Over a Month Later...

Busy. That pretty much sums it up.

The new job is turning out to be a few hours more per week. I might be underestimating the use of the word "few". It's not bad, but it's quickly becoming my life, so I have to make a concerted effort to do things that are not climbing-gym-related. Which is tricky because I want to climb more - not having the gear is well, sort of compromising, and therefore gym climbing is my only option. It helps that it's free too. Meh, I have faith that sooner or later, someone will be able to help me shake my climbing up a bit. Until then... lead climbing, here I come...
 

As far as dancing goes, C3 is not rehearsing until December. What to do with my free time? Ice skate, of course! I started lessons with them two weekends ago, and am super excited about it. It's surprising how much technique I actually did retain from lessons at... eight years old? Geez. So yay for new things that mesh with dance! Let's get the hip flexors in shape.

Anna and I are renting a new apartment downtown, which is coming together too... we may opt for an Asian theme (read: floor seating) in the living room, but it works for us. No TV, no Internet, minimalism at its finest. Even our soap dish is a repurposed plastic lid and all of our glasses are recycled jars. Red wine out of a mason jar? That's our brand of classy.

Jackie and the result of Tropical Storm Irene in CT.
My trip home to RI a few weeks ago was glorious, to say the least. The ocean was warm, I got to hike a bit, spent time with many people I missed, and many of my RI-specific food desires were met. Nora and Roscoe's wedding was beautiful, so simple and tasteful... the bride, groom, and bridesmaids even went barefoot, which I loved! Who cares if it rained in the middle of the ceremony, every second of it was amazing. I can even unleash a picture of the month-long sewing project that was the wedding gift.


Bigelow Hollow, CT.

The quilt I made for Nora and Roscoe's wedding.
Nora and Roscoe get hitched in VT!
 Sometimes, I just sit and think about life. At the moment, an overwhelming feeling of satisfaction has settled in nicely. It seems that Colorado was the right move after all. :o)

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

To My 86-Year-Old Client

Dear Client, Admittedly, I was nervous about our appointment. I know that your body cannot handle the kind of massage I prefer to give, simply because older bodies tend to me more fragile than those of well-trained athletes. But I refuse to let my preference for working out a rehabbed shoulder girdle get in the way of learning something from every client. So I met you with an open mind. And let me tell you, our session was one of my favorites to date. You are not the kind of client to bliss out, maybe snooze a little, only respond to my voice when it's absolutely necessary. No, you wanted to spend the whole time getting to know each other. You asked me a thousand questions at least. Normally, I only give out bare-minimum answers. Yesterday, I decided to be a human as well as a massage therapist, and offer conversation right back. Turns out, you were quite interested in who I am as a person. All in one hour, you learned where I'm from, told me my high school has a great ...
Read more

The usual? Nope, no more of that.

Image
Patterns are interesting things. On the one hand, they help us make sense of the world - patterns allow us to group things, to categorize them, to understand their relationship to others. On the other... they just get really OLD. I'm particularly tired of seeking human connections at this moment. In my life thus far, I've been subjected to lying, sometimes to my face, sometimes by accident. I've been cheated on. I've been betrayed. I've been pushed down, called names, made to feel worthless, shamed, guilted, manipulated into someone else's idea of who I should be. I've taken abuse - physical, emotional, psychological, verbal - because I thought it was the right thing to do at one time. I've done some things I'm not proud of, just to try and pick myself up and drag myself over to a mirror, in an effort to identify what these pieces of me are so I can make a project out of sewing them all back together. Patterns - slightly different each time, bu...
Read more

Artist vs. Craftsman

I've become fascinated with the idea that there is a difference between an artist and a craftsman. I'm mid-way through Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain, in which he describes his life's work in restaurants. It's rather funnier than I anticipated, and riddled with brutally honest truth about the industry, especially in the Northeast. All this entertainment, and I'm still struck by the fact that he chose to make a distinction between an artist and a craftsman: When he assembles a team for his line, he would rather have a cook who can crank out dishes quickly and consistently and takes pride in this ability (craftsman) instead of a cook who becomes inspired to throw a sprig of rosemary in of his own accord (artist) and potentially ruin everything. I have always thought of cooking as a sort of art, but I had never put concentrated thought into the craftsmen who can recreate the chef's art with stunning precision and regularity. Having been immersed in r...
Read more