#43 Hello Bahamas!

    For a Christmas present in 2003, my whole family went on a cruise to the Bahamas.   It wasn’t a tangible present, but being my first vacation since I was about 4, that is what I consider my favorite present of all time.
    I don’t know if any of you have ever been on a cruise before, but just in case you had any doubt, it is phenomenal!   First of all, you can’t even tell that you are on a ship.   The cruise ships are so big that they don’t rock very much.   That was my biggest concern was getting sea sick since I had never been out on the water for an extended period of time.   My favorite part of the cruise was having something to do at all times.   On the upper decks, there were shuffleboard courts, basketball courts, pools, a water slide and plenty of space to get some sun.   A few levels below, there were two all-you-can-eat buffets (that were not weight-watchers friendly).   The buffets had a pizza station, a sandwich station, an ice cream machine, a fruit bar, a salad bar and the longest buffet table I have ever seen.   I still have not eaten more in a five day span than I did on that cruise when I was 11.   Other features of the ship were the desolate exercise and weight rooms, a performance stage, a sit-down restaurant and a few bars.
    That was the best vacation of my life, but I hope one day I can top it.

#42 Which blog did you order miss?

     I am currently employed at a banquet hall back home called Nazareth Hall.   I do not like my job at all!   My job is to do whatever needs to be done during an event.   Most of the events at Nazareth Hall are wedding receptions or Sunday brunches.   There are some reunions, dances, sorority and frat dinners, but there are very few of them.   The Hall has an indoor and outdoor chapel and four dining rooms.   Most people get married in one of the chapels and then have the reception there too.
    My job is not very challenging, but I am under an enormous amount of pressure most of the time.   I don’t like working receptions because I am basically responsible for making sure the best day of those being wed doesn’t turn into a disaster.   We serve 3 courses for every meal, and then we have to bus, organize and clean everything.   Everyone at the reception expects all the workers to be perfect, and my boss always preaches perfection.   What very few people realize is that most of the time when things go wrong, it is because the wedding party didn’t tell us about something.   An example of something that happens a lot is people informing us that they have more guests than they originally told us and we have to be able to accommodate them and prepare extra meals for them.
    The only reason I stay is because of the people that work there.   There are some really cool people that work there, and they make it worth dealing with all the angry guests.

#40 Vegas Baby!

    My older brother is one of the most interesting people in my life.   His name is Cayl, he is 25 and he is a police officer in Las Vegas.   4 years ago, he moved out to Vegas to attend one of the best police academies in the nation.   He had heard that Vegas was trying to expand their police force by a significant number and he was willing to risk everything and take his chances there.   Thankfully that risk has paid off for him.   As soon as he graduated from the academy, he was hired to police the Vegas strip.
    Cayl loves what he does, and perhaps even more importantly, he loves Vegas.   The way he describes life out there, I can’t say that I blame him.   They have really good weather; sure it’s hot, but it’s not humid.   Vegas is always busy, it’s exciting and it’s close to California and Arizona.   Last year, Cayl bought a house just outside of Las, Vegas.   He lives pretty close to the mountains and within driving distance of LA and Phoenix.   I think it’s cool that he has been to the last two BCS National Championship games.   Last year it was in Glendale, AZ at the University of Phoenix Stadium, and the year before it was at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, CA.
    I am really proud of my brother and all that he has been able to do.   It took some serious cojones to take a chance on something 2,000 miles away, but it seems to be working out great and I couldn’t be any happier for him.

#39 The Most Difficult Grammar Rule

    I have found that the most difficult grammar rule is the use of a period.   It’s been a while since I learned this, but if I remember correctly, a sentence usually ends with some sort of punctuation; the most common being a period.    I know that was one of the first grammar rules that we learned, but I always seem to forget about it.   Just about all my text messages are completely void of periods, and as you can see, none of my blog titles have periods at the end of them.
    It seems like the older I get the fewer periods and punctuations I use.   It seems like I’m not the only one who struggles with this problem.   I know most people don’t use periods in text messages, in emails and in their blog titles.   Also, it seems that Hollywood hates periods too.   I can’t think of any movies titles that have periods in them.   Colons seem to be okay though, colons show up all the time in movie titles.   The same thing goes for book titles, newspaper articles and video games.   I think that because it is so simple, people think it is unnecessary and don’t feel the need to use one

#38 Liars and Tiger and Pornstars, Oh My!

    Every woman in the world wants YOU!   Your problem: you’re married!   Not so lucky anymore are you?   Imagine what that feels like.   You can have any woman that you want, and all that’s standing in your way is one woman.   A woman that you barely see because she is off in another country modeling or at a fashion show.   Maybe she’s off with another man, maybe she’s spending all of your money, she could even be spending your money on another man.   How could you know for sure?   How would she know if you cheated?   She is halfway across the globe, there’s no way she could catch you.
    Whoops!   She caught you and she’s telling the world.   Now everyone knows  and she’s leaving.   Going with her: your money, your pride, even your kids!   Your kids are going to grow up without a dad, ore maybe your kids will grow up calling someone else dad.   A few bad decisions and all of a sudden you have nothing.

#36

    6 years ago I was one of the premiere tight ends in the NFL.   I skipped Jr. High to go to the NFL.   At 13, was the youngest player to ever play in the league.   My first four seasons were the best for any tight end in NFL history.   I had everything I could ever ask for.   Women, money, cars, fame, you name it, it was mine.
    Just before the start of my fifth season, I had my arm broken in 5 places.   Doctors told me I had no chance of playing again that season.   I couldn’t believe it!   I wasn’t going to let an injury ruin my season.   As soon as my arm healed, I went through the most intense rehab any man has ever been through.   I tried to build up my strength as fast as I could, but my body just couldn’t handle everything I was putting it through.   Week 13 rolled around and I still wasn’t anywhere near where I needed to be to play.   My trainer noticed my frustration and suggested something to speed up my recovery.   He started to give me a recovery aid similar to HGH, an illegal substance in the NFL.   The substance made me fail an NFL drug test, and I was suspended 8 games.
    The Browns immediately cut me from the team, not wanting to have a suspended player on the roster.   I decided to go play football for The Ohio State University.   I’m trying to bring a National Championship to OSU and hopefully make it back to the NFL one day.
    I messed up.   For two weeks, I used a legal recovery aid that happened to be on the NFL’s banned substance list.   I have since been labeled by many as a liar, a cheater and a bad person.   I’m not a bad person, I just messed up.   I know I made a mistake and regret that decision every day of my life.

#35 Purpose

    The purpose of my CP article is to get people to look at celebrities and professional athletes in a different way.   I hope to make people realize the incredible amounts of pressure that are on celebrities.
    Just imagine being the best golfer in the entire world for 623 weeks.   Put yourself in Tiger’s shoes for a minute.   For all but one week in 2007, you have been the worlds number one golfer.   Everyone on the PGA tour wants to beat you, everyone else is dreaming of taking your crown.   Millions watching either expect you to win or are praying that you lose.   You have more money than you could spend in a lifetime.   Masses of women want you and will do anything to have sex with you.   Every reporter in the world would kill to interview you.   Every sports tv station, sports journal and sports magazine is going to analyze everything you say.   All news stations and tabloids are doing everything they can to catch you doing something wrong.   Would you be able to handle all that pressure?   Could you handle all that power?
    I’m not trying to rid Tiger of all responsibility because what he did was wrong.   I am, however, trying to show that he is human and makes mistakes.   I’m hoping that by taking time to see why he would do something like this, you could at least understand how something like this could happen.