Musings on Dance, Food, Geek Stuff
One of my fondest childhood memories was when I was maybe ten or eleven in suburban Pleasanton, California. It must have been autumn, because the leaves had fallen, it had been raining steadily, but it was still pretty warm out. Ken Shimabuku was an acquaintance at my school who seemed like the coolest kid ever….
A skater asked me today how long I had been skating. It’s a question I get a lot from beginners. I understand — you see someone do something that you aspire to, and you wonder how long it will take you to get there. I answered, “About four years… But it isn’t the years, it’s…
I think of the hymn “How Can I Keep From Singing?” as Quaker in origin, but that doesn’t appear to be historically accurate. It was certainly adopted by Quakers, around the time of the abolitionist era. “How Can I Keep From Singing?” (1868) My life goes on in endless songAbove earth’s lamentations,I hear the real,…
Yesterday I accomplished a goal I have been thinking about for a few years: hiking the entire San Francisco Crosstown Trail in one hike. Honestly, was really damn hard for me, so I’m pretty proud of myself! I’ve hiked the trail once before, during my birthday week last July, spread out over two days. When…
“Hey ChatGPT, based on what you know about me, draw picture of what you think I look like.” ChatGPT’s explanation: “Here’s an image inspired by your unique style and love for roller skating outdoors! I aimed to capture the blend of K-pop flair, 90s R&B, and vintage swing-era jazz in your look, along with the…
Good Bones By Maggie Smith (2015) Life is short, though I keep this from my children. Life is short, and I’ve shortened mine in a thousand delicious, ill-advised ways, a thousand deliciously ill-advised ways I’ll keep from my children. The world is at least fifty percent terrible, and that’s a conservative estimate, though I keep this…
Check out my Halloween costume this year: the Soul Train. I’m pretty proud of myself for conceiving of and executing this year’s costume. Every year I try and challenge myself in some new way. This year it was all about coming up with a dramatic reveal and a participatory costume. My concept was to be…
This quote from George Fox’s journal from 1647 feels apropos right now, a couple of days before the election: I saw also that there was an ocean of darkness and death, but an infinite ocean of light and love, which flowed over the ocean of darkness.
Every day at the rink I see skaters working on “unlocking” a move — backwards skating, transitions, spins, crazy legs… I see their knitted brows and frowns as they concentrate on getting it down, sometimes for five minutes, sometimes for weeks or months. I don’t always offer tips or help, because not everyone wants that….
I had the opportunity to lead another mini-workshop on how to cypher at the skating rink recently. Which was an opportunity to think more about what a cypher is and how to explain that to a newcomer. I’m getting pretty good at describing the basics — that a cypher is a tradition practiced in many…