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Volleyball Madness

Somehow, I�ve ended up on a semi-competitive sand volleyball team. I�m not really sure how that happened, but one of my teammates was picking out a nemesis last night. Someone he would be sworn to hate throughout the entire season with that hatred specifically designed to drive us through to the championship trophy. This doesn�t bode well for me. While I don�t suck at volleyball, I also completely lack conditioning and also the �fuck� that one should give should they care about winning a sand volleyball league. Now it isn�t that I don�t want to win. I like to win as much as the next guy/girl. It is more that I don�t like the pressure to not suck. Last night, I made more points than anyone on my team because my serve was consistent, and my serves did help to bring us up from a losing position three or four times throughout the three game series, however, I was also on the losing end of game point three times in a row. Being the setter and the main digger, this is to be expected, somewhat, but I know the uber-competitive guy was keeping track. He is a nice guy, and I don�t want to dislike him, but because he has shown his competitive asshole streak, I did take note that his �power serve that led the team to victory in the indoor volleyball league� did go into the net more times than it went over the net. All in all, the games were fun and the other team was good. They ended up winning, so now our record is 1-1.

Did I mention that I am 5�1 and suck at net play? I did set up a couple monster hits by my teammates, so that was good. Ryan totally whiffed on one perfect set though. In his defense, a ball from the other court did fly right through his line of sight as he was starting into his roundhouse. Had he connected, he would�ve put a hurt on that ball. Instead, the guy on the other team was nice enough to call ball down and not collect the point. We still lost.

After the game, we sat on our porch and enjoyed a lovely June evening in Kansas City. All of the neighbors were out and about, so it was a nice night. Except� At the end of my block, just a couple of houses away, is a four unit �condo� building. It looks like a giant house, but it is really four rentals. All the hip kids live there, and they are often seen with a tiny bbq grill on the front sidewalk enjoying the latest vodka infused clear beverage in a bottle. Last night, three of them were on the porch, and we paid no attention to them until something caught my eye. A young man and woman were engaged in a photo shoot with the third person that involved the young couple making out while the other woman took pictures. When I say making out, I don�t mean embracing lovingly for the camera, I mean groping, hands everywhere and tongues exposed in sweaty drunken lust. Only it was early evening, and there was no evidence of binge drinking. I�m not really sure what is going on there, but I�ll certainly be keeping a closer eye on the goings on in my neighborhood. For all I know, they are starting some seedy sex business out of those condos. Now we wouldn�t want that element entering our neighborhood!

I was going to post a picture of Eli lying on the porch, but of course, Ryan has the camera cable. Instead, I�ll distract you with the weirdness that is Tom and Katie�s engagement. I guess I didn�t aspire to enough in life because like Katie, I, too dreamed of marrying Tom Cruise when I was a kid. I also aspired to play the flute in a rock band, and have since discovered the band A.C. Newman which has a song featuring an angry flutist. All of these things made me realize maybe I need to look a little more closely at some of my childhood dreams. Maybe they are closer to reality than I ever thought!

10:53 a.m. - June 17, 2005

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