John DeSalis Public Feed

It's been a wild ride, but I'm glad I spent with all you...

Posted by John DeSalis in Storytelling - Chase on
It's been a wild 4 years here at SLA, but I'm glad to have spent it with everyone here. SInce I came through the doors here at SLA 4 years ago, I thought that I would have it easy.. However, after that first day of freshman year, I was wrong. It was nothing but a hectic ride because I struggled with some of my classes as I am sure some of you have. I also am proud again that I had the opportunity to have been part of the 2011 SLA Rockets Baseball team, even if we loss in the first round of playoffs. Anyway, I wish everyone the best of luck in college and have fun, and I would also like to thank all of the teachers; Past and Present for helping me make it this far in my High-School education. 

Almost Done

Posted by John DeSalis in Storytelling - Chase on
This entry will mark my second to last one :( makes me a little upset because I wont really have a reason to share what I think or how I feel anymore (not like i have been doing these a lot) but I felt like when I did do them, I felt better about myself.

* My next one will be just as good as the one I wrote for the baseball team after our last game.

It's my favorite for a Reason!

Posted by John DeSalis in Statistics - Thompson on
Statistics is a great class with many different challenging projects, class work, and quizzes. But not only are they challenging they also are fun to do because it is more of a real-life application than in any other math class I have taken at SLA. My purpose for this post to tell you why my favorite benchmarks of the year was from the first quarter. This benchmark was fun because we had to go to our local supermarket and find the price of certain food items and compare against the people of our group who were assigned a different location. With this benchmark, we were put to the challenge of finding the:

  •         Z-score
  •         Mean
  •         Median
  •         Mode
  •         Range

Also, this was my favorite because I got the opportunity to see how much money I was either saving or wasting by shopping at said supermarket. As a group doing this, we were able to see how the different supermarkets price the same item and compare it, and we also looked to see if the “generic” brand had any comparison to the regular brand.

In addition to that, my second favorite benchmark from this class was the most recent one that we were faced with doing. This benchmark I am talking about, required us to make ourselves a mini-study guide for our college math course that we are going to take in the fall. This study guide had to touch on all topics that we touched throughout the year. However, this was hard to do because I had to go back in my now sloppy notebook to figure out what we had done this year.


Kind of happy

Posted by John DeSalis in Storytelling - Chase on
Happy that we have a few days off from school, but instead of going down the shore with my friends, i have to be stuck working over a 450º grill for 10 hours a night for 3nights... But its a good thing, because while my friends are blowing all the money they tried to save, I'm probably going to make back in 1 and a half hours what they spend in 3 hours. 
And having the money is possibly the main reason keeping me at this job.

Rockets Baseball

Posted by John DeSalis in Storytelling - Chase on
I really miss it... Wish we could have won that playoff game. Now my time as a member for the SLA rockets baseball team is over, I think it is now time to start and focus on my college career playing baseball for CCP, and later in the years for the PPD, and onward to Temple, but all in all I will always be a member of the SLA Rockets in heart.

Livin' High off that WIN!

Posted by John DeSalis in Storytelling - Chase on
​The 2011 Rockets Baseball team is coming off a HUGE win over Strawberry Mansion in what would be the Rockets chance to lock-up their spot for the 2011 PIAA AA playoffs which will start on Monday May 16th against teams in the B-Division. The Rockets have also locked the 2nd seed with that win as well. It was a good day for all the senior players on the team, Brandon Williams threw a complete 135-pitch game to give him the W, Andre Serrano was a monster at the plate and also on the base paths, Anthony Seeley found how to get out of his little slump, Marshall Johnston kept his streak alive and was just as equally aggressive at the plate and on the bases as Andre, I myself had a horrible day at the plate, and thought that I got the wrong time to be in a slump with a strikeout and a sacrifice fly in my first two at-bats, soon to find myself to hit 2 singles in my next two at-bats. Overall, we were very happy to have finally done this and to have had the opportunity to represent SLA in the playoffs.

GO ROCKETS!

The Jitters

Posted by John DeSalis in Storytelling - Chase on
Well, today is a big day not only for me but for all the members of the 2011 SLA baseball. I say that because should we win (when we win) we will be locking up our spot in the playoffs. So, you can say that I'm just a little nervous...

SLA WINS!

