Well, the other foot finally fell. I was afraid it would, and I'd been waiting for it, so it wasn't quite as bad as it might have been, but it still happened.
Not surprisingly, it happened on a Sunday night and continues now into Monday morning. I'm not a morning person. I hate Mondays outright. Ergo, you can imagine how much I loathe the idea of Monday mornings.
But I'm starting out wrong. In order for one foot to fall, the other has to have fallen already. That was the good part.
Friday night was bar-none one of the best nights of my life. It wasn't really because I went to se a movie with friends. It's because I was having fun with EIGHT of my best friends all at the same time! We went to see Underworld: Rise of the Lycans, which is a prequel to the other two Underworld movies. It's very good; could have been better, but the point is that I was with friends. Afterwards, we went out to IHOP and spent some good times talking about lots of things and being goofy like we always manage to somehow be. It really was a night of great memories I'll cherish as long as I live.
Sunday was another really good day, too! Chris, Hutch, Ashley, Nick and I went out to some land owned by Hutch's grandfather to shoot. And we shot a LOT. For just the handguns, there was my Norinco 1911, Chris's .50 Desert Eagle, Hutch's pair of Kimber 1911's, a .357 and a Taurus .44 magnum AMONG OTHERS!
There were big guns, too. The smallest was my Ruger .22 semi-automatic. Chris brought a Benelli 12-gauge pump action as well as an AK-47 and an M-4. Hutch also brought an AK-47 as well as a double barrelled break action 12-gauge with an 18 inch barrel and a bullpup, and there were others I can't quite call to mind, but my absolute favorite was his synthetic-stocked, fluted-barrelled, 5-shot bolt action .308 Kimber sniper rifle... with scope!
There were some interesting targets, too! Apples, cabbages, squash and coconuts make lovely exploding things to shoot at. We also learned that while the aluminum casing of a computer MAY repel birdshot, it's like paper for double-aught buck shot. There were also many clay pigeons for the shotgun shooters, and there were pictures taken all day long. You can see them on Facebook.
But all of that was the good foot. I knew I had to come down off the high because I had school the next day, and I had to start thinking about other responsibilities of my life. I have a myriad of projects to do for the SCA as well as testing for my fourth degree in March to think about. Sometimes I feel like I'll never be able to get it all done, and I'm scared to death that I'm not going to be able to satisfy everyone.
The really bittersweet moment came late Sunday night when I had one of those soul-searching conversations. It was a good conversation, and I'm glad it was had. I just wish it had been on some other night than SUNDAY!
Monday, January 26, 2009
Thursday, January 8, 2009
Growth
I was struck this afternoon by a thought I probably should have been struck by a long time ago.
At the time, I was daydreaming. I know, big shocker, right? But hey, I'd been brainstorming about my online RPG character. He's big on martial arts, and I was wondering what kind of weaponry he would prefer/would be proficient with. What I came up with was an interesting conglomeration of modern military and ancient Japan. The .308 sniper rifle and handgun tactics would be most of the modern stuff. The more ancient arts are the blades and staff: tactical knife fighting and throwing, perhaps throwing stars, maybe blowguns, but most definitely, the exquisite art called "Battojutsu" which basically encompasses the unarmed Samurai arts of judo, aikido and jujitsu as well as kenjutsu and iaijutsu, the sword arts.
As all of this went through my head, I remembered what I had read and learned about martial arts, in particular the teachings of the sword arts: that physical lessons are important, but are not the most relevant lessons to be learned. That was when I was struck by the aforesaid thought that I should have been struck by a long time ago.
One cannot improve the body without improving the mind.
There are two reasons for this. One, it is unavoidable. When the body is exercised, the flow of blood encourages the harmony of all muscles, including the brain and its functions. Exercising also produces the pleasant side-effects that accompany a sense of accomplishment, which typically improves one's mood, which is also very healthy. So you see, all of them are tied together one way or another, and influences are very easy to manipulate. The next time you feel down in the dumps and don't have any better ideas, try some exercise!
The second reason that one cannot improve the body without improving the mind is that it is unwise. A strong body without a mature mind is a loose cannon, shifting wildly back and forth with emotional extremes. If one is an expert marksman but does not know where to aim, one is not only ineffective and of little use, but also dangerous, and a hazard to everyone, including himself.
Besides, when it comes right down to it, a warrior's greatest weapon is nothing he can lay his hands on or do with his own body, but his mind.
I go back to school on Monday. I don't look forward to it, but at this point if it would help me graduate faster, I'd clean every bathroom on campus with nothing but a toothbrush and my own spit.
That would be improving the mind. I'll be going back to taekwondo classes this semester, too. I hope to test for my fourth degree in March, and I don't quite feel ready for it yet. Thank God there's time.
That would be improving the body. Only tw things remains un-addressed, which cannot be improved by default by training the body:
The heart and the spirit. Those can only be improved on their own, and luckily, I've for just the right idea for it.
At the time, I was daydreaming. I know, big shocker, right? But hey, I'd been brainstorming about my online RPG character. He's big on martial arts, and I was wondering what kind of weaponry he would prefer/would be proficient with. What I came up with was an interesting conglomeration of modern military and ancient Japan. The .308 sniper rifle and handgun tactics would be most of the modern stuff. The more ancient arts are the blades and staff: tactical knife fighting and throwing, perhaps throwing stars, maybe blowguns, but most definitely, the exquisite art called "Battojutsu" which basically encompasses the unarmed Samurai arts of judo, aikido and jujitsu as well as kenjutsu and iaijutsu, the sword arts.
As all of this went through my head, I remembered what I had read and learned about martial arts, in particular the teachings of the sword arts: that physical lessons are important, but are not the most relevant lessons to be learned. That was when I was struck by the aforesaid thought that I should have been struck by a long time ago.
One cannot improve the body without improving the mind.
There are two reasons for this. One, it is unavoidable. When the body is exercised, the flow of blood encourages the harmony of all muscles, including the brain and its functions. Exercising also produces the pleasant side-effects that accompany a sense of accomplishment, which typically improves one's mood, which is also very healthy. So you see, all of them are tied together one way or another, and influences are very easy to manipulate. The next time you feel down in the dumps and don't have any better ideas, try some exercise!
The second reason that one cannot improve the body without improving the mind is that it is unwise. A strong body without a mature mind is a loose cannon, shifting wildly back and forth with emotional extremes. If one is an expert marksman but does not know where to aim, one is not only ineffective and of little use, but also dangerous, and a hazard to everyone, including himself.
Besides, when it comes right down to it, a warrior's greatest weapon is nothing he can lay his hands on or do with his own body, but his mind.
I go back to school on Monday. I don't look forward to it, but at this point if it would help me graduate faster, I'd clean every bathroom on campus with nothing but a toothbrush and my own spit.
That would be improving the mind. I'll be going back to taekwondo classes this semester, too. I hope to test for my fourth degree in March, and I don't quite feel ready for it yet. Thank God there's time.
That would be improving the body. Only tw things remains un-addressed, which cannot be improved by default by training the body:
The heart and the spirit. Those can only be improved on their own, and luckily, I've for just the right idea for it.
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