Letter against URR (Assignment)

To Whom it May Concern,
Mr. Uriah Randolph Riddle is one of the most perplexing individuals I have ever met. His personality makes it hard for me to come up with a place where he will truly be the man for the job. While I have never once doubted his intelligence and natural ability, he is somewhat of a social deviant.
Mr. Riddle honestly dazzled me with his talents in many facets of knowledge. The way he once applied management styles to modern theories of psychology absolutely knocked me off my feet. However, it was the way he handled himself in day to day life that makes me apprehensive as to give scream his praise. He had very sloppy long hair and never dressed very properly at all, almost as though he had just walked in from the street. He had a very hard time fitting in, and I believe this was because he never really wanted to. Once, when given a group assignment, he refused to participate because he felt he was much to intelligent for the likes of a group project. He even went as far as to call my own class boring and cut out every so often.
Now when asked whether he is qualified, I’d be lying through my teeth if I were to say that he isn’t one of the most intellectually qualified people you will probably ever interview. My assessment however, is not only one of the intelligence and aptitude, but of dependability and interpersonal abilities as well. As qualified as he is intelligence wise, he surely falls as short as anyone I’ve met in dependability and interpersonal skills. In my honest opinion, I believe Uriah’s talents may be better utilized elsewhere.
Sincerely,
Patrick Wagner

Letter for URR (Assignment)

To Whom it May Concern,
When I sat down to write an assessment of Mr. Uriah Randolph Riddle, I did not know where to begin. I guess the best way would be to first flat out say that he will be, in my opinion, an excellent bank manager. Mr. Riddle is one of the most unique people I have ever come into contact with. I’ll admit that the first time I met him that I did not expect much at all, but once he got to work I realized how very wrong I was. His mind does not work like yours and mind, it is far more advanced and efficient. I believe that this is why upon meeting Uriah many feel that he is moody and temperamental, while I believe that it is simply the fact that his mind just operates at a much higher level.
While in my class Mr. Riddle dazzled me day in and day out with his remarkable abilities in various fields of intelligence, while making it seem like he did hardly any work at all. He was able to take the vast knowledge he obtained in the many liberal arts courses he took and applied them to business like no one I have ever taught, or been taught by. Even knowing how brilliant he was he astounded me further when he wrote what I consider the best undergraduate paper I have ever received on relating the different management styles to the theories of psychology. I gave Uriah some leeway on attendance being that he could’ve completed, and probably taught the class on his own terms. Again he may not have been the best group project participator but this is because he could’ve done the work of two groups faster than 8 people together could. Uriah Randolph Riddle will succeed as a bank manager.
Sincerely,
Patrick Wagner

Informative Reversal Freewrite

Ever since Chris Moneymaker won the World Series of Poker in 2003 there has been a poker boom throughout the US. Before Moneymaker, almost every winner of the World Series Main Event had been a professional poker player. The Main Event is decided over a Texas Hold-em Poker table and the buy-in is $10,000. The reason that Moneymaker, an accountant from Tennessee, cause such a big poker craze is because it made everyone believe that poker is all luck and no skill. Everyone began to believe that since one man got extremely lucky that poker was easy and anyone could be successful at it. Now this thinking does not seem very logical, considering when the 1980 US Olympic Hockey team won the gold medal against the heavily favored Russians no one rushed out there doors threw on a pair of skates and went to the NHL. The professional players that have been playing all their lives to make a living have for the most part enjoyed the craze. There is so much fresh money to be won because they believe that skill is the way to success; NOT luck. Of course there is some luck in poker, but there is luck and variation in almost any profession. There are certain things in life that are in no ones control the only thing one can do is to put themselves in the best position to succeed and avoid bad luck or as they say in the poker world, bad beats. There is a certain amount of variation in everything and poker is just another instance of that.

