An April Horoscope

A good friend sent me this today, saying it reminded her of what I am dealing with now. Woah!

"April promises to be a month of transformation. Several significant planetary transitions occur, challenging us to find novel recipes to make use of their nourishment. One of the key features of the month is the opportunity to reconsider past decisions and rewrite our history or reframe the latest new chapter of our lives. Sometimes we need a do-over.

If you didn’t get all your clearing out and organizing done while Saturn was in Virgo, you’ll get another shot at it when Saturn goes back into Virgo on April 6. Since October 29, we’ve been experiencing the latest directive from Saturn—get your relationships in order. Now we get to go back and rework what was left over from the previous two years. Even though you may already know what Saturn in Libra is bringing to you, chances are good that you have some serious Virgo work to complete. This is essential groundwork for your next great plan in life. If it gives us a sense of relief to have this “extra time,” it also takes us back to unresolved dilemmas leftover from 2008-09.

These dilemmas will involve the Saturn-Uranus opposition that we have been learning through since mid-2008, with previous peak dates of November 4, 2008, February 5, 2009, and September 5, 2009. We still have two more contacts to go, one of them on April 26 at 29 Virgo/Pisces. By now, we should have at least gotten used to whatever issues these planets brought out in our lives. An odd combination of structure and freedom is beginning to emerge, perhaps in a startling form. It isn’t over yet, but we have more insight than we had before about how to find our way through the maze...."

iPod Touch worth it?

Today a student of mine asked about iPod Touch on her FB, and it got me thinking about my Touch I got for Christmas and how it has been working out for me in the intervening months. I wrote her a lengthy reply, and thought I would share it here. I know a lot of my fellow dancers and teachers use iPods extensively, and might benefit from hearing my experience.

Q. My ancient iPod classic is on its last legs. Anybody have an ipod touch? Thoughts? Why would I get one of those v. another classic?

A. I have owned three iPods--a Classic 20 Gig, Nano 2nd Gen 4 Gig, and Nano 4th Gen 8 Gig. I hardly ever used my (old, heavy, clunky) Classic 20 Gig to its fullest capacity because it was so hard to scroll through so much music. The click-wheel is truly an incredible innovation, but it has its limits. 20 Gigs was TOO MUCH music, and the interface being limited on purpose for simplicity made it cumbersome to use at that size. Then my 4 and 8 gigs weren't enough. The 4 because it was way too small to keep all my class and troupe music on and still have anything left over for my own listening pleasure, and the 8 because that now had a color screen and was also storing album art, the occasional movie, etc. But even at 8, despite some innovations in the interface software, I was starting to get that old familiar irritation of having a limited interface for a lot of data.

Enter the iTouch.

I got the largest version, because I wanted to be able to use all its features without having to choose what can and can't fit--I wanted all my dance music, plus some music for myself, and some videos. So far I have barely scratched the surface of its capacity, and though I am glad I made the choice to get a large capacity one, most people can probably get away with the mid-range for uses like mine.

As for the interface, it is just as intuitive as the other iPods, but with even more robust navigation options for accessing and working with your data. Though I have more music on it than my other iPods, I can get to it all faster. I can edit on the go playlists without having to start from scratch. When browsing lists, I can skip to a letter of the alphabet without scrolling interminably to get there. I can switch from Album to Artist without going back-back-forward, I just click on an icon at the bottom of the screen. Things just move a little faster, smoother, easier. Also a lot easier to read and see the body of information displayed thanks to a nice big screen.

Plus I have a calendar that interfaces with my Google Calendar, and updates whenever I am near an open WiFi connection (which I am a lot). I have a weight/calorie tracker to help with my diet efforts. Last night pulled up my Last.fm program, plugged it into our stereo, and played a Sneakerpimps-inspired playlist for a party. I ripped a copy of my favorite bellydance video to have on hand for reference of basic movement verbiage used in teaching. I can take a quick note for later reference--the virtual keyboard on these are shockingly easy to use. I have a few games to pass the time when waiting for appointments, or to pass to a friend's child to amuse them while we chat over tea (yes, I have some toddler-specific games for just that purpose ;). The list goes on.

I wish I could have an iPhone, but I won't switch to AT&T (too many friends who have been unhappy). I would love to be able to use 4G and not have to be near WiFi anytime I want to access the net (though I have a G1 phone for that), and I would love a camera in it. But those are my only complaints. I think the iTouch is really handy for my uses. Food for thought.

Cues & Tattoos: truly a labor of love

This past weekend on the Seattle Center campus was the Cues & Tattoos festival, hosted by Troupe Hipnotica, and is the braindchild of Adriene Rice and Julia Demarest. It focuses on stylistic variations which are rooted in the original American Tribal Style concept of group improvisational dance. With the mass proliferation of all things being called "tribal" these days, the beautiful and dynamic art of group improv was being buried and misunderstood. Adriene and Julia saw a need and they have met it beautifully for three years in a row--much to my delight, right here in my own back yard in Seattle--with Cues & Tattoos.

The time and organization it takes to host a festival is enormous--take a local hafla and explode it about a thousandfold! These ladies, with the help of their fellow troupe-mates and other volunteer staff, have turned this labor of love into a festival to rival many more established festivals in the community. And it promises to just keep getting better.

Tattoo wisdom from Ravelry

Auntie BubboPants over on Ravelry.com is a hoot to read. But this month I particularly loved her response to a woman who wants to get a tattoo, but her hubby isn't keen on it. I kept saying "YEAH!" throughout. I thought it was really well written and worth sharing.

I wouldn't normally cut and paste and entire thing into my blog, but you have to be a member to read stuff on Ravelry, so I shared it in its entirety here. (If you are a knitter/crocheter, you should be a member!!)

I am going to be 31 soon and, despite my rabid fear of needles, I would really really REALLY like to get a tattoo. I feel like I need to do something kind of wild and crazy before I become an old fart. I’ve always been the steady one, the dependable one. I’ve been married for nearly 11 years for crying out loud. I have a child and a home and a decent car which I don’t love but gets me where I need to go. I’ve never really done anything too terribly crazy in the last 11 years or so.
Here’s the real problem. My husband thinks that tattoos are bad. Very bad. Trashy even.
How do I convince him to let me experience this one bit of wildness and get tatted up before I officially enter Old Fartsville?

Signed,
Wants a Tattoo

Dear WaT,
What is a tattoo but a permanent alteration of the pigment in a specific area of the skin. Tattoos, like hair or shoes, entirely impartial and neutral. They are inherently neither trashy or classy. Trashy is an adjective that describes a lifestyle or set of lifestyle choices. A tattoo might represent a trashy lifestyle choice, but it doesn’t have to.

Theater skills in dance

Over on Shira's Tribe there is a spin-off discussion on what theater skills we think bellydancers could benefit from knowing. As an amateur actor all my life, and a theater major at the University of Washington, and community theater participant for many years, I definitely retain many of my skills (and expectations) that were nurtured in the theater. I try to pass those on to my students throughout their class and performance experiences, but sometimes I feel like we need a whole class dedicated to theater skills, and a big stage production to show them how it all fits together! There is a lot to be learned there for our dance world...

As for what dancers need to know that theater people know...can I say EVERYTHING?! The short list I shared with the tribe (with a few additions) follows.