On not working, writing, and tai chi

This not having a job thing is kinda cool. It didn't really hit me until Monday morning, because I'd planned on taking last Thursday & Friday off for a 4-day tai chi seminar. I'm liking it so far, but ask me again when I've run my bank account down.

I've technically got employment at a staffing firm, but they aren't making promises about when they can find work for me, even a shift a week. So. If it gets to be mid-June and there aren't any nibbles, I'll shop my resume around to some chains, and specify that I'm looking for 10-20 hours a week, rather than saying part time, because *last time* I did that, I was offered 72 hrs/2 weeks. Which doesn't quite meet my definition of part time, you know?

So I've had more time to write, which is useful. Well, the last 2 days, anyway. I was sort of braindead Thursday-Sunday. So I've got a rough draft of an alternate history short story, which might have an ending, though it sort of just stops. I'm not quite sure what to do with it beyond that. ... Oh, wait. I think I know. I've got some notes in my outline that I thought weren't relevant when the story changed, but I can work with that. It's 1600 words at the moment; and the upper limit for the submissions is 8000. So I'm good.

I also got a notice that a super-short I submitted made it past the first reading stage. (Of three.) Fingers crossed for further success! I rather like that story, so I hope they take it.

I had a fun 4-day brain-killing tai chi seminar over the weekend. I got to work with people I don't normally have class with, and I got to find several ways I'm lazy in my practice. It's a two-person matched set, derived from an older Yang style form. So it's different than my usual Chen form, aside from being contact. Tai chi is usually solo, non-contact, but there are a few 2-person sets, and there's push-hands, which is a similar concept only not scripted.

One of the fun parts is the applications. Shoulder strikes, kicks, pushes, backwards shoves with a chest strike. But it's all slow-mo, unlike karate or Shaolin, so you don't get hurt. That's where I'm finding that I've got a lot of laziness. I don't hold my frame quite as well as I ought.

And, hey, now that I have an extra 8 hours every day? I can spend more time practicing! Can't really afford to take more classes, without a steady paycheck, but I can still work on my own.