Bob,
Jake, Matt and I really should road trip out to kick with you sometime. I'll pitch this to them once things die-down for us all a bit.
The picture that you painted seems bizarre (regarding Brian.) I can see why you might be frustrated.
(Painfully sorry about stealing the top of a page)
west of philly - bob
Played last night. Was bored. I need a fun footbag happening to get me pumped right now. Ain't gonna happen probably, so I just need to snap out of it. But, at least I played a little. Since I was bored, I actually did a nice job of working on stuff that needed some attention. Like, I actually did run after run after run with lots of weak pixies, and lots of osis on both sides. I never do that as much as I should. So that was good. But mostly I was bored and not into it.
Later on, I helped a neighbor move a tree (literally, we unplanted it, and replanted it.. was heavy as hell). Then I shot baskets under the light for awhile.
Keegan decided to wake up at 4:30 a.m. today. So I feel so tired right now.
Later on, I helped a neighbor move a tree (literally, we unplanted it, and replanted it.. was heavy as hell). Then I shot baskets under the light for awhile.
Keegan decided to wake up at 4:30 a.m. today. So I feel so tired right now.
Bob R.
Two job interviews this week! Vanguard (MAJOR company... probably my number 1 choice to work for around here) and ICG Commerce (another good company, very process improvement oriented, which fits my background nicely). Keep your fingers crossed for me!
Kicking tonight, it's so nice out I'm hoping to have a fun session.
Kicking tonight, it's so nice out I'm hoping to have a fun session.
Bob R.
Fun session last night. I've been really slow to recover from all my manual labor - I really REALLY overdid it with all that shit. So my last couple of sessions have been sort of mellow. But it's an OK mellow, and I'm glad I'm listening to my body.
Last night I mainly worked on newer, easy links, that incorporate pixies, paradox mirages, and osis. Like: pixie ss clipper > osis > pdx mirage > repeat. Or: Smear > pixie butterfly > osis > infinity > pdx mirage > repeat. Kind of drilly, but not hardcore drilly. Just effing around and concentrating on control, posture, smoothness etc. And I gotta say, those things are going nicely.
Actually, when I played with Brian last, I mainly bitched about things that annoyed me. But I forgot to mention that he commented several times on how smooth I was playing. Which is cool.
Also cool, is that I was shooting hoops two nights ago and my wife and kids were up on the court with me, and wife said my legs are looking noticeably skinnier. I hadn't thought about weight for awhile because I was sort of off schedule with all the projects. Wasn't getting my normal workouts in, diet was a little off (when you're moving 7 tons of material by hand, you tend to increase you carloric intake for a few days to recover). So I checked myself out (yes, it was sort of one of those flexing in the mirror sessions that we all do, but never admit that we do) and she's right! And then I weighed in last night and found that I'm within 5 pounds of my goal now! I've lost 33 pounds so far.
My folks are coming to see the kids and us tonight. They live in Pittsburgh, so we only get to see them every couple months, so I'm really looking forward to having them stay with us this weekend. Plus, I feel proud to show them our renovations etc. Plus plus, they haven't seen me this thin in a long time, so that'll be nice to show off.
4 p.m. today, phone interview with Vanguard. 7 p.m. tonight, meet with VP from Penn Mutual (my former company) about the potential for me to rejoin their team. Hopefully call back from ICG Commerce today too.
Wow, long post, lots going on.
Oh, and I've been emailing with Josh Benham.
Last night I mainly worked on newer, easy links, that incorporate pixies, paradox mirages, and osis. Like: pixie ss clipper > osis > pdx mirage > repeat. Or: Smear > pixie butterfly > osis > infinity > pdx mirage > repeat. Kind of drilly, but not hardcore drilly. Just effing around and concentrating on control, posture, smoothness etc. And I gotta say, those things are going nicely.
Actually, when I played with Brian last, I mainly bitched about things that annoyed me. But I forgot to mention that he commented several times on how smooth I was playing. Which is cool.
Also cool, is that I was shooting hoops two nights ago and my wife and kids were up on the court with me, and wife said my legs are looking noticeably skinnier. I hadn't thought about weight for awhile because I was sort of off schedule with all the projects. Wasn't getting my normal workouts in, diet was a little off (when you're moving 7 tons of material by hand, you tend to increase you carloric intake for a few days to recover). So I checked myself out (yes, it was sort of one of those flexing in the mirror sessions that we all do, but never admit that we do) and she's right! And then I weighed in last night and found that I'm within 5 pounds of my goal now! I've lost 33 pounds so far.
My folks are coming to see the kids and us tonight. They live in Pittsburgh, so we only get to see them every couple months, so I'm really looking forward to having them stay with us this weekend. Plus, I feel proud to show them our renovations etc. Plus plus, they haven't seen me this thin in a long time, so that'll be nice to show off.
4 p.m. today, phone interview with Vanguard. 7 p.m. tonight, meet with VP from Penn Mutual (my former company) about the potential for me to rejoin their team. Hopefully call back from ICG Commerce today too.
Wow, long post, lots going on.
Oh, and I've been emailing with Josh Benham.
Bob R.
-
shreddaily
- Flower Child
- Posts: 1665
- Joined: 03 Sep 2003 16:56
So maybe I missed this part but are you unemployed or just looking to move up?
Anywho I just got done with two weeks of being a pirate! I had only one eye and basically ate everything and moved very little. Well I hope to get back on a good healthy routine again now my eye is better and here is a little vid I made as a motivator. i was feeling pretty old skool so I thought I'd post it here.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-IpUcyDaJUg
later dude!
Anywho I just got done with two weeks of being a pirate! I had only one eye and basically ate everything and moved very little. Well I hope to get back on a good healthy routine again now my eye is better and here is a little vid I made as a motivator. i was feeling pretty old skool so I thought I'd post it here.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-IpUcyDaJUg
later dude!
Yo Nate, good to hear from you. Nice vid, thanks for including that. I love it how feeling old skool makes my blog a good place to post it! Side note: Someday you'll fix my spins for me 
I'm employed already. Good job in terms of responsibilities/level etc., good money, horrible boss, backwards company culture. Therefore, time to move on for good job, better money, better boss, good company culture! ha ha
----------
ICG position is tons of travel, so I've declined the interview. My family is too important to me. You can always make more money, but you can't get this time back once it's gone. Ah well, was nice that they were interested, they're a power player around here.
----------
Vanguard phone interview with HR went really well I think. I should hear about whether they want to move forward with more interviews this week or next week.
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Penn Mutual networking thing Friday night over drinks was good. More career advice / networking than an actual interview to return there. Which is OK. I really want Vanguard, but it's good to keep lines of connection open.
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Family was in town all weekend, so no footbag. Lots of hoops on the driveway though. Hit 8 in a row from three point land during a mini-contest with my buddy - 7 in a row on my second try. Not bad, but my record will eventually be closer to 20 as it was back in the day. On just about every try, I can hit 4-5 in a row, miss one, hit another 4-5 in a row - so the shot is quickly returning. Left handed, I could only muster 3 in a row from three at this time. Still not too bad for using your off hand and being out of practice.
The rim is further away than it used to be. Ha ha. Gots to work on my non-existent hops.
