Yes, I've been neglecting the blog for a bit. I love the fact that it was missed! Thanks for your comments! The truth is that I was a little frustrated with flying the last time I flew a full class. I think I just had a bad attitude. I twinged my shoulder a little bit--it didn't feel major. Although I did get the suicide down finally which was fun!
Then I came to fly the following Saturday. It was going to be a great class--it was small with fun people and THEN on the first trick I threw, I really hurt my shoulder. It feels like the same thing I did a couple of years ago--rotator cuff related. I went to the doctor the last time around, but it really feels like the same thing, so I didn't go this time. He couldn't really do anythng for me anyway. I just need to give it a rest and do some light strengthening exercises. I've just started hanging from the bar in apartment a little and doing shoulder shrugs. It's a little sore immedately after I work it, but I think that's normal.
Anyway, things happen for a reason. I really did have a bad attitude that last Thursday, so a little distance will help me to appreciate it the next time I fly. And I've actually been crazy busy at work--we just closed a large transaction last Friday and I've been swamped trying to tie up loose ends at work before I leave for . . . . VACATION!
I'm going to Germany for a friend's wedding and meeting the Flying Fingerhut--that's right--Leslie! I haven't looked at my iternary in weeks; my mom is yelling at me to send these things to her so that she can globally track me; I don't know where my passport is; I haven't started packing; and I leave tomorrow.
So today, I'm going to take care of all of that stuff and try and take care of all of those annoying things that need to get done around the apartment (pay bills, water plants, etc.). Megan and Hanibal are coming to stay with Trevor and Sophie.
I'm a little worried about leaving work. There are a few other big things that are happening when I'm gone--one transaction closing on the 16th--my first day back at work. So I'm bringing a computer with me. I'm not thrilled about this development, but I think it's the right thing to do. I honestly don't know if the blackberry and phone will work in Europe. Maybe I should check into that today as well. Okay, now this is just becoming a task list and I'm sure not fun for anyone reading about flying. Just to tie it all back--one good thing about flying is that you really CAN'T think about your list, the blackberry, plants, bills, when you're in the air. In fact, I start thinking about my trick as I'm climbing the ladder and on the board (unless Galit is there in which case I'm worried about the fact that she never checks her biners). It really requires focus until your body starts remembering the trick on its own. Who needs yoga when you have a trapeze?
Oh, the other fun thing that is flyng related is that Galit and I learned how belay each other. So now we can go to the rock climbing place more frequently. Okay, I need to work on the list now. Happy July 4th!
Sunday, June 24, 2007
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
Revived
OH MY GOSH, tonight was SO much better than last Tuesday. I have to say, that I felt much better going straight to Streb knowing that Trevor was a happy puppy and had a fun day at Doggie Diva, so that I didn't need to stress about taking him for a walk and whether or not he was occupied. As he is now passed out at my feet, I'm confident that he had a fun and active day.
I got to class and it was full of old favorites! Lisa was there (haven't seen her in FORever); Jeff made an uncommon Tuesday night appearance and Amy showed up as well!
So I started with low expectations. All I really wanted to accomplish was a half turn clap. It wasn't so hard. Dino complained that my claps were not so loud, but I feel that my grips muffled the full capacity of the claps.
Then I moved on to the cut catch. It's not a trick that looks terribly impressive when it's done, but it feels good to master. Amy gave me a great tip (that Jeff reiterated) to pull my hips to the bar and it just worked. See:
My favorite part of the clip is not the trick itself, but Galit's voice in the background. :)
G was in one of her "independent--I don't need your help" moods again tonight. She refused to tell me her trick so that I could not call the trick to the person pulling lines (causing a delay in flying by the way) and gave the me the old evil eye when I tried to check her biners. I'm only looking out for her safety, but she gets just so feisty!
Tramp was fun with Bobby and then I called it a night. Thank you Amy for driving me home and it was good to catch up with you and to fly with you tonight.
In other trappee news, I made reservations for the hotel in Dresden today and checked in with Leslie, who seems to be doing well. She's going to surf at Witchs Rock in October with her sister--I hope that I can go!! If not, then I hope that I can surf in New Jersey or Montauk this summer. I may need to get a wetsuit (not sure if I can deal with sub-Costa Rica ocean temperatures), but surfing was such an amazing experience, that I do not want it to end.
Good night. Let me know if you are reading my blog--Grandma, that includes you.
I got to class and it was full of old favorites! Lisa was there (haven't seen her in FORever); Jeff made an uncommon Tuesday night appearance and Amy showed up as well!
So I started with low expectations. All I really wanted to accomplish was a half turn clap. It wasn't so hard. Dino complained that my claps were not so loud, but I feel that my grips muffled the full capacity of the claps.
