NaBloPoMo: October 2010, Day 3

This marks the first weekend in many many months where I have been able to:
1*. not have my heater on at night
2. open up all the windows and doors during the day
3. hang my washing up outside and expect it to dry before it got rained on
4. sit outside reading a book, become engrossed in the book, forget the time, and end up with ridiculous-looking sunburn lines.
Good times.

I really really don't like winter. It depresses me. Not like I actually suffer from depression, but it makes me less inclined to go outside, play sport, go shopping or to the beach, spend time with other people if it involves me leaving the warmth and comfort of my house, etc. I am a boring, sooky person in winter (but I do get caught up on my books and tv shows).

Every year I throw up my hands and say I'm moving, and one day it will not be a joke. I can not handle this cold-weather shit for the rest of my life. I am (pale-ass skin notwithstanding) a shorts and singlet, out in the sunshine, no need to grab a jacket kind of person.

Daylight Savings started today, and I am taking that and the getting-to-awesome weather we've had so far this weekend as a sign that summer is on its way, and I can be happy again. Yay for the sun!

*Shut up. It's a tradition.

NaBloPoMo: October 2010, Day 2

I was going to say something about this being a struggle already, which led me to (what has just now become) the topic of today's post: words and phrases that annoy me.

Definitely on the list*: Struggletown. Maybe this is because it is chiefly used on Facebook to indicate someone who should be working on their essay but is instead on the internet whinging about hard it all is for them (Struggletown always has a population of one). Most people on Facebook are procrastinating to some extent and I fail to see how any of them can claim to be the only citizen of Struggletown (ick).

Next: Epic. Win. Fail. They all go together, and I especially hate the former being used in conjunction with either of the latter two. Epic (like awesome and literally) is ridiculously (a) overused (b) incorrectly. Epic should conjure up epicness, and instead it somehow equals, to my mind, nerds and their computer games. Fail I dislike because the situation indicated is rarely an actual fail - how many things are unsalvageable fails? Not many. Don't be so negative! Which of course leaves me with win, which is hardly negative, but I have to return to my nerd point, that is to say, point about nerds. Yes, nerds are taking over the world, but it doesn't mean we all have to speak in their monosyllabic sentences.

And finally, any word that can be used to fill in the blank in this sentence: "You're such a [retard, jerk, loser, etc]." Don't say retard! Don't call names! Don't put people down!

*Hee! Lists! Again!

NaBloPoMo: October 2010, Day 1

Me: NaBloPoMo, where the object is to post every single day.
Everyone In The World: HAHAHAHAHA. HAAAAA!

Anyway.

The theme is PLAY.

I play Ultimate Frisbee. I am going to Mixed Nats to play lots of frisbee in less than three weeks. I am ... less than keen to go. How bad is that?! Let's try and figure out why I feel like this, okay? Okay.

1)* I was planning a road trip to the tournament with my best work friends. This has been cancelled and now I have to fly on a boring old aeroplane instead of cruising around to every country bakery from here to Bathurst.

2) My awesome fun Pillow Fight team is not going, and now I have to play with stupid successful Smurf, who were nice enough to ask me to play with them and I should be grateful for the opportunity.

3) My best frisbee friends aren't going and I will have no friends (on three whole teams of SA people).

4) (a) We have not trained as a team and
4) (b) I haven't trained by myself meaning
4) (c) I will mess up the plays and
4) (c) I am not fit at all and
4) (d) I've lost all my sprintyness.
(And also I (e) suck on defense, which is now, you know, my job.) I don't want to suck! I am supposed to be a Player To Watch!

On the other hand, there's only three weeks to go. Too late now! No point worrying! Let's just go and have some fun! Yeah? Maybe.

GO SMURF!!!

*Lists! And it's only Day 1!

Stolen

Today at work my housemate called to say we had been broken into. It looked like nothing had been taken but I should check when I got home.

I checked. Something had been taken. All my jewelery.

A couple of Christmases ago, Skywalker bought me a lovely silver jewelery box. I kept it in a shelf with other 'looking pretty' stuff - hair clips and ribbons and costume jewelery. The jewelery box was there, but open, and empty. (The stuff I had lying around on my dresser was untouched. And it was Tiffany, too. Idiot thieves.)

