Three Weekends of Ultimate

Life after the school year has been another whirlwind of ultimate, finishing up my dissertation proposal, and not relaxing quite yet even though it’s technically summertime. But the ultimate has made it all worthwhile.

Solstice – 6/22 – 6/23

This was my second time being the volunteer coordinator for Summer Solstice, Eugene’s annual ultimate tournament. Fun fact: Summer Solstice is the third oldest ultimate tournament in the nation, with one being Cal States (started a couple months before Solstice) and the other being a tournament near where ultimate was invented in New Jersey. There was a time when over 50 teams would show up for the tournament, but these days it is closer to 20 – 25 open and women’s teams. This year we hosted Master’s regionals, bumping up our tournament number of teams to 32. We had two different lined field sites and a party with local beer and catering following Saturday’s games.  

Being the volunteer coordinator consisted of sending emails and Facebook pleas of trying to ensure volunteer participation, and then direct communication with volunteers when they’ve signed up to figure out their availability and interests. It requires more work closer to the actually tournament weekend. I (stupidly?) scheduled my dissertation proposal meeting for the Monday following the tournament (6/24). Fortunately, this forced me to get all of my work done in advance of the proposal meeting. However, it meant that balancing finals, scheduling, and ensuring that the tournament was running smoothly conflicted with my ability to concentrate directly and fully on the proposal. Even when school got out for the summer, I was still feeling stressed and running around from place to place, balancing the demands of school as well as ultimate. Yet both sets of demands ended up great: I passed the dissertation proposal and received mostly positive feedback regarding the volunteers for the tournament.

We were also able to witness some great ultimate. On the Women’s side, two of the best female club teams, Riot and Fury, met up in the Finals, with Riot taking home the victory. Additionally, we hosted the women’s U-23 teams from the US and Canada, and we featured them as our showcase matchup. On the men’s side, we also hosted the U-23 Canada team, and they ended up taking the tournament. It was as smooth of a tournament as one could hope for—there are so many more details that go into a tournament that I had ever imagined, and it reinforces my appreciation of TDs and volunteers that help ensure that each tournament is a success.

Logjam – 6/29 – 6/30

I specifically chose not to play at Solstice the weekend before, knowing that I still had an opportunity the next weekend to play up near Portland for Logjam. There were 16 teams that met up for Logjam in the sleepy town near Estacada on what happened to be the hottest weekend of the year (so far), with temperatures nearing the high 80’s and low 90’s. (I know I can’t complain to you East Coast folk, specifically because there was little to no humidity… it still kinda sucked, though). Eugene players put together a pickup team called Midnight Whisky for our bid, and most of the members of the team I have played with or against with regularity in City League. This was one of our first times coming all together to play in a tournament, which was a) tough because we needed to figure out each others’ tendencies but b) fun because we generally are facing off against each other. There were two tough parts about our games on Saturday: we were placed in a “power pool” unknowingly and our ladies that we had lined up were having to bow out for injury or work-related reasons. We were scrambling Friday night to make sure we were going to have the minimum three ladies for our second game based on how people were coming and going. Our ladies played with one sub for the first game, savage for the second game, and with two subs for our third and fourth games.

We had a fun match for our first game that we lost 13 – 10, but our next two games were just absolute laughers. We played Engine 45, the best mixed team in Oregon, for our second game, and got one point (with our ladies playing savage). We played Jazz Picnic, a mixed pickup team from Seattle, and got blown out again (and scored two points). With that record, combined with the heat, could have easily led to our team being frustrated and dispirited. But we rallied, played our crossover game against the winner of a non-power pool, beat them, and improbably sent ourselves to the winner’s bracket despite a 1 – 3 record on the day. Our team bound together, played positively, and with a lot of spirit—it was terrific to watch and unfold.

Logjam is a camping tournament, so everyone was directed to campsites at a local State Park that was just down the road. There was catered Southern food, a Suzie Sticks tournament, Oregon beer on tap, and dancing once the sun went down (let the record show that my friends and I were dancing before anybody else was). We went back to our campsite en masse, chatted and drank our whisky at midnight, and hit the hay for the next morning.

Our second day included more reinforcements (especially for the ladies) and more tough matchups since we were placed in the winner’s bracket. We faced the winner of the other power pool and predictably lost again. (Our captain was never informed of how the tourney was going to be set up, but based on his reactions, he wanted us to have played easier teams… it worked out all the same). We played another Seattle mixed team in the chumpionship bracket, winning 10 – 9 after having been up 9 – 4. We were hampered by the heat, a small lineup, and somehow we still pulled it out on a 35 yard hammer to the end zone. Worth it. We didn’t play our last game because the other team was exhausted and also happened to be the volunteers running the tournament. We gave them some whisky as a token of our appreciation.

