So my moments of change continue...
I am now on the tail end of a 6 week trip around Peru. It has been an amazing experience. I wish I could give some brief mind blowing explanation of life in Peru, but that would never be brief. In the end, I highly recommend coming here and seeing it for yourself. I'll try and come up with some comical blogs about it in the future, but the real meaning of the trip would have to be a face to face conversation.
One of my best friends is joining the army to become a helicopter pilot, which it is nice to see him pursue a dream and I hope everything works out for the best on this new course.
Jenny is now really a real doctor.
I will be moving to Salt Lake City in a couple weeks. I don't have a job or a real place to live, but I have possibilities.
I got sunburn on my lips again. Need to get better at stopping this.
I miss my puppy dog and love my wife and am forever amused by the antics of children.
And that is pretty much life as of now.
Showing posts with label thoughts. Show all posts
Showing posts with label thoughts. Show all posts
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Hands in my Pockets
I found myself walking down a hall all alone today with my hands in my pockets. Sometimes it’s nice to keep your fingers warm and toasty. Sometimes it’s just nice to not have your arms swinging all over the place. Sometimes it’s just fun to see what junk you’ve been putting in your pocket. As I walked, I had a flash of a memory…
I was in 6th grade and I hade just gone to the bathroom and I was walking back to my class room. Some adult, most likely a teacher, saw me walking . She was not at all concerned that I might be skipping class but was honestly interested in why I would choose to be using my pockets for the purpose of hiding my hands. I was abruptly asked why I had my hands in my pockets as if I was some scandalous trouble maker. I deftly replied with an utterly confused “nothing” and went back to my class. To this day I will never understand what kind of trouble I must have been causing there with my hands in my pockets.
I was in 6th grade and I hade just gone to the bathroom and I was walking back to my class room. Some adult, most likely a teacher, saw me walking . She was not at all concerned that I might be skipping class but was honestly interested in why I would choose to be using my pockets for the purpose of hiding my hands. I was abruptly asked why I had my hands in my pockets as if I was some scandalous trouble maker. I deftly replied with an utterly confused “nothing” and went back to my class. To this day I will never understand what kind of trouble I must have been causing there with my hands in my pockets.
(fade to Alanis Morrisette “Hand in My Pocket”)
Sunday, February 10, 2008
kids, cookies, & puppies
I was driving back from Sunday pick-up today and I was happy. I don't know why this would be so important, except so many people are not. It's not that I don't have reasons to be miserable. It all just came clear to me when I got a slightly ridiculous parking ticket last night. I saw it this morning and I just didn't care about it. I know many people would go bouncing off the walls if they got a ticket for parking in an area that they can't park in overnight and is not posted. I'll try and take care of it, but it's not something that is going to make me mad. I'm also not all that excited about my job and over half the people in the department have quit in the past 6 months, but I am still doing honest good work to make a living wage. My wife is thousands of miles away and I won't see her for a month, but I have someone in my life for the rest of my life who I can and will always be completely in love with. My dog likes to try and bite other dogs, but she has been behaving so much better lately. I go years without seeing some of my closest friends, but I have managed to keep them close friends. It feels like -30 outside, but I don't even need a coat after playing ultimate for a couple hours.
I don't think it's a glass half full or half empty kinda thing. I think it's a " I have glass this is magnificent and it looks like there is something in it. I wonder what could be in this awe inspiring glass I have." None of this is new to me. I have been very content for many years with life in general. I just like when I realize how special and important that is. I really couldn't be this way without all my friends, family, Skidaway, Jenny, and my childish joy in life. So thanks.
"my nephew making cookies with me"
So I finished my drive home to find my nice sunny warm apartment with happy little dog smiling at me. I turned on some music, lied down, and took a nap.
I don't think it's a glass half full or half empty kinda thing. I think it's a " I have glass this is magnificent and it looks like there is something in it. I wonder what could be in this awe inspiring glass I have." None of this is new to me. I have been very content for many years with life in general. I just like when I realize how special and important that is. I really couldn't be this way without all my friends, family, Skidaway, Jenny, and my childish joy in life. So thanks.
"my nephew making cookies with me"
So I finished my drive home to find my nice sunny warm apartment with happy little dog smiling at me. I turned on some music, lied down, and took a nap.
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Playing the Greatest
So there have been sweeping summaries, and dramatic cliff-hangers posted so far. Let me add to the blogosphere with just one play. I will openly admit at the beginning of this that I did indeed make the wrong choice, but that having made the right choice may have lead to a worse outcome.
