Work It

[shanmonster]

Work

I need to find a part-time day job as my dance education expenses cost more than I'm making doing the actual dance.

I teach on Mondays at noon and again at 6, so Mondays are generally pooched. I take a dance class on Wednesdays at 5, and am often out of town on weekends for dance workshops/performances. Weekday mornings would be great, and preferably in the downtown Kitchener area. Either that or something I can do from home with my own set hours. Up to 10 hours per week would be ideal. Any ideas?

My skill set is varied: customer service, online/library research, animal handling, website design, ad/promo copy writing, basic goldsmithing, theatre/dance/music reviewing, voice talent, retail, modelling, heavy lifting, botanic illustration, food/beverage preparation, etc. I'm a Jane of all trades, really.

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Dance

Dance-wise, I'm still in the process of expanding my horizons. I've been learning a lot through my Danse du Jour series, but want to learn more. What am I missing? Do you have any recommendations? I've been trying to find good examples of other dance forms (eg. contact dance, square dance, jazz, contemporary, etc.) and could use some help. Do you know of excellent, inspiring, or just plain thought-provoking video clips I could share? Tell me! As long as it has some element which makes it stand out (even for negative reasons), I want to see it.

Today I finally begin regular ATS instruction. I'm really looking forward to this. And right after I finish my ATS class, I trundle over to my pole dancing class. In a weird sort of way, I can see how the two could potentially fuse together. Imagine, if you will, group improvised pole dancing. Hmm....

I'm looking forward to Rachel Brice's new instruction video: Bellydance Arms and Posture.

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Music

There's a possibility I may be going stateside this weekend with miami_pony to see Jonathan Coulton in Rochester, NY. Do you know if I need to have a passport to go to the USA from Canada? I lack that particular piece of identification. I have my provincial ID, OHIP card, and birth certificate. Is that enough?

Edit: According to this site, I do not need a passport to enter the US by land or by sea. A birth certificate and photo ID will do. If I were flying in, however, a passport is necessary. Odd.

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Megrim

I didn't get to wing chun last night as I was suddenly stricken with intense exhaustion. I think it's related to the migraine aura which has been taunting me with elusive sparkles for the past week or so. The exhaustion hit me around 3pm, and only worsened when I went to yoga with snowy_kathryn. My brain grew heavy in my head, and my eyes became as Atlas holding aloft the heavens. My eyelids were forced lower and lower under this perceived weight, and my hearing narrowed to a thin, low whistle. During the warrior series, I felt myself browning out several times, and only through careful breathing and easing up on the depth of my stance was I able to avoid crashing down onto the floor in a swoon. The eagle asana was pretty darned abortive. I simply could not stand on one foot. I've never welcomed savasana as much as I did last night. I staggered home afterwards, collapsed on the couch, and blearily watched Borat.

I feel normal today.

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Links

Iran ban on 'Western' hairstyles: The fashion police exist for real.

Male Scientist Writes of Life as Female Scientist: I can't help but draw a parallel to Tiresias.

Topsy, Electrocuted by Edison: The Rasputin of the pachyderm kingdom finally met her demise thanks to the showboating of agenda-ridden inventors.

Getting Off . . .: Just another story about just another apotemnophile.

Man cuts off penis in restaurant: You just can't take some people anywhere.

LSD as Therapy? Write about It, Get Barred from US: "Nobel Peace prize winners, some of the great scientists and writers in the world have experimented with LSD in their time. We know people are being pulled out of lines and racially profiled as part of the war against terrorism. But this is a different kind of travesty, banning someone because they used a substance in another country thirty years ago."

How to Smoke All You Want: Cigarettes are good for you (thanks, gha5t).

You Haven't Seen Crazy Until You've Seen America's Black Hitler: "Dig 'em up and kill 'em again."

Turtle Sex: Turtle slash wok (thanks seraph_x).

Comments

[clevermanka.livejournal.com]

Rachel Brice doing an arm video...Hm. There's already enough people out there imitating her by keeping their shoulders in their ears...maybe she'll discourage that in the video? One can hope.

