Open about the Process...

You have Brendan to blame for encouraging me to record a video response to this Stranger slog question.

(British Knight, Sorry it was 4 days late. I was a bit tied up...)

My reaction is such a classic case of overkill, with a touch of overreach.

For those of you who don't click links (Hi Mom!) the gist is this:
"Is the Super Bowl a legitimate sporting interests for many, or is it just an example of everything that is wrong with the USA?"

First I wrote out this response:

Listen:

I'm gonna have to throw my lot in with the both answer. Yes and yes, the Superbowl is a legitimate sporting interest and also one of the many signs of our declining US Hegemony

The Superbowl is the tail end of a football dependency reduction program that seems carefully laid out by a methadone clinic official. The entire football season culminates in two wonderful weekends where first there are four meaningful wildcard games where heroes rise and anything is possible. followed next weekend by four divisional playoffs where we are reminded both that there is a reason that those teams earned the bye, and that Norv Turner is who we thought he was.

At the end of that Sunday, we are tweaking. We can’t fly closer to the sun. The gradual weaning begins. The following weekend is just two conference championship games. Then there’s the long two week wait for an overhyped game that more often than not is a blowout, and is really only interesting if you’re a fan of one of the remaining teams.

The actual game is pretty lame, but the promise of one more hit is essential at the end of the conference championships or hard core fans like myself would riot like Walmart ran out of Blu Rays on Black Friday..

The two weeks of hype is perfect too. It’s long enough that I have to really focus on college basketball and start asking questions like is John Wall getting all the hype while DeMarcus Cousins is doing all the work? Do work son!

On the other hand, for those of you who can’t tell a field goal from a free throw, and never want to be able to, the SuperBowl offers you something as well. The chance to get bogged down in the crowd favorite Abortion debate. In one of the planned commercials, Tim Tebow* is going to explain how his mother chose to have him against medical advice. Cincinnati fans who traveled to New Orleans this year for the Sugar Bowl (and pretty much the rest of the SEC) lament her decision. Tim, no one is trying to make abortions mandatory, and I think going out of your way to cast dispersion on women who might make that choice in life of the mother, health of the mother situations is despicable and inexcusable. Those women are already in an incredibly difficult, personal situation and drumming up public disapproval helps no one.

That, and usually there are some commercials with monkeys. Monkeys. I'm gonna set the Monkey sitings under/over at 3 and half and watch expectantly.

Later on.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


* Those of you not up on your Tebow might read this to get some background.

Then, I took a stab at recording my video response. I think writing it out first actually made it worse. I tried to record it a couple of times. It was really annoying. I just kept trying to imagine sitting across a bar from Jesse and discussing this stuff I rant about all the time, but watching myself on my MacBook was really distracting. This is what I finally posted:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lfHM1hcKY0s

The finished product comes across much less funny than I was going for and much more moralizing and Conscendo.

I hate it of course, but I won't bother to try again (like some terrible college papers I wrote, I'm not proud of the end product, but I'll be damned if I'm going through that again.) It's interesting when two ingrained traits but up against each other. I'm vain, and I'd prefer to look smart and well spoken (instead of slurring Norb Turver and watching with, "Baited Breasts?"). But I'm lazy enough not to try again. And (surprising me) paramount here is my unwillingnes to fold.

Anyone who's played hold'em with me is nodding right now. The right answer might be to bail, but I wanted to at least try for Brendan, who, I like to think, wanted me to try for me. I'm lazy enough not to try hard enough to get it right, but not lazy enough to bail entirely. I guess I'll just have to fess:

That is me. Nervous, alone in my Ft. Greene apartment, just because the green light on my MacBook is blinking at me. Luckily for me, it's the four of our's little secret.

Also, based on this effort, he might retract it, but if he's too polite, I'll be live blogging the Super Bowl with Brendan and some other straight Gs.

Commenters: Do you like the written version better than the live version? Does that mean I'm better off writing, or should I just shut it down?

