I liked you when we met
But now I can’t stand being around you
Why have you changed so much?
It’s not even for the better.
Once you were humble,
you were simple
though you still had a lot in you
that made you great
I miss the way we danced before
If anything, I would ask for more
You danced so graciously,
and that you still do
but now you turn
and back leading away from attraction
But I fear there is no turning back
Unless you take notice and step forward
-Alex Estrada
*Help from a friend with the title, structure and one of the lines.
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Sunday, October 31, 2010
Journey the end of my Feet! (Videos)
Here's a small update to the adventure had on Saturday, Oct. 30th, 2010.
Here's me pretending to be scared. All footage
Here we are at checkpoint 3 trying to come up with a strategy to checkpoint 4.
Players and Chasers singing the Star Spangled Banner before the race.
Here's me pretending to be scared. All footage
Here we are at checkpoint 3 trying to come up with a strategy to checkpoint 4.
Players and Chasers singing the Star Spangled Banner before the race.
Journey the end of my Feet!
My Saturday started off boring. I did some work, read some Harry Potter to catch before the movie starts and made some dinner. Somewhere in between reading and dinner, I checked facebook and saw what event I had said maybe or yes to. I found one that sounded interesting: Journey to the End of the Night. It was a foot race around the city. The catch? Don't get caught by the chasers in yellow ribbons. Great! Immediately, I told my roommates and they said they were in.
Upon my arrival to Embarcadero, I saw a plethora of costumes: Waldo and Wendy from the popular Where's Waldo, the house from the movie Up, a missing person on the face of a milk carton, and several other characters. I met up with a friend and my roommates, but not before encountering my friends Alex and Jaena. After signing in, we (my roommates, our friend, and I) looked at the map to see what first safety and check in point would be most accessible by foot and which is more direct. We had to choose either Chinatown or the Bay Bridge. We chose the Bridge. We put on our blue ribbons, mentioning we were players trying to win the game.
When the horn blew at 8 p.m. we ran as fast as we could toward the bridge. We got there pretty fast without getting caught by a chaser. We made it safely to the first checkpoint. While waiting in line, we planned our next moves toward the next checkpoint: a van parked close to nearby the Moscone Center. While being chased by chasers, we took shelter at a roofed bus stop, a safety zone. While chatting with another group of players, my roommates and friend abandoned me! Granted, I had mentioned earlier, repeatedly that it was "every man for themselves." I supposed I deserve the desertion. I spent some time with some of the other groups. Not much later, I was regrouped with my roommates and we made it safely to the second. Once we planned our next moves, we kept our pace and tried to act non-suspicious. Of course running in downtown San Francisco is always suspicious. While being on the lookout, a homeless man had noticed a chaser across the street from us, and warned us. If it weren't for him, we wouldn't have gotten so far. For 2 and a half hours we were acting paranoid, wanting not to be caught, running every time we saw a chaser or heard a scream.
The running went on, from one location to another. During our run to the fourth checkpoint, we met up with another group of blue ribbon players and pretty much stuck together. We met up on Potrero Hill, and headed toward the Mission, by 16th Street. We were right across Whiz Burger, which I hear is delicious, when suddenly a chaser taps my roommate Amy on the arm, tagging her as a chaser. That was it. We had lost the game. But it was okay, because now it was our chance to chase players around. As we made way to the 5th checkpoint, we saw a group of players through a government issued filled parking lot. Amy and Darrell ran through the parking, chasing 4 players. I stayed behind at the entrance. Amy chased one player towards me, and as soon as I saw the player, I went for her, almost tackling her in the tagging. It felt like a game of tag football. I then tagged her friend. 2 tags in one location!
By the time we were approaching the fifth location, Duboce Park, we were beat. Amy and her mother went home, but Darrell and I continued. We departed at Church and Market. The time was about 11 p.m. Just past Fillmore and Haight, we saw a blue ribbon. He saw my yellow ribbon (chaser) and continued cautiously. What he did not see was Darrell. Darrell and I chased him up a hill and through the Streets until Darrell finally caught up to him and relieved him of his player status.
