Back to the grind
Mondays...they just keep coming whether you like it or not. But this past week was a very lovely and much-needed break indeed.
On Weds I went into the studio and finished snap tape dress #2 in a final burst of pre-holiday productivity. This after about the 3rd try constructing and deconstructing the thing. (Material and concept were not matching up, so I threw out the latter and let the former do what it wanted. I'm pretty pleased with the results.) Pics soon, I promise. I didn't manage the whole grocery or cooking thing, but did manage to do laundry and restore my room to a slightly less destroyed state, which was much needed.
Thurs and Fri were spent hanging out with Jason watching movies and generally having a real "weekend" for a change. We did the very traditional grad student holiday meal of oriental take-out - only he has the advantage of being near a sushi place that delivers. Yum! I also managed to make a bit more headway on my spinning and the socks I'm attempting. (I managed to mostly figure out my size and do a gauge swatch, but that's progress - right?)
Sat was spent mostly in class with FatChance. Anita taught Level 2 (where we got to do lots of Ghawazee and learned a fade with it) and Carolena taught the Level 3 Drills class. We wound up working on backbends for half the time, which was great, but very tiring by the end. Carolena had some good insights to offer anatomy-wise to help smooth things out, but I definitely need to stretch more. I'm pretty sure the depth I was getting previously in backbends was at the expense of good form - because even though I felt taxed at the end of class, my lower back felt much better the next day than it normally does from that move. The fast part of class was devoted to the Circle Step with heel drops (I don't know its official name, but the fast one) and the Sunanda. This is about my 3rd week in the intermediate classes and I still feel like I'm getting the hang of things, but I got a nice compliment from an older student who said she could really tell I felt the music and she wished I was staying on for the Improv class following. Needless to say this made me beam for the rest of the day. :D
Also, added bonus: Anita found out I'm a knitter, so she gave me this huge pile of yarn she'd collected and never used.
So I now am in possession of a small hoard of Rowan wool yarn in Magpie (burgundy - 2 skeins), Magpie Tweed (turquoise - 2 skeins), and Chunky Tweed (blue-gray - 2 skeins, mauve - 3 skeins, and orange - 1 skein-ish). Magpie is about a worsted weight (size 7-8 needles recommended) and Chunky Tweed is a bit heavier (9-10 needles). Any suggestions from you knitterly types as to what these could be?
Sunday was back to the books and sketchbook. I got slated into the first round of final reviews on Fri, so I'm trying to get as many ideas on paper as possible. On the one hand, I'll be happy to have it finished and over with; on the other, it's a bit stressful, as there physically isn't enough time to get new work finished for it from the last review (and the faculty have been really vague about what they expect out of us). Whee ha. Fortunately, Fridays are $2 Corona days at the Mexican restaurant down the block and there are already plans among the textilers to migrate there after.
Really, the only problem with Thanksgiving is that by the time I finally get that break in the semester, I'm kinda ready to be done for good. Makes it a bit hard to go back knowing the busiest 3 weeks of the term await with winter break on the other side, tempting me with the prospect of a whole month off. I just need to survive final reviews Fri, a paper next week and another grad application to make it.
Which reminds me, I think there needs to be some sort of dance therapy to celebrate/recuperate at the end of all this. Like possibly a Death Guild outing on my last Monday in town (Dec. 11th)? (Looks meaningfully at Ms. meddevi)
On Weds I went into the studio and finished snap tape dress #2 in a final burst of pre-holiday productivity. This after about the 3rd try constructing and deconstructing the thing. (Material and concept were not matching up, so I threw out the latter and let the former do what it wanted. I'm pretty pleased with the results.) Pics soon, I promise. I didn't manage the whole grocery or cooking thing, but did manage to do laundry and restore my room to a slightly less destroyed state, which was much needed.
Thurs and Fri were spent hanging out with Jason watching movies and generally having a real "weekend" for a change. We did the very traditional grad student holiday meal of oriental take-out - only he has the advantage of being near a sushi place that delivers. Yum! I also managed to make a bit more headway on my spinning and the socks I'm attempting. (I managed to mostly figure out my size and do a gauge swatch, but that's progress - right?)
Sat was spent mostly in class with FatChance. Anita taught Level 2 (where we got to do lots of Ghawazee and learned a fade with it) and Carolena taught the Level 3 Drills class. We wound up working on backbends for half the time, which was great, but very tiring by the end. Carolena had some good insights to offer anatomy-wise to help smooth things out, but I definitely need to stretch more. I'm pretty sure the depth I was getting previously in backbends was at the expense of good form - because even though I felt taxed at the end of class, my lower back felt much better the next day than it normally does from that move. The fast part of class was devoted to the Circle Step with heel drops (I don't know its official name, but the fast one) and the Sunanda. This is about my 3rd week in the intermediate classes and I still feel like I'm getting the hang of things, but I got a nice compliment from an older student who said she could really tell I felt the music and she wished I was staying on for the Improv class following. Needless to say this made me beam for the rest of the day. :D
Also, added bonus: Anita found out I'm a knitter, so she gave me this huge pile of yarn she'd collected and never used.
So I now am in possession of a small hoard of Rowan wool yarn in Magpie (burgundy - 2 skeins), Magpie Tweed (turquoise - 2 skeins), and Chunky Tweed (blue-gray - 2 skeins, mauve - 3 skeins, and orange - 1 skein-ish). Magpie is about a worsted weight (size 7-8 needles recommended) and Chunky Tweed is a bit heavier (9-10 needles). Any suggestions from you knitterly types as to what these could be?
Sunday was back to the books and sketchbook. I got slated into the first round of final reviews on Fri, so I'm trying to get as many ideas on paper as possible. On the one hand, I'll be happy to have it finished and over with; on the other, it's a bit stressful, as there physically isn't enough time to get new work finished for it from the last review (and the faculty have been really vague about what they expect out of us). Whee ha. Fortunately, Fridays are $2 Corona days at the Mexican restaurant down the block and there are already plans among the textilers to migrate there after.
Really, the only problem with Thanksgiving is that by the time I finally get that break in the semester, I'm kinda ready to be done for good. Makes it a bit hard to go back knowing the busiest 3 weeks of the term await with winter break on the other side, tempting me with the prospect of a whole month off. I just need to survive final reviews Fri, a paper next week and another grad application to make it.
Which reminds me, I think there needs to be some sort of dance therapy to celebrate/recuperate at the end of all this. Like possibly a Death Guild outing on my last Monday in town (Dec. 11th)? (Looks meaningfully at Ms. meddevi)