I keep logging in and starting a post, and then realizing that I don't have much to talk about right now. Company has hit the ground fast and furious, and with all the scheduling complications trying to get a whole show up in something like 48 hours (yes, that would be one work week) of rehearsal time will obviously bring up. Tuesday was a 15+ hour span of day, yesterday was 13+ hours, I'm hoping to keep today to around 13 hours. This is why they don't pay stage managers hourly rates - we go into overtime way too quickly! The director found out today that she will be having a little girl, so I think I will make the pink the main color of the border for the baby blanket. I started the Jaywalkers with the STR, decided I didn't like them, and went back to plain stockinette toe-up socks on US 2s. I'm going too tightly on them, though - the foot can practically stand on its own. I don't remember having this trouble with the STR mediumweight when I did the Cloverleaf Socks. Weird.
I don't get to test with the rest of my class now. They changed our orchestra rehearsal to noon instead of 1:30p on the 9th, so I won't have time. Of course, I couldn't make it to class at all this week, so I will have to stop by the studio tomorrow to get a new testing time. I was kind of looking forward to testing with the class, too! =P I also haven't had the time or energy to go running this week, so although I'm working like crazy, I kind of feel like a slob. I've been trying to be really good about how I eat this week - both for work energy and because I'm not up and moving like usual. I, however, was brave enough to wear a shorter skirt (you know, like skirt length, no mini skirts or floor/ankle length, it hits just above the knee, I think), and my legs don't look nearly as bad as I thought they used to. So either I was just way self-conscious (which I am, I think my legs, although they're long, are my least-toned area) or there might be something to this whole exercise thing...
Oh, and happy anniversay, Mom and Dad! 27 years!
Okay, back to music rehearsal. Ciao!
Thursday, May 31, 2007
Thursday, May 24, 2007
I do so knit!
Sometimes...
Okay, so it seems like I haven't picked the needles up in forever. I did actually take the STR with me this weekend. And Tumbling Blocks (betcha haven't seen that mentioned for a while). I just didn't really ever get the time to work on them. But now I have, a little. I've done a full repeat on Tumbling Blocks. I LOVE the yarn (Jade Sapphire's Mongolian Cashmere in Lagoon - YUM!), not so fond of the needles. I'm using some Clover bamboo circs. I like the grip of the bamboo on the cashmere, but the blunt points just might drive me nuts. I already have about 24" of the scarf done, though, so I don't really want to change needles now.
As for the STR (mediumweight, Seal Rock colorway, which looks a billion times prettier balled up and knitted than in the skein), I started them off as Monkey Socks, which didn't fit. Then I tried regular toe up socks, but didn't care for it. Now I'm taking a page from Cara and trying them for some Jaywalkers. I have a good feeling about this. I'm doing the same size I did before, but on US 3s instead of 2s, so I think I will be okay with the sizing without having to do ten billion stitches. (Yes, I do knit very tightly!)
I have barely touched the baby blanket since trying to weave ends in with my shaking hands Monday night. I need to finish those ends and figure out the side triangles. I've had a couple people tell me not to bother with them, but I know exactly how I want this blanket to look, border and all, and darn it, it WILL look like that by the time I'm through. The kid may be in college by then, but I'll win eventually! She's due in October, so I have all summer to work it out.
Class was soo much better Wednesday. It's amazing the difference properly fueling your body makes! I still can't do those darn front pushing kicks correctly, though. Everyone else makes it look so easy, and I feel like...I don't know...like I've never kicked before in my life. I did surprise myself by kicking one of the targets in the head with a crescent kick, though, which made me feel better. I was partnered with Ma'am again, and Sir kept looking at us and laughing for some reason. I can't go to class again for a whole week, though! Monday is Memorial Day, so the studio is closed, and I have rehearsals all week next week. I should be able to go both Monday and Wednesday before testing, though. I'm having trouble with one of my one-steps. It's a right double outer form block, then a front jump kick, a backfist, middle punch, chin punch, a right round kick to the middle, then another right double outer form block/evading to the left. I have trouble going from the round kick into the chambering for the block, and tend to lose my balance. Sir says that I am trying to move too quickly, so I will practice next week (in a rehearsal room on dinner breaks, most likely) trying to take a pause there.
And by the way, I kind of wish sometimes that I didn't have to deal with guys. Steve gets into town for the summer next week. I'm going up this weekend to visit AF Guy for a day or two, which has made another male friend jealous (totally unreasonably - not only is there absolutely nothing but friendship between me and AF Guy, but there isn't anything between me and other guy either for him to get upset about!) And, I learned this weekend, some crushes just don't go away with time, even though there is not even a snowball's chance in hell of anything ever coming from it. Blarg. Boys!
