Bad Blogger

Not that this page is ever really thrill a minute, but I feel bad for becoming such a slacker. I keep starting entries, but I never have the time or attention span to finish them. But my plan is that once I am done with this quarter, I can play a bit of catch-up.

In the meantime, check out Lolcats - which is entirely responsible for any shred of sanity I have left. (to get the full effect, you should play ABBA in the background)

Girl culture

In the past week, I have seen some really odd, if entertaining girl behavior. But this is what you get when you visit an all-women's college and I.V. any weekend-night.

The CORD conference last week was hosted by Hollins University, which is a lovely, if tiny space in the hills of Roanoke. A great size for the conference, as it was scenic, but manageable, without the sterility of a hotel. (The building with the dance studio looks like it is wearing a hat.) And I had nearly forgotten that at least at the undergraduate level, it is all-women.

Nothing like walking out of the Parlour with my coffee at 8.30AM to see a girl in the middle of the quad, dressed like GRAPES, dancing and handing out brownies. Later that day, there was a girl singing "Barbie Girl" loudly and acapella on the steps of Cocke Hall. Like all schools, Hollins has its own set of unique traditions, which were only explained to me after the fact. Apparently, this is the annual Ring Night, where the senior girls give class rings to junior girls, but only after a dose of hazing.


Last night, on my way to the Co-op, I saw the ultimate sight. It was a girl with her hair in loose, but nonetheless "done" curls, a sparkly strapless dress, and (mercifully) matching flipflops, pushing a keg on a dolly down the bike lane. I tried to take a picture, but I was so busy laughing my ass off and trying not to fall off my bike or hit her, that I was not able. I mean, I admire her total blase ownership of the absurdity and willingness to move the keg herself instead of getting some meathead to do it, but still funny. It made the gaggle of girls in short black dresses and silver pumps just pale in comparison.

I'm not sure which was more disturbing/funny, but I sure don't want Jeannette to punch me in the uterus for not attending the Hollins game.

(apparently Odes and Top 10 Lists are big at Hollins)

on Hold: BN.com customer service

Sample class

As part of my Teaching Theatre Teaching class, we each had to teach one play as a sample class. It has been interesting to watch my peers experiment with different styles and approaches, some more successfully than others. (A sick part of me was very sad to miss Zero's train wreck of a sample class, but at least my friends took some good notes.) Going last, I have had a chance to watch everyone else. And offer directing notes.

I got back to CA and realised that I had to plan my class which was 2 days away instead of next week. As of last night, I hadn't even picked out my play! Originally, I had signed up for Miracle Worker, but changes in schedule combined with my conference, prevented me from it. Instead, I chose Tenure. (I question the legitimacy of a play that has NEVER been produced, is published by a company that accepts unsolicited scripts and was written by someone who teaches and writes as a film/culture critic, but has never left home.) On one hand, I really wanted to just teach the play instead of making it a pawn in my larger agenda or using it to offer a gimmick. On the other, I thought of a cool context. Largely grounded in my own mixed feelings toward the tenure process (I love the idea of guaranteed employment, but often hate the people who get it and the lazy asses they become as a result.) So I framed the class in terms of Advocacy, for the play, the ethics of hiring processes.

I wish I could say that teaching makes me nervous, but at best it might elevate the heart rate. Today, I got to teach, with impressive success. I offered statistics, worked with personal experience, and actually had a discussion going! Got some really good feedback, mostly on my inclusiveness of participants and roadmap. I don't know that I had an exact roadmap, but I had objectives and lots of questions. I felt like I handled difficult students well, and fielded all of the questions/comments effectively. My professor called me out on the use of personal. Dumbass asked about how frustrating it was when people's comments veered off my roadmap (he was the major violator, followed shortly by Zero), and I managed to come up with something sufficiently elegant (there can be interesting things on the side of the road that you stop or slow down for, but you are still headed in the same direction.)

I get such a charge from teaching, and based on the feedback, especially the unusually-effusive Professor, I just might be good at it. Woot! Maybe I really am heading in the right direction!

Evening observations

Visiting the East Coast for a few days, besides restoring some sanity, puts weather skies in an interesting perspective.

While the West Coast does some gorgeous sunsets, if you really want a pretty twilight, go to the east coast. Purple just doesn't quite work as well in California. But you don't get the reflection off the ocean. Trade-off


Also, walking back from the last Saturday session, I experienced the epitome of autumnal and collegiate. The air is cool, almost crisp, and the colors were spot on. Columns, pumpkins, and a breeze (that has now turned into a howling wind).

on iTunes: Celia Cruz - "Azucar Negra"

CORD

My first real conference is shaping up to being quite an interesting experience. I can't say this necessarily defies my expectations, but actually being here feels different. The words that keep coming to mind - fraught and bifurcated.

