...sure want an awful lot.
They wanna be sedated. And then, presumably after being sedated (judging by the monotone), they wanna be your boyfriend.
They also wanna live, want you around, wanna be well, etc. And let's not get started on all the things they don't wanna do!
Whiny, yet amazingly catchy, much? :D
Monday, November 28, 2011
Sunday, November 27, 2011
Thanksgiving 2011
 |
| Mud-less fire pit. |
On that note, I want to pause just long enough to mention that I actually packed light for once! I was very proud of myself. ;) I wore/used all but two of the items I packed.
 |
| This was fascinating. The log was hollow so the fire went right through it and out the end. |
On the way home from Ohio we stopped at a rest area and I noticed that the lady in the car next to us was wearing a head scarf. I didn't really think much of it and we went on.
A while later, back on the road, we saw a car stopped by the side of the road, and a woman who seemed to be kneeling on some sort of rug looking under the car. Mom and I remarked on this, and I added that I thought it must be the people who had been parked next to us at the previous rest stop, because that lady was wearing a headscarf, as was the lady peering at her car. So unless there were a lot of ladies in head scarves on the route, it was probably the same one, and she and her husband must be having car trouble or something.
It was probably thirty minutes later that a thought suddenly hit me and I turn to Mom. "The lady with the headscarf, kneeling next to her car! She was probably praying! On her prayer rug!"
We're so religiously-aware.
Thursday, November 17, 2011
Logistics
Well, I registered for classes the other day...Monday, rather. Registration started at eight Monday morning, and I underestimated how many people would actually get up early and how fast classes would fill up. Next semester I'll be able to register online, but the first semester you attend you have to go in person to sign up. As a result I wasn't able to get the schedule I wanted (only going to campus Monday and Wednesday), but this way I will have more leisurely days and time to interact with people as opposed to rushing between classes two days a week. I have classes Monday through Thursday, which isn't so bad.
I ended up having to sign up for an evening class because that's the only time I could take the Intro To Computers class. Well, I had an option to take it at one of the other locations...with the race car technology students. The lady helping me register pointed out that at least there'd be lots of guys there. Haha, yeah! Um...yeah...no...I'm not going there to look for guys... That class didn't work well with my schedule anyway, so I signed up for the evening one and I'm going to at least try to test out of the class. Otherwise Thursdays will be rather annoying since my afternoon classes end and then there's 3.5 hours until the evening class.
The next step is to get my books, as soon at the updated list of curriculum is up on the website. I'm hoping to rent as many as I can from a place online and only buy what I have to. Textbooks are ridiculously expensive! But if I rent I should be able to get the total price down from $800ish to $200 or so. I'm all for that!
Hmm...also, I'm thinking stylish shoes are out of the question for school. :) When I was there Monday and today, both times I needed to be wearing my running shoes, especially on Monday since I'd been wearing heels over the weekend. Hmph, I'm too old for all this walking over campus. Good thing I'm not on a normal college campus where the buildings really aren't as close together! :D
Yeah, heels...I played frisbee on Saturday (in good shoes, but there was lots of running) and then wore heels Saturday night when I went swing dancing, and wore them again for church on Sunday. My knee disliked that blatant disregard of practicality. Oh well. It can just suck it up and stop hurting. Hopefully.
Oh yes, swing dancing is something I've taken up over the past few months! I'd all but given up on it, figuring I'd never have the coordination to figure it out, but my friends convinced me to come to the dance with them a few months ago, and it finally clicked! And now I'm hooked.
Last weekend I was dancing with an older guy and he was telling me I should go ask one of the younger guys to dance...indicating several that were standing at the edge of the room. Two of them linked arms and starting "dancing", at which point my partner remarked "Well, they're having a bit of a gay moment...but they'll get over it." I pretty much lost it at that point...he was lucky I was able to keep dancing despite how much I was laughing. :D
Furthermore, when I did ask one of the guys to dance, he warned me that he'd been drinking (to apologize for...what, I don't know...he seemed to be able to dance still and didn't do anything inappropriate). I later looked him up on Facebook and realized he was a homeschooled kid (now a college freshman.) Uh-huh. That's cute. Yes, you're so cool. Perhaps the drinking remark was supposed to impress me? Oh, silly boys. :)
Basically, swing dancing is fun, and it amuses me. It's a great opportunity for people watching, combined with some additional interaction with them.
I ended up having to sign up for an evening class because that's the only time I could take the Intro To Computers class. Well, I had an option to take it at one of the other locations...with the race car technology students. The lady helping me register pointed out that at least there'd be lots of guys there. Haha, yeah! Um...yeah...no...I'm not going there to look for guys... That class didn't work well with my schedule anyway, so I signed up for the evening one and I'm going to at least try to test out of the class. Otherwise Thursdays will be rather annoying since my afternoon classes end and then there's 3.5 hours until the evening class.
