Curly Ripe Meat

I GOT THE JOB!!!

2011-04-20T02:07:00.000-07:00

It's official! I GOT MY DREAM JOB.
The job I expect to retire from.

The only full-time dance position at the school -- which means I'll be leading the department.

A full-time position -- which only 25% of community college faculty members ever get.

The position that many folks said "will never come," or "you'll probably have to wait seven years."

Yup. I busted my ass, and my totally amazing, wonderful boss & colleagues worked it out to open the position.

Then, I made it through a five-month application process, with totally amazing competition.

I AM SO EXCITED TO GO TO WORK EVERY DAY.

I am so full of gratitude that I have such wonderful, supportive, fun, awesome co-workers!

And, I'm really proud of myself for working so hard.

When did I start this process? Five months ago, when I applied? Three years ago, when I started working here as an adjunct? Five years ago, when I went to grad school? Seven years ago, when I applied to grad schools, knowing I wanted to teach? Twelve years ago, when my hobby of dance became a double major at UC Berkeley? Fourteen years ago, when I was inspired by my amazing community college teachers to want to be as loving, giving and kind as they were? Twenty-one years ago, when I began taking performance lessons? Twenty-four years ago, when I first jumped up onto a stage in front of a rock band and began dancing at some mall in San Jose?
Or is this one of the biggest culminations of my entire life's work so far?

It's a BIG DAMN DEAL. And if feels WONDERFUL.

THANK YOU!!! I couldn't have done it without everyone's support, love and encouragement!

"All,

I am pleased to announce that Amber Steele was selected and accepted our full-time dance position. She will start this full-time assignment in the fall semester pending approval by the Board of Trustees. We had an outstanding group of candidates to choose from, and I would like to thank those who served on the hiring committee. Amber has been working at Skyline and CSM as a dance and fitness instructor since the Fall of 2008. Please join me in welcoming and supporting Amber in her new assignment.

Best,

Joe

Dean, Physical Education/Athletics/Dance/Athletic Director
Skyline College"

Proofreading & Recommendations, purdy please!

2010-12-21T15:41:00.000-08:00

Hi, Friends!
I'm in the process of updating my resume for my DREAM JOB application. I'd be ever so grateful if you guys could peruse, maybe tell me if there are any corrections needed to be made.
Also, I would be ever so grateful for any additional professional recommendations. I figure the more the merrier!

Thanks,
~Amber
http://www.linkedin.com/in/ambersteele

Meme - Fifteen books you've read that will always stick with you.

2010-08-02T16:05:00.000-07:00

Fifteen Books that you've read that will always stick with you - GO!
Rules: Don't take too long to think about it. Fifteen books you've read that will always stick with you. First fifteen you can recall in no more than 15 minutes.

1. Dangerous Angels -- Francesca Lia Block
2. 100 Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
3. Hamlet - Shakespeare
4. The Bridge - Ian M. Banks
5. Consider Phlebas - Ian M. Banks
6. Transmetropolitan - Warren Ellis
7. Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail '76 - Hunter S. Thompson
8. Lolita - Nabokov
9. 1001 Nights (The originals; took a class that compared different translations)
10. Bluebeard - Charles Perrault
11. The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett
12. La Vagabonde - Collette
13. Goodbye, Paper Doll - Anne Snyder
14. Good Omens - Niel Gaiman, Terry Pratchet
15. Mythago Wood - Robert Holdstock
16. The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood

Cheer Camp, Day 1

2010-07-17T23:49:00.000-07:00

Wow!!!

Ok, so I am a sucker, and I am totally participating in Cheer Camp. The dances just look SO FUN; I can't help myself!!! I'm going to run out of clean work-out clothes. :p

I am totally grateful that I have been teaching 20 hrs/wk (and hence, working out 4-6hrs a day) for the past four weeks, because OMG: dance camp is HARD. Today I didn't do the warm up, nor Routine A, nor the technique class. However, I did do Routine B and C; both AWESOME girly jazz/hip hop/street jazz; the stuff I love and used to take from Alison but these were taught by Lizzy Richardson (she reminds me very much of Alison in a wonderful way). I also took FAST Hip Hop with Brandy (can't find video for ya... I'll keep looking), and learned the Camp Dance. So that was my four hours of BUSTIN' for today.
Tomorrow, more of the same, but also the warm up (at 8:30 ... I'd better get to sleep!) and some administrator classes.... I'd kinda like to take the technique classes, too: triple pirouettes into hitch kicks = NOM!!!

I watch my tough girls getting into the Spirit, and I wonder what would I have been like, if I had done this when I was young? (Well, I'd be a much better dancer, wah.) I'm pleased that I can at least take class with these college stars; but I'm getting my ass handed to me, frequently. This choroegraphy is amazing, and they teach SO FAST!! There are Britney Spears' choroegraphers and ... well; I digress too much for 1am.

I am really engaged by how this whole process is about team-building.
It reminds me of the really great weekend jesus camp I went to, which was all about feeling good and singing alternative-rock-styled songs about Jesus for hours on end. They'd use an overhead projector for the lyrics, so everyone could sing along. The first night was what I remember most: over two hours of singing (translates to chanting, if you have yogic experience) in a large group, that got everyone high on physical experience, physical expression, positivity and a unity of openness and security in single-mindedness.

I totally got teary-eyed a few times today; watching amazing performers teach and go all-out; watching groups, watching teams cheer for their team-mates and for the staff here -- just because that's the culture. (YAY! You got up and danced the twist with twenty other people, just to represent our team!!! Let's scream your name and cheer you on!!) The culture insists that you support each other, and you help one another to learn and grow. No BS. You're a team. And for those of us who have not had that kind of community in our upbringing, it's amazing.

I'm really glad to be experiencing it. I am enjoying my perspective, as the cheer-virgin that I am, and watching how my cheerleading team is observing 500 people's camaraderie and having (for the first time, for some?) a deep desire for that unity. I think that many of us have not ever experienced this kind of cultural/familial/communal acceptance and purpose, where one can feel safe enough to admit and commit to really throwing our hearts out there and being a *team*.

So many of us only feel free to take that risk of vulnerability when we're infatuated, but these young adults are leaders, creating their own family. It's really touching.
YAY CHEER CAMP!

You know you're working too hard when....

2010-07-08T14:15:00.001-07:00

I woke up hungry. Not just peckish, like normal, but STARVING. Mind you; I ate dinner last night at 11pm-midnight; and it was loads of salad with dressing and avocado and cashews and penne with marinara and near a quarter pound of hamburger, and Guittard Chocolate chips and two glasses of red wine. And I woke up at 9am STARVING. As I rushed off to work, I stopped at Peet's and got a large latte with two raw sugars (NOM), and a lemon-currant mini scone, and scarfed that down on my way in to teach yoga.
I started everyone sitting on the floor, and breathed deeply, and then had us all lean forward, letting our backs stretch out, and then to each side... and the room was SPINNING, like a sloshy boat. I drank more latte and slowed myself up to speed and was okay after I covered up that the room was tilting around me for five minutes.

I came home after the following hour of teaching Pilates & ate all the meaty pasta leftovers, covered in a big pile of mozzarella. I'm so glad the cheerleaders canceled on me, so that I can take a nap instead of practicing leaps and turns with them for an hour.

I leave at 6:30 to teach at least 2 hours of dance.....
(And this after Monday was a holiday.)

Birthday Pictures!

2010-07-06T16:38:00.000-07:00

(Thank you, Steev!) Birthday Pictures, Album #1

Birthday Pictures, Album #2

We're on America's Got Talent!

2010-06-23T14:51:00.000-07:00

It is weird that they showed Sharon Xing us -- she was the one who *didn't* X us. I'm just thankful that they didn't decide to linger on humiliating us (like they did with the folks who fell off the stage).

They cut all the dancing, for the sake of close-ups, but really; I'm counting our blessings. We performed in front of 2000 high school teens (listen to them FREAKING OUT; ha ha ha! I guess we are still scary!), on (inter?)national television, and everyone looked Great!!

2010-06-18 Hubba Hubba Revue - Hell0046

2010-06-22T15:11:00.001-07:00

2010-06-18 Hubba Hubba Revue - Hell0046
Originally uploaded by Vulcania

Teh Cuteness!!!

"Reality" TV & Presidential Speeches - a National Addiction?

2010-06-17T22:48:00.001-07:00

Yesterday, I posted the following rant in response to a post about Obama’s firey BP speech. Responses were either, “FINALLY, Obama gets tough!” or disillusioned cries of “bullshit” from those convinced Obama’s evil, since things aren’t going spectacularly. The owner of the original comment wisely calmed the fires before any flame-wars broke out on his facebook (SMART THINKING, @Michelangelo!), but I’m kinda curious to see if anyone agrees with me.

I am suspicious that the nation has become addicted to media bursts. It seems like every time Obama makes a speech, folks get in a huff about it being a sign that either A. He’s finally doing his job, or B. This just proves he’s a liar, and he’s doing exactly the opposite of his job.
It seems to me that people interpret Presidential PSA’s as the signal that actual work is being done, rather than…. you know; the possibility that work involves sitting quietly at your presidential desk, and not making reality TV for everyone to get fired-up about.
Here was my comment:

“To start - this sucks; BP blows, the government has been overrun by OIL for ever. (Why can't we run our cars on corn ethanol?)
However... I can't help feeling that everyone's gotten addicted to the Republican's over-dramatized Presidential Pep Talks.
Just because Obama's not on TV saying "We'll get those BP Guys!!" every day like GWB was with Bin ... See MoreLaden, there seems to be an assumption that he's picking his nose instead of... ida know; learning how drilling works, organizing a website to accept solution suggestions, rounding up volunteers from across the country, hiring scientists to imagine future damage & solutions, talking with the industry in local meetings or on the phone, learning about the problem from people on the ground, rather than the white-collars who are paid to say "everything is going to be okay; you don't know anything, so just truuuuust us," .... stuff that happens in your office. Doing a press conference is, frankly, less worth our time than him doing his research. He's a lawyer; he will research; that's how you win lawsuits that force companies to be culpable.

“Ida know, guys; what *exactly* could've happened faster? I can't help but relate this to watching your sick animal at the vet; they can only do a biopsy before they give the drugs that may work or may just ruin the biopsy, they can only do the surgery if the drugs fail... stuff like that that gives everyone a sense of helplessness, but just goes to show that there is still a long way to go in technology.
It's not likely, they can physically do more to the well than they are at a time, right? Plug it and drill a hole in the side to maybe bypass it -- but perhaps side-drilling will weaken the chances that the plug will work (didn't anyway, but...)
And it's not like we can sue them for damages before we know how bad it's going to be. And it's not like Obama's able to supervise each cleanup employee, and know who's working hard enough and who's understaffed... all of this stuff just takes time, and I don't think the government was necessarily supposed to be able to physically handle this task faster/better than BP.

“Yes, it FUCKING SUCKS. But I don't think I can get behind the assumption that Obama's been slacking, just because he hasn't been giving these war-speeches on TV all the time.”

Kids these days!

2010-06-17T21:42:00.000-07:00

If there is one thing that makes you remember being a teenager, it’s having your parent tell you that you don’t understand something that you actually do understand. It’s a quintessential barrier between ages; it’s nearly possible to accept that a younger person’s different ideas or qualitative values could be true.

Of course, that's because kids are often full of shit.
But when your happy, glowing, successful, loved, newly married daughter, who finished grad school and is pursuing her intended career tells you that her spirituality is sufficient… well… apparently that’s hard to believe, when she doesn't know God.

It’s frustrating that my mom should get so stumped here.
I’m able to translate her universal truths into my spiritual dialect. Individually, she always smiles and is pleased to hear me eloquently explain the experience of letting go of defensiveness, of forgiveness, of openness, love and gratitude. But she remains convinced that, since I don’t believe in God per say, my spiritual life is not as full as it could be.

She denied that my path could be equal in “fullness” because she assumes that I underestimate her path. This is likely because when I said, “her path,” she imagined whatever my twenty-year-old self said to her in order to fight off her evangelism. But that was ten years ago, and my life and spiritual self have radically matured.

Hearing her tell me that I don’t understand immediately brought back the defensiveness, the sting and the insult of the memory of adolescent frustration. (Most notably because I had the now-rare impetus to go outside and chain-smoke.) Her idea of my spirituality is based on my rebellious, young-adult self. When she insists that I am too inexperienced to understand, she’s basing her analysis on her own inexperience of who I am now.

Geez, parents just don’t understand!!
(hah hah…)

"The Metaphysics of Authenticity"

2010-05-30T01:03:00.000-07:00

I have this Angela Carter book in the bathroom, and I only ever get to read a paragraph or two at a time. It's just as well, because Angela Carter's witty columns often take days of delight-filled mastication. Sometimes I wonder - 'did I really just read that?' or, 'when was this written; yesterday or thirty years ago?' or, 'OMG thank god someone has explained that nagging feeling I've been having!' This last one happens frequently, as Carter has an extraordinary talent for recognizing fads, hypocrisy of class, and falseness. I love it. Don't get me wrong; I love living in the Bay Area, and I'm supportive of openness and love paying my taxes (really!), but my god; sometimes I just want to call bullshit!
Angela Carter must be the queen of bullshit-calling, and she did it long in advance of most trends' popularity (see the NYTimes review at the bottom). I love that she identifies falseness without making the argument that her own ideas are true based on the false rationale of her subject matter. Carter just says, "fuck, people, get over yourselves."

At the moment, I'm reading through a series of articles that she wrote about culinary books, before "foodies" even existed; before Julia. I love foodie magazines, but I love it even more when I can have a chuckle with Carter about how ridiculous some of these idealizations are. She pries the dramatics (a.k.a. snobbery) off of these books and points at wider trends, without disrespecting their sensuality or the prose.

