Swing Shack Holiday Party

I was inspired by the movie I found from Netflix, "Beyond the Sea" - the story about Bobby Darin and his passion about music. I don't know enough about music but I know I love those toe-tapping music and swing is one of them. I was lucky to find a Swing lesson near my apartment and the instructors invited me to their Holiday Swing party. I took a short video clip just for fun. The pianist and singer works at Opera Carolina. I was told that the style is the East Coast Swing with simpler 6-count variation.

Here's some more information about Swing Dance - http://www.answers.com/topic/swing-dance
East Coast Swing is a simpler 6-count variation. It is also known as Single-Time Swing, Triple-Step Swing, 6-Count Swing, or Rock-a-billy. East Coast Swing has very simple structure and footwork along with basic moves and styling. It is popular for its simple nature, and it is often danced to slow, medium, or fast tempo jazz, blues, or rock and roll.

Hola! Peru! - Part Three: Machu Picchu and Lake Titicaca

搭乘Peru Rail從Cusco到Machu Picchu, 火車的沿途可見到不同的小村落, 沿著山坡搭蓋, 偶而可看見牛群或羊群, 一直到快接近Machu Picchu時, 才見到高山及湍流, 一出火車站, 是熱鬧的市集, hotel的人引著我們繞過幾個小石版階梯, 沿著河流, 抵達小卻相當舒適的Inti Winaywayna Hotel, 我們也不耽誤時間地搭了巴士, 向Machu Picchu出發, 沿途的路很窄, 路邊又沒有欄杆, 所以每次會車時總是令我膽顫心跳, 望著深谷, keep my fingers crossed. 好不容易到了Machu Picchu的路口, 兩千多公尺的高度似乎讓氣息變的急促許多, 短短的三四段階梯, 心跳卻喘的厲害, 但是一看到Machu Picchu, 壯觀的山稜一下子完整的呈現在眼前, 穿著牛仔褲和T-shirt的我, 頓時有種不搭調的感覺, 好像自己誤闖誤撞地叨擾了一個百年古跡, 但看到遊客的相機閃個不停, 對面山頭也是芝麻大小的遊客散落在古城的各角, 心裡才安心了點, 在印加帝國的遺跡裡繞著, 許多石頭搭蓋的梯田, 堡壘對著深谷的保衛窗口, 想像著從前戰爭的慘烈, 與現在我們開心地於各景點照著相, 仍有種神聖不可侵犯的感受, 下了山, 看著照片, 還是有種合成的距離感...

Machu Picchu的市集很是熱鬧, 我和學姊買了許多木刻的畫, 想說可以作一幅collage, 很喜歡那抽象原始的風格, 銀器與石器都雕著古印加代表性的象徵, 織物品也作的很漂亮, 但是bargaining倒是一種藝術和樂趣

搭火車回到Cusco後, 隔日便出發前往Juliaca - 前進至傳說中的Floating Island at Lake Titicaca, Puno

從Juliaca到Puno的路上, 與Cusco和Lima比起來, 貧窮許多, 穿著單薄的衣服, 泥磚的矮屋, 還遇到一大群的羊群過馬路, 顛簸地到了Puno, 天已黑了, 想到只剩下兩天就要結束這一星期多的旅行便有點感傷, 早早睡了, 下了來Peru第一場大雨, 但卻幸運地帶來隔天的初陽及一整日的藍天白雲, 航行在Lake Titicaca上

3千公尺的高度似乎被這一大片的湖水及tortora reeds接納了而變的比較可以親近, 開始看到tortora reeds編的船隻在各處停靠, 接著便看到住在floating islands上的婦女們穿著螢光色的鮮豔裙子, 綁著兩個長辮子用著彩色的毛線球作髮飾, 他們似乎已習慣旅客汽船的叨擾, 到了Island of Uros, 興奮地踩上這用草編成的小島, 很柔軟, 還帶著淡淡的草香, 我們為坐在草堆成的椅子上, 導遊解釋當地居民如何用草編成島, 用草根作成anchor好固定小島, 我們還啃了tortora reed, 很喜歡那清爽又脆的口感

