Keeping Blogs Going

Google Reader was a really cool contraption on the Internet, where one could have all the blogs one reads in one convenient location.

While I admit I didn't go there often, when I wanted to look up what a friend had written recently, I could go there.

Well, Google Reader met its demise and went away on July 1st.  :(

So, the week before, I went to Google Reader and moved all 50 blog links to a file, so at least I had the URLs still in one location.

While I did this, I clicked on every single link. And I was shocked and disappointed what I found.

About 10 links didn't even work at all (the pages were empty and no blog were even there anymore), about 5 links were current and had fresh blog entries, 10 links hadn't been updated since 2012, 10 more hadn't been updated since 2010, and 10 others hadn't been updated since 2009.

It got me thinking about a question a fellow blogger (from Cali) asked me one time, "How do you find time to blog? How do you come up with topics?"

The topics part of her question was super easy:

I play so much pool, that topics just jump out at me to write about. I honestly have a list of topics I have yet to even write about because I haven't had time yet. I don't ever seem to run out of topics. Further, when I see relate-able things on the Internet or TV or magazines, I write about them, also. So, I see topics literally everywhere.

I love to share and get my thoughts down, so it's pretty easy for topics to jump right at me.

As a matter of fact, I have to write myself little reminders of what I want to write about b/c I forget a lot. I can easily have 3 topics I want to write about from every weekend tourney I run or attend, or during league things will crop up, or watching my boyfriend gamble, or even just sitting with friends drinking at the pool room, I truly "see" a lot of things I want to share.

I truly think it helps to get feedback, tho. While I admit I write b/c I want to get things down for myself, the feedback from friends or fellow-pool-lovers really inspires me to write even more.

And then when people tell me they learn from my blog entries, I get even more pumped up! So many people tell me they relate to my stories, that it makes me feel like I'm contributing to our sport somehow.

Now, the other part of her question is actually the meat of why my blog is one of the "alive" ones and why others aren't, imo.

As a reminder, she also asked me "How do you find time to blog?"

I actually look for and seek opportunities to write.

For instance, my b/f and I go to the casino about an hour and a half away, and I will ask him to drive so I can write up some blog entries. As a matter of fact, I'm doing that right now. My laptop is on my lap, I'm typing these words while he is driving. I have an hour or so to get the meat of several blog entries typed up, then when I have time later (when I can log onto the Internet), I review my entry, check for errors, add more things, etc., then post it when it's finally "prime-time" ready.

It is very helpful for me to get things typed out, then go back later to proof read it, and then finally post it.

Proofreading is the quick part, so I'm able to get more blog entries completed this way if I type the bulk out separately. I can easily type up the meat of 2-6 blog entries in an hour and half if I really set my mind to it.

So, for example, I typed this on Thursday July 4th, but am just now able to get to the blog entry again to proofread it today (July 9th).  This is was my first opportunity to get to it.  But, it isn't taking me a lot of time to "prepare" it to post it b/c the bulk was typed out while my boyfriend was driving that day.

When I fly, I ALWAYS blog. I do the same thing: grab my laptop, type my main thoughts down, then put it online later when I get connected to the Internet.  I also try to capture a lot on the flight back from a big tournament or else it will take me a while to catch up on all the topics that came up.

I take my laptop to my hairdresser, or when I know I will have long waits somewhere. I don't like to waste time, and so if you ever see me just resting, it means I'm super exhausted lol.

I hardly ever type blogs at my house, but I do sometimes stay late after work and use my desk because it's much more comfy and accommodating.

What Is This Practice You Speak Of?

On Friday night, I ventured to one of the local pool rooms where my boyfriend had a match.

I watched them spar (and learned from these two good players), but they only played two sets and decided to stop.

All of the tables around us were taken and being played on, but theirs remained unused, lonely, with only a few balls left on it.

I had brought my cue in (I despise leaving my cue/case in the car due to thieves) and there it was, also lonely, leaning next to me, against my chair.

My friends were all drinking and I was the designated driver this night.  But that was a HUGE bonus for me!  Since I don't (can't, lol) play pool and drink at the same time, this was a great opportunity to hit balls by myself; to practice well.

