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Posts under ‘General’

Snow Day!

The snow came in heavy last night, resulting in a school closing today and a day off for me. With tonight’s high winds, I may even have the day off tomorrow, too.
The trick, then, is capitalizing on the bonus time and being productive with other projects. Today I decided to get back to work on [...]

Sometimes It Just Feels Right

Longevity & Purpose

I’m stealing this video from Matthew Apsokardu’s Ikigai martial arts blog because I think it’s very much worth watching. It discusses human longevity, and the things that lead to longevity in some of the longest-living groups in the world.

Matt has a lot of good discussion of the video, and he ties the video to martial [...]

3500th Post

I’ve written 3500 posts since starting this blog many years ago.
Rock on. \m/

Turn Me Into Pencils

When I die, I want my cremains turned into pencils.

I don’t want the urn, though. I’d like the Wife to divvy up the pencils, maybe keep a few for herself, but distribute the rest to my kids and my friends.
I want my kids to use them in the future, to create with them. I want [...]

Twitter Contest Winners Announced

Evileye Books has announced the winners of the The Pack: Winter Kill Twitter contest they ran last week, and due to ties, they’ve decided to award books to 18 winners! The following Twitter users should contact Evileye via direct message to @evileyebooks or should email thepack@evileyebooks.com. Put your Twitter username in the subject line and [...]

Coming Up for Air

I’m drowning.
I’ve got some kind of cold that’s settled into my chest, and it leaves me winded just walking up the stairs. I’ve been absolutely buried at work, and it’s left little time for just about anything else, including writing, which I really, really need to be doing right about now.
I’ve been lugging a printed [...]

This Is Just a Test

“Is that you, John Wayne? Is this me?”
I just finished a long night of karate and I’m not sure I’m ever going to stop sweating. It started in class, and it was Sensei’s birthday so he decided we’d get in a really good workout and do some sparring. Two and a half hours later, most [...]

Smoke Blog: Hoosierland

How to Spot a Good Cigar
Originally uploaded by MikeOliveri.
This new batch of Romeo y Julieta Reserva Reals I purchased is killing me.
Not because they taste bad or anything like that, but because they take so damn long to smoke. The sticks in this box have averaged two hours a piece, which keeps me on the [...]

Cunning Linguists

Language is a funny thing, particularly when it’s translated through foreign understanding.
I learned a new kata on Saturday called Shudoso. It was developed by Robert Trias, the founder of Shuri-ryu, the style of karate I study. It’s short and sweet, but I was already losing the proper ending, so I hit Google to see what [...]