Humongous photo

This view is available EVERYWHERE in town.

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Wild Wild West

I love this town.

First, there’s the free WiFi provided by the town -which is available pretty much everywhere and kicks serious ass.

Second, there’s not a single stitch of ground that isn’t breathtakingly awesome. I mean awesome in the original sense of “awe inspiring”. The mountains are amazing. The forest is amazing. The downtown area is perfectly quaint. The campus is fantastic.

This is going to be an excellent move.

Spouse and I met at Northern Michigan University, so we’re used to long hard winters, bitter cold, and brief summers. We love snowshoeing, canoeing, and camping. Since we moved to the city we’ve been unable to do that – due in no small part to the sheer amount of pollution that Dow has dumped into the water and ground. It’s going to be so great to get back to the stuff we love best.

I’m adjusting to the high altitude – which is absolutely an adjustment – and getting ready to watch Barack Obama. And then passing out because we’ve been up for 18 hours, which included 12 hours of traveling.

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Not much yoga

I teach a class tonight before the holiday weekend and then not again until NEXT Wednesday. The gym is having an issue with sorting out their fall schedule which means I get a longer than usual accidental vacation.

My 1990 mix has been pretty popular in class but, unless there are a couple of specific students there who haven’t heard it, we’re going to be doing Hip Hop Yoga tonight.

Microbiology is pretty much exactly what I expected it would be – not fun. I’m also taking The American Presidency, which should be pretty interesting.

With regards to the move, we are having lots and lots and LOTS of conversations about what in hell we’re going to do with our house. I’m having a really hard time wrapping my head around how a $100,000 house in Michigan costs $200,000 in Colorado. It’s mildly horrifying to me. Okay, it’s more than mildly horrifying. We’re giving serious consideration to buying land and building but there are ALSO no apartments to rent (to speak of). So we’ve got that going for us, which is nice.

Packing has not yet commenced. There are a lot of decisions hinging on this weekend’s trip and I don’t want to get so far ahead of ourselves that we end up backpedaling.

Currently I’m on hold with the U’s financial aid department. I think University financial aid offices, when they aren’t run properly, are like the third circle of hell. No one really knows how to answer your question, but they THINK they do and then you end up getting transferred three times, disconnected, and then finally some old lady in the back room just tells you to come to the office and she’ll get you straightened out. It’s kind of shocking to me that this shit isn’t all online yet.

For example, I came in on Monday and filled out necessary paperwork. They can’t locate the paperwork now. But if it was online, I guaran-fucking-tee that the shit would be processed already. Unfortunately, everyone at THIS university likes to NOT apply logic to their processes. They’d rather do it backwards and then be able to whine and complain about OMG we had to see EIGHT BAJILLION students and handle OMGSOMANY problems, but we did it, even though we were understaffed and undereducated and just generally SWAMPED.

I’m like, DUDE. The students are PAYING YOUR CHECK. You should be making this stuff as easy on EVERYONE as possible. WTF? It’s as though they all lack basic reasoning skills.

It’s just one more thing in an INCREDIBLY LONG list that makes me glad to leave this godsforsaken place.

And thanks to that annoying bit of runaround, I have to do EXACTLY what I THOUGHT I’d have to do on Monday (which no one could tell me) so I’m going to get myself French Toast Sticks as a reward. Because I deserve it.

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Brass Ass

Lack of internet access is killing me – slowly but surely. With any luck, AT & T will get on the stick and have this fixed by the end of Labor Day weekend.

Speaking of which, we’ll be in Colorado over Labor Day. I’m looking forward to trying out Leadville’s famed “all wi-fi, all over”. I suspect looking for housing will be less enjoyable. On the plus side, there’s a restaurant in town called The Golden Burro and it serves pretty much all my favorite things. Even better? The bar inside the restaurant is called The Brass Ass.

BRASS ASS. Everyone I know is getting a shot glass souvenir.

In unrelated news, on the list of Things Not To Do Before Yoga “Eat Potato Skins” has got to be at least number 9.

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Sarah needs

Stolen shamelessly from Middle Aged Woman, I googled those words. Results were mixed, but these were what made me smile. I’ll leave you to your own commentary.

Sarah needs a cold shower.
Sarah needs her panties.
Sarah needs to hand him one of those weapons that went off without warning
Sarah Needs Your Vote to Win a Guest-Blogging Contest.
Sarah needs to set up her experiment by finding subjects and gathering the materials that she wrote down before.
Sarah needs findings in order to see what else Google comes up with.
Sarah needs advice.
Sarah needs her own set.
Sarah needs batteries.

The last one might be my favorite because it makes me sound like a robot. A weapon handling yoga robot.

And because it was relevant this week, I thought I’d post the list of Sarah Smile Songs that I sent to a friend. These are songs that ALWAYS make me grin and take me out of a bad mood.

