triblog:

Coffee break (TMI warning)

Kauwika — Sat, 12 May 2012 00:04:49 GMT

I decided to to go on a coffee fast, starting yesterday. Don't ask why - it's complicated. Though, yes... "because I'm crazy" would just about cover it. Set up a perpetual pot of yogi tea as a readily available hot drink alternate. Expected the caffeine withdrawal head explosion with aphasia and ataxia (I've done this before (did I mention I'm crazy?)), but somehow managed to forget the other big physiological effect of coffee consumption. Fortunately, I didn't plan ahead well enough to remove the instant coffee from the vicinity of the kettle, and this morning I'd already made a cup of coffee and drunk half of it before I was awake enough to remember that I wasn't doing that any more... Quite soon, I remembered... Now I'm wondering if I should keep one morning cup of laxative coffee in my daily routine.

SO many lesbian spammers...

Kauwika — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 22:42:56 GMT

or maybe they're just shy young women seeking a little motherly advice on how to dress for their body type :-D (but switching to photo comments that take extra steps to delete - pooh)

Don't look at me!

Kauwika — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 10:30:58 GMT

5959 - a nice irregularly regular number. Another profile view, and I'll have to work hard to see if I can push it towards 5678 or something...

Ten Thousand Millipedes!

Kauwika — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 01:40:08 GMT

Ten thousand* millipedes in the detached toilet block at work this morning. (Would that be a decapede? Why do they call them millipedes anyway? Shouldn't it be kilopedes? And while I'm at it, why "centipedes"? Shouldn't that be "eldritch horrors from the bowels of the earth"?) Back in the main building, I found a stray one while mopping, too. There were probably as many there, but distributed throughout a larger space, so not as notable. Still, one, on the floor while I was mopping... I picked it up and, wondering what to do with it until I reach a convenient place to ditch it, considered putting it in my pocket. If I put all the millipedes in my pocket as I came across them, then when I got home I could play an interesting game of "guess how many millipedes in my pocket?" But I didn't - just held it curled in the palm of my hand until I reached the door, then tossed it out into the garden beds. Bo-o-o-o-oring... but it IS work, after all. * Disclaimer: I didn't count them. I estimate the actual number to be somewhere between six and ten thousand and six.

Hurled myself at the ground

Kauwika — Mon, 05 Mar 2012 10:06:44 GMT

from a full-tilt run the other day... Exhilarating! :-) I'm glad it looked convincing, but I didn't mean to scare my fellow dancers. They don't know I've had breakfall training from a professional stuntman. I do confess, if I'd planned it more than a few seconds in advance, I'd have worn kneepads. Maybe wristguards, too. And by the time I'd kitted up, I'd have probably funked out. Their concern had me second-guessing whether the move was bold or foolhardy. Probably both. It was the *perfect* move for the development of the theme I was playing with, and going for it with that sense of immediacy really made it work. I did have an alternate trajectory in mind for if it felt wrong (I could have hit the back wall instead, or even just stopped dead, remaining standing), but in the moment I felt ice-cold clarity as to how I needed to arrange myself to land safely. So I stuttered with one foot and dived. Because there was more that I was doing after that, I didn't really analyse the landing at the time. The concern of the observers prompted me to pay close attention afterwards, though, and after several days I conclude that I landed it extremely well. No wrist/forearm issues at all; minor soft tissue injury to one leg. When I say minor, I mean if I wasn't looking for it I wouldn't have noticed it. Slight swelling and tenderness with pressure above the knee. Which is good - means I landed forearms and thighs. Much safer than hands and knees - good form even though I wasn't thinking it through in such fine detail. So, now... practice. I've recently decided it's time to get back into some more "formal" practice. What I think of as formal may not be what other people think when I say that... I have a mental image that's as clear as the image I had of the dive the moment before I did it. Now all I have to do is analyse it well enough to be able to explain it to a potential teacher. *rolls eyes*

