And I'm Supposed to Find Time to Run Regularly Too:

I'm sore. I'm tired. I'm now, by the skin of my teeth, an "advanced" kung fu student. Please forgive me for my lack of posting these last 3 weeks; i've been "training" for the test i took this Saturday. Here are my miserable stats: 1.5 mile run = finished in 19:01 and should have finished in 15:00...4 points taken off 8 Basic Punches = decided i only need to do 7?...points taken off 8 Basic Kicks = decided i only need to do 7?...points taken off Gung Lic = apparently made up my own version, leaving a section out...points taken off Sup Se Lo = ok 8 Basic Stances = ok 8-Chain Punch = ok Eagle-Claw Hammer-Fist = ok Dropping Horse Defense = ok 16-Hands = ok Cern Ca Do (2-handed sword form) = ok 2 minutes of Horse Stance = ok I passed, but i am not happy with how i did. I'm mad at myself for leaving out a kick and a punch in both of my basics, especially since i've been practicing them correctly. The section that i left out of Gung Lic doesn't seem to bother me as much since i've consistantly been leaving it out since i started "training". Generally i was faster in my forms but they felt sloppy to me (and obviously the repercussions to being quicker was that i forgot some of them...). I was fairly happy with my sword form considering i learned the 3rd section in 2 lessons and could remember it and was able to put all 3 sections together fairly smoothly. I of course could have been lower and more precise, but there were things that i was happy about am content with can accept. Let me give you a little backstory: since i've been working the front desk on Mondays and Wednesdays i haven't been able to attend any of the Monday night weapons classes and i was missing every Wednesday night class essentially cutting my class time down to 2 nights a week. Should i have proof-reading or editing work that needed to be done (or if i just got burnt out from all the crap i keep up with and have to do), sometimes those Tuesday and Thursday classes got eliminated thus making my practice time whatever i did at home or after hours (without instruction) and the occasional class (blessedly with instruction). Now that i'm in the advanced class, sifu tells me that i will:

• be finishing Gung Lic form (i only know 2 of 3 sections) while simultaneously,
• learning Bong Bo form,
• be catching up on section 1 of the staff form (i am roughly 8 weeks behind) while simultaneously,
• learning section 2 of the staff form (so that i stay caught up),
• be continuing my regular in-class drills and,
• be learning to fight.

That all takes place on Tuesday and Thursday nights. Also taking place on Tuesdays - before kun fu - will be a 45 minute ass-kicking kickboxing class. With Sifu. To be followed up with a private lesson kickboxing class with Sifu on Friday afternoons. This is to prepare me to start teaching the kickboxing classes on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Apparently there will be no time for burn out.

Anyhoo. That's my story for the past 3 weeks and a brief yet grisly look into the rest of my freakin life...wish me luck.

Morning

!

I am officially a 3 and a 4 today - hooray! This little message was waiting for me when i got out of the shower this morning. I love mornings that start off with a good solid belly-laugh! **The Momo? Is a reference to a time when the b.e.d.'s handwriting was a little, hm, ambiguous...

On My Way To My Cube:

I absolutely love this time of year. I like the transition period between full summer and autumn, when you can feel the days getting shorter and you don't have to get up at the butt-crack to see the sun rise. I like the smell as the earth seems to be cooling off; clear and crisp.

Well, Are You?

I saw this on a big utility truck sitting next to me at a stop light. It made me chuckle.

Dangle, Dabble, Toil and Babble:

Well no, i haven't really been anywhere. Then why the hell haven't i been here you ask? Hm. That is a good question. I'm not sure what's been going on really. I know that i've been flying low, trying to recover from the fiasco that was the Buick's Dying Days - in which i continuously flung money at it in the hopes that, after approximately $700 in the space of a month, it would be fixed and drivable - two vacations, two new tattoos (at, ahem, a significantly lower price than i had anticipated - two for the price of one hey hey!) and the stress brought on by the B.E.D. starting high school. All of this happened within a two month span. I'm broke - but am catching up, have been exhausted - but am catching up, am 4 weeks away from my test out of intermediate and into advanced - which will involve a 1.5 mile run, one complete weapon form and all of my empty hand forms - and i haven't started running or training or, hm, anything. I'll be turning 34 in a couple of days and it really hasn't sunk in yet, partly due to the thick layer of "burnout" that envelopes me. But not really burnout. But yeah, kinda like burnout. I don't know. Two jobs, free-lancing, and no training seems to take a toll on me, but on the other hand, i've been travelling a lot, have been drawing a lot more and crafting a lot more and have been devouring books. Oh sweet christ have i been reading. And music? Yeah baby. People have just been shoving music at me and i can't seem to get enough. Here Wee, take this external hard drive that has nothing on it but music, and copy what you want. Add some stuff to it if you think i'd like it...Oh, here, i brought this fist-full of CDs for you that i thought you'd like. No, you don't have to give them back, i copied them for you...Ahh and the music. The music, it makes me smile. It elicits "Man! You listen to the coolest music!" from the Blue Eyed Daughter. Oh, and letters. Yeah i've been writing more letters. Well, notes really. Nothing lengthy or soul spewing, but handwritten and slightly personal. But somehow, my pendulum seems to swing blatantly one way or the other and never just hangs out and i'm thinking that to just dangle would be a nice thing. Dangling with a little dabbling...

His Highness:

Saimon