Tuesday, August 22, 2006

Dreamtime

Hmm. Still no classic long post. Sort of interesting, I just haven't felt like it. I've been doing thematic posts for a long time now. It's been interesting. It's time for a really long post real soon, I promise.

Anyways, since this isn't a classic post, what is this? It's gonna be all over the place. The usual disclaimers apply. Take it for what it's worth, this one's all yours to tear apart.

First and foremost, there's just something powerful about a uniform. When you're suited up, you're ready to get out there and go. It doesn't matter what the task is; if you're properly dressed you will succeed. You feel and perform better when you are dressed the part. When you're unified and ready to go, all decked out and ready to go, you're a force to be reckoned with.

We got our cross country uniforms today. I gotta tell you, I feel fast. You put that thing on, and you've got the wind at your back. You don the uniform, and you're unstoppable. Oh snap, I like my uniform.

But that's not the extent of the uniform phenomenon. It doesn't matter if it's my pimping CC uniform or my winter frisbee uniform, the concept is the same. When you look the part, you've got that edge. I'm not generally one to put too much faith in looks alone. But I remember vividly all those times I was getting suited up for late night frisbee in the super cold weather this past winter. I'd toss on my green shorts, but put my black ski pants over them. I'd toss on my black sweat shirt, and then add the black do-rag just for effect. In that get up, man, I felt like I was ready to go dive and lay my body on the line for the disc. I could fly in that get-up.

Back in the good old nerd days, when our team would be all ready in our super cool polos and khakis, we were pumpin. We were an efficient scoring machine. We were all unified, we were all proudly wearing those nerd shirts. There's power behind a good uniform, I don't care who you are.

In short: I really like our new uniforms, and they're only going to get better.

We have our first race tomorrow. It's the timetrials. Everyone from the region is going to be there, and we're just running one big guys race, and one big girls race. No JV, no Varsity. Just one big ugly chance to prove what the summer has done to you. I'm really excited for it. I'm nervous, but really I'm excited.

The simple truth is that we have worked out like never before this summer. I have trained harder this summer than ever before, and I'm ready to go show it. It's going to be like nothing I've ever done before. Tomorrow is going to be a new kind of race. Yeah, I worked hard last year for track, but not like this. Not with our whole team unified and together. Not every day, not this hard. I have never ever been in better shape, and I've never been more ready for a race. This isn't just another race, this is a new beginning. This is the start of the new Taylorsville CC era. This is the first glimpse the world is going to have of what we are, and what we're going to become. Last year was a joke for me, my heart wasn't in it. Things are different this year. Tomorrow, I'm going to prove myself, I'm going out there to fight, not just to finish. I'm going out there to show the world what coach has done for the team, what I've become through all that pain and work. Tomorrow, I don't just have a meet, I've got a race. A race that I'm going to attack, one that I'm giving my all to. I'm going out there to leave myself on the course, and scoop it all up when I finish. Whether in victory or defeat, I'm going to be happy with my effort tomorrow. I'm going out there to show myself what I'm really capable of. This isn't just a meet, and it's not just because I have to. I've got to prove to coach, to the team, to the opposition, and above all to myself what I can do. Ladies and Gentlemen, it's go time.

3.2 miles, 5 km. Such a small window to prove myself. It's going to be over shortly after it begins. Am I going to be able to show the world what Taylorsville Cross Country is made of in that short of time? It's the only chance that I've got, so I'm going to take it. It's going to be like nothing we've ever seen before. It's race time.

Gosh, I love getup paragraphs like that. I just wanna get up on my desk and start yelling and jumping like an animal. I feel like running around the block, just thinking about stuff like that. Rarrr, Taylorsville CC is going to be unstoppable.

It's tuesday. Tomorrow is going to be great. After the meet, I've got mutual, and we're all going swimming. I love swimming now. I used to really not like it much, but thanks to our cross training in the pool I'm really confident in the water and just love getting in it. I'm excited for that.

So, there's alot of thoughts that come and go in my brain. They come, and I harbor them for a while. Eventually I'll go to bed, and when I wake up, those thoughts are still there, but the initial rush of excitement is gone. For that one evening though, that first glimpse of a dream, the world is super fresh, and just waiting for me to get out there and hit it with this great idea. So, for you guys tonight, some of the dreams that I've neglected to write down before. Some are recent, some are a little older. Some of them have help from other people in them. But either way, they still hold a nice place in my consciousness. One day I'd like to see them come to pass.

