December 15, 2001

words and juniors

One thing I forgot to mention about my writing process is that I usually find
several more changes I want to make after I've posted the silly thing. If I were a
published poet, I'd be wanting to make changes after the book was in
print.

The latest tweaks to href="http://dichroic.diaryland.com/whyflight.html">yesterday's poem are due
to some useful comments of Rudder's. I don't usually show him stuff like this;
he's emphatically not a verbal person and I doubt he's read any poetry since the
last time an English class forced him to it. Still, he does have a very good
feeling for the use of words, and I knew he would respond to the whole flying
theme. He surprised me by pointing out a couple of lines he thought were clunky (I
mean, the idea that he had a feel for the rhythm of the lines surprised me, not
the fact that they were clunky) and pointed out spots where my shifting images
were jarring. He even complimented one stanza. I think I'll keep
him.

Yesterday's junior varsity rowing class went well, except for
one jarring bit at the end. A couple of the kids thanked us for taking over their
class; they all responded well to our coaching, and they were very helpful in
telling us what they had been doing. One guy demurred a bit when I told them I
wanted them to row at rates from 16 (very slow) all the way to 32 (a racing pace)
-- "These people are experienced and very comfortable at higher rates," -- but I
think he was OK with it once I told him that slow rates are good practice for
anyone, that I didn't have any doubts as to their abilities, and that they
wouldn't be rowing at a 32 at all if we didn't know they could do it. There were
a few who needed to work on form, of course, but as rowers they all ranged from
decent to outstanding, and their attitudes were all good. Whatever arguments I
have with DI, his work with the juniors has definitely paid off -- they whether he
brought them to this point or just didn't stand in their way, I couldn't say. He
certainly had excellent material to work with.

Next time, though, I
want to call the lineup. DrunkTina still has some preferences for the bigger
people, and I'd like to set up the boats so that they are more evenly matched,
especially if we do any more race pieces. On Monday, though, they'll be doing
2000m erg trials -- better them than me.

The disquieting moment was
when we came back up to the boatyard to find DI hanging around. Neither DrunkTina
nor I spoke to him, but the kids all flocked around him, of course. We didn't try
to keep them away, not being physically equipped for pissing contests. To their
credit, they did not go over to talk to DI until after cleaning and putting
away all the equipment. Still, his presence worries me; I don't know what lies
he's telling them, and I can so see him as a stalker. I took Queue's
suggestion -- she was there to teach the Fitness class -- called the city as soon
as I got home, and left a message for Unknown Legend, letting her know he was
there. Not only is this unprofessional, it's scary -- reminds me of the time at my
last job when an employee who had been fired was lurking around the parking
garage.

Tonight, we'll be back at the boatyard for T2 and Rudder to
participate in the Boat Parade. There are prizes for this, and they have high
hopes of winning one. I'll be taking pictures, but doubt they'll come out all that
well.

Today I am thankful that: I didn't have to talk to DI
yesterday.

Concept II Holiday Challenge: 33936 meters left.

Posted by dichroic at December 15, 2001 04:59 PM
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