The Title Game Exercise

     

                                                                               Macrocephalic

Lenard walked through the doors of his high school with his head down trying to ignore the insults of the students walking by.  “Melon head, Pumpkin head, Bobble head”, he had heard them all.  Indeed, Lenard had a very large head.  Lenard was macrocephalic.  How he got such a head, no one knows for sure.  Some say he was born with it, others say he got it in an accident. Whatever the case, Lenard was tormented and humiliated by the other kids. But all that was about to change.

On Friday, sign up for the volleyball team was underway and already seven students were signed up and ready to play.  But there was a problem, they needed eight players. Two of the team’s most popular players convinced Lenard to join the team.  But they had an ulterior motive, they wanted to publicly humiliate him.  In addition to his large head, Lenard was also not much of an athlete. The kids figured that Lenard would make a fool of himself, and his parents would send him to a new school.

Lenard joined the team, and after a few months of practice, the team was in the final game against their rival North Junior high.  Lenard did not get much play time, mostly he warmed the bench.   But when the team’s star broke an ankle, Lenard was ready to prove himself worthy of being a team player.  His teammates were less confident.

The game was on and it seemed that North Junior high was close to taking home the trophy. But then, Lenard, with his incredibly sized head, blocked the ball from hitting the ground, and his teammate volleyed it over the net winning the game. For the first time in his life, Lenard felt like a champion. His teammates carried him off the court on their shoulders, and from then on, nobody at South Junior high picked on Lenard. High School was never the same again.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Growing Up

Ever since I can remember, the thought of growing up and being on my own has terrified me. Mostly because, I never truly felt I had what it takes to be in the adult world, like paying house bills, and water bills and so on. That and the fact that there’s so much one person must face on his or her own, without the aid of a parent or guardian.

A time when this was the case for me was my time at a film making school in Los Angeles. Three summers ago, I was back in the city, taking a class on rendering digital animation at the school Exceptional Minds (a private school for autistic kids who want to make movies). After just two days of sleeping in the Airbnb house, the people who owned it thought I was being too messy around the place and without debate, kicked me out of the house in the middle of the night. I was so upset that I had to call my folks and report the bad news. Eventually, they answered my call and got me a hotel reservation that was adequate for just two weeks.  But it was still tough for a person like me, with disabilities to get kicked out and left to fend for himself in one of the biggest and most dangerous cities in the world.

Another time when growing up was difficult for me was beginning my life as a college student. This was especially the case for me when it came to math, since it was always a hard subject for me and let’s not even discuss statistics! It became so big of a challenge for me that my folks needed to hire a tutor to aid me in completing my homework and studying for exams.  When finals came the pressure was really on. I knew all my hard work would be put to the test...literally. Surprisingly, all my work paid off in the end.  I got a B in the class.

Even today, I still struggle with growing up, because of my disabilities and my challenges with language and understanding people’s feelings and expressions.  But I am still in the game, and all of the challenges I experienced, have made me stronger and more confident. Sometimes I get nervous about the future and I struggle to keep my mind in the present. Let’s just say as long as you live, always expect problems ahead.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Feeling Hot, Hot, Hot

 

No doubt about it, “Feeling Hot, Hot, Hot” is one of my all-time favorite songs. Not only does it have a nice rhythm, but it also evokes a great feeling of excitement; for instance, a nice summer day in August. I might be on Venice beach in L.A. lying on my beach towel, just letting the sun heat up my chest.  Then I turn over to let the sun warm my back. Of course, sometimes, I would get more than I bargained for because I would forget to put sunscreen on everywhere and then when I go into the hot tub, I’m really feeling hot, hot, hot!

 

Other times when this song has spoken to me are days when I feel great about myself, take graduation for example. Once I graduated from the Cargill learn program, I felt hot within myself emotionally speaking.  I felt hot with enjoyment and pride having completed one of the most challenging experiences of my life. So, as you can imagine the heat was on for me at that time.

 

If there is another time when this song aligns with how I am feeling it is when I return home from the gym.  After forty minutes of weightlifting and sweating, my body temperatures and sprits are high. I felt almost like an oven on the inside and cooling down with a great tune and air-conditioned car is my only option.

 

Whether I’m feeling hot ,hot, hot literally or emotionally this song will always have a place in my head and heart and I can’t wait to listen to it again, maybe when I get my AA degree from Normandale. When that day comes, you can bet I will be grooving to it all throughout the night!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fun Vacation

 

Daniel James was so excited. He was just two days away from taking a fun vacation with his family. Daniel was pumped to go back to L.A. and do everything exactly as he did it the last time like relax on Huntington Beach, have lunch at the Farmer’s Market, walk along the Hollywood stars, and go to Disneyland.

