Okay fine, I'll go back to taiko on Thursday already...but only because a girl that's been playing for 10 years is coming to check us out. Since I can play most songs and I don't know what we're going to demonstrate, it might be helpful for me to be there. And okay, I might also go to the beginner's class on Sunday, but only because it looks like there are some interesting candidates and I want to meet them. We need more dancers in the group and it looks like there are some possibilities. There is never a good time to do 400 jumping jacks and 1600 arm circles, but first thing in the morning is especially bad. Is meeting them worth it? I'm still weighing my options. The class significantly decreases after the first week or so. Wimps. ;)
I've decided I'm going to judge this year, even though I have a certain aversion to it. When I was captain on dance team in high school, I had to decide (with two others) who would make the cut for every dance that we did. A couple times, a girl or two didn't pass and they cried about it. I felt bad, even though we let them dance, anyway, because they promised to try harder. They were still bad, though. Ha. I think I would be a relatively strict taiko judge, but that is not entirely a bad thing. Once you make the group you are in for life if you so choose, so we shouldn't just take anyone.
We don't have room for many more people, anyway. I think if we take more, though, we should start establishing levels like "beginner, intermediate, advanced." It seems like all the other groups have that kind of system and a lot of beginners aren't even allowed to perform at all in the first two years or so. We don't have the resources for that and that's pretty harsh, anyway; however, just knowing a song should not automatically mean you should perform it. I'm still conflicted on whether people that try hard and always come to practice should perform more than people that are naturally talented but don't practice as much. My initial response is no, practice time shouldn't trump skill, but that's not really fair.
At the same time, when I first started dancing I practiced all the time and in high school and college I had to learn a new dance every other week, so I can now pick up on dances, timing, and movement almost effortlessly. Should I still practice as much as the people that haven't trained themselves to that point yet? I pretty much do, anyway, but I wouldn't say that it's necessarily fair, either. If it takes me one practice to learn something that takes someone else ten practices to learn, that holds me back. That's where levels would come in handy. I have a lot of patience, but I can only teach, critique, "re-learn" things and learn different parts for so long until I'm bursting at the seems for a new challenge. I'm sort of at a stalemate. It looks like I'm going to have to create my own challenges, which is why I should really make a song.
Well, at least I made good use of my taiko absence last night. I went to a trivia night at a local bar! Two of the categories involved listening to songs and naming the artist or band, so I wasn't totally clueless. We never came close to winning, but it was still fun. The rest of the week looks promising, too. Tonight is Theology at the Bottleworks, Friday is the hot air balloon glow, and Saturday is my grade school's carnival and possibly a movie!Yay!
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Four Temperaments
I'm making up for last month's lack of posts, I guess. I actually ran several errands and hung out with a good friend today, but this doesn't take much time. I haven't taken a quiz in a while, but I just took a temperament test that sparked my interest.
