11:55pm: So I opened up an Access 2003 database that I've got to use for a project I do at work once a year. This is the first time I've used it since I upgraded to Office 2007 a few months ago. I was going to make some changes to the structure of the database in preparation for inputting new data tomorrow.

After I did that I realized that it was actually working /better/ than my previous Access 2003 version, which had a couple of bugs of the annoying-but-not-completely-unworkable variety. I was able to use a subform for data entry in a way that I hadn't been able to work out before. I have no idea why what hadn't worked before suddenly worked.

I think there must be something wrong, though, because obviously, if Access 2007 is performing BETTER than Access 2003, the universe is about to turn inside out. I reported the phenomenon to my friends who were over visiting and one of them suggested that I probably need to install a patch.

So I'll look to do that first thing tomorrow when I get in to work -- assuming of course that I don't wake up and find the whole thing was a crazy dream.

4:07pm: From the department of "seemed like a good idea at the time"
Teen trying to burn spiders sets home on fire

I could totally see myself having done something like that, at that age. Poor kid!

2:05am: Happy New Year
Hello everyone, and happy new year!

I want to make a playlist that sums up 2006. I did one in 2004 that I liked a lot, and skipped it last year, though I had good intentions. I've got a partial list in mind so far.

The Importance of Being Idle - Oasis
I sold my soul for the second time
Cause the man, he don't pay me

Change - Tracy Chapman
Are you so upright you can't be bent
if it comes to blows
Are you so sure you won't be crawling
If not for the good why risk falling

Flashback Blues - John Prine
Spent most of my youth
Out hobo cruising
And all I got for proof
Is rocks in my pockets and dirt in my shoes

9 to 5 - Dolly Parton
Tumble outta bed
And I stumble to the kitchen
Pour myself a cup of ambition
And yawn and stretch
And try to come to life

Warm Fuzzy Feeling - Fastball
But with you up there to light the way
I can wear a smile as I survey
The faces in the dark
Waiting for you to hit one out of the park

No Easy Walk to Freedom - Peter, Paul and Mary
No easy walk to freedom,
No easy walk to freedom,
Keep on walkin and we shall be free
That's how we're gonna make history

Born in the 70s - Ed Harcourt
And like my daddy said
These are exciting times
The future grabs my throat
And let's me know it's alright
If I believe in love
Then I believe in hate too
I'll taste the darker stuff
To find some lasting truth

Eanie Meany - Jim Noir
If you don't give my football back
I'm gonna get my dad on you
I only kicked it over your fence
And broke a silly gnome or two

Kara Dean - Ike Reilly
City fathers, set me free
City fathers and mothers set me free
I know that it ain't easy knowin' all you know about me

My Wasted Friends - Ike Reilly
Let’s have a drink, drink to the stars
As the guards are crashing in their cars
Drinks all around for my wasted friends
(Note: Does anyone know for sure if it's "guards"? I always heard it as "gods" and I kinda like that better, though maybe it only makes sense to me.)

Take Me Out - Franz Ferdinand
I say don't you know
You say you don't know
I say... take me out

Senorita With A Necklace of Tears - Paul Simon
Nothing but good news
There is a frog in South America
Whose venom is a cure
For all the suffering that mankind
Must endure
More powerful than morphine
And soothing as the rain
A frog in South America
Has the antidote to pain

Duty Free - Ike Reilly
Do you need anything from duty free?
I gotta get out of the USA

Slip Slidin' Away - Paul Simon
And I know a father who had a son
He longed to tell him all the reasons for the things hed done
He came a long way just to explain
He kissed his boy as he lay sleeping
Then he turned around and he headed home again

Freedom 90 - George Michael
All we have to do now is take these lies
And make them true somehow
All we have to see is that I don't belong to you
And you don't belong to me

One Less Set of Footsteps - Jim Croce
If that's the way that you want it
Oh that's the way I want it more
Well there'll be one less set of footsteps
On your floor in the morning

New Year's Eve - Ike Reilly
Welcome back
You looked good I guess
Welcome back
You looked reconstructed

Actually, after fiddling with this for 15 or 20 minutes... not bad. Not bad at all. I may make a few changes but this is in pretty good shape. It's funny how you can tell stories about yourself with a songlist this way. It's more or less chronological.

