This Cat Of Mine

 This cat of mine.  

She does more than just lay on the keyboard criticizing me.  She also hunts.  Then she brings me the things she's caught.  Some days, the things she's caught, that she brings into the house, to give to me....aren't dead.

Today was just such one day.  She brought ... I'm not even sure what it was.  It had a short tail like a vole, but it was huge -- almost rat sized.  She brought it into the house and let it go.  It promptly ran behind the love seat, and oh, boy!  I got to go rat hunting in my living room!  Yippee!

At least this one was too big to run behind the entertainment center.  I finally cornered it, and bludgeoned the thing to death with the butt of my BB gun.  The cat and I then had a long talk about her job performance.  

In other news, I got an email from Photobucket.  Apparently, they'd moved to a new server, or sold the site or something, and I needed to reactivate my account.  I did, even though I hadn't used Photobucket in so long, I'd plumb forgotten I even had an account.  

I also forgot I used to draw, and I wasn't half bad at it.  I could have been better, but I wasn't too bad.  In fact, the whole reason I started this blog way back in 2005 was to host my sketches.  It was originally titled Sketches And More, but I thought that was a dumb name.  Somewhere along the line, I hosted a contest to come up with a new one, and the winning entry was what is now the current name of the blog.  

It was meant to showcase my Fine art:

my Martial art:

(My sensei and I -- I'm pretty sure this is the day I got my black belt.)

and my Fiber art:

(Rona Shawl, pattern from Knit Picks -- which is apparently no longer available.  This was given to my sister for Christmas.)

It was kind of fun seeing things I'd completely forgotten about.  I might share more of it sometime in the future.  

The only other thing I did today was to start some of my wildflower seeds, but they don't look like anything yet.  I put seeds in 66 peat pellets, and still have a ton of them left.  Seeds,  I mean.  Not pellets.  I have an old tire in the shed which I've been thinking about turning into a planter for years.  Maybe this will be the year.  Maybe it won't.  

Who knows?  

That's about all I have for today, so here is your Texas History moment, for Day 12 Of The Siege.  

Just Fine Fiber, Now

Most of you know where the title of my blog comes from -- the three arts in my life. Fine arts. Martial Arts. Fiber arts.

If you've read for any length of time, you know that I have been training in Isshinryu Karate for several years now. I'd trained for 5 years, and had gotten my first degree black belt. About a year ago, I found I had to take a break--for personal reasons, financial reasons, and physical reasons. I'd always planned on going back to class as soon as I could.

This morning I received an e-mail from sensei. He is moving the dojo again, only this time he's moving it to a town about 100 miles away.

No more training. No more Martial.

I'm just Fine Fiber now.

Socks and Skies

It was an absolutely beautiful day. Partly cloudy Saturday Sky.

Not too warm. OK, it was in the 80s, but it was breezy enough that I was able to open my windows and enjoy the fresh air.


I'm not so sure that was such a good idea, since it seemed that every single person within a 10 mile radius was mowing grass today. But I did it anyway.

And what did I do on this glorious Saturday? House work. I'm serious. Something about having the windows open, the breezes flowing through the house, the fall feel in the air motivates me to clean. Heck, I even made Cody clean up his room.

I did get some knitting done, too. I made it past the gusset decreases on my first Bandwagon sock,

and pulled out this old Trekking Is For Necking scarf.

It's been languishing in UFO land for quite long enough. It was going to be a Christmas gift for my cousin, but with the economy still in the tank, I don't know if we'll exchange gifts this year. We didn't last year, but then, last year they didn't come here for Christmas. I don't know if they will this year or not. I'll just have to wait and see.

Last night, the Cowboys played their first game in their new stadium. It was just a preseason game, but still...And the first score ever in the new stadium was a touchdown by Marion Barber.

One more thing, I want to give a shout out to my friend Cindy, who was promoted to the rank of first degree black belt yesterday. Shodan Rei!

Congratulations, Cindy!

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Lazy Saturday

And it was exactly that. I didn't do much of anything but sit on my behind all day. Other than laundry, dishes, and cleaning the carpet, that is.

I made it past the heel turn on my Falling In Love socks, then had to tink the heel back out and re-do it. The pattern said to start the heel when the sock is 4 inches shorter than the length of your foot. That's what I did, but when all was said and done, I decided the sock just wasn't long enough. I guess the pattern writer likes her socks really tight, but I don't like my toes being constricted even the tiniest bit. So I tinked, and knit another pattern repeat before doing the heel. The sock fits much better now.