We were really tired by this point. We avoided Duboce park and proceeded to the apartment on Oak where the 6th checkpoint was. While their, we played blackjack. Then we attempted to pass some security lasers to get into a vault with some secret prize. I don't know what the prize was. We failed. On our way to the bus stop we decided, what the heck! let's go to the end which was behind the Academy of Science museum. Once there a band was playing, glow sticks were hanging from trees, and people were hanging out. We made it out of safe and alive and then headed home. After 4 and a half hours of playing and about , we made it home a little after one. What a great night before Halloween. In the end, we ran, hiked, walked about 9 miles.
Videos will be up in a different post later.
View Journey to the End of the Night in a larger map
Monday, October 18, 2010
Swinging out?
Swing/blues dance community, you disgust me!
Ok, not everyone. But enough people to make me feel sick to my stomach sometimes.
I never thought I would be expressing these feelings but I have come to a breaking point where I am not enjoying dancing as much. I love dancing, it's a lot of fun. However, this year it has become evident to me that the swing and blues community isn't what it should be. I have experienced swing dancing in 5 different cities, and in each city a degree level of cliquishness. In some cities it is more prevalent than others. I wish not to say which cities I consider more clique than others. But this certainly makes dancing in certain places more difficult and less enjoyable than others.
I don't take lessons. I hang out with pretty much the same groups. I don't ask new people to dance as often as I should. I have preferences in dancers and dance songs. All the classic signs of a dance snob. However, I don't have time or money to take lessons. I never turn down a dance with a newb unless I'm really tired. And when I do turn a dance down for said reason, I will dance with them later. I do have preferences in dancers, as many people do, but I will dance with anyone because it's fun to meet new people and have a really good time for 3-5 minutes. And some songs I just can't groove to. Yes, I can be a dance snob but at least I know and am doing my best to fix that.
I have certainly encountered dancers and dance cliques whom I feel they think they are all that. They enter a venue with a "high" stance, and sometimes just walk right in like they are an important asset to a venue. They have a certain "clientele" of dancing partners that they would rather dance with and sometimes only dance with them. They have high expectations of other dancers (for example: level of expertise), and/or dance events. And when they dance with others who might not be at the same level as they are, I feel there is little to no content to it and dance out of sympathy or guilt. Some may even talk bad about other dancers. (Though I realize this blog is doing something similar.) Many will only hang out with people of their caliber. And from what I've heard, some dancers expect to be escorted off the dance floor as to avoid having someone else asking them to dance. As well as asking to leave an old group of friends behind. I have not experienced this but other dancers I know have. There may be more attributes that can be considered snobbish that I have not stated here but to sum it all up: This is truly bothering! Again, I may be clearly wrong but these are the impressions I've been getting from a handful of people and again: disgusted!
I am not talking about the whole swing/blues dance community. I am only talking about a handful of people in it. It only takes one person to ruin a perfectly good party. It is your attitude, your snobbishness, that is making my enjoyment of my favorite hobby/activity less enjoyable.
Aside from snobbishness, there are cliques that make others feel uncomfortable and unwelcome. While we may have a certain group of friends within a certain scene, some of these groups of friends have certain attitudes that make the scene look bad and give some dancers the wrong impression about the scene, which doesn't bring the dancing any justice. I feel like there has been too much drama or even self involvement created in some of these scenes that I just do not wish to go back even if some of my favorite dancers are from there. Aren't we doing this to be open, have fun and avoid drama?
This is not what dancing is all about. It is not what Frankie Manning would have wanted out of the community, and not the message that Dawn Hampton and Norma Miller are trying to convey. I do not believe this is unavoidable. Everything is avoidable if we know what we are aware of what we're doing and what we are getting into. Dancing is about having a good time, meeting new people whether they are new to the dancing, or the location, making them feel comfortable, and not stray away from what the true meaning of dancing.
I recently watched a video by Charleston Alley of Dawn Hampton and she explained swing dancing. In the first 20 seconds she said "I think the people do not understand the spirituality that's associated with swing dancing." And I hold this to be true, even amongst certain swing/blues dancers. Dancing is a very spiritual thing for many people, myself included.
I will continue to dance, drama and self-involvement free because dance is spiritual and hella fun! Until next time, see you on the dance floor.
-Alex
Ok, not everyone. But enough people to make me feel sick to my stomach sometimes.
