Impending Damage

You wonder if one will ever learn. I certainly thought I would eventually learn to see injuries coming and simply refrain from jumping in the pool or lifting weights.. but seeing as I've just been marching on for like what, 6 years now? Impending damage or not, I think I officially am blind to them. I just assume that my body can handle everything I trow at it. I have found though that my body seems to have a little mind of it's own (I wonder where it is physically oriented.. like in my stomach or something or behing me kneecap?) Which ever way, it simply cripples me whenever it thinks I'm not taking enough care of myself. So when It hink, hmm swimming is making me dizzy the next thing I know I'm done swimming because my shoulder stops functioning, and when I find some other activity to do anyway (my shoulder is not enough to hold me back) then I mess up my back. So now I'm sitting up straight behind my computer, pretty much similar to the way I watched everyone lift weights this afternoon and very opposite to my final attempt at practice this morning, thinking the termination of gravity in the water and warming up somewhat would make me capable of movement.

BOO! but then I could see the positive side of it.. I get to postpone cleaning my room again, and just get to lie on the floor doing art, preferably doing art, propped up on my elbows (this is the exercise I'm supposed to do for about 1-5 minutes 5x a day) so if I do well, maybe I can get some art done!

On an entirely different note, today I saw someone struggle with insecurities of whom I'd never seen it before. I mean, I know everyone has some, but some people just seem oblivious to them. Sometimes you don't notice the struggle untill you hit a subject close to home. The subject in this case was a compliment. Which ever way, I always want to heal the bloody world and some things you simply cannot fix, which really bugs me. One way or a nother though...

Okay and finally.. I found that I can doodle in between practices and that people will leave me at peace most of the time. So another image rolled out.

Music: Natalie Imbruglia, That Day

Quote: "In this business you either sink or swim or you don't." -David Smith

Holy-Days

Yeah you know, Holy Days! The ones that no one can take from you, you can just be you, that are unforced, creatively or otherwise inspiring and generally fun!

It started of well really, I should say Friday... We had had weights the day before and an hour of swimming which had pretty much left eveyone broken. So now we had a two hour wateroplo practice and two hours of weights afterwards. The waterpolo well, is what I still am in this for so was managable (who am I kidding) and then our weights would consist of a wrestling practice. This was my (and most peoples) massive bear on the road and guess what?! It turned out to be a very huggable bear! It was very fun and very tiring, but it wasn't over the top and I had lots of fun trying all these things with Gillian (the oldest player on our team who has a way of making eveyone and eveything around her at ease and who enjoyed this just as much as I did! -good laughs!) So that was hreat! That night I went to bed with the joke: If you hear someone falling out of bed tomorrow it will be me.

Jinxed myself! Luckily nobody heard but man were my muscles sore! Then we were off to Hanna and Jaco (you know, Hanna, my big Sis!) I hadn't seen them since Christmas in Hawai'i! It makes it extra special to see people if you don't see them all that often, even if you don't get to hang out a lot because there are so many people. They had organised one of their "geniet" weekends, translated roughly into an "enjoy yourself weekend" to celebrate their 7th anniversary and their new house, and it reminded me how much I enjoy talking to strangers! The world is so full of interesting people it makes you wonder how many you miss by assuming they are not interesting or simply not taking time for them! (Which brings me back to my earlier decision that only those people that walk down the street that you never met or talked to before seem normal) So after being all life and art inspired I broke through my artist block and did two tiny drawings for my two new children friends Thalia and Joppe, and ended up practicing circus acts in the huge back garden. I finally got to stand on my head (something which I wanted to do ever since we put down gym mats for the wrestling thingy) and for those of you who know what I've been up to in Hawaii.. well Thalia inpired me all back into it. We had so much fun trying all these things and she entirley trusted me to hold her and did whatever she fancied pretty much spending most her time obove my head. I remeber what it feels like being juggled around on someones legs and arms and it was pretty darn amazing! So if anyone ever feels held back, please go stand on your head or go balance on a rock, throw some fire or, I dunno, do something that makes you feel free because it is revitalising!

