questions from silentq
Sep. 9th, 2004 05:55 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
alonewiththemoon1. What's your favourite memory from Alaska?
So many amazing things happened to me and around me there, it's very hard to settle on one. But one very important one was going to the Alaska Raptor Center for the first time. At that time, it was not much more than a bunch of sheds on the edge of town. A helicopter pilot who had a crush on one of my crewmates offered to bring a few of us over to the Center to see the eagles, as he did some volunteer work there. We went afterhours, with gifts of raw chicken breast for the eagles. We went into an administrative office, and the pilot told us to go quickly through a door at the other side of the room. We did--and there were four eagles staring back at us, in a room a bit smaller than your average living room. The eagles weren't restrained in any way, three adults and one somewhat ratty looking juvenile. They would know where you were going to move to before you had decided to start moving and would sidle out of the way along their perches or the floor. They made an oddly gentle "gronk" noise, talking amongst themselves. We opened the packages of chicken, which elicited immediate interest from the eagles. I held a piece of chicken out in my bare hand for a bird who can break fingers with a tiny snap of its beak, and the closest eagle oh so quickly and oh so precisely walked across the floor, stretched out his neck and plucked the piece of chicken from my fingers, then retreated a safe distance to eat his prize. I remember looking at the eagle's eyes, pale pale blue, as it judged just where the chicken was and thinking I was insane to be doing this, trusting this wild fierce bird to take care not to bite my fingers and to know that I wasn't going to hurt it, to somehow have its own trust in me. It was indeed a pretty stupid thing to do, but it remains one of the most powerful experiences of my life.
2. Why Fairmount over St. Viatur bagels?
To be honest, initially just because Fairmount was closer to my house and because everybody in Montreal had to have an opinion ;-) Now, I think it is because I can remember walking to Fairmount and the smells of the bakery, and remembering that I used to live in the middle of all that. I miss it!
3. Describe your dream vacation.
Well, assuming for the moment that I could leave the ferrets behind, or somehow take them with me--I would love to go to Egypt and cruise down the Nile, visiting temples and sites along the way. I would go to the 5 star hotels and see the great dancers, especially Dina. And I would go to the dressmakers street and have custom costumes made for me. Then I would cross the Mediterranean, go to Istanbul, and from there work my way across Europe until the land ran out somewhere in Ireland or Wales. Any particular place that I liked a lot, I would stay in long enough to get a sense of its rhythms. I would probably have a traincar of my own to travel in, that I could unhitch from the train wherever I wanted to stop. In all the places, I would eat and drink and gorge the senses. I would experience a lot of music.
Then I would come home and sleep for a week or two, and then write a book about my travels and quit my job and live off the book proceeds :-)
4. Where do you see yourself in 5 or 10 years wrt dancing?
That's a timely question, because I am nearing a bit of a crossroads now where I either get myself out in the clubs or I remain at happy amateur status. Either option has its attractions and drawbacks. From a technical standpoint, I would like to have perfectly smooth transitions and excellent posture. It's taken me 5 years to get from wretched posture (from a dance perspective) to "eh" posture, so another 5 years might do the trick there. I would like to be able to dance convincingly for Arabs, whether I go the nightclub route or not, and to deepen my knowledge of music and rhythms. I think a lot of what comes next depends on whether I can get past the structural weakness of my left leg and have done with the constant injuries. I still haven't given up my nebulous thoughts about a gothic troupe, either...
5. What's your favourite part about having a birthday in September? :)
Well, naturally all the best people are born in September ;-) Actually, I really like being born at a transitional time of year. I feel like things are happening as my birthday approaches as it gets dark earlier and the leaves begin to change and the summer heat becomes a welcome thing of the past and I can break out the velvets once again.
So many amazing things happened to me and around me there, it's very hard to settle on one. But one very important one was going to the Alaska Raptor Center for the first time. At that time, it was not much more than a bunch of sheds on the edge of town. A helicopter pilot who had a crush on one of my crewmates offered to bring a few of us over to the Center to see the eagles, as he did some volunteer work there. We went afterhours, with gifts of raw chicken breast for the eagles. We went into an administrative office, and the pilot told us to go quickly through a door at the other side of the room. We did--and there were four eagles staring back at us, in a room a bit smaller than your average living room. The eagles weren't restrained in any way, three adults and one somewhat ratty looking juvenile. They would know where you were going to move to before you had decided to start moving and would sidle out of the way along their perches or the floor. They made an oddly gentle "gronk" noise, talking amongst themselves. We opened the packages of chicken, which elicited immediate interest from the eagles. I held a piece of chicken out in my bare hand for a bird who can break fingers with a tiny snap of its beak, and the closest eagle oh so quickly and oh so precisely walked across the floor, stretched out his neck and plucked the piece of chicken from my fingers, then retreated a safe distance to eat his prize. I remember looking at the eagle's eyes, pale pale blue, as it judged just where the chicken was and thinking I was insane to be doing this, trusting this wild fierce bird to take care not to bite my fingers and to know that I wasn't going to hurt it, to somehow have its own trust in me. It was indeed a pretty stupid thing to do, but it remains one of the most powerful experiences of my life.
2. Why Fairmount over St. Viatur bagels?
To be honest, initially just because Fairmount was closer to my house and because everybody in Montreal had to have an opinion ;-) Now, I think it is because I can remember walking to Fairmount and the smells of the bakery, and remembering that I used to live in the middle of all that. I miss it!
3. Describe your dream vacation.
Well, assuming for the moment that I could leave the ferrets behind, or somehow take them with me--I would love to go to Egypt and cruise down the Nile, visiting temples and sites along the way. I would go to the 5 star hotels and see the great dancers, especially Dina. And I would go to the dressmakers street and have custom costumes made for me. Then I would cross the Mediterranean, go to Istanbul, and from there work my way across Europe until the land ran out somewhere in Ireland or Wales. Any particular place that I liked a lot, I would stay in long enough to get a sense of its rhythms. I would probably have a traincar of my own to travel in, that I could unhitch from the train wherever I wanted to stop. In all the places, I would eat and drink and gorge the senses. I would experience a lot of music.
Then I would come home and sleep for a week or two, and then write a book about my travels and quit my job and live off the book proceeds :-)
4. Where do you see yourself in 5 or 10 years wrt dancing?
That's a timely question, because I am nearing a bit of a crossroads now where I either get myself out in the clubs or I remain at happy amateur status. Either option has its attractions and drawbacks. From a technical standpoint, I would like to have perfectly smooth transitions and excellent posture. It's taken me 5 years to get from wretched posture (from a dance perspective) to "eh" posture, so another 5 years might do the trick there. I would like to be able to dance convincingly for Arabs, whether I go the nightclub route or not, and to deepen my knowledge of music and rhythms. I think a lot of what comes next depends on whether I can get past the structural weakness of my left leg and have done with the constant injuries. I still haven't given up my nebulous thoughts about a gothic troupe, either...
5. What's your favourite part about having a birthday in September? :)
Well, naturally all the best people are born in September ;-) Actually, I really like being born at a transitional time of year. I feel like things are happening as my birthday approaches as it gets dark earlier and the leaves begin to change and the summer heat becomes a welcome thing of the past and I can break out the velvets once again.
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Date: 2004-09-09 08:58 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-09-10 08:09 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-09-10 10:33 am (UTC)I was not journaling as myself when this meme went around the first time, so it's all new to me. :-)