Scoutmaster Mike: The Kente and the Generations

Note: this entry last updated on Monday, October 13, 2014

A few days ago I off-handedly spoke about a tradition that we have in Troop 250, wearing the Kente Neckerchief. Where did this tradition come from, and why does Troop 250 use it?

As far as the tradition, it was my development that I brought to Troop 250 when I became its Troop Committee Chairman back in 2001. At the time, there were few long standing Troop traditions, and I wanted to see if I could help make something that would both energize the boys and create a sense of tradition and continuity within the Troop, a way for the boys to more directly remember those who had gone before.

Back when I lived in San Francisco, and was Scoutmaster for another Troop (Troop 92), I was asked to lead the Explorer Post that met in Pacifica that consisted of all the Youth members over 14 from all of the Wards in our Stake. Since I didn’t want to duplicate what they were already doing, I went to the scout store to see if they had something unique. When I was there, I saw that they had a neat multi-patterned African style kerchief. When I asked what it was, they said it was called a “Kente”. I asked if it had any special significance, or if it was just a unique looking kerchief? Other than the fact that it was popular with many of the Troops that had a strong African-American membership, they said no, it was freely available for anyone to purchase and to wear, but that it was originally designed to not be a “troop kerchief” per se, but should be something special or reserved for special individuals, as befits the original Kente cloth that is made in Ghana.

When I got to the Crystal Springs 1st Ward, I thought I’d get the chance to work with Scouts immediately, but instead I was asked to serve as a Stake Missionary for two years. When I came back into active service with Scouts, I asked Tim (our then Scoutmaster and current Bishop) if we could do something unique. I remembered the Kente cloth and over the ensuing years, I kept coming back to it and wanted to see us do something with it. When I learned Kente cloth was given to and worn by men of status and bravery, I thought “A-ha! I know how we could use it!” I wanted to find a way to encourage boys to earn their Eagle award, and likewise find a way to encourage other boys to do the same, and also remember past Eagle Scouts, more so than how a plaque or desk statue would do. I wanted something they could internalize, something they could make their own, carry with them anywhere, and then give to others later on.

With this, the idea of the “Kente” and the “Generations” came into being. It started with one boy, the first boy that I approved and signed off on to sit for an Eagle Board of Review. As this boy had actually already been away at college for a year, he was put on deferment until he came back. Since I was able to help get him a Board of Review date, and he had his uniform but no kerchief, I gave him the Kente Kerchief that I had held onto for all these years, and suggested he start this tradition of the Kente and wear it to his board of review. As he was easily accepted as an Eagle Scout, we were able to hold his Court of Honor shortly thereafter. Since there is a common tradition in the Eagle Court to offer “Scouting’s Flame” to another member of the Troop and have them join them in the "Eagle’s Nest", a way of promising help and guidance to that boy so that he can himself become an Eagle, I felt that giving the Kente to this boy would be a great way of developing this tradition. Thus, the boy who first had the Kente signed his name on it, then gave it to another boy, and he would wear it until he in turn became an Eagle, at which time he would sign his name on the Kente and give it to another, and so on, and so on, and so on. We also decided a consequence if a boy received the Kente and did not earn his Eagle. The Troop would allow that Kente to “stop its Generations”, meaning that it will not be passed on to another. The boys decided that the right to pass on a Kente would be reserved for those who finish the work.

In the nearly thirteen years that this tradition has been in place, only one youth has received the Kente and not completed the Trail to Eagle. Every other youth who has received it has become and Eagle Scout or is still active in the process of becoming an Eagle Scout. Names are not listed to protect privacy, but I have used initials to denote who has received the Kente and the Generations represented (edited: this list is current as of October 13th 2014):

JV (I) --> EB (II) --> JO (III) --> SC (IV) --> SC (V)  (who is currently a Star Scout in the Troop)

SP (I)/BN (I)/AG (I) --> MK (II) (Life, did not get his Eagle) --> [X] (This is the one time that multiple boys chose to give their Kente to one person, and that one person decided to not get their Eagle. Thus three Generation lines ended here… this was also when I suggested, and the Troop decided, that only "one to one" transitions would happen; no more groups.)

