EarthRocker
Birdie Member
Mr. Patheticus, you are nothing if not a provocateur. For which talent I have much respect. Sure wish you could do it without resorting to certain phrases. "Exceptionally stagnant" just does not ring true to my ears. But I stood in front of drums and amps for years, so maybe the ol' tinnitus is acting up.
Usually after reading your posts, there is a knee-jerk that I have to fight. Because you parse every proclamation for inaccuracies or vagueness, it behooves one to tread carefully with language. A quick-fire volley simply for the sake of it does no good whatsoever. So I've been Thinking more than Writing lately.
The more you say on the subject, the closer we get to the root of your Big Feelings.
For someone who praises the Pancake and extols the virtues of simple language, you often run the risk of losing your potential audience or even possible amanuenses through a sort of condescension that isn't really intentional, I feel, but… sometimes your posts read that way. No offense intended. This is honesty as I know it.
Golf (both types) is the only athletic contest during which you don't have an opponent actively trying to prevent you from your goal. There are other people trying to accomplish the same goal, but it would be bad form indeed to jump out and slap down someone's disc in flight. Also bad form, but much harder, to knock down a ball in flight. I wouldn't say it's impossible... The point is that golf is a solitary, self-directed competition wherein one tries to overcome doubts about the self and obstacles put in place by the designer of the course being played. (Darts and billiards are not what I consider to be athletic. Leave that hair un-split, please.)
Did I say, 'competition?' Screw it. Leave that for those who want to measure every throw or willy. Somewhat like you, I don't care if I shoot a better score than you or the next person. The fun, the benefit, is in simply Being There. I don't believe 'competition' has much to do with whether or not we want to throw well, or far, or what have you. I think it's something more or less fundamental: when we endeavor to "do something," we want to do it well. Otherwise, what's the point? It doesn't have to be about a score, or a comparison against what the other guy is doing, or even a comparison against the Self. It can be – and probably should ever only be – about taking a certain amount of pleasure from doing a thing the right way, or to the best of our respective abilities.
If I make a ham sandwich, I try to keep the meat, you know, on the bread. Call me crazy. It's not because I'm going to be judged on it. It's not because some Sandwich Maker in the Sky is pricking down a tally. It's because the between-the-breadness is what makes it a damned sandwich…
Similarly, I try to throw a disc down the middle of the fairway. Not because it will necessarily translate into a "better" score on the hole. We all know how easy it is to bogey a hole after a nice drive. No, it's because throwing down the fairway and getting into the basket is the friggin' object. Period. No history book will mark my score, and no one really cares about what I'm doing except for me.
A "net positive" in this discussion would almost have to be subjective, therefore a moving target with no right or wrong answer. And in whose Universe is competition viewed as positive? Is it really the "essential root of sport?" Because I would argue (today, anyway) that exercise is the root of my efforts. Everything about PLAYING is good. Inactivity is BAD. All the scoring and shot-dissection is there to give our brains something to do when the rest of our Being is unconsciously moving under its own impetus.
Ultimately, I think I understand what you're getting at. What I don't understand is WHY you're trying so hard to do it. We could have already played 126 holes and then some, and had enough time to sit and enjoy the silence of simple enjoyment, if we weren't in here trying to put a value on something so invaluable.
Respectfully submitted.
Usually after reading your posts, there is a knee-jerk that I have to fight. Because you parse every proclamation for inaccuracies or vagueness, it behooves one to tread carefully with language. A quick-fire volley simply for the sake of it does no good whatsoever. So I've been Thinking more than Writing lately.
The more you say on the subject, the closer we get to the root of your Big Feelings.
For someone who praises the Pancake and extols the virtues of simple language, you often run the risk of losing your potential audience or even possible amanuenses through a sort of condescension that isn't really intentional, I feel, but… sometimes your posts read that way. No offense intended. This is honesty as I know it.
Golf (both types) is the only athletic contest during which you don't have an opponent actively trying to prevent you from your goal. There are other people trying to accomplish the same goal, but it would be bad form indeed to jump out and slap down someone's disc in flight. Also bad form, but much harder, to knock down a ball in flight. I wouldn't say it's impossible... The point is that golf is a solitary, self-directed competition wherein one tries to overcome doubts about the self and obstacles put in place by the designer of the course being played. (Darts and billiards are not what I consider to be athletic. Leave that hair un-split, please.)
Did I say, 'competition?' Screw it. Leave that for those who want to measure every throw or willy. Somewhat like you, I don't care if I shoot a better score than you or the next person. The fun, the benefit, is in simply Being There. I don't believe 'competition' has much to do with whether or not we want to throw well, or far, or what have you. I think it's something more or less fundamental: when we endeavor to "do something," we want to do it well. Otherwise, what's the point? It doesn't have to be about a score, or a comparison against what the other guy is doing, or even a comparison against the Self. It can be – and probably should ever only be – about taking a certain amount of pleasure from doing a thing the right way, or to the best of our respective abilities.
If I make a ham sandwich, I try to keep the meat, you know, on the bread. Call me crazy. It's not because I'm going to be judged on it. It's not because some Sandwich Maker in the Sky is pricking down a tally. It's because the between-the-breadness is what makes it a damned sandwich…
Similarly, I try to throw a disc down the middle of the fairway. Not because it will necessarily translate into a "better" score on the hole. We all know how easy it is to bogey a hole after a nice drive. No, it's because throwing down the fairway and getting into the basket is the friggin' object. Period. No history book will mark my score, and no one really cares about what I'm doing except for me.
A "net positive" in this discussion would almost have to be subjective, therefore a moving target with no right or wrong answer. And in whose Universe is competition viewed as positive? Is it really the "essential root of sport?" Because I would argue (today, anyway) that exercise is the root of my efforts. Everything about PLAYING is good. Inactivity is BAD. All the scoring and shot-dissection is there to give our brains something to do when the rest of our Being is unconsciously moving under its own impetus.
Ultimately, I think I understand what you're getting at. What I don't understand is WHY you're trying so hard to do it. We could have already played 126 holes and then some, and had enough time to sit and enjoy the silence of simple enjoyment, if we weren't in here trying to put a value on something so invaluable.
Respectfully submitted.
