emperor's birthday

Happy 72nd birthday to Emperor Heisei!
Took advantage of the day off to accomplish three things:
  1. Went up to Saitama to practice at Shinbukan. More Kenjutsu. Everyone else was practicing iai and Kuroda-sensei asked me if I had my sword with me. I didn't bring it, assuming I wouldn't be doing iai for months. So all I had was my wooden sword. He figured good enough and started showing the first iai form. All the iai forms are from iaigoshi: fold your left leg under you, such that your left heel is in your butt, then put your right heel in front of your left knee, keeping your right knee off the ground. So yeah, you're sitting on your left foot. And yeah, it hurts. But wait, it gets better. From this position, rise up into a low stance, right foot forward, left knee off the ground. But don't stand up, you have to basically float up; ukimi. Literally "to float." Needless to say, the top of my left foot is nicely sore and swollen.
  2. Came back from practice and put the Cuisinart to use: made about 3 kilograms of Mama's Famous Fake Chicken Liver Pate (carmelized onions, string beans, walnuts.) Cuisinart, as you know, is French for "Kitchen Power Tool" and it is the single greatest invention since the Intelligent Meat Fork.
  3. At my request, Hiroko cooked her stunningly good fried chicken in sweet/sour marinade. Add in a spinach salad, miso soup, and fresh rice and we had us a meal.

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