I Just Want to Celebrate – Rare Earth
Istanbul (not Constantinople) – They Might Be Giants
If I Ever Leave This World Alive – Flogging Molly
Mama Told Me Not To Come – Three Dog Night
Life is a Highway – Tom Cochrane
I Love Rock n’ Roll – Joan Jett and the Blackhearts
Meet Virginia – Train
Rockafella Skank – Fatboy Slim
Mysterious Ways – U2
Let’s Stay Together – Al Green
Summertime – DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince
Just a Friend – Biz Markie
Home – Marc Broussard
Eye of the Tiger – Survivor
Spinning Wheel – Blood, Sweat and Tears
Cisco Kid – War
My Sharona – The Knack
Just a Little Bit – Gina G.
Hey Ya! – Outkast
Celebration – Kool and the Gang
Come On Eileen – Dexy’s Midnight Runner
Kiss Me Deadly – Lita Ford
We’re Not Gonna Take It – Twisted Sister
The Final Countdown – Europe
It’s Tricky – Run DMC
I’m Free – The Soupdragons
Are You Gonna Be My Girl – JET
Are You Gonna Go My Way – Lenny Kravitz
I’ll Take You There – The Staple Singers
December, 1963 – Four Seasons
The Humpty Dance – Digital Underground
Jump Around – House of Pain
Bust a Move – Young MC
Unbelievable – EMF
The Power – Snap
Seven Nation Army – The White Stripes
Spill the Wine – War
Toxic – Britney Spears
Hung Up – Madonna
Since U Been Gone – Kelly Clarkson
Just What I Needed – The Cars
Here Comes My Girl – Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
Groove is in the Heart – Deee-lite
Clumsy – Fergie
Pump It – Black Eyed Peas
Volcano – Jimmy Buffett
Abracadabra – Steve Miller Band

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I’m sitting in a Barnes and Noble

Using their Wi Fi. After my Charter debacle – which took, by the way, 2.5 days and 1.5 hours of me being on the phone/transferred/disconnected – I canceled my service with them. I will never ever recommend that anyone use their services EVER as it is possibly the WORST customer service I have EVER received (and that is saying something, let me tell you).

I’m waiting for AT&T to connect us with high speed (for less money, even) and BN will have to serve me in the meantime. Our local Starbucks doesn’t have WiFi but their connection (free for 2 hours each day if you 1) register a Starbucks card and 2) use it once a month) works at the BN probably because of the cafe. I don’t care as long as I get a taste of my delicious, delicious internets.

Alas, 2 hours isn’t NEARLY enough to serve my fix so I guess I’ll have to go home, eat pizza, and drink beer.

We’re taking a trip to our new hometown over Labor Day weekend and I am pretty darn excited. Alas, this comes at a time when my yoga classes are taking off LIKE WHOA. Isn’t that always the way?

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For my birthday

Charter Communication gave me complete and utter FAIL as an internet provider. I haven’t had internet service for more than 36 hours. I’ve had to do crazy things like READ BOOKS, talk to FRIENDS, and go to sleep WITHOUT CHECKING EMAIL. I can’t believe I haven’t gnawed my arm off yet.

So I’m at Barnes and Noble, partaking of their not-so-free wireless and catching up on the 120 emails that accumulated yesterday.

For my birthday, Carly engineered a surprise attack on my yoga class by coercing/bribing my friends to all show up. Spouse was supposed to join them but he was BUSY ACCEPTING A NEW JOB. That’s right. My bestest birthday ever was capped by an out-of-state job offer. He gave his 30 days notice TODAY.

Now I just have to sell the house. Gulp. This will be further complicated by the fact that Spouse gave me Guitar Hero for my birthday. My need to move will be competing with my need to crush the video game. We’ll see who wins.

Now I have to catch up on blogs! Thankfully the twitching in my right eye has already subsided…

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Tomorrow is my birthday

I have no plans beyond teaching my evening yoga class. I will probably continue to lay around and read fiction before the grind that is Microbiology begins next week.

In related news, I read New Amsterdam by Elizabeth Bear and there is nothing I did not like about it. It’s a collection of short stories which involve the same characters. The people are complex and interesting, I love the alternate history and practical magic.

Up next on the list, finishing The Mermaid Chair, A Thousand Splendid Suns (for the Bandwagon), and the Penelopeiad by Margaret Atwood. I’m very excited about the latter because it was a surprise find.

I’m also excited about my birthday. I’ve gotten to the point where it feels like I’ve ‘earned’ each year and I’m pretty happy to be doing so. I’m in good health – better than when I was in my 20s – as is my family. We’ve got some changes and challenges coming up, but I’m looking forward to them.

And since it’s come up in conversation twice in the last several days, I Just Want To Celebrate by Rare Earth is probably my all-time favorite song. There are so MANY favorites that it’s hard to choose but in terms of tone, tempo, lyrics, and overall good-feeling I think it’s The One. It runs through my head every single day and is great every single day. More music here than video, but you get the gist:
Vodpod videos no longer available.

more about “I Just Want to Celebrate – Rare Earth“, posted with vodpod

TV this week:

Generation Kill – Amazing. I can’t believe it’s almost over. I continue to laugh and be shocked and horrified simultaneously. Alexander Skaarsgard defines hawtness. I’m going to have to pick up the book the series is based on.

The Closer- Great Episode. Although really, are there ACTUALLY people who get engaged without having discussed whether or not they want children? Really?

