Eric's Everydays by Eric Giarnese https://padlet.com/egiarnese/s1rxgprbv5j47wnl English Project en-us 2021-05-12 23:51:15 UTC 2021-05-14 00:03:45 UTC hello@padlet.com The PawSox Moved, but Pawtucket Has Yet to Move On: egiarnese https://padlet.com/egiarnese/s1rxgprbv5j47wnl/wish/1521809994 After reading this article, I had a bit of a bittersweet feeling. Growing up, I was always a Boston Red Sox fan. By proxy, I was also a fan of their minor league affiliate, the Pawtucket Paw Sox. I can recall many times where my grandfather and I took a trip down to Pawtucket, RI from my grandparents’ home in Newport, RI to watch the Paw Sox play. I found it so cool to go to Pawtucket to watch some of the good players play really well and then soon enough see them on TV playing for the Boston Red Sox. The Pawtucket Paw Sox will always be a part of my childhood and I’ll never forget the memories they gave me. However, I’m not a child anymore, and similar to moving on from my childhood, the Paw Sox weren’t making any money in Pawtucket and decided to move on, to Worcester, MA. Lucky for me, I have grown up 20 minutes down the road from the location of the Worcester Red Sox’s new stadium. This change in scenery for the Red Sox’s minor league team, I believe, can be a really good thing. I think there is a strong, baseball fan base in Worcester, MA. As well, the city itself is enormous so they should have no problem finding fans to fill their new stadium. In addition, for my future, I’d like to pursue a career in Sports Management and I will be attending Assumption University, which is also in Worcester, MA. The career opportunities that have been mentioned to me with the newly added Worcester Red Sox could be huge for me. The minor league team for the Boston Red Sox just 5 minutes away from my college campus where I will be studying how to get a job for the Red Sox, could potentially set me up for success. However, it still stings to take the team out of Pawtucket. I found this quote in the article to hit home the hardest: 
“The story of the Pawtucket Red Sox “Paw Sox” carries the familiar moral that in the end, baseball is a business. But it is also the story of a piece of identity lost. This minor league team was as much a part of Rhode Island as quahogs, or Del’s Lemondade, or hoary stories of having once bumped into so-and-so the mobster at such-and-such a joint.”
To end, the Pawtucket Red Sox will always be a part of Rhode Island’s history, and my history. But the time for new beginnings has begun and the Worcester Red Sox look to bring with them, a bright future.


 

]]> 2021-05-13 16:46:54 UTC https://padlet.com/egiarnese/s1rxgprbv5j47wnl/wish/1521809994 Online Schools Are Here to Stay, Even After the Pandemic egiarnese https://padlet.com/egiarnese/s1rxgprbv5j47wnl/wish/1521817725 To start, I’d like to say that this article was very well written and very compelling, however I have my own opinions on this matter which I would like to voice. Essentially, the basis of the article was on the fact that while many schools are choosing to open their doors again for their students, there are still many people who have chosen to remain with online schooling. The article did a very good job of convincing me of the benefits to online schooling. However, my opinion on the matter still stands. I believe that as a student, and as an adolescent it is much more beneficial to attend school in person. I have reasons to back this belief up. First, I do think that online schooling was a really important challenge for our society. But, I will add that a challenge isn’t meant to become permanent. It’s something you are supposed to work through and overcome. What we are trying to get back to, is in-person learning, being back in a classroom, and interacting with your peers. Second, while I do believe in the premise of online learning, it simply does not prepare you for the outside world. The way to prepare for the crazy world that we live in starts with going to school. It’s where I learned how to read and write, and more importantly in my opinion, how to interact with other humans. It taught me about social structure and hierarchies, respect, and people skills to name a few. In-person learning is the best way to prepare us for the real world and while online learning may be tantalizing, I think it is important to stick to what has made our world so successful.


