Saturday, September 29, 2012

Your Kind of Kung Fu Is Five Fist Da Mo

Spent most of the day doing some writing and reacquainting myself with my inner Shaw Brother (and similar purveyors of 70s & 80s kung fu) on YouTube. Ah, Internet... What would we do without you?

The post title is from The Snake, The Tiger, and The Crane which is, unfortunately, low on empty hand kung fu, but the end fight scene made a permanent impression on me when I was like 10. I still remember that line after all these years.


Saturday, September 15, 2012

Moving Day!

From studio apartment to 2-bedroom duplex in 2 trips. Thanks, Rox, Big, and Nick!

I'm leaving Waikiki and the Ala Wai behind. Ai and Faye aren't coming just yet, but now there'll be a cozy place waiting for them. This puts us squarely into Phase 3 of The Big Change, which is essentially a lot of waiting, punctuated by sudden requests for action by USCIS. That's okay, though. Things are moving along which is what's important.

Saturday, September 8, 2012

Ha!

After being defeated by the Waikiki Footlocker last weekend, I decided to take my chances and purchase a pair of AdiPure Trainers online. They arrived this morning, fit perfectly, and are a total trip (of the mental sort).

To celebrate my victory over brick and mortar, I went and practiced Bung Bo (from Taiji Praying Mantis Boxing) for the first time in 3 years. Needless to say, it kicked my butt, but was a great workout.

As of yesterday, my wife and I now have an official case number with US Immigration concerning her visa. According to their timetable, spouses are usually complete in 5 months. Woohoo! (Although, it may take me that long to find a suitable 2-bedroom place that'll accept a recent transplant who's been absent from the US for the last 10 years and can't manage to get a simple credit check because of it.) Anyway, that's good news!

Saturday, September 1, 2012

The Blood Solution: Progress Report 12

Approaching Infinity: Book Three
Word Count: 95,900

It's been a busy month, but I can't complain. I got to go to Derek's wedding, I got to see Kamijo-san and her kids, and most importantly, I got to see my wife and daughter! Woohoo! It was nice to see my mother-in-law and sister-in-law, too.

Though I haven't been terribly productive, I am moving steadily forward. No plans except to write for Labor Day weekend, so there may be a mid-month progress report in our near future.

In other news, I saw John Carter and enjoyed it for the most part. The Therns were a bit too much, though, and I wonder why we can't have purer translations from novels to the big screen. Why does it always need to be finagled by some Hollywood screenwriter? Sometimes, there are good reasons for finagling, but usually the result is less than good. I don't think the movie deserves all the bad press it got. In fact, I'm quite annoyed with a number of the critics (after taking a look at what they had to say) criticizing John Carter for having been done before... Excuse me? Okay, maybe we have seen it before, but we wouldn't have seen it at all if not for the John Carter books. Calling it derivative is just plain ignorant. Sorry, I've got a soft spot in my heart for Barsoom and all that went on there.

In other other news, I went out this morning intent on purchasing a pair of AdiPure Trainers (Adidas Toe Shoes) only to be thwarted. I blame Robot House.

In final other news, which is in fact the most important news, my wife's visa paperwork has been sent off. Hopefully, the process will be fast and painless from here on out... Wish us luck!