Musings on Dance, Food, Geek Stuff
This past Saturday was my first time going to the Coney Island Mermaid Parade as a spectator, not a participant. It was a very different experience, and a lot of fun. Particularly because I got to enjoy it with my partner Satise, as part of her first visit to NYC. It was so cool getting…
This is Jersey style rhythm skating, at the legendary Branch Brook roller rink in Newark, New Jersey. I was there on a regular Sunday adult night, and I’m still processing what I witnessed. Here’s why Jersey style is so ridiculous. First off, the music. Jersey is typically skated to house music. That’s fast tempo, four…
I’ve been playing around with the AI video generator Synthesia, and it’s pretty impressive. Designed for business applications, Synthesia offers a fairly easy-to-use interface that anyone who has used Powerpoint or Google Slides should understand. It offers a variety of pre-designed avatars of various ages, races, and body types as well as a number of…
The “Agape Joe” Christian theater group was the first time I participated in a collective creative endeavor where I felt seen and appreciated. Only today do I realize what an impact it had on me as a young adult. Based out of UCLA in the early 90s, “Agape Joe” was formed out the non-denominational college…
I just started reading Race, Riots, and Roller Coasters: The Struggle over Segregated Recreation in America by Victoria W. Wolcott (2012). It’s about how the fight for Black people to be able to access public spaces was not just about lunch counters and busses , but also amusement parks, pools, roller rinks, and other recreation…
I was fascinated by this description of a folk dance called the “kasa” performed by the Ajamat people, native to the Gambia. Kasa is a celebration dance traditionally performed to celebrate an abundant rice harvest. Although dance troupes will perform a portion of Kasa’s steps in unison currently, it was historically performed as a solo….
Last night I led my first choreo skill share at the 6th ave skate rink, for about 20 folks, a line dance called “The Stand Up” that I modified to be a skate routine. Line dances are not normally my thing. I find choreography often frustrating to learn. And something in me resists doing the…
The year 2025 was a year of sad endings, but also some exciting new beginnings. Let’s start with the good stuff. Relationship Status Change! In the “wins” column, I started seeing someone in August! In the midst of all the hits I took this year, finding a kind, fun, beautiful girlfriend is the big boost…
For Halloween this year, I decided to bring back my TRON costume, that I first debuted way back in 2020, and then improved in 2022. This time, I wanted to wear it for the San Francisco Friday Night Skate, which involved adding a new safety feature — a helmet! I also added a new LED…
Today was such a thrill! I got to hear the 1924 “Spreckels Organ” played at the San Francisco Legion of Honor! This historic pipe organ boasts 4,526 pipes hidden throughout the Legion of Honor behind fake walls and ceilings. Designed by the famous Ernest M. Skinner Organ Company to pipe music throughout the many galleries,…