plans, etc

so i had such big plans for yesterday. sew bags all morning, meet lauren for scrabble, meet liz for dinner and margaritas, and then the girlyman concert! but i was moving slow, and worried about the bags. and then the bag lady called, and i promised her them on thursday, so now there's a deadline... then lauren calls to say her interview is running long and she won't be able to meet me, then liz calls and is going though trauma and won't be able to meet me, and so i just keep a'sewin' the bags! i'm not quite caught up, but i have faith now it will all get done. which i didn't have yesterday morning. i still am due about 2 more panic atacks about the rear window dress, though.

so i ended up going to hear girlyman myself. it was freakin' COLD here in chicago- i was glad i hadn't left the house all day. it was kind of my first day of the butch-winter look: docs, jeans, long sleeve t under short-sleeved tee, hoodie, jean jacket... except i was wearing a magenta t under my light pink my little pony t, which is not a stunningly masculine choice. anyway, you know how absolutely phenominal girlyman was last time, so you can just imagine what it was like now that i know and am in love with their most recent album! being short and alone, i was all the way at the front, and with schubas being so small i was pretty much drooling on ty's feet- i could count the flames on her phoenix tattoo. they played all sorts of new stuff, which sounds awesome- i am so excited for a new girlyman album! i recognized 2 of the 3 or 4 old songs they played from pandora- thanks pandora! and they did great covers. i mean, i think i would love any girlman cover, but these were particularly awesome because i knew them, before they had been split into three part harmony. in the set they played paul simon's born at the right time by request (for jamie- welcome home!) and the encores were all through the night of cyndi lauper fame (for ch) and preacher man (which we'll give to ruth). ah, lovely.

walking home i stopped into my piercing parlor, where olivia checked out my bumps. she says a daily sea salt soak should get rid of that in the next 3 weeks or so, or else come back. so hopefully that will work. i've had these piercings for 10 months now- i want to put my new jewelry in! or at least talk on the phone with that ear!

today was SLOW again at work. this whole week's been awful- i don't know what's up. the first half of the month was just fine, but now it's starting to drag. makes me sad. and ch tense. never good.

after work, of course, was circus school! after the tumbling today, we were on the unicycles! unfortunately, sean wasn't there, and i don't know if he could have explained it better than his substitute, but i was horrid at it. i don't undertand the feeling of balance, and i couldn't stay on while hanging on to someone. after that was trapeeze- this one higher off the ground- eight feet or so. once hanging from it, we swung our feet up, and hung upside down from our knees. then we wrapped one foot around the rope and hung face down by one foot and one hand, then flipped over and hung face up by a foot and a hand. then we figured out how to safely get down from there! i was so pleased to be strong enough to swing my feet up- but hanging upside down from my knees was another matter! so very scary! the instructor said to me, point your toes! i'm like, i thought they were pointed! she said, no you're clenching your feet! i had them all curled up like little claws. the hardest part about the hanging and flipping was remembering where everything was and where it had to go- it's like twister, now put your left foot on green, and i'm like, i'm hanging upside down by a floot and a hand by a thin bar 8 feet in the air, and you expect me to be able to figure out which foot my left one is? my big realization about circus performers came from how much it HURT- not a "this is pulling my muscles, i'm not strong enough" hurt, but a "the rope is digging into my foot" sort of hurt. circus artists look so beautiful and elegant and lighter than air, and i've always thought that it was just a combination of talent, strength, skill and practice. but now i know it just LOOKS that way- that all trapeeze artists have rope burns on their ankles, scars and bruises appear in mysterious places, that sure weightlessness is the illusion, but to make that illusion real bodies need to be lifted, supported by awkward bits of wood and metal and such.