Summary 3

Although I have not been blogging as much as i should have been, I have been trying to be more aware of why I wasn't blogging. Not having any ideas might be one, but that doesnt really get me very far. I think for the most part, like I mentioned in one of my posts, I am not personally motivated to share my thoughts on a blog like this. If I was inclined to write, I could have a journal, but for the most part, I prefer the in person style of blogging, if you will.

So over the past 12 weeks, I have been trying to keep myself open to any new options that might present themselves, and was always looking to get myself more into the leisure lifestyle that I was looking for. I found a garage league for ice hockey and was being more conscious about my eating and tried to work out more. I think that just being more self aware helped me take the initiative into doing the things I wanted. But I am still not where I need to be.I have recently realized a very bad pattern that I have gotten myself into. That being that I am only as autonomous as I need to be. In other words, if someone will be willing to do it, then I will wait for them to.

Now this behavior has been something I have been doing since I was a kid, and not just in my leisure, but in other things as well. So anyways, I am now much more conscious of it and the result is that now I am not being the bystander waiting for things to happen, but now will take charge and do things myself. I think that being leisure educated was what made me stop and think about that. By all means I don't think I would know where to go from there even if I had made the association without knowing about leisure resources and that by simply networking or determining what I want to try new opportunities would fall into my lap (which sort of happened with my hockey).

In all, I feel like I have a different view of leisure. I no longer see it as just hanging around with my friends on my days off (although fun) I now tend to view it more from an internal perspective of where I am relative to what I want to be doing. I feel like I am now more passionate about the leisure I already do as well as anything I think of doing. I no longer make dreams of things and trips without going any further. I absorb myself fully in everything I feel is worth taking the time to do and fell all the better about it.

-Phil
Happy Holidays

venting frustration

i will never understand this at all...the bar where i work is ina fantastic location with a great clientele and staff....however, for whatever the reasons may be, the three people in charge (two owners and manager) are completely clueless....for one, the two owners tend to view everything as a pyramid, so when there is something that needs be done, they get whoevers at the bottom to do it (i.e. busboys or dishwashers) even if the task is obviously not their to do or not even something that should be done at the particular hour to which they ask it be done. second, they can't seem to get their priorities stright, like when they show up with the liquor order for us to count and put away on a friday night at 8pm, you explain that one to me or when they emphasize the corner next to the bar and how important it is for us to pick up all the little papers there because they think the clients eating will think the whole place is dirty (when most of them either don't notice or even remotely care when they see us running around)...and keep in mind they will this of us at the busiest time of the night all the while getting in everyones way

and then there is the manager who is just as lost....instead of trying to help on busy nights, he freaks out and starts yelling and pacing everywhere, to the point that some customers are almost scared. and the fact that we have over 20 beers on tap makes for out pub to be a great place to grab a pint and listen to some cover tunes....one catch, weve been out of about 6 of those beers, imports specifically, for the past month sending customers elsewhere who come for their specific import beer...it frustrates me and more than anything to see it run so badly when a 6 year old could do a better job, not to mention listen when the staff have suggestions or comments about the daily things.

it has just showed me that no matter how good of a restaurant/bar you have or how good the location, eventually it will go down if the ones in charge are no better than a bunch of monkeys throwing their own poo at each other....

anyways, now that ive vented that, ill be off....
cheers

professional gaming?

before i explain about professional gaming, i must explain something first. i seem to have certain traits which allow me to be more skilled than average at most things. for instance, i am a quick learner and have a high learning curve. so, one such skill i have is that i am quite good at shooter ganes, most recently the halo series.

so now, i was playing online recently and heard some people talking about mlg, or major league gaming. so i checked it out and found some imteresting things. first, there is a league that travels around the U.S with events in various cities, and at the end ofthe season, the playoffs and national championship. anyways, the halo tournament is 4v4 double elimination format played over the course of a weekend with first place taking $20,000!! and for the nationals, $100,000!!! i thought that was a crazy amount of money for a bunch of scronny teenagers. anyways, there are videos, stats and lists of players and teams on their website for any to check out....

www.mlgpro.com

i found it interesting that there is as big a market for tis as there is...sure is an indications to where this generation is headed....

