ballet class

So those who know me know I've been moderately unhappy in certain areas of my life, lately. Overall life is good, Mr. BP is the best boyfriend ever (he still seems to be convinced I'm a princess!) and it's snowing in Colorado. Life is OK.

But some aspects of my life these days have really been dragging me down. Well, The Rockette has been feeling the same way lately. Her cure? She started taking drum lessons as a result of an impulse purchase of an entire drum kit from Best Buy. (Yes, Best Buy sells music instruments, too - complete with a 5 lesson package, who can resist?) But what a great idea! Rockette loves music, has always wanted to play them and for venting frustration you really can't beat whaling on a set of drums.

And so starts the thinking... what could I fill up some spare time with? Well I used to like ballet as a kid... and oh, look, ballet slippers are only $13 online! Let me order some! Oh and classes are less than $10/hour... I think I'll sign up! This is gonna be great! And not to mention I can definitely use a little grace in my life, both physically and mentally.

I went to my first class on Tuesday night and it was FAN. TAS. TIC. It is an "Absolute Beginner" ballet class for adults. I've had ballet, but not since I was 12 and I was no great shakes at it then. In any case, Tuesday night's class was 2 hours of outstanding instruction from a bubbly little ballerina who thoroughly explained everything and was exceedingly patient as I struggled to remember first vs. third arm positions. I had a great time and I can't wait to go back.

And I'm sorry to disappoint Miss Grits, but there will be no you-tubing my ballerina efforts, EVER. Next week when the teacher asks me to attempt some kind of pirouette I am certain I will live up to my sign languauge name of "Liz Falls" and end up flat on my face, or derriere, or whatever. [Actually you should SEE the size of the bruise currently on my right leg, and that's just from running into something while walking around!!] But I'll try to be graceful when the falls happen. Kinda like life in general. ;)

so what DOES it all mean?

I sat through 5 minutes of a crazy presentation that was filled with all kinds of numbers on technology proliferation. Things like India's top 25% of honors kids outnumbers ALL kids in America.... that over half of what is learned by this year's freshmen going to college for technical degrees will be outdated by thier 3rd year of school... that the average person will have 10-14 jobs by the time they are 38.

The presentation ends with a slide that says "So what does it all mean?"

What DOES it all mean? Facebook virtually eliminates the need for a high school reunion - you can see pictures of classmates and their kids, their jobs, etc online. You can move to another country and Skype with your family every day, provided they are not on dial up.

At the heart of all of this technology is communication, and speed of communication. This is the beginnings of the human race coming together as a collective organism. Those fiber optic cables that can download music and carry phone calls at millions of megabytes per second are the human root system. Like the Aspens here in Colorado, we are all connected to each other. Yes, you, dear reader, are part of me here in this great virtual space.

Right now the choice is ours as to how connected we want to be. But we log on and we read the news, we see what is going on in remote parts of the world, we pick a cause and spread the word via the internet, we plan trips and events and surgeries online. The fibers cross, and we are all connected.

That being said... all this technology cannot replace true human interaction: touch, expression, socialization, sorrow, laughter with your friends. No matter what the speed of communication is in the digital age it will never match the speed of the smile returned by the friend facing you or the instantaneous comfort of a hug. So go visit the people you love. Bring your daughter to meet her grandparents. Play football with your friends. Hug your mom. Hi-five your best friend. Go out and LIVE. We've been granted the HUMAN experience. Live it and learn from it, and use the fiber optic root system to convey your experience to those who are absent from your daily presence.

I wish I had come up with this

But alas, I can't take the credit. Leave it to my friend the Snowman to construct the following:

"Obama ALSO awarded Nobel prize for physics. 'It's not necessarily that he actually did anything for science, but we saw those pics of him on the beach in Hawaii, and we unanimously decided that physically, he's a good role model.'"

I'm not saying The O is a bad guy or that SOMEDAY he won't have done work deserving of the Nobel Peace prize. All I'm saying is that if the Norwegians are going to give away the Nobel peace prize to an international celebrity after just 9 months of being on the radar it kinda negates the honor and prestige of the award.

Nelson Mandela, Mother Teresa... these I understand. Obama? Really? What exactly did he DO!?!?