greg

magical

2008-12-22T11:57:00.000-08:00

I'm in New England. I'm in southeastern Massachusetts, on vacation with my family. There's about a foot of snow on the ground. The kids just made an igloo, and then deb took them out back to look for a tree to cut. I'd call it magical, except I have been sitting here logged into work because crap keeps locking up. Not how i planned to be spending my time.

amazing

2008-11-04T22:07:00.002-08:00

Screw putting a man on the moon, tonight real history was made.

I watched black students at a Georgia college in tears at what was finally accomplished. I saw Jesse Jackson and Oprah Winfrey in tears. Consider that nineteen percent of black voters this year were first time voters. Consider that when you feel like saying your vote doesn't matter. Or when you think that the democracy we have is pointless. Among so, so many other things, tonight the president elect included gay people in his acceptance speech. Has anything like this ever happened before? Truly, truly amazing.

McCain's crowd booed when he mentioned Obama; Obama's crowd cheered when he mentioned McCain. That says it all. Four years ago, i was sick to my stomach when this country re-elected a megalomaniacal simpleton, unquestionably out of fear and ignorance. Tonight I got to be proud of my country again. I knew we proved again that while we do have a tendency to lose our way, we always eventually manage to come to our senses and try to put things right.

Our oldest got to vote this year, and I'm pretty amazed at what she got to be part of. We also made sure our younger ones watched everything tonight, and while they may not fully understand it now, we tried to make sure they remember that they were seeing something very, very important happening, and that in a few short years it'll be their turn to make sure they make a difference.

slán go fóill

2008-10-23T21:14:00.000-07:00

We lost a friend today. Good bye, Tom; cheers.

goofs

2008-09-19T12:19:00.000-07:00

2008-09-04T09:33:00.000-07:00

milestones

2008-07-08T09:13:00.000-07:00

I'm not doing the fantastic job i had intended in keeping up with this. I have to quit thinking that i need something profound to say before i write it down; nobody's coming here looking for profound.

This week we are heading East, to what we still call home. We make the trip every so often, but this one is going to be a bit more of a homecoming than usual. We get to see my brother and his new baby, and deb's sister & her two kids. The kids will be meeting their cousins for the very first time -- it's quite exciting. There's also a reunion of sorts with a handful of my college friends; i haven't seen some of them in over twenty years. Guaranteed to be a heck of a time. Then we'll be off to visit deb's folks for a few days, including a stop to see the ocean again. We're cramming a lot into 8 days, should be a real adventure.

Recently hannah & i went for a bike ride, just the two of us. I realize that for a lot of people that may not seem like a big deal; but our kids never really took to bikes, mostly because we haven't lived in places conducive to kids riding around alone without traffic posing an imminent threat. But hannah decided to persistently teach herself how to ride, and a few months back we got her a mountain bike (just like mom's!) and she's been able to cruise around a bit. So we saddled up and hit the greenway, a paved path that snakes for miles through our neighborhoods. We did about 3.5 miles, and even hit some of the dirt trails on the way.

More soon. That's the plan anyway.

are you sitting comfortably?

2008-06-03T10:12:00.000-07:00

Then we'll begin. Check out our pictures from the bike trip.

spoiled rotten

2008-05-31T18:49:00.000-07:00

So i'm back in town. Deb & i just spent 3 days up in the mountains for real. We haven't had a lot of vacations together, just the two of us, but we made up for it in spades. We stayed in a cool little mining town called Idaho Springs for two nights. Wednesday night we saw Death Cab for Cutie at Red Rocks, incredible show. The opening band, Rogue Wave, was also terrific to see. If you haven't seen or heard of Red Rocks, it's an immense natural outdoor amphitheater; truly a wonder to behold, let alone a place to watch an emo band.

The next two days we spent biking some of the most incredible mountain bike trails. For what it's worth, the Alderfer/3 Sisters trail is rated #16 in the country, and Elk Meadow is rated #93 in the country...can you imagine? We literally stopped every once in a while to look at each other and ask, we live here?

