You all know one aspect of me pretty well, but not another. I play volleyball about 20 hours a week. I wasn’t an athletic child, so I take great pride in the fact that after many years of work at it, I’m actually really good at a sport. It keeps me fit and lets me get out agression in a nice healthy way. I only mention it to explain that I am probably going to be in a really foul mood for a bit. I won’t know for sure until I go to the doctor tomorrow, but I think I seriously damaged my Achilles tendon. I can barely walk, and I know a few volleyball players who have never recovered from similar injuries enough to play again. In other words I’m completely dismayed. And if that isn’t enough, I’m attracted to someone who wants to be friends, and I just want to be friends with someone who is attracted to me. 2005 sucks and it I’m not even single on Valentine’s Day yet. I’m glad I moved my 401k to bonds 2 weeks ago since the stock market appears to be drifting down. But, you know, that which does not kill me delays the inevitable.
In other news I think the quote of the day is definitely: "If Europeans ban the Nazi symbol, how are they going to protest George W. Bush when he visits?"
Like many good jokes, readers on both sides of the aisle can take away something fun. Conservatives can think "Stupid Europeans" and Leftists can think "How will they protest" while the rest of us can just go, "Heh".
Don’t worry, we’ll still have Roman salutes.
I hate to say this, but you should start thinking of another sport. While medical treatment is getting better and better, the mental image of what you could do pre-injury often can end up getting you hurt again. I’m not sure what I would recommend, (as team sports depend on what options you have around you), but team handball is a gas. Basketball is great, but there is a high skill curve to climb to catch up with people who have played it for a while. Though it is not a team sport, I personally recommend aikido (try to find a more physical dojo rather than one that specializes in ki development) Whatever you do, don’t rush your return, this is what lots and lots of people do and a re-injury is often a lot worse than the original.
Sorry to hear about your injury Sebastian. I know I get really depressed when I can’t play tennis or go to the gym for a long time. I think LJ has the right approach though, find another outlet that won’t aggrevate the injury.
2005 sucks and it I’m not even single on Valentine’s Day yet.
If you think it sucks for you, just imagine the same set of circumstances, PLUS you voted for Kerry.
Yes, it really, really sucks to get injured out of a sport that you’re decent at, and that you love doing. It happened to me about 25 years ago (although getting injured to begin with was largely my fault), and it took me a while to get over.
I’d gotten injured a few times before that, so maybe I can offer some advice: see a specialist in sports medicine. There’s a doctor here in Orlando, for instance, that pretty much specializes in knee replacements for athletes. I’d start with getting a physician’s opinion, and then see a trainer (which is why I’m recommending sports medicine, because they might actually be in the same building, and can consult) about rehabilitation, and about things like taping and support prosthetics. Taping can help keep you from re-injuring by restricting motion. I had tendinitis in my ankle my senior year of high school, and it took me out of training for about a week. With the tape I was able to continue swimming, but not able to fully articulate a breaststroke kick. So my conditioning proceeded ok in most respects aside from particular conditioning of that muscle group (which happened to be the one I most needed, but you take what you can get). I’d say I dropped about three places in State that year, but again that’s hindsight. Given the spread in times from places 2-5, though, just a tenth of a second would have put me in second.
It wasn’t my ankle that ultimately took me out in college, though. That never bothered me again. It was my knees, and I can attribute that (in hindsight; I’ve learned much since then) to trying to play catchup too much, conditioning-wise. Moral: you can’t take the summer off, and then make it up later. There is no later.
If it makes you feel any better, the only reason I exist is because of a sports injury. Had my dad not blown his knee, he’d’ve been sent to Vietnam (where, as he cheerfully admits, he’d’ve been dead meat); instead, he ended up as a quartermaster’s assistant Stateside where he eventually ended up meeting my mom. So who knows? Future mini-Sebastians may look back on this and thank you!
And Slarti, you were a breaststroker?
Da. Actually, was again, briefly, about when I turned 40.
There was a pretty interesting interview on NPR the other day with a British professor (I think) of maybe Indian origin, who argued for the restoration of the swastika to its original and ancient Hindu spiritual meaning, which to say the least, was slightly co-opted by the Blue Meanies in the 1930s.
“If you think it sucks for you, just imagine the same set of circumstances, PLUS you voted for Kerry.”