Look out Stewart Scott, this is just the beginning.

Not a Creature was Stirring, not Even a Mouse

Here we are again in December with my annual holiday letter for 2009. I hope this finds you well.

You’ll note that this edition has less ‘stirring’ than I typically report out. I just reflected on the year and realized I didn’t travel internationally once! Not even Canada! I guess I am falling down on the job. I do have a few minor updates to share.

In July, after 8 and a half years in lower Manhattan, I moved to Brooklyn. The borough of Kings has fewer tourists, fewer NYU students and more parks. I do a lot more biking now and I’m closer to most of my friends. (I do miss 29 occasionally, especially my pigeon watching efforts.) I’m still only 20 minutes from midtown by subway, but the vibe is much more local. It was a tough decision for me and so far I’m pleased with it.

Another difficult choice I made in July was to leave Accenture after 11 years. For all my colleagues still there, “Go on! Be a Tiger!” I realized I had no interest at all in the partner track and it started to feel to me that the part where you do good work is over and the part where you focus on sales was going to take over my life.

In some ways, the change is barely noticeable. I’m working for Perfect Sense Digital now, a tiny boutique internet consultancy. My client for them is Scripps Networks in Knoxville, Tennessee (FoodNetwork.com, HGTV, etc.). So I’m still a contractor working for a remote client, traveling back and forth each week. The actual work is pretty much identical to work I would have done on a project for Accenture.

In other ways, it’s a big change. The company has about 40 people, not 140,000, so I’m not on any task forces, saleable units, communities of interest or other total wastes of time. I’ve also decided to work Monday-Wednesday, which works for PSD, and for my client. Working 3 days a week is much better than working 5. (On that point I’m uncharacteristically resolved.)

In my spare days, I’ve started doing the things I always wanted to do if I had a bit more time. I’m coaching the Beacon High School Girls Ultimate Team. I’m really enjoying coaching because the girls get so much better every single practice. I start with them at 6:30 AM on Thursday morning and they are always enthusiastic at that hour, which is something of a miracle for 14-18 year-olds.

I’ve also spent a fair bit of time this year walking dogs and socializing cats at a Brooklyn Animal Shelter, Animal Care and Control. Please spay and neuter your pets! Please never buy puppies from farms and breeders that exacerbate the problem. Trust me, there are plenty of good dogs around, and if you ever need one, I will help you get one. Walking a great dog on his or her last day at the shelter has been one of the more bittersweet experiences of the year.

In November, I had a wonderful time visiting my entire extended family in Louisville, Kentucky for Thanksgiving. It was great to see all my cousins, aunts and uncles. In addition to the traditional over-eating, we took group trips to historic Churchill Downs (I won!) and the Louisville Slugger Bat Factory and Museum. I also attended my first ever college football game (UK vs. UT) with 70,000 of my closest allies. Special thanks to my cousins Matt & David who kept me housed, fed and flush with activities.


Ultimate-wise, this year was a bit strange. My beloved club team, Ambush, folded and I decided to try my hand at co-ed. I played for Zojirushi, which was full of nice people, but co-ed ultimate is really not for me, so it was a tough season.

This June I went hiking in Zion National Park in Utah. One of the hikes we did was 14 miles down a cold river with a current and steep rock walls on either side! In the river! I was scared and cold but the scenery was amazing. The highlight of that trip was seeing a pair of reintroduced condors.






My family is all doing well. My parents are still in Maryland and once again hosted most of one of my ultimate teams for a tournament in August. The ‘Ark’ seems to grow larger every day. There are 2 horses, 2 mini-horses, 2 cats and now 3 dogs in the Kelly Maryland compound. Do plan to shower there if you are hiking the Appalachian Trail.

Thanks to all of you who continue to ask about my niece Lindy. She is doing just great (happy, healthy, in first grade) and pretty much about to take over the world. I suggest you get used to the idea. Resistance is futile. She lives with her parents and older sister in Raleigh and all are doing well.

