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- PoisonTaffy
- Egyptian Footgod
- Posts: 1003
- Joined: 23 Jun 2007 15:42
- Location: Israel, center
- Contact:
Good read as usual!
13 days in a row is a good streak. Making a goal like that every once in a while seems like a good idea, seeing how I always fall back on to the "let the body rest" argument and take a day off rather often.
Seems like a lame excuse when there's someone out there with a 4 digit streak.
13 days in a row is a good streak. Making a goal like that every once in a while seems like a good idea, seeing how I always fall back on to the "let the body rest" argument and take a day off rather often.
Seems like a lame excuse when there's someone out there with a 4 digit streak.
"Childhood is short, immaturity is forever"
Roy Klein
Roy Klein
On Sunday I opened a cabinet door to get my camera-charging cable, and the cable fell out and rolled under a nearby chair. I got down on all fours to retrieve it, and in the process of rooting under the chair, I changed my position relative to the open cabinet door. When I stood up, I slammed the back of my head full force into the cabinet door. I was hit so hard, I stayed down a good minute, and then checked for blood. The head's still tender today, but the real pain was that it reaggravated the pulled nerve in my upper right shoulder/neck area. I think I first injured that nerve when I miraculously survived an epic fall down some bleachers at Worlds 08. Since then, I've reaggravated it about twice a year. Worlds 08: the gift that keeps on giving.
Given my history of over-reacting to injuries in this blog (Oh noez! I twisted my ankle and I'll never get back to 100%!), I'm just going to take the week off from playing and see how I recover. Frankly, taking some time off probably isn't a bad idea. I've been playing almost non-stop since coming to Denver, and I've been playing at a level that's consistently been challenging me. While that probably has made me a better player, it's also been mentally and physically draining. I just wish I could do other exercise in the meantime, but I don't think I can swim, ball, or rock climb in my current state. Maybe I'll fill the time with billiards and poker... for sure I'm going to watch lots of basketball on TV.
I'm also hoping to use this time off to re-evaluate where I am in my footbag career, and what my goals are. I'm four months away from my 13th anniversary in the sport, which is just before Worlds. I feel like over the past couple years I've been playing at or near my peak. On one hand I'm happy I'm still achieving milestone goals, but on the other hand I'm aware that my window for reaching some goals is probably closing quickly. If my career were to end right now, I'd say the only goal I haven't achieved is making finals in routines at Worlds.
The real question that I need to evaluate is: why is this goal important to me? The common thread behind all my goals in footbag so far, has been to set a high bar that would really challenge me and push me to my limits. Given the level of competition likely to show up at Worlds this year, making finals certainly would push my limits. Realistically, I'd need to prepare enough that I would get out of the first round with a high seed, and then do a perfect semis routine. Even then, I might need to get lucky to make finals. Vasek, Clavens, Damian, Phil Morrison, Penske, Milan, Bevier and Honza are all likely to compete, and I'd need to beat one of them to make it. I'm also sure there will be a slew of other good players competing, and any of them could knock me out too. From a difficulty (challenging myself) standpoint, I actually like the fact that I'll need to prepare well enough to try and beat this level of player to achieve my goal.
What makes this year's goal fundamentally different from past ones, is that it is not fully under my control, and also places value on the opinions of others. Both of these aspects make me uncomfortable. Goals like hitting a beast, blurry flurry, a dropless routine, 10 unique fearless, 200+ pts in Shred 30, etc. were all things that I had full control over. I either hit them, or I didn't. An objective observer could verify this on video. Making finals at Worlds though, isn't fully under my control. Theoretically, I could hit my routine perfectly in the first and second round, and still not make it. That would be really tough to take, and it's distinctly possible. Even without the variable of subjective judging, it's possible that the competitors in my pools just do better routines than me, and I don't make it to Finals.
