Lake Arrowhead 2007 Day 2

I woke up early. Couldn't help it. Normally I'm a very good sleeper, having perfected the art over many years of dilligent research and application. However, whenever I'm at Arrowhead, I'm too excited (and it's too sunny) to stay in bed once I've woken up. So I crept upstairs and read a little out of Three Cups of Tea, a wonderful book that I'll blog about at Exponent Blog my next time.

So, originally, the plan was for everyone to be ready to go for geocaching around 1000. Didn't happen. Most people weren't even awake at that hour, much less changed and eaten. However, Shimai J, GB and Laughtear were, and we reached a concensus that Shimai J would make a special type of pancake, for which we needed flour. Quick run to the store, and then we were ready to partake of the deliciousness.


Finally, the geocachers were ready to go. Gadget Boy, Shimai J, Little Red-Haired Girl and Girl Friday in one car, and Drummer Boy, HSAAL, Mr. Giggles, Super Man and I in the next (especially good times for Gadget Boy and myself!). GB had mapped out a bunch of caches in the area, and we'd decided to go for the ones with really good views, so we headed down the 173. The first cache was at a little trail area. We were searching for something just off the trail, near the mini-monument, located between a rock and a hard place. Shimai J found the first cache. We all knew it had happened when she gave a little shriek followed by a triumphant shout. She further distinguished herself by ingenuously unlocking a couple's car ... they'd locked themselves out, and were looking at a long wait for AAA before Shimai J came and rescued them.


The second cache prooved a bit trickier. On a hillside, with paths slipperified by a myriad pine needles. There was much futile searching. However, Mr. Giggles decided to use his noggin, and set about decoding the clues. Mind over matter, Mr. Giggles found the second cache of the day.




As for the third cache? Well, they really tried. However, the caching gadgets were giving widly differing coordinates that just didn't make sense. In the end, we ended up calling it a wash, and heading back to lay in the lake.

Back at the house, I changed into water friendly gear and headed to the lake, Drummer Boy following. Yikes! The lake was really, really low. The lake algae, which we could barely see the tips of last year, were laid out along the lake surface like seaweed grown too tall for the ocean. This wasn't a problem for DB, who only wanted to lay out, but much more problematic for me, since I wanted to get into the water. And while I have no trouble with algae on a theoretical level, I don't like to see it, much less be enveloped by it. So, we trolled along the trail for a deserted dock with a covered boat. Found a conveniently located (and unlocked) one toward the opening of our small bay, and settled in.

I didn't ever actually get in the water, but I did douse myself with water regularly whenever I wasn't hiding under the cover of my beach towel. DB and I chatted about sundry things ... cabbages and kings and how Mormons-who-don't-fit-in fit in the Mormon church. The more I meet MWDFI, the more hopeful I am that the doctrines I have trouble with are temporal and not eternal.

At one point, I thought I saw several people from the house by the trees near the dock. I waved, but they didn't see me, and I doubted myself. Later, we saw SM and GB in the inflatable rowboat launching the speedster remote boat they'd gotten at the electronics store (which boat spent the remainder of the weekend on the mantle of the house).

Hunger then drove us all back to the house, where we found Improv-er, who'd been delayed by church responsibilities. A couple of showers later, and we were all headed to the local ribs house for dinner. Unfortunately, the place was incredibly small ... our whole party would have overrun the place. Fortunately, they had just enough food for us, and we got everything to go, at a very reasonable price. As we were exiting the place to get some more drinks and sides at Jensen's, the last two cars pulled up. After explaining everything, I sent them back to the house to get the tables ready.

When Paintbrush finally pulled in to the house, I heard drumming from the front room. "Good! Everyone's in a fun mood." I thought as we walked to the door. When I walked in, after hearing the thunderous, "SURPRISE!" I almost screamed! Balloons and streamers galore for my birthday! Can't even say how shocked and happy I was. It was totally by accident that Arrowhead was the weekend of my birthday, and I'd long since decided not to make a big deal of it. And aside from some felicities from T-Diddy in the morning, I'd pretty much forgotten about it. But really, it was my Best Birthday Ever. Ribs with all the trimming. Two kinds of cake (WW had called ahead), and then the music.





After dinner, some people headed up to play Halo, but the rest of us stayed downstairs while the boys got out their guitars, harmonicas and percussion instruments. MM had brought up a mini set of bongos, a mid-size modern bongo, a large single drum with an African design, and tons of different shakers and percussion instruments. HSAAL started up an impromptu birthday song for me, during which Improv-er displayed his Skiiilllz, and where WW even took a turn. HSAAL lead Mr. Giggles in a guitar jam by calling out chord progressions. Drummer Boy reprised the Primary Song Blues, and lead in a special Emo primary song medley. We sang old favorites like Hotel California. And everyone just jammed along with all the different things in MM's bag of tricks. Honestly, this was my favorite part of the whole weekend.





Probably the most hilarious and memorable event of the evening was Gadget Boy's creative and innovative towel dance. We'd been bugging him about performing all weekend, and he'd been most coy and evasive about it. However, the wait was worth it. It was the most I'd laughed in ages!

Sometime around 0100, we moved to the kitchen and started playing Catan. With Improv-er there, WW's supremacy was definitely challenged ... he won three of four games. Again, I was contender enough to threaten, but not enough to win. At some point, Mr. Giggles and HSAAL moved their two-man riffing gig to our table, and entertained us until the end with jokes, riffing, and breaking out into song. I didn't uderstand the references for half of what they were talking about, but they were so hilarious that I was compelled to laugh along.

We stopped playing around 0330. Most everyone went to sleep, but MM and I stayed to catch up on year's worth of events. I hardly ever see MM during the year, so its always good to catch up with him in person at Arrowhead.

Lake Arrowhead 2007 Day 1

Continuing with the Week of Fun ...

Going up to Lake Arrowhead again. This has been an annual tradition going on nine years now. I rent a house on the lake, and invite some of my nearest and dearest friends to come up and play. There was a little bit of drama leading up to the event, with last minute cancellations, an addition, and getting rides for everyone, but it just made the weekend away that much more enjoyable.

When Gadget Boy got to our place in the morning, he, Wonder Woman and I loaded up my car. Just as we were ready to go, Super Man called and asked if we had room in our car. Really, we didn't. But we all thought it would be such a blast for SM to come up with us, that we told him to meet us down here, while we repacked everything into GB's mini-SUV. After SM arrived (and after some fascinating chat on in-vitro and single-parenthood, and the untimely death of Spike, WW's bearded dragon lizard), we were finally off.

Trip up the mountain was fun. Stopped off for In-n-Out, and wrangled about homosexuality, Boy Scouts, Duty to God, Personal Progress, Young Womens vs Young Mens programs and budgeting/fund raisers, mostly in response to this discussion over at FMH, which took a slight detour in the comments.

Got up to the house, and found that Paintbrush and Little Red-Haired Girl had beat us to it. While we unloaded the cars, I finalized the room assignments, and we all settled in. Paintbrush and LRHG volunteered to do the grocery shopping (my apologies for sending you to the Stater Brothers when Jensen's was much closer). And, after discovering that there were one cable short for the Halo set-up, GB and SM took off for the local electronics store.


The rest of the afternoon was a blur. Laughtear and Drummer Boy arrived from behind the orange curtain. Mr. Giggles and Hop-Strum-and-a-Laugh arrived in a totally new car (the maiden voyage?) without even the plates. Music Man and T-Diddy came bearing a plethora of percussion instruments and big hugs. And Precious, Shimai J and Girl Friday were the last of the evening to arrive. Sadly, Drummer Boy didn't bring his camcorder, so there won't be any recapping of LRHG's House of Poo story.

When Paintbrush and LRHG got back from the store, we set into full-on curry-making mode ... everyone except Drummer Boy, Mr. Giggles and HSAAL, who dived into Guitar Hero, kindly providing the soundtrack for the afternoon. Laughtear was a wonderful sous-chef, and the curry was made in record time.


Again, the rest of the night was a blur. There was a lot of Guitar Hero-ing in the family room, and I think there was a lot of Halo-ing up in the game room. I remember playing Catan, but as WW won all the games, I wiped the specifics of the humiliation from my memory. I do remember that I was very close! THe best part of the evening was having a live concertino of guitar, harmonica and voice from Drummer Boy, Mr. Giggles and HSAAL. Drummer Boy is the best at picking out songs and accompaniments on guitar or harmonica. Mr. Giggles best at singing. And HSAAL intrigued me with an original piece, "Dreaming of You," which he played and sang very well.