I think you might need a passport to visit the U.S. I know I need one to go to Canada, so I would assume it works both ways. I'm envious of seeing Jonathan Coulton. I've had his website bookmarked for ages. Hope you get to make the trip!

[shanmonster.livejournal.com]

I hope she'll discourage that. There are a whole lot of shoulder-clenching chicken-wingers out there trying to mimic her dancing.

I just checked the information on passports. It looks like I'm ok to go. You only need a passport if you're flying in.

[clevermanka.livejournal.com]

Hooray! Very glad to hear you'll be able to make the Coulton show. Enjoy! and *envy*!

[forestmaster.livejournal.com]

You're good to visit now but might want to start budgeting for a passport in the near future. Could be required as early as January 1, 2008 (http://www.travel.state.gov/travel/cbpmc/cbpmc_2223.html), although I haven't heard much about it lately, so I suspect that date will also get pushed back.

[silverfae.livejournal.com]

Yes, the laws on passports are gradually phasing in to be more restrictive, so it will change at the beg of this next year.

.. and *thank you* for saying that about the shoulders, I got royally jumped upon for remarking on that once on tribe, and I still stand by my opinion that it just looks dreadful.

.. as for a second job.. well, there's always phone domination. ;)

[indilwen.livejournal.com]

I'm really excited for that video! Hopefully she will encourage people to keep their shoulders down, though...the shoulders up by the ears thing can be effective for a little while as kind of a creepy-contorted look, but if you do it the whole time you're dancing...not so much.
A review of posture never hurts, though.

[patchworkmind.livejournal.com]

That 'Black Hitler' guy would be disturbing if I hadn't heard it before. Years ago I saw a tape of one of Louis Farrakhan's "private seminars", and it was almost exactly like that video you linked. Just he was talking about the United States, not South Africa. Pretty sad, all of it. People just don't seem to get that hate gets you the same.

[zombienought.livejournal.com]

It's also a lot like one of my
roomies at university. :(

[patchworkmind.livejournal.com]

Yow.

[allthingsnoisy.livejournal.com]

Hi S---I thought I was on your friends list--have I been removed?

[shanmonster.livejournal.com]

Er, no. 'fraid you weren't there to begin with....

[clevermanka.livejournal.com]

Oh, dance video links! Have you seen this guy's YouTube hip hop tutorials?

[shanmonster.livejournal.com]

Nifty! Thanks....

[real-bethy.livejournal.com]

You don't officially need a passport right now, but you most definitely will soon. I think it might be good to start squirreling money away for it now. As it is, be prepared to show all your ID at the border...you may get a easy-going customs officer, or you may get a really stringent one - and lately, more are stringent than easy-going.

My advice? Be really sweet at the border. And for G-d's sake, don't run the stop signs in front of the custom's officers' booths.

[zombienought.livejournal.com]

People in cars get treated far better
than people using the bus. Have money
or creditcards on you to show you're
not The Poor, and have, if possible
some proof of employment.

US borderguards are bastards.

Celebrate spring with a crazy little thing...

[veritate.livejournal.com]

I'm so jealous to hear that you're going to see Jonathan Coulton. Please be sure to share about it when you return!

[mysteryelfx.livejournal.com]

Funny thing. I just watched this video on youtube and was going to send you the link and then you actually asked for recommendations today. So, here's mine.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-cDKNFZcgjs

It's still bellydance. But I think this girl's style is pretty cool. You may or may not appreciate it. Enjoy!

[silverfae.livejournal.com]

oh, and my favorite DVD of alternative dance is the ballroom stage show, "Burn the Floor". Just stunning. Rent it if you can, find bits on youtube or whatever, it's simply divine.

Dance Link

[catalystika.livejournal.com]

Clip from last season of So You Think You Can Dance. They danced to Ramalama Bang Bang as zombies... one of the more inventive dances I've ever seen. I love the expressions some of them have.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lo3kn_-Qies

[zombienought.livejournal.com]

I believe I saw bits of that elephant
fry film at a play about Tesla that I
saw several years ago. Absolutely hor-
rible.