“Dancers are instruments, like a piano the choreographer plays.” -George Balanchine

I love the art of dance. Considering this, it’s not surprising that I also love the show So You Think You Can Dance. The choreographers and dancers are outstanding and they cover such a wide range of styles. One of my particular favorite choreographers is Sonya Tayeh. She creates odd, quirky routines most of the time to fantastic music. Below is one of my most recent favorites! Right on par with another favorite danced by Courtney & Mark to “The Garden” by Mirah.

“We scream, “I want my America back!” when America already made her choice.” – Jesse

After getting permission, of course, I wanted to share a recent poem by my friend Jesse that I just read and loved. He has a way of writing that gives you pause and makes you re-read. His voice in poetry is gentle and meaningful, but his statement is strong.

Other

“You lie!” so the shout went

and the loss of decency was complete.

Discourse and debate

have no place in this

nation of hate.

Instead,

we stage wrestling matches

at town hall centers.

We scream, “I want my America back!”

when America

already made her choice.

We whisper and we scare,

like parents employing

the bogeyman

to scare their children to sleep.

In the brazen, toxic breeze of fear,

we whisper…

“Muslim…Black…Communist…

Terrorist… Socialist… Animal…”

* * * * *

Other.

* * * * *

And as the walls tumble down around us

we see that all we have is each other.

Without the veil of American might,

unable to hide behind the myth

of God’s chosen ones,

we see that all we have is each other.

* * * * *

Yet we choose to stew and feast on hate,

to drink from the poisonous well we dug

when we buried our genocidal birth

and laid to waste

the truth of ill-forgotten truth.

* * * * *

The past is never past, I’ve read.

* * * * *

When will we understand?

“Once again, we come to the Holiday Season, a deeply religious time that each of us observes, in his own way, by going to the mall of his choice.” – Dave Barry

What I have been up to lately can be summarized quickly.

I’ve been shopping for gifts, wrapping presents, and working on all of the lovely end of year reporting and January preparation… just to start doing it all over again. How did January come around the corner so quickly?! I remember when I was younger and months lasted ages. Two weeks before Christmas, felt like two years… summer break was a lifetime. Now I blink and it’s the holidays, BAM, just like that. I usually look forward to my standard week off the week of Christmas, but this year I’m staying in the office so I can save some PTO days for my upcoming Europe trip in March. It will probably be me and maybe one other person working since everyone around me takes the last two weeks off. No problem though, me and my iPod will have a grand ol’ time.

This season also comes with the multiple “White Elephant” gift exchanges at every holiday luncheon…both work related and social parties. You know the game where somebody picks a gift and the next people can steal it or pick a new gift over and over until a gift is “dead.” The game where everyone keeps trying to get the gift cards, the Starbucks packages, or the alcohol…while leaving the platter or other odd gift on the table, making the anonymous purchaser feel a bit slighted. My standard go to, when in doubt, is those alcohol gift packages you can find at Costco and BevMo. Everyone can always use alcohol…even if they don’t drink, they know someone that does, or can bring it to one of their billion holiday parties.

That all said, I love this season.

Happy Holidays everyone!

“Unless each day can be looked back upon by an individual as one in which he has had some fun, some joy, some real satisfaction, that day is a loss.” – Anonymous

Well, today was the kind of work day I wish I always freakin’ had.

We had a corporate holiday team building get-together today. We started with ice skating at the mall downtown. I was a rock-star rollerskater when I was young, but I’ve never ice skated before, despite everyone saying to me all day, “Aren’t you sooooo used to this since you grew up in the MidWest.. you know… with snow and stuff.” and I would reply, “Noooo, in fact it was so balls cold that we would rollerskate, in the heated indoors, instead.” The skating-in-Southern-California-in-a-light-sweater-complete-with-a-scarf-just-to-be-cute, is not quite like the hard core-snow-pants-bubble-coat-face-mask-gloves-AND-mittens-only-skate-for-30-minutes-lest-you-actually-freeze-and-get-hypothermia type skating it would’ve been in December back home. So…again…we skated indoors. Suffice to say, I didn’t actually ice skate today. I didn’t want to complete a face plant fall in front of all my co-workers, including my boss who would tease me for days, so I refrained. Besides, the weather was beautiful and I was having a grand ol’ time simply chatting with all of the other non-skaters being happy we weren’t at work at 10:30am, watching other people face plant. Good times.

After work, we enjoyed a luncheon where everyone, despite the powers-that-be’s attempt to get people to mingle, just sat with their regular teams and cliques. I had a blast laughing with my co-workers playing “Would you rather..” You know the game; someone asks a question with two answers to choose between..usually both horrible scenarios in which you would never do either, but you know….you have to because…I don’t know there is no way not to supposedly. Examples: Would you rather… never leave your state or never be able to return to your country again. Or would you rather… drink a bucket of spit or eat a bowl of boogers. The list is endless. This game has the potential to get a bit sketchy with co-workers, and despite all the execs being within earshot (um, and my boss at the table) we had a blast anyway. My stomach hurts from all the laughing.