Posted by John DeSalis in Storytelling - Chase on
The below screenshot, is the box-score from yesterday's (4/26/11) baseball game between SLA and University City. As you can see, SLA was off to a strong start with 9 runs in the first inning after giving up 4. From that point on, we as a team were just on fire, like the 3 doubles from Ian Mclendon, T.J (not P.J) Nicolella, and on top of that we were stealing bases left and right when we reached. But that 17-6 win brings us to a 4-1 record going into our next game on 4/28/11 against Strawberry Mansion HS.
Screen shot 2011-04-27 at 8.38.09 AM
Screen shot 2011-04-27 at 8.38.09 AM

Happy Easter

Posted by John DeSalis in Storytelling - Chase on
It sure was a happy Easter for me and I bet for any of the other Philly sports fans whom enjoyed when all 3 of our major sports teams won their games. And I am talking about how the 76ers stopped the sweep from the Miami Heat, the Flyers escaping elimination from the Stanley Cup Playoffs with a crucial game 6 win over Buffalo, and the Phillies having four wins over the Padres. Also it was a good spring break for me because I helped my tournament Baseball team win on Monday with a Walk-Off home run in the 10th inning.

Ahhh...

Posted by John DeSalis in Storytelling - Chase on
It felt good to go out there tonight against them Nationals. I can't beLEEve I had 13 k's which tied my record and also a club record! Hopefully Roy Os. goes out and pitches his butt off. (we'll see)... Well, time to watch our close neighbors the Flyers!


Screen shot 2011-04-14 at 9.50.54 PM
Screen shot 2011-04-14 at 9.50.54 PM

Johnny D, projects...

Posted by John DeSalis in Advanced Art - Hull on
Well, as you can see below, here are the projects that i have completed and had taken pictures of. All the other pieces that we were required to draw were lost in a bizarre and freak accident that was to be my Art folder.

The First picture you see, is the Still Life picture of the coke bottle which was not as difficult as drawing Samuel Kabangai, which is in the next three pictures and is not completed.
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DSCN0231
DSCN0330
DSCN0330
DSCN0331
DSCN0331
DSCN0332
DSCN0332

Dear Journal...

Posted by John DeSalis in Storytelling - Chase on
13 April 2011- Well today is my turn to pitch. I am going up against the Washington Nationals at 7:05 in Washington. But from pitching here last year, it felt like I was in Philly. Joe Blanton did well last night, even though he didn't get the win and gave up 6 runs. I know that not everyone is at a Cy-young caliber but I also know that it is still early in the season. However, I do question weather or not it was a smart move to keep Joe B. in for that long after giving up so many. Well, I suppose I go for a run with some of the teammates and prepare for this game tonight.
Screen shot 2011-04-13 at 8.30.38 AM
Screen shot 2011-04-13 at 8.30.38 AM

Reflection Post

Posted by John DeSalis in Storytelling - Chase on
Well, here in this post is supposed to be a reflection, so here it goes...

Currently, I am in the process of creating a Blog for my character. i am still unsure of what i am going to call it, something schnazy I hope. It should be "alive" by the beginning of school tomorrow, if not it will be by the end of the day. 

I also must add, I am horrible at keeping deadlines :( and I am sure I am going to pay the consequences in the long run.

A night at Geno's Steaks

Posted by John DeSalis in Storytelling - Chase on
So yeah, i had promised Mr. Chase that I would be more on top of this, but when I just become so über busy with my work, it becomes hard for me to handle it all :( But I must say, that I have never felt so independent in my life, ever since I started here in May of '08 and still going strong for almost 3 years now. 

A sentence is worth 250 words...

Posted by John DeSalis in Storytelling - Chase on

Be it the 7 Eagles Jerseys, 9 Phillies Jerseys (1 of which is signed), 4 Flyers Jerseys (2 were actually worn on the ice), 4 Basketball Jerseys (1 is Michael Jordan’s McDonalds High School Jersey), 1 College Football Jersey (Joe Namath Alabama), as well as a jersey worn by Donovan Mcnabb in his rookie year, and many more jerseys that I have put away in my garage; But because of all of the choices, the one I have decided to wear today is just one of the many Phillies Jerseys, with the number of one of their “Aces” and Some of my friends have told me that I should consider selling some of my “Collection” or donate them to a charity that gives clothes to kids in poverty in third world countries, so I turned around and told them “You got to be out of your mind to even think for a second I would just give away these jerseys, but I suppose it would be a good thing,” so they told me “ that is just selfish if you think them kids don’t deserve to have them jerseys that you are not even wearing,” so being the type of person I am, I simply took only the jerseys that had no worth of EVER wearing and sent them to the charity organization that takes care of the distribution so a couple of days went by and I had received a couple of letters from places I had never heard of with pictures enclosed of the kids who got the jerseys.