Barbara Morrison sings the blues

Up to Lindy Groove for the 6th anniversary party. It's hard to believe that it's been six years since Sir Dancealot opened Lindy Groove, and now it's one of the most successful dance venues around. The whole night was a blur of fabulousness. Random memories:

Getting a copy of Doug Silton's Advanced Lindy Hop Connections for free because I was in the first fifty to buy my ticket on-line. I once tried to refer White Boy to take lessons with Doug, but Doug was really bad on the follow-up. However, Doug is an excellent teacher ... had had tons of dance experience, and has worked through theory and how to teach it. He's one of my favorite dance teachers, although he rarely teaches at Lindy Groove anymore.

Hanging out with LitheOne and Philly at the stage door when the dj'd music was too fast.

Barbara Morrison coming down off the stage and being celebrated with a jam circle. Joshing had to step in and bring her back to the stage so that the band could finish off the song.

Fabulous dances with Evincerator, His Vickness, Mr. Small and Screaming Matt.

Getting the Live at the 9:20 Special cd, and Barbara autographing it for me. She's such an electric performer, and very sparkly in person as well. Sort of like a really good rootbeer float ... pure enjoyment. If you're interested in seeing her perform, she'll playing in LACMA's summer jazz series on Friday, August 31 at 6pm. I'm planning on going before heading up to Paseo Colorado.

Leaving the building and feeling extremely salty.

And now we'll take a little break for some screaming

WooooooooHoooooooo!

Yeeeeeeaaaaaaahhhhh!

Haaaaaahahahahahahaha!

Wootwoot-can-I-hear-a-wootwoot!

Ahem ...

Yes. This morning I took and passed the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses CCRN pediatric critical care exam. And PASSED! (Repeat first four lines above).

Took a review course at my work a few years ago, and freaked out at the amount and intricacy of the material covered by the test. Didn't take the exam ... pushed it to the back of my mind and let it simmer. But I've lately had more incentive to bring the pot to a full boil.

My hospital is now applying for Magnet status. There's been a huge surge to improve the nursing staff and conditions ... lots of multidisciplinary committees, pushes to increase education, more nursing research projects, and encouragement to get additional certifications. So, my unit started a display in the hall with all the names of the CCRN nurses. So far there are about ten names. Now there will be eleven. And yes, while I don't generally like to admit to being that competitive and that petty that I'd rush to get my name on before a lot of others, I freely admit it in this instance.

Stopped posting on Exponent Blog to concentrate on studying (albeit ofttimes lackadaisically). Took half of the review course again. Sat for a practice exam. Listened to review mp3's until I thought I'd scream. And took this week off work to get in the last little bits of nitty gritty before the exam and my annual trip to Arrowhead.

Thoughts on the test? They're all given via computer at authorized testing centers. Like FK suggested, as soon as I stepped to my desk, I started jotting down notes on the provided scratch paper: ABG interpretation tips, heart chamber/vessel pressures, normal CSF test values, etc. The test was difficult. But that's really the point, isn't it? Found that I hate taking multiple choice tests on computer ... when it came to those questions where we had to choose the best answer out of several correct ones, I had to literally write down ABCD on my scratch paper and cross out the ones I was able to eliminate. I had difficulty with the cardio section because there were so many questions on cardiothoracic pre- and post-op patients ... which we rarely see because they go to the CTICU and not the PICU. However, I did really well in the Pulmonary, GI, Renal, Multisystem and Professional/Synery areas.

When I got my results, I uttered an elated "Yes!" under my breath. This swelled to a normal voice when I stepped outside the office. And became full on screaming when I got into my car! Turned up the radio loud (ahh ... my long lost friend the radio ... I can't wait to be reunited with NPR morning news), and alternatingly head bopped, screamed and laughed for about ten minutes. I think I stopped because the oxygen in my car ran out. The guy in the next car was pretty amused.

Got an hour Thai massage on the way home to celebrate.

And then, watched SYTYCD tonight. I LOVE THIS SHOW. I don't really want anyone to go home. Thoughts on the show (during which I indeed laughed, gasped and occassionally screamed):

Jessi and Pasha (jazz) ~ He is such a comic, and moves so well. Loved how he completes movements, like continuing his hand down her arm after the music finished. They were both sinuous and staccato per the wonderful choreography.

Sabra and Dominic (contemporary) ~ Amazing choreography paired with amazing partnering. When she did that foot pull, it looked like she actually slid him across the floor, eventhough he was really pushing with his arms. Such intricate, innovative and powerful movements. I was in awe.

Lacey and Kameron (Broadway) ~ The routine was okay. However, Lacey is really good at emoting while dancing, at least on the two choreographed pieces she's been on so far. I agree that he moue-ing during the auditions wasn't attractive. And, as much as I think Kameron's beautiful and is a good partner to Lacey, he doesn't seem to move as well when he's on his own. Plus, his shirt was ridiculous. They should have had him wear a vest.

Anya and Danny (Viennese waltz) ~ That reverse attitude spin was truly amazing. Anya is such a lovely dancer. I'm interested in seeing her do hiphop and contemporary. Didn't like the slapdash slashing of shiny material on her costume, but I guess it's less expensive than sewing on sequins just where they want them. Danny has such beautiful lines, but sometimes he just looks stiff and unnatural. Plus, as Wonder Woman astutely pointed out, he seems really cold.

Sara and Jesus (paso doble) ~ Thought the ballroom dance set to contemporary music was genius. His posture was a lot better than hers.

And even Neil (hip hop) and Jaimie (samba) stepped it up by performing so well out of their genres.

And lastly, although it didn't involve any screaming whatsoever, I went to the book club sponsored by my unit at work. It was held at FB's house, which was one of the major motivations, since she's just wonderful. And, Phillip Hawley, Jr, the author of Stigma was going to attend. It was really interesting to hear him talk about his writing process, and how the book eventually got published. Amazingly, Stigma is Hawley's debut book. Wrote it in his spare time. Had a friend look at it, who had another friend look at it, and two years later, it's published and selling at Costco (not that Costco is a purveyor of fine literature, but the book was just that promising). And so it is that a practicing pediatrician now has a contract with a major publishing house. Fabulous. And I have the autographed book to prove it.

A kind and thoughtful loan

I knew I was going to forget something ...

Wed, when I was down at DoT, Pilgrim girl made an extraordinary gesture of kindness that will have resounding implications for the future. Due to a new influx of comfy furniture, and the need to get down to the nitty-gritty of writing her dissertation, PG loaned me her digital piano! Small, but with a full-sized keyboard. Encased in a black wood cover and matching stand. Weighted keys that have a few different volume capabilities. Some fancy-schmancy tonal qualities. And a jack so that I can practice and not bother the neighbors. I'm so delighted!

Got it home Wed night, set it up, and played a bunch of Christmas songs from the hymnal, because I couldn't find the other music I wanted. Actually, the sheet music was all there, I was just looking for it in my music bag instead of on the shelf.

When I started taking piano lessons at the tender age of five, I didn't realize how much satisfaction music would give me. Neither did my parents. Of course it was a struggle to get me to practice, and sometimes my mother would have to put up with my groaning at weekly lessons. Of course there were times that I scooted the practice timer forward a couple of minutes when she wasn't looking. Of course there were times when I hated having to accompany at Saturday morning baptisms when my dad was ward, then stake mission leader/president.

But, there were so many compensations. Performing at school concerts. Having the upper hand on reading music when I took up clarinet in elementary school (for a year) and flute in junior high school (again, for a year). Learning to conduct music with Rowan Taylor (I wish I could say that I was a talented student, but the fact is that he volunteered his time to anyone in the stake who wanted to learn, which happened to be just my brother Bork and myself, urged out of bed Saturday mornings by my dad. This fact doesn't negate Taylor's talent, just the sensibilities of the stake members). Learning to sing alto. Understanding the flow of music that I dance to. Just so many benefits.

And not least of these is the intense personal satisfaction I have when I mastered a piece that speaks to my soul. Fur Elise when I was 8. Polonaise in G Minor by Chopin when I was about 12. The accompaniment to Adoration by Borowski (to play with JLITH on the violin) when I was 14. Where Do I Begin by Lai when in high school, borrowed from my AP English teacher (The Great One, as he was known to his teacher buddies, because he was multi-talented). And Reverie by Debussy somewhere around 20. My history in music is laid out in scrap books (more like accomplishments books with lots of printed programs and awards) lovingly compiled by my father.

I quit taking piano lessons somewhere around seventeen years of age. By then I had largely stopped practicing at all, and was much more obssessed with much pettier teenage superfluities.