The other part of my goal that I haven't come to terms with, is that by trying to make routine Finals at Worlds, I feel like I'm acknowledging the right of other people to judge me and my game. My whole career in footbag, I've prided myself on tuning out the opinions of others, and playing for myself. I've always played to have fun and to challenge myself. If people liked what I did, or I won events along the way, then fine. If people didn't like me or my style, so be it. If I had listened to the haters, I would have given up a long time ago.
And yet, in order to make it to Finals, not only will I need to execute my routine well twice, I'll have to submit to the subjective judgment of others. In many cases, the people judging me will be people who have never executed a good routine themselves, and that makes me nervous. I mean, I've watched basketball since I was a little kid, I've seen dunk contests and all star games, I've watched dunks in slow motion, and I've even played basketball too. But I would hesitate to judge a dunk contest, given that I've never dunked. I may have watched many dunks over the years, but how can I know if a 720 dunk is harder than an off-the-glass between-the-legs dunk? If you've never hit a five add trick, can you really say if it's harder to freeze a fog on the beat than it is to link two PSWs during the crescendo of a song? Even if every judge at Worlds had the technical expertise to accurately assess the difficulty of routines (ie, could do most of the tricks in the average routine, and had experience executing a routine), half of the card is still subjective, and I don't think there's consensus amongst judges as to what constitutes good choreography.
Based on all this, I suppose I could redefine my goal, to make it more under my control. I could make it something like: "Do a good enough routine in the first round that you earn a good seed in semis, and then do a dropless routine in semis." Difficulty-wise, this would likely end up being on par with my original goal. It would also have the benefit of being completely under my control. All that said, if I were to ask myself truly and honestly what my last remaining goal in footbag is, I wouldn't say "go dropless in semis." I'd say "make finals." Ultimately I probably shouldn't worry too much about things beyond my control.
I enjoyed the following quote I read in an NYT column. It was in reference to the Cornell basketball team's unexpected cinderella run in the NCAA tourney, but it could just as easily apply to my aspirations at Worlds:
Random vid to close out:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k8B28ufVpUg[/youtube]
Given my history of over-reacting to injuries in this blog (Oh noez! I twisted my ankle and I'll never get back to 100%!), I'm just going to take the week off from playing and see how I recover. Frankly, taking some time off probably isn't a bad idea. I've been playing almost non-stop since coming to Denver, and I've been playing at a level that's consistently been challenging me. While that probably has made me a better player, it's also been mentally and physically draining. I just wish I could do other exercise in the meantime, but I don't think I can swim, ball, or rock climb in my current state. Maybe I'll fill the time with billiards and poker... for sure I'm going to watch lots of basketball on TV.
I'm also hoping to use this time off to re-evaluate where I am in my footbag career, and what my goals are. I'm four months away from my 13th anniversary in the sport, which is just before Worlds. I feel like over the past couple years I've been playing at or near my peak. On one hand I'm happy I'm still achieving milestone goals, but on the other hand I'm aware that my window for reaching some goals is probably closing quickly. If my career were to end right now, I'd say the only goal I haven't achieved is making finals in routines at Worlds.
The real question that I need to evaluate is: why is this goal important to me? The common thread behind all my goals in footbag so far, has been to set a high bar that would really challenge me and push me to my limits. Given the level of competition likely to show up at Worlds this year, making finals certainly would push my limits. Realistically, I'd need to prepare enough that I would get out of the first round with a high seed, and then do a perfect semis routine. Even then, I might need to get lucky to make finals. Vasek, Clavens, Damian, Phil Morrison, Penske, Milan, Bevier and Honza are all likely to compete, and I'd need to beat one of them to make it. I'm also sure there will be a slew of other good players competing, and any of them could knock me out too. From a difficulty (challenging myself) standpoint, I actually like the fact that I'll need to prepare well enough to try and beat this level of player to achieve my goal.
