Below are the 20 most recent journal entries recorded in shototiger's LiveJournal:

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Friday, May 29th, 2009
9:23 pm	Things I Learned at ISMAC Well being that ISMAC is mainly designed for western martial arts, I learned quite a bit. The classes I took were striking and kicking, tomahawk and long knife fighting, fiore spear, and german dagger. The striking and kicking was interesting. It was mainly old fashion pugilism. There was actually very little kicking involved. The few kicks that we did do were from savate and were low, mainly below the knee. We also learned how to throw a "russian" punch. It's one of the wierdest punches I've ever thrown. It whips from the shoulder and hip. I almost have to demonstrate it for it to make sense. It's pretty cool though. Now on to tomahawk and longknife. Oh my god this class was cool. Tomahawk is probably one of the most fluid destructive weapons I have ever used. It moves so naturally and is very versitile. Pair that with a long knife, or any other hand held weapon and it can be so lethal. This was probably my favorite class of the whole weekend. The class on fiore spear was okay. I missed part of it mainly cause I was not feeling so well when I got up on monday. It can be wielded like a staff striking with the point of course. I don't have much to say about this class. It was cool but really not my cup of tea. The German dagger class was pretty freakin cool itself. the german dagger, called a rondel, it usually not sharp on the sides being that is primarily a stabbing weapon. The sides can be used to block and lock opponents arms and used as a lever in locks and holds. Many principles that are used in karate like footwork and body shifting came into play here. I also used some of the blocks I know in defense and they set me up very nicely for counter attacks. I have to write about Monday night because this was a very cool night. As things wrapped up we went and changed and ate dinner. After dinner we returned to the convention hall at the hotel to hang out with those left. One of my friend Leonard's friends was there. He is trained quite extensivily in filipino stick arts and knife fighting. We then spent the next hour and a half going through stick flow drills and different attacks, counters and disarms. It was a good close to an excellent weekend. (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Friday, May 22nd, 2009
6:03 pm	ISMAC Day#2 Well day 2 has come to a close here in detroit and it was a fun day. First was a striking class that I really wasn't sure what to expect. It was awsome! We actually did more western arts but most if most all of the basic ideas of karate do apply. The came lunch wich is always a joy:) Thenafter lunch my next class was tomahawk and knife fighting. This kicked serious ass! I was amazed at how nautrally it flowed. The tomahawk is now my favoite weapon. It's bad ass! Tomorrow's classes build on todays classes. So tomorrow get a little more advanced and I can't wait. Now I'm done for the night. I may got to the fitness center to looses up a little her in a bit so I don't stiffen up to bad. But I feel great. It's wierd to be able to do all these things w/o worrying about breathing. It's been three years and it still amazes me. The only thing that would make it better would be if Courtney was here with me to enjoy this. (Comment on this)
Thursday, May 21st, 2009
9:17 pm	ISMAC Day 1 Well, not really day 1 but we're here. Tonight we got checked in and had a little meet and greet with the instructers. Then some of us went on the trek to find food. Holy crap that was a pain in the ass. We are connected to the airport so we went to the terminal to find food because the place in the hotel was holy freakin expensive. So after so taco bell and a cup of coffee I'm back in our hotel room resting and preparing for tomorrow. I already miss Courtney. I wish she could be here, but next year:) There is shopping here and things within cab distance. So hopefully, if I come next year, she can come to. (Comment on this)
Tuesday, April 28th, 2009
9:28 pm	Lots of goings on in St. Louis Well I know it's been a long time since I posted on here but, here I am. So there have been a few changes down here, and in Pekin for that matter. First, dad has stopped responding to current chemetherapies. Today he was accepted into a clinical trial at Barnes Hospital. It combines a chemo pill with, oddly enough, and immunosuppresent used in organ transplant recipeints. Worst case he is back where he started here, best case the cancer stopps progression and possibly regresses a little. So it's a very good thing. Now on to, well, me. I just passed my 3 year check up with mostly flying colors. I'm a little heavy but an increase of steroids due to some stomach problems is the cause of that. I should have my Missouri teaching certificate in about 10 days and the it's on to find a teaching job. I talk to my transplant team and was told that high school would be as low as I could go grade wise. I'm excied and nervous. I loved being in the classroom but it's been 5 years since I taught. I know I can do it, I just need to find my groove. No Problem!! That's really all. Still going to Detroit in May to the 10th annual International Martial Arts and Swordfighting conference. I'm probably going to get hurt, but it'll totally be worth it. After all, I have access to the best pain meds(hehehehe). That's about all for an update at this time. Sorry I missed ya'll when you were here last weekend. I hope the clinic went well. Ahh the joys of retail and taking what ever hours I can get right now! (Comment on this)
Tuesday, March 24th, 2009