So, who's going to see Pirates 3 this weekend??
Okay, so it seems like I haven't picked the needles up in forever. I did actually take the STR with me this weekend. And Tumbling Blocks (betcha haven't seen that mentioned for a while). I just didn't really ever get the time to work on them. But now I have, a little. I've done a full repeat on Tumbling Blocks. I LOVE the yarn (Jade Sapphire's Mongolian Cashmere in Lagoon - YUM!), not so fond of the needles. I'm using some Clover bamboo circs. I like the grip of the bamboo on the cashmere, but the blunt points just might drive me nuts. I already have about 24" of the scarf done, though, so I don't really want to change needles now.
As for the STR (mediumweight, Seal Rock colorway, which looks a billion times prettier balled up and knitted than in the skein), I started them off as Monkey Socks, which didn't fit. Then I tried regular toe up socks, but didn't care for it. Now I'm taking a page from Cara and trying them for some Jaywalkers. I have a good feeling about this. I'm doing the same size I did before, but on US 3s instead of 2s, so I think I will be okay with the sizing without having to do ten billion stitches. (Yes, I do knit very tightly!)
I have barely touched the baby blanket since trying to weave ends in with my shaking hands Monday night. I need to finish those ends and figure out the side triangles. I've had a couple people tell me not to bother with them, but I know exactly how I want this blanket to look, border and all, and darn it, it WILL look like that by the time I'm through. The kid may be in college by then, but I'll win eventually! She's due in October, so I have all summer to work it out.
Class was soo much better Wednesday. It's amazing the difference properly fueling your body makes! I still can't do those darn front pushing kicks correctly, though. Everyone else makes it look so easy, and I feel like...I don't know...like I've never kicked before in my life. I did surprise myself by kicking one of the targets in the head with a crescent kick, though, which made me feel better. I was partnered with Ma'am again, and Sir kept looking at us and laughing for some reason. I can't go to class again for a whole week, though! Monday is Memorial Day, so the studio is closed, and I have rehearsals all week next week. I should be able to go both Monday and Wednesday before testing, though. I'm having trouble with one of my one-steps. It's a right double outer form block, then a front jump kick, a backfist, middle punch, chin punch, a right round kick to the middle, then another right double outer form block/evading to the left. I have trouble going from the round kick into the chambering for the block, and tend to lose my balance. Sir says that I am trying to move too quickly, so I will practice next week (in a rehearsal room on dinner breaks, most likely) trying to take a pause there.
And by the way, I kind of wish sometimes that I didn't have to deal with guys. Steve gets into town for the summer next week. I'm going up this weekend to visit AF Guy for a day or two, which has made another male friend jealous (totally unreasonably - not only is there absolutely nothing but friendship between me and AF Guy, but there isn't anything between me and other guy either for him to get upset about!) And, I learned this weekend, some crushes just don't go away with time, even though there is not even a snowball's chance in hell of anything ever coming from it. Blarg. Boys!
So, who's going to see Pirates 3 this weekend??
Monday, May 21, 2007
Hey!
Did you know that if you barely eat and sleep for five days and then try to do a 45 minute tkd class, your body will go, "Oh HELL no" and your hands will start shaking? I didn't either, although it doesn't surprise me. They were still shaking for about an hour after I got home and ate, too. I was trying to finish weaving in ends on the baby blanket, but no go. Class was so hard tonight! I don't think it was all JUST me, though, since by the time Sir started demonstrating our final drills (balancing in a pushup position with your feet on a medicine ball, then alternating leg lifts), even Cute Belt, who seems to be Mr. Athlete of the class, was going "Sure we will...", which got him a few extra seconds of balancing when Sir heard him.
A link to this article on the relationship between sleeping and eating came tonight, too. I thought it was really interesting.
Knitting content soon!
A link to this article on the relationship between sleeping and eating came tonight, too. I thought it was really interesting.
Knitting content soon!
What a week! (Long, and No Knitting)
It feels like I've been going non-stop since last Tuesday! Let's see, what did I do this past week?
Tuesday:
A four hour tech rehearsal and a four hour dress rehearsal, prep work for Company (the script and score still haven't formatted and copied themselves! C'mon!), and emailing/calling back and forth with John making sure we have everything ready for the weekend.
