Hmmmm....  Last post, early April.  Almost as if someone had a large event, or even a series of events going on that spanned from April through the end of June.  Right.  Moving on...

One of the items on my never-ending to-do list is to reduce the load I carry to and from work.  Over a year ago - probably closer to two - I started getting huge pains in my shoulder.  These seemingly came out of nowhere, and especially when I was calling dances.  Stress-related, almost certainly.  But more than stress, it's become increasingly clear that the amount that I carry is partially, and even mostly to blame.

I'm left-handed, and so I always carry bags on my left shoulder.  My right feels weak by comparison.  I carry a lot to and from work, but I only feel that weight for small amounts of time on the walk between home and the train station, and then from the train station to my office, and not at all during the day.  But when I'm teaching at a weekend or at camp, I carry this big bag with at least one full binder, one notebook, dance shoes, (full) water bottle, and whatever else between buildings, to every meal, and all the time.  That's when my shoulder starts talking to me, and saying things like, "I hate you."
After thinking about this for a while, I decided that the solution to all of my problems was an I-Pad.  In theory, this would replace the library books, calender/date book, CDSS directory, dance database printouts, endless lists of everything, etc. I carry everyday and consider essential to my life.  At gigs, this would have all of my dance programs, instructions, etc., and with tools that are no doubt available somewhere, I could mark up PDFs electronically to prepare for teaching, and then erase those marks so I could repeat the procedure as often as needed.  The I-Pad would also replace my now really slow (really, really, really slow) laptop.  Perfect, no?

But then, there's reality.  Financial reality.  First there was house repair.  Then there was the wedding.  And the honeymoon.  And the wedding dance.  Oh, and the new car, complete with doubled insurance and monthly payments.  And a new roof in the offing.  And let's not forget the astronomical heating bills coming soon.  And the need to replenish savings after all of the above.  Read, no room for new technology.

But I'm still tired of my shoulder aching, so it's clearly time for a new solution.  My first goal is to reduce the daily load on my shoulder.  I have some ideas for that which I'm starting to implement.  Stay tuned...

Five plants, and counting...

Last week, my office moved to a new location.  Same job, same colleagues, but everything else has changed.  Including my view...

 Looking east toward the Delaware River.  You can see the Ben Franklin Bridge and the spire of Christ Church.

Looking south.  That's the Bourse building on the right side.  In the distance on the right you can see one of the squares of Independence Park, and then the spire of St. Peter's beyond.

And it being me, I had to decorate my new cubicle right away.  My style is so consistent...  The photos take you CW around the cube from the south window.

But best of all, we are free from the one plant rule (which I always thwarted by having two!).  There are currently five on one of my window ledges, a few still recovering from their cold, winter existence in my house.  I think I need more.

Okay, you can only see four of the five in this image, but I think that five is only the beginning.   I have a whole other window ledge to fill....

Five minutes a day...

Every January the design blogs I read are full of hope and resolutions and solutions to help you freshen and reclaim your living space.  They take advantage of the new year as a time of beginnings to help motivate people to do what they should be doing all of the time.  This is not new.  And, I pretty much buy into this philosophy, at least in intention.

The creator of ApartmentTherapy wrote a book around the idea of a home cure, saying that you could take control of your living space and transform it into what you want it to be, or at least begin the process, over the course of a month.  They've created steps, and daily tasks toward this goal to make it be manageable, and possible, and encourage folks to join the Cure through their website to create a support network for participants, and induce some accountability.

Although I think the Cure is a great idea, I haven't been ready to commit to the online deal.  Still, I'm following with interest, and even trying to play along a bit.  I forget exactly what day they're on, but the major steps so far seem to have been:

1. Go through your living space and make a list of all of the projects that need doing.  It needn't be exhaustive.  Stick to 3-5 projects per room.
2. Create an Outbox, or a place for the things you're considering donating or trashing to live.  Consider your outbox as a waiting room.  You are not committing to get rid of anything in there, but simply creating an area where things will live while you're considering their fate.
3. Buy flowers for yourself and your house.  Do this every Friday so you can enjoy them all weekend.  You and your house deserve it.
4. Sweep and mop your floors.  Do a thorough job.  Move the furniture.  Vacuum the rugs.  You will feel better.
5. From your list, pick ONE project you will work on this month.  
6. Frame a piece of artwork you've been wanting to hang for a while.  You could do this yourself, or have it professionally done.  Don't put it off any more.

My progress...

