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It’s the stupidest thing, right? It’s well after midnight and a few years in these mountains tells me I can count on a road block on the highway between the craft school and Tinyville, so I [...]

I set a goal to write something like ten first draft lyrical essays in ten days. And here I am, already having skipped three days and the New Year nearly upon us. I have not experienced such [...]

[I tried to post this yesterday but we had so much rain that the dial-up connections got disrupted.] There were six on each side: full-blooded and proud Sicilian first-borns in Boston, MA and [...]

[This is a seed. A crack in the door. The beginning of a much bigger true story.] Once I got her screaming, I realized I had entered my first bona fide after school fight. Her name was Julie and [...]

You do your chores. Mind your manners. Don’t mouth off. At fifteen years old, there is always more work to be done and you do it. It could be any day, anytime, say, a particular Tuesday afternoon [...]

[From now until the New Year, I will attempt to write a lyrical essay for my blog each night. This muscle still needs flexing, no doubt, so hold tight…who knows how stale or fresh the [...]

In kid’s class, Hanshi talks about the relationship between training and trying. “Why do train hard? So that trying is easy,” he says. “And you never, ever own a move until it becomes comfortable [...]

What felt useless yesterday now feels like fuel for the fire. I wait until sunset, then work every move I’ve learned thus far using my reflection in the windows as a mirror. Zanshin. [...]

After kids’ class I go on my run, then show up back at the dojo for adult class. Slow and steady, slow and steady, I think to myself—but it turns out that tonight’s class is hardly that. For [...]

[There are two posts tonight. This is the second.] Tonight’s adult class is small, but arrive early enough to chat with Lis and Greg before we officially being. My entire attitude about her has [...]