The thing I remember most vividly about becoming a better fencer was how hard it was to win tough bouts. Like swimming upstream as hard as I could, and getting nowhere. Unlike the stream, which doesn't ever let up, your human opponent will make a mistake, and you will know then how to score the point. The impossibly tough part was keeping on swimming, as hard as I could, waiting for that moment, knowing that if I let up, I lose a touch instead of score one.

For me, I never imagined I was a good fencer. Even when I was on the national team, I knew it was because of something else, something other than good technique that got me there, and let me continue to beat good, and sometimes great, fencers. It was that ability to continue swimming upstream as hard as possible, looking for the correct moment to act.

Other people would sometimes tell me how good my fencing looked, and of course it felt a lot more than good to win tough bouts, but on days when I walked into the venue thinking I was a good fencer I was usually given a very difficult reminder that I actually wasn't. I had to keep working as hard as possible, all the time, even to save myself from giant upsets.

Once you can work that hard, demand that much from yourself, it ought to be easy to review your fencing back at practice, identify your weaknesses and strengths, be honest with yourself about what you can do and can't do right now, and what you can learn to do in the next year. Being able to say "I suck at this" and keep coming back every day for as many hours as my body would allow is how I got better as a fencer.

I thought my footwork sucked: I practiced lots more footwork, and made it as effective as I could every time. I thought my parries sucked: I fenced bouts with nothing but riposte as my action. I thought my point control sucked: I hung a swinging target in my living room, brought a swinging target to the club, fenced whole bouts with nothing but the smallest target area really counting. I thoguht my explosiveness sucked: I bought a gym membership and paid for a trainer. That's the one that hurt the most, becuase fencing is expensive enough without paying hundreds of dollars and having to get up early in the morning to suffer three times a week!

Buy yourself a very nice looking Richmond Fencing Club polo shirt. I love mine!

It's Towel Day. Carry yours with you to show your mourning of Douglas Adams.

click the title there, and "zoom" forever. a simple, neat idea filled with good photos.

Should I be scared of the opossum? Probably not. Should I have him trapped by animal control and taken away? Probably not.

The Opossum Society thinks they're good to have around, since they will eat mice, snakes, slugs, and other "pests."

Hmm... they eat mice, do they? I guess they aren't so bad after all. And how little I remember from primary school: Opossums are marsupials (not rodents), and they have a prehensile tail. Cool!

This is a very cool retro arcade game -- made in claymation style! It's a lot of fun to just veg out and play, although I have only used the free version so far. I need to buy a 1/2 decent mouse before spending anything on a (nother) way to make hours disappear behind the keyboard!

You couldn't have convinced me this actually exists. But amazon.com recommends it to me... for reasons I can't ever hope to fully understand. Do I need it?

OK, so this is seriously dorky. But amazing at the same time.

http://videosift.com/story.php?id=630

No, it's not that I haven't been reading. I've just been lazy.

I have had nothing but trouble keeping my "reading list" up to date, partly because it's such a pain to edit. So I've changed it to a blog... maybe you'll see more regular updates!

The Banana Guard.

Truth is stranger than fiction. This isn't what you think when you first see it!

Outside Magazine answers the question we want: Where should I ski Right Now?

With tens of feet of base, plenty of US resorts have lots of great skiing left to offer this season. The next question to ask: Have I used up all my vacation time yet?

April 2006 photos from Whistler

A few photos from my trip. I love going someplace where a normal run requires focus, and the hard runs are way beyond my ability! By double black diamond they mean "you will die."

Contrast that with any resort in Virginia, where I can ski the hardest run on the worst day without too much difficulty. Here, double black diamond means "careful, this one isn't flat."

.

I leave tomorrow for Whistler/Blackbomb. I was getting worried that, with 85 degrees here, there'd be no snow there. Not the case! (check the webcam in that link) They're getting 2-4 inches fresh snow every day!

Today someone's friendly orange cat found its way into my fenced in back yard. Not sure if she just liked it there, but after a couple hours she was still hanging out, and was loudly excited to come inside with me. Cats are cute and all, but my house is no place for one!

On another unrelated note, why is so cool when a woman does Fire Poi, but so utterly, unspeakably lame when a man does?

I haven't seen nor heard any trace of our little friends in months. After cleaning out the pantry, sealing up the little holes they might move through, and laying traps and poison in every room of the house, they seem to be leaving me alone. Don't bring your infants or pets to my house, it's not a friendly place for creatures that put random found objects into their mouth!

My newer "friends" are neighbors.

The untenanted house next to mine has a side window with the storm glass up, making a friendly protected ledge for PIGEONS. They've been nesting since February, and a couple fledglings are nearly large enough now to move out on their own. Man, are baby pigeons UGLY.

Once those little suckers move out, I'll reach over with a pole and lower that storm glass, so the next avian family will have to find a different homestead.

If Tyranny and Oppression come to this land, it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy. -James Madison, fourth US president (1751-1836)