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Bujinkan tonight was very boring, I'm afraid. I actually checked the clock several times which is a sure sign of my boredom in that class. The theme of our month of basics is integration (making sure your hand is moving in time with your knee, or your shoulder and keeping in mind where all parts of your body are at all times, then eliminating any unnecessary movements). Our usual rolls were a little different today in that we were told to do them as slowly and as integrated as possible. It was pretty hard mentally since you had to stay very focused. It's something I want to practice again when I have some gym access and some mats since I can do it alone. We did sui no kata as today's theme and while it did help me improve, 1 hr 15 min of it was a bit much. I worked on improving the transition between my block and strike (the two should exchange spaces) and found it fairly easy. My partner was the quiet, dedicated type so we just trained. Our weird metaphor of the day was being told to be "the snake in the basket" (for the confused, that means 'strike while the hand is in your space'). It wasn't a strenuous class so we ended up chatting a bit at the end, then M. and I went for our semi-usual ice cream (mmm, eggnog). I stopped to buy socks and tilapia and conditioner at Walmart on the way home. I love shopping in stores late at night. I'd rather dodge restockers than shoppers. I hope my socks work out. I'm allergic to wool so I have a hard time finding warm socks.
I read The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner and I highly recommend it. Gen, the main character, is excellent though it took me a bit to settle into the tone of the book and his character's style. I was impressed that Turner managed a book with such a major revelation while writing from Gen's pov. I liked the little nods to the ancient Mediterranean and the myths scattered throughout the story. I also liked the lack of purely evil characters. Everyone was given depth. I thought the plot could have moved along a tad bit quicker, but I'm a fast reader so I suppose it doesn't matter.
I'm not sure if I want to read the second book. I hear Gen loses a hand and the number of times I've read that in fiction, I've pretty much developed an aversion to the whole trope.
Been working on my short stories, finding magazines to submit to etc. I have a hard time ending my own short stories and it takes me forever to finish them. I've got several ideas percolating in my subconscious in the hopes of coming up with viable endings/middles (I almost always write linearly). I keep opening the Uric book to work on it, but it doesn't seem to be the right time since I keep going back to the short stories. I'm probably a bit too depressed to work on Uric. Plotted out a whole other children's novel in my head in the meantime, but I'm holding it off (since I'd rather write Uric first) by not doing the required research.
Also been researching financial aid, and praying desperately that the damn Leeds transcript makes it to Hawaii in time (it's currently in Germany despite being sent on the 8th! wtf are DHL doing with it?). Looking for a job, but not submitting any CVs until after the 15th for obvious reasons. Very very tired of this whole damn transcript business.
I read The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner and I highly recommend it. Gen, the main character, is excellent though it took me a bit to settle into the tone of the book and his character's style. I was impressed that Turner managed a book with such a major revelation while writing from Gen's pov. I liked the little nods to the ancient Mediterranean and the myths scattered throughout the story. I also liked the lack of purely evil characters. Everyone was given depth. I thought the plot could have moved along a tad bit quicker, but I'm a fast reader so I suppose it doesn't matter.
I'm not sure if I want to read the second book. I hear Gen loses a hand and the number of times I've read that in fiction, I've pretty much developed an aversion to the whole trope.
Been working on my short stories, finding magazines to submit to etc. I have a hard time ending my own short stories and it takes me forever to finish them. I've got several ideas percolating in my subconscious in the hopes of coming up with viable endings/middles (I almost always write linearly). I keep opening the Uric book to work on it, but it doesn't seem to be the right time since I keep going back to the short stories. I'm probably a bit too depressed to work on Uric. Plotted out a whole other children's novel in my head in the meantime, but I'm holding it off (since I'd rather write Uric first) by not doing the required research.
Also been researching financial aid, and praying desperately that the damn Leeds transcript makes it to Hawaii in time (it's currently in Germany despite being sent on the 8th! wtf are DHL doing with it?). Looking for a job, but not submitting any CVs until after the 15th for obvious reasons. Very very tired of this whole damn transcript business.
