Just got back from a lovely evening with my friend J. at the local speakeasy. This is surprisingly appropriate--I call him Jazz, and he calls me Esme. It's a weird inside thing--and absolutely perfect for a rainy Saturday night with little work to do and plenty of conversation to have.
The best part? Observing the other groups at tables and the bar, and decoding from their body language what the story was.
"That guy?" Jazz nodded at one point to a patron around our age, sitting the next table over. "He's involved with the girl. Has been for a long time. The boyfriend knows. See how he's sitting very close to her, but not interacting with her?...while the one across is smiling too much, holding his head too high, and can't take his eyes off her?"
Very fun, relaxing way to spend the night...but for now, bed.
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Sunday, January 17, 2010
Short tonight.
I passed! And made it back to the apartment safely.
Unpacking is another issue...still loads to do, but I'm about ready to call it a night. More tomorrow.
Unpacking is another issue...still loads to do, but I'm about ready to call it a night. More tomorrow.
Saturday, January 16, 2010
Nerves, nerves nerves nerves.
Think good thoughts for me: tomorrow I have two soccer games right before I head back to Collegetown for my last semester. If they were just games, there would be no nerves at all!...but the second of the set is being assessed, which means I'm under more pressure than usual to not screw up.
Word on the street is that I'll pass--I know my stuff. I've kept up with my training (running and bookwork), this isn't a new age group, I know how to sense the mood of a game and adjust accordingly, and I am qualified to do this. (That my hopes of advancing will be delayed three years if I fail this observation really don't have bearing on anything. Really. None.)
If I can shut out the stress and make the first call of each half a good one, I think I'm gonna be okay. I just have to remember: decisive whistles! Touch the far sidelines and the top of the 18 at least a few times each half, whether they need it or not! Call the first foul! Watch for retaliation! Keep good eye contact with my assistants! Have a good pregame! Give the card if the game needs it! Use F-I-R-E and S-I-A-P-O-A and the four D's and the three P's!*
...Wish me luck!
*Frustration, Intimidation, Retaliation or Establishment of space--the four reasons an elbow becomes cardable. Speed of play & of the attack, Intent of tackler, Aggression, Position of tackler, Opportunity to play the ball, and Atmosphere of game--the six criteria to use in determining whether a slide tackle is fair play, foul play, serious foul play, or even violent conduct. Distance from goal, distance from ball, defenders between attacker and goal, and direction play is heading--used to determine whether or not there's been a denial of an obvious goal scoring opportunity (DOGSO) and reason for a send-off. Personal, Public, Provocative?--if it was any of the three, then that dissent was worthy of a caution (visual as well as verbal). Probably the most informative footnote written so far on this blog. Whew.
Word on the street is that I'll pass--I know my stuff. I've kept up with my training (running and bookwork), this isn't a new age group, I know how to sense the mood of a game and adjust accordingly, and I am qualified to do this. (That my hopes of advancing will be delayed three years if I fail this observation really don't have bearing on anything. Really. None.)
If I can shut out the stress and make the first call of each half a good one, I think I'm gonna be okay. I just have to remember: decisive whistles! Touch the far sidelines and the top of the 18 at least a few times each half, whether they need it or not! Call the first foul! Watch for retaliation! Keep good eye contact with my assistants! Have a good pregame! Give the card if the game needs it! Use F-I-R-E and S-I-A-P-O-A and the four D's and the three P's!*
...Wish me luck!
*Frustration, Intimidation, Retaliation or Establishment of space--the four reasons an elbow becomes cardable. Speed of play & of the attack, Intent of tackler, Aggression, Position of tackler, Opportunity to play the ball, and Atmosphere of game--the six criteria to use in determining whether a slide tackle is fair play, foul play, serious foul play, or even violent conduct. Distance from goal, distance from ball, defenders between attacker and goal, and direction play is heading--used to determine whether or not there's been a denial of an obvious goal scoring opportunity (DOGSO) and reason for a send-off. Personal, Public, Provocative?--if it was any of the three, then that dissent was worthy of a caution (visual as well as verbal). Probably the most informative footnote written so far on this blog. Whew.
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Finished!
You can't see the whole thing, but this scarf just about hits my waist--perfect length for a man-scarf. (Wrapped it up just in time, too, as our belated holiday-slash-anniversary-dinner-and-gift-exchange is in, oh, about half an hour.) Fun fact: I'm actually on the phone with A. in this picture, and he has no idea what I'm doing.
"You sound distracted. You OK?"
"Oh, yeah, I'm good, just, you know, work."
Work. Heheh. If taking goofy pictures of myself with my knitting counts as work.
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
I'm learning so much from my job...
I swear, once I finish this internship, I need to go on Jeopardy. The last few articles I've written have been treasure troves of general and not-so-general information, including but not limited to:
*Slavery in Midwestern states
*World War II performers (Irving Berlin, Elsie Janis...)
*Plasma rocket propulsion
*Pocket x-ray machines
*Hybrid cars that plug into the power grid, and make you part of that grid
*How batteries work
*How supercapacitors work (they're the future of batteries)
*The difference between specific and innate immune systems
When I work on this stuff, I end up feeling ultra-informed, as well as ultra-productive. Will hopefully provide enough motivation to finish the last transcript and article I have--if I do that, when I get back from break, all I have to do is edit some video, do one more interview, and relax a bit for a few weeks. (Maybe.)
*Slavery in Midwestern states
*World War II performers (Irving Berlin, Elsie Janis...)