I've only done short row heels a couple of times before. I think I'm starting to get the hang of it. This one looks much better than previous attempts.

When I'd sat for just about as long as I could, I went for a walk outside. The pear tree is loaded with fruit.

One year, I picked a whole bunch of them and canned them. We ate pears for months. Unfortunately, all my canning equipment got ruined in one of the hurricanes, and I just can't afford to go buy more right now. Still, I guess I ought to do something with them, before Rylea eats them all.

Here is something I haven't done in a while, a Saturday Sky:

As most of you know, between financial struggles, personal injuries, and Cody's busy schedule, I've had to take a bit of a break from Karate. One day I hope to get back into it. I have good intentions of working out on my own, but my propensity towards sloth often prevents that. However, I did run through Sunsu kata today. I tried to do kusanku also, but forgot part of it. I think if I can actually make myself start doing a kata or two a day, they'll all come back to me.

I'm going to go try to remember the rest of kusanku, now.

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I'd Better Be Ready

Today was my last class before my nidan test. There are actually three of us testing. One is testing for shodan, and two of us for nidan. Sensei has been working us pretty hard these last few weeks. It was so nice compared to my preparation for my shodan--"go over in the corner by yourself and figure out what you will need to know for your test."

The three of us testing have been leading the basics. Not a big deal for me. I've been doing that since I was a green belt. The one testing for shodan, though, it was his first time. He didn't even know how to count when we started.

We've also been going over kata every class--and not just seisan. We've gone all the way through sunsu. The guy who is head of IKA will be at the test. He is really big on synchronized kata, so we have been practicing that. Personally, I don't like it. I don't feel that I can do my best kata if I've got to worry about staying synchronized with someone else--especially if there is someone from another dojo who might not do his kata exactly the way we do.

The last thing we did tonight was some self defense. We did realistic self defense, too, not just simulated drills in which the attacker doesn't really attack. Sensei picked three of the bigger men in the class to attack us--three on one. It got pretty rough there, but it was kinda fun.

And that was it. That's all the training I'm going to get before my test, so I'd better be ready.

If I'm not, then I won't be on Saturday.

It's Official

I will be testing for my ni-dan (second degree black belt) October 25th.

I'm starting to freak out.

Already.

When You Connect

We've all had them.

Those moments when you know without asking what someone is thinking. Those moments when just a glance tells you exactly what the other person is trying to communicate. Those moments when you connect with someone.

Tuesday night, sensei was doing some promotions. The rank test had been a couple of weeks ago, but some students had missed class due to work and other obligations. One such student is Mr. Lee.

Now, Mr. Lee has basically been my student almost from day one. I've worked with him on basics. I've worked with him on stances. I've taught him all of his first kata. I've spent hours going over the details and nuances of isshinryu with him.

Sensei called Mr. Lee to the front of the class, said his little speech

Through my senseis Bill Coppage, Larry Dreher, and the Isshinryu Karate Association, I promote you to sichi-kyu--yellow belt. Turn around and remove your obi.

Then sensei turned and looked at me, without saying a word, but I knew. Without a word in response, I dropped out of line, ran and got the yellow belt sensei had laid on the chair, brought it back and handed it to Mr. Lee. With the briefest of glances, my sensei communicated to me, and I understood him perfectly.

When you've worked, and sweat, and hurt, and bled with someone long enough...

you connect.

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Weirdness Abounds

Anybody who's read my blog for any length of time knows that I have weird dreams. What is even weirder is when those weird dreams come true. A couple of months ago, I dreamed that sensei had moved the dojo again, into a much smaller building just up the road. I remember remarking in my dream that the entire building could fit into about half a room of our previous dojo, and asking him why he had moved, and was he still going to be able to do his after school program in such a small place.

Imagine the weirdness factor when I went to karate to night (for the first time since July, but that's a different subject altogether) and there was a sign on the door stating that the dojo had moved. So I drove just up the road, and found the new dojo. I walked inside and indeed the entire building could fit into about half a room of our previous dojo. I asked him why he had moved and was he still going to be able to do his after school program in that building. It was about this point that I remembered the dream and went "whoa, weird".

