Anyone But Chelsie: So I Think She Can't Dance

It is 12:40 a.m. I have just finished watching SYTYCD on TiVo. I have been trying to call in for over an hour now and lines are still busy.

So I usually try to be somewhat positive and crap :P (except when I write about Apesh*t Bush) but this has gone on too long.

Yes America, I realize that you like 18-year-old blondes from small towns. I recognize that that is the exact profile of who always wins Playmate of the Year. (You're telling me you don't watch Girls Next Door?)

But Midwestern tastelessness aside, let us be blind no longer: Chelsie Hightower must not be in the finale.

Has anyone noticed yet that week after week she miraculously draws some ballroom dance or other from the hat? And this week she was even given rumba - Latin being her specialty. I have yet to recall her in a contemporary routine.

Moving v. Dancing

Why has she not danced in that form ever? Because it would expose her lack of maturity.

Though she is only a year younger than Katee, my prediction last week for winner, they are eons apart in maturity. And here's the rub:

Depth is the single characteristic that takes someone from a good mover (Chelsie) to a dancer (Katee and the wrongly left out Will).

As promised last week, here is Will's final solo. Note the moment he takes to soak in the music and emotion before he leaps onto the stage. This solo in particular evokes the experience of being on SYTYCD. He almost lovingly caresses the stage steps - a movement of acknowledging all he and the other dancers have gone through.



Yes, you can win ballroom competitions for your perfect form and snazzy showmanship. It's either carriage and pointed toes or dropping into the ground and flashing veneers.

But when the stage is bare and you have only the music and your bare feet and no Tabitha and Napoleon routine or Mark Kanemura to partner with you, how well will you express what sound and joy and sorrow look like from your pinky toe to your longest finger?

This Utah high schooler has strutted across the stage doing the same hip swivels every single week as her solo and America the Dumb is buying it.

I had to remind myself tonight, with Nigel's help, that this is an entertainment show and people who, in his words, "could care less about dancing" are watching. This is not a competition for America's Best Dancer or even Most Qualified, but America's Favorite Dancer.

In which case the Girls Next Door should think about trying out next year.

List Frenzy: Gubb v. Remember the Milk

I have been obsessed with the Simple Dollar's 31 Days to Fix Your Finances. I just finished Day 3, which culminated in the Olympics of list making. Combined with my already established task list fetish, I have had the opportunity to try out two new websites that made the good old fashioned list virtual.

Remember the Milk

The benefits of Remember the Milk are that

1. you can go offline with your list and work on it without being signed into your account
2. the overview will automatically show you what is due today, tomorrow or overdue.

There are some other bells and whistles - too many for my tastes, actually. Overall I found the site incredibly UNintuitive. Since it took me five minutes to figure out how how to add a task to a list, I was already on another website making lists like a fiend.

Gubb

That other website is Gubb. A decidedly unsexy, amorphous name for a colorful, aesthetically pleasing service that took negative seconds to understand. For the life of me I still cannot remember the name of the site without looking it up, but I visit it every two seconds to check out the monster list I had to make for Day 3 - a gorgeous, 3-column opus of lists replete with due dates, color-coding, bullets and check boxes.

I generally dislike virtual anything (I still carried a day planner after college) but this site is so organized and pretty (can you tell I'm a girl) that the benefits of having an electronic task organizer are clear.

Just like Geezeo's preschool style budget maker, I was drawn to Gubb's clean and bright design. (Everything is clean and bright these days, isn't it?)

And best of all - both sites are FREE.

Any other list sites to add to our obsessive compulsive disorder?

Now Do This

This is the story of how task lists became a part of my life:

Around 2003 I received a box of curry and this book

From a dear Pinay lesbian nurse friend who knew I was stressed out and hungry all the time.

Using a prioritization method inspired by this book, I have utilized a task list for the last 5 years (I cannot believe I am that old either).

It is super simple - I keep my list in cheap composition books which then serve as well-worn artifacts of all that I have accomplished.

