Jeannie lived and worked Before subsidized day care Before women were paid the 100 cent dollar (we’re still at 69 cents) Before we knew about pesticides and childhood leukemia She seemed a little stiff, a disciplined one She couldn’t wait to clean up
She made it WORK.
She ran for office in her own way.
She made a not-lived- in model home
She spot-checked and ironed
Her daughter died -even tho’ she learned
To clean EVERYTHING
why wouldn’t She want a perfect world – No fuss no muss. The thing is SHE DID IT. So whatever world we want LET’S DO IT. Maybe she’ll be on our team.
I found these two old posts saved from a now defunct website. They are about the death of a beloved dog in the jaws of a coyote. The ubiquitous coyote, a protected animal in SoCal, which inhabits the urban areas to hunt for food.
It is a protected animal. It is not an endangered species. You can’t shoot them, even as they jump into your yards to capture your pets.
Here is the first old article I found.
Goodbye Daisy Y
“Beautiful little Daisy got nabbed by a coyote last night. She was a determined terrier and loved to patrol the perimeter.
(We try so hard to train our dogs not to be dogs.)
Days after she moved to her owner’s present home she found a way out through the fence and was found blocks away. Luckily someone found her and called her home.
Pets often do that when their family moves to a new residence.
The Night She Died
Her owner was super tired and slept more deeply than usual. Daisy crawled out of bed which she did regularly, because she ate at night.
In his dreams he saw Daisy, but the fur was gone from her back end and it was mottled with red spots.
The remains he found this morning were a much more brutal sight.
She was so totally his dog. Maybe she was his guardian?
I’m sure when she smelled the coyotes and found a screen open to the yard (that usually was closed) she went out to take care of them and protect him.
He doesn’t want to go home now and see her things.
🙁
We who have had pets, know how this feels.
I just texted my son about Daisy. Because he’s a pet lover and knows Daisy’s dad.
We’re linked with the god family and the step family and the Family family and the Pet family.
It was quite a day. Finding out about Daisy and hearing her dad say ” I need a big dog next time” and then having Vone Deporter send me a Yahoo article about how coyotes take down big dogs skillfully.
Know what? We can’t stop dogs from being dogs.
We can’t stop coyotes from being coyotes.
And coyotes can’t stop humans from being humans.
Don’t worry Mama Coyote. I’m not after you because you’re protected.
I just wish humans were protected from each other!”
Covid 19 – How Endangered Are We?
That remains to be seen.
Disney attractions are closed.
The NBA games are cancelled.
Theaters, festivals, cruises, all gatherings of over 250 people are cancelled.
Travel is cancelled, the stock market is falling, borders are closing.
I doubt we’re endangered, as a species.
Yet sometimes I think it’s sheer luck that we haven’t endangered ourselves out of existence.
Can a law be passed – anywhere – that humans must not kill each other?
Oh yeah, I forgot there is a law like that. In most countries, and in the Bible.
Yet breaking that law is big business! The biggest business in the world!
Countries blaming other countries for a virus outbreak illustrates the maturity of our species.
In the many schools I attended, we were not given a book list to choose reading material from to read over the summer.
So we didn’t have to write a book report. This was because so many families moved, randomly, that such assignments were pointless.
In late August 1960 I and my friends – about half a dozen in the neighborhood – had been on the summer vacations with our families and returned.
We were now in that part of the summer when the vacay factor was wearing thin.
I got a couple of friends together and proposed we produce a dance show.
We didn’t have a theater.
We each chose a three minute excerpt from a 78 vinyl record of Chopin Etudes. Piano music.
We began our choreography, with the space limitation in mind. We didn’t know exactly where our show would be performed.
Rehearsal Space
Rehearsals were in our basements. We rehearsed together, helping each other with ideas.
The basements were cool enough, yet we had light due to the highly placed tall windows with deep wells.
Costumes
I chose a simple practice tutu. The performance tutu my mom had made me, 24 layers of tulle, a boned on the inside and sequined on the outside piece, seemed way over the top for this event.
The practice tutu was black, and pulled on like a pair of pants, over black tights and a black leotard.
Out of a catalog.
The part that mattered was the row of colored scarves tied along my arms, and a fan.
I was a fish, and the fan provided the underwater movement of rippling fins, as I moved slowly, turning, bending and rising.
My friend’s garage was the stage.
The door was pulled up by two helpful audience members.
There were the two rows of bridge chairs, eight seats, waiting for the show.
Not a bad turnout for a hot summer afternoon. The lemonade was free, and cold.
The scratchy recording started. (The two dancers not on stage were the stage hands).
The sound was too low. I could hear the trucks on the nearby highway and the buzz of the small planes overhead.
I wasn’t looking forward to school starting the next week. So, the show was something O.K. to do.
Two weeks after school started, my family moved to a tiny town about an hour’s drive south of the big base.
There was no ballet teacher.
The next two years were a grind.
What did you do on summer vacation when you were 10?
This account was a seven minute writing exercise at a Writers of Kern meeting.
