Mmm, it's late again
Both the time, and my blog.  Blog, how I've missed you.  And missed updating you, as well.  It's because I'm crazy.  Crazy busy.  Yeah right.  Eh, lately I have been staying up, hanging out with friends, watching movies and the such.  It's good stuff.

So the work thing is still going on.  Monday I talked to a contact I have with one of my contracting firms.  Found out the other contact didn't tell her about a minor thing.  The fact I have FIVE CERTIFICATES in network security.  Yeah, it's kind of important.  She mentioned that network security is one of the bigger growing fields.  Yeah, I KNOW.  That's why I went through the trouble of getting the certificates.  Anyway, she knows now, and since she's the major contact for that area of the contracts, I think I'll be a little higher on her list for potential jobs.  Yay!

The other job, the one I'm really hoping for, is still in the "unknown" area.  I contacted the major contact there today.  They're still waiting.  I'll find out by the end of the week.  He did say thanks for calling, it shows a little initiative, I think.  So that's good.  We'll find out by the end of the week, I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

And kung fu, my other love.  Aside from struggling with unemployment, of course.  Monday was good!  We had a lot of people show up, including Louis for his first night.  It was interesting to see the differences in what he'd learned and how we taught.  I think he'll pick it up quickly and learn well.  Also, the other Eric in our class was there.  I haven't shared a class time with him in a long time.  He kept pointing at me and mouthing the word "You".  For some reason, once people start sparring, if they're big into learning how to spar, they always want to spar me.  It's fine with me.  So we ended up sparring a little bit after class, no pads.  Sifu watched us.  He told me not to go so easily against him, since I was just being cautious (since I HURT people regularly now, apparently) and wasn't pushing, at first.  Eric had actually shown Sean a move right before we sparred, a joint locking thing, and ended up accidentally elbowing him in the chin.  There was a very nice resounding clack noise when he closed Sean's mouth quick suddenly.  Unintentionally.  Apparently if your name is Eric and you take kung fu, you need to be careful with accidental injuries.  So we sparred.  And when Sifu wanted me to be more aggressive, to push, he stepped into place for me to demonstrate.  As Eric attacked, he'd basically just throw a punch into his face as he approached.  Eric's response was, "Holy crap..."  It was pretty funny.  So I worked on him a bit.  Then Sifu stepped in for him, to tell him not to just back away (since I had started pushing towards him), but to circle more.  And as he demonstrated, Sifu slapped me quite nicely in the process.  Not one of the more annoying Justin slaps that sound loudly but don't really hurt, but a Sifu slap, which moves a person's head approximately half a foot in about a tenth of a second or less.  Oh, the loudness of it was still there.  I felt that one.  So we continued sparring.  Eric, being a little less advanced, doesn't have complete control over his attacks, so he landed a few hits harder than he meant to, and landed one face shot.  So I went ahead and slapped him, which was satisfying.  Left a nice red mark on his temple for the rest of his time there.  We got some decent back and forth.  I'm eager to actually spar him fully, with pads, though.

And today was sparring day.  Sifu had to leave, so Justin and I had class.  It was fairly productive, and sparring was mainly two pairs of guys working on each other (four total), plus me and Justin sparring each other.  We finished class, then Justin and I continued.  For HALF AN HOUR.  Sean and Kyle (the tall guy) stayed to watch.  It was an epic battle.  Justin landed several very nice hits on me, and I actually landed a few impressive ones on him.  Although he keeps putting up this all-purpose block that covers everything.  And it's annoying.  So I'm working on trying to use that, since he can't really see through it.  Even so, he used the mirror to still attack me from the block.  Grr.  Great workout, though, some good hits.  He left a nice mark on my chest, which doesn't often happen anymore.  It'll be gone in the morning, though.  Most likely from one of his thrusting heel kicks, which he's improved on.  I've been told I'm improving, as well, since I'm doing better against him than I used to.  I just need to remember to keep my other arm active, since I primarily block with my front hand, and seem to forget to use the other arm enough.  Practice takes time.  So time will tell.

And tonight, the movie of choice was The Circuit.  Worst movie I've seen in a while.  Hard to even make fun of.  Oh well.  The risks you take when getting free rentals.  Maybe I'll even finally watch Battlefield Earth!  I don't know that I'm that brave, though.

So now it's time to sleep.  Perchance, to sleep IN.  (You thought I was going to say "dream", didn't you?  Pssh, why would I do that?)  Last night I actually had an interesting dream.  It was basically an MMO version of Raven Shield (AKA Rainbow Six 3).  Something like thirty guys on each team, in what looked like a war-torn creek of sorts, at dusk.  Each team was on one side of the creek.  There were bunkers to hide behind, and such.  I remember that I had a SAW, or some other sort of very large weapon, of the fully automatic belt-fed variety.  I mowed down many, many people, as did a lot of people on my team.  I remember seeing a lot of white where the impacts where being made.  It was somehow satisfying, the exhilaration was cleansing.  Don't know why.  Some sort of visceral vicarious violence, to get my frustrations out.  It was good.  Tonight, I'll probably just pass out cleanly.  So I'll leave you with your random link.  Tonight, it shall be one of the things that make me wonder why some people spend their time doing certain things.  I guess everyone finds time spent in certain areas more valuable than others.  I'll just let this guy from Berkeley handle this one.

- posted by Pootenheimer @ 3:51 AM | 0 comments