1984 and my life

Our world is very different from the world in 1984 so it is tough to compare the two, but I think one less extreme way they can relate is in school. In 1984 everyone is constantly being watched so the government can make sure everyone is doing the right thing. They were overly quixotic and unrealistic. Now that the school has cameras, it may feel like we are always being watched as well. Many students disparage this fact, but others may feel overly protected.

1984 and today's world

When I think about how 1984 relates to our world, the first thing that comes to mind is rights. In the novel, everyone and everything was watched and regulated and people have very little freedom or rights. In order to have any fun or do anything that wasn't totally approved of, people had to be very surreptitious. That is still an issue in our world. Although it maybe cryptic to most people in our country, other places around the world still struggle with this. For example, millions of women are castigated in middle eastern countries for showing their faces or bodies in public. They have to cede their individuality in order to fit in in their society. There are also still communist countries such as China and North Korea that deprecate people for saying anything bad about the government, just like in 1984. They also use perfidy to brainwash the citizens, making them think that the government is always right. Of course, this creates many malcontent people, but they have no choice but to obey for fear of being punished. It seems for now, there is an indefinite moratorium on worldwide freedom.

11,000 Feet

After a couple months of waiting, it was finally time to board that plane on my way to "the greatest snow on earth" as they call it. Both my dad and I were naturally ebullient as we always are before a trip, but this one was even more exciting. I had been anxiously waiting for a chance to ski out west ever since I first clicked into a pair of skis, and now it was actually happening. We arrived at the airport and as we walked to the ticket people, we both looked incredibly maladroit with our enormous ski bags. The flight was long and uneventful and after a long day of travel, we got settled in our hotel room, shared a couple laconic words, and got some rest for the big days ahead. The next morning at Park City Mountain, we looked up at the slopes and all the snow with amazement. At the top, the slopes were steeper and more advanced than they were at home, but I was so excited that I couldn't help but have sang-froid as I stared down at the snowy world below. My dad on the other hand, had some scruples, but those went away after our first powdery run. The rest of the trip was filled with fresh snow, crazy runs, and a whole lot of fun.

The Deal

Last week, over February break, my dad and I took a trip out to Park City, Utah to experience some real mountains. Due to our anathema and disparagement toward all the icy trials all over the mountains in the east, we wanted to see where the real snow was. The idea all started with a colloquial conversation between my dad and I. After seeing a commercial for the Olympics, I simply mentioned that it would be incredible to go out to Vancouver to see them. So my dad told me that he'd buy my plane ticket if I got into Penn State. I didn't want to be credulous, because he's said things like this in the past, but never really meant it. However this time was different. After doing some research I realized that it would be cheaper to go to Utah instead, so I gathered up a dossier on my plans for the trip. One thing led to another, and my dad came along with me instead of a friend and it turned out to be the one of the best trips I have ever taken.

"I Love Me"

After reading Ocho Cinco, I have come to realize that Chad Johnson is sycophant to himself. In his book he talks about how he has six paintings of himself in his house in Cincinnati just because he loves himself so much. Normally there is some stigma attached to that sort of behavior, but Chad just embraces it. He loves to be in the spotlight and it shows, especially in the way he dresses, in his extravagant touchdown celebrations, and in his garrulous nature. He is implacable because he says that no matter what anyone says, he will not tone down his behavior He just can never be saturnine because he simply has so much fun playing football.

Ocho Cinco

I read Ocho Cinco: What Football and Life Have Thrown My Way by Chad Ochocinco (Johnson) and Jason Cole. It is a sort of half autobiography (I can tell he did not write most of it) about the life of of the tawdry football player that we've all come to know as Ocho Cinco. He uses most of the book to excoriate anything in the NFL that he doesn't wholly agree with. While he can come off as a bit invidious, his thoughts and insights can be truly salient. He talks about his controversial name change from Johnson to Ochocinco and how he hit a nadir during his childhood when he was growing up without parents in one of the roughest neighborhoods of Miami.

Utah

On this coming Sunday, I am heading out to Park City, Utah with my dad to do some real skiing. Park City definitely has a certain cachet among skiers and snowboarders and is renowned for its ethereal snowflakes or "the greatest snow on Earth," as they call it. I planned out the entire trip on my own and now my dad and I are set for a perfect trip to the mountains. And while it is almost all planned, my dad does get a little upset with me because I can be very capricious when it comes to choosing the mountains that we're going to ski. I just can't make up my mind. The only thing that I'm afraid of is that I will have ennui for the mountains back home after this trip because they simply can't compare. Unfortunately this trip will be ephemeral because we can only spend three days there, but I have a feeling that I will not want to go home after experiencing western skiing.

The Super Bowl

Super Bowl Sunday is always one of my favorite days of the year. My family and I, and maybe a couple friends, get to sit around watching a great game while my mom serves us plate after plate of delicious "football food." As I watched the Colts succumb to Drew Brees and the Saints, I couldn't help but notice all the argot Peyton Manning uses when calling audibles on the field. It makes no sense at all to any of the viewers, but it perfectly clear to the players. My dad and I didn't help to allay my brother's frustration after his favorite team just lost the game. What is sometimes the most interesting about the Super Bowl is that the commercials can beguile viewers because of their reputation for being much funnier than usual. But while it's fun while it lasts, we all seem to feel like amorphous blobs after the game because of all the food we just devoured.