]]> 2021-05-13 16:48:25 UTC https://padlet.com/egiarnese/s1rxgprbv5j47wnl/wish/1521817725 How Did We Get So Stuck On Here? egiarnese https://padlet.com/egiarnese/s1rxgprbv5j47wnl/wish/1521823038 This article reminded me a lot about what we have been discussing during class. The premise of the article as I’m sure you can already tell from the title, was why has social media become so addicting to so many people. I’d like to give my own opinions on this matter. I believe that social media, to begin with, was a fantastic idea. It was a platform to connect people from all different kinds of backgrounds on a single site. It was new and exciting when it first arrived and I remember exactly when I created my instagram account. It was my very first experience with social media and I was in the 7th grade. For a while, my parents did not allow me to have any kind of social media; the main ones consisting of instagram, facebook, and snapchat. They didn’t believe that I needed these applications that early in my adolescent life, and quite frankly, they were probably right. Through my first years of social media use, I became obsessed with posting on instagram and receiving likes on my posts. I became enthralled with the number of likes I received on each post. I accounted for my self-worth, with how many likes I got on a picture of a cool baseball field I played at. As a young, 7th-8th grader, this was certainly not healthy for me. As I became older and started to mature, I started to care less about what people thought of me on social media, and I started to post less frequently. I didn’t feel the need to update everybody around me on what I was doing every second of my life. However, for some people, this addiction never mellowed out. But, I can understand and empathize with why. Social media can be a dangerous vacuum that can suck you in and keep you there for some time. Getting likes and attention makes people feel like what they are doing is cool, and important to other people. When in reality, the 4 hour painting you worked on and posted only takes a random person 0.2 seconds to double-tap their screen to like it. It creates a self-recycling numbness that is extremely addictive for some reason. To finish, I think the worst part about social media is how easy it is to be negative on its platforms. It is very easy for anybody to sit behind their computer or phone screen and say something negative about another person and have no repercussions for it. Anybody can take 5 minutes and make an anonymous instagram account to spread hate on other people’s accounts. This dark, deep, addictive hole that social media has become is a dangerous one, but I don’t see social media going anywhere anytime soon.


]]> 2021-05-13 16:49:35 UTC https://padlet.com/egiarnese/s1rxgprbv5j47wnl/wish/1521823038 Climate Change is Making Big Problems Bigger: egiarnese https://padlet.com/egiarnese/s1rxgprbv5j47wnl/wish/1521828124 I found this article especially interesting for me as in the fall term I took a class on climate change so I was very curious to see what kind of opinion it would have. The article kept its focus on the fact that our planet is in fact growing increasingly warmer each day and so far we have had a very late response to stop it. In my climate change class, we talked a lot about the modes of climate change and ways to effectively begin a plan to halt it. However, I wish the article included some ways that the average person can help fight climate change. Most articles I see nowadays on climate change revolve around the creation of fear in the people who read them. While in theory, yes, fear is important to get people to realize just how big of a deal climate change is. However, I think it is more important to instill fear while also instilling solutions. In the climate change class I took in the fall, I remember vividly arguing that offering solutions would be much more effective than the fear factor. I still believe that many people read these articles and decide that “there’s nothing we can do” or “we’re screwed”, and that is increasingly becoming closer to the truth. This is because people are probably deciding that they can’t do anything to fix our doomed planet. When in reality, there is still a chance to fix our mistakes. I remember my teacher pulling up a list of things that the everyday person can do to help the planet. I wish that those kinds of articles would be going up more often in places like The New York Times because a sense of hope would be nice for a change.


