David

[Senor Grommet]

The whole point of my post was that Dave wasn't being "swank" enough. I like the way you turned it around on me though.


I bet I could outshred you in my first session back in 2 years Sam. Mega burn.

Sorry to take over your blog Dave.

[mc]

so did the shoes ever turn up in the car, or what?

matt

ps:

my mom is just like this:

"The next few moment’s consisted on my Mom probably being her usual self that first overreacts (“You forgot what?!â€

[Eric Chang]

Remember me ghost riding at Portland Open?

You know what the secret is? You set the emergency brake. and then ease the brake off JUST A LITTLE BIT.. Now you can ghostride at 5mph !

NOW ITS NOT AS DANGEROUS! (still dangerous)

I almost crashed Eric Chang's car.

DONT LET THE GHOST RIDE DIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Dave I am so glad you too have found out what ghost riding is like Even though Sam almost crashed my car. The fact he said it was a pivotal moment in his life, makes it worth the risk. I only hope it was just as amazing. If not you must ghost ride the whip with Sam and myself.

But really if you pull up the e-brake like Sam says (each car needs a difference forces to be applied.) Like with my car, Sam and I figured out if it was roughly half way the car would only go at like slowly awesome crawl! It brings back so many memories, makes me want to ghost ride now XD

Also enjoyed your stories, they seemed to start off very poetical to me, or just dunno wordy and simple.

Hope to kick with/film you soon!

[calemccoy]

Hope to...film you soon!

uh, creepy?

=]

just wanted to drop in and say i hope your doing well, david.

[david]

Thanks Cale.

I sent the following to a bunch of my friends over e-mail and thought maybe one person on here might be interested. Either way, you might learn something. I don't really think anyone wants to read this so I just threw it in here. But if it strikes someone, sick.

Hey,

I don't normally do mass e-mails but I figure some of my friends might be interested in this, and it would help me out a fair bit.

As a marketing major and one of the leaders of the Penn State Marketing Association I am responsible for getting together projects that will help my peers and myself gain marketing skills, build the resume, etc. We collaborate with companies to market and sell products. This winter we are working with a group called PowerMinders which was started by an alumnus.

The brief gist is this: this alumnus realized a serious lack of education in American households about CFL's (compact fluorescent lightbulbs), which have only penetrated about 8% of the market (meaning, 92% of people are using old style lightbulbs which use more energy). I consider my group of friends pretty intelligent so I imagine you know what these are, but if you don't, they are curly shaped lightbulbs that can potentially save you a lot of money. The reason is because they
1) last 10x as long.
2) use 1/4th of the energy. Most bulbs need 60 watts to function, these use 14 or less. Thus, if you pay $1.00 to light your house, you would now spend 25 cents.

When you think about it, you save whatever you pay for a bulb x 9 and then you spend 1/4th of what you pay now to light your home. One bulb can last up to 10 years and save you upwards of 40 dollars.

Long story short, the alumnus contacted my group to help him extend his new company's reach and get people to obviously buy CFL's. I have been going door to door in my neighborhood sitting down with my neighbors and telling them about this program. While I normally am against selling people things they don't go out and search for, CFL's actually do save money and reduce carbon emissions. Other countries have even banned incandescents (what we use now), and it is rumored that the US could ban incandescents by 2012. I got into marketing because I feel like it can do some good in the world if this product is good. I feel like this falls within that category.

So, if you just happen to have lightbulbs that need replacing or would like to buy some for when the ones you have die, shoot me an email, pm, IM, whatever. The prices are exactly the same as what you could get in home depot or walmart and the bulbs are westinghouse (they have a lifetime warranty, most other brands don't). Plus, I'll pay your shipping for you no matter where you live. They'll come to your house and they will save you money in the long run.

Thanks a ton for reading, and happy holidays.

--------

yea, so thats basically it. i dont really post in here anymore because i just kind of kick with scott in the basement and don't really think about what's going on in the bigger footbag world. i am having fun with it. my quantums cracked so i shoe gooed them tonight. thats really all i got.

happy holidays.

dc

[Kyle Hewitt]

cool. my family is replacing them slowly when our old ones die

[david]

12.31.08 / 1:02 a.m

Back from the New Year’s Jam with the normal aching body and headache it gives me every year. Played a shitload over the four days, more than I ever thought I would going into the tournament. I guess when there’s people playing I still can’t help but to get on the shorts and hit some tricks. Glad I did I guess. Hit some new stuff and most of it is on camera. Got interesting thoughts on my style but don’t really know how much I’ll put them into action seeing as I don’t really mind how I look now, but that is through the video lens, not the real life eye of others.

