Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
I hope everyone had a great time with family and friends. My dad and I went up north for like 5 days and it was a blast. I got to see a ton of my friends.. some I hadn't seen since I graduated and I got to reconnect with some of the people that are the most important to me so that was amazing. I even made a new friend, so it was really nice. I just really love that area, I feel the most comfortable and in my element there. Lets see, ate some food of course, played some board games (Scattergories is legit thats all I'm saying), watched some football, played golf for the first time in 3 months (lets just say the first 3 holes were unbelievably bad). It was a really good time though, unfortunately I wasn't able to meet up with everyone I had plans with or wanted to see; but for the most part it worked out pretty good. Hopefully I'll head back up there again in a month or so, at least that is the plan.

Its back to reality now. I have two weeks before my quarter is up and a lot of unfinished business left to go as far as writing papers. I need to really crunch this week and try to knock out as much of it as possible. That way next week (finals week) ill be able to just coast. I know I can do it I just have to maintain this state of concentration and motivation that I have right now. Oh yeah, tomorrow I find out whether I passed the CSET or not... big day. If I passed I might be able to student teacher this upcoming spring and get it over with, otherwise I'll have to wait until the fall. Either way its not really a big deal, but I hope I passed it just so I don't have to deal with it again. Plus, its hella expensive (70$ for each subtest and there were 3), but the good news is that if you pass one section you don't have to take it again.

Other than that, I finished my Grandpa's book. It has a a really good story/plot, but the syntax is a little weird and the character development feels rushed. I liked it though. I guess thats really all I have to update on, traffic was a nightmare getting up north but coming home it wasn't bad. I feel really good after that trip, Im always really happy around the holidays. Theres just something about it, I don't know what, but I like it. I think I'm going to leave off on that note. Have a great night world.

Resolvement

Haha, like so often in life people over worry about things. My dad is going to finance the remaining money my little sister needs for her car, so her problem is solved. My dad is a great guy and is willing to do just about anything for his kids that he can. In fact, he has almost always put his children first; which in itself has made him a great parent.

Anyways, I'm watching "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" right now. I love these movies, these along with the Lord of the Rings trilogy, are some of the best movies that have been released in this decade. I can't wait for the next Harry Potter, it comes out sometime in July. I should really read the books, I've heard that they are much better than the movies, which is amazing considering how good the movies are.

My dad and I are leaving tomorrow for Auburn, I'm really excited to visit friends and family. I have class tonight and then I'm pretty much done with school for the week. My quarter ends during the second week of December. So its coming up fast. I'll probably post later tonight or tomorrow before I leave so talk to you all then.

Family

So I have a mom and day.. like most of you. I also have two sisters: Shannon, 24, who lives in Vallejo with her boyfriend. Meghan, 18, lives in Illinois with my mom. My little sister is pregnant and is due on New Years Day. Shes trying to buy a car right now.. its hard not to be able to help. My parents both have most of their money tied up in home improvements and/or paying off bills so unfortunately Meghan is in a tough spot. I wish I was working full-time and I could just lend her the money to bail her out. Oh well, at least she doesn't need the car right this minute, otherwise she would be screwed. She is going to community college and is going to take online classes next semester, when she has her daughter that way she won't have to miss any school. I'm very proud of her and excited to be a uncle. I bought her a baby monitor today on one of her online baby registries, its something she needed and I hope it will get good use out of it for the next few years. I just need to figure out what I'm going to get her for Xmas, not just some crap she doesn't need but hopefully something she wants and can use. I really miss her and I hope her boyfriend steps up and becomes a man. I don't want her to have to go through a terrible situation because some immature guy isn't willing to take care of something he helped cause. I don't really know him so I'm trying to keep an open mind; but when I hear conflicting things from other people in the family... ay ay ay. I guess this is life though isn't it? Full of unexpected twists and turns (like pregnancies). I just really needed to get this out, I got pretty upset thinking about it earlier. I just hate feeling helpless.

Anyways, on to something a little more cheerful, not that my sister being pregnant is not, but my worriness. I received my Grandpa's latest book in the mail a few days ago. My grandpa is a really intelligent man and is trying to get his hand involved in writing fiction novels. I've read his first book which is a military story about the Baja California peninsula. This book, The Society of Traders, is about a Celtic tribe living in ancient England.. It's an action/adventure with a love story intertwined in. I'm excited to read it... I'm also reading a book for school called Bowling Alone. It basically talks about how Americans don't talk, visit, volunteer, join organizations, host dinner parties, or do anything social as much anymore. He has a really extensive amount of evidence to prove his point and its really disturbing to read. TV is the biggest culprit of this trend according to him. It really made me think about TV in my life and how much time I spend in front of it, when I could be visiting with family and friends. Also, do I want my children to be exposed to as much TV as I was growing up or still am? Do I even have the strength to say no to TV, something that has become so ingrained in most of our lives? I don't know... I mainly watch sports, history, discovery, national geographic.. is this as bad as the regular bullshit shows or soap operas? I'm not sure; maybe I'll know when I finish the book.

