An ode to Swarthmore farm: BY EVAN MARIANI

I love swarthmore farm so very much
it is great and has awesome punch
my family is there with all their dogs
we are lucky there is never any fog.

we swim each day in Georgian bay
and for this we say hip hip hooray.
our jet boat goes very fast
and it is a blast


my grandma is the queen of the farm
we all make sure she comes to no harm
my grandpas spirit is every where
in the land, in the water, and in the air.

The setting of the Old Man and the Sea was in the sunny beautiful country of Cuba in the year 1951. Most of the book took place out in Santiago 's boat out in the Gulf Stream trying to catch marlins. But some of the book took place on the beach in Santiago ’s shack with the young argumentative boy, whose name is Mandalin.

the setting of this book greatly influenced the plot of the story in many different ways, since the book was all about fishing for Marlins the setting would have to be somewhere down south because you cant catch Marlins any where in the north because they are a tropical fish.The easygoing old man lives in a small old rickety shack made out huge palm leaves to shield him from rain and wind. In his shack all he has is a small table, a cot, and a oil lamp.

the sea at night is a very harsh place to be. it is full of big aggressive and frightening animals. it is also a beautiful place to be especial at sunrise and sunset. Because the sun shinning off the water is so magnificent. During the time Santiago spent in his dingy out at sea, he rarely goes into much detail about how magnificent the ocean really is but you can tell that he respects the ocean and all that is in it.

During the time Santiago spends at his shack on the beach you can imminently tell that he does not mind being so poor at the moment he realizes that the ocean has its ways and the wheel of fortune will finally land on him. It is hard for him to wait but he does. Santiago's` house is located right on the white sandy beach only a few hundred yards away from the sparkling great blue ocean.

Santiago's town is a small quiet fishing town in Cuba. He does not go into town but the young boy Mandalin goes in to town to get Santiago bait for fishing.

The worst day of my life!!

It was a few minutes before the ga me and Hans was scared out of his mind. This was his first game on varsity and he was very excited because his girlfriend Maya and all of his friends were there to support him. He was just hoping that he didn’t make a fool of himself. In front of everybody, there were even a couple of scouts there .this was a huge game it was the first game of the season against there rival team the TIGERS the tigers were a very good team but the eagles are better. Hans had just put on his cleats and was getting ready to go warm up when his girl friend Mia came over to the bench to give him a good luck kiss before the game .

This was Hans’s first kiss with a real girl it was the best 10 seconds of his life. When she left he thought that nothing could go wrong. But he was very wrong everything went wrong. When he finally got to go into the game on his way onto the field he tripped while waving to his friends he was so embarrassed and flustered that he began to cry. After he got over his embarrassment he began to play but it didn’t get any better even though Hans has much zeal for the game it was not enough. He was running down the field when his friend tucker passed him the ball. Tucker was much better and stronger than Hans so tucker was doing well, when Hans got the ball he dribbled a few feet than tried to dupe the other player and tripped over the ball Hans was lucky that he didn't get a bone spur . But with courage he got back up and played the game. The rest of the game didn’t go as bad as the beginning but it still wasn’t as good as he thought it would be. the game ended with a final score of the tigers 3, and the eagles 1.

After the game, Hans showered and got changed he walked out of the locker room he was hopeing that his friends didnt abase him. They didnt, it was good to see all his friends waiting to extol him on his first game on varsity. Hans was still embarrassed but he was glad for his friend’s encouragement. they all decided to go get some pizza at penocio’s when they arrived at penocio's as usual there was a loud clamor as soon as the walked in the door.When they walked in the pizza shop they saw there good, benevolent, and amazingly cool friend Evan who was as usual entertaining a bevy of beautiful girls Hans looked at Evan in ah one day Hans hopes to be as cool as Evan. Evan is also the captain for the varsity soccer and varsity lacrosse team. Hans hopes he will be as cool as Evan but he knows it will never happen. So Hans forgets about that for now and goes over to greet Evan, and his girl friends. They begin to talk and Hans finds out that Evan has just been granted a scholarship to wake forest collage. This is the collage that Hans has been trying to get into for the past 4 years. So you can imagine how jealous he is of Evan. But Hans and Evan are good friends so he gives Evan kudos for getting into wake forest and forgets about that and enjoys his time with his friend.

Latter that night after Hans and Evan were done hanging out, Hans went back to his house. He told his mom Danna and his sister Signe all about his horrible day, about when he tripped over the ball and everybody laughed at him, about when he found out that Evan had gotten into Wake Forest, and that he was just having a really bad day. His mother and sister were sorry to hear about his bad day, and they told him that he would forget it all had happen if he just didn’t worry about it and felt good for Evan. So hans took there advice and to his surprise it worked. After Hans had a quick bite to eat he went up stairs to call his girl friend Maya who he had not really gotten a chance to talk to after the game .