Enjoy:

"This combination of material asceticism and passionate enthusiasm of the sensuality of the everyday is at the core of the tradition from which Mrs Gray springs, with its obvious affinities to the style of Bloomsbury, where it was a moral imperative that the beautiful should always take precedence over the comfortable. Though 'beautiful' is not quite the right word -- it is a kind of authenticity which is invoked here, as though water is more authentic, more real, wetter, draw from a open-air cistern than from a city tap.

"The metaphysics of authenticity are a dangerous area. When Mrs Gray opines, 'Poverty rather than wealth gives the good things of life their true significance', it is tempting to suggest it is other people's poverty, always a source of the picturesque, that does that. Even if mrs Gray and her companion live in exactly the same circumstances as their neighbours in the Greek islands or southern Italy, and have just as little ready money, their relation to their circumstances is the result of the greatest of all luxuries, aesthetic choice. 'Poverty', here, is sloppy language -- a rare example of it. Mrs gray isn't talking about a pavement dweller in Calcutta, or a member of the long-term unemployed in an advanced, industrialized country; nor about poverty as such, but about a way of life which has a dignity imposed upon it by its stoicism in the face of a nature on which it is entirely dependent. The Japanese created an entire aesthetic, and a moral philosophy, out of this stoicism and this intimate relation with natural forces; as soon as they had a bob or two in their pockets, of course, they binged on consumerism, but the hard core is still there."

~Angela Carter's Book Review, "Patience Gray: Honey from a Weed," from the book Shaking a Leg.
Carter, Angela. Shaking a Leg: Collected Journalism and Writings. New York: Penguin Group, 1998. 102. Print.

This isn't the only article where she talks about the upper class idealizing the diets of working class people in foreign countries. And it's not just about learning to cook; she talks about the cult of the whole-grain bread folks, the vegetarians and vegans who have made their food preferences nearly evangelical cult activities. Not that there is anything crappy about eating no meat or baking your own bread. But Carter has a way of walking in and calling a duck a duck, and a cult a cult.
It's refreshing.

From a NYTimes Review on Shaking a Leg:
"But to adopt Angela's own kind of terminology for a moment, what emerges most powerfully from Shaking A Leg is her ability to detect bullshit at two hundred paces. Years before the term `foodie' had been invented, she was mocking the pretensions of the cookery writer who insists on recherche ingredients not because of their qualities but their snob value. And it is a delight to find her, years before the porn star Linda Lovelace came out as a victim of the sex industry, deconstructing the actress's sexual braggadocio as a species of false consciousness -- and discerning a profound rage behind Lovelace's notorious skill at fellatio. The permissive societies of which Lovelace is a product, Carter points out more than once, are actually deeply repressed: why else do people need permission to explore their sexuality? Only someone with an appreciation of the sweaty, earthy pleasures of sex could create this kind of critique, outspoken and completely unprudish..."

25 Year Service Awards

2010-05-20T22:46:00.000-07:00

This afternoon, I attended the district reception for the sixteen people who have served for 25 years at the San Mateo Community College District. It was a fun party, especially since the bar was open; I totally work with the fun (a.k.a."bad") crowd, Yay!

There were some amazing careers that we learned about. The first woman recognized had been working for the district since students used punch-cards to enroll in classes, and floppy disks were considered a lot of storage. She's now the head of all the IT in the district; from the online enrollment & grading systems to our google email; everything. Apparently she's got grown kids and she and her husband are active in a Corvette club (and have two). She was fashionable & attractive, and she is a woman; the woman who brought thousands of people in this district from punch-cards to live lecture web-casts.
I know plenty of women my age in the technology/IT/games/3D animation field. I know very, very few who are hardware & sys-admin oriented, and even fewer who have been doing that work since 1985. That woman is an amazing role model.

Another honoree had written the grant that started the funding for Middle College, a program that allows high school students get to attend community college classes in order to graduate more quickly & start building up their college credits. We didn't have such a thing when I was 15 in California, but I heard about it in Washington (where it was called "Running Start,") and adopted it for myself. It's an amazing program that saves capable kids from giving up on their education when they're being stifled by the stupidity/drama/status quo/etc. of adolescent academia.

Another woman who was honored had opened the first college computer writing center in the country; and had to fight hard to do it. She was a revered professor; had taught every English class offered, had her PhD, also worked at Stanford (and in my mind, this explains the next part, I hope, I hope, I hope...), was retiring this year... and was ADJUNCT FACULTY. WTF. As in: after 25 years, she never got a full time job.

Who would've guessed that my chances at getting a full time job might be *better* teaching dance than English?
OMG PLEASE don't let that be my fate... Go State Budget, GO!!!

I was super grateful to have gotten to see so many amazing women recognized by our district. And how often do you get to go to a work function and have a great time like that?

I love my job.

Friendships - Rekindling and Dousing

2010-05-19T23:20:00.000-07:00

I had dinner tonight with a lovely friend whom I haven't spent time with in quite some time. Most recently, it was because I'd accidentally been using her old email address to invite her to things. But, as usual, life was also muddying up our social lives as well. She was surpsised to hear that I also had been making myself more scarce in the social scene we used to frequent. I expected as much from her, because she's doing Big Amazing Things. (I'm so proud of her awesome hard work; you go girl!!!)

Anyhow, we did a lot of catching up, which ended up covering a lot of stories about growing apart from people and friendships. There were many reasons discussed, and different circumstances, but for me, I just kept re-locating on one unanswered question.

When do you hold it against someone that they're not being a great friend?

It's a tricky question; sort of like trying to decide how much lateness or flakiness you'll overlook for the sake of a friendship. The same sort of rationalizing and anxious guilty feelings apply here.

For example; I know I'm not perfect. I wonder whether I've been slacking on my reaching-out, whether I've been doing enough responding to internet blasts, whether I've been being a good friend. But then I think about my awesome best friends who live across the country, and how much more I hear from them than from some of the folks I used to feel close to when I was in SF more. So... that's the beginning of the reflection on growing apart being more disappointing than neutral.

One thing that rekindles friendly intimacy after a gap in closeness is experiencing surprise at time having passed and joy at reconnecting. The experience of realizing you've lost touch being simultaneously surprising and inspiring tends to make good friends stay in more frequent contact. Contrariwise, when that ritual doesn't occur, it's disappointing.

Staying in touch takes effort, for sure.
But, call me spoiled.... I think a good friend makes that effort. And I'm realizing that I'm becoming more interested in focusing my social energy on fewer but closer friendships. We've all seen our friends' time be monopolized by different events in their life; marriage, other friends, hobbies, obsessions. But the kind of friendships I want to emotionally invest in are those in which my investment is recognized and matched.

Looking Away

2010-05-17T22:49:00.000-07:00

My dance teacher, Christopher Dolder, when I was at UC Berkeley, was an amazing dancer, teacher and mentor. He stood up for me in all of my youthful freakiness, backed up my artistic integrity, and kicked my ass 7.5hrs/wk (minimum).

Here's one of the most amazing things he taught me:

I was struggling with the concept of my mother's choice to be reborn in Christ. Not because of Jesus; that part I understood. I understand my mother's desire to be loved unconditionally, and to be led by something higher than ourselves. And I understood why she wanted to be part of a religious community. What I didn't understand was why she was giving up so many things; meat, movies, music, jewelry, books.

At the time (I was 20), I could only see this abstention as boxing oneself in; hiding from reality. And the things I was most proud of my mother for, in an avatar/hero/mythological way, were her accomplishments of bravery.
For example; my mother went to El Salvador in the late 60's/early 70's, where the government soldiers pointed machine guns at her, and some authoritarian tried to keep her from leaving the country with her new husband and an abscessed tooth. She was there with the Peace Corps, educating women about birth control in a time when IUDs were still piercing through women's uteruses, and that was deemed worth the risk, often.
My mother worked in the first Free Clinic in the Haight, holding young women's hands as they went through abortions, back then.
As a child, I saw my mother could walk into a household where the families were screaming and hitting, and she could calm everyone down and get them to speak to one another and make up.
As a school psychologist, my mother took four times as many cases per year than any of her colleagues. In the 1990's, she constantly went on home visits to field workers' families with dirt floors, and worked her calming magic - in a second language, no less. She took me with her to see happy families of different classes (not that we had much money, but it was tons in comparison), and made sure that I understood that beauty and kindness were to be found in places unfamiliar to my own white upbringing.

So, why then, I asked my mentor, would my mother be shutting her eyes to reality now??

Christopher then told me something that I pondered for weeks, at first as totally foreign, and then as amazingly intimately honest about true human experience. Being a self-proclaimed "hard-ass woman," at first, I thought, "that's silly! don't be such a baby!" But now I see the glory of it's subtle wisdom.

Christopher told me that, sometimes, after seeing enough pain and suffering, people just don't want to see it anymore, and they decide to protect themselves from being upset by the harsher things in life.

And, you know what? That is okay.

Afraid to Post

2010-05-16T21:37:00.000-07:00

I just pondered, deeply, the idea of starting a new blog.
Maybe part of me thinks that "Curly Ripe Meat" is no longer a very interesting blog title.
Maybe CRM should be my blog for adventures, real life, pictures, etc., and not my editorials.

Maybe I'm still a bit bruised from the backlash I got about a Starbucks cup, and about my posts on maturity and the couple-dates I'd been longing for (and now am loving!)...
And being bruised is okay, and careful about people's feelings.

But...
of all of the wind that blows through your hair when you're young (and turns out to be farts), of all the passion of unfettered horses running wild (that you can't keep up with)... speaking my mind is one of the things I loved most about my youthful self. There has always been a power and a freedom in being willing to sense, analyze and express my opinions in life.

A power that scares others. A power that intimidates. And I've spent a lot of time in the last few years learning how not to intimidate others unintentionally. I'm glad of that. I'm glad of being softer and more approachable, and of how that makes me more able to give.

But, sometimes I miss the freedom, and considering chopping my journal in two after seven years seems rather constricting to me.
So, it makes me think that, perhaps, one of the ways that I don't want to get old is by letting people crush my inquisitive writing.

Now; understand me -- I don't mean that I should be cruel or rude to people; I've always had too much of a desire to be elegant to be insulting out of ignorance or carelessness. However; speaking abstractly in my own blog, which no-one has to read... well... I believe that I should feel comfortable here. And I miss trusting my instinct to not be a total ASS by accident.

Writing this reminds me of now old disagreements about whether it's okay to blog in a way that might cause others offense. I hold that it isn't honorable or kind to be hurtful to someone directly; some respond that one should be free to journal about whatever they want. I put stock in the validity and benefits of abstract thought and debate, but this, too, can backfire if the reader's application of the abstraction reflects negatively.

But, honestly.... I don't need to feel responsible for everyone's reactions to my opinions. Maybe we disagree! Maybe I sound shallow to you, petty. Maybe it hurts that I'm in a different place than you are, and view my experiences in a different way than you view similar experiences of your own. And that's okay!

That I am going to venture out of my fear and feel free to opine.

Our Wedding Video Trailer!

2010-05-02T12:31:00.000-07:00

Our awesome friends have posted our trailer on their Ambient Sky Blog! I am soooo grateful for their amazing video!!!
http://ambientsky.blogspot.com/2010/04/amber-steevs-wedding-trailer-from-santa.html

Amber and Steev were married on a cliff overlooking the beach in Santa Cruz, California. The reception was just across the road at the Davenport Roadhouse where they created a wedding experience unlike any we've ever filmed. From jugglers, to contortionists, to face painting, to a delicious custom designed Barnum Circus Animal Cookie cake... Every detail was specific in meaning and emotion to ensure this day was a reflection of their love for each other and their unique and creative personalities.

Full disclosure... I've known Steev for about 25 years... He's been one of my closest friends and the most influential force on my creativity throughout my life. From my first guitar lessons to recording engineering to inspiring me to be a filmmaker. He's been the ignition that started the fires of obsession for my creative endeavors.

One of my proudest moments was when he asked us to film their wedding. One of my happiest moments was being there as he married the woman he waited so long to meet.

Please enjoy this brief glimpse into their incredible wedding day.

S.

For my friend and his amazing wife.

Please allow the movie time to load.

Last week of the 20's - Dirty Thirties, here I come!

2010-04-30T10:16:00.000-07:00

Here it is, the last week of my twenties. The thirties are gonna rock.

I always have been "ahead of my time" to some degree, so... I kinda feel over the twenties anyhow, by at least a year or two.

What with all of the privacy issues this year on social networking sights, I have been often reminded that my actual age will be broadcast (and to some of my students) every time I post about it. I'm trying to be actively proud and open, because I think that age-hiding is silly. (Of course, I am not suffering from age discrimination at the moment, so I have the freedom to say that with collegiate impunity.) I want to help set the tend that women are awesome and amazing as they age, and to give young women something to look forward to. I have known so many awesome older women (and some FREAKING HOT, SEXY 50 year olds, lemmie tell you!), and I'd like to set an awesome example myself.

Pina Bausch Walzer

2010-04-29T18:31:00.000-07:00

This is stunning. I love the young woman who is madly making the men support her thrill-ride and recklessness, and the equally hysterical young woman who is afraid to do anything but scream dramatic bloody murder. And I love the way Pina makes such fun of show-offy femininity without losing any of the love for it's charm. I love the way that the little frippery of feminine movement becomes translated into dance movement. RIP Pina Bausch; you were a genius.

Sports Management Questionnaire

2010-03-22T16:14:00.000-07:00

One of my students asked to interview me on my career in Sports Management. I thought it was pretty interesting to hear myself answer these questions, mostly because I'm chuckling & thinking to myself "aww... I sound all grown up!" Heee hee!

Please introduce yourself and how many years have you been a director and choreographer?

My name is Amber Steele, and I have been a director and choreographer since 2000.

