on creativity

An interesting talk on creativity, from the author of Eat, Pray, Love, Elizabeth Gilbert.



The site, TED.com has videos of lots of interesting lectures - browse around and be inspired!

belly dance rehab - day 53

• day 50: 1 hour practice with the girls for the show
• day 53: 2 hour Bollywood/Bhangra class with Lopa of Bollywood Grooves Canada

Total on Day 53: 52.5 hours

belly dance rehab - day 49

• 30 minute workout with weights (worth half)
• bellydance class and troupe rehearsal - 2.5 hours

Total on Day 49: 49.5 hours

belly dance rehab - day 48

• 20 min. warm up to Tae Bo Boot camp DVD
• 1.5 hours of the Michelle Joyce Drills! Drills! Drills! DVD
  
• cool down and stretching

The Drills! DVD is tough. Especially the zylls! It's hard for me to add zylls to foot movements, so I kept the zyll pattern simple, and even then I had trouble maintaining it. And I think my glutes are gonna be sore tomorrow! LOL. Michelle does a lot of hip bumps/ups whereas I'm used to hip drops/down hips. As I get more familiar with the video, I'll probably switch them up in the drills.

I'm falling behind in my hours for the rehab, but hopefully I catch up tomorrow!

Total on Day 48: 46.75 hours

belly dance rehab - day 45

Day 45 woot woot! I'm halfway through the belly dance rehab! I can hardly believe that I kept it up this long. Although I haven't been dancing one hour each day - I skip a few days, then dance a couple of hours on one day. Overall, it's worked out to be an hour per day. Yay me!

• day 43 - choreography practice with E. for a troupe gig next week. (1 hour)
  
• day 44 - private lesson with Roula (1 hour). I also spent some time brainstorming my solo choreography and writing notes.
• day 45 - I might do some drills or a dvd today. I'll update this post if/when I do!
  

Total on Day 45: 44.75 hours

belly dance rehab - day 42

• day 35: bellydance class and troupe rehearsal (3 hours)
• day 41: 1.5 hour yoga class (0.75 hours)
• day 42: bellydance practice at home, followed by bellydance class (2.5 hours)

I am going to perform a solo at the studio's hafla in April, so I was working on my choreography today. It's an opening piece with a veil and lots of turns... it makes me dizzy. I have to be sure to break up the turning combos so that I have a chance to steady myself.

Total on Day 42: 42.75 hours

afghan swap - phase one complete

I have now received all of my squares for the Knit Girl/Sexy Lady Afghan Swap on Ravelry. It was so much fun that a few of us are extended the swap to make bigger afghans! So the original swap, phase one, is complete and now I'm starting phase two.

But first, the final squares...

Square #10-received, a turquoise beauty knit by Hellcat. It matches perfectly with the swallows.

Square #11-received from metalJune13, a badass skully on purple background:

Square #12, knit by me for me, using up oddballs from the other squares I've made:

Er, not a great photo with the knitting needles holding it flat. It was before I had woven in the ends and blocked it. The pattern is Slip Stitch Dishcloth by Dilys Sutherland.

Square #11 for Ms. Pixie Riot is my own creation. The main square is plain stockingette, and then I knit flowers (pattern for the flowers from the Charlotte Purse in Knitting Little Luxuries), and sewed them on with buttons for embellishment.

Another crapola photo. Sorry for the funny perspective.

And that wraps up phase one! I mailed out two squares today for phase two (#1 and #6), and am halfway through #2.

Now, must get back to knitting...

a little hiatus.... and yarn!

Oops, a week went by without any updates! I haven't been dancing much - just class and troupe rehearsal on Wednesday, and nothing since then. I've wanted to, but then started doing some other stuff around the house or on the computer, and then it was late and time for bed. I might still get a practice in tonight.

But to distract you from my pitiful non-bellydance-ness, here's some yarn:

It's my first order from Elann.com and I am sooo happy! I heard a knock on the door, and wondered if I should get it (often I don't open the door if I'm not expecting anyone), but as soon as I saw the Canada Post truck outside I got a little giddy. Yay yarn!

belly dance rehab - day 34

• Rachel Brice DVD (30 min.)
• zylls (15 min.)
• choreography (45 min.)

Total on Day 34: 36.5 hours

belly dance rehab - catch up

I haven't been posting, but I have been dancing!

• Day 29 - no structured practiced, but danced for a few hours at Funkabelly
• Day 31 - 1 hour yoga class (counts as half)
• Day 32 - 2 hour bellydance class with Meaghan

Meaghan's class was great. She taught us a combo to Solace's Beledi 4/4 (basic beledi rhythm that is consistent throughout the song), which is great for drilling. And she gave me some advice to relax my arms/shoulders that really made a difference!

Today I want to do some basic drills and isolations, and practice zylls and veil.

Total on Day 32: 35 hours