03.31.08
Why I do not draw
Third day of rain…. Gloomy and dismal. So to take your mind of the rain, let me tell you a story. I came to think of it a short while ago, when my husband commented on a picture our little girl had drawn and I had proudly posted on the refrigerator.
Let me make one thing clear. I do not draw. At all. Most definitely not. Never. This is due to my sister being a creative prodigy. Seriously, she can draw anything, makes her own clothes, creates jewelry out of discarded old watches (which she then sells,expensively) and can make trees out of wire…. You name it, she can make it. So everything me or my other sister would make would inadvertently be compared to hers, and…. Well, let’s not go there. I mean, I don’t blame her, not at all, but it’s hard not to be subconscious about it. Her stuff looks pro and mine… Lets just say I once tried drawing a motorcycle and everyone thought it was a goat.
In high-school, I decided to change classes, since my class were rejects and idiots, and the class I came to had already had creative arts. Usually you could chose between drama, music, art and pottery (I think it was pottery….). But since I had to make it up, I got stuck with the only thing existing at my school. Yep, art. I could have broken down and given up directly (I even remember my sister offering to do my work for me if I smuggled it home, she knows how much I hate and suck at it), but I decided to make the most of the situation. So every Wednesday between 4 and 5:45 pm, I worked my ass off and tried really hard do do well in art class. (It did help slightly that there was a very cute guy there that I used to talk to) And I did pretty well. I mean, I was no creative genius, but I managed to suck a lot less than usually. My biggest accomplishment was a lighthouse on a beach, we had to copy someones work and I did this one. It came out amazingly good and I was so proud off it. To me, it was a A+, something like my sister would have made.
I was so anxious to get the grade from that class, but when I tore open the envelope with my grades, it said that I needed to contact the teacher once the summer was over. In August, I did just that and quickly found out that they had managed to loose my work. We had made folders to put our work in, and mine was one of the ones that had gotten lost. So they couldn’t give me a grade. I was FURIOUS. I had worked my ass off and they lost my work. I was mainly pissed about my lighthouse that I had been so proud off. Then I thought that the teacher should be able to remember my work and give me a grade anyway. But apparently, she didn’t.
In the end, we had to come in around Christmas, and draw a picture. Just one. And we would be judged on just that. A Christmas Picture. Lovely huh? I was fuming when they told me, and couldn’t care less. But I drew a picture, it sucked pretty bad, and wrote a LONG thing on the back about how awful I thought this whole deal was. And then I left. After Christmas I got a note about my grade (C…. no surprise there) and that I could come and pick up my picture. I never did.
And this dear people, is why I never draw and never will. Now I shall go and dig into the chocolate cake my husband bought at the supermarket (it’s as far from low-fat as possible), and curl up in the sofa with a good book. Because what else is there to do on one of these dismal days?
Oh, by the way, my sister’s jewelry can be bought here http://www.learningtofly.etsy.com/
03.30.08
Today is one of those dismal days. It’s cold, rainy and dreary and has been so since I woke up. I wasn’t too keen on getting up this morning, but having my husband jump up and down on our bed did help a little. He made breakfast, which was very nice. Usually I’m the one who makes something on the weekends, but today, he made the crescents. We have done almost nothing, except driving D home. I have read magazines, spent way too much time on the Internet and read stories. A lazy-day. But you need those too. Soundtrack of today – The Piano by Michael Nyman.
03.25.08
Bunga Pads
I worked out hard this morning while my husband was in class. I spent 1 1/2 hour on the Elliptical, and “ran” a distance of 9.22 miles (about 15 km). It felt great and I was less tired than I would have expected. I tried the back-brace for the first time and found it to be like a huge Bunga Pad. Anyone who is a skater knows what a Bunga Pad is, for the rest of you, Google it. Anyway, when you get of the ice, the Bunga pad is VERY wet and icky of sweat and your ankles are damp. Now, imagine what happens of you put a giant Bunga Pad around your midsection and work out for an hour and a half. I was dripping of sweat, literally. It’s a great way of toning down. Ever heard of the whole plastic-wrapping-in-sauna thingy? It’s kind of the same concept.
I was going to write something else, but while talking to my sister, I seem to have forgotten what it was…. Well, well, another time maybe.
03.22.08
Music lost but not forgotten
There are times in our lives when we look back and examine our lives, wishing we had done things differently, given it just a little more effort. We look back and realize that we were foolish creatures, and wish to go back and do things over. This is how I feel with my skating career. There are so many “what if’s” and I do look back and feel bad. I should have tried harder, worked more, spent more hours, dedicated myself more.
Unfortunately, we can’t go back in time and change things. So what I can do is to compile a list. A list of music that I wished I could have skated to, if I had had the talent, dedication, money and support. Music is such a big part of me, and I mourn the fact that there are so many pieces that I never skated to, or those that were wasted on bad choreography. They are beautiful nonetheless, and should be shared with the world. So maybe, just maybe, another skater out there will find them, fall in love and skate the skate I never will.
The Piano, Soundtrack – Michael Nyman. It’s haunting and absolutely perfect. “The heart asks pleasure first” is my favorite.
Spanish Rhapsody – Robert Wells. I was going to, but… well, I shouldn’t hold grudges. The girl who got it instead did it beautifully.