What area of specialty did you study in college that lead to a career in sports management?
I received my BA from the Theater, Dance and Performance Studies Department, with an emphasis in Dance from UC Berkeley. I received my Masters of Fine Art from Mills College in Dance, emphasis Choreography.
I also began my own dance company in 2005, which has given me invaluable experience with managing employees, booking, taxes, billing, etc. I wish that they taught that in the schools I went to, but they did not. I have been teaching since 2002, beginning with individual private lessons, then teaching classes at dance studios and also teaching my dance company's master classes.

How involved are you with your athletes?
Very, especially the younger ones. Mentoring athletes often involves getting to know their health and mental issues so that you can work collaboratively on making a productive team in the midst of whatever their personal life may throw at them. It's also important to maintain a bit of emotional distance as the manager. I have to be able to direct the room, stop personal moments from interrupting rehearsal time, and to be able to have some sort of disciplinary recourse when the athlete is not able to fulfill his or her obligations to the team.

What are the positives and negatives of your job?
Positives: I love teaching students and seeing the joy on their faces when they achieve something they didn't realize they could do. I get to dance every day! I get to work on big projects with relatively short (one semester) deadlines, which means I get to see them through from start to finish. I have a fairly open schedule.

Negatives: It takes decades to get job security. I have lots of time when I am not at work... but doing work (email, class prep, scheduling) that I am not getting paid for. In terms of my company, I almost never make more than a couple hundred dollars in profit, yet I spend most of the year in the red, paying for rehearsal space, costumes and makeup. (They only pay you after the gig.) Even when I do get paying gigs, they almost never pay enough money to compensate for time; just expenses.

What percentage of your clients pay are you entitled to or is that confidential information?
For my dance company, I rarely make a profit/compensation for my time, so I usually just pay the bills. My dancers don't get compensated unless we are going out of town for a paid gig, and in that case I bid for them to get a set amount, plus travel, room & board, and I charge extra for administration & booking fees. I would collect all additional profits, as it is my company & my choreography. When a different member of the troupe was managing, she took 10% of the total bid as her fee.

If you are teaching dance at a studio, you usually have to get a certain number of people through the door, for which you collect 30-40% of their class payment, and then, if your class is in high demand, you begin to make a higher percentage.
Some places will simply rent you the space, and allow you to take the money directly.

Do you have a large staff that works with you as a management team, and if yes, how do you accomplish your task through them?
Normally, I do the work myself. When we were planning more travel (and I was in grad school), I hired one of my company members to take on the job of booking our tour. For this, I gave her 10% of the bid, and paid her separately as a dancer. When a smaller gig comes through, I often have certain jobs delegated. For example, one member of the team is the Rehearsal Manager. It is her job to gather everyone's schedules and to pick rehearsal times, keep track of absences, and to keep everyone informed. Another job is Prop Manager; this person makes sure that we have all the equipment, props, makeup, etc. that we need for each performance. The Stage Manager keeps track of our interactions with the venue on the day of the event; including making sure we have water, space to change, a locked room for our belongings, correct lighting and sound. On the side of General Management, I collect all payments, keep the books, file the taxes, reimburse for uniforms (when there is profit), reserve and pay for rehearsal space, create promotional materials, etc.

How secure is the job? What happens when an athlete wants to change managers, gets cut from a team or retires?
It is not secure at all. There is plenty of work for me to make for myself, but there is no constant influx of payment.
As with most creative/athletic endeavors, the only way to have a consistent paycheck is via teaching, and even that is not very consistent when the state government is in financial upheaval.

For my dancers, they are all free to come and go as they please, since I am not able to pay them most of the time. For each event, I poll the pool of dancers to find out who has the time to be able to rehearse and perform. Most of my dancers also perform with other groups and have other full-time jobs or educational endeavors.

Can you recommend this career to up and coming students who are studying hard to be sports management?
Managing a dance company is a side project that I do because I enjoy the process. I love teaching, I love rehearsing, and I love choreographing. I deeply enjoy organizing, managing, and seeing projects through from beginning to end.
If a person is studying sports management because they love the sport, that may lead them down the path of enjoying this work, but loving the sport alone is not enough -- taking part in the sport is only a small percentage of the job. A great sports manager must love communicating, negotiating and helping others to achieve their goals.
Conversely, an athlete who prefers to work on their skills alone, who prefers to be directed and challenged by someone else, or a person who is passive (or passive aggressive) in confrontational situations is probably not going to be a good sports manager. Despite being in a position of authority, good management frequently involves putting one's own ego aside and helping your athletes and team to surpass you. Good management is about facilitating team success.

Thanksgiving at Jesse's!

2009-11-30T17:31:00.000-08:00

Steev, Me, my Mom, Jesse, Case (his godson), Layne & Peter (Case's Parents), Layne's Mom

BEST TURKEY EVER... okay; maybe the mythical one he made six years ago was as good, but this one had the most kick-ass stuffing EVER. Chestnuts & cherries & apricots and cranberries, oh my!
Plus, I'm proud because I made candied yams, roasted potatoes & brussels sprouts, and roasted green beans -- all at once, and got the timing right to prep, stick in oven, prep, add to oven, prep, stick in oven, pack salad makings, booze, etc. and DING! everything was ready! I didn't even singe anything, and it all tasted great! YAY I can be a grown up! Hee hee!
More pictures: http://www.holyzoo.com/000/images/holyzoo/2009/11-26-09_Thanksgiving1

ThanksChristmas!

2009-11-30T17:23:00.000-08:00

Since we're going to be on our Honeymoon for Christmas, we're getting it all in early!

This last weekend was freaking awesome; we had Thanksgiving with Jesse & then ThanksChristmas with Steev's family on Friday. On Saturday, we watched Buffy the Vampire Slayer; both the movie & the beginning of the series, clocking in at least 4 hours on the couch with the cats. WIN!
Sunday, Claire & Sarah came over for gingerbread-house decorating (OMG Sarah is the coolest friend! Thank you for your mad baking skillz!) and they even helped us decorate the tree & house for Christmas!

Full Thanks-Christmas photos are here (thank you Manfriend!): http://www.holyzoo.com/000/images/holyzoo/2009/11-27-09_Thanksgiving2/

Pretty Walks!

2009-11-30T17:15:00.000-08:00

Gary took us on his super-awesome hike up San Bruno Mountain. And when I say UP, I mean STRAIGHT UP. As in, we almost gave up 3/4 of the way up the hill! It was totally worth it to get to the top, though! Just in time for stunning sunsets & a bit of a rush down the hill, then delicious dinner with our fabulous friends. I love them!!!

More pictures here: http://www.holyzoo.com/000/images/holyzoo/2009/11-21-09_FeatherGaryHike

DENIALISM

2009-11-19T22:32:00.000-08:00

This is the sexiest thing ever. I freaking LOVE it when I hear this kind of talk. I can't wait to buy the book!

Listen to the Interview with the Author on Forum
Thu, Nov 19, 2009 -- 10:00 AM

'Denialism'
Author and journalist Michael Specter believes that public fear and skepticism of technological developments -- from vaccines to genetically modified foods to synthetic biology -- threaten to undermine scientific progress. He joins us in studio to discuss his new book, "Denialism."

The Grass is Always Greener...

2009-11-19T14:38:00.000-08:00

Sometimes, I love seeing the "other" celeb photos. This one is from a blog where they LOL celebrities. But the thing that interests me is that we're seeing the downside of the "ideal" body issue. Madonna looks amazingly fit at her age, there's no denying it. But... is that how we want to look in reality? Without the flashy lights and makeup and photoshop? Is it worth the restriction of food and obsession with working out and blah, blah, blah? So, when I see something like this, I like to take a moment for it to sink in. I don't want to be unhappy in order to look a certain way. And the grass will always be greener... And I don't want to look like Iggy Pop, either.
http://roflrazzi.com

LDG at SFMOMA

2009-11-03T11:14:00.001-08:00

curiosity
Originally uploaded by SFMOMA/OpenSpace

Yay for photographers at parties!

Denaya & I had a blast!

DV8 Physical Theater: 11/12-11/14 My FAVORITE dance company in SF!!!

2009-10-29T11:47:00.000-07:00

DV8 Physical Theater: 11/12-11/14
My FAVORITE contemporary dance company is coming; first time in 11 years!!!
I wrote a big paper about them in undergrad, and they greatly influenced my contemporary dance choreography.

I have never gotten to see them live and I am seriously considering seeing them more than once.
DV8 Physical Theater performs "To Be Straight With You" 11/12 - 11/14 YBCA in San Francisco!
http://www.ybca.org/tickets/production/view.aspx?id=9117

DV8 website with a randomly looping set of video clips (Gorgeous)

http://www.dv8.co.uk/

Trailer for "To Be Straight With You"

Sunday 11/8 - DV8 Video Screening

"These are
not documentations of performances, they are original films developed
for the camera. Program includes Enter Achilles, a funny, cruel
exploration of the male psyche; and the stunning Dead Dreams of
Monochrome Men, loosely based on the story of serial killer Dennis
Nilsen. (1996 & 1989, 95 min total running time, digital video)" (My dancer friends have probably all heard me talk about this video; it's a huge inspiration for me.)

Thursday 11/12 - Opening Night of "To Be Straight With You"

Friday 11/13 - Talk with the Choreographer, Lloyd Newson

- Live performance of "To Be Straight With You"

Saturday 11/14 - Video Screening of DV8's "The Cost of Living"

- Live performance of "To Be Straight With You"

I hope you can come!!!!

I think I will go on Thursday, and
maybe try to see the talk on Friday... I would love to go on Saturday,
to see "the Cost of Living" video first... hmm...

More info below!

Shoe Wraps

2009-10-23T16:01:00.000-07:00

Damn; another idea I could've made a billion dollars off of... well; at least now I can buy them!!!

SHOE WRAPS.
A small strap of cute fabric, with ribbon sewn to the ends. It wraps around the underside of your shoe to "tie the outfit together"... but also... it helps keep your heels on without them having to be tight. BRILLIANT.

Zombieland Review with David Templeton & I!

2009-10-18T18:15:00.001-07:00

This week I had the fabulous opportunity to go see Zombieland with film critic David Templeton.
Not only did we have a fabulous time at the movies, we also got to gnaw on raw fish afterwards & chat about our favorite parts.

The column is now on line at http://www.pacificsun.com/story.php?story_id=3419

The headline: Tripping the Dead Fantastic

David tells me that the print version comes with awesome pictures, too, so if you're in the North Bay of SF, pick up a hard copy!

"The print version of the paper includes a picture from Zombieland, a still from Dawn of the Dead (The Romero version, with the great caption: "Even George Romero didn't foresee Dawn of the Dead's influence on modern dance."), and a shot of you smiling beautifully as someone drips blood and guts on you (caption for that one: "We're guessing Amber Steele's dance rehearsals are pretty different from Martha Graham's.")."

Thanks, David! <3

Wedding Photos!!

2009-10-08T13:06:00.000-07:00

Alright; Neil Girling the official photographer, has posted our wedding photos!
He did such an awesome job!! YAY!!
http://theblight.net/09/as/

Also, if you haven't seen our compilation of our fabulous friends' photos,
here they are:
http://www.holyzoo.com/000/images/holyzoo/2009/09-12-09_Steev&Amber_Wedding!/

Thank you all so much for being there & making it the most spectacular day evar!!

Commitment

2009-10-06T15:58:00.001-07:00

Married People Advice

2009-10-06T15:49:00.000-07:00

My friend Feather is freaking awesome. So's her husband. I realize that I'm totally seeking out married people friends and more couple-friends time. Feather gave me a pretty good explanation of the couples-seeking-couples-for-frendship phenomenon. She explained it somewhat like this:

'When you get married to someone who deserves you and who you deserve, you're making a commitment to constantly be working on yourself. So you can't really afford to have friends who don't incite healthy behavior.'

Mmmm... juicy to think upon.

Superstar

2009-08-21T19:52:00.001-07:00

Superstar

Posted using ShareThis

Bacon Tuxedo Sucker Gift Box - Archie McPhee

2009-08-12T12:15:00.001-07:00

DEVON, THIS IS FOR YOU:
Bacon Tuxedo Sucker Gift Box - Archie McPhee

Shared via AddThis

Spellbound Puzzle Game!!

2009-07-11T14:44:00.000-07:00

My soon-to-be brother-in-law made a totally fun game for iPhone; it's like Scrabble crossed with little alpha-blocks, and I looooove it. Check it out online to support him, or you can add it to your iPhone from the Applications store, too!
http://www.wooglie.com/playgame.php?gameID=46

Vegan? Carnivore?

2009-06-23T11:14:00.000-07:00

Interview with me on Day of the Woman!

2009-06-17T21:43:00.000-07:00

Yay for young talent! The fantastic Brittney-Jade Colangelo's awesome blog,
Day of the Woman is featuring an interview with me about the Living Dead Girlz.

Since her blog is all about stand-up women in the horror genre, we talked a lot about being a role model to young women, which is my favorite subject. We also covered pop-irony and I discovered my inner Warhol. EW; I still feel dirty about that part!!

Zombie Neurobiology

2009-06-11T13:43:00.000-07:00

A Harvard Lecturer describes Zombie Neurobiology

Really; that teacher should be a Living Dead Girlz fan... I would totally send him schwag if someone found out contact info for him....

Pictures from the May 15th LDG Show!

2009-06-08T12:26:00.000-07:00

Many thanks to Jess for compiling such a fantastic article on our show, and to all the photographers, videographers & Hubba Hubba Members who made the show such a success!!!

Dr. Jess's Words:
Now that I'm collecting up media from both shows...it's time for picture/video posts!

So here we go...it's time for the eeeeevil Dr. Kingfish to WELCOME us to the ASYLUM!

Dr. Kingfish tells us:

"This here's a part of the asylum I VERY rarely go to...

...On-a-count-a down here ... deep in the basement of the asylum ...

...is where ahhhh keep my most dangerous inmates....now...girls....here's where I keep inmates I don't let the ... the general public see...

...Now girls .... stay close....it's not safe down here!