The next step is to get my books, as soon at the updated list of curriculum is up on the website. I'm hoping to rent as many as I can from a place online and only buy what I have to. Textbooks are ridiculously expensive! But if I rent I should be able to get the total price down from $800ish to $200 or so. I'm all for that!
Hmm...also, I'm thinking stylish shoes are out of the question for school. :) When I was there Monday and today, both times I needed to be wearing my running shoes, especially on Monday since I'd been wearing heels over the weekend. Hmph, I'm too old for all this walking over campus. Good thing I'm not on a normal college campus where the buildings really aren't as close together! :D
Yeah, heels...I played frisbee on Saturday (in good shoes, but there was lots of running) and then wore heels Saturday night when I went swing dancing, and wore them again for church on Sunday. My knee disliked that blatant disregard of practicality. Oh well. It can just suck it up and stop hurting. Hopefully.
Oh yes, swing dancing is something I've taken up over the past few months! I'd all but given up on it, figuring I'd never have the coordination to figure it out, but my friends convinced me to come to the dance with them a few months ago, and it finally clicked! And now I'm hooked.
Last weekend I was dancing with an older guy and he was telling me I should go ask one of the younger guys to dance...indicating several that were standing at the edge of the room. Two of them linked arms and starting "dancing", at which point my partner remarked "Well, they're having a bit of a gay moment...but they'll get over it." I pretty much lost it at that point...he was lucky I was able to keep dancing despite how much I was laughing. :D
Furthermore, when I did ask one of the guys to dance, he warned me that he'd been drinking (to apologize for...what, I don't know...he seemed to be able to dance still and didn't do anything inappropriate). I later looked him up on Facebook and realized he was a homeschooled kid (now a college freshman.) Uh-huh. That's cute. Yes, you're so cool. Perhaps the drinking remark was supposed to impress me? Oh, silly boys. :)
Basically, swing dancing is fun, and it amuses me. It's a great opportunity for people watching, combined with some additional interaction with them.
Thursday, November 10, 2011
Here it goes again
I'm going to try, yet again, to start a blog and actually keep up with it. It may be wishful thinking, but it might also be very good for me. I'm finding myself at a loss for reasonable words anytime I need to write something that's more than three or four sentences and it's probably from lack of practice.
Besides...things are a little different now! I'm officially unemployed now and will be starting school in January. Yes! Also...eep! Yay! Oh my. Slightly mixed feelings, as you can tell...or conflicted feelings, perhaps.
I decided a few months back to quit my job as a nanny and go to college to study office administration. I'm super excited about it, as well as being a little bewildered at being thrown back into school life. Well, let me rephrase that...it's not the school life that's confusing me, seeing as I haven't started yet. It's the switch from being out of school and working, to being back in school...away from being...professional? An adult? Being in school really shouldn't govern that, but mentally it's a bit of a switch-up. I can only imagine what it must be like for people older than me to go back to school. I mean, I'm typical grad school age at least and have only been working three years. I did feel horribly old when I was at school a few weeks ago to drop off my transcript though. I saw a bunch of kids who looked about twelve...and then I realized they were the highschoolers. :D Phew. I'm going to the local community college and it will be nice that there should be a variety of people there, of different ages and with varying goals.
On that note (school), there's another reason I should try to keep up with this blog. I'll be taking an expository writing class and the extra practice won't hurt! And I'm guessing with school going on I'll have more to write about, or at least more time to write about life in general? We'll see. *fingers crossed*
I said I was officially unemployed and by that I meant my previous nanny job has ended. I have a few other babysitting and house sitting jobs lined up before the end of the year, and I'm hoping to have time for that after school starts as well. Obviously pet sitting and house sitting jobs will really fit into my schedule well...one can sit a house and do homework at the same time...not so much with children. :)
At the same time, I'm looking forward to my remaining free time to get some things done around the house and be prepared for school. Obviously a major room-cleaning is in order. (Obviously? of course obviously, if I expect to study in there.)
So yeah, today was my last day of work, which was kind of bittersweet. I've been taking care of these two girls since the oldest was a baby so it's odd to think I won't see them all the time anymore. Such a lovely last day too...rainy and cold! ...though I was able to take the little one out for a walk during a break in the rain.
And after work I went and got a haircut...which seems somehow indicative of something. New beginnings? Maybe if I'd gotten something radically different done with my hair, but I only got a trim which it had needed for a while, and did it today because I was on the right end of town. :D Maybe I'm just trying to come up with a good reason for the $16 I spent. ;) (And that's why I don't get my hair cut every six weeks like you're "supposed to".)
Anyway, that's a brief overview of what's been changing lately in my life!
And thanks to the post title I chose I'm thinking of that Ok Go song: the one with the video involving treadmills.
