I went to THREE parties this weekend. Good gracious golly gosh. Takes me back to my younger days.
Party #1
Drinks at Ed's on Friday night.
Ed made mulled wine. I like mulled wine. He also made saveloys. Ed has an affinity for old-school party snacks. And food shaped like animals. I got butter chicken from the best take-away Indian shop in Wellington and ate it by myself. It was good to see The Posse together again and planning future adventures out Lake Ferry way.
I did not get drunk. I chatted to Ryan about his love life, always interesting. Ryan has sworn off alcohol altogether. He is now a tee-totaller to aid his body building. As he admitted, he can be obnoxious WITHOUT the aid of any other substances. He spent the night macking on two girls, one of whom voluntarily gave her his number (wheeee). At times we eavesdropped and heard him talking about diseases and thought that wasn't a smooth move, but then we looked over and he was doing muscle-flexing poses, which the girlies LOVED.
Drunken appearances were made by several friends and colleagues, some of which were amusing. I spent some time in the kitchen listening to Sam and Matt talk about dorky boy-things. Matt tried to force me into PDAs and insisted it was ok if we were obscured by a pole. I did not believe him.
We were walking home past Liquor King and a young man stopped us in the street and said, 'Hey man - can I borrow your girlfriend?' To my relief, Matt quickly answered, 'NO!' and walked on. We turned to listen to the fellow's reasoning, and he explained he'd found a girl in the street who was comaed out and wouldn't talk to them and he thought she might respond better to a fellow girl. Matt calmly said that she didn't look like she was fit to respond to ANYBODY, so good luck buddy.
Party #2
Morgan's Squatter Party
Saturday night brought the apartment party on the Terrace. Now, just getting into this one was an intelligence test. I sent an SOS text to Sam, then heard him yelling ‘I can seeeee you’ from SOMEWHERE nearby and up high. But I looked up and saw nobody. I felt like I was in the movie ‘The Game’. Me, down below in an empty court-yard. People looking down on me from above. Some cryptic intercom system where you had translate an apartment number into a four digit code.
I have a small fear of intercom systems. I hate telephones anyhow, so intercoms are even worse. I’m not even sure what you’re supposed to say into them.
Once I got inside I liked the smell of the hallways. They had that motel-smell of air-freshener and cleaning products. Kinda new smelling. I made my contribution to the Benny-Bucket (finally finding a use for part of the present I bought Ange’s now-ex-boyfriend before I was uninvited to his party).
Sam and me hopefully made an arty-photo out on the balcony with a party-popper and an extended exposure. I was glad to help Sam in his new hobby of ‘photographing things other than planes’.
I chatted to some Ultimate people and had to make multiple excuses as to why getting up early(ish) on a Saturday morning and practising throwing Frisbees in the mud was not something I could do….. Many a good conversation was had about T-shirts. Sam had a sci-fi one on, Morgue had a cryptic algebraic equation on his and I had an elk on mine. There was another conversation where Sammy was musing about how he finds it hard to drink alcohol when he has a cold. I said (fairly innocently, I thought) that there are other things that are very difficult when you have a cold too. Fish knew exactly what I meant.... and Sam contributed the phrase 'smothered, but in a good way'.... I'll say no more.
Party #3
Matt’s Friends on The Terrace
I had had two vodka-and-red-bulls by this stage. I walked up to Kelburn Parade to meet Matt. While there were a lot of hills I kept saying to myself, ‘My Dad used to walk up here from the train station EVERY day, in bare feet in the winter when he was at Uni…..’ I somehow got up to the top bus-stop without seeing Matt, so I texted him and found out we’d missed each other. So I hid from him up some stairs (sign #1 that the vodka was taking effect). I tried bombing him with wine-gums, but they missed.
The party had lots of cool young folk at it. I was shy. I probably hung off Matt like some clingy girl. But as I got more vodka-affected I made my own fun. I have visions of dancing with Matt to various music (now, I am fully aware that I’m a horrible dancer….. so that image worries me, especially considering that for most of that we were the only ones dancing, yet there were other people in the room….).
I drunk a whole hip-flask of vodka! Now, while I never get ‘drunk’…. I do get to the stage where I like running away and hiding. That might be mildly annoying to sober boyfriends (and others). Matt found me hiding up in the attic spare-bedroom and said, ‘Kate, time to go home’ (I think he had to come up and say it three times before I obliged and climbed down the ladder, which my sensible side was putting off due to the difficulty of the task). I then grabbed my stuff (even in vodka-induced states I never lose stuff, it’s a skill) and ran out of the side door. I got clear to the bottom the Hunter Building driveway before I stopped and looked behind. Matt wasn’t in sight.
I hid down a side alley, but he was too clever and found me. I ran away again, up and down the side-path to Salamanca Rd…. but he eventually texted me saying ‘Kate, stop hiding’ so I had to find him.
Ahhh, takes me back to my younger days! But at least I didn’t fall asleep at this party. That was my #1 aim for the night. I perhaps need to reprioritise my aims for the next party (if there IS a next party). I am perhaps now known as 'Matt's girlfriend who falls asleep at parties, doesn't say much and gets fairly drunk'. The only consolation would be if they put 'but she's hot and wears cool t-shirts' in there somewhere as well......
Sunday, August 06, 2006
Thursday, August 03, 2006
All is Good.
I'm in a good phase right now. Things tend to ebb and flow - I must be flowing (or should that be ebbing?). One or t'other.
Work is fine. I'm a little behind on my marking, but everything else is running smoothly enough. I'm feeling positive about the progress of The Magazine (a beast that shall later in the year try to swallow me up).
I'm listening to a great Radiohead song. Black Star. It is making me feel good too. I'm stealing Sam's styles there.
My flat is good. I like the present mix. I am 100% glad I asked the old one to move out. It is now me and three lads - and they are picking on me, but I can handle it. Their latest thing is when we're watching TV, if I talk they start bitching about how girls always try to gossip over top of movies... and they say 'Less talkie talkie, more shutty shutty'. Andy watches the news every night. It's forced me to get into that routine. It's very good for me.
Glenn has taken over the job of fixing the back door (which was kicked in by some mysterious force a week ago, and is yet to be fixed by the mysterious 'handyman' who never turns up). He is presently sanding and cutting wood. He is totally in his element. He even went round to Matt's house to get more tools (without me knowing) - an odd incident of 'worlds colliding'. This would be about the only guy I've gone out with who would get on with Glenn. An odd phenomenon, but actually quite good. It's nice when everyone kinda gets along.
I have played indoor netball, volleyball, ultimate and basketball this week. Sporting fun! I'm looking forward to winter being over so I can start recruiting people for games of tennis again. That's a lovely after-work routine to get into once the days are longer and warmer. I might even invest in a couple of new raquets so that nobody has any excuses :)
My brother has a regular job for the first time..... since the late 1990's. He seems happy about it. Maybe he's found a niche.
People all around seem to have good things going on. People getting things published, buying houses, having good relationships.
The winter funk must be nearly over.
I have three parties to go to this weekend! That's insane. I will have to be on my 'A-game' to handle it. One of them is with Matt's friends. They are all 23-odd years old. I think once you're over 25, you can't party like you could at that age. I certainly felt the change. I am going to try my hardest to 'represent' the older age bracket more positively at this party (no falling asleep before midnight). I will drink lots of V.
My guitar has even been tuned for me (thanks to a team effort from Matt and Andy). I haven't actually played it in a while. But it's good to know it's tuned, just in case I get the urge.
***
Top Seven Things I'm Looking Forward To
1) Warmer weather - feeling like going out after work and doing stuff instead of coming home and hibernating by the heater and eating.
2) Sam's 30th - I'm sure it'll be swell, whatever it is! And if it's an excuse to dress up pretty, even better.
3) Seeing the new Jack Black movie where he's a Mexican wrestler. Good clean fun! There's nothing on at the regular movies right now that even vaguely inspires me.
4) Me and Ange might be going on a mission up to Gisborne to visit a friend of ours. That'd be like old times. The friend we're gonna visit is one of the nicest people you could ever meet.
5) I am about to reach a new mile-stone in my savings account. I think I'll get there in two more pay-packets.
6) On of these days I'm going to try a hot chocolate at Shoc Choc in town (they have a cafe on that street the Warehouse is on in town, down towards Courtenay Place). Apparently they are DIVINE. They use real chocolate.
7) I am going to buy some artworks off kids at school who are raising money for a trip. They are beautiful ink prints. Original art-work is all good.
Work is fine. I'm a little behind on my marking, but everything else is running smoothly enough. I'm feeling positive about the progress of The Magazine (a beast that shall later in the year try to swallow me up).
I'm listening to a great Radiohead song. Black Star. It is making me feel good too. I'm stealing Sam's styles there.
My flat is good. I like the present mix. I am 100% glad I asked the old one to move out. It is now me and three lads - and they are picking on me, but I can handle it. Their latest thing is when we're watching TV, if I talk they start bitching about how girls always try to gossip over top of movies... and they say 'Less talkie talkie, more shutty shutty'. Andy watches the news every night. It's forced me to get into that routine. It's very good for me.
Glenn has taken over the job of fixing the back door (which was kicked in by some mysterious force a week ago, and is yet to be fixed by the mysterious 'handyman' who never turns up). He is presently sanding and cutting wood. He is totally in his element. He even went round to Matt's house to get more tools (without me knowing) - an odd incident of 'worlds colliding'. This would be about the only guy I've gone out with who would get on with Glenn. An odd phenomenon, but actually quite good. It's nice when everyone kinda gets along.
I have played indoor netball, volleyball, ultimate and basketball this week. Sporting fun! I'm looking forward to winter being over so I can start recruiting people for games of tennis again. That's a lovely after-work routine to get into once the days are longer and warmer. I might even invest in a couple of new raquets so that nobody has any excuses :)
My brother has a regular job for the first time..... since the late 1990's. He seems happy about it. Maybe he's found a niche.
People all around seem to have good things going on. People getting things published, buying houses, having good relationships.
The winter funk must be nearly over.
I have three parties to go to this weekend! That's insane. I will have to be on my 'A-game' to handle it. One of them is with Matt's friends. They are all 23-odd years old. I think once you're over 25, you can't party like you could at that age. I certainly felt the change. I am going to try my hardest to 'represent' the older age bracket more positively at this party (no falling asleep before midnight). I will drink lots of V.
My guitar has even been tuned for me (thanks to a team effort from Matt and Andy). I haven't actually played it in a while. But it's good to know it's tuned, just in case I get the urge.
***
Top Seven Things I'm Looking Forward To
1) Warmer weather - feeling like going out after work and doing stuff instead of coming home and hibernating by the heater and eating.
2) Sam's 30th - I'm sure it'll be swell, whatever it is! And if it's an excuse to dress up pretty, even better.
3) Seeing the new Jack Black movie where he's a Mexican wrestler. Good clean fun! There's nothing on at the regular movies right now that even vaguely inspires me.
4) Me and Ange might be going on a mission up to Gisborne to visit a friend of ours. That'd be like old times. The friend we're gonna visit is one of the nicest people you could ever meet.
5) I am about to reach a new mile-stone in my savings account. I think I'll get there in two more pay-packets.
6) On of these days I'm going to try a hot chocolate at Shoc Choc in town (they have a cafe on that street the Warehouse is on in town, down towards Courtenay Place). Apparently they are DIVINE. They use real chocolate.
7) I am going to buy some artworks off kids at school who are raising money for a trip. They are beautiful ink prints. Original art-work is all good.
Tuesday, August 01, 2006
Letters
I got a letter from my grandma today. I opened it and found a card and then a 7 page letter.... I sighed. My grandma's writing is very hard to read and she tends to mention her gout and my brother's employment status a lot. Though, she has a good sense of humour.
BUT....
I found out, upon reading it, that the letter was an old one my mum had sent her when I was in about Standard Three. It's fascinating to read Mum's perspective of those days! Specially since it's like a voice from the grave. I remember all the things she wrote about.
I am going to type it out for my own posterity. The youngest child in me comes out when I read all about David's successes and then about Katie's 'trying hard' at gym and putting on lots of weight when I stayed with Grandma.... :) I didn't get good at stuff til later on in life........... I like that my mum was a procrastinator too.
'Dear Mum and Allan,
It's before 8 o'clock. The kids are making their lunches without fighting for once and I'm sitting here working out how much I have to do in the next few days. I have spent a couple of weeks doing very little for my outside interests and I have enjoyed being at home for a change. Have done a little sewing and cleaned out a few cupboards. Trouble is that things are catching up on me - have promised to have a submission to the council for a pedestrian crossing ready for tonight and I haven't started it. Meeting tonight!! And then on Wednesday I speak to a group on children's books and I haven't prepared my talk yet. Think I have to fill an hour!
Worst of all I have to make a t-shirt for David for a concert. His jazz ballet class is performing on Thursday night and he is supposed to have an aqua t-shirt. Naturally the shop had sold out when we got there. Should be fun as I have to try and make one the same as the others will be wearing with no pattern!
He looks funny in his dance - knows all the steps well but isn't sure when to change and his eyes are on a swivel to see what the girls are doing. I'm sorry now that he didn't go for his exam - he would have passed I'm sure. Kim's classes got top marks for NZ. Still, if he sticks at it he will do ok as he is much younger than all the other grade 1's (Some are high school age!). He will be nervous by Thursday night.
David had two nights out last week as his school put on a performance of 'Aladdin'. He was in the choir and had to go on stage once to hold up music. Gave us a bit of a giggle as he and his friend had on conical shaped hats and as they stood in front of the curtain the hats would touch it and lift up at the back. They would drop the music and grab hats and then grab music again. David only did it a few times but his friend spent the whole song grabbing hat and music alternately. Made it very hard to sing along as he music kept bobbing up and down.
Did I tell you David passed his Iron badge at gym? His marks weren't wonderful but the best for the club. Katie passed her Grade 2 also, but that is virtually given to you as long as you try hard! She is a trier but about as gifted as me.
Got paid back for sitting writing at breakfast time - Merv ate ALL the fresh fruit salad I had put out for breakfast. Not a nice thing to do to a person on a diet.
We have actually been getting out and about more lately - sick of staying home ALL the time. Went to the beach for a whole day two weeks ago and the kids raved about how wonderful it was. Makes me realise how little we go out as a family. It was a lovely, sunny, hot day.
Exactly seven days later we went away to visit friends in Taihape in the snow. It was fantastic to see snow falling - David ran around like an idiot trying to catch snowflakes. Kate was too busy playing with her friend Bekah to do more than give the snow a fleeting glance. We had gone all that way so that Katie could go to Bekah's birthday. It was not really a holiday for me - Sharron (the mother) is a bit muddle headed and I ended up preparing food, arranging games etc, for Taihape kids for a change! Had to come back the next day for a dancing practice for David.
We have been to the movies twice! Went to 'Mad Max - Beyond the Thunderdome' mid-week before Labour weekend and then to 'Came a Hot Friday' on Saturday night. It's lovely being able to take the kids with us.
Had to buy six birthday presents in seven days! Katie has been to two birthday, David to two and me to two (children from playcentre turning five and especially inviting me). It's been hectic fitting it all in.
Have joined the swimming club at cost of $110!!! So far David and Katie have been once each! $55 a swim so far! Merv keeps forgetting to come home in time to get them there.
Kate has decided on a Tropical Island theme for her party. Everyone to come dressed up and games and food to follow that theme! At least its is an improvement on the original which was a slumber party. Couldn't stand the thought of all those giggling girls for a whole night!! I have to make paper leis for all etc etc. Should be fun!
9 o'clock now. Must get a move on or the day will disappear!
Thank you for the money for petrol and for Katie's birthday. It won't go astray. I had one day of teaching that I actually enjoyed and none since. So there goes my source of funds. It was lovely to actually be earning a bit of money! Only $500 in all but it paid for boat tickets without us drawing from our savings and that was nice!
[on christmas holiday plans to go visit Grandma in Westport]
And you won't need as much food as last time - Katie put on nearly half a stone the time they stayed with you. She stayed that same weight for a whole year just growing taller to fit the weight! David has been conscious about good and bad foods too. Doesn't stop him eating lollies but he tends to eat less junk food and more good food - a bit anyway. I think they don't like watching me dieting - or trying to! See in the paper that it is quite okay for women to put on 20% in weight from 20 to 40. That's encouraging. Maybe plump will come back into fashion again if I wait long enough.
Really must go, lots of work to do.
Love,
Pam
And I really did forget your birthday this year. Must get Katie to put it up on the calender next year when she does everyone elses.'
BUT....
I found out, upon reading it, that the letter was an old one my mum had sent her when I was in about Standard Three. It's fascinating to read Mum's perspective of those days! Specially since it's like a voice from the grave. I remember all the things she wrote about.
I am going to type it out for my own posterity. The youngest child in me comes out when I read all about David's successes and then about Katie's 'trying hard' at gym and putting on lots of weight when I stayed with Grandma.... :) I didn't get good at stuff til later on in life........... I like that my mum was a procrastinator too.
