Pick A Direction...

It's hard to be creative in one direction when your mind is being creative in another.

Right now, outside of work and off of the computer altogether, I'm working with another dancer on a piece of joint choreography that we'll perform in a month. We're picking the song, and then will each choreograph half of the dance.

Which means that, as I was supposed to be writing this, I just spent most of the last half hour digging through YouTube videos to find the perfect song, and fixating on little smidgens of choreography while I listened to them.

How does one type "hip drop in vertical circle to that part of the song that goes boom-boom-boom-boom-boom?"

Well.

I guess that's how you type it.

But how does one make that jargon make sense later, when one is listening to the song for the umpteenth time and has forgotten which boom-boom-boom-boom-boom one was previously referencing?

Ah... now that is the question.

See? Even as I write, I'm writing about this other creative direction and cannot focus to make good words.**1

The best I can do is try to redeem myself with a witty one-liner (for which I cannot even take credit):

What does a belly dancer use to hold her costume together?

BELLY BUTTONS!

Yup... That will simply have to do.

**1 Point of note: I had three typos in that last sentence, including "writting" because I was thinking of how to integrate repetition. And I used the phrase "make good words," and found that permissible because it was better than the previous three attempts to end that sentence.

Some times I'm not even sure why you read this nonsense.

Kindergarten

I am particularly pooped today.

For no good reason, I seem to be completely void of energy.

It cannot possibly be because Boyfriend of Amazingness are buying a house together. That cannot be sucking energy out of me in wisps of wait-tastic stress.

It cannot possibly be because work is a little crazy right now, with health issues going on all over the place and schedules being shaken like one of Bond's martinis. Nope, I'm pretty sure that's not it.

It cannot possibly be because I spent last evening chasing a Small Someone around Boyfriend of Amazingness's practice. Even with slaying that crocodile**1, I don't think that would do it.

I don't think it's because it's half past one and I haven't had my lunch yet...

I don't think it's because I attended my lunch time dance class today and spent a whole hour twirling and wiggling and giggling...

And I don't think it's because I hit my forehead off of the back of Boyfriend of Amazingness's cranium last evening as I snuggled in to fall asleep as Big Spoon, and then fell asleep with a nagging headache that poked me in the brain all night.

No, I'm pretty sure I'm sleepy because it's nap time.

Corporate America, you gotta get in touch with your Kindergarten roots. We're missing out.

**1 It was big, and lived on a picnic table. The only way to conquer it was by flailing at it with a broken rose stem. Fortunately we had fairy wings so we could just fly away when it threatened to overtake us.

Throw It Out

"It's hard to hold on to negativity when you're tossing it out through your boobs."

I said this today, after a particularly awesome dance class.

After yesterday's adventures in melancholy,**1 I was thrilled today to have the opportunity to indulge in my favorite lunchtime shenanigan: Shimmies!

I've mentioned before that there's a dance studio across the street from my office, which offers a fantastic course on Wednesdays at Lunchtime called "Lunchtime Shimmy." It's a beginner belly dance class, structured by the teacher around the students who are there each week, and focusing on simple moves that can be layered and upgraded in challenging-ness depending on student ability. I really enjoy it for the social aspect, the getting-out-of-the-office, and the literal shaking-up of the workday humdrums.

Today was a focus on what a previous dance teacher called "Chest Smiles." While maintaining your head and your lower body in a stationary stance, move your ribcage from side to side, swooping upwards at each outside edge (essentially in the shape of a smile). It's a small, focused movement. And even while not actively seeking out belly dance classes to take, that's a movement I drilled often because it strengthens the troublesome muscles in my back.

I was excited today when the teacher asked me to put a twist on the move - A move aligned with the stylings of Fifi Abdou, with her high energy and charisma - and "fling" my chest skyward at the outside of each move. What I found is that it's impossible to do the move without projecting energy... And the energy I had to send out was negative.

But here's the awesome thing about expelling negative energy: Without additional negativity surrounding you, you're not going to be able to keep feeding that emotion. You're going to purge the negative, and take in what you've got around you. And, in the case of an energized, upbeat dance class... what I had to take in was most uplifting, indeed.

I returned to work with an amplified smile on my (admittedly somewhat sweaty) face, and a spring in my (admittedly somewhat tired) step. And it bubbled me through the rest of my day.

Be happy, my friends.

**1 Right down to an alarming fit of The Leaks, all inclusive with snot and facial drippage. Most inconvenient for me, and downright unsettling for Boyfriend of Amazingness, who thought I was adversely reacting to his request for a foot rub.

Skitters

Being busy over the weekend makes Monday suck.

Because being busy over the weekend means that, when Monday comes around, I'm still geared up for stuff I have to get done around my home.

Like dishes.

And laundry.

And crazy dancing.

I don't get to do dishes at work.

Nor do I get to do laundry.

Not that I would really want to if I could... But still. Knowing that they're at home needing to be done, and I'm at work not being able to do them... It's frustrating.

Moreso because I have to sit still and do boring stuff like process invoices and log paperwork.

Which would be more exciting with crazy dancing, except I can't take my shoes off and one cannot dance crazily with shoes on.

I should be home right now.

But at least my coworkers tried to pacify me with cake.

Which I may have eaten too much of, giving me a sugar high and a skittery brain.

Skitter Skitter Skitter Skitter BOOM.

Not Your Mother's Candy...

Sunny: Check out my new [shiny, gold foil wrapped] dance cane!

CoWorker: What the hell? Is it, like, chocolate inside or somethin'?

Sunny Smiles - exposing her coworkers to New And Different Cultures since 2006.

Peppy Pickles

Sunny's List Of

FIVE  STEPS TO A PEPPIER WEDNESDAY

1. Be just late enough to work that you feel like you're getting away with something, but not so late that anyone notices. Six minutes is sufficient.
2. Make your hot cocoa with the second-to-last packet out of a box. Again, you feel like you're getting away with something, but without that guilty obligation to refill the box that often washes over the Taker of the Last Packet.
3. Complete your tasks ahead of schedule.This includes making appointments (extra points if you can get the office where you are trying to make your appointment to call you first**1) and completing work-related duties. Finishing them ahead of time makes you seem - and feel - like a superhero.
4. Have an awesome sister who comes to visit you at work, and brings fresh flowers from the Farmer's Market - a bouquet for home, and a bouquet for the office. You can't have this sister, though. She's mine, and I won't share.
5. Take that sister to the local lunchtime dance class, and have a fantastic time there. Seriously. Shake your sillies out, and wiggle your waggles away.

**1 My doctor's office called me to set up an appointment. Score!

When In Doubt...

Dear Sunny,

Yes, I agree. Twirly skirts are the awesomest. There's nothing like the swish-swish-swish of swirly fabric about the knees. It's almost scandalously fun. And on a hot day, you'll be glad for any excuse for air flow.**1

HOWEVER... be careful. EngineerFriends can be more observant than you realize. You never know when one might peek out of his conference room mid-audit and catch you "doin' the hokey pokey or whatever that is."

And then he'll show you his interpretation of your twirling, and he'll do it with a giggle.

Have you ever seen an EngineerFriend shake his groove thang? With a giggle?!

Well. You have now.

Love,

Sunny.

P.S. - That skirt makes your legs look great, by the way. Flaunt it.

**1 - Look out for Thighs of Increased Stickiness, though... It's an unfortunate side effect of skirt-wearing. Not a dealbreaker - not by a longshot - but definitely something you don't want to be caught adjusting on a sweaty day. Or... you know... ever.