None of it was very expensive. Although the pendant and matching ring my Grandma gave me for my 18th wouldn't have been exactly cheap, it wasn't that expensive and it was the most valuable of the lot. But I started making a list for the cops, and everything item on the list, instead of starting with 'gold' or 'sapphire' began with the occasion or person connected to it: "18th" "Confirmation" "Gma/Winky".

When my Grandmother died, she passed on a pearl necklace to my dad. He gave it a friend of the family (after whom I was named), and when she died, she gave it back to him. When I got it, there was a note, all yellowed and creased, saying she felt she'd only been holding it for him for me.

I don't wear it that much; it's pretty but fairly old-fashioned looking. But I wore it for my birthday this year. I'm wearing it in that photo, although you can't see it very well. (Yeah, turns out all the times I'm photographed wearing my jewelery, the photos are of me, not my neck or fingers or wrists. Shocking, I know.) When I got home that night, I took it off, carefully placed it in its box, and teared up as I read the note. If only I had been a bit sloppier, tossed it down, carelessly left it on the dresser, I would probably still have it.

I called my dad straight away. To tell him what had happened, so someone would give me a hug, even if it was from across the country. But the real reason was to say: I'm sorry, Dad and Winky and Grandma V. You all kept it for me and I didn't manage to keep it safe, but I tried.

And now some loser who didn't even know to wear gloves when breaking and entering has my memories, and is probably giving them to his crackwhore of a girlfriend as we speak. Happy Important Family Mementos Day, fucker.

Eating And Driving

This visit from the boys was a little different to our past ones. No big trips were scheduled - no Great Ocean Road or Odyssey Trip. No old favourites were automatically pencilled in - probably due to the mere six month gap between this and the last visit.

Instead we had zero plans, unless they were of the Last Minute or What Should We Do Tomorrow? or That Sounds Cool variety. This resulted in what shall be known as the Holiday Of Eating And Driving.

We ate at bakeries, pubs, pancake houses, all-you-can-eat diners. We drove north (to a wheelchair basketball game that just finished), south (to the Fruchocs factory, where we proceeded to add imperfect chocolates to our menu), east (to Hahndorf, home of bakery, pub, and elusive doughnut place), and ... actually we didn't drive west, as that's the beach, and this is winter.

It was the holiday of frisbee, BSG, card games, and books. And for the old guys it was the holiday of woodturning.

It was pretty awesome, as always.

Which is more fascinating? A frisbee blog or a knitting blog?

It is winter here in Australia, the alleged land of eternal sunshine and hot weather. IT'S A LIE, I TELL YOU. Not the winter part, the sunshine part. The winter part is very very true right now, and very very cold.

The other thing that's happening right now is that frisbee is taking a little holiday. It's flown off to play in the sunshine (and lightning storms, so I hear) of Prague. Go Smurf!* This is awesome for me, because it means I get a whole month off** in which to eat, do zero exercise, and get massively fat and lazy.

*And Pie Wagon and Kaboom! And u19s and u23s, coming soon to a Germany and Italy near you.

**Actually, it has come to my attention that I have to go back to school frisbee next Monday. Robbed!

So I find myself in need of a project. For some reason I thought it would be a good idea to tackle something I've never done before, which results in a very tangible way to measure how good I am (or not) at said new skill. Two bad ideas that taste awesome together.

I have decided to knit a scarf.

I found the address of a knitting shop, went in and told the woman what I wanted to do. She presented me with all kinds of options - for designs, for patterns, for wool - all of which were met with a vague "Um, yes? I don't really know. I guess so?" Once she cottoned on (that's not really a knitting pun) to the fact that I had less than no clue about all this stuff, she made a decision on the pattern, told me which section of wools I should be looking at, and left me to pick a colour that took my fancy.

I chose a purple mixed with black, paid for it all (I would never really pay $30 for a scarf), and that's how I ended up sitting in Adelaide airport with my dad and my brother (Skywalker was surprisingly good at following the pattern instructions, by the way) trying to figure out which exact piece of wool I was supposed to put the needle under and then around? Or though there? Oh well, that'll do! (In case it's not obvious, I would welcome any help the internet has to offer!)

I think my stilted efforts were causing pain to the lady sitting across from us, but she came over and whipped off a couple of stitches and flipped it around and got me going again - all at a supersonic speed - without laughing or crying, so all was well.

