Wordless Wednesday: The dawning of a new day

(photo courtesy of the Associated Press; thanks for not suing me, AP!)

OTT Continues:"Live-blogging" the inauguration

I live-"blogged" the inauguration, except by "blogged" it was more like "a combination of writing in long-hand and twittering via text." And, I have no real timestamps, just chronological order....but you pretty much can figure out the timeline. Enjoy!

Upon waking up and checking my text messages from Twitter: I have 26 tweets from nprpolitics' coverage of the inauguration. TWENTY-SIX. But it's okay, because it's a big day today.

Later, at lunch:
Aretha Franklin:
It was mentioned that Martin Luther King (whose birthday was actually last week, but was celebrated yesterday) said in his famous speech "This will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with a new meaning, "My country, 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty." (If you may recall, I learned a piece to the MLK speech last season) It just resounded in me so deeply...MLK day was yesterday, we're here today inaugurating our first-ever African-American president, and we're invoking a uote from the great Martin Luther King, Jr right before the song is sung by the grande dame of African-American mezzo sopranos. I was in tears before she ever started singing.

Also: Nice hat, Ms. Franklin.

Following Biden's oath, while we were cheering:
Fellow: "You think they're cheering for Biden, or cheering 'cause Cheney's gone?"
Me: "Well, I know I'm cheering for the former....but I'm also cheering really hardcore for the latter."
Fellow: "You are going to get along really well around here."

Right after Obama's oath (these are all via Twitter-text, so if you "follow" me you've seen these before):
HOLY SHIT PEOPLE WE DID IT. OH MY GOD THIS IS THE BEST THING EVER.

During the speech:
Obama quoted my favorite Bible verse. Looove.

Some favorite statements and/or reactions: "Starting today we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin the work of remaking America." XD

"What the cynics fail to understand is that the ground has shifted beneath them."

"Know that America is a friend of each nation." WORD, Mr. President. You freaking rock. "We are the keepers of this legacy."

The awesome statements in this address are coming too fast for me to quote via text.

"We are willing to extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist." YEAH!!!!!!!

"Let us mark this day in remembrance of who we are and how far we have traveled." Again, I can't fully quote the awes ome-ness because it's coming at too rapid a pace!

I'm crying..... crying a LOT right now. But it's cool, because I'm crying HAPPY tears..... yes we can! Or, as my company director is fond of saying: "Yes, we did!"

After arriving home:
Nap. Must nap.

Was woken from my post-celebration nap by a friend pounding on my door. Um,not cool. He was yelling "Barack is in the house!," and I was like, "Yeah, he's been there for hours already, pal; where've you been?"

No, no, no, no, NO Ted Kennedy, do NOT compare our new President to JFK, THAT IS NOT A GOOD OMEN FOR US. Don't make me come over there.

Well, Obama made it through the parade safely. He even made part of the parade on foot. This is good. But seriously, people, stop comparing our kick-ass new President to JFK. Yes, they both have being awesome in common, but....you know where I'm going with this, do I need to spell it out for you?

Seriously, though, what a great day. I've been waiting for this for EIGHT YEARS. Woo-hoo. Let's do it, America.

Off-Topic Tuesday: HAPPY OBAMA DAY!

It's been a very joyful two days here at the Butterfly household: The departure of George W. Bush and the arrival of our new President Barack Obama. Spirits are high.

A good friend of mine (who I'd be celebrating the inauguration with if he wasn't vacationing in Clambodia right now) asked me once what my first "Political memory" was. I realized that for someone who hasn't been of voting age five years, I have a lot of political memories. So, I thought I would share:

First Political Memory: Fall of 1992, my first-grade class recieves "Weekly Reader" every week. There's a picture of George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton on the cover, starting that America is about to vote for the next president. The following week, all the students in our school take turns filing into a refridgerator box in the hallway to "cast our ballot" in our mock election. I vote for Clinton, who won the first-grade "vote." And the school-wide "vote." Meanwhile, back at the ranch real election.... Clinton won. Did I mention I'm from Pennsylvania? For a swing state, we swing left a lot.

#2: Three months later, our entire school was to watch the new president take his oath during lunchtime (It was a tiny school; the full student body could fit in the cafeteria simultaneously). I guess our teachers had a "wait and see" attitude about whether or not there would be chaos; they were fully shocked when the cafeteria was dead silent during Clinton's oath and inaugural address. Say what you want about Clinton, but if 100 children between the ages of six and ten will shut up for nearly an hour to listen to you speak.......

