Today

"Some would embrace the loss of memory," he says, "rather than lament its absence."

I shake my head. "I don't understand."

"Remembering can keep the pain too fresh," he explains. "it is so much easier to forget - or at least it is more comfortable. But you and I, we are not seeking comfort, are we? We know that to forget is to give in to the darkness, so we walk in the light, that we hold fast to our joys and our pains."

-Charles de Lint

The start of another fun and action packed week,

or not :) 'Twas a nice weekend. I got to spend some time around the house, get some anal-retentive closet organizing done, re-connect with a high school friend, almost finish this year's fleece jacket for my nephew and cut out the fabric for something for B.

I had rehearsal last night from 6-9 and got the schedule for the rest of the month - I have to go the night of the VNV Nation show! I told the choreographer that I would most likely need to leave early, B will have to bring his laptop and sit in the dance studio while I rehearse and then we'll fly out the door to the show (possibly missing Icon of Coil).

It was neat though, I like the routines a lot. I had forgotten about how things work with these shows; the choreographer is a dance teacher at a local studio and often uses the dances for her classes at the studio for shows. More than 1/2 of the girls know the routine already (!) leaving about 7 or 8 of us to learn it new. A timid girl that ended up placed next to me asked me for help with the steps throughout the night and then asked "are you in the high school"? (Geez, do I look like a high school student?) I said "no, I haven't been in high school for a while" and we chatted a bit about her nervousness (she's a Freshman), about our dance experience and about how it will be tough work learning the routine while most already know it, but that we can do it.

The second rehearsal was for the wooden soldier number, it turns out that I do need to go buy some black character shoes for it (just what I wanted to spend $60-$70 on to wear once)! The dance is really neat and there are actually a few adults in the number (3 Moms of the other girls - they HAD to have 24 soldiers in all). Though the steps are not too complicated the choreography will be a lot of work - amazing when its done though! Once again I discovered that a lot of the people there knew the dance by chatting with a High School Senior that's done the show every year since she was 3 . . . "yeah, the soldiers is the same routine each year - buts its always an adventure to get everyone moving on cue, one person would mess it up wicked bad".

It feels wonderful to be rehearsing for a show again even if I am only in 2 numbers. I can't believe that we only have 3 weeks of practice before dress rehearsals and then the show!

From the Intranet:

QUOTE OF THE DAY: "Great things are done by a series of small things brought together." - Vincent Van Gogh