From Rockybado 2: A Run in the Game

David Ingram and his girlfriend, Cera Berringer, were at the baseball park, watching Brody’s and Andrew’s team do very well at their second to last practice. Brody is David's brother, and Andrew McCalsky is Brody's best friend.

Then, all of a sudden, David thought that he could now make his move to make a proposition to Cera.

His heart was pounding so hard against his chest that it actually hurt. His hands suddenly grew sweaty. And he was going to risk everything that he felt.

Just to make his move.
​
“Hey….Cera?” David stuttered.
“Yes?” Cera questioned.
“I was wondering something.”
“And what might that be?”
“You know, I like you,” David replied quickly.
“I like you, too,” Cera said.
“And, I was wondering….would you like to be….”
“Yes?”
“My girlfriend?”
“Absolutely!”
All of that weight suddenly fell off David’s shoulders. Today was definitely a good day for both of them.

Oh guacamole.
How could I never love thee?
You're avocado.

Avocado's great,
Especially on salad.
And guacamole.

In Rockybado,
There's tons of guacamole.
Texamilio.

​Dinosaurs are great.
There's lots of guacamole.
That jazzy island.

In Wakahakai,
A Magic Video Game.
And guacamole.

From Rockybado 5: #SanFranciscoBound

Even though David and Brody Ingram were extremely excited to go to Germany, they were still a little sad about missing out on the California trip. The last time they went to California was last year for spring break. Their parents’ friend found them a package for Evansville, Indiana for a few days. Since David only had one week off from college, and Brody and his friends, Andrew McCalsky, Julia Jaconetti, and Courtney Salas, had two weeks off, they all decided to go to Evansville together for three days. The rest of Brody’s family met him back at home in Crown Point, Indiana, and then they headed off to San Francisco for the remainder of the spring break.

David and Brody were lying in their bedroom after packing everything to go to Germany. They were leaving for the airport in four hours, and they wanted to rest up before their family would drop them off at the airport, which is about an hour away from where they live. Toby came into their room and saw that they were both sleeping very soundly. Even though he knew that, he decided to come in and play video games.

This would definitely wake them up….or would it?

Toby played some video games on an old console for about thirty minutes before he heard someone stir. Before he looked behind him to confirm who it was, Toby had no idea. He was too focused on his game to really even care. He didn’t think the sound was that loud. But, before he knew it, he heard someone move over beside him.

It was David.

“Oh hi David,” Toby said plainly.
“Oh hi Toby,” David replied back.
“How are you?”
“Sleepy. I probably shouldn’t have fallen asleep. How long was I out for?”
“Do you want to know?” Toby asked.
“Yes,” David answered.
“Only about an hour and a half.”
“How long were you playing video games for?”
“An hour and a half.”
“Well, Brody and I fell asleep before you came in, so it had to be longer than that.”
“Whoops.”

David and Toby looked to see if Brody was still there, and he was. As always, Brody was sleeping very soundly on his bed. He had been up since 6:30 in the morning, and he only got about three hours of sleep. He, David, and Toby were up until about 3:30 doing some serious packing and playing old video games. They were going to end up paying the price one way or another.
​

​​Check out Rockybado, Rockybado 2: A Run in the Game,Rockybado 3: The Invasion of the Naughty Blue Aliens, and Rockybado 4: Running Up a Hill

For some double awesome stuff, check out The Crazy Chicken Escapade and The Somewhat Perilous Plot of the Patriotic Mosquitoes!

Hello everyone, and Happy Thanksgiving!

Today is the day where many people have their extended family over at their house for a huge meal, which typically consists of turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, cranberry sauce, stuffing, and pumpkin pie. Afterwards, they may either watch sports on TV, play video games and/or board games, or do absolutely nothing else.

But that is not the case with my family. We are staying at our house today, since we don't have much family from around the area. And, although we are having the typical Thanksgiving dinner, we are most likely doing nothing else other than that.

Since it is Thanksgiving, you might be wondering how David Ingram's family (Rockybado), Andrew Grzedek's family (The Jazzy Island of Dinosaurs), and Levi Cranston's family (The Magic Video Game) celebrate Thanksgiving. Although they all celebrate Thanksgiving much differently, I'm more than certain that they still have a great time.

David Ingram comes from a small family. He only has four cousins on his mom's side. The Ingram's extended family is all from Northwest Indiana, so they all celebrate Thanksgiving together. Every year, the family goes to a different house to celebrate Thanksgiving, meaning that one year the Ingram's host, and another year, the Ingram's cousins' family hosts. Both sets of grandparents have also hosted. The Ingram's do not have a typical Thanksgiving. The Ingram's dad always cooks Italian food, including his very own homemade mostaccioli and tiramisu, to name a few things. David and Brody also help cook the Italian food. This has always been a tradition with the Ingram's and their extended family. After their feast, they all watch good and bad Christmas movies together.

