Travis Smith: my resume, bio and photos back to the main blog page

I was going to write you all and tell you that my first semester as captain of the East Van Halen ultimate team was a tremendous success, that we’d won every game, and that I was well on my way to becoming a local (i.e. in this house) sports legend.

But we lost tonight.  So we end the semester 6 wins, 1 loss. 

What happened?  Well, tonight was a single game starting at 7:30 instead of two games starting at 6.  So we decided to still show up at 6 and have a team BBQ.  I brought turkey dogs and wheatberry salad, but it was Darren’s papaya and shrimp kebabs that did me in—or maybe Mary’s ginger, lime and pumpkin seed cookies.  Matt’s rosemary garlic marinated steak was pretty good, too.  And the fresh bread, ah delicious.

So yeah, maybe it was the pre-game feast.  Or maybe the other team, named Ridiskulous, was just really fast and really good at handling, with sharp women and a guy so big we called him Goliath in a non-ironic way.  He was a monster. And the other team’s captain, never went off the field.  The whole game.  No subs for him.  He was wearing a polo shirt and a big grin and he basically schooled us.  Actually, the final score was a respectable 13-10, but we were down 9-4 at one point, so you can see that it wasn’t a walk in the park.

It was a BBQ in the park, followed by a (fun and spirited) spanking.

Not like that.  You know what I mean.

=-=-=

In other news, I’ve had a tremendously social week.  Last night was movie night at Dave’s: we’re close to finishing Season 3 of Battlestar Galactica (which aired on TV over a year ago).  And the night before was a picnic with Degan down at Jericho that was really quite special; cheese, bread, wine and smoked meat from Granville Island are truly the perfect food combo.

On Monday, I went with Susie and Shane to do laps at the pool, though I use the exercise room because my swimming ability is ... crummy.  On the plus side, I used a rowing machine for the first time ever and really enjoyed it and discovered that the bottom side of my arms has two muscles that I apparently never ever use. Ow!

Before that, I went and saw the new Indiana Jones movie (In two words: Don’t. DON’T.) and earlier in the day Sunday I went to a spirit tournament down at Jericho Beach and saw that some people who play ultimate can actually honest to god jump and hover.

Even before that (and don’t worry, my memory goes grey somewhere around here…) Monique, James, Jason, Susie and I all went to the Apple Store opening, and then something or other during the day—maybe patio furniture?—and then there was a cool show called Hot One Inch Button where I did some great trading and ended up with a handful of buttons that I’m sure were very cool at the time and now leave me slightly confused.

Boris and Rachael ran into us there—they spend a lot of time together these days it seems…—and we went to the Gifted Pig or the Guilty Pig or the Gutted Pig or some such restaurant, and it was all very wonderful and natural—the conversation, not the food, though that was good too.

In any case, it’s been a full week.

Overheard

“The sad truth is that most evil is done by people who never make up their minds to be good or evil.”

...who said it?

“Almost every American I know does trade large portions of his life for entertainment, hour by weeknight hour, binge by Saturday binge, Facebook check by Facebook check. I’m one of them. In the course of writing this I’ve watched all 13 episodes of House of Cards and who knows how many more West Wing episodes, and I’ve spent any number of blurred hours falling down internet rabbit holes. All instead of reading, or writing, or working, or spending real time with people I love.”

...who said it?

“Live a good life. If there are gods and they are just, then they will not care how devout you have been, but will welcome you based on the virtues you have lived by. If there are gods, but unjust, then you should not want to worship them. If there are no gods, then you will be gone, but will have lived a noble life that will live on in the memories of your loved ones.”

...who said it?

“I play with variables constantly.”

...who said it?

“Only the person who has learned Continual Love coming from a heart of Gratitude/Worship can effectively deal with the problem of loneliness.”

...who said it?

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