The Euros

            This summer The Euros will be played in France. It’s a soccer tournament that is very similar to The World Cup, but instead of every country in the world having the chance to qualify, only European countries can. The tournament is played every four years, and is a great way to watch some of the best players in the world go head to head. National team games have a different vibe than the club team games that are on the rest of the year. You are born to a nation and, as an extension, its team. Each nation has to do the best they can with the players they are given, whereas club teams can buy and sell players as they deem necessary (assuming they can afford it).

             While many people believe Germany will take home the gold, as they did two years ago at the 2014 World Cup, I don’t think that they will. There are many teams that will be able to put together very strong teams that are certain to give Germany a tough time. England looks to be very strong, with several young players coming off of breakout seasons. France looks to be fielding a moderately older, yet very similar, team of recent breakout stars. Belgium has a few solid older players who can, hopefully, lead a squad of young talent to victory (they may be a little too young to do well at this tournament, but they will undeniably be a force at the 2018 World Cup and 2020 Euros). Regardless of who wins, the tournament promises to be as thrilling as ever, and I’m very excited for it to begin.

La Musique

         When I was younger I would listen to whatever my music my parents would play. This consisted of a lot of oldies and one gypsy kings album that my dad had an inexplicable love for. As I got older I wanted to listen to the songs my friends listened too, mainly those which were commonly played on the radio. I’ve used the same iTunes account since the fifth grade, slowly adding songs with iTunes gift cards I’ve received as gifts for birthdays and holidays. I bought songs that I liked that I’d heard on the radio, tv shows or YouTube videos, my library slowly growing each year. The discovery of Pandora was a revolution that showed me many terrific songs and artists.

            The past year or so, I’ve kept an eye out for new music coming from artists whose past music I’ve liked. When one of them is releasing a new album, I’ll listen to it as soon as I can, hoping to expand the list of music I like. What I’ve noticed is that I often won’t like an album the first one or two times that I listen to it; it takes a few run-throughs to start to realize which songs stand out. Coloring Book, an album Chance the Rapper released late last week, was just like this. The first time I listened through the album I didn’t really like it at all, but the more I listened to it the more it’s grown on me. As is expected, there are a few songs on the album that I really don’t like much, but a majority of the songs are very catchy and all-around awesome, so I’m glad I gave the album a chance to show me it’s true beauty.

Assassin/Stalking/Paranoia

            This week a majority of the Senior Class has partaken in a game of Assassin. We have a website that everyone who wants to play signs up on, and the website tells each player who their target is. I was worried that I would get someone who would be nearly impossible to kill, but luckily I got a girl who lives a few streets away from me. She also plays softball, so it was easy for me to know when she would be coming home. I hid in her bushes a few minutes before practice ended, and was able to “kill” her as she walked from her car to her house.

            If there’s one thing I learned from the game, it is scary how easy it is to acquire information about someone. Within minutes I, and many of my friends, were able to find out where our target lived and when they would be coming and going from their house.

I also totally underestimated how paranoid I would get while waiting for the person who had me to strike. It could have been anyone, and they could have struck anytime when I was not in school or at my house. Every flickering light or animal in a bush made me jump, and towards the end I was pretty ready to get killed so I could calm down. I even went to the YMCA in Woburn to work out because I was afraid I would get killed while working out.

It was definitely a fun game, but I’m not sure I would be quick to play again.

Playoffs??

           It’s NBA and NHL playoff time, and that means the bandwagon fans are coming out of the woodwork to support teams that “they’ve liked for years!” who are pushing for a championship/Stanley Cup after an impressive regular season. Unfortunately, the Bruins didn’t make it into the playoffs this year, which means I will not be watching much (if any) playoff hockey this year because I really only like the Bruins. Playoff hockey is one of the more enjoyable sporting events to watch, but I have a hard time staying interested in a sports game if I have no personal attachment to either of the teams playing.

