Annie Are You OK? Are You OK? Are You OK, Annie?

I still don't have a job, but I'm halfway to my CPR/AR certification. CPR is a pretty good cardio workout, I must say. And I have carpet-burned knees from all the first aid practice. In theory, I can administer CPR and artificial respiration (including to people with neck injuries, but I hope I never have to because it involves dislocating their jaw), treat serious (and not-so-serious) cuts and amputations, save a choking person (even if they're very pregnant, obese, or me), and deal with epileptics, asthmatics, diabetics, and people going into anaphylactic shock (if there's an epi-pen handy, that is).

Tomorrow is all about the other stuff, like head and eye injuries, burns, and nose bleeds from hell.

I think I'll do the third day next weekend, too. That covers infant and child AR/CPR. I may as well have that, too.

During today's lunch break, I went for a little walk and happened upon Kitchener Kicks. The sign gave no indication of what they taught--only that it was a martial arts school. So I walked on in. Once inside, I soon figured out it was a kung fu school, and that they were big into competitions. Trophies were all over the place.

A woman was sitting at the desk.

"Excuse me," I said. "Can you tell me if you teach mantis style here?"

"Mantis style? What's that?"

"Er, it's a kind of kung fu."

"Nope. Never heard of it."

"What do you teach here?" I asked.

"Shaolin."

"Shaolin what?"

She blinked at me, all confused.

"Maybe you can tell me if there's a place around that teaches Wu-style t'ai chi chu'an, then."

"Never heard of it."

And so I left. What sort of kung fu school has never heard of mantis or t'ai chi chu'an? Yikes.

In other news, sometimes good things happen.

I've worked out a deal for yoga and dance instruction. I will volunteer at Atlas Studio in return for yoga instruction. I want to get my yoga instructor certification, too. The head of the studio is also the one who runs the certification course at Wilfred Laurier University. I was hoping my employment insurance would cover part of the training costs for the 40-week course starting in September, but due to an unlucky loophole, it will not. However, the exact same course, offered as a month-long intensive next June, could be covered. How annoying. By then, I probably won't qualify anymore. Damn. Where am I going to get the money to get this certification? I do not want to take out a loan.

And here's the good news about dance.

A couple of points:

Firstly, snowy_kathryn and I want to arrange an ATS dance workshop in September. I think this will work out well. Atlas Studios is interested in hosting it. I happen to know at least two instructors who may be willing to teach.

Secondly, I believe I shall finally be teaching my floorwork specialty class come the fall. It will be at Haft Vadi. I'll be teaching in exchange for a combination of lessons and cash, which works out quite well by me. On Monday, I start going to the beginner classes to get a feel for their teaching methodology, so there's a good flow between our classes. And I'll be doing the advanced classes on Thursday nights for the same reason and also for my own edification. This will be my first time taking regular Egyptian raqs sharqi classes.

In the meantime, I need to work on a few dance things for myself. I want to develop a curriculum based around my own personal dance style and philosophy (I'll call it syncretic world dance, for the nonce). I also need to expand on my floorwork curriculum.

And I also need to work on my own technique. oceanfiretribal showed me an interesting move she learned from Kami Liddle: a syncopated shoulder roll. I look like a right and total spaz doing it, so I need to practice to make it beautiful. She also showed me another way to practice my barrel turns. Here's hoping I can do it without barfing. Barrel turns make me want to yark.