A brief warning that previously in this point I had dropped a 15 yard pass, and that is just humiliating. Then after this play I am so unfocused that I throw a 20 yard turnover to a covered man. In short, this was my worst point at nationals and the one that most sticks in my mind. It was the one time I felt like I let my team down.
So the play, as it happened:
I am covering my man pretty hard on the incut somewhere near mid-field. We are playing Machine and the game is close enough to be taken seriously. My man sees an opening to go deep down the center of the field. I pursue and have the force side covered and am gaining ground on his deep cut. I see the pass immediately and it is level and out of bounds. The wind is coming from the break side and will continue to push the disc more out of bounds. I am getting closer to my defender as he veers towards the sideline to play the disc. As the disc comes into both of our playing area, I lay off of it because I know it cannot be caught in bounds. My man makes the bid and catches it at lest 4-5’ out of bounds. I get yelled at a bit for laying off the D and then disc is brought in at the cone, which I now realize is the wrong location since the disc was OB the whole time.
Side discussion:
In one of our previous game, a disc was thrown high and OB. 3 of our guys went for the D and since the disc could not possibly be caught in bounds the other team threw a greatest and scored a goal. Should one of our 3 guys read the disc as OB and stayed off to play the greatest attempt? If you see someone jumping to catch a disc a little out of the endzone, you might be willing to not play it and drop off and play man. Should greatests be treated the same way? As someone who is not much for battling in the air, I would be willing to lay off the high and floaty disc, and instead cover the man who would catch the greatest.
So back to the play.
Choice 1: I go for the D as soon as possible and tip the disc. It could then either be a D or it could be a mac for a score. It would also make the disc check in further downfield.
Choice 2: I wait to get closer and layout and catch the D. It is checked in further down field, but no chance of a score!
Choice 3: I wait to get as close as possible and catch the D but make contact with the other guy. It could be a solid D, it could be a contested foul.
Choice 4: I wait too long and completely miss the D. The guy catches it and calls himself “out” or calls himself “in”. In reality he did ask me if he was “in” after the catch and I told him he was “out” because I stood there and made sure he was “out”. If he had called himself “in”, I would have gone to the observer saying that I thought he was “out”. This could be a turn, a completion, or sent back to the thrower.
Choice 5: I wait too long and completely miss the D and he does a layout greatest. They keep the disc and everyone tells me I tried my best.
Choice 6: I don’t play the disc and he catches it OB. I call him out and he agrees or he could argue and refuse to admit he was way out. Go to observer.
Choice 7: I don’t play the disc and he attempts a greatest. I see this happening and D it easily or maybe I miss it.
Choice 8: I don’t play the disc and I misread it. He catches it for a score. I cry like a baby for not know how to read.
Choice 9: I layout and get injured. Ummm, I don’t think this is ever one of my concerns.
What are the key points to take out of this?
-I should not initiate contact that would cause them to maintain possession.
-Someone needs to make sure that he is OB, but we had observers to do that.
-Playing a disc that never came in bounds causes us to lose a lot of yardage.
-Passing up a layout D opens the door for a lot of possible bad outcomes.
-Sometimes a greatest is the other teams only choice and you should try to stop that.
I do admit that I should have just sped up and caught the disc, because that is the most fundamental play that would have the best chance of us keeping the disc, but when I saw the disc flying past me, I knew that it was already a turnover and that was my goal.
I would say that everyone should have said nothing while we were on O, since I did get the turnover. Then if there was an other turnover, someone could have yelled at me that I better layout the next time I see a disc go by me and not just watch my man catch it.
I would really like to hear some more opinions on how to play this disc.
A brief warning that previously in this point I had dropped a 15 yard pass, and that is just humiliating. Then after this play I am so unfocused that I throw a 20 yard turnover to a covered man. In short, this was my worst point at nationals and the one that most sticks in my mind. It was the one time I felt like I let my team down.
So the play, as it happened:
I am covering my man pretty hard on the incut somewhere near mid-field. We are playing Machine and the game is close enough to be taken seriously. My man sees an opening to go deep down the center of the field. I pursue and have the force side covered and am gaining ground on his deep cut. I see the pass immediately and it is level and out of bounds. The wind is coming from the break side and will continue to push the disc more out of bounds. I am getting closer to my defender as he veers towards the sideline to play the disc. As the disc comes into both of our playing area, I lay off of it because I know it cannot be caught in bounds. My man makes the bid and catches it at lest 4-5’ out of bounds. I get yelled at a bit for laying off the D and then disc is brought in at the cone, which I now realize is the wrong location since the disc was OB the whole time.
