Category: Special Events

Graduation Day 2012

Usually I only attend a high school graduation if there are a significant number of seniors who I know are walking. After teaching at the same high school for the past three years, my advisory class has finally grown up and walked across the stage. For some seniors, they had one of my science classes for three years in a row, thanks to my ever-changing teaching schedule.

Since I was one of the sponsor teachers, I got to wear the cool black robe, but longed for the magic wand like the teachers at Hogwarts carry! Nonetheless, I was the first teacher to arrive at the Frank Erwin center, where we held the seniors in a holding pen as if they were bulls, waiting to be released. I took advantage of moment by taking pictures with the members of my advisory class who I could find.

If I thought being in that room was a long wait, sitting through the actual ceremony was mind-numbing as different people made speech after speech.

Finally, the ceremony got to the part we’d all been waiting for, the famed walk across the stage. I was so proud as I watched my students walk and I remembered all the times I had to call home just to get them back on track. As a matter of fact, some of the most notorious students I made hug me since, whether they knew it or not, my constant monitoring of their behavior was the only reason they even passed.

It’s almost going to be a brand new student body for me since most of the students I taught this past year were seniors. Of course I don’t know which classes that I’m teaching in the next school year and I’m certainly not curious enough to return to school to find out.  I figure that getting the email with the master schedule will be good enough for me later on in the summer.

Until then, I’m going to take the advice that I gave to the graduating seniors and make the best of what’s to come.

What’s in a Name? Austin Writers Roulette

http://www.facebook.com/events/303758879712204/

Back in December 2010 when I self-published my first novel, Tribe of One, I naively thought that after seven years in the making, the book would be easily promoted through email, blog and readings. I enthusiastically bought audio equipment, talked with my friends, Monica and Gustavo, at Esquina Tango about hosting my reading debut, “Cupid’s Naughty Secrets,” and dropped off press kits at several locations around town to set up future readings.

Although I managed to arrange two other readings at other locations, the whole hustling around town and not hearing back from most places wore me down. Not only that, but the more time I spent trying to arrange readings, the less time I was working on new material and reading/researching. After my third reading event in Austin, I stopped hustling and concentrated on writing my second novel and enjoying the unstructured time of a three-month summer vacation, including making a research trip to Utila, Honduras, where most of the next novel takes place.

School began again in the fall and a lot of my time and energy went into teaching. I still wrote every day and after Christmas when I bought myself a kickass blender to make smoothies and cut down my prep time for my weekly cooking, I discovered that, for once, a time-saving device actually had saved me time. I then began my morning routine of getting myself ready for work,  then sipping my smoothie while writing before work rather than waiting until the evening.

That slight change in schedule truly made a tremendous difference. The need to eke out writing time and headspace after a full day’s activities was eliminated. More of my afterschool time could be dedicated to other pursuits, which felt more natural.

During this past spring break, I took another “stay-cation” and enjoyed a week’s worth of my life as full-time artist. One of the things on my to-do list was file my taxes. I took a deep breath and created an account with a popular on-line tax filing service.

Although I’d paid someone last year to prepare my taxes since I wished to file as a small business owner, I felt confident to do the deed myself this year. By sheer luck, I had chosen to use the “perfect” credit card for charging all my businesses expenses. That particular company made things tremendously easier by offering customers an annual spending report, which broke everything down into categories.

My very Virgo sense of organization also helped. I’d kept nearly every receipt in addition to having the charge accounted for through the credit card report. After I finished going through every tax deduction scenario, I happily saw that I’d receive a refund. I exclaimed to the heavens, “Why aren’t I a millionaire?”

Then and there, I decided to adopt a more business-minded approach to my writing. Instead of reliving the energy-draining hustle of setting up readings, I’d invest my refund in brand Mathdreads, the name of my company.

A few weeks later, the capoeira group I train with provided the first opportunity. Every year, Capoeira Evolucao has a batizado e troca de corda in order to give the first cord to the beginners and the next higher cord to the continuing students. This huge ceremony usually  involves higher cordas from other capoeira groups, including my capoeira teacher’s mestre, Rodrigo.

