La Practice Blog Day

Day at Pinole

This morning I woke up around 8:00 AM, I thought I woke up very early so I didn't get up right away. I was careless and let myself fall asleep again, Luckily I always set up two alarms when I know I have to wake up early for something important. Sure enough my second alarm rang at 8:30 AM. I snoozed it but took a look at the time and jumped out of bed and into the shower to get ready for today's important event, Learning how to write a blog properly for the Ivy League Connection (ILC). Once i got ready I hurried to wake up my mother and ask her for a ride, she woke up and got ready herself. meanwhile I took advantage of this and ate a little bit of breakfast. Once she was ready to go I grabbed my book and all that I needed and went to the car.

Don Hard at Work

Upon arrival there were people already outside the library. I read some of the book I brought and waited outside the library because it was closed. Don got here fifteen minutes early. Once we got in the library we got right to work and we learned a lot from what Don was saying. He gave us the information we needed and warned us of negative things that could happen and of mistakes students had made before us. He followed this up with example of blogs written by students before us, great blogs and blogs that needed a lot of improvements. Then we got to work ourselves, we made a practice blog and worked on it step by step. We first began with the formatting, the content could be whatever we desired it to be. Secondly we learned about pictures, and how to take them and edit them to make it better. Thirdly we went out and took pictures and had some fun and relaxed. Finally we learned how to go from saving them into our computers to uploading them to our blogs properly.  

For Chicago, it's Time to Free Kris Bryant

The front of the Pinole Library

The Chicago Cubs, a 106-year laughing stock of a team that hasn't won a championship since 1908, is on the verge of seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.  This past winter, the Cubbies made big-time moves, stealing away the veteran manager of the Tampa Bay Rays in Joe Maddon and signing three-time All-Star pitcher Jon Lester, as well as vital role players in the speedster Dexter Fowler, former National League Rookie of the Year, Chris Coghlan, and lefty-specialist Travis Wood.  The Cubs have also put themselves in   a position to have a great future as well, drafting up-and-comers such as Jorge Soler, Addison Russell, Arismendy Alcantara, and Javier Baez, all who are in the Top 100 of their respective Draft Classes and all who are poised to become Big League superstars.  The Cubbies are on the up-and-up, especially because they also have a kid waiting in the wings by the name of Kris Bryant.

The parking lot of the Pinole Library

In short, Kris Bryant is a monster at the plate, a true testament to the Chicago Cubs front office and their ability to draft.  As the second overall pick in the 2013 Major League Draft, Bryant tore it up in 2014, batting .325, slugging 43 homers, and driving in 110 runs.  In Spring Training, Bryant proved to everyone that the hype was real, batting an unreal .425 and hitting nine homers in just 40 at-bats.  But even with his incredible spring and 2014 campaign, Chicago Cubs general manager Theo Epstein has elected to keep Bryant in the minor leagues in order to keep him locked up until the year 2021 instead of allowing him to enter arbitration in 2020.  Bryant isn't the only person to fall victim to the process of being held back.  Pittsburgh Pirates third baseman Gregory Polanco and was held back at the beginning of their teams' 2014 season in order to be held on for an additional couple of years. 

Contractually, this is a smart move by Epstein.  By locking up Bryant for an additional year, not only does he get that extra year on Bryant's contract, but it saves him a year's salary, which could in turn give the Cubbies a little spending money to blow on whoever hits the free market by 2020.  The problem is that Cubs fans are impatient; there have been four generations of Cubs fans since the last time they won it all and they're anxious.  The south side faithful don't want to wait another month for the phenomenon; they want him now.  If they struggle, these next couple of games could come back to haunt the Cubs 2015 playoff push in October and it may very well come down to Epstein's decision to not sign Bryant.  Fans can only wait and pray that the Cubs made the right move in keeping Bryant down yet again.  

Blogging In The Big Blue Chair At The Pinole Library

Outside The Library

The chair that I am sitting in is fairly comfortable. It is blue with wooden legs and a stuffed back. It is square and big. Each table has four chairs around it. There are about fifteen tables that I can see from where I am standing. There are about sixty chairs that I can see. Most of the chairs are empty. There is a woman with a stroller sitting in one chair typing on a computer. I see another lady with long straight black hair sitting with her back to me. She is reading a book to another woman sitting across from her. 

Inside The Library 

The library was quiet but a baby started crying. The noise is filling the room with loud screams and sobs. I can hear the sounds of people flipping through books. They are quickly scanning the pages deciding if they want to check the book out and fully explore the pages. I can hear the noise of typing. Keys are being pressed frantically by finger moving up and down on a keyboard. My computer is humming. 


There are bright lights on the ceiling. They are hanging from wires in rows all around the square room. To the right there is a light that is flickering. It turns on and off casting shadows on the wall around it. The wall is made of bricks. They are a light brownish beige color. There is a rim under the bricks. It is painted purple. The ends of the shelves and the carpets are also varying shades of purple.