Another Step to the Third Degree

Of course, in this case, the "Third Degree" to which I'm referring is my next Black Belt. Conceivably, this Fall I will be earning my third degree (or third dan) from Keith Hafner's Karate. To prepare for this, my teacher, Professor Hafner, has started training and testing us (my friend Peter Gluck and I are both eligible). Each month we are to perform in front of the school a demonstration of the Professor's choosing.

The first month we had to show two of our advanced forms (or kata). I don't mind doing this at all. I'm kind of a big ham, so performing in front of a group is fun for me and it gets me pretty juiced up.

This month was more of a challenge.

This test was to perform a "multiple break". This means that we have to break five single boards in succession using different moves on each one. The challenge isn't so much the act of breaking a board, but rather maintaining the mental focus necessary to aim the techniques accurately. Ordinarily in a break you take one or two practice swings to make sure that your aim is good before you put your full strength into actually striking the target. With the multiple break, you only get that opportunity on the first board. After that it is all about targeting on the fly and maintaining your focus.

The fact that Lisa and I didn't have to visit the emergency room afterward should tell you that the break was a success. The funny thing is, from the moment my foot left the floor for the first kick, the process blurred entirely. Watching the video, I know the crowd was cheering, but I didn't hear a thing.

Every time I do a break, I experience much the same thing. The focus is so complete that I don't even notice the passage of time. Of course, now that I know that I have such an ability within me, I want to discover how I can apply that to my everyday life.

Maybe that will be one of my future tests!

So, have you ever made a break? If so, what was your experience like?

Beyond the Job, Part 4: Arts and Crafts

Brian Tolle gets crafty

This is the final part to my report on the Leadership Ann Arbor Quality of Life Day. You might want to read part 1, part 2, and part 3 first.

In the final part of our whirlwind tour of the vast cultural and entertainment possibilities in the Ann Arbor area, we first stopped in at The Ark. The Ark is a music venue right on Main Street in downtown Ann Arbor. It specializes in acoustical presentations and, as such, is a haven for traditional and folk music in the area.

According to our host, Barb Chaffer-Authier, back in 1965, a group of churches decided to set up a haven for students in the community free of drugs and alcohol which would expose the youth to music poetry and art. Over the ensuing forty years, the Ark has gone through many incarnations, but has remained true to the ideal of presenting great music to the Ann Arbor community. The 400 seat venue has performances almost 300 nights a year. Remarkably tickets range between $11 and $30. Some shows are even free.

Check out their website for more information about upcoming acts and opportunities to volunteer your time. What? Yes, I said "volunteer". After all, the Ark is a nonprofit organization and much of what they accomplish is partially due to the over 200 volunteers who help with everything from concessions to sound production.

After we left the Ark, we headed around the corner to the Ann Arbor Arts Center. I had probably walked past this place a thousand times without it coming to my notice. I'm glad Russ and Ron finally led me through the door!

The Center, around since 1909, has as it's mission "to engage the community in education, exhibition, and exploration of the visual arts." It houses an exhibition space, an art store, and, upstairs, a series of classrooms where students of all ages get to learn about the visual arts and to explore their own creativity. In our case, we were given the opportunity to express ourselves through glazing ceramics.

What a lot of fun!

Bree Jacobs, our teacher

I haven't had an art class since high school. Sitting there with the other Leadership folks and chatting as we worked on our personal masterpieces, I was, for a time, transported back to my childhood. Our teacher at the Center, Bree Jacobs, gave us some brief instruction on the technical issues involved with adding color to plain, white ceramic, but otherwise stepped back to let us do our thing.

I'm not going to tell you what I did. I'll receive the finished piece in June when I graduate from Leadership. Then I'll present it as it should be presented -- visually.

So, that was it for our final full day of Leadership. We will still get together next month for our graduation, but this session is basically done. After that I will have to take some time to look back at the process to see how I've changed. For now, though, I'd have to say that the whole thing was definitely worth it. If you have the opportunity (and you do) I'd highly recommend you check it out.

So, when was the last time you had "art class"?

Beyond the Job, Part 3: Arts and Sports

Christen McArdle

This is the second part to my report on the Leadership Ann Arbor Quality of Life Day. You might want to read part 1 and part 2 first.

After a very busy morning, we stopped at the Metro Cafe at the corner of Detroit and Catherine. As we tucked into our lunches (a very tasty black bean burger for me), Christen McArdle, the Executive Director of the Ann Arbor Film Festival gave us a great presentation on that annual event.

I had heard of the Festival, of course. It's kind of hard for even the most hermit-like computer programmer to miss any mention of the annual week-long event. What I didn't realize, though, is that the Ann Arbor festival is the second oldest experimental film festival in North America! They just celebrated their 45th anniversary this year and they are already planning for number 46 (set for March 25-30, 2008).

Unfortunately, not all is joyful in the world of experimental film. Apparently, state politicians, playing to their conservative constituencies have cut funding to the Festival, including $20,000 which had already been allocated for this year. Apparently they relied on a vaguely-worded statute which allowed them to label some of the films as "pornographic" and therefore deny the funding. Now, I guess that they have a right to do that (though the Festival organization is fighting the statute), what I find alarming is that the legislators in question didn't even see the films.

So, this state of affairs has left the Festival in a hard place. They are now having to dedicate much more of their time to raising funding from other sources. Still, they are pressing onward, determined that they will make it to their 50th anniversary and beyond.

After lunch we headed over to the athletic campus where we learned about the various developments with the University sporting events. In Ann Arbor, you might say that there are one or two people who are interested in Wolverine football or basketball. Michigan has a veritable plethora of other teams, though, which many people don't pay as much attention to.

Maybe they should.