There's really only one gap. In the spring and early summer, I was very busy with school and work, and ... I was content. Happy. It was warm and things smelled like mown grass. I was taking Spanish and history courses and life was good. I need a song for that. Hmmmm.

3:26pm: Did kos just call someone out for sexism?
Why, yes, yes he did.

He's slamming Washington Post ombudsman Deborah Howell, long a favorite bloggers' punching bag, for her recent column in which she runs down the numbers of male vs. female columnists, as well as whites vs. people of color, and finds that the Post comes up wanting in the diversity department.

So how could The Post increase diversity as the staff and space for stories got smaller? It wouldn't be easy, but here are some thoughts. On the op-ed pages, don't run all the columnists all the time. Create some space for new voices. In Close to Home, make a point of seeking out more women and minorities. Outlook can also bring in more such voices.

The Metro section needs a female columnist, and it also needs a columnist attuned to the region's burgeoning Latino communities. A Latino columnist could appear in the Extras since they are oriented toward counties and neighborhoods. Not all new voices have to be on the staff; they could be regular contributors. Metro's new Page Three could be used to bring in more female and minority voices.

The point is not to toss excellent white male columnists; the point is to add more and lively voices to The Post.

Kos quite rightly points out that adding women writers and writers of color, but banishing them to the "fluff" section(s) of the paper, is bullshit. I am confident that Howell means to say the Extras are "oriented toward counties and neighborhoods," and not that Latinos are. Still, it's a pretty insulting remark: it amounts to saying that gee, maybe we should add a Latino columnist to talk about stuff that goes on around here because a lot of Latinos live around here now. The unspoken assumption is that Latinos (and whites) won't be interested in reading a Latino person's take on national issues.

(Read more...)

11:07am: Dirty Cheating Robocallers!
Oh yeah. Everyone should go here for information about a multi-state robocall operation intended to suppress Democratic vote. Basically, they make harassing phone calls over and over to Dem voters, and the calls claim to be from Dem candidates. They're trying to piss Democrats off so they don't go out and vote. Read the article, keep track and REPORT THE CALLS if you get any, and spread the word.

As a general rule, it's a good idea to report any calls you get from an opposing campaign, by calling the campaign you are supporting. It helps them to know what calls are out in the field, and even if they've already heard about the call, if more people call it in, it helps them to figure out what groups are being targeted. So if you get a robocall against your candidate in these last two critical days, call the campaign and tell them.

11:04am: Argh. DC United lost last night and I just want to crawl in a hole. Unfortunately I need to be out of said hole in about an hour in order to start prepping for election day tomorrow. Any suggestions for increasing hole-exiting-readiness are most welcome.

9:42am: Apparently I really DO want the terrorists to win.

10:38pm: Halloween Party!
histoire68's Halloween party:

