35

Wow, I just skipped November. Well I turned 35, and its about the same. We had a wonderful dinner with friends and there was plenty of festivities to be had. I really have to say that I have the best wife/friend. She is constantly giving of herself and time to help me out. The dinner party was a wonderful gift, she also purchased a massage session at the YMCA for me. Wow, you really never realize how screwed up your body is until a massage...then all your joints pop, muscles unlock--you feel great, but its like getting slowly beaten up.

Rebekah had her December show last Friday. She sold 5 painting on the opening night. It was really nice to see her smile. She gets great satisfaction in knowing people love her art. I should redevelop her website, for her. I know one day she will make it big...it may be when we are old. But we met people that already had four and five of her paintings. They keep coming back, her art really speaks to people. They find a lot of harmony and peace within the art.

Here is an image from her show. This one is called Blue Dance.

SanKyu - 10/21/2007

This is a photo from the Seminar-- I let someone else borrow my camera, and this is the only good photograph out of the series. It is a picture of Ishikawa sensei on the right, with Cooper Sensei on the left. The flash focus really pulled out the sensei fromt the photo, meanwhile everyone else, including me is blurry in the background.

SanKyu - Kendo.
After a three day seminar I am sitting here, mostly....well entirely exhausted. For three days I have been participating in the SWKIF Fall Seminar. I tested today and received my SanKyu rank. I am happy that I received a full 5/5 score my my keiko test.
I am pleased that my passion and training have paid off.

I volunteered to shuttle the sensei around for the weekend. My father generously donated his 46 foot Holiday Rambler RV. I don't think that the sensei have ever been treated to a weekend shuttle in a luxury motorhome. It was so much fun. I was able to hear conversations and discussions that noone else heard.

It is quite an honor to drive the sensei around. I found that I looked forward to the moments, preparing the RV, just like the moments preparing your bogu.

Honor is a strange feeling. You can feel it, you can sense it but to define it is nearly impossible. Honor is something that is painful when it is gone, and a shining sunbeam when it shines upon you.

I have never practiced as hard as I have in this past weekend. Friday we had a two hours "warm up" that nearly killed me. I thought to myself; "how will I survive tomorrow's seminar." But Saturday arrived and I found a spark....maybe it was the two eggs and cheese with peanut butter and jelly toast with 2 cups of colombian coffee breakfast. But I really found my wind. I practiced and tried to show the passion and energy that Ishikawa sensei had been training us.

I realized that it was not just my performance that was being judged. In the back of the mind of all the guest sensei, I am sure they thought "well...lets see how good Ito Dojo is." Our sensei just won the Dallas Open, he had won all of his matches, against the guest sensei which were invited to our Seminar. So I have no doubt that in the back of their mind they were qualifing their students against the Ito Dojo, and sizing us up.

The guest sensei even brought that very point up. They mentioned that the Takai was a moment of recognition not only for yourself, but for your sensei.

I had to prove to them, that the Ito Dojo is devoted. I pushed myself, and pushed and pushed. Trying to out do my performance in each match. My final match-- the one before my right knee said "enough". Was second to last in the seminar. I noticed that nearly everyone else had already taken a break, they had removed all of their bogu....but I was still ready to battle. I loved fighting other people. Their timing, precision, balance, energy and technique were all different. I can see why they say that when you fight someone new-- it changes your Kendo. I HAD to change each match...each moment to balance against the other technique. Why would I take off my bogu, there were still many people to match up against.

Anyway-- at the end of my final match it was declared a draw, we had each scored a single point. The judges (who were in shimpan training) had to instantly and decisively declare a winner. Three judges at the same time had to raise the flag of the Kendoka they decided won. This ended up to be the other person. After some analysis and discussion about their decision...they gave it to the other person for the technique. A great learning experience...but I am glad the other person won the match, as they outranked me and SHOULD have better technique.

Overall I received praise all around. I cannot wait for the next opportunity to go to a seminar and practice.

