The American War

A stormy world and cannon thumps determined dawn.
the sun rose as the armies awoke and attacked again,
just as they had done the day before. This war among
brothers has gone for years and Grant keeps pushing
day after day. The rebellion in tatters, the southern
boys run back to their farms, or at least what is left.
they have no means to fight with, it is only a matter of time
until the states are reunited and the war will be over

destructive greatness

A destructive greatness, accomplished by
those who stop at nothing for glory.
they see greatness in their own eyes,
while others see the destruction and agony
caused by their power-hunger. A man is put
upon the shoulders of some as a hero, but
he walks upon the ashes of the conquered
people. This will always be the case as long
as there is war and power-hunger.

life today

Life today is pretty hectic. school on the weekdays, work on the weekends. my weekdays are actually less busy than my weekends. Now that swim is over, I actually have time. swim took up from 3 to 6 everyday after school. I am now home at 3:30, and I have time for homework and free time. work has been chaotic lately with lots of parties to wash dishes for. working 14 hours a weekend can take a major toll, especially when Easter is coming, the second busiest day of the year. I am hoping to get my appointment to the Naval Academy soon, and I will be done working on mothers day.

If My Dad Left

If my dad were to leave and destroy our home,
I would mix up all the wires of both televisions,
The forty-six inch and the forty-inch Samsung
I would steal of his oldies CD’s out of his van.

I would leave the pole barn light on
In the morning and “forget” to
turn it on in the evening. I would
Steal the plug out of his Sea Nymph
And drain both boat gas tanks.

The Directv dish would be covered up
By a towel or pillowcase or umbrella
The parental locks would magically
Turn on and block Fox News and TCM
Almost nobody would know the code.

I would cut the Stren fishing lines and put
A hole in his old minnow bucket. I would
Take down the kennel where our dog Hat Trick
Used to sleep and I would destroy all
of the pictures we have of him.

If he came back after all this,
My dad would either learn to go on
without these luxuries or go crazy.
I would place my money on the latter.

Fishin’ in May

I was fishin’ with my dad on a warm May afternoon
In the south channel next to the wild Walpole Island
Next to a place that we call The Chief’s House
I dropped the anchor, but we swung too deep

Twelve feet deep was the water, we wanted no more than six
We were fishing for perch, which stay shallow among the weeds
Our lines dropped in, and after a little while
A vicious bite hit my line, and pulled my line a mile

My drag was set too loose, I thought I would lose the fish
The fight raged on, and the mystery fish came closer and closer
It got close enough to see, my dad yelled, “It’s an enormous walleye”
My dad netted it, and we measured it, 29 inches and 9 pounds, a monster

My comment on Kerry's blog

I like the comparison withe the fish in a tank. I like your attitude about popularity and living life your way. You have a lot of good advice and a good piece of work here

My comment on Jeremy's blog

I like the metaphor of friends being compared with the hull of a boat. I think you offer good advice about never forgetting your goal and working hard instead of b.s.ing homework and exams

Marine city in 10 years

Everything looks the same, only the people have changed.
The sun still glitters off the river and
all the same buildings stand as they did ten years before.
Only the faces walking by are different.
The kids walking down the sidewalk
were not even in elementary school back in the day.
The river is the same brown color
and dairy queen still smells and tastes the same.
Although they may be different people
all the school kids have the same interests
and do the same things as our generation did.

My real name is Dan
Yesterday, my name was tiring work
Today, my name is unanswered hope
Tomorrow, my name will be long awaited relaxation
Secretly, I know my name is unfulfilled destiny
My name once was childish play

My real name is Dan
Yesterday, my name was boring routine
Tomorrow, my name will be bold excitement
In my dream, my name was triumph
My brother thinks my name is endless youth

Image #4- my thoughts

the lone tree is out in a field. like my grandparents field. there is one tree alone in their field, i believe it is oak. my grandparents own 90 acres on wadhams road, my grandpa bought it cheap in the fifties. they have good hunting land. my brother saw a monster buck one year, and someone else shot it the next. my grandparents are loving people. they have alot of longevity as well. my grandpa is 87 years old and my grandma is 79. they are both in very good health. my grandpa recently cracked his wrist. they plan on living there for the rest of their lives. my grandpa built the house himself, he was a carpenter, and a very good one. he helped us shingle our roof when he was 80 years old. he is a tough old man

Image #1- my thoughts

It is the 1800s the only way to get around fast is by train. Everything is like in a movie. everything is black and white. it is kind of like the movie back to the future part three and the train scene. they needed to get the train up to 88 miles an hour in order to push the delorean to the year 1985. most good movie series have a train scene somewhere. spiderman II has a train scene, as well as others. trains were a very good way to travel back in the 1800s the iron horse was the best way to move around. people could move across the country in a matter of days rather than months. the west became more popular because of trains and the ease of travel.