Yesterday I decided to figure out this casting off business, so I am now the proud owner of ... maybe a wristband? A remote control rest? An unassembled scrunchie? Plus I have started on the official scarf, which is currently about as long as my practice piece.

I feel like a month may not have been enough time for this project.

Phone Manners

I was looking at a book yesterday about blogs and the internet, which devoted an entire chapter to 'netiquette' - don't write emails all in caps, don't respond to trolls, things like that. It finished with a lovely 'be nice to people on the internet' kind of message.

However, I'm thinking that someone needs to write a book along the same lines about mobile phones. And the manners associated therewith.

It will discuss, primarily, what I have recently determined to be my Rule #1: NO PHONE CONTACT BETWEEN 10PM AND 10AM.

If I could turn my phone off when I go to sleep, I would. However, I frequently get 'called in' by work at the uncivilized hour of 8:30 or 9am, and I like money, so my phone has to stay on. This, unfortunately for me (as I like my sleep sometimes even more than my money), has led to phone calls or messages being received at the following times in the past week: 7:34am, 12:30am, 8:58am, and 9:07am. THIS IS NOT COOL.

Please see Rule #1 and you may also note that emails are really effective, quieter than a phone call or text message, and will be answered if I am awake (something I can't promise with a midnight text message, which is just as likely to be deleted and my phone hurled across the room. Then you'll never get an answer.).

17

You can pretend we're making 1-7 instead of two 7s.

I feel a little sorry for 17. It's sandwiched between 16 (drivers licence) and 18 (alcohol) and so fades into the background. But I liked 17. It was year 12, other people's 18ths, and lots of basketball. But as far as parties go, yep, 17 gets shafted. You want to save up (financially and partyingly) for the big one next year.


Party time!

And also speechily, which is why this post is not going to drag up all the embarrassing stories I could mention, in favour of saving them up to be used in twelve months' time.


Besides, who needs embarrassing stories when you have embarrassing photos?

Instead, I will just tell a little story of something that happened, not in an awkward childhood moment, but just a few weeks ago. It didn't strike me as anything massive at the time, but when I had it pointed out to me, I had to agree it is pretty cool.


How did we get so cool?

Wonders and I were out bookshopping when I came across a book we were interested in that I wasn't sure if I had back home or not. The following conversation ensued:
*ring ring*
Little Bro: Hey.
Me: Hey man, just checking if we have A Book?
Little Bro: I dunno.
Me: Just go look!
Little Bro: Yeah... no it's not here.
Me: Sweet. Thanks dude. See ya!
Little Bro: Later.
This was repeated approximately five minutes later, although that one ended with a promise of a book being sent to me.

Like I said, it was nothing, and I thought nothing of it. But Wonders (who has a sister in the same city, not a brother across the country) thought it was so awesome that I could call him up for a five-second query. And I agree, especially because I am equally able to call him up for a ten minute frisbee update or an hour chat about anything from English homework to the awesomeness of wheelchair basketball to ice-skating plans for two months from now.

And that is just one reason why it is my pleasure to wish my little brother (aka skywalker) a very Happy Birthday! Hope 17 is awesome for you, kiddo.

Nationals 2010

So. Nationals. Sadly not as awesome as I wanted it to be. Mixed Nats still wins for awesomeness. However, Nationals definitely had its awesome parts, a major one being, of course, the high level that everyone on Indies had gotten to - and the new high level we reached during the tournament.


Indies talk tactics. Or party costumes.

Before the tournament I wrote down some goals, so let's see how I did.
Play well. Heh, debatable, but I'm going to say yes. I could've played better in parts, but overall I was fine, and in parts I was better than that.
Cut in such a manner as to result in someone saying "You cut SO WELL in that game." Well I certainly didn't do it for a whole game, unlike at Regionals, which wins for me playing my best. However there were exactly two occasions when I cut perfectly. So yes, again.
Don't be lazy. I have to admit that I was pretty lazy in one game in particular, but I realised what I was doing, asked for help, and picked it up in the next game, and the one after that even more. That's almost a no.
Anticipate better on D. Hmm, I don't know. Defence in general, I find it hard to gauge if I'm doing it well enough. But I did get a nice D when I was in the wall because I anticipated the throw. That's a yes.
Don't throw anything away. Wow, I was being a bit ambitious there, wasn't I? I did throw a bad pass that resulted in a drop after I'd just finished telling myself how I should throw that throw, so that was dumb. But the work we did on dump-type passes was useful and I think it paid off.
Cut from the right front corner of the end zone to the back middle to the left front for the swing pass, catch and score. Meh, I'm over that one. I don't think my cutting in the end zone was as good as it was at Regionals, so we're going to work on that. On the other hand, I didn't do my horror cut and drop it - AGAIN - so that was nice. And I did catch it in the end zone a bit, which is even better.
For Indies to be ultimate. Well, OF COURSE WE WERE.