Side discussion:
In one of our previous game, a disc was thrown high and OB. 3 of our guys went for the D and since the disc could not possibly be caught in bounds the other team threw a greatest and scored a goal. Should one of our 3 guys read the disc as OB and stayed off to play the greatest attempt? If you see someone jumping to catch a disc a little out of the endzone, you might be willing to not play it and drop off and play man. Should greatests be treated the same way? As someone who is not much for battling in the air, I would be willing to lay off the high and floaty disc, and instead cover the man who would catch the greatest.
So back to the play.
Choice 1: I go for the D as soon as possible and tip the disc. It could then either be a D or it could be a mac for a score. It would also make the disc check in further downfield.
Choice 2: I wait to get closer and layout and catch the D. It is checked in further down field, but no chance of a score!
Choice 3: I wait to get as close as possible and catch the D but make contact with the other guy. It could be a solid D, it could be a contested foul.
Choice 4: I wait too long and completely miss the D. The guy catches it and calls himself “out” or calls himself “in”. In reality he did ask me if he was “in” after the catch and I told him he was “out” because I stood there and made sure he was “out”. If he had called himself “in”, I would have gone to the observer saying that I thought he was “out”. This could be a turn, a completion, or sent back to the thrower.
Choice 5: I wait too long and completely miss the D and he does a layout greatest. They keep the disc and everyone tells me I tried my best.
Choice 6: I don’t play the disc and he catches it OB. I call him out and he agrees or he could argue and refuse to admit he was way out. Go to observer.
Choice 7: I don’t play the disc and he attempts a greatest. I see this happening and D it easily or maybe I miss it.
Choice 8: I don’t play the disc and I misread it. He catches it for a score. I cry like a baby for not know how to read.
Choice 9: I layout and get injured. Ummm, I don’t think this is ever one of my concerns.
What are the key points to take out of this?
-I should not initiate contact that would cause them to maintain possession.
-Someone needs to make sure that he is OB, but we had observers to do that.
-Playing a disc that never came in bounds causes us to lose a lot of yardage.
-Passing up a layout D opens the door for a lot of possible bad outcomes.
-Sometimes a greatest is the other teams only choice and you should try to stop that.
I do admit that I should have just sped up and caught the disc, because that is the most fundamental play that would have the best chance of us keeping the disc, but when I saw the disc flying past me, I knew that it was already a turnover and that was my goal.
I would say that everyone should have said nothing while we were on O, since I did get the turnover. Then if there was an other turnover, someone could have yelled at me that I better layout the next time I see a disc go by me and not just watch my man catch it.
I would really like to hear some more opinions on how to play this disc.
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
Continuous Improvement
Making Nationals has been a signature goal in my life over the past half-decade. Now I guess I need a new goal. Actually, this is more a goal to accomplish within the next year. Outside of ultimate, I spend a great deal of my free time rock climbing with Jenny.
On wall climbs, in the US, we use the Yosemite Decimal System to rate climbs.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yosemite_Decimal_System
Don't worry, I will get to my goal eventually. Most new climbers can start climbing at 5.6-5.8 range. At this time, getting your forearms and your grip strong enough to hold you on the wall is the biggest challenge. Once you get the basic muscles to learn to climb, you can easily cross into the 5.9 range. Now you hit the first big wall (a bit of pun intended). Climbing a 5.10 takes much more than just the strength to hold unto the wall. At this phase, you must learn to keep a lot of weight on your feet to save your arms. To do this you must line up your body to place the weight very intentionally. This will at times place your body into new positions that require a great deal of flexibility and thought. You will also need to learn to remember what you have passed and where you are going so you can find hand and footholds with ease. Moving your body into the correct position to make long reaches is also very important. Your grip will need to evolve from being able to hold you on the wall to being able to lock into one shape and not break under a great deal of force. Climbing your first 5.10 is a big step in any climbers life.
Now that you have cleared that level, most people would consider you a pretty serious climber and this is more than just a hobby. The area from 5.10a-5.11d is a long grueling journey. You have to be able to grip onto smaller and smaller holds. The walls start to become more and more overhung. You have to be able to pull yourself up with your upper body a lot more. Moving slightly out of balance will easily pop you off the wall. Now I bring you to my goal. If you start to ignore one skill you will get stuck very quickly at a given level.
