mizarchivist

I rejoined the gym and it's just not a great notion for me these days. It is right there by work, but it turns out going more than twice a week is really never going to happen... going once is a victory of sorts. And that is NOT cost-effective, especially when it turns out you don't have a chance to go every week.
So, something else.
Thoughts I've had so far--

• Dance Complex in Cambridge


• Cambridge Center for Adult Ed.

um. That's it so far. Dance complex has stuff I'd be willing to try. CCAE? Nope. I tried tap classes which were held in the basement of the Regent theater in Arlington Center, but it never felt quite right.
I'm open to suggestions.

It'd been a very long while since I went to Bollywood dance. I signed up for a drop-in for tonight through the website, and yet- when I got to the studio, I got The Look. You know, the one that you get when you're not expected. In this case, because there is no more Bollywood class. However, the Wunderkinder didn't think to disable the bit where people can sign up for the non-existent class. Nor did they think to look to see if anyone signed up over the course of 12-13 hours. Again- I should have called first. How foolish of me to expect them to act like a legitimate business. (Yes, I'm getting a refund for tonight.)
I grudgingly went tonight as a one last chance/need to blow off steam and instead had my trust smashed all to hell and added steam. Dammit. I really liked going there. Before.
Dexter Morgan will soothe me. No- he really won't. Last week's episode was filled with nail-biting and squeaks of startlement.
So, skating it is then. 12/2, Pygment?

Yak and Yeti: Tibetan/Indian food in Ball Sq. Kind of light on the TIbetan food side, but tasty. Their medium-spicy is more like a low-grade hot.

Tai Chi at World Rhythms: quiet_elegance  really likes it! Yay! I enjoyed it, too, but can't dedicate another night to a class (time and money) The guy who instructs, Adison, is made of mellow. His grace is staggering. I can see him being a natural at modern dance and the like. If all goes according to plan, q_e will go back for at least a 5 week run and has aspirations of learning the sword style if Adison's up for it. That last bit is sort of way down the line. Gotta learn to crawl before you can dance on a tight rope.

Also: they're looking for front-desk help, like starting 2 weeks ago. Poor Javier (the owner) is somewhat frantic. He's a great guy, but doesn't really have the energy for details, like sending out reminders, replying to email, keeping up with the web site. He and his wife have a little kid and I think still live in Worcester. He's been at the studio every night, which is a strain that's starting to show. Anyway- if you need some part time work? It's a walk from Davis or Porter and they are Good People.

So, I feel like most of what's going on at the moment feels kind of negative.
-weather
-mood (this not unrelated to the first point, I think)
-project at work. Access is not my friend.
-dance class- or possibly lack thereof.  It's this last one that's really causing me to want to document, though. This week the core students showed up only to discover no instructor. We warmed up and cobbled together an hour of activity. Yay for ipods with Bollywood playlists! But then this next Monday is a holiday and perhaps they're not open? In fact, they are not despite being open for other less momentous Monday holidays. However, there's also nothing on Monday (not even bellydancing, which is at the same time as my class), so... ? Oversight? I hope. The schedule there does look rather decimated so I'm getting a bad feeling about this, as the Star Wars folk would say. 

On the up side, while quiet_elegance  is still between paid employment, it looks like he might have a chance to get through his apprenticeship a lot faster and on to journeyman.
Additionally, my boss is back after a summer away. We've done a lot and she seems generally happy with our progress. There's something reassuring knowing she's back even though it may well not change my day to day that much. At least now I can fob off weird reference on her again.

None of the bad will be of lasting damage, it's true, but still. Nibbled to death by cats.

Right. I feel like I was hit by a truck because of class. (Also 14 miles on the bike yesterday morning- a different story)

( Aloo Chaat! (great song, tasty food- let's dance) : details )

To sum up: class is great. I am SO sore. I have to practice.
ETA: Have practiced here in the office- unexpected: I feel less creaky and beat up now for the extra movement-yay. Also- I am getting it.

I thought it was time for a real Bollywood icon already--- And who else but Aishwarya would do?!

So, class. Despite the snafu about the time (sorry, Deb), the place was just packed. I was stunned. Never had I seen so many people at this place for this sort of class- gratified that there was no way they'd decide not to do it now with easily 20 people in the room- and a little miffed that there was never that kind of turn out for Reshama.