#3: Almost four years later, on November 5th, I woke up nearly two hours earlier than normal, padded downstairs, and flipped on the news to see who'd been elected. Two minutes later, I was shuffling back to my room when I passed Mama Butterfly in the hallway and gave a thumbs-up: "It's Clinton again." "Cool." Having shared good news, I went back to bed for an hour.

#4: My 70-something year-old great aunt said about Clinton: "He was a good president. He was horny, but he was a good president." I agree-- I cut my political-satire chops during that whole ordeal. I guess you could say it was a trade-off.

#5. I had a great time cracking jokes about the whole 2000 race/re-count debacle (more specifically: I had a great time cracking jokes about it when I wasn't saying "Are you KIDDING me?")

#6. You know, I'm trying to keep this post light, so for right now I'm going to skip over all the things that happened during the Bush years that made me pull out my hair and gnash my teeth. Which would be pretty much anything between 9/11 and.....well, yesterday....so I'll skip to another funny story (and hey, it involves dance!):
My first season with PADV, we were setting up for our fall concert (which happened to be two weeks before the election). We stopped for lunch, the four of us: Myself, our A.D.'s boyfriend (Dems), a dancer from the second company, anda parent from the studio (Repubs). The studio mom and A.D.'s boyfriend got into a debate about who they wanted to be president......which escalated quickly to a shouting match (P.S. They are both New Yorkers, and those folks know how to argue). The other dancer and I weren't sure if we should run for cover or giggle, so we kept giving each other "Oh, shit, I hope this doesn't lead to fisticuffs" looks. Finally, they both started laughing, agreed to disagree, and gave each other a hug.

#7. Entry from 'Portions for Foxes' on November 3rd, 2004:
Guys, really, this is not that bad, I promise. I mean, it is that bad, but we don't need to be around for it. I vowed to move to Canada if Bush won (as did Mike, Geraldine and a handful of other people at the studio). I'm sketchy about having to start my career over from scratch in a new country, so I don't even plan to work-- I will join a commune of hippies, change my name to English Summer Rain (placebo!!), grow my hair past my waist and.......[et cetera]
Notice I'm still here....curious.


........I was listening to NPR on my way home this morning. At the church service, a bishop from Houston spoke, saying that "God always puts the best man in the worst situations." So true, huh? If the times are bad, God's going to send us someone who can handle it and turn it around. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm headed back to the inaugural festivities.

YES WE CAN!

My week in 15 ramblings or less, part 3

1. This is the part of my blog where political topics are going to start wedging themselves in between the dance ramblings. Four more days until the next four years, folks!

2. I took a chill pill on the political stuff after the election, riding my high of "whee, we're gonna get a new President who is awesome in a few months, hooray;" but now eight years of suppressed frustration and outrage are finally catching up with me.

3. What? I'm on a dance blog? Oh, hey, you're right! Let's talk dance. I finished two ballets in three days; two weeks into rehearsals. This is an unusual speed for me.

4. I think it has a lot to do with the fact that those dances have been slowly taking shape in my head for the last seven years, since the first time I danced to that particular score. I loved the music and have wanted to choreograph my own movement to it ever since.

5. ........it also helps that they're both pretty short.

6. Last night my friend asked me "Dude, what's with the speed-choreographing all of a sudden? Are you planning a suicide or something?" Wow, dude. Dark.

7. Rest assured, I plan to stay on the planet to annoy you all for years to come. The thing is, I really don't have a reason other than "I like getting dances done."

8. Know what I haven't been getting done? Housework. In any capacity. Need to get going on that.

9. I had rehearsal this afternoon, and it was really fun. We started learning 'Sabbath Day,' a ballet to a series of Shaker hymns. We learned about 4 sections of it today, and it's so much fun to dance. Plus, from the looks of the archival videos we have cute costumes as well-- long old-fashioned skirts and these little bonnet-things. Say whatever you want, but I think they're cute. I want a bonnet-thing! And long skirts look wayyyy better on me than frilly tutus, let me tell you that much.

10. We also did a little run of the ballet we started learning yesterday. Our pas felt way better today-- the choreography came to me more easily; R gave me some partnering pointers (which may have resulted in me not injuring his Man Stuff as much). It was a fun rehearsal, and I left in high spirits.

11. Me, to E: "There's a lot of you rond de jamb-ing over my head this season." She and I are duet queens-- we're always dancing together, the two small blonde ballet girls.

12. I had to make a tough dance-related decision recently. It was not fun.

13. However, after I made that decision I felt considerably better-- it took a lot of heavy stress off my shoulders.

14. I'm wondering how the next few weeks are going to go. Scratch that, I'm curious to see what's going to happen in the next few days. It's a regular gamble over here-- you never know what is going to happen next. And no, I will not illustrate that point by quoting Forrest Gump. Rest assured.

