I Almost Forgot About This

I forgot to mention this weeks ago. So the gals over at MK-O decided to have a Superlative contest for all of the active members to participate in. We all got to vote on a number of categories. Quite fun. I even got a few awards.

The one I'm most proud of:

I Will Never Talk Smack about Jazz Hands Again

I didn't think my jazz class would kick my ass so much. Seriously. My calves are on FIRE. I'm very happy now that I only signed on to do 3 dances on Saturday for City Lights because dancing in heels for any longer might kill me. I'm THAT sore.

I won't even go into the pain on my lower back. But that's my own fault for not bringing a mat to class for ab work. I hate the whole "I can't sit back straight because I feel like my lower back is black and blue." Stupid, dirty, ant-infested, high school multi purpose room.

I'm either going to injure myself or be hella buff by the end of the semester. I'm hoping for the latter.

Please pass the anti-inflammatories. I think I'm actually going to get some sleep tonight. For once!

School = FAIL

I dropped my Photoshop class today. And I'm kind of relieved. I wasn't really motivated to take it. Especially after I saw the syllabus and realized that a) I could probably teach the course myself and b) I just have WAY too much on my plate right now. Between dancing, work, travel, and therapy, M will be lucky if I make dinner twice a week now.

Thank goodness Trader Joes has frozen dinners I feel less guilty about whipping up real fast. (Their Mac And Cheese is to DIE FOR. YUM!)

Now I can just focus on the ballroom and jazz thing for this first half of the year and not worry about whether or not I turned in a photo assignment. Maybe next semester. (Glad I decided now - the last day to drop for a full refund is Friday!)


In other news - my teeth are finally finished! 4 appointments and lots of Novocaine later, my veneers are on and my thinning front teeth are so much better for it.

Currently obsessed with the following songs: Katy Perry's Hot and Cold, Sam Sparro's Sick, and Fatboy Slim's Everybody Loves a Carnival.

This is Why I Miss Season 2

Don't get me wrong: I loved SYTYCD Season 4 and the fact that it made me find a hero in Mark, but Season 2 is my ultimate favorite. And... this is why.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xzbro3S593I (link for those following on Facebook.)

Yup - that is Benji following Dmitry in a Samba routine. A little too well, I might add. And Travis is somewhere grooving along in the background. I miss these guys. Anya and Neil are there as well (S3).

This vid is courtesy of Ivan, who you might remember as the hip-hopper that could. Apparently he runs a video-blogging/documentary website. His other stuff is pretty funny.

And All That Jazz...

I'm happy to report that signing up for ARC's Beginning Jazz class is probably one of the better decisions I made last year. It started up last night and here is what I thought.

I was really hesitant about the class because it's a community college course. So I went in half expecting 18 year olds with tons of dance experience trying to get an easy A or something. And then there would be me, who is 10 years their senior trying to bend in all the wrong places. Or the class would require just a ton of group choreography work done on your own time. Blah. "Group homework" is not fun.

Turns out there is a really, really diverse mix in the class. Some with lots of experience, others with none (and I mean, NONE! I jokingly suggested to a small group that we bust out with the Running Man, to which I got two replies of "What's the running man?" [/stunned]). Some looking to up their technique, some are losing weight, and one is cross training for a marathon using the class, so she doesn't get bored looking at the passing scenery. It's really, really neat.

And the teacher! OMG I remember watching him dance when I was in college. (He was part of the theater/dance team.) He is all kinds of awesome so I'm very excited to be learning from him. He likes the word "awkward," I've decided.

Apparently we all have to perform in the college recital at the end of the semester as our final exam. So um, that should be interesting to say the least. (Brings back memories of Greek Sing practice... yuck.) So if you would like to watch me fall over myself on stage, you can probably catch the performance the first weekend of May on the Main Campus. This, however, may or may not happen if the show falls on the same weekend as the Spotlight Spring Show (which, I'd much rather you see me in... no jazz hands for Jen.)

Play It Again, Sam...

