My embedding experiment

I really liked this song when it came out. I was living in the UK at the time and attending the University of London.

Problem is, anything you embed from Youtube won't fit in my blog template unless you make it smaller. So here's my attempt to do so.

Constant Reader's recommendation du jour

I just finished a book called American Shaolin, which I enjoyed more than thought I would. It's not that I'm an overly critical sort - for example, I tend to like films most people don't like. But recently I've started reading several highly recommended books that I couldn't even finish past the first chapter or two.

The author of the book, Matthew Polly, has his own Web site here. For reason I'm not sure I understand, I thought he was cuter when he was still a skinny college kid. Hope he doesn't come to Texas and try out his roundhouse kick on me.

Last night's martial arts class

I now have 75 hours of shaolin kung fu class time logged. Although I can now look back at my first few classes with nostalgia - the ones that had me crawling home for painkillers - but am still not entirely happy with my progress.

Part of it is that I don't practice enough at home, but there simply isn't enough room to do 16-point forms indoors, and it's too effing cold outdoors to retreat to the back yard.

However, I do know:

the five basic stances
three basic blocks
three basic punches
four kicks, including the dreaded roundhouse kick
two "holds", which is getting someone to let go of your arm
the first two 16-point forms, which are drills that combine a series of kicks, blocks and punches
First "combination", which is a technique of advancing and disarming an opponent, as long as the opponent is standing still and with no intention of coming after me

Over the past couple of months, the head instructor has determined that I will be taking the next promotional exam, no matter what. After we finish our first 15 minutes of basics and warm-ups, he always pairs me up with an instructor with the comment "this student is going to be taking the promotional exam, so make sure she knows everything". Or words to that effect.

I think the head instructor is simply trying to shore up my shaky self-confidence in this area. And since he's the only black belt on the floor (except when the sifu drops into class), I think he can judge my own skill levels better than I can.

So it's a safe bet I'll be taking the next exam, as long as I can scrape up the exam fee.

She had issues, now she's gone

One cat I had for years, but never mentioned, is a large black cat named Petey. I lost her to cancer today. She may not have been a cuddly sort, but she was not to blame.

She came from a veterinarian, as Petey's owners had brought her in and asked the vet to euthanize her as they were "tired of her". How does one decide to kill an animal because they're tired of it - especially after having her for five years?

Anyway, to make a long story short, the vet refused to euthanize Petey and called the local cat ladies instead. I took her in and she never left.

Although I never knew exactly what happened to Petey at her former home, except for being declawed, she had developed some emotional issues when she arrived here. She didn't like any other cats and didn't seem to like me either. Instead, she simply hid under the bed, only coming out for visits to the food dish and litter box. She eventually took up residence on the sofa (I'd put a cat bed there for her), but her demeanor didn't change.

During the first years, she displayed signs of what vets call "self mutilating" behavior. She sometimes would lick herself bald in places, and once was so frightened by the sound of a dog fight outside that she got under the guest bed and stayed for days. When I finally found her, she'd been frozen in place for so long that she'd peed on herself and developed a nasty rash called urine scald. I ended up taking her to the local vet emergency clinic.

However, Petey had calmed down some in the last years. She decided that she'd rather hang out in a dog carrier than the sofa, so I fixed one up for her, complete with heated cat bed. The self mutiliating stopped, and she even came out now and again to visit me for a minute or two. The only touch she could stand was a scratch under the chin; anything else and she would go postal. Otherwise, she spent her time asleep when not stuffing herself with food. She gained the nickname The Feline Planet, but since eating seemed to be her only joy in life, I never put her on a serious diet.

Recently I noticed she'd gone off her food, and after three days of antibiotics didn't have any effect, I took her to the vet. It turns out Petey had developed a large cancerous tumour on her belly, and since she was already a big girl, I'd never spotted it. The prognosis was awful. Either I could take her home and watch her suffer and starve to death, or have the vet euthanize her. So I went for the latter.

I spent a few minutes with her before the vet came in with the first shot (she's particularly kind, and sedates before she administers the phenobarbitol). I think I heard her purr a little bit during her last chin scratch.