the brake without lifting my right one from the accelerator. My father was not paying attention and there was no way I was going to ask for help about how to drive a golf cart a mere 100 ft so I yanked the wheel all the way to my right to try to catch the turn but it was too late. 

By the time my father realized what had happened we were knee deep in muddy creek water. Actually, that was just my father because I had jumped out in mid air and miraculously landed on the side bank while my father was completely drenched from head to toe. I was sure my life was over. On top of the fact that my dad and I were already in horrible moods I had just totaled a golf cart by driving it directly into a creek. My father's face was red with that absolutely indescribable look that he gave when we both knew that I had screwed up bad. The next fifteen minutes were the worst though as the course marshall came around as well as a dozen other golfers to look at this hideous masterpiece I had created in a two foot deep creek. By the thirteenth hole my dad had lightened up and was now telling golfers the story of how it had happened as we circled back past the creek to play the back nine. It was public humiliation and I think my father understood that this was only form of discipline I needed. Oh, and did I mention that it was the father son golf tournament for our summer baseball team? Well, it was was and I am still getting teased about this moment by some of lifelong friends. It makes for a hilarious story now but as a ten year old it wasn't a great feeling that pretty much everyone in town had figured out in a week that I was one who had drove the golf cart into the creek. 

Blogging Topic- My car

I was passed down an '97 Lexus from my father when I turned sixteen. Even though it was my first car it is not the car I remember best and certainly didn't consider it to be MY car. A week before senior year of high school my parents informed me that my my uncle was willing to sell his old '82 three series BMW for 900 dollars. It was a dream come true because I would not have to share a car with my brother. We drove out to Macon, GA to look at it and right when I stepped out the car I knew that I had to have it. It was a periwinkle blue color that glistened in the sunlight surprisingly well despite its age. The interior leather was worn out on the arm rests and it was too early of a car to have cup holders. The odometer read 260,000 miles and I was not surprised considering we were only going to pay 900 bucks for it. Still, I was excited as could be and couldn't wait for the hour and a half ride back to Atlanta where I would get to test it out and figure out how to work the radio and really floor it out. Well, the flooring it out part never really happened. I would say it had a 0 to 60 mph time of about 13 seconds but once it got up there everything ran fine. It was the exact opposite of what my friends saw as a "cool" car. There was actually very little that was cool about it except that it had a classic and sophisticated look. It was the first time I had been given such a big responsibility. Before I had driven my dad's old car but it was still my dads. This car was mine and I was going places with it.

Before a week it was nicknamed "the beamer" by my friends and they almost looked at it like a big joke that I had thought it was a good idea to buy it. It didn't go fast, it wasn't big, it didn't have a crazy loud audio system but it was perfect for me. As long as it drove I was OK with it. However, ten months later this would not be the case. The beamer had died and the repair costs were not worth it. I was heading off to college in a month so it wasn't that big of a deal and I knew its days were limited anyway. It was a functioning car. The beamer took me to where I needed to go and waited patiently until I needed its services again. After all, that's what a car is supposed to do right?

Blogging Topic- Climbing a Tree

Twenty feet out the back door of our house stood what we thought then was the biggest tree in the world. It was a large magnolia tree with big almost plastic coated green leaves that covered you up perfectly if you were able to climb high enough. It was the perfect tree. My brother and I spent countless hours climbing up and climbing down. This would continue until my mother screeched from the back porch that our suppers were getting cold. It was a very exhilarating feeling for a seven year old to be thirty feet high off the ground. For once it seemed like I was in control and everyone below me was not quite on my level. Of course this feeling lasted for about ten seconds before Charlie would tug on my leg and demand that it was his turn. I decided that fighting with him this high off the ground would be a horrible idea so I would climb down a ways and wait again until the very top standing branch was vacant. 

I was somewhere around the age of eight minding my own business in my room when I heard a loud crash and felt the house shake a little. It had been storming for a while and I wasn't quite sure what had happened so I ran downstairs to see what my parents had to say. When we were able to look out the window we noticed that our favorite magnolia tree had fallen and the top had landed directly on top of my room. Like any other children my brother and I were devastated but seeing as it was the afternoon we wandered outside to see what had become of our tree. It had been completely uprooted leaving an immense "beastly monster" of tangled roots that had now surfaced. Ten minutes later my brother and I were in our rain boots with plastic swords and other home made weapons fighting this monster that had appeared in our room. I think this type of situation has been depicted in a famous book or movie but I can promise you that this was a purely original thought. Eventually the beast was taken care of by my father and a couple workers and there remained only an empty void in our backyard. I can honestly say I think that was the last tree I climbed. It was so perfect. Maybe I never climbed another tree again because I got older and had less desire to or because I knew no feeling could ever compare to those ten seconds atop the highest branch in our favorite magnolia tree.

