So last night I tested for my Blue/Green belt, or more accuratly blue belt with green stripe. So I'm definently progressing with karate.
I think I've mentioned in previous posts how exhausting these tests are. Well last nights was without a doubt the most exhausting of them all. There wasn't one thing we did too much of, but rather a constant state of moving and exercising for 2 and a half hours. We would do some moves, then sprint. Or do some things and in between do frog hops. The instructor would ask us if we are tired, we'd say yes, and he'd respond with a then run around the complex. I probably could have passed out a few times. As we got pushed to the point of exhaustion, and then past it just for the heck of it.
Needless to say at the end of the test I downed the 40 ounces of water I brought with me, then when I got home I must have drank another gallon or two. Ultimatly it was a great night lol. And all I have to say, is that I"m kinda happy that my next test is a couple months away again. I'm not sure I could do that every week lol.
Saturday, June 26, 2010
Sunday, June 20, 2010
Update on Jim
I was able to meet up with Jim today to talk about his trip to Pakistan. Needless to say he is homesick again lol. He was able to meet up with all of his family as well as for the first time meet his niece and nephew which was a great experience for him. But now he is back, and will be for a while.
Currently he is looking to move into an apartment by himself, so he is apartment searching. Right now he is living with a friend in a condo. But much as I was, he is annoyed by the price of apartments in the area. Even so he hopes to find a place within a month or so.
Also, while he was there he married his fiance. Or... half married her I suppose. The way he put it they legally got married, but still need to do a couple other things on the formalities side. The way he explained it, the marriage ceremonies are complex and take multiple days. And he would not be able to spend this much time there next year. So they did the formal marriage parts this visit. Then next year he will return to Pakistan do the last bit and return with her back to the US. So, congratulation/condolences are in order for him the next time you see him.
He also did say that Pakistan is a dangerous place to be in right now. But I suppose that is life as usual there. It is hard for me to contemplate living in such situations, but he said for them, its just a daily thing.
Currently he is looking to move into an apartment by himself, so he is apartment searching. Right now he is living with a friend in a condo. But much as I was, he is annoyed by the price of apartments in the area. Even so he hopes to find a place within a month or so.
Also, while he was there he married his fiance. Or... half married her I suppose. The way he put it they legally got married, but still need to do a couple other things on the formalities side. The way he explained it, the marriage ceremonies are complex and take multiple days. And he would not be able to spend this much time there next year. So they did the formal marriage parts this visit. Then next year he will return to Pakistan do the last bit and return with her back to the US. So, congratulation/condolences are in order for him the next time you see him.
He also did say that Pakistan is a dangerous place to be in right now. But I suppose that is life as usual there. It is hard for me to contemplate living in such situations, but he said for them, its just a daily thing.
Monday, June 7, 2010
A magic lost
So yesterday I went to the bookstore. This was notable in the fact that on the whole it was a disapointing and frustrating experience.
As a kid some of my fondest memories where when Mom would take me to Schulers and I would browse the book racks. Here was where I met some of my favorite authors. Robin Hobb, Robert Jordan, Terry Goodkind, Tad Williams, Margaret Weiss and Tracy Hickman to name a few. I remeber strolling down the ailes of books, pulling out ones with interesting art work, or intriguing titles. To browse through the book flap or the back of the book to see if the story would grip me. It was exciting to find a new author this way. To fall in love with their books, and to return and buy the rest of the books writen by them. It was exciting and sometimes a gamble. But perhaps this was all part of the fun.
However, this past weekend all of that was lost. In part I blame amazon.com. It truly has changed how I shop. No longer do i just pick up any book and try it out. I find myself seeking out reviews and other peoples opinion before purchasing the book. Before I try out a new author I find myself critically examining what people say about their works. Also, all their books are right there at my fingertips. Once I decide on a new author all their works are right there, I can go all the way back to their earliest works and start at the beginning. There is no wondering if it is in stock, it almost always is in one way or another. There is no need to search endlessly through racks of books, they are all but a click away.
