Ideas

A Big Ol' Chunk Of 2011

Has it really been two months? Well, I haven't been slacking. A lot has been going on in the meantime:

I was working on a data analyst project job for a well-known company which was challenging but rewarding too. I've not completed a project and looking for another job. I need to keep working to pay the bills but I'm I'm thinking long and hard about the next steps(s) to take. Should I go in another direction. Should I finally look for a job that combines all the things I like doing rather than a job I'm qualified/experience enough to do. Lots to think about on this one.

I rehearsed and performed a contemporary dancer role in a play with one of my theatre companies. This required long hours but it was worth it do get some contemporary dance experience under my belt. An interesting change to the roles I normally do.

My bootcamp course have started up again and I'm now two weeks into the programme and it is TOUGH! However as as friend has asked me to run the Dublin marathon with her in October, I really need this bootcamp as a kick-start to my training. Somethign has to get me running!

Thanks to Company Magazine I won the chance to see the Water For Elephants premiere last week which was really exciting and a wonderful night out. And I got some free popcorn too. Way-hey!

Plus lots going on with my friends and personal relationships including someone special entering my life and being absolutely lovely and a gay pirate wedding! And what a spectacular day that was!

So going forward I'll continue with the job hunt and bootcamp but I have lots to think about and consider and projects in the pipeline. Taking steps forward into (co-)choreographing, writing and recording music and getting a proper site and blog set up and looking swishy!

Half-Birthday To Do List - Update

BREAKING NEWS: The splits are getting easier to do. I have done them thrice in as many days. Ooooh!

Okay, that's a little bit of a lie, it was actually four days but that didn't sound as good/impressive. Anyway, should I post photographic evidence of achieving my Half-Birthday goals? Might be a bit difficult protraying my fluency in Portuguese through photography. Maybe a photo of me deep in conversation with a Brazilian who's not looking confused will work. Or if I had the guts I'd take the CELPE-Bras exam and then could scan my certificate when I passed.

Creative project stuffs happening, it's all quite quirky and fun. I was dancing/moving in a live video music shoot at the Roundhouse yesterday. The video was streamed live but it should be posted on You Tube soon. Not that you can probably actually see me because there was all this trippy graphics stuff put on top of the footage, but it will still be exciting to see. Maybe I will be able to pick out my arm! People will be queing up to get me to sign their sandwich. Yay!

Happy Half-Birthday To Me

I realised yesterday as I was completing forms that it was my "half" birthday and it had somehow creeped up on me without realising. I seem to have a knack for remembering key dates and anniversaries of meeting friends and lovers for the first time but I don't keep track of somethign like a half-birthday that much. I'm aware that February is the midpoint of that current year but no more than that.

I'd been in a foul mood all morning - having a dream about your ex which brings all those old feelings and hurt to the surface doesn't set you up well for the day, yet the realisation of the date actually excited me as it gave me a reason to excuse feeling shit. It wasn't because of him, it was just because I'd reached a signifcant date in my 20-somethingth year. That was all!

In typical fashion I dealt with this by doing what I do best. Making lists and setting myself goals. This is the perfect time to reflect just a little on what what I haven't achieved so far and a lot of what I am going to do for the next 6 months. It's what I do. I list many, many goals and truthfully, not a lot of them get ticked off however I don't usually beat myself up too much about it. "Fine, I didn't do all this stuff in 2008, I'll complete it all in 2009.... in 2010" I think I sometimes worry what the hell I would do with my life if I did complete everything I set up do do but knowing me I'd probably draw up another set of tasks and plans. There's always some language out there I haven't mastered, another dance form I haven't studied etc. However I want to do so much that I could probably live three lifetimes and I still wouldn't get it completed.

But back to now. And the next six months. I have about 50 things I want to achieve in this time and I know it's unrealistic and, as I know all too well, life gets in the way and holds you back. However, here a few things I hope are in store for me February to August:

1. Get decent perm job which pays good money (and therefore in turn I can sort out finances, save, budget etc.)
2. Be more creative - I don't want to go anymore details on this one for the time being but it has to be done.
3. GO TO BRAZIL!!! - I need to get back out there as soon as possible. I NEED people who live there.
4. Do the splits with ease. I can do them now but sometimes I require a LOT of warming up and getting in and out of them ain't a pretty site.
5. Improve my Portuguese skills (and prehaps make a start on learning Spanish properly instead of guessing it all the time) - I guess this ties in my the plans to go to Brazil. I've put too much time and energy into studing Portuguese so far to let it go and I'm bored with this plateu I've reached and want to get past it and reach fluency. Maybe come August I'll be good enough to take the CELPE-Bras exam.

So I think that's plenty to be getting on with for the time being and I still have my dance classes, show rehearsals (my first contemporary dance performance - woo!) as well as plans to get fit and healthy to tide me over too. I awaited with hopefuly excitment for a progress report on this come August.

Homeward Bound

I'll be leaving the house in 4 hours to catch a bus to the airport to fly me home. Due to various problems at Christmas time I couldn't make it home then so a short trip home has been on the cards for January. Unfortunately I still feel a bit ripped off my plane ticket prices but there's nothing I can do about that.

On the positive side I get to spend some quality time with the parents (which should ease my guilt a little) and my neice who will most likly be baffling me with how she's turned into a little adult since the last time I saw her. Plus I'm taking a day off work which is always welcome, even if I am using up one of my precious 2.3 days of holiday accrued. I love being a contractor sometimes. :-

In the meantime, drying my hair and finishing my packing sounds like a good idea.

Holy Moly!

I don't think there are enough words to describe how much I love this photo of Shakira. I love it so much that I'm doing a blog entry enirely about it. I don't have much else to say except, WOW!

I want to be THIS!

Why January Rocks!

I'm making inspiration from the Happiness Project London blog and writing all the ways this January can be fun and exciting and in no way an anti-climax to the festive season preceding it. Some of these are concrete plans, some are possibilities:

1. I will be attending the lovely and creative Hilde's Tribal Fusion bellydance classes to contine my adventures into this form of dance.

2. Danceworks are offering new classes this month and I'm most excited about the Flamenco and Spanish Dance Fusion class. Ooh, and Commercial Contemporary Dance class too.

3. Jessie J gig at Koko, looking forward to seeing her live.

4. I booked a 10 class voucher for classes with Capoeira Ceara. I haven't attended capoeira classes for a long time now but they are such a good workout and it should help inspire not only my 2011 Fitness Plan (coming soon!) but also my 2011 Travel Plans to get back to Brazil this year.

5. I keep meaning to go back and eat out properly at the Candid Arts Cafe. Maybe this is the month!

Plus, maybe this is the month I find a Shiny New Job which is perfect for me, I need to shoehorm in a trip home to make up for being stranded here over Christmas and there's also Burns Night which I should celebrate too. Christmas is not the only party!