August 1, 2000: "Richard, when are you going to get a life? And when am I going to get grandchildren?"
As quoted by Mom, on an almost daily basis, fortunately, telephonically. (Actually made three times on this day, my birthday. Thanks for the picture frame with the baby picture inside Mom. Nice hint. Money would have been better. Oh, and mom, that kid in the picture was black. Remember me, your son? OK, who's my father?)
Yes, Mom you have grandchildren. You're just going to have to find them. They're out there. Somewhere. Let's hope they don't find me. And as for a life, well, one day I might even get one of those. For now, I'll just float along and try to keep peace in the Discussion forum. And, process pictures. Which, is one reason why I don't have a life. But, I've got slideshows. And now, you've got something more to look at than bad pictures of me. For hours. And hours. And now you won't have a life either. (And now, I have separate slideshow sections for those of you with slower internet connections. The download times on regular modems is pretty abysmal considering the size of these things. Head on over to the Audiovisuals section.)
Head on over to the Shaolin gong fu section, the slideshows of a few of the traditional gong fu forms are buried within there within the new Audiovisuals section. Remember, most of these guys who are demonstrating these forms are not real monks. They're disciples of real monks. (Oh, no, here we go again....) Shi Xing Xi does the Eagle form, the rest of the guys are disciples and coaches at Shi Xing Hong's school. Regardless, it's still good stuff. Video is coming. And more.... (Ooooh).
The things I do for all of you. Mom, it's all their fault....
And in other news, a new section. Created entirely by you. It's weird. It's wacky. It's educational. It's highly entertaining. It's just too damn outrageous. It's made up entirely of your emails. And yes, it's true. Most of you really should be committed. All completely anonymous, all completely weird and wonderful. Just great stuff. In the new section, entitled, Emails. Keep them coming. Remember, I respond to every damn one of them. Regardless of how sick and twisted they are.
And if you don't like "poor taste" or bad language, just don't go there. Don't say I didn't warn you.
For those of you who are going to avoid the Email section, (or, in other words, for those of you who don't appreciate the finer things in life), I've got a new section, just for you. A Bibliography. Yes. A list of books. Suggested readings. On stuff that's related to all things Shaolin. But, not the usual Shaolin crap. No, this is not your usual Shaolin traditional legend Damo floated on his damn reed shit. Want to know what Damo really did with that reed? Head on over to Bibliography. You nerd you. Bet you wore those big black heavy glasses in grammar school.
Still not going over to the Email section? Pussy. You really should be playing in the Email section. Or better yet, in traffic. We won't tell your mom. Honest. Didn't I beat you up in high school?
Some more additions: Shi Xing Xi has some photos in the Qi Gong section which demonstrate how to do Ba Daun Jin qi gong, and, for those of you who are more tourist oriented, some photos of the Great Wall, in the Beijing section. More stuff in the Shaolin Schools section for those of you who are still actually considering going over there.
Dominic Steavu yet again presents some more brilliant masterpieces. One is related to the whole "real versus fake" monk issue, and yes, it really puts it all into perspective. Go read it at the Asocial Contract in the Shaolin Scholar section. Also, two very humorous essays on the cultural differences between China and the rest of us, in Traveler.
And, get to know the people who are writing some of this stuff. Hope you didn't think I did all of it. Head on over to the new Contributors section to meet our ever-increasing group of valuable experts.
In still other news, yet another new section, appropriately entitled, Minutiae. And it really isn't for you. I've got a few friends in China who are interested in seeing what life in the US is all about, so, instead of taking 35mm photos of various things over here, putting them in envelopes, struggling with Chinese characters, fighting with the trolls at the mailbox place, and inevitably having those pictures end up on some Chinese Custom's officials bathroom wall, I've decided to just make a special section on the site that my buddies in China can go visit. They can log on and get a taste of my life, right on the internet. (I told you it was "appropriately entitled"). But, remember, this section is only for my friends.
And I know who you are. Both of you.