Wednesday:
See Tuesday
Thursday:
A four hour final dress rehearsal, a last minute "we need grades turned in tomorrow but you have to send them to Chrissy since you're not faculty and can't turn in grades" resulting in leaving Santa Maria an hour later than I'd wanted, a three hour drive to the theater in Montebello (which means it's 9:00p by the time I get there), a couple more hours helping John get the equipment set up and checked (they already had it loaded in, just not set up), and finally followed John to the house I'd be staying at for the weekend (in the interest of not wanting to gush too much, I'll just say the house is huge, gorgeous and I'm extremely grateful), and crashed hard.
Friday:
Get up early, head over to the theater, finish cleaning and setting equipment, work things out with the camera guy (we do three close-up card tricks in the show that we project onto the screens so the entire audience can see), run through the show with the girls and the other show crew guy, run back to the house, get food and clean up (HOW do I get SO damn dirty with that equipment?! We clean it all the time!), come back and do the first show. The hazers and foggers set off a fire alarm, which was interesting, but other than that, the show went pretty smoothly. Get a little riled when John takes other show crew guy out with him to sign autographs, leaving me to reset the entire show by myself, but take it as a backhanded compliment, and frankly, I can do it faster on my own than having to stop and show/remind the other guy how things need to be set. Besides, it's cool to be the only one, other than John of course, who can do it anywhere close to correctly. (I'm pretty good, but there still always seems to be some little detail I've missed, so I always have John check it himself, as well.) Get done around 11:30p, go to Dennys with John and crew guy to get something decent to eat, go back to the house, talk the show over with his folks and one of his sisters and nephews, and crash even harder.
Saturday:
Wake up at 9:30a for no apparent reason. Spend the morning lazing around, talking to my mom on the phone, talking to John's parents in the kitchen, and finally make it to the theater (late, I must admit....very late. And not because of me, which made me more than a little cranky!) Check everything from last night, correct some lighting issues we had with the camera last night, try in vain to attempt to set the smoke alarm off again so we can figure out what we can do to prevent it, race back to the house for a quick shower and change, race back to the theater to do the show. Again, the smoke alarm goes off (we were prepared and had someone in place to turn it off immediately this time), but again, a very smooth show. (Okay, I think I personally could have done some things better, but the audience only saw magic, which is the most important thing.) Again, I get left to start packing up while crew guy and John do the autograph thing. We finally get the show loaded out - everything stored, packed in its proper place, and loaded onto the trucks - around 12:30a. Too late to drive back to Santa Maria, so another run to Dennys, a few minutes playing with the dogs, and another hard crash at the house.
Sunday:
Get up at 8:00a, take a long shower and get all dressed up. Hit the road around 9:30a, realize about the time I hit Santa Barbara that I had not gotten the cards for my graduating second years, get into Santa Maria around noon, race around town (still all dressed up) finding appropriate cards and small gifts, get to our theater, find out that I'm supposed to sit onstage with the faculty and hand out the department's intern certificates instead of sitting in the audience like the good little staff member I was planning on being (remember that whole "I'm not faculty thing?" Yeah, me too), cry a bit through the graduation ceremony (they were smart and put bottles of water and a pack of tissues under each chair onstage), run home, change clothes (Teddie is REALLY not happy with me at this point - Mom's been gone for DAYS and now she is leaving again!), and go to a "No More Students!" staff/faculty barbecue. Get home around 10:30p (a warm blanket by a nice outdoor fire with a cold beer is quite comfortable), check the ten billion emails waiting for me (mostly spam - I didn't check it for three days and the amount was unbelievable), take another long shower to get the smoke smell off me so I can sleep, and finally indulge the Teddiecat in a long petting session before falling asleep.
Now (Monday), I keep looking around my apartment going "this place is SO messy, I have to clean it up!" and have no energy for it. (I'm also PMSy, which saps my energy and doesn't help) I do have class tonight, and I'm planning on going, but it seems like a million years ago since last Monday. I feel like I've forgotten everything and I am going to be so sore tomorrow. Luckily, this week is just a prep week - no rehearsals or performances or meetings or anything. I can go in whenever I want to do whatever work I need to have done by first rehearsal (which isn't much), so I'm going to try to get some rest!
Tuesday:
A four hour tech rehearsal and a four hour dress rehearsal, prep work for Company (the script and score still haven't formatted and copied themselves! C'mon!), and emailing/calling back and forth with John making sure we have everything ready for the weekend.
Wednesday:
See Tuesday
Thursday:
A four hour final dress rehearsal, a last minute "we need grades turned in tomorrow but you have to send them to Chrissy since you're not faculty and can't turn in grades" resulting in leaving Santa Maria an hour later than I'd wanted, a three hour drive to the theater in Montebello (which means it's 9:00p by the time I get there), a couple more hours helping John get the equipment set up and checked (they already had it loaded in, just not set up), and finally followed John to the house I'd be staying at for the weekend (in the interest of not wanting to gush too much, I'll just say the house is huge, gorgeous and I'm extremely grateful), and crashed hard.
