Dance Etiquette

Duke Diva and I went to the park Saturday evening for Tango in the Park. It was Argentine Tango with some random Latin dancing thrown into the mix. Before it got started, there was a short class to give people some very basic info on how to tango.

Those not already coupled up were asked to come to the center of the pavilion so they could find other non-paired up partners. I asked the guy standing next to me if he wanted to be my partner.

He said "OK."

PK: "Well, we should move to the side so that they will not think we are still looking for partners."

AND HE WALKED OFF! To the other side of the pavilion. To find another dance partner. I cannot really verbalize how offensive this was to me. I've been called very bad names and that didn't bother me. This... this bothered me. Someone told me that they heard him say he wanted to find someone who could dance, which caused me to yell something not-safe-for-work. I know I don't look like the petite little thing he wound up dancing with but... uh... I can dance.

So, I wished him bad dance karma for breaking the social dance rules. "May you not dance the rest of the night. If you do happen to convince some girl to dance with you, may she step on your feet for 2 minutes straight."

Duke Diva pointed him out to me as the class moved on. He moved like Frankenstein.

So, as the Big Band Dances in the Park weekly free music/dance thing gets underway in June here in Nashville, here are some general social dance event rules.

1) Never decline an opportunity to dance. It is only 3 minutes. It isn't an engagement. It isn't a date. Don't think of it as such. Just let go of the puffy hearts and stars now.

Also, it is socially acceptable for either gender to ask for a dance. While it is still largely the man's responsibility, if there is a gent that you want to dance with, lady, go ask him.

2a) If you must decline an invitation to dance (say you are resting after a particularly fast cha-cha), do NOT dance that song. Keep your rear in your seat, go get something to drink, or go to the bathroom. Do not dance for the duration of that song. If you want to be really polite, offer to dance with them on a future song. "No, I'm taking a break but would you like to dance the next song?"

The only possible exception I would personally allow for this is your significant other/spouse or competitive dance partner. I'm not sure I would dance with my instructor if I declined a dance and he came up and asked me to dance.

2b) Now, if he is a bad leader (meaning you get walked into multiple people or you can't figure out what in the world he's trying to get you to do) or you need to perform constant hand checks because he is touching you inappropriately, or she is leering at you, decline all future dances with a "no, thank you." and leave it at that. If you are at a dance studio, find out who their instructor is and talk to that person. If you are the park or a random social dance event, and they get pushy as to why you won't dance with them, you can say "I don't like the way your hold me/look at me" or whatever it is.

3) Use Altoids/breath strips/mints/gum. No one wants to know you had tuna for lunch. (PK's note: I was in a group class with a guy who reeked of tuna. Every time I rotated around to him, I would barely breathe. It was AWFUL! You don't want your partner passing out because they refuse to breathe around you because you stink. That's very bad.)

4) Use perfume/aftershave. Don't swim in it but please try to smell good. At the very least, shower and use deoderant before dancing. If you have a tendancy to get really sweaty during exercise, bring a clean shirt to change into after a while. And bring a towel to wipe your hands/arms/face off.

5) Don't correct/teach/criticize on the dance floor. If they are bad, you never have to dance with them again (see 2b). If they are hurting you, gently say "that hurts!" or "you are pinching me!"

If something goes wrong, just assume it was your fault even if you know it wasn't. Say "Sorry" and move on. That is assuming that they noticed something is wrong. If they don't notice, don't bring it up.

6) Dance with many different people. That's why it's called "social" dancing. Don't dance with just the person you came with.

7) Smile and have fun!

I know it seems like a lot to remember but it is just common sense. Be polite and treat others how you would like to be treated. For the experienced dancer out there, you were a beginner once. Remember how you felt at your first social dance event - nervous and confused. Someone took the time to talk and dance with you early on so that you would get better. Have the occasional dance with someone new. It won't kill you.

For the beginner, don't be afraid to ask questions. If you see that awesome couple out on the floor and then sitting down at a table, I'm sure they would love to chat with you about dancing.

A near thesis on dance etiquette can be found here. More tips from one of the Harvard Ballroom Clubs and from Street Swing.

Gettin' His Groove Thang On

Whoever this guy is... he's bustin'a move all over the internet. I saw it linked on tribe a few days ago. It's very funny.

Admit it - you tried to moonwalk. And you tried to do that Brady Bunch dance. Or shake it like Travolta. I even do a reasonably good impression of the N'Sync dance from bye-bye-bye.

Word to your mutha.

Saying It Outloud

On the chance that my attempt at being silly comes across as hurtful, I want to revise something.

The wedding I mentioned was that of the former Miss O'Hara's and her Darling. I thought what I was saying was goofy. It was pointed out to me that it came across as though I didn't want to be there.

I wanted to be there. I was honored to be a part of their special day. It was my privilege to be there and support their union before God and their family and friends. Shoot - I was the one crying during her walk down the aisle - at rehearsal and the ceremony.

I am humbled that the former Miss O'Hara thought enough of me to ask me be a part of her wedding though we had only met in person one time.

It continues to be my privilege to lift them up in prayer every day that God will watch over them, guide her Darling as the leader of their house, strengthen their relationship together and in Christ, and that the former Miss O'Hara will continue to grow in the Proverbs 31 woman I know she is.

She is someone that I look up to, respect, and admire. There are many qualities about her I want in my own life. Knowing her and being a part of the biggest day of her life outside of the day she accepted Christ is a blessing.

The former Miss O'Hara and Darling, I truly apologize if my comments were in anyway hurtful or cast any shadow on your special and joyous day.

Easily Entertained

My dad used to say that about me.

Occasionally I like to look at my sitemeter thing-a-ma-jig to see where and how people got here. You know how google will put together random words found on your blog and you'll get hits for "clowns ice cream sex" or some such nonesense. This amuses me in the same way my kitties are amused by shiny things. It's good for about 2 minutes and then I need to move on.

Well, my latest surge in hits was courtesy of my Kenny Chesney post from a couple of weeks ago. It was linked to a fan board. They were discussing whether or not I was legit. Was it nice to say that Kenny looked rode hard and put up wet (he did. At least I didn't say he looked gay - which other bloggers have said.) And "What kind of person sees them at lunch and then runs back to blog about it? They do deserve some privacy!"

Uh... and that person making that statement would probably have bothered Kenny for his autograph while he tried to enjoy his potatos. Celebs in Nashville have it better than just about any other major city. They can go out to lunch and eat in the main room and not be bothered. Not that Jackson's has a super-secret VIP room. We don't have legions of paparazzi running around town. Unlike in LA, we don't have reports of stores shutting down just because Faith Hill wants to go clothes shopping. And as much as it drives some fans crazy when they see their favorite star out at Kroger, and they DESPERATELY want a picture/autograph, we just don't do that.

Why? Because they need their privacy. By the time I got back to my desk to blog about my Kenny Chesney sighting, I'm sure they were done eating and gone. I stand by whatever journalistic ethics I have! I didn't break the Nashville-resident code! I am innocent, I tell ya!

Home again, Home again

or "Why PK finds the Department of Homeland Security amusing."

So I have spent WAY too much time in airports over the last 3 weeks. First there was some girl's wedding that I barely know.. but she asked me to be in the wedding. I couldn't very well say no to the opportunity to buy a new dress and some fab shoes so off we went to Detroit.

Then there was belly dancing in Florida...

And more belly dancing this past weekend in Denver. Aside from Nashville, Denver has to be my favorite city.

But this isn't about that. This is about why I find airport security funny. They have this program called US-VISIT. It's slogan: Keeping America's Doors Open and Our Nation Secure. I don't know why but... I find this little slogan incredibly amusing. Particularly when my flight back home is delayed by almost 45 minutes while Homeland Security folks inspect the plane I'm supposed to be on because its point of origin was Cancun and international flights require extra stuff.

Note: this is the imagined conversation I had in my head while waiting in line to get to the detector, behind the couple that had WAY more junk than the 2 carry-on bag limit. They had to use 6, 8, or 14 of those gray bins. I lost count. They had at LEAST 6 bags and then were carrying a bunch of stuff on hangers - some big ugly purple/white 'fur' pimp coat. Eww. Whose bright idea was it to buy that thing? It made me wish I was wearing my GoFugYourself "I hate what you are wearing" t-shirt.

"What's in your bag?"
"Stuff."
"What kind of stuff?"
"Notebooks, water bottle, jewerly, pens."
"Is there anything that would stick me if I were to reach down there."
"The large silver hair pins. The earrings. The big tribal bracelet has some sharp edges, too."
*concerned look from screener because I certainly don't look like the kind of girl that would wear spikey jewelry*
*awkward silence*
"Are we done? Can I go now?"
*silence*
*sighs*
*pokes through bag, minding the sharp objects. Hands bag back.*
"Have a nice day."

