Wednesday, September 21, 2005

More Martial Arts Thoughts- Some are High-jacked!!

Wherever you go, there you are.
Oh...so...true.

Fight as though you are already dead.
Yamamoto Tsunetomo

Even if you think it is unbearable, you can bear up one more day.
Yamamoto Tsunetomo

And one that I still haven't figured out:
Be like the outside of a tiger and the inside of a dog.
Yamamoto Tsunetomo


I think something was Lost in Translation there.

Hey, a great movie.....

Lecture: Blood and a great instructor

Tonight in my Anatomy and Physiology class we covered blood. Something I had forgotten; blood is a connective tissue. That had totally slipped my mind. Blood also has a whole bunch of stuff in it: white blood cells, red blood cells, fibrinogen, globulins (antibodies), lots of water, ferrous iron (valence of 2+) and a pH of about 7.4. Your blood is what cleanses and feeds all your tissues in your whole body. Totally cool.

Having a competent, talented instructor is making this A&P class so very enjoyable. My instructor, Dr. Kelly Sexton, lectures from the premise of logic. This or that happens because of logical reasons. It makes it so much more interesting. It also lends a path for you brain to follow to categorize the information.

To get where you are going, regardless if it is in your education, or another venue, you have to know where you want to go. I try to have that idea when I teach martial arts. Even if the path you see or a student sees seems unattainable, you gotta just do it. (I DO remember what it was to be a white belt!)

Where there is a will there is a way. It got me this far, let's hope this attitude doesn't fail me now!

Monday, September 19, 2005

Bachelorette Weekend

This past weekend was my roommate's Bachelorette party. She wanted to go to Shreveport and gamble, so that is what we did. We hit the Hollywood and Boomtown. There were 5 of us who went all total. We rented a van so we could all ride together and goof off and be silly!

Any road trip requires road-trip-munchies. Here was the menu...my tummy is still very, very angry with me.
  • C2 Coke
  • Gatorade
  • Water
  • Animal crackers with icing
  • Iced cupcakes
  • Double chocolate fudge chocolate chip cookies
  • Cheez-its
  • Two kinds of Cheesy-poofs
  • Asian cracker mix
  • Baby carrots
  • Low-fat wheat thins (I didn't get it either...)
  • Dove Dark Chocolate (Yours truly goes no where without them)

So, needless to say, junk food haven.

We did eat a meal when we got there, the buffet at the Casino...Nothing to write home or blog about. The slots were fun, none of us lost or gained a tremendous amount of $$.

The whole point was to get out of town and goof off for 24 hrs. We accomplished that in spades.

Oh, we did get two offers from different men to strip for us if we needed. Neither were attractive enough to warrant a request. Nice to get an offer though!!

Wednesday, September 14, 2005

Blog Chain Letter...?

OK, just do it and get it overwith...call me a sucker.
I very dear friend sent this to me and because I couldn't think of 7 people to send it to (sad I know) I thought I'd just publish it. It is a nice poem and I had great respect for Mother Theresa. So here you go.

In case anyone is interested, Saint Theresa is known as the Saint of the Little Ways. Meaning, she believed in doing the little things in life well and with great love.
She is also the patron Saint of flower growers and florists. She is represented by roses. May everyone be blessed who receives this message. Theresa's Prayer cannot be deleted. REMEMBER to make a wish before you read the poem. That's all you have to do. There is nothing attached. Just send this to seven people and let me know what happens on the fourth day. Sorry you have to forward the message, but try not to break this, please. Suggestion: copy and paste rather than forward to protect email addresses and access to e-virus. (you make a wish?) If you don't make a wish, it won't come true. Last chance to make a wish!
St. Theresa's Prayer: May today there be peace within. May you trust God that you are exactly where you are meant to be. May you not forget the infinite possibilities that are born of faith. May you use those gifts that you have received, and pass on the love that has been given to you. May you be content knowing you are a child of God. Let this presence settle into our bones, and allow your soul the freedom to sing, dance, praise and love. It is there for each and every one of you.
Now, send this to 7 people within the next 5 minutes and your wish will come true. And remember to send this back. I count as one. You'll see why.

I have no idea if anything will happen in 4 days, but what the heck?! I did make a wish and I'm not telling!!