"In the sport of rock climbing, 5.12 is a magical grade. Looked upon as the “door” to the elite levels of difficulty, 5.12 is believed by many intermediate climbers to be out of their reach." Eric Hurst from How to Climb a 5.12
I want to climb a 5.12 outside on a well recognized climb. Sometimes new climbs are not ranked very well and indoor climbing rankings can never be completely trusted. 5.12 is normally the line in the sand, at least for male climber, between those who really like climbing and want to be good, and those who train for climbing and really care about being good. The truth is I don't train for climbing. I don't practice my 2-finger pull ups, I don't lift weights, don't do yoga, or hang out in the bouldering cave burning my forearms into ashes. I hope to take my light weight, flexibility, and focus up a 5.12. The tricks to climbing a 5.12 as best I can tell include, being able to hold on to smaller holds with only a couple of your fingers, being able to push your hand into the rock to create friction, using your feet to push and pull your entire body, not letting your forearms get pumped, having the upper body strength to pull yourself through big overhangs, and maybe being really tall might help some people. More than anything it comes down to focus and understanding. You have to know the result of each move of your body in order to stay in balance and you need to anticipate the upcoming moves.
Currently, I am hovering around a 5.11b-c indoors. I did all of the parts of a 5.12b outside, but took breaks between many moves. I know Jenny and I will be spending a lot of time climbing over the winter, and I just need to keep pushing myself to improve not only physically but mentally. I also hope to watch Jenny clear the 5.11 barrier. She took awhile on the 5.10 goal and has been doing awesome ever since breaking that goal.
For those of you who are interested, I am not sure where the next big break is, but I would just guess around 5.14. This is about the ranking where you are climbing for a living and the 5.15b is just sitting there taunting you as the hardest climb in the world.
On wall climbs, in the US, we use the Yosemite Decimal System to rate climbs.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yosemite_Decimal_System
Don't worry, I will get to my goal eventually. Most new climbers can start climbing at 5.6-5.8 range. At this time, getting your forearms and your grip strong enough to hold you on the wall is the biggest challenge. Once you get the basic muscles to learn to climb, you can easily cross into the 5.9 range. Now you hit the first big wall (a bit of pun intended). Climbing a 5.10 takes much more than just the strength to hold unto the wall. At this phase, you must learn to keep a lot of weight on your feet to save your arms. To do this you must line up your body to place the weight very intentionally. This will at times place your body into new positions that require a great deal of flexibility and thought. You will also need to learn to remember what you have passed and where you are going so you can find hand and footholds with ease. Moving your body into the correct position to make long reaches is also very important. Your grip will need to evolve from being able to hold you on the wall to being able to lock into one shape and not break under a great deal of force. Climbing your first 5.10 is a big step in any climbers life.
Now that you have cleared that level, most people would consider you a pretty serious climber and this is more than just a hobby. The area from 5.10a-5.11d is a long grueling journey. You have to be able to grip onto smaller and smaller holds. The walls start to become more and more overhung. You have to be able to pull yourself up with your upper body a lot more. Moving slightly out of balance will easily pop you off the wall. Now I bring you to my goal. If you start to ignore one skill you will get stuck very quickly at a given level.
"In the sport of rock climbing, 5.12 is a magical grade. Looked upon as the “door” to the elite levels of difficulty, 5.12 is believed by many intermediate climbers to be out of their reach." Eric Hurst from How to Climb a 5.12
I want to climb a 5.12 outside on a well recognized climb. Sometimes new climbs are not ranked very well and indoor climbing rankings can never be completely trusted. 5.12 is normally the line in the sand, at least for male climber, between those who really like climbing and want to be good, and those who train for climbing and really care about being good. The truth is I don't train for climbing. I don't practice my 2-finger pull ups, I don't lift weights, don't do yoga, or hang out in the bouldering cave burning my forearms into ashes. I hope to take my light weight, flexibility, and focus up a 5.12. The tricks to climbing a 5.12 as best I can tell include, being able to hold on to smaller holds with only a couple of your fingers, being able to push your hand into the rock to create friction, using your feet to push and pull your entire body, not letting your forearms get pumped, having the upper body strength to pull yourself through big overhangs, and maybe being really tall might help some people. More than anything it comes down to focus and understanding. You have to know the result of each move of your body in order to stay in balance and you need to anticipate the upcoming moves.
Currently, I am hovering around a 5.11b-c indoors. I did all of the parts of a 5.12b outside, but took breaks between many moves. I know Jenny and I will be spending a lot of time climbing over the winter, and I just need to keep pushing myself to improve not only physically but mentally. I also hope to watch Jenny clear the 5.11 barrier. She took awhile on the 5.10 goal and has been doing awesome ever since breaking that goal.
For those of you who are interested, I am not sure where the next big break is, but I would just guess around 5.14. This is about the ranking where you are climbing for a living and the 5.15b is just sitting there taunting you as the hardest climb in the world.
