Calamity Jane

[Chris Keen]

Jane, it's tough to shoot 2 completely different platforms in the same season. When I first made the switch (Area 8) I found myself, on certain stages, shooting my Limited gun like I had a red-dot on top of it. Not good. Iron sights take a different type of focus and patience. Something that does not happen automaticaly, even if you want / expect it to happen. It's a very large mental hurdle to overcome, and if you don't have your mind trained to do that you find yourself doing it while shooting a stage. I know I did. And after shooting iron sights for the last 2 months I have decided to continue shooting irons for the rest of the year. I may jump to Single Stack or some other division with irons, but I think switching right back to open (for me) would be a mediocre attempt at finishing this season.

I do however think that shooting Open made me a better Limited shooter ........ and in retrospect shooting Limited will make me a better Open shooter.

I hope it does the same for you too!

[Calamity Jane]

The Battle of Yin and Yang

Yin and Yang, positive and negative, male and female, light and dark, to have one without the other is to be incomplete. Tonight I’m struggling with the Yin and Yang in me. It reminds me of Sam’s story about the two wolves.

An old Cherokee was teaching his grandchildren about life. He said to them, "A battle is raging inside me..it is a terrible fight between two wolves. One wolf represents fear, anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guild, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority and ego. The other stands for joy, peace, love, hope, sharing, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, friendship, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith.

The old man fixed the children with a firm stare. "This same fight is going on inside you, and inside every other person too."

They thought about it for a minute and then one child asked his grandfather, "Which wolf will win?"

The old Cherokee replied: "The one you feed."

It’s time for goal evaluation.

Here ‘s the list of my 2007 goals

Peak performance at Limted 2007 Nats

Top Lady on one stage at 2007 Nats

Beat my mentor at a match

2 second Bill drill with limited gun

Win an Open stage at South Central

Skill Drill improvement

The Goal of Peak Performance at Limited Nats and Top Lady on one stage

Yin evaluation: I sucked! My Lanny circles were out of balance for so many reasons! I trained wrong to get what I wanted. I needed to allow myself a longer time to adjust back to the limited gun after shooting open. I didn’t have the confidence I needed to perform at my best. I was timid and not aggressive. Half way through the match I was already planning my next training year, therefore violating the concept of being “all there”. I’m left with a dissatisfied feeling in my gut. I’m like a hungry wolf looking for a quick meal.

Yang evaluation: I got to go to Oklahoma and be part of a National competition. I saw my husband and son shoot really well. We saw a lot of old friends and met some new ones. I lost terribly there by securing NO hope of a slot for next year. This in turn has set me free to pursue Open gun shooting without interruptions. I learned some valuable lessons about my mental state. I identified new weaknesses I was unaware of. Some of the areas of improvement include: being all there when shooting, the need to stimulate the arousal state before shooting, the need to shoot with an offensive attitude, to shoot only for the satisfaction of personal performance with no other expectations attached.

I forgive myself for my performance at the 2007 Nationals.

The Goal to Beat my mentor at a match

Yang evaluation: I beat my mentor fair and square at a match this year!

Yin evaluation: He wasn’t feeling his best.

The Goal of 2 second bill drill/ skill improvement

Yin evaluation: I made a big mistake in this area. I did not keep good records of specific skills I wanted to improve on. I should have picked X amount of drills and recordied my times and then re-tested myself at the end of my training. I did not do this so I can’t adequately evaluate myself.

Yang evaluation: I’ve learned the importance of record keeping and will incorporate that religiously in the 2008 season. It also is not to late to try for the 2 second bill drill with my limited gun…all I have to do is go shoot it and see where I’m at.

The Goal to Win an Open Stage at South Central

Yin evaluation: I got some HOA on some stages, but couldn’t win a match

Yang evaluation: I not only won an open stage at South Central, I also won some HOA on stages at Atlanta and Riley. Being HOA on stages is the beginning of being HOA at the match.

