Tuesday April 20, 2004

I finally got to learn Jigoku Otoshi last night in jujitsu!  Literally, it’s translated as “hell drop” (the kind of name that sounds like it’s out of a bad kungfu movie, or at least a ride at Six Flags).  It’s basically a fireman’s lift where your opponent is suspended across your shoulders, with an added airplane spin before you dump him off your shoulders onto his head.  Yeah!  =D  Somehow lifting my black belt partner into the air last night was *much* easier than trying to lift the green belt about three weeks ago (uh, unsuccessfully).  I feel just a little better about my upcoming exam now that I’ve actually performed every art that will be required on the test.  =]

Lorie (someone more into Disney than my drawmates?!  what?!) also remembered to lend me Lion King 1 & 1/2 and Brother Bear.  Woohoo!  I have pretty high expectations for the comedic value of Lion King 1.5 despite its straight-to-video release, and I suspect Brother Bear will be cheesy and corny even though it got nominated for Best Animated Film.  Anyone who has actually watched them can offer their own opinion.  Or not.  I’m open to being surprised.

This morning, I checked my email and got *another* Gmail invitation!  Yikes, what could I possibly do with 2 GB of email quota?  =P  Are these things transferable?  Does anyone want a Gmail account?  Let me know and we’ll try out this little experiment.  You’ll have an edge above the rest of the applicants if you submit a personal statement which expresses how a Gmail account will help you change the world.  Or it should at least be a warm fuzzy story that makes me feel all mushy inside.

Wow, feeling pretty hyper today.  Somehow I’m finding time to update this despite the fact that the Associate Director (my boss), Admin #1, Admin #2, and the Network Admin are all out of the office today, leaving me to take care of everything all by myself.  Basically, if anybody wanted to take over Meyer, today would be the day.  Of course, you must understand that I would be bound by duty to make you suffer the wrath of Jigoku Otoshi.

Saturday April 3, 2004

Had three interesting conversations with my sensei this week:

One where I told him my brown belt exam date of April 14th was coming up way too soon and that I wasn’t prepared.  He turned around and asked, “Okay, when do you want to take it?”  I was thinking maybe April 28th.  Instead, he suggested May 26th.  Shocking.  After all that egging on and pushiness, he gives me an extra month.  Okay, now I am without excuse.  Doh.

Then we had a conversation where he was “reminding” me about the benefits of being a brown belt, namely that I would then have yet another class session opened up for me.  But it’s always been on Sunday mornings, 10-12 noon.  “Even if I get my brown belt, Sunday mornings are already taken, Prof,” I said, bracing myself inside.  “What?!  What do you have Sunday morning?” he shot back, just as I expected.  I had been dreading this moment for a long, long time.  I was certain that he was about to say something to confirm that the study of jujitsu and worshipping God were diametrically opposed, given some of his lectures in the past.  Determined not to back down, I told him why Sunday mornings, 10-12 noon was not an option for me.  “Church, Prof.”  (Oh boy, here it comes.)  “Oh, well, that’s a good reason,” he said without a hint of sarcasm.  (Shocking!)  “We’ll have to meet with all the brown belts and black belts to see what other times we can meet.”  (Doubly shocking!)  Wow, again I was left speechless.

Man, he is really good at disarming me, huh?  The jujitsu doesn’t need to be physical to be effective.

Oh yeah, conversation #3 was me asking him to confirm whether or not it is appropriate for me to claim that I am certified now in massage, since people are always asking me about that.  Answer: Yes, for what it’s worth, I have completed over 150 hours of training and I am officially certified in Seifukujitsu (Traditional Japanese Restorative Massage) by The Kodenkan Institute in Redwood City, California.  =]