No taiko practice tonight, which is nice because I think everyone could use a break already. We just have to get through tomorrow's practice, loading drums and spiking the stage on Friday, and then spending the entire weekend at the Botanical Garden. Oh, and then we have 3 out of town performances the next weekend in Springfield, MO (overnight stay). THEN, if things go as planned, I am going on strike...uh, I mean taking a break. I really should make up a song. For real this time. The other stuff is getting old and I've been cooking up ideas for a while. It won't be as easy as making up a dance, though, since the song isn't already made.
Picking up on incorrect arm movements in taiko seems to be second nature to me. For example, yesterday I noticed in the window reflection that I used the opposite arm of the person behind me on one beat of a rather complicated song. I see tiny things like that all the time, even when I'm playing and not paying as much attention. I think I figured out why, though: multiply the people on the front drums by three, take away the drums, add leg movements and lateral motion, and you have a dance squad. I'm trained to pick up inconsistencies in entire body movements, so arms alone are a breeze. The hardest part is remembering what I see through the course of a song and deciding if I should speak up. Usually, I speak up, and I think people appreciate it. I hate singling someone out in front of the whole group because it seems like I'm undermining them, so I speak to them individually.
I'm not really complaining about the Japanese Festival, by the way, because I am so glad I get to actually perform in it this year. I have just been doing a LOT of taiko in the past month or more, and it won't end for another week or so. Last year I was supposed to be on a lot of good parts and had to be replaced just two weeks before the show. That was definitely the lowest point of the year and possibly my life, as dramatic as that sounds. (Sicknesses and deaths of loved ones trump that, but I'm speaking in regards to myself, personally.) I won't reiterate why, but you probably have an idea.
Oh, that reminds me--I came across an article about "America's Most Stressful Cities," and guess which one has come in first for two years in a row? Chicago! Yes, the place where I almost sold my soul to my job. Looking back, thank God I didn't. Who knows how or when I would have broken out of that cycle of overworking myself, otherwise? I was describing my current job situation to a designer acquaintance that I hadn't seen in a while, and her response was, "That sounds kind of ideal." And you know, as boring as insurance is and as much as I would love to be surrounded by creative types, I have it pretty good. I basically set my own schedule, do my own thing, leave on time, and never take work home with me. I'm still designing (from the ground up, at that) and I have a job. In fact, my boss told me that hiring me full-time is very much in the works right now (budgeting for next year). Well, I have to pass the crazy test before they can hire me, but I should be fine. I bet that's what they all say...
It's funny, because they only expected me to be there for two months as a temp. This happened the same time that Joel and I started realistically sorting through what I would consider major life changes for both of us, too. I really don't know how long I expected us to last and sometimes I wonder what the hell I was thinking back then, but despite a few bumps, it just keeps getting better. I assumed it would all along, but I had very little evidence of that last November. Sometimes I just "know" things for no good reason.
Oh, and my birthday was light years better than last year. It lasted about a week: swanky bar; found and watched Chicago, one of my favorites; did batting cages and mini golf for the first time in like 10 years; got a big group of awesome friends together for the wineries; went to lunch at Houlihan's with some cool taiko people. I'm not quite sure when I collected all these friends I've been keeping up with, either, but I'm lovin' it. There's always something fun going on.
A recent situation among so-called friends still haunts me a little, even though it has nothing to do with me. I had a behind the scenes look at the drama as it played out, more than most other people, and I am shocked at how detached and deceitful people can be. For the record, if you break the "girl code" and turn on a friend/someone with tremendous admiration for you so suddenly and unapologetically (don't forget secretly), you are out of the club in my book. I'm not sticking around to see what you come up with next. I can't even exactly define "girl code," but there are basic guidelines. I'm more surprised at the principles at work than the people, actually, but there I go "knowing" things I have no reason to know again.
That's neither here no there, but it's something that I've been thinking about. All in all, I would say that life is pretty fantastic, and it's about time.
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