I am sure you all have causes that are important to you in your lives. I’ll just remind you that Pediatric Cancer Research is very near and dear to my heart and recommend Alex’s Lemonade Stand as a great charity to consider. A more tactical (and less costly) approach is to be a platelet donor. If you’re eligible to give blood, you can do it. It takes about an hour and 20 minutes and is just as easy as giving blood but helps cancer patients more than you can imagine.

What will 2010 hold? The crystal ball is a little hazy (try again later), but I expect to continue coaching girls ultimate and perhaps captain a (relaxed) women’s club team of my own. There is also a possible trip to Rwanda on the horizon. Please let me know if you will be in NYC as I’d love to see you.

As always, those of you seeking more frequent updates should bookmark my blog: courtneyspondence.blogspot.com. Best wishes for 2010 and for Peace on Earth.

Decemberists

Hi there.

Just a few quick notes. First, it's almost time for me to draft this year's holiday letter. To make sure you're caught up you might want to review last year's edition.

Last weekend I went to Chattanooga to see Paige and Marc. I had a blast. I had the chance to meet Sawyer for the first time and I spent a lot of time playing with Olivia. She is a shark at memory and I am working on Paige and Marc to let me take her to Vegas. We went to the Chattanooga Aquarium which has a great Jelly Fish exhibit. We also went to an ugly sweater Christmas party. That was a blast, though I was unprepared. Sunday we had some great brunch and I got on the road. It was great to see them and I am amazed how big the kids are.

A note on driving in Tennessee. NO ONE uses turn signals here for changing lanes or turning. Ever. It is very strange. I read it as a last holdout of Confederate separatism. "I don't have to tell anybody my business about if I am going to change lanes or turn. That is between me and the lane."

I'm scheduled to donate platelets again tomorrow. I'm working in NYC next week, which is great. I'm off to my sister's in Raleigh to wait for Santa with Kate and Lindy.

The Eagles beat the giants again. David and Goliath. I very much enjoyed the game but our defense could use a boost. We can clinch a playoff spot this weekend at home against the Niners.

Allen is a Sixer. Back where it all began. I'm getting tickets to a Sixer's game at the garden in March. I just hope he is well enough to play.

I recently finished reading City Behind a Fence about the work at Oak Ridge to create the nuclear material for the bombs dropped on Japan in WWII. I never really considered the herculean effort that went into creating those. I had pictured a few scientists squirreling away. There were 80,000 people that worked in Oak Ridge in construction, in the reactors and in all the other normal facets of a town (school teachers, security, retail) all for the single focus of creating this weapon. It's an amazing story of taking the land and creating a huge operative town-base in no time. I was so impressed with the speed and direction of the effort. I just don't believe that if we needed to send 80,000 people to work in the creation of solar farms in Arizona and Utah to save us from Global Warming and oil dependence, that we could ever get it done, let alone in 4 years.

Extended Family

At the Louisville Slugger Museum

Out to Lunch at Lynn's Paradise Cafe

At Churchill Downs, picking a winner in the 5th

Thanksgiving was great. I went to Louisville, Kentucky to see all my aunts, uncles, and cousins. We had a lot of fun. I went to Churchill Downs for some racing and to the Louisville Slugger Museum. Much good food was eaten and fun was had by all. Special Thanks to Matt, Mary, Claire, Gracie and Elise for putting me up.

I also went to my first college football game and saw the UK vs. UT game with 70,000 or so other people. We did a lot of tailgating, cheering and though the game didn't go our way in the end, it did go to overtime and I had a lot of fun.

My parents got another rescue dog. She is a cute baby golden and they are calling her Penny Too. Current score: Humans 2, Varmints: 9. I'll keep you posted on the uprising as it develops.

