I have been studying Taiji for fourteen or fifteen years. I have come so far, and I am proud of the progress I have made. I was a terrible student in the beginning because I was so resistant to everything my teacher was telling me. I apologized to her later, but she laughingly brushed it… Continue Reading
I’ve been gluten-free/dairy-free for….four years? Five? Something like that. I would not suggest you quit both dairy and gluten cold turkey in one day, but that’s just how I roll. Here’s an interesting fact about testing for celiac–you have to actually be eating gluten for six weeks in order to be tested. I asked my… Continue Reading
For the first twenty years of my life, I felt like I was an alien without the manual for being human. Part of that was because I was the kid of two immigrants who did not want to be in America. Or rather, one of them did not want to be, and he was the… Continue Reading
One of my pet peeves is when people excuse abuse by citing culture. “That’s part of the culture” is valid for many tihngs, but not when it comes to abusing another person. I was reading a post on Ask A Manager with the question from a reader asking if they could thrive under a hypercritical… Continue Reading
In 2004, my brother and I were arguing about the presidential election. He was voting for W. on the basis of morality, and I argued with him mightily about W. being the more moral choice. My brother was speaking strictly in the Christian sense, by the way. I said that he led us into a… Continue Reading
As most people know, I’m a huge From fan. When they announced that they were doing a new Armored Core, I was pretty excited about it–even though I’m not into sci-fi nor mechs. It’s FromSoft. I trust them implicitly. I thought the trailers were all fire, but… I’ll say it. I knew I probably wouldn’t… Continue Reading
Today is my second rebirthday. That’s doing my head in at the moment. It’s been two years since I died twice and came back again twice. At least it will be by the time you’re reading this. My mindset is so different since then, even if my life itself is similar. I went from hating… Continue Reading
Eminem, the rapper, has a notoricously difficult relationship with his mother. He’s written several songs about her, including one that he now doesn’t sing any longer, Cleaning Out My Closet. Which is a banger, by the way. The song that really struck me, though, was Headlights, ft. Nate Ruess, which I have included below. Dang.… Continue Reading
My brother was over yesterday, and we were talking about my weapons. I had mentioned that I wanted a nice new weapon because most of my weapons are practice ones. That means either wooden or dull steel. I love my sword, but the steel is dull. It’s better for practicing, of course. My brother said… Continue Reading
Yesterday, I was talking about my terrible first Taiji teacher. Honestly, he was the reason I did not find another teacher for quite some time. When I did look again, I had a few rules. One, I wannted a woman. Two, no uniforms or anything I had to buy from the studio. Three, I didn’t… Continue Reading