Wesley’s English blog

 My favorite word right now is probably "dad gum." I say it all the time because I think it's funny when it' s really not. I just kinda add it onto everything I say. You can ask Jillian about it because she frequently is on the receiving end of the word. I heard it from the popular twitch streamer "Caseoh" who always says dad gum and if he can make it funny why can't I? It's a euphemism for a different set of 2 words that means for God to condemn.  Today in class we worked on a comic strip that I thought was a very fun activity except for the vocabulary words we had to use. I learned about the different vocab words from chapter 1.

 One thing that society used to care about a lot less is smoking. My parents say that people everywhere would just be out smoking their dad gum cigarettes and nobody would give it a second thought. As time passed, people began to realize that smoking only had downsides and there was really no reason to allow it because it smells absolutely rancid. Now, smoking can only be done in designated areas. Society went from making designated areas NOT to smoke to making designated areas TO smoke. I hope that people have the same realization with drinking alcohol. It's honestly pretty dad gum stupid and weak minded in my opinion. All my friends see the appeal but I just don't I hope soon people realize this and make drinking a faux pas to do in public kind of like how vaping is. This would save lives both in the short term (people killing others in crashes and other stupid things) and in the long run (people wouldn't get rat lungworm disease in their livers) I was not here the 27th, ...

 One time that I saw someone being treated unfairly is when people on the football team force the freshman to carry all the equipment out or practice and to the sidelines. Rite of passage or whatever but I think that's stupid because it undermines what we are as a team. We're SUPPOSED to distribute the tasks equally because we're a team and that's what we do, but the older players think they can just make the younger kids do everything because when the old kids were young, the old kids made them do everything back then too.  Today, we read 2 poems about chimney sweepers. I learned about the harm of child labor in early 20th century United States. 

 One time that I couldn't stop laughing was when I saw an internet meme that was a picture of two 8 pound dumbbells next to each other on a shelf that were laying sideways and it was captioned "nobody will be able to pick them up." This was actually yesterday. It took me a second to understand the joke but I thought it was the funniest thing ever once I understood it. (Get it because the 8 on its side looks like infinity) I thought it was even funnier when I said "Chuck Norris can pick them up" (I'm not sure if you're familiar with Chuck Norris jokes but I think those are funny too) Today I finished up my one pager about the lamb and the tyger. I learned that I have a hard time thinking of things that I laugh really hard at.   

 Something that I really admire that never fails to scare me to death is kicking. I love kicking more than most other things, but I really have to be good at it when it matters or else the world will end. I kick all the time at practice, but I have very few chances to prove to everyone that I can do it. If I mess up, it takes awhile before I get a chance at redemption. For example, 2 weeks ago, we were doing 2 minute drill and it came down to a field goal from the right hash that I missed. That was frustrating because I had to listen to everyone tell me I was bad at kicking even though that's not the case. I got my chance yesterday to kick a similar kick and I made it this time. Doing an activity that's so scary and beautiful really shows you who your real friends are. Today, we read and analyzed "The Tyger" and "The Lamb." The poems were interesting. The poems taught me about where good and evil come from.

 My dad had to cancel his order at Mcdonald's to run to the dad gum delivery room. I was a C section. I was first held by my dad. I have no idea how long my birth lasted. However, I didn't know how to eat. I would literally have died if I was a baby at any other time in history because I straight up had no idea how to eat. I was born on a Monday. My head was giant. I was born a week late, and my head was gargantuan. I could speak in sentences before I could walk because of how large my head was. I was in the 107th percentile for head size or something outrageous like that.  Today in class we read poems by William Blake I learned more than I probably wanted to about childbirth and I learned about Mr. Rease's kids' birth. Very interesting day.

 Over fall break, I watched Arkansas lose 2 games. We lost by 3 to both Tennessee and Texas A&M in regular Arkansas fashion (making me think there's hope then shattering it.) It was very frustrating because Arkansas is 11 points away from being 6-1 but instead we're 2-5. I also went to football practice to prepare against our game last Friday against Decatur which we lost 28-0. I didn't even kick any field goals because coach wanted to go for it. I think that going for it on 4th down should be banned. On Wednesday, someone on the team disrespected our athletic trainer which was a big deal. The only issue is that nobody knows who did it. Nobody knew or would tattle on the person who did it, so we had to run up the hill and bear crawl down 10 times. It was easily top 5 worst things on the planet. My legs hurt on Thursday and Friday really bad and by Saturday I couldn't really walk. Luckily now it's feeling better. Also something else I did was find a fix for the c...

 One time when someone's words had a lasting impact on me was when the kicking coach at my Kohl's training division told me that every time I run onto the field, I have to be the biggest and baddest person out there (regardless of how untrue that may be). Every time I have to go kick, I convince myself there's not a person out there bigger or stronger than me and that I'm that dude. I'd say it's been working pretty well.   Today I took the Fences test. Reading the play Fences was a lot of fun because it was funny to get to read and hear Mr. Rease read the part of Troy in a voice I didn't know he was capable of. 

 One time that I stepped out of my comfort zone was when I had to attempt a game-winning kick last year against Arabia Mountain. It wasn't even a far kick, but I still had to be the hero and crush it. It was very scary, but I calmed myself and I actually managed to make it. The kick finalized our comeback victory, as we were down 21-0 in the first quarter. I was super glad I was able to call on my training and do the task and hand even though it was scary. Today in class we put the finishing touches on our poster about the character Bono from Fences.  I learned a lesson in collaborating with my peers Vincent and Everest. I was worried at first about working with them, but they are very nice. 

 One dream that felt real was when I went to school with no pants on. I had no idea it was happening until everyone was looking at me and I remember feeling super scared. I woke up and I was like how on this planet earth did I straight up forget to put on pants and it was just really confusing. I remember waking up scared thinking it would somehow happen to me in real life even though I knew it would never.  Today in class we finished Fences and worked on our poster. The book was very interesting. Troy ended up dying and the resolution was that Cory went to his funeral. 

 One conversation that changed me was when I was talking to my football coach a couple of years ago. He told me there was no room on the team for mediocre kickers and it was at that moment I decided I was going to try to be great.  Today in class we read Fences I learned more about the struggles of African Americans in the 1950s