I do lead a dull life, don’t I

Had a long chat with M. last night about the state of my martial arts. As expected, she had lots of encouraging things to say, but I’m not sure how much to listen to or to believe. But I do feel better now, oddly enough.

Lay around in Central Park most of yesterday afternoon and got some sun. I don’t even like the sun, but M. loves it. This is funny, because I tan very easily, and she, as your typical pale blonde type, tends to burn to a crisp in about 5 seconds. L. joined us in the Sheeps’ Meadow for crackers and chips. After it got too cold to be out, we hung out at the Pretty Kitties’ and played Scattergories…because, apparently, all my friends are HUGE DORKS.

Killing time…

..before I leave the do jang. Taught class today. Just two black belts and two blue belts, so it was easy to have them pair off and practice patterns and drills while I kept watch.

Lifted some weights on the universal machine. Hope I did the exercises right. Now I’m contemplating doing Pilates before meeting the parental units for lunch uptown (yay sushi!)

Note on the back kick: maybe I need to lift my knee higher, and concentrate harder on hitting the target with the flat of the foot (emphasis on heel strike).

Saw Voice of a Secret at the Acme Underground last night. They’re as loud as ever, those crazy kids. I wasn’t going to go to the show at first, but then I remembered that I’m not 80. It felt good to be out at 2 am. Rock and omelettes for everyone*!

* who isn’t a vegan.

Killing time…

..before I leave the do jang. Taught class today. Just two black belts and two blue belts, so it was easy to have them pair off and practice patterns and drills while I kept watch.

Lifted some weights on the universal machine. Hope I did the exercises right. Now I’m contemplating doing Pilates before meeting the parental units for lunch uptown (yay sushi!)

Note on the back kick: maybe I need to lift my knee higher, and concentrate harder on hitting the target with the flat of the foot (emphasis on heel strike).

Saw Voice of a Secret at the Acme Underground last night. They’re as loud as ever, those crazy kids. I wasn’t going to go to the show at first, but then I remembered that I’m not 80. It felt good to be out at 2 am. Rock and omelettes for everyone*!

* who isn’t a vegan.

A light in the middle of the tunnel

At the gym last night, my personal trainer had me doing some stretching/bending exercises that absolutely, completely confounded me. Keep back straight, extend hips back, bend knees (all at once). Apparently, my body has never done that, ever. He claims that my pelvis is very stiff. OOH. That explains EVERYTHING.*

* About the martial arts, you pervs.

My back kick has gone straight to hell over the past few of months. No real rhyme or reason as to why it suddenly sucked, though I can cite a painful back, inflexible hips, bad ankle, and a lack of torso length with which to generate sufficient torque all as contributing factors. Yes, I can still break the 3 boards with a back kick, but it’s definitely not as strong as it used to be. I can buy pelvic stiffness as the culprit, no problem.

Oddly enough, the jumping kicks are getting a little bit easier. They aren’t any good, mind you, and still the most unusable kicks ever, but at least there’s been a little bit of improvement somewhere.

Gah. To quote Jhonen Vasquez, “I hurt. I hurt with pain.”

A light in the middle of the tunnel

At the gym last night, my personal trainer had me doing some stretching/bending exercises that absolutely, completely confounded me. Keep back straight, extend hips back, bend knees (all at once). Apparently, my body has never done that, ever. He claims that my pelvis is very stiff. OOH. That explains EVERYTHING.*

* About the martial arts, you pervs.

My back kick has gone straight to hell over the past few of months. No real rhyme or reason as to why it suddenly sucked, though I can cite a painful back, inflexible hips, bad ankle, and a lack of torso length with which to generate sufficient torque all as contributing factors. Yes, I can still break the 3 boards with a back kick, but it’s definitely not as strong as it used to be. I can buy pelvic stiffness as the culprit, no problem.

Oddly enough, the jumping kicks are getting a little bit easier. They aren’t any good, mind you, and still the most unusable kicks ever, but at least there’s been a little bit of improvement somewhere.

Gah. To quote Jhonen Vasquez, “I hurt. I hurt with pain.”

Whuffie

The New York Times ran an article on the addictiveness of blogging. They seemed unable to pinpoint the motivation behind it. But I’ve been lurking (wow, that’s such a 90s term, isn’t it?) – or reading my friends’ blogs for years now, without bothering to comment on them or maintain one of my own. My thought: blogs are good because they allow you to keep up with people’s lives without having to endure all that pesky facetime. For those times when you’re too socially unmotivated for actual personal contact, one-on-one e-mailing, or (shudder) picking up a phone and really talking to someone.

Blogs – When being a pen pal is too emotionally demanding, but still a step up from Virtual Friends™.

Whuffie

The New York Times ran an article on the addictiveness of blogging. They seemed unable to pinpoint the motivation behind it. But I’ve been lurking (wow, that’s such a 90s term, isn’t it?) – or reading my friends’ blogs for years now, without bothering to comment on them or maintain one of my own. My thought: blogs are good because they allow you to keep up with people’s lives without having to endure all that pesky facetime. For those times when you’re too socially unmotivated for actual personal contact, one-on-one e-mailing, or (shudder) picking up a phone and really talking to someone.

Blogs – When being a pen pal is too emotionally demanding, but still a step up from Virtual Friends™.

Finally

Read the Shaenon-recommended comic strip Fleep by Jason Shiga. Inspiring. Heartbreaking. And, yes, kind of brilliant.

As the hills

I think my gym has a definite Diet Pepsi culture. By this I mean that the trainers all seem to drink Diet Pepsi, the choice of a new generation. I myself have taken to brewing my own French Roast coffee, which at times is stronger than what you get at Starbucks. This just proves that I am very, very old.

That awkward stage…

I am now corresponding via e-mail with one of the 20-year-old kids from the University of Delaware TaeKwon-Do Club (they visited us last Saturday). He keeps saying that he is “old for his age” and that I should tell him more about my life. I hope he doesn’t expect anything to happen. I really, really hope he doesn’t expect anything to happen. Because even if the 37-year-old divorced father of 2 was too old for me, a college student is just too young.

He’s a nice kid, though, and giving me some solid martial arts advice, along the lines of “always be happy, but never be satisfied.” Easy to say, hard to implement. Wax on, wax off, Number One Son.