Bush, Obama, Adams

There really is nothing I could say that a million other people haven't already said better about our new president. Or for that matter, our exiting one. I can only talk about me.

I was fifteen years old when Bush was elected in 2000. It was that election in which I became aware of politics and how they effect me. My high school was heavily involved with the No on 9 campaign, and it was this more than the presidential election that got me interested. Of course Dubya was also a hot topic, but Measure 9 (prohibiting any instruction in public schools that dealt with homosexuality. This included any conversation concerning HIV/AIDS) was much more visceral to our heavily GLBTQ school. The synonym for Satan was shared by both George W. Bush and Lon Mabon. It was with delight at Measure 9's failure, and horror at Bush's election that I became aware of the political world.

Basically what this means is that I have never been a politically conscious person without Bush and Cheney in office. I have never been proud of America's choices. I have developed politically filled with cynicism and loathing. The No Child Left Behind Act was the first blow, especially with my dad being a teacher. September 11th happened which, of course, lead to the war in Afghanistan, The Patriot Act, the war in Iraq, Guantanamo Bay, Wire taping, Abu Ghraib, and Torture. The Clear Skies Act was a joke, flagrantly allowing millions of more tons of pollution to be dumped into the air. … Ugh. It could go on and on.

I have no idea how to behave as a proud American. And you know what, it's going to take a lot more than Obama in the white house to make me stand up tall, hand to heart, and pledge my allegiance to the flag. I am truly blessed to be born in the U.S. I fully recognize this fact, yet, tomorrow when Obama is sworn in, the polar bears will still be swimming, the CIA will still be up to nefarious, clandestine shit, millions will be without healthcare, Iraqis will still be dying, our school systems will continue to fail, the economy will go on tanking, and my gay friends will still be less than whole people.

You see? Eight years of cynicism will do this to a fellow.

I am rambling. Basically, I am saying that nothing is truly better now. Obama is a great man. I felt great honor in being able to vote for him. Tomorrow will be a day to remember. But now that we have a responsible president we must give him hell.

Oh, and get this. Our new, progressive, mayor has been nailing an eighteen year old. Great. On one hand, it is absolutely none of our business. He has done nothing illegal. Yes, he lied about it, and he asked the young gentleman in question to lie about it, but again: none of our goddamned business. On the other hand, What in the fuck was he thinking? People are already shouting for his resignation.

ah, I just don't know.

Happy Martin Luther King Jr. Day everyone!

*burp* *fart* *scratch scratch*

I am in the worst shape of my life. My back is constantly achy, I am winded after running a few blocks, I am the heaviest I have ever weighed, and today I went to touch my toes, and I could only palm the floor with my arms out straight. I usually can palm the floor with my elbows bent significantly. I feel gross. I blame winter break. When I am in school I usually bike everyday, eat right(ish), and have a schedule in which to place a time for working out. During winter break I stopped doing all of these, caused mostly by the two weeks or so of winter weather.

The problem is that I am having a hard time getting back on track. I have been taking the bus to school more than I need to, eating out at restaurants WAY too much, and have just been lazy in general about taking care of myself. A few things are helping me though. I am enrolled in two kung fu classes at PSU, that right there is a mandatory four hours of working out a week. I also bought a kettle bell and have (slowly) begun to use it. Plus there's the usual Kung Fu classes that I go to. I just need to put more effort into all of these things. If I just ride my bike every day and go to all kung fu classes, that comes out to about 10 hours of working out a week. I just need to add my own work out schedule (Kettle bell, shadow boxing, forms training) on top of that. The reason for this is that I love food. I have a very hard time not eating lots of very good (read: fatty) food all the time. It's what keeps me happy. Dieting is not a reality for me so a decent amount of physical activity is a must.


I did, however, come to a draw with my dad at arm wrestling today. No easy feat, let me tell you.

Hiroshi

So, sometime back in December I pitched the idea to my friends that instead of buying christmas gifts for each other, we would go to a very nice dinner. I suggested Hiroshi, Hiroshi is without a doubt the best sushi place in town. Here is the story I usually tell about this place (copied and pasted from my user review on a local food website):

"In the spring of 2000, I sat down for lunch in a quaint living room in Santo-cho, Japan. The lunch was made by an old man who ran a sushi restaurant next door. It was the best sushi I had ever had in my entire life. No wonder, considering that this man makes sushi for the Emperor and his family whenever they are in that part of the country. I thought I would never have better sushi. Hiroshi proved me wrong. I will keep this short: Hiroshi will serve you the best sushi you are likely to ever have, and without a doubt the best in portland. Go there now."

So yeah, really good. I had the very fine privilege of being taken there by Niko and Stephanie for my twenty second birthday and have dreamed of going back ever since. Tonight, my dream was realized. Here are some pictures from the night, enjoy:

The players



Appetizers:


The Sushi (what I was able to get pictures of, there was a lot more):





I hate Uni. But I had to admit that I had never had it at a legit sushi restaurant, nor in over ten years. I thought I would give it another chance:

I'm not sure how I feel about it.
The Desserts:
ginger ice cream

Green tea ice cream

Green tea creme brulee

Green tea sponge cake

The bill(!):



This was one of the better meals of my life.

Tattoo

I have been talking about it for a while now. 6 months actually. I need to do it. I currently have two planned. One is a crow placed upon my upper-leftish chest area. I have a very specific image in my mind what this should look like but currently have a weird mental block about it and cannot put it down on paper. So, number two is where it's at. Number two is a full color panel from The Adventures of Tintin and Snowy. Here are some real crappy images of them.


I think I'm gonna go with the bottom one on my left arm. Opinions? Ideas?

Printmaking

Today I made some prints of a chef knife. I did this more as an exercise on monotype techniques than to produce actual work, but I was pleased with the out come. Check it:




Sorry about the crappy image quality, iPhones aren't the best cameras.

harumph

So, I am taking two P.E. classes to fill the rest of my schedule for full-time status. These classes are awesome because they are Kung Fu classes. Yay for me. Connie Zhang is PSU's resident Wushu master. Connie started training in Kung Fu in southern China as a little girl, but during the Cultural Revolution was displaced and ended up starving in northern China. Obviously she had to quite her practices. Eventually, her life settled down and she was able to enter school as one of the thousands of wushu students. I am not sure how she ended up in Portland, but at some point in the early nineties she got a degree from PSU. Soon afterward she began teaching Tai Chi and Wushu classes at the university.

I have taken three classes from her at this point. Two tai chi straight sword forms, and one tai chi saber form. She has come to think of me as her T.A. which can be rather annoying at times, but usually pretty fun. I actually taught the last four weeks of the saber class, guiding the other students through one of the saber forms that I have learned from my kung fu school. This term I am taking an empty hand wushu set. It is a companion set to a form that I already know, which is really cool. I am also taking a kung fu fan form, which is a blast. The form is choreographed to…wait for it…wait for it…MUSIC! Holy crap is it awesome in the dorkiest of ways. All of the steps coincide with the lyrics and music, and at certain points you open the fan with a loud snapping noise. So awesome. People are constantly poking there heads in from the hallway to see what all of the commotion is. which is rather embarrassing. I wonder what the must think when they see a room full of whiteys jumping around with fans, listening to Chinese folk music booming out of a little CD player. I like to imagine that they are jealous of how cool we look.



So. I have THREE brand spanking new prints due tomorrow by 2pm. I have completed one. I am fucked. Thus: Harumph!


::UPDATE::
This is the form! with the same music and everything!

This man is more cool than you or I will ever be.