Hoop class tonight totally blew.  I was looking forward to it all week, and I think I managed to convince myself that it wasn’t going to be far harder than what I was used to in the first set of classes.  I felt so completely feeble.  And lethargic.  I couldn’t get comfortable in my hoop and I realized as the class progressed that I must have learned shoulder hooping all wrong.  I learned it by depending on turning my body to assist the hoop in continuing rotation, instead of learning how to properly use my shoulders and chest and back to keep it going around.  I feel like I have to stop everything and go right back to major body movement numero deux and start again.

I don’t know if it’s just a quirk in my personality, or if it’s just basic human nature to compare ourselves to those around us, but I felt frustrated at my lack of progress in relation to everyone else.  Which I know is so completely stupid!  I don’t know what’s wrong with me.   I hoop because I love it so much, but class tonight took out the ‘love’ part and replaced it with that competitive sense that I used to get when I was a flutist.  Like I had to be better than everyone else.  Memorable.  And when that happens, there goes the enjoyment in it.  It becomes a task instead.  I have to shut that off.  Who cares how many tricks I can churn out one after the other if I’m not feeling the music anymore or enjoying the dance?

Yesterday I was graced with three beautiful hours of hoop practice thanks to my husband finding me some nice open space to stretch out in.  And today I pushed the desk back in my office and spent my lunch hour working on things I know need work.  And then I spent an hour in class tonight, frustrated and sweaty and cranky.  I realized on the drive home that I’m feeling cranky about it, and so I’m not going to practice any more tonight - or even possibly tomorrow.  I have a Pilates class tomorrow that will ground me like it always does, and maybe I’ll start fresh on Wednesday.  Or maybe I won’t.  I need to let go of this need to progress at 100 miles an hour.  It’s not about being better.  It’s just about dancing and enjoying myself.  That’s it, that’s all.

January 26th, 2009 | Tags: hoopdance, hooping | Category: daily living, as it were | Comments (3)

step one

Originally uploaded by snowzilla

I recently posted about my adventures in finding the right kind of tubing for diy hula hoops. After having several friends ask me how to do it, I did a very short photo tutorial - and by short, I mean six photos. I really didn’t see the point in reinventing the wheel. The instructions at www.jasonunbound.com as well as other blogs out there has made it really easy and affordable to get into hula hooping. This is just my contribution to taking the mystery out of making your own hoop. Enjoy!

January 19th, 2009 | Tags: hoopdance, hula hoop | Category: daily living, as it were, photographs | Leave a comment

This is only a fraction of the collection I’ve amassed (although 3 in this picture are for other people).  I think I have a problem.

I had a hard time parting with that purple one today.  It was for a coworker’s daughter.   The one in the back row - the green-on-green hoop, is my first.  A big 1-inch monster that feels like it weighs a ton.  And yet, I can’t bring myself to part with it - I’m too sentimental!  I wonder if other hoopers keep their first hoop, or if they eventually give it away.  Part of me feels like I should gift it to someone who wants to learn how to hoop, since I don’t use it anymore.  Hmmm.

January 17th, 2009 | Tags: hoopdance, hooping | Category: photographs | Leave a comment

As a kid, I was completely and totally in love with Mark Hamel’s Luke Skywalker character from Star Wars.  I thought Princess Leia’s buns really were made out of cinamon rolls.  I cried when that little Ewok died during Return of the Jedi.  And that’s why I find it kind of sad that I don’t have a single picture I can contribute to this Flickr group - Growing Up Star Wars. 

Princess Leia for Halloween 2
Originally uploaded by Dr.Amy.

January 15th, 2009 | Category: photographs | Comments (1)

Thanks to the smart little geniuses at Prodmod, I made my first LED hoop yesterday!  I ordered the kit from them shortly before Christmas, as a distraction from all of the nuttiness that Christmas was throwing at me, and I finally got around to buying the tubing yesterday.  I have to give huge thumbs up to Prodmod for coming up with such an easy-to-use DIY kit, and moreso for putting such kickass directions up on their website to go with it.  Everything was clear and concise and written for someone as completely dumb as myself to put together.  I only had one sonofa! moment when I pulled too hard on the wire strippers and broke one of the wires I was working with, but a quick trip to Circuit City landed me with 100 extra feet of wire and I had the project finished by dinner time. 

 This isn’t my picture - because I haven’t taken one yet - but this is a Prodmod hoop, and this looks pretty much exactly like what I built last night.  Bravo, Prodmod!

