Music Monday – Rumor Has It
Rumor Has It – Adele
postaweek2011
Music Monday – Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa
Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa – Vampire Weekend
Music Monday – Cameo Lover
Cameo Lover – Kimbra
Music Monday – Barton Hollow
Barton Hollow – The Civil Wars
Not Just a Dance Teacher
Warning: An uncharacteristic “sappy” post follows. My dance teacher of 7 years, Shirlene Gills, passed away Saturday, August 20, 2011. Ever since I learned of her death it has been on my heart to write down just what she meant to me.
In 1995, I changed dance studios to a relatively new one in my hometown. Rather than have my mom traverse 45 miles – one way – at least once a week for classes, we joined Shirlene School of Dance and never looked back. At the time I would never know what a blessing it was that she would be my teacher, nor would I realize what a positive impact she would have on my life – not only as a dancer, but as a human being as well.
Her studio was across the street from the courthouse in an old office building. The door was painted hot pink and in the window she had placed a “life-size” ballerina sculpture she had created in college from scrap metal that sat atop a record player. If it wasn’t for that sculpture, you’d never even know it was a dance studio.
Her studio was nothing fancy – the waiting room held dark green plastic patio chairs, but once you passed the half wall that separated the waiting room to the studio and watched Shirlene teach you knew something amazing would go out that hot pink door. When she wasn’t she was sitting in her vintage wheeled office chair taking choreography notes or picking out costumes, she was on the plywood studio floor dancing full out with us. Whether it was for a fair talent show, a regional dance competition, a nursing home performance or her annual recital, every piece of her choreography was special.
Shirlene was a rare talent in a small southern Arkansas town. She had studied dance under some of the greats, like José Limón and Bill Cratty, and imparted so much of her training and knowledge to small town girls who otherwise would have never been exposed. Mrs. Shirlene is the reason I know who Martha Graham and Isadora Duncan are and I credit her for my appreciation of contemporary choreography today. In any genre of choreography, Shirlene was never afraid to stretch our abilities, never afraid to think outside of the box. From ballet, tap and jazz, to hip hop and modern to liturgical, we danced it all under her guidance.
She challenged us, especially the seniors by requiring us to choreograph our own solo. It was like our dancer’s rite of passage. She was there to offer suggestions and encourage us along the way but ultimately the piece was up to us. From the style, to the music, to the costume, we owned that piece of the recital and while stressful, I think every senior who had to go through that process came out more confident and creative.
I remember my senior solo rehearsals like it was yesterday. I wanted to do a tap piece, so I rented all of the great Gregory Hines videos I could get my hands on, ultimately falling in love with the movie “TAP!”. I came in to my first “rehearsal” with Mrs. Shirlene excited about all of the steps I had seen in that movie and impatient to begin working them into my solo. The whole time, she sat by her desk to the right of the studio floor – which was covered in mountains of CDs – while sipping on her Sonic Route 44 drink, smiling and offering gentle guidance here and there. We’d listen to the music together, I’d try to fit a step in and when it didn’t work we’d start the process over again. She had more patience than anyone should be given.
No matter what, Mrs. Shirlene supported us, not only in the studio but outside of it as well. She had a vested interest in each and every one of her students. She wanted us to succeed.
And at that final “senior solo” rehearsal? She’d present a graduation gift: “Ten Stupid Things Women Do to Mess Up Their Lives” by Laura C. Schlessinger. She made me promise to read it before going off to college. It was her way of pushing us out of the studio nest and I still have that book to this day.
Mrs. Shirlene, Thank you for being such an amazing role model for all of your students. Thank you for challenging us, listening to us and molding us. I hope you know just how many lives you impacted through your dance and your character. You will always be an inspiration in my life and for that, I am forever grateful. May you rest in peace.
If you ever did a warm up with Mrs. Shirlene, chances are you danced to “Wasted Time” by The Eagles at least once. It was one of her favorite songs to use and has been in my head ever since I learned of her death. It’s only right that I end this post with that song.
(the song begins at the 1:26 mark)
Music Monday – Swim Good
Music Monday – Pumped Up Kicks
Pumped Up Kicks – Foster the People
Music Monday – Lifeline
Lifeline – Imogen Heap
Music Monday – Amy Winehouse
Music Monday is bittersweet this week.
Amy Winehouse consistently appeared my most played iTunes tracks and this weekend we lost her. She was an incredible talent and it’s terribly sad that she ended up succumbing to her demons.
