So on my way to the White River Junction to take a class at the fabulous Center for Cartoon Studies, I stop to get some gas. After filling up my tank, I start accelerating. For much of the past few miles I got caught behind a truck in a no pass zone. I'm clearly glad to be rid of him and having the chance to.... stretch my wings, say. This relief didn't last long as I soon found myself on the tail of a large Blazer going painfully slow.
Though it wasn't my intent to be right on his tail, I figure that it will probably send "hurry up" signals, and as I'm trying to figure out why this guy has red plates in a state where all the rest are green, he puts on his directional.
Yes! He's letting me pass!
Only as I went to pass him I read "POLICE" on the side of his vehicle and promptly pulled over as he switched on his lights.
The painful thing is, I remember thinking earlier in the journey that I ought not to get pulled over in this 'other state' as I'd yet to replace the one I left on the airplane on my way home from LA.
As I hand this pignosed, moonfaced man my passport and registration, I offer: "I've misplaced my license."
He's incredulous: "You've MISPLACED your LICENSE?!?"
"Yeah, I need to get a new one. I'm sorry, I'm sorry."
As he scolds me and looks over the documentation I've given him, I continue to respond with "I'm sorry." What else do you do in this situation? I was clearly in the wrong, and I'm sure that letting him know that I didn't realize he was a cop isn't going to help me any.
"I don't care that you're sorry! I still feel like writing you a ticket!!"
"I can still say I'm sorry." Sheesh!
"Are you in a hurry?"
I wasn't, but I figure that can't be a good thing to tell him now, so I just say: "Sort of."
"Well I don't care about your hurry!"
He takes my stuff and heads back to his vehicle. I think about how this being in another state will just be a fine, and although that sucks, it's better than points on my license.
He comes back 5 minutes later and hands me my stuff back. "Apology accepted."
I sit confused for a moment and he starts in: "Now I don't care how you drive in New York, here in Vermont we're nice to each other! Your unsafe! It's NOT NICE!"
I feel like a preschooler. Is he REALLY yelling at me with these words? Whatever, it seems he wasn't able to write me a ticket.
"It's NOT NICE!"
and then before turning away, as if to spit in my face, he adds (with mild disdain): "Your earrings are weird."
Duh.
Showing posts with label Vermont. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Vermont. Show all posts
Monday, August 2, 2010
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Alexander Technique
The MFAIA program at Goddard College is growing. Each new G1 class is bigger than the last. I don't know if I will even meet everyone this residency. Sometimes I confuse some of the G1s for Goddard staff.
There is one kid who I did not confuse for staff. He does not look old enough to be in college, let alone graduate school. He is not much taller than me, blonde with big blue eyes.
There is a woman who transferred from the Port Townsend, Washington campus to the Plainfield campus. This never happens. This aparently is not an option. I was not aware. She is a voluptuous woman with long strawberry blonde hair. I think her name might be Susan. She talks of having been a printmaker and having a near death experience and hearing a voice instructing her to sing. So now she sings, and I hear she sings beautifully. She also coordinates burlesque shows and maybe rock operas.
She calls herself the problem child, mostly for breaking what I didn't even realize was a rule.
Moving on:
There used to be a student in one of the other programs at Goddard who studied yoga. He would come to our residencies and do a class 3 mornings. I suppose he has graduated, these opportunities no longer exist.
To create other opportunities for movement, the call was put out for people to step up to the plate. Some really hokey things came about, with very vague activity descriptions. I chose to not attend any of these.
Someone put a poster up on the bulletin board about Alexander Technique. It was described as a way to reduce tension within the body during daily life. There were a list of times, and I decided I would go to the one Tuesday night, after the Bread and Puppet Theater performance.
Post B&P Q&A, I walked three doors down to the media room. On the center projection podium sat a lamp, like you might find in a living room. It was the only thing illuminating the space. The blonde boy stood in front, giving instruction in a less than totally self-assured way. Three women sat in chairs, listened and followed directives, two very thin, tall-ish women, and Susan who had her feet on some books. I looked around and noticed that everyone had removed their shoes, so I did the same. I introduced myself to the blonde kid, who is probably about 5'6", 120lbs. He gently shook my hand and told me his name is Luke. He tried to quickly catch me up, explaining that the goal of AT is to get you to open your body up and out (here he demonstrated open body language, head up, back straight, rib cage open, appendages free) instead of the closed and down (here he slouched and compressed his torso, drawing his right arm across himself so the right hand was at his left hip. The resemblence to the guarded body language of a shy friend was uncanny.) Alexander Technique, he told me, is not about doing, it is about thinking. The main directive is this:
"Let the neck be free so that the head can go forward and up so that the back can lengthen and widen."
