six months later....

no the title has no further meaning than it has been nearly exactly 6 months since I last wrote on here. And what an eventful time it's been. Makes you wonder why I didnt write about it in here doesn't it....

I have realised that things tend to take over my life in a way that time away from those things are spent in rather mundane ways such as...hmm...watching tv? haha Or randomly surfing on here (there again another reason i could have been blogging more, i was actually ON the internet) It is amazing when I think of it how much time I can kill just randomly searching and reading about things on here. Last week my connection was down for lets say 2 and a half days. I was the most irritated stressed out person ever!

Anyways...small recap of the 6 months? Coaching, Coaching, Coaching. Coaching takes over my life...i think about planning the next session, how the last session went, and what tomorrow is going to be like. This is during summer camps when i'm on 12 hours a day. Yes they'r residential camps so I have to entertain adolescents for alot more time than 3 sessions a day. Yes three. In addition to meals and other off-the-field time.

After that was day camps. Less hours but now they are on top of you every minute and there is no time in between to truly assess and tweak your next session, plus I have to drive there and back which contributes to the exhaustion. Plus make my own food....

After that was preseason. (did anybody notice any break time here?) I ran a preseason camp for a school that has come to residential camps every year I'v been there. I was working in the afternoons and chatting almost overnight. In fact I remember chatting one night until friends in Europe started signing on and saying good morning, until I saw light in the window. But I digress...coaching.

High school season, travel season, Oh and one more new thing: school. Yep it was back to school for me. Exercise Science and Kinesiology. A most interesting major; added to the stress of Fall coaching but I'v absolutely loved those classes. Thought it might be a good thing to actually have a degree related to what i'v decided to do in life: become a coach.

Ah yes NOW we really get down to the crux if it. In the time since my last post I have decided, or some may say accepted, that this is what I am doing with my life. For all i enjoy it, it wasn't an easy decision/realisation. Maybe it was the magnitude of the decision after having been kinda just going with the flow for so long. Or maybe it was, as one friend put it, the realisation of how much I influence I have on those kids' lives. There I was being told how good a coach I was, how much the kids like me, how they learn so much from me bla bla bla, all stuff I'd heard before. And then here comes one girl who tells me she "was expecting camp to be horrible but [I] made it fun and comfortable", tells me I "ooze ease", I was "personable, no other coach was like [me] at camp", she "enjoyed the sessions", and I "pushed [them] when [they] needed it". She had known me for not even 5 days. To think that this was the effect I can have on people was profound. And to think, in hindsight, that this is the effect that I HAVE HAD, made it all the more intense. During the high school season I became even more sensitised to it looking at the way the girls would react to things. The way some of them would seek not only my advice but also my confidence.

So here I am finally on Christmas break and hopefully I will have some time to reflect on all that. And also to think about my next post which should in fairness be about another huge focus in my life: a lil sister =)


till nex time....

R.I.P George Carlin

"I think it's the duty of the comedian to find out where the line is drawn and cross it deliberately"

- George Carlin

Mars again

I'm sitting here watching the "major coverage" of the Pheonix landing thing and recalled my Mars post and it STILL blows my mind how much money is being/has been spent on such a venture: $420 million (all of which could go down the drain should anything go wrong). What surprises me even more at this point though, is that I haven't heard any presidential candidate talk about this cost. Umm do people realise its taxes that pays for this? While there is pollution, crime, poverty, unemployment, and war, should the American sense of adventure and willingness to showcase technological advances take precedence? Seriously, this is beyond me. Maybe I dont have my priorities right....

"new" dog food

Ahmmm... yuh know how long my dog eatin rice and peas? and a lil mango for dessert. When they comin out with a fruit someting?

Today a funny thing happened....

A little girl asked me why my skin is brown.