adamosity dressed as Colin Powell.
aliea85 dressed as Mary-Kate Olsen with her very own conjoined Ashley.
amberspyglass dressed as a halfback for the Bears, though it looked more like your grandmother.
amenti dressed as Christina Aguilera.
anglyn didn't even show up and doesn't get any candy.
aninkling dressed as someone who just had sex.
astalavista dressed as Ozzy Osbourne.
bellatrys dressed as a locked witch, and it suited them all too well.
borogove dressed as a new member of the Wu-Tang Clan, Erratic Beggar.
bromith didn't even show up and doesn't get any candy.
caggles dressed as the Dreadful Power Ranger.
chaosrunner dressed as Optimus Prime.
cheeriowench dressed as Trent Reznor.
cynith dressed as Ray Romano riding a llama.
dasubergeek dressed as a 1990's grunge child.
dorcus dressed as something swelling, but what, specifically, you can't tell.
foliageofluna dressed as Harry S Truman, though it looked more like a safety for the Jets.
football_knuts dressed as Liv Tyler's brother.
ginmar dressed as the love child of Regis Philbin and Janet Reno.
goldrider dressed as a character from Harry Potter and the Infinity Hound.
ivpiter dressed as the Marquis of Hubhumabic.
jchenault dressed as a bottle of Itanvone.
jesurgislac dressed as a disturbing self-made character called "Flunky Bananabreath", though it looked more like the Cardinal of Osbusdale.
karamelkat dressed as a second baseman for the Rangers.
karmabum dressed as the spirit of their dead grandmother Nina.
kimberly_t dressed as a camel.
kmacmahon dressed as Chekov from "Star Trek".
kmusser dressed as a Level 7 sorcerer.
kynn dressed as Woodrow Wilson.
mirielkitsune dressed as the President of Federated States of Micronesia.
missmelysse dressed as a Armando Tierney NetworkingCo. employee.
nightambre dressed as your cousin.
padmaasit dressed as a new superhero: Thunder Prime.
pelogrande dressed as an external hard drive.
peverel dressed as the Viscount of Moose.
picture_kept dressed as Elton John.
rabidstoat dressed as a moose, though it looked more like Meatwad.
rainbowbinky dressed as a vampire.
reabhecc dressed as the main character of "All the President's Men".
saiphiel dressed as a fullback for the Bengals.
schmitt dressed as a kevlar solvent, though it looked more like a kicker for the Chargers.
selandra dressed as a goblin.
shaddragon dressed as a Care Bear.
skogkatt dressed as Gillian Anderson.
speakfire dressed as the Governor of Illinois.
springalo dressed as Draco Malfoy.
thededine dressed as a people, though it looked more like the Duke of Valukquadroamide.
utsukushiyama dressed as a investment.
winterbadger dressed as a executive bastard operator from hell.
zou dressed as Tiffani-Amber Thiessen, though it looked more like a 1980's yuppie child.

Throw your own party at the Hallomeme!
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10:44pm: I'm just back from the trip to New York to see DC United's playoff game against the Pink Cows. We won, 1-0. And man, was that ever fun. It's a good thing I Tivo'd the game though, because I'm going to have to go back and watch it - it was hard to follow what was happening in parts. They had put us way up in the mezzanine, and I don't like sitting that far from the field. It makes it much harder to see who is who, and that coupled with not being able to hear any of the announcements because of the drums, makes it hard to follow things.

But it was a great time, a great game. We didn't have enough people to bring two buses so there was a bus and a van. I wound up riding in the van which I thought would be... not as fun. But I ended up very happy about it because I got lucky: I had the whole back seat to myself until we got to Delaware, so I stretched out and had about a two hour nap. Ahh, sleep. Then we chatted about all kinds of stuff. Then we got to the game and tailgated for a little while. No food but there was a flea market in the other parking lot so we could buy some there and that worked out fine. The drums in the stands were great... my ears still feel it, but it was awesome. Just makes you want to dance the whole game. Some guy let me play his drum for a little while, even. I may see about getting one next year. I guess I'll have to see how it would work out with the people who are standing near me and all.

After the game a bunch of the players passed through our parking lot and stopped to say hi. Dan Steinberg who writes for the Washington Post had come along on our bus and brought some cheese, which he described in way too much detail on the DC Sports Bog. I wasn't a big fan of the cheese but it cracked me up that he was passing it around (with a plastic knife) and taking frantic notes in a little notebook about what people thought of the cheese. I normally like cheese but this one just didn't do it for me. Oh well.