Rhapsody in Rock IV – Robert Wells. Gorgeous, with a twist.
Dance with the devil – Martin Stenmark. I wish. If someone could remove the lyrics…
Harem – Sarah Brightman. I skated one competition to this. It’s terribly overused right now, but very captivating.
Comptine D’Un Autre Été L’Après Midi – Yann Tiersen. Perfection from the Amelie Soundtrack.
Contradanza – Vanessa Mae. It’s too fast for me, but wonderful.
Classical Gas – Vanessa Mae. Very Swedish (*giggles at internal joke*)…. Very nice song.
National Treasure, Soundtrack. Great soundtrack, maybe a tad bit to manly for me…
Forest Gump, Soundtrack. Beautiful, absolutely beautiful. I don’t actually WANT to skate to this song; I couldn’t possibly top Sophie on this one. But it is still one of the most beautiful songs I know.
Finding Neverland, Soundtrack – Jan A.P. Kaczmarek. The whole CD is marvelous and has a very classical tone with a hint of sadness.
Lord of the Dance – Ronan Hardiman. This wasn’t lost. I skated to this and loved it. It remains some of the greatest skating music ever, though unfortunately overused by now.
Victory – Ronan Hardiman. I have always been very fond of this piece of music. I think it fits the best for guys though.
Acroyali, Standing in Motion – Yanni. Yanni is a musical genius and my absolute favorite is this one. It was used by a girl I know , therefore I could never use it. The beginning is slow, but after about 2 minutes it picks up. Nostalgia on the same CD is very good too.
Pride and Prejudice, Soundtrack – Jean-Yves Thibaudet. Very nice and pretty. I never had the spirals for this.
Celtic Kittens, Celtic Tiger – Ronan Hardiman. This was brutally butchered and under-choreographed, though brave and kind efforts were made to salvage it, I can never skate to it again. Too many bad memories. It’s an amazing piece of music though.
Peter Pan, 2001, Soundtrack. I had to put this in here. I skated to it and it was probably my very favorite program of all times. It’s great music.
I have gone through my music collection, and that’s it for now. I have probably missed many songs, but this will due. Hopefully this list will bring joy to someone. It is music I love and will continue loving.
03.19.08
Quotes?
Everyone knows that tampons are a necessary evil. We have to buy them (or pads) in order to function like human beings. We might not like it, but we do it, and the big companies make money just because we are women.
Well now this company have decided to make it slightly more enjoyable to buy their product. You know what they’ve done? The have put inspirational quotes on the wrappers of their “Sports brand”. They say things like, “Go for gold” “Fair play” “You are great” “Ride your bike to the gym” “Team spirit”….. you get the deal. I don’t know why this would make them more attractive, but anyway… They also have a model called “Cardboard”. How lovely.
I had one of those really shitty days, you know. We all have them, way too often. I cracked open a new packet and pulled one out, and looked at the quote (it’s a habit, and it’s hard not to). “You should be used to this by now”. NO SHIT! REALLY? The last thing I needed that day was a smart-ass tampon wrapper.
Wannabee ballerina
I had ballet class today. Oh dear. I was having some problem due to my hip, which I managed to injure this morning during my hour on the Elliptical. I thought it was better, since I skated for an hour this afternoon and even managed to do some jumping, but apparently not. It hurts like hell. We were seven people today in the adult class, which is 3 more then when I started. Neither of the new people are wearing the outfits we are forced to wear. I mean, I know it can seem like a small little insignificant thing, but when you have to squeeze into a black leotard, wear pink tights, pink slippers and put your hair in a bun (none of this very flattering, I might add), you can get a bit cranky.
I really don’t think leotards were made for humans. Maybe size ZERO humans, but I’m not one of them. I mean, I’m not fat in any way, but I do look rather……… um…… voluptuous……… in my black leotard. It is just so lovely since you are in a room where every way you turn there are mirrors, and harsh lighting, and those nice little flabby things that develop on your sides when you put your leg on the high bar….. No wonder a lot of ballerinas go anorexic. It’s hard not to.
I have gained weight since I stopped skating. No a lot, more like five pounds or so and it seems to have positioned itself in two areas. The first is the nice little flabby things we were talking about before, and then…. the boobs. I have never had very large ones (those went to my sister…) but I have always liked them, they were proportioned to the rest of my body. Now, however, they seemed to have grown a couple of sizes over night. It’s rather unnerving, really. I didn’t notice them first, it was my dear husband. We’ll see if they’ll stay this way or not….
I am totally uncoordinated off ice. Totally. I’m a complete klutz as well. All this makes ballet class rather difficult. If I only had to focus on my feet, I might not look like such a complete idiot. But unfortunately, I have to do the arms at the same time…. I’m getting better, very slowly. It doesn’t help that I am used to balance on a thin blade, which has deformed my feet, making it impossible to balance like Allison (my teacher) wants me to. There’s simply no foot or support there. I don’t know how I am going to survive next semester with ballet every single morning…. Hello pain. Hello Galina.
03.16.08
Username…
It’s very hard to find a good username. I tried the most. Things I’ve used in other places, names, places, songtitles, random objects….. Yeah…. After about 30 tries it became Contradanza, which is a great song by Vanessa Mae, which I would skate to, was I as fast as Plushy or Carolina Kostner. Which I’m not.
