102 posts tagged “blog365”
Blog365 is really for people with, I dunno, lives or something. I just don't feel like doing it anymore. This is my two weeks no, immediate notice as it were, hahaha.
I'm in a pessimistic mood today. But I'll tell you one thing, my sister's being a raging bitch. So am I, but you would be too if you had to put up with and clean up after sister and her boyfriend day upon day without fail. Abso-fucking-lutely ri-damn-diculous.
So dig this--for Mother's Day, I always like to do things that genuinely help my mom out, like cook breakfast, get up and make her coffee, clean house, etc. Well, the fact that I have to work the morning shift tomorrow just shat all over my grand breakfast plans (cuz who wants to get up early on a pampering day?!), so instead of buying just an over-priced Hallmark card I decided to put the little money I still have toward a tube of lavendar & lemongrass shea butter lotion, handmade by Lady Ciran at Southern Enchantments! Before I leave for work in the morning I'm going to leave her a coupon by the coffee pot to be redeemed when I get home mid-afternoon for an "all-you-can-stand" foot rub with the aforementioned lotion. Sounds good, huh? Not to mention my hands will also come away smelling quite delicious :D I damn near ran out of gas coming home from Wicca class in Columbus, but it'll be worth it for mi madre.
There's gonna be some bad storms tonight too, so I hope Mr. Rota TingSup Ercell doesn't think he's coming in for round two ;P
This one goes out to all the moms out there!
Yesterday I went to the Von Braun Center in Hunstville to see the Divine Performing Arts troupe perform a show called the Chinese Spectacular. I was reminded of a line from the movie Moulin Rouge, which became the subject for this post: "Spectacular, spectacular! No words in the vernacular!" And it applies most fittingly. It was spectacular in every sense of the word! Costumes, music, dance, it was all beautiful and if there was a flaw, I didn't see it! I had one of the most perfect views possible--middle row of the orchestra, middle seat!!
One song in particular moved me (one of many things that did), it was called "I Sing For You", and was performed in Chinese by soprano Min Jiang. The lyrics were as follows:
"Dear friend, it's for you I sing with heart so true
Fifty years of deceit have built the Red Wall.
Though rogues have tarnished our once glorious culture,
The values of honesty, kindness, and patience endure.
Don't be taken in by the system's claims,
Use the goodness within to weigh right and wrong.
For when you have arrived at the truth,
Then comes the hope of renewal.
Dear friend, it's of truth that I sing to you,
Heaven evaluates us, each and every one.
History has always dealt the depraved the same,
The corrupt dynasty is made to perish;
And the kind and civil are restored.
Break free of the confusion that lie have wrought,
And avoid the Red crooks' fate.
For in it lies hope for the future."
Deep. I could go on for pages and pages about every song and dance in the show, but I won't. I'll just sum it up and say that with the women there were beautiful, graceful dances with fans and bowls on top of their heads, long sleeves, ribbons, and smiles as if there was no effort whatsoever in the dizzying spins and leaps and massive displays of finely-tuned muscle control. With the men there was much of the same, only more displays of bravado and drums and, oh dare I say it, bare chests!
There were beautiful pieces dealing with the heavenly Bodhisattvas, Chinese heroes like Yue Fei, and goodness of the human spirit in general. There was a beautiful song called "Predestined Relationship" which featured an instrument I'd never seen before, called an erhu! I recognized the sound from Chinese folk music, but had never seen such a thing. It's a traditional instrument similar to a violin, except it only has two strings and the sound resonates from a small, barrel-shaped box at the bottom.
The range of only two strings and its distinct sound! What an instrument, yeah? I think it goes without saying that the latter part of the song is my favorite, haha, so lively!
Two pieces of the show in particular that moved me the most were "The Risen Lotus Flower" and "The Power of Awareness", both dealing with the persecution of Falun Dafa practitioners in communist China. I could go on for a few more pages about the situation, but this website probably does so more succinctly than I could.
Aside from the show itself, getting to work backstage was a delight. Most of the volunteers there spoke mainly Chinese and broken English, but despite that I found that, while steaming out wrinkles from the performers' costumes (which were BEAUTIFUL and I was elated just to touch them) that
a) there really is no language *barrier*, just a little molehill of a hurdle, and
b) laughter speaks volumes in all languages.
This was also my first time being around so many people who also practiced the Dafa. It was weird that, when someone's watch alarm went off and they went "oh, time to send righteous thoughts!", the whole lobby or hallway or wherever we were stopped and performed the meditation. An interesting thing to note as well is that all of the performers with Divine Performing Arts practice Falun Dafa! It was explained to me (and makes sense) that, since they travel so much for an entire year and perform nearly every day, the Dafa fills them with the energy and spirit needed to perform so beautifully every time.
Leaving at 5:30 in the morning in Mr. Lin's van and not getting back until 3:30 this morning was totally worth it. The free food was a plus too, it was the best Chinese food I've ever had in my life! After the show was over and the performers got food to eat I swear Mrs. Lin and the rest were pushing food on us like crack:
"Here's a couple of slices of pizza--"
"*laughing* Mrs. Lin, I'm not hungry!"
"Here, some chicken."
Hahaha!
I dunno if my roommate heard me come in at 3:30 this morning, but if she did I'm glad she didn't jump out with a knife and try to stab my ass thinking I was a burglar. It's the little things. ;P
I only wish I hadn't had to get up at 4:30 this morning. The fog is beautiful in the morning rising from the dells and lakes; I only wish I could keep my eyes open.
