Recently a wonderful article appeared in the Wall Street Journal by John Paul Newport with this blog’s title. Here is the link to the article: Over 40.

It is an article about those of us, like myself, who dream about retiring from our day jobs and trying to become professional golfers on the Champion’s tour. I encourage you to read this to see how challenging it is to accomplish this. In fact, it is not only challenging, but it is probably comparable to the odds of winning the lottery.

But all is not lost! I joined a tour in Charlotte called the Amateur Golf Tour. The web site is here: Amateur Golf Tour.

This tour has locations across the east and I think is expanding. There is also a tour sponsored by the Golf Channel. These tours fill a very basic need of us golf addicts: the need to compete and improve our games in doing so. Winning a tournament on these tours is a huge thrill, and is a good first step if you have even an inkling of leaving your day job. I play in a flight of 16-20 handicappers and have been trying to move down into the lower handicap flights for years but haven’t had any success yet.

But I am hopeful that next year is the year!

I hope you enjoy this article and still keep your dream alive of improving your game. You are going to find lots of insights in this blog in the weeks and months ahead because I have been working on this project for awhile and have lots of war stories to tell! Thanks for tuning in!

Matt

This blog is devoted to sharing insights into how to become a better golfer. There are, of course, many blogs devoted to golf, but I think you will find if you follow this blog you will get a unique perspective on the true challenges for middle-aged golfers to lower their handicap.

As I begin this blog, my handicap is 15.3. Here is my handicap history over the last year:

As you can see, it got as low as 14.9 and rose as high as 16.7. I play in 2 tours for amateurs in Charlotte – The Egolf Amateur Golf Tour and the Harris Teeter Senior tour. My scores are lower on the senior tour because the courses are shorter and I play tees that are 2 up from the tips (white tees). This makes my approach shots shorter and therefore I have a an easier time getting on the green in regulation.

I hope you enjoy this blog as I share my story and insights in how to lower your handicap and shoot More Pars!

Matt

Well, I did pretty well on the test. I managed to pass it, but it’s was a little slow going for my taste. I’m sure I’ll end up reviewing it tomorrow before I move on. The lesson was focused on asking people what they like, whether they liked something, the various responses to those questions, and how to ask or tell someone that meeting at a certain place or doing something on a specific day is convenient (although they didn’t teach me how to say it was not convenient).

It seems I like doing these just before bed. I really should start doing them sooner in the day, I imagine I’d have an easier time remembering this stuff if I wasn’t half asleep during the lessons. =P Ah well, something to consider tomorrow I guess. Oyasumi nasai! =D

-Felirc-

Sometimes I forget, when I think about traveling, that small trips- local trips, even- are just as much adventures as the long, drawn-out voyages to distant locales. As I’ve been writing these articles, I’ve been racking my brains (what remains of them at the end of the semester, anyway) to think of travel stories that come from my upcoming move. This is decidedly silly. So today I’m going to share with you the lessons I learned from a much more local, mundane trip: my brief sojourn into South Philly for a Turkish “dunch”- my term for a lunch/dinner combination.

I was secretly terrified when Mason asked me to a late lunch for our grant-funded planning meeting. Not because of Mason himself, not because of any fears about grants or planning, and not because of any deep-seated anxiety about Turkish food. No, I was secretly terrified because the restaurant- a cute little place called Divan- was way outside my (tiny) comfort radius in centre city Philadelphia. In order to get there, I had to take the regional rail train (comfort zone) from my little township to Market East Station, then catch an unfamiliar bus (comfort zone gone!) for about 20 minutes, and then walk through an unfamiliar part of the city (everybody panic!) to a restaurant I’d never seen before (AAAAUGH).

Travel anxiety usually isn’t my thing, and I’ve successfully navigated public transportation in numerous countries- some of which were countries that were wholly unfamiliar with the languages I speak.

Yeah, I feel lost just looking at it too. And this map doesn't include the bus, metro, and trolley lines.

But Philadelphia’s public transit system is complex, unreliable, and occasionally hostile to those who are unfamiliar with its ins and outs. It includes buses, trolleys, metros (which they call “underground trolleys” for some reason), trains to the suburbs, and one high-speed rail line (also called a trolley). Not all of the modes stop at all their scheduled stations, and often a traveler on them must know where they want to get off in advance of arriving at said destination, in order to request the stop in time. Asking the conductor to assist you will get mixed results, no matter how polite you are. Sometimes I think they get off on watching people’s dismayed faces as the train blows past their stations.

Of course, in spite of my secret fears of getting lost, riding buses in the wrong direction, and being unable to find my final destination, I made it to the restaurant on time and without any mishaps. But my anxiety about centre city Philadelphia’s public transit system remains, to my chagrin, and it made me realize a few things about my life here.

