Okay, so I haven't kept up
Yes, I haven't been blogging. I've been bad. I've mainly been more mentally occupied by thoughts of employment and contracts. And BILLS. Bleah. Since I've been making myself have responsible priorities, worrying about doing fun stuff has been put aside. But now it's time to blog!

So I've been catching up a little bit (bit by bit) on E3. (For those who wonder what that is, it's the Electronics Entertainment Expo. Once a year.) I found some pretty sweet videos. Halo 2, of course, will own everyone who plays any type of multiplayer video game. I'm personally psyched about finding out the storyline, since Bungie's one of the few companies who actually cares enough to make a GOOD storyline next to all the first-person shooting. A taste of the upcoming Zelda game was shown, and it was enough to make pretty much every Zelda fan happy (unlike the revelation of the previous Zelda design). And I have to mention Half-Life 2. I actually own two copies already. One for me, one for a friend for his birthday. Sadly, his birthday was more than half a year ago. Around the time Half-Life 2 was SUPPOSED to be released. I might actually have some blogs complaining about what happened in that time. September, I think. But now it's going to be released this year. Hopefully, anyway. And it looks incredible. A new game engine. Excellent physics and AI. And the storyline - the only one I know of that can be as (or better) than Halo's potential storyline. It's going to be... luscious. I can't wait! Although, sadly, I'll need to purchase a new computer for this. Since it's pushing all current technology to the edge, to be able to run it properly. It's okay, it's about time to upgrade. I get a new computer about once every four years, and get a top-of-the-line (or close to) machine, to prevent upgrading yearly. It works pretty nicely. My current machine is about four years old, and it's still running pretty well (a P4 2.0 GHz, a gig of RAM, and a GF3.) Truthfully, I can't imagine how much better a cream-of-the-crop machine would be compared to my current one. Should be good!

I had a test in kung fu yesterday, on my last form. Gung Gee Fook Fu. A very good form, not easy to do. Takes a decent three minutes or more to do right. A lot of very low stances. Sifu has decided everyone is going to test at the same time, once every two months. So there were a TON of people there. Mostly families, for the four young students who were testing. And the testing commenced! Everyone had to do their form, and then break a board. Which is new. Sifu has decided that we should show board-breaking ability to demonstrate focus and power. So the kids went first, and they each broke a board (a moderately thin board, granted). The first kid (probably no more than 5, maybe 4), I have to admit, was pretty freakin' cute. And when he broke his board, he had a huge grin on his face. So all the kids tested, and did well. Then it was the adults' time. And the first two more junior students went, both testing in the same form, Sam Yin Kuen. In addition to form and board breaking, they also had to show three self-defense moves pulled from the form. They did well. Then the two advanced students tested. First was a woman doing a sparring set, with si-hing Justin. Justin made her work for it, and she did well. She did her self-defense moves, and then had to break TWO boards, held together, with a palm. She actually tried several times with the first set of boards, and couldn't quite do it. They finally swapped out her boards for two smaller (not thinner, but smaller in diameter) boards. She then broke the boards successfully. And finally, of course, the second advanced student. Me.

So I step up, and I'm more nervous than I'd like to be because of all the people there. And I start the form! I do it quite fiercely, and get through the first half of it. And then a BRAIN FART. Or something. I somehow lost track of which sequence went next. There's a lot, so I just didn't remember WHICH one came next. And I froze up. Ugh. I apologize to Sifu, and he has me start over and about a third into it. And I go through it, get to the hiccup spot, almost lose it again, but then manage to make it through, then finish the form. Then it's time for self-defense moves. And I'm flustered from my lack of perfection on the form... I think I put it into the rest of the testing. Poor si-hing. Every one of my self-defense moves send him reeling backwards nicely. Well, the second (against a kick) actually put him down to a hand and a knee. They turned out well. And the boards are next. Two boards to be broken by hand. AND two (larger) boards to be broken by foot. They have to be broken within five seconds of each other. I do kick, then punch. And fly through the lumber like a hot knife through warm butter. It was sweet. And I pass the test! Although I do need more practice. I KNOW the form, inside and out, and I guess I still choke under pressure. Which makes me mad. But that means there's room for improvement.

And I'm still finishing my contract work, which means I'm working now. Yes, RIGHT now. It's so sad. I need money to pay bills, though. I'm so CLOSE to finishing up paying all of this month off. Just a bit more. So since I need to do work, I'll have to leave you with the random link. I was watching Half-Life 2 footage, and it reminded me of an old sci-fi story. You really should check out the original release of the story, too. And in case you have trouble making the details out from that, this might help.
- posted by Pootenheimer @ 2:02 PM | 0 comments