I asked if the table was free for us still and was told yes. 

I quickly took my cues out, and proceeded to swiftly walk to the table; I was excited!

With my two leagues on hiatus, no recent weekly or weekend tourneys, I was SO excited to be able to hit balls!  I don't practice hardly at all anyway, and with BCAPL Nationals literally around the corner, I was super stoked at this opportunity!

I practiced 9 ball for almost two full hours by myself.  It felt so wonderful.  :)

I was surrounded by weekend warriors so they either got in my way a lot, were ball bangers, or were drinking a lot and didn't even notice me, lol. 

It felt so awesome to practice.  I didn't stroke enough at times, but glad to be aware of that going into a big tourney.  The practice was definitely quality.  :)

Handling Nervousness

I have learned a few very good tips over the years about how to handle nerves.  I thought I would share those today.

First and foremost, if you find yourself nervous, by all means, freaking BREATHE!

:)

Seriously, the best thing I have found to slow down my adrenaline is to take a very deep breath in, then HOLD IT.

Hold it in.

Then slowly let it out.

Repeat it.

Don't keep doing this til you pass out, lol, but do it til you feel your heart rate slow down.  You will know when to stop.

You will notice when you hold your breath in, you can feel your heart pulsating, usually in your neck and chest loudly.

But as you let go slowly, you can feel with just the very next deep breath in, your heart rate has been lowered.

I do this a few times in a row when I get nervous and it really, really helps.

The other thing I do doesn't necessarily stop me from being nervous, but it HELPS my play.

When I get nervous, my arms get wobbly.   Tough to play pool well and make great shots when your arms feel like butter.

When I am nervous, I tend to rush my shots.  I'm not really thinking clear when I'm nervous anyway, so it's very easy for my old habits of shooting too fast and jumping up to creep their ugly heads up.

So, instead, when I'm nervous, I stroke MORE.  A lot more.  Not 100 times, but more than normal. This is my second biggest tip for nerves.

I know what you are thinking, you shouldn't adjust your pre shot routine and fundamentals.  And that's fine.  But if I'm too nervous, my fundamentals are out the window anyway.  Might as well use something to help me stay down and combat the nerves a little, which for many is to stroke a few more times than you normally would.

#3:  This may seem to conflict directly with the above paragraph, but when I focus my thoughts on my fundamentals, it actually distracts me from being nervous anyway.  It's a beautiful thing!  So, stroking a couple of extra (or few) times more when I'm nervous allows me to stay down better, and reminds me to look at the object ball last.


Fourthly, of course the other thing to consider is, the more pressure situations you put yourself in (or find yourself in), the better you do each time.  My biggest learning experiences are the ones where I did NOT win; the ones where I fell right on my face in front of everyone.  Those experiences allowed me to do better under the pressure the next time.  Allowed me to have another change to keep my nerves in check with breathing and stroking more, and to learn from the mistakes I made under pressure in the past.  You will get better and better each time you get to "practice" these techniques under pressure.

Cinco: I try to remember if I'm nervous, it just means I care.  And it's a beautiful thing to care about being in the finals or playing in a big tournament or against a tough opponent. It means it's important to you.

And finally #6, if I get really nervous, I sometimes compare it to other things.  Is being in the finals of a tournament really something I should be nervous about?  Heck, I've witnessed death, been through a divorce, lost my best friend; you get the point.  Now, don't bring yourself down!  But perspective is a good thing and can help with your nerves, too.  Nerves = scary.  Don't be scared; be happy you can even play this game we all love!

As I overheard my friend Suzanne Osborne Smith say on a live stream once, "the pros don't ignore the pressure, they just know how to handle pressure."

I'm not saying I'm a pro, but what I do know from experience is you can't ignore nerves or ignore pressure; accept them and try to control them a little bit. And the pieces of advice above have helped me the most. 

Hope it helps you, too!

It's funny, when I started this blog entry, I was only going to mention the first two items (they are the most helpful out of all of them for me right now).  But then I remembered more, lol.