Then I moved on to the cut catch. It's not a trick that looks terribly impressive when it's done, but it feels good to master. Amy gave me a great tip (that Jeff reiterated) to pull my hips to the bar and it just worked. See:
My favorite part of the clip is not the trick itself, but Galit's voice in the background. :)
G was in one of her "independent--I don't need your help" moods again tonight. She refused to tell me her trick so that I could not call the trick to the person pulling lines (causing a delay in flying by the way) and gave the me the old evil eye when I tried to check her biners. I'm only looking out for her safety, but she gets just so feisty!
Tramp was fun with Bobby and then I called it a night. Thank you Amy for driving me home and it was good to catch up with you and to fly with you tonight.
In other trappee news, I made reservations for the hotel in Dresden today and checked in with Leslie, who seems to be doing well. She's going to surf at Witchs Rock in October with her sister--I hope that I can go!! If not, then I hope that I can surf in New Jersey or Montauk this summer. I may need to get a wetsuit (not sure if I can deal with sub-Costa Rica ocean temperatures), but surfing was such an amazing experience, that I do not want it to end.
Good night. Let me know if you are reading my blog--Grandma, that includes you.
Week in Review
It's been a while since I've posted--although I've only flown once since my last post, which was last Tuesday. Last Tuesday wasn't a super great flying day for me. I got to class late, so I felt like my flying time was super short. It's hard to get out of work early enought to go home, walk Trevor and then make it to Brooklyn before class. Plus I didn't feel like I really learned anything new or made much progress. I tried some front uprises and cut catches without much success. I'm hoping that tonight goes better.
The good news is that Trevor has doggie daycare again (they had shut down the business for a few months). Today was his first day back. When the doorbell rang this morning, he was suspicious at first. He looked at me--then he looked at the doorbell monitor, he processed the information and then started to howl/bark. I'm not sure what exactly it is that he does, but it sounds like a "ROO ROO ROOOOO!" Then he did his dog jig happy dance that looks like he's a bucking bronco horse and then he went to find his big red bone to present to the guest. Anyway, he is happily at daycare today, so I won't have to rush home to let him out before heading to trapeze, so this reduces the liklihood that I will be late to class.
On Friday I went to see the ballet with Charlyn at Lincoln Center. She had AMAZING tickets from one of the partners at her firm. As she put it "we were so close that we could see the sweat on the dancers." The feature of the evening was the Nightingale and the Rose. It was choreographed based on a short story by Oscar Wilde. Very Sad. But Amazing. The Nightingale dancer moved and twitched and fluttered just like a bird.
Saturday I tried to rock climb by myself. I think I need assistance. In a few weeks, I will go with Oleg and Galit to learn to belay and learn more about rock climbing. Sunday I was supposed to fly, but I didn't know that I was confirmed in the class. I thought that it had filled up since Streb is now doing Sunday nights for $30. The demanding and maternal (?) Galit texted me wanting to know where I was!!! :) I thought about going, but I was in the middle of making Greek salad, so I stayed in. There were only 3 people in the class, so it would have been perfect. I really could have used the practice too. I'll try again for this weekend.
Last night, I met a bunch of trappees (that's what Megan calls my friends from trapeze--she claims that we are a cult. Trappees kind of sounds like "trapeze" but the accent is on the "trap" part) out for dinner and to hear Jeff and Elena's exciting news!!! Jeff has packed something like 10 years of major life events into a period of about six months. These include, proposing, getting married, changing careers, having a baby, selling an apartment and purchasing a new apartment large enough for his now growing family. He is a man of extremes. We trappees like that.
The good news is that Trevor has doggie daycare again (they had shut down the business for a few months). Today was his first day back. When the doorbell rang this morning, he was suspicious at first. He looked at me--then he looked at the doorbell monitor, he processed the information and then started to howl/bark. I'm not sure what exactly it is that he does, but it sounds like a "ROO ROO ROOOOO!" Then he did his dog jig happy dance that looks like he's a bucking bronco horse and then he went to find his big red bone to present to the guest. Anyway, he is happily at daycare today, so I won't have to rush home to let him out before heading to trapeze, so this reduces the liklihood that I will be late to class.
On Friday I went to see the ballet with Charlyn at Lincoln Center. She had AMAZING tickets from one of the partners at her firm. As she put it "we were so close that we could see the sweat on the dancers." The feature of the evening was the Nightingale and the Rose. It was choreographed based on a short story by Oscar Wilde. Very Sad. But Amazing. The Nightingale dancer moved and twitched and fluttered just like a bird.
Saturday I tried to rock climb by myself. I think I need assistance. In a few weeks, I will go with Oleg and Galit to learn to belay and learn more about rock climbing. Sunday I was supposed to fly, but I didn't know that I was confirmed in the class. I thought that it had filled up since Streb is now doing Sunday nights for $30. The demanding and maternal (?) Galit texted me wanting to know where I was!!! :) I thought about going, but I was in the middle of making Greek salad, so I stayed in. There were only 3 people in the class, so it would have been perfect. I really could have used the practice too. I'll try again for this weekend.
