Kissing

So I was just reading that a friend of mine claims she has kissed 10 boys. It got me thinking; in my adult life of 5.5 years (everyone knows when you turn 18 your record is wiped clean) how many girls have I kissed?

I clearly had to set some criteria as to what constituted a legit 'kiss'. Here is what I came up with:

-First of all it had to be at least 5 seconds. Anything less than that is just a bit of silliness. (note: in the end any that were over 5 seconds ended up being generally much longer, other than one that was about 5-10 minutes the rest were all firmly in 30 minutes + range). 

-It could not be part of a game or in any other way obligatory.

I also decided that I wanted to examine some statistics other than just quantity

So I decided to ask these questions:

What was their nationality?
What was their race?
What was their age relative to mine? (based on school year if they were students)
Was that only time we kissed?(time meaning that 24 hour period beginning with the first kiss)
Were they an Ultimate Player: For non ultimate players this one takes a bit of explaining. Ultimate players have a well earned reputation of getting involved with other players, a lot. There are two reasons for this I think. The first is that ultimate communities are tight nit and often times players don't really get outside them much which isn't always a good thing. The second is that by and large ultimate players as a group are: educated, like minded, socially outgoing, and athletic (therefore often attractive) people. The women I meet through ultimate are simply more likely to be someone I'd be attracted to.
Did I regret it at any point?
The was actually one last catagory as well, but this remains a wholesome blog so I will leave it out.


So being a bit of a geek I put it all on an excel spreadsheet and here are the results, many were surprising to me.


Number of girls: 14

I thought this would be higher, for some reason I was expecting more like 20. I'm pleased with the lower number, that's just a little over a couple girls a year. That seems rather choosy to me.

Nationality:

USA 10
Czech Republic 1
Mexico 1
New Zealand 1
The Netherlands 1

Race:
European non-latina 11
Latina 1
Indian 1
Hawaiian Pacific 1

Age Relative to mine:
Same 6
Younger 6
Older 2

Avg difference = 0 

Note: this may seem strange, there is one data point which is pulling up the average. If you call it an error (and I mean that purely in the mathematical sense) and eliminate it then the average would be a half a year younger.

Number of girls I only kissed the one time: 5

Number of Ultimate players: 7

Number that I regretted at some point: 4

Using the filter function I tried to see if any interesting results jumped out (I know, I'm being a bad scientist, bad statistician, and below average excel user here. I'm sorry).

Anyway I found that it was significantly more likely I regretted it if it only happened once, no big surprise there.

I found the absolute age difference (doesn't matter if younger or older, just how far away from my age) was higher (2.4) for single occurrences than for multiple occurrences (1.3). 

However those can mostly be chalked up to coincidence do to the small amount of data.  Then again,  I suppose I have no one to blame for that but myself.

XOXOXOXOXO

Joey

Three Good Things

I went to Christchurch this past weekend for the co-ed ultimate championships (not that impressive actually, there are only 10 teams in the country). My team got 4th, which was better than I expected, I actually played very well and the weekend did a lot to redeem some lukewarm feelings I had towards my experience with the team.

Henry is picking up the car we bought. A 1995 Honda Oddysey. It is a great deal. The guy bought it from a dealership 6 months ago for 5500 NZD. We are getting it for 2020 NZD. He has to leave the country tomorrow. I officially drive a rugby mom car.

I have a coffee date (I think it's a date) tonight with a girl named Dana. She is older than me but I don't know by how much, don't especially care though. I met her this weekend. She's pretty. And nice. That is most of what I can say at this point. Unfortunatly she lives in Auckland. So it goes.

Surviving the Game

Note: The title of this post is stolen from the film of the same name; an adventure film starring Ice-T in which he plays a bum taken to the forrest and hunted for sport by wealthy businessmen. This post has nothing to do with that somewhat below average film

While in Wellington biking has clearly remained a big part of my life. It has basically taken on three forms; work (baxi), recreation (mt. biking), and last but not least transportation. Up until now my single speed mountain bike is my sole form of transportation (that may change soon, we are trying to buy a car). I am a full-time commuter, I go to my 8-5 job everyday on my bike parking it in the garage with the one other bike in a building that serves hundreds. Sometimes I ride in a change of clothes, but often I just wear my work clothes. The morning are cool and the ride is almost completely downhill so I never work up a sweat. Coming back is a another story, with the long days it is still warm at 5pm and I have to go up some steep hill for a single speed.









