Black Clouds and Sunflowers

Why do the best ideas always occur to me in the shower? Last summer when I lived in Providence, my entire dance lesson plan knocked me upside the head at the same time that the shampoo was working its magic. I've had countless choreography ideas do the same. Yesterday, as I was getting ready to go to brunch with Alicia, I contemplated my climbing of late. I've taken to working hard on some bouldering, mostly because it's so low-maintenance... throw on some shoes, chalk up, and Ta-Da! I can work a problem. I have also been in contact with the director of Ascendance, seeing as she moved her company to Boulder. (GO FIGURE. Boulder has made my life literally fall into place.) Out of nowhere, the common denominator in everything I love to do appeared: they all involve movement, strength, and intelligence. -Dancing -Climbing -Hooping -Acro -Yoga Any time I am pursuing any of these activities, I get lost in them. They provide an inexplicable escape but have a clear f

Where do I begin? Grab a cup of tea and your reading glasses, this is nothing short of a novel. My place of employment hosted the IFSC Lead World Cup in October, and my, oh my... I was either yelling, swooning, or basically going crazy at any given point throughout the whole weekend. Yelling for my friends who were competing (and the rest of the athletes who were nice to me). Swooning because, well... have you seen climbing muscles in person? No? I recommend the pictures from the Denver Post . Such a good time, hopefully more good times to follow! November saw a visit from my parents, which turned out to induce feelings of wanting to live in Boulder for them. Which is perfectly fine, as long as I no longer live here. But since I'll be sticking around... I'd prefer them to wait awhile. I did enjoy showing off my city, which included a visit to the CU ice rink, breakfast at Snooze, and a trip to NCAR (fascinating, really). Not to mention lots of walking. Mid-month, I visit

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

This is where I live. Boulder, CO from the east. Hiatus no more! We finally got the Interwebs up and running in the new house, and I am happy to say that both of the new roommates are pretty darn awesome. Chris and I have been moving Anna in as well, so there will be 6 of us here temporarily... holy cow. Boulder Jazz Dance Workshop... where do I begin? The amount I learned in two weeks filled at least a dozen pages in my dance journal, and now I really want to keep traveling and dancing in different places. I met so many excellent people at the workshop, and realized how much I missed dancing all day, every day. When I become rich, I must get on that. The Flatirons from CU campus, during my early morning walk to the BJDW. Chris and Anna threw me a surprise birthday party after my BJDW dance show! Yeah Coldstone Creamery cake! Most of the recent excursions around here involved our new roommate Merissa and her friend Jay, who was visiting from Michigan. This led to

Finally dumped a bunch of photos from the past few weeks, so here are a few visual clues into my current life! You can see the Flatirons right from my back porch! Well... behind the telephone pole... Our canine housemate, Finn. Seriously the cutest dog ever, even though he regularly jumps the fence and scampers through the neighborhood! The daily thunderstorm! But these clouds from the front of my house were particularly fabulous! Hiking around Eldora Ski Resort in Nederland, CO. Double rainbow! We got caught in a brief thunderstorm while hiking, and with all the electricity in the air, our hair stood on end! Both rainbows went completely across the sky, but my tiny camera was overwhelmed and could not capture it. After the storm, we looked at the sunset upside-down. Everyone should probably try this at least once. Anna and Chris smelling the wildflowers: favorites are "the white ones" and Indian paintbrush, respecitvely. I personally like the bl

In lieu of freaking out to find a new apartment in August, a couple of friends have offered to put me up for a couple weeks in August so I can save money to see if I can make it work out here. Best. People. Ever. As much as I love the fact that I'll be dancing hardcore for two weeks this month (we're talking 8am to 5pm every day), I will be disgruntled about not being able to earn money. Such is life. Basically, if I can save up enough during August, then I will be staying out here in the fall. If I can't make it work, then I will have to come home at the end of August. So we shall see what the future holds! A very swollen South Boulder Creek - Walker Ranch. In any case, I've been doing a lot of reading while here: Memoirs of a Geisha is my newest endeavor, lent to me by one of my fabulous roommates. My reading time has been largely reduced to the occasional 20-minute block where I've done everything that needed to be done at my job, but this is good becau