AP (I) --> JK (II) --> PS (III) (Current Life Scout)

WJK (I) --> SN (II) --> JW (III) --> RW (IV) (Current Star Scout)

JD (I) --> ND (II) --> JD (III) (Current Life Scout)

AF (I) --> NL (II) --> HF (III) --> AF (IV) (Current 1st Class Scout)

BS (I) --> KS (II) (Current Star Scout)

JW(I) --> CF (II) (Current Star Scout)

TM(I) --> HM(II) Current 2nd Class Scout)

BJ(I) --> TBD (II) (Court of honor to happen soon)

RS(I) (Eagle board of review to happen in December)

ZJ*(I) (this was a special presentation, in that he did not earn his Eagle rank in our Troop, but since I've known his family from before he was born, and had his family not moved away, he would have been one of my scouts, I made a special presentation at his Court of Honor and presented him with a Kente on our behalf :) ).

In the course of a little under 14 years, 31 boys have worn (or are wearing currently) the Kente, and of those 31, 22 have completed the journey, 8 are in process and 1 never finished. It will be interesting to see how many more boys will be “marked” by the Kente in the coming years, and I truly dream of a day when every boy in the Troop will have one or will have worn one at one time or another. It’s also my hope that this will be a tradition that will be practiced for decades in this Troop, until the kerchiefs can no longer hold any more names. While I know it’s not practical to think every boy will make Eagle (statistically only 4% of all scouts ever reach that rank), I am heartened by the success that the "Generations of Kente" has to show. I’m hoping to see us record many more years and many more Generations of honor to these young men.

Some Shots of Eagles

With May 30th coming up *really* fast, Chris and I are in the process of trying to get invitations out to people and to make sure that we have everything arranged. To that end, we tried this weekend to get some neat pictures of the boys for their program and invitations. You'd think that going out to get good pictures near and around San Francisco wouldn't be a big deal... you'd be wrong in this case (LOL!).

It's May, and for some reason Mother Nature picked *this weekend* to give the Peninsula a healthy dose of fog and drizzle. Ocean Beach? Covered in fog, no visibility. Seal Rock and Sutro Baths? Not visible through the haze. Golden Gate Bridge? Fuhgeddabout it! As I was thinking what might look cool on the Eastern side of the City, as we descended into the Marina District and the drive to the East Side, the skies parted for a bit and showed the Palace of Fine Arts clear as a bell... and with that, we decided we'd found our backdrop. The procession of Wedding photographers and brides and grooms that were there at the same time confirmed for us that, yep, this would be a good place. we had to be patient and work around the wedding parties, but I think it worked out pretty well.





These are a couple of close-ups of Nick. The shift in hair part was necessitated by the wind, in case anyone is curious :).




I like this shot of the two of them together. There's an inside joke they were constantly going on about and it made getting pictures tricky after awhile because they kept cracking up laughing. Still, even though this is right on the edge of a giggle fit, I think it captures their personalities perfectly.


These two are so young, I decided we *had* to get a shot of them just being silly. This will very likely be in the back of the program :).

Moral of the day is "don't give up on an idea, even when it looks like everything is working against you. Your golden opportunity may be just around the corner". Glad we didn't just give up when all the other areas we thought of didn't pan out as expected.

Nicholas Larsen is officially an EAGLE SCOUT!!!

On Wednesday evening, Nicholas Larsen and his friend Nick Duehring sat for their Eagle Scout Boards of Review. This is the last part of a multi-piece puzzle that challenges boys to set goals, accomplish some pretty tall tasks, and then meet with a Council led advancement committee to decide if they have earned the right to be Eagle Scouts. I am happy to say that, as of Wednesday, April 29, 2009, Both Nicholas Larsen and Nick Duehring are the newest Eagle Scouts in Troop 250!!!



