progress

Making progress in a bunch of areas... I went to jujitsu last night. Barb asked to see my stime (right and left sides) and my bridge falls. I managed to do all without hyperventilating, having a stroke or panic attack, and/or breaking my neck. She said all of them were passable (though I'm making it harder on myself to do a bridge fall the way I've been doing it) as long as on my test I can do it within 5 seconds of them asking me. And I was taking maybe 5-10 seconds to get my nerve up. Geeze I don't know why I'm so paranoid about this stuff. Anyway, working with Jess was cool too... I treat her differently cause she now outranks me. Sorta like a big sister kinda thing. No not really. Just that she's been tested already so I asked her for a lot of advice... what did you do etc... Someone else asked me to be their uke for their exam, which means that they would do all their techniques on me. I said yes, but I'm thinking that Barb might see that as the only way to get me to test and might say "well you're here, why don't you be each other's ukes?" I don't want to be pushed to test 'cause... well I don't see why anyone would want someone taking more responsibility at a higher belt level unwillingly. It just means there's a higher opportunity for that person to drop everything and leave you hanging. I'm sorta hoping I'll find an opportunity to talk to Scott about it, because he's good to talk to like that. Its just so hard to catch him though.

In another bullet point of sorts, I drove home from jujitsu (Steve's rule is I'm not allowed in his car without being in the driver's seat) and had a perfect parallel parking job. It was awesome. For someone who was practically in tears over it a few weeks ago, I guess Steve's a pretty good teacher.

Next bullet point is about mirrors. I've discovered that I view things from a martial artist perspective now. I sorta knew this but it wasn't obvious until this morning. I was walking towards the bathroom before punching in this morning, and had to walk between two of the shipping and receiving guys who were standing in the doorway out of the loading dock. There was a mirror in front and to the left of me in which I had a clear view of the skeevy one as he checked me out. I had no reason to look in the mirror, because it wasn't directly in my path or anything, I just looked in it because I'm in the habit of finding ways to improve my peripheral vision. It was something to think about on the way to the bathroom. I realized I check every mirror I walk past in Nordstrom to see what's behind or to the side of me without having to turn my head. Hmm... interesting.

Next thing is latte art. I can draw little hearts and my initials in the milk like those fancy barista artists. And every once in a while something will happen where it will accidentally look like a bunny or what-not. But today I had the amusing thought that most of the time my latte art looks like an atomic mushroom cloud. Whoo hoo!

Also, note to every ignorant coffee shop customer. Don't go into a coffee shop, order a cappucino, and then ask for more coffee than milk. We will treat you like an idiot. There is no coffee in your drink. Its espresso. (Also there's no x in espresso.) And ordering more espresso than milk would mean at least a quadruple shot of espresso, which makes your drink $1.65 more expensive than you probably want to pay, and you won't like the taste anyway. What you really are asking for is more milk than foam but you're too dumb to know that. You need to find out what it is you are drinking before you order it. You shouldn't just buy something blindly if you don't know what it is. Would I go buy a dinner entree from a fancy French restaurant if I didn't know what was in it? No, I'd end up with something like snails and frog legs. Don't go buying caffeinated beverages if you don't know what you're getting. That's probably the reason Americans end up totally immune to caffeine to the point where they need everything with two extra shots of espresso and then a red bull to wake up in the morning.

ok I'm done ranting. Last thing before I go:

An answer to Michigan Dan: tipping is not required or expected. It is only appreciated. If we talk to you about something you like, if we smile, if we cheerfully remake your drink the way you like it, if we ask you how your day was, if you are a regular, if you are too lazy to carry change, then of course you are more than welcome to tip, but its ok if you don't. However, if you are rude, and you have a keychain that has a key to a Lambourghini AND a Porshe, and you order a complicated drink, and you don't tip, we will be talking about you when you leave, and will not be sending warm fuzzies in your direction. If its Chanel, her eyes will send daggers after you and you will drop your drink all over your Versacci suit.