thoughts

with the semester winding to a draw and my mind wandering to other things, i have realized a couple of things regarding this blog. the first being, i am not the type of person who generally likes spending excess time on my computer roaming the internet reading what other people are chatting about in their blogs, i would favor doing such things with my friends in person. also, i find that, i would much rather "waste" time elsewhere, in things i am more motivated to do as filler. anyways, i guess i am just struggling to find ways to getting around and actually blogging, not for a lack of ideas. so, with that said, i will simply try and pour out several more entries for you to spend time reading about what i am chatting about.

extrinsic motivation

Well, after spending the past several hours on one of my many essays due next week, I am coming to realize somethingf. for a long time I have had a host of ideas for tings I can do for leisure. there is a place close to home where i can go climbing, many gyms in the area etc. but i have always found myself drawn back by something. whether it is the traditional not having anyone to go with or simply not drawing up the courage to do something less exciting to do. enter extrinsic motivation, something i am now coming to value more and more. for instance, today has been a very productive day for a number of reasons. i finally decided to get back to working out again, something i normally don;'t enjoy doing. also, i completed an essay early for once knowing i have a rough workload in the coming days, from school, home and work. finally, i have decided to blog again since i have not in a long time. i guess what im getting at is that i never really felt like doing things that extrinsically motivated me. now i am coming to see the value in those things besides some of the obvious like working for money. i am now ahead of myself in my school work (which is rare for me) and i also did something good towards my health by working out and making myself eat better in the last few days. in all, this has been a time where i am coming to learn more about myself and am starting to unravel the reasons for my lack of motivation. i am coming to see myself ready to undertake more with regards responsibility, something i never really had to woryy about since i still live at home, one of the luxuries i take for granted.

Summary 2

At the beginning of the term, I would never have found myself asking myself questions like am I experiencing flow, or am I aware of self in leisure and so on. However, it is now becoming to be like second nature.

For example, Tuesday's seem to be a great day of the week. I get to have my leisure education class, watch the only two t.v. shows I watch, House and Fringe, and then go out and play hockey afterwards. I have come to realize that among other things, a big reason I like those two shows is they appeal to my personality, in that I always like a challenge and a puzzle. That they include science simply add to that fact. Before, when I would watch the shows, I would simply try and relax and wouldn't be aware of myself while experiencing this leisure.

I also realized how foolish I was in not being more extensive when I was looking to find places to play hockey. I now realize that I was limited for two maybe three reasons. First, since most or all of my friends don't play hockey, I was always a little reserved from doing it on my own. Second, I didn't know where to look for leagues, whether it be a ball hockey league or on ice. Finally, I guess it could be said that I simply was not aware of the resources I really did have around me. A simple conversation with an old friend revealed the game I play in on Tuesday nights now. Simple as that.

I guess it is quite important for a leisure educator to be more proactive when it comes to leisure. You can never wait and expect it to come and find you, you have to go out and find out where it hides. What High school gym do they play basketball in or where is this place for wall climbing? Knowing what there is to do is not always simple, and a good leisure educator will be aware of the local resources as well as the other aspects of leisure (yummy pie chart in textbook).

Summary 1

Well, this past month has been quite good. Hockey is just around the corner and I'm always looking forward to game nights with friends at home or the bar. Also, I just started playing hockey again in a garage league and it's great. One thing I noticed though, is how I limit myself to the kinds of things I do by not being more proactive.

I always find myself doing the same things and not really being too varying. The main constraint I have is that interpersonally, most of my friends never want to do anything. They're either too tired after just finishing work, or just don't have the money etc. I find I tend to be too passive in that I will accommodate them. Also, I suppose the fact the past couple of weeks most of my friends were sick.

However, with all that said, I finally decided to get things moving and am planning several trips with my friends. This might be a very cool project, with England and Japan being the two destinations I might be going to!

I learned though that I was almost in a state of learned helplessness in that I felt I could only do what my friends felt like doing, since they never seem to want to go downtown or to a new place it seems. It turns out that all it took was for me to voice my thoughts and then ideas started coming. For one, we went to a pool hall near the plateau called Boule Noir. It was nice for some new scenery.

I guess when I think about it, I am also constantly aware of my leisure options and choices and although I might be tired of the same thing, I prefer that with my friends than something new on my own. I'm the person who likes to shares those times with friends.