Freewriting

     Freewriting is something that is taken advantage of. It is an under rated and under appreciated method of writing that just provides the ability for you to clear your head. If you have no one to talk to about an issue, write it down. That is always a method to release some steam. It is almost as if you are ranting to someone and not just a piece of blank paper. However, I personally struggle with freewriting.

    It is something that is relatively easy to do, in a way. If you have an idea, then it is easy to just write your heart away, but what if you don't? It's difficult when you have nothing in your mind to write about. If you are tasked with a free write, and have nothing to write about, I personally do not see a point in free writing. When my mind is blank, and I attempt to think of ideas, I find that it just becomes blanker and blanker. Filled with less and less ideas, as there was not much to begin with, then I think about how I already wrote about a topic that is in my mind, then have no desire to write about it again. 

     I wonder if there is a way for me to combat this. I guess just not caring and writing about what I don't want to any way. Maybe while doing so, I will find something new. Freewriting is something I hope to continue to do. It has previously been a place to not just let of steam, as mentioned before, but find new ideas that I can bring to light.

     

Florida

    Over spring break, I travled to St. Leo Florida with the North Central College Men's and Women's golf team. As a freshman on the team, it was something I was looking forward to so I could make a name for myself on the team as a solidified starter. Towards the end of our Fall season, I ended up on the starting 6 roster and this gave me this chance to travel to Florida with the team. 

    One of the primary reason's I was excited for this, was just the simple fact that I got to play golf for an entire week and worry about nothing else. Wake up, hit some golf balls, get into a cart, go play 18, come back and just hang out. It made me think about retired life. Is that how retried people in Florida live? Do they just wake up, play golf, and do nothing all day? That is something I am looking forward too. The course we played at was much better than anything in Illinois during this time of year. It was in great shape. It was difficult too, the greans were hard to putt on and the wing was howling most of the time..

    Unfortunatley, I did not perform as well as I wanted to. I was the lowest score on the team one day, however it was still a score I wanted to be much lower. I had the potential to shoot very low but was just unable to execute. Yet this did not hold me back from having a good time, listening to music in my cart, and spending time with my teammates. This is a trip I will not forget soon and hopefully I get to go back next year and improve my game.

Importance of Chipping Away

       Stacking up your work load over weeks and weeks and weeks is never a bright idea. It is similar to holding in emotions so they all burst out at once. You never want to do that with work. You should always work at, or chip away, piece by piece, some of your work load. There are many benefits to it, and it is something that can easily be accomplished by using external tools.

    To start, you should have some version of a planner. It can be a physical planner, or just a document where you outline what you need to do, however you should have one. Write down what you need to do, and just start doing them, once you complete something, cross it off the list and boom, it is over. That work is done. One more thing is off your plate. I always write down something I need to do as soon as I learn I need to get it done, this helps to not procrastinate the subject and have it over with.

    Now why do this? Well of course, it helps get tasks off of your plate and completed so you no longer have to worry about them. However, they give you confidence and productivity. You could be struggling with mental health, and getting a couple items off of your plate can help those struggles and put you onto a better path. Just chipping away a day at a time saves time and stress so you can be more productive throughout your day and it generates a good habit to keep for the rest of your life.

Car Crash

    If you have ever been in a car crash before you know how scary it can be. Even the smallest fender bender can give you some post tramatic stress for a few weeks. I know I had some when I got into my crash last year in feburary. It was almost a year ago. My car was deemed totalled. On the plus side, I got to drive around my dads car for a month while he drove the rental since I am not yet 25 and am unable to drive a rental. 

    It was just another day driving to high school. I take an alternate route than everyone else because I get there much quicker even if it is a little bit of a longer distance. It is a two lane road, one lane traveling in each direction with a yellow lane marker in the middle dividing the two lanes. I got to the intersection where I turn off the street, left onto the road my school is located on, 248th Avenue. I was sitting in the left lane waiting for the light to turn green, once it did I crept up into the middle of the intersection to turn on the solid green light once traffic passed. I looked back in my rearview mirror as I saw a car approaching through my peripheral vision. And boom, they crashed into me just like that.

    They rear ended the back of my car, completely altering the bumper, trunk, and the rear frame. As soon as they crashed into me I told the girl I drove to school to call the police and I got out to check on the driver. He was dead asleep at the wheel. I thought he was knocked unconcious but after yelling at him seeing if he was okay a few times he slowly woke up. He crawled out of his window and admitted that he was sleeping. He was going around 40 mph when he struck the rear of my car. No one was injured though. The police came to write a report and deemed him at fault. On the court date, he did not show up and I learend this was he third crash in a few months. The state put a warrant out for his arrest for failing to appear. 

