Onyx, the studio where I take pole and aerial fitness classes is having another Aerial competition in August and I think I'm going to compete.
I'll be in the intermediate/advanced section this year; last time I competed I was in the beginning division. I'm feeling nervous because I know there are so many great aerialists around here, but hopefully that nervousness will just make me work harder and get better. Competitions are great motivation, and ultimately it's not about whether you win or not but how you grow.
You might remember my post about the last aerial competition, and I found out there was a video of it all along, check out my performance below, and look at the other performances from a variety of recitals and events at Onyx on their YouTube channel, youtube.com/aerialaddict.
Friday, June 29, 2012
Coming up: Aerial Competition #2
Wednesday, June 13, 2012
Summer Resoultion Successes
So summer is here and my bike as you know. It took me a while to pick up a lock but I do have one now and so have ridden my bike around more. I took her to work today and was worried about her being out of my sight she's just so beautiful, but she was fine.
I also was able to leave work early last Friday and hit the pool with some old friends. I say old because we've been friends for a while, we still hang out but it was still a bit nostalgic to be with them. It was a great day. I got a salad from a nearby grocer's salad bar and sat on a beach chair reading my new book The Paris Wife (which I can't put down). When my friends arrived, we swam and talked and practiced some dives. I contemplated getting a summer pass to the pool but unfortunately, I don't think I would go there often enough to make it worth it.
I have plans to go to the Farmer's Market this Saturday, as well as RDT's Community Dance class open house!
My friends have gone camping a few times but unfortunately they usually go very last minute which doesn't really work for my schedule, and as far as getting things done, I'm not doing so great. Maybe I should be working on something instead of blogging... especially when I don't have anything really interesting to say...
Wednesday, May 30, 2012
My New Bike!
It's a Trek bike from their eco line. It's designed to be earth-friendly which is awesome and it's got great vintage looking design. It's a super smooth ride, came with self-powered lights (they run from the power generated by the spinning front wheel), and racks in the front and back. I just need a cute basket for the front and Farmer's Market here I come.
It's only 3 speed (internal hub) but I think my regular commute will be OK with that. There's one day a week where I'd encounter a steep ride home but I think I can manage with the bus those days and when my legs get super muscular then I can maybe I can do it on my own.
I got her on Saturday, and that same day my bf found a vintage bike on craigslist from 1979. His bike's got a similar style and is blue with chrome fenders. We rode to the vegan bakery Monday afternoon for a Memorial Day brunch, which was a success despite the gluten-free waffles (they were out of regular waffle batter, and this is probably condescending but I now feel sorry for people who have to eat gluten-free) and one instance of having to walk half-way up an extraordinarily steep hill.
All in all though it was a great time. I'm looking forward to similar good times this summer and for many years to come.
Thursday, May 17, 2012
Summer Resolutions
So it's been a while. I said I would like to get back to posting and I failed. It just seems there's never enough time. Too much to say and not enough time to do it justice.
Summer is coming to Salt Lake City. I'm excited for the long, warm days. There are a couple things I want to be sure to do to make this summer meaningful:
1 - Actually wake up in time to go shopping at the Farmer's Market on Saturdays. Organic, local food has recently become a passion of mine and I'd like to put that passion into practice. I missed the time to sign up for most CSA's and the like so I'm gonna have to be good about getting up.
2 - Buy a bicycle and then use it to get around. I wanted to buy a bike last year but never did. I figure I can use a bike in the good weather and look into getting a used car later in the summer/early fall. But I'd like to try to use more earth-friendly transportation.
3 - Spend time at the pool or water park with friends and family. I used to love going to the pool with friends in the summer. It seems like as an adult this just doesn't happen as much. I plan on taking a few days off and spending them soaking up sun next to cool water.
4 - Go camping. Camping is the best. Especially with my roommates. We sometimes just go up for the night after work and then just drive down in the morning. Being out in nature and having a good time is like my therapy.
5 - Just get things done. If I have a project (like the quilt I've half finished and kept in storage for years or the jeans I bought that I need to take in, and so on) -- just do it!
