I wonder if I'll think this is coherent after I get some sleep...
Okay, so it's been six months since I've updated -- that means another "let's play catch-up" entry here. Also, it's almost 5:00 a.m. and I have work in a few hours, so this might prove a rather ridiculous attempt on my part, but here we go.... :-)
First, I do intend to share the rest of the story from my previous entry but it will have to wait until another time (hopefully not another six months).
Having mentioned my previous entry, Dance USM! had what I believe to be a successful run. You can read an article about it, written by spaghettiarms and published in the Portland Phoenix, here (I'm the one on the floor in the accompanying pic). USM's Free Press also published an article about it (I'm the blur furthest upstage in that pic), as did the Portland Press Herald, though I can't find that one online. It had been a long time since I'd performed in works by other people and I'm grateful to have had this as my "re-orientation" into the world of "just dancing" (as opposed to choreographing).
As Dance USM! was wrapping up, rehearsals for Vivid Motion, Inc.'s Spring Show, "Back to the Eighties", were kicking into high gear. That was also a good experience (sorry - I can't seem to find any articles about it).
Before the run for the Spring Show, I started taking classes with Maria Tzianabos at New Dance Studio. Maria was the director for Dance USM! (do you, like me, find these exclamation points annoying?) and teaches at USM and Bates, amongst other things. I love her class but haven't attended since mid-summer due to my schedule (at first) and now simple finances (as soon as I'm able to return, I will). I'd started doing repertory work with her but, of course, my absence has removed me from the upcoming December 10th performance (as a performer, at least -- thelemurgod and I will be there to watch, spaghettiarms, just let us know details as soon as you can!).
The summer brought nice warm/hot weather (it's currently 44F degrees, according to our local news station, and we haven't yet turned on the heat in this apartment, which might explain why my fingers are kinda' stiff while attempting to type at the moment) and LG and my wedding on August 6th at Two Lights State Park. :-) A small sampling of pictures can be found on the Madhatter's site (I say "small sampling" due to the 800+ photos we have on cd, thanks to various family members and thesaj). We wanted a small wedding and we got it (somewhere in the 65-70 people range). Fortunately, quite a few of our close friends and family were able to make it (and I'm still floored by Clee coming up from South Carolina and revp from Vancouver to share in the day -- honestly, it was such a low-key kind of wedding that I feel like those making longer treks were cheated somewhat).
Let's see, what else ... --> We moved into a new apartment (still in the 'secret location' but a different apartment) that still isn't quite "visitor-ready" (let's put it this way: my wedding gown and LG's wedding wrap are still resting on the banister at the top of the stairway). --> We were able to spend some time out at beautiful Sebago Lake with my parents in September. --> I was able to dance with a smaller group from Vivid Motion in a performance at CASA, a home for adolescents with mental retardation, which was a pretty neat experience. --> My boss started another company and a few of us are dividing time between the two, and a bunch of folks are going on/coming off of maternity leave and internships, so the combination of all of these factors makes my work site quite the "non-mundane" environment (not that it ever really is!). --> LG recently started working in a new position (still at the hospital) which allows us to have some evening hours together, which is very nice. --> I've started teaching dance to some teens at The Salvation Army's Portland Corps (after a year-long teaching hiatus, it's good to be doing that again, also). --> I finally had a chance to check out a friend's published article and am in a state of quandary because I believe it to be "unintentionally plagiarized" (the original work is cited but by no means to the extent that it should be, given the content ... I don't think folks reading "article 2" would understand the extent to which "article 1" was quoted, either directly or concept-wise ... I think it gives a false impression of whose original material is really being represented) and I'm not quite sure what, if anything, to do about it. --> LG and I were able to attend and promote LG's webcomic Disassemblance and other projects (with a table in the Artist Alley) at Wizard World's first Comic Convention in Boston (pictures, courtesy of the MadHatter once again, can be found here). --> I'm finally (FINALLY) finishing the requirements for two "incomplete" classes which just never seemed to get done. ---> Rehearsals are in full gear for the Nutcracker Burlesque and I encourage anyone who can to come and see it this year (LG's and my reviews of last year's run). --> It's now almost 6:00 a.m. and I need to go to sleep and get back up in a couple of hours, so this has gotta' be it for now.