But this conversation didn't happen. Not the other day. It did on the way back from Detroit when I had to warn the screener about the earrings.
"OH! I have a necklace just like that!" said the screener.
And then it almost collapsed into a discussion of jewelry instead of looking for bombs and stuff. Doesn't *that* make you feel all safe and secure at our nation's aiports?

At least they were nice.

Just to have some fun, what should the motto of Homeland Security be?

Gastronomical Gateway

Yep, PK is traveling again; so it's Elena's turn to "woman" the helm. So...here's the promised post...a little late.

Find some great dining ideas here...


Denver, CO

Mataam Fez
PK raves and raves about this great Denver eatery. Or did you mean the Boulder location, PKs?


Charleston, SC (with Duke Diva last fall)

Tommy Condon's
The Irish pub we lunched at on a cloudy day... Yummy sandwiches!

Bocci's Italian Restaurant
In a city where seafood is king, you can also get some fine Italian food. This lovely place, facing Church Street, combines elegance and simplicity, dignity and warmth. It's like a Sunday lunch at an Italian grandma's house, that got a little gussied up for dinner. Enjoy the coastal breezes from the French door openings.

Hyman's Seafood Company
Eating at Hyman's is an experience and an event. Be prepared to wait in line. But trust me, the food is worth the wait. Yes, you can go in your cutesy-pootsy wear, but if you must wear jean shorts, those are fine too. Part of the fun is finding out what famous persons once sat at your table. I think Timothy Dalton sat at a table near ours, when he was filming Scarlett (the sequel to Gone with the Wind). *sigh*

Jestine's Kitchen
Hoo, boy! You ain't eaten in Chahlestuhn, till you done eat at Jestine's! (There's a tidbit o' Gullah thrown in there for ya.)


Detroit, MI

La Shish
This Detroit-area chain of restaurants boasts some of the best hommous PK has ever eaten. I agree with her.


Nashville, TN

Cibo
Fresh ingredients and tasty combos make this little place on Church Street a favorite lunch destination for downtown Nashville workers.

House of Kabob
Chicken should always taste this good.

Parisa's (Search for it here.)
The Persian restaurant every foodie must try. Delightful atmosphere as well as delicious dishes.

Germantown Café
Review
Trendy meets casual dining. You can go there in khakis or your favorite little black dress. (Please, no dungarees—this is a NICE restaurant.) It is the place that made me change my mind about eating pork... pork tenderloin can actually be an elegant dish. (No more dry, season-salt-dredged pork chops for me!)

Krispy Kreme
Review
Beware the Hot! sign... it's like the song of the sirens, calling us all to the doom of our healthy eating plans. If you can resist making the trek a daily one and can keep your donut dining to a once-in-a-blue-moon treat, then your treat outta be a ring of KK yeasty goodness. If you're gonna leap off the wagon, you might as well go for the good stuff (not the mediocre stuff).


Enjoy your gastronomic adventures!

Next time... Meat 'n' Threes and Greasy Spoons :)

NO!!!!!

Ben Affleck rumored to play Kirk in new Star Trek movie

OK... I know. It is actually kind of funny to think about it. Ben Affleck [who needs acting lessons (see Team America for the song)] would play Capt. Kirk, originally played by William Shatner... who can't act his way out of a paper sack.

What would be said over the Star Trek franchise in Sick Bay? "It's dead, Jim."

I want Firefly back.

Ohhh. That would be funny. A scene between dueling Capt. Kirk's - one by Shatner and the other by Affleck. Wasn't there an episode with 2 Kirks and they had to fight each other? That seems to happen alot on Star Trek.

On the Road Again...

I was on the road this past weekend. I went to an undisclosed location in Florida for a bellydance thing-a-ma-gig. Lots of dancing. Lots of drumming. Lots of feeling like the geek trying to figure out a way to sit at the cool kids table. Add that to the dance geek moments... "OH WOW! That's so-n-so! Sitting at the next table!!! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!" or "I'm in a class taught by so-n-so!" - /end internal monologue. And lots of good times to be had by all...

And lots of pit hair.

*gags* *shudders* *twitches* *gags again*

On women.

Not just the "I haven't shaved in a few days" kind of hair. NO! I'm talking full-on, fully grown, "I'm making some sort of granola-crunchy/feminist statement about beauty" arm pit hair. I know that shaving is a recent development in the human schemes of things but... ick. It completely distracted me from one performance for about the first minute. And this other lady... I looked at her and she just exudes a wonderfully soft feminine quality that I would love to have in my life (I can be a little.. uh.. hard and blunt). So lovely, graceful, and sweet. And then she lifted up her arms and there's all that hair. *twitch*

And the hairy legs. The umpteen piercings didn't bother me. The tattoos? Nope. But pit and leg hair? You bet ya.

Truthfully, I'm just way too preppy for the tribal crowd. I'm not all that granola crunchy. I like red meat. I like my car. I was fighting the urge to channel Eric Cartman and go on a hippie hunting rampage. It would have been like shooting fish in a barrel.

UPDATE 5/2/06: Funny, how I found this article on the history of shaving our pits and legs via fark.com just this morning.

Elena at the Helm

PK is out of town for the weekend, so y'all will just have to be content with lil' ol' me. *grin*

Since travels seem to be the theme for PK right now, I figure it would be great to honor her with some linkies to favorite destinations my best gal pal and I have discovered in our many adventures. Food, culture, shopping, and more...

Part 1: Gastronomical Gateway...to be published tomorrow morning

Something Just for Me

Do or do not. There is no try.

~ Yoda. The Empire Strikes Back.

Today's Celebrity Sighting

brought to you courtesy of Jackson's Bistro in Hillsboro Village.

Kenny Chesney, who looked like he had been rode hard and put up wet.
Unidentified blond woman with a scraggly braid... wearing flannel. Her back was to me.

They were at the next table. No, I don't have photographic evidence. I left my cameraphone at my desk. Besides, despite the CityPaper's photographer making a living off snapping pics of Keith Urban and Nicole Kidman, Nashville is still a place where a celeb can eat his grilled chicken something or other with squash in peace.

BEHOLD!

The power of Rhapsody!

So it isn't iTunes... I don't have an iPod so it would be rather pointless to pay for iTunes, I think. I do get my weekly dose of South Park from iTunes, though.

Rhapsody, however... does work with my mp3 player... the device I can't leave home without. I think I should attach it to my keys. Maybe not. I am notorious about mis-placing my keys. But, if my mp3 player were attached, then I wouldn't lose my keys.

How did I live before you, little SanDisk player? How dull my life was before I had Pentaphobe, Amr Diab, Shakira, Peter Cincotti, Hakim, Alabina, and Big Bad Voodoo Daddy with me - all the time?

Now, with Rhapsody, I can search for oodles of dance music... buy just the track I want off that CD. I don't need the entire thing. Only one song on there is good for west coast swing. It makes me so happy. I don't think I will be getting up from this chair for about 3 weeks. Heh.

Birthday Blog Wishes

NashvilleIsTalking is one-year old today.

It is one of my regular reads. Without the NIT blogroll or the Mr. Roboto sponsored blog gatherings (which are a sort of by-product of the very first blog meeting sponsored by WKRN), there are a number of blogs I would never have found and people I never would have met.

Happy Birthday, NIT. Congrats to Brittney on her one-year anniversary in her job. It is harder than it looks.

Return from Motown

Elena and I travelled to Detroit for the wedding of Miss O'Hara and her Dearest (or whatever name she gave him. She kept changing it). It was a lovely affair, full of style, grace and a presence that only the lovely and talented Miss O'Hara could have pulled off - with the help of yours truly.

Observations:

1) Michigan is very... flat.

2) When you tell people that you met the bride via a blog and that you've only met face to face twice before... "and you are a maid of honor?!" must be the standard response.
"Yeah. It's very cool the way people can connect and get to know each other. I'm thrilled to be here and meet her family and friends..." was PK's response. Smiling. Always smiling.

3) Maybe that post on BDSM wasn't such a good idea knowing that many of these people know who I am because of her blog. Maybe they didn't read it. Thank God no one said anything about it.

4) I think I found a place with drivers worse than those in Nashville. I never thought I would find that place. That place is Detroit.

5) I am SO GLAD to be at home... in my bed... with my pillows... My bedroom looks like a closet exploded since I just opened up my suitcase and dumped everything on the floor but... whatever.

6) Just because I'm from Nashville doesn't mean I know how to line dance. We very much made up the "Save a Horse, Ride a Cowboy" dance that everyone joined in on. That's ok. You know why? Everyone had fun and THAT is the important thing.

7) Miss O'Hara and her Dearest were so cute dancing! They asked me for a critique and joked that I was laughing at them when they messed up. As I said to them "You had fun. You looked great. Who cares what I think? It is your day!" Though I did offer Miss O'Hara some advice in the middle of the waltz with her father. Heh. :)

8) I caught my heel on the dress as I took my first step down the aisle. I must have looked like a deer stuck in headlights as I was sure I was going to fall down. For all the walking I do in heels, it was rather embarressing.

