Oh where, oh where can she be?

Obviously, my job is kicking my ass. Obviously. But I feel like even if it wasn't I wouldn't be blogging as much. I just...don't feel like it. Which is a little odd, considering a month ago I was a blogging machine. Still, cool things have been happening, and I feel like I should write it down so I can look back later.

Over the last couple weeks I've been on another pallid date with Friend of a Friend (my never refuse an invitation policy is about to come to an end) and one kind of nice date. The nice date was really nice, but I just don't have the energy to follow up...I feel kind of indifferent about all that.

And I went to a couple of belly dance shows. That was a great day! Tiring, for sure, but it was wonderful to spend time with the Squirrel Girls and get to know them a little better.

I went to Cleveland, which was really awesome, because I got to do nothing! I really spent most of my time there just sitting around the house with my mom and sleeping. The MS walk was a really nice way to begin my visit; I got to make my mom cry tears of joyful surprise just by showing up, and I also got to see a lot of my family, including all four of my grandparents. I got to have a mini reunion with Salty and the four kids who grew up behind us when we lived in the Little Red House (they also happen to be our step-father's nieces and nephews). I got to poke Salty in her funny-looking distended belly. The best part though was a Sunday stroll through Lake View Cemetery in Cleveland Heights with Mom and Salty, enjoying a pretty day in a peaceful place with the two people I love best in the world.

I've realized that, since moving to New York, my life has been progressing two weeks at a time. It seems like every two weeks there is suddenly a beat, and then everything changes....so I'm kind of wondering what the next change will be... I assume exhaustion?

Tonight after wrap I met Aunt J and Auntie R out at a restaurant, where they were entertaining my cousin...who I have never met because she lives in a small country in Eastern Europe! I wish I could have been a little more enthusiastic about it, but I was still residually tired from my 6 am flight yesterday. I know that J and R understand; they've both been there many times. European Cousin was really sweet and I enjoyed just being around her and listening to her broken English (I wished I could speak her language) and learning about the country and our family. I've always wanted to visit my family in Europe--Salty got to go several years ago and said it was amazing! Even if it was just for a couple of hours I'm really glad I was able to meet her, and hopefully she's glad too.

I had a lot of fun listening to Aunt J try to describe our jobs to our cousin too... She told stories from the most ridiculously atrocious movie she ever worked on. Fun!

....

Oh dear. Okay, I'm practically dozing at the keyboard. It's time to go to sleep. My body just won't wait.

Tomorrow, maybe...

Seventy dollar brunch and other thoughts about Sundays

Yep. Sundays are definitely still my favorite. Last Sunday I got taken out for seventy dollar brunch and then I got one of the last iPhones on the island of Manhattan. This Sunday was even better!

I woke up and went running in the park (did I mention I live a block away from Prospect Park and pay $900 a month? Can I mention that again?), and as I came around past the lake I noticed a very large tent set up at Wollman Skating Rink. A stripey tent. A...circus tent! A circus has set up shop at Wollman Skating Rink! A freakin' circus! Like a quarter mile away from where I live! Cool! Later I talked to my neighbor, Marlon (yes, the one with the three screaming kids), and he said he took his three screaming kids last week and that it was a good show. I want to go now! Maybe I can use it as an excuse to get PDF to come to Brooklyn (ha).

After a quick shower I sauntered into K-Dog for my usual weekend morning ritual, only today was extra special, because it was nice enough outside that I got my coffee iced. It sho'nuff ain't New Orleans style chicory coffee, but it was still delicious! Instead of hanging out and munching on my pumpernickel bagel indoors I took it to go and hopped on the good old Q to make sure I got to Astor Place in time for dance class.

And belly dancing today was awesome! For the first time since I started studying with Mimi I felt confident enough with my cues and repertoire that I was okay leading a trio. I even felt like I was one of the better leaders in class today, which was really cool. And then...and then...! After class I talked to Mimi about taping some of Manhattan Tribal's upcoming shows. My whole master plan is to use the footage to create some YouTube promo videos for MT (good for Mimi) and also to begin a demo reel (good for me). I also plan on talking to my friend Z about doing something similar at Night of 1000 Goddesses.

AND! (This day just keeps getting better and better!)

As I bounded down the stairs at 141 Studios and out into sunshiny Astor Place, I got a text message from 2.0 and Mrs. 2.0 requesting my presence at a bar. Apparently, mimosas and bloody marys were being drunk very cheaply on the Lower East Side and they felt New Orleans ought to be represented for the occasion. As you can see above, I memorialized our beverages for posterity while demonstrating the cool gadgetry of my phone. I also learned that 2.0 is a closet nerd. Big nerd. He plays Dungeons and Dragons! Ahhahaha! When I told him how I used to be nerdy too he stopped blushing and invited me to play in the next game. Aww! I'll probably pass, but it's sweet.