He dilled her number and after a few rings she picked up.

Maya "hey baby"

Hans "hey what did u think about the game ?"

Maya "I thought it was good you just got a little nervous that’s all you will be better next game"

Hans ‘‘ya I guess but it was just really embarrassing"

Maya "well that’s ok I still love you but I have to go I have to finish my world history home work love you"

Hans "love you to ill see you tomorrow"

Hans hangs up his cell phone and turns out his light. As Hans drifts off to sleep he think about the day an all that had happened.

Marley and Me

Marley and Me, by john grogan. First Harper, 2008
Genre: Biography


Marley and Me, is about a newly wed couple who live in Florida right near the coast, in a small town near Palm Beach. They bought a dog to practice their parenting skills. To prepare for their kids, they soon found out that Marley was going to more trouble than either of there three kids, put together.

“A funny, touching tribute to a ninety-seven pound Lab who was as loyal as he was disobedient”- PEOPLE

I have not read any other books by john grogan, so I can’t answer the entire question. I like his writing very much he uses a lot of strong descriptive words and is good at grasping your attention. I am guessing that he is so good at that because he worked for a news paper.

“Don’t fall too in love, Marley,” I said as they drove off. “You cant afford her.”

I really enjoyed this book not only because I love dogs but because it was a very well written, descriptive, and engaging book. I think this book affected me because it makes me think about my family and how much family means to both me and John Grogan.

the values of a ride with my grandma and my baseball glove

Value Essay

the values of a ride with my grandma and my baseball glove




For me, value is created when I have known someone or something for a long time. I know that something is valuable when I think about it a lot in a good way or when I use it everyday of my life. A person becomes valuable when I love them because they are with me all of the time and we do things together. Both my grandma and my baseball glove mean so much to me. I have had both of them for fifteen years. I have known my Grandma ever since I was born in 1993 and I have had my baseball glove forever. They are both precious. I knew that I could write a lot about them.

I have had a baseball glove almost my whole life, ever since I was two years old. Every spring, I took my glove out after its long winter's nap from either its resting spot on my couch in my room or in my Dad's workroom in the basement. My ball was safely tucked into the pocket of my glove with a rubber band around it so that it kept its shape for the long winter until I would take it out for a fresh season. My glove brings back so many good memories, like playing baseball with my dad and older brother, Brian on the tennis courts on Boston playground in Arlington, MA. Not only was Boston playground a place for me and my Dad and brother to play baseball but it was also a place where I could play with my friends and have a great view of Boston. I enjoyed playing catch with my dad in the backyard which was good practice for when I made those grass staining diving catches in my baseball games.

The ride with my grandma from Toronto back to my cottage in Meaford, Ontario, Canada was a memorable one. Our car ride was full of Simon and Garfunkel and stories of World War Two. We listened to Simon and Garfunkel’s greatest hits about eight times in that ride. We would sing as much as we could and pretend to know the rest. My grandma sang in her high falsetto voice and I sang in my low baritone voice. If anyone saw us they would probably laugh but not us because we were having so much fun singing. She told me about how she would drive the Red Cross jeeps with injured men from the airport to the hospital. I can remember picturing what it would be like to live back then and do what my grandma did and hear all the war stories she must have heard from the wounded men.

Some similarities of my baseball glove and the car ride with my grandma are that they both mean a lot to me, and both of them bring back good memories. I especially appreciated talking to my grandma about what it was like to live way back in the mid 1900's and to be in the middle of a World War with all the pressure that a war must have put on her. I listened to Simon and Garfunkel sing A Bridge Over Troubled Water and I heard my grandma sing so quietly that I could barely hear her at first but as the song went on she slowly sang louder and louder and I just sat very quietly.

Some differences are that I will only have this experience with my grandma once, however, I will have my baseball glove forever. My baseball glove cost about $150.13 but I could never put a price on the car ride I spent with my grandma. I throw my baseball glove around and it gets covered in dirt and mud and all sorts of gross things. However, I would never even think about doing anything bad to that wonderful car ride I spent singing and laughing with my grandma.

Thinking back to the long hours I spent playing with my baseball glove, practicing pitching and getting ground balls I never regret a second I spent with that glove in my hand. Same with the car ride with my grandma, it was a very special two and a half hours I will remember for the rest of my life. was born and I have had my baseball glove forever. They both mean a lot to me. They are valuable! I knew that I could write a lot about them.