9) People must not run around barefoot up there. After the ceremony was over and the pictures behind us, I took off my very painful shoes that no one could see anyway because of the dress. Every now and then, people saw my bare feet. My nails were done. There were no scabs or anything. I didn't go outside and play in the wet grass. Why was this a problem?

10) Spring just arrived in Detroit. When we got there Thursday, most everything was kind of brown and dead. 2 days of rain and when we drive back to the airport on Sunday, everything was green.

Things I wish I read earlier...

Kat's fisking of the Scene over the Bill Hobbs story. Spot on, dear. That's why you are one of my favorite peoples.

If I had, I wouldn't have picked up a copy of the Scene when I was at lunch.

I doubt my little statement will have any effect on anyone else's choosing to read either publication... but it is just about me.

The Biggest Compliment....

Last night I was at the studio for a marathon dance lesson. We are working on a West Coast Swing choreography and needed to really practice it. I think I've got it now. Just have to work on making my feet faster.

But before I go into the rest of the story, here's a bit of background. On Saturday nights and Sunday afternoons, I go to the studio of the social dances. If a song comes on that I can belly dance to and am not otherwise occupied on the floor, I will run off into the corner or behind one of the posts and dance to it. I try to get out of the way of traffic but generally I wind up in full view of everyone.. there just isn't any place to hide, ya know. This past Saturday, they played "Rich Girl" by Gwen Stefani. It has a samba rhythm, and it happens to be a song I use for my belly dance practice.

So I took the choreography Linda and I have been working on and adapted it for that song. It worked out reasonably well and I had fun. That’s what matters.

David Hamilton (one of the owners… a 3-time US National Champion!) comes up in the middle of my lesson and says “Todd, I need to talk to you about your student.”

I’m thinking ‘uh-oh… what happened? I didn’t hit anyone in the parking lot. Have I violated some code-of-conduct I didn’t know about?!’ I started to get a little nervous.

“OK. What about?”

“She was so CUTE on Saturday night. What was it that I played, PK, a samba?”

“Yes. It was a samba…” now I know what he’s talking about.

“She just walked over there by the double doors and did her thing. Dancing all by her self. She didn’t care who was watching. It was great. I loved it!”

Now I’m turning 14 different shades of pink and red. So they may offer a belly dance class after all. Hee. We’ll see.

Random Question...

How many of those little plastic bar code things, like the Kroger Plus card, do you have on your key chain?

I have 5: Kroger Plus card, Harris Teeter VIC card, Metro Library card, DSW frequent shopper card (uh.. hello? shoes?), and the Pet Smart shopper card.

Everything is Fair Game....

Or nothing is. - paraphrase of Kyle of South Park- "Cartoon Wars".

I will revise the quote once I watch it again, but I have something to say about this episode. Aside from being uproariously funny (that fight that we've been waiting for years between Kyle and Cartman and the way Family Guy is written - brilliant!), Trey Parker makes the most salient point of his career.

Either you make fun of everyone - or you make fun of no one. We can't bow to pressure or the threat of violence if the First Amendment is something that you believe is a right. Actually, this isn't even about the First Amendment - it is about hypocrisy. Make fun of Christians, Jews, Scientologists all you want, but don’t make fun of the Muslims. Is it because they are attempting to be respectful or is it out of fear?

For the longest time, I didn’t watch South Park. I thought it was juvenile, base, crude, and something I shouldn’t put into my little brain. Not exactly the good and noble things Paul tells Christians to meditate on, ya know? Finally, I watched one episode. I laughed so hard, I cried. I don’t watch South Park for the spiritual encouragement. I watch it because it’s funny and one of the most libertarian leaning shows on the air. There should be no sacred cows. Everything should be fair game for satire. We take ourselves far too seriously.

I remember when I saw the episode several seasons ago where Cartman forms a Christian rock group to get a platinum album before Kyle.

Kyle: “You don’t know anything about Christianity!”

Cartman: “I know enough to exploit it.”

How many of us have felt that some of the Christian acts on the radio might not be Christians at all… that they only started making Christian music because they wanted a record deal and perhaps aren’t quite talented enough to make it onto mainstream radio?

I saw a brief clip on Fox with a Christian pastor who was furious that Jesus was shown defecating on President Bush and the American flag (the Muslim retaliation for showing Mohammed on Family Guy). My thought? Get over yourself. If you can’t take a little heat from a secular cartoon show, how on Earth can you intellectually defend Christianity to a non-believer?

Stand up for our faith. Yes. What South Park did was in bad taste…. Almost everything they do is in bad taste. That’s why I’m not all up in arms about it. They are equal opportunity offenders.

Since it now known that Comedy Central censored the South Park episode this week, what are they going to do about the older episode called "Super Best Friends" where Jesus, Mohammed, Buddah, Moses and other religious figures team up to stop David Blaine? Are they going to ever air that episode again? If they do, will a little black box appear over Mohammed with a big red "CENSORED" tag?

Dear Dance Bag,

Please come home. I don't know where you are... but I need you to come home. Or if you are at home, make your presence known. Shoes.. if you are mad because I've been cavorting with another pair - get over yourselves.

Dance notebook - PLEASE come back! It's like I've lost my right arm! I've been taking notes in my non-ballroom book and.. *sigh* it just isn't the same. We've been working together for almost 9 months. I thought I was treating you well.

Come home soon,

PK

Real Player is wacked.

I put in Millennium by Amir Sofi (if the artist's name didn't give it away - it's a CD full of belly dance music).

Real Player asks me if I want to save.
Clicks "yes."
Real Player pops up with suggested album titles....
Millennium by Amir Sofi

or...

Linkin Park

Because Drum Solos sound SO much like Somewhere I Belong.

On Being Fat

Kat, Aunt B, and Winston have been talking about being fat - the struggles, the issues, the realities of it all.

As you all may recall, I have been on a weight loss program (and am now almost at the -50 lbs mark. So you all have some reference - that's a 6 year old.) Over the last few weeks as the constantly monitoring my calories wore on me, I stopped and ate what I wanted to, when I wanted to for about 2 weeks. I wanted chips? I had chips. I wanted the bean and cheese burrito at SATCO? I had two. McDonald's hamburger here I come! Pizza Perfect, you were next. The chocolate chocolate biscotti left over from the morning meeting? Mmmmmmmmmm....

I gained a 1/2 lb. To you that may not seem like much. It might have been more if I weren't walking/dancing/using the elliptical machine so very often. To me, it was a smack upside the head. It said "PK, to get where you want to be, you are going to have to treat this seriously. Elena has to monitor her blood sugar every day and take insulin. She will have to do that every day for the rest of her life. You are going to have to treat your weight like Elena treats her diabetes."

So, I went back to the food journal. Counting the calories. Adding everything up. And when I went for my weigh in last week, I lost 5 lbs for the month of March. The relief washed over me like a wave. I did it. I fell off. I got back on the wagon.

People have been noticing.

**My belly dance teacher: "You look amazing! I can really see the difference. Just be aware that as you lose the weight, you will have to re-learn some of this stuff because your center of gravity will change."

**Other instructors at the dance studio: "I can really tell that you have lost weight. You look great. Do you feel better?" (But not the one who sees me every week. Hrmph. But he may be trying to be polite - one never ever discusses a woman's weight unless she brings it up.. but he did say he loved the new practice skirt I've been wearing. Miss O'Hara found it for me online. I didn't think it would fit because it's almost a non-XL size but - yes! It fit!)

**My boss: "Your complexion is so much better."

**My former boss: "You look great!" "Thanks." "No thank you. I get to look at you!" She even sent me an encouraging note when she saw me walking around the campus the other day.

Friday, I took a look at this picture from October, shortly before I started this program but still down 15 lbs from my heaviest. I became physically ill. I felt a churning in my stomach like I was going to throw up. Elena sent me a very encouraging email that helped me to re-gain perspective. The last time I weighed what I weigh today was when I was a freshman in high school. That was 15 years ago. Half my life ago.

I agree with Kat and Aunt B - people offer suggestions thinking they are trying to help. Or the snide remarks will somehow shame us into better habits. How often do you tell a smoker that what they will doing could ultimately kill them? Do you think the smoker isn't fully aware of that? It's right there on the side of the pack.

There isn't a warning on the side of the Big Mac box "WARNING: This hamburger is full of fat and cholesterol. In 20 years, you may die of a heart attack. Don't eat this. Eat carrots instead." Or some such non-sense. But I'm pretty sure we all know that a fried hamburger isn't as good for you as a salad. Honestly, do we need a label to tell us that? Though some study released this week said that people don't know they are obese. So they may not call themselves obese. They probably know they are overweight. I am in the extreme obese category. Do you think I actually *want* to know that? No. But do I know that? Yeah - I see it every time I look in the mirror. I don't need my Dr. or a government sign politely informing me.