The theme of the CORD conference is Dance and Global Feminisms, which has brought in a really diverse group of presenters. So I have sat in on sessions about Brazilian samba, the Thriller YouTube video of Filipino prisoners, among others. I have gone to quite a few sessions about pedagogy from the dance perspective. Met some really interesting people. Here is what I have learned so far:

• I think I have found the home for my tango research. There was one whole session today analyzing social dance in larger contexts. Holy crap!
• But at heart, I am still a theatre kid. Attending the jam last night really confirmed that.
• Which puts me in a weird place in my work. I know that that technically my degree would be in "Theater & Dance," but it feels more like a concession or something. The only connection I have really noticed between the two is the ampersand.
• The UCSB theatre theory people have enough separation (and for some, contempt) for theatre practice. I can only imagine trying to force them to talk to dancers.
  
• In case I wasn't already thinking it, transfer is now a recurring word in my vocabulary. Then again, I don't know where, since a) I am not the same kind of dancer as all the rest of them, b) I do love theatre and c) who's to say it would be any better/worse. There are some really exciting looking programs out there, I just don't know about practicalities and fit.
• There's a lot of tension about the relationship with technology especially in the live/body field of dance.

Overall, I feel like I have a much better vocabulary to discuss my research, and ways to communicate with scholars. And I feel much more justified in my research, and less like the novelty act in the theatre department.

(sorry for posting the photo after-the-fact.
A session about dance pedagogy.
I love how dancers naturally gravitate to the floor - all the better for stretching.)

UPDATED: Opening night etiquette

Tonight, I attended the opening night of Reckless, mostly to support SuperK. I found the difference in the opening night environment between OU and UCSB really striking. At OU, all of the theater kids come out to represent. They are all dressed to impress. It feels more like a party. At UCSB, anyone who does show up is late, in cut-off shorts and hoodies, texting on their pricey phones. It was really frustrating that the show started so late without apology, to accommodate the students who have been taught that late is still OK for live theater. I disliked playing the whole damn song, which felt too long, screwing up the pace from the get-go.

Reckless as a play is just not that well-written, but it is a cute concept. Centered around the event-ness of Christmas, lots of crazy coincidences. Reckless aspires to be David Lindsay-Abaire, who pulls off zany much better. There were some cute moments, and SuperK really injected great energy into the show. But I was just underwhelmed by the BFA actors. The specialized training I saw was "MUG MUG MUG." These actors are SO desperate for approval, it's distracting. (They are the kind of actors who think every moment of their life should be clapped for.) Don't make me laugh; just make some good choices.

(Your Mother or Your Wife with SuperK as the skeazy gameshow host.)

I got stuck sitting next to Dumbass who thought it was just the best thing ever. He's so cute as a cheerleader, but he seems entirely devoid of critical thought.

But it was really fun to drink margaritas with SuperK and Mev at Chilis and catch up on show gossip.

Halloween postscript

1. SuperK astutely observed that Halloween tends to be a super-insane affair at schools with the quarter system. It nicely coincides with the middle of the quarter, when we DON'T get a Fall Break.
2. Additionally, he said that the whole thing was ALMOST worth it when he saw some kid run outside to puke, only to turn around and slip on it.
   
3. Who knew that Halloween is a long-weekend event with all day parties? I know I didn't.
4. Halloween at IV this year was nearly twice as populated this year, but students complained that they were "under surveillance" with the proportionately doubled police presence.
5. I found a Rainbow Brite costume that is damn awesome, and if it gets marked down any further, I will require people to be my Sprites next year.
6. It makes me miss the clever costumes of Chicago (breathalyzer anyone?), as well as its attendant snark.

Dentists can be fun too

While I will never get excited about going to the dentist, or dropping a C-note for each cavity, the UCSB dentists I have had lately have definitely made the visits more entertaining.

The GSHIP insurance may require a steep co-pay for prescriptions, but it does include dental. For the first time since I graduated from college, I went to the dentist. Because of the permanent retainer I have, the cleaning was so nice. Also nice - talking to a normal person. She managed to squeeze me in even after I ended up 10 minutes late. She was originally from Ohio, friendly but still productive, and she was just as happy to find another person from Ohio.

Sadly, she found 4 cavities. Not pleased, but they were all in an early state, and mostly in really obvious places. And if in the 7 years since the last visit, that's the extent of damage, I can deal.