It was one of those moments when the kids are getting to know you, you're actually having fun coaching them, you can tell they like you, and then boom they start asking personal questions. My spurofthemoment answer? Cuz people are different.
Seemed to work.
Follow up question: where are you from?
The Caribbean, how about that?!!
Wooow

This was during a water break. So the session continues and later I only had to deal with more innocuous inquiries such as what was my favourite colour. But it really makes me stop to take stock of how much of an influence I have on the kids I work with, the things they pick up from me other than soccer, the things they might think of me as a person, how I make them think of things.... New team for Spring, it's gonna be an interesting season.

Welcome to Spring

SO happy it's brighter and warmer and soon I'll be outside kickin' some ball! ;-)

International Seed Bank

I know i'm a bit behind with this one: the Global Seed Vault located on the Spitzbergen Island territories of Norway located in the Artic Circle. The vault was built to house, supposedly indefinitely, plant seeds and samples for species from around the world in an effort to avoid permanent loss of these species. While I applaud the idea and the fact that it was actually implemented (there are in fact many smaller "repositories" around the world), it does make you think about the fact that we are gradually losing crop species. Plant, fruit, and vegetable species are gradually becoming less diverse, and even becoming extinct. Yes extinction is not reserved only for animals.

Not surprising its the fact that such an endeavour would be undertaken by Scandinavian countries, the nations with the best living standards in the world. Those Prime Ministers took part in the ceremonial "turning of the sod". But guess what? Norway paid for the whole thing! Millions of dollars. And countries can place seed deposits for FREE. Other international organisations help in fundraising etc. for countries to prepare their contributions. The Norwegians are also paying for the upkeep of the place. Where do they get all this money.......

Anyways, Trinidad should get it together right away and send up some of our own specimens. I feel like the fruits I was so used to as a child (not THAT long ago), seem to be less and less common. Or even fruits my parents would talk about, that only on a lucky day would I see now, far less have the chance to try them. Topi tambo, chataigne, pommecythere, peewah, pommerac, series (sp?), so many different mangoes, sour cherries, dongs! wow the memories haha. The list goes on... Its sad really but at least we know theres a global effort to save such things.

On the topic of seeds: maternity leave in Norway is 10 months, 100% pay. And you can come back to your same job after. Just some info i picked up in conversation....

...and you wonder why soccer isn't taken seriously

While Major League Soccer languishes in their off-season and you hear nothing of their teams, the action rages on in other leagues around the world, as well as the prestigious UEFA Champions League. Well actually, it's not "nothing" in the news, we have heard about David Beckham a bit, the touted saviour of American soccer. But really, in what way? And has it been any good for the sport in this country?

I think it can all be summed up in a comment made by Alexi Lalas, President of the L.A. Galaxy Beckham's current club, in a telephone interview on the Fox Soccer channel. The presenters contended that Beckham professed to want to promote soccer at all levels in the U.S. but has so far been largely absent from the soccer community and would like for him to come on their show. Response from the great Lalas? "if there was a choice of whether to have him (Becks) do an interview with you or go on 60 minutes, I would have him go on 60 minutes."

Admittedly I was somewhat shocked that he would say something like that after the presenters made quite a good case that soccer fans here just want to talk to him, to know that he is here for soccer not for Hollywood, and that he is in fact interested in giving back to the fans. But a few seconds later (yes it took only seconds) I thought well, there you have it! Here is a man who has played at the highest level possible, now president and GM of a club, saying you know what? We would prefer to reach more people who care about Beckham's celebrity couple status, life with Posh, how much money he makes, his tattoos etc, in other words "the drama", rather than those people who actually care about him for what he is, and what he is primarily known for worldwide: being a professional soccer player.

Sorry to say that Lalas became speechless after taking calls from listeners, average fans who wanted to know why Beckham isn't even IN America at the moment, who wanted to know more about his football/soccer life as opposed to seeing him on "E! True Hollywood Story" or "Fatherhood" and the like, and who seconded having him be on said program for even 10 minutes. Apparently Lalas felt that the presenters were full of BS until people called in to back them up, and eventually could give no good reason for Becks not making himself available.

