May is ALMOST over
But not yet. Not yet. It's late, yes, but I felt a blog was in order. It's been crazy here and there. How?

Well, we did have a lovely three-day weekend. I spent 1.5 of those days CLEANING. Which is sorta sucky, but good at the same time. I realized the majority of my cleaning involves taking care of old mail. Because I don't like messing with mail. Not sure why. That, and I have a few magazines more than I probably need. But I did get a lot done! So I feel accomplished. Just need to take out a few loads of trash, vacuum, and it'll be better. I also realized I have not enough shelf space for my DVD collection. Goodness! What's a nerd to do? Maybe I just need to upgrade my shelf. But not yet. Not yet.

Ooh! Mike (a sihing from Vegas) is looking like he'll be around for a few months. We got to have a day of sparring on Friday. It was very educational. I realized I haven't sparred in TOO long. So I sparred with the other Eric, and then with Mike. The other Eric's gotten quite a bit better. To be honest, he's got lots of speed, but he's still sort of a wuss. I pull all my punches (I probably need to stop doing that so much), but he hits. The problem for him is when he hits, it doesn't really hurt. I don't know how much harder he can hit, but I'm thinking he still has a ways to go. I mean really - he kicked me in the FACE and I didn't really even wince. That, and he throws very high kicks. Which, in our class, just begs for a specific counter-attack. So yes, I racked him three times. I was nice, though, again pulling punches. Or in this case, kicks. And threw a shin into his thigh. And at the end of the fight backfisted the side of his head. I think that's what ended our match. Then he went up against Mike. Mike racked him, too, but didn't pull it as much as I did. He ended up hitting the ground, and was done for the evening.

Then it was MY turn to fight Mike. I do like fighting him. He's had many more years of experience, and a lot of his is in street fighting. So he does a lot of shin kicks. A little different from what I'm used to, but it was cool. We traded some hits, I actually did rack him (well, I could have, but I thought it wiser to not pull it too close on him). He popped me a few times nicely, I got him a couple, and then it ended when he countered a punch, spun me, circled me, and put me into a rear naked choke. I could have tried to get out, but I just tapped. He had it pretty good, if he hadn't let go, I venture to guess another five seconds and I might have blacked out. It was a lot of fun! And no, I'm not kidding. Maybe I'm just masochistic.

So then today we had class again. I led warmups, standard fare. After class was over a lot of the students cruised over to Chris's school. Chris is one of the other black belts under Sifu (one of the two students I trained next to who now run their own school). Chris is a little crazy, but he was excited to see me and show off his kwoon. They have a pretty cool school - it's out in north Tulsa. And by north I mean north of 244. So yes, in the sketchier part of town. His students are interesting. Mike showed up, so... yes, inevitably, it turned into sparring. Mike sparred with Chris's students, taught them a few things. It was fun to watch. I just sat on the side, watched him and Eric spar the other guys. And surprise! Eric got racked AGAIN. He really needs to learn that throwing high taekwondo-style kicks is begging for pain. Afterwards I went in to talk to the guys about different techniques, and checked up on their conditioning. Apparently my shins are still a little above normal on the "OH MY GOODNESS THAT HURTS" scale. I think I left a few bruises around there. On other people's shins. But it was interesting to talk to the guys. They do love their kung fu, so we got along just fine. I think I'll have to get back up to speed on my sparring, then get into it with them again sometime.

Aside from kung fu, what else has been happening? Well, the cleaning. The puppies! They're all gone, except for three. I think one of them will be picked up tomorrow, and one my parents are keeping. The other is still up for grabs. If you're interested, let me know.

And now time for a little side story! Well, preceded by some pictures. CRAZY pictures. Yes, these are real. And yes, it's in Oklahoma. Surprise.



The fellow in the pictures is Larry Earley. He lives about 30 miles from Tulsa, in the very rural community, just off the 412 turnpike. He has 20 acres of land and on it, a few cows and horses. Mostly it's pasture land that is fenced with woods surrounding him.

He is neighbored by a larger cattle ranch.

His neighbor has complained for several years that wild hogs had been raiding his cattle feeders and salt licks.

Last month he saw what he thought was a cow in his pond and went to see if it was stuck in the mud and would have to be pulled out. When he got close enough to realize it was a hog, the thing made a charge at him. He had driven his truck down to the pond and carries a pistol in it (as any Oklahoma redneck would, and I say that with genuine affection). He got his handgun and when it came at him again, he shot it twice and killed it.

Wild hogs in Oklahoma usually run from 100-400 pounds with a 400 pounder being a monster. Because this one had been feasting on grain for several years it had grown to mammoth size. When Larry took it to the processor it weighed in at over 1100 pounds! The meat has no wild taste, as it was grain fed; and Larry is quite the hero. He has fed many in the county and provided the homeless shelter in downtown Tulsa with a couple of meals.

Isn't that lovely? Mmm, yes. Actually, I HAVE bacon. I need to get one of those microwave bacon pans. I tried cooking some on the stove. It didn't work out so well.

Okay! Time for random link! Today it's just random. Nothing overly fun or cool. Just random. It's something that I've been researching. And I found it something good to know about. Just in case I might need to know in the future.
- posted by Pootenheimer @ 1:21 AM | 0 comments