Riot and Frolic

LLLL

- Zoo has twirled her hair into dreds since she was little, hence her relatively short hair.  After having a bald spot pointed out by a friend, we decided to shave her head.

She giggled through the whole process, then didn't like it while she was in the bathtub ("I don't want this hair."), then wouldn't anyone touch her head, and now giggles about how she is a "bald baby".  As usual, I was more worried about the situation than I should have been, because she does not care.

bald baby bunny

- it's "Spring" and therefore, the ukulele came out and I rediscovered my love for the instrument that is annoying and versatile.  [insert joke about self]  

- I am sooooo good at bullet-journaling.  It took me a couple tries to get a hold of what I really wanted to write down and what kind of space I need for that, but now I'm in the zone.  More on that on another day.  [It's like I'm actually trying to blog here, people, what with plans and ideas for posts and stuff.]

- My friend and I are going to do a half marathon in November.  I'm telling you, so you ask me about it and we then actually have to do it.  I have actually begun the process, with, you know, running, and I haven't cursed that much, so WINNING.

- We went to Wisconsin State Dancesport Championships last weekend, which doesn't sound impressive (it's not NYC or LA or any other hiply acronymed town), but little would you know, one of the more prestigious ballroom dance competitions is nestled in Milwaukee, WI.  Besides being held at an amazing historic hotel, having a large pool of high-level competition, and being friendly as hell, a few funny things happened:

• The G and I scratched our professional heats for the first time ever, which was both horrible and a huge relief.  We have a lot of new choreography and were just. not. getting. it. done.  I hated not dancing (fun! performing! friends!) just as much as I hated how badly we were dancing (ugh! yuck! ouch!).  As my aunt would say, I had severe MOS (Missing Out Syndrome).  On the other hand, it was a huge relief because dancing pro-am only is A LOT easier, mostly on the psyche.
• I ran up to my room to get my schedule and as I approached, the door opened.  Late morning as it was, I assumed it was housekeeping and was prepared to sneak by the cart to grab my things.  Instead, a hand holding a coffee cup was breaching the jamb.  Thinking I had just seen The G in the ballroom, I'm confused, then alarmed as I see a different handsome young man exiting my room.  Dumbstruck, I'm frozen [let it go!].  Recognizing the dude in front of me, I gather my senses enough to peer around him and see the room number.  I'm 3 floors shy of the right room.
• Mazen Hamza knows my name.  Excuse me while I get excited.  
• Our students danced loverly AND won a bunch of stuff, which is very professionally satisfying.  Thanks, you guys!

- The ye olde blog had its 3 year anniversary on Sunday.  I celebrated by not writing a post.

- I've tried some good and amazing recipes over the last two weeks, but I'll inundate you with those tomorrow. 

 A year ago: Winner, Winner, Sinus Buster, in which I really give something away.

Two years ago: Weekend at WSDC 2012, in which I have a weekend at WSDC.   

Happy Birthday, Mae Cake.

Aw, Mae.  You're my favorite.  (Don't tell your sisters.)  

I know Mae Cake is my child because the majority of her photos can be categorized like mine: mouth wide open or eating.

 

 

She is an adorable old man, often falling asleep with her pants upbuttoned, and a bottle nearby.

She is the R2-D2 to V's C-3PO.  Emotional, protective, and sassy.

She learned how to walk at 10 months, because she had things to do.  Now, she RUNS wherever she goes.  And then runs back to tell you about the butterfly she saw.  And then runs to go find it.  And then runs back to tell you it flew away. And then more running.

She makes my heart feel like it will burst almost every day with her huge, toothy grin and her hysterical laugh.

She is odd.  Just.  So.  Odd.   I have many videos in a series which I like to call "Dinner with George".  After her sisters have long since left the table and she's still [loudly] munching on her entree, she'll share little tidbits from her day with me.  But mostly it's just footage of her overacting the process of getting food into her mouth.

She's so excited about life.  Ponytails, going to the studio, seeing friends and family, all ellicit SQUEALS of excitement.

And so very goofy.




Happy 4th, Mae Mae.  You're a total weirdo and I love you.

WW...LIW...D

I realized the other day that all my Domesticality projects (the Garbage Challenge, Advent Adventures, home improvement, homeschooling, etc.) are all based on the question "What would Laura Ingalls Wilder do?"