在Island of Amantani上看到許多羊群, 聽導遊說, 當地的男子都隨身帶著編織的工具織毛線衣帽, 婦女則是使用織布機, 未婚和已婚的男子會帶不同型樣顏色的帽子, 記得最近看未央歌說散民未婚女子的帽子是尖的, 是偏著的, 而已婚婦女的帽子則是正著戴的, 竟很巧地和Peru的男子戴法和分化相同, 有時想想, 歐美人戴婚戒也是為了區別身分, 對已婚的人來說, 少了誤會和尷尬, 對未婚的人來說, 也是一種間接的訊息和溝通, 婚姻的commitment 似乎自然地很普遍地在人類社會裡被honored, 倒是亞洲社會多無戴婚戒的習慣, 不知道是否是被古代一夫多妻的傳統模糊了...

坐在tortora reed編的草船上, 竟可載上近20人,聽說一艘草船只須當地居民三天的時間便可完成, 可以使用7-8個月.當地的小女孩唱著歌, 船上世界各地來的人合唱twinkle twinkle little star, 曬著陽光很舒服,

隨著夕陽西下, tortora reeds, 島和船的倒影被汽船劃過,

回到Puno,
回到Lima機場,
回到Charlotte,
關起out of the office auto-reply notice
隨著outlook inbox的未讀郵件鑽入
這趟Peru的回憶也安靜地archived至網路上的一個心靈的冒險角落,

Hola! Peru! - Part Two: Cusco and Sacred Valley

LAN - 是祕魯當地的航空公司, 出發前查了幾個travel blogs, 仍有點不放心當地的飛行技術, 但是到達祕魯Lima的機場時, self-check-in的電腦介面作的很好, 飛機也很乾淨舒適, 我也就安心一些, 把乾淨與飛機上包裝漂亮又好吃的muffin點心和飛行安全畫上等號, 似乎是不怎麼合邏輯的說法, 但是沒法改掉Marketing的迷思, 這些"Presentation" 似乎也帶著日本移民的氣息...

到達Cusco後, 開始聞得到古老氣息的石頭城, 計程車沿著蜿蜒的石頭小巷東西南北的鑽著, 不到10分鐘便到了我們在網路上訂的Picoaga Hotel checked in, 很是喜歡這hotel的設計, 石頭的拱門連結對稱地在上下兩層樓, 繞著有著小噴泉的中庭 暗粉紅色的牆壁, 寶藍色的房門, 進了房間是漆著橘色的牆壁, 很暖和! 僱了一個當地的計程車司機, 帶我們去Sacred Valley繞, 雖然溝通上仍是比手畫腳地, 我們只須說"Foto,Foto" (Photo in Spanish) - 他便很有耐心地讓我們下車取景, 他也很懂得哪裡適合照相, 還帶我們去餵駱馬 (Llama and Alpaca), Alpaca真的很可愛, 脖子沒有Llama長, 毛比Llama來的柔軟, 只是當地的餐廳都有Alpaca的菜, 還真有點捨不得吃那麼可愛的動物..

From ask.com -

The Llama is roughly twice the size of the Alpaca and the Llama has a very coarse outer coat over a softer inner coat as opposed to the alpaca which has a very fine, single coat. The Alpaca was domesticated and carefully bred for over 5000 years as a luxury fiber producing animal. The Llama has been bred for the same amount of time as a pack carrying animal. Both are very friendly, curious and easily trained and handled as long as they were not handled incorrectly by their previous owners.

The Llama and the Alpaca can interbreed and produce live offsping and those offspring are also fertile. There is no point in doing this on purpose however. The result of such a breeding would be an animal that was neither as strong as the true Llama nor would it have as nice a coat of fleece as a true Alpaca.