Please check out my friend Danielle's amazing website Toomuchtodo.org. This year especially nonprofits are really suffering with cut budgets, reduced donations and increased need. Danielle has researched and identified 40 really great causes. The site highlights organizations where the rubber really hits the road and people are doing meaningful work for change. In Danielle's words, "Throughout the site you will find statistics on the overall issues and needs here in the United States. I have tried to match the areas of need with organizations that are committed to fighting the issues that our communities are facing everyday. " My favorite so far is an organization to help homeless veterans in the New England area, but I'm certain that if you check the site you'll find at least one organization you can throw your support behind.

Shorts: I'm off to Knoxville for work. Coaching Beacon is still going well. I saw Almodovar's Broken Embraces and found it indulgent and navel-gazing. Eagles win big today and are still in the playoff hunt. I went to this great play(?): Dutch AV.

Be well.

I guess we just can't have nice things

I've been a bit slack about posting photo's lately. Here's a few I've been meaning to share:

I recently did 8 flights in 3 days. I think I mentioned that. It was hell, but I did see the Eagles plane:

I went to a roller derby with Sussman. It was tons of fun. She thinks she would be good at this but I think she is waaaay to tiny and would get beat down. It was pretty rough.


This one isn't from Halloween or anything. This is just the type of thing you see near Union Square. Of course. It's also not a protest or anything. That sign was all gibberish.


Do you also have the sense of humor of a 12 year old boy? If so, you might also enjoy this:
http://www.thespoiler.co.uk/index.php/sporno (Thanks Sipper)

Do you also hate the dancing mucous commercials? Why? Why do we need this?


I am so excited for Mara, who is leaving soon for this program:
http://www.agahozo-shalom.org/blog/2009/10/24/success-at-asyv/
Sounds like such a dream. I would love to work for a year in an orphanage in Rwanda. Maybe I could convert to Judaism to apply... They would probably see through that. I'm going to try to get to Africa next year while Mara is over there (after she has a chance to get settled.) I know she is going to make a huge impact in those children's lives.

Padamosh last weekend was lots of fun, the bits of it I can recall. Next weekend we'll celebrate Kalb's 40th in Little Russia, Salsa dance with Chip & Jen and coach the Beacon Girls in a round-robin in the Bronx. Look out!

Fall on Me

Ok. So it’s been a while. What can I tell you?

I was shocked recently when I was told that my blog was hopelessly out of date. I had no idea there were still any readers. Keri, this one’s for you.

The past 6 weeks or so has been a blur of regional jets. I’m mostly between NYC and Knoxville, TN but it’s hard to do that directly, so I’ve had my fair share of time in Charlotte, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Cleveland and once even Detriot. I’m trying to limit myself to one Cinnabon per flight. I’m working on an endorsement deal there, so I’ll keep you posted as my fame expands and eventually precludes my interaction with the common folk. Just remember you knew me when…

Speaking of Cinnabon, I’m mildly addicted to this web site This is Why You’re Fat . I’m thinking of submitting a recipe where I make a layer cake out of Cinnabons, heavy cream, and butter. I’m not sure but I think the purpose of the website is to remind the rest of the world why they still hate us now that Obama is President. Can you imagine seeing these photos in Malawi? It is a purposeful, willful abandonment of those people we all practice.

It’s only been about 5 months since my trip to Zion national park in Utah. Take a look at the photos of the trip through the narrows and also a 2 day hike in the back country. I am pretty much recovered from the mountain exposure.

Book Review: I just read Alex Stewart: Portrait of a Pioneer . It is pretty much just a loving devotion about an old mountain man who could do a lot of things none of us still can, like make butter churns and buckets and build his own house and deal with snake bites. It’s pretty amazing how much better at stuff it seems everyone was back then. I need to check three different DIY websites before I try to hang a picture on the wall. Pretty much everyone living on this mountain in Tennessee could build a house, build everything in the house (furniture, kitchen items), hunt, gather forest edibles and raise crops. None of them really went to school, but when was the last time you used trigonometry or debated the tension between liberty and nationalism. I think if you teleported the members of subway car I was in this morning (Q to 57th street) back to 1920s Tennessee everyone in there would be dead within the week. Conversely, if you brought those mountain people to the present they would probably hunt us, skin us, and use our ‘tallow’ to make candles and waterproof their shoes, and that would be a considerable improvement in our contribution to the human race.