How do you like that...as if you didn't already have enough egg on your face from creating such a hype about how much Beckham would do for American soccer, a player who from the start was injured and never figured in but a few minutes of the season, a player who from the start was speculated upon whether he was coming here for soccer or for Hollywood fame (why not join an east coast team?) Now here you go feeding the critics by having Becks seemingly make a larger proportion of non-soccer related appearances, and then by making a stupid statement like that.

Now don't get me wrong, I think Beckham is a good player, certainly not at the top of his game anymore though, and that he can indeed improve the visibility and popularity of soccer in the U.S. He's not the best but if people here are excited about him then great! But at least be here so those people can see you.

However! It is certainly NOT all Becks fault. I have indeed heard about him recently, and it was during his bid to regain a spot on the England team, training with one of the top clubs over there. When asked why Becks was not in the U.S. Lalas said well it's the off season and there is nothing club-related going on at the moment. Umm, does anyone else see a problem with that? MLS must be the only sport in this country that COMPLETELY drops out of the news in the off season. But all is not lost. At least this year we have the Spice Girls Reunion to entertain us in the meantime.

the old guy, the black guy, and the woman

The old guy says "here I am risen out of the ashes," the black guy says "Yes we can!" and the woman...well, maybe the woman wishes she could speak as well as the black guy so she got a willing attack dog to do it for her and when that doesn't work she cries.

Now believe me I am completely impartial, I've said before that I find this race most fascinating. By the way, anybody watch Glenn Beck? You don't have to agree with him, but he's interesting, unless this stuff really gets your blood boiling and you want to get up and punch the TV. Of course you can always change the channel to... let's say FoxNews maybe? haha

Anyways it seems like people aren't sure if they like the old guy even though he is the supposed front-runner. Is it that the "donkeys" are shooting themselves in the foot by running the black guy and the woman? Can you actually picture either of them in the oval office? I mean would it be better if he was called something like, O i don't know, Brian Ogilvie? And she if she didn't have her attack dog? Or if she stopped tearing up? Of course it seems the dog has been kenneled of late, but the waterworks, jeez. Does it help them now that the Mormon has dropped out?

Is it in fact coming down to choosing the lesser evil? To the innocent bystanders like myself, that's what analysts seem to be saying. Are people going to choose the black guy or the woman? And THEN: who would they choose if it happened to be the old vs the black guy, or if it was the woman vs the old guy? Some say that party lines may not matter after a while.

Whatever happens I'm certainly learning alot about alot.

stuck in a mental rut

Here I am Carnival Tuesday spending a cold, dreary day in Connecticut. But its OK, I mean...when people was jumpin in Panorama, I was snowboarding in Pennsylvania after all. And when some of those same people going Champs in Concert, I plan to be snowboarding again (before I forget what I learned) in Massachusetts. Unfortunately I didnt have my camera so I am waiting to be sent action shots from said trip haha. While I had a good time in the fake snow, the weekend also contained disturbing highlights of the narrow thinking processes of some of my fellow Trinidadians.

At some points I thought "wow trinis too full of themselves"; at other times I thought "o you poor things"; others "ok now that is damn stupid!"; or "how small-minded can you be?". It became quite exasperating after a while, as you might imagine. Now I might generalise in writing this post however I am very aware, and warn any readers, that my comments do not apply to all.

Many trinis have this sense of false pride, they like to think they are above things, that they are better, condescending, if you like. But it plays itself out in the most trivial ways: they are fighting over material things in an effort to prove themselves, things that have become comoditised to the rest of us. Like fighting over whose cell phone rings louder, or showing off the perceived prestige of the store where they bought a pair of jeans. Damn fools. I'll take the exact jeans from the "cheap" store thank you very much.

