No really.  Things are happening, they are happening so soon that you can feel them breathing down your neck.  

...and that is only if you don't count the things going on right now in this present moment.


Overwhelming, isn't it?  I got pretty overwhelmed yesterday, when my day began with forgetting breakfast items, going to the store before work to grab them, being late for work, and realizing that I still forgot a breakfast item.  That was just the beginning.  The day got better when I decided to give myself a break and go for a soak at the Kennedy School for the first time since I've lived close enough to get the neighborhood-freebie deal.

Let me warn you about a few things:

• The Kennedy School is nothing like Common Ground Wellness  or Everett House.  There are reasons why you don't ever see Missed Connections from people at Kennedy School soaking pools like you do at the other two options (which blows ALL OF YOUR THEORIES OUT OF THE WATER, all you folks who defend those MCs!  [get it? water!?])  In fact, there are a few reasons: children. splashing. swimsuits. marco polo.  cold wet floors.  luke warm water. moms telling each other their entire life story. 
  
• Brown Cow brand 0% "salted caramel" flavor Greek Yogurt tastes like butterscotch. (Hey, I just said I needed to warn you, I didn't say it was a good or bad thing...or related to the Kennedy School)
  

For the next four days, I plan to do a lot of working, rehearsing, making, and prepping. But, I'll have at least one dance break, at Rythmatix 3yr ft: The Librarian, Nico Luminous, Tiger Fresh, Barisone, Mr Wu

Other than that, I hope to see you at any one of these whirlwind of events!
3/5: Hump Day Happy Hour  
3/6: Cloud City Circus  
3/7: Road to Sonic Bloom  
3/8: Fusion: Words

See right up there?  ^ There's a link marked "Biffed Connections" and it takes you to my other blog.  Today there were a couple fun Craigslist Missed Connections, and sometimes I just post the sweet ones, ones that are well-written, or sometimes just examples really poor spelling and grammar.

I hope you'll take a moment today to RSVP to Fusion: Words, then laugh at how silly words can be when used improperly...

I still won't be posting daily 30-second videos during the 30-day Movement Challenge slated for March, but even just one a month is better than I've ever done before!  I'm definitely embarrassed to share videos of my practice - I hate when people watch or hear me practicing anything - but I am excited to track my progress.  I'm hoping to put together one of those crazy awesome montages at the end of the year with my little videos, showing how much I've improved incrementally over time.  A year is quite a while, and I'm sure it'll be quite validating to see that after a year, I really have improved even if it seemed very slow in my perception.  

Unfortunately my laptop webcam is crap, the lighting in my dance temple is rarely adequate, and I have to overdub music to every video.  ...so there are those challenges as well.

I hope you'll considerjoining us and taking on your own challenge!

It's true!  This has been one of the busiest weeks I've encountered in a while, what with performances ramping up, productions coming, shows to attend, and oh...right, the full-time job that becomes uber-demanding around Registration and Enrollment periods (helllooooo RegistrEndi!)

But, I have been maintaining a nearly 100% completion-rate of 30-minutes of movement practice a day.

...nearly 100%.

Come on, I can give myself some leeway here.  I mean look at my calendar, there - if I started diversifying the categories it'd be SO GAY.  Either way, I'm proud of my ability to juggle so much stuff.  Why?  Because I love you.  I love throwing events, I love telling you about them, I love performing, and I love making spreadsheets and color coding them.  

And that's why I've decided to begin the March Movement Challenge!  And you're invited!

Make of it what you will: it's not a resolution, it's not a cleanse, it's not "kick yourself into gear" crash diet.  It's whatever personal challenge you deem appropriate to you.  For me, I'm going to continue to devote a truly dedicated 30 minutes each day to movement beyond simply just exercising: taking a new class, going out dancing (sometimes I don't get out enough!), practicing a new technique, teaching a lesson... 

The second most important part of the challenge: mututal motivation.  inspiration.  Let others know about your progress, the challenges you've been facing and how you've overcome them.  Post a g**d**** video once in a while (endi!  come on!) to build some rapport with the challengers, to hold yourself accountable, or - more appropriately - to record your progress! To be silly!  To practice seeing yourself on the screen!

So, I will see you all tonight at Offbeat Bellydance with Bridgetown Revue
Tomorrow at White Out
Sunday at MUSE (DJ'd by Melting Pot) 

Yesterday I went to the gym and burned 500 calories on the elliptical machine.  After work Kim came over and I taught her another metric crap-ton of awesome bellydance moves for 45 minutes, and we did conditioning with TheraBands and stability balls and, like, gravity for another 45.  I ran through my songs for tonight's performance (I hope you'll come!).  I went to the Goodfoot to see Guda and MeltingPot, and danced around for a bit.

Somehow I managed to gain a pound, and it is merely a reminder to me that gambling is never a good choice.  Even when it doesn't seem like gambling, it seems like a sure thing.

A month ago I bought in to DietBet - you pay $25 to get into a "game" wherein you and a bunch of other folks "bet" that they can get to their goal weight in a specific amount of time.  Winners get to divide up the pot, losers get to wave bye-bye to their cash as they wallow in their fat, broke, defeatedness.  But me?  I was in the middle of a 30-day movement challenge.  I could already see muscles beginning to emerge.  Hell yeah I can lose 5% of my body weight in 30 days!  Duh!  