Letter to LH

Dear Left Hand,
Ever since I started playing guitar you have surprised me. I have known you for over 19 years now but you have always been overshadowed by the talents of the Right Hand. Playing basketball the Right Hand always scored more points and handled the ball and controlled the game most of the time. In baseball you were ultimately useless. You couldn’t really catch anything and if you tried throwing the ball is was embarrassing for both of us. No one as very been able to understand what you’re trying to write, it looks more like chicken scratch than letters. I feel very awkward brushing my teeth with you and I’m terrified to trust you with a razor near my face. All of a sudden, when I began playing the guitar, my entire outlook for you changed. You do new things every single time I pick up the guitar and never cease to amaze me. Sometimes I can just close my eyes and get lost in the music that you have learned to play so nicely. You have finally found your place in the world, you have found your calling. All I can say is that I hope that I’m as lucky as you in life. I’m genuinely happy for you and your newfound happiness and I want to thank you for showing me that I should never be afraid to try new things because you never know what will come out of any situation.
Sincerely,
PJ Wagner

Thoughts on Theology Reading

Jeremiah 31:31-34 paints a beautiful portrait of the mediator of the New Covenant. He says that God has told him that this New Covenant will be one of forgiveness and all shall know the Lord. Matthew’s gospel is very consistent with this portrayal and goes as far as to quote Jeremiah directly in Matthew 21:13, when Jesus enters the Temple of Jerusalem. Matthew clearly defines that Jesus is the new mediator and the true interpreter of God’s will and does so using literary devices such as typology, formula quotations and antitheses. It is very clear that Matthew believes Jesus was the gateway into the Kingdom of God and demonstrates that Jeremiah’s prophecy is fulfilled because all who know Jesus now know the Lord. Finally, God forgives the even the wickedest sins of humanity without punishment by sacrificing his only son Jesus by death of crucifixion (Matt 27:32-56). I believe that my understanding of Jesus today has been most influenced by the Gospel of Matthew because it is so easy to understand. Matthew gives a clear and precise description of Jesus and of his Ministry not physically but spiritually.

Tiger Woods Freewrite

Dear EA Sports,
I have been playing Tiger Woods golf since it game out in 2004. I have been a very loyal customer and have bought every edition since the original. I’ve spent many hours in front of my Play Station 2 playing your fantastic game and have become a very formidable competitor in the game. However, the latest version of the game is much more expensive than any of the previous. At $59.99, the price of the new game almost doubles the price of its predecessors. I would love to be able to buy he game but at such a high price I believe that it would be illogical to spend so much on one game. I am requesting that EA lowers the price to $34.99, like the other games were. At this price I would definitely purchase the game and continue my Tiger Woods PGA Tour career. It would be a morally just change as well as a smart business decision seeing that many others feel the way I do. I genuinely hope that the fine people at EA will do the right thing and lower the price of the game so that all their loyal fans can enjoy another of their fine games. Thank You.
Sincerely,
Patrick Wagner

First Summer Breeze

The summer feels like its finally here. I don't judge by the calender or the humidity or that school is over. I judge by that first summer breeze that I feel. That breeze thats like the most comfortable sheets you have on your bed. It's such a refreshing breeze. No longer do you have to shiver when the breeze comes, rather you feel like having as little clothes on as possible so that the breeze can engulf your body. This breeze is a beautiful thing. For kids it represents freedom from the dreary school days. The breeze is a reminder that no matter how cold the winter gets something gorgeous is on the way. Its very comforting feeling lik no matter how bad things go that something this perfect could still be just around the corner. I remember being in gradeschool and walking outside for recess and feeling that warm breeze. Even when I was young I appreciated its beauty so greatly. I couldn't help but smile. The feeling is overwhelming when that breeze hits your face, runs through your hair, tickles under your arms and brushes by your legs. Yes this breeze is something unlike anything other. This breeze relaxes the muscles and the mind. It allows for children to play and friends and family to eat and drink outside and enjoy the outdoors. Unlike anything else this breeze is unifying. And when the breeze has gone and that first chill runs through your bones you say farewell and just wait for the next time you meet.