About eight year ago, I started having cravings for music again. Little by little, I started to collect sheet music of songs that really spoke to me. I started playing at the church whenever I could sneak in a practice session. Dusted off a few old favorites, and started trying out a couple of new pieces. It became my goal to learn Debussy's Claire de Lune. I've gotten to the third page. Not very good progress.

However, now I have a good instrument that I have total access to. I've playing at least one song a day on it. I'm saddened at how stiff and weak my fingers are ... they trip maddeninly slowly over some of my old favorite pieces. However, there is progress. I'm slowly regaining mastery. I even slogged through the first movement of Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata tonight (which is not very difficult, I'm just a poor sightreader, and my hands have trouble spanning more than an octave ... which means that I also have trouble playing pieces by Lizst or the easiest of Rachmaninoff's).

And so it is that I now have a piano in my home again. Much gratitude to such a good friend.

Trying out my new, expensive and ugly shoes

Bork's birthday this past week. As a break, I told Bork and Genie that I would babysit for them down in OC so that they could get out and have some couple time.

On the way, I stopped at South Coast Plaza and bought these shoes. Really, they very ugly. And, they happen to be the most expensive shoes I've ever bought. But, in the quest for a stronger core, and less joint impact, I'm sufficiently intrigued enough to try themjavascript:void(0) out. They came highly recommended by one of the cardiologists at my work. She'd been having trouble with her back, and was recommended to try these by her physical therapist, and has been raving about them ever since. I tried them on earlier in the week, and was almost convinced, but decided to sleep on it.

Got over to the Dragon family home. Heard about their woeful experiences trying to golf for the first time. Luckily thy played a game called Scramble, so it wasn't too awful for the beginners. Bork mused about maybe having to take up the game to be more social with coworkers. Anyway, after a little whining from Bean Two, I shooed Bork and Genie out the door for a night of bowling. Turns out there's a company bowling night coming up, and Bork wanted to pep up his game!

The Beans were pretty good. Bean Three freaked out a little bit when Beans One and Two went out to play. But at least it wasn't awful-freaking-out ... he didn't fight me when I picked him up, just continued to cry until Bean One came and comforted him, and we gave him his nightly bottle a little early. Yes, I recognize that Stranger Anxiety is one of the developmental stages of infancy, I just don't like it much.

When it got dark, Beans One and Two trooped in and started playing with the legos. I'm so glad that they're at an age where they can entertain themselves. I pulled on my ugly, expensive shoes, and walked around the apartment ... back room to living room to back room to living room ...

Put Bean Three down to sleep at 1930, and turned on the fan for a little white noise. He cried for about six minute, then settled into sleep. He was so quiet that I snuck in just to make sure he was breathing.

Beans One and Two got tired of playing, and came to ask for some ice cream. After some hard bargaining, I got them to eat some more of their veggies from dinner, and they each had a scoop of rocky road. Both Beans show excellent taste, choosing the better path ... chocolate instead of vanilla.

As I started washing the dishes, the boys started to wrestle. Then Bean Two started whining, which is par for the course. Then he started whining louder, and Bean One started protesting his innocence. At which point I put them in separate chairs in the living room and told them to stay put. Bean One settled in, but Bean Two kept wailing. At one point, B1 tried to tell me something, but I couldn't hear him. So when I finished risning the dish in my hand, I turned around. Funnily enough, Bork and Genie walked in the door at that moment, and we all found out what B1 had been trying to tell me ... B2 (still wailing) had peed his pants! What was there to do but laugh? Good thing that Bork and Genie are disposing of the furniture (all scavenged from decades worth of old furniture at my parents' house) when the summer is over. Hopefully B2 won't be emotionally scarred for life, and will have many future happier peeing moments.

Blues dancing in Santa Monica

Last night, during a shoeless dance with Philly, he mentioned that a few people were getting together to blues bomb Harvelles. Blues bomb? I thought I'd heard wrong, but I was intrigued.

So, 2200 found me settling in to a swanky, dimly lit bar on 4th street. Not seeing anyone I knew, but finding solace in the grooving beats of Dennis Jones. After not-too-long, I saw Catydid, and we huddled together and laughed as we both longed for a couple of good blues dancing leads. Of course, there were a couple of people moving around on the dance floor, but it was more like being at a junior high school dance than a blues venue.

Catydid explained about blues bombing. Apparently it means that you get a bunch of people to dance at a place where blues or lindy isn't normally the thing. I guess it's much more dramatic to blues bomb a coffee shop instead of a blues bar. However, the thought of introducing dancing at a non-dancing place made me smile.

The bar scene is really very foreign to me. I saw one guy sitting at the bar who personified everything wrong about the bar scene. Alone. Youngish. Wearing a white sweater, thus our immediately naming him Sweater Guy. Sweater Guy wore a rather vulnerable and uneasy look. He wasn't talking to anyone. Didn't look like he was friends with anyone. At one point, he got up to go to the restroom. When he came back, his seat was taken. He stood uncertainly by for a few minutes, before taking another seat at the back of the bar. I just couldn't figure out why he would come out to a venue like this, without friends, and without even seeming to enjoy the music. Catydid and LitheOne imagined up a few scenarios. Sweater Guy had just turned 21, and none of his friends could take him out, so he decided to go alone for his first legal drink. OR, Sweater Guy was waiting for a blind date who just never showed up. I can't remember any of the other ones. I wanted to help him, but I couldn't think of anything that wouldn't sound insulting, so I did nothing.

Anyway, Catydid and I were soon joined by Philly, LitheOne and Arthur. And then things started to sizzle. At one point, LitheOne and Arthur were the only ones moving on the (admittedly small) floor. When the song ended, there was applause all around ... they are really quite slinky.

Dancing to the live band was difficult ... they played mostly fast music, with a hint of rockabilly. However, we were able to get in a few slowish songs during the live sets, and some more during the dj'd breaks.

Took Catydid to the back of the bar to practice leading Nightclub two step for one song. I'm really excited about teaching this to the mid-singles at the end of July, and have been watching this clip of Foosball at the MAC. Makes me long for the easy, groovy dancing there.

It's a So You Think You Can Dance summer

Came home from another great DoT discussion. I should have gone straight to sleep, since I had to work in the morning. Did I? Nope. How could I, with a new episode of SYTYCD ready and waiting for me on the tivo?

How was it? Absolutely fantastic! Midway through, Wonder Woman came down to finish watching with me.

Lacey and Kameron danced Mia Michale's choreography beautifully. This one was my favorite piece of the evening.

Sara and Jesus did an absolutely fabulous piece by Wade Robson. WR is such an amazing chorepgrapher ... so innovative and creative. I wonder what it must be like to live in his head.

Shauna and Jimmy did this great piece by Tyce Diorio. Confess that I don't always like Diorio's stuff, but I loved how this piece was so fun, joyful and energetic.

Sabra and Dominic did a great piece by Doriana Sanchez. Sanchez's stuff can be really corny, but it just made me smile. As did Dominic's pants.

And, I even enjoyed Anya and Danny doing the jive. I generally don't like jive numbers, but Tony Meredith made this piece much more current by using an Avril Lavigne song, and not being too hokey.

I love, Love, LOVE this show! I think I got to sleep around 0100.

And, I'll just include these couple of clips of dancers who didn't make the top 20, but who I still thought were amazing.

Brian Gaynor doing the robot. I want to show this clip to all the kids who come in to my hospital for spinal fusions for scoliosis.
Phillip Chbeeb showing the world what's new in popping. I love it when he wiggles his boneless arms and pushing his chin around.
Caitlin Cucchiara
And I loved the clogger kid, but can't seem to find any clips of him.

Just beneath the surface

Small talk. One of my less favorite things to do in the world. My standard answer to the ubiquitous question, "So, what's new with you?" is pretty standard: work and dancing. Really, that's it. Not even any international travel plans this year.

But dig a little deeper, and there's tons going on.

At work this past week, I took care of a patient with his guts in a sac outside his body. I've taken care of patients with opened chests, where the heart is visible under a transparent betadine patch, but I don't think I've ever taken care of a patient with a surgically extruded organ. Bizarre. Anyway, eight year old patient with a malrotation and volvulus. MD Spaniard, came back with the patient from the OR and said that they couldn't close the abdomen because of the major swelling of the entire small intestine, so they piled the small intestines onto the abdomen, covered it with a plastic sheet, and sutured the sheet to the edges of the incision. It looked like a six inch, bloody stack of cd's on his belly. Good thing I'd put the egg crate on the bed before they took it to pick up the patient, because we weren't even allowed to turn the patient ... which could have kinked off parts of the already injured bowel.

