When I put up my blog for rent, I had no idea it would be so popular. I was flooded with bids from so many great blogs that I had a horrible time choosing. I thought I’d get one offer and take it. Instead there were six. I spent the day wringing my hands and worrying about how I was going to choose just one, and would I be hurting other people’s feeling, etc. etc.
I am a nice person and I have a horrible time telling people no, as evidenced by this. "Eeeny-meany-miney-mo. . . " didn’t work for me. I considered letting my daughter choose, and then I decided that I would move forward with the most fair method of all. . . early bird gets the worm. So, without further delay, I present to you my new renter who was the first bidder. . . Life or Something Like It. She is an absolute riot. From her post about intuitive technology to her battle with imaginary multiple personalities, she had me laughing out loud. She’ll make you laugh too. In fact, I’m kind of afraid you’ll like her better than you like me and won’t ever come back. Please come back, o.k.?
The second order of business is this warm fuzziness that The Pajama Mama started. Because I can’t give it justice on my own, I’m quoting her exactly below. She states the following:
"We’re so quick to point fingers, place
blame and criticize the people in our lives. It’s easier to point out a
fault than it is to praise a strength. It’s easier to mention something
that needs to be done better than it is to acknowledge something that’s
been done well.
Therefore, I christen today (and the next few days) “Bloggin’ Good Blogger Days”
in the blogging community. Your mission, shall you choose to accept it
(and you will), is to go to as many blogs as you can and point out at least
one good thing about the author of that blog. Do your best to give them
a warm fuzzy feeling. Show your appreciation, admiration or plain old
joy.
Tell them why something they did touched you, why a choice they made shows the true fabric of their moral being. Just go BE NICE to every blogger whose blog you read today. And don’t be shy, either!!
Plus, post an entry similar to this one on YOUR blog and ask people to leave warm fuzzies in your comments. Spread the love, people!
Maybe
if we take a week to engage in warm fuzzies, they will become a more
permanent part of our daily lives, both on and off the computer.
In review:
1. Leave me a warm fuzzy in my comments.
2. Post a similar entry (or copy and paste this one, giving credit to the Pajama Mama) on your own blog.
3. Leave a warm fuzzy on every blog you visit today.
4. Sit back, read your own warm fuzzies and feel, well, warm and fuzzy!
Enjoy!"
That PJ Mama is one warm and fuzzy gal. She’s got a great idea. If you’re into this whole warm and fuzziness business, please start with my renter and the other great blogs who wanted to rent here. I wish I could have had them all.
And just in case that wasn’t enough warm fuzziness for you, I give you the kittens my sister is caring for until they go to their new homes next week:
That’s not the flash; they really do have blue eyes.
Big I figured out how to hold them and fell in LOVE!
These are dog bowls, so you get the idea of how teeny tiny they are.
The kittens LOVED Lil C’s feet and she loved them right back.
If that’s not inspiration, I don’t know what is. Now go. . . be warm and fuzzy.
And if you’re feeling warm and fuzzy about your birth story, please submit it to me via email.
I have doubled my karate intake each week and am loving it. I think I’m learning a lot about myself in the process. During my earlier class, I am usually the high rank in the class. We go over some of my material, but for me it is mostly a review. I’m not complaining. This is a good thing. The last thing I want to do is forget and there is a lot of material to learn, especially considering that we don’t just learn open hand karate at my dojo. We have a whole slew of weapons that we need to know how to use as well.
During the advanced class, I am always the low rank. Last week it was me and another black belt. Tonight we had two black belt instructors, two new black belts and yours truly. We reviewed weapons kata’s and then practiced bunkai (application). Last week, I learned my waza in a 30 minute period by constantly going through the motions and practicing the bunkai (and getting very sore arms in the process). This week we took parts of my sai kata and learned the application. As my instructor stood there swinging the bo at me, I was tentative at first. Because he highly encourages getting our strikes as close as possible, I kept at it. It was by no means perfect, but it felt really good the more I did it. There is nothing like bunkai to help you commit moves to memory (both mental and muscle).
I thought that I would enjoy being the high rank in class over the low rank. Instead, I’m finding the opposite. I enjoy the challenge of being in class with black belts. I like learning the application. It doesn’t matter how crisp your kata is; if you can’t use it when it’s necessary to do so, you’re going to be in trouble.
The other great thing about being in the company of higher ranks is that you get to practice some really cool self defense. Tonight, we learned self defense with a pencil, pen, or other such implement. No pencil or pen? We learned how to use our thumbs to make an attacker drop to the ground.
My issue with self defense is that when I come home to practice it on my husband (who is much bigger than I am) I sometimes run into trouble. He is strong and when he really grabs hold of my arm or wrist, I sometimes have trouble maneuvering. Of course, this is what distractions are for (tail butt kick to the groin, foot stomp, etc.), but what if the attacker continues to hang on or you can’t get one of these distractions off in a timely matter?