Little Brevort

7. There will always be a place in my heart for a place called Little Brevort. It is where my family camped for many years when I was a child. I visited there over the summer and it is just as awesome as ever. I love fishing in the lake and waking up to the sound of my brother cooking pancakes on the coleman stove. The nature trail is a lot of fun, covering wooded areas, marshes, and sand dunes. Everything is green, all the trees sway in the breeze and the sound of the water gently hitting the shore is something to die for. There are bike trails and lots of fun things to do. We would go down to lake Michigan and swim out as far as we could, and then swim back. The water was cold, but it was fun anyway. We would often visit places like Tahquamenon falls and pictured rocks. Swimming in lake superior was great, walking out a mile before it was too deep to walk

Yellowstone

2. I remember going with my aunt and uncle and three cousins to Yellowstone. First we went to Mount Rushmore for three days, which was a lot of fun. There was a drivethrough jerky store right next to our hotel. It was a long drive to Yellowstone, but it was well worth it. We saw lots of wildlife, including black bear, moose, pronghorn antelope and elk. We saw a couple of geysers including old faithful and steamboat geyser. We saw a mud volcano and many hot springs. We went over a mountain pass into Idaho with ten percent grade. We stopped at the top to look at the town below. Entering the car, my uncle, who was driving, did notice the two inch horsefly on his leg. Once we started down the pass, he noticed it and started freaking out. We got it out of the car, luckily we didn’t fall off the mountain pass.

odd words

Nouns:
hypernaturalness-the state of being more successful in difficult tasks than others
nonloyalty- the state of turning on ones allies
nonobsession- a lack of ownership
chancefulness- the state of having a good chance at something
describability- the capability for one to explain things well

adjectives:
frontierless- an area that is dull and lacks adventure
unfomented- not having instigated rebellion/discord
antioxidizing- fights the process of oxidation
semipervious- partway able to allow things through itself
postlegal- something that is not legal, but used to be.

Verbs:
whipstitch- to sew over an edge
enwreathe- to surround or encircle
gluttonize- to eat excessively
overelaborate- to explain with too much detail
elutriate- to purify by washing and straining

My comment on Josh's blog

real deep, you sound kind of depressed, and that you are nothing special, except for the line about a piece of gold. I really like the metaphors, though.

Who am I?

Who am I?
By Dan Tomaszycki

I am a deep green, sometimes seen,
Other times hidden, as in camouflage
I am also a sphere, well rounded
With a three dimensional personality
I am a jump off of a tall obstacle
With bungee cord tied to a pair of ankles,
Always looking for adventure
Here comes the Sun, because
Everyday is a great day
I am twenty, halfway between a
Punk teenager and a responsible adult.
I am a red 1953 Corvette, rare, classic,
Vibrant, and able to get things done
I am a La-Z-Boy, resting
when I have the opportunity
I am a cheeseburger, cheap and simple,
Yet delicious and priceless
I am a bass guitar, strong and steady,
And a strong support behind others.
I am the Upper Peninsula, a
Wide and vast adventure land
I am a windstorm, energetic
And effective in its objective
I am patriotism, dedicated and
Fighting for what is right.

To Help the Monkey Cross the River

To Help the Monkey Cross the River,
Thomas Lux

which he mustcross,
by swimming, for fruits and nuts,
to help him
I sit with my rifle on a platform
high in a tree, same side of the river
as the hungry monkey. How does this assist
him? When he swims for it
I look first upriver: predators move faster with
the current than against it.
If a crocodile is aimed from upriver to eat the monkey
and an anaconda from downriver burns
with the same ambition, I do
the math, algebra, angles, rate-of-monkey,
croc- and snake-speed, and if, if
it looks as though the anaconda or the croc
will reach the monkey
before he attains the river’s far bank,
I raise my rifle and fire
one, two, three, even four times into the river
just behind the monkey
to hurry him up a little.
Shoot the snake, the crocodile?
They’re just doing their jobs,
but the monkey, the monkey
has little hands like a child’s,
and the smart ones, in a cage, can be taught to smile.

I like how the author compares the monkey to a child, and how we must protect children from the evil of society. We must protect the children enough in order for them to reach their goals, but not too much to "shelter" them. Children are more valuable than those who wish harm upon them as the author states in the last sentence, they are capable of learning and greatness, unlike the evildoers of the world.

My life and what is to come

My life is very busy today. I can mostly blame swim for that. My routine day goes as follows: wake up at 5:45, get ready for school, go to school, swim practice goes from 3 pm-6 pm. I get home, eat supper, clean the kitchen, do my homework, and spend an hour recuperating from my busy day, then I go to bed and start again. My weekends aren't quite as busy, but they do take much of my time. I work 2 shifts a weekend, totalling about 14 hours. I also go to church on the weekend and do my homework.

I should have more free time in the near future. Swim will be over in three weeks, so I will have an extra three hours a day. If I am accepted into the U.S. Naval Academy, I wil quit my job on Mother's day. Although I will have more free time, I will have to do more work for NHS. During swim season, it is near impossible to do any community service for NHS. I will have to make up for it during the spring. The main reason for my push for free time is to spend more time with my family. If I should go to the Naval Academy, I will be away from home very often, so I will make the best of time while I am home.