So what it boils down to is that it came time to renew the lease, and sensei, well he added up the rent and utilities, subtracted what he was bringing in in dues and made a snap decision not to renew the lease. That being the case, he had to find a new place really fast, so he took the new dojo. It is really small. I'm already hoping that when this lease is up, he'll look for a bigger place. There were only 6 of us there tonight, and it was really crowded.

I liked the previous dojo, but I can understand sensei's reasoning.

Rank Test

Rank tests were held last Thursday. Promotions were given out tonight. Those receiving promotions were

Front row: Eric--yellow, Nick--green, Lawrence--didn't test, Patrick--blue/white

Second row: Brian--brown, LJ--yellow/white, Cody--didn't test, Dallas--yellow

Back row: Tim--blue, Brian--blue, Chad--brown/three stripes, Tom--brown/two stripes, John--blue

Unfortunately, the belts hadn't come in yet, so they didn't all get them.

I have that stomach thing that's been going around, and I didn't really want to go to class, but I wanted to be there for the promotions. So I drug (That's Southern for dragged; it has nothing to do with any sort of medication--legal or not) myself up to the dojo anyway.

More zoo pictures soon.

Ya Knew It Couldn't Last

Nope, it couldn't last. This afternoon I cast on a Pinwheel Hat.

The pattern is similar to Coronet, but is worked in short rows. Pinwheel actually predates Coronet by almost three years. There are plusses and minuses to each pattern. In Coronet, the cabled band is knit first, then stitches are picked up for the rest of the hat. I suppose if you like picking up stitches, this is no problem, but most people I know think it is a pain. Pinwheel is worked in one piece with short row shaping. However, it must be seamed up the back. All in all, I prefer Pinwheel, which is why I am knitting it.

I'm still working on Cody's sock. Progress is slow, but I am making a little.

I haven't done a karate post in quite a while. Well, in a week. There wasn't much to report on Thursday's class. We did basics the first half of the class--as always, then I helped a san kyu finish learning Chinto kata. He was almost to the end, and I taught him the last four or five steps.

Last night in Black belt class, we worked on bo kata--both tokumine and urashi. I had forgotten some of urashi, but going through it a few times brought it back to me. We also worked on finding self defense moves in kata. That is, we picked out defenses from different kata for the same move. After class, sensei asked me if I was learning anything from it. I said that it was really hard for me to learn just by standing there listening to him talk, and almost as hard to learn just by watching. I have to be doing the stuff to really learn it. He said he's going to try to incorporate more drills into class. I hope I don't end up partnered with one particular student. She never does the drills the way sensei tells us to. It's really hard for me to get any learning done when I have to pair up with her.

Tonight's class was basics with a twist. We went through a few upper body basics as normal, but when we did the kicks, we did them slow motion first. Then we did them normal speed. Doing kicks in slow motion is really good, not only for checking your form, but for working on balance as well. After that, we did some stance work, followed by seisan by the numbers. Sensei would count, and we would to a step of the kata and all the techniques that go with that step.

Finally, we partnered up and did some kumite drills. That was it for tonight's class.

The bad thing is that one of the little kids moved up to the adult class this week. You almost have to feel sorry for this kid. Nobody likes him, but he brings it on himself because he is soooooo obnoxious.

There is supposed to be a lunar eclipse tomorrow (Wednesday). I'm off to research it.

Black Belt Class

I finally made it back to Black Belt class. Cody and I took turns being sick last week, and thus missed the whole week of karate. It was good to be back in class. I am so out of shape that even going through half of the kata at half speed was a good workout for me. We did seisan, wansu, chinto, kusanku, and sunsu which worked out really well because I'd done all the others at home this morning. Even sanchin, which I hate. Hate that kata. With a passion. A pink and purple passion. Hate it.

Did I mention that I hate sanchin kata?

Well I'd done seisan and sunsu at home as well, but it never hurts to do them more than once. After class, I stayed and did all of my weapons kata. Those would be tokumine no kun, and urashi bo, and agena no sai, and kusanku sai. I thought I would go in early and get some extra work in, but there are so many kids running around at that time, that there is no place to work.

After going through kata, we worked with the little brown belt boy on his kata, then did a sparring type drill. I had a really hard time with this drill. It is a way of gaining distance without moving our upper bodies. I'll really have to work on that one. I just can't seem to keep my upper body still.

