Creative Wanderings

Merry Christmas

Though home is a name, a word, it is a strong one; stronger than magician ever spoke, or spirit answered to, in strongest conjuration. Charles Dickens (1812-1870) I like that thought. There is no better feeling than being home with my family for Christmas!! We’ve had so much fun ringing things in with our usual Christmas Eve traditions, and we even added a few new games/activities to the list! Have you ever tried unwrapping a gift wearing gloves? How about unwrapping a gift layered in several rounds of packing tape, wrapping paper, boxes, and bags? Oh yeah, it rocked!  One other thing that has rocked this Christmas is.. well Santa. I honestly only wanted one thing this Christmas, and it just isn’t something anyone can buy me. Or even help me obtain. It doesn’t run on schedules and desired timetables. But somebody must have caught wind of my wish. Because the past Read more…

By Erica, ago

When you doubt:

“Never let anyone take away your dreams. Every challenge you face will only help you achieve your dream, even if it breaks your heart at the time. The Lord loves you, and in His time He will give you every good gift. I love you, always and forever. Never forget that you are loved.” 

By Erica, ago

Fine, how are you?

It was a cold and foggy night. The arctic breeze nipped at the bare legs of a dancer clad in shorts, a light sweatshirt, and sequined flats. Where was her coat? In her car. Why didn’t she get in her car and drive home? She locked her keys in her car. In the pocket of the jacket she decided she didn’t really need. The coat that she locked in her car. A mistake she didn’t realize until the end of rehearsal, thus eliminating any chance that her spare key would drive from Springville to save the day. Not at 9:30 at night. And that is why, on a cold and foggy night, a shivering cold dancer paid and arm and a leg for a man to take his sweet time to drive out, spend 2 minutes unlocking the car, then 8 more charging her for it. In other news, you should come watch Read more…

By Erica, ago

Cool Art

One day I will teach Humanities again, and this will be a cool thing to talk about! Interesting, isn’t it, how so much in life is all about perspective?

By Erica, ago

Pretty

I like this picture. I took this picture. One day I may even be good at photography. Until then, I like the lucky shots I get.  Oh. And despite leaving school early for a stomach bug, I definitely spent another 5+ hours of today working on grades. Haven’t even touched lesson plans yet. Ick. Sometimes school is not worth the work. At least I got to watch Robin Hood while doing it. 

By Erica, ago

Building Projects

At 25, nearing yet another birthday, I believe I have proved that I have limited use for a man in my life. My latest reason? Building stuff. Men are generally attributed to be the handy ones, their engineering minds able to masterfully change piles of wood and screws into fine pieces of furniture. Well you know what? I can do it too! I built all my furniture and mounted a mirror on my wall, too! I still have to mount pictures, but… one step at a time. It’s taken me rather a while to get things put together to this level.  Latest Addition: full-length mirror Early November: assembling my first piece of furniture, a nightstand Nightstand in progress Looking better! All done with nightstand number one! And my room looks cleaner already Ahh, the penguins on the wall. And my slipshod attempt at making my bed. And all the boxes… Read more…

By Erica, ago

Night In – Soliloquy

A man dies as often as he loses his friends. Francis Bacon(1561-1626) I’ve gotten to do plenty of thinking lately… thinking about choices I’ve made in life. How the outcomes work themselves into intriguing shapes and important lessons. For example: I’m dancing at the Mormon Tabernacle Christmas Concert this year. I randomly saw an audition posting in September and decided to give it a shot, not having a clue where I would really be come December. (I did figure that I’d still be in Utah.) It went great! I made it, got to add some rehearsals to my weeks, and started meeting people in the area. It’s been a very rewarding experience so far, even if it makes for extremely long days now that I have a job. That was a good choice. Even more interesting to me, though, is the choice my mom made about 21 years ago. She Read more…

By Erica, ago

Teaser

This is just a short teaser of a longer post to come, as time is waning tonight. I just got back from seeing SAVION GLOVER!!!! He is arguably the best tap dancer ever, and after seeing him dance tonight I surely can see why! His style is effervescent, earthy, and humble. His grasp and play with rhythms is incredible. And his foot speed? Mind-boggling. Literally. I also loved the other tap guy who danced with him tonight… I forget his name at the moment but he’s got Jr. at the end so I’ll call him Junior for now. Junior is older. He is amazing! He created incredible sound paintings by altering his tone and timbre. At one point I felt like I was listening to him dance a rain storm! But this is a teaser… I’ll have to elaborate more when I’m not so tired. Loved seeing old tap friends there! Read more…

By Erica, ago

Gee Whiz

I had thought of going country dancing tonight. Alas, my roommates who usually go are busy with other activities. And for some strange reason I lost all desire to dance tonight. (Unrelated to roommates not going.) I spent way too many hours last night working on lesson plans. Granted, I’m done and somewhat ahead. I hope it’s worth it. I spent way too many hours today grading stupid little math tests and dumb paragraphs. Granted, some paragraphs showed good creativity and perhaps better compositional value than some I ran across in college but…. Too much time on something relatively insignificant. I read an article on Christo, a sculptor/installation artist who is donating some of his collages to the Smithsonian. I miss thinking and talking about big theoretical concepts and art and production and elements of design. I miss college. I miss teaching college, mostly. Given my mood tonight, I’m just going to Read more…

By Erica, ago

Halloween, the modern day opera

Halloween is just around the corner, with everything that entails. In modern times, it seems like the holiday has morphed into something beyond itself. Halloween these days, especially for LDS college-age youth, is more like the Carnival celebrations of the early 1500’s than a celebration of the deceased. Carnival, particularly as it was celebrated in Venice, allowed the people to take a reprieve from their standard lives. The two week celebration directly preceded Lent, giving the Catholic population a legitimate release from their strict moral codes. It was a time that truly exemplified the phrase “eat, drink, and be merry.” Opera extended this concept of Carnival by opening the stage as a new forum, free of the stringent rules of daily life. Characters there could act out their roles, which many times involved plot lines that veered from strict moral codes of the day. Like Carnival, this was not seen as subversive Read more…

By Erica, ago