I was saddened by Honza getting hurt the first day. Although I am not as competitive as I once was I still wanted to go against him and see who was at a higher level. He is one of the only top players I have not been able to quantify related to skill. I have only been at 3 tournaments with him and he was either holding himself back for comp (worlds 04/07) or hurt (this jam). It really sucks because I don’t think anyone knows what level he is at. I would hate to stop playing and never have people see me at my best. That is why I have the 2 a.m sessions in elevator hallways. I want to live on in the memories of people who have seen me play live and can vouch that I can hit some tricks.

I talked to Honza one of the nights while we watched shred and I am happy I don’t view the game through such a critical eye as his. I mean, I am hardcore, no one can argue that. There are a lot of people who I really don’t enjoy watching but I try to find pleasure in everyone’s game somehow whether it is the overall style or just a nuance. I feel bad for Honza who holds such high standards for shred. I admire his dedication to the game and how he treats it like a sport but sometimes its overkill. Either way, I always enjoy my conversations with him.

I had a great room this tournament and it really made it for me. We had a unique blend of personalities and skill levels in the 6 guys who occupied the small room we had. (Ben, Evan, Eoghan, Matt K, Zac M). It really was great having a solid group to hang out with every day and then laugh with at night. I really have not had that much fun in a while.

My view on footbag now is a weird one now. I almost can’t word my mix of feelings on the game. Playing now is such a weird thing. Sometimes I feel like I’m just playing because I am good and I should progress the sport as much as I can while I still have these skills. I have been blessed with the ability to do a lot of cool things and if others get enjoyment from that then I should keep doing it. Other times I do enjoy myself but what I find happiness in is different than others. I like the midstring medium difficulty tricks that are just hit with ownership and prowess. Tricks where the bag doesn’t roll at all and I’m in complete control. I like those moments but they don’t come too often. I like when I surprise myself.

My body is aching in a lot of places. My right knee hurts, my inner calf is sore as hell, my back is starting to return to its old ways. I think I need a long break away from the rise and fall of this game. It always pulls me back though and I don’t know why. It is almost impossible to quit.

There are dozens of people who made this tournament great and make footbag awesome in general. Here’s some of them that are fresh in my mind.

Eoghan, matt, zac, evan, ben, erik chan, eric chang, Goldberg, bevier, sebastien, ianek, petrick, cross, suderman, jay, mike Hansen.

Till next time.

dc

[quadgun]

Thanks for coming out again ... watching you play again was great.

[david]

I drove home last night from Bob Riefer’s house at one in the morning. I don’t know what it is but driving that late/early is really nice. The roads were clear and I lived a little risky and went as quick as my little silver VW could go without getting the speed wobbles. I turned on this really good radio station that I can’t get at school and drove the interstate with Weezer and others at my side.

I stayed tills Bob’s till that wee hour of the morning shooting the shit. Shooting the shit has a negative connotation. When I hear people say that I think the topic of discussion is something like NFL scores or what you had for lunch, things I don’t put immense value in. However, Bob and I shot some heavy shit. Good life stuff about where we’ve both been and where we are both going. He represents an odd thing to me. Most of the people I come in contact with are my age (20ish) or older (50ish, like my parents) but Bob has done things that 20 years olds wish to do but still maintains this weird mix of youth that I can relate to. Either way, hearing things from him doesn’t have that lecturish vibe that I get from most older people, plus what he says is backed by experience, not 20 year old guessing.

I last saw Bob 4 years ago on a gravel street in Harrisburg at Funtastiks. And then I didn’t see him again still yesterday. It is an odd thing to see someone after a 4 year freeze on them. I mean, I had read his blog, I knew he had kids, but it didn’t really hit me until I knocked on his door and peered through the window. There was the guy who had been so helpful when I first started kicking, the guy who had reassured my father that the Philly Footbag Club was not a group of rapists in disguise. When I first met Bob he was married but had no kids, living in the city. And here he was 4 years later, in a beautiful house with two cars in the driveway. I peered through the glass and saw him with two kids on his lap. His dog that I had met 4 years ago was now a droopier version of her former self, sniffing for lingerings of my cat on my jeans. It was quite the trip.

We played footbag last night. That session really was what footbag is becoming to me. Its like an excuse to hang out with your friends, a way to kill time with a little bit of sweat and some hand slaps to congratulate progress and creative thinking. I hate myself sometimes for being so competitive, for analyzing what people do at tournaments and then trying to hit what they did plus more. Last night I could’ve sucked and it would’ve been all good. It’s an interesting thing.

I pulled a great deal of things to think about out of my visit with Bob. Part of me wants a similar life to his, footbag a couple nights a week, a cool wife, kids. But part of me doesn’t want that kind of life where I can’t just get up and leave. There is a weird relationship between the loss of freedom and what you gain from it. Bob said something that really just hit me hard. I was asking him about travel and he said that watching his son learn something new to him could be the same as standing on Mt. Everest. For him, I know this is true. It’s funny to see him in father mode, fixing the plastic spiderman or wiping his daughter’s nose. The guy who used to shred with me in downtown philly is still there but in a much different way.