According to our host, Michigan softball now ranks 3rd and Michigan baseball is number one in the Big 10. In fact, I would be surprised if anyone guessed that the winningest coach in Michigan history is the softball coach, Carol Hutchins (though she maintains that it's just because she's played a lot of games).

The next time you are in the mood for watching some live sporting action, you might want to check out some of the "other" teams around Ann Arbor. Have fun!

Tomorrow: Music and creativity.

So, have you seen any of the "other" sporting events available through the University?

Beyond the Job, Part 2: Arts and Sciences

This is the second part to my report on the Leadership Ann Arbor Quality of Life Day. You might want to read part 1 first.

After getting mildly damp in our abortive attempt at a nature hike, we all boarded a bus and headed out to the University of Michigan's North Campus. There we went in for a tour of the Arthur Miller Theatre.

Let me take this short moment to tell you that I actually went to classes on North Campus. Imagine my surprise when we pulled up in the parking lot where I used to park. Half of the lot was gone, to be taken up by this huge building. Heck, I was on that campus only a few months ago and I hadn't seen the construction. Sometimes I think I've got to get out more.

Oh, well, back to the story.

The theatre is the only one named for Arthur Miller, who was an alumni of U of M. It hosts a variety of performance venues as well as instructional and training facilities. We also learned that most of the performance venues in town are actually owned and run by the University. According to our host, Russ Collins, the unusual thing about this setup is that the U allows other theatrical groups to to use the space. The next time you come out to attend a play at the Power Center, or a concert at Hill Auditorium, give a nod in the general direction of the administration building.

Once again dashing through the rain, we all hopped back on the bus and headed downtown. Our next stop: The Hands-on Museum.

What a blast.

My only disappointment was that we were only allowed to stay for about 30 minutes. I found so many displays which captivated my attention. I wanted to play with them all. Of course, I had to play nice and not knock any small children out of my way. I think I managed nicely, thank you.

According to, Pam Smith, the Director of Public Affairs & Marketing, over its 25 year existence, the HoM has hosted about 3.2 million visitors. Currently the annual total is over 210,000 (and half of them are from outside Washtenaw county)!

On top of the too-numerous-to-mention science exhibits, I loved the pieces of antique fire-fighting equipment which dotted the building. Apparently the HoM's home is a former firehouse and when the designers built the HoM, they took great pains to maintain the bones of the old structure. One of the rooms evenhad an old firepole in it (which several kids we attempting to scale).

After our hosts dragged us from the fun-filled halls of the Hands-on Museum, we took a quick tour of the local farmers' market and then headed off to lunch.

Which was good because I was very hungry!

Tomorrow, the woes of the Film Festival.

So, have you ever been to the Hands-on Museum?

Beyond the Job: Quality of Life

I know I just finished writing about the make up day for our Leadership Ann Arbor Education Day, but here I am again with my next report. Sadly, this report is about our final full class day, Quality of Life.

Today was all about the things that Ann Arbor offers which make life here worth living. Very few of us find our motivation solely through our jobs or even our home life. Both are, of course, vital, but we can experience those aspects of our lives anywhere. Why Ann Arbor?

Our hosts for the day, Ron Olson, the Chief of the Parks and Recreation Division of the State of Michigan (and one of the only living people for whom a park has been named) and Russ Collins, the Executive Director of the Michigan Theater, posited that "quality of life" had much to do with our opportunities for growth. From its parks and nature areas, to its museums and theaters, to the U of M athletic offerings and the plethora of musical venues, Ann Arbor possesses opportunity in abundance.

Somewhat reminiscent of our very first class, Economic Development Day, our hosts had jam-packed so much into one day that by the end many of us felt as if our heads would explode. How can you contain all that a community like this holds in a single day? Obviously you can't, so we had to make do with a tantalizing overview.

Our day started with a visit to Gallup Park, up on the north side of town. I had been there once or twice in the past, but never with a knowledgeable guide. Our hosts started by telling us about some statistics about our city which we might not have known. For example, one aspect of QoL is simply how safe people feel. In this survey, a full 75% of people felt secure in their homes and neighborhoods. Not a bad score at all. Ironically, that number goes up to 80% of people who felt safe visiting downtown Ann Arbor!

We then heard from David Borneman, the Natural Area Preservation Coordinator. He told us of the efforts of his department to restore indigenous plant species to the area and to clear away invasive species. We learned what makes a site a good candidate for restoration (relatively low incidence of invasive species, a variety of native species, undisturbed soil, among other factors). We also heard about his department's re-introduction of prescribed burns to support continued dominance of local species -- apparently local species are fire-tolerant, while foreign invasive species tend not to be.

Lara Treemore-Spears

After all this lecturing, we were all raring to go out on our nature hike. We divided ourselves into four groups and, ignoring the gentle Spring rain, off we went into the green. Our group's guide, Lara Treemore-Spears, answered our questions as we hiked. She told us more about site restoration, about interdependence issues in the nature areas (that ugly clump of "weeds" is actually vital to support local bird species), and about the problems which arise from home landscaping (fertilizers, invasive species such as honeysuckle and crabapple).

Then the lightning struck.

Oh, not too close. We managed an orderly retreat back to the nature center (no trampling of the elderly or anything) and hid out under an awning, continuing to listen to our knowledgeable guide while we watched the "gentle Spring rain" turn into a "torrential Spring thunderstorm".

Then the lightning struck again...

... much closer.

When your guide ducks and heads for cover, it would be the height of foolishness to ignore her wisdom and experience.

So ended the first two hours of QoL Day. Despite being a trifle damp, the experience was well worth the price of admission. As a gardener I might even start looking at more native flora the next time I start planning a garden design. Now, what am I going to do about that honeysuckle that we planted last year?

Tomorrow, the theatre and science fun!

So, do you have enough sense to come in out of the rain?