'Dear Mum and Allan,
It's before 8 o'clock. The kids are making their lunches without fighting for once and I'm sitting here working out how much I have to do in the next few days. I have spent a couple of weeks doing very little for my outside interests and I have enjoyed being at home for a change. Have done a little sewing and cleaned out a few cupboards. Trouble is that things are catching up on me - have promised to have a submission to the council for a pedestrian crossing ready for tonight and I haven't started it. Meeting tonight!! And then on Wednesday I speak to a group on children's books and I haven't prepared my talk yet. Think I have to fill an hour!
Worst of all I have to make a t-shirt for David for a concert. His jazz ballet class is performing on Thursday night and he is supposed to have an aqua t-shirt. Naturally the shop had sold out when we got there. Should be fun as I have to try and make one the same as the others will be wearing with no pattern!
He looks funny in his dance - knows all the steps well but isn't sure when to change and his eyes are on a swivel to see what the girls are doing. I'm sorry now that he didn't go for his exam - he would have passed I'm sure. Kim's classes got top marks for NZ. Still, if he sticks at it he will do ok as he is much younger than all the other grade 1's (Some are high school age!). He will be nervous by Thursday night.
David had two nights out last week as his school put on a performance of 'Aladdin'. He was in the choir and had to go on stage once to hold up music. Gave us a bit of a giggle as he and his friend had on conical shaped hats and as they stood in front of the curtain the hats would touch it and lift up at the back. They would drop the music and grab hats and then grab music again. David only did it a few times but his friend spent the whole song grabbing hat and music alternately. Made it very hard to sing along as he music kept bobbing up and down.
Did I tell you David passed his Iron badge at gym? His marks weren't wonderful but the best for the club. Katie passed her Grade 2 also, but that is virtually given to you as long as you try hard! She is a trier but about as gifted as me.
Got paid back for sitting writing at breakfast time - Merv ate ALL the fresh fruit salad I had put out for breakfast. Not a nice thing to do to a person on a diet.
We have actually been getting out and about more lately - sick of staying home ALL the time. Went to the beach for a whole day two weeks ago and the kids raved about how wonderful it was. Makes me realise how little we go out as a family. It was a lovely, sunny, hot day.
Exactly seven days later we went away to visit friends in Taihape in the snow. It was fantastic to see snow falling - David ran around like an idiot trying to catch snowflakes. Kate was too busy playing with her friend Bekah to do more than give the snow a fleeting glance. We had gone all that way so that Katie could go to Bekah's birthday. It was not really a holiday for me - Sharron (the mother) is a bit muddle headed and I ended up preparing food, arranging games etc, for Taihape kids for a change! Had to come back the next day for a dancing practice for David.
We have been to the movies twice! Went to 'Mad Max - Beyond the Thunderdome' mid-week before Labour weekend and then to 'Came a Hot Friday' on Saturday night. It's lovely being able to take the kids with us.
Had to buy six birthday presents in seven days! Katie has been to two birthday, David to two and me to two (children from playcentre turning five and especially inviting me). It's been hectic fitting it all in.
Have joined the swimming club at cost of $110!!! So far David and Katie have been once each! $55 a swim so far! Merv keeps forgetting to come home in time to get them there.
Kate has decided on a Tropical Island theme for her party. Everyone to come dressed up and games and food to follow that theme! At least its is an improvement on the original which was a slumber party. Couldn't stand the thought of all those giggling girls for a whole night!! I have to make paper leis for all etc etc. Should be fun!
9 o'clock now. Must get a move on or the day will disappear!
Thank you for the money for petrol and for Katie's birthday. It won't go astray. I had one day of teaching that I actually enjoyed and none since. So there goes my source of funds. It was lovely to actually be earning a bit of money! Only $500 in all but it paid for boat tickets without us drawing from our savings and that was nice!
[on christmas holiday plans to go visit Grandma in Westport]
And you won't need as much food as last time - Katie put on nearly half a stone the time they stayed with you. She stayed that same weight for a whole year just growing taller to fit the weight! David has been conscious about good and bad foods too. Doesn't stop him eating lollies but he tends to eat less junk food and more good food - a bit anyway. I think they don't like watching me dieting - or trying to! See in the paper that it is quite okay for women to put on 20% in weight from 20 to 40. That's encouraging. Maybe plump will come back into fashion again if I wait long enough.
Really must go, lots of work to do.
Love,
Pam
And I really did forget your birthday this year. Must get Katie to put it up on the calender next year when she does everyone elses.'
Sunday, July 30, 2006
One more post, just for fun
Since I haven't really posted much in the last few days. I'll make up for it right now!
1) People in shops call you ma'am or sir and parents say to their kids, 'Watch out for the lady' when they are in your way.
2) You fall asleep at parties at around midnight (I speak from personal experiences)
3) You often find yourself speaking enthusiastically about high thread-count linen in the middle of having coffee at a trendy cafe, and then glance around to see if anyone is looking at you strangely
4) You now enjoy going to home-ware shops and buying 'nesting' products like tea-towels and throw-rugs. You also consider these good and fine presents to give to your peers for birthday presents.
5) You find yourself more attracted to Dr Craig Valentine than you are to the young fellows on Home and Away.
6) You think of warmth and comfort when choosing outfits on a Saturday night. You tut-tut at those girls walking around in skanky boob-tubes and singlet-tops that bare their cleavages.
7) Your friends are actually trying to get pregnant ON PURPOSE!
8) You'd rather go home to your flannelette sheets and a good night sleep than score some hot young thing you met at the pub.
9) You actually remember things that happened two decades ago.
10) The bank starts offering you Gold Cards.
TOP TEN SIGNS YOU'RE GETTING OLD (feel free to add your own)
1) People in shops call you ma'am or sir and parents say to their kids, 'Watch out for the lady' when they are in your way.
2) You fall asleep at parties at around midnight (I speak from personal experiences)
3) You often find yourself speaking enthusiastically about high thread-count linen in the middle of having coffee at a trendy cafe, and then glance around to see if anyone is looking at you strangely
4) You now enjoy going to home-ware shops and buying 'nesting' products like tea-towels and throw-rugs. You also consider these good and fine presents to give to your peers for birthday presents.
5) You find yourself more attracted to Dr Craig Valentine than you are to the young fellows on Home and Away.
6) You think of warmth and comfort when choosing outfits on a Saturday night. You tut-tut at those girls walking around in skanky boob-tubes and singlet-tops that bare their cleavages.
7) Your friends are actually trying to get pregnant ON PURPOSE!
8) You'd rather go home to your flannelette sheets and a good night sleep than score some hot young thing you met at the pub.
9) You actually remember things that happened two decades ago.
10) The bank starts offering you Gold Cards.
GoddamnitIforgottocashinmymoney!
My extensive collection of 5c pieces is now WORTHLESS!!!!!
Here is my weekend challenge.
Can anyone help add to my list....
1) Go around the city randomly superglueing them to the concrete and watch as unsuspecting passersby try to pick them up (possibly not as likely as glueing down a $1 coin would be at getting a response)
2) Make some kinda of arts and craft project (again, using super-glue) - perhaps a collage or an animal sculpture.
3) Papier-mache a light-bulb and then insert the coins to create a fantastic rattle instrument.
4) Bury them in the garden so that some child in the future will find them and think pirates used to live at their house.
5) Insert them into an unsuspecting confectionary machine (or have they already been updated to not take 5c coins? Surely there are some mangey old ones that aren't up with the play)
6) Use them as confetti at a wedding.
That's all I have so far.
Here is my weekend challenge.
Can anyone help add to my list....
TOP TEN THINGS TO DO WITH YOUR NOW OBSOLETE FIVE CENT COIN COLLECTION
1) Go around the city randomly superglueing them to the concrete and watch as unsuspecting passersby try to pick them up (possibly not as likely as glueing down a $1 coin would be at getting a response)
2) Make some kinda of arts and craft project (again, using super-glue) - perhaps a collage or an animal sculpture.
3) Papier-mache a light-bulb and then insert the coins to create a fantastic rattle instrument.
4) Bury them in the garden so that some child in the future will find them and think pirates used to live at their house.
5) Insert them into an unsuspecting confectionary machine (or have they already been updated to not take 5c coins? Surely there are some mangey old ones that aren't up with the play)
6) Use them as confetti at a wedding.
That's all I have so far.
Flameretardent Underwear
Groosh
For those of you who are indoor-netballers with me, the first round draw is up on the website. There is another wretched 9.40 game coming up. Grrr.
***
Drifting
I have recently been exposed to the art of 'drifting' on a couple of separate ocassions. It is very odd. Some Japanese car-racing phenomenon.
First, Matt made me sit through some cartoon that has Japanese boy-racers challenging each other to race down this mountain with lots of windy corners. That was quite fun because the main character's back-story is that his dad owns a tofu making factory, and as a youngster he was set the task of delivering the goods. Now, tofu is very delicate, so his father would put a glass of water on the dashboard and tell the boy to not spill a single drop of it while out on his deliveries. As a result, he became a drifting-prodigy.
Second, I just got home and Andy was watching some actual Japanese racing, on a race-track with sub-titles for the commentators. I couldn't quite figure out how you won a race (thought spinning out seemed to be a bad thing). The best we could guess was that it was similar to horse-racing in that time matters, but you are also marked on style. We were really just guessing.
***
Food, glorious food!
I have eaten far too much this weekend. I don't mean that in a guilty food-obsessed kinda way. It's just a fact. My body is telling me this. It makes me feel good, because in the good ole days my body woulda been telling me, 'Bring it on, girly! Feed me mooooore!'. So I must be eating in moderation (usually).
A diary of my food.
Friday:
- my department went out for lunch at Mojos, it being a half-day for the kids and all. I had a machiatto and salmon cakes (they came with green vegetable stuff - that can't be too bad).
- was in Levin for tea and they made me have a platter of entrees (crackers, apricot and nut cream cheese, pate), salmon steaks and various vegetables and fruit salad and ice-cream, and a glass of wine
- went to a house-warming do and Lulu had put on a lots of snacks (savouries, asparagus rolls, red licorice, fudge, more free wine)
- went to Fifi's house for another drink and helped polish off a box of Pods
Saturday:
- scrambled eggs on toast with lots of butter for breakfast, courtesy of Lynnie
- muffin, moccachino (with a sante bar) and a Phoenix drink for lunch at Whispers (the best darned cafe in Levin)
- helped polish off a large pack of M&Ms on the way home (the combo pack)
- lovely salad that Matt made for tea (bacon, feta, croutons, balsamic vinegar, baby spinach) and icecream (french vanilla mixed with crushed Malteasers and re-frozen, and chocolate sauce). I helped open packets :)
Sunday:
- breakfast of hot chocolate and left-over salad
- lunch of fries at JJ Murphy's (and some free games of pool)
- snack of one packet of red licorice
***
Flatmates update from Not-Kate
The new flatmate has moved in. He seems like a good guy. I am very happy with the change. He's interesting and easy to talk to and intelligent and artistic (into stencil art and NZ music but not above watching crap reality TV with us).
The old flatmate left quietly, but I was left rather out-of-pocket (her having moved out a week earlier than we agreed, with no warning and her having still not caught up on two month's phone bills and unlikely to go out of her way to do so.....). I kinda wrote off those two costs as the price I paid for my decision. And I don't regret it. Getting rid of tension is worth $200, I say! I coulda spent that much on a new pair of shoes. Bargain at twice the price.
He has a nice way of asking you to do things or tut-tutting you for leaving the door open when it's freezing cold (he does it in a joking manner - I like that and respond positively to it, like a Pavlov dog).
We did get our back-door mysteriously kicked in on Thursday (it no longer closes or locks). That is a vague worry.
***
Upcoming Plans
Cassie and I have been plotting and scheming and have come up with some likely adventures for the future of.....
- hiring out a house in Martinborough for a weekend with friends (perhaps even some of the new couples)
- having a pot-luck dinner at someone's flat (wear fancy clothes!)
- her hosting a D-vice party (note how I shift the emphasis there :)
For those of you who are indoor-netballers with me, the first round draw is up on the website. There is another wretched 9.40 game coming up. Grrr.
***
Drifting
I have recently been exposed to the art of 'drifting' on a couple of separate ocassions. It is very odd. Some Japanese car-racing phenomenon.
First, Matt made me sit through some cartoon that has Japanese boy-racers challenging each other to race down this mountain with lots of windy corners. That was quite fun because the main character's back-story is that his dad owns a tofu making factory, and as a youngster he was set the task of delivering the goods. Now, tofu is very delicate, so his father would put a glass of water on the dashboard and tell the boy to not spill a single drop of it while out on his deliveries. As a result, he became a drifting-prodigy.
Second, I just got home and Andy was watching some actual Japanese racing, on a race-track with sub-titles for the commentators. I couldn't quite figure out how you won a race (thought spinning out seemed to be a bad thing). The best we could guess was that it was similar to horse-racing in that time matters, but you are also marked on style. We were really just guessing.
***
Food, glorious food!
I have eaten far too much this weekend. I don't mean that in a guilty food-obsessed kinda way. It's just a fact. My body is telling me this. It makes me feel good, because in the good ole days my body woulda been telling me, 'Bring it on, girly! Feed me mooooore!'. So I must be eating in moderation (usually).
A diary of my food.
Friday:
- my department went out for lunch at Mojos, it being a half-day for the kids and all. I had a machiatto and salmon cakes (they came with green vegetable stuff - that can't be too bad).
- was in Levin for tea and they made me have a platter of entrees (crackers, apricot and nut cream cheese, pate), salmon steaks and various vegetables and fruit salad and ice-cream, and a glass of wine
- went to a house-warming do and Lulu had put on a lots of snacks (savouries, asparagus rolls, red licorice, fudge, more free wine)
- went to Fifi's house for another drink and helped polish off a box of Pods
Saturday:
- scrambled eggs on toast with lots of butter for breakfast, courtesy of Lynnie
- muffin, moccachino (with a sante bar) and a Phoenix drink for lunch at Whispers (the best darned cafe in Levin)
- helped polish off a large pack of M&Ms on the way home (the combo pack)
- lovely salad that Matt made for tea (bacon, feta, croutons, balsamic vinegar, baby spinach) and icecream (french vanilla mixed with crushed Malteasers and re-frozen, and chocolate sauce). I helped open packets :)
Sunday:
- breakfast of hot chocolate and left-over salad
- lunch of fries at JJ Murphy's (and some free games of pool)
- snack of one packet of red licorice
***
Flatmates update from Not-Kate
The new flatmate has moved in. He seems like a good guy. I am very happy with the change. He's interesting and easy to talk to and intelligent and artistic (into stencil art and NZ music but not above watching crap reality TV with us).
The old flatmate left quietly, but I was left rather out-of-pocket (her having moved out a week earlier than we agreed, with no warning and her having still not caught up on two month's phone bills and unlikely to go out of her way to do so.....). I kinda wrote off those two costs as the price I paid for my decision. And I don't regret it. Getting rid of tension is worth $200, I say! I coulda spent that much on a new pair of shoes. Bargain at twice the price.
He has a nice way of asking you to do things or tut-tutting you for leaving the door open when it's freezing cold (he does it in a joking manner - I like that and respond positively to it, like a Pavlov dog).
We did get our back-door mysteriously kicked in on Thursday (it no longer closes or locks). That is a vague worry.
***
Upcoming Plans
Cassie and I have been plotting and scheming and have come up with some likely adventures for the future of.....
- hiring out a house in Martinborough for a weekend with friends (perhaps even some of the new couples)
- having a pot-luck dinner at someone's flat (wear fancy clothes!)
- her hosting a D-vice party (note how I shift the emphasis there :)
Tuesday, July 25, 2006
I like.....
Pretending to Have Injuries
I have over the years done the following
- made up exotic stories about why I was wearing an eye patch (it was, in fact, merely for conjunctivitis)
- worn strapping on my ankle and limped around the Levin Public Library, just for fun. No injury at all.
- worn glasses in public to look smart.
- limped around on crutches (not my own crutches - my brother had temporary paralysis of his legs once, randomly he suddenly couldn't walk for a few days)
- pretended to have a bung knee and walked around with a stiff leg (like the doctor on ER)
- worn a sling at a night-club just for fun (I stole it off Ange, who really did have a broken arm but was embarrassed by it)
Being Systematic
I have started making lists of things to do to make the school magazine this year. This is a dangerous practice because I have told the powers-that-be that without proper incentive, I do not want to be in charge of it this year (I accidentally ended up in charge of it last year 'cause I realised that if I didn't do it we'd be buggered). I want another management unit, damnit!
Anyhow, I have created eight word documents of various lists of things to do. I have also printed out school rolls and copies of class photos and team photos, all ready to add and check captions! Fun!
Since the powers-that-be have yet to offer me any assistance or incentive, I am going to delegate pretty much all the work to the students. If they have a problem with that... they can solve it. Students are very capable when you let them do stuff.
Teaching
I think I'm getting ok at it. I feel like my kids actually know how to approach essays now..... I feel like I know how to explain the tricky stuff to them. Time will tell.
I am taking the 'teach a man to fish and he'll feed a village' approach at the moment, rather than feeding them model essays. I am teaching them to read essay questions and figure out what they REALLY want to you do. It's an art-form. I always try to do this, but this year it seems to be working better than usual, which must mean I'm doing it better than usual. I like to think that, anyhow.
