VfB Stuttgart had a horrific start to the season where they went 1-7-7. The were in the midst of a relegation battle, when the front office decided to fire then coach Markus Babbel. The newly appointed coach Christian Gross had a profound and immediate impact winning his first game 3-0 just 4 days after he was hired. The newly revitalized squad continued this momentum and kept winning in the league, and playing well in the champions league. Current, Stuttgart sits at sixth place with a record of 15-8-9 with 2 weeks remaining.. They are capable of clinching a place in a european tournament with a win over the weekend, and with some luck may be able to make it to the champions league once again. Although it was not an ideal season, it does make me look forward to next year.

The coaching will be intact and we will be returning a large number of our current players. However, the thing that excites me the most of the retirement of our current goalie, Lehmann. He is one of my least favorite players and has lost us many many games. The team will greatly improve with his retirement... not to sound rude or anything. The team is very young, with I believe the majority of the starters being under 22 years old. They will continue to improve and we will soon be competing for a title once again. We may not have the money that teams like barca, real madrid, or the big 4 from england do, but we are capable of developing talent... which often gets taken by those teams with money which really pisses me off. But o well, what can you do.

So is this the last blog or do we have to do one for next week? Don't we get one off at some point? I am not sure, but I guess we will see.

As we approach finals and the end of school year, I feel my motivation to do work decreasing each day. There have been many days where I sit down to work, and I will hear down the hall "anyone want to play ____(various things)" and I will join them without a moment of hesitation. I am sure that I am not the only one that this is happening to. I have seen my grades drop in several classes, but hopefully I can bring them back up since the drop wasn't anything too significant. At least this semester is almost over, I can't stand the classes I'm taking. I have two humanities classes which is awful for me, a ridiculous yet pointless engineering class, and physics class that is practically impossible and a math class that almost puts me to sleep every time I go. Not only are my classes dreadful, it has become increasingly beautiful outside. I could go on, but I just realized that I feel like I talk about this every time so I guess I'll find something else to write about.

To be honest, I am not sure of what to write, so I think I am just going on a Wikipedia run and tell you guys about it... so here goes.

Apparently, A viking is a Norse explorer that colonized many places between the late eight and early eleventh century. Norse being those who speak North Germanic Languages. The North Germanic Languages is part of the three Germanic languages. Among these languages is the now extinct East Germanic Languages which include languages such as Vandalic, Burgundian, and Crimean Gothic. Paul the Deacon was a Benedictine monk who was primarily a historian. His major work was the Historia gentis Langobardorum which accounts the history of the lombards from 568 to the death of King Liutprand.

That is all for now.

Here is my story for the assignment we did the other day

The origin of fans

It was a scorching summer afternoon when I was first amazed by the capabilities of wind. The cooling experience of it flying pat me caused an insatiable desire to harness this power. I had lived many years being forced to deal with the heat, but no longer, the wind would be mine. All else seemed meaningless now; I rejected the outside world and spent many sleepless days devoting myself to developing concepts to harness this power, yet all failed. Becoming desperate I was forced to quit my job and began to seclude myself even from my family. Unaware of the situation my wife attempt to console me, yet upon hearing the truth behind my actions she grew frustrated. She raised her hand and stuck me. It was at this moment that a cool breeze followed. But how could this be? I was inside... there was no wind. It soon dawned upon me that this was what I had been looking for, artificial wind. With haste I constructed an apparatus that would enlarge my hands. With my new invention in hand I went around town slapping those who looked as if they needed a break from the heat. Yet the response was different from expected. All of those who had received my aid quickly turned to anger and cast me away. Perhaps they were just simply unaware of the miraculous gift I had just given them. Their ignorance was astounding. I had just accomplished something that had previously been reserved for the gods. Perhaps they were just afraid of the abilities I now possessed. It became clear to me that I would have to develop a machine that would slap people for me. Thus I began work on a set of rotating hangs capable of doing so. After its completion I left it in town saying it was a gift from god. Although I never saw it again, I am sure that it has been put to good use.

Every year around this time I am reminding of my growing contempt towards baseball. It is not the actual sport that bothers me(in most cases, I'm really not a fan), but what really grinds my gears is that baseball ruins many of the programs I generally watch on ESPN. Sportscenter becomes unwatchable because like 95% of the airtime is all baseball, and the same happens to the other shows on that network.

In other news, a month from today is the last day of class. It has felt to me that the spring semester has gone by much more quickly than fall, perhaps because of the placement of the breaks. We are starting to approach the final stretch, where the workload always begins to pile up. The weather gets really nice outside, and the last thing I want to do is work, but with tests and finals preparation approaching I realize that I may have to waste beautiful days working. With all of that being said, I am really looking forward to summer. Although I have no trips planned(money is a little tight nowadays), I am really looking forward to relaxing. I plan to work, but that won't prevent me from hanging out with friends, maybe even taking a few small trips to places.

