Emily: Daddy, I need help.
Me: Sure, what with?
Emily: Well… I was playing a jumping game with my dolls and sort of forgot the “no throwing” rule and one of my trolls is behind the bed.

After the troll extraction from behind the guest bed I notice that she has the TV on to the cartoon network which is playing Jurassic Park III. After I warn her that the show might be scary she responds

Emily: That’s okay, you’ll protect me.
Me: Yeah I keep the dinosaurs out of the house.
Emily: You’re silly, dinosaurs are extinct. And I don’t mean they stink, I mean that they are EX-tinct.

Following this I go back to the bathroom where I’ve been going through a number of gyrations trying to get the water out of my sinuses. Following the wisdom tooth extraction over the Christmas holiday I noticed I have a small channel from one socket up into my sinuses. I was careless with the water-pick and apparently blasted some water up through this channel and into my sinus cavities. Woo fun.

This evening, the part of the warrior was to be played by a Puss’n'Boots doll and the part of the wife by another doll who, although not a cat, was to be treated as one for the purposes of the game. After I had given her a kiss and closed the door she yelled that they also had children but the children didn’t go on the adventures until they were older.

A few days ago she very meticulously arranged her dolls and ponies on the stairs but was quite secretive about what they were doing and why.

It is a beautiful autumn morning. The sun lit up the trees that were already burning with autumn leaves. I know that history will be made and I understand the hope and promise wrapped up in those words: morning in America. I understand what drove that previous landslide political victory and know I’ll see a similar one in a few hours.

1. Jab, Cross
2. Jab, Cross, Hook Punch
3. Jab, Cross, Turning Round Kick
4. Jab, Cross, Step Through Left Cross, Left Turning Round Kick
5. Jab, Jab, Right Cross, Left Hook, Right Hook, Right Front Kick
6. Jab, Cross, Left Horizontal Elbow, Right Downward Diagonal Elbow, Right Knee, Right Front Kick

Set 2 Mitt Drills - Blue Belts and Above

1. Lead Leg Round Kick, Jab, Cross, Lead Leg Round Kick
2. Lead Leg Round Kick, Jab, Cross, Turning Round Kick
3. Jab, Cross, Left Upward Hook Punch, Right Downward Hook Punch, Right Knee, Left Turning Kick
4. Step Up Lead Leg Front Kick, Jab, Cross, Hook Punch, Lead Leg Back Kick

Set 3 Mitt Drills - Red Belts and Above

1. Jab, Cross, Hook, Cross, Turn Kick, Hook, Cross, Switch Kick, Cross, Hook, Turn Kick, Shield Out
2. Jab, Cross, Elbow, Elbow, Knee, Elbow, Elbow, Switch Knee, Elbow, Elbow, Knee, Shield Out

I don’t believe that people are looking for the meaning of life as much as they are looking for the experience of being alive.
- Joseph Campbell

Refraining from all evil, not clinging to birth and death, working in deep compassion for all sentient being, respecting those over you and pitying those below you, without any detesting or desiring, worrying or lamentation - this is what is called Buddha. Do not search beyond it.
- Dogen

When we are unable to find tranquility within ourselves, it is useless to seek it elsewhere.
- La Rouchefoucauld

“Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired, signifies in the final sense a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed.”
— Dwight David Eisenhower

I’ve tried to express this a number of times to people who have repeated the canard that “war is good for the economy”. Warfare is, in fact, a colossal waste of resources that could be spent building infrastructure and people. For example, Congress has just canceled the DDG 1000 destroyer program that had a cost per unit of about $5 billion dollars after two boats had been built.

Ten billion dollars for two battleships. For perspective, the money spent on this one program is almost twice the total funding for the National Science Foundation which provides grants and funding for a significant fraction of the scientific research in the US. It’s frustrating to listen to our President boast about his funding of scientific research when the entirety of NSF funding is dwarfed by a single military program.

As a people, we need to seriously reconsider our priorities.

Today was the big board breaking for charity event at my dojang. I never really got the breaking boards thing until today. Oh man it is fun. It’s one thing to kick a pad and do forms but when you really let loose and put your fist or foot through a chunk of wood you get a total high off it. I’m probably sweating 90% testosterone at this point.

I’ll have to see if any of the pictures turned out.

Last night we did some sparring and I took a shot right in the shin splint which is a whole universe of pain but following that we did escrima. Since I’d never done it before I didn’t get to spar with them but I got to practice the basic heaven six drill. I’m not used to having both arm up and swinging like that but I did get going pretty well with the gentleman who was teaching me the drill. So of course this morning my shoulders are both sore as hell. Fun though. I probably enjoy swinging a weapon more than trying to limber up and train my stiff old frame to be one. Which means, of course, that I need to focus more on the latter.

On a totally different note, my wife got me the zen day calendar for Christmas. I’ve had one page that I saved sitting on my desk for the last two months so I thought I’d put it here as well just so it doesn’t get lost:

Refraining from all evil, not clinging to birth and death, working in deep compassion for all sentient beings, respecting those over you and pitying those below you, without any detesting or desiring, worrying, or lamentation - this is what is called Buddha. Do not search beyond it.

Dogen

When I first read this I got stuck on the respect/pity part but, after thinking about it for a while, that is probably a reaction to how we frequently conflate pity with superiority rather than simply recognizing pity as sympathy and sorrow for the pain of others. Similarly there shouldn’t be resentment in admitting that there are people with a clearer view and greater compassion than my own any more than I would resent admitting that there are people who are better at math.