Sacred Valley的市集 - 很接近我的秘魯印象, 彩色的針織手工藝品琳瑯滿目的掛著, 映著藍天, 顯的更艷麗了, 穿著傳統服飾的兩個小女孩, 其中一位抱著一隻羊, 走過來要和我照相, 雖然是要給些零用錢, 但好希望自己能跟他們依樣穿著五彩的毛織洋裝, 也抱頭羊, 背著布包袱, 穿著毛褲襪, 不知道過幾年後的秘魯會不會把Disney這一套學過去...聽朋友說, 他看見一位中年婦女因為天氣熱而解了一層裙子, 有點滑稽, 大概那蓬蓬裙底下是一層又一層地扣著, 也難怪在這50多度的天氣及3,000多公尺的高山中, 這傳統服飾仍能保暖...

Cusco的Main Square很有氣勢, 石頭的建築物, 長廊與拱門將廣場環繞, 許多餐廳竟皆是義大利菜, 我們三人各點了一杯Pisco Sour, 想體驗一下這著名的秘魯調酒, 很好喝卻只能喝的了半杯, 當天晚上, 學長姐竟都身體不適, 睡的沉穩的我, 沒料到那高山症加酒精可真的要小心調理, 好在學長帶了高山症的藥和當地的Coca tea也幫助舒緩了些不舒適的症狀

期待著踏上Machu Picchu的古印加帝國...

Hola! Peru! - Part One: Lima

想像中的秘魯: 黃昏傍晚, 在黃土飛揚的市集中, 一群穿著五彩傳統服飾的婦女們將有黃有紫的玉米雜糧攤在地上販賣著, 旁邊的攤販則擺著手工的地毯叫賣著, 黝黑的中年婦女熟練地上下梭回織著妍麗的布料, 各色的毛線穿著織布機上下的交錯著, 老人牽著幾隻駱馬, 駝背著重物, 遲緩地經過市集, 塵沙隨著步伐揚起

於是, 帶著這想像空間, 有點恐慌又興奮, 就這樣與大學同學, 去了一趟祕魯... 今年九月 - 大約是祕魯的春天

背起那有半個我高的登山包包, 心情立即從五點時寄出的那封工作email, 轉向out of office notice - 抵達... Hola! Spanish的國度, 還不到祕魯, 從Miami的機場開始, 便像是已離開了美國, 晚上11點的飛機, 登機口的周圍已經聽不太到英文, 黝黑的皮膚與略帶亞洲人的面孔, 起飛出發, 抵達地點是Lima, Peru -預計時間凌晨四點半...

天還是黑的, 機場便已到處是接機的牌子, Valerie Tsai - that's me - 他問我會不會說Spanish? - 我搖搖頭, 幾個小時的苦讀, 只能說出 "No, Español " - 手中仍拿著Learn Spanish的小手冊, 想翻出"sorry, I can't speak Spanish" 的翻譯...轉眼, 周圍已經是一片downtown的景象, 沿途就這樣雞同鴨講, 到了hotel後, 終於能說英文, 很是開心!

因為抵達的時間太早, 不能checked in, 聽說清晨治安不夠好, 只好帶著書去吃hotel的早餐, 這才發現祕魯總統Mr. Fujimori的影響力 - 竟讓祕魯的早餐buffet裡, 出現稀飯, Miso湯和那甜甜一層層的黃色蛋; waiters收碗盤時, 還用流利的日文問我-o-wa-ri-ma-shi-ta-ka (如果我日文沒記錯或聽錯的話) - 應該是問我用餐完畢了嗎?

眼皮很沉重, 就這樣坐在lobby的沙發上, 睡著了, 醒來時Lima已經變成一個繁忙的大城市; 車聲, 喇叭聲, 小販的叫賣聲, 公車擠滿著要去上班的人群, 那公車的門, 總開著, 倚著管理上下車秩序的公車先生, 把一站站上下車的人, 擠上去或推下去, 想像中的黃土飛揚, 被車輛廢氣取代了, 車子似乎都比美國小一個size, 且在馬路上鑽繞的技巧可是一流, 喇叭似乎成為通行証和訊號燈.