The result seemed accurate, so of course, I couldn't stop there. I needed to know more about it, and then what all the other temperaments meant, as well--yes, I'm on another psychology kick, and this time it involves the Four Temperaments/Four Humors. They are Melancholy, Phlegmatic, Choleric, and Sanguine. The idea originally came from Hippocrates, who thought that certain bodily fluids controlled aspects of a person's personality (black bile, phlegm, yellow bile, and blood--yum). Of course, those physiological connections do not apply in modern psychology, but the ancient temperaments still stand. Anyway, I'm almost evenly split between these two (the other two only account for about 30% total):
Melancholy
The result seemed accurate, so of course, I couldn't stop there. I needed to know more about it, and then what all the other temperaments meant, as well--yes, I'm on another psychology kick, and this time it involves the Four Temperaments/Four Humors. They are Melancholy, Phlegmatic, Choleric, and Sanguine. The idea originally came from Hippocrates, who thought that certain bodily fluids controlled aspects of a person's personality (black bile, phlegm, yellow bile, and blood--yum). Of course, those physiological connections do not apply in modern psychology, but the ancient temperaments still stand. Anyway, I'm almost evenly split between these two (the other two only account for about 30% total):
Melancholy
- Deep and thoughtful
- Analytical
- Serious and purposeful
- Genius prone
- Talented and creative
- Artistic or musical
- Philosophical and poetic
- appreciative of beauty
- Sensitive to others
- Self-sacrificing
- Conscientious
- Idealistic
- Low-key personality
- Easygoing and relaxed
- Calm, cool and collected
- Patient well balanced
- Consistent life
- Quiet but witty
- Sympathetic and kind
- Keeps emotions hidden
- Happily reconciled to life
- All-purpose person
Oh Ellen
Did I mention how much I love her?! The dance starts around 2:10:
ALSO, I found this video of the "Crazy Dancing Lady" that I see ALL over St. Louis (and even Belleville!). If I go off the deep end one day, I will totally turn into this lady. She does parties, too, apparently. I feel kind of bad for her, but she is doing her thing and it's harmless. That's how you get lost in dance...well, kind of. It makes me smile. This time she has a dance partner!:
ALSO, I found this video of the "Crazy Dancing Lady" that I see ALL over St. Louis (and even Belleville!). If I go off the deep end one day, I will totally turn into this lady. She does parties, too, apparently. I feel kind of bad for her, but she is doing her thing and it's harmless. That's how you get lost in dance...well, kind of. It makes me smile. This time she has a dance partner!:
Top Ten Things I'm Looking Forward To This Fall
Labor Day usually signifies the end of summer, and this summer was especially awesome. I spent most of my time doing fun things outside of work and just outside, in general. The mild summer made it even more enjoyable. Summer is probably my favorite season because of all the activities, but fall comes in a close second. Here's a list of things I'm looking forward to this fall, to cheer me up a little. (In order of how they popped into my head.):
1. Layered clothing. It's jacket and sweater season, and jackets are my favorite article of clothing. Also, I can wear skirts and dresses with tights (or maybe even thigh highs, like in Japan?).
2. Cool, crisp air
3. Colorful leaves
4. Low humidity means that my hair will become manageable again.
5. Halloween and all that comes with it: candy, scary stories, cute kids in costumes, etc...Haunted tour of Alton this year, maybe?
6. Boots and ballet slippers!
7. Official one year anniversary of my job and relationship (unofficial relationship anniversary is indeterminable).
8. Pumpkin flavored coffee and desserts.
9. I get fitted for my dress as Maid of Honor in a spring wedding and I meet the other bridesmaids.
10. Season 5 of "The Office" comes out on DVD.
1. Layered clothing. It's jacket and sweater season, and jackets are my favorite article of clothing. Also, I can wear skirts and dresses with tights (or maybe even thigh highs, like in Japan?).
2. Cool, crisp air
3. Colorful leaves
4. Low humidity means that my hair will become manageable again.
5. Halloween and all that comes with it: candy, scary stories, cute kids in costumes, etc...Haunted tour of Alton this year, maybe?
6. Boots and ballet slippers!
7. Official one year anniversary of my job and relationship (unofficial relationship anniversary is indeterminable).
8. Pumpkin flavored coffee and desserts.
9. I get fitted for my dress as Maid of Honor in a spring wedding and I meet the other bridesmaids.
10. Season 5 of "The Office" comes out on DVD.
Saturday, September 5, 2009
Upcoming hobbies
So much for that nap, at least for the moment. I have all the time in the world, though, now that today's taiko performance was cancelled. We weren't supposed to play until 7 and I think it has finished raining for the day (it's 2pm), so I don't know what that's about. The stage is covered, anyway, and I know the group has played there in the rain before. I really hope the weather cooperates tomorrow and Monday because I know a decent amount of people that are thinking of coming, but I would understand if rain scared them away. Maybe I'll do an anti-rain dance for the rain gods or something. Oh, speaking of dancing: I made up a short ballet/modern dance for one of the interludes! I always felt like that song needed a dance, so now it has one. I'm kind of excited.
If I really put my mind to it I could make an entire taiko song, but I keep making excuses. As of this moment, I'm giving myself a deadline of...December 31. You heard it here first. That way, it's after all the craziness of the taiko and holiday season and after the new kids (if any) join the group. Plus, that will give me enough time to rework it a thousand times, too, which is a necessary part of the process. I'm not sure how complicated it will be, but if my "easy" dance choreography is any indication, it might take some time to teach it. This is a new direction for me, though, so I should start out slow...but sometimes I have a different definition of what that means. More challenging=more fun! (Taiko side note: Juugoya is the exception.) Well, I think so, anyway.
Lately I seem to have this crazy habit of essentially thinking things into existence. I'll mention something like, "Hey, I wonder if so-and-so is going on tour and stopping in town" or "My sister has a wallet made of duct tape (from a friend). I wonder if there's a company that makes those." Sure enough, within two or three days, I will look up the artist and find that they are coming to town or I will accidentally come across an article about the topic that answers the question. They aren't extremely popular acts or topics, either.
The latest example is a hula hoop class. I found an article that said it was growing as a popular exercise class yesterday and thought "I used to love doing tricks with the hula hoop when I was little (on my arms, neck, etc). Maybe I should try it again." I mentioned it to Joel last night and by pure coincidence, I found a flyer for "World Hoop Day" (9/9) in his store today. Apparently, St. Louis has a hoop club and they will start offering classes next month. That's a pretty unusual coincidence. Maybe there is something to that "Law of Attraction" thing, huh? Hula hooping at this age is a little unusual, I know, but it also sounds like a blast! As an added bonus, the hula hoops in the videos have LED lights inside of them, which is awesome at any age. I emailed them to sign up today. I am such a hippie.
Anyway, I should get back to...thinking about a nap and uh, eating something before I leave at 7. Yeah, 3 hours from now. Busy day. :-P
If I really put my mind to it I could make an entire taiko song, but I keep making excuses. As of this moment, I'm giving myself a deadline of...December 31. You heard it here first. That way, it's after all the craziness of the taiko and holiday season and after the new kids (if any) join the group. Plus, that will give me enough time to rework it a thousand times, too, which is a necessary part of the process. I'm not sure how complicated it will be, but if my "easy" dance choreography is any indication, it might take some time to teach it. This is a new direction for me, though, so I should start out slow...but sometimes I have a different definition of what that means. More challenging=more fun! (Taiko side note: Juugoya is the exception.) Well, I think so, anyway.
Lately I seem to have this crazy habit of essentially thinking things into existence. I'll mention something like, "Hey, I wonder if so-and-so is going on tour and stopping in town" or "My sister has a wallet made of duct tape (from a friend). I wonder if there's a company that makes those." Sure enough, within two or three days, I will look up the artist and find that they are coming to town or I will accidentally come across an article about the topic that answers the question. They aren't extremely popular acts or topics, either.
The latest example is a hula hoop class. I found an article that said it was growing as a popular exercise class yesterday and thought "I used to love doing tricks with the hula hoop when I was little (on my arms, neck, etc). Maybe I should try it again." I mentioned it to Joel last night and by pure coincidence, I found a flyer for "World Hoop Day" (9/9) in his store today. Apparently, St. Louis has a hoop club and they will start offering classes next month. That's a pretty unusual coincidence. Maybe there is something to that "Law of Attraction" thing, huh? Hula hooping at this age is a little unusual, I know, but it also sounds like a blast! As an added bonus, the hula hoops in the videos have LED lights inside of them, which is awesome at any age. I emailed them to sign up today. I am such a hippie.
Anyway, I should get back to...thinking about a nap and uh, eating something before I leave at 7. Yeah, 3 hours from now. Busy day. :-P
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
This moment in time
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.
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.
Monday, August 31, 2009
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