We talk about the Weather

Some places, it's considered lack of finesse or imagination to discuss the weather, but in Colorado Springs, its diversity provides a wealth of conversation material. A sampling of the accounts I could provide :

• How I learned the hard way to wear long underwear, plus dressing for blizzard-like conditions for my 1-minute walk to class
• "Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, we were consistently colder than the North Pole"
• How I almost died slipping on black ice
• . . . and then it was sunny and quite mild
• The snow melted so quickly!
• No, it's not that cold out anymore, never mind the cold! Where the heck did the bluster come from? A minute ago nine gusts of wind literally lifted me off my feet! I almost dropped my soymilk!
  

All this in the same week!

Clumsy

I don't know how many times I've fallen down the stairs in my dorm this year. Tons.

How many steps are there, you ask? There are four.
What are they made of? A very traction-friendly rubber.
What's at the bottom? Carpet.

Yet the four steps outside of the dorm house, which are often coated in ice, give me no trouble.
Obviously there's something wrong with me.

What did the policeman say to his tummy?

I've got you under a vest!

also,

What do you call a nosy pepper?

Jalapeño business!

Baking without measuring

Recently I found myself with all of the ingredients but none of the utensils. Read on to see how my educated brain dealt with this!

I had a cough-medicine cup-thingy and a glass.
I just measured flour into the glass 2 teaspoons at a time and marked off the following intervals:

12 teaspoons = 1/4 cup
16 teaspoons = 1/3 cup
24 teaspoons = 1/2 cup
32 teaspoons = 2/3 cup
36 teaspoons = 3/4 cup
48 teaspoons = 1 cup

Homemade measuring cup! I'll just use the cough-medicine-thingy for the little stuff, remembering that
3 teaspoons = 1 tablespoon.

Brilliant!

Update (Dec. 14th):
I lost the cough-medicine-thingy. Now I have two left, but they're in milliliters. And the markings on the cup weren't "permanent" enough. Here we go again.

236.588 mL = 1 cup
177.4 mL = 3/4 cup
157.7 mL = 2/3 cup
118.3 mL = 1/2 cup
78.8 mL = 1/3 cup
59.15 mL = 1/4 cup

4.9 mL = 1 teaspoon
14.8 mL = 1 tablespoon

Tales of Health

Tale of Victory: Bronchitis has mostly passed, coughing has mostly stopped. (Good, because I depleted my two bottles of Robitussin.) I even think I'm getting over being overtrained!

Tale of Woe: My first bunion. Waaaaaaaaaahh . . . . . . .
I'm the poster child for bunions from pointe.

Tale of Victory: Today, made major headway with Rosie on her solo.
This is for my "bound ballet," by the way. Rosie is my Ankles. --------------------------------->

Tale of Woe: Not extreme headway, though. Because of my bunion!

Snow Duck

It snowed.

I made a snow duck.

Text on the Net

FML is that anonymous repository of ironic woe and failure, TFLN is "Remember that text you shouldn't have sent last night?" and MLIA is the optimistic kid sister of the two.
They are all pretty much the most popular time-diddling websites on campus at the moment. Personally, I think MLIA is the best. It is basically an online Generation Y cuddlefest. Trends I've noted are

1. anti-Twilightism and anti-Miley Cyrus-ism

Yesterday, I took my baby cousin trick or treating. She was dressed as a pumpkin and was absolutely adorable, so many kids wanted to hold her. She was held my a zombie, a dead person, a texas chainsaw murderer, and a scary clown. She didn't cry until she got held by a twelve year-old dressed as Miley Cyrus.
#1183906

2. references to Harry Potter and 90's phenoms such as Pokemon and Transformers

Today, I finally managed to say "Piii...kaa.." before I sneezed.
#1180484

3. Snuggies

Today I discovered that when you put a Snuggie on backwards, it no longer is a Snuggie but an awesome cape, and I preceded to run around my dorm floor making whooshing noises. Three other kids on my floor came out to join me and we played 2 on 2 Quidditch.
#712581

4. amazing fun things

Today, I brought a dog home from the shelter who I had been iffy about adopting. Within the first few hours, I discovered that when you point at him and say "Pillow fight!" he runs off and comes back with a pillow.
#1199868