Indies and fACTory Girls practicing their dance moves.

Game 1: Indies vs Honey. There was a sweet long pass from Kaz, I got some space on my defender, jumped, caught it, and landed just in the end zone.

Game 2: Indies vs Sugar Mags. The first example of me cutting perfectly. I decided that someone was going to pass to Alex and then she would pass it to me over there. So I did that cut, Alex got it, passed it me - in the end zone, catch and score, just as I planned it. Awesome feeling.


The two best coaches that anyone ever had.

Game 3: Indies d Kaos! By far my worst game. But Indies won it, so yay! I don't even think I played that badly, I just got ridiculously emotional, started hyperventilating on the sideline, and required way more looking after than should be necessary. There is exactly one shot of me in the highlights video, and it's me sooking off the field, crashing into some poor girl, after not getting a handblock. Like, who gets so upset they can't breathe cos they didn't get a handblock? Like I said, ridiculous.

Game 4: Indies vs fACTory Girls. Indies were down 4-8, but came back to 10-all. Unfortunately, FG scored the next two to take game but I feel like this was our best game (best half?) as a team. Such a good effort.


The only shot I've seen with me on the field. I'm awesome at standing around.

Game 5: Indies vs Southside. I forgot to write any notes on this game, so clearly nothing amazingly good or bad happened. Southside caned us? Yeah, that happened.

Game 6: Indies vs Wildcard Spades. My second perfect cut! I kind of hate plays where one person is singled out, because it not working is the worst. (On the other hand, if I did get called for Superstar and then scored, that would be the best feeling ever.) Anyway, America isn't quite as pressure-laden, but you still have a job to do if you're the one I was and guess what? I did it! I did a fake out, hard cut in, got the disc AND did a successful pass upfield so yay.

Game 6.5: Party Time!


Game 7: Indies vs fACTory Girls for 9th/10th. I feel like this was my best game of the tournament. Not as many things were against me. We had less people. They played man. We got off some long throws. I was cutting harder. All this did not add up to a win for the Indies but I caught a goal off some nice flow, and caught a long pass for an assist-assist.


The traditional EmVic #4 spinning a disc shot.

So, what have we learned from Nationals? As ever, I have a lot to work on. First thing will be my in-cuts. It frustrated me that I couldn't adjust when I didn't get the disc long. In-cuts means I have to work on my dump/short passes some more. And the rest of my throws. And on the off-chance I still get it long, I need to work on catching the disc in the air. And low to the ground. And in case I drop it I should work on defence. I want to get lots of handblocks. And Ds in the field. Hmm, looks like I have a bit to work on.

Apart from all that! Mostly we learned that WE'RE FIT AND WE'RE FAST AND NOTHING CAN STOP US!

INDIES!!!

Almost There!

This time tomorrow night, it will be the night before Nationals, and the start of four days of frisbee all day every day.

In contrast to last year's "Hey Vic, wanna play Mixed Nats?" "Sure!" "Ok, let's go!" "OMG quick get fit and awesome," the lead up to Nationals has been long and steady. We joined the gym at the start of the year, and have gone at least once a week every week since. The Indies (squad then team) trained twice a week. I play Social and two games of League a week. Apart from work, it is pretty much all frisbee all the time around here these days.

We held our second-to-last training at the fields where Nationals will be held, to try and make the most of our home ground advantage. (The predicted sea breeze was non-existent, but rain is forecast for the weekend. Awesome.) Just being at those fields upped the intensity, and it was a great training. I know I've cut well if I think a game was good.

Our last training was crap for me so let's just ignore that one, except to note: if fake it til you make it isn't working, keep going, run harder.