Friday:
Get up early, head over to the theater, finish cleaning and setting equipment, work things out with the camera guy (we do three close-up card tricks in the show that we project onto the screens so the entire audience can see), run through the show with the girls and the other show crew guy, run back to the house, get food and clean up (HOW do I get SO damn dirty with that equipment?! We clean it all the time!), come back and do the first show. The hazers and foggers set off a fire alarm, which was interesting, but other than that, the show went pretty smoothly. Get a little riled when John takes other show crew guy out with him to sign autographs, leaving me to reset the entire show by myself, but take it as a backhanded compliment, and frankly, I can do it faster on my own than having to stop and show/remind the other guy how things need to be set. Besides, it's cool to be the only one, other than John of course, who can do it anywhere close to correctly. (I'm pretty good, but there still always seems to be some little detail I've missed, so I always have John check it himself, as well.) Get done around 11:30p, go to Dennys with John and crew guy to get something decent to eat, go back to the house, talk the show over with his folks and one of his sisters and nephews, and crash even harder.
Saturday:
Wake up at 9:30a for no apparent reason. Spend the morning lazing around, talking to my mom on the phone, talking to John's parents in the kitchen, and finally make it to the theater (late, I must admit....very late. And not because of me, which made me more than a little cranky!) Check everything from last night, correct some lighting issues we had with the camera last night, try in vain to attempt to set the smoke alarm off again so we can figure out what we can do to prevent it, race back to the house for a quick shower and change, race back to the theater to do the show. Again, the smoke alarm goes off (we were prepared and had someone in place to turn it off immediately this time), but again, a very smooth show. (Okay, I think I personally could have done some things better, but the audience only saw magic, which is the most important thing.) Again, I get left to start packing up while crew guy and John do the autograph thing. We finally get the show loaded out - everything stored, packed in its proper place, and loaded onto the trucks - around 12:30a. Too late to drive back to Santa Maria, so another run to Dennys, a few minutes playing with the dogs, and another hard crash at the house.
Sunday:
Get up at 8:00a, take a long shower and get all dressed up. Hit the road around 9:30a, realize about the time I hit Santa Barbara that I had not gotten the cards for my graduating second years, get into Santa Maria around noon, race around town (still all dressed up) finding appropriate cards and small gifts, get to our theater, find out that I'm supposed to sit onstage with the faculty and hand out the department's intern certificates instead of sitting in the audience like the good little staff member I was planning on being (remember that whole "I'm not faculty thing?" Yeah, me too), cry a bit through the graduation ceremony (they were smart and put bottles of water and a pack of tissues under each chair onstage), run home, change clothes (Teddie is REALLY not happy with me at this point - Mom's been gone for DAYS and now she is leaving again!), and go to a "No More Students!" staff/faculty barbecue. Get home around 10:30p (a warm blanket by a nice outdoor fire with a cold beer is quite comfortable), check the ten billion emails waiting for me (mostly spam - I didn't check it for three days and the amount was unbelievable), take another long shower to get the smoke smell off me so I can sleep, and finally indulge the Teddiecat in a long petting session before falling asleep.
Now (Monday), I keep looking around my apartment going "this place is SO messy, I have to clean it up!" and have no energy for it. (I'm also PMSy, which saps my energy and doesn't help) I do have class tonight, and I'm planning on going, but it seems like a million years ago since last Monday. I feel like I've forgotten everything and I am going to be so sore tomorrow. Luckily, this week is just a prep week - no rehearsals or performances or meetings or anything. I can go in whenever I want to do whatever work I need to have done by first rehearsal (which isn't much), so I'm going to try to get some rest!
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
Tag!
Here is what AR tagged me with:
Each person tagged gives 7 random facts about themselves. Those tagged need to write in their blogs the 7 facts, as well as the rules of the game. You need to tag seven others and list their names on your blog. You have to leave those you plan on tagging a note in their comments so they know that they have been tagged and to read your blog.
Here’s how to play…
1. Each player starts with 8 random facts/habits about themselves
2. People who are tagged write a blog post about their own 8 random things and post these rules
3. At the end of your blog you need to tag 8 people and post their names
4. Don’t forget to leave them a comment and tell them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.
Here is my list:
1. I'm currently overseeing tech and dress rehearsals for two shows that aren't mine.
2. I'm officially an adopted "parent" to a Magellenic penguin - two of our cast members entered a penguin rescue group and adopted one on behalf of our company. His name is Whiteside.
