Ok, this time I’m giving myself a similar assignment, except this time I’m writing what happens next, with little to no reference as to what has already happened.  We’re just getting plunked into the middle of the story.

And for some extra flavor, I’m going to try it in 1st person, too…  I’m also going to upload a copy of the photo, rather than a link so that it doesn’t get lost in the Internets.  Once again fair warning – this may suck.  It’s late, I’m tired, and I won’t be spending much time on this.  It’s just practice to make sure I’m writing as often as I can manage.

I really hope I’m not squeezing too hard.  With all the adrenaline pumping through me right now, I didn’t realize how hard I was holding their hands.  We’ve formed a big line down the slope to the river, hand in hand.  I feel like one of those monkeys from that old barrell-o-monkeys game.  I probably look like one too, right now, bright colors and all. 

My buddy, Rob, is behind me.  I don’t care so much about him – he’ll live – it’s the girl in front of me I’m worried about.  I don’t really know her and she’s kind of cute.  I’d hate to put her off by crushing her fingers.  Not that I can make a good impression smelling like a boxer after a fight, and wrapped up in this oh-so-sexy life preserver.  At least I’m not wearing the pink helmet.  I made sure Rob got stuck with that one.

I relax my grip a bit and do my best to give her a smile when she looks back.  "You ready for this?" I ask her excitedly, making sure my muscles are still flexed; partially to impress and partially to provide an explanation for the stale sweat smell.

She throws me back a calm smirk and asks "Are you?".  I had to pause for a second and figure out what just happened.  All I saw as I came to my senses were her banana yellow "aqua-socks" disappearing in a spray of foam, quickly reappearing to chase her bobbing helmet through the rocks and out of sight. 

"Your turn, ace.  You buckled?"  It was our bald-headed guide, Doug.  He’s so laid back, I’d almost forgotten he was with us.  I watched him sitting on one of the big rocks, feet dangling just above the water, completely fearless of the rabid, churning maelstrom just inches below his toes. 

Just to be sure, I take a quick glance down and tug on the straps.  Life vest is good, and I can already feel that the helmet is secure.  If he didn’t need to hang on to me, I know Rob would have taken the opportunity to smack my helmet, so I spare a quick, dirty look for him before giving the thumbs-up.  "Locked and ready to rock!".

Doug causually invites me into the river with a sweep of his hand.  I can’t tell for sure, but it looked like he almost laughed.  I’m not worried, though.  I’m gonna make this river my bitch.  I envision myself hurtling down the river, skillfully dodging the rocks at the last second.  And of course catching up with that girl.  Was her name Ashley?

I’ll just have to find out later.  Right now, it’s go time.  To emphasize this, Rob releases his grip.  "Time to fly, Mary!" Having been hanging onto him, I hadn’t steadied myself yet.  I stumble to get my feet under me before I run out of dry land, and at the last instant manage to shove down hard against the ground and launch myself out over the water. 

I remember what the guide had warned us about letting our feet hit bottom, so I twist mid air and land on my back.  The water doesn’t do much to soften the landing, and I am only able to grab a quick gulp of air before my head is covered.  But it’s an equally short time before I break the surface again and shake off the foam.  At first, all I can see is shapes and colors, but after a few seconds I pick out Rob’s pink helmet chasing me downstream and am able to orient myself again.

I turn and point my feet out in front of me – this isn’t something I want to do head first.  Taking a minute to look around, I realize that I’m not going as fast as I thought I would be.  And there’s certainly not as many rocks to avoid.  My heart is still pumping, thumping my ears louder than the water breaking on the rocks, but it’s starting to settle down.  It’s atually kind of peaceful, and I find myself watching the trees and the clouds while alternating between deep thoughts, and no thoughts at all. 

Then one thought crops up that doesn’t slide away with the current.  It’s that girl and her smug little smirk (or at least, that’s what I’ve convinced myself it was).  She knew it wasn’t the roller-coaster type thrill ride that I’d worked myself up for.  And I went and acted like an idiot.  Oh well.  Not the first relationship that ended before it began.  As long as I’m here, I’ll just float along and enjoy it.

No sooner had I finally gotten her out of my head, than I get my head cracked against a rock.  I didn’t see it coming, and a quick but short drop dunked me under and spun me sideways.  Luckily the helmet absorbed most of it.  "Son of a -" I begin to half chuckle, half curse, but am cut short when, as I’m attempting to right myself I get another rock to the ribs. 