For the record - the fried hamburger probably tastes better than the salad.

One of the things I'm worried about as I lose the weight is that I will become a weight-loss nazi. You know those people that whatever change they have made in their life (yoga, quitting smoking, running, dance -- yeah, I'm one of those people!), they become convinced that you should make it, too.

I pray that I don't because being a libertarian, I believe everyone has the right to choose whatever personal behaviors they want to... just don't go asking me to support it - morally or financially. You have to be willing to accept the personal responsibility for your actions. If that means you die from fatty arteries, lung cancer, reckless driving, or dehydration... whatever - that was your choice. The minute your personal choices start affecting me - we have a problem. I don't want to pay for anti-smoking ads or "eat 5 a day" commercials in just the same way I don't want to pay for studies that analyze the emissions from cows or the Department of Education. It isn't (shouldn't be) a function of government. See? Everything is the fault of the government. ;) Heh.

Back to the story at hand.... reaching this point and what I read on the blogs this morning caused me to think about why I was making these changes.

- Health. Both of my parents died before they were 60 from largely preventable causes. I'm not done - I don't think God has called me home yet. So if I don't want to leave prematurely, there are changes I need to make.

Elena put this in a very poetic way (as only the Poetess could do):

Just think of it as shedding physically all the stuff that you've been shedding spiritually, mentally, and emotionally! AND God had long ago set you free from your body being a prison, and now you're living out that reality. Your body is becoming a temple indeed. Your stewardship of it is improving and improving. And no longer will you be seeing your size as what you yourself and other people use to define you.

Some of you might be concerned that I will be/am a slave to food journals and calories. Believe me, I thought of that too. But... to expound on what Elena said - why would I want to trade one prison for another? I know what I should be eating. I know how many calories are in my lunch when I pack it. I don't write every blipping thing down anymore. If I watch my snacks - particularly at work and when I get home from dance - it's all good. I don't feel enslaved by it. More than anything, I'm incredibly annoyed (as I told my nutritionist) but... it is a part of my life. If I want to get to point B, I have to walk the road. One day at a time.

- Emotional well-being. Plain and simple: I'm tired of being fat. I've been fat my entire life. I know the odds are against me, but, I've never felt better in my entire life. I'm healthier and happier than I've ever been. I don't want to lose that.

- Appearance. I won't lie about it. I want to look better in my clothes. Though right now, I look like I'm hiding in a tent in some of my shirts that are 2 sizes too big and I hate - HATE - everything that is out for this Spring. Which is it: being in clothes that are too big for me or clothes that fit but I dislike?

Several weeks ago, I went into Charlotte Russe for the first time. I never went in there because I knew they wouldn't have anything that fit me. They had this little red halter dress in the window. Every time I did my walking at the mall, I would see it. I would stop and drool. It would scream "PK! You need me for salsa dancing!!!" For a month, I would walk by this dress, whimper and keep going. Finally, I went in. They had it in a large. Ohh.. it's stretchy... in a few more months, it might fit. It's $20!!!!! OH YEAH - you are coming home with me!

I get home, hang it on my closet door and stare at it. Well... let me see how much more I need to lose before it fits. I pull it on.. and it goes on. All the way on. Now, it doesn't look good and I wouldn't wear it out right now... but by the end of the summer? You bet baby. I am wearing that dress out. I jumped up and down. WHOO-HOO! I am wearing a LARGE!!!!! Not an XL. Not an XXL. Not a 1X. A LARGE! Hot ****! Talk about your positive reinforcement.

That chocolate biscotti can't hold a candle to this red dress. I need to remember that the next time they bring that tray of goodies down.

I don't know where else I was going but... there ya go.

C.S.A - The Review

Now that it isn't playing in Nashville and that I've had the opportunity to really think about the movie, here's what I thought:

As a movie, it was good. As the director said in his talk while in Nashville, it could very easily have gone way overboard on satire and not been effective in challenging people to consider the continuing issue of race in America.

My questions for Kevin didn't really gel in my mind until the very end (when the Q&A portion was over, of course)—Wasn't all of this the fault of government intrusion into the personal lives of individuals? When does it become the responsibility of the state to make moral decisions? Should they be making moral decisions? Can a state even make moral decisions?

You say that we shouldn't be trying to impose our culture on other countries [this came out in a question about what was going on with American policy in the Middle East and how that paralleled with the film and its 'Tropical Empire' plans the Confederacy had] but as Vox Day pointed out over a week ago, where are those complaining that the British were wrong in ending the practice of widow burning in India?

You say the end of slavery was good but in the same breath say that we shouldn't 'export democracy' or our way of thinking/life to other countries and cultures. Should we not export the Western value that ALL types of slavery is bad? There seems to be a serious problem with sexual slavery across the globe. People might say that is a human value but you can't say since not all humans have the same values. Ted Bundy didn't value the lives of young women the same way, oh.. Mother Teresa did.

You are right in saying that when a prime field hand was worth the equivalent of a luxury car. When the government attempted to take individuals luxury cars, there was going to be a fight. Unfortunately, that is not the case anymore. There is no fight. By sucking the taxes out before we get our pay checks, people don't think about it. That money was never theres. Yes it was. You earned it. It should be yours.

(Side rant: I love DC's comment that the IRS is like the mafia.. except that the mafia tells you how much you owe them up front. The IRS gives you forms, makes you fill it out and if you do it wrong, they will beat you up. People who think that they still own their property ought to not pay their property tax... see how long they own their property then.)

Other things that I took away from the screening: a room full of white guilt mixed with the anger of black people. One woman admitted that after seeing the movie that for the first time she wanted to beat up some white folk. Several white folks got up and stated that they felt guilty for what happened. I was probably one of the few people in the room completely indifferent to the whole white guilt tidal wave.

I didn't do anything to cause slavery, Jim Crow laws, or the like. Therefore, I have no reason to be or feel guilty over something that happened in the past. The only thing I can control is my attitude and response - now.

Also, as a Christian, guilt and shame can become tools of the enemy to trap us and hold us down. How many people do you know that are held hostage by guilt over something?

Don't mistake this for being cavalier about it. I'm not. Yes, there are racial issues that need to be addressed.

I applaud the director for also saying that liberals are just as much at fault for covering everything up with politically correct language that the lingering hurts, pain, continuing discrimination cannot be openly and honestly dealt with.

You know...

I was going to say something, but I forgot what it was.

PK's Rules of Sidewalk Etiquette

When you and your party are walking in a horizontal line, thereby using the entire sidewalk, the person(s) walking into oncoming traffic should move to either the front or back of your little group before I knock their butt down because you are in my way.

I do not have to move off the sidewalk to accomodate your conversation about... whatever it was you were talking about.

Hope your shoulder is OK. Mine is still a little sore. But... you should have moved.

Question for my fellow libertarians

Why is it that in debates about social policy, we come off sounding like callous, un-caring folks that 'don't care about the poor'? Is there a way that we can structure what we say and the message of "the government may be here but it isn't here to help" in speaking of helping the poor and less blessed in society?

Or has American society just gone too far in to the sense of entitlement that the libertarian message of self-reliance (as well as you help your neighbor voluntarily) will forever be lost?

Birthday Wishes

Y'all share the love - it's Miss O'Hara's birthday!

It's all about the expression

Uh... yeah... she makes me want to buy this dress:



It's like a zombie prom night thing.

Going to great lengths....

for a toy. A little boy wriggled into a toy machine because he wanted one. And he wanted it now!

I wonder if that was any easier than those stupid crane things that never work but you keep sticking the dollars in anyway because the pink elephant is just too cute. And if you finally get it, you realize it wasn't worth $20.

Do you think those things are rigged to give you the toy after you spend a certain amount of money? It's like a carnival game with even worse odds.

Anyway, here's the toy machine spelunker's picture:


Next bill before your local legislature: banning of toy vending machines. They are awful and represent a real danger to children everywhere. Because government has fixed everything else. A bill on that would rank right up there next to the road kill bill in my opinion.

A purr to Elena for emailing the article.. and for explaining the picture to me because I didn't read the email and only looked at the picture. Duh.

How not to handle a lady on the dance floor

Sundays at the studio are geared more toward newer dancers. I'm OK with that. There is a core group of people who I hang out with, and everybody dances with everyone else. Skill level isn't really that important.

We were all beginners at one point.

However...

Just because you are a beginner, Mr. "I'm New to Dance," doesn't mean that you can ignore proper dance frame.

Rule 1: Do NOT grab anywhere near my breasts or the sides of my breasts. Your hand goes on my back—at the shoulder blade. You are not my husband or my doctor—you do not have permission to touch me there.

Rule 2: Leading a lady down the line of the dance doesn't mean acting like a bulldozer and shoving her across the floor. Social dance isn't the Indy 500!

