planetemily

a_clearing

a clearing

more "me"s

Okay, I am starting a new list. A running list of other Emily Bryson's.

So far I have found 2 with pictures from a search on google.

I'll be updating the list as I find more "me"s, and the list will be called "more 'me's". Make sense? Yeah, I know, real original.

The first "me" is here
and the second here.

State of the Union

Last night was the annual state of the union address. Matt and I marked the occassion by gathering in front of the Capitol in protest. We were asked to come with instruments and noisemakers to "drown out the lies" during the speech. We showed up with drum and zills in hand!

Facilitators from World Can't Wait were passing out flyers for a demonstration this weekend. I hope that more people come out for that, because the number from last night was pretty pathetic.

So far, I can't find much media coverage of the protest either. The only clip the news is playing is of the later gathering near Union Station where Cindy Sheehan was being detained.

Peaceful demonstration doesn't seem to produce the results it used to.

I also spoke with my folks last night. They told me that my cousin Christopher rejoined the reserves and has been sent to Baghdad. God help him. God help us all.

All I want for Christmas...

is cold hard cash. And that's exactly what I got. Plus some other wonderful goodies, including a whole year's subscription to Film Movement from my sweetie and another 3 months from my sister!!!

Here are a few pictures from our celebration at Kim and Ben's house.

Matt in a BowFro:

Reese exhausted from opening her presents:

Samer, Matt and me on Christmas Eve at PF Changs:

Kim opening her package of hand-dyed baby suits that Matt and I made:

decking the halls

Alright, so Matt and I are temporarily living in VERY close quarters until his apartment sells. There is barely enough room for us to move around, much less decorate for the holidays. So this year we went small-scale. We had a little tree with drums for Matt.

We also made a festive wreath with blues and silver and white. See the little snowflakes?

Matt's 30th Birthday

Last night we celebrated a milestone. Matt turned 30!!!

We were fortunate to have some really wonderful friends come out with us to nosh on sushi and relax with a Guiness.

Thank you to everyone who made this the best, and biggest birthday celebration ever for our dear Matt.

slacker

Do I really never post to this blog?

Shame on me.

Best remedy that soon....

Suhaila!

Wow, I should really keep up with this blog. So much has happened in the past few months...

Like this past weekend. Suhaila Salimpour was in town to give a 2 day intensive workshop of her bellydance technique. It was so incredible. My butt and thighs are still sore, but my heart is anything but. She is such an amazing dancer, instructor, choreographer, and person. She has so much style!!

The performance on Saturday night was really remarkable, one of the best I've seen. Lots of very talented local dancers, including my lovely friend and teacher, Alexis. She popped out with a back handspring in her fusion piece to MIA's Pull Up. She's teaching our student troupe a choreography to this same song that we'll be performing at Rakkash! And the Crafty Bastards fair in, God, only 2 weeks!!

Suhaila, you are beautiful and inspiring.

middle management

I've had a rough time at work the last few weeks. Suffice it to say that I'm not in a position right now to find a better job, yet I can't bear to spend each day dealing with the same crap.

So how am I supposed to hang in there without losing it?

Enter Brad Bird, director of The Incredibles.

He did an interview with Ready Made magazine recently that really hit home, especially the bit at the end:

RM: What, in your opinion, is the least awesome job?

BB: You can tell from The Incredibles what kind of jobs I dislike.

RM: The corporate bureaucrats?

BB: Yeah, the small-minded managers. Oftentimes the people at the top are really fun and the people on your way up are really fun, but there's something about a lot of middle managers-people that don't have the power to say yes but do have the power to say no. The ones who are just sitting there and making sure the paper clips are clipped on at a certain angle.

RM: They are everywhere!

BB: They're responsible for a lot of bad movies.

Thank you, Brad. You have given me hope that I am not alone and inspiration to keep reaching forward, where the real fun happens.