What the Dark Side really looks like

Star Wars Tai Chi from John Leo on Vimeo.

T'ai Chi Master in My Backyard

I went back to the T'ai Chi lady yesterday and sure enough at 9 a.m. she was ready for me! We walked over to the park and had a great session. Today, too, although I had to leave a little early for my counseling app't.

This woman can kick some serious ass - she's 61 and was jumping around like a 25-year old. She showed me some other forms besides the 24-move form I'm learning, and she blew me away. It's too bad she's only here for a month, but I am ever so pleased to have found her.

Yay for small victories like this! These things keep me going when the going gets tough.

Ennui in the Haus

Today was a gorgeous day outside, but I, I... sat around the living room for most of it pining for the fjords. The relentless grip of Ennui had me by the knuts, and it wasn't until around 8-ish that I was finally able to shake it off. A bowl of cherries and about 30 minutes of watching Milla jump around in Resident Evil: Apocalypse was all it took.

Yesterday I saw an older Chinese lady doing T'ai Chi outside and I ran up to her and asked if I could learn. We did the form together - somewhat familiar to me, then her son came out and translated for us. I asked if we could trade English for T'ai Chi, but her son explained that she is too old to learn English and was going back home in a month, but I was free to hang out and do T'ai Chi. We agreed on 9 a.m. I showed up at 9 a.m. this morning, terribly excited and prepared with some Chinese phrases I reviewed from my one quarter of Chinese in grad school. I waited 17 minutes but she didn't show. I came back to the apartment devastated and pissed off at old Chinese ladies... and then the Ennui set in.

It was just like that episode of "Paranormal State" I half-watched today, where the family's trailer is a disaster of a mess, the couple's relationship is just as much a horror show, and all this disarray and disharmony attracts a demon (that only Chip Coffey can denounce). I allowed my disaffected mind to become a playground for the Ennui Demon. But eventually I overcame its dark and monstrous apathy. So take note - the cure for ennui: a bowl of cherries and Milla kicking ass.

P.S. Now this is creepy - this just happens to be post #666!

Shakin' my groove thang

I've finally got an exercise schedule that I think I can live with. It involves belly dance class on Monday nights, going to our exercise room at least 1 time a week, plus walking to my church job once a week. Or, if walking is impossible due to weather, the exercise room 2xs a week. I went yesterday and did pretty well - 30 minutes of cardio, then stretching, then sauna. I've discovered that going in the morning is much easier than at night. For one thing, the exercise room itself is very dingy and creepy at night. I seem to feel more relaxed during the daylight hours, and when there are people around the office.

Also, there is the possibility of a once-a-month T'ai Chi class a few towns over that I could get to. The instructor and I are in touch and if he opens a new class, I'll check it out. By the way, he's also a musician, and I'm putting his band's link on the sidebar, so check that out.


moar funny pictures

3 lbs of glory!

Yesterday I weighed in and to my great surprise and delight, I've lost 3 lbs since the beginning of the month. Granted, it's not a lot, but it's a start and it sure as hell beats weighing 3 lbs MORE or even no change at all. The best part is that I know I lost those fat pounds just by eating less and better. I haven't done much in the way of exercise earlier this month. This means that now that I am exercising again, plus watching my intake, I should be able to continue the trend.

I went to T'ai Chi Wednesday night and it was good. Mostly. My teacher is still running the class so that we only have a precious few minutes to run through the form. I'm not learning anything, really. The stretching and conditioning is good for me, and it beats nothing at all, but as a T'ai Chi class, I don't feel like I'm able to progress in my practice of the form itself. So the search continues...

Mom had her venogram on Wednesday, and they discovered that her fistula hasn't matured because of all the tiny veins running off, essentially lowering the flow of blood through the area they want to access. So there will have to be yet ANOTHER procedure for that. Poor woman. I feel so badly for all the shit she's having to deal with. Anyway, Bizarro and I are going to see her tomorrow. I'm going to make dinner and get my ass wupped in Scrabble.

The new job at the church continues to go well. It's nice to have something that is not stressful and yet not boring. Also, my first day of class was Wed. and it was fine. You know the first class is always the boring "here's the syllabus, now write an esasy so I can get to know you" kind of thing. Easy peasy. Next week the real work begins.

But now it's Friday and I'm going to relax a bit.