I have over the years done the following
- made up exotic stories about why I was wearing an eye patch (it was, in fact, merely for conjunctivitis)
- worn strapping on my ankle and limped around the Levin Public Library, just for fun. No injury at all.
- worn glasses in public to look smart.
- limped around on crutches (not my own crutches - my brother had temporary paralysis of his legs once, randomly he suddenly couldn't walk for a few days)
- pretended to have a bung knee and walked around with a stiff leg (like the doctor on ER)
- worn a sling at a night-club just for fun (I stole it off Ange, who really did have a broken arm but was embarrassed by it)
Being Systematic
I have started making lists of things to do to make the school magazine this year. This is a dangerous practice because I have told the powers-that-be that without proper incentive, I do not want to be in charge of it this year (I accidentally ended up in charge of it last year 'cause I realised that if I didn't do it we'd be buggered). I want another management unit, damnit!
Anyhow, I have created eight word documents of various lists of things to do. I have also printed out school rolls and copies of class photos and team photos, all ready to add and check captions! Fun!
Since the powers-that-be have yet to offer me any assistance or incentive, I am going to delegate pretty much all the work to the students. If they have a problem with that... they can solve it. Students are very capable when you let them do stuff.
Teaching
I think I'm getting ok at it. I feel like my kids actually know how to approach essays now..... I feel like I know how to explain the tricky stuff to them. Time will tell.
I am taking the 'teach a man to fish and he'll feed a village' approach at the moment, rather than feeding them model essays. I am teaching them to read essay questions and figure out what they REALLY want to you do. It's an art-form. I always try to do this, but this year it seems to be working better than usual, which must mean I'm doing it better than usual. I like to think that, anyhow.
Sunday, July 23, 2006
Cows Go Moo
And 'Tigers Go Grrr' and 'Guns Go Bang'
I have the dubious distinction of having named our indoor netball team the past few times (I always ask for input and all I ever get is names for Sam that involve weapons).
It is a lovely group of people and it's nice to play on a team where you know nobody will give you the evils when you stuff up, rather they will laugh with you (honestly). I always look forward to our games together. Often, when we're warming up, I'll look over to the other team. They look more athletic than us, and younger too. They look like they go to the gym and run marathons. They look like they will beat us. But often, our team-work and knowledge of each other's games and our smartness on court mean that looks can be deceiving.
I feel like chronicling the key players from the Dynasty of Cows Go Moo. So I will. This will likely be of little interest to anyone but me (and probably Fish, Sam, Savage, Damon and Morgue since I mention them by name).
The Originals
Merv - Merv is a small man in stature, but big in heart and he has huge hands. He is of course known for his bullet passes, one of which was responsible for nigh breaking Sam's finger. He claims he holds back when he plays with us. I fear his REAL bullets.
Sarah - She would make the Allstar team of the dynasty. Versitile and athletic, she can play anywhere on the court. Perhaps most useful in the shooting position where her movement and cutting were masterful and her two-handed shot was deadly accurate. Also known for often falling over and doing the splits on court.
James - Mr Defence. He and I are the only ones left from the original line-up. Though not the tallest man on the court he often outplays his counterpart, leaping about for tips and steals and having great timing on his rebounds. He is best known for his yellow t-shirts and knee-high socks and floppy hair. He once got two two-pointers in one quarter. That will go down in the annals of history. I personally enjoy watching him play the shooting position (for comedic value). How can someone so intelligent and athletic shoot one-pointers so poorly? It defies logic!
Heidi - She very nearly gets classed as a 'little person' or 'dwarf' but is just a shade too tall. She is, however, probably the best centre we have ever had. She has a surprisingly powerful over-the-head-long-distance-pass and a great bounce pass into the shooter. She is a patient passer and waits for the cutter to do their work. She also runs her little butt off on defence.
Me - I try. My favourite position tends to vary - I like defence because I think it's the hardest position to play well and can be very satisfying if you 'figure the other player out'. Sometimes I'm too lazy to do that. I like centre because you have to run and run and run and I like feeding the ball to people off the net - it's fun. I don't think I'm too great at getting free for passes though. Sometimes I like shooting because it's easier to be good at (for me). Our team generally feeds well and Sam is easy to work with. I don't like it when I get prissy and start complaining to the ref about how rough the other team is being (sometimes I do it anyhow).
The Early Joiners
Sam - A specialist shooter, he has had some successful combinations with me and Sarah over the years. He shares my philosophy of never settling for the long-shot and always gains good position for the net-pass. An accurate one-point-shooter, he has recently developed his two-point-shooting as well so that he is a legitimate weapon there too. I personally enjoy it when he sees me about to pass the ball to him and yells out 'NOOO!', and I pass it anyway. It almost always works.
Fish - She is one of our specialist defensive players and works well with James. He roams, while she works on blocking and getting good position under the hoop. She often frustrates her opponents into contacting her away from the ball. She is also a handy one-point-shooter, having developed a good shot where she steps in and shoots in one motion (she is one of the few players who gets 'coaching' in the netball - it shows).
Players Who Have Come and Gone
Meredith - She was one of our most solid players. She could play centre and shoot with equal competance and always settled our mid-court down well. I remember her getting some very clutch two-point shots to aid comebacks and win games. She was also one of the only players who tried to tacticise and think of strategies to win games (I have taken to throwing bibs out randomly these days).Harley and Andrea - Our lovely husband and wife combo. Both great athletes and calming influences on court. Harley had one of the surest sets of hands on the court and could make an awful pass look decent. He got tonnes of steals and was always open in the right place. Our silent asassin. Andrea looked like a choir-girl but was fiercely intense on court - sly even! A dirty defender, she could weasel her way to where the ball was going and frustrate the heck out of attackers.
Liz - She was our only defensive specialist female. That is all she would play. She had good height and size and could rebound with the best of em. Strangely enough, she played better when drunk. A good combination with James was forged.
Booner - A great utility player, his height was useful anywhere on the court and he would often move around to where he was needed. Helluva nice guy too.
Tony - A huge wing-span enabled him to get many a steal. Bad balance made him lose many a steal once he'd gained it. While his one-shooting was awkward looking, it gained in accuracy and he moved well without the ball. Incredibly fit and never gave up. A shoulder injury ended his career with the team, as Morgan callously stepped in and orchestrated a coup against him. Little did he know....
New Comers
Michelle - She is our new utility-girl and has come back from a possible career-ending injury to dominate. Another feisty one who likes to win, she comes up with cunning techniques to irk opposing players while still appearing 'nice' on the surface. Her shooting is accurate and she is smart on defence. Probably our best option at centre at the moment. Solid.
Morgan - Very tall. A thinking-man's player, he analyses the game well and beats himself up over anything that's going wrong. Luckily, that's not too much, due to his long reach on defence, patient passing and solid two-shooting. He came as a filler and we never let him leave (that's what happens to them all... muahaha).
Ken - Goodness. What can I say..... He calls for the ball with enthusiasm and volume, even when he's not free. Many is the time I have started whistling the Harlem Globetrotters theme song while he's been on one of his bad-passing-streaks (and not in a good way - our team would be the Washington Generals). But it's comedy gold! He is tenacious on defence and has a strong bullet pass that is impressive when it hits the mark. On offence he has developed a lot of subtlty in his passing game and can do nice little feeds now.
Sam R - Another wee centre, she has a good sense of where to be to get steals and very quick hands. She often out-rebounds taller players on defence and gets the odd two-pointer on offence. Her shoes make her look even faster.
Key Fillers
Richard and Kirsten - Rich can play anywhere and always makes your day brighter (maybe I should start calling him 'the Candy Man'). Kirsten surprises me by being able to shoot from all the way down near the ground ... and actually get the ball in the hoop! I am tall and patronising, muahaha. 95% of the male population are too short for me to date - jokes on me!
Savage - Also hilaaaaarious. I like doing the 'I've got my eyes on you' signal to her. She nearly maimed someone last time we let her play. She has a knack of being open right under the hoop.
Damon - He used to hang from the washing-line as a child in order to stretch his limbs, rumour has it. Enormous wing-span (all the better to steal the ball with, my dear). He can also shoot, when required. I enjoyed shooting with him recently. A deft wee passer in the circle.
My Brother - Jolly athletic and jumpy. He puts his basketball skills to use and does smart passes. He combined well with Fishy in the attacking circle and got some good two-pointers (Larry Bird style) and lots of steals. Always looked like he was about to pass out from exhaustion, but never did.
Saturday, July 22, 2006
Weekend Challenge
I'm going to do this for myself, but anyone else who feels inspired can contribute their own top ten, or just a few in the comments section.
TOP TEN SIGNS I AM A SECRET DORK
Goddamit, I am a dork and proud of it! I think doing geeky things is a sign of being comfortable in your own skin and not being ashamed of who you are. Long live the dorks!
1) I really like chess. I have read books on it. I know the phrase 'Ruy Lopez opening'. I can name more than two grand-masters.
2) I have met people 'IRL' that I knew off the internet (well, two).
3) I have a blog. I will often use dictionary.com to look up words I can't spell. I am pedantic about apostrophes.
4) I like to listen to the director's commentaries.
5) I have knitted an entire scarf. I knitted in public places and had a quota of rows I had to knit every day.
6) I make up elaborate season draws for my netball team and print them on coloured paper and put personalised stickers on them. I even look up new and exciting fonts to use. I love downloading fonts.
7) I enjoy bowling (lawn and ten-pin) and maths puzzles (like Sudoku).
8) I think a night at home with friends playing Trivial Pursuits is more fun to going to the pub.
9) I enjoy stationery. I have a whole mini-drawer-stack full of stationery (one drawer for pens, one for felts and one for miscellaneous).
10) I like watching spelling bees on TV. And shows on ball-room dancing.
11) I don't like the hip-hop. But I do like folk music and karaoke!
I know you all have your own.....
Ange: you wear long johns to bed and read cook-books for fun
Cass: you love the royal family and collect Simpson's figurines
Sam: I just need one word for you - 'aeroplanes'
Fish: you have too many to even start (maths geek and choir girl!)
Cass's brother: you had a blog before they were 'cool' and you like cartoons
Morgue: you are the king of the role players
Damon: you get pleasure out of geek-language
Chiphead: Ponytail and acrophobia playing
Svend: more bookshelves than wall-space (in a loose categorical arrangement, starting with science fiction)
These are things I love about you all :)
TOP TEN SIGNS I AM A SECRET DORK
Goddamit, I am a dork and proud of it! I think doing geeky things is a sign of being comfortable in your own skin and not being ashamed of who you are. Long live the dorks!
1) I really like chess. I have read books on it. I know the phrase 'Ruy Lopez opening'. I can name more than two grand-masters.
2) I have met people 'IRL' that I knew off the internet (well, two).
3) I have a blog. I will often use dictionary.com to look up words I can't spell. I am pedantic about apostrophes.
4) I like to listen to the director's commentaries.
5) I have knitted an entire scarf. I knitted in public places and had a quota of rows I had to knit every day.
6) I make up elaborate season draws for my netball team and print them on coloured paper and put personalised stickers on them. I even look up new and exciting fonts to use. I love downloading fonts.
7) I enjoy bowling (lawn and ten-pin) and maths puzzles (like Sudoku).
8) I think a night at home with friends playing Trivial Pursuits is more fun to going to the pub.
9) I enjoy stationery. I have a whole mini-drawer-stack full of stationery (one drawer for pens, one for felts and one for miscellaneous).
10) I like watching spelling bees on TV. And shows on ball-room dancing.
11) I don't like the hip-hop. But I do like folk music and karaoke!
I know you all have your own.....
Ange: you wear long johns to bed and read cook-books for fun
Cass: you love the royal family and collect Simpson's figurines
Sam: I just need one word for you - 'aeroplanes'
Fish: you have too many to even start (maths geek and choir girl!)
Cass's brother: you had a blog before they were 'cool' and you like cartoons
Morgue: you are the king of the role players
Damon: you get pleasure out of geek-language
Chiphead: Ponytail and acrophobia playing
Svend: more bookshelves than wall-space (in a loose categorical arrangement, starting with science fiction)
These are things I love about you all :)
Top Ten Ridiculous Physical Injuries (self-inflicted)
1) I grated my thumb instead of a potato once. Ouchie.
2) I have two burn marks on my right leg from sleeping with hot water-bottles.
3) I raised my hand to stop the flying-fox I was riding on from hitting the tyre at the end of the wire.... Scar on thumb. Me stupid.
4) I fell over once just by stepping onto a curb while trying to dribble a basketball. I arrived at practice with blood running down my knee and everyone expected a dramatic story..... I had to admit that I was just walkin' along....
5) I got a raisin stuck up my nose once because I was playing with my food....
6) I once was drunk (just the once) and I was walking along when Ken got cheeky to me, so I tried to do this fancy kick behind my back to get him back..... I failed and fell on my face, grazing both my knees and getting holes in my stockings. I looked like a bum after that.
7) I was so proud that I'd finally done a hand-stand at gymnastics that I wanted to show my mum at home...... I didn't notice there was a painting hung on the wall about where my feet would be connecting with it. I kicked it. It shattered all around me. My mum was very worried but luckily only my toe got cut. Three stitches.
8) I lived in a flat where the ceiling was getting mouldy in the bathroom. It was fairly high and hard to reach but I deciphered that it was easiest to clean just after I'd had a shower (it moistened the mould). So, after a shower I got a cloth and stood up on the porcelain sink..... eventually I had to start reaching out quite a bit..... my towel fell off... I ignored this. I reached too far, my foot slipped on the damp and slippery sink.... I fell off and landed on the floor. That would have been an embarrassing time to have knocked myself out unconscious.
9) Another bathroom ooopsy. I was in the shower at my Dad's new house, which is in the bath. It has a screen door going the full length of the bath. I slipped, and to break my fall I grabbed for the top rail of the sliding screen..... Of course, it wasn't really that strong.... I assed over again, taking the whole thing with me. There was an almighty crash, Lynne came running, asking if I was ok. I pathetically said, 'Uh, yes...' from my new position at the bottom of the bath. I cut my hand fairly deeply on the screen.
10) Last year I was at an indoor netball game. We were milling about before the toss and I jumped up and down a couple of times to loosen up or something. I felt a tweak in my knee but ignored it. That tweak turned into a swollen and sore knee for a month afterwards. I had to limp all around school and people felt sorry for me. It was so swollen I couldn't kneel at all. I'm getting old....
2) I have two burn marks on my right leg from sleeping with hot water-bottles.
3) I raised my hand to stop the flying-fox I was riding on from hitting the tyre at the end of the wire.... Scar on thumb. Me stupid.
4) I fell over once just by stepping onto a curb while trying to dribble a basketball. I arrived at practice with blood running down my knee and everyone expected a dramatic story..... I had to admit that I was just walkin' along....
5) I got a raisin stuck up my nose once because I was playing with my food....
6) I once was drunk (just the once) and I was walking along when Ken got cheeky to me, so I tried to do this fancy kick behind my back to get him back..... I failed and fell on my face, grazing both my knees and getting holes in my stockings. I looked like a bum after that.
7) I was so proud that I'd finally done a hand-stand at gymnastics that I wanted to show my mum at home...... I didn't notice there was a painting hung on the wall about where my feet would be connecting with it. I kicked it. It shattered all around me. My mum was very worried but luckily only my toe got cut. Three stitches.
8) I lived in a flat where the ceiling was getting mouldy in the bathroom. It was fairly high and hard to reach but I deciphered that it was easiest to clean just after I'd had a shower (it moistened the mould). So, after a shower I got a cloth and stood up on the porcelain sink..... eventually I had to start reaching out quite a bit..... my towel fell off... I ignored this. I reached too far, my foot slipped on the damp and slippery sink.... I fell off and landed on the floor. That would have been an embarrassing time to have knocked myself out unconscious.
9) Another bathroom ooopsy. I was in the shower at my Dad's new house, which is in the bath. It has a screen door going the full length of the bath. I slipped, and to break my fall I grabbed for the top rail of the sliding screen..... Of course, it wasn't really that strong.... I assed over again, taking the whole thing with me. There was an almighty crash, Lynne came running, asking if I was ok. I pathetically said, 'Uh, yes...' from my new position at the bottom of the bath. I cut my hand fairly deeply on the screen.
10) Last year I was at an indoor netball game. We were milling about before the toss and I jumped up and down a couple of times to loosen up or something. I felt a tweak in my knee but ignored it. That tweak turned into a swollen and sore knee for a month afterwards. I had to limp all around school and people felt sorry for me. It was so swollen I couldn't kneel at all. I'm getting old....
Thursday, July 20, 2006
Another Donut
Are things getting out of hand?
Today on the way to first period I ran into M. (see previous post to read about her donut gift) outside the classroom and she was carrying a big star-shaped bit of perspex. It had paper stuck on it with the words to 'Twinkle Twinkle Little Star' written. She showed it to me and pointed out where it said 'Good Night Miss J' in the top corner and said, 'I made it for you!'
So I was walking along carrying my new perspex star and she yelled back at me, 'And there's another donut for you on your desk!'
Now, I love my donuts .... but is it ethical to let a student buy you one every morning??? I told her later on that day that it was really lovely but she'd better not get me anymore 'cause I'll get fat if I eat donuts every morning!
