Mon - January 3, 2005Site updateSo there has been a small addition to the nav bar
on the right side of your screen. This is where pictures of events and whatnot
will go. To start with there are pics of a New Years Eve party held by the beneficent
Sharif and the fabulous Tash
Posted at 02:10 PM hit me | Mon - December 13, 2004humanityJust a quick thought. I just found out today
that an old friend of mine was, last night, hurt quite badly by the woman he was
dating. I continues to amaze and sadden me that we as animals have an infinite
capacity to both hurt and allow our selves to BE hurt. While i don't know the
situation entirely apparently she had been seeing someone else and was caught in
a lie. At some point one wonders if there was a moment where it would have been
clear to an outside observer what was going on. In fact someone probably knew.
Someone he knew, probably knew but was unwilling to step in and let him know. I
suppose in the end there is only one person who will look out for you every
time. Thankfully he is loved by a lot of people whom he has helped through the
years and will be supported by them but dammit people... why do we do these
things to each other. Relationships are fragile, anyone can see that, but cant
you keep it in your fucking pants till you aren't hurting someone
directly?
Posted at 08:49 PM Read More hit me | Tue - December 7, 2004FailureI watched two teams lose today.
The first played against a team that was quickly and obviously their better. They had little hope of winning tonight. The proceeded to play poorly and without any true inspiration. The second team was well matched and most probably better than the team they were playing. It is hard to say for sure because, in the parlance of the trade, they never "showed up". They came out flat and stayed flat. Energy level was more or less there but not the balls out effort for 40 minutes that they often display. Today it was a lack of mental toughness, yes i know its a cliche, or focus if you prefer. They fought and drew close at the end, but when the time ran out they were down by 7. The question is, which is worse. To realize that you are "beaten" and fold - now not obviously just to stop doing the little things and putting out the effort rather than to tank entirely - or to fail to live up to your potential and let a worthy but lesser opponent best you. Coaches will always tell you, and most of them - all the good ones - mean it, that if you enter a contest and put for your absolute best effort - leave it on the floor, give a 110%, empty the tank, pick your favorite - that they will be happy with and proud of your performance. I personally believe that. Maybe its because i have been saturated with sports and the attached attitude for too long, but there is no shame in losing to a better opponent provided you did your damdest to stop him. Invariably however it is the athletes who BRING this up rather than have it told to them that should not be using it as solace. The all american who has just lost the last game of his senior year by the slimmest of margins and is crying his heart out with regret and shame for not having worked harder, yet does not have the strength to stand and leave the court. He is the one, not the freshman who didn't play all year. The apparent voluntary nature of the first case makes it all the worse to me. Although the lack of understanding and will to prepare to come ready to compete is not exactly a saving grace, it can be remedied. It is, after all, in our failures that we have the most to learn from. Then again they could just be college kids trying to play a game. Posted at 11:21 PM Read More hit me | Mon - December 6, 2004a small propositionSo when recently discussing the difficulties of
entertaining females one is intending to woo without the comforting glow of the
modern campfire known as cable a modest proposition was made. The realization
was made that there are so few things that one can do to to keep the wonderful
women interested - the major one is food. Dinner however can only last so long
without things becoming awkward. This is where the new rule comes in handy:
every bite must be chewed 27 times.
This will not only elongate the entertainment portion of the date but turn dinner into a fun game. The "random inspection" clause can be invoked to ensure that your date is completely chewing her food and not just pretending. This will allow for a witty interplay - and lets face it anything that gets her to open her mouth that wide HAS to be a good thing.. eh? eh? eh? The 27 times rule will guarantee at least a 2 hour date out of one activity. (all ideas blatantly stolen from the molusk cause he is much smarter than i) Posted at 10:54 PM Read More hit me | Thu - December 2, 2004PerspectiveThe last few days/weeks have slapped me in the
face over and over with the effects of perspective. Having left and returned to
the place of both my last athletic exploits and my gestation as an ATC has put
me in a place to look these kids (that includes the memories of myself) with a
certain bit of distain.
The fact that i was able to get out into the "real world" and see the "next level" was an eye opening experience - which was the point i suppose. Although athleticism was a factor the biggest difference was the understanding of the effort that needed to be put out. Nothing is free. No matter how talented you are there is someone better. The innate knowledge and understanding of this leads to the work ethic that separates *i could do that* from ACTUALLY doing it. I said earlier that i lump myself in there. I have no doubt that given an entirely different work ethic at that time in my life i would be at a different place now. This has caused me to think hard about myself now and wonder where i will be in a few years and will i look back and chuckle at my own hubris now? Will i be able to continue to grow at the same rate? The frustrating realization is that you can never convince someone that you HAVE been there, that you HAVE learned these lessons, that you CAN help them. These kids need to learn their own lessons just like i did. I can only imagine the frustrations i caused my parents and teachers... they are saints. Posted at 09:40 PM Read More hit me | Wed - December 1, 2004Do overThe world is remarkably resilient. We see it
over and over again. If we just let it do its own thing for a while shit seems
to sort out. This forgiving attitude, i feel, is at the heart of everyone in a
deep sense.
