|
 |
|
|
|
|
August 2006 ArchiveThursday, August 31, 2006Alive & KickingAt some point late July, I was thinking of taking a blog vacation for August. I shoulda done it, since it pretty much turned out that way. Thanks to folks who checked in on me to make sure I still had a pulse. Yes, I have a pulse. My heart has been beating strong with lots going on this month -  
Pigeon I entered my apartment building lobby tonight after
yoga. As I waited for the elevator, I heard people talking excitedly
around the corner. Then a pigeon flew around that corner towards
me! I said, "oh!" Perfectly cartoony "oh!" It flew up some stairs
to the second floor. I had flashbacks to my bird banding days at
Springbrook
Nature Center. This pigeon was way bigger and stronger
than the little tiny birds we caught in the nets. Poor thing kept
flying up to the lights and bonking it's head on the plastic panel.
I propped open the fire exit door and slowly walked the bird down
the hall and through the door.
for success,
for the pigeon's misadventure. 
Work, Work and More Work
At the beginning of August I had no idea how bills were going to
get paid at the end of August. Thankfully, August didn't get the
memo that it was suppose to be slow. August 8th, I got the call,
"Can you be in Milwaukee
Thursday and Friday?" August 10, I get an email for a project in
Chicago August 22. August 14th, I get an email asking if I can be
in Rockford,
Illinois that Thursday. When I think this is all nutso, I get an
email August 21st asking if I can do two days in Chicago on the
24th and 25th!Three gigs with less than 48 hours notice. It pays to be responsive and adaptive! It's all graphic facilitation work. Completely awesome to get these projects - Also exhausting
to spend the month only thinking 12 hours ahead in "on" mode.
But a manic August solidly lets me go to Minnesota for my
Aunt's Girl's
Weekend at the Cabin in September and on Lake Tahoe in
October for my professional conference. I'm really looking forward
to both.
Tai Chi! You didn't know
this, beloved blog readers, but I began taking Taoist
Tai Chi on May 1. By August 1 I had officially learned
the 108
form set! I totally love it.Why Tai Chi? I like to always be taking a class of some sort. In the Spring, I took a dystopian literature class at the Newberry Library. My instructor and classmates were all super, but the content was depressing. A room full of Chicago Liberals had a grand ol' time comparing 1984 to the current political climate. Good class, but I needed a real change of pace from the dystopic, political schtuff. My friend Dan had once campaigned for me to try Aikido. I went to his dojo and watched a class. Too much physical contact for me, though I really could dig the practice of a martial art. Dan sent along an online wizard that helped you choose the right martial art for you. The wizard said, "Tai Chi." After learning some yoga and enjoying the practice, Tai Chi had been in the back of my mind. After a, like, three minute search I found the Taoist Tai Chi society. The the week following the close of my lit class, a new session of Tai Chi was starting! It's been fantastic. Darcy has been my main instructor and she totally rocks - though pretty much everyone I've met rocks my socks. I really love the balance and flow to the Tai Chi itself. [Some day I'll get around to telling my Ebb/Flow story from June here on the blog.] I'm a recovering perfectionist, so I love the process/practice approach over perfection/product. And I'm sure someone has a more elegant name for this - I love that Tai Chi puts my mind and body in this space between thinking and not thinking. If I forget where I am, I get lost, but if I think too hard about the next move, I bungle it too. [Tai Chi inside joke] One morning I rolled over in bed and sleepily thought, "Step Up, Parry, Punch." I knew I was hooked. At the halfway mark and after learning the set, my Tai Chi mates congratulated me a made a show of my accomplishment. Not a big, big show. Enough of a show to remind me that it's good to acknowledge accomplishments. Project
Runway Okay, before you think I'm too evolved with my Tai
Chi and yoga, let me remind you of my adoration of reality teevee.
Everyone told me that I would love Project
Runway. I have no cable. When NBC started showing Season
3, it was love at first sight!
Then after two episodes, NBC took it away from me!
Since the start of this season, I've watched all of Season 1 on
DVD, nearly all of Season 2 on DVD and have been piecing together
Season 3 from episodes caught in hotel rooms, Televsion
Without Pity and Tim
Gunn's podcasts! I want to have Tim Gunn's babies. I
believe in thoughtful, constructive criticism and TG is an Ace!I want to know how frickin' frackin' Vincent is still on the show. And I want Laura and Michael to have their own show.
Allergies! Gah. Ragweed
allergies. Not much to say. They suck. Catsitting
I watched Alise's three felines while she was away for ten days.
It gave me good walks to and from her house, a dose of cable teevee
and good cat time. Her cats are Itch, Liza and Molly. I've got a
catcrush on Itch, he's a handsome, huge tomcat. One of those unaloof
dogcats. I'll miss him headbutting me for attention. He sheds the
fur of 14 cats, but is such a sweet cat. Poor Liza. Liza desperately
wanted attention, but she didn't want it from me.
So was very conflicted. Lots of squirrely attention seeking and
then hissing. Molly is shy, so I was lucky to see her. But the last
morning, I got to pet her too. I love (most) cats, so it was great
to get feline time.I also gave them some yarn from a crochet project I finished. Great to see them play with the classic Ball O' Yarn.  Liza, who doesn't trust me.  Liza and Itch and the blue yarn.  The Handsome Itch. Where
did summer go?? After a summery Summer last year, I had the
unSummer this year. Thankfully, I've got good plans for a fallish
Fall.posted on 8/31/2006 10:50:00 PM |
||
|
|
|
