Five random words meme from elissa_carey

[badseed1980]

You comment to this post, and I list five things I associate with you. They might make sense or they might be totally random — then you post that list, with your commentary, to your lj. I and other people get our lists from you, and the meme merrily perpetuates itself.

elissa_carey chose for me: Bellydance, Smile, Cooking, Knitting, Professionalism.

Bellydance: I'm not as good at it as I'd like to be. I don't practice enough or get enough exposure to new and different ways of dancing. I'm hoping to remedy both of those a bit by starting a second dance class this fall. I do love to dance. I love the way that the music just MAKES me move. I love reacting to the music. It's almost like I'm having a conversation with the song. I also love performing. It gives me a rush (or, at least, it does when I'm not sick as a dog like I was in my last recital). I guess something about it just feeds the ego, being up there and showing off, and having people applaud. But it's not just the applause: the idea that I'm entertaining people, that they're enjoying themselves because they're watching me, that's very satisfying. I like making people happy! Oh, and gods know I love the outfits. Cabaret, s'il vous plaît. I'm all about the bling. Being a belly dancer has definitely given me new ideas about where the line is for "over the top" in terms of bling. I'm starting to be more like my mom, and go for the big and gaudy. I can't do quite as much of the "big" as she can, since I'm a smaller person, but I can certainly do the gaudy. :D

Smile: I smile in pictures. I smile BIG in pictures. I show teeth. When I was young, I didn't. I used to try to give a sort of Mona Lisa smile--soft and subtle. It never looked as good as I thought it should, but I thought I looked utterly goofy with a big smile. I don't know if it was bellydance that changed that for me. My dance teacher is BIG time into the whole "stage presence" thing. She always urges us to smile when we're dancing, even if we're not performing. These days, I like the way my smile looks in pictures a lot more. It might also be because of my weight loss, and just liking my whole face better as a result of that. I don't know. Anyway, yeah, I smile. Also, aesthetics aside: I'm generally a happy person. Actively happy, not just "not unhappy." It's my ground state, I think. So smiling is natural.

Cooking: I learned how to cook a little bit--a VERY little bit--while I was still in high school. I didn't really start cooking regularly until my junior year of college, when I was living in Ireland in a flat that had a full kitchen, and there were no student meal plans. At that point, I liked cooking, but didn't adore it. I don't think the ardent passion I have for cooking came about until my early to mid 20s. Now, I've always loved to eat, and at times my figure has reflected this a little more than I liked. I've always appreciated GOOD food: my father is a truly excellent cook, and he inspired me to try a lot of different kinds of food. I've learned over the years to have a deep appreciation for good-quality raw ingredients, and for the skillful transformation of those ingredients into a finished dish. The more I learn, the more I want to learn. Cooking provides instant gratification of two kinds: first, eating the food is a pleasure. Second, the positive reactions of people I cook for makes me feel all warm and squishy. Being able to cook well means that I don't need to spend tons of money to eat well. It also means I can eat more healthily than if I had to eat out most of the time or rely on prepared foods. Cooking satisfies all my senses. The sight of a jewel-like fresh tomato; the alluring spicy-sweet-green smell of Thai basil; the elastic, almost living feel of bread dough; the sound of garlic sizzling in olive oil; the taste of a rich sauce as I test it for seasoning...this hedonist can't help but feel ecstatic. :)

Knitting: I haven't been doing it often enough. I tend to take long breaks from knitting when I get frustrated with a project. That said, though, I've picked it up again. I'm working on a beaded and nupped lace shawlette. Again: total feast of the senses. Granted, it's really just sight and touch, but it's a feast for THOSE senses. The colors of good yarn and the feel of it in my hands, such a joy. Also, the idea that you can take STRING and STICKS and create something with texture and shape and beauty and usefulness? How cool is THAT? :D

Professionalism: This one surprised me. I don't think of myself as UNprofessional, but "professional" certainly wouldn't be in the top 20 words I'd associate with myself. I mean, I am a firm believer in the fact that a job worth doing--be it cooking a meal, knitting a shawl, or writing a research brief--is worth doing well. Plus, I actually do LIKE the job that I do. I find it interesting and challenging, and I think it makes good use of my natural skills. Because of that, even the professional development stuff is pretty nifty. I also like the people I work with and the general environment of my office. Everyone is keen and hardworking, but they're also laid-back, there's no backstabbing or even really any office politics, and they're helpful and friendly. After my old job, I'm happy to be here.

Comments

[paigemom.livejournal.com]

Me, me!

[badseed1980.livejournal.com]

Hmm. Ok.

Writer, Song, Study, Animals, Seeker.

[elissa-carey.livejournal.com]

I chose Professionalism because of several factors I noticed, the biggest being taking pride in your work (whether you like where you work or not). Also, even when at the old job, you handled it all very well -- professionalism, to me, doesn't mean that you don't get to complain, it means that there ought to be legitimate complaint (which you had), efforts to fix the problem(s) (which you did), and maintained your cool while at work, dealing with the lunkheads (ditto). :)

[saffronrose.livejournal.com]

Saffronrose.

I'm having problems with the tribal style music my teacher chooses--it's more to her style of music-moving-through, and foreign to mine. She likes drum solos, I like lyrical. Gotta figure out what to do.

[badseed1980.livejournal.com]

I think it's good to know how to work with a variety of styles of music. In cabaret style, it's traditional to do a routine that consists of a number of different pieces of music including faster sections (both mostly traveling and mostly stationary), veil sections, taxim, chifitelli, drum solos, etc. But I'm not very knowledgeable about tribal.

[leenah.livejournal.com]

not sure i'll play along with answering others posts, but if you give me the words i'll get to think about them. :)