So lets be perfectly clear about this. You get a certain number of free passes, do-overs if you will. If you react to something the first time and are overly dramatic about it, you are not, by law, required to continue the farce to its absurd end. If you get up and say "you know what... that wasn't as bad as i thought it was. Im good." the world as a whole will have much more respect and forgiveness than if you continue to act as though you WERE in fact that hurt/offended. When it is possible for an impartial observer to tell you are full of shit - it is time for the farce to end and as gracefully as you can for you to get back to work. This applies equally well to 19 year olds as it does to presidents. It is time for people to stop convincing them selves that the world cant tell the difference... we can and you look like a jackass. Posted at 08:23 PM Read More hit me | Sun - November 28, 2004holy crap its 4AMIts been a while since I showed up here. I have
been watching basketball of late and that makes me happy because it is not
football. Granted it is not particularly GOOD basketball but one cannot be
picky. So that brings be to basketball etiquette. For those of you fans -
parents, supporters, friends, etc. - who travel to games and watch from the
sidelines I present a few simple but meaningful rules to try and
follow.
Acceptable behavior from fans: Verbal chatter throughout the game Loud clapping -synchronous/rhythmic - at any time but especially when your team is on defense and the rest of your fans are doing it too -out of sync or just on your own - when there has just been a substantial or unique play made by your team Stomping of feet -when a TRULY FABULOUS (note emphasis) play has been made -in the NBA or NCAA Div I during free throws of the visiting team Teaching your adorable 2 year old girl to question the legitimacy of the opposing team's mascot. (seriously there is nothing cuter than a pristine and innocent voice cutting through the mild din of a small school hoops game with "mommy what IS a bearcat anyway?") This holds especially true if you are related to the staff at the home school and are pretty much given free reign of the facilities do to your daughter's cuteness Unacceptable behavior from fans: Maintaining a shrill over-loud screaming blow by blow commentary about how your team is getting screwed and your baby is obviously being fouled every time s/he touches the ball. -You arent on the court - you are not a referee -Your child ISNT that good - if s/he was s/he would be playing in an arena where s/he and I could not hear your shrill grating voice -The quiet of a time out does not mean we have given you the OK to continue your tirade unobscured by the pesky chirping of shoes on the court Women's NCAA basketball has different rules than Mens NCAA basketball which has different rules from NBA basketball. LEARN THE DIFFERENCES, KNOW THE DIFFERENCES. -Ignorance is not an excuse to hold college referees to NBA rules SHUT THE FUCK UP if you dont know what you are talking about. (yes this rule is applicable to most parts of life too - so from here on we will take it as a postulate, Euclid got 5 i get at least that many) Clapping when the other team makes an unforced error Clapping continuously for 2 hours -Seriously i have no idea how you can do this without your hands falling off, so just stop please Stomping on bleachers at every routine offensive or defensive play Leaving the stands to question the official score or the official time So these are some pretty simple do's and don'ts for the college basketball game. There may be an upcoming segment on player do's and don'ts but who knows Posted at 04:37 AM Read More hit me | Thu - September 16, 2004*sigh*There are times I wonder... was I like that?
Then I like to think - no I wasn't... but I am sure I have aggravated people as
much in my own life and younger times. What follows is a faithful reproduction
of a conversation had by me (H) a friend of mine (E) and an athlete (A). It
began as a flip and sarcastic remark by me and ended with head-shaking and
wonder.
A: this broke again (points to a piece of equipment) H: do i look like the kind of guy who cares (out of context this sounds harsh - but it was said with a half smile and is typical of the kind of banter in the TR) A: its your job ... you have to care (serious) H: actually i don't A: you are responsible for our health and welfare you have to care H: actually i don't ... as long as i am effective and diligent my emotional attachment is immaterial A: you don't care about your job? H: i do... but i don't *have* to care about your welfare to do it well A: yes you do (at this point E who has been standing around amused decides to chime in) E: A... I'm not saying you aren't a smart guy - cause you are... but your logic is flawed A: no it isn't E: ok let me break it down for you... wait no... lets just do this (points to me) two degrees (points to A) no degrees... who do you think we are gonna believe A: but he HAS to care about us E: (shaking head) no he doesn't your logic is flawed... again (points to me... who at this point has moved on to another athlete having fixed A's problem) two degrees (points to A) FRESHMAN... you are wrong (and this is the comment i missed but DAMN i wish i had heard it - it has been confirmed by several people) A: but you don't understand... i go to POMONA I am still shaking my head - the hubris - the idiocy - problem is that he is generally a nice kid, smart and everything. It is just representative of our inability as humans to see beyond our own experience and more specifically of the attitude prevalent among the claremont college students in general (to whom most things have come very easily to this point in their lives) that "no one has possibly worked harder than i do now and no one can know how hard my life is". If i hadn't been one, and DIDNT care about them and the institutions they currently and will in the future represent - it wouldn't bother me at all. Posted at 10:31 PM Read More hit me | Fri - September 3, 2004The new regimeThe new regime started this week. Rather i
should say it began to start then falter. The regime of which i speak is the
overall-health-and-fitness-of-me. This is to include not only the standard
dieting (no i will not now nor will i ever consider low carb... its crap) and
increase in exercise. I have only been able to make it into the gym once this
week. That seems rather pathetic given that my office is not only just across
the hall from the afore mentioned gym, but actually looks out on it.