The next day, they took the kid back to surgery to see if they could salvage any of the small intestines, but it was a no-go. They had to resect all of it, leaving only a small portion of the duodenem to save the insertion site of the head of the pancreas. Poor kid will need a small bowel transplant, and maybe even a liver and pancreas if they can get it.

Another day, I taught NM how to work the hemofiltration machine. Hemofiltration is like hemodialysis, except slower. What dialysis does in a matter of hours, filtration does over days. Filtration is gentler, and a better choice for unstable pediatric patients who have temporary renal issues. We've had a run on renal failures lately. Lots of kids on hemofiltration, peritoneal dialysis and even those who get bedside hemodialysis. We're only missing the kidney transplants, which is a shame, since I really like those types of cases. Anyway, it was lucky that my (different) patient needed a circuit change that very day. We'd discontinued the hemofiltration earlier in the day to trial the patient off in preparation for dialysis, but the patient became too unstable, and the lytes were going crazy. So, the didactic class instructors were able to have the class prime and initiate a new circuit. Good timing, since sometimes it can be months between hemofiltration cases, by which time the class members have lost a lot of the info they learned in class.

So, I taught NM how to run the circuit. After the first two hours, she was able to assume total patient care, and used me as a backup. Busy kid. Some baseline neuro-cognitive deficits that will be exacerbated by the lithium overdose that bought her to the hospital in the first place. Nasty stuff, lithium. They had to start her on hemofiltration to remove the lithium. When her levels got down to below detectable, they took her off the circuit. But since lithium is stored in the tissue, her levels shot up after a few hours. The neurology team is pretty certain that she will have some permanent functional deficits after her acute symptoms resolve. At least she will be followed by our team from now on, not the crackpot local team that had her on too many antipsychotics in the first place.

ECMO staff meeting the other week. We may be starting use of a new pump specifically for the post-op heart patients. Which will mean cross-training for the CTICU and PICU ECMO nurses.

And, dancing ...

Wonderful night of dancing at Lindy Groove. An almost perfect dance with StretchJ. He really excells at the faster tempos, which I tend not to like. But, there are songs that are just at the higher end of my tolerance, and at the lower end of his, where our dancing is just superb.

A great, break-laden song with Sociologist. He uses a lot of weight behind many of his crazy lock-turns, etc. And I love those moves because he maintains firm-but-painless connection. And because he especially loves doing those moves with me because he likes the way I counterbalance. So good, especially if the music is more moderately tempo'ed.

And lastly, my favorite new leader of the night, D-Roca. Really, he looks like Mo Rocca (who I find adorable), except with a really bushy head of hair. D-Roca was celebrating his birthday this week, and his style was so funky that I had to jump in on his birthday dance. Later, we grooved a little to some alt-swing music, and it was a blast. Finding new, danceable leads is such an A-Ha/discovery moment.

And, more dancing ...

Tivo failed to record SYTYCD on Wed and Thu. What a tragic disappointment. Spent Friday morning scavenging info and dance clips on the net to appease my inner demons. In the process, I decided that, instead of swing or salsa, that I would teach Nightclub Two Step for the mid-singles FHE in July. I just can't stand teaching east coast swing anymore. Besides, NCTW is super easy, and much better suited for contemporary music. And, I found this clip of Jeremy and Monica doing NCTS. Jeremy is one of my favorite leads to dance with in Utah, and it made me curiously happy to see him dancing NCTS and West Coast Swing. In the WCS clip, Jeremy even does those he-goes-she-goes travelling turns that he's so good at leading. Utah is a long way to go for NCTS and WCS, but I generally can't make it out for WCS on Thursday because I go to Lindy Groove, or Sundays, when there's dancing at Memories, but I choose to stay home. Anyway, seeing people at the Murray Arts Center made me realize how much I miss dancing there.

Incidentally, Jeremy reminds me of His Vickness. Neither are flashy dancers. They don't stand out because of crowd-pleasing moves. They stand out because they are fantastic leads that interpret the music well, are very ogranized and clear in their lead, and allow the follow to just relax and enjoy the dance.

So, I've decided to teach NCTS, and am putting together a lesson, and I've recruited a friend to help me teach. Fun!

Also, there's just a ton of dancing during the summer! The LA and SM YSA's are doing a summer dance series on Wed nights. Dancing Under the Stars in Pasadena on Fridays and Saturdays starting in July. Camp Hollwood at the end of July. And Paladino's in open every Tuesday in the summer. I feel like dancing all summer!

Yes, there's really only work and dancing occupying me nowadays. But there's plenty going on just below the surface.

Forgotten Treasures

Am ecstatic. FGITW has finally returned The Strangeness of Beauty. I picked it up on a "deeply discounted" table at a book store. $2? Sure. Took is home and fell in love. Started underlining passages I loved, then quit ... a waste of ink to underline the whole book. Loaned it to FGITW about five years ago. After a year, I asked for it back. She was so vague that I thought it was lost forever. Then, in the heat of cleaning out her apartment, she found and returned it, the prodigal book. Started paging through it this morning, and fell in love again.

Reminds me of another bargain basement book that changed me. Walk With the Sickle Moon.

Both Minatoya and Norris are not smooth writers, and I mean it as a compliment. As I read, I want to go slowly. Savor each moment. Linger in the resounding experience. The characters catch and snag my attention as I find moments of kinship, and almost say, "You too?" In short, I find elements of my own shi-shosetsu. And, eventhough I had almost decided not to include text, here is the beginning of The Strangeness of Beauty.

November 25, 1922

It has been said that at any given moment, sixty percent of Japanese are involved in writing a novel. And all of them autobiographical.

This phenomenon, though not new in form (the autobiographical novel is an ancient art), is certainly new in frenzy. There's even a word for it, shi-shosetsu, the "I-story."

Critics have questioned the motivation behind the amateur I-story. Often it seem so futile. Why would so many work so long to create novels meant for their eyes alone? The answer involved social upheaval - in which a sudden infusion of excessive education (the progressive arts and sciences of the last two imperial reigns) has clashed with limits in opportunity, to turn a nation of habitual haiku writers half mad.

The theory is that in Japan, the self-consciousness of modernism has collided with the tradition of reticence - of not burdening others with one's subjective experience - to create a people just roiling with confessional angst.

It's true, I think. There seem to be few people as concerned with being understood as the Japanese.

Unless you consider the Americans.

But I'm delaying. This, of course, is my I-story.

...

The truth is, I write - as do many people, I suspect - only when I'm uneasy; as a way to drag life from the dark clutch of the belly; whereit's experienced, up to the mind's sorting light.

And for five years my life has been placid. Yet as I read this., my memory rises. Write, it urges. Master me. Take me to some brighter place.

I wonder how many narrative therapists there are in Japan.

People I Like

Went down to Huntington Beach for Prospeaker and Lulu's Mosaic Wall Party II. Met these two on the trip to China. Married, retired, no children, vibrant, world travelers. They're generous, social and lots of fun. And they've both gotten really fit lately! They looked and felt fantastic.

The Mosaic Wall is Prospeaker's baby. He started with a tile mermaid and various fish along the back wall that lines their pool. Now, two semesters of ceramics classes later, he's almost got the whole wall covered ... sea monsters, turtles, shells, treasure chest complete with strings of pearls, a tiffany-esque stained glass night light and kelp beds. So much fun, and a great creative outlet.

Reconnected with a few of the other China travellers. Mostly retired folk who have the means to take at least one large trip a year. I generally don't tend to have much exposure with retirees, so it was refreshing to have a chat and see what my life may look like in thirty-some years.

Stayed in tonight. Read through Stigma. Thankfully, it was okay. Not nearly bad as I feared after reading the back cover. A bit formulaic, especially the ending, and some of the twists. But not a bad read for an evening. I'm interested in seeing what Hawley will be able to reveal about his writing process.

Somnambulist

Up at 0630. Did the bare minimum morning routine and dragged myself into work for ECMO recert. I do enjoy being on the ECMO (extracorporeal membranous oxygenation ~ like a heart-lung machine) team. The patients are so sick, and the balancing act is much more nurse driven than anything else I do. The physicians set the parameters, but the nurses are the ones who juggle the balls and decide which drips to titrate and how, and how to adjus the machine to maintain the patient. They've come up with a new protocol for the Cardiothoracic ICU to prevent the excessive bleeding from their post-op hearts. I'm excited to see the figures. Also, they're considering getting new pumps for the short-term post-op hearts. This will mean cross-training for the CTICU and the PICU.

