My Life, From A to Z
A: Adventurous, I am open most of the time to trying and doing new things. If I find that I find that I like some of these new things, I may decide to stick with them. Some of these have become things that have formed who I am as a person. Of these there is first learning how to read music which lead to my interest in guitar and first joining a swim team which I have been on ever sense.
B: The Beatles are one of my favorite music groups of all time. Songs such as "Come Together" and " Let it Be" , I believe are two of the best four minutes of music ever preformed. B is also for bold because I am not afraid to get out there in front of crowd in order to be heard or to get a point across and like connecting with people.
C: I am a big fan of Chinese food, especially from Pan Pan's at 6 mile and Farmington because of its “yummy goodness”!!!
D: I was named after my father who is Brian David and at an early age was given the nickname Dubs. I was given this nickname because my middle name is William and my cousins used to call me D.W.
E: Energetic, I am filled with energy and sometimes can lead people to the brink o insanity. I funnel this energy into skills that I am good at (see letters G and S for more details).
F: I tried football once when I was in 5th and 6th grade, it did not work out so well. I also got a severe fracture in my finger when I was 12 years old that required me to have a cast for about two months.
G: I can play the guitar. My interest in this instrument started in about 7th grade because I thought that it would be cool and interesting to learn. I have now been playing for about a year and a half and can play songs like “Day Tripper” by the Beatles or “Sweet Child of Mine” by Gun’s and Roses.
H: I went to Holmes Middle School. While at Holmes, I was able to get a brief look at what high school may seem like as well as experiencing all the new classes and electives
I: I consider myself to be intelligent. I was in all accelerated classes throughout middle school and if I were not in Global Ed I would be in accelerated Language Arts.
J: I do enjoy some types of jazz music. It helps me to calm down and just relax.
K: I have a nine year old sister, Kate. She was born when I was in Kindergarten and is now in fourth grade. She can get annoying sometimes but what can you do, we’re family.
L: Is for Luck of the Irish because I am 50% Irish. My family throws a huge Saint Patrick’s Day party every year and we all watch college basketball and have fun.
M: I enjoy listening to various types of music. If you were to look at my iPod, you would see that I have everything from the heaviest songs by Slipknot to the smooth, more relaxing music of Frank Sinatra.
N and O: I pride myself in being neat and organized. I believe that this is one of the reasons that I have done so well academically, because my work is on time and I know where to find it.
P: My last name is Ptashnik. This name comes of Russian decent and my family tree stretches back as far as 4 generations before my grandparents, to my knowledge at least.
Q: Another one of my favorite bands is Queen. The amazing vocals of Freddy Mercury and ear shattering guitar of Brian May makes songs like “We Are the Champions” and “Bohemian Rhapsody” pure rock classics.
R: I am of Russian decent as well as Irish. The area of where my family name comes from would be roughly around were current day Moscow would lie. This name dates back a long way in Russian history.
S: I am a competitive swimmer and swim on a very good team. I began swimming for a summer team back when I was eight years old and enjoyed it so much that I rejoined the summer team the next year. After a couple years of summer swimming I decided to get serious about the sport and join a recreational league through the city. I have been on my summer team since I was eight and the recreational team since I was ten.
T: T is for Talkative. I am a very talkative person and love to get into good conversations. I am one of those people that if you moved me facing towards a wall, and I was bored, I may start to talk to the wall to pass the time.
U: is for my favorite book series as a child Captain Underpants. These books were about two kids who hypnotize their school principle into thinking that he had super underwear themed powers and could stop the world from all evil. The books comedic influence is what drew me to them the most.
V: Eddie Van Halen was one of my biggest influences in learning to play the guitar. His finger tapping solos and exquisite technique make him in my mind, one of the best players to ever pick up six strings.
W: My favorite movie series are the Wayne’s World movies. They are about Wayne Campbell and his friend Garth Algar trying to “party on” and have fun in suburban Chicago in the 1990’s.
X: Is for Xylophone. The xylophone is only one of the many instruments that I can play. I can play the guitar, bass, tenor saxophone, drums, and piano.
Y: I think that I have a very youthful spirit. I can always put in some time to have fun and time to hang out with my friends and just do… whatever.
Z: is for one of my favorite getaways as a small child, the Zoo. The zoo has always fascinated me with its vast collection of exotic animals and detailed information about each of them.
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Into the Great Wide Open
Into the Great Wide Open: The First Day of High School
By: David Ptashnik 6th Hour
The darkness is shattered, and my eyes open. The loud chatter of my alarm clock fills my ears, so I roll over to check the time. 5:30 the clock reads. This is way too early to get up in the summer; it must be a school day. I slowly make my way up out of my bedroom and into the hall. I trudge on slowly through the hall as if I was waist deep in mud and I enter the bathroom. I am instantly blinded by the lights that are illuminated after I flip the switch. I hop sluggishly into the shower and let the warm water wake me from a tired haze. I now realize that there is no more summer fun to be had this year because school is officially back in session.
While I’m getting dressed the words of my mother from the previous day circle through my head,” Tomorrow it is back to reality. For the both of us”, she said “for the both of us” because my mother is an Algebra 2 and Geometry teacher at Franklin High School. After getting dressed I make my way downstairs to the kitchen to find something to fill me up for such a long day. I ravage through the pantry and see a box of Raisin Bran that looked rather tasty, so I decide that it will be the very “hardy” breakfast that will keep me going today.
After I am finished with my breakfast I hear my father yelling for me to come to the front hall. Once I get to the front hall, I find that he has called me so that he can take a picture of me and my little sister before the first day of school (which he has done every single year since Kindergarten). He quickly whips out his silver Cannon™ and tells me to pretend that I love my sister and smile for about fifteen seconds and then it will be over. After my picture has been taken, I realize that I still had some time to kill before I have to walk to the corner to get to the bus stop. With my last moments of freedom, I decided to sit down on a chair in my kitchen, listen to some calming Van Halen on my iPod, and just relax and ponder my thoughts.
