A memoir is essentially a biography. It is one of the most popular forms of creative nonfiction among readers, but attracts relatively few aspiring writers. This is because the writers put little imagination into writing a biography. In order to succeed in writing a memoir you need to follow a few rules.

First the write must resist the impulse to tell the reader everything they have learned about their subject. If they include every little nuance of the person's life it will result in an insipid and monotonous narrative.

Second, they need to find the story they want to tell about their subject, a story buried under all of the information they've gathered. A well written memoir will condense all the information to fit a particular story about the subject's life.

Lastly, a memoir shouldn't be written in chronological order, like a history timeline is. The day-by-day narrative pattern of most biography needs to be reimagined. Mixing up the chronological order can add an element of suspense by using flashbacks and future references, similar to how a documentary film would be done.

A memoir is a work of literature that can take over a dozen years to complete. It is unfortunately a work most writers stray from, but when it is done properly it is one of the most popular forms of literature among readers

As you probably already know, this week there was an armed gunman on the Queens campus of St. John's University. He was apparently wearing a George Bush mask and armed with a single shot rifle. Fortunately no one was injured and things are back to the norm for the most part.

St. John's did a great job in handling the situation. They communicated to the whole school using their newly established communication system. Essentially they just text message or voice message the students and faculty that are signed up. Even though everyone is not registered for it (you have to go sign up) the word spreads pretty quickly from the people who are in the system. There was an immediate lock down of the whole campus, including the Staten Island campus. This is because it was initially unclear which campus the gunman was on. Of course it was frightening when the news of a gunman on campus was announced, but i felt safe because of the lock down. After an hour or so the gunman was apprehended and the police searched the campus extensively for another possible suspect.

After seeing how promptly the university responded to a potential catastrophe, I feel pretty safe on campus. It's just unfortunate that it took the VA tech. incident to bring about this unprecedented level of security.

This Friday my former high school football team, the St. Joseph by the Sea Vikings, played their island rival, the Farrel Lions. Unfortunately my team lost by five points, but it was still a great game to watch none the less.

Now what I'm really getting at was the atmosphere of Friday's game. Rarely do two catholic island teams meet and play each other, but when they it's something football fans mark their calendar for. Now most of the time the island teams play some team from the another borough and the only people who show up are to the games are a few students and of course some of the parents. But the other day Farrel's stands were complete filled, standing room only ten minutes into the game. Everybody came down to watch it, not just people associated with either school. Head coaches from other programs, eighth graders interested in playing high school football, and a flock of students and alumni all came out to see the game. It was like a scene out of the movie, Friday Night Lights. This is something that, in my opinion, is missing from most Staten Island football games, and I do not think there's a reason for it.

So what I would like to see is an all island football league. No more games where island teams play schools from Queens that people have no interest in. There are enough teams on Staten Island for it to have it's own league, roughly ten. If the games are set up this way everybody benefits. The schools make more money because there is more people paying to get in, the players are always more interesting in playing island teams if for nothing else than simply bragging rights, and it gives island football fans really something to look forward to.

Sincere wager, or marketing ploy?

Last week, the week of September eleventh, two outrageously prosperous rappers released their albums on the same day. Kayne West released his album titled, Graduation and 50 cent released his new album titled, Curtis. The latter of the two released the fasting selling rap album ever released, amassing just short of 1.2 million copies sold in it's first week. Kanye West knows a thing or two about success as well, selling eight hundred thousand in his previous album's debut week. When both of these rap juggernauts have an album released on the same day, things get interesting.
50 Cent has publicly announced that if Kanye West outsells his newest album he will retire from making solo albums, a bold statement. Kanye hasn't really responded to 50 cent's claims, possibly because he knows it is unlikely he will outsell him. I personally believe this is just a marketing ploy 50 is using to increase sales, perhaps for both rappers. 50 Cent's main concern is making money, and if he loses is supposed to stop doing what makes him the most money. This is why i believe his claims are simply balderdash.
A week after the formerly mentioned albums were released, Kanye West's lead grew exponentially, selling roughly 300,000 more than 50 Cent. 50 Cent's response was that it is simply too early to tell who will come out on top, even with Kanye that far ahead.
It will be interesting to see if 50 Cent sticks to his word if in fact he does lose, although i highly doubt he will retire from rap if he does. With that all said, the real winner is the music industry, which hasn't had two albums sell more than 600,000 copies each in one week since 1991.

3 time superbowl champions?

For those of you that do not know, this weekend the Patriots beat their division rival the Jets 38-14. However around half time a video tape for the Patriots was confiscated as it had hand signals for the Jet's plays on it. Taping another teams hand signals is of course illegal to do in the N.F.L. While this had no direct affect on the outcome of the game on sunday, it raises a number of questions.
The Patriots have been accused of doing this before, but this is the first time conclusive evidence is available. So this raises the question as to whether the Patriot's former superbowl victories were won legitimately, or did they cheat and know what the play was going to be before the snap? It's also a possible explanation as to how the patriots manage to do so well each year with less than stellar players at most positions.
A more important question is is this form of cheating widespread in the N.F.L. and were the Patriots just unfortunate enough to get caught? I personally believe it is something only the Patriots have done, but I would not say it's impossible for this to be going on elsewhere.
As a result of have conclusive evidence, the Patriots are of course being penalized severely. They are losing a first round draft pick, which can have tremendous ramifications. The Patriot's head coach is also being fined $250,000, the highest amount a coach has been fined in the N.F.L's history. In addition to this, the Patriot's film will be monitored to assure they are not recording hand signals. In the next few weeks we will find out if the Patriot's are really that good, or if their victories were a result of foul play.

Why i write

I write because i have to write. I write to take notes i hear in class. I write to study. I write to help focus myself. I write because I am told to write. I write when i am bored. I write communicate with friends. I write when i am tired of speaking. I write when I want to listen. I write to be humorous. I write so i can do well in school. I write to be professional. I write on a computer to be organized. I write because i can. I dislike to write but i do it anyway. I write to pass time. I write to define words. I write so i can learn. I write when i am reading. I write summaries of books for later reference. I for professors. I write to remember. I write for organization. I write to improve my penmenship. I write when i am blogging. I write to relive memories. I write for posterity. I write as a means to an end.