We also got to work on a practice pump. Walking the raceway within 40 seconds. Repairing the raceway. Reparing the bladder. Removing air from the circuit.

Then we had a discussion about what our worst EMCO nightmare would be, and how to deal with it. Personally, I would freak out if the cannulas dislodged. Blood spurting, patient decompensating, machine beeping like a banshee. I've never had it happen to me, but it's known to happen when surgeons aren't careful, when moving the patient, or even spontaneously. If it ever happened, I'd have to apply pressure to the cannula sites to prevent a bleed-out, and yell for help. Someone else would have to maximize the ventilator settings, go up on the pressors (making sure that they were actually connected to the patient and not to the circuit), administer volume (saline, then someone drawing up the blood or FFP we keep at the bedside), get the crashcarts in position and start drawing up code meds, while someone calls the surgeons to come stat and replace the cannulas. It would be especially bad if this happened on a post-op heart patient, because their cannulas are generally inserted directly into the heart, the chest is left open, and an iodine patch is left in place. If the patient accidentally decannulated, there wouldn't be a place to effectively apply pressure.

And on that happy note, ECMO recert was finished.

Went and got a Thai massage. My calves were a little sore from getting used to my new Aris Allen shoes. The masseuse really worked me over. So good, even though there were a couple times that I yelped. T Diddy would have laughed.

For some reason, I didn't end up taking the nap I sorely needed. Instead, I ended up going to see Pirates of the Carribean II with Boss and a couple of his friends. Not normally a movie I would have chosen to see (at all, even less in the theatre). However, it was good to connect with Boss and chat a bit. He's a hard guy to get a read on. A little closed off. But I respect his opinion.

After the movie (I saw #1, but didn't see #2 because of the awful reviews), everyone gathered in the vestibule. Someone asked me what I thought of the movie. Trying to be diplomatic (because I didn't want to be the one to say, "Whoever wanted to pay $10 to see this in the theatre has no taste or sense of proportion.") I said that it was a good movie to see in the theatre because of the special effects. Then, everyone started trashing the movie. Ha!

I decided not to go to dinner with the crowd. Afterall, there was dancing at Do Something Blue to attend. Stopped by at Borders to get a copy of Stigma. The author is a pediatrician, and knows one of my managers. Frannie is having the bookclub at her house in June, and Hawley will be attending. I haven't been to my work bookclub in a while. Mostly because they are on nights when I have other things planned, but also because of some of the flops they've chosen to read. Now, Running With Scizzors and A Million Little Pieces aren't flops in the conventional sense, but I stopped reading and threw them away because they just made me feel *icky.*

Anyway, as I was standing in line, I read the back cover, and had to keep myself from laughing out loud. Either the book is really bad, or the publisher needs to hire a new backcover writer. It was that bad.

After walking back to my place, I decided to take a nap before heading out for dancing. Dancing would go until 0200. Drank a diet coke just to make sure I didn't sleep too deeply.

When I finally woke up, the clock read 0300. Bummer. Turned over and slept until the morning.

Craziness of Being in Charge

In charge today. Came prepared. Large quantities of chips and salsa to appease the villagers (staff on the unit). If, as Mary Poppins postulated, a little bit of sugar helps the medicine go down, then snacks in the back help the staff bear their burdens easier!

Day wasn't too bad. Little fires here and there. Tranferred one of four possible patients to the floor. Had little alert for possible admission calls from the OR . One nurse had to go home sick. I went to lunch feeling good, and even managed to take a 20 minute nap. Then I came back and was accosted.

Clinic patient had to be admitted because there wasn't an appropriate bed on the floor. Had to staff for a liver transplant admission. Two trauma calls from the ED. One night nurse called in sick. One unexpected post-op admission. One transport from another hospital for a surgical consult.

Ended up taking the clinic patient, eventhough it was later discovered that she was in the middle of a chemo regimen. Was able to staff for a team leader to admit the liver tranplant later in the night shift. Trauma calls ended up being stable enough for the floor. Took the post-op. And our ICU team ended up postponing the transport when I explained the staffing difficulty.

At the end of the shift, I was able to give report to Fearless Leader (one of the core charge nurses, and probably the most knowledgeable and capable nurses working in my unit). And I escaped to Lindy Groove.

Of course, I stayed later than I should have.

Mr. Little was back from San Diego for his second summer law internship. He's short and skinny, but he's a fabulous lead. He's got this interesting styling ... pulling back and twisting his right shoulder during a whip that no one else does. He also reminded me that SYTYCD was starting tonight. I hope it's still going to record since I haven't touched the tivo programming on it since last year.

His Vickness and Evincerator. Love these guys.

CaucasianStretchJ and I talked about Yosemite, where he is going this weekend. Reminds me that I need to condition and make at least one more trip and make it up to the top of Half Dome. Up the Rainbow path (past the waterfalls), and down the backside (with all the switchbacks), armed with my camelback and trekking poles. And hopefully no thunder like last time.

Darring showed me a new Charleston angle-shifting movement. Very easy and smooth. I can't even remember how he did it, but that just shows what a good lead he can be.

Left at about 2330. Got home and checked to see if SYTYCD had recorded. It had. And I WATCHED THE WHOLE THING! Nuts. I'm so nuts.

Studying and Study Break

In a remorseful mood, I spent most of the day studying. I am so bad at self-motivated study. I'm pretty good when taking classes, but it's hard to stay excited and devoted about hitting the books when it's just me. Anyway, I put my shoulder to the wheel and logged in some quality time. When I finally surfaced for air, it was too late to go down for DOT.

Instead, I went over to the Santa Monica Stake Center for the summer dancing series. The singles wards are teaming up and having dance lessons on Wednesday nights throughout the summer. And eventhough I'm a bit older and not a beginner, I decided to check it out. I'm always up for supporting people learning to dance.

Plus, it was a good way to break in my new Aris Allen shoes. They're wonderful! They don't pinch, have a a padded insole, are secure, and have the most wonderful leather soles. I admit I was a bit skeptical when I saw some dancers wearing them a year ago, but I'm a convert now. Although I did scuff the soles on the concrete a bit ... falling flat on one's face on a slippery dance floor qualifies as public humiliation, and is stridently avoided.

The teachers taught an easy east coast lesson. Basic. Two turns. Abbreviated ("whoa!") inside turn. Cuddle move with peekaboos. Travelling follow turns in front of the lead. And a lift. I probably wouldn't have taught the lift. I don't think it's appropriate in beginner lessons. But I think everyone had a lot of fun. I started leading for about a millisecond, but more guys showed up, and we were about even the entire night.

I think it's fabulous that they are organizing this event. Partner dancing is such a good way to meet other people, use your social conversational skills, and be active. Besides, as I keep telling the guys I know: girls love to dance, and smart guys learn how to.

Rollercoaster Break

My buddy Socrates invited me along to a work event at Knott's Berry Farm. After suffering through some kiddie raffles and several rounds of Bingo, we ditched the group and dived into roller coasters.

My favorite was the Silver Bullet. Awful name. But it's a hanging coaster, which makes for a smoother ride, with lots of fancy schmancy loops and twizzles. Second best was the Xcelerator. The split second downward dive gave me that nanosecond of gutwrenching fear that comes when my stomach gets left behind the rest of my body. And I'd guess that Supreme Scream was my third favorite. It has that same nanosecond of gutwrenching, but the most terrifying part is waiting at the top for the drop to initiate.

Left a bit early so that I could make it to the stake choir practice. Again, Aurora scolded the women while praising the men to the heavens. It's really quite amusing what a flirt she is. In her sixties, she's more flirtatious in a month than I am in a year.

Being deposed

Down south for the day.

Stopped off to get my deposition taken. Unnerving to know that every word I say is being recorded for future scrutiny. Strange that there was a great deal of cammeradeire between the four attorneys present. Then again, they aren't the ones on the block ... Also, turns out that the attorney representing the hospital hadn't examined the records well, and that there was a third shift (besides the previous two) that I had provided care to the patient on. By that time, the issues in question had been mostly resolved, but it was nasty little shock to find out that there was a portion that I hadn't been prepared for.

Met up with Bork and Genie. Problems with the woman whose lease they were taking over. "Maria" is either a total nutball, or a really bad con-artist. B&G decided not to sing any papers until the matter gets further resolved.

Then, since it was so late, and traffic would be bad, B&G came down to DOT with me. JoW presented on an old Dialogue article that reviewed the presidential bid of George Romney, father of Mitt Romney, who is currently running for the Republican presidential nomination. Interesting smilarities. War. Conservative issues. Is an LDS politician running for POTUS electable?

