hobbies

So I would say right now I have four major hobbies in my life. I thought I might just throw in an update on how they have treated me here and where they are at.

Ultimate: I've been playing ultimate out here and I have mixed opinions. I am playing with a club that is going to going to nationals in Christchurch in December. I like a lot of the people on my team, I just don't like my team. The play is a much lower quality than I am used to and I am struggling to adapt and not get frustrated. I can deal with players that aren't good, that is fine; but the problem is they think they are good, so they try to play outside their limits and it doesn't work. If they learned to work harder adn be more conservative it would be a lot more fun, but that just isn't the culture out here. I am forced to run idiotic drill planned by well intentioned but skillless leadership who talk and talk and talk. I really don't like going to practice. The truth is Ben and I would probobly quit (we've had an offer to play with a club from Auckland) except that we would feel too bad and don't want to burn any bridges with people that off the field we like very much and as bad as they are now, they would be awful without us.

I am also playing 'competetive' (I'll let the term slide) league on thursdays. This is a lot more fun, no drills, no talking and Henry and I have taken it upon ourselves to organize post game drinks at a place called 'the office' that has 10 dollar pitchers. That I enjoy.

Mountain biking:

I have been doing more lately and it has been great. Wellington is surrounded by hills and Pjay and I have been trying to go after we get off of work because it stays light until 830pm these days. There is one single track called the 'rollercoaster' which has a downhill only section which is sick. There are some jumps people have built which are pretty scary for someone at my skill level, especially because I am riding a bike with a rigid fork (no shocks). There are more trails than we will ever get a chance to ride but I am looking forward to hitting more of them.

Running: Running has found a renued place in my life now that I am trying to train for a marathon. As I've said before Welly is the best city I have ever been in for running. Every run is a new adventure and I find some new place to discover every time. Unfortunately I've been off the habit for two weeks because my knees were hurting after the Taupa hat tournament I wrote about. I think I will start again on Sunday.

Writing: This is a new one and the one I am most excited about right now. About a month or so ago I was telling Henry a story about a guy I used to work with Darrell and my regret of never having helped him. Henry thought it was a great story and commented that it would make a great short story. I figured, why not, so I wrote it, and Henry edited it for me. Oh, and it was fun. I really enjoyed it. So I started writing another, this one was longer. By this time I had decided that I was getting a lot of enjoyment out of this and started to hash a plan. So right now I am writing an anthology of short stories about my life. Writers get made fun of for writing memoirs I know, these aren't meant to be for anything other than my enjoyment and to try to get better. I think I will write 8-12 depending on length. After that I have some thoughts, but I'll hold onto them for now. In any event it has been a big focus for me lately and has taken up a lot of my time, though I don't regret it. I have written three stories so far and have just started a fourth. I don't think I am particularly talented, but maybe some people I know will at least enjoy them. We'll see.

Joey

Taupo Hat and science of dance floors.

Went to a hat tournament in Taupo this weekend, I'll give ya'll a mini-rundown. In case you did not know a hat tournament is where you sign up without a team and they make teams randomly out of the players.

We drove up in a one of two vans that had been organized by some Wellington players, it was really fun. You can drink in cars if you aren't driving here, and we did. We one of my new favorite drinking games, team choose your own adventure. The way it works is that one person (in this case me) reads a choose your own adventure. When you come to a decision you do a thumbs up thumbs down vote as to what to do. Majority rules and if you voted for the decision that did not get picked you take a drink. However if you voted for the majority decision and it ends up leading to an ending you drink 3. If it ends up leading to your death you finish your drink.

We stayed in a hostel where most of the people in the tourney were staying. My team wasn't that good and I ended up getting a little frustrated but still had a lot of fun playing. I got grips of D's but my team would just turn it over again. We went 0-6 which was kind of weak. We lost two games by 1 point. I think I got the most MVP votes on my team, so that was nice Ben and Henry were on other teams and they made it too the final and were actually picked as tournament MVPs, I think because they were the highest vote getters from the two finals teams so that was awesome. The three of us gained a good amount of cred. NZ ultimate is small and everyone knows everyone. We have been thinking about putting a team of our own together for the men's championship in April and this was a good first step to helping us recruit.

The highlight might have been the party. The theme was French. Ben, Henry, and I dressed up as three french kisses. Henry made stenciled shirts with the French flag then a pair of lips (get it). They below that we were each a 'type' of kiss. Henry, Ben, and myself were tasteful, recreational, and playful respectively. It was at a bar and everyone got two free drink tickets though I was able to score more later.

