Harnessing my Chi

So I've begun taking Tai Chi lessons. One of the teachers at my school is an instructor and has offered free classes on Mondays & Wednesdays to anyone who wants to learn. I can always use the exercise, and the stress relief is welcome! After a Monday chock-full of 7th & 8th graders - oh, the unbelievable angst!!! - I am wound tighter than a 25-hour clock! It wasn't hard. All those years of dance training were useful: pay attention to your body, move slowly and deliberately, see where you're going before you go there, etc... I look forward to making it a part of my routine.

Tai Chi makes me think of M'ok Bara, you know, the Klingon Martial Arts. I just need a Bat'leth, then I'd be ready for the Romulans. Yes, I've always been a Trekkie. Way back in the mid-70s, when I was in summer camp, the counselors would have movie day when it rained. We'd gather in the gym (this was YWCA day camp) on the mats and watch Shatner & Nimoy projected onto the gym wall. I learned all about the Trouble with Tribbles while the rain pattered softly outside. I loved those rainy days. Of course, in college I discovered the inimitable Jean-Luc Picard - make it so, number one! Tea, Earl Grey, hot! Engage! Then came Benjamin Sisko, steeped in gumbo, but with the most precise enunciation I've ever encountered. He was much better bald. Those beginning episodes are a trip to watch. Katherine Janeway was not a favorite of mine - really, Voyager was where it all started to go downhill for me in TrekWorld. Neelix was cloying, Seven was too vulcanized, Chakotay was practically castrated by the StarFleet uniform, Torres was too wishywashy to be half-Klingon and live... and the list goes on... Don't even get me started on Enterprise. Scott Bakula? Oh for the love of Kirk, no!

Now, if you really want to get me started, just start reminiscing about Babylon 5 or Farscape. I long for these shows. I hope that Sci Fi picks Babylon 5 back up. I'd love to make that a part of my routine again. Maybe I can do Tai Chi while I watch.