My first TaeKwonDo session in 6+ years...

...and it was like the first day of school. Serious jitters. Am I wearing the right thing? Socks off, like at my last gym? Oh my gosh I feel old! What--are these kids old enough to be in college?

We started out with laps around the makeshift dojo (IMA, Mat room B): 10 laps. It's a good thing I've been working out. The formal instructor/master comes in...10 more laps! Some of the college guys and gals have pased me twice already. At least they'll admire me for being here, right? haha.

We line up and start in with the bowing, ready position, fighting stance... Hey, I remember this! Ha-hahhhh. He says I have good form. Did you hear that kids? This is incredible!

This class I've started is through the UW gym: Tues/Thurs for 6 weeks (at a rockin' $35! Cha-ching!). They started out last night with the basics, which is good. My aging body actually started remembering and "waking up" to the moves! I still have it, people...well, it's in there somewhere, at least :-)

About half-way through our 1-hour class, the real martial artists (black belts and....other people...with belts) came in and began warming up and practicing all around us. I remember doing a lot of that stuff, and am totally motivated to get back to that point of training. They were amazing! Watching them also made me realize why I was in the best shape of my life when I was doing TKD: running, bouncing, kicking, pushups, jumping, kicking, more pushups, laps, etc., etc. I was also considerably more flexible than I am now. I did some stretching before the class, and fortunately didn't pull anything major. (That's not to say I'm not walking a bit gingerly today.)

My goal is to see where I'm at once these 12 sessions are complete, dust off my TKD uniform and green belt, and either dive in to the UW club with the big-belts, or into another TKD school as before.

All-in-all: I can't believe I let myself get away from it! I LOVE IT!!
Kari is coming back, baby :-)
Now, where's the ibuprofen?

"Give a writer an hour to hook you."

"...Books can be solid gold.
The great ones have gotten us through the nights for centuries.
Give a writer an hour to hook you.
If he can't, find someone else."
~ Anthony Hopkins' character, Hearts in Atlantis

Reading is definitely one of my passions. I love the classics, the new ones, fiction, non-fiction, (anything but paperback smut romances...most westerns...and I've never met a science fiction I was crazy about). So many books, so little time. If I was able to read one book a week, that's only 52 books a year, multiply by years of remaining eyesight, mental clarity, etc....carry the 1...factor in the total number of books available...you get the point.

Most books take me around 2 weeks to read, (if you are following along at home, that's a mere 26 books a year!) and tend to hold my interest to the point it's difficult to say 'goodbye' to the characters once the final chapter comes to an end. Then there are the books which lose me several chapters in--such that I will actually procrastinate reading it (wash dishes, iron, re-organize the closet...). In extreme circumstances, sorry to say, I just plain don't care what happens to the characters, and the book gets put it aside in favor of the next book in the queue. The question is: When do you cut your losses and move on? An hour seems like not quite enough... But a month or more, like I've given the current book I'm reading? (see right panel) For me, that's just foolishness.

~~~~~~~~~
Heyday by Kurt Anderson (Back cover description):

"During a single amazing month at the beginning of 1848, history lurches, sending one eager English gentleman off on an epic transatlantic journey....[yaddayaddayadda]...three restless souls...[blahblahblah]...falls hopelessly in love... Beckoned by the frontier, new beginnings, and the prospects of the California Gold Rush, all four set out on a race west--relentlessly tracked, unbeknownst to them, but a cold-blooded killer bent on revenge."
~~~~~~~~~

Sounds great, right? It really IS a good book...but 622 pages long...and as of chapter 40 on page 386, we are just beginning to travel West. I'm bored with it, and have been for some time now...which is why I haven't been reading lately, and that's just a shame.

My choices are:
a.) Cut and run.
b.) You've come this far...
c.) Give the guy a break. Could you get a 622 page novel published?

Sunny and 69 degrees!

Spring is finally here!! It smells fresh, sunny and...well...if yellow had a smell, this may just be it! The buds are opening on trees and the daffodils and tulips are in bloom... Ahhhh :-)

Here are some webcam shots from Seattle's local news sources: 5:00pm Monday April 6, 2009

I'm on my way out for a nice long walk this evening along the West Seattle waterfront!!

