Religion, Spirituality, Martial Arts, Fitness, Reading, Music, Movies, Writing, Conversation

John Carpenter's remake of The Thing, The Last Dragon, Big Trouble in Little China, The Prince of Darkness, Star Wars, The Matrix, Snow Cake

The Number of The Beast, Dune, The Power of Now, Integral Spirituality, A Brief History of Time, A Brief History of Everything, Big Mind Big Heart, The Atman Project, Cosmic Trigger, Illuminatus, Prometheus Rising

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Open Mindedness, Critical Thinking, Unabashed Dancing, Sentience, A sense of Self, Conversation, Smiles

There are several fronts that capture my interest in areas I feel will be useful to others:

Fitness - When I was 21, I weighed 396 pounds. The story of the moment that changed me can be found here. It is my contention that, that moment combined with my heeding of its advice saved my life. I currently tip the home scale at 185-190 depending on the day, and I am slowly moving down. To say my life is completely different than it was would be an understatement.

Martial Arts - The vehicle I chose to rescue my flagging physical condition at the outset was a combination of two tools. Martial arts was one of them. I began with T’ai Chi Chih, advanced to T’ai Chi Chuan, and explored Wing Chun, Baguazhang, Hsing-I, and Jeet Kune Do along the way. I studied Yang Style T’ai Chi Chuan for several years with Bill Chin and the Golden Gate Park T’ai Chi Assosication, reaping amazing results, until one day I wandered into Suginami Aikikai San Francisco (called ShinbuKan at the time). I had read a fair amount about Aikido before visiting that dojo, and went there at the urging of a friend who was interested in getting back into the martial arts with me. He had studied Aikido a few years previously. When we arrived to observe, class was in full swing. By the time I got down the stairs I knew I was home. With my sifu’s blessing I tapered off of T’ai Chi and began studying Aikido full time. I have been practicing for eleven years and counting, teach three of the classes at my dojo each week, am the general manager and have my third degree black belt.

Writing - The other tool I found very useful for tackling my weight loss issues was journaling. I kept a practice of writing down everything I ate, and all exercise I did on a daily basis for several years. That process proved invaluable in getting honest with myself, and tracking my progress. I have long held a secret dream of being a fiction author, and journaling is a gateway to realizing that dream. Recently, the program I am in for managing my food cravings utilizes writing heavily and this has lead to a deeper form of journaling. Two years ago I took a crack at living out my dream of being a fiction author and participated, and won, the 2005 NaNoWriMo. I did that again in 2006, and joined a local, newly formed writer’s group in the interim. Slowly my writing craft is progressing and I look forward to a day when I will be a published author.

Organization - In my life long struggle to struggle to grow up into a responsible adult, one of the handicaps I have suffered is a sever lack of organizational skills. I have made excellent strides in this area, and continue to refine my personal system. My latest experiments have been increasingly successful, and are modeled after the systems espoused in David Allen’s Getting Things Done book. It’s been a long road to hoe, but getting better every day.

Philosophy - I have always been an introspective person, and I believe that only an examined life is of use. My self directed studies in these areas have taken me through a myriad of engaging ways of thinking. Taoism, Buddhism, Sufism. Hindu, Jewish and Christian Mysticism. Zen. Stoicism, Ratioanlism, Gnosticism. Logic and Faith. I am cuurently a big fan of the Philosophy and Popular Culture movement in all its forms. I keep a loose correspondence up with a few people out in the world doing interesting work in this area and find it an infinitely amusing and rewarding area of study. I like plunging into the quagmire of how my mind and soul work and rooting around in their murky depths.

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