Wednesday, December 21, 2005

8:32 PM - (unless you are in another hemisphere)

the shortest day of the year

It's been a difficult week. I can't wait for this month to be over. I'd whine about all of the yuckies that have happened, but it seems to be happening to everyone simultaneously. I'm sure someone would have you believe that it's all an astrological phenomenon, but I always have a difficult time in December.

My shoulders are a bit sore. Grr.

In the oven at this moment is the first cake I've ever baked from scratch with no help. Instead of going for a normal cake, I've chosen the Moosewood's Ukranian Poppyseed Cake, with an Orange Glaze. I even bought a bundt pan for the occasion. I'll be visiting former roomie Brian (who lives in Iowa now, and who was seen in the travel blog...) and his family in Massachusetts for a couple of days, and I'll be subjecting them to the cake. I hope I don't poison them. Actually, I think the cake might even turn out... tasty.

I'm looking forward to having a few days away from work and circus training so I can just relax and be myself for a while. And eat Ukrainian Poppyseed Cake (with an Orange Glaze).

Happy Winter Solstice everyone!

Sunday, December 11, 2005

5:15 PM - the moment you've all been waiting for

a quick update

I uploaded a small video of the piece that I performed last weekend. Unfortunately both cameras broke at the actual event, so we took this footage today. Blindfolded spinning trapeze.

This is the first piece I've done where the "I'm really pleased with this performance" feelings have outweighed the "I could have done a better job" feelings. There are still things that I would change, but it's really not bad, especially as a work in progress.

Wednesday, December 07, 2005

11:01 AM - you have no chance to survive, make your time.

residual crankiness

Saturday's performance went well. In fact, I'd say it mostly went really well. Some friends visited from Boston to see the performance, and some of my co-workers came, too. The place was jam-packed, and all of the performers did an amazing job. My piece went well. I really wanted to have video to post on the internet, but both video cameras malfunctioned during my piece. Frustration.

On Monday at open studio practice time, people seemed really eager for the next performance. Let's do it again! And we started throwing around ideas for a new performance or how to create opportunities for ourselves. I'm really torn, though--- the more time I spend on that kind of thing, the less time I spend on actually getting better and stronger. I need to re-solidify my goals so that I am motivated to do keep working and also so that I don't get caught up in projects that don't serve my needs. I'm kinda floating out in space now, and the teachers are going to be touring this winter and again in spring, so it's important that I refocus a bit so I can run with things on my own while they are away.

Even though I've been enthusiastic, learning the past couple of days has been really tough. I fell off the fabric on Monday, and on Tuesday (which was already a very cranky day), we started learning a new trick that hinged upon the exact thing that I fell out of on Monday. It's a drop called the Bomb, and my rad co-workers were quick to point out that by the end of the evening, I had become proficient at setting up the Bomb. I struggled a lot in fabric class, like I always do, and it was really frustrating. I eventually did accomplish one complete Bomb by the end of the class, and it doesn't hurt nearly as much as some of the other drops we do. I have a lot of residual frustration. I think that playing catch-up is very tough emotionally because everyone else in the room is more likely to be able to do the trick right of the bat and it makes me feel bad about myself, but then it somehow means I am learning faster because I'm trying to catch up to them.

I accidentally went back to sleep this morning and was later than I wanted to be to work. So... I should probably do some work now.

Friday, December 02, 2005

8:32 PM - Come sail away, come sail away with me...

Something like the best week ever.

I got a job! I'm working as a web designer at the Brattleboro Tech Collective, which is so far even better than if I had tried to imagine the perfect job for myself. Dave and Josh are both great, and it's a good mixture of tech and creativity. Plus, I actually get to take responsibility for my own results, and when I'm successful it helps the whole group. Hooray.

I'm performing tomorrow at 4pm. I am the first piece in the demo/recital. I'm finally starting to get nervous. It will be a good show, though... and I'm really hoping to get video so people can see. I've been working and training really hard for this piece, so it's awesome to be able to present it. Some old college friends are driving up from Boston to see the performance, too, which makes me really happy. It's great to see them, and also show them a bit of what I am learning. Even in the past two months I've become a lot stronger and more flexible... so... yay. *nervous*

Karen surprised me last night with a gift in Puzzle Pirates. It is a beautiful ship that she renamed to the Masked Unicornfish. For people not in the know, a renamed ship is a very big deal. And it's all painted, decorated, and filled up with fruit to help Shantybones not to get scurvy. And the best part was that she delivered it in a way that was pretty much a complete surprise, my general obliviousness helping with the overwhelming shock of the gift. I melted a little bit.

Everyone wish me luck tomorrow!