I Made A Little Boy Cry Today

Three year old boy today, running around in circles on the sidewalk the way little boys do, suddenly caught sight of me. He stopped cold, stared at me in horror, then did that kid-crumple-cry-face thing as he ran to his mom for safety. Pretty sure he thought I was going to eat him for dinner. I could hear him crying as I walked away. You didn't know I was a monster, did you?

Probably the first time he'd ever seen a foreigner close up. Sorry, kid! Next time I'll wear my monster mask and see if that helps.

Happy 4th of July

Happy 4th of July! My grades are all turned in, I'm going this afternoon to have cute flowers painted on my toenails, tonight is a 1 year anniversary homemade pizza party, and tomorrow a 4th of July BBQ on the roof to celebrate. Hope y'all have a great weekend, too!

(This is the cake the Peace Corps Chinese staff bought us last year for the 4th of July, our 3rd day in country. It was so sweet of them to get it for us.) 

Roller Queen

I've loved roller skating ever since my little sister Mishka brought me roller skates from heaven when she was born. (Thanks mom and dad, you're right, I don't hate the new baby now!) I lived across from Arlington National Cemetery as a kid, and I spent hours and hours skating along all those paths. I can't walk worth beans, I sorta fall over for no reason, but on skates? I am Kira in Xanadu, even without the awesome knee high boot skates.

So during the recent weekend of shenanigans, when we found out their small town had a skating rink, of course we had to try it out. It was like nothing I've experienced before. (Shocking, I know!) First of all, they give you two plastic bags to wear over your feet.  Do skating rinks in America care this much about foot hygiene? No, they don't. Here's a picture of me putting on my foot bag:

The rink itself was fully lit, which discouraged any sort of skating rink romance, so disappointing!, but this I could overlook. The problem was, it was also super tiny, so your hip got sore quickly because you were constantly turning. And the skates hadn't ever been oiled, so not only could you hear every turn of the ball bearings, but it added about 20lbs of tension. A good work out, but not so much fun. I lasted about 15 minutes and was done. But now I can say I've been roller skating in the Chinese countryside, and really, how many people can say that?  (And it was Friday night and we were the only ones skating, so I don't think even a lot of Chinese people can say that.) Here's a shot of the rink:

John, in the middle, wasn't skating, but he came out so we could do tricks with him. P.S. I haven't written a lot about the weekend of shenanigans, and it is not an oversight.  Not all things belong on public blogs. ;)

Brass Couplings and Card Catalogue

My dream living space has these two items in it: 

Brass fire hose couplings, as bookends or paper weights:

An old library card catalogue, as a storage space for desk supplies and odds and ends:

I love the idea of using an old item meant for one thing as something else. Also, recycled items. I think it brings a nice ambience and karma into your home to have items that were used and loved by someone else. 

Singing

I'm an alto, a part I always thought was just a poor man's soprano until my high school choir director gave the altos a talk about how we provide the yang to the soprano's ying, the dischord that makes the harmony that much sweeter. It takes a strong ear not to let a strong soprano knock you off key, or overpower you. Ever since then, I relish singing the cream-in-the-oreo part of alto. 

But I like being the support system, not the star. 

I WILL NOT sing alone in front of an audience. No way, no how. My mother is the solo performer in our family, not me. But I love singing with a group of other voices, or alone at home or in my car. One of my favorite songs to sing is O Divine Redeemer; it just plain has an awesome alto part. And for anyone who has ever felt troubled and alone, this song is a plea for mercy and comfort. It's quite beautiful. A lady I knew years ago asked me to sing the alto part as part of a four-voice performance. It remains one of my favorite singing experiences to this day. 

There are lots of versions floating around out there, but I like this one because it is not all about the soprano part.