dankfairy.net

i'm still a rock star

Mon, 17 Nov 2008 20:21:47 +1100

Gradings are done for the year and I am relieved and yet also feeling a little like the day after christmas when it's all over. Having them all on one day worked out well, and really wasn't much more long a day than it normally is, but it definitely shortened the whole weekend. It was also a great end to the day to go to the senior dinner. It was awesome seeing so many people there, all the ones who graded, and the food was great. Yowani Club has really great food. I don't know about the band though.

I was really glad that Hanshi and Sensei liked their presents. I spent weeks working on those, and when you put a lot of effort into a present like that, it's a hold-your-breath moment when they first see it. Of course I was also drunk when we gave it to them, and they let me get hold of a microphone into which I think I talked a bunch of shit, but no one seemed to mind, prolly they were just relieved that it was me and not them. Everyone said I looked really different. Why? Cause I looked like a girl? I think people forget sometimes, and I like it that way. Pushups all round til they forget again. And for me too, cause I ate a shitload of cake. Cake was good.

A few people commented to me that I push them really hard and they like that. I like helping people see their potential, but honestly, I am just giving myself a flogging. No one is harder on me than I am. I get myself beat up and keep going back for more. I never complain or quit, and I don't have a lot of patience for those that do.

Next: Fun Day. Bring it.

light me up and turn me loose

Wed, 12 Nov 2008 16:21:02 +1100

I have been preparing for the marathon grading day on the weekend. It's going to be a long day, but as I pointed out to someone yesterday, it's only one day this time, instead of the entire weekend. People just rock up for their bit and don't really see the rest of the grading carnival that comes to town and then rolls up to goulburn a few days later.

Drew and I are going to have to get there very early, I am sure some of the others will too but most will have very valid and undeniable excuses. I was thinking we can prolly actually get most of the Hall setup on Friday night, I think it will save us time if we do all that and then just put the finishing touches in on Saturday morning and make sandwiches and coffee instead. Due to the fact the grading is a marathon all day event this time, our benevolent chief instructor has ensured lunch is provided, which is nice, I mean it's little things like that make you feel appreciated in your efforts, and also less likely to pass out from hypoglycemia. Also coffee.

After which of course will be the end of year dinner, which I am looking forward to cause When all is said and done, end of year dinners are for friends to sit together and get hammered.

Drew's sister was inconsiderate enough to put her wedding on the day likely to be the next grading, which is inconvenient and annoying. I would go to the grading, not my sister's wedding I think if I had to choose. I would prolly go if it were on a day of no particular note, so I could be bored and disinterested while my relatives try and set me up with some guy I went to school with, who now has several kids on child support and is looking for wife number 2 (or 3).

Lisa-in-the-Morning said something today about being engaged once. I think she was pretending she was a character from Bold and the Beautiful. I went to Brand Depot on the weekend and they have pictures of Cam and Lisa all over the place. Cam looks like the last Dr Who who just quit and was replaced by Barty Crouch Jr. Also I dislike him because in addition to looking fruity, he is starting to get annoyingly opinionated on the radio. He thinks he is the new Mark, and in 4 years we'll prolly have Cam running for local government too.

in remembrance i relive

Wed, 08 Oct 2008 16:21:22 +1100

I have been very interested lately in video editing. I have had a video camera for a couple of years which was never compatible with my computer. I got my new computer in April, and subsequently hooked the camera up to it with success. It's only recently I've had time to actually start trying to edit the raw footage and produce some home dvds of stuff.

I have started with my own shodan grading, largely because the tape was still in the camera. I haven't done any video editing since 2004 when I studied it, but now I am really learning a lot. It helps that the computer is pretty fast too. I am having a bit of fun trying things out too, and the resultant dvd will prolly look relatively tacky and lame, but it's all part of learning I s'pose. When I get better I will tackle some more interesting projects, time permitting.

it's the simple things in life

Thu, 25 Sep 2008 10:51:31 +1000

It's my little girl's 8th birthday today. 8 already, it sure doesn't take long. She had her birthday party last weekend, they all went to see Wall-E at the movies, which was a great plan cause they all sat in the row behind me and pretty much left me alone for an hour and a half. That's a big improvement on last years sleepover party where I had to listen to them all night long and well into the next day.