First, I do intend to share the rest of the story from my previous entry but it will have to wait until another time (hopefully not another six months).
Having mentioned my previous entry, Dance USM! had what I believe to be a successful run. You can read an article about it, written by spaghettiarms and published in the Portland Phoenix, here (I'm the one on the floor in the accompanying pic). USM's Free Press also published an article about it (I'm the blur furthest upstage in that pic), as did the Portland Press Herald, though I can't find that one online. It had been a long time since I'd performed in works by other people and I'm grateful to have had this as my "re-orientation" into the world of "just dancing" (as opposed to choreographing).
As Dance USM! was wrapping up, rehearsals for Vivid Motion, Inc.'s Spring Show, "Back to the Eighties", were kicking into high gear. That was also a good experience (sorry - I can't seem to find any articles about it).
Before the run for the Spring Show, I started taking classes with Maria Tzianabos at New Dance Studio. Maria was the director for Dance USM! (do you, like me, find these exclamation points annoying?) and teaches at USM and Bates, amongst other things. I love her class but haven't attended since mid-summer due to my schedule (at first) and now simple finances (as soon as I'm able to return, I will). I'd started doing repertory work with her but, of course, my absence has removed me from the upcoming December 10th performance (as a performer, at least -- thelemurgod and I will be there to watch, spaghettiarms, just let us know details as soon as you can!).
The summer brought nice warm/hot weather (it's currently 44F degrees, according to our local news station, and we haven't yet turned on the heat in this apartment, which might explain why my fingers are kinda' stiff while attempting to type at the moment) and LG and my wedding on August 6th at Two Lights State Park. :-) A small sampling of pictures can be found on the Madhatter's site (I say "small sampling" due to the 800+ photos we have on cd, thanks to various family members and thesaj). We wanted a small wedding and we got it (somewhere in the 65-70 people range). Fortunately, quite a few of our close friends and family were able to make it (and I'm still floored by Clee coming up from South Carolina and revp from Vancouver to share in the day -- honestly, it was such a low-key kind of wedding that I feel like those making longer treks were cheated somewhat).
Let's see, what else ... --> We moved into a new apartment (still in the 'secret location' but a different apartment) that still isn't quite "visitor-ready" (let's put it this way: my wedding gown and LG's wedding wrap are still resting on the banister at the top of the stairway). --> We were able to spend some time out at beautiful Sebago Lake with my parents in September. --> I was able to dance with a smaller group from Vivid Motion in a performance at CASA, a home for adolescents with mental retardation, which was a pretty neat experience. --> My boss started another company and a few of us are dividing time between the two, and a bunch of folks are going on/coming off of maternity leave and internships, so the combination of all of these factors makes my work site quite the "non-mundane" environment (not that it ever really is!). --> LG recently started working in a new position (still at the hospital) which allows us to have some evening hours together, which is very nice. --> I've started teaching dance to some teens at The Salvation Army's Portland Corps (after a year-long teaching hiatus, it's good to be doing that again, also). --> I finally had a chance to check out a friend's published article and am in a state of quandary because I believe it to be "unintentionally plagiarized" (the original work is cited but by no means to the extent that it should be, given the content ... I don't think folks reading "article 2" would understand the extent to which "article 1" was quoted, either directly or concept-wise ... I think it gives a false impression of whose original material is really being represented) and I'm not quite sure what, if anything, to do about it. --> LG and I were able to attend and promote LG's webcomic Disassemblance and other projects (with a table in the Artist Alley) at Wizard World's first Comic Convention in Boston (pictures, courtesy of the MadHatter once again, can be found here). --> I'm finally (FINALLY) finishing the requirements for two "incomplete" classes which just never seemed to get done. ---> Rehearsals are in full gear for the Nutcracker Burlesque and I encourage anyone who can to come and see it this year (LG's and my reviews of last year's run). --> It's now almost 6:00 a.m. and I need to go to sleep and get back up in a couple of hours, so this has gotta' be it for now.