We raise funds for plane tickets and other accompanying costs to host the batizado. Sponsorship is just one of the ways we raise money. So when I received the email with the sponsorhip information, I immediately filled it out. I then emailed my book’s cover art so it could be added to all the promotional flyers and the official 2012 Capoeira Evolucao batizado t-shirt along with the other sponsors.

With left over refund money , I had Tribe of One t-shirts printed up just in time for the batizado. I set up a table and enjoyed watching my fellow capoeiristas spar higher-level capoeiristas to earn their corda. At the end of a spectacular batizado, a few people bought a book and a t-shirt.

Yet, I knew I could do better. After mulling things over and talking with a friend later that night who also trains capoeira, I came to the realization that in order to get where I wanted to be, I had to organize my own event. I’d no longer waste good energy chasing after venues and events. I’d no longer set up a vendor’s table at events where I wouldn’t read, perform or emcee. After discussing my intentions with two friends, one became the co-organizer and the other a performer.

The three of us knew that in a happening town such as Austin, any night we chose to have the event, we’d be in competition with other cool events going on. I felt that Sunday was the best day for me, especially for a monthly event. Then the phrase “second Sundays” popped into my head. Not only did that fit well for my personal schedule, but it was also a good time to book the capoeira studio in the evenings.

Unfortunately, “second Sunday” was a popularly used name as my co-organizer, Carmen, pointed out. We both wrestled with names and volleyed each other possible names that the other politely shot down. I thought my best one was “Mariposa Verbosa,” which Carmen thought was funny, but one problem with a Spanish event name  is that it may mislead attendees that the event would be in Spanish.

I confessed to Carmen that I had far more success naming books, poems and short stories than I did this event, primarily because the theme would change every month. As both a surrender and compromise, we settled on the name “Austin Writers Roulette.”

Now that we have an event name, we can busy ourselves with recruiting talent and advertisting. I love unleashing this creative entity just in time to fully enjoy my summer.

2012 Batizado e Troca de Corda

For most capoeira groups, the yearly batizado e troca de corda is their biggest event. A batizado is a capoeirista’s official induction or baptism into the Brazilian culture of training capoeira.  A troca de corda is a change of cords, going to the next highest one as recognition for all the training that a capoeirista as undergone to advance his/her game, including singing and playing capoeira music for the more advanced students.

The three days of workshops with guest instructors, including the day of the big event, is an intense time of high energy and anxiety. Our capoeira teacher’s teacher, Mestre Rodrigo, comes into town along with other respected capoeirista teachers who are either part of our lineage, trained with us or who invites our higher cordas to their batizado. This is all to ensure that students are given plenty of opportunity before the event to sharpen their skills and pick up at least one new movement out of the sea of new things being presented in the workshops.

This year was the first time in the three years that I’ve been a member of Capoeira Evolucao that I’ve been in town during the batizado. Due to a myriad of reasons, mostly excuses, I’ve not been motivated to train as seriously as one needs to in order to receive my next corda. As a matter of fact, I usually attend class with the attitude that I want to maintain my physical and mental health in a social setting with positive people. Not a bad ambition, actually!

Yet this year, as one of the proud sponsors of Capoeira Evolucao, I set up a table where I displayed my book, Tribe of One, along with t-shirts that had my book cover on it. As the event unfolded, many people stopped by my table, seeking batizado t-shirts–some even handed me their money and told me what size they needed!  I know in the future that we need to have all available items for sale in the same area. Although I sold some books at the very end of the batizado, I could tell that some people were a little confused that my book had nothing to do with capoeira. I’d tell them that I was a sponsor and also a capoeirista myself, which cleared up the confusion.

As fate would have it, I’d spent nearly a month and a half getting my technological act together in order to accept credit cards and everyone paid in cash! In the long run, I’m better off having the capabilities to accept both forms of payment, but a part of me is a wee bit disappointed not to play with my new business toy during our big event.

Outside of the intense training and the exhilarating  batizado, we capoeiristas had a good time just socializing. For me, that started Saturday morning for the waffles breakfast, which two capoeiristas who used to train with us hosted.