Houston: 10 Interesting Things that Happened in 2008

Edited for Clarity.

TEN AWESOME INTERESTING THINGS THAT HAPPENED IN HOUSTON IN 2008
(on absolutely no particular topic and in no particular order)

1. Houston Ballet does Serenade: Need I say more?
2. Stanton Welch’s Cinderella: This world-premiere generated a response similar to Gilliam’s Tideland: You either thought it was magnificent, or you absolutely hated it. One of the two, nothing in between. I fall into the former category-- I loved it.
3. There was that one show at the Miller last spring…. It went a little something like this.
4. Catastrophic Theatre’s The Tamarie Cooper Show: HAHAHAHA, I laughed my ass off at this show. I couldn’t say enough about how just freaking well written/staged/performed it was.
5. Hurricane Ike: Hahahahaha. No, seriously. Ike? Fuck You.
6. The River Oaks Community Hobby of September 2008: Walking around outside observing the post-apocalypse, ask all the other people who are outside observing the post-apocalypse if they have power yet. Everything got really dismal and boring for a while--which is not awesome-- but then...
7. Houston voted blue: This was also the very first Awesome Political Thing that has ever happened in the state of Texas, making the fact that Barack Obama won Harris County’s vote that much sweeter.
8. November 5th, 2008: Something about McCain signs and aluminum baseball bats and really happy hungover Democrats still celebrating.
9. Obligatory petrol-issue lip service: In the space of five months, Houston saw gas prices ebb and climb between $4.89 and $1.47 per gallon. Not necessarily what you'd call a good thing, granted; but I know my wallet and I are VERY happy to be paying less than $2/gallon for gasoline.
10. December 10th, 2008: It is snowing in Houston. In....Houston. In Houston!

Since that last one has me rendered pretty much speechless: that's all for now, folks. Good night, and have a pleasant tomorrow,

Wordless Wednesday

Off- Topic Tuesday: Random Election thoughts

Because I need to. If I don't, my head will explode, and Mr. Butterfly said he doesn't want to get any on him.

1. I brought a book with me when I went to the polling place, expecting to wait in a massively long line. I ended up getting to walk right in and vote right away.

2. This is the one day every four years where people think being from Pennsylvania is awesome (because it's a swing state, e.g.a place where delightful amounts of madness ensues during the 'lection).

3. In the world according to M. Butterfly, politics are like stage directions: Left is actually right.

4. This was my first time voting straight ticket.

5. I was texting with my Mom, and the following ensued:

Butterfly: I love my mama, so I voted Obama.

Mama Butterfly: You woulda got a wailin' if you voted McCain- Palin.
My mom is awesome.

6. It's worth mentioning that I was sitting in the library when the above happened, and had to cover my mouth to stifle my giggle-outburst.

7. I'm sitting at a coffee shop in Katy, Texas...wearing a "Barack is my homeboy" t-shirt. Surprised no one has beaten my liberal ass yet (every other yard here has a McCain- Palin sign in it).

8. I'm spamming the hell out of my Twitter updates with my Obamacracy.

9. I got a Poll-watching application for my iPhone so I can check out the race between classes tonight.

10. This is the best thing ever. And yes, I made a dance to it already. How can you not? DUDE.

11. I just realized my internet stalker is going to have a mama-truckin' FIELD DAY if McCain wins. Don't much care, honestly. I'm over it. So, go ahead and spam me if you want, I may even allow your comments to be posted for a change.

12. It's time to go to the studio and concentrate on Horton and on jazz dance for three hours. Whew.

13. Here's your moment of Zen:

Off- Topic Tuesday: History is about to crack wide open

Dear America,
Try not to fuck this up, okay?
Love & kisses,
M. Butterfly


And now, here's your moment of Zen.

Rehearsal, Center Stage 2, and SOCK TANGO.

Everybody gets poli-spammed by me until the election results are announced. No one is safe. Not even this blog.

Anyway!

Yesterday's rehearsal was nothing short of awesome.
D, one of the dancers, has been dancing for J, a fellow dancer and director of Columbian Folkloric Ballet. J and I danced together in the Company last season, and he's awesome. When he found out that D also danced in my ensemble, he told her he'd love to choreograph something. So, being that most of my choreographic attention/anxiety has been centered around our very own 'Sacre,' I invited him to join me on the project. He came in yesterday and began duet for D and Doc, and...wow. Just. Wow. It's so awesome, and it's bringing a whole new dimension to the piece. The movement is very primal and earthy and the partnering work is composed of Stuff You Couldn't Imagine The Human Body Was Actually Capable Of. It is. So. Freaking. Amazing. I feel so privileged and lucky that he is here working with us.