Unfortunately working for a team means that you work on their schedule to some
degree. So when the plan to lift after practice gets botched by staying on the
field longer than anticipated... well it provides a nice excuse for those of us
who prefer to procrastinate. Suffice it to say that the first installment of
the new regime left me sore for several days. I cannot wait till that is not a
huge problem any more.
Posted at 11:03 AM hit me | Sat - August 14, 2004...fuck...So its over. The morning spent vomiting
information to a remorseless Compaq running some sort of testing software on top
of Win 98. All told i think ill do better than last time... no where to go but
up as they say.
Although the discovery that SFO has a T-mobile hotspot throughout the airport has made the 4 hour wait for the plane that much better. A beer (or 2) and the interweb can pass the time rather nicely thank you. The people at the airport are highly amusing. I think i caught *player guy* in the middle of his change of venue. He was wearing a retro lakers jersey and black adidas wind pants with matching yellow stripes, and a black LA hat. not totally odd - until you realize that he was carrying a red and black nike bag with a red and black St Louis hat on the strap, and a black jersey slung over the top of it. Did i mention he was a scrawny 5'6" white guy 35ish?... yeah GIVE IT UP. So doubles start monday.. goodbye sleep, hello sunburn. There is no time in an ATCs life that is more hectic, more rewarding, and more of a GIANT PAIN IN THE ASS (insert inappropriate goatse refrence here) than the yearly exercise in barely contained dominance ritual that is football pre-season. Long hours and stupid freshman (hell stupid seniors) lead to a boatload of work. But who ever wanted to be bored at work. The quest to learn everyone's name is always the hardest part. The taste of salt dried on your lips. Eyes burning from being in the sun for 15 hours a day for weeks. The smell of sunscreen. Knuckles and hands cut and bleeding from the ice and jugs. Clouds building up over the mountains. All these things bring back the sense of beginning to me. It is a time to start over. A time to re-establish and a time to start fresh. Everything is possible, anything can happen, the wide eyed freshman imbue the entire campus with new attitudes and viewpoints, nothing is better than the feeling of a college campus at the beginning of the year. Posted at 04:43 PM hit me | Mon - August 9, 2004Sun - August 8, 2004Water is a very fluid MoleculeIn a surprise move pat came down this afternoon
to take pictures of his bike he intends to sell on eBay. Wasnt expecting him
but hey - as long as he brought his books (which he did) and shut up (which he
mostly did) he is a welcome addition to the study hall cause he keeps the other
household occupants occupied as the pseudo 6th child.
Regardless. In the semi-delerium of post-MCAT-study-day # I don't even know. I was able to not only help him with some chemistry (thus proving to my self that i am not totally fucked) and make the amusing quip in the subject. I realize that this may or may not be that funny to anyone else - but what can i say - i laughed my ass off. Cause see - water, its fluid, get it?? and it has a bunch of states that can co-exist together in solution (OH-, H2O, H3O+)... see... its FUNNY PEOPLE. maybe i should sleep Posted at 09:50 PM hit me | ProcrastinationWhat is it about the putting off of a task that
needs doing that is so seductive. It is
Posted at 02:06 PM hit me | Fri - August 6, 2004Long drive-dayJust a quick note. This morning started out to
be a rather interesting day. I was supposed to go get my CPRFPR cert re-upped with my old compatriots at
UCLA then drive out to claremont to install my
boss' daughter's new computer. Ok calling him my boss is a little off the mark.
More like a mentor and a friend really. Well the CPR started an hour late but
was offset by the fact that there was food left over from the earlier staff
meeting (which had run long and caused the CPR to start late). It was nice
seeing everyone but i had to run and hit the freeway - made me a little
anti-social but what can you do. I got to claremont and installed the 17" iMac
in her room. I figured i would swing by the office to look at the new 17" iMac
we had ordered as part of our 3yr computer upgrade cycle (believe me it was a
HUGE upgrade from some anonymous wintel box that was barely able to spin its
hard drive still).
This is where the day gets surreal and GREAT. Instead of a 17" iMac i see a new gorgeous dual processor 1.8 GHz G5 (second generation). Holy CRAP. THERE IS NO NEED FOR THAT. But i love it. I got sucked in and began setting the machine up so that it was mine (or at least my user was). It is going to be so nice having a computer that feels right and is well over (rather than under) powered. Now all we need is VPC 7 or Darwine Posted at 06:03 PM hit me | Thu - August 5, 2004Aldehydes and KetonesAldehydes and Ketones, both of which fall under
the more general header of carbonyl compounds are now officially my bitch.
Although it took a few attempts (it is not exactly the lightest read on the
planet) i am fully confident about the reaction mechanics of the various
additions, substitutions, reductions etc that can be performed... well at least
those that are covered in the review book. So much for the morning study
session.
Posted at 11:54 AM hit me | |
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Published On: Nov 24, 2005 11:18 AM |
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