A 1Tofu Life

Dream 2012/5/1

2013-05-03T03:27:00.000-04:00

Background: As you know, I was a member of the Tae Kwon Do club at uni. (Wow, has it really already been two years since I've entered the 'real world'?) At one sparring practice session I kicked this girl and she almost started crying. She'd been having a bad day, might have been around exam/paper time, stuff like that. Anyway, I remember feeling bad about it. I didn't boot her hard but I could have played defensive. It was obvious she wasn't focused. I could have waited for her to attack instead. I wanted to give her a hug but she hadn't risen beyond Acquaintance level and I wasn't sure how she'd take it. (I give good hugs, by the way.)
==============================

Instead of crying, she sat out and said, "I don't like sparring. I just want to practice forms and techniques."
I sat down beside her and pondered what to say for a moment.
"Which is harder: marble or granite?"
"...ummm....... gra-"
"This isn't a 50-50 type guess. I want a true answer."
".........I don't know."
"How would you find out?"
"Ask someone?"

*I turn and ask fellow members, D-girl and some guy*
"Is marble or granite harder?"
'Granite.'
'Marble.'

"So. That was helpful, huh. What now?"
"Ummm....Google it(?)"
"No. You just have two slabs in front of you. That's it."
"Well...., people use granite to make huge buildings so that's probably harder. Marble's just for decoration, like sculptures and stuff."
"Speculation gets you nothing. You still don't *know* anything. How do you find out?"
"....Break them both, see which one's harder."
"Exactly. I think the same concept applies to us. You'll never really know your capabilities and limitations until you've applied force."

I stand up to go.
"You've heard the phrase: 'Tried and true'. Well, this is a trial."

A Warm and Fuzzy Dream

2013-01-04T05:44:00.000-05:00

I was wrapped in a deliciously warm pile of blankets, basking in an envelope of warmth in a frigid room. Then D-girl appeared and sat on the edge of the bed. I gave her my spot and tucked her in, putting a pillow on top of the mound for extra shielding from the elements. Thereupon, a wave of what I can only describe as a "warm and fuzzy" sensation washed over me, relieving me of any regret for such foolishly gallant altruism.

I woke up for a moment then but a glance revealed it to be the ungodly hour of 5AM. Briefly, I considered immediately texting D-girl to tell her all about how nice I was but my phone was not within arm's reach. The prospect of leaving my cocoon of warmth dissuaded me of all those humble notions, as I doubted there would be any infusions of warm and fuzzy here.

You wanker, I can see you posted this at 5:40AM! "ungodly" indeed!

Yeah, well, I'm an atheist. XP

Eventful Night

2012-10-07T21:58:00.000-04:00

Hey guys, I'm still alive over here. (O_O)^
On the other hand, I can't say the same for a lot of people after last night. I dunno what happened but at least 8 people checked out with cardiac arrests in the night. I've never known that many individual people to go down in a single span of 12 hours. (Twelve hours is the length of my EMT shift.)
The outbreak of burglaries and fights didn't help things either.

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In other news, Gearbox Studios really has the best taste in music for their Borderlands video game intros. Enjoy.

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Shiny! Sparkly!

2012-09-14T16:55:00.001-04:00

Check out my new stethoscope!

Littmann Classic II S.E.

But, more importantly, look at what I had engraved in the chestpiece.

(_ÔÓ)=O*(#>.<)

Dream 8/24/2012

2012-08-25T14:29:00.001-04:00

I was the captain of a trans-dimensional passenger airship called the NHS Tangible. The inter-planar space looked like the Gummi ship travel zone from Kingdom Hearts. I ferried people from one reality to another, docking at ports by "dropping" back into solid space at predetermined coordinates. Those coordinates corresponded to massive hangar bays in the target dimension. They functioned like airlocks of sorts. All air would be sucked out to maintain a vacuum before allowing a ship to come in. Dangerous stuff happens when matter appears in preoccupied space.

Anyway, our Wraith drive started to malfunction mid-shipment and we started jettisoning cargo back into solid space to "lighten the load". Normally, dropping material haphazardly into inter-planar space is a heinous crime because you never know where and in which solid dimension this stuff will end up but in emergency situations the law made exceptions.

Dream 8/13/2012

2012-08-14T01:54:00.000-04:00

I had myself a messenger pigeon hawk.

Oh, first do you know how messenger pigeons work? Well, they are these pigeons that are trained to always return to 'home'. Humans started training and using these animals to deliver messages over long distances back in the pre-internet days. I'd always thought they had some kind of uncanny ability to seek out an addressee, but no. The reality is much more mundane. You had to deliver the bird first, probably in a cage, to the addressee and then that person would attach a message to the pigeon before releasing it and the bird would then fly back to its home, where the sender would receive a reply. So really, it is a one-way communication device.

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We Tried

2012-08-13T20:34:00.000-04:00

Apologies for the cryptic post yesterday, peeps. Had to get that out of my head.

Ran my first code last night and it was... interesting. Oh, 'code' means cardiac arrest, which means someone died, FYI.