Now Do This

For those who want an electronic version, I'm loving Now Do This. I discovered this through Zen Habits, another megablog I will envy 'til the day I die.

It's a website that lets you enter a task list and will only show you one task at a time. When you finish it, hit done and your next task will come up. That's it.

Bright and clean and white (kind of like Edelweiss...)

I'm going to attempt to use Now Do This for a week and see how it compares to my trusty pen and paper method.

What method do you use to get your stuff done?

So You Think You Can Dance

Psst! Looking for the Best of Season 4?

I can not believe it.

Tonight, America voted off the man who was supposed to win. (Then again, this is the country that kept that Simian in Office.)

I have never seen a more perfect dancer at age 21 than Will Wingfield.



Judges compared him to an Ailey dancer and he, without a doubt, could join a troupe of that caliber.

It was frightfully, almost unfairly, clear from the start who was the one dancer that was destined to win.

Will has the utter combination of technique and control, but most importantly - dancing from the heart. His movement is authentic; it comes from within. It is organic and his farewell solo is the clearest example of him listening to the music and then moving.

Plus, ladies love him. (check out that look he gives at the end of the video above...)

Who Will Win Now?

My prediction for who will win So You Think You Can Dance is Katee Shean.

Why: She is the only female who can match Will at his level. She has the technical training necessary for breadth and the embodiment of character that lends depth.

My personal favorite is Mark Kanemura, possibly the most original dancer to ever appear on this show.

But Joshua Allen has quickly gained my respect in the last few weeks. His personality is unbeatably charming and I would like to point out that his solos are actually sharper and more inventive than those of audience favorite, Twitch.

Related Posts:

Best of So You Think You Can Dance Season 4
America Got It Right: Joshua Allen Can Dance!

Camplaign Revisited

This is more like it:

Erica of erica.biz, another early retiree who apparently makes tons of money in ways we mortals will never replicate (and my cynical humor is, according to these selfsame megabloggers, the kind of mindset that will keep me in rampant poverty) put herself on a milder anti-complain campaign (camplaign?) after re-reading Secrets of the Millionaire Mind: Mastering the Inner Game of Wealth

7 days of no complaining. I might consider that...

Anyone still doing the 21 day challenge?

Although I'm not officially on it, I have reduced my complaining by way of raising awareness of it and making a choice not to go down that route. It does take a weight off your shoulders when you don't have to complain!

Won Word Wednesday

What is 'Won' Word?


Today's Won Word:

headache

Comment below if you're joining!

In Loco Domus

A home for the lonely!

Cambridge, MA made #2 on CNN Money's Cities With Most Singles Over 30 list. On the cover of its entry?

The house (=Harvardspeak for dorm, reference Harry Potter) I lived in while I was in college! You can see its cheery blue dome front and center here.

I can vouch that Harvard sure felt lonely at the time, although looking back I miss living so close to hundreds of kids my age.

I Will Not Complain

I was so intrigued when I read about this Campaign to Stop Complaining that I began immediately, even without a bracelet.

The idea in a nutshell: Stop complaining for 21 days straight. Each time you vocalize a complaint, switch the bracelet from one wrist to the other.

This was 4:30 p.m. last Friday.

By 11 p.m. I was at the airport in Vegas and I had "switched the bracelet" 4 times in 5 minutes.

A week later I have forgotten about the "bracelet".

Hardest damn thing in the world.

I think if I actually had a bracelet, it might go better, but when I tried to order my free one (plus 75 cents for shipping) the Paypal link was broken. Stupid broken link. ::switching bracelet::

A Complaint Free World, the homepage of the campaign, states that the average person takes 4-10 months to have a 21-day complaint-free streak. That means wearing that stupid purple bracelet for a frickin' school year. ::switching bracelet::

It's a great concept though and the intention behind it has not been lost on me. I simply get discouraged beyond belief every other day over it.

Anyone else up for the challenge?

Parallel Self Portrait

My parallel self (the one who's living a better life than I) took a self-portrait.

Dammit, she's skinnier than me.

(Yes, that's a monkey on her waist. What?)