~note from the future~ Hey guys, I'm back. I just finished writing the post, but I'm coming back to add in this little edit. It's over an hour since I started this, it's been a huge post, but I've loved it so much. I love this post. I hope you guys are doing good, cause I love y'all. Anyways, throughout writing this whole post, I've been listning to 'dream big' - by Ryan Shupe and the rubber band. It's been on loop, I've been listening forever. It's a super super good song. To everybody listening, I'd suggest you turn that on, and loop until you're done writing. Gosh it's a good song. If you guys don't have it, ask me and I can hook you up. Or ask Courtney, she'll hook you up too. Anyways, it's a great song, and I'd like you all to listen to it. Anyways, that's all. Have fun ready guys. You rock. ~end future note~

Dance by moonlight-

I love region dances. I miss them terribly. About one evening a month, something will trigger that region dance reflex in my brain, and I'll have to come to the computer and listen to all the slow songs that I've got on my computer. I can almost smell the warm and musky gym, the familiar and unique tint of the church drinking fountains, and the occaisional treasured wisp of heavenly smell that denotes a beautiful and righteous girl walking by. I yearn to go make a fool of myself with kyle, to wear a tie on a saturday, and sweat like an animal and still try to talk to girls. I love region dances. They've become a part of me, a part that even cross country can't choke out. I'll be at that next region dance, at 8 PM sharp. I'm staying for a good three hours, and I'm dancing every slow song. I'm grooving like an animal to every fast song. Those righteous daughters of Zion won't know what hit them.

But, despite my love, I know that region dances aren't perfect. I like slow songs alot more than I like fast songs, and the ratio is always way skewed towards fast songs. We need more slow songs people. Oftentimes, after hearing the 4th song that obviously wasn't meant for white people to dance to play, I'd think to myself "Christopher, you could dominate a region dance as a dj."

And so, combining my great love of region dances, and my adoration of frisbee, I've come up with a plan. Chances are it won't ever happen, but it's a beautiful thought. Sometime, during the fall, or maybe next summer, we would have the first annual Dance in the moonlight, sponsored by the Taylorsville Ultimate club.

We label it as a fundraiser for the club, so we can buy frisbees or something. But really, it's just an excuse for me to create the greatest region dance ever. We hold it out on the football field, or maybe in the baseball diamond cause it's a little more enclosed. Either way, it's outside. With the help of Mr. Sharpe, we get a very nice sound system and a few lights. However, Sharpe's reign of terror ends there, as I'm going to be picking the music. Drawing extensively from my knowledge of region dances, we'll have the best. We'll have the slow, we'll have the fast. We'll have just the right blend, just the right mix. I won't lie though, I'm biased. We won't have something for everybody. If you want to come headbang, well, go somewhere else. This is my dream here, not yours. It will be everything that I've ever wanted in a region dance. We'll be dressed like a region dance. With any luck, I'll be sweating like a region dance.

Now, it won't exactly be a region dance, and that makes me a little sad. Chances are we won't be able to start and end with a prayer. It won't be in a church. Which detracts just a little bit, but we'll try to make up for that with the fact that you can see the moon. It'll be cool, it'll be a beautiful evening, and it'll be wholesome. No music that's too loud and obscene. Just high quality music. Music you can groove out to, and music that you can dance with a pretty lady to. Music to waddle around in circles and make stupid jokes to.

We'd charge a dollar for admission or something like that, just so the fundraiser excuse can work. We'll buy some frisbees or something. But really, it's for me. It's not for anybody else, it's for me. It's so I can live the dream, and have alot of slow songs.

So there you have it. I do have a sensitive side or something like that. Who knew?

Badges of Merit-

Scouting is a very interesting topic for me. I really love going to scouts. I love it cause all my little 12 and 13 year old buddies are there. Those kids look up to me, and I really love that. I really do try to be a better person because I know that they're watching. I really want to help them out, help them grow up to be good people. That's a big part of scouting, a part that they usually don't mention too much.

