Decreasing Value

What pisses me off the most is overprotection.

It infuriates me--practically to the point of insanity.

Perhaps what I write in this blog is impulsive. Perhaps not. The odds are in favor of the latter.

My tennis coach was drinking Black Tea one day, and a girl went up to him and said, "Coach, don't you know that's bad for you?"

He replied, "Yes, yes it is. But what's worse for me is depriving myself of the things I enjoy. I'd rather die young and happy than old and sad."

I now consider my tennis coach as one of my heroes. I live by that stated creed every day.

Time is the most valuable thing that one can possess. It's value is realized when you spend it wisely. If you go along accumulating time by leading a "safe"--in other words, boring--lifestyle, then the value of your time decreases. And I'm someone who likes to get the most bang for my buck.

(This obviously applies to people who enjoy doing risky things. If you enjoy leading a safe, practical life, then more power--and time--to you.)

Well, I'm just pretty mad about my mother not allowing me to ride my bike to her house. If you understand my creed, then you'll understand why. I enjoy riding my bike, almost as much as I enjoy playing soccer. It makes me feel liberated, independent. I'm not looking to give my mother a heart attack. I'm looking to do something I love.

Parents are always trying to protect their kids. Sometimes, they just protect them from the wrong things.

Twelve Years Later...

Where am I going to be in twelve years? Who am I going to be?

What life will I be living?

These questions were frequent visitors to the confines of my ever-busy mind. Then, I had THE VISION.

After years and years of incessant debating...

Rich or satisfactorily paid?

Alone or with family?

White picket fence or parking meter?

Cat lady or animal-denouncer?

...everything fell together in a few minutes of smooth contemplation.

I know what I want. And here it is:

The big city wakes up.

The honking of cars, the flapping of pigeon wings, the incredible blast of a stereo alarm--those big city sounds begin.

A woman of six-and-twenty years of age rises from bed. It's me.

"Good morning Jasper," I say as I pat my loyal Golden Retriever. He replies with a perky bark, jumps onto my bed, and gives me an affectionate wake-up lick.

"Ready boy?" I walk over to the stereo, lower the volume to a pleasurable setting, and commence with the rest of my morning routine.

Breakfast. "Frosted Flakes are moooooore than good. They're grrrrrreat!" I chant as the favored cereal is prepared. Milk in a separate cup. Just how I like it. Jasper sees my meal and heads to his eating spot.

We finish breakfast. I head to the bathroom. Mirror, good ol' sport, let me give you the time of day.

Blast it. Still got that overbite. Chose to skip out on the ever-popular brace-phase; however, a whitening took place.

I smile with my pearly whites. I love my smile--not out of conceitedness, but contentment. Then, I jump in the shower. I never was one to prolong the bathing experience, so I'm out in a jiffy.

I take a look at that good ol' sport, again, with my treasured smile. Then I break out the toothbrush. Brush, brush, brush...

I get the hair in the identifying ponytail that is Jannel. That didn't change.

Luckily, some things did. No more contacts or glasses. Thank god--no more goggles. That surgery was worth every penny.

I throw on some garb, kick up my Nikes, and walk onto the balcony. Jasper follows, as is custom.

Leaning on the rail, "It's a new day Jasper, ol' pal ol' buddy. Wonderful isn't it?" I speak these words in a hushed tone. The wonder is overwhelming. It's all too perfect. I inhale a big whiff of the big city air--pigeon crap, exhaust, body odor from down below. I suppress a cough and laugh, amused at the fact that I love it. I absolutely love it all. A few more minutes and then it's back inside. I gather all my things. Not much really. Just my money. I never did get a wallet. My license. Though I don't have a car to use it with. My phone. And all my other little bits of whatevers.

I look around my studio condo. Everythings in order. My extensive shelves of books are all safe and strong. My stereo is off. My sofas are...being sofas. My computer is sleeping. My table is clear. My kitchen is tidy. Everything seems to be in order. So simple. So relaxing. So much space.

