Politics. . . as usual

Obama vs. McCain. Forget the debates and TV ads. Let's just settle this with a smack down. Hmm Obama does have the youth and strength edge but McCain has the weight and crafty age factor. Oh the hell with them let's see Cindy MCain and Michelle Obama in a mud wrestling match, now there's fight I'd pay to see and the TV ratings would be bigger than "American Idol". Bring it on girls.

Actually I will be glad when the election is over. I'm tired of all the ads, mudslinging and indecision. Instead of bitching about the negative ads we can switch to bitching about the new set of politicians out to ruin our country. In other words it's back to the usual.

Shodan to Shoden

Shodan is the black belt rank in aikido. Shoden is BB rank in ki. The test is all about being able to extend ki while having the instructor push on you in various ways. ( in this case Tabata Sensei, the senior instructor of the Oregon Ki Society).

To those who don't train this may sound like gibberish. Let me put it to you this way: imagine you are at the beach floating around in the water up to your chest, enjoying the waves as they gently lift you up like you are a small child. You can handle it because you see the waves coming. Now suppose in your distraction a rogue wave-much bigger than the ones you have enjoyed comes and you only have enough time to think "oh shit" before it hits. That's what it feels like when the instructor comes at you. A big wave of energy comes and you have to stay calm and not lose your balance not matter what.

I passed the test of course, but it was only on the ride back to Eugene with my teacher that I finally felt like a real black belt. I did it, after all these years. it still feels weird to have someone call me sensei and see myself in a hakama when I look in the mirror but I'm here.

I might even be ready to teach now.

the teahouse rises

I have been working on my Japanese teahouse in fits and starts. Ok so I'm making this up as I go along with no blue print and have never built anything from scratch adds to the frustration. Still. It is coming together slowly. I finally got the roof on. I decided on a quaint board and batten design instead of a bland standard asphalt tile. It took me two days to lay down one side of the roof and I was anxious to get the other side done as rain was predicted. Help came from my friend Steve "I'm really santa" P. and his trusty nail gun.( He really does look like Santa.)

Now I'm a snob at carpentry, I use a hammer for gawd sake but when he finished off the roof in an hour I was sold. Get me one of these babies for Christmas. If you look carefully you'll see one side of the roof boards are "proud" i.e. sticks up higher. This is an old building technique from the 17th century that prevents leaking. The more I see it, the more I like it.

Now to finish the interior. Stay tuned.