White Tiger Hapkido: Day One

"As much courage as it takes to slay dragons, it takes even more courage to spare them." - Me (not sure if  it's phrased right; does it make sense? I'm still working on it.)

Today I had my first martial arts lesson. Ever. In the past I've intended it but never actually come around to it. Well, today I did and I had a blast.

The place is an indoor facility with a beautiful koi pond between the locker rooms and the area in which we do our exercises. The masters (teachers) are quite nice, and one of them told me today I ought to learn a bit of the Korean language in order to better understand certain aspects of the art of hapkido. That ought to be interesting. For those of you who do not know, hapkido is basically an art of self-defense which focuses on defending but not attacking, as it is to be used for benevolent purposes. Then again, one might want to Google it for a better explanation; I am quite a novice at the moment. Still, I enjoyed my first lesson and look forward to more of them.

On an unrelated note, I recently got rid of much of the useless junk in my bedroom, and it feels so nice, so simple, to live in a cleaner environment. This is how I intend to live, hopefully for good. It's just so much easier. Now I must check to see if that stubborn Chihuahua, Mr. Coco, feels like going for a little walk now (he fled me before, the little booger).

To Be or Not to Be...a Playwright

Ah, yes - another theatrical post! This pertains to one of my favorite things (apart from general theatre and acting): writing! I am as of yet experienced, seeing as my play readings consist of two Wildes and three Shakespeares, plus some other partial things. I have a long way to go. But as of a couple of Saturdays ago, I am taking playwriting lessons at Applause!. (Remember them?)

I realized the great usefulness that comes from selecting random magazine pictures and using them as inspiration. I need to write out the one with Queen Sadoree.... Anyhow, I'm looking forward to X number of years from now, when I hope to travel the world, fueled by my inner artician: writer, actor, artist, musician, and possibly even dancer. But primarily a writer. According to Thoreau (or was it Emerson?), life is best lived simply. That's one reason I am OK with eReaders such as my Kindle. While paper pages are preferable (ha), I think it is a necessary sacrifice as opposed to lugging around a library. I think I'd take the aforementioned Kindle, a laptop or whatever I'm writing on at the moment, a sketchpad, perhaps a bound journal, The Good Hat (my fedora), and essentials such as clothing and whatnot. Otherwise I'll travel light.

Speaking of dreams to come, it is almost eleven PM., and I have school tomorrow. But not for the rest of the week! This will be my first meat-free Thanksgiving, I think. Not that I ever cared much for poultry. I would have ham. But I look forward to cheesy potato casserole. And the dogs' expressions when they see all the people-food. And I shall write plays all the while!

Much love to you all,

Lewis M. Winter