good, bad, ugly
bad first, cause then we can look forward to something. asshole kyle showed up for the second court date today, so the default was reneged and we went to mediation. long story short, i’m getting $650 of the $1250 he owes. but for me, the crux of this entire episode remains how people treat each other and justifying a questionable morality (please catch up on the good place and then call or text me about it. amazing show), and accepting that some choose not to act with compassion and respect. they opt for expedience, less responsibility, me me me. a while since someone reminded me of that in such an aggressively defiant way, and emotions spilled out while talking alone with the mediator. a good mediator. kept me focused on the reality of the situation while empathizing. it still hurts, and i found myself shaking. asshole kyle will never understand, or care, that he basically cheated me. but he’s just a speck of dust in this world (as are we all) and his impact on my life ends now.
so the ugly — i’ve been playing lots more hockey. now on two teams. same laurel house women’s league and now also a chesapeake D team called the ospreys, based out of the navy rink in annapolis. yes, it’s a drive, but so worth it. last night at practice, we actually talked strategy, and i get more and more excited to improve every time i’m on the ice. still can’t do a backwards crossover, for the life of me, and I'm less than graceful going after the puck. but i love it. i love playing so so much.
and, ugly in an unexpected way: the nats won the world series, and the parade was fun and watching them with the caps on sunday night was fun and even though their adoring trip to the white house brought it all down to ugly earth (thank you doolittle, you jedi knight you), i’m still glad they won.
and now the good! my artwatch group held a Miss Amer(I)Can Pageant, which was tons o fun. satch and lauryn judged, and i got an honorable mention, i think mostly for enthusiasm. but i had a blast.
also, went to some really good shows lately.
arena stage’s jitney by august wilson, one of his ten plays about african americans in pittsburgh. brought me right back to the seventies.
“the manganiyar seduction“ at the kennedy center, which had 40 musicians and singers from the rajasthani desert performing traditional manganiyar music in this super, visually exciting set;
school girls, a play about Ghanan boarding school girls at round house down the street;
game two of the mystics semi-final wnba series (won!);
A speak easy evening, an LGBTQ event at the National Museum of African American History and Culture, which included a performance by mo’s friend Be Steadwell (she’s awesome). artwatch was asked to re-create our Kindness Rocks action.
my first asylum-seeker guest arrived and we’re trying to help her feel at home. a very brave woman from bangladesh, and i feel honored to be part of her fight for truth. she’s supposed to stay for three weeks, but i can’t see asking her to leave.
visited marxe at bard for family weekend and not only saw him thriving, but also had a couple of amazing yoga experiences. rented the attic of annemieke’s 1700s airbnb house and she’s checked out all the nearby yoga studios. told me to go to shakti yoga in woodstock, about 25 minutes across the hudson. AMAZING. saturday morning was a “very beginners” class, but got so much out of it. went back with annemieke on sunday morning for a flow 2 class, even better. love the thought of having great yoga when in upstate new york.
also, ruth finally got me to read Delay, Don’t Deny: Living an Intermittent Fasting Lifestyle and i’m giving it a try. feel great. sometimes it’s hard to hold off eating the entire 18 hours, but my energy levels are way up, my weight is going down (!), and i’m still eating anything i want to. damn. can’t thank her enough for pushing me.
so yeah, lots happening over the past couple months. almost forgot about the art — can’t do that. so here’s what’s been going on there.
will try to post more often. we’ll see.