Peter’s Soapbox

Shoulder Tension

Why do humans have a tendency to “get into our shoulders?” I’ve been pondering this for a while now. When I first started practicing aikido, my sensei told me that I was “very much in my head.” These days, I feel like I’ve settled down from being in my head to more “in my shoulders.” Continue reading Shoulder Tension…

Book Review: Everyday Enlightenment

I recently read Everyday Enlightenment: The Twelve Gateways to Personal Growth by Dan Millman. In summary, if you think you need to read this book, you do, and if you don’t think you need to read this book, you still probably do. Continue reading Book Review: Everyday Enlightenment…

Melissa

I’ve been seeing someone. Since late in the fall of 2008, after my separation from my ex-wife had had time to really sink in, and I decided I was ready to move on. One day, quite out of the blue, I received a phone call, asking if I wanted to go out. Not having anything better to do with my time, I accepted.

— gory details omitted for brevity —

Fast forward to 2010. I have a (very) cute, (extremely) funny, (sometimes) bubbly, (always) silly companion in my life. She brightens my day, gives me new things to think about, and makes the world a better place to be. She’s not (very) afraid of tackling the mountain bike trails at Killington (although she may curse them and me for (literally)  dragging her down them). She’s always up for sushi or a glass of sweet, white wine. She’s happy to fail at 100 situps while I fail at 100 pushups. She’s never afraid to say exactly what’s on her mind, or to suggest new things for me to try. She’s stood by me during the ups and downs, and has always been there when I needed her.

So, Melissa, you can stand up and take a bow. You’re “my girl” and I’m not afraid to say it: I love you. You make the sky bluer, the grass greener, and the stems stemmier. You put the silly back in my life, and I don’t like thinking what the last year would have been like without you.

Yes, stemmier.

I’m Single

I just got a letter from the Windsor County Family Court, ordering my divorce. A year and a half later, I’m finally free. I’d like to again thank all of my friends who were so supportive during this trying time, because it sure as hell wasn’t easy.

Love and peace to all. It’s a good day.

All I Want for Christmas

Note: this post is for the benefit of friends and family members who say they “have no idea what to get me.”

World peace. I’ll settle for a lot of aikido practice.

A car mount and charger for my iPhone 3Gs. My iPod recently vanished. I suspect the worst – that it fell out of my pocket during a recent snowstorm. Therefore, I need to use my iPhone as an iPod as well. That’s okay, except the battery life is terrible. Also, when I do try to use it as a GPS, it would be nice if I could have it dash-mounted.

Learning Python (Animal Guide). Okay, seriously, I asked for this book for like three years in a row, and nobody got it for me when it was only 384 pages. Now it’s over 1200 pages, and we’ll all suffer because of it! Me because it’s tripled in size, and you because of shipping costs.

Daemon The security community loves this book because, while it’s a work of fiction, all of the attacks are real and the scenarios possible, which is what makes it really scary. The companion book, Freedom (TM) also comes out in a couple of weeks.

An espresso machine. A big one. The professional kind you see in coffee shops. A dual-header. I understand if this one has to be a combined Christmas and birthday gift because it would be silly for me to expect someone to spend $8000 or more on just one gift-giving event. That’s okay. I understand.

A Zircon Ultrasonic Measure with Laser Targeting. Tape measures are so 20th century.

Gift certificates to thinkgeek.com or Amazon.com