We considered direction of bones and muscles, and practiced walking with these things in mind. Susan made some very observant statement about herself, and when it was discussed that she would be a great first student, she argued that she would be a terrible student.
"You have a 'bad student' hang-up" I told her.
We practiced sitting down and standing up, considering how many muscles and movements we used and should be using to do these things. One of the women expressed difficulty, and Luke placed a hand on either side of her neck, fingers extended, to help her do this and think about this in a correct way. The ring finger of his left hand, facing me, proudly displayed a silver hued band with a small (diamond?) set into it.
'Not only are you not fourteen, you are married!?' I pondered, incredulously.
I noticed that I was the only one not having an incredible change in experience and perception at the change in thought. "How do you all know so much about this?" I inquired of Susan.
"We're all dancers," she responded. Ohhhhhh. I wondered if this meant that Luke is a dancer. I assumed that it did.
We did some active rest at the end of this exercise, using books for pillows. Much of the active rest exercise and language sounded the same as that used by Rodney Yee on the yoga DVD I got from the library. I asked how much yoga and Alexander Technique are related. Susan voiced that they are essentially inseparable.
Luke guided us through this, and came around, starting with me, and touched our feet and our shins, instructing in direction of thought. The physical contact was really gratifying, which makes me realize that I am lonely. Every now and then I am reminded of this.
After this session, I spoke with Luke about my experience, and he said that the sensitivity and observation is something that develops over time. The way he breeched this conversation was by inquiring if it had been really weird for me. He asked this in a way that was slightly self deprecating.
I spoke with Susan in the hallway for a while, and she told me that AT is really an awareness of the skeletal structure, and that it works really well for modern dancers, and angular movement. She said that these people are very much thinking from the bones, and they have a better understanding of architecture and things of this sort because of it. She said that she sensed that I, like herself, am very much in my organs, which gives me a sense of empathy and of people. She mentioned the facet that I picked up on her, had figured her out immediately. She said that a type of dance that was more curvilinear would probably suit me best. I had shared my dancing experience with everyone (I quit in fourth grade, I watch recital tapes and I'm easy to pick out: I'm a step behind). She suggested Salsa, Belly Dancing, African Dance. She said that being in the skeleton was a very close knit relationship between the nervous system and it, the thoughtACTION contrasts the t h o u g h tprocessAction of those people in the organs. Relating the way we engage our bodies with the way we relate intellectually with the world is something so far removed from anything I've ever thought about. It blows my mind. I told her so.
So even though a more fluid dance might be the dance for me, I do notice that the more active I am, the more I want to extend my limbs and engage my muscles in this way. I have noticed that my walking style normally encorperates a good deal of looking down and slouching. It makes me wonder if my body language is at all off-putting, if I walk with more confidence, will it make me appear older and therefore get a few less comments from students and teachers in middle schools about confusing ME for an 8th grader? If I walk with my neck free so my head can go up and forward so my back can lengthen and expand, will I seem more confident in a way that is attractive?
Most of all, will I stop having backache so that I can stop scheming plans to get people to give me a back rub?
There is one kid who I did not confuse for staff. He does not look old enough to be in college, let alone graduate school. He is not much taller than me, blonde with big blue eyes.
There is a woman who transferred from the Port Townsend, Washington campus to the Plainfield campus. This never happens. This aparently is not an option. I was not aware. She is a voluptuous woman with long strawberry blonde hair. I think her name might be Susan. She talks of having been a printmaker and having a near death experience and hearing a voice instructing her to sing. So now she sings, and I hear she sings beautifully. She also coordinates burlesque shows and maybe rock operas.
She calls herself the problem child, mostly for breaking what I didn't even realize was a rule.
Moving on:
There used to be a student in one of the other programs at Goddard who studied yoga. He would come to our residencies and do a class 3 mornings. I suppose he has graduated, these opportunities no longer exist.
To create other opportunities for movement, the call was put out for people to step up to the plate. Some really hokey things came about, with very vague activity descriptions. I chose to not attend any of these.