So here I am tonight fighting with the two wolves inside of me. Do I feed on the Yin evaluations or the Yang evaluations. The choice is mine and daily I struggle with who is going to get my attention.

I’ve said that I wanted to start a new diary. I don’t know if I will or not. The only thing I know for sure is starting October 1st I’m taking a 30 day Enos Forum fast. I’ve got to disconnect from my addiction. AND yes I said addiction. I need to reconnect with my girlfriends, church, and home life. My girlfriends haven’t seen me in 6 months. I spent time today with one of my best friends. She told me about her daughters and the health troubles they were having. All of a sudden my shooting woes seemed pretty small. I felt shame and guilt. When I told her how I felt she really let me have it. She loves me and understands me. She reminded me that God deals with all of us differently and that I have nothing to feel shame about. God is at work in my shooting and he is using it to teach me things about myself. She is right. It is the journey AND what the journey teaches us that is the reward.

I could use a little "Yang" tonight. Anybody out there got anything positive to say?? I'm trying not to feed the self pity wolf...but he is just so darn hungry he won't quit howling!

[Shooter Grrl]

JANE'S YANG

Jane - you are an inspiration, in shooting, life and love. It has been a pleasure to watch you grow this year and drag your family along with you kicking and screaming to grow too (hence the "love" inspiration - it takes a STRONG woman to overcome her family!).

I'm one of those people that believes goals are not always meant to be met. If I did what I could, with honesty to myself, and I didn't make it, then it's okay. I'm not dead - I *CAN* do it, I just set the wrong time frame We *ALL KNOW* you did what you could and were honest with yourself. Re-set those goals and get to it once you're healing time is done. We'll be here to cheer you on, pat you on the back (and between us grrls - cry if we need to )

[Sharyn]

You read my post.

Stay positive.

Edited September 22, 2007 by Sharyn

[Micah]

Jane,

I am not a fan of buzzwords, but this one applies so completely to my opinion of you and your shooting that I hope you will forgive me for using it...

You truly have THE FIRE! so much so that you exude it in your shooting, your range diary, and in person. This, in my opinion, is the most important fundamental to success.

You have done your homework, and you know what it is that you need to do to achieve your goals. The fire will make you practice when you are tired, get up early on the weekends to dryfire, and re-read Brian, Saul, Steve and Lanny's books.

Nothing is anything without desire.

[Calamity Jane]

You read my post.

Stay positive.

Thanks Sharyn! I did read your post. However, I was in an intoxicated state when I did so. Apparently my 2 glasses of wine therapy turned into a bottle This according to Mr. Ball. Self indulgence is no way to cure wounds. Sometimes I forget that.

So...what I can remember from your post is this. My goals are a mess and I need to call Lanny.

Last night in my drunken state I was having this conversation in my head. First I visualized me dialing 1-800-LANNY..."Hello Mr. Bassham. This is Jane Ball. I'm an IPSC shooter and I stink! Can you help me?"

Sharyn...PM me about your personal experience with him. I AM going to call him....it's just a matter of timing.

***edited to add....I think I meant OVER indulgence is no way to cure wounds!!

Edited September 23, 2007 by Calamity Jane

[Calamity Jane]

Jane,

I am not a fan of buzzwords, but this one applies so completely to my opinion of you and your shooting that I hope you will forgive me for using it...

You truly have THE FIRE! so much so that you exude it in your shooting, your range diary, and in person. This, in my opinion, is the most important fundamental to success.

You have done your homework, and you know what it is that you need to do to achieve your goals. The fire will make you practice when you are tired, get up early on the weekends to dryfire, and re-read Brian, Saul, Steve and Lanny's books.

Nothing is anything without desire.

Your Momma raised you right! You say the nicest things.

It's easy to see the "FIRE" in me, just look at my eyes

[Nik Habicht]

The Goal to Beat my mentor at a match

Yang evaluation: I beat my mentor fair and square at a match this year!

Yin evaluation: He wasn’t feeling his best.