Last night, I met a bunch of trappees (that's what Megan calls my friends from trapeze--she claims that we are a cult. Trappees kind of sounds like "trapeze" but the accent is on the "trap" part) out for dinner and to hear Jeff and Elena's exciting news!!! Jeff has packed something like 10 years of major life events into a period of about six months. These include, proposing, getting married, changing careers, having a baby, selling an apartment and purchasing a new apartment large enough for his now growing family. He is a man of extremes. We trappees like that.
Sunday, June 3, 2007
Sunday Adventures
It was a jam-packed day of activities. I woke up early and headed to TSNY for the first time this season. I got there early because I knew there would be a lot of beginners and I wanted to get in some good swings before the knee hangs started up. Classes with lots of beginners are sometimes annoying because the line moves so slowly, but on the other hand, it's really fun to watch someone the first time that they go off the board and to see someone conquer their fear of height. After flying for a while, it's easy to forget the initial thrill that got me hooked to begin with. Watching new flyers reminds me.
It was really perfect flying weather--early am flying is much better than afternoon flying in the summer months. It's been so long since I flew on a big rig and it was funny how it actually felt high! AND the bar was further out than it is at Streb, so I was definitely out of any comfort zone that I had developed. But it was so great to fall and bounce on the net again. I missed that.
I thought that my cutaway half was catch-able, but it did not happen.
Also tried some cutaway 540s just for fun, but I think that is a dismount trick. After viewing the video, I realized that I do a cutaway half (which could be catch-able) and then do another 360 twist post-catch placement down to the net. But it is still a fun trick to throw!
Then Galit, her girls and I headed to meet Oleg in New Jersey to go rock climbing. This may be a new great hobby! It was difficult, but I'm excited to learn more. I think it will be complementary to trapeze. Your core, the hand gripping muscles and the trapezius are key muscle groups used in climbing AND trapeze. And if this weren't enough, climber boys are hot. I'm going to learn to belay next week, so Galit, Oleg and I can all climb equally. Always generous Oleg belayed all four of us all afternoon long and hardly got to climb himself.
The girls used to be a little bit shy with me, but that has completely dissipated. Now I see their full blown personalities, including the feistiness that, clearly, they inherited from their mom! We had a lot of fun, but I also found myself taking "a stern tone" with them, reminding them that they could not climb unless an adult was spotting them and not to place themselves directly under a climber who could fall and clobber them. A told her mom that I was "very strict." I have to say, I felt like I was using the "alpha dog" skills that I learned when I got Trevor as a puppy. This is one of Galit's videos (her doing planche), but you can hear me in the background with the girls.
Being a mom seems like it's a lot of work. But Galit keeps telling me that I need to have my own kids so that I stop mothering her.
Oleg let me drive on the way back because he couldn't bear the responsibility of driving with children in the car. I love driving, especially Oleg's car, which has a lot of power and especially when it means that Oleg would NOT be driving. Somehow, when we arrived back at Oleg's house, A has climbed into the trunk from the back seat. So we arrived at the ferry and popped the trunk to let A climb out. I'm not sure if anyone saw us let a small child hop out of the trunk, but it could not have looked good.
It was a great day overall. I didn't even mind so much that I had to get on a conference call and turn commitment papers when I got home.
It was really perfect flying weather--early am flying is much better than afternoon flying in the summer months. It's been so long since I flew on a big rig and it was funny how it actually felt high! AND the bar was further out than it is at Streb, so I was definitely out of any comfort zone that I had developed. But it was so great to fall and bounce on the net again. I missed that.
I thought that my cutaway half was catch-able, but it did not happen.
Also tried some cutaway 540s just for fun, but I think that is a dismount trick. After viewing the video, I realized that I do a cutaway half (which could be catch-able) and then do another 360 twist post-catch placement down to the net. But it is still a fun trick to throw!
Then Galit, her girls and I headed to meet Oleg in New Jersey to go rock climbing. This may be a new great hobby! It was difficult, but I'm excited to learn more. I think it will be complementary to trapeze. Your core, the hand gripping muscles and the trapezius are key muscle groups used in climbing AND trapeze. And if this weren't enough, climber boys are hot. I'm going to learn to belay next week, so Galit, Oleg and I can all climb equally. Always generous Oleg belayed all four of us all afternoon long and hardly got to climb himself.
The girls used to be a little bit shy with me, but that has completely dissipated. Now I see their full blown personalities, including the feistiness that, clearly, they inherited from their mom! We had a lot of fun, but I also found myself taking "a stern tone" with them, reminding them that they could not climb unless an adult was spotting them and not to place themselves directly under a climber who could fall and clobber them. A told her mom that I was "very strict." I have to say, I felt like I was using the "alpha dog" skills that I learned when I got Trevor as a puppy. This is one of Galit's videos (her doing planche), but you can hear me in the background with the girls.