I rode the F train part of the way back toward Queens and then with a wave to 2.0 and a kiss on the cheek for Mrs. I was off to the Home Depot on 23rd st. Why? Because I needed a big giant piece of sheet metal, of course. There will be more on the sheet metal later, so don't worry about the why for now.

Once I had my sheet metal I decided it would be better to just walk to 14th st. rather than wait for the N/R/W and then wait for the Q all over again. Sunday schedules suck. So I strolled down Broadway for nine blocks, which wasn't so bad. Then I got a phone call. I didn't recognize the number, and that usually means either a wrong number or something interesting might happen, so I really wanted to answer it. Maneuvering wasn't very easy and I had to wrestle a little, but I managed to get out of the Union Square sidewalk traffic to pick up. Lo and behold, it was the Producer! That dirty rat, tricking me with more than one phone number! So there I stood in the middle of crowded Union Square on the phone like it was so normal to carry a giant piece of sheet metal under my arm like a purse.

It must have looked very very strange to PDF's boyfriend from across the street.

After I hung up with the Producer (sorry, Charlie, I have a date with some metal shears tonight) I descended the subway stairs, somehow managed to schlep the thing onto the Q and then up the stairs at Prospect Park. Thank goodness they repaired my building's elevator! Not a moment later I got the call from PDF. "Were you on 14th street half an hour ago?" "Yes, actually." "What the hell were you doing with that sheet metal!?"

I bet the people in my car on the subway were asking themselves the same thing.

Just as these words might have once exited the lips of Keanu Reeves, they exit mine now: this has been a most triumphant day.

Sundays are my favorite.

Okay, this isn't really the third post today; the other two were started last week and never finished. Sorry to shatter your belief in my perfect ability to churn out blogs willy nilly. Or whatever. I've been busy speed dating and ogling the IT guy at work. And also work is actually keeping me busy, unlike the last temp assignment...you know, the one where I never ever blogged (no never)....

Sunday is fast becoming my absolute favorite day of the week, and here's why:

I start by waking up at 8:00 (an hour late!). I put on my running clothes, pack some cash in my little shorts pocket and walk 1.5 blocks to Prospect Park, where I run with some serious abandon. My cheap Target stopwatch has died after surviving three years with me, through a summer in France, through Katrina, through the bad times with JH, through my move. That stopwatch did me some serious good, but now that it's gone I can't really bring myself to replace it yet. So I go to the park and run, watchless and with abandon.

After my run, I stroll merrily to K-Dog, turning heads as I go because I'm wearing running shorts and a long sleeve t-shirt in 25 degree weather. In the coffee shop, my glasses fog up and I make a little joke to the lady behind the counter. I order a large coffee with extra soy milk, my favorite. Then I wander a block away, pick up my laundry from the people who washed, dried, and folded it for me (this is one of my favorite things about New York), and head home. I get in the shower, and today it's a long, languid shower...the kind where you take enough time to shave your legs, but don't actually shave them. Then I towel up. I love lounging around in my towel, freshly showered. After a quick email check I put on my favorite outfit: a v-neck t-shirt that has been hemmed to just under the bust, a hoodie on top, and stretchy boot-cut dance pants. I put my hair up into a messy bun-thing, stuff a hip scarf, zils, and a bottle of water into my bag and head out the door.

I feel like Snow White walking through the forest on my way to the subway. My ipod is playing upbeat Motown, the sun is shining, the birds are singing, and, oh shit! Someone just tried to run me over while I was crossing Flatbush! Oh well...shrug it off and keep on going. Magically, the train appears just after I arrive on the platform. I sit down for my Sunday morning read. This week it's JD Salinger's Nine Stories. As the Q train crosses the bridge, Manhattan looks resplendent in the morning sunlight. The Statue of Liberty waves hello.

After a brisk walk from 14th street to Astor Place, I arrive at the dance studio. I'm late, but never mind. Just glad to be here. From the front of the room, Mimi says hello, and I feel a little bit like she's saying "nice of you to join us, Miss A. Please take your place." I hurry with my hip scarf and funky heel-less sandals and then fall in line to body wave along with the rest of the class. For two hours I learn about my body, where this joint can bend, where that limb can extend, how to make it all move the way my brain thinks it should. I actively discover what I am, the muscle and tissue, and even the stuff that jiggles a little too much when I shimmy.

Afterward I chat a little with Mimi and with the other girls from class. This is good, that's hard, can we try this next time. One of the other girls, D, mentions coffee. I perk up. More coffee sounds great. Breakfast sounds great--I forgot to eat. It's 3:30.