First, while I’ve lived here for almost a year and a half, I’ve never really gotten to know the city. I moved directly here from Montreal, without a car,  and in the process opted for apartments close to my grad school’s campus and within easy walking distance of amenities like the grocery store. I used basic transportation to get me to and from my internship sites, but beyond that, I stuck relatively close to home. For the most part, if what I wanted wasn’t within a 15-minute walk of the three major transit stations in centre city, I stayed away from it. Public transit here is very expensive- it costs me $8 to get to and from centre city, from my apartment in the suburbs- and very inconvenient, as mentioned, and often it just made more sense to stay in my township area. So geographically and culturally, while I’ve participated in a lot of things in my comfort radius of the major transit stations, Philadelphia in general has remained a pretty foreign place to me.

Second, though, I realized during the course of my bus ride along 19th street that I’ve also avoided centre city because I didn’t want to grow attached. I moved down here for graduate school, knowing that I would be leaving once I finished my degrees, and I couldn’t bear the thought of putting down roots and becoming attached only to wrench myself away in May 2010. And there are certainly things to dislike about the city- I’ve been through areas with razed rowhomes, used condoms and syringes liberally scattered across the street, and menacing-looking people following me along the sidewalk. But there are things to love, too, like the obstreperous expression of life along South Street, the variety of museums along the Ben Franklin Parkway, and tiny little restaurants like Divan tucked away in a residential corner of South Philly.

I guess the lesson I’m learning, as I gear up to finish off my second-to-last semester here, is that even as I’ve protected myself from saying goodbye to a place I love, I’ve put myself in the position of having to say goodbye to a home I don’t really know. There will be things I’ll miss- like the “admission by donation” policy of the art museum on Sundays, the crazy exhibits at the Franklin Institute, and the Magic Garden on South Street- but when I tell people that I lived in Philadelphia for a couple of years, it won’t feel right to say. It seems to me as though my discomfort with many of SEPTA’s branches is a measure of my discomfort with Philadelphia in general. I can’t help but think that if I had bothered to become accustomed to the unreliable cluster-you-know-what that SEPTA often represents, I would have expanded my horizons far beyond the narrow cross-section of the city that I permitted myself to get to know.

So here’s a hint to all those girls (and guys and genderqueer folk) on the go: hellish transit systems be damned. You’ll cry, you’ll lose money, you’ll miss your stop, and you’ll swear your guts out at the conductors. You’ll ask random strangers for information that may or may not be accurate and be unable to tell the difference. But you’ll get to see the area and get to know it a lot more intimately. And as frustrating as that can be, it’s infinitely better than leaving an area and knowing that you’ve wasted two years of opportunity.

Yesterday’s blessing by Pema Tinley Rinpoche was open to the public. I am thankful that I am one of LZT members to be able to sit inside the room with 22 outsiders. The room was cramp and packed with people. After the first part of the chant and ritual, Rinpoche starts spreading his ‘noble truth’. Due to the limited space, one auntie behind me frigid here and there to avoid numbness, when all was about to chant together, she squatted and slowly stood up. She felt uncomfortable as she was half standing and squatting feeling awkward. I told auntie I stand with her, just wanting to make her more comfortable and at ease. Suddenly the next moment I saw so many eyeballs looking at me. 我只是想帮帮auntie壮胆而已嘛。。。哈哈

Etobicoke, ON

Subway sandwich shop.

A young, scruffy guy behind the buffet of Subway toppings.  Me, thinking I don’t even want the Sub anymore.  He looks grubby.  Who knows where his hands have been.

Too late, he’s waiting for the order: “I’ll have roast beef”.

But, then, he fires up a conversation.

Him: “Aha, the new iphone.”

Me: “Yup”

Him: Yeah, I wanted one of those.  I wanted it so bad.  But money is tight.  I have to live at my parents place since I lost my last job.  Now I have the Samsung Razor.  It’s alright, but I can’t get access to the web.  It kind of sucks, but, whatever I can put all my music on it.  That works for me.  I can plug it in and my girlfriend and I can both hear it on surround sound.  I mean, at her apartment we can just chill and listen.  That was until her landlord raised her rent so high that she moved further uptown.  It’s cool, though.  She makes me happy, and that’s all that matters, really.”

Me: Hmmm.

Him: But I’d still like an Iphone.  I know the plans are a lot, but I’ll get there.

The conversation continues right to the end of the toppings buffet table.  By the time he’s wrapping my sub and ringing in the order, I feel I’ve been privy to everything going on in this guy’s head.

“Thanks” I say, and hand over my debit card.

And then it strikes me.  Why not?  Why couldn’t I respond?  Why couldn’t I tell him about my phone, about my recent breakup, about my life?

Wouldn’t it be a better world if I had?  Couldn’t we all use a bit more openness?  Do I think my life is more important than his?  Wouldn’t I rather live in a place where people are comfortable talking, where telling a stranger about your life isn’t perceived as strange.

I grab my sub.  I nod my head, thank him.  I turn, I leave.

