ballin out on every level

When I’m not sleeping or eating, I’m playing basketball. At school, at the gym, or in a driveway. With a group of friends, with one other person, or by myself. It doesn’t really matter the circumstances, as long as there’s a ball, a hoop, and me. I’m on the school team, but basketball season isn’t when I have the most fun playing. Don’t get me wrong, I love playing on the team. I just enjoy playing pickup ball more.

For one thing, there are so many ways you can play when you aren’t limited by official IHSA rules. Playing without cheap fouls makes the game much more fluid, which improves my playing experience. Playing streetball is also preferable to organized ball because one can play with any number of people. With even numbers, you can play 2 on 2, 3 on 3, etc. With an odd number of people, you can play 21 or 32.   

                Streetball is also much more relaxed than organized basketball. By relaxed, I don’t mean people are calm all the time. On the contrary, almost every game I play involves some shouting and pushing. (Actually, when tempers flare, I probably enjoy the game even more). What I mean by relaxed is that people aren’t limited to doing what coaches want them to do. When I play during free periods, I often test out new moves I’ve been working on, and throw up trick shots that I wouldn’t dare to try in a real game.

                Unorganized basketball is also very entertaining, due to the amount of trash talk. Talking shit about other people is something I love to do while playing with them, and nothing is off limits during a heated game.  I enjoy being loud, and basketball with friends gives me a perfect excuse to shout as much as I want to.

                One of my favorite things is when I make someone mad at me, just by beating them in basketball. It amuses me to cross them so bad that they start pushing me, or hit a 3 in their eye so they start swearing at me. Of course, laughing doesn’t really help, but conflict sometimes makes the game more interesting for me. And that pretty much sums up why I prefer streetball to school sponsored basketball-- it’s more interesting.

               

Yummy in ma tummy

I guess since my first post was about my first love (sleep), it is only fitting that this week I write about anothing I am passionate about: eating. I don't eat as much as some people, or as healthfully and others, but I do love eating as much as ANYONE! I suppose the main reason I love eating so much is because one can eat pretty much whenever they want to. Personally, I'm a nonstop snacker. After dinner, I take about 5 minutes off, and then its back to the kitchen. Cookies, cereal, apples, corn, and various breads are some favorites, but I'm open to almost every snack food out there (except those with peanuts). I top off my snack with a glass of orange juice, resulting in about a half-container of OJ consumed every night.. minimum. I also finish off a little over half a box of cereal (more if my mom doesn't notice) and a half dozen friuts and veggies.
Often, I will snack because I'm hungry. Perhaps I didn't like dinner, maybe I skipped lunch that day. In these cases, I'll eat more filling foods-- leftover spaghetti, homemade burritos, etc. However, usually I eat out of boredom. These cases involve me getting tired of sitting doing homework, so i get up to move around. As if by a magnet, I am drawn to the fridge. There, I'll generally open the door, close it again, open it again and begin searching its depths for something to occupy me. The fridge, sadly, rarely satisfies me, so I find it necessary to continue my quest for food elsewhere. The bread area next to the fridge usually allows me to quench my thirst for chips, but I still feel like something's missing... CEREAL!!!! Many moons ago, I discovered just how perfect cereal is in these situations-- somewhat filling, time consuming, and DELICIOUS. I journey around the counter to the cereal cabinet, and pull out a box. My personal favorites include Honeycombs, Fruity Pebbles, and Honey Bunches of Oats (including chocolate, of course).
Unfortunately, my diabolical cereal-hating mother recently started cracking down on my cereal consumption. "Only one bowl per night", she says, "Only healthy cereals allowed in the house!" Of course, the one-bowl-a-night rule is absurd; I don't even honor it by thinking about it as I begin my fifth bowl in 10 minutes. The "healthy rule", however, I have much less control over. Since I rarely do the shopping for the family, I am at my dad's mercy when it comes to snack food. So far, he has obeyed my mom's command regarding cereals. I can only hope that someday he will come to his senses and realize the true greatness of cereal. Until then, I can only reminisce about the good ol' days when anything went in my house... and eat.