3. I have a blue Christmas light gaff taped to my computer at work, courtesy of a smart-ass ME.
4. I'm having a serious chocolate craving right now and might run over and get a sandwich and a candy bar in a minute.
5. I'm really hoping that my script and score will somehow copy and format themselves into my prompt book. They haven't yet, though.
6. I'm learning how much I have learned in the past five years working in the professional world, and what kinds of examples I've set for my students in the past year. It's really interesting the habits they pick up on.
7. I want to go running this afternoon.
8. I'm freezing and miss warm weather.
Oh dear, 8 people to tag! I will have to think about this, but if you want to be tagged, consider yourself so.
Each person tagged gives 7 random facts about themselves. Those tagged need to write in their blogs the 7 facts, as well as the rules of the game. You need to tag seven others and list their names on your blog. You have to leave those you plan on tagging a note in their comments so they know that they have been tagged and to read your blog.
Here’s how to play…
1. Each player starts with 8 random facts/habits about themselves
2. People who are tagged write a blog post about their own 8 random things and post these rules
3. At the end of your blog you need to tag 8 people and post their names
4. Don’t forget to leave them a comment and tell them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.
Here is my list:
1. I'm currently overseeing tech and dress rehearsals for two shows that aren't mine.
2. I'm officially an adopted "parent" to a Magellenic penguin - two of our cast members entered a penguin rescue group and adopted one on behalf of our company. His name is Whiteside.
3. I have a blue Christmas light gaff taped to my computer at work, courtesy of a smart-ass ME.
4. I'm having a serious chocolate craving right now and might run over and get a sandwich and a candy bar in a minute.
5. I'm really hoping that my script and score will somehow copy and format themselves into my prompt book. They haven't yet, though.
6. I'm learning how much I have learned in the past five years working in the professional world, and what kinds of examples I've set for my students in the past year. It's really interesting the habits they pick up on.
7. I want to go running this afternoon.
8. I'm freezing and miss warm weather.
Oh dear, 8 people to tag! I will have to think about this, but if you want to be tagged, consider yourself so.
Monday, May 14, 2007
To-Do
2. Weave in ends on mitered baby blanket and figure out the edge triangles. About 1/2 done with the ends, didn't work on the triangles
Not much to report. Class stuff after the cut. Class tonight was tiny - only eight of us. Four black belts and four colored belts, and I was the lowest belt there. Ma'am worked with me during most of the formwork time. Instead of doing the regular repetition of the forms and 1-steps, though, she had me do some drills to work on deepening my stances, some blocking and punching drills to work on my hand motions, and "sparred" me with the 1-steps. She showed me how to measure up for the 1-step sparring and it was a little weird getting used to actually having a partner. I blew through the brown board again tonight - I might ask for yet a harder board next time. We haven't done the self-defense much lately, so I hope we hit those again soon. I'm trying to decide if I can make it on Wednesday or not. Probably not - I'm really supposed to be sitting in one of my interns' final dress, and I've already arranged to have a phone meeting with John during Tuesday evening's rehearsal. Then I'm going back down to LA for the rest of the week on Thursday. I'm going to try to hit the gym and go running as much as possible this week. Next week, I should be able to go both Monday and Wednesday, and I'd like to go watch sparring again next Thursday. After that, my summer schedule starts up and it gets crazy again, but only for a couple weeks.
I got some of the ends woven in on the baby blanket, but didn't work on the triangles at all. I have a couple of ideas to try, though. I did do two full repeats on the Monkey socks...and realized something. They don't fit. Or rather, I CAN get them over my heel, but just barely. I'm just following the pattern right now, which is weird, because the number of stitches called for in the pattern is what I would normally cast on for this weight yarn on these needles, and it is supposed to be a stretchy pattern. Mrph.
Friday, May 11, 2007
Surprise!
So, I have to be totally honest and admit that I started the day out a little miffed. Birthdays aren't really huge deals in my family, but they are generally cause for at least a (for me) crack of dawn phone call from my mom and a card and small gift. Of course, I always moan and groan about the early morning phone call, but you know, it means she loves me and is excited to celebrate with me in the possible fashions. So I was actually a little disappointed that I didn't get a call until almost noon.