This is a shot of Nick Duehring and Nicholas Larsen in front of the Pacific Skyline Council Service Center, where the Boards of Review were held. They certainly look the part, don't they :)? I'm also proud to see two "Second Generation Kente's" at this point in time... the neckerchief the boys are wearing is called a "Kente", and it is patterned from colorful cloth that royalty and special people in the African country of Ghana wear. It's a Troop 250 tradition. There are only two ways to receive a Kente in Troop 250; be a "First Generation" Eagle Candidate, or to have it passed down by a previous Eagle Scout who wore it, with the promise that you will achieve the rank of Eagle Scout yourself. Both Nick's are 2nd Generation Kente recipients. Nick Duehring received his from his older brother Joshua (himself a First Generation Kente) and Nick Larsen received his from Andrew Ferris (also a First Generation Kente). It's very likely that, when Nick Duehring receives his Eagle Kerchief, he will pass his Kente on to his younger brother Jacob. Nicholas Larsen has already told me who he plans to give his to, but he has sworn me to secrecy (LOL!).



A very proud dad and Scoutmaster stands with his soon to be Eagle Scout :).


Long time Disctrict Advancement Chair Frank Colthart, Leo McArdle, and a tag team between Chris Duehring and myself (we can't review our own boys, but we could review each other's boys :) ) allowed our guys to be reviewed and discuss the path that each has taken over the past two and a half years (Nick Duehring is a little older than Nick Larsen; he joined the Troop on his 11th birthday in October of 2006. Nick Larsen joined the troop at 10 1/2 after earning his Arrow of Light on March 19, 2007). Both boys laughed a bit and said afterwards that their LIFE Board of Review was way tougher... of course, their Life Boards of Review were held at Camp Oljato, and that Board of Review was conducted by the Camp Staff, not by any of us (tough crowd, (LOL!) ).

Each of the boys had the opportunity to reflect on the Eagle projects that they performed. Both boys took different approaches as to what they wanted to do. Nicholas Larsen conducted a Pet Needs drive for the Peninsula Humane Society. Nick Duehring did a construction project of planter boxes for Burlingame Intermediate School. Both projects required the boys to be the leaders, and to call the shots as to how they were performed and to make sure that all steps were accomplished in a timely manner and to completion. Both boys earned high marks for their efforts.



Nicholas Larsen standing between Chris Duehring, Frank Colthart, and Leo McArdle, the three men who gave the final approval to him being certified as an Eagle Scout. He's holding his Eagle Project plan.



Nicholas Duehring standing between me, Frank Colthart and Leo McArdle, the three men who gave the final approval to him being certified as an Eagle Scout. Likewise, he's holding up his Eagle project plan.

Thus, as of April 29, 2009, two new Eagle Scouts join the list of Troop 250's High Fliers. To say I'm proud of both of these boys would be an understatement. Not only do I have a lot of admiration for their achievements, I'm also proud of the fact that these two boys (often referred to as "Nick-squared" or "the two bodies that share the same brain") made a commitment to each other to work together to achieve these goals, and to help each other along the way. For the past two years, they have helped, competed, and occasionally cajoled and cat-called each other to step up and make the grade. Both said they couldn't see doing it without each other, and I hope that this is a bond that both will carry with them for the rest of their lives. It's great to see boys reach for the stars. It's even better to see two boys decide to reach for them together. Now we have a little matter of an Eagle Court of Honor to hold... it is in the works. The date will be May 30, 2009, exact location to be determined. One thing is for sure, though, it will be a memorable event, and we would love for family and friends to come and share the day with us. More info on where to be posted soon :).

No Room In Heaven -- Available NOW!!!

OK, first things first... "HIGH WIRE -- No Room In Heaven" is now officially available through Demon Doll Records. Right now, the only way to get it is through the record company's site, so if you want to order it, please do (but read the rest of the blog first :) )...