Today will consist of trying to clean off this hard drive of my photography (on the family computer, which is running out of room and I really ought to have my photography on my own computer anyway), eating strawberries, then driving to Starkville in order to be up at 5:30 tomorrow morning to leave for Hunstville with Chyi-Hong and his wife to see the Chinese New Year Spectacular at the Von Braun Center. Discounted floor tickets for the win, but why so early? I have a feeling I'm going to be in the kitchen helping. It'll probably be fun, though, maybe.
It'll be the first time I've ever really been around a lot of Falun Dafa practicioners--I'm anticipating either good times, or awkward times. At least we'll be coming back that night.
Beltane, aside from a couple of bad alcohol-induced moments of drama, was fantastic! We had a little one-on-one SCA-style sparring (I beat Josh, and then was soundly trounced by Ari who ended up being the champion of Beltane), then we danced the Maypole (Lady Hawk forgot to make the wreath for the top of the Maypole, so I didn't have to break my neck trying to reach the top of that damn thing! But the Maypole was beautiful). Then came some amaaaaaazing fajitas for dinner, then ritual (which was lovely, as always). Afterwards we lit off some good fireworks that Ari bought in Pennsylvania, we drank, and made merry!
Probably the funniest part of the night (and the inspiration for my subject line) was when Josh, in a completely drunken state, wandered off from the outdoor bar/kitchen area to take a piss. A couple of minutes later, we hear this *scream* and Josh comes hauling ASS back, talking about little men swinging from trees! He told us he was over "there" talking to a man (which freaked us out because the only other male awake at that point was standing in the kitchen with us being drunk), and he looked over and saw a little man swinging from a tree. We then realized that the "man" Josh was talking to was, in fact, a slender pine tree with a Greenman mask stuck to it.
The little man was, of course, a resin sculpture of a gnome on a swing in one of the trees (there are lots of gnomes around the Grove, if you look ;P). We laughed until we cried at poor Josh.
What lushes we are! I finally had to just part ways with good company at three o clock in the morning and go try to get some sleep. Because despite my late hours, I was still awoken by the early rays of the sun raping my eyes through the tent. Needless to say, there were lots of hangovers (myself not included).
Whoo, can't wait until next year!
This weekend's barely gotten started, but already I feel that damn annoying sensation of irretrievable nostalgia. I think it started when I was outside yesterday enjoying the wind and the clouds when Joseph (the neighbor boy) came over and we started talking, just like old times. Except this time it was to the backbeat of a mix CD he made full of gangster rap. We talked about drugs, gangs, rappers, cigarettes, cops in the projects. Then my sister got home, and we talked about how supposedly some guy was going to come whoop the other neighbor boy's ass, which never happened to my knowledge. We laughed our asses off at this video, Joseph picked up my guitar and talked about how he hasn't played in forever.
The whole day it never rained, although it was looming ever on the horizon and we listened to the news reports on the radio about tornadoes and wind damage north and west of us. We waited and anticipated the worst.
Behind the glass museum case of memory, I observed the days when Joseph, Haley, Ashley, Travers and I used to skate, laugh, have water wars, play Halo, all those wonderful laughs and wonderful memories painted in a rose-tinted acrylic. I remember when Joseph would talk about nothing but skating, skateboarders, and Linkin Park.
Sometimes you never expect the worst until it's right on top of you.
What are you most looking forward to this weekend?
Beltane tomorrow! Maypole, merriment, good friends, good drinks, then spending the night in a tent. Hopefully all these storms and rain will blow over tonight so that tomorrow will be nothing but beautiful!
Doing a lot of housecleaning today...it's just a given when I come home, because I'm the only one here who actually works on it. Sigh. But at least it makes me feel a little bit better, not living in their mess.
I'm trying to be peppy, but two good friends of mine lost a beloved pet today. Having lost two dear dogs and a cat in my life, I'm very empathetic to the situation.
I'm probably going to go read, play the guitar a little bit...I'm tired and my back aches.
Chinese food with friends before leaving town is always a fun thing. Packing clothes (which I should be doing), is not.
This henna paste has been sitting in a plastic bag for about 6 hours now with no visible sign of dye release in the paste itself nor on the white piece of toilet paper underneath the baggie. I guess I'll wait until I get home tonight to henna myself up, just in case it needs a few extra hours.
I'm going to finish Chuck Palahniuk's Lullaby tonight; I liked it but it didn't have the same....I don't know...*umph* that Invisible Monsters did. Oh well. I plan to start Neil Gaiman's Anansi Boys tonight as well.
My hair is being very, very good today. ooo, lala. Everyone's in Kristyn & Emily's room watching The Golden Compass, but I absolutely cannot stand to jump into a movie from the middle so I'll just do laundry instead. And blog too, of course.
Confound it all! I had a dream last night where, not soon after I started dreaming (about unimportant nothings), I felt a tap on my shoulder. I turned around, and there was a skinny guy there with black hair and a "witch's lock"--not like any physical person I know at all, but in my dream I knew that it was a friend of mine that I met through ballroom dancing, and we both took Philosophy of Science last spring. He graduated that year, but we still keep in periodic touch with Facebook and e-mail.
In addition to being "friends", he and also flirt back and forth quite a lot (in physical and through Facebook). We've fallen out of touch with each other after Christmas, so I think this dream was to spur me to action.
So, now that you've got a bit of background--he taps me on the shoulder, I turn around and after a brief moment of recognition I gleefully cry his name, he picks me up and spins me around in a huge hug. We kiss and go walking around wherever we were for a bit, and then at one point we sat down and snuggled against each other. I suppose I fell asleep in this dream, because when I woke up (from the dream-nap) I was alone. I asked Kristyn (who just showed up) where my boy had gone, she told me he'd left. I woke up (into the "real world" this time) so very sad.
I took this as motive to e-mail him, just to see what's up. *sigh*