So, I love scouts for that. I love it that I can go be with the kids and help them. The part that I don't really like is the hoops that one has to jump through.

I've always thought that I was a good kid. I never did anything too mean or bad. I did well in school, all that stuff. So now, all the sudden, scouts is trying to tell me that I've got to go do a service project. Well c'mon, I already did one the other week, without the requirement. And they're telling me to go visit a place I'd like to work one day, and research what I'd have to do in school to work there. It's a big hoop to jump though, and sometimes I can't see the point behind it.

Scouting has its pro sides, and its downsides. Scouting has basically ruined merit badges for me. I'm starting to have a little revival, a little more love for the whole scout thing. Even for the merit badges. But really, the way I see it, alot of the merit badges can be gotten by anybody, and they can go through the whole process and not learn anything. Anyone can get the personal fitness merit badge, but is it really going to change their life? Are they going to learn anything from it, or become stronger and healthier for it?

So, there's a great opportunity there, but I think that it might be executed a little poorly sometimes. Therefore, combining my love of some aspects of scouting, and my great adoration for frisbee (again), I present to you, the Taylorsville Ultimate badges of merit program.

Now, I really want to make this club work. I love ultimate, and having an official school club opens up a ton of opportunities for us. First and foremost, it'd let me put up posters advertising the next time we're going to play. That itself is worth the effort. It'd let us get a bunch of people that aren't necessarily playing right now, and teach them how to play. It'd let us get the people that are playing right now, and improve all of our skills. It'd let us have a real team, a standing team. Not a team that's picked on the spot, but a standing team that's always there, ready for any competition. It'd let us challenge anyone brave enough to take on Taylorsville high's best. It'd offer us alot of great windows.

I'm not exactly sure how the public will react. Will people come to the meetings? Do people really want a club that does that much, or do they just want to play? For the purpose of the dream, I'm dreaming that they're going to want to come. That they're going to want to get involved. That somebody needs something to fill a little hole in their life, and that frisbee is going to do that for them. That the whole spirit around frisbee is going to make people just a little better. That's what I'm dreaming right now.

We have club rush week, and we get a ton of signups. We know off that bat that alot of them are bogus, just people who want to get in the yearbook. And that's ok, we'll let them in the picture. But, after signups, we get in touch with the people, and we have our first meeting. We meet in the career center, and we talk about stuff. We talk about plans, we talk about ultimate, we talk about spirit of the game. We have a very quick training session. We teach people the basics in 20 minutes. We talk about throwing, catching, offense, defense, the pancake, the backhand, we introduce the forehand. We teach them how to play in 20 minuets, and then we go play a little game with everybody. After that doesn't work, we offer to show the public what a real game can look like, and we play a real fast game with the old guard, the guys that've been playing forever. At the end of the meeting, we tell people that we're gonna meet again in two days.

Two days later, we meet. Same place, same time. A few new people show up, and a few old people don't. We practice the skills, we run a few drills with my numerous frisbees. We talk about more stuff, we get them excited about it. We play a little more.

After a while of this, the people who aren't really in it are weeded out. They stop showing up, and the people that genuinely love it stay. At this point, when we've got a real base, we present every member with a nice little piece of paper. It might be laminated, it might not. In the center of the paper is our logo, and just below that is their name. Everybody gets one, and we tell them to hang it in their locker. It's their ID tag, it says that they're a member of the coolest club, a club that's gonna stick with them.

But then, we introduce the badges of merit program. We tell them that as they perform extraordinary feats, that they're going to get a little badge or patch to put on that piece of paper. A little token that will show that they accomplished something awesome. When they can pass off the backhand throw and the forehand throw, we'll give them the basic training badge. When they master the hammer and the biscuit, we take that badge away and upgrade it to the special weapons badge. When they actually throw a hammer for a TD in a real game, they get a badge. When they catch one, same idea. When they get a total of 10 points, we'll give them the badge. When they get 20, we'll upgrade it. When they show extraordinary spirit, we hit them with a badge. When they finish our fitness program, pass the test, we'll give them the badge for that. When they play on a real team for a tournament, they'll get hit with a badge. It's going to be alot like that halo medals. You splatter someone with a warthog, you better believe you get recognized.

