Spending the week in Maryland. Went back to the new karate school and had yet another good experience. It’s entirely possible that I’ll never test for a belt there … but the training is awesome.
Author: cdwan
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Wild kingdom
In summary:
Wildebeests approach water and are set upon by lions. Beasts bug out, but the lions grab a calf and drag it to the water. Lions settle in to wait for it to stop squirming. Suddenly, lions are all “SHIT! SHIT!” as a crocodile ALSO grabs the calf. Lions win the tug-of-beast, but are suddenly confronted by a Wall Of Rage in the form of the herd of wildebeests that has returned for their calf. Lions are flung, lions are head-butted, and eventually … the lions bail.
To the delight of all, the calf STANDS UP and walks away.
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Haitian thoughts.
Here’s a few vignettes from Haiti:
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Back to it.
Back to “normal” life today.
Back on the road tomorrow.
Still processing.
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Haiti, first of many
It’s going to take me a while to process any meaningful fraction of my thoughts about this year’s trip. Going to a subsistence farming community in a third world country is a much longer journey than just the travel … and once again I’ve experienced a massive mental reset.Pending that, here are the pictures. If each of them is worth a thousand words, then this is a quarter million word opus.
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Haiti
Posting from the Hospice St. Joseph in Port Au Prince, Haiti. The trip has been a rousing success so far, and we head back to the calm, clean environs of the states tomorrow morning. Three flights, one shuttle between airports, and a drive later, we’ll be home.
Since I’m communicating over a shared satellite uplink, I will be brief.
Haiti is in better shape than last year, though Port Au Prince is still easily the worst city I’ve ever seen. There is noticeably less tension in the air, and our bargaining with the vendors had an almost playful feel, rather than the hard edge that I remember from last year.
All is well, redmed, Tara, and my dad are all doing great, and we’ll be home tomorrow.
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Pictures
I’ve finally gotten around to posting a bunch of pictures from the spring. This covers cheetah running, Jen fellow-inducting, a party, and some karate.
For the interest of the moving-picture crowd, I offer Tara’s staff form at a recent demo. She’s coming with us to Haiti.
Also, fine, fine, here’s video of The cheetah running.
I’m out, for Haiti. See ya on the flip side.
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Grouchy
I am grouchy today. This is odd, since it’s a stunningly nice day, I’m going on vacation tomorrow, and I’m actually at home. I think it has something to do with the fact that this is one of three days that I’ll be at home during a period of approximately three weeks. It makes me aware of the chafing.
In that regard, I present (located by rev_e) a short piece about our commercial monoculture. I believe that it resonates because it talks about how this must be what we wanted, since we chose to be here.
Standard caveats apply: There’s cussing in this one.
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Iron shirt
I am covered in bruises.
Went to my first class as a real, signed-up student at the Kim Studio in Maryland last night. It was a good time. I had previously attended two classes as a prospective student, taught by two different instructors. On Tuesday and Thursday, the “grandmaster” of the school teaches. I figured that this would be a good place to have my first “real” class. We did mostly a conditioning class, focusing on “iron shirt” training.
The grandmaster spent perhaps half of the class working with me. That gives him instant high marks in my book. He took a personal interest in this new student (me) and wanted to know where I’m at and what I need to learn. So, he was my partner for partner stretching (I am now remarkably limber), and he was my partner for most of the iron shirt stuff. Considering that “iron shirt” means, primarily, “hitting each other in a controlled manner,” this made for an interesting workout.
I have a new fitness goal: At age 50+, I want to leave the technical details to my underlings, and run the “make you strong and tough” class. Forget this “wise old dude with a bunch of tricks up his sleeve” stuff. I want to be the “tough old dude who can still run you into the ground.”
I’m not sure I can adequately explain why “Iron shirt” training is a good idea. It is, in fact, vaguely reminiscent of Beavis and Butthead’s gym teacher, shouting “KICK ME IN THE JIMMY.” The goal is to develop the ability to take hits without being hurt as much. It’s a toughening practice that involves, in short, being hit. Working with a partner, you start with single strikes to the thighs and midsection, and ramp up to a mutual level of (dis)comfort.
I’ll skip exposition and say: Great training, excellent respect and control throughout the school, and I can learn a lot from these people.
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Cloroquine Dreams
Had the first of the incredibly vivid, epic dreams last night.
redmed and I were about to have a baby. We decided to deliver her on Block Island, because taking a long boat ride during labor seemed like a good idea. While we were away, redmed moved all our furniture into our new house. Go ahead, ask how she did this while in labor. Dream, remember? Anyway, the baby was very cute, and immediately started learning and repeating words. She was toddling by the time we got home.
There was also some stuff with the characters from Sherman’s Lagoon, with the shark hiding in a can to avoid shark hunters. That part was a bit confusing.