New Year's Resolution

My New Year's resolution is to become a better runner. The reason I need to do this is to help my cross country team for next year. Five runner count towards your score for a race. We have four very good runners but a fifth is needed. I need to step up into that spot. This will help our team to be more successful.

I plan on achieving this goal by working hard over the summer and possibly hiring a coach. The coach would give me training plans to help me get to a certain time. I would follow this plan exactly in order to approve. Also, I may start to run two times a day. This will give me more "mileage" and it is a step to becoming a better runner.

On Writing Well passage

"every profession has its growing arsenal of jargon to throw dust in the eyes of the populace" This line is very interesting but true. Every profession, especially doctors, have all these complicated words and phrases that they use. Typically, if not all the time, there is a simpler way to state what they are saying. Why say streptococcus when you can just say strept throat? Everyone knows what strept throat means but not all know the actual fancy term. The author tries to show that fancy words do not make good writing. If you keep things simple your writing and speaking will be must easier to understand and enjoy.

Moment You Had in the Natural World

My most memorable moment in the natural world was skiing in Utah. It is hard to forget how beautiful the mountains are. When you are at the top, looking out you can see forever. Snow is blustering everywhere as you skiing through thick powder. When you go skiing into the trees you can hear no noise. It is just you and your family who you are skiing with. This was one of the greatest experiences in my life. The snow, views, and tranquillity in the trees added up to one great day.

5 Important Facts

1. Once the Erie canal was built it set off an explosion of building around the country. In the 1840's railroads and plank roads were being built everywhere.
2. Ralph Waldo Emerson is an extreme optimist. He never had unsteady emotions. He thought any problems would naturally work themselves out.
3. Emerson planted the thought of utopia's or perfect communities into the minds of many people. One of the most communities was called Brook Farm which was less than ten miles from Boston. This community held some writers in it and it greatly effected there work.
4. Although the Transcendentalist movement seems religious it was not. It had a religious connotation but it was not a religious group.
5. Transcendentalism revolved around nature. Emerson, the leader, titled his first book "nature." The main belief was that you should be one with nature.

Top 10 Things That Bring me Joy

1. Golf
2. Running
3. Watching Criminal Minds
4. Duke Winning
5. Yankees winning the world series
6. My Birthday
7. Tiger Woods
8. Relaxing while home
9. Red Sox missing the playoffs
10. Having no homework