Blog Summary #3

For 12 weeks I have been taking the course 'Leisure Education' and I can say that I have learnt some interesting ideas. I am going to recap the whole semester in my final blog summary. I will focus on my understanding why we were blogging.

I can admit that I have not sacrificed much of my time of blogging throughout the semester. The reason why I did not blog much is because blogging does not interest me. I know myself in leisure and I am a private person that does not talk much about himself. Due to that personality trait, it is why I did not write much about myself. I do not like the fact that all my personal information is public for the world to see. I also understand the point of the professor Henle to use blogging as a leisure experience. He gave us feedback and even directed us to write just about anything that we had in mind. In my opinion, the professor did that to increase our leisure participation when it comes to blogging. It worked for me for a few days because I blogged at lease 2 or 3 times in one week but after that, I would just let go for a while.

I can also say that I have learnt that flow theory was ideal for my leisure experience while I played soccer. I noticed that I was so much better when my skills met the challenge while experiencing my favorite leisure pass time. Some other games where I was not at flow did not work to my advantaged and I would feel anxious which, lead to me feeling frustrated with my team. I am sure my team did not appreciate my frustration but for the past few games I would keep my cool and just laugh about it. There is no point of me getting mad over an amateur soccer game!

I also noticed that I was not that bad at painting and using my artistic skills when it came to my leisure experience. I painted a ceramic cup with a Montreal Canadiens logo in the front. I actually got good comments on it which further increases the possibility of me going back and painting another item. Of course my girlfriend had a big influence on my decision about ceramic painting. The reason why is because I did not know what to do for my leisure experience. I had the idea of going to Paintball but I had a constraint of money that was involved. Paintballing is not cheap and there is a lot of planning involved in order to even attempt to participate. Like, calling a whole bunch of friends to see who would want to go, the time that everybody can go, the place where would be better to go. I wanted to simply do something that is relaxed and that did not need too much planning! There was also the factor that I worked outside all day which did not motivate me to anything too crazy. That is why ceramic painting was ideal for my leisure experience.

I had a soccer game last night. We lost 6-4 but once again my defense was not there to protect me. I told them to cover their man which they did not do in the first half. The second half we scored 3 goals and they opposite team scored 2. We dominated the second half and I hope the whole team can learn from this experience in order to improve.

I was looking at my soccer team stats and we are the best team in the league. We are 2-0 with 7 GS and 1 GA which shows our defense as improved. We worked on different tactics and it seems like having 2 fowards in front and 2 defenders in back is a good tactic. Our third game is this Sunday and hopefully we'll keep up the good work!

I started my new soccer season on Sunday at the Soccerplex in Lachine. We won 3-0 and I got my first clear sheet of the season on the first game. I would have to say that I actually felt a little bored because the other team did not make me work much. I actually ran once almost midway across the field to get some action going. I needed to increase my optimal arousal and try to reach flow. On Saturday I accomplished my leisure pursuit by doing some ceramic painting. I never experienced that side of art and found it quite relaxing. I needed to do something relaxing that evening anyways because I work all day outside raking leaves!

Can't sleep

I hate no being able to sleep. I think I might be a little stressed out about school work. All this stuff to do in so little time! Gotta convince myself that everything is fine...

Blog summary#2

Most of my leisure is social-related over passive leisure. For example, playing soccer is like a beer league since I usually drink after then game with the team. I also identify myself as a soccer/futbol player even if I do not pratice the sport professionally. I encounter 'time' as a leisure blocker when I produce music beats because I enjoy social-related leisure over participatory-related leisure. Professor Henle suggested to sleep less in order to have time for music but I am 'aware of self in leisure' and, I know my preference of having a lot of sleep.

I experienced some constraints when it came to the midterms. I did not post anything on my blog due to time but I guess I do not enough self determination. I have to be take responsibility, make proper choices and be more assertive which is what I will be working on my next postings. Blogging might not be an intrinsic motivation but more of an extrinsic one because it counts for a lot of marks and, I want to increase my grade which is immediate feedback.

I had an experience last Saturday before going out to my friends birthday. My girlfriend called me and did not want to go anymore. She did not know what to wear and she was giving up on experiencing a leisure apportunity. We both did not go clubbing and I was going to even if she did not want to go herself. I felt that it would be even more pleasant with her around so, I had to convince her to come out. I had to 'make decisions about leisure' as an educator. I know when I want something I usually develop self-determination and I was not going let a 'no' stop me from convincing her. I was pressuring but I was telling her how fun it will be, that she should dress classy like she does at work, that she is pretty, smart and she looks good and, that we'll have a good time! Convincing her to wear classy cloths was my solution to solving the problem of her not knowing what to wear. In the end, she was convinced and we both enjoyed our leisure experience.

I had a good time last Saturday night at my friends birthday. First we watched the game and then went downtown at Radio Lounge. I only drank two beers that night since I was driving. I did not have any purple leisure time due to the constraint of driving and having two people's lives in my hand.