Several of the other sponsors were restaurants, which the group visited on different nights for dinner. So, I was the first one at the sponsoring restaurant after the batizado. As other people showed up, all of the instructors who tested the batizado participants, sat in a private room in the restaurant while the rest of us filled the tables on the patio, snacking on complimentary yucca fries and pão de queijo (cheese rolls). Delicious appetizers, but my hunger wasn’t fully satisfied until I finished devouring my entree: rainbow trout fillet with mashed potatoes, spinach and cream sauce.

I caught wind of some female capoeiristas’ plans to “get hoochie” for the after party, hosted by a fellow capoeirista and his roommate. I never like being the ugly stepsister; so I put on one of my favorite slinky salsa/tango dresses, pulled back my hair and took the trouble to wear jewelry and lipstick. Every now and again, I enjoy playing dress up. People hardly recognized me!

Although I swore I’d not stay out until 2 am, I lost track of time. I was highly entertained by all the batizado war stories, dancing and even a game of limbo broke out. I finally snuck out a little after 2 without making the customary round of kissing cheeks. 

Amazing enough, I still made it to my 10 am bikram yoga class. Fortunately, the room wasn’t extra hot. I felt the effects of drinking a bit more than my usual glass of red wine from the night before. At least I had the opportunity to detox…just in time for the capoeirista BBQ.

Another capoeirista and her family opened their wonderful back yard to us. The smell of BBQ hung in the air and as people arrived, we had a stream of new buffet side dishes. My “Mexican style” cornbread didn’t last too long and the yogurt parfait station that I helped set up was a big hit as well. I knew not to stuff myself because what my capoeira teacher normally barbeques the best cut of meat last–after people have eaten a lot of other food so he can take most of the good stuff home. It’s still an effective game plan since we usually come hungry.

Many capoeiristas took advantage of the opportunity to practice playing instruments and singing. Others relived exciting moments of their childhood by jumping on the trampoline and playing with hula hoops. I stuck with eating, drinking and socializing. I didn’t want to challenge my digestive system any more than overeating and sipping cachaça (Brazilian sugar cane rum) were already doing.

Well satiated, I gathered my glass casserole pan, which was full of cornbread crumbs, kissed cheeks on my way from the back yard to the kitchen to clean my pan and left.

As much as I’d indulged this weekend, the best remedy to set things right will be training capoeira on Monday. It’ll be glorious to be among all the shiny new cordas.

Setting Things in Motion

Two things that I set in motion for the upcoming batizado e troca de corda are printing up Tribe of One T-shirts and getting a credit card swiper for my smartphone. Both endeavors have had hidden challenges.

First of all, the original credit card processing company I wanted to go with would have given a percentage of the credit card processing fees to my school of choice. Of course, I immediately leapt on that. But after talking to them about how small my small business was, they suggested that I should go with a cheaper option since they would not be set up to deal with such a small business as mine until the summer. So, it’s still a possibility, but not for this upcoming event. The freaky thing is that the company is based in Texas and they were planning to approach school districts in Austin the very week that I had contacted them.

After contacting a couple of other credit card processing companies, I then focused on getting my T-shirts together. One thing that makes my book cover so beautiful is how colorful it is and that is also the challenge of getting T-shirts made. I’d have to pay for every color since there would be a different screen for each color.  I chose four main colors and since the color of the T-shirt would be will, the design would include five colors. Then I chose a different color for the web address on the back.

The first challenge was the book cover file was poor quality. That’s when I learned the difference between JPEG and PDF. Fortunately, I had a usable PDF for the bookcover that worked. The T-shirt guy just needed to edit the file to squash it to the four colors that I wanted.

I knew he was busy and that we had merely discussed things without me actually putting in an order and paying a deposit. In order to get a jump on things, I asked my unemployed graphic artist sister, Carla, to edit the file.  I talked to her about it on a Saturday, sent the file with detailed instructions to her on the following Sunday. She called me once she got it and said she’d have it ready for me on Tuesday morning.

Come Tuesday, I anxiously checked my email several times, but never received one from Carla.  During my lunch break, I called her. She spun a story about how she had to get some food together for her church since they had asked her to cater at the last minute and she also had to pick up her son from work and blah, blah, blah.  I cut through the list of excuses. I reminded her that she had 5 hours in between the present and leaving for her church meeting. Then talked her through how much time it would take her to complete the food preparation, pick up her son and finish editing the file.