10:08 pm	A long awaited update Hello to all. Sorry I haven't posted here in a while but well, no excuses, just haven't. SO where to begin. So far I'm healthy and all is well for the most part. I've been having some trouble with my crohn's. I'm good for now but who know's what will happen. I have to have a colonoscopy at the end of next month to see if things have progressed to the point of surgery. I doubt it but I may have to make more changes in my diet to ease irritation in my intestinal tract. I have my 3 year transplant anniversary on March 31st. I can't believe it's been 3 years. I can remember it all lik it was yesterday and remember most of you comming to the hosptial to see me. It's been a long road but I wouldn't change it for the world. As for the job front, I still have one. My hours have been cut and Barnes and Noble. I have figured it's time for a change. I'm in the process of getting my teaching certificate renewed in Missouri and Illinois and I'm looking to go back to teaching. Ican only do high school and above but that's okay with me. I'm older and a little wiser and I know the classroom is wherer I belong. I get me background check done tomorrow and from the I'll sub the rest of this year and look for jobs for next year. I would like to stay in the St. Louis area for now. Courtney registers for nursing school Thursday. After she finishes school she can go anywhere and get a job so we'll be a little more free to move after that. So all is good there. As for training, well.... I'm just starting to do any type of training aver the past couple of weeks. I was working so much I was tired all the time and didn;t want to do any working out and my health was suffering for it. I gained about ten to fifteen lbs and my pulmonary function tests dropped. Since I started training again I've lost 2 lbs so far and gained 4 percentage points on my pft's. Most of what I'm doing is at home since we really can't afford a gym membership right now. I've been able to bu some equipment; kettlebells, perfect push-ups, ab wheel, etc. It's all getting me back in shape and I'll rock my 3yr check-up. I've been training a little with a friend of mine who has a very "cultured" martial arts background. His name is Leonard and has trained all over the US and world in different styles. His primary style was Judo and started back in the 60's I believe. In May Leonard, my friend Matt and I are going to the International Swordfighting and Martial Arts Conference in Detroit. I'm taking some classes that will aid in my training and some mainly cause I'm interested and it looks like fun. Anyway, it's going to be a good time, and a little painfull I'm sure. So, that's really all for now. There will be more to follow. I hope to make it home more; Courtney and I are trying to buy a second car and if that happens, I should be able to get back more. And yes, to train! Current Mood: crazy (Comment on this)
Thursday, September 18th, 2008
8:19 pm	Dreams of the odd nature. Well I know I haven't posted in a while and I know I need to post more so here's a goodone. Last night I had a very odd dream. I will preface this with I bought the new Star Wars game for wii. Now here it goes. Courtney and I are walking down the street and pass a store that I want to go into. It turns out that this is a lightsaber store. I somehow know the owner and begin talking to him. I tell him that my saber recently broke and I needed a new one. He procedes to tell me how the new ones are not as good as the old ones. After talk a little further he tells me that to keep the prices competitive they had to make certain cuts in the design. Specifically the company had to cut the ability of the lightsaber's ability to block blaster fire. This leads into a long discussion about the economy and how it's a shame that the recent hard times have affected something as classic as the lightsaber and it's abilities. And amazingly I didn't take anything wierd before bed. So this now begins a hopefully long string of blogs, not just every other month. Current Mood: stressed (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Sunday, April 13th, 2008
2:23 pm	Great inspirational speech this has to be one of the best movie speeches I've ever seen or heard. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9rFx6OFooCs&feature=related (Comment on this)
Tuesday, February 26th, 2008
12:41 am	Turner Family Update Well good news and bad news for dad. He has to have more chemo but the first round did stop the progression of the cancer. All of the chemo has fried his veins and it is impossible to get an IV line in so tomorrow(Tuesday) he is getting a port put in. It's a great deal, it's a central line that sits under the skin and is easily accessable for iv and for blood draws. He never has to get stuck again. I honestly wish I could talk them into giving me one. So that's all the news right now. More to follow. (Comment on this)
Monday, February 18th, 2008
12:31 pm	news from the STL.. Well, there's a little news from St. Louis, and Pekin as well. It's been a roller coaster winter for the Turner Family. First dad has finished his second round of Chemo and we find out Wednesday if it worked or not. Mom had a strange thing in here lung that was thought to be cancer and turned out to be a pocket of infection. They put her on antibiotics and she's actually doing better. This may have scared her enough to come here and get evaluated for a transplant. We'll just have to see if she's more stubborn than me or not. As for me I have decided no to return to school. I figured I have a degree and it's time to man up and get a real job. I'm meeting with someone to help me make my resume not a teacher resume and how to answer certain questions that may arise like "Why haven't you worked in a couple of years?" Meanwhile I'm still working part time at Barnes and Noble. Now that I have enough time I have started training again both in karate, on my own unfortunatly, and for the Transplant Olympic Games comming up in July. I'm feeling great, a little sore, but great. Now, I need to find a job, my golf swing, and my running ability. So far so good:) Hopefully I'll see ya'll soon. (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Sunday, December 30th, 2007