Mess(y): Protest Art

Selena and I came home from dinner last week and upon opening our door, immediately tripped over three flip-flops. A second later, we realized that they once formed a "Y" to this:

Protest art from our middle brother

(it's a Forever 21 scarf and Henri Bendel leg warmers)

The rest of the mess...

Peace Prayer

I am praying for a dragon warrior in training

Peace Prayer of St. Francis of Assisi

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace,
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
where there is sadness, joy;

Grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console;
to be understood as to understand;
to be loved as to love.

For it is in giving that we receive;
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.

Books and Me

A book meme I lifted from Kay Day:

1. Do you remember how you developed a love for reading?

While I don't recall it in first-person narrative, I have psychologically reconstructed the development and it is most likely is due to my being an only child. Plainspeak: books were my only best friends.

2. What are some of the books you read as a child?

The Berenstein Bears. I had a chance to meet the son of the creators and have him sign a book during the NY Book Fair in the Village 3 years ago. Bliss.

I was obsessed with the Laura Ingalls Wilder series - I would re-read them every winter while sipping hot cocoa and eating a chocolate caramel. (Her food descriptions made me hella hungry.) I would wear nightgowns and pretend I had to carry a candle to light my way down the hall.

The Sweet Valley Twins. (I liked Elizabeth better. I also met and chatted with Francine Pascal during that same book fair. She gave me dating advice: dump anyone who isn't supportive of your art.)

The Babysitters Club. (I think I liked Maryanne and Stacey [the New Yorker] the best. Hated Dawn the most. Stupid California girl.) (Yes I know the Sweet Valley Twins are from SoCal. Different context. It's like hating Audrina Patridge in the tabloids but guiltily enjoying Laguna Beach: The Real OC.)

3. What is your favorite genre?

Young adult novels. Literary fiction with magical realist qualities.

4. Do you have a favorite novel?

Nope. I have a dear spot for the ones that made me cry like a maniac, though.

5. Where do you usually read?

I like to go outside and read during my lunch break.
On the plane.
On the uh...throne...

6. When do you usually read?

When I really remind myself or lately (sadly) when I allow myself permission to indulge.

7. Do you usually have more than one book you are reading at a time?

Right now I have more than 10 going. sigh. I realized tonight that I even forgot I was in the middle of reading a couple of those books.

8. Do you read non-fiction in a different way or place than you read fiction?

Yes - I have no problem stopping a non-fiction book midway through and never picking it back up again. However, once I get going in fiction, 99% of the time I simply cannot stop until it is completed. Even if it sucks.

9. Do you buy most of the books you read, or borrow them, or check them out of the library?

I put my desired books on my Amazon wishlist and my bff and H usually buy them for me. In NY I had several books out on my library card at all times. NYC = best library system ever. Shut up, EVER. Sometimes I'll cave and go in for that 4-for-3 deal on Amazon, especially for young adult fiction. And other times the impulse will hit me at Barnes & Nobles and I just have to have that book, or I if find a very special edition at a used bookstore.

10. Do you keep most of the books you buy? If not, what do you do with them?

I love loaning books to friends and I rarely care if I get them back. I try to sell to used bookstores but for some reason they never want to buy my books. :(

11. If you have children, what are some of the favorite books you have shared with them? Were they some of the same ones you read as a child?

Thank the Goddess I do not have children.

12. What are you reading now?

Please see list on the right. Hell, please click list on the right. Heaven - please click and then purchase from list on right. I need money to buy more books.

I am also "reading" my novel as I edit it.

13. Do you keep a TBR (to be read) list?

See list again.

14. What's next?

My novel re-written. Hopefully I can pick up another young adult book.

15. What books would you like to re-read?

The Little House on the Prairie series. I'd like to pick that tradition back up. I'm in the middle of re-reading the Dark is Rising series.

16. Who are your favorite authors?

Alice Hoffman, Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni, E.L. Konigsburg (although she has some issues with race; she tries), M. Scott Peck, the Goddess Anne Lamott (her non-fiction), Ellen Wittenger, Sharon Creech, Louise Erdrich (older stuff), and lastly I am hoping that David Sedaris will join this list (I have only read one of his so far).