 A couple of times, she told me that she could finish editing the file after she returned from church.  I repeatedly reminded her that that would be too late since I wanted to go to the print shop after school that same day, which is what I’d told her on Sunday when she agreed to have the file ready by Tuesday morning.

Part of the problem that I had to help Carla overcome was the timelessness of her existence. She’s been unemployed for so long that she’s lost the meaning of urgency.  She questioned why I couldn’t go to print shop Wednesday versus Tuesday. I told her that I had something to do after work every day of the week up until Friday. She then asked why couldn’t drop by the print shop on Friday. I explained as best as I could without giving into my temper that the difference of going three days later may result in getting my order in too late.

I then temporarily forgot that she was my sister who I loved and switched into firm teacher mode. I reminded her that she’d given me her word that the job would be completed at a certain time and that if she expected to run her own business that she would have to honor her word to people. I could hear her discomfort as I told her more things that she needed to hear.

A few hours later, I received the file and her apology for dragging her feet. I thanked her for her work and told her that she’d be so happy once I brought her T-shirt in June. After school, I raced to the print shop. 

In the meantime, the guy from one of the credit card processing companies called me to let me know that I’d been approved to receive a credit card swiper that attached to my smartphone. I was so happy that something had come through on that pursuit.  Of course, the hidden steps revealed themselves. The guy sent an email, but I couldn’t access it until we hung up.  Then once I received it, I couldn’t sign the agreement electronically by holding down my cursor key on my phone nor could the phone’s screen be used as a touch screen. Now aware of my smartphone’s limitations, I told the guy that I’d sign the document electronically once I returned home, but at that moment, I needed to rush over to the print shop.

Fortunately the print guy was in even though he wasn’t expecting me.  I downloaded the file Carla had edited.  I knew that it wasn’t good enough quality  to be used, but he said that seeing it helped him with editing the good file. I chose the type of white T-shirt I wanted, made a down payment and left with the assurance that the shirts would be ready the day before I actually wanted to pick them up.

The first thing I did when I got home was to sign the credit card agreement, using my netbook. The other hidden step in getting my credit card swiper didn’t reveal itself until this past Friday when I called three different numbers to see when the device had been sent. From what I could gather, someone had left a partial message earlier in the week, and needed to talk with me in order to send it out.

Now, I’ve got another thing to do Monday before school starts. Hopefully, whatever issue there is, can be resolved in a few minutes.  I’m also hoping that I’ll receive my device by the end of the week.

Plus, I’m picking up the T-shirts on Thursday and at some point next week, my new business credit card will have arrived. That endeavor took me three times to convince the credit card lawyers that I owned the art, which is my book cover. Now part of my book cover will be on my credit card.

I know that things are going to come together since I’m determined that they will. I also know that one day, I’m going to look back at these stressful weeks of trying to take my business to the next level while still maintaining a full-time job and laugh. For now, I’ll continue taking deep yoga breaths.

Living My Dream

So I first got the heads up that I needed to exit the teaching profession the first year I taught in Austin, TX.  That conclusion came to a shock to me since I’d never thought that I would ever need to exit the classroom until I retired.

I’d taken so much time researching where I wanted to live in the States after 8 years teaching abroad and was broadsided by the plantation-style management of public schools here in Texas. Although I attempt to be as creative as I can muster while working within an educational system that I disagree with, I didn’t become a teacher 16 years ago to fight battles with a network of people who desire to profit, literally, from the brutal, systematic standardized testing of students.

As I explored both my interests and the job market, three things became apparent to me: 1) I wanted to remain in Austin; 2) I had no desire to be in another classroom setting that was subjected to profiting off student standardized test scores; 3) I no longer wanted any asshole in my professional life who I’d refer to as a boss.

Now, nearly three years after coming to those conclusions, I’m still living in Austin, I’m still teaching in a public school setting and I’ve stepped up my game to become self-employed. In pursuit of completing my transition, I’m attending a 2-day workshop to help me flesh out some things that I’m perhaps overlooking.

So far, the 30 other participants and I have introduced ourselves one by one, including where we are now in life and where we want to be. I’ve helped a few of the participants who are also writers realize some other directions that they can go in as well as suggest capoeira to a couple of people who want to get back into shape. As a matter of fact, I’m taking a CD of capoeira music to today’s session so one of my fellow capoeiristas and I can demo a friendly game to everyone.  I think just hearing the music will be intriguing.