My coffee is cold
And yesterday
Is stuck with me
And I can't wake up
From my sleep
I feel
Like a grain of salt
In the shaker
But the day
That I meet
My maker or the day
That I see my undertaker
Ya see

All I have
Is too many questions
Is there something
Someone forgot
To mention to me
But I walk on
With out hesitation
To my unknown
Own destination
With the music
Like syncopation
And explore
My own imagi... nation

How do I know
If I am right in why
I feel like I do
And separate the truth
From the lies
And why do we only
Take any action
When it comes
To our satisfaction
When we only need
Just a fraction
Of what we need

How do I climb up
On out of this funk
I'm in
And how do I cling
To the frame
Of diving timing?
Why do
I doubt sometimes
That of which
I know for sure?
And why
When I've had enough
Do I seem
To ask for more?
How do I climb up
On out of this funk
I'm in
And how do I cling
To the frame
Of diving timing?
Why do old habits
Die so hard
God knows
I try and try
And why ask why?

-"Too Many Questions" by Sam Sparro

Random Tidbit

Why is that I only get trivia questions correct that pertain to late 80s and early 90s one-hit wonders?

For example: last night's trivia get together. The answer to the question was the uber explicit, and sexually charged, hip hop group, 2 Live Crew. And the question was "Name the group that came up with these 2 albums titled [insert albums titles here]..." Why was I the only one in our group that knew the answer to this question?

Crap...

Come to the Dark Side... We have cookies....

I have to commend Ulta Salon for letting me walk in for all of my appointments. I've lucked out with good stylists at the Natomas location for the last couple of months. And they all seem to know what they are doing without a whole lot of explanation. Especially from me, since I can't nail down a trendy hair style pick before it's suddenly not cool anymore. (Looks at the actress that plays Alice Cullen in the Twilight film and sighs.)

So of course I had to take advantage of their 40% color sale they were having, even though I just dyed my hair from a box shortly after Christmas. Unfortunately, I didn't have too much time to think about my color so I randomly picked two colors for mixes that might look good together. Caramel and Mocha Java. Well... it's good for Starbucks... maybe it's good for my hair.

Well... let's just say that it's dark. Very dark. I mean... it's fine. Kind of cool even. But just a bit shocking. It's not permanent, so it'll fade nicely. But the initial impact of my pale skin vs. my dark hair is jarring. I'll need to switch my make up a bit... otherwise I'm going to get Goth Chic comments.

At least she styled it nicely.

ARGH! That's It... I'm Upgrading!

I'm so sick and tired of running Parallels on my MAC so I can support my office's need for Windows applications. One thing I can't stand is the gratingly slow process it takes to upgrade the dang thing. Granted, updates don't come very often. But I seriously have to stop EVERYTHING for at least 20 minutes while the thing shuts down, reboots, shuts down, reboots, repeat, repeat, repeat. *bangs head here*

I have been holding out on purchasing Leopard (which comes with Bootcamp!) because I've found more important things to buy (um... like Salsa shoes... and Wicked tickets... and plane tickets for another impromptu trip to LA in March... lulz priorities.) But I'm thinking... well, why not be in even more debt than I already am?

Leopard is only $110 on Amazon. My sanity is justification enough, right?

Happy 2009!

I want to interrupt the LA's BEST recap to say "Happy New Year!"

I hope 2009 is awesome for everyone.

2008 was pretty rough in spots, but it definitely had its moments. So I'm very happy that another year is over and I can start with a clean slate. I'm still thankful for all the things I mentioned in an earlier blog and can't wait to see what 2009 has in store. Again, cautiously optimistic.

I know that a lot of my friends are either getting married, having kids, or graduating this year. Good luck and congrats to all of you!

Things on my to do list this year:
1) Start my wedding stationary business... for real this time.
2) Improve my Photoshop and Illustrator skills.
3) Study for the CMP exam and take it in 2010.
4) Get ahead of myself at work more often so I'm less stressed around the event dates.
5) Plan a totally awesome Marker Reunion/Meet Up in July!
6) Be a more attentive wife to my husband and spend more quality time with him.
7) Dance... dance... and dance some more! YAY! I'm so excited to take the adult beginning jazz class this semester. And even more excited that the studio is offering PiYo classes now! Score!
8) Scrapbook. Because I haven't touched my supplies in THREE YEARS and I should really start documenting things. (One of the Markers has totally inspired me to pick this up again.)
9) Watch more movies and read more books! Especially ones that I haven't seen or read and really should.
10) Travel somewhere I haven't visited before. I'm thinking Seattle with a road trip up to Canada. But I could totally change my mind.