aikido

Quick Weekend Recap

Friday night: watched webcast of J. K. Rowling reading the first chapter of Deathly Hallows at midnight British Summer Time (which was 7pm Eastern). Waited a few minutes after that, and couldn’t take the suspense anymore. Downloaded HP7 from a favorite bittorrent website, and read the first 20 chapters before the book was officially released in the U.S.

Saturday: Aikido Basics Seminar from 9am to noon. Lunch at the Garden Cafe with Aaron, then back to the dojo at 3pm for a brief class and kyu testing. I wasn’t testing this time, but it was valuable to watch the testing process, as I should be testing this fall. Hung out at the dojo after class, but didn’t partake in the “pot luck.” (There was some food, but the pot luck was mainly comprised of different kinds of alcohol. Sake, microbrews, champagne…) Got home just after 6pm and spent the evening at home with Aaron. (Deathly Hallows arrived from Amazon with Saturday’s mail, BTW.)

Today: Aaron’s off doing grocery shopping right now. Later this afternoon, we’ll be meeting a co-worker/friend of Aaron’s, and we’ll all be driving up to Detroit for a free festival featuring They Might Be Giants. The one chance I had to see TMBG live, at BGSU, the show was cancelled due to lack of interest (supposedly), so I’m especially looking forward to tonight.

For now, though, I’m going to be reading some more Harry Potter until Aaron gets back from the store.

aikido

Today’s Class

I thoroughly enjoyed today’s class, excessively short though it seemed. We did an extended version of the warmups we normally do, and certain aspects of it were explained a little more in-depth. Then we broke out into ranks, and us rankless mukyu helped the one mukyu who’s planning to test this Saturday by playing uke (a.k.a. “the throwee”) and letting her toss us around. It was also really helpful to me, so that I could start recognizing and naming some of the techniques I’ve been learning. We also broke things down and I got to play nage (the thrower instead of the throwee) with Roy-sempai. Yes, the same Roy-sempai whom I inadvertently allowed to twist my arm last week. I got to learn that very technique more thoroughly today, so that hopefully won’t happen again.

After that, we broke into mixed pairs to do a few basic techniques. Grabs, throws, nothing extravagant. One of these, though, separated those who could roll (not me) from those who couldn’t (me). I tried being uke once; Sensei saw my sorry excuse for a roll, and took me aside and showed me *again* how it’s done. Not the cool-looking flying around sort of roll that everyone else can do, but a roll beginning on hands and knees. Granted, that’s where I need to start — but it doesn’t make it any less frustrating to feel like everyone’s watching me crawl around on my little corner of the mat, doing somersaults.

Of course, that’s what I need, on several levels. I came to a level of acceptance that I needed with that.

After class, I spontaneously asked Sensei if I could join the Zen Meditation group that meets after class on Wednesdays. He had no problem with that, and took a goodly amount of one-on-one time with me to explain the basics of zazen. He also asked why I was interested in zen meditation, and I may have made my spiritual “search” seem a little more recent than it really was. I “came out” as a non-Christian pretty early on in our conversation, and I inadvertently exaggerated the void that my denial of organized religion had left. After that, I tried to play up the other life changes (job, potential family) to downplay the religious/spiritual. I also managed to throw in the comment from Ms. Beall that I mentioned earlier, and Sensei was aghast that I had such a teacher. “She was a gift,” I believe he said. I had to agree.

The practice itself involved chanting, seated meditation, and walking meditation. The chanting was slightly odd for me — I’ll bet it sounds a lot better in an Eastern language rather than a Germanic language like English — but I think I picked up on it well enough.

I left the dojo feeling relaxed, physically energized/tired, mentally relaxed and alert, and in a particularly good mood.

And smelly. Did I mention smelly? Yes, sweaty and smelly.

Consensus? Wednesday nights at the dojo are a go. I hardly ever want to eat dinner after aikido, anyway, so it works out. Brief class, chill at the dojo, a couple hours of group meditation… sounds like a proper weekly devotional to me.

jobhunt

Job App Tally

Jobs applied for: 9
Responses received: 3
Contract jobs in hire process: 1

Basically, I’m still officially in the running for a position I applied for back in early May; another company that seemed promising in early May is due for a prodding; and I did get an offer of a part-time contract job back in late June, although I haven’t yet been called in for a contract-signing.

This is the most important thing right now: finding a job. Granted, I have potential severance and retention money coming in September… but I’d rather not have to use it for actual survival in the midst of unemployment.

No worries. No stress (yet). It’s just time to pour it on, and get ready to jump onto the merry-go-round.

(No, I have no idea what that metaphor really alludes to. It just sounded good in my head.)

ruminations

Goals

I got to thinking today that I have a lot of stuff going on right now. I mean, I always have a lot of stuff going on, but I have important stuff going on. Like needing to find a job within a couple of months. And I kind of feel… rudderless. Which is ridiculous, I know, since my needs are pretty clear-cut. The thing is, though, that I haven’t set myself any definite goals.

So, here they are:

#1 – Secure a new job. Due date: September 21st.
#2 – Maintain weight. Due date: ongoing (or until I start a renewed weight loss plan).
#3 – Improve housekeeping. Due date: ongoing.