*Plasma rocket propulsion
*Pocket x-ray machines
*Hybrid cars that plug into the power grid, and make you part of that grid
*How batteries work
*How supercapacitors work (they're the future of batteries)
*The difference between specific and innate immune systems
When I work on this stuff, I end up feeling ultra-informed, as well as ultra-productive. Will hopefully provide enough motivation to finish the last transcript and article I have--if I do that, when I get back from break, all I have to do is edit some video, do one more interview, and relax a bit for a few weeks. (Maybe.)
Friday, January 8, 2010
What does it mean to be a man?
Interesting question, with interesting possible answers.
The VDay Movement apparently just started posting columns from guest writers in the "V-Men" section. I think that's important and significant in itself--to stop violence against women, against anyone, we've got to have both men and women involved--but the column itself brings up good questions.
There's growing awareness that it's tough to be a girl: that we're hit with a slew of contradictions that we're supposed to be (strong/skinny, independent/taken care of, assertive/demure) and yet somehow avoid at the same time (tomboy/girlie girl, madonna/whore). This is good. Girls deserve to carve out their own selves, and understand that there are a lot of people trying to tell them what they should be.
Where this thought goes wrong is when it villainizes, when it casts the girls as victims and the rest of society as heartless, diabolical, hellbent on stuffing females into passive poses for its own maintenance of power. It's a social paradigm. People who put little girls in dresses don't do it to keep them down--they do it because that's what everyone does, and because it's a pretty dress. There are some implications to that dress, and to gendering a kid one way or the other, but honestly? I'll put my daughter in a dress someday and then tell her "go on, honey. get the soccer ball and let's play."
This gendering and confusion doesn't only go one way, either. A. and I talk about what it means to be a man--and a traditional one, he ain't (thank goodness). I'm not exactly a princess in a tower, and I'm not looking for a white knight! But so many men think they need to be precisely that--the ideal--without realizing that inherent in "ideal" is also "impossible".
Gender: it tends to be a sticky subject for just about everyone who actively thinks about it. Hoping to follow this column and see what light it can shed.
The VDay Movement apparently just started posting columns from guest writers in the "V-Men" section. I think that's important and significant in itself--to stop violence against women, against anyone, we've got to have both men and women involved--but the column itself brings up good questions.
There's growing awareness that it's tough to be a girl: that we're hit with a slew of contradictions that we're supposed to be (strong/skinny, independent/taken care of, assertive/demure) and yet somehow avoid at the same time (tomboy/girlie girl, madonna/whore). This is good. Girls deserve to carve out their own selves, and understand that there are a lot of people trying to tell them what they should be.
Where this thought goes wrong is when it villainizes, when it casts the girls as victims and the rest of society as heartless, diabolical, hellbent on stuffing females into passive poses for its own maintenance of power. It's a social paradigm. People who put little girls in dresses don't do it to keep them down--they do it because that's what everyone does, and because it's a pretty dress. There are some implications to that dress, and to gendering a kid one way or the other, but honestly? I'll put my daughter in a dress someday and then tell her "go on, honey. get the soccer ball and let's play."
This gendering and confusion doesn't only go one way, either. A. and I talk about what it means to be a man--and a traditional one, he ain't (thank goodness). I'm not exactly a princess in a tower, and I'm not looking for a white knight! But so many men think they need to be precisely that--the ideal--without realizing that inherent in "ideal" is also "impossible".
Gender: it tends to be a sticky subject for just about everyone who actively thinks about it. Hoping to follow this column and see what light it can shed.
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Shamelessly linking to my friends' blogs.
L. always hooks me up with the best things--honestly, really, the best things! Twilight soundtrack (can you say 'guilty pleasure')? Check. GMH blog? Check. The secret to the best cherry-limeades ever? Check. Good thoughts for the new year? Check again.
Photo courtesy of L.W. (rosegiver @ tumblr.com)
I haven't yet sat down and figured out what my New Year's resolutions will be, but need to one of these afternoons soon. Even on break, work has a way of chasing me down--I've been studying furiously for the upcoming pro clinic and futsal regionals/nationals, as things heat up on the refereeing front...but other obligations haven't let go, either, as I work on articles, transcripts, future research, scholarship applications, the list goes on.
Those things are important, but so is taking time to breathe, smooth out the wrinkles of last year, and refocus for the months to come. Looking forward to that.
Photo courtesy of L.W. (rosegiver @ tumblr.com)Those things are important, but so is taking time to breathe, smooth out the wrinkles of last year, and refocus for the months to come. Looking forward to that.
Monday, January 4, 2010
Copied from nearly everywhere on my friend list.
GivesMeHope
YES. YES. YES.
It's really easy to say "oh, f...orget my life, FML" when something goes wrong--this is the counter-site to the gripe-fest of the FML blog.
An example: earlier today, I was muttering to myself as I cleaned out the family freezer, griping to my father about the huge, unhealthy amounts of food my mom buys, then forgets about. He listened for a few minutes, agreeing somewhat, but eventually looked me in the eye and said, "You know, your mother buys all that food for you guys."
Point taken. Though there may be "my family makes me crazy, FML" buried in that moment, there's also a touch of "my family really loves me, and that GMH."
YES. YES. YES.
It's really easy to say "oh, f...orget my life, FML" when something goes wrong--this is the counter-site to the gripe-fest of the FML blog.
An example: earlier today, I was muttering to myself as I cleaned out the family freezer, griping to my father about the huge, unhealthy amounts of food my mom buys, then forgets about. He listened for a few minutes, agreeing somewhat, but eventually looked me in the eye and said, "You know, your mother buys all that food for you guys."
Point taken. Though there may be "my family makes me crazy, FML" buried in that moment, there's also a touch of "my family really loves me, and that GMH."
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