Andrew Grzedek comes from a large family. He has many cousins on both sides of the family, most of whom are from Northwest Indiana. The family who does not live in Northwest Indiana is from around Chicago. The family members have a race to create a social media event page first to determine who is hosting the Thanksgiving party that year. Since Andrew moved to downtown Valparaiso in June 2014, he, two cousins, and a mutual friend from college have done a pre-Thanksgiving party. This consists of going out to eat at a restaurant on the square and then going to one or two bars. Then, for actual Thanksgiving, Andrew and the two cousins spend Thanksgiving with the family, and their mutual friend goes to his family's house (who also live in Valpo). The family has the typical Thanksgiving dinner, consisting of turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, stuffing, cranberry sauce, and pumpkin pie. Then, after the actual feast, some family members watch football, some play video games, some read, and others converse. The family celebrates Thanksgiving from Wednesday to Sunday.

Levi Cranston comes from a medium-sized family. He and his immediate family typically stay at home and celebrate Thanksgiving together, with the kids' grandparents and two half sisters and their family joining them. The Cranston's have family in either Northwest Indiana or Rhode Island. Sometimes, they have gone to other houses for Thanksgiving, but they normally like to stay at home. Levi celebrates Thanksgiving with his family on the actual day. On the day after, he goes out with his best friends and girlfriend and go bowling and explore downtown Valparaiso. Instead of having a turkey for Thanksgiving, the family has rotisserie chicken. The Cranston's grandma, on their dad's side, does not like turkey, so they have always liked the idea of replacing the turkey with rotisserie chicken. However, the rest of the Thanksgiving dinner is typical. After the feast, the family doesn't make many plans.

However YOU are celebrating Thanksgiving, enjoy the rest of it.

I'll be blogging again some time during the weekend.

From,

You Know Who

From Rockybado 2: A Run in the Game

It was August 25, 2005, so a little under a year ago. And Toby was at his best friend’s house for the afternoon. Dawson and Brett were at the bowling alley. David had tennis practice, and Brody had baseball practice for a fall club that he was in.
Toby Ingram and Sav Taffert were playing video games in Sav’s living room.
And then a cat walked up to Toby.
“Oh look! It’s Miss Snuggles,” Sav said.
“Hey, Miss Snuggles,” Toby greeted the cat.
“She really likes you. I hope you know that.”
“I can see that.”
“She really likes to watch us play video games,” Sav remarked to his best friend.
“She has always liked to watch you guys play games, hasn’t she?” Toby replied.
“Yes, she has. When my older brother, Joab, and I play video games, she always sits on the recliners.”
“She’s a very smart kitty.”
“Indeed.”
Toby and Sav continued to play video games when Miss Snuggles sat on a plush red pillow between the two boys. Then, Sav made sweet tea for everyone.

From Rockybado 5: #SanFranciscoBound

It was July 2013, and David and Brody Ingram were leaving to go to Germany for a month. What happened was that their parents’ friend had originally bought a one-month package for Germany, but then they had last minute occurrences that kept them from being able to go. Since David and Brody have taken German in high school and college, their parents thought that they’d be interested in going. Unfortunately, only two people were able to go, so Toby, their youngest brother, could not make it. He was fine with that because the rest of the family, meaning the parents, and the two older brothers, Dawson and Brett, were planning a vacation for themselves in California.

The family would be gone for a while as well, so that meant their two cats, Felicia and Honeybunny were going to stay with the boys’ aunt and uncle for the time being. Their trip would start in San Francisco, and they would stay there for a week, with some exploration of Oakland and San Jose. Then they would rent a car to go to Los Angeles and would stay there for a week, with some exploration of the outskirts of the city. After that, their plan was to end their vacation in San Diego and surrounding areas.

Even though David and Brody had originally planned to go with them, the opportunity to go to Germany was too great for them to pass up.

David, Brody, and Toby have wanted to end up in San Francisco for a long time. When they were very little, their parents took the whole family there for a week, and the three boys fell in love with the city. Dawson and Brett, the two older boys, like San Francisco as well, but Brett has always wanted to live in New York, and Dawson in Chicago. The three younger boys loved the cable cars in San Francisco, and they wanted to be by the ocean.

“I can’t believe we’re gonna be in Germany for a whole month!” Brody exclaimed.
“I know! I’m so excited,” David replied.
“What should we do while we’re there?”
“Well, I think we’re starting out in Munich.”
“I’ve heard good things about Munich,” Brody said.
“Yeah, a friend from college went there, and he loved it,” David replied.
“That’s good news. Was he that one kid on the tennis team whose parents are from there?”
“Yes!”
“Well, we’re in a similar boat. Our dad is from England.”
“But our mom is from here.”
“Right.”


