10/24/02, 2:03 am – Something To Say
Haven’t been writing much. I’ve been letting the sense of not having anything to say get in the way. Silly me.
I have a bunch to say about volleyball. I’m working on my hitting a lot with good results. It seems that my poor form was not only contributing to poor hits, but also hurting my shoulder. It’s great when doing something the “right” way feels good, too.
Various volleyball fun…
I’ve been playing sand twice a week at the gym. I really like the group of guys I’ve been playing with. Our ages range quite a bit, but on the sand, we’re all like kids playing after school.
Sunday, I played with friends in a tournament sponsored by the local gay volleyball league. Before one match, the referee said, “Good luck ladies,” before realizing we were one of the teams and adding, “and gentlemen!” We ended up coming in first and had a lot of fun.
Tonight, our indoor team fell apart a bit. We woke up in the last game and pulled a win out of the night, but our first two games were fairly miserable, with mistakes all around. Not good. Still, the level we’re playing at on a bad night like tonight is head and shoulders above where we were 6 months ago. Our 1-2 results this evening will leave us in 2nd or 3rd place. Good striking position!
I’m striving to be interested in things other than volleyball, too, with some success. I took Dani and Judy to ResFest for Dani’s birthday. ResFest is a digital film festival that’s in its 6th year and is always an interesting time. Jeanhee and I went to see a more, um, adult screening later that evening.
Last night, I attended my first champagne tasting. It was fun, but a little weird. The near-worship of alcohol in wine connoisseurs bugs me out a bit. Pair that with lots of money and I find it distasteful. I stuffed some facts about champagne into my head though. I’m sure it will come in handy at my next Napa estate cocktail party…
Work is a struggle of late. The online division of the company I work for has gone from 250+ people to less than 15. There’s a lot that’s still wonderful about the job, but my motivation is suffering at the moment. It doesn’t help that most of my friends were among those laid off.
Tonight, after the game, we celebrated Liz‘s birthday. Happy birthday, Liz!
Saturday morning, we’re off to DC to protest our nation going to war in Iraq. I’m not the pacifist that I was as a teenager, but I do believe strongly in war as a last resort. I firmly believe that we have other options in dealing with Iraq than a war that is likely to shed a lot of blood and further destabilize a region that is already balanced precariously on the edge of disaster. Saturday, I’ll donate my time and energy to demonstrate that this citizen of this great nation stands for peace in the world and asks his leaders to look for a peaceful solution.
I noticed you’re going to protest the up and coming war and I realized that your blog started out on September 11, 2001.
I asked you about this in person a couple of days after it happened – – – What about Bali?
Somehow Americans, even well-meaning ones like all of the folks headed for DC this weekend (thank God they – the paramilitary right-wingers in blue uniforms {facetious me} caught those sons of bitches {of course if they hadn’t gotten trained using our tax dollars …} last night – – – I’m talking about the DC sniper) have disconnected from the atrocity on the other side of the world.
The night club attack on Bali was equal to the WTC attack and equal to the human rights crimes committed against the women of Afghanistan and the citizens of Iraq – – – “Oh what a tangled web we weave.”
Still, here’s my comment – – – “Where is the outrage regarding Bali?” If we learn to take the terrorists in stride, they’ll be with us for a long, long time. ZERO TOLERANCE.
October 25th, 2002 at 12:33 am
I would prefer to see our nation exert its military and intelligence efforts on counter-terrorism efforts. The immediate danger posed by Iraq is like a sparkler compared to the TNT of ongoing threats of action by al-Qaeda and other terrorist groups. The world doesn’t need Iraqi occupation by the United States (as evidenced by the world’s non-support for our threatened actions). And we don’t need to spend the huge amount of money that could be put to better use protecting our bridges, buildings, power plants and loved ones and finding and arresting the terrorists. I am outraged by the Bali bombing, and was outraged by the sniper attacks, and by the Philipines bus bombings, and the violence in Israel. These are all reasons why I oppose a military invasion of Iraq.
October 25th, 2002 at 9:57 am