Name: Alvin
AIM: fiftysvn
Bio: I graduated from Binghamton University with a B.A. in Economics in 2006. I appreciate many things in life, but life is not a spectator sport so whatever I find interesting also becomes my interest. My hobbies include photography, brazilian jiu-jitsu, boxing and snowboarding. I wouldn't call myself a voracious reader, but I do like to read. My favorite authors at the moment are Malcolm Gladwell and Ayn Rand. Currently I am unemployed and hoping to weather the economic storm.
Posts by admin:
The Height of Indolence
February 28th, 2010Last weekend I went snowboarding in Vermont with a few friends. Unfortunately for me, my trip was cut short because on the first day I somehow managed to fly into a tree and landing against it with my knee. The only two falls I can ever remember being worse than this was one time where I landed bad and hurt my hip, and another time where I went off a rail or a box (I can’t remember) and landed on my shoulder.
Both times I was badly hurt, but what makes this last weekend’s accident the worst is that it’s my knee. You don’t ever want shit fucked up in your knee. I’m especially worried because the activities that I love to do requires that my knees be functional. Snowboarding and jiu jitsu takes a toll on your knees.
I hurt it last Saturday, and it was bad for the first 2 days. I was walking fine for the most part but there was a nagging, slightly sharp pain in on the left side of my knee every time I put a load on it, such as walking up and down the stairs where for a split second, all my weight is on one leg. I didn’t go to jiu jitsu classes all week but by Friday, I felt like I was good to go for the most part. After class, the nagging pain in my knee came back.
I’m worried this might be something serious enough for me to have surgery. If I were to go through any type of surgery, this would be a disaster for me. So much of my life revolves around jiu jitsu. It’s the glue in my life. Some people who lift weights may understand. Going to the gym becomes a routine in your life, and when you don’t train for an extended period of time you feel like crap.
It’s particularly bad for me because I plan my whole schedule around it. I have a very exact routine. If I’m able to get off work at 7pm or earlier, I take the train straight to my gym. Class starts at 7:30 and ends at 9:00. I’m in the door at home by 10:15, hop in the shower, eat dinner, check my email and do some browsing on the internet until midnight. I’m in bed by midnight and I wake up by 7:00am. The whole cycle repeats.
I don’t do jiu jitsu everyday but I plan things like weight lifting on my off days. This past week, because of my knee injury, I couldn’t do any jiu jitsu. I didn’t have the motivation to lift weights either. Instead, what I ended up doing most of the time was calling some friends out after work and spending money on degenerate activities.
That’s what I consider any activity that doesn’t in some way better you as a person. If all you do after work everyday is sit at home and watch television, then you might possibly have the makings of a degenerate. This is assuming you don’t have some type of crazy 80+ hours a week work schedule. Then you, my friend, are entitled to coming home and vegging out on television if only because you have time to do nothing else.
So yea, I’ve been somewhat of a degenerate. And being that’s winter and all, on days I don’t do anything I somehow manage to justify that because I didn’t sweat all day, it’d be alright to skip out on a shower. Not to mention the laundry. I have dirty laundry all over the place. When I train jiu jitsu on a regular basis, I have to wash my gi (gi kimono) every time I use it since I only have two. So I did laundry at least twice a week.
I feel unhealthy and disheveled. I plan to get my knee checked out soon and I hope that the doctor ends up finding nothing wrong with it.
No Work!
February 14th, 2010I have a day off tomorrow for President’s Day. WOOHOO!!
I originally planned to go snowboarding, but I think I’m going to spend the entire day at my gym, from 7:30am to 9:00pm. It’s very rare for me to get the chance to train so much in one day.
Saturday: Chinese New Year’s Eve Edition
February 13th, 2010My brother and I recently purchased a new car (‘05 Acura TL) together. I have a minority stake in it because I didn’t feel it was justified to pay so much for something I’m going to use so infrequently. We got the car this week, but today was the first day I got to drive it.
I decided to drive out to Manhattan today to train at my gym, instead of taking the subway.
Terrible idea.
There was absolutely no parking in the city. The spots I did find were all municipal meter spots for commercial vehicles only. The regular metered spots a block away from my gym only went to an hour, and I needed at least 3. I was definitely not going to miss another day of training, so I reluctantly paid $20 at a local parking lot to park there for a few hours.
Training was great today. I did the no-gi class at 11:15am and followed it up with the mma class at 1:30pm. I was pretty close to punking out because I was pretty beat from the first class, but I definitely did not just pay $20 to just train for an hour and a half. The mma class was great, as usual. Today was pretty interesting because during the sparring sessions, I ended up pairing up with this chick who must have weighed no more than 100lbs soaking wet.
Never judge a book by its cover though . . . she had some fire in her! From our first few exchanges it became clear her background was muay thai. Not many of the guys in my mma class have good standup skills because most of them are just straight jiu jitsu guys. I was lucky I had a good amount of height over this girl because her punches were tight and sharp, and if it weren’t for my reach keeping her at a distance I would have been owned. She pressed me the entire time. At no point in time did I feel comfortable going in. Her punches fell short on me, and I was able to counter a few times off of that. Her kicks were a different story. She was kicking the shit out of my legs and I didn’t know how to stop it from happening because I’ve never trained kicks before.
She was a good looking girl with some killer striking skills . . . found out after class she is from Costa Rica and is just visiting our gym.
I met up with a friend in Chinatown after class and chilled for a bit. We ended up driving around various parts of Fort Greene and Williamsburg because he’s in the market for a new place, and there were a few places around there he wanted to check out. Ended up grabbing a bite at a place called Dumont Burger. Check it out if you’re in the area. Make sure to add bacon to your burger. DELICIOUS bacon there. Oh, and try the milkshake. It’s a $6 milkshake though. A little outrageous . . . Vincent Vega would be apalled.
Anyway, just finished my CNY Eve dinner and about to meet with some friends.
Until next time . . .
Analyze This
February 11th, 2010I don’t like looking at pictures of myself. I don’t like hearing my own voice played back to me. I don’t like seeing myself on video. I don’t like to read any of my old entries.
So tell me, all you wannabe psych majors, what is my major malfunction?
Honest Expression
February 6th, 2010Dig – I’ma put it on the table
I ain’t a thug nigga and playa, I ain’t playful
I’m just Senim Silla, man without label
Standin’ on my own to you tryin’ to stay stable
Speakin’ what I know to only what I’m able
I ain’t the kinda guy who carry on for dough
The material cat who walk around for show
I’m just your everyday, merry way joe on the go
While others go with the flow
I ain’t never been the one to follow trend, I do my own bit
Can’t keep up with the joneses, I’m on my own shit
I don’t care what you drink
What you stress, how you dress, or where you got the link
I ain’t impressed