I'm employed already. Good job in terms of responsibilities/level etc., good money, horrible boss, backwards company culture. Therefore, time to move on for good job, better money, better boss, good company culture! ha ha
----------
ICG position is tons of travel, so I've declined the interview. My family is too important to me. You can always make more money, but you can't get this time back once it's gone. Ah well, was nice that they were interested, they're a power player around here.
----------
Vanguard phone interview with HR went really well I think. I should hear about whether they want to move forward with more interviews this week or next week.
----------
Penn Mutual networking thing Friday night over drinks was good. More career advice / networking than an actual interview to return there. Which is OK. I really want Vanguard, but it's good to keep lines of connection open.
----------
Family was in town all weekend, so no footbag. Lots of hoops on the driveway though. Hit 8 in a row from three point land during a mini-contest with my buddy - 7 in a row on my second try. Not bad, but my record will eventually be closer to 20 as it was back in the day. On just about every try, I can hit 4-5 in a row, miss one, hit another 4-5 in a row - so the shot is quickly returning. Left handed, I could only muster 3 in a row from three at this time. Still not too bad for using your off hand and being out of practice.
The rim is further away than it used to be. Ha ha. Gots to work on my non-existent hops.
Bob R.
Good session last night. Still just effing around with all forms of pixie and bops right now. Specifically a lot of osis. After all these years, it looks like I'll finally be able to osis on both sides reliably, so that's good. It's funny how progress sometimes feels groundbreaking, and other times feels like a grind. Getting good at the stuff I'm working on right now is a bit of a grind, but at the same time, my sessions are mellow and satisfying.
Played a bit with fairy set too. Strongside will be no problem. It works already without really ever giving it any practice. Weakside will be a bitch for quite some time it seems like. That's ok, no hurry.
My mellow sessions are making me smoother too. I rarely double plant during runs when doing infinity - that was a common complaint that people had from watching my previous vids.
Afterwards, I ate dinner on the couch while Keegs watched his bedtime show, gave him his bath, put him to bed, and then threw some sneakers on and shot baskets for awhile. It's so fun to be able to walk across my yard and play hoops whenever I want. Watched some NBA playoffs and went to bed early.
Worked out this morning as usual. I can do some "clap pushups" now which is cool. And I can crank out some chinups too. I'm on the last hole on my current belts (was previously on the 4th hole) so skinnier keeps happening.
My barn is entirely cleaned up and organized again. I also built a table for my table saw so that it's easier to manage large pieces of lumber by myself. Now that everything is opened up, I can set up the tripod far enough away to get a full body shot while kicking. I think I'll tape some stuff sometime in the next month or so.
Played a bit with fairy set too. Strongside will be no problem. It works already without really ever giving it any practice. Weakside will be a bitch for quite some time it seems like. That's ok, no hurry.
My mellow sessions are making me smoother too. I rarely double plant during runs when doing infinity - that was a common complaint that people had from watching my previous vids.
Afterwards, I ate dinner on the couch while Keegs watched his bedtime show, gave him his bath, put him to bed, and then threw some sneakers on and shot baskets for awhile. It's so fun to be able to walk across my yard and play hoops whenever I want. Watched some NBA playoffs and went to bed early.
Worked out this morning as usual. I can do some "clap pushups" now which is cool. And I can crank out some chinups too. I'm on the last hole on my current belts (was previously on the 4th hole) so skinnier keeps happening.
My barn is entirely cleaned up and organized again. I also built a table for my table saw so that it's easier to manage large pieces of lumber by myself. Now that everything is opened up, I can set up the tripod far enough away to get a full body shot while kicking. I think I'll tape some stuff sometime in the next month or so.
Bob R.
-
slapdash21
- Futureless
- Posts: 4681
- Joined: 29 Sep 2004 14:50
- Location: Beantown, kidd
Work has been horrible lately, and today was really bad. I was so pissed. Therefore, I am taking a vacation day tomorrow to bring the stress level down. Will hack tonight, have a couple cold ones while watching NBA playoffs. Hang with kids, hack some more, tomorrow. Eff it, life's too short. Sometimes you need a day to get back in equalibrium.
Bob R.
A day off really helped my weekend out. Thursday became a Friday night, Friday became a Saturday etc. And here it is Sunday and I'm still home chilling. Ahhhh, nice.
Kicked Friday in the barn and play a lot of hoops on the driveway. Lots of pixie and bops, particularly weakside osis. Played with swirls. Hit maybe 40% on strong side, 10% on weakside. Not bad for first day ever of really trying them. Spins might be on their way to being fixed due to better posture. I think hunching really throws off the center of gravity and ruins spins. Ruins a lot of thing actually, but spins made the most immediate improvement as a result of standing with straight back. Hit more ducking to stepping. Just more consistency in general.
In hoops, my shot and handle are returning quickly. I guess all that pratice from 10 years old until 20 years old really makes the muscle movements stick permanently. My neighbor wanted to play 1 on 1 and horse. He's not very good, but I figured what the hell. I killed him in two games of horse and then beat him scoreless in two consecutive games of 1 on 1. If I had to stay up on his shot, it would have been more difficult. But he did play good defense (he's in great shape and was the 6th man on his high school team back in the day.. he about 2 years older than me.. so he knows not to fall for lame fakes) and I was able to score lefty and righty comfortably.
A few weeks ago, my attempts at touching the rim were about 6 inches away. I'm about a 1/2 inch away now. 6 more inches to go to get a weak dunk home. Probably a pipe dream, but we'll try for it anyways. It's been 10 years since I dunked last.
Was at a family event yesterday and 2 in-laws separately commented on how skinny I'm looking. We weren't even talking about weight etc. so their comments were out of the blue and unprompted.
Kicking with Brian today.
A house in our neighborhood burned down last night. No one was home, house is *really* in bad shape anyways, but it's still a "holy shit" type of thing. A fireman was badly hurt during the put out (took them from 10 pm until 4 am in the morning), I really hope he's OK. A backup truck caught the hose in the undercarriage, and the recoil on the hose hit the fireman doing the hookup. That huge metal gasket that attaches hose to hydrant hit him like a cannon ball. He was rushed out on a stretcher. Scary stuff. Sounded like a gun going off when the gasket snapped off the hydrant. Sending good thoughts his way.
Kicked Friday in the barn and play a lot of hoops on the driveway. Lots of pixie and bops, particularly weakside osis. Played with swirls. Hit maybe 40% on strong side, 10% on weakside. Not bad for first day ever of really trying them. Spins might be on their way to being fixed due to better posture. I think hunching really throws off the center of gravity and ruins spins. Ruins a lot of thing actually, but spins made the most immediate improvement as a result of standing with straight back. Hit more ducking to stepping. Just more consistency in general.
In hoops, my shot and handle are returning quickly. I guess all that pratice from 10 years old until 20 years old really makes the muscle movements stick permanently. My neighbor wanted to play 1 on 1 and horse. He's not very good, but I figured what the hell. I killed him in two games of horse and then beat him scoreless in two consecutive games of 1 on 1. If I had to stay up on his shot, it would have been more difficult. But he did play good defense (he's in great shape and was the 6th man on his high school team back in the day.. he about 2 years older than me.. so he knows not to fall for lame fakes) and I was able to score lefty and righty comfortably.