In her memory, here are a few of my favorite songs from her catalog.
May she rest in peace.
In My Bed – Amy Winehouse
Tears Dry On Their Own – Amy Winehouse
Back to Black – Amy Winehouse
Music Monday – Goody Goody
I had a blog long ago [okay, not all that long ago – more like a year and a half] where I had a different “feature” or “topic” every weekday. After 2 months, it became a chore and I stopped all feature posts cold turkey. Then, as I was telling some friends at Jazzercise about a week ago about an artist I love, I had a lightbulb moment – I’ll bring back Music Mondays to the blog!
I now bring you the first installment of Music Monday: Goody Goody – Marie Adam & the Three Tons of Joy. Sit back and enjoy!!
I’ve been tagged…
A friend who shall remain nameless tagged me in a Q&A Facebook note. On Monday.
Today, I’m just getting around to posting my answers. Yes, it’s been that kind of week. I should also state my “shall remain nameless friend” is leaving for vacation tomorrow and I am insanely jealous about this. Consider this your bon voyage present.
Name: Megan
Age: 27
Birth date: June 7, 1984
Rules: Once you’ve been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 92 Truths about you. At the end, choose at least 25 people to be tagged. You have to tag the person who tagged you. If you’re reading this and you have a blog, consider yourself tagged. You’re welcome.
WHAT WAS YOUR:
- Last beverage = Sweet Leaf Organic Tea
- Last phone call = Adam, giving me advice for a grad school paper
- Last text message = Twitter alerting me @kerrijack replied to an earlier tweet of mine regarding hammers
- Last song you listened to = Goody Goody by Marie Adams & The Three Tons of Joy
HAVE YOU EVER:
- Dated someone twice = Nope
- Kissed someone & regretted it = Not at all
- Lost someone special = Unfortunately, yes.
- Been depressed = Clinically? no, but I’ve definitely had a few “blah days”
- Been drunk and threw up = Honestly? Never.
LIST THREE FAVORITE COLORS: (In order)
- Razorback Red
- Turquoise
- Gray
LAST YEAR (2010)
Have you EVER:
- Made a new friend = Yep! She tagged me in this note.
- Fallen out of love = Nope!!
- Laughed until you cried = Of course! Best tears ever!
- Met someone who changed you? = I’m marrying him 🙂
- Found out who your true friends were = Oh yes.
- Found out someone was talking about you = Yep.
- Kissed anyone on your FB friend’s list = I’m marrying him 🙂
GENERAL:
- How many people on your FB friends list do you know in real life = I know all of them in real life, but only about a quarter do I regularly have the opportunity to get together with in my day to day life.
- Do you have any pets = That live with me – no. But I have 2 adorable dogs that live at my parents’ home.
- Do you want to change your name = Come October 15th I ‘ll have to…
- What did you do for your last birthday = It was very low-key. I had dinner with my parents and then dinner with Adam.
- What time did you wake up today = 7:00
- What were you doing at midnight last night = Watching episode 3 of Dallas while trying to fall asleep
- Name something you CANNOT wait for = My wedding day and subsequent Napa Valley honeymoon
- Last time you saw your Mother = Yesterday
- What is one thing you would change about your life = Not a thing!
- What are you listening to right now = Strawberry Swing by Frank Ocean
- Have you ever talked to a person named Tom? = yep, used to work with one.
- What’s getting on your nerves right now = Not knowing the whereabouts of my wedding dress…
- Nicknames = Meg Tay, Tay Tay, Moose, Meggie, Megs, Meg
- Relationship Status= happily engaged
- Zodiac sign = Gemini, the BEST one
- He or She = He, if it’s talking about who I’m attracted to. She, if it’s what I am. <—What she said.
- Elementary = Prescott Elementary
- Middle school = PMS (Prescott Middle School)
- College = University of Arkansas. WOOOO PIG SOOIE!!!
- Hair color = dark brown
- Long or short = longish
- Height = 6’2″
- Do you have a crush on someone? = I’m marrying him 🙂
- What do you like about yourself? My eyes.
- Piercings = ears
- Tattoos = NO!!!
- Righty or lefty= righty
FIRSTS:
- First surgery= Jaw surgery #1
- First Piercing= [and only] ears.
- First real best friend = Lauren
- First sport you joined = T-ball.
