The Face

I will never forget the morning I sat alone on the bench. It was raining. I sat patiently under a harbour of a tree. Only the droplets of rain kept me company, so it was impossible not to notice the old man in the ball-cap. He sat on the steps that lead an abandoned home. He had a fixed gaze on me. I tried to ignore him, but smoke was being emitted from his mouth like a chimney and moved like a cloud and into my face. I looked back at him. Pale-blue eyes that felt that they can pierce through me. There's a caterpillar-moustache that rested on his upper-lip. His face was an eerie ceramic mask whose focus couldn't be broken; it didn't move unless he took a drag from that cigarette. I looked away in paranoia; his fixation on me. I felt unconformable. My leg stood up. I felt uneasy. I started to walk through the puddles; interupting them with ripples from my stride. I turned my head to take one last look at the man. With my given attention, his face slowly inched and formed a chesher-cat smile. It grinned at me. That face still haunts me and I can't forget it.  

To The College That Will Be Concerned

To whom may concern,

You tell me that in order for the admission staff to consider me I have to answer a question. I find that ridiculous! Me, Eric Burdeos, write a response to a silly question like that when I have accomplished so many endeavors already.

Through my journeys, I've killed an elephant using only dental floss. I've self-taught myself how to speak and read Chinese, Japanese and Korean in a month long tour of Asia. I've crawled through the hallways of Hogwarts in my invisible cloak. I know where Carmen Sandiego is and I've found Waldo.

My genius has been internationally recognized. I've written hour long speeches for the Pope, Prime Minister and Obama. I've captivated audiences with my sold-out, one-man production of Hair.  I've memorized all the Harry Potter books and can recite any scene, word for word. I have been known to be a deep thinker, so deep in fact, that James Cameron wanted to film the sequel to The Abyss inside of me!

On Mondays I re-capture all 151 Pokemon in an hour. On Tuesdays I record, edit and post another video on Youtube for all one million of my subscribers to watch. On Wednesdays I make Kraft Dinner. On every other day of the week I build another school in Africa, all by myself. I am obviously more super than human.

I know that you may already be impressed. If you want to get a hold of me to further talk about my qualifications you are more than welcome. If not, I expect a letter of acceptance very shortly.

George of Mice and Men; Weighing Down a Good Film

Steinbeck's classic novella has once again been re-done into a Hollywood movie in 1992. This version of the classic story is very well done. The writing is well plotted. The acting is superb. The portrayal of the characters, especially George, on the other hand, have received mixed feelings from the following of the book. Sure, the actor's portrayal of the characters are "unique" and convey characters a different way, but the emotions of George just aren't dynamic enough to bring the film's emotional heights to that of the novella. The novella chronicles George and Lennie through the struggles of their dream of one day owning their own farm. Lennie being the naive, innocent one, and George being the "tough-as-nails one with a kind heart. George was initially portrayed static and flat, being nothing more than the tough one. As the story progresses more sides of the man are revealed, showing that inside he does have a soft spot. Gary Sinise, George's actor in the film, his portrayal of the character. The development of the various aspects of Georges character that made him dynamic, and pop out of the text, isn't reflected that well when he is actually brought to life and on the big screen. Sinise portrays George, not as a man with rough exterior with a kind heart, but as an everyday guy who cares about his best friend. His acting is well done, but the character he portrays is watered down. This makes the films storytelling weaker than the novella. This is especially applies to the character's major scenes where he argues with Curley and the final scene of him killing Lennie. The book was beautifully written so that every ounce of text painted the scene vividly. While on the movie is weighed down by Sinise performance from capturing the emotion originally invoked the text. While fans of the original novella might be disappointed. The movie is actually very well done, aside from the characters portrayals. It still immerses the viewer into a world where George and Lennie draw the viewer in a charming tale before a tragic end.

