I play basketball a couple nights a week with some guys in a tiny gym that is part of a local church. It is not a full size court, by any means. As a matter of fact, it is most likely smaller than the small court I used to play ball on down in the bowels of the Columbia Daily Tribune complex. The guys I play with are as misfit as the court on which we play. We have an age range from late teens to early fifties. We have a skill range from non-athlete to former prep star. What is similar amongst us all, is that no one gets too worked up about the games we play, and everybody plays fair (within the bounds of a pick up basketball game...there are some ways to circumnavigate the rules that are as time honored as peach baskets and the movie Hoosiers).
This weekend, a group of the over-35 guys are playing in the Cornhusker State Games. We run our first game at 8:30 in the morning. Yes, EIGHT THIRTY IN THE FREAKING MORNING. However, that's no worse than when we used to play softball games that used to start at 10:30 PM. Remember that?
Yesterday, our "coach" (the guy who registered the team (who is in Florida this weekend, and most likely won't even play in a game with us)) sent out an email telling us that we were mixed in with the over-19 age bracket. Why? Because they only had two over-35 teams sign up. So, as a result, instead of playing some old-timers league games with some equally slow guys who used to wear parachute pants, we now are expected to run (regulation-sized courts, mind you) with caterpillar-lipped boys who think Vanilla Ice is something you use to "ice your bros."
Are we bugged by this misrepresentation of our expected competition by the Cornhusker State Games? Well, I am. However, as you know, I will not back down from a challenge. As a matter of fact, I make them up for myself, sometimes. (Wait til I tell you what I bought today....) So, tomorrow morning, I am going to arrive at the Lincoln High gymnasium, with a backpack full of IcyHot, and the will to show some bad-ass kid who's been buying his own cigarettes for six months, that we old guys might not be at our physical peak, but that our years have honed our "skills" to a razor's edge, and that we might know a little Harlem Globetrotters trick or two (Is pantsing a foul?). The old saw: "Age and treachery will over come youth and enthusiasm" may never be truer than tomorrow. On the other hand, there is also the adage that says: "If you can't catch them on the fast break, you might as well pack it in." I'm expecting NOT to be packing it in.
Friday, June 18, 2010
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Sitting Still
In 2006, Monkey and I spent part of June in Maine. In 2007, Monkey and I spent part of June moving from CoMO to Lincoln. In 2008, Monkey and I spent part of Jun in Italy. Last year, Monkey and I spent part of June in OCMD. This year, we aren't going anywhere.
For the most, we are staying put this month due to our new puppy. We will be heading to Colorado at the end of July, but, right now, we think he's a little too young to be left in the care of someone else (especially if he'd be around strange dogs). This is, after all, his formative period, and we wanted to be here to form him, of course.
It's fine by me to be keeping close to home. I find plenty on the old homestead to keep me busy, including reading (of which I have done too little, so far). Add to that that World Cup eating up anywhere from an hour to six of any given day, I am perfectly content to be here.
In a way, however, I am traveling. After three years teaching at my school, my position was cut due to budget tightening. As a result, I spent several weeks this past semester interviewing with other schools in the district who, due to transfers, resignations, retirements, etc., had openings. Lucky for me, a high school position was available, and I was offered it. So, I am moving to a new school next year. I am still in the LPS district, so I keep all of my seniority and such, but I still had to pack everything up and store it here until I can get into my new location.
It is frustrating to lose a position for such arbitrary reasons, but I feel fortunate that I didn't get laid off and left to fend for a new job in a completely new district. That would have really been tough. I am, to some extent, looking forward to the excitement of a new school and new classes.
Yet, staying in one job for a while wouldn't have been bad, either. That seems to be something I haven't done for a long time. And, now that I think about it, the last time I was in the same job for a long time (ten plus years), I kind of grew to hate it.
For the most, we are staying put this month due to our new puppy. We will be heading to Colorado at the end of July, but, right now, we think he's a little too young to be left in the care of someone else (especially if he'd be around strange dogs). This is, after all, his formative period, and we wanted to be here to form him, of course.
It's fine by me to be keeping close to home. I find plenty on the old homestead to keep me busy, including reading (of which I have done too little, so far). Add to that that World Cup eating up anywhere from an hour to six of any given day, I am perfectly content to be here.
In a way, however, I am traveling. After three years teaching at my school, my position was cut due to budget tightening. As a result, I spent several weeks this past semester interviewing with other schools in the district who, due to transfers, resignations, retirements, etc., had openings. Lucky for me, a high school position was available, and I was offered it. So, I am moving to a new school next year. I am still in the LPS district, so I keep all of my seniority and such, but I still had to pack everything up and store it here until I can get into my new location.