What makes this year's goal fundamentally different from past ones, is that it is not fully under my control, and also places value on the opinions of others. Both of these aspects make me uncomfortable. Goals like hitting a beast, blurry flurry, a dropless routine, 10 unique fearless, 200+ pts in Shred 30, etc. were all things that I had full control over. I either hit them, or I didn't. An objective observer could verify this on video. Making finals at Worlds though, isn't fully under my control. Theoretically, I could hit my routine perfectly in the first and second round, and still not make it. That would be really tough to take, and it's distinctly possible. Even without the variable of subjective judging, it's possible that the competitors in my pools just do better routines than me, and I don't make it to Finals.
The other part of my goal that I haven't come to terms with, is that by trying to make routine Finals at Worlds, I feel like I'm acknowledging the right of other people to judge me and my game. My whole career in footbag, I've prided myself on tuning out the opinions of others, and playing for myself. I've always played to have fun and to challenge myself. If people liked what I did, or I won events along the way, then fine. If people didn't like me or my style, so be it. If I had listened to the haters, I would have given up a long time ago.
And yet, in order to make it to Finals, not only will I need to execute my routine well twice, I'll have to submit to the subjective judgment of others. In many cases, the people judging me will be people who have never executed a good routine themselves, and that makes me nervous. I mean, I've watched basketball since I was a little kid, I've seen dunk contests and all star games, I've watched dunks in slow motion, and I've even played basketball too. But I would hesitate to judge a dunk contest, given that I've never dunked. I may have watched many dunks over the years, but how can I know if a 720 dunk is harder than an off-the-glass between-the-legs dunk? If you've never hit a five add trick, can you really say if it's harder to freeze a fog on the beat than it is to link two PSWs during the crescendo of a song? Even if every judge at Worlds had the technical expertise to accurately assess the difficulty of routines (ie, could do most of the tricks in the average routine, and had experience executing a routine), half of the card is still subjective, and I don't think there's consensus amongst judges as to what constitutes good choreography.
Based on all this, I suppose I could redefine my goal, to make it more under my control. I could make it something like: "Do a good enough routine in the first round that you earn a good seed in semis, and then do a dropless routine in semis." Difficulty-wise, this would likely end up being on par with my original goal. It would also have the benefit of being completely under my control. All that said, if I were to ask myself truly and honestly what my last remaining goal in footbag is, I wouldn't say "go dropless in semis." I'd say "make finals." Ultimately I probably shouldn't worry too much about things beyond my control.
I enjoyed the following quote I read in an NYT column. It was in reference to the Cornell basketball team's unexpected cinderella run in the NCAA tourney, but it could just as easily apply to my aspirations at Worlds:
William C Rhoden in the NYT wrote:There is nothing tragic about attempting a great leap and falling short. The tragedy is not even trying.
Random vid to close out:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k8B28ufVpUg[/youtube]
Last edited by C-Fan on 26 May 2015 09:19, edited 1 time in total.
Feel like I've been in a bit of a footbag slump lately. The neck injury I described in my last post healed within a few days, but I still took off a full week before playing again. Physically I now feel fine. My stamina could be a bit better, but other than that I have no injuries or anything else holding me back. I've been able to hit some hard tricks and two beasts since coming back, and my consistency is actually pretty good, but I feel like my fire to play is dimmer. It could be related to the fact that I'm burnt out on playing solo, or it could also be due to my lack of good equipment (insole and footbag issues). It may also be that I'm distracted with bigger life issues, primarily the possibility that I might get a job offer at my office in Denver and move here.
Or maybe after 13 years of playing, I'm simply getting bored. Whatever the case, I'm having trouble motivating myself for Worlds. I haven't even decided on a routine, much less started working on it.
I turn 30 tomorrow. I think it's pretty cool that I can say I played footbag for all of my twenties, and even at the very end of that span, I'm still hitting new tricks which challenge me.
On that note, I'll end this post with video of my first flipside quad dex ever:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KY-8RocArZ4[/youtube]
Or maybe after 13 years of playing, I'm simply getting bored. Whatever the case, I'm having trouble motivating myself for Worlds. I haven't even decided on a routine, much less started working on it.
I turn 30 tomorrow. I think it's pretty cool that I can say I played footbag for all of my twenties, and even at the very end of that span, I'm still hitting new tricks which challenge me.