Saturday, September 29, 2007
Sated Acrophile
I really was not trying to be arrogant by picking these words as the title of my blog. They just seem most fitting for me.
Sated: to satisfy (any appetite or desire) fully.
First of all "sated" has always been one of my favorite words. I take the concept of fullfillment and accepting of what I have received and am pursuing as an extremely important aspect of my life. I aim to be sated in all my needs in life.
Acrophile: someone who likes heights and enjoys climbing things.
I wasn't even sure if this was a word at first. I just new that acrophobia was the fear of heights, and much of my life has been marked by the complete opposite of that. I truly feel a little bit better about everything the closer I get to a large precipice. It's just a part of who I am. I love overlooking large areas and taking it all in from above. Even in my dreams I see everything from the third person, looking down on life. This could also be taken as a metaphor for always pursuing new heights in all aspects of life, but mostly I just like heights.
Sated: to satisfy (any appetite or desire) fully.
First of all "sated" has always been one of my favorite words. I take the concept of fullfillment and accepting of what I have received and am pursuing as an extremely important aspect of my life. I aim to be sated in all my needs in life.
Acrophile: someone who likes heights and enjoys climbing things.
I wasn't even sure if this was a word at first. I just new that acrophobia was the fear of heights, and much of my life has been marked by the complete opposite of that. I truly feel a little bit better about everything the closer I get to a large precipice. It's just a part of who I am. I love overlooking large areas and taking it all in from above. Even in my dreams I see everything from the third person, looking down on life. This could also be taken as a metaphor for always pursuing new heights in all aspects of life, but mostly I just like heights.
http://PenguinvPolarBear.blogspot.com
The origins of the title, in short. I once became fascinated by the concept that penguins and polar bears do not coexist. Mostly because to the average person they are both frozen snowy animals and therefore live in the same place. An obvious flaw in this theory is that penguins would taste great to starving polar bears (as I said in my first blog I will avoid comentary, but coughcomentarycough there). It is also a fun idea because they are both "adorable" animals and who wouldn't want a pet penguin or polar bear.
At one point in a statistics class, I was asked to explain the capture/recapture method of statistical analysis. I know what these means now but lets say at the time it meant nothing to me. Now this was the last question and I had 30 minutes left to go. I figured why not wing it. I went on to explain in much detail my feelings about penguins and polar bears coexisting (as seen above). I ended by requesting that the teachers assistant give me at least 1 point for making the grading process more phone. Ended up that the professor read it and gave me the 1 point. Now I'm an engineer.
In more detailed explanation of me as a person. I have been called a pineapple; hard sharp pointy outside that likes to drop on your head, but when you get deeper into me, you find out I'm quite tasty and nice. I think the penguin and polar bear fits in here quite nice. You can read the idea of penguin v polar bear and think of a slaughter of national geographic proportions. You could also think about how cute they both are and which is cuter. You could see the polar bear as the aggressive competitive carnivore side of me and the penguin as the silly waddling sliding carnivore side of me. Okay I don't eat many vegetables. All I'm saying is when you look at the link for this blog, you have a choice in how you feel about it.
Initiate this blog...
So I was not ever planning on having a blog and while trying to reply to someone else's blog I got sent to "http://penguinvpolarbear.blospot.com". Only I could have created that, and thus I must have created an empty blog in 2006. Well it has been a year and now I guess I'll try using this.
Here are my rules and they may be sad. I am a very argumentative/debative person. I know this could get me into trouble in enclosed environments and thus I have no desire to do it in a public forum. So there will be very little shocking analysis of anything on here. I also have little belief that anyone should care to much about the mundane details of my life. This has just eliminated about everything I could think of writing on here. Most of all if I have something to say to someone, I would just say it to them. In short, I don't know why I need a blog, but I'll play along because I don't want to be that old guy who doesn't know what all the kids are up to these days with their iphones and positraction.
On the flip side, this may lead to long rambling incoherent poetry.
Here are my rules and they may be sad. I am a very argumentative/debative person. I know this could get me into trouble in enclosed environments and thus I have no desire to do it in a public forum. So there will be very little shocking analysis of anything on here. I also have little belief that anyone should care to much about the mundane details of my life. This has just eliminated about everything I could think of writing on here. Most of all if I have something to say to someone, I would just say it to them. In short, I don't know why I need a blog, but I'll play along because I don't want to be that old guy who doesn't know what all the kids are up to these days with their iphones and positraction.
On the flip side, this may lead to long rambling incoherent poetry.
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