NOT SAFE! Down HERE!
with!...the......the LIVING DEAD GIRLZ!!!!"

**BITE**

**RAAARRRRRRRWWWRRRR**

**BOOOOOO**

**BRAINS**

**STITCHES**

Let's get a better look at those hot nursies....

***nom***

TASTY!!!!

Awww, yeah....BREAKING FREE!

Here's our ladies getting interviewed by Electric Playground, who also filmed our appearance in the SEGA House of the Dead Overkill Article this spring

...And some crowd shenanigans!

LET'S HERE IT FOR THE MURDER-NURSES ZOMG

Holy crap. These people are the fucking AWESOME.

So since you've been patient enough to look through the pics....I'm-a gonna give you the video!

Thank you to all the photographers and the random videographer, and the whole god damned awesome Hubba crew!!!!

Awww yeahhhh.

LIVING DEAD GIRLZ PERFORM TONIGHT!

2009-06-05T15:31:00.000-07:00

Hubba Hubba Revue presents The Living Dead Girlz in

ZOMBIE BEACH PARTY!

Friday, June 5th, 9PM

(Living Dead Girlz will be on between 11 & Midnight!

That's early for us!!!)

Nobody crashes a Wild, Wild Surf Party like a pack of brain-eating zombies!

Join The Living Dead Girlz and their kookie cast of beach-bums and beach-bunnies for a summertime send-up of sand and surf guaranteed to put the laughter in "slaughter!"

Haunted Surf Dance Party with DJ Sage!

Undead Beach-Wear Costume Contest (with Fabulous Prizes!)

Zombie Photo Booth by Johnny Electro!

Performing *Undead* on stage:

THE LIVING DEAD GIRLZ!

Sparkly Devil!

Honey Lawless!

Dottie Lux!

Cocoa Noir!

Professor Shimmy!

Lee Presson & Leslie Presley!

Calamity Lulu!

Honeysuckle Moses!

The Cheese-Puffs!

ZOMBIE BEACH PARTY!

Friday, June 5th, 9PM

DNA Lounge, 375 Eleventh Street, SF

$10, 21 & Up w/valid ID

($7 for Zombies and Surfers!)

See more stuff at:

www.hubbahubbarevue.com

HELP US SPREAD THE WORD FASTER THAN THE ZOMBIE VIRUS!

SAVE DNA LOUNGE!

The Genie in Genius

2009-05-08T15:58:00.000-07:00

Elizabeth Gilbert's talk on re-thinking the idea of genius.

"Don't be afraid. Don't be daunted. Just do your job. Continue to show up for your piece of it, whatever that might be.

If your job is to dance, do your dance. If the divine, cock-eyed genius assigned to your case decides to let some sort of wonderment be glimpsed for just one moment through your efforts, then Olé. And if not, do your dance anyhow, and.... Olé to you nonetheless, just for having the sheer human love and stubbornness to keep showing up."
- Elizabeth Gilbert

or click here:http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/453

How interesting... in this picture, she's making the sign for "Bliss" that I once saw a yoga guru use. :)

Zulu Update!

2009-03-29T12:38:00.000-07:00

Some of you know that Zulu has been super ill again, so here's the scoop:

He got to come home yesterday and is definitely feeling better today, but we have to see whether the "reset" from surgery makes the difference, or if the infection just takes over again. If that happens....

We suspect that he had an external injury (cat bite?) that got infected, and instead of the infection opening outwards as a boil/abscess, it opened inwards.
Surgery on Friday removed almost a liter of puss & puss-globs from his chest cavity, as though an abscess had burst inward. Cell analysis did not find any cells that would normally be present in the gut, so we don't think it was something he swallowed that worked its way out of his stomach into the cavity.
Hopefully now that his abdominal cavity is less of a giant abscess, he'll be able to fight the infection. He's on two broad-spectrum antibiotics.

He had two IV's, so both of his front legs were shaved, and how he's got little fur-boots on.
His surgery wound is HUGE... it goes from the top of his scar from the last gut surgery (4 inches) up to his rib cage, and is probably over 6 inches long. He's eating & digesting properly, drinking lots of water and getting tons of love.

Send kitty magical wishes, please!!

Please click & submit an auto-email - fund arts ed!

2009-03-25T21:26:00.000-07:00

PLEASE GO TO:
http://org2.democracyinaction.org/o/5155/t/1741/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=494
TO OPPOSE CUTS TO ARTS EDUCATION.

Ya just fill out your info & it auto sends to all your local reps & senator. Yay!
(You're helping keep me in a job!)

Amber's Classes on the Peninsula this Summer!

2009-03-18T21:32:00.000-07:00

This Summer, I will be teaching at Half Moon Bay through College of San Mateo, and also at Skyline College.

These classes are extremely cheap; only the cost of about two studio classes for the entire semester!
If you're not sure about being able to make it to all of the classes, you can always enroll as "credit/no credit," and then drop-in at your leisure. Also, please note that the MWF classes go until mid-August, but the T/Th classes only go until July 30th.

Monday, Wednesday, Friday -- College of San Mateo's Half Moon Bay Recreation Center

http://collegeofsanmateo.edu/enroll/personal.asp
All of these classes take place in the Half Moon Bay Recreation Center, Room: HMB-C106
June 22nd - August 14th

54258 FITN 334 HAH YOGA MWF 7:00 - 8:05a Units: 0.5

54259 FITN 335 HAH PILATES MWF 8:30 - 9:35a Units: 0.5

Tuesdays & Thursdays -- Skyline College

http://www.skylinecollege.edu/rsc/inc/flipbooksummerschdule09.html
(That's my Pilates Class in the picture on the front cover!)
All of these classes take place in the (very nice) dance studio, Building 3, Room 3201
June 22nd - July 30th

53054 FITN 335 B6 PILATES TTh 12:50 - 2:55p Units: 0.5

52268 FITN 334 K6 YOGA TTh 5:30 - 7:10p Units: 0.5

54113 DANC 350 K6 CARDIO DANCE TTh 7:25 - 9:30p Units: 0.5

I will be teaching this class as a Jazz class with a cardio-based warm-up.
The level is usually Beginning, with a few Intermediate folks. Each class is adapted to challenge the students in attendance!
If you've danced a lot or a little, I will help you work hard, laugh and DANCE.
My class will combine the sexiness, thrill, edge and funky sass of Commercial, Street, Vegas, and Thrash jazz styles. Movement will range from hard, sharp attacks to sultry, sexy glides with a bit of hip-hop thrown in.
The class will begin with a warm-up of isolations, stretching, abdominals to make you proud, across-the-floor movement, and a LOT of time is spent learning the combinations. Each class will finish with a combination focusing on body awareness, line and performance. Class is a great workout, and super-sexy!
Some of my rehearsals and choreography: http://www.youtube.com/user/SteeleDanceCompany

Please do invite your friends, and I hope to see you all this Summer!

--
Amber Steele
Director & Choreographer
Living Dead Girlz
Adunct Faculty - Physical Education & Dance
San Mateo Community Colleges

Bio:

Founder of the nationally acclaimed zombie dance theater troupe,
LIVING DEAD GIRLZ, Amber Steele has been onstage as an actress, singer and dancer since the age of ten. She is currently working on multiple projects merging dance, film and performance art.

Steele graduated from the University of California at Berkeley with a Double Major in Dance and Comparative Literature and completed her Master of Fine Arts in Choreography at Mills College. Her research focuses on technology's impact on bodies and body image in our voyeuristic, commercialized modern culture.

Steele toured Germany and performed at the Cannes Film Festival as the featured dancer in TRIP - Remix Your Experience, a multimedia exhibition of film, live music and art. Steele has also performed as a featured dancer for RJ Reynolds (CAMEL) promotional events and managed the go-go dancers of "Poor Impulse Control," who perform frequently in San Francisco's industrial, alternative, and rock venues.

Steele Dance Company provides live entertainment for festivals, corporate and private events. Steele handles artistic direction, storyline creation, rehearsal facilitation and choreography as well as teaching the company's master classes. Steele has been teaching dance classes and private lessons since 1997.

On Eating...

2009-02-22T20:49:00.000-08:00

One of my friends recently asked what folks do to practice counting calories.
I prefer to avoid activities which my obsessive side can breed anxiety out of, but I definitely have been working on a finessed way to eat luxuriously & gently.
Here are some of my favorite rituals around eating with gusto; without overdoing it.

(I once, at age 16, rationalized the Zone diet out of such proportion that I went from 145lbs to 185 in 2.5 months.)
So, for me, I need it to be extremely simple and, as a lover of fine tastes, very enjoyable.
I'm trying to rebuild my sense of serving proportions; here are my favorite tools:
1.) French Women Don't Get Fat Eating in Europe, even when drinking wine daily and having fancy meals and butter and creamy sauces... didn't make me gain weight. The culture of smaller portions and a light walk afterward totally did the trick without thought. I love - and can enjoy - idea of balancing what you eat over a week, rather than fostering a constant attitude of self-deprivation. Self-deprivation is about the most self-destructive, self-sabotaging attitude I can think of. A healthy body is something to be pleasurably tended, not "achieved."

2.) New Bowls
Japanese ceramic rice bowls. They hold about 1cup of liquid when full. Our normal bowls hold about 3 cups of liquid. It is MUCH easier for me to eat one bowl of cereal/dinner (and even allow myself sometimes to go back for another half bowl) than to try to gauge my hunger. I find that the number of servings I eat tends to remain the same, and it's easier & less stressful for me to control the size of the serving with a smaller bowl. I know some folks can fill their bowls half full, but I have trouble not serving too much.

3.) If I get the feeling that I've been overeating for a week, sometimes I try to "leave one bite." Funny how it seems tough, but after 3 days, I realize I'm eating with less compulsion to FINISH, and with more attention to how my feelings of satisfaction are. The entire process of eating becomes much more satisfying.

4.) Put your fork down between bites. It totally helps with being able to enjoy your food, digest better & sense your satisfaction.

5.) If possible, sit up straight while you eat. Making eating an active ritual of enjoyment can help with eating the right amount.

6.) Booze: I love booze, and I often choose it over dessert. I prefer wine or vodka. I stay away from over-sugary drinks. Club Soda has no calories (tonic does, but half of what is in coke), and a butt-ton of squeezed lime juice has ... what... ten? Go crazy with the fresh ingredients!! WHOOOT FLAVOR!

7.) I try to stay away from soda (coke, etc.) On the other hand, I do have a hard time drinking enough water, so I compromise & let myself have diet sprite/cherry soda rather than not drinking water. I try to just keep the water/aspartame in balance. But better aspartame than no water.

8.) I love sugar, but it needs respect & as little processing as possible. I try to stick with raw sugar in my hot drinks, honor & respect my desserts, and to steer clear of high fructose corn syrup at all costs (except for fake blood). That stuff is everywhere... even in freaking salad dressing. It's insane. Stupid government-funded overabundance of corn... we should run cars with it instead!

9.) Salad! Like crazy! Nothing makes my skin as nice as some baby spring greens every day. Seriously; that's my skin secret. No zits when I eat salad.

10.) Don't beat yourself up(see the French book on balance and ease)!! Stress causes your body to release cortisol, which tells your body to buckle down and protect itself from danger (i.e. famine). Permitting yourself to behave in a stressy manner about what you eat will prevent your body from using up your fat stores; in fact, you'll depress your immune system and store more fat.
Just be nice to yourself!!

<3

Favorite Bay Area Small Restaurant with Cool Decor?

2009-01-12T12:32:00.000-08:00

What's your favorite small restaurant (maybe serve up to 60/80 folks) in the Bay Area, reasonably priced, but with an awesome decor?

No, I don't strangle men betwixt my thighs.

2009-01-09T14:56:00.000-08:00

My mommy gave me a porn star name. My middle name's Nicole, and my xmas stocking from my granny says "Nikki" (apparently she was biased). That's right, AMBER NICOLE STEELE.
So, there have been an Amber Smith, a Nikki Steele...

I found out about the other Amber Steele when wondering what my high school students might find when googling me...

and OH HO HO... there are TWO AMBER STEELE's.
Me, and the body-building porn star who strangles men betwixt her thighs! and then I figured... well, shucks; I guess I look pretty prudish, compared to her.. ...Unfortunately, most of her images appear without heads!!

THIS IS NOT ME!!!

And here's where I need your help:
WE LISTED AS THE SAME ACTRESS on IMDB.

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1353085/

The film credits for "Retardead" and "Trip" are mine.

Unfortunately, when you google, you get this:
"Amber Steele
Actress: Totally Sexy Loser. Visit IMDb...."

PLEASE HELP! Separate me from the "Totally Sexy Loser" ?? Maybe with more requests, they will take notice? ACK.

Choice -

2008-12-12T16:36:00.000-08:00

A brilliant & funny radio show that discusses the benefits of choosing not to choose in the face of overwhelming variety, in order to not overwhelm the brain....
Which basically can only handle 7 variables at a time.

The best part is the sound effect of an evil voice saying, "CAAAAAAAAAAKE!"
... and the part about the watermelon with an anus.
Radiolab
Choice
By Radiolab
November 18, 2008

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood and… and… how the heck did you decide which one take? This hour, we explore Choice. Why do some people seem better at making decisions than others? Should you listen to your head or your heart? We turn up the volume on the voices in our heads and try to make sense of the babble. Forget free will, some important decisions could come down to a steaming cup of coffee.

World Zombie Day & LDG show in NYC!

2008-10-28T19:16:00.000-07:00

Well, everyone; here is the first batch of photos!

NYC was a blast; especially the zombie crawl! I heard that 400 zombies made it to the Beauty Bar for the romp to Union Square (where a Christian rock band was playing; I hope there is a picture of me eating his head somewhere)! Then Shannon and I went on to meet our AWESOME cast of extras (OMG thank you all SO much!!)

