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January 22, 2007
Another Random Thought
I was reading the news this morning and read a story about a group of parents that are banding together against outlandish children's birthday parties. It sounds like a strange thing to do, but after I read the story, I pretty much had to agree with their tactics. It just seems to me that parents are becoming so overly generous to their kids when it comes to giving them whatever they want. I mean, if that weren't true, we wouldn't have that show "My Super Sweet 16" on MTV. It's outrageous! These parents are spending thousands and thousands of dollars on their children's 16th birthday parties to make them show off to their friends like they were J. Lo or something. And they go all out...expensive limos and DJ's, giving them REALLY expensive cars, etc. I wouldn't be surprised if they spent more on the parties than my parents did on my wedding! I mean it's so ridiculous these days. All I had for my sweet 16 was a few friends at the house and a simple cake--but that's all I really wanted or needed.
My main issue with all this really is just that all this spoiling is teaching kids that they can have whatever they want whenever they want and they don't have to work for it...they just ask Mommy and Daddy. I remember the days when I would save my entire month's allowance just to buy a one or two records! And to do that, I had to clean the entire house, do laundry, and dishes (every day), etc. My allowance was only $5 a week and I think it really taught me some value. Kids these days are getting expensive electronic gadgets, designer clothing, and anything else they want.
Maybe it comes from today's parents wanting to give their kids whatever they didn't have growing up, but why? When it comes to my nieces and nephew's birthdays and Christmas, I try to shy away from getting them toys and get them things like books, clothing, or DVDs; sometimes educational toys (like Leapfrog stuff). They just have so many toys that it's literally taking over their house! I mean, do they really need more toys? I don't think so.
Oh, and another thing...I really hate all these anti-bacterial products out on the market. People are so germophobic that it's no wonder people are getting sick(er) more often than ever. We use so many of these products that we're degrading or not even building up our immune systems! And we're having a harder and harder time getting over our illnesses (flu & cold). Granted some people need to use them, but come ON! Aren't we going a little overboard?
Posted by Amy at 11:20 AM | Comments (3)
January 12, 2007
Seeing Inside for the First Time
I've been practicing martial arts for about five years now and I think I'm finally understanding why I started doing it. The obvious reason is that I wanted to learn self-defense and while that's still true, I realize there's something much deeper to why I started practicing martial arts.
When it comes to martial arts, there are external and internal aspects. The external aspect is the idea that you are doing something outside yourself. Take karate or jujutsu, for instance. Those are arts that focus on defense from outside influences--you learn techniques that allow you to control things other than yourself, like people attacking you.
Then there is an internal aspect to those and other martial arts; that being that you learn how to better control what's going on with and inside yourself--controlling your mind and body. Suino Sensei was talking about this last night during iaido class and that's when I finally understood it. When I finally understood what they meant by the word "internal." He said it was akin to Zen meditation. When you meditate, you focus on controlling your breathing, your thoughts and your body. You actually think about breathing in and out in a very controlled manner and try not to think about anything else, like how that guy cut you off on your drive home the other day or even to scratch that itch on your leg. It sounds very easy to do, but BELIEVE me, it is near impossible! I grew up as a Buddhist and, during "Sunday School," had to meditate all the time. I hated it--partly because I was still a kid and wanted to do other things, but also because it was so difficult to master. It's almost impossible to not think about anything at all except your breathing for more than a few breaths.
That martial arts is as much for improving yourself externally as well as internally, I unconsciously understood, having practiced karate for five years. But now that I've been learning iaido, it's only now coming to conscious light. When I practice iaido, or any martial art for that matter, it's really more of a search for self-perfection than it is for defense. Though, both are just as challenging as they are rewarding.
And I have to say that Suino Sensei is really incredible for giving me this kind of insight. Not only am I learning new arts with him, not only is he teaching us practical and real-life situations where our martial arts are useful, but he is teaching me martial arts on a much deeper level than I've ever had before. I'm just now beginning to truly "internalize" these arts because of the insight he provides and it's causing me to become even more passionate about learning than I ever was before! And that's a great testament to the kind of teacher he is!
Posted by Amy at 01:29 PM | Comments (0)
January 10, 2007
Random Thoughts
I know I said I resolved to get better about posting to my blog...it's been pretty dry lately. And just because of that, I'm going to post some random thoughts today.
First, Apple unveiled their iPhone today...very cool!!! You can conference people, text message, get on the Internet and view it like you do on a PC--not pared down like it is for Treos, and listen to your music. Check it out! First, they revolutionize personal computing, then they revolutionize the music industry with the iPod, now they revolutionize cellular communications! I really want one of these phones cause it is DA BOMB. BUT...
1) instinct tells me that it won't be availble for Verizon till next year and 2) I've already got an 80Gb iPod...I really don't NEED one of these, though it IS cool as shit!
Read in the news today about Bush wanting to send another 20,000 troops to Iraq which kind of irks me. Politics aside, we've already lost too many good soldiers in this war and I just wish it would freakin' END already!! Bring 'em home and keep 'em safe!
Also, regarding the news about U of M and other Michigan universities trying to fight their way around Proposal 2--I just wanna say, GET OVER IT ALREADY!!! The people of the state VOTED AGAINST affirmative action. We DON'T want it! Why can't you guys just accept that???!!! For crying out loud!
Oh yeah, I also had a funny dream last night...dreamt that I was playing Texas Hold 'Em and I kept winning. Dreamt that I got a "royal flush" in my hand (there was no flop) with 4 aces and 2 jacks! haha!! Too many cards!! I love that game!
That's all for now.
Posted by Amy at 11:44 AM | Comments (0)
January 03, 2007
Happy 2007!
As Don notes, we've been pretty busy this year, what with our trips to Meaford, Ontario and Hawaii/Japan; our numerous parties; and martial arts. In fact, I don't think I've ever been so busy and I believe I might be getting used to it. The times I'm not that busy, I tend to crave having people over or whatever. And this past holiday season is no exception. We had poker night, UFC fight night and a New Year's Eve party all right in a row. And as much as I would have liked to continue the partying, I was pretty burned out come New Year's Day. I had barely enough energy to do laundry and take down the Christmas decorations. In fact, I was too tired to finish by putting the tree away. But it's been a great year for parties, especially because of the house being much bigger than our old one. I love having people over and hanging out with all my friends, but that was so hard to do in the tiny little house we had before.
We don't have anything planned for this year, yet. But I would like to take a trip down to Charly Del Lago to escape the winter cold (although it's been much better this year than in years past). And of course, we'll take our yearly trip to Meaford--always the highlight of my summer. The other thing I want to do this year is to get my stuff out of storage in Don's office building; sort through it and throw stuff out. We have our Iaido test coming up in early February, so I imagine I'll be pretty busy with that for the next few weeks and I need to get back into Karate more to practice my stuff. I've got all my material and I'd like to test sometime soon for my next promotion. That should hopefully be easier since I think our Iaido classes will be cut down a bit to let more students in.
Oh, and one other thing...my New Year's resolution is to update my blog a bit more often. :)
Posted by Amy at 02:43 PM | Comments (0)