Bad Hair Day

It was ten at night at the Wood's household. Mr. Woods walked through the claustrophobic halls and down the creaking stairs to the kitchen for a snack before he went to bed. He slowly opened the fridge, blinded by the light reflecting off his thick glasses. He noticed a figure in the doorway.
“Daddy,” his daughter murmured.
Mr. Woods closed the fridge and replied “Sally, aren’t you suppose to be at your friends party?”

Sally rolled her eyes. “Daddy, just look at my hair,” Sally exclaimed, rolling a lock of her hair around her finger. “It looks fried!”

Mr. Woods asked “Why what happened” as he picked up the newspaper from the morning.
"Well today I was getting my hair done at Jenny's favorite place, they wanted to go to this new place that just opened downtown..." Sally looked over to her father and noticed that he wasn't paying attention to her. Instead he was focused on reading the newspaper. "Hey Daddy, you aren't listening to me!" Sally exclaimed.
"Oh, am I not? I'm sorry honey, continue." Mr. Woods insisted.
"Well okay, so the person was really weird. He was really all over the place and combined a lot of weird chemicals from these bottles and  combined them and put them in my hair," Sally explained.
Mr. Woods repeatedly nodded.
Sally sighed, "You aren't listening to me are you?"
Mr. Woods looked at Sally, "What did you just say?"
Sally pouted. "Can you just listen to my story?" She shouted.
"Oh, sorry honey," Mr Woods exclaimed. "Please continue."
"Well okay, Sally replied. "Then I think he heated up my hair for too long, forty-five minutes of sitting there, can you believe that?"
"Uh, huh," Mr. Woods mumbled while he continued  to read the paper.
"Okay, that's it! Daddy, what in the world are you reading that's more important than my story?!" Sally exclaimed.
"Oh, there's just an intriguing article on this unqualified barber running a salon downtown with no experience. Can you imagine that?"

Love at First Sight

It was a dark and stormy night, George returned to the barnyard while tying up the horse back at the barnyard. It was raining cats and dogs and George was all bent out of shape after a hard days work on the barn running like a chicken with its head cut off. On his way out, through the corner of his eye he noticed Curley's wife. She was crying a river. There was a sinking feeling in George's stomach. He's always felt an attraction to Curley's wife. It was love at first sight for George since the first day he laid eyes upon her, but never said anything to anyone; even to Lennie.
George was sweating bullets. "Wha's th' matter?" he muttered.
"Oh, just another fight with Curley." She looked up to George "What's wrong with you, gorgeous? It's almost like you just saw a ghost, or somethin'," proclaimed Curley's wife while wiping away her tears.
George didn't want to say anything at first. It was so quiet you could hear a needle drop. "Okay, I need to tell ya somethin'."
Curey's wife was confused. "My, what can that be?"
George swallowed his spit. "I am madly in love with you since the first day we met!"
Curley's wife was flattered. "Really?! I've felt the same way about you."
Love was in the air. George was elated to upon hearing this.
"I have an idea, lets go far, far away and start a better life together. You never know, maybe the grass is greener on the other side," Curley's wife suggested.
George was all ears to the suggestion and nodded.
The next morning, they untied one of the horses, rode down the path and lived happily ever after.

My Superpower... Hmmmm....

Growing up I enjoyed wasting countless hours watching movies and T.V. shows like any other kid my age. I particularly loved superhero shows. But what if that actually became a reality? One ordinary day it did happened. Chemistry class, second block of the day we had to react chemicals as part of a lab. Startlingly, a clumsy student spilled his concoction on me. Despite my efforts to wash it off I knew that something was different. I could feel it, I had a superpower! But which one could it be? There are so many, and some of them are so inventive. Flying, super-strength, mind reading, fire manipulation... The list can go on and on. I spent the day pondering on what potential I had now. The day went by and nothing. Maybe I was just letting my imagination get the better of me. But then it hit me: no something actually did hit me! A dairy delivery truck, probably on it's way to one of the local grocery stores, ran me over at 80 km/h. Then I knew it, I'm immortal.