Hear Me Out

I know that most of you will go your entire lives without thinking "Hmm, I wonder if there's a hockey game on tonight," but I intend on spending the next couple of paragraphs telling you why you should.
A lot of people remarked that they really didn't miss hockey at all last year during the strike. I pretty much agreed, although I contend that the world would be no worse off without the NBA as well. But I remembered how exciting the Hurricanes' playoff run was a few years back, and I kept the flame alive, so to speak.
This year, I got to see the Canes live (thanks be to aho) and I learned a little about how the game works. Despite what the untrained eye may perceive to be chaos on ice, a hockey game is actually more like carefully choreographed...ok, it still looks like chaos to me.
But it's fun chaos. I'm beginning to see some basic strategy, which to me looks kinda like a high school soccer game at warp speed. Except that the passing is intricate, the footwork amazing, and...so my soccer analagy breaks down.
The point is that the NHL season is really, really long and watching hockey takes a little more effort than taking in a basketball game. But it's much more rewarding, and not just because of the fighting. It's rewarding because eventually the season ends and the playoffs start, and then everything goes crazy.
Something about the playoffs brings out the best in the NHL. The players go hard, all the time, and pull out some interesting moves. And every game is a classic. Double and triple overtime is more or less inevitable. Thanks to the new rules (I don't know what they are, but the guys on ESPN talk about 'em all the time), the game is faster and scoring is up, which means a more exciting experience for the novice fan. The Canes pulled their goalie with two minutes left in regulation last night and scored in the last minute to tie the score at 6-6 (they lost in double OT, though.) That's twelve goals in three periods. That, my friends, is fun to watch.
I can't believe I'm saying this, but I can't deny the truth in front of me: playoff hockey is the most exciting professional sports event in America. I've seen Superbowls and World Series and the Kentucky Derby and the finals of the U.S. Open (in three sports) and I just can't find anything quite like this. Towards the end of the game the players act like the world is ending. And every so often a team goes on a power play, meaning that for one and a half to five minutes my heart is going to be pounding. It's like aerobics or something.
So I recommend you join in the fun. Not only will you enjoy the experience, you'll enjoy feeling like a non conformist when you ask your friends the next da y "Can you believe how well Paul Kariya is playing? Best rookie I've ever seen." And since you'll be new to the sport like me, you won't be lying about that last part. The best way to get into any sport you don't know well is to pick a player or team to root for and just pull for them blindly until you start to pick things up. That, or find someone who knows what they're talking about, but that one' s a little harder. Better hurry though, the Canes are down 2-0 and the next couple of games are gonna be in Montreal. They need all the positive mojo they can get.

Day 18

And so it ends.
Today is the last day of the last major break from the last semester of my last year of mandatory schooling. Tommorow I return to school, to the annoyance of Calculus, the ordeal of English, the stress of Journalism, and the mind-numbing activity of Computer App. On the other hand, I do get to see my favorite lunch ladies again.
It's all over: the snoozing, the schmoozing, the idle musing. Gone are the three a.m. specials on the History Channel, the four p.m. naps 'just cause', and my new horticulture hobby. Fare thee well, loved activities, I hardly knew thee.

Inertia

A nasty combination of worries, unhealthy habits and seasonal nasal allergy symptoms had pretty much exhausted me by last friday, so Spring Break has come as a lovely change of pace. Unfortunately, I've never quite learned how to handle days off. Much like my car, whose temperature controls consist of "hot" and "cold", I have two modes: "Work/Worry" and "Sleep All Day." I'm really not sure one mode is particularly more productive than the other, to be honest.
This week has given me an extended period to employ my "Sleep All Day" mode, and since my down time has been accompanied by a lot of alone time as well, I've morphed into an interesting creature.
I've completely lost track of time. I kinda drift through the day, which lasts anywhere from 6 to 18 hours, depending on whether or not I have a tennis match and how well I nap through any given afternoon. I have strange dreams (last night's most notable: in a department store, a clerk makes me mad, I speak to him, he slaps me. His manager does not care when I complain, I storm out angrily). When conscious, I find myself watching the same two channels on TV (ESPN or the History Channel) and not really paying attention or playing the same two songs on the piano (Fred Jones pt. 2 and The Luckiest) and not really trying very hard. I caught myself arguing with the ghost of Mr. Mayo yesterday, furiously declaring that World War II alone could not have ended the Depression, but rather it was the war combined with FDR's restructuring of our financial system that did the trick. And as the ghost of Mr. Mayo refuses to captitulate I grow angrier by the second. Don't get me wrong, it's better than school, but I'm really not even enjoying myself that much.
I think this is really getting to me; look at the syntax in that last sentence if you want proof. It's quite a funk I've fallen into. Two notable departures from my sloth occured last night and this morning and give me hope. First, I had the pleasure of entertaining a certain golden retriever (who shall remain nameless to protect the innocent). The dog's enthusiasm is matched only by his ability to cover me in saliva; I was in love immediately. Second, I cleaned my room this morning. Sloth or no, Mom decreed that upon her return from Raleigh she would find my dwelling to her liking, and as visions of Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God flashed through my mind I reluctantly tidied my belongings (the living room is another story).
At least I'm trying. I read two chapters in Light in August today, cleaned my room and at this very moment I'm attempting to type. It's a start. Choir practice is in less than an hour and that never fails to lift my spirits, even if only for a little while. I just need some jolt to wake me up.
That's where the inertia comes in. I've been told that a body at rest will remain at rest until an outside force compels it to move. Now, my mother can attest that often even outside force is inadequate at getting this particular body to move, but I'm optimistic that somewhere out there lies a force powerful enough to knock me out of this orbit I've fallen into. Maybe one of you can help. I'm desperate, cause if this goes on much longer I'm gonna wake up in a coupla days covered in dog hair and with absolutely no idea what's going on.

