One Man’s Walk through life

Andrew’s Workshop 2006 v1

I did Andrew’s Workshop again, and it was awesome.

I was a little worried that this year wouldn’t be able to match last years, but instead I felt like this year’s was so much better. There was no drama, and we came together as a gelled and stable supportive team. Thing of beauty.

Below is everyone that participated this year : Matt, Jake, Larry, Danno, me(Jeremy), Brenda, Jenna, Jesse, Angelica, Marta, Andrew, & Anna.

The classes were amazing, so much material including things like Trapeze, Tango, Breathing, Inspiration, Theater improv, Flexibility, Fundamentals, Teaching Privates, and so on. Easily several of the best classes I’ve ever taken on dance.

My class was on dancing threesomes, a class I’ve wanted to teach for a very long time. It seems to have gone over really well, and built off of things I learned all week. I structured it as a competitive game to create moves while using (and learning) some of the fundamentals of threesomes.

Good times.

We’re Back Up

That took WAY too long, but my site is back up. Give me a couple days and we’ll be fully pictureful again as well.

I’m Going to Burning Man

Six years ago, Burning Man changed my life. It’s taken me a while, but I finally feel like I’m ready to go back.

I’m a different person now than I was back then… And I’m taking Nathan with me… Good lord.

Utah Lindy Exchange 2006

Pretty cool.

Different, very different, than last year , but a whole lot of fun.

In a year Karissa has managed to attract so many people that her parents’ house was overflowing with people from Chico, San Fran, Sacramento, and Seattle this time around.

Dancing was fun, seattle girls were fun, chico kids were fun, flamboyantly gay waiters were fun, hot tubbing & blues parties were fun.

Snowball fights in sandals were fun, and from what I hear, so were strip clubs

We threw the blues party at her parents house on Sunday after the exchange. It was redlit and kickin’.

One thing to remember. Going on a roadtrip with Big Joe from Seattle is…an experience, you probably won’t soon forget. We saw the Golden Spike on the way back, and we didn’t even die.

The Allure of Denver

Soflex is my favorite exchange.

There I’ve said it publicly. It’s true, I love it, I love the people, the dancing, the socializing, everything.

So why am I sitting in a Denver airport purposely missing my flight to Soflex to go hang out with a girl?

I think this is a good thing. I think this speaks of my idealism, my optimism, the value I place in dreams and what could be. I think it is not that I have needs that control me, always distracting me, and keeping my from realizing my true future, but that I am a dreamer, and I see in this impromptu adventure, the potential for something truly magical.

I hope I’m right.

God Speaks To Us

God speaks to us as he makes us,
then walks with us silently out of the night.

These are the words we dimly hear:

You, sent out beyond your recall,
go to the limits of your longing.
Embody me.

Flare up like big flame
and make big shadows I can move in.

Let everything happen to you: beauty and terror.
Just keep going. No feeling is final.
Don't let yourself lose me.

Nearby is the country they call Life.
You will know it by its seriousness.

Take my hand.

Michelle Long’s favorite poem (copied from here)

Jeremy Without Glasses

christa : Wow, you look different. You shaved.

jeremy : And I got rid of my glasses, I had an eye operation.

christa : Yeah. You look more latin.

jeremy : Cool.

christa : And you look like my brother.

jeremy : Ok.

christa : My brother’s a dick.

christa : (walks off)

To Lie or Not to Lie

If you have a choice between telling a simple lie or the complicated truth…to a police officer or border patrol agent, go with the lie.

At least that’s what I learned tonight after being held for over an hour at the Mexican border outside of El Paso.

The reason? I told them I worked and spent most of my time in Seattle, but I have a Texas license and a permanent residence here in El Paso.

Nope, next time I’m unemployed and living in El Paso. Fucking migra.

Back from Europe

I got back from europe last Friday night. And more than ever I am feeling like I need some kind of calendar to keep track of my life and my travels. Anyway, for lack of that :
——
New York——I stopped in Manhattan on Friday night on my way back. Had dinner with Gabo and Hafiz. Caught up. I love those guys.

So many of my friends in New York have moved away or don’t live in the city anymore. Instead of spending Saturday in New York, I ended up going to Newark after going out and catching an early flight back to Seattle Saturday morning.
——
Seattle——It was so good to be back to as close a home as I have in the world right now. Funny though, when I finally got into my apartment, Jay was asleep in my bed… Turns out I’d told him he could crash along with a bunch of Portland people that weekend for a Seattle Tango Festival.

…which, was SO much fun. I’d done a lot of swing, but not much tango in Europe, and was missing it. I feel like my tango got much better over the course of the weekend. It’s starting to be really really nice. Sinking, settling into the music.

Fun

Anyway, worked the rest of the week, looks like I might be leaving Seattle soon, depends on work, I will be sad to go.
——
Houston / Austin——
Anna had my car in Houston, and as we’re not dating anymore, and as I needed it, I flew in on wednesday night to pick it up. We had a really good talk, somewhat suprisingly good talk, actually, and I took my car.

…and drove to Austin friday morning. Where I worked, and caught up with Teal and Karen and Gray. Danced a ton with all my favorite Austin follows. So little time. I left the dance at 12:30 and drove the 10 hours to El Paso (thank God for audiobooks and Harry Potter and powernaps)
——
New Mexico——
So that brings us to today. It’s Saturday morning, and I find myself writing in my blog sitting in a New Mexico forest with my back against a rock. My siblings and I and my cousin and her husband are camping for the weekend.

It’s really good to see everyone.

Next week I get to hang out in El Paso, it’s been so long since I was back here, at the place where I supposedly have my permanent residence. I think it will be a really good and restful week.

Audio Books Rock

It’s way cool to be able to read a book as you walk around a city.

I just got the complete Lord of the Rings + The Hobbit + The Silmarillion, and I’m listening to the Silmarillion. Tolkien truly fills me with wonder. And he changes my writing style, I just sent an e-mail that contained the phrases “lay in waste” and “so you see”.

It’s pretty cool.