Father's day

My father is one of the people who have influenced me the most. Maybe it is rather conceited of me to say this, but I am truly grateful for having such a great father (for lack of better words). I have a much better father than too many other people do, and that of course is a sad thing too (for the other people anyway). Had it not been for my father's influence, who knows what hell-hole I would be in today.

He and my mom of course- were my first teachers. He was my first and only sifu for the first 17 years of my life (minus my uncle - his brother, who is equally a father to me). It was he who instilled in me the love for martial arts and other sports like tennis, swimming, triathlons, and what not. And it's also always been him to be there to give me that kick in the butt when I needed it.

When I was 14 or 15 he got gravely ill and for about a period of 6 months after that I would wake up every morning wondering if he was still around. For four years after that his health was still quite bad and he just wasn't quite the same in a sense that he wasn't all over the place- running, teaching martial arts, managing our business, doing all these community projects, etc. But despite his not being able to reach the same physical capacity, he was and still is as sharp and witty as he ever was. Even in those times when we were all feeling in the lowest of low, he would crack jokes in the oddest times to bring a little ray of sunshine into our house.

Today he still isn't quite as physically active as he was, but being the warrior and commander that he is, he has mobilized armies of people- his old students, to help him continue teaching many people. There is so much more to say about him. His patience, perseverance, determination, wisdom, and kindness are constant inspirations for me. I can only hope to one day somehow become what he has wanted me to be all these years as a way of ever-thanks to him.

Animal Heroes

There have been so many stories of animal heroes, and again- here's a parrot who saved a baby by yelling, "Mama, baby" and flapping its wings. Then there are those stories of dolphins and porpoises, turtles, etc who took care of people who were shipwrecked or lost in sea.
Sometimes I think animals can be way better than human beings who aren't responsible enough to act like human beings. Generally speaking- animals care for their young. They'll die for their young, and well hey- they do what they can for each other and for other species if needed. They don't ruin the environment or whatever it is... not that I'm advocating people to just become humans or what. I just think people should act as human beings and not animals-gone-wrong so that the world doesn't get so screwed up all the time.

Anyway.. that's my two cents for the day.

Don't forget to watch your Daily Ninjai Chapter

Happy New Year!

Haven't seen me around here since last year!

I didn't really celebrate the New Year's thing... as I usually don't anyway.

Pretty crazy weight loss story:

Today is the first day of a year that Ernesto Suncar and his doctors feared he might never see.

Weighing 640 pounds, wearing 10X shirts and with a 70-inch waist, the 33-year-old New Yorker was told by doctors he would likely be dead within 12 months.

Realizing it was a choice between losing weight and dying, the proud father of three, who had tried every diet imaginable, underwent gastric bypass surgery - and has shed more than two-thirds of his former self.

"I want people to feel inspired when they look at me," says the Hell's Kitchen resident, who's down to 210 pounds. "Hopefully, if they have a weight issue, they will finally do something about it, starting right now.

"Losing this weight saved my life. Without the operation, I doubt I would be here to celebrate New Year's.

"It's scary to think what might have happened."

The business management student says his body ballooned after he came to the U.S. from his native Dominican Republic at the age 7.

"I was a normal, active kid who used to run and play outdoors in the tropical climate," he recalls. "When we moved into a small apartment where it was cold, I stayed inside and didn't get any exercise.

"The only games I played were video games."

His love of chow didn't help. He would gorge himself on Spanish-style fried pork chops, rice and plantains, McDonald's, pizza and pasta.

"My mom would tell the guys at the corner deli not to serve me, so I'd just walk to another block," Suncar admits.

He once lost 64 pounds on a 1,800-calorie-a-day diet, but then gained 120 pounds. At his heaviest, the 6-foot-2 food junkie tipped the scales at 640 pounds.

"My little son had to tie my shoelaces," he says. "I poked fun at myself, but inside I was hurting."

The turning point came when chronic breathing difficulties and the immense strain on his heart threatened to kill him.

"The doctor said, if I carried on as I was, I would be dead in a year," Suncar says.

Dr. Elliot Goodman, chief of bariatric surgery at Beth Israel Medical Center, performed the gastric bypass.

There were minor complications, but this winter, after following a nutritious eating plan and increasing his fitness at the gym, Suncar has reached - and maintained - a healthy weight.

His waistline has shrunk to 34 inches and, instead of having to buy expensive outsize clothes on the Internet, he shops for stylish gear at The Gap.

"I feel reborn," he says. "These days I can cycle along the Hudson River, play with my kids and this summer, I'm planning on taking a flight. Before, I couldn't have fit in an airline seat.

"I keep some of my old things in my closet to remind me of how I used to look. But there's no going back."

Source

Damn. That's pretty crazy all right. Got to respect him for the will power to do that tho. I'm sure he and his family are much better off now. It's always hard to have to carry extra weight around.

So on to a 2009! Best wishes to everyone.

And that... don't forget to watch your daily Ninjai Chapter

Dreaming.. dreaming

I've been depressive again. I don't know why.

Gotta love em foals.





Don't forget to watch your daily Ninjai Chapter

funny stuff

Taken from John Perlow's blog

New in Labs: Stop sending mail you later regret
Monday, October 06, 2008 6:25 PM
Posted by Jon Perlow, Gmail engineer

Sometimes I send messages I shouldn't send. Like the time I told that girl I had a crush on her over text message. Or the time I sent that late night email to my ex-girlfriend that we should get back together. Gmail can't always prevent you from sending messages you might later regret, but today we're launching a new Labs feature I wrote called Mail Goggles which may help.

When you enable Mail Goggles, it will check that you're really sure you want to send that late night Friday email. And what better way to check than by making you solve a few simple math problems after you click send to verify you're in the right state of mind?

By default, Mail Goggles is only active late night on the weekend as that is the time you're most likely to need it. Once enabled, you can adjust when it's active in the General settings.

Hopefully Mail Goggles will prevent many of you out there from sending messages you wish you hadn't. Like that late night memo -- I mean mission statement -- to the entire firm.

Good fun!

Financial Crisis

My uncle works at wall street... so he's been pretty down and out. I'm real close to that uncle of mine, I don't like to see him so stressed out all the time. I keep telling him he should've just joined the military instead of that kinda market... I mean, he can't live without all the stress anyway... and in the military you'll get that kinda high from being under pressure and stress anyway, so I mean- what gives? I would so totally join the military if everyone wasn't so against me with it. :( Anyway uncle Brian- I love you! Good luck!


Mmm.. doesn't Karma Kula look like a serious epic that needs serious attention? I am so drooling waiting for it to come out. I wish the Ninjai Gang would update us on it soon. Anyway it's nearly christmas. Omg. It is nearly christmas... so I'm looking forward to the christmas cards the Ninjai Gang always sends out.

Hi. I am Ninjai's little bird, and I approve of this post.

Damn all this financial crisis going on throughout the world yeah..

Welcome to Ninjai bloggers

Hi. how can you not want to eat that? Actually. .. I ddn't want to eat it. I don't like ham.

But you've got to give them credit. it looks GOOD. Japanese people have the best looking food even if it doesn't taste the best all the time.

anyway.. hi and welcome. As my blog's name implies, I'm a Ninjai
fan. yep, this little bugger <-. You can watch him at Ninjai.