Yet, I’ve not landed my a-ha! moment of how to improve my pursuit of happiness beyond what I’ve already put into motion. Hopefully, today will be as entertaining as yesterday with an unexpected insight into a new direction that I can explore.

Brazilian Music Weekend

By an extraordinary mix of schedules, I spent the better part of this weekend immersed in some genre of Brazilian music.  One of my friends and fellow capoeiristas discovered that a Brazilian band was scheduled to play at one of my favorite dance venues this past Friday.  Since that was the day grades closed for the next to the last marking period, I knew I’d be in the mood to blow off some steam.

She picked me up early so we could first eat Brazilian food at a nearby restaurant only to discover that they were closed until the next week.  We regrouped at another friend’s house who was going to meet us at the restaurant and chose a different Brazilian restaurant that none of us had tried before.  What an excellent call!

I shared a platter of  grilled pork, chicken, steak and sausage that came with a bed of white rice, small pieces of cheese bread, hashbrowns, a too small ramekin of spicy red sauce and a pile of crushed bread crumbs (I guess). Of course, I washed all of that delicious food down with a caipirinha.

Well-fed, but not stuffed, we made our way to the venue just as the cumbia band had finished playing and the Brazilian band was setting up to play. Just as Brazil is a large, diverse country, so is its music scene. None of us had ever heard the band before, yet we expected to hear samba. Most of the music played sounded more like bossa nova. Nonetheless, I danced my money’s worth, including a few songs with a partner.

Neither of my friends were interested in listening to the second set played by the cumbia band, which suited me just fine since I had a relatively early morning on Saturday.

I made a special effort to attend the capoeira music class at noon on Saturday since I’d previously practiced playing two berimbau rhythms, the easiest of the two was “Angola.” The other one, “Sao Bento Pequeno,” is very similar, but I’ve not practiced playing it enough for the rhythm to be in my muscle memory. As a matter of fact, I had started playing Sao Bento Pequeno very slowly and sped up, thinking that I’d finally become comfortable with it. I burst out laughing when contramestre told me that I’d been playing Angola once I sped up. 

Since Angola was obviously the “home base,” contramestre showed us a variation to make it a richer rhythm. Toward the end of the lesson, we practiced my current nemesis, sao bento pequeno.  I’m going to get that rhythm one day!

As usual, I dashed from capoeira music class to tango lessons. On some molecular level, I think my health improves when I play and dance to music. Afterwards, I regrouped at home and then headed out again to listen to another Brazilian band that plays forro. To my ears, forro sounds like the most lively jig music that’s heavy on percussion

The usual suspects were there, including many people from last night. That’s one of the reasons I never mind going to venues by myself since, at this point, I know I’m going to bump into people I know. Even though the weather caused the band to play in an enclosed area rather than out in the open, we all crammed onto the tiny dancefloor and danced until we glistened with sweat.

Normally, I would have felt self conscious about going anywhere else besides straight home, but I intended to drop by a birthday party for the sister of another capoeirista. I thought it was going to be a teeny bopper party; so my plan was to make an appearance, wish her a happy birthday and then go home.

Apparently this young woman just looks like a teenager, but is legal age and knows many musicians since she’s a musician herself. As a matter of fact, nearly everyone at the party played some instrument and/or sang. When asked, I said that I played the “capoeira” instruments, which was as much as I’d admit to being a musician.

Yet, nearly two hours later when the other capoeiristas showed up, we put on an impromptu music roda, where I started off playing the agogo (double cow bell). Some other musicians who were not capoeiristas joined in. Who could resist playing along with a berimbau?

We carried on for nearly an hour singing different capoeira songs.  After breaking out into the second sweat of the night, I finally felt that I could go home well satisfied.

Now that I’ve revitalized my soul, I can face  the last week before standardized testing starts. I’m so glad I stocked up on energizing music.

Spring Tango Festival 2012

One of the lessons I learned two years ago was that attending dance workshop blitzes only left me feeling like a zombie, too pooped to enjoy the big dance party on Saturday night.  So, for the past two dance festivals, I just skipped all the torture and just partied at the Saturday night hoopla!