Our last League game before Nationals on the other hand (ignoring the fact that I failed to stop a huck that won the other team the game, lesson learned) - I got my first hand block! I (feel like I) totally layed out! (Uh no, I didn't catch the disc, what does that matter?) I got an awesome high grab! (Which makes two in two weeks!) So lots of good things happened that I can use to make myself believe I may just have learned a few things this year, which is nice.

So, goals for Nationals: Play well. Cut in such a manner as to result in someone saying "You cut SO WELL in that game." Don't be lazy. Anticipate better on D. Don't throw anything away. Cut from the right front corner of the end zone to the back middle to the left front for the swing pass, catch and score. For Indies to be ultimate.

(You can keep up with all the ultimate happenings at #AUC10 on Twitter.)

Status Updates

Bought some Indies-green hair ribbon. Now I'm ready to play!

Entirely too casual about flying to another city. Packed in like 20mins.

Four hour wait for our flight. Reading Persuasion. Thinking of mugging a kid for his Heelys.

Delayed four hours by Tiger but was rewarded with a row to myself. For a one hour flight.

Made it to our apartments in Melbourne. Finally getting excited for Regionals!

At the fields, lovely sunny day. Sure we're in Melbourne?

Looong day. Played four games. Lost to Honey and Team Box, beat Honey DS and VicTas. Cutting awesomely.

Looong discussions about what to do for dinner. Just feed me!

Heading to the beach. Am starving.

Polished off a massive carbonara and garlic bread. At Baskin-Robbins having a Gold Medal Ribbon, appropriately I feel. Ready for sleep.

Final day! Weather still nice! Cooties up first, should be tough.

Having lunch. 1/2 so far today. Clean socks for the last game, should help us beat Cooties again.

Pretty sure the technical term is 'completely unacceptable.'

INDIES ROCK! Qualified third for Nationals. Bring it on in Adelaide!

At Melbourne airport in search of a burger. Yep, found one but it disappeared as fast as dinner last night. Yum.

Picking up Krispy Kremes for the flight.

OMG Tiger line out the door and onto the footpath. Hoping people riot.

Normal line turns out to be quicker than express line, but we're still talking hours of waiting in line.

In the space of 15mins: checked in, security, gate, on plane, take off - was that so hard? (And another row to myself!)

Krispy Kremes for breakfast. And also, can I have some new muscles? These ones are hurting me.

Flinders Social about to start - let's go Wolf Pack! (Wolfpack? WolfPack?)

Haha, another frisbee convert!

First Flinders womens training of the season. Yeah ultimate!

Made It

When I was in primary school, I represented my school (area?) in Zone Athletics. The fact that I had come third in high jump in my age group at our school's athletics carnival apparently qualified me to compete against kids who, I don't know, actually knew how to do the flop thing instead of the scissor kick I did.

Needless to say, it was not a massive success, but hey I got a day off school! The point is, I didn't really have to try hard to make a team I had no aspirations to be on.

I played NT Champs in basketball one year, but that was a matter of our club rounding up enough people to call a team. This included myself; at the time, and pretty much any time, a league reserve player playing up.

So I've never really had to try out for anything (oh! except Hall soccer! when we won the Cup! hell yeah) - even when I went to Mixed Nats I was just asked to be on the team - until now. And guess what?! I made it!

I made Indies.

Notes

Once you haven't posted for a while, it seems like the topic you return with has to be very dramatic. What could be so ultra-important that it would necessitate its own blog post? Well, I have no idea, and this is not that post.

I do not understand people who crumple up their money. How hard is it to keep your notes flat?

I started writing a song while I was falling asleep last night. Either I can't remember it right, or what I made up was horrifically poor semi-rhyming poetry. Probably both. I don't think composition of embarrassingly badly written lyrics is a daytime activity.

Most ouch line of the past week: "... and you haven't been happy at frisbee for a long time." Dude, that's strong. And only a little true. It may be the lack of attention getting to me, or the 40-degree trainings (turns out there is such a thing as 'too hot for frisbee'), or the expected to learn new shit every week thing. Either way, apparently I am happy again so it's all a moo point.

I think I should get in the habit of writing again, as there are a few things I shouldn't talk about with other people, either because it's about them or someone too close to them, or because it's about someone they don't know and yet will have contact with and on those occasions they shouldn't appear to hate them, you know? Me neither. Anyway, writing is a habit, and I used to be fairly addicted, and I'm thinking that's not such a bad way to be.