Personally I was assuming that the whole reason Bush won was so that I wouldn’t feel even worse yesterday… 😉
Oh Sebastian, that’s awful. If it’s any consolation, my Dad managed to not just damage but break his Achilles tendon — no diagnosis needed with his foot flopping around like that — and even though that was about 30 years ago, when medicine wasn’t nearly as good, he has been playing a mean game of tennis ever since. (It was basketball that accounted for the original injury, so while I don’t know anything about this really, I’d ask around before using this as a replacement sport.) Still, that doesn’t help at all in the short term. I’m really sorry.
I did butterfly as a kid, but only because I was the worst athlete ever, and fly seemed like the stroke fewer other people were doing, and thus the one I might be most likely to win at through lack of competition. No such luck, though. I recall one meet in particular: it was a B meet, meaning that all the good swimmers were not there (they were at the A meet). I was about a week shy of my 13th birthday, which meant that I was older and bigger than almost anyone else in the 12 and under event. It was my best event, not that that meant much, and — best of all — there were only 10 participants and 8 trophies. How could I not win one? Easily, as it turned out. I came in 9th, which made me the second worst 100 meter butterflyer in my age group in all of New England. And all this while my younger sister was the best 100 meter breast stroker 10 and under in the Eastern US, and people were talking about training her for the Olympics. — This was, all things considered, a blessing in disguise, since it meant that I had to decide at a very, very early age whether I was going to be really competitive, in which case I would be miserable, or just try my hardest and hope for the best and be happy for other people, in which case not.
Goddammit, Sebastian. If you’d just told us that, we’d’ve moved heaven and earth on Nov 2nd to get you laid!
Da. Actually, was again, briefly, about when I turned 40.
Nifty. I raced backstroke and IM competitively when I was in the equivalent of middle school, but I couldn’t take the intensity of the training at my club (something like 2hrs a day three days a week, and only because I was too young to be there five days a week) so I ditched it. Wish I’d kept up with the physical aspect of it, but I’ve never regretted getting the hell out of that madhouse.
[Must’ve worked, though, because I think my former club produced two or three Olympians.]
Sebastian, sorry about your injury. I’m 53 and I play baseball and softball in younger guy leagues. I’ve been hurt, but nothing really debilitating.
But I quit all other sports, including skiing and basketball to save my body for baseball. So far, so good, knock on wood. Also, I do extensive stretching before games (and sometimes excessive drinking after).
It helps, although I think I strained my liver last summer making a head-first slide into a six-pack of Molson.
Interesting that you are attempting to time the markets.You’ll need to be right on both ends of the decision. I used to do this, but I now allocate my money to asset classes (stock market, bonds, money markets, etc) and stick with it, with occasional rebalancing. You should keep us posted on your decisions in this area. It could serve as a mini-laboratory for testing the, umm, private accounts thesis.
Might be fun 😉 Can you time your rationality over the long-term with the market’s rationality (when it’s rational)?
Oh, and not to make matters worse, Sebastian, but you’ve still got to get through January 24, which a UK psychiatrist has determined is the year’s “Most depressing Day.” (and this year, it’s a Monday)
Sebastian: Sorry to hear about your injury. Have you seen a sports medicine specialist about it? You might want to do so sooner rather than later because if you have a tear and it heals badly you could be in worse shape in the long run than if you get it looked at and on its way to mending properly immediately. Another piece of free advice, worth every penny you pay for it: find a form of exercise that doesn’t stress your ankle, such as swimming or maybe carefully selected Pilates moves, and do that regularly, even if you aren’t particularly good at it. Your body is probably used to the seratonin and endorphins you get from volleyball and the sudden absence could turn your foul mood into a true depression.
I’ll second the advice to temporarily re-focus on another form of sport or physical activity. Volleyball is a really ballistic sport. If you take off entirely from working out, then rush back into playing, you’re bound to re-injure yourself. My main physical activity is martial arts, and when I injure one body part, I can always work on techniques involving different body parts. In your case, I might recommend yoga or swimming until your tendon recovers enough to handle impact.
Shame about the romance side of things. I’ve been there before & it sucks. I thought you big name bloggers were like celebrity sex symbols. What’s the point in writing all those carefully thought out posts if it doesn’t lead to hot groupies throwing themselves at you?
” I thought you big name bloggers were like celebrity sex symbols.”
Tee hee hee. Both about ‘big name’ and ‘like celebrity sex symbols’.
Maybe we should put out a calendar. Especially since Matt Yglesias, Mark Keliman, and now Sebastian are lamenting being single. (Me too.)
If you’re looking for other reasons to feel optimistic though, there is this:
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Michael Powell plans to resign Friday
Wahoo!!!!