***
I ate a whole bag of rasperberry licorice last night (before parent interviews). It was good.
Today on the way to first period I ran into M. (see previous post to read about her donut gift) outside the classroom and she was carrying a big star-shaped bit of perspex. It had paper stuck on it with the words to 'Twinkle Twinkle Little Star' written. She showed it to me and pointed out where it said 'Good Night Miss J' in the top corner and said, 'I made it for you!'
So I was walking along carrying my new perspex star and she yelled back at me, 'And there's another donut for you on your desk!'
Now, I love my donuts .... but is it ethical to let a student buy you one every morning??? I told her later on that day that it was really lovely but she'd better not get me anymore 'cause I'll get fat if I eat donuts every morning!
***
I ate a whole bag of rasperberry licorice last night (before parent interviews). It was good.
Monday, July 17, 2006
Sports - The High School Glory Days
Warning: This is a very long post. I got carried away in my nostalgia. For a lighter post, check out the one before this and add to our collective 'Easy Top Tens'.
I become a 'senior player'
After third form I started getting all my friends to play. We had a summer league team called 'We're Not' (so called in the hopes that the other team would say, 'Who're we playing this week?' and the answer would be 'We're Not', so they wouldn't turn up and we'd win by default). We won one game (a very sweet two-point victory over the hapless Mavericks, a team made up of short Asian girls).
That was around the time of the basketball hey-days in Levin. My mum was Teacher-in-charge of basketball at our school, being the kinda parent who was very 'hands on' when her kids developed an interest. We went from having just the boys team playing in the Palmerston North league to having six teams. She even single-handedly started a mid-week high-school league in Levin, inviting teams from Foxton and Otaki to play as well. It was fun. Our whole family would spend Thursday night down at the stadium, doing score-bench, reffing and playing. Dad would come pick us up after work and we'd get Chinese take-aways. Something inevitably got stolen and you had to keep a tight grip on any basketball you had with you. Many was the time I had to get mum to go reclaim a ball that very clearly had 'JUDGE' written on it, but had been picked up 'accidentally' by some kid from Waiopehu College (punks!).
Sometimes I was playing or training up to five or six days a week. Basketball was life. Me and my brother had posters up in our bedrooms. Our family ordered Pontel tapes from Europe (this was before the days of Sky and there were no NBA games of regular TV for a while) and half the Senior A boys would come around on a Tuesday night and watch our latest NBA offerings. Our family even planned an America holiday roughly around attending as many NBA games as possible (we went to seven, including Christmas day at the classic Chicago Stadium watching our favourite team, The Bulls, beat their nemesis at the time, The Knicks).
In fourth form I trialled for, and made the Senior A team. But, I didn't think I deserved to make it (the coach seemed to have some blind loyalty towards me!) and the few players that I was friends with all decided to play for the Senior B team instead, so I joined them. In a cruel stroke of irony, the Senior B team ended up being better than the Senior A team and I got almost no court-time all season. I had a miserable time. If I hadn't been a Judge I might've quit. But Judge's don't quit (not often - our parents wouldn't let us! as a teacher of today's youth I appreciate that parental pressure!).
Remember, at this point in time, that the kinda kids playing basketball weren't really the kinda kids I was hanging out with at school. They were a rougher element. It was a great way to get 'in' with the tough girls who smoked in the 'N-block' toilets. But, as you remember, I was a shy girl.... I could easily go to a practice session and not say a word the whole time (just smile eagerly and do what I was told). It was also cute that the basketball community of Levin always knew me as 'Kate' because that's what my mum would introduce me as, whereas at school and around my friends I was still 'Katie'. It was a distinction.
Fifth form was a different story. I trialled for the Senior A again and made it, along with some of my friends, Sarah and Iona, who'd been playing for 'We're Not' (which had now become 'The Shaquilles' and 'Hakuna Mutata'). So I was happy! I went from being last on the bench for the Senior B to starting five in the Senior A, and got the 'Most Improved Player' award at prize-giving and a penant (our school's top prize for athletes, only four players in our team got them).
To top it off, our team had just been promoted to the Premiere city grade the season before..... and this season we WON it. A little old scruffy old team from Levin winning the Palmerston North league. It was a Cinderella story! We even beat our arch-rivals QEC in the final.
The night of the finals my mum was in hospital in Palmerston North. She had been in and out of hospital for a big part of that year, her cancer having come back for the third time since I was in standard two. She couldn't come to the game. We taped it for her and about a dozen people visited her hospital ward at about 9.30pm after the game finished. I remember Dad going to get her, and her coming down the hall quietly to greet us (her drip-machine on wheels at her side). Everyone else in the ward was asleep and it was dark, so we'd all waited by the elevator. She had tears in her eyes. It was nice. She died about three months later and I'd say one of the things she was most proud of is how well her basketball kids ended up doing (she helped hundreds of kids over the years, and not your 'easiest' kids either).
While I'm on the heart-warming Judge family memories.... My brother had been taping the game on one of those old-school video-cameras that came in a brief-case for Mum to watch later. I had a good free-throw shooting game (and it was a close game, so every point counted) and on about the fifth one in a row that I made you could hear him cheering in an oddly high-pitched way, and then one of the other guys said, 'Whose sister is that, David?' and he said, 'That's MY sister!' really loudly. Awwwwww. Big bro was proud.
I kept playing in sixth and seventh form, being captain in my final year. We won the premiere Palmerston league both of those years as well. The THREE-PEAT. It was fun. Our coach, Mike, had total faith in us and while we didn't have the most complex strategies, we kinda had a good feel for each other and developed a style that suited us perfectly. He always kept me on the court most of the game (being tall I kinda anchored the defence and it dropped off a bit when we had a shorter line-up on) and I loved that!
One of my best friends, Sarah, played along-side me in the starting five and we called ourselves 'The Terminator' and 'The Exterminator'. We even had matching wrist-bands (erm, my idea) and practised our 'tricky play' at trainings (it involved a between-the-legs-pass and was never-ever used in a real game).
It remained our Friday ritual to drive the 45 minutes to Palmy every week and not get home til almost midnigh, after having our post-game wrap-up at McDonald's on the square. My brother would come and watch since he was at Massey in those days.
My brother was, by the way, an amazing player. He is a very coordinated guy (he can dance just like Michael Jackson and has been a ringer at Masonic Debutante balls to escourt girls he doesn't even know because of his twinkle-toes). During high-school he would spend hours every night watching games in freeze-frame, sketching the moves into his notebooks (he was an amazing artist as well) and then going outside and practising them. He would also spend hours jumping off his graphics desk and trying to rebound up and touch the ceiling (which was 12 foot high). As a result, he could score 20-30 points at will and was one of the best technical post-players you'd ever see.
He also had an amazing vertical leap, being able to do fancy dunks (windmills, 180s, reverse-double-pumps). He went to some Five-Star camps with guys who ended up being in the NBL and would be one of the few who people stood around and watched have dunk-offs. He was in the Manuwatu Under-20 and Under-18 teams with more future NBL players.
Trouble was that he was an early grower, but never got past 6'2. Though he was the tallest player on the team most years, he was never going to be able to be a post-player in higher leagues. Didn't matter though, cause he didn't really have higher aspirations and I think he had burn-out (due to a series of frustrating and painful injuries) and was quite happy to go off to uni and just play socially. He enjoyed coaching a few girls' teams at school (including my 'Hakuna Mutata' one, 'The Petals' (someone from the basketball associate rang up to ask what the team would be called, he thought 'Hmmm... something feminine cause they're girls.... I know - The Petals!', needless to say they were not feared by opponents) and the aptly named 'Banes').
I got some impressive-sounding honours, but I really think it was just a matter of 'right-place-right-time' and being tall :) I have no delusions of grandeur.
- selected for Manuwatu U18 team
- selected for Levin Women's team
- Played for Levin U16 team
Anyhow, that was a huge part of my high-school years. I fit it around study and a part-time job one year and never missed a practice.
Other than that my high-school sports stories are limited to a brief stint in the U16 school volleyball team (we got knocked out in the first round of qualifying games) and two years in the Lawn Bowls team (I think my pairs teaming was the worst each respective year I played). Oh yeah, and I got third in the Intermediate Discus one year. And me and Tammy had a battle to get last in the cross country every year (we had a tense routine of waiting til the last possible minute and then trying to out-sprint each other near the finish line, but walking the rest). I think I gained the dubious honour of being dead-last in the senior girls' cross country in seventh form (Angela was probably hiding in the toilets not doing it at all, bloody piker!).
Side-Note: My Cunningly Cowardly Brother
Another vivid memory of my brother playing sports was the 800m race on athletics day. The whole school was watching and my brother was house captain, so he was entering everything he could [don't get me started on how he pressured his self-conscious-chubby younger sister to swim more than one race during swimming sports - in the days before boardies]. He went in the 800m race, which was perhaps out of his ideal range (being a 'twitch-muscle' kinda guy).
Coming up to the home-straight he pulled up lame and limped off the field, failing to finish. My friends were all terribly concerned and said, 'Katie - your brother is injured!'. He had a long history of horrific sporting injuries (being a keen jumper and all he often pulled/tore/fractured things in his legs and wore a bionic brace).
I shook my head and said, 'Nah, he knew he wasn't gonna come anywhere and thought it would be easier to just not finish, betcha!' And I was right. He faked an injury in front of the whole school to save face and I was the only one who realised what he was really doing.
Sister knows best!
I become a 'senior player'
After third form I started getting all my friends to play. We had a summer league team called 'We're Not' (so called in the hopes that the other team would say, 'Who're we playing this week?' and the answer would be 'We're Not', so they wouldn't turn up and we'd win by default). We won one game (a very sweet two-point victory over the hapless Mavericks, a team made up of short Asian girls).
That was around the time of the basketball hey-days in Levin. My mum was Teacher-in-charge of basketball at our school, being the kinda parent who was very 'hands on' when her kids developed an interest. We went from having just the boys team playing in the Palmerston North league to having six teams. She even single-handedly started a mid-week high-school league in Levin, inviting teams from Foxton and Otaki to play as well. It was fun. Our whole family would spend Thursday night down at the stadium, doing score-bench, reffing and playing. Dad would come pick us up after work and we'd get Chinese take-aways. Something inevitably got stolen and you had to keep a tight grip on any basketball you had with you. Many was the time I had to get mum to go reclaim a ball that very clearly had 'JUDGE' written on it, but had been picked up 'accidentally' by some kid from Waiopehu College (punks!).
Sometimes I was playing or training up to five or six days a week. Basketball was life. Me and my brother had posters up in our bedrooms. Our family ordered Pontel tapes from Europe (this was before the days of Sky and there were no NBA games of regular TV for a while) and half the Senior A boys would come around on a Tuesday night and watch our latest NBA offerings. Our family even planned an America holiday roughly around attending as many NBA games as possible (we went to seven, including Christmas day at the classic Chicago Stadium watching our favourite team, The Bulls, beat their nemesis at the time, The Knicks).
In fourth form I trialled for, and made the Senior A team. But, I didn't think I deserved to make it (the coach seemed to have some blind loyalty towards me!) and the few players that I was friends with all decided to play for the Senior B team instead, so I joined them. In a cruel stroke of irony, the Senior B team ended up being better than the Senior A team and I got almost no court-time all season. I had a miserable time. If I hadn't been a Judge I might've quit. But Judge's don't quit (not often - our parents wouldn't let us! as a teacher of today's youth I appreciate that parental pressure!).
Remember, at this point in time, that the kinda kids playing basketball weren't really the kinda kids I was hanging out with at school. They were a rougher element. It was a great way to get 'in' with the tough girls who smoked in the 'N-block' toilets. But, as you remember, I was a shy girl.... I could easily go to a practice session and not say a word the whole time (just smile eagerly and do what I was told). It was also cute that the basketball community of Levin always knew me as 'Kate' because that's what my mum would introduce me as, whereas at school and around my friends I was still 'Katie'. It was a distinction.
Fifth form was a different story. I trialled for the Senior A again and made it, along with some of my friends, Sarah and Iona, who'd been playing for 'We're Not' (which had now become 'The Shaquilles' and 'Hakuna Mutata'). So I was happy! I went from being last on the bench for the Senior B to starting five in the Senior A, and got the 'Most Improved Player' award at prize-giving and a penant (our school's top prize for athletes, only four players in our team got them).
To top it off, our team had just been promoted to the Premiere city grade the season before..... and this season we WON it. A little old scruffy old team from Levin winning the Palmerston North league. It was a Cinderella story! We even beat our arch-rivals QEC in the final.
The night of the finals my mum was in hospital in Palmerston North. She had been in and out of hospital for a big part of that year, her cancer having come back for the third time since I was in standard two. She couldn't come to the game. We taped it for her and about a dozen people visited her hospital ward at about 9.30pm after the game finished. I remember Dad going to get her, and her coming down the hall quietly to greet us (her drip-machine on wheels at her side). Everyone else in the ward was asleep and it was dark, so we'd all waited by the elevator. She had tears in her eyes. It was nice. She died about three months later and I'd say one of the things she was most proud of is how well her basketball kids ended up doing (she helped hundreds of kids over the years, and not your 'easiest' kids either).
While I'm on the heart-warming Judge family memories.... My brother had been taping the game on one of those old-school video-cameras that came in a brief-case for Mum to watch later. I had a good free-throw shooting game (and it was a close game, so every point counted) and on about the fifth one in a row that I made you could hear him cheering in an oddly high-pitched way, and then one of the other guys said, 'Whose sister is that, David?' and he said, 'That's MY sister!' really loudly. Awwwwww. Big bro was proud.
I kept playing in sixth and seventh form, being captain in my final year. We won the premiere Palmerston league both of those years as well. The THREE-PEAT. It was fun. Our coach, Mike, had total faith in us and while we didn't have the most complex strategies, we kinda had a good feel for each other and developed a style that suited us perfectly. He always kept me on the court most of the game (being tall I kinda anchored the defence and it dropped off a bit when we had a shorter line-up on) and I loved that!
One of my best friends, Sarah, played along-side me in the starting five and we called ourselves 'The Terminator' and 'The Exterminator'. We even had matching wrist-bands (erm, my idea) and practised our 'tricky play' at trainings (it involved a between-the-legs-pass and was never-ever used in a real game).
It remained our Friday ritual to drive the 45 minutes to Palmy every week and not get home til almost midnigh, after having our post-game wrap-up at McDonald's on the square. My brother would come and watch since he was at Massey in those days.
My brother was, by the way, an amazing player. He is a very coordinated guy (he can dance just like Michael Jackson and has been a ringer at Masonic Debutante balls to escourt girls he doesn't even know because of his twinkle-toes). During high-school he would spend hours every night watching games in freeze-frame, sketching the moves into his notebooks (he was an amazing artist as well) and then going outside and practising them. He would also spend hours jumping off his graphics desk and trying to rebound up and touch the ceiling (which was 12 foot high). As a result, he could score 20-30 points at will and was one of the best technical post-players you'd ever see.
He also had an amazing vertical leap, being able to do fancy dunks (windmills, 180s, reverse-double-pumps). He went to some Five-Star camps with guys who ended up being in the NBL and would be one of the few who people stood around and watched have dunk-offs. He was in the Manuwatu Under-20 and Under-18 teams with more future NBL players.
Trouble was that he was an early grower, but never got past 6'2. Though he was the tallest player on the team most years, he was never going to be able to be a post-player in higher leagues. Didn't matter though, cause he didn't really have higher aspirations and I think he had burn-out (due to a series of frustrating and painful injuries) and was quite happy to go off to uni and just play socially. He enjoyed coaching a few girls' teams at school (including my 'Hakuna Mutata' one, 'The Petals' (someone from the basketball associate rang up to ask what the team would be called, he thought 'Hmmm... something feminine cause they're girls.... I know - The Petals!', needless to say they were not feared by opponents) and the aptly named 'Banes').
I got some impressive-sounding honours, but I really think it was just a matter of 'right-place-right-time' and being tall :) I have no delusions of grandeur.
- selected for Manuwatu U18 team
- selected for Levin Women's team
- Played for Levin U16 team
Anyhow, that was a huge part of my high-school years. I fit it around study and a part-time job one year and never missed a practice.
Other than that my high-school sports stories are limited to a brief stint in the U16 school volleyball team (we got knocked out in the first round of qualifying games) and two years in the Lawn Bowls team (I think my pairs teaming was the worst each respective year I played). Oh yeah, and I got third in the Intermediate Discus one year. And me and Tammy had a battle to get last in the cross country every year (we had a tense routine of waiting til the last possible minute and then trying to out-sprint each other near the finish line, but walking the rest). I think I gained the dubious honour of being dead-last in the senior girls' cross country in seventh form (Angela was probably hiding in the toilets not doing it at all, bloody piker!).
Side-Note: My Cunningly Cowardly Brother
Another vivid memory of my brother playing sports was the 800m race on athletics day. The whole school was watching and my brother was house captain, so he was entering everything he could [don't get me started on how he pressured his self-conscious-chubby younger sister to swim more than one race during swimming sports - in the days before boardies]. He went in the 800m race, which was perhaps out of his ideal range (being a 'twitch-muscle' kinda guy).
