Exercise and body acceptance

I haven't been to the gym in awhile.  There for a little bit I was going 4-5 days a week.  No, before you ask - I'm not going exercise crazy...  some days I might do something like ride the stationary bike for 30 minutes or swim. So no worries -  I certainly don't have the "exercise" anorexia that I read about the other day.  (People who work out extensively in order to loose weight along with starvation dieting.) 

 To be honest much else at the gym (such as the elipticals and treadmills) hurts when my hips are off.  (Alright we're quickly venturing into more-than-you-ever-wanted-to-know-about-me territory but I have scoliosis - which means in my case - one hip is higher than the other.   It isn't terrible, but certain things agrivate it like to motion needed to use the eliptical and arc trainers.)  And as far as the other equipment - I'm intimidated to ask how it works.   That's right....  I'm afriad that some hulk-like trainer will try to hard sell me on signing up for a personal trainer.  (I prefer to save some $ - and work out myself, thank you.)

So I guess what inspired this post was this picture that a friend on facebook posted.  (I don't know the original author of this photo - otherwise I'd credit) 


There's a lot of people running around my gym who look like atheletes - and then there's me lol.... but - yknow what?! ....  I paid my membership just like they do.  So what if they've been there for 4 hours working out and I'm enjoying my 30 minute exercise bike routine... it beats me sitting on the couch. I'm just saying - because it is surprising the people I know that don't work out because they're scared to go to the gym  because they don't look like fitness gurus ... because they don't work out...  (see the circular logic here?)  I say..... so what?   If anything, in my experience, people seem to mind their own business - 90% of the time and the other 10% people have been talkitive or friendly.  If there are people out there who do not like how I look or I aggitate by my presence then I *hope* I annoy them.  If I knew they were there, I might even go more.

Of course - I wasn't always like this.  I've been through hating myself for this, that or the other, wishing I could change an impossible amount of things about myself.  And right now - I'm pretty much alright with myself.  This doesn't mean that I'm not trying to improve myself - or there aren't still things I'm working on, but that I have much more realistic goals and that I have these goals (fitness and other) because *I* want them, not because the ad in the magazine says I have to be a size 2 to fit in.  And now there are aspects of myself that I love and wouldn't change one bit. 

There is a "size acceptance" movement out there - but what I like more than that is the idea of "body acceptance" - since not just overweight people struggle.  I know some women who have the Hollywood body and yet still aren't happy because of (whatever - insert complaint here). 

So I will step off of my acceptance soapbox for now - to say that the gym and exercise and everything else seems to be about making positive habits.  Once out of them, it's hard to start, but once started it's easy to follow.

What I sleep with

So perhaps it's time to start this post with a disclaimer and a riddle. 

Disclaimer: I'm tired and can't sleep so this may be nonsensical.

Riddle: What I sleep with.

It's hard and long.  It's smooth and has rounded corners that fit into my hand nicely.  It's made out of plastic and is very sleek.  It has controls on it and holds batteries...

it's a ......

..............

...............

.................

.,..............

...................

....................

Remote control.  What did *you* think it was?   Get your mind out of the gutter. 

I admit I'm laughing at my own bad joke.  No, I'm not perverted - I got the idea partly from jokes like this one *click*  and partly from the fact that I really do sleep with remote controls on occasion.  Yeah, that's right I've been falling asleep with the tv on.  I find the background noise reassuring and it seems to take care of the problem of laying there awake.  Though at times I wake up laying on them, (not as comfortable as it sounds).  Last night was sort of fun.   I must toss and turn a great deal.  I found myself with legs twisted into sheets, with the remotes in there too.

Well, that's more than you possibly ever wanted to know about me....

I helped a friend move today -  it went better than I thought it would.  I misunderstood what a couple at my friend's old building had said -  I thought they asked if she was moving (as we were taking cart fulls out to vehicles)  and I thought (didn't say) "no, it's a hobby - we take all her stuff out for a drive and then bring it back.   It's lots of fun.  You should try it."   Well as it turns out they were congratulating her on moving.  But for some reason my snarky comment has had me cracking up off and on throughout the day. 

Ever wonder if what you're thinking is actually funny or if it's just funny to you because you're tired/?

The non-belly dance portion of my Vegas vacation

Hey hey...  I've been battling allergies for a few days now, but I wanted to write about my Vegas experience before the memories dull in my mind.

Beginning with the beginning - I saw the most beautiful lake on the descent into Vegas -  after asking around I discovered that this was Lake Mead.  From the air it was spectacular.  The red sand blending into the pale blue water, and the water shading from pale blue, into pale teal, aqua, deep teal and dark blue.  I can only imagine what it is like from the ground.

