A couple of coworkers and I went to the Web 2.0 Expo at the Mosconi Center in San Francisco, CA today. Although the turn out seemed to be rather sparce. There was still good information to be had. Here are the highlights of what we saw today. Session – How to leverage Social Marketing for…
Author: markdeso
What I didn’t say in class
Author’s note: Agh, I’ve been woefully neglectful of my blog. I started this last post in late February. I’ve decided not to change anything in the original post, but simply finish it. Now I can self evaluate my process and get better at this.I’ve been sick and haven’t been able to practice aikido much in…
My Journey for the New Year
As a part of our New Years Eve celebration my son and I practiced T’ai Chi a little before 12:00 until a little after. I got the idea from hearing that many Aikido schools have a new years class that starts at 11:30pm on New Years Eve and ends at 12:30am. This signfies ending the…
9 hand positions to start my day
For the past few months I’ve been looking for some kind of ritual that resonates with me. I needed something to bring some stillness in my life before I start my day and a way to connect to the universe around me. I spent a little time talking to a friend of mine who is…
Aikido as self defense
it’s interesting to read a thread on youtube about how aikido is fake and doesn’t have any practical applications in a “real street brawl.” I totally agree! And I totally disagree! The most important thing for me to be mindful of is why I train. I train to explore movement, understand my body, become more…
Skipping Stones
My father died 3 years ago on July 13th. 3 days shy of my birthday and 4 weeks shy of seeing my brother and me for the first time in about 9 years. If the universe revolved around me (and sometimes I truly think that it does) I would venture to say that this was…
Seeing the optimal path
In last nights Aikido class, I had an interesting revelation. The ingredients of my revelation included the putting green (I don’t play golf) and time lapse photography. I’ll try to explain. Maybe I’ll do a good job and maybe I won’t. We were practicing a technique yesterday, “shomen uchi ikkyu” that involves connecting to an…
Summer Solstice
My son and I went camping over the weekend. We went to Gualala, probably one of the most beautiful spots in Northern California. On the summer solstice we went to a spot overlooking the estuary and the ocean and waited for the sun to go down to take some pictures. While we waited, we did…
Father’s Day
Today is Father’s Day. It was a purposely ordinary day. We cleaned a little, did laundry, went to a movie, had lunch, talked, laughed, swam. So although it was an ordinary day, it was a perfect day. On the way to dropping my son off back at his mom’s, I took a moment to tell…
Rhythm and Timing
I’ve spent a bit of time lately thinking about rhythm and how it relates to both Aikido and music. I’ve played guitar almost all of my life and as a musician, I’ve understood the importance of rhythmic patterns in music. If I am to play with other musicians, then this is the framework that we…
Mark's Meanderings 