December 1963

Posted by John DeSalis in Storytelling - Chase on
Screen shot 2011-02-08 at 3.06.33 PM
Screen shot 2011-02-08 at 3.06.33 PM
The Story Of Us in December 1963, I was part of the elite unit of the U.S Marines. We were known for our raids in storms, that we were dubbed Riders On The Storm. However, one night we all had on our Poker Face, however I was the Better Man. During the final hand, I was Wasting Time, while the other guy was Livin' on a Prayer. I mean it was so intense the Lights looked another color! At the end of the game, we went our Separate Ways, and I think he was doing some weird Voodoo. 
The next day came, I looked at the newspaper with the headline, "President was Assassinated Yesterday." So right away, I called to my Home Sweet Home, to get the scoop on the assassination. When my wife picked up the phone, she was surprised to hear my voice and said " Your Alive..." so I told her "because of the assassination, we are now 2 steps behind." She quickly told me, "Don't let your crew do anything With or Without You."
That night, my friend and co-pilot was killed in combat, and at his funeral after the salute, his wife left a special message on his stone:

"You are like a Candle in The Wind"

A few days later, I made Sparks Fly while working in the garage. It was my friends footlocker and my wife had asked "What are you doing?" So I told her, "I gotta get through this." 

Itunes has a way of telling a story too!

Posted by John DeSalis in Storytelling - Chase on
Screen shot 2011-02-08 at 1.09.12 PM
Screen shot 2011-02-08 at 1.09.12 PM
One night, when I had no sleep to brooklyn, I saw a sign that read, "Welcome to Paradise, Home to Jesus of Suburbia." Faithfully, my friends would Stand By Me with their 21 Guns. After a day or two in "Paradise" I told my friend Alejandro, I did not want to Comedown, because I felt like a Basket Case. Then, it Crashed Into Me I knew I had a Bad Romance because I was Thinkin' 'Bout Somethin' and All Of The Lights went off in the room, then went on a few hours later. About the third day, the Brass Monkey dropped off a letter in which I opened immediately. The letter started off like all of my letter's with Dear John. Soon after I read the letter, I wrote one back starting with, Hey There Delilah. In the letter I told her "to stay Just The Way You Are, because you know I would catch a Grenade for you, and When I Come Around the Paparazzi will be following me." But now that my dream is over, Its time to go Back To December.

In A World...

Posted by John DeSalis in Storytelling - Chase on
Where your finger tips and keys meet in harmony. A boy in School wrote a story that would change the WORLD as we know it! However; little did he know, he would occasionally glance at his TV and the Facebook as well as his Twitter feed.
The problem was that even before this story started, he spent almost 1 hour on trying to figure out what he wants to change in this world. So he sat and thought and thought and thou...Then it hit him! He was just too tired to write and decided he would leave his document with (In A World...) and leave his readers in somewhat of a suspense to see what happens next...

Pro and Con's of Our Government through my eyes

Posted by John DeSalis in American Government - Laufenberg on
The following will show how I, John De Salis feel about the many different issues that are either in the process of being passed or have became passed. The 12 items that you can see here have an effect on me and also what I am able to do as a teenager. 
However, going through all of the pages, I found that this research was difficult at times, but it was also kind of easy too. By that, I mean that their was so many different cases and bills that fit under this description, and to pick only a few of them is what kind of made this project for me.
With that being said, I feel like that my life is going to always be effected by the gov't because of the current talks of cutting social security benefits and also now that I am able to be a voter in the elections, I feel as though I have some type of power to change how the gov't will work for me.

Immigration #4....

Posted by John DeSalis in American Government - Laufenberg on

As we already know, illegal immigration has become a recent rise in our country... However, it recently is comming up more in our nation not only through the DREAM act; which would allow immigrants the proper education of an AMERICAN citizen, I somewhat think this is a good thing, but at the same time it is WRONG. But dont let me get started on that issue, I came here to say that talking about the current problem with immigration is a "touchy" topic with politicians and many other high officials.

With that being said, not many politicians will be so quick to jump and do something on the issue as quick as you would hope they would. Which to me is kind of a let down and would really bring down my hopes of once again seeing this country taking action on the problem.

Divorce

Posted by John DeSalis in American Government - Laufenberg on
DivorceFlowChart
DivorceFlowChart
  •  Other thoughts, reflections, feedback.

The bureaucratic 'task' that my partner and myself selected, was how to apply for a divorce in the State of Pennsylvania. 

Our process was very rigorous, and by that I mean that their was certain times where I wanted to give up and goto an alternative route to this "divorce."

As for the paperwork part of this process, let's just say you wont be a big fan of the environmentalist with all the paperwork that is involved with this. By that, I mean that their was certain portions that were almost 8 pages long, and all together I think that we filled out a total of 22 pages in our process. This paperwork is not only long, but it becomes a whole different process, because you have to get judges, non-lawyers, as well as a notary. Thus, making this paperwork difficult to fill out, but also pretty much straight forward with the language it uses.

I think if I had to change anything to this process, I would have to change the amount of paperwork involved. Not only would I do that, but I would try not to make this any more difficult for people than it already is.