​​Check out Rockybado, Rockybado 2: A Run in the Game,Rockybado 3: The Invasion of the Naughty Blue Aliens, and Rockybado 4: Running Up a Hill

For some double awesome stuff, check out The Crazy Chicken Escapade and The Somewhat Perilous Plot of the Patriotic Mosquitoes!

From The Magic Video Game

Cosmo was walking along the shoreline when he spotted an unidentified flying object. When the UFO finally landed on the beach, there was a weird-looking creature that found the crazy penguin. He walked up to the penguin and introduced himself.

“Hello, my name is Sam. I am happy to be in Calignobia,” the creature said.

“Sorry, bub. You happen to be in Wakahakai,” Cosmo answered matter-of-factly.

“Well, then where is Calignobia?”

Cosmo pointed in two different directions.

“Thank you, Sir Penguin.”

“You’re welcome! Come back any time!” Cosmo shouted at the top of his lungs when the creature boarded back into his UFO.

'Tis Haiku Monday.
Drinking watermelon beer.
I think it's summer.

But it's really not.
It is really fall. Oh well.
Pumpkin spice err'thing.

​Read Rockybado.
Jazzy Island Dinosaurs.
Magic Vid'ya Game.

Watching a movie.
Dating back to the 90's.
I was a lil kid.

We were gonna walk.
But we quickly changed our minds.
Watching a movie.

Tomorrow's Tuesday.
The week always goes by fast.
Then it is Friday.

From Rockybado 5: #SanFranciscoBound

​David Ingram was sound asleep, and both Brody, David's brother, and Julia Jaconetti, Brody's girlfriend, knew it. He must have started getting a little sick, too. Brody started getting sick a week ago, and he was still fighting the noble battle. Getting sick right before the excursion to San Francisco seemed to be one of the worst times to get sick. David’s face was a little red, especially around his nose. He must have been awake the whole night trying to get things organized for him and everyone else going to the Bay Area.

Brody and Julia could both hear David snoring loudly. They couldn’t help but laugh. Not just at David’s faint snoring, but also at random things. If one person started laughing, the other person would join in, and the other way around.

David had not planned on falling back asleep, but he did.

“David, wake up!” Brody shouted at his older Irish twin brother.
“Brody!” Julia exclaimed.
“He was supposed to help me pack.”
“I can help you pack.”
“What about you? Did you get your stuff packed already?” Brody asked.
“Last week,” Julia replied with a smile.
“I wish I was like that!”
“I’ll teach you.”
“Show me your ways!”
“Lol.”

David still lay comfortably on the couch for the time being. It was 9 o’clock in the morning, and Brody and Julia started packing what was left of Brody’s room in their apartment. After Brody leaving, David, Andrew, and Adam have been planning to bring in Adam’s cousin, Ben. After David and Andrew leaving, Adam and Ben have been planning to bring in a couple mutual friends to split the cost of rent, since it would then be only the two of them.

Brody got up off the recliner, and he took his and Julia’s mug and put them both in the sink. David also had a mug, but half of the English Breakfast tea was still in it. His breathing was steady, and his left hand was still on his chest. He just moved his right arm and loosely put it over the pillow, which was over his head.

Fifteen minutes later….

“Wake up, David!” Brody shouted.
“Wha….“ David replied quietly.
“You awake, bro?”
“Now I am.”
“San Francisco, though!” Brody exclaimed.
“Can’t wait,” David answered in his sleep, moving over on his side and pulling his blanket over him.
“Wakey wakey, eggs and bakey.”
“No, Brody. Not that joke again.”
“Yes, that joke again!”
“Julia, make him stop!”

David slowly got up from his little catnap, and then he, Brody, and Julia packed everything on Brody’s side of the room. There was really not that much left. But, once they all got everything officially packed, Brody resorted back to his leather recliner. Julia sat right next to him, wrapping her arms around Brody’s chest. David proceeded to make his signature steak skillet, but then he realized that their parents were coming over to give them their signature mostaccioli.


​Check out Rockybado, Rockybado 2: A Run in the Game,Rockybado 3: The Invasion of the Naughty Blue Aliens, and Rockybado 4: Running Up a Hill

For some double awesome stuff, check out The Crazy Chicken Escapade and The Somewhat Perilous Plot of the Patriotic Mosquitoes!

From The Magic Video Game

Back in Valparaiso, Victoria and Evelyn Maeve Cranston spent the entire day with each other. Their parents were working and would be home in the afternoon.

It was now eleven o’clock in the morning, and the two girls decided to walk around downtown. They had nothing else to do today.

When the two girls started walking around the nice downtown area, Evelyn Maeve brought, to Victoria’s attention, a man with his thumb up, obviously waiting for a ride from a random person.

“Is that person hijacking?” Evelyn Maeve asked her older sister, with a smile.

Victoria and Evelyn Maeve laughed very hard at the question. Words like that can be very similar in their spelling.

​“Evelyn Maeve, that’s called hitchhiking. That person is hitchhiking,” Victoria answered.