lots.
in Funny Stuff, Loved Ones, Thoughts and Feelings
as beeline, FRUIT, fruit snack, fruit snacks, good manners, Guy, Jess, Jessica, just, kind, music, MY TOE, Ollie, SNACK, thingies, way
Every moment was mapped out for me between the hours of 2:30 and 9:00 tonight.
And it was kind of nice, because everything that I was doing involved either people, music, or dance, and I happen to be in love with all three of those.
And it was kind of tiring.
And it made me very hungry.
Because see, now that I have these invisalign thingies, snacking isn’t really an option. At all. And do you know what the worst part of that is? The other day I had to turn down a fruit snack. A FRUIT SNACK. I love fruit snacks. And a friend offered me one out of the blue. I quietly declined with a no thank you, and he looked pretty surprised that I didn’t take him up on the offer.
Actually, I am suddenly hyper aware of how many people offer me either food or drinks all the time. It’s like when you have some sort of injury with your toe and all of the sudden everyone and their dog is stepping on your toe, I guess. Probably, nothing actually changed, but now you are just noticing it because, OUCH!! MY TOE IS BROKEN AND YOU JUST BROKE IT AGAIN!!
Well now it’s like that, but with food and drinks and me all being hyper aware of having to say Oh, I’m good! or I already ate (yeah, like five hours ago…). or the plain and simple classic, no, thanks.
Which reminds me of my nephew Ollie. Have I told you this about him? I’m not sure, but here goes, and if hearing a repeat story about my adorable nephew is the worst thing that ever happens to you, I’d say you’re doing just fine.
But when Ollie was about two, I think, he was very strictly trained in the art of good manners (still is, actually). He was quick on the draw with his pleases and thank yous and even the rarer may I’s. But he also had his own agenda, as most of us do. And so when I’d watch him and tell him to please not go out the door right now, since we are staying inside, he’d very courteously toss a no thanks! in my general direction as he made a beeline for the front door.
Only with his little lisp, it sounded more like, No thankth! and he’d be on his merry way, having accomplished both being polite and getting his way.
Or so he thought…Cause I’d catch him before he got wherever it was he was going, and try not to laugh at the same time because goshdarnit, his little no thankth! was adorable even if he was being disobedient.
But right, no thanks. For the snacks. EACH ONE. Even when it’s a fruit snack and goodness knows, but I’d like to have one. And actually, with my invisalign, sometimes I am afraid I sound a little more like Ollie’s no thankth! then I’d like to.
But fruit snacks wasn’t the point, I’m pretty sure.
Though they are certainly good enough to be, I’m also pretty sure.
What I meant to tell you about was that during the last class I taught tonight–a hip-hop class–a guy stuck his head in the door, asking which one of us was Jessica. I told him me and then he asked if he could take pictures of us, because he was trying to enter some kind of photo competition. I said I didn’t mind if the class didn’t mind, and once we consented, he made himself more comfortable in the studio and mentioned to us that he could win some money with one of these photos.
I suggested he share it with us, if that’s the case, and then he awkwardly said, I’d…like…to in a way that indicated he would not.
Which is fine.
Then he started snapping pictures and suddenly I was wondering if tonight was the best night to wear my bright blue headband a little lower on my forehead than normal–a little more 80′s than normal–after all. It’s just those pesky roots, you know. And the pesky not showering every day, too. Makes me reach for headbands lately. Okay, well, just today. But did it have to be a bright one? Well, yes, cause we’re talking me, I guess. But, alright–did it have to be tied so low on my forehead?
Nope.
But it was, anyway.
And now I’m talking as if it wasn’t me who did it in the first place. Like I’m some sad victim–oh no, poor Jess. Looks like she’s showing the symptoms of that new disease: 80′s headbanditis. I guess it was just a matter of time, with that one.
Oh, but enough about the headband.
What I wanted to tell you was that the Picture Guy was standing by the mirrors while I was teaching a combination, and once I asked the class if they were ready to try it with music and they said yes, I joked with him and said, You can certainly try it with the music too!
And then gotcha, jokes on me, cause right away, he started kicking off his shoes and told me with just a little breathlessness since I guess those shoes were tied real tight or something that, actually, he is a dancer too.
