05/ 21/ 2012
Summer is upon us and that means it’s time for my annual Summer Reading List—yes! It’s exciting… almost as exciting as the Books-A-Million Summer Sale. (Seriously, if you love reading and haven’t been, go! You can find some true gems).
I picked a list of thirteen titles. I like to dabble in a little of everything—classics, trashy young adult series, satire, historical, fiction, books that make you think— so I picked a little of everything. I’ll keep you posted along the way with some personal reviews.
A few rules. If I start something, and don’t really like it, I can move onto another book. The novels can be read in any order, and if I don’t finish all of the titles by the end of summer, they’ll roll-over onto my fall list.
So… here it goes:
05/ 11/ 2012
As I type, Usher’s “These Are My Confessions” is on repeat. It’s time to let you in on one of my secrets. It’s not that hidden, but people are often surprised when I tell them. I’m nervous! Alas, here it goes.
I love celebrities. I check Perez Hilton’s blog a minimum of 7 times a day. I’m obsessed with E-News, I watch way too many celeb-related reality TV shows and I buy magazines just to read the cover model’s interviews.
I’m often asked why I waste my time keeping up with celebrity gossip. I don’t see it as a time-waster; I’m just so fascinated by it all, the way fame changes people, how celebrities form these crazy personalities and the fashion—oh the fashion!
03/ 12/ 2012
Since 2006, I’ve had a crush on a particular choreographer. She’s Monica Bill Barnes, and for me, it was love at first sight. She holds a special place in my heart for many reasons. One being that she was the first artist to make me really think about dance, its implications and what it means to audience members. When I was a senior in college, Barnes showed a new work she was developing as an artist in residence. The piece — Suddenly Summer Somewhere — took seven years to complete, and today, at the 92nd Street YMCA, I saw the end result.
The company performed as part of the 92Y Harkness Dance Festival. The curator of this event, Doug Varone, was so smart. He gave the thesis STRIPPED/DRESSED, requiring each participant to show excerpts of their featured work from the rehearsal process before the finished project.
Barnes brilliantly designed the afternoon. She (along with her Rehearsal Director and dancer Anna Bass) took us to SSS‘s starting place, showing the movement phrase she developed at FSU those seven years ago. From here, Barnes discussed what influenced her choreography: her grandfather’s death, boxing, live recordings of the Rat Pack (in particular Frank Sinatra) and elderly people. As you can imagine, humor and satire were also key players.
02/ 28/ 2012
While reading Gretchen Rubin’s The Happiness Project, I’ve realized some things:
1). I don’t want to be a nagger
2). I still think bathroom humor is completely awkward and totally not funny
3). I have more of an idea of what activities don’t make me happy than which ones do make me happy
For the past two weekends I’ve set out to rectify this imbalance and have spent my Saturdays and Sundays pursuing tasks that would (hopefully) bring me joy. These two days required preconceived thoughts and careful planning, which for a weekend when one should be relaxing, felt taxing. However, I had a blast coming up with each day and learned a bit more about myself. Here’s how it went down:
