This week I received The Little Foxes' contribution to the Quote This! II ring. All of the stamps had something to do with confronting fear and it seemed quite appropriate that I got that this week.
As I've mentioned before, I've started Aikido again after taking a break for fifteen years. I remember how I loved to do forward rolls and being thrown and falling when I was little. I would get this thrill at just effortlessly tucking my body and springing back up in a perfect hamni (stance).
Fast forward fifteen years. Front rolls are the bane of my existence. I hate seeing the floor come up and I dread practicing moves that involve me having to do a front roll. That changed a little this week. Summer is always a bad time for me with headaches and just generally not feeling good, so I haven't been able to go to the dojo as often as I'd like (there's a reason why I live in the northern part of the US!). Now that the weather is getting cooler, I've been going more often and have been able to concentrate more.
This week I felt a little twinge of the thrill I used to feel when doing front rolls. It actually felt good to feel my feet flying over my head and knowing that I am in perfect control. And on Thursday we practiced a move that I have never enjoyed because it basically has the defender turning the attacker's arm in to a staff and launching the attacker into a front roll. I have never been able to do the front roll without hitting my head or hurting my shoulder. But I actually managed to do a decent roll and stand up in hamni. Granted, I still hit my head or roll on my shoulder, but I'm not so afraid of it now.
I'm still amazed that in my (very) long break from Aikido, I became afraid of falling. I went from this fearless ten year old who would try any move, even if it looked really difficult, to a twenty-five year old who cringes when she sees the floor rushing up.
Fear is a funny thing.
Saturday, September 15, 2007
Sunday, September 9, 2007
Schoolin'
Yesterday was the first day of my second semester of library school. I'm only taking one class this semester since I've heard from others that this is one of the hardest classes of the program. It's "Organization of Knowledge", which is basically learning cataloging rules. It only meets every other Saturday, but for five hours each time. I honestly don't know if I'll like the class or not. Cataloging has never really interested me, but who knows? I could actually end up enjoying it.
There are a few familiar faces in the class, mostly from my Intro to LIS class. And "That" girl is in the new class. You know the type-always has something to say even if it has nothing to do with the topic at hand, argues almost everything the professor says, asks if every single chart or PowerPoint presentation is going to be posted on the class website, etc, etc. She was in my Reference Services class and by the end of the term, the professor was having none of it. It made for some interesting classes and the rest of us would place bets on how long it would take the professor to shut her down. By the end of class yesterday, I could tell that the professor for this class is going to get quite sick of her quite quickly.
In terms of my other schooling (aikido), the dojo is hosting a seminar this weekend with the head of the Virginia Aikikai Assocation. He's a 6th dan (a sixth degree black belt). They're doing testing this weekend as well. I really wanted to watch the testing since the next time they hold testing, I'll probably be the one being tested. I managed to catch the tail end of the testing after my Cataloging class. The upper ranks were testing and it was kind of intimidating. The whole test for the higher ranks is basically defending yourself against three or four attackers. It was amazing watching a woman probably a little taller than me send three tall men flying. I know that they've all been training for years, but I can't imagine being able to do that at this point. Someday...
There are a few familiar faces in the class, mostly from my Intro to LIS class. And "That" girl is in the new class. You know the type-always has something to say even if it has nothing to do with the topic at hand, argues almost everything the professor says, asks if every single chart or PowerPoint presentation is going to be posted on the class website, etc, etc. She was in my Reference Services class and by the end of the term, the professor was having none of it. It made for some interesting classes and the rest of us would place bets on how long it would take the professor to shut her down. By the end of class yesterday, I could tell that the professor for this class is going to get quite sick of her quite quickly.
In terms of my other schooling (aikido), the dojo is hosting a seminar this weekend with the head of the Virginia Aikikai Assocation. He's a 6th dan (a sixth degree black belt). They're doing testing this weekend as well. I really wanted to watch the testing since the next time they hold testing, I'll probably be the one being tested. I managed to catch the tail end of the testing after my Cataloging class. The upper ranks were testing and it was kind of intimidating. The whole test for the higher ranks is basically defending yourself against three or four attackers. It was amazing watching a woman probably a little taller than me send three tall men flying. I know that they've all been training for years, but I can't imagine being able to do that at this point. Someday...
Monday, September 3, 2007
The Sculpture Garden
A visiting letterboxer made her first plant at the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden a few blocks from my apartment. It took me two trips to find it, mostly because it's one of those "hidden under a rock in a pile of rocks" clues that I always have problems with. Not that I minded going to the Sculpture Garden. It's always fun getting lost there.
But success!
I walked there early this morning, thinking that there wouldn't be the clumps of people that are always wandering through the garden. There were a few families, but it wasn't too bad.
