Judo

It's now been over three weeks since Michelle and I began taking judo lessons. We've been going twice a week and are starting to notice a slight increase in our stamina...encouraging given our level of deterioration. 

The lessons are private which allows me to encourage Chaz, our instructor, to use his Army bootcamp Sergeant's voice with Michelle. She's somewhat cat-like and if you're not paying close attention she'll try and get away with stuff like pretending she did the #7 pushup when, in fact, she just skipped it. Another advantage to the privacy is being able for all to share in the laughter as we struggle to heft our obesity and wrangle the challenges of groaning olde.

Chaz has demonstrated exemplary flexibility in modifying the workouts as we encounter plantar fasciitis, generalized aches, joint stiffness and, for me, shortness-of-breath.

Weight has been an issue since my mid-forties when my thyroid gave out. It's disheartening to see the continued "widening" as age erodes the stamina; the WILL continues though!

 

I like to think the hat, with its authentic gamsbart 

Olde Goat

(Capricorn)

lends a Burgermeister-esque quality to my "dimensionality." I only need to lose about 50 pounds (22kg) in order to fit into my lederhosen. YAH! Nussing but carrots und turkey breast frum now on!

Are You Still There?

Ah! City life! 

Los Quates Restaurant

It's been ten years since I complained about the neighbor's dogs to the City. He'd let them out around 9:30 p.m. and they'd bark continuously for the next three to four hours. I'd usually call around 11:30 to ask him to please let them in. After four months I decided to complain to the authorities. Not only has he never gotten over it, he's told all the neighbors I HATE dogs and people who have dogs. 

Recently, when out for a morning stroll, I greeted the new resident at the corner who was in her back yard enjoying a smoke. "Did you come to complain about the dog?" she asked. Her Chihuahua -- it and the Pit Bull are favored breeds in this part of the world -- had gone into attack mode upon seeing me and was in full song. "No," I said, "but the racket from the traffic and loud mufflers is annoying." She asked if I'd heard the shots during the night and I said I had, but they were reassuring as they reminded me of the joys of my service time in Viet Nam and "As long as I hear shooting I know I'm not dead." She said the neighbors had said I didn't like dogs. I admitted an affinity for felines, but that I had no general dislike of canines. 

Not long after my conversation with the smoker, the children of "the neighbors" and their friends who live up the street, began asking "DID YOU HEAR THAT?" and setting off the occasional firework at 3:00 a.m. near our house; I took to wearing earplugs and recently discovered these.

They're so comfortable I had to commemorate them. (Made in The Netherlands, it took them a while to arrive.) Once the packaging is gone, I'll be able to return here to find them.

The problem arises when trying to remove them. They come with a thin piece of silicone attached to their central stem that broke off after the 3rd use. The stem is too short to be able to be grasped without long fingernails...which I lack. Some fine fishing line threaded through with a sewing needle solved it. Now, topped with a pair of Walkers Game Ear Pro Low Profile shooters' muffs, I sleep like a babe. 

But I'm looking forward to Spring and returning to "The Wilds."

H A P P Y --------- V A L E N T I N E ' S --------------------- D A Y

 Ah, the joys of polyamory are never more pronounced than on this day !!!

But herewith a sentiment Michelle gleaned from that horrible medium....FB (the website)

Hope you have enough...cats, that is.

Diane Landry - Artist

Diane gets a small (link is to her website) mention on p.47 in The Art of Tinkering by Karen Wilkinson & Mike Petrich.

Here's a pdf from Massi Insti of Tech (MIT) with some pics of the authors and from the book.

Unfortunately, Ms. Landry's videos are on Vimeo and Blogger doesn't enable embedding of anything but Youtube so you'll have to make the effort.

Flying Scool

https://vimeo.com/61429199

Mandalas in Blue Decine series

https://vimeo.com/61428420

Some Images from The Guggenheim Foundation

https://www.gf.org/fellows/all-fellows/diane-landry/

Books.

https://www.amazon.com/Diane-Landry-Defibrillators-English-French/dp/2921801418

https://www.amazon.com/Grannys-Gift-Diane-Landry/dp/1451201354

Wild Expectations - Magdalena Lily McCarson, Photography - Zach Hively, Poetry

I'd cruised the books and was nearing the front door, about to leave. It was on a stand, near the window. Copyright 2020, published by Casa Urraca Press, Abiquiu. 

In the Introduction they tell how they (wildly) "threw it together," collaboratively, in a matter of months. They call them conversations: the photographs and the poems.

65 pages of magic!

Ms. McCarson's website

An article about Zach Hively.

Zach's website: https://zachhively.com/

When the Kittyman Come - Trailer Park Boys

Rie! Bless your heart! This is JUST what was needed!!