Musings on Dance, Food, Geek Stuff
At the end of the remarkable rock climbing film The Dawn Wall, pro-climber Tommy Caldwell, described what it was like planning his legendary free climb of the Dawn Wall of El Capitan (my rough paraphrase): “For ten years I mapped out what I hoped was a climbable route up the Dawn Wall, never really sure…
I’m always on the hunt for different variations on my morning eggs. The Parmelet is one of my favorite, more indulgent versions of the simple omelette, created by Chef John. Basically you are just cooking a bunch of shredded Parmesan in a non-stick pan until it crisps up, then throw in some eggs, cover, and…
Let Me Tell You december 1997 Oh let me tell you about the birds and the bees and the flowers and the trees and the moon up above and a thing called You and I a Thing? Are we “a Thing”? I ask, dare not speak it Label it, frame it Fearing I am wrong…
I just remembered today that I had been outdoor rock climbing once, several years ago. And it was kind of a disaster. I was in my late twenties living in New York City. One summer, I had met a lovely woman at a Quaker gathering who took a shine to me. She invited me over…
I just finished reading Jookin’ : The Rise of Social Dance Formations in African American Culture by Katrina Hazzard-Gordon. It describes in compelling detail on the ways that African slaves and African Americans found to create their own social spaces in a society that actively prohibited their association. The focus of Jookin’ is on social dance…
I’m so excited to see the documentary Free Solo in a couple of weeks, the story of how legendary climber Alex Honnold ascended Yosemite’s El Capitan with no rope, no harness, just his chalk bag and balls of steel. In the meanwhile, this 360 video showing a bit of Alex free soloing El Cap will…
I am just back from a wonderful trip to San Diego, a city that has long been on my list of places to visit, but for whatever reason I never found the time to travel there. Fortunately, my friend Hanah offered to be my guide to the best of San Diego during our trip there….
Here’s a short choreo piece I created to the wonderful song “Puttin on the Ritz” by Fred Astaire. So much fun to do!
I don’t think I’ve ever made straight-up pancakes from scratch before? I used the Martha Stewart recipe, which I just a decent job of. They weren’t very pretty and didn’t rise very much. But very tasty! I topped them with whipped cream that I whipped myself. It’s so easy to do, and really only takes…
I finally got around to reading Norma Miller’s Swingin’ at the Savoy: The Memoir of a Jazz Dancer (1996). I don’t know why it took me so long to get to this book. I should have read it years and years ago. Norma recounts her incredible life as a dancer and an entertainer, from first…