Jlailin steps up!

[Jlailin]

...So I'm pretty late in getting this up--I almost decided to sit this challenge out and wait till the next one, but I have things I need to get done!

 

Dance Goals

Last night I went to an audition for Beyonce's choreographer--Frank Gatson.  It was not for Beyonce's show, but for one of Frank's projects.  ...Honestly, I was scared out of my mind and felt like I wanted to throw up for most of it.  I went with a group of my dance friends, but we are all really more of a beginner intermediate level and this audition was filled with advanced professionals.  We wouldn't have dreamed of attending, but the studio owner is our dear friend and she told us we had to go just for the experience.  We went and it was crazy.  The room was so packed, I don't know how anyone could see or even had room to dance.  The choreography wasn't too difficult to learn, but I didn't feel like I was able to master it without being able to watch myself in the mirror or get a really good view of the teacher.  Frank himself was a bit of a douche.  He gave this ten minute speech at the beginning that rubbed me the wrong way.  He was trying to say "be genuine and don't be fake", but the way he said it ripped into gays, drag culture, and beauty trends (weaves, straightened hair, etc) that a lot of women in the room were wearing.  I respect his work, but I don't like his personality.  Anywho, the whole experience was just okay.  I'm glad that I can say I did it, but I don't like learning in that sort of environment and nor do I have any desire to reach for that level of stardom through dance.  

 

However, the choreography was considered more advanced and there were some cool techniques I picked up.  I want to learn more of that.  The beginning/intermediate level is fun, but I want to learn how to isolate and really control my movements.

 

• Attend an advanced or intermediate/advanced level class at least 1x/week - Femme Hip Hop (intermediate/advanced) or Advanced Hip Hop (advanced) 
  • Tuesdays
• Attend jazz to learn different types of techniques and movements
  • Thursdays 
• Continue attending kpop dance class 2x/week
  • Sundays and Wednesdays
• Continue attending beginning/intermediate hip hop at least 1x/week
  • Mondays
• Continue attending Grooves 1x/week
  • Tuesdays

    

Home Goals

I am on my ongoing quest of reclaiming my living room and establishing my adult-lives-here home.  I've got a seemingly endless list of things I want to accomplish for this, so here's a few for this challenge:

 

• Set up couch when it is delivered (May 12th)
• Clean out the giant box in the corner under the AC
• Mount cat shelves in that corner
• Put together plant stand and decide if it needs to be painted or stained a darker color
• Get rid of the dying coffee table after transferring the plants off of it

 

Body Goals

The effects of not strength training have begun to show.  I actually weigh less than I did a few months ago, but I'm losing the muscle toning I had.  I still look fine, but I loved when I looked toned.  My endurance is also not the same as it was.  I need to make strength training a priority again.

 

• Strength train at least 1x/week
• Continue intermittent fasting

 

 

[Jlailin]

Reserved

[Bean Sidhe]

Glad to see you Jlailin. I think your goals are totally doable. Looking forward to seeing you rock it out.

I think its great you went to the audition. I am sorry the guy was a jerk.  Sometimes its better if you keep things that you enjoy just for you and not for "work"

[Jlailin]

*emerges from a pile of rocks*  I'm alive!  I promise!  ...So much has been happening.  I'll write a more detailed update later hopefully, but right now I just have to post that I DID STRENGTH TRAINING!  YAY.  *melts into puddle of jelly muscles*

 

On 5/7/2018 at 7:14 AM, Bean Sidhe said:

Glad to see you Jlailin. I think your goals are totally doable. Looking forward to seeing you rock it out.

I think its great you went to the audition. I am sorry the guy was a jerk.  Sometimes its better if you keep things that you enjoy just for you and not for "work"

Thank you, Bean!  <3  Yeah, dance is definitely recreational for me.  If I ever do perform/compete, it will strictly be for fun.  I'm so not up for the drama of that world otherwise... >_>

[Bean Sidhe]

Glad to hear your alive and that you got the strength training in. Hopefully the muscles resolidify soon.

I am just glad you found something that takes movement to be fun. I would say stay with that.

[Jlailin]

Okay, detailed update time!  

