Sunday, September 26, 20048:50 PM - this blog entry is probably long enough to deserve an Appendix ATickets are $10 (plus a processing fee, I think) or you can buy them at the door. I suggest using Ticketweb now, though, so you don't forget. Before the Storm is October 17th, at Studio Z in San Francisco. I will be performing trapeze, but that is just the tip of the iceberg. It's going to be a fun evening. We ran 8 miles this weekend. The biggest news about that is that I ran in a 12 minute pace group instead of my usual 13:30. It was a bit tougher, well, a lot tougher, but it was actually running, instead of the frustrating meander that I have felt from some of the other runs. I've been having some hip pain because I aged seventy years and developed halitosis, and you're right, that was a test to see if anyone actually reads what I write. I have been having hip pain because my old pace group was slow enough that it was cutting short my stride and causing my hip muscles to cramp up, and this faster group helps. Plus it makes everything get done faster, yay. We'll see if I can handle it this coming weekend, when we are running 20 miles. (Wanna help with my fundraising goal but feeling tight on funds? Volunteer to be at one of our water stops in Berkeley this weekend. Starts at 8am. Bring your happy shiny face, and maybe a jacket. E-mail me if you are interested... I get a bit of credit if I shanghai a volunteer.) I went to a really nice housewarming party in San Jose this weekend. I saw a lot of good people and old friends, which was really wonderful. Plus, the house to be warmed is really neato. Fun architecture, giant bathtub, labyrinthine neighborhood... Actually, I am not kidding. I had to call 3 times for help finding the place, and they eventually sent out a search party. Someone at Mapquest just got fired... first they sent me on Highway East when it should have been West, and then closer in they told me to turn left when it should have been right. Fortunately, my internal mapping skills from playing games like The Bard's Tale were helpful for knowing sorta where I should go, but at some point it was too much even for my spider sense, which got so overloaded that I couldn't even find my way back to my car on foot when it was time to go home. Imagine if I'd been drinking. Lots of wedding and house-buying talk at the party. My generation is growing up, I guess. Ooooh! Two more stories for today's mega-blog: 1) Last night when I got home from the housewarming, the downstairs apartments were hosting a joint party. They had warned me ahead of time, but I still had to get up pretty early to have a trapeze rehearsal. It was so loud that I ended up sleeping on my back porch, under the stars (which is actually kinda fun). I woke up the next morning and on my way downstairs, I found that my potting soil, which I keep on my front porch, had been taken and thrown over my downstairs neighbor's railing. Three floors of walkways were covered in exploded potting soil, which was mysteriously mixed with shards of broken glass and nachos. The girls downstairs eventually cleaned up while I was away doing trapeze, and the wilted remains of the potting soil bag reappeared on my front porch. I am furious and feel disrespected, but at the same time, it's hard to get too upset because I was probably going to throw the potting soil away anyway (if I move, which might happen soon, maybe). But it still makes me angry that someone's drunk guests would be taking my things and throwing them over railings, and makes me glad that I don't keep anything of value on the front porch. 2) While we were running, one of the women I was running with asked me if I was seeing anyone. I said that I was single, and gave a bit of my awkward spiel about trying to find a genuine connection with someone when most gay men treat San Francisco like a giant candy store, and how I am just going to take my time and do my own thing, blah blah blah... She told me that I am "like a god" and called me "Adonis" and said that I should have no trouble finding someone. Coincidentally (?), my trapeze teacher told me that I am "stunning" and that it might help to be more comfortable with that and use it in performance. Maybe I was just having a good hair day, but I feel warm from the good feedback. In fact, if you want to flatter me even further, it looks like it's time for my comment button: Monday, September 20, 200411:06 PM - Was that a raindrop? Next time you see Cyclona, get her some green tea ice cream and a big hug. I love this image. We ran 8 miles on Saturday, and on Sunday I spent most of the day at the Berkeley Flea Market, helping our fundraisers peddle our wares to raise money for the team. It was pretty interesting-- I don't haggle all that often. I got better at it. My favorite line: "Well, if this was for me, I would give you a discount, but we are trying to raise money for the San Francisco AIDS Foundation, so I can't give you a better deal than the price that we've already marked..." It worked more often than not. I sold a bunch of things that I needed to get out of my hair, too. In non-marathon news, I spent part of the weekend with AJ and Judy in San Jose, designing a trapeze costume and asking questions as I listened to Resident Evil 2. I never saw the first one, although I mostly listened to the second one. I don't do well with scary. The interesting part for me was anticipating the plot elements before they happened. I think I was 100% correct on who lived and who died... well, except for one person who I didn't really understand was a main character. Phooey. I guess I don't get to be undead teacher's pet this week. Also, I just had a wonderful class with Terry Sendgraff. She's the best for making the stress of mundane world living just melt away, leaving room for creative exploration. If only I could start and end every day like that! Well... it's worth trying! Hrm... Saturday, September 11, 20049:34 PM - fetch the aloe17 miles was really tough, by the way. I have never even imagined myself running that far, and certainly not without dire consequences. So far the only consequences have been sunburn and a white salty substance that seems to cover my skin by the time I am done. I've considered the possibility that I was sweating -so- much that the water all evaporated and left white salt deposits all over my skin, but honestly, I think it's just part of running near the freeway. In other news, I saw Hero starring Jet Li with my friend Lauren who just moved back here from Maui. Yay! I'm glad she's back. As for the movie, I only have 3 words: Orgy. Of. Fabric. Of course I was in heaven. Lauren genuinely loved the movie, and I had reservations. My biggest one was there was a plot element that centered around two words, "Tian Xia," which means "beneath the heavens" or more euphemistically, "the whole world." The English subtitles translated this as "Our Land" though, which was frustrating, because the movie is set in a period of time where one warlord conquers all of his rival states and creates a unified "China" for the first time. "Our Land" in some ways signifies that what was going to happen was good for the people and that they already shared a common heart, but to me "Tian Xia" is chilling because it is much more Hitlerian. I realize that historically, and probably as a result of that time period, China was called the "Middle Kingdom" and considered all lands everywhere as distant subjects, but that is also in part due to a lack of consistent contact with other advanced civilizations until the time of the Opium War. But in any case, I felt like this movie was on some level condoning the use of force to conquer "inferior" nations if it was "for their own good," a position that immediately reeks of Hitler in my opinion and is also particularly disturbing in the face of our own country's invasion of Iraq. The movie itself was very pretty, though. Especially that Donnie Yen. I'm only letting him off the hook because he is 13 years older than me. In other news, I officially got the video from the Aerial Dance Festival in Colorado (yay!) and will be spending most of the day tomorrow preparing my trapeze to start working on the piece for our event on October 17th. Sunday, September 05, 20045:43 PM - hot hot hotMy current total (without the car wash funding) is $500! Yay! In other news, I have officially ordered white stretch denim from Idaho; it should be here in about 2 weeks. I'll be using that for my costume for "Before the Storm", our performance/fundraiser on October 17th. I'm still looking for more performers, so if you or anyone you know does something that involves a stage, please have them get in touch with me :-D It's amazing how this marathon thing got me all busy in a hurry. It's fun though. Our favorite topic of conversation during Saturday's run: my hair and whether or not it would retain its spiky-ness throughout the run. It did! On my plate for tonight: a looong shower, lemonade with star-shaped ice cubes, and nothing more strenuous than a cozy nap. |