On Wednesday, I went into knock out 3 of them. And the banter between the dentist and hygienist was so entertaining, I barely noticed the whole cavity thing. Dentist is two weeks out on her bachelorette party, which will be at this awesome Pan-Asian restaurant up in SF that apparently involves drag queens. The conversation drifted to other bachelorette parties they had planned or attended. With all the stripper horror stories. Because which is worse - the male stripper who looks like an older version of Richard Simmons or who looks like the brother of the bride? Try not laughing with that much equipment in your face. Because it was the day after election, there was much Obama excitement.

They are really funny, but how do you find a way to socialize with your dentists?

Modeling

For reasons I haven't really figured out, I find myself modeling on more than one occasion. When I was an undergrad, I almost got burned by it, when I discovered that a picture of me was in the art gallery attached to the theatre and directly behind the AIA table where all the classicists were congregating.

Tonight, I did a pinch-hit modelling for a friend of mine from many lives ago, who is now at Brooks for photography. A product shot for headphones. He knew exactly what he was looking for, which made part of it really easy. Not so easy - supporting my head off the side of a table for any length of time. And I realised that I am either a really good model or a really bad one. I am great at being posed. (tilt down, arm here, etc.) Not so good at improvising poses on my own. Fortunately the other model was, which just gave me more time to play Guitar Hero.

I think it is all part of my weird relationship with theatre. I am not an actress, but a director, an organizer/manager. Improv makes me even more awkward. But I love dancing and competing and performance. Maybe it's the safety of the choreography or being able to cover my ass with the presence of at least one other person.

A perk

Sometimes living in Santa Barbara isn't the dream that it looks like. More hours spent holed up reading theory than basking on the beach.

But sometimes it really is that cool. Like when SuperK and I have event meals along the water.

Sunday, we celebrated the fact that both of us had the same day off. SuperK wanted to go back to this one place on Las Positas, and it was pretty awesome. Brunch at the Boathouse on a beautiful Sunday afternoon, tucked into a cliff along the dog beach, with lovely wait-staff scenery (both SuperK and I left our numbers - choose your own adventure!). And the food wasn't bad either! Vanilla bean french toast with strawberry butter and applewood bacon.


Today, I took SuperK out to Sushi Go-Go for his birthday, which overlooks the Harbor. The menu had some cool offerings, plus we got to watch them sling a tugboat over water. It was a tasty lunch, in perfect weather - a great diversion for a Wednesday!


Sadly, not every day is a picnic. In the meantime, I have to get my scenic snacks by smuggling cinnamon almonds and dried cranberries onto the 8th floor of the library.

on the tube: House on the DVR.

Halloween costume: Grumpy Old Fart

Halloween is only fun when you have a group to prowl with and a quiet place to go home to. Otherwise, Halloween is a world-class pain in the ass.

SuperK and I spent this evening trying to run away from the dorm and its attendant bullshit. We wanted to time going out for food so as to optimize the escape. He had a party to wear his Citizen V costume to, looking so damn creepy, like he walked straight out of my nightmares. Although it was damn special when he was trying pieces on, after we gave the wig a trim.

(because even Citizen V has to text too)

I felt really lame, and super old-fart-y, because I decided to go to my nice quiet office to get work done. Then I made SuperK pick me up and listen to my "Why do all girls have to dress like sluts" rant. Because seriously, why? I saw a M/F couple in matching Incredibles costumes. He was fully covered, complete with foam pecs/shoulders. She had the top, plus little black bloomers (emphasis on little), with black nylon thigh highs and stilettos. In case the slut-factor was not sufficient, the fact of the matter is she didn't even look like Elasti-Girl, which was extra obvious, when his costume looked so good. And Halloween brings out the Tim Gunn in me, because I find it just trashy when girls pad around in thigh highs, stopping every few steps to hike them up because the girls don't believe in garter belts (which straight boys assure me are sexy), or choosing shoes they can actually walk in for any period of time. Besides looking super-tacky, it's dangerous with all the broken beer bottles.

Then SuperK and I got stopped trying to park in our lot. I was happy they were checking, and thus keeping out the random kids who didn't belong there. But it was a little weird that they started in on the "no overnight-visitors allowed". The only thing weirder was when they assumed that I was SuperK's out-of-town girlfriend. I pretty much just leaned over and assured him that 1. we were grad students and 2. he's gay. Besides, if he was gonna bring home some random girl, why would he bring home a nerd in a muppets t-shirt, 2nd hand pants and a rainbow sweater, when he could have Hoochy *insert occupation here*?

In retrospect, the noise levels could have been much worse, and they did put the contientious RC on call, instead of the slack-ass mooch getting free rent to answer the phone and tell me to deal with it my own damn self, even if it meant calling the police.

on iTunes: "A Man Called Sun" - the Verve