To top it all off, tonight I’m going to my favorite symphony! Beethoven’s 9th. My brother and I have a tradition of going almost every holiday season as this particular symphony is only presented once a year at Copley Symphony Hall here in San Diego…for one weekend only. It’s a fabulous symphony, complete with no intermission. Yay! So it’s about time to get dressed up, hit the streets back downtown, meet a couple friends, and tie up my day with a pleasant evening listening to Beethoven.

Oh yeah, and I got the tickets half-off thanks to a TravelZoo alert. Sa-weet!

“At Christmas play and make good cheer, for Christmas comes but once a year.” – Thomas Tusser

Balboa Park is one of my favorite places in San Diego. It is a sprawling urban park, filled with museums, fountains, gardens, and theatre venues; all of Spanish architecture, in the middle of the city. It is also one of the art centers of the city…not only because of the museums, but also because of the plethora of dance, art, pottery, theatre, and painting studios and their classes held within the many walls of the park. Kiyah has dance class every weekend at the Casa del Prado theatre, so I get to wander the park often. I recently took my Couchsurfing guest there, and she said that she “felt like she was in another country.” We went at the perfect time in the early evening…when the crowds were calm and quiet. Everyone was enjoying the cool, pleasant evening, there were three weddings I spotted, and people just seemed content. After she made this comment, I took a moment of pause to consider if this was one of the reasons I love this park so much; with my love of Europe…it’s my mini-getaway within my own city.

While this park is already full of charms, once a year it hosts on of San Diego’s biggest festivals- December Nights. It’s always held the next weekend after Thanksgiving to kick off the holiday season. As the city’s biggest festival, more than “300,000 people are expected to pack [the] Park’s 32nd annual December Nights festival next weekend, which features free museum admission, continuous live entertainment, gifts, and food from around the world.”

My favorite activity is the International Cottages Festival. These small cottages each represent a different county and during December Nights they are complete with holiday decor, ethnic dance and music. In addition, there is a food fair featuring authentic dishes from the 30 represented countries.

Last year I remember sitting around the giant fountain at the end of the park, surrounded by people enjoying the evening, eating food, and laughing. It was reminiscent of the Italian piazza’s I love so much, the central hubs of the cities where all the action happens! It’s a fun event and it’s impossible to leave without feeling fully immersed in the holiday spirit!

“Thanksgiving, after all, is a word of action.” ~W.J. Cameron

Here we are… lounging around, completely gorged, at my mom’s house after a delicious Thanksgiving meal. We don’t often do this so I thought right now was a perfect time to compile a list of all the things we (my brother, 9 & 10 y/o kids, mom, and myself) are thankful for.

In no particular order, by no particular person.
-Second chances
-Food
-The smell of books.
-A new day.
-Diversity.
-Music’s abilty to transport me to another place.
-The people that invented puzzles and write books.
-The love of family.
-Having choices.
-Upbeat attitudes
-The smile after a reassuring touch.
-Laughter
-Daydreaming
-Conversations with strangers and new friendships.
-Taking time to listen to elderly people’s stories when they just want to share.
-A productive day
-Outdoor music-fests
-Dancing.
-Getting to know yourself.
-Reminiscing about hilarious moments with old friends.
-The first minute after your baby is born.
-Waking up and discovering a new city.
-The smell of bacon.
-People-watching at random places.
-Memories.
-Wash clothes.
-Unexpected moments.
-Babies giggles and childrens belly laughs.
-The sigh of relief after finishing a big project.
-Travel photography.
-Fresh sheets.
-A pile of unread books.
-Looking through old photographs.
-Friends and family to come home to.
-The sound of a fan when sleeping.
-A crisp new morning before the world wakes up.
-Shelter.
-A meeting-free day.
-The fact that hope exists.
-Playing with the neighbors dog.
-Education.
-Reading travel blogs.
-Comfy PJs.
-Inspiration.
-Chocolate and wine.
-Nature’s beauty.
-Healthy bones and body.
-The 5 Senses.
-Love.
-Foot massages.
-Indoor plumbing.
-Creative expression.
-Sleep after a week of insomnia.
-The option to see the world.
-Technology.

And finally… taking moments to appreciate the little things.

