Dis Old House

I've been in deep thought about our house renovations lately - cause we haven't worked on the house for a while. Got a circular saw for X-mas and picked up a router and a jigsaw today. I think i can do most of the things i need to do with these tools. I've been over the pros and cons in my head for weeks and bottom line was that I needed to get the tools that I'll use ALL the time. Currently, I'm brainstorming open shelves in the kitchen. This kitchen is sooo small. Need to utilize vertical space. After that is to finish up the living room. Just have one wall to replace wood, caulk, and prep for paint. All of this gearing up for the installation of the laminate flooring. I'll post pics as it gets done. Hopefully soon.

Caught some of the olympics. That woman snowboarder who got the silver because she was hot doggin' was classic. She must've been so sick. Dug the speed skating stuff and the alpine events. Those guys are tough. Ice dancing sucked and really didn't watch too much of the figure skating. I actually caught the chinese pairs skaters that won silver(?) after the woman slammed into the ice and got up an skated again. I was yelling: "Strug! Strug! She did a Strug!"

Work is busy at the moment. Right in the meat of one big project. Hopefully it doesn't curb my kendo time. I wish i could train more, but i need to be realistic about my schedule. With the home improvement, work, music, and kendo, time is tight right now. I figured if i can get on most of the house stuff now, i'll be lean and mean by the summer.

Go Give Guts!

Back to the Grind

Been busy with a lot of design stuff this past week or so. Doesn't seem like much is coming in, but I'm busy. I guess that's good. Sometimes, I think I'm soooo over the Graphic Design thing. I kinda burns you out thinking of "cool" stuff for clients. I think the artist inside me is staring to rebel and is demanding a louder voice. Gotta think of something...... I have a few ideas to "break out" but I need to think about how to realistically fund it and how it can fund me. Catch 22? I don't know if i'm so jaded now that design isn't as fun as it used to be. It could just be that i'm not making as much as i'd like. Not really into the "organization" stuff anymore. I have a lot of friends who attend and participate in those things. Its cool – they're into it. Personally, I hate being uninspired by a group of people who are supposed to be creative. Some of these guys are so lame. They're almost sterotypes. You know, wardrobe provided by Banana Republic, chic' spectacles, Grey/black color pallette.

Okay, Sorry for the little tirade. Maybe i'm being too harsh. I guess good for them if it floats their boat.

Kendo has been pretty good this week. Took a mean shot to the noggin' from one of my sensei on tuesday. I was totally spinning and barely able to stand upright. I took a little break to collect myself and it went good thereafter. We had a visiting sensei from japan this evening. He actually makes custom bogu (kendo armor). He gave us some great advice on thow to care for our gear. My headgear is getting a little funky, don't want to keep "Fabreezing" it. I'll do some major cleaning soon. He also gave us some nice and useful gifts. He gave some of us a shinai bag made from meiji-era obi. That was really nice and generous of him. Got to practice with him too. His movements were very crisp and fast.

My body felt pretty good today, not as fatigued. Turning the corner maybe? Been vigilant about my vitamins and supplements. I also took this supplement that supposed to help recovery times between heavy workouts. We'll see how it goes......

A ton of work tomorrow. Looks like i gotta design on the weekend.

Crap.

Got my Pho' on

Today i finally got to get some Pho' (Vietnamese noodle soup) I've been jonezing for. I really like the Pho' there (Saigon's - at the top of Waialae). The owners were on vacation for a month and just came back. Went in, and bam, it was on. I walked out of there pretty satisfied. Its been colder than usual these past couple of days. Make for nice naps. The only drawback with the Pho, is that i get hungry about an hour later, but its all about the taste....the taste.

Finally got back into the dojo last night after a week of being sick and recovering. It wasn't bad as I thought i was gonna be. I actually felt I was able to have some quality jigeiko with a few of the senseis. My shoulders and trap muscles are pretty sore today. Hopefully i can work out the kinks and knots in the next few practices. A few of our kendo friends are competing in Canada this weekend, Its supposed to be a biggie. I hope to compete next year. This year is also the 14th(?) World Kendo Championships in Taipei. The Hawaii team hasn't been selected yet. Been thinking of going to watch, but i don't know about my fundage and Sugahdaddy schedule. There's a possible trip to the Philippines in late April with my dad too. Wouldn't mind getting in some eskrima time there. I don't know...

Don't want to overthink. I'll figure something out.

Anybody have buddhist name? Just curious.

Back in the Saddle

Back in the groove after a pretty sucky week or so. Been feeling much better. I think its the first time since my tumor that I've gotten kinda out of it. Gonna try to hook up a MRI in the next few weeks to make sure there's nothing evil lurking up there in my head (w/ the exception of my brain, of course). Wow, I haven't done kendo in a week - looking forward to Tuesday practice. I hope its not too bad.

Gotta get back into the heavy work flow tomorrow - uuuggghh. Projects are actually going good, so I shouldn't complain.

Here's a list I thought maybe we can mess around with. What are your answers?

1. Latest book(s) read or currently reading.
- Warfare In the Classical World - From the Greeks to the Roman era
- Philippine Campaigns - About military campaings in the Philippines; Pre-Colonization to WWII (Got this at the Punahou carnival for $.25
- Iconography2 - Graphic design stuff

2. Stuff you want to read eventually:
- Unfinished Tales by Tolkein - Seemingly interesting additions to the Simarillion
- Russian Criminal Tattoo Encyclopaedia - Trippy Russian tats and symbol art. Cool book. Haven't read it comprehensively. Pages are deceptively thin - more than you think is there. Been thinking about Tats again. Can't decide what I want. Alibata? Tribal?

What's on your bookshelf?

Down for the count

Been feeling like CRRAAAPPP the past few days my body is aching like a mutha'. Haven't gone to Kendo yet this week, maybe i'll try to go tomorrow if i feel better. I really don't know what's happening w/ my body. I'll keep this short for now - I'm getting dizzy looking at the screen.

I'll be back - Aloha
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