It is frustrating to lose a position for such arbitrary reasons, but I feel fortunate that I didn't get laid off and left to fend for a new job in a completely new district. That would have really been tough. I am, to some extent, looking forward to the excitement of a new school and new classes.
Yet, staying in one job for a while wouldn't have been bad, either. That seems to be something I haven't done for a long time. And, now that I think about it, the last time I was in the same job for a long time (ten plus years), I kind of grew to hate it.
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Out of Retirement
I have always been a Brett Favre fan. He's always been an exciting football player, he seems to do a lot of good work for charity, he seems to be a decent husband and father. He just doesn't know when to quit. Apparently, I don't either.
In the two months plus that I have been un-CS, I have felt something has been missing in my life. And, darn it, a lot has happened in those two months that I could have been writing about. For awhile there, I just felt like I had no voice, no direction. Now, I feel like I need to get back to keeping track of even the most inane things that happen in my life.
I hope to keep from making a "will he or won't he" spectacle of my life every few months. That's not what I am about, and most likely, nobody will really pay that much attention to li'l ol' me. But, I think I need to keep this going.
You are welcome to come along, if you wish.
In the two months plus that I have been un-CS, I have felt something has been missing in my life. And, darn it, a lot has happened in those two months that I could have been writing about. For awhile there, I just felt like I had no voice, no direction. Now, I feel like I need to get back to keeping track of even the most inane things that happen in my life.
I hope to keep from making a "will he or won't he" spectacle of my life every few months. That's not what I am about, and most likely, nobody will really pay that much attention to li'l ol' me. But, I think I need to keep this going.
You are welcome to come along, if you wish.
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Central Standard Time Winds Down
This is it. The last post at Central Standard. It's time to retire this little bastard journal of my life, times, and mind.
But, I am not done with blogging. I am just shifting gears, and focusing my recording on a new development in my life (and Monkey's, too). In a few weeks, we will be bringing home a new puppy. He is already named: Parker. So, I have decided, in the tradition of many others before me, to keep a record of the growth and training of our soon-to-be newest addition.
That blog will be found here. Hope to see you there!
But, I am not done with blogging. I am just shifting gears, and focusing my recording on a new development in my life (and Monkey's, too). In a few weeks, we will be bringing home a new puppy. He is already named: Parker. So, I have decided, in the tradition of many others before me, to keep a record of the growth and training of our soon-to-be newest addition.
That blog will be found here. Hope to see you there!
Monday, March 01, 2010
The One
Every year at True/False, Monkey and I immerse ourselves in the doc film world. Ten to twelve movies each festival give us plenty to think about afterward. Each year we try to determine which films we liked most and least. Sometimes we disagree. This year, we are in total agreement.
Of course, to say one film was the "best" is perhaps incorrect, or, at best, imprecise. Each of the films was excellent in its own way, and, paradoxically, the one film we both ranked as our favorite is probably the one we'd be least likely to want to see again.
Restrepo was the most moving, intense, awful, amazing film we saw. It deals with a unit in a most dangerous front line position in Afghanistan. As a piece of journalism, it follows a long tradition of front line reporting, but it is told by the soldiers, and effectively interspersed with interviews done several weeks or months after the soldiers had finished their deployments. This gives the film a sense of immediacy and thoughtfulness, as the men who experience what you are witnessing then reflect back upon it. It is haunting and heartbreaking. It is an awesome piece of film, and terrible in its beauty. I recommend it to everyone, not because you need to be entertained by this film, but because you need to be enlightened by it.
Of course, to say one film was the "best" is perhaps incorrect, or, at best, imprecise. Each of the films was excellent in its own way, and, paradoxically, the one film we both ranked as our favorite is probably the one we'd be least likely to want to see again.
Restrepo was the most moving, intense, awful, amazing film we saw. It deals with a unit in a most dangerous front line position in Afghanistan. As a piece of journalism, it follows a long tradition of front line reporting, but it is told by the soldiers, and effectively interspersed with interviews done several weeks or months after the soldiers had finished their deployments. This gives the film a sense of immediacy and thoughtfulness, as the men who experience what you are witnessing then reflect back upon it. It is haunting and heartbreaking. It is an awesome piece of film, and terrible in its beauty. I recommend it to everyone, not because you need to be entertained by this film, but because you need to be enlightened by it.
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