Growing Old

I'm 19 today. I can't believe it. I remember when I was just 7 and thought that 19 was as old as you get. 19 is a serious age. 18 is when you finally are old enough to be considered an adult but 19 is when you are legitimately an adult. Its a little scary but exciting at the same time. People will take me seriously now because I'm notjust some 18 year old who thinks he can speak his mind cause now he's an "adult".

Goals for the Summer

1. Buy $100 worth of disposable cameras and use them up before I leave again for school.
2. Sleep outside as much as I can.
3. Write a song, no matter how good or bad it is, about someone/something I love.
4. Tell everyone in my life that I truly love, "I love you."
5. Make a nice fancy dinner for Danielle with red wine and everything.
6. Make a CD of my 15 absolute favorite songs of all time and put it away in a safe place so I may have it when I'm older (music says a lot about a person, so if I can remember years from now my favorite songs, maybe I'll stay young).
7. Play golf AT LEAST once a week. Summer of sophomore year I'll be interning = NO GOLF.
8. Lay outside and look at the stars as much as I can, see if I can identify constellations and make up my own.
9. Eat out as much as I can at my favorite resteraunts.
10. Teach my little brother how to play golf.
11. Take my niece and nephew to the park once a week.

The Longest Sentence

While trying to write the longest sentence I have ever written I am apprehensive about how many things may get in my way, like a periods because every time one feels like they finish a thought an automatic twitch of the right ring finger shoots towards the period button but the sentence must go on this is only the fifth line and still the writer may be struggling dearly with that terrible twitch in their right hand ring finger while also trying to keep their train of thought on the sentence once the writer stops writing that could be eat, the ebb and flow of the sentence may be lost so the author struggle to find even more pertinent material to throw into their sentence because still it is only seventh line and that does not seem to be intimidating enough as the longest sentence ever there must be a sentence longer than just seven lines anyone can write a seven line sentence but not everyone can write longer than that so the writer surges on the writer continues their quest when all of a sudden the cramps come and their fingers hurt and the difficulties exponentially grow the twitch in the finger, the struggle for material and the hand cramps are just compounding and the author starts to sweat heavily in the palms of their hands and now loses all control of the sentence they realize it has gotten wildly out of control and couldn't stop iif they wanted to because now their hands are on autopilot and there is no more thinking just typing and the ring finger doesn't know the period button exisits anymore it is about as useful as the F12 button at the top of the keyboard that seemingly does nothing but for some reason the author had always been afraid to venture out to see what it does because like anyone they have a fear of the unknown for all he knows the F12 is a detonator that self destructs the computer and then his glorious run on sentence will be gone lost forever without anyone ever getting to read it like a marathon sentence just longing for the period to come so that the reader can at least blink at least get some sort of complete thought out of the sentence but when they get they realize that not much has been said and they realize that the fewest of words can be more meaningful than this dreadful marathon sentence that seems to be a waste on ones times to read OR write but when the author finally realizes that his sentence is as long as it will get there is a feeling of relief inside and finally the twitch is satiated. Now in that huge sentence not one truly meaningful thing was said. Not one thing was said to even slightly change ones life. But its funny how 1 or 2 words can change someone completely. The first time I told my girlfriend "I love you" it changed her life she knew I wasn't just some idiot guy that just like having a girlfriend, not I was her idiot guy that only liked having HER as my girlfriend. There are so many words in the English language that are just so powerful and people just need to think about them and appreciate what they are and what they mean to use them. When you want to say something, say it. If you have nothing to say, keep your run on nonsense sentences to yourself because you're just wasting everyone's time.