Here's to summer and mid-year like resolutions!
Sunday, February 5, 2012
A second coming
Ok, maybe my title should be less sacrilegious. I want to get back into blogging though so here's a few thoughts to catch up.
I'm still working at the UMFA. I am now 3/4 time so I have benefits and all that jazz. It's kind of nice to feel like a grown up and a little scary at the same time. I am a little less fond of the increased responsibility meaning I get to travel less but the increased income actually makes my ability to travel that much better.
I am also still working at the ZAP program and teaching ballet at for a local community education program. It is fulfilling and getting better each time I do it. I'm learning by fire and sometimes slowly but the girls always seem to enjoy it and that's what it's all about.
For fun, I am dancing with an aerial dance group called Aerial Amore and having a great time with the girls on the team and learning new things and improving my cirque like skills. I am also learning how to figure skate. When I was a little girl I always wanted to skate in the Olympics. I think it's a little late for me to do that but I wouldn't be opposed to competing in some local shows in a few months once I start getting better. It's been really fun and by sweet boyfriend bought me my own skates for my birthday in November.
Over the last couple of years, I've traveled to a lot of new places for me. Most are cities in the US but I've got out and seen more of the country when I used to only claim that I'd visited some of the surrounding states and California.
These are the most recent trips that I've taken:
Last January, I took a trip to LA with my boyfriend. His sister and brother-in-law live there and they let us stay with them. We went to Six Flags, visited Hollywood Blvd and Venice Beach, went to the Getty Museum, and just generally had a good time. It was the first time I had really been to LA and it was a really wonderful trip.
With my girlfriends from High School, I went to New York City. (There were four of us. We were so Sex and the City haha! jk, but we wish). I'm lucky to have a friend who lived in the Lower East Side and he was kind enough to let us inhabit his apartment for a week. It was a great trip. We did all the touristy stuff and had time to just wander the Village and stop into stores and bookshops and cafes and restaurants.
By happy chance, my uncle was in town the same time and he took me and my sis out for a nice Japanese ramen dinner and drove us around the city at night. It was magical to see the city from the bridges and Brooklyn.
Tashi and I also went to Brooklyn to see Judy Chicago's Dinner Party which was a good experience. We also saw the Book of Mormon Musical which was a great experience. I recommend it to anyone who can handle a little (or a lot) of swearing. It was my second time in NYC and it was cool to be able to get to know the city better and explore more art museums and feel a little less lost than the first time around.
I also went to Phoenix and Tuscan Arizona with my boyfriend. We drove out in his car with no air conditioning in the middle of the summer. That was probably the most sweaty I have ever been in my life. While the drive was less than fun in that way (it was the worst in the city over the blacktop), it was really cool to see the high desert and cool little towns along the way. There is something really strange but enchanting about the West and the people who live here/there.
It was a shorter trip but we managed to get a full schedule of events with Bryan's family and friends and some time to explore the cute shops on 4th Avenue.
Later in the summer time, I went to Hawaii, Kauai to be exact. I had some friends celebrating their 25th wedding anniversary by renting out a camp there. I stayed with them for a few days on the beach. We had wonderful vegan food and fresh fruit. I had a quick surfing lesson and even got a few waves (baby ones of course and just heading to the shore-- but not bad for my first time eh?). I also went snorkeling for the first time. It was really really really cool. We saw sea turtles and crazy fish. I freaked out a little bit when I wasn't near anyone else but was more in awe of everything which was lucky so that my brain didn't have space to freak out more. We went hiking to this incredible waterfall and beach. I just can't describe how cool the whole thing was.
I spent a few days there myself after my friends left. My awesome uncle set me up with a room at his timeshare. I had this great space to myself in Kapa'a and I drove to secret's beach and sunbathed in the nude completely alone on this incredible beach. I need to get back there. It was so relaxing. I have never felt so sad about going home. I almost didn't get on my plane. I should have found a paper and looked for a job. It was almost as (and maybe more though it pains me to say it Francophone that I am) enchanting as Paris. Of course, in a completely different way, but nonetheless amazing. Traveling alone was probably one of the best experiences of my life. It was a little freaky at times, yes. I didn't dare go in the ocean by myself and I was sure to stay in safe areas at night. But sitting by the ocean with not a care in the world, no one I knew within more than a thousand miles of ocean, being in complete solitude. Amazing. I have never experienced that before and I don't know if I will again.