I never thought I would be expressing these feelings but I have come to a breaking point where I am not enjoying dancing as much. I love dancing, it's a lot of fun. However, this year it has become evident to me that the swing and blues community isn't what it should be. I have experienced swing dancing in 5 different cities, and in each city a degree level of cliquishness. In some cities it is more prevalent than others. I wish not to say which cities I consider more clique than others. But this certainly makes dancing in certain places more difficult and less enjoyable than others.
I don't take lessons. I hang out with pretty much the same groups. I don't ask new people to dance as often as I should. I have preferences in dancers and dance songs. All the classic signs of a dance snob. However, I don't have time or money to take lessons. I never turn down a dance with a newb unless I'm really tired. And when I do turn a dance down for said reason, I will dance with them later. I do have preferences in dancers, as many people do, but I will dance with anyone because it's fun to meet new people and have a really good time for 3-5 minutes. And some songs I just can't groove to. Yes, I can be a dance snob but at least I know and am doing my best to fix that.
I have certainly encountered dancers and dance cliques whom I feel they think they are all that. They enter a venue with a "high" stance, and sometimes just walk right in like they are an important asset to a venue. They have a certain "clientele" of dancing partners that they would rather dance with and sometimes only dance with them. They have high expectations of other dancers (for example: level of expertise), and/or dance events. And when they dance with others who might not be at the same level as they are, I feel there is little to no content to it and dance out of sympathy or guilt. Some may even talk bad about other dancers. (Though I realize this blog is doing something similar.) Many will only hang out with people of their caliber. And from what I've heard, some dancers expect to be escorted off the dance floor as to avoid having someone else asking them to dance. As well as asking to leave an old group of friends behind. I have not experienced this but other dancers I know have. There may be more attributes that can be considered snobbish that I have not stated here but to sum it all up: This is truly bothering! Again, I may be clearly wrong but these are the impressions I've been getting from a handful of people and again: disgusted!
I am not talking about the whole swing/blues dance community. I am only talking about a handful of people in it. It only takes one person to ruin a perfectly good party. It is your attitude, your snobbishness, that is making my enjoyment of my favorite hobby/activity less enjoyable.
Aside from snobbishness, there are cliques that make others feel uncomfortable and unwelcome. While we may have a certain group of friends within a certain scene, some of these groups of friends have certain attitudes that make the scene look bad and give some dancers the wrong impression about the scene, which doesn't bring the dancing any justice. I feel like there has been too much drama or even self involvement created in some of these scenes that I just do not wish to go back even if some of my favorite dancers are from there. Aren't we doing this to be open, have fun and avoid drama?
This is not what dancing is all about. It is not what Frankie Manning would have wanted out of the community, and not the message that Dawn Hampton and Norma Miller are trying to convey. I do not believe this is unavoidable. Everything is avoidable if we know what we are aware of what we're doing and what we are getting into. Dancing is about having a good time, meeting new people whether they are new to the dancing, or the location, making them feel comfortable, and not stray away from what the true meaning of dancing.
I recently watched a video by Charleston Alley of Dawn Hampton and she explained swing dancing. In the first 20 seconds she said "I think the people do not understand the spirituality that's associated with swing dancing." And I hold this to be true, even amongst certain swing/blues dancers. Dancing is a very spiritual thing for many people, myself included.
I will continue to dance, drama and self-involvement free because dance is spiritual and hella fun! Until next time, see you on the dance floor.
-Alex
Friday, June 4, 2010
My Guilty Conscious
My guilty conscious.
I’ve made a few mistakes in the last few nights. In an attempt to not worry about it considering everything is ok, I will not mention what those mistakes were. Let’s just say that I was not thinking and I was rather annoyed at what I was missing or what I was supposed to be doing. That being said: I feel guilty.
So if you’ve ever danced with me, that means mostly follows, you should know that I apologize a lot during a dance every time I make a stupid little move mistake. Even off the dance floor I apologize. If I make some crude joke, depending on who is around, I will apologize for minutes at a time. I let stuff linger on me for a while. The good thing is that it is never too long that it is life altering. But for a few hours or a few days, I might linger on to my guilt on some big mistake I may have done.