On arrival in Vegas - I found it to be a great deal more crowded than I expected.  The stream of people in our hotel/casino was constant and check-in took almost an hour.  Happily there were "dealertainers" near the hotel check in - these are blackjack dealers dressed as celebrity impersonators.  Cheesy but quite effective at being entertaining.  The dealers would occasionally take a break from cards, and "perform" a song on the stage in the middle of the blackjack area.  During my stay I saw (fake) Shakira, Garth Brooks, Brett Michaels, Lady Gaga, Bette Midler and others.  After a brief run in with housekeeping -which you can read about by clicking here  - we were off and ready to go searching for food.

Margaritaville was next door and had delightful decor.  The prices weren't that horrid - and I found the "lost shaker of salt".  It was one of the best cheeseburgers that I have eaten, that or else I was that hungry.  There was a volcano show  and where else can you see a man on stilts making balloon hats?  (alright, probably lots of places...)

I was surprised that blocks off of the strip there were convenience stores and dollar stores.

The public restrooms are disgusting, but the walkways by the casinos were amazing.  Each casino seems to have it's own theme, and it's own vibe and the little strip malls that connect the casinos, carry on that theme.  I saw Paris, Bellagio, Venitian, Harrah;s, Imperial Palace - those are the ones I can remember easily, and where our hotel had celebrity impersonator some casinos had exotic dancers as blackjack dealers.

On the wilder-than-exotic-dancers - note - there were a ton of people on street corners handing out "entertainer" cards.  These people are called "card slappers".  I don't know if I really get an under-age audience of readers here, but if you are curious you can read about these card slappers and type of material they hand out here.  While I found it shocking, it also made me sad, both for the "entertainers" and for the people handing out the cards.  I saw a man, asleep across his bag of "cards".  An award winning photo - but one I decided to pass up.

Speaking of photos - what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas.  I guess my camera happened in Vegas - because - that's right - it stayed in Vegas.   I'm still not sure if it was stolen or misplaced - but my address and phone were on it incase this should happen and an honest person should find it.   Happily it wasn't my best camera - but it still bothers me.  However I didn't let it spoil the rest of my trip.  I do find it a little dubious that someone out there has photos of me - and my address.  (And no, no dirty photos on there either - get your mind out of the gutter) :-)

Oh - if you go - go see the fountain show at the Bellaggio - it is fantastic.  Stay for a few shows if you can.

I didn't do all that I wanted - that's alright since a big part of my trip was belly dance convention - but I would definitely go back.

The sights and sounds were amazing.  I did drop a $20 in a slot machine - and did not win.   I also dropped $5 in a crane machine  with the same result.

Incase it's of interest to anyone - here';s the stuff on my "next time" list -
"Treasure" hunt at pawn shops, second hands, etc
See the countryside/desert
See "downtown" Vegas
Cruise the strip at night in a cab

And here's a list of links - you can read my reviews on trip advisor if you wish :-)

Big breakfasts
Battista's Italian
Fountains
Imperial Palace hotel
Serendipity

So.... who wants to go to Vegas?

Las Vegas Belly Dance Intensive 2012

Hi everyone!  I recently got back from Las Vegas where I intended the belly dance festival and intensive. This post will mostly cover the bellydance portion of the trip, with the Las Vegas portion in another post.

 It was so special!  In addition to taking some really cool workshops I also bought a brand new prop called arcs - (imagine a really long veil on a hoop), and danced on stage at the festival ATS style.  For those of you who aren't into belly dance ATS stands for American Tribal Style.   A style of belly dance that is largely improvised.  When you know the moves and the cues - you know enough to dance along.  It was fun, but I realized I forgot some cues!  :-)

I got to meet -

 Princess Farhannah!  She liked my dress which was lime green and neon pink. 

I also got to meet - 

Shira.  Way back in 1996 or 1997 when I first had the idea to check out this bellydance thing... Shira's website is one of the first I found.  I'm also featured on Shira's side project Bellydance Plus!

Went to a lovely belly dance show, as well.  Totally amazing.  

The following is what I wrote to the event's coordinator, which goes into more details about the classes in particular.   

Greetings LVBDIF!  First off, thank you for organizing such a wonderful and enjoyable event.  As someone who took a lot of business psych classes, I know that feedback is crucial, so I wanted to give you my thoughts on the classes and events I went to. 

Class 1 - Upper body dynamics with Namira - 

Fantastic class.  It stayed true to it's description as Namira taught us about the meaning of dynamics and showed us some combos to demonstrate dynamics in the context of upper body moves. 

Class 2 - Around the World Choreography with Cera 

Huge disappointment.  I'm a Christian - so when Cera told us that one of the moves we learned was used by an African tribe to worship their serpent deity - I left for a small amount of time hoping that the whole worshiping of serpents would be over when I came back.  I arrived only to discover that we were now learning a whole dance from this serpent worshiping people. I left.   I would have greatly appreciated a disclaimer before registering for this class.   I would have registered for something else. I do hope that in the future if classes like this are offered there is a disclaimer or warning of some sort. 