On the way back we stopped at the same rest stop in Delaware which apparently is where everyone stops who is going between DC and New York. Because it's huge and has a jillion people there. The team was there also, wandering around, using the head, and getting food. I got to give Troy Perkins a big hug and aww over Facundo Erpen's baby (who was very tired, and of course also very cute) and when I sat down to scarf down a piece of pizza Jaime Moreno was sitting with some people I assume were his family, at the table next to mine.

And we won! So I'm happy. Although, since it's a two-game series it doesn't feel finished the way games usually do. So I'm already anxious for next weekend to come. I wish I could bring Anna, because she desperately wants to meet Jaime Moreno, or as she says, "Hiney Mario" but it's a 6pm game on a Sunday and her bedtime is 7, so that wouldn't work. Ah well. I'll have to come up with some other way to introduce her to Jaime. I should have brought her to the Meet the Team party, but, hindsight and all.

In closing: Christian Gomez kicks ass. WOOT!

10:51pm: But I need it to walk on.
I went to the podiatrist today. I have a stress fracture in my right foot.

I do not think it is physically possible for me to be more upset about this than I am. I have to wear a special shoe and I'm to stay off my foot as much as possible. This will be difficult because I don't own a car; I have to walk to and from the bus to get to work. If I want to buy lunch I have to walk to get it. If I want to go anywhere besides work, that involves walking, too. This is my foot! And I need it to walk on.

It's very common, apparently, when you haven't exercised much and you suddenly start doing lots of walking or running, to have this happen. My foot has been hurting since school started in late August. I went to the doctor; they said that I might have a stress fracture but that it was unlikely and if ice and ibuprofen didn't fix the problem, I should have it X-rayed. They didn't and I did and the X-ray people said there was no fracture. The podiatrist took ONE LOOK at the X-ray and said, "Oh, that's a stress fracture."

It takes about six weeks for a stress fracture to heal - once you start doing the right things for it, i.e. wearing a special shoe and not walking.

It would have been nice to know about this four or five weeks ago.

I am not a happy camper right now. I won't be able to canvass during the last month before the election. I won't be able to do GOTV canvassing the weekend before Election Day. I won't be able to volunteer at the Screaming Eagles tailgate on Saturday like I was supposed to. So I'm trying to find someone to take my place, because I know from experience how much it sucks to have your volunteers back out at the last minute. I won't be able to.. well, I /could/ stand in the Nest anyway, at the game, and I really want to, but I really shouldn't, but I really want to, but I could bring crutches to lean on, but I really shouldn't, and... AUGH.

Stupid fucking broken foot. Stupid stupid stupid stupid STUPID.

9:42am: I'm all sniffly. Ugh. Allergies suck. Tomorrow I have to go pay almost $500 to get my teeth filled, which will be more uncomfortable since I'm sniffly, but I don't want to cancel and reschedule. I also have to get my foot X-rayed, because it's been, I don't know, 3 weeks at least, and it still hurts, so I could have a stress fracture. I almost hope I do just because it would explain why my foot never stops hurting. That doesn't make a whole lot of sense, I guess. Between my business with work, school, and politics, and some stress at home, I've been really... what would be a good word... zonked? Except more so. So whatever is the word for like, massive zonking, that would be a word for what I am.

However, someone is going to help me finish canvassing my precinct, and there is other good stuff coming up. DC United plays at home on Saturday, so I'll go to the tailgate. If my stupid foot was working right I'd go to the pickup game in the morning, but I guess I can't. Sunday there is a Meet the Team party for the Screaming Eagles fan club, so I'll go to that, and get some autographs for Anna. That will make her happy. The other week when I was leaving the house to go watch an away game at a bar, she asked me with a shy little giggle if I'd buy her something at the game. I had to explain that I wasn't going to the stadium so I couldn't buy her anything. But I promised I'd bring her back something from this Saturday's game. So I'll collect a bunch of player cards to bring to her and she'll like that. We can put them in a little book or something and she can start collecting autographs.