I also found out that sensei will not be recommending me for promotion at the shiai in March. That means I will have to wait a whole nother year to be considered for my ni-dan. I think I could have been ready. Well, if sensei spent as much time working with me as he does with other students, I definitely would have been ready. But even working on my own, I think I could have been ready.

He wants me and the other female shodan to work together and inspire each other. That is really hard for me because I don't even like her. I don't know. She moved here last summer and started attending our dojo, and the first thing she does is walk in and try to change everything. For example, we sometimes do what we call "no-focus kata." We have called it that for at least 5 years, but she comes in and insists that it should be called "free flowing kata." Then a couple of weeks ago, she was telling sensei how he needed to be teaching kata to new students. Now, that is just downright disrespectful. And of course, everything was better in her old dojo. It's always "we did it this way," or "we did it that way," or "master so-and-so this," and "Master so-and-so that."

She is so loud, and so domineering, and so overbearing, and such a know it all that I just can't make myself like her no matter how hard I try.

To find out that I've got to wait another year for my ni-dan for her to be ready sure doesn't help any.

Jealousy

My first black belt class after the holidays. We have a 12 year old ik-kyu in the dojo who will be testing for his junior black belt soon. The entire class last night was spent working with him, getting him ready. Sensei says that will be the focus of our black belt classes until he tests.

I must admit I feel more than a little bit of jealousy. Sensei is spending all this time working with him.

Last year, about this time, when two more of our students were getting ready to test, sensei would spend the entire class working with them, while the rest of the class worked kata by ourselves. He even brought in black belts from our parent dojo to evaluate them and work with them.

I would have killed to have been able to receive that kind of attention. What I got was, "Go over in the corner, on your own, and figure out, on your own, what you will need to know for your test."

This summer, I will be eligible to test for my second degree. Sensei has indicated that he will recommend me for promotion. I am no where near ready. Yet, all of our black belt classes will be spent getting this one child ready for a junior black belt, while I am neglected once again.

Makes it mighty hard to stay motivated.

Mighty hard.

Thurdsay Karate

Boy, I really wanted to stay home tonight. Remember this? This afternoon I gently swatted Rylea playfully on the behind, and the pain that shot through that finger hurt almost as bad as when I first did it. I thought about using that as an excuse to stay home, but I made myself go to class anyway. I almost wish I hadn't. We were doing our basics and when we got to the double knife hand strike, I felt something pull in my left shoulder. I tentatively tried to keep on going, but the pain was pretty bad and I didn't want to risk injuring myself. So I pretty much sat out the rest of class. I did go on and do the kicks, but held my shoulder still and my arm close to my side instead of in the normal kamae position.

After a quick break, the class went over kata. They all did seisan, since we have quite a few white and yellow belts who don't know any higher kata. Sensei showed them some of the different ways to practice kata. First they did slow motion kata. This is an excellent way to make sure your form and stances are correct. After that, they did stance only kata. This is going through the kata, but with no techniques. We keep our hands on our belts, and just go through the stances. It takes concentration, because I have to imagine myself doing the kata, or I'll lose my place. Stances are the foundation of any kata, and this is a good way to make sure you are doing them correctly.

After class, I was going over sunsu kata and one of the brown belt students was chatting with sensei. He asked sensei if Mr. Eiffling had given us a good report Tuesday evening. Sensei replied that he had paid me a very nice compliment, saying that I had really improved since my shodan test. Woo Hoo! For him to say that, especially considering how wobbly my legs had gotten by that time (the out-of-shape thing, you know) really made me feel great.

Being on my home turf didn't hurt matters either.

Tuesday Karate

As expected, we had guests from the Greenville dojo in class last night. Mr. Eiffling was there. He is a 4th degree black belt and a phenomenal martial artist. He brought a shodan and a green belt with him. He'd hoped to have more, but that's all who could make it this time.

We started off doing a few basics to warm up, then we did some basic combinations from our fighting stance. After a quick break, we did a few kata. We had to take turns because there were so many of us there. We finished by doing some partner drills.

I have so much respect for Mr. Eiffling. He has an incredible amount of martial arts knowledge and is a truly humble person. He is very happily married, so no one needs to get any ideas about matchmaking. Uh.... sorry about that. Knee jerk reaction. Too many people here lately thinking I need to be fixed up.

Back to what I was saying. Phenomenal martial artist...truly humble...oh yes, that's where I was. He will share that knowledge down to the newest white belt (rank appropriate, of course) and has the knack of teaching/correcting without you ever feeling like you are being talked down to. It felt kind of awkward to me last night, though, because it seemed that every time I looked up, he was watching me.

