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That's right, it's world cup time again!

OK, so I started this posting a while ago, but at least I'm finishing before the World Cup is over, right?

I have made an observation (me and the rest of the known world) that the officiating in this Cup has over all been the most miserable I have ever seen. Those of you who know me know full well that in general I have nothing but kind, wonderful things to say about referees. Those of you who don't know me at all might actually beleive that! Well, in this case, I don't think it's all their fault. FIFA has created an environment of fear, with threats to send home ref's who they don't think are controlling the games.

While watching a game today between Portugual and Holland, this world cup, still in the second round, has already passed the record for red cards handed out in a world cup. The game today tied a record with 16 yellow cards! Four players were sent off, all for two yellow card offenses! Players like Deco, Figo and Koyt were consumed in a game with no flow, no beauty, nothing but the referee.

This has not been the case in all of the games, but I must say, it's been the case in far too many. Eric Cantona has been running the commercials for joga bonita, the beautiful game, but he was targeting the wrong audience. We don't need to convince the players, it's FIFA who needs to get the message.

Back to the Mat

For those who don't know, I had surgery on my foot almost six weeks ago to remove bone spurs and bone fragments from the ball joint. I truly missed my martial arts classes, and I have to say I am very excited to be back at it!

So, in coming back we have some new classes. There is a forms class (which I am helping to teach) that is a lot of fun. We are working on forms we've learned, and learning new forms from Kenpo and Shotokan Karate. It's very cool to study in a system that doesn't just focus on one style, but takes input from any and all styles.

We also have a kicking class. That's right, an hour straight of just kicking. Today, with only a couple of minutes left in the class we had to do 50 round kicks on each leg as quickly as we could. Man am I slow!

We also have grappling class and weapons class as specialized classes. I'll be honest, grappling is not my best thing, but I want to be a complete martial artist (at least for me, this isn't to say if you study something that doesn't have grappling you aren't complete) so I have to work on it.

My biggest challenge doesn't even occur in the dojo, it's finding time to do what I love. But if everything in life were easy, I think I wouldn't do anything at all.

Friends...

So, second wedding in a month, and I am thoroughly done with rented shoes.

I was in Travis' wedding, standing up with him as his best man I couldn't have been more proud standing next to him as he married Sara. Then it was TJ's wedding, and to stand there as a groomsman to support him as he supported me almost eight years ago was very special. But there was something that deeply warmed my heart, and that was seeing friends I hadn't seen in a long time. Too long.

I will be one of the first to say that I have done a very bad job at staying in touch with my friends as time and/or distance has come between us. For that matter I am going to throw family in there, too. I can't say I will immediately be calling, emailing and visiting everyone I know, but I will promise to do a better job, make a better effort than I have done. First I will publish here every few days or so, and I will re-email everyone about the revival of this blog. I will start tonight and start emailing people I haven't seen in a while, or talked to in a while. Be patient with me, and I will do my best.

This time with people I haven't seen in a while has been very humbling and I want to thank every one of you for helping me see what I've been missing.

What's in a wardrobe

So, I have a new position now at work, not a new title or new pay, I just have more responsibilities and I report to a new boss. I really wanted to feel like I was doing something new, or at least look like I was different now. I can't really explain it, I know some of it is pride, some of it is insecurity and some doubts about my new role. I think a lot of it is trying to make the point that I'm serious about my career and I want to be noticed and set apart. So anyway, I started wearing a tie to work everyday. I have been doing this now for two and a half weeks and I am still getting a lot of comments about it. Not really negative comments, but in IT nowdays people really don't wear ties very often anymore. In our organization our SVP, one Sr. Business Analyst and one director are the only people who consistantly wear a tie. And now me. Not that there's a lot of difference between us...other than stock options, parking spaces and tens of thousands of dollars in salary. But I have to say, I like wearing the tie. I like looking different and standing out. Will this lead to a big promotion and raise? Who knows? The reality is I really like my job, I like the people I work with and work for, and my family is healthy and happy. So for now it's ties to work. And once and for all, no, I don't have a job interview today!