There are weekends with teams that are magical, and the weekend with Midnight Whisky fit this category. Our ladies, despite being down in numbers, never complained about playing savage, everyone enjoyed each others’ company, we played hard, well (at times), and pulled out key victories. Each of our tournament newbies came down with at least a goal, and there was a general sense of collectiveness. It felt like we scored half of our goals on hammers. We heckled the shit out of other teams when we were on our byes. I loved how it came together organically, and it was symbolized by our after tournament dinner. We gathered at a brewery, fit all 12 or so of us around a square table, and reveled on our improbable 5^th place finish while going 2 – 4.

Potlatch – 7/5 – 7/7

This might be the holy grail of party tournaments for ultimate. There has only been one other tournament that has any basis for a comparison to Potlatch, and that was Clambake senior year at Colby. Clambake featured great competition, a lobster bake, multiple bands playing, and basically every type of alcohol that you could want. Everyone was friendly and upbeat and definitely there to have a good time. And it also happened in a barn outside of Portland. Yet it happened for just one night, a Saturday night.

Potlatch was this, plus a bit more, times three. I was fortunate enough to be asked to be on the Eugene pickup team (featuring some, but not all, of the players I played with the previous week… for this tournament, some of our best players came out to play). The bid involved describing how you help develop ultimate within your community but also how you plan on being spirited. The theme that our captains developed for this year’s Potlatch was “Animal Cocktail Party,” meaning that we were dressed up as animals in formal wear. Pretty ridiculous, right? That was only the beginning.

Potlatch takes place at the Sixty Acre Fields in Redmond, Washington, around the Fourth of July weekend. People take off from work to converge and play in the tournament… from all over the world. All of the fields are located in one spot, and there are about 30-something lined fields. Along the perimeter of the fields, teams set up there tents, canopies, and whatever else they want to help their parties. Think makeshift tented dancehalls, huge boomboxes pumping out dance music, lighting, tables for drinking games. There was a team called the “Desert Lorax” that created light-up trees you would see in the Lorax that also apparently spouted off ambrosia (the nectar of the gods). There was even a spaceship and a lifeguard chair that were built over the course of the weekend. It’s a sight to behold that no amount of hype can prepare you for as you step onto the fields for the first time. We had tremendous weather, terrific company, and a three day tournament. Each night was a party that lasted however long you wanted it to (I hit 2 o’clock in the morning on two nights, 1 o’clock on another, while other friends routinely stayed up later than me). Each night featured little sleep. And each day involved day drinking (our team developed a box-wine drill involving slapping the bag after making your appropriate cut), playing great competition (our team played three international teams: the U-23 mixed Team Canada team, a team featuring Vancouver pickup players that organized Flowerbowl, and a club team from Stockholm, Sweden that called themselves the Stockholm Syndromes), and finishing each match with more drinks, games, and gift giving. As Animal Cocktail Partyers, we had animal-themed games and passed out decorated wine glasses with sequins and animal patterns.

Even with that description of what Potlatch is like, I can’t really express what happened, outside of just how much sheer ridiculousness there was. Animal Cocktail Party, despite losing some close tough games, were definitely there to “win the party.” We played spirited, we would try to rope teams into our shenanigans (we got the aforementioned Vancouver and Sweden teams to do our box-wine drill), we chanted (a go-to cheer was “sex and food and sex and food…”), we communicated through whale calls (think Finding Nemo), and instead of forcing “home” we would force “herd.” I introduced the concept of flipping people instead of discs and we may have flipped a banana once too instead of two discs…

At this point, I have two things I can say on the subject: this is definitely a tournament that you should attend if you ever get the opportunity. As in, you should drop everything and make it out to the Northwest if whatever ultimate group you are affiliated with should earn a bid. And it’s reasonable, too, as traveling can occur around the 4^th of July weekend. Make it happen.

The second thing that I experienced was a homesickness for Colby ultimate. There were a number of teams that were reunion/alumni teams there this weekend: Oregon, Pacific Lutheran, Colorado College, etc. I was definitely getting hit in the nostalgia spot when my friend joined her Pacific Lutheran friends to do their pre-game or post-game dances (there team’s name was Parkland Quality Beats and they lived up to that name by hosting dance parties and playing solid music). So a Colby College reunion team should happen at a large tournament (i.e., not the Colby tournament that doesn’t really happen with consistency) for the sake of all of us coming together, reliving some past glory, and enjoying playing some ultimate with each other. I think we’d win the party, too. 