For anyone who hasn’t been following, I like to review a lesson before I move on, even when I ace the test the first day. Today was pretty simple and I had an easy time with it. Tomorrow I shall move on and hopefully have an easy time with that lesson too. =P

I think I got about 5 hours of sleep last night (with nobody to blame but myself), but that didn’t stop me from doing my Japanese lesson. I’m actually surprised at how quickly I’m progressing through. At this rate I’ll be done with the first set of lessons from the japan foundation in another 15 or so days. It’s a little slower than I’d like to be comfortable enough for Final Fantasy XIII, but that may be a little far out yet. Besides, I never really expected to be comfortable with the language at a quick rate.

I know I kinda promised to review FFXIII quickly (ish), but with the surprisingly large price tag and the impossibility to ship anything around Christmas at a decent rate it may be a bit longer until I get it. I guess we’ll just have to see how that turns out.

Must… sleep… now…. Oyasumi nasai! =D

-Felirc-

Today there was a jump set up in the middle of each quarter line when I got to the barn.   I took the poles off the jump, but left the standards set up.  I put the poles on the ground on the quarter line, one in between K and V, and the other in between S and H.  I set the other quarter line the same way.  To warm up, the horses trotted the quarter lines, over the poles at either end of the arena.  Once warmed up, the horses trotted a serpentine, staying to the outside of the poles but going in between the jump standards at E and B.   With the poles and jump standards as guidelines, the goal was for  horse and rider to navigate the same smooth curve each time around the arena, which would allow for concentration on changing the bend and focus on the quality of the movement.

In a lesson on Angel, the emphasis of this exercise was on the steering for a more novice rider.  It was a challenge to keep Angel in the corner, looking the direction she was going (versus keeping her in the corner by pulling the outside rein, which made Angel look at the wall), and then changing the aids to  steer her away from the wall, between the jump standards, and then back to the wall in time to avoid trotting over the pole.  The biggest challenge was often the corner after the serpentine.  As the rider went to bend Angel through the corner, often Angel simply turned again.  By the end of the lesson, the rider had coordinated her aids so she could differentiate turning away from the wall, and bending through the corner but staying on the rail.

In another lesson, Frankie did the same exercise.  With him, the tough part of the exercise was getting him to bend, straighten, bend the other way, straighten, and then bend through the corner.  He is a little stiffer, and quite talented at running through his outside shoulder or motorcycling through turns if the rider does not ride him correctly and keep him connected.  This exercise worked really well to demonstrate when his rider was focused and using all her aids to keep him connected and bending correctly because he instantly gave her a positive result- smooth serpentine!  On the other hand, when things fell apart, it was very hard to even steer Frankie between the jump standards.  This was a great exercise because the rider could clearly tell the difference, which enabled her to get more pro-active about preparing him for the serpentine so that they could ride it smoothly.

I also did the same pattern with Cava.  She started out really fresh, and the pattern was most helpful in making her think about where she was going, and continually changing the bend helped keep her back up and keep her stepping into the outside rein with appropriate contact.  With her, I started out trotting the quarter lines over the poles, then I switched to the serpentines because she was getting strong and rushing going straight over the poles, ignoring my half halts. Once we did the serpentines and she was better balanced and listening, I switched it up by going straight down the quarter line over the first pole, and then leg yielded back to the rail around the second pole.  I also tried to switch it up by leg yielding from the first corner into the quarter line, but as fresh as she was, she kept taking any aid from my outside leg as a canter aid.  So I changed again, and rode the serpentines in the canter, working a few steps of counter-canter as we headed back to the second corner.  This worked really well to get her focused and paying attention in the canter, even through she was having a thoroughbred day and wanted to grab the bit and run!

So, one layout of jump standards and poles worked very effectively for a few different arena patterns, which could be tailored to different horse/rider ability levels.  Even at different levels, everyone was able to benefit from the pattern, and take different things away from it.

Really 空! People are doing SOP, I look left, look right. Total blank! Lost! Don’t know what to do, what to chant. At least I know how to monkey see monkey do.

During meditation, teacher ask us to visualize the “AH” word. At one point he said in descending tone “空空空空空…” the first thing I visualize is 天空的空. Bottom down, he sound like emptiness, but I can’t help and continue visualizing the big blue sky, slowly taking away the clouds as his 空 word sound softer. Wah, I felt freedom and relax in the 空 area. Or rather, I do not know how to visualize emptiness. Is it black in colour without anything? I find it the same as blue in colour without birds, airplane and clouds. Well, this is how I visualize the 空 that day.

空 空 空 空 空 …

The other night, during one of my evening supplementary classes, I brought up the idea of having an early Christmas party/end of class celebration. This eventually led to a discussion between the girls about what we could do.

(Note: The girls don’t speak perfect English so please excuse the broken dialogue)

Girl 1: We can go club! (note that these girls are all below the age of 18)

Me: Where?

Girl 2: Hongdae…Itaewon.

Girl 1: No! Not Itaewon. Itaewon has many transvestites.

Me: What? How do you know?

