Apparently some crazy person went and made a documentary about They Might Be Giants . Grand Rapidians can see it at the UICA pretty much any evening before the end of the year. That is all.
Category: Life
Something New
Today I went to my second yoga class, ever. The first was last week.
This class is the first genuinely new thing I have started in about five years. Sure, I have had many new and unique experiences in that time, but none of those were pursuits; they were discrete events and experiences. Yoga is the kind of thing I will keep.
Because it is a new thing my ego took a little self-inflicted bruising. I am not used to not being good at what I do. No; that is not quite right. I am not used to not being accomplished at what I do.
So having come to terms with that and getting it out of the way, I am free to enjoy it. I like not having any authority. I like having the luxury of practice and contemplation.
I love just being a student again.
November Check-in
Damn. Been so long since I updated this thing I almost forgot how to work the admin screens.
Two quick notes:
The over-talented and under-employed Bock has redesigned his site, so head on over and check it out. It is a beautiful thing.
Friend and classmate Craig Marks has written several articles for Martial Talk Magazine , and I have just finished converting the first to HTML for Master Lee’s website . Craig has done a superb job with the research, and the article should be an interesting read for practitioners of all styles of martial arts.
A Personal Ad
White Male, 34, athletic, extremely well read; into poetry, martial arts, photography; completely burned out; LOOKING FOR cute fluffy puppy – preferably in 4 to 6 pound range- for kicking.
The Great Book Give-Away Addendum
People have asked if they may assuage any guilty consciences by bringing drink to trade for books. This is just fine. Also, if you have bibliophile friends who are otherwise Good People, you may bring them, too.
October Already??!?
I finished The Fountainhead on Tuesday, and now I am plowing my way through Quicksilver. 200 pages down, 700 to go. Then, at long last, I will give myself permission to buy…Another Book. No idea which one.
I have noticed that, as cool as Flash is, it loses some of its charm when I am required to use it constantly at work. Makes me long for a nice complex table to build…maybe some form elements…images…
Nah. I would still rather do it all in Flash.
When I am feeling a little less burned out I will dive back into the tile/adventure game. look for updates somewhere around the end of the month.
25
Last night I attended the 25th birthday party of one of the yoga students. It was low key and full of wonderful people, and as we were joking about car insurance and adulthood it hit me: 25 years old. Damn.
I turned 25 in St. Petersburg, Russia, on June 5, 1994. I had cake and vodka and made out with a beautiful Russian woman named Janna.
When I was 25 I had been working at the bookstore for about a year. I lived in one of the worst houses in Grand Rapids, on the northwest side a block from the Parkway Tropics strip joint. I had hair down to my shoulder blades and drove a Pontiac 6000.
When I was 25 I was heavily into Ken Wilber, Tom Waits, The Pogues, Jim Harrison, Vampire: The Masquerade, Anne Rice, black clothing, the cafe scene, and vegetarianism.
I began practicing tai chi, when I was 25.
That was a long time ago.
In College FOREVER!!!!
MIT’s OpenCourseWare has gone Gold !!! If it wasn’t for this pesky job, I would spend every day of the rest of my life on this site learning EVERYTHING!
Two
Selah.
That Burning Smell…
…is my brain. A slow day at work, so I took the time to teach myself how to create fractals. They are linked in the Flash experiments page (Flash 6+ plugin required).
My term as teacher at Kendall College is winding down. Tomorrow is probably the last day, unless I get hired into a time slot next semester which doesn’t conflict with the martial arts class. Did I enjoy it? HELL YES!! As common wisdom has it, you really don’t know how much you know about a subject until you try to teach it.
Having smart students helps, too.