On that note, I'll end this post with video of my first flipside quad dex ever:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KY-8RocArZ4[/youtube]
Last edited by C-Fan on 26 May 2015 09:20, edited 1 time in total.
- Lycanthrope
- BSOS Beast
- Posts: 431
- Joined: 12 Oct 2004 19:39
- Location: Las Vegas, NV
- Contact:
I haven't really been keeping up with modified lately, but i figured you deserve more postage, so I read through your last few posts with a lot of different thoughts.
I can definitely relate to where you are with footbag. I have only been playing around 6.5 years, so I guess that's half as long as you have, but I get burnt out periodically as well. A few things have spurred my interest in footbag more lately than usual: The Milan Benda Special from Stanford, the results from the latest todexon, the vasek manual. All of these are really causing a new shift in the game and to say the least, I'm excited about it. In the manual that vasek made, read through specifically the parts about gratitude. It helps me a lot to just be positive about my game and have fun. Don't get too bogged down with fundamentals and hardcore training, but try to have fun. If you have fun, you will most likely play more and that will help you to train because you want to rather than forcing yourself against your partial will.
you're 30? wow. i'm only 20... =/ i turn 21 next month. win. well we both look younger than we are. weird.
also, nice blurrier swirl. very high, fast, and clean. most people will never understand how hard that trick is or how much harder it is than blurriest swirl. your game is looking solid. nice consistency with tough tricks. keep pushing it, but try to have more fun. that's the important part.
I can definitely relate to where you are with footbag. I have only been playing around 6.5 years, so I guess that's half as long as you have, but I get burnt out periodically as well. A few things have spurred my interest in footbag more lately than usual: The Milan Benda Special from Stanford, the results from the latest todexon, the vasek manual. All of these are really causing a new shift in the game and to say the least, I'm excited about it. In the manual that vasek made, read through specifically the parts about gratitude. It helps me a lot to just be positive about my game and have fun. Don't get too bogged down with fundamentals and hardcore training, but try to have fun. If you have fun, you will most likely play more and that will help you to train because you want to rather than forcing yourself against your partial will.
you're 30? wow. i'm only 20... =/ i turn 21 next month. win. well we both look younger than we are. weird.
also, nice blurrier swirl. very high, fast, and clean. most people will never understand how hard that trick is or how much harder it is than blurriest swirl. your game is looking solid. nice consistency with tough tricks. keep pushing it, but try to have more fun. that's the important part.
Evan 'OP' Gatesman
- CIC flurry
- Amazingly Sexy Man-Beast
- Posts: 3423
- Joined: 28 May 2003 16:06
- Location: Chicago
Hey Ken my name is Bee and I was one of the two intermediate players you kicked with a month or two ago...I hadn't had my wheaties that day, but I'd love to shred anytime! =) Let me know if you'd like to have a session I"m not averse to traveling to you.
PS: Tell Rippin it was a true honor to meet him.
PS: Tell Rippin it was a true honor to meet him.
Thanks for the props Evan! Yeah, it's always been kind of frustrating in footbag when you hit something really hard, and you realize that only a handful of people actually can understand what you did, and how much effort it took. I guess I'm just happy I'm still playing, and still surprising myself with the things I can hit.Lycanthrope wrote:
also, nice blurrier swirl. very high, fast, and clean. most people will never understand how hard that trick is or how much harder it is than blurriest swirl. your game is looking solid. nice consistency with tough tricks
Other updates:
New HD Camera
Over 2 years ago, my folks gave me a digital camera for Christmas. Even though it was designed primarily for taking still photos, I got the most use out of it by taking short, unedited 30 second clips of footbag. I've uploaded over 1350 of these videos to YouTube, even though the quality was pretty bad. So this year when my birthday rolled around, I decided it was time to finally buy an HD camcorder. I ended up buying a Flip HD camera, mostly because it was portable, cheap, and I didn't have to worry about cables for uploading video or recharging. Mostly, I just wanted something that would shoot in HD. That said, it came with some basic editing software so at a minimum this means there'll be less dead time in my videos. Apologies to people who enjoyed watching me walk to and from the camera, and take multiple tries before hitting something. Depending how good the software is, I might even edit together some small videos.