I guess that's to be expected, since I am approaching my ni-dan. I only wish I could have done better kata. It's amazing how out of shape one can get in just three weeks.

Karate

I actually went to karate tonight, for the first time in at least 3 weeks. I hadn't meant to miss that much, just stuff kept coming up. A family dinner, a band concert, the parade, looking for Rylea, a dentist appointment that ran late--you know the usual stuff.

I walked into the dojo and sensei said, "Who are you?" I'm sure he got that from me, because I've said it before when someone has missed a lot of classes. That, or "Oh, look, a new student!"

And that's what I replied, "I'm a new student and I want to join your dojo."

There was only Joshua and me there, so sensei asked us what we wanted to work on. I said that I'd missed so much class lately that I was up for anything. Joshua asked to go over kata, so we spent most of the class going over kusanku kata bunkai. When we had finished that, we went over kusanku sai--the kata that's kicking my butt.

"It's not learning the moves," I explained to sensei. "It's coordination with the sais." That's my biggest problem, learning to control the sais.

I've really gotten away from working out outside of class. I need to get back in to it.

The rest of class was spent discussing what to do with our two students who will be ready to test for their jr. shodans soon. We mostly talked about how to keep them interested for the time they will spend between jr. shodan and when they are old enough for full shodan.

Tomorrow, we are supposed to have guests from the Greenville dojo come work out with us. That ought to be good.

Must Be The Season

It must be the season for tooth problems. You know about mine. Well, sensei had one of his wisdom teeth cut out last week, Barrett is having all four of his out tomorrow, and Joshua is getting his braces off Friday.

Sensei didn't come to Black Belt class at all Monday. We kind of did our own thing. Josh talked a little about the seminar this past weekend. He was the only one who was able to go. Then we did a few kata and sparred a bit.

Last night, I wasn't sure if sensei would be there or not, so all the way to class, I was planning on what I would teach in case he wasn't. He was there, but couldn't count. So I basically led class anyway. First, we went through all the basics, then we did some drills. Sensei would describe the drill and I would count for him.

I don't mind helping out, but I've been teaching so much lately that I'm missing my own workouts. Hopefully, things will settle down soon and I'll have a real karate post to put up.

Karate Update

Tuesday night was rank test night for the adult class at Isshinryu Karate USA. Ten students tested for ranks ranging all the way from ku-kyu (one green stripe) to Ik-kyu (first grade brown). Everyone did very well, and showed great spirit and determination. It was a very impressive test.

It was an exciting night for me as well because, though I've helped with rank testing ever since I was a purple belt, this was the first test in which I was responsible for specific students. When I got there, sensei handed me a clipboard with evaluation sheets for three students on it, and said, "These are yours." So, even though sensei ran the test, I was the one testing them.

Thursday night was promotion night. The following students were promoted:

Eric--one green stripe
Carlissa--two green stripes
Dallas--two green stripes
Tim--yellow
Brian--yellow
John--yellow
Lawrence--blue/white
Tom--third brown
Twinkie--second brown

and last but certainly not least

Cody--first brown

Yep, that's right, our own dear Cody is now an ik-kyu! Next step is junior shodan. That will be sometime next year, probably April or May.

Promoting so many students took nearly half the class, so we finished off by doing some isometric kicks (that's a fancy way of saying slow motion kicks) and some speed and balance drills.

Today's Pic: The adult class of Isshinryu Karate USA. I obviously didn't take this picture, since I am in it. Pictured are (front row) Mrs. W, me, sensei, Joshua. (second row) Collin, Chad, Cody, Lawrence, Eric, Carlissa, Dallas. (third row) Brian, I Don't Know, Twinkie, Brian, Tom, John

P.S. Mr. T is back in the hospital. His chronic illness is acting up, and he may need surgery. I don't know much more.

Bo Class

Black belt class last night was a bo class. The first half was spent working on Urashi Bo. We all went over it together as a class, then sensei worked a bit with Mrs. W, who hasn't yet learned the whole thing. Josh, Barrett, and I went over it together a few times while they did that, then we discussed bunkai a bit.

The second half of class was bo vs bo kumite. This was fun, because Mrs. W hadn't learned any of this in her old dojo. So I was trying to teach her the side I already knew, while learning the other side at the same time. But we kept at it, and managed to get through it a few times.

