hmmmmm…. email response string.
Posted on December 19, 2007
From: Daniel Palomino [mailto:xxx.xxxxx@gmail.com]
Sent: December-18-07 11:33 PM
To: Aaron Richard Arndt
Subject: got me thinkin…(hurt at first but then I got used to it)
Dude, just felt like I had to say something after reading that post (twice). Despite not being a coach or having spent months training with some of the world’s best(you lucky s.o.b.) I could definately relate to some of what you were saying. You’ve seen the team here and while it’s a real fun group its really diverse level-wise and lately theres been kind of a struggle to balance training the “little ones” while still allowing us “big ones” to do our thing. It’s been a somewhat hectic last half of the year for me, I actually skated for Bob for a while, got vertigo from a crash(your not the only one with stories) and basically been trying to figure out what I want in this sport. And I’ve come to this: marathons, with the ultimate goal to one day make it (hopefully) to the WIC. Tough goal when living in the land of the indoor skaters. Add to that a group of skaters(and a coach) that don’t exactly see eye to eye as far as training and it can get complicated but I’m trying. And I know the feeling of spending your, personal training time helping other kids who then don’t appear for a few weeks or months….no sage advice here, it just sucks. Back to the point(I think this is the point, I’m goin kinda stream of consciousness here, sorry), I pretty much agree with all of your issues as far as problems with training and the motivation of the skaters who supposedly want to improve. And in my very un-expert opinion, as a coach your job is to do what needs to be done so your skaters know what they have to work on(up to them to get off their ass and do it) whether or not they think your an asshole well, tough, they should’ve listened when your were being nice. Ok, this is getting long and ramble-y, I hope something in there kinda made sense or resonated(I should say I am now jealous of your writing skills as well). I just knew I had to say something after reading that and a simple comment wouldn’t suffice. Wish you the best in training, just remember that you will be back in Switzerland skating and racing with the best, and I will go to visit you. Bet on that. I’m gonna try and see if can head up to the great white north for a bit too, granted I’m not a New Zealand sprint world champion, but I will show up to practice. And for any of your skaters whining about the floor, down here rinks with shitty floors seem to be respected because if you can learn to skate that track good then skating on a wide grippy floor is no problem. Shitty rinks are hardcore, those breed champions. Of course I don’t know HOW shitty your floor is haha… Oh and I was injured during thanksgiving weekend so I eased my pain with an Arrested Development marathon, still hilarious. Peace out brocephus,
D to the, wait for it…….P
__________________________________________________________________
On Dec 19, 2007 6:50 AM, Aaron Richard Arndt <aaronarndt@gmail.com> wrote:
Great email, man. Loved it.
Resonated: “They should have listened to you when you were nice.” Awesome.
And: “As a coach your job is to do what needs to be done so your skaters know what they have to work on.” …Simple, concise, coherent, exact… perfect. Believe it or not, this will be my philosophy over the course of the next few weeks at practice as coach.
Really man, thanks for writing this. I don’t know what I was doing writing that post, but I feel like until I did I was in some sort of limbo right up until I posted it. I was full of mental blocks and passive self-sabotage. It took me a month to write a really important email. I somehow wasted a term at school by not attending a single class. I even didn’t pay any tuition fees and toyed with the idea of ‘accidently’ being removed from the rest of my classes, while not having the balls to check and see if I had yet been de-enrolled. I haven’t done a spec of research on my future in schooling that is heavily pending on my consciousness. I was letting things bother me personally like I hadn’t since I was a teen. I wasn’t sleeping with any amount of regularity.
I don’t know how or why, but I feel like things are coming back together.
Can it be that coming back from Switzerland and a lifestyle that I truly fell completely in love with made me depressed? It snowed 50cms here since Saturday, and I haven’t skated outdoors for five weeks, after coming off the best (road; straight line) form of my existence.
It’s funny though, I think that whatever this transition made me feel, it manifested itself only in very specific ways; through a set of behaviours and reactions, not emotion or really even feelings. It seemed as though I was just always in a big hurry to do “something else”, whatever “else” constituted.