That Puppy Exhaustion

I spent the last weekend being the volunteer coordinator at an ultimate tournament last weekend. I was very much a jack-of-all-trades, organizing my army of volunteers with prescribed roles, helping to paint field lines, setting up and taking down Frisbee central and Spin Ultimate tents, renting a U-Haul van to transport scaffolding, tables, and kegs, and filling in for those that were backing out at the last minute.

I also happened to volunteer to dogsit for a friend who was going out of town for his wife’s graduation up in Portland. I was charged with taking care of a 6-month-old pup named Toby, a recently adopted mutt (the guess is that is part Golden, part Aussie Shepard). Toby was my shadow for the entire weekend, hopping into the car with me as I moved back and forth from our Open and Women’s sites.

One of my favorite interactions came with Toby and a local, who was accompanied by his 4-month-old border collie pup. The border collie was named Bodhi (short for Bodhisattva, the local mentioned), and his papa was using a clicker and treats as reinforcement for positive behaviors. The local made it a point to seek out Toby, who was quite clearly a young pup at heart though his dog-body had aged to 6 months, and wanted them to play together. The idea was that young Bodhi could play with Toby, and the local would use the clicker/treat combination to reinforce Bodhi for interacting positively with Toby.

It was quite a sight seeing Bodhi, Toby, and later, a 1-year-old pup, playing together, running, juking, tackling, and nipping. The local was ecstatic for the interactions happening between the pups, using the clicker frequently and holding/feeding treats to Bodhi. The local said that regardless of how much effort one takes to playing with your dog, taking him out for walks, learning to play fetch, etc., that there is nothing quite like the energy spent between young dogs interacting successfully.

And I’m happy to say that I’ve got that human form of puppy exhaustion.

School has been out for about a week and a half. It was a trying and difficult year; many of doctoral students in the program say that second year is by far the most difficult year. I think it is ‘cause we’re balancing so many demands: personally, I had classes, research, practicum, and my position as a research assistant on a separate grant. Many times this year I felt stretched thin, feeling fortunate to not snap or suffer some sort of existential crisis or nervous breakdown. And I’m grateful that the year is over.

But with the end of the school year, things did not slow down.

I spent my first two days of break working at my research assistant position and painting fields for the ultimate tournament. I spent the previous weekend doing the volunteering thing, waking up at 6:30 and finishing the day around 11 or later. The next week focused on work, friends, some overdue phone calls, rocking trivia, enjoying sunshine, playing sports, going outdoor rock climbing for the first time, and hanging out with my future roommates. In short, it felt like each day was full of people and activities, and as a result of this, I’m feeling puppy exhausted.

And although I’m spending this Sunday mostly solitary (even then, I had breakfast with the cohort and watched around 5 hours of soccer), I’m grateful for all the activities and the time to recuperate. I’m not sure that the intensity and frequency of the interactions I had over the past week will sustain for the rest of the summer (late nights and alcohol, I forgot to mention, were also involved), but it’s a happier contrast for me than the beginning of last summer. I developed solid friendships and watched some great TV on Netflix… but that spark was missing. Summer is a time of misadventures and shenanigans, and they were not nearly present enough in the day-to-day last year. I’m hopeful that this summer will be a bit different; early indications are positive. 

Summer Employment - The Empire

So after reading Michael's post about his summer employment, I thought I would share a few things with all of you about my time so far working as a storm trooper for the Empire. (I am going to refrain from using the company name - I would appreciate if you all did the same.)

Well, I should rephrase: my time at what I THOUGHT would be analogous to working as a storm trooper for the Empire. It's actually really enjoyable here. I love everyone I'm working with - they are (mostly) very upbeat, funny, easy to be around, and very patient with their teaching. Everyone also seems (although I am beginning to see idosyncracies in this already) to be very flexible and easy going with schedule changes, the major renovations and construction about half of the building is going through, and with helping each other out when it's needed. I was hired as part of the Systems Improvement group, which is really glorified experimental optimization for each step of the process, but I'm getting to know a lot of people in the Production and Transformation groups. I'm not sure if those are different groups or if one is a sub group of the other, but regardless, I'm getting along just fine.