And, of course, each medium-term goal needs some short-term goals to keep it afloat:

  1. Submit one new job application/resume or complete one follow-up per day.
  2. Spend at least 30 minutes per day working on my portfolio site until it is complete.
  3. Attend at least one aikido class per week (not including special weekend seminars).
  4. Continue to walk at least 45 minutes per day.
  5. Tackle one small household chore per day.
  6. Make sure that all dishes are washed and the sink is empty before bed each night.

There are, of course, other tasks I could set myself, but I thought that these would be a good start. As I didn’t come up with my detailed list until just now, I’m going to wait until tomorrow to hold myself accountable for all of them. I’m intending to go to aikido on Wednesday (the short class), so that’s one down. I cleaned the garbage out of the yard today, so that’s my daily household chore. I haven’t gone to bed yet, so I can still wash dishes before I do so. And, of course, I took my daily lunchtime walk (that’s not much of a stretch, since it’s such a habit now).

(As a side note, it appears that the Toledo Blade no longer posts their normal classified want-ads online, but instead has a partnership with Monster.com. This is unfortunate, as I have no intention of buying that scab paper on Sundays. This curtails my job hunting considerably, but I will overcome.)

Hopefully, with some more focused goals in mind, I can start feeling like I’m actually making some progress toward something. Right now, I’m feeling like I’m just phoning it in, and Life is just kind of sailing on without me. I wouldn’t feel ready to jump on an unexpected opportunity if it presented itself right now, and that’s a sign that I need to step it up.

Shake it off… Too bad you get these great ideas when you’re just about to fall asleep at your desk, and can’t actually act on them. Meh.

Tomorrow! New day, fresh start, blah blah. *hype*

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Harry Potter: Spoiler-Free!

Don’t worry; no spoilers here. Not even for the movie that just came out. I know there are people like my friend Mark who only watch the movies and don’t read the books, for whatever reason.

So, I just finished re-reading Book 6 (Half-Blood Prince) this evening, and saw Movie 5 (Order of the Phoenix) on Sunday. Suffice to say, I am completely stoked for Saturday’s release of Book 7 (Deathly Hallows). The only problem is going to be staying spoiler-free until I can finish the book!

I have an aikido seminar on Saturday, so Aaron will get a few hours of reading time while I’m off being tossed about (10am to noon and 3pm to 6pm, I believe). Then we’ll be spending Sunday together, as per usual, but I’ll get a little reading time while I’m doing laundry and he’s off doing grocery shopping. By the time I really get into the meat of the book (Monday evening after work), most hardcore HP fans will have already finished this final book of the series.

I don’t remember how I got spoiled for HP6, but I do remember that I was halfway through reading it when I heard the big spoiler about the ending. Granted, I still didn’t know how said event would take place, and it may have even made me more jumpy about every little plot twist… but I knew what would happen in the end, and that took just a little wind out of my sails, and took just a little of the Oh Shit moment away from the inevitable.

So, here I declare that I intend to remain SPOILER FREE about the final book of the series for as long as possible. Woe be unto anyone who spoils the story for me, for I will be Pissed Off. Please, *please*, at least ask me what chapter I’m on before blurting out something in conversation (verbal or otherwise).

Staying spoiler-free is a challenge already, though, because the HP books make me want to speculate about the characters and their motives. That’s one of the great things about JKR’s universe. Granted, I can see what some authors and critics say about her writing style in places; but once I get wrapped up in the story, the adverbs honestly don’t act as speed bumps. Hell, I have a hard time not letting my eyes stray to the facing page to see what will happen next, more often than not.

Back to the point, though: JKR’s characters just invite speculation and introspection. That, to me, is the sign of a successful and highly engaging universe. However, one can’t go speculating too much right before the release of a new book, or one is likely to have the book spoiled for oneself. So, no Leaky Cauldron or Mugglenet for me — not like I’m a frequenter of either under normal circumstances. However… if you ARE looking for spoilers, Mugglenet might be where you want to go, from the looks of some of their link titles. *I’m* certainly not clicking on the link that says, “Confirmed Information: What we actually know about Deathly Hallows.”

Regarding the Order of the Phoenix movie… I haven’t historically been a fan of the HP movies. I watched the first movie on DVD, and half of the second, but I just couldn’t get into either. I vastly preferred the characters and settings that had been painted in my mind already. I couldn’t get behind Alan Rickman as Snape, although he really does fit the part. (I was still hung up on him as Metatron from Dogma.) After seeing Order of the Phoenix, though, I’m going to have to at least go back and watch Goblet of Fire.

Without giving away any plot points in particular, let me just say that, as in all book-to-movie adaptations, a good deal of characterization was dropped from the story in favor of proper cinematic pacing. The book was a major building and backstory piece, whereas the movie seemed almost frenetic in getting all the necessary plot points in. Nothing was dwelt on quite long enough, it seemed. A very few minor plot points were changed completely, either to cut down on the number of major characters involved or to close some loopholes (one in particular to which I had been desperately clinging).

The special effects, for the most part, were amazing. Broomstick rides, magic duels, settings in general were well-done; they didn’t eject me from the movie (“Wow! Those are cool special effects!”), but rather drew me into the magical world of Harry Potter. The acting was greatly improved from what I’d seen in the earlier movies, of course. Some of the lines that were added near the end, though, that weren’t originally in the book, did come across as overly hokey and out of place.

I know I’m not a movie reviewer (nor do I play one on TV), but I did want to go over some of my thoughts about the movie while it was still fresh in my mind.

Not long now until the final installment is available for public consumption! And remember… no spoilers!

CONSTANT VIGILANCE!