Jay Gaulard

A Personal Blog

Archives (page 4 of 6)

The Act of Being Polite

This is going to be an odd post. I’m not even sure what I’ll write. As of this moment and as I sit here and think, I’ve yet to conjure up anything that seems remotely cohesive. I suppose though, I’ll try my best. For me, that’s what these types of situations call for – my best. The issue at hand is that I’m feeling a certain way and I’ve yet to determine an effective articulation for those feelings.

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My Varsity Letter

Back in the 1990s, there was a quarterback for the New York Giants named Dave Brown. I remember watching him play. He was one of the best quarterbacks I’ve ever seen throw a ball. When Dave was on, he was really on. And when he was in this state, he seemingly transformed the football into a missile. Such accuracy and elegance. And speed! Boy, I remember watching those games when Dave was playing well. It was like nothing could stop him.

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Maine’s First Snow

For a while there, I was getting nervous. I knew it would eventually arrive, but I had no idea when. Well, the snow showed up and then it showed up again. And the second time was a doozy. The lights actually turned back on just a few hours ago. The storm made for a very dark Thanksgiving holiday weekend.

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A Better Way to Teach Jiu-Jitsu

I’ve been teaching Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu since 2017 and believe me when I say, my methods are ever-changing. I’m rarely content with the way I do things. If you’ve had the privilege of instructing as I have, I can almost guarantee you’ve felt or feel the same. It’s impossible not to. We’re very similar creatures, we instructors are. We’re talented and diligent and determined. And being these types of people, we’re rarely satisfied. Which is probably a good thing because each time we make a change, improvement is sure to follow.

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For Whom the Bell Tolls

For the past few days, I’ve been looking at photos of Scotland, England, and parts of France (and even Pennsylvania) that show lots of beautiful white snow on the ground. I must confess, I’m a bit jealous. Here in Maine, we’ve seen only rain. While that’s fine, and as I’ve mentioned in my previous post, we’ve certainly needed it, I’ve got to say rain’s nothing compared to the first snowfall. And as for the locales I mentioned above, the folks who live in them are in their glory. They don’t see much snow at all. Except for those living in Pennsylvania. They get lots of it.

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The Dunkeld Path Network

We’re finally getting some much needed rain here in western Maine. I’m not sure we’ve seen any for over a month. It’s been relatively warm too with the temperatures hovering around 40° during the daytime. Overall, it’s been a pleasant autumn. The rain certainly is welcome though. People have been complaining of allergies and I suspect the dry leaves on the ground have had something to do with that. All that dust flying around the outside air is bound to have an effect on the sinuses. Hopefully it’s all been washed downstream.

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Patching Holes in a BJJ Gi

If you’ve been training Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu for more than a few years, you’ve certainly run into wear holes and tears in your gi or gis. I have. It’s pretty much an inevitability. I’m not sure how many gis I’ve owned since I began training in 2008, but I can tell you that each and every one of them has earned its stripes, so to speak.

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Rusting Cars

Throughout my life, I’ve lived in New York, Georgia, Connecticut, Florida, and Maine. I’ve never really concerned myself with my cars rusting out until I arrived in Maine. In New York and Connecticut, yes, the winter roads are sanded and salted, but I’m not sure I noticed any discernable difference between when I purchased a vehicle and when I sold it, rust-wise. Nothing ever seemed to happen in a bad way. That’s not to mean that cars don’t rust in those states because they certainly do. I have a long history of family members needing to repair holes in their floorboards – you know the type; you’re a little kid driving down the road with your father in his old truck. You can see the blacktop and painted street lines pass you by underneath your feet. Yeah, those good ol’ days.

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The Personal Journal

I consider this blog my personal journal. I haven’t exactly began journaling, per se, yet, but I’ll certainly do that once I write all the posts that’ve been bouncing around my mind for the past few months. I love journaling and I feel it’s something everyone should do. It forces a person to sit down and think about his or her day. It forces recollection and ponderance. It forces a slower pace. And these may actually be good things.

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Trail Cams

One part of my life that I’d say I’m fairly consistently concerned with is how I spend my free time. I’ve written posts that describe some of the world’s most popular hobbies as well as posts that describe which hobbies are most popular for men in particular. Have these posts done anything for me specifically? Have I gotten any ideas? Have I gotten very far with my attempt to settle on a hobby that’ll bring me through to the end? Not really. I do keep coming back to blogging though so I may as well consider this the one. I thoroughly enjoy sitting at my desk writing. Even if I write things that wouldn’t be considered as interesting to most people as much of what’s currently available is. I have a small following though and for that, I’m appreciative.

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