The Derby

After thinking for awhile I have to say that my favorite Atlanta restaurant is the Derby in Alpharetta. Well, the Derby is more of a bar than a restaurant, but the food and the atmosphere make it my personal choice. My dad, our friend Kevin, and I go to the Derby every Tuesday and Thursday night for trivia. Though we go to play the game, the people we meet are awesome. Some of the people have be there everyday for years. Just a few weeks ago when a guy who had been going to the Derby for years died, they held a wake inside the bar for him and engraved a plaque for him at the bar. There is a sort of bond or kinship between the people that regularly frequent the Derby, a sort of unspoken truce. Getting to the food, the wings are awesome and just about everything else is pretty good too. Every time we go there our friend Kevin gets 12 wings, while my dad gets 12 boneless wings. I'm the type of person that likes variety in my food, therefore I try to get something different every time. Environment in a restaurant is key to me, it provides a certain level of comfortability and relaxation. The Derby is a place where anyone and everyone can come in, sit down, and have a good time. No one is there to make a fashion statement or look cool, relaxing and having a good meal is everyones top priority. I understand that many Atlanta restaurants probably have better food than the Derby, but the atmosphere and people you find there are absolutely unbeatable.

A-Fraud

I remember a time when baseball players were Gods to me, a time when every home run hit was incredible. Now, when I think of Major League Baseball all I can picture is a syringe full of steroids. Baseball used to be "America's Game" and a sport that me and millions of little kids dreamed of playing. The recent report of one of the games biggest players, Alex Rodriguez, using steroids does not even surprise me anymore; in fact at this point it is just laughable. Its laughable that a game that was the king of professional sports 10 short years ago is now the butt of all jokes. The reason steroids have brought the game down so fast is the fact that baseball, unlike football, is a statistics and records oriented sport. In baseball everyone knows what the numbers 755 or 714 mean, but as an avid NFL fan I cannot even tell you what the all-time rushing or passing records are. Steroids made a game, motivated by records, seem phony and not real. No one knows what the all-time home run record is now because it was set by Barry Bonds, an alleged steroid user. I do not think that Barry Bonds, Alex Rodriguez, or Roger Clemens will even know how badly they have hurt the game they played, they will be living in their mansions and country clubs for the rest of their adult lives. It is the kids and young adults, like me, who grew up idolizing these men who are the most hurt. Their records once stood as God-like figures above us all, now it seems they are just as phony as professional wrestling. Maybe one day baseball will be "America's Game" again, but first it has to completely rid the sport from all the "cheaters" who caused it's destruction. 

Everyones a Reporter

Since the invention of digital cameras and the internet, everyone seems to know what is going on in the world at all times. Everyone knows exactly what celebrities in Hollywood are doing because everyday people have the ability to film then and upload it on the internet. No matter who you are, you can know be a reporter or journalist. With the concept of blogs, anyone can now start rumors or gossip about anyone they want. Though it is good to see technology evolving, the question of personal privacy is now in the for front.

Now that anyone can be a reporter, rules about respect and professionalism have gone out the window. Some people will do whatever it takes to stalk a celebrity for pictures or start gossip about a politician. Even though the Constitution clearly talks about freedoms of the press, I do not think our Founding Fathers ever imagined a time where everyone could be a reporter. 

Another negative about the digital era in reporting is the fact that credibility and believable have taken a back seat to sensationalism. Sites such as TMZ let anyone and everyone submit stories, no matter how false or unbelievable they are. Anyones reputation is at risk with the ability for anyone to alter photos and create stories about anyone and everyone. This new era has lead millions to receive false or altered information on a daily basis. Though it is truly amazing to see where technology and entertainment are now, it is troubling to see truthful reporting fall to the wayside to flashing entertainment. 

The Secret

1. At first glance, I had no idea what was going on with all the pictures. After reading a few I began to figure out what exactly the site was about and why there were a ton of random postcards all over it. At first I thought this may be another picture sharing site like fliker.

2. The pictures provided a bit of humor and in some cases, reality to the pictures. I saw the picture, then read the writing, which gave me a different view of what the author was trying to get across.

3. The  pictures are cool to look at by themselves, but it is the writing the brings the emotion to the postcard. Without the line about alcoholism, the postcard of an Arizona sunset would not be anything special to look at. The writing gives the pictures new depth and meaning, far greater than a simple picture can provide.

4. While the pictures were nice  to look at, the words were interesting and rewarding to read. While the pictures of the half-naked maid and Tom Hanks were funny, it was the postcards about alcoholism and anorexia that showed true emotion; you could really see the author pouring their heart onto the card in those.

5.

This postcard is saying two different things in my opinion. On one hand, it is stressing the value of loyalty and never ending love. One the other hand, it shows the double or secret lives that so many of us live, hiding things from even the closest friends and relatives.