Verbally Challenged

I've never been particularly good at speaking. This first became apparent to me when I received low marks at school in reading aloud. Not that I didn't love reading. I spent more time reading than doing anything else besides sleeping. Even then, I would stay up so late reading that I would fall asleep with the light on. This would irritate my father, and he ended up installing a special wall light by the head of my bed just so that I'd have no excuse to leave the light on all night.

Anyway, I had trouble reading aloud in class. I knew how to spell the words. I knew how to pronounce them. I knew what they meant. No problem, right? Except all those little words kept disrupting my stream. You know, the kind that you don't even get to take credit for in Scrabble because they're so short ... a, and, the, to, from. The kind of words that my eyes just glanced over in my desire to find out what was going to happen next. Ridiculously, I had to learn to slow down and read ... each ... word. Which I did, since I didn't like low marks in the slightest.

Junior high school was a blur of Valley girl speak. I can't reminisce without wincing. The turning point came when I had to record the soundtrack to a bookreport filmstrip and realized how badly I'd been flogging the English language. From that point on I made a concerted effort to speak like (ya know) the girl I was ... someone who spent more time reading books than hanging out at the mall. My mother must have been grateful to hear intelligible conversation from her erstwhile alien daughter.

In high school, in my senior year, I tried out for a drama class. I was actually in the math/science magnet program, but there were lots of crossovers between us and the performing arts magent students. I was thrilled to learn that I was placed in the advanced drama class. Not so thrilled when the teacher demoted me to the intermediate class once she realized I'd had no previous theatre related classes, but I understood the rationale. I only remember one critique from that semester. "Dora, watching you do a scene is like viewing a beautiful foreign film. You emote and move so wonderfully, but I can barely understand a word you say!"

I didn't take drama the next semester, opting instead for the Peer Counselling class instead. Besides being in class with some of my closest friends, it was the place where I learned how to actively listen, and what it was like to be actively listened to. Give someone the space to talk. Listen. Reflect back. Clarify. Discuss possible options and what the person sees as the pros and cons of different courses of action. It was amazing to me. This wasn't like being condescended to by an adult. This wasn't bossing around my siblings. This wasn't the hyperbolic highs and lows of pubescent chatter. This was a refining process that brought positive change.

In college, I had a tight-kknit group of friends ... all of whom had remarkable verbal talents and drama enough to use said talents. I found my role not so much as a talker, but as a confidant and sounding board. I worked my way up to a few leadership roles, which did require a lot of verbalization, but it was more motivational or organizational talk. One group adviser even complimented me on being good on my feet when it came to speaking to the group. Which was good and fine, but I can remember feeling frustrated at not having someone to actively listen to me about matters that really, well, mattered.

Fast forward about a decade ...

Yesterday I went for a pre-deposition meeting. The parents of a patient I cared for for two shifts a number of years ago is suing the hospital (where I no longer work). It's strange to be involved in the case, since I don't remember the patient at all, and have only my charting to remind me of what happened. The lawyer for the hospital had me come in to review what types of questions the plaintiff's lawyer might ask. In this situation it's crucial to understand the question in its entirety, answer only the direct question, and give no additional information. I find this to be very difficult. I want to elaborate, to find reasons why, to give examples of similar circumstances, to explain all the nuances of why things are done a certain way. And I shouldn't. As an example question, the hospital attorney asked me if I knew what time it was. I looked at my watch and said that it was a quarter to 11:00. WRONG! Without having looked at my watch, I should have answered, "No." I feel myself hamstrung, and have a hard time answering at all. I leave, frustrated at trying to limit my answers.

Later that night, at DOT, I find myself frustrated in an entirely different way. AA, an LDS therapist in the area, came to talk about her practice and process. She does not work for LDS Social Services, but her patient population varies from 50-80% LDS. She has an atypical social history in the church, and has had occassional bouts of friction with her ward and leaders. She practices Narrative Therapy, a form of psychotherapy that focuses on the telling of the patient's story, deconstruction of key events and people, and retelling as a way to empower the individual. This resonated very strongly with me. I've always felt that I am a very powerful person, even if I don't always use that power. I tend to think that I have all the abilities I need to change my life, and that where I fail is the lack of impetus or desire. I do what brings me joy, even if it's an unhealthy joy. I'm an optimist, and I feel that positively framing the events of my life gives me power over negativity.

And yet, as I participated in the discussion, asked questions and tried to make statements, I felt incredibly thwarted in my ability to say what I felt. It all just seemed to come out wrong. At one point, I wanted to ask how her stance in the church affected her ability/objectivity to counsel clients who decide that they don't want to be involved in the church anymore. When she started answering, I realized that she hadn't understood my question. And by the time she had finished (I didn't interrupt, mostly because I hate interrupters), someone else more succintly asked the same question.

And I realize again that I have trouble speaking about my deepest emotions. I almost never speak about the things that matter most in group settings. When I do tend to talk about these things, it's most likely to be in situations where I feel that I will be actively listened to ... one on one, in a quiet place, when I'm with the rare friend who gives me space to talk, and listens, reflects back what I'm saying, asks questions to help clarify my thoughts, presents options, and lets me make my own decisions when I'm ready. This is rare. There are not many people who are able to listen in this manner without injecting their own prejudices or projecting their own experiences. I confess that it's rare for me to listen in this manner, particularly when it's a close friend. Yes, it's rare, and magnificent.

(P.S. AA also said that LDS clients are demanding and cheap, although she phrased it in a much nicer way. We're generally taught to be self-sufficient. Sometimes more able to give than receive help. Sometimes she'll get clients that have struggled in relationships for decades, who want to resolve issues in two sessions. There's also the idea that one shouldn't be paying so much to just talk, because that's what home/visiting teachers and bishops are for. Also, our ideas on family are also tangled up in our ideas of salvation for spouse and children, close community ties, and personal and communal expectations. Anyway, I can imagine that LDS folk would rather see an LDS therapist, since there's so much framework to explain to those unfamiliar with LDS culture.)

Coasting on the West

Down to Irvine for The Connexxion, a combined Lindy/West Coast Swing weekend. Gale force winds. Just about like the day a wild shopping cart furiously rammed into my car in the Costco parking lot and, to say the least, left a mark.

Anyway, WCS. Have been becoming more and more enamoured of it. It's fun, slower and less impact bearing than lindy, and definitely more "grown-up." Turn out for the event was rather small, with an extremely small lindy population. I don't think that Eileen and Teveya played to their strengths when it came to PR.

Took a WCS class from Benji and Lacey Schwimmer. Finally learned to do those illusion turns that I loved from the SYTYCD Black Mambo routine (skip the judges' commentary at the end).

As I was chatting with Darring between classes, trying to decide where to go to next, Steve, of Steve and Heidi came and cajoled us to come to his advanced Balboa class. Smart move on his part, since we were two of four people in his class. Anyway, it was like a private lesson. Both Darring and I were boggled by the change in footwork emphasis. We were basically trying to overcome eight years of bad habits in one hour. Steve and Heidi recently moved back to LA from the Bay Area. Steve is one of the most interesting competitors to watch, and I'm glad he'll be around.

Last class was Groove It Or Lose It with Myles Monroe and Tessa Cunningham. Lots of fun. This is the element of dancing that I'm most comfortable with. Much as I like to watch competitions, it's the subtleties and improvisations of social dancing (or even Jack and Jill competitions) that inspire me.

Myles and Tessa Swing Diego routine ~ a choreographed routine. It's impressive and innovative, but sometimes doesn't seem to flow exactly well.

Benji and Tatianna: Jack and Jill ~ love how the "led" moves can look so seamlessly choreographed.

Myles and Tessa: slow routine ~ I have no idea what context this dance was in, but I love it. Lots of flow and musicality, with not as much of the highly stylized and weird competition gesticulating.

Myles and Tessa: freestyle ~ again, on-the-spot dancing.

A day with the sis

Picked JLITH up at LAX last night.

Up early in the morning to go for a long walk, then over to The Griddle Cafe, (one of Wry-ans old haunts) for some gargantuan pankcakes. Being a Saturday morning, the wait was long, but we just luxuriated in a morning just for fun.

Had to digest a bit before our next stop ... Thai massages at Pho Siam. This time we went upstairs, which look very similar, but with one major exception ... no walls! The stalls were divided by beautiful (sheer) drapings. I was a little bit unnerved by the heavy breather in the next stall, especially since there were points where the drapes didn't quite overlap. However, it was dark enough that seeing wasn't really possible, and I figured that as long as he was breathing heavily, he was probably too involved to be peeping at me.