I don’t like to cuss around people who I know are pretty religious. Why? It’s not fair to them. I know they are used to hearing cuss words. Recently I dropped a few f-bombs, and $#!+ out there in front of a few pretty religious people. Why? I was annoyed at myself for not doing something that night. Again: I will not mention what that was because it doesn’t matter.
So why do I apologize so much?
A few weeks ago I made a few innuendos online towards a friend. Because I didn’t know how she would respond, I immediately responded without even giving her time to laugh or respond. Then it all came together. She realized something about me. It wasn’t that I apologized but why I was so apologetic. As a dance partner, she knows how much I apologize for even the smallest things in the world. So, we started talking about it. And I think we figured out why I am so apologetic: my religion.
As you know, I’m not religious. I don’t go to church. I don’t worship God. I don’t practice most of the traditions the rest of my family does. I’m not sorry for that. It’s just not for me. However, I was born into a religious family. Both sides of my family are practicing Catholics. I used to go to mass. I used to persignar. I used to pray. Well… I still pray. I still believe in an omnipotent being. I did all the religious things. (a future post will talk about my faith.)
When I told my friend that I was raised Catholic, she put 1 and 1 together. Catholics are very repentant. Since I was raised catholic, I think I still have some of the beliefs lingering on me, including repentance. Maybe I feel the need to apologize not to please God, but to please others. I feel that I need to regain the trust of others but don’t know how, so I take the apology route. I don’t know if this works. I’m not trying to make mistakes but mistakes happen. While I’m not entirely sure why I am so apologetic, I will stick to this idea that my former religious faith has made me this way.
My mistakes on the dance floor don’t linger on me after a dance but it is worth mentioning since that is where most of my mistakes come from. It is not the actual mistakes that I apologize for but how it might affect my dance partner. Dancing is a tricky sport, and I know that my hand may accidentally slip, I tend to notice that and that is what I apologize for the most, whether the follow notices or not.
I will continue to have a guilty conscious for the smallest things on the dance floor, and but will continue to not let them linger on me like a ball and chain. For my bigger mistakes, those guilty feelings will linger on for a while, whether it be a few hours or a few days. And please bear with me for that is how I am, whether I am forgiven or not. I am human, I make mistakes, I sometimes don’t think about things twice before taking action, but I’m willing to admit that I, too, can make mistakes like everyone else and will gladly take the blame for it. For now, I will put all this in the past and move on, like I’ve been told to.
I wrote this post in an attempt to make others aware of the things they do. Why do you apologize so much? Why do you cuss so much? Do you have anger issues and don’t know why?
I’ve made a few mistakes in the last few nights. In an attempt to not worry about it considering everything is ok, I will not mention what those mistakes were. Let’s just say that I was not thinking and I was rather annoyed at what I was missing or what I was supposed to be doing. That being said: I feel guilty.
So if you’ve ever danced with me, that means mostly follows, you should know that I apologize a lot during a dance every time I make a stupid little move mistake. Even off the dance floor I apologize. If I make some crude joke, depending on who is around, I will apologize for minutes at a time. I let stuff linger on me for a while. The good thing is that it is never too long that it is life altering. But for a few hours or a few days, I might linger on to my guilt on some big mistake I may have done.
I don’t like to cuss around people who I know are pretty religious. Why? It’s not fair to them. I know they are used to hearing cuss words. Recently I dropped a few f-bombs, and $#!+ out there in front of a few pretty religious people. Why? I was annoyed at myself for not doing something that night. Again: I will not mention what that was because it doesn’t matter.
So why do I apologize so much?
A few weeks ago I made a few innuendos online towards a friend. Because I didn’t know how she would respond, I immediately responded without even giving her time to laugh or respond. Then it all came together. She realized something about me. It wasn’t that I apologized but why I was so apologetic. As a dance partner, she knows how much I apologize for even the smallest things in the world. So, we started talking about it. And I think we figured out why I am so apologetic: my religion.
As you know, I’m not religious. I don’t go to church. I don’t worship God. I don’t practice most of the traditions the rest of my family does. I’m not sorry for that. It’s just not for me. However, I was born into a religious family. Both sides of my family are practicing Catholics. I used to go to mass. I used to persignar. I used to pray. Well… I still pray. I still believe in an omnipotent being. I did all the religious things. (a future post will talk about my faith.)