Sunday, September 11, 2005

Butt Quarters

This is something I learned recently but refused to participate in:

Butt Quarters.
Yes, a drinking game.
Oh yeah...

The jist:
One places a quarter between one's gluteous maximuses and proceeds to circumnavigate the room and deposit said quarter into a cup....
No hands.
No kidding.
If you successfully do this, everyone else drinks.
If you fail, you drink.

Regardless, it is a primo observation experience.
Human Nature at its finest.

Martial Arts Thoughts:

  • You realize how much the arts have influenced you when you choose a mattress size based on whether your long weapons fit neatly at the bed-side.
  • The more I study empty hand, the less my hands are empty.
  • As you acquire more ability to do great harm, you seem to only search for the least harmful ways.
  • Kindness no longer also means weakness. It takes great strength to give kindness.
  • You keep extra weapons in areas of the house that are most applicable to the particular space on question.
  • You watch martial arts movies and think, " That is a great technique, I gotta try that!"
  • You can only answer a question on kata by physical illustration.
  • And finally: All those Japanese sayings begin to really make sense to you....

Food For Thought

I wanted to relate something I overheard while shopping the other day.

I must confess, I shop the Salvation Army Store regularly. I find fantastic deals there and the people watching is great. Sometimes the people listening can be very inspirational.

I was there last Friday and overheard a very nice African American woman speaking with another woman who was Caucasian. Normally I couldn't care less about race, ethnicity or anything for that matter, it's about the person inside not the skin they wear on the outside. But this happens to be pertinent to the story.

The African American woman was very well dressed, well spoken and just very nice. The Caucasian woman was just the opposite; she had the look of a difficult life, very poorly dressed and generally sad. These two ladies were discussing the New Orleans tragedy and apparently the Caucasian woman was someone who had escaped the devastation but some friends of hers had not.

The more affluent woman stood and listened intently to the less fortunate woman and did nothing but give her reassurance and kindness and even a hug at the end of the conversation. I was so touched. I was suddenly very happy to be of the human race.

But the statement that truly hit me was what the less fortunate woman said to the the other woman as they parted ways:

"Thanks for listening to me and being so nice to me. You have no idea what it meant to me for someone to be so nice."

The response?
"But isn't that what we all should do for one another? It was my pleasure."

Race is irrelevent if we first remember to be human.
People can be worth you time.
Being nice is free, only if we choose to give it.

Wednesday, September 07, 2005

The Here and Now

My second degree black belt test is coming up in November. (That is just way too fast!)

Tai Chi is what I have chosen to do as my specialty for my second degree. I have been learning this art for almost three years now and I still suck at it. But it is a way of life.

One of the things I am going to attempt to discuss with some level of aplomb is how Tai Chi has taught me to slow down. Not just physically, although that definitely has benefits, but more so mentally.

Tai Chi is so darn complicated that there comes a point where you realize you are doing nothing but breathing and trying to move correctly. Your body also learns to crave that type of all-engaging moving meditation. It is as if we humans were really created for Tai Chi.

I find that my mind can actually succeed at doing nothing but the here and now...This one moment in time. I can actually find moments when I am not thinking of what I did a half a second ago and I am unconcerned with what to do next.
I just have to do this right now.
Just this.
What ever 'this' is at the moment.

It is such a relief to be able to do that, find the off button for my brain.

So it is the discipline of the core that has been most educational.

I love it...

Bad Santa

I just finished watching Bad Santa, an amazingly "wrong" movie that is hysterical!!

First of all, I really dislike the holidays. So I sort of identified with the Santa in the movie, although I am not that decrepit and don't have any issues with alcoholism.

The movie is this dark comedy that just keeps surprising you at every turn. And Santa is Oh So Bad. Not for the kiddies at all!

This would be even better really intoxicated, but stone sober was plenty entertaining.

But it is not for the meek at heart. It is raunchy and WRONG!

But go watch it anyway!!

Tuesday, September 06, 2005

Perspectives on Motorcycles

This is my friend's post on her new-found adoration of motorcycles...

It is good entertainment. Her link is also on my side-bar.
Whose Reality Is This?

Monday, September 05, 2005

Hair Raising Experience

I took the dogs walking tonight. There is a park close to the house, so I often walk over there with my roommates' dogs, Sydney, an Australian Shepard, and Max, a very oversized border collie.

