the_gneech | One's Never Truly Alone With a Rubber Duck

Current Mood: happy

One's Never Truly Alone With a Rubber Duck

Time for some random thoughts to come pouring out of my head, just whatever my mind is chewing on, at the moment. Don't say I didn't warn you...

I'm at the receptionist desk at the moment, since the usual receptionist is apparently at an unexpected doctor's appointment. She's preggers, as they say, so I imagine I'll be filling in like this a lot over the next few months.

The Operative Word is "Fire"
Last night's Fourth of Julaaaiieee!!! ceremonies were thoroughly mediocre. They took place at a high school across the street from the famous Rathbun residence, and they had no less than three of the fireworks go off fooosh! on the ground, rather than, y'know, a few hundred feet in the air like they're supposed to.

Oops.

Still, it was pleasant. I love fireworks shows, even though I'm often the only person among my usual crowd who actually wants to go.

Nekosqueemikun

nekomimikun has started going "SQUEE" for no readily apparent reason. Somehow, I have a hard time picturing him squealing like a cheerleader, but it's an entertaining image nevertheless. :)

Martial Morals

Martial morality has always been a required discipline in Chinese martial arts. Before you learn any martial techniques, you should first understand this subject. In Chinese martial arts society it is well-known that a student's success is not determined by his external appearance, or by strength or weakness, but rather by the student's way of thinking and morality. Chinese martial artists have a saying: "A student will look for a teacher for three years and a teacher will test a student for three years."

A wise student knows that it is better to spend ten years looking for a good teacher than to spend the time learning from a mediocre one. A good teacher will lead you to the right path, and will help build a strong foundation for your future training. Conversely, unqualified teachers will not help you build a strong foundation and may even teach you bad habits. Good teachers will always set good examples for their students with their spiritual and moral virtue. Good martial arts teachers teach not only good martial techniques, they also teach a way of life.

--excerpt from "Martial Morals" by Dr. Yang Jwing-Ming, in this month's Inside Kung Fu

Actually, this is a good point about lots of other stuff besides martial arts. I suspect that a lot of my own problems with various things I try to accomplish stems from the fact that I am more or less self-taught in just about everything I do. I have never really had anyone I would consider a mentor when it comes to my artwork, my graphics work, and so forth. I've had the occasional class, the occasional bit of helpful feedback from people I admired, and so forth, but most of what I know about just about everything comes from reading books and groping around in the dark using trial and error.

In some ways, I'm kinda proud of that. I can look back at the progress I've made and know that it's my own true ability, hard-earned and real.

On the other hand, it's something of a liability. How do I know if I'm developing good habits or bad? Is there some better way for me to do things? And how much potentially-productive time have I wasted going down dead-end paths?

I think this may be one reason I crave feedback so much about my work all the time. It's real, external verification of my progress, without all the baggage of personal subjectivity. If somebody tells me they liked a sketch or enjoyed an essay or something, that means that what I have been doing has been successful, at least to that degree.

I suppose in the case of martial arts, I'd know self-training was successful if I got in a fight and kicked the bejeezus out of someone ... but I don't think I'd like to learn that way unless I can't avoid it.

Not counting sparring, of course, but I'm nowhere near that level of training yet. ;)

Amazing How Goals Shift
Regarding the other day's post about budgetary goals, I hope I didn't leave anyone with the impression that I was whining about not being able to get stuff, because that's not my intention. Just being able to know that I can definitely pay the rent is so far above where I was just a few short months ago, that I'm pretty much seeing everything I get now as a bonus.

Got a roof? Yes. Got a job? Yes. Got food? Yes.

Cool. The rest is gravy. :)

What I'm doing now, is trying to make sure I get my favorite flavor of gravy. ;)

So don't let my kibitzing fool you into thinking that I'm not a happy guy, because I am. :) The things that I truly have issues with I can count on one hand, using fewer than half the fingers. ;) That I probably can't make MFF is still so far above, say, not being able to make the rent, that I really don't see any room to complain.

Not without being a spoiled whineyboy, anyhow. ;)

From the "Yeah, Baby, Yeah!!!" Department
This has been the fifth consecutive week of SJ running with no outages! I came this close to being out on Wednesday because of my big emotional meltdown, but I knew that getting the strip up would make me feel a lot better -- and it did!

I sorta feel like I'm at an AA meeting. "Hello, I'm The Gneech, and I'm a wayward cartoonist. I've had regular updates for five weeks, now."

LiveJournal Readers: "Hi, Gneech."

