We must defend ourselves according to our opponents' ability, not their intentions. -Koushun Takami
I frequently get blog hits on "Josh Waitzkin girlfriend". ???? Are these from women who want to stalk him, or what?
Tuesday- day shift, so walked a mile each way from the nearest free parking to work and back.
I am also down to 2 caffeinated/sugared sodas per day. I know, still too much. Diet caffeine free A&W tastes better than diet caffeine free Dr Pepper or diet caffeine free Squirt. I agree there's something to this "diet pop gives you the munchies" thing. Studies have shown that people on diet pop continue to gain weight.
I've gone cold turkey on sugared pop before, and unfortunately I am not one of those people who magically lose several pounds just by cutting out pop. It doesn't make any difference either way for me regarding weight. But I'm hoping that cutting the caffeine will let me sleep a little better.
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Thursday: Met with Tasara & Tiffany Ann re: the drum ceremonies. They got lost and showed up late, so we didn't have as much time as we probably needed. We talked around a number of things, and never actually pinned down what minimum regimentation she requires of me. I think we were all afraid to broach it. After she went off on me last month, I'm feeling intimidated by her... and I think she's frustrated and unsure what to make of me because I don't run off at the mouth enough for her to know what's going on in my head. Turns out that the new host who bailed last month bailed *because* he was fighting with her- so it wasn't just me; she was fighting with everybody.
It was decided to do some outdoor ceremonies over the summer, and they made plans to repeat some of the events they had done last summer- so I am off the hook for a while, anyway. I had taken the dojo key with me, ready to give it back. I guess I have additional time to decide, now. I need to be better about actually showing up to the events that I'm not running. I did volunteer to talk up carpooling, since that was the bulk of the feedback we got from participants ("I love the event but I can't *GET* there"). As soon as I have a more reliable vehicle, I'm fine with picking people up.
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Saturday: Terry came over and fixed my motorcycle (yay)! He refused to accept payment, so after we argued about that for a bit, he said- "If you must, donate it to Cindy for her at-risk kids," I said, "Oooo- Axel doesn't have a real gi yet." He said, "That's a good idea." So I gave the money to Cindy.
Jalen, Eman and Axel are getting ready for a comp, so we did "mock tournament" today. Lamont was reffing, and I heckled him. After half a dozen matches, his brain was frying and he was ready for a break. There were a lot of confusing rules and permutations. Cindy refs ALL freakin' day at the Revolution. I would not want to attempt it.
We were doing no-gi. The Revolution changed the rule about how you get takedown points if your opponent pulls guard. We also had to remember to play by "kids' rules"- ie, no guillotines, head-and-arm, or short choke. Dang. There go most of my marginal no-gi sub options. She also said "no turtling". I pooched my lower lip out. She was looking right at me, of course, and started laughing when she saw my face.
I haven't worked with Eman in a long time. He is a lot taller. You can tell he is going to be Carlos-shaped when he gets his full growth- tall with long, long legs. You can tell just by how long his feet are already. I knew he was good, but I have 40lb on him, so I went light on him our first match. He schooled me 18 to 6. So after that, I dialed it up a bit. Lamont DQ'ed me for placing my forearm in Eman's throat. Can you believe it?!? Lousy ref! I wasn't leaning on him- gimme a break, I wouldn't put a ton of of pressure on a 100lb kid's throat. I'm not like that. I just wanted to hold him still for a minute, because he was popping around like a Mexican jumping bean. They all thought I was being mean. I would have thought Cindy'd be proud of me for getting DQ'ed for being mean. She's always telling me to be meaner.
Trapped in bottom half guard a lot with Wei. He tapped me out with some kind of choke wherein he had his elbow on the mat and my head trapped under his armpit (facing his back). I got S-mount on him and kept it for a bit, and tried to choke him for a while but could not finish. He is very resistant to being choked.
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Later........... Turtle Spirit Jam
Nice to not be on the hot seat for a change. I wore my new fox tail. If you are strange enough to ever need a fox tail- and don't want to be so morbid as to wear a real one- you want this guy, who does very nice work:
http://www.artfire.com/ext/shop/studio/OtterlyAmazing/1/7/779//
I had a little trouble getting situated in the car, and I finally placed the tail along my spine. I buzzed the McDonald's drive-through because I didn't have time to eat. I didn't think the tail was very visible, since I was leaning back on most of it- but the cashier peeked over my shoulder and chirped, "Nice fox tail!" **BLUSH**. I don't really mind if people think I'm a weirdo, but I'd rather not come off as some kind of sexual deviant.
Nice turnout. I did not take the recorder or the ocarinas. I don't feel quite proficient enough to even twiddle on them in public yet (still squeaking a little, and having a challenge staying on key). I took the double guiro again, but did not use it. Used the egg shaker and Ascha (large frame drum) only. I took my bamboo staff, but only did one dance with it because the area was so crowded. I couldn't do very many realistic moves. I was very careful, and did not hit anyone with my staff *until* I was leaving the dojo at the end and was trying to find my shoes in the pile at the door.
There were a handful of strong drummers, which was *REALLY* nice, and a few people singing/chanting. There was enough instrumental racket to preclude serious chanting- but near the end, I managed to get a bit of a mongrelized call-and-response going. Me calling and a couple of the men responding. As soon as it was solid enough, I circumambulated the circle and managed to pick up a few female chanters joining my part. After *THAT* got established to a decent degree, I did a little free-form solo on top of it. I had to go up three octaves to make myself heard (it was THAT loud). That's higher than I like to sing (and not my best sound), but at least I stayed in key. Challenging. But when the free-form solo harmonies are flowing, you don't want to squander that! I've also had enough people compliment my singing at this point that I am more willing to go ahead and do it. Unfortunately, my voice doesn't hold out for very long in those upper registers. And now my throat feels all raw and furry.
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