Girl 1: Teacher…me…One time… my cousin… drive past Itaewon and me…saw this transvestite outside. She sit like this (crosses her legs and slumps down in the chair) and she legs…donut legs!

Me: What? What are donut legs?

Girl 1: Donut legs! Legs big like donuts!

Me: uh-huh. Okay…

Girl 1: (continuing with her story) she…transvestite…sit like this and smoke (pretends to take a drag on an imaginary cigarette) and says ‘Oppa!’

Me: (laughing) Was she pretty? How do you know she was a transvestite?

Girl 1: Erh! Teacher! She…had…(motions to her upperlip area)–

Me: A moustache?

Girl 1: Yes! And…and… (motions to throat)

Me: An adam’s apple?

Girl 1: Yes! And her voice…(she lowers her voice a few notches down) “Oppa!”

I crack up.  I can’t help it. Her imitation of this so-called transvestite is too much.  And for those of you wondering “oppa” in Korean means “big brother/older brother”. When korean women here call a man “oppa” it’s usually quite flattering for the guy and makes the girl look cute.

I have to wonder though…why is it that students find it hard to memorise words such as ‘Pencil’ and ‘How are you?’ in English, but they have no trouble remembering words such as ‘Transvestite’ and ‘Whore’??

Glad that I have the opportunity to be blessed by Pema Tinley Rinpoche from Nepal. During the ritual, he hits my head once with force while I was unprepared and I got stunt in my world for like 2 seconds. This is nothing compared to his disciple who got hit on the head harder for 3 times. He seems used to it.

gosto de utilizar grupos de discussão (Yahoo Groups) para praticar Inglês. Essa semana eu estava consultando alguns arquivos antigos e acabei encontrando uma explicação sobre um assunto que acredito ser interesse de todos. Nos primeiros anos de estudo de Inglês, sempre que eu queria que alguém me explicasse algo eu dizia: “I have a doubt”. Depois que um participante do grupo Estudar Inglês (Marcus Herrmann) me alertou sobre a correta utilização dessa frase eu nunca mais a utilizei com esse sentido. Segue abaixo o e-mail enviado por ele.

Parece que a dúvida sobre o uso de “doubt” ou “question” é geral, por isso vou tentar explicar em português o que já comentei em inglês. No Brasil, quando dizemos “Eu tenho uma dúvida”, normalmente esperamos que as pessoas que nos ouvem esclareçam a dúvida. Esta é uma questão cultural nossa que vem desde os primeiros anos do ensino básico. O correto deveria ser dizermos “Eu tenho uma pergunta”, e se possível dizermos para quem se dirige a pergunta.

A diferença cultural é importante aqui, pois chega a influenciar o uso das palavras. Quando um americano tem uma dúvida, se ele não pedir conselho ou ajuda, ou ainda se não expressá-la na forma de uma pergunta, não se espera que alguém “dê palpite”.

Responder a uma pergunta não formulada é indelicado, pois fere o conceito de individualidade, que para nós não é tão levado a sério. Assim, se você disser:

- “I have one doubt” (literalmente “Eu tenho uma dúvida”) – é problema seu. Não espere ajuda.

- “I am in doubt” (literalmente “Eu estou em dúvida”) – Quem escuta isso pode até ouvir o que você tem a dizer, mas provavelmente vai limitar-se a escutá-lo. Só algum amigo que já o conheça bem faria sugestões sobre que decisão tomar.

- “I have a question” (literalmente “Eu tenho uma pergunta”) – Esta é uma das formas de pedir que alguém responda ou tente responder a suas inquietudes. Desta forma, você tem mais chance de obter ajuda.

Espero que tenha ajudado a esclarecer.

Fonte:http://www.englishexperts.com.br/2007/03/12/i-have-a-doubt-x-i-have-a-question/

1-) Olá, tudo bem ? Qual é o seu nome ? Posso ajudá-lo ?
HI,HOW ARE YOU DOING ? / WHAT´S YOUR NAME ? MAY I HELP YOU ?

2-) Desculpe, qual é mesmo o seu nome ?
SORRY, WHAT´S YOUR NAME AGAIN ?

3-) Eu quero lhe apresentar ao/ à ________________.
I WOULD LIKE TO INTRODUCE YOU TO _________________

4-) Já me falaram muito a seu respeito .
Então, o que você tem feito nos últimos dias?
I´VE ALREADY HEARD A LOT ABOUT YOU .
SO, WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN UP TO THESE DAYS?

5-) Estava querendo muito conhecê-lo. Como vão as coisas ?
I ´VE BEEN LOOKING FOWARD TO MEETING YOU.

6-) Tenha certeza de que iremos nos falar mais vezes . Tenha um bom dia !
BE SURE THAT WE WILL KEEP IN CONTACT. HAVE A NICE DAY !

7-) Por favor Senhor/Madame, permita-,me conduzi-lo/ conduzi-la ao/à sala
de reuniões.
PLEASE SIR/ MADAM , ALLOW ME TO LEAD YOU UP TO THE MEETING
ROOM.

Os executivos / Meus superiores o aguardam no hall de entrada
THE EXECUTIVES/ THE MANAGERS ARE WAITING FOR YOU AT THE
FRONT HALL/ AT THE FRONT DESK.

9-) Quanto tempo faz desde a última vez em que você este no Brasil ?
HOW LONG HAS IT BEEN SINCE YOU LAST CAME TO BRAZIL ?

10-) Você está confortável ? Pode esperar aqui/aí por alguns minutos ?
DO YOU FEEL COMFORTABLE ? CAN YOU WAIT HERE/THERE FOR A
FEW MINUTES ?

11-) Você se importaria se eu perguntasse seus dados pessoais ?
WOULD YOU MIND IF I ASKED YOU FOR YOUR PERSONAL
INFORMATION ?

12-) Posso lhe fazer algumas perguntas importantes ?
MAY I MAKE YOU A FEW IMPORTANT QUESTIONS ?

13-) Não quero ser intrometido ( a ) nem mesmo inconveniente mas …..
I DON´T MEAN TO BE TOO PERSONAL NOT EVEN INCONVENIENT,
BUT……

14-) Há quanto tempo você está aqui esperando ?
HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN WAITING HERE ?

13-) Você aceitaria uma água, um café ou até mesmo algo para comer enquanto
aguarda ?
WOULD YOU ACCEPT SOME WATER, SOME COFFEE OU EVEN
SOMETHING TO EAT WHILE YOU´RE WAITING ?

14-) O que você está achando daqui ?
HOW DO YOU LIKE IT HERE ?

15-) Você está gostando de sua estada aqui no Brasil ?
ARE YOU ENJOYING YOUR STAYING HERE IN BRAZIL ?

16-) Bem vindo ! Sinta-se em casa ! É um grande prazer recebê-lo
WELCOME! MAKE YOURSELF AT HOME !
IT´S A REAL NICE PLEASURE MEETING YOU.

17-) Você está aqui a trabalho ou a passeio ?
ARE YOU HERE FOR BUSINESS OR ON VACATION ?

18-) Quanto tempo você pretende ficar no Brasil ? Onde você está hospedado ?
HOW LONG ARE YOU PLANNING TO STAY IN BRAZIL ?
WHERE ARE YOU STAYING ?

19-) Você já foi a outros lugares ? Já foi ao/ à ______________?
HAVE YOU ALREADY BEEN TO OTHER CITY SITES ?
HAVE YOU ALREADY BEEN TO _____?

20-) Desculpe, mas eu não te conheço de algum lugar ?
SORRY, BUT DON´T I KNOW YOU FROM SOMEWHERE ?

21-) Você já fala alguma coisa em português ?
DO YOU KNOW ANY PORTUGUESE ?

22-) Foi muito bom conversar com você e um grande prazer conhecê-lo !
IT WAS REALLY NICE TALKING TO YOU AND A REAL NICE PLEASURE
MEETING YOU.

23-) Bem, eu tenho que ir agora, até a próxima !
WELL, I HAVE TO GO NOW, SEE YOU NEXT TIME !

24-) Nossa, como está quente hoje, não está ?
OH GOSH ! IT´S REALLY HOT TODAY, ISN´T IT ?

25-) Nossa, como está frio hoje, não está ?
OH GOSH ! IT´S REALLY COLD TODAY, ISN´T IT ?

26- ) Você vem sempre aqui ?
DO YOU ALWAYS COME HERE ?
27-) Olá, você precisa de alguma informação ?
HI, ARE YOU IN NEED OF SOME INFORMATION ?

28-) Você aceitaria uma outra bebida / um outro café / uma outra água ?
WOULD YOU ACCEPT ANOTHER DRINK / COFFEE OR WATER ?

29-) Desculpe, mas eu tenho que conversar com algumas pessoas ali , mas gostei muito
de conversar com você, com licença mas preciso ir agora, até mais !
I´M SORRY BUT I HAVE TO TALK TO SOME OTHER PEOPLE OVER
THERE, BUT IT WAS A REAL NICE PLEASURE TALKING TO YOU,
EXCUSE ME BUT I HAVE TO GO NOW, SEE YOU !

30-) Eu sinto muito mas o Sr./ A Sra. / A Srta. ___________não está aqui no momento.
Eu poderia fazer algo por você ou você prefere deixar recado ?
I´M SO SORRY BUT MR. / MRS. / MISS ________ IS NOT HERE AT THE
MOMENT.
IS THERE ANYTHING I CAN DO FOR YOU OR DO YOU PREFER
LEAVING A MESSAGE ?