You showed up, in fighting form, shot at the highest level you were capable of that day --- and that level was good enough for you to beat your mentor. Those were also the things that were under your control. His health --- not under your control. I'm with yang here.....

So here I am tonight fighting with the two wolves inside of me. Do I feed on the Yin evaluations or the Yang evaluations. The choice is mine and daily I struggle with who is going to get my attention.

Choose to feed the yang --- abandon the negative. Realize that it's a continuous process --- in some ways analogous to climbing the mountain of your shooting experience --- but it's also a process that all of us are going through, whether we realize it or not. If it weren't for the fight, or the effort, there could be no growth --- and isn't that the best part of life?

I’ve said that I wanted to start a new diary. I don’t know if I will or not. The only thing I know for sure is starting October 1st I’m taking a 30 day Enos Forum fast. I’ve got to disconnect from my addiction. AND yes I said addiction. I need to reconnect with my girlfriends, church, and home life. My girlfriends haven’t seen me in 6 months. I spent time today with one of my best friends. She told me about her daughters and the health troubles they were having. All of a sudden my shooting woes seemed pretty small. I felt shame and guilt. When I told her how I felt she really let me have it. She loves me and understands me. She reminded me that God deals with all of us differently and that I have nothing to feel shame about. God is at work in my shooting and he is using it to teach me things about myself. She is right. It is the journey AND what the journey teaches us that is the reward.

Do what you need to do --- beware the "diet factor." (You know --- 30 days of eating right to drop five lbs, followed by a return to previous dietary/exercise habits) I'm not a big fan of making short term rules anymore; I think it works better for me if I'm making daily assessments of what's important, choose based on that and then reevaluate.

I could use a little "Yang" tonight. Anybody out there got anything positive to say?? I'm trying not to feed the self pity wolf...but he is just so darn hungry he won't quit howling!

Nursing school's been running for four weeks now --- and the material isn't hard to learn, but there's an awful lot of it. I liken the process now, to never having picked up gun, and spending the next two years getting to an A level at multigun --- you need to be able to learn to shot the three guns separately at that level, and to be able to put it all together and shoot multi-gun stages at that level. It seems daunting --- I've never had to work hard for an education before, but all of a sudden I do. What's getting me through it --- the learning, the pre-exam or demonstration anxiety, the lower than anticipated hit factor on the first exam, that sense of an overwhelming amount of info/skills to master in two short years, is a combination of things learned on the range, and especially from the many people who've shared their life experiences here on this forum, starting with Brian --- who has said that he only had a plan for the first year after he left shooting when he founded this place.

This year --- 2007 --- you've been the MVP of sharing life experiences and growth and struggle and joy and frustration and achievement. Thank you for illuminating the path along this human journey.

[XRe]

Its too bad Sharyn deleted her post There were some good points in it....

What follows is obviously pure opinion... and may or may not be worth anything

It's time for goal evaluation.

50% good goals, 50% not so good... how's that

The good goals were:

Peak Performance at Limited 2007 Nats (thought I give this one a maybe)

2 second Bill Drill w/ Limited Gun

Skill Drill Improvement

The inappropriate goals were:

Top Lady on one stage at the 2007 Nats

Beat my mentor at a match

Win an Open stage at South Central

To compare and contrast - the first three goals (depending on how you defined them) deal with things that are 100% within your control. The second set are largely out of your control, as they depend upon how other competitors perform. You could turn in the most stunningly best performance of your life - and still, someone could potentially do better and prevent you from making that goal. Or, you can degrade your acheivement based on other factors (see below)....

Goals should be appropriate, attainable, specific, within your control, and should involve a timeline. Its good to have dreams - saying, being High Lady at the Nationals - but dreams don't make good goals. An honest (meaning objective, and without emotion - nothing is "good" or "bad", nothing "sucks" or "rocks") assessment of where you're at is the starting point - and the goals are a roadmap to get to those dreams. Nothing more or less.

Yin evaluation: I sucked!