Being a mom seems like it's a lot of work. But Galit keeps telling me that I need to have my own kids so that I stop mothering her.
Oleg let me drive on the way back because he couldn't bear the responsibility of driving with children in the car. I love driving, especially Oleg's car, which has a lot of power and especially when it means that Oleg would NOT be driving. Somehow, when we arrived back at Oleg's house, A has climbed into the trunk from the back seat. So we arrived at the ferry and popped the trunk to let A climb out. I'm not sure if anyone saw us let a small child hop out of the trunk, but it could not have looked good.
It was a great day overall. I didn't even mind so much that I had to get on a conference call and turn commitment papers when I got home.
Thursday, May 31, 2007
Round Trip!
I lied. In my last blog entry, I said I would explain my title in the next blog entry, but there have been superseding exciting events.
Namely, I made catch, return AND return to the board. Unfortunately, I do not have documentary evidence to support this contention, but I will post (if I am able to figure how to do so) a video of a catch return (sans return to the board).
The Tivo video really helps sometimes. I saw that my butt was sticking way out in my "seven" after the catch and once I fixed that, the actual return fell right into place. It feels really good when you make a successful adjustment.
The other really great thing that happened was that on way to class, as I was purchasing my iced coffee (caffeine pumps me up for swinging!), I realized that I was really looking forward to class. I started thinking about my swing and my force out and I think that helped me. The time that I got the catch, return, round trip to the board, I had a great force out and a strong sweep back.
Okay, that's all I've got for tonight. Hilda came and cleaned the apartment today, so I'm looking forward to falling into my nice clean sheets and sleeping. Oh . . . . I need to shower. Gosh darnit, I wanted to go to bed. Good night.
Namely, I made catch, return AND return to the board. Unfortunately, I do not have documentary evidence to support this contention, but I will post (if I am able to figure how to do so) a video of a catch return (sans return to the board).
The Tivo video really helps sometimes. I saw that my butt was sticking way out in my "seven" after the catch and once I fixed that, the actual return fell right into place. It feels really good when you make a successful adjustment.
The other really great thing that happened was that on way to class, as I was purchasing my iced coffee (caffeine pumps me up for swinging!), I realized that I was really looking forward to class. I started thinking about my swing and my force out and I think that helped me. The time that I got the catch, return, round trip to the board, I had a great force out and a strong sweep back.
Okay, that's all I've got for tonight. Hilda came and cleaned the apartment today, so I'm looking forward to falling into my nice clean sheets and sleeping. Oh . . . . I need to shower. Gosh darnit, I wanted to go to bed. Good night.
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
Making Omelettes and Knitting with Noodles
Galit and Leslie have inspired me by starting blogs. This is my attempt.
I think my blog will be all about trapeze. I'm sure that other aspects of my life will creep in, but I think it mostly be about trapeze.
Tonight was the first night of a new class that Jeff started called "Skills". I was supposed to try to learn an uprise and a suicide dismount. I did not accomplish either. Ever positive Dino reminded me that "when you are making omelettes, you need to crack some eggs."
Galit was a little testy at first tonight. She was giving Manny a lot of lip when he offered her tips on retrieving the lines and she was giving me the evil eye when I tried to assist in the process. But I just had to laugh when she got the noodle and the hook completely entangled in the lines. I think that she was trying to knit a net for Bobby (Streb doesn't have a net--just a big fat mat) with the rope, but that is a project for another day, I think.
After class, Galit and I had a margarita. She spilled salsa and then left her phone at the bar. I just called Dino and left him a voicemail. I have further views on this, but I will voice them only to Galit.
Tonight's entry is going to be renamed "All About Galit".
Next entry I will try to explain my title to non-trapezists.
I think my blog will be all about trapeze. I'm sure that other aspects of my life will creep in, but I think it mostly be about trapeze.
Tonight was the first night of a new class that Jeff started called "Skills". I was supposed to try to learn an uprise and a suicide dismount. I did not accomplish either. Ever positive Dino reminded me that "when you are making omelettes, you need to crack some eggs."
Galit was a little testy at first tonight. She was giving Manny a lot of lip when he offered her tips on retrieving the lines and she was giving me the evil eye when I tried to assist in the process. But I just had to laugh when she got the noodle and the hook completely entangled in the lines. I think that she was trying to knit a net for Bobby (Streb doesn't have a net--just a big fat mat) with the rope, but that is a project for another day, I think.
After class, Galit and I had a margarita. She spilled salsa and then left her phone at the bar. I just called Dino and left him a voicemail. I have further views on this, but I will voice them only to Galit.
Tonight's entry is going to be renamed "All About Galit".
Next entry I will try to explain my title to non-trapezists.
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