]]> 2021-05-13 16:50:40 UTC https://padlet.com/egiarnese/s1rxgprbv5j47wnl/wish/1521828124 The C.D.C confirms more cases of a rare blood clot disorder linked to the J.&J. vaccine: egiarnese https://padlet.com/egiarnese/s1rxgprbv5j47wnl/wish/1521833557 To be honest, I don’t really have a lot to say about this article. I think the title of it speaks for itself. I just found it really annoying to have to read it. We are supposed to be focused on moving forward as a society and then something like this comes out. It just rains on the whole vaccine parade. I still already have my first dose and will be administered my second next week, however I got Pfizer. With almost 9 million J.&J. vaccines administered in the U.S., it causes fear towards receiving the vaccine. While the risk is extremely low, it still gives a lot of people second thoughts. I know the whole point of article titles is to grasp attention and get people to click on it. But, that is a scary title. If some people don’t read the actual article and just read the title, then there is probably little chance they will get the J.&J. vaccine. I just wish things would go well with the vaccines so we can move on.]]> 2021-05-13 16:51:46 UTC https://padlet.com/egiarnese/s1rxgprbv5j47wnl/wish/1521833557 ‘I Feel Like I’m Just Drowning’: Surviving Sophomore Year 2020: egiarnese https://padlet.com/egiarnese/s1rxgprbv5j47wnl/wish/1521837471 This article was easy to relate to for me. However, the only difference was that it was the end of my junior year that got cancelled and moved to online. As a spring athlete, this was super stressful for me considering I was trying really hard to get recruited. My junior season was crucial for recruiters watching me and deciding whether they want me or not. When I found out we weren’t having a season, I was really worried. I wasn’t sure if I was going to be recruited at all because my process hadn’t really started yet. For some of my other friends, they already had offers from schools and were cruising through the recruiting process. Many of them even committed during the quarantine period which probably gave them a sigh of relief. For me, I didn’t have that relief. Every day during the spring was school, and then just baseball. I would work out and hit, as well as work on my outfield skills. All the while filming myself so I could send it to college coaches. I got a lot of coaches to respond to my emails, but it was always the same answer. “Hey Eric, we think you have some real potential and love the video you’ve sent us, but we really want to see you play in person to decide whether you are the right fit.”. While that seems like a positive response, I knew I wasn’t going to be playing any games any time soon till at least the summer. So, hearing that from coaches was tough for me because they all wanted to see me play, but I wasn’t playing, nobody was. However, once I reached the summer, I was able to start playing again and happily found a home for the next four years at Assumption University, where I will be playing baseball on a scholarship.


]]> 2021-05-13 16:52:35 UTC https://padlet.com/egiarnese/s1rxgprbv5j47wnl/wish/1521837471 McDonald’s Will Raise Wages at Some Restaurants to Attract New Workers: egiarnese https://padlet.com/egiarnese/s1rxgprbv5j47wnl/wish/1521841428 This was an interesting read as I was once a part of the minimum wage earning employees in the U.S. McDonald’s is said to raise their wages from $11 to $17 depending on the location of the restaurant. However, these pay increases don’t affect 95% of the nearly 14,000 restaurants in the United States. So, in theory I think it is a good idea, it just won’t affect that many people. Plus I think it would help McDonald’s with their service a lot. When those workers are getting paid minimum wage to make food, they usually are not putting in their best effort. But, raise their pay to $17 per hour and they might start putting more care into their work. My first job was at an American Eagle Outfitters, which was a clothing store. While earning minimum wage, I still tried my best to give my best effort and treat customers with respect. But, at times it was really hard for me to find a reason not to scream at an annoying customer. I wasn’t getting paid enough to deal with an estranged customer who keeps trying to return an item without a receipt. This winter, I chose to move on from American Eagle to pursue a paying job that was more in the field I wanted to pursue for my future. I was hired as an Assistant Manager at Olympia Sporting Goods which is a smaller sports retailer in Worcester County and across the US. It is similar to a Dick’s Sporting Goods, just with smaller stock. So far, I love the job and I make above minimum wage for the position I hold which is really cool. Fashion and clothing have never really been my thing, so it was nice to transition into a job that was basically made for me. To close, I think earning more than minimum wage would give a positive incentive for workers to put in their best effort while clocked in. 