Bark!

Oh yes, I mustn't forget my good-bye lick. Jasper trots up to me and does exactly that. I return the love--with a pat of course. "See ya later boy." And I leave.

"Hello Tamar." I see my best friend, who resides right across from me. She smiles that loud smile I know and love. We head to the elevator.

"Top o' the mornin to ya Ms. Banks and Ms. Celis," says George, the amiable front-desk-man. "Have a great day at work."

"You too George. Oh yeah! if Jeff stops by, tell him I'm...ummm...dead or something. Make something up. You know the deal." I say with an apprehensive smile. Another one of those corny admirers. Males are still unappealing. "Please and thanks."

"You got it ma'am." He says as he jots a reminder down on his notepad. Tamar hails a cab. We board it; it's a Tuesday, so we let our bikes rest.

[We head to our mutual workplace. A hospital most likely. We both have jobs in the medical field. Or (in Tamar's VISION) we head to our separate workplaces, which happen to be rivaling hospitals.]

Hours are up. Time to head back home.

After laughing hysterically after a nerdy joke was passed, I say, "So, besides that, anything interesting occur?"

"Yeah. This cute guy had an appointment with me. Turns out he needs heart surgery. So [assuming Tamar is a heart surgeon] once I save his life, I might just ask him out to dinner. He's too sweet Jannel. And--get this--he has a British accent!"

"Nice find Tamar. Wait, did you check his marital status? You know what happened last time..." And the conversation continues until we pull up to some Chinese place. "Man. I'm a-hungerin' for some real food. You can only eat so many TV dinners."

"I feel you Jannel. Lucky Ling Chao's has such a convenient location." The Chinese restaurant is right across our condo. We get off the taxi, pay the driver, and walk inside. We're periodic regulars at Chao's. We go through the memorized menu in our heads and immediately order. We're really hungry.

After we finish our meal, we walk home.

"Hey George," we both exclaim as we pass through the building's squeaky-clean glass doors.

"Hey ladies. How was your day?"

"Splendid," answers Tamar.

"Yup," I agree.

"Ms. Banks, I informed Jeff of your unexpected departure into the better place. He expressed his deepest sympathy to Ms. Tamar and left this gift basket he was supposed to give to the living you."

"Thanks George. You can keep it."

"No, thank you ma'am. I love all the gifts your admirers present. Keep it up and I'll have a basement full of delectable wines." Tamar and I laugh and bid farewell till the next day. We head up to our domiciles and part.

I open the door to a playful Jasper. He gets upright and again gives me that affectionate lick of his. "I missed you too buddy."

It's study time. I browse through my great collection of literature and select a rather large volume on quantum mechanics. I sit on my favored sofa and read until I feel heavy-eyed.

Brush, brush, brush, brush...Untie ponytail. Quick shower. Throw on some sleep garb. "Jasper." I call. He prepares his usual spot on my bed. Once he's done, I shut off the light and close my eyes.

The shutting off of cars, the landing of pigeons, the soft respiration of my loyal Golden Retriever--those big city sounds lead me away into Sleepland.

The big city sleeps.

But that's only one uneventful weekday.

How not to break up

Remember that post "Something Better Than Ice Cream and Truffles"? I hope you do, because just like that how to be a bad best friend thing, this post is going to be a what-not-to-do sort of thing.

Today, we'll talk about the proper way to break up if you want to crush someone's feelings and ruin your current relationship--and any other future ones--with them. I would like you to think that this is all hypothetical because, frankly, it's really embarrassing.

1. Location, location, location. It's all about where and when you break up with your partner. A phone break-up early in the morning or a myspace message when the receiver isn't online to respond are both great examples (they let your partner know that you don't give a dang about him/her enough to do it in person). If a break-up occurs in the morning, the heart-broken one will have the whole rest-of-the-day to contemplate it. If they have something important to do, like a swim-meet or play for instance, then that would be a big additive to the overall effect of the parting.

