The Daily Grind

Dance!

mandaflower — Wed, 17 Jan 2007 06:45:07 GMT

So I finally posted a video on my tribe site that actually has some decent footage of me dancing. It's from the Rhythmic Arts Festival, which is this totally kick-ass swing dance event down in San Diego every New Year's. I competed in the Jack and Jill contest, which, for the unitiated, is a competition wherein partners are randomly assigned, and you are judged based on how well you can lead or follow with someone who is not your usual partner. Over 120 people entered the prelims, and out of those, only 16 made it to finals, and I was one of them, so that was pretty cool. It ended up being a true Jack and Jill for me in the finals, in that I had never danced with the guy I was paired with ever before in my life. His name is Joe and he is from Colorado, and he is totally awesome, so it ended up working out great, although not without a few glitches. We took third place. Yay! Anyway, if you are one of my friends who has been hearing about swing dancing from me for years, and has never actually seen me dance, or if you just haven't seen me dance lately, check out this video, as it's likely the only video you will see of me dancing, since I don't compete much, and when I do, rarely have a record of it. So check it out!

Cosmic Balance

mandaflower — Thu, 04 Jan 2007 00:44:41 GMT

There is a cosmic balance to be maintained. It works something like this. I go to San Diego for the weekend. Great location: one tally in my favor. The weather in San Diego is perfect: another tally in my favor. I get to stay in a house full of wonderful women and we all get along and have a great time together: another tally in my favor. The dancing is absolutely fabulous, and I hardly have a single bad dance the entire weekend: another tally in my favor. I compete and place third: another tally in my favor. With all of these tallies in my favor, the cosmic balance is thrown off. In order to balance it once more, I get incredibly sick just as I get back to Davis and have to go to work: five tallies against me. We're even now, the cosmos and I.

Dicken's Faire

mandaflower — Thu, 21 Dec 2006 19:01:00 GMT

I have a lot of fond feelings for Dicken's Faire, I realized after visiting it for the first time this season last Sunday. Freezer Faire at Cal Expo was the first faire I ever worked. I was 11 years old, and it was just my mom and me. She worked at the candy store for St. Cuthberts, and I was a theme character: the oldest of the Cratchit children, Martha. I was the one who was off working for a milliner and hid in the closet to surprise Mr. Cratchit with my return. It was a good gig. Of course, I spent nearly every moment of my free time when we weren't actively gigging or I wasn't helping mom in the candy store off at Fezziwig's. Even then I was enchanted by dancing. In fact, I directly blame Dicken's Faire for my current obsession with partner dancing in all of it's forms. Before that year, I had only done solo dancing. Twas Dicken's that introduced me to ballroom dancing, which led directly to me learning modern ballroom, followed by swing, which I have been doing ever since. It was logical then, for me to join up with Fezziwig's the next time I had a chance, in 1995, once again as a theme character from A Christmas Carol. That time I was Miss Ariel Fezziwig, the youngest of the Fezziwig daughters. I was 16, but was supposed to be playing a large 12 year old. It was a great fun. It's hard to believe that that was 11 years ago. And now the current manifestation of Dicken's at the Cow Palace has been going on for years, and I have not become involved again for one reason or another. I feel drawn back to it now though. I can't imagine working an entire run of Renaissance faire again, quite frankly. It is just a bit too much. I like visiting, but it doesn't really call me that way that Dicken's does. So perhaps next year I will get it together enough to actually make Dicken's happen. I may even go back for the last day of this run on Saturday. I'm working on a new costume all this week whilst on vacation from school. (I love being on vacation!!!). I most likely won't be able to work every weekend no matter what, since I still have other commitments, but I could most likely work the majority of the weekends next year, especially now that I know that there are people who go out every week from Davis that I could catch rides with.

I'm going to Faire this Sunday!!

mandaflower — Sat, 14 Oct 2006 00:57:12 GMT

I'm pretty excited. I haven't been since last weekend of last year. I hope to see many of you there!!

Everything comes in threes

mandaflower — Sat, 16 Sep 2006 19:10:02 GMT

This has been possibly one of the worst weeks of my life, and yet it's been relieving in a lot of ways. The breakup was not fun, and I'm still not 100% happy with it, but my mom falling off the ladder had very positive consequences in some ways. First, she was able to help me diagnose what has been wrong with me for the past six or more months. People have been noticing for a long time that I been shaking, that my heart has been beating like crazy, that I always look tired, that I'm not as strong as I used to be, that I've been losing weight even though I eat like a pig, and that I've had major anxiety. I thought I was just out of shape. When I went to the hospital to visit my mom on Wednesday, she immediately noticed the shaking, and she asked me if I had had my thyroid checked. You see, she had Graves Disease when she was 32, and so she new the symptoms of hyperthyroidism when she saw them. And sure enough, she was right. I do have Graves Disease. Having this disease sucks, but it's not the end of the world. I'm already feeling much better because they immediately put me on beta blockers for my heart, so I'm much calmer. The other consequence of my mom falling off the ladder and me having Graves Disease, is that we finally got to talk about all of the things that have been bothering me, that have been keeping us apart. So all in all, even though three very terrible things happened, I'm feeling pretty relieved. At least I know now that I'm not really that out of shape, and that the anxiety I was feeling was not just because I was going crazy, but because my body has been on overdrive for over six months. If you want to learn more about Graves Disease, check out: http://www.4woman.gov/faq/graves.htm

