Randy Couture

Shoot, man, one of my favorite fighters just lost the Heavyweight UFC title. Some people are saying that it might’ve been fixed. Couture himself was quoted on Yahoo as saying something like “Those are some big-ass hamhocks coming at you.” I think that kind of sums it up, there should be a separate weight-class: Everything under light-heavyweight (185 max), light heavyweight (205 max), heavyweight (206-235) and Lesnar (235-265). How do you fight a guy who drops from 280 to 265 to make weight, yet seems to have the speed and agility of a light-heavyweight? Plus mad wrestling skills, so any submission is going to be hard-earned. Low kicks + submission? Try for a choke? I think he’s strong enough to peel almost anyone’s hold right off. How much time before one of those hams finds its way to your head? I saw Couture SPANK Ortiz literally, an unquestionably great fighter, I think even Steve Seagal would be in trouble against Lesnar. Heavyweights, I feel your pain, I think any one out there in MMA today is in for a tough night vs. Lesnar. Slice would last about 7 seconds, sad but true. The idea of fighting Couture to begin with would be bad enough. Yep, this may come as a surprise to anyone who reads this regularly, but I’ve been following MMA since before ‘05.

That 1 Guy- pass it along

Geordie Keitt of the Furies turned me on to this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HBVdRxquOXE&feature=related

I sort of want to dance and jam out, but I am laughing too hard. He’s a little bit Primus in the lyrics and some basslines, a little bit Edgar Varese, a little bit Goreckyj, a lot amazing. Very musical and fun, check it out.

Generic Updates

I am just a little pre-occupied with some projects to think anything particularly deep. When I do have moments of deep thought, I just seem to internalize them lately without necessarily feeling the need to express them. Sometimes they seem obvious, but then even the obvious can be overlooked. Sometimes I think that everyone else has already figured out any particular deep thought x, but then when I mention the line of thought and begin to expound, it’s either new to them or they don’t get it. That’s OK. I am pretty focused on school now, which is going well, so to a certain extent I write this to sort of keep myself on track and not be distracted by anything not already admitted to my plate. School is going well, and I am also finishing up the singing.  For way too long, singing has been kind of a black hole of my energy, sucking every bit of light into its event horizon and nothing comes back at all. I don’t think I need to grieve it, I am just ready to move on in a new way, in a new direction, in the new year of 2009. I owe it to myself. It will be like letting go of a burden, and I feel it will free up some extra resources of mental and spiritual energy I can plug into other goals. Another reason I am pleased is that I feel like I did what I could, taking the most honest look it at, I don’t wish that I had done this, that or the other thing in terms of trying to start a career. Mostly because what I did was as much as I chose to do and had the resources to do. Now I just need to get back into the gym. Money issues are OK, that’s reasonably under control. Thats it for all thats going on.

Progress in Coaching

So, I have been seeing a lifecoach for quite some time, I am really really pleased with the results of it. When I first went, I considered myself a slacker, having not succeeded at my chosen career nor at any other career, I thought the next best thing to do would be to embrace the slacker ethos/worldview. We discovered that this approach to life wasn’t really working for me as I needed more goals and structure to enjoy my life more than I had been. It was kind of relief at first to realize that I was still living very well despite lacking a real career, but it was time for something new. I investigated and attempted a number of different things, none of which worked out until I went to graduate school. What school has become is a sort of framework, a foundation for my life that gives it some more structure and direction, and to a large extent it mitigates and buffers whatever is going on at work. What I discovered in addition to this is the value that employers place on training and education (if you are doing it yourself). With class going on and going well, with support from my spouse, aggressive money management, very little debt and some part-time work, my relationship with my employers has changed a great deal. In the position I am in, I can always say:

1) I am capable of a lot more than this little temp job I have.

2) Other employers see the training I am involved in as valuable, and

3) It’s only a matter of time until my job classification changes- people don’t know when class is finished, or an internship comes up. I can:

a) Move up here and earn more. -or-

b) Move out and earn more elsewhere….

I like this effect of being in the driver’s seat. With a little more savings, some passive income and a little turnaround in the economy, I will not have to put up with much of an employer’s bullshit and games that I have dealt with in the past. At this rate, I strongly believe at this point that I could be taking at least 1 class a semester in something somewhere for the rest of my working career. At this point in my life, I would have to upgrade my ‘label’ from slacker to professional student. With a little imagination, I can see the beginnings of an intentional community, a new way of working, a new way of looking at life, in essence a little revolution happening whose net effect may be to finally bring corporate America under control. There may be a new book coming out very soon: “The Professional Student’s Handbook- the complete guide to a new lifestyle.” Keep checking Amazon, it won’t be long.