rebound

Wow, no bitter entry here? Hmm. Okay, being on the rebound is having recently been involved in the end of a relationship, usually, I think, the endee rather than the ender. At this point, feeling completely worthless and eternally unloveable, and much along the lines of "Please God, kill me now!"-- any sort of opportunity for someone to treat you lovingly is probably going to be taken a little too seriously. I.e., without regard as to whether you're really compatible with this other person. Rebounding is not the answer to a broken heart, but it probably feels like it at the time.

Also a basketball term for a player gaining possession of the ball after a missed shot (either a missed field goal or a missed free throw).

A player's height and positioning are generally the most important aspects of rebounding. Numerous other things (such as having long arms and experience) also play a role.

When a player rebounds a shot attempted by his own team, it's known as an offensive rebound.
When a player rebounds a shot attempted by the other team, it's known as a defensive rebound.

The rebounding portion of the NBA record book is mostly the territory of Wilt Chamberlain. Chamberlain holds the NBA single-game (55 on 11/24/1960), single-season (2149, or 27.2 per game, in 1960-1961) and career (23,924) records for rebounds. Chamberlain also led the NBA in rebounds for a record 11 seasons.
Dennis Rodman led the league in rebounds a record 7 consecutive seasons (1992-1998). (Wilt only led the league 4 straight seasons, on two occasions)

So now it's over and I've not even begun crying over you.

Did you really feel any of the things I felt during our time together? What was it about me that made you able to tell me what you felt when I was only a nuisance but a few weeks later. Was I just a cardboard sit-in for your boyfriend? Was I just a temporary outlet for all your problems with him?

I've heard you think I'm not mature enough. I've heard you think I'm not good around groups of people, that I'm not the same person there. You told me yourself that it was simply the fact that I was pushing you too hard.

These are shallow reasons to throw someone from a skyscraper you built for him, and I know you're not shallow. So the answer is obvious. You needed someone to have a brief intimacy because of your strong feelings at the time, your anger over your boyfriend's behavior and there I was, walking in the door with a stupid grin in my face like someone they drop pianos on in cartoons. I wasn't necessary any more once you'd finished unloading all your problems with him on me. That was mostly all you did with me, tell me about what he'd done to you.

It's a textbook case. The rebound. I should have seen it coming. I did see it somewhere within me, but I was struck dumb and I didn't care or maybe I thought it would all work out somehow.

Now I'm left here feeling unwanted, ashamed, alone, confused, and used, and, despite all of it, I want to be with you more than anything. It hurts so much to know as I do that you'll never want me, that I was just a temporary crutch in your life, and yet, I can't help hoping, like an idiot once again, that you'll somehow change your mind.

Worst of all, I know that I love you. I don't deserve to have to feel that way about you when you really don't want anything to do with me, but I can't change it.


(Here's that 'bitter node' wintersweet was surprised not to find...)

Rebound is a very simple one-player computer game, which I know is available for the Psion 5mx (for free, from CarrotSoft) and probably other platforms too. The playing field is a square grid, with blocks strewn in some of the squares (the grid itself is not displayed, just the blocks). The leftmost column of the playing field is alternating blocks and gaps, the column next to that has no blocks, and all the rest of the field has blocks at random.

A dot appears in a gap in the middle of the left of the screen, and moves steadily right (leaving a trail). It also falls down towards the bottom of the screen. When the 'thrust' key is pushed, the dot starts to accelerate upwards (at the same acceleration as the downward gravity). It continues to accelerate upwards until the key is released, then it is in free-fall again. If the dot bashes into the side of a block, it rebounds (a fully elastic collision - the sideways speed of the dot is constant). If the dot bashes into the top or bottom of a block, it rebounds but with a little less speed (an inelastic collision). The goal is to get the dot to the right side of the screen. If the dot leaves the screen on any of the other three sides, the game is lost. Points are given for the number of collisions the dot made on its way (the more collisions, the more points).

This is an interesting game in that there is only one control, and it's an on/off control at that. There are obstacles between you and your goal, some easy to get around, some tricky. If you miss a gap you're aiming for, you have to find another block or two to rebound off of to make another pass at it. And the trail the dot leaves can obscure the dot itself, if there's too much back-and-forth. There are two different 'dimensions' of difficulty; speed and block density. If the speed is increased, you need better reflexes. If the block density is increased, you need better planning. Improve one skill and the game can still try your weaker skill. The computer ensures that there is at least one path from the left side of the screen to the right, so if you lose, you've only got yourself to blame. This prevents a situation where you think you're doing really well, getting close to the goal, and then realise it's impossible - I hate it when that happens.

Re*bound" (?), v. i. [Pref. re- + bound: cf. F. rebondir.]

1.

To spring back; to start back; to be sent back or reverberated by elastic force on collision with another body; as, a rebounding echo.

Bodies which are absolutely hard, or so soft as to be void of elasticity, will not rebound from one another. Sir I. Newton.

2.

To give back an echo.

[R.]

T. Warton.

3.

To bound again or repeatedly, as a horse.

Pope.

Rebounding lock Firearms, one in which the hammer rebounds to half cock after striking the cap or primer.

 

© Webster 1913.

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Re*bound", v. t.

To send back; to reverberate.

Silenus sung; the vales his voice rebound. Dryden.

 

© Webster 1913.

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Re*bound", n.

The act of rebounding; resilience.

Flew . . . back, as from a rock, with swift rebound. Dryden.

 

© Webster 1913.