News in a nutshell

The last week of the quarter is upon us, and I haven’t time for a longer update. (Not that my track record this quarter has been much better than this.)

Movement
Los Angeles residents should absolutely go see J.O.B. the Hip-Hopera before it ends this Sunday. It’s a hysterically funny, impeccably acted “hip-hopera” with great music, and choreography by my dance teacher, Hassan Christopher. Ying, Stale and I went last Saturday, and we loved every minute of it. I am going again this Saturday with Margaret (and maybe Huy).

Speaking of Hassan, the World Arts and Cultures department (WAC, which is where dance classes are located at UCLA) had its end-of-quarter performance tonight, so I got to dance for an audience for the first time. It was fun. Linda was nice enough to come watch, and she took pictors!

There I am in the back row, lifting one of my classmates.

This dance class has really pushed me out of my comfort zone, constantly and unrelentingly. It has been draining and anxiety-producing, but I’ve learned a lot and shed a lot of fears and hangups along the way. I’m not really “over” them, exactly, and I’m not sure I’d take this class again, but it has been a broadening experience and I’m glad I did it.

Here I am with my teacher, Hassan, after the show.

Engorgement
And then there’s the exciting food news of this week.

Some time ago Heather mentioned to me that she lives near an egg ranch, and I told her I love fresh eggs. She said she’d bring me some. I said great, and then thought no further about how she would ever get me the eggs. Well, yesterday, she showed up and said, “I have something for you,” and handed me a bag. I looked inside and there was a carton of eggs. Oh! I love you eggs! So I carried around a dozen eggs all day on campus. It made me only a little nervous, and it was very amusing. At one point I had to ask Karen to “hold my eggs” for a minute. Half-joking, half-uneasily, she asked, “Aah… exactly what kind of eggs are you giving me?” We had dinner out, so I didn’t get the chance to try the eggs last night. This morning I overslept, then made myself late for class by cooking two of the eggs for breakfast. As Erik commented when I told him this, I have my priorities straight indeed. Academic punctuality, or fresh scrambled eggs? No competition there! And they were delicious.

Tonight, after the show, I got home to find a package waiting for me with Jackie’s handwriting on it. I opened it and carefully tucked amid bubble wrap and crumpled tissue paper, I found:

Then, I opened that and inside were COOKIES!!!

Look at how beautiful they are. I admired them and took pictures, then proceeded to eat about half the box in one sitting. Mmmm.

And now I am SOOOOOO busy before Christmas…

[This post was imported on 4/10/14 from my old blog at satsumabug.livejournal.com.]