Dust Off the Cobwebs

The cursed months of winter are behind us. Yes, I am as happy about it as you should be. The snow is either gone or taking its last gasping breath until its unfortunate return next year. Better still, the ground is drying up. If you've ever golfed after a rain, then you can appreciate just how difficult play can become when the ground is busily soaking up 3 ft of melted snow. This is all the more exaggerated at a course like Acorn, which has a notable lack of grass in many areas, leaving only large areas of pure mud. All this has gone the way of the buffalo.

This has given us the chance to have the first decent rounds of the season. While in Sioux City, MRKing and I pounded out a round at Sertoma in about the craziest wind we've had there. We didn't mind the wind (too much); we were just happy to get out and throw again. A couple days later, Harcum and I got the chance to head to North's football field and do a little driving to get the arm back up to speed. And finally, yesterday, URBWes and I took a trip to Acorn. A bit windy, some relocated pin placements (watch out for hole 9!) and some really crap-tastic throwing, but it was just nice to get out and log 18.

Its good to be back, ya'll. We need a lot of work before the Acorn Open, but all this in time.


The mountain called Monkey has spoken

~Diggs


Song of the Week: "Snow is Gone" by Josh Ritter

Already/Not Yet Disc Golf Tensions

So the temperature outside has become very nice. This, in my mind, can only mean one thing: Disc Golf! However, we just finished receiving an abundance of snow and it will take a while to melt. It reminds me of the biblical tension of Already/Not yet. We already see some of the benefits of optimal Disc Golf weather: decent temps and sunshine, but we still can't play because the ground is covered in lots of snow. So we continue to groan inwardly, awaiting the glorious day when we can begin the season.

That's it,
URBWes

And I Shall Name Her...

A couple of months ago, a deer helped me decide to purchase a new car. I did. I now have a '01 Chevy Impala. I like it. I think I'll keep it for awhile. Now that I have decided this, a long-standing tradition must be satisfied. I have, with the cars that have been under my care, given them names. Now, only having gone around the sun but twenty-two times, one may not think this an oft utilized tradition. But let us examine the list thus far:

• Oldsmobile (its hard to determine with any certainty what exactly the was, but we DO know it was an Oldsmobile) -- affectionately known as Poor White Trash because, well, homeless people have nicer automobiles. I cannot even begin to describe the thing, but I will say that the transmission went out on her within 2 weeks of being given away (that's right, a car given away).
• the Bonneville (a.k.a. Bonny) was named for obvious reasons. And I also like to be as anthropomorphic as possible when naming my vehicles.
• the '86? Mustang doesn't count because I drove it for a week at a time when I couldn't drive manuals (giving morning rush hour a new and exciting flavor). However, the provisional name of "Tang" was given by a Mr. Beau Durham... but the name sucked and was just as temporary as the car was for me.
• '91 Buick Century -- it was grey (sometimes) and was as mechanically sound as the transistor radio I made in 3rd grade. Its name was "Leprosy" because things were always falling off of it (e.g. mufflers) and it spent more time out of commission than operational.
• '99 Grand Am -- the victim of a Venison Gang drive by, this car was not around long enough to officially be christened during its lifetime, however, post-mortem, we know it only as the "Jeff Buckley Memorial" car because just like the talented singer-songwriter, it died way before its time. We shall miss you.

And now, we shall reveal the name of the most recent addition to my automotive family...

I present to you... "Paula"

If you see her, say "hi". But if you call to her, call her by name.

"How fine ya're ta me!"

~Diggs

Song of the Week: "Rocks" by Ben Jelen

Nerve Damage

Canada is cold. I'm sure this isn't really news to most of you. But I find it difficult to stress cold in such a way as to make you, the audience, actually grasp what I mean by it. Think about this... freezers (a machine built for purely cold purposes) do not get as cold as Canada. This was my weekend.

Granted, I was not in Canada the entire trip, but I might as well have been. Someone not cartographically inclined would not know the difference. We (by "we" I mean Will, my former roommate and some other fellows) headed northward in search of ice. Not the cubed version perfect for soft drinks, but the kind that tends to form on rock faces. Indeed, we sought ice to ascend upon. This was not my first foray into such things (cf. my facebook picture); I had climbed frozen water last year. Yet that experience paled in comparison to the ice we were after.

Our group had connections at a local bed and breakfast who allowed us to stay free of charge. Amazing! Anyways, unless one has previously prepared for winter hikes or ice climbing, one would have difficulty understanding the planning process that goes into it. Its a bit more intricate than you might expect. Alot of safety and cold weather considerations involved. This was simplified by the fact that every other member of the party worked at climbing retailers and had their own equipment for these excursions. I did not have these things, but fortunately their employers have very liberal borrowing policies for employees (perhaps you will have noted that I was the novice of the group). They furnished me with my own pack, appropriate clothing, a helmet, a harness, climbing boots, cramp ons (the spikey things on the feet of ice climbers) and a pair of ice axes.

But apparently I am simply not meant for the cold because every minute of it, well, I was bloody cold! Yet, because my companions had bought that which worked specifically for them, they were not cold. Oh well, I lived through it.