A few weeks ago, my attempts at touching the rim were about 6 inches away. I'm about a 1/2 inch away now. 6 more inches to go to get a weak dunk home. Probably a pipe dream, but we'll try for it anyways. It's been 10 years since I dunked last.
Was at a family event yesterday and 2 in-laws separately commented on how skinny I'm looking. We weren't even talking about weight etc. so their comments were out of the blue and unprompted.
Kicking with Brian today.
A house in our neighborhood burned down last night. No one was home, house is *really* in bad shape anyways, but it's still a "holy shit" type of thing. A fireman was badly hurt during the put out (took them from 10 pm until 4 am in the morning), I really hope he's OK. A backup truck caught the hose in the undercarriage, and the recoil on the hose hit the fireman doing the hookup. That huge metal gasket that attaches hose to hydrant hit him like a cannon ball. He was rushed out on a stretcher. Scary stuff. Sounded like a gun going off when the gasket snapped off the hydrant. Sending good thoughts his way.
Bob R.
First outdoor session of the year today with Brian. Was so nice to be outside. I played the best I've ever played today. Lots of good semi-genuine runs (I'll call that less than 5% bops in a run). Lots of long varied runs.
- weak atomic mirage to start a run
- strong atomic mirage in runs
- multiple stepping/blurry tricks back to back
- both side spins very reliable
- weak osis reliable
- strong dyno in runs
- strong swirl in a couple runs
- footed blurry whirl
- strong torques all over the place (plus today is first time I hit non-crispy torques)
- both drifters very reliable
- blur > paradon > barrage > datw (out/in) to start a nice run
- hit toe set torque to start a run
- strong nuclear butterfly
- strong pixie ducking butterfly
- several runs on both sides where I played out of paradon with something more interesting than bops (e.g. drifter, ripwalk, torque, swirl)
- one run in particular had paradon > swirl > drifter > ripwalk early in the run
- ducks/dives very reliable
I forget what else. Seems like I wrote "strong" a lot. Really, I was playing very both sided on everything I've been working on. I just also had an 'on' day for trying new things, so I went with it on my strong side.
- weak atomic mirage to start a run
- strong atomic mirage in runs
- multiple stepping/blurry tricks back to back
- both side spins very reliable
- weak osis reliable
- strong dyno in runs
- strong swirl in a couple runs
- footed blurry whirl
- strong torques all over the place (plus today is first time I hit non-crispy torques)
- both drifters very reliable
- blur > paradon > barrage > datw (out/in) to start a nice run
- hit toe set torque to start a run
- strong nuclear butterfly
- strong pixie ducking butterfly
- several runs on both sides where I played out of paradon with something more interesting than bops (e.g. drifter, ripwalk, torque, swirl)
- one run in particular had paradon > swirl > drifter > ripwalk early in the run
- ducks/dives very reliable
I forget what else. Seems like I wrote "strong" a lot. Really, I was playing very both sided on everything I've been working on. I just also had an 'on' day for trying new things, so I went with it on my strong side.
Bob R.
Thanks Ken! Was so fun to have that killer session. Wish I'd video taped! Ha ha, I guess I'll just have to repeat the feet (intentional spelling/pun).
That'd be a good t-shirt
Played last night in the barn. I've just been bopping and doing easy stuff in my solo practices. Most of my single tricks that I've been working on for months are pretty much 'hit every time' at this point, so it's really all about making sure I can set up for them reliably and smoothly every time. So it's kind of cool to not work on blur (as an example) but know that in my next shred session I'll be able to hit it when I want to.
I really need to vid tape a session to see how my game is looking. It's feeling good, but who knows. [edit: I've successfully eliminated doubl planting on infinities and pdx mirages btw] Actually, my strong pixie needs a little cleaning up. I've shortened the setting motion and added more in/out to the dex in an effort to create more pop for bigger tricks, and to make them less energy sapping in general. It's hurt my consistency, but achieves my other goals. Weakside pixie interestingly adapted to this change right away and easily. Weak and strong always changes around with time in this game. Well, not always, but a lot.
Gonna play some hoops after work tonight. I have no chores or projects to work on.
Haven't heard back from Vanguard yet. Urgh. Waiting is the worst. Especially when you're not sure of the response at the end of the wait (as opposed to, like, waiting for x-mas day as a kid where the wait kills you, but you know the outcome is a good one)
That'd be a good t-shirt
Played last night in the barn. I've just been bopping and doing easy stuff in my solo practices. Most of my single tricks that I've been working on for months are pretty much 'hit every time' at this point, so it's really all about making sure I can set up for them reliably and smoothly every time. So it's kind of cool to not work on blur (as an example) but know that in my next shred session I'll be able to hit it when I want to.
I really need to vid tape a session to see how my game is looking. It's feeling good, but who knows. [edit: I've successfully eliminated doubl planting on infinities and pdx mirages btw] Actually, my strong pixie needs a little cleaning up. I've shortened the setting motion and added more in/out to the dex in an effort to create more pop for bigger tricks, and to make them less energy sapping in general. It's hurt my consistency, but achieves my other goals. Weakside pixie interestingly adapted to this change right away and easily. Weak and strong always changes around with time in this game. Well, not always, but a lot.
Gonna play some hoops after work tonight. I have no chores or projects to work on.
Haven't heard back from Vanguard yet. Urgh. Waiting is the worst. Especially when you're not sure of the response at the end of the wait (as opposed to, like, waiting for x-mas day as a kid where the wait kills you, but you know the outcome is a good one)
Bob R.
Hey Bob, how goes it?
My last final for this semester is Tuesday the 13th, I'm probably heading home that night or the next morning until summer classes begin on the 19th. I'll be around Phoenixville that week and weekend if you want to shred! I can probably work out a ride up to your place, maybe shred and get some bball in too.
I haven't talked to Brian Buchane in a little while, did he start stitching bags? Last I spoke with him he was thinking about ordering fabric and checking out tutorials, would be interested to see how they turn out.
I'll let you know once I'm back in Pville when I can get over there, but sometime soon for sure.
-Drew k
My last final for this semester is Tuesday the 13th, I'm probably heading home that night or the next morning until summer classes begin on the 19th. I'll be around Phoenixville that week and weekend if you want to shred! I can probably work out a ride up to your place, maybe shred and get some bball in too.
I haven't talked to Brian Buchane in a little while, did he start stitching bags? Last I spoke with him he was thinking about ordering fabric and checking out tutorials, would be interested to see how they turn out.
I'll let you know once I'm back in Pville when I can get over there, but sometime soon for sure.
-Drew k
Drew - Brian's doing good, I don't think he's stitching yet. As I posted in your blog, that weekend looks good for getting together to kick. If it's possible for me to get a bag from you that'd be sweet.
Kicked last night in the barn. Practiced swirl on both sides for awhile. Boy, that set is tricky to get just right - it's such a small set motion, and then you need to immediately control your leg to do a nice dex. Strong side was maybe 40% effective. Weakside, I hit my first swirls last night. Maybe only hit a dozen or so, but that's enough hits for me to be able to tell that I can do them.
