While I unfortunately wasn't there to see (or participate) in it, there was an interesting situation at the dojo. Our resident MMA guy, about my size and a quarter (so probably still "little guy" status) versus another guy he'd brought in: "280 and some pounds" (his words) and almost as tall as the 6'7" head instructor. And he wrestled in high school. So while he shot in and could bodyslam and hook left and right, and even pin using the lie-on-top-of-you method till the cows came home (that no bridging or shrimping or wedging could break), an interesting thing happened. Out of twelve times that they went at each other, Mr. Gorgeous (that's for you, Carolyn ;) ) choked out Mr. Wrestler eight times, and even got a funny flying armbar as he was picked all the way up into the air to be slammed. At the end of it, the wrestler apparently seemed interested in coming back for some martial arts - the one time he even deigned to add strikes into the equation, the very first movement he ran his neck into a jab; as much as he won some things by size and rule-limited wrestling technique, he lost every other way.

Word of the Day: persiflage - light teasing; banter

other Word of the Day: vatic - of or characteristic of a prophet; oracular

Worldview Throwdown - I wish I could remember more of the article given to me as a model-example for my thesis, because it was a literary version of almost exactly this; tangentially, I wonder how this plays into the "Meaning is context-bound, but context is boundless" angle and whether it applies semiotically outside of photographs (helllloooo Barthes...)