It was a lovely evening to walk. On our second lap around the park, I saw two men get out of their car and begin walking onto the park grounds, just in the path of where I was to walk.

I found myself running the mental check of 'Where can I go?' 'What can I do if I need to defend myself?' 'What weapons do I have?' (Hair stick--check!)

fortunately, my hackles were raised for no reason; I had logically thought there would be no reason in the first place.

But being a woman, two large dogs or not, I still ran the mental check. It's innate. You run that mental check several times a day. Even in broad day-light, you wonder if you are safe enough; you wonder if the men walking toward you wish harm on you.

It is the female brain. I think this is one thing men cannot quite wrap their minds around. Men, most likely, seldom need to be concerned with who is going to attack them. Women consider this constantly, the thought is always there.

I am very happy that these days I find my martial arts influencing which way my brain plans and assesses situations. I find that the situations are assessed on tactics more so than fear. Don't worry, there is still a healthy dose of fear, but the mental attitude, the way I come at things, is really, really different now.

I'm glad.
Self Defense starts in the mind.
Don't walk out of the door and leave it open without knowing what's on the other side.

Dave Mathews Band

A friend invited me to the Dave Mathews Band concert being held at the Smirnoff Music Center at Fair Park.

I happily accepted. Although I would not say I am a huge fan of DMB, I do like his music and I think the band itself is amazing.

well, I am a fan now! It was a great concert!! Being a member of the DMB Fan Club, the seats she had were amazing!! About 12 rows back and almost center stage.

It has been a really long time since I have went to a concert. I had forgotten that one attends a concert to "feel" the music more so than "hear" the music. It is great the way sound travels in waves and those waves are wonderful reverberating off you skeleton.

Granted, the hair cells in my ears are a little more worn, but it was worth it!!

I gotta hand it to the DMB. There was an amazing cross-section of society there. Young, old, parents with their kids, the young and obnoxious....Everyone was there. The people watching was supreme.

Get out there and go hear/feel music!! It is wonderful. I will certainly be trying to put that on my list! Anyone up for blues??

Wednesday, August 31, 2005

Engineering at its Finest

I started my Anatomy and Physiology II class this week. I am taking it at North Lake college. It is going to be a great semester!! I have a great instructor, the lab is well equipped with, ohmygoodness, current and complete models!! Not like last semester!!

In lecture tonight we discussed the heart, it's anatomy, circulation and the layers protecting it. I had forgotten how amazing our bodies are!! Such a marvelous feat of engineering! The way the valves work by changes in pressure driven by sheer physics alone, their chordea tendineae helping hold the atrioventricular valves steady, the organization of blood flow, the whole "structure defines function" in its true form.

I love developmental biology too, and the heart's development is so cool. Am I sounding like a nerd yet?? It starts as two tubes and grows together, twisting around to form the great arteries at last. Wow.

People take their bodies for granted, when, in fact, each person possess one of the most amazing examples of engineering the world will ever know.

Look after that engineering and it will serve you well.

Wednesday, August 24, 2005

Physiological Response...

I went to my doctor today in order to complete one of my many requirements to apply to nursing school: a physical and vaccination record.

The general physical was fine, I have had my annual one recently, so all was well on that front. However, I have no paper record of my childhood immunizations nor do I have the paperwork for the Hepatitis B inoculations I received when I worked at the Amelia Court HIV research clinic. I also need proof of tetanus.

So, just to cover my posterior, he gave me all the childhood inoculations again (subcutaneous) and the tetanus (intramuscular). The Hep B, I will hunt for the paperwork, otherwise, we just pull blood and do an antibody titer .
I have never had a vasovagal response before. Today was my first. I must admit, I loathe and detest shots. I can give blood whenever, doesn't bother me. But shots....I HATE them. I feel so violated.

Well, I survived the dreaded shots, but will avoid them at all costs. If I gotta go back on Friday and give blood for a titer, no worries. For some reason, taking something out of my vein is fine, forcing something into my deltoid is not!

