Last night the dreamboat took me to my first ever ballet, and it was awesome and beautiful. I have always had an admiration for dancers, every since I was a child. Such grace, amazing lines and figures on ladies and gents in the dance profession. Not to mention the ability to jump 5 feet in the air without moon shoes, and the whole mind over matter up on your toes business.

If you have never been to the ballet I strongly suggest going, even if you don’t really think you’ll be into it. I found myself thinking about so many random things while I watched the men and women on the stage, some of which had nothing to do with the ballet itself and more with my future and getting where I want to be. Something about watching these dancers who have worked and practiced their whole lives to be doing this, dancing in front of hundreds of people, was quite motivating and inspiring.

Right now the SF Ballet is having their New Works Festival which runs from April 22 through May 6th, and features 10 world premiere ballet performances. We saw program A; Fusion, Within the Golden Hour, and Changes. I am no ballet critic, seeing this is my first in person ballet and I didn’t go to ballet academy, but I must say Fusion was fricken’ amazing! It was very much what I envision when I think ballet, but a little more fun and modern. It was excellent.

photograph taken by Mai Lirol Poni and used under creative commons.

A couple weeks ago I started in on my goal to learn about Communism and Socialism. To kick things off I began reading Marxism and Communism: Essential Readings, a book I picked up from an awesome place in Berkeley called Urban Ore for 25 cents!

If you live in the bay area and haven’t been to Urban Ore, it’s a place you really should visit. I think it’s the first place the dreamboat took me when we moved here (he knew about it from living in Berkeley the previous summer for an internship). He was so excited about it. It is a creative/artist/pack rat/tech geek/eco-conscious/thifters dream. This salvage yard is full of all kinds of things; clothing, records, dishes, old Macs, techie geek parts, abandoned art, books, all the National Geographics you could possibly want, old tools, beakers, dentist moulds of teeth, bath tubs, doors galore, toilets, big vintage things like ovens and pianos, lovely old suitcases, sports equipment, door knobs, awesome file cabinets, picture frames and bike racks just to name a few.

You can’t just walk into Urban Ore and go through the motions either. You have to get into full on pirate mode and plunder others and hunt for your treasures. Find the booty! Some things in our abode that we have found at Urban Ore include…

Crazy hipsteresque Pegasus Art (there was a Cancer/Crab piece done in the same style, did you pick it up? Let me know if you did!)

Various picture frames

A child’s introduction to French record

and

Some of the speakers that make up our Entertainment area.

Thrifting/2nd hand hunting is a truly fun, cheap, and great way to furnish ones abode.

Dun dun dun. It’s time for me to look back on the goals I set last month to see if I made any progress. Let’s take a gander shall we?

I actually finished 2 and ”some fraction” of them! I know that’s only almost half, seeing I set seven goals, but I’m definitely happy with the ones I did finish. What were they?

1. Drink 8 glasses of water for at least 1 month. – I felt so awesome doing this! It was a pretty big change seeing I went from drinking 1 glass of something per day to 8 glasses of water. You really don’t know what kind of benefits drinking plain ol’ water can have until you actually start getting the recommended servings per day. I was less tired, less hungry, far less irritable, and the headaches I would get everyday stopped completely. It was also fairly easy. I just made sure to fill my Sigg bottle 4 times a day and that was it. Easy peasy. I did it for 30 days, and it’s a habit I plan on trying to stick with.

2. Start the path to being a better vegetarian and eat 5 fruits/veggies a day and vitamins for at least a month. – This was a fun one because it meant spending Saturday mornings at the Alemany Farmers Market with the dreamboat. We could get a whole week worth of fruits and veggies for about 25 bucks. And it’s so nice to strike up conversations with the growers and vendors. We have talked to a woman about her clever idea of combining home made felt and soap together to create a nice little “all in one wash kit” for gardeners and artist, and to another about the love and care she puts into making her produce look amazing come market day (she had the most beautiful blood oranges, all shiny and delicious). You also get the satisfaction of knowing its all local. The fruit and veggies from the farmers market are always a lot more tasty than the ones we get at the grocers too. I could eat my fill of mandarins and blood oranges from there every day for the rest of my life.