So, between paying my $25 and my official weigh-in, I lost 5 lbs (which was not that much from what my goal would have been, had I weighed in at the exact time I paid to enter the game).  Now, the official closing weigh-in is due in ....38 hours.  And I've only managed to lose a pound from the official beginning weigh-in.  So, unless there's another miracle 5-lb loss hiding somewhere (maybe with my tahini oat cookie - RIP) I guess I've lost $25.  And 1 lb.

...it sucks to lose money, but I'm hopeful that this isn't going to get me down: I've got SO much more muscle now than I did a month ago.  I wish I'd been taking my measurements.  I wish that body fat % was part of the deal.

Also, note to self: don't buy stuff from China.  It's so easy - it's online at my fingertips when I am most bored or in need of distraction.  It's cheap.  It looks so good on those cute little models.

But it's like buying stuff from Walmart, without even trying it on first.

Yesterday three very important things happened.

1. I got the flyers for Fusion:Words!  I can't wait to start showing these babies off.  Thanks to Red Sky Ryn for the graphic design!


2. Oregon State Income Tax Return, baybaaaaaay.



3. I purchased a set of these bad boys for $5 over my tax return. UKRAINE here is some money that Oregon did not want!!



Related note: When I first started researching fire fans, I learned that there's a particular type of grip/hold called the "Russian Grip".  Little did I know that Russia is also where you're going to find TONS OF LED FLOW TOYS.  The vast majority of websites featuring fire and LED fans (and LED Isis wings!  ooohh! aahhhh!) come from the Ukraine.  There is Russian-style tech (fan spinning/folding/dance technique) versus American.  It is A Thing.  

Did you know this about Russia?  This rich, and dare I say, advanced LED/fire toy spinning culture?  I did not!  Looks like I've got another region of the world to add to my "To Visit" list!

I'll be leaving for my first trip to Central America in one month!  That means I have a month to become ten times more badass before I share my badassness with another country full of people - and TWO different oceans!  Though I'm gonna do my best not to have any expectations, I really do hope to spin fire on two different ocean's beaches in March.  

In the last month and a half, I've discovered just how much I love to drill moves.  Choreographing is fun.  Coming up with patterns is fun.  Improv is real fun.  Rehearsing is OK.  But there's something about picking a move (or a pattern of layers) and a good mix of music, and practicing it over and over again until it becomes muscle memory.  I don't have to think at all - just feel the movement becoming slightly more wrote in my body.  I don't have to decide what comes next - the list of drills I've written for myself sits nearby.  I don't have to think "oh my god how long have I been doing this?" because my timer beeps every minute to remind me that hey, it's only been less than a minute or yo, you've been doing this move for three minutes now which feels pretty damned awesome when I only required myself to do it for one, but loved it so much I went for three.

The problem with the fan moves is that...I don't know any of their names.  Writing out drill sequences for my fan spinning is just a list of scribbles reading "spin alt up & down, side plane" and "weave alt finger (side) & thumb (front)".  (That's the move I learned from Aaron over the weekend in the snow!)



Anyway, here's a picture of el temple du danserino, my personal dance church, Theatre of Movement, sanctuary, lit up at night with snow on the ground outside.

Last night I bought a rug, which is probably not the most impressive dance accessory I've purchased, but it's really going to save my floors and my fans.  I practiced spinning for 15 minutes or so, with a Band-Aid over my new spinning blister (I'm so proud). I practiced moves I'd never even thought of a month ago, let alone tried!  I should record another video soon; despite all the wobbles and drops, it's still an obvious improvement.

Then I spent some time running through my sets for a few upcoming shows: Valentine's Day with Cloud City Circus, Saturday with Drumspyder, and next Monday's Presidents' Day themed Gothique Blend.

I hope to see you there!

Know what I didn't do this weekend?  Get exercise by playing in the snow.  Don't get me wrong - I love snow, and any excuse to exercise that is just PLAYING is my favorite thing... but this weekend was a weird rush of trying-to-get-stuff-done-last-minute for parties and gigs that didn't happen, then going out and dancing (low-impact) for five hours straight at the non-white-out party.  I did get in half hour of conditioning on Friday night before being swept away to a dessert birthday in the snowy mountains (opposite of healthy), and a half hour last night -- the only physical activity I got yesterday.  

Friday night's snowy mountain dessert party did involve me lighting my new fans for the first time, and even learning a new trick.  When I practiced for 10 minutes last night, I earned my first official spinning blister.  \m/

It feels like it's been 50 days since the official Movement Challenge ended and February began - not five!  

I'm so lucky to have started creating this habit when I did - now, when life is starting to catch up with - and overrun - me.  Last night was the second Bridgetown Revue meeting of the week (we have some really exciting things planned over the next few months, like a photoshoot with Jeremy Running, Fusion: Words, Duality, our next Bellydance/Burlesque showcase with Critical Hits (april 26; mark your calendar!).... and there's also White Out this Saturday, with a DJ and performance lineup that I am so excited about.  (...until I realized I hadn't even started working on a costume until two days ago)

Even though I'm beginning to remember how close me an' my pal Frantic have been over the years, we took a break so that I could teach my weekly private dance lesson... which went so well that I got carried away and taught for the entirety of DJ Melting Pot's latest mix, which you can of course download for free yourself too.  I'll tell you - teaching to these mixes has completely changed how I teach - the instruction, the movements, the drills, flow from one to the next effortlessly.  There's no need to stop and pick a  new song with the right tempo or feel... 

...teacher secretssssss....

Come see me and my SWEET ABS tonight at Cloud City Circus' 1st Thursday show at Analog!