irony?

All of those who read these scribblings must know that my purpose is not to brag or even illustrate my amount of free/leisure time. It is the events that occur within/because of/through that I mean to pass on...

Today at the pool, I enjoyed a witty, well-written paperback while taking in the mid-day sun and the occasional dip into the cool refreshing water. During one of my turns in the water I noticed a moth, still alive, yet struggling to stay afloat. Now I have nothing wrong with stepping on a bug or swatting a fly, etc. but in this case I saw no reason for this moth to continue to suffer. I cupped my left hand and scooped the light brown winged creature from the pool. I set him up on the ledge and watched his damp wings flutter in an attempt to dry. The sun was working quite quickly and I blew an occasional breath his way to move things along. Soon enough he would fly again. After a mere minute things looked near dry and i was sure he was ready to get going. All of the sudden a mockingbird swooped down("not good" i thought), landed, (and in the next few seconds) looked towards the moth(in the predatory way of the bird featured in the movie "A Bug's Life"), took two hops forward and pecked, snatching the moth up and off he went. The moth did fly again, just not the way I anticipated.

All that to say... today I fed a bird.

wonderfully beautiful

originally posted on 05/18/06 on myspace

What a wonderfully beautiful day!!

I spent part of it on town lake in a kayak amidst the serenity of nature, the warmth of the mid-day sun, and getting quite the workout. This is what made for the beautiful day. The use of the adverb, wonderful, was not made certain until this evening.

Tonight I went to a Round Rock Express (AAA baseball team for the Astros) game. What made it great was not my getting in free because someone had an extra box seat ticket; it wasn't the fact that the Express won 8-3; it wasn't the free pizza I won due to the row I was sitting in... it was because of a 5 1/2 year old boy named Brandon. It wasn't just Brandon himself, the stories he shared about hummingbirds, rainforests, the horrible smell of beer, it being past his bedtime, the game being his sister's first baseball game or the bats circling the lights to eat moths... it was the look on his face and how he lit up for the rest of the night after I gave him the foul ball I caught.(he even gave me a hug when they had to leave) A close second would have been his dad's reaction and reactions the rest of the night. And third would be the reaction of those around me. Making other people's day is what makes mine. That is who I am and who I want to be. What a feeling of sensational completeness...

back blogging

originally posted 05/05/06 on myspace

It has been a while since I have blogged. Which I am sure is no news to you; you can see the date of the last one and do the math. Just because I havent blogged does not mean that I havent experienced blog worthy events. So I will go over briefly the past 4 fortnights and highlight the wonderful things that make my life amazing. (Or at least give mention to the vehicle situation, my soker life, and the rest of the story music)

Car: Volvo s60, I love it. The pick-up is amazing, the ride is smooth and I really have to watch my speed. It makes driving in traffic less of a chore and more of a spoonful of sugar. The dealership here has been super helpful and friendly. Of course, I miss the Durango. What guy wouldnt miss a truck? We had good times and I will never forget it.

Soccer: I took on 2 new teams which took on more of my time. I now coach the 93 and 95 girls and the Academy (96/97) boys and girls. The 93s played up a division this spring and paid for it dearly. The clubs management thought it would be good for them but now see they were mistaken. The 95s had an impressive showing finishing one game out of 3rd place, which comes a long way from not winning any and only tying twice in the fall to keep them out of the bottom rank. The academy girls have come a long way and are having a good time with it. The academy boys, who had my best showing, went 3-1-1 since I picked up the team, leaving them 4-3-1 for the season.

Running: I hadnt been in training due to an injury I suffered in the fall. I couldnt pass up the opportunity to run in the Austin American Statesman 10,000 (a big 10k run through downtown Austin). I did alright. I ran it in 48 minuteswith 7:52 mile pace. On Wednesday, I ran for an hour, a little over 7.5 miles, so it would seem like I am recovered and back running. Hopefully, I can stay that way and run a ½ or full marathon in the fall.

Music: SXSW(South by Southwest) Snow Patrol (Martha Wainwright even sang a song with them), The Subways, Metric, Vega 4, Battle, The Magic Numbers, Mogwai, Belle & Sebastian, The Charlatans, People in Planes, The Duke Spirit, Art Brut, Big Blue Hearts, Rogue Wave, Polytechnic, Of Montreal, Mystery Jets, and attending the Jane magazine and Stuff magazine parties. It was quite the experience.
Other shows since then: Maria Taylor, Zykos, Death Cab for Cutie, Franz Ferdinand. I am now very much looking forward to ACL fest

My last blog is focused on the death of the Durango while on a soccer trip. That licensing course was the NSCAA National Goalkeeping Diploma. Those results are just now getting back to me (which may be why I am just now getting back to you). I am on the waiting list for this summers USSF B course at the Home Depot Center in California. I already hold the second highest license in the NSCAA (National Soccer Coaches Association of America) and the B license is the second highest within the USSF (United States Soccer Federation). So that is that...

Well I know it wasn't the best piece of writing ever, but now that you are caught up, maybe we can get to that. Have a sensational Cinco de Mayo!!