I guess since I'm talking about summer I should quickly mention the world cup again. It starts in June, and will make the summer even better. I still remember watching the world cup in '98 and being marveled by it. It leaves me speechless each time and yearning for more. I don't feel like doing an in depth analysis of the teams right now, maybe another time; but there are so many teams that I feel could win it that I think it will be an excellent event.

As I sit here eating my dinner realizing how far behind I have gotten on all my work, I am left pondering how I have gotten to this moment in my life.

It all started many years ago on the date of January 11, 1991; My mother gave birth to me that day in the town of Ulm, Germany (same town as Einstein... no big deal). I have very few memories of my life in Germany, but the ones I do have are.. I guess interesting would be the correct word choice. Memories such as falling into a pond full of snakes, getting yelled at by the old lady across the street for drawing on the side walk, and playing soccer with my way cooler and older seven year old neighbor fill my mind. I do not recall the emotions I felt at the time when it became official that we were moving to America, but I expect them to be normal.

I arrived year in December of 1995 to see 6 foot high snow lying on the ground. I was at the ripe-old age of 4 then, turning 5 the next month. The first few weeks were spent in a hotel where I learned how to swim. When I finally moved into my current house, I was quickly introduced to the neighborhood kids. I instantly made friends with a fellow immigrant from Germany who was one year older. Realizing that it might be scandalous to only hang out with older people, I befriended another child who remains my friend to this day.

The transition to school life was difficult but I was up to the task with youth-like vigor. I quickly adapted and do not recall any hardships in learning the language. It was at this time that my habit of procrastination began to develop. Throughout elementary school I had to constantly forge my parent's signature so the teachers thought they knew I was not doing my homework.

Yes, those were the times that would eventually lead to my current state. Behind on my work, yet this time the teachers won't be upset.. I will just do poorly in class. Oh the path that fate carried me is a harsh one, yet I regret nothing. My younger and more innocent days were excellent and I am truly blessed to have spent my youth the way I have.

Every week I am constantly surprised at the engineering professors lack of knowledge about computers. It seems that every class, they have either a problem with their internet, or powerpoint or other related software. I know that this may be considered a generation gap, but this stuff has been out for quite a while. The always tell us how they have been teaching this class for a while, yet seem to be unable to do so. I am not saying that it is entirely their fault. Some of the problems I have seen are legitimate software or computer problems, but occasionally it is due to a lack of knowledge of the program.

This is not my only complaint about these engineering classes. The way this class is organized is horrendous, there are many different parts all of which seem to have no clue what the other is doing. The homework is time-filling monotonous work that is entirely unnecessary. We were assigned a tutorial on new software that we were doing, then instructed to follow along on a separate "voice over". Yet these two stated basically the exact same thing word for word. It is almost as if the professors are not sure what is actually in the material they assign to us.

This is not just for 1114, but I don't even want to get started on last semesters 1024. Hopefully this is just due to it being freshman year and them not being able to teach major specific material because the majority of people have not selected one. It is not so much the material that bothers me, but rather the inadequacy and chaotic nature of how it is presented. The teachers should just sit down for a while and re-evaluate the structure of the freshman engineering class, because they are way to poorly organized.

7th

Now the spring break is over I'm being forced right back into work. I am not sure who planned this but I managed to have four tests in the next two weeks. Luckily there are only eight more weeks until this semester is over. I feel like I always talk about this so I will leave it at that; I just wanted to let people know that these tests were poorly planned.

My break was pretty good, but boring occasionally. My travel plans fell through because there was only one other friend available. However, I was still able to meet up with a bunch of people and hang out. My parents went to Rome for the week which made my break significantly better. I basically just spent the week hanging out with friends and my brother. It was slightly uneventful, but still relaxing. I am really looking forward to the next break.

I am happy that the snow has finally melted because of the possibility of activities that it has opened up. I personally enjoy the outdoors greatly and look forward to being able to spend more time outdoors. I really can't wait to get out there and start playing some sports. I just hope that it doesn't become too much of a distraction but we will see.

I really don't have much else to say, but somehow I am still a decent amount of words away from the limit. Maybe I will just start writing down some random nonsense, or perhaps I will be able to think of another topic that I want to write about.. who knows.

Just wanted to mention really quickly that people get embarrassed too easily. I was doing the robot in my hall and asked someone to join in, but they just laughed, turned red, and walked away. Not really a big deal, just felt like sharing my beliefs.

