Quick Update

Day 3 of being in charge - and all is well. We went on a walk around the hood today. A short one, since it was very hot. Normally, we'd be all over the map, but several things are keeping us in. The truck has no air conditioning (got broke in the accident) - no gas to go anywhere - and being broke as hell. We ventrued to Chickfila today only because we had coupons for free kids meals.

Our zoo pass expired at the beginning of this month, so even zoo trips are not possible. Money is tigher than is ever has been - hoping that I get work for the weekend.

Logan is quite a chatterbox lately. Talking my ear off, actually.

Lance has suddenly grown from a "stays put" little lump - into a crawling speedster - he even is cruising now (holding onto things and standing on 2 feet as he walks around.

Shannon

ps. I called the blood sucking attorneys---they said they'd settle for $8 grand. I offered them $700. They didnt accept. Guess we'll see how court goes.

Oh Shit

I thought that my heart suck a bit regarding the last post-- Imagine how it hit the floor when I opened my mail yesterday, and found that I saw being sued by Discover Card for $9,000. It included an order to appear, with a court date in Oct. I previously had a Discover card, and after trouble with other card (like late payments), Discover took it upon themselves to do the following:
1. APR jumped from 9.9% to 25%
2. Limit on card decreased to what was owed on it - so the more I payed, the less credit I actually had. I had no late payments on this card, but they screwed me anyways. I spent time on the phone with customer service, but no help. When I stopped paying on the card, not only were they adding on shitloads of interest, but they also added $35 late fee AND $35 over the credit limit fee for each statment.

So, has anyone had experience dealing with debt recovery attorneys? Or experience in dealing with going to court over it? At one point, they offered a 50% settlement, but I had nothing to pay them with. Being a full time dad has depleated my bank account to an average daily balance of about $100.

Any suggestions on what to do about court? Anything I should file before hand? I want to call the atorney and negociate a settlement, but Im afraid that anything I tell them (I have no money, I own 3 broken down cars, ect) will be used against me in court somehow.

Help!

Shannon

And my heart just sinks

WARNING: Sappy, mushy 2am rambling about lost loves--if you read on, you cant say I didnt warn you.

I've mentioned,. from time to time, about a girl back in grade school that I had a big crush on. BIG BIG crush, over many years. I attended Saint Stanislaus grade school, in Cleveland, Ohio. Unlike the schools here in Virginia, that only handle kids for about 4 years before passing them off to another building (grade skool - middle skool- elementary skool- THEN high skool), back in the late 70's, you went from 1st to 8th grade with many of the same people. Some were assholes...I imagine they grew up to be bigger assholes. Thomas McCarthy, Jimmy Feeney, David Simpson...hope ya'll rot in hell. Anyways, back to present time...

I often do Google searches on peoples names - my sons, my own, old girlfriends-- just to see what I find. No pictures of me so far, but it will refernce my business website on about page 3 (big whoop). Tonight, I was searching for Cathy Grams (old childhood crush girl), and came up with Cathy Grams Ziegler. Also some info that implied that her huby was a DR, she was an RN, and they have a boy and a girl. Good for her. Always did wish her the best (meaning myself), but I guess a Dr aint too bad, sicne she wasn't interested in me in the slightest.

It's weird how some things just stick with you. I cant remember what I had for lunch last week, but I still remember:

Stacy Lee Dick - the Avon Foxfire perfume that she wore, her smile, Baboosic Lake Dr in New Hampshire. Baboosic seems to be a word that will stick with me till I die. Perhaps it will be by "Rosebud". I'll utter it as I die, someone will overhear and say "What? Baboon? You want a monkey?" (moron)

Catherine Grams - Again, that smile - how her eyes lit up when she smiled - and , of course, black and red plaid Catholic Grade School uniforms (schwing!). I remember she stayed home sick for a few days, about 5th or 6th grade, and I took her some flowers. I remember standing outside of the door (to the 8th grade classroom), sweating bullets, on Valentines Day. I had a huge chocolate filled heart to give to her. I think I told someone to ask her to meet me, handed it to her, and ran off. (My communication skills with the fairer sex indeed needed an overhaul.

