My grappling partner appears to have gotten stronger in my absence. Either that, or I have grown weaker.
In either event, I am once again sore and covered in small to mid-sized bruises.
Tomorrow, I check out a local Judo school.
I still seek recommendations for good martial arts training on the south-ish side of Boston.
My “upgrade” so far
For reference:
My rough metric of coolness in the martial arts is the combination of two factors – badass and suck. As a rough metric: badass / suck = coolness. This misses a large number of factors, perhaps the most important of which is that the truly competent exponent does not get into very many fights at all.
Badass is roughly: The number of years that you have been an active student, multiplied by the number of fights and / or physical confrontations that you are in during an average year – plus one. Note, flashy weapons, belt titles, and really loud yelling do not affect “badass.”
Suck is, roughly: The number of patches on your Gi, less two (I allow one national flag and one school identifier) multiplied by the number of descriptive adjectives (“assistant master head instructor”) that you demand your students use in addressing you multiplied by the number of “secret” techniques that you believe in.
Mitigating factors can certainly affect this figure in some pretty radical ways. I am happy to adjudicate edge cases.
For examples of what I’m talking about, I refer you to “Pimp My Gi:”
They also have a pretty funny series of videos entitled “Your Martial Art Sucks.”
Putin has apparently given up on concealing the fact that he has evil, sorcerous powers. Here’s a picture from the NY Times of him casting a spell.
Another day, another airport. This time it’s Chicago Ohare. We’re waiting for our airplane to get free of customs, since it apparently arrived from an “international destination.”
Family time was excellent. The compound in St. Joe has reached maturity and is fully operational. The turkey was sourced from a nearby Amish farm. Amish turkey, I tell you. We played about a billion games of chess, walked on the shore, played music, ate way too much, toured wineries, and generally made merry.
Now, if the plane would only come and pick us up … we would set out for home.
The news today is … interesting. First off, we have this truly unfortunate guy in Nairobi who fought off a lion, but was taken out by the hyenas shortly thereafter.. redmed has been looking at me and saying in a hyena voice, “heeey pinkey. Rough day?”
I mean seriously: Exhausted by his struggle, he lacked the strength to fight off a subsequent attack by hyenas.
And then, there was the other nasty thing. Apparently, doctors pulled a 10 pound hairball out of a young woman’s stomach. Yes, there was a picture. No, I’m not going to post it. Ick.
“Heeeeey, pinkey.”
Best wishes to all for Thanksgiving. I’ll be in St. Joe MI with the extended fam.
I’d list all the people for whom I’m grateful this time around, but I could never get them … all of you … in. Family, friends new and old, work, neighbors, leaders, and people who I’ve never met in person. Anyone who makes the world a slightly more positive and interesting place. All the folks who have been incredibly kind and generous with me. All that, plus the world as a whole.
I remain constant in my belief that I’m one of the most fortunate people I’ve ever met. For that, I’m deeply grateful.
And now, my daily Tao reading turned up this gem:
When the Tao is lost, there is goodness.
When goodness is lost, there is morality.
When morality is lost, there is ritual.
Ritual is the spent husk of faith,
and the seed of chaos.
Does babesintempland speak for all of us, or just me? Specifically, this.
Not that it’s all that bad. There are also moments of communion, like when you and the other three young girls in your department all go out for a longer-than-regulation lunch at the Chinese restaurant on the corner. You have very little in common with these girls except the air space you share eight hours a day, and the communal file folder box, but that’s enough for now. All you need is someone to go out to lunch with, to get through the day with, some girls who know the deal and who seem with it. With whom you can congratulate yourselves on not being morons and with whom you can complain about the others who really are morons, or are just moody, or just mean.
Maybe it’s just late and I need to get to sleep … but this was all resonant for me.
The “One Laptop Per Child” program is doing something truly remarkable. This is the project started by Nicholas Negroponte, who spearheaded the design and manufacture of a just-barely-over $100 laptop. His intent is to make it possible for every single child in most countries in the world to have a laptop computer for educational purposes.
For the next six days, it’s possible to donate a laptop to a child in a developing nation, and also receive one yourself for a total of $400. Do it now. However you want to put it, it’s a very decent way to (a) donate to a remarkable effort (b) get a cool piece of technology. I plan to order one … and then to show it off to all my friends. You should too.
I think that it’s humiliating that the United States will not be the first country in the world to ensure that every schoolchild has access to their very own computer. What kind of pathetic, half-rate superpower are we? Brazil committed to it in 2005. It’s far too late for pilot programs or trial runs. The only option now is to haul ass to catch up, or else be left behind.
I see it snowing, through the window of my new apartment.
I’m listening to classical guitar christmas carols as I work.
It’s all going to be okay.