Ultimate: Regionals occurred in Devens, MA. Zojirushi lost all our games and finished 16th, clearing my schedule to be a spectator all day Sunday. I had a pretty good time. This means ultimate is over, except for the fun winter tournaments (like PadaMosh this weekend) Turkey Bowl and all the others that basically take us to the start of the spring season.

In the ‘off season’ I’m coaching the Beacon High School girls team. The girls are amazingly dedicated, meeting to practice from 6:30-7:30 am each day and also after school. The girls have great spirit and a long way to go. I coached them at their first Beacon Tourney for the season: KitKat outside of Philiadelphia. We had and lost 3 games, but the third was the closest, so I think we learned something. Hopefully they will all be much more motivated about doing sprints to get in shape and working on throwing and catching. Our game is a hard one if you can’t throw and catch.

Did I already show you this link? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=erRqDpMDFFo&feature=related This is what real ultimate looks like. The girls don’t look like this, yet, but I’m working on it.

I got a flu shot. Later, I got the flu. Maybe it was H1N1. I don’t know. I seem to have survived. It was pretty bad. I cured it by taking a bunch of flights. I’m like Johnny Appleseed for H1N1. H1N1 Mary?

I’m all worked up about two articles I read recently that refer to being short: This one and this one. I’m thinking about applying for disability due to my short stature status. People of short stature are 1/5 less likely to graduate from college! At 5’3” I qualify. I don’t know how I did it. We’re also just as likely as the morbidly obese to die early. I never really realized how much I have to overcome. Go me. Every day I stand up is a victory.

I had a few people over to the apartment for brunch and a Bloody Mary competition. It was a lot of fun. I vanquished all challengers in a Bloody Mary Off. My secret: the more horseradish, the better. I recommend a 1:1:1 ratio of tomato to vodka to horseradish.

The Eagles game last weekend was great. I watched with Jesse as the Eagles ran up points on the Giants. Take that Eli face! (I am really glad baseball is finally over.)

I went to a reading last night for this book, Mildred Burke : Queen of the Ring. Amazing story of a woman wrestling in the 1940s. This wrestling wasn’t even fake yet. Look forward to this review. (She was of short stature too, so the story is all the more amazing.)

I went for a good run today in Prospect Park. (+7). It was really nice out. All the leaves are still changing and the park is gorgeous.

Up and coming: This weekend I’m off to Padamosh. Next week I’ll go see Art Brut. I have an appointment coming up to donate platelets. I’m helping to plan a UPA coaching clinic in NYC. I’m off to Louisville for Thanksgiving to see all my Aunts Uncles and Cousins. It'll be great.

Little to Report

Fall is coming. I went to the US open 3 times and saw both Klijsters and Del Potro but not in the finals. I went to a Jets preseason game; it seems Sanchez may be the real deal (but I look fwd to this post being thrown back in my face after he starts acting like a rookie QB). New job is going pretty well. Zojirushi sectionals was rained out last weekend, but is on again now for this weekend. Despair was great and very suspenseful and as soon as it ended I started it over again because the beginning is packed with all these clues that doesn't really make sense until you read then end. This is a good review, so I won't bother. I am glad football season has finally started and that is about all I have to report.

Oh yeah, I quit my job...

After 11 years, I am finally done with Accenture. It was pretty amazing how almost everyone in my life universally said, “Thank God! That was horrible. What were you doing?” I couldn’t believe how adamant and consistent the response was, even with today’s job market. (There was just one exception.)

I have a new job that is part time. It’s basically the same work, and not that glamorous, but the important thing is it’s only Mon-Weds and on Thursday I’ll be at the animal shelter, on Friday I’ll be coaching high school ultimate. I’m excited about doing other things, and willing to do the same old stuff for 3 days a week if it let’s me do stuff I like the other 4.