P1200712

Originally uploaded by prodmod.com

January 12th, 2009 | Tags: hoop dance, hooping, hula hoop | Category: daily living, as it were | Comments (1)

I had the worst night at hoop class.  It was our last class until the end of January, and I was totally jonesing for my hoop fix.  With all of the company and madness of the holidays, I didn’t have a chance to pick up a hoop for over a week.  I think everything would have been fine had I just stuck to hooping in my own little corner, away from the mirrors and all - those who know me well know all about my body image issues, and I usually try to hang out in the corner of the classroom away from the big mirrors that put it all on display.  But tonight we were supposed to hoop solo, in front of the class, and everything I’ve learned and practiced and found joy in flew right out the window.  To make matters worse, we were encouraged to videotape our performances so that we’d have a reference point in our progression through hoop dance, and I tell you - what I recorded tonight looked like a drunk monkey batting around a bicycle tire.  A really fat, drunk monkey.  My hands and my brain completely parted ways, and I fumbled my way through it until I finally gave up, even though the song was far from over.

I’m disappointed in myself for letting it get to me so much.  One of the reasons I’ve fallen so deeply in love with hoop dance to begin with is the freedom that comes with it, and yet here I am feeling completely constrained by my disappointment and embarassment.  I know I can do better, but I’m having a hard time being satisfied simply with the knowledge of it.  I want to PROVE I can do better.  I want a do-over!

December 29th, 2008 | Category: daily living, as it were | Comments (2)

This morning I awoke to a number of wonderful things:

1. Hot water again!  It’s a Christmas miracle!

2. Bailey’s in my coffee! 

3. An early shut-down at the office to get me home in time to catch up on everything I couldn’t do without hot water!

But number four - I received some very strange emails today.  Some very strange, yet amusing emails.  You see, there is another Snowzilla out there, whom you’ve no doubt heard about because he is so bloody controversial.  I am not controversial, but hey.  I can see how there is some confusion, since the Snowzilla in Anchorage, Alaska has an email address very similar to my own. 

I’m far from having a huge opinion about whether or not Snowzilla in Alaska should be allowed to stay or go, but I do have one question regarding the biggest complaint the citizens of Anchorage seem to have about his existence.  They say that the traffic and gawkers who come to look at Snowzilla are a nuisance.  Srsly.  In ALASKA?   What, ten cars drove past your house in December, and you consider that a nuisance?  I’m guessing it’s all local traffic, because I don’t imagine there are a whole train of Canadians crossing the border from BC to get a look at your giant Snowman.  Or is it those pesky Russians that Sarah Palin can see from her house?  Did they organize some sort of convoy in the middle of the night, and sneak into your backyards to get a closer look?

Anyways, to clear up any confusion: I am NOT the giant snowman in Anchorage, Alaska, nor am I associated in any way with the giant snowman in Alaska.  Yes, I am very tall - 5 foot 11 inches, in fact, which for a chick borders on “why aren’t you playing pro basketball?”, but I am not 16 feet tall, nor am I made out of snow.  I have carried the snowzilla username with me for about six years now - so I guess you could say that *I* was Snowzilla first.  But who’s keeping score?  I think Snowzilla the giant snowman is pretty awesome, even if it does mean that I’ve been getting numerous emails offering me support in the way of effigies being built in my honor in backyards across America.  I’m not even American, dude!   And if you do choose to build a snow-person in your backyard to show me your support, do me a favor and give her some nice, trim hips and an impressive -yet tasteful - rack.  That’s all I ask.  And maybe some nice shoes.

December 24th, 2008 | Tags: Christmas, snowzilla | Category: daily living, as it were | Comments (2)

All I want for Christmas is my sanity. To those of you who are whining about freezing temperatures – I either commiserate with you, or I laugh at you for thinking that you even know what cold is in comparison to how freaking cold it is here.  Don’t make me explain the concept of square tires.  We could be here all day one-upping each other.  Instead, I present you with a holiday algebra problem.  
Currently, we are on day 4 of having no hot water in our kitchen (frozen pipes, thanks to the former homeowners’ attempts at DIY renovation).


Tomorrow, we are hosting Christmas Eve for 20 people.

In 2 more days,  we are hosting Christmas Day for 10 people.

I have 1 ham and 1 20lb turkey that I forgot to take out of the freezer last night.

I have 2 guests arriving tonight to stay with us until Saturday.

I am short 3 three chairs to seat our guests thanks to various poker nights at our house over the past year which drastically dwindled our available seating.  (Do not lean back in our chairs, k!thx!bai!)

I am on day 7 (?) of a flu that just won’t go away, and hubby is on day 2 of a cold that has rendered him crankier than…well, really effing cranky. 

 If you do the math on this, I believe that the long and short answer to this problem is: 750ml of pretty much anything with a high enough alcohol content that I could light it on fire.

December 23rd, 2008 | Tags: Christmas, family | Category: daily living, as it were | Comments (1)

Today, I spent the better part of the morning rearranging my office furniture so that I can practice hooping in my office at lunch time.  *snicker*

December 17th, 2008 | Tags: hoop dance, hooping | Category: embarassing confessions | Comments (1)