Of course, there was a crowd around the Spoon Bridge.
It felt really good to get out and letterbox on my own. Lately it's either been too hot or I've had my parents (and less than enthusiastic brother) tagging along. I spent probably about an hour wandering around the garden and visiting all my favorites.
Saturday, August 4, 2007
Unbelievable
It's finally starting to sink in that the bridge is gone.
After I dropped Evan off at the radio station for his show, I had to take the Washington Avenue bridge (two bridges down from 35W) across the river. While I was crossing, Marine One (that Presidential helicopter) flew close to me on its way to the wreckage. As my eyes followed it, I saw part of the wreckage. Only a small section of the northern part was visible-part of the "V". It was kind of shocking seeing an image that I've seen on TV. Up until that point, I had only seen the wreckage on all the news coverage. It still seemed far away. But seeing it in real life was very...odd.
I turned on to River Road and saw that people had parked their cars and were standing and trying to peer into the woods on the bluff. I saw an empty parking spot and went to go see what they were looking at. Marine One had landed at the park across the river and the President was getting into his motorcade to (I'm guessing) go on the closed-to-normal-traffic 10th Avenue bridge to survey the damage. You couldn't really see any of the wreckage due to the curve of the river and the woods on the bluff.
I drove through the Dinkytown/Marcy-Holmes neighborhoods (neighborhoods surrounding the U. 35W is the dividing line of the two areas) and when I crossed over 35W and looked west, my jaw just dropped. Except for the lack of normal traffic and all the police and news vans, it looked normal-the construction barrels were still there, they had just finished paving the on-ramp a few days before. Normal until you got to the start of where the bridge was. There was a sudden drop off and then that piece that's sticking straight up blocked my view of anything else. Once I got to the end of the overpass, I could see the west side of the bridge that's just dangling. I just felt sick to my stomach-partly because of the destruction and partly because of the mass of news vans. I'm only allowed to watch the coverage in the morning, other than that, I avoid it. It's hard at work though. There are flat panel screens that show CNN all day in the elevator lobbies. I saw one "special report" that had the name "The Road to Ruin" plastered across a full span shot of the wreckage. I wanted to find that person that designed it and just smack them. And then Nancy Grace was crying "Terrorism!" within hours of the collapse, even though it was clearly not. My dislike of sensationalist news coverage is at a new all-time high. I lived in Dinkytown/Marcy-Holmes for about five years and it's strange seeing pictures of my old neighborhood with dramatic captions. Especially some of the arial shots that show my old apartment buildings on both sides of the river and the park where I hid my first letterbox.
After doing the errands that I was going to do on Wednesday (the errands that would have put me on the bridge on or near the time it fell), I took the Central Avenue bridge across (it's one bridge to the north of 35W). I couldn't see any of the wreckage, but it was very strange looking over and seeing the 10th Avenue bridge that used to be hidden behind 35W. It was like 35W had never crossed the river there. I drove past the Guthrie and the new Gold Mill Park. People were standing on the hill in the park, watching the meeting with the President and the recovery. There were parents with kids on their shoulders, little ones in strollers, people who had been walking their dog and just decided to stop and watch. It reminded me of when people would pack picnics to go watch a battle. I took the Washington Avenue overpass of 35W and looked east. It looked like nothing had happened. Granted, the highway was empty except for police cars and construction barrels, but since that end has a bit of an up-hill climb, it looked pretty much normal. I couldn't see the wreckage on the other side. It just sloped up and that was it.
I'm happy (it seems wrong to be happy about that-people are still missing) that the number of missing people dropped. There were two people from work (not in my department) who were on the bridge, one is shaken, but fine and the other is in the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. I hope Lisascenic's friend is ok. I still can't watch the news without crying, but life is returning to normal. I now live in the Uptown area of Minneapolis, which is about a mile from the bridge, and when Evan and I went out to dinner last night, no one was talking about it and the TVs in the bar/pizza place were tuned to the Discovery Channel and the Twins Game. I think I'm having a hard time getting used to it because I could have been on the bridge. I keep asking myself those dangerous and pointless "What if" questions. What if I had decided to do my errands that day? What if I had let Evan borrow the car to go to the video store? (I would never forgive myself if he had been on the bridge) What if the cats had a vet appointment and I was taking them home from it? Would I have been able to save them? What if it had fallen on Monday when Evan and I were stuck in the same rush hour traffic at about the same time on the bridge? I'm keeping busy and try to stop those questions from running through my head. Nothing is going to get accomplished if I dwell on it. Luckily, we have Evan's 7 year old sister spending the day with us and we'll be busy entertaining her (and we'll avoid the collapse area-I don't know if his dad and stepmom have talked to her about what happened). And (it sounds really dorky), I'm kind of getting excited to see what the new bridge will look like. I know it's a few years off, but will they still make it with no center pier? It probably won't be steel and concrete, what will they make it out of? Will it be all cool and modern looking to fit with the Gehry designed art museum near by and the new ultra-modern Guthrie Theater?
