Hey there everyone. Just wanted to let people know I was starting a new blog about my struggles with go:

http://lifeinatari.tumblr.com

I've just gotten going with it, and we'll see how it goes. If you're interested, please check it out and let me know what you think. It seems weirdly self-indulgent to write a blog, but I figured it couldn't hurt, and I might learn something in the process.

Cheers,
Jen

Welcome! Good luck with your studies,

I hope the contemptuous fellow didn't throw you off too much. It might not have been contempt at all, just the remainders of his attention after putting a lot of his concentration into the game.

I had a friend (interestingly, also named Jen) who picked up the game because she wanted to beat a fellow she felt had a bit of a superior vibe to him. Unfortunately, starting that way can kind've "poison the well". Getting good is more about loving the intricacies of the game, enjoying finding interesting combinations. (And often, it's about loving to lose... interestingly)

(Being pulled in by the aesthetics is actually a great start, you just need to abstract that initial appreciation to the formations, finding beauty in efficiency of shape instead of just the simplicity of the rules)

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Tactics yes, Tact no...

Great start, keep it up!

Welcome to the esoteric world of Go blogging, unfortunately it's even more esoteric than Go...

P.S. Great name.

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David

Go Game Guru: Learn Go | How to Get Better at Go | Go Game Shop | Go Boards | Baduk TV

Thanks for the response. I completely agree that my goal of getting good enough to beat that guy was less-than-ideal, and I've long since given up on that way of thinking about it. My goals with respect to go have pretty much all turned inward. I'm just interested in learning what I can and hopefully getting glimpses here and there of the beauty of the game that I'm positive are in there but that I haven't seen yet.

Do you have an idea how strong that guy was?

I'd say, as far as I'm concerned, it's about improving over self... getting better.
It's maybe because I started late but I don't value progress vs. specific individuals.
Other people may have more time, energy, dedication available to improve than I do and that's ok.
As long as I can feel I learn and get better on a medium term, I'm fulfilled by the game.

I'm not at all sure. If I had to guess, I'd suppose he was somewhere in the 3k-5k range, but that's just a stab in the dark. Beating him is no longer my goal, though, and I don't go out of my way to chat with him, so I've never asked.

fun little blog, keep it up

Jen, just noticed your blog disappeared

Have you had enough of writing it or did tumblr delete it for no reason?

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David

Go Game Guru: Learn Go | How to Get Better at Go | Go Game Shop | Go Boards | Baduk TV

Hey there, thanks for the comment/question.

I got to a point where I wasn't making any discernible progress, and kind of felt like my blog was becoming something where I'd mostly complain rather than offer any interesting insights, so I decided I'd stop writing.

I didn't want it to become one of those "dead" places on the net where things just never get updated, so I decided to delete it. Maybe at some point if I feel like I've got something interesting to contribute, I'll start it up again.

-Jen

I've been trying to find this blog for a while now. I remembered reading a blog some time ago about someone who was documenting their progress in go after being motivated by a contemptuous coworker. I've finally found it again... nuts.

Oh well, thanks for the update and good luck to you.