- First vacation = Jekyll Island, GA
- First pair of trainers(shoes) = More than likely Nike, bu I can’t remember.
RIGHT NOW:
- Eating = Nothing.
- Drinking = Nothing
- I’m about to = Watch So You Think You Can Dance?
- Listening to = Imogen Heap
- Waiting for = The weekend and our first official wedding-related party!
YOUR FUTURE:
- Want kids? = yep
- Get Married? = October 15, 2011
- Career? = As long as I can write and work with graphics I’ll be happy.
WHICH IS BETTER :
- Lips or eyes = eyes
- Hugs or kisses = kisses, but sometimes a hug is exactly what you need
- Shorter or taller = As if there is any debate, TALLER!
- Older or Younger = Older
- Romantic or spontaneous = Spontaneous
- Nice stomach or nice arms = Arms
- Sensitive or loud = Sensitive
- Hook-up or relationship = Relationship
- Trouble maker or hesitant = Hesitant, I’m not a good enough liar to be a trouble maker.
HAVE YOU EVER:
- Kissed a stranger = Nope
- Drank hard liquor = Yep, love a good martini.
- Lost glasses/contacts = Who hasn’t?
- Sex on first date = Never.
- Broke someone’s heart = Probably.
- Had your own heart broken = Nope.
- Been arrested = That’s a negative.
- Turned someone down = Yep.
- Cried when someone died = Oh yes.
- Fallen for a friend = Sort of. If co-worker = friend, in which case I’m marrying him 🙂 (Are you sick of me saying that yet?)
DO YOU BELIEVE IN:
- Yourself = Yes!!
- Miracles = Yes!
- Love at first sight = Yes, [one last time] I’m marrying him 🙂
- Heaven = Yes.
- Santa Claus = Duh! I want presents!
- Kiss on the first date = Depends on how the date went.
- Angels = Of course.
Happy Love
Here’s the funny thing about getting older – you become yourself. You get comfortable in your own skin and care less about trying to “fit in”. You realize that when you are yourself people naturally accept you, they enjoy your company and they appreciate what you have to say.
Growing up, I often confused confidence with fitting in. I thought, “if only I could be accepted, X would happen” instead of embracing who I was. Granted, I wasn’t your typical teen. I didn’t enjoy “going out”, “defying my parents” or hanging out in the bank parking lot – it wasn’t me. In fact it’s safe to say I was quite the goodie goodie. [I was voted “Teacher’s Pet” in high school]
Most nights, when I wasn’t playing sports, at dance lessons or cheering at a game, I stayed home or drove around my small hometown by myself blasting whatever music was playing on my Chevy Cavalier’s radio and happily singing along at the top of my lungs. Even though now I look back with fondness on those days, at the time I was desperately seeking acceptance by my peers.
Through college, much of the same happened, though I found friends – lifelong friends – who shared common interests. I finally gained the acceptance that I wished for for so many years. Professors recognized my talents and I received summer internships in AWESOME cities which allowed me to grow into my own skin naturally. I slowly became more of my true self.
Then I entered the “real world” and something clicked. I realized everyone, in some way, is a misfit. Everyone wishes they were someone else. Everyone wants to change something about themselves.
This was a profound realization for me. I realized I could be myself without fear of rejection. I realized that people actually enjoyed my personality and wanted to be around me. I realized, the geeky wannabe from high school might actually be a “cool kid” to some people and if not, so what!
Over the past 5 years, I’ve grown so much as a person. I’m more confident in my opinions. I’m sarcastic. I laugh at myself. I relish the little things. The only person I want please is myself, everyone else is a bonus.
I’m me and it’s the best feeling in the world.
The coolest part? Someone actually likes the real me enough to marry me. I’m not sure how I tricked him, but golly gee I sure am glad I did! I’m the luckiest girl in the world. I’m lucky that he laughs at my corny jokes, smiles when I sing him my awful made-up songs, hugs me when I need comfort and supports me no matter what. I’m lucky that he loves me.
I guess it really is true what they say about love.
You must love yourself before you love another. By accepting yourself and fully being what you are, your simple presence can make others happy.
Tuxedo or Tuxedon’t
As faithful followers of this blog I’m sure you’ve heard that I’m engaged and will be walking down the aisle to marry this man in October. I couldn’t be happier! So far the wedding planning has been fairly painless – the worst part was finding the bridesmaid dresses – and everything is coming together well! I think.