After we had been there for just a bit I decided I should kick start the party and get the dance floor started (cue Blake's laughter). I recuited about 8ish people, only 2 of which I really knew and we got that shit started. It was interesting to see to see the dynamics of it from there. We got that little flame going and with the right song it got a little larger. After a little while we were in a steady state of abotu 12 people all dancing in a circle. This was good, but not ideally sustainable or good for growth. It made it hard for new people to join and a single dancing circle much like a single cell is very vulnerable to annhilation if circumstances aren't as good. So Pjay and I did what any smart single cell life form does. We divided. We went into the middle and created two circles. With two smaller circles it was easier to join one and made it comfortable for people to start their own. Soon we had about 20 people and I knew I had created a self sustaining lifeform and no longer had to nurture it, we had reached as they say in nuclear physics, critical mass. Would people have started dancing on there own, yes, but I think I accelerated the process by between 30-75 minutes.

So I took a break and had a beer, my work was done. Not to say I wouldn't be back. I mostly just danced for the next 4ish hours. It was a really fun group and the bar got pretty crowded with us and others. All and all a great night. The tournament as a whole was really fun, not too expensive and we got to go to some amazing natural hot springs while we were there. I enjoyed it. Now I'm back in Welly working, resting, training, and thinking up plans for the weekend.

Joey

Just finished: Foundation and Empire
Currently Reading: Special Topics in Calamity Physics (a novel)
Up Next: ?

This might just be it

So I was going on a nice run yesterday down Happy Valley Road; a two lane road that runs through a fairly narrow and attractive valley on it's way to the south coast of Wellington. It was the first time I had gone running in a while without my music and it was great, I forgot how much I like to think when I run.

During this run I was feeling great and was overcome with a feeling of contentment I dont' think I have ever known except for perhaps in my best times at camp and maybe one other time. I realized how happy I am with the way my life is right now, today (or yesterday as it were). Even for me, someone who lives a pretty easy fulfilling life it is hard not to look to the future or the past with anticipation or longing.

Right now I am exactly where I want to be and I couldn't be happier. After5 weeks almost everything has finally come together for in my life here. I have a day job (Data work at the Ministry of Justice) that although not exactly exciting, pays well, is pretty easy, overall pleasant, and may even be interesting every once in a while. I have my 'Batman' job working for Baxi where I get to make money, have a blast, meet people, and feel like the king of late night bar scene.

I've found an ultimate community here which has been welcoming and I am getting to play a couple times a week, which is all I want. The people are great, the competition is reasonable, and I love playing on actual grass. I am going to a hat tournament in Taupo (4 hours north) this weekend that I am really pumped about.

If there was ever a great city to train for a marathon then Welly is it. I haven't gone on the same run twice there is so many great and scenic options. Every run I explore a new little part of town with some cafe or movie theater that looks nice. I am totally getting sucked into cafe culture. Wellington has more cafes then New York, Seattle, or San Francisco per capita. They are everywhere and I find myself caught in the infectious pull of a long black, flat white, or double mocha on a chilly spring afternoon.

I work a lot between the two jobs but am packing in as much of Wellington as I can while I am here. I love the city and it is amazing how much there is to do in such a small city/region. I have been mentally compilling a list of everything I want to do while I am here and will make it a written list soon.

I'm not even looking forward at traveling in a few months. I'm sure it is going to be great, but I'm in no rush at all. Working, really getting to know this city and becoming a part of it in a meaningful way is what I really wanted when I came here and I really am living my NZ dream.

This doesn't mean my life is perfect, far from it. There are many people who wouldn't want this at all. I live in a flat where there is no light in the bathroom right now, Some nights I only get 3 hours of sleep and most others I get 6. I dealt with an arduous job hunting prospect rife with disappointment, during which I went into a little dept and which led me to two jobs that seemed great but were really not well represented and I was forced to look again. In two months my contract is over here and I will have to do it again. Plus it is freakin cold here, a lot, in the spring.

Still for all my life deprecation it really is great. I am so excited about 3 months of saving money, late nights ruling cuba mall and courtney place on my baxi, overpriced movies at gorgeous movie theaters, places, rugby matches, cricket matches, long blacks in the cafe or in the baxi garage, running all over the city, the Newtown shops, John's Kitchen, biking through wine country, Te Papa for the 7th,8th, 9th.. times, lunches in the park, plays, music, fireworks, views, ultimate, Mr. Bun, Havana, Southern Cross, the Kelburn butcher, Lamb Salad, Thanksgiving picnic, and whatever else I can squeeze out of the next few months, before we head south. I was about to type 'it's gonna be great', but here's the thing: It is great.

Joey
Finished: Brief Wonderous life of Oscar Wao
Currently Reading: Foundation and Empire- Asimov
Up Next: Jonathon Strange and Mr. Norell or the Yiddish Policeman's Union or the Omnivores Dilema.