Disclaimer: Upon realizing these projects were due the next day, Jonathan grabbed his camera phone and made his way outside. Unfortunately, it was 7:00 pm and pitch black. The flash makes the pictures manageable, and hopefully the stories behind them make up for the lack of quality.
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The basketball hoop brings me way back to the elementary days, when I would stay out way too late and shoot hoops. Honestly, basketball was the greatest hobby for me. I could spend hours simply shooting layups. Seriously, I loved this sport to death, and it's just a shame that stuff happened the way it did and made me lose interest in it. I wonder how much my skills would have improved if only I had kept playing. I've considered starting up again, but it's difficult to put myself back out there after quitting. Too many bitter memories. Nothing too crazy, just enough to hold me back. Anyways, moving away from the gushy stuff, I just remember playing with my close friend and neighbor, Ben, and we would do all sorts of funny trick shots and play pick up games with the neighborhood kids. Great times and awesome nostalgia when I look at that hoop.
Let me tell you why I took a picture of the bumpter of my mom's Acura. This memory is more recent, but it still feels great. In my middle school/ high school era, I would gather friends and my sisters and we would all play great games of flashlight tag. It's basically hide and seek, except you have to shine a flashlight and say the person's name before they reach the base (my mom's car) in order for them to be out. Simple premise, exquisite fun. Great times, and I'm shocked at some of the friends I convinced to play such a childish game. Just goes to show how much fun doing silly little things can be with the people you love.
My final picture is one of very recent memories, but I know that they will be very fond. Just this past Sunday I attended the Seahawks vs. 49ers NFC Championship game in Seattle. It was a phenomenal experience, obviously, and I'm so glad I could share it with 68,000+ other fans. This picture was captured afterwards when the Seahawks were victorious. Just some random building with the lights turned on in a way that fashioned a 12 in the building. It just feels great that an entire city can unify over something like a football team. The culture created from the Seahawk fanbase is one that I am infinitely proud to say I'm a part of, and I will remain a 12th man no matter where I travel in life, or how well they continue to play.
Fun assignment. Evokes some sad and cool memories at the same time. Getting in touch with my aesthetics isn't something I often do, so it's nice to take a step back from life to reflect on my past.
Great post, Jon. Even though it was late, I could still see everything fine. Also, when's our next flashlight tag game gonna be?
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ReplyDeleteFlashlight tag sounds like something you should play long into the future. :)
As usual John, there's a lot that lies beneath the surface in your adept writing. Hints of some of your best times and biggest loves, and also hints at real pain. I hope the years to come enable you to process all the events that have occurred and refract them back out into the world in some new light-- some new literature. What I mean to say is, I hope all of what you've been through (and for that matter, all that the rest of the AP kids this year have been through) doesn't stain you with bitterness, but rather gives you words and ideas to echo out in a new voice, for others to find and cling to and hope with.
I believe in you!