It isn't just work though, it's everything: grocery shopping (those hills become twice as hard with 20 pounds of groceries on your back), going to practice, going anywhere really. Because of this I have spent a lot of time on my bike, a great deal of which has been in the CBD of Wellington; an area of tight one way streets, lots of traffic, and pedestrians with less regard for street lights than any I have seen. In such a city, when riding you have two choices. Option A: be patient and act as a as a car, waiting you 'turn' and maybe sometimes scooting ahead of stopped traffic. Option B: See how fast you can get where you are going with dying.


Okay, perhaps it isn't as binary as that, but nonetheless I find myself increasingly drifting towards option B. Here the thing, riding your bike it traffic during rush hour plodding along is not fun, but riding your bike really fast during rush hour is really really fun. It is hard for it not to become a game; can I make that light, squeeze in that gap, pass the other guy. I leave the office, attach my single earbud to my right ear (only one ear bud, I need to be able to hear, safety first you know) on my ipod, go to some upbeat pop music (Peter Gabriel good, Britney bettter, Ace of Bass, there it is) and just go. When I am able to combine good timing with some luck and everything just falls into place, its such a great feeling. It is intoxicating, passing by and through this whole world, leaving it behind you. When I pass a bunch of cars on my bike it feels like winning as the underdog and I love being the underdog. The only problem is that this game don't have no Game Genie, giving you unlimited free lives. No this is more like when you were at the arcade and mom only gave you one god damn quarter and when you put it in you knew that this had to be the best Donkey Kong game of your life because there wasn't going to be another if you died.

If I had to predict the way I thought I was most likely to die in the next five years, riding my bike wouldn't be a bad bet. Not that that I think it is likely but people do die doing this, even ostensibly more safer riders then myself. In fact in my job at the corner's office I have input data about two bike deaths; one person got 'doored' (parked car opened a door in their path) and another moved into the path of a passing car on a country road.



However I wouldn't want you to think that I just race down the road being careless and endagering myself. I consider what I do safe. There are a lot of factors contributing to safety beyond just how aggressive you are. I do a lot of things that are more safe then other cyclists or drivers. First and foremost when I am riding throught the city I am completely focused on it. Not only am not doing other things (talking on my phone, adjusting the music, eating, et cetera) I am also not thinking about anything else. I am completely engaged in the task at hand. Most people look passively in front of them, and maybe to the side if they are changing lanes. I am constantly scanning around seeing what is in front of me , behind me, where there are cars and people. I am making predictions as to what is going to happen next in this space. When I drive I think in terms most of the space directly in front of me. On a bike I see the big picture, how it all interacts.

So as long as I remember to keep vigilant, watch out passing on the left before a turn, avoid sidewalks as much as I can (though they are so tempting), and don't push it too far I think I can make this quarter last a while. Then again, I suppose that is what everyone thinks.

Joey

FAQ

So as many of you know I have been working as a 'pilot' for baxi, a bike taxi company. People talk to me constantly throughout the night; some are interested in a ride, some just want to talk, others are jerks. So I have compiled a list of frequently asked questions I get and my usual responses.

Q: How much does it cost?
A: Depends where you're going. Usually 5-20$.

Q: Can I have a free ride?
A: No

Q: Please?
A: No.

Q: How far do you go?
A: Oriental Bay, Basin Reserve, Train Station, Bottom of Aro Valley and anywhere in between.

Q: How about Lower Hutt? (a suburb man miles away. This question inevitably cracks people up. Feel free to replace Lower Hutt with any place very far away or very high up. The hilarity is just as strong).
A: I'll do it for 1000$ (or more)

Q: How many can you take?
A: Only 2

Q: How about 3?
A: No

Q: What if she sits on my lap?
A: No

Q: What it I gave you an extra 5 dollars?
A: No

Q:C'mon
A: No. Sorry.

Q: How long have you guys been doing this?
A: About a month and a half.

Q: You must keep pretty fit doing this, eh?
A: Ya, I do okay.

Q: Can I touch your thigh (calf, butt, et cetera)?
A: Sure.

Q: How much to Porirua?
A: 1500$ Up Front.

Q: Do you get paid hourly?
A: Nope, I just hire out the bike and whatever I make on top of that is mine to keep.

Q: Do you pay taxes?
A: Umm, sure.

Q: What are you doing later?
A: (Depends on who is asking)

Q: Where are you from
A: The States, Arizona.

Q: Can I get a free ride, just to up there, please?
A: Sorry but like my Grandpa always says, there's no such thing as a free lunch.

Q: Are you absolutely knackered (tired)?
A: No, I'm fine. (This transitions from the truth to a lie as the night goes on).

Q: How much money do you make in a night.
A: Oh it depends on the tips. (Real answer: 100$-150%$ dollars most friday, saturday nights)

Q: Do you like this job?
A:Ya, it's sweet as.

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.