Hi Modified
I played foot bag last week. It felt really good to play, but in all honesty it was brutal. It's certainly a new era for me. My body is older and my lower back is finally dictating that I play responsibility. This, however, is a very good thing. I am redoing everything now, with a clearer emphasis on form and deeper stalls. Nothing frantic anymore. No more chasing the bag if the last stall/set is done poorly. It's like teaching a kid that it's alright to stab yourself in the face.
Right now I am just excited about doing an osis and linking comfortably to a swirl. The biggest regular excitement I get is when I perform a weak side paradox mirage and it stays on my foot long enough for me to symposium-esque my way into a hippy atomic set, rather than flailing (literally).
I suppose the biggest news in my life is that I am getting rooted in PGH again. Spent last week training a bartender in Pittsburgh's South SIde. I work almost the entire week and then I head to NYC for a major installation, for NYE. No rest for the wicked. Man, I am fucking tired right now, typing this in-between a "double" shift.
The last year has been crazy. Taught, a lot. I busted my ass getting grants and shows. I traveled around the East Coast, incessantly. Uhauls, buses and planes. My back is feeling a bit better, but it has been messed up since last summer. Fortunately, it feels like things are coming together, i.e.: the job, the gigs, the health and the frame of mind. My downtime for the next semester is going to be divided between mastering my craft/personal business and really getting into OOP. Python and micro controllers. Script-generated 3D models. I guess this is sort of early for a New Years resolution, but yeah- that's what's up. Sick of being a passenger in my own life. Finally taking the wheel.
Tired. Spent yesterday watching episodes of Star Trek Voyager, gathering my strength and recovering from the shock of running around on my feet all day, everyday, last week. I spent so much of last year on couches and buses. It feels much better to be on my feet, making reasonable amounts of money and getting back into decent health.
Over the summer I learned how to swim. I went from 2-3 laps to 51, by the time I was done. I learned a lot about how bad my breathing is, and how to swim through it. It felt great to train and rebuild my body in a natural form. Especially after a year of stagnation with a fucked up back. Then, I jumped straight into two months of insane art development and installations. That felt even more natural, and what my girlfriend refers to as a "guido build" went away
Now I am just a bit slumpy, and in need of rebuilding my muscle so that it can take my normal weight.
Somehow, I finally learned how to touch-type while in grad school... it's far to easy to just ramble now... especially when you are exhausted, in a cafe, charging your phone in-between shifts, but hey- fuck it. I can't see when I'll ever have the time again in the near future and there's still a ton I want to say.
First off, NYFA fucking rocks. So many of those guys came together and seriously bailed me out last month on an install. Pipenberg was there too. I can't wait to kick some more with everyone, including PSU crowd. There's gonna be a ton of it next semester. Please add that to the my resolution list, along with getting new wheels so that I can see my friend Josh in Butler PA. Yeah, that covers about all of it. Time to drink my tea