Blogging Topic- A favorite relative

It 5 pm on a Saturday and I am laying down exhausted on the couch. I can look outside to see the sunlight slowly disappear but the palm trees continue to swing violently in the wind. Someone enters the den from behind me and I'm asked a question in an all too familiar voice "How's Fred Couples doing?" All I can say is, "I don't know." After all, I've been toot tired to even glance at the TV screen to see how the British Open is coming along. It is family beach week in Isle of Palms, South Carolina and as usual I'm worn out and think I have no time to have another pointless sports conversation with Uncle Buzz.

How he even got the nickname "Buzz" I have no idea. I remember as a kid I mistook him for a Georgia Tech fan because Buzz was the name of their mascot. It made sense but Uncle Buzz was furious seeing as I now know that he is one of the most loyal, knowledgeable, ans crazy Georgia bulldog fans on the face of the earth. However, right now the British Open is on so I'll be hearing a bunch a worthless facts that no person should know off the top of their head. "Hey Raymond do you know who the first American to win the British Open was?" I don't even listen for the answer because I know that there is no reason why I will ever need to know that fact. All I do is have to act surprised and shake my head and Uncle Buzz is satisfied. If I were ever on "Who Wants to be a Millionaire" Uncle Buzz is without a doubt the lifeline I would call. His head is filled with millions of what I see as worthless facts that bring him the ultimate satisfaction when he needs to use one.

He always takes so long to do anything. For a sixty year old man he moves like he is 90. There is already a slight hunch in his back and I don't think he has done anything active in ten years. It doesn't matter though. That is not  he does. Uncle Buzz is known for his vast amounts of knowledge. That is what has made him a successful lawyer as well as a successful human being. His endless facts may be annoying at times but at the end of the day I can remember countless times where our whole family was laughed for minutes straight at one of his witty jokes that I usually understand one third of the time.

Conversation Partner Meeting #3

Simon and I were able to meet again on September 17th at the TCU bookstore. This time Simon also came alone and I just figured that Harry would not be meeting with us anymore but that was OK because originally Simon was the only student I was supposed to be meeting with. I mentioned in my last blog that last time we had talked about school way too much so I was hoping that this meeting would consist of content that we both actually found interesting.

Basketball was an easy topic to start out with because he had already mentioned that basketball was his favortie sport. We talked about the best players in NBA for a while and I could see in his eyes that he had such a child like view of those stars. I think that if he were to meet a Lebron James or Kobe Bryant in person he would immediately faint. He was as excited about basketball legends as I was when I was six years old. I thought this was very interesting and I guess China has never had a ton of iconic sports or movie figures for him to look up to. Everyone in the world seems to know celebrities from the United States but I don't think I could name a celebrity or sports hero from China right now besides Jackie Chan or Bruce Lee but they both now live in the US.

Because Thanksgiving was only a week away I asked him what his plans were for the break and we talked a little about Thanksgiving traditions. Simon said that only a couple of people in the big cities of Hong Kong and Shanghai celebrated Thanksgiving but it was very rare. He had also never seen a turkey or even knowingly tasted turkey in his lifetime. I was very surprised however when he said that one of their professors had invited some students over to have Thanksgiving with his family. That is such a great thing to do especially for a lot of students who would not be able to see their families over the break. It also can be a great learning experience where the students would be able to learn about American holidays and customs by actually partaking in one. Hopefully they enjoy it because Simon said that he and his friends mostly order Chinese food because they can't stand American food, more specifically, hamburgers. Anyways I hope he had a great Thanksgiving and if all goes to plan we should be meeting this Thursday where I can find out all about what Christmas is like in China.

Fathers and Sons Reflection

I have always thought that my father and I have had a unique relationship so I enjoy reading stories where other father/son relationships are showed. I think that my father and Dr. Adams have some prominent similarities as well as a couple characteristics that set them far apart. For example, Nick talks about how he learned a lot from his father but nothing ever about sex. My dad has pretty much taught me everything valuable I know but has also never really had any kind of "sex" talk with me. In class we talked about how this is unhealthy but I really don't think it is that weird. I figured everything out on my own and if my father were ever to sit me down and talk about something sexually related I would... well I don't know what I'd do because my father would never do that. Another way in that my father and Nick's father are similar is in the way they deal with misbehavior. I got spanked and "got the belt" pretty often as a child when I did something wrong. There were moments when I hated my father because of it but I can't imagine another form of discipline that would have stuck with me. My father was by no means abusing me, he was just getting me in line and there is no way I would be the person I am today if my father had told me to go take a timeout in my room if I had gotten in a fight with my brother or something.

There are however a lot of differences that I think make my dad different than Nick's. For one, my dad is always proud of me. There have been plenty of times where he has been disappointed because of my behavior but my father always supports me and would never look down upon anything I do. He would never say anything bad about me (unless he were kidding) or never be ashamed of how I performed in school or in sports.

While my father and I's relationship was not very vocal or sentimental we always knew each other well enough to know that there are some things that don't even need to be talked about. When I come home from school for Christmas my father and I will probably talk a little about school, a little about football, and that will probably be the extent of what we'll talk about but that is why I love him. He is always there when I need him to be and never being overbearing when I don't need him to be.