Advice Needed

I love summer for many reasons, but one of them is the footwear. It's so easy to find cute sandals to wear, they're inexpensive, and all is fine and dandy. And then comes Fall (and Winter....) and you have to wear close-toed shoes. Ick. Herein is my dilemma. I need to find some cute, versatile shoes to wear. I'm a professor, so they  need to be somewhat professional, but I don't necessarily want to wear heels all the time, but I could probably use some anyways..... maybe I should just buy like 5 pairs of shoes and call it good. Haha goodness knows that I'd be just happy with that (my checkbook would highly disagree though). So.... what do you think? Type of shoe? Color? Style? I don't even have a direction right now, otherwise I'd put up options and ask. What a conundrum.....

Shoes. The reason why summer should last forever. 

Remembering

Sometimes I can be critical.... and sometimes I can be hyper-critical. This usually happens most in dance. After being a dancer for 20 years, it's a topic I am very knowledgeable about. I can recognize good and bad technique in most genres, and I can also see good and bad performance. The thing is, most of what I notice doesn't matter to the average viewer. And it's quite possible that my hyper-critical comments detract not only from the performance (which always represents a significant amount of work and dedication on the part of the artists) but also from my character. So, in a matter of mere seconds I can destroy someone's perception of a dance, their perception of me, under-value the effort of the artists, and destroy the event for myself by not simply letting myself be captured by the aesthetics. Nit-picking is not great sometimes.


I was somewhat admonished on this topic the other day. I'm glad something was said.... I don't always realize when I've gone into this hyper-critical mode. And I don't want to excuse the fact that I'm guilt of this: I am. What probably doesn't come across when I comment on dance is that I would critique myself just as harshly. But really, going to a dance performance is something I love because I can abandon myself to the beauty. I had a hard time this last show letting go of the analysand in me and simply appreciating. 


I love dance. It enchants me. I am far from perfect in my dancing. I have never been the best, and I've always known that. I only wish I could dance in my mortal body the way my soul dances. I think what I'm realizing right now is that I've lost some of the soul in my dancing and in my viewing of dance. That is a tragedy, but thankfully one that can be amended. 


So tonight, I am amending that... or at least beginning to. When I first came to BYU I was inspired by dance, awed by it; I didn't know any of the performers personally yet and hadn't learned so much as to make me so "expert" in the genres. In my first weeks here I watched World of Dance, a yearly dance production where all the performing groups showcase their talents. Thank you BYUTV for having this (2004) performance online! I have been moved almost to tears (partly in sadness at my arrogance, but mostly from the beauty of the dances). 


Thanks for the admonishment. In all my learning and knowledge acquisition of late, I have forgotten to be inspired. Life should inspire and awe us.... and I hope that I might remember this more from now on. 

I am empowered; I Trust

• I am wearing my new sexy jeans and my cute fitted top and my favorite, most comfortable wedges-- making me a veritable giantess. I am empowered.
• My hair looks great and my makeup does too. I am empowered.
• I am a BYU professor, a graduate student, an employee, a dancer, a girlfriend. I am empowered.
• I cleaned my room, did some laundry, vacuumed the floor, worked on my class, finished a test. I am empowered.
• I practiced my tap dance and helped come up with two AMAZING steps. I also learned a new, tricky step. I am empowered. 

 

• I have a wonderful boyfriend who digs me. I trust.
• I have a supportive family who loves me. I trust.
• I have a Heavenly Father who loves me and wants me to be happy and successful. I trust. 
• The future is bright and beautiful, and it is bigger than the moment I live in-- it's all about perspective. I trust.

New Background

So, I used to have the nicest blog background, a perfect complement of purple and orange. But... I'm pretty sure I'm the only one that sees it! It shows up on my laptop, but never my work computer. And... well I never bothered to see if anyone else could see it. But I figured most of you were seeing white, so I have found a new background. It's been several months, maybe even almost a year? since my last blog revamp. Hope you like this new one! We'll see if it has staying power.

Spiritual Thought for Today

“Do you want capability, safety, and security in dating and romance, in married life and eternity? Be a true disciple of Jesus. Be a genuine, committed, word-and-deed Latter-day Saint. Believe that your faith has everything to do with your romance, because it does. You separate dating from discipleship at your peril. Jesus Christ, the Light of the World, is the only lamp by which you can successfully see the path of love and happiness. How should I love thee? As He does, for that way ‘never faileth.’”

Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, “How Do I Love Thee?” New Era, Oct. 2003, 8.

Liz Lemon Swindle Artwork

Halo: Reach

That's a new video that came out today. Erica plays video games? No. Someone else does, and they were very much looking forward to "opening night," as it were. So here I am. I'm tired of working on class prep and I think I have enough planned for tomorrow to completely flood my poor students' minds, so it's time for a break. I'm thinking a nice foot scrub and new paint job on the toes would be nice. Somehow my feet have managed to get into horrendous shape since Turkey. I know, I figured they'd be hashed during the trip, not after. Maybe it's the dry weather and lack of humidity. Suffice it to say, I need to invest in something for these suckers. Wow, can we say I'm rambling? Well, I am. I like to hear the click click of my keys. I like my computer very much, and the keyboard has great action. It's something I notice. Probably like how I notice piano key action. I LOVE Petrof pianos. They have excellent action. I would also love to play a Bosendorfer one day. Did you know, the pianoforte was invented because Beethoven needed a more expressive instrument on which to play his compositions? Yeah, cool stuff. And Bosendorfer, in Vienna, was the company that crafted it for him. The first one was a massively grand piano, probably 10+ feet long! My dream piano is the one I met years ago... the Petrof grand piano that cost like $17k. It was beautiful and played wonderfully. I miss the piano.  Ugh, so I went and worked out today and I certainly am feeling the effects. It's not so much the good muscle pain as the, oh my lower back muscles feel strained kind of pain. I'm debating between pink toes and blue toes. I've had red for the longest while. I never used to think I could pull off red toes, because my feet tend to be red anyways; then I tried it one day and decided it wasn't all that bad! I gave myself a blister the other day with my sandals. I have a dance audition on Saturday... Clog America again! I also auditioned last week for a special tap number to be performed at the Faculty Works concert in October, so that is exciting. I was so euphoric afterwards... I guess I really do love dance :) This is getting longer and longer and more and more stream of consciousness-- less coherent as far as flow goes, and the narrative line is essentially non-existent. I mean, the narrative line makes sense to me because the thoughts, like beads on a necklace, lead logically from one topic to the next. But that mostly just works in my mind.... 


Ok. I hope you enjoyed my mental spewings. I'm pretty sure I forgot to mention something in there. I keep thinking about cheese too. I love cheese. My back is still sore. I'm going to scrub my feet (and not scrub off my blister) and feel beautiful. I sweated muy mucho during my workout today and could handle to do something beautifying. Oh, a picture! That's what I forgot. 

This seems fitting. It's the Great Salt Lake, as viewed from Saltair, but I played with it in Photoshop and turned it into a psychedelic frenzy. And now, we shall call that a conclusion. 

Lovely

It's so glorious to feel this kind of happy. 

 Ya know, the standing on top of the world, seeing everything around you...

Next to an amazing guy...

It's almost as awesome to remember how much we hiked this one day...

Oh, and in case you're more interested in the pictures than my ramblings, the first shot is from Observation Peak in Yellowstone, and the second is at the Yellowstone Grand Canyon.