It is such a weird sensation to be able to write this today... 14 songs that my band recorded between 1989 and 1992 can now be purchased as a single CD. This was the result of a very unexpected turn of events back in December of 2008. An old friend of ours from the San Francisco club scene, Robbi Black of the now retired band Alleycat Scratch, contacted us and told us about a record label that he was working with. This label was dedicated to the scene that we were part of, the glam/hard rock/heavy metal scene (what is ubiquitously referred to today as the "hair band scene"). Robbi asked us if we would like to have a track on the record label's compilation album... "Glamnation, Volume 5". I got in contact with my former band members, asked them if they would be game to include the track, and we all agreed to do it. We figured that would be the end of it. Turns out there was more karma to come :).

Shortly after signing the agreement to include the song "No Room in Heaven" on "Glamnation, Volume 5", the label's president contacted us and said he'd heard our songs on our myspace page (which, by the way, is here), and wanted to know if we would be interested in a deal to distribute our old material as a full length CD. Well, since this was one of the things we all wanted from way back in the beginning of the band, we thought about it, and then said "yeah, we'll do it!". What followed was a couple of months of gathering masters together that had been dispersed and getting them converted to digital media (remember, 1989 was around the advent od the CD as a regular distribution medium; most bands still pressed vinyl or released cassettes, CD's were crazy expensive to produce). The process of getting these old masters and getting them ready for release was, honestly, a reclaimation project; our masters disintegrated through the rendering process, and now the digital files are the only masters left (20 years is rarely kind to acetate tape).

What was interesting about this process was that we let Demon Doll design a cover, CD layout and track order that we left up to them. While we were very familiar with our material, we were not sure as to what or how we would sound to outside ears, or how other would choose to package our songs. To be honest, I was a little concerned... the glam scene was not really known for subtlety (LOL!). When I saw the album cover, it took me a bit to realize what they were going for, but I like the styling a lot. As the label explained to me, they wanted to go with an almost Victorian feel with the cover model, yet still have it be current and hip by today's standards. It definitely has a "Gothic Lolita vibe to it, no question there. The red apple coloring on the B/W photo is also a really cool touch. The song order is roughly chronological, but they made some changes to how we originally released them and moved a few tracks to make for a better flow, as though it were all recorded as one album. I like the order they decided on, and for the most part, I like all of the tracks they chose to use (some more than others, but as they reminded me, I'm my own worst critic, and things I think are great or weak will get different reactions from different people. Overall, though, it is a balanced disk and covers our "career" accurately.

A word of warning to my LDS friends... these songs were recorded in a time and an era when I was not active in the church, so you may expect that there are some words and some topics that are a little less than "For the Strength of Youth" sanctioned. To be fair, we sound like the Osmond's compared to may of the bands of the time, but salty metaphors are to be found in some songs, and I throw an outright F-bomb in "Throwaway People" (though, to be balanced, the context was within an actual quote, but ye have been duly warned).

So here it is, 17 years after our last performance as a band, High Wire can be heard again, and for some, heard for the very first time. I'm happy that this project has finally seen the light of day, and that it can now be purchased (and yes, if you can hang with the proviso above, I wholeheartedly encourage you to purchase it :) ). For those who choose to get it, please drop me a line and let me know what you think of it. As to the material presented, let me borrow an oft printed line from Seal... "It was the best we had at the time" :).

Been Awhile, Time To Get Back In the Game

Sorry for the long drought between posts for those who enjoy reading this blog, but I needed to focus on some other things, and generally clear my head and get back into the groove of things. Some interesting things have been happening in my reality, many of them I'll be able to talk about in the coming days, but let's start with these:

* Nicholas turned in his Eagle Scout application last week. He's completed all of the requirements for the award, now he needs to sit for a board of review with the Council Advancement Committee. If he passes the board of review, he will be an Eagle Scout :). Here's hoping we hear news of a review quickly.