Now, we won't restrict badges just to frisbee feats. We'll have the 4.0 badge, the 'I turned down a date for frisbee' badge, and maybe even the 'cleanlips' badge. Not everybody will get all the badges, that's the point. Their ID paper with our logo will become something of a memento to them. "Remember that first Hammer I threw to Nick for that awesome touchdown? Oh gosh, that was the best game ever." After a while, they'll be decorated war heroes. We're going to have really cool designs for the little badges. I've got some concepts drawn up, Nick's been helping a bit.

Basically, I want people to be proud of it. I want people to come love frisbee as much as I do, and I want to have a little bit of fun awarding people with the 'I ditched a girl to play frisbee' badges. Achievement. Some will be hard to get. Others will be cake. I just really want the club to be amazing.

The greatest field ever-

This was an idea that Andrew had back in the day. Wind is mean to frisbee. It sorta hampers the game. Andrew came up with a little idea to fix this, and I took it and ran with it. This is a huge extension of his dream. Here we go.

Andrew's initial idea was to buy a piece of land, and then dig a big hole. A big hole, about the size of a frisbee field. You dig this thing 10, 15 feet down. You need tractors and alot of money. You take the dirt from the hole, and build big slopes all around the field. So, now you've got this field that is 15 feet below the ground around it, plus these big hills that extend 20 feet high all around it. So you've got a field with 35 feet of wind protection. You've essentially created a bowl.

Then Andrew talked about putting up some lights, of course. He also talked about installing a giant screen that you could deploy on one hill, and with a projector shed on the other side. So you could watch movies and stuff, have some cool parties.

See, this is a pretty awesome idea, it got my brain thinking. Why stop there? Why let that be it?

My dream, is to build an outdoor stadium. The same design concept, the same size. Except make it alot more natural. Poplar trees on the tops of the hills, the outside of the hills terraced for extra support. Gardens in the terraces, cool stuff. Natural bleachers on the insides of three hills, and a nice smooth slope for the 4th. Stairways up and down, natural of course. We don't need concrete, we just need the soil and some rebar support. The field would be essentially the same, designed for frisbee, but flexible. Able to be adapted for other stuff. This place would make a great outdoor amphitheater for a community play. Great for whatever it needed to be used for. It'd be an outdoor stadium, nearly all natural. It'd be a beautiful environment to play some intense frisbee, relax and watch a play, or have a dance under the stars. Watch an old movie projected onto a screen, sled down the hill when it gets snowy.

So that's the great stadium. I can see beautiful landscaping all over it. Nice big trees, strong, noble. Gardens around, all sorts of nice stuff. But that doesn't really have to be all. While we're dreaming, why not get alot of property? Why not make a huge park? The stadium would be the center, but not the only thing. An orchard, a stream going throw the park. A bunch of really nice running trails. Easy stuff, hilly stuff, hard stuff. Courses to run, places to walk the dog. A pond to do whatever, that stream again. A beautiful park, with a stadium in the middle. Being in charge of something like that, being able to play on something like that, run around something like that. Mmm mmm good.

The Taylorsvile Co-op

I've got a blog, and I love having it. I love writing here. I love talking about stuff, I love getting my thoughts down. I love writing to you guys, knowing that somebody is reading it. I know that Nick has got a blog, and that he's pretty similar. I know that Jaron writes, I know that Tessie's got a site, that Courtney writes. I know that Mac has a site. I know that sometimes there's something really funny that glen draws that he wants to show the world. Something he tapes on MJ's door, but that MJ takes down later. We've all got something to say, something to share. Alot of us aren't doing it right now. Alot of us aren't really showing the stuff we write, the stuff we draw and create.

That's why I want to create the Taylorsville Alliance. One big site where we all have our stuff. A site where I can write my huge posts, and where Glen's warning against paddy-fingers go side by side. A place where anybody can get their work out there. As we come together, good things start to happen. All of us get more readership, our audiences begin to overlap. As it becomes possible for anyone to share what they've got, more people begin to share. A place where we'd host that poem you wrote. Where we'd be able to have forums to talk to each other. A place to put my doodles, a place for Jaron to write about his animal crossing adventures. A place where we could get everybody together. An alliance. Because together we'd be stronger. We could do joint projects, we could do our own stuff. We'd come together and be amazing.