Next week there's going to be a reception at lunch on Wednesday for undergraduates in the history program. I'll get to meet some professors I haven't met yet, which will be good. I'm trying to drop in when I can to meet people who are having their office hours, but I don't always get much time to do that. Last week on Tuesday I ate quickly and visited with someone for 20 minutes before my afternoon class. Maybe I'll try to do that again today.

On the 30th United is playing in Houston and I've decided to go. One of my aunts lives in Houston and I don't get to see them as often as I like, so that helped provide an excuse. That, plus the fact I just need to get the hell out of here for a bit. It will be a nice trip. There will be alcohol, family, and really nice new friends. Everyone I've met from the Screaming Eagles so far has been very kind and gracious and lots of fun - except for that one creepy guy, but he got the hint and left me alone in short order. So, I'm leaving for Houston Friday night and coming back Sunday night. It is going to be a PITA to get to BWI on Friday - I'll take the train - but I felt that was preferable to getting up butt ass early on Saturday; plus, if there are any incidents with weather or anything, there's less risk of missing the game. Sunday someone with the fan club has very kindly offered to give me a ride home from the airport.

And that will be my next week-and-a-half-ish. I'm looking forward to Saturday when I'll be able to go to the game and not worry about everything else I'm worrying about and not feel so exhausted. That will be really good.

4:10pm: Oops! I meant to post these sooner.
I was going to link to a couple of my latest blog entries earlier in the week and I completely forgot. First is a meditation on why being a rabid soccer fan is so much fun, and then in the second one you get to witness me becoming a shameless fangirl. And there's a picture of Bobby Boswell. So here you are. Happy weekend!

How soccer is like Mardi Gras and politics (except when it's not)

Standing in the Screaming Eagles' Nest is everything people say it is and more. It was something I wanted to try, but I didn't think I'd like it much - I didn't think I'd be able to see, and I thought my feet would hurt. Well, Nicole, the ever-so-helpful guru of tickets, was able to get me a spot in the third row, so I could have seen Ben Olsen's toe lint if he'd taken off his shoes. In fact, if I'd walked down four steps, hopped a wall, run twelve yards, dodged half a dozen cops, shoved some VIPs in folding chairs out of the way, and hopped another wall, well, I'd have been right there on the field. It felt a lot more immediate than that description sounds, because when you've got a phalanx of jumping, singing, cursing fans behind you, a half dozen cops are no obstacle. My feet did hurt, but when the bouncing and singing started I didn't really care. (Read more...)

Cool as a grape slushie...

So I was hanging out at the Screaming Eagles tailgate with D of DCenters and a bunch of his friends, whom he'd just introduced me to. And I notice this guy with the most INCREDIBLE completely amazingly dreamy eyes. He is talking to an authoritative woman with brown hair. I mean this guy is HOT. Since D has already been gracious enough to introduce me to people, I think, Gee, I wonder if any of these folks know that guy? Maybe I'll get introduced to him later. (Read more...)

8:56am: Soccer and Me, Part II: What She Wanted To Be When She Grew Up
World Cup 1990 fuelled my growing fascination with soccer and over the course of that summer, it became an obsession. I watched as many games as I could, and taped more, because some were on at odd hours, or when we were out of the house. They were shown on the Turner Broadcast Network, and those little advertising graphics in the corner of the screen hadn't yet been invented - we had to endure actual commercial breaks in the middle of play, during at least one of which the beleaguered US viewing audience actually missed a goal. And the commentary was horrible! "A penalty kick is sort of like a free throw in basketball..."

The 1990 World Cup was supposed to have been the most boring yet, with the lowest ever number of goals scored, but I never noticed. I devoured each game I could get hold of, and ignored my father's growing irritation with the number of blank VHS tapes I was using up - I couldn't bear to erase any of the games even after watching them. "Are you really going to watch these again?" he'd grouse; "Yes," I'd snap back, and the argument would be suspended til the next day when I discovered he'd taped over Ireland-Romania or something.