Strong dyno 60% which is nice improvement. Weakside still 0%. It'll happen.
Stepping set is really getting good on both sides, good consistent pop. Ripwalk is basically as solid as a bail now. Blur is nearly as solid. Started expanding into other variations such as stepping mirage, stepping butterfly etc.
Bops are very good now, still a little work to do on osis, but it's there and I rarely miss. I don't double plant on anything anymore unless extremely out of balance. Much smoother with my transitions.
Pixie both sides is on the verge of being terrific I think. I don't miss on either side really, it's just smoothness and links that I'd like to improve.
Weakside DLO is midrunnable now. So is weakside drifter.
Figured out some issues with whirl on both sides - Brian noticed that my upper leg wasn't moving at all during the dex, which limited my range of motion.. So, lifting my knee to open the window has helped a lot and decreased pressure on my hip that I was feeling previously. Pdx whirl and blurry whirl might be in my future afterall.
Play hoops after I put the kids down for bed. Neighbor came over to play 1 on 1 again. I can see that he was a player once, so hopefully the games get more competitive over time. I'm 10 times the player he is, but he plays good defense, so it's not a total cake walk.
Kicked last night in the barn. Practiced swirl on both sides for awhile. Boy, that set is tricky to get just right - it's such a small set motion, and then you need to immediately control your leg to do a nice dex. Strong side was maybe 40% effective. Weakside, I hit my first swirls last night. Maybe only hit a dozen or so, but that's enough hits for me to be able to tell that I can do them.
Strong dyno 60% which is nice improvement. Weakside still 0%. It'll happen.
Stepping set is really getting good on both sides, good consistent pop. Ripwalk is basically as solid as a bail now. Blur is nearly as solid. Started expanding into other variations such as stepping mirage, stepping butterfly etc.
Bops are very good now, still a little work to do on osis, but it's there and I rarely miss. I don't double plant on anything anymore unless extremely out of balance. Much smoother with my transitions.
Pixie both sides is on the verge of being terrific I think. I don't miss on either side really, it's just smoothness and links that I'd like to improve.
Weakside DLO is midrunnable now. So is weakside drifter.
Figured out some issues with whirl on both sides - Brian noticed that my upper leg wasn't moving at all during the dex, which limited my range of motion.. So, lifting my knee to open the window has helped a lot and decreased pressure on my hip that I was feeling previously. Pdx whirl and blurry whirl might be in my future afterall.
Play hoops after I put the kids down for bed. Neighbor came over to play 1 on 1 again. I can see that he was a player once, so hopefully the games get more competitive over time. I'm 10 times the player he is, but he plays good defense, so it's not a total cake walk.
Bob R.
Had a nice mother's day weekend. Each year, meg gets together with her sisters and her mom at the beach house that one of the sister's owns. They spend a girl's night. This year, Meg took Emi with her, and left me home to watch Keegan. Keegs and I had a blast. Guy time. It was really fun. We always tell each other that we're best buds. Before Meg got back from her one day/night girls trip, I cleaned the whole house, cleaned the porch, washed the dishes, and had dinner all set to go when she got back. Even got her good dessert, and Keegs and I got her a card and flowers. I think she really enjoyed her weekend.
edit: Wanted to remember this later. Keegan was up playing in the tower of his jungle gym and wanted me to bring him a snack up there and hang out. So I brought him some raisins and some juice and squeezed up there. He just sat on my lap talking about nothing and leaning back against me eating his snack. We sat up there and the weather was so nice. Warm, sunny, breeze. And just chilled like that for 30 minutes. With a 2 year old, nothing lasts 30 minutes, so this was one of the best 30 minutes I've had with him, or had in general. It's one of those "life is perfect" moments that is seared into your memory for all time. Sigh....
Sunday, the only thing I did for myself was that I played footbag when Meg got back. Lots more swirls, lots of spins, lots of ducks/dives, lots of all the stuff I've been working on. Oh yeah, and dynos. Hit weakside a few times for first time ever. Hit strongside spinning ducking clipper, and spinning ducking butterfly, and spinning ducking pdx mirage. I really like my spinning ducking. Really clean. Hit a bunch of really good strong side fairy tricks, including a new one, fairy op illusion. Hmmm, what else? Ducking simple legover. Oh yeah, spinning osis on both sides a bunch of times (weakside was first time). Hit 4 b2b drifters into a run. Ripwalk > blur > toe whirl > drifter to start a run that also included both paradons.
edit: Wanted to remember this later. Keegan was up playing in the tower of his jungle gym and wanted me to bring him a snack up there and hang out. So I brought him some raisins and some juice and squeezed up there. He just sat on my lap talking about nothing and leaning back against me eating his snack. We sat up there and the weather was so nice. Warm, sunny, breeze. And just chilled like that for 30 minutes. With a 2 year old, nothing lasts 30 minutes, so this was one of the best 30 minutes I've had with him, or had in general. It's one of those "life is perfect" moments that is seared into your memory for all time. Sigh....
Sunday, the only thing I did for myself was that I played footbag when Meg got back. Lots more swirls, lots of spins, lots of ducks/dives, lots of all the stuff I've been working on. Oh yeah, and dynos. Hit weakside a few times for first time ever. Hit strongside spinning ducking clipper, and spinning ducking butterfly, and spinning ducking pdx mirage. I really like my spinning ducking. Really clean. Hit a bunch of really good strong side fairy tricks, including a new one, fairy op illusion. Hmmm, what else? Ducking simple legover. Oh yeah, spinning osis on both sides a bunch of times (weakside was first time). Hit 4 b2b drifters into a run. Ripwalk > blur > toe whirl > drifter to start a run that also included both paradons.
Bob R.
I reviewed my blog from day 1 until now, and cut/paste comments I found interesting into this post. I'll do this once every (say) 18 pages or so. Ha ha.
I grew up in Marloborough CT.
Well, it wasn't long until Steve and I bumped into our first hack circle. It was in front of Smith Hall with a bunch of guys that were in a similar (yet separate) group as my own. The one guy's name was Carl. He was genuinely cool. It was sunny out, springtime. I guess this was 1995. Carl was the best of his bunch but they all sucked pretty bad. We didn't know any different though so it was alright by us. We jumped in and proceeded to be just as horrible as they were. But there was an immediate CLICK in my mind. I was hooked.
All summer long went like this. Lifeguard at day, Moose and Hack at night. Some days we even played Takraw (which we called Buka after the Buka Ball brand) to switch it up. But it was always kicking that summer. I swear I learned my first 20 tricks in the first month that we played - things came pretty easily at first. I was able to link at least a trick or two by the end of the summer.
March 22, 2006: I had the best session in memory last night at the YMCA. Compared to what others can do, it wasn't any big deal, but compared to my own abilities I was pretty pumped.
Edit from my current self: All the stuff I was hitting in this session is basically what I’m hitting today! Ha ha, takes awhile to progress at my age I guess!
Sophmore year in college, 1996: By this time I was linking simple tricks like legovers and mirages. I think I may have been able to hit DLO on my strong side. I didn't know about "guiltless" and "tiltless" but I think I was tiltless by then. I was definitely the best player I'd ever met by then, better than Jay even. It was good times.