Season's

Kauwika — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 03:48:43 GMT

sentiments ;-) http://youtu.be/6XGkkdaAabQ

Needling

Kauwika — Sun, 20 Nov 2011 10:58:08 GMT

I never wanted a pony for Christmas. Nor a pink dress with ruffles and bows and lace or even that doll with the blinking eyes that drank from a bottle and wee'd. All I really wanted was a sewing basket. I could see how that disappointed you as you stood in the toy shop gazing at that doll. But was it so dreadful a thing that you had to say "Why can't she just be normal?" [ image via hyena-in-petticoats -- http://www.flickr.com/photos/paperstringcloth/2067654829/ ]

Free spirit? ...or loose cannon?

Kauwika — Sat, 09 Jul 2011 02:19:57 GMT

I wrote that the other day, and I'm sure I had something more to say at the time. But the mental notepad's been wiped clean since then. So... Discuss!

Can't wait can't wait can't wait

Kauwika — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 00:07:29 GMT

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LGKzXUWAjnI August 18! Six weeeeeks? That's for-eeeeeeeeeeever...

On losing perspective, finishing projects, and the slipperiness of words

Kauwika — Mon, 20 Jun 2011 22:36:23 GMT

Is that just IT? A creative project is finished at the moment I realise I have lost the capacity to step away from it and view it from any perspective of detachment or distance? It sounds like that would be the beginning! Maybe the beginning is in the loss of capacity to view from a detached perspective, and the ending is in the noticing... or the act of stepping away produces the fuzzy vertiginous blur and the reeling backwards saying "what the hell is that?" "did I make that?" "really..."? Is there always this kind of giddiness in the space where making becomes made? Or is this just how I will know I'm doing the very thing I need to do? Oh, yeah... it resolves... :-) Holy Kerouac: when your eyes were bright with seeing emptiness in the void of the holy sea where creatures didn't abound, nor crops grow, and nothing happened, and nobody lived, and nobody cared -- You didn't need arbitrary concepts there and need them now you say you need them now I say, you say, Why should you need them now Why should you now. [from mcb 108] What do I call this stuff? (Why do I need to call it anything?)

video - finished

Kauwika — Thu, 16 Jun 2011 14:21:29 GMT

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gd-563VgFN0 there ya go...

Howl!

Kauwika — Sat, 11 Jun 2011 13:40:46 GMT

Yes! Again, please! ... only, next time, at home... that way I can talk back and blow kisses and hug and yell and sigh loudly... all without worrying about perturbing cinema-goers in the seats near me... It's been such a brilliant day today! A bit of a cold start. I *almost* didn't go to stretch class - cold, AND the last couple of tracks of the video I'm editing had finished rendering overnight, and I was tempted to stay here and sink into the next stage of the edit. But I let "good for me" override (that, and I really enjoy the class...). Great morning at the studio! I'm feeling less like a long-tailed cat in a roomful of rocking chairs there... and a couple of lovely opportunities came up. One might have potential for long-term goodness - yet to be seen, but I'll have more to say if it develops well. Regardless of how that pans out, though, it was nice to briefly feel at home there again... Early afternoon with a beautiful deepening friendship :-) Then off to the movies with an old, old friend... And back to video editing (not done yet, but I'm *really* liking how it's looking!). See me shoot little sparkles of joy and excitement in all directions!

I wasn't expecting...

Kauwika — Wed, 25 May 2011 23:11:13 GMT

At work the other day (for anyone who doesn't know, I'm doing a part-time job as a commercial cleaner), I was mopping the floor behind a couple of emergency services personnel who were watching a cartoon during down-time. From the TV, I heard "What kills you, makes you stronger." I LOLed. (It wasn't even the internet, so, yes, really... *quite* loud.) They both turned to look at me. With a grin, I shrugged and said "I wasn't expecting to hear Nietzsche referenced in a cartoon." Then it was their turn to laugh - it seems they weren't expecting to hear Nietzsche mentioned by the cleaning lady... And in case anyone's missed my current musical obsession - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nQF0hs9Rzus - Goddamn right it's a beautiful day! (Think I'll make whoever shows up for practice today dance to it!) [ image: out here on the perimeter ]