Life's good, folks. Life's good. :)

-The Gneech

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

"She's preggers, as they say, so I imagine I'll be filling in like this a lot over the next few months."

Not as much as she will. ;)

"I suppose in the case of martial arts, I'd know self-training was successful if I got in a fight and kicked the bejeezus out of someone ... but I don't think I'd like to learn that way unless I can't avoid it."

You've managed to surprise me, friend Gneech. May I gently suggest that you re-read the work of Dr. Yang Jwing-Ming and try the above paragraph again? You don't actually need to re-read it, you've got it. But you didn't have it when you wrote the above.

===|==============/ Level Head

Well, my point was that self-training doesn't really work for martial arts, because there's no way to test your progress except by fighting people. :) -TG

NO, my friend. You may be an extraordinary martial artist, and never enter a fight. You will know. Your sensei will know, if you have one. And those of perception who come to know you will know. The first, and perhaps only, conquering you need to accomplish is within.

I know you know all of this -- you practically said it -- you're just distracted.

===|==============/ Level Head

I think maybe my use of the term "fight" is giving the wrong impression. Maybe "sparring" is a better term.

To use an analogy taken from another article in the same magazine :), learning martial arts without putting them into practice in some form or another is like putting a baseball up on a tee until you can knock it over the fence, then thinking you could be a batter in real game. It is valuable practice, but it's incomplete.

I'm not talking about heading down to the closest waterfront dive and brawling with Popeye and Bluto. I'm talking about being in a ring with another student.

The paragraph in the original post was a tongue-firmly-planted-in-cheek reference to the idea that without a sifu, the only way to know how good my skills are would be to go down to the dive. That was a gag. :)

However, I don't think it's possible to be an excellent martial artist without really putting yourself in harm's way -- in the form of competition -- any more than you could be an excellent piano player just by studying the life of Chopin and using his same hand exercises but never actually playing the piano.

90% or more of martial arts is discipline, and you can't forge real discipline without testing it along the way. What good would it do me to break a dozen bricks with the heel of my hand, if I shriek like a cheerleader when somebody pulls out a knife and demands I hand over my wallet?

I'm not talking about being one of those guys who goes around picking fights "just to see how good I am." Besides being obnoxious, it's a good way to get a broken neck.

Perhaps it was my use of the phrase, "kick the bejeezus out of someone" that alarmed you? That too was just a figure of speech. You should know me well enough to know that I don't intentionally cause harm to people, as a rule. :) In a martial arts competition, yes there is a certain amount of inflicting pain on people that goes on. However, they knew the job was dangerous when they took it, if you see what I mean. It's not about hurting people just to hurt people.

One of the major reasons I want to get into formal martial arts study is because I have an avoidance problem. If there's something too painful, too frightening, or even just too much of a pain to deal with, even if it's something that really needs to be done and gotten over with, I avoid it. I learned this behavior at a very young age, for reasons that aren't worth getting into here. But I am, in short, a wuss.

In the rigidly controlled setting of a martial arts class (and eventually competition), I cannot avoid the problem.

There is another martial artist, staring me in the face. One of us will win, one of us will lose. I have to deal with it, right here, right now. And it's probably going to hurt.

To me, success or failure won't be measured by who wins the fight (although winning is certainly the desired result). Success, on a personal level, will be that I stood up and faced it. And the more such challenges I stand up and face, the more successful I am.

-The Gneech

I'd go watch the works with you, so long as I wasn't all crispy like I am this year. That makes four years in a row that I've missed the ID-celebration, but the first time I have ever willingly not gone. Last three years I was at camp all summer. And the Boy Scout camp had their own celebration. But then, the flag was their god, so....

Gravy, eh?
0/~
On my mashed potatoes, gimmie
Gravyyyyyyyyy....
Come'on and treat me right! Now gimmie
Gravyyyyyyyyy....
O baby, you're the greatest,
So gimmie, gimmie, gimmie, gimmie gravy tonight!
0/~

Heh. I'm glad you'e done so well on SJ. But there's a part of me still hoping you'll not have a strip one day, then maybe my guest strip will appear. ^.~ But someday soon I'm also hoping to get the motivation to find a mech. pencil and some colored pencils to redo it, since a wooden pencil and crayons gave me a product I'm still not entirely pleased with.

Well! A real, honest-to-God (yes, I know) difference of philosophy! We finally have one.

To me, the fact that martial arts enables you to fight, and to have a better shot at winning, is entirely incidental. It may be that this side-effect is the primary motivation for getting involved; that was true of me, decades ago. But it is a side effect.

You glanced off of it when you said "Success, on a personal level, will be that I stood up and faced it."

