playing with legos post haircut while waiting for mama.
Monthly Archives: January 2012
Narcissus papyraceus.
Narcissus papyraceus forced blooms. fragrant! and such a nice treat in the middle of january.
day 2751: an away hockey game. or You Win Some and You Lose Some.
today, odin had an away game in winona, minnesota which we knew it would be a tough game since those minnesotans take their hockey very seriously, even with the younger kids!
in past games odin has seemed to enjoy playing the defenceman position but this game he played center for much of the game which meant he did a lot more skating from one of the ice to other.
i think he enjoyed the “faceoffs” but he was pooped out at the end!
each game, he gets a little more confident about getting in the middle of the action and going after the puck.
is he smartly assessing the trajectory of the puck so he can intercept, or taking a breather? only he knows for sure 🙂
d’oh! the final score, 7 to 2. the game was fairly close until the last 10 minutes of the final period. i think everyone just ran out of gas.
odin was none to happy about the loss. maybe even just a wee bit sad ;-(
but he got over it quickly and i think understands playing a better team is a great way to learn how to become a better player.
they’ll play many, many more games over the years, so there will definitely be a re-match!
update:
bummed to learn today why odin was sad after the game. apparently, after the game when the kids line up to shake hands and say “good game!” some of the winona kids were saying “you suck!” to the viroqua kids. interestingly, odin didn’t say a word after the game. he casually brought it up today and later confessed it was why he was sad and wondered why they’d say such a thing and if he really was a bad player. coincidentally, an email chain started after odin told us what happened between the other hockey parents as word got out from their kids.
on the one hand, it’s sad to hear the doubt a few words can cause. on the other hand, it’s a great opportunity for odin to learn that he can’t control what others think and say and he certainly shouldn’t pay any mind to poor sports!
the rarest blood allele.
i’m giving blood as i have many times over the years ( and you should too! ) and it occured to me that i don’t think i’ve ever asked about my blood type. as it turns out, i have “b positive” blood. and for the life of me i couldn’t remember what that meant. i drew a total blank as i imagined my high school biology teacher scowling.
so, here’s the refresher course. the gene that determines blood type has multiple alleles which we call “A” “B” and “O” ( “O” is actually defined as the absense of “A” and “B” antigens ). the positive or negative after the letter indicates whether or not the Rh antigen is present. simple enough.
while the B+ blood type isn’t a “rare” blood type ( and i’d have no trouble finding a suitable donar should i need blood ), it is interesting to note that the B is the rarest blood allele worldwide with only about 16% of humanity carrying it ( wikipedia says it’s a bit higher, but still the “rarest” ). the highest distribution of the B allele is in central asia and lowest native Americas and australia ( every population has all four blood types in varying frequencies – being type B doesn’t mean that’s where my ancestors came from ).
apparently, if i lived in japan, where blood typing is a common tool for “predicting” personality traits, there’s a chance i’d suffer from discrimination for being a B.
and i suppose i shouldn’t be surprised that there’s a blood type diet. proponents argue blood type is an important factor in determining a healthy diet. The Establishment, unsurprising, claims the theory is lacking in scientific support.
day 2745: odin learns goaltending ain’t so easy!
in this stage of learning the game of hockey, odin is getting a feel for playing a variety of positions. he mostly enjoys playing the defenceman position, but in this home game against la crescent, minnesota he got a chance to play the goalie.
and he quickly learned it isn’t so easy to keep the puck from going in the net!
hi. ho. they still won the game 6 to 3. wooohoooo!