i used to take ballet and jazz lessons at the pickering school of ballet, but i stopped during high school and university. i had gotten to a point where i had to either continue and take it really seriously or focus on other interests and school. i picked the latter mainly because i just wasn't that good and knew there wasn't much further i could go. but i've always thought about taking up dance again for fun and after several years of making excuses, i've registered for some classes.
i'm back at psb and i'm taking hip hop twice a month and adult ballet twice a month. it's all very exciting, but i have a lot of catching up to do. these classes started last september and they're already finalizing their routines for the year-end recital. although i've chosen not to be in the recital, i still want to learn the dances as much as possible. my first hip hop class was on monday and much of it was spent trying to follow along with the steps. it's very fast-paced and free--so different from ballet. the girls in the 14+ hip hop class are all 13-15 years old (although they look at least 17 or 18) and they guessed my age to be 16. my ballet class will be the total opposite; the other students will mostly be middle-aged women. still, it should be a great experience and i'm finally getting some exercise!
Wednesday, February 22, 2006
Tuesday, February 07, 2006
are you a stickler?
one of my piano students gave me one of those page-a-day calendars for Christmas. it's based on the lynne truss book "eats, shoots and leaves", which i subsequently borrowed from the public library. the book is about punctuation (but it's not what you think!), how important it is to language and why we need to preserve it.
it starts with a story about a panda that enters a restaurant and places an order. upon finishing his meal, he takes out a rifle and fires a few rounds into the air. as he leaves, he tosses a wildlife manual at the shocked waiter. opening it up to the entry on pandas, the waiter reads that the panda "eats, shoots and leaves".
what's the difference between its and it's? dogs and dog's? how often should you use a comma? what's the point of a semicolon? what is a semicolon? what's an ellipsis? should you use a colon or a dash or parentheses? where should you insert a hyphen? does any of this matter?
in her book, truss clears up common myths about the uses of various punctuation marks. she separates the strict rules (such as its vs. it's) from personal preference and also provides information on the history and development of punctuation. i highly recommend it. the only downside is that once you read it there is a good chance you will become hypersensitive towards your own punctuation, as has been the case with me.
truss makes a compelling case for the preservation of punctuation and calls all sticklers to unite and fight back against its misuse. she half-jokingly suggests refusing to reply to emails that contain punctuation errors, or sending it back corrected. she also recommends carrying around correction fluid and red marker to remove unnecessary punctuation and to fill in missing ones.
.
"The reason to stand up for punctuation is that without it there is no reliable way of communicating meaning. Punctuation herds words together, keeps others apart."
.
"The practice of "pointing" our writing has always been offered in a spirit of helpfulness, to underline meaning and prevent awkward misunderstandings between writer and reader."
.
"Punctuation directs you how to read, in the way musical notation directs a musician how to play."
it starts with a story about a panda that enters a restaurant and places an order. upon finishing his meal, he takes out a rifle and fires a few rounds into the air. as he leaves, he tosses a wildlife manual at the shocked waiter. opening it up to the entry on pandas, the waiter reads that the panda "eats, shoots and leaves".
what's the difference between its and it's? dogs and dog's? how often should you use a comma? what's the point of a semicolon? what is a semicolon? what's an ellipsis? should you use a colon or a dash or parentheses? where should you insert a hyphen? does any of this matter?
in her book, truss clears up common myths about the uses of various punctuation marks. she separates the strict rules (such as its vs. it's) from personal preference and also provides information on the history and development of punctuation. i highly recommend it. the only downside is that once you read it there is a good chance you will become hypersensitive towards your own punctuation, as has been the case with me.
truss makes a compelling case for the preservation of punctuation and calls all sticklers to unite and fight back against its misuse. she half-jokingly suggests refusing to reply to emails that contain punctuation errors, or sending it back corrected. she also recommends carrying around correction fluid and red marker to remove unnecessary punctuation and to fill in missing ones.
.
"The reason to stand up for punctuation is that without it there is no reliable way of communicating meaning. Punctuation herds words together, keeps others apart."
.
"The practice of "pointing" our writing has always been offered in a spirit of helpfulness, to underline meaning and prevent awkward misunderstandings between writer and reader."
.
"Punctuation directs you how to read, in the way musical notation directs a musician how to play."