“But tomorrow if a golden train came to take you away,
Would you go or would you stay?” – Justin Nozuka

I’m excited. One of my favorite artists is playing here in San Diego tonight at Porter’s Pub at UCSD. Only a month ago, I updated Ticketmaster to give me alerts with my favorite artists and then, voila, one of my top choices appears in my city! I can’t wait to watch him live… once I make it through another quiet work day, where everyone (including myself) is already on “Holiday Mode.” The only tragic thing, is one of my closest friends is a big Justin fan too…but he lives miles away and isn’t available to go with me! I thank him for being the person to really make me appreciate the beauty of the guitar…when I’ve always been a piano girl.

Here is a perfect blurb I found on the flyer comparing him to another favorite artist of mine… Ray LaMontagne.

“Blending elements of neo-soul, folk, old-time blues and pop, Justin has the guts of Ray LaMontagne and the soul of Lauryn Hill.

This guitar slinging aficionado has the street smarts of an urban swinger and the heart-bending soul of a gospel preacher, and is adept at blending a dark, bluesy Americana vibe with warm, acoustic soul where bits of old folk music and flamenco tunes swirl in and out of earshot.”

“We have a vision of a world where everyone can explore and create meaningful connections with the people and places they encounter.” – couchsurfing.org

Happy almost Thanksgiving everyone! Time flies and I have suddenly found myself in the middle of the holiday season again. What have I been doing for a year?! It seems like just yesterday I was digging up my once a year Creamed Corn and Parmesan Potatoes recipes and now I’m doing it again. Another Thanksgiving with the family… overeating… reminiscing over funny family moments… shaking my head in awe at all the people looking forward to the maniacal “Black Friday” (it’s called Black Friday for a reason… it’s clearly comparable to the plague in all things horrible that should be avoided). The short work week is fun though.

This weekend, after the holiday, I am participating for the first time in the giant CouchSurfing community. I joined the site a couple months ago in preparation for eventually trying it out. This next trip I take will be my first venture into solo-traveling, but next I want to try couchsurfing, in which one stays with a local in any given city worldwide. The host provides a place to crash and usually will take you out and show you their home city. It’s a give-and-take kind of community, expecting that you will also “host” fellow couchsurfers in your own town. Well, I am going to be a host this weekend for a nice girl from Japan. What a great way to meet new people, new travelers, and eventually get to enjoy the benefits abroad when I’m ready. I’ll let you know how it goes.

Speaking of travel, I’ve started booking some of the hopper flights and other random things for my trip next Spring. I almost want to cry at the conversion rate which has been hovering around 1.47′ish and will probably rise between now and March. The British Pound is, of course, even worse than the Euro. What was I thinking choosing the MOST expensive country I could find outside Scandinavia? Oh yeah, I love Europe… it and its criminal conversion rate. Mr. Dollar, I beg you to rise. I can’t stand paying an extra 50% for everything for long.

So, I’m a slacker. I don’t know what has happened to me or my blog and why I have failed to regularly update it. I’ve been busy…but that’s no excuse. So, I’m popping on for a minor update. What’s new right now?

*I’m recovering from the flu. I think I had it coming with all the “I’ve never had the flu *knock on wood*” nonsense I’ve been spewing over that last few weeks. I never call in sick for work and had to waste two precious vacation days of work on being sick. Those were days I save for actual TRAVEL. I’m annoyed. Anyway, at least I’ve survived this horrible, body-aching, head pounding, lung racking cough causing illness.

*I’m a bit swamped at work. Dang, holiday season events meets end of year reporting.

*I met a guy that is well on his way to being my soul mate! Give me someone who takes the words right out of my mouth, add a passion for travel, sprinkle in great looks, charisma and an outgoing personality…and finally top with an ACCENT! I’m sold!! Now, I just need to get to know this guy better. *fingers crossed* Perhaps I’m out of my don’t-wanna-date-zoned-out-of-the-guy-thing phase I’ve been in for quite some time. Hmmmm? Either way I’m quite smitten with this almost-stranger and I rarely get smitten. Ever.

*Both my real and fantasy football teams are nothing but inconsistent. *sigh*

*I’ve finally penciled out an itinerary for my Europe trip and am very excited that it includes visiting my book club friend in York!

“Hakuna Matata! What a wonderful phrase!”

This weekend, I went with my family and a friend to see the Lion King on Broadway. It was, of course, fantastic. I appreciated that they used the original score but added authentic African music to the performances along with traditional African dress. The character costumes were incredibly creative as well. This performance is great for kids and the kids get a little culture at the same time. Perfect.I must make a special note regarding the actress that plays Rafiki; her voice… was… stunning. It gave me goosebumps every time.

During the opening act, Circle of Life, my 9 year old daughter said, “It’s so beautiful, I kind of want to cry.” Awwww…I knew exactly what she meant with that comment.  Inside I was secretly elated hoping she really will be a lover of the arts! She already loves music, plays, dancing, and drawing…and now she can appreciate the performances that same way.

I’ve always hoped my kids would share my passion for the arts.