Which, I am sorry to admit, did surprise me, because his body was not the physique of a normal dancer. And I know, what’s normal? but what I mean is, he did not in any way at all look how most dancers look.
And then he told me, Yes, I train at the Y; I have since I was 8.
Which is when I wondered what it was he meant by that. Because nobody trains at the Y. If you are four, you might take a little dance class there. When you are six, it might even include fifteen minutes of tap. But when you are a grown man? No, I don’t think you are training at the Y. And if you really want to dance, you for sure do not do it at the Y.
But bless him, because before I knew what was happening he had jumped right in with the other dancers and managed to start the combination in something similar to the starting pose, at least.
And then I turned on the music and didn’t really watch because I didn’t want to embarrass him and also, I needed to be demonstrating for the class, anyway.
Still, this guy–he really went for it. And it made me smile. And it surprised me. And I hope he keeps going for it.
And I hope that if he does win some money for a picture in which I am featured–or more likely my blue headband, worn nice and low on the forehead is featured–then I hope he shares some of the spoils with me.
the weather and the radio.
in Funny Stuff, I Lift My Eyes Up, Thoughts and Feelings
as chill in the air, Christina, Christina Aguilera, fruit snacks, grey tank, Ipod, kind, laundry basket, Miss Saigon, Nick Lachey, radio, something, sun, weather cause
I have this odd sense of anticipation and I think it has something to do with the weather.
Cause you know, summer is generally hot and winter is generally cold, but then there are these lovely wild card seasons we like to call spring and fall. And it’s then that you might wake up to grey clouds piled high–one on top of the other–while the sun is buried somewhere, probably in the middle. And there’s a chill in the air as you step outside, making you think it’s a good thing you’ve worn your A Chorus Line sweatshirt for what is now the fifth day in a row. But who’s to say that by lunchtime, when you’re eating your PB&J and all the third graders are jealous of the fruit snacks you’ll have later, the sun isn’t shining with a fervency you’ve only seen matched by your mom when she asked you to please not go and throw the baby out with the bath water, so to speak, and start living life like marriage and love don’t matter at all?
And with the sun shining like it is, you’re grateful that you’re wearing your grey tank top for what is only the second day in a row. And now you’re doubly grateful, cause you’ve still got a good couple of days left in it before it visits the laundry basket.
But all this to say that I wake up everyday wondering what kind of weather will show up. And it’s kind of exciting. And it’s kind of like listening to the radio.
Huh?
Well, see, the radio isn’t your Ipod (yeah, I realize you know that). But I mean, when you play your ipod, you’re in complete control over what you hear. Even when it’s on shuffle. Because it’s still pulling from a pool (pulling from a pool. ha.) of music that you’ve already selected and put there to begin with. It’s like throwing your own pet fish into a pond before you fish them out and put them right back into your bucket again. And yep, I just called you a bucket. But you’re a very nice, good-looking bucket, don’t worry.
And though there’s a lot of safety in having that kind of control, and yes, you completely eliminate the chance of hearing Nick Lachey’s latest comeback song again, you also miss out on something that just might be awesome.
Like the time I was driving to the Media Theater so I could be in Miss Saigon for about five whole minutes and was blown away because Christina Aguilera started singing Hurt on the radio. And the world stopped for a second. Even the fact that I was about to have to wear the world’s ugliest wig didn’t matter so much anymore. Because that song surprised me and filled the moment and made me pause in such a way that I had not anticipated, and suddenly I was better for it. And just think, I hadn’t even known it existed before I turned on the radio. And it couldn’t have happened with my Ipod, you know.
And it’s kind of like life. I mean, I had my ipod all set to play the kind of music I was expecting to hear once I came home from A Chorus Line. But then, I don’t know, my ipod broke, or maybe I broke, but something happened that effectively turned on the radio in my life.
And since then I have been surprised and surprised over the songs that have played. And I have fallen in love with some of them, I think. While I have really hated some, too. But still, it’s exciting; it’s the radio.
And I can guarantee you that Christina has definitely been singing some kind of beautiful version of Hurt. And I can hardly believe that it’s March and I am liking some of the songs that I can hear on this radio that I never did plan on listening to at all.
