The Bass of Lake Spofford

In life, people find that there are mental effects an item has as well as Physical effects. Things that we have everyday can be our most prized possession. Our minds eye see these things as if there worth vast amounts of money. In many ways, those things in life that don’t have any value are the most valuable things a person can have. In many other ways, those things that have value can be valuable to us, but not in the ways people believe.
One item that I value in life is my Bass. My Bass shows how I can express what I believe through the different elements of music. It is a Rickenbocker 4003 bass, with two pickups, mono and stereo outputs, and a really great truss rod design. It is worth $1600. That is not the reason I love this bass. It just feels right to play it. The way I run my fingers along the surface of the strings, it makes my fingers blister and calices. I don’t feel any pain. I just feel the body of the bass in my fingers. The bass came to me from my uncle, who got it from his brother, who paid $800 for it from some crazy Rush fan who carved his name and social security number into the pickup plate. The bass came with an amplifier, a few chords, a strap, and a hard case. Every little trait about this bass is great. The strings, which have been on there for twenty or so years, are still in great condition. I had one string break in my three years of having this bass, but it was easy fixing. When I got the replacement strings, I saw a Hofner bass, (Paul McCartney is a well known user of it) and I asked the store manager to play it, but when it was placed in my hands, I didn’t feel the warmth I felt with my Rickenbocker. The Hofner was too light, small, and perfectly shaped. I can’t put another bass in my hand without missing the Rickenbocker that came from Alex Higgins, 019-….
In my life, I have gone to Spofford Lake in New Hampshire every summer. One moment in those fifteen years that really stuck out to me was on the Fourth of July (2007), when we all go out in the boat parade and throw water balloons and shoot water guns at other boats. We went in our cousins’ boat this particular year, and they have a ski tower on which he cleverly set up two catapults for water balloons, and we dominated. We had a great time, in the process nailing a bunch of annoying college kids who tried to flip our smaller boat last year. We took on the guys who use fire hoses, hitting quite a few people in the process. Afterwards, we went to our cousins’ house and had dinner, and we hung out all night, playing games, Rock Band, and just having fun. The times we have up at the lake are really important to me, because there are so many things I can do up there. I feel like I am free up there, with no worries or concerns, and time is not a matter to me.
My bass has also been involved at my lake house. This past summer one of the most fun times of my life occurred with my bass at my lake house. In mid July, we decided to play as two bands for a day. We played five set lists. I played in every song. We set up large amplifiers on our patch of beach on the right side of the lawn, two PA speakers on the edge, we took two old docks, connected them, and placed drums and the PA control on them, and we put wood on the beach to keep our shoes from spreading sand into the foot pedals. The bass amp is right behind me, and as I play, I feel the smooth, heavy rhythm of the bass combining with the warm summer sun and the lakes cool breeze against my body, and everything feels alright. It was one of the greatest feelings in the world.
I value both my bass and my time at my lake house. They both reflect the kind of person I am. I like being with the people I love to be with at my lake house, which is separate from cities and businesses, and just to separate myself from the world and go to the rhythm of the music thundering through my ears. As much as I value solitude and peace of mind, when it becomes too much, it is more a sin than a virtue. So I even though I cannot have this feeling whenever I want, I believe that the separation from this feeling greatens my value for it, because it is an award for time spent without the feeling of playing the Rickenbocker bass or being at my lake house in the summer.

Book Review

Ender's Game is a book by Orson Scott Card that is about Ender Wiggin, who is a child genius that is selected by government officials to stop alien invaders from invading Earth. He goes through battle camp, excelling in everything, beating all the hardest challenges after many attempts. Ender's evil brother, Peter, is taking over earth, and wants Ender to return under his control. At the end of the book, after training with Mazer Rackham, Ender supposedly defeats the buggers. He lives on a new planet until he finds what's left of the buggers. Ender goes to the Queen of the buggers and communicates through thought to find that she is only trying to find a new planet for her people to live on and that she is very sorry for what she has done. Ender then makes it his mission to find her a home.

"Enders's Game is a guaranteed crowd pleaser." - Ben Bova.

In Ender's Game, Ender is portrayed as a young, self-consciences boy who is trying to understand who he is. He wishes to be the best at battle school, but he also wants to see his sister again. The conflict here really caught my interest, because it shows that Ender can easily have one of these things, but he cannot have both. Card shows that even though the main character is genius, he has his problems. He also feels guilt after his defeat of the buggers, believing he had ended their entire existence. Ender's Game allows readers to see that even the mind of a child genius has its problems.

"I'll carry you." said Ender [to the hive queen] "I'll go from world to world until I find a time and a place where you can come awake in safety. And I'll tell your story to my people, so that perhaps in time they can forgive you to. The way that you've forgiven me."

This book as probably the strangest reading experience I've ever had. I read the book, found it dull, because I very close-minded to this genre type. But as I re-read it to comprehend any details I missed, I found that I really respected the writing style. Card is abrupt with his tone, not giving long, dull explanations on what is occurring. Ender gives the rest of his life to the last remaining queen of the buggers, to help her find a new home. In the end, I decided that if your going to read science fiction, Ender's Game should be #1 on your list.