Level 2 (again): Let's Keep Dancing

There are (well at least) two songs that have been very meaningful in my life, but a specific two are coming to mind now.  One I heard while in Greece (Santorini?) as a child on a family vacation: Those were the Days.  The other was at an evening out and I heard it at a restaurant: Is that All There Is?.  Or did I hear them in the opposite places?  I'd swear "Is that all there is" was sung also by someone like Julie Brown but I can't find it now.  Julie Brown?  Souxise?  Bow Wow Wow?  Can't remember.  If anyone knows I'd love to know.  Anyway: they've both come back to me today.  A message in both: keep dancing.

And that is my message for today: Let's Keep Dancing.

I had a fortune cookie yesterday that said "A bird does not sing because it has an answer.  It sings because it has a song."  I told myself that my fortune cookie was going to be very momentous and enlightening.  And then that.  Gee thanks.

I had been talking online to a guy for a month.  He thought I was super amazing.  It did feel like he didn't have that much to go on for deciding that, but I gave him the benefit of the doubt.  I have been warned about those that go too deep too fast.  And I've had one of those before.  I told a friend about the one I had before after it was over.  She told me about limerence and through discussion with her I realized afterwards (well- she was telling me) that he had basically been stalking me and I should be careful with what information I shared with him in the future.  Shortly after her telling me this I watched the TV series "You" and it was eerily familiar.  Way too familiar.  I've been on the rollercoaster before: "I love you, you are the most amazing thing ever" to "I can't stand you, everything about you is horrible." Whiplash of confusion.  Maybe this guy was different.   Alas, not so.

So: some wisdom from my life: the more emotionally healthy you are the faster you scare away the unhealthy.  At least I didn't get in too deep before he freaked out and ran away from some unknown reason (except maybe that I pointed out he had not stayed consistent/ did a bait-and-switch.)  His excuse: he didn't want to get burned.  So he burned me instead.  He cancelled our first date the morning of out of nowhere.  He had cancelled one time before because his sister came to town.  So- I had booked and paid for part of it already so I decided that I was going to go anyway.  And I ate that fortune cookie and it was going to give me the message I needed.

I had booked "private" hot pools as who wants a bunch of kids around for a first date, especially after messaging several times a day for a month?  I got "The Wasted Possum" and was very happy I didn't get the "Boil Up" (which is a native dish I was too scared to try) that was right next to "The Wasted Possum".  The place was very commercial and loud, but I did look straight out onto a stream and trees.  You could also order a cider and it was delivered to the pool, ice cold with ice.  I had booked it for the sunset to get some light and some of the advertised lights in the trees (not as exciting as it sounded.)  They should have hired me to do their night time lights.

I typed in one of the few places to eat that I had found and then drove past another one and decided to stop.  I am not into eating fish but for that night I decided the fish was it.  And it was quite good.  I tried practicing my mindful eating and being present.  It is quite a different experience eating alone and eating with others.  Made me wonder about the experiences of food critics.

I had once gone to a fancy restaurant by myself and all dressed up.  I had gone chocolate tasting in San Francisco and little did I know there would be wine too.  I got a bit of wine to drink so wasn't ready to drive.  I was all dressed up to go to a party afterwards but decided I should sober up first.  So- fancy restaurant right there and I went.  And it was such an interesting experience.  Several people came up and talked to me, asked me where I was going dressed like that, etc.  This is a picture from that night.  Doesn't seem so much like a crazy outfit to me now when I see the photo.  I wear much more outrageous things these days.  Ah- but I think I did read a book at dinner.  Maybe sitting alone, eating dinner and reading a book while dressed up screams, "I'm interesting and I would love to be talking to you."

 So maybe I have more of that in my future.  Maybe Jacqueline and I will go together alone and see what that is like (each get super dressed up and get our own tables and see what happens.)  Or maybe I'll just do that again.  I do find I'm more likely to meet other people when I'm out on my own, though I do have some adventure friends that when we go out we make friends everywhere we go.  I was not too fancy looking after the hot tub.  I'll have to try harder next time.