More chatting, some laughing, then strolling with D and H around the Village, looking for that place I went before. Couldn't find it, so we wound up at Dunkin' Donuts! I indulged in an egg and cheese sandwich, one of my favorite favorite things. There is lots of chatting. Lots of laughing. A cute little old guy sits down next to us and tells us about a Three Stooges movie. It's great. Walking to the subway, D tells about a chance she has to put together a line (she designs lingerie) and a show and stuff, but mutters something quickly about no money and no time blah blah. And so I say this (it's paraphrased):

"You have an opportunity that may not come again. TAKE the opportunity and run with it! The money will come! The time will come...you will make them come, but only if you force yourself to do so. I know what it's like to be an artist, and to be frustrated by your needs... You need to eat. You need to pay rent. But you will, you just have to trust yourself."

(I could have cried then and there, because it was the first moment that I realized I believe that. I believe that! I believe it! I do! I have already come such a long way from that awful place I used to be!)

After that I come home and sink into my comfy, comfy bed. I snuggle down and surf the net. I watch the Simpsons. I forget to eat again, so I have a banana and a granola bar and some raw veggies. I've started to love chilled bananas.

Would it be weird to belly dance to "Walking on Sunshine?"

Last night I had, like, so much fun!

As said a couple of days ago, last night was my belly dance class's recital. My teacher worked hard (though modestly) to put the whole thing together-there was even a program! The evening was kicked off with a solo performance from our teacher, then my class performed, then a lovely duet choreography, then the other class. Just like when I performed last July with n.o.madic, it was a great feeling to be up there dancing, but it was all over so quick!

The one really difficult thing was the waiting. We got to the venue so early that there was a lot of down time before we went on, and so-of course-I started babbling. When I get nervous, excited, bored, anxious, any of the above, my brain and my mouth completely disconnect from each other and my mouth will just say the most inane shit just to fill the empty space so that my nervousness, etc. won't fill in instead. It's sick--I can see it happening from my brain, but it takes an emotional rattle to stop it. The rattle happened, and although I was a little uncomfortable I was glad it did because otherwise I just would have kept on babbling and fussing.

After that first set, there were special guest performers! First came Z, with a very theatrical, very pretty dance inside (and then outside) a burqa. It really hit on something I'd been thinking about--my former dance teacher in New Orleans had been really big into teaching about Middle Eastern culture and why we do this or the origin of that dance move--and this Fat Chance stuff is well and good, but seems to throw that out the window. Anyway, Z's dance told a story, and in that sense seemed much more personal and much closer to the cultures that inspired ATS. Not that dancing for the sake of dancing isn't great, but I really think there's more there than strict Carolena ATS is really allowing for. I mean, we're touching our hips! And hair gardens and cowrie falls are cute and pretty, but they don't have any real significance... There's meaning that's been lost in the fray somewhere. Call me crazy, but there's something more fun about gwahzee when you think about all the hookers who used to use it as an excuse to loiter on the streets of...wherever.

So Z danced, then Trisha McBride (who is kind of famous) danced, then my teacher's ATS troupe danced--they were great! ATS may have lost some stuff in translation, but if nothing else, it's just ridiculously fun even to watch. Improvised choreography in action, plus bright colors and fluffy tassels! It made me nostalgic for my Friday nights watching n.o.madic at the Dragon's Den!

After the show we all slowly trickled to the back locker area to change. There was hardly any space at all there - a running theme all over New York. By the time I made it back, I was one of the last girls there, and while changing, Z struck up a conversation with me. In ten minutes I found out she's a kindred spirit: an artist, a slightly jaded idealist, a film school graduate. I wanted to stay and talk, but there was a lot of people-climbing-over-us happening and I wound up taking off. I did look her up on Tribe right away though, and found out she was just as happy for our meeting! We will go have coffee and it will be good.

Dance! Dance for my pleasure!

After bellydancing class tonight, I went to dinner at the weird little Japanese cafe again with M and J. It was nice to chat again--they're really nice! This time I dined on an egg salad sandwich and a weird tuna and corn bun. During our walk to the subway, M and I talked about relocation difficulties...she came here about a year ago from California, so she understands what I'm going through.

Bellydancing is a really fun enterprise; I highly recommend it. It's physical activity, it's brain exercise, it's social, it's sexy, and best of all it gives you an excuse to gather shiny objects!

On another positive note, I talked to the nice lawyer lady at work today about finding a job in production at the network where I'm working. She was more than receptive, and even got one of the other ladies at work in on the whole enterprise of finding me a job. I was given a referral to be a desk assistant in the production department (boring! but could lead to something better...), and phone calls were made to ask about production assistant positions. So woohoo!

Oh yeah, and Friday I'll be performing with the rest of my classmates at Je'Bon, a sushi and noodle and Thai food restaurant on St. Mark's place. Exciting! I wonder if PDF will be able to make it...