Martial Arts

When I was living in Korea I studied Hapkido, which is like Karate 2.0, and I earned my yellow belt, which means I know how to count to 10 in Korean and take someone down if they're attacking me by shaking my right hand.

One day I would like to become a martial arts master and get a black belt. I realize this is going to take ages to achieve, and will involve a huge investment of time, but I think it would be beneficial in terms of both health and confidence.

But how does one go about picking a martial art? From an initial glance at Wikipedia, there are many different styles to choose from and there’s not just Asian, but also African, South American, and historical European styles that offer something for everyone. If I list the goals or preferred elements of my ideal, they would be:

1. Strength and flexibility
2. Self-defense
3. Standard tests and clear goals to work towards
4. Easy on the hands (not too much grabbing or grappling)
5. Something a 115 lb. woman could realistically hope to master

Rant

Being self-employed is infinitely more fulfilling than working full-time at a well-paid office in an industrial park, sitting in a dusty cubicle, silently wasting the precious moments of what should be my life, as I was doing just over a year ago.



It was just before I quit that job that I wrote this:

I am so bored. There is nothing on TV. Violence is not the answer but it is definitely part of the equation. Sometimes having nothing to be legitimately angry about is itself enough to incite anger in an entire generation of restless youth. The kids today have no Great War, no oppression in this country. We want for nothing, and our only desire is for desire itself. We are numbed by over-stimulation and unforgiving of our undeserved good fortune. So we lash out. We are often aimless, irritable, self-righteous. We are desperate for a reason to paint ugly words on signs to be broadcast on the evening news, to stand up for something we believe in. But we believe in nothing. We are beyond Atheism. It’s not that God is dead, it’s just that we believe that WE no longer mean anything. Perhaps the human race is an abandoned experiment. We want to stand out but we are beige people living in a gray world. There is nothing to clash with. The Establishment no longer pushes back. The Man is no longer a separate entity. It’s way past 1984. We are walking on clouds. We are free. Yet we still long to rage and break away and be the New and Improved generation. To know more, see more, be more. So it infuriates us to realize that posterity will not remember this, our time, as a time of change to greatness. We have no heroes because heroism is irrelevant. Expectations have been lowered. The lights have been dimmed to save energy. Blending in, keeping quiet, working hard – this does not mean conforming, which is no longer even an option. It just is. We want so badly to have our fifteen minutes, to prove ourselves worthy. We whine about self esteem. We are a youth who have still to grow up, but we refuse to until we have experienced our deserved cathartic tantrums, our rebellions, until we can light a fire that will keep us warm well into old age. If we are not given the opportunity, we will start a war to get it. I wish I had been born a hundred years ago. Give me darkness, give me hunger, give me fear and uncertainty. I need something to hold onto. Something real.

I am so glad to be free of the treadmill of corporate nothingness that depressed the hell out of me. I may not be rolling in the dip, but I now have purposeful work to do that motivates me to strive for what seem to be endless possibilities in my career. Without being stuck in a dead-end job, and being independent, and free of the daily bombardment of advertisements, I feel optimistic about the chance to pursue things I wouldn't have even considered last year. Plus I get the benefit of tax write-offs.

A Flood of Felines

I wish I were in need of a cat.

With Petcetera going bankrupt there are more than enough to go around, and it seems that the SPCA can't handle the onslaught of homeless cats in the Lower Mainland. Unfortunately my landlord doesn't allow pets, and to be honest, I don't really want another cat in my life at this point. They can live for two decades and don't like to travel.

Adopting a pet from a shelter is a goal I have because I miss my animals and think that my next one should be in need of a home and not just be a commodity bred for the sole purpose of making some overweight, dirty-fingernailed guy named Angus enough to take an extended vacation this year. The thing is, I'm thinking it'll be a small animal, like a rodent or maybe a gecko if I happen to be living in sub-Saharan Africa and they have a more exotic selection at the SPCA.

No, but seriously, why do people not get their pets spayed or neutered? It is a fairly simple solution to a fairly serious problem. With so many unwanted animals (especially cats) it just doesn't make sense to let your cat or dog procreate, now matter how lovely it is to witness the miracle of birth and enjoy eight weeks of awesome cuteness. And we don't even need to talk about rabbits. If you can't afford to have your kitten or puppy fixed, then you shouldn't get one in the first place. Resist the temptation! Don't look in the sad little eyes! Stop petting the soft wrinkly belly! Walk away! It's not cheap to feed and take care of, and you can't just put it on a shelf when it gets big and you get tired of it.

Anyway, stepping down from my soapbox and getting back to the main point, I realize this would be an ideal time to cross an item off my list if it were a cat I was looking for. If the SPCA had a new shipment of rats I would get one yesterday, but I think I'll keep holding out for a two-month old female Border Terrier, Flat-Coated Retriever mix.

TV-Free

Since June 1 I've been living without a TV set, and I've discovered I am perfectly happy without it. Maybe it's the lack of quality shows, or the annoying noise of commercials that has turned me off cable. Granted, I have been watching the fourth season of The Office on my computer, but without the distraction of a TV I've been doing a lot of other things with my time that I probably wouldn't get to otherwise. Just 11 months to go to fulfill my goal of a year without a TV and it's going to be easier than I thought.