Besides...things are a little different now! I'm officially unemployed now and will be starting school in January. Yes! Also...eep! Yay! Oh my. Slightly mixed feelings, as you can tell...or conflicted feelings, perhaps.
I decided a few months back to quit my job as a nanny and go to college to study office administration. I'm super excited about it, as well as being a little bewildered at being thrown back into school life. Well, let me rephrase that...it's not the school life that's confusing me, seeing as I haven't started yet. It's the switch from being out of school and working, to being back in school...away from being...professional? An adult? Being in school really shouldn't govern that, but mentally it's a bit of a switch-up. I can only imagine what it must be like for people older than me to go back to school. I mean, I'm typical grad school age at least and have only been working three years. I did feel horribly old when I was at school a few weeks ago to drop off my transcript though. I saw a bunch of kids who looked about twelve...and then I realized they were the highschoolers. :D Phew. I'm going to the local community college and it will be nice that there should be a variety of people there, of different ages and with varying goals.
On that note (school), there's another reason I should try to keep up with this blog. I'll be taking an expository writing class and the extra practice won't hurt! And I'm guessing with school going on I'll have more to write about, or at least more time to write about life in general? We'll see. *fingers crossed*
I said I was officially unemployed and by that I meant my previous nanny job has ended. I have a few other babysitting and house sitting jobs lined up before the end of the year, and I'm hoping to have time for that after school starts as well. Obviously pet sitting and house sitting jobs will really fit into my schedule well...one can sit a house and do homework at the same time...not so much with children. :)
At the same time, I'm looking forward to my remaining free time to get some things done around the house and be prepared for school. Obviously a major room-cleaning is in order. (Obviously? of course obviously, if I expect to study in there.)
So yeah, today was my last day of work, which was kind of bittersweet. I've been taking care of these two girls since the oldest was a baby so it's odd to think I won't see them all the time anymore. Such a lovely last day too...rainy and cold! ...though I was able to take the little one out for a walk during a break in the rain.
And after work I went and got a haircut...which seems somehow indicative of something. New beginnings? Maybe if I'd gotten something radically different done with my hair, but I only got a trim which it had needed for a while, and did it today because I was on the right end of town. :D Maybe I'm just trying to come up with a good reason for the $16 I spent. ;) (And that's why I don't get my hair cut every six weeks like you're "supposed to".)
Anyway, that's a brief overview of what's been changing lately in my life!
And thanks to the post title I chose I'm thinking of that Ok Go song: the one with the video involving treadmills.
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Ezekiel 22:23-31
I was reading this the other night:
23And the word of the LORD came to me: 24"Son of man, say to her, You are a land that is not cleansed or rained upon in the day of indignation. 25 The conspiracy of her prophets in her midst is like a roaring lion tearing the prey; they have devoured human lives; they have taken treasure and precious things; they have made many widows in her midst. 26 Her priests have done violence to my law and have profaned my holy things. They have made no distinction between the holy and the common, neither have they taught the difference between the unclean and the clean, and they have disregarded my Sabbaths, so that I am profaned among them. 27 Her princes in her midst are like wolves tearing the prey, shedding blood, destroying lives to get dishonest gain. 28And her prophets have smeared whitewash for them, seeing false visions and divining lies for them, saying, 'Thus says the Lord GOD,' when the LORD has not spoken. 29The people of the land have practiced extortion and committed robbery. They have oppressed the poor and needy, and have extorted from the sojourner without justice. 30 And I sought for a man among them who should build up the wall and stand in the breach before me for the land, that I should not destroy it, but I found none. 31Therefore I have poured out my indignation upon them. I have consumed them with the fire of my wrath. I have returned their way upon their heads, declares the Lord GOD."
So many times in the Bible, the sins of the nation of Israel sound so much like now, with corruption even within the church. And yet the Lord STILL has mercy on them and on us! Later in chapter 37, Israel is despairing, fearful of being cut off...and yet the Lord shows Ezekiel that as he can raise the dead bones to life, preaching to them the gospel, so the Israelites will be brought back and given the spirit.
I was just particularly struck by it, and how it brought to mind the modern church. Teachers "saying, 'Thus says the Lord GOD,' when the LORD has not spoken."
This too made me pause: "30 And I sought for a man among them who should build up the wall and stand in the breach before me for the land, that I should not destroy it, but I found none." Wow. That's awful.