Rain...

It's a cold and rainy day in Montreal. There is not much to do when the weather is like this except for chilling and lazing around the house. I do not play video games often but today I feel like its a good time for it. I played a little bit of GTA IV and then listened to some music. I am going out tonight for one of my friends birthdays which will be fun. I'll get on my school work tonorrow.

End of midterms

I did not blog on here for at lease two weeks due to my midterms. I finally finished my last one yesterday afternoon and then I went to the Habs game against the Panthers. I got some club Desjardins seats for 2/3 of the price which is great and the tickets include free food! The Canadiens won the game 3-1 but I expected more offense from them. In all it was a good experience and I hope I can go one more time before then end of the season. This was a good way to reward myself for accomplishing all my midterms.

Today

Today I worked on some music and I feel like I am getting better at it. I just wish I had more time to produce but school, work, girlfriend, friends and all are important to me so it prevents me from working on music. I guess it's not that I don't have time but I don't find time...

Been a while...

I have not put any posting for a while... All I can say it that I had a good weekend. I played my last game of the season last Friday and it was good. We finished forth in the league which is not bad at all. There is a new season starting in about a month and I am joining the team again. There is a cost which I am not sure about yet... I had a family event on Saturday for my sister's birthday. It was enjoyable and I am going back again in two weeks for my nephew's birthday.

I cannot wait till hockey season again! I hope we will have a good team this year. Maybe our expectations might be too high once again... Only the season will tell. The first game is on Friday and I am suppose to go to check out the game on Saturday downtown with my friends. Against who? The f*#$ing Leafs and we all know who's gonna win that one. LES CANADIENS!
Chow

Blog summary #1

I understand what leisure in my life consist of. My true leisure is playing soccer and sometimes creating some music. But I find leisure is better when I am with my friends because I like socializing with people that I truly find important in my life. For example, I socialize with my soccer team on a weekly basis and I enjoy that but sometimes I am sore and tired and I do not feel like playing the game that is scheduled. What keeps me to still go to the game is the fact that I know I will have fun simply talking with all my friends on the team... I guess I do not want to let the team down by not showing up in a way but, the fun I will have just going to the game pushes me to go.

I also notice I experience leisure at best when I am at 'flow'. For example, when I am at flow while playing soccer I am usually hard to beat. The opposite team gets frustrated because they cannot score goals on me. I even experienced flow for a while when I played bowling because I got 3 strikes in a row! I noticed I was not anxious nor bored but, I was relaxed and just going with the moment.

My leisure might be constrained this Christmas Holiday but I will see... I'll call the Chilean Consulate this week and find out what is happening... I might just disappear and never come back! j/k

I was I can be leisure educated is simply by reading the class book and relate what I have read to my leisure life. I can find alternatives to problems in my leisure or even help out a friend by giving solutions to their leisure constraint.

End of weekend

I had a good relaxing weekend... On Friday I played soccer with my team and we lost again but this time by the score of 6-4. But before the game I had to buy some new goalie gloves which did not cost too much. Working to leisure? Seems like it but well worth it. After the game I went to eat out with a few friends and then went home early because I had to work at 9:30 the next day. On Saturday, I worked till 5:00 and then went out to eat again but this time with my girlfriend. After that I came up with the idea to play bowling. It's lame but I haven't played since high school. I went with the lady and a few friends and we played 3 games. Sunday I just lazed around and did some stats assignment. Costly but relaxing weekend...

Big game this Friday

I was looking at my soccer schedule and I found out that this Friday my team is playing against the first place team. Last time we played them we were winning 3-0 but actually managed to lose the game 6-3. I am looking foward to playing a hard game due to us losing the last one 4-3. I realize that playing soccer is the leisure I am most passionate about. I love playing the sport but I also like the social aspect of it. We don't only socialize during the game but we also go out and drink after the game which is my favorite part! Back to the point... I never fully experienced flow but I do feel it at some points of the game. I noticed I play my best soccer when I am experiencing flow... I can basically save anything without even thinking about it. Hopefully, I will flow the whole game this week because it's a big one.

Second posting

I was not too happy today since I have problems with the Chilean consulate. I got my citizenship renewed a few months ago and I later filled out a form to get exempt from the servicio militar. It as been 5 months they still did not get the answer... The problem is that I was planning a trip to Chile in December for about 3 weeks but now I am not sure anymore. I do not want to go and be stuck there for 2 years to fulfill the service. It is basically leisure constraint since I might not be able to go this winter. I will hopefully receive an answer soon... Because I do want to see beaches in my hometown in Vina del mar!!!

Starting off...

What up? I am simply starting off this blog and I do not have much to say about it. I just decided to get this out of the way since I actually have time to. During this evening I put some beats that I produced on a myspace which I just created before class. You people should check it out at:
www.myspace.com/michileno