1. List made.  Man, it's long.  And not do-able in one year, most likely.  Long.
2. I love my outbox!!!  I've had one for a while.  It's not in the right place in my house, but the instant I get the notion that something can go, I try and put it in that area right away.  Chances are, I will never miss whatever that item is.
3. I didn't buy flowers last Friday because I knew I was going away for the weekend.  This weekend I will for sure.  Flowers are something I love, but a treat I rarely afford myself because it seems far too extravagant.  But Produce Junction will sell me something lovely for less than $5.
4. Okay, I haven't done this step at all.  But I agree that it's a good idea.
5. I picked my one item!  Ack!
6. This one just appeared today.  I did trim and frame my January calendar page, but I don't think that counts.  This is a good idea though.  I will have to consider...

In my next post I'll share with you my LONG house project list along with my project of choice and the scary "before" pictures.

Let me know if you want to play too.  I'd be delighted be a part of a not-necessarily-published-on-the-internet support system!

Ring in the new...

I am generally not a believer in new year’s resolutions.  While January does feel like a time of new beginnings, if the desired change is real, you can start at any time.  What I am a believer in is lists, calendars, and schedules.  I use these devices to get me where I need to go, and more importantly, help me take care of the things I need to.

About a year ago, I divided my to-do list into long-term projects and short-term projects.  I typed up the long-term list, printed it, put it in a pocket in my notebook, and avoided looking at it.  Looking back at it now is difficult because most of the items remain:  I still need to repair the roof and fix the water damaged ceilings, organize my office, de-clutter the craft room, compile a garden plant and care list, and on and on and on…

More successful is my short-term list, which is edited and added to almost daily.  Some items should stay on there for life:  do laundry, fold laundry, go to the library, write x dance program, but they don’t.  The act of writing, crossing off, and re-writing is to me a sign of progress, of life humming along, and things, if slowly, getting done

Making an annual resolution makes no sense to me, and the notion that I will get through everything on my short-term to-do list is not in any way based in the reality of my life.  Instead I would love to be able to point to something meaty that I accomplished once a month, something that’s been lingering on one of these interminable lists for far too long.  I hope to use this space to report on my results at the end of each month.  I actually didn’t wait for New Year’s, but started in December…

December 2012:  Eat gluten-free

It feels odd to say this out loud because eating gluten-free, while a health necessity for many seems to be trendy for the rest, and the last thing I am is trendy.  But I was curious to find out if cutting out wheat, i.e., bread, cookies, cake, and anything made with wheat flour or wheat-based anything, made a difference to my weight, skin, outlook, and general well-being. 

After a month, the jury is still out.  I’ve avoided wheat (except for those latkes at Chanukah, which have some flour in them), but not all products made in factories and on machinery where wheat is handled.  Yes, I have lost some of the weight I had lost and then regained.  I think I feel better, but it’s unclear if avoiding wheat is the cause of either of these results. 

Eating gluten-free is annoying and hard.  I miss not thinking about my food.  But that’s part of the point.  I like knowing that I can do this.  I can be mindful of what I eat, and make conscious choices and small changes, and more importantly stick to it.  It’s a(nother) start down a road I want to travel, and only a start.  I’ll keep this up for several months to truly evaluate whether it makes a difference to my overall well-being, or not, and what, if anything needs to change next.  Wish me luck.  And don’t mock me if I end up shopping at the Co-op sometimes.

What are your new year’s projects?

Tea-dyed and gone to heaven...

One of my summer projects is to make curtains for the large window in front of the house. Over the years I've played with various curtains for that window - black velvet, an old shower curtain in a floral pattern, and most recently, a heavy, white cotton job making use of binder clips to keep it from dragging on the floor. But finally, I hit on some great fabric at Ikea (of course).



Just one problem. It's so very white. I thought it would be too stark of a contrast with the more neutral and burgundy living room palette. I wasn't up for regular dying, but tea-dying seemed just the thing. I just wanted to take the edge off the white, and I just happened to have a ton of extra tea bags in the house.



Theorhetically you can use a pot on the stove filled with boiling water to do the job, but I wanted to do all of my fabric at once to keep the color even. So there was only one possible place - the bathtub.

In go the teabags!



When the tea was fully steeped, it was time for the fabric to take a bath. In it goes...



I made use of a random, wooden kitchen implement to submerge it.



I sat in the bathroom for over an hour swirling the stuff about so that it colored evenly with no mottled affect.



The color is getting close...



Out of the the dryer...



...and onto the ironing board!



Done!