I remember Tony Meola and his ponytail - he was my favorite player for the US team, and ever since I've always had a thing for goalkeepers. I remember Cameroon and all the talk about how they were controversial and played so much more brutally than the European and South American teams (like animals, you might say?) and how surprising it was when they did well because African teams never do well in the World Cup; the racism of all this escaped me utterly, because I was twelve years old and white and sheltered and I knew nothing of such things. I remember learning about offsides traps and running into space and, well, much more strategy than I'd ever been exposed to in my youth league (none). I remember Diego Maradona, and the "Keys to the Game" that were flashed up on the screen before the final in which Argentina played West Germany: for Argentina, the "Keys" were "Back" "Knee" and "Foot" - the places where Maradona was having steroid injections, already battling against his body's betrayal. I felt sick inside when Argentina lost 0-1 on a penalty kick by Brehme in the last minutes. I felt empty when the World Cup went away and there were no more games with which to fill my hours. I consoled myself by using heat transfer paper and special markers to make myself a Maradona t-shirt with a number 10 on the back.

And I made a decision. I wanted to be a soccer player when I grew up, and play in the World Cup.

(Read More...)

11:18pm: Soccer and Me, Part I: Girl vs. Boys
When I was in elementary school I wanted to play in Little League. Other children in my class played. My best friend played. I played baseball, too, but only in my backyard, when we could get three or four or more kids together; the batting team supplemented their ranks with "ghost runners" who could never be thrown or tagged out due to their lack of corporeal existence. But I wanted to play for real, with uniforms and full teams, so I went to my dad and expressed to him my longing to participate fully in the great American pastime of baseball.

He said no.

He had his reasons, good ones - the local baseball league was populated with those Horrible Sports Parents that you read about in magazines. Coaches screamed at the kids, parents cursed at the umpires, and kids who weren't particularly skilled or athletically talented were benchwarmers, nothing more. My dad wanted something better for me, and so he told me that if I really wanted to play a sport, he'd sign me up for the fledgling local soccer league. Sulkily, I agreed, and so that fall, my brother and I played soccer.

(Read More...)

11:03am: Past Lives
This looks about right, heh.

histoire68's Past Lives

V V V

1137 BC: Roman politician

1214 AD: A religious radical

1931 AD: A Writer

'What were you in your past lives?' at QuizGalaxy.com

11:55am: Soccer Things
1) There is not going to be new grass on our soccer field until spring. I got a call back from the county supervisor's office and her staffer explained everything the park guy told him, which is essentially that they put grass seed down in the late fall when it gets too cold to play, and then in the spring there's grass on the field, but it dies in the summer due to the heat and the people running around on it so much. If they were to try to put new grass down now people wouldn't be able to play on the field for months.

This is a disappointment. I can't help but wonder if it's really true that there is no way to grow new grass without letting people walk on the field for months. I don't know anything about growing grass but it seems to me there must be a way. Perhaps there is, and it costs more than they are prepared to spend. I know that when people put grass in their yards, they buy squares of it and put it on the dirt, and it takes root and grows. Perhaps that doesn't work with the sort of grass they use on soccer fields. I don't know.

They also told me that they want, a few years down the line, to put an artificial field down, because then the grass won't die. I wish they wouldn't. Artificial turf isn't at all comfortable to walk around on. And everyone would have to buy new shoes. I'd much rather grass - but proper grass. Oh well, I suppose if dirt is good enough for Jose and Zidane and Beckenbauer and Platini, it's good enough for me. :)

2) DCenters, the DC United blog, is helping organize Operation Deflower to encourage people to bring people who have never seen a soccer game before to an MLS game, and buy them beer, and hopefully get them hooked. I planned to bring my housemate and her kids tomorrow, but the younger has a stomach bug, so that probably won't happen. Bummer. They play tomorrow at 4:00. Maybe I'll watch it at home with Anna... my project to get her hooked on soccer early (she's five) seems to be bearing fruit. Or, if she doesn't get the stomach bug, perhaps I could take her out of her mom's hair for a few hours tomorrow, and we could go alone.