World Zombie Day NYC 2008

Group (me with brains face):

long shot

me:

large group (In the front from L-R are me (), Shannon , Autum (a Burning Angel & our co-host), and Doug Sakman of www.backseatconceptions.com, our host.

Zombie Rabbit (came with zombie Alice):

Zombie Nurse (she asked me for a picture for her friend who had dressed up as me for Halloween last year *blush*!!)

KNITTING FACTORY:

Our friend Chris (yay! Chris worked with us and took Shannon and I on our first trip ever to White Castle after the show):

Pizza Man Zombie:

Jack (our driver & played the bunny for us in Philly):

Doug doing a pulling:

HILLBILLY ZOMBIES (I hope there are more pictures of this!! So far this is all I have found... Natalie was great as the hick girl; she argued back and struggled and was scared and proud and awesome!!! Brent played the boyfriend and threatened her with the knife, and Justin was so freaking awesome as the drunk friend; he brought his own mustache, side burns and buck teeth!!! They both spent much of their free time pretending all of the props they could handle were their cock... we were hysterical with laughter!:
beers steers:

kill her:

VALENTANGO:

me crazy giggle:

scaring the goths

Shannon being dipped by me:

grab the dude (Oh, Brent; you were the dirtiest goth dude evah!! We loved you; I wish we had a picture of you LICKING THE ROSE! HA HA HA! And the ladies looked like they were going to pass out with the ecstasy of your flirtation! Natalie & Alicia; you guys were fantastic!):

remove intestines:

convince him it's not so bad without intestines:

me& shannon bone dance:

me smirk chair:

shannon chair:

me chair claw:

Shannon chair:

shannon chair:

me roar:

get on chair:

Shannon hump apple:

all first meal:

all first meal 2:

Alicia as zombie (OMG you were hilarious!! and an awesome zombie!!):

Natalie as zombie (you were so awesome!!):

Shannon eats intestine on back:

Shannon on floor leg kick:

Me close up scream/huh?

STRIP FOR PAIN:
dude gets nuts kicked by midget:

FUN:
shannon and I rarr pose:

shannon me doug & dude (nasau chainsaw?)

And there was so much more! There was a photobooth there; we're awaiting more pictures; and I have yet to upload my pictures... hurrah!!

September Beach Pictures!

2008-10-25T12:37:00.000-07:00

Some of my favorites from our weekend in Santa Cruz with Scott and Dena:

We took Manfriend for his very first pedicure:

Scott bonded with the magical accordionist:

Downtown:

CH-URKY!

2008-09-25T16:43:00.001-07:00

My Thesis Concert!

2008-09-22T17:22:00.000-07:00

I'm Singng with The Velvet Lillies 9/19/08 !

2008-09-12T16:04:00.001-07:00

For those of you that missed me at Monday's show, you still have another chance! I'll be singing with the Velvet Lillies, as well as some other surprises at the upcoming Hubba Hubba Revue!

Hallelujah! It's time for...

Hubba Hubba Revue: THAT OLDE TIME RELIGION!

*Baptismal Burlesque!
*Amazing Acts of Contrition!
*Holy-Rolling Comedy!

Friday, September 19th, 9PM at DNA Lounge!

AMEN, BROTHERS & SISTERS, AMEN!! The Honorable Kingfish T. Love, and The That-Boy-Ain't-Right
Reverend Eddie Dane, invite All Sinners & The Saved to an Ol' Timey Revival
Meeting loaded with laughs, thrills and the Best Burlesque this side of The Pearly
Gates!

It's a night of Evangelical Entertainment, with enough grinding, bumping and
Bible-Thumping to Banish Temptation and Heal the Sober!

COMEDY, BURLESQUE and SALVATION!! with:

Harlem Shake!
Alotta Boutte'!
The Vicar of Liquor!
Room for Cream!
The Velvet Lilies!
The Diamond Daggers!
Miss Balla Fire!
Madam Chartreuse!
Lady Satan!
Citty Rich!
Professor Shimmy!
Ariyana LeFay!
Kiss Me Kate!
Honey Lawless!
Your Little Chernobyl!
Riff Ditties!
Bunny Pistol!
Rubenesque Burlesque!
Gorilla X!

...and the Holy Hubba Dancers!

Live! On-Stage! Hymns of Sin & Whisky with THE GOMORRAN SOCIAL AID & PLEASURE
CLUB!

APOSTATE DISCOUNT! From 9PM to 9:30PM, only at the box office night-of-show, tickets
are just $10!

Free dance lessons upstairs, 9:30 - 10:00PM, by the Ministry of Swing Goth!

Hubba Hubba Revue: THAT OL' TIME RELIGION!
Friday, September 19th, 9PM
DNA Lounge, 375 Eleventh Street, SF
$15, 21 & Up w/valid ID
($12 advance tickets at www.dnalounge.com )

See more at www.hubbahubbarevue.com

HELP SPREAD THE GOOD WORD, Y'ALL!

HUBBA HUBBA REVUE is brought to you by:

Effen Vodka! Fernet Branca! Anheuser-Busch! Costume Party! Dark Garden Corsetry!

Mad Gardening Skillz

2008-09-03T15:04:00.001-07:00

Look What I did!!! These are my first tomatoes (there was one more, but the squirrels ate it). They are super sweet!

I am totally loving work; and especially the yoga and pilates classes. Who knew? I think I enjoy most the actual act of teaching in those classes; I get to give lots of individual feedback, and feel excited about new challenges that are presented by having different levels, genders and bodies in my classes.

Last week, I auditioned for the fitness club in town, which wanted me to not actually teach dance, but instead to nearly-abusively boot-camp people to a beat, and call it Cardio Dance. Yowch. Cardio is not supposed to be violent on the body, and that's what they wanted. I'm glad to pass.

The hip hop class hasn't started yet, and so I'll be going to the high school on Friday morning to meed the students in the hopes that seeing my face will make it more appealing/inviting to them.

As for performances, this month I'll be singing twice as part of the Velvet Lilies, with Djinnaya, Whitney & our awesome saw player, Amy Zing. Special guest Nathan will help us with our act, and we'll be performing at the Uptown in Oakland (probably around 11:00pm) on September 8th and at the DNA Lounge at Hubba Hubba on September 19th (after midnight).

It's shaping up to be a fun month!

Pet Peeves.

2008-08-28T23:24:00.000-07:00

Kati just sent me a meme, and since she's special, I filled it out.

One of the questions was, "What characteristic do you hate the most?"

My answer: self-destructive behavior masquerading as piety.
It makes me stabby.

How about you?

Lactase... fickle bastard allele

2008-08-16T14:16:00.000-07:00

Dear Mrs. Intarweb-Science;

Prior to the domestication of cattle about 8,000 years ago, humans had access to lactose only when they were young and nursing. As a result, the gene that allows us to digest lactose (called lactase) typically gets shut off during childhood, and stays off for the rest of human life.

I hear people say sometimes that they have become lactose intolerant.

This is apparently what happens after nursing, if you don't have the magic "lactase allele" of the white people who bred cows.

Oh; wait... or you could have this new lactase allele that the Tanzanians & Kenyans have recently developed... in fact; you probably recently starved to death if you didn't, because everyone who does have this allele has a huge amount of genetic similarity.

OH oH; no wait... there are other people in the universe who don't have either, and yet aren't lactose intolerant. (Science isn't just the truth of white folks?? gee!)

So; I'm a believer in evolution, and I think it's really exciting that there might be a really strong example of the process of selection happening in humans. But here's where I'm confused. If an ability/disability to eat something is not so much based on what is going on in your gut (I know folks who stopped eating milk for two years and then developed lactose intolerance), how does that mesh with the genetic description? I have trouble understanding how genes suddenly "turn off" -- or is it just an aging thing?

How have these discoveries not disproved the relationship between lactose and a billion different factors? If having one of many lactase alleles can keep your lactose intolerance from "turning on" after nursing, how does this happen at a random time later in one's life? And what the hell does "turning off/turning on" mean? If a bunch of different alleles can cause lactose tolerance to remain active, why do they think it's a gene and not the state of one's intestines? How do some people become lactose tolerant again by re-populating their guts with the right enzymes? Can you turn the gene back once it has flipped?

LIVING DEAD GIRLZ PERFORM THIS FRIDAY 8/15/08!

2008-08-12T12:45:00.000-07:00

Hubba Hubba Revue: CREEPSHOW PEEPSHOW!

*Blood-Curdling Burlesque!
*Shocking Act of Comedy!
*Terror, Madness & Gore!

Friday, August 15th, 9PM at DNA Lounge!

Hubba Hubba Revue's murder-lovin', chainsaw-totin', no-account country-cousins,
CREEPSHOW PEEPSHOW, are back for another spine-chilling night of TERROR-RIFFIC burlesque, KILLER comedy, and all the fun you can have locked-up in a backwoods insane-asylum swarming with BLOODTHIRSTY FREAKS!

COMEDY! BURLESQUE! VARIETY & HORROR! with:

The Living Dead Girlz!
Calamity Lulu & Comrade Tang!
The Twilight Vixen Revue!
The Cheese Puffs!
Bunny Pistol!
Roxy Shocks & Jonny Angelhorn!
Meka La Creme!
Sparkly Devil & Ruby White!
Citty Rich!
Sahara Dunes!
Your Little Chernobyl!
The Flying Fox!
Dark Garden Corsetry!
Sister Kate!
Josie Starre!
Dottie Lux!
Professor Shimmy!
Gorilla X!
...and the CREEPSHOW PEEPSHOW Dancers!

Live! On-Stage! Sultry Songs from Satan's Siren, DEVIL DOLL!

..

..

CITYSLICKER DISCOUNT! From 9PM to 9:30PM, only at the box office night-of-show,
tickets are just $10!

Free (EVIL!) dance lessons upstairs, 9:30 - 10:00PM by (EVIL!) Brian from Swing Goth!

Special 10PM screening of VAL KILLMORE's horror-comedy masterpiece: THE TERROR OF TITTY TOWN!! (@ 15 min)

Hubba Hubba Revue: CREEPSHOW PEEPSHOW!
Friday, August 15th, 9PM
DNA Lounge, 375 Eleventh Street, SF
$15, 21 & Up w/valid ID
($12 advance tickets at dnalounge. com)

See more at hubbahubbarevue. com!

HELP SPREAD THE WORD, Y'ALL! (Alllllways room for one more! Heh heh heh heh hehhhhh... )

HUBBA HUBBA REVUE is brought to you by: Effen Vodka! Fernet Branca! Anheuser-Busch! Costume Party! Dark Garden Corsetry!

Feb 13th is Love is the Movement Day!

2008-02-12T21:20:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow, I will be writing the word LOVE on my arm to help

spread awareness about depression and self-harm in young women.

So many women I have known in my life have suffered so much, and

used self-harm as a coping mechanism. I want people to better

understand what these women have experienced, and to show them

support and love by writing LOVE on my arm. Self-harm is often

glamorized or glossed over in the media today. In my opinion,

Eating Disorders are another form of self-harm as a coping

mechanism. I don't want to be part of the problem of ignoring

women's suffering. Every woman deserves love and support, and

to not have to feel so alone.

You are important, and you are loved.

LOVE IS THE MOVEMENT

During the time of year that suicide rates are at their highest,

we chose February 13, the day before Valentine's Day, as our

opportunity to start showing people how much they are loved.

We will physically write the word LOVE on our arms (with a sharpie,

or whatever other ink suits you best). If someone asks you what it’s

for, tell them about TWLOHA. Tell them they are loved, that they are

important. And ask if you can write LOVE on their arm as a symbol of

that. Don't be afraid to reach out to those who need love, those who

you often walk right by every day. They need our care.

There is NO set time, there is NO set location. Where you are,

when you are there, speak out.

Stop the bleeding. Rescue is possible.

The truth is that according to the World Health Organization,

depression is one of the leading causes of disability, with

approximately 121 million people suffering with depression

worldwide. The National Institute of Mental Health states that

approximately 18 million people suffer from depression in America

alone. Depression does not discriminate across age, race, gender,

or class. Among teenagers it is estimated that 20 percent will suffer

from depression at some point by the time they reach adulthood. There

are also as many as 8.3 percent of teens suffering from depression for

at least a year at a time, compared to 5.3 percent of the general

population.

Insprired by the work of TWLOHA (To Write Love On Her Arms),

an organization created to spread awareness for teen depression,

self-injury, and suicide, we are coming together to make sure the

whole world knows. We are not directly affiliated with TWOLHA, but

are in great support of their work To find out more about TWLOHA

visit their Facebook Group here:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/To-Write-Love-On-Her-Arms/8529136956

More info on self-injury: http://www.twloha.com/facts.php

Referrals, information, support: http://www.selfinjury.com/index.html

Valid Self Endorsement

2008-02-01T02:43:00.000-08:00

I am proud of myself.

It's 2:46 in the morning. I went out to celebrate my year since quitting (no puffs, no serious reconsiderations, only some nostalgia that in no way stood up to emotional or rational logic). I danced with the lovely Jess, I saw an old friend whom I met in '95. I re-met a lovely lady whom I suspected was quite cool, and we re-connected, clearing up some assumptions and re-affirming other assumptions about her being smart and a pleasure to talk with.