* I just finished my first course weekend as a Staffer at Wood Badge (WE3-31-09), and I have to say, I have a great Patrol (the Bobwhites are my group, and I had a lot of fun helping get them settled and develop the items for them to get into the spirit of the course and have fun with it). We convene again in 4 weeks to complete the 2nd weekend of the course. It's also been a lot of fun to have my friend Andrew C. be on course (Andrew is a Webelos Den Leader in our church's Cub Scout Pack. He's not part of my Patrol, but he's an Owl, and he has an awesome Troop Guide :) ).


* HIGH WIRE now has officially published material available. Our first foray into having our music published appears on the compilation album "Glamnation, Volume 5". Our Track "No Room in Heaven" is song number 5 on the CD. A huge disclaimer with this... many of the songs on this are straight up raunchy (which shouldn't come as any surprise to fans of 80's and early 90's hair metal), so if you are sensitive to such things, you may wish to steer clear or rip and edit your play list dramatically.

* HIGH WIRE will have their full length CD "No Room In Heaven" available to be ordered from Demon Doll/272 Records on August 22, 2009 if all goes according to plan (at least that was the last update that I received a couple of weeks ago). Once it's officially shipped, I will post updates on how to get the CD.

So there's a little bit of my immediate reality, more details on these topics and others as the days move forward.

High Wire at Vinnie's in Concord, CA, on 8/22/09

Well, it's official :)!!

High Wire - you know, that band that I spent just a little bit of time with back in the late 80's and early 90's... yeah, the one that 18 years later I still can't shut up about (LOL!) - will be playing once again! We will be performing with old friends CRY WOLF and Sona/Dead Poser's Society at Vinnie's in Concord, CA on the 22nd of August.

We would love to have you come and join us.

For those of you outside of the Bay Area, I can't think of a better way to spend some vacation time and increase your carbon footprint. It should be a lot of fun and I will make this promise to you now - there will be NO spandex involved! And for those who have asked... no, I will not be buying a wig for the show. You'll just have to deal with a bald man rockin' out like his young self again (and really, what could be more entertaining than *that* :)?).

Here are the particulars:

Who: Cry Wolf, High Wire, Sona/Dead Poser's Society
When: Saturday, August 22nd 2009, 9:00 PM - 1:00 AM
Where: Vinnie's Bar & Grill, 2045 Mount Diablo Street, Concord, CA 94520

We, and by "we" I mean Sona, are working on getting group room rates with the local Marriott. We also hope to have some other surprises by then but we'll announce those details when they are ready (and Sona already knows I have a terrible habit of speaking out of turn, so she's keeping information to a "need to know" basis for now... smart lady (LOL!).

Check the High Wire page on My Space (www.myspace.com/sfhighwire) for updates and feel free to drop me a line if you have any questions.

Special thanks to Sona for doing, well, everything (really, she deserves the credit for pretty much all of this. We're just happy to come out and play).

Hope to see you in August!

-- Mchael "Kelly" Larsen and the rest of HIGH WIRE gang (Carlos, Steve, Taz, Doug, Mark and Randy)

Madd Money: What You Accept, You Teach

I know it seems a little silly to be broadcasting the fact that I want to put some new bumper stickers on my "coffin box" that sits atop my car, but in many cases, that's the cheapest piece of pretentiousness I own (LOL!). See, I'll never forget what one girl I used to date in college said to me... she was from Switzerland, and she found a number of things about the American ethos amusing. When I asked her for examples, her immediate response was the notion of the "bumper sticker"... in her mind, it was the absolute proof of the "pretentiousness" of the Average American... as if we thought that people actually cared enough of our own personal opinions that we would put them on the outsides of our cars for other people to read. I will admit that, for many years, I did not put bumper stickers on my car for this very reason. There is something sort of arrogant about putting things that you feel are important or that you want to say on your car like this... but then again, it's the only "personal commercial real estate" a lot of people, including myself, will ever have (LOL!).

