blodeuedd

I was all geared up to post pictures of my trip to Sendai, or at least of last week's snow, but then I logged into Photobucket and realised I've got a million other pictures to post first. So. Yeah. -__-;

Recently, especially over the past year, I've lived so many amazing moments that it seems whiny to say that I feel somehow dissatisfied. Actually, dissatisfied isn't quite the right word. It's more that I'm starting to really feel that I'm letting myself down by not trying to improve at the things I really love. I can pick up new things easily enough, and do a passable job at them, but I've never really worked as hard as I feel I could, as hard as I see others working, to really achieve something.

You know what I need? More time. I've got all these things I want to do, but I don't know how to organise things so that they all fit nicely into my schedule. A step in the right direction, of course, would be to get myself in gear and stop wasting time lying around in the evenings, but where to get the motivation? I think I mentioned a while back wanting to create some sort of "Goal of the Month" club, and I'm seriously mulling it over.

Who wants to join me? What is(are) your goal(s)? Do you want me to make up stamp cards so you can get a stamp for each small accomplishment and I can give you a big shiny sticker when you reach your goal? :D

(I'm serious, here, folks...)

( My goals, in brief )

( Ballet talk goes here! )

And now, it's time for So You Think You Can Dance!

Mmm, Cat with a wavy bob and a demure-yet-sexy black dress. I approve! 8D

( Only 6 couples left! )

And the votes are in! ( The top ten will be... )

What I love the most about this season, I think (apart from the fact that all the dancers are really good and hot, and the choreographers just keep outdoing themselves, and Cat Deeley's stylist is obviously in love with her and wants her to look more beautiful each episode), is that the girls are so strong, and I find that overall, they're more memorable than the guys. The winner had better be a girl, this time!

Getting back into ballet is like catching up with an old friend. There are all the pleasant surprises, the "Oh, I'd forgotten about faillis, but I love them and they look so pretty!", but also the moments of "Oh god, I HATE doing chainés @#$&^@#!!!" To be fair, the movements I dislike are pretty much all the ones I suck at or can never do properly or gracelfully.

Partaking of Saizeriya's drink bar right before class perhaps wasn't the best idea ever... Aside from that, though, there's been improvement! I still sucked at the dégagés* in 2nd position, but my fondus were good, my ronds de jambe are getting better, and I almost nailed the small jumps! Until I got mixed up going into the entrechats, that is. Mada mada on the glissade-assemblé-sissonne-etc. enchainement, but I did better than last time, and not too badly at all on the high jumps. Pirouettes were going fairly well, considering, until something twinged in my hip. Luckily, the class ended then, so I spent a few minutes stretching and massaging it, and the pain went away. Let's hope it stays away!

I found it helped to translate everything into French in my head, because the mix of Japanese and Japanese-accented French the teacher explains it in is too much for me to process, on top of the disconnect between my eyes and my brain and my muscles, that I'm trying to mend. It's like trying to speak a language you haven't spoken in years: I understand the words, but it takes a while for the meaning to make it to the rest of my body. Also, I'm sure my head and arms look pretty weird, as this teacher does them differently from what I learned, in a lot of cases, so my rusty instincts are fighting the movements I see the others doing and am trying to copy.

Hands-on corrections are go, it seems, which I'm glad for. How can I improve unless I'm shown how to do better? The teacher didn't touch me last week, when I no doubt looked awful, but maybe he didn't want to scare me away? Maybe he's not sure if I'd understand a verbal correction. XD

Standing in a room full of mirrors surrounded by tiny Japanese women is nearly enough to make me dislike my man shoulders and weird thighs. I need to work on my 2nd position (haha, story of my life!) and find a way to make myself not look like a linebacker when facing forward. The long-sleeved leotard doesn't help, but it's more comfortable that the one with straps. Though I suppose I should show off the fact that my arms actually have some muscle definition for the first time in my life. ^_^;

Speaking of leotards, taking up dance again opens up a whole world of shopping possibilities: dancewear! :D At the very least, I need one or two more pairs of tights as back-up.

Most urgently need work: frappés, battements en rond, petits assemblés, petits jetés, grands jetés à gauche (the hell?!), écarté, chaînés. SPOTTING!

* Not to make excuses for my lack of grace -- I look like a penguin, though that's probably being too generous -- but my slippers stick to the floor, it's so worn. I can't understand how some of the other women keep putting rosin on their slippers! I can barely manage proper turns, so they're certainly not going to slip!