Tan-Trance music

I have to say...I love techno, always have always will. My good friend Nicole turned me onto a great DJ.

Cheb I Sabbah

Album: La Chriba: La Kahena Remixed.

OH YA...that is some trancing groove, drumming, indian-funk - trance music.
Beautiful.

The small mirror

Today I arrived from work exhausted. I have worked 23 hours in two days. Yesterday due to work and Kendo, I didn't get to see my beautiful daughter Tehya at all. So when I arrived home I forgot how much I missed her. If you concentrate on that during the day, the hours slow down. So when I returned home, across the room I saw her playing. She looked over and pointed and with a great big smile...she said.. "tha papa".

That truly makes your heart melt. I can now start to understand the love my father has for his children. Its dives down to your core. You can no longer separate yourself from your child. I guess thats is as it should be, since they are literally half of your genetics. The moment this little child looks at you and you see yourself in her eyes, her actions, her attitudes she is a mirror.

So it just got better, Rebekah told me that Tehya had pictures for my blog. At first I thought...OH god, she got a hold of the digital camera....But here they are. The mirror refocused. Tehya is turning into a camera ham...JUST LIKE MOM!

Did I mention that Tehya's favorite book is Green Eggs and Ham? HAM...HAM...HAM...HAM......oh the requests go out to the universe.

I digress. The photos showcase the mirror-- one which reflects the intro photography of the early 1970s Thor dressed in motorcycle boots, white denim, kicking back in the living room. So here she is, Rebekah helped with the cycle shirt, that Papa picked out for her, and the Kendo MenTengui "bandana" around her head, but to top it off—Tehya picked the glasses.

Biker girls rule.

500 miles, one day.

When you tell people that you are going on a motorcycle trip on Saturday, they ask you "where are you going." ...So you reply, I am going on a 500 mile tour of Colorado. Then they get this strange look on their face....and they stare at you. Then they ask..."so are you coming back on Sunday?"

No leaving Saturday morning, traveling 500 miles and returning Saturday night....

"you are crazy". I get that a lot.

Why is it "unbelieveable" that a 500 mile, 12 hour ride can be utterly enjoyable. They think of danger, getting tired, and "SUCH A LONG DAY". While I think of it as a day full of twisting roads, ever changing landscape and fresh air.



Its amazing how much thinking a motorcyclist accomplishes during a ride. Yes--we have to remind ourselves to stay focused on the ride, watching for idiot cagers, fearful deer, road conditions, gravel...etc. Motorcyclists are given more opportunity for "Ah-Ha" moments. Everyone has Ah-Ha's they are realizations, inspirations and moments of refined clarity. Most people experience them in the shower, or on the pot...or gardening. When you are focused on something else, your brain releases throughts that have been making their way through the labyrinth.

As the miles tick by your mind absorbs all of the landscape passing and rushing by. My moment of clarity.... "damn--I have alot of panoramas I need to stitch together".

I found new roads I have never traveled, a wonderful little highway named 114, inbetween Gunnison (my favorite town in Colorado) and Saguache. Its a very sparcely traveled road in the summer, and it follows a small river, then through canyons and finally drops into wide open- staight fly-throughs. Its almost a perfect road. It offers all of the road-types motorcyclists love.

But then again, I can't really remember a road I hated. Other than Kansas SuperSlabbing i-70 in August with a 40mph crosswind for hundreds of miles in 100+ degree temps.

Get out and ride.

The Passion of Motorcycles

It is hard to describe the feeling of motorcycles to someone who does not ride. Many people are afraid of motorcycles. They feel as if they are going to be injured, they may feel very vunerable. Yes motorcycles have risks factors, and yes you can get injured on a motorcycle. But motorcyclists never worry.

It like worrying about terrorism. If you spend your time thinking about how you might die, you will never live your life. Even though you have a much higher risk of dying from the FLU this winter.....you are worrying about a car-bomb SOMEWHERE, SOMETIME.