I actually stopped one guy (who was attempting to count the beat and was totally missing) and said, "No! Stop. Listen to the beat. You are counting too fast. It's a waltz. Listen for the strong downbeat. That's 1. 1, 2, 3. 1, 2, 3." He nearly knocked me over because he was almost literally running down the dance floor. I'm not sure what his hurry was.

Then Mr. Cha-Cha guy... A cross-body lead does not entail whipping me across the room and dislocating my shoulder, sir. I've seen you there at the studio before. You know better than that.

A Quote for the Professor...

"I agonized over whether or not to take Morocco's workshops, and in the end I decided not to. Well, it wasn't exactly a decision per se. In a word, I chickened out. Morocco is the grand dame of American belly dancing, the final authority on all things undulating, and the Commander-in-Chief of the Ethnic Police. As Aunt Rocky, she rules the belly dance listserv with an iron mouse. I have seen list members shredded—shredded, I tell you—by Aunty Rocky's rapier tongue and inexhaustible knowledge of Oriental dance (she detests the B-word) ... Morocco makes my blood run cold with terror. I can't imagine subjecting my stupid hands and sloppy hips to her critique. ... as I only know her as this mythic figure, Aunt Rocky, dancing since the Mesozoic era, keeper of all records danse orientale."
—Anne Thomas Soffee, Snake Hips: Belly Dancing and How I Found True Love. Pp.170, 175.

By the way, Morocco now has a blog. Her one post of length (it is new) is about how militant Islam threatens music and dance in the Middle East. It is actually a pretty good article and commentary.

I Wish I Were in Dixie

Hoorah! Hoorah! Maybe.. not really. I dunno.

I went to the Belcourt last night for the special presentation of C.S.A. Kevin Wilmott, the director of the film was there.

I was going to tell you what I thought about it but the Belcourt has it in a extended engagement through Sunday (it was supposed to leave yestersday). Next Monday, I will post my thoughts about it and we can go from there.

I don't want to completely spoil it until you have the chance to see it.

The Power of Positive Thinking

On my way to lunch yesterday, I was pondering the new choreography from my belly dance lesson. It was the material from the Bozenka workshop I sat in on. I made it through the warm-up and then my body said "No - go sit. We are finished."

So, Linda and I were working on the choreography. I think I need to start giving myself more credit as a dancer. I told her I wanted to try the watered-down version first. 10 minutes in she said "We aren't watering this down very much. Forget it. You are doing the real thing." Layering and all. It isn't particularly difficult - but making it look really good will take time and practice. It will happen. I am looking forward to adapting it to other pieces of music (and showing my ballroom instructor, who I still think doesn't really have a clue as to my belly dancing abilty. Yes, he knows but... ah well. Maybe it is just a nagging something-or-other.)

Back to the story. I was going over the choreography in my mind. "Left-shimmy. Right-shimmy. Left-shimmy. Turn... Three-step-turn quick quick... you thought I was going to do that hip swivle fast but no!" Well, you get the idea. I don't know if thinking about this made me walk differently or carry myself differently. I moved over to the far right of the sidewalk because there was someone walking much faster than me coming up from behind. I don't walk very fast. I have short legs and.. well.. why hurry? The destination will still be there when I eventually get there.

As the person moved beside me, I saw that it was a tall man. He turned and smiled and said "hello." I smiled and said "hello" and thought "WOW - he's very handsome. Who is he? Must be a professor.. should I know who he is? I wish I knew who he is."

So, this got me to thinking, does what I think about while I am randomly walking around affect my carriage... my aura (for lack of a better word)? If thinking about dance garnered that kind of reaction what if I were thinking other things....

Or it could be he was just being polite.

Maybe there is something to those quizzes

Via Katherine

In a Past Life...

You Were: A Greasy Belly Dancer. Where You Lived: Peru. How You Died: The Plague.

Who Were You In a Past Life?

That one hit just a little too close to home... Heh.

South Park Kills Chef

Proof that the South Park Studios can crank out an episode in less than 2 weeks and have it be very funny, they killed Chef last night. Chef ran off to join the Super Adventure Club and came back brainwashed.

That fruity little club did it. You bastards!

They even parodied themselves and the Scientology episode to do it. Brilliant. Absolutely brilliant.

The episode will be available for download from iTunes in about a week (according to the South Park Studios website.)

Update: I forgot that they spoof the end of Episode III with Chef Vader rising from the Super Adventure Club lab.

Best.Fug.Ever.

I am a loyal reader of the Go Fug Yourself site. I wish I was as funny as those girls. I mean - they are funny. But when you get pictures like this, the job is made much easier.

If it wouldn't scare students, I think I would make it a permanent homepage or desktop or something.

Caption Contest - Presidential Edition

PKs entry: W imitating his father being imitated by Dana Carvey - "Not gonna do it. Wouldn't be prudent."

And yours?

PK and Elena discuss interior decorating

Partially edited for hilarity

PK: What do you think of this chair? I think it is a good contrast to the couch, which will look something like this one when I've had it re-covered. The curve of the chair will go with the curve of the gossip bench and with the end tables. The couch is a bit on the 1940s side of mod. And the end tables and chair are on the modern-day-inspired-by-mod side... mixed with SHAG artwork and a shag rug... and a blonde wood dresser... it's going to be a funky space. ……….. Or am I trying to talk myself into this?

Elena: It looks like a chocolate cube and Strong Mad mated and had one HUGE baby. It doesn't grab me. But it might be nice to sit in. I could feel like a sweet cherry filling!

PK: Oh that's funny. But at least it isn't a log. Hmm… Well, the chair does come in a couple of other colors. And like the dishes—I didn't like them online but loved them in person—I need to get to a store and sit in it...and then wait for it to go on sale if I like it.

Elena: I dunno. I think the chair would look like it's pissed at the couch and the couch, like it doesn't give a whup. And the gossip bench is all like, "Aren't I cute? OK, everybody, party games!!!" And the shag carpeting, like it's a total gigolo. ;o) ….. I still don't really like the chair. But it's your living room. And I would still enjoy sitting in it, I'm sure. :o) *ting!*

PK: LOL!!!!! OK OK! I'll keep looking for a chair.

Tell Him to Leave It ALONE!

Because George Lucas needs more money...

Star Wars TV series in the works

Ugh. You know... after the release of Episode III, I distinctly remember Lucas saying he was ready to move on to other projects. So, he went back to Indiana Jones. The guy hasn't had an original idea in nearly 30 years.

I hope it is on cable because I won't have it and he won't have the chance to ruin the whole series again for me. The Clone Wars animated series was good—because he was barely involved in it. Much like Empire was the best of the original series because he had less of a role in its production.

F*** the IRS

That's all I have to say about that.

Osmosis

When I was in school, I would fall asleep on my books, usually by accident. However, I never wore them as fashion statements.

Eww.

Hat.. heh tip to Miss O'Hara.

To the guy walking down 4th Ave S yesterday afternoon

A belt would hold up your pants much better than your method. Walking down the street, clutching your manhood through your jeans just isn't very attractive.

Dude. That looked uncomfortable. How long did you walk like that? Are you trying to impress the lady-friend (who was no fashion plate herself) walking with you? Did someone tell you that if you ever took your hand off your member that someone would steal it? If so, you need to get over that.

They Killed Chef!

WorldNetDaily: Isaac Hayes quits 'South Park' after spoof on Scientologists

That was one of the funniest episodes ever. Right after "Die, Hippie, Die."

Stan: "Dad! Tom Cruise won't come out of the closet!"

Stan: And best of all, I wrote that all the Scientologists should no longer have to pay money to belong.
President of Scientology: What?
Stan: I realized that to really be a church, we can’t charge people for help.
President of Scientology: What, are you stupid? Then how do we make money from those people?
Stan: Well, it’s not about the money, but it’s about the message, right?
President of Scientology: Wait a minute, whoa! Whoa! You don’t actually believe this crap! Do you? Dummy! Brain washed alien souls? E-meter and thetan levels? Those people out there buy that crap. But I thought you were smart enough to see what’s really going on!
Stan: But you said that there was...
President of Scientology: What's better telling people a stupid story and having them believe you? Having them pay you for it, stupid!

Tom Cruise: I'll sue you! I'll sue you in England!

I'm with Matt and Trey on this one. Social commentary and satire needs to be on everyone to be truly effective.

With the lovely and talented Miss O'Hara

With the ever-fabulous Pink Kitty!
Originally uploaded by Zach's Dame.

She's faster than me. She has the pics of the wedding shower up on her flickr stream.

I have some that I will eventually get around to uploading. Heh. Enjoy.

By the way, my card garnered the most laughs. It was this little dog wearing one of those little collars they put on them after they get fixed. The inside said "Anyone else feel like a martini?"

Heh. I may be absurd, but you will always get good presents from me.

There are some things I just should stop reading

Now that I'm back at a computer, I've spent a fair amount of time catching up on blogs and tribe.net and the news.