31-) BOM DIA !/ BOA TARDE ! / BOA NOITE !
MEU NOME É _____________
SOU GERENTE / FUNCIONÁRIO / RECEPCIONISTA / DESTA EMPRESA.
SIGA-ME, POR FAVOR. VOU LEVÁ-LO ATÉ O LOCAL ADEQUADO.
GOOD MORNING ! / GOOD AFTERNOON ! / GOOD EVENING !
MY NAME IS _________.
I´M A MANAGER / A MEMBER OF THE STAFF / A RECEPCIONIST
IN THIS COMPANY.
FOLLOW ME,PLEASE. I´LL TAKE YOU TO THE ADEQUATE ROOM.

32-) Você sabe onde é o toalete ?
DO YOU KNOW WHERE THE RESTROOM IS ?

33-) Como eu faço para encontrá-lo ?
HOW CAN I GET IN TOUCH WITH YOU ?

34-) Me ligue a qualquer hora ! Eu posso te ligar a qualquer hora ?
CALL ME ANYTIME ! MAY I CALL YOU ANYTIME ?

35-) Este local é frequentado por muitos estudantes/ executivos / negociadores.
Há uma freqüência muito mista de pessoas .
A LOT OF STUDENTS / EXECUTIVES / BUSINESS PEOPLE COME HERE
EVERYDAY.
IT´S KIND OF A MIXED CROWD.

Two weeks ago (November 15) was my first lesson at LZT. I will never expect my very first lesson to be so amazing. Seeing is not believing, actual experience counts more. 

I was expecting to sit at one corner for the whole session as I told V, I am curious about her class and wanted to join her to see and observe what they are doing. For Buddha sake, I didn’t even know my soul has been ‘awaken’(启灵) while the rest are performing healing. I thought teacher was trying to teach me science – where does energy comes from. : P

First day, first time, first exposure and I think I am blessed with fascination. As a newbie, if during “动功” I saw someone unusual movements and sobs, I will definitely doubt whether they are real or not. For the first part when teacher ask me to continue my 灵动, I only have one action and I am tired of it – my right hand moves to the back. That’s all!!! For many moments I think I am the one moving my hand. I take it as my brain captured this image(right hand swaying to the back) every time I start 灵动, then my brain signals my right hand to the back, therefore I wonder many times if I am the one controlling my hands. I stopped, restarted and continue for many times and got the same maneuver which only makes my back ache.  Until another yell from teacher “please do not stop and continue.”

Ah huh… This is where drama begins. My left hand started to draw circles and each circle seems bigger and faster. Both hands started to have different and faster movements. For the next couple of minutes, my left hand is drawing circles and my right hand as usual never fails to go to the back, but this time it did went up and to the side as well. Until a point where both my hand went high above my head doing praying sign, I felt difficulties in absorbing oxygen. My breathing gets louder and faster. With my eyes closed all this while, I heard “要哭就哭，不要忍。” Of course I don’t know I am supposed to cry or what. I only know I don’t feel like crying AT ALL. Stronger and powerful words came out from teacher’s mouth. My breathing is super fast already, I know my facial expression is changing as well. Both my hands went down, went up again, breathing louder and louder. Another forceful statement came along; my face is filled with tears. Again teacher’s shouted “我要你哭，哭，大声哭出来。” (something like that), my tears burst out, voice also sound terrible like whole family xxx. This time teacher shouted louder, words are more powerful, I fall back crying. Teacher recovered me and asked me to stop practicing.  I resume quite fast as I do not feel like crying, but I was stunt and blur with myself at the same time. Why I cried? And the cries were awfully terrible. My mother passed away I also did not cry until like that, both my grandfathers and grandmother passed away, I didn’t even shed a single tear while my siblings are all in tears looking at the body. I only know they have to go. It’s just a matter of time.

Give me a tape, replay it, I will definitely laugh at myself until I roll on the floor. Still stunt… still puzzled…

Eric Edelstein offers a few ways to get your Grandmother so happy, she’ll be feeding you candy for days!

A couple of weeks ago I did a post about writing lessons I learned from reading Ann Bishop.  While I was writing that post I realised that every book I read teaches me something about writing and I started to think about some of my other favourite writers.

Terry Pratchett writes the Discworld series and they are an incredible collection of books with some of the best fantasy characters, interesting plots and settings, and a hilariously satirical look at life.  Most readers of the series agree that they prefer some books over others.  For me, I like the stories that revolve around the witches, Granny Weatherwax and Nanny Ogg.  These are two of my favourite characters.  Strangely enough neither actually appear in my favourite Pratchett story, The Truth.  One of my friends prefers the stories involving the night watch in Ank-Morpork and I find these the least interesting.

What I have I learned from reading Pratchett?