And then I came home to manfriend, who was brushing his teeth after falling asleep with our kittonz on the couch. He's in bed right now, warming our snuggletown.
And I am eating a quesadilla and feeling proud.
I am proud of myself.
I am proud to be the kind of person that, 13 years later, someone can re-meet and have an enjoyable conversation with.
I am proud to be a nonsmoker.
I am proud to be a good dancer.
I am proud to be a friend of a wonderful PhD psychologist who is funny, brilliant, dedicated, caring, kind, and has morals that I also feel passionate about.
I am proud to be happy with my body.
I am proud to have worked through my issues to the point where I can say and feel and be clear with myself about my emotional needs.
I am proud to admit that I want to be loved, and I am proud to be able to not settle for affection that requires me to humiliate or degrade myself.
I am proud to be loved in a way that makes me feel like I can demand respect.
I am proud that I can unify this feeling with my desire to please people -- so that both can work in harmony to help me be a happier person.
I am proud to understand, integrally, that I deserve to be HAPPY and LOVED.
I a incredibly, humble-ly greatful to be engaged to a man who gives me love, humor, respect, tenderness, and passionate appreciation for being who I am.
I am proud to see the difference between a sexy woman and a desperate teenager. (FINALLY)
I am proud to wait at crosswalks because my dad told me that he never J-walks when I was 18.
I am proud to be appreciated by my peers for being funny and goofy and lighthearted.
I am VERY proud to be appreciated by my peers for being a woman of my word.
I am proud to be sought out by my peers who, years ago, were put off by my loud personality, and now trust me for my longstanding presence, reliability and accomplishments.
I am proud to be able to create choreography super-quickly.
I am proud to be at the "just needs a wee bit of polishing" stage in my thesis writing.
I am proud to be completely confident that I will be graduating in 3 months and 17 days with my MFA.
I am proud to be who I am.
I am proud to be loved by such a talented, gracious, kind and brilliant man.
I am proud to have raised such amazing kittons with Steev.
I am proud to have friendships over ten years old, despite having moved so much in my youth.
I am proud that my mother is proud of me.
I am proud to have written the longest thesis in my class.
I am proud to create the work that I create; even when I am not sure that I am proud of the work.
I am proud to have an audacious and refreshingly unusual sense of humor.
I am proud that I sing songs that I make up, often by covering another song with invented lyrics.
I am proud of my singing abilities.
I am proud of my listening abilities.
I am proud of my emotional boundaries (even when it is hard/disappointing to enforce them.)
I am proud of my newfound cooking skills -- REALLY. I am impresing myself! WHOOT!
I am proud to make friends with folks of all types.
I am proud to enjoy the company of my wonderful carpool, Ann, whose cheeriness is inspiring.
I am proud to be honest with myself about my shortcomings.
I am proud to have grasped the idea that privacy is valuable.
I am proud to be able to write a list of appreciation for myself.
I am proud to be smart.
I am proud to know better than to listen to people's opinions about me when they are in the process of feeling scared or hurt -- not without a grain of salt.
I am proud to be capable of recognizing people who -- even when they are scared or hurt -- reflect their point of view to me in a constructive manner.
I a proud to be with someone who communicates at least as well as I do.
I am proud to be with a man who is greatful for the mental/emotional work that I have accomplished.
I am proud to have a wonderful bed to go home to...
RIGHT NOW.
THANK you, all you wonderful thing couldn't help.
I am proud to be with a man who smiles when he sees me at the end of the day; a man who tells m me what his wants and needs are, and who does a whole buncha buncha buncha what he can to help me acheive my goals.
I am proud to have found and founded a home for my family life.
I am proud to be at a place in my life where I feel totally secure in not going through any severe hardgsips to that you se coming....

It's My FIRST NONSMOKING BIRTHDAY!!!!

2008-01-31T21:28:00.000-08:00

Yup.
Today is it.
I quit smoking a year ago.
I did it. I made it a whole year. And it wasn't too bad.

And I know that I can never ever have just one puff. I know that I can never be a casual smoker or a social smoker or a once in a while smoker. I used to smoke near a pack a day for about ... 12-14 years.... And now I am a nonsmoker.

And it's totally rad. I smell good. That's the big thing. I don't have a habit that is semi-embarrassing in public (not that I approve of the current moral demonization of smoking). I don't feel like I breathe better (I was already in good shape), but I do enjoy not having a gross-sounding cough. Mostly, though, it's my vanity on the good smell that makes me the happiest. :) I am totally okay with being a non-smoker for vanity's sake. Whatever it takes to get me here.

Ironically, this morning I realized that my hair smelled like cigarettes from being around it yesterday, and when I got home there was a very fancy advertisement package from Camel in the mail.

Hee hee.
All that extra munies. (It all goes to clothes).
Hee hee!
WHOOT! CONGRATULATIONS ME!!!

The Smarts of the Interwebs

2008-01-18T15:05:00.000-08:00

Wow. I am sitting here at my desk, NOT working on my thesis, and it's OKAY. It's okay because last night I finished and turned in my reworked draft to my second reader; much of which had undergone two rewrites.
This means that I have one more rewrite to do, plus fancy formatting stuffs. Like... I am kinda done doing the bulk of my written thesis. Which means that I might have the Brain to make a cool concert thesis. And I will only be taking about.. oh... say 60% of the load that I had last semester. JESUS. Holy Crap. The horizon is visible.

From the intardwebs, articles that appeal to my skeptical inner hippy, thanks to many lj buddies:

Morality, as I see it and science now is confirming

exersize mostly just makes you feel better, unless you're sedentary.

Freaking Bionic eyes. Can I has PLZ??

Dance-A-Thon on Saturday! Whoot!

2008-01-07T17:40:00.000-08:00

DANCE-A-THON for ShoeBox Studio & CARE.org!
Saturday, January 12, 2008
On January 12th, from 10AM-8PM, every ShoeBox class will be offered in a 30-45 minute sample format. Classes will run back to back as a "marathon".

This is a great opportunity to try out a bunch of different teachers and mini-classes (my class is at 12:30), as well as supporting your community! See you there!
http://www.shoeboxsf.com/

Dancers who would like to dance but not collect pledges may still participate by simply making a $12-20 sliding scale donation at the door.

The schedule as it stands so far:
(please check here for updated schedule )

10-10:30 - Warm Up Pilates w/ Christopher
10:30-11 - Contemporary w/ Sara Templeton
11-11:45 - Dark Fusion Bellydance w/ Ariellah
12-12:30 - Funk Fusion Bellydance w/ Cera
12:30-1 - Street Jazz w/ Amber
1-1:30 - Yoga Conditioning for Dancers w/ Ariellah (?)
1:30-2:15 - Afro-Samba w/ Dandara
2:15-3 EITHER Afro-Caribbean w/ Virginia or Tribal Fusion Drills & Basics w/ Gibson Pearl
3-3:45 - Modenco w/ Carole
3:45-4:15 - Pilates w/ Michelle
4:15 - 5 - Hip Hop Fusion w/ Sarah
5-5:30 - Contemporary w/ Sara Templeton
5:30-6:15 - Flamenco w/ Carolina
6:15-7 - Afro-Caribbean w/ Virginia
7-7:30 - Tribal Fusion Drills & Basics w/ Gibson Pearl
7:30-8:15 - Funk Fusion w/ Cera
8:15-8:30 - Cool Down

Christmas! Dancing! Kittons! cookies!

2007-12-19T16:59:00.001-08:00

I took my first ODC class today, with Mary Carbonara; it was super fun and nice, and I did a good job on my first day there (second day of combo). Sonya made a good recommendation by suggesting I take from her. hoo-rah. And... WTF? pregnant! hmm... something about dance teachers being preggo these days; I best be careful!
kitties are plenty!

In other news: my friend Kati saw her little jelly-bean with arms and legs' heartbeat yesterday. Wow! I get to be an aunty!!! I hope hope hope I get to be there for the birth.... I know it's hard to plan these things, but I totally wanna see it, and hold her hand and give her hugs, and scream for her. heee

So... christmas plans for you? We got tree #2 last night; it needed to be re-drilled, otherwise it was about 40 degrees from straight. hee hee. it smells lovely. I wanna bake cookies!

Performance Tomorrow night!

2007-12-13T18:51:00.000-08:00

Thanks to Jess for the initial posting!

We get to perform in the very first Shoebox Studio's student showcase coming up this Friday!

Our own darling Cera is the owner and operator of this awesome dance studio, and it's a great place to shake or stretch it.

I am dancing with Jess and another student (or more?) in the culmination of my Street Jazz Performance Workshop, which was the most fun to teach evarr. I had so many great students who worked super hard and made me squeal with appreciative joy!! YAY HOT LADIES DANCIN'!!

Lovely Miss Sheila is dancing with Cera in the Funk Fusion Bellydance group!

Here's the site's copy:

Shoebox's First Student Showcase!

Friday, December 14, 2007

Join us for our first Student Showcase, where you will get a chance to see what your friends have been working on in all of our Winter Performance Workshops!

There will be performances in: Afro-Samba, Bellydance, Hip Hop Fusion, Turkish Roman, Street Jazz

WHERE: The Garage,
975 Howard St. between 5th and 6th
WHEN: December 14th, 8pm
Cost: $10

There are 50 seats available. PLEASE click below to buy your tickets now! Please list your first and last name in the "comments" section of your purchase. Thanks! (If we have an overwhelming response for tickets, we will do our best to add a 9pm show. As soon as we sell out, we will stop ticket sales on the website.)
You can get tickets on the site here.

I am super excited to be performing NOT in zombie makeup, and for the sheer joy of it. BOO YA!! Come and join us!

Kitten Karma

2007-10-19T16:11:00.000-07:00

Please forward my kitten karma by helping with a click...

This is pretty simple.. Please tell ten friends to tell ten more today! The Animal Rescue Site is having trouble getting enough people to click on it daily to meet their quota of getting free food donated every day to abused and neglected animals. It takes less than a minute to go to their site and click on "feed an animal in need" for free. It's in a purple box in the middle of the page. This doesn't cost you a thing. Their corporate sponsors/advertisers use the number of daily visits to donate food to abandoned/neglected animals in exchange for advertising.

Here's the web site! Pass it along to people you know.
http://www.theanimalrescuesite.com/clickToGive/home.faces?siteId=3

Thanks for caring!!

Newfound friends at Comic Con & Warren Ellis Shows Love!!

2007-08-07T11:48:00.000-07:00

So, while Living Dead Girlz were at Comic Con, we were hanging out with some awesome folks, including George Romero himself, his super cool Director of Photography for the 30th Anniversary of Night of the Living Dead Documentary, Robert, Chris, Romero's manager, the wonderful William Christensen, Editor in Chief of Avatar Press, Dheeraj Verma, an amazing artist for Avatar, and more wonderful peeps, including Mikey, who drove a bunch of our stuff home; YAY Mikey!!

We befriended some amazing people, including:

Brian Pulido, the author of the Lady Death comic book series (as well as many others, film festival and movie director... wow.. I just found his bio and it speaks for itself, really. He's an excellent guy, lovely to have dinner with; especially when he and Jacen talk about their future comic book idea... let's just say that it's tentatively called "WRONG." Imagine the dinner-inappropriate conversation, and how at home we zombie girlz felt! <3 <3

Jacen Burrows, is our new favorite illustrator, he's awesome at zombies and is gonna draw us! Jacen was totally wonderful, cheery, hilarious and a pleasure to hang out with all weekend. We're threatening to all come over to his house in the midwest and hide when the apocalypse happens. He illustrates for our host Avatar Press, (we love you, William!) doing work on Chronicles of Wormwood with Garth Ennis and drawing covers for George A. Romero's Night of the Living Dead prequel series as well as John Russo's Escape of the Living Dead and Black Gas 2 with writer Warren Ellis. Holy CRAP. I just was poking around his website and saw that he did some of the illustrations for Grand Theft Auto San Andreas & Vice City. And he's our fan. And he drawz us good... eeeeeeep! **brain explodes**

and Warren Ellis, who loves choco ginger nut biscuits like I do. I must admit, I didn't realize that Warren Ellis was going to be at the table with us for most of the weekend. When I first walked up, my little undead heart skipped a starstruck beat. (And that is RARE; undead hearts not beating and all.) For those of you who don't recognize the name; he's the author of ( among other books & graphic novels,) TRANSMETROPOLITAN, the graphic novel that inspired my love of Hunter S. Thompson and thereby inspired my blog writings for the first year. He's lovely, and I had loads of fun hanging out with him for the day and chatting about British cookies. He is, however, doomed to letting us drag him out for drinks in the future, since we didn't get to this time.

And then, as if he weren't totally awesome enough, he went and posted our demo reel in his blog. Now I've got to buy him a drink!
YAY WARREN!! <3

There was lots of mayhem, as you'd imagine, but I'll leave those stories and pictures for S.W.A.T. Zombie's more amusing writing skillz... The gallery is a-growing!!!

All in all, it was an exhausting (even for the reanimated) but fun weekend. Much love for the Avatar Press folks, and especially to our dear Doctor Zombie, who splurged on the hotel room that we couldn't afford ourselves (convention prices; OUCH!), thereby saving us from covering Cowgirl Zombie's Aunt's house in zombie gore.
Not performing and not having space for our own merch did permit some misunderstandings, unfortunately... folks seemed to mistake us for hired models who were just there to be pretty instead of guests with talent and products of our own. Sometimes that causes mistreatment of zombies by the masses. As I said in an email recently, we prefer to be treated like LADIES.

Stay Tuned for the pictures!!!

YoLaLa fills me with GLEE!!!

2007-08-02T14:51:00.000-07:00

I love yolala.org!

*BLUSH*
HOORAY FOR THOMAS!!!

A while back, I posted about finding the French hip hop song that I loved, and Thomas of yolala.org found my post and invited me to listen to his podcast. About 30 hours of pure listening joy later, I listened to this month's yolala podcast, which made me squeal and blush with glee!

THANK YOU, THOMAS!!!

And check out YoLaLa!
It's a webcast about French Hip Hop for Anglophones; Thomas explains, in English, what the French hip hop scene is about; what the lyrics mean, what the historical context is, both in terms of the rap scene and current events... it is fascinating, and great music.

I just realized...

2007-07-24T09:56:00.000-07:00

... I am booked for the next YEAR.

We're leaving for ComiCon (San Diego) tomorrow, then we come home and I go back to full time work and we shoot our music video parody for the next two weekends, then I stop working on August 10th and fly to do Maid of Honor stuff in Maryland, then I return and have a week and a half before school starts to do the first chapter of my thesis, an outline, and 5 minutes of choreography for my thesis project.