Wipeout- Seriously? Rerun? WTF?

I’m going to eat awesomely Spouse-made lasagna for dinner and then have cake! I love cake!

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My break is already almost over.

Classes resume next week, so this week I’m trying to cram as much fiction into my life as possible. I’m looking forward to being back at the Bandwagon Book Club meetings and to get caught up for September I’ve got to read A Thousand Splendid Suns. I’m hoping there’s a copy at the U.

1990 mix night seemed to go pretty well. I’m not sure if everyone enjoyed the music as much as I did but no one told me they hated it. That’s a double-plus bonus.

I got some sad news yesterday. The studio where I did my teacher training, Rising Sun Yoga, is closing. It’s really too bad as Jim and Roger were great teachers and were obviously instrumental in my becoming the teacher I am today. Whenever someone gives me a compliment about a class or my teaching, I give a silent thanks to those guys.

One of the things I liked best about the studio, the reason I chose them, is because they used a Hatha approach. By Hatha, I mean the traditional ‘forceful path’ – asana and breath practice but not married to any One True Way – in addition to the other limbs of yoga (see above). Jim asked that when we came to training, we let go of our previous teaching (even if there was a particular style we liked more than others) and try to come to the training open to everything. As a result, I developed a strong base in the anatomy and physiology of yoga, correct anatomical form in asana, grounding in philosophy, and experience elocuting a class (which is harder than it sounds). He encouraged us to work from that base of knowledge and then embrace and integrate the aspects of other styles that we liked and enjoyed. That openness is what drew me to the school and it made me a better instructor. I’m sorry that they won’t be developing more teachers.

In unrelated news, I got a comment on yesterday’s post about the Detroit Institute of Arts from someone at the DIA. Apparently my experience was what they were trying to achieve, so kudos to the DIA! Mission accomplished.

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Reasons you should visit the Detroit Institute of Arts

Yesterday was the first time I’d been to the museum in ages and I’ve got to say that their remodel was worth the wait. It is by far the best EDUCATIONAL art museum that I’ve ever been to.

I was into both art and history as a kid. If you are not an art/history geek, museums can get overwhelming – quickly moving from “Wow, that’s pretty!” to “That is the THIRD PAINTING of HAYSTACKS. I don’t GET IT.” to “Can we LEAVE now? I’m BORED.” If that’s been your experience at ANY art museum, the DIA is for you. If you’ve got kids, the DIA is for you. If you want to learn more about a particular style or artist, the DIA is probably for you.

They have added some interactive aspects to every single gallery room (kind of a scavenger hunt) which will be great for kids with flagging attention spans and – in a first – I was actually INTERESTED in the old dishes/furniture thanks to a digital table showing how courses would have been served (with food!) in the 1700s. I generally don’t care for those parts of the galleries but the DIA changed how I looked at them. It’s always nice to be pleasantly surprised.

Most importantly, there’s FANTASTIC educational aspects in each room. Whether it’s historical information to help understand the content of the room, comparisons of the paint style (“What’s art about modern art?” “How to recognize a work by [insert artist name]”), or – my personal favorite – identifying painting symbolism and its possible meanings, there was new/great information in EVERY room. For example, I learned that in portraits of the 1700-1800s there is often a dark background (versus pastoral/home scenes) and that was largely due to the price of the painting. It was much less expensive to focus on the face/head of the subject than to include what amounts to a separate painting in the background.

There was also a very cool painting where they showed its X-ray, revealing a hidden woman underneath what was visible. For whatever reason, she’d been painted out. A 3-inch hand-painted (Renaissance?) prayer book was accompanied by a digital table which allowed you to enlarge and turn the pages to see the detail work and explain significance. One of my other favorite Smart Stops (my name, not theirs) was the one that asked “What does this painting evoke?” It went on to talk about use of paint to convey emotion, how various artists were successful with it, and then talking about pieces of art in terms of feeling rather than aesthetic.

I’m sure that the DIA’s collection is ‘significant’ (their word, not mine) but, let’s be honest, it’s never going to be the Art Institute of Chicago. There are absolutely some knockout pieces and the remodel was definitely a worthwhile investment, but if the DIA was looking to establish a niche then education was IT. The elevators are large enough to contain a classroom’s worth of children. The exhibits are well-placed (logical) and encourage kids and adults alike to give a bit more thought (or different thought) to what they’re looking at. It’s the most successful attempt I’ve seen to make art both accessible and experiential.

That said, some of the exhibits are not open yet (Islamic art, Photography) or sorely lacking (Asian art). I AM looking forward to the Art of the Mughals Special Exhibit which opens later this month.

The DIA is a great ‘starter’ museum. What I mean by that is your visits to OTHER museums will be enhanced by a trip to the DIA first. While I’m sure the audio tour may be helpful, we didn’t use it – nor did we need to – which makes the museum more economical (especially for families). Mom and I moved at a reasonable (not rushed) pace and saw the entirety in about three hours.

If you haven’t been to the DIA lately, you should go. It had been a number of years since my last visit but I can guarantee that their new ‘style’ of exhibits will bring me back on return trips more frequently than before.

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