Jeanie Cobisky - My best friend introduced me to his girlfriend. He came over the house with her and a guy friend, and we all walked up to the movie theatre to catch a film. He acted cold to her, and was distant. He ditched her at my house, so I walked her home. ON the way, we stopped off at her best friends home, so she could "hook me up with her". I didnt like the friend, but Jeanie and I semed to hit it off. When we got to her house, she called by buddy. He accused her of messing around with me (he later INSISTS that he knew nothing went on, and was just trying to get her riled up). We figured..if ya gonna get blamed for it....go for it! So we made out on a waterbed. We dated, then broke up. One day, she appreaed on my doorstep. She had family problems, and was staying at a local teen halfway house. I let her in - and the sparks relit. The short story is that she went to New York on a class trip, came back a complete bitch, and we've hated each other ever since. To this very day, I have never visited NY, and refuse to let (haha-let-she'd get a kick out of THAT if she read it) my wife go there. She later attended my high school (Lake Taylor), where we were able to hate each other at my convenience. Her and that bitch friend Tamara. I think that I saw Jeanie at a resteraunt a few months ago. I didnt say anything - it would have been ackward.

I guess what really get me sad the most is shen I think back to my old highskool and college sweetheart. We did everything together. I went over a freidns house, and met his younger sister. Ove time, we became best friends. We'd wrestle, we'd go to movies, not nearly a day went by that we didnt see each other in skool, or talk on the phone. We were in German club together, we shared the same friends, had the same lunch - it was meant to be. Her brother got pissed about me dating his sister...and the mother till this day thinks that I used her son to get to her daughter (I did no such thing). This girl and I took walks on the beach, boat rides in a nearby lake, and had such a great time just being together. I miss that. I miss her. If I could trade in my wife for that girl, I would in a heartbeat. And the funny thing is, I dont have to GOOGLE for a recent picture of her, or wonder how she's doing today. She's asleep on the couch downstairs. And I cant for the life of me think of what happened that could have made the twinkle in her eyes go out. I think back and wonder "What did I do?". I know that "life happens". That we all get boggged down with our jobs, and our bills, and the routine happenings that each day holds for us. But you have to remember to laugh - take time to see the good - the beauty - the purity in some things. I cherish my children because they allow me to view the world with such simplicity. To appreaciate things that normally would go un-noticed. A passing cloud - puddle stomping in the rain - watching them sleep. I can't wait till my wife goes back to work. Maybe one day, she'll go to work....and my girlfriend will come back home. I sure do miss her.

Shannon

Martial Arts Blog

Ok, it'll take a bit of tweaking, but here it is:

http://doyouhearthegrasshopperatyourfeet.blogspot.com/

My Martial Arts Blog

Calmer

Ok - somehow managed to salvage the entire post. Will post the new martial arts site as soon as I can test that it works. I am calmer now.

Shannon

Im am pissed

SON OF A BITCH!!!

All the trouble of creatinga new blog, one fuckin hour of typing, and it tells me "ERROR". GODDAMIT!!!

Split personality

Due to recent feedback, I'm aware that some family oriented (sahd's) visitors dont really care much for martial arts or my McDojo complaints. Likewise, several martial artists have stated that they like reading my "Karate stuff", but stop reading when it comes to my personal stuff.

After some thinkin, Ive decided to split my blog. This blog will remain all about me and the family, Darths Logan and Lance. I will create a seperate blog tonight (and will post the address in my next entry here) for the "mostly martial arts" blog.


Shannon

Fast entry

Martial arts Stuff:

Ok...a haiku over at TOTAL KARATE , combined with being stood up by my workout partner Monday, AND having a suck workout, inspired the following from me:

Gaze around dojo
See only children playing
God my dojo sucks

Famliy news: I have laughingly confronted my wife, and now refer to her as "Alien wife". I explained how she has been treating me like a moron, and somethings need to change. I repreated the converstaion to a brick wall as well.....time will tell which one was listening.