Tae Kwon Do

If you've known me for a while, you may be familiar with my mad skills (riiiiight) in the martial art form Tae Kwon Do. I started at Lee's Martial Arts in West Seattle many years ago, primarily for self-defense training but also for the physical conditioning, agility, flexibility, etc. By the time I made the big move back East I had achieved the "High-Green" belt:
White (comes with the outfit)

Yellow

Orange

Green -- High-Green

Blue -- High-Blue

yadda

yadda

yadda

Black

There were several of us late-twenty/early-thirty somethings in the class starting from scratch, and we had a blast together (laughing at each other and with ourselves). We'd practice our forms together (think: "wax on, wax off"), study for our belt tests and practice our poses for picture day :-) After our first belt-test, a few of us went together and gave our main instructor a thank-you gift...signed, "The Martial Artists Formerly Known as White Belts". Ahhh, good times, good times. I had every intention of joining a school when I moved back East, but it didn't happen. Maybe I was apprehensive. At that level, we were just starting to spar (hand-to-hand fighting)...and being non-confrontational, I hated that part! I'd just weave, bob and cover my face and head with my arms. Admittedly, it was a pretty funny sight! Then there was the weapons training they were starting us on. You got it:

Nunchuku: Two shorten sticks connected with rope or chain.
Kama: Small sickle, wooden handle with a curved blade.
Bo: A staff of approximately 6 feet in length, typically made of wood.
Escrima: Two short sticks approximately 2 feet in length, typically made of wood.
Sais: Forklike object with 3 prongs, made of metal. Typically the center prong in longer than the other.

WHY!? I never really understood why they would equip suburban yuppies with skills to use the Sais. Other self-defense techniques were indeed useful: how to use a writing implement as a weapon, how to use a shirt-filled-with-rocks or your shoe as a weapon, how to target certain pressure points (like Spock!), etc. But Nunchuks?? Here I am on a dark sidewalk facing an assailant...I've been out with friends, have my hot jeans on and a clutch purse...Do I say "wait for just one moment Mr. BadScaryMan, while I run back to my car and grab my nunchuks!" ? Or "you wouldn't happen to have a long wooden staff with which I could beat you, would you Mr. BadScaryMan?" ? Aside from that, I nearly knocked a tooth out the first day of nunchuk training...those things could really hurt someone...ME!

So here I am, 6 years later (and 6 years older) starting up again! I'm going to get a piece of flair that says: "Ask me to demonstrate my mad TaeKwonDo skills!" Wish me luck with the sparring--and watch out Mr. BadScaryMan...I kick yo a** ;-)

It's not easy being fluffy.

I've been seeing a nutritionist (Judy) and a personal trainer (Erika) for the better part of a year now, and they've changed my life!

Regular exercise + Probiotic/Flax/CodLiverOil/VitaminD3 + the right nutrition and calorie intake = Healthy Kari. My cholesterol and blood sugar are officially normal (YAY!) and it's amazing how GOOD I feel! (I'll be posting about the book she recommended one of these days soon: The Flexitarian Diet. Very cool.)

Judy did a resting metabolism test for me last week, and it was wicked cool. The test is done fasting, takes about 10 minutes, and measures the total oxygen exchange at rest to very specifically indicate how many calories your body uses through a day (assuming no significant activity/exercise). There's a formula then to determine the calorie intake with exercise/activity, etc., to maximize weight loss and fat burning. When I first began meeting with Judy and working with Erika, my calorie intake was far below what my body needed for the level of training/activity I was doing. As it turned out, my body was clinging to every last calorie with the fear I was starving. Oh yeah, I was wasting away to nothing...Seriously!? So adjusting the calorie amount and content, I've been able to see dramatic results--inside and out! It's incredible! [Note: Ideally, a person should also do the exercise metabolic testing, which includes a set treadmill protocol, to determine the specific heart rate zones (fat burning and cardio) for your body. I haven't yet done the exercise one, but if I do, will post the result!]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I was thinking, this may apply to my cat Punkin as well. I shall explain:

I took him to the vet a couple of months ago, and it was determined that he was...well..."fluffy"... plump. I still think he's just stocky and big-boned, but whatever. The vet recommended I get him the low-fat/calorie cat food, help him get a little more exercise, etc. In addition, he said to limit the food to 1/2 cup per day. I feed him at the same time each morning, and believe me, he is ready for breakfast. In fact, he starts trying to wake me up a good 2 hours before the alarm...probably because he's hungry. Poor guy :-(

Cats are all about routine. (Come to think of it...I have a pretty specific morning routine as well...Hmmm...Bygones.) Aside from however he manages to remember his little routines, I'm convinced he has no long-term memory. He is frantic each morning, as though I am going to forget to feed him! I think maybe he needs a resting metabolism test. Perhaps the vet is wrong, and he actually needs more calories through the day. He certainly isn't slimming down. Is his body clinging to every last measly calorie like mine was!? Or does he just need more exercise? Maybe I should get a pet mouse for him to chase around.