One thing that has not come up, ever, is the fact that we work for what many in the world consider to be an evil agricultural organization that monopolizes seeds and financially ruins small farmers for inadvertantly growing their crops. Most people outside of my Colby friends actually don't recognize the name of this company, don't know what the company does, what their history entails, or even realize how ubiquitous their GM crops are in our grocery stores once I explain everything to them. This also means they don't know why I'm slightly embarassed to openly share where I work. But so far no one at work has even hinted at the fact that they are aware of how the company is viewed by many. (Interestingly enough, I was trained in what to do incase we are ever greeted by protesters on-site. Their policy was specific enough that they probably are experienced in the subject.)

But I really have been impressed so far: the science here is viewed as science. Not as a way of solving world hunger, not as a way of producing tons of money, not as a way of working for good or evil. It's instead just science: How can we make this work? How can we make it work better? What does this exactly mean? How do we address these potential problems? No one has shared with me what particular genes do, which makes me wonder if that is only known by the people who are organizing the projects on the highest level. I don't know for sure.

Additionally, on the company home page, there is a section labelled "Issues/Critics" that links to articles written around the country about the company/practices and the problems people have with them. I find it really interesting that they are so open about sharing this information. On the public home page they address each issue, past and present, from toxic agents to genetic modification to legal matters - all in a very open way. After reading it, I thought they were as truthful as they could be - you should all go poke around the website and tell me what you think about those sections if you have 20 minutes to spare.

After looking at all of these issues, how much of the problems with this organization can be blamed on the employees? Is it apathy towards these issues that makes them guilty? Does focusing on your science make you exempt to the company's objectives and decisions in questions of ethics? How do you interpret their openness about the problems and criticisms they face from the public and the media?

Have I really sold my soul, or could it be true that the dark side isn't all that dark?

Summer Employment and Best Texts Ever, Pt. 1 & 2

Hello everybody! Happy summer time! Although choosing to continue my education, rather than goof around or find work, was a particularly difficult decision, I do have the added bonus of getting some summers off. As the summer was approaching, it was appearing as if I wasn't going to be able to find work. I had really wanted to work with preschoolers, teaching them both academic and social skills in their transition to kindergarten. Unfortunately, I didn't get an interview at all, which I thought (frankly) was a bit shocking. I'm probably a bit too overqualified to work with young children... so I was chalking it up to the fact that they received a flood of applications. When my academic adviser followed up with the potential employers, however, they basically said that I was too honest with my application, and that the fact that I mentioned that I wanted to have a couple of nights and weekends to myself didn't give them the best impression of me.

This was going to inspire a long-winded post about how I thought some college and graduate school education didn't seem to be worthwhile, if perfectly qualified people weren't getting jobs they likely should be able to get... but sometimes things work out for a reason.

With the end of the academic term approaching, it looked like I was going to have to choose between a) taking more classes or b) trying my hand to find some sort of job outside of my field. The first choice didn't seem too appealing, as I was mentally drained by my past term (never have such good grades ever felt worthwhile... I took 16 credits but it felt like 20). The second choice didn't feel promising either... I feel like it is very difficult to get a job outside of any sort of social contact (I've only really had to do it once), and Oregon's unemployment rate is about 12% (putting it behind Nevada and California, I believe). Fortunately, I applied for a research assistant position for the summer. They gave me an interview, and they told me that I was one of two people that they interviewed for the position and they were only looking to hire one of us. And then, two days later, I was told that they hired both of us. PHEW.

The project that I'm going to be working on is very intriguing for me both personally and academically. The project is entitled the Middle School Intervention Project, and we are generally evaluating how middle schools are providing reading services and interventions for their students, and if that is related to both academic improvement and academic engagement (e.g. how attached students become to their school, if the students become more involved, etc.). The other component of the project is that there are decision making teams that help select which services students may be receive... If the teams make decisions based on direct data of student performance, it is believed that this will also lead to improved academic performance, as the students are receiving appropriate support/help/training. Anyways, I find this project to be really interesting, and I had a solid first day, outside of feeling somewhat overwhelmed with the project that I was handed, feeling like a deer in the headlights, and a lost puppy, all at once. But... I think I'll catch on quick, as I get to play with a data set and help produce a report from it. Should be interesting work during a hopefully chill summer!


Also, two texts that I want to pass on:

June 10, 6:30 P.M. (-ish)
Isaac: I am! And I am drunk!

Celebrating the fact that he was done with his comprehensive exams...


June 18, 8:36 P.M.
Olivia: We are singing flight of the chinchords to you

Wishing I had been in Vermont this weekend.