The day after I took myself on the stood up date, I decided that message is like that of the frog and the scorpion: one does what is in one's nature to do.  The bird sings.  Hurt people hurt people.  And my plan?  Keep dancing.  I'm going to be a happy person who finds other happy people.  And I'm going to have amazing experiences and gain infinite wisdom.  I will embrace the wonderful and the difficult experiences and will love life more for all of them.

I've been doing Oakland Sunday morning estatic dance the whole time I've been here (since March).  Free style dancing hadn't been my thing, let alone morning dancing.  I was a West Coast Swing kind of girl.  Partner dancing with improvisation.  A friend of mine had gotten me to go out to Day Breakers a few times before the pandemic (morning dancing).  I got here and was in self isolation so decided to do the Oakland estatic dance.  At 6 am.  Then we went off Daylight Savings and it was 5 am and I still got up to dance once a week, most weeks.  Don't even remember who told me about them, but I was very amused to be the crazy American dancing as the sun came up.  During fall I was outside for it and Spring is coming so could happen again.

Dancing and yoga and sometimes a walk or bike ride was my thing for months.  I finally joined a gym and was going to gym classes, finally just getting acclimated.  Even had a boxing class.  Then the classes were cancelled.  About that time my good friend and yin yoga instructor, Robin, told me about a DJ duo that has been DJing live everyday throughout covid, Sofi Tukker.  They hit their 6 month mark of DJing every day just the other day.   I decided starting every morning with 30 minutes of dance would be fantastic.  It is a high energy, fun group and it is the perfect time for me to get up, dance then shower in the Disco Toilette: Pepto Abysmal and then make it to my morning work standup meeting.

So- the Disco Toilette.

San Francisco, where's your disco?  Well: it is in a little town in New Zealand now.

Here my very good friend and I doing estatic dance in the disco toilette.

The story of the origin of Disco Toilette: Pepto Abysmal:

I found the disco porto potty at Burning Man several years ago.

It made me so damn happy.  That is my favorite burning man memory of all time.  First I danced in there myself, documenting the amazing time.  Then I made my buddy John get in there and dance with me.  We then got kicked out by a woman we told about it because she wanted to go in and have her fun.

I've talked a lot about the disco toilet so when it came time to decorate my restroom in the new house: disco theme it is!

And my adventure buddy now has a disco garage that his kids love and I can't wait to visit.  But I have to wait until after covid times.

Our disco toilet's name is Disco Toilette Pepto Abysmal.  We already had ceiling paint when buying paint so we didn't buy any.  When I got the ceiling paint I found it was peptobismal pink.  So- I said I'd make it work.  It looked pretty darn terrible to start and Jacqueline deemed it Pepto Abysmal.  I said to her, "You know I'll never want to repaint it now?" (that I love the name Pepto Abysmal).  I think it looks a little less abysmal now that I painted the trim silver.  But Jacqueline may beg to differ.  Jacqueline's son was the one to say that the Disco Toilette should play "San Fransico Where's Your Disco" and he was so right.

Next up, Meow Wolf inspired hallway.  And until then here's my dad playing the piano at Meow Wolf.

More projects.  And cats.

We've been seeing all kinds of furniture on facebook and other things (or Jacqueline has and shares it with me.)  PatinaBlue is very inspiring and inspired my painting of our kelly green cart.

Yes, that is corona lurking in the background.  That was not intentionally placed there for the photo.

Day out to fancy furniture store to get wax and paint and talk to people.

We have ambitions for our furniture painting techniques.  And a new old dresser to do up.  More on all of that as we do it.

Misc.

Father's day bbq.

Found in the big house backyard: a pretty girl sitting by the flowers.  I suppose I haven't described where we live yet.  It is called a "lifestyle" block.  There are two houses and an apartment on the block.  Jacqueline, Jeremy and I live in the small 3 bedroom house at the front.  Jacqueline's parents and son live in the back house and apartment.  Anyway- there are little sculptures all around the big house in the back, left here by the previous owners.

And I better publish this soon!  We'll be at Level 1 again soon (probably in two days).

I'll end with two other fortune cookies (all from fancy lime white chocolate fortune cookies I got at a coffee shop in Taupo):

To do two things at once is to do neither
(And, yes, I read that when I told me my fortune cookie was going to tell me about work)

To love is to risk getting hurt,

Not to risk loving is the greatest risk of all.