artformula

i’m incredibly sick. jesus.
two nights ago, after a very emotional evening, i seemed to instantly get a sore throat.  my first thought was general fatigue, been stretching myself a bit thin of late, compounded by a cigarette i’d had earlier in the day (cigarettes are worse than crack; i’ve tried quitting multiple times recently; have got to make it happen this time).  that night i got hit with mad insomnia, which i chalked up to emotional turmoil. but there was this encroaching sore throat thing…
but when i finally woke up from a few hours of sleep, my right ear was still in hell. hurt severely to swallow.  i motored through to make work happen since i had two important meetings i could not reschedule, but it was grueling.  when i finally made it home, i passed out for several hours.  thus began a night of high fever delirium, drenching sweats alternating with chills, and general yuck.  i need to burn my sheets.  seriously.

today, after a lot of sleep, i still felt like the underside of a bart chair.  again, had to push myself to make an appointment tied to a death in the family, but fortunately was otherwise able to rest most of the day.  starting to feel a little better, though my throat still hurts.  at least i can swallow without whimpering.
i’ve had to cancel five different important things.  it’s weird, i almost never get sick these days.  large groups of friends have been hit with the crud at various times during the last year, but i always seem to evade it.  not this time.  still not sure where i got it, public transpo is looking like a prime suspect, but could be that all of the stress i am under has finally shut things down.  i’ve got to start taking better care of myself.
it’s at times like these that i really appreciate the fact that i am generally very healthy.

i’m sore from a grueling fire practice last night. i’m doing a number of high tosses in a couple of pieces, which wears my arms and shoulders out given the heavier weight of the fire hoop.

but this is nothing new. been hooping my ass off recently. lots of jamming. lots of fire. lots of performing. feels like i’m approaching a new level of ability and flow. glad to have broken through the sense of stagnation that hits from time to time. and it is a kick in the pants to know that now i am technically a professional hooper. my mom said that i am the only person she knows who actually did run off and join the circus.

tonight, i co-teach my first “official” (ie paid) 8- week hoop class at gold’s gym in soma. i’m excited. it can be really fun teaching newbies. nothing like the delight of the uninitiated. will be nice to be able to focus on teaching instead of the usual jonesing for spin time for myself. particularly given my soreness at the moment, the idea of just teaching simple waist hooping is very appealing.

my fire troupe has 3 performances scheduled over the summer at cocomo and we just got accepted into the fire arts festival on july 10th. we have been filming practices to complete our submission for participating in the conclave at burning man. achieving a whole new level of comfort with fire. burning myself less. not that scared of burning my face off anymore.

HooppaiN is about to morph. our usual practice place, the house of pain, will no longer be available after the final jam next week. though we have some other locale options, i’m leaning towards just ending it on the high note and then, like a flash mob, throwing impromptu jams intermittently. i will miss the regular pain connection with my peeps, but i hoop with them all the time anyway, so should be fine.

next week, i’m looking at three hardcore hoop practices in a row before my next class and the weekend hoopla. i tell ya, this lifestyle sure requires vitamins;-)