Robbie: DSi post

In the theme of my last post I am now writing this one on my DSi.

Robbie: DSi post 2

sorry about the double post, the browser said it didn`t work the first time.

Robbie: DSi

Earlier today, I went to Westdale and got a new system to replace my old fat DS. Yes, That's right, I got a DSi!

Here's mine/\

Here's a screen brightness comparison

                              Orig. DS

         \/ DS Lite                      DSi\/

All you non-gamers out there are thinking, "What's so great about that?" I can tell. Anyway, The DSi is slimmer, has brighter screens, has a built-in internet browser, an SD Card slotPictochat in color, and two 640x480 cameras, one on the outside and one on the inside. Once I get an SD card I will post some pictures I take with it.

Jane: From student to teacher

I was looking through my old blog, Taekwondomom, yesterday, looking for a post to share with Robbie. I found the post, one about the way martial artists' feet get all blistered and torn up in summer.
After I found the post, I spent some time reading the blog and I noticed that it's practically electrified with the excitement of learning something new. Reading it made me remember how I felt being a colored belt in TKD and having lots of good teachers--both Ms. Prior and Master Hughes, plus all the adult colored and black belts who were around me.

I loved it!

I think that between teaching and learning, I love learning best. I love that feeling of trying something new and working to make it mine. I don't mind being corrected, especially when someone's correction can help me get better at doing what I want to do. I like being able to see my own progress.

Today in TKD, I'm not a student so much anymore. My friends who were the adult black belts with and above me are all gone. Ms. Prior, who pays special attention to the upper-level belts, hasn't been to class in more than 6 months . Master Hughes is often busy with the younger kids (he is awesome with those kids). Justin hasn't worked out with us in ages.

I've been teaching a lot, too.

And so TKD has become much less exciting for me. Compared to the way I thought of it back when I was writing that blog, now I think of it primarily as exercise.

Oh.

And as training for Robbie.

I guess that's probably when my attitude towared TKD started to morph: when Robbie joined again back in the spring of 2007. With him there, my focus shifted away from my own progress--which was fine, as that was about the time my friends stopped coming and I had to teach more often anyway.

I don't want to be a pushy mom who "makes" her son get a black belt (it's his belt, not mine), but I do want to help create an environment at the dojang in which he can train for that level. OK, and I have MOSTLY been the one to grab him and make him practice his forms.

This weekend, Robbie gets to show whether he's trained hard enough to be a black belt. He tests on Saturday at 11 a.m. It's a pretty huge deal, so if you know Robbie, send him an encouraging note or e-note!

Jane: Kung Fu?

So has anyone been thinking about Kung Fu these past few days since David Carradine's death?

I have.

The TV show Kung Fu came on when I was 10. I remember watching it and liking it very much--it was my first introduction to martial arts and to eastern philosophy (or at least the Hollywood version of those). I always loved Western kinds of shows (Daniel Boone with Fess Parker was my fave when I was about 8), too, so that was a plus.

I was thinking about why I liked that show so much--it's odd how it presaged my becoming involved with Tae Kwon Do and becoming a black belt.

Caine, the main character, was an appealing hero to me because he was a quiet outsider, someone who was either ignored or thought to be inferior. But he had hidden powers that he would use only when necessary. It provided a wonderful fantasy for the typical nerdy pre-teen.

I think I saw the movie sometime after the show was on, and I enjoyed that, too. I watched it much later, the evening before one of my Tae Kwon Do tests.

Kung Fu appeals to me more than the other martial arts movies I've seen. Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon is cool, but I prefer the quiet introversion of Kung Fu to acrobatic martial arts.

Jane: Ballet to die for

I just finished watching a tape we made of the NYC Ballet doing Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet from the PBS Live at Lincoln Center. Not a dry eye in the house at the end! OK, I was the only one watching it, but you'd have been in tears, too.

I was a bit wary about watching it. I saw a wonderful production in Munich, oh, 29 years ago. And I am very partial to the R & J pas de deux between Margot Fontaine and Nuryev. OK, neither of them is close to R & J's age in the recording I watched, but I LOVE her dancing.

But this one is . . . absolutely amazing. Peter Martens did the choreography and added some edginess to the fight and marketplace scenes. Mercutio was amazing and Tybalt really danced like Verona's best fighter. Darcy Kistner (sp?), the last of Balanchine's ballerinas to still be dancing, played Mama Capulet.

The best were the lead couple. Robert Fairchild--handsome and tall--played Romeo, and Stirling Hyltin--an amazing actress as well as dancer--played Juliet. Wow, were they good. So expressive in their movements and faces.

The most poignent part of this version was the way the lead dancers embodied the lives and love of very young teens. Maybe this struck me especially hard during this viewing since I have a son who's 14, and he has an almost-13-year-old "girlfriend." But these dancers WERE young teens on stage. The goofiness, the excessive emotions, the amazement at what it's like to fall in love (gorgeous pas de deux dancing), Romeo stabbing and stabbing Tybalt in his rage, Juliet weeping and hesitating about the sleeping potion. I could almost see those young people I know acting just the same way. Oooh--just thinking about it gives me shivers!

If you didn't see it, see if you can find a copy somewhere to watch. Maybe I'll loan you my tape . . . maybe.

Jane: More Amigurumi

As promised, here are some more almost totally useless yarn creations.

("ALMOST totally useless?" asked Robbie.
"They amuse me, so they're not totally useless," I replied.)

I made these acorns a couple weeks ago. The larger one is hollow--the cap unbuttons so you can store something inside. The pattern called it an acorn sock-project bag, so I made it for my friend Judi, who knits beautiful socks.

I made the smaller one based on the larger one's pattern. I think I'll keep it. Eli insisted on the eyes and smile :-)

And what's that underneath my hostas?!