August 20th, 1997 rolled around and we hopped into Karla's white Jeep Cheroke to make the 2 hour trip to the event. I know Schmaph was with us but that's all I can really remember. When we pulled up to City Island my stomach began to flip flop a little. I was really excited about this. Also, I was seriously misguided. I really truly honestly for real felt that I was the BEST player on the planet. Let's review >> a hot combo for me was Toe > Toe > Legover > Legover > Mirage > Clipper > Dragonflyer. So yeah, NOT the best, but I **thought** I was. Who could blame me? To the people I played with, that combo was off the hook.
The next few years went pretty much like this until I reached senior year. I would go to East Coasts and Funtastiks and go play with the NYFA guys here and there. I even went to 1998 Worlds in Montreal (I have that right?) and placed 8th in Intermediate routines. I already was getting twinges/feelings/doubts because the other players were hitting harder tricks that I was really having trouble with, but somehow I did OK in circles with people. I think the flowy thing helped me out, but I definitely wasn't on a difficulty level with everyone else. I was part time guiltless or thereabouts.
Around December 1998 I met Megan at work..
But in 1999 I got sick with Bacterial Endocarditis (sp?) which can/will kill ya. In my case, it almost *did* kill me. Instead, I was put on a 30 day IV of antibiotics and followed that with open heart surgery. That's right, open heart. I ain't shy to say that heart surgery is NO fun. Afterwards I was in a world of hurt - I couldn't even pick up a coffee cup without severe shooting pain.
Six weeks after surgery, I am very proud to say, I won Intermediate Freestyle at the Funtastik
I held the original Chilly Philly events. My second/third (I forget) year doing it was probably among the biggest and best freestyle events to ever happen on the east coast and posibly the US. Over 100 players paid entry fees and we really had a good time.
I generally felt out of synch with the shred world because I was 28 or so and everyone else was like 11 years old or something. Ha ha. I'm over it now. I've just realized that I can be peripherally involved with the scene without being engrossed in it. That's a better fit.
Brian from Schwenksville brought me out of retirement a few months ago (somewhere around holidays 2005 or new year 2006).
March 23, 2006, David Clavens wrote: I'm not sure why you dont have a lot of comments, but I want you to know I really enjoyed reading that. I owe a lot of my ability/drive to you, and I wouldnt be where I am now without those sessions at drexel.
March 28, 2006: worked ass off saturday and sunday getting the fence project going
Tonight it was a comment by Jorden about using your hips to generate energy for certain dexes.
Apr 3, 2006: Started my new job last Thursday. Anyhow, the job is good so far. Nice people. I think I'll learn a lot and I think I'll be very good at the position. So that's cool. And my office is nice - well furnished (niiice solid wood desk) and good proximity to all needed things etc. They even gave me a parking space right by the front door. Tee hee.. I shouldn't be so happy about that, but I am, so there.
Caleb wrote: I love stories of domesticated Bob. Haha.
Apr 5, 2006: Runs were opening like this (or similar): weak pixie legover > pixie btfly > spinning clipper > ducking clipper > drifter... Fun. Oh, and hit dragonflyer > diving clipper mid-run. It's been awhile since I did that. Brian said he thinks I'm playing better now than when he used to know me a couple years ago.
Apr 20, 2006: job continues to be what it is.. stress city. but it will get better once I know what the hell I'm doing. just hanging with the namesake as needed after work. that seems to help. helps the shred too.
Apr 25, 2006: I seem to have figured out that "let's start a second run even though I'm already in a run or even though I just barely saved it" thing. Like in the past the run would end.. But instead I start another run and just keep going. Edit from current self: I guess I haven’t actually figured that out as well as I’d like!! Ha ha
May 2, 2006: Well, the fence project ended this week. I fenced the yard, ripped out a cement walkway, installed a stone walkway, built steps up an embankment, built and installed gates, planted grass, trucked in topsoil to backfill one area, installed lattice under porch, installed TV on porch. Keegan is 7 months and a week old now. He's the absolute man. He's crawling like this: up into pushup position > knees bent/crawling position > lunge forward onto face > laugh > repeat
May 13, 2006: Might be better to only play once per week for awhile again. At least until all my projects are done
June 2, 2006: Keegan can stand himeself up now. More importantly, he learned how to get back down today. Well, I've sucked at footbag for the last few sesssions.
July 7, 2006: Job has been horrible. Learning a lot... but doing so amongst a really bad attitude/culture sort of environment.
July 15, 2006: was sick last weekend and only played once this week. I'm officially in a footbag funk. So many stressful things going on that it's nearly impossible to have fun and energy when I play. Hopefully I can break out of it soon. Having ZERO enjoyment playing right now. Funks happen.
Oct 27, 2006: Well, I haven't played much lately, and I don't think that will be changing for awhile. My playing partner (Brian) is unable (unwilling?) to consistently play anymore, and I'm just not in the game to "practice" at this point. I just want to shred, and playing solo isn't worth it. Basically, I've been playing 20 minutes a week to warm up for playing basketball. My heel finally doesn't hurt too badly so hoops is just more fun. No interest in travelling to find other players. Is this how it usually "ends"?
Jan 26, 2007: We've got another little one on the way! Due in July We're very excited.
Feb 21, 2007: Found out our baby is gonna be a little girl
June 21, 2007: Wow, haven't posted in a long time. Haven't played in a long time either. In the meantime, we've been in the process of selling our house (yes, we're moving again). Found a buyer, reached an agreement. Found a house to purchase, reached an agreement. Things were going smoothly. Then, the buyers had financing trouble, and now we're in a legal battle with them and will very likely lose the sale, and the purchase of the next place. Which is a serious problem because.... Our baby daughter is due in about 3-4 weeks. We planned to be in the new house about a week or two after the baby was born. We LOVE the house we picked out. Now it's either not going to happen, or won't happen on a good time table. Very frustrating. But looking forward to meeting my daughter drowns out our negative feelings on the whole house thing. Things will work out eventually.
We're happy to announce that we have a new addition to our household! Our little girl Emily Anne Riefer was delivered at Pottstown Hospital on 07/08/07 at 6:41 p.m. She weighed 8 pounds 11 ounces and measured 20 1/2 inches in length.
August 3, 2007: edit from current self: This was my mega post announcing a come back.
Sept 10, 2007: All that to say this... Monday (a week from now) I can start working out (weight lifting) and attempting to find time to play footbag and basketball again. All the remaining projects that I have on the house are non-critical and can be worked on an hour here, an hour there.
Sept 23, 2007: Weigh in (after weekend of birthday cake and beer for Keegan's 2nd birthday, but still... was shocked). 238 lbs. Tomorrow begins the come back attempt.
Ken wrote: F*ing do it.
Sept 25, 2007: Boy I suck. It's a good thing I'm starting at the beginning.
Spent more time on ATW's, mirages, illusions, pickups on weakside
Oct 2, 2007: Kicking went well today. Hit all of my drills on 1st or 2nd try. I added ss illusion (bubba?) as one of my practice drills. Went well. Hit all manner of mirages, pickups, illusions, ATW's with relative ease. It's funny how fast weakside learns when you have the base in the game that I have. I've been very good about not trying harder tricks yet.
