I tuned in post-HIMYM just in time to see whatshisname the Chairman from Iron Chef America, who was my prior-to-seeing-anything pick. Glad to see him paired with Lacey too, that should be fun. His number was a tad painful (really, "Kung Fu Fighting"?) but he shows promise. Like early-season Helio Castroneves.

Then some guy I don't know. Then Donny Osmond. Judges' scores notwithstanding I think he has a bit of a massive advantage with the voting pool. We got about two seconds into his number before we had to just switch to a previous performance of his that's much more entertaining to me. Good times.



Is it time for Big Bang Theory yet? I feel bad because I do like dancing, I just don't feel so much like watching DWTS this season. Not sure how I feel about another season of SYTYCD so soon after the last one (I sort of feel like it cheats Jeanine a little but mostly because Nigel was really starting to piss me off by the end of last season and I may need a longer break from him) but they're still in auditions, which I hate to watch so by the time they get to the actual dancing I might feel better. But it's entertaining enough to kill time before Castle (need. Fillion fix. now.)

I didn't liveblog since I'm worn out on bloggery in general (also I'm two weeks behind).

BUT SWEET FANCY MOSES the women's group dance tonight? Made of awesome with badass-sauce! The costumes, the attitudes, the concept... yeah, I want to do choreographer Sonia's taxes for free in perpetuity. [Will post video when I find it]

Honestly, I was worried when I heard they were going to do gender group routines-- previously when they've done that in the finals, the men got some awesome hilarious routine (see: Travis and Benjie's nerdcore, last season's Russian folk number) and the women got something weird or boring (Heidi and Donyelle's lackluster broadway, Sabra and Lacey's way-stylized "we are foxes or something" routine). So I was annoyed that Lil C came down on them for not being good enough (not to mention Nigel's thinly-veiled reference to Jeanine's breasts as her superpower). Whatever. The dance was fantastic, and got my waning-after-two-hours attention in full. Moar plz.

The first-ever SYTYCD classical (aka ballet) pas de deux was performed tonight, much to my excitement. Melissa is one of my favorites, and the first ballerina to make it past week 1, so seeing her get to bust out the pointe shoes was very cool. Romeo and Juliet isn't my favorite ever, and Andrea and I got to talking and I realized what I *wish* they'd done. And you know, I always bring up my go-to example-- when I took beginning ballet on campus we spent one day watching clips and learning about virtuosity, and I spoke up and mentioned that aggressive female virtuosity *does* in fact exist. So here 'tis: the black swan pas de deux from Swan Lake. Technically, the pas de deux is only part 1, but the variations that follow (particularly the one starting about 3:00 into part 2) are not to be missed. It's a little detail, but I am completely in love with the way Gillian Murphy curtseys after the pas de deux-- she bows deeply, all the way down on one knee, but doesn't dip her head. Perfectly in character. I love the mischief and malice involved, and what a dupe the prince is! So enjoy :)

okay, seriously len. you can cut the "i'm all crotchety and cranky and lance and lacey aren't traditional enough" act whenever you want. it's transparent and tired. you give maurice raves for spending his 15 second solo waving a cape around, and when lance actually DANCES during his solo, you bitch at him. seriously? at least i admit i'm biased and just started out liking lacey more. harrumph.

sure, i missed the first hour due to big bang theory and how i met your mother, but i tuned in just in time for brooke and derek's samba. and the song sounded familiar.

in fact... it's the song lacey (now a pro on dwts) did a samba with danny to on sytycd!

just noticed that

who is this kardashian person? in her intro she just said "reality tv star." what does that mean? she has no screen presence whatsoever, let alone the stage presence necessary for ballroom dancing. how can you dance with mark ballas and not look like you're having fun? hrmph. i am largely underwhelmed by both dance skill and personality this year. thank goodness for cloris leachmen and lance+lacey.

two... no, make that three words:

cloris frakking leachman!

woman has my vote and many many more. also: can i be her when i grow up? (she also had the best line at the roast of bob saget....)

i think i'm having an existential crisis. at least i think thats what i'd call what i think i'm having. september is coming, people are very sick, things are changing. i'm afraid to die. and suddenly i realize that if i were to die next year, this is not quite the life i'd want to have lived. i dont think im in danger, health-wise. but i dont want to ever have regrets, and the chances of "oh, we'll do this sometime" becoming "it's too late to do that" are high in the long term. i know i don't want to be a scientist much longer. and i know that while i'm working on my phd i do not want to be chained to my bench. i want to do something fun every week, and i want to have new experiences as often as i can. i'm often scared to travel, and i find it an effort to find interesting things to do when i'm in strange places. but i want to change that. i think im definitely growing-- the last time i had a crisis like this i was basically paralyzed. yay for proactivity for once!

