April 2: The Karate Kid

My grandma once gave me this book on karate. It was filled with pictures on how to do various kicks, punches, and blocks. My friend Matt and I read it and, when we were done, fancied ourselves black belts. We spent many an afternoon sparring in his bedroom.

Of course, one can't learn the Martial Arts from a book. It is something that must be taught in a classroom.

Later, I was delighted to learn that books could teach you how to do magic tricks.

My first love:



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I didn't see the first Karate Kid in theatres. The reason I didn't see it was that everyone else was wanting to see it. That meant that I could not allow myself to watch it. I had to be non-conformist by nature.

To this day, I still haven't seen any of the Back to the Future movies.

Or Titanic.

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I did see Karate Kid Part 2 in the theatre. I went with Matt and his family. This was around the time I noticed that my eyesight was deteriorating. I asked the others if they would be offended if I moved closer to the screen. They told me to go ahead.

I moved about 10 rows forward. About five minutes later, a pretty teenaged girl sat down beside me. "Is your name Doug?" she asked.

"No," I said.

"Oh," she said, embarrassed. "Sorry."

She left.

Later, Matt's dad asked me why I didn't tell her I was Doug.

"You could have watched a movie with a pretty girl," she said.

Yes. I could have. But my teenaged self said that Doug could have also stolen her purse.

Pessimism sucks.

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