I choke and sputter and end up with a mouthful of water before, causing more choking and sputtering.  Desperately, as panic begins to set in, I flail wildly, trying to get a grip on something.  It feels like forever before I manage to get my hands on something solid.  I grab on tight and pull myself towards the shore.  It’s easier than I thought it would be to fight the current. 

"Hell of a ride, eh cowboy?" By this point, I’ve got my chest up on dry land.  I’m still coughing like hell, but I manage to choke it down.  My lungs continue to fight me and I’m sure I sound like I’m sobbing, so I’m not sure it helped.  As soon as I saw who else was there, though, I went right back to the coughing.  It was that girl…  "Ashley" she finishes my thought for me as she puts one hand in mine – the other, I realized, was on my shoulder already.  "And you are?"

"Carl" I manage to cough out. 

"Well, Ca-arl," she mocks me.  Of course she mocks me, "How was it?  Was it everything you expected?"

I muster all my strength to give her the best serious look possible while trying to stifle my coughing. "Actually" I wheeze out "it was really peaceful." 

After that, we both started laughing, which of course ended in more coughing for me.

 In order to work on my writing, I’m going to start doing some exercises and trying to write often – even if what I write sucks (which I’m sure it will more often than not – especially late nights like tonight).

Tonight’s exercise: Go to www.flickr.com/photos/, find the first photo of a person, and write a brief story about what just happened to them, and what they’re going to do next.  Here’s my photo:

Just like that, it was over.  No screaming or drawn out arguments, just a note taped to the door, and even that was simpler than he expected.  It should have been harder.  There should have been a struggle.

But there wasn’t.  Part of him was angry that he wasn’t even given the chance to fight for her.  But he did have a chance.  He’d had plenty of them.  But despite knowing this day would eventually come, he did nothing.  He couldn’t even gather the energy to form a tight fist before his fingers went flaccid.  The wooden bench bit into his back, but he made no effort to move.  His feet may as well have been glued to the floor.

He thought about that bench.  They had had their first real conversation there.  He remembered how the party raged on around them, but never intruded; like the eye of a hurricane.  He remembered her smile, and how her face lit up.  Nobody had ever been so interested in him, and he had never been able to talk to someone so freely and openly.  Even in the middle of the crowd, as long as he was talking to her, they didn’t exist.  

But that was then.  Three months ago – had it really only been three? – he had been sitting in this exact same spot, but in a completely different place.  He stared at the note on the door.  He hadn’t read it yet.  Didn’t need to:  he knew what it said.  

Without breaking his gaze, he took a sip from the bottle dangling precariously from his lifeless fingers.  He barely noticed; It was almost reflex.  But he caught himself and held the bottle out in front of him.  That damned bottle.  

Suddenly finding the strength he stood and whipped the bottle at the door.  It exploded in a glittering shower of glass and cheap beer.  Without breaking stride he shoved open the door and slammed it behind him.  The ink ran down the now shredded paper like tears.  There was going to be quite a mess to clean up in the morning.

Despite being unbearably shy, I’ve always been able to do the things that I felt were right, regardless of outside pressures to the contrary.  I’ve also always taken any advice to heart, and payed attention to what people older and more experienced than me have said. 

One somewhat obvious way this has manifested itself in my life is in the way I live my life, from a conservation or "green" standpoint.  Even when I was younger and it wasn’t as much in the spotlight (except for polution and Captain Planet), I was showering every other day.  And I only had to deal with the childish comments after I mentioned his fact.  Funny how I suddenly became "stinky" only after everyone knew my showering habits.  But after that, only my story changed.

So what am I doing now?  More than I have, but not as much as I’d like.   I’ll give you the short list:

• Buy local
• Buy organic/natural
• Less red meat, but when I do: Free range, grass fed, no hormone beef
• All animal products must come from animals allowed to exercise, not genetically altered, not raised in their own feces or fed anything other than what nature intended them to eat.
• My rule of thumb: The more natural, the better.
• I do not use antibacterial anything.  Not all bacteria are bad, and the bad ones tend to be hardier.
• I shower after workouts, or every other day (depending on the situation) and I use the "navy" shower usually: water on, rinse, water off, soap up, water on, rinse off, water off.  Saves TONS of water.
• Use only biodegradable shampoos and soaps (I use REAL soap) which are light on the useless chemicals (like the ones they add so that it lathers more)
• If I can avoid it: NO high fructose corn syrup, and minimal sugars.  We are so insanely over sugared, it’s terrifying.
• I always bring my own bags to the store (any store – typically backpack), and if I ever forget them I get paper bags whenever possible.
• I did not own a car for a year and a half – only public transit and bicycle.  Now (out of necessity) we have only one for the family, and it’s small and fuel efficient.  I also try to plan my routes ahead of time to be more efficient.  That saves time AND gas!  Score!
• Use a dishwasher whenever possible rather than hand-washing.
• Recycle!!
• Use energy efficient light bulbs.
• Minimize the amount of lights and appliances in use when not necessary.
• Unplug anything that’s not in use – I’m not as good about this one, but it’s something I try to do when I can.
• Clean grass cutting: in Southwick I had a mechanical mower.  In Warsaw I use an electric, which is still dirty because the power plant is coal fired, but I’m fairly limited.
• Minimize trash by buying products with less packaging, recycling, and reusing.  Included in this is groups like Freecycle, where old stuff is given away to other people who can use it. 

And here’s my list of things that I can’t do yet, due to my transient lifestyle, but plan on doing as soon as I have my own place (or have done in the past when I was able to):

• Grow my own herbs, veggies and fruits.  Obviously not everything, but it makes a huge difference!
• Compost
• Collect rainwater for irrigation/showers/toilet, depending on quantity and reusability.
• Collect drain water (shower, sinks, washing machine) for the same purposes, though biodegradable soaps are key there.  Plus some filtering may be necessary.
• Raise a few chickens for fresh eggs.
• Energy alternatives:
  • Small, residential windmills
  • Solar power? (possibly.  Not a big win where I’d be living, and I’d prefer safer chemicals used.  Heard about some great research in this field, but no products yet)
  • Earth sheltered home (Basically building into a hill to regulate temperature)
  • Geothermal
  • Soapstone masonry stove (Woodstove with a soapstone surround.  Only burn for a few hours to heat for the whole day!)
  • South facing home with good windows and shading configuration to optimize natural light and heat gain when needed.
• I’d like to use good building materials if building a new house, or doing any work on it.  Stuff that is manufactured cleanly, or recycled but also durable.  Also stuff that requires less chemical treating and maintenance.
• Better grasses – there are some that require less watering and nitrogen and grow in tougher soils, also prevent weeds and grow slower.
• Go back to hunting.

There’s probably more stuff I can do, or am doing, but that’s all I can think of at the moment and I’m out of time for now.

Not only have I not written in a while (no surprise there), but with all the impending weddings I looked back on my own and realized that I never shared the Apache wedding prayer that got left out of our ceremony.  So here it is!

Now you will feel no rain,
For each of you will be shelter to the other.

Now you will feel no cold,
For each of you will be warmth to the other.

Now there is no more loneliness,
For each of you will be companion to the other.

Now you are two bodies,
But there is one life before you.

Go now to your dwelling place,
To enter into the days of your togetherness.
And may your days be good and long upon the earth.

When I first saw the trailer for this movie my heart sank.  Despite really liking Jackie Chan, I was almost a little mad that he was involved in what seemed more of a spoof than a remake of the old classic.

But I really like Jackie Chan, and the movie looked good in the trailers.  After seeing it in the theater, I have to say that it was a really good movie.  I’m still mad about the title, but glad they they revitalized and modernized the original for another generation to enjoy.

The movie sticks surprisingly (or annoyingly) close to the storyline of the original.  Only child of a single mom kept from the girl he likes by a group of kids skilled in martial arts from a tough school that emphasizes brutality over honor.  Kid finds a father figure in the reclusive maintenance man, who teaches him martial arts and respect.

I was really impressed with Jaden Smith’s performance in the movie.  Maybe not perfect acting, and there were definitely echoes of his father, but still good.  And he clearly has some skill when it comes to martial arts.  This was also a really good movie for Chan, after a few recent bombs.

The general storyline was carried over almost exactly from the original, even preserving scenes and character dynamics exactly.  If I had to characterize it, I would say that they took the plot from the first Karate Kid, combined it with the ethnic experience of Karate Kid II, and then spiced it up with some Jackie Chan style action, and adapted it for an audience of todays youth.

The message, like the story line, remains largely the same.  Without giving away too much, I have to say that I really enjoyed the ending.  I was hungry for it by that point, and thought I was going to get let down, but was happy that it went the way it did.  For a minute I was afraid that they were going to do another mocking parallel of the original, but they very respectfully and elloquently payed homage while giving it a major face lift. 

