(no subject)
Feb. 28th, 2005 11:13 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
alonewiththemoonAnother show down... Yesterday's Bedouin Tent performance went well. I was more nervous than a bag of cats leading up to it, but once I headed for the stage, I was okay. The sound was kind of sketchy (it was my walkman plugged into a guitar amp) so some cues were inaudible, but hey, if I couldn't hear them then neither could the audience. People liked the zar. I enjoyed doing it, though I do have to say I liked performing it better in the small surrounded by people at a party situation than in the everybody sitting in chairs in rows looking at me up in front of them situation. I am not a religious person so I can't really use the word sacred in any meaningful way, but there is something that feels important about the dance. I become a different person in a way, yet I am rawly myself, much more on display than when I do regular dancing. Maybe without the intermediaries of deities I have discovered that the spirits always come from within, that a dance intended to placate the spirits is about consolidating oneself by tapping into the energy and tensions held within and letting it all disperse. Or something like that.
If nothing else, I find that a month of working on zar has left me with far less shoulder and neck tension than usual. I read somewhere the other day that the head weighs about 20 pounds, so I'm sure I've strengthened all of those supporting muscles with all the head rolls and hair tosses. My sense of balance has certainly improved--the 8 spinning turns in the troupe number didn't phase me at all. I did learn a little trick to help with stopping the dizziness. Since dizziness is caused by the inner ear fluid still spinning after the body has stopped, a tiny bob up and down helps to slosh the fluid back into place. I used the same trick at the end of my zar, flipping my head straight down and up by way of a bow.
The new ferret continues to settle in. He really is a sweetheart--he follows us around the apartment. He also begs shamelessly for table scraps, which probably helps to explain his weight problem. It's pretty sad to see that his weight keeps him from doing the normal ferrety things that he clearly wants to do--climb, run, play. But he does try to do those things, so with time his muscle tone will improve and the weight will come off. Luckily spring is coming up, when ferrets usually lose weight anyway, so that should help. The name Ronan hasn't totally stuck to him yet. Naming things is hard, especially when you are looking at an animal who is not quite what he is meant to be and will become. The way he follows us around does help the name Ronan though, because it reminds me of the way that seals would follow us in Alaska out on the Zodiac, or even sometimes when we were relaxing on the beach. The seals didn't come up on land, but they would swim up as shallow as they could so that they could look at us.
Our heat conked out last night. The furnace guy came at 2am to fix it--poor M stayed up waiting for him. I went to bed as I was exhausted, but knowing that somebody was going to be in the house kept me from really sleeping well. A restless night was worth having hot water in the morning, though.
On a whim, I ordered a cd by Jill Tracy from the Projekt store. I don't know why I have never heard this woman before--I am enthralled. Imagine something like Voltaire, early Nick Cave, Beth Gibbons, the singer from 12 Rounds, the first Goldfrappe album and a legacy of torch singers all thrown into a blender, and it's something like that. This is easily one of the best albums I have bought in a long time.
I’ll hold your hand while they drag the river
I’ll cuddle you in the undertow
I’ll keep my hand on your trigger finger
I’ll take you down where the train tracks go
Let’s wile away the hours
Let’s spend an evil night together
If nothing else, I find that a month of working on zar has left me with far less shoulder and neck tension than usual. I read somewhere the other day that the head weighs about 20 pounds, so I'm sure I've strengthened all of those supporting muscles with all the head rolls and hair tosses. My sense of balance has certainly improved--the 8 spinning turns in the troupe number didn't phase me at all. I did learn a little trick to help with stopping the dizziness. Since dizziness is caused by the inner ear fluid still spinning after the body has stopped, a tiny bob up and down helps to slosh the fluid back into place. I used the same trick at the end of my zar, flipping my head straight down and up by way of a bow.
The new ferret continues to settle in. He really is a sweetheart--he follows us around the apartment. He also begs shamelessly for table scraps, which probably helps to explain his weight problem. It's pretty sad to see that his weight keeps him from doing the normal ferrety things that he clearly wants to do--climb, run, play. But he does try to do those things, so with time his muscle tone will improve and the weight will come off. Luckily spring is coming up, when ferrets usually lose weight anyway, so that should help. The name Ronan hasn't totally stuck to him yet. Naming things is hard, especially when you are looking at an animal who is not quite what he is meant to be and will become. The way he follows us around does help the name Ronan though, because it reminds me of the way that seals would follow us in Alaska out on the Zodiac, or even sometimes when we were relaxing on the beach. The seals didn't come up on land, but they would swim up as shallow as they could so that they could look at us.
Our heat conked out last night. The furnace guy came at 2am to fix it--poor M stayed up waiting for him. I went to bed as I was exhausted, but knowing that somebody was going to be in the house kept me from really sleeping well. A restless night was worth having hot water in the morning, though.
On a whim, I ordered a cd by Jill Tracy from the Projekt store. I don't know why I have never heard this woman before--I am enthralled. Imagine something like Voltaire, early Nick Cave, Beth Gibbons, the singer from 12 Rounds, the first Goldfrappe album and a legacy of torch singers all thrown into a blender, and it's something like that. This is easily one of the best albums I have bought in a long time.
I’ll hold your hand while they drag the river
I’ll cuddle you in the undertow
I’ll keep my hand on your trigger finger
I’ll take you down where the train tracks go
Let’s wile away the hours
Let’s spend an evil night together