            Luckily, the Celtics did manage to make it into the playoffs this year, despite not having a very impressive lineup. They’re seeded at 5 of 8 in the East, which means they’re matching up first round with the Atlanta Hawks (the 4 seed in the East). Since their seeds are so close, this series was destined to be close but difficult. It’s been back and forth, with the Hawks up 3-2 in the best-of-7 series. The Celtics have had some trouble and have been rather frustrating to watch at times- mostly because of poor shooting- but they have a lot of fight in them and every game (with the exception of game 5) has been exciting to watch through the end. Unfortunately, if the Celtics do manage to rally and beat the Hawks tonight (and take them down in game 7 when they don’t have home court advantage), I think they will have immense difficulty against Lebron and the Cleveland Cavaliers. Regardless, playoffs are always a joy to watch and they make the last month or so of school much more enjoyable.

The Big One Eight

         Well, it’s official. I’m an adult. Yesterday was my 18^th birthday, but in all honesty I don’t really feel much different. I still live with my parents, I still go to school every day, and I still enjoy hanging out with my friends doing nothing productive on the weekends. This is the case with every birthday I’ve had so far, though; it feels as though not much has changed. This birthday was kind of a bummer, officially graduating from being a child. The realization that I will be leaving the town I have known for the past decade and a half for college in a few months has really started to sink in, and it’s kind of bumming me out.

            I’m definitely ready for a change of scenery, but that doesn’t make it any less difficult to leave behind my old stomping grounds. I am so comfortable in Reading- the people, the restaurants, the traditions- I know them like the back of my hand. Because of this going off to college will definitely be bittersweet, but I’ll be back for Thanksgiving and Christmas vacations, so it’s not a farewell as much as a see you soon. Regardless, I know I am ready to move onto the next stage in life. School has grown kind of stale with its lack of independence in some regards (seven hours of mandatory class every day). Also, at this point my grades really don’t count for much so there’s minimal motivation to keep me going. My friends and I have also really burned through everything and anything fun to do on the weekends, so we’re all ready to go live it up at college instead of driving around the town aimlessly with nothing to do. My eighteenth birthday itself was nothing special, but it definitely made me think a little more of the impending change my life is about to embark on.

Easter Ramblings

            Easter is a weird holiday. It’s kind of like a half-assed Christmas/Thanksgiving combination. I grew up Jewish, so I never really experienced the religious aspect of Easter. My mom’s side of the family usually comes over to my house and we all sit down and have a tasty dinner together. It always gives us a good opportunity to catch up and share stories of funny and interesting stuff that has happened to us since Christmas- the most recent time (usually) that we had all been together to eat and have a conversation.

            Another great part of Easter is definitely the food. My mom always makes a big honey-glazed ham, which is dope because we usually don’t have ham at all, never mind honey-glazed. This year we had a small crowd for Eater, and my family didn’t eat much of the leftovers, so I can proudly say I ate well over half of a full ham during the past several days. On second thought, I am really not proud that I ate so much ham, and I don’t think I will ever be able to be kosher again, but I would do it again in a heartbeat.

            I don’t think colleges give students Easter off as a holiday (obviously you get the day off because it’s a Sunday, but I don’t think they give you any days on either end of the weekend for travelling. It will definitely be weird to not be home to celebrate, but my family will make up for it with Christmas and Thanksgiving.

Misster RMHS- A Ballad

As I sit in the PAC,

I prepare for my act.

The first of April looms ahead.

How will the crowd react?

Last year my dance went off quite well,

The audience enjoyed,

When we all took our costumes off,

Our bodies filled the void.

This year I plan to do it all;

I’ll sing, I’ll act, I’ll dance.

The whole show will be fabulous-

Go if you have the chance!

The Champions League

            Today I am watching a soccer game between Barcelona and Arsenal in the Round of 16 in the Champions League. The Champions League is actually a very cool concept that is missing in American sports. In Europe each country has its own league, with the leagues of England, Germany, Spain, France and Italy being historically the best five. At the end of each season (August to May), the top few teams in each league are selected to go into the Champions League the following season, giving the club an opportunity to gain fans and lots of TV money. All the teams that are selected for the Champions league are broken into eight groups of four teams each. Between September and December these teams play all of the other teams in their groups twice, and are awarded three points for every win and one point for a draw. The top two teams of each group then go onto the round of 16.

            This is where things start to get interesting. Teams are seeded based on how they did in the group stage and are placed into the 16-team bracket accordingly. The round of 16, quarter finals and semifinals are all played in two “legs” (two games). The scores of the two games are added together and the winner progresses to the next round. If the teams are tied, the team who scored more goals while they were playing away (one of the games is payed at one team’s home field, while the other game is played at the other’s) goes through. If the teams are still tied after that, they go to a penalty shootout. The final is played in just one game, with two half-hour overtime periods and then a penalty shootout to serve as tie-breakers.

