Twenty Five Random Things

Another day, an other Internet Meme. Tagged by my sister Jen, here are twenty five random things about moi:

1. I love tattoos. No, not the “I (heart) Mom” or skull and dagger crap. But the arty, clever, tribal, and interesting resonates with me strongly. I don’t have any ink myself, but I wish I did. If only I were a prettier canvas!
2. My left wrist was reconstructed after a DUI ran a red light and hit my motorcycle when I was 16. It doesn’t bend well as a result.
3. My right wrist was injured in a judo fall. It felt and sounded as if I broke it, and took months to heal, but I never had it examined. It doesn’t bend well either.
4. I’ll remember 43 as the year my body started getting old. I wouldn’t have thought my feet would be the first thing to go, but they were. I have several independent injuries. It hurts to walk. When it hurts to walk, it hurts to do most active things. I am now the Ibuprofen warrior.
5. I touch type, at considerable speed. One day I was hunt-and-pecking, the next I noticed I wasn’t looking at the keyboard any longer. Magic!
6. I am a 1st degree master of the Doh Yi Daoist sect, promoted by Grandmaster Jiang Jing Sung Baek (“the Sword Immortal”) himself. I have an awesome certificate that proclaims I’ve attained  Knowledge of Immortality, Power of Wisdom-Healing, and Spirituality of Co-Existence. It doesn’t mean much in day-to-day life, but I’m inordinately proud of it nonetheless. I thoroughly identify with the scholar-warrior ideal.
7. I’ve done hardcore Daoist moxibustion–burning moxa directly on, and into, the skin–and will do it again. This is not a legal procedure for licensed acupuncturists; they are generally restricted to indirect, non-contact moxibustion. When you see or feel it done, you understand why. It hurts. A lot. It’s an intentional second- or third-degree burn, often requiring substantial wound management for months afterward. Sounds foolish, right? I can only say: when you can willfully set a fire on your flesh, and endure that, you feel there’s little you cannot do, and little left to fear. That knowledge, that feeling, that self-mastery–it’s worth the pain. Just remembering how intense and powerful it feels makes me want to go do it now.
8. I practice martial arts because they’re hard. I am not athletic or intrinsically talented, but I work at it. It puts the rest of life into perspective, makes it seem easier. It keeps me at least modestly balanced and sane.
9. After years of kung fu practice, I still only know a few good ways to kill, but dozens of excellent ways to break, rend, and maim. I train on them regularly, but have never used any. I prefer to keep it that way.
10. I’m trying to counsel a friend through serious, even crippling, depression. I don’t know if I’ll really be able to help her, but I dearly hope so. Trying makes me feel less depressed myself.
11. I never dated in my entire adult life. I’ve been with one woman, my wife, since I was eighteen. That’s 25 years, for those not fond of subtraction.
12. I never liked the beach when I lived near one, in South Florida. The Spanish island of Ibiza changed my tune completely. A completely different experience.
13. I prefer naturist beaches. When it’s warm, clothing’s way over-rated.
14. My grandfathers were all first-class alcoholics. Partially as a result, I don’t think I’ll ever fall into that trap.
15. My parents and grandparents were, for years, big-time smokers. Several died of cancer. I never had any interest. That doesn’t keep me from threatening The Wife with taking up cigars, or a pipe. She’s pretty sure I won’t.
16. My younger brother Carl was killed by a propane explosion. I know how it happened, but I’m still not sure why.
17. I love to fly. Personally, I mean, not in a plane. Skate-style cross-country skiing, bicycling downhill, and leaping forms in kung fu are Teh Awesome.
18. Faced with yummy foods, I have zero self control. But it’s easy for me to not buy. So I don’t. Thus I rarely eat junk food.
19. I drive a MINI. I love just about everything about it, every time I drive it.
20. I love enthusiasm, but I feel too little of it myself. I fear and loathe indifference above all else. Enthusiasm is the energy of youth; indifference is the sin and downfall of the aged.
21. I have two sisters, Jennifer and Emily, more than twenty years younger than I. They rock. I’m quite fond of them.
22. Growing up, I had three full pairs of grandparents, and have two full pairs of parents. Yeah, read that again. Aren’t widespread divorce and remarriage grand?
23. I sometimes give hitchhikers a ride. Don’t see many folks hitching these days, but it’s still very popular on Indian reservations. When visiting The Rez, I’m like the Native American Taxi Co.
24. I once chased down and caught a fleeing purse-snatcher on foot. It was just like the movies. The shaky camera view, the bewildered bystanders, the diving roll beneath a closing garage door–everything. Catching the culprit was amazing. Watching him go scot free in juvi court was not.
25. Last year I decided to embrace the age of radical openness. I’m now as shameless as I can be. That’s shameless, not shameful. There’s a difference.