Casa: a Partial Remembrance of a Puerto Rican

In the essay "Casa: A Partial Remembrance Of a Puerto Rican Childhood", Judith Ortiz Cofer, the author describes how the woman in their family gather in the living room on rocking chairs to gossip about men and marriages. here the author a child of 12 listening to her grandmother and aunts , while her mother braids her hair.

A Day in The Homeless life

Author Collette Russell writes about living in a homeless shelter, an institution that is often associated with thanksgiving as salvation army soup kitchens become the focus of television broadcasts. Their are many people in our society that need a helping hand around this time every year, it's a time for giving to those who are less fortunate than the middle or upper class citizens. If one day i became homeless i would pack away certain few belongings that i hold dear to such as medals that i've won at tournaments , pictures of me playing football and of me and my friends at prom having a good time. In the authors story of homelessness she describes the hardships of being poor and having to stay in a shelter system that is not perfect. It would be hard to imagine if i were homeless, but if i where here in merced in could always stay with the a family member that would help me get back on my feet.

If you live in merced then you have a favorite hang out spot, or safety zone etc. There's limited places in merced that a person go to just sit back and relax. Where i have hung around are on the outskirts of town or "the Country" is were i'v grown up all of my life, it's nice and quit at night so you never have to worry about your neighbors being outragously loud or having wild college parties crackin into the mornings. It use to be alright if you shot guns out there but because of new house's being built in the area it is now prohibited. Also i spend alot of time with my family like mostly cousins, uncles, aunts. I am always at my uncle JB house chillin with his children and killing time.

my room

I sleep in a moderate sized room that has a large window that faces my backyard, this is my room. Theres an computer desk that is parallel to my queen bed. my pc is hardly used and is attracting much dust, my walls are plan with a barren white texture that is some what depressing if stared at for to long. my bedroom floor is hardly what you would call clean at any given time. A number of objects clutter my path daily such as clothes that need washing , old medals that i'v won in wrestling , my stereo system that i have had sinces my year freshmen year and other items that have been tossed by me in my to get where i have to be. The to left of me is my mothers room and to the right is a vacant room that has not been used for sometime now. My room is across the hall from my bathroom so i think my choice in where i lay my head at night.

act of kindness

my attitude towards other people is " treat me the way, you would like to be treated". Let me tell you of a time when i've extended my hand to a friend who needed help. larry was his name and it was a summer morning when i received a call from him asking me i wanted to help with some work he was going to do for a woman he worked for and telling me that i could make a little money as well, so i went with him thinking that i would be doing house hold choirs and receiving a payment of some sort. Far from easy choirs, we fixed a broken fence, cleaned an entire backyard and repaired a cracked wall on the outside of the house. the labor took a whole afternoon and in the end there were some discretions about our pay. So at the end of the day i had worked for free, but i had helped a friend that was in need and that was a greater payment than money.

a misunderstanding with a friend

During my life time I have had to endure so many challenges, but there's no greater challenge than maintaining a long term friendship. Its a shame when two friends become angry over a silly misunderstanding. For example, when I was a junior in high school, my good friend Antonio and I were members of the Golden Valley High School football team. I played defensive end, and he, with his chunkier build, played defensive tackle. During any given lunch hour, Antonio and I, along with other football team members, would hang out in the cafeteria watching to see what would happen next. During one lunch hour, the basketball courts was open, and we decided to play a game of 21. Basically, the ball is put into play, and players scramble to shot 2 points, then that player gets additional point opportunities for every free throw made. The first player to reach 21 wins the game. Sometimes the play was lazy lunch time antics, but sometimes players could get rough trying to block shots or strip the ball. On one particular fall day, Antonio was driving at an angle from the three point line, until I stepped into his dribble. I stripped him of the ball, and he fell down. When he got up, he became angry at the guy who had won the play. Since the guy was me, Antonio took swing in shadowboxing style, trying to prove that he was still the man. I stepped back realizing that he was seriously angry at me for having humilitated him in front of the posse, so I tried to console him with words of explanation. Fortunately, he accepted my words, and we remained buddies. But, when I look back and think about it, I could have responded differently, perhaps with a swing of my fist, which could have certainly have ended our friendship.

The hills

If your going on road trip in California, I recommend the town of Corona hills. Corona is a large suburb in the Los Angeles area, just outside the LA basin within Riverside County. Folks driving to Corona from Anaheim, where Disneyland is located, would take the highway 91 over a low range if hills. Visitors to Corona will appreciate at least four large shopping malls where a person can see a movie or just hang out with friends in the comfort of an air-conditioned open space, even during this hottest summer day. The Ontario Mills Mall has one of the largest indoor skateboard parks in California. In fact, Corona is a leader in promoting extreme sport competitions and demonstrations. The X-Games were held in Corona,Ca this year, and may return in 2008 again because Corona has such good facilities for this competition. When I have gone to the competition in the past, I stayed at my aunt's home, which has a big screen television. Sometimes it's easier to stay within the comfort of my aunt's home and watch the action of the X-games on television rather than fight the crowds at the venue. In her neighborhood of red tiled stucco homes, the steep streets are ideal for skateboarding. So, when I'm in town, I'll not hesitate to grab my board and head for Corona Hills.