Overall, I enjoyed it and for the most part, I was able to put aside my grievances and enjoy the movie for what it was.  With the exception of emphasizing the athletic styles of martial arts, the message was great and I hope a lot of kids watch this movie and go home with something more than the urge to throw some kicks at their friends.

I like to make up little rhymes or songs throughout the course of the day.  Mostly stuff for kids. 

Today while I was washing up a bowl of blueberries, with some Celtic music in the background, this little critter popped out of my head:

I’m gonna eat the berries; gonna put them in my belly.
I’m gonna chew them up real good and turn them into jelly!

I’ve decided that I need to start jotting these little guys down, at least to share them for other giggles.

I’ve always wanted to write for kids, so maybe I’ll make up some more cutsie little poetry and put together a small book or something.

As we’re closing in on the end of our second year living abroad, I can’t help but reflect on the experience.

At first, things were very exciting and our days were extremely full.  Those sleepless nights in the scratchy dip-service beds, dealing with jet-lag for the first time ever on this magnitude and the fact that there were no screens on the windows.

Our days were spent walking the streets and riding the buses, going between historic places and beer gardens and museums.  And the few solid days chasing apartments will be permenantly etched into everyone’s memories, if not their feet!

As the days went on, one by one the herd thinned as we found and moved into our new apartments.  For some this was more of an ordeal than others, but we all got through it more or less unscathed.  And as the students arrived, we slowly faded away into our daily routines and were absorbed into our respective groups.

Except for me, that is.

At first, I thought that I’d be able to work my schedule and spend more time exploring both the city, and my own interests.  However, this turned out to be largely fantasy.

So what did I do over here?

Well, the short answer is a lot.  Not as much as some people, but a lot more than I would have done back in The States – in terms of travel and exploration, anyways.  Here are the highlights, broken down list-style:

• Learned Polish (well still learning, but made some significant progress!)
• Met a lot of really cool people!
• Drank a lot of beer, mead and mulled wine.
• Ate a lot of sausage, smoked cheese and zurek.
• Got a dog
• Passed out in the Veterinarian’s office, hit my head on the table and got stitches
• Made a bunch of websites (for work – but they turned out pretty good!  And I’ve learned a lot, too)
• Tutored 2 kids
• Taught 2 trimesters of middle school web design
• Saw George Clinton and Wyclef Jean at a free, outdoor concert set
• Went to Oktoberfest and saw lots of Munich, and made a trip to Neuschwanstein castle
• Took a really long bike trip to Czersk and visited the old castle there.
• Ate TONS of great sushi!
• Fought the crowds and skiied at Zakopane.
• Crossed over to Slovakia to soak in the hot springs.
• Missed the bus back from Slovakia and had to make a call for special pick up.
• Rode the train to Prague, Vienna, Krakow, Gdansk and Sopot
• Saw a lot of REALLY cool buildings
• Went to Egypt, Saw the Pyramids, the Sphynx, rode a camel, snorkeled on the reef, and of course; got sick.
• Enjoyed some Sheesha
• Visited several museums and learned a LOT of history
• Learned some magic tricks (which I’m sorely out of practice with now)
• Then got upstaged by an Aussie with a salt shaker (You know who you are!!)
• Met up with my sister and cousin in Mykonos, Greece
• Swam in the blue blue water in Mykonos, and ate a LOT of really great food!
• Went to London (twice)
• Saw Wicked, Avenue Q, and Phantom of the Opera (in London)
• Went to an Arsenal game at Emirates stadium
• Visited Wawel Cathedral and Westminster Abbey
• Spent Christmas in Rome, and saw The Pope at the Vatican.
• Found and joined a taekwondo club
• Tossed my coin into Trevi Fountain
• Said a prayer in Saint Peter’s Basilica
• Walked through the Colosseum
• Strolled through the Wilanow cemetery in silent reverence and awe at night on All Saint’s Day
• Ran house to house with numb toes during our Progressive Games night
• Bought a car
• Perused the venders wares while sipping mulled wine at the Old Town Christmas Market
• Became a squirrel jungle-gym at Lazienki park
• Went to the zoo and got smiled at by a Rhino
• Listened to piano concerts in Lazienki park
• And last, but certainly not least: MADE A BABY!!