I'd also been working on a Tarantella for the women, but my inspiration had waned and I was becoming frustrated. On a random impulse I decided to scrap the whole blah-damn thing and start from the beginning again. Yesterday, I set new 'n' improved Tarantella in hour. From start to finish. The dancers really like it, I really like it, and it's a big load off my chest. Perhaps I should follow my random impulses more often.

You may have heard that Center Stage 2: Turn It Up is out. If you're like me, maybe you didn't see it because you assumed it would be a train wreck on toast and you have rehearsal anyway and maybe somebody else will see it and fill you in. Selly over at Dance Outlook took that bullet for us and confirmed that "steaming pile of fail" doesn't even begin to describe the abysmal abomination that is Center Stage 2. When will Hollywood realize that sequels are Just Not A Good Idea? Or that Turn It Up is a really terrible, trite title? You can read Selly's review here. Check out the rest of her blog, too; it's pretty fabulous.

Lastly: Hoston folks, somebody please go take Hope Stone's "Sock Tango" class for me. I can't attend because I'll be teaching, but look at this description: "Learn to Tango...in socks...the more colorful and wild the socks the better." Seriously, how fun does that sound? It's every Monday (starting tonight!) from 8-9 pm throughout November and December. Go. Dance. Then tell me about it so I may live vicariously through you and your tango-socks.

And now, here's your moment of incredibly-random, "lolwhat" Zen:

OTT: Tremaine recap is coming

Tremaine = most fabulous weekend; one spent with the awesome studio folks, surrounded by dance and choreography and new ideas in the big ol' Houston Galleria. It was GREAT, and the recap is a-coming, but my hands are currently full of jazz dances to choreograph and homework to do. In the meantime, I leave you with these words in the grand tradition of Off-Topic Tuesday:

OBAMA OBAMA OBAMA OBAMA whee! OBAMA.

The election is in, yikes, ONE WEEK. If you're like me and chomping at the bit waiting to find out the fate our nation, 23/6 has a lovely list of Eight Ways to Survive the next Eight Days Without Losing Your Frigging Mind. It's not a rickroll, I promise.

"Terrible" doesn't even begin to describe it.

Oh. My God.

For once... I'm absolutely speechless.

Public Service Announcement: Friday 9/19

If you live in or around Houston, you should go to this.

I'm just sayin'.


(It's the cool thing to do, and it's for a great cause! See, now you have no reason to not go. Go ahead and reserve your tickets. It'll be fun.)

Off- Topic Tuesday: R.I.P.

It is with great regret that I inform you that Estelle Getty, the woman we all knew as Sophia Petrillo on The Golden Girls, passed away this morning in her home in Los Angeles. She was 84.

Let us all bow our heads and eat cheesecake in honor of television's favorite Sicilian.

And here's your related moment of Zen:
Sophia:...for instance, if someone sends a white flower, it means there has been a birth or a marriage; a black flower means there has been a death, and a dead rabbit means 'My husband knows, get out of town.'
Rose: Knows what?
Sophia: ...........The score to South Pacific, Rose.

EDIT: I've been informed that my above quote is misattributed-- it was actually from Dorothy. So, let's try this again:
Blanche: I am abhorred!
Sophia: We know what you are Blanche. I'm glad to finally hear you admit it.
Blanche: Sophia, I said "abhorred".
Sophia: A whore, a slut, a tramp, it's all the same.

Wall Street Journal: "Marie Taglioni Rolls in Grave"

From the Wall Street Journal: "On Their Toes and Asking For Trouble: Self-Taught Ballerinas Go Online."

Also from that article is this YouTube Video: "My Very First Handmade Pointe Shoes." Yes, you read that correctly and no, I am not shitting you. I think every ballet teacher in America just had a collective aneurysm.

I just can't believe I invested so much time/money/sweat/blood in receiving dance training when evidently, all I needed was a pair of pointe shoes (real or home-made) and access to the intertubes. Did I mention that I saw all that before I had my coffee? Ouch.

Rant over. If anyone needs me, I'll be in the other room weeping for humanity.

Off- Topic Tuesday is a few days late this week

Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar announce that their 18th child is due in January of 2009.

EIGHTEEN.

Nothing further.

This is relevant in a very roundabout way

Harry Potter will not appear on the New York Times Bestseller list next week for the first time in nine and a half years. It debuted on the list on December 27, 1998.

I will say one thing:

and it's this: I really feel sorry for Britney Spears.

I was never a fan of hers, don't get me wrong, but NOBODY deserves this. It's one thing to have a mental/emotional breakdown. It's another thing to have a highly-publicized mental/emotional breakdown with the whole world watching and documenting your every blink.

Poor girl.