Thursday, September 11, 2003
Week 33 - Soccer with the Mexicans
September 11, 2003 12:07 AM
My One Year New York Anniversary is fast approaching - September 29 was my
moving date.
Only 40 some weeks in a year, apparently.
We've come a long way from yogurt parfait at 5 in the morning, haven't we?
The adventures continue. My adventure for the week? Soccer in the park
with the Mexicans. These guys can play, man. Most of them are older than
me, but they got jets. I couldn't understand a word they were saying (only
one guy spoke English) he was watching from the sidelines. He said he
thought I was Irish. The way I played I'm guessing that was an insult.
I didn't play that great, but I did score the first goal. Then about
fifteen minutes into the 7 on 7 game I was totally exhausted, but they play
every day, even in the winter, so I'm thinking they'll whip me into shape
real quick.
The biggest character on the 'field' (we play on a blacktop) was a Brazilian
guy in a number 10 Maradonna jersey. He was loud and nasty and not very
skilled, so after his team had been playing for a while and they lost, this
guy picks up his ball and goes home, leaving 20 of us standing around with
no ball. It was so elementary school I can't tell you.
I want to take Spanish now so I can figure out what the soccer guys are
saying to each other.
Labor Day was lots of fun - scored tickets to the US Open in Queens on
Friday night - saw Roddick beat Ljubicic in the second round - it was a
brutal match - not very pretty, but lots of killer serves (they aced each
other 44 times - 22 a piece) and Ljubicic got some calls that didn't go his
way and he whined. We had pretty good seats. I was with my pal Jessie from EST.
There was a lot of money in that stadium. Mullets, trucker hats and Budweiser were in short
supply.
Sunday went to grandmas 80th birthday party and then scored tickets to the
Bruce Springsteen concert in Giants stadium thanks to two ex-students of
mine, Laura Schewel and Michael Gottwald. Shout out to my nizzles.
So I know I owe the world a Big Joe DVD by September 15. Alas for all you
pervs out there, I rediscovered my epic fantasy trilogy project
when I went on vacation and have been spending 3 to 5 hours a day on it
since the cabin.
The book is rich with possibility (which is why I've been attracted to it
off and on for the last 8 years) I think the problem is each time I revise
it, in order to keep the story exciting in my own mind I go back and change
things which necessitate changes in all the surrounding paragraphs, pages,
chapters. White & Strunk preach that in good writing you should always
'Omit Needless words.' I'm getting to the point where I have to omit
needless chapters, and than can be a tough axe to swing when you've spent
months perfecting that chapter just to discover it won't go in the story.
But Dave, didn't you go to New York to do some acting?
I know, I know. But when the muse calls, you have to answer - you just have
to. Otherwise you turn out unhappy, just like Ljubicic. Or that unnamed
Brasilisan man who won't share his ball. That's the moral of the story,
I think. Share your balls. ¶ 1:56 PM
My One Year New York Anniversary is fast approaching - September 29 was my
moving date.
Only 40 some weeks in a year, apparently.
We've come a long way from yogurt parfait at 5 in the morning, haven't we?
The adventures continue. My adventure for the week? Soccer in the park
with the Mexicans. These guys can play, man. Most of them are older than
me, but they got jets. I couldn't understand a word they were saying (only
one guy spoke English) he was watching from the sidelines. He said he
thought I was Irish. The way I played I'm guessing that was an insult.
I didn't play that great, but I did score the first goal. Then about
fifteen minutes into the 7 on 7 game I was totally exhausted, but they play
every day, even in the winter, so I'm thinking they'll whip me into shape
real quick.
The biggest character on the 'field' (we play on a blacktop) was a Brazilian
guy in a number 10 Maradonna jersey. He was loud and nasty and not very
skilled, so after his team had been playing for a while and they lost, this
guy picks up his ball and goes home, leaving 20 of us standing around with
no ball. It was so elementary school I can't tell you.
I want to take Spanish now so I can figure out what the soccer guys are
saying to each other.
Labor Day was lots of fun - scored tickets to the US Open in Queens on
Friday night - saw Roddick beat Ljubicic in the second round - it was a
brutal match - not very pretty, but lots of killer serves (they aced each
other 44 times - 22 a piece) and Ljubicic got some calls that didn't go his
way and he whined. We had pretty good seats. I was with my pal Jessie from EST.
There was a lot of money in that stadium. Mullets, trucker hats and Budweiser were in short
supply.
Sunday went to grandmas 80th birthday party and then scored tickets to the
Bruce Springsteen concert in Giants stadium thanks to two ex-students of
mine, Laura Schewel and Michael Gottwald. Shout out to my nizzles.
So I know I owe the world a Big Joe DVD by September 15. Alas for all you
pervs out there, I rediscovered my epic fantasy trilogy project
when I went on vacation and have been spending 3 to 5 hours a day on it
since the cabin.
The book is rich with possibility (which is why I've been attracted to it
off and on for the last 8 years) I think the problem is each time I revise
it, in order to keep the story exciting in my own mind I go back and change
things which necessitate changes in all the surrounding paragraphs, pages,
chapters. White & Strunk preach that in good writing you should always
'Omit Needless words.' I'm getting to the point where I have to omit
needless chapters, and than can be a tough axe to swing when you've spent
months perfecting that chapter just to discover it won't go in the story.
But Dave, didn't you go to New York to do some acting?
I know, I know. But when the muse calls, you have to answer - you just have
to. Otherwise you turn out unhappy, just like Ljubicic. Or that unnamed
Brasilisan man who won't share his ball. That's the moral of the story,
I think. Share your balls. ¶ 1:56 PM
