(no subject)

Last night, Other Kenjari and I watched Appaloosa, the recent western directed by Ed Harris and starring Harris and Viggo Mortensen. It was quite good - both Harris and Mortensen were excellent, and Renee Zellweger played surprisingly well against her usual type. I also liked how her character, Allie, was treated fairly sympathetically, when it would have been all too easy for the script to deal with her more harshly. Also, my movie-star crush on Viggo Mortensen continues unabated.

(no subject)

I survived the first three days of classes at work without too many bruises. No matter how well-prepared you think you are, it's hard to truly be ready. Wednesday was absolutely crazy, complete with a few last minute changes to room assignments and accompanists. It's really hard to keep up with everything, but we all made it through. Thursday and Friday were still very busy, but at least somewhat less frantic. At least I find all of it rewarding, and I really like all the faculty and students. Sometimes dealing with the overall administration of the conservatory can be a little frustrating, but that would be true in any academic institution.
One of the nice perks of working in a dance department is the attitude towards injury - we really take it seriously here. Y and E are genuinely concerned about the state of my arm, and won't let me lift anything heavy. Also, I can use some of our resources to help deal with my arm tendonitis. I've started working with Debi, our Alexander technique instructor, in brief sessions on the days she teaches. It's early yet, but I think it's going to be really helpful, because Alexander technique will address the main frustration I have with this particular bout of tendonitis: I don't know what's causing it. we also have a physical therapist on staff who comes in once a week to do consultations with the students. Y and E have encouraged me to consult with her when she's here, which I'll get to do on Wednesday.
It's terrific to have all these resources to draw on, because this is proving to be the worst time I've ever had with my right arm. It's more painful, and proving to be much more stubborn than previous problems.

25 Random Things

This 25 Random Things About Me meme's been going around Facebook. I thought I'd post it here, too.


1. I have never been able to properly snap my fingers. I just can't manage to produce the right sound. I have no idea what I'm doing wrong, but most of the time I don't care enough to work on it.

2. I don't have perfect pitch. I meet a lot of people who seem to think it goes hand-in-hand with being a composer. It really doesn't, though - I know plenty of composers who don't have it.

3. I went to the nerdiest summer camp of all time (yes, there is something nerdier than band camp): organ camp. It was a summer program for high school age organists, at Westminster Choir college in NJ. I ended up having a really great time, though. Not only was it a great musical experience, but I discovered that outside of the harshly cliquish and conformist climate of my school, I could in fact be well-liked by a group of my peers.

4. I love dumplings of all kinds: potstickers, gyoza, shumai, pierogi, ravioli, etc. Wrap dough around some kind of tasty filling, and I will want to eat it.

5. My favorite snack is Annie's Bunny Grahams. They are so yummy - I can easily eat a half a box in one sitting.

6. I have a massive movie-star crush on Viggo Mortensen. Mmmmmmm.

7. I have a slight phobia of vomiting (emetophobia). Luckily, I haven't done so in about 8 years.

8. I also have a weird phobia of wasps. They scare me beyond a reasonable aversion to being stung. I find them creepy and repulsive.

9. I'm one of the few people I know to have read all six of Frank Herbert's Dune novels. The first 4 are pretty interesting, but I think Herbert kind of dropped the ball with the last two.

10. I look significantly younger than I am. Lots of people think I'm in my 20s. I'm kind of hoping this trend continues. ;)

11. I like being in school or taking classes. I enjoy the whole process, and even like studying. At this point I prefer writing papers to taking tests, though.

12. I look remarkably like my maternal grandmother. Sometimes looking at pictures of her can be a little weird, because I'll run across photos that are like looking at myself.

13. I have extremely vivid dreams. Many of them are like movies, with involved plots and fully fledged characters. I get full sensory perception, too. In addition to seeing and hearing, I can taste the food, perceive scents, and feel physical sensations.

14. My dreaming subconscious has also created its own city to serve as a setting for several of my dreams. It's cobbled together from parts of the various places I've lived or spent a lot of time in over my life.

15. I am not much of a fan of Broadway musicals, except for Sondheim. The genre and it's stylistic conventions just don't do it for me.

16. I'm a really good cook. It's a skill that runs in my family, but I personally think that I might be the best cook in the family.

17. I am currently completely hooked on Janelle Monae's album Metropolis: The Chase Suite. it's not even my usual sort of thing, but I just can't get enough of this.

18. I find advanced astronomy incredibly fascinating. Theoretical physics, too.

19. All of the sports I've ever been interested in taking up or have really enjoyed doing involve deadly force of some kind: fencing, archery, various forms of sword-fighting, martial arts.

20. I only recently started liking cooked fish and other seafood. Growing up, I couldn't stand the stuff, no matter how well-prepared it was.

21. I love my piano almost as if it were a person.

22. I still have all my wisdom teeth. They came in fine, and I've never had any problems with them, so they've stayed put.

23. I've never broken a bone. I may have fractured a toe once, but I've never had a full break.

24. I'm really good at picking up accents. When travelling in Britain, I have to be careful and listen to myself so as not to seem liking I'm making fun of people. I'm also pretty good with learning foreign phrases just from watching subtitled movies.

25. I love looking at modern art and listening to contemporary music because I find I can have a much more immediate reaction to it. There's no weight of accumulated cultural assessment to mediate the experience.