Tonight is going to be a rank test. Cody is testing for his ni-kyu or second grade brown. I told sensei that I would have him there, but I would probably be passed out in the back room because I had a root canal this morning. More about that later.

We were discussing last night about how Cody and one other little boy are about ready for their junior black belts. The other boy just turned 13, so he's got three years before he can test for his full shodan (our association sets an age limit of 16 for shodan) so sensei was talking about how to keep him motivated for the next three years. He says he's going to break the rank up into half ranks. Junior shodan will be a black belt with a white stripe, then he'll get a black belt with a yellow stripe, then blue, etc until he is old enough to test for shodan in front of the board. He wants to think of a requirement for each of those ranks. One will probably be Agena no sai, and one will be bo vs bo, and one will be two man basics. That's why he hasn't really pushed those with Cody and Chad. He's started them on two man basics and Agena, but hasn't really worked on them that much. Sanchin will wait until full shodan. They know the moves, but getting the breathing and tension and being beat on will wait until they are older. Chad will probably test for his jr. shodan in January or February, and Cody will test a few months later.

The good news is that Mr. Eiffling and some of the black belts from Greenville are going to come work out with us. Sensei says maybe next Tuesday. That's always cool.

I Almost Didn't Go

to class tonight, because of the tooth thing. But since Cody is testing Tuesday for ni-kyu, I felt he needed to be there. I sat out class, though. I talked to sensei about it beforehand, and since he is dealing with a broken tooth himself, he completely understood.

After basics, Joshua took the higher ranks into the back room to work on kata, while the white belts stayed in the front and worked with Sensei. I went back into the back, since that's where Cody was, and Josh asked me if I would help him critique the kata. I mostly watched Cody and another young yellow belt. I have to really watch myself when helping younger students. I have to remind myself to take their age into account and not be too critical of them. The most common problem I see with the younger students is that they rush their kata.

Speaking of kata, BBM has posted an excellent article on the value of kata. I meant to post about my opinions of this topic here, but haven't gotten around to it yet. Just one more item on my list of things to catch up on.

After class, Josh and I were talking. Seems some of them have found my blog, and were uncomfortable with some of the stuff I've posted. Out of deference to them, I've removed some of the things they've mentioned--though it was posted so long ago that most of you wouldn't even remember it anyway. It wasn't anything bad, but I guess I'll have to be more careful about what I say in the future.

The Rest Of The Story

Buck has asked for the story behind yesterday's post, so without further ado...

Every fall, this town holds its annual Downtown Jubilee on the square. Among the main attractions are local entertainers, a car show, and arts and crafts booths.


Children's Activities Choir Performs at Downtown Jubilee

I left around 9:30 AM, before it got too hot. I asked Cody if he wanted to go, but he said no. However, as I was walking out the door, he handed me his wallet and said that if I saw anything he would like, to buy it for him.

The first booth I approached had leather tooled wallets, belts, bracelets and the like. As I was perusing the wares, the owner of the booth asked me what my wristbands meant. I always wear two wristbands. I explained to the man that the LiveSTRONG band was for supporting those with cancer, and the other is my black belt.

"You're a black belt," the gentleman asked?

"Yes, sir." I replied.

"I also notice that you're not married," he then said.

"No, I'm not," I responded.

"Well, that's why!" he sneered. "Men are all afraid of you."

"Maybe so," I said.

"You need to quit doing that karate, so you can find a husband," he condescendingly informed me.

"Maybe that's why I started doing it in the first place," I answered, using all the self control I learned in my 4 1/2 years of training not to clock him.

He then began trying in earnest to sell me a leather bracelet for Cody. When I told him that Cody wouldn't wear that, what did he show me? Another bracelet. Three or four more bracelets, in fact. And a wallet, and a key fob, and a belt buckle.

After about a minute, I just walked away. The entire conversation had taken no more than two minutes, but that was about all I could take. Dude, I wanted to say to him, it is generally not good business practice to insult potential customers if expect them to buy from you.

I did buy Cody something, but not from that guy. I ended up getting him this:



He liked it a whole lot better than a cheap, mass market, dingy looking leather bracelet. That is a Peyton Manning rookie card in the upper right hand corner. Once Cody saw this, he decided that maybe Downtown Jubilee wasn't such a boring thing after all.
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