When I told my friend that I was raised Catholic, she put 1 and 1 together. Catholics are very repentant. Since I was raised catholic, I think I still have some of the beliefs lingering on me, including repentance. Maybe I feel the need to apologize not to please God, but to please others. I feel that I need to regain the trust of others but don’t know how, so I take the apology route. I don’t know if this works. I’m not trying to make mistakes but mistakes happen. While I’m not entirely sure why I am so apologetic, I will stick to this idea that my former religious faith has made me this way.
My mistakes on the dance floor don’t linger on me after a dance but it is worth mentioning since that is where most of my mistakes come from. It is not the actual mistakes that I apologize for but how it might affect my dance partner. Dancing is a tricky sport, and I know that my hand may accidentally slip, I tend to notice that and that is what I apologize for the most, whether the follow notices or not.
I will continue to have a guilty conscious for the smallest things on the dance floor, and but will continue to not let them linger on me like a ball and chain. For my bigger mistakes, those guilty feelings will linger on for a while, whether it be a few hours or a few days. And please bear with me for that is how I am, whether I am forgiven or not. I am human, I make mistakes, I sometimes don’t think about things twice before taking action, but I’m willing to admit that I, too, can make mistakes like everyone else and will gladly take the blame for it. For now, I will put all this in the past and move on, like I’ve been told to.
I wrote this post in an attempt to make others aware of the things they do. Why do you apologize so much? Why do you cuss so much? Do you have anger issues and don’t know why?
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Karaoke Fun
“What’s the next song?” I ask my friend Darell Lim while I sit in a small room that’s about 8 feet by 10 feet. Seconds later, out from the speakers sitting on-top of 2 shelves in the front corners, the popular Romanian song “Dragostea Din Tei” starts pulsing at a steady rhythm. It would only be a few seconds before I would start jumping up and down and singing up and down. My friend Darrell Kim was on the second microphone. We started singing “Mai ah hi, Mai ah ho, mai ah hoo, mai ah haha.” We sang the rest of the song without shame. Afterall, the door was closed, and there were only 2 other people the small karaoke room. Were we drunk? No. We each had two shots of cold Sake three hours before our final musical performance.
Karaoke, as we are familiarized with it today, was invented in the 1970s and is popular amongst Asian bars and American bars. The term Karaoke comes from the Japanese words Kara and Okesutora, meaning empty and orchestra, respectively. The karaoke machine was invented by Daisuke Inoue in 1971. However, he had never used a karaoke machine until his 59th birthday in 1999. There are still debates whether Inoue was the true inventor of karaoke machine. The machine became popular very rapidly. Karaoke is now more than a $10 billion a year business, which includes machines, karaoke lounges and bars, and competitions.
Saturday night was not my first time doing karaoke, nor was it my first time singing in front of other people. I performed bands for five years and in choirs for five and a half years prior to my random karaoke adventure.
The problem with singing karaoke for me is that my vocal range is in the Bass/Baritone register while many male artists have a more tenor range, which is higher than I can manage on most singing opportunities. I’m “ashamed” to call myself a singer after my great adventure at the Karaoke. And my music instructors might be very disappointed in my decline in talent.
Before singing “Dragostea din Tei” I took the opportunity to work on my rap skills. I had selected one of my favorite Linkin Park rap-rock songs “In the End.” I found this song much easier than the other songs I had performed earlier and later that night. My friend Sammy managed to get a hold of my camera and tape me. My friend, Rose Marcaida, backed me up in the more lyrical parts of the song while I took on the more challenging rap. The challenge was in the pace of the rap. But that still didn’t deter me from trying. None the less, we ended up having a great time together.
The whole point of doing karaoke is for entertainment and for good friend and family fun, which is what I really got out of it. I would do Karaoke again if I know it’s going to be as much fun as it was that night. Being with friends, and embarrassing ourselves is only one key element to being happy. Karaoke is just one way to do that. I can’t wait for the next time the four of us go back out and embarrass ourselves in front of each other.
