to speechify

I have a hard time keeping my posts visually themed, given that I'm also studying PR and writing these days. So here's another theme transgression...

I have a new favorite website.

www.americanrhetoric.com

Spent part of class today listening to Elie Weisel's speech on indifference.

Not sure about the design, but the name's catchy.

merengue and figure drawing cannot be reconciled

In figure drawing class, one of the first things you learn about posture is that when a person shifts their weight onto one leg more than the other, the hip on the weight-bearing side goes up, on the non weight-bearing side, the hip goes down. To correct for this imbalance, at the same time the shoulder on the weight bearing side shifts down, and the shoulder on the non weight-bearing side goes up.

In merengue (and a few other Latin dances) you intentionally do the opposite... you stick your hip out in the opposite direction than you are stepping.

Merengueros apparently never take figure drawing classes. Or perhaps that's what makes it dancing as opposed to just stepping back and forth.

Email from a listserv, Part II

"Don't forget that tomorrow (Wednesday) we are screening the film "The Greatest Silence, Rape in the Congo" which documents the brutal sexual violence faced by women in eastern DR Congo due to the war. There will be pizza, soda, and snacks!"

Not sure what it is, but something about the tone of this email seems off to me. snicker snicker snicker.

Email from a listserv

"The College Summit, which targets “kids who are better than their numbers” in schools with low college-going rates, has their own interactive writing curriculum..."

Love emails from writing programs that have grammar mistakes, snicker snicker snicker...

life lessons from salsa (groan)

Yeah, yeah, yeah, it's one of those. And it's not even necessarily consistent with the whole 'visual' theme. Um... well... I have no justification for posting this on the blog, the content is trite and not consistent with the theme. And here it is anyway.

1. It's ok to follow sometimes. Also ok to lead.
2. For that matter, gender bending seems to be easier for females.(I guess that's not so much a life lesson as it is a cultural observation).
   
3. I have to ask for what I want (as in, asking a guy to dance instead of sitting on the sidelines and twiddling my thumbs).
4. Even when I'm following, I should be able to stand on my own two feet even if the lead were to suddenly disappear.
5. Leading does not mean forcing the follow to do a move. Leading means asking, the follow has the right to refuse.
   
6. As soon as I start to worry about impressing other people on the dance floor, I get nervous and start messing up. I also stop enjoying the dance.
   
7. When I have a good connection with a dance partner it's almost as if I can't tell who is doing what, who is leading and who is following. It becomes more of a collaboration. The division becomes blurred.
   
8. I can't connect with a dance partner if my arms are completely limp and without energy (if I shut down).
   
9. I also can't connect if I'm trying to arm-wrestle the guy (if I block his energy).
   
10. There's a difference between helping and rescuing.
    
11. The point of learning the moves is to be able to forget them.
    

Logo envy...

...thanks to Monterey Bay, California.I've always, always liked the Monterey Bay Aquarium logo, but what I discovered on this trip was that the aquarium is actually in what used to be canneries on Cannary Row of Steinbeck fame and that the city's logo for Cannary Row is adorable. Yes, that's a sardine key, folks!