I go to one of my interns' rehearsals, and their CD player doesn't work. I rush over to the office to get mine, and run into another of my interns, who seems unusually surprised that I'm not in the office and am going back over to the rehearsal halls. I shrug it off and hurry back over to the rehearsal so they can get started (plus, I haven't seen Act One of this show yet and I really wanted to). About ten or fifteen minutes later, Surprised Intern slips in. "I REALLY need to talk to you now!" Said intern is leaving on Sunday, so I figured it was something to do with that and her scholarship or something, since this is the last business day before she leaves. She leads me to one of the classrooms....where there is a cake with candles and...my parents!!!
Apparently Intern and Chrissy and my parents started orchestrating this several weeks ago! They flew into SLO this morning, and will have to fly back home on Sunday. They're coming to see the show tomorrow night. They had planned on seeing it tonight, but after getting up around 2:00a PST jet lag, and flying across the country, a three hour show in a dark warm theater that wouldn't end until 11:00p was probably not the smartest move, so we switched the ticketes. My brother was going to come, too, but he got scheduled to work this weekend and doesn't have the option of trading. I want to spend more time with them, but of course, I have two shows tomorrow and a show and strike on Sunday. I should also go to rehearsal for Showcase in the morning, and was planning on it, but now I might go have brunch with my parents instead. After all, they live 2500 miles away and I usually only see them once a year!
I also am fully intent on breaking my no-cast-on rule and starting a pair of Monkey Socks in a skein of STR I had laying around. The yarn looks a lot better balled than in the skein! I haven't tried any of Cookie's patterns yet, so this should be interesting. I finished the heel on the second Green Gables sock at the show tonight, so I'm close enough to finishing one project, right? And it's my birthday! (We'll pretend it isn't after midnight and technically not my birthday anymore, right?)
I go to one of my interns' rehearsals, and their CD player doesn't work. I rush over to the office to get mine, and run into another of my interns, who seems unusually surprised that I'm not in the office and am going back over to the rehearsal halls. I shrug it off and hurry back over to the rehearsal so they can get started (plus, I haven't seen Act One of this show yet and I really wanted to). About ten or fifteen minutes later, Surprised Intern slips in. "I REALLY need to talk to you now!" Said intern is leaving on Sunday, so I figured it was something to do with that and her scholarship or something, since this is the last business day before she leaves. She leads me to one of the classrooms....where there is a cake with candles and...my parents!!!
Apparently Intern and Chrissy and my parents started orchestrating this several weeks ago! They flew into SLO this morning, and will have to fly back home on Sunday. They're coming to see the show tomorrow night. They had planned on seeing it tonight, but after getting up around 2:00a PST jet lag, and flying across the country, a three hour show in a dark warm theater that wouldn't end until 11:00p was probably not the smartest move, so we switched the ticketes. My brother was going to come, too, but he got scheduled to work this weekend and doesn't have the option of trading. I want to spend more time with them, but of course, I have two shows tomorrow and a show and strike on Sunday. I should also go to rehearsal for Showcase in the morning, and was planning on it, but now I might go have brunch with my parents instead. After all, they live 2500 miles away and I usually only see them once a year!
I also am fully intent on breaking my no-cast-on rule and starting a pair of Monkey Socks in a skein of STR I had laying around. The yarn looks a lot better balled than in the skein! I haven't tried any of Cookie's patterns yet, so this should be interesting. I finished the heel on the second Green Gables sock at the show tonight, so I'm close enough to finishing one project, right? And it's my birthday! (We'll pretend it isn't after midnight and technically not my birthday anymore, right?)
Thursday, May 10, 2007
Yikes!
Face the flags.
Chah-reyot.
Kyeong-Nae.
First half Songham Spirit of Taekwondo
Si-Juhk.
Sir/Ma'am,
I will practice in the spirit of Taekwondo,
With courtesy for my fellow students,
Loyalty for my instructors,
And respect for my juniors and seniors,
Sir/Ma'am.
Chah-reyot.
Kyeong-Nae.
Sir had me bow the class in and out for the first time last night! Now, reciting the Songham Spirit of Taekwondo isn't that big of a deal, but I couldn't remember the Korean commands for anything! I badly mangled what I'm sure is already bastardized Korean. Sir was good about prompting me, but I'm sure my "deer in the headlights" look was fairly comical. Luckily, there weren't nearly as many people there as usual last night, although there were still a fair few. Not many of the regular crowd was there. Only seven color belts, so I actually had some room to do formwork! Sir told me to forget about my arm/handwork for a while - it's "powerful" enough - and to work on widening and deepening my stances. That's going to be a hard habit to break, but I'll try! I blew through my first board again, so after everyone had taken their turns, I asked if I could try again with the next hardest board. I blew through that one, too. I like this palm-strike break! C started teasing me about sparring again. Only a few more non-sparring weeks left - test is June 9th! I'll actually be able to test with the rest of the class for the first time. I'm more nervous about that, actually. I'm starting to look forward to sparring, though. I feel like movements are starting to come a little more fluidly, although I definitely don't have the speed and power, and I'm not looking forward to being the lowest belt in the sparring class! Not that I think anyone would try to hurt me, but, well, it IS sparring. I'm assuming it's like stage combat - inexperienced people are the most dangerous!