Also, since there were no walls, there was nothing for the masseuse to stabilize herself against. It was only when I turned over that I saw the silky handgrips that descended from the overhead bars, and it all made sense.

Coming out of PS is always a shock. From the cool and shaded interior, one is cast out into the warmth of full sunlight. It can be a rather rude awakening.

Back to my place for some rest, and then on to The Counter, in Santa Monica, for burgers. JLITH found this place in the SouthWest in-flight magazine. Really, we were both still full from breakfast, but we ordered a magnificent burger, a mixed order of sweet potato fries and strig cut onion rings, a dreamy chocolately caramel shake, and split it down the middle. Onion rings were good. I'd rank them second ... after Damon and Pythias, but before the cafeteria at work.

Over the hump to get to the homestead in the valley. With Bork, Genie and all three Beans in the house, it was a little mayhem-otic. Confess that I wasn't much use ... food coma.

Tour of Leads

Got out of work surprisingly early tonight. Had two non-ICU patients ... transferred one to the floor near the end of the shift, and reported off on the other in about 5 minutes, to the same nurse that I had gotten report from in the morning.

Thus it was that I arrived at Lindy Groove freakishly early. Watched Carol and Tony give most of their intermediate lindy lesson. They were pretty ambitious, having choreographed a routine with seven elements, most of which were obviously new to the dancers in the class. Not very many people got it, and few were able to execute the moves with any degree of smoothness. However, it gave the dancers a lot to work on, which can be a bonus for the ambitious ones.

What follows may seem a bit catty and rude. Totally not my intention, but I can see how it would seem that way. But I am going to talk about the guys I generally dance with. As usual, I'm using nicknames to protect the innocent.

At one point, Grey Beaver (who has to be in his late 40's/early 50's, and always has trouble staying on tempo) lead his partner in the rotation (who must have been in her 20's) in a body roll, and I shuddered. It was just creepy. Not because he was trying to be sexual with her, because I doubt he was. But just because it was absolutely inappropriate with someone he doesn't know well, and ... to be totally honest ... he just looked awful doing it. He isn't as good as I think he thinks he is.

Started off the evening with a few dances with Philly. I always enjoy dancing with Philly, mostly because he still retains his non-LA dancing accent ... much more bluesy, with a surprising bounciness.

A few with Mr. Teacher. He rarely surprises, but is smooth and relaxing to dance with. Plus, we both work with children, and laugh about how surprising they are.

Gene. I'm almost never surprised when I dance with him. But he's so good natured, friendly and gentlemanly. He's also retired, and just loves to dance. His wife rarely comes out dancing these days, but I love to see them dancing together. Rarely innovative, but great swing ambassadors.

Sociologist. He has the most incredible lock turns, strong connection, intuitively dances with the music, and always make me laugh with at least one crazy move per song. It was his birthday this week, and all sorts of follows were crowded around to get in on his birthday dance.

Big Header also celebrated his birthday this week. He is such a fantastic dancer ... just naturally seems to move with the music, be it fast or slow. Unfortunately, he's moving east to be with his girlfriend. Envy the dancers in the prospective city.

Caucasian StretchJ. I asked him to dance a slowish tempo song. It wasn't very satisfactory. Maybe I was too tentative to put my weight into it. Maybe he just isn't as good at slow tempos. It's always nejoyable to dance with him, it just wasn't great.

Had a dance with Joshing. Joshing is a wonderful leader. He likes to lead a lot of footwork patterns. And unlike typical, insecure leads, he doesn't abandon ship if the follow doesn't immediately catch on. Instead, he strengthens his lead, and continues with the pattern until the follow catches on, and then for a good phrase beyond (assuming it fits with the music), so that it gels. He doesn't allow a lot of follow creativity, but he does all the other stuff so well that he's well worth dancing with.

Danced a few with Plumb Cheery as well. PC is obviously shorter than I am, but I really like to dance with him. Like Joshing, PC leads quite a few footwork patterns, and well. He also does this slide slide move which I slide along with ... and I love it.

His Vickness is one of my favorite people to dance with. He's not flashy. In fact, he's so smooth that sometimes he can fade into the background. However, he is a fanastic lead. I never have to question where he want to me be. He's also not overbearing ... when I hijack for a pirouette turn, footwork or body roll, he makes space for me to do so and even comes along for the ride. And, every once in a while he organically leads a move that makes me just smile with the pure pleasure of it all. I also like to watch HV dance with his wife ... they are so tempermentally and physically suited.

Had a few dances with Scrub. Scrub is smart, enthusiastic, creative on the floor and has nice thick hair that is exactly suited to his short-all-over haircut. His problem is that he can be so focused on being creative that he doesn't communicate what he's trying to do ... so I have to concentrate on guessing, which takes away from the enjoyment of the dance. And lately, I feel like he's crowding me, and I don't like it. If I were younger, I might have found it charming. As it is, I'm mildly annoyed, even if slightly flattered.

Danced once with Young Gun. When I started dancing 8-ish years ago, Young Gun was still in high school. An infant with a knack for dancing. So I've seen him grow up as a dancer. He was okay as a high schooler. Gained a bit of weight as a college-aged kid, and is now has lost a lot of the extra baggage, and is quite a superb dancer. Very creative and humorous, seems to intuitively dance with the breaks and highs/lows and phrasing of the music, and always goes with the flow if a connection is missed. He's just exuberant. Great fun to watch, and even better to dance with.

8-ON I danced quite a bit. Don't know alot about him personally. Don't really need to. He's pursuing (a) graduate degree(s) in computers. Came to lindy from Israeli folk dancing. Got married sometime last year. Wataboy introduced us way back when I started dancing, and have enjoyed dancing with 8-ON through the years. 8-ON has great frame, and always likes to try new things. Sometimes he'll try something that doesn't quite work. When I ask him what he's trying to do, he'll explain, and we work on it together until it smoothes out. Luckily, this seems to happen in a couple minutes instead of hours. And, like His Vickness, he lets me share the creativity of the dance. Last night, I was able to do my first triple, connected, pirouette turn ... he saw me vamp up for it, and led me until I was ready to stop. It was marvelous!

Did a nightclub two-step number with Darring. I rarely dance with him nowadays. He likes to try new moves, but sometimes they just don't work. As I said, sometimes I'm not a good follow. On the other hand, sometimes I think he just hasn't gotten the knack of the specific lead, and that's why it doesn't come out as expected, which I think frustrates him. And, unlike 8-ON, Darring doesn't want to work it out, but just rushes on to the next move. I like to dance with Darring, but sometimes it's just not fruitful.

Also chatted a bit with LitheOne. We were missing Terminator. There and then, LitheOne "claimed" hiim for the two of us. If only, if only. Terminator is one of those dancers that works well both in fast lindy and slow blues. He's not the best dancer in either category, but he's good, and has such a nice and easy manner that everyone wants to dance with him.

A few months ago, JoNG's friend E asked me why I wasn't in the Lindy Groove Jack and Jill Competition. In fact, I'd thought about entering, although it's been a while since I did a J&J. And I decided against it because I'm not really a great follow. I like to dance, and to follow, but I don't like how J&J's focus on follows only following. I like to feel like I can hijack the dance for a measure or phrase or two, and that the person I'm dancing with won't freak out or pull me out of what I feel inspired to do, because they didn't conceive of it in the first place. So, yes ... I'll admit to a little bit of selfishness on the dance floor. Then again, follows do so much on the dance floor to make leads look good, that I figure the least the leads can do is to allow a little bit of follow creativity.

Plentiful Sunday

It had been a crazy week. Precepting at work. Studying. Cancelled discussion group. Lindy Groove. Hair cut. Had semi-plans to go out on Friday and Saturday which I cancelled because I was too overwhelmed. Anyway, I made up for my missed fun today, of all days.

Up very early. Over to the Stake Center for Stake Conference. Practiced our two songs, The Morning Breaks and The Lord's Prayer. Thank heavens that Aurora (who directs a lot of the Stake musical numbers) finally saw the light and gave us staffed copies of the music, with all the key changes, instead of the ridiculous copies she had us practicing on initially.

I really like atteding church services in the Stake Center. Unlike most of the newer buildings, the SC has lots of stained glass windows, interesting carved doors, and a genuine choir loft. It's almost like being in a modest cathedral.

Our numbers went okay. The first was full of power and cheerfulness, and the last thrummed with controlled energy ... eventhough we were a bit off-key towards the end. The accompanists on the piano and organ were wonderful. I sometimes wish I were as talented, and could play music on sight. But not enough to actually take time away from everything else in my life to devote to it.