What you missed when I was being a slacker about posting regularly

Frisbee awards night.


My new barbecue.


Practice Christmas Dinner.


Playing and ponies.


I bought a REAL CHRISTMAS TREE! (I didn't even know you could do that in Australia.)

And we all learned a Valuable Christmas Lesson

I feel like I had to fight so hard to get my (one-year-old or brand new) Christmas traditions happening this year.

Going to Lobethal to see the Lights got dropped out of, postponed, dropped out of and cancelled.

I didn't go to either of my work Christmas Parties due to other commitments (an SA frisbee awards night, at which I won exactly nothing, no I'm not at all bitter that a whole year of frisbee was for nothing, and a friend Christmas Party).

Plans to go Christmas shopping were cancelled, postponed, or shortened.

Practice Christmas Dinner happened fairly successfully. Things got cooked (on my new barbecue) (guess what, I got a barbecue for Christmas) and eaten and we played music.

Mine and Shelle's traditional 'last-minute before she goes home for Christmas shopping trip' was not at all frantic and last-minute-like! We actually cheered when a pushy woman was rude to us. It gets us in the Christmas mood, that's just how we roll.

My 'Boost Juice for the work crew' was completed but destroyed by Caruso opening the fridge too fast and smashing Montana's drink onto the floor. My donating went off 50% successfully: the gift wrapping was now being done for free/sponsored instead of by the Salvation Army, but World Vision were right where they were supposed to be and even offered me a goat. My Wishing Tree Tradition decided to freak me out by not having any tags left on the tree, but of course they were still accepting donations so all was well. (Five year old boys like Ben10, Knex, Toy Story, and Cars, right? Sixteen year old boys like Nike and Adidas, right? Sweet.)

Christmas Eve Mass and Christmas Carols was partially dropped out of but went ahead very successfully, except for the choir not ending with Happy Christmas (War Is Over) and Merry Christmas like they're supposed to and the saint statue not having a Santa hat on its head.

WHY DOES EVERYONE WANT TO RUIN MY TRADITIONS?

However...
Christmas Eve: visiting with Shelle, Mass and Carols with Eriko and Gma and ALyn (at least Grandma will always make Christmas Treats. RIGHT, GRANDMA?), eating and presents and playing with Sarah and Alison;
Christmas Day: with orphans aka my housemates, with my bbq and new dvds, and with way too much food; and
Boxing Day: at the beach
were all pretty fricking awesome.

I don't know what my valuable lesson is. Stress less? The important plans will come together? You can't control other people, you can only control how you react? The best moments will be the spontaneous ones? It's the people you spend it with that matters? A good present can make up for all the rest of it? No idea, I just hope you all had a lovely Christmas, with traditions or not, whatever makes you happy!

Samson and Delilah

I've been sick for about two weeks now. It started with a bit of a cough, oh and also a disinclination to play beach frisbee. That should have been a massive warning sign. Then I had to crank the heater in the middle of a heat wave. Then I freaking fainted! Then a massive loss of energy, appetite, blah blah. (And - boys stop reading for a sec - coughed so hard I got my period two weeks early. Weird, right?) I've been calling it bronchitis, because that's what the antibiotics I'm on treat (among many other things, including impetigo, which I'm going to go out on a limb and say it's not) but it's probably some random, unspecified chest lung infection thingy. Anyway, it's all over pretty much, except the crazy annoying cough.

How did I get this? I have a theory.

I cut off all my hair. And with it all my strength and resistance that I'd been hanging on to since before Mixed Nats, when everyone I knew was sick and I refused to get sick.

(That's what's known as a segue.)

I hate the idea of regret, because I am very much 'look at what's in front of you, deal with it.' Therefore, I've been saying that I'm glad I cut off my hair because if I didn't I'd still be wondering what I'd look like with it short, and that's true - actually, no, it's not. I wish I didn't cut my hair. There, I said it. Not because it's not a nice cut, because it's fine - on someone else. I like my hair long, and maybe I've read too many books where characters are completely defined by their long, thick, beautiful hair, but I miss having that characteristic about me.

How fast does hair grow? Hair extensions aren't that expensive, right?

Ultimate CHAMPIONS

Try Sarah's Tops: League Champions.