That was essentially the mood of this trip: what would have been a just-fine, relaxing vacation away for a little biking, was overwhelmingly enhanced by the fact that we live in what has to be one of the most amazing places on the entire planet. We drove less than two hours and got to be immersed in everything Colorado is. That's pretty awesome.

done, and beginning

2008-05-17T15:32:00.000-07:00

I'm tired, I'm hot, I'm sweaty. And I'm a nidan.

My body is fatigued, but not broken or aching; because we were genuinely prepared for this test. It should go without saying, but make no mistake that being well-prepared for something makes it a lot easier to accomplish. Not to say it was easy, far from it. But we hit it head-on.

Deb & I were actually supposed to do this test 6 months ago. Her shoulder disagreed, and decided we'd wait a cycle. That turned out very well: we had such an amazing group, i can't imagine having tested with anyone else now.

After our own test, we watched & judged the shodan (first-degree black belt) candidates, including participating in their sparring exam. I think that at thirty-eight years old, having finished my own exhausting test, and still being able to spar several rounds...well, who cares if i've got some belly fat to work on? I am wearing the bad-ass badge for now.

There's something of a let-down that happens after big events like this. Something you've been devoting so much time, energy, sweat, and focus to, and suddenly you're done. I am looking forward to having some time back for other things -- hockey, biking, working the yard, not dragging the kids to the dojo 3 hours every day -- but i'm also sure i'm going to miss the feeling of being in a group with a singular goal.

At the same time, I'm so very much looking forward to my first nidan class, and many more. For a long time, I had lost a lot of my inspiration in karate; I've just fought a long, hard battle to get that back, and it's back with a vengeance. It's a fresh start in a way, and I cannot wait to get started.

moto ichi do

2008-05-13T23:34:00.000-07:00

I stood outside for a moment and oriented myself. The waxing moon ahead to my left, the big dipper ahead to my right. It's clear and cold down below here. Nothing happening down below here will make any difference to the moon or the big dipper.

We are four days away from our Nidan test. Tonight i worked with my uke. Uke is a word that in a way means "partner"; it's someone who takes the brunt of all your brilliantly executed techniques during your test. In fact, the work "uke" means "to receive"; as in, they must receive the brunt of all your techniques, brilliantly executed or not. Tonight my uke "received" a rattan stick to her upper lip. She graciously and courageously toughed through that (with my apologies), and continued to work with me. That's what makes an uke more than a "partner": understanding and accepting that she was working toward my goal, not her own...my test. It's no small task. My uke is my 13-year old daughter. And I'm learning as much from her as she is from me.

I actually have two ukes for my test, and I have to attest to the selflessness that both of them have shown me. Come to think of it, i technically have three that I'll work with...and all three of them are responsible for any amount of shining i can hope to do on this test. How can i ever thank them?

We've worked together very, very hard over a long period of time to make sure everything goes perfectly. The fact is, the world is an imperfect place and nothing can hope to go perfectly. But, we can do the best we can; we can try our hardest; we can hope for the best; and we can realize that we are forever students, that we will always be learning how to improve ourselves. A white belt is a beginner; a black belt is a serious beginner. I like to think a Nidan is a committed beginner.

Rank is not a goal reached by passing a test, it is an acknowledgement of the journey leading up to that point.

The moon will be nearly full when we test, and the big dipper will still look the same. Hopefully, we'll be a little different down below here.

still at it

2008-04-18T10:14:00.000-07:00

Got a lot of work to do for this nidan test, but I'm gonna do it. I'm working my butt off, while trying to keep deb from injuring herself out of the running. Because we're gonna do it.

I actually got an unexpected compliment on my stances a few nights ago, while we were in class. I don't often hear any of that, so it was nice. And surprising too. But i'm glad the hard work is showing; i sure can feel it.

Tonight is a night off, then Saturday & Sunday are full group workouts.

sing it loud so i can hear you

2008-04-06T10:38:00.000-07:00

Hannah & I just played the Beatles' I Will on flute & guitar. How awesome is that?

top ten things to know about my birthday

2008-04-02T22:46:00.000-07:00

1. Nobody says "happy birthday" like sally struthers. Yeah, i know that's not really her, but you get the idea. Maybe.

2. My wife is taking me to a really great concert. There was going to be a bunch more to the package, but external forces have collaborated to make sure only the concert part happens. I'm cool with that; i actually have a problem dealing with plan-overload. Less is more, says I.