Since I was skipping out on book club to be there, I didn't stay the whole time, however, I'm convinced enough that this class will be worth going to that I got the 10-pass prepay again. Extra bonus: 10 bucks off for signing up on demo night. Sadly, I have forgotten the instructor's name, but it'll get in the cranium eventually. Her style is not particularly like Resh's, for which I'm relieved. She's a lot more bawdy and has definite preference for a bit of a hip-hop/Bhangra vibe. 

It looks like they're sticking to the Monday schedule, which I'm generally comfortable with, although moving to 7:30 instead of 8:30- again, a reasonable switch and means I don't have to start getting ready for bed as soon as I get home. When I left last night they were unsure if the class would start next week or the week after. Either way: I'm ready, I'm there.

A few months ago I did some play testing at Harmonix. I thought, hey, cool. I like playing Rock Band, that'll be fun.

Except it wasn't Rock Band. It's called Dance Central (hey, like Central Sq. where Harmonix is). Unlike Dance Dance Revolution, it has a nifty little camera/sensor - no more getting your feet just so on the pad. It also takes into account whole body movement, not just feet. It is awesome and I can't wait til this fall when it comes out.

So now you know.

After the commentary from Thursday, I decided to extend a bit longer to make sure the reboot works. Not much else worth noting other than I'm not dead- neither is anyone else. I may get mini eclairs at BJ's when we go at the end of the week, though. (Mwah hah)

I was just minding my own business this morning, riding my bike to Alewife as I have been doing rather often when I came to the last 1/4 mile and whoom. Have some downed branches. OK, have some down trees. I was able to duck under the first one, but the other three required major clambering and bike-carrying. Microburst, you say? Yowza.

It seems that once a year near quiet_elegance 's birthday (observed), that there's the biggest cleaning events that overshadow all other uncluttering moments. Q_E started on Saturday, which sparked me to do many random things yesterday, things that are not apparent to the casual observer. However, my art drawers are now beautifully arranged. The Ikea bookshelves are much more full and hold 90% of card/board games and a large stack of the over sized art/coffee table books. I am most pleased.

I may have mentioned that I really have taken a shine to Chef Sang, the sushi guy at Teppenyaki. We took lifecollage  a week ago and purple_terror  this past Friday. That makes 2 converts in 2 weeks. He's really that brilliant. quiet_elegance  made a box out of rosewood for our chop sticks that we're keeping there and Sang hung out with us after we were done eating, as there was rather significant lull at that moment. Supposedly, they're redoing the menus eventually, but even if they did, I don't think I'd use them. I'm more than a little happy to be a guinea pig for new ideas he has. I have yet to be disappointed with anything, rather it's usually way too brilliant for a middle-of-the-road establishment. I am keen on taking one of his classes at some point.

Tomorrow: I go to my first salsa class in years. Should be fun, though. I am curious to see what they're working on, how much I remember and how much Bollywood improved my ability to pick up moves faster. After all, I know all the basic moves already, so that's an advantage. It will be a sadness not go go with q_e.

Motorcycle: Still in the shop. The latest theory is that there wasn't enough compression in the ...uh, tubes (?), which threw off the vacuum and so fuel wasn't going through the petcock like it was supposed to. The mechanic almost certainly experienced the bad when he was testing it out and he saw this with another bike earlier this season. This is apparently a gradual deterioration, so it makes sense that last fall it could limp along, but by 2 weeks ago, I was doomed. I'm hopeful that I can pick it up on Friday. Fingers crossed!

I haven't seen Richie around in quite a while. Last time I saw him was when he was having issues with a cop hassling him, so it's possible that he's had to set up shop elsewhere. But I worry enough to him in random dream cameos.

So, I rode my motorcycle for the first time to dance class (yay!) and was stuck behind cautious grannies the whole way riding their brakes (eta- thanks Wex. quite right, not breaks. stupid homonyms)  at 20-25 mph, so it took me a full half an hour to get there (booooo). This is probably the hardest routine we've ever done, but we made serious progress (yaaaaay!)... and then at the end of class our instructor said that she and her husband are moving to Chicago in July- this will be the last 5-week session with her (headdesk).
Choose your aphorism. Apply to this blank spot. Oh, also, I just bought a 10 class thing after doing drop-ins the last 3 months. So, at least this will force me to continue on after she leaves. I had been hoping to find some time to go to visit my original Salsa instructor who is there either Wednesdays or Thursdays. I guess I will in June.