First, news is way overrated. For Lent, I gave up cable TV. Aside from a little bit of the History Channel, Headline News, and one episode of "Law and Order: SVU," I've just not been watching cable. I won't be taking it with me when I move next month, so now is good practice.

My life has continued on as normal without the knowledge that Paris Hilton's 15 minutes of fame are over. Uh... but who would we make fun of? And I'm sure there were some other important news stories that I've missed, but I just can't seem to find a reason to care. Something about a child abuse conviction... and a dead girl in an alley. Meh. I am going back inside my bubble.

Second, there was this discussion at Vox's about nice guys. After I fought the urge to go disinfect myself because I just felt icky... this is the only thing that I found be worthy of sharing:

It is not ok to abuse the weak...

Oh baloney, since when, VQ? It's so much fun, it should be a sport.

All you gay guys who want to call yourselves 'misogynists' just make me sick. Shame on you all.

There is no more perfect creature that walks the earth than woman, and judging them by your own failings just makes you small.

Nurture them. Love them. Take them to your sides as if they were your rib. Don't take any crap. Figure out how to be a man, and be one.

Dammit.

Buncha frakkin whiners...
Bane

There was just so much hatin' going on in that thread. It is almost enough to make a girl like myself swear off men in general and just live with my cats. Do these "misogynists" think about how they sound to the sane single girls out there? I'm sure these particular guys probably don't care. I see the complaints they have about feminists and the ultra-modern woman. And yes, some of them are valid. But when these complainers start painting with large brush strokes that all American women are this way or that way... *sigh* Why should I care?

Unrelated, my ficus bonzai, Spike, had a major growth spurt while I was gone. Geez. I trimmed him 3 weeks ago. I am going to have to give him another haircut.

Things will be even more quiet...

I am leaving town in the morning and won't be back to a computer until Tuesday.

MWWAAHHHAHAHAHAHAHA.

Sorry.

I'm going to chill out with lovely and talented Miss O'Hara for the weekend.

What you missed by not coming to the studio on Sunday

My first ever live in front of people belly dance performance.

Totally unplanned. Completely improvised.

And I didn't fall down and apparently it looked relatively good judging by the applause and questions I got afterwards.

They played the English remake of a Turkish pop song (I know both versions really well). Duke Diva said "PK, you gotta dance to that."

"Yes, I do." And I ripped off my ballroom shoes and proceeded to dance over 3 and a half minutes that about halfway through became really surreal. It was very much an out-of-body experience. Duke Diva told me people were staring from all over the ball room.. these teenagers were peeking around the columns to see what I was doing. Hee.

Then I spent the next half hour coughing because I hadn't properly warmed back up to dance a song that fast. Ahh... allergies.

Shimmy Break!!!!!

Everyone run to the nearest bathroom and shimmy!

Or shimmy in your seats. Whatever.

Attacking Flickr

I posted a bunch-o-stuff on flickr today. Here's one of them: with Sharon Kihara at the Belly Dance Superstars show 2 weeks ago. We talked about Nashville and the weight of all the jewelry and stuff tribal dancers wear. She is just a very sweet person. And an amazing amazing dancer to boot.

And another... there are more than just cats and belly dancers. I posted pics from Charleston and Tango Nashville, too:

Is the local media going to mention this?

Libertarian Best-Selling Author, Harry Browne, Dies

He lived in Franklin, you know.

I met him once. He was a very nice man. Extremely well-spoken and slick... like most politicians. But at least he wanted to get rid of intrusive government.

Note: I'm not intending to bash the local folks... but since he did live here, it would be nice if they mentioned him. I could go all conspiracy theory on ya and complain about the fact they ignore libertarians.

Bored at Work

The subject matter [re-districting and stuff] was extremely technical, and near the end of the argument Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg dozed in her chair. Justices David Souter and Samuel Alito, who flank the 72-year-old, looked at her but did not give her a nudge.

I don't fault her. When I worked at the ice rink, I fell asleep at the front desk one morning. It was quiet. There weren't many people there. I just went straight to sleep. Some kid kept whispering "ma'am" to wake me up.

However, me falling asleep at the ice rink doesn't quite have the same professional impact as a Supreme Court Justice nodding off in the middle of arguements.

High Court Tackles Political Boundry Case - Yahoo! News

And they call white people racist...

The Redhead and I were on our way to lunch the other day. We crossed Belcourt on our way to Sam's. When we started across the street, traffic prevented this large white vehicle from turning left. As we got about 3/4 of the way across, said vehicle made a sharp left turn to squeeze between a gap in the traffic flow.

The black woman driving it yelled something. I didn't hear her. The Redhead said "And they call white people racist."

"What did she say?"

"Get your cracker a$$es out the way."

"I can't say ni**er without the fury of the NAACP and other assorted individuals coming down on me? Oh that's fair. You call me a cracker, and I have full rights to use ni**er. It is a good thing I didn't hear her."

The general concensus among my friends is that the woman was very much blessed that I didn't hear her. My brother's reaction was "Yeah... because I'd be bailing your cracker a$$ out of jail right now. Or visiting you in the hospital." Duke Diva said something similar - where she thought I might have called her every name in the book except ni**er.

Rights to use does not mean I would use it. I do believe in a certain level of civility when dealing with other humans, even though I don't particularly care for them. Society has gotten too coarse, disrespectful, and rude. I resent the fact that she would near pick a fight with me and I am not free to use the equivalent word as a response.

I don't want to hear anything about how it's different because she's a minority. It's respect, people. It's obeying the traffic laws. Pedestrians have the right of way. We weren't bothering her... other than apparently our presence on this planet.

Lent

Do you observe the Lenten season?

If so, how? Why?

Or, why not?

Do I or Don't I?

Ask that really cute guy from the dance Saturday night (assuming I see him again) out/for phone number/etc...?

I ask this because I just want to hear the yelling that will ensue from Miss O'Hara. She hasn't vented enough lately.

I'm IT!

Kat (who is one of my favorite people-EVER) tagged me. So I'm IT. Of course I am. I am the fizzle shinizzle banizzle or whatever izzle is going around these days. She thinks I won't do it but... mwwhahahahaha... I am!

What Were You Doing 10 Years Ago?

1996? I was in college. In the student senate, raising all sorts of ruckus when I proposed to veto the SGA budget because the President couldn't get it to us on time and spending the money anyway. The press loved me. I loved them. And the loved me for loving them.... Then I became President of the Senate and a year later was nearly impeached because of a miscommunication about the budget. Guess what.. the President of the Senate couldn't be impeached. Hee. They were stuck with me.

I was also in my favorite class of my college career, Judiciary and the Constitution. Spring Semester 1996 is when I became a classical liberal. A year later, I became a libertarian after working for the TN General Assembly. My paper on the Supreme Court's decisions affecting women in the workforce was published in the student academic journal. Yes, I still had some lingering feminist tendancies but at least I wasn't foaming at the mouth anymore. I did my senior seminar paper that fall on Russian Ethnic conflict.

I spent more time starting at Mr. Anderson's eyelashes than listening to anything he had to say in class. Wow... he had beautiful blue eyes. Too bad he was an atheist.

I was also working at the ice rink (talking back to customers and collecting some of the dumbest things ever said and posting it in the break room. The manager didn't like that.) And I turned 21 that year. I spent way too much time online in roleplaying games.

What Were You Doing 1 Year Ago?

Here it is.

Five Snacks You Enjoy

1) Chocolate covered pretzels
2) Apples
3) Wendy's Frosties and French Fries.. again with the sweet/salty combo
4) Chedder and Sour Cream or Kettle potato chips
5) Fried mozerella cheese sticks (and you thought because I was losing weight that I'd forgotten about those great fattening things. No!)

Five Songs To Which You Know All The Lyrics

1) Salam ya Salama by Alabina - it's in Arabic and Spanish so I can make stuff up and no one will notice, but I actually have learned a good bit of the words to that and Habibi Ya Nour El Ein (My Darling, You are the light of my eyes)
2) Happy Birthday
3) Give It to Me Good by Trixter - This popped up on yahoo launch a few days ago. All of a sudden, I was 16 again. I listened to that CD every morning while I was getting ready for school. I wore it out. Really. I had to buy a second one. I was in love with them and was going to marry the lead singer. When I met them back stage at Starwood that was the highlight of my life in high school. I still know every word to that song... even after almost 15 years. That's sad.
4) Gold Digger by Kanye West. Question: When he finds out after 18 years that the baby wasn't his, can he sue the mother for fraud?
5) Go Daddy-O by Big Bad Voodoo Daddy
(OK - that was cheating....)
6) Come live your life with me by Peter Cincotti

Five Things You Would Do If You Were A Millionaire

1) Start my own dance studio
2) Be sure I am out of debt
3) Save some
4) Travel some
5) Sponsor DC in his first poker tournament (but not one of those $10K deals. I like you but not that much.)