We tried to get her back but, as I said, she'd already made up her mind it seems.

She was an octogenarian so I hope she had a full life while she could.

Blink

2012-08-12T16:47:00.002-04:00

Never gave much thought to blinking before. Neither have you. It's entirely involuntary most of the time, isn't it. One of those things you pay no mind whatsoever when everything's working as it should.
Effortless.
Shutting the eyes takes a fraction of a moment. Less.
Means she must have left quick. At least shut the doors behind after you go.
Or windows, rather.
Her eyes never shut.
Never shut.

SWEET!

2012-08-07T19:41:00.000-04:00

Guess what I got in the mail today?

Post-Apocalyptic

2012-08-06T18:41:00.002-04:00

Today my brother pointed out that I like post-apocalyptic stuff "too much".
I retort that I like it just the right amount: "lots".

You can make any kind of story set in regular times. There's a virtually unlimited supply of resources out there in a pre-apocalyptic world. That ain't interesting! But in the aftermath of an end-of-the-world-as-we-know-it scenario people will have to survive by scraping up the remnants of civilizations decadence. Bullets will be in finite supply since the factories and advanced manufacturing technology will have been destroyed. Clean water will be scarce. That's a cool premise! Movies like The Book of Eli [2010], books like H.G. Wells' The Time Machine, and video games like Fallout get me in a special way because of these little details.

Yeah. That Happened.

2012-08-05T16:35:00.002-04:00

Anyone watch the 1st Round table tennis match between North and South Korea? Or the DPRK and the ROK if you wanna be technical about it.

Well, I noticed something in the NBC broadcast. After the match, just as the two competitors shook hands the camera cut away so fast anyone who blinked might not have seen this:

The cut-away was so conspicuously rough I can just imagine some stooge in the editing department leaping across the room to slam the Censor button. Normally, they transition between footage with a sparkling NBC logo. This time they whipped away to show something unimportant like people standing on the sidelines.

You stay classy, NBC.

Hugs!

2012-08-04T22:04:00.000-04:00

I've forgotten almost all of the dream I had last night. The only thing I do recall is giving D-girl a hug.
\(%____)/

Memorabilia

2012-08-03T21:20:00.001-04:00

So you remember those kewl taekwondo pins they're selling over in the Team USA shop?

When I get my hands on one of those I'm going to cherish it cuz it's so cool. But is it really something to get excited about? Is it really special and/or rare? Well, no. They sell 'em to anyone who wants one or three. But I think about it and I believe I could go my whole life and never encounter another person in the street with this pin displayed on their backpack. I believe that makes it rare in a de facto manner, doesn't it? There could be a giant stockpile of these left sitting in a warehouse somewhere when the 2016 Olympics come around but that doesn't mean anything to the rest of us, does it? Does it matter? Not really.

I still want one. When I click on the Shop link on the official London 2012 Olympics website it automatically re-directs me to the Team USA shop. You guys who live in other countries, does your Olympic shop sell different looking TKD pins? I'm pretty sure these products aren't individually designed, these are official London Olympic memorabilia.

I Am Really Curious

2012-08-02T20:05:00.000-04:00

I wonder how they are pronouncing this guy's name.

Jang Jeekay? Jang Jike? Zzzzzhang Zzzzheekay?

The Dark Knight Falls... Flat On His Face

2012-08-01T19:58:00.000-04:00

Watched The Dark Knight Rises [2012] yesterday. It was a mess. I don't know what that movie was trying to say. Isn't this the same Gotham that contained convicts that refused to blow up citizens on the other boat and vice versa? Isn't this the city that's "full of people ready to believe in good"? Well, apparently they really do get along with convicts just fine. To the point of shooting at cops with assault rifles and charging to meet them in battle like some kind of medieval engagement. The final street battle was all kinds of retardation and contrivance, by the way.

Apparently all it takes to make people repudiate Harvey Dent, their white knight, is for a masked madman to read from a ream of papers which he claims to be the true story of Dent's demise written by the police commissioner. That doesn't even sound likely even though it was true.

And Bane's character. Besides the use of the name 'Bane' he really had nothing to do with the Batman universe character of that name. They never made note of any strength-enhancing drugs, a hallmark of the character. He also wasn't a massive person at all. He was of above-average stature at best. He only sporadically exhibited any measure of 'super-human' strength. Without the name I'd have thought he was just an above-averagely strong man the entire movie.

Catwoman's character never really got any development. I think they just needed a pretty face and a happy ending for Bruce.

At the end of the film John Blake (Gordon-Levitt) reveals his legal name is 'Robin John Blake'? Not Dick Grayson? I was disappointed at that.

And, of course, Bale's "Batman voice" is still as ridiculous as ever. It seemed like everyone knew Bruce was really Batman and yet, when in costume, he'd still talk to them using that voice.

Jingoist Cunt John Leonard

2012-07-31T23:02:00.000-04:00

What the fuck is this?