Back a number of years ago, when I bought my Ford Escape, I bought a Packasport box to stash my snowboard, camping gear, or whatever I might need for wherever I might go. Because this thing was out in the sun all day, it was getting fairly ugly looking, so I decided to add some color to it, in the way of Vans logos, snowboard and skateboard stickers, and my preferred cause, that of "Snowboard Outreach Society". I also freely confess that I also post space for the Stanford Pow Wow each year, and I have a sticker that says "save San Bruno Mountain" because, well, I happen to dig the mountain that I can see just from the top of my hill where I live :). Still, they were just corny things I had on there, and I never really thought anyone paid any attention to them... until my friend Adam actually referenced one of them in a Sacrament Meeting talk. Being referenced in church is strange enough. Having a bumper sticker referenced was surreal (LOL!). But it was the one that he picked that got me thinking... I have a sticker where two elderly Native American men are sitting in front of a fire, and the words next to them read "What you accept, you teach!" He said that he wasn't sure what it meant to me, but that it actually helped him gel some of his own talk he wanted to deliver. The meaning behind the phrase is that "if you accept inequality, you teach that inequality is OK" or "if you accept immorality, you teach that immorality is OK". You can fill in the blanks of any number of things, but the take home message that I happen to like is that I can be tolerant of many things, I can be respectful of others, but I do not have to "accept" those things that I do not approve of or wish to influence me and those around me. By doing that, I teach others what I believe.

Which now, long windedly, I admit, brings me to the new additions I hope to add in the coming weeks (when they get here). Anyone who has read my blog for any length of time knows that I abhor debt. I despise it. I wish everyone was free from it. I wish we had a government that wasn't so dependent upon it. I want to show the world that I do NOT accept debt, and therefore, I want to teach other to do all they can to GET AWAY FROM IT!!! In my world view, playing with debt is like playing with snakes... eventually, you WILL GET BIT!!! Thus, these are two new pieces of the Dave Ramsey Show that will be going on my Packasport in prime locations... two stickers, one that reads "Debt is Normal, BE WEIRD!" and one that reads "Live Like No One Else!" fans of the Dave Ramsey Show or "The Total Money Makeover" are already intimately familiar with these phrases. We live in a society that has too long treated debt and indebtedness as a normal fact of life... and oh are we ever paying for it now (collectively). Personally, I love being 100% Debt Free in all ways (no credit card payments, no student loan payments, no mortgage payments, no debt AT ALL), and I want to keep it that way FOREVER if I can! I realize that makes me weird, and frankly, I *LIKE* being weird :). The second one is actually a shortened version of the theme for "the Total Money Makeover". The whole Phrase is "Live like no one else, so that later, you can live like no one else". truthfully, that is my ultimate goal. I want to be able to live in such a way that, should the time come, when my children are grown and my wife and I get the opportunity to go do something great, whether that be to go off and travel, or serve as couple missionaries somewhere else in the world, we'll be able to do it and do it without any constraints. My goal is to be able to be free when I am older. To do that, I refuse to tie myself down today, and that means I will not go into debt. Not now, not ever, if I have anything to say about it.

Thus, I am giving in to the pretentiousness of the stickers, and yes, I know it's arrogant to think that people care what I think or that I would put such a thing on my car. However, I think it's time to show what I accept... and perhaps, just maybe, I may teach someone after all :).

The "Married Meme"

Yeah, I know, it's a cheap blog post, but hey, for those that are actually interested in the daily dynamic of Christina's and my life, as well as some tidbits I may not have talked about elsewhere, well, here ya' go :).

This is kind of like the 25 things - except there are pre-decided questions and it's about you and your spouse, not just you.


* What is your anniversary date?
December 5

* What are your middle names?
Mine is Spencer, hers is Judith

* How long have you been together?
Together together? or married together? We started dating in September of 1990, so that would be 18+ years. We both had a non-exclusive dating clause for awhile, but got serious about six months after that. We've been married since 1992 (16 years)

* How long did you know each other before you started dating?
About a week.

* Who asked who out?
I did.

* How old are each of of you?
I’m three days shy of one year older than Christina.