My Parallel Self is Living A Much Better Life Than I

13 Things About

My Parallel Self Who is Living A Much Better Life Than I

1. She is getting an MFA in Creative Writing at the New School


2. Which has been entirely paid for through fellowships and scholarships and the kindness of patrons


3. Tonight she is going to dinner with friends downtown


4. She lives in a studio in an elevator building on the Upper West Side


5. That is right off the ACE


6. It has laundry in the building!!!


7. She is asked to lead workshops and speak on panels all the live long day


8. She feeds herself entirely from commercial royalties


9. She has a dog (aw)


10. It is perfectly trained and doesn't shed


11. She is rehearsing for her autobiographical dance performance choreographed by Mia Michaels (this is so awe-inspiring it makes me shudder)


12. She is in touch with the God/Dog within


13. She is reaching her hand out and asking me how badly I want this life

Won Word Wednesday

What is 'Won' Word?


Today's Won Word:

butt-ass-freezing

Comment below if you're joining!

AUGUST, For Me? You Should Have!

I got tagged by Dette for the most complicated meme yet (that also required major grammatical revision - I'm a professional editor, what can I say?)...

But one that will hopefully result in dreams come true!

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Determine your birthday month and get a word that rhymes with it or one you can affix to it. Caps lock your birth month (ex: MAYday! JUNE dune, APRILicious, JULYvely, AUGUST pocus, parched MARCH..). Be unique!

2. Your birth month plus the word affixed or rhymed becomes your post's title.

3. Get your birthday and add the digits involved. Example: if your birthday falls on the 25th of July, add 2 and 5 you get 7.

4. Whatever the sum, write a list of the MATERIAL gifts you wish to receive corresponding to the number that corresponds to the sum of your birthday. For example, in the case above, you will write seven (7) things you wish to receive.

5. After your wish list, put your name and birthday in the Blogger Birthday Directory, with a link to your blog/s. Note: when you add your birthday, please place it in a way that the dates appear chronologically (January, February...1, 2, 3)

6. Pass this meme by tagging as many as you want.

***

Here are my wishlist items:

1. A 3-book deal with a major publishing house
2. Being Oprah's featured expressive arts coach
3. Tuition paid for my coaches training and certification (I need around $10,000 but even $10 will help!)
   
   
   
   
   
   

Blogger's Birthday Directory:

January 15 - Bonefina | Jan 28 - Winklekat | February 11 - Dette | February 18 - Nancy| February 20 - Caryl| February 23 - Jammy | March 7 - Mari | March 28 - Jaja | April 13 - Tere | May 3 - Vannie | May 8 - Joanjoyce | May 27 - Zang Caesar | August- 52 Faces | August 27 - Francine , La Place de Cherie, Cherie | September 1 - Lynn | October 2 - Hailey | September 2 - Chikai | September 30 - Mckhoii | October 12- Naomi | December 18 - Joshuaongys | December 19 - Alpha |

Alright, the only two people I can think of who will do this are:

Cereal Dieter and Selena (on her mysterious livejournal...)

Week 26: Where I Break Free

So I just realized there was no Week 26.

And I'm okay with that.

I see Dogs everywhere.

And We're Back...With a Slow Jam

This weekend all the plans I made fell through and we ended up at interesting places doing unexpected things instead.

Friday we joined Selena at her pastry chef's birthday party at the:

where I entreated her to an awkward middle school slow dance:


Yup. I'm staring at her boobs.

We'll Be Back!

Happy White People's Independence Day!

52 Faces will return on Monday with regularly scheduled programming and photos galore.

Won Word Wednesday

fantasizing

the Story behind my meme

Batting For the Other Team Again

While signing up for an online subscription...

S: Let's make our screen name Mr. and Mrs. H (types)

H: (leans in) Wait, did you write...MAN! Your lesbian tendencies are coming out again.

S sees that she has typed MrsandMrsH