"And them Limey eyes they were eyin' the prize some people call manly footwear"

A little tip of the hat to Gary P. Nunn for the blog title. I lifted it from his song "London Homesick Blues".

Some of my readers may recall, that we (that is, my big-sis and I) took a trip down to Mercedes, Texas back in January. Nuttnbunny wanted to get some new boots, and to be honest, I was ready for a new pair myself (not that the others are worn out - I just wanted new). Fast forward to Friday, when I walked in the door, and found that they had arrived.



A square toe, but not too square. Natural sole, 13 inch upper, toast remuda, and a chocolate shark counter. Pretty snazzy if I do say so myself. I need to find a belt to match, and I will be set.

I'm turning Blue!

Actually, I turned blue on Saturday. Not from being choked (although we worked on chokes for a long time), but rather after getting beaten up by Travis Tooke for 5 minutes, he and my coach promoted me to BJJ Blue Belt.

Roy Harris (BJJ Blackbelt under Joe Moreira) wrote an article, in which he described the BJJ Blue belt as "The belt of survival". In my own experience rolling with new blue belts, and in my discussion with new blues, I agree, but for a different reason. Roy believes that the blue belt is learning to escape from bad positions. That may be the case, but it also becomes a target. Advanced white belts see you as a target. They think if I can tap this guy, my coach will see i'm ready to advance. Other blue belts want to see what you are made of, and purple belts want to make sure they keep you in your place.

I think Ebby Calvin LaLoosh said it best in Bull Durham "I'm just happy to be here, and I hope I can help the ballclub."

A quick note on the injury front. Ribs are healing, although I still can't upa 100%. I also dislocated another toe on Saturday. This time, the ring toe (is that accurate? the 4th toe on my left foot). I popped it back in and kept going, then buddy taped it later. The wifey was disgusted by it, as it kinda looked mangled and turned strange colors, but it barely hurts.

Quick humor

Graph Jam is the thinking person's Lolcats. Essentially they use graphs to explain songs, and other bits of life.

Guess who likes sleeping in his own bed?

This guy! Back from Vegas on Thursday (technically it was Friday morning). I managed to get dressed for work on Friday, and packed for BJJ in Dallas on Saturday. I worked through lunch and left a couple minutes early for Dallas. Weighed in at the tournament (231.7 - damn, still a super heavyweight) then off to Love field to pick up my Big Sis - NuttnBunny the crafty knitting queen.

From there we got checked into the Hotel, and after solving only a few problems (she not me) we went to dinner. I always forget how snooty Big D can be. Not that I minded, as we were Rico Suave, but still it ain't Austin. Brisket tacos at Mia's. Awesome. Queso at Mia's. Bleh. It might be the first time anyone put Chicken stock in queso. Bad things man.

Back to the hotel, where I had an "interesting" conversation with a hotel employee. Seems they were having a prom there. Parking was insane. After we dropped off The behemoth, I forgot I left a pistol in the vehicle. When I explained I needed to grab something, the guy who was helping us said he would just go grab whatever it was. I explained that the something I forgot was a pistol, and I would prefer to grab it myself. The look on his face was priceless. Needless to say, he showed me to my truck and I secured it myself.

BJJ tournament the next day was a big let down. The tournament was well run (except for this odd 45 minute rambling rules speech/rant the owner went on). Rather, my performance was a letdown. I lost to a guy who was much better then most intermediate guys I have rolled with in No-gi, and may or may not run a gym *coughsandbaggercough*. In Gi my performance was a little better, I couldn't finish my triangle choke and lost on points, then was injured during my second match (I didn't think I had a second match) when a rib popped out of socket. When my competitor slid up into a high Kesa Gatame right over the rib, I tapped. A little ice and an Aleve/Advil cocktail and it was fine. Still a bit sore, but manageable. I'm going to tape it for Wednesday, and we will see how things go.

Monday starts me eating right again. I took a two day break, but am back on it. Salad for lunch then Buffalo Tenderloin steaks, salad, and fresh fruit.