I wrote the following referenced article many years ago. Doomed with one’s body type applies to gymnasts and models. And, is anyone excluded?
Many of us are, of course. Yet, even while shopping I’ve noticed that some tasty designs in blouses, tunics, and pants, transform into square blocks above a certain size. In the mid-price ranges, anyway. So, doomed…
As I write today I’m running videos of ballet auditions on the Tube. One ballet master makes extremely sarcastic and body shaming comments disguised as corrections throughout the class, mostly aimed at the girls.
Doesn’t that make him so special! 👿 I know, that was bad.
I had teachers like that and the whole class suffered this abuse every day. The diseased attitude even transferred to some of the academic teachers in the school. As a child, I didn’t get it. I thought teachers were there to help me.
Any artist knows that criticism isn’t always going to be constructive.
Having the perfect body for ballet is a chance of birth.
Sedona, gifted for dance in some ways, doesn’t know why her teacher Ms. P., doles out nastiness to her in ballet class, far above the every day sarcasm the other students receive.
I trained with some very gifted students who -omg! – grew breasts! BAM. Those careers were over.
A decade and a half later, I directed young dancers who had small bosoms with scars beneath them. Health insurance could be lobbied to cover a reduction if it was professionally related.
Likewise, students who gained weight in their teens were simply written off by their teachers. No hormone testing, no diet or nutrition advice was forthcoming. Only shaming.
Oh cruel world! 😀
I am surprised to see those attitudes now, in the 21st Century.
Rejection Is A Thing For Writers
And we get that, right? It’s a challenge, a numbers game.
We keep writing, keep editing, keep taking workshops to improve.
Luckily our joint shapes and leg lengths don’t determine our potential for publication!
What helps is community, beta readers, critique groups, connections and family support.
Sedona’s Shame
“Now we get to the part of class I truly love – the grand allegro – the flying leaps where I can soar as high as the boys. I don’t know why, but it’s the one thing I can do that money can’t buy and technique can’t improve. But then there is still this awful embarrassment I have to try and hide even though I’m only a 32B.
That’s huge for ballet by the way. It can really hurt – despite my carefully practiced landing technique and the expensive sprung floors. I’m too developed to wear a sports bra or just to go without like most girls in class. But I’m thinking that the five pounds I just lost for the show is making things feel a little better.
Ms. Pavlechenka catches my eye as we’re all leaning over the barres, gasping for breath after a long combination. There is no way she can find fault with my jumps but I can see a toad or some other slimy thing rippling waves just beneath the surface of her oh so benign gaze. And every other eye in the room is on me waiting for the alien baby to erupt from her chest and go for my throat.
“You know Sedona, some things can be changed. Insurance will pay for a reduction if it involves a professional liability.”
I’m hoping for a 9.2 quake or worse, right now, this second, as it registers that she really laid that out in front of the whole class! At the same instant I notice Nadya stiffen, her eyes deer in headlights. And suddenly I get it. I met her mother and sisters at the last show. They are all, uh, bountifully endowed. And yet Nadya is almost flat. Gag.
Lawrence is giving me his BS alert “Don’t buy it!” look. Ms. Pavlechenka seems very pleased over her snarky hit-and-run strike. Get me out of this no-fly zone. ”
Doomed With My Body Type in the Dance World by Dianne M. Buxton
Anyone who has seen a few classical ballets, or modern ballets with dancers in white spandex unitards, has figured out what the favored ballet body type is:
*Turnout of the leg from the hip joint. This would depend whether the natural angle of the thigh bone in the hip is angled outward or inward. Also, increasing the flexibility of the surrounding soft tissues must begin before the age of seven to significantly enhance the degree of turnout.
*Slight knee hyper-extension has become a pleasing line in ballet. The slight backward curve of the leg enhances the look of the arch curve outward (yet undermines the function of balance).
*Bowleggedness is favored for the ballet dancer for both practical and visual reasons. External tibial torsion (outward rotation of the lower leg) is favorable in that it can increase turnout look of the feet.
* Adequate mobility of the ankle and foot so that the body can be stacked up from a demi pointe or full pointe position. A less flexible ankle especially would have the dancer’s weight slightly back.
Some talented dancers with lesser-favored proportions and muscle shapes rise in the ranks to become soloists and character performers in classical dance companies. Hard work, a winning personality and acting ability all help contribute to the success of a dancer like this.
Yet body type has nothing to do with the love of dance or performing talent. If a dance student realizes that she/he is struggling to accommodate ballet positions, let them keep struggling. And also investigate other styles of dance where success is more likely. Also look into whether or not fulfillment may be gained better acting.
Hitting the ballet body barrier never has to be a negative. It may propel a young person toward a different area of performing. And this person will have gained dance technique, discipline, ability to work hard, and they no longer will be doomed with their body type in the dance world.
If you’re a writer you may also be a teacher, coach or editor. Can you imagine talking to your students or clients in those caustic tones?
I can’t imagine them putting up with it!
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