I asked my instructors for some help with this. I asked my instructors how to get out of being pinned on the ground with someone much bigger and stronger. We spent an extra 45 minutes after class continuing the techniques. They are exciting to me, because just knowing where certain points are on a body or how to move them turns the threat of someone much bigger than you into a much smaller problem. So much of self defense seems to be understanding angles (I really wish I would have paid more attention in geometry for that reason!) and body mechanics.
Of course, it wouldn’t be karate class without me apologizing for something. Tonight was no exception. My instructor was teaching me what to do if a much larger and stronger person would be attempting to hit me with a hook punch. We talked about where I would need to stop the momentum in order to be successful and then he taught me a move where you step closer to the attacker, using your one arm to grab and block the punching arm while the other hand strikes the throat. By moving in when your attacker expects you to move back or stand still, you avoid the impact of the punch and make a stunning strike. I watched him demonstrate the technique on me and then I gave it a shot. I was excited about the move and because of my excitement, I popped my instructor in his Adam’s Apple when I moved in to do the strike. I promptly began my litany of apologies. He told me I did it exactly right and took it in stride. (This is the same instructor who when teaching me techniques for fending off a knife attack, had something snap in his already injured shoulder because I was a bit overzealous.)
I appreciate the fact that my instructors are so eager for me to learn the proper way to do things that they sort of self-sacrifice. It was the same way with using the pencil as a weapon. I was pretending to strike him, and instead he had me use the eraser side and actually strike him. It helps you to learn because you know what kind of pressure you need to use and where you need to hit exactly. Without that kind of training, you’d be out of luck with a real attacker. An attacker is not going to give you a second chance to hit the right spot. You’re not going to be able to request a do over.
Although it can be a bit intimidating to be in the company of so my black belts, I’ve realized that any good black belt only wants to help others learn what they already know. I have learned so much from the black belts at my dojo. Sparring with them, partnering with them, and watching the way they do things can only make me better.
Injury update: My knee is feeling so much better. During a workout with my heavy bag the other night, I was working on the placement of kicks. Something popped in my knee and since then I have felt a huge improvement. Karate this week felt great. I am so happy it was not anything serious!
If I haven’t lost you by now, there’s a new birth story up. Go and check it out.
So, I got it right on the encore. I mean, really, who wouldn’t have guessed Ryan would get the encore? But the bottom three. . . I was way off. How could Super-hero-wanna-be-Zayra and Cure-look-alike-Lukas NOT be in the bottom three? I’ll never know. When I got home from karate my husband was just bursting to tell me who the bottom three were. I was 1/3. Apparently, people like superhero’s and are longing for the days of The Cure.
I never would have guessed that little plastic Jill would come out singing the way she did. Why is it that she can always sing to keep herself in, but her Tuesday night performances stink? I think the band should seriously consider this phenomenon. She sings well when she feels the pressure, but not when she doesn’t. So, what does that say about how she would be if she gets the gig? She saved herself once again this week, but that doesn’t mean she’s going to make it anywhere near the top. And, it was completely transparent choosing a song by Heart. She’s trying to heal the wounds she inflicted on Gilby with that nasty bump and grind from last week, but I don’t see it happening. Once you lose your credibility and their respect. . . you’re done. It’s only a matter of time before she’s sent packing.
I wasn’t all that surprised to see Patrice in the bottom three. Of course, I truly believe that Zayra and Lukas should have been there before her, but it must be the year of the freaky people. People want to keep those two around because at the very least, they’re water-cooler fodder. I think that Patrice ended up in the bottom three because the whole spiked hair thing she had going on just wasn’t her. She also performed first. When there are a lot of contestants, the one who performs first rarely does well. (One only needs to look at American Idol results to know that’s true. It was the kiss of death this year.) I think Patrice needs to be herself and change up her music selections instead of her hair.
Dana going home is not a surprise to me. I think the band thought she was a joke. These are some old guys! How are they going to deal with having a 22 year old goody-goody fronting them? It would be a joke. It she hadn’t shown up with such a fresh face, with the opinion that she was there to learn from everyone else. If she had shown up with some attitude and more confidence, she would have done a lot better. I am glad to see her go. . . and one last thought. I really hope she doesn’t plan on having children, because that tattoo she got is going to get all stretched to hell and look ridiculous if she does. Don’t any women think about that when they get tattoo’s?
It makes me think about college and how all my sorority sisters were coming home with these Grateful Dead bears tattooed an inch or two in from their hip bone. When one particularly dense sister showed off her tattoo, I asked her if she planned on having any kids. "Yeah, a couple," she said. "Think about it," I said while holding my arms out in front of a mock pregnant belly. "Oh," she said. Yeah, "OH". To all the young gals out there planning on getting tattoo’s, try to remember to get them on a non-stretchy, unaffected by pregnancy body part, like maybe the back of your ear for example.