Face the flags.
Chah-reyot.
Kyeong-Nae.
Second half Songham Spirit of Taekwondo
Si-Juhk.
Sir/Ma'am
I will live with perserverance in the spirit of Taekwondo,
Having honor with others,
Integrity for myself,
And self-control of my actions,
Sir/Ma'am.
Chah-reyot.
Kyeong-Nae.*
*Apologies for the Romanized Korean - that's what it sounds like to me.
Tuesday, May 08, 2007
Getting Wordy As Always
I haven't posted in a few days both because I've been so busy and because nothing interesting has happened, if that makes any sense. I keep trying to put the next two weeks into this week, for some reason. Had a full weekend of shows, then went down to LA Monday to work with John. I might go again next Monday, but I'll definitely head down next Thursday after the final Showcase dress rehearsal and stay until at least after the show Saturday night. I have to be back in time for graduation on Sunday afternoon. But see, that's all NEXT weekend, and I have to get through this one first. THIS weekend is closing weekend of the show. Thank goodness! It's been fun, and the cast is great, but we're just not getting the audiences in right now and not having the audience to play off of is making it very hard on the actors. I'm kind of ready for the summer to start, actually. I've always preferred the summer season - it's much busier, more things are going on, and more people are around.
Only about eight more miter squares in the baby blanket. I think I'll leave it how I originally laid it out. It covers my lap fairly nicely in the booth, so I think it should be fine for a stroller or car seat or somesuch. I still have to take time to sit down and figure out the triangles. I'm just really opposed to sewing a whole side of all of them to a blanket, for some reason. I've done a few more rows on Ene, but I just don't have the mental capacity to work on it much right now. The sheer number of stitches on the needle boggles my mind. 375! It feels like forever and a day to do one row! How do people get past that?? I know, in my head, that it will eventually decrease to a reasonable number. But that's not helping now.
I wasn't able to make it to class last night. John's place has always been a twilight zone where time warps and passes in unexplainable ways, and I ended up not even getting on the road back until almost 5:00p, which of course put me in the middle of traffic getting out of the city. Didn't get home until almost 8:30p. Would go back down in a heartbeat. I'm so over this place, and I want to travel again. The most awesome birthday present in the world would be a blank cheque and unlimited time to go anywhere and everywhere with anyone and everyone I wanted. I don't think anyone can arrange that by Friday, though =)
Did a mile in 12 minutes today, since I spent too much time in the office (again, working on John's stuff, I gotta watch that) and only had about half an hour to go to the gym. Definitely hitting class hard tomorrow and running Thursday and Friday. I might have to break down and get membership to a real gym with more flexible hours. I've been reading around on McDojos, btw, and I have to agree that ATA is a big one, but I like where I am and I'm not trying to learn for any real self defense (I'd probably forget every formal move and go with instinct anyway). I like the exercise and the people here. And frankly, there were a lot of horror stories out there about other studios and instructors out there. I've never seen anything like that here - really the only things I've been even remotely uncomfortable with have been the length of time between tests and the block forms. I just feel really bad for the white belts who have to learn the yellow belt form, and now that I'm getting ready to move into a new block, I'm worried about what belt's form I'm going to have to learn. What if it's the purple belt form or something? I mean, I'll still do my best at it, but blah.
Only about eight more miter squares in the baby blanket. I think I'll leave it how I originally laid it out. It covers my lap fairly nicely in the booth, so I think it should be fine for a stroller or car seat or somesuch. I still have to take time to sit down and figure out the triangles. I'm just really opposed to sewing a whole side of all of them to a blanket, for some reason. I've done a few more rows on Ene, but I just don't have the mental capacity to work on it much right now. The sheer number of stitches on the needle boggles my mind. 375! It feels like forever and a day to do one row! How do people get past that?? I know, in my head, that it will eventually decrease to a reasonable number. But that's not helping now.
