Two Weeks

Only two weeks remain in my first semester of college and my first semester in Wilmington.  All in all it has been a fabulous time ever since I got here.  Wilmington has gotten better every day and I am enjoying myself quite thoroughly.  Except for the fact that the Flyers lost to the Penguins last night for the third time, leaving the flyers in a do or die situation, and man I hope they do it.  I haven't been able to watch my team play much this season and I am hoping they will stage an epic come back and beat the Penguins in seven games.  Then I will be able to watch them play when I am home in early may.

In other Philadelphia sports the Phillies won last night by a score of 11 to 5 with Utley doing work in the fifth and all around.  Thanks to Jamie Moyer as well who got his second win of the season on the mound.

So with just two weeks left of school including exams, and the weather being the way it is I think it will be hard to put in the time to prepare for my exams.  But I need to do well on them and I will force myself to study no matter how good the weather is...I hope.

Go FLYERS!!!

Flyers, and "the big egg"

The Flyers lost tonight in their playoff opener in Pittsburg PA.  The Penguins started out hot eventually taking the victory in game one of the eastern conference quarter finals.  I have good expectations for the Flyers this post season and I do not want to lose in the first round thats for sure.  In other Philadelphia sports the the Phillies game tonight was rained out, Joe Blanton will be on the mound tomorrow against the Nationals.  

On to another subject, finding one of the money eggs.  I just finished talking with my cousin Sophie, who was back on the farm for easter.  Apparently she got lucky in finding the fifty dollar egg.  She said she just stumbled upon it and boom fifty bucks in the pocket...so after Soph got the fifty, Hal, my grandfather sent all the kids after the big egg with a hund spot in it.  Then a rocket was launched from an undisclosed location, next thing she knew the egg was parachuting down over a mob of crazed children.  Some non family member always gets the big egg on easter, so ive decided next year its mine and I can't wait to find it!

On Easter Sunday among the tall Georgia pines on one of the most prestigious golf courses in the country Angel Cabrera overcame all the obstacles that Augusta and his fellow competitors presented.  Cabrera held off the competition winning on the second playoff hole and claiming his first green jacket.  

In other sports news the Flyers are set to play the Pittsburg Penguins in the first round of the 2009 playoffs.  Starting on sunday night the flyers will host PA rivals in what will be a physical series.  I believe the flyers have what it takes to beat Pittsburg and continue on for their quest for the cup.  Jeff Carter of the Flyers finished the season tied for second in goals scored leading the team points as well, but it's not only Carter that has contributed to the success of the team.  The flyers are the only team in the NHL to have six skaters with 25 or more goals, this will hopefully prove to be an advantage during the playoffs.

Hockey and golf aren't the most similar of sports but they are the two sports that fascinate me the most.  I don't play hockey, except for pond hockey which I played a lot of growing up, that is one of the reasons I love the game and going to Flyers games growing up.  Hockey games are the best to go to, in my opinion hockey has the most action and the sweetest goals.  Golf on the other hand I played a ton of growing up and I have even grown to enjoy watching it, although I would much rather play which I think is how most people think except most people do not like watching golf.  Playing golf is in my opinion the hardest sport and the most fun when you get good at it.  Being able to know where the ball is going, to know that the putt is going in, and to know no matter how hard you swing the ball isn't going to miss the fairway.  This is extremely rare even for proffesionals, but there has been a point in my life and that of most avid golfers when you are on fire so to speak, and you just can't miss, that feeling is what I strive for every time I go out and play and its that feeling of control and rythym that makes me love the sport so dam much.

Easter without the fam

I am sitting in my dorm room on the saturday before Easter and will be here for most of tomorrow as well.  I wanted nothing more than to go home to Pennsylvania for Easter, but I couldn't figure out a way to get up to East Carolina University where my cousin goes to catch a ride with her.  Easter is a pretty big holiday in my family, there is always a huge egg hunt on the farm with our family and friends.  There are different age groups who look for different eggs, and then everybody gets together after all the eggs are found, except the three big eggs that my grandfather with a little help from my uncle and cousin have hidden somewhere around the farm.  Then Hal my grandfather tell everyone where to start looking for the eggs and a bunch of crazy kids and teenagers start running around looking to find the jackpot.  The first of the two usually has a twenty dollar bill, the second a fifty and the third, a hundred dollar bill.  I have never been the one to find any big egg, but I do manage to have a great time no matter what the outcome is and thats one thing about hanging out with my family, I will always have a good time no matter what happens because I love everyone in my family and they all fell the exact same way.  After the egg hunt we go out to dinner with my other family on my dads side and have an amazing dinner at Greenville CC.  Easter is so much fun even though I won't be there for it this year I will be thinking about all my family and ill try and have a good time down here.

Animal Rights

I am writing a persuasive essay on animal rights, specifically on the essay titled Animal Research Saves Human Lives.  An essay that supports the use of laboratory animals in medical research, especially the animals that have played a critical role in bringing about the end of the polio epidemic and creating other vaccines and cures.  I believe the use of animals for the advancement of medical research is important because it may lead to a cure for the modern day diseases and viruses such as cancer, heart disease and AIDS.  The article focuses mainly on the polio virus and how the use of laboratory animals was key in finding a cure for the virus.  Polio was a devastating epidemic that struck the lives of children in the fifties.  A good entry point to write my paper on animal rights is the use of lab animals for medical research particularly that of the polio virus.  I will try and persuade the reader that the use of animals for research is not only ethical but was incredibly influential on the lives of countless children and their families.  The gratitude we owe to the animals who have helped advance medical research is immeasurable and I will explain why in my essay.

The World at Large

I just got back from the beach and I know realize how sweet it is to be going to school in Wilmington North Carolina.  For the first time all semester I have been to the beach when the weather was nice, except for one day in the beginning of February.  The beach is an incredible place, and people go their entire lives without seeing the ocean.  I can't even imagine what that would be like.  I have also met many people who have never seen snow, a bit different than never having seen the beach, but another crazy thing to me.  I personally grew up going to the beach in the summer an dto the mountains in the winter.  If only you could live in a place where you can get the best of both worlds.  There is such a place, in New Zealand you can snowboard in the morning and go surfing that afternoon.  That would be a dream come true for me, my cousin spent several months last summer and fall in New Zealand and the pictures he took were mind blowing.  It makes me wonder what is out there, and how much is still yet to be discovered, we live in a world full of mystery and phenomenon, and I can't wait to get out there and explore.