I digress: Man is a land based creature. Although we have developed flight, I believe that motorcycles are the essence of land-flight. They connect us to the environment through low altitude high speed flight. You can absorb the land, road and scenery with a detail unparalleled in a closed transportation vehicle. Cages, aka cars, surround us. They limit our experiences with the road trip. We are a sentient being, we live within our senses--and anytime you limit the reception of those senses you remove the potential to fully experience an event.

On a motorcycle you are fused into the road. You have full range of vision, and you can experience all of the smells from fresh pine forests, to river canyons....fields in bloom with wildflowers....lilacs and their hovering perfume clouds. Your senses come alive when you ride a motorcycle.

Every motorcyclist has had MANY moments where they are in "awe" of what is in front of them. I have jaunted several hundred miles....time ceases to exist....you are left in one, long beautiful moment. You forget that there is a machine beneath you, you feel as if you are floating across the land.

Guide for Big SIsters

In March 2008, Tehya will be a big sister. She is very excited and is reading the latest information on the responsibilities of a big sister. We do not know if it will be a sister or a brother....and that will be left for the delivery day. I am surprised that many people want to know the sex of their baby. Yes, its very practical, you find out what you need to buy....but really should this wonderful surprise be determined on what is "easier" as a consumer?

I relished the moment I found out Tehya was a little girl, we had been waiting for so long it made the surprise that much more valuable. Plus my entire family shared in our surprise. We called everyone, and said "ITS A GIRL...." and everyone had such a happiness in their voices. I can't imagine finding out months before the birth....where is all the surprise? I choose not to open my Christmas present before christmas!

Kendo (the Way of the Sword)

I started Kendo right before my daugther Tehya was born. A couple of factors lead to this decision. I had gained a lot of sympathy weight with my wife, I had reached 250 lbs, and much of that was not muscle. The second reason-- it was free. At our local YMCA members could join the Kendo Sessions for free. I sat in on the first class to observe only. What I saw truly captivated me. Not only is Kendo an intense workout, full of cardiovascular movements, but there was more to it than just hitting people with sticks and lots of yelling.

Don't get me wrong, hitting someone with a stick with primal screams is the best stress relief that anyone can achieve. You can finally "let go" of your self-regulated behavior and express yourself fully.

Above and beyond that Kendo is a mental discipline. You must focus beyond your physical conditions, movement and direction and focus your entire being --Body, Mind and Soul -- into a split second movement. You must overcome your opponents mind and spirit in order to win. Many points in Kendo are determined by fractions of a second. To see a Kendo match in real life is an amazing event. You can feel the tension between the opponents. You can see the beauty in the precision and determination of the Kendoka. Participating in a match....thats even better.

At first Kendo is painful...very painful, your feet blister, and blister...and blister on broken blisters. But once my "baby soft" sneaker-protected American feet adapted with tougher skin-- I am now able to concentrate on my form.

I feel truly honored to be learning from Ishikawa Sensei and look forward to many more years of practice.

The photo above is from demonstration a few years ago. I was still beginning. It was the end of June on a very hot day 98 degrees --we were on Astroturf...which absorbs sunlight/heat. As you can see we are in bare feet...and I would estimate the AstroTurf at 150-170 degrees. Even though the demonstration was only 10 minutes long, my feet paid the price. The entire ball of my foot on both feet, blistered and peeled about 15 minutes after the demonstration.

The Life of Tehya

And then there was Tehya, Native American for Precious...aka...."Butters"--Named for the Melted butter stage of sleep that babys attain.

Raised in the womb with a constant supply of Grilled Cheese and Apple Juice. Rebekah could not eat enough grilled cheese and apple juice. In fact, those are still on Tehya's preferred list of foods. If she has a selection, she will reach for the cheese...any cheese.

She is 17 months old TODAY. Im not really sure how to blog the past 17 months....SO much stuff has happened. I thing the biggest thing that has opened my eyes is witnessing the foundation of learning first hand. As an educator we talk in these large descriptions of learning behavior. We have all these fancy theories about how children learn. But to see how fast they learn blows my mind. She learned to crawl at 5 months...because she wanted to touch the fuzzy cats..."KIKIs"...she was walking at 1 year....and now she is tearing up the house at 17 months!