I'm not a very experienced climber (though I have mounted my fair share of trees in my day) and ice is a hard medium to start with. But from what I was told, my form looked fairly solid. I guess that's comforting. Oh, except for the time my foot grips failed and I fell 7ft, bashing my knee into the wall of ice. Perhaps my form has room for improvement.

I'd like to describe the weekend in a way that does it justice, but such things are beyond the grasp of my prose. I cannot describe how the ascent feels or the incredible view from above the trees or the feeling of being only an inch from death (literally at times as not all our ascents involved ropes).

And I definately cannot describe how bleeding cold it is!

Hopefully, I can get some of the pictures that were taken and post them. Until then, keep your feet on the ground and keep reaching for the stars.


"We go riding on the abolition grain train"

~Diggs


Song of the Week: "Winter in the Hamptons" by Josh Rouse

Interim So Far

Here's a quicky just to update ya'll on how my J-term's gone thus far...

I'm in a freshman level business class with no tests or papers
I've only had to do one day of homework
I scored a 3 out of 10 on a quiz and 5 out of 10 on another and I'm still above 100%
I've picked up extra hours at work
Last weekend I spent in Des Moines chillin' at Ben and Bry's (woot!)
This weekend I'll be ice climbing in Canada pretty much for free (woot woot!)

I'm doing well for myself. Oh, and since I'll be in Canada, my cell will be outside of range and since I don't have voicemail set up, don't bother calling. I'll be back on Monday. Later daters!


"...they went on to say that the Pearly Gate has some eloquent graffiti..."

~Diggs


Song of the Week: "Simple Life" by The Weepies

Merry Christmas

Well, we had another successful birthing of the Messiah this liturgical calandar year. Oh, and I think we also helped with boosting the GNP to acceptable levels.

Good game, peoples... good game.

This Christmas has reminded me that I like Jesus; I don't like made-for-tv Christmas movies; and that I'm not terribly attached to a "white Christmas". My Jesus can be born in any kind of weather he wants.

I hope that you've been blessed in some way and I hope to see you all soon (for disc golf).


Merry Christmas,
Diggs

Apathy... Boardline Antipathy

I apologize for not being as consistent as I would have liked in "keepin' the train a-rollin'". I had no intentions of delaying the posts. Understand it was not for lack of material. I could have told you about a number of things I have experienced recently, such as dancing with 50 women, revisiting my childhood, new experiences with the "curb-stomp", or seeing a woman die/almost die in front of me (jury's still out on that one). But I will cover none of that today. Perhaps I will touch on them at a later time.

But this post is dedicated to my fairly unique finals week. We had our last days of classes last week; we had our first days of finals last week. See, I go to a school intent on being free from the typical. It is much like one of those neo-punks. You know the ones. They dress the part but you know don't live the lifestyle because they're from rural Iowa. I believe the catchy middle school title for them was "posers". Yes, my school is a poser. They thought it would be a gas to not have the whole of finals week during the same week as every single other school in the country. No no, we had three days of classes last week, a study day (I don't know how you relate "great idea" sarcastically in prose, but if I did, this is where I'd put it), and our first finals day last Friday. Following the ensuing weekend, we now have the balance of the finals week.

I think this denotes a lack of consideration on the topic. Professors around these parts tend to set due dates on major projects for the week before finals (I believe some schools have what is called a "dead week"). Ok, I'm tired of spelling this out... its not the greatest of ideas to have the week with major papers due and the week with final tests scheduled be the same week. Many I have spoken with have truly unfortunate circumstances revolving around difficulties with this. Worth a try; not worth repeating.

Now this is where I come in...

I am sure you are all aware of the contrived contition known as senioritis. I do not have this. I will not blame who I am on some third party. Nor am I simply lazy. I have been lazy in the past. I am familiar with laziness. In fact, I own a shirt that claims that I am among a group who have made laziness an art form.

No, what I am is truly apathetic. My condition is not one of a lack of motivation but lack of concern. I still have gotten my homework done. I have actually made some up. My deadlines are made. But my mind is in a place right now that does not give any credence to the grading process. I do not take my exams for a grade; I take them only because they fill up my day.

I have yet to study for a finals exam. And if I can give a hint to the future, its not looking like this pattern will be changing anytime soon. For those of you BTS inclined, this has gone so far as to precipitate me not preparing for a Dr. Long test. Most everyone reading this will not understand the implications, but just know that the ones that do get it are either mouth-open agast or doing that nervous laughing thing when they are just glad that its not them.

Nope. I have returned to high school as far as academic exercise preparation is concerned. I made a game out of my high school classes. I am doing the same out of my college classes. And honestly, I don't think it'll have to much of a negative impact on my GPA. I may have actually raised my grade by not studying.

I care about the material and the actual retention of it. I do. I enjoy the learning of it all. But something set me on my current path. I just remember one girl, in particular, asking a number of times this semester if "blah blah" was going to be on the test. I was a bit set back by the question. Seems to me that if she was at all interested in the subject, she would want to learn it regardless. Yet her question was motivated by the underlying expectation of a good grade above all else. I made the (perhaps unfair) conclusion that she really didn't want to learn the "stuff" of her major. Maybe acceptable for a business major, but when you are a Christian in a Bible-oriented major, I got beef.

