Wait, what? It's been a month since I blogged here? Geez. I didn't realize how long it had been with all my posting over at my sock blog. Although I'm behind on my posts over there as well.
Let's see...update. Between my two paid jobs I'm working somewhere around 28 to 32 hours a week. My franchise is still moving slowly, although I was able to email a bunch of information off to the parent company a couple weeks ago. I'm still looking for land and investors. Slowest part of the gig I think.
This End Up is moving along nicely; we finally have all of our cast members and we run rehearsals as often as different schedules allow. I'm working on choreographing my routine for the show, purchasing final apparatuses for the aerial numbers, selecting/ordering/making costumes for most of the cast, and am in the middle of a large sewing project to make the main curtain for the set. It's a lot, but it's all coming together. I mean, it better come together - our first show is on April 18th! We've already had several people purchase tickets through our website. Will you be coming??
I recently saw Totem by Cirque du Soleil while they were in Santa Monica, and I didn't have to pay a dime! I won tickets back on Valentine's day by following a twitter lead and hunting down the Cirque street team at the mall in Culver City. On the evening of the show my friend Elizabeth came with me and we had a fun time catching up. A few weeks later I visited Las Vegas for a bachelorette party and found a cheap ticket to Zarkana at the Aria. I had been wanting to see that Cirque show for a while since they have a flying trapeze act, and I ended up really enjoying the entire show.
In other news, Los Angeles had a bigger than (their) average earthquake (a 4.4) the morning of St. Patrick's Day. It was the biggest earthquake in LA since 2008, and yes, I felt it! I was in the back/storage area of work about five minutes before I had to clock in when it hit, and it lasted longer than other earthquakes I've felt. I ended up walking out of the back room into the main part of the coffee shop to be out of the way of our heavy shelves in case they toppled if the quake got worse. I realized this was the third earthquake I've felt on a holiday - Christmas Day 1994 in Colorado, Easter Day 2010 in Los Angeles (the quake was the big one in Mexico, but we felt the sway when sitting down to Easter dinner at my sister-in-law's family's house), and now St. Patrick's Day. Very strange.
Alright that pretty much covers it for now! I need to sleep a little so I can work on sewing more curtains tomorrow! COME SEE THE SHOW!!
Saturday, March 22, 2014
Tuesday, February 18, 2014
Weekly Scheduling
My schedule is out of control! I'm busy all the time, I stay up way too late for no good reason (like right now), and therefore I am not accomplishing everything I need to in a timely manner. I have decided I need to get my evenings back on a normal-ish schedule so I can guarantee that I'm getting enough sleep throughout the week, and allowing time to get some work done!
Rules I'm going to start implementing to help me do this:
1. Lights out by 11pm when I work an early shift the next day; midnight on other days.
2. Electronics off at least 30 minutes before lights out. This means I need to set the alarm on my phone for the next day before the electronic curfew.
3. Up by 8:30am on days/mornings off.
4. 10am-11am on Tuesdays and Thursdays are specifically dedicated to working on my business. I must be dressed and fed before this time so I can give this work my undivided attention for the entire hour. No social media may be used during this time. Email is okay only if it's directly related to business. I can work longer if I want to, but I cannot work less than this hour.
I may add to this list if needed, but I think it's a good list to start with. Please feel free to check up on me to make sure I'm following through!
Rules I'm going to start implementing to help me do this:
1. Lights out by 11pm when I work an early shift the next day; midnight on other days.
2. Electronics off at least 30 minutes before lights out. This means I need to set the alarm on my phone for the next day before the electronic curfew.
3. Up by 8:30am on days/mornings off.
4. 10am-11am on Tuesdays and Thursdays are specifically dedicated to working on my business. I must be dressed and fed before this time so I can give this work my undivided attention for the entire hour. No social media may be used during this time. Email is okay only if it's directly related to business. I can work longer if I want to, but I cannot work less than this hour.
I may add to this list if needed, but I think it's a good list to start with. Please feel free to check up on me to make sure I'm following through!
Saturday, February 15, 2014
Swing Turn Around
I know we're in a pretty severe drought, but it's really hard not to enjoy this sunny California winter! I get to drive up to Simi Valley about once a week to fly at the Cotton Candy Club and soak up the sunshine.
This week I finally got the nerve up to try a swing turn around. This is not an incredibly difficult move to do, but for me it was a little mental battle. Last year before I left my old studio I had attempted this trick one time, and it was not good.