Class 3 - Free your feet with Elizabeth Strong 

I really did enjoy Elizabeth.  She's very kind and down to earth but I did find the title of the workshop a little misleading.  I expected it to be about footwork for the tribal dancer - instead we learned part of a choreography.  It was a bit intense for the time allowed.  I did like that Elizabeth kept checking in with us though. 

Saturday night show 

- What an enjoyable event.   I liked that we were able to vote on contestants.  Great variety of dancers.  Though I did hope to see ATS represented as well. 

Class # 4 Shimmies and Layers with Heather Shoopman 

What a fantastic class and instructor.  Relaxed happy vibes from this class.  Material was challenging but not impossible, explained in ways that made it easy to understand and a joy to learn.  Heather was very nice later and let me copy her notes. 

Class # 5 (forget the title) with Fuego Fusion

Thumbs up!   Way up!  Easily the most fun class I took while there.  Edgy, original and oh did I mention.... fun?!  The opening was attention getting and a nice way to demonstrate their point.  The lecture was much needed, and the choreography tied in to theme and was taught in an easy to learn fashion.  

vendors and through the day performances were lovely!

Thank you so much again and I hope you find my comments helpful. 

Humming Bird Moth and Labrador sized bat

Hey hey everyone. 

I saw one of these today -


It buzzed me, zipping right past my head on it's way to some flowers.   It moved just like a humming bird - ate just like a humming bird and in fact had me convinced that it was a humming bird ... until I looked it up online.  Click here for info

Alright, evidently it's a Sphinx moth. 

Hm.  Why does it bother me more that it's a moth?   If it were a bird ...  I'd be fine with it/think it's cute.   Now that I know it's a moth - it just plain old bothers me and I find it a little creepy.  Seems like an odd double standard or some weird lack of logic, but there you have it.

On any account I don't find it anywhere near as troubling as this -

Yeah.   The caption pretty much sums up how I feel.  I don't use foul language a whole lot, but I think the statement "oh hell no!" pretty much describes my feelings about this uhhhh  labrador sized flying mouse. 

There's an even better picture around of some hanging in trees outside a hotel.   I would get back on the plane. 

If I lived there (Philippeans) , I think I would possibly never, ever go outside.


Link to see picture of dog sized bat as babies


Of course, it helps to know why I react so strongly about this creature as I have bat-o-phobia......

Here Comes Miss Honey Boo Boo

Welcome to "Everyone has one..." - the person blog of a crazy/artistic/introverted child of the eighties on the web.  

The latest inspiration for for starting a blog this time comes from some thoughts I had about the TLC show "Here Comes Honey Boo Boo".  Seriously I saw this title when it was on my newsfeed in a post from The Learning Channel.

... Could *you* pass up reading more about a show with a title like that?   I didn't think so.

So, I followed the link and ended up watching a few webisodes in spite of myself.  I found myself equal parts of repulsed and intrigued.

For those of you who weren't instantly fascinated to the point of looking it right away, "Here Comes Honey Boo Boo" - follows Alanna aka. Miss Honey Boo Boo, a 6 year old beauty pageant contestant from Georgia.  Her family is on the brink of poverty, and the show is a brutally honest look at the life of this family, showing that the six year old is a normal child, as well as a beauty pageant contestant.

 +
I found the show fascinating.  Interesting and colorful enough to hold my attention for over an hour.

It's honest.  Instead of putting on false airs - this family has no qualms showcasing their poverty including buying food at an auction.  The mom / family head even displayed her weight on live tv, a feat that a lot of women wouldn't do.

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The girl's mom admitted that she herself wasn't the best looking.  So, to me, it seems like an odd double standard.  The little girl is pampered, prissed, made up and fluffed over.  When done up for pageants she looks like a mini 30 year old.  Instead of pressing her young daughter into such situations, shouldn't she spend a little more time on her own appearance?

The family buys food at auctions to save a dime.  But what about travel, entry fees, manners and dance lessons and custom made gowns for little Alanna?  What about the pet pig that Alanna got because she was upset because she didn't win.  What do her two older sisters think of that while they're eating their stale twinkies?

And as more of a general statement - child pageants just seem... like an overall bad idea to me.   Perhaps it's not so bad if the parents are involved and it can be a lesson about sportsmanship, but more often than not it seems to be about one-up-manship.  Additionally teaching young, impresionable girls that looking pretty is all that matters seems like a very bad idea.

I'd be interested in knowing what other people think of this.

So, if you don't already know about it check out this link ...
Here Comes Miss Honey Boo Boo