And that’s a wrap. Until next week. . .
No, I didn’t forget Week 4. It’s week 5 and last week I was apparently forgetting the first week, so I named my recap Week 3. Week 3 is Week 4 and now we’re Week 5. Got it? Good.
Patrice kicked off the night. You know it’s not good when the only thing you remember about her after the show is her hair. What was up with that hair? While I liked the fact that she changed it up, Dave is right. In front of Tommy Lee, she sort of disappeared. What did she sing anyway?
Josh was next and showed that this was the week for the vanilla boys. He was totally awesome. He came out with a bluesy-reggae Santeria by Sublime and he "crushed it" good. I still don’t see him fronting Supernova; but I at least like his music and think he’ll do something after this is all over. To be honest, I’m more likely to buy his album doing that kind of music than what I think Supernova is going to do.
Dilana is obviously a favorite of the boys’. You can tell just by looking at their faces when she sings. She did rock it with "I can’t get enough of your love," but I prefer her softer side. Although her performance was good tonight, all I could think about is that she really needs to stop smoking or at least sounding like she does.
Toby has gone down a notch in my book. Sure, he’s still easy on the eyes and all; but this week I checked out his "space" on the website and found this. He has a typical rockstar mentality and the drinking habits to prove it apparently. Although I like his voice a lot, I think he’ll end up in rehab if he gets picked for the gig.
Zayra showed up in true Super Hero style once again. This week she was more Wonder Woman meets Victoria’s Secret. Tommy even invited her to wrestle in his room, which was just wrong. She is proving that being off key and dressing like a deranged super hero is her thing, and it really doesn’t work. Sure, she’s good comic relief for everyone. There’s no denying she’s entertaining in a "need to look away" sort of way, but she really does need to go.
Magni did Cold Play tonight, and while the guys were thrilled with the performance, they must have heard something I didn’t. I like Magni as a person. He seems like a real sweetheart, but I’m not loving his performances that much. Maybe it’s just that I can’t imagine him fronting Supernova. He’s too clean cut. But tonight, he did Cold Play’s song exactly as they do it and didn’t change it up at all. Without changing it up, I thought it was pretty dull and not nearly as good as the original.
Ryan is who I’m calling to get the encore this week. He tore it up on a baby grand while singing the hell out of REM’s "Losing My Religion." He was incredible and if he doesn’t get the encore I will be shocked. He showed himself as a real contender this week, and I look for him to go far if he keeps it up. After he performed, Tommy told him that singing that song will "definitely get him laid," proving once again that Rockstar is not a family show and why I’ll never be able to live blog it as long as my daughter is a night owl. I so do NOT want to be explaining that terminology to a 5-year old.
Lukas is just scary. He’s got a screechy voice, scary red eye shadow, and despite the horror of it all. . . he’s getting predictable and boring. After Ryan’s beautiful piano performance, he looked cheap and amateur. I predict he’ll be in the bottom three this week.
Storm showed once again why she’s a front-runner tonight. She lost the drama, and did a classy performance of "Changes." There were no frills, but she put her voice on display and it worked. If the encore doesn’t go to Ryan, it will go to her.
Dana has been doing some great singing, but I can’t help feeling like she’s a pretender. She’s trying to be "bad." She’s trying to play the part of the rockstar when she really doesn’t have it. There’s no way she will get this gig. She’ll go home within the next few weeks for sure, once the really bad ones have been weeded.
Jill. . . I almost forgot her. Horrendous. Dave Navarro described her performance as the one when everyone will get up to go to the bathroom and get a drink. Yep, that pretty much sums it up. From the kitchen I could tell she was oversinging her song and making a complete mess of it. She lost Gilby’s respect last week and everyone else’s as well.
Bottom three predictions: Jill, Zayra and Lukas. . . Jill goes home. Why not keep the super hero around for another week? At least she’s more entertaining than watching Jill flip her hair around!
Encore goes to Ryan.
When I asked to be one of the presenters, I had no idea how hard it would be to choose a "perfect post." I can be a picky person. But when I found this post, at "Welcome to My Closet, Here’s a Black Dress", I knew I had found it. She writes about change and more specifically her fear of change. She writes so well. Here’s just one example: "I watched my body change as he grew inside of me and now I watch the shape of my days change as he grows outside of me." This post was just so honest, and provided so much food for thought that I couldn’t not give it a Perfect Post award.
Go check it out. If you’d like to read other Perfect Post’s for the month of July you can visit Suburban Turmoil or Petroville. (You can also just click on the perfect post award button.)
In other news, there’s a new birth story posted, so please check it out. I am looking for new submissions as well, so spread the word and get writing.
Also, if you haven’t already done so, please go visit my renter. Click on the thumbnail in the side bar and you’ll be taken to visit Ramblings of a Not-So Typical Stay at Home Mom. She won’t be there for much longer and you don’t want to miss her!
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