When it rains it pours...

mandaflower — Thu, 14 Sep 2006 04:35:59 GMT

Life is crazy. My mother, who I haven't been getting along with very well lately, just fell off a ladder from the second story and broke her pelvis and her elbow. She will be immobilized for the next six weeks. Crazy. I really didn't expect to have something happen to her, and it has sort of shocked me out of my negativity towards her. It was so hard to see her laid out like that. She looks much older, actually. I'm going back to the hospital to see her tomorrow. After that I am going to try to have a little fun, however. Friday night I am going to the movies with a friend here in Davis, and then on Saturday I will be in the city hanging out with another friend.

I love dancing!!

mandaflower — Mon, 17 Apr 2006 01:58:18 GMT

I just wanted to say that. :)

Been a while

mandaflower — Sat, 11 Mar 2006 00:43:38 GMT

Forgive me blog, for I have sinned. It has been 5 whole months since last I wrote. And yet, things remain largely the same. I just finished the second round of parent teacher conferences at school. They went well. My students are happy, and their parents are by and large content. Everything has not been exactly easy breezy in my classroom since the beginning of the year, but overall this is my best year of teaching yet. I love my school. I love my students. They are fabulous. And I am soooo much happier here than I was in either Texas or Arizona. I do have a new boyfriend. I suppose that much is new. He is a fellow davisite, named Ben. In fact, he is a graduate of the very spanish immersion program that I teach in, and had my principal as his fourth grade teacher. A happy coincidence. Denise (my principal), loves Ben. Yesterday when I told her that we were dating she gave me a huge hug. Ben currently lives in Portland, OR, but do not despair. He is moving back to Davis in the summer. I just went and visited him in Portland (as well as attending the Portland lindy exchange, of course), and had a fabulous time. I'm glad that the long distance aspect of the relationship will be limited. :) Anyway, tribe certainly has changed. I don't believe there was any restriction on pornographic images before. Since when is it all happy family values here?

Last weekend of Casa

mandaflower — Wed, 19 Oct 2005 00:24:29 GMT

Let me begin by saying that I am so glad that I went! It was so good to see everyone, and I had a fabulous time! I hadn't realized how much I missed all of you and faire. When I was in Texas nobody knew me. I felt quite literally like I had to reinvent myself every time I met someone, and after a while it got very tiring. I looked forward to my visits home as a time when I didn't have to constantly explain myself. Anyway, this weekend once again reminded me of how nice it is to be somewhere where not only do people know me, but they've known me since I was a kid. Even new aquaintances aren't complete strangers, because everyone at faire is connected by their mutual aquaintances and experiences. I reconnected with Phil Van Hest, who I haven't seen since high school, with the brief exception of a weekend in college, and it turns out that we know all of the same people at faire. Go figure. I remember that meeting Emily was like that. We met at UCSB, but once we got to talking it turned out that she had dated Alex Voorhies for some time, and Alex and I had known each other since junior high school because we both grew up in Davis. Anyway, it was nice to just be able to relax. I love you all. You are fabulous. mmmwwwaaaahhhh!!!

Keep on Keepin' on

mandaflower — Thu, 06 Oct 2005 03:03:12 GMT

A month later and this is still the best year that I've had. Unfortunately, despite my happiness with my class, my stress and level of exposure to nasty sicknesses hasn't really abated, and thus, after a month and a half, I had to take my first two sick days Monday and Tuesday of this week, and I still feel like crap. In fact, after going back today, I feel even more like crap than before. But I hate having subs. At this point we have our system down pretty well, but the subs aren't always very chill with the way that system works. It involves, for instance, kids getting out of their seats to perform their various tasks on a pretty regular basis, which some subs see as insubordination punishable with visits to the office, which pisses the kids (and myself) off to no end. Aside from being sick, everything is fabulous. I still love Davis, am still soooo glad to be back in CA, and am very happy. I wish I could have gotten out to faire, but it was just too far, I was too broke, and school was taking up too much of my time, even on the weekends. I may make it out for the last weekend though. Marty has offered to gatelist me... :)

The school year has begun!!

mandaflower — Mon, 05 Sep 2005 05:15:32 GMT

And I have officially survived my first week. Not only have I survived it, but it even went pretty well. My classroom, which looked like crap (as you can see from the picture) is much nicer now. My friend Dave came and decorated the reading corner with lamps and curtains, billowing from the ceiling and covering up the nasty water spot. My students are also fabulous. They are all so intelligent and sweet. We had a wonderful first week together. Their parents are also a real pleasure to work with. I'm so used to parents who are completely uninvolved with their children's education, that it is refreshing to work with a group of parents so dedicated. I already have volunteers for our 4th grade garden among many other things. I'm exhausted, and glad that it's a three day weekend, but also happy to be going back on tuesday. If you don't see me out and about during the week, it's because I'm working insane hours at the school, but I'm trying to get out on the weekends at least...

