sometimes i think i only add new entries so that i can have something else to see when i narcissisticly stare at my page five times a day. anyway. today i was hungover, then i remembered that i had guinean dance and djembe lesson tonight for like four hours. fuck, thought i.
but, i went. dance was first. i felt kind of odd because i sort of know two of the drummers and my mom was watching but not participating. and i was hungover. and we started out with this one dance (the soko) that i learned part of in senegal, and have always hated that dance. some of the later parts, which i learned today, were okay. in addition this teacher was a better teacher than paupis, the guy who was my only dance teacher and second djembe teacher (later i moved on to a third who i liked better, and i only ever took one dance lesson from anyone coz i didnt really like it that much and paupis was always hitting on me and being really wierd and impatient. it was like he took it personally when you fucked up..)
evidently this dance is done after a boy gets circumcized - he is supposed to just chill for two weeks and then his friends come and visit him and whatnot and this is done during that time.
i had to fight with myself to really follow the moves, my body kept wanting to dig the rhythms in its own way, which for the most part was unlike the way i was being taught. then my body was like hey you are going to stop dancing now because you are in pain. well, i was gaining a blister coz i had just finished ripping off a really thick layer of skin that had decided to bubble up on my toe. that wasnt really a blister and didnt hurt, but it did leave behind a bunch of baby skin that wasnt much about all the friction i was dealing it.
i ignored that for a good long while, but then the bones in the bottom of my right foot started hurting a good deal; so about 20 minutes before the session was over i just walked off the floor and stood watching the others dance. i really wasnt very embaressed, not like the time i had to leave capoeira in the middle of class due to pain. I mean, i am definitly less stressed out in my life now than i was then and i also am not on the Aingst Pill anymore.
and, well my body has limits and i know what they are and i just have to deal with that. on the outside i look perfectly healthy and normal and fit enough, so when i have to leave class it probably rubs off on other people like i am just tired or cant take it or something. but i know that i am one determined bitch, and being tired would never make me leave a physical class like that.
after dance was over we (we - the instructor and i were the only same people from the dance group as far as i could tell) had djembe for an hour or two...it was really nice. ive never played with a group before, nor with multiple doundounba players (large bass-y drums, sorry couldnt find a link easily) to help with keeping tempo, etc. i havent played in about 3 weeks anyway, so it was nice to be back on it.
the bad thing is that i had my right leg sort of curled around the front of the djembe and my left free to tap out tempo when i could do that and play at the same time (depended on the rhythm). so a combo of that, dancing, biking, and formerly being hungover (dancing did cure me of that feeling) means my knee is now super sore, so much it wont even crack. ow. i think i deserve perkastat, dont you? oh, right, i dont have any insurance. fuck.
hm...had a blast playing with my friends ryan, javiar, thaine, and some new people last night. drank huber at XXXXXX bar in madison and then watched free anime at some theater in which you could smoke and there was a bar that wasnt even very expensive (for a bar). so that was cool. and i ran into some chic named andrea i had seen around the cities and it turns out she knows pam and amanda and v, so im going to go have dinner at her co-op some time. we stole some really pretty cinder blocks for ryan to make bookshelves out of, too. petty theft makes me happy for some reason. probably immaturity.
all in all things are swell.
i found out my dad is moving to nebraska, not virginia. i guess hes moving next week so i should call him and visit my grandma before they move (my grandma has bad alzheimers and other assorted health problems and my dad and step-mom live with her and take care of her...apparently they are now going to live in NE) its really wierd that he has called my brother twice since ive been back but hasnt even called me once to say hello or tell me his moving date. hes a strange, strange man.
but whatever. he happened to spawn me and has dysfunctionally semi-served the role of a parental unit sporadically over the years. i guess this is one of those "off" times. on-again, off-again, ya know.. i still want to see my grandma. i dont think she will make it too much longer here so i guess i'll call him and arrange a visit.