Spinning

My head has been spinning. I have had a very busy two weeks. I have been thinking about so much. So many things that are so important right now, but one year from now I may not even remember these things, even though the decisions I make on them may affect greatly where I am in a year. To me it has seemed like so many things are way too important to too many people. When I think about the people that have changed the way I live I don't think about what clothes they wore or what their GPA was in school. I don't care whether or not they were gay, straight, black, white or yellow. What matters most to me in the world is the type of person you are and what kind of character you possess. Not everyone is going to change the world.

Childhood Freewrite

I am eating a Dixie cup from the ice cream man on my living room couch. It is Friday night and there is no party, no girls, no bars or trouble. Here I am safe from the world again unlike the passed years of my life. The wooden taste of the spoon brings me back and I’m playing kickball again. I’m watching TGIF, Boy Meets World, Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network. My parents have friends over and I’m watching an R rated movie. I don’t know where my brothers are and what are cell phones? My grandparents just left and I got the word in the Bonus round of Wheel of fortune. I hope moms not making London broil tomorrow night. I hope I get N64 for Christmas. I hope Billy is in my class when school starts. I’m hungry Mom can you make me popcorn. Why don’t I have the same math homework as my friends? What is the big deal about sports center can we put on saved by the bell? I hope Beave comes over before school and plays ninja turtles. I can’t wait until I get out as early as Timmy from high school. I’m never going to be able to dribble between my legs like my brother can he can be in the NBA I think. My dad is the strongest person I know. I hope my grandpa takes me to the park tomorrow I love hide and go seek. Tell me another story about Ireland. Why’d they kill that guy and how come America won’t just help Ireland? I miss my sister. I’m gonna send her a dollar in the mail she always tells mom how she’s always broke up at college I hope she’ll be OK. Brian has chocolate milk fountains in college its amazing how do they have chocolate milk fountains I want to go to college? I want to be able to do what my brothers do I want the things they want. But now I’m done with my Dixie Cup and I get a call from Mike. Everyone’s headed up to Monahan’s. I’m throwing on a sweater, borrow $20 from my brother and now owe him $60 and I’m out the door. See you tomorrow ma. I give my Dad a pound and laugh. My dad weighs 30lbs less than me my parents haven’t had friends over in a long time. Danny calls me from his friend’s phone and wants me to buy him beers. After the bar I get a cab to Danielle’s house because she’s all I want to see. Danielle, she makes me feel like I’m eating a Dixie Cup again. She doesn’t care how much money I owe anyone or how much work I have to do. She doesn’t care if I have bad grades or if I have a bad day on the golf course. It’ll be OK she says. You’ll figure it out, you’ll do better next time, and you’ll get the money somehow. It doesn’t matter to her she’s just happy she’s with me. I wake up with a headache and she offers me an Advil that she knows I won’t take. She just doesn’t like to see me in pain. I pull her as close as possible and just press my cheek to hers. There is no better medicine. All my problems and worries are gone this is all I need. I don’t care about the money, the grades or the golf I care about her. I’ll figure everything out I’ll get back on my feet. It’s amazing how one person can make you feel. Its amazing how feeling like a kid again helps me face life’s problems. Just yesterday I didn’t know how I would get through the mess I’m in. It’s a piece of cake as I get out of bed and ask her if she wants to get breakfast. She’s unbelievable. She loves me.

Pig

There is a song from the Dave Matthews Band called "Pig". For some reason its just been ringing through my head all week. I think its because I have been feeling overwhelmed with midterms and I have not been doing too well with my grades. The song is a warning to all listeners about the dangers of taking things for granted. My favorite line in the song comes after Matthews, the lead singer, belts out at the top of his lungs a few lines about the importance of love in every situation. The line is "Don't burn the day away". I really love this line because with everything else going on in the song he repeats this the same way every time, with no instruments playing in the background and all your attention is brought to this one line. Matthews, in doing this, warns the listeners by bringin so much attention to this simple phrase, that there are many way to waste a day but no matter what every single day should be lived to the fullest with love in our hearts and trying to find love in all people and places. Throughout the song he talks about simple things, like a starry night, skipping stones on a lake, and dancing alone with a lover, that if your hearts full of love at least you're living life. Nothing can be taken for granted and everything we do should be to the fullest. He is sick and tired of all the people in the world that have so much and complain about not having enough and calls these people "pigs". He believes that appreciating life and having love in your life is what makes a person truly happy and not what type of things they own. Greed can consume and Matthews tries dearly to warn his audience of this.

