Musings on Dance, Food, Geek Stuff
“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…
The cutest moment I’ve ever had at the roller rink. Her name is Dream, and yes she will definitely kick my ass in a cypher soon. Thanks to Norm for this incredible footage.
Oaks Park Rink in southern Portland is a national treasure — the oldest rink in the America, established in 1905, and the second largest in the country! I had the pleasure of spending the weekend skating on that buttery, gigantic floor for the Rose City Skate Jam. What’s interesting about the rink is not only…
Somehow I have lived this long without ever visiting Portland, Oregon. This is despite being a coffee nerd and a foodie, and it being just a short flight from San Francisco. I remedied that this weekend with a quick trip there for a skate party. (I’ll write more about the party in the next post.)…
I made a baingan bharta (Indian eggplant) pot pie for Michael’s always epic birthday pie party. This time I tried to do a little decoration at the last minute, which came out not terrible. Here’s the steps for how I did it: Takes a little planning and time (about two days) but totally worth it!…