That is, until I started looking at tuxedos. Uh, I mean we – until we started looking at tuxedos.
First of all, I should tell you that within hours of becoming engaged I had Adam convinced that he and his groomsmen would be donning powder blue tuxedos with ruffled shirts for our nuptials. I described ad nauseum exactly what they would look like, down to the shoes and he bought it hook, line and sinker. Poor guy is so gullible.
Then, Adam began telling me how much he liked the look of traditional tails. But here’s the problem: our wedding? Is in my small hometown in Southwest Arkansas. It’s your typical laid back southern town and I love that, but I also love Adam and didn’t want to deprive him of his dream – even if it was a bit formal for our fête.
So I asked his mom what she thought. She laughed. A lot.
Then I asked my mom. She wasn’t buying the idea, either.
Finally, in an effort to gain a full consensus, I asked the big gun. She doubled over laughing. Literally.
Adam’s dream of tails was dashed – unanimously.
Tuxedon’t #2: [Not] Chasing tails
Tuxedon’t #3: Morning dress: It makes every man look dapper…unless you’re a giant.
At this point, we’re 0 for 3 on the tuxedo front. Which should mean our options are significantly less than when we started almost 6 months ago, right? Wrong. Did you know there are are approximately 3,581 options remaining for picking out tuxedos? Now you do.
Allow me to explain.
While we have now realized that we want the standard tail-less tuxedo, we have to choose the color we want. Do we go with khaki or gray? Black or pin-stripe? Once that’s decided we have to choose the style of lapel. Do we like shawl lapels or notch lapels? Diamond shaped shawl or satin trimmed notch? Then there’s the issue of buttons. One button, two buttons or no buttons? It’s pure torture. And the combinations for all of these options are endless and look different every. single. time.
Once the jacket is decided upon we have to pick pleated or flat-front trousers. Easy enough, since I prefer flat front. Phew. That’s one decision made. I hope.
You’d think at this point the decisions would be easier. You’d be wrong. Again.
You see, at this point in the tuxedo shopping extravaganza the issue of shirt comes into play. Did you know there is more than one type of button-down shirt for tuxedos? I didn’t. There’s the laydown collar or the wing collar. Easy enough to choose between – if you knew what type of tie you wanted.
So once you [hypothetically] settle on the 2 button black tuxedo with satin-trimmed notch lapels, flat front trousers and white shirt with lay down collar you have to choose the windsor tie style. But I’m not just talking colors, I’m talking patterns: paisley, diamond, striped or solid. Then, and only then can you pick a color for the tie. Sounds easy enough right?
Unfortunately, at this point in the tuxedo selection process your brain is so tired from choosing lapels, buttons, and tie style that colors like ecru, mocha, champagne and white cannot be differentiated.
Thus causing you to abandon all efforts and forget you spent an hour and a half deciding between shawls and notches.
Wordless Wednesday: Finland
circa 2008
Lucky.
That’s the word continually running through my head right now.
Just before midnight on May 24, 2010 Adam’s parents’ home was destroyed by an EF3 tornado. Their home for 30+ years. The home where he and his brothers were raised.
His parents were asleep when the storm was about to hit. They woke up with only enough time to ride the storm out in the floor between their closet and bed. They escaped with minor scrapes and bruising. It could have been much worse.
They are lucky they are alive. God was certainly watching over them and I praise him for his mercy.
Lucky they have been able to salvage family photos and other sentimental items.
Lucky they have friends, family and neighbors sacrificing their time to help them however the need it: sorting through the rubble, doing laundry, cutting up trees to get into the 2 hardest hit areas of their house (the kitchen and living room) which are mere crawl spaces now, and showering them with food and supplies.
Lucky their vehicles and farm equipment, for the most part, sustained minor damage and are all still drivable.
Lucky almost all of their clothing has been salvaged. (Including almost all of Adam’s mom shoes)
Lucky that most (if not all) of the antique turquoise FiestaWare Adam’s mom had hung above the kitchen table survived. Unbroken. (The fate of the table appears positive as well)
Lucky that her KitchenAid mixer is a-okay.
Lucky that their liquor escaped unscathed.
Despite the destruction and scary realization that they must rebuild and start anew, Adam’s parents are incredibly blessed right now. It could have been worse. Much worse. They are alive and that is something for which I thank God.
meggieslife.com 