5. witnessing strangers carrying out planned absurdities

I was driving by the lake and I saw a Jeep full of guys pass me. They were hanging out the windows and the sunroof, paddling with canoe paddles, and singing "Just Around the Riverbend" from Pocahontas.
#432680

6. the communion of unplanned absurdities with strangers

Today, I saw a man dressed in full Buddy costume from the movie "Elf." I stuck my head out my car window and yelled, "You're a cotton-headed ninnymuggins!" His gasp was audible from several feet away, and then he chased me down the sidewalk yelling, "I'm telling Santa!"
#1177317

7. awesomesauce little kids

Last night while trick-or-treating I saw a 10 year old boy who had made himself and entire suit and cape out of bubblewrap. Excited, I shouted "It's Bubblewrap Boy!" The kid turned around and said "I'm Bubblewrap MAN," pointing to the mustache he had drawn over his lip.
#1181977

8. awesomesauce old people
9. awesomesauce parents and teachers

How Do You Spend Your Web Time?

What are my most-used websites? I have these sites as icons right at the top on my web browser:
1. Digg, a news site where users try to vote stories to the front page.
2. CC's library webpage and help desk and PROWL
3. The Raw Story, NPR Politics on Twitter, Associated Press, and Al Jazeera English, for world news.
4. Facebook
5. ChaCha's KnowledgeBase, even though I haven't worked for them in a while.
6. Yahoo! mail
7. Youtube
8. Blogger
9. WordReference, romance language dictionary with excellent grammar forums.
10. Chinese-Tools.com and nciku, Chinese dictionaries.
11. thesaurus.reference.com
12. RhymeZone, rhyming dictionary.
13. RedBubble, a social site/art gallery for visual artists who write on the side.
14. RememberTheMilk, online to-do lists.
15. craigslist
16. 43 Things, for occasional motivation.
17. LyricWiki, so you can look up lyrics to songs without being bombarded by infectious ads.
18. Google Maps
19. a time calculator, comes in handy.
20. TinyUrl
21. spreeder, a speed-reading tool.
22. Athleticore, a workout log that CC runners use.
23. MyPyramid Tracker, nutrition log and analyzer which came in handy when I started eating vegetarian.
24. HowStuffWorks

I think Dad would like this costume

for Aaron.

Take Home Tests

Advantage/Disadvantage Analysis of Take Home Tests

Disadvantages
1. It's not like they're open book. You can take it anywhere, but the library ceiling doesn't have the answers.
2. Ticknor runs super hot. I prefer my room and my desk, but my room heater is broken and refuses to turn off.
3. No sense of inter-student competition, or, on the other hand, pre-test game-building hoots.
4. Classrooms don't have distractions the way my room has distractions.

Advantages
1. You can take the test in your underwear.
1.5 especially if your room heater is broken.
2. You can yell "DEFINITIONS PWNED!" after completing the definition section.
3. Six bathroom breaks.
4. I have a chocolate donut that I'm going to eat after I complete the hardest essay.
5. You can listen to music.
6. None of that Sniffly Girl. or Girl Who Chews TicTacs really loudly, I hated her so much. Also, the guy who usually sits in front of me has wild sideburns on the back of his neck and I stare at it because it's weird when we're in class.
7. Rock in my squeaky chair? Don't mind if I do.
8. White noise? I'ma turn my fan to HIGH!

One More Disadvantage
1. I was under the impression that no one was going to notice me running to the TV lounge and jumping on the couch in the seventh inning.

Doing much better

I'm over swine flu, and every day I've been dividing my frequency and severity of coughing in half, so I think today was the last day before it stops.
One good outcome - probably spending so much time in bed was good for my overtrained body. Now that the flu effects are fading away, I don't feel sore or painful all over. I am, however, very weak, and I can tell both from my baggy jeans (which used to be my tight jeans) and from my performance in modern class that I have lost a significant amount of strength and muscle mass. Starting over time . . . !

It is special flu

Today I managed to eat some solid foods. And by solid foods I mean soup. Ladies came by yesterday with a big box of food and like a million Gatorades.

I tell you, swine flu is not like regular flu. It is horrible. This fever is going on 3 days. I don't even know what day it is. Wednesday? I thought it was Thursday. Oh well.