10 statements on the WD40 solution

Kauwika — Mon, 25 Apr 2011 08:09:31 GMT

1. Intent is paramount. 2. One does well to persistently pursue small impulses. 3. Be prepared to approach from any possible direction, no matter how implausible. 4. Move everything else in the vicinity. 5. Lean. 6. Consider the potential effects of sudden destabilisation. 7. Leverage is your friend. 8. Time helps, too. 9. See if you can resist the temptation to stop and laugh when it happens. 10. If you stop and laugh, don't forget to start again and keep going. 11. DO laugh!

"Wearing flip-flops...

Kauwika — Fri, 15 Apr 2011 22:54:55 GMT

is a privilege, not a right", according to Michael Bastian. [ http://nymag.com/daily/fashion/2011/04/michael_bastian_thinks_more_du.html ] And just to be sure we understand that, his will be sold at $38 a pair. Sounds privileged to me (Or does a pair of thongs just cost that much in New York?).

Too much awesome-sauce

Kauwika — Fri, 15 Apr 2011 07:11:03 GMT

I just worked double shifts two days in a row. Took the opportunity of a slow day today to sleeeep before work this evening and the craziness that my diary forecasts for tomorrow. My tab bar has become overloaded with amazing things friends have posted that I've been hanging on to because they're worth sharing, but that I don't really have time to figure out where I want to repost... so here they are! http://www.douart.ru/ -- photos. Eerily morphed photos of faces. Beautiful. Disturbing. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aTpXymuwxNs -- Dead Cat Bounce, with "Rugby". A funny song about a game that definitely isn't gay. http://erie.nlm.nih.gov/~dave/vh/ -- slices of man. Real man (and woman, too) - sectional images of a cadaver; part of the Visible Human project. http://youtu.be/2yJgwwDcgV8 -- Pop Tart Cat :-) http://chriseckert.com/Sculpture/036_auto_ink/gallery.html -- Auto Ink; a random religious tattooing machine. http://youtu.be/u0T8YtIat7o -- Timothy Leary meets Cheech & Chong & Peewee http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=amM3Z2YgcKI -- k d lang "I Confess" (I melted!) http://www.phallus.is/ -- Phallological Museum http://r416-robyn.blogspot.com/ -- It's called "Medical Anthropology". Perhaps the best indicator I can give you of the content is an R D Laing quote used within it -- "The choice of syntax and vocabulary is a political act that defines and circumscribes the manner in which "facts" are to be experienced. Indeed, in a sense it goes further and even creates the facts that are studied." I'm not crediting sources - some were posted privately - but feel free to claim credit in comments if you want! *whew* -- manageable tab bar once more!

I just woke

Kauwika — Sat, 19 Mar 2011 23:32:47 GMT

... from a dream. I'd been trying to spend my time wisely to both attend to a dear friend approaching death, and to care for a new baby. It was complicated by difficulties in bringing them close together so I could attend to both at the same time. It was helped by other friends who cared well for the baby while they knew I needed to be with my friend. There was a life association that seemed glaringly obvious as soon as I woke. And my first thought as I realised that was "Noooooooo! [xxx] isn't *dying*!" But there are people who've already been telling me that it is. Maybe. Maybe not. Que sera, sera. I'm staying with it for the living, not for the dying. And now, sitting at my desk, I see an impressive new flower spike in bloom from my grass trees. I've been taking gentle pleasure in the development of the new spikes for a few weeks now. From the soft pale-green nubs, through the strong emerald spires... and now, the tallest spike is dusted with tiny yellow flowers. A horde of red-eyed honey-eaters swoops, dangles, and chatters in nearby trees to coordinate strategy and argue territory. Maybe today'll be the day I grab the camera and sit out there a while :-) [edit: camera grabbed; quite a while of sitting before the birds braved returning to the feast; more images awaiting processing ]

Black Cardamom

Kauwika — Thu, 10 Mar 2011 01:51:18 GMT

So stinky! ...but in a good way :-) Got my hotpot restarted, and well spiced up... Discovered this resource for culinary spices - has particularly impressed me with his differentiation, not only between cinnamon and cassia, but also of three different varieties of cinnamom [ http://www.uni-graz.at/~katzer/engl/index.html ]

All clear on both biopsies! YAY!