I read a book once based on the concept of dying and being able to relive your life over and over, making different choices until you reach your maximum amount of happiness. This isn’t really a crazy thought and its one I’ve heard before but I really wish sometimes it was true. I’m at such a crossroads right now. I could buckle down, get good internships and connections, work for a huge company, make a lot of money, and spend a couple hours every day with a wife and kids. I know deep down that when I like something I can do it pretty well. I am not the smartest or most personable guy, but when things line up (like they did for footbag) I can get pretty decent at shit. But putting that energy into a corporate agenda that I don't connected to bothers me. I could say screw it and eat peanut butter and jelly and play hack, see new things. Do walk around magic in a shitty restaurant, learn to play the piano, be a waiter because I’ve always wondered what it would be like. I wish I could take one of the paths, die, and then choose the other. Knowing me, I probably wouldn't be happy with either.

David

[Ian Brill]

That's so cool that you and Bob got to hang out.

I really like the bit about his dog. I think I may get a song out of the thoughts it evoked in my head.

Waiting tables is easy money and I think that you would be the sort of server that made few mistakes, lots of money and could sell expensive bottles of red wine without ever trying them.

I remember for a while there I was tending at a sweet location and happy being single. Working 3-4 days a week and bussing to NYC midweek. It was something I am glad I did. I believe the experience taught me how to value people differently. I traded that lifestyle first chance I had when I met Jess.

Regarding your last sentence; it's rough that you sometimes seem so down. You of all people could do anything you want. You've demonstrated it time and again. I'm just glad you use your powers for good.

[Lycanthrope]

I don't know what I want to do either. Just kinda going with the flow...

[HG]

who knows what they want to do? hardly anyone. most people seem to end up doing whatever comes along. If you ever find out what you truly want to do, you are fortunate.

[Muffinman]

[Drew]

Sometimes eating PB&J and doing what you enjoy is enough. What should matter is whether you're enjoying what you're doing.
For me that's what it comes down to

[QuantumBalance]

www.deoxy.org
www.organelle.org
www.meetup.com

GO WITH YOUR INSTINCT!
Your intuition is magical DC!

Be the change you wish to see in the world.
Seek not new landscapes, seek new eyes.
Those 3 websites are VERY POWERFUL, enjoy.

Good Luck and Namaste.

[QuantumBalance]

You know.. OR you could just take up Paint Dancing

[Wasabi]

Being a waiter that does card tricks would rake in a ton of tips. Charisma is a characteristic that wins in many social interactions.

It's funny how we all question the extent of the possibilities we think of in our heads and then appropriate those thoughts into our lives. I think once you're about to reach your mid-20s you start thinking about your own life and your future, and what you want to achieve to gain the most out of that life. I'm currently thinking about the type of career I want to pursue, and considering that I'm almost done with college, now is the time for me to choose. Even if it is simply a choice on the type of career I want to devote to, it's only appropriate for me to think of the life that should revolve and/or parallel that type of life as well. Everyone goes through these same thoughts, expend them, and recalculate what could be, could have been, and what should be done now.

I like to think that we are all governed by impermanence, rather than see impermanence as a concept that is aside from the individual in the world. No matter how much we hate to see it, we're all moving forward just as time moves forward.

The only thing that I can think of is that stupid song we were kicking to at NYJ, the techno remix of that one Eminem song. I think that should suffice as advice. You only have one shot, DC, so make it count. :3

[QuantumBalance]

I disagree. I think time is moving forward in the way that WE are moving forward. Right now most of us are heavily interfaced with a hyper socioeconomic system, which is affecting the way your time moves. I also think that there are multiple shots and this isnt the first time you have been living a life and reaching this point in it.

David Clavens, you have one significant advantage over me. I used to think it was your strength or your speed... or your youth.. or even more recently your wits. But now I realize that none of those are significant to me anymore.

The big advantage you have is that you dont consume as much poison as most of us. You don't smoke and I don't think you drink. This means you DREAM!!! Smoking, drinking alcho-lol, injesting caffeine, etc disconnects you from your dreamstate. Its harder to remember them even if you try, let alone bringing the focus of your conciousness into your dreams.

If you are like most sociolized people you don't focus much on your dreams, write them down, look for multiple layers of meaning within them, tell yourself you are going to dream every night. Neither AM I yet, althought I am aiming for that.

Purportedly it is a strange and wonderous thing to become close with ones own dreamings.

Like I said, check out those web sites.


Poof.

[david]

February 14th was my 6 year footbag anniversary. I didn't play. I didn't even remember. Things have changed.

[Rivers]

Things inevitable change. We just must be ready to accept these changes. According to your posts, Dave, you undoubtedly are