3. Those external forces can still kiss my ass. But I do my best every single day to focus on what i have, rather than what i do not.

4. You can count on Genny's taste, 'cuz it's brewed in just one place.

5. I'm 38 now. That's not yet "get off my lawn", but i've settled quite nicely into seeing how people need to "shit or get off the pot". It's about time i started gardening or something.

6. I missed Norah Jones on the TV tonight because I had to get on a work call at 11pm. By itself that isn't a terrible thing, but it is a good indicator that i haven't quite yet "made it" in some ways; that i still have a complete dependence upon others for my family's subsistence. That's my job, i guess. It's also an indicator of some kind that, had i not been on that work call, i would have instead just been watching TV by myself.

7. Kind of an early gift, today i got to sit in at my wife's karate club. Now, if you had come to me at age 16 and told me my future wife would be a black belt running her own karate clubs...well, you may as well have said "wonder woman". I know i take it for granted; but today i got to see it all in action--how happy the kids are, how well it runs, and, well, how damn good she is at it. I was thrilled and proud just to be there. Try to top that with a card or a gift....i have everything i could ever want.

8. I've been overweight for a handful of years now and balding for a bunch more. So "getting older" doesn't faze this guy at all. Without fail, the best thing I have learned so far is learning what is not worth worrying about.

9. Hobbits give gifts on their birthdays, rather than receive them. That means instead of remembering dozens of birthdays, you only have to remember your own; and rather than getting a pile of gifts all at once, you get a gift at dozens of times each year. Sounds smarter to me.

10. My earliest birthday memory, i got a fisher-price houseboat. It was hidden in our bathtub. I think i was 3. I've had a lot of birthdays since then. Some have been better than others, to be sure; but i know for certain that with each one, i've moved a little further along and never backwards. I've learned, I've grown, I've persisted. And I like where i'm at, thank you very much.

can't trust that day.

2008-03-30T23:56:00.000-07:00

Sometimes on sunday nights, i feel like i'm 9 years old.

If i go to bed, it's just gonna end up being monday again.

mudfoot

2008-03-29T20:52:00.001-07:00

new dojo mats make for some wicked dirty feets.

but they're still awesome.

got the time tick-tick-tickin in my head

2008-03-28T06:07:00.000-07:00

On the one hand, i'm thrilled it's friday; but i also just watched a whole week of spring break burn off with little to show for it. Granted, it's not really my spring break, but it would've been nice to get a little of it.

The new dojo opens tomorrow, pretty exciting. I was supposed to be training (somehow) on my own this week, and using the time to come up with some of the things i have to make up for the nidan test. Didn't. Don't know if i can be ready. Either way, i am going to take a shot at treating the new dojo as a sort of fresh start in a lot of ways. We'll see how that goes.

We got Hannah a mountain bike last week. Of course, it promptly snowed, so she hasn't been on it a lot yet. But it's going to be great to be able to take her out with us, get some dirt. Spring is gradually peeking out in Colorado: the grass is starting to show a little green, some nights are a little warmer, and the birds are everywhere. It's nice out here.

puttin' the "pro" in procrastination

2008-03-22T23:02:00.000-07:00

it is amazing what one can fail to do, when one puts one's mind to it.

cooking again

2008-03-16T10:20:00.000-07:00

Over the last several months, I haven't been cooking as much as I used to, and i miss it.

Last night I grilled pork sirloin chops with hoisin, white rice, and stir-fried vegetables. I love my wok. Everything was delicious, nice & light.

This morning i put the corned beef in the crockpot. Hardly master chef work, but i'm still looking forward to slicing that up in eight or nine more hours. Simple stuff is the best.

back

2008-03-15T10:53:00.000-07:00

OK, don't laugh at my return to blogger. It'll help me keep up with things. I think. Wish me luck.