Yep.  That about sums it up.  I’m sure I’ve probably left a few things out, but it’s been a long, full two years.  And next year promises to be even more exciting, but in a totally different way.  I’m very excited about coming home for the summer and seeing family and friends again, and sharing our experiences with them.

Today was a pretty good day, despite not really doing a whole lot.  After a rather lethargic start (I slept in after going to bed late and being woken up numerous times by the dog) I managed to accomplish a lot of things that I had either been putting off, or just hadn’t had the time to do.

I got a lot of our apartment cleaned up, which always makes me feel more relaxed.  When it’s dirty I feel anxious until I get it clean, but the actual act of cleaning tends to be surprisingly relaxing for me, too.  I think it’s something about transforming chaos to order.  But mostly it’s being able to relax in a clean apartment afterwards.

Yesterday was a good day, too.  I finally moved our extra tires down to the garage from our spare closet, and bought some stuff we’ve been needing.

Probably my crowning achievement was finally deciding to caulk the cracks in the bathroom.  Our apartment has a bunch of cracks that have showed up over the year, and some of them are in the bathroom wall, right next to the shower.  So the lower part of the wall has some growing water damage.  I had asked the landlord about it, but she said not to do anything because she’s going to have them work on it while we’re gone this summer, but I couldn’t wait any longer so I decided to do it myself. 

I also took some time to make some phone calls and called up my friend Pete and my parents.  It was nice to chat with them, and I need to make more of a point to call people. 

Other than that, it was a nice relaxing day watching tv with my pregnant wife.  The only real let down of the day is that we had rented a movie over iTunes, but when we went to watch it – it was gone!

I had planned on doing a little prep work for teaching tomorrow, but I think I’ll just get that done in the morning.  I’ve usually got more than enough time.  I think now it’s time to curl up in bed with a good book and drift away to tomorrow.

In keeping with my recent promise to myself, I need to do my writing for today.  And since it’s almost 10pm and I’ve just finished working, I figured I’d do an entry here.

This morning’s web design class went pretty well.  I had the kids take a break from working on their group project (and give myself a break as well) for something a bit more structured.  I gave them an introduction to javascript, so that they have a basic understanding and can hopefully not be completely lost when they look at some of the minimal javascript code we’re using.

It went well, and they were well behaved.  On Monday I’ll be finishing off the lecture and they’ll be going back to groupwork.  I may need to crack down on them, though.  Their groupwork has been a bit distracted lately.

After this, I bumped into a group of students with a few teachers headed to go bowling for the day.  I was tempted to see if I could join them, but I knew that even if I went, I have a lot of work to do.  It was a fun little detour from the usual ride home, though.  I finished off my usual podcast over the rest of the trip, which was enjoyable, too.

So now I’ve just put the finishing touches on my work for the day.  I’ve still got about another 5 1/2 hours to do tomorrow, but I got a lot of good stuff done today and feel pretty good about it.  Of course, now it’s effectively bed time, so I’m going to be spending my night with some tv shows in the background while I try to find a game to entertain myself, and maybe play with the dog a bit in between giving her eye drops.

I’ve been more than bad about writing on this thing.  But that’s nothing new, and practically every post I’ve written recently touches on this in some way or another.  So rather than complain about myself, I’ve decided to start writing every day.  Not necessarily on here.  Most likely it will be in one of the journals I have kicking around the house.  Good old pen and paper stuff.  I also want to write out some more letters and postcards.  And this time I’m serious about it.  Yeah, I’m super busy, but if I can’t still find time to do the important things, then what good am I? 

Part of the reason I haven’t written much lately, is that pretty much all I have to talk about is what I have to do, and how little time I have because of it.  Well, not only is that crap, it’s not getting me anywhere.  I’ve been re-reading one of my favorite books: Zen in the Martial Arts.  When I have a moment, this book is perfect to read one of the short chapters, then digest it.  Far more often than not, that section I read applies directly and immediately to an event or aspect of my life.  One of these sections I recently read basically boils down to the fact that you waste more time and energy complaining about your troubles and tasks than if you would just complete them.  Something I’ve long known and even demonstrated, but for one reason or another, had stopped practicing it.

So with that in mind, I’ve been tackling my chores and tasks with the ferocity and grace befitting a martial artist.  In addition, as of today, I’m setting aside time to do the things that really matter.  I’m not letting myself make excuses anymore. 

So moving forward from this point, I’ll be trying to write some meaningful stuff here more often, both for writing practice, and to share something truly meaningful.