6th

I would just like to quickly mention at how impressive my soccer team, VfB Stuttgart, has been since getting new coach Christian Gross. Since around December 9th the team has gone 9-1-1, and one of those games was a tie against Barcelona in the champions league. We should have won, but the refs blew the game.. what else is new, but a tie with the best team in the world is good. We play them again in 2 weeks away this time. It will not be an easy win, basically impossible, but I hope we can keep playing with our current intensity and passion and pull out a major upset.

The Olympics end today which is unfortunate since I enjoyed watching them. I love the Olympics because it is an event that brings the world together. People may try to find a winner or loser, but I feel that doing so goes against the spirit of the Olympics. Sure some countries get more medals than others, but the fact that some countries are even competing is astounding. The majority of the athletes that compete in the Olympics are not paid for their sport, but rather have to support themselves throughout the competition. This means that they are participating purely for the love of the sport and nation. They lose much more money than the gain for competing, but they still do. This isn't the case for all participants though, many of the major powers in the world support their athletes financially... perhaps that is why they do better, who knows.

However, I can return to my normal life now. I was basically dedicated to the Olympics for the past two and a half weeks. I let my work slip a little, but oh well, the Olympics doesn't happen every very often. On another note, we are almost half way done with this semester. I'm really looking forward to the end of this semester. I really don't like the classes I am taking right now and can't wait for them to end. I also finally get to move out of the dorms at the end of the semester which I am really looking forward to.

5th

audience: age 15-20, American

Character: woman with road rage
setting: walmart 3 am
item: illegal object stored in a purse

Time was passing slowly, and the woman was becoming restless. Her new obsession was causing a great feeling of unease to spread through her consciousness. She understood the risks, but with the rising level of contempt towards herself came a new found excitement that she had never known in her previous life. With her desires growing uncontrollably by the minute, she finally decided to act upon them; however, she had no method of doing so. The woman would need help, yet she couldn't just talk to anyone. Upon investigation, she slipped into the underground world leading her to contact the leader of an extremely shady and dangerous syndicate. Relief began to overcome her when the thought of her obsession being quenched reached her. This relief was capable of blinding her to the obvious dangers that come with contacting and underground syndicate, but she was finally able to rid herself of the melancholy of her everyday life.

She quickly hid the object of her desired in her purse and returned to her car. It was now 3 am, much later then she expected. With caution she began to drive, making sure not to get in trouble with the authorities when in the distance she saw a car. This was not just an ordinary car; it was a yellow car. The one thing she could not stand in this world was yellow cars. The thought of people driving yellow cars filled her with such rage that she went on a rampage crashing into everything in sight. After hitting everything that she could see, she found herself in a Walmart parking lot.

With her rage still growing uncontrollably, she decided to take her vengeance upon Walmart and
crash her car through the side. Excitement filled her as she crashed through the wall and began to destroy everything, but this excitement soon turned to fear when she realized that she had become surrounded by the syndicate. With merciless zeal, the syndicate took not only the object which she had desired, but everything in her possession.

It was at this time that she realized that the yellow car was set up by the syndicate, and they had never planned on letting her have the relief that she was seeking. Distraught she began to walk home, yet because of the massive damage caused on her road rage rampage she was arrested. Although she was never convicted of carrying this illegal object, or negotiating with the syndicate, the damage she had caused gave her a life sentence.

4th

I have always been amazed and flabbergasted by people that are capable of drawing well. I have never possessed a gift for art, so I am unable to comprehend how people are able to draw such beautiful pictures. I can see the pictures in my head, yet when my hand reaches the paper the result is unrecognizable. However, I am not to dwell on that fact, if everyone were as capable as Picasso or Rembrandt, then it would lessen the beauty of their work. I was simply remarking on the miraculous ability that artists have.

I have recently been going to this website called deviantart, where people are free to post any art they create. There is a wide range of pictures posted, but there are truly some amazing ones. There are these amazing pictures put up, by people who aren't even in college yet. Although there may be much talent involved, I have also begun to realize how much time is actually involved in creating objects such as these.

I was talking to my friend and she says that she spends about a week on quick paintings, but I suppose that varies depending on drawing style and technique. I know that Rembrandt would spend months on the exact same paintings, because he would paint in layers. He would outline anything and would just but colors where they should go, until enough colors coincided to create a masterpiece. Just the thought of what was going on through his head while he was doing something like this astounds me. He must have had the complete picture in his head the entire time, analyzing what colors what must go where to combine to create his desired results.

I think that our world is so much better because of art. Art has the capability of drawing beauty out of things that would never be considered beautiful. Art can inspire emotion, create or make one recall memories, or just be beautiful. Although I love art, I could personally never dedicate myself to it. I love what art means to people and the beauty, but creating art is not something I want to do for a living... which is why I didn't become an artist. I prefer to just appreciate it for what it is, even if it is under appreciated in modern times(my personal belief).