Anyway, just something I was reading. Not much of a blog post. :) I've been super busy, and my blogging has suffered as a result. Plus the more people I talk to in person, the less need/desire I feel to write out what all's going on. (My relatives are yelling at me right now, probably, since I've neither blogged, nor called, nor emailed them.) :D
23And the word of the LORD came to me: 24"Son of man, say to her, You are a land that is not cleansed or rained upon in the day of indignation. 25 The conspiracy of her prophets in her midst is like a roaring lion tearing the prey; they have devoured human lives; they have taken treasure and precious things; they have made many widows in her midst. 26 Her priests have done violence to my law and have profaned my holy things. They have made no distinction between the holy and the common, neither have they taught the difference between the unclean and the clean, and they have disregarded my Sabbaths, so that I am profaned among them. 27 Her princes in her midst are like wolves tearing the prey, shedding blood, destroying lives to get dishonest gain. 28And her prophets have smeared whitewash for them, seeing false visions and divining lies for them, saying, 'Thus says the Lord GOD,' when the LORD has not spoken. 29The people of the land have practiced extortion and committed robbery. They have oppressed the poor and needy, and have extorted from the sojourner without justice. 30 And I sought for a man among them who should build up the wall and stand in the breach before me for the land, that I should not destroy it, but I found none. 31Therefore I have poured out my indignation upon them. I have consumed them with the fire of my wrath. I have returned their way upon their heads, declares the Lord GOD."
So many times in the Bible, the sins of the nation of Israel sound so much like now, with corruption even within the church. And yet the Lord STILL has mercy on them and on us! Later in chapter 37, Israel is despairing, fearful of being cut off...and yet the Lord shows Ezekiel that as he can raise the dead bones to life, preaching to them the gospel, so the Israelites will be brought back and given the spirit.
I was just particularly struck by it, and how it brought to mind the modern church. Teachers "saying, 'Thus says the Lord GOD,' when the LORD has not spoken."
This too made me pause: "30 And I sought for a man among them who should build up the wall and stand in the breach before me for the land, that I should not destroy it, but I found none." Wow. That's awful.
Anyway, just something I was reading. Not much of a blog post. :) I've been super busy, and my blogging has suffered as a result. Plus the more people I talk to in person, the less need/desire I feel to write out what all's going on. (My relatives are yelling at me right now, probably, since I've neither blogged, nor called, nor emailed them.) :D
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Books are a drug
It's a relatively painless addiction, though, like most addictions it must be fed and that can place a heavy toll on your bank account. You find yourself wandering around used book stores and scanning the book shelves at the local Goodwill for hidden gems, your neck going stiff from reading all the titles sideways. You snatch up even paperback versions of rarer books, just to have a copy, and when you find a beautiful hardcover classic for $15-$25, you justify the purchase as being an investment, even when you realize you just ruined your budget because after all you don't have an "old books that I simply must have" category in it.
Do you smell books? The majority of the time it's a pleasant experience, only marred by mold and cigarette smoke.
Old and new books all have certain smells, and I find that I associate them with past books by their smell. After spending way too many hours with my head on or too close to my textbooks, I can recognize textbook smell. (Side note: I don't think I would have done that if I wasn't homeschooled and my textbooks weren't usually new and clean...yuck) The thin, slick paper and the ink used in textbooks has a certain smell. Rough paper and ink workbooks smell the same as crossword puzzles and coloring books and construction paper. There's the quality paper and ink smell of a well-bound hardcover book, or the basic papery smell that the majority of your paperback 5th-8th grade range books have, the kind you pick up in the childrens' section of Barnes & Noble.
I just pulled an unread old used book off my bookshelf and now I'm struggling to read it instead of burying my nose in it because it smells like books from my childhood, namely Stuart Little, Charlotte's Web and our older set of the Little House On the Prairie books. The book happens to be A Candle For St. Jude and quite honestly I have no idea what it's about, but I recognized the author's name (Rumer Godden) and remembered I'd read some of her books years and years ago, so I picked it up at Goodwill since it was inexpensive but in good condition.
So if you happen to be in a used bookstore here in town and find me totally oblivious to everything but the books that I'm looking at...or possibly smelling...don't worry, I haven't gone crazy. Or at least not any crazier than I already am. ;) I'm merely under the influence of a mildly dangerous drug.
Do you smell books? The majority of the time it's a pleasant experience, only marred by mold and cigarette smoke.
Old and new books all have certain smells, and I find that I associate them with past books by their smell. After spending way too many hours with my head on or too close to my textbooks, I can recognize textbook smell. (Side note: I don't think I would have done that if I wasn't homeschooled and my textbooks weren't usually new and clean...yuck) The thin, slick paper and the ink used in textbooks has a certain smell. Rough paper and ink workbooks smell the same as crossword puzzles and coloring books and construction paper. There's the quality paper and ink smell of a well-bound hardcover book, or the basic papery smell that the majority of your paperback 5th-8th grade range books have, the kind you pick up in the childrens' section of Barnes & Noble.
I just pulled an unread old used book off my bookshelf and now I'm struggling to read it instead of burying my nose in it because it smells like books from my childhood, namely Stuart Little, Charlotte's Web and our older set of the Little House On the Prairie books. The book happens to be A Candle For St. Jude and quite honestly I have no idea what it's about, but I recognized the author's name (Rumer Godden) and remembered I'd read some of her books years and years ago, so I picked it up at Goodwill since it was inexpensive but in good condition.