LANCE: Little cutie is all over the place. Even large beanbags, crockodile stufed animals, and big toys will not stop him when he decides to travel in a particular direction. Still spouting Bubba, Mama, and Abba. And he can clap his little heart out. Only problem is, when he sees you clap, he gets all happy, and starts clapping too...but he loses his balance, and will fall over (if he was using his hands to hold himself up before clapping.)

LOGAN: Such a good big brother. He laughs, sings, and dances...we call it "The Logan Show". It's Lance's (and my) favorite station!!


More dojo stuff: In contrast to Monday, Tuesday held a decent Iaido practice. We reviewed 2 forms: Ippon Mae Maya (sp?) dachi waza, and Ten To (heaven sword). I have practiced (mostly in my head), but of course, not as much as I really should have. Anyways, everyone was doing parts differently. I stuck with what I was doing...figuring that Id be corrected if doing it wrong. Turns out, I was the only one doing it right. Sweet feeling. He never pointed me out as having done it right, but watching his correct everyone else until they did it the same was I was boosted my "feel good" points.
To further my ego trip, after class, a brown belt wanted some extra help. The instructor helped a bit, and then needed to attend other things...so he asked me if I could help him out . Me! "Been doing this about 2 months " me. Made me feel conident that he trusted me enough to not screw up this poor guy by showing him all the wrong moves.
They are having a seminar/clinic on saturday (only $10) from 9am-4:30pm. I am going to attend, but with a camcorder. If I participate, I will learn 10 new things, and forget 9 of them by the time I get home. If I vidotape it...I can always play it back. Also, when they have 2 or 3 groups going on at the same time, it will be easier for me to leave one to observe another (dont think they'd appreaciate you just walking off from one to another if you are in uniform, and supposed to be playing along. We'll see if I get any good video to post here. Im interested to get some kata on tape, although I'm not a big kata fan anymore (that's an entirely long blog topic for me).

Well, off to the kitchen for a late night snack. Oh, btw, Im down from my original weight of 140pounds to.......drum roll please...........................125 pounds. (yeay me!)

Shannon

Dumb Ass review of the Karate Kid

While searching the web for more martial artiss blogs, I came across a review of the Karate Kid ( DVD Savant Review: The Karate Kid). In it, Glen states that Daniel lives in the sanitized world- there are no drugs...no alcohol.

HELLO GLEN! Did you actully watch this movie, or just read he back of the box??

When Johnny and his crew roll up on the beach, someone offers Johnny a "warm one". Pretty sure it was a beer. And let's not forget that Johnny was rolling WEED in the potty at the dance.

Duh!

Shannon

That Aikido book

I forgot to mention--the book also had a lot of good points. Worth reading.

Perfect martial art techniques

I read a blog entry over at In the Dojo, asking the relevance of strength vs technique in karate training. The "head" teachers were away, so lower black belts split the class time, and taught a lesson. One focused on technique...the other on strength and endourance. Below is my responce to her entry. (A cop out , I know...but I typed a lot, and put some thought into it......so cut and pasting we gooooooo)


Very intersting questions..

Maybe the non-Shotokan didnt really have anything to teach - OR, he was incapable. Some people are great artists...but cant teach worth a damn. He also may have wanted to focus on the physical side of karate, if he felt that it was an issue "neglected" othertimes. If I had a "pet issue", I'd run with it if given the chance.

Strength Vs Technique. I gotta go with technique,s but it's not that simple. Simply knowing a technique is not enough---being able to perform it at yoru worst..not THATS the point.

ex 1: In my jujitsu class, during tests, the student is worn down. It is not enough to simply demonstrate that you know the technique, you also must show endourance, spirit to continue, and the ability to use technique OVER strength. The only true way to do this is to take your strength away..thus the test becomes grueling. A friend and I recently went over (accurately) all the techniques needed for our rank, and did so (taking turns so each of us did the same techniques) in 15 minutes. But our tests (one person) take an hour.