I have been waking up a lot earlier on account of the longer days. Where a few weeks ago I struggled to get out of bed before 8am some mornings, I am now up and harassing the coffee machine by 6:30am. It makes such a difference. I feel quite energetic in the mornings, and mentally stimulated as well. I don't know how the early daylight savings changeover will affect that though, I will prolly be back to struggling to get out of bed before Matt Tilley tries to convince me to murder everyone. I'm pretty sure that's his objective.

hit em right between the eyes

Mon, 01 Sep 2008 21:39:10 +1000

grading weekend is over again, and I am really sore. I blame advanced training for that though. And no I didn't get any new black eyes or broken bones. I didn't even hit anyone in the face. I thought I'd do the unexpected for a change and while people were waiting for a hit on the head, I kicked them in the stomach instead. Can't have them getting bored now. By 'them' I mean 'me', I don't want to get bored.

It was good fun though. The kids grading was awesome, I always love seeing my students grade, they always make me proud. And this time I had a few seniors grading for the first time which was good. I don't understand why all my students have blue hair though, am I missing something there? They aren't even blue belts..

then expect me to forget it

Mon, 25 Aug 2008 14:46:14 +1000

For the better part of a week now I have been sporting a black eye on my right side. It was a present from Drew at the last free sparring class on Wednesday night while we were doing 2-on-1 sparring. I think it hurt, but all I did was make sure I could still see, and then kept going. Didn't roll around on the ground screaming. Didn't really think much of it. Towards the end of class I started to notice a large lump obscuring my peripheral vision though. It came up all black the next day, and while it looks really painful, it's not really. I have bigger, more painful bruises on my legs and knees. It's just cause it's on my eye that everyone notices. And they all stare like they've never seen a girl with a black eye before. Maybe they haven't.

like a pain that's finally gone

Mon, 18 Aug 2008 16:23:40 +1000

I have been obsessively watching the olympics on tv for the last 10 days. I would prolly be less interested if there weren't a very large plasma tv hanging in front of my desk at work constantly tuned into 7's Exclusive Coverage of the Games of the XXIX Olympiad: Beijing. But there is, and I am watching it. Today we've won gold in the triathlon and the sailing, which brings us to 7 gold won by women, 3 by men. Aussie girls play to win. Jamaica won their first ever gold in women's sprints this morning, and I wonder how they even managed that with their olympic champion carrying so much junk in the trunk, but there you go.

I am all better after my weeks of being sick. I am hoping I stay well now. I am keen to get back into my training, and am pretty excited about the grading coming up in a couple of weeks, I get to see some of my students grade and that's always a buzz. Currently looking forward to the final week of the free sparring courses. The certificates turned out nicely this time.

feel my temperature rising

Wed, 06 Aug 2008 14:00:35 +1000

I have been rather sick for the past couple of weeks. I keep waiting for it to get better and go away but it doesn't. I will go to the doctor and see what she thinks about it, cause I don't really enjoy it. Also I have been missing class because of it, and that's just not acceptable.

It was my birthday the other day, I'm now 30 years old. I don't feel old, and I don't feel bothered about turning 30. I am actually enjoying it, it feels like a natural progression. Having a small birthday party on the weekend with some friends and family, should be nice. Assuming I get well again.

I got some nice presents; Flight of the Conchords dvd set, and Alice Cooper's book Golf Monster which I am very much enjoying. Rina spent the day with me, we got ourselves brekky and had a nice relaxing day.

you look like you'd fit in the trunk of my car

Fri, 01 Aug 2008 12:12:38 +1000

I have been watching Underbelly, I got the dvd set. I only saw a few episodes on tv, enough to make me go read up about the whole gangland war which was apparently well publicised at the time in Victoria and nowhere else. It's a good series, the story is interesting, the characters well played (whether they are true to life is open to interpretation).

In reading up about the real life events that inspired the series, I saw a lot of criticism for the way the criminal world is romanticised in the series. Carl Williams receives a great deal of fan mail, and despite the fact that he is a convicted murderer, seems to have attained some popular celebrity. This isn't necessarily a new thing. There is precedence for Australia's fascination with Outlaws. There was Chopper Read, notorious in the melbourne crime world. There was Ned Kelly, the most famous of our bushrangers who was executed at Melbourne Gaol. Ok, so maybe it's just Victorians. Which is probably why the series was banned there, on account of their inability to watch criminal dramatisations and remain objective. Or maybe it will just make them wonder why no one has offered to pay them off.

It's my birthday in 2 days, I'll be turning 30.