Here's my collective poetry:

Walking among
Candy wrappers
Popcorn and more

They stop and reflect
On the movie

“I enjoyed it,” one of them says
“I hated it,” one of them says

They both disagree
But in harmony
They walk together
Out of the movie


I met a girl
Who made me blush
Made my blood curl
And my face flush


A day without a book
Is like a day without a cook
Nourishment through words
Can equate to two-thirds
Of the population


Water hit’s the freshly-cut grass
And to bugs it makes the sound of ringing brass
And to a person who is crass
It is just part of the landscape


Bronze, silver, gold
All make people bold


I told the mold to fold

Mike and Ike jumped on a pike

Fred drank mead and bled on banana bread

Jed wed and fed Sed

John and Juan stay on to con upon Don

Taylor went to Baylor and became a sailor then a tailor

Tim and Kim were slim and trim but not dim.

Sam liked ham and spam and went on the lam.

These two books have to be the best two books I have read in a long time. John Twelve Hawks writes brilliantly, and the story is uncomfortably close to the world we live in today. Check out these great books today! They are The Traveler, and The Dark River, by John Twelve Hawks. Think present-day 1984, but way better! You won't be sorry!

Interesting race in the NL East, with the Phillies and Mets tied for first! This seems to be the year of the sleeper, with the Cubs taking first in the NL Central and the Brewers even making a run earlier in the year. And who would have guessed that the NL West would send two teams to the play-offs???

Here are my picks for the play-offs:

AL:

Angels vs. Red Sox
3-1 Angels

Yankees vs. Indians
3-1 Indians

Angels vs. Indians
4-3 Angels

NL:
D-Backs vs. Cubs
D-Backs 3-2

Phillies vs. Padres
Phillies 3-1

Phillies vs. D-Backs
D-Backs 4-2

WS:

Angels vs. D-Backs
Angels 4-2


And this is in no way biased at all!

As if anyone cares....

I have been playing well in my soccer games lately, and have two consecutive clean-sheets. For you non-enlightened people, that is when a goal-keeper gives up no goals in a game.

I have soccer try-outs on October 29th for my school, and I hope to make the JV team as a starter somewhere, whether it be on the field or in the goal.

School has been going well, and I like a fair amount of my teachers. My Spanish, Math, and Drama teachers are great. Spanish is actually one of my favorite classes. I guess I've got the family gene of a love for languages (Dad knows 5, mom knows 3). I think I have all A's and two B's, but I'm not positive. Biology is rather difficult for me, and I'm guessing its because I don't really feel motivated to learn any of it. With English, I know a lot of the vocab. because I've read them in books. But seriously, who reads words like mycology and nucleolus in a normal fiction/non-fiction book?

Unfortunately, school is approaching, and approaching fast. The days of summer will soon be over and I will be left to toil over hours of homework while maintaining my busy schedule of club soccer, soccer at school, piano, bass, and other activities. I won't be able to trade nearly as often and my time on TCC will be greatly limited. That's ok though, I hope to get make the starting J.V. keeper and starting freshman team center fielder while maintaining good grades.

Wish me luck!

-David

One of the greatest feelings a collector can achieve, especially a collector of youth, is pulling a game used jersey or autographed card from a pack. When I was 11, my mom bought me a pack of 2005 Upper Deck, and I pulled a Vladimir Guerrero jersey card. I was entrenched with it all day, feeling the swatch, imagining "Vlad" was with me, teaching me how to bat.

Then I realized there was a large crease in it, and I hadn't even noticed before due to my sheer joy. I now know that it was probably damaged by a pack searcher, who bent the pack but for some reason didn't open the pack. Now I can not even fully enjoy this great card that brings back memories.

EVERY time a disgusting thief goes into any place that has cards (hobby shops, Targets, Wal-Marts, etc.) and searches the packs by weighing, feeling, or opening, they are STEALING from collectors and especially youth collectors who have zero chance of experiencing the feeling I did.

So to all of those who search packs, and buy or sell hot packs, or hot pack secrets, please don't. It is just plain simple stealing, and more than that, immorally wrong to young collectors.

It was 2 years ago when I walked into Russo's, my local bookstore/post office annex/card shop on a cold winter day. I had just earned my $5 allowance, that my 10 year old self tried to earn every week through chores, and went to look for a good book. I heard a clamoring excitement come from the back of the store. Curiously, I approached the back timidly, to see several boys my age and older, going head to head it seemed with cards. "What is this?" I wondered. I asked a boy what it was and he said it was a Yu-Gi-Oh tournament. I stepped closer into the crowd and saw the creatures on the cards and thought they looked silly. I backed away from the cluster of kids, and approached the glass counter top, which showcased lots of cards underneath its smooth, shiny surface. I saw lots of cards from my favorite team, the Angels, which had pieces of jersey and autographs on them! I was amazed! I asked the man behind the counter how one attained such cards? He told me that they were pulled from packs. I looked behind the counter, and saw boxes of cards containing rows and rows upon rows of packs. I asked him for a pack, and he handed me a 2004 Topps pack. I was about to rip it open, when he told me I had to pay for it. "Of course, stupid," I silently yelled at my self, embarrassed from my mistake. The clerk told me it was $2 and I promptly payed him, as soon as I could whip out my wad of $1 bills. I walked away from the counter, and opened the pack, furiously, with great vigor. My heartbeat was getting heavier, and I went card by card slowly, with a carefulness only seen by surgeons performing quadruple bypass surgery. When I reached the last card of the pack, I yelped for joy, for before me held an Angel, and my favorite player, Darin Erstad.