Parry Hotter

mandaflower — Sun, 17 Jul 2005 22:34:21 GMT

I just finished reading the newest book. Don't worry, I won't reveal anything, as I'm sure some of you out there aren't quite as crazy (or unemployed) as me, and haven't finished it yet. May I just say OHMYGOD!! I am going to be rehashing this book in my mind for the next four years until the final book comes out. It will drive me nuts. I tried to drag the reading out for as long as possible by hanging out with friends and dancing, but the time had to come eventually, and now it is over, leaving me bereft and in a state of extreme shock. wow. Like I said, I will be rehashing this book basically until the next one comes out. I hope that at least another movie comes out in the meantime to somewhat mitigate the horrid awfulness of waiting.

Lyra Rose Farris Goldenberg

mandaflower — Wed, 06 Jul 2005 17:40:08 GMT

I have a new baby sister!! Her name, as you can see from the title, is Lyra Rose. I have been on high baby alert for about a week now, ever since I got back. My cell phone has been on day and night, on the off chance that the baby would be early (she was due on the 11th). My parents had designated me as the caretaker for my little brother Lev while they went to the hospital, as they recognized that it would be nigh unto impossible to have an almost 5 year old in the hospital with them all through a long hard labor and the days to follow. So I was on alert. Nonetheless it definitely took me by surprise when I got the call at midnight on Sunday night. I had just gotten back from taking my sister Sondra to the airport in SF, and I was completely wiped out from lack of sleep in the days preceding. Not a very ubiquitous beginning. But I headed over to my parents' house to look after Lev while Dad took Stacy to the hospital. By the time I got there the contractions were about 3 minutes apart, and she was pacing the house, stopping now and then to double over and let out a horrible sounding moan. When I am completely exhausted there isn't a whole lot that can keep me awake (I'm still not sure if that is a good thing or a bad thing), so I just fell right asleep. I was awoken at one point, I think maybe around 2, to the sound of Stacy screaming. Shortly thereafter they headed to the hospital. The phone woke me up the next morning at 7:45. My dad quietly informed me that the labor had been brutally short -- a mere 3 and a half hours -- and that she had arrived at 3:33 am on July 4th. Both dad and Stacy were exhausted, and Stacy had lost a lot of blood, so they were resting. Dad said he would call later once they were ready for visitors. Lev has radar for when the rest of the house wakes up, so I didn't get a chance to go back to sleep. He was up within 5 minutes and ready to go. So we had breakfast and then headed downtown to get ice cream. We've been very careful to not exclude Lev or make him feel second fiddle because of the pregnancy and the new baby, so I made sure that the entire day was dedicated to celebrating how awesome it was to be a new big brother. We got new big brother ice cream, he got a new big brother gift (an art set), and we watched the bike races downtown and got smoothies to celebrate new big brotherhood. At around 1:00, dad called and told us we could come visit. You should have seen Lev! He was so careful and gentle with the baby, and just as loving and curious as he could be. It was obvious that he felt in no way threatened by her and that was wonderful. Anyway, all of this is just a long winded way to tell you that I now have 6, count them, 6 siblings. I am enchanted with Lyra. She is beautiful. And as an added bonus, I got to spend two days hanging out one on one with my other enchanting and beautiful younger sibling, Lev. Yay!!

at last

mandaflower — Mon, 27 Jun 2005 09:41:30 GMT

Well, I made it. I pulled into Davis this evening at about 8:00, spent a few hours unloading my stuff out of the truck, and now am too exhausted to do anything but sit and play with my computer. It is hard to believe that just three days ago I lived in Texas, and that this isn't just another visit. I am actually here to stay. I drove 10 hours the first day to Albuquerque, then 19 hours the second day to Santa Barbara (it shouldn't have been so long, but Emily and I got lost in the Angeles National Forest... long story), then another 8 hours today. It was definitely an adventure. It was nice having the time with Em to hang out and talk. And there wasn't much else to do at first since we had no cd player. The second day I remembered that I had batteries in a little boom box and then we had music, but pretty much all of the first day we just talked. And now there are boxes all over the house. It is going to take me days to finish unpacking and arranging. I don't miss Dallas, but I sure do miss the people I left behind, specifically Sasha...

Moving Sucks!!

mandaflower — Mon, 20 Jun 2005 16:09:41 GMT

Except for the fact that Emily is coming out to help me move and I get to spend two days on the road with her, this whole moving thing is really a pain in my ass. I now officially have three days to finish packing, and I've only just started. For some reason for a while I thought that I had another week that I didn't have. My sense of time gets so thrown off when I'm not working. Anyway, suffice to say that I began packing last week, but didn't make much progress, and then this weekend I went down to south padre island and chilled instead of packing. So it's going to be a hectic three days...