Things are looking up!

Well, the workshop was a success and things are looking good. So, even though its looks like the city screwed us over with our classes by not giving us the basic advertising they gave everyone else, it still seems like we are coming out ahead. Our Intermediate students have expanded so that we have quite a few, and some that couldn't come out before are now able to return, so its OK. On top of all that, I have a cool new pic! We have managed to get a photographer that seems willing ot work with us to get some exposure (pun intended). So now we get to concentrate on what we want most, to dance with people who are fun, and to get better at our art while having fun! This is how it should be, a content existence.....

Thrilled and Desperate, Sky High and %$*#$!!

Well, its an interesting tale, and so here it goes.

My wife and I were all set up for our first workshop. We had worked hard in the promoting of the event, had a good number of people already reserved, and it looked like we would do more than break even (which was our only goal!) About a week before the big weekend, my wife's computer crashed!! We cautiously regained our confidence when, through a complete act of luck, I managed to get it booted up again. Then, on friday, it died again. This time it wouldn't come back to life (cue amazing grace on bagpipes...) Since we had some warning, we managed to back up some of the most important stuff from her computer to be able to recreate everything just fine. So, good news is that the workshop didn't suffer! As a matter of fact, it was such a success that people are excited about the next one we do even though we haven't started advertising yet! :D Anyway, we are extremely happy about that and even managed to raise $194.00 for Friends for Animals!!

But anyway, back to the computer issues.... Right now my lovely wife is working on her new laptop. Thats right, we got so frustrated from that stupid computer we finally gave in and got a DELL!! :) Her last computer didn't last a year. A tip to everyone out there, DON'T BUY A SYSTEMAX!!! Its a computer company that is completely based in the USA, and despite my patriotism and desire to help out my fellow American, this product is crap!!

So, as I said, she is working on her new laptop and trying to import her backup files from her hard drive, which I have now installed on my computer. We are VERY happy with what she got, its gonna do EVERYTHING she ever wanted to do for the classes and for editing our hafla videos too! And now, just as we are feeling all warm and fuzzy it looks like my computer is having issues... *sigh* Its the hard drive on it as well, not totally unexpected considering that its OLD AS DIRT!

So, my weekend has been a series of ups and downs. On one hand it was great! The workshop was great, EVERYBODY was SPECTACULAR in the show that evening, and we were in the green! We were able to donate to a worthy cause, and we were able to promote the dance to our local community is a VERY positive manner!! But on the other hand, this has been a trial. We spent money we really could have used for other things to replace a computer that wasn't even a year old (but we got a 3 year warranty by the gods!), and now my computer is dying as well. However I would have to say that this weekend's trials and tribulations are bittersweet, and overall I don't care about the computer... That workshop ROCKED!!! :)

Darkness, Storms, and a Tornado

Your going to love this. My wife and I started teaching class tonight, and after about 15-20 minutes into it the power went out! The emergency lights came on (well, one out of two did anyway!) and we proceeded to teach via the poorest lighting ever imagined! Unfortunately the lighting was so terrible that the only thing we could see were shapes and shadows! The students are now qualified to dance in the firelight!! :)

And as if that isn't bad enough, we had no music! So after making our throats ragged by simply counting out the tempo, I finally got tired of it and grabbed a plastic trash can! I turned it over and proceeded to bang out a rhythm that everyone could at least keep a decent count to so that everyone could dance!

My wife, needing a break as well since the Air Conditioning was ALSO not working without the power, decided to do her best to drum out a beledi rhythm while I took the lead for a little while. In the end we slowed the class down a bit and she taught slow moves while I drummed! :)

And all the while this was happening, we were in the middle of a Tornado Watch.... And not one student wanted to leave or seemed in the least bit inclined to stop early. What dedication!!! :D

Maybe I should stick with Chess....

OK, so I LOVE a good game of strategy. I also SUCK at these games, but hey! Its all about having fun right?

So I found this game online. Its a tactical strategy game that you play from a webpage (no software to buy or load), and you get to play it against other people who are at the same webpage. Kinda cool right?

Well, I've been playing the game for a little while, I'm starting to understand the basics of other people's strategy. You know, learning my way around, chatting with people as we play, getting tips from the more experienced players, etc, etc.

So today I must have had a target on my back or something, because every person I play is on the top scoring list of all time. I was actually doing good, and then the game mysteriously froze up. :( So I tried again, same thing happened. I tried again, this time it suddenly decided I lost despite the fact that I was beginning to win! So I tried again, same thing. I'm starting to see a trend....

This is so stupid, you mean to tell me that on a SIMPLE little game like this there are people CHEATING!! And when I stopped and thought about it, I realized that it had to be true. How can someone WIN over 500 games and only lose 6?

I'm going back to my chess board....

