Soccer

Hello all!

I'm not sure if everyone knows this about me, but I am a soccer freak.  I have been playing since I was seven, and continue to play in rec leagues around the area and watch any game I can sink my teeth into.  It's one of the few things that makes me loose my all-to-cool composure, and I yell at the screen and get into the game.  I do not, however, take the aggression or attitude with me off the field.  If I lose a game, I barely know (keeping score is hard, even when the score's 1-0) let alone let it affect my mood.

That said, in your FACE England.  A tie is a win for us against you blokes.  I predicted that 1-1 draw.  Sorry Green, you really deserve a hug after that performance.  I feel bad for you.

OK, that's out of the way.  But soccer men!  Gosh I had forgotten what it was like to be around so many fit people all at once.  Up until I graduated from undergrad and hung up the sprinting spikes and collegiate cleats (alright, I still play in those cleats, they're so comfortable) the only men I ever saw half-naked were highly athletic.  Then I faced harsh reality around 23 and was thoroughly disappointed.  I guess I'm used to it now, and returning to the situation, with shirtless eye-candy all around me, I had a mental throwback.  Ah, to be young(er) again and capitalize on my situation!   At the time I was too busy with school and sports and generally not caring to date to pay any attention.

So, too, now I think.  I work all day and come home with a compulsion to cloister and write.  I get pulled out by my friends, or to go hiking or play soccer so I still see people, but my mind is turned inward so often I forget to notice what's going on around me (like playing soccer without knowing the score).  Plus work is constantly in service of 60 other people so my mind is set unnaturally "out, out, out" for 40+ hours a week and I just need some "in" time when I get home.

Does anyone else feel this way?  Like the world is turning without you paying close enough attention?