起初我的黃塵與彩色織布機的夢, 被喇叭聲刺破, 心中甚是失望, 看到路上一家小雜貨店, 寫著Internet -這是英西語通用的嗎?! - 就這樣我股起勇氣, 付了一個sol, 側身擠進六號的電腦桌, 很黑, 我打著有著Spanish - ñ - 符號的鍵盤, 寄了一封email給朋友和家人, 只想說, Hola - 我安全到達Lima, Peru - 其實, 有點想念大家了, 也還是有點害怕

但這擔心在繞了Lima downtown 一圈後, 似乎變開始喜歡上那一點點chaos, 一點點灰土的角落, 黃色, 綠色, 紅色, 紫色, 這一排各種顏色的建築物並列, 打破我視覺上的配色邏輯, 漸層, 暖寒色系, 這時都派不上用場.

邏輯被打破後, 心和視野似乎也就被打開了, 古老咖啡色外觀的教堂, 旁邊是一家McDonald; 年久失修的窗戶, 整棟是前衛的蘋果綠建築, 緊鄰著氣派輝煌的總統府和Main Square, 角落蹲著一位媽媽抱著嚎啕大哭的小孩, 眼神一交會, 竟是將哭的滿臉鼻涕眼淚的小孩, 轉向我這邊, 這是心疼還是工具?!

乘著Hotel的shuttle到Miraflore - 百貨公司和有機超市, 熱帶椰子樹與樹一樣高的仙人掌成為各個豪宅庭院的必備門面, 那一棟棟三層樓的公寓, 有著極同日本的簡樸風格, 淺灰色牆壁與木製大門, 面對著太平洋, 手裡握著Starbucks' green-tea latte, 還去不掉美式的陋習, 天漸黑了, 沿著海岸走了40多分鐘,乘shuttle回到旅館, 一身疲憊, 但興奮地迎接大學同學的加入, 昏睡, 一通電話饗起, 這兩天的Lima之旅, 享受吃到飽的海鮮, 這三個人的旅途, 就此啟程出發到接近我想像中的祕魯, Cusco - 下一站

Habitat for Humanity

Finally, I signed up for the Habitat for Humanity in Charlotte last Sat!

I woke up at 5:30 am on Sat morning to get ready for the 7 am volunteer event near Randolph road. The construction site was located in a small winding road and after circling around, I finally got to the construction site - feeling worried at first - as I signed up the event alone, I was nervous that the construction site will be filled with workers and I'd be totally overwhelmed with saws and drills, etc. So it was really a relief to find some people wearing "Team Bank of America" shirt and also coincidentally found some familiar faces from the dragon boat racing.

There were three volunteer groups from different organizations working on two houses that day. One house was still under construction and most men were assigned to help framing and roofing. The team lead looked at me as if I am too tiny to help and assigned me to go to another house to help with painting. Ahhh....I thought that I can help with some true construction work. But painting is not bad - actually, it was very fun - with the long roller, short roller and the paint brush, the assignment was to paint everything, including the ceiling and the door, except for the window frame, for the entire house.

I learned that you really need to put some pressure onto the wall when you paint so that the paint won't be dripping and adjust the way/place you hold the roller to make sure you can paint the wall from top to bottom at one time without leaving any mark.

By the end of the day, I finished painting one bedroom and one closet - and I also got some highlight on my bang with my pants in polka dots ... whew, quite a workout but I'll certainly come back again!!

2007/06/16 - Dragon Boat Racing

在台灣的時候
端午節對我而言只是粽子節
很愛九如潮州粽 - 還蠻好奇那糯米裡的一塊肉怎麼贏過整個潮州的粽子成為州代表
也很愛王記府城肉粽 - 看到那鹹蛋黃便充滿幸福感 : )

大概是Charlotte待久了
食物的選擇有限
就不再那麼挑嘴
只分冷熱鹹甜

電視上的划龍舟競賽
總覺得船上應該都是那些參加鐵人三項的壯丁
頂著熾熱的太陽
汗珠直下
好苦

怎會想到
今年的端午節
我會去划龍舟
而且還划了三趟
當了一次drummer
地點是Charlotte

朋友幫我報名台灣隊
我自己又參加Bank of America的隊伍
起初總半信半疑地想著
划龍舟...