 

Dance Goals

• Going well!  Went to all my classes.  I think my advanced class will likely remain as the Femme Hip Hop class just because it has a good time slot for me.  There is another advanced hip hop class after that one, but I think I will be dead if I take Grooves, Femme Hip Hop, and Advanced Hip Hop all in one night.  xD
• I went to my first lyrical jazz class last week, and oh my gosh, IT WAS SO FUN.  I'd forgotten how much fun I had with those types of movements.  Sometimes it's fun to be emotional and flowy when dancing rather than strong with attitude all the time.  I feel like this was a dance for my soul.  <3  ...However, I also realized how terrible I've become at turns after not doing them since high school ballet and gymnastics classes.  I need to practice my technique a lot more.  But yay!  It's such a fun class.   

Home Goals

• MY COUCH HAS BEEN BUILT!  YES.  It was delivered and put together this past Saturday.  I made dinner for a vegan and girl whom despises eating green things (it was a fun challenge to plan the menu  ), and the repayment for dinner was that they help me build my couch.  I was very grateful for the help because I would have tried to do it by myself (I've built all my other IKEA furniture, including my own queen bed, on my own), but this one really was a three person job.  It is a sleeper couch that has storage underneath it for bedding, so there was one point where I had to hold the frame up and the other two had to screw in the pistons.  I have no idea how I would've accomplished that on my own.  I'm very glad they were there to help.
• Cleaned out the giant box in the corner, and I mounted one of the cat shelves.  I'm conflicted it I want to mount the rest of them.  ...I honestly don't know if my cat will really use them (he seems to like the couch a lot more now that it's up), and I have to drill giant 9/16" holes to mount them.  I don't mind drilling in my apartment walls usually because I can spackle them back up when I'm done, but 9/16" is a big hole to spackle.  ...and I don't want to drill four more holes just for shelves that won't get used.  Mergh.  >_< 
• Plant stand has been put together, and I've decided I'm not staining it.  Plants have been transferred, and the coffee table was put into the middle of the apartment complex where it was quickly snatched up by some other resident that wanted a free table.  

I finished all the things on my home goals list, so adding new things:

• Find homes for humidifiers and their giant boxes until winter.
• Devise a better system to organize the cat toys.
• Get chains or long looped rods to lower the solar lanterns to help their solar panels actually catch more sun to charge.  Right now their hung up on the beams of my balcony, which is the balcony of the apartment above me, so there's not a ton of sun filtering through.  They worked great the first day, but they haven't had enough charge since to last longer than a couple sputters.  I think I need to devise a method lower them at least a foot to be able get more sunlight.

Body Goals

• I did strength training!  Yay!  I had a day off from dance (my usual class was replaced with an advanced workshop that started too early for me to get there), and I was supposed to do all sorts of things like laundry.  ...but I laid on my new couch for most of the night and hugged my poor terrified cat that kept cuddling to get away from the thunder storms.  I was going to go to bed around 10pm, but I had all this energy (probably because there was no dance on Sunday either).  Thus, I decided to strength train!  ...probably wasn't the wisest to start so late, but I did it!  Yay!   
• Intermittent fasting has been going well.  This week I actually packed four lunches on Sunday night, so I shall even eat healthier this week too!  

 

[Plazmotic]

Hiiiii I know I haven't been around but I want to say NICE WORK on your goals and also boo-ray for doing the audition. You rock!

[Jlailin]

16 minutes ago, Plazmotic said:

Hiiiii I know I haven't been around but I want to say NICE WORK on your goals and also boo-ray for doing the audition. You rock!

Thank you, Plaz!    And no worries, I disappeared from NF for a bit too.  Just starting to ease myself back into it... 

[Jlailin]

I think I may just stick to this update once a week thing that I've got going on unless something really exciting happens.  It'll give me more time to actually do all the stuff.   