So if you happen to be in a used bookstore here in town and find me totally oblivious to everything but the books that I'm looking at...or possibly smelling...don't worry, I haven't gone crazy. Or at least not any crazier than I already am. ;) I'm merely under the influence of a mildly dangerous drug.
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Color-sorted closet
Yes, I'm that OCD. But I read about this sometime back when I used to read more decorating/organizing blogs. You know you have too much time if you read about organizing instead of just doing it. Well, to a certain extent; you can get some helpful tips from reading about it. Anyway, somewhere I saw a suggestion of getting matching hangers and also hanging your clothes sorted by color, to make your closet neater.
And it works! It sounds ridiculous, but it looks nice. Plus, when you go to get a shirt to wear, instead of wearing Blue Shirt No. 1 that you wore three days ago and stuck right back in the front of your closet when it came through the laundry, you notice that you also have Blue Shirt Numbers 2 and 3 right next to it, and maybe would like to wear one of them instead. I mean...if you only have one shirt of each color then that doesn't apply, of course.
I was reminded of it, because I just saw this post today: 31 Days To a Less Messy Nest Day 12: Hanging Clothes Someone posted the link to that one, but I think I'll have to watch and see if any of the other 31 days are helpful as well.
I don't do this to quite my entire closet. The majority of my skirts are patterned, and therefore not definable, besides I have skirts and dresses all on one side where there's enough room for them to hang down. But tops can coexist within color groups: sweaters, sleeveless, short sleeve, long sleeve. I had all green hangers too at one point, but I ran out of them, so the matching hangers part of the plan kind of fizzled out.
Oh, I took a picture and blogged it after I got the hangers and sorted it by color...two...years ago... Okay, that does it. Time is going way too fast. I could've sworn it was earlier this year, or possibly last when I started doing that.
Nevermind, Blogger doesn't want to load photos again...!
So, obsessive color sorting. But I WILL NOT sort my books by color! I love how it looks, and if you can deal with it, then more power to you, but my books have to be sorted by author. I look at pictures of color-sorted bookshelves, and appreciate them, but I would slowly go crazy trying to find my books. No, I take that back, I have a good idea of what color all my books are anyway, so it wouldn't be so hard to find them, but it would just bug me that they weren't sorted by author. :D I highly recommend sorting your clothes though.
And it works! It sounds ridiculous, but it looks nice. Plus, when you go to get a shirt to wear, instead of wearing Blue Shirt No. 1 that you wore three days ago and stuck right back in the front of your closet when it came through the laundry, you notice that you also have Blue Shirt Numbers 2 and 3 right next to it, and maybe would like to wear one of them instead. I mean...if you only have one shirt of each color then that doesn't apply, of course.
I was reminded of it, because I just saw this post today: 31 Days To a Less Messy Nest Day 12: Hanging Clothes Someone posted the link to that one, but I think I'll have to watch and see if any of the other 31 days are helpful as well.
I don't do this to quite my entire closet. The majority of my skirts are patterned, and therefore not definable, besides I have skirts and dresses all on one side where there's enough room for them to hang down. But tops can coexist within color groups: sweaters, sleeveless, short sleeve, long sleeve. I had all green hangers too at one point, but I ran out of them, so the matching hangers part of the plan kind of fizzled out.
Oh, I took a picture and blogged it after I got the hangers and sorted it by color...two...years ago... Okay, that does it. Time is going way too fast. I could've sworn it was earlier this year, or possibly last when I started doing that.
Nevermind, Blogger doesn't want to load photos again...!
So, obsessive color sorting. But I WILL NOT sort my books by color! I love how it looks, and if you can deal with it, then more power to you, but my books have to be sorted by author. I look at pictures of color-sorted bookshelves, and appreciate them, but I would slowly go crazy trying to find my books. No, I take that back, I have a good idea of what color all my books are anyway, so it wouldn't be so hard to find them, but it would just bug me that they weren't sorted by author. :D I highly recommend sorting your clothes though.
Wednesday, October 06, 2010
I don't do poetry, but I did write this
I wrote this some afternoon after relaxing outside in the sun. I'm guessing I was probably half asleep and dreamy when I wrote it because typing it up and editing it just now put me to sleep. "3/9/10" is written at the top of the page, so presumably that's when I wrote it, and since it's written on the back of my January calendar page that sounds about right. It must have been an unusually warm day early this year.
3/9/10
Rest and relaxation.
A pause from the cares of life.
A time perhaps to dream.
A time to think of things beyond oneself,
Or consider those that are merely new.
Perhaps a time of actual sleep.
Closing the eyes, resting the mind
Waking to life renewed.
Perhaps a time to gaze into the heavens.
To see the hawk-- gliding, swooping
Bringing remembrance of a kite flown in childhood.
A time to see and feel the sun,
To be thankful for its warmth.
To see a promise of spring all around.
Or even relaxation in the company of a friend.
To talk, or not, as each feels led.
A time to enjoy shared laughter,
Or if alone, even a smile from a stranger.
Perhaps it's a second,
Perhaps a whole day, or longer,
But when it's finished it leaves one refreshed
With strength to handle the certain cares to come.
As I said, I don't really do poetry. There are a few poems I really like, such as "The Road Not Taken" by Robert Frost, or "The Road Goes Ever On" the song/poem from The Hobbit and LOTR...those are the first two that occur to me at the moment. (I seem to like roads.) But apart from that I'm not an avid poetry fan or anything, and I hardly ever write any myself. So, I have no idea if this is even any valid form of poetry...I guess it can be free verse if nothing else, right? It was just something that came to mind, so I scribbled it down.
3/9/10
Rest and relaxation.
A pause from the cares of life.
A time perhaps to dream.
A time to think of things beyond oneself,
Or consider those that are merely new.
Perhaps a time of actual sleep.
Closing the eyes, resting the mind
Waking to life renewed.
Perhaps a time to gaze into the heavens.
To see the hawk-- gliding, swooping
Bringing remembrance of a kite flown in childhood.
A time to see and feel the sun,
To be thankful for its warmth.
To see a promise of spring all around.
Or even relaxation in the company of a friend.
To talk, or not, as each feels led.
A time to enjoy shared laughter,
Or if alone, even a smile from a stranger.
Perhaps it's a second,
Perhaps a whole day, or longer,
But when it's finished it leaves one refreshed
With strength to handle the certain cares to come.
As I said, I don't really do poetry. There are a few poems I really like, such as "The Road Not Taken" by Robert Frost, or "The Road Goes Ever On" the song/poem from The Hobbit and LOTR...those are the first two that occur to me at the moment. (I seem to like roads.) But apart from that I'm not an avid poetry fan or anything, and I hardly ever write any myself. So, I have no idea if this is even any valid form of poetry...I guess it can be free verse if nothing else, right? It was just something that came to mind, so I scribbled it down.
Tuesday, October 05, 2010
Ultimate Mondays
Mondays are awesome these days. Well, Monday evenings to be exact. The rest of the day can still be awful, there are no guarantees. But for the past few months Mondays have meant playing ultimate frisbee with my friends.
Ultimate frisbee is something like a combination of soccer and football, except with a frisbee. (And technically it's just "ultimate" because "Frisbee" is a brand name...and not even the brand of discs we use.) At least I think I'm correct in saying it's like soccer/football, but I'm not really sure of the rules of either, so don't quote me on that.
I only have a few photos of an ultimate frisbee game, because there was one I didn't play in because I was sunburnt. It wasn't all of our usual crowd either so I'm not even sure who everyone is, but anyway there's a few basic action shots. I'd love to get some really cool close-up shots of throws and catches sometime! Of course, that means not playing. :(
In ultimate you have two end zones; ours are each marked by four small orange cones. To score a point, a player has to catch the disc while in the defense's end zone. You start out with each team standing in their end zone, and when both teams are ready, one player calls "Disc!" and throws the disc. At that point it belongs to the other team until they drop it. Basically anytime the disc is dropped the other team gets it. We usually have 9-14 people playing altogether; last night we had 11.
Technically ultimate is a non-contact sport, but that pretty much means you don't purposely tackle someone and it's a foul if you do so. But people do run into each other or get hit with the frisbee. We've had several close calls with people getting hit or nearly hit in the face or neck, or getting their feet stomped on...those three are the most possibly serious injuries, at least that we've run into so far... Unfortunately, my style of playing ultimate seems to end up with me landing on the ground quite a lot. The sad thing is that probably nearly 75% of the time it's my own fault, either because my feet slipped while trying to stop or turn too fast (I think I need cleats!), or I run into another player when I'm trying to get the disc. Diving for the frisbee is a valid (and impressive) way to play, but I may unintentionally do it more than necessary. Ha! My neck is very sore today because during last night's game I managed to trip over/crash into one of my own teammates while we both went after the disc, and I hit the ground hard which jarred my neck and shoulders pretty good.