I wasn't able to make it to class last night. John's place has always been a twilight zone where time warps and passes in unexplainable ways, and I ended up not even getting on the road back until almost 5:00p, which of course put me in the middle of traffic getting out of the city. Didn't get home until almost 8:30p. Would go back down in a heartbeat. I'm so over this place, and I want to travel again. The most awesome birthday present in the world would be a blank cheque and unlimited time to go anywhere and everywhere with anyone and everyone I wanted. I don't think anyone can arrange that by Friday, though =)
Did a mile in 12 minutes today, since I spent too much time in the office (again, working on John's stuff, I gotta watch that) and only had about half an hour to go to the gym. Definitely hitting class hard tomorrow and running Thursday and Friday. I might have to break down and get membership to a real gym with more flexible hours. I've been reading around on McDojos, btw, and I have to agree that ATA is a big one, but I like where I am and I'm not trying to learn for any real self defense (I'd probably forget every formal move and go with instinct anyway). I like the exercise and the people here. And frankly, there were a lot of horror stories out there about other studios and instructors out there. I've never seen anything like that here - really the only things I've been even remotely uncomfortable with have been the length of time between tests and the block forms. I just feel really bad for the white belts who have to learn the yellow belt form, and now that I'm getting ready to move into a new block, I'm worried about what belt's form I'm going to have to learn. What if it's the purple belt form or something? I mean, I'll still do my best at it, but blah.
Thursday, May 03, 2007
Really Big Miters and other stuff...
Okay, so I've been thinking about doing a really lacy little empire-waist top. In my head, it is the kind of thing you would definitely have to wear over a cami, but so light and airy a pattern and yarn that the color is almost a mist against whatever you wear under it. (Hey, it works in my head!) Before I can put this together, obviously, I need to decide what lace pattern to use. I keep getting drawn to the inner lace panel of Ene's Scarf, from Scarf Style. It's not quite what I'm looking for, but, not being one to let an idea pass, decided to try it. I pull out the book, look through the pattern, find the charts. It suddenly becomes a brilliant idea to actually do the project - you know, while I figure out how the garment is going to have to work I should have something to do. And I don't have any other monster projects going on right now. So I ball up a skein of KnitPicks' Shadow in Lost Lake and spend an hour casting on 375 stitches. Three Hundred And Seventy Five! I did the first row of the chart, then crashed, since we had a brat mat this morning. After this, I think I'm going to go pick it back up again. I realized, though, once I cast on, that the structure of the scarf...is a miter. You cast on the lower edges (the legs of the triangle, if you're into geometry), and because of very specifically placed decreases, you work up into a triangle shape (the cast off edge would be the hypoteneuse). I have to figure out how these decreases are placed so I can figure out how to do the edge triangles for the baby blanket. So maybe sometime in the next ten years or so, given my history with large lace projects, I might have something.
Oh, and I got a response from Fiona Ellis on the SRSP! She remembers me from Stitches and complimented the sweater! That was kind of cool!
I went running for the first time in about two weeks today. Did 2.75 miles! My legs are going to be so sore tomorrow! They've been sore pretty much since Monday's class - I almost didn't go to class last night, but they felt so much better afterwards! They were a little sore again today, but again, after I went running, they're not. I think I am one of those who gets those little endorphin highs from exercising. After I get done with class or at the gym, I feel like I can take on the world. I actually really wanted to go watch the sparring class tonight, but we had an intern seminar scheduled and we got started late due to some meetings running over. Blarg. Means I won't get to watch sparring again until week after next. Orange Belt Kid and I did some mock-sparring with our one-steps last night.
Going down to LA again on Monday. Supposed to be a full rehearsal with the dancers. We'll see. I love going down there, being down there, even driving down there and back isn't bad, it's getting up so early! I feel like I've had to get up early every day - covering classes, doing shows, prepping for the summer. I just want some sleep!
Oh, and I got a response from Fiona Ellis on the SRSP! She remembers me from Stitches and complimented the sweater! That was kind of cool!
I went running for the first time in about two weeks today. Did 2.75 miles! My legs are going to be so sore tomorrow! They've been sore pretty much since Monday's class - I almost didn't go to class last night, but they felt so much better afterwards! They were a little sore again today, but again, after I went running, they're not. I think I am one of those who gets those little endorphin highs from exercising. After I get done with class or at the gym, I feel like I can take on the world. I actually really wanted to go watch the sparring class tonight, but we had an intern seminar scheduled and we got started late due to some meetings running over. Blarg. Means I won't get to watch sparring again until week after next. Orange Belt Kid and I did some mock-sparring with our one-steps last night.
Going down to LA again on Monday. Supposed to be a full rehearsal with the dancers. We'll see. I love going down there, being down there, even driving down there and back isn't bad, it's getting up so early! I feel like I've had to get up early every day - covering classes, doing shows, prepping for the summer. I just want some sleep!
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