Personally, my first thought when I heard about the potential Euro ban on Nazi imagery was how annoying that was going to be to gamers–specifically gamers who enjoy games set in WWII.
The reason should be obvious, but in case it’s not, companies currently have to make censored copies of these games if they want them to sell in Germany. This costs money. If the entire European market becomes like this, games that recreate or take place in the European theater are going to become much less profitable, and thus much less common.
I think we have to be big name bloggers before we get our sex symbol status. Hilzoy, you, me and Mark Kleiman are all single? Why do the wicked prosper, why do the righteous suffer?
Sebastian – sorry to hear about the injury. If it is an Achilles tendon injury, it’s kind of a good news / bad news deal (speaking as someone who ruptured an Achilles tendon 15+ years ago). The good news is, with proper treatment and rehab, recovery can be pretty close to 100%. The bad news is that, if you’re immobilized from knee to ankle for any length of time, the physical therapy needed to regain muscle mass and strength in your calf is a real bitch in terms of time and effort.
I’ll also add a note of caution about seeing a sports medicine specialist. I’d stay away from one that deals with a lot of Division 1 college or pro athletes. In my experience, they’re treatment approaches can be too aggressive for us weekend warriors.
Why do the wicked prosper, why do the righteous suffer?
That has got to be the most loaded question ever asked on this site…
Sorry to hear it Seb. I’m just getting my knee back 2.5 months after surgery, so I know how hard it is to not do what you want to do. I’m told the key is to go through the entire PT before getting back in the game. In my case that means no sports for 6 months even though I can practically feel a softball glove on my left hand.
Oh, yeah….Heh.
I can’t really take credit for something the either King Solomon or the men of Hezekiah said first. I’m 99% sure they weren’t meant that way, but from the 21st century view the Book of Proverbs almost seems snarky in places.
Sounds like your swimming career ended before mine started. I first started doing swimming (or anything else aerobic, for that matter) in 10th grade. My first year was unremarkable, to understate things a bit. Second year, I discovered the secret to (then) decent breaststroke technique: rhythm. I was sort of experimenting around with the stroke during practice and discovered this rhythm that worked well, and my coach took me aside after practice and said “good breaststroke”. Just after dual meet season started, two of the three or four guys ahead of me in the breaststroke rankings got kicked off the team, so then I was swimming it in every meet. By Conference, I was on the heels of the first-stringer. He had a great day at prelims, tying the school record. And then celebrated by going out late drinking, which got him kicked off the team the next morning, just prior to finals. Finals had me in a three-way tie for the record, and a couple weeks later at Sectionals I had whacked another second and a half off that, nearly. State was a disaster, though.
My senior year I knocked another three seconds off. I thought I’d be competetive, swimming in college, but I was wrong. And to tell the truth, I probably wouldn’t have been all that great if my knees had held out. It took me a long time to learn this, but strength and conditioning can only take you so far in sports. I learned enough technique in college to shave another second and a half off my time (by intrasquad meet, no less), but I’m rotation-limited in my shoulders and that keeps me from having a really effective stroke, and really hurt me in the start and turns. Mostly I was decent because of a combination of strength, adrenaline, psyche, and a notion of what the technique ought to be.
I’m bad enough at the other strokes that I wasn’t noteworthy in IM the same way I was in breaststroke. I was only as competetive as I was because I’d gain back a lot of ground in the breaststroke leg.
I’m sorry about your injury Sebastian. You do indeed have cause for whining. My excuse for not exercising (and it is an excuse because I don’t like to exercise) is that my dog got too old. Charlie and I used to take vigorous power walks around our neighborhood, but Charlie is now deaf, blind, and arthritic. The only exercise I get is when he stops walking and I start carrying him.
Achilles tendon injuries are the worst. I messed mine up getting out of bed 6 months ago. Got up and heard/felt this awful ripping/crunching sound as I took my first step.
The Dr. suspected it partially separated from the bone. Stayed off the heel for a month then went to physical therapy for a month to restore its flexibility. It works fine now – but I have an insane stretching routine I stick to daily, as well as an insane warm up routine I go though before I start running.
Oh, I forgot one very important thing – get it looked at ASAP. If it is a rupture, the repair work is much easier if it’s done soon after injury. If it’s not a rupture, you need to avoid further damage.
Sebastion, don’t get bummed until you find out what’s wrong. Just because X did Y to wimy guy Z doesn’t mean you won’t emerge better than ever.