Compare this then to the bookstore, Borders that I went to. I was looking for "The Red Wolf Consiracy" by Robert V. S. Redick, a book that I had recently found that looked intriguing, I figured while I was there I would check it out in printed form to see if it was any good. Perhaps read the back cover, to flip through the book before deciding to purchase it. So I went to the rack but I could not find the book. I found its recently published sequal "The Ruling Sea" but not "The Red Wolf Consiracy" for some reason it wasn't in stock. So then I searched around more, but quickly got confused and frustrated with their system. I found books by the authors in two and in some cases three different spots on the rack. In many cases only the most recent works of the authors were stocked in one spot. Some had the earlier books in a second location, if you searched hard enough to find it. Most though, if you wanted the first book in their series you were out of luck finding it on the shelfs. Similarly I was interested in "Tigana" by Guy Gavriel Kay, but couldnt find it, as it is one of his earlier work, but only his most recent two or three books were stocked. It was frustrating to say the least.
Perhaps the worst though was when I went searching for a book for Caleb. Two the authors that i read, Brandon Sanderson and Tad Williams also write childerns books, such that I though would be appropriate for Caleb. So I searched in the kids section. They weren't there. I stumbled into "young adult" but they werent there. Finaly at about the time I was giving up trying to find where his books would be located, I stumbled across a section called "independent readers" where I finnaly found one of the books I was looking for. But this section wasn't in the kids section, wasn't in the young adults, it was in a third section only peripherally related to the other two.
But I digress. At the end of the day, I realized that book stores had lost their magic for me. No longer can I just go there and browse for books, I have to search and consider. Not finding the book you are looking for is too big of a let down. While I would never want to give up the conveniences of amazon.com, I still lament the loss of those childhood moments of browsing through the book racks, of taking chances on new books, and of getting Mom to pay for them all.
As a kid some of my fondest memories where when Mom would take me to Schulers and I would browse the book racks. Here was where I met some of my favorite authors. Robin Hobb, Robert Jordan, Terry Goodkind, Tad Williams, Margaret Weiss and Tracy Hickman to name a few. I remeber strolling down the ailes of books, pulling out ones with interesting art work, or intriguing titles. To browse through the book flap or the back of the book to see if the story would grip me. It was exciting to find a new author this way. To fall in love with their books, and to return and buy the rest of the books writen by them. It was exciting and sometimes a gamble. But perhaps this was all part of the fun.
However, this past weekend all of that was lost. In part I blame amazon.com. It truly has changed how I shop. No longer do i just pick up any book and try it out. I find myself seeking out reviews and other peoples opinion before purchasing the book. Before I try out a new author I find myself critically examining what people say about their works. Also, all their books are right there at my fingertips. Once I decide on a new author all their works are right there, I can go all the way back to their earliest works and start at the beginning. There is no wondering if it is in stock, it almost always is in one way or another. There is no need to search endlessly through racks of books, they are all but a click away.
Compare this then to the bookstore, Borders that I went to. I was looking for "The Red Wolf Consiracy" by Robert V. S. Redick, a book that I had recently found that looked intriguing, I figured while I was there I would check it out in printed form to see if it was any good. Perhaps read the back cover, to flip through the book before deciding to purchase it. So I went to the rack but I could not find the book. I found its recently published sequal "The Ruling Sea" but not "The Red Wolf Consiracy" for some reason it wasn't in stock. So then I searched around more, but quickly got confused and frustrated with their system. I found books by the authors in two and in some cases three different spots on the rack. In many cases only the most recent works of the authors were stocked in one spot. Some had the earlier books in a second location, if you searched hard enough to find it. Most though, if you wanted the first book in their series you were out of luck finding it on the shelfs. Similarly I was interested in "Tigana" by Guy Gavriel Kay, but couldnt find it, as it is one of his earlier work, but only his most recent two or three books were stocked. It was frustrating to say the least.
Perhaps the worst though was when I went searching for a book for Caleb. Two the authors that i read, Brandon Sanderson and Tad Williams also write childerns books, such that I though would be appropriate for Caleb. So I searched in the kids section. They weren't there. I stumbled into "young adult" but they werent there. Finaly at about the time I was giving up trying to find where his books would be located, I stumbled across a section called "independent readers" where I finnaly found one of the books I was looking for. But this section wasn't in the kids section, wasn't in the young adults, it was in a third section only peripherally related to the other two.
But I digress. At the end of the day, I realized that book stores had lost their magic for me. No longer can I just go there and browse for books, I have to search and consider. Not finding the book you are looking for is too big of a let down. While I would never want to give up the conveniences of amazon.com, I still lament the loss of those childhood moments of browsing through the book racks, of taking chances on new books, and of getting Mom to pay for them all.
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