Sara Symons.
My work week ended tonight with a terrible turn of events. While teaching the last class at the karate school a few parents entered to pick up their children and commented on a horrible wreck that occurred on I540 in Bentonville. Unbeknown to them, one of our part time instructors and my personal student Sara Symons, was killed when a car merged on to the interstate and ran her off the road, flipping her jeep and throwing her from the vehicle. Its hard for me to describe the pain I feel for her parents and family. Sara was a beautiful, bubbly 17yr old senior, and was just elected to the homecoming court at her highschool. It truly shakes me to the core to know that this girl, completely undeserving, has been taken from all the people that loved her. Life seems so cruel.
God bless you Sara, you will be fondly remembered. Keep training hard, wherever you may be.
Back From The Grave
I'm not entirely sure what genes flow through my veins, perhaps I am half polar bear, but I can damn sure tell you I'm not built for hot weather. To all those people who moaned about how "bone chilling" the winter in Fayetteville was this year, I blame this heatwave on you. I really need to move north, New England, Canada, and Alaska sound nice... or at least better than this Arkansas heat and humidity.
Enjoying a little leisure time in my aparment.
I'm missing a family weekend at Lake Columbia outside Homer, LA this weekend. I really just need the weekend to relax before the start of our summer camps at work. I'll miss seeing my favorite of cousins, but the 5.5 hr drive to Homer seems a little too much for just one day at the lake. On top of that, the heat and mosquitos don't sound very appealing either. I'm not a fan of Louisiana.
Work has been going well, I'm adjusting to the daily life in the Rogers studio. I'm working out here and there, sorta irregularly and without much conviction. If I push it too hard then I'm dead by the time I'm supposed to strap on my dobahk and crank out high energy classes. I guess you win some and lose some. I've noticed over the past few months the development of a knot that runs the full length of my palm from my right ring finger to wrist, more or less. I've also noticed that I can no longer completely lock out my pinky, I suppose the working out and constant tightened fists have caused me to develop Vikings Disease. Vikings Disease is a gradual thickening of tendons in the hands or feet that eventually limit flexibility. Its said to be almost exclusively limited to people of Scandinavian descent, thus the term Vikings Disease. I'm not 100% positive that it is Vikings Disease, and still plan to go get it looked at, but it probably is. Just my luck!
I also finally made it around to listening to a new album from one of my favorite bands, Flatfoot 56, a kinda eclectic Celtic Punk band from Chicago. The single Courage is definitely a new favorite, and something everyone could relate to a parent or grandparent. This song brings a tear to my eye because it reminds me of my father and grandfather, both of whom I miss dearly. Aside from that, check it out!
Smashing Young Man
Isn't life a trip?
Thinking back to when I was in highschool, I had no ambition, drive or even a remote clue of how I would spend my life or where I would wind up. I've randomly and arbitrarily stumbled thr0ugh school, shifting from major to major trying to find something intriguing. Now, 6 years after I started this journey, I will finally graduate with a degree in Criminal Justice and Sociology from the University of Arkansas. I chose those subjects as a result of trial and error, they turned out to be very appealing and interesting. What will I do with these degrees? For now, absolutely nothing.
I've been tossing several ideas around in my head, and I think I've finally chosen a path for at least the immediate future. For the last few years I've been working part-time teaching a Korean martial art known as Tang Soo Do. The experience has been life-changing and invaluable. Aside from learning how to manage and teach people, I've also played a role in the development of many young people. To me this has been a very rewarding calling and I feel very lucky to have been given the opportunity to teach and continue my own martial arts training. For this reason, I've decided to look in to instructing as a more full-time venture. I won't get rich doing it, at least not anytime soon, but I think that choosing such a rewarding and meaningful occupation would be well worth the sacrifice in pay. Is it necessarily better to go into a business and crank out a lot higher income doing a menial job, or is it better to try and change lives in the way that Tang Soo Do changed mine? Being a single male with no dependents, I think the latter sounds more appealing. I want my life to mean something to others and I want to build a better society.
On top of teaching, I've decided to continue going to school part time. I've decided that in the fall I would like to pick up another, more applicable, foreign language. I've decided to go with learning Chinese, because of the variety of applications. If I do decide to go into law enforcement later and use my degrees, that road is always open. In addition the various business, government, and martial arts applications would make it a well worth while language to study. I plan to take one or two classes per semester while working full time as an instructor, and hopefully I'll be able to acquire a language certificate in about 2 years.
Other than that, all is well. I'm still working out here and there, set a new benchpress max at 515lbs a few months back. Thats not too bad considering my lax routine and horrid diet. I'm also still enjoying my bone carving hobby, soon to pick back up now that the weather is nice. I put it down for a while because of the cold weather, sitting outside for too long my hands would freeze and would become to rigid to work. Hopefully, I will make some new norse and celtic jewelry soon!