* Whose siblings do/did you see the most?
Christina’s an only child, so I win this by default :).

* Do you have any children together?
All of them :) (seriously, three)

* What about pets
We’ve had a few over the years; two budgerigars, a cockatiel, an African grey parrot, and a rotating menagerie of fish. Most recent addition to the family is Rikku our beloved Pembroke Corgi :)

* Did you go to the same school?
Nope, I grew up in Danville, and she grew up in San Bruno.

* Are you from the same home town?
See above.

* Who is the smartest?
Depends on the topic. I can claim more “book smarts” in certain things, but I think Christina does better than me in a lot of “common sense” and “street smarts” areas.

* Who is the most sensitive?
Christina, hands down (LOL!).

* Where do you eat out most as a couple?
We have a rotating circuit of Sushi and Thai places we go to.

* Who has the worst temper?
I think we’re about the same in this category. Neither of us tends to get mad unless we’re both overly tired or frustrated with something.

* Who does the cooking?
Most of the time Christina, but I have some kitchen skills, too :)

* Who is more social?
When we first got together, I was (came from years of being a musician). These days, I think it’s a draw.

* Who is the neat-freak?
Christina, by a long shot (LOL!)

* Who is the more stubborn?
Neither of us are really stubborn. We kinda’ pride ourselves on being able to see the others view and being willing to take other ideas into account.

* Who hogs the bed?
Typically, me.

* Who wakes up earlier?
Me definitely, I’m out the door most days before 5:00 AM.

* Where was your first date?
Mandarin Chinese restaurant in Millbrae, CA, followed by a walk along “Hotel Row” in Burlingame right next to San Francisco Bay.

* Who has the bigger family?
Me. Christina’s an only child, I am the oldest of four.

* How do you spend the holidays?
Our families are both nearby, so we spend Christmas eve at our house with Christina’s parents, and then we spend Christmas day over at my parents place.

* Who is more jealous?
I don't think either of us are. (Christina actually calls me “oblivious” on that front a lot of the time (LOL!))

* How long did it take to get serious?
About 6 months, though I think we both saw definite rumblings in that direction after about 6 weeks. We both had some trust issues to work through (I was a singer for a rock band at the time, can’t say I blamed her for not wanting to rush anything there (LOL!) ).

* Who does/did the laundry?
She does.

* Who’s better with the computer?
I am, but then I should hope so seeing my livelihood revolves around them :).

* Who drives when you are together?
Any drive that’s more than two or three miles, me (LOL!).

Ego Over Matter: New Goal, New Purpose, All Vanity!!!

I would love to claim that my reasons for getting in shape, for training, for trying to get stronger were all for altruistic reasons. You know the pep talk... "I want to get in shape to run a marathon for cancer research" or "I want to become strong enough to make a real difference in work projects that matter to my community". I'm sure there are people out there that have these sentiments. I just don't happen to be one of them. Truth be told, I rarely get myself in shape for any reasons that are not entirely self driven or self-motivated... well, OK, that's not entirely true; I did go into overdrive back in 2007 because my wife did pointedly tell me when I had an elevated ADL blood test "I don't want you to die!" I'll admit, that is motivating and in a selfless way :).

But still, left to my own devices, I'm happy to be left to my own devices. Something of either immense importance, or at least appealing to my baser vanity must come to the fore for me to *really* get serious, and that something has now happened, or at least the potential for it happening is very great... HIGH WIRE is actively in the discussion and searching phase for a venue to hold a reunion show. HIGH WIRE in its finished form came together in November of 1989, so 2009 is the 20th anniversary of that forming. We want to play live to celebrate that fact. Which means I'll have to get on stage and sing. Do you think I'll hop on stage fat, flabby and out of shape?!

NOT ON YOUR FREAKING LIFE (LOL!)!!!