Then full time school starts, and my carpool was posting for a room in Oakland, which could add 2+ hours of commuting to my days... she hasn't said anything about it, though, so who knows what that means. ****waves hands in air frantically****

Plus LDG shows on 9/28 (San Francisco), 10/4 (Oakland), 10/25 (Milwaukee), and helping Kati with wedding stuff...

**HEAD EXPLODES**

eep.

Have I mentioned?

2007-07-19T15:41:00.001-07:00

How much I love and appreciate the lovely people in my life?

Jessica, Me & My Perfect Man

You make me all warm and fuzzy inside.
Thank you!!

How could I not totally adore this man?

2007-07-19T14:59:00.001-07:00

GET WELL SOON, SEBBY!

2007-06-29T16:36:00.000-07:00

Everyone please send magical wishes of get well to my god-kitty,
Prince Sebastian Faust Ragnarok of the Royal Ragnaroks.
I made a comic in honor of his awesome.

I'm teaching STREET JAZZ!

2007-06-25T15:06:00.000-07:00

I will be teaching my first open classes beginning in July. The classes will be super-intimate, in a small, warm studio. Please join me!

Wear comfortable clothes (no jeans, please), and be ready to sweat and let your inner rock star out!

ShoeBox Studio is on Market between 6th and 7th Streets, Civic Center BART

CHECK OUT ALL OF THE OTHER GREAT CLASSES, TOO!
Shoebox was started by my dear lady, Cera, and I'm so proud of her! Whoot! Support the dancin' ladies!

more sweet, sweet goodness

2007-06-19T01:07:00.000-07:00

If you haven't heard Steev & my big news from just before labor day, please call!
I've told most folks, but I'm delaying posting the goo percause it is nice to share it in person!

getting frenchy

2007-06-19T00:46:00.000-07:00

(currently listening to french hip hop and drinking french wine, occasionally getting up to try choreographing while in Kansas Briefs, H&M German halter top and sneakers. Zoe would laugh at me... and ask me where my heels are!)

I like this rose:

mas de gourgonnier
Les Baux de Provence
Appellation les Beaux de Provence Controlee
2005
Imported by North Berkeley Imports

hee hee; Berkeley. Amusing, non? After like 10 bottles of rose that were sad and disappointing, I finally found one that wasn't sweet and yet still tastes of berries. Next stop: the spiciness that was in the rose's that I had in France.

The Frenchman at Cafe Couleur told me right: the French don't export their rose; they keep it for themselves. The safest way to go is to look for rose's from Cote de Provence (there were none at BevMo), but Beux de Provence is pretty damn close.

YAY.
SCREW the American selections.
I WILL conquer the importing doom and find the yum.

love
me

PS: feel free to bring me more of it! I just finished it :(

PPS: in the Midwest, you can find size 8 in cute stuff, because they actually stock higher sizes (I'm talking cute underwear, ladies), so everyone my size and bigger doesn't have to buy my size and leave it sold out.
Consequently, I went to 2 WalMarts and bought about oh... 30 pairs of cute undies.
THANK YOU, KANSAS.

Also, I love french hip hop and this is my long-lost favorite french hip-hop video:

Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeessse??

2007-06-18T17:12:00.000-07:00

Glow-in-the-Dark

Flesh Eating

Zombies Play Set

Wreak havoc on your sister's precious diorama with this Flesh Eating Zombie Play Set! Each set includes nine 1" to 3.25" tall, hard vinyl zombies, complete with blank stares, gaping mouths, open wounds and missing limbs! Turn off the lights and they glow! Fantastic undead fun for the whole family!

Glow-in-the-Dark Flesh Eating Zombies Play Set

item 11739

$14.95 ea.

Housewarming?

2007-05-31T15:33:00.000-07:00

Dear Friends....

If you are up for housewarming, but wanna help with date choice (it will be either the 9th or 10th), there is a poll up on my livejournal

Steev and I will be welcoming folks to our apartment, and sharing our news... FREAKING YAY!!!

LDG SHOW TONIGHT!!!

2007-05-31T13:36:00.000-07:00

COME SEE US TONIGHT, at Hole In The Head's benefit/Launch party at the DNA, along with Me First and the Gimme Gimmes and The Rock n' Roll Adventure Kids and Hole in the Head short films!

Indiefest has SOLD OUT of their advance tickets to the show.

There still should be some available on the DNA site, but if you are planning on coming, buy them now--do not wait to get them at the door, as they may sell out!

SWAT Zombie says: I am SO proud of us. One week ago, we had two extras to cast and train, and parts of the routine to reconfigure for different partnering, and now it is DONE, and we are ready to rock.
Our own Ariyana La Fey shall be stepping in, as well as Spencer, a friend of Whit's with stage and dance experience and who is turning out pretty awesomely. THANKS TO BOTH OF YOU.
Things, they come together.

I think Groovie Ghoulies had to cancel, unfortunately, but Me First! OMG! I finally get to see them, and we're performing right before them!
We're in between the two bands.
We have to do a DRY show. So get as close as you like...

Copy Store PTSD

2007-05-17T15:32:00.000-07:00

I think I am developing copy center PTSD.

I do NOT recommend the Kinko's/FedEx on Market and Duboce.

The dude behind the counter last night took near a half hour to process 3 ground domestic packages.
Stupid questions, poking the touch screen one finger at a time, even though there was a keyboard, asking me if they're going to the same place when I've just filled out the forms in front of him, giving me an international slip, but then not giving me the international customs form.
Meanwhile, a huge line has formed, they let someone go home, and other dude -who abanndonned helping me to put paper in a printer for ANOTHER employee- is standing around doing nothing. My dude processed the DVD to Canada and said, "That'll be $54." This is the cheapest price, because "they don't carry the customs forms for ground shipping."

I don't know; I think $54 must be for the excellent service, OBVIOUSLY.
I said, "NO thank you; I will go to the post office and pay $3."

He said; "it's a bit expensive."
I said softly, chuckingly, "it's fuckin' bullshit," in the way that, normally, folks behind the counter agree with you and say, "yeah; I KNOW," and bond with you over an eyeroll. Not this guy, apparently.

He yelled in my face, "CUT OUT THE OBSCENITY OR I WILL HAVE YOU ESCORTED OUT OF HERE!!!!"

He then sent me to another counter where some other dude rang me up for a roll of tape, but not the envelope I had, so I had to go back again, cause I could imagine someone stopping me at the door; "THAT cussing woman just stole a 49 cent envelope!! GET HER!!!"

LAST time I went to a copy store, they lied about the kind of printers they had, printed things out substandardly for me and then charged me $70 for a job that they knew they couldn't do, but did anyway, to see if they could slip it by me.

Copy places, I hate you.

YAY BIRTHDAY!!!

2007-05-08T10:37:00.000-07:00

Thank you to everyone who has joined me for my birthday events!!
Being surrounded by loveywonderful folks is the bestestestestest thing ever in the whole entire world.

My dear London-living friend, Greg, asked me what sorta loot I've gotten so far:

Saturday:
I got Breakfast at Rudy's Can't Fail with Steev, Jesse, Valerie and Zak, then hours in the sun at the pool, then sushi dinner
with Jesse, Steev, Niki, Rhiannon, Mary, Melissa (those three are from school), Layne, Jessica, Meeks, Ramon...

I got hand-made truffles (OMG OMG thank you Niki's housemate Theresa!!), "lip venom" from Nikki, which is this crazy lip gloss that's all ginger-spicey and makes your lips sorta burn and swell..... it's sorta creeepy. .. but it's tasty and sparkley; how can I not love it?!

I got flowers picked from my friend Nadya's yard (they're making my whole apartment smell like jasmine right now), and she organized with the
DNA lounge that I got a booth for my party when I got there (which was
awesome, 'cause then we could all leave our stuff there safely and
have seats when we wanted; hurrah!!),
THANK YOU, DNA FOLKS!!! YOU MAKE MY HEART ALL WARM AND FUZZY!!

And, of course, drinks, which led me into some fantastic lip-sycning of New Wave tunes long into the night with Steev and Kenny....

A purse from Shannon that is green with a blingy crown on it (she says it's per'cause I'm the queen). It's AWESEOME.

Last night Steev took me to
FancyFancyFancyPantsy Bobo's Fillet Mignon Bone-In STEAK from heaven dinner, and he got me fancypants supercool designer shirt of awesome:

and another one, that is greenie bluey and purdy with a unicorn

And there's another birthday pressie, too!! But I'm saving it.
Tomorrow, he's taking me to see Teatro Zinzanni, and some of my
girlfriends are joining us; YAY!

So... um YEAH, my birthday ROCKS!!

Thank you, wonderous friends! Pictures in the near soon!!

Amber Events! Showings & Birthday!

2007-04-29T17:21:00.000-07:00

I am in my final week of the semester and my brain is exploding. And: Monday May 7th is My birthday! This means that for a brief time before I start working on my thesis this summer, I come out of hiding and get to spend lots of enjoyable time with my friends for a week or so. I miss you all! Please, call me, harrass me (after Friday)! If you can make it to any events, please do. Wednesday night should be a great show.
I wanna be having stuff for all of the next week, so brunches and going out on the weekends, etc. Also; housewarming chez Steev and Amber will now approach in the next couple of weeks. I miss you all!!

1. Weds May 2 11am-1pm Works in progress show
I have a solo piece, and all of the classes will be showing works

2. Weds May 2 6pm Live and Media Performance
I am doing 2 performances, and I am proud of them!! This class has performed a lot of really beautiful and interesting work. Please come and support!
I'm super excited, though about my Live and Media Performance class showing, same place, same day, but at 6pm.
I will be showing 2 intermedia pieces that night.

BIRTHDAY DEL AMBER
3. Saturday May 5th or May 12th? Weekend enjoyable birthday stuff...
I am sadly not sure whether the partying will be occurring this Saturday, May 5th, or next... probably both! I will get back to ya on that ASAP.

I've got an amazon wishlist up, if anyone is curiouso.

4. Some weeknight next week do folks wanna go to Teatro Zinzani?
What weeknight would you suggest?

The Showings are at Mills College,
In the Haas Pavilion, Studio 1 (first building on left)
Wednesday, May 2nd
5000 MacArthur Blvd.
Oakland, CA

Alternate route from San Francisco to Mills College

2007-04-29T17:09:00.000-07:00

Heya, folks; if anyone is coming from the city to Mills College, you have to avoid the breakdown now.

Here is an illustrated map of the breakdown:
http://tinyurl.com/2ge5bs
You have to detour if you are travelling from Berkeley to 880 OR if you are travelling from SF towards Walnut Creek/Mills College

If you are taking the bridge from SF to Mills, take the bridge to the East Bay, and get off at the first exit;
West Grand Ave, then
Right on Market,
Left on 18th
which becomes 17th
over the little overpassy
to North I-980, and then get back on I-580 as usual.

Here is the link to driving directions from SF to Mills College on googlemaps:

http://tinyurl.com/ypx3ql
(I couldn't get an exact start point on the google map, not having an
exact address, but the suggestion to take West Grand Ave is from the
Caltrans website.)

Samar is Adorable.

2007-03-22T17:47:00.000-07:00

Today I had a business meeting and decided that I must enjoy part of spring break (yesterday I spent inside doing load after load of musty, just-moved laundry). So I went to Zeitgeist and wrote my abstract for my final paper with sunshine, 2 margharitas and Samar. We shared a fantoozle cheeseburger, too.

Then I came home and delayed putting stuff away, and found this photo from our show at the DNA Lounge at the MEAT 5 Year Anniversary Party, which just goes to show how adorable, sweet and lovely she is:

Living Dead Girlz Chicago updates galore!

2007-03-21T12:44:00.000-07:00

Thanks to the prolifically fantastical Jess, there are LDG trip to Chicago catalogues galore!

Lots of pictures of us being jackass zombie rockstars... I love them!!!

Part I: http://community.livejournal.com/livingdeadgrlz/6781.html
Part II: http://community.livejournal.com/livingdeadgrlz/6944.html
Part III: http://community.livejournal.com/livingdeadgrlz/7218.html

Words Upon Request

2007-03-19T23:01:00.000-07:00

A week ago, I sent out the following email, and received the following responses. I thought I'd post them all here for everyone's amusement.... enjoy, and thank you. Although I actually did this for an assignment.... it sure does brighten a girl's day, lemmietellya.

"...please send me a reply of one word that you think of reguarding me. I'm doing an exercise which is not supposed to be emotional, and is abstract and direct, if that helps. I will think of movement that I randomly associate with the words." I alphabetized, but left in multiples.

amazing, awesome, blond, bold, bold, brilliant, charismatic, colorful, concerned, creative movement in motion, daring, daring, determined, determined, disciplined, driven, driven, effervescent, effervescent, feisty, feline, feral, fierce, fluid, funky, gone, honest, honey, hot, iconic, inspiring, inspiring, intuitive, kinetic, lava lamp, fluid like honey, love, love, muscle memory, playful, radiant, real, scramberlicious, serpentine, sexy, sociable, sparkle, sparkles, spirited, spunk, steely, hair sticks, strong, sultry, sultry, titsy, undead, vibrant, vivacious, voluptuous, warm

2007-02-20T09:48:00.000-08:00

I am going to Chicago at the end of this week with the Living Dead Girlz. I am excited about it. I'm also looking forward to a break in activity, really; two extra nights of not rehearsing will make me feel a lot less stressed, what with grad school breaking my brain and all. I hate hate hate being in a situation where I cannot finish everything assigned to me, and that will be true no matter what.

