Darmok at Tanagra, Again

Most people think I became a swim coach because I love yelling at people.

I can see why people think that. Based on some of the workouts I design, it would seem fair to label me as cruel, heartless, sadistic, and demented.

But the truth is that coaching is the perfect way for me to hang out with the people I admire most. The folks on my swim team are friendly, fun, supportive, and above all, inspirational.

Here's an example: My friend Reynold Kalstrom is nicknamed "The Terminator" because of his relentless and unstoppable determination for peak performance. Last weekend at the Boulder IronMan race, he won his age group and qualified to compete in the Hawaii IronMan World Championships later in the year. He has a great shot at winning that one, too. And the impressive thing is that he led his age group from the start of the race, effectively "terminating" his competitors with his first few swimming strokes.

And yet you couldn't imagine a nicer guy. Smart, funny, humble, and always reliable, Reynold is the kind of guy I would like to be. Plus, he looks about 20 years younger than he actually is, which is something else I wish I could tap into.

Reynold's attitude is actually shared among MOST of the swimmers I know -- I'm just using him as an example because of his recent IronMan accomplishment. But this is why I love to surround myself with people like that; it provides a constant reminder of the possibilities. It's really hard to be a pessimist when you're on a Masters swim team.

It's such a contrast to the attitudes I encountered while growing up in Kansas. My grandmother was the queen of pessimism -- the only topics on which she could converse at length concerned disease, death, and the unbearable hardships that defined her life. Yes, she did live through the depression, and did suffer some lean and moderately difficult times...but by the time I was old enough to encounter her complaints, she was the beneficiary of a fully-supported retirement lifestyle in a comfortable home during the prosperous and exciting era of the Apollo program.

And yet, she constantly complained. When she turned 60, she announced that "No one should live this long. I pray for the good lord to take me away from all this misery." Though she had no physical health problems at all, she never once thought to try to accomplish anything. Turning 60 was supposed to be the end, and it made her angry that she continued to remain upright and processing oxygen.

Perhaps that's why I have the attitude I do -- when I heard my grandma talk that way, I promised myself that I was NEVER going to be like that. I wanted to live a LONG time and to fill my life with interesting challenges for as long as I could hold out. And I knew that hanging around with athletes was an essential part of that commitment.

(The saddest part of my grandmother's story is that despite her earnest desire for expiration at age 60, she lived another 23 years...every hour of which was spent watching the clock in anticipation of eternal midnight.)

Does this mean that I want to do an IronMan race when I reach the 70-plus age group? Probably not. There are equally interesting things to do that don't involve running. But...I won't rule it out.

Anyway, congratulations to Reynold, and to all the other Foothills Masters swimmers who have recently raced. We also have a good group doing the USAT Nationals next weekend, and I'll be sure to report on that.

In the meantime, let's get to the actual subject of today's blog: Movie terminology that has become part of mainstream language. (Sorry about taking the scenic route to get here.)

This topic came up yesterday, when a friend of mine was describing the racecourse for the Boulder IronMan. He noted that a segment of the course was "shaped like a flux capacitor." Is there anyone in the world who would not know what that meant? I doubt it. Everyone knows exactly what you mean if you describe a coworker as "the company's JarJar."

I know I've talked about this topic before, but my friend's reference to flux capacitors made me think that it would be fun to ask you which movie phrases you use as conceptual shorthand in day-to-day life. Sure, everybody uses "warp speed" to mean really really fast, and "catch 22" to mean, well, catch 22. It probably doesn't get used too frequently, but if somebody said "Rosebud," well, you would know that he really meant "I have wasted my life in pursuit of business and financial acquisitions when I really should've been playing in the snow or smelling roses or some stuff like that."

What others can you think of? Let me know...and have a great day!