The time soon came for me to leave for the bus stop and put an end to summer for good. It was still dark out when I left the house and as far as I’m concerned, it was still night. There were around five other students waiting to catch the bus at the same stop. I knew some of them, but some were complete strangers to me, even though we lived in the same subdivision.
When the bus finally came, its engine made my ears wake up and its blinding headlights did about the same thing for my eyes. I walked up the stairs on the bus and took a seat towards the back, put in my iPod and waited for the ride to be over. The bus ride seemed to drag on and on like sitting in the waiting room at the doctor’s office, only being highlighted by the sound of car engines, the bright glare of flashing stop lights, and the smell of waking up to early.
Finally, the bus pulled up into the Stevenson bus loop and came to a stop. The sound of friends seeing friends pounds on my eardrums as I make my way down the small aisle of the bus. I exit the bus and is greeted by a massive building staring me dead right in the face. As I walked up toward the double doors to enter the building I thought to myself… “Summer may be over, but I’ve got to face the truth. This is my home for the next four years, I think that I going to like it here”.
By: David Ptashnik 6th Hour
The darkness is shattered, and my eyes open. The loud chatter of my alarm clock fills my ears, so I roll over to check the time. 5:30 the clock reads. This is way too early to get up in the summer; it must be a school day. I slowly make my way up out of my bedroom and into the hall. I trudge on slowly through the hall as if I was waist deep in mud and I enter the bathroom. I am instantly blinded by the lights that are illuminated after I flip the switch. I hop sluggishly into the shower and let the warm water wake me from a tired haze. I now realize that there is no more summer fun to be had this year because school is officially back in session.
While I’m getting dressed the words of my mother from the previous day circle through my head,” Tomorrow it is back to reality. For the both of us”, she said “for the both of us” because my mother is an Algebra 2 and Geometry teacher at Franklin High School. After getting dressed I make my way downstairs to the kitchen to find something to fill me up for such a long day. I ravage through the pantry and see a box of Raisin Bran that looked rather tasty, so I decide that it will be the very “hardy” breakfast that will keep me going today.
After I am finished with my breakfast I hear my father yelling for me to come to the front hall. Once I get to the front hall, I find that he has called me so that he can take a picture of me and my little sister before the first day of school (which he has done every single year since Kindergarten). He quickly whips out his silver Cannon™ and tells me to pretend that I love my sister and smile for about fifteen seconds and then it will be over. After my picture has been taken, I realize that I still had some time to kill before I have to walk to the corner to get to the bus stop. With my last moments of freedom, I decided to sit down on a chair in my kitchen, listen to some calming Van Halen on my iPod, and just relax and ponder my thoughts.
The time soon came for me to leave for the bus stop and put an end to summer for good. It was still dark out when I left the house and as far as I’m concerned, it was still night. There were around five other students waiting to catch the bus at the same stop. I knew some of them, but some were complete strangers to me, even though we lived in the same subdivision.
When the bus finally came, its engine made my ears wake up and its blinding headlights did about the same thing for my eyes. I walked up the stairs on the bus and took a seat towards the back, put in my iPod and waited for the ride to be over. The bus ride seemed to drag on and on like sitting in the waiting room at the doctor’s office, only being highlighted by the sound of car engines, the bright glare of flashing stop lights, and the smell of waking up to early.
Finally, the bus pulled up into the Stevenson bus loop and came to a stop. The sound of friends seeing friends pounds on my eardrums as I make my way down the small aisle of the bus. I exit the bus and is greeted by a massive building staring me dead right in the face. As I walked up toward the double doors to enter the building I thought to myself… “Summer may be over, but I’ve got to face the truth. This is my home for the next four years, I think that I going to like it here”.
Friday, September 18, 2009
The First Week
The First Week
Over the first couple of days that I spent in this building, I was overwhelmed by the massive size of the building’s interior and also how my classes seemed to be on opposite sides of the building from one another. I would rush from class to class, hoping to make it on time and also hoping that in my rush that I had grabbed the right materials needed for that hour. After my fourth hour, I had lunch which I was originally most nervous about because I wasn't sure if I shared C lunch with any of my friends. Some of my friends ended up having the same lunch as me, so I was relieved to know that I could at least have some fun during the day.
After the first week was over, I thought that I had this high school thing down, and wouldn’t be eaten alive like a wounded seal being circled by hungry sharks. The school seemed to get smaller with every passing day and it almost became easier to navigate the hallways. The only bad thing about my first week of school so far was that I already had a couple of tests and I also had two homework assignments on the first day.
So far, the only issues that I have had with high school are the waking up at 5:50 in the morning. This is almost an hour earlier than last year, but I have to do this in order to get to my bus on time because I am one of the first stops. I barley have time to eat breakfast in the morning and because I have C lunch I am starving by the end of 3rd hour.
So I step into this new world, and I’m going to take it one step at a time.
After the first week was over, I thought that I had this high school thing down, and wouldn’t be eaten alive like a wounded seal being circled by hungry sharks. The school seemed to get smaller with every passing day and it almost became easier to navigate the hallways. The only bad thing about my first week of school so far was that I already had a couple of tests and I also had two homework assignments on the first day.
So far, the only issues that I have had with high school are the waking up at 5:50 in the morning. This is almost an hour earlier than last year, but I have to do this in order to get to my bus on time because I am one of the first stops. I barley have time to eat breakfast in the morning and because I have C lunch I am starving by the end of 3rd hour.
So I step into this new world, and I’m going to take it one step at a time.
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