Doing both of these goals set me on my way to making progress on (though not completing) the next goal which was…

Lose 5 pounds. – I only made it to four, but it was four with absolutely no effort on my part except for eating more fruits and veggies and drinking more water (and maybe I doubled my candy intake this month…), so I’m happy. When I set a goal to lose weight I tend to start with the easy solutions first; portion control, more fruits and veggies, getting out the house more, simple things that are easy to stick with. For the next five pounds (hopefully!) I plan on adding some weight training to my daily routine and getting out for a leisurely bike ride or stroll 3 times a week. Maybe I can start walking home with the dreamboat after work instead of taking the BART. I still have a bit to lose to get to my goal of 40 pounds lost, but I can do it. I’ve done it before.

And some other percentage. - Create a business card and actually use it – I have it all designed finally! I had to update it a little, but I dig it quite a bit. It’s very simple, a little bit fun, and not way too serious. I have postponed getting them printed because I decided to go with a green printer. The place I was going to get them printed at originally, Print100.com, had wonderful samples, but they were located in China (bad #1), coated in plastic (bad #2) and didn’t use any recycled materials or soy based inks (bad #3). I did a search for green printers in the San Francisco Bay Area and I ran across one located in Berkeley called Green Printer. While I don’t love the look of their stock as much as I did the first one (I adore the “plastic” matte look), they do produce beautiful work. I also like the fact that I can choose a card made from 100% recycled/post consumer materials, they use soy based inks, and I can just go pick them when they’re ready and I happen to be in Berkeley. They are a tad bit more expensive but that’s okay. They’re better for lady Earth. Now I just need a job so I can order them.

Okay. So last month I chose 5 goals out of the 72 goals I have left to complete by the 11th of this month, and guess what? I didn’t complete them.

I missed a couple days of push-ups/sit-ups right in the first week (we went to Providence RI, and when in Providence push ups be dammed). The weather has sucked for farmers markets; I only managed to make it to one, the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market over on the Embarcadero. I haven’t been on the computer working on the portfolio because looking at the screen for an extended amount of time has been giving me an intense headache. This is due to the fact that I need new glasses, which should arrive next Friday. As far as posting something on Craftster…you can’t post what you don’t create.

I will try to reach a new set of goals this next 30 days, including one from the old list. What’s up for this month?

1. Create a business card and actually use it – This means have them printed and carry them with me.

2. Check out 1 rockin band (indie preferably) from every state

3. Get hair (on my head) in condition

4. Drink 8 glasses of water for at least 1 month

5. Start the path to being a better vegetarian and eat 5 fruits/veggies a day and vitamins for at least a month

6. 40 pounds down (typical fucking girl) – For this one I want to lose 5 more pounds. I’ve lost 3 since the beginning of the year, so 5 more in a month shouldn’t be too hard.

And the one from last month

7. Memorize the Bill of Rights – I got the materials together to read and study, I just didn’t read or study them.

This time I shall be victorious!

A few months back I added show numbers seven and eight to the show list; the first of the two being the wonderful fellas from NYC, Interpol.

I’ve wanted to see these gents every since they fell into my lap back in 2002. It would be perfect. A show in a mid sized venue, dank and dark, with a classy bar enveloped in red and yellow light. A stage only slightly higher than the crowd, consumed by red lights, the crowd full of easy going classy ladies and gents drinking their beverages and singing along. Something with a feel much like the cover of “Turn on the Bright Lights.” That’s what I wanted, but that is definitely not what this naïve girl got.

What she did get was the most horrible venue, the most irritating show mates and the most disgusting and overpriced beer she’s ever had. The B.G. Civic Auditorium and Sierra Nevada respectfully. As the name suggest the venue was a large, gymnasium inspired, sort of place with an open floor plan and a few hundred lofted seats, where people could feel free to “rock out” while sitting down. The kind of place where people squish into half the space they previously occupied when the lights go down and get irritated when you accidentally bump them while dancing. The kind that will charge you $8 for a small cup of beer from a beer cart and expect a tip. Lame lame lame.

The show itself was awesome, though I only saw about 15% of it due to my lacking in the proper vertical height for the occasion. They played most of my favorites and as well as a few songs which have seriously grown on me since hearing them played live. The crowd was really into it and every song got loud hoots, hollers and hoorays from the crowd. Lead singer Paul Banks voice wasn’t as leg weakening as it is on the albums, of course, but it was still lovely and the band was excellent. They were all on point and looking, and hopefully playing, their best. The only thing I would have changed is the venue.

I still find myself wanting to see Interpol live whenever I listen to them. I don’t know if they just aren’t the kind of band that leaves and imprint on your mind after you’ve seen them, or if the venue just fucked it up. I’ll go see them next time they’re in SF if they aren’t playing at the Auditorium and hope to goodness it was just the venue.