Finally back on the volleyball court for the first time in about 2 or 3 months. I took it easy and did not do any spikes. We managed to eke out a win in one game against a team that had a number of players from an old competitive league team of mine. Glad to be back on the court.
Friday
Lunch at Magnolia Cafe and Bakery. Tried to have lunch at 2 Brothers Pasta, but they have closed. Much sadness.
Aikido
Saturday
Blueberry muffins
Aikido
Made reservations for some upcoming trips
Went to Office Depot to get some stuff ordered for next year's WorldCon. Found they would not take my credit card because I'd just put all of the trip charges on it. Luckily I had enough cash to cover the orders, but not enough to buy the stuff that did not have to be ordered.
Made a Sour Cream/Citrus Pound Cake
Grilled out steaks
Football
Sunday
Nap
Football
Moved my mom's mattress to the curb
Aikido players: Tim, Trey, Troy, Marvin, and Brad
Ukemi:
Did most of the usual warm-up falls. Did not do the twist-around falls.
The Walk:
Twice, as usual.
Releases:
Worked with Marvin. Did my releases and then he did his.
Techniques:
Worked with Marvin on 1-3. Brad came in around this time and worked with him on Gedan-ate.
Worked with Trey on 1-14 of Koryu Dai Yon No Kata. These are starting to be enjoyable and I'm getting lighter with my reactions.
Aftermath:
None of note.
Aikido players: Tim, Trey, Troy, Sal, and Marvin
Ukemi:
I actuall took a couple of warm-up falls, but then spent a lot of time with Troy working with Sal on correcting and issue with his falls.
The Walk:
Twice, as usual, with Sal and Marvin.
Releases:
I worked with Sal and Marvin on their set.
Techniques:
Tim worked with Sal and Marvin on 1-4.
I worked with them and with Troy and Trey as explored Kata Otoshi for most of the two hours. It was frustrating, but we did have some success. As Trey was saying, we get to work on it about once every three months and each time, it takes us most of an evening to re-acquaint ourselves with it. It really is a cornerstone technique in the Big Ten. If you can nail Kata Otoshi, the Gurumas should be a piece of cake.
Aftermath:
None of note.
Aikido players: Troy, Kim, and Sal
Ukemi:
None tonight.
The Walk:
Not on Thursdays
Releases:
Not tonight
Techniques:
We did "monkey-in-the-middle" with Kim and Sal working on Oshi-taoshi and Ude-gaeshi.
Troy got some time with me working on Kata-otoshi. We had no success (either with me as uke or as tori), but it's the toughest and most exacting technique in the Big Ten. It seems the simplest, but everything must work well and at the right time.
Aftermath:
None of note.
Friday lunch, was just a short jaunt up the feeder to Taqueria El Nopalito. They've taken over an old diner, similar to Denny's, and repurposed it for Mexican food.
The chips were thick and hefty. I don't usually like them that way, I'm more of a thin and light person, but these were pretty good. They brought out red and green salsa, both of which were tasty, with the green beeing the spicier of the two.
I ordered the special of the day: parillada (mixed chicken and beef). The meat had a decent flavor, but it had been grilled over a flattop instead of a flame, so substantial points off for that. The tortillas were good, as the guacamole, tortillas and other fixings.
Friday
Lunch at Taqueria El Nopalito.
Rehab
Aikido
Saturday
Blueberry muffins
Mailed out an Artfire sale
Aikido
Worked on Art Show Helper
Started batch of Italian bread
Sunday
Mowed some of the back 40
Football
Made the Italian bread
Tuesday:
Left H-Town bright and early with a 8 a.m. flight into Chicago. Landed and caught the Orange Line to State and Lake and walked to the Hyatt from there. Left K to work Logistics while I went and worked Art Show build
Dinner at Giordano's - good pizza
Wednesday:
Breakfast on my own at the hotel restaurant - expensive buffet!
In to the art show for more work
Dinner at Giordano's again
Thursday:
Breakfast with K. at the Corner Bakery cafe. We were trying to eat at Heaven on Seven, but they don't open for breakfast until 9 a.m.
Back into our respective worlds.
Dinner at Sweetwater Tavern and Grille, just a block or two from the hotel
Friday:
Breakfast at Houlihan's $10 buffet.
More con work. Actually got to a reading by Kristine Smith and got an autograph from Geoff Ryman.
Dinner at Houlihan's
Saturday:
Breakfast at Houlihan's $10 buffet.
More con work. Got to a reading by Juanita Coulson and grabbed an autograph from Ben Bova
Dinner at the Elephant and Castle
Sunday:
Breakfast at the Toni Patisserie and Cafe (Houlihan's was closed)
More con work. End of art show silent bidding, art show live auction, lots of folks settling their tabs from the art show.
Dinner at a restaurant that I did not use my credit card, so I can't remember what it was. Ah, it was Billy Goat Tavern the place immortalized by John Belushi on SNL in the Cheezborger skit.
Monday:
Breakfast at Houlihan's $10 buffet.
Folks settling their tabs at the art show, artists checking out and the disassembling of the Art Show.
Dinner at P. J. Clarke's
Tuesday:
Breakfast at Houlihan's $10 buffet.
More disassembling of the Art Show.
Caught the Orange Line to Midway and chilled for several hours before our flight. Attempted to catch an earlier flight, but would have flown standby the entire way and it would have gotten us into town just 30 minutes before our planned flight.
I had a good time at the con, did not get to many panels, but did not expect to. I was glad to have my wife along, it made for a much more enjoyable adventure.
Aikido players: Tim, Marvin, Liz, Charles, and Hussein
Ukemi:
None for me today
The Walk:
Twice, as usual.
Releases:
Worked with Hussein on his releases. We spent quite a bit of time and made it through 7 of the 8.
Techniques:
Worked with Marvin on Ushiro-ate and Oshi-taoshi. Managed to get him to be a little lighter on Ushiro and tweaked the armbar on Oshi to be a little more effective.
Aftermath:
None of note.
Aikido players: Tim, Trey, Troy, Sal, Liz, and Charles
Ukemi:
None for me tonight
The Walk:
Twice, as usual.
Releases:
I worked with Charles on his set
Techniques:
Worked with Sal on 1-10 right-sided. We actually made it through all ten without much of a delay at any one particular technique.
Aftermath:
Took more falls than I have in quite a while, things are looking up with the rehab.
Aikido players: Troy, Kim, Brad, and Sal
Ukemi:
None tonight.
The Walk:
Not on Thursdays
Releases:
Not tonight
Techniques:
Kim and Brad worked on Ushiro-ate all evening
Troy and Sal worked on 6-10.
Aftermath:
None of note.
