Most people who’ve taken at least one Tai Chi class are familiar with the visualization of chi as an invisible beach ball you hold in your hands. It helps keep your hands the proper distance apart, and helps you think about how to move them while “holding” the ball. At the beginning of our Tai [...]
Read More ...Archive for September, 2009
Sep 28, 2009
|Writing
This business of writing creates no shortage of bad, down-in-the-dumps days. How do you cope? Yesterday I ate 1.5 pounds of crab legs with copious amounts of butter. That’s an extreme remedy; usually I resort to making brownies and eating all the batter. Some of my other remedies include: Watching all of A&E’s Pride & [...]
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Sep 22, 2009
|Martial Arts
Before I got my new Chinese broadsword, I’d been trying to think of cool names for it. Some of my other weapons are named Whisper, Cricket, Oolong, Dragonfly, and of course, Mr. Pointy. But a sword is special; a sword needs a super-cool name. But when Sifu Carrie handed me the sword, I looked down [...]
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Sep 21, 2009
|Martial Arts, Photos
This is what the first night back at kung fu after four months away looks like. (My face was rose-red in the first five minutes. It’s actually better here.) For the record, my plantar fasciitis isn’t any better. I just decided to stop listening to my doctor and go back to kung fu anyway. I’m [...]
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Sep 20, 2009
|Jade Tiger, Writing
I’ve only written two novels, so perhaps it’s a bit premature to talk about methodology when I’m still in the process of forming mine. Then again, talking about the process helps me figure it out. You can read as many articles and blogs as you want, but you’ve got to find what works for you. [...]
Read More ...As everyone knows, a new project calls for a new playlist! (Don’t you just love good justifications for buying new music?) I’m looking for music that evokes a desert theme, preferably epic and sweeping. Horse-inspired music would also work. Think Laurence of Arabia, The Blue Sword, and one of my favorite musicals, The Desert Song. [...]
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Sep 9, 2009
|Life Stuff
Ten years ago, on the auspicious date of 9-9-99, I was supposed to leave Maryland for the west coast. Unfortunately, my trip was delayed by the smallest of obstacles. Here’s what I wrote back then, on September 12th: I’m packing. Tomorrow morning, assuming I haven’t gone completely insane, I’m leaving for LA with a car [...]
Read More ...The anthology Japanese Dreams is now available! I haven’t seen the official Table of Contents, but I believe it contains my story “Lady Blade.” I ran a Dungeons & Dragons campaign in college with a friend of mine. I had the characters during their waking hours, and my friend Jim ran the characters when they [...]
Read More ...I’ve never seen the allure of NERF guns. I despise guns in general. When other folks at the studio started buying NERF weaponry and holding huge battles, I mostly just sat at my desk and tried not to get hit in the crossfire. Then the producers bought everyone a NERF gun, and like it or [...]
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