finally !!

barry's future is so bright he's gotta wear shades.

a slice of life

zahena will understand this, bwaa

You know you're from the High Desert when...

... You actually get excited about snowboarding at Mt. High

... The people at La Casita know you by name

..Sidewalks are a luxury.

...You mow the weeds instead of the lawn.

...Or, you rake the dirt instead of leaves

...All the trees lean to one side cause of the wind.

...Driving fifty miles to get some decent food/clothes/entertaiment isn't unusual at all.

Closing the Cajon Pass won't stop anybody from getting out on a Friday.

..The slightest rain turns roads into rushing, muddy rivers.

...You're the only one driving down Main Street at 3am, and for some reason you still hit every red light.

...you've learned to coexsist with potholes.

...its 75 degrees outside and your mom tells you to grab a sweater

...you know that shoes hanging over a telephone wire means theres a meth house nearby.

...you can not go to any store without it feeling like a high school reunion

..Scandia/the bowling alley are your friday nights

...you hang out at Del Taco

...when people usually ask you 'where's that?'

...when a majority of parties are held in the middle of the desert

...when you're about to die of heat stroke in the summer, but freeze your toosie off in the winter

...when your town goes berserk over a new store/restaurant

...when you refer to traveling as 'going down the hill.'

...you know that rivers don't HAVE to have water in them.

...you've ever had to pull over your car to move a huge tumbleweed out of the road.

...Seeing the color green on a landscape shocks and confuses you.

...you've ever referred to rain as 'unholy skywater'

... you pass by a Mexican restaurant every street corner

... you didn't know that the construction of two-story buildings was possible

. 'hanging out' constitutes meeting up at Starbucks

a mall any bigger than Victor Valley Mall (which doesn't take much) excites you

...when telling people where you live, Las Vegas invariably becomes part of the explanation. (i.e. 'Have you ever been to Vegas? Then you've passed through where I live.')

..when you know which town you're in by what side of the street you are on (Bear Valley Road)

...You can make it down the Cajon Pass in 15min and to Ontario Mill in 25.

...Your parents, and everyone you know parents, commute to work.

..during the holidays it takes 30min to find a parking spot at Target or the Mall.

...you don't know what to do with yourself when it starts raining

...you're confused by the concept of clouds

...you're somewhere else and confused because the speed limit sign is less than 55 mph, and you don't know how to drive less than 65 mph, because Bear Valley Rd/ Hwy 18/ Apple Valley Rd all have a speed limit higher than that!

...you stick extra sweatshirts or shorts in your car, because you never know when it could get super hot or deathly cold

..... missing school for a snow day was a major event that year

...... 40 mph winds and sunny are a 'nice day'

...... unless you live in SVL you have a dirt lot on at least one side of your house

. you knew what I was referring to when I used the initials SVL

..... you are unfairly associated with Barstow when trying to explain to people
where you are from

..... within the first 2 minutes of talking with somebody still in the desert you get a list of new shops/restaurants they are getting

..... unlike everywhere else in the country, the Mexican help line is not in front of a Home Depot but some random park on the corner of Hesperia Rd. and Verde St.

..... you get excited whenever you are watching a Cuba Gooding Jr. movie so you can tell everyone that he went to Apple Valley High School.

.you will drive 15 miles out of the way to avoid Bear Valley rd!

falling in love again

well at least this week. i've bought a bunch o bellydance cds/ dvds in the last few weeks and have been wallowing in the stuff. i'm all enthused about bellydance again. NOW if i can just figure out where i'm getting $$$ to bellydance. sell the children??

re-group, re-charge, re-trench

the past few months have been very trying for personal reasons. my creativity has really been sapped. i decided to discontinue my belly dance class in Barstow & have put my other belly dance class in Apple Valley on hiatus.

i want / need a break. i would like to re-discover belly dance. i think i had slipped into a grind of teaching/ performing & not enjoying myself.

i want to spend the summer pouring over dvds. finding new music that moves me. attending & just sitting & watching conventions. not performing, not volunteering just being a fan again. how novel !!

i plan on taking classes again with Vichelle to brush up on my zills. i'm scheduled to attend Sahra Saeeda's "Journey through Egypt" 3 day certification workshop & am heartily looking forward to it. i have applications out for events this fall for the "Sahara collective". i'm brainstorming what i'm doing at the Gothla US '09.

*i* want to dance & am hoping to book a few showcases.

in short i'm not quitting i'm re-discovering the dance. having said that i am giving away or selling many things cause i feel it's time to focus. i can't do it all. i want to focus i what i like & let what is trendy or marketable take care of itself.

hopefully i will come back fresh & re-energized.

i WILL be back September 1st MONDAY night to teach belly dance at the town of Apple Valley Park & Rec Dept. i plan on doing 2 things; start earlier, go longer. per AV approval i want to start class at 6:00pm & teach an hour & a half. i want to go back to my original format of basics plus choreo.

SO i'm gonna go play !!