Posts by jessica:
if I were to teach yoga, I would definitely incorporate the hippo.
in Funny Stuff, Thoughts and Feelings
as blank stare, brother jonathan, church, class, dance class, drama camp, frog, gazelles, hippo, Yep
For the past two weeks, my brother Jonathan has been running a children’s drama camp at our church. But please be specific about it. It’s a drama camp, not a theater camp. Not at all.
Because when I asked my nephew Ollie how he was enjoying theater camp, he gave me a blank stare before asking, “What’s theater camp?”
And I was like, “Uh…it’s the camp you’ve been going to for almost two weeks now.”
And then he smiled as it dawned on him, “Do you mean drama camp?” he corrected me.
Yep, that’s what I meant, alright. Silly me.
But today I taught a dance class to all the kids. And they were hilarious. And enthusiastic. They yelled out things that I never would have thought of myself. Cause see, if you get any comparisons to animals at all while you are dancing, it is to the ones who are more graceful. You hope, anyway. Like gazelles. Or even panthers. But while we were doing a little walk in place during the warm-up, just rolling the hips from side to side slightly as we rolled through our feet, one kid yelled out, “Oh. A hippo.”
And I started to laugh because, well, a hippo. I had never thought this particular move looked anything like a hippo, but sure. A hippo.
And then we started doing some plies and the same kid yells out, “Oh. Now a frog.” And again, sure. A frog. Why not? Why the heck not a frog? Works for me, I suppose.
But I think my favorite quote was something Jonathan told me that one of the campers said to him right after my dance class. The boy walks up to him and confidently says, “Huh. I’d never done yoga before, but I have to say it was my favorite part of the camp!”
Hahahahahahahaha. I don’t know if I should break it to him that he’s actually still never done yoga.
But at least it was his favorite part.
And maybe now he can say that his two favorite yoga poses are The Hippo and The Frog.
let it be.
in I Lift My Eyes Up, Thoughts and Feelings
as arctic sea, change, job, kindness, long time, matter, sea, second, truth of the matter
Lately, some people have blamed me for what has happened to me. And the truth of the matter is that I am not perfect; I never have been, nor will I be. And it is exhausting to try for perfection. Though, to try for kindness–to try for love–this is the kind of trying that turns [...]
hardy har har.
in Funny Stuff, Thoughts and Feelings
as bursts of laughter, god questions, har, knee slapper, peace in my heart, prayer, study, talking about prayer, therapist, Voice
When I talk to my therapist, I often preface something I am about to say with, This probably sounds crazy…” And then I say whatever it is I am saying. And then she promptly disagrees with me. In fact, she has not told me that I am crazy once. Not even when I told her [...]
chicken!
in Funny Stuff, Loved Ones
as center city philadelphia, chicken, chicken head, degree weather, dinner, miss hannigan, peanut butter and jelly, Potbellys, restaurant, today
Today I saw a man. And this, by itself, is not at all noteworthy. But when you combine it with the fact that he was wearing something on his head that made him look like a chicken and he was playing an accordion, well now you can see why I’d want to write this down. [...]
the best laid plans of mice and men.
in I Lift My Eyes Up, Loved Ones, Thoughts and Feelings
as bathing suits, best laid plans of mice and men, correct measurements, home, life without god, mice and men, ocean, thunder, today, way
Plans change. It’s one of the few things that I know. That, and how peanut butter makes almost any situation better. Also, there’s the matter of the ocean and how to this day, scientists are discovering new creatures in its depths all the time. So I also know that we don’t know everything. And all [...]
sum-sum-summertime.
in Funny Stuff, Loved Ones, photography
as braiding hair, burning sun, doubt, grass, lawn, lyric, photo, sum sum, summer photo, winter photo
105 degrees outside. A bright blue sky with a sun that is quite sure of itself. July. Summer. No doubt about it. So, we decided to go ahead and have a summer photo shoot. Since our winter photo shoot went so well and all. We picked flowers for our hair; my niece Lyric lent me [...]
still grateful. yes.
in I Lift My Eyes Up, Thoughts and Feelings
as computer, corner, download, lifetime, Mac, nice thing, peace and joy, screen, texts, trash
My computer kept telling me that it didn’t have room for much of anything else, whenever I tried to download something or even save what I was writing. So I looked for things that I could delete, just like my little mac suggested. And I came upon some big file that simply said: drew. Perfect, [...]
shapes of grace
in I Lift My Eyes Up, Performance, video
as anthem, blink, body, burning, burning flame, sense, shapes, sun, sway, way
Don’t you dare give up, my dear you can’t see through all the tears, but I’ll tell you what’s here a bright burning flame, a strong sense that you’re so alive and yes, the sun will rise; you’ll do more than survive So don’t you judge this life by just one hand for such cruelty [...]
Normal is good. So is extraordinary. And so is a great white shark.
in Funny Stuff, I Lift My Eyes Up, Loved Ones, Thoughts and Feelings
as clap my hands, dark chocolate, great white shark, swedish girls, white shark
Oh! I get to ride one of the double decker trains into the city. This makes me so happy, I could clap my hands. Not every train is a double decker, you know. And so I must make the most of this. I wonder if the Swedish girls who are a few seats ahead of [...]
upon my recommendation.
in Funny Stuff, Thoughts and Feelings, photography
as America, band, band of thieves, blah, blog, dance, dance experience, google, google image, google images, merry makers, Shane, something, South Africa, university of pretoria
So, this is Shane. If you recall, he is in a band with me. We call ourselves the paper janes. We call ourselves this because it is our name. And in this band we play music. We deliberated over different kinds of bands–say, a band of thieves or a band of merry makers, but thought that [...]
My name is Jessica and this is a nice, quiet space that I like to cram with words.