Since the spring tango festival was hosted at a dance studio 30 minutes away from where I live, I was in no danger of attending the long weekend schedule of classes. Instead, I attended the Saturday night milonga, the biggest during the entire festival and the one that featured all the instructors performing.

I surprised myself by arriving early enough to enjoy the first hour of live music, which I had not done in my previous two years of attendance. As a matter of fact, the first time I’d attended this milonga, I’d only been taking tango lessons for two months and didn’t know the three genres of music normally played at a milonga: tango, Argentine waltz (aka “vals”) and milonga.

I equate milonga to merengue since it’s a high-energy dance where you step on every beat. The first time I’d ever heard milonga music was three years ago at the spring tango festival. My partner at the time hadn’t heard of it either and we faked our way through the entire tanda of four songs. Once we sat down, we asked a mutual friend what the hell was that music we’d just danced to.  Of course she laughed at us, told us what it was, and complimented us on faking our way through it.

Thanks to our clueless beginnings, we now have a tradition of dancing one milonga tanda together. This year, however, my usual milonga dance partner was usurped by an extremely sure-footed Argentine gentleman who literally kept my booty shaking throughout the entire tanda. We danced past my usual milonga partner and he was anxious to dance with me, but admired the fact that a highly skilled dancer had beat him to asking me to dance. Nonetheless, when the next milonga tanda came up, my usual partner was still late in asking me to dance, but at least he wasn’t too late!

Even though tango has been the most challenging dance for me to learn, I’ve finally gained subtlety and gracefulness for the basic and intermediate steps. I loved how each dance partner had his own sense of expression and I could follow with my own sense of style. I still have a ways to go until I become one of the most sought after dance partners since I cannot pull off the advance moves.

Last summer, I took a break from tango lessons since I wanted to free up my schedule.  Now, I’m looking forward to dancing tango as much as possible so I can reach the next level.

2012 Capoeira Evolucao Fundraiser

For months, I’ve suspected that my capoeira group had become significantly better ever since we moved into our new studio last year. Initially, we all swelled with pride at how beautiful our training facility was: newly installed wooden floor, freshly painted walls the colors of the Brazilian flag and featuring a mural of Mestre Bimba, Mestre Pastinha and Mestre Rodrigo. Then, faced with unrestricted studio access, a variety of classes bloomed Monday through Saturday: fundamentals capoeira, all levels capoeira, kids gymnastics, adults gymnastics, roda, family fundamentals class, music class and the newest set of classes, primal fitness bootcamp, and Brazilian Beats dance class.

Such a variety of classes merely hinted at the diversity of our members, who absolutely shone during Saturday night’s performance. The show opened with one of our capoeiristas entertaining the crowd with her colorfully lit hula hoops. Not only did she keep her hoops in the air and twirling, but danced to a fast salsa song without missing a beat!

As the next capoeirista set up to spin fire, the feijoda had arrived in a promising big shiny metal pot. In addition to the black bean stew, the meal was rounded out with little biscuits, greens, white rice, ground sausage (separated from the stew for vegetarians) and oranges sliced into wedges.

Just as the food line had started in earnest, the fire spinning began.  From my perspective, I enjoyed watching people make the choice of going through the buffet while turning around to check out the fire dancer. There was definitely something tribal about eating a traditional rice and beans meal while watching a fire dancer perform.

Several capoeiristas scrupulously cleaned the floor of kerosene before two other dancers and I did our rendition of afoxe, a secular Brazilian dance whose roots can be traced to back to Yoruba religion. With the help from one our Brazilian Beats teachers, I modified a West African choreography I’d learned in college.

Accompanying us were our very own band of capoeirista musicians who had rehearsed playing both afoxe and samba in addition to our capoeira songs, which are an integral part of training capoeira. I felt exhilarated not only from the adrenaline rush of performing, but the singers and musicians had hit the mark beautifully.  Their energy fueled me to dance my best. From what I could tell, the other dancers were moved by the music as well.