Why?
I think (and this is entirely my own speculation), that I am approaching the “half way” to getting back there. Like I am cresting this big hill, and about to slide my ass down the easy side.
I don’t have fireworks, or a success towards any of this that I can put a finger on, but somehow in many ways I am at least in the right gear.
It’s funny though, the easy side is the side with ALL the work on it. Studying, training, organizing… all with effort and consequence imminent.
Am I masochistic?
The good news is that I am out of debt now, after putting in a few months of work. I wonder what role that played in the whole thing…
It is 6:30am. I actually went to bed at 12, and only got up to pee…
Can I post your email and my response? It somehow felt really natural and honest, streamed consciousness, and I really like the context in which I wrote. What do you think? I can edit your’s if you feel strongly, but I of course recommend just putting it all out there.
Sandra is coming to visit me starting this Friday.
She is a girl I met from Germany. Oh man… the story… haha, its a good one, and she’s awesome.
We should talk sometime bro… I’ll have to fill you in. It really has been a while. ;)
Write me back, I’m stuck in this email for the first time not typing like crazy… so I’ll just stop.
Get back to me!
With skatey love,
Aaron.
PS: I love that D to the P business. Whahahahaha!! Yeah! Sweet.
PPS: Imagine the worst floor possible. Now spray it with a thin mist of WD-40. Now wait a few weeks for dust and debris to settle itself… That’s basically our floor.
(Parts edited)
____________________________________________________________________
From: Daniel Palomino [mailto:xxx.xxxxx@gmail.com]
Sent: December-19-07 10:09 AM
To: Aaron Richard Arndt
Subject: Re: got me thinkin…(hurt at first but then I got used to it)
oy you wanna post that? haha yea sure man, put it out there it’s cool. Glad to hear things are getting better, I get that whole cresting the hill thing. And it is interesting, the hard uphill part is when you don’t want to do any work and the “easy” downhill is when your ready and willing to put yourself through hell for what you want. Or we could both just be kinda messed up in the head. Happy you liked the email, after I sent it I kinda wasn’t totally sure if it was gonna make any sense but all good and feel free to post whatever you want if you choose to. And yea man, sounds like we gotta catch up. (Parts edited) oy you wanna post that? haha yea sure man, put it out there it’s cool. Glad to hear things are getting better, I get that whole cresting the hill thing. And it is interesting, the hard uphill part is when you don’t want to do any work and the “easy” downhill is when your ready and willing to put yourself through hell for what you want. Or we could both just be kinda messed up in the head. Happy you liked the email, after I sent it I kinda wasn’t totally sure if it was gonna make any sense but all good and feel free to post whatever you want if you choose to. And yea man, sounds like we gotta catch up. (Parts edited) 5 weeks of snow…wow, it’s tough here too man, the last couple days have been in the 50’s! HA! sorry, I had to. Every time I hear my team complaining about how cold it is I hear your voice, “Cold?!?” Love, Peace, and Hair Grease,
D to the muthaf’n P(it goes on…)
P.S. yea that floor sounds horrible, forget what I said haha
P.P.S. This writer’s strike is killing me, no fresh Stewart or Colbert. No more Office! More time to train I guess…and you don’t know how much I am into the idea of the WIC. I even got some great videos of it I downloaded, thats some serious shit.
_______________________________________________________________ From: Aaron Richard Arndt [mailto:aaronarndt@gmail.com]
Sent: December-19-07 10:18 AM
To: ‘Daniel Palomino’
Subject: RE: got me thinkin…(hurt at first but then I got used to it)
I am about to save your life… Add this to your favourites: http://www11.alluc.org/alluc/ Dude, take your time when you look through this site… Like a good pair of winter boots, it will change your life. 50’s? …Christ. Send me the link to any cool WIC videos, or even email them to me if they are small enough. Oh and hey, with some really modest editing, I will even post these!
Thanks for the permission,
Double A.
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