]]> 2021-05-13 16:53:25 UTC https://padlet.com/egiarnese/s1rxgprbv5j47wnl/wish/1521841428 How Exercise May Help Us Flourish: egiarnese https://padlet.com/egiarnese/s1rxgprbv5j47wnl/wish/1521845794 I thought this article was really easy to follow and I agreed with a lot of what it had to offer. I found it really interesting that they brought up the connection between physical activity and psychological well-being. I have noticed this in myself over the years. For example, I’ve never been a morning person, and I don’t plan on becoming one. However, there have been times where I woke up early for a workout and then I am filled with energy for the rest of the day. Waking up and working out is a really strong way to start your day and the energy it gives you is really strange. I also like to drink coffee when I’m feeling tired in the morning. However, I found that exercise in the morning gives me more natural energy so I don’t have to drink coffee all the time. Even something simple, like starting my day with some push ups and sit ups give me a much needed boost for my 8:15 AM english class. I think this article would have a positive influence on a lot of people looking for inspiration to work out. If you work out, plain and simple, it will increase the likelihood of your mental health becoming stronger. So, it’s a win-win.


]]> 2021-05-13 16:54:23 UTC https://padlet.com/egiarnese/s1rxgprbv5j47wnl/wish/1521845794 Where is Country Music Making Room for Women?: egiarnese https://padlet.com/egiarnese/s1rxgprbv5j47wnl/wish/1521849467 I’m super excited to write about this article/podcast. As an avid lover of country music, I was really excited to listen to a podcast about the genre. However, it is true, country music favors a ton of big artists and does little to offer smaller artists a platform that they can build on. That was the main focus of the podcast. It talked a lot about how the genre is mainly male dominated and how hard it is for female country singers to involve themselves in places like Nashville, TN. I do agree though, that there are far too few female country singers that I hear on the radio, or even listen to myself. The podcast offered up some female country singers to listen to and I decided to do that because it couldn’t hurt. What I found was a plethora of talent and amazing music abilities. These women in the country music industry are extremely talented and I think they deserve a better shot when it comes to what gets on the radio and the hierarchy of Nashville. For me, country music isn’t about who is singing it, it’s about how the music makes me feel. Country music mellows me out and gives me a relaxed feeling. To be honest, I found many of the female sung country songs to be more relaxing and enjoyable. To close, I will now for sure be an advocate for the success of women in the country music industry.


]]> 2021-05-13 16:55:15 UTC https://padlet.com/egiarnese/s1rxgprbv5j47wnl/wish/1521849467 Ellen DeGeneres Is Ending Her Show After Years of Dancing and ‘Be Kind’: egiarnese https://padlet.com/egiarnese/s1rxgprbv5j47wnl/wish/1521852967 This article was especially interesting to read because of how public the fallout of Ellen DeGeneres has been in the recent months. I only know of Ellen because of just how famous she really is. Plus, my grandmother absolutely loves her show and was devastated when I told her about the news of Ellen stepping away from the show. I grew up sitting in my grandmother’s living room with her watching Ellen give away prizes and have celebrities play crazy games. But, a shadow of doubt has been cast over Ellen recently as rumors of her being extremely rude to coworkers has come out. Many had claimed they confronted “racism, fear, and intimidation” while at work. As well, some had claimed they were sexually harassed by producers of the show. 3 high-level producers were fired from the show after an investigation was conducted by Warner Bros, the production company of ‘Ellen’. In my own opinion, I do believe that Ellen might have put up her “niceness” as a ruse. But, I don’t think she should be cancelled for these complaints against her. She is far enough along in her career where she can retire and live the rest of her life and she doesn’t need internet trolls watching her every move. I do think she should be held accountable, but definitely to a certain extent.


]]> 2021-05-13 16:56:02 UTC https://padlet.com/egiarnese/s1rxgprbv5j47wnl/wish/1521852967 Our 11 Best Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipes: egiarnese https://padlet.com/egiarnese/s1rxgprbv5j47wnl/wish/1521856965 This was probably my favorite article I’ve ever read in my life. To start, I’d like to say that I am probably the world’s biggest fan of chocolate chip cookies. My entire childhood is built around my grandmothers and my own mother making chocolate chip cookies for me when I did something good or when I behaved myself. When it comes to these cookies, I’ll try any type of recipe and love them all the same. I sent the link to this article to my mom and both of my grandmothers so they know what I’m expecting when I come home for the summer. In total, there were 11 recipes to try and all of them looked amazing. I’m extremely hungry writing about this right now and I really want a chocolate chip cookie. If I were trapped on an island and could only make one thing for the rest of my life, I would live and die by chocolate chip cookies. They are so simple, yet so amazingly tasty. I really wanted to include this article in my project so I could talk for a little bit about how wonderful chocolate chip cookies are. That is all.


