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.
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 that I sometimes joke about what’s happened. You know, the whole my-husband-had-an-affair-and-that’s-just-some-of-the-story.
What, you’re not laughing? Well, okay. Maybe when I put it like that, it’s not exactly a knee slapper, but sometimes things just strike me as hilarious.
Like tonight, at a bible study.
We were talking about prayer and how we listen for God to answer some of our questions. And I was trying to make the point that sometimes, when it’s a really important decision, I don’t just listen for that often talked about still small voice. I also look for peace in my heart and the counsel of people I trust and you know, if it’s a door that is opening and is indisputably good. I mean, I don’t really just ask God really high stakes questions and wait for a yes or no and then run blindly on that.
But what I said was this:
I don’t just ask God questions and wait for an answer. Like…I never asked God who I should marry…
And then what I said dawned on me, probably right after it dawned on everybody else. And I remembered who I actually had married and what a disaster that turned out to be. So I quickly tagged on:
…But maybe I should have.
And all of us burst out laughing, every one of us in that room. I think someone even managed to say that they loved me, in between bursts of laughter, of course.
I felt myself get warm all over and I was good and embarrassed and for once, I was kind of speechless for a good minute or two. And afterwards, my friend Christian and I were talking about it and laughing again. That was just too good, Jess, he said. Of all the examples you could have brought up…!!!
And I know, I know. Ridiculous.
But also? Hilarious.
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. [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
red like my hair and like that color I love.
in Funny Stuff, Thoughts and Feelings, photography
as bald jess, color, dayafter, dr suess, good ole days, hair, Jess, kind, Ronald McDonald, thanks mom, thing, today
I woke up today not really knowing that this was going to happen. The whole I-sort-of-have-red-hair-now thing. See, I went to the salon with the idea of trying to make them match my roots. I do like the blonde hair, but the maintenance! That color is demanding, what with the roots being all exhibitionists, starting [...]
a questionnaire.
in Funny Stuff, Thoughts and Feelings
as capital, crab apples, drag queen, homemade pizza, hot lava, John, pain, Saturdays, something, teaching, thousand needles
How do you tend to spend your Saturdays? a). teaching pilates. b). making homemade pizza from scratch. c). pretending that your roots aren’t quite as bad as they are and that you don’t need a shower as much as you do. d). throwing crab apples at people you love. e). talking with a beautiful friend [...]
thoughts that I pretend to organize by way of bullets.
in Funny Stuff, Thoughts and Feelings
as Amish, amish man, bagel, buggy, double whammy, horse, horse and buggy, invisalign, jenna, night, Ollie, private conversation
I am going to write down some random things here, so bear with me. Today my sister and I saw a cute young Amish man. I write this down because this has never happened before. I am sure they exist–and I am now positive that they exist–but I had just never before actually witnessed it. [...]
My name is Jessica and this is a nice, quiet space that I like to cram with words.