10:32 pm	Another year older...... Well here I am standing about 4 days away from a rather bug day for me, my 30th birthday. It's rather hard for me to believe that I'm going to be 30. I can honestly say that I really never thought I would see 30, let alone be transplanted and married before that. So, i can honestly say, this is a big deal to me. I really have no clue what I'll do to celebrate. I'll probably kill myself in a workout, eat things I shouldn't and of course, have a couple of drinks. I'm proud to be able to still type this at 30(almost) and to say I'll still be here to type something for many, many years to come. I'm determined to be the longest living transplant recipient ever so I'm going to be typing crap like this for a long time. I have to thank you guys, because honestly, I wouldn't be as strong and confident and still here if it weren't for all of you. You know who you are. So, on Jan 3rd, history will be made. I'll be 30. Good lord!!!! (3 Comments |Comment on this)
Friday, December 21st, 2007
1:52 pm	quick up date Well mom is out of the hospital. she feels fien and is having no problems. Her doctor is confident that it will close on it's own. She has a x-ray next weekto see the progress. he said that it was very minor and he won't do anything about it yet since it's so minor, but it's still a collapse. That's the news from the STL. Everyone have a Merry Christmas. I'll be home this weekend, at mom and dads Saturday night so if y'all are around, givce me a buzz. (Comment on this)
Wednesday, December 19th, 2007
3:52 pm	I'm beginning to hate the holidays Well here's news on the turner family. First dad is in the throws of chemotherapy. So far he's tolerating it well but only time will tell if it will work, we'll know after 6 weeks of treatment. Mom on the other hand is now experienceing a collapsed lung. It's happening slowly so she really had no clue about this one. She's reporting to the hospital tonight and we'll know how they are going to treat it. Now I'm finally feeling better. I've had some virus like thing for over a week and I'm finally kicking it, I think. The semister fell apart at the end and I amy have to repeat Calculus. We'll see. And yes, there has been no training for way to long. I hate that I live so fat from Sensei Hassel. I'm trying to find something or someone around here to train with but at least I'm in the gym working out. Oh, and I finally have yahoo messanger. my e-mail is gcturner2007@sbcglobal.net if you have it add me. I've got to go do my honey do's and get to the gym. (Comment on this)
Wednesday, December 5th, 2007
5:37 pm	Support Cancer Research!!! Well I blog with bad news. We just found out that my dads cancer is active again. He was coughin up blood which prompted a PET and CT scans. Even though this revealed the cancer being active again, it still ahs not spread beyond his lung. The course of treatment is unknown at this point. He can't receive anymore radation so it's going to be at the least Chemotherapy. He may be part of a experimental therapy but we don;t know yet. So that's all really from here. As my heading says, support cancer research, please. (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Monday, November 12th, 2007
2:37 pm	not a good blog This blog is, well not good. First there is no baby Turner. It was a false alarm. So we try again later. Now, I'm getting on my soap box so bear with me. The past couple of months have been rough. I'm calling into question everything I'm diong right now. This was also part of the little break down I had last week. In the past 2 or 3 months I have lost several transplant friends. Most were kind of unexplainable. They were fine and suddenly went into rejection or had an infection. First this scares the crap put of me. I'm doing great so when id it going to be my turn? It's not death that scares me, I've dealt with that my whole life, it's what I'm leaving behind. I'll be leaving a wife who has sacrificed everything to be with me and is now realizing her dream is within reach. I'll be leaving a family, new and old, who have been gererous and caring and so supportive. My friends who have been by my side through so much in my life and kept me positive and fighting. Now don't take this the wrong way, I'm not giving up, I just don't know if when the time comes to fight again if there's any fight left in me. Second, why them? Why are they gone and I'm still here? They were great people who had families, grandchildren, everything. What is the purpose of this? What's my purpose, there has to be a reason for my life, I hope. I wish I knew the answer to this because it would help. So far I've done very little and my freinds had so much to live for. I feel an added sense of responsibility to do well not only for my donors sake, but for them. I have ot live on and do something great in their name. Nothing is making sense to me now. I'm a little lost. (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Wednesday, November 7th, 2007