Coming up to the home-straight he pulled up lame and limped off the field, failing to finish. My friends were all terribly concerned and said, 'Katie - your brother is injured!'. He had a long history of horrific sporting injuries (being a keen jumper and all he often pulled/tore/fractured things in his legs and wore a bionic brace).
I shook my head and said, 'Nah, he knew he wasn't gonna come anywhere and thought it would be easier to just not finish, betcha!' And I was right. He faked an injury in front of the whole school to save face and I was the only one who realised what he was really doing.
Sister knows best!
Friday, July 14, 2006
Weekend Challenge (it will self-destruct in twenty seconds.... tick tick tick)
We three have decided that we will all write a top-ten list on a set topic every weekend. We are teachers. We like assignments.
Kate took her time coming up with a topic and then told it to us in a very animated fashion. We were all very ponderous and excited once we had decided what would be in OUR top ten list! [See the series of three photos to visualise this very genuine
chain of events.]The top ten list is:
THE TOP TEN GUYS WE WOULD HAVE ON OUR 'EXEMPT' LIST
Those of you who haven't see the Isabella Rosellini episide of 'Friends' may need an explanation. It is the top ten famous people who you would be allowed to have sex with if you met them (but
you never will..... and even if you DID, they wouldn't want to sleep with YOU). Males may insert the word 'Girls' instead of 'Guys' into their list title.Anyone else who wants to join our wee weekend project must finish their top ten list by 7pm Sunday night (NZ time).
GET TO WORK!
Thursday, July 13, 2006
Look at me, look at me!
This photo is to accompany my post of 'The Middle Years', but I think deserves its own post.It is from a 3-on-3 street-ball tournament. We went up to Palmy and were the only school girls team, so won by default. Any Levinians might recognise Jodie as my team-mate.
Note how very very white I am! I glow! I'm sure I was really that luminous. Also note how very very high my shorts are.
That was not a flattering uniform. It was also not strictly our school colours (they were red, black and white), rather they were the colours of the bar that sponsored us - Key West. Any Levinians who read that will laugh. It is a TOUGH bar where people in the Mongrel Mob hang out. I would never in my life step foot in it (though I watched lots of good fights happening outside it from my safe perch in The Warehouse staffroom across the road).
Sports - The Middle Years (a reluctant beginning)
Before I ramble on about the next phase in my sporting history (of no real importance to anyone but me and my future biographer), I will give some updates.
1) Have found new flatmate! Potential Flatmate #1 has agreed to move in next weekend. He was stoked. Lovely phone manner, if that's an indication of anything.
2) There is no #2. It just seemed silly to have a list with only one item in it. And I do love lists...... Heck, I'll make up a #3 and #4 just for fun.
3) Anyone wanna sell us a washing machine on the cheap? Exiting-flatmate took hers with her today.
4) I watched the Tall Blacks game last night - lost by 2 in overtime. We weren't impressed by their offence (me, Matt and his baller flamate). They really do need more options than 'pass it round the perimetre and shoot a three-pointer'. And they seriously need to put a leash on Tony Rampton and remind him he's not in the team for his outside shooting. The defence was ok and they showed good heart at the end of regular time to make their mini comeback. And I still love Phil Jones.
***
Then I discovered 'basket-ball'.
Morgue reckons he read somewhere that some genius guy said basketball was the most scientifically perfect game ever invented. I like that theory. Adds some weight to my 'It's Jeff Wilson's favourite sport' argument.
Recap of last installment:
When we left young Kate, she was entering Intermediate, having never played organised sport of any kind (not counting her doomed forrays into ballet and gymnastics). It looked like she would forever be an unco-ordinated nerd with no 'jock' credibility.......
At intermediate there was an inter-class basketball tournament. You had to have girls on the team. I was tall, so they picked me. I discovered that without even trying, I had a propensity for blocking shots. The Gollums had to be good for something! They ended up just telling me to stay back on defense and do that all game (possibly partly inspired by me being incredibly unfit, but still a compliment to my prowess). I even blocked Chico Graham (a 'cool' guy who eneded up playing in the NBL and has a kick-ass first name, don't you think?). I was like the Forrest Gump of shot-blocking.
I went home and told my mum. Mum was very excited that I was finally taking an interest in playing sport. She seized the opportunity and was like a dog with a bone......
Mum: So, do you want me to ask if you can play in a team at school? I teach a lovely girl who has a team......
Me: NO!
Mum: (A week later) I got you into a team! They play tonight!
Me: NoooooooooooOOOOOOooooOOOO! [Imagine my early-teenage whine]
She MADE me play for a college team, even though I was only 12. I almost had a tantrum (my friend Fifi will remember this vividly). I told her she would have to take me down kicking and screaming. I was a shy child and the thought of playing with strangers, let alone COLLEGE aged strangers playing against ADULTS, petrified me.
Anyhow, she did drag me down (kicking and screaming). And I told the lady taking the team that I'd just 'sit and watch'. She would have none of that. 'Best way to learn is to just get out there!' she said. So I was sent on, in my Adidas trackies (bear in mind, these were the days before I relented and let my mum buy me my first bra - even though I had needed one for months). I kinda had fun even though I had no idea where to stand or what to do and didn't dare take a shot. That team was called 'The Black Rose B' (ironically sponsored by a bricklaying company). That was one good thing about Levin at the time. The basketball league was very 'grass-roots' and you could just chuck a team of kids in there playing against adults, or make up a team of your friends. You just can't do that in Wellington. I think back then we were in the women's D grade. Nowadays I think they struggle to get one grade of teams.
It was a great bonding activity for me and my brother. I credit it with helping us get out of the 'crabby-Katie' phase, where we used to fight a lot since I turned about four and became bossy. Apparently before that I used to adore my brother and if anyone gave me anything I'd say, 'And one for my brother too?'. We had a free-standing basketball hoop in the back-yard and he took me out and taught me how to shoot. He was incredibly patient and I still use some of the tips he gave me with the kids I coach. The key tip is that when you're learning a new shooting style, don't worry about the shot actually going IN. Just worry about the form of the shot.
In third form I was still playing for the Black Rose B. I would go up and watch my brother play in the Palmerson North league every Friday. A few of my Black Rose B teammates were in the school team too. We would watch them and I would think, 'Wooooow - they're good'. Some point late in the season they had a tall player who was about to go back to Germany, her exchange coming to an end. My mum helpfully said, 'Oh! You could get Kate to come and play - you need a bit of height!' So she came home and said, 'Kate - the coach of the Senior A wants you to go to practices and start coming to the games'.
Again, I was nearly kicking and screaming. So I was in the Senior A, without even trialling. And I became the tallest player in the team, even as a 3rd former. I still had my uncanny knack for shot blocking and rebounding. I still was petrified to shoot the ball. But, as an un-coordinated, unfit third former, I was one of the few kids in my year group playing for a top sports team at school. Odd how things work out.
***
Side-note: The dumbest gratuitous dunking injury ever
When I was in form two my brother's team won the only Palmerston North boys' championship in school history. He was the 'rookie' of the team, being only 14. On the day of the final him and the other 'ballers' were out on the school-yard playing a pick-up game. Damon McDonald, one of the older kids, starting goading him to do some dunks for them. He was the only one in the whole school who could dunk. He gave in......
But it turns out the outdoor-hoops were jagged and rusty, and he ended up scraping the skin off of all of his fingers. It looked painful. On the day of the final.
The team ended up having several players foul off, and my brother had to take the court for the last minute of the game (hands swabbed in bandages) with my mum yelling out, 'For God's sakes - DON'T pass him the ball!' (she tended to get excited and yell out embarrassing things during games).
1) Have found new flatmate! Potential Flatmate #1 has agreed to move in next weekend. He was stoked. Lovely phone manner, if that's an indication of anything.
2) There is no #2. It just seemed silly to have a list with only one item in it. And I do love lists...... Heck, I'll make up a #3 and #4 just for fun.
3) Anyone wanna sell us a washing machine on the cheap? Exiting-flatmate took hers with her today.
4) I watched the Tall Blacks game last night - lost by 2 in overtime. We weren't impressed by their offence (me, Matt and his baller flamate). They really do need more options than 'pass it round the perimetre and shoot a three-pointer'. And they seriously need to put a leash on Tony Rampton and remind him he's not in the team for his outside shooting. The defence was ok and they showed good heart at the end of regular time to make their mini comeback. And I still love Phil Jones.
***
Then I discovered 'basket-ball'.
Morgue reckons he read somewhere that some genius guy said basketball was the most scientifically perfect game ever invented. I like that theory. Adds some weight to my 'It's Jeff Wilson's favourite sport' argument.
Recap of last installment:
When we left young Kate, she was entering Intermediate, having never played organised sport of any kind (not counting her doomed forrays into ballet and gymnastics). It looked like she would forever be an unco-ordinated nerd with no 'jock' credibility.......
At intermediate there was an inter-class basketball tournament. You had to have girls on the team. I was tall, so they picked me. I discovered that without even trying, I had a propensity for blocking shots. The Gollums had to be good for something! They ended up just telling me to stay back on defense and do that all game (possibly partly inspired by me being incredibly unfit, but still a compliment to my prowess). I even blocked Chico Graham (a 'cool' guy who eneded up playing in the NBL and has a kick-ass first name, don't you think?). I was like the Forrest Gump of shot-blocking.
I went home and told my mum. Mum was very excited that I was finally taking an interest in playing sport. She seized the opportunity and was like a dog with a bone......
Mum: So, do you want me to ask if you can play in a team at school? I teach a lovely girl who has a team......
Me: NO!
Mum: (A week later) I got you into a team! They play tonight!
Me: NoooooooooooOOOOOOooooOOOO! [Imagine my early-teenage whine]
She MADE me play for a college team, even though I was only 12. I almost had a tantrum (my friend Fifi will remember this vividly). I told her she would have to take me down kicking and screaming. I was a shy child and the thought of playing with strangers, let alone COLLEGE aged strangers playing against ADULTS, petrified me.
Anyhow, she did drag me down (kicking and screaming). And I told the lady taking the team that I'd just 'sit and watch'. She would have none of that. 'Best way to learn is to just get out there!' she said. So I was sent on, in my Adidas trackies (bear in mind, these were the days before I relented and let my mum buy me my first bra - even though I had needed one for months). I kinda had fun even though I had no idea where to stand or what to do and didn't dare take a shot. That team was called 'The Black Rose B' (ironically sponsored by a bricklaying company). That was one good thing about Levin at the time. The basketball league was very 'grass-roots' and you could just chuck a team of kids in there playing against adults, or make up a team of your friends. You just can't do that in Wellington. I think back then we were in the women's D grade. Nowadays I think they struggle to get one grade of teams.
It was a great bonding activity for me and my brother. I credit it with helping us get out of the 'crabby-Katie' phase, where we used to fight a lot since I turned about four and became bossy. Apparently before that I used to adore my brother and if anyone gave me anything I'd say, 'And one for my brother too?'. We had a free-standing basketball hoop in the back-yard and he took me out and taught me how to shoot. He was incredibly patient and I still use some of the tips he gave me with the kids I coach. The key tip is that when you're learning a new shooting style, don't worry about the shot actually going IN. Just worry about the form of the shot.
In third form I was still playing for the Black Rose B. I would go up and watch my brother play in the Palmerson North league every Friday. A few of my Black Rose B teammates were in the school team too. We would watch them and I would think, 'Wooooow - they're good'. Some point late in the season they had a tall player who was about to go back to Germany, her exchange coming to an end. My mum helpfully said, 'Oh! You could get Kate to come and play - you need a bit of height!' So she came home and said, 'Kate - the coach of the Senior A wants you to go to practices and start coming to the games'.
Again, I was nearly kicking and screaming. So I was in the Senior A, without even trialling. And I became the tallest player in the team, even as a 3rd former. I still had my uncanny knack for shot blocking and rebounding. I still was petrified to shoot the ball. But, as an un-coordinated, unfit third former, I was one of the few kids in my year group playing for a top sports team at school. Odd how things work out.
***
Side-note: The dumbest gratuitous dunking injury ever
When I was in form two my brother's team won the only Palmerston North boys' championship in school history. He was the 'rookie' of the team, being only 14. On the day of the final him and the other 'ballers' were out on the school-yard playing a pick-up game. Damon McDonald, one of the older kids, starting goading him to do some dunks for them. He was the only one in the whole school who could dunk. He gave in......
But it turns out the outdoor-hoops were jagged and rusty, and he ended up scraping the skin off of all of his fingers. It looked painful. On the day of the final.
The team ended up having several players foul off, and my brother had to take the court for the last minute of the game (hands swabbed in bandages) with my mum yelling out, 'For God's sakes - DON'T pass him the ball!' (she tended to get excited and yell out embarrassing things during games).
Wednesday, July 12, 2006
Me and Apples
1) Stewed Apples
My mum always made oodles of stewed apples which she pulled out during the winter to make stodgey desserts. I have this theory that anything that was too accessible as a child became something I didn't particularly like until adulthood (hence I didn't particularly like vegetable soup or pepper-steak either, but did like macaroni cheese and fish-cakes 'cause we hardly ever had them). We had every apple desert imaginable - crumbles, sponges, dumplings, pie. I grew ambivalent to it. These days I would appreciate it so much more!
2) Apple Picking
I grew up in Levin, the town that has a market-gardener as its icon. We would go to Lion's orchard and pick bagfuls of apples in the weekend during the summer. It was one of our Sunday-drive-family-outings (others were taking the dog to the beach or river or going to the vege shop). That was jolly good fun!
3) The Apple Diet
Cassie's personal trainer told her to go on a two-day diet of eating nothing but apples and water to detox herself before starting a new healthy eating regime. That sounded like fun to me! I tried it.... but gave up at the 32 hour mark. I tried it again a few days later and made it. It's more fun if you have a variety of apples and serve them in different ways (peeled, in quarters, grated). Ange and I tried to do it later in the year but only lasted about eight hours after obsessing about food all day.... and we ordered a pizza instead.
4) Lunch Apples
I try to have two pieces of fruit a day. My latest combo is an apple and a mandarin. For some reason I find apples cumbersome to eat at work and at one stage had a pile of four of them on my desk (having dutifully brought a new one every day and failed to eat it). That teacher cliche is true... only I have to provide my own apples for my desk!
My mum always made oodles of stewed apples which she pulled out during the winter to make stodgey desserts. I have this theory that anything that was too accessible as a child became something I didn't particularly like until adulthood (hence I didn't particularly like vegetable soup or pepper-steak either, but did like macaroni cheese and fish-cakes 'cause we hardly ever had them). We had every apple desert imaginable - crumbles, sponges, dumplings, pie. I grew ambivalent to it. These days I would appreciate it so much more!
2) Apple Picking
I grew up in Levin, the town that has a market-gardener as its icon. We would go to Lion's orchard and pick bagfuls of apples in the weekend during the summer. It was one of our Sunday-drive-family-outings (others were taking the dog to the beach or river or going to the vege shop). That was jolly good fun!
3) The Apple Diet
Cassie's personal trainer told her to go on a two-day diet of eating nothing but apples and water to detox herself before starting a new healthy eating regime. That sounded like fun to me! I tried it.... but gave up at the 32 hour mark. I tried it again a few days later and made it. It's more fun if you have a variety of apples and serve them in different ways (peeled, in quarters, grated). Ange and I tried to do it later in the year but only lasted about eight hours after obsessing about food all day.... and we ordered a pizza instead.
4) Lunch Apples
I try to have two pieces of fruit a day. My latest combo is an apple and a mandarin. For some reason I find apples cumbersome to eat at work and at one stage had a pile of four of them on my desk (having dutifully brought a new one every day and failed to eat it). That teacher cliche is true... only I have to provide my own apples for my desk!
The Good Old Cobb and Funny Kids
I did in fact order a traffic light. It is much more syrupy than I remember..... and it's juice! Is that how parents used to trick kids into having something vaguely nutritious??? I thought it was soft drink for some reason. But it DID come with a plastic giraffe perched on the side of the glass and a bendy-straw with little metallic streamers coming off it. I think the waitress was bemused by my enquiring as to whether they still sold them (they don't list them on the menu!).
What's good about Cobb 'n Co
- they still give you game mats with free pencils
- the game mats now have Sudoku on them (me and Lulu had an unofficial race - I forgot how quietly competitive she is - and it was a draw, though I had the easier Sudoku, apparently)
- the mains are huge (I had pumpkin lasagne and it came with garlic bread)
- the menus are still shaped like old fashioned saloon-doors
- they have those fancy electronic ordering systems where your order is instantaneously whizzed through to the kitchen like on Star Trek
***
Kids Say the Darnedest Things
I was hanging out with Fifi today in Levin, and her two kids (aged one and four). Lily is too little to talk much yet, so all I heard her say was 'Maaamaaa'. I half-heard her say 'Cat' when she was looking at me and hoped it was some jumbled version of 'Kate' she was trying to get her mouth around, but I doubt it. I couldn't get her to repeat it anyhow.
Harry was absorbed in some cartoon with a pet shark in it. I watched along with him for a while. He quite enjoyed giving 'spoilers' on what would happen in the next scene, so I got into the spirit and said, 'Ooooh, where's that guy going?'.
