Time & Money
Dammit, I found a kung fu school I feel really good about, but I just flat out can't afford the $100 per month fee. Compared with other schools in the area, that's pretty steep, but it's the only school teaching Choy Li Fut. The other schools I found that are convenient to me (and that includes other disciplines, such as Aikido, Wushu style kung fu, Northern Shaolin Long Fist, Tae Kwon Do, Krav Maga, etc., only charge between $60 and $80, but, well, none of that is what I want to study.

There is a teacher at a local rec center that teaches 7 Star Praying Mantis (which is cool), but I think that's just an add on to a Wing Chun course of instruction, which also doesn't interest me.

I've also been reflecting on my involvement in Freemasonry. The simple fact is that I am getting pretty much nothing out of it. It is really just another source of stress and aggravation in my life. I knew when I joined up I was going to be hanging out with a bunch of old white guys, which I was okay with because I'll be one mesself someday, but well, I'm pretty over it. All they talk about is how Obama's a communist and argue over whether Grand Lodge has a rule about this-that-or-the-other-thing or over who invested the Lodge's money where or whether the hot dogs we grilled are sufficiently done and how we need to raise money but nobody knows how. I don't believe in Jesus and the RNC, and since we can't seem to hold a conversation on Masonry if it doesn't involve a rule book, a scandal, or a committee meeting, my lack of interest has become over-whelming. I plan on serving out my year at my present officer position so as not to leave the Worshipful Master in the lurch, but only in spirit, I think tomorrow's stated meeting might be my last.

I start my second semester of law school on Monday, and I still don't have all my grades from my first semester. In fact, I only have my Legal Writing grade -- which was a B+. Not great. It would have been at least an A-, based on my papers, but I didn't perform very well on the final, only getting an 81%, that fucked me. That's ok, I'll get an A this semester.

I just try to keep my priorities in mind:
1) Law school
2) OTO
3) AA
4) Other stuff including food, exercise, sleep, peace of mind, music, etc.

Of course my cat and my girlfriend are also a priority, but they move higher and lower in this basic, fixed structure. Sometimes, they dethrone #1, sometimes, they get shunted for #'s 3 or 4. In a perfect world, AA should be above OTO, but a Body Master has got to put his Body before himself. I've been a miserable disappointment in AA, but I think I've had a few moments of brilliance. I can at least advise Probationers competently. My introducing Neophyte had me reassigned last year -- I don't know whether he quit or was just annoyed with me or what, but I've probably done better work under his replacement anyway. Still, that one hurt.

All I can do is keep re-inventorying my life, trying cut out the extraneous and nurture the fundamental. Sometimes I do it well, sometimes I do it poorly, but I do keep trying.