New Bench 1RM: 155 and 165#

I didn't get my 165# bench press filmed but I did get the 155# filmed.

My actual 1RM: 165 lbs. Looking forward to 185# and beyond once I get my infrastructure in!

When There's Stress, There's Killer Parakeet...

Killer Parakeet... ever helpful in his own parakeet-ish way... He loves to find and retrieve various odds and ends for me, including a small print I got my little paws on at Ocala Comic-Con about a month ago.

 Killer Parakeet is trying to help me remember the steps in Taegeuk Sa-Jang, especially my stances and blocks. The first half isn't too bad, but I do tend to get confused on the second half! Speaking of which, I need to also clean up Taegeuk Oh-Jang and Taegeuk Yuk-Jang as well. Then again, so far Sa-Jang has been my favorite - not as fond of the more defensively oriented forms that come after it. Taegeuk Chil-Jang and Pal-Jang look fun though!

Old Pictures from November 2013: Firewolf Rises

It's amazing what pops up when I'm cleaning out hard disks... These were from right before pneumonia laid me low in November and I was starting to form my Firewolf persona in response to changes in my shooting style, events in the novel, and one of the real-life models for one of my characters was starting to get sick. The Firewolf persona stands apart because she channels her emotions into powering her shots and strengthening her focus, as opposed to the more frosty way Cylithera focuses on emptying herself of everything but pure focus or Guenhwyvar's exuberant quick and not particularly focused shooting based on instincts.

There was also a little tidbit I was working on sporadically courtesy of the Firewolf persona developing inside of me. Suffice to say I've been playing quite a bit with the image of the red rose and the Firewolf being closely linked to each other.

I venture from the lonely cage,
An omega grey wolf cast aside,
Escaping from berserker's stormy rage
With only buzzing mosquitoes at my side.

Crystal tears stain sugar-sand soil,
Mask of human deception melts away;
Salty sea winds etch fragile coil,
Last shreds of human life decay.

Why did I nurture that red rose?
"Conceal it, make it fade," Old Bear said;
One last chapter that failed to close,
And so I left, heart filled with lead.

I throw my head back and howl,
Exiled and without a pack but free.
Greeted only by mournful barn owl
Awaiting death in rotten skeleton tree.

Westward sun beckons ever on,
Bidding owl and mosquitoes farewell.
What will become of the grey pawn
As I heed the glowing rosy light-bell?

Sapphire seas blessed by golden sun await,
Red rose's warmth caresses the weary grey.
Its blessed fire immolates me, seals my fate,
Beacon of light and hope for forever and a day.

Picture from April at CrossFit Iron Legion

Doesn't look like I ever posted this one. This was pushing 225 lbs I think. Wasn't too bad - 100 meters, 3 passes along with Olympic lifts and burpees and box jumps was a real blast!

Draft 0.95 of Part 1/3(ish) of Project Silver Wolf

This is a somewhat cleaned up version of the first of three parts of Project Silver Wolf.  Part 1 has so far been by far the easiest part to write. Parts 2 and 3 are still very much in early stages of writing and have been exceptionally challenging as I attempt to tackle less familiar themes and character types.

The link to part 1 is here. As circumstances permit, fragments of Part 2 and/or 3 may pop up here. Suffice to say I blame a certain person for inspiring me to do Parts 2 and 3...

Killer Parakeet: The Next Winnie-the-Pooh?

First off... being sick with a fever is about par with fermented dingleberries garnished with moldy cucumbers... so no real action shots. I do get bored of sleeping and vegetating though! So of course, Killer Parakeet comes to the rescue from the boredom!

 

Besides the novel, tentatively known as Project Silver Wolf, there's also some Killer Parakeet stories brewing up.  Killer's adventures take place in the same set of worlds as my other stories and many of his friends and/or their descendants do make a good showing in Project Silver Wolf and the other stories revolving around Cylithera the Eternal Huntress. I figure Killer Parakeet won't be as small children friendly as Calvin and Hobbes or Winnie the Pooh or the Velveteen Rabbit but he's got his own niche - I see him as more of a college level character with his excessive flatulence (both ends), questionable eating habits (beans, bacon, bugs, broccoli, cabbage, and potatoes), explosive temper, general parrot-like habits (loves to chew on things and favors dust baths) and a tendency to get intoxicated, usually with beer or mead. Killer is the only character with a known stuffed animal or other thing associated with him, although his perpetual canine companion Rusty was once in existence and is presumed gone. Eventually I may find or create action figures or drawings of Killer's other companions and friends, including Rusty (a wolf-dog with fey blood and more brains than his avian companion), Tindariel Il-Kanan (drunken vigilante who loves to yell "Frontier Justice" and is the parakeet's best friend next to Rusty), Gilrain "Black Swan" Turamarth (the mercenary with many dark secrets), Ilithara N'Shad-Daermon (impulsive dark elven wizard with powers not quite in her control), and Baelnorn Clawstaff (the frail, geriatric Archmage who chooses family over godhood).

