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flexagonI bought these, not realizing these existed. Thank you, Tannery, for not stocking the entire line... well, perhaps next time a business trip comes up it'll be shopping time again.
And now for a little tae kwon do rant. Last night one of the women who recently tested for black belt was talking about how much dedication, commitment, long hours, etc, it takes to get up to and through the black belt test... how she's been coming to double classes for a long time, and there are things like skipping sparring that you "can't get away with" when you reach certain levels. She was glowing with justifiable pride... apparently TKD is the first thing she's really stuck with for a long time and is now getting the rewards, which is great. But somehow it reminded me of the things that irk me sometimes about the martial arts. They ask an awful lot, it sometimes seems, for very little return, and it can be uncomfortably personal and heirarchical (what is this "can't get away with" crap between adults, I ask you?). Really, a black belt is not going to help with anyone's career unless they want to teach TKD, not going to give that many health benefits above another fitness pursuit couldn't give. It teaches perseverence to some, true. But what if you already know that little lesson and have persevered through other multi-year efforts that have much higher payoff? Is this really worth pouring all that effort into, just for the bragging rights and the respect of a few people who have no effect on the rest of your life?
I think the odds of my getting a black belt are decent, just because it's psychologically easier for me to stick with things than not stick wtih things, and if I have a red belt by the time my 3 year contract is up, I'll just be too annoyingly close to quit. But, if they really want "dedication" beyond your standard hard work, we all might be shit outta luck. I'm valuable, damn it, and so are my family, my home, my job and my other pursuits. I do TKD because it's a good workout. I'm not going to randomly devote myself to something that completely just because it's nifty and Asian and old, and some Korean guy will think I'm a quitter if I don't.
Last night HLM and I talked about the apartment a little, giving me the chance to tell him how appreciative I have been of how he's dealing with it all. It also came to light that the work the landlords have been doing in the kitchen still isn't done... ergh... and that HLM is starting to agree with me that they're taking advantage of us. So, sometime around the end of this week, if we don't see serious progress, we're thinking of calling a lawyer and asking the landlords to let us out of the rest of the lease before we have to actually get the lawyer involved. Ugh, I don't want to do that, in fact I sort of dread doing that, but I don't like the current situation either. It's just gone on too long, and the list of things the landlords want to do keeps growing, and... ugh.
Rounded out the evening with some nookie (good for stopping my brain thinking about the apartment) and Photoshopping (not quite enough to have anything to post). It was a good evening. I'm getting faster at comic coloring and word balloons, though I keep trying to do new things and that slows me down again. And on that other topic... candles are good, true, but mirrors are the best... thing... ever. Maybe it really would be worthwhile to have one on the ceiling. :)
And now for a little tae kwon do rant. Last night one of the women who recently tested for black belt was talking about how much dedication, commitment, long hours, etc, it takes to get up to and through the black belt test... how she's been coming to double classes for a long time, and there are things like skipping sparring that you "can't get away with" when you reach certain levels. She was glowing with justifiable pride... apparently TKD is the first thing she's really stuck with for a long time and is now getting the rewards, which is great. But somehow it reminded me of the things that irk me sometimes about the martial arts. They ask an awful lot, it sometimes seems, for very little return, and it can be uncomfortably personal and heirarchical (what is this "can't get away with" crap between adults, I ask you?). Really, a black belt is not going to help with anyone's career unless they want to teach TKD, not going to give that many health benefits above another fitness pursuit couldn't give. It teaches perseverence to some, true. But what if you already know that little lesson and have persevered through other multi-year efforts that have much higher payoff? Is this really worth pouring all that effort into, just for the bragging rights and the respect of a few people who have no effect on the rest of your life?
I think the odds of my getting a black belt are decent, just because it's psychologically easier for me to stick with things than not stick wtih things, and if I have a red belt by the time my 3 year contract is up, I'll just be too annoyingly close to quit. But, if they really want "dedication" beyond your standard hard work, we all might be shit outta luck. I'm valuable, damn it, and so are my family, my home, my job and my other pursuits. I do TKD because it's a good workout. I'm not going to randomly devote myself to something that completely just because it's nifty and Asian and old, and some Korean guy will think I'm a quitter if I don't.
Last night HLM and I talked about the apartment a little, giving me the chance to tell him how appreciative I have been of how he's dealing with it all. It also came to light that the work the landlords have been doing in the kitchen still isn't done... ergh... and that HLM is starting to agree with me that they're taking advantage of us. So, sometime around the end of this week, if we don't see serious progress, we're thinking of calling a lawyer and asking the landlords to let us out of the rest of the lease before we have to actually get the lawyer involved. Ugh, I don't want to do that, in fact I sort of dread doing that, but I don't like the current situation either. It's just gone on too long, and the list of things the landlords want to do keeps growing, and... ugh.
Rounded out the evening with some nookie (good for stopping my brain thinking about the apartment) and Photoshopping (not quite enough to have anything to post). It was a good evening. I'm getting faster at comic coloring and word balloons, though I keep trying to do new things and that slows me down again. And on that other topic... candles are good, true, but mirrors are the best... thing... ever. Maybe it really would be worthwhile to have one on the ceiling. :)