Your subconscious is like a child, in many ways. Its always listening, and it always hears what you really don't want it to.... This is what I'm getting at above with the notion of an objective look at things. Step outside yourself for a minute, and imagine that you are your best friend, and you're talking to your best friend about their performance at the Nationals (ie, your performance, remember). What would you say to them? Would you say "Gee, girl... you sucked!" ??? If Jackson had had your performance, what would you say to him?? I'm not trying to be unfair, here - you are your own best coach (cause you're the only one that hears your inner thoughts) - learn what self-talk is, and what you're telling yourself when you say these things out loud (or on keyboard), and what that means in context of your self-image and how it affects future performance

Yang evaluation: I beat my mentor fair and square at a match this year!

Yin evaluation: He wasn't feeling his best.

This is what I mean about the flip side of goals that involve someone else's performance.... When you succeed at them, you can still devalue them. What you're doing here is saying, essentially, that even though you met the goal, you really weren't good enough to achieve the goal, and you really didn't make an accomplishment. In the end, what makes us do this??? Fear.... Fear of success, and fear of failure.... Fear that, you've beaten him once, and now you have to do it every damn time... so, maybe if you didn't really have success, you have an excuse built in to fail in the future....

Yin evaluation: I made a big mistake in this area. I did not keep good records of specific skills I wanted to improve on. I should have picked X amount of drills and recordied my times and then re-tested myself at the end of my training. I did not do this so I can't adequately evaluate myself.

Ok, cool. You have a new goal (or, really, goals) for the next year - keep track of the drills you shoot and the metrics you want to track against them, and set a goal for improvement. Remember to monitor your progress periodically, and extend the deadline on the goal if things in your life change, or if you find the goal was too agressive to be attainable in the timeframe you allowed for it...

So here I am tonight fighting with the two wolves inside of me. Do I feed on the Yin evaluations or the Yang evaluations. The choice is mine and daily I struggle with who is going to get my attention.

I think you already know the answer .... The thing is this.... facing the Yang side of what you state in this post (which is a lot of positive stuff) means that you have to stop giving power to the negative bits of your mind game. That taking responsibility for the thoughts in your head, and the effects of them involves moving out of a "comfort zone" (face it, whether you really enjoy it or not, you're very comfortable with being negative about your performances and your abilities...), and the discomfort involved in pursuing a new way of thinking makes it seem daunting - and a lot of fears (the hidden, subtle stuff) come to the surface in the process, as you find those things and learn how to deal with them.

You are extremely brave and resilient, Jane. You can do those things. The first few steps on a new path are always the hardest... I've given you the path I took, and Sharyn's given you hers - in the end, we all have to find our own, but much like the way we learn how to shoot (find someone more skilled than us, and mimic until we figure out that something works better for us), starting down a path is better than sitting still....

The only thing I know for sure is starting October 1st I'm taking a 30 day Enos Forum fast.

Balance.... I like the fact that you're taking responsibility for this. And I like the fact that you got some perspective on how unimportant this stuff really is, in the grand scheme of things. That's a good thing to realize - your journey is important to you, and you are learning a bunch about yourself... but in the end, none of us is really any more important than anyone else in the world, and except in rare cases, all of our hurts and troubles and woes are really chicken feed next to some of the suffering that goes on out there.... Humility is a great place to work from

I could use a little "Yang" tonight. Anybody out there got anything positive to say?? I'm trying not to feed the self pity wolf...but he is just so darn hungry he won't quit howling!

I've petted that dog more than enough times myself. The best thing you can do with that bastard pup is put him down....

[Sharyn]

I edited my post because I thought it kinda came off like I was divulging some super secret PM information... although it wasn't.

Jane, I stay away from wine... my "one glass limit" only makes it easier for the rest of the bottle to go down...

