The banquet was a blast. I love presenting captain's awards...and I get to do it two more times! Probably. At least once more. Anyway, here's the results:
Most Valuable Player - Bobcat
Most Improved - Greyhound
Most Inspirational - ME!!!
Rookie of the Year - Chipmunk
Coach's Award - Fishing Cat
My captain's award (given by the bobcat) was the "I'll Shoot You With My Knife!" award. (Long explanation. Let's just say I was very, very angry on the freeway and the only weapon I had was a flip knife.)
I also found out that I made 1st Team All-State! That means that in our division, I was one of the top seven players! Yipee! The bobcat was 1st Team too, and the greyhound was 2nd.
I loved seeing everyone again. About five of us stayed there forever with the three coaches joking and laughing and assessing what type of drunk person each of us would make (I'm either a corner drunk or a giggly drunk; no one could officially decide; the bobcat is a destructive drunk, we had an angry drunk, a babbling drunk, a pass-out-after-one-despite-big-talk drunk, etc.). It was just so awesome to be with everyone again. I hope we do the summer games; I told Tia I was totally up for it if we did.
My goals for next year:
1 - Get meaner (I'm really way too nice [well, clean] for my position)
2 - Learn to shoot (Angry-Gay-Guy style, I suppose; but I need to learn to aim while I'm at it)
Wednesday, May 31, 2006
Thursday, May 25, 2006
Responsibility
[Excerpt from page 231, chapter 28, Son of Sferesh]
[Anloi] whirled her head around, knocking [Maric] in the jaw. “Sorry. But what do you intend to gain by going back?”
Maric rubbed his jaw a little. “Nothing, but I can’t leave Kalen and the others in the position they’re in. I have nothing, but they have mountains to gain by me coming back.”
“Maric, they’ll try to kill you!”
“I hope they’ll be afraid enough of me to keep those attempts at bay until I tell them where Endrëa is. Knowing her, she didn’t tell them where she was going, and though I’ve never been a brother, I can guess that Kalen is frantic, and Randalek too.” Almost as an afterthought, he added, “Zefran’s probably not in the best of moods either. His betrothed has gone missing, and I have no doubts as to who he’ll be blaming.”
“I didn’t tell my family where I was going either! I never would have gotten anywhere; Brandon would have stopped me before I got to the street. But I’m not asking you to go back and explain to them. It is Endrëa’s fault she came to Sferesh; let it be her fault that she won’t be coming home anytime soon.”
“You didn’t tell your father? You didn’t even leave a note? What were you thinking?”
“That’s not my point, Maric. I’m ready to accept responsibility for what I did, and I am, as she says, a simple tavern wench.” Maric’s chest vibrated against her back as he started to growl. “If I can accept it, so can Her Highness.”
Sometimes the difference between high schoolers' responsibility levels bothers me. Two people will do the same stupid thing (which can be labeled as irresponsible, but is not a part of the discussion right now), but one will blame others and the other will accept the blame as their own. It gets to me sometimes. Considering that Anloi and Endrea are both in their late teens, this is more or less my allusion to that.
[Anloi] whirled her head around, knocking [Maric] in the jaw. “Sorry. But what do you intend to gain by going back?”
Maric rubbed his jaw a little. “Nothing, but I can’t leave Kalen and the others in the position they’re in. I have nothing, but they have mountains to gain by me coming back.”
“Maric, they’ll try to kill you!”
“I hope they’ll be afraid enough of me to keep those attempts at bay until I tell them where Endrëa is. Knowing her, she didn’t tell them where she was going, and though I’ve never been a brother, I can guess that Kalen is frantic, and Randalek too.” Almost as an afterthought, he added, “Zefran’s probably not in the best of moods either. His betrothed has gone missing, and I have no doubts as to who he’ll be blaming.”
“I didn’t tell my family where I was going either! I never would have gotten anywhere; Brandon would have stopped me before I got to the street. But I’m not asking you to go back and explain to them. It is Endrëa’s fault she came to Sferesh; let it be her fault that she won’t be coming home anytime soon.”
“You didn’t tell your father? You didn’t even leave a note? What were you thinking?”
“That’s not my point, Maric. I’m ready to accept responsibility for what I did, and I am, as she says, a simple tavern wench.” Maric’s chest vibrated against her back as he started to growl. “If I can accept it, so can Her Highness.”
Sometimes the difference between high schoolers' responsibility levels bothers me. Two people will do the same stupid thing (which can be labeled as irresponsible, but is not a part of the discussion right now), but one will blame others and the other will accept the blame as their own. It gets to me sometimes. Considering that Anloi and Endrea are both in their late teens, this is more or less my allusion to that.
Saturday, May 13, 2006
Sunset
The ocelot clawed her way out of the river and joined her fellow defenders at the roots of a rowan.
Yesterday, the water polo season came to a close.
