Author: displacedlocal

Elements

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Pressure and time.

Pressure and time create beautiful diamonds from lumps of coal.
Elements are created from the reactions within stars.
Hydrogen becomes helium through chaotic explosions that leave heat and fire in their path.
The heavier elements get compressed more and more into the center of the giant ball of gases to the point where they want to break out and explode across the universe sending bits and pieces flying. All of the elements come from this process even the very carbon in our bodies.

People are a lot like elements. We collide in different ways. We create changes in the people we meet. There is sometimes friction and violence. People go to war over land, honor, and the god they believe in. They gravitate towards each other like the heavier elements do. They explore out over the world and the universe. Time and pressure push us together. We collide like celestial bodies in space or world superpowers on the brink of war. We are like the carbon that makes us up. We like to think that the rules that govern the rest of the universe don’t apply to us. But we are no more special to the universe than the stars that crated us.

Sidelined pt. 2

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I had a conversation to my parents about my injury today. They seemed very closed off about the idea of letting me play.

It feels horrible knowing that I am the only player on the team that has yet to have a single minute of in game time. Especially because it is due to a small injury like this one.

As you saw in my last post I am very disappointed about this and have been trying as hard as a possibly can to help it heal and make it up to my team, but I am of little help to them in this state.

I am doing what I can for my team and my parents have been kind of receptive to the idea of me playing in a very limited fashion, but I want the feeling of playing a game and being able to win… or lose with a team as a team.

I am still trying to do everything in my power to let my parents clear me to play but as it stands it hasn’t been effective.

I want to apologize to the team for letting them down as a player and teammate.

But for today at least I am still although angry about being so,

still sidelined.

Sidelined

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I have been sidelined at every football game this season. I have not played a down of football in a game this year. This is all due to a small fracture in my ring finger that I injured during practice.

I injured on a play during practice where I rushed the quarterback and was blocked. my finger happened to get caught in another player’s jersey.

The fracture wasn’t very large, but my finger was rotated halfway sideways and wouldn’t move.

I stopped playing and after practice had it wrapped up. It wouldn’t move and I didn’t feel hopeful.

The results from the X-ray proved my fears.

Read More »

Five seconds

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One
Your heart pulses
Your muscles prepare for the explosion of force that explodes from your muscles.
You take a breath in
Your mind does a quick recap of your preparations
Your body is ready
Two
A huge push
A signal from your brain reaches the muscles in your legs
The muscles expand throwing you off the ledge
The tendons in your knees expand and contract
Gravity is no longer a boundary
Your brain works tirelessly sharpening the senses
Three
The brisk air flies by your face
you feel weightless
Gravity again grips at your feet
Your brain again fears the earth and prepares itself for impact
Your legs reach out for land
The ledge comes into sight
You close your eyes for the last moment of bliss
Four
Contact
Your muscles absorb the shock
You roll from the balls of your feet, throwing your weight forward
The earth is cold and it grips to your hand
Your brain recovers from the impact bringing blood back to the extremeties to heal
You stand and open your eyes
Five
You let out a sigh of relief
You are alive
You look back at your accomplishment
a ten foot gap cleared
back to work

A Fantastic Start

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Saturday’s football game against Lee Vining was a great game for us at OVS. The new players and the veterans had great games. Juniors Cody Triggs, Keaton Shiffman and John Olivo were just a few of the players that endured nearly ever play.

John Olivo also ran for one of the 8 touchdowns, shedding 5 tacklers on the way there. He had a second carry later on in the game resulting in 15 yards and a number of Lee Vining defenders with failed tackles.

Sophomore Masaki Takamatsu, in his first ever football game, ran for three touchdowns eluding the defense and shedding tackles on his way to the end zone.
He also caught a pass for his fourth touchdown of the day. Read More »

Old Hands

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His old hands are ready. He lets out a sigh and reaches for his paintbrush. For him, painting has evolved from a hobby into an obsession.

His weathered fingers clutch the brush carefully, examining the shape and age. He views his subject. His grip tightens as he combines colors into the shades he desires.

His first stroke comes with a splash of a deep blue. The brush has become an extension of himself. He takes another stroke, slowly mixing in white paint until his deep blue has become as pale as the midday sky.

The cool air blows across his face. A face that has been weathered by a life lived and time passed. Each crevice in his skin is a symbol of his experiences.

The sand brushes against his legs, slowly aging the skin. Yet his painting continues, never ceasing.

His arthritic joints have become painful once again. He winces at every movement. His painting is near completion mere strokes away from finality.

His hands no longer obey him and he must begin to slow.

With a fine needle he signs his name and titles the piece.

His painting complete.

    “beach” by Stephen Giannetti, Paint on canvas

Breaking Through

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Breaking through was the hardest part. They said that on the other side we would find happiness, answers, something. There must have been a reason the universe inexplicably stopped expanding.

The crew of our small expedition consisted of five of us. The “best” people for the job. Best. I would describe us as inexperienced. Too young. Lost.

The greatest minds of our time wanted answers and we were the crew assigned to the job. The journey to the edge was instantaneous.

To break through we had to bend the laws of what we thought was possible. We [Process Classified].

When we breached the edge of the universe there was nothing but darkness. Then it started infecting us.

[Name removed] was the first infected by the bug.

The parasite’s symptoms were unlike any others any of us had ever seen.

It was not a physical disease. It starts with projecting an image of unbelievable beauty. It captivates you. Seeing it absorbs your every thought. Nothing else matters.

Then, like a candle burning out for the last time, it disappears and never returns.

It fills you with a need for it. It becomes an addiction. You beg for it to return.

After days of waiting. It returns, but it isn’t the same. Something is wrong. The happiness is replaced by fear. It consumes you. It hurts to live. [Names removed] ended their lives at this point. I locked the last survivor other than myself in a cell at his request.

He lives through the fear and walks up to the window and explains to me what he feels. “I have seen all. We should never have tested these limits. Life isn’t meant to be tested like this. GO LEAVE.” The rest of his words were muddled and unrecognizable.

Looking outside the window of my quarters I have to wonder why I haven’t been infected, but my mind has been fixated on a thought. A thought I can’t quite place, but It is beautiful.

Just beautiful.

The Biggest Thing in Sneakers #1

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Ever since Nike started making endurance running sneakers they have been searching for a show with support that fits like a sock.

This latest development was one of pure genius. stemming from the “innovation kitchen” at Nike headquarters he has created a way of manufacturing that revolutionizes running, style, and production.

This product is Flyknit. Created with design genius Hiroshi Fujiwara, legendary designer Tinker Hatfield and CEO Mark Parker, Flyknit utilizes cords of synthetic yarn woven into the shape of a shoe. This technique allowed the designers to map the floor and create a running shoe that provides support exactly where one needs it.

This technology is not only good for runners and athletes, but the industry as a whole. The possibility of  being able to walk into a store and have a shoe woven to perfectly match the foot of the customer is something the industry has been pursuing for a long time.

The process is used to create a shoe made from TWO pieces. Most sneakers are made from upwards of twenty. This feat is unprecedented and has changed the idea of production as we know it.

The simple production eliminates  the need for the use of cheap labor in China and Vietnam and allows production to be pushed back into America.

The shoe has changed the way we think about style, production, and what we think a shoe can be.

Wearing it for the past month has made it my favorite pair of sneakers, and showed me something I had never seen before. A shoe that fits like a sock.