Home

I'm going home this weekend for my birthday and I cannot wait. I love being with everyone in my family and all of my friends. There's a song by OAR called "I Feel Home" that I learned to play on the uitar and everytime I play/listen to it I almost get choked up because it reminds me so much of that feeling of being home. Where everything is just so comfortable. Everyone is friendly with everyone and even if there is a fight or misunderstanding things can get resolved so quickly and easily because eveyrone has known everyone else for so long that they know no matter what the fight is over its not worth losing a friend. I love the feeling of just hangin out in someones back yard drinkin and listening to music with a couple friends just relaxing. I feel like that is something much harder to do up at college/with people that you are not so familar with. I feel that at college there are very few people with whom I feel close enough to, to have a genuinely good time just sitting around BS-ing. At home no one gets bored with each other, we could do the same thing every single night and no one would complain once, and even if someone did complain they know inside that there's no place they'd rather go. My friends at home are like my second family, they would take care of me no matter what my problem is no matter what I needed they'd do it at the drop of a hat. Its a mutual understanding, a mutual trust, a mutual love that everyone of my friends shares.
I also can't wait to see my family. My little brother is getting so old. I feel like he's still in like 5th grade tearin it up in CYO basketball with his goofy braces and glasses, but he's not anymore. He's 14 going on 15 this year and he starting to really fill out. He's already about as tall as me and is starting to do the things that I was doing when I was a freshman. I get so scared for him that I'm not going to be able to protect him while I'm up at college. I'm sure he'll be fine throughout high school but I still get that feeling like what happens if someone bullies him and I'm not there? I know he'll be fine he's just as strong of a person as I was but I still worry because he is my baby brother and ever since he was little no matter how many fights we got in everytime I saw him feel any sort of pain it ripped me apart that I oculdn't do anything to help him.
It should be a really fun trip home. All my friends are going to come home so that we can all see each other and catch up. I'll be able to see all of them and then finally get to see my little Mikie and Maggie (my nephew and niece). They are so cute, Mikie is getting bigger and smarter everyday and I love the 5 second jibberish conversations I have with him on the phone that end with something resembling "I love you" and a kiss on the mouthpiece. I can't wait to hold little Maggie she must be getting bigger now, too. She is more gorgeous everytime I see her I don't know why my sister is so spoiled to have two such perfect children. I also get to see my Rusty dog. He's the most loving dog ever its amazing. As soon as I come hom he goes wild and whenever I sit/lay on my bed he always jumps up and lays with me. He makes me feel home just as much as anyone. And of course I get to see my mom and dad. I feel like they worry aout me as much as I worry about my little brother while I'm away. I have been feeling very overwhelmed and lonely lately and seeing them will give me a lot of confidence I believe. Only 4 more nights of sleeping in my dorm room then I get to go home it should be great. No, it will be great.