What I'm doing today? that depends if I can see past the mess, but if I can I might just go draw something!
Edit: that would be the something: Shizophrenia, a sketch inspired to be persued by the theme of camouflage. Concept art... smeared on some paint without really caring where it ended up.. feels good occasionally, not sure if I want to keep it this way or if it needs revising.. it is still bothering me, maybe I'll just leave it and move on.

Music: Matt costa, Astair
Quote:"When people are free to do as they please, they usually imitate each other." -Eric Hoffer

FINA vs LEN

Well sure anyone into sports knows that the FINA is the International body that represents all the water sports and the LEN is the one that represents Europe.
What was I doing in Russia apart from kicking their asses?? Right, playing the preliminary rounds for the world league which actually went really well!
so where do the FINA and the LEN come in? well let me tell you:
We played a really good tournament, beat all the big European countries except for Spain. Problem was that Greece beat everyone except us and Spain beat everyone except Greece. Greece had a better goal difference in the wins so they came first, applying the LEN rules we would have come second by beating Greece, but as this is an international tournament we came second as Greece was taken out fo the race and they only looked at head to head scores between Spain and us. Now that was a bummer!
I did get top play a bunch and it was quite fun and went quite well but the end result of such a tournament really puts that in perspective for you.

About other things in life: I just picked up a guitar.. kinda of forgot that those things hurt your fingers if you don't keep up playing!!!
Also still in the process of cleaning my room but I really just want a new one to redoecorate.. so back to searching for one tonight!
Art... I wonder if it really was me who used to paint, but paint needs water and I feel like a dry well, or maybe the problem is that chlorine doesnlt mix with paint? Whatever... que sera sera.

Did get some reading done in Russia. Two rather disturbing books in a way: Such a Pretty Girl by Laura wiess, about a girls who got abused by her dad who gets out of prison early because of good behaviour but with bad intentions, and Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini about a boy growing up in Kabul, Afghanistan, the intercultural relationships, honour, love, justice and really I hope you are all familiar with this book because it is a definite must read. It drags you through all the absurdities of life and is brutally honoust about them. Hmmmm 7 more books lined up!

Music: the same cd they always play on the bus in Russia... LOL
Quote: "If winning isn't everything, why do they keep score?" -Vince Lombardi

Painting and Cooking

I wonder if cooking and painting are similar.
If so, this painting is not going to taste very well!

Old Glove

Back to practice... really there is little difference except that the team has grown up and I guess so have I. And of course there are the typical things that really never change in a womans waterpolo team. Most notable thing is that two of the girls, well you know.. they are 35 now haha, but they became mothers recently. these two are pretty much people that I suspected least to see as mums last I saw them on the National team. One has quit and is indeed having an interesting experience being a mum. the other one ran off to Italy, found a man, or well I should say he found her, she left us for a year and now has a little kid. It hilarious to have seen them single, on the man hunt, talking dirty in the dressing room complaining about muscle aches not from doing weights, and now exchanging comments on diapers and rashes and cooing over each others kids!
Then there is the typical "life is against me, I'm special and cannot do what the rest does, and it really all sucks and kills me kinda person.. still the same... there is a bunch of very comitted people, those that get injured, take two years to recover and still go head forst into the sport and live it with passion, the odd ones dangling at the bottom of the team who sometimes get to go, usually expecting it or not expecting it and getting thrown through the emotional rollercoaster, there are those that think they are way better then they are, those that never believe they will be great (yet they are playing on their national team) and those that lead the team without really knowing it. Of course there is the bitching but it has gooten a lot less... Like I said we grew up a bit. Typical how people always think they're grown up but then find there is a lot more growing up to be done!
Finally I must say it is really good to be back on this team it is really nice to have 15 people shooting at you that all make you work and that can all challenge you in different ways. I guess you can never compare any clubteam to a national team, but I think I finally understand that whan some people quit they quit the sport alltogether.. it just feels so awesome to play at this level again, and well, I must admit, it feels sore too!
Right now I'm sitting outside, behind a cabin in the woods where the pool is. I'm sure I'll be complaining of lack of time for art again soon, but for now I'm looking forward to practice and to going to Russia...

Music: Astair, Matt Costa
Quote: "Normal- those people that you see walking down the street and donlt know."