Apologies

First off, my apologies for my rant of yesterday. That e-mail I received just touched a nerve. It's not so much that she didn't want me posting my sketches on my blog, but that she was making assumptions about what I was doing without even checking them out. Please be aware that I did not respond to that e-mail in the same ranting style I posted here. Also be aware that posting here in the way that I did helped me calm down enough to respond calmly to the e-mail. I did decline to submit any more of my ideas, but after re-reading her previous e-mails, including that last one, I realized that she didn't really want to see anyone else's ideas anyway. She just wanted someone to draw out her idea. For free...

I did rescind my offer to provide her with pro-bono labor. She can call the local high school and find an art student who may be willing to sketch her logo, if she treats them with a bit more respect than she showed me. Well, no hard feelings--at least on my part--and I wish her luck.



This isn't a logo. It's just a heart. I really like drawing hearts for some reason. I think it's the challenge of making them symmetrical. This one didn't quite make it. Yes, I know there are ways to make a drawing symmetrical, but that takes the challenge out of it. Ya can't really do those tricks in 10 minutes anyway.

Good news! I finally got my Amazon.com account straightened out. I ended up having to call them. I'd tried using the e-mail customer service, but the problem is that each e-mail you send them will go to whoever gets it first. It usually isn't the same person. I'd get the form response about how they couldn't answer e-mail unless it was sent from the address associated with the account. I'd send them a reply telling them that I couldn't respond from that address because I no longer had it. A different customer service representative would send an apology and request certain information. I'd send the information requested, but it would go to still another customer service rep, who would then send me the standard form response about how they couldn't respond to an e-mail unless it was sent from the address associated with the account.

Needless to say, I got tired of running in circles so I just called them and got the matter straightened out in about 5 minutes. I feel really silly now that I found out what I did. When I switched ISPs, I did change the e-mail address on my Amazon account. The only thing is, I got my old address and my new address mixed up and used part of each. No wonder I couldn't find an address that worked! The rep told me what address I had put in (after I verified my identity using other means) and I was able to log in and correct it. I now have the correct address associated with my account, am able to log in, and am ready to spend, spend, spen...Oh, wait. I have no money. Well, it was good while it lasted.

Karate class was good last night as well. Sensei worked the bajeebers out of us. I complimented him on the class saying, "That was such a good workout, you made my hair curl." We got to go over all our empty hand kata, not just the first three or four. He even called sunsu, which surprised me (ok, I had requested it, but he usually doesn't go that far) because I am the only one who knows it. It is nice having more higher ranks in the class for this very reason. For so long it was just James, myself, and a bunch of white and yellow belts. We'd go over seisan kata over and over and over and over, but we'd never work on the higher kata. I like being able to do higher kata in class.

After we did kata, we did some self defense. James participated in the whole class, but I had to ride him pretty hard to get him to stay out on the floor. He'd brought some buddies with him and kept wanting to go sit down and talk to them. Well, he participated in most of the class. We were doing some self defense and he was supposed to be taking me down. As I went down, I, without thinking (mushin), shot my hand out and connected with his groin. That was the last of him participating. There was only about 5 minutes left in the class, so I went and helped Mr. Tarver--the new white belt. He was partnered with Brian, but wasn't getting the move we were supposed to be doing. I spotted his problem right away. He was grabbing Brian's punch and holding on to it instead of blocking it correctly. Therefore, that hand was unable to complete the next move it needed to do. When I pointed this out to him and emphasized the correct way to block, he was better able to grasp the technique.

I've gotten behind on my dishcloth KAL. I hope to finish it later this evening. I'll post pics either later tonight or tomorrow.
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