If you would like to show your partner that you have some guts, then by all means, end it in person. There are tons of ways to make this even worse than a myspace message or a phone call. I'll give you a good example:

A girl's boyfriend seems to have joined their school's cross-country team (which she is on as well) to get the chance to see her over the summer. The team has morning practices from 5:30-7:30 at their school. The girl can't stand to be in the relationship any longer, so she chooses the time after the main exercise and cool down (which takes place in the school's parking lot) to bring it to an end.

This situation is a great exemplification of my point. She chose the very-early morning (where everybody is a bit grumpy and restless), and to top it off, she selected a great location. Who wants to be broken up with in a parking lot? No one! That's the beauty of it. Plus, the presence of their cross-country teammates will make it hard for the breakee to express his feelings (i.e. cry, shout in anger, etc.).

2. Okay, you chose your location, now you got to have the conversation. I'll let the example give you some pointers:

The girl finishes her run and walks over to her boyfriend. She calls him away from a conversation he was having with one of his friends and takes him to a free parking space between two not-so-tall cars. "Celery (pretend name of boy), you remind me of Edward Cullen (perfect vampire boyfriend from Twilight)."

Hey, this girl is pretty good. She begins with a metaphor that nobody would connect with breaking up.

"You're smart, kind of look like him in a Japanese-ish way, and judging by your 5k times, you're pretty fast too..."

Great! She complements him. This assures him that the conversation is not even remotely related to breaking up.

"But the thing is, Celery, I'm more of a Team Jacob kind of girl." Celery looks confused. Carrot (pretend name of girl) continues, "If you don't get it, I'm breaking up with you." Celery continues to look confused. "I'm. Breaking. Up. With. You."

This girl's good enough to be a teacher of the subject! She ABRUPTLY suppresses all his hope in two sentences, and STRESSES the fact that she was breaking up with him--no mercy at all!

"I never really liked liked you. I thought you were cute and nice and all, but everybody just assumed that I, you know, liked you. I felt pressured into saying yes by my friends and stuff. So yeah. Please don't feel bad. I mean, I really really like you as a friend. I think that's why I'm doing this. I like you better as a friend, so I hope we do continue to be friends. "

"Ok...," says Celery, who still has a confused look on his face.

"Yup, well...that's it." Carrot runs into the gym to get a drink of water because she forgot to do so after her run.

Carrot zooms through the conversation and leaves little space for Celery to put the pieces together--to get a better understanding. (She also must have diminished Celery's self-confidence when she said that she never really liked liked him.) As for the ending, way to go Carrot! As suddenly as it starts, it ends. She runs, giving Celery the idea that she has better things to do than answer his questions.

3. What if he does ask questions? What then? Here comes the example to answer those questions:

Practice is over, and Carrot is walking to the locker room. Celery comes through the gym door and says, "Wait Carrot! Can you explain why again?" Carrot sighs/exhales deeply.

The incorporation of a sigh implies that Carrot wants Celery to leave her alone already.

"Celery, it's not you; it's me."

Nice phrase. It's the oldest one in the book.

"I mean, you'd be a perfect boyfriend for any other girl, just not this one. I'm guess I'm kind of weird. Well, I guess that's it again." Carrot walks briskly into the locker room leaving Celery alone in the dust.

Carrot says the words quickly once again and acts as if it's not a big deal. She also leaves Celery with no comfort words at all.

4. You completed the break-up. Now, you have to follow through. Have no communication whatsoever with your ex-partner even though you said that you really wanted to be friends. Soon, it will seem to you like you never went out with him/her; however, your ex-whatever will be scarred for quite a long time.

There you have it. Another great what-not-to-do manual by this one kid.

*Important*

NOT APART OF THE MANUAL

If you really don't like your partner (as in everything he/she does irritates the hell out of you or something to that effect), then you must break up as soon as possible. Leading him/her on will not help your cause. Try to end it as nicely as possible by doing the exact opposite of the above manual.

