dance again

so glad i had that ugly experience a couple of weeks ago at koresh, otherwise i would have never found my new favorite dance class.

for half the price, half the number of students and a half of an hour longer, i found a class that is monumentally superior to the class i was taking earlier this year. no disrespect to my former teacher, but she was not a dance educator. my new teacher is. she teaches at temple. in fact, a couple of her students were taking this non-temple class last night in an old church (which made me feel a bit like an old woman, but that's ok/true in the dance world). it made me miss my college dance classes; miss this more comprehensive approach to dance.

the language of a dance educator to describe movement is at times technical, and other times a series of comical analogies. this is the way i have grown to appreciate and understand movement; both in my own body and in other people's. i didn't realize that this was such a basic and fundamental part of what was missing from the classes at koresh.

this new class also kicked my ass- both physically and mentally (it's been a while since i have been asked to, "now try that whole combination on your left side" - so good for your brain and your body!)

hoping this is the first of many steps toward having dance become a more significant part of my life again.

mood swings

it's hard to fully acknowledge one end of the swing when you are at the apex of the other.
but for now, i am delighted to not remember what being sad, upset or depressed feels or looks like.
i'm just enjoying the hell out of this up swing

rediscovering the kitchen

for the past several weeks (more like months) erk and i have been working on our kitchen (ok, him more than me, but i contributed). above is a picture of what it looked like halfway through the remodeling process. cabinets are in place, but no counter-tops (just our make-shift plywood ones) and old, sort of gross, appliances/sink.  despite looking hectic (it looks way cleaner in the picture than it was in real life), it is a VAST improvement from what our kitchen was only a few weeks before this picture was taken.
exhibit a:

i was actually cooking on that stove as it sat in the middle of the room like that. sometimes with, and sometimes without, the use of a sink; which sat inside the broken cabinet you see in front of the stove.

despite needing several more things our kitchen is now basically done. all the major super important things are in, whats missing is all bedazzle (back-splash, shelves, lights). until having the kitchen at this stage (almost-done-stage) i had forgotten what a pleasure it is to cook. even if i cry at the start of every session (onions). the preparation of laying out all the ingredients, mixing things together with no regard for measurements or recipes, and TASTING everything as i go, is something i hadn't done consistently since working as a cook at bt; a job i loved and miss.

the process of making food is a relaxing, and creative one for me. i seldom did it on my own. alone it lacked one of my favorite parts - the sharing. like any other artist, the cook needs an audience. it's nice to be back in the kitchen.

get the hell out of the left lane

i am one of those people that goes from being extraordinarily polite (if i'm trying) to a crazy bitch within seconds; all i have to do is get behind the wheel of a car. i suffer from road rage.

for example:
when an idiot gets into the left lane because they like the view from there, or because they have no idea it's called the passing lane, and they definitely have no idea why i'm driving up their butt and flashing my brights behind them it - it agitates me. why? because it slows down not only my car, but every other idiots' car behind the asshole cruising on the left. it undermines the system created to make traffic f-l-o-w. i appreciate systems that work, and get annoyed when people don't use them properly.

if you are going at the same speed as the person to the right of you, then you have two choices: accelerate and drive ahead of them in their lane, OR drop behind them into their lane - but don't fuckin hold hands with them along the jersey turnpike. if i were a traffic cop, that's what i would ticket for.

return to sasha/return to BAM

the image above is from sasha waltz's new piece entitled tides (gezeiten). unlike her piece entitled bodies (korper) which i saw in college, this one didn't change my life.

perhaps it was due to the fact that in my older age i find it harder to stay completely awake past a certain hour; or maybe it was the gin and tonic before the show that did me in; but it might have just been the way the piece spiraled a little off course that inspired me to nap at 8:30pm in the gilman opera house.

it was a shame. the opening of the dance was so incredibly beautiful and original, and then it became predictably abstract and chaotic. and it made me think - this is why no one comes to see modern dance....

to be totally honest (not a lot of people know that i think this.....) i believe that for the most part, modern dance is annoying and pretentious. there have been only a handful of choreographers/works that i thought were truly wonderful. typically, i prefer performance that utilizes several parts of the human instrument, like the voice and the intellect. i can't get excited about art unless it is presenting some idea/emotion for me to consider, challenge, experience...

typically, straight up "dance" doesn't do that for me. except when made by people like sasha waltz.

despite not loving the piece as a whole - i thought tides had a gorgeous beginning half hour. i remember thinking, "how is it possible that she can still find these new and beautiful things to do with human bodies on stage? when do we run out of 'new' things to do?"

and then i started thinking about how eventually, won't we run out of new dances? new book titles? new recipes? new movie plots?

it was around that time that i started to nod off

fútbol

volveremos volveremos
volveremos otra vez.....

soccer in the rain

almost ten years after graduating, i bumped into my high school track coach on the street.
he asked me about what i had been up to and then said:
"oh i see; a jack of all trades and a master of none."
that stupid expression has stuck with me ever since. i've always been afraid that my inability to stick with something and master it was born from my lack of passion in any one thing. real passion.
while i am certainly by no means a master of soccer (or anything else) tonight reminded me that i do not lack passion.
i heart fútbol.