Song

I forget who it was, but someone once said that great writing is the best words in the best order. I think that's true. There should be some order to the way we speak since there is an order in which we live our lives. Some seem to follow a routine more dilligently than others but human nature simply follows an order. We are born, raised as infants, mess up as teenagers, become adults, maybe have children, get old and eventually we inevitably pass. Some people have their humanly routine abruptly cut short, by choice or chance, but still have to follow that certain order. To me I don't believe that the everyday order in which we live our lives however is what is important. I believe its how was live our lives, who we live our lives with that makes it special. I don't like to follow any real order. I mean, I'm on time to my classes and work (most times) and I brush my teeth when I wake up, but other than that I kind of just let things happen. I'm a terrible planning aheader and in a way like that about my personality. I like being about to wake up everyday relaxed and focused on the things that are important. When I wake up the first images I see by my bed are pictures of my niece and nephew, my grandfather, an angel pin my mother got me, my girlfriend, and my guitar. Those things remind me every single morning how lucky I am and remind me that no matter what kind of things life throws at me today everything's going to be alright. I think thats why I like writing without any sort of structure or with too many guidelines. I also think that's why I like songs. A good song can be soft, slow, with one instrument and a flowing voice, or hard, violents, loud with tons of instruments and a bunch of people just screaming. It all depends on what you put into it. I feel liek if you write a song for the right reasons then it doesn't matter what it sounds like as long as you feel like it truly conveys your feelings. Lately I've been working on some songs, they're not any good at all yet but I really would like to make a good one for my parents or maybe my girlfriend. Without music I feel like I would never have gotten to be so optomistic and I believe that songs are what keep my life so upbeat. I sort've rambled on for a while but my teacher said that's good sometimes because then you kind of carve off the top layers of what's on your mind and get down to something that you don't even realize you're thinking about. I feel like I just took a shower and washed away all the sweat and dirt from the day and have a new refreshed outlook on the day. This is awesome.

Overwhelmed

Right now I feel very overwhelmed. I've never really felt like this before about school. Everything has always been so easy. As long as I knew what I had to do I always knew that I would have no roblem doing it on my own time, even if that meant at the last minute, I never worried one bit. I feel different right now though. It's really very strange. I have a tightness in my chest as if I was running in the Rocky Mountains. My legs feel like I just played an entire soccer game in 95* weather. A cold sweat sweeps across my brow with every new assignment and email that seem to just continuously pile up. For the first time I feel like I should really ask for help. I just need to calm down I think. Take it one step at a time. That should really help. Take deep breaths when I'm feeling that tightness and maybe take a break when my legs feel like they're giving out. Optomism is the only way to beat this feeling I believe. I can do it, I know I can. I've done it before and I will always overcome this feeling.

First Blog

It is February 8th, 2007 at 2:50pm. I'm at work and I just set up my blog. I can't wait to go home today. I wrote an extended metaphor about going home because that's all I've been thinking about. I miss my niece and nephew so much they are the best. I feel like I haven't seen either of them in forever they must've gotten bigger. I wrote a song for Maggie my niece. Well, I kinda just wrote another verse of a song i already play for her on my guitar. It goes:
Your eyes are like the harvest moon
Please don't grow up before too soon
Always laugh out loud and smile wide
And fill your soul up
Butterfly
Smile bright
I like it cause as I was playing the actual song for her I kinda just adlibbed and thats what came out. Its not too good but its from the heart so I think that's what matters most. I really like the line always laugh out loud and smile wide. I think that kinda sums up childhood. When you're really young and think somethings funny, you're never too embaressed to laugh out loud and at and smile from ear to ear about something silly. I feel like too many people the older they get the less they smile at things that a child would, and laugh out loud about things that are nonsensical just for the sake of laughing. I feel like laughing and smiling are good for the soul and keep you young. I feel like the more you laugh and smile while you're young the harder it is to forget how to when you're older. I think thats why I never feel the need to hide my laughter and smiles, my parents always told me to smile no matter what. I think bitter people take offense to it when people like me are smiling for no reason sometimes. I don't know. I just hope little Maggie never grows up to be a person engulfed by the bitterness that the world will inevitably show her at times. I think she'll be alright, she has great parents and a wonderful older brother. Little Mikie, is 18 months now and he's eveyrone's favorite person to hang out with. I know I don't have to worry about him. He's such an innocent kid. He's the best I don't really know where to start describing him so maybe I'll save that for another creative writing. That would be fun, to just write an entire thing describing Mikie, I could probably go on for days. Anyway My shift is over at work and I think I've said about all I can about a 1 month old baby girl.