Next, to turn long pieces of fabric into curtains...



Stay tuned for the next thrilling installment...

Summer Projects 2011

Okay, I’m embarrassed to even put these to paper for fear most of these projects were on my list for Summer 2010, when I wasn’t working and ostensibly had free time.

Here are things I would like to get accomplished this summer, in no particular order:

-Create a dance caller web page - just something simple with a schedule and a bio
-Put window film on the side living room windows that you can look right into from the street
-Inventory the corner cabinet in the dining room
-Put non-skid drawer liner stuff in the kitchen drawers
-Re-hang the pictures in the dining room
-Get estimates for and have the back section of the roof replaced
-Replace the window that faces the backyard in the laundry room/auxiliary serving area (if there’s money left after roof repair)
-Continue the progress on my stamp catalogue
-Tea-dye the fabric and make curtains for the front living room window
-Hang a curtain in the kitchen window (see living room side windows, above)
-Create a master list of phone numbers for easy reference
-Get the washer repaired so that hot-water washes are once again possible before the warrenty runs out
-Paint and hang wooden shelves in the craft room
-Make a cushion for the window seat downstairs
-Dispose of the sections of my former back fence (anyone feeling destructive???)
-Install a dimmer switch in the dining room

There are sixteen things on this list. Last summer’s list contained fourteen. Notice a flaw??

And of course this list doesn’t take into account the never-ending dishes to wash, laundry, cleaning, de-cluttering, weeding, dance program planning, taking-out-the-trash-type of chores that are always present.

Let me know if you have time to lend your company or expertise for any of the list above. Small cakes and pastries provided...

Twenty years of valentines...

I realized this year that I had been making valentines for some time now. My earliest efforts as an adult were cut-up sections of wrapping paper, always with a valentine-esque quote on the inside (I remember that my first quote was part of the very brief love scene at the end of Henry V, indicative of my complete crush on Kenneth Brannagh. Swoon!).



Once rubber stamping came into my life after my senior year in college, there was no going back. I realized this year that the interior quotes moved first to the outside of the cards, and then disappeared entirely.



Part of that was a time crunch - if it wasn't part of the process of making the card itself, it wasn't going in. It was too labour-intensive to do all of that writing!



But I missed the words, which are faithfully part of so many of my creations, even if you can't read them. This year's offering returns the quote to the interior:



"One word frees us of all the weight and pain of life; that word is love." -Sophocles

Happy Valentine's Day!

Today's fun topic - ordering a new cell phone...

So, apparently my cell phone has reached that magic age when some of the buttons stop functioning. I've been here before. And luckily, as my cell phone needs are limited (Not giving in to the now ubiquitous need for a fancy phone with email and apps. Nope. Okay, almost. But, no...), I’ve developed a technique for dealing with it.

1. Look on the AT&T website to see which phones are free or cheap with a contract extension

2. Go to the AT&T store and ask a staff member which of the free phones is the best

3. Get the new phone. Get the staff to transfer my address book. Leave happy.

4. Eventually learn how to use the new phone

My goal was to take care of this Monday after work. I trot on over to the store. They point me to the cheap phones in the dark corner where they assume no one will want to shop. I consult with a staff member and learn that they no longer carry the inexpensive/free phones in the store. You can only order them online (no doubt to try and force you to buy something snazzy for instant gratification). But I have the internet, so I have my 5 second consultation and run to catch my train.

Today, I went back to the website to buy my phone. Both of the recommended phones in my category have terrible reviews from users on the website, mostly about scratches and covers falling off, and battery life. But I figure, I am mostly only using this thing as a phone. I am not trying to make it be something it’s not, though doubtless I will drop it several times. So I read a few more reviews, and make my choice. And boy, oh boy, the phone I want comes in RED. Why not? Let’s branch out a little from the basic black (oh, excuse me, graphite...). I make my choice. I start the check-out process... ...only to learn that the red phone requires you to fork over $50 at the check-out and send away for your rebate, while the black phone is just plain free from the start. This seems akin to the myth that red cars are more expensive to insure than others, but this one appears to be true! They are counting on people (like me) not bothering/forgetting to send for the rebate. Such a racket!

So I picked black. It will match all of my shoes.

Some day it may come to this...

Isn't this amazing:



This image comes from Just Be Splendid via Teaspoon and Petals. And yes, I really love the purple one with polka-dots...

The dreaded short hair problem...

