[Shatyr] I - The Magician

[Shatyr]

Shatyr prowled her lair, uneasy. She'd made it through basic training, proven her ability to be there, but had she really... The others, those who had trained alongside her, had moved on to their new homes. Their new challenges. But what of her...?

Shatyr turned, restless, and saw a tarot card on the floor. It had not been there before. Had it? Flipping it over, she recognized The Fool. She also saw the note concealed beneath the card.

"We know what you want. Make it happen."

There was no signature. There was no need for one. Shatyr wanted to be a Master Assassin and, obviously, they knew it too. Could she make it happen?

Shatyr glanced around her lair, perhaps to try to catch a glimpse of the messenger. There was no sign of their presence, of course. She could have gotten up to try and find them, but the note reclaimed her attention. "Make it happen".

 

Her life was in a rut, monotonous. She did the same things, day after day. How could she become an Assassin without taking some risks, without learning how to adapt to new environments and situations.

The shifter narrowed her eyes at her surroundings and got to work. There were experiences to conquer, after all.

Well, I dropped off the grid last challenge. I'm not going to beat myself up about it or dwell on it longer than these next few sentences. It's all about moving forward.

The Magician is about making your own reality, through the conscious exertion of will and knowledge. So I'm making a conscious effort to change my reality, since it hasn't exactly been the stuff dreams are made of.

Main Quest

Cosplay! My friend is in Japan as I type. She's having a blast, when her roommates aren't sharing their head colds. That means the deadline is counting down, and I have a lot of work ahead of me.

Task 1
StartBodyweight workout three times a week (Tues/Thurs/Sat)

I still want to complete the StartBodyweight workout. The few times I've done it, everything went really well and I finished the workouts feeling tired, sweaty, and elated. I've ordered rings, so I'll be able to do the horizontal pulls when they get here. I examined the local playground equipment, hoping to find a way to work on the pulls in the interim, but playground designers apparently don't consider Assassins-in-training when they construct these things. Pity.

+3 Str, +1 Sta

Task 2
Outdoors T'ai Chi every Sunday

I took 3 semesters of T'ai Chi in college (college credit for learning a martial art/meditation? Yes please!) and knew somewhere between 4-5 forms when I graduated. I can only recall parts of them now. T'ai Chi class was the first time I'd ever felt what it was like to actively have my mind take full control of my body. It was incredible. Plus we got to use swords at school. How often does that happen?

+3 Dex, +1 Sta

Task 3
Try 1 new recipe each week

I love eating Paleo, but after a while, I find myself craving things I once had but never figured out how to cook. I'm going to rectify that by trying a new recipe every week. That should also help cut down on the 3-recipe monotony of my diet. Just because my eating habits bore everyone else, doesn't mean they should bore me. And for the end, I'm hoping to pull off a roast with parsnips and potatoes. Already I feel hungry.

+3 Con

Task 4
Save $600 for cello lessons and supplies

I wish I had realized back in middle school how awesome the cello is. I wish I had paid more attention to reading music when I was playing around with the piano. And I really wish I hadn't wasted so much money on pastries and candy instead of saving it for something worthwhile. But all that's in the past and I'm far more interested in the future. I want to play the cello. At the end of this challenge, I will have a teacher lined up and enough money saved that I won't have to resort to Ye Olde Credit Carde to pay for things.

+3 Wis, +1 Cha

[TheWanderingGhost]

Look's like a pretty solid challenge!

Also for the horizontal pull, I would recommend what steve kamb says and use the underside of a park picnic table or your own dining room table, much cheaper that way. Also do you plan to cosplay? (I cosplay so naturally I'm curious.) 

[Waldgeist]

Great goals, especially the Tai chi ones. I wish my college had offered that!

[Shatyr]

I do plan to cosplay! I made a promise to my friend who is in Japan that when she returned, we'd cosplay together. I'm going to be Chrom and she'll be Lucina. Only I don't think she realizes how serious I am about that promise. XD

 

I'm not sure the courses are still offered at my college. It's been a few years. I do know my teachers are still at it, but college politics were getting rough for them around the time I graduated.

 

In other news, Day One wrap up:

 

No workout

Moved $25 into savings for cello (week one, accomplished!)

Going to bed early enough to be able to workout in the morning

 

I'll try to check back in tomorrow before work. Otherwise, it'll be before raid.

[Batwoman]

Hope you got your workout in this morning

[Harika]

[karinajean]

great challenge!

for horizontal pulls do you mean inverted rows? because you can do these in your doorway with a sheet (though I've never tried personally I've heard they are very effective)

 

also this:

 

And I really wish I hadn't wasted so much money on pastries and candy instead of saving it for something worthwhile.

 

for what it's worth I think the same thing often about margaritas and dansko clogs. but BYGONES!

[Harika]

How is T'ai Chi? Are you beginning to recall the motions better?

[Shatyr]

Phew, sorry for not replying for so long. My nearly 10-year-old computer decided to go down for a week and I've only now gotten it back to functional. I'll just do a quick catch-up, then a recap, shall I?

 

Catch Up

 

Hope you got your workout in this morning

I did! And while I did miss the one on Thursday of last week, I've gotten every one since then!

 

That is really close to what I would love to be able to do one day, though I'm more of a Piano Guys fan. They put a grand piano on the Great Wall. The Great Wall!

 

great challenge!

for horizontal pulls do you mean inverted rows? because you can do these in your doorway with a sheet (though I've never tried personally I've heard they are very effective)

also this:

 

 

for what it's worth I think the same thing often about margaritas and dansko clogs. but BYGONES!

I do mean inverted rows, though apparently they're just building blocks for other moves (These things evolve? Must catch them all!). I considered using towels, but I've got this semi-irrational fear of the towel shredding on me halfway through a row. Don't want to wake my neighbors up with a loud thud right over their bedroom. XD

 

How is T'ai Chi? Are you beginning to recall the motions better?

T'ai Chi's going pretty well. I've got the first part of the form down, though I still need to work on starting on the left side more. I try walking through it at work when we're all standing around staring at each other, but there's only so much space I can usurp at a time.

 

Recap

 

Week One:

2/3 Bodyweight

1/1 T'ai Chi

New recipe - mesquite garlic grilled salmon (I'm not a big fish person. I grew up eating fish that tasted like artificial lemon and it's left a bad taste in my mouth. But this seasoning is delicious and the fish was just as much so. It may just become a regular meal item!)

$25 towards cello

 

Week Two:

3/3 Bodyweight (and I'm starting to sleep better and wake up with my dawn imitation lamp)

1/1 T'ai Chi

New recipe - skipped it this week because I was so focused on getting the computer back up and running. However, I did make the fish again!

$50 towards cello - it's my new Monday thing at work. Come in, do morning prep work, fill out a transfer form, stand around thinking of T'ai Chi.

 

So Week Three starts tomorrow and that means we're 1/3 of the way through. Minus my lack of posting (curse you, finicky computer!), I'm feeling good about things. Now to borrow the power of Google to pick out a new recipe or two for this weekend.  I'm thinking something with mushrooms...

[Waldgeist]

Woohooo, you are doing great! And updates can always be handed in later.

[TheWanderingGhost]

Mesquite garlic grilled salmon sounds good!

[Shatyr]

Well on the way to cello lessons. I called a prospective teacher and she'll be calling me back later. I'm... slighly terrified, to be honest. I'm feeling very outside of my comfort zone and it's exhilaratingly terrifying. I've got a lot of nervous energy going on right now, so I'm probably going to do an extra workout and clean something. Maybe a lot of things. Eek.