Back in Black

Muad D’ib No Longer Needs the Wierding Module…

We must cross the bitter waters before we taste the sweet. This is the Law of Life, and none are exempt from it. We all suffer hardships, it’s what validates our lives and makes it worth the living.

I don’t know why everything went down the way it did the past two weeks. I’m not a mind reader, and although no one has ever accused me of being the brightest bulb in the pack, I honestly thought everything was okay between me and my Pencak Silat confederates.

Just too much hit me in a one-week period for me to swallow at once, I guess. I have tossed the coin in the air many times and it came up “heads”. I have always known there are several years of “tails” waiting their turn, and when the time comes there’s nothing you can do but man up and face it. But you know the saying: Those who have had to grow balls are generally stronger than those born with them. I’ve always been good at this, things happen and I’m lost in the dark for a short time, and then I kind of wake up. It’s like an accelerated grieving program, probably my last holdover from the orphanage. I can’t exactly describe it, only it’s in the neighborhood of “Get over it – Walk on. You have other shit to do.”

On Saturday I went to the Science Fiction museum here in Seattle, and for some reason that did the trick. Maybe it just appealed to my inner geek, who knows, but I came out a few hours later a changed man. My wife Caren calls the Sci-Fi museum “The Other Woman”. Probably not a far off assumption.

Many of you have sent me emails and words of encouragement in your posts, and I thank you from the bottom of my heart it truly made a difference to me. I didn’t expect the line of support I received, and it’s good to have that when life decides to slam a few meteors into your space station, and I want everyone who wrote (and those I spoke to on the phone and in person) to know that it meant the world to me. I play it solitary in life most of the time (I’m a recluse by nature), and I believe a man should stand on his own. Having said that, every one of you who called and emailed made a difference to me when I was having difficulty these past two weeks. Thanks guys, I will never forget it.

Especially Talon Hawke: Thanks for the pic, man!!!! If you are ever in Seattle, stop by for a Nazi beer.

One thing I’m not going to do is start another organization, or create some kind of distance learning program. I WILL make videos (since every living soul I know has threatened me with bodily harm unless I start filming), but I am done to death with the administrative bullshit and petty politics of martial arts associations. Gaaah, what a way to waste good time out of your life. I have a school, and I will make some vids. The information will get passed on. But I’m not going to sacrifice my passion for Martial Arts at the alter of the USKA, WUKO, IPPSI, USJJA, AJJF, PSI, or any other failed martial arts organization where the members are treated like so much flotsam and jetsam. It only leaves a bad memory in my head, bitterness in my heart and a disgusting taste in my mouth.

My writing finally picked back up. I have been sitting on a short story for two weeks now, just staring at it, not doing my writing exercises, not perusing new ideas when they hit me, just overall not TRYING. Good ideas came to me, and I didn’t bother to write them down. I knew Steve was waiting for the finished product, but I just couldn’t motivate myself to type a damn key.

Then it’s like my muse shat on my head, (she gets a kick out of doing that) and now I need a new keyboard with longer lasting keys. Somehow, I have managed to write for the last 15 hours strait, just getting up for the occasional coffee or to pee. And I didn’t mind at all.

I ended up changing the course of the story completely from what I had in the first place, added another two characters from out of nowhere, and have gone from short story to something more akin to a paperback novel. Also, my damn wrist is KILLING me.

Damn Thalia, where the hell were you? I don’t have any black goats to sacrifice, but there’s plenty of wine left, help yourself…

So anyway, it looks like the crisis is over. Damn, now there’s a moral dilemma, celebrate with a beer or no?

Yeah, right, who the hell am I fooling?

Speaking of the Science Fiction museum, they just added two more floors. What an awesome collection, there’s enough “Star Trek” memorabilia alone to justify its own area. Paul Allen is a typical geek, just with a million kabillion diamond dollars at his disposal. He’s got the best Star Wars collection, I’ll give him that. The scale model of Deep Space Nine Space Station has just been added, and it’s pretty cool to see. In fact, there’s dozens of new miniatures from various movies; A botany pod from the U.S.S. Valley Forge in “Silent Running” (Anybody remember that one??!?) Both the Nostromo and the mining facility from the original Alien, the Marine assault craft from Alien 2, several of the NCC-1701 Enterprise models from the original Star Trek series, also the scale Enterprise used in Next Generation. They have the original R2D2, Robby the Robot (Forbidden Planet) E.T.’s mothership is there, lots’ of stuff that would bring back memories if you dig Sci Fi.

The first level you enter from the main lobby is probably the best, in my opinion. This is where all the early and contemporary Science Fiction literature is celebrated. There’s a Sci Fi hall of fame, a prominent authors encyclopedia (digital of course) and an incredible layout of the various influences in science fiction over the past century. Monitors all around the foyer play various movie clips and introductions.

If you’ve never been, I HIGHLY recommend it. It’s a great source of inspiration, and I never go without pen and paper because I always leave jotting a few things down for later reference.

Um. It occurs to me that if you don’t like Science Fiction in the first place, the museum will probably bore the daylights out of you. So set your geek-o-meter for maximum geeky coverage. Or failing that, make sure that you REALLY love the person you are going with. I’ve seen marriages sunder for less.