Well, the moment has almost arrived, the moment I've been growing my hair for for almost a year - the JASNA conference, at which I am teaching several dance workshops and leading the grand ball on Saturday night. Thanks to the skills of a certain Princess, I have a big, floofy purple ball gown and a Jane Austen-y day dress, re-fashioned out of one of my existing dresses. I have white tights. I have gloves. I have dance shoes. What I don't have is the appropriate hair for this event.

My hair is so medium at the moment. It's neither long nor short, blonde nor brown, straight nor curly. In short, impossible. But as it's easier to pretend to be JA with the current length than the usual length, onward I go.

Tomorrow morning, armed with hair clips, bobby pins, hair net, hair spray, and a curling iron, I will attempt to affect an artfully arranged mass of something that stays out of my face, yet looks at home to the masses of people attending the conference who are sure to know the difference.

Note to self: bring camera.

If the results are positive, you may even see them...

A dose of a different culture...

Last week a friend and I made an expedition to H Mart, a big Asian grocery chain with a Korean bent and a store not far from here. It's the kind of place that is simply overwhelming to the uninitiated, like me, who are not looking for anything in particular, but going more for the experience of it.



We began with produce, where things were mostly recognizable. At last, a source for baby bok choy! From there we wandered through the fish section, over to meat, and then up and down the grocery aisles. There were rows of noodles of all kinds, teas, standard western fare, which looked out of place, household items, and on and on. There was not one kind of sesame oil to choose from as there is in the local Pathmark, which makes shopping for it fast and eay, but a choice between brands and dark sesame oil, and black sesame oil and wild sesame oil. And then the section of dried seaweed, dried plants that I hoped were not for eating, but I think were, freeze-dried squid strips, etc. I had no idea how to choose between the varieties of noodles, so I chose none.

We came at last to the frozen food section where I was determined to take home some dumplings. But there again was the issue. I could read no list of ingredients and had a hard time choosing between one kind of meat dumpling and another. In the end I chose a few packages where I understood the preparation instructions and enjoyed them when I tasted them.

In the end I left H-Mart almost as overwhelmed as I walked in. I'm glad I went with a friend as we gave each other courage to try some things we otherwise never would have.

Would I go again? In a heartbeat. Now that I know what they have and what to expect, I can pretend to be a slightly more educated consumer.

And then there is that sesame candy that's been haunting my thoughts for a week now...

Bits & Pieces from the Blogs...

Just a few images that struck me from the catch-up blog-reading that built up while I was at camp...



Via the Martha Stewart blog, the Crafts Dept., this image reminded me of another favorite artist, Donald Evans, who also used rubber stamp postmarks over his images:



This tea set is ingenius! It's from Jason Neufeld, and I can't quite figure out where it's available.



If you can read the fine print beneath the picture, the dishes provide areas for honey and jam, and a raised surface to rest your toas on so it doesn't become soggy. And what's more, the cups are double-walled and have a hexagonal bottom so they fit perfectly onto the plate.

And finally, and image from Apartment Therapy:



A shelf like this one would be perfect for my kitchen window that looks, not out at the backyard, but out on the laundry room and its window on the backyard. It would be perfect to keep a teapot always handy...

July 4th Weekend in the Woods...

Nothing can convey the sheer joy of a session at Pinewoods!


Photo by David Cornelius

We danced Morpeth Rant on Saturday night, and Corn Rigs on Sunday, and others here and there. Doing these traditional dances in this space with fabulous dancers all around reminded me of the first time I experienced what a great swing and change felt like, the first time we all danced Softly Good Tummas at E&A, lo these many years ago when the room went wild, the beauty of that many stars over the pond as seen from the water after the dance.

Camp is always a magical place. I can't wait to get back there.

Life in the big city, part whatever...

In which Joanna renews her driver's license...

In Pennsylvania you are required to renew your driver's license every four years, and unlike in some other states you have to get a new picture taken for your license each time. There is a two step process for the renewal: 1) When you get the renewal notice, pay your fee, and receive a camera card back in the mail, and, 2) Go have your picture taken at a PennDOT center to have the actual card issued. And in Pennsylvania your license expires the day after your birthday in the given year.

I received my renewal in April and had long since paid my money and gotten my camera card in the mail. And since the last time I went to get my picture taken for my license, it was all of a five minute procedure at a suburban office - literally, no waiting - I wasn't worried or in a hurry. Then suddenly it was the middle of June and time to get off the stick.