3rd

Today, I would like to talk about my complete love of Wikipedia. The mass amounts of information that is stored in the single entity that is Wikipedia makes learning anything or finding something out incredibly easy. I cannot count the times that I have gone to Wikipedia out of curiosity, only to learn countless more things than I had set out to. People may consider it a "unreliable source" or whatever, but I disagree. Sure, there may be moments when there is incorrect information, or if the object is ridiculously specific there may be some faults, but with the number of people checking and posting the information is basically all valid. Not to mention that there are always sources sited at the bottom of the page, and when information does not have a source, it says so. Those same people may not like the use of Wikipedia for research, but it is so much easier, and you can always just click on the sources at the bottom.

Not only is Wikipedia great for getting information, it is also a great way to pass time. Whenever I get extremely bored I go to Wikipedia and start reading an article, and then clicking on an interesting link in that article. I keep on repeating this process until I find something to do. This then brings me to the Wikipedia racing game.

I am not sure if you guys have heard of it, but it is when you and a group of people start at a certain page and then race to find another page only by clicking on the links. Me and a couple of friends would spend unimaginable time playing this during school, and the entertainment level never decreased as long as you know what topics are good to search for. People and places are never good target goals, since they are too easy to find. The best topics are obviously, the ridiculously specific articles that you would never expect to find on the website. My favorite one so far has been turtle soup, since it cannot be reached through turtle or soup. I wouldn't want to ruin how to get there, but it is a very round about way.

Later this year, I believe sometime mid-September, will be the last flight ever of the space shuttle. NASA will begin to implement the new "shuttles" created during project constellation. These new designs include newer technologies supposedly allowing for better data gathering and traveling further distances than was capable with the space shuttle. There are a few controversies surrounding this new program, the biggest one being the increase of funding required to install or create these vehicles. Obama has already stated that there is not enough money in the budget to afford this project, and has officially stated that this project will not continue to develop. However, there are many advocates trying to appeal to congress to allow the further development of the space program.

Although space exploration may be important, I have to agree with Obama and say that there are more important matters to deal with currently than to send people to mars. OK, so people land on mars, then what? Does our economy get fixed, do jobs improve. We may find interesting things about our past, but is it worth the expense of the people? I personally don't think so, but there are people who disagree.

I personally believe this also to be an end of an era, others may not. The space shuttle has served its purpose for over 40 years, and remains a symbol of space exploration. People may no longer be as interested in the space program, but the space shuttle had major impact on the world at the time, and I don't think we should forget what it helped accomplish. I do understand however, that the space shuttle is inefficient and will not allow us to travel and discover further than we already have. Therefore I am happy that NASA has taken another direction, yet remain grateful to the years of service of the space shuttle.

A quick side note, this post was not meant to become a political debate of whether Obama is a good president or not. That was just for more information, so I would prefer if politics were left out of any discussion, because that is an entirely different, and always dangerous topic. I don't mind if you talk about whether the new program is worth it or not, but try to remain neutral in a political sense.

1st

I was roaming YouTube the other day and came across one of those Starcraft videos from Korea. I found it fascinating that a country could be swept up by a video gmae like that. WHat happens when the game becomes outdated, do they just forget about it and this becomes a moment lost in history? Do they update the game, but what happens if the game changes too much and they no longer like it? How long will they be able to keep playing this game before it becomes boring? I mean, right now it seems like it is vastly popular and the players are extremely famous. It is like a port in Korea; they even have coaches and can apparently become too old to play well... somehow. Apparently, I'm not even close to the word limit so I guess I will change topics. The World Cup is coming up in summer and it looks like it is going to be a very competitive event. There are so many good teams, not just the major ones from Europe and Brazil/Argentina. Personally, I'm a big fan of the German squad. I think they have the potential to win the whole thing. However, it is not easy to win and they will have to play to their full potential every game. The team is very young, but it has good veteran leadership in Captain Michael Ballack. Mesut Özil astonished people at the under-21 World Cup last summer, and continues to amaze people in the Bundesliga. The major question is how whichever goalie that replaces Enke will play... rip. They are all talented, but they lack in experience. Adler has the most experience with 8 games played at the international level, however I prefer Neuer even though he has only played 2 international games. I hope the coaching staff can prepare them for the World Cup. My favorite player on the team, and who I think is the key to victory is Phillip Lahm. He is a wing back who constantly applies pressure and creates scoring opportunities, while not letting anyone get near the goal. He creates havoc and confusion on opposing teams that now need to account for multiple people on that side, creating mismatches and openings in the center. Let's hope it is going to be a good summer.