2002-12-04 - 2:09 p.m.
I play too rough�or so my co-workers say.
And of course�just in case you have forgotten�IT�S COMIC DAY!
Last night was practice up in Richmond again. Kinda funny really, I haven�t seriously fought for 6 years and now I am driving a total of 3 hours to go to a 2 hour practice�go figure.
So how was practice you ask? Well to put it simply�I sucked eggs. Corby said that is pretty typical though. Something about fighters who have had a long break tend to come back, have a really good practice, and then the next 3 or 4 totally suck. Oh boy�lucky me. Only 3 more suck practices to go�and I have an event in there also. Does that mean that I am going to suck there too? Bah�
So why do I think that I sucked at practice? Simply enough�I had no plan. I had not goals. I simply swung a stick (poorly) and tried to keep from getting too bruised up. My footwork is a mess (I almost fell down 3 or 4 times), my shield is moving more than it needs to, I am letting my opponents control the fight�especially the range (which is dumb considering that I am using a short sword right now)�ugh�and the list goes on and on. The one thing that I can say that I did well was not quit. I pushed myself to keep fighting even after I was to tired to throw a proper blow or keep my shield up. I didn�t quit even after Corby hit me in the same place time after time. I didn�t quit even after I realized that I couldn�t hit the broad side of a barn let alone the little slots that my opponents giving me. Bah�it was a rough night, and my right arm is a testament to that. I counted the individual bruises on it this morning and came up with a pretty impressive number�13, and then there were the bruises that looked like they had bruises, so I didn�t know how to count them. I tell ya, it was quite a job trying to explain to my co-workers why my arm was so messed up. Needless to say, none of them understood�sigh, I so should have worn a long sleeve shirt to work today.
On a positive note I did get some feedback from practice that did make me feel much better. Leofwynne had some very nice and very positive things to say about out fight last night. In fact it was enough to make me feel like last night�s practice was a stunning success. If you haven�t read it, go do so�
As promised I will continue to recount the events of this past Thanksgiving weekend.
Friday saw me barely able to raise my arms above my head. It would seem that the sit ups and pushups had left me in worse shape that I could have predicted. I guess that I am in much worse shape than I could have imagined. I couldn�t let that stop me though�for Evja and I had plans for this morning. We were to go shopping�ugh.
Yes, yes. What was I thinking. Shopping on the day after Turkeyday, the biggest shopping day of the year. But to be honest, I needed shoes and shoe carnival was having a sale. So we loaded into the X-Terra and braved the masses. Now shoe shopping would not have been too bad. The store had plenty of stock. There were not too many folks there. The place was well staffed so there were no insane lines. In fact they even had what I was looking for. But what made this adventure nearly unbearable was the LOUD obnoxious MC that kept talking over the store loud speakers. He was asking stupid trivia questions, making asinine comments, and generally being a pest. So much so that Evja and I have sworn to never go back to that store again. But I guess that it was worth the pain. I did get a new pair of New Balance cross trainers and a pair of Hi Tecs boots for fighting for under $80. Not bad when you really think about it.
After shopping hell Evja and I returned to Casa de LaFlamme to see if we could talk our hosts into going to Cary town for an afternoon of wandering. It was a no go though. They were beat�and I don�t blame em really. I was also desperately fighting the desire to lay in front of the fire all day and sleep. Since the Cary town thing looked like it was going to be a bust I then asked Evja if she would like to spend the afternoon at the art museum. Nothing like getting a little cultural exposure while the rest of the world was pursuing their consumer driven instincts/obligations. So we were off.
The museum was a lot of fun. The place was not very crowed at all. While there, Evja and I took in the Art Nouveau exhibit, the Faberge collection, romped through the medieval collection (where I almost had my geek card taken. They had a few big chests from the 1500�s there, and if I strained and stuck my head close enough to the wall I could mostly make out the hinges. ), and then finally we took a leisurely stroll through the modern art collection.
By this point in the day we were both beat, so it was back to the house where the fire finally won it�s battle. It was naps for all of us�and followed by some armor work, a quiet dinner, and lots of wine and good conversation till the wee hours of the morning.
*Tomorrow: Saturday�*
Today I learned how to make Excel bend to my will. Granted it has taken me 3 days of trial and error, bugging friends, and searching the internet to figure out how to do it�but I am victorious. The Bossman will have his new scheduling spreadsheet in his paws by this afternoon.
And my friends�what have you learned today?
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