It'll be interesting to say the least.
After I dropped Evan off at the radio station for his show, I had to take the Washington Avenue bridge (two bridges down from 35W) across the river. While I was crossing, Marine One (that Presidential helicopter) flew close to me on its way to the wreckage. As my eyes followed it, I saw part of the wreckage. Only a small section of the northern part was visible-part of the "V". It was kind of shocking seeing an image that I've seen on TV. Up until that point, I had only seen the wreckage on all the news coverage. It still seemed far away. But seeing it in real life was very...odd.
I turned on to River Road and saw that people had parked their cars and were standing and trying to peer into the woods on the bluff. I saw an empty parking spot and went to go see what they were looking at. Marine One had landed at the park across the river and the President was getting into his motorcade to (I'm guessing) go on the closed-to-normal-traffic 10th Avenue bridge to survey the damage. You couldn't really see any of the wreckage due to the curve of the river and the woods on the bluff.
I drove through the Dinkytown/Marcy-Holmes neighborhoods (neighborhoods surrounding the U. 35W is the dividing line of the two areas) and when I crossed over 35W and looked west, my jaw just dropped. Except for the lack of normal traffic and all the police and news vans, it looked normal-the construction barrels were still there, they had just finished paving the on-ramp a few days before. Normal until you got to the start of where the bridge was. There was a sudden drop off and then that piece that's sticking straight up blocked my view of anything else. Once I got to the end of the overpass, I could see the west side of the bridge that's just dangling. I just felt sick to my stomach-partly because of the destruction and partly because of the mass of news vans. I'm only allowed to watch the coverage in the morning, other than that, I avoid it. It's hard at work though. There are flat panel screens that show CNN all day in the elevator lobbies. I saw one "special report" that had the name "The Road to Ruin" plastered across a full span shot of the wreckage. I wanted to find that person that designed it and just smack them. And then Nancy Grace was crying "Terrorism!" within hours of the collapse, even though it was clearly not. My dislike of sensationalist news coverage is at a new all-time high. I lived in Dinkytown/Marcy-Holmes for about five years and it's strange seeing pictures of my old neighborhood with dramatic captions. Especially some of the arial shots that show my old apartment buildings on both sides of the river and the park where I hid my first letterbox.
After doing the errands that I was going to do on Wednesday (the errands that would have put me on the bridge on or near the time it fell), I took the Central Avenue bridge across (it's one bridge to the north of 35W). I couldn't see any of the wreckage, but it was very strange looking over and seeing the 10th Avenue bridge that used to be hidden behind 35W. It was like 35W had never crossed the river there. I drove past the Guthrie and the new Gold Mill Park. People were standing on the hill in the park, watching the meeting with the President and the recovery. There were parents with kids on their shoulders, little ones in strollers, people who had been walking their dog and just decided to stop and watch. It reminded me of when people would pack picnics to go watch a battle. I took the Washington Avenue overpass of 35W and looked east. It looked like nothing had happened. Granted, the highway was empty except for police cars and construction barrels, but since that end has a bit of an up-hill climb, it looked pretty much normal. I couldn't see the wreckage on the other side. It just sloped up and that was it.
I'm happy (it seems wrong to be happy about that-people are still missing) that the number of missing people dropped. There were two people from work (not in my department) who were on the bridge, one is shaken, but fine and the other is in the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. I hope Lisascenic's friend is ok. I still can't watch the news without crying, but life is returning to normal. I now live in the Uptown area of Minneapolis, which is about a mile from the bridge, and when Evan and I went out to dinner last night, no one was talking about it and the TVs in the bar/pizza place were tuned to the Discovery Channel and the Twins Game. I think I'm having a hard time getting used to it because I could have been on the bridge. I keep asking myself those dangerous and pointless "What if" questions. What if I had decided to do my errands that day? What if I had let Evan borrow the car to go to the video store? (I would never forgive myself if he had been on the bridge) What if the cats had a vet appointment and I was taking them home from it? Would I have been able to save them? What if it had fallen on Monday when Evan and I were stuck in the same rush hour traffic at about the same time on the bridge? I'm keeping busy and try to stop those questions from running through my head. Nothing is going to get accomplished if I dwell on it. Luckily, we have Evan's 7 year old sister spending the day with us and we'll be busy entertaining her (and we'll avoid the collapse area-I don't know if his dad and stepmom have talked to her about what happened). And (it sounds really dorky), I'm kind of getting excited to see what the new bridge will look like. I know it's a few years off, but will they still make it with no center pier? It probably won't be steel and concrete, what will they make it out of? Will it be all cool and modern looking to fit with the Gehry designed art museum near by and the new ultra-modern Guthrie Theater?