    Although getting into a crash is never good, it was a good thing to experienece for the better. I am very observent of my surroundings more now, than I was then, and take more precautions. On the bright side of it, I didn't have to pay for my new car, it was his insurance that did. I never thought someone would crash into me because they were asleep.

Cane's Chicken

     Have you ever heard of Raising Cane's Chicken? If not, you are most certianly missing out. The location near my residence opened in 2017, which was the first time I had ever heard about it. Little did I know it was a growing phenomena. Ever since my first visit, I have absolutely loved it. They have the standard chicken fingers, fries, toast, and drink, like most chicken places. But what sets Cane's apart, is their sauce. Its essentially just mayo and ketchup sauce but it has a little more to it, like worcestershire sauce, garlic powder, papper, and liquid smoke. There is nothing like it anywhere. It's signature taste is what brings me back every time. 

    Raising Cane's chicken was established in 1996 in Baton Rouge Lousisiana and it has spread to over 600 locations across the United States. They have a signature look with only four items on their menu, a three finger, four finger, and six finger combo, in addition to a sandwhich combo. They have mastered the craft of cooking chicken. In addition to this, they have mastered customer service. Driving up and hearing, "chicken, chicken, chicken, which combo you pickin" is just iconic and there are others like it that they say on a daily basis. I personally, have never met a canes worker who is not excited to be working there or does not have a smile on their face.

    Each time I go, it makes me want to go back more and more. I get Cane's a few times a month. My signature is just a three finger combo, a large Diet Coke, and two extra cane's sauce. The extra Cane's sauce is an essential piece to the meal. Being able to get the chicken smothered in Cane's sauce is the only true way to eat it. Cane's is a one of a kind place I will go to as long as I live on this earth.

What I encountered with "The Tillman Story"

     Over the weekend I viewed The Tillman Story (2009) directed by Amir-Bar Lev. I must say, this was a movie that I quited enjoyed viewing. I have always been intrigued in the military myself and even toured the United States Air Force Academy prior to attending North Central College due to having an interest in joining. For some time I have known who Pat Tillman was however this documentary opened my eyes to a whole new perspective of not just Pat Tillman himself, but the entire United States Military. 

    There was one specific scene that opened my eyes, and this was towards the latter of the documentary. There was a P4 memo, which is a confidential memo meant for speicifc eyes only, that was uncovered by the Assocaited Press a few years after Pat Tillman's death. It told high ranking military officials, only a few days after Tillman's death, that he was 100% confirmed killed by friendly fire. Yet, with this information, the family only learned this almost a month after his death. During this moment, it was also uncovered that his armor, weapons, and journal were "taken care of" (The Tillman Story), and by that meaning, they were actually burned, in order to cover up any investigation into the friendly fire.

    Continouing on, after this, it was uncovered that the Secretary of the Army personally wrote Tillman an email congratulating him on his enlistmant. No other solider ever recieved a personal letter from the Secretary of the Army for simply enlisting. Tillman recieved one because he was Patrick Tillman. I became very curious and wondered if Pat Tillmans death was in fact caused on purpose as a publicity stunt to enhance the publics outlook on US foreign policy.

Sports Betting Lines

    Personally, I do not bet, one reason being I am a NCAA and of course I am not of age, yet I still look at the betting lines. Many of my older friends, my parents, and their friends all love to bet. I can imagine the thrill. I always look at the betting lines just to see what they are and somehow they are always absurdly close to the actual game.

     For example the super bowl last night. The total combined score line was 74.5. Meaning that the total score for both teams either needed to be below, or over that line if you were to bet on it. The super bowls score was 38 - 35. The total point amount? 73. That is insanley close to the line. Another example, is Chris Stapletons national anthem time. Yes the national anthem time. You can bet on virtually anything nowadays. But back to the time of the National Anthem. The line for the anthem was set at 125 seconds, Chris Stapleton sang for 121 seconds. Both are very close.

     These types of examples happen every week, every game. It gets many people thinking, are these games scripted? The lines posted and the actual results of games are always so close to one another. There is never an easy bet. Of course Las Vegas (the location where bet lines are formed), does have experienced workers who just know the game but it never hurts to think about other possibilities.