If this was confusing (and I’d be surprised if it wasn’t), here’s a few links that may help clarify the process:

http://www.sbnation.com/soccer/2014/9/11/6135491/uefa-champions-league-guide

https://tizod.wordpress.com/uefa-champions-league/

And a 3-minute video if you’re tired of reading:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HlT5pZjCqKI&ab_channel=TYTSports

Summer Music

             It’s so warm out today (Wednesday), and with this first over-70-degree day will surely come a whole new wave  of senioritis, and more importantly excitement for Summer (even though we haven’t even seen Spring yet). Summer for me has always had its own playlist- songs that I only really listen to when it’s really nice out. While we still have a ways to go before it’s like this all the time, I figured I’d share a few songs I know that help the nice-weather mood.

Anna Sun by WALK THE MOON

Jubel by Klingande

Super Rich Kids by Frank Ocean

There He Go by Schoolboy Q

Stay (feat Matt Noyes) by Kygo

Tongue Tied by Grouplove

Cecilia and the Satellite by Andrew McMahon In The Wilderness

Free and Lonely by X Ambassadors

Kids by MGMT

Tennis Courts (Flume Remix) by Lrde

            Do these songs make you feel like it’s summertime? What songs do you listen to during the Summer? 

The Office

           As I sit on another Thursday night, the threat of a blog post once again looms overhead. At the moment I am sitting in my living room, watching reruns of The Office with my sister. The Office was a great show in its day (except for maybe after Steve Carrell left, when it started to get weird).  Every Thursday my family would gather together and watch the newest episode of The Office, laughing non-stop until the episode was over. Even as it started to get weird at the end, my family and I stuck with it, determined to see how the writers wrapped up the story.

            The ending to The Office truly was one of, if not the, best endings to a show I’ve seen. It was equal parts funny and sad; bittersweet in a lot of ways. The show had been a part of our lives for the better part of a decade, and it was sad knowing we wouldn’t be watching the show together anymore, leaving a void that we would have a tough time filling. Watching the reruns is definitely funny and entertaining, but nothing compares to sitting around with your friends and/or family watching an episode none of you have seen before.

Dan Sullivan

            My first experience with Dan Sullivan was in middle school. I used to play games on the internet and Skype with my friends. I went to Parker for middle school, but I had some friends who knew kids who went to Coolidge who also enjoyed Skyping and playing computer games. Dan was one of these kids, and I remember thinking he was pretty funny and cool. Fast forward to freshman year; the middle schools collide. I didn’t have any classes with Dan, but he was in the only other block of freshman that my English teacher had. When we got to A Midsummer Night’s Dream, our teacher, Mrs. Correa, assigned each character to a student and had us read aloud the book. My classes read-aloud was a bit awkward and unenthusiastic. My friends in the other block told me that Dan asked to have the part of a fairy, and proceeded to read all of his lines in a high pitched voice, much to the delight of his peers.

            This story, in my eyes, embodies the true nature of Dan Sullivan; a free-spirited, fun loving kid who always has a smile on his face. I’ve had several classes with him over the past few years, and we’ve become good friends. Whenever I see Dan start talking to him, his face lights up and the gears start turning- eager to hatch his next joke. Dan is also smart, and has been very helpful with homework whenever I’ve consulted him.

            If you’re reading this Dan, you’re a pretty cool cat. If anyone else has made it this far, I think it’s pretty clear the idea well for these blog posts went dry long ago.

            Tell me, what do you think about Dan? 

Tasty E-Coli

            I went to Chipotle last week for the first time in a long time after their e-coli scandal several months back. The first thing I noticed was that it was very empty, something usually very uncharacteristic for Chipotle, but quite understandable given the circumstances. The line went quickly, and soon it was time to order. I’ve eaten many burritos from Chipotle, perhaps more than I’d care to admit, so I have my order down to a science.

