Platinum, or Dirty?

I am far too busy to post anything of interest, except for this fantastic blonde joke that I heard from two people, actually.

Knee-jerk reaction.

I have done it!

I have decided!

I have the answer!

(it is not, as some might suggest, "42")

My blog shall be a teaching, jiu-jitsu, knitting blog. Or, "TeaJiuKni." (pronounce the hard "k" sound). Sounds cool. I think that makes me cool. Or something.

But what about Sci-Fi!? What about Buffy? What about my family? My faith? My piano? My Shakespeare? Tolkien???

Fear not, gentle friends! I shall not neglect the ten million other obligations and interests of my heart...no, not even you and your antics. You and your shenanigans, as well as the escapades of your loved ones, are fair game in this rollicking ride of one writer's attempt to break through her block of fear and procrastination.

"Aha!" one might say. So you have sold your soul, your sincerity and directness, for a trademark wit and gentle banter. Again, I say to you, "Fear not!" I am, as ever, my SELF, and will indulge in light humor only to better engage my multifarious (a word chosen with great care - delightful, yes?) readers and therefore ensnare them in a dialogue of delicate philosophical considerations and mighty internal debate.

Intrigued yet?

Tune in next time, same Bat Time, same Bat Channel, for more TeaJiuKni from karen-the-great. Kaaa-POW!

(okay, so maybe the so-called "same Bat Time" is actually a little bit later today...but you can tune in whenever you like)

So...something about one of my three topics........


Jiu-jitsu it is then. (On google cached searches, this line will be highlighted. Neat-o.)

Background: I just started my Gracie Brazilian jiu-jitsu classes in July, so I'm still new, and in that kind of "awe and wonderment" phase. I'm only a gold belt with one stripe, but I'm proud of that anyway, especially since, due to some scheduling issues and my sensei's faith in me, I've been attending the intermediate class for about two weeks. Going well, except for the catastrophic knee-injury that happened this past Monday. Well, catastrophic is a bit melodramatic.

Very silly, and I hate it when I'm very silly and it causes injury and embarassment. I was grappling with Erica, an excellent blue belt and a lovely person, and I had a half-guard of her right leg, stretching her out to threaten her base. But she, being alert and talented, shifted her weight to her left for a choke, and I, being slow and amateur, held on a split second too long. Snap, POP! (no Crackling, thank goodness). Ouchie.

I did NOT cry. Or scream. But I did almost bite through my mouth guard.

It's all achy today, and in Karate on Wednesday I couldn't do any kicks at all. I couldn't stay for jiu-jitsu after, since the throbbing started up again. Total un-fun. (Did I mention I also participate in Adult Martial Arts?) My little bro, the golden child Matthew (golden hair, golden heart - a good kid) tore his ACL several years ago, and is all OVER me to go the doctor. Same for the B. Funny how the whole no-health-insurance-thing limits the doctor's visits for big problems.

I think I'll be okay - keeping with the icing, the Motrin, the brace, etc. But I want to play. It's almost like I'm the little kid stuck inside on a rainy day with no good books to read, and only a goldfish to talk to. Not that ya'll are goldfish, Jenna and Darren! Definitely more like purple striped parrot fish.

Okay. That's the "on-topic" post for today.

Sweet grasshopper Joe.

Yesterday was a day of days.

Would have been warm, but for a chill wind out of the west...My little beetle-bug was tossed back and forth on the road as a ship on high seas. Or a little green pea in a big bowl of soup.

Good news, all who wonder and worry: I have a job! Well, two 1/2, actually. Still working a few odd hours here and there at the insurance agency, but adding about 10 hours at C2 Educational Center in Suwannee/Snellville and, believe it or not, at Gainesville College, Oconee campus. I'll be the Writing Tutor for the Regent's test students out there, 4 days a week.

I'll probably still be poor beyond all sense, but I'll be learning and working and challenged, especially at Gainesville. But getting that call yesterday morning was like a bright light in the dark, and one that stayed true until the evening.

The night was bitter, and sweet, and full of regret. Not something I usually experience. My usual mantra of "no regrets, only lessons learned" doesn't really work in the case of a lost friends and happy memories' fading. I talked with an old love for hours, took his hand, and drove away without him. I am strong, but not without sorrow.

Enough pretension, enough crystallization of emotions in cold, false poetic terms. On, life! Write, on!

My jiu-jitsu instructor taught me a valuable lesson yesterday afternoon, using an old television drama and some martial arts wisdom: (If you get this reference, then you are cooler than I was at 7:30pm yesterday,though not cooler than my 8pm version).

A blind man and a young boy with eyes closed listen to the silence for a moment.
"Can you hear the grasshopper at your feet?"
"Old man, how can you hear that?"
"Young man, how can you not?"

In fact, if you get it, you are so cool that I'll buy you a yummy cup of Hot Corner joe (or tea, if you like) if you are the first person to name the show and the lead actor. :) (I'll buy you a muffin if you submit a nice treatise on the philosophy of the interchange!)

AND! come on by Hot Corner. It's hot. (actually, they keep it FREEZING in here, probably to encourage the purchase of more toasty beverages!)

Be warm, my friends.

Potato

Slept on the couch last night. Again. I wish I could make the argument that my couch is so comfortable that the cushions are like sweet, soft clouds that lend themselves to somnolescence…but I can’t. In fact, my sofa is remarkably uncomfortable (not to mention unattractive), with flat, stiff cushions and ugly, scratchy fabric.

Why then, drift off into the land of dreams from such a graceless port?

Because I was far too lazy to walk all the way (all three steps) to my bedroom, put the clean bedclothes on the bed, set my alarms (all four of them), tidy up the mess, and re-situate myself in a new sleepy state, since I was already nodding off in the living room.

Wow. That sounds a bit pathetic, all out there like that. Perhaps this new sheepish feeling will lead to a reduction in the number of sofa-sleeping incidents.

Meow mix.

It’s a funny circumstance.

I’m back in the insurance business.  It’s like I can’t escape from the universe of claims, clients, and calamity that has been my father’s sphere since I was a little girl.

Calling seniors (65+) to schedule times to talk about their Medicare Medigap supplemental insurance is definitely not the apex of excitement…but at least it leaves me free to sneak in a blog or two  - since I’m just getting started anyway.

I’m getting a kitty today!  My new little girl is all black, with medium-length hair, sweet disposition, named … well, named “Squishy” by the vet, but that’s not a name I’m going to keep.  

She looks strikingly similar to my old Suzy-blue (the boy named Sue, for those of you who remember), so already bringing back memories.
This is so exciting!  Pictures will certainly be available soon.

Shieldmaiden

This blogging-thing is a wee bit intimidating for me, especially since even private journal-writing poses unsettling questions of self-indulgence, audience (reader / readership / author). I suppose that since I’m composing, or, rather, exposing, my thoughts on the world in a public forum (Kathrine Hayles might argue a public space, but that’s another topic for another day) I do actually want readers.

I have a drive to write, but of what? I have felt, until very recently, that I’m not ready, I haven’t seen enough of the world, I don’t know enough, I’m too young, too credulous.
But that’s rather all about a kind of fear, right? And I am

karen-the-great!

I fear nothing, not even death. “I have waited on faltering feet long enough. Since they falter no longer, it seems, may I not now spend my life as I will?” (Eowyn, LoTR, RotK-5)

More later, as the day progresses. (or doesn’t, as it may be)

Greetings, world.

I have begun to begin, etc.

More later.