Weather From a Lifeguard's Perspective

I love the South and I love Alabama, I really do. However I hate the humid, hot weather that we get 9 out of 12 months here in Montgomery. I lifeguard at the YMCA so I know firsthand how unbearable the weather can be sometimes. When I'm working a 7 hour shift on a hot day with absolutely no breeze at all it becomes a little obnoxious. I don't mind heat at all, but when it feels like there's no oxygen in the air I personally think that's inhumane. On top of this I always get badly sunburnt during the first couple of weeks of the summer because I'm in the sun for hours on end almost every day of the week. Now I can't really complain because I do end up with a sick Indian tan by the next couple of weeks, but it doesn't come without a price. It's a hassle to look like Hasselhoff.

Broseph

When I talk about my "Broseph" (which I never really call him at all), I'm most likely referring to one of my best friends, Dalton Titus. I've known Dalton for a little over  9 years now and ever since I've met him we've been good friends. Sadly a couple of weeks ago Dalton went off to school in Mississippi while I stayed home and went to AUM. Now don't get me wrong, I have other friends, I'm not trying to sound like a pathetic "one man wolf pack" who has only one compadre. Dalton, however, was one of the few people that really got me and most of the time we knew what each other was thinking. When I would make a pun or sarcastic remark, most of the time no one one get it, but Dalton always understood my twisted humor. You can't replace friends like that, and that's why we'll continue to be friends for life. 

Busy Class Schedule

My other AUM classes range from fairly easy to taking a physical toll on my body and mind. My first class of the week is "Cornerstone of Business". When I started this class, we were thrown right into a group project without learning any basics first. Obviously this really stressed me out, and only two weeks in I can tell that I'm not going to enjoy this class. After "Cornerstone of Business" I have "Human Communication". This class at the moment is relatively laid back and not too stressful. We have a lot of open discussion in this class, the worst part is the kid who feels like he has to fill every silent moment with chatter. Then on Tuesday and Thursday I have Finite at 9:25 sharp. I enjoy this math class because I have a great, enthusiastic teacher who seems to want us to generally learn the information. Lastly, I have Macroeconomics which is going pretty slow at this point, however I have a feeling that it is going to quickly pick up and get increasingly difficult. The biggest hardship that I've faced in this class is my professor. He is very intelligent but speaks broken English, therefore it is often very hard to understand a word he's saying, but I like him as a teacher and enjoy his class.

What Defines Me

    Many things define us in life, for me these things are horror movies, videogames, and most importantly Christianity. Horror movies and videogames are more of a hobby, whereas my Christian walk is what I feel truly defines me. These aspects of my life were not engrained in me or pushed upon me, I developed an admiration for all of them on my own accord. Horror movies, videogames and Christianity aren't the only things that describe me, but they are the traits that I most closely associate myself with.

           My whole life I have been a faithful fan of horror movies.When I was a kid, every week or so my dad would take my sister and me to the local Movie Gallery. When we were there I would always beg my dad to let me rent a scary movie. I was an eight year old wanting to watch movies like "Hellraiser" and "Child's Play" (Chucky movies). Of course looking back I'm glad my parents were protective of me in this regard, because there's no telling what negative influence those movies would have had on me at such a young age. Now that I'm older I have freedom in what I watch, so I have gone back and watched all these horror classics that I so desperately longed for when I was a child. Horror fans like myself enjoy these movies because of the adrenaline rush that it gives us and the tension that leads up to the climax of the frightening moment that usually catches us by surprise. Like a drug addiction or any other addictive habits, one becomes caloused to typical fear after watching so much horror, which makes us long for it even more. Scary movies as a discourse community can range from very mild to very extreme circumstances. At the mild level, which is where I'd say I fit in, horror fans are expected to know all about the "classics" and the popular references that come from them ("Friday the 13th" movies, "A Nightmare on Elm Street" movies, and the "Paranormal Activity" movies, for instance). If someone asked me who was the killer in "Halloween" and I didn't answer back with "Michael Myers", then that person would probably not consider me a true horror fan. Even if a horror buff hasn't seen a certain movie, he still might be expected to know its background, plot, and if it's really scary or not. As strange as it sounds, horror isn't a hobby, it's a way of life.