When you first start learning this trick the cheater version is to begin with your hand gripping the fly bar from underneath so that you can turn your body 180 degrees at the front end of your first swing to return to the pedestal immediately. Once you get the hang of the turn around you progress to beginning with your hand gripping the fly bar the way you would for a regular take off. You do a full swing, this time switching your hand grip to grab under the fly bar as you're in your "seven" at the back end of your swing, turning around at the front end of your second swing.
At the old studio I had been comfortable doing the cheater version and was ready to move on to the two swing version. I took off fine, but when it came time to switch my hand at the back end of my swing I let my legs get into more of a six o clock position instead of keeping them in front of me in a seven. This resulted in slamming my left foot down HARD on the pedestal. I kept my head together and didn't do anything else stupid like letting go of the bar - I just adjusted my hands and did a face-off to the net to come down. Have you ever jammed your finger? That's what it felt like I did to my ankle; it was sore and stiff for months! I half wonder if I may have fractured something. Anyway, after that I never felt confident enough to attempt it again. Until this last Wednesday. Below is my first attempt. It's about time I got back on that horse!
This week I finally got the nerve up to try a swing turn around. This is not an incredibly difficult move to do, but for me it was a little mental battle. Last year before I left my old studio I had attempted this trick one time, and it was not good.
When you first start learning this trick the cheater version is to begin with your hand gripping the fly bar from underneath so that you can turn your body 180 degrees at the front end of your first swing to return to the pedestal immediately. Once you get the hang of the turn around you progress to beginning with your hand gripping the fly bar the way you would for a regular take off. You do a full swing, this time switching your hand grip to grab under the fly bar as you're in your "seven" at the back end of your swing, turning around at the front end of your second swing.
At the old studio I had been comfortable doing the cheater version and was ready to move on to the two swing version. I took off fine, but when it came time to switch my hand at the back end of my swing I let my legs get into more of a six o clock position instead of keeping them in front of me in a seven. This resulted in slamming my left foot down HARD on the pedestal. I kept my head together and didn't do anything else stupid like letting go of the bar - I just adjusted my hands and did a face-off to the net to come down. Have you ever jammed your finger? That's what it felt like I did to my ankle; it was sore and stiff for months! I half wonder if I may have fractured something. Anyway, after that I never felt confident enough to attempt it again. Until this last Wednesday. Below is my first attempt. It's about time I got back on that horse!
Tuesday, January 21, 2014
Sock It to Me!
I love socks! This isn't new, nor is it an uncommon fetish. Sunday I managed to do ALL of my laundry, and I realized that even if I hadn't washed any of my socks I would still have more than plenty for the next week or two. Or four. Who knows.
In light of this realization I decided that instead of doing the simple thing and just counting up how many pairs of socks I own I would start a photo project to see just how long it would take for me to wear each and every pair before I run out. Will this mean I have to wear Christmas socks out of season? Of course! It might make things more fun. Or maybe just add a spark of oddness to a boring project. Either way you can follow my project at Sock It To Me.
In light of this realization I decided that instead of doing the simple thing and just counting up how many pairs of socks I own I would start a photo project to see just how long it would take for me to wear each and every pair before I run out. Will this mean I have to wear Christmas socks out of season? Of course! It might make things more fun. Or maybe just add a spark of oddness to a boring project. Either way you can follow my project at Sock It To Me.
Sunday, January 5, 2014
2014 - The Year of Flying Improvements
It's 2014!! Let me tell you - I am SO glad that 2013 is over, it was a difficult year in many ways. This year has started off wonderfully, especially in regards to my aerial/circus world.
This End Up reached its goal on hatchfund and with some of the funding we have purchased our main set of trussing to start building the show's set in our performance space. We moved it all in on New Year's Eve and made friends with some of our warehouse neighbors - mostly artsy folks like us! It's exciting to see this project really get underway; we have a timeline in mind for when we expect to have our first performance, so stay tuned!