As we prepared a roda to play capoeira, our emcee for the night, mentioned several things that were being offered that night, including my book, Tribe of One.  I stepped forward and took a bow when my name was mentioned. Another capoeirista had agreed to sit at the table where my book was displayed and handle sales, which was a great plan. What I wish I had known prior to this night was that I could have accepted credit card payments. My capoeira teacher would have allowed me to use his machine and would’ve written me a check for the total sales, but I only found out about that arrangement at the end of the night.

Next opportunity, I’m going to have the proper phone app in place so I can accept credit card payments. One challenge to being a self-published author is learning all I can about being a small business owner. Now that I have a daily writing habit to advance my manuscript, I need weekly “entrepreneur improvements” to advance my business.

Once our roda was complete, we stood in a semi-circle about 30 capoeiristas strong, including some guest players who joined in to support us. I felt so proud seeing how much my friends had improved. There were several fast-paced games with high flying kicks. For anyone in the audience who had previously thought of capoeira as a dance, I’m sure we changed their minds! One of my friends later told me that she’d never seen such a strong (skilled) capoeira group.

Although I love training capoeira for my mental and physical health, I rarely play outside of a performance. During this particular performance, I chose not to change into my pants because we had such a large number of people; so I clapped and sang in support. Yet, when we started samba de roda, another afoxe dancer and I opened the floor by circling the roda, holding our flowing skirts.  She brought a guy to the center of the floor to dance with her. We played our usual samba flirtation where a couple dances in the center. Throughout the song, another woman will take the woman’s place by playfully bumping her out of the way with her butt or some other diversion. Other guys will displace the guy by doing some macho diversion to dance with the woman. This goes on until the head musician who’s playing the gunga (bass) berimbau signals for the samba to end.

We had some of our audience up dancing with us before we ended. At that point, I finally had an appetite. I socialized, ate, danced a little more to the music the DJ played before packing up my things to go home. If I needed any more evidence that I’ve reached “middle-agehood,” then leaving a party before it’s over is surely it.  Oh, I can shake it like I used to, but just not as long! My bed had never slept so well.

Sunday morning, I returned to the studio for part two of our fundraising event, which was a garage sale. Although lower key in terms of energy and razzle-dazzle, many people came out to purchase the used furniture, art and “artifacts” for sale.

Now that the weather’s beautiful, I’m going out on my balcony on the weekends to paint so I can offer my book and paintings–along with credit card option!

Vatican City Prostitutes

I can truly tell that spring break is a week away, given how challenging last week was. Due to two doctors’ appointments, I took Wednesday off, but I still felt just as drained on Friday as if I’d actually worked five days.

I noticed that one of my neighboring teachers, who is new to my high school, but not the teaching profession, also looked just as drained. I asked him how things were going and he said that he couldn’t believe how things were organized at our school. He’d moved from a high school in San Antonio and just figured that since we taught in the capital, things would be much more organized.

I laughed and said the first thing that came to mind. “That’s just like expecting Vatican City not to have prostitutes!” We shared a laugh and he said he really liked my analogy.

It’s wonderful how such a small, humorous comment can make life breathable…at least long enough to finish out the remaining class period of a draining week.

I did myself a favor on my day off by going grocery shopping after my doctors’ appointments, so I could cook for the upcoming week three days earlier. That little schedule shuffling came in handy, given the fun things that I’d planned to do on the weekend. Plus, I got to munch on my delicious black olive and eggplant quiche for a couple of days before dividing it up into individual lunch containers for the upcoming week.

I had organized for three capoeira girlfriends to join me to see the latest Cirque du Soleil show, Quidam. The tickets were a little pricey, but we splurged in order to treat ourselves to a wonderful show and hang with each other.

Our evening began at my place for a little happy hour. One friend abstained from drinking for Lent, which made her the designated driver for the night. Although our happy hour was BYOB only the teetotler actually brought her own drink. Boxed red wine to the rescue!

We hit the road to the Cedar Park Center, which was an easy, entertaining 30-minute drive since we had some good conversation going the whole ride north.

Once we hit our seats, the “ringmaster” began interacting with the crowd for a few minutes. The show officially began about ten minutes later. That was such perfect timing, given that three out of four of us were mothers who had to settle childcare obligations before going out.

