Creative Wanderings

Whoever thought working full time and doing grad school part time was a practical, nay, a good idea must needs be shot or hung or otherwise dispatched. Unfortunately, religion prevents me from suicide, so here I sit. Instead, I shall lay the other particulars of my life on the altar of self-sacrifice…. sacrifice of self to fulfill a wish of self under factors entirely controlled by self. Oh, the irony. In truth, I do think I’ll survive the semester. Barely. It just seems to be a lot right now because a) school just started, b) I am giving a lot of time to World of Dance preparation, c) I’m still getting back in the habit of shoving books into my head while gleaning deep insights from them. But hey, if I don’t survive, maybe that’s not such a bad thing. In the words of Alexander Pope~ “Who dies in youth Read more…

So I was in a hurry this morning to get out the door. I scurried into the bathroom, bleary-eyed and semi-conscious. I turned the water on, and GUSH! It was all black water again!! It was just a short spurt, but I could see the little floaties of black in the black water…. and to think that last time it did that I was IN the shower UNDER the water!?!!! Gross!!! I think it’s time to have a little chat with management.

Life’s greatest happiness is to be convinced we are loved. Victor Hugo (1802-1885) Photo by Rodney Smith

Great movie. I just caught the end of it, and remembered the first time I saw it. It was right before I came out to college my freshman year, 5 years ago. I went with my best friend, Scarlet, to the movies in Joplin, as kind of a last hurrah together. The movie is really touching, and I know I was crying as I was driving us back to Carthage. I think it had finally hit me that things were going to change a lot, very soon; I don’t think I realized that things would change forever. Dark night illuminated by streetlights, we sat at the light near the train tracks, having just turned on to that main road (Rangeline). My ’86 BMW one of the few cars on the road– I loved my first car. It had great stick shift/clutch action. Interesting, what we remember.

So this morning I hopped in the shower to get ready for church, which starts at the most pleasing time of 11:30am. I had slept in a bit, relishing my last sleeping-in day for the next several days. For some reason though, I have a habit of closing my eyes in the shower as the hot water washes over me. I guess it is relaxing and revitalizing, at the same time. Anyways, a few minutes in I was soaking my hair so I could start shampooing. All of a sudden, I open my eyes and see BLACK WATER on the wall and swirling down the drain. BLACK WATER!!! Immediately my mind recalled images of a TV show I’d seen where the girl is about to shower and then red water starts spurting out of the shower head (yeah, it was bloody water). So with that lovely image in my head, Read more…

A few days ago I was so bored I started reading what I had written on my blog, back when I first started it. Does that say something about me? I promise I’m not overly self-centered…. although my musings today may persuade you otherwise. Who are “you” anyways? I tend to write for my own amusement, although I certainly did post pictures/stories of my vacation for others to enjoy too. But generally… I just like writing. And it’s been altogether too long since I’ve written a rather random recitation… recapitulation… anyways (we’ll end that there). So I have been thinking lately. I often do that, but I’ve been dwelling on some similar topics more as of late. On Saturday I went to the wedding reception of one of my good friends from folk dance and film class. Admittedly, I was rather late, but going alone just didn’t make me want Read more…

Cafe Rio Pork

America has been called a melting pot, but it seems better to call it a mosaic, for in it each nation, people or race which has come to its shores has been privileged to keep its individuality, contributing at the same time its share to the unified pattern of a new nation. -King Baudouin of Belgium (1930-1993) I read this quote in my ‘Word of the Day’ email, and immediately thought how well it would fit in with my future master’s thesis on dance in the humanities– dance as a means of transmitting culture. Hopefully I remember this when I actually start working on it… in a few months/years!

Don’t worry, at some point I’ll add real information to the previous post. Probably after someone tells me they actually have read some of this and want to know more. Tee hee. So this picture was taken in front of the theatre house in Karlovac. Not a movie theatre, a real one for operas and symphonies, and plays, etc. This is on our way across town and up the large hill to see Dubovac, the castle. Have I mentioned that place yet? Anyways, in keeping with European trends we walked the whole way there (go healthy factor!) and of course Heather and I couldn’t resist getting in some fun shots along the way. Strike a pose! Mostly I just wanted to say: I painted my fingernails tonight for the first time in a long time and I’m totally digging it.

I was going to add more about the show…. then I decided that I already have it all in my journal 🙂 Ok, well maybe another day I’ll change this and put real stuff on. Let me know if you want the rest of the story.