Living in the Soccer City

One of the things that drew me to Portland was its intense love of all things soccer. I've always considered soccer my favorite sport, but that wasn't really saying a lot. I would watch a game of almost any sport, but beyond that I couldn't care less. The aspect of leagues and player stats bored me to death.  I began shying away from sports all together convincing myself that I just wasn't interested in them. I believe it is safe to say that aspect of me is slowly changing. 

Growing up I always had an interest in soccer. I played a few years in Elementary School(What boy in the 90s didn't) and was pretty bad. I enjoyed watching the Kansas City Wizards(now Sporting KC.) Going to a game was an excellent way to spend a summer evening, and, compared to Chiefs or Royals tickets, it was fairly cheap way too. Even if they hardly ever made it to the playoffs there was a decent crowd, and people enjoyed themselves.

Nothing like what I've experienced here in Portland. The entire city goes all out for it's teams. Both the Trailblazers and the Timbers are the talk of the town. There are massive ad campaigns going on across the city that showcase both the fans and teams. Even after losing their first 2 games of the league the Timbers still sold months of sellout games. It is amazing to see downtown bustle with crowds filling into the continually sold out stadium. Watching the light rail become a sea of green was an amazing sight.  I recently went to the box office and asked when the next available tickets would be. I was flabberghasted to hear the next 6 games were sold out. I bought the last few tickets to a game that was 3 months away.  This sort of intense citywide camraderie has provided me the boost  I needed to actually pay attention to more then just one team. Rather then just go to a few games I am activally following their away games via radio. I'm going to pubs to watch the games I can't get tickets to. I've started paying attention to the other clubs in the MLS, and other leagues in general. I'm going to watch my first CONCACAF league game tonight. I'm excited that my interest has risen enough to be able to pull others in. I'm building excitement among people who might not have cared otherwise. That in itself makes me happy.
And Go Salt Lake!

 

Kendrick 

Sunday Movie Special

There was 3 movies this week that I feel everyone should be made aware of. Not necessarily a review as much as a public service announcement. 

The Good - 

My sister has been telling me to watch this ever since it was released in theaters. Usually I'm not a big fan of sports movies but the acting in this was enough that now I'm considering buying this.

 

The Frusturating –

This movie had promise. The entire thing takes place inside a coffin. No shot outside of it. But from the very beginning I felt like the filmmakers were trying to push their agenda. And when it's this obvious, it just frusterates me.

 

The Funny - 

Emily originally picked this up because she mistakenly believed this was a Month Python piece. Once she realized it was not she almost put it back until the librarian explained that it was actually a good comedy and still worth watching. 

“A single dream is more powerful than a thousand realities.”

Job's are a funny thing. Everyone(mostly) needs one. We spend the better part of the first 20 years of life preparing for them. Most people spend a 3rd of their day working at their respective job. Some people even have made jobs out of finding jobs for other people. If that's not crazy, I don't know what is.  "Working to live" is heard more often then "Living to work" because a large group of the employeed are unhappy with their position. 
There are, however, plenty of people who absolutely love their job. I've been thinking a lot lately on what my dream job would be like. If I could craft every detail to have perfection. Harmony between challenging and fun. 

I had a fairly lengthy blog written about how condensed my dream was. Then irony tapped me on the shoulder and gave me a better idea.
I can sum up my passion for a job with two words. Creative collaberation.
It's that simple really. It could be anything from music to movies, to programming, to teaching, to being a government paper pusher. Just as long as it involves creative collaberation. Working with a group of people to produce something.

This isn't something I can type into CareerBuilder and expect to find anything meaningful. The few postings that contain those words are going to be things posted by HR to contain a lot of buzzwords. This is something I need to create on my own. And for the time being I'm ok with it not being my source of income.

How about you?  Do you prefer to work collabretively or do you feel you get more done working solo? Or does that matter at all? The reason I ask is because it is imperitive that I work with other people. Without fail, anytime I attempt to really get things done on my own they will never get finished.