So making the soup and blogging about it is all I have energy for today, bye bye.

Talking with Joel

Tonight, at dinner
Joel: "So you've been vegetarian for more than a year now. How do you get your iron?"
Me: "Salads. Huge salads that I get teased for."
Joel: "I'm sure you don't."

Later, at the salad bar
Joel: "You weren't joking. That is an enormous pile of lettuce and spinach."
Me: "I tell you Joel, I don't spend much time in the space between truth and hyperbole."
Joel: "I can see that. In any case, we're going to be here a while."
"Yes, well, leafy greens . . . . . . . . I'M A COW!" I announced.
However, Joel had walked around the corner and this announcement went straight into the face of the unfamiliar freshman boy standing next to me spearing croutons, who could only say, "Umm . . . sorry?"

It was almost better than the "clean tasting spoons" incident.

Dance updates

Hey homedogs.

Advanced choreography adjunct is cool. Yesterday we had to lead improv . . . mine was easy: "You're filaments and the wall is MAGNETS! You don't want to get stuck but you're GONNA LOSE!"

I came up with the dopest floor move that I want to use in the Bowed Piano ensemble piece next semester. Don't want to ruin the pleasure of actually seeing it, but I'll tell you it comes with very specific injury - it rubs a chunk of flesh off the wrist and therefore I can't do it too much.

I played for them this "soundscape" song I was thinking of using for a duet. It's 37 minutes long and I wanted to choreograph 3 minutes or so and randomize the starting point of the dance for every performance. They all said I should do a whole show, a continuous one, with it because I loved the whole thing so much. They were like: "Would you be up to it?" and I was like: "Yeah, actually."

But next semester.

I finally told Jeff I'm overtrained and he got kind of horrified. So now he expects me to back off a ton. I may be burned out but I still love dance deep down to the mitochondria. Taking it easy is not something I'm particularly good at. I kind of wish I had a guardian figure who would yell at me if I was doing too much or going too hard.

My problem is that on the good days, I have enough energy to get things done, so I'll schedule that rehearsal, catch up on choreographing and push myself, do those three hours of research, visit a friend I haven't seen in forever -- what used to be normal stuff. Then for the next two days I am 10 pounds of poop in a 5 pound bag, to paraphrase. Some days are okay, and some days, like today, are really hard. Just going to class and walking to the library are painfully exhausting. Not to mention taking the stairs. Thank god I live on the ground floor. I can't relax. If I allow myself to take a break I just curl up into the Ball of Hurt.

So parents - could we please pony up for a few massages? Besides hot bath/cold bath therapy, which have been helpful, massage is the best thing I can be doing. It's in my textbook and the Olympic training center says so (we went there on a field trip today and the trainers said so.)

In other news,
Chelsea got swine flu and was quarantined for 3 days. Apparently the whole XC team is going to get it now.

from my old choreography notebook

Possibly the only face I've ever drawn.

health scare

I had a horrible idea - what if I'm actually sick? What if it's mono? A lot of the symptoms match up, the fatigue has been building, and I've got a worsening sore throat.

So I went to Boettcher this morning and they told me it's NOT mononucleosis - yay! They did, however, confirm my overtraining self-diagnosis. My immunity is down right now, so I can easily catch all kinds of colds. So I'm avoiding everyone that sniffles.

In other campus health news, there seems to be at least one person with swine flu at all times. They get quarantined in their room for a week, and then emerge, slightly famouser.

Overtrained

Finally, I found the proper term. And it can happen on a normal work load, from pushing too hard or if psychological stress wears down on you . . . . .

Overtraining Syndrome [quoted]
Overtraining is a physical, behavioral and emotional condition that occurs when the volume and intensity of an individual's exercise exceeds their recovery capacity. They cease making progress, and can even begin to lose strength and fitness. Overtraining occurs more readily if the individual is simultaneously exposed to other physical and psychological stressors, such as jet lag, ongoing illness, overwork, menstruation, poor nutrition, grief, etc.

What happens?
1. Microtrauma to the muscles are created faster than the body can heal them.
2. Protein deficiency. Amino acids are used up faster than they are supplied in the diet.
3. Calorie deficiency.
4. Excessive strain to the nervous system.