Double Posting

I read my blog today for the first time in awhile (I don't generally care for the content on this site) and noticed that my latest post has been loaded twice. I have no idea why this happened. Sorry for any inconvenience; just take it as an oppurtunity to read twice the yummy goodness you're used to.

Day 11

For those of you that don't know, I'm now on Day 11 of an 18-Day odyssey of epic proportions. Thanks to teacher workdays on March 31st and April 17th, a week of spring break and three days in NYC on a school trip, I have been given an 18-day window in which I am required to attend school only twice. Life is good, my friends.
I put in my two school days last week, so now all that's left is a solid week of me time. Plans abound as to what to do with all this time, I'll elaborate on those in another post perhaps.
For now I shall just enjoy the sleep and relaxation, though I've had consiberably less TV time than I thought I'd have. Oh well.
On a side note, I had lunch today with Aho and Kellan and Jamie Dowell. It was fun to see my friends and talk a little bit and eat at Snappy Lunch for the first time in a long while. The combination of today's lunch, last night's youth activities, and reading William Faulkner has got me on a kick. I've been thinking a lot recently about the idea of community, about circles of friends and acquaintences and whether or not we have the same sense of community our parents did. At GSE we talked about communitarianism and I was rather skeptical, but the closer I get to graduation the more I begin to value the collective "We." I've always viewed groups as collections of individuals, and I still think the concept of society is overblown, but I'm beginning to see what my teacher, Andy, values in his community. This is a rather random musing to take place during spring break, but I suppose that's what happens when I stop thinking about calculus. If you have a thought, feel free to share.
Day 11 is in the books. Day 12 is looking to be a good one, with tennis in Winston and a golden retreiver lingering in the wings. Should be fun.

Day 11

For those of you that don't know, I'm now on Day 11 of an 18-Day odyssey of epic proportions. Thanks to teacher workdays on March 31st and April 17th, a week of spring break and three days in NYC on a school trip, I have been given an 18-day window in which I am required to attend school only twice. Life is good, my friends.
I put in my two school days last week, so now all that's left is a solid week of me time. Plans abound as to what to do with all this time, I'll elaborate on those in another post perhaps.
For now I shall just enjoy the sleep and relaxation, though I've had consiberably less TV time than I thought I'd have. Oh well.
On a side note, I had lunch today with Aho and Kellan and Jamie Dowell. It was fun to see my friends and talk a little bit and eat at Snappy Lunch for the first time in a long while. The combination of today's lunch, last night's youth activities, and reading William Faulkner has got me on a kick. I've been thinking a lot recently about the idea of community, about circles of friends and acquaintences and whether or not we have the same sense of community our parents did. At GSE we talked about communitarianism and I was rather skeptical, but the closer I get to graduation the more I begin to value the collective "We." I've always viewed groups as collections of individuals, and I still think the concept of society is overblown, but I'm beginning to see what my teacher, Andy, values in his community. This is a rather random musing to take place during spring break, but I suppose that's what happens when I stop thinking about calculus. If you have a thought, feel free to share.
Day 11 is in the books. Day 12 is looking to be a good one, with tennis in Winston and a golden retreiver lingering in the wings. Should be fun.