I’d seen another Cirque du Soleil show called Alegria about ten years ago; so seeing another Cirque du Soleil show was long overdue. Just like the other show where I remember holding my breath and fearing that someone would get hurt or drop something, I loved the show and marveled at the physical strength and flexibility of the acrobats.

One of the clowns interacted a lot with the crowd while the acrobats set up for the next breathtaking feat to shame the rest of us stiff, overweight slobs. (I should be losing weight over the next 30 days though since I’ve joined in my capoeira school’s physical challenge!)

For all the contraptions that suspended the acrobats in the air and objects juggled too high for my comfort, my favorite acrobatic part was the couple who balanced in different positions, using only the strength and flexibility of their bodies.

Afterwards, we made the mad dash into the cold, crowded parking lot. Our designated driver had the forethought to park near the end of a row so we could get out in little time. We then rode back into Austin to a sweet little hole in the wall. Another capoeirista friend had invited the group to this place in order to celebrate a birthday and just hang out and have a good time in general.

For $5 a person, we danced to Brazilian and African music and had access to an all-you-can-eat buffet.  I was initially weary about that buffet, but it was absolutely delicious, consisting of mixed vegetables, a beef dish, and a chicken dish. Everything was seasoned so beautifully, I suspect it was all laced with pork. 

I’m so happy to train with such a diverse group of people who are interested in doing various cultural things in addition to capoeira. It truly helps to make the stress and illogicalness of school a more bearable situation.

For Colored Girls

Nothing like February to bring out the Black History in the States. I used to make a point to read books written by Blacks during this time, but my life has become so complicated with schedules that I’m happy to read a little of everything in my current stack of books and magazines.  I just trust an article or two must have been written by a Black person.

Nonetheless, I especially take advantage of the events that happen to fit into my schedule such as the Black History program that took place at my school this past Thursday. There are seemingly only a handful of Black students at my high school; so I wanted the few who did attend to see that there are Black teachers at the school. Moreover, I made a point to shake hands with the school’s namesake. He didn’t remember meeting me previously, but I can forgive the only Black man who has a school named after him in my district.

I enjoyed the dancing, singing and stepping, but I was quite surprised when one of my students recited a poem from “For Color Girls Who Have Considered Suicide when the Rainbow Is Enuf.” I was planning to see that Ntozake Shange play on the following Saturday. The next day I had that student in class, I told her where “For Colored Girls” was playing and I proudly let her know that I was in one of Shange’s one-act plays although I could not remember the name of it.  I described it to her and she recalled reading about it.

As a watched the play with a friend, who had never previously heard about it, we both  related and empathized with the seven women on stage who had various challenges with their relationships with men. Although the music selection contained current songs, one thing that struck me as “dated” was the fact that none of the characters were gay.  Certainly if Ms. Shange had updated this play, one of the characters would most certainly have to be gay.

I also thought about three girlfriends and I going to an event next Saturday. Each one of us could be considered a mixture of the seven women from “For Colored Girls,” which is the power behind the piece.

The strategies that we employ to survive in order to face our adversities and deal with our vulnerabilities reflect a vital part of who we are. Sometimes, it’s so easy to watch a presenation objectively. Every now and again, a piece makes one reflect about past personal choices.

Afterwards, I went to a milonga. Normally, I would have gone home since I was in such a pensive head space, but this particular milonga was to honor a fellow tanguero who had recently past away. I had casually known him through dancing, but I never knew that he had been chronically ill. On some level, I’m sure his loved ones are relieved that he’s finally resting in peace. Yet, what an inspiration he was. Everytime I saw him, I recall that he always had a smile on his face and appeared to be happy.

Now I wonder if that happiness stemmed from knowing that his days were numbered. All of our days are numbered, but for people who are chronically ill, they know not to take anything for granted.

I find myself becoming complacent about the daily grind of trying to do “everything” and when everything is said and done, I can say that I’m mostly happy with all the choices that I’ve made in my life. I convinced myself nearly 20 years ago that the point of my life is to be happy. Even in times of brief unhappiness, I’ve always dealt with life’s struggles and found a way back to laughter and making new friends.

Several times throughout the play, the actresses talked about reaching the end of one’s rainbow. They never mentioned finding the pot of gold, yet my pot of gold would consist of being thankful for what I have, being mindful of my happiness and being creative in all my endeavors.