Here's a sample of what the quality is like:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=smCcjluBHeU[/youtube]
Job/Life situation
Still no news on the Denver job front. I'm guessing there's a 50-50 chance I get the job in Denver, and take it. I'm trying hard not to stress out about it, but it's tough. Hopefully I hear one way or the other in the next few weeks. I try and remind myself, that even my worst case scenario is pretty good. I'm just stressed about not knowing where I'll be in a few months, and how it will affect my social life and future.
Solo shredding
I've had one group shred since coming to Denver over 3 months ago. Other than that, I've played solo the entire time. Pete Irish is visiting Colorado this month though, so I'm hoping to get in a shred with him and Rippin' at some point. I'm also hoping to meet up with Ted Anderson and play a bit.
Beasts
I've hit 13 beasts in the last couple months. My plan was to make a video collecting them all in one place, but once I got my HD camera, my new plan was to re-hit as many as possible in HD, so the video will have 60+% HD, and have lots of new footage. I hurt my foot recently, but hopefully I'll get back on track on this project soon.
Basketball
I've been playing lots of 21 and pickup recently. I also set 2 new personal records: 17 Free Throws in a row, and 7 three pointers in a row. Stoked on that. The biggest news though, is that my Suns FINALLY beat the hated Spurs, after being eliminated by them 4 of our last 5 playoff appearances. Not only that, but we swept them! I can't describe how happy that makes me.
Last edited by C-Fan on 23 Jul 2015 07:05, edited 1 time in total.
Thanks Erik. You know it's weird, I've been playing almost 13 years...but I didn't develop a style that I liked at all until a few years ago.Muffinman wrote:I randomly watched some old VHS video the other day. Like tidbits. You were crazy good 10 years ago
I thought $150 was pretty reasonable for an 8GB HD camera. So far I've been pretty happy with it. The visual quality is fantastic in natural (outdoor) light, and solid with good lighting (e.g. strong indoor fluorescent), but not so good in weak light. Unfortunately, my main indoor footbag spots don't have great lightWyrmFyre wrote:I very nearly bought a Flip but opted for a cheaper model instead
Assorted updates on my footbag life:
Group shreds
Last weekend I went up to Fort Collins, and got to hang out with Ted Anderson and Mike Strumpf. We got in a shred, which marked the first time in nearly 3 months that I got to play with others. It was a lot of fun. Pete Irish is supposedly floating around Colorado now, and there are theoretical plans to get in a shred with him and Rippin. I hope it happens.
Worlds
It's both amazing and depressing to see how much motivation I've lost to compete at Worlds. I haven't practiced a routine in at least two months, and at this point I'm not even sure I'm going to compete. While I could try and blame this loss of motivation on any number of factors, I figure it's not worth it for me to stress about. If some of my other life-stresses go away and I can get my head together in time to compete well, then great. If not, I'm not going to beat myself up about it. Worst case scenario, I take a week off from work in summer, see a bunch of friends, and play footbag. That's not that bad really. At this point I should just be happy I'm playing at all.
NYFA and East Coast Champs
East Coasts is this weekend, and NYFA tourney is next weekend. I won both of these tournaments the last two years running, and this year I can't attend either because of this weird travel restriction technicality of government work. Blergh. Beyond denying me the chance to defend either title, I also just feel like I'm long overdue for hanging out with NYFA. I haven't seen them since January, and this would have been a great opportunity to play with everybody, especially if I end up moving to Denver. Oh, and on that note, still no word on the job offer. I'm hoping to find out in the next couple weeks though.
Beast Video
This project is what I'm most excited about in footbag now, and I'm making good progress with it. My original plan was to just make a video with all my old beast footage and just re-shoot a few beasts in HD to spice it up. Now though, I'm thinking I want the video to be completely in HD. So far I've filmed around 12 beasts in HD, including some new ones. One nice side-effect of this, is that I've re-hit some of my beasts as many as 4 or 5 times now. I feel like I can now claim these beasts more legitly, since I know they weren't one-time flukes. Of my 14 or so beasts, I think there's only 3 which I've only hit once. I initially re-hit 5 beasts in bad lighting before figuring out how much clearer my camera shoots in better light, so I ended up re-hitting all of those combos. There are a couple of my original beasts that I've yet to re-hit, but if I can't, I figure I'll just omit them from the vid. This weekend I'd like to hit one or two more beasts in outdoor light, and then I'll feel like I have enough material to actually start making the vid. We'll see if my head cold lets me do this or not.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q4IoWVFU-O0[/youtube]
Last edited by C-Fan on 26 May 2015 09:23, edited 1 time in total.
-
- Fearless
- Posts: 641
- Joined: 27 Oct 2005 08:44
- Location: Provo, UT
- Contact:
hey ken, may i ask where you got your camera? Ive been looking for the camera you purchased around here, but cant seem to find one. may have to order it online or something
Your next task: Go to the bathroom.
Wash your face.
Put your shoulders hunched upwards.
Look really, really slowly upwards towards the mirror like in the movies
And slap yourself in the face.
With your game face on.
And go shred with jim.
It'll work, trust me.
-Jay Boychuk
Wash your face.
Put your shoulders hunched upwards.
Look really, really slowly upwards towards the mirror like in the movies
And slap yourself in the face.
With your game face on.
And go shred with jim.
It'll work, trust me.
-Jay Boychuk
-
- Post Master General
- Posts: 3147
- Joined: 19 Sep 2007 23:42
- Location: Canberra, Australia
- Contact:
Hey Ken
I think the fact that you did your routine dropless last year at Worlds is going to be one of the reasons why your not so motivated. From reading your blog it seems that was something that you really, really wanted to do, now there's not so much left.
Even if you don't train or anything, I think you will be able to put together a good routine, you've been doing it for so long
Will be good to see you again at worlds.
I think the fact that you did your routine dropless last year at Worlds is going to be one of the reasons why your not so motivated. From reading your blog it seems that was something that you really, really wanted to do, now there's not so much left.
Even if you don't train or anything, I think you will be able to put together a good routine, you've been doing it for so long
Will be good to see you again at worlds.
Haven't posted here in over 2 months; that's probably a record for me. What can I say, life's been busy.
So why am I posting today? Well, today happens to mark my 13th anniversary of playing freestyle footbag! That's pretty insane when you think about it. I do feel lucky and proud that I've managed to stick around this long. For the most part I've avoided injury, and I've managed to keep finding ways to keep footbag interesting to me. Amazingly enough, I also still feel like I'm at the peak of my game. Maybe I'm just a late bloomer...in any case, I'm glad I'm still playing and improving.
The reason I haven't posted in here in a while, is that I'm going through an incredibly busy and stressful period in my career/life. The big news is that I've accepted a job in Denver, Colorado. While this is great for me in almost every way in the long term, in the short term it's a logistical nightmare which couldn't have been timed any worse. Basically, there are three important things that have to happen before I can move out to Denver, and all three are completely beyond my control. Worse yet, they are in the hands of government HR bureaucrats. Long story short though, the lease on my DC apartment ends August 1st, and I'm not sure when I'll get the official OK to move to Denver and start my job there. Astute readers will note that August 1st is also the first day of Worlds. So yeah, I have to move all my stuff out by then, go compete at Worlds, and then couchsurf and live out of a suitcase when I get back to DC, until I can move to Denver. Pretty hard to imagine worse timing.
Speaking of bad timing, I left Denver and came back to DC on June 18th. Since then, the magic number has been 90. As in, it's been over 90 degrees well over 90% of the days I've been back. That, combined with the poor air quality, means we've had heat indices ranging from 100 to 110 for most of that time. By "poor air quality," I mean Code Yellow/Orange/Red days of pollution. I've only managed to play footbag outside a handful of times because of this.
