Frisbee Kingdom

I got thinking about summer because spring is just around the corner and that means school is almost over and that means summer is coming.

Last summer I got into this schedule of playing ultimate frisbee with some people from high school. It was fun. We would run around in our bare feet throwing a frisbee in the air. We would applaud our good throws, of which I had few, and we would encourage people to keep trying when the bad throws occurred.

It was a nice little fun time of playing frisbee. It was never highly competitive or stressful, we just played it cool and didn't care about rules as much as having fun. We had a little frisbee community you could say.

This one time though of my friends yelled down to some complete strangers, asking them to come join us for some, "disc" as we called it.

To my surprise three guys came up right after their hockey practice to come play with us. I guess they were just waiting for their ride home and that ride was late. There were nice guys and I have forgotten their names but they played everything cool. They were better than me at "disc" too which made me feel terribly nonathletic.

Those guys came back two or three times to play with us because before they left we told them what days and times we play and they said they would be back. I really enjoyed that, how our little disc community was so inviting of everyone, we didn't care how good or bad we were, just as long as you had a good time and got to play around with some friends. It is what I imagine as true community, looking out for each other, always inviting for more people to join.

Sometimes after we were done playing some disc we would go to SuperAmerica and get those big 44 ounce slushies because Minnesota does get hot, and humid, and we get tired, and sweat. One time though, we had a huge Vitamin Water van pull up blasting the latest popular song and two people got out and gave us free Vitamin Water. I've never been a big fan of Vitamin Water but when something is free you don't mind anything.

There were two people practicing soccer at the field across from us so we grabbed two more free Vitamin Water's and gave them those because communities share their gifts too. One of the Vitamin Water guys starting throwing the disc around with us too but he didn't stay for long because he had a job to do.

And that is our little frisbee community. A community where our faults are forgiven and the main goal is to always have fun. We look out for each other, scour the car for loose change so someone can get a slushie, give them a ride home, and we share our gifts with strangers around. We invite strangers to come play some "disc" and invite them to come back whenever they want.

It's a frisbee kingdom, bringing a little bit of heaven on earth.

Biker Chic

This one goes out to Josh who told me to blog every hour during my day off even though that probably won't happen.

This one also goes out to my professor who is gone today and cancelled class.

I was in my basic communication class a couple of weeks ago and we were participating in a class activity. We had been given articles from the Star Tribune newspaper. I don't like the Star Tribune. I don't know why but I have been a Pioneer Press guy every since I was a kid so the Star Tribune is weird to me.

Anyways, my group got an article titled, "Biker Chic," which I pronounced "Biker Chick" until someone pointed out that it was "Chic," pronounced like "Sheek" which was slightly embarrassing for me but understandable. I mean, who ever uses the word chic in a normal sentence?

The article was about a new line of motorcycle clothes for woman which is as weird as it sounds. Pink leather jackets, etc. etc.. I didn't relate to it all and was slightly creeped out by it. I explained the article to my professor and the rest of the class telling them how the article was about woman's motorcycle clothing and how their was some convention coming up where you could find these clothes. My professor asked who the intended audience was and I said woman who drive motorcycles or people who know woman that drive motorcycles.

Eventually we got to how this article defines someone. How it defines woman that drives motorcycles and everyone else. I didn't think that this article had anything to do with my life and that it didn't define anything about me but then my professor said something interesting.

He said how we are defined by what we're not.

This struck me. Defined by what we're not. We define ourselves by choosing not to be something, by not relating to something. Biker Chic helped define who I am by telling me who I am not. I am not a motorcycle enthusiasts or a woman clothing enthusiast. That is who I am. So I got to thinking about other people, famous people, and started defining them by what they are not.

For example, Martin Luther King Jr. was defined by not acting out in violence, same as Gandhi.

So I guess defining yourself goes both ways. We seem to be defined by what we are and what we are not. We sit there and make labels for ourselves usually by what we like and are passionate about but we can also labels ourselves by what we are not. I just had never thought of it that way before.

I still don't like the Star Tribune, but Biker Chic made me not like it less.

The One Hundreth

Hello my blogger friends. This is blog post number one-hundred.

Josh - As promised you are thanked first. A little over a year ago you told me to create a blog, so I did. You told me write about whatever, so I did. You still influence this blog today (if you notice I now have labels for post). Thanks for showing me the ropes, the styles, the buttons to push, the gadgets to add. You seemed to have created a little community for all of us here and I really like that. Thanks for everything.

Gabby - I've only met you once but before that you were probably my first blogger friend turned facebook friend turned twitter friend which I don't think will ever happen to me again. I would write more but you switched to Wordpress so I won't go on.

Mom, Dad - I remember emailing you telling you I had started one of these blog things and from then on I've had nothing but support from you. Thanks.

Anonymous - You left a comment on a post which is pretty cool even if you are someone I know but I like the mysteriousness. Either way, I appreciate it.

Carolyn - My fellow hippie Baylor friend. I always appreciated you spilling your Monster that day. Always enjoyed the Dr. Pepper Float tradition with you and Amy, even though she never came.

All the original blogger people that Josh recruited - John, Blake, Matt
All the new blogger people - Lauren, Melanie, Jojo, Jessie, Matt(again), Ben(again)

Mr. Post - It may not seem like much but you told our class once that you're never too old to start enjoy reading books and I have to say you were very right. You started me with a little Donald Miller and it went on from there.

One of my friends told me the reoccurring theme of my blogs are "letting go and pressing on" which I guess is true. I tend to always look back at the past a lot which is sometimes burdensome but I've been told without a past, you have no future so I guess looking back has its pros and cons.

Another friend of mine says I say, "I guess" too much and that I should sound more sure of myself. It is true that I do say, "I guess" a lot but I would be lying if I said I was confident in myself.

I have learned the best way to write poems are to write it right away or else you forget it and then you get disappointed. For a couple of my poems I would have to get out of bed, turn on my computer, and then start typing before they left me. Even though I don't write a lot of poems and most of them are weird and pretty cliche I enjoy it every now and then.

So many thanks to everyone for being a part of this. Maybe someday I will be at two hundred but who really knows. Thanks again to all.