Five Bad Habits

1) Misplacing my check card (AmSouth hates me)
2) Biting my nails
3) Leaving the back door unlocked
4) Blogging at work (eh. I'm honest, at least)
5) Speeding

Five Things You Like Doing

1) Dancing
2) Talking about dance
3) Spotting notorious fashion violations
4) Blogging about notorious fashion violations
5) Hanging with my peeps

Five Things You Would Never Wear Again

1) Frosted anything
2) Snarky buttons (I had a jean jacket in middle school that I covered in buttons. I was often late to class because I got stopped in the hall way when people wanted to read them.)
3) Chunky rubber sole/heeled shoes. They make my feet look 2x's bigger than they are. I can't believe I ever thought they looked good.
4) Tapered leg pants. How to make your butt look bigger than it really is? Wear tapered leg pants. NEVER wear tapered pants. Straight or boot cut. Wide leg is on its way out and if it isn't done right, you look like a freak.
5) My favorite khaki pants. They are now 2 sizes too big. Hee!

Five Favorite Toys

1) My mp3 player (Sansa)
2) My Sig (but I don't treat it like a toy.)
3) My Smith and Wesson (the cats) and any of their feathers on sticks
4) My massive collection of hip scarves (the sequined ones are my current favorite. Some of the coin scarves are so heavy they fall right off. I need to velcro them to my hips.)
5) My still in the box Darth Vader

Five people who will not likely do this but you are tagging them anyway

Elena, Miss O'Hara, Digital Cowboy, Res Ispa (now that you are blogging, you are going to do all those stupid quizzes and stuff.. heh), and Erik. I would tag Ashley the Blue Raider but none of us knows where her blog is... or if she has one.

Junk Mail

I got a packet yesterday from the "Citizens United for the Bush Agenda" organization.

The letter said "Dear Friend of President Bush."

I threw it out after I stopped laughing. It took about 5 minutes. Whew. He's never been my friend. I voted for him because, at the time, I found him less detestable than John Kerry.

I won't make that mistake again.

Overheard on Campus

Sometimes, even I don't know what to say about the stuff I hear.

Location: Near dorm parking lot

Guy 1: So how did it go?
Guy 2: Awesome. We f*ed for a solid hour. My sheets are a mess. I am making her wash them tonight.

At the Ryman

This past Sunday was my second trip to the Ryman. I'm ashamed to say that I've lived in Nashville for 30 years and only went to the Ryman for a concert for the first time last December.

I repent! I shall go to the Church of Country Music more often! But they do play more than country there (and we are all glad for that).

But I was there for the country music - the MuzikMafia show to benefit the Country Music Hall of Fame with Gretchen Wilson and Big and Rich.

Show Review:

Gretchen is very confident in her ability to sing because she came out and sang the first song acapella... and without a mic. That also speaks to the acoustics of the building because once everyone shut up, you could hear her clear as bell. That rocked.

Big and Rich's show was a circus... but what else would you expect? I loved it. And the little girl down front who got John Rich's guitar became the envy of everyone the building. I saw her during intermission and she wouldn't it let go. Can't say that I blame her.

Special guest artists: Tom T. Hall and Randy Owen (of Alabama). Randy and Gretchen did a duet that was beautiful. I could listen to him sing all day long.

Fashion Review:

For crying out loud... must I be subjected to horrific fashion everywhere? I guess so. That night was particularly bad. I saw a real mullet. I mean the "business in the front/party in the back" mullet. Talking about a Billy Ray Cyrus circa 1990 mullet. On a girl.

Lesbian biker chic. Eww. She was also wearing a t-shirt where the sleeves had been ripped off so it was like a muscle tee. Double Eww.

A blue jean shirt with lace on the shoulders. That is so very 1980's Reba.

Three words: frosted Mom jeans

Two more words: frosted hair. Did I just land in a time warp that sent me back to 1987?

Those that were trying to look hip and chic were trying way too hard. One lady tried to look like Anna Wintour, Editor in Chief of Vogue magazine.

The worst one the night (as if the mullet wasn't bad enough) was this girl wearing a denim mini skirt (with lace on the hem) and halter top... in 15 degree weather. Oh! It gets better! She was wearing sparkly flip flops! Chick! It's 15 f-ing degrees outside! Put some clothes on!

Hello. My name is Pink Kitty...

And I have a disease. It's called perfectionism.

I achieve something and it is never good enough. I cannot rest. I receive a compliment and then feel obligated to push one or two notches higher so that I will continue to receive compliments. It isn't that I doubt the sincerity of the compliment giver... I just want more. I want to be sure that they continue to give me compliments.

I would never hold anyone else to my standard because there is no way they could meet it. In fact, I can't meet my standard because it is ever-changing. Always pushing higher.

I find a new activity and throw myself in head first.. wanting to know everything about it NOW. This causes me to burn out on activities I really enjoy because I've tried to master it too quickly. Too much information far too soon. I don't allow time for the information to sink into my brain.

I get frustrated when I don't get something right the first time. I think too much and mess myself up. (I said this in my dance lesson the other night. My instructor said "You're right. Let's take it really slowly. Stop thinking about it. Just do the steps.)

I'm overly competitive. As Elena said to me "there is no such thing as a friendly game with you" because even if I throw the score card out, I will still keep track of the score in my head. My dance instructor and I were talking about the possibility of my entering some dance competitions later in the year. I looked at him and said "I will win. I won't settle for anything less." I think it un-nerved him to see that part of me come out because for the most part I've been pretty laid back about learning and being there to have a good time.

I am alot better than I used to be. When I was in college, I couldn't let anything go. EVERYTHING was a competition. I had to be perfect at everything I did.

I achieve a goal and look back and think "I could have done this and this and this better." I am never satisified, never good enough. The amount of pressure I apply to myself is insane. My nutritionist has been particularly vocal on this point. "PK, you met the calorie goal. So what if you were over these couple of days. You are still doing great! Don't be so hard on yourself." Even on the weeks where it is perfect, I look over the journals and go "I shouldn't have eaten that.." or "I could have walked a little further that day."

There are those who would find my drive for perfection good.. that it is a part of the American way of operating. Always pushing for the next big thing. In some circles, it would probably be admired.

It is a sickness. It is unhealthy. I don't know how to rest. I don't know how to stop.

Workshop Report

When one spends, uh... 6 hours over the course of weekend in a bellydance workshop...

the glutes REALLY start to hurt.

And we won't even talk about my shoulders.

My knee didn't start hurting until Sunday night when I smacked it on the pew at the Ryman because Mr. 6' tall wouldn't move so I could get back to my seat after I went to the bathroom. OK, I know the space between rows is very narrow but would have killed you to swing your legs out of the way so I don't have to step over and straddle your lap? Is this something your significant other, who is sitting right there!, approves of? Thank goodness I wasn't wearing a skirt.

Reasons to Love Homestar Runner

Reason #1: It's funny.
Reason #2: Strong Bad has an outrageous accent
Reason #3: It isn't every day you get to see gummy bears in milk.
Reason #4: Lady-ing
Reason #5: Trogdor! Trogdor!!
Reason #6: Cheerleader, So and So, What's her face... The Ugly One! Soooooooo goooooooooood...!!
Reason #7: "Virus = Very Yes"
Reason #8: "On a scale from 1 to Awesome, I am Super Great!"
Reason #9: "The critics agree! "A triumph!" "A cinematic breakfast snack of some kind!" "It {very slight pause} sure was a movie!" {quickly} Now playing in select cities. {rapidly, in the manner of a disclaimer} This Strong Bad Email has been rated P for The Poopsmith and a graphic scene of The Paper."
Reason #10: The Bellydance Superstars love the Web site!

List largely courtesy of Elena. Links added by me. For all things Homestar, visit the wiki. That's wiki, not wookie.

To Digital Cowboy:

Do you still love me, fat bird toy?

Assessing Ashcroft

As I previously stated, former Attorney General John Ashcroft was on campus last night. Newton, I apologize for not getting back to you regarding the ticket. Ashley the Blue Raider went with me.

She wanted to take a picture of the one protester outside Ingram Hall. No one could read her sign because it was dark and written with a sharpie marker. Kudos to her for standing up for her beliefs.

Ashley took notes. Maybe she will post them on her myspace blog. If you do - link it here, Ashes. I should have live-blogged it but my lap top is not working. So on to the lecture...

1) John Ashcroft is a funny man. I mean it. He has a very personable, likeable style and presentation that made it enjoyable to listen to.. even if you don't really like him.

2) No hecklers veto - bonus!

3) The hippies in front of me kept saying "he's not answering the question." Well, just because he's not answering it the way you want him to doesn't mean he isn't answering the question.

4) Best moment of the night - Ashcroft delivers the smack down on a smug student who thought she was morally superior when she asked her question about what he thought of other countries using the death penalty such as China, North Korea, Iran, Iraq, Yemen.... [applause from the anti-death penalty crowd.]

