The Cherry On Top

So I guess I have had a rough couple of weeks.

And I don't need to tell you all of the stupid details.

Basically things keep going wrong for me, and I keep saying

"Well that is just the cherry on top"

But things keep happening and I realize; wow I have several cherries up there right now.

And as each cherry keeps piling on, I find that I'm actually handling it pretty well.

Sure, nothing has been resolved and I am still frustrated. But it's reached a point where I know I can handle quite a bit of misfortune, and I am prepared for the next few cherries.

So to show you how I'm "coping" here are my happy cherries for the "good fortunes" sundae this week:

1. I noticed on my way back down to Cedar, that the Mcgrath's Fish House over in Orem is now gone and replaced with something else. WOOT. One less nasty fish house :)

2. My roommate Tara is the BEST, and seeing last week that I was having a rough go, she brought her little keyboard back from visiting her house in Richfield! Throughout the year I would randomly mention how I missed being able to play the piano and she would always mention her keyboard and then life would go on. But she brought it back! What a happy cherry.

3. My wonderful obsession with Naruto. And you know? I just watch it, and it makes me so happy.

And really, I DO understand the extreme nerd level this puts me on... I think :) haha

4. Tara is finally dating her hilarious friend Saad, (from Saudi Arabia) and that made me happy for her. Whenever he discovers another strange American custom he always says "Ah, AmerrrrEca" (That's me trying to type a saudi accent...) haha

5. "For the Longest Time" by Billy Joel.... ha judge me, I know it's cheesy but I have been jamming to this all week long. AND. It was SOOOO crazy, because on monday night my other favorite show HIMYM aired, (which we'll label as #6 happy thing.) and at the end, they SANG it!!!! I was freaking out because I'd been listening to it all week and then BOOM. There it was.

So here's Billy Joel's cheesay music vid: (I legitimately love his nerdy white man dancing.)

And here's HIMYM's version: (They are time traveled clones)

Since we've covered 6. here's 7.
 Riding my bike again! And it's warm again! Both of these. Especially together. I didn't realize that I missed biking a TON. I've been loving this lifestyle.

8. My improv teacher referenced Edgar Allen Poe and the Pit and the Pendulum in his discussion of "swing" as an energy quality. Haha, yes that really did make me happy.

10. Being home last weekend for my Grandpa's funeral. It was sad, and I will really miss him. But I'm so glad I got to see my entire family, and see all of the people who came to support my Grandpa. He was a seriously cool dude. Here is a picture I found of my dad as a little with his dad:

Sorry it's way blurry

And since my Grandpa was one cool cat, here is one of my favorite songs by the jazz band he was in! (Okay, and prequel, I don't know how to put on just one song on a blog? I'm stupid. But I just learned the movie maker software in my computer class and had a fun little time making an entire video with the song! Haha, I'm such a dorkus.)

 

 

 

 

 



Our love was lost. But now we found it.

 

I love to dance.

My first semester of college pretty much had me hating dance- I only had technique classes, and I hated all of the jazzerina, drill team-y, stuck up, hag bags that took them with me.

But then I signed up for an improvisation class this semester. And it has pretty much made my entire life! My professor is the coolest guy ever. His name is Kay, and is old, like around 60, but he has SO much energy! He is thin as a rail, and has a six pack probably. He will just jump, and soar, and walk on his hands, and then leap into a crazy yoga position and hold it. "Quite agile for his old age" haha name that quote. Also, his voice is like a squeaky machine--mickey mouse level.

Anyways. Kay is so funny, he just loves to move and he loves space. He is always talking about space. Not outer space, just space the concept. He likes to make up random narratives for us to improv, or just some random thought that pops in his head. He just uses his imagination so much, kinda similar to how my sisters and I use our imagination!

I suppose you could say I have a brain crush on my professor's brain.

I love my classmates too, because there are a lot of non-dancers, or dancers like me who aren't very technical. And then all of the thespians trying to get their dance credits in :) hahaha oh the thespians. They always crack me up.

There are so many beautiful moments in this class. He'll usually split the class in half so we can take turns watching each other dance and create. One day, he had us in partners, and one partner had to close their eyes, and the other had to guide them around through movement, and dance with them as if their eyes were open. It was so cool, because it was hard to tell who actually had their eyes open. Everyone just felt each other so well. I can't even do it justice to explain.

 

Another moment was on Wednesday; Kay had us do a call and response improv. You try and have "conversation" through dance with your partner, by going back and forth with call and response movement. My partner and I, I dunno, we just kept finding all these motifs and themes that we were bouncing off one another and it was really cool. I hadn't improv-ed so well with another person before.

 

After we finished Kay was like, "What a great way to start a day." and then he had the other students comment on what they thought; and everyone said they couldn't stop watching our partnership, even though there were like 6 other pairs...  (haha brag much Kathleen??) But it was just cool that everyone, even me and my partner while we were dancing, were all noticing how unique it was.

AND THEN. After class, Kay pulled us over and told us he would have paid $80 to see it again. :) It made me happy.

 

But my FAVORITE moment in this class; Kay put us in a huge circle around the room, and he put this girl and boy in the middle, and told them to just improv with their eyes closed. And then after they'd been dancing a minute, he put in another girl and had her dance with eyes open. So many cool things happened, it was unreal. Open-eyed girl was creating a storyline because she could manipulate the other two, and his kid just started lifting the girls, with his eyes closed, and they were sensing each other by hearing...By the end we forgot that they even had their eyes closed.

 

And this is sounding like crazy hippie talk, so I apologize! But anyways, the point is, this class has helped me to rekindle my love for dance.

 

Always love.