Writing through the writers block

Feeling the urge to write today, although I'm not sure yet what about.

I had my second Capoeira class today. It was soooo good. Last week I was sore for 3-4 days afterward. It's a total body workout. I hurt in muscles that I hadn't used in year, some I didn't know I had. And it felt delicious. Now I need to start learning Portuguese so I can follow along in class better. I must say that I am excited to learn more about a culture that I am sort of a part of. I say sort of because while I am part Portuguese, my family is from the Azores off the coast of Portugal, not Brazil. I would love to visit both and compare.

I have been in a weird sort of funk lately. It's been like the tides, although nowhere near as steady. The winter was isolated, Noah and I both holed up and were fairly anti-social for most of the cold season. But once it started to get warm, we began to come out of our concrete box and into the sunlight. We've been getting outside as much as we can, going on walks, meeting friends, and trying yummy new food (Habesha-amazing Ethiopian!).

I felt great after my yoga detox retreat. And felt great for weeks afterward. But then I began to sink into some old routines, and the glow faded. Lately my body has been feeling very bogged down, not a lot of energy, kind of anxious and almost angry at times. I need to make better health choices. I felt really good after last weeks Capoeira class, and feel awesome today too. I just have to keep going, every chance I get. I have to go to at least 2 a week to make my unlimited class membership worth it. Wed/Fri mornings and Sat afternoons will probably work very well for me.

Okay, I should really work now.

Pensive thoughts

The ebb and flow of life never ceases to amaze me. Every time life begins to settle into a routine, something comes along and throws a stick in your gears, causing you to fly headfirst over the handlebars and straight into something you never expected. The friends you had yesterday are strangers today. The strangers of yesterday are now friends. Following ones path and allowing life to happen can be easier than you think. Sometimes you just have to take a deep breath and just let things happen.

Testing, testing, 1, 2, 3

I'm testing out some things I was thinking of adding to our website. One is a live chat Plugoo widget, and the other is a clock with local time in the destination country. Here is the clock, with local Bangkok time:

Bangkok

I miss my co-op

Desperately.

Following my path...making some turns....but always toward the same destination

This is the first time in my life where I truly feel like an adult. I have a job that I enjoy, that makes me feel happy at the end of the day. I am referred to as a colleague. I am no longer merely an "employee" that is looked down upon by upper management, but as a valued member of a team.

It's a great feeling.

Now if I could just get more commissions coming in I could quit my night job and join the rest of society during normal business hours.

I know I've changed a little. But not a lot. Sure, last summer I didn't own a single pair of heels, jeans, or a nice jacket, didn't drink coffee and slept all day. Now I work 16 hour days in heels, fueled by multiple cups of coffee, clothed in unfamiliar clothes. Kind of. I've been trying to blend my bohemian-hippie style with a more professional style, and it has kind of turned into what Noah calls "avant-garde artsty chic". I like it :)

My priorities have not changed either. At least, not long-term. My life goals are still the same: travel the world, be a nomad (with a home base), go to grad school, study glass and poi and anything else creative. But in the short-term, I need to pay off my debt and save money to enable me to achieve those long-term goals-and shouldn't I do it in a way that fulfills me? Even if I never see Noah anymore :( I keep telling myself-and him-that it won't be like this forever. Eventually the commissions will be steady and I can quit Wasabi.

I don't believe I mentioned what my new job is. Well, I'm the Director for Southeast Asia Travel for a local travel company here in Seattle. I feel like it blends my interests (and skills) in a way that no other job ever has. I believe in what we do, and I enjoy my job. It might not be the best time to be selling travel, but we will see. All I can do is give my best, and expect the best.

And that's just what I'm doing.

Hero of the Day: Bruce Elliott

Bruce Elliott, for his "Nude Governor Series".

A Chicago painter, Bruce paints for fun. He doesn't care if anyone likes his work. He mentioned (sarcastically?) that's he's kind of like Van Gogh, not appreciated in his time. But he says he can live with that. Especially, he says, when your wife owns a bar.

Bruce came under fire for his nude painting of Sarah Palin for being about a woman and a Republican.

His response? A second installment. And this time, about a man and a Democrat, entitled, "Cavity Search," starring a nude Rod Blagojevich.

Both paintings will be on display in his wife's bar, The Old Town Ale House.

Check out the Chicago Tribune's story here. Make sure you watch the video!!

Update

Living with Noah: Wonderful :) I love our life.

The Apartment: Amazing, except for the rampant 8 am construction occurring on scaffolding outside my window. That's right. We thought we'd gotten away from the construction, but no, it just followed us. So I wake up every morning to what sounds like someone taking a jackhammer to my concrete ceiling.

I'm so tired.

But on the upside, I've been taking meeting lots of new people in the neighborhood, mostly people from work, and been taking glass classes. I just finished Glass Blowing 1, and now am taking a Boro techniques class. Pictures of some finished work soon to come.

I made my first pair of fire poi. I LOVE THEM. I wasn't practicing on a regular basis for a few months, and it was beginning to show. So I've been putting in daily practice and can feel myself getting back in the groove. I'm going to take a belly dancing class and a capoiera class to improve my performance too.

I figure that since I have to stay put for a while to work and pay off some bills, I might as well do everything that I can't normally do on the road. Like take classes. Be super domestic create a comfortable home. Apply to graduate school. That's a big one. I'm definitely applying to Chatham University for my MFA in Creative Writing. I would kind of like to do the full-time residency program, but I think I will just do the low-residency one, that way Noah and I have options when it comes to where we want to live or if we want to travel for an extended period of time. He wants to put in at least 2 years at a job before we take off for a while. We're hoping he gets a good full-time offer from the place he's contracting at right now.

I can't put into words how happy I am that I met Noah. I feel like I can see how my entire life has led up to him. While it's amazing we never met when we were young, it could have only happened this way. It was perfect. It was like we were unknowingly drawn together, like a divine hand caused our paths to converge that morning. I can't believe that it was just chance. I don't really think that anything is chance.

I look forward to a long life with this man. I just want to make him happier than he's ever been. Because he not only makes me happy, I am better because of him.