1. Just because it is a serious situation doesn’t mean you have to take it seriously.  With the number of times the discworld has almost ceased to exist and the perils that the characters are constantly placed in, if any of it was taken seriously this would be a very dark, very depressing series to read.  Instead, the more dire the situation, the more inexplicably ridiculous the solution is likely to be and yet it makes a certain kind of sense.
2. Creating diverse characters and developing them fully allows you to tap into diverse readership.  While I don’t like the guards so much, I read the stories because they are still well constructed characters, but I love the witches.  My friend isn’t a fan of the witches and prefers the guards.  Other people I know love the stories about Death and his grand-daughter.  We all read the same books but we are all reading for a different reason.
3. When creating a realistic fantasy world, all five senses have to be engaged.  If you ever read any discworld novel and read a description of Ank-Morpork you would know that Pratchett is brilliant at this.  He really brings the place to life, particularly the smell.  Some of his descriptions of smell leave you literally gagging.
4. If you aren’t Terry Pratchett, don’t try to write like Terry Pratchett.  This one I didn’t learn from Pratchett but I did learn from reading many poor imitations of his stories.  Very much like the Harry Potter phenomenon where suddenly there were dozens of knock-offs there are hundreds of want-to-be Pratchett’s.  I might learn a few things from reading Pratchett but I don’t intend to try to copy his style.  It is definitely his.

Noah Biorkman died of cancer Monday in South Lyon, Michigan.  He was 5.  I feel a heavy heart for his family.  And I also feel a happy heart for the good in humanity.

I learned about Noah from my colleague at Promega, Jason, who assumed I was a good-hearted person and forwarded me a link from Reddit. Noah knew he was going to die soon, and his family was going to have an early Christmas celebration for him.  All he wanted for Christmas was Christmas cards.

So, (as my heart swells) the internet community rallied, and Noah received over 1 million cards before he died.  He couldn’t even open them all.  His family was overwhelmed by the response.

2 cards came from me and Jason.

On the way over to the Hallmark store, Jason and I pondered whether or not this was a some sort of sick joke set up by a cynical internet blogger.   We both came to the conclusion that we were going to send cards anyway.  We trusted the human condition enough to hope that it wasn’t a hoax, and that there really was a child on the other end that needed some love.   And maybe that there were parents  who needed to know that strangers in the world would share their pain when Noah left this life.  Of course, it turned out to be a real story, not a chain letter, or a trick, and many, many people wanted to help.   WE wanted to help.

So today,  Jason IM’d me the news of his death.  I’m sad.  But I’m glad that I know that there are a million people out there who are probably also sad about losing Noah.  And that cared enough to send him a card.   It makes me feel better to know that the world is connected.  That we aren’t as alone as we feel sometimes.

I’m going to hug and kiss my son an awful lot tonight.

Enough of this sappy post.  I’m going back to work:)

For those of you who know about Noah:

In lieu of cards and flowers, the family is asking that donations be made in Noah’s name to either of the following:

Department of Pediatrics and Oncology University of Michigan
1500 East Medical Center Drive
D4202MPB
Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109-5718
Checks payable to: The University of Michigan — Noah’s Pediatric Oncology Fund

Make-A-Wish Foundation of Michigan
230 Huron View Blvd.
Ann Arbor, Michigan 48103
Checks payable to: Make-A-Wish Foundation of Michigan — Memo: Noah Biorkman

In October 2009, we began releasing new version of classroom management software – SchoolVue v10.5. This version offer several additional features. One of them is Real-Time Audio Monitoring. It help teachers to use language lab computers much effectively and efficiently. With this tool teachers can:

1. Monitor the entire class in a single view
2. Use the displayed visual indicators to see which PCs have live audio activity
3. Listen to a student’s microphone feed and correct pronunciation
4. Conduct a two-way audio (or text) chat with a specific student while avoiding disruption for the rest of the class.

“Our new real-time audio monitoring tool helps teachers ensure that students are on task and following a computer-led language lesson” said Turner Dean, VP Sales of CrossTec Corporation.

Read more about other new features of SchoolVue v10.5 in my next post.

During this session, we discussed the need for the patient to spend time within the wilderness. He is an avid hiker. As a nature adventurer, he recalls many stories that appear both natural and supernatural to us.

” I remember one particular moment within nature. I was in my canoe. During the entire day I had been travelling using my canoe against a very large, reckless and merciless river. Sometimes it was so hard to go through it that I would get out of my canoe, walking on the rocks that were standing out of the water, trying to move my boat using all the strengths that I had. Sometimes I would unload the canoe on the shore and walk on the borders of the lake in order to skip a very difficult part of the river. It was extremely hard physically. I wanted to go to a lake that my grandfather’s old friend had told me about. He showed me an old map of the area. He pointed a large, long lake shaped like the tail of a fox.

” If you get there, Rusty… Kid… You will find yourself. You will know who you are. ” he said.

I knew something was up, heh. That old indian never told us about his secret places. I thought he was joking and that map was fake. I had never heard about this lake and it seemed so large that I couldn’t believe no one had told me about it until then.