Karaoke, as we are familiarized with it today, was invented in the 1970s and is popular amongst Asian bars and American bars. The term Karaoke comes from the Japanese words Kara and Okesutora, meaning empty and orchestra, respectively. The karaoke machine was invented by Daisuke Inoue in 1971. However, he had never used a karaoke machine until his 59th birthday in 1999. There are still debates whether Inoue was the true inventor of karaoke machine. The machine became popular very rapidly. Karaoke is now more than a $10 billion a year business, which includes machines, karaoke lounges and bars, and competitions.
Saturday night was not my first time doing karaoke, nor was it my first time singing in front of other people. I performed bands for five years and in choirs for five and a half years prior to my random karaoke adventure.
The problem with singing karaoke for me is that my vocal range is in the Bass/Baritone register while many male artists have a more tenor range, which is higher than I can manage on most singing opportunities. I’m “ashamed” to call myself a singer after my great adventure at the Karaoke. And my music instructors might be very disappointed in my decline in talent.
Before singing “Dragostea din Tei” I took the opportunity to work on my rap skills. I had selected one of my favorite Linkin Park rap-rock songs “In the End.” I found this song much easier than the other songs I had performed earlier and later that night. My friend Sammy managed to get a hold of my camera and tape me. My friend, Rose Marcaida, backed me up in the more lyrical parts of the song while I took on the more challenging rap. The challenge was in the pace of the rap. But that still didn’t deter me from trying. None the less, we ended up having a great time together.
The whole point of doing karaoke is for entertainment and for good friend and family fun, which is what I really got out of it. I would do Karaoke again if I know it’s going to be as much fun as it was that night. Being with friends, and embarrassing ourselves is only one key element to being happy. Karaoke is just one way to do that. I can’t wait for the next time the four of us go back out and embarrass ourselves in front of each other.
Sunday, December 6, 2009
Hairy Situation
(Picture 1 from a few years ago. Picture 2 taken a minute before posting.)
If you don’t already know, I got a haircut 2 Fridays ago. Big shocker, no? It is. I did it to please my parents. Really, it was a win-win situation. See, my parents always want me to get a hair cut. Now they know that they technically have no control over me and my hairy decisions, but they love being persuasive. It’s their nature. So I finally decided to give in during my Thanksgiving break and get my cut. They won. They got their son to get a haircut. I won as well though. See… I had all week to get my hair cut, I could’ve gone before Thanksgiving. But I decided not to. I decided to go with my long, semi fixed hair to our family thanksgiving dinner. And damn I looked good. I decided to wait, till black Friday to get about 2 inches cut off. That’s a lot of hair. Enough to make my head feel reasonably lighter.
So why don’t I cut my hair every month like a lot of people do? Why do I wait 3-6 months before I go into the salon? I love my messy hair. It makes me somewhat unique. When I’m back home, I like getting up in the morning and scaring my mother and father with my messy hair.
It keeps me warm during the fall and winter seasons. As I was walking out of the hair parlor last Friday, the breeze blew through my hair and gave me chills that I normally don’t feel when I have a full head of hair. I was cold. Not even my hat could protect me from the cold breeze. Hair is designed to keep one’s head from getting cold. It is also designed to project a person from getting a sunburn on their scalp. So hair is a good thing. So why hack it off? Why even fix it? To look nice? Albert Einstein had messy hair. Teenage heartthrob Robert Pattinson has messy hair. And they both pull it off. Even glamorous women artists such as the sexy Paulina Rubio and sexy Shakira have wild hair that makes them look good. Granted, lately Shakira’s hair has been more tamed lately, unlike her videos. Maybe I don’t pull it off as suave as they do but I really don’t care. People say presentation is key, and I agree. But
I also save money. I did the math and depending on where I go, a SuperCuts or California Cuts, I would be spending $180 to $240 a year on hair cuts. This is based on a monthly haircut. By only getting a haircut 3-4 times a year, I only spend $45-$80. I save about $100-$195 a year! That’s a hair load of money. In this economic crisis, haircuts should be a luxury. With the money I save I have more to buy food with and do other stuff I love, even buying hats.
So if you want to know when I will get my next haircut, so you don’t seem so surprised, it will happen somewhere between the end of February and the end of March or early April.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