That's another dream of mine, for us to come together to make a cool alliance site. We'd have the big front page, that would tell what's new. It'd say "We've got a new post from Jaron and Nick, and some artwork by Jason. A new girl wrote a poem, it's on that page over there. Also, we all need you help to do this, or to do that. There's a frisbee game coming up, there's a region dance soon. The doodle project keeps growing, check it out."

As an alliance, we could do great things. Divided we're still doing great things, but we're missing alot. We're missing alot of people that don't have an easy place to put that poem they wrote. We need a commons, somewhere where they can put it up there, and have it seen. A place where we could have forums, where people could talk. Where we could get people's stories written. Their photos posted, their thoughts recorded. A place to come together.

Mmmmmmm, so there you go. It's a peaceful feeling, all this dreaming. There are some that I've forgotten that'll be remember in the future. When they are, I'll try to get them up here. You know, I've really enjoyed writing this. It's just a really calm and nice feeling. I really hope that as you've been reading this, it's made you just a little happier. Cause if it has, the hour invested in this post was worth it. It's already worth it, just for me, but it'd be nice for you too. Will this post change your life? Probably not. Will it make you happy for the rest of the day? Again, probably not. But hey, maybe if I can make you happy for just a couple minutes, that's better than nothing. It's still a victory. That's half of the goal here. For all of you sitting at home reading this. The one's that'll never comment, but that have let slip that you're there. For Katie and Molly and Kortney and my good buddy Annie. (yeah, that's you annie, there aren't any at T-ville). For my loyal readers Nick and Courtney and Marissa. For anybody else out there, for you, mystery blank. I hope you guys are happy. I hope things are going well for you. Things are going to be alright. It's going to be ok. We've got everything that we need, right here with us. The plan is working, the plan is going to work. Things are moving, we're on our way. We've made it this far, why stop now? How can we get discouraged? Things are going so great, we're on our way. We've had so many victories on the way to right here, that there's no reason not to celebrate. Sit back, take a deep breath. Enjoy that smell. Go outside, sit under a tree, and breathe in that pure life.

We're alright guys. Things are going to be ok. We know what we've got to do, we know what we're doing. We've got everything that we need. My friends, let's go for it.

5 comments:

Nick said...

Oh, wow, I'm excited. It's hard not to read this stuff and feel good. I'm excited for frisbee this year. Oh, and because I played over the summer, does that make me an old guy? 'Cause that'd be cool. And seriously, why wasn't I informed of frisbee fridays before this summer?! Wow, if you could do that stadium, you'd be my hero even more. I like region dances, but... maybe it's just me, but I don't like to go to them because it's just like you said: "daughters of Zion." And... well, that's a discussion for another time. I'm excited for the "T-ville co-op." That's an aspect I never thought of before. I've got some ideas for that that I need to talk with you about, so give me a ring (e-ring, of course), and we'll see. Anyway, it's good, really good to see a classic long post from you again. It's been ages.

Thanks for blogging, Chris. You make this tiny little corner of the world a better place.

Anonymous said...

Sorry I haven't posted a comment before now! I love your blogs and usually I am too busy thinking about the things you said! But, I will leave you comments from now on because your blogs are amazing! Thats seriously what I do when I get online is check to see if there is a new one posted yet! Keep up the good work!

Courtney said...

Wow. Just wow. That was an amazing post. Freaking long, but definately worth the time it took to read it. I seriously hope you get to accomplish even one of those dreams, cuz they're completely awesome. And if you need help with any of them, you know where to find me.

Jaron Frost said...

Dude, Thatcher, your posts are amazing. Like Nick said, these things are just little bundles of inspiration that make me want to get out there and do something more with my life, think up crazy ideas and actually run with a few of the best ones for a while... that sort of stuff. Everything you said would be TOTALLY sweet. Moonlight dances... frisbee stadium... badges of merit... Love them all. I say Thatcher for President, I'd enjoy that :D

Anonymous said...

I actually do read all your blog posts Chris I just never comment. I really liked this one though so I thought I would share. I think I might join the ultimate club because it really is an awesome game and your dreams...nice. So keep up the good work and sorry I didn't come to the last frisbee thursday. I couldn't make it. So just let me know about next time ok.