In September 2007, my parents joined a new line dancing class at the community center in our neighborhood. They thought I would enjoy it too, so I started going with them. Last night we started our third year as a class (after being on hiatus since May)! For various reasons, our former instructor’s sister (who has an extensive dance background) has taken over the class, and she’s doing a great job. I think I’ll get to help her lead a few things too! It was great to be back, see everyone, and dance again.
I’ve been dancing in one form or another for most of my life. I started ballet at three years old and continued until we moved to Memphis, in fifth grade. Then I was in marching band until I graduated, which I realize isn’t the same thing as dance, but it uses a lot of the same skills. I’m sure that line dancing only comes naturally to me because I spent six years quickly memorizing steps and commands. In college, I often went swing dancing (it was the height of the swing revival) and took ballet as my phys ed elective. I even took an adult ballet class a few years ago from Dmitri Roudnev (with no idea how well-known he was until I stopped going – he was a fantastic teacher). Then I started line dancing. I don’t freestyle very well and would feel stupid at a club, but if someone is teaching a routine, I can probably pick it up.
Basically, I love everything about dance. I love that it helps me understand music with my body instead of just my ears and my brain. I love the increased awareness and the muscle memory. I love the way good choreography makes you feel like you can fly. I hope I’m still dancing when I’m 80.
As I’ve mentioned, on most Sunday nights, I try to prepare some sort of breakfast for the whole week. This prevents me from eating nothing but cereal or hitting McDonald’s. I doubt that these muffins are very low-cal because of the peanut butter, but they have lots of protein and fiber and are soooooooooo good.
Peanut Butter and Banana Muffins
From the Deceptively Delicious cookbook.
Ingredients:
1 cup firmly packed light or dark brown sugar
½ cup peanut butter
½ cup carrot or cauliflower puree (carrot FTW!)
½ cup banana puree
1 large egg white
1 cup whole-wheat flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 350 F. Coat a 12-cup muffin tin with cooking spray, or use paper baking cups.
2. In a large bowl, mix half of the brown sugar with the peanut butter, the vegetable and banana purees, and the egg white. (I was lazy and pureed a whole banana without measuring the results. It was apparently way more than half a cup, but the muffins didn’t suffer too much.)
3. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a bowl or zipper-lock bag. Add to the peanut butter mixture, stirring just to combine (the batter will be lumpy – do not overmix). Add the remaining ½ cup of brown sugar and stir once or twice.
4. Divide batter among the muffin cups, and bake for 15-20 minutes, until muffins are lightly browned and a toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the center. Turn muffins out onto a rack to cool.
5. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days, or wrap individually and freeze for up to a month.
Last weekend I spruced up my “office” at home. More than ever, I want it to be a place that inspires and frees me to create stuff. I don’t know what stuff, exactly, but I know I need to give my creativity room to breathe. For at least ten years, I’ve tried to limit it and label it and stuff it in a box, and whenever it escaped, I told it that it wasn’t good enough and imprisoned it again.
But now I’m beginning to learn the art of not caring. I’m trying to remember what it was like when I was a kid, before my inner critic woke up. I drew things and made things, and most of all, I wrote with abandon, because it made me happy. There was no pressure to produce something that pleased everyone else.
So I’m going to start spending more time in my office, with my art supplies and scrapbook paper and inspiration book, and hopefully writing too, just for the joy of creating something. I don’t know much about what I “should” be doing with my new life, but I do know that I need to take advantage of the quiet, because one way or another, it won’t last forever. So I’m opening the gate and setting myself free. We’ll see what develops.
I first read this quote back in May:
It’s all been said better before. If I thought I had to say it better than anybody else, I’d never start. Better or worse is immaterial. The thing is that it has to be said; by me; ontologically. We each have to say it, to say it our own way. Not of our own will, but as it comes out through us. Good or bad, great or little; that isn’t what human creation is about. It is that we have to try; to put it down in pigment, or words, or musical notations, or we die.
– Madeleine L’Engle, A Circle of Quiet
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I have personal rules about new music. The first time I listen to a new album, I have to listen all the way through at least once (usually two or three times). No skips, even if I immediately dislike a particular song. I figure it’s the least I can do to respect the overall vision. After the first few listens, though, I resume my usual musical ADD*, and the songs I still don’t like can fade into obscurity. I generally prefer upbeat music, and if I didn’t adhere to the no-skips rule, I probably would have missed out on a lot of great slower songs. On the other hand, I’ve re-discovered a lot of rejects years later, and they’ve gained a personal meaning they wouldn’t have had when they were new. Because music is always evolving.
All that to say, I bought Sara Bareilles’ new Kaleidoscope Heart this week, and had a difficult time sticking to the no-skips rule… because it’s so fantastic that I wanted to listen to each song again as soon as it was over. I loved Little Voice, but this album takes it to a whole new level. Well done, Sara!!!
* = It’s possible that the iPod and the general concept of “shuffling” was invented by someone who observed me as a teenager. I would go for long walks with my pockets stuffed with extra tapes (which were, themselves, often mix tapes) so I could pick and choose from the best songs on my Walkman. I would have made a great DJ if I’d lived back in the days when DJs had control over what they played.
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(Jessica Simpson “Oscar” heels. Say what you will, the woman knows shoes.)
You know what would be fantastic? An internet application in which you could make a wish list of all the items you’re currently in the market for, and it would alert you whenever those items go on sale anywhere, or when the prices drop into a specified range. You’d never have to look at Sunday ads or waste tons of time comparison shopping again! If I had any software skills, I would have already made this happen myself, so others can feel free to run with the idea and become billionaires. Just let me know when it’s finished so I can be an early adopter!
(Speaking of shoes, a box containing these and these arrived on my doorstep from DSW yesterday. Happy September to me!)
1 Comment + Posted in: what i'm into