Day: May 20, 2013

1106. All Systems Go

admin

I was able to update the blog for the first time in days today. Whatever small glitch my system has seems to repeat itself once in a while, leaving me unable to post to the blog itself. I am instead left to write in my Evernote with hopes of updating to the blog proper as soon as possible. The return of function is the perfect coda to my short, sweet vacation. I spent a week hanging out alone and playing minecraft, all in an attempt to clear my head and ready myself for what lies ahead in the next few weeks. I need to do a great deal of planning for classes and more than a little paperwork to see myself ready for the summer. The kids will be here with me some of that time, so I must learn how to make do with the few short hours I have without them.

I still have my summer goals. I still have my desires for vacation. The refund situation remains unresolved. I hope to use that small bit of currency along with the book money to fund summer trips. The first such outing is the 20 yr reunion in NYC. I’m excited about that one. I hope to be able to connect with old friends.

The lion’s share of my workload is comprised of three online classes that are each stumbling towards capacity. It is no great secret that my online classes stank. I use the past tense, because I expect things to be different this summer. I am dedicating myself to making the experience extremely interactive and worthwhile.

1105. In the Company of Friends

admin

Sociology will tell you that a man lives longer when in the company of a good wife. What science hasn’t said but should is that people live longer in the company of good friends. As my life goes on, I learn more of the value of good friends. Since moving to Maricopa I have developed a handful of very good family friends–folks I can spend time with family to family. Ten years ago I would never have thought of this as very important but now it seems that these are the primary type of friends I am looking for. I find myself seeking out folks I can spend time with and that my family can spend time with and we can both understand what we’re going through in our lives.

 

1104. When Coaches Go Bad

admin

I want to preface this story by saying I’m talking about a team of 8-9 yr old players. The conflict started when my team faced off against a rival team whose coaches are not the happiest bunch in the bushel. In that first match the rival assistant coach accused one of my players of jumping on to the field to kick a ball. That did not happen. We won the game and the animosity built. A week later was pulled aside by league officials and warned about my players punching other boys. That low blow really upped my anger. Talk about me all day, but go after my players and I get upset. I contacted the officials who reffed the game and they confirmed there was no hitting.

Days later we attempted to hold practice on our regular field only to be told by that assistant coach that it was not our field. It was our field, but I did not have any paperwork to confirm the fact. So Thursday I brought the paperwork to confirm it. I let both coaches know that we deserved to be on the field They reacted with anger and yelled at me to the point where parents from their team asked us to take it to the parking lot, so the kids wouldn’t have to deal with it. This is where I break down a bit. Was I in the right? The wrong? I knew the coaches were hot heads, but I also knew the field was ours and we needed to practice on a field with the proper dimensions. My struggle is that I could have diffused the situation by walking away. On the other hand, walking away meant accepting these guys were in the right and letting them believe that. I couldn’t stand by that.
This is 8-9 soccer. Nobody is Pele or Messi yet. I think the coaches were dealing with a lot of anguish about how tough the season can be. I empathize, but I wont let my team suffer for it.

1103. Having Fun in a Sandbox

admin

More Minecraft talk.

I’m reaching that point in the game where the fun is entirely self-determined. I built a lot of the stuff I wanted to build initially and I’ve had a few epic resource runs, but now the initial excitement has worn off and I don’t have any real path to follow. In other words, Minecraft is a lot like summer vacation. You get all the time in the world and you need to figure out what you want to do for yourself.
I’m rather aimless in the Minecraft world. Perhaps a better word would be: scattered. I wanted to get a rail baron achievement, so I made a rail. Then I stopped before I completed the rail–leaving it well short of the destination villages. Ideas come and go. Some days I want to turn my collection of homes into a keep or a coastal village. Other days I want to burn down the world with TNT. There is no guiding mission that tells me how to be happy. There is no inspiration that sticks long enough to become a habit.
In life, like in Minecraft, my enjoyment is self-directed. I’ve planned out a slew of activities for the children to do, and now I am looking inward to figure out what I want for myself. There are stories to be told an people to connect with. There’s a 20 yr high school reunion to be attended and a city to wander about aimlessly with little more than a satchel, an Ipad, and a notebook. Perhaps more than anything else what I want to do is reconnect with what inspires me. Inspiration changes over time. Some people are fortunate to have a muse, and my muse was always the beautiful city of New York.

1102. Honey-Do

admin

My friend Ryan introduced me to the term Honey-do list. It is a collection of tasks a spouse assigns their significant other when that other is supposed to be on vacation. My Honey-do list stretches off into the distance like the yellow brick road. Some of those do’s are self-directed like the garage. On the other hand, the complaints about that space are so visceral that something needs to be done regardless of who initiates the request. I find having these tasks to be a really calming thing. There is a simplicity in work that requires your hands more than your mind, and when it comes to summer I prefer to be a highly physical individual.

I suppose that is the end of this particular statement. Just like yesterday and several days over the last few weeks, I am finding little to say. Now the first words flooded into my head and I jotted them down quickly. The rest of the ten minutes has been largely spent dreaming up additional stuff to say. Perhaps a new strategy would be to go with that and stop worrying about the coherence of the posts and just let the words flow out of me. Some of the best writing is freeform. Some of my best writing is freeform.
Some Thoughts:
1. I sorta want to make a yellow brick road in Minecraft.
2. The blog is acting like it doesn’t want to let me in again. Perhaps it sees the shrinking size of these 10 minute posts as an indication that I’m cheating on it with some other blog. Perhaps it thinks I’m moonlighting at themaricopan.com.