You should pick up the phone and say exactly what you posted. I'll bet his answer will be "Yes". (for a price, of course )

All I was trying to say is that the things you are having difficulty with right now are things that he could definitely help you with. For example, you don't need to wait until you figure out what your '08 training plan will be. Lanny has a great system for planning training schedules in order to have peak performances when and where you want it.

And your goals... I agree with Dave. Lanny has exceptional methods to identify what's wrong with your goals and how to correct/improve them.

If you're not ready to call... or the timing isn't right... Have you looked at any of his other products besides WWIM???

edited to add: And before you say/mention anything about cost and/or not being able to afford it... you need to study Lanny's lessons relating to "Pay Value".

Edited September 23, 2007 by Sharyn

[Calamity Jane]

“Know your enemy and know yourself and you can fight a hundred battles without defeat.”

Sun Tzu’s Art of War

To know oneself is indeed a journey. These past few months I have hidden nothing and have learned much. To hide who we are or what we are feeling only prolongs the journey of truly getting to know ourselves. With that in mind I would like to share with you my final post.

Front Sight Living

If you have read my entire diary you will recall the concept that I call my plate rack. These are the plates in my life that I must keep spinning on a daily basis to stay balanced. They include: my family, my spiritual life, physical fitness, work and shooting. At this season in my life these are the things that are most important to me.

Front sight living is basically taking those important plates in my life and picturing them as a sight on a gun. I have a Bomar back sight. I love it because I can adjust it all around the fiber optic front sight of my limited gun. Right, left, up, or down, it moves all over the place. Cool! In my life my family, physical fitness, work and shooting make up my Bomar back sight. They are adjustable borders that give contrast to the front sight. My eye is always on them.

The front sight is the fixed non negotiable center of the gun to which all reference is given. All shots fired SHOULD be fired with that as the reference point. So what is the front sight of my life? It’s my relationship with God. I’m a follower of the 3 in 1 (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit). When my eye is focused on that front sight (God) with my family, work, shooting, and exercise wrapped around it like an adjustable Bomar back sight, I have balance.

The honest truth is I’ve lost my front sight focus. Somewhere along the line my hard focus turned away from the front sight and got focused on the target. It’s as easy thing to do as many of us have lost front sight focus before.

I’m going to be “checking out” for the next 30 days so that I can focus on what is really important in my life. During that time I’ll ponder what I should do next. The next shots will be ones that are fired using my FRONT SIGHT focus!

I’m going to continue to read Enos for today but starting tomorrow I’m not logging in for 30 days!

Calamity Jane…logging off

[Chris Keen]

Good for you Jane!

[DougBarnes101]

“Know your enemy and know yourself and you can fight a hundred battles without defeat.”

Sun Tzu’s Art of War

To know oneself is indeed a journey. These past few months I have hidden nothing and have learned much. To hide who we are or what we are feeling only prolongs the journey of truly getting to know ourselves. With that in mind I would like to share with you my final post.

Front Sight Living

If you have read my entire diary you will recall the concept that I call my plate rack. These are the plates in my life that I must keep spinning on a daily basis to stay balanced. They include: my family, my spiritual life, physical fitness, work and shooting. At this season in my life these are the things that are most important to me.

Front sight living is basically taking those important plates in my life and picturing them as a sight on a gun. I have a Bomar back sight. I love it because I can adjust it all around the fiber optic front sight of my limited gun. Right, left, up, or down, it moves all over the place. Cool! In my life my family, physical fitness, work and shooting make up my Bomar back sight. They are adjustable borders that give contrast to the front sight. My eye is always on them.

The front sight is the fixed non negotiable center of the gun to which all reference is given. All shots fired SHOULD be fired with that as the reference point. So what is the front sight of my life? It’s my relationship with God. I’m a follower of the 3 in 1 (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit). When my eye is focused on that front sight (God) with my family, work, shooting, and exercise wrapped around it like an adjustable Bomar back sight, I have balance.

The honest truth is I’ve lost my front sight focus. Somewhere along the line my hard focus turned away from the front sight and got focused on the target. It’s as easy thing to do as many of us have lost front sight focus before.