]]> 2021-05-13 16:56:55 UTC https://padlet.com/egiarnese/s1rxgprbv5j47wnl/wish/1521856965 Why Your Kid Is Such a Tattletale: egiarnese https://padlet.com/egiarnese/s1rxgprbv5j47wnl/wish/1521860640 The title of this article really caught my eye as I have two younger brothers whose favorite pastime when we were younger, was tattling on me. The article focused on the idea that there is a combination of the “struggle to distinguish what is minor rule-breaking situation and what is a major rule-breaking situation” as well as them “working on the development of their moral compass”. Most children can’t tell the difference between their sibling breaking a window, or their sibling using their colored pencils. To add to this, they are still learning what is right from wrong and what is acceptable to allow and what isn’t. This gave me some reason as to why my brothers told on me so much growing up. The truth is, that they were just younger and still developing their “moral compass”, so I didn’t understand that what I thought wasn’t a big deal, was a huge deal to them. I also think that children choose to tattle because they like getting praised for acknowledging wrong-doing. It also makes them seem very innocent when they run to their parents with something their sibling did. It’s because they want their parents to know that they would never do what their sibling just did to get themselves in trouble. It is a strange relationship but I thought it was really cool to get an understanding of the science behind “tattling”.


]]> 2021-05-13 16:57:45 UTC https://padlet.com/egiarnese/s1rxgprbv5j47wnl/wish/1521860640 Everything Was Canceled in 2020. What about 2021?: egiarnese https://padlet.com/egiarnese/s1rxgprbv5j47wnl/wish/1521864096 This article was a really great read and the overall tone was really hopeful. While it is true, that many significant events in the sporting world were postponed/canceled due to COVID-19, they are in fact coming back. Many of these events will return in 2021, but with modifications. The Tokyo Olympics are scheduled to begin on July 23rd, which is really exciting news for the sporting world. I can’t remember a time when the Olympics were delayed. As well, Wimbledon will begin on June 28th and they might even have a spectator capacity of 25%. To name a few others, The 125th Boston Marathon is scheduled for October 11th, The 105th Indianapolis 500 will start May 30th, and The Champions League Final will be held on May 29th. These huge sporting events are starting to help the world ease itself back into normalcy. Going to a baseball game is now becoming available to the public and I can’t wait to get my hands on some Boston Red Sox tickets this summer. Our world struggled for so long to bounce back and now our sporting world is making a comeback, and so will we. I’m really excited to be able to watch these events on TV again as it reminds me of just how much I missed them. 


]]> 2021-05-13 16:58:31 UTC https://padlet.com/egiarnese/s1rxgprbv5j47wnl/wish/1521864096 What Your Taxes Are Paying For in Israel: egiarnese https://padlet.com/egiarnese/s1rxgprbv5j47wnl/wish/1521869227 This is my last article I will be reading and I wanted it to be on a topic that has affected our world most recently. That being said, I felt as if the Israel-Palestine conflict would be an effective choice for the state of our world currently. As the article claimed, this is the worst fighting in 7 years between Israel and Palestine. My interest stems from my Middle Eastern History class which I am taking this spring term. We also just recently covered the Israel-Palestine conflict and how it came to be. The things that Israel has been getting away with considering the treatment of Palestinians is mind-blowing. Israeli conduct in some areas accounts to “crimes against humanity of apartheid and persecution”. I believe that Palestinians have every right to fight back against the cruel regimes of Israeli rule. The US provides several billion dollars every year to Israel for military assistance which they unjustly use. I think that the Biden Administration has taken a timid approach to this situation. They have to find the courage to name an ambassador to Israel and find a way to call a cease-fire before this conflict escalates any further. If America is too slow to respond then we might find ourselves too deep in the conflict to resolve any issues. 


]]> 2021-05-13 16:59:29 UTC https://padlet.com/egiarnese/s1rxgprbv5j47wnl/wish/1521869227