Nicolina, a gal I flew with in the OC Fair last summer, now owns her own trapeze rig about 45 minutes away from me, and I was able to visit for the first time on the 2nd. Yes, it's quite a bit farther from me than the studio where I started my flying trapeze training, but the positive, supporting atmosphere that she and the other flyers bring to her rig is well worth the time in the car! Such a breath of fresh air compared to the belittling and snarky attitude of the other rig's owner. Don't get me wrong - I'm grateful for everything I learned at my first flying trapeze studio (I'm leaving out its name on purpose - I don't care to spread negative energy), but it was time to move on. Nicolina runs her rig like a club rather than a school, so it's the perfect place for me to work on the little details like improving the height my swing, the position of my legs in a turn around, etc. especially since we didn't have a catcher out there that day. Everyone there is willing to help each other out; we all work together to be better flyers. One of the absolute best things about her rig is that it's bright pink! No one has a rig like this that I have seen. I had to paint my nails to match; turned out pretty good!
Knowing that I was one of the least experienced flyers in my class, I worked my butt off! I was quickly tearing through the gauze grips I had made at Nicolina's rig just the day before (previous sets of gauze grips have lasted up to 8 classes before shredding or ripping apart), and the skin on my hands quickly followed. Every couple of swings I was applying tape to cover my wounds and adjusting the tiny pieces of gauze I had left to minimize any slipping the tape would cause on the fly bar. By the time class was over my hands were pretty chewed up, and several people expressed surprise that I kept going without complaint.
I rinsed my hands a little in the sink before getting in my car (ouch), and managed to drive myself to a CVS on the way home to buy some bandages I could tape over the wounds. Let me tell you - cleaning those suckers hurt. BAD. I may have yelled and stomped my foot a little in the process. Luckily I had told my roommate what I was about to do so she didn't think I was having some sort of fit. Anyway, I managed to clean them, trim off the flaps of skin and bandage them up.
Was all that pain worth it? Absolutely yes! What a difference a day flying with pros makes! Before I had been to Richie's rig I had never so much as caught a return bar. I had tried but would either have problems getting up high enough out of the catcher's hands (partially because I was impatient and would turn early instead of riding the swing up before pushing into the turn), or I didn't have someone on the pedestal who was experienced in dropping a return bar, or my instructor would have me move on to a new trick that I wasn't catching consistently enough to be able to attempt a return. After warming up and throwing tricks to the net several times it was time to catch. Richie took me aside and told me exactly what to do and when to do it in order for me to get back to the bar and told me to do my back end split - a very solid trick for me (I've taken this one out of safety lines for shows). I threw this trick to the catcher twice, and these were the results:
This End Up reached its goal on hatchfund and with some of the funding we have purchased our main set of trussing to start building the show's set in our performance space. We moved it all in on New Year's Eve and made friends with some of our warehouse neighbors - mostly artsy folks like us! It's exciting to see this project really get underway; we have a timeline in mind for when we expect to have our first performance, so stay tuned!
Nicolina, a gal I flew with in the OC Fair last summer, now owns her own trapeze rig about 45 minutes away from me, and I was able to visit for the first time on the 2nd. Yes, it's quite a bit farther from me than the studio where I started my flying trapeze training, but the positive, supporting atmosphere that she and the other flyers bring to her rig is well worth the time in the car! Such a breath of fresh air compared to the belittling and snarky attitude of the other rig's owner. Don't get me wrong - I'm grateful for everything I learned at my first flying trapeze studio (I'm leaving out its name on purpose - I don't care to spread negative energy), but it was time to move on. Nicolina runs her rig like a club rather than a school, so it's the perfect place for me to work on the little details like improving the height my swing, the position of my legs in a turn around, etc. especially since we didn't have a catcher out there that day. Everyone there is willing to help each other out; we all work together to be better flyers. One of the absolute best things about her rig is that it's bright pink! No one has a rig like this that I have seen. I had to paint my nails to match; turned out pretty good!
The very next day I decided to finally use my groupon and go with a flying friend of mine (Carol) to Richie Gaona's rig in Woodland Hills; about a 25 minute drive for me. I had been wanting to go to his rig for quite a while now, but felt a little intimidated since the Gaona's are a multi-generation circus family with their circus blood dating back to at least the late 1800's (according to circopedia.org). Many professional flyers spend time at Richie's during their off-time. I'm glad Carol convinced me to put on my big girl flying panties and get out there though, because it was AMAZING.
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| The rig |
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| The belt (safety harness) I used at Richie's - seemed very circus appropriate |
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| At the end of class before removing the tape and gauze |
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| The damage - can you find all 5 rips? |
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| All bandaged up |
Attempt 1
Attempt 2
Success! Back to the pedestal on my second return bar. Couldn't have had a better day - war wounds and all!
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