In October I had two trips. I went to San Francisco with Tashi and B and my boyfriend surprised me by being able to come out at the tail end of our trip. We stayed in Alameda and took the ferry in to the city a few days and drove in on others depending on our plans.
Tashi has a whole bunch of posts about our trip which was awesome. I think it was the perfect amount of time and the weather was incredible. The first day was rainy and overcast. We took a segway tour of the park on that day of course. But the other days were sunny and warm. We ate well and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. My b and I had a great night out eating at three different restaurants and participating in this community art night thing that happened to be going on during the last night of our visit.
My second trip in October was for business. I went to St. Louis for the National Docent Symposium. I was there with two docents from the UMFA. We were in conferences most of the time but we also got to go on excursions to arts and cultural attractions around the city. I would have liked to have seen more of the city. It was pretty empty and dead where my hotel was. It was almost more spooky because there was no one out at night than if there had been at least a few people walking around. I was staying in a hotel that was a couple of blocks away from the conference hotel and the first night when I walked home it felt like I was in a zombie apocalypse movie.
For Thanksgiving, I went to Seattle again with my boy. His parents recently moved to Burien and were having a large gathering in their home for the holidays. We spent most of the time with his family but we did get to explore Seattle for a few days. We of course went to Pike's Place Market and by my request we visited the Seattle Art Museum.
We spent some time on the beach near his parents house as well. His parents have a beautiful backyard. It's as green as anything I've ever seen and you can see the sound through the tall trees. Seattle was really cool. I wouldn't mind spending more time there. There is a road trip that Budget Travel had an article about-- three or four days along the Northwestern coast that I think is in order in my near future. I'm going to have to dig up that article.
In the first week of January, I had just a small trip up to my Grandparent's cabin near Bear Lake. It doesn't really count as on of my 'travels' but I thought I should include it as it was my token winter trip. My family gathers for our Christmas celebration usually on New Years. We bundled up and played games and hung out with each other. There wasn't as much snow as we expected but it was cold. And good to spend time with my family.
Coming up I in May, I will be going to Philadelphia for another work trip with the docents. But this one will be more pleasure than business (that is if all the docents stay in line! They can be a lively bunch). I hope to be back into blogging mode so I can have a photographic and journal like record of it. Such as all the places listed above have kind of if I wrote it in my journal or took pictures that will probably remain stored on a computer for the rest of my life.
And that post was probably way too long so I'll leave it at that with a promise to begin posting at least monthly once again.
Friday, August 12, 2011
Winner, winner (vegan) chicken dinner
Yes, it has been 8 months since I updated. Lots of stuff has gone down. Maybe one day I'll get my few readers all caught up.
But I thought I'd just segway into life now. My last post was about winning a pole competition and last weekend I won an aerial silks competition at Pearl, the studio where I take pole fitness and aerial dance lessons.
I competed in the beginning division. Unfortunately, I didn't film the performance and didn't get any photographs either. Luckily, my friend Mark who is a photographer was there and he captured a few:
(I like this one cause I look skinny!)
(This is near the end of my 5 minute routine so I'm kind of tired. I think you can tell.)
My song was "Jesus Christ" by Brand New. I was nervous about doing such a long song because routines on the silks are exhausting. In a silks routine, you are constantly holding at least a portion of your body weight and at times, all of it. But that song has been one of my favorites and I feel a strong emotional connection that helped me to choreograph and find a place from which to perform.
As part of my prize package, I got an aerial party for me and up to 9 friends. Hit me up if you are interested in learning some moves and having a great time hanging from the ceiling.
(Vegan chicken dinner because my diet is now strictly plant-based. Perhaps a post on that is in order.)