Sharks' Tale: The Semi Finals

On Wednesday, the Sharks met up with the Eagles at an IIAAG Girls Soccer semifinal match.

I must say--that was one of the scariest and happiest games of my soccer career.

Two of our starters could not make it to the game because their Confirmation was scheduled for that day. Especially with our already-low numbers, that was a blow to our confidence.

We started the game at a "low point", with a "sad attitude" as Coach Canos put it. Obviously, that meant that we played at a low level.

Harvest scored first this time. Heather Thompson knocked one in from a breakaway. It severely damaged our confidence. For me, it increased my anger and desire to score.

We got Harvest back when I received a cross from Asha. I pushed the ball past the goalie and crossed it to Virlynn. She was all alone near the opposite side of the goal. In the nanoseconds watching my cross, I hoped with all my heart that she would touch it in.

She did. We all started screaming, and the crowd went wild. The goal had given us hope. At that moment, I knew we were going to win. We had just needed a little push.

Sadly, Harvest scored again. Our team wasn't looking too good after that. We were falling apart. It was a good thing that it was halftime.

The coaches and captains had their talks. It was all about our attitudes. We were afraid. We were afraid that we wouldn't be playing that 6:30 game on Saturday. (The third place game is at 4:30, and Coach Lunod hates 4:30 games.) Our coaches and captains calmed our fears. We had nothing to be afraid of. We had beaten Harvest before. We knew we were the better team. Everyone knew. We just had to play our game.

We did exactly that.

After a mishap in Harvest's box, I vollied a shot into the top right corner. We got our momentum going. Later, I headed in a beautiful cross from Regina. We kept our momentum going. If you're keepin track, the Sharks were up 3-2 at this point.

After I made that last goal, Coach Canos put me back at defense. We needed speed to match the opposing team's stryker.

The rest of the game was a breeze. The ball rarely came on our half.

Well, that's that game. Now, we are headed to our Championship (notice how I said OUR Championship :). We're ready for ND. I stand by what I said in the first chapter of this tale: I believe in my team. We'll take it all the way.


P.S.-Justine was having a bad day with the referee. He was missing all the fouls that Heather (opposing team's stryker) was making on her. When the ref. finally made a good call, she did somethings stupid. She raised up her hands (like the way someone does when they ask someone else to fight) and said, "Thank you!". The referee had blown his whistle when Justine said, "thank". He only heard her say "you" and had inferred that she said, "F*ck you". Well, that was obviously yellow-card material. She was out for the rest of the game. That was sad, but when you look back at the situation, it's crack-ass funny :D.

Sharks' Tale: One Down, Two to go

Amazing--that is the word that most people might use to describe how the Sharks played tonight. 

Our coach always stressed that it was the playoffs that were the real deal. "A new season begins with the quarter-finals (our first playoff game)," he says.

We learned from the mistakes we made in our regular-season/practice games. Today, we began a new. The Sharks are in a frenzy, and nothing can stop us now. 

We drew blood first when I placed a side shot into the goal. Everything else just came along once we got our momentum going. Red scored from a breakaway. Laura scored a tough shot in the box. Asha received a nice cross from Red and touched it in. 

Our coach felt comfortable with the score, so he switched up the line. The strykers played fullbacks (I was sweeper), and the fullbacks played up top. It was a simply splendid game. 

At last, I was awarded a game ball. (The coaches give one out after each game.) "Finally!" I said. "I love it so much I could make out with it." Coach Lunod just looked at me like I was crazy. I was obviously exaggerating, but I did lick Piglet--my ball--to claim it as my own. 

Coach Canos implanted into our heads that we are now in a one-game season. We only get one chance to win a game. If we fail, then our season is over. That's a lot of pressure on us.

Obviously, this is just the beginning. But like I said before, I have the utmost confidence in the Sharks. We're going all the way to the 'ship. 

Next game, I believe we face the Harvest Christian Academy Eagles. They're a good team, but we'll see who's best on Wednesday. The Sharks just have to come in fearless and finish strong. 