However, I've also been run into, elbowed, kicked, tripped, etc. by other players, so it's not always my own fault. I'm just not really afraid to get in there and get dirty and possibly injured and that leads to...well, getting dirty and injured, surprisingly enough. :D It's kinda odd really, because I've never been one to play sports a whole lot, or to get into them much if I did, but I get really competitive about ultimate and end up out there playing hard and yelling when things aren't going well. Weird. I'm positive my game could use more skill and less injury, but it unfortunately hasn't gotten to that point yet. :/
I also still need to learn some more throws and perfect the ones I do know how to do. There are several different ways to throw a frisbee, from the basic backhand throw that most people know, to a hammer throw, which is throwing the disc vertically instead of horizontally...with the ideal finish being that it somehow flattens out by the time it has to be caught. That doesn't always happen though, so you find an extremely dangerous-looking disc hurtling down at your head. :/ (I don't much care for those, if you couldn't tell...) I really need to get myself a decent disc and practice some, because even my basic throw is somewhat unreliable and entirely dependent on how well I happen to be throwing that day.
As far as defense, there are two ways you can block people (as well as several much more complicated defensive maneuvers involving the whole team). You can stand in front of the person who's trying to pass the disc and distract them or try to knock down the disc as soon as they throw it. The other option (that I generally go with) is to block the players who are going to be trying to catch the disc when it's thrown. I find this much more effective. It's really interesting too, because the more you play, either as a group in general or during one game, you realize that there are certain people who will always end up blocking each other, or you can figure out who someone's likely to try to throw to and block that person, which adds some more strategy to the game.
This website has the basic rules, and diagrams of various types of plays: Ultimate Guide to Ultimate Frisbee. After reading through that I realized that there are several rules we don't really follow. We also don't keep score. At least, we kind of have an idea of which team is doing better and try to make sure the teams are even, but we don't keep track of the numbers. It sounds silly to play with no goal in mind, and normally that would bother me, but for some reason it doesn't in this case.
At any rate, I find it to be a lot of fun! Great stress-relief and exercise because it takes some concentration and there's lots of running around involved. So that makes Monday nights something worth looking forward to. :) Afterward we usually either go hang out at someone's house or at McDonald's. Unfortunately it's getting dark sooner now and colder, so I'm not sure how much longer we'll be able to play. We really need to either find a lighted field to play in, play at some other time, or figure out a way to be more visible in the dark. Last night we had a lighted disc to play with once it got dark, but we could only see the disc and the people who had somewhat light-colored clothes on. The people in dark clothes were invisible or indistinguishable. The two tallest guys were both wearing blue, so it was pretty much impossible to tell them apart in the dark, and one was on my team and the other was not, so it was either going to be a really good thing to throw to one of them, or a dire mistake to do so! The cones marking the end zones were also invisible, so it was pretty hard to tell when anyone actually scored. So we gave up not long after it got dark and headed to McDonald's to eat and get warmed up.
Actually last night was a little crazier than usual because some of us were a bit hyper thanks to coffee from McDonald's. :) I ordered a mocha, expecting it to be hot and they gave me a frozen one instead. Well, they said to just keep that one and they'd make me a hot one too, so several of my friends shared the cold one and we were all, um, obviously caffeinated. Sometimes I think I really need that caffeine to get over my introverted tendencies in a crowd though. Of course it can go too far in the other direction, i.e. being very hyper and random... :D But I had a great time hanging out and talking with friends. We stayed there pretty late too. I guess McDonald's usually closes at eleven, so they would have eventually kicked us out, but we stayed there until a little after ten-thirty. At some point thinking "Oh, it's dark, but wait, it's only eight after all" turned into "Hey, no way it's as late as it looks...oh, nevermind, it is actually". :D
Anyway, that's one of my favorite things to do these days. I probably just bored half of my readers to tears though. Oops. I apologize. *tosses a friendly reconciliatory frisbee to you* What, what do you mean you hate frisbees...?
(I've also really got to figure out what to do about my addiction to emoticons. I ought to be able to write a blog post without these, right? :D :) :/ :P Right??) Hmph. I'm disappointed with myself.
Ultimate frisbee is something like a combination of soccer and football, except with a frisbee. (And technically it's just "ultimate" because "Frisbee" is a brand name...and not even the brand of discs we use.) At least I think I'm correct in saying it's like soccer/football, but I'm not really sure of the rules of either, so don't quote me on that.
I only have a few photos of an ultimate frisbee game, because there was one I didn't play in because I was sunburnt. It wasn't all of our usual crowd either so I'm not even sure who everyone is, but anyway there's a few basic action shots. I'd love to get some really cool close-up shots of throws and catches sometime! Of course, that means not playing. :(
In ultimate you have two end zones; ours are each marked by four small orange cones. To score a point, a player has to catch the disc while in the defense's end zone. You start out with each team standing in their end zone, and when both teams are ready, one player calls "Disc!" and throws the disc. At that point it belongs to the other team until they drop it. Basically anytime the disc is dropped the other team gets it. We usually have 9-14 people playing altogether; last night we had 11.