       Another hobby that I speak the language of is videogames. Ever since I was a kid I loved playing videgames. Over the years my interests have changed, all the way from "Mario Kart" to "Grand Theft Auto". But from childhood to the present I have never played for competition, just for fun. Now I personally don't believe that I'm addicted to videogames, I just find them entertaining and, sometimes, relaxing, Now if you ask my mom or dad, they will probably say that I play way too many videogames and that those games are "rotting my brain" (4 hours of gaming really isn't that long if you ask me). There are many different types of "Gamers" who play for many different reasons. Personally I play for the stories, some play for competition, and others play because they have no life (therefore in their mind they have nothing better to do). Many people play because they can go to another world and live a life that they otherwise couldn't live. Some people find videogames a way to get away from their current hardships, so they take their anger and stress out on their friends in the virtual world where no real harm is done. No matter why one plays videogames, we all come together as "Gamers".

         The most important aspect of my life that I define myself by is my Christian walk. Sadly this is the discourse community that I probably am the least knowledgable in, therefore I don't always make it a priority when it should always be the first thing on my mind and in my heart. I grew up in church and have always been surrounded by fellow believers and strong Christian family members. Two out of my three uncles are pastors, so most of my family professes to be Christians (most of them Southern Baptists). One becomes a Christian when they recognize their sin, confess it to God, and completely turn away from this sin and humbly ask for the Lord's forgiveness of past sins and the many sins that they will commit in the future. We as Christians believe that God lives in our heart, and therefore we try our hardest to not sin, and because we are imperfect human beings we always fall short of these aspirations. Only by God's infinite grace can we do any "good" in this world because we know nothing of true perfection and being sinless (only the Lord is sinless). Christianity is something that I will always be interested in and I will always try to hold it as the first, most important thing in my life.

          My three discourse communities are not something that I feel obligated to take part in. I don't watch horror movies because my friends do, it's just something that I've always enjoyed since I was young. I don't play videogames because someone tells me to play them, they just relax me and take my mind of the stresses of everyday life. I certainly am not a Christian because of "peer pressure". I grew up in church and in a Christian family, but these things are not what make me a Christian. No, I was called on and drawn to God by his will, not by my own. Discourse Communities are not something that we are required to take part in, we take part in them because they define us as individuals.

How I Read Like A Writer

The author (his name escapes me) of the article was trying to explain how one can read a passage and completely understand its meaning, and also dissect the passage and understand the author's meanings and intentions (whether subtle or obvious). For instance when reading an allegory such as "Pilgrim's Progress" or "Gulliver's Travels", one must look at the stories as word pictures and not necessarily take them word for word. Allegories are written with (sometimes) subtle undertones that the reader must delve deeper into to understand the true, hidden meaning/ideas that the author is trying to touch on. When we are writing, we can use some of these techniques that we have seen other writers use in our own writing. This isn't plagiarism because we aren't copying words from another writer, we are merely using the literary techniques that they use to add to our writing's physical, as well as literal, attractiveness.      

Big Red Lobster Man

When I was a little kid I always said that I wanted to either be Santa Claus or a pediatrician (at the time I called it a "kid doctor"). Santa Claus lived the high life, he made toys all day every day and once a year he got to fly around in a huge sleigh pulled by reindeer. Sadly this business endeavor came to an abrupt end when my parents told me that Claus didn't exist. Of course they made matters worse by telling me that the Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy didn't exist as well, which completely crushed my entire childhood. On one hand I couldn't live in the north pole and hang out with elves, but on the other hand I would be Santa one day like my father before me.   

My English Class AKA: "Prison"

Most of my highschool years were spent at a small church school that I used to go to. They challenged me and pushed me really hard, particularly my English teacher. I remember writing a paper every week of the school year, or at least it seemed like we wrote one every week. I remember staying up all night writing papers. Many of these papers were research papers and my teacher graded very harshly and thoroughly, making sure that I dotted all my i's and crossed all my t's. As hard as that English class was, I'm very thankful that I took it because I believe that it prepared me for my future, and hopefully helped me become a good writer.