Sharks' Tale: Freshmen Fighting Forward

The average amount of players who attend practice is about eleven. That's just enough to play but not enough to have a substitute. Once again, the team is looking quite down. We used to have an army. Now, we have just enough. I know the odds are against us. That's the point. We're the underdogs, and the underdogs always come out on top. Our coach says that we have to work with the players we have left--forget about the others who fell out because of their grades, behavior, injuries, etc.. For once, I disagreed with him. 

I had been pondering a recent revelation. One of our starters--let's just call her Pistachio--was suspended from school earlier in the year. The reason of this suspension is not important; however, because of the suspension and the suspension alone, her Chamorro teacher--Mr. Y--gave her a "U" for a behavior grade. If a player gets a "U", he/she cannot play any longer. 

At the beginning of the season, she did not have this "U". She had to miss the first three games and deliver a very touching speech. When she played, the team felt complete. Technically, our starting line was complete. Pistachio, the right winger, was  a great player. 

Once Mr. Y found out about the suspension, he had to give her the "U". I guess it was one of his "rules". Ever since then, I've seen Pistachio cry one too many times. When she cried, I usually cried. Soon after, the whole team started falling apart. That brings us to where we are now. 

I believe that if I get Pistachio back and complete our starting line, I will give our team hope--hope for a championship. Like I said before, I know we can do it. I just need to get the others to believe too. They say they do, but honestly, I can see in their eyes that they don't. Getting Pistachio back would be like killing two birds with one stone. 

I devised a plan. Actually, I devised half a plan. The other freshmen on the team helped me come up with  another quarter of the plan. The last 25% of the plan will be made up as I go and put into action the other 75% of the plan. haha. That was kind of redundant and confusing. 

Anyways, our first playoff game is on Monday. I hope that I can reach Mr. Y by tomorrow, so we'll be complete by next week...

Oh yeah. Today (during the time between finishing stretching and starting the first drill), Red found a grasshopper. She gave it to me. I saw Regina wearing a windbreaker, so I put the grasshopper down through the neck hole. Then, she turned around and looked at Red and me. We were both smiling. Suddenly, (I guess she finally felt the grasshopper) she started screaming really loud. Regina has a pretty loud voice to start with, and I had forgotten how badly she hated bugs. The grasshopper somehow got out, but she kept on screaming and throwing that tantrum. She even started tearing. By that time, Red and I had moved to a safe distance away for fear of loss of life. Regina got mad at me. I apologized, though, and she forgave me. I think. All in all, that was a freaken scary situation. That's the last time I do that....Na, I take that back.

That's it for this chapter in Sharks' Tale. Wish me luck with Pistachio and Mr. Y.

Sharks' Tale: Notre Dame? More Like Notre Lame (:

On Saturday, the Simon Sanchez Lady Sharks met up against the Notre Dame Royals in an IIAAG (or whatever) Girls Soccer League game. We, the Sharks, lost 3-0.

It was an okay game. Truthfully, the Royals weren't what I expected. They weren't gods at the sport like I had thought. We could have beaten them.

Before the game, our coach had reminded us that this was just a practice game--not a championship match. They said that the game would be exactly what we thought it would be. If we thought it would be like any other game, then it would be. If we thought it would be hell, then it would be. Obviously, we chose to go with the latter.

Despite our coach's advice, we freaked out at the beginning. Well, I was really scared before the game started. When I saw Notre Dame play, I wasn't that impressed. We could have won. I just know it, but we decided to let our emotions get the better of us.

Surprisingly, I was the most optimistic. It was like everyone was about to cry or something. I couldn't stand it. It was so...different. I never want to see my team like that again. That's why I am making a vow to crush ND at that championship game. I know we can beat them. We held them off from scoring another goal during the whole second half.

I believe in us.

I will be writing blogs about my team's journey to the 'ship and through the 'ship. Stay tuned for more additions to Sharks' Tale.