I’m going to be “checking out” for the next 30 days so that I can focus on what is really important in my life. During that time I’ll ponder what I should do next. The next shots will be ones that are fired using my FRONT SIGHT focus!

I’m going to continue to read Enos for today but starting tomorrow I’m not logging in for 30 days!

Calamity Jane…logging off

Extremely well said Jane!!! See you on the range

[Shooter Grrl]

Are you back yet? It sure *FEELS* like it's been 30 days!

<SIGH> I miss Jane!

[Calamity Jane]

I'm back....30 days is up!

Thanks for missing me Shooter Grrl. I missed you all very much (insert hug). The first 2 weeks were the hardest. There was many a night I would just stare at the blue screen home page but not log in or read. I think you could compare it to an alcoholic holding a bottle of booze but not drinking, or someone who is trying to stop smoking and smelling a cigarette. It was painful but I made it. The break was good and I have much to share. I've got some perspective on where I'll be going from here which I will share in a later post. For now I'm just looking forward to getting caught up on the forum.

It's good to be back guys. I really like you people.

[dfwmiket]

Glad you are back Jane....... you were missed!

-Mike

[XRe]

Welcome back, lady

[Chris Keen]

Hi Jane!

[Calamity Jane]

Remember when you were a kid and returned to school from summer vacation and the teacher would make you write an essay on what you did over summer vacation? Well here is a summary of what I did on a 30 day lay off.

The Purse Auction: My best friend had a purse auction as a benefit for breast cancer. She does this every year. She has a party in her home and each guest is to bring a purse with stuff in it. We eat, play Bunco, and then auction the purses. We raised over $500 that night with only 8 women there. I was glad I went, but I came home and told Dave "I don't know how to be a girl anymore" He thought that was funny. I thought if was depressing. The problem I have is I don't fit into the "soccer mom" mold. So when I get around a bunch of "soccer mom's" I start to feel like I don't fit. I had to remind myself it's only when we try to put ourselves in other people's mold that we feel like we don't fit. I fit just great into my mold. Lesson learned...don't compare yourself to others.

The Garage Sale: I haven't had a garage sale in over 10 years. This year would have been no different with the exception I was motivated by two things: earn money for match fees for the Florida Open and to have a clean basement so I can have an awesome dry fire range. So the first weekend of October I had a garage sale. I made $390! My intent was to send that money to Florida, but instead a need came up and it turned into a Fender Stratacaster guitar for my son. He just started playing guitar in the praise band at church and his "starter" ($100) guitar would not stay in tune. I don't know if I'm going to make it to Florida. It's OK if I don't....funny at the beginning of the month I couldn't say that. At the beginning of the month I "NEEDED" the Florida open on my calendar. It's amazing what a little distance and perspective can do for one's attitude. The basement dry fire range is still not worthy. I still need to organize what stuff is left and I'm going to add lighting to the basement. I'm determined to have an AWESOME dry fire range this winter. Environment does matter!

Reconnecting with Friends: I've reconnected with a good friend of mine and she and I are now emailing once a week. This is a very good thing.

Guitar Hero II: I AM JUDY NAILS!! OK I'm Judy Nails on the easy level. My oldest son and I have been playing guitar hero II. I play untill my hand starts hurting. Clearly we NEED a big flat screen TV with surround sound for Christmas! Our analog 20 year old TV just doesn't do this awesome experience justice. If you haven't played this game....do it. It is fun! I know some people have parties and play this game...I know why...it's fun. Rock on!!!

Wii Wii monsieur: My youngest son got a Nitendo Wii for his birthday. We bought this so he could exercise more than just his thumbs! For those of you who don't know, the Wii game system is interactive. You actually make the swinging motion of a tennis racket to hit the ball! It is incredibly fun!! I like tennis. Wii sports rocks!

