So I was chewing a lot of sugar-free gum. It was suggested to me that maybe this was not such a hot idea, and in fact there appears to be reasonable evidence that aspartame metabolizes into particularly unhealthy forms of methane and...formaldehyde. Yes, the stuff they use to preserve animals in jars. The methane is apparently shielded somehow so your body can't handle it the way it handles normal methane; and the formaldehyde seems to be a sort of stringy form that binds to all sorts of nasty places, like nerves and proteins.

I don't chew nearly as much sugar-free gum now.

Moving, while a saddening idea, makes more and more sense each time I do all this damn driving. The dojo has moved a little bit north, just inside Richmond, and it's an incredible space: several people worked literally without sleep for a week to put up some walls, paint it, and clean it. It's beautiful, and it's all ours, no sharing schedules, no having to be quiet so the psychotic Iaido teacher doesn't flip out. It's a nice feeling, and I stayed after class for over an hour to train with Big Jeff for a little while (not sharing the space, the mats don't have to be put away). It's an exciting time, and a sad time to decide to leave; but I'm getting used to the idea, and overall it feels good.