Kauwika — Mon, 07 Mar 2011 23:03:41 GMT

... still whining about shoulder stinging, though... :-Þ

mouf hurts... :-(

Kauwika — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 05:22:25 GMT

Had a chunk cut out of my lip this morning (biopsy results next week). They took a piece of my shoulder, too, but that's not bothering me at the moment. The nurse who gave me the aftercare talk said the shoulder would likely sting a great deal once the anaesthetic wore off, but so far it's not as bothersome as it was a few weeks ago when it prompted me to see a doctor. My mouth, on the other hand... *@%^&#*(#$##!* Hang on... that's not quite right... What I meant to say was *#%^^*$$%&>%)? @^&(#<>?$*( @##^%^&&( Y&^@$<}: >"{}^&&$#$!!!!!!* (Ha - that's more like it.) [ image: Euphorbia Aeruginosa, ferocious spined form -- http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Euphorbia_aeruginosa4_ies.jpg -- Frank Vincentz CC-BY-SA-3.0 ]

I like my maths the way I like my men

Kauwika — Sat, 22 Jan 2011 07:11:39 GMT

-- discrete! http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2011-01/eu-nmt011911.php

I just accidentally made a crazy-good soup

Kauwika — Fri, 21 Jan 2011 21:32:39 GMT

Background: have been on a silly diet - high protein, low carbs - that's actually worked reasonably well for weight loss. Staple food has been a stock-pot to which I add new pieces of meat and herbs and spices at whim. Eat meat, drink broth... Weight loss has plateaued a bit, so I decided to shake things up and switch to a vegie base for a while. Couldn't see any reason not to keep the stock-pot running, so to the meat broth I added a bunch of soup veg (carrots, swedes, zucchini, green beans, sweet potato, garlic I think, then broad beans, more zucchini and more carrots for day two). And a tablespoon of tomato paste. Then the inspired part - I quartered a lemon and dropped it in. Wow! It really added zing to the soup, and after cooking down well, the lemon rind has softened to the point that it's breaking up and can be eaten, too. Delicious. Will certainly do it again! ----- Thought of the Day: "Harder" is not a good safe word.

Six minutes

Kauwika — Sun, 16 Jan 2011 08:59:37 GMT

of the sun shining through the clouds; of the lotus blossom growing from the mud; of peace arising from turmoil. Thank you, Meisters Scott and Cohen. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ruDxyOebIQM

Proof

Kauwika — Sat, 01 Jan 2011 09:08:28 GMT

:-þ

Not quite the end of the year yet...

Kauwika — Thu, 30 Dec 2010 10:14:44 GMT

but I'm end-of-year ruminating. I think I'll go out this year-end, and join a large public celebration for the new year. It's time (and you never know your luck in the big city *g*). I know I've been pretty frustrated about the apparent stuckness of some projects this year, but with a small step back, I can acknowledge that this year has seen a few noteworthy steps forward in those projects: I've performed in our belly-dance troupe for a general public audience several times - I think this year saw the first of those events; I performed my first ever butoh solo; I performed a self-choreographed, self-costumed dance solo in front of a general public audience; I showed prints in two exhibitions; I sold a print to a person who chased me up after one of the exhibitions; I've made quite a collection of cool costumes/clothes/jewellery (so far all for personal, family or friend use); and acquired two new web clients. I'm callin' it not a bad effort for an old fart. Oh, yeah.. and I turned Aussie, got all my assignments in on time and marked competent, and lost six kilos in the last six weeks. NEXT year, there's gonna be MORE goodness!