The mastery is inside. And it is of you, as you are alluding to. Once you have a good beginning on this mastery, you need not fear going "SQUEE" when someone pulls out a knife. And if you really have it, the knife won't be pulled.

Fighting is a shallow, hollow demonstration of skill. It is regrettably sometimes necessary, as I know all too well.

Is the assassin at a distance a better martial artist than the lifelong student of bushido? Even as the assassin's bullet ends the master's life, the master can live in victory where it counts. That battle is every day, every decision, and every moment.

===|==============/ Level Head

"And the Boy Scout camp had their own celebration. But then, the flag was their god, so...."

Hmmm. Friend Talon, is this what patriotism equates to? What did you mean here?

I understand, I think, why you might have other differences with the Boy Scouts. But this remark surprised me. We tend to think, once we have a problem with an aspect of a person or group, that every aspect of that person or group is bad. It's rarely true in practice, and an aspiring teacher would have some responsibility to inculcate clear thinking analysis in his students. Teach me, please, what you meant.

===|==============/ Level Head

Well, if you're going to start waxing philosophical about the nature of martial arts, you're going to quickly get into "no right answer" land. :)

Strictly speaking, martial arts are, by definition, the art of combat (martial from Mars, and all that). It's quite possible to learn to be a first-class butt-kicker without ever pursuing loftier goals. Martial artistry and bushido are not the same thing. :)

What you may see as a side effect, I may see as a primary purpose, and vice versa. The mixture of spiritualism with combat skill that typifies martial arts study varies wildly according to the style, the school, the master, and the student. :)

My focus may shift as time goes on; that's fine. :) But I can't see that far ahead, so I'm just talking about where I am right now. And in my own personal case, I need to cultivate the physical aspects of my existence. I spent my youth wrapped up in the intellectual and spiritual side of things because I was running away from frightening things in the physical world. However, a whole person needs to cultivate all three. My development in the other two areas are being held down by the fact that the physical part of my existence isn't pulling its own weight, so to speak.

You mention that your motives were different, decades ago. :) There are decades between us ... I suspect that it's natural and proper that we should be focused on different things. From what I can see, there are far worse paths I could be on, than one similar to one you followed. You came out pretty good. ;)

As for the assassin vs. master question, it depends on what you mean by martial artist. Which one is the more skilled combatant? Well, there's not much to debate there: the assassin is still standing. Which one is more honorable? My money's on the bushido devotee, there.

-The Gneech

My own brush with Boy Scouts was intensely traumatic and thankfully short. :) Frankly, I'm glad none of those guys had access to fireworks.

-The Gneech

Nah, "SQUEE" is a sound effect that I've seen used in some comics. It isn't a cheer or a shout, really. It is more of an expression of "happy". In real life, there isn't a sound for it. But, it works on written words.

No, I am neither equating patriotism nor criticizing BSA in general. I have mentioned before, I am an Eagle Scout and (inactive) Assistant Scoutmaster, as well a twice-over member of the Honor Scout Society, known as the Order of the Arrow.

What I am referring to is that the Staff at this particular camp I worked at turned it into a flag worship cult. The director was a jewish convert, who did not understand the first thing about orthodoxy. His sermon at chapel every week was always the same: "don't push your views on me." (Loren's idea of pushing one's views on another was to say, "yes, I am a Christian, and this is what I believe.") Many of my troops that summer were distressed by his chapel services. I finally quit going, even though they were mandatory.

So Loren filled the gap with a god of his own design: the flag. The parade grounds became the altar, and we had weekly services to worship it. I'm not talking about flag raising and lowering, either. Loren actually wrote two worship services that we used on a weekly basis. Even sucked me in for a while. I would stand there saluting with tears in my eyes... until I realized what it was. Then I would stand there as numb as I possibly could be, wishing I had the courage of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednigo not to bow to King Nebuchadnezzar's golden statue.

One is never truly alone with a rubber either. >:}

^~Kat

Bad wolf! No buscuit! ^.~

Was this behavior typical of the Boy Scouts, as your post implies?

===|==============/ Level Head

Hmm? I don't see that implication. -TG

It is fortunate for you, KatsuneWolf, that I do not generally engage in such humor.

In fact, I don't even talk to people who.... ummm. No, you can beat yourself about the head and shoulders with a rubber, duckie, for all I care.

Hmmm.
I was not here.
You did not see me.
We did not have this conversation.
[tank is moved silently back to the ship...]

===|==============/ Level Head

Nekomimi-kun goes "SQUEE"? Gee.