On that note, I'm happy I'm going to Worlds. Yeah, the timing of it and my move couldn't be worse. Yeah, I haven't had a chance to adequately prepare a routine. That said, I desperately need a vacation. Getting out of the DC heat, seeing friends, and playing a ton of footbag for a week will be good for me mentally. I have low expectations for myself from a competition standpoint, but at this point I just feel lucky to be going. I also don't think it's a coincidence that Worlds perfectly overlaps with Shark Week. It's my philosophy to live every week like it's Shark Week, so that'll definitely help me have fun at Worlds.
On the footbag front, I don't have much to report. I picked a routine song a couple weeks ago, so my routine isn't in great shape. The main thing I've been excited about in footbag for the last few months, is my Beast video project. I got an HD camera a couple months ago, and since then I've been trying to hit as many beasts as possible in HD. I'm up to 22 now, and hope to get a few more before I make a video. Ideally I'll have time to edit something once I settle down in Colorado, whenever that is.
In the tradition of always posting video in my blog, I'll finish with this clip from my last session:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=isNXnhcreWg[/youtube]
So why am I posting today? Well, today happens to mark my 13th anniversary of playing freestyle footbag! That's pretty insane when you think about it. I do feel lucky and proud that I've managed to stick around this long. For the most part I've avoided injury, and I've managed to keep finding ways to keep footbag interesting to me. Amazingly enough, I also still feel like I'm at the peak of my game. Maybe I'm just a late bloomer...in any case, I'm glad I'm still playing and improving.
The reason I haven't posted in here in a while, is that I'm going through an incredibly busy and stressful period in my career/life. The big news is that I've accepted a job in Denver, Colorado. While this is great for me in almost every way in the long term, in the short term it's a logistical nightmare which couldn't have been timed any worse. Basically, there are three important things that have to happen before I can move out to Denver, and all three are completely beyond my control. Worse yet, they are in the hands of government HR bureaucrats. Long story short though, the lease on my DC apartment ends August 1st, and I'm not sure when I'll get the official OK to move to Denver and start my job there. Astute readers will note that August 1st is also the first day of Worlds. So yeah, I have to move all my stuff out by then, go compete at Worlds, and then couchsurf and live out of a suitcase when I get back to DC, until I can move to Denver. Pretty hard to imagine worse timing.
Speaking of bad timing, I left Denver and came back to DC on June 18th. Since then, the magic number has been 90. As in, it's been over 90 degrees well over 90% of the days I've been back. That, combined with the poor air quality, means we've had heat indices ranging from 100 to 110 for most of that time. By "poor air quality," I mean Code Yellow/Orange/Red days of pollution. I've only managed to play footbag outside a handful of times because of this.
On that note, I'm happy I'm going to Worlds. Yeah, the timing of it and my move couldn't be worse. Yeah, I haven't had a chance to adequately prepare a routine. That said, I desperately need a vacation. Getting out of the DC heat, seeing friends, and playing a ton of footbag for a week will be good for me mentally. I have low expectations for myself from a competition standpoint, but at this point I just feel lucky to be going. I also don't think it's a coincidence that Worlds perfectly overlaps with Shark Week. It's my philosophy to live every week like it's Shark Week, so that'll definitely help me have fun at Worlds.
On the footbag front, I don't have much to report. I picked a routine song a couple weeks ago, so my routine isn't in great shape. The main thing I've been excited about in footbag for the last few months, is my Beast video project. I got an HD camera a couple months ago, and since then I've been trying to hit as many beasts as possible in HD. I'm up to 22 now, and hope to get a few more before I make a video. Ideally I'll have time to edit something once I settle down in Colorado, whenever that is.
In the tradition of always posting video in my blog, I'll finish with this clip from my last session:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=isNXnhcreWg[/youtube]
Last edited by C-Fan on 26 May 2015 09:24, edited 2 times in total.
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- Avenging Disco Godfather
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