John Leonard, a U.S. swim coach, believes Chinese swimmer Ye Shiwen's gold medal victory in the women's 400m Individual Medley event was due to "genetic manipulation" or "doping".
(- -)
She set a new world record and beat the second place swimmer, Elizabeth Beisel (U.S.), by a good two body lengths or almost 3 seconds. Leonard's choice words to describe this accomplishment: "disturbing" and "unbelievable".

Where were these words when Ryan Lochte (U.S.) sped to gold in the men's equivalent earlier today? He finished a full three body lengths ahead of the rest of the field. More than 3.5 seconds faster than the silver medalist, Thiago Pereira. Nothing but praise and accolades for him though.

Oh hey, I have NBC on behind me and I just saw the women's 200m individual medley. Guess what commentary I hear as the swimmers prepare?
"...and there's Yee Sheewen. Some... er, top sports officials have questioned the validity of her performance".
Yeah. Right. 'Top sports officials', as in a single official. Your official.

By the way, her name is pronounced like the sentence, "Yeah, sure, when". And she got gold in the event, mo' fukkas.

Blogger Changes

2012-07-30T20:15:00.000-04:00

Every time I Publish a post Blogger prompts me to Share it on my Google+. What the hell, Google? This stinks of desperation, I just want you to know that.

Anyone actually use Google+ here? Like, primarily? Not just "I have a Google+" but actually use it with friends and Circles and shit?

NBC Commentators

2012-07-29T16:36:00.002-04:00

The NBC television network secured the rights to broadcasting the XXX Olympic games here in the United States.
And it sucks ass, man.
They never shut up. It's like they believe they aren't doing their jobs unless they constantly talk. Throughout the women's Team Archery medal events they babbled incessantly.
South Korea (ROK) faced off against China (PRC) in the gold medal match. Russia dueled the Japanese for bronze.
My biggest problem was that they kept making comments with insulting undertones. Or maybe I'm just touched in the brain. (%___)

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Dun Goofed

2012-07-28T19:16:00.001-04:00

So I'm basically a full month behind on posts now. Maybe I should do a challenge type thing?

In other news, the XXX Summer Olympic Games have started. I'm waiting in anticipation for the taekwondo events that start on the 8th of August. Two weeks away, man! /(>~<)\

In other news, I dunno about the commentators/announcers where you are but American cunts can't pronounce non-European foreign names worth shit. That's disrespect. Unintentional, maybe, but it's there. If you're going to send someone to cover an international event pick someone with some multicultural experience, not that faggot good ol' boy.

Also, curiously, the U.S. Olympic Team shop has a category for "USA Karate". (It contains a single T-shirt.)

But guess what?

Karate is not a sanctioned Olympic sport...

Aaaand guess what ISN'T listed? Taekwondo. But if you search for 'taekwondo' products you do get results.

I think you could say that someone dun goofed.

♫Pooh Bear, Winnie the Pooooh Bear♫

2012-07-01T22:07:00.000-04:00

D-girl loves Winnie the Pooh. Loves.

One night I was bored and D-girl had work to do. So I had to amuse myself.

Enjoy. For best results, click on the first one and use Blogger's built-in slideshow.

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Energy Drinks

2012-06-30T21:38:00.000-04:00

I used to be a serious energy drink junkie. Amp, Rockstar, Monster, Red Bull, Nos, 5-Hour Energy, I had everything. Taurine and guarana chemical concoctions.
On the other hand, I don't care for coffee.
╮(╯_╰)╭

5-hour Energy and its knock-off cousins.

Later in the semester. I don't even fit in the frame anymore!

And then one fateful day I attended a Rally for Life event at which Rockstar was giving away cans of their sweet nectar. I took about 15 cans. Normally, this wouldn't be a problem at all. AT ALL. But it happened to fall at the end of the semester. My demand for energy drinks plummeted and the cans sat for months. By which time they expired. I drank one and the hold was broken. I haven't had a bullet can of any kind since. On the other hand, I do carry an emergency bottle of 5-Hour on me at all times.

Now I'm Craving Some Noodles. Again.

2012-06-29T21:20:00.000-04:00

One more pic from the Festival.

The spoon was unnecessary.

If I recall, that look of disdain on my face is because a friend of mine broke my sliced egg.

I want one of these.

Eating A Crepe

2012-06-28T21:04:00.000-04:00

Check out them Transition lenses.

In other news, I found out it's illegal for companies in the U.S. to sell corrective lenses (i.e. glasses, contacts) without a proper prescription. Makes sense. You shouldn't skimp on things like this.

I'm thinking of getting a new pair of glasses. I'm wearing the 4th pair at the moment and these are fairly old and worn. In fact, they're kinda crooked on my face.

Caught Unawares

2012-06-27T20:34:00.000-04:00

Surprise picture taken by S-girl.

I believe I was eating corn Chex. Corn cereal has a pleasant smell in milk. Nothing smells quite like it.

More Eats

2012-06-26T21:19:00.000-04:00

Here's another picture from that day. It was the Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington D.C., in case you were wondering why all the Japanese foods.

There's a scoop of green tea flavor on top of a scoop of mango flavor ice cream, all in between a mini-pineapple.

Also D-girl in the middle and Z-girl on the right. She seems slightly pleased.