Ashcroft (rough paraphrase): Well at least they got something right. Just because they also have the death penalty doesn't mean we apply it the same way they do. We take great care in the applying the death penalty. The standard for seeking it is very high, very stringent. It isn't applied to everything. We don't make a spectacle out of the executions or put them in the public square as some of the countries you listed do. It isn't morally equivalent because of the different standards set up by each country. China also has running water. Should we get rid of that, too?

I saw a video from Afghanistan while still under Taliban rule. During a soccer match, the moral police rolled in and stopped the game to conduct a series of executions. One woman had been accused of adultery. Her husband and his family forgave her, hoping to spare her life (in accordance with Islamic law). She was still shot in the head. That is the equivalent to the state putting Tim McVeigh to death? Not quite. Now, should the US have the death penalty in general is a better question and one that should be considered carefully.

5) Religion Professor asking about Ashcroft's justification of the death penalty in light of Jesus letting the adulteress go "Let he who is without sin, cast the first stone." First, the professor kept paraphrasing Scripture 'in the spirit of' or some such statement. Ashcroft kept telling him to quote it exactly. He finally did. Ashcroft ultimate responded with a passage from Romans about the Sword of God. The professor said "The Romans didn't execute with the sword. They used the stone and the cross" and sat down to applause from the anti-death penalty crowd.

My problem with the whole exchange was that the Professor didn't acknowledge that the woman brought before Jesus was a part of a trap. If Jesus had pronounced a sentence, they would have gone to the Roman authorities since it was Rome who made the life/death decisions. That is why the Pharisees couldn't execute Jesus - they had to take him to Pilate for the actual act.

In all likelihood, this woman was pulled from her bed - not actually caught in the act of adultery as they said she was and prescribed by law. But the community knew about it and ignored it till this point. If it was in the actual act, where was the man? They are both to be punished (in this case stoned) according to Jewish law.

Jesus was pointing out the lie in their own story.. in addition to telling all of us to act with mercy and compassion. Jesus acknowledged the woman's sins and forgave them. I don't believe that Jesus was advocating a position that we just forget/forgive/let pass criminal activity.

The follow-up comment by an audience member to this discussion was that we were showing so much compassion for the guilty but where was the compassion for the victim and their family? They would never see their loved one again. Where is the justice for them? This doesn't mean that all victim's relatives are blood thirsty but if you just let the guy go, where is the justice?

6) Ashcroft asked the question: say you take a scout troop to the local prison to meet the warden and talk about crime and punishment (hoping to scare the youth straight). The warden has a pistol. An escapee breaks in and shoots the warden. He then turns his gun on the scouts. How long do you wait before picking up the warden's gun to shoot the escapee? He said that he has friends who would never pick up the gun and that he can respect that belief.

As for me: if those close to me or I am threatened, I shoot first.

Update: I thought of more stuff he talked about.

7) State Attorney General Paul Summers was there. He didn't say anything though.

8) He stated that - at the Federal level - one is more likely to get the death penalty if you are white than Hispanic or Black. There are multiple reviews along the way and checks in the process. The Federal government provides for 2 attorneys for the accused. He said there were those arguing that more women should get the death penalty because over 90% of those who received the death penalty were men, that they should be proporinate to the population. [OK...] He thought that was just stupid because most of the crimes that merit the death penalty are committed by men.

Update #2: Here's the article in the Vanderbilt paper about it with some good quotes.

Recycling

From this week's Nashville Scene sex issue: Bondage Unmasked.

They talked about this before... in 1999.

Yes, this is a part of my deep dark past. About the same time, I spent time off and on at the dungeon described in the 1999 article. Didn't participate, however. It has been said that I would make a great professional dominatrix. That would mean I have to get over my utter distaste for submissive males. And... I just can't do that. Even if it meant making $100 an hour. Blech.

I may still have it but I have a draft of a post on the psychology of the submissive buried somewhere based off of Vox Day's random discussion of the Gor novels by John Norman a few months back. I may post it if I still have it.

Bet you didn't see that coming, huh? Heh.

Happy Birthday to the Blog

The Scratching Post is 3 years old today.

So very ancient.

In 3 years, I've attempted to cover politics, fashion, pop culture, Survivor and other reality TV shows, and the random crap I hear on the street.

Thanks for reading, y'all. I know there are many many places to hang out online. I'm thrilled that you spend part of your day here.

Your "Chicken Little" Report

Get ready, Nashville! The sky’s gonna fall...

My mom said this in an e-mail just now: “I have had the TV on local stations this morning, and one might get the idea that snow was the great earthquake of the century. The stations are breaking in on programming, scrolls ongoing. Better make sure that I have igloo-making supplies!”

And bread, milk, and eggs. Yes, all good Nashvillians know that you must rush out pronto and purchase these items as soon as the dreaded four-letter S-word raises its ugly head in a weather broadcast. Because nothin’ says lovin’ like French toast when you’re holed up in the house against the 2-inch snow accumulation…

I wonder if the local reporters will report live from the snow showers. “Yes, Demetria, I just talked to a snowflake, and the snow is apologizing for being a couple of hours late. They promise to show up right on Bill-Hall time the next go-round.”

Don't Be Modest

Elena sparked this post but it isn't her fault. We were doing one of the things we do best recently - shopping - and she said something about a shirt she liked and wearing it over another piece to make it more modest. I think I agreed with her because the scoop on the neckline was a little low to wear to the work-place but other than that, it was a cute top.

Now, before everyone has a heffer, I am not saying women should dress like skanky ho's. I don't need to see anybody's naughty bits... or a hint of their naughty bits. You have them. I have them. We all know this. Cover them up, please. And for crying out loud - it is WAY too cold for that short of a skirt.

What I am saying is that the word "modest" and attaching it to clothing makes me cringe. There is a whole modest-dressing movement that seems to wear turtle-necks and ankle-length skirts like a badge of honor. I've poked at them before (ladiesagainstfeminism.com is a personal favorite of mine when I need a good laugh - prarie rats.. er.. muffins.. of the future! Let's all dress up like Laura Engels! That will be so cool!).

Modest doesn't equal frumpy in just the same way fashionable doesn't equal almost naked.

Not... all... that... bright...

On my way to lunch yesterday, I happened across a group of students watching one of the campus hawks having lunch. Well, still killing his lunch - a big, fat squirrel.

This young lady was throwing rocks at the hawk because "the squirrel is still alive!"

PK wanted to say (but was sooooooooooo close to saying but didn't for fear of someone figuring out that I work in that building just down the way):

"What? Do you think pelting him with rocks is going to make him give up his meat eating ways and go vegan? That he will stop hunting and shop at Wild Oats instead? Have you stopped watching Style long enough to see what happens on the Discovery Channel? It is called the food chain, dear. Hawks and other birds of prey do us a favor by killing disease carrying rodents like rats and squirrels. Yes. Squirrels are rodents - they just have better outfits. If you don't like watching nature happen, keep walking."

Happy Baby!!!!

Erik of Emunda and SpunkyPunkyGirl just had their first baby, a son, last Thursday!

Yay! Congratulations and God bless!

The Super (Boring) Bowl

Phone coversation last night:

Elena: I can't believe I beat you to getting a post-game analysis up! You didn't even have a draft of something.
PK: Yeah. I was going to write something about how we came up with all this blog-worthy stuff during the game but didn't write it down so now I've forgotten it. But I decided that I wouldn't do that, because that's just cheesy.

This morning:

Call me Cheesy McCheese.

Really. The game didn't get good until sometime in the 3rd quarter. I was sitting there looking at my cookbooks, trying to decide which ones I was going to bring with me when I moved. And the commercials really weren't that good. I know---we probably expect too much. But dang, y'all!! Jessica Simpson singing her crappy-turd version of "These Boots Were Made for Walking" re-made into "These Bites Were Made for Poppin'" has permanently damaged my ears. I should sue.

Bueller? Didn't someone get the memo over there at Pizza Hut that the Dukes of Hazzard movie sucked? That doing something as a faux tie-in well after the movie bombed at the theater and came out on DVD is... well... you know... uh... so 5 minutes ago? Bueller? You're late.

We snacked. We viewed. I blogged it.

The Super Bowl adventures of PK, Duke Diva, and Elena found here

People should not be afraid of their governments....

Governments should be afraid of their people. - V for Vendetta (trailer from the Super Bowl).

It makes me all warm and fuzzy.

Announcement! One Ticket Available

Former Attorney General John Ashcroft will be speaking at VU on Feb. 13 (that's a Monday evening). The topis is the Death Penalty.

I have another ticket. Would anyone be interested in going? If so reply here (be sure to include an email address) or send me an email.

More information is available here.

Or you can get your own starting Monday.

Funny Signs

The guys at Team Swap found a uh... interesting Subway sign and have a caption contest going on.

Heh. Good find y'all.

Elena made a funny

Office Perfumes

Best Potential Captioning Photo Ever

I think this needs little introduction.... other than to say I laughed. I cried. I blogged it.