It'll be interesting to say the least.
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Le Morte d'Arthur
As some letterboxers might know, I love trying to translate my favorite works of art to pieces of rubber. Sometimes it works, sometime not so much.
I've always been in love with the illustrations that Aubrey Beardsley did for Sir Thomas Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur and started carving stamps from the many that he drew.
I planted the first of the stamps-a section of the Title Page-when I was home visiting my parents last weekend. I'll eventually plant the rest around Minnesota and Wisconsin, possibly in other states.
Hopefully I can get around to planting the second one-Merlin-this weekend. We have Evan's little 7 year old staying with us this weekend, so I probably won't get much done.
It should be interesting.
I've always been in love with the illustrations that Aubrey Beardsley did for Sir Thomas Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur and started carving stamps from the many that he drew.
I planted the first of the stamps-a section of the Title Page-when I was home visiting my parents last weekend. I'll eventually plant the rest around Minnesota and Wisconsin, possibly in other states.
Hopefully I can get around to planting the second one-Merlin-this weekend. We have Evan's little 7 year old staying with us this weekend, so I probably won't get much done.
It should be interesting.
Friday, July 20, 2007
It's almost here!
My copy of Harry Potter arrives tomorrow!
I'm almost afraid to read it. I hate endings and apparently this is a big one. I'll probably be a mess by the end of it.
Plan for this weekend:
Avoid news broadcasts, newspapers, etc.
Work Paw Pals at the library and avoid discussing Harry Potter with those who are carrying around a copy of HP#7.
Run errands.
HP#7 should arrive around 4 pm.
Read the rest of the weekend. Have box of tissues at hand.
I'm sure I'll love the new one, but I'm dreading finishing it.
And if anyone spoils the ending for me, it won't be pretty.
I'm almost afraid to read it. I hate endings and apparently this is a big one. I'll probably be a mess by the end of it.
Plan for this weekend:
Avoid news broadcasts, newspapers, etc.
Work Paw Pals at the library and avoid discussing Harry Potter with those who are carrying around a copy of HP#7.
Run errands.
HP#7 should arrive around 4 pm.
Read the rest of the weekend. Have box of tissues at hand.
I'm sure I'll love the new one, but I'm dreading finishing it.
And if anyone spoils the ending for me, it won't be pretty.
Tuesday, July 3, 2007
Has it been that long already?
Yesterday was my four year anniversary with Evan. Four years! It really doesn't seem that long. We met in a Shakespeare class and started dating the summer before I left for Wales. The "Has-he-popped-the-question?" questions have pretty much died down by now. They resurface around Christmas and Valentines, but we're happy not being married or engaged, thank you very much. Yeah, we'll probably get married eventually, but I just started grad school and Evan just got his first "adult" job, so we're in no hurry to change things just yet.
We stayed in last night, mostly because both of us had to work early today, and had one of our "Asian Stereotype" nights. Meaning we ordered in Chinese, drank sake, and watched anime. Last night's selection was some of the first season of Avatar. Ok, so maybe a Nickelodeon produced show that has it's own Happy Meal toys doesn't technically qualify as anime. It's still a damn fine cartoon.
The best part of all though was what he got me as a present-a gift certificate for Stampeaz! While I do appreciate the gift card, it's more the fact he actually paid attention. Evan puts up with letterboxing. He knows I love it and will go out letterboxing to spend time with me. He's also been known to be amazed by some of the postals I receive. He does complain about the coffee table being my carving table and the little bits of rubber that seem to get everywhere, but he doesn't get too upset because he knows it makes me happy.
I'm really lucky.
We stayed in last night, mostly because both of us had to work early today, and had one of our "Asian Stereotype" nights. Meaning we ordered in Chinese, drank sake, and watched anime. Last night's selection was some of the first season of Avatar. Ok, so maybe a Nickelodeon produced show that has it's own Happy Meal toys doesn't technically qualify as anime. It's still a damn fine cartoon.
The best part of all though was what he got me as a present-a gift certificate for Stampeaz! While I do appreciate the gift card, it's more the fact he actually paid attention. Evan puts up with letterboxing. He knows I love it and will go out letterboxing to spend time with me. He's also been known to be amazed by some of the postals I receive. He does complain about the coffee table being my carving table and the little bits of rubber that seem to get everywhere, but he doesn't get too upset because he knows it makes me happy.
I'm really lucky.
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