Monday, December 6, 2010
Miss Blue December
I am coming out of blogging hibernation. I feel the need to start writing again and I guess here is as good a place as any. I actually have a couple of posts I started writing WAY back. Here is one that I'm finally getting up.
It is from the first week of December during which I won a local pole competition in the intermediate division. Hope you enjoy:
Growing up, I was always competitive. However, shyness, a general dislike for confrontation, and lack of physical strength and coordination tampered my desire to compete in sports. I found other ways to assert my dominance; mostly by attempting to control my younger siblings, getting good grades, and winning many of the monthly art contests my 5th grade teacher held. In any case, all of this is generally irrelevant except to tell you that I have never won an athletic type of competition (unless you count wrestling with your siblings -- which doesn't really count because it's not official). That is, until Friday, December 3rd, 2010.
As you may or may not know, I have been taking pole fitness classes at Adult Dance and Fitness since July. I've competed twice and performed before an audience a total of three times. My first competition was less than glamourous and I don't even have a good picture from it. My second performance was with my twin sister. It was a Halloween recital and we dressed as luchadores and had a 'battle' on the pole. Unfortunately, I don't have a good picture of that, either, although it was met with much praise and we won a whopping $25 for being the 'most creative.' It was all worth it, even though our prize probably only covered the gas from driving around that day getting costume pieces and all trying to practice at random establishments we thought might have poles open to the public.
As evidenced by the luchador performance (albeit it was Halloween), I like to theme my routines. I get a kick out of putting together a costume, matchy music and all that jazz. This last competition was no different. When I first learned to invert on the pole, I immediately thought of Spider-Man when he hangs upside down on his spidey thread. This was my inspiration.
After a couple hours of searching grooveshark and iTunes, I had found a perfect cover of the Spider-Man Theme by Richard Cheese and ideas were spilling out of my head.
Unfortunately, there is always a slight disconnect between what I imagine I can do and what I can do in reality. After spending a couple nights at the studio, I was able to convert my imagined routine into the slightly-less-cool reality. This came with some physical pain. I should have taken pictures of my bruises and pole burn so that you could commiserate.
And then it was time. I had purchased the final touches to my costume: jumbo fishnet thigh highs (channeling Spidey's webbed costume) and fake lashes to make my eyes pop. The competition, which was divided into three categories: beginner, intermediate, and advanced (of which, I was competing in intermediate), started just after 8 PM. I was scheduled to perform at the end of the intermediate group. I was too nervous to watch the other intermediate contestants and busied myself in the dressing room with wardrobe and make up adjustments, stretching, jumping around, and last-minute practicing of moves.
I descended the elevator (which we use to make a dramatic entrance) in a classic Spidey pose -- crouched near the ground, balancing on my fingers and toes, walked to the stage, and climbed the pole to start in the Scorpio pose.
And then, I will let you watch what happened next:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ynrqm70ViQw
I slipped when trying to get into my monkey split. You can tell where that is in the movie. But I was pleased with my performance overall. And apparently, the judges were as well. It was stiff competition, though! I only won by a few points.
It felt good to win. I have to admit that I almost liked the tiara more than the cash prize. Almost. Something about a glittery crown makes you feel so special -- like a princess! But what I liked even more was the comraderie and support from all the girls who were competing. I know that sounds counter-intuitive, and there is a weird element to being friends with those you compete against, but it's true. Everyone at the studio is invested in each other. We cheer when we finally get a trick in class, and we know what each other is working on and we watch and help each other become better and better pole athletes.
You can see all of the other intermediate and advanced performances at my studiomates' blog here: http://addictedtopoledancing.blogspot.com/2010/12/videos.html
While you are there, check out their other posts as well. Watching their progress online and in the studio has been so fun. I read their blog and watched their videos as they mastered inverts and supermans and now we are in the same classes; working on advanced moves and pushing ourselves to compete and perform. It is a marvelous feeling.
And this post of course would not be complete if I didn't tell you the studio's website where I take lessons: http://www.danceogden.com/. I love Studio Blue so much.