He replied with, 'Watch and learn!'
That's a very quirky reply for a four-year-old, I thought. Adorable! (His Mum told me later that he often says that and it might be something off Sponge-bob.)
Reminded me of when I lived in the Palmerston North ghetto with my brother, and neighbourhood children used to come around to play. He taught four year old Caleb to say 'What the....?' and squint his eyes like Adam West after they'd watched old Batman episodes together. Ahhh, those were the days. The kids would come round wearing towels they'd fashioned into capes using clothes pegs.
He eventually paused the DVD and decided to give more attention to his Thomas the Tank-engine railway set, which he'd laid out nicely on the carpet. He has five trains. He has Percy, who is the fastest train. Apparently two of the trains had gone off the rails and were stuck in the crocodile-pond. I explained to him what the coal the trains have in their engines is for. It was fun. I like Harry - he is my friend.
At random moments he would come up to his mum and say, 'Mum - I love you.' Awwww! He can't say my name, 'cause he has trouble with the 'k' sound and calls me 'Tate' instead.
BUT
Then there was the moment where I remembered it's not all sunshine and kisses....
He went to the toilet and started yelling out, 'Mum - tome and wipe my bum for me.' She replied very calmly with, 'Haz, we've talked about this before. You can do it by yourself now!'
He continued with, 'But it's the messy tind!' and wouldn't give in. Apparently he's ok with the non-messy faeces, but not the messy ones. Fair enough.
Conclusion
While kids are entertaining and fascinating and I really like playing with them, I'm quite happy with my current status of only being responisible for wiping one bottom.
***
Those of you lucky enough to own a copy of the History of Levin book (only $40 from all good book stores) can turn to page 277 to see my dad's name in print for his contribution to the shaping of the town.
What's good about Cobb 'n Co
- they still give you game mats with free pencils
- the game mats now have Sudoku on them (me and Lulu had an unofficial race - I forgot how quietly competitive she is - and it was a draw, though I had the easier Sudoku, apparently)
- the mains are huge (I had pumpkin lasagne and it came with garlic bread)
- the menus are still shaped like old fashioned saloon-doors
- they have those fancy electronic ordering systems where your order is instantaneously whizzed through to the kitchen like on Star Trek
***
Kids Say the Darnedest Things
I was hanging out with Fifi today in Levin, and her two kids (aged one and four). Lily is too little to talk much yet, so all I heard her say was 'Maaamaaa'. I half-heard her say 'Cat' when she was looking at me and hoped it was some jumbled version of 'Kate' she was trying to get her mouth around, but I doubt it. I couldn't get her to repeat it anyhow.
Harry was absorbed in some cartoon with a pet shark in it. I watched along with him for a while. He quite enjoyed giving 'spoilers' on what would happen in the next scene, so I got into the spirit and said, 'Ooooh, where's that guy going?'.
He replied with, 'Watch and learn!'
That's a very quirky reply for a four-year-old, I thought. Adorable! (His Mum told me later that he often says that and it might be something off Sponge-bob.)
Reminded me of when I lived in the Palmerston North ghetto with my brother, and neighbourhood children used to come around to play. He taught four year old Caleb to say 'What the....?' and squint his eyes like Adam West after they'd watched old Batman episodes together. Ahhh, those were the days. The kids would come round wearing towels they'd fashioned into capes using clothes pegs.
He eventually paused the DVD and decided to give more attention to his Thomas the Tank-engine railway set, which he'd laid out nicely on the carpet. He has five trains. He has Percy, who is the fastest train. Apparently two of the trains had gone off the rails and were stuck in the crocodile-pond. I explained to him what the coal the trains have in their engines is for. It was fun. I like Harry - he is my friend.
At random moments he would come up to his mum and say, 'Mum - I love you.' Awwww! He can't say my name, 'cause he has trouble with the 'k' sound and calls me 'Tate' instead.
BUT
Then there was the moment where I remembered it's not all sunshine and kisses....
He went to the toilet and started yelling out, 'Mum - tome and wipe my bum for me.' She replied very calmly with, 'Haz, we've talked about this before. You can do it by yourself now!'
He continued with, 'But it's the messy tind!' and wouldn't give in. Apparently he's ok with the non-messy faeces, but not the messy ones. Fair enough.
Conclusion
While kids are entertaining and fascinating and I really like playing with them, I'm quite happy with my current status of only being responisible for wiping one bottom.
***
Those of you lucky enough to own a copy of the History of Levin book (only $40 from all good book stores) can turn to page 277 to see my dad's name in print for his contribution to the shaping of the town.
Tuesday, July 11, 2006
Stop Loitering about, Young Scallywags!
I am Home in Levin
I was texting Matt last night, after he asked what I was up to.
I duly replied:
- The train ride was peaceful. I read a book.
- I'm now reading a book about the history of Levin
- I've just starting doing a puzzle like a Sudoku, only harder (btw I ALMOST got it out then realised I'd made a mistake somewhere and couldn't figure out where!)
- I'm having a cup of tea
- I'm watching a documentary on TV1
- I'm going to Cobb 'n Co for dinner tomorrow
And then...
- My god, I'm turning into a pensioner! Good thing I'm only staying two days.
Today I have had a jolly good time. My highlights so far are
- Libby the lab almost pulling Dad under the train at the station, she was so excited by all the people getting off at once
- Lynne turning my electric-blanket on for me last night so it was all snuggly
- Lynne leaving two trashy women's mags on the bed for me
- Exploring the GIANT new Count Down supermarket
- Seeing the good old giant marketgardener statue
- Coughing up a satisfyingly large bit of phlegm
- Unloading a truck-load of fire-wood from the driveway to the woodpile (I developed a great strategy of throwing it two-handed like a halfback). I cannot emphasise how large the pile was - it was a truckload, not merely a trailorload. Dad and Lynne have bad backs, so I figured that would earn me good karma. Also might help develop strength for my forehand in Ultimate.
- Potential Flatmate #1 ringing up and making further enquiries and saying he was very keen on the flat. Good option!
Still to come
- Dinner with Lulu and Clintclint at Cobb 'n Co (Matt told me to order a traffic-light)
- morning tea with Fifi
I feel like having a nap now. The wood-chucking made me tired.
Good bye for now.
Whee... I just found a fun site of 80s games. I played 'Simon' for the first time in years. Got up to 15 moves.
I was texting Matt last night, after he asked what I was up to.
I duly replied:
- The train ride was peaceful. I read a book.
- I'm now reading a book about the history of Levin
- I've just starting doing a puzzle like a Sudoku, only harder (btw I ALMOST got it out then realised I'd made a mistake somewhere and couldn't figure out where!)
- I'm having a cup of tea
- I'm watching a documentary on TV1
- I'm going to Cobb 'n Co for dinner tomorrow
And then...
- My god, I'm turning into a pensioner! Good thing I'm only staying two days.
Today I have had a jolly good time. My highlights so far are
- Libby the lab almost pulling Dad under the train at the station, she was so excited by all the people getting off at once
- Lynne turning my electric-blanket on for me last night so it was all snuggly
- Lynne leaving two trashy women's mags on the bed for me
- Exploring the GIANT new Count Down supermarket
- Seeing the good old giant marketgardener statue
- Coughing up a satisfyingly large bit of phlegm
- Unloading a truck-load of fire-wood from the driveway to the woodpile (I developed a great strategy of throwing it two-handed like a halfback). I cannot emphasise how large the pile was - it was a truckload, not merely a trailorload. Dad and Lynne have bad backs, so I figured that would earn me good karma. Also might help develop strength for my forehand in Ultimate.
- Potential Flatmate #1 ringing up and making further enquiries and saying he was very keen on the flat. Good option!
Still to come
- Dinner with Lulu and Clintclint at Cobb 'n Co (Matt told me to order a traffic-light)
- morning tea with Fifi
I feel like having a nap now. The wood-chucking made me tired.
Good bye for now.
Whee... I just found a fun site of 80s games. I played 'Simon' for the first time in years. Got up to 15 moves.
Monday, July 10, 2006
Acrophobia
ACROPHOBIA IS BACK!!!!!
I just did a net-search and found that my favourite old internet game is back. I used to wile away hours with my little Brazilian friend, Chiphead, playing it in my student days. Hilarious witty word fun! Me and Chip had a few games for old times sake. He did miserably, but I managed to win back-to-back games. Some would even say I DOMINATED!
The Game
You get given a bunch of letters and have to turn them into a funny acronym.
Eg - 'B.F.A.' could be 'Bush Fights Anyone' or 'Bacon: Fatty aphrodisiac' or 'Batman fights apathy' or 'Bones fascinate archeologists' or 'Bling flaunts affluence'.
The game goes from 3-letters, up to 5-letter acronyms. Each round has an optional theme. Answers on the theme tend to get more votes.
Scoring
You get about 30 seconds to come up with your acronym. After that they're all shown anonymously on the screen (there are up to 13 players). You vote for the one you think was best. The winner gets to pick the next category and you keep the points you scored that round.
Winning
Once someone has reached 30 points the top two players enter 'The Face Off'. They get a quickfire round and the rest of the 'room' votes on whose ones were best.
Other Features
There is a chat-window at the bottom. Me and Chip mostly use that to say obnoxious things like 'I AM TEH DOMIN8OIR ONE - YOU ALL ARE LOSSERS!!!!!'. There are lots of neat features that make it a really fun game to play (eg - you don't get any points unless you vote for someone else, the fastest entry that gets at least one vote gets bonus speed points).
Your Turn
Try to think up better acronyms than I have for the following letters and themes:
NDB (show biz)
- Nudity does better
MACP (sports)
- Martina: A Czech Pro
- Marathoners are crazy pedestrians
- Most Allblacks carry purses
SSTWE (psychology)
- Sanity's simply the weirdest experience.
- Sigmund's sexual tendencies were elicit
I just did a net-search and found that my favourite old internet game is back. I used to wile away hours with my little Brazilian friend, Chiphead, playing it in my student days. Hilarious witty word fun! Me and Chip had a few games for old times sake. He did miserably, but I managed to win back-to-back games. Some would even say I DOMINATED!
The Game
You get given a bunch of letters and have to turn them into a funny acronym.
Eg - 'B.F.A.' could be 'Bush Fights Anyone' or 'Bacon: Fatty aphrodisiac' or 'Batman fights apathy' or 'Bones fascinate archeologists' or 'Bling flaunts affluence'.
The game goes from 3-letters, up to 5-letter acronyms. Each round has an optional theme. Answers on the theme tend to get more votes.
Scoring
You get about 30 seconds to come up with your acronym. After that they're all shown anonymously on the screen (there are up to 13 players). You vote for the one you think was best. The winner gets to pick the next category and you keep the points you scored that round.
Winning
Once someone has reached 30 points the top two players enter 'The Face Off'. They get a quickfire round and the rest of the 'room' votes on whose ones were best.
Other Features
There is a chat-window at the bottom. Me and Chip mostly use that to say obnoxious things like 'I AM TEH DOMIN8OIR ONE - YOU ALL ARE LOSSERS!!!!!'. There are lots of neat features that make it a really fun game to play (eg - you don't get any points unless you vote for someone else, the fastest entry that gets at least one vote gets bonus speed points).
Your Turn
Try to think up better acronyms than I have for the following letters and themes:
NDB (show biz)
- Nudity does better
MACP (sports)
- Martina: A Czech Pro
- Marathoners are crazy pedestrians
- Most Allblacks carry purses
SSTWE (psychology)
- Sanity's simply the weirdest experience.
- Sigmund's sexual tendencies were elicit
Friday, July 07, 2006
Sports - The Twilight Years
After high-school it's all been down-hill.
Everyone else has caught up with me, and my height is no longer the advantage it used to be. Start violins.
I played two seasons for the Victoria University team, and the coach had great faith in me and had me in the starting five both years. We played Intercity one of those years (the top Wellington League). I had to lose my lazy habits then! I actually had to remember how to 'box-out' and stuff. I counted at one practice, and I think he made us run over 60 lengths during various drills. We had snazzy reversible uniforms and tracksuits, and even team t-shirts. It was a nice team to play for.
I then transferred to Massey. Bad basketball times. I trialled for the top team and didn't make it, but was asked to join the 'tournament squad'. Now, part of the reason I didn't make it (in my opinioin) is that the player-coach was from Levin and she was an arch-rival of our school. I had always been scared of her and had taken great pride in blocking her shot on court. I don't think she liked me. I went to the tournament and had a miserable time. One game, she forgot to put me on the court at all (and that was the one game my dad came to watch!). When we lost in the semis I was secretly happy.
In basketball's place, I started playing netball. My aforementioned friend, Sarah 'The Terminator' had an indoor-netball team and asked me to come play. I loved it! I played defence for the most part, my shooting being absolute crap for some reason and my fitness being far too bad for centre. Various forms of that team have been around for about 8 years now (me and James and Heidi all hail from 'The Danger Powers' lineup). I also tried a season of outdoor netball with her. I was relegated to GK or GD for the most-part (the captain ran the team with an iron fist and always put herself at shoot and everyone else wherever she pleased). I found getting up early on a Saturday and wearing a netball skirt surprisingly fun. Shoulda done it years ago!
Me and Sarah finally bullied the captain into letting us shoot together in one of the last games of the season, for one half. We were so good that the opposing team commented to the captain (who had had to put herself on defence for the first time ever), 'Wow - your shooting combination are so good! They must've played together for ages!' That gave me satisfaction.
I went without basketball for a few more years, but kept up the indoor in Wellington. Me and Merv made up a team with Sarah and called ourselves 'The Players'. That team has mutated several times and ended up as the 'Cows Go Moo' dynasty (taking on a few people from 'Teacher's Pets' along the way). We haven't missed a season since the middle of 2001. I have become fit enough to play centre. None of the lineups has been a two-point-shooting team.
I picked up basketball again in about 2003, when the new coaches at the school I teach at suggested I come play for their club, Morehu. I've had varied success, depending on how good the team's been (the better the team, the worse I seem to do in comparison) and have realised my limitations. I am a good role player these days. But it's still fun! Definitely the best sport in the world. I always end up buggered and covered in sweat. That's a good way to end a match.
And recently I've played a few games of Ultimate Frisbee. It's fun. Morgue wrote a nice blog about the intricacies of it a while ago.
I've never run fast enough or jumped high enough to get any serious injuries. I've had plenty of sprained fingers and fat knuckles, a few decently sprained ankles, lots of grazed knee and bruises. At highschool I had a recurring shoulder agrivation, possibly a rotator-cuff injury. I kinda wanted a black-eye after Sarah got one once, but was never that lucky.
I've had the odd tennis game with friends over the years and quite enjoy that, but still struggle to serve properly. I've scored over 100 in ten-pin-bowling a few times. I like chess. Over the last few years I've flirted with 'jogging/fast-walking' but it never lasts long. I've been to a gym on two ocassions, both at the suggestion of friends. I did the cycle leg of a mini-team-triathlon last year.
So that's me and sports in a nutshell. A big nutshell.
I enjoy sports. They are satisfying and fun.
I like doing well and winning. But that's not everything, and I certainly notice the score a lot less than I used to.
I like the people I play sports with.
I would like to take up curling.
Everyone else has caught up with me, and my height is no longer the advantage it used to be. Start violins.
I played two seasons for the Victoria University team, and the coach had great faith in me and had me in the starting five both years. We played Intercity one of those years (the top Wellington League). I had to lose my lazy habits then! I actually had to remember how to 'box-out' and stuff. I counted at one practice, and I think he made us run over 60 lengths during various drills. We had snazzy reversible uniforms and tracksuits, and even team t-shirts. It was a nice team to play for.
I then transferred to Massey. Bad basketball times. I trialled for the top team and didn't make it, but was asked to join the 'tournament squad'. Now, part of the reason I didn't make it (in my opinioin) is that the player-coach was from Levin and she was an arch-rival of our school. I had always been scared of her and had taken great pride in blocking her shot on court. I don't think she liked me. I went to the tournament and had a miserable time. One game, she forgot to put me on the court at all (and that was the one game my dad came to watch!). When we lost in the semis I was secretly happy.
In basketball's place, I started playing netball. My aforementioned friend, Sarah 'The Terminator' had an indoor-netball team and asked me to come play. I loved it! I played defence for the most part, my shooting being absolute crap for some reason and my fitness being far too bad for centre. Various forms of that team have been around for about 8 years now (me and James and Heidi all hail from 'The Danger Powers' lineup). I also tried a season of outdoor netball with her. I was relegated to GK or GD for the most-part (the captain ran the team with an iron fist and always put herself at shoot and everyone else wherever she pleased). I found getting up early on a Saturday and wearing a netball skirt surprisingly fun. Shoulda done it years ago!
Me and Sarah finally bullied the captain into letting us shoot together in one of the last games of the season, for one half. We were so good that the opposing team commented to the captain (who had had to put herself on defence for the first time ever), 'Wow - your shooting combination are so good! They must've played together for ages!' That gave me satisfaction.
I went without basketball for a few more years, but kept up the indoor in Wellington. Me and Merv made up a team with Sarah and called ourselves 'The Players'. That team has mutated several times and ended up as the 'Cows Go Moo' dynasty (taking on a few people from 'Teacher's Pets' along the way). We haven't missed a season since the middle of 2001. I have become fit enough to play centre. None of the lineups has been a two-point-shooting team.