Health: Each year it gets harder to maintain the body...it's really kind of depressing. I've got physical aliments just like everyone else. I've been trying to get on top of those issues. I stopped my physical exercise this month and that was a BIG mistake. I'm back at it now. After making the rounds with the doctors, it looks like I may live another year.

Wicked: I'll be closing out the month in Chicago. I'm taking my sister in law and niece to see the musical "Wicked". Wicked is the story of the Wicked Witch of the West (From Wizard of OZ). It explains why she is wicked...why her skin is green...etc... I suspect we are going to learn that she really wasn't wicked but just misunderstood. I don't know that for sure because I haven't read the book or seen the musical. I'm really looking forward to this. I like Chicago. I'm thinking about Gino's East pizza right now.

Shooting: I haven't touched a gun in 30 days. I haven't loaded a bullet. I haven't dry fired. I haven't gone to a match. In fact, Dave has gone to 3 matches without the family. I needed to put the gun down and I did. I will be picking it back up however. I'm not done yet.

The Job: I got a raise at work. My boss wrote down a number on a piece of paper and showed it to me. I asked, "What is this?" She said, "You're new base rate." I got tears in my eyes (gratitude) because it is $11 an hour higher than my base rate now. The hospital was adjusting salaries to stay competitive in the Indianapolis market. THANK GOD!! I also will be starting a new aspect to my job that will bring in some extra cash. Maybe that trip to Florida will be possible after all?

The Church: Shooting takes us away from church during the summer. The off season is a time to get plugged back in. Our family has been doing that. It is good to get reconnected.

So there you have it....that's how I spent my 30 days of lay off.

New Range Diary coming soon.....

[Matt Cheely]

Woohoo, she's back in action!

[Chris Keen]

Congrats on the raise!

See you at the FLA OPEN next year ???

[Calamity Jane]

Thanks Matt!

I wanted to add one more thing to the list of things I did..... I watched the movie 300. I do not get the appeal of this movie. OK the hunky guys were nice to look at but after awhile I got bored looking at them. Plus who waxed and buffed their bodies back then? Don't you think a more accurate portrayal would have been to have some men with hair on their chest?? Gratuitous violence galore. The problem with it was I didn't feel good about watching it. The only killing in the movie that seemed right was when the Queen killed the betrayer. I don't mind violence and killing in a movie....Braveheart, Gladiator, Saving Private Ryan etc All of those movies were well told and left me with a feeling of inspiration. 300 left me with nothing but a cringed expression on my face. To me the movie simply wasn't told well. Oh yeah, don't you think the sex sceen was a little much! Again, I don't mind a sex sceen in a movie but this played more like pornography to me....not very inspiring. My youngest son had a friend stay all night and I asked him what his favorite movie was, he said "300". I said in a loud disapproving voice, "Does your mother know you watched that?!" He said "yes". He said she has never seen the movie and then he reassured me that he doesn't watch the sex sceens....I said, "right". Unbelievable! Sorry guys...I give this one a thumbs down.

One of the reasons I wanted to watch this movie was to look at and perhaps be inspired by the "warrior" aspect of the men portrayed. I think we all want to be warriors in our hearts. I'm looking at sources of inspiration to release the warrior inside of me. I'm not sure this movie is an inspiration piece for me. Perhaps I will reconsider and examine more closely once the cringed expression leaves my face.

[Paul Santiago]

Guitar Hero II: I AM JUDY NAILS!! OK I'm Judy Nails on the easy level. My oldest son and I have been playing guitar hero II. I play untill my hand starts hurting. Clearly we NEED a big flat screen TV with surround sound for Christmas! Our analog 20 year old TV just doesn't do this awesome experience justice. If you haven't played this game....do it. It is fun! I know some people have parties and play this game...I know why...it's fun. Rock on!!!

Welcome back Jane. I don't post much but I do enjoy reading the training diaries. One of these days I may start one.

As for the flat screen..... games on a 65"hdtv with surround and a xbox 360 are pretty stinkin' good!!!

[gunsablazin]

Good to have you back.

Robin

[hopalong]

Hop