So, as I tend to do, I go to the other side. I decided to gleam from the semester all that I wanted to learn in my classes with wanton disregard for my grades. I will learn what I will and whatever I retain will be what will be the determining factor on my final tests. Strangely liberating.

I just remember something a professor said once, and now I'm paraphrasing: "Education is the one thing in which we want the least for our money." For shame.


Keep your feet on the ground and keep reaching for the stars,
~Diggs


Song of the Week: "Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays", NSync (deal with it)

Chalk One Up for Late-November Warm Fronts

You know, sometimes the weather in Iowa smiles on disc golfers, even though most of the time she prefers to kick them in the face and spit on them. Here are some pics from a late November rendezvous of the SCDGA. Fun was had by all, and we got a couple good rounds in on the course cursed by many but recently improved by a local saint commited to the sport. Hope you enjoy the pics...

"There never was much hope...just a fool's hope."

mjbombadil

A Harsh Winter is Upon Us...Bring on the Broomball

This is the BroomSticks from the 2006 Season.


Upon coming to this great North Star State in the late part of 2004, I came upon a very unusual sport known to Minnesotans as Broomball. To an outsider this sport looks silly and almost impossible to play. And to their suprise, its not difficult to play. It's difficult to run or stop. The game of broomball is played almost the same way that traditional ice hockey is played. You play in a ice rink of some sort with two goals just like hockey. The only difference is that you dont use ice skates, hockey sticks or a puck.
What I was getting at in my brief explanation of what broomball is for those bloggers who don't have the privilage of seeing a live game. I was able to step out on the ice a little less than a week ago. I was invited by my roommates to play a pick-up game at a friends house. He's from a rich Minnesota family and happens to live on a lake. The ice was 6 inches thick. It was weird playing on it because you could actually see through the ice to see how deep it was. Usually when we play there is a layer of snow over the ice and then ice over that. So an illusion was upon us. However, I did score 2 goals and was able to begin to get my bearings on the ice. Which is good because I'm playing on two teams this Interium. I can hardly wait. It will be a new experience for me this year because most of my former team mates will be overseas this interium and therefore resulted in my finding another team to allow myself to play for them. I've assured my new teams that I am good and that i can run on ice and play good defense. Hopefully, all will work out and the broomball season will be a success. To all you out there that play. Good Luck this season.

Private Park Patrons - 1; Municiple Grounds Keepers - 0

So, the return home for Thanksgiving was not without its difficulties. Such subjects have been hinted at already. But despite transportation issues, we were still able to get in a few good rounds at Sertoma. "We" being Pappy, Mike, Don and myself. I had never played with Don before, at least never with any sort of competancy. It was enjoyable to say the least. It had been some time since I had last played, but once I got rid of the rust, the experience proved to be fairly satisfying... for all.

Now, if you stop by the Cold Lamp very often, you will recall an article Mike wrote concerning the new face of Sertoma. Well, I am here to tell you that the back three look much better than before. After all, the place was only mowed once or twice the entire summer. I never used a spotter as liberally as I did back there. But now, the area is very trim and the trees are a lovely addition. My only peave is the removal of the brush at the end of the out-cropping on hole 7, but I'll get over it.

I was very proud (if not consternated that they did it at the end of good weather) of the parks department for doing their prescribed duties for the upkeep of the park. Their track record has always been a bit spotty. But word-round-the-lamp has it that the new hair cut is not the result of the parks department. Instead, a private citizen took it upon himself to do the necessary maintainence of the grounds.

I am a bit put out by the entire situation. I understand the difficulty involved in mowing that area, but let us look at it in light of a few other tidbits of information, shall we?:

• You are already in the area. I know for a fact that the bottom of the hill receives regular visits in order to keep the playground area open to all. If this is your primary focal point, that's fine, but take a look up the hill occassionally.
• You are already mowing the course. Yes, holes 1 & 2 are taken care of by the playground area. But by some wacky happen-stance, you find little difficulty in maintaining hole 3 and its mountainous ascent with little difficulty. Nay, you find little difficulty in maintaining everything up to and including hole 6.
• You are already mowing the back part. Don't think I don't see the meager offerings you give us in the back; we appreciate them. But forgive us if we don't get overjoyed at the new 3 ft wide stripe down the middle of the fairway. Don't get me wrong, I don't even want the whole thing mowed. A fairway is a fairway for a reason. But one can hardly refer to what you provide as anything remotely effective.
• Oh, and did I mention... its your job! I know how enticing the pull to ignore your responsibilities is, however, as your job description declares, the responsibility for park upkeep is in your hands. Now please use those hands to do your job and maintain the parks.

I find it truly unfortunate that a private citizen was upset enough with their performance as to do the job of a government agency. For shame.

At any rate, let's raise up our glasses and give a Cold Lampin' salute to our unknown mower buddy. Cheers!

"I blame it on the rain"

~Diggs

Song of the Week: "One and Only" by Teitur