 

Dance Goals

• My Monday and Sunday classes were cancelled.  It was kind of nice to have a Monday night at home.  Sunday was a bit of a letdown though.  I was looking forward to that class, and I still have all this antsy energy.  ...but I'm also weirdly lethargic because of the weather.  It's an odd feeling.
• On Wednesday, there was a sub for my kpop class.  The sub is a highly accomplished dancer in one of the kpop dance cover groups I've seen perform at festivals.  I was worried because I was pretty sure she was used to teaching a more advanced class--especially after I watched the song she was planning on teaching.  There was a lot of isolation, musicality, and fast movements.  I was pretty sure I would look like an idiot trying this dance, but amazingly enough she was a good enough teacher that she got me really close to actually doing the dance!  (I say really close just because there was this last sequence that I always mixed up my arms on, but I still ended in the same position as everyone else xD).
  • So this sub actually teaches a different kpop class regularly every Saturday.  The owner of the current kpop program I dance at sees the other class as a "competitor", but I really think it's all in his head because the classes are on different days and for different markets.  He also isn't actually a practicing dancer himself, so I don't think he understands the whole collaboration/it's-good-to-take-classes-from-multiple-places thing.  
  • Anyways, I decided to try the sub's actual class this past Saturday--only she wasn't there because it was Acen weekend and her crew was performing.  ~_~  ...but there were subs who were also good.  It also reinforced this new hope that I can actually keep up in advanced classes at the Puzzle Box studio.  I've been really intimidated by them because they have more professional dancers there, whereas DanceRoom Chicago has more adults just wanting to dance.  DRC is a lot friendlier on a whole, but I do think Puzzle Box will help me get to a more advanced level.
• My thighs and abs are also dead from lyrical jazz.  X_X  I was waddling for like three days after class.  I forgot how many muscles high kicks use.  
• ...and so now with my new Puzzle Box class my dance schedule has become:
  • Monday - Adult Hip Hop at DRC
  • Tuesday - Grooves at DRC + Femme Hip Hop at DRC
  • Wednesday - Kpop at DRC
  • Thursday - Lyrical Jazz at DRC
  • Saturday - Kpop at Puzzle Box
  • Sunday - Kpop at Supreme
  • ...yes, that's right, I now dance every day except for Friday.  X_X  And yes, I basically live at DRC since I spend the majority of my evenings there.  xD

 

Home Goals

• Find homes for humidifiers and their giant boxes until winter.
  • Done!  They have been box tetris-ed into my closet on the top shelf.
• Devise a better system to organize the cat toys.
  • Still pondering this... I think I might want to get one of those ottomans that double as storage or something.  Or maybe a nice big decorative basket?  
• Get chains or long looped rods to lower the solar lanterns to help their solar panels actually catch more sun to charge.  Right now their hung up on the beams of my balcony, which is the balcony of the apartment above me, so there's not a ton of sun filtering through.  They worked great the first day, but they haven't had enough charge since to last longer than a couple sputters.  I think I need to devise a method lower them at least a foot to be able get more sunlight.
  • Done!  ...but I bruised my finger pretty badly because stupid me didn't cut all the chain pieces to length at Home Depot where they had a nice sharp bolt cutter.  Instead, silly me thought she could cut chain with a wire cutter/pliers thing because the chain was only decorative and not that thick.  ...It did work, but I struggled and had a very swollen purple finger for the weekend.  It's been iced, so it's not bad now.  ...but yeah, note to self--don't try to cut chain without proper cutters ever again.  
• I probably need to add more things to this list, so...
  • Devise a way to keep squirrels from eating tomatoes and other balcony plants (PVC chicken wire cage?  Bird netting?)
    • Once this is in place, get a cherry tomato plant!
  • Buy lemongrass from grocery store, soak it, and plant it
  • Bring baby spider plant to work for coworker

 

Body Goals

• Intermittent fasting has been going well!  I grilled a ton of bulgogi last Sunday, so I packed it all up into containers and I have meal prepped for the week!  Yay!
• Strength training could possibly fall on this Friday?  ...I will be WFH, sooooo I could technically sneak a work out in.  

[Jlailin]

Oh, haha, totally didn't realize this challenge ended yesterday.  Whoops.  I guess that's what I get for starting late!  Well... I guess I'll just take all these goals and port them over to a new challenge.     Link to come!

[Jlailin]

New challenge can be found here: