I'm amazed that you get anything done with all your migraines, ita. I'm impressed as hell that you do krav at all and even moreso that you do so well at it and the colors of belts mean nothing to me, so brown sounds fantastic. (This is all said from a not-even-close-to-hugging distance, and was thought long before you ever even mentioned taking the black belt test.)

you have that pie, right?

I'm so sorry, ita. I know how hard you worked for this.

What libkitty said. I know it doesn't help much, but, you're pretty damn amazing, ita.

Ginger! I didn't know you had a black belt!

ita, I expect it's for the best if you hold off from deciding yea or nay on further testing. You know you have my sincerest admiration for getting as far as you have, and it is admiration untarnished by 'not passing.'

I'm coming down off my fanfic writer convention high and the achiness in my back is pretty bad, too. Might not be unrelated to the layoff and all, ya think? Funniest overheard conversation at the con, though not by me but by a trusted hearer, since there was a pre-teen cheerleading competition also in the hotel, with lots of little girls running about in packs: on the elevator a group was heard to be saying: "let's go down to 3, there are lesbians there!"

Also, there was an interview room for Best Buy hiring right in the middle of the con floor, which led to a couple applicants sitting wide-eyed on their chairs, clutching their resumes to their chests. I expect it will help to cull out the easily-rattled.

ita, I'm sorry you didn't pass. I know you'll end up making the decision that's best for you. I hope after only a short time it will feel right to you.

No hugs.

Just imaging your situation - having given so much and worked so hard and not passed - hurts. So, I'm sorry you're there. I hope tat when you get more detailed feedback it makes sense to you.

It seems to me that you already are an asset to krav as a brown belt. I am infinitely more likely to try a lesson than I would be if I hadn't been hearing about it from you all this time.

ita, I'm sorry you didn't pass.

TAR: The airport stuff was excellent. And I can't believe all the non-musical people attempting to tune a piano !!!!

Ginger! I didn't know you had a black belt!

You couldn't tell it now. After my knees went and I wasn't training six days a week, I put on a ton of weight. I have yet to find another form of exercise that obsessed me the way Shotokan did.

A lot of karate instructors fail students on their first black-belt try. I don't know if that happens in krav. Normally it's because someone hasn't shown suffient dedication, but that certainly can't be the reason in your case, ita.

ita, definitely no hugs, but add my sorrow that you didn't pass to everyone else's.

TAR: And now we know why it's a two-hour ep!! That's one hell of a spread between the teams, and must be giving the Guidos bad flashbacks to Alaska .