(lists updated occasionally throughout the day)

things to do, or to contemplate doing
studying programming or mechanical engineering
getting some clue what's going on with quantum and string theory
developing or finding a religion that works for me (just found this. maybe uu is right for me ;)
cook! i'm thinking of a greek feast sometime soon if anyone's interested (greek cheese pie, kabobs on the grill....?)
reproduce? (this one's very back and forth for both me and sal. im definitely not ready now, since im REALLY not ready to share sal's attention with anyone! but some days child-having sounds rewarding and others it seems like a painful, difficult roadblock to anything else i'd want to do)
tutor underpriviledged kids whose parents cant afford to buy them SAT scores
get a teaching degree
volunteer/work at planned parenthood
read lots of books and write about them (or talk with people... anyone up for an online book group?)
dance again! maybe try modern if its at more convenient times than ballet.
take walks and hikes, maybe get a bike?

places to visit (from easiest to most difficult):
colorado (easiest because the mirna keystone meeting is in colorado next year, and i can easily turn that into a vacation with skiing and visiting laura and stuff)
arizona, new mexico, texas (i want to go to that movie theater kern mentioned!)
hawaii (maui, mostly-- this is already in early planning stages, since it was my impulse a couple days ago and i havent managed to let go of the idea yet)
new england (boston, providence, williamsburg, maine? washington dc?)
disneyworld (never been! how is that possible?)
alaska (could easily be a road trip-- seattle, british columbia, anchorage, all the way up to mt mckinley)
greece and italy (ive always wanted to see greece, and id love to visit the vatican as well, dunno why since im not catholic, it just sounds really cool)
sweden (our swedish postoc who just got a new job said we must visit when she moves back there and she'll show us around)
to see the olympics in person (can't decide winter or summer though)
tibet? dunno, sounds interesting though. also maybe anywhere in japan that isnt tokyo.
jerusalem (most difficult not financially, but id prefer not to be shot at on vacation, i think)
austria (duh, as ricky points out in comments... i'll even know someone there who speaks the language! bonus!)

things to stop doing
obsessing about my complexion. in the end, who really gives a crap about my acne?
worrying about my weight. i'll eat what tastes good, but try not to overdo it, and i'll exercise and eat veggies because it feels good.
letting my job be my identity. there's ever so much more to me than that! science is just my mild-mannered alter ego!

okay, and ( the fluff )

the good news is that by the end of the term, im going to be in great shape thanks to intermediate ballet, even though i'm only going to one class a week (thank goodness the teacher let me audit, theres no way my advisor would let me take 3 hrs a week of dance...).

the bad news is that oh my god am i going to hurt tomorrow. only one major incident, though ("and rond de jamb en l'air" and robin's hip revolts in firey flaming cramping death)-- no sprained ankles or anything.

the class is very clearly divided into girls-just-coming-up-from-a-term-of-beginning-ballet and girls-who-have-clearly-had-a-few-terms-of-intermediate-ballet-already. and the teacher knows that, so she gave separate combos, easy and hard, for most post-barre exercises. that was good. meant i could take my time and work on pirouettes (which i pretty much didnt do in college because i dont like them... damn my lack of work ethic). i actually did both petite allegro (small, fun, fast jumps) and grand allegro (big, fun, showy jumps) with both groups (kept my heart rate up, thats for sure), and i definitely held my own with the more advanced girls on those two. but only those two. on adagio (hold your leg up in the air for extended periods of time with nothing to hold on to) i was nowhere near them :p

so yeah. gonna go ice every joint in my body now. hasta ;)