The good news is my first client is in Knoxville, TN. Knoxville is gorgeous. There is a river that winds though the town and there are all these gorgeous old homes and store fronts. The people all seem strangely, frighteningly friendly, like they are about to sell you something, but they never do. There’s no direct flight and that will be a PAIN, but so far so good.

The huge find for this week is that the new iPhone podcast software allows you to listen to the podcasts at double time. That’s twice as many slate daily podcasts for me. Emily Bazelon is so much more tolerable when she is talking twice as fast.

Zojirushi, my coed ultimate team this year, went to the White Mountain Open in Vermont//New Hampshire which was a very enlightening experience. We have a lot to work on. Next weekend is the Chesapeake Open down in Maryland. That should be big challenge. I’ll get to see my parents and all the varmints, which will be nice.

I’m reading Nabokov’s Despair which is making me identify with the protagonist way too much. But I should have a review for you on that sometime soon so stay tuned.

I went to see Animal Collective, at the Prospect Park Bandshell, courtesy of Stephen, who had to go out of town unexpectedly for a bachelor party. As pictured below, they went with a nautical theme and the huge shark moved back and forth in the waves.

I’ll leave you with this you tube saga (from Tatiana)which I found pretty amusing.

My Girl

"The morning sun when its in your face really shows your age, But that dont worry me none in my eyes you're everything."

She was a good dog and we all miss her.

Iron Like a Lion

Zion National Park in Utah was great. Beautiful. I totally recommend a visit. Jesse and I were there (and Vegas) June 12-21. I have been meaning to write this up for a while. A lot is going on. (The careful reader will note the foreshadowing)

Zion was not too crowded. We saw a pair of introduced condors, which was a highlight for me. By-and-large the two day hikes we did were pleasant and not too strenuous.

However, we did one two day trip called ‘The Narrows’ which requires 14 miles hiking down the middle of the Virgin River. When we did it the water temperature was 59 degrees which is colder than it sounds after the 4th hour submerged up to your waste. The river has a bit of a current and the riverbed is covered with slippery rocks about the size of thanksgiving turkeys, so every step is a turned ankle waiting to happen. I fell a couple of times and got wet down to my bones. My recollection of the trip is of being cold and wet and grouchy, but Jesse tells me it was beautiful and reminds me that we were passed by a troupe of boy scouts, so how bad could it have been. (I’ll post pictures soon that support his version of the story.)

I live in Fort Greene, Brooklyn now. The move was a bit of a pain, as they always are, but I survived. The new hood is great. I’m about a mile from Prospect Park and I run, bike and play disc in the park pretty regularly. Getting to practice is quick and easy for once. I live above a stop on the C, which I can feel gently rock my bed as trains pull in and out of the station if I listen carefully enough. The neighborhood has lots of bars and restaurants and I am very happy to finally be in Brooklyn where most of my friends live.

I went to see the Staten Island Yankees with Patricia for the 4th of July. That was pretty awesome. We rode the Staten Island ferry to the game and watched the fireworks from the ferry on the way back.

My fellow founding gastronaut Benji Pauker was on my favorite show, the Jon Stewart show. Check him out: (He’s the smart American at the end.)
http://www.thedailyshow.com/video/index.jhtml?videoId=231547&title=jason-jones-behind-the-veil


I read Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close . It was pretty good and reminded a bit of the The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. The book has some quirky affectations with pictures and edited pages and even a section in numeric code, but if you look past all that the story moves along at a good clip.

I went to see Wilco on July 13 at Coney Island. I love the new album. However, something about a title album at this stage seems odd. Even a title track. It’s like he’s painted himself into the painting. The show was the largest I’d ever seen and the band played for over two hours with lots of stuff from YHF, Summerteeth and of course the new album.

The Mets are KILLING me. I am done with them. The Wimbledon Gentleman’s championship was amazing. I’m going to the US Open in a few weeks. NFL training camps are underway: Go Eagles!