Do

"Some youthful enthusiasts of karate believe that it can be learned only from instructors in a dojo, but such men are mere technicians, not true karateka. There is a Buddhist saying that "anyplace can be a dojo," and that is a saying that anyone who wants to follow the way of karate must never forget. Karate-do is not only the acquisition of certain defensive skills but also the mastering of the art of being a good and honest member of society."

(Gichin Funakoshi, "Karate-do, my way of life")

April

This has been a great spring so far... Today, April 30th: +3°C (+28°F), piercing cold wind... Yep, it's a global warming! :)

Lou Reed & taichi

Listened to a podcast on Lou Reed yesterday, learnt that he practiced chen-style taichi very seriously. Did some searching today, found this interview - pretty interesting:

http://www.kungfumagazine.com/magazine/article.php?article=325

And a cool slideshow on Vimeo:

http://vimeo.com/62099503

"unknown pleasures"

What a description for a fragrance!
"You're walking down a cold street in Manchester, listening to Joy Division, sipping on a warm cup of London Fog..."
:)

http://minnewyork.com/gifts-and-top-picks/gifts-for-her/unknown-pleasures-2013-by-kerosene.html

diary, I guess

Our oldest turned 13, we're officially teen's parents now. Yikes! It's been fun so far. :) She's been so far one of the most mature, understanding and helpful kids I've known. So, there's good hope.
For the birthday party, she had 3 of her friends come for a sleep-over, they entertained themselves and I think had a lot of fun.

Took my son to see "The Hobbit", part 2. Really enjoyed it, both of us. The movie definitely has some details that were not in the book, but it's not important to me. A dwarf and she-elf falling in love with each other... "that was random", as my son used to say. :)

Also, we've been watching "Star Trek: Voyager" as a whole family for a while now. Kids became interested and seem to enjoy it, especially our son, of course. But even the 2 year old K now "watches" with us, and says she wants to watch "tarrrtek!" (hm, maybe she's at least partially a Klingon? her character and behavior suggest the same...)

Finished reading Murakami's "Dance, dance, dance" yesterday. Great book. I think it's really good that he wrote this sequel to "The wild ship chase", as the first book ended kind of depressing. The second book brought the main character back to reality and happiness.