2009 (My Year)

I’m going to attempt to explain my 2009 through events and songs. Some months are going to be a challenge….. but here goes.




January- Dead and Gone Justin Timberlake and TI (performed at the Grammys). The something annual Grammys happened. Interesting performances. Arsenal acquired Andrey Arshavin, although it was a close happening with a storm and the transfer deadline. I changed my Facebook profile picture to honor the new arrival.



February and March- I have no songs or any memory of anything important happening.



April- Boom Boom Pow Black Eyed Peas. Enough said.



May- No Surprise Daughtry. I finished and presented my graduation project. Finals stress started. Arsenal ended their season.



June- Knock You Down Keri Hilson, Kanye West, Ne-Yo. My junior year ended. I survived finals. Brasil beat the US in the Confederations Cup 3-2.



July- Best Days of Your Life Kellie PIckler and Summer Nights Rascal Flatts (My country liking started to kick into high gear. Kellie Pickler is a result of Phily). Missions trip to Philadelphia with Vision for Youth. I joined the Army. July 24, 2009. And going into the beginning of August, I spent some time in North Carolina with family. Tomas Rosicky started training with Arsenal again after 18 months injured.



August- New Divide Linkin Park. Finished up enjoying my summer. Arsenal started the new season.



September- Down Jay Sean. Start senior year.



October- I’m Alive Dave Matthews Band and Kenny Chesney and Falling for You Colbie Caillat. I turned 18.



November- Smile Uncle Kracker. I watched the Macy’s Parade.



December- Live Like We’re Dying Kris Allen. Spent Christmas in Ohio with family. Now I’m writing this.

Mountains and Flat Land

Drivng along 80, my nose was pressed up against the glass. I don't think I had ever seen 'mountains' so big and plentiful. It was mind boggling to see all the rock insides, the heights, and the valleys. Being from flat land with grass and wind, it was amazing to see so many trees. And rocks that were many times bigger than me. This was a magical new place.

Okay, I was eight. And I had seen mountains before. The ones called the Rockies in Colorado. But it was awe-inspiring to see the 'mountains' of Pennsylvania.I think it was a sort of shock to moving to a new place. Pennsylvania was something new and different.

Pennsylvaina is 10 years old to me now, but the mountains are still amazing. That one stretch of 80 is so beautiful and breath taking. Now, going back to flat land is more inspiring than it was 10 years ago. It's kind of nice to be able to see for several miles without having a hill in the way.

I guess my take away is that things look different in different perspectives. Moving forward and going backwards are a part of life. It just takes time and practice to know when which direction will be the most amazing and helpful.

The Sing-Off

Last night, I got to watch the finale of The Sing-Off on NBC. Because my TV was being stupid last week, I couldn’t see the previous episodes, but I was impressed. Kudos to Nota, who won the competition. I watched for three main reasons, all good ones in my opinion.


1. I love watching music specials

2. Natasha Bedingfield was performing

3. Nick Lachey was the host. I feel bad for the guy. He’s so talented, but the only gigs he can land are hosting special programs.



I was especially impressed by the Beelzebub’s performance of the Black Eyed Peas’ Where is the Love. It was an impressive a capella take that sounded almost like the real version.

Writing a Paper

Sometimes, I don't alwys like the fact that my mom teaches English. Other times, like tonight, it's the greatest thing in the world because she has so many of the texts that I study in school. Currently I'm studying Chaucer's Canterbury Tales. We have a paper due Monday and I was working on it tonight. I needed some line numbers and was planning to get them from the online textbook. Unfortunately, theat website is down until 2 AM Monday morning for scheduled maintence. That would have meant that I would have to get up really early Monday morning to finish my paper. But, since my mom has an incredible amount of things that I study,we have Canterbury Tales. So my paper is done. And I can sleep on Monday morning.

Arsenal played Hull City today. They won 3-0 with goals by Denilson, Eduardo, and Diaby.Next game is against Aston Villa on December 27. That's gonna be an important game. And a close one. Maybe some of our injuries will be healed by then.