但或許是從前canoeing時很開心
抱著試試看的心態
第一次練習時便愛上划船
學會怎樣用腰力
怎樣reach out才能把船推的遠
怎樣培養團隊默契

划龍舟
和20個人一起划船的感覺真的很好

6/9是比賽的日子
雖然發現比賽時幾乎要把練習的動作用2X快轉的速度完成
一整天下來卻很開心
自從大學帶營隊後
即很少有這種和一群人一同努力完成一項任務的感覺
很開心

我很愛划龍舟 : )

Variety

WSJ - Jan-16th,2007

Too much variety makes us overeat. In one experiment, snackers were given bowls of M&Ms with either seven colors or 10 colors. Snackers with 10 color options ate an average of 43 more candies than those with just seven colors to choose from.

WSJ - Jan-12th, 2007

PepsiCo Inc. is launching a series of designs, to debut every three or four weeks - a marketing shift that the company hopes will grab the attention of increasingly fickle, restless and distracted young consumers.

Annual sales of Pepsi's flagship cola in the U.S. have declined 18% since 1998. Still, the average person spends 20 to 30 minutes drinking a can of soda, giving Pepsi much longer to catch a consumer's eye than a cereal-box label might have.

The can-design changes are the latest sign of how established consumer companies are wrestling to connect with the short attention spans of teens and young adults.

Valerie-said: The more color-options in M&M, the more candies you eat - Now, Pepsi wants customers to drink more cola with more can designs.

The rich or the poor - what we eat, drink or wear can be the same if we skip the brand, the design and those interesting emotion factors that make people feel better, cooler or more important. Our inner self is always looking for an outlet of self-expression. We want people to know who we are, what we like and how we see ourselves in any form of media, including a can of Pepsi or the choice of your M&M color. While we were taught not to judge a person from the appearance, but aren't we meanwhile asking to be treated differently by how we look and what we eat, drink or use? No definite answer but I wonder living in a world where everyone looks the same and has only one option for each need to sustain our life - the only difference that tells us apart is the soul and the way of thinking. How much fun will we lose? Or gain?

2007/01/06 - Invitation

大學帶社團營隊, 設計教案活動, 帶著一群小國中生演話劇, 廣播劇, 玩遊戲 ...
有時候會在過程中發現自己為了示範而不自覺地跳脫了舒適圈
或為了鼓勵小朋友的自信心而暖了原本封閉的自己..

從Chicago搬到Charlotte後
常常想起那每個星期四晚上在Jess家的Girls' night
大家一起作餅乾, 卡片, 蠟燭等等, 圍著窩在沙發上聊天,
在Jess家看Friends完結篇, 打地舖過夜 ...

一直相信
想讓我這個生命很單純的只有一個目的
讓很多生命可以覺得快樂一點, 幸福一點, 勇敢一點
從徬徨無措和絕望中找到被忽視的價值

寫了那麼多
只是很高興自己在新的一年
好像開始了些什麼

幸運地
一個大太陽的午後
計畫了很久的arty craft party
在股起那一點點的勇氣後實現了

媽媽幫忙將家裡重新裝潢了一番 ...
一起買foam 一起挑布料 作客廳的椅墊
買相框 給了那些躲在電腦裡很久的相片 一點點接觸氧氣的機會

then...here goes the party

white wine, cheese and crackers with hot dip

candle kit, wood-painting and gingerbreadman cookie dough

大家專注著畫著圖
討論用色

專注地加熱wax
研究著如何變化蠟燭的顏色

試著加入花和葉片作變化
學會冰箱可是冷卻candles的好幫手

圍繞著客廳
談著生活
吃著cheese and crackers

用mold印出gingerbreadman cookies

點起蠟燭
許個心願

願大家新的一年裡 都能幸福快樂

Album: Yummy & Arty Party