Field of Daize’s

Truly, I’m blessed with good friends here. Even though I have only been here for a short time, it already seems as though I am starting to belong to something greater than I. Not only in my own family, but also in my general frienships. Granted, they do not yet extend beyond the confines of the studio, but I am sure that is bound to change.

But I write to hark on about the “little” things in life, and the way that they can uplift your day. Yesterday I got two (perhaps three, but I’ll get to that in a second) birthday presents. Both were food, and both were yummy beyond belief. But more than that, it is great to know that a) people here are nice enough to acknowlege my bday b) they know me well enough to actually get me stuff that matches my personality/likes.

Perhaps I am once more over-romantacising things.. but I am just not that accostumed to getting presents. I know I have gotten them in the past, but I never get over the novelty of them. Probably because I never really expect them. I like to give them, though seldom do, and thus seldom recieve them.

I don’t know.. I can just say that I’m in cheerie moods.

My parents gave me a 20gig MP3 device….. SWEEEEEEEEEET! Curiously enough..it is EXACTLY what I needed right now. Sweetness.

On other news, I think I might be giving my first class this week! A group class, at Foundation level, no doubt. In a way I’m pooping my pants, but I assure you it is excitment, rather than nerves. I really, really, REALLY like teaching. Yes, strange but true.. I am getting more of a kick out of it that I could have fathomed.

The kindness from others will never sieze to amaze me. On Friday, Victoria (one of the Aurthur Murray crowd) gave me the coolest presents ever. Well, it makes more sense if you kinda where at the conversation we had the day before (where under my hobbies, I listed “long walks on the beach”). So… it turns out, she bought me a Toltec book (cos I’m a spic ho), a little cartooning kit (cos I’m the comic king of the universe), and a pedometer (to count the steps on those walks on the beach)!

As a curious aside, I “walked”2.4 miles while at work today. I consequently burned off close to 200 calories. Interesting stuff!

I also got the sweetest (literally… a box of choccies) present from one of the students. Man… I’m never going to get over how groovy people are.

On the subjects of presents though, the official “awesome person of the week” award goes to none other than the evil Sal, who made her presence felt through the mail. Two packages… .one with a Zoolander DVD, and another with a stuffed Epstein-Barr virus! I cannot overemphasise just how cool it is to get a virus through the mail. And the kissing one, none the less! Much joy.. much joy indeed.

Things are going well around here. My parents are over from France, and the usual wonderful chaotic behaviours are in the air. It is nice to have them around for my birthday…. it turns out that we haven’t done THAT in the last 7 years. Life is good.

Since my current lifestyle is that of a dance instructor, let me outline exactly what this involves:

Wake up : Late, somewhere before midday. Work hours are like manna from heaven for me; one to ten everyday! This offcourse means that my lifestyle of staying up late is not only endorsed, but encouraged. Very show bizzy.

Ride to work : Usually with Kim, though often with whoever I can coax into getting me to work on time.

1:00pm : Get into work. Drink some perculated coffee, with artificial creamer. Not as bad as it sounds. By that time of the ‘morning’, I would drink sweat out of a shoe if it contained caffeine.

1:00pm - 4:15pm : This is the time when there is nothing really programed for me to do. At first, I would look over the manuals a lot, or just sit around seeing what I could do. Now I’m being more aggressive, and using the time to try and get the dancing part of the job done. Normally I’ll study some of the video tapes, then warm up, and then ask one of the other instructors to teach me some of the syllabus.

4:15pm - 5:00 : This is the “dinner” break. That means we run off for a while and get something to eat, which by this time is probably my one and only meal for the day. I often end up getting “Hooters”, which is…. well…. more male than my normal self!

5:00pm - 10:00pm : This is the best part of the day. It goes so fast, because so much is happening. This is the time that is when most of the students are around, and when most of the classes happen. It is the time when I can really do what I enjoy; talk to people. The evenings are interlaced between assisting in group classes and practise sessions, as well as our own teacher training (both administrative and practicle). I have the great fortune of working with wonderful dancers, who are rather more patient with me than I could dream of, and who break things down really well.

It is curious getting trained to teach. For starters, you have to know BOTH parts very well, which is kinda cool. It also means that not only do you have to learn the moves, but you have to be able to break them down and make them make sense. They say around here that teaching is learning twice, and I believe every word. The limited teaching I’ve done so far has confirmed this, as you learn so much more about the dancing when you are trying to teach it to someone else.

10:00 till late : Go home, veg out, and sleep in. Often (quite often), nights are reserved for partying. I’ve gotten to know the wonders of Karaoke bars.

On that note, I should expand on “Sardos”, the Karaoke place we go to. It is much like any smallish bar you’re likely to find anywhere, with drunken people getting up to do the microphone. This is ok by me, and largely that would suffice. But I have to relay the wonders that is Tuesday night at Sardos: PORN NIGHT!

That is right… some of the porn industry stars congregate in this bar on Tuesdays. The result is boobies flying everywhere. Ron Jeremy frequents the place, I’m told, as well as a slew of strange characters. Jimmy might be interested to find out that I heard the LEAD SINGER OF SURVIVOR sing Karaoke! He is a big geeky guy, but has the voice of an angel. Absolutely wonderful lungs.

Anyways, thought I might say a day in the life of MoS. It is a strange lifestyle, that I’m adopting like a tight fitting glove. I just want the Immigration things to finalise, so that I can finally rest, and get on with life.

As the skanky whore Penelope Cruz would say (in a distorted hispanic accent) : A life half lived is not a life.

LA is a weird city. I saw a hobo outside the house the other day. He was completely looney…. kicking bottle caps and shouting profanities. Yet he seemed to have an iPod. Things are weird here.

I’m very sorry to say that I haven’t had net access since I got here. I can imagine people take my lack of net-precense to mean that I don’t care. That… as usual.. is ot the case. I’ll get around to it… this weekend. For now, I’m at the studio.. and it is kinda hard to get into anything deeper than a short entry.

Between trying to dance, and finding a decent cup of coffee (not succesful on that front yet), life is quite hectic.

That, offcourse, is not nearly the whole story. The whole story is just not to be published on these pages. This diary is a strange thing. It has been many things for me these past two (three?) years, and it’s purpose is by no means fluid. The truth, quite evidently, is that I am more and more hesitant to post anything too personal in here. Why? Well, because it is my freakin’ diary, and I can do whatsoever I please with it.

My lifei is by no means simple at the moment. But for the time being, it shall be played out in real life, not as a drama out in the open. I’m not that type of person, and never have been. For those of you who care, however, I am going through a sketchy patch. Perhaps this is an understament. All I will say is that there are so many people right now that I would like to be able to call up, for some confort.

Don’t worry… I shan’t be locking myself up and playing Peral Jam while I whine. Rather, know that if you are reading this, then you are quite likely to be in my thoughts, and that your silent existance at least keeps me hopefull that things can only get better.

My life is being played out in real life. I cannot stress that enough.