Monday, January 09, 2006
you're running free
pongo (milky) wong
june 1 1995 - january 5 2006
i love you and i miss you. i'm sorry i wasn't with you at the end. i hope you know how much you were loved in our 3 and a half years together. i'm sorry i didn't walk you more. thanks for always bringing a smile to my face. i loved your goofy looks, your sneezes, your little farts when you walked up the stairs. i didn't really mind when you snuck onto the sofa. thanks for putting up with coco's bossiness and letting her sleep on your cushion sometimes. i loved how you barked up a storm when someone was at the door but were afraid of lightning, cellphones and vacuum cleaners. i love you and i miss you. and i think coco does, too.
Sunday, January 01, 2006
happy new year from morocco
having a blast here in north africa. spent new year's eve dancing with locals in the middle of the sahara. heading to spain in a couple of days. will be home soon!
p.s. typing on an old sticky moroccan keyboard is a pain in the butt.
p.s. typing on an old sticky moroccan keyboard is a pain in the butt.
Monday, November 28, 2005
i'm it
tagged by dor.
five random facts about me:
1) i have been sleeping on the floor in front of the fireplace for the past month. but this morning we finally got our furnace replaced and now we can all thaw out. i can put away the snowsuit.
2) i have this fascination with the armed forces. i used to want to be in the army, among other things, and as recently as fall of 2003, i spent an entire weekend exploring http://www.forces.gc.ca reading everything there was to know about being in the reserve. i was seriously considering basic recruit training for the following summer. obviously that didn't happen.
3) the same lady has cut my hair my entire life. she shaved my head twice when i was a newborn.
4) the one movie that had me crying from beginning to end was "i am sam". i watched it in a florida hotel room; my parents and sister were already asleep, but i stayed up and watched the whole thing, uncontrollable tears streaming down my face in every scene, running to the bathroom every few minutes to get more toilet paper (i don't know why i didn't use kleenex). my dad woke up at one point and just stared at me, not sure what to do.
5) many many years ago i got a valentine with my name severely misspelled as "shrin". shrin spelled backwards is nirhs.
enough about me. now you're it: char jennifer catherine herman dorinda
five random facts about me:
1) i have been sleeping on the floor in front of the fireplace for the past month. but this morning we finally got our furnace replaced and now we can all thaw out. i can put away the snowsuit.
2) i have this fascination with the armed forces. i used to want to be in the army, among other things, and as recently as fall of 2003, i spent an entire weekend exploring http://www.forces.gc.ca reading everything there was to know about being in the reserve. i was seriously considering basic recruit training for the following summer. obviously that didn't happen.
3) the same lady has cut my hair my entire life. she shaved my head twice when i was a newborn.
4) the one movie that had me crying from beginning to end was "i am sam". i watched it in a florida hotel room; my parents and sister were already asleep, but i stayed up and watched the whole thing, uncontrollable tears streaming down my face in every scene, running to the bathroom every few minutes to get more toilet paper (i don't know why i didn't use kleenex). my dad woke up at one point and just stared at me, not sure what to do.
5) many many years ago i got a valentine with my name severely misspelled as "shrin". shrin spelled backwards is nirhs.
enough about me. now you're it: char jennifer catherine herman dorinda
Wednesday, November 23, 2005
Monday, November 14, 2005
slumber party II
a bunch of us went to visit lyris in rochester this past weekend and all seven of us squished into her bachelor apartment to spend the night. we left early saturday morning, driving the 3 hours or so to rochester, with an unnecessarily lengthy stopover at a niagara falls denny's (a different one from the OOX trip!) due to exceptionally slow service. kelvin was our driver, and karen, who was supposed to be our navigator ended up dozing off, so we named her the napigator. anyway, once we got there we did a gazillion things: lyris showed us the university of rochester, we walked along the erie canal, almost watched a college football game, went bath & body works shopping, had mediterranean food, walked along a different part of the erie canal, saw (heard?) the rochester philharmonic orchestra and toured the eastman school of music, during which time lyris gave us a private concert. she's amazing on piano!! needless to say we were exhausted after day 1, so there was a lot of slumber at this slumber party. the next morning we wolfed down our breakfast of cup noodles and headed to the church that lyris attends. after the service, we went to the beach for a stroll along the boardwalk and took *s* club pictures of all of us jumping in the air. then we had savoury crepes for lunch, drove lyris back to her apartment and headed back to the ferry dock. we took the CAT back to toronto, which didn't save us any time or money and it was slightly nauseating during rough waters, but we got to play rummy and poker!
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