Haha well I'm sorry this turned into such a deep post, well actually I'm not. The art of intellectual communication and conversation seems a rare thing these days. Even if it is a conversation with yourself. Anyways, I'm going to leave you with a quote from one of my favorite musicians Lupe Fiasco: "Close your eyes, see with your heart." Have a wonderful night and a wonderful weekend everyone.

Busy busy...

Hello all,

Well, well its been a few days so lets see what has happened... First, I had a huge presentation on Sudan on Wednesday night. I spent pretty much all day Tuesday and Wednesday putting that together, I've done a lot of research throughout the quarter it was just a matter of putting it all together. My group and I spoke about them for an hour and 15 minutes! Oops, we were only suppose to talk for about 45 minutes haha oh well, its a large country (one and a half times the size of Alaska, which is the continental U.S. west of the Mississippi River) and there is a lot going on there regarding terrorism. The class is terrorism in Africa and its one of the coolest classes I've ever taken. Lets see, I beat Fable 2 for the second time on Tuesday (yes I'm a gamer: I have an xbox 360 and a nintendo wii). So I took Fable 2, Gears of War 1, Ncaa football 08, Gun, Call of Duty 2, Mass Effect, and Wii play to Game stop and traded them in. Fable 2 is an awesome game as is Mass Effect: both are RPG/adventure type games with lots of side quests and exploring to do. I highly recommend them to anyone with an xbox. Anyways, Game stop has this deal right now that they add 30% of the value to whatever your trading in on top so I got like 65$ for all those games. So, I bought the new Animal Crossing with the Wii Speak thing. Its pretty cool so far, I have only played it for like an hour and a half. It starts off kind of slow, but it is getting a lot better.

My posters arrived yesterday as well, but I haven't even opened them. I was suppose to play tennis last night with my buddy John, but my other friend Omar texted me and invited me to the Los Angeles Kings game (Hockey for those of you confused). It was awesome, he had great seats he got from one of his student's dads (hes a sixth grade teacher). I have never been to the Staples Center and I have to say its pretty awesome; way better than Arco Arena in Sacramento which is what I am used too. Anyways, they played the Washington Capitals so I got to see Alex Ovechkin play, which was awesome because he was the MVP of the NHL last year. The Kings won 5-2, so it was a really good game. I also bought the book I need for one of my classes next quarter and the books I need for my January teaching class, so it was good to get that out of the way. I try to buy all my books on either Amazon or half.com, which is run by ebay. I seriously have saved thousands of dollars by doing this and I usually can sell them back to the school for alm0st as much as I pay for them.

I'm at work right now and just about to start working on some school work. I need to go running today, I slacked big time this week because of my presentation. I'm going to play tennis tomorrow with John too, so that will be good to get out two days in a row. I feel like something else happened that I wanted to write about, but I can't really remember... hm. Oh yeah, I watched the Charlie Brown Thanksgiving Special this morning. Man, talk about memories.. I have been watching those Peanuts specials since I can remember. In fact, I bought all of them on DVD last year, that way I can always watch them during the holidays. Thats pretty funny isn't it? I guess I am kind of weird ha oh well. I hope everyone has a great Friday. Αντίο!

Posters

So I finally broke down and did it for the first time... I bought my dad a Christmas present. No I'm just teasing, but I did buy him something. I have to say buying x-mas gifts for dad have to be one of the hardest things ever. I usually get him something dumb that I know he will like, but is impersonal like planters peanuts or something like that. However, this year I have out done myself. I bought him a New England Patriots blanket and being the huge Pats fan that he is, it is a perfect gift! I have already bought one sister her gift (don't want to put it up in case she reads this), so I need to get something for my other sister and her incoming baby(I still can't believe I'm going to be an uncle) and my mom I guess hmm. At least I got myself out of the way ha. I just ordered some posters that I have been wanting for a long time: Vitruvian man by Leonardo Da Vinci, A world map, The Persistence of Memory by Salvador Dali, and The Great Wave at Kanagawa by Hokusai. I already have a Starry Night by Vincent Van Gogh. I love good art as you can probably tell, and I feel like it goes well with my star wars and george lucas posters haha. I found out some great news for school last night, I won't get into the boring details but my final for one class just got a whole lot easier like the teacher is automatically giving us 100 out of the 200 points, which means he is giving us 10% of our final grade. Pretty awesome, and we can turn our final in electronically and he already told us the essay prompt so its pretty sweet. Anyways, I have a big presentation tomorrow night in my terrorism in Africa class... my group is presenting on Sudan. Yeah I am pretty much a Sudan and Darfur expert now from this class, so if you have any questions ask away. Well I am going to call it so I can finish preparing for my presentation tomorrow. Night all.

Who is Ryan Riley?