Symptoms:
* Low white blood cell count
* Persistent muscle soreness (Delayed onset muscle soreness)
* Persistent fatigue
* Elevated resting heart rate
* Increased susceptibility to infections
* Increased incidence of injuries
* Irritability
* Depression

Treatment:
1. Rest
Allowing more time for the body to recover.
Taking a break from training to allow time for recovery.
Reducing volume/intensity of training.
Suitable periodization of training.
Splitting the training program so that different sets of muscles are worked on different days.
Increase sleep time.
2. Changing diet:
Ensuring that calorie intake at least matches expenditure, esp. protein.
Addressing vitamin deficiencies.
3. Fixing it:
Massage.
Temperature contrast therapy: ice and heat.

Later this week in Survivor: Advanced Modern

I basically tried a lot and died of tiredness at the end, so, the usual.
Jeff (the instructor) picks on me. A lot. That, or he thinks I'm good and wants me to improve. Either way, it means I'm having a tougher time than anyone else.

My 1st pointe class

Advanced Ballet on Wednesdays is now pointe class.
We did 1 hour barre, then half an hour en pointe. I did it all on training wheels (holding on to something). It was quite difficult, and it will be a while before I get the hang of stepping onto a straight leg or rolling up, but I managed admirably, I think.

Earlier this week in Survivor: Advanced Modern

I was smart and brought socks today. Jeff was much more impressed with my sliding lunges, which were impossible to do beforehand in bare feet. We did the same hard running around stuff and I was tired halfway through as usual.

At the end we did the jumping and catching circle, which was fun. We did exactly what it sounds like - we got in a circle of nine, and one person was supposed to run at a random person, jump high, and be caught. Somehow.

Then, because that was only Level One of Fun, Exciting, and Terrifying, he made us get in pairs and catch each other pas-de-deux style. Difficult. But I lucked out - Rosie Handschy and I are comfortable enough throwing ourselves at each other. We made one spectacular catch in front of everyone. Pretty!

Then Dolo's flying elbow knocked Jordan in the face and BLOOOOOOOD . . . . . . . . yes, this is the Jordan&Dolo of Candycane and Cupcake fame from my dance last semester. Jordan had to get stitches and Vicodin, Dolo is very upset. The two are rather dance-lebrity partners-in-crime within the dance-community and I'm worried for their dance-lationship.

P.S. I feel an indiscriminate sense of hurting that I'm not familiar with, and it's lasting for days. It's the kind you can't describe much, I just ache everywhere.

Tai Chi routine

We might get graded on our Tai Chi form. Here's how I remember the routine (with help from Katie Ferguson):

You got a watermelon. Show off the watermelon to the right, to the left, to the right. Do they want the watermelon? They don't want it (wafting). Say PSSHH to them and run over the mountain. Come back. Then give them a pointy gesture - ghostride the whip. Go away. Come back a little... yeah, actually, go away. Be a robot. Beep. Boop. Fly away! Wave to your kungfu master. Push him away. Slap him, ha ha! Reach for the birdie. Get the birdie. Take him over the mountain (4 steps to the right). Let the birdie go, so your hands can be free to take your watermelon again, yay!

In other news, I was really tired today and decided to sit out of ballet.

Also, here are the Fall Dance Workshop pieces I have been cast in:
Cameron's experimental multi-media Seven Deadly Sins piece. Khanhsong and I are SLOTH.
Jazmyne's afro-caribbean hip-hop fusion piece.

adv. modern is hard

Technique class - Advanced Modern

Okay, I tried really hard today and I believe I did really well in every exercise and combination.
BUT I THINK I AM GOING TO DIE. I FEEL VERY STRONGLY ABOUT THIS.
Maybe it was fthat we did a few too many repetitions, or from the effort I gave in ballet, but I pretty much got to muscle failure right at the end of class.

I like the instructor from Taiwan, Jeff. But man, did I pay it all out. It wasn't that I was hungry or sleepy or particularly weak, I made sure I forced down a lot of calories today. I guess that's what true effort is. So....the better you get at dance technique, the harder practice becomes? I thought that that particular law of returns applied to things like XC. Speaking of which, I can't ever remember my legs being so tired except at the peak of Jesuit cross country season. Wow, I feel like I just ran a half marathon.

