Wolf Tracks

I wish it were happier tidings I was posting since I haven't in a while. There have been many happy events including my first Europe trip on the BBJ since I last clicked away, but it would seem tonight is not that night.

Earlier today my brother called me greatly concerned about our mom whom he has been caring for nearly daily for the last couple of months. Her health has been steadily declining since she had to quit working a year or so ago. Four days ago he noted a sudden change in her daily routine - essentially that she stopped smoking (which she had done all her life) and didn't have a single drop of Scotch (also a constant in her life and where I developed my love of the spirit). She also quit eating and my brother had a hard time getting her to take even a little food. He was going to take her into the emergency room and see what the doctors could do to help get her back on an even keel.

*Taking a careful look around...

"Surface the ship!"

Ahh yes... still here. If a bit dusty and in need of updating...

*mumbling to self* yeah yeah, I know do something with the blog...

Ok, blame Malcolm for this one. He reminded me I should do this. Ok so it's partly out of a feeling of guilt and not Malcolm's fault for coming here and continuing the story and now that I know that there actually are people somewhat paying attention here, guess I better pick up the slack.

So.. where were we...

So here I sit at the airport waiting to head home from annual training, way early "just in case". Bummer no early flights home so what to do. Ah. How about an update on the Shinkendo?

My training has continued twice a week with more precision and forms being added, but it is amazing how easy it is to learn the more advanced forms once the core forms and techniques are known. The workouts are still intense with my pores getting quite a workout in sweating. November held several public demonstrations and I was very happy to be able to participate. Pictures from them are over in the gallery (nods thanks to his sweetie for getting the links module working). Getting a chance to review photos and video, there is nothing like embarrassing yourself when you zig while others zag to motivate you to learn a form better. (Don't worry James, you still don't need to yell at me :P )

Oh this is just too good to keep to myself. I got an email from a long time buddy who is also a pilot and he relates this story:

By now everyone has seen the iPhone commercial with the pilot looking at the radar and then talking to his dispatcher, yada yada...

I can't wait for the next ground delay or long taxi due to weather somewhere to get a smartass with a freaking iPhone shoving it in my face saying "Its NOT raining there... SEE?!"

Ok, now that I have ripped the pink out of the site... ahhhhhhhhhhh much better. I love the cause but MAN that hurt my eyes. :P

I'm patiently (although its beginning to fade) waiting on a new module to come out for MT4 that will allow me to easilly add in external links on the site. Things like... ohhhh I dunno... my photo album would be nice?! I have sent forth the "hunter-gathering" kitty (the wife to those of you who aren't in on the joke) to forage for the new module. She tells me the person developing it is "close". Hmmm, wonder if that's related to Soonâ„¢.

I'm also playing around with a new theme for the site. Problem is, the nifty theme generator doesn't play nice with MT4 ... yet. Guess I have to get off my lazy butt and actually look at the code for the back end of this thing and go play there. We'll see what happens. Stay tuned!

So, you may have noticed a little change in the ol' website. It's a little...um...brighter...um...metro...erm...ok its really really pink, but this is for a great cause.

October is Breast Cancer awareness month and this guy Matthew Oliphant at Pink for October got this idea that "hey, I can get the word out if I get a lot of bloggers to help me".

Well, considering that my wife may be prone to getting it, and well, as a guy I could get it (yes dudes... we can get the Big C upstairs as well as downstairs...), I'm all about helping out so that a cure can be found and hopefully there will be affordable, well managed (ok, run with the dream here) health care that can help us battle Cancer should it arise.

My path is one of service, on multiple levels. I hope that I can serve those who need it by this simple gesture. I will also do this in memory of a little girl I never knew, who became a great warrior. She fought a mighty foe, yet was full of life and love even when it took her at the age of 14. My love to you Heather.

Cancer isn't just an adult disease.

So it's been a month since I became a student of Shinkendo at Mashuu Dojo and I can honestly say that for the first time in many many years, I actually look forward to going to my workouts that last 2 hours a night, twice a week. I just wish I could attend more, but work and life being what it is, so be it. Plus, I don't want to over do it just yet.

It is really nice to have something like this to be passionate about and have that passion reflected in the dedication and professionalism of the Instructor and his student teachers. I have to admit that with the preparations for the audit at work winding down where I will be flying more once the audit is done, I'm a bit annoyed that I won't be in town to maintain the pace of my training.

I will say this about the workouts: The make you sweat! Lots of forms and movements that are aerobic and isometric. It kicks your butt after a couple hours :P With luck, I will be a lot less of myself in a hurry. We shall see. This art is a wonderful art and I highly recommend it for those with the passion and discipline to learn it. Jensei Shinkendo!

Ok sorry, a little over Zen, but hey, it's true. For a long time now, I have battled with my weight. A number of factor's and events in my life that I won't bore you with have cause my weight to go up to a number I'm not proud of. In fact, I'm down right annoyed with myself cause in the end, I can only blame myself.

Stress Sucks. Allowing it to get the better of you sucks harder... big fat hairy chunks of suck actually.

Enough.

So what do you do? Declare war in essence. Fortunately I have at least three things working for me in this fight - ediets.com, a wife who is dieting with me, and a new passion I'm sure I'll be writing about at length in the future, Shinkendo.