Oct 3, 2007: Last night was the first night I felt comfortable to link these simple tricks together, so I spent a lot of time at the end of each drill doing that. For example, a link that is doable 1st try now would go something like: weak toe > weak clipper (which is indistinguishable from strong) > mirage > ss mirage (not pixie, I set, plant, mirage with same leg that set) > mirage > illusion > repeat whole thing on other side. Oh, and the barn setup is working great.
Oct 10, 2007: Can not spin on my weakside.
Oct 20, 2007: Today was the first day when I thought to myself "Self... This might actually work". That is, I think the approach I'm taking will end up allowing me to be better than I ever was before. Much better. I feel increasingly coordinated every time I play.
Oct 22, 2007: as I practice all my components, I'm finding that some components, although not "guiltless" by definition, are really fun and look really nice. e.g. edit from current self: apparently in practice, the pull to be guiltless won me over again, because I’m not really doing what I said I’d do.
Oct 26, 2007: 14 pounds lost since I started this on 09/24.
Oct 31, 2007: It's going to be a long road to being good. sigh. I knew it would be, but I think it's going to be a 6 month + long road rather than the originally hoped 2 month road. It is what it is. I'm getting great exercise and making noticeable progress each practice.
Nov 4, 2007: Yesterday was freezing in the barn and my whole body was steaming. Not really a healthy way to play. Nothing special yesterday. After I kicked I went to home depot and got a huge tarp and a space heater. I used the tarp to create "walls" to my shred spot, and then I put the space heater inside. Today when I played, it was nice and warm in there.
Nov 10, 2007: My illusions were perfect today. I can see that double dexes will be much improved as a result, so that's gratifying. Edit from current self: This was true. My double dexes have benefitted from this.
Nov 14, 2007: blur > butterfly > other blur > ss btfly > ripwalk > infinity > ducking clip > ripwalk > infinity > gyro mirage > ss butterfly > hand catch
Nov 20, 2007: Again, I find myself really looking forward to playing tonight. I post this, not because it's that interesting to read, but because I'm happy that footbag is fun for me right now and that I think about it like I used to. I can remember back in the day shadowing tricks in the supermarket checkout line. It was all I could think about. I'm not at that level now, but definitely more excitement and looking-forward-to-playing feelings than I've had in a long time. So that's cool.
Nov 24, 2007: regarding paradons: Weakside will be my strong side on that trick soon. Hit 1st ever on weak side. Edit from current self: That didn’t quite come true, but almost. I have no preference for one paradon over the other now.
Nov 26, 2007: But, what I've decided is that right now is the happiest time in my life, and damn it, I'm going to enjoy it. I have healthy amazing kids, a beautiful/kind/smart/funny wife, a little place to call home (complete with spot to footbag), a couple of friends that I'd trust with a secret, a good education that I worked my ass off for, which led to a good enough career that I worked my ass off for, a better sense of self (understanding my flaws, working on flaws I care to correct, ignoring flaws I consider impossible to fix ha ha, enjoying the things that are good about me). Blah blah blah blah. The funny thing is, that once any time is past, I think you could consider that time one of the best times in your life. During those times, there are hard things going on for sure (that's just the way it is), but except for some horrible moments (death, natural disaster, divorce, whatever) I think when you look back, most times make you smile. So, the good thing is, that this time, I actually recognized that things are good (not without bad or stress though! but again, that's just the way it is) right now. I like the current path I'm on and the people that are around me. I want to remember that and make the best of it. edit: And what's cool about this post is that although I'd consider footbag a big part of my current approach to healthy self, it didn't even occur to me to write about it. That's the fucking point! Play! Who cares? Yesterday, I had a shitty practice and literally thought "well, it wasn't good today, but the work I did will help me tomorrow or the next day" and then I had a beer. And it was all good.
Dec 2, 2007: Lots of whirls again. Maybe 30 minutes worth. Hit multiple pdx whirls on both sides. Edit from current self: This didn’t end up leading to good whirls for me. False alarm!
Dec 4, 2007: on my way out to the barn folded my left ankle (the previously injured one) over.
Dec 11, 2007: Boy, I never thought a self imposed night off kicking could be such a killer. I'm jones'n
Dec 12, 1007: I'm sort of at this "getting better at lots of things, but mastering none of them" phase.
Dec 14, 2007: Then atomic mirage practice. Hit a lot on strong side, none on weakside. Man that set is hard for me. I guess so is stepping set. So I guess I'm basically only good at one set (pixie). Which is depressing. But I'm going to learn those mother effers if it kills me.
Dec 18, 2007: I intuitively understand that I don't have a ton of natural ability, and that improving will be difficult. But at the same time, I never quite accept that. Every other sport I've ever played, I work hard at and I become one of the best. This sport is different. I work hard, and don't really get much better. But, I'm just going to keep pushing. I think I can do it. But tonight was just me missing atomic sets over and over and over. and over. and over.
Dec 21, 2007: Anyhow, the good part was kicking after work. I footed another dozen weak atom smashers, and hit another 4. And on strong side, I played out of a dozen atom smashers including atom smasher > paradon > run.
Dec 27, 2007: I concentrated on good posture today. Jake had noticed that I hunch into certain moves
Dec 29, 2007: edit from current self: Ian posted a vid of our X-mas session at my parent’s house. Wow, was I bad: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1F6XLer9oj0
Jan 2, 2008: so my point is that my current company doesn't do these things well. We practically suceed despite ourselves. There's no talent development, no "pay for performance" mentality (i.e. the slackers and the stars are all treated the same in terms of raises and bonuses etc.), and we do what we've done rather than making improvements that could take us to the next level. For those reasons, it's time to go.
Ken wrote: I really need to come visit you.
Jan 8, 2008: Many weak DLO's including 1 midrun
Jan 11, 2008: On a brighter note though, I got home late because I was picking up Piggy at the vet. He had his surgery and is doing really well. Tail wagging and everything. Lump that was removed is just a fatty tumor, not cancer.
Jan 14, 2008: - About circus style performance that include footbag: I can appreciate how hard those types of performances are, and I marvel at them. But I have to say, I much prefer a simple shred circle. Similarly, I can’t stand footbag routines. Especially routines that are in any way hokey or hamming it up to the crowd. I guess I feel what we do is a sport not a sideshow, and if it happens to be able to played artistically while also being hardcore (e.g. Lon) that's OK, but I don't strive for crowd and don't really enjoy when I see that. - About “what actually matters in footbagâ€
I grew up in Marloborough CT.
Well, it wasn't long until Steve and I bumped into our first hack circle. It was in front of Smith Hall with a bunch of guys that were in a similar (yet separate) group as my own. The one guy's name was Carl. He was genuinely cool. It was sunny out, springtime. I guess this was 1995. Carl was the best of his bunch but they all sucked pretty bad. We didn't know any different though so it was alright by us. We jumped in and proceeded to be just as horrible as they were. But there was an immediate CLICK in my mind. I was hooked.
All summer long went like this. Lifeguard at day, Moose and Hack at night. Some days we even played Takraw (which we called Buka after the Buka Ball brand) to switch it up. But it was always kicking that summer. I swear I learned my first 20 tricks in the first month that we played - things came pretty easily at first. I was able to link at least a trick or two by the end of the summer.