Mountain bike

I put Étaín together today, and took her to the store and on a pleasure trot. She runs fine and I am very happy.

hungry?

Now that I think on it, I have not been eating nearly enough for my activity level, but I have just been NOT HUNGRY. I do not want to eat, seriously it's like I don't like food anymore. This isn't good.

I should eat this burrito.
God, please send down an angel to help me eat this burrito.
With thy salsa and thy guac, awaken my hunger, or at least shoveth unto my throat tortillas, beans, and rice, so that I am nourished, for, yea, I do need protein like St. Brad needs chocolate milk, and speaking of that, Lord, bringeth me chocolate soymilk and thou art my savior for realz, for this non-dairy drink has the optimal post-workout carb-fat-protein ratio, and it is good. amen.

Bloooood!

Last night I sliced the top part of my pinkie toe. I was coming out of the bathroom at 2 in the morning and tripped over the doorframe. Blooooood!
So in Adv. Modern today, anything with tendues or releves or deep plies was particularly painful, and I looked dumb during said basic exercises at the beginning of class.

We improved at the end of class, which was excellent and fun enough to forget about my pain. We did stuff against the wall . . . . . . kind of pretending the wall was the ground . . . . . like Spiderman . . . . .

Block 1, 2009

Block 1 is DA 225 The Body in Motion: Anatomy and Kinesiology

First week: Anatomy. We learn all the important muscles and bones.
2nd week: Movement analysis & Injuries.
3rd week: Application of Somatic methods such as Tai Chi, Pilates, Franklin method, etc.

We do (almost) an hour of Tai Chi every morning.
I love Tai Chi!

Dance Workshop photos

School's over, and people are uploading their DW photos. I'm putting some from various sources into semi-coherent slideshows.
Dolo's piece, "Inadvert"

Make a Free Flash Slideshow

I just started this, so I don't know how to keep it from being weird and zoomy.

Hip-hop video

Dance Movie

Still working on editing my final project. I have a lot of takes to sift through.
Here are some still frames.

Tales of Victory, Tales of Woe

Tales of Victory: I finished deep-cleaning my room in preparation for moving out in a couple of weeks.
It was a disaster area to be proud of.
Tales of Woe: Doing so did not uncover my cell phone, which has been missing for a week.
I hope it's not wedged between my desk and the wall.

There goes my Saturday

Logan and Seth came with me to the mall to shoot a short dance for camera.
We found the perfect dress for Logan, and Seth looked great in his suit & tie.
I started setting up a shot of the escalators, and security was dispatched within a minute to kick us out.
Dillard's. More like Dullard's.

3rd dance film

2nd dance film

Here is my second dance film.


It won nine thousand awards for artistic direction.

1st dance film

Sugar Coated: A Tektonic Ballet

Other DW

Here are the other Dance Workshop pieces I danced in.




I'm in the blue.

Dance Workshop

I have the video recording! Unfortunately, it is taking forever to convert. Here are some screen shots while we wait.

The Birds follow the Children

Video delay

The DVDs came out with some errors, so the order is being reprocessed and I'll be posting the video next week.

Final tomorrow. Then block break. Hooray!

Dancey Updates

DW

The Dance Workshop DVDs come out on Monday. A bunch of the choreographers went to Peggy's place (Peggy will likely be my Dance minor advisor) to watch the beta DVD and critique each other. It was nice to, finally, get some criticism.
That said, my dance was cool. They taped the Friday show, and I am quite satisfied with how it turned out. I will take a break from studying for finals to put it on Youtube. Soon!
Prepare yourself, though, for the crazy and the weird. It's a couple bus stops past irreverent. Fittingly improper, in my opinion. Don't say I didn't warn you. I let my dancers push the envelope - I did the choreography, but left much of the emotion, intensity, and motivation up to them. They're all great actors, and I like where they took it. (Dude, I couldn't stop laughing last night. I was really seeing it for the first time.)

Next block: Block 8: Dance and Film

Super excited for Block 8: Dance and Digital Technology. It's all about making dance for camera.
So excited, in fact, that I've already begun choreographing.
I want to do a few projects that will require planning ahead and scheduling rehearsals.