Wednesday was League Grand Final night, and Flinders had three out of four teams in the finals (Seven Wonders, Donna Hay and the Cupcakes, and Try Sarah's Tops - yes, it is necessary for you to know this, so you can understand our awesome sign, below). The Div 2 game was first - Go Wonder Cakes! - and was tight the whole way, before a rather anticlimactic win by the Cupcakes. About which I feel a little bad, as I may have made some comments about the undefeated Wonders team not being my favourite for the win. Oops.



Then the Div 1 game in which the legendary Tops defeated AU. By a lot, although they had me worried for a second there in the middle of the game. But our boys were awesome as usual, and our girls were useful, and I did an awesome cut (or so I've been told) and dropped it (should've layed out), and I caught some other goals, and I need to play better D on the wing (I've been a point the whole season) but did ok with the help of my sideline who I dragged away from their pizza and chillaxing time to help me out, and then WE WON!!!



Also, I won joint Most Improved Female. And got equal third Div 1 Female MVP with a whole bunch of other people, which I think is kind of more impressive. Pretty sure I am going to have to be way more awesome next season if I want to win any kind of individual award. So it was that Flinders won both grand finals and most of the individual awards (and Tops players won both Most Improveds). And so ended my first year of frisbee.*



I didn't get to make a speech on Wednesday, but I would like to thank a few people now. First of all, the game itself, which is such an awesome environment to play and learn and get better in. Secondly, everyone that plays frisbee in SA and Australia, especially the people I've had the enjoyment of playing with and against. And finally, anyone that has taught anything about the game, especially the ones who went out of their way to teach me new things when they could have been improving their own game. And I would like to make special mention of the two people who have helped me the most, my first two captains. You guys are awesome. Yay frisbee!



*Except for the Flinders Social Grand Final that myself and the rest of the Rasczak's Roughnecks will be winning tomorrow night coming damn close to winning and beating an updefeated team, but sadly it is not to be. Awesome game though in crazy hot weather. Would be better if I learned to catch, however. Yeah Roughnecks!

(Also, I forgot to mention that three times this League season I got 6/6 tips right. I am a tipping superstar. Not as much as the people who actually won money from it, but pretty close.)

Before and After

Before [so loooong!]:



After [so shoooort!]:





Halloween (as Sookie Stackhouse) [so blonde and so long!]:

Bad Attitude

I really do believe that sports can bring out great things in people: teamwork, trying your best, good sportsmanship, etc. However, there are some people in whom it can bring out the worst.

I never thought I was one of those people.

When I was playing basketball, I would have a bit of an attitude occasionally, and foul people cos I was angry, but they were one-off spurts of temper. What I'm finding now is a constant, entire game's worth of sooky, crappy mood. And it sucks.

(I should say, too, that to me, shin splints, vague knee 'problems', and mental game all fall under the same category of "imaginary. see also: suck it up, princess, just play.")

My main problem is that I can see these moods beginning, and think to myself, you should stop this right now, or it will last the rest of the game ... and then I don't stop it. I indulge the petty, whiny side of my brain, and don't try as hard, and expect other people to do things when I should be doing them, and have a bad attitude in general. It's self-indulgent, and attention-seeking (hey, it's blogging!) and I don't like it at all.

I am slightly concerned that this is some fundamental flaw in my personality ... but the other side of my brain scoffs at this, all, "No-one is fundamentally anything, just DECIDE TO BE AWESOME, AND BE AWESOME."

Ok, Self. I hear you.

"And then! Best thing ever...!"

So. Mixed Nats. In a word: awesome. But please, stopping at one word? Yeah right. So here we go.

Three day tournament, nine games, 24 teams, three SA teams who all beat their seeds, and Smurf doing better than any other SA team ever!


Yeah, Pillow Fight!

Me being awesome: The first game I don't think I touched the disc, except for a failed attempt at a D. At some point during the next game or the one after that I realised that cutting for the disc = getting the disc (am a genius) and that I could be confident and do good things. So I did.

My first goal was made more spectacular by the fact that I refused to catch it normally and instead had to slide on my knees then back, bounce the disc off my hands, knees, and stomach, and then catch it. Score! And yes, that was a the first of a few, maybe one a game? Which is pretty awesome, I think. More awesome, even, is the fact that I wanted the disc in the end zone: I wasn't (very) scared of dropping it and so I was attacking* and catching the disc much better.