Each time I get a burrito and get brown rice. White rice is probably healthier, but I don’t like how it tastes as much as brown rice. I don’t get any beans (scandalous, I know) because I like how my burrito tastes without them better than with them. The next step is meat, where I get barbacoa. It’s like pulled pork, but with steak, and is to die for. I’ve dabbled with other meats, but none of them were as good as barbacoa. Next I get medium salsa. This was the toughest part of my order to narrow down, as all of the salsas are good in their own right. I’m not a huge fan of tomatoes, so I decided mild wasn’t for me. The same fate befell the hot salsa, because I felt it overpowered the flavors of everything else in the burrito. Thus, I settled on medium because it adds just enough of a kick and doesn’t have any tomatoes. I then get cheese because I love cheese and lettuce mostly to add some volume and color to my otherwise brown burrito.

What do you get on your burrito?

Football!

Another January comes to a close, as does another football season. This year the Patriots started off amazing, winning their first ten straight. Injuries quickly slowed them down, losing their top two running backs and top 3 receiving targets in the last six weeks of the season as they went on to lose four of their next six games. Now usually going into the playoffs in that bad of form spells disaster, but for the Patriots it was quite the opposite. With Edelman, Ammendola and Gronk coming back the Pats looked like a solid contender. We cruised through our game against the Chiefs, winning by 7, although we had good control over the entirety of the game. The next hurdle was the Broncos, who we suffered a frustrating defeat to during the season (mostly due to crap refereeing).

            While our defense held fast against the fabled Peyton Manning, it was our offense that had the most trouble. It seemed as though Brady could not hit any of the receivers, but it soon became clear what the real issue was- the offensive line. While our running backs and receivers has a plethora of injuries, our o-line had even more, and that was what killed us. Every play the Broncos only needed to rush three men and they would be at Brady in a fraction of a second, not allowing him the time he needs to pick someone out and throw the ball. It was an exciting season that got frustrating because of injuries, but I’m confident we’ll come back even better next year.

Senya Slide

            As first semester comes to a close, I foresee a lot of free time in my future when the senior slide takes full effect (in every class except for English, obviously). With that in mind, I have started looking for things to fill my time. I’ve found a few Xbox games that seem fun, as well as starting a few new TV shows. I wanted one comedy and one serious show because sometimes I’m in the mood for one, while sometimes I’m in the mood for one while sometimes I’m in the mood for the other. For the funny show I’ve begun watching New Girl. I like it because it’s a sitcom, but with a different twist. The characters are all extremely uptight, and when they conflict it’s hilarious.

            The serious show I’ve begun is LOST. Partially because I’ve had lots of friends recommend it, and also because I just saw the new Star Wars movie, which was directed by the same director as Lost; J.J. Abrams. I’m only halfway through the first season, but so far it’s been an awesome show. For the first few episodes, the show has provided backstory for one of the characters by littering scenes from their past during the episode. Each character has a dynamic background, and it’s really cool to see them get used to their surroundings and each other, trying to understand the pasts and motives of each of the others. So far it’s a great show, and I’d gladly recommend it to everyone.

            So how do you plan to fill all your time when the slide is in full swing? 

Burnt Out

            The applications are in, and now the wait begins. After I sent in my last application, I let out a sigh of relief, believing I could throw it into cruise control for the next five months until graduation. The past three days have been a rude awakening for me. Rude as in peeing in your neighbor’s lawn, rude. My cruise hit an iceberg and sank the past three days. The iceberg took the form of my six teachers, who still have a job to do for the next 5ish months, determined not to let their classes slip. While this is definitely for the best; being lazy for the next five months would not set me up to succeed in college, and it is always good to learn more, I am going to have to switch up my mindset in order to not crap out second semester.

            What will keep me going the most is the promise of something new just around the corner. A new setting, new people, new classes. For those I will keep up with my work and not slack off. I am definitely ready for the next step in my life; high school is growing increasingly stale. The same teachers, kids, problems, lack of freedom day in and day out. I’ve been in the same small pond that I’ve been in for the past 14 years, and I’m ready to dive into the ocean (that metaphor was pretty cliché, sorry about that). Despite this, I am trying to enjoy the end of high school as much as I can because I know in the future I will look back on this time and think of how great it was, and how nice it would be to go back to it. I’ve had a great time in high school, and while I understand there’s still several months to go, I am definitely ready for the next stage in my life.