Ex 2: While training with a very gifted Judoka, he said that in Japan, judo classes are around 2 hours long. The first hour is workout - to make you sweat and tire you out. The second our is actual Judo practice....as with jujitsu, the best way to teach Tech is better than Strength is by removing the students strength. (He also said that at the end of class, students would take off their obi, fold it in half, and hold it up---if sweat did not drip from the belt to the floor, they were embarrased, and looked down upon by other students. (wow--one day, I WILL have my belt drip).

On another thought, it seems that Shotokan is the hardest (of one of) karate style. Strike a strike, and so forth. It seems that strength would be a neccesary component of training.


___________________________________________________________________

OK----another martial arts thought. Getting something PERFECT.

I have read on In the Dojo about practicing on getting the "perfect backfist (uraken)". Likewise, I read on Karate Talk (July 21, 2005) how she really felt bad after a hard session....she received a lot of critique (or critisism) on techniques that she thought she had down pretty well. (I hope neither bloggers mind me referencing their entries.....I dont plan to critisize, only to expand on their thoughts).

When I started in kenpo karate, I had a similar mindset. Practice-practice-practice---seeking to finally get it "right". After years of practice (and some years of not practicing), I found myself adding Kung Fu to my arts. In Kung Fu, you practice, just as much (maybe even more) on your techniques. But the interesting ideology is that you don't practice to get it "right"..that is futile. You practice it to feel comfortable (or competent) no matter how you do it. Rather than seek one way, you explore many ways, many angles, many distances.....so one technique is not practiced ONE way, but rather many ways. I fear that training to do it "just right" (and here I speak of punches, kicks, blocks and strikes) means that you also will require the pefect scenerio to do it again----something you wont get every practice, and definitely not on the street.
In my Muay Thai class , we've started out learning a series on techniques. Strikes were done to the air. When we started to strike a heavy bag, it felt different. When we partnered up, and the target was moving, we no longer controled the distance from our strike to the target. Sometimes, the punch got jammed, other times I needed ot extend it a bit to connect. Each punch was a lesson.....I didnt try to get the person in any predeterminied, practiced, (rehearsed) distance.

Im open to anyones comments on this. I feel that my eyes have been opened to a whole world of application and training--hopefully, I havent stumbled across some kung fu mumbo jumbo and have taken it to heart. I don't mean to praise the kung fu, and put down other arts.....but the lessons from my KF class are applicable to a lot of the other arts I study. (I exclude jujitsu and judo , as these often times must be done right (a certain way), or they will not work).

_______________________________________________________________

Comments on Aikido....

I start off by admiting that I have never trained in the art...but I am intrigued and one day will.

I picked up a book called Aikido basics (Phong Dang and Lynn Seiser). To quote the book..
" Hitsory teaches us that such victories (victory on the battlefield) are short lived, however; they only lead to more fear, resentment, and eventually retaliation. The goal of aikido is victory over self, rather than victory over others".

Ok---lets begin------victory in the battlefield may be short lived...but only by those who LOST on the battlefield. For those who achived victory, life is pretty good.

Secondly, I can understand that an art wants you not just to learn it, but to reach inside yourself and develope as a person. But to say that the goal is victory over self...come on now...Ive never tried to kick my own ass. Its tended to be OTHERS that tried that...THAT'S who I needed victory over.

Another point I raise regarding the Circular Pivoting Step called Tenkan. The book states "Uniques to aikido, the tenkan, or circular pivoting step, is the most powerful footwork (ashi-sabaki) pattern in the aikido repertory." It IS very effective, but is not unique to aikido. Jujitsu has the same move, just doesnt use it as much perhaps.

Origin of aikido - How can you study over 200 martial arts (as this book states), and claim that you you didnt take your art form another, you were born with it, and developed it over time. Are you serious? Is this just another pissing contest amoung the arts? "I took it from jujitsu, but I refuse to give them credit: (My quote...not from the book or O'Sensei.)