Technically ultimate is a non-contact sport, but that pretty much means you don't purposely tackle someone and it's a foul if you do so. But people do run into each other or get hit with the frisbee. We've had several close calls with people getting hit or nearly hit in the face or neck, or getting their feet stomped on...those three are the most possibly serious injuries, at least that we've run into so far... Unfortunately, my style of playing ultimate seems to end up with me landing on the ground quite a lot. The sad thing is that probably nearly 75% of the time it's my own fault, either because my feet slipped while trying to stop or turn too fast (I think I need cleats!), or I run into another player when I'm trying to get the disc. Diving for the frisbee is a valid (and impressive) way to play, but I may unintentionally do it more than necessary. Ha! My neck is very sore today because during last night's game I managed to trip over/crash into one of my own teammates while we both went after the disc, and I hit the ground hard which jarred my neck and shoulders pretty good.
However, I've also been run into, elbowed, kicked, tripped, etc. by other players, so it's not always my own fault. I'm just not really afraid to get in there and get dirty and possibly injured and that leads to...well, getting dirty and injured, surprisingly enough. :D It's kinda odd really, because I've never been one to play sports a whole lot, or to get into them much if I did, but I get really competitive about ultimate and end up out there playing hard and yelling when things aren't going well. Weird. I'm positive my game could use more skill and less injury, but it unfortunately hasn't gotten to that point yet. :/
I also still need to learn some more throws and perfect the ones I do know how to do. There are several different ways to throw a frisbee, from the basic backhand throw that most people know, to a hammer throw, which is throwing the disc vertically instead of horizontally...with the ideal finish being that it somehow flattens out by the time it has to be caught. That doesn't always happen though, so you find an extremely dangerous-looking disc hurtling down at your head. :/ (I don't much care for those, if you couldn't tell...) I really need to get myself a decent disc and practice some, because even my basic throw is somewhat unreliable and entirely dependent on how well I happen to be throwing that day.
As far as defense, there are two ways you can block people (as well as several much more complicated defensive maneuvers involving the whole team). You can stand in front of the person who's trying to pass the disc and distract them or try to knock down the disc as soon as they throw it. The other option (that I generally go with) is to block the players who are going to be trying to catch the disc when it's thrown. I find this much more effective. It's really interesting too, because the more you play, either as a group in general or during one game, you realize that there are certain people who will always end up blocking each other, or you can figure out who someone's likely to try to throw to and block that person, which adds some more strategy to the game.
This website has the basic rules, and diagrams of various types of plays: Ultimate Guide to Ultimate Frisbee. After reading through that I realized that there are several rules we don't really follow. We also don't keep score. At least, we kind of have an idea of which team is doing better and try to make sure the teams are even, but we don't keep track of the numbers. It sounds silly to play with no goal in mind, and normally that would bother me, but for some reason it doesn't in this case.
At any rate, I find it to be a lot of fun! Great stress-relief and exercise because it takes some concentration and there's lots of running around involved. So that makes Monday nights something worth looking forward to. :) Afterward we usually either go hang out at someone's house or at McDonald's. Unfortunately it's getting dark sooner now and colder, so I'm not sure how much longer we'll be able to play. We really need to either find a lighted field to play in, play at some other time, or figure out a way to be more visible in the dark. Last night we had a lighted disc to play with once it got dark, but we could only see the disc and the people who had somewhat light-colored clothes on. The people in dark clothes were invisible or indistinguishable. The two tallest guys were both wearing blue, so it was pretty much impossible to tell them apart in the dark, and one was on my team and the other was not, so it was either going to be a really good thing to throw to one of them, or a dire mistake to do so! The cones marking the end zones were also invisible, so it was pretty hard to tell when anyone actually scored. So we gave up not long after it got dark and headed to McDonald's to eat and get warmed up.
Actually last night was a little crazier than usual because some of us were a bit hyper thanks to coffee from McDonald's. :) I ordered a mocha, expecting it to be hot and they gave me a frozen one instead. Well, they said to just keep that one and they'd make me a hot one too, so several of my friends shared the cold one and we were all, um, obviously caffeinated. Sometimes I think I really need that caffeine to get over my introverted tendencies in a crowd though. Of course it can go too far in the other direction, i.e. being very hyper and random... :D But I had a great time hanging out and talking with friends. We stayed there pretty late too. I guess McDonald's usually closes at eleven, so they would have eventually kicked us out, but we stayed there until a little after ten-thirty. At some point thinking "Oh, it's dark, but wait, it's only eight after all" turned into "Hey, no way it's as late as it looks...oh, nevermind, it is actually". :D
Anyway, that's one of my favorite things to do these days. I probably just bored half of my readers to tears though. Oops. I apologize. *tosses a friendly reconciliatory frisbee to you* What, what do you mean you hate frisbees...?
(I've also really got to figure out what to do about my addiction to emoticons. I ought to be able to write a blog post without these, right? :D :) :/ :P Right??) Hmph. I'm disappointed with myself.
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