My latest [accidental] project was having the little ladies sort their toys by type: kitchen play toys, dress up costumes, small doys (doll/toys like My Little Pony), musical instruments, et al.  I wanted to make sure we had all the pieces of toys in sets, and that nothing was broken, and give away toys that they never used.

I put the separated toys in boxes and put them on the high shelf in their closet with the intent of them playing with one box, putting the contents from that box back, and switching to a new box and not having all the toys everywhere all the time.

I read about that somewhere.

"Kid toy organization."

"How many toys did LIW have?"

It's been about two weeks.

They never ask for the boxes.  

They play with the oddest assortment of household objects, but they do not seem to miss their toys AT ALL.  

One day, I got down a box and it was like ChristmasbirthdayDisneyworld.  Before bedtime, we packed up the box and put it back.  

Do I sound mean?  I might.  "She won't let her kids have their toys."  But blah blah blah, something about the evils of materialism and whatnot.  

Simplicity.

WWLIWD.

Boom.

Two years ago: LLLL, in which I lose and find my phone.

LLLL : Sundays

- Things I hate on Sundays:

• waking up
• showering
• makeup
• contact lenses
• moving
• pants

- watched American Hustle and then had to cleanse my Christian Bale palette with some Equilibrium.

Whew.

- Suit Day at our studio was excellent. I had my boys and I dress up a la [competition] mode and do a mock competition.  We had a few spectators (thanks, you!) and a photographer and practiced floor craft and bowing and awesomeness.  

- these were delicious:

• gluten-free oatmeal protein bar
• chicken gyros

What's shakin' with you?

 

A Little Explanation of Judges' Marks - Steps and Choreography

Remember me?

"Me" being this damn pyramid, of course. 

If you need a refresher of what's been going down:

• Overview and Timing
• Posture
• Footwork
• Characteristics of the Dance

Steps and Choreography

Here's what should happen:

1. you dance 5 steps or amalgamations... tops.
2. you dance down: Bronze in Silver, Silver in Gold, etc.
3. you keep the first 4 levels of the pyramid in mind... and body 
4. you use steps from the dance you're dancing
5. you dance the style you're dancing in 

Elaboration:

1.

While you could have a routine that never repeats itself in the 1:10-1:30 you get to dance, you could have a routine that repeats 2-3 times.  

Benefits of less steps?  You can pick the steps that you do really well and then work to make them even better.  

2.

While you could do most difficult steps from your assigned level, you could dance the easiest steps of that level, or EVEN the level below it.  

Benefits of easier steps?  First of all,  it is easier to show a lot of technique performing less complicated steps.  Secondly, it takes tremendous balls.  So, super-props to that.  

3.

While fancy and more difficult steps are alluring, if you're slipping toward the left on any of these graphs, you are missing the point of dancing.

Benefits of keeping timing, posture, footwork, and characteristics of the dance in mind while dancing?  To be blunt, without those things, you are not dancing.

4.

While you could do a Cha Cha step in your Tango, it might be better to do a Tango step in your Tango.

Benefits of sticking to one dance's syllabus?  Many!

If a judge looks at you while you are doing your Cha Cha step and you haven't perfected it in its Tango form, that judge will think you are very confused and not mark you.  

If an invigilator looks at you while you are doing your Cha Cha step, you may get called to the podium to be warned (embarrassing, and stressful if you don't know how to fix it) and eventually disqualified.

If you are social dancing and try your Cha Cha move on a partner, your partner might think you are ridiculous and not care to dance with you in the future.  

If you are choosing steps from other dances to be creative, there are many variations on syllabus patterns that are fun, underused, and qualify for your dance.  

5.

While you could enter American Cha Cha and dance many of the International Cha Cha figures, I could also bonk you over the head with my clipboard.

Benefits to dancing the correct style?  Not getting under the judges' skin.  One of the biggest irks from judges is watching a style being misrepresented.  While Smooth is based upon Standard, they are not one and the same.  Rhythm is not Latin, no matter how thin the line may be.  While judges understand wanting to have lots of moves, dancing some fancy stuff, forgetting about technique and rocking out, and being creative, dancing the wrong style is annoying.

 

Next and last up?  The unmentionables.  Which I will mention.  Next time.

 

One year ago: Why I Hate Pinterest, in which I'm a liar.

Two years ago: Drop and Give Me 10, in which I roll my eyes at myself.