It's BROKEN
Yeah, this last week just hasn't been so great. Well, the week from Wednesday a week ago to this last Wednesday. A few things happened. Not so happy things. For one, I did buy Fearless, which is awesome. But! The disc was bad! It was broken. So I have to wait for a replacement. Thankfully, the guy I bought it from said he'd send a free replacement. So that's good.

And my ICQ account got hacked. It's broken! I had a horrid, horrid password on it, and someone cracked it. So if you got any rude messages from me on ICQ, you can ignore it. I'm thinking about trying to hack it back, but it'd require using tools I prefer not to dirty my hands with. We'll see.

Oh, and I got a nasty ear infection. It hurt my ear. And my eardrum? It's broken! That's right. I took a day off of work (from lack of sleep and stress), and THAT NIGHT I wanted to get extra sleep. So I hit the hay and then promptly at 1 my ear starts hurting. I couldn't sleep until around 5. If you've heard that ear infections are painful, then you heard right. You might know that I take kung fu. I think I may have mentioned it. And when it comes down to it - between the ear infection and taking a punch to the face, I'd prefer the punch to the face. I finally fell asleep, though, and went to the doctor the next day. The blood on my pillow in the morning wasn't a good sign, and the doctor made a comment about me deciding to put off going to the doctor. I told him that I didn't notice any ear pain/discomfort until that previous night, and he told me that my eardrum had popped. So it means it sounds like I have a pillow against my head all the time, and it FEELS plugged. It's not happy. In the past couple of days I've started to hear a little better, but I'm hearing extra pitches on top of the other ones (and all of them at reduced volume). It's starting to drive me crazy.

Yeah, I'm on antibiotics, but it's just to prevent reinfection. And it doesn't really hurt anymore, it's mostly annoying. You don't appreciate a lot of things as much as you do after they're broken. I can add my hearing to that list, now.

So lots of broken things. Bleah. But in other news, there's some happy stuff. I replaced my amp! I spent a little more than I intended, but I managed to get a great deal, so that did it for me. I got a Crate amp, a little block of power called (ironically enough) the PowerBlock. And that's just an amp, no speakers included (it's just a head), so I had to get a cabinet to go along with it. I found a used cabinet, and the guy at Guitar Center made me a great deal for both of them put together, so I had to get it. The only thing is that this cabinet is a little big. It's hard to move, as it weighs more than half my weight. But at least it has wheels. And the saddest part was that I picked up both the day AFTER my eardrum broke. So I couldn't really check it out properly. But I have played a bit on it, and it is luscious. I haven't even pushed it, but it can pump out some serious volume. I'm sure my neighbors love me more than ever.

In kung fu news, today we had testing. A few more people tested, and I got to help out. It's always cool to see how much people have progressed, and there were a few that were definitely noticeable in their improvements. It's rewarding. The crazy thing is seeing people lose serious weight and start having a substantial amount of increased energy. One student in particular has lost over 25 pounds since he started. And considering he's changed a lot of his weight to muscle (which weighs more than fat), that means he's actually lost a lot more than just that. He's looking a lot healthier than when he began. And we had another student test in Gung Gee today! Gung Gee is the first truly advanced form. It's over three hundred moves, and it's not easy. He did it, although he still has some room for improvement. I helped him with his self-defense, though, and he did smack me pretty nicely. As well as kicking through four boards. Sifu was smart enough to recommend I put on some headgear we have that has a facemask over it. I'm glad he said so, because when the student (named Truman) kicked through the four boards, large chunks of them hit me in the face. He did well, though.

I also got to help a new student start today. The main reason I helped him is because he speaks hardly any English. I must admit, my Spanish has been improving, because I do use it on a regular basis to help teach kung fu. He did well, and he got to experience the pain that is the horse stance. He smiled when he realized how much the stances can hurt, which is a good sign. If you smile at pain, you're probably good for kung fu.

Okay - it's quite late, so I should get some sleep. Before continuing more kung fu in the morning. Random link time! I have a nice one today. It's political in nature. Did you ever see Superman II? Then you'll appreciate this potential for our future.
- posted by Pootenheimer @ 2:22 AM | 1 comments