I picked up basketball again in about 2003, when the new coaches at the school I teach at suggested I come play for their club, Morehu. I've had varied success, depending on how good the team's been (the better the team, the worse I seem to do in comparison) and have realised my limitations. I am a good role player these days. But it's still fun! Definitely the best sport in the world. I always end up buggered and covered in sweat. That's a good way to end a match.
And recently I've played a few games of Ultimate Frisbee. It's fun. Morgue wrote a nice blog about the intricacies of it a while ago.
I've never run fast enough or jumped high enough to get any serious injuries. I've had plenty of sprained fingers and fat knuckles, a few decently sprained ankles, lots of grazed knee and bruises. At highschool I had a recurring shoulder agrivation, possibly a rotator-cuff injury. I kinda wanted a black-eye after Sarah got one once, but was never that lucky.
I've had the odd tennis game with friends over the years and quite enjoy that, but still struggle to serve properly. I've scored over 100 in ten-pin-bowling a few times. I like chess. Over the last few years I've flirted with 'jogging/fast-walking' but it never lasts long. I've been to a gym on two ocassions, both at the suggestion of friends. I did the cycle leg of a mini-team-triathlon last year.
So that's me and sports in a nutshell. A big nutshell.
I enjoy sports. They are satisfying and fun.
I like doing well and winning. But that's not everything, and I certainly notice the score a lot less than I used to.
I like the people I play sports with.
I would like to take up curling.
Sports - The Highschool Glorydays
I become a 'senior player'
After third form I started getting all my friends to play. We had a summer league team called 'We're Not' (so called in the hopes that the other team would say, 'Who're we playing this week?' and the answer would be 'We're Not', so they wouldn't turn up and we'd win by default). We won one game by two points against the Chinese girls team called 'The Mavericks'. It was brilliant! I had to shoot and dribble a lot more on that team.
That was around the time of the basketball hey-days in Levin. My mum was Teacher-in-charge of basketball at our school, being the kinda parent who was very 'hands on' when her kids developed an interest. We went from having just the boys team playing in the Palmerston North league to having six teams. She even single-handedly started a mid-week high-school league in Levin, inviting teams from Foxton and Otaki to play as well. It was fun. Our whole family would spend Thursday night down at the stadium, doing score-bench, reffing and playing. Dad would come pick us up after work and we'd get Chinese take-aways. Something inevitably got stolen and you had to keep a tight grip on any basketball you had with you. Many was the time I had to get mum to go reclaim a ball that very clearly had 'JUDGE' written on it, but had been picked up 'accidentally' by some kid from Waiopehu College (punks!).
Sometimes I was playing or training up to five or six days a week. Basketball was life. Me and my brother had posters up in our bedrooms. Our family ordered Pontel tapes from Europe (this was before the days of Sky and there were no NBA games of regular TV for a while) and half the Senior A boys would come around on a Tuesday night and watch our latest NBA offerings. Our family even planned an America holiday roughly around attending as many NBA games as possible (we went to seven, including Christmas day at the classic Chicago Stadium watching our favourite team, The Bulls, beat their nemesis at the time, The Knicks).
In fourth form I trialled for, and made the Senior A team. But, I didn't think I deserved to make it and the few players that I was friends with all decided to play for the Senior B team instead, so I joined them. In a cruel stroke of irony, the Senior B team ended up being better than the Senior A team and I got almost no court-time all season. I had a miserable time.
Remember, at this point in time, that the kinda kids playing basketball weren't really the kinda kids I was hanging out with at school. They were a rougher element. It was a great way to get 'in' with the tough girls who smoked in the 'N-block' toilets. But, as you remember, I was a shy girl.... I could easily go to a practice session and not say a word the whole time (just smile eagerly and do what I'm told).
Fifth form was a different story. I trialled for the Senior A again and made it, along with some of my friends, Sarah and Iona, who'd been playing for 'We're Not' (which had now become 'The Shaquilles' and 'Hakuna Mutata'). So I was happy! I went from being last on the bench for the Senior B to starting five in the Senior A, and got the 'Most Improved Player' award at prize-giving and a penant (our school's top prize for athletes, only four players in our team got them).
To top it off, our team had just been promoted to the Premiere city grade the season before..... and this season we WON it. A little old scruffy old team from Levin winning the Palmerston North league. It was a Cinderella story! We even beat our arch-rivals QEC in the final.
The night of the finals my mum was in hospital in Palmerston North. She had been in and out of hospital for a big part of that year, her cancer having come back for the third time since I was in standard two. She couldn't come to the game. We taped it for her and about a dozen people visited her hospital ward at about 9.30pm after the game finished. I remember Dad going to get her, and her coming down the hall quietly to greet us (her drip-machine on wheels at her side). Everyone else in the ward was asleep and it was dark, so we'd all waited by the elevator. She had tears in her eyes. It was nice. She died about three months later and I'd say one of the things she was most proud of is how well her basketball kids ended up doing (she helped hundreds of kids over the years, and not your 'easiest' kids either).
I kept playing in sixth and seventh form, being captain in my final year. We won the premiere Palmerston league both of those years as well. The THREE-PEAT. It was fun. Our coach, Mike, had total faith in us and while we didn't have the most complex strategies, we kinda had a good feel for each other and developed a style that suited us perfectly. He always kept me on the court most of the game (being tall I kinda anchored the defence and it dropped off a bit when we had a shorter line-up on) and I loved that!
One of my best friends, Sarah, played along-side me in the starting five and we called ourselves 'The Terminator' and 'The Exterminator'. We even had matching wrist-bands (erm, my idea) and practised our 'tricky play' at trainings (it involved a between-the-legs-pass and was never-ever used in a real game). It remained our Friday ritual to drive the 45 minutes to Palmy every week and not get home til almost midnigh, after having our post-game wrap-up at McDonald's on the square. My brother would come and watch since he was at Massey in those days.
My brother was, by the way, an amazing player. He is a very coordinated guy (he can dance just like Michael Jackson and has been a ringer at Masonic Debutante balls to escourt girls he doesn't even know because of his twinkle-toes). During high-school he would spend hours every night watching games in freeze-frame, sketching the moves into his notebooks (he was an amazing artist as well) and then going outside and practising them. He would also spend hours jumping off his graphics desk and trying to rebound up and touch the ceiling (which was 12 foot high). As a result, he could score 20-30 points at will and was one of the best technical post-players you'd ever see.
He also had an amazing vertical leap, being able to do fancy dunks (windmills, 180s, reverse-double-pumps). He went to some Five-Star camps with guys who ended up being in the NBL and would be one of the few who people stood around and watched have dunk-offs. He was in the Manuwatu Under-20 and Under-18 teams with more future NBL players. Trouble was that he was an early grower, but never got past 6'2. Though he was the tallest player on the team most years, he was never going to be able to be a post-player in higher leagues. Didn't matter though, cause he didn't really have higher aspirations and I think he had burn-out (due to a series of frustrating and painful injuries) and was quite happy to go off to uni and just play socially. He enjoyed coaching a few girls' teams at school (including my 'Hakuna Mutata' one, 'The Petals' and the aptly named 'Banes').
I got some impressive-sounding honours, but I really think it was just a matter of 'right-place-right-time' and being tall :) I have no delusions of grandeur.
- selected for Manuwatu U18 team
- selected for Levin Women's team
- Played for Levin U16 team
Anyhow, that was a huge part of my high-school years. I fit it around study and a part-time job one year and never missed a practice.
Other than that my high-school sports stories are limited to a brief stint in the U16 school volleyball team (we got knocked out in the first round of qualifying games) and two years in the Lawn Bowls team (I think my pairs teaming was the worst each respective year I played). Oh yeah, and I got third in the Intermediate Discus one year. And me and Tammy had a battle to get last in the cross country every year (we had a tense routine of waiting til the last possible minute and then trying to out-sprint each other near the finish line, but walking the rest).
Side-Note: Another vivid memory of my brother playing sports was the 800m race on athletics day. The whole school was watching and my brother was house captain, so he was entering everything he could [don't get me started on how he pressured his self-conscious-chubby younger sister to swim more than one race during swimming sports - in the days before boardies].
He went in the 800m race, which was perhaps out of his ideal range (being a 'twitch-muscle' kinda guy). Coming up to the home-straight he pulled up lame and limped off the field, failing to finish. My friends were all terribly concerned and said, 'Katie - your brother is injured!'. I shook my head and said, 'Nah, he knew he wasn't gonna come anywhere and thought it would be easier to just not finish, betcha!' And I was right. He faked an injury in front of the whole school to save face and I was the only one who realised what he was really doing. Sister knows best!
After third form I started getting all my friends to play. We had a summer league team called 'We're Not' (so called in the hopes that the other team would say, 'Who're we playing this week?' and the answer would be 'We're Not', so they wouldn't turn up and we'd win by default). We won one game by two points against the Chinese girls team called 'The Mavericks'. It was brilliant! I had to shoot and dribble a lot more on that team.
That was around the time of the basketball hey-days in Levin. My mum was Teacher-in-charge of basketball at our school, being the kinda parent who was very 'hands on' when her kids developed an interest. We went from having just the boys team playing in the Palmerston North league to having six teams. She even single-handedly started a mid-week high-school league in Levin, inviting teams from Foxton and Otaki to play as well. It was fun. Our whole family would spend Thursday night down at the stadium, doing score-bench, reffing and playing. Dad would come pick us up after work and we'd get Chinese take-aways. Something inevitably got stolen and you had to keep a tight grip on any basketball you had with you. Many was the time I had to get mum to go reclaim a ball that very clearly had 'JUDGE' written on it, but had been picked up 'accidentally' by some kid from Waiopehu College (punks!).
Sometimes I was playing or training up to five or six days a week. Basketball was life. Me and my brother had posters up in our bedrooms. Our family ordered Pontel tapes from Europe (this was before the days of Sky and there were no NBA games of regular TV for a while) and half the Senior A boys would come around on a Tuesday night and watch our latest NBA offerings. Our family even planned an America holiday roughly around attending as many NBA games as possible (we went to seven, including Christmas day at the classic Chicago Stadium watching our favourite team, The Bulls, beat their nemesis at the time, The Knicks).
In fourth form I trialled for, and made the Senior A team. But, I didn't think I deserved to make it and the few players that I was friends with all decided to play for the Senior B team instead, so I joined them. In a cruel stroke of irony, the Senior B team ended up being better than the Senior A team and I got almost no court-time all season. I had a miserable time.
Remember, at this point in time, that the kinda kids playing basketball weren't really the kinda kids I was hanging out with at school. They were a rougher element. It was a great way to get 'in' with the tough girls who smoked in the 'N-block' toilets. But, as you remember, I was a shy girl.... I could easily go to a practice session and not say a word the whole time (just smile eagerly and do what I'm told).
Fifth form was a different story. I trialled for the Senior A again and made it, along with some of my friends, Sarah and Iona, who'd been playing for 'We're Not' (which had now become 'The Shaquilles' and 'Hakuna Mutata'). So I was happy! I went from being last on the bench for the Senior B to starting five in the Senior A, and got the 'Most Improved Player' award at prize-giving and a penant (our school's top prize for athletes, only four players in our team got them).
To top it off, our team had just been promoted to the Premiere city grade the season before..... and this season we WON it. A little old scruffy old team from Levin winning the Palmerston North league. It was a Cinderella story! We even beat our arch-rivals QEC in the final.
The night of the finals my mum was in hospital in Palmerston North. She had been in and out of hospital for a big part of that year, her cancer having come back for the third time since I was in standard two. She couldn't come to the game. We taped it for her and about a dozen people visited her hospital ward at about 9.30pm after the game finished. I remember Dad going to get her, and her coming down the hall quietly to greet us (her drip-machine on wheels at her side). Everyone else in the ward was asleep and it was dark, so we'd all waited by the elevator. She had tears in her eyes. It was nice. She died about three months later and I'd say one of the things she was most proud of is how well her basketball kids ended up doing (she helped hundreds of kids over the years, and not your 'easiest' kids either).
I kept playing in sixth and seventh form, being captain in my final year. We won the premiere Palmerston league both of those years as well. The THREE-PEAT. It was fun. Our coach, Mike, had total faith in us and while we didn't have the most complex strategies, we kinda had a good feel for each other and developed a style that suited us perfectly. He always kept me on the court most of the game (being tall I kinda anchored the defence and it dropped off a bit when we had a shorter line-up on) and I loved that!
One of my best friends, Sarah, played along-side me in the starting five and we called ourselves 'The Terminator' and 'The Exterminator'. We even had matching wrist-bands (erm, my idea) and practised our 'tricky play' at trainings (it involved a between-the-legs-pass and was never-ever used in a real game). It remained our Friday ritual to drive the 45 minutes to Palmy every week and not get home til almost midnigh, after having our post-game wrap-up at McDonald's on the square. My brother would come and watch since he was at Massey in those days.
My brother was, by the way, an amazing player. He is a very coordinated guy (he can dance just like Michael Jackson and has been a ringer at Masonic Debutante balls to escourt girls he doesn't even know because of his twinkle-toes). During high-school he would spend hours every night watching games in freeze-frame, sketching the moves into his notebooks (he was an amazing artist as well) and then going outside and practising them. He would also spend hours jumping off his graphics desk and trying to rebound up and touch the ceiling (which was 12 foot high). As a result, he could score 20-30 points at will and was one of the best technical post-players you'd ever see.
He also had an amazing vertical leap, being able to do fancy dunks (windmills, 180s, reverse-double-pumps). He went to some Five-Star camps with guys who ended up being in the NBL and would be one of the few who people stood around and watched have dunk-offs. He was in the Manuwatu Under-20 and Under-18 teams with more future NBL players. Trouble was that he was an early grower, but never got past 6'2. Though he was the tallest player on the team most years, he was never going to be able to be a post-player in higher leagues. Didn't matter though, cause he didn't really have higher aspirations and I think he had burn-out (due to a series of frustrating and painful injuries) and was quite happy to go off to uni and just play socially. He enjoyed coaching a few girls' teams at school (including my 'Hakuna Mutata' one, 'The Petals' and the aptly named 'Banes').
I got some impressive-sounding honours, but I really think it was just a matter of 'right-place-right-time' and being tall :) I have no delusions of grandeur.
- selected for Manuwatu U18 team
- selected for Levin Women's team
- Played for Levin U16 team
Anyhow, that was a huge part of my high-school years. I fit it around study and a part-time job one year and never missed a practice.
Other than that my high-school sports stories are limited to a brief stint in the U16 school volleyball team (we got knocked out in the first round of qualifying games) and two years in the Lawn Bowls team (I think my pairs teaming was the worst each respective year I played). Oh yeah, and I got third in the Intermediate Discus one year. And me and Tammy had a battle to get last in the cross country every year (we had a tense routine of waiting til the last possible minute and then trying to out-sprint each other near the finish line, but walking the rest).
Side-Note: Another vivid memory of my brother playing sports was the 800m race on athletics day. The whole school was watching and my brother was house captain, so he was entering everything he could [don't get me started on how he pressured his self-conscious-chubby younger sister to swim more than one race during swimming sports - in the days before boardies].
He went in the 800m race, which was perhaps out of his ideal range (being a 'twitch-muscle' kinda guy). Coming up to the home-straight he pulled up lame and limped off the field, failing to finish. My friends were all terribly concerned and said, 'Katie - your brother is injured!'. I shook my head and said, 'Nah, he knew he wasn't gonna come anywhere and thought it would be easier to just not finish, betcha!' And I was right. He faked an injury in front of the whole school to save face and I was the only one who realised what he was really doing. Sister knows best!
Sports - the middle days (a reluctant beginning)
Then I discovered 'basket-ball'.
At intermediate there was an inter-class basketball tournament. You had to have girls on the team. I was tall, so they picked me. I discovered that without even trying, I had a propensity for blocking shots. They ended up just telling me to stay back on defense and do that all game (possibly partly inspired by me being incredibly unfit, but still a compliment to my prowess). I even blocked Chico Graham (a 'cool' guy who eneded up playing in the NBL and has a kick-ass first name, don't you think?). I was like the Forrest Gump of shot-blocking. I went home and told my mum.
Mum was very excited that I was finally taking an interest in playing sport. She seized the opportunity and was like a dog with a bone......
Mum: So, do you want me to ask if you can play in a team at school? I teach a lovely girl who has a team......
Me: NO!
Mum: (A week later) I got you into a team! They play tonight!
Me: NoooooooooooOOOOOOooooOOOO!
She MADE me play for a college team, even though I was only 12. I almost had a tantrum (my friend Fifi will remember this vividly). I told her she would have to take me down kicking and screaming. I was a shy child and the thought of playing with strangers, let alone COLLEGE aged strangers playing against ADULTS, petrified me.