3) I haven't gotten to play since.. Tuesday, I guess. I feel like there is Something Missing in my life! I don't know that I'll get to play today - I need an allergy shot, and it takes a while to get home when I do that. I may go out and see if anyone's around, regardless. Saturday and Sunday are the best games, though I'll miss Saturday's probably, but Sunday I'm looking forward to.

4) Real Salt Lake is a painfully goofy name for an American team.

8:54am: The sky is grey and white and cloudy
It rained yesterday and there was no soccer because the field was closed. This was very sad. That reminds me, I need to call the park people and ask if they actually plan to plant new grass on the half the field that hasn't got any. The only trouble with this is they would have to close the field for.. however long it takes new grass to grow. How long does that take? I don't know. But anyway...

Today it's cloudy but there's only 20% chance of rain. Tomorrow no rain! Sunday, 20% chance. I'll take that. Saturdays and Sundays are the best for games.

On Wednesday there weren't many in our group, just four, so we took turns shooting and keeping goal. I have a hard time shooting straight. The ball always twists a few feet left of where I mean to place it. The new shoes helped though, man does it ever make a difference to have a shoe that conforms to your foot. Anyhow, I could see the improvement with the practice so perhaps in time I won't be completely hopeless at shooting. Of course I'm best close in: I need to build up a lot more leg strength. I had a few nice ones. I was working on getting it low and in the corner. My legs were tired and my feet were sore by the time it was done, but I stopped in time to avoid blisters from the new shoes.

I looked up the proper care of soccer cleats online and found a site that suggests putting them on and soaking your feet in water to make them mold to your foot! It also said that if they get really dirty, some players will wear them into the shower. I'm not entirely sure about that. I wonder if anyone really does that? I'll have to do more research. Anyhow I will keep them clean by wiping them off after I play. The half the field that hasn't got grass is really dusty.

8:13am: Metros of the World


Clearly I need to do more traveling. I've only been on six of the world's 149 metro systems!

10:52am: More Soccer!
I played soccer again Saturday, and Sunday, and Monday too. It was great! I'm not sure what I've done to my leg, though. As I posted on Friday, I went out to kick the ball around and immediately had pain in my leg. Same when I tried to kick with the other foot. Since then the right leg has gotten a lot better, but the left still hurts a good bit. My thigh hurts when I bend my knee all the way. So, running or winding up to kick the ball are painful. And it's better than before but hasn't gone away completely. It feels quite unfair because I was careful to stretch and all beforehand and yet I suspect I may somehow have injured myself doing so. But I don't understand how or why, and I'm not sure what to do about it, other than not play soccer, which is not an option.

So since I couldn't run very well, I didn't play terribly well Saturday. My previous strategy of playing defensively didn't work well because I couldn't even begin to keep up with the forwards, not even the slower ones. What I had been doing was picking a man and marking him close when the ball came down to our end. In truth, since I am so much slower than most of the fellows I'm playing with, if someone played the ball to them anyway there's a good chance they could take it right past me. But either this hasn't occurred to them yet or they don't care to risk it, because usually they don't pass to the man I'm marking, which means I've taken one opponent out of the play and am therefore at least marginally useful. Occasionally if the ball comes in my direction anyhow I can have a crack at it, with some limited success - but that's better than none at all! ( Much more about playing soccer )

7:06pm: Since Monday, I haven't been able to get to the park for any more soccer - I had something to do each evening. Today I got home, ate as quick as I could, filled myself up with water, and hurried over with my ball. I figured I might be too late for the guys from Honduras who play most nights, but if the field wasn't being used I could kick a few in on my own. A youth team was using half the field but nobody was at the other end, so I ambled down, put the ball on the spot, ran up, swung...

...and promptly got a tremendous leg cramp.

I'm still sore.