 I think the system has become more harder, because since we became such a larger country, the circumstances have changed, and with more circumstances comes unnecessary paperwork.

I sometimes wanted to give Caroline the "OJ" treatment :) 

The online flowchart is : http://www.lucidchart.com/documents/view/4d0b60aa-81d0-4743-a2c7-66840af90ae1 

Immigration!

Posted by John DeSalis in American Government - Laufenberg on
There are a lot of figures whom support this bill. they can be found here
Yes, Currently Los Angeles is fighting to get a similar bill onto the ballot in the 2012 election. Also, many other states are going to try and have a similar bill proposed.
My opponents, as stated before are the Illegal immigrants and now the protesters whom still don’t this put into action into the states.
Yes, a policy has been written for this issue. This policy is called SB 1070.
Any type of latin@ born citizen is a stakeholder in this issue.
In order for this to take place, you are going to need the Homeland Security, The U.S Border Control, as well as the help from many different government branches.
The decision makers that need to be moved, are the ones whom are currently BLOCKING this from being put into effect not only in the state of Arizona, but possibly model a similar law for the U.S.
I am not fully sure on to who else is working with this issue, but should I find out I would like to coordinate something with them to get more of an insight into this bill.

I can try to influence the other Americans who want this country to be brought back to what it was, when everyone spoke one language and was one background.

This is supposed to be put onto the California ballot in 2012, as mentioned above, but for that to happen, California’s Secretary of State Debra Bowen would have to get the  signatures from 433,971 registered voters by April 21, 2011, to qualify it for the ballot. If it is validated, the measure could be placed before voters in February or June of 2012.

Q1 benchmark: H.R. 17

Posted by John DeSalis in American Government - Laufenberg on
​In this benchmark, I chose to talk about H.R. 17 which would allow the American people to protect themselves in an event of a robbery and/or break-in in their home or business. Below, you will see my presentation on what this bill is, who started it, who supports it, and a personal note on what I think about it.


Hr 17
View more presentations from jdesalis.

A day at the Polls...

Posted by John DeSalis in American Government - Laufenberg on
Interview #1
1. What motivated you to come out and vote?
I don’t like the way the government is running now I want to see better choice.
2. What would you like to see changed in our political system?
I’d like to  see better monitoring of election.
3. Do you vote in every election (How regularly do you vote?)
I vote in every election.
4. Do you know why we vote on Tuesday?
No I don’t know the reason I just know that they always had it on Tuesday. I know they used to close all the bars in Philadelphia on voting day.
5. Where have you encountered the highest amount of ad campaigning? Radio, TV, Print, Internet, other.
On television.
6. What was the most memorable campaign ad that you have encountered?

Tom Corbett against Onorato, Onorato will say how he brought jobs to Pennsylvania and the Corbett would turn around and say that Onorato says he will bring jobs but tells you the truth.

7. Are you always sure of who you are going to vote for when you walk into the booth or are you still deliberating?
Yes I always know who I am voting for.
8. What changed do you hope to see in Philadelphia as a result of this election?
Get better comers and a better economy because we will have a better business climate since we’ve had a decline with the national government so that would bring a better business climate, more jobs and more people won’t be afraid to spend money.
9. What impact do you feel that your vote will have on the election?
I think that my vote will have a small impact but combined with the other people that is basically the election.
10. Did you learn about voting in school? If yes, did that impact your willingness to vote today?
No I did not learn about voting in school, so it did not have an impact.
Interview #2
1. What motivated you to come out and vote?
The economy.
2. What would you like to see changed in our political system?
I would like to see a variety of candidates in our political system.
3. Do you vote in every election (How regularly do you vote?)
Yes I vote in every election.
4. Do you know why we vote on Tuesday?
No I don’t know why we vote on Tuesday, but I do know that the bars used to be closed.
5. Where have you encountered the highest amount of ad campaigning? Radio, TV, Print, Internet, other.
On television.
6. What was the most memorable campaign ad that you have encountered?
2008 President  Obama campaign.
7. Are you always sure of who you are going to vote for when you walk into the booth or are you still deliberating?
This time I wasn’t sure but usually I am 100% sure.
8. What changed do you hope to see in Philadelphia as a result of this election?
Once again I would like to see a variety of candidates.
9. What impact do you feel that your vote will have on the election?
I think my vote will have little impact.
10. Did you learn about voting in school? If yes, did that impact your willingness to vote today?
Yes I did learn about it but it did not have an impact on me voting today.


My interviews where with two different men who had 2 different views on today's election. As you can see both of these men did not know why we voted on Tuesday, but they did tell me that the government would close all the bars and liquor store's for the day (did not know that one). All in all, I guess you can say that these two men have very different political views as well as really pay attention to whom they are voting for.
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