Again, I mean no disrespect to aikido practitioners. I admire the art, and one day soon hope to train in it. It's the almost religious philosophy that I have a hard time with. Seems kinda upity....elitist even.
______________________________________________________________
MUAY THAI THOUGHT:

This art whoops ass. Brutal and effective. I dont think Id want to train in this art exclusively. You can do so and be a very effective fighter....there just doesn't seem enough room for "art" in it. But fo rthose karate people reading this, think of how much your elbows and knees are under-utilized in your art. Imagine going to karate class, and they saying "Tonight, we are focusing on elbow and knees". Now, there is much more to Muay Thai than just elbows and knees. But Id have to say taht my karate has benefited from Muay Thai training.......better use of my weapons (elbows/knees), better footwork, more powerful round house kicks , and better stamina. I'd definitely recommend that anyone who trains in karate, and can do so, cross train in Muay Thai. The benefits (to you and your other arts) will be great.

____________________________________________________

Ok Ive rambled enough on martial arts....on to family matters..


Let's see----Lance started clapping (for the fist time) a few days ago. He says "bubba" for Logan, "Mama" for mama, and "Abba" for me. I guess it still means father (If my catholic memories serve me right), so Im cool with that.His first word was dada--Im sure he'll pick it up again later.

Logan is getting too big too fast. And man, can he talk your ear off! He loves construction equipment (backhoes and cranes), and is resmerized by choochoo trains.

The wife : seems to hate my guts. She has been treating me like a retard for the last 3 months. I ask her simple questions, and only get arguments. She tried to convince me that it would take $20,000 to replace the transmission in her 1999 Dodge Caravan. No typing error there, folks, $20,000. The blue book is only $6,000. But she heard it from a mechanic (a second cousin who is in the used car business), so what the hell do I know. She traded it in, and now had a 2005 Town and Country (minivan). She seemed to go out of her way to exclude me from any of the desicion making process. I now wonder whether she bought the car to compensate for an unhappy life. Our house is small (and getting smaller every day since we had kids). My income is almost nothing...since becoming an at home dad. Our house is cluttered, it's been hot, and I apparently have done nothin to amuse her the last few months. Being me sucks right now. I was talkign with a friend at the dojo, when I realized that my kids and my arts are all I really have. I love my kids unquestionably. I love being a dad. I love being a primary caregiver. I don't love being treated with neglect and contempt by my wife. She may be in a depression (over her weight, her job, the house, our financial situation...who knows?). But being married to her is not a happy thing righ tnow.. It's more like having a sometimes really mean roommate. Things are good when they are at work, and sometimes when they are home....but then the sparks start flying. (Oh, and dare I mention that they aren't puttin out, but dontcha dare bring any girls home). Maybe I shouldn't have typed that. I am loyal. I have not. But I have thought about it. I have needs.

Ok - enough open heart info stuff.

INTERESTING FACT ABOUT MY WIFE HAVING A TOWN AND COUNTRY:
We both now have a town and coutnry. Her's is a 2005 minivan.......mine is a 1977 hearse. BOTH are Chrysler Town and Country's. Kinda cool.

Too hot to type any more...need drink......need snack......need late night movie.......


Shannon
(Ps. If you made it to the end...thanks. At least leave a "I made it all the way" comment so I know you were here. Thanks

Sorry not to update earlier

Lots going on here---famliy stuff and martial arts stuff. I hope to make long, indightful entries very soon. Please bear with me and check back soon.

Shannon

YUMMY!!!!!! 

I remember doing the same thing to my mom, but it was at the arcade (Pacman) 

Such dreamy eyes 

DEAD

I GOT EM I GOT EM I GOT EM!!!!!!

I may now need to rewash a stack of clothes---he landed, entered the folds of a shirt, I DOVE onto the pile like it was a judo match...and Victory.