From the desk of Mr. Walters

My Quest This last October, Lanette and I had a discussion about my increasing lack of physical activity. I used to work out somewhat regularly at a local health club that shut down suddenly amid much controversy . Though I am not in the worst shape, walking into a gym or fitness club feels like giving a speech in my underwear to me. It doesn't matter whether anyone is looking at me or not, I feel like an impostor when I walk into a health club. The new place my wife works out just wasn't doing it for me, and I felt ever more awkward when I went there. In the midst of our discussion, a light went on in my head. I've dreamed for most of my adult life of taking a Japanese martial art, at least one on this incredibly broad and inclusive list ( note: broad and inclusive used sarcastically here) . Kenjitsu Iaido Kendo You see the unifying theme here? Basically, I wanted to "play Samurai", and this workout deal was my "in". I shared this list with L...

In a post totally unrelated to any mentioned in my Monday mash-up, I must declare: Cheers for Mr. John Pontolillo , 20, of Wall, N.J!!!  Jeers for the Baltimore city police for detaining him. Back Story So my local news just carried the first paragraph: A Johns Hopkins University student armed with a samurai sword killed a man who broke into the garage of his off-campus residence early Tuesday, along with a comment that police were still investigating the student.  I decided to give this the benefit of the doubt, but then I read the above article.  Mr. Rice, the suspect / victim apparently has quite a record including many recent incidents where our criminal justice system failed to get him locked up. Reaction All I could think of when I read this story was character, Burt Gummer' s line from Tremors . ...Broke into the wrong [darn] rec room, didn't ya?... Again, bravo John Pontolillo!!