They huddled together and the general spoke some parting words.
We lost our game, and took third in state. We closed the predicted gap between us and the team we lost to by over half.
The bobcat called loudly, and the others echoed in turn. The ocelot bowed her head as they chanted, and golden drops of liquid emotion mingled with the sweat of her labors.
As we cheered our cheer for the final time, I cried.
The flamingo passed as the ocelot watched, and as the fishing cat paced along, she paused. The ocelot embraced her dear friend, knowing that they would only see each other once or twice more.
So many friends are gone. So many more are leaving.
As the ocelot watched from her tree, her eyes glistened. For the end of this season's defenders meant much more. It heralded another end, one that the ocelot found much harder to face.
Six years. It won't ever be the same.
The ocelot looked to the far horizon, seeing a second sunset. It wasn't her sunset, and it wasn't really the second. It would be far from the last sunset. The colors flashed brighter than she had ever seen, and the final light trickled onto the backs of more than it had when she had watched before. The flamingo waded downriver, and the fishing cat bounded away into the mists. The bobcat faded, leaving only a half-image. Almost like ghosts, the badger and the wolfhound appeared somewhere in the distance, if only for a moment. Somewhere a mighty bird called. The sunlight drained from the sky, and the ocelot wept again.
Yesterday, the water polo season came to a close.
They huddled together and the general spoke some parting words.
We lost our game, and took third in state. We closed the predicted gap between us and the team we lost to by over half.
The bobcat called loudly, and the others echoed in turn. The ocelot bowed her head as they chanted, and golden drops of liquid emotion mingled with the sweat of her labors.
As we cheered our cheer for the final time, I cried.
The flamingo passed as the ocelot watched, and as the fishing cat paced along, she paused. The ocelot embraced her dear friend, knowing that they would only see each other once or twice more.
So many friends are gone. So many more are leaving.
As the ocelot watched from her tree, her eyes glistened. For the end of this season's defenders meant much more. It heralded another end, one that the ocelot found much harder to face.
Six years. It won't ever be the same.
The ocelot looked to the far horizon, seeing a second sunset. It wasn't her sunset, and it wasn't really the second. It would be far from the last sunset. The colors flashed brighter than she had ever seen, and the final light trickled onto the backs of more than it had when she had watched before. The flamingo waded downriver, and the fishing cat bounded away into the mists. The bobcat faded, leaving only a half-image. Almost like ghosts, the badger and the wolfhound appeared somewhere in the distance, if only for a moment. Somewhere a mighty bird called. The sunlight drained from the sky, and the ocelot wept again.
Wednesday, May 10, 2006
Take It Easy
The chorus-like parts of this song are now my theme song for the next undetermined period of time.
"Take It Easy" -- The Eagles
Well, I'm running down the road
tryin' to loosen my load
I've got seven women on my mind,
Four that wanna own me,
Two that wanna stone me,
One says she's a friend of mine
Take It easy, take it easy
Don't let the sound of your own wheels
drive you crazy
Lighten up while you still can
don't even try to understand
Just find a place to make your stand
and take it easy
Well, I'm a standing on a corner in Winslow, Arizona
and such a fine sight to see
It's a girl, my Lord, in a flatbed Ford
slowin' down to take a look at me
Come on, baby, don't say maybe
I gotta know if your sweet love is gonna save me
We may lose and we may win
though we will never be here again
so open up, I'm climbin' in,
so take it easy
Well I'm running down the road trying to loosen my load,
got a world of trouble on my mind
lookin' for a lover who won't blow my cover,
she's so hard to find
Take it easy, take it easy
don't let the sound of your own wheels make you crazy
come on baby, don't say maybe
I gotta know if your sweet love is gonna save me, oh oh oh
Oh we got it easy
We oughta take it easy
"Take It Easy" -- The Eagles
Well, I'm running down the road
tryin' to loosen my load
I've got seven women on my mind,
Four that wanna own me,
Two that wanna stone me,
One says she's a friend of mine
Take It easy, take it easy
Don't let the sound of your own wheels
drive you crazy
Lighten up while you still can
don't even try to understand
Just find a place to make your stand
and take it easy
Well, I'm a standing on a corner in Winslow, Arizona
and such a fine sight to see
It's a girl, my Lord, in a flatbed Ford
slowin' down to take a look at me
Come on, baby, don't say maybe
I gotta know if your sweet love is gonna save me
We may lose and we may win
though we will never be here again
so open up, I'm climbin' in,
so take it easy
Well I'm running down the road trying to loosen my load,
got a world of trouble on my mind
lookin' for a lover who won't blow my cover,
she's so hard to find
Take it easy, take it easy
don't let the sound of your own wheels make you crazy
come on baby, don't say maybe
I gotta know if your sweet love is gonna save me, oh oh oh
Oh we got it easy
We oughta take it easy
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