I have to say the thing that really topped it for me was finding out that men wear winter jackets in Trinidad, the ones with fur on the hood no less. Can you imagine?!?! Music videos must have a HECK of an influence. And here I had someone asking me for a light jacket I was going to give to Salvation Army: "I could wear that at night! People will wear that in Trinidad!" I was in shock. Response? "I don't care if people wearing it, I won't be the one to give it to you to encourage that nonsense"

For some reason I thought that in general we were becoming a more enlightened people. Perhaps it was wishful thinking, being fanciful. I hereby state that I was jerked back down to earth by observing people wanting to come to AmERica to say they were "in the cold" but not actually wanting to experience all that that may entail, people waving their fingers in disdain at certain cell phones but then not knowing what an iPhone is (or even walkie-talkie service for that matter), people who just come here to "take out PITures" so they could go home and say they went AmERica.

Damn! I'm anonoyed.....

Election 2008

Aright I'm sitting here watching a republican debate on Fox (it's the middle of the night and there's nothing else on) I must say it is quite a marvel to take in everything, all the campaigning, debates, the drama! To be honest I didn't pay this much attention '04... I'm trying to remember if I had a TV back then.. hmm. Anyways, it really is enthralling especially when I think of the recently-concluded elections in Trinidad: such a circus!! Elections are called, the date set and then the mudslinging begins! Complete with the town meetings/campaigns, the ridiculous ads on ALL the media, the election songs etc etc. I tell you, I stopped listening to the radio streams from home because of the elections, these calypsoes would come on and I'm thinking "what kinda dumb song is this?!" lo and behold as I naively listened on, "Damn is ah election tune!" I understand there are quite a number of TV ads taken out by said candidates here in America that I have somehow managed to avoid, though I assume they would be more dignified than the ones from my own country.

It makes SO much sense to have "round one" so to speak, to decide on who the best candidate for the party would be. That's great! They get to air their views on relevant issues, people get a fair chance to size them up, and most of all, the election isn't stuffed down your throat. You don't get fly-by-night candidates who say things in the moment to get your vote in a few days; you get candidates who must take a stance and defend an opinion over a period of time lest he discredit himself by stating contradictions because he didn't have a firm position to begin with.

The next thing that fascinates me is the actual process by which a candidate, and ultimately the President, is selected. I am referring here the "the primaries" or "caucuses", which have the potential to be somewhat complicated when translated to the National Committees of both parties. I have to say though, this process is a precursor to the Presidential election. After doing a little research I would say the primary/caucus is to the national convention as the electoral college is to the Presidential election. There's that "electoral college" phrase first highlighted (for non-americans anyway) during the 2000 Bush debacle. What the hell is it? And how can a lower popular vote have similar weight to a higher one? And in the case of caucuses, how can you send unpledged delegates to the Convention after having the caucus? Some things, I have to admit I just don't get it.

One thing I've settled on in watching the election drama: down with Huckabee, a President with a lisp would never do, just drives me up the wall.

Firsts

First of all Let me wish you a most productive 2008 (whatever that may mean to you), stress free and full of enjoyment.

The First person I thought about for the New Year was Johan, my other half, although I had spoken to him only an hour earlier when Trinidad was ringing in the new year. He makes me laugh.

The first out of the ordinary thing I did for the New Year was to pee outdoors, seeing as I couldn't find a port-a-potty in a place where there was a large number of people (quite a strange occurrence in America), it steamed. Trinis might find this hard to get their heads around but thats what happens when it is cold.

The first thing I ate in the New Year was Crix when I got back home. (for any non-trini readers, this is like our National cracker haha) It was quite satisfying sitting in my chair with some crix and hot tea.

This first annoying thing to happen in the New Year was to realise my internet was screwy. COULD NOT believe it! (Don't worry, it came back pretty soon and I had my crix to pacify me in the meantime)

My first act on the internet for the new year (after checking tomorrow's football schedule) was/is to write this post. I do believe in making resolutions. After all why celebrate the new year if some part of it isn't celebrating a new beginning. So I resolve to revive my blog in 2008.

I also resolve to worry about things less, to lime more, and to learn to snowboard.

Happy 2008!!