Friends: 25 Years!

Valerie and I have been friends since the 7th grade. We met at Mission Junior High in Bellevue, Nebraska. We have kept in contact through the years--and different states: Nebraska, Texas, Maryland. When Valerie told me that we had been friends for 25 years I could hardly believe it. Now I'm moving, but I'm sure we will remain friends.  And we might some day find ourselves living in the same state again.

Fascination: Loss of Knowledge

I'm fascinated by the idea of a massive world-wide loss of knowledge.  I been rereading some of my favorite childhood books--The Tripod series John Christopher. In the books watches and clocks are rare, train cars are pulled by horses, and large cities are completely abandoned. In The Gunslinger the characters also come across abandoned cities, are baffled by the cars they find, and have somehow lost all technology.

I wonder if this could really happen to us. In some ways, it already has. We have lost musical instruments. We have lost the knowledge of medicine men. Heck, we speculate how the pyramids were built. Will people one day come across our old cell phones and mp3 players and wonder what they were?

Trapeze Show: My Trick!

I had lots of nerves yesterday.  They all melted away after I did my trick.  I'm super happy today, and super sore. 

We got home after 2am this morning. I slept until 930 or so, then napped for another 4 hours. That was my plan for today. Sleep.

Longwood Gardens: Lilies

We went to Longwood Gardens last night to see their special exhibit: Light.  When we walked in at 7p we saw a sign that said there was a talk about lilies scheduled for 630. I wasn't upset that we missed it, but I was excited for Ross to be able to see the lilies while it was still light. I've seen the lilies a few times before, but Ross had never seen them. When we got to the lily pond area the talk was still going on. I learned a lot about the life cycle of the Victoria water lily and got to see the underside of the lily platter.

We were encouraged to poke and smell the flowers and feel the lily platter.

The underside was spiky. The experts said that the platter could hold 110lbs, but the top skin is very thin.

This is a cross-section of the Victoria lily first night bloom. Beetles are attracted to the scent (pungent frou frou cheesy) and crawl down into the flower.  The flower closes up and traps the beetles inside. On the second night the hole the beetles entered through is shut tightly, so they force their way out--and in the process are coated in pollen.  The beetles move onto another first night flower--and pollinate it.  The first night flower is white, and the second night flower is more pink--you can see one on the ground next to the lily platter in the photo above (the large open flower.)

The lily pond also has night blooming lilies. Here is the before (still daylight) photo.

Here is the same flower later on--when it was dark.

Good Mileage

Commuting down to DC for class without the AC on gives me some good mileage. I think this is the best I may have ever seen on my car. I wish my mileage was always this good.

Movie: Monsters

Last weekend we watched Monsters on Netflix instant watch. This isn't so much an alien movie as it is a movie about how people live with aliens.  Vaguely reminiscent of District 9. The movie follows two people trying to get back to the US from Mexico.  We liked that this movie was very realistic.  The lead male character is an ass.  The conversations the female lead has with the people she meets are true to life.  Don't expect lots of big budget effects or a lot of alien screen time.  No fairy tale here--this is a movie about regular people.

A couple of weeks ago we watched Skyline. Monsters is much, much better.

Movie: Haywire

Ross and I watched Haywire on DVD from Netflix last Sunday.  The premise of the movie is really nothing new.  That said, I really liked it. Gina Carano delivers awesome action as the femme fatal. The story line was sometimes hard to follow, in fact, I'm not sure I figured it all out.  So I wouldn't watch it for the story, but if you want some great action scenes, Haywire has them.

Lavender Haiku

Deep inhalation,

blue purple, soft as velvet,

distinct Summer smell.

Trapeze: Pro Photos

Here is a professional photo showing the face I make when I'm concentrating really hard and Meghan yells "Face!" at me. All but a couple of the pro photos had me making this face.  For some reason I couldn't hear the "Face!" calls tonight, so I guess I kept doing it.

There were two great photos of me back near the board. No lip-sucking face. I look calm, relaxed. And I'm rockin' my over-the-knee socks and booty-ish shorts. My legs look a little white because I was wearing flesh-colored fishnets.

Ross Catches Set Whip

Tonight Ross caught the set whip and started working on the set hocks off trick.

Trapeze: First Back End Trick: Whip

This first video shows my first smooth, successful back end trick. After this turn I was super-pumped. I haven't been that excited since my first class.

Here is the trick with Dan catching.

Trapeze: Wig Test

My Trapeze IFW show is only 2 weeks away. I decided to bring my wig today to test it out. It is really long.  I was concerned with it flying off.  As you can see in the first video--it flies in front of me during the trick and Donovan can't see, much less catch my hands.  On the second try I put the wig into a low pony tail.  No problem!

This photo is to show how red my hands get after trapeze.  I also have red streaks along the tendons on my palms.  My right hand is fine.  The tendons on my left hand are very sensitive and tender.  I have a Living Social coupon for acupuncture--maybe I'll ask them to work on my hands.

Climbing Silks

I decided that I wanted to climb to the top of the silks by the end of my 10 week Trapeze class. I'm proud to say I've been able to do it. Ross took a video last week. I was tired. So I was definitely look funny waggling my legs around. I've tried the Russian climb, but  so far I don't like it. I will practice it more though to see if I get more comfortable with it.

After Trapeze IFW is over I'm definitely going to take a silks class--and trampoline too!

Costume Adjustment

This week everything for my Silk Spectre II costume came in from Amazon. I knew the boot covers wouldn't work for me, so I ordered some wet look stockings. The stockings are one size/XL.  They are shaped more like Christmas stockings than sexy thigh high stockings. Luckily the stockings have a seam up the back, so I was able to easily alter them. See before and after photos below. Before the alterations I had cankles and curveless legs.

Video of My Swing: Watch the Face!

Swinging is really hard work. After three or four kicks I'm tired. I like this video because you can hear Meghan shouting "watch the face" and "face!" My flying is directly related to my face. If I smile or laugh I do much better. I guess there is a lesson in that. The more relaxed I am, the better I do. I shouldn't take it so seriously.