So . . . I just did the first video shoot. Woot. I used Jazmyne, who was great in my Hoodie dance last semester (in the video she's in the grey sweatshirt second from the left.)

She's kinda blurry here, but this is what she was wearing.

Despite some late-night dance-partying, we were both up at 9:30 on a Saturday morning.
It was raining.
We went all around the cruddy places downtown, using the environment.
I had her shadowboxing, kicking things, walking, walking and locking, walking hip-hop, and just walking looking thug.
Preview:

Later I'll edit it and produce it music video style.

Like Patrick's! (Patrick my cousin, of course.)

New photos!

Public transportation

Took the downtown shuttle to the bus station, got on a bus, made one transfer. Then I walked for 15 minutes in some powerful wind and snow, got fitted for new ballet shoes, and made my way back home with no mistakes.
Not an exciting adventure, but at 4 hours combined time, $3 in travel costs, and the braving of some nasty weather, it was an adventure nonetheless.

you little girlie things better be worth the hassle

Last Fall DW

Yes, I participated in Dance Workshop last semester.

This is "He Loves Me," Caroline's hip-hop.
And here is the one I choreographed, "Hoodie." Actually it's better here on Youtube.

Program

Here is the performance poster, which I designed.


And the program notes, which I did not.

Concept Board

No new photos, but I'm posting the final costume sketches. I do have a photo of myself as the Witch, minus accessories.

Birds (Khanhsong and Amy):


Girl (Katie):


Boy (Ryan):


Candy Cane Man (Jordan) and Frosting Lady (Dolo):



The Gingerbread House Witch:

I AM political

I am political.
When problems in my community affect me, I don't just take action.
I make a statement.

Buzz

This week is getting exciting. Dance Workshop is a big deal at CC.
Everyone goes to see it, and though I'm only a rookie sophomore, my piece is generating buzz.
It's unreal - word is spreading. My dancers are telling me how they're bragging about being in my piece. And people listen to them because 5 out of 6 of them are very good, sought-after dancers, and the 6th guy is this totally untapped talent who should have been plopped into ballet class years ago.
(I have 4 girls and 2 boys. Two of my girls have danced professionally, kind of, and the other two used to belong to an amateur company together. I still can't believe I landed all of them. It's a dream cast.)

This is basically what I talked to Grandma about.

Also, I have been given a set, and have contacts willing to help put it together and paint it. I have a set! And it's big!

Plus a variety of bomb costumes.

Look at this nifty number!

It's being custom made at a Canadian factory as we speak, and they're making it to fit Jordan's long torso. I love Canadians. They are so flexible.

Like me. I am flexible. Thanks to all this dancing, I can do the splits on one side. I kid you not. The left side. Accomplished at 5pm today.

We're the Dancers

Click here for DW hilarity.
We're the dancers.

Next, duet sessions with Jordan and Dolo on an average day.

We recreate a dance department-famous photograph.

Fashion Show

How did the fashion show go?

Swell!

Hannah Concannon (of St. Mary's, last year Sub-Free hall and the track team fame) is already an accomplished clothier. Here is her line; it is quite stellar.

(l to r Eliza, Ashleigh, Hannah, Sammi)
(all of them Sub-Freebies last year.)

And now for Chelsea Herzog's line.

Rosie modeling Chelsea
(Rosie, a freshman, is in my hall this year and we've been in Chinese together for 3 straight blocks.)

Molly modeling Chelsea
(Sophomore runner. If you'll recall, we spent Spring Break skiing at Molly's house.)
(Also, Molly wins at Fierce Face. That's a competition I just made up.)


Rafter modeling Chelsea


Louisa modeling Chelsea
(Sophomore runner, a Sub-Freebie, natural redhead like Rosie.)

Chelsea modeling Chelsea
(A Sub-Freebie adoptee, meaning she was around often enough to count as a member.)
(P.S. Chelsea started sewing this year. I think she's found her prodigious talent niche.)

Photos of Winter Ball

This makes 4 photos of me and Sammi together.

Marissa took this photo. She's a freshman and a dancer. Awesomesauce. Equal parts awesome and sauce.