On swimming: excellent exercise, which I was still doing it. My HS sports were swimming and football (American). By senior year, I was HS-good at each (top 3-6 at sections in the latter, starter on a sectional-winning team at the latter) — but I really envy those who were good enough to compete in college.
And, yes, I was the only person at my school who both played football and swam. (The cliques don’t usually overlap — or they didn’t at my school.) But my proudest H.S. achievement was leading the campaign to put the doors back on the stalls of the boys restroom. I mean, have you every tried to toke up in plain view of everyone?
(I kid, I kid. Any alleged experimentations with substances that may have been illegal under applicable law most likely occured, if they at all occurred, later. Records are, ahem, hazy. And, insofar as investigation may suggest that any such activity did in fact occur, the statute of limitations is clearly well expired. So don’t do it yourselves. And stay in school and don’t get pregnant. Or impregnate anyone. Or beat up little kids or old ladies. And try to refrain from cursine. Etc.)
(But it’s true I got the stall doors back up.)
On swimming: excellent exercise, which I was still doing it.
Umm, “wish” I was still doing it.
Records are, ahem, hazy. And, insofar as investigation may suggest that any such activity did in fact occur, the statute of limitations is clearly well expired.
may not matter if you intend to run for public office! 😉
So don’t do it yourselves. And stay in school and don’t get pregnant. Or impregnate anyone. Or beat up little kids or old ladies. And try to refrain from cursine.
With a platform like that, don’t bother running for public office. 😉
von: “try to refrain from cursine”
Haute or nouvelle?
Really, I can hear it now: Senator Von, please prove to us that you didn’t do drugs in high school.
Haute or nouvelle?
Ha!
Really, I can hear it now: Senator Von, please prove to us that you didn’t do drugs in high school.
I somehow think that’s the least of my worries in this day and age. Indeed, they tried to play gotcha with candidate (now Governor) Daniels (R-Ind.) during the last campaign regarding a drug arrest from the 70s. Turnabout being fair play, the inquiry led to inhalation admissions from half the elected officials in the State of Indiana.
Which may explain something about the great State of Indiana. “Rather conservative, but quite possibly high.” Put it on a license plate.
Sebastian — so sorry to hear about your injury. And your love life, or lack thereof. And your continued support for President Bush.
Surely if you have developed the reflexes, strength, and stamina to play volleyball, you now have skills that will transfer to other sports. I know that’s small consolation, but you should be proud that you’ve overcome early discouragement to become athletic!
Sebastian — so sorry to hear about your injury. And your love life, or lack thereof. And your continued support for President Bush.
In that order?
I have already begun raising my eyebrow when candidates for public office say that they never inhaled the smoke of a dubious cigarette. no pun intended.
People whose sole purpose in life was/is to be a politician and have taken/will take great pains to ensure no hiccups on the road to such office (thinking Brandon from 90210) are somewhat spooky. Makes me question the healthiness of their desire or need for power.
Sebastian — so sorry to hear about your injury. And your love life, or lack thereof. And your continued support for President Bush.
I’d suggest that fixing number 3 might help with number 2, but then, that’s just me (><)v
A link to Japanese emoticons might be handy, LJ. You’re using ones I haven’t seen.
Your wish is my command
here, here and here
The one I used isn’t really standard (eyes shut tight and a peace sign) I just like the fact that they are oriented (no pun intended) vertically rather than horizontally. I show the western ones to Japanese and I have to turn the page 90 degress before they see them.
As a bonus, check out some of the ascii art (I think it will come through) here, the Kim Il Jong at the bottom is particularly noteworthy.
To see how this has been taken to the limit, go here (slightly naughty bit at the very end, I think)
This one is his most famous, and it is supposed to be a Japanese class for foreigners. I don’t know if people who haven’t had Japanese lessons from Japanese can appreciate this, but it may explain why my posts may seem a bit off the wall. (i.e. don’t blame me, blame japan)
Sebastian, sorry to hear about the achillestendon. It is a rotten injury. Good news is that you *can* recover from it.
I’ve been playing basketball for almost 25 years now (since I was 18), except from the three pregnancies (stopped at 5 months, started again three months after the birth). After the pregnancies I gained a lot of weight, which is additional risc for achilles, ankles and knees. So I injured my achilles and the calves muscle two years ago. It took 6-8 months (only 2 of really doing nothing) but I can play as well as before again, don’t even need taping or anything.
And I had to wait till I was almost 32 before I found the love of my life – but he was definately worth waiting for 😉