I've been thinking hard for the past month or so about this quote from the dance legend Martha Graham about staying true to your own personal voice in whatever you create. Blogger James Clear recounts a story about Agnes De Mille, another dance legend in her own right in the 1940s, who was confused and troubled…
Preparing for Spontaneity: Thoughts on Performing at Diggs Deeper
About a six months ago, I went to a street dance performance and thought to myself, “I should do this.” It was called “Diggs Deeper,” a unique dance performance series that is now in several cities around the country. Six months later, I did it. Here’s how I got there. Diggs Deeper is a non-profit whose…
Making Good Food Choices and Anticipated “Fullness”
I've been thinking a lot about this article by neuroscientist Michael Graziano on the psychology of eating and "feeling full." There's some great points in there about the how the experience of "fullness" is a psychological state that has a complex set of triggers and associations. One thing he doesn't address is the anticipation of fullness when you…
Health-check: Feeling Fantastic and Fit in my Forties
This morning, I woke up early, did a 2.5 mile run, took a cold shower, and felt really great. I realized that, health-wise, I'm the best "me" that I can be. It's a great feeling, one that I can't remember the last time I experienced. The food and diet choices I'm making are smart ones, including cutting…
Awesome Jam to Bootleggers All-Stars (video)
I love this video of a dance jam breaking out at the Bootlegger's Ball this Saturday that I participated in. The band is the "Bootlegger's All-stars" — a mash-up of some of our favorite swing musicians in San Francisco. They are tearing up the song "I've Found a New Baby" and us dancers are going…
Is Neko Atsume a Game? (TLDR Answer: sorta)
Neko Atsume is another weird, popular app coming to us from (of course) Japan. Originally released in Japan in October 2014, a year later an English version was released for the IOS and Android, which has garnered over 10 million downloads as of December 2015. The app could not be more simple: you are presented…
My Review of “Star Wars The Force Awakens” on the “LOUD on the Set” Podcast
I was very happy to be invited to be on the podcast "LOUD on the Set" to help review the film "Star Wars the Force Awakens" along with hosts Kyle and James, along with my friends Josh, Andrea, and Patrick. We had so much to say, we had to break the podcast into two separate…
Mole the Cat sees a YouTube video for cats for first time
Spoiler alert: he gets bored and goes away. What does your cat do? Link to YouTube video "The ultimate video of birds for cats to watch."
Where to Find Free-to-Use Lindy Hop Photographs (Public Domain, Creative Commons)
In the lindy hop world, there are lots and lots of people creating flyers, websites, Facebook pages and other media using photographs of dancers. Unfortunately, the internet has made it a lot easier for folks to just straight up steal someone else's photo and put it on their website or flyer. It's super not cool…
Epic Photo Shoot with Jess Keener in Chloe Hong Suit!
As you know, a few weeks ago, I received in the mail the amazing Chloe Hong suit that I ordered back in August. It’s the most expensive piece of clothing that I’ve ever purchased — and well worth every penny. I wanted to commemorate the occasion with a photo shoot done by a professional. Last week,…