Belated News from Yesterday...

... I have a new 1RM on the deadlift. I went from 235 lbs to 250 lbs! I'm only 50 lbs away from my goal of 300 lbs on my deadlift! I was hoping to post it yesterday but internet issues and dealing with someone who frowns upon all things good and holy delayed me a bit. Now if I can get to a 325 lb deadlift, I'm going to be even more ecstatic, as I have a training partner of comparable build to me sitting on a deadlift 1RM of 315 lbs. Said partner also has a bench press 1RM of 350 lbs and a back squat 1RM of 315 lbs.  Now if I can get my bench press and back squat 1RMs past 200 lbs, I will be very happy!

I also did barbell shrugs at 205 lbs for the first time ever yesterday. That wasn't quite as spectacular but I never really went past 135 lbs on that. I think I will be repeating heavy barbell shrugs so I can develop some really nice shoulders and a really nice spot to put the barbell for my back squats, (heaving) snatch balances, and yoke carries!

So far my 1RMs on big lifts are as follows, all units in pounds... goals highlighted and italicized.
Bench Press: 150 225
Back Squat: 180 225
Deadlift: 250 325
Front Squat: 135 185
Push Press: 105 185
Push Jerk: 105 185
Clean (strict): 100 185
Clean & Jerk (strict): 100 185
Snatch (strict): 65 95
Overhead Press (strict): 65 135
Overhead Squat: 85 155 -- This one is an estimated, conservative 1RM based on WODs involving 65-75 lb squats.

Getting a Bit Better...

First end after the initial blank-baling session. I guess I'm getting better at my initial sight settings! Only a 23/25 but not bad for a first round without knowing how close/far my sights are because I have to re-assemble it EVERY FREAKING TIME I shoot.

 As much as I don't like to eat mushrooms because of their powerful laxative effects on me, I do see some really pretty ones. I don't know much about identifying mushrooms besides "this might be something in the Amanita family" or "this thing looks like a puffball" or "this looks like a morel"... but two friends are pretty sure it's a Chlorophyllum molybdites, which is a green-spored member of the Agaricaceae family and very poisonous. Or as another friend puts it, this thing is a deadly laxative (but in more entertaining language) if consumed.

Forgot I Had These From 2014-Jun-26

I still have A LOT of work to do on my form but it's slowly coming in!

The Rest of the Pictures from MSOY 2014-Jul-05

http://s1281.photobucket.com/user/GuenhwyvarAnCrosaire/library/Match%20Play%20Shooter%20of%20the%20Year%202014-Jul-05

More pictures will come up as I get my little paws on them.

Matchplay Shooter of the Year July 2014

Shot the Matchplay Shooter of the Year today, which led to a personal tournament best of a 509/720. I landed a 7/8 qualification round which was pretty good considering I was going up against a lot of high national caliber archers! The only down-side to this event is the industrial grade War on Boogers (tm) going on but this was definitely a great shoot for me with great company!

I also have a set of videos from the semi-finals and medal matches here: http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLz5OzYz3v1I_nGDjZAVR8Emux5UfejDhR

The almost perfect round with my first shot going off a bit and the rest pretty much in place!

 Another very solid round for me with the wind, humidity, and the War on Boogers (tm) raging on!

 Great group, wrong place! My binoculars weren't of much u se this particular round with the light conditions and the fact they were fogged up but looks like I did good!

 My trusty rig!

 Elimination match, 1/8 round before getting slaughtered by one of the nations top cadet archers... Behind me are also some amazing cadet archers.

 This is what 70 meters look like as well as 50 meters. I like 70 meters best!

 My final score card for the qualification round. Not too shabby aside from a rough very first end! Overall I shot very well for myself with challenging wind conditions and a less than comfortable situation with the archer in front of me. Luckily, there were NO barking spiders involved! Well.. I did invoke a few barking spiders, but I tried to keep them in check!