3:06 pm	mental meltdown So this week has been, well rough. Mainly just stress but yesterday everything fell apart. I just crumbled under stress of school, debt, work, and post transplant life. Today as I sit here writing a stuipd ass memo for my tech writing class with my ipod on I can say there are 2 songs that best describe how I feel right now. Dreams by Van Halen and Only God knows Why by kid rock. I know, wierd thing to blog about but this melt down was serious. I'm going into to much detail mainly cause I can;t talk about it. I felt bad for Courtney, she had to try to calm down a slightly tweeked, a little nuts, high tempered, steriod rage/depression. The way she was there is just another reason why I married her. Oh, and a little permature and nothing is for certain, AND ONLY YOU PEOPLE WHO ARE READING THIS CAN KNOW ABOUT IT!!! Courtney is late!! Yes that means we may be having a little Turner. Like I said, it's early but we're hoping and very excited. That's all the news from STL. (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Wednesday, October 17th, 2007
12:45 am	Good News!! Well I have some good news about my test results. I don't need surgery, well not right now anyway. There is no absess or fissure or anything nasty like that. There is no obstruction. Ther is however some narrowing but it is minmimual. I have just enough that if I'm having any kind of wierd bowl day, I could constupate easily with hard stools. So, I have to 1)modify my diet. This includes staying away from things that go down rough like popcorn and nuts and things like that. I'm supposed to meet with a dietician sometime soon. 2)monitor my symptoms. More than likly I will need surgery sometime in my life for this, just not now. If I monitor my symptoms I can keep any outbreaks to a minimum so less damage will be done, therefore avioding surgery. If I have another hopper stopper I can take a laxative or I can take colace 2 to 3 times a week to keep things soft and plaible. 3)stick to it. I have to be really careful now. Being immunosuppressed because of my transplant makes any surgery more of a risk so I need to stay on this. But overall good news. there are going to have to be some changes but not really bad ones. It's just going ot be different. But it's all good for the time being. Like I said, surgery later in life yes, right now, no. That's all the news from the STL. Later all!! (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Monday, October 15th, 2007
9:45 pm	Quick Update! This is quick, I have a ton of shittin homework but I know nothing from my MRI yet. I will hopefully know tomorrow. I hate thise things. I had to drink 3 bottles of barium. For those of you who havn;t had to drink that crap think of drinking flavored chalk. Then the hose ass who tried to put in my IV had to stick me twice cause she missed the first time. How do you miss my veins!! I have ropes. Good lord!! She is only the second person in my 29 years of medical crap to miss my veins. Anyway I should hopefully know the results tomorrow. I'm going to be my annoying self to find out our course of action here. So, more to follow. (2 Comments |Comment on this)
10:59 am	AHHHHHHH!!!! Well first I want to say congrats to Matt on his test this weekend. I wish I could have been there but these are the days of part time work and to much school. And Happy Birthday old man. It's a little wierd for me to blog in the morning but I'm getting ready to go for my MRI. I have been haveing stomach trouble since about a week before the wedding and just took pain drugs a sucked it up till after. Well the weekend after our wedding I ended up in the hospital. I had a bleeding ulcer in my large intestine. It's from my Crohn's disease. Well I thought I would be treated and wll would be well and good. I was way wrong. Things were going great till Thursday when I ende up so constipated I couldn't stand up. Well it turns out I may have chronic narrowing of my large intestine. With crohn's part of the disease is the possibility of scaring of the intestine due to outbreaks. If this is the case with me I will either have to severly alter my diet or worse, surgery to remove the bad part my my intestine. So, that's me in a nut shell now. Not a happy camper. I've got to go get scaned so I'l be back later (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Wednesday, September 26th, 2007
3:57 pm	Hell Week! Let me start by saying thank you so much for those of you who were able to make it to our weding. It meant so much for us to have you all there. And I do have to say, the "butt kata" is still being talked about. It was great. I'll try and post some pics on here whenI get a chance. If the happiness could have only lasted. It all started Monday morning. I got a phone call around 11:00 in the morning from my parents. My mom's cousin who was unable to attend the wedding because she had to work was found dead in her apartment in Kansas City. All we know so far is that she was murdered and her car was stolen. The police are searching for 2 suspects and the car. That's all we really know so far. So I aks all of you to pray for my Aunt nancy, she's lost her husband and now her daughter in les than one year. I've never had this kind of thing happen to my family and I wish to god I was in KC to help find whoever did this. Chicken shit mother fucker! I hope the chop his fucking nuts off and dip him in salt water. And now I'm haveing horrible abdominal pain. I'm haveing a ultrasound tomorrow to see if it's my gall bladder or if it's a crohn's problem. That's really it for now. As more information surfaces I'll post what I know. (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Friday, August 17th, 2007
3:22 pm	Last Entry Hey everyone, Well this will be my las entry for a while. I'm ahving some problems. Not physical problems, more emotional and mental. No jokes please. I having some issues and I need some time to sort them out. I would really appreciate any calls or e-mails. I'll be reading blogs from time to time to check up on things. If I get home I'll stop in and train but that's really it. I still don't know about my suspicious mole but I'll let you know. Well, that's realy it. Hopefully I talk to you all soon. Current Mood: depressed (1 Comment |Comment on this)