ready, set, gogoplata

well tobin already beat me to actually writing about this, but this one of about 7 bruises currently on my arms from the free brazilian jiu-jitsu class i took a week ago (the bruise was much worse a few days ago). chris was astounded by the bruises and explained how if one of his students showed up like that for class, he would be forced to call child protective services. none of these bruises actually hurt, but i feel like they make me look tougher.

the first class was a lot of fun as i worked primarily with the assistant teacher during the advanced class. he showed me some warm-ups and basic transitions and maneuvers. after that we grappled for about 20 minutes where he administered my multiple arm bruises. i was able to submit him twice, and he claimed that he did not "give them to me", which whether true or not was nice to hear. also worth noting that i was nearly twice his size, but my natural reaction of trying to muscle my way out of situations often ended up with my body twisted up like a pretzel.










i should be rolling with gina soon enough...so adorably deadly








everyone there was really friendly and they kept explaining how i won't remember the moves next time, or even the next 100 times, but that eventually i would realize that i was just doing the moves. the school was kind of far away...probably 30 minutes if there is no traffic, but i was thinking i was on board and ready to mix it up. then i discovered the price for joining the school and i was completely deflated. i wrestled with the trying to find a way to make it work financially, but in the end...the price plus the distance was too much and i have not returned.

after seeing sonny and renee yesterday, sonny mentioned someone he knew that was an mma fighter and had opened a gym in columbia. i checked it out online and it seems to be a nicer facility that is obviously more conveniently located. the prices are a little bit cheaper if i sign up for a year...even cheaper if i can get someone to couple up with me and get the couple rate...and even cheaper if 3 friends want to kick it family-style. this gym also teaches a lot of striking and seems to be a little more focused on training people that want to fight, and i know i am no fighter...but either way, this place might make more sense.
the final and much more likely route involves getting a few beginner books and/or dvds and learning some basics in my living room with dave and brodie. i figure i will get bjj for dummies or something really basic like that and try to not be completely incompetent. if i find that i like it and i am not going back to school this fall, i will revisit the idea of signing up for these super expensive classes. this plan also times well with my work getting a brand new gym in august that will hopefully be super cheap and allow me to quit my current gym.

buy low, sell high

in an effort to not turn this into a blog that focuses on money, i just wanted to take one post to discuss my initial experiences trading in the stock market. all of this is new to me and i really have no clue what i am doing. so far so good. i have been slowly making money through the 4 stocks i purchased on friday and my net gains have been bouncing back and forth between 5 and 8 percent today, which i find more than acceptable. it feels a little weird discussing my purchases since i have this creeping worry that i should keep this info completely private, but since my readership is dan, phil and sometimes dave, i think i am safe. so the companies i am banking on are netflix, ge, cvs and google. all have been consitently going up excpet for google, which dropped after i purchased and then rebounded today. i have been also closely examining costco after alex sent me an arrrticle about the company.

while my initial success has been small and pretty luck-based, i have a few regrets. i probably should have shopped around to other trading companies to search for the lowest trade prices. my parents were kind of surprised about how much i was paying. also, i should have investigated the various purchase methods a little more. i just simply bout at market price, but could have looked into setting price points for purchases, especially for google which dropped like $10 per share at one point on friday. oh well, i could have just as easily missed out on the low opening price, so whatever.

i am also finding that the following of these stocks has developed into an easy obsession. it's in a constant state of flux when i am at work so i can keep hitting the refresh button so that as it rises i feel good and smart and when it goes down i feel like a failure. this definitely has a fantasy sports feel to it like when i am sitting by the computer on a sunday afternoon constantly checking on how many points i am beating laura by. add in the fact that this is more or less gambling...investing has filled a nice vice hole for me that could replace actual gambling.

i have some short term goals with this investment that may or may not be realistic, but i know that as long as i make a profit it will be better than if it were sitting in the bank right now. i will probably not discuss these investments again unless i do something drastic, my earnings blow up or something catastropic happens.