Was It Santa? (Liverpool 1-2 Arsenal (A))

This weekend was an encouraging one for Arsenal. Chelsea, top of the table, drew with Everton (who is supposedly getting Landon Donovan on loan. A good match, I think.). Manchester Unijted lost to Aston Villa. Manchester City drew with Bolton. Tottenham lost to Wolverhampton Wanderers on a strike from former Reading player Kevin Doyle. And despite the fact that I'm feeling a little bit sorry for Liverpool this season, Arsenal and Andrei Arshavin's goal made them lose.

Arsenal is now three points behind second Manchester United and six points behind first Chelsea. They also have an extra game to play. People were saying Arsenal hadn't a prayer for the title this year after a few losses and struggles a few weeks ago. But it's not over until it's mathematically impossible.

Crazy-ness

It seems like some pretty crazy stuff has been going on lately. It has to deal with me and Wal-Mart.

First with Wal-Mart. Frustratingly, they have changed their music download system so that they no longer have the best price for music. I probably won't be downloading from them anymore. Our wonderful local store has downsized their Gatorade selection. They used to have such a wonderful selection of flavors and types. Now they don't really have anything I'm too crazy about. I was buying Gatorade today because I had some money on a gift card to burn. The blue frost kind in case anyone was wondering. I go to check out, and handed the lady my card. She went to swipe it, and drops it dwon a crack behind the swiper thingy. She then unsuccessfully spent several minutes trying to retrieve it. Finally, she just put in the amount as paid for and let me leave. I'm not too angry because the cost of the Gatorade was roughly the amount left on the gift card.

Now on to me. For two successive days, I have managed to put articles of clothing on backwards. Yesterday, my t-shirt ended up on backwards and inside out. I had something over it, so it didn't matter. I noticed 10 hours after the fact when I took off my sweatshirt and saw the tag in the front. Today, I put my shorts on backwards. Again, it didn't really matter because I had  sweatpants on over them. I wonder what I can manage to put on backwards tomorrow. Nothing, I hope!

UNO Style

Two days ago, I had future soldiers. That wonderful time almost every week where I get to go down to the recruiting station and train in something Army style. We were doing PT. And we were doing it Army UNO style.One of the Sgts would pull a card from the UNO deck, and we would have to do a specific exercise based on what came out and a certain number for howevermany was on the card of the Sgt decided.Running. Push-ups. Sit-ups. Flutterkicks. Lunges. And we were doing all sorts of variations of these fun things. It really was a good tyraining. As I train there and on my own, I see me getting better. Things getting a little easier.And that's what future sldiers is all about. Learning it now so it's not as challenging later.

Christmas Teddy

I have this teddy bear that only comes out at Christmas time. I’ve had him since 1994, but he doesn’t have a name. I guess when I was littler it was exciting to just have an extra stuffed animal, but now the excitement is more in getting him out of the box. Teddy is a tradition, and some traditions aren’t worth breaking.

Keep That Head Up

I guess really, this post could go one of many ways. Especially considering how Arsenal has been doing recently. I will say this: I am spoiled. I’ve gotten used to supporting winning teams. My Phils, quite possible the biggest losers in MLB history, have been doing great things recently. My Arsenal, known for being boring, known for not always being top of or near the top of the table, have been losing horribly despite doing well in recent years.


I hate to complain, but there’s really no way around it. How can you explain a 3-0 loss to Man. City in the Carling Cup?

One could blame it on injuries; there are several key players who will be out for a while with injuries. Blame it on lack of focus. The Carling Cup shouldn’t be that big of a deal, but a 3-0 loss can’t be denied. Something is off. I choose to blame it on the fact that I’m spoiled. I’ve gotten un-used to losing. I’ve lost the beauty of the game: the pure enjoyment of the perfect sport. Why else would the Carling Cup matter so much?