Reality check

Well, its time for the Rising Sun Tribe to get ready to host our FIRST workshop! We are getting everything in order, the date is approaching, things are getting done. And I'm thinking its going to be great! So whats this feeling I keep getting every now and then? Oh, yeah! That would be nerves!

And its not that bad, I mean we have plenty of reservations and I don't think there will be any problems. But its just that this is big for us. We have never had a problem helping anyone else, that is easy.

However, this time its our butts on the line and I am a perfectionist. (No, you wouldn't know it by talking to me!) The fact is that I like to make sure everything is as perfect as it can be. (Which is to say that, yes, I have realistic goals.) And I have a tendancy to be a very laid back kind of person, but I'm also in my comfort-zone when I'm working to make someone else's event a success since it doesn't really affect me if its not a success.

I suppose it will all work out in the end. But I've never really thought about what it would be like to be the one in charge, instead of just another one of the helpers!

My cats have evolved....

My wife and I don't let the cats downstairs into the basement, especially in the winter as its very cold down there and we are trying to save on the heating bills and can't keep the door open for them all the time. A few weeks ago my wife swears to me that the cats managed to somehow open the basement door and get downstairs. Now, I'm a great believer in logic. Not that I don't have my superstitious side as well, afterall I honestly believe that our last home was haunted! But the door can't just open by itself! So I figured that maybe she just didn't make sure it was latched or something like that. But then, just last week I was in the house when I heard the door open and I knew that my wife was no where nearby! I take two quick steps and look around the corner as fast as I can to see two furry shapes dart down the stairs with the basement door swinging wide open!

OK, maybe the cats ARE opening the doors....

So then yesterday a friend was over and it happened again while she was here! Alright, a third party substantiated the claim, my wife and I are not insane! But then later that evening after having finally gotten the cats back upstairs again I hear the basement door rattle a bit. I look around the corner and see two of our cats sitting there in front of the door. One cat has a paw reaching up into the corner where the door meets the door jam and the other is looking around. When the look-out sees me she meows softly and the other one immediately stops and turns around to look at me while looking like the picture of innocence.

Perhaps I should start locking doors around here.... And maybe I should pick up some extra kibble and some toys while I'm at it.....

Family

When I was growing up I remember always being told that "blood is thicker than water" and that I should always take care of family first. But I have to ask myself, why? Because I have the same blood? The same genetic code as my parents which is similar to my other relatives?

I don't see how that is suppose to matter when I have a family that is so alien to me. To put things lightly, my early years were full of all manner of screwed up things, so much so that I could write a novel. For example, the cousin that married a Mexican man who was smuggling cocaine across the border. She grabbed her kids and made for the border just as soon as the FBI relaxed their watch on her house. Then there's the regular weekend parties that my parents had where everyone was drunk (and maybe more) and the crowning achievement of the evening was getting the police called out. They would always have a bonfire and often we would make a run down to the nearby lumber company for more wood. (Which is the reason they ended up putting up a fence!) So I'm sure you can imagine why at the age of 18, 1 month and 12 days I decided that it was time for me to get out on my own. To make a long story short, it was hell, I almost froze to death living out of my car in a winter wasteland somewhere near Chicago before I ran like mad for the military where they had warm beds and regular food!

So I'm sure your wondering what brought on these memories of my childhood and youth, and the answer to that would be my Mother. She recently emailed me some crap spam email about a particular political candidate and their religious affiliations. (I would like to add here that if my family knew anything about me they would NEVER discuss religion and politics with me unless they have an absolutely open mind!) So I responded simply saying that before she spread such rumours, she really needed to verify the facts. She said she had and gave me a URL that supposedly verified the statements in the email. Never heard of it! It wasn't CNN! Yeah, you can trust the random internet sites you find! And I own the Brooklyn Bridge, wanna buy it? So since she can't seem to convince me that this person is somehow evil and bad, she turns it around on me and basically says that she is sorry that I was raised wrong...... OK, wait. I have been in therapy and would STILL like to be in therapy over the way I was raised and the things I was subjected to and the things I witnessed. But NOW you want to be sorry over the way I was raised because I REFUSE to condemn someone as evil without the facts of their religion!!!!

THATS IT, I'M AN ALIEN!! I WAS ADOPTED!!

Figure it out

So here I am, a man who has always said that he couldn't understand how anyone would have time for a blog. Yet I find myself writing this now. Why? Good question.

I guess that I want to use it to straighten out my thoughts a bit. Maybe put all the disorderly fragments of information in my mind into their neat little stacks and piles so that I feel better. After all, that is what we do in our lives isn't it? Its how we feel better about ourselves and the role we play in this life. Its how we gain perspective on how we are living our lives and whether or not we are living it according the manner in which we believe we are living it or how we wish to live it.

In the end isn't that the most important thing, to live our lives in a manner that makes us feel good? Isn't life about the good things and being happy?

And so here I am, using this medium to figure it all out.