*Except for that time I didn't, right outside the end zone. Stupid, stupid, stupid.

And I discovered something in frisbee that is really fun: getting Ds! Running through and slamming a disc into the ground is totally energizing! I seriously recommend it. I probably did one of those a game as well.


De-fence!

Almost awesome but not quite: I am sad to report that I got neither a layout nor a Callahan this tournament. I did however dive for a ricocheting disc this one time (and drop it but that's neither here nor there) - the first time I've gone for a disc that I wasn't expecting - so that was a nice first. And my team also played an awesome zone in the last game, keeping the other team in our end zone for about ten years (which, yes, would have been the perfect time for a Callahan, but we just kept putting the pressure on and eventually they turned it over). So good work! Now be more awesome!

Spirit: Frisbee is big on Spirit. This was the first time I'd had the opportunity to play Spirit Games, and I even won one! (Slapping people on the arse is apparently totally my calling in life.) Plus, I really think my team should have won some kind of award for our uniforms: official shorts of Pillow Fight? Pajama pants, naturally!


The official P-Fight uniform.

Oh and, funny story, the one time I thought I was going to get a prize: One team was telling us about how they give out an award for potential instead of MVP, and I was like, hell yes, this is me, I am way behind everyone else, clearly I have potential all over the place. And then they said we were all awesome and they were going to do MVP. Devastated. On the plus side, I'm awesome, on the down side, I'm not awesome enough to be MVP. Ah well.


Smurf playing Ultimate Ninja.

Fitness: I was really, really, really happy with my fitness during the tournament. About two months ago I drew up a reward exercise chart, and since then I've only cheated a little. And I was able to run for three whole days and in our game last night (that we had to go straight to from the airport). So that was awesome, and I'm glad I was so stubborn persistent about doing something every day. On that note, however, my physio is freaking magic, as my shins didn't hurt at all the first day, and only a little the second and third (a bit more last night, however, and my knees kicked in then as well, but whatever, Mixed Nats is over), and this was probably maybe possibly helped by me taking a few days off last week.

Buddies: I didn't really know the people on my team that well before we left, whereas I am good friends with people on one of the other teams. This happens to be the really good team, so I knew they would be focused on their team (and they should be) and I would be busy with mine and we wouldn't have much time to hang out during the tournament. My team turned out to be full of awesome fun people (yeah Pillow Fight!) and being with them was sweet. There was still the element of "go play with the little kids, the big kids are busy" that I knew I would feel, but it wasn't really a problem for me, as we all had things to do and people to hang with and frisbee to play!


I had the time of my life...

First game back: I am a wayy better ultimate player now than when I left for Hobart. If I played frisbee all day every day? I would be amazing so fast! I did my first one handed catch in our league game, off a throw gone 'astray,' and it was so sweet to be able to grab a disc that had been somewhat written off. Plus I felt like a real ultimate player doing the kind of awesome catches that they can do (notwithstanding the fact that closest defence was half a field away!).

Conclusion/The Future: By the end of the second day, I was feeling pretty good about myself. Got some Ds, scored some goals, am an ultimate superstar. And then the frisbee gods smacked me (and my whole team) DOWN with a crappy loss, which brought me right back down to earth. You're not awesome, but be awesome.

I have no idea if this is a realistic goal or not, but I'm aiming for Nationals 2010. Actual Nationals seems way more important and harder to get into than Mixed Nats, and it would mean a lot if I was selected. [Although I have to say a massive thank you to everyone involved in getting me to Mixed Nats, every awesome thing I can do now is because of you.]

I think I have to work on my attitude. There is a difference between determined and obnoxious, and cursing on the field (even at yourself) is so shit I can't even tell you. [Here's an idea: cut the stupid throwaways, stop letting players break you, and there'll be no need for cursing.] I'm kind of eternally frustrated at my lack of skills, but also really optimistic at the moment, mostly to do with all the brilliant people I have to learn from and the amazing experiences I had in Tassie.


A glass and a half of ultimate goodness, aka the awesome people I have to beat learn from.

In actual conclusion, Mixed Nationals, Hobart 2009 was a fricking awesome trip: the people, the fields, the food, the weather (sunny every day!), the mad ultimate skills. I have a loong way to go, but it was a massive jump start to my frisbee game, and for that I am very grateful and happy and excited about what comes next.