I am officially employed. Finally. It's been three months since I've actually worked at all because of spraining my ankle, so it's kind of nice to get back to making some money again. Not to mention, I'll be working for a pretty fabulous rock gym, so that's a BIG plus. I can't find enough good things to say about them... they even stock up on coffee in the staff kitchen so we can be wide awake for our opening shifts. Sweet. Also, I got a phone call today from a restaurant I applied at, which means I could have two jobs. That would not be awful. Boulder is seriously growing on me. Not that I ever didn't like it, but I'm finding all the little niche communities that make it so cool. The girl who trained me for the front desk at the rock gym is primarily involved in acrobatics and stilts, as well as being a dancer, so I got lots of information about that community from her. My acro yoga instructor is also friends with her, and they're working to p

Self-discipline. I lack this in extraordinary proportions, though not in the ways you'd think. Work matters, appointments, meeting a friend for lunch are all things I am more than capable of doing in a self-disciplined manner. I'm nearly always on time and prepared for whatever it is I'm getting myself into. Where I lack (more than a little) is disciplining myself to do the things I love. Can you see me? My favorite boulder in Garden of the Gods. What's that, you ask? Why would I feel the need to apply discipline to the things I love? For one thing, I don't do them often enough. For another, I don't do them in the optimal way. I have way less than a speck of regard for taking time out for myself on a consistent enough basis. The return in this is a whopping helping of dissatisfaction and unrest. Mostly, I'm too busy thinking about everyone else first, and not spending enough time cultivating myself. I probably learned this from my mom, to a degree.

Incessant perusing of Craigslist has led me to this apartment and couple of leads on jobs... Ok, I can't hold it in any longer: It also led to a performance opportunity with a fabulously different performing company! I met with the director of Catalystic Cadence Collective (C3 for short) last night, and before I knew it, I was learning the entire first movement for their show in July! The really cool thing is that the director, Cliff, is a collaborator - but I have not once in my life heard of ice skating being put with dance, music, and media work before... how cool is that?! So, I have fulfilled some dancing goals out here... now to find a stinking job. My roommate Chelsea hosts at a local fancy-dancy restaurant, where she is going to try and get me a job. The rock gym I am now a member of and also applied at has not called me back yet, but that was not ultra-promising to begin with. (And let me just tell you... I went to yoga yesterday before rehearsing all night, and I am

I miss the ocean. The amount of naturally occurring water in general, really. And therefore the amount of vegetation. Although, the lack of bugs here as a probable result of lack of water is a nice plus. But that's about all. The people here really are friendlier on the whole, and they definitely don't run around all stressed out the way New Englanders do. These Boulderites actually enjoy life. Novel idea. The summit of Pike's Peak in Colorado Springs. 14,110 ft The Northeast, while known for being the rather intellectual region of the country, definitely lacks in their ability to decide what "pleasure" means. Those who live in the Northeast tend to find pleasure in results: making the sale, getting to the top, finishing the book. The end is what gives the sense of accomplishment, of meaning something to the world. And if we were all meant to think that way, funerals should be the epitome of joyous celebrations: maybe the Irish have it right, in that case.

I came here on a whim. Which is sincerely the case. Also, as I am so obsessed with the new photograph I bought in Colorado Springs, I have made it the feature of my blog. "A Chill in the Air" by P. Hanke has been the best money I've spent in... well, possibly ever. I can't stop staring at it, even as it sits on the dresser to my right. It's one of those photos one can get lost it. See you in five hours... So now that I've got my (very small) amount of living things neatly scattered about the house in Boulder, CO, the real work begins: Why am I here? Why did I drive 37 hours across the country, through torrential rain in Ohio, and past the only interesting thing in Kansas (a wind farm)? (Ok, so the drive could have been a lot worse.) Good question. I have no idea. Really. Not a clue. Lisa and I discussed, somewhere along I-80 in Pennsylvania, the impetus for change. Many people find the motivation in a situation where the growing pains of change