So I promised a bio post so here it is. Well my name is Ryan Riley and I'm 22 years old. I'm a graduate student at CSU- San Bernardino and I'm studying Social Sciences. I'm also working on getting my single subject teaching credential through National University. I live with my old man and my dog Will. Lets see.. the things I love most are (in no particular order): sports, friends, family, anime, movies, music, running, reading, learning, writing, and a bunch of other stuff. Sports are a big part of my life, I seriously think I love every sport and will play/watch anything. Friends are obviously important and are usually the replacement for family for many of us. Family of course is family, some of us hate our family, some love them; but they are who they are and we don't choose them. Anime is just awesome. I'm a pretty big movie guy, kind of like a visual book, that is how i look at it at least. Oh yeah I love ice cream too (just popped in my head since I'm eating some). Music is way, way up there for me; I don't think I could survive without it. Seriously, I listen to music when I drive, run, read, hang out with people, write my papers, etc. Running has become a huge part of my life. I didn't start running until after high school, but it is probably one of the single most important adjustments I have ever made. Healthy and happy are the way to be and runners usually are. Reading is something I have done since I can remember and its probably good I like it since I have to read in school so much haha. I love sci-fi/fantasy, but I will read just about anything. I am a life long learner, as I am still in school and plan on teaching. Writing, well I don't think I would be doing this little blog if I did not like it.

In a nutshell, that is me. I try to be a nice, respectful, and fair guy that treats others as I would like to be treated (The golden rule). Pretty calm, don't lose my temper easily, passionate, haha I feel like I'm filling out a survey for a dating site or something. This is kind of like a broad, general overview of who I am so I guess I will give you more of my current passions or trends in my life. I'm really into tennis right now as you could tell from a previous post. I'm actually pretty much obsessed with it and i'm sad that the season just ended. I have a huge thing for travel right now too, I was lucky enough to go to Europe and February and it really changed my life. I really care about Africa too and what happens there. That may seem kind of silly or intuitive, but I actually really wish I could go there and help the people in need there. They don't deserve our pity or sympathy, but they do need help. Sigh... anyways, I really want to keep writing, but this could go on forever. Not that anyone knows about this yet.. I'm debating whether I will post the link on my facebook :D. If someone does read it eventually, I want them to be able to without having to spend an hour. Anyways, if you do read this and you care or are interested send me an email or leave me a comment. Assalamo Aleikum!

Tennis

Hello all!

I'm just watching Survivorman and surfing the internet. Les Miles and Bear Grylls (from Man vs. Wild) are my heroes, it is amazing what those guys can do out in the wild. I worked for 6 hours today and then played tennis for 4. Tennis is really a difficult game, and the professionals on TV make it look so easy. Its ridiculously fun and addicting though, I only get to play maybe once every two weeks right now, hopefully that will go up. Roger Federer is my favorite player as you can tell from the picture above and arguably the best player of all time. I'm not going to get into that though. Anyways about my job, it is probably the best setup ever. I work from 10am to 4pm on friday, saturday, and sunday. Its at a condominium complex in their clubhouse and no one even comes in. I have my own office with a computer, printer and access to the internet. There is a theatre room, pool table, foosball, darts, kitchen, poker room, etc. Its a really cool setup. I get almost all of my homework done there each weekend including writing my papers and reading. I also get to watch college football on saturdays and professional on sundays. I only make minimum wage, but hey I live at home now so I don't really need a lot. I just realized that I haven't exactly posted about who I am and all that jazz... maybe I'll do like a biography post tomorrow. Its about midnight so I think I'm going to call it... Have a great night!

Football

I love this picture... Haha I don't want any of you to think this is going to be like a Barack Obama love fest blog or anything. I just remembered running across this picture about 6-9 months ago and there is just something about it. Anyways, Thanksgiving is in a little less than two weeks and I'm going back up north to Auburn for a few days. It should be a lot of fun, get to see some family and friends. School is going good, I'm almost done with my fourth teaching class and I have about three more weeks of my first quarter of graduate school. I really miss coaching football right now. Theres something about the month of November that really makes me miss it. Its crazy to think that besides my freshman year of high school, this is really the first year I haven't either been playing football or coaching it since I was 7 years old. I think i'm going through withdrawals haha no joke either. I miss coaching it a lot right now.

Welcome

Welcome to my blog

I don't know if anyone will ever see this, but if you do you will get a good idea of who I am. You know those moments where you just feel like you should be doing and get inspired? Thats what happened to me when I created this blog earlier tonight. Writing really is therapeutic, not that I need therapy, but you know what I'm saying. Its always nice to know that your leaving a mark in some way each day, even if it through just a blog. I love to write and besides school work I haven't written much lately. So I guess this is just going to be a compilation of thoughts, ideas, passions, complaints, raves.. hmm who knows what else? This could be exciting haha or dull or boring. I've always liked to read things I write and reflect on what I was feeling during that time so that is probably a big reason for this. By the way, I had the privilege of voting for the 44th President of the United States, a certain Barack Obama, who was elected. Its one of the proudest moments of my life I would have to say, just to know that in some small way I helped make history. Something you can tell your kids and grandkids... Does anyone like John Legend? He is amazing and is one of my favorite artists, but listen to "If you're out there" off his new CD Evolver. Go buy the CD first if you don't have it because it is a great all-around CD. Anyways, he actually performed this song at the Democratic National Convention and it really sums up how I feel about the election and how proud it makes me feel. Anyways health and wishes to you all, por vida (for life for you non-spanish speakers out there haha).