Anyhow, she did drag me down (kicking and screaming). And I told the lady taking the team that I'd just 'sit and watch'. She would have none of that. 'Best way to learn is to just get out there!' she said. So I was sent on, in my Adidas trackies (bear in mind, these were the days before I relented and let my mum buy me my first bra - even though I had needed one for months). I kinda had fun even though I had no idea where to stand or what to do and didn't dare take a shot. That team was called 'The Black Rose B' (ironically sponsored by a bricklaying company) and I played for them, and the A team, for a several years. That was one good thing about Levin at the time. The basketball league was very 'grass-roots' and you could just chuck a team of kids in there playing against adults, or make up a team of your friends. You just can't do that in Wellington. I think back then we were in the women's D grade. Nowadays I think they struggle to get one grade of teams.
It was a great bonding activity for me and my brother. I credit it with helping us get out of the 'crabby-Katie' phase, where we used to fight a lot since I turned about four and became bossy. Apparently before that I used to adore my brother and if anyone gave me anything I'd say, 'And one for my brother too?'.
We had a free-standing basketball hoop in the back-yard and he took me out and taught me how to shoot. He was incredibly patient and I still use some of the tips he gave me with the kids I coach. The key tip is that when you're learning a new shooting style, don't worry about the shot actually going IN. Just worry about the form of the shot.
I think I have a fairly good shooting touch. I've seen my shot on video tape, and it doesn't look nearly as nice as I'd like it to (I have spindly arms like Reggie Miller), but it's still a decent shot. It has a nice arc and is fairly accurate. Usually one of the better ones on the team, including the guards. Just as well, cause my game off the dribble is AWFUL.
In third form I was still playing for the Black Rose B. I would go up and watch my brother play in the Palmerson North league every Friday. A few of my Black Rose B teammates were in the school team too. We would watch them and I would think, 'Wooooow - they're good'. Some point late in the season they had a tall player who was about to go back to Germany, her exchange coming to an end. My mum helpfully said, 'Oh! You could get Kate to come and play - you need a bit of height!' So she came home and said, 'Kate - the coach of the Senior A wants you to go to practices and start coming to the games'. Again, I was nearly kicking and screaming.
So I was in the Senior A, without even trialling. And I became the tallest player in the team, even as a 3rd former. I still had my uncanny knack for shot blocking and rebounding. I still was petrified to shoot the ball. But, as an un-coordinated third former, I was one of the few kids in my year group playing for a top sports team at school. Odd how things work out.
Side-note:
When I was in form two my brother's team won the only Palmerston North boys' championship in school history. He was the 'rookie' of the team, being only 14. On the day of the final him and the other 'ballers' were out on the school-yard playing a pick-up game. Damon McDonald, one of the older kids, starting goading him to do some dunks for them. He was the only one in the whole school who could dunk.
He gave in...... But it turns out the outdoor-hoops were jagged and rusty, and he ended up scraping the skin off of all of his fingers. It looked painful. On the day of the final. The team ended up having several players foul off, and my brother had to take the court for the last minute of the game (hands swabbed in bandages) with my mum yelling out, 'For God's sakes - DON'T pass him the ball!' (she tended to get excited and yell out embarrassing things during games).
At intermediate there was an inter-class basketball tournament. You had to have girls on the team. I was tall, so they picked me. I discovered that without even trying, I had a propensity for blocking shots. They ended up just telling me to stay back on defense and do that all game (possibly partly inspired by me being incredibly unfit, but still a compliment to my prowess). I even blocked Chico Graham (a 'cool' guy who eneded up playing in the NBL and has a kick-ass first name, don't you think?). I was like the Forrest Gump of shot-blocking. I went home and told my mum.
Mum was very excited that I was finally taking an interest in playing sport. She seized the opportunity and was like a dog with a bone......
Mum: So, do you want me to ask if you can play in a team at school? I teach a lovely girl who has a team......
Me: NO!
Mum: (A week later) I got you into a team! They play tonight!
Me: NoooooooooooOOOOOOooooOOOO!
She MADE me play for a college team, even though I was only 12. I almost had a tantrum (my friend Fifi will remember this vividly). I told her she would have to take me down kicking and screaming. I was a shy child and the thought of playing with strangers, let alone COLLEGE aged strangers playing against ADULTS, petrified me.
Anyhow, she did drag me down (kicking and screaming). And I told the lady taking the team that I'd just 'sit and watch'. She would have none of that. 'Best way to learn is to just get out there!' she said. So I was sent on, in my Adidas trackies (bear in mind, these were the days before I relented and let my mum buy me my first bra - even though I had needed one for months). I kinda had fun even though I had no idea where to stand or what to do and didn't dare take a shot. That team was called 'The Black Rose B' (ironically sponsored by a bricklaying company) and I played for them, and the A team, for a several years. That was one good thing about Levin at the time. The basketball league was very 'grass-roots' and you could just chuck a team of kids in there playing against adults, or make up a team of your friends. You just can't do that in Wellington. I think back then we were in the women's D grade. Nowadays I think they struggle to get one grade of teams.
It was a great bonding activity for me and my brother. I credit it with helping us get out of the 'crabby-Katie' phase, where we used to fight a lot since I turned about four and became bossy. Apparently before that I used to adore my brother and if anyone gave me anything I'd say, 'And one for my brother too?'.
We had a free-standing basketball hoop in the back-yard and he took me out and taught me how to shoot. He was incredibly patient and I still use some of the tips he gave me with the kids I coach. The key tip is that when you're learning a new shooting style, don't worry about the shot actually going IN. Just worry about the form of the shot.
I think I have a fairly good shooting touch. I've seen my shot on video tape, and it doesn't look nearly as nice as I'd like it to (I have spindly arms like Reggie Miller), but it's still a decent shot. It has a nice arc and is fairly accurate. Usually one of the better ones on the team, including the guards. Just as well, cause my game off the dribble is AWFUL.
In third form I was still playing for the Black Rose B. I would go up and watch my brother play in the Palmerson North league every Friday. A few of my Black Rose B teammates were in the school team too. We would watch them and I would think, 'Wooooow - they're good'. Some point late in the season they had a tall player who was about to go back to Germany, her exchange coming to an end. My mum helpfully said, 'Oh! You could get Kate to come and play - you need a bit of height!' So she came home and said, 'Kate - the coach of the Senior A wants you to go to practices and start coming to the games'. Again, I was nearly kicking and screaming.
So I was in the Senior A, without even trialling. And I became the tallest player in the team, even as a 3rd former. I still had my uncanny knack for shot blocking and rebounding. I still was petrified to shoot the ball. But, as an un-coordinated third former, I was one of the few kids in my year group playing for a top sports team at school. Odd how things work out.
Side-note:
When I was in form two my brother's team won the only Palmerston North boys' championship in school history. He was the 'rookie' of the team, being only 14. On the day of the final him and the other 'ballers' were out on the school-yard playing a pick-up game. Damon McDonald, one of the older kids, starting goading him to do some dunks for them. He was the only one in the whole school who could dunk.
He gave in...... But it turns out the outdoor-hoops were jagged and rusty, and he ended up scraping the skin off of all of his fingers. It looked painful. On the day of the final. The team ended up having several players foul off, and my brother had to take the court for the last minute of the game (hands swabbed in bandages) with my mum yelling out, 'For God's sakes - DON'T pass him the ball!' (she tended to get excited and yell out embarrassing things during games).
3rd Equal - Ain't no shame in that, folks
On a stormy night in H-town, three of us hearty folk headed down for the pub quiz.
I had a basketball game til seven, so was kindly picked up by Ange en route. Note: In an awfully low-scoring game, I helped my team to come back from 18-23 down in the last few minutes by scoring five points in a row. We won 25-23. A rare victory for the Slammers! I was incredibly slow and lazy on the whole (I kept getting rebounds, throwing outlets and just praying the guards turned it into a fast break so I wouldn't have to move). I threw in some chesty-phlegmy coughs every now and then to get sympathy. I was also soaking wet, having walked from H-town to N-town and stepped in several large puddles. My teammates laughed at my shorts, which were drenched from about mid-thigh down, where my jacket ended.
It ended up being just Ange, Sam and Me. So we called ourselves 'Just A.S.K' (cheesily good!). Though one of the smaller teams, we stayed at about 3rd equal the whole quiz, despite some anaemic rounds of about 6/10. Sam dominated in the 'Classic Cars' picture round and had an anecdote to go with each picture (the cutest being one about how his dad had been overseas and brought back a jacket for wee Sam as a gift, filling each pocket with a new match-box car as an extra surprise - awww!). Ange .... who knows what Ange was doing. She couldn't even hear the questions but did some elaborate doodling. A highlight for me was Sam thinking he'd won a spot prize and walking all the way up to the bar to claim it, only to find it was for a DIFFERENT Sam and then trying to walk non-challantly back to the table.
Ange got the nachoes, I got the fettucine and Sam got a pizza. All good. Because we were sitting at the fancy tables at the front we got candles and dinner-mints and a flask of water with lemons in it. Fancy! We usually just get the railway-sleeper table and some stools, way down the back somewhere.
I think I contributed about four genuine answers and got the ponderous puzzle on the first clue.
- an actor born in 1951, 5'3 and formerly known by the name 'Nick Fromage'
- what name do we have for the animal called 'cuy' in south america, and considered a delicacy there?
- what early '90s rapper's real name is Stanley and previously played minor league baseball?
- what NBA team won the first ever title for its franchise this year?
- what TV show featured the character of 'Julie McCoy'?
Answers:
Robin Williams
Guinea Pig
MC Hammer
Miama Heat [sic]
The Love Boat
On the way home I got Sam all nostalgic for the niceities of early dating. He agreed to drop me at Matt's on the way, and I stopped at home to grab some stuff and HAPPENED to put some perfume on while I was there (just cause I saw it lying around and remembered I hadn't put any on.....). He thought it was adorable and got nostalgic. I think he misses Fishy.
I had a basketball game til seven, so was kindly picked up by Ange en route. Note: In an awfully low-scoring game, I helped my team to come back from 18-23 down in the last few minutes by scoring five points in a row. We won 25-23. A rare victory for the Slammers! I was incredibly slow and lazy on the whole (I kept getting rebounds, throwing outlets and just praying the guards turned it into a fast break so I wouldn't have to move). I threw in some chesty-phlegmy coughs every now and then to get sympathy. I was also soaking wet, having walked from H-town to N-town and stepped in several large puddles. My teammates laughed at my shorts, which were drenched from about mid-thigh down, where my jacket ended.
It ended up being just Ange, Sam and Me. So we called ourselves 'Just A.S.K' (cheesily good!). Though one of the smaller teams, we stayed at about 3rd equal the whole quiz, despite some anaemic rounds of about 6/10. Sam dominated in the 'Classic Cars' picture round and had an anecdote to go with each picture (the cutest being one about how his dad had been overseas and brought back a jacket for wee Sam as a gift, filling each pocket with a new match-box car as an extra surprise - awww!). Ange .... who knows what Ange was doing. She couldn't even hear the questions but did some elaborate doodling. A highlight for me was Sam thinking he'd won a spot prize and walking all the way up to the bar to claim it, only to find it was for a DIFFERENT Sam and then trying to walk non-challantly back to the table.
Ange got the nachoes, I got the fettucine and Sam got a pizza. All good. Because we were sitting at the fancy tables at the front we got candles and dinner-mints and a flask of water with lemons in it. Fancy! We usually just get the railway-sleeper table and some stools, way down the back somewhere.
I think I contributed about four genuine answers and got the ponderous puzzle on the first clue.
- an actor born in 1951, 5'3 and formerly known by the name 'Nick Fromage'
- what name do we have for the animal called 'cuy' in south america, and considered a delicacy there?
- what early '90s rapper's real name is Stanley and previously played minor league baseball?
- what NBA team won the first ever title for its franchise this year?
- what TV show featured the character of 'Julie McCoy'?
Answers:
Robin Williams
Guinea Pig
MC Hammer
Miama Heat [sic]
The Love Boat
On the way home I got Sam all nostalgic for the niceities of early dating. He agreed to drop me at Matt's on the way, and I stopped at home to grab some stuff and HAPPENED to put some perfume on while I was there (just cause I saw it lying around and remembered I hadn't put any on.....). He thought it was adorable and got nostalgic. I think he misses Fishy.
Thursday, July 06, 2006
Sports - the non-formative years
My Humble Sporting History - Part One
I found Morgue's history of sporting prowess (or 'being unco but in a good way') interesting. Got me thinking about my own past.... [picture my eyes glazing over, as I look happily into the distance and cock my head slightly - camera dissolves into a shot of little-fouryearold-Kate in her matching tracksuit, whistle in mouth and forcing her family to run around her home-made obstacle course made of polystyrene blocks and planks in the back-yard].
Primary School
I never played sports at primary school. I always was vaguely surprised when my friends announced they were playing netball. When were trials??? It seemed to be some conspiracy I was being left out of.
Suited me though. I hate getting up on Saturday mornings, especially when it's cold or wet outside. And I hated the idea of wearing a short little skirt that flicked up most of the time you were playing. It was my idea of hell. My thighs and buttocks were my least favourite body parts. I even heard rumours that your undies had to match your skirt. Ridiculous!
I did, however, get co-erced into filling in for my older brother's cricket team twice. I had gone along to watch and they were SO desperate that they chucked me on the field. Now, they were playing against boys who were in the rep team. I could not yet throw over-arm. They stuck me waaaaay out near the boundary. I ended up having to bat, but luckily the ball whizzed past me and the wicket keeper, and me and the bumbling Stephan Tyler (who was best known for his love of handkerchiefs and bananas and had the honour of being #10 in the batting lineup to my #11) ran through for a single. Innings over. I don't think they made me bowl.
The second time I played, they made me bowl. Now, as I said, I couldn't even throw over-arm, let alone bowl. So I did underarms (how very Australian of me). The umpire and other team were so frustrated at my dribbley efforts that they encouraged me to just 'give it a go' with the overarms. I did. I think they bounced about four times before reaching the batter and were fairly wide. They didn't make me bowl more than the regulation six bowls. Then I had to bat. My dad was umpiring at this stage. I got bowled out, first ball. He said, 'Let her stay in the over', and I was subjected to two further bowl-outs and then the entire field coming in close and getting their hands ready for the lolly-pop. I did in fact manage to hit the ball on my final effort..... straight to a fielder. It was a traumatic experience I thought would never end.
Other than that, my sporting highlights from primary school were back-to-back wins in the wheelbarrow race, with me pushing Alice Moore along. We made an excellent duo. In one of the races, us and our nearest rivals got so carried away that we totally missed the finish line and kept going for about 50 metres before we started to make out the distant yells of everyone else telling us to come back. Oh, and being in the house shuttle-relay. My dad was along to watch and was sitting with my friend. She pointed out that it was my turn, and my dad did a double-take, saying, 'That's Kate???? I didn't think she could move that fast!' I suck it up for the team, Dad.
I found Morgue's history of sporting prowess (or 'being unco but in a good way') interesting. Got me thinking about my own past.... [picture my eyes glazing over, as I look happily into the distance and cock my head slightly - camera dissolves into a shot of little-fouryearold-Kate in her matching tracksuit, whistle in mouth and forcing her family to run around her home-made obstacle course made of polystyrene blocks and planks in the back-yard].
Primary School
I never played sports at primary school. I always was vaguely surprised when my friends announced they were playing netball. When were trials??? It seemed to be some conspiracy I was being left out of.
Suited me though. I hate getting up on Saturday mornings, especially when it's cold or wet outside. And I hated the idea of wearing a short little skirt that flicked up most of the time you were playing. It was my idea of hell. My thighs and buttocks were my least favourite body parts. I even heard rumours that your undies had to match your skirt. Ridiculous!
I did, however, get co-erced into filling in for my older brother's cricket team twice. I had gone along to watch and they were SO desperate that they chucked me on the field. Now, they were playing against boys who were in the rep team. I could not yet throw over-arm. They stuck me waaaaay out near the boundary. I ended up having to bat, but luckily the ball whizzed past me and the wicket keeper, and me and the bumbling Stephan Tyler (who was best known for his love of handkerchiefs and bananas and had the honour of being #10 in the batting lineup to my #11) ran through for a single. Innings over. I don't think they made me bowl.
The second time I played, they made me bowl. Now, as I said, I couldn't even throw over-arm, let alone bowl. So I did underarms (how very Australian of me). The umpire and other team were so frustrated at my dribbley efforts that they encouraged me to just 'give it a go' with the overarms. I did. I think they bounced about four times before reaching the batter and were fairly wide. They didn't make me bowl more than the regulation six bowls. Then I had to bat. My dad was umpiring at this stage. I got bowled out, first ball. He said, 'Let her stay in the over', and I was subjected to two further bowl-outs and then the entire field coming in close and getting their hands ready for the lolly-pop. I did in fact manage to hit the ball on my final effort..... straight to a fielder. It was a traumatic experience I thought would never end.
Other than that, my sporting highlights from primary school were back-to-back wins in the wheelbarrow race, with me pushing Alice Moore along. We made an excellent duo. In one of the races, us and our nearest rivals got so carried away that we totally missed the finish line and kept going for about 50 metres before we started to make out the distant yells of everyone else telling us to come back. Oh, and being in the house shuttle-relay. My dad was along to watch and was sitting with my friend. She pointed out that it was my turn, and my dad did a double-take, saying, 'That's Kate???? I didn't think she could move that fast!' I suck it up for the team, Dad.
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