Thus, Ego Over Matter gets re purposed again, and this time it's "training for the show". I remember full well the effort it took to sing for over an hour "back in tha' day", and that was when I was young, resilient and in practice. I am none of those things today, or to be more honest, I'm a lot less of those things today. Thus it stands that I must take the bull by the horns, make a commitment, and go for broke, here and now, and give it all I've got.

The last time I made a firm goal, I made it to get to a particular body weight. I'm not going to do that this time around. Nope, I want to get all nerdy and really go for a target, perhaps a crazy one; I want to reach 10% body fat by the day of the show. If that sounds like it's lean to you, that's because it is, especially for me. I routinely float around 25% body fat, which means I need to make nearly a 50% total reduction of fat stores by our performance date (currently looking to be around mid August). That's six months. It's ON!!!

Usually, attitude has to come first, then resolve, and then concrete actions. Attitude and resolve I now have, and the concrete actions are already starting to come into play, including my "triple play". Everyone who knows me knows there are three "concrete items" that appear, and when all of them are in place and in active use, they know that Michael is in "Serious Mode". Those concrete items are:

* the increased supply of bulk chewing gum (usually Trident) and packs just about everywhere.

* the increased consumption of strongly made Cinnamon and Lemongrass Sweet Tea (this is a rooibos/red tea and thus entirely herbal and thus entirely kosher within LDS standards and following the letter and spirit of the Word of Wisdom, and yes, I've checked repeatedly :) ).

* the consistent purchase of frozen mixed vegetables and the bulk purchase of Tapatio Hot Sauce

Everyone claims they have a "secret weapon" or a talisman they use regularly when they want to get to goal. These are my triple threat, and they are my most oft used tools. I will say here and now that, when I try to drop pounds and get in shape, my spice-o-meter goes to an absolute extreme, to the point where I am practically drinking shot glasses of Tapatio and other hot sauces (LOL!). I associate the capsaicin burn with progress, and thus I welcome it :).

No EOM entry is complete without the "statement of truth", so it has to start here and now, with a declaration: Today I weighed in at 232 pounds. It's ten pounds down from my all time high of 242, but it's 40 pounds up from my 30's and 40's all time best of 190. Again, this time, I'm going to try to steer clear of just looking at weight, and I'm going to pay a lot more attention to actual body fat percentages. And this time, I'm going to get even geekier... I'm going back in time and using some techniques that I learned from an old compatriot of a fitness newsgroup I used to participate with. Using those techniques, in 2000, I went from 235 to 200 in 12 weeks, and was the most ripped I'd ever been. It's time to see if I can make lightning strike twice, and oh yes, I will share it all here :).

Goal determined: check
Purpose defined: check
Goal sufficient to get ego invested: oh heck yes (LOL!)
Start Date: February 19th, 2009
Estimated Completion: Mid August, 2009
Proof of Success: pictures, videos and live recordings of the actual show

And away we go :)!!!

Dealing With Limitations

Well, it's been a week since I've written a blog entry. There are a few reasons for that, the first and foremost being my lower back is still an issue, and sitting down for extended periods is difficult. This has made my somewhat prodigious blog output dry up for a bit, and frankly, I think I needed the break.

As I was going through and reviewing my posts, there has been a marked "duplicate" sense in the posts I've been writing. I've realized that this is because, frankly, there's not enough happening in my everyday life to make unique enough blog posts to justify an every day entry.

What has been interesting in these past few weeks since this whole back issue came into my life (again), is that I've had to actually look at seeing which things I was doing were really important, and which thing I had to just say "sorry, I can't do that" or "this just hurts too much to deal with". While I have had to deal with some frustration at that fact, it's actually forced me to prioritize some things differently. It's also made it clear that convalescing is a long process and it really cuts into the rest of my life, so I think I really need to make not getting into these situations a priority (LOL!).

I will start writing blog posts again later this week, but it's going to be a slower pace going forward. It was interesting writing every day for awhile (almost three months), but I've decided that there are other things that need to be handled for the time being, so for those who like reading me daily, hopefully this will mean better writing, just less frequently.