 

The trip had been planned and everyone knew that COVID had broken out in China and Italy.  Even in the United States people were starting to get nervous and buy ridiculous quantities of bad soup and toilet paper. Still it did not occur to Daniel’s family to cancel the trip. They had already paid for their flights and their hotels. 

 

The James landed in L.A. Monday night and drove the rental car to Huntington Beach in darkness.  They had breakfast in the hotel restaurant and noticed a few people were wearing masks.  They even joked about it.  Daniel had a great day at the beach, soaking in the sun, catching waves, walking around the little shops and grabbing lunch at an outdoor café.  Just a normal, fabulous Southern California day. 

 

That night the family went to Poquito Mas and was surprised when they only offered a take-out menu, no dining in.  By Wednesday, everyone seemed to be wearing masks in a sea of plexiglass.  Daniel was horrified to learn that Disneyland was closed down indefinitely.  No going on Splash Mountain or the Pirates of the Caribbean, no taking pictures with Mickey or Goofy, no walking down Main Street.  He was so upset that he locked himself in the hotel room’s bathroom and refused to come out.  Daniel does not like to be flexible.  He had planned this trip for months, and he was not about to abandon his plans.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What’s the point of living if you’re only gonna die one day?

 

 

Abigail had just come home from school one Friday afternoon; it had been a tough week for her. She didn’t get the part in the play she wanted, her two best friends cancelled their plans with her, and she got a C minus on her paper. Basically, things were just not going her way. Little did she know that things were about to get even worse.

 

A couple hours later, Abigail’s folks came home to give her sad news. Her Grandmother had just passed away.  Abigail went outside and cried and cried on the porch all throughout the late afternoon and into the evening.   Her father came out to comfort her and her mother made her fresh baked cookies with milk to try to cheer her up. As the evening passed, Abigail looked down on her plate still unhappy. She had barley eaten her cookies.  She could not get over the loss of her Grandmother.

 

Abigail walked up to her room and sat on her bed, thinking of all the great people she admired, like Albert Einstein, Isaac Newton, and even Dr. Martin Luthor King Jr.   She had no understanding what the whole point in life is. Later, her father came in her room to try to cheer her up. Abigale looked up and asked him “Dad, what’s the point of living if you’re only gonna die one day?”

 

Her Dad replied, “Well sweetie, The point of living doesn’t mean you can walk the Earth forever, we’re all bound to die one day, you, me, your mother and your brother, but that doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy life while you still have breath”.  Abigale wasn’t convinced and said so.  Then her Dad said one important thing, “I believe the point of living isn’t to be around forever, but to build a great legacy for yourself, like all those great men, Einstein, Newton, and even Nana.”  “So you see Abigail, as long as your thoughts and words and deeds and kindness live on, so do you.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chess

 

Chess was always a fun game to Brandon.  He loved that the board was square and that the chess pieces were just two different colors.  He loved the shapes of the pieces, a horse, a queen, and a castle.   He loved that it required a lot of thinking and imagining what was in the other person’s head.  He liked thinking about pawns, and he liked that we even call people pawns when they’re sacrificed for a greater purpose.

 

One lovely Saturday morning, Brandon’s older cousin Geoffrey had come to the house to challenge Brandon to a game of chess. You see Geoffrey was a chess master himself, filled with countless knowledge of tactics and strategies.  He was so good that one time he was able to beat three men at chess all at once. Brandon was pretty nervous when facing his cousin, feeling defeated even before he moved the first piece.

 

After indulging in his Mom’s cookies and milk, Brandon felt confident enough to challenge Geoffrey.  They placed the chess board on the dining table and started setting up the pieces. Brandon wanted to be black, since he knew that the white player always goes first. That way, he could study his cousin’s moves and find out how he planned to defeat him.

 

What seemed like hours passed quickly, Brandon was not doing too well. He had already lost six pawns, two knights, one rook, and one bishop, While Geoffrey had only lost four pawns, one bishop and one knight. It seemed like all hope was lost for poor Brandon and he was ready to forfeit.  But Geoffrey said something interesting “sometimes, the only way to win is to keep losing.”   With that, Brandon got back into the game, and after multiple moves from each, Geoffrey trapped his own king within spots of his other pieces. Finally, Brandon using his queen, cornered Geoffrey’s king to an edge and “checkmate”. For the first time, Brandon had beaten his cousin.  The student had surpassed the teacher.