March 8, 2012 – 2nd Half Redemption
08 Mar 2012 Leave a Comment
in Achieving WIN, Acting, art, Being a Woman, Circus, Exercise, headache & migraine, Health and Healthy Living, Linguistics, music, Simon Fraser University, Tech The Crazy Tags: aerial, circus, design, hoop, SFU, sound, static, swinging, trapeze, USRA, VPR
The second half of today redeemed the first half. Most definitely.
Woke up with that vague neck/headache that often foreshadows a migraine. Couldn’t focus. Had that ‘so tired my limbs are going to fall off’ feeling. Showered. Did breakfast. Went back to bed. Read a little bit. Then slept. And I think I must have been trying to scream in my dreams because I woke up with a sore throat of not the sick kind. Huh.
Managed to find some clothes that didn’t match, left the house with no socks and no sweater on top of my tank, beneath my coat.
This is where it gets good.
Got to my class (lab) in surrey. Checked my email. Found out I got the VPR USRA (vice president research undergrad student research award…or something like that) for summer 2012. Which means I’m going to be making some money doing useful stuff over the summer. Which is excellent.
Went shopping at the surrey mall between classes to find some kind of covering shirt because my tank top only thing was ridiculous. Ended up finding an awesome $7 shirt at sirens. one of those loose flowy shirts that’s super loose yet immediately elegant and comfy. Good find.
Went to lecture. They showed my project 2 in sound design class critique as one of the good ones. Highly embarassing and unexpected, but awesome. Although in my opinion that project deserves no more than 12/15 …being generous.
Went to circus. Headache still present. Bought Advil. Took Advil. Bliss ensued.
Static trapeze coach started me on The aerial hoop tonight (thus far i’ve only been on the trapeze) with the Ovo, man on the moon, and two variations on the mermaid. Also learned the inverted planche and straddle mount (as opposed to the pike) on static. Awesome.
Then swinging trapeze class! Coach gave us horse wraps (padding for our feet!) which turned out to be incredibly awesome! No more random rope burns from ankle hangs! Apparently got the jitters out of my system in static class, so swinging was a lot less tense and sweaty than it usually is. Got my hop off on the first try, and learned the full angel sequence. Also worked on releasing into my knee hang because I fell off (we’re harnessed so no biggie) doing it in my first class and since then I’ve had issues letting go (haha)
Then trekked up the hill to SFU Burnaby for the Rowing Team’s no pants pub night. 
gave $10 instead of $5 at the front door…with the caveat that nobody would try to twist my rubber arm into drinking…(once I start it’s kind of hard to stop) and so stuck with my diet coke and lime. Which is super awesome because I’m going to be totally functional and less fat (so many calories in alcohol) tomorrow!
And now because I’m home and decently caffeinated and well socialized and adrenalized from all that trapezery and headache free to boot, I’m going to go work through a bunch of MAX/MSP tutorials and try to figure out how the hell I’m going to build my final project for sound design class.
12:27am. It has been a really good day, even if the first half of it was wasted feeling ill. This rambling post has been brought to you by WordPress for iPhone.
Feb 28, 2012 – Swinging Trapeze @ Vancouver Circus School
28 Feb 2012 Leave a Comment
in Achieving WIN, Circus, Exercise, Health and Healthy Living, Peculiarly Awesome Tags: circus, exercise, fitness, new westminster, river market, static, swinging, trapeze, vancouver circus school
Started taking swinging trapeze classes @ Vancouver Circus School this month. Here’s a pic of me on the static trapeze doing an angel hang
The swinging trapeze is higher off the ground and you get harnessed in before climbing up and swinging around (so you don’t fall and break things)
Fun times. You should go check out the VCS website. Super fun stuff..and you don’t need to be fit or skinny or young etc. to give it a try. Aerial silks is also very fun – I did that for about a year before starting this trapeze thing.
Feb 28, 2012 | Angel Hang, Static Trapeze @ Vancouver Circus School
Feb 24, 2012 – I JUST GOT ACCEPTED TO GRAD SCHOOL @ #SFU!
24 Feb 2012 Leave a Comment
in Achieving WIN, Simon Fraser University Tags: acceptance, admission, application, arts, funding, grad, Graduate, letter, Linguistics, Master's, School, SFU, Simon Fraser University, Studies
YAY STUDENT FOREVER!
Somebody loves me. A lot. Or maybe a little. Actually, doesn’t matter. It’s enough. 
I am so excited!
Also, *BAZINGA!*
Do What You Love, Love What You Do.
05 Oct 2011 Leave a Comment
in Achieving WIN, art, Dreams, Peculiarly Awesome, Tech The Crazy Tags: apple, art, death, jobs, life, love, raw canvas, steve, Vancouver, yaletown
Steves in general are extraordinary. Steve Jobs was no exception. Why be ordinary? Change the world. Rest in peace.
Of course, the video of Steve Job’s speech at a Stanford commencement in 2005 was everywhere today, and as I had forgotten what he said, I watched it again just now. It hit me. Apparently it had also hit me when I had first watched it some time ago, because I can see how it has changed me since then:
I’m convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that I loved what I did. You’ve got to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers. Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. And don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it. And like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking. Don’t settle.
This past week, a good friend and I visited Raw Canvas in Yaletown to chat and paint. Twice. On Monday September 26th, and a week later, Monday October 3rd. Not knowing why, I felt like I needed to paint “Do What You Love, Love What You Do.”
Do What You Love, Love What You Do.
I still don’t know why.
But I know that these words and this painting resonated in my heart before, during, and after its painting.
Rest in peace, Steve. You’ve changed the world in this life, and you’ve changed me.
—–
On a sillier note, today, I really identify with Sirius Cybernetics Corporation’s Happy Vertical People Transporters with Defocused Temporal Perception… ie. the ability to see dimly (very dimly) into the future. When people around me get close to dying, I get very tired and heavy. I have to sleep. I hit the bed mid-day, have to sleep for a long time, and usually receive sad news soon after I wake up. Maybe it’s because I happen to take mid-day naps more than the average person, but really, it’s starting to get to be a trend. I know, correlation, not causation. But it’s happened about 4 times this year already.
Like this:
ANOTHER 6k Erg Test – August 13, 2011
15 Aug 2011 Leave a Comment
in Achieving WIN, Exercise, Rowing, Simon Fraser University Tags: 2011, 6k, 6k test, exercise, rowing, SFU, Simon Fraser University
…and ANOTHER personal best score!
August 13, 2011 10am @ SFU Burnaby ‘Dungeon’
170 Watts, 25:26.3 total, 2:07 split, 29 spm.
This round of testing was particularly for those on the team doing what they call RADAR testing, to send in their qualifying scores to be considered for elite/provincial/national development teams. But even though several of us on the team are not doing the full battery of tests, we’re still doing the 2000m (2k) and the 6000m (6k) for solidarity’s sake, and to find out where each one of us is at in terms of personal growth as an athlete.
And I took a little video too! I’m obviously not in this one but it does capture a little bit of the intensity/suffering/joy/PAIN that is the goodness we know as rowing. I called it “SHOW ME YOUR 6K FACE”. For those who don’t know what a 6k face might look like, it’s mainly a look of determined grittyness mixed with a healthy dose of asphixiation and pain.
Enjoy the video! (oh and I have that 2k to look forward to tomorrow morning!)
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