New fact: from our stake, we only have one person actively serving in the military. Admit I felt sad and petty when I heard it. As it is, he was injured in Fallujah, and is recovering at the moment. Prayers for him.

The conference talks were pretty good. Slow start with long talks, but it got getter towards the end. One speaker from my ward gave a particularly good talk about community service, and getting involved on our own instead of waiting for a "service project."

After SC, I went over to The Brewery to see Lenny's show. Actually, it's a bi-annual event where many artists show their work. Lenny, who I know from swing dancing, works with live wire, a non-heated neon-looking wire. Some interesting stuff. But my wallet remained closed due to a new-found resolution to be more trhifty. My favorite exhibit was Your Psycho Girlfriend.

More finding-a-new-roommate drama. It's been a frustrating and laughable journey.

And, to cap off the night, went over to celebrate The Dot's birthday. Before we had been there 20 minutes, Wonder Woman loudly whispered to see if he wanted to play Catan. Of course he did. But, and this is one of the things that I love about The Dot and Ballerina's (who doesn't really like Catan) relationship, he conferred with his wife, and they came to a decision together. It was his birthday, she didn't have a large workload the next day, etc. And so we played. Improv-er creamed us the first game. Which was okay, as I dominated in the second ... from nine points, all the way to stealing a metropolis and winning the game in one turn. Victory is so sweet!

By the end of the evening, we had pretty much settled the roommate question. A few wrinkles to iron out, but the bare bones of the plan were in place, and all the major players were on board. Due to a slight tendency to superstition, I won't lay it all out, but I have high hopes for it working out well for everyone involved.

Work horse

What a week! I have been at work every single day this week, and I'm exhausted.

Monday I was put in charge because the core charge nurse called in sick. Craziness. We were well-staffed, but 2W was trying to steal one of our nurses so that they could take a post-op, and 4W was trying to sneak one of their patients in. Plus, we had a lot of preceptees. Insane. Luckily, I had Tso as my team leader, and she helped get people out on breaks and was able to coordinate patients travelling to procedures so that we didn't fall behind.

Tuesday I was scheduled to be in charge. Again with the craziness. No CNIII's ,since they were all at the meeting, so I had an interesting mix of new and moderate RN's. The 4W patient hadn't even been started on chemo, which was the reason she was sent to us. We had 6 patients travelling to MRI, CT, fluoro and dialysis. SaSo was the team leader, but she'd never even responded to a trauma page. I went with her the first time and showed her the ropes. I think we had a combined number of six trauma pages. Ridiculous. At least all of them looked good and didn't need to come to the PICU.

I forewent going to Paladino's on Tuesday night, eventhough I really wanted to see the old crowd.

Wednesday I went to CCRN review class for the cardic and respiratory content. Many good lectures. The cardiac defect and staged repair lecture was good ... the first one on this topic that I've really fully understood. It's just so far from my regular practice, since those patients all go to 2W. FK also gave a superb respiratory lecture. She wears so many hats ... respiratory therapist, RN, and recently passed the CCRN. A very good day.

Thursday I precepted EC again ... our last day for a couple months. We didn't get a pair, but were able to focus on a mildly critical patient, and she did fairly well. EC will be on nights for a couple months before she returns for her last stretch. I like her, and like precepting her, but it is tiring.

Thursday evening I went to Lindy Groove. Maybe I shouldn't have. But sometimes a little dance therapy is needed. Plus, I'd already skipped out on Tuesday.

Friday I again woke up early and went in for the CCRN practice test. Two years ago, when I took the full review course, I freaked out because I felt so unprepared. This time, eventhough I'd missed half of the review session, I passed with a few questions to spare. What a relief. I'm going to continue studying hard, but it's a huge relief to know that I'm on solid ground. Also, since this is a scored test, I'm shooting for top 10th percentile. We'll see.

There was a Do Something Blue event tonight, but I was so worn out that I skipped that too. Really, I hope to never have another week like this past one.

Just for the record ...

It's been almost three weeks since my last post. And the situation doesn't look to be getting better anytime soon. Working on a project for work that should be sucking up a lot of my internet time.

Anyway, just for the record, I'll mention some things that I want documented.

Spent the week after the SLC trip sick. By the end of two weeks of not working, I was really glad to get back. Working a little helps me stay productive on my off days.

Curry and Catan on 3/18. Three tables' worth and lots of curry. Taught two new people the basics, and got some others grounded on C&K with the special rules. Is it selfish to want a large pool to play from?

3/21 went to Chapman University to hear Pagels speak on the Judas texts.

3/25 made dinner up at the homestead to celebrate Dad's birthday. Made curry because I was still craving it. However, I used the "good" roux that Mom got from Japan. Unfortunately, it was the hot stuff ... and if I'd studied Japanese more, I might have been able to read the box. Oops. Spork was supposed to bring the cake, but he forgot. Oops again.

3/28 had a meeting with a lawyer representing a hospital I used to work for. A patient's parents are suing the hospital. Lawyer wanted to go over my testimony before a possible deposition. It's rather a waste of time, because this was over sixx years ago, and I don't remember the patient at all. The most I can do is read what I charted. I just have to remember to only answer the questions asked. As a test, lawyer asked me if I knew what time it was. I looked at my watch and said it was 1345. Oops. I should have just looked at my watch and said yes. Or not looked at any watch and said no.

3/30-31 Do Something Blue dances and workshop. Met some great dancers from San Diego, and some interesting ones from Seattle. Apparently SD is full of neo-swingers ... those who like to dress up and drink martinis, but can't actually dance much more than an east coast basic. Sad. Then again, they'd probably look me over and sneer at my modern, low-maintenance attire. The dancing was hot. Teachers all did a great job. I especially liked Cy's fill in the sculpture exercise.



Have been precepting E at work. She is another member of the half-Japanese club. The other half is Taiwanese. She's a little reticent, but doing pretty well so far. We'll start taking pairs and more unstable 1:1's this coming week. We had a really unfair assignment on Thursday. I made it work, and she got some interesting experiences, but next time I'm going to be more forceful with SS about future assignments.

Somewhere in here, I went to visit Pilgrimgirl to talk over the X2 drama. Besides hearing her side of the story and coming up with options, it was just good to see her.

The house for the Arrowhead weekend is filling up. I'm really looking forward to it this year. Lots of returning friends. Some friend who missed last year. A couple of old friends who are coming for the first time. Some new faces that are coming for the first time. I'm looking forward to some really good times.

4/5 went to Lindy Groove. This is not unusual. I just mention it because I had a fantastic time. NW asked to me dance (first time ever in a social setting), and StretchJ asked me twice. I've talked before about charity dances. Well, these two competitive dancers make me want to accept all the charity dances I'm offered, in the hopes that they (NW and Stretch J) will continue to be charitable to me.

4/6 Whiteboy, Improv-er, The Dot and FGITW came over for some afternoon Catanning. I came close, but didn't with any. Wonder Woman made it back to catch the lasst game. Then I went over for the Easter program choir rehearsal. Choir is such a mixed bag for me. I think Doc Martin (who I believe also qualifies for the half Japanese club) does an incredible job with the singers and resources available to her. She chooses music the choir can sing (which sometimes I can't singe well, because the women sing unison), and does her best to buffer the weak singers with the not-so-weak singers. Confess that I am rather a not-so-weak singer, instead of one of the few solid singers.

4/6 Easter. We sang, "God So Loved the World," one of Doc Martin's original pieces. It is lovely. "Do Not Fear For You Are Mine," an amazingly beautiful and comforting piece. And "Make a Joyful Noise," a pretty piece that dances along like a sonatina by Beethoven. Had a teary moment during "DNF," and had to just mouth the words and hope my eyeliner didn't slosh down my face. Couldn't get enough of the Easter singing, so I went back for the singles' ward sacrament meeting. Satine did a lovely duet of "O Divine Redeemer," which I love for the dakr and melancholy parts. And Mr. Baritone and Satine did a lovely duet, the name of which I can't seem to remember. ANyway, I still hadn't gotten enough of singing, so I went for the Stake Choir practice in preparation for Stake Conference in two weeks. Aurora is conducting. And I enjoyed it. However, I would enjoy it much more if she would get us the actual music, instead of copies o the hymns with notes. If we were singing straight from the hymnal, it wouldn't matter as much, but there are lots of key changes and additional accompaniment that really messed me up. She just needs to take the plunge, kill some trees, and xerox the music. Aaaaahhhhh...