New Year's Thoughts

You Appreciate Thoughtfulness

You are both talented and giving. You are always going out of your way to make things pleasant for others. You are traditional and balanced. You like to let loose, but you never go overboard. Right now, you value your family most. No matter what, family comes first! You are bright and curious about the world. You feel like you're in a bit of a rut, and you're looking for a little something more out of life.

What Does Your New Year's Eve Say About You?

Blogthings: We Have a Quiz for Almost Everything

Slogging through the Blogs

So you may have noticed that the Lady has changed the list of approved links. I removed those that I no longer read or have become less active and added some suggested by Time Magazine writers. I have always felt a little out of it in the political department. In this time of bad economy and war overseas that we don't really SEE (thank god!) I have been out of it. I think as Americans we really should know what's going on in our country and how it's being run. Heck, I mean I pay taxes. Where is that money going?

In any case, in an effort to stay connected to all things I am taking those suggestions and sharing. Here's hoping that we will all be a little more informed, connected and share a laugh or two.

Happy Reading!

Kicking a little Yoga Ass

This week I taught two good yoga classes. I have started branching out and teaching different poses and using different sequences. Best yet I got a lovely compliment today about truly teaching according to the needs of the students in the room. I had wanted to play with shoulder and heart openers, but the two I taught were not ready for dolphin or anything close to headstand. Yesterday the brains were vibrating like crazy so it took me a while just to calm them down. At the end one of the women said "that was lovely" and commented on the deep stretching.

Yay me!

And yay for teaching the people in front of me.

I also met with Danny, my new Funny Bone musician. We played with some musical accompaniment for the definition of Laughter an started on Comedy. It went slowly, but we are just learning how each other work. I seem to ask lots of questions and really listen. I need to plug away on residencies, grants and venues. It would be nice to arrange some performance dates for May and June.

Wahoo!

How the list is Made

On Facebook there are numerous games and tests. However at the end of the year, one of the little applications is called "My Top Words."

Here's what we've got:

Here are top words from my Facebook status messages!
1: Yoga - used 29 times
2: Class - used 22 times
3: Berkeley - used 14 times
4: Bay - used 11 times
5: SF - used 11 times
6: Tonight - used 9 times
7: Night - used 9 times
8: Teaching - used 8 times
9: Looking - used 8 times
10: Show - used 8 times

I found it rather fascinating what I posted in my status. It's like a little slice of what my year has been. I am finally subbing regularly due to Noga going on maternity leave, but I don't think it's a lucrative way to go. I need to figure out what I'm getting from this crazy thing called yoga and really embrace that. Namaste Gourmet still has not launched, and I am certainly not as excited about it. I really don't think it's going to be worth the trouble.

I am moving forward on Funny Bone and the cabaret, so I feel really good about both of those. I am also moving full steam with the dance company/choreographers so I should be working steadily through the end of February. I am still looking at job applications and need to finish some of the faculty ones. I had a nice conversation about the future with Randy two nights ago and I am still dragging my feet on what I want and what I need to do to get there. I am still worried about disappointing others and not concentrating on what's best for me.

I sense the start of a Life Coach fund. And perhaps the adherence of my New Year's Resolution of flossing, drinking more water and staying in shape.

Here's to the end of a good year.

Life is a Cabaret

In my procrastination for finishing my solo piece - When You Hit Your Funny Bone - I decided that I want to throw a cabaret together. I have always wanted to do one, so today I met with musical director Kelly Park and we chatted for a bit and sang a bit and laughed a lot. So I am putting together a list of songs that I either like to sing or have sung in the past. However, I requested my Facebook friends to suggest some tunes and they are all good, but don't fit together in any way. So, I am adding them to the list to see what sticks. I am very excited.

I really do need to keep moving on Funny Bone and in fact I almost got a chance for perform 10 minutes of it this evening. The Marsh in SF does 10 Minute Mondays for works in progress. And while my proposal was not accepted, I got an email today that someone was ill and they needed someone to fill in tonight! So, I thought what the hell. If I needed a kick in the pants, here we go. Patti responded that they found someone, but at least it got me thinking about it. So, here we are at the end of 2010. I vow that I will have performed BOTH the cabaret AND When You Hit Your Funny Bone in 2011.

No really. It will happen.

I cannot say the same for my daily flossing or drinking water, but the two shows will happen.

Best for Me

The best yoga classes I teach stem from truly listening to what I need at the moment. Tomorrow I am teaching a demo class for a studio on Solano in order to sub for Noga. It's gotten to be a bigger deal with changing her class time and day, but I am going in with my sense of practice. I know they want a flow class, so while the last class I did focused more on holding poses, I will return to what I am more familiar with - which is the graceful and mindful sequence of flowing from one asana to another. Since it's a demo I don't want to go crazy, so I will stick with my tried and true and maybe throw in some poses that I don't do very often. I am sure that I will really listen to my body and to the students in the room. Or at least I hope so.

I am still coughing a bit and am a bit low energy. When I got back from NY I jumped back into work, but got plenty of rest. My sore throat was gone, but a day later the cold started in earnest. Completely stuffed nose that moved back down into my throat. I certainly feel and sound better, but it's lingering a bit. I really should be asleep now, but I am dragging my feet and continue to play on the computer. I really need to be better about time management.

Anyway, as I play with a sequence for class tomorrow I continue to ponder my path and what's truly best for me. In the greater sense. There will be some big changes in the next few months and I am curious to know how things will fall out. Until then, how 'bout a little gratitude...

1. umbrellas
2. hot soup
3. fresh bread
4. compliments
5. ice cream and conversation