My ballet teacher asked me to switch out of the intermediate ballet class into the elementary class, which I think is a good thing, even though it hurt my ego at first. I'm really not good at ballet; I've really only taken a semester with a good teacher. At first, I was thinking that I would just do both; I can reasonably keep up with the intermediate class (after all, the teacher told me to come to it in the first place), but then someone asked me to listen to my body. My muscles all feel fine; I could easily take on about 5-10 more hours a week of dancing. But my knees have been feeling a bit... "funny". And that pretty much set the law down. I think that the chances are pretty high that my bad technique due to the speed of teaching in ballet class is causing me to not protect my knees.

Today I get to go work on a project for my choreography class with the theme "Surrealism." I brought a bunch of stuffed animals, (including Eric Kafka, the bear), a number of the pads I've pulled out of my bras (maybe to shove into my bra, crotch or just randomly into my leotard? Maybe onto my head somehow?

I went back to my old apartment again last night and watched some robot chicken with my housemate. It's a bit rough moving out, and also being in the city (and goddamnit, I totally feel myself having city-disease already... it's like some part of me is screaming that I've paid my commuting dues and i loathe the idea of trekking onto the BART, even though I know it's so easy). There are a couple of things that I noticed about being home.
1) my room is getting dusty from disuse
2) even though I moved there after the big upset of the breakup last year, it's smothered into that room; so much processing I did there... of course, it's also likely to come up because I sleep alone there.
3) dad processing.

I wake up alone in bed and realize that I've been having dreams/thoughts that switch back and forth between me telling either my father or John how horribly disappointing and hurtful their abandonnment of me feels/felt.
And it's weird, because I haven't wanted to bring it up with either of them; just wanted to let sleeping dogs lie, but they're both still around, and every once in a while they try to be involved with me; Dad sending me a friendly email but not making time to see me in 5 years; ex trying at the beginning and ending of the LDG show to get my attention and talk to me, even touching me. I'm just trying to avoid any involvement. I don't want to open the door to that cycle of opportunity for letdown.

I think maybe it's okay for me to go there and think about it. It feels like good processing. But it feels so much better to be in Steev's arms, held, protected, loved, needed, and that I can hold, love, protect and need him. That I can rely on him. It's so comforting that it just makes me want to curl up in his arms and my new apartment and cry for all that loss. But hasn't it been enough time? Christ. Anytime now, being done with mourning. It is not the same as it was, don't get me wrong. I'm not crying or freaking out. But that wound does still itch like a motherfucker under that scar tissue.

Leaving things behind. Blech.

And the thing that relates those moments of processing, I suppose, to the moving out from that apartment is that I really don't want to abandon Jesse. Maybe that's the connection.

This weekend, sick again by Sunday, Steev and I went to Jess' birthday party in the park, which was lovely, and had a weekend of Valentines. I wore a pretty dress, made scones on Saturday morning, brought him coffee from the shop downstairs, and hid valentines with connecting treasure-hunt hints all over the house. On Sunday we watched some Twin Peaks, and also we went to el Targay and generally took it easy. I figured out that the hour I wake up before him on the weekends is the perfect time for me to get some homework done, rather than extra snuggletime, to keep my head in check. It's nice, really; I go down to Starbuuuuckso and get coffee and come back upstairs and read/write papers. This weekend I accidentally spent 4 hours making LDG merchandising documents (I have to laugh at myself for that).
Monday we were both sick, so we marathon-watched Twin Peaks over a box of doughnuts. We even had to stop in the middle and go pick up the boxed set from Basil, since we finished season 1. It was lovely.

Saturday night, before we went to fancy late dinner at Absinthe (OMG, Samar... you have filled me with the Fanny Bay oysters, and now I can never go back!!) we went to go see smith/wymore's show, Disappearing Acts. I love love love going to shows with Steev; he totally thinks like I do; he watched the multimedia dance pieces and talked about the emotional messages and metaphors of the movement, tried to suss out what the contrast/connection between the duets was (were they the same couple at different times? different couples?)... my god. I love him. I am so appreciative that I am with someone who wants to discuss the art and film that we watch together; I love that he's passionate about it, that it invigorates him...

YAY.

So, that was my weekend. It was lovely, even with a sore throat.
I suppose I better go choreograph that surreal piece now....

Christmas Photos!! Kansas Pics!

2007-02-11T00:49:00.000-08:00

At long last, some pictures for me to show you!
This gallery starts with Kansas; Vegas pictures start on page 6!

Steev & Amber's Kansas Christmas

Christmas, Rory is Steev's adorable niece who became our siamese twin while we were there.

Vegas, beginning with our ginormous bathroom!
"Unicorns in space!"

"Q-BERT!"

Kidneys, Friends & Home

2007-02-08T18:13:00.000-08:00

I've been really sick for the past week; I still am sick, but the big bad is over, thank god.
Only five more days of antibiotics... *eyeroll*
But I finally got to dance again today, which felt so wonderful; YAY!!
It's amazing how greatful you are for your health after these serious bouts of illness. Many thanks to all of you wonderous folks who gave me snuggles and made me not "jostle my organs" before I was ready. Your care I'm sure has saved me from many many extra days if not weeks of pain and ick.

On more fun notes, I've been at Steev's a bunch, and I just discovered this week that the
Starbucks downstairs in the building is managed by my friend, Teala.
I've been asking her for years, "Where is this Starbucks that you
manage, Teala?" and never knew where she was talking about. Now I'm practically living upstairs, since Steev moved into the building above it, by sheer chance. I discovered that she worked there because on my first visit, I saw the employee Halloween costume collage, and there she was dressed as Cruella DeVille. It filled my heart with glee. I'm that sorta girl.

Today I actually got to see her in the morning, and then this evening I came down for chitty chat, a few ultra-discounted Xmas mugs that I wanted, and the requisite calling of one another "betch" and talking about love and birthing styles.
(Did I mention that last night I discovered that I'm in posession of a picture of myself before my umbilicus was cut? I wanna make a shirt. It will be pink with gold writing and say, "My First Picture.")
Her store is very comfy and couchy and people come in and read and study and visit her, including folks that I know. I feel so excited to have a local coffeshop in my life again; and it's right downstairs!!
Not to mention that it's one of the fastest Starbuck's I've ever been to, which is really important to me (especially since I'm usually cutting it close in the mornings). I want to gouge my skin off when I am left in line at a coffeeshop with slow service. I have to restrain myself from screaming, "Look here, mister morphinated coffeeshop employee! Every customer here is addicted to caffeine. You cannot serve us if you cannot step up to the challenge. ADDICTS. You must be on pointe! How can you drag yourself around back there with unlimited caffeine at your fingertips when there are people in NEED here??!!!"
Having been a barista, I can tell you that there is no reason for people to make one drink at a time except for bad training. And I can go in to Teala's store, wait for two folks to get rung up before me and leave with my Venti Lowfat Cinnamon Dolce Latte in like... 6 minutes. It is HOT. Dead Fucking Sexy.
YaY TEALA!!!
Your store is the bestest EVER.

And on top of that, I get to wake up with a man who opens his eyes in the morning and tells me I'm beautiful, snuggles me, gets up and ready for work and comes in to kiss me goodbye and says, "you are my dream woman."
Goddamn, he is amazing.

MEAT Anniversary 5 & Living Dead Girlz' New Show!!!

2007-02-06T22:09:00.000-08:00

Living Dead Girlz at San Jose Fangoria Convention Photos

2007-01-20T12:37:00.000-08:00

YAY!
The fabulous Jess is creating a gallery of photos from our fans of us at the Fangoria Weekend of Horrors in San Jose!!
Here are two that I love:

LDG and Niki Pretti, photographer, with Ken Foree of the original George Romero zombie movies. He's the World's Greatest Zombie Killer, and we're hoping to work with him again soon!

Living Dead Girlz and Sid Haig!!

Jess and I terrorizing the reception area of the Doubletree

There are many more, check it out!

Last Day.... looking forward to the just-barely-possible

2007-01-15T17:25:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow I start grad school. Yup. Tomorrow morning is Orientation Day at Mills College, and I'm gonna be leaving the house at 8am to go to school.

For the next couple of years, even.

This morning, I stayed in bed for an extra 45 minutes, wide awake and pondering the morning rising to come.

The funny thing is that I have been so busy, anyhow. Every weekday that I've been at home, I've been doing about 5-7 hours of Living Dead Girlz stuff. Press Kits, business emals, professional bids, accounting, updates to the Living Dead Girlz pages (today I did the Shows page.) Tax season's coming, too. And a new Living Dead Girlz show on Feb 15th at the MEAT 5 Year Anniversary.

Hopefully we'll be going to more Fangoria Conventions.... eee!!
This last one, we stole the show, according to Fangoria, and we got to hang out with Voltaire, Doug Bradley, AKA Pinhead from Hellraiser (he was such a sweetie!!)

We also made friends with Sid Haig, Bill Moseley and Adrienne Barbeau, one of my favorite actresses from HBO's Carnivale and from The Convent, who I actually made shreik and jump backwards during our show!!!
More pics to come, as soon as I get my little hands on 'em.

All this, and I still haven't posted pics from my chrismas adventures with the man... and I'm adding in school?
eeep!!!
How does it all work?
*grin*
This is just the way I like it.

Aliens

2006-12-12T16:44:00.000-08:00

Another creation spawned from Steev and I devouring:

Christmas gleeeeeeeeee!!

2006-12-12T16:40:00.000-08:00

I have a problem. I have a problem with Glitter. I try to deny that it is a problem. But I just can't help myself. I find myself having glitter every day.
I have an inordinately strong reaction of joy to the prospect of buying glitter.

Once I've been set loose in the store of glittery things, I tend to go a little overboard.

Bless my sweet, sweet man for understanding and submitting his living room to my glitter-terrorism.

Fun with Steev

2006-12-12T16:34:00.000-08:00

How I fell in love with Kafka

And thus, Steev learned the power of making cute stuffed animals talk to me.

Living Dead Girlz updates...

2006-12-12T15:28:00.000-08:00

#1) "The Devil's Picnic" video reel
#2) Press Kit and Promotional Video Reel
#3) NEW SHOW and upcoming video project announcements
YAY!!

Pics from San Diego

2006-12-07T12:22:00.000-08:00

Here's the link to the pics from the San Diego trip last weekend. There are a few of our evening with Nicole Hight, a few of Soul in the Machine and their fabulous bird, Fred, and a whole buttload of pictures that Steev and I took of ourselves being total jackasses in our fancypants hotel room.
We seem to have a long history of making funny faces at cameras together, as demonstrated by the photobooth pictures we took on our first date, at the carnival last July:

jackassery in fancypants fluffycloudbed

2006-12-07T12:05:00.000-08:00

End of the year already???

2006-12-06T13:19:00.000-08:00

Crazy. This year ... well; the end of this year, in any case, has gone by like a crackhead on a grocery cart on a San Francisco hillside!
*Sssssssssshhhhhhhwoooooom!*
hee
Steev and I took a lovely road trip down to San Diego last weekend to shoot the new video for Soul in the Machine, which was loads of fun to do. We stayed in fancypantsville (aka the Hilton), with a king-size, multi-pillowed bed of clouds, ate STEAK, met his super fantastic Dad and his Dad's Lady, Carla, whom I am totally impressed by. She's an ambitious, spunky, sassy, straight shooter, she's been a nurse for years, and before that she was a go-go dancer and race car driver (she'd supe up the cars, herself, too!)

We're going to Kansas to visit his brother and fam for Christmas, and I am totally stoked because there is SNOOOOOOOW!!! OMG SNOW. YAY. And on the way home, we're spending two nights in fancypants, Vegas, at the Venetian!!
So, all is super fantastical. I am so happy just hanging out with him, and we get to go on adventures on top of it!
I start grad schoolio in January, and I just finished applying/organizing my loans, and know what my class schedule is, and am figuring out carpools and have friends there to show me around. I'm totally looking forward to it, and I'm proud that I'm getting all of the hampering details out of the way in a smooth fashion.
AND: I totally have the Christmas spirit. Like CRAZY. LOCO. Insanity.
GLITTER AND SNOWFLAKES!! YAY!!
Here's the snow I will be rolling around in on the 23rd!

yay baltimore, yay Kati!

2006-11-27T14:58:00.000-08:00

Hooray;
Steev and I went to Baltimore this last week to spend Thanksgiving with my family.
He was totally helpful when we went to go check out Kati's wedding gown, which we found; hurrah!!!
Kati looked so beautiful in the dress... and when they put a veil on her, Linda (her mom) and I totally got tears in our eyes... yay dorkville warm fuzzies.
I am so proud of her and so happy for her, and so pleased to see her with a man who loves her and will stand by her and up for her. (Not that she needs much standing up for; she's a firecracker!)

We also found my maid-of-honor gown, which could not be more gorgeous... oh, future bridesmaids; have faith in your friends!!! The color of both will be forest green, which ROCKS. No seafoam for us, man. No flamingo pink, neither.

The rest of the trip was about as superfrajicalistic as one could imagine. Steev and I played lots of video games, especially Twisted Metal, which I have only ever known and love as a 4 player head-to-head, drive around and blow up your friends experience. Obviously this involves lots of candy, chips, yelling and rolling around on the floor & laughing hysterically.

2006-10-31T12:39:00.000-08:00

Text Message Breakup Video!!

OMG, not only is it a new Liam video, but it co-stars my favorite goth, our girl from the Convent!!! OMG. I heart her!!!

2006-10-19T11:04:00.000-07:00

Nobody's Got No Class

The lost song from Chicago the Movie... by art-school drag queenettes... OMG it is lovely. This is what cabaret is all about... with vaccuum cleaners.

2006-10-19T10:59:00.000-07:00

The Elm St Murders

I LOVE MY GIRL SHANNON!!!
Here is the trailer for Cowgirl Zombie's Theater Troupe.
The Elm St Murders is performing Sunday, the 29th, at Club 6!

The Elm St Murders is a theatrical splatter theater parody of A Nightmare on Elm St, starring Shannon Lark, NyQ Bonaventura, and Jacque Vavroch.

Doors are at 7:30, show is at 8!