March 22, 2006: I had the best session in memory last night at the YMCA. Compared to what others can do, it wasn't any big deal, but compared to my own abilities I was pretty pumped.
Edit from my current self: All the stuff I was hitting in this session is basically what I’m hitting today! Ha ha, takes awhile to progress at my age I guess!
Sophmore year in college, 1996: By this time I was linking simple tricks like legovers and mirages. I think I may have been able to hit DLO on my strong side. I didn't know about "guiltless" and "tiltless" but I think I was tiltless by then. I was definitely the best player I'd ever met by then, better than Jay even. It was good times.
August 20th, 1997 rolled around and we hopped into Karla's white Jeep Cheroke to make the 2 hour trip to the event. I know Schmaph was with us but that's all I can really remember. When we pulled up to City Island my stomach began to flip flop a little. I was really excited about this. Also, I was seriously misguided. I really truly honestly for real felt that I was the BEST player on the planet. Let's review >> a hot combo for me was Toe > Toe > Legover > Legover > Mirage > Clipper > Dragonflyer. So yeah, NOT the best, but I **thought** I was. Who could blame me? To the people I played with, that combo was off the hook.
The next few years went pretty much like this until I reached senior year. I would go to East Coasts and Funtastiks and go play with the NYFA guys here and there. I even went to 1998 Worlds in Montreal (I have that right?) and placed 8th in Intermediate routines. I already was getting twinges/feelings/doubts because the other players were hitting harder tricks that I was really having trouble with, but somehow I did OK in circles with people. I think the flowy thing helped me out, but I definitely wasn't on a difficulty level with everyone else. I was part time guiltless or thereabouts.
Around December 1998 I met Megan at work..
But in 1999 I got sick with Bacterial Endocarditis (sp?) which can/will kill ya. In my case, it almost *did* kill me. Instead, I was put on a 30 day IV of antibiotics and followed that with open heart surgery. That's right, open heart. I ain't shy to say that heart surgery is NO fun. Afterwards I was in a world of hurt - I couldn't even pick up a coffee cup without severe shooting pain.
Six weeks after surgery, I am very proud to say, I won Intermediate Freestyle at the Funtastik
I held the original Chilly Philly events. My second/third (I forget) year doing it was probably among the biggest and best freestyle events to ever happen on the east coast and posibly the US. Over 100 players paid entry fees and we really had a good time.
I generally felt out of synch with the shred world because I was 28 or so and everyone else was like 11 years old or something. Ha ha. I'm over it now. I've just realized that I can be peripherally involved with the scene without being engrossed in it. That's a better fit.
Brian from Schwenksville brought me out of retirement a few months ago (somewhere around holidays 2005 or new year 2006).
March 23, 2006, David Clavens wrote: I'm not sure why you dont have a lot of comments, but I want you to know I really enjoyed reading that. I owe a lot of my ability/drive to you, and I wouldnt be where I am now without those sessions at drexel.
March 28, 2006: worked ass off saturday and sunday getting the fence project going
Tonight it was a comment by Jorden about using your hips to generate energy for certain dexes.
Apr 3, 2006: Started my new job last Thursday. Anyhow, the job is good so far. Nice people. I think I'll learn a lot and I think I'll be very good at the position. So that's cool. And my office is nice - well furnished (niiice solid wood desk) and good proximity to all needed things etc. They even gave me a parking space right by the front door. Tee hee.. I shouldn't be so happy about that, but I am, so there.
Caleb wrote: I love stories of domesticated Bob. Haha.
Apr 5, 2006: Runs were opening like this (or similar): weak pixie legover > pixie btfly > spinning clipper > ducking clipper > drifter... Fun. Oh, and hit dragonflyer > diving clipper mid-run. It's been awhile since I did that. Brian said he thinks I'm playing better now than when he used to know me a couple years ago.
Apr 20, 2006: job continues to be what it is.. stress city. but it will get better once I know what the hell I'm doing. just hanging with the namesake as needed after work. that seems to help. helps the shred too.
Apr 25, 2006: I seem to have figured out that "let's start a second run even though I'm already in a run or even though I just barely saved it" thing. Like in the past the run would end.. But instead I start another run and just keep going. Edit from current self: I guess I haven’t actually figured that out as well as I’d like!! Ha ha
May 2, 2006: Well, the fence project ended this week. I fenced the yard, ripped out a cement walkway, installed a stone walkway, built steps up an embankment, built and installed gates, planted grass, trucked in topsoil to backfill one area, installed lattice under porch, installed TV on porch. Keegan is 7 months and a week old now. He's the absolute man. He's crawling like this: up into pushup position > knees bent/crawling position > lunge forward onto face > laugh > repeat
May 13, 2006: Might be better to only play once per week for awhile again. At least until all my projects are done
June 2, 2006: Keegan can stand himeself up now. More importantly, he learned how to get back down today. Well, I've sucked at footbag for the last few sesssions.
July 7, 2006: Job has been horrible. Learning a lot... but doing so amongst a really bad attitude/culture sort of environment.
July 15, 2006: was sick last weekend and only played once this week. I'm officially in a footbag funk. So many stressful things going on that it's nearly impossible to have fun and energy when I play. Hopefully I can break out of it soon. Having ZERO enjoyment playing right now. Funks happen.
Oct 27, 2006: Well, I haven't played much lately, and I don't think that will be changing for awhile. My playing partner (Brian) is unable (unwilling?) to consistently play anymore, and I'm just not in the game to "practice" at this point. I just want to shred, and playing solo isn't worth it. Basically, I've been playing 20 minutes a week to warm up for playing basketball. My heel finally doesn't hurt too badly so hoops is just more fun. No interest in travelling to find other players. Is this how it usually "ends"?
Jan 26, 2007: We've got another little one on the way! Due in July We're very excited.
Feb 21, 2007: Found out our baby is gonna be a little girl
June 21, 2007: Wow, haven't posted in a long time. Haven't played in a long time either. In the meantime, we've been in the process of selling our house (yes, we're moving again). Found a buyer, reached an agreement. Found a house to purchase, reached an agreement. Things were going smoothly. Then, the buyers had financing trouble, and now we're in a legal battle with them and will very likely lose the sale, and the purchase of the next place. Which is a serious problem because.... Our baby daughter is due in about 3-4 weeks. We planned to be in the new house about a week or two after the baby was born. We LOVE the house we picked out. Now it's either not going to happen, or won't happen on a good time table. Very frustrating. But looking forward to meeting my daughter drowns out our negative feelings on the whole house thing. Things will work out eventually.
We're happy to announce that we have a new addition to our household! Our little girl Emily Anne Riefer was delivered at Pottstown Hospital on 07/08/07 at 6:41 p.m. She weighed 8 pounds 11 ounces and measured 20 1/2 inches in length.
August 3, 2007: edit from current self: This was my mega post announcing a come back.
Sept 10, 2007: All that to say this... Monday (a week from now) I can start working out (weight lifting) and attempting to find time to play footbag and basketball again. All the remaining projects that I have on the house are non-critical and can be worked on an hour here, an hour there.
Sept 23, 2007: Weigh in (after weekend of birthday cake and beer for Keegan's 2nd birthday, but still... was shocked). 238 lbs. Tomorrow begins the come back attempt.
Ken wrote: F*ing do it.
Sept 25, 2007: Boy I suck. It's a good thing I'm starting at the beginning.
Spent more time on ATW's, mirages, illusions, pickups on weakside
Oct 2, 2007: Kicking went well today. Hit all of my drills on 1st or 2nd try. I added ss illusion (bubba?) as one of my practice drills. Went well. Hit all manner of mirages, pickups, illusions, ATW's with relative ease. It's funny how fast weakside learns when you have the base in the game that I have. I've been very good about not trying harder tricks yet.
Oct 3, 2007: Last night was the first night I felt comfortable to link these simple tricks together, so I spent a lot of time at the end of each drill doing that. For example, a link that is doable 1st try now would go something like: weak toe > weak clipper (which is indistinguishable from strong) > mirage > ss mirage (not pixie, I set, plant, mirage with same leg that set) > mirage > illusion > repeat whole thing on other side. Oh, and the barn setup is working great.
Oct 10, 2007: Can not spin on my weakside.
Oct 20, 2007: Today was the first day when I thought to myself "Self... This might actually work". That is, I think the approach I'm taking will end up allowing me to be better than I ever was before. Much better. I feel increasingly coordinated every time I play.
Oct 22, 2007: as I practice all my components, I'm finding that some components, although not "guiltless" by definition, are really fun and look really nice. e.g. edit from current self: apparently in practice, the pull to be guiltless won me over again, because I’m not really doing what I said I’d do.
Oct 26, 2007: 14 pounds lost since I started this on 09/24.
Oct 31, 2007: It's going to be a long road to being good. sigh. I knew it would be, but I think it's going to be a 6 month + long road rather than the originally hoped 2 month road. It is what it is. I'm getting great exercise and making noticeable progress each practice.
Nov 4, 2007: Yesterday was freezing in the barn and my whole body was steaming. Not really a healthy way to play. Nothing special yesterday. After I kicked I went to home depot and got a huge tarp and a space heater. I used the tarp to create "walls" to my shred spot, and then I put the space heater inside. Today when I played, it was nice and warm in there.
Nov 10, 2007: My illusions were perfect today. I can see that double dexes will be much improved as a result, so that's gratifying. Edit from current self: This was true. My double dexes have benefitted from this.
Nov 14, 2007: blur > butterfly > other blur > ss btfly > ripwalk > infinity > ducking clip > ripwalk > infinity > gyro mirage > ss butterfly > hand catch
Nov 20, 2007: Again, I find myself really looking forward to playing tonight. I post this, not because it's that interesting to read, but because I'm happy that footbag is fun for me right now and that I think about it like I used to. I can remember back in the day shadowing tricks in the supermarket checkout line. It was all I could think about. I'm not at that level now, but definitely more excitement and looking-forward-to-playing feelings than I've had in a long time. So that's cool.
Nov 24, 2007: regarding paradons: Weakside will be my strong side on that trick soon. Hit 1st ever on weak side. Edit from current self: That didn’t quite come true, but almost. I have no preference for one paradon over the other now.
Nov 26, 2007: But, what I've decided is that right now is the happiest time in my life, and damn it, I'm going to enjoy it. I have healthy amazing kids, a beautiful/kind/smart/funny wife, a little place to call home (complete with spot to footbag), a couple of friends that I'd trust with a secret, a good education that I worked my ass off for, which led to a good enough career that I worked my ass off for, a better sense of self (understanding my flaws, working on flaws I care to correct, ignoring flaws I consider impossible to fix ha ha, enjoying the things that are good about me). Blah blah blah blah. The funny thing is, that once any time is past, I think you could consider that time one of the best times in your life. During those times, there are hard things going on for sure (that's just the way it is), but except for some horrible moments (death, natural disaster, divorce, whatever) I think when you look back, most times make you smile. So, the good thing is, that this time, I actually recognized that things are good (not without bad or stress though! but again, that's just the way it is) right now. I like the current path I'm on and the people that are around me. I want to remember that and make the best of it. edit: And what's cool about this post is that although I'd consider footbag a big part of my current approach to healthy self, it didn't even occur to me to write about it. That's the fucking point! Play! Who cares? Yesterday, I had a shitty practice and literally thought "well, it wasn't good today, but the work I did will help me tomorrow or the next day" and then I had a beer. And it was all good.
Dec 2, 2007: Lots of whirls again. Maybe 30 minutes worth. Hit multiple pdx whirls on both sides. Edit from current self: This didn’t end up leading to good whirls for me. False alarm!
Dec 4, 2007: on my way out to the barn folded my left ankle (the previously injured one) over.
Dec 11, 2007: Boy, I never thought a self imposed night off kicking could be such a killer. I'm jones'n
Dec 12, 1007: I'm sort of at this "getting better at lots of things, but mastering none of them" phase.
Dec 14, 2007: Then atomic mirage practice. Hit a lot on strong side, none on weakside. Man that set is hard for me. I guess so is stepping set. So I guess I'm basically only good at one set (pixie). Which is depressing. But I'm going to learn those mother effers if it kills me.
Dec 18, 2007: I intuitively understand that I don't have a ton of natural ability, and that improving will be difficult. But at the same time, I never quite accept that. Every other sport I've ever played, I work hard at and I become one of the best. This sport is different. I work hard, and don't really get much better. But, I'm just going to keep pushing. I think I can do it. But tonight was just me missing atomic sets over and over and over. and over. and over.
Dec 21, 2007: Anyhow, the good part was kicking after work. I footed another dozen weak atom smashers, and hit another 4. And on strong side, I played out of a dozen atom smashers including atom smasher > paradon > run.
Dec 27, 2007: I concentrated on good posture today. Jake had noticed that I hunch into certain moves
Dec 29, 2007: edit from current self: Ian posted a vid of our X-mas session at my parent’s house. Wow, was I bad: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1F6XLer9oj0
Jan 2, 2008: so my point is that my current company doesn't do these things well. We practically suceed despite ourselves. There's no talent development, no "pay for performance" mentality (i.e. the slackers and the stars are all treated the same in terms of raises and bonuses etc.), and we do what we've done rather than making improvements that could take us to the next level. For those reasons, it's time to go.
Ken wrote: I really need to come visit you.
Jan 8, 2008: Many weak DLO's including 1 midrun
Jan 11, 2008: On a brighter note though, I got home late because I was picking up Piggy at the vet. He had his surgery and is doing really well. Tail wagging and everything. Lump that was removed is just a fatty tumor, not cancer.
Jan 14, 2008: - About circus style performance that include footbag: I can appreciate how hard those types of performances are, and I marvel at them. But I have to say, I much prefer a simple shred circle. Similarly, I can’t stand footbag routines. Especially routines that are in any way hokey or hamming it up to the crowd. I guess I feel what we do is a sport not a sideshow, and if it happens to be able to played artistically while also being hardcore (e.g. Lon) that's OK, but I don't strive for crowd and don't really enjoy when I see that. - About “what actually matters in footbagâ€
Bob R.