Monday, August 22, 2005

When the Child Becomes the Parent

It is becoming painfully obvious to me that my mom is mentally declining. Things are starting to not add up. She can't remember what she tells people. And it's important stuff like when we went to buy a car for her recently, and she said she couldn't remember if she had given the sales man her social security number and other pertinent information....Not good.

How do you discuss with your parent that you fear for her safety driving when that is the only means of independence she still possesses?

Or, that you are worried that she is no longer capable of dealing with the rest of the world safely? I may have power of attorney, but that doesn't change the fact that she is still very independent.
It's a real rock and a hard place. I really thought I wouldn't have kids, I guess this is fate's way of making me live that experience anyway.
Sad.
She is really healthy otherwise. At 70, almost 71, she is great otherwise. It's just that the tables are turned and it really is a challenge to stay clam and not get frustrated. She can't help it.

Good air in...Bad air out.

It is really painful to watch such decline in someone you care for so deeply. It is so painful to watch when someone you love begins to fall apart.

How is it that the parent goes away only to be replaced by someone so uninformed?

Sunday, August 21, 2005

The Nose Knows

This is a really interesting article about dog noses and the ability of detection their noses have. I have watched PBS programs about dogs detecting heart attacks and cancer. Their noses are truly amazing organs. I think it would be great to have a dog nose for just one day. One day is probably all I could handle.

So, with a nose that sensitive, why do they always want to roll in the foulest of foul things??
And they are so HAPPY about their aroma after the roll-on-the-dead-thing dance.
Peeewwww!

Auto buying

I assisted my mom in purchasing a different car this past Thursday. She settled on a 2005 Corolla. Her Saturn was not comfortable for her back anymore and she did not see well out of the car.
So, why does buying a car take so long? We were there for hours. You would think with the age of wireless that the application and credit check would be fairly quick. But still it takes hours. She is thrilled with her new car and I am thrilled she feels more comfortable driving.

I am comfortable with her driving as long as I am not in the car with her!!
Is this what always happens with parents as they age?
Parents are uncomfortable with their teens learning to drive and grown kids are not comfortable with their parents' driving.
Is turn about fair play?
Just a thought.

My Head Hurts.....

I have never suffered from headaches on a regular basis. Aside from the sinus headache I get in cottonwood season, I don't get headaches.
Well, the one I had this weekend made up for all those missed headaches.
I guess it was a migraine. I have not had one before, but this fit the description to a tee. Blinding pain, severe nausea, trouble seeing, and a desire to attain the fetal position in a quiet dark room...And never leave. I have since read about some remedies for such debilitating headaches. Most seem to prescribe Magnesium, Riboflavin and Feverfew. If I get one again, I will do anything to get rid of it. I have a friend who suffers from recurrent migraines and I sympathize. Wow, those are awful! I wish you luck on finding a remedy that works! My research suggests several therapies.

Dentaphobia

My, my they have a name for everything!!
I had one of my bi-annual checkups just a week ago. And I must confess to having some level of dentaphobia--yes a fear of dentists.
Even though my dentist is great and so considerate, I still don't want to go. It's like, well, pulling teeth if you will forgive the pun.
I spent so much time in the dental chair as a child, I hate going. Consequently, I will do anything to make those twice-a-year visits go more smoothly.
What did I get busted for this visit??
Chewing ice.
Yes, I got beat with the "Don't eat Ice" stick this visit.
Otherwise, I have a clean bill of health where my teeth are concerned.
Remember....Floss!

Wednesday, August 17, 2005

Commuting via Bike

Since I have recently changed jobs, I now am close enough to bike to and from work. I commuted via bike in college and loved it. Since I am not a morning person by any stretch, that 7:30AM English class (eeewww!) was made easier by my having spent 30 minutes on a bike...I was awake!!

My new job requires that I be there all chipper by 8. Yes, to the regular world, this is boring. But this is really difficult for those of us who spring to life with boundless energy at 10:30 PM. 8AM is torture....
So, I believe a 20 minute bike ride will a)make me be awake and b) help combat that whole sitting still thing that I am still not used to.

Currently I am borrowing my friend's mountain bike. I think I have to have a hybrid. Once I am comfortable riding that for a while, I may switch to a road bike. Speed is so cool. I will keep you posted.

Since I am a bike nincompoop, any help or suggestions on bike shopping and how NOT to spend a bloody fortune would be appreciated!!