When I finally arrived at the lake, I searched for something. I did not know what it was exactly, but since I was told I would find myself, I was expecting something very special. Maybe something belonging to his old, almost forgotten tribe? Or maybe it was just some prank? Still, the lake was there… He wasn’t lying about that part…

I spent about forty-five minutes canoeing on the fox’s tail. After going to the limits of the lake, I turned around and prepared to go home. Then it struck me. When I came back, I saw it. I saw everything. The sun was setting and the lake was reflecting a golden honey light. The trees were green, strong, tall, massive. The water was completely calm. A mirror. That’s when I realized what he meant. That old indian was wiser than I had thought. He knew it would take me a complete day to get there. He knew I would go to the edge of the lake. He knew I would come back. He knew that when I would turn around, the time would be right for a sunset. And he knew, just like I knew at that moment, that you find yourself by turning around, going back to where you’ve been. I found myself. I found out that I was strong. Strong in my arms, yes, but also strong in my will to go to the end of things. I worked hard to get there. The river had been against me. This time, as I would go back, I would flow with it.

For I knew who I was. ”

This past weekend the Everything To Do With Sex Show (“Sex show” for short) took place at the Ex. I went years ago with my ex-wife, with whom I had shitty sexual chemistry in the first place, and didn’t much enjoy it. My gal had expressed interest this year, so I grudgingly agreed to suck it up and go after hearing that people we know from the kink scene would be there.

The Sex show is kind of terrible: imagine an unholy chimera of a mall before Christmas, a suburban Stag Shop for the knuckledraggers, and a douchebag convention, liberally salted with creepers and lurkers. For one take on it, from presenter Midori, see here.

The “dungeon” area really did save it, though. Priape sponsored the space and had groups and people from the local scene volunteer to manage it and present – pretty generous, because one wouldn’t have known Priape was behind it if not for asking. Anyway, shortly after showing up we ran into a new friend who was one of the rope bondage rigging demonstrators; I had been mentioning to her we had an interest in suspension, so she asked if we wanted to get our asses tied.

First, she did a demo on me, tying me up in a full, sideways suspension, hung from ropes around my shoulders, waist and thigh. It’s a pretty amazing feeling, and more than a little trippy having it done in front of a crowd of onlookers. Fuck ‘em if they can’t handle it, though, and I had my glasses off anyway so they might as well not have been there. If I’d anticipated being tied up, though, I’d have worn better underwear.

Next, a little later in the afternoon, she taught me how to tie up my gal in a partial suspension. Our friend had been cautioning us, quite sensibly, about experimenting with suspension without instruction, so this was my first lesson. I did all the tying myself, while our friend talked me through it and demonstrated some of the components on herself. Very cool! And very big of my gal to trust me to do it.

Oh, and I was taught how to handle a whip. Not an erotic thing for me, but I’ve always found the idea of them interesting.

DE CINE A FOST INVENTAT SI CUM FUNCTIONEAZA TEREMINUL.PRIMA LECTIE DE MUZICA LA TEREMIN

Inventat de rusul Leon Theremin in 1919, tereminul este unul dintre primele sintetizatoare electronice.

Ce il face special este ca scoate sunete fara sa fie atins, mainile celui care il folosesc se misca intre cele doua antene. Astfel, controleaza frecventele si volumul pe care aparatul le emite.

Construit din două oscilatoare cu frecvenţe radio şi două antene metalice, funcţionează şi cântă singur la semnalele electrice produse prin mişcarea mâinilor artistului între cele două antene direcţionate spre difuzoare. Interpretul „atinge lumina şi ea cântă”. Tereminul e alimentat de la sursă electrică, iar sunetul se obţine din diferenţa de frecvenţă dintre două oscilatoare, unul cu frecvenţă fixată, celălalt cu frecvenţă variabilă. Instrumentul are două antene în raza cărora trec mâinile artistului cu mişcări de dirijor, care obţin înălţimea sunetului şi volumul. Benedict Popescu a luat contact cu tereminul în 1999, când a obţinut o bursă NATO în Anglia. Are deja înregistrate două CD-uri cu piese consacrate, româneşti şi străine, cântate la fierăstrău si la teremin.

DORIT CRYSLER-FEMEIA CU MAINI VRAJITE SAU ZEITA TEREMINULUI

DORIT CHRYSLER,cantareata de origine austriaca, adoptata de New York ,este “zeita tereminului”, asa cum a fost numita de presa straina.”Femeia cu maini vrajite” a fost prezenta si la Bucuresti in anul 2007 ,intr-un spectacol organizat la petrecerea Campari

BENDICT POPESCU CANTA LA TEREMIN -romanta “Pe langa plopii fara sot”.

MARIN MIHAI-”HAI, ROMANIA !”-BLOGUL ROMANILOR DE PRETUTINDENI (http://mihaimarin.wordpress.com

Well, I’ve moved on to my next lesson. I’m happy to announce that they’re teaching me sentence structures again. Today I learned how to state that I want something and how to tell someone what someone else said.

I’d like to make this little post longer, maybe even go completely off topic and rant about how nobody seems to have appreciated the movie Run (from 1991) and that it’s pretty much impossible to find on DVD. Unfortunately I’ve got stuff to do tomorrow and it looks like I’m only gonna get 6 hours of sleep if I were to fall asleep around now…

Oyasumi nasai! =D

-Felirc-