In search of the Eildon Tree.

Overhead press 185#
Back squat 335#
Deadlift 425#

Dismayed by comfort, Unrelieved by Joy,
yet knowing somehow pain, as well, is life,
Craving then, the things that will annoy,
Reduce, discord, corrupt, hold up to strife.
Self-kindness treated cheap, esteem seen small,
Hard armor formed, protecting but protection
From conscience and attacks, imagined all,
Presupposing failure and rejection.
Yes, Even these small insufficiencies
Of standard, coming ready-made from who-
Can-say? Enlarged to soothing mysteries,
Distracting from the need to need peruse.
Habit's Nacre, wrapped round pain, from pain
Created, scaled in beauty and mundane.

One hand dumbell snatch, (te he) which is a great test of overall strength, 100 down fronm 150

Bench a strong 275, a weak 315...down from 375... suxx

Squat: I did not try for a 1RM. 495 for 3 was shakey but 405 was strong, effortless almost down from 595. I would love to break the 2xbodyweight barrier on this one, but heavy squatting kills you for the next 3 days... whinge

Deadlift: 585 for one. This is actually near where I was before. Down from 635.

From the Dept. of Too Much Spare Time:
Eleven rules for Artists. 
A take down of Bill Gates... 
Wait, what's that? He didn't write this?
Fine, Charles J. Sykes, then.

Rule 1: Life is not fair..
By the time you've decided to become an  artist (or any other creative endeavor for that matter), you have not only heard this before, but people won't shut up about it. Don't worry, the're just jealous. (see no.2)

Rule 2: The world won't care about your self-esteem. 
Artists know that the world will only value what they make long after they are dead, even if they cut their ear off.  You will never really have any self-esteem.  You will however, have a thing called “EGO”.

Rule 3: You will NOT make $60,000 a year right out of high school.
You will not make 60K a year. Ever. 

Rule 4: If you think your teacher is tough, wait till you get a boss.
Have you ever tried making something new, innovative, unique, and a permanent contribution to human culture, that other people don't completely hate?  This is actually impossible.  It turns out that “tough” is relatively easy.

Rule 5: Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity.
The trick for artists:  Actually get a job, any job, that is at least as good as flipping burgers, and in your spare time (that includes time spent getting wasted, having sex,  playing RPG's or watching bad cinema) actually produce some stuff. Or leave your sub-burger flipping job at some point, and actually produce some stuff.

Rule 6: If you mess up, it's not your parents' fault, so don't whine about your mistakes, learn from them.
        Your parents realized you were a lost cause pretty much from the beginning… Fault? They would have had to try, or you to have listened, to them to be be able to blame anyone for anything. Technically everything you do is a mess. So, work this angle.

Rule 7: Before you were born, your parents weren't as boring as they are now...
Yes, in fact they were just as boring as they are now. You are boring as well, however' you have a thing called “EGO”, this makes you interesting to yourself, and other weak, impressionable people. You're an artist, so that's all you really need.

Rule 8: Your school may have done away with winners and losers, but life HAS NOT. 
Actually, everyone at your school knew that you were a loser. So the 'doing away with' thing did not apply to you.

Rule 11: Be nice to nerds. Chances are you'll end up working for one.
Not only will you work for a nerd,  you will work for someone who is younger than you, and was promoted to assistant manager (of nights) ahead of you, despite your seven years seniority.
If you are lucky, or play role-playing games, (see no.5 ) you have some friends who are nerds,  but don't try to tell them about art, or art making, because their eyes will glaze over just like everyone else.

I left off rule 9 & 10 because they are dumb. 

There is a rule 12 tho. As an artist you can be at the absolute top of your field, a total expert, and people will still feel that their opinion about your work product is the only valuable one.  All that is required to become an expert on art is to have the misfortune to look at some.  Other creative fields suffer from the same problem,  like particle physics,  and automotive mechanics...  Art, however, seems to bring out the worst of this.

     Hey Lydia!  Think about trying  this exercise.  I think it might help with your Piriformis problem.  It emphasizes hip stability rather than hip mobility.  This occurred to me while I was dancing samba  last Friday night at Sherwood.   It got me thinking  about different kinds of hip movement, and the similarities between bellydancing and Cuban motion… anyway, think about it.

It's important to realize that most of the things you have learned about reality are actually someone else's preconceived notions, and are probably wrong. Hopefully, if you embrace this notion furiously enough it will become wrong too.

So, it looks like the West wind, which has done wrong to so many, has done me wrong as well. My tent at the Oklahoma faire, was blown over last night.
Bummer.
Now I will have to drive down to fix it. As a consequence of this, I won't be able to get stock together for ConQuest.
Also bummer.
I wasn't expecting to of made a lot of money at conquest, but it would have been a sojourn into a new venue. While not a staggering blow, it is certainly an annoying one.
I hope my stock in Muskogee is not too destroyed.

I bench pressed 360 today! (Technically it was an incline press) My form was Good but the acceleration at the top was a might glacial. Still, I locked it out. After a few miniutes and a drink of water I did it again. I have not been in the gym as often as even the most dilettante rat would call regularly, and yet...
We'll see if I can do it next week.