Months ago, when Tehya was just learning to walk-- Rebekah and I were working in the garden, we had placed a sunhat on Tehya to avoid our harsh colorado sun...but she decided to take her hat off. She came up to me and patted me on the shoulder and said DAT...I realized her cute babyhead was going to burn so I said to her.."Tehya where is your hat?" She looked puzzled, then she turned around and pointed to her hat, which she had left across the yard a good 50 feet away. "Good, Tehya, go put on your hat".
She walked right over to her hat and put it on. I sat there in amazement. I show her how to open something ONCE, or put something in ONCE...or point out an object ONCE....and it is instantly retained.

Im going to have to watch WHAT I SAY!

Flying Tigers

The day after Jakitta died, I talking about dreams with one of my co-workers when I instantly remembered a dream that I had
the night Jakitta died. Rebekah woke me up in the middle of the night with a question about the garage door. I woke up, walked downstairs and returned to bed. I checked on Jakitta, who was still alive. I let her know that she was a good cat and that she could finally go to sleep. She let out just a small movement.

I returned to bed and had a vivid dream. I was standing in our yard, next to the ash tree (where I buried her the next morning), I was standing in the garden and I heard a racket in the sky...I looked up to see a bengal tiger flying in the air-- chasing birds. I watched this tiger tumble and sprint throughout the sky...I watched in amazement. The Tiger was having such a wonderful time.

The next morning --we awoke and I found Jakitta had died. It was only much later in the day that I realized that I had this Flying Tiger dream when Jakitta passed, she was resting underneath the foot of our bed, lying underneath me.

I have had several real dreams that have occurred throughout the years -- one's with vivid details. Ones that were very specific, with intimate details I have never seen before only to reveal themselves later.

Those physic events occur all the time--we just have to recognize them.

Life of Jakitta

Not to start off the blog on a sad note. But Jakitta, 17 years old (102 human years) died this morning. She was the most sweet content cat in the world. Never complained, always followed the rules--(except for the time she stole a whole fish directly off a dinner plate and ran down the hall as fast as she could to avoid detection).

I first met Jakitta on one of my first days in college. I was eating a bagel and drinking a coffee. I hear a faint meow--and look down by my feet. There she was a big-eared fuzz-ball of a kitty. Black, white socks, with a white mustache. It was unusual to find a cat (or for her to find me) in that location. I was deep within a the college building. So I guess it was destiny. I picked her up, gave her some bagel and put her in my inside chest pocket where she immediately fell asleep purring. I had to go to class, in the middle of the lecture Jakitta woke up-- poked her head out of my jacket and gave a resonating "meow" in the auditorium. The teacher stopped, looked around and saw Jakitta staring out. She gave a big smile and continued on.

Her original name was Warhol-- of course this was residue from my limited art history knowledge. but it never seemed to fit. So I changed her name within a month to Jakitta. Many people thought it was spelled like the Banana brand "Jaquita". Either way, it was a playful name which suited her.

Jakitta had a torid love affair with my ex-girlfriend's fixed male cat during her first heat--before I could get her spayed. Needless to say those hormones are very powerful-- they can overpower even a fixed cat.

Jakitta was known around our house to have the "best purr". She had a deep and hearty purr, one that would not stop until she fell asleep. She often lulled Rebekah and I to sleep with her endless purring. Very comforting.

I will truly miss this beautiful cat. I could not have asked for a more loving pet. She provided endless love and comfort to me throughout the years. We buried her this morning in the garden in the middle of a massive CatNip patch, under the shade of the Ash Tree. She loved the garden. She was the only cat we could count on not to run away. She would sit, content for hours in the same spot in the shade, chasing butterflies and playing "vicious hunter" stalking garden bugs.

I will miss you Jakitta, Rest in peace.

Birth of the Blog

Welcome to Thor's Blog.