Four years ago, I got my licensed renewed and picture taken in Rosemont, where I was the only customer and where two clerks were arguing and vying to see who could take a better picture of me. I went out on a Wednesday night before the dance and I tought I would do the same thing this time. But being sensible, I decided to check on PennDOT's website to make sure the Rosemont office was still open late on Wednesdays. After 10-15 minutes of searching the website and trying, mostly failing, to find the simple list of PennDOT offices and their hours, I finally found the PDF in a non-intuitive section of the site and discovered that evening hours had been severely curtailed, not only in Rosemont, but at all of the offices, and that the only night any center was open late was Thursday. Guess who has plans this Thursday. And guess who will have an expired license if she waits until next Thursday. So, for better or for worse, I decided to brave a Center City office and rationalized this decision by telling myself it was relatively close to my office, I take a late lunch so the big crowds will have dissipated (incidentally, this theory never holds true at the post office either), and that it's just a picture, which should be a quick thing. Right.

I leave my office on 15th and Walnut just before 1:30pm, headed for the PennDOT office on 11th and Market. As I approach the address, things don't look promising. Buildings look vacant. Not good. Finally, I notice a small sign in one of the windows saying that this PennDOT location closed on May 30th and all business will now be conducted at the next closest office, some 5-ish blocks away on 8th and Arch. Now the clock is ticking.

I make it to 8th and Arch at about 1:45pm to discover a long line out the door. Figuring that the line is for people waiting to take a learner's permit test, I walk up to the door and peer in, but everyone I ask says there's just one line. While I figure it never occured to anyone else to ask if it was otherwise, I get in line and start calculating how long I can wait before I have to cry off so I can get back to work in time.

The line is the typical downtown scene: many younger folks getting permits now that school is out, mothers with small children in tow. Behind me a young woman waiting to submit a change-of-address form gets uppity when an elderly woman who has trouble walking is helped inside ahead of others (likely to sit down), even after two people tell her she can submit her address change online at any computer with internet access and not have to wait here at all. Still she remains on line, yelling about how unfair it all is.

Finally, really only a few minutes later, an employee comes outside and issues numbers to the three of us on the long line with camera cards. I rush in and am taken right away, answer three questions, and am allowed to select the best of three pictures. A minute later I'm back out the door, in plenty of time to walk back to work and hopefully forget about PennDOT for four more years.

The strangeness of shoes...

Okay, this post is totally random...

In my bedroom tonight, I noticed 4 pairs of black shoes.



This in and of itself is not unusual. Clearly I wore them all in the not to distant past and kicked them off and didn't put the back where they live in an orderly way. This is also not unsusal.



Have you noticed something in common about each pair of shoes?



Yes, in every case, the left shoe was upright an the right shoe is over on its side. I'm sure this is full of meaning.



Discuss.

On the shelf...

This idea from Design*Sponge struck my fancy today:



Simple and elegant, combining the best of my grandfather's shelf of screws and nuts and bolts with tea. But where can I put it?

Office decor...

So it turns out that my decorating style, at least as far as hanging images on the wall, is remarkably consistent. This is yet another instance of a collection of small things, in this case, collected on my brand new bulletin board in my brand new (well, as of November) office. You'll notice that there still some space to fill up, but not much...





Notice one of my new calendars - my first and only Etsy purchase, and the essential Milton card.



Here's Patience, one of the New York Public Library lions, as well as a postcard of my favorite postage stamp ever.



I hang up postcards, magnets, fortune cookie fortunes...



I use old calendar images like the Lilac Fairy and the Motawi fish tile.



Ten points if you can guess what dance they're doing in the old Pinewoods image...



And of course, my plants!

Stop by and visit sometime!

Catching up...

I haven't written properly since before Camp, and weariness prevents me from doing so now, but much has happened in these weeks that are each a topic in and of themselves. I may or may not get to them later, but know there's much to say:

-E&A Week 2008 report - making good
-Swarthmore begins
-Cocktails for 65
-When it rains it pours - inside the house

I'm thrilled with the approach of cooler weather and the lovely Autumn. I'm looking forward to a quiet weekend, mostly at home, to regroup, clean up, and bleach tablecloths back to their pre-stained white - a deep breath before the holidays kick in. And best yet, I might even get to sleep in!

So to bed...

It apparently is true!

Walking from the trolley this morning, I spied these in the window of Steap. I'll have to go investigate!

My future cat?

Folks keep asking me whether, now that I have a house, I'm going to get a pet. But I'm still never home, so it's probably still not the brilliant move. However, I am partial to this cat who comes to visit when I leave my front door open, and hangs out on my porch with some regularity...