Someone put a poster up on the bulletin board about Alexander Technique. It was described as a way to reduce tension within the body during daily life. There were a list of times, and I decided I would go to the one Tuesday night, after the Bread and Puppet Theater performance.
Post B&P Q&A, I walked three doors down to the media room. On the center projection podium sat a lamp, like you might find in a living room. It was the only thing illuminating the space. The blonde boy stood in front, giving instruction in a less than totally self-assured way. Three women sat in chairs, listened and followed directives, two very thin, tall-ish women, and Susan who had her feet on some books. I looked around and noticed that everyone had removed their shoes, so I did the same. I introduced myself to the blonde kid, who is probably about 5'6", 120lbs. He gently shook my hand and told me his name is Luke. He tried to quickly catch me up, explaining that the goal of AT is to get you to open your body up and out (here he demonstrated open body language, head up, back straight, rib cage open, appendages free) instead of the closed and down (here he slouched and compressed his torso, drawing his right arm across himself so the right hand was at his left hip. The resemblence to the guarded body language of a shy friend was uncanny.) Alexander Technique, he told me, is not about doing, it is about thinking. The main directive is this:
"Let the neck be free so that the head can go forward and up so that the back can lengthen and widen."
We considered direction of bones and muscles, and practiced walking with these things in mind. Susan made some very observant statement about herself, and when it was discussed that she would be a great first student, she argued that she would be a terrible student.
"You have a 'bad student' hang-up" I told her.
We practiced sitting down and standing up, considering how many muscles and movements we used and should be using to do these things. One of the women expressed difficulty, and Luke placed a hand on either side of her neck, fingers extended, to help her do this and think about this in a correct way. The ring finger of his left hand, facing me, proudly displayed a silver hued band with a small (diamond?) set into it.
'Not only are you not fourteen, you are married!?' I pondered, incredulously.
I noticed that I was the only one not having an incredible change in experience and perception at the change in thought. "How do you all know so much about this?" I inquired of Susan.
"We're all dancers," she responded. Ohhhhhh. I wondered if this meant that Luke is a dancer. I assumed that it did.
We did some active rest at the end of this exercise, using books for pillows. Much of the active rest exercise and language sounded the same as that used by Rodney Yee on the yoga DVD I got from the library. I asked how much yoga and Alexander Technique are related. Susan voiced that they are essentially inseparable.
Luke guided us through this, and came around, starting with me, and touched our feet and our shins, instructing in direction of thought. The physical contact was really gratifying, which makes me realize that I am lonely. Every now and then I am reminded of this.
After this session, I spoke with Luke about my experience, and he said that the sensitivity and observation is something that develops over time. The way he breeched this conversation was by inquiring if it had been really weird for me. He asked this in a way that was slightly self deprecating.
I spoke with Susan in the hallway for a while, and she told me that AT is really an awareness of the skeletal structure, and that it works really well for modern dancers, and angular movement. She said that these people are very much thinking from the bones, and they have a better understanding of architecture and things of this sort because of it. She said that she sensed that I, like herself, am very much in my organs, which gives me a sense of empathy and of people. She mentioned the facet that I picked up on her, had figured her out immediately. She said that a type of dance that was more curvilinear would probably suit me best. I had shared my dancing experience with everyone (I quit in fourth grade, I watch recital tapes and I'm easy to pick out: I'm a step behind). She suggested Salsa, Belly Dancing, African Dance. She said that being in the skeleton was a very close knit relationship between the nervous system and it, the thoughtACTION contrasts the t h o u g h tprocessAction of those people in the organs. Relating the way we engage our bodies with the way we relate intellectually with the world is something so far removed from anything I've ever thought about. It blows my mind. I told her so.
So even though a more fluid dance might be the dance for me, I do notice that the more active I am, the more I want to extend my limbs and engage my muscles in this way. I have noticed that my walking style normally encorperates a good deal of looking down and slouching. It makes me wonder if my body language is at all off-putting, if I walk with more confidence, will it make me appear older and therefore get a few less comments from students and teachers in middle schools about confusing ME for an 8th grader? If I walk with my neck free so my head can go up and forward so my back can lengthen and expand, will I seem more confident in a way that is attractive?
Most of all, will I stop having backache so that I can stop scheming plans to get people to give me a back rub?
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Snooze Button Junkie
I am a snooze button addict. I generally set my alarm clock with this in mind, although sometimes I plan on getting up early to do (insert beneficial activity here), and then in my half awake state hit the button thinking "screw it."
This morning was one of those. Unlike other mornings, when the only one I would be annoying is Igby (who lets me know by slowly inserting her claws into my face), this morning was a Goddard Residency morning.
Whereas the previous mornings I awoke before the alarm clock and turned it off, this morning I decided jogging would not be in the plans, and hit the snooze button.
I don't know how long the snooze cycle is, but it feels shorter than the 9 minutes I get at home.
Maybe at one point I contemplated getting up for a bit before hitting the button again. Sometimes if I just listen to the terrible noise, it helps to wake me.
KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK
As I made my way to the door, stopping to put on more decent attire, the visitor signaled again.
KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK
I open the door to a woman, younger in the Gs than I. "Um, are you ok?" she asks. "Your alarm clock has been going off for fifteen minutes and we're wondering if you're OK. We can hear it all over this floor."
"Uh, yeah, I don't know....sorry..." I stammer.
She is now among the ranks of people I am afraid of, will make a nice smile at but avoid all conversations with.
In other news, I've been thinking lately about digging a hole, and getting in. Unlike the holes of others, I imagine my hole to be on the side of a hill, sort of cave like. I imagine how it would feel to be completely surrounded by earth, it contacting my skin, the weight of it. The responsibility-less nature of hiding in a hole.
But then I think....after a while, I will want to be stimulated in some real way, converse, move about. I also think.....I bet I wouldn't last a half hour before I started getting the heeby jeebies-things are crawling on me-get me outta heres.
This morning was one of those. Unlike other mornings, when the only one I would be annoying is Igby (who lets me know by slowly inserting her claws into my face), this morning was a Goddard Residency morning.
Whereas the previous mornings I awoke before the alarm clock and turned it off, this morning I decided jogging would not be in the plans, and hit the snooze button.
I don't know how long the snooze cycle is, but it feels shorter than the 9 minutes I get at home.
Maybe at one point I contemplated getting up for a bit before hitting the button again. Sometimes if I just listen to the terrible noise, it helps to wake me.
KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK
As I made my way to the door, stopping to put on more decent attire, the visitor signaled again.
KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK
I open the door to a woman, younger in the Gs than I. "Um, are you ok?" she asks. "Your alarm clock has been going off for fifteen minutes and we're wondering if you're OK. We can hear it all over this floor."
"Uh, yeah, I don't know....sorry..." I stammer.
She is now among the ranks of people I am afraid of, will make a nice smile at but avoid all conversations with.
In other news, I've been thinking lately about digging a hole, and getting in. Unlike the holes of others, I imagine my hole to be on the side of a hill, sort of cave like. I imagine how it would feel to be completely surrounded by earth, it contacting my skin, the weight of it. The responsibility-less nature of hiding in a hole.
But then I think....after a while, I will want to be stimulated in some real way, converse, move about. I also think.....I bet I wouldn't last a half hour before I started getting the heeby jeebies-things are crawling on me-get me outta heres.
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Factory Tours
Ben & Jerry's Factory Tour:
WHERE? Waterbury, VT
COST? $3
THIS INCLUDES? 1 1/2" Button
1 scoop IC
30 minutes, most of which involves looking at videos. The only part where you get to see the factory is when they stick you in an observing tower type room in the top center of the tiny factory and sort of point to things.
Cabot Creamery Visitor's Center (Factory Tour)
WHERE? Cabot, VT
COST? $2
THIS INCLUDES? 1 cow print rubber bracelet (the livestrong type)
As much cheese and samples as you can stomach
30 minutes, perhaps 10 or less of which involves looking at videos. This tour walks you along and through the factory, with giant windows and close up views of everything that is happening. The video really defends all of the decisions that they make, such as the choice of incorporating 2 robots into production.
VERDICT? The button and Ice Cream were probably better tchotchkes, but the Ben & Jerry's tour was probably less enjoyable than if I had just watched about it on Unwrapped. The Cabot tour was much better, I didn't love the bracelet, and you didn't need to go on the tour to eat the cheese samples. However, for a dollar less, it was a much more enjoyable half hour. Neither tour guide knew quite as much as I had hoped they would.
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