*grumble*

1:33pm: Writing class
I'm almost afraid to post this for fear I'll jinx things, but my Advanced Composition class is going really well. I've gotten high A's on everything I've turned in so far, and the professor asked permission to use one of my essays in a future edition of his course pack as an example of an "extremely successful" version of the assignment. Of course, he also has essays in there that aren't "extremely successful" for students to critique - and I found myself wondering if he tells those students that or if he just tells everyone that their essays will be "extremely successful" examples. But it doesn't really matter because I know that mine was good. Anyway, it gave me a bit of a boost that he wanted to use it, and it's nice to know that people will read my writing.

The essay in question, which I have posted on my blog, is a reworking of something I wrote and posted on Dailykos in summer 2004 when Ronald Reagan died. There was a nice little discussion then, but I felt that the piece itself was something that had potential but hadn't quite gotten there. I was able to rework it into something I am really pleased with. I guess I'm learning to edit well. It used to be that I had to get lucky and write a good first draft because I couldn't bring myself to make substantial edits to anything.

I have to make some changes to it again for the final assignment, which I'm a little anxious about, but shouldn't be. I'm really pleased with this course. I've learned a few useful things about writing, in particular what I'm good at and what I'm not as good at, and gained a lot of confidence about my writing. So there is a way forward and I don't have to fear and dread paper assignments anymore.

Life is good!

1:35pm: Yummy footballers
For your viewing pleasure:




Enjoy!

10:05am: Rule #1: There is no such thing as too much garlic.

8:50am:

LJ Interests meme results

1. board games:
   I love German style board games. Like Puerto Rico and Settlers of Catan and things of that nature.
2. computers:
   Typity typity type...
3. foreign affairs:
   I had an intro course in IR a few years ago and it was one of the most interesting intro courses I've ever had. I started reading a lot. I think Huntington was full of shit about the Clash of Civilizations thing. It's not East vs. West but fundamentalism vs. modern culture that is the thing to be concerned about. I mean, the US had it's own home-bred terrorists and always has. Tim McVeigh, the Unabomber, Randall Terry, etc. There is not some sort of racial propensity to terrorism in the so-called "East" - that's just dumb.
4. government:
   Goes along with the above, and my interest in politics and elections and so forth.
5. john kerry:
   He should be president now. I was just remarking to my friend that despite all the mileage the right got out of calling him a traitor, funny isn't it that Bush turns out to be the traitor - he authorized the outing of a CIA agent, and if that's not treason, I don't know what is. But it sure isn't legal expression of free speech!
6. melissa bean:
   I haven't updated this list in a long time. I guess I'm not that interested in Melissa Bean anymore. But she's the Democrat who defeated Phil Crane (Illinois) in 2004's election for House of Representatives.
7. pern:
   Got my start with online games in Pern MUSHes. Don't play so much anymore, really.
8. reading:
   Right now I've got at least 10 books on my desk! I'm in the middle of Backlash by Susan Faludi and Off Center by Jacob Hacker and Paul Pierson. Among others.
9. singing:
   When I was in school at Southern Mississippi and a music major, even though my major instrument was horn, singing was where I got the most joy. There was no pressure to be perfect. I sang several seasons with the symphony chorus and we got to do Beethoven 9, the Verdi Requiem, the Brahms German Requiem, and some other things. It was wonderful. I miss it.
10. tom daschle:
    Again with the not-updating thing. But I was in South Dakota for the 2004 election. You want to know why Tom Daschle lost, I can tell you. Hint: because he couldn't give people a reason to vote for him. For an incumbent, that's pretty bad. Don't vote for him for president in the Democratic primary, unless he comes up with a really, really good reason. (And he won't)

Enter your LJ user name, and 10 interests will be selected from your interest list.

2:55pm: Speaking of annoying webby stuff, whenever I try to look at any previous entries on my friends list, other than the most recent 25, it goes back to the middle of February. And skips all the ones in the middle. WTF?