===|==============/ Level Head

"And the Boy Scout camp had their own celebration. But then, the flag was their god, so...."

As I reflect on this, it is capable of interpretation either way -- that the possessive pronoun "their" indexed back to the Boy Scouts, or just to this camp.

I did not have much time before -- I had visitors. But as the statement is ambiguous, I am content to retract the question. And friend Talon's explanation clearly, now, suggests that a more local interpretation would be fairer to what he meant.

===|==============/ Level Head

This is a unique and uneszpected response for you, my dear dragon?

Well i hope i'm not peged as a person whos mind is always in the gutter. (shut up sniper).

But perhaps only on a rainy day i am.

^~Kat

Yes, I was indeed referring only to this particular camp.

Heh. he seems to be surprising everyone with this. It's clear as clean glass that he's used it in his comic for some time now...

Darn those indefinite pronouns! :) -TG

Would I be stretching things if I said he's on a tear, today? -TG

I've been lecturing, ah, professional persons all day. Perhaps I was decompressing a bit. ;)

How can a fence be mended if none was meant?

===|==============/ Level Head

Then we will call it a wash. ;)

===|==============/ Level Head

Oh yes; I do squee-- uh, work in some time to keep up with Nekomimi-kun's strip.

===|==============/ Level Head

You mean, like "those"? ;)

===|==============/ Level Head

My own experience with the Boy Scouts was rather different. We roasted them over open fires, and seasoned them with flour and shaving cream.

All of the above is literally true.

===|==============/ Level Head

Um, okay. My experiences involved sharp rocks thrown with great force. :P -TG

We were gentler with them than that. The trick is to leave no permanent marks, although I am certain that some psychological scars remain. ;)

===|==============/ Level Head

Curiously, I find myself negotiating with a self described "bowl of mashed potatoes" in another one of the forumzz we frequent. ;)

===|==============/ Level Head

My experiences involve being indoors, bored out of my skull, for one whole weekend. I chose the wrong time of year to get interested in that. Winter can be dreadfully dull when spent indoors, doing inane and silly, pointless things. -Friski

I don't like the direction this is going; it gives me visions of meeting some of those sadistic bastards as adults and having them say, "Geeze, lighten up, it was all in good fun."

I would be less than amused by such a comment, let's put it that way.

I think it best if I let this thread lie from now.

-The Gneech

Actually, in that sentence, "those" was an article. :) -TG

You are welcome to ask me about it at some point.

But I will drop it, and note in a seemingly unconnected way that you, earlier today, made an absolutely true statement that was completely misinterpreted by your reader -- as you expected and intended. ;)

===|==============/ Level Head

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Poetic license, m'man, if you can accept such a preposition. ;)

===|==============/ Level Head

Hehe. Yes, indeed. Well, it is certainly good to see you relaxed in your home position, rather than pulled out into tight situations.

NOW who's stretching. ;)

At least you don't deal with balloon payments.

===|==============/ Level Head

With all this silliness, I can't help but wonder if anybody actually gets the rubber duck reference. :) -TG

It is just barely possible that some of us are aware of the hidden references hitchhiking along with your title. But I am not yet ready to throw in the towel.

===|==============/ Level Head

Why would you wanna do that?
It, is happy the way he is, would would It wanna rename himself Awash?
Oh well, atleast the topic is clean.

^~Kat

Awright, at least ya'll had *pants* when you were dealing with the scouts. We had jumpers when I was in Brownies.

Evil, evil little girls involved there...

Well, if you're going to start waxing philosophical about the nature of martial arts, you're going to quickly get into "no right answer" land. :)

This is true, especially since the goal of all Asian Martial Arts is to appear as soft as hot wax, and be as sharp as a Katana's steel. Malleable but focused. A Katana made into a candle?

Winter in my troop was the time to get out and play! If you were in my troop, you would know how to XC-ski, dig a snowcave, survive in a snowball fight, and perform amazing skills of great dexterity (such as tyeing a bowline blindfolded) with frozen fingers.

Well, I did ask where the rubber duckie was, didn't I? *I* don't get it. :(

Come now, Kat! You've done much better puns. I know you can stand up to LevelHead's punniness...

*Gets out two pom-poms and cheers on the wolf.*

Perhaps he does not have the gutteral voice for it at the moment.

===|==============/ Level Head

I'v only had 4 hours sleep the last 3 days! I'm alloud to have a laxed mental connection, tyvm.

^~Kat

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

One's Never Truly Alone With a Rubber Duck

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Where's the duckie?!?

Martial artistry

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One's Never Truly Alone With a Rubber Duck

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The man who was never there.

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