Monday, August 22, 2005
The past 5 years in a few short sentences
Now Playing: Mary Chapin Carpenter, "Down at the Twist and Shout"
A certain individual has expressed doubt at my ability to keep this blog updated. So of course I'm motivated to prove him wrong.
So...since 2000, I've gotten married, had two kids, moved to the suburbs, bought an SUV, and registered as a Republican.
No, wait.
Sorry to get you excited, that's all wrong.
I'm not married, have two cats (Clay and Andi), drive a Nissan Sentra occasionally but mostly bike, and I'm a registered Democrat (and would be something even more left-wing, but Texas doesn't have open primaries, and I want to participate in the political process). Speaking of politics, I have a new favorite quote: "Whatever you do will be insignificant, but it is very important that you do it." - Mahatma Ghandi.
I do listen to country music now, for what it's worth. Not exclusively, but pretty regularly. I started country/western dancing a couple of years ago, and it's sort of grown on me. Some of it's pretty disturbing, but some of it is pretty good. And some of it is interesting BECAUSE it's disturbing. There's definitely a formula to a lot of country music - there's your mama songs and your daddy songs - all of which span generations (the singers starts off talking about his daddy/ her mama, and winds up talking about their own kids). Daddy songs also usually end with a verse about God. There's a lot of misogyny, and a lot of nationalism, and yes, a lot of God. There's the 'I'm a wild woman/I want to be a wild woman/my baby girl done grown up and runnt off' sub-genre, and a whole passle of celebration of rural/working class life - catering to their demographic, I imagine. A lot of it runs together and I can't put a lot of artists together with their songs. I know the names, and the songs, but not what belongs to whom. I really like the Dixie Chicks and Lyle Lovett, though. I'm wishy washy on Lucinda Williams but feel obligated to like her music, since she's from Lake Charles and all. We've pretty much got her and Tony Kushner and that's it as claims to fame go, so it's not like I can pick and choose.
Both Lyle and Lucinda (and about 120 other artists of all genres) will be playing the Austin City Limits music festival here in September. I went last year, and I'm looking forward to this year. Honestly, a lot of times I don't like music live - the great thing about the ACL fest is if I don't like something, I can just wander past the different stages (there are about 6, I think) until I find something I do like - and the venue is huge, so I don't have to worry about the crowd - last year the sound was good enough that I could hang around at the outskirts and still hear perfectly well.
Lest you think I'm lying when I say I don't listen to country music exclusively, I'm still very into Ani DeFranco, and I'm also a big fan of Dar Williams, the Bare Naked Ladies (neither Bare Naked nor ladies), Catie Curtis, John Voorhees (who?), Simon and Garfunkel, Tracy Chapman, Billy Joel, et al. I'm afraid my Ozzy Osbourne/Guns 'n Roses days are largely behind me, but I try to keep an open mind and ear.
In non-musical news, easily the most profound thing that has happened to me in the past 5 years was that I started martial arts training at Sun Dragon Martial Arts. Sun Dragon is one of only a handful of schools nationwide that offers women-only courses taught by women. I started training there in April/May of 2001, and I now have my brown belt. The style, for those interested in that sort of thing, is kyokushin karate. I now assist in teaching the kids' co-ed class, and assisted in teaching in a Saturday school program last academic year. I'm also trying to start teaching self defense. Martial arts training has changed my life immeasurably, and for the better. Most obviously, I'm in much better physical shape than I was 5 years ago. But I also have loads more confidence, and a real sense of my own power. It's a journey, and I'm still on it, but when I look back at how far I've come, it's a little mind-blowing. One of the great things about Sun Dragon is that it's a community as well as a school. It's been a really great experience for me. Physically, I've never really had a sense that I was good at anything. I've always known I was smart, but I've always considered myself unathletic. I still like to tell people (especially frustrated new students) that I'm not a talented martial artist, merely a dedicated one. And that's true - I'm not disparaging my abilities, I think they're where they ought to be for a brown belt - but I did (and do) have to work for it. But what I've learned is that if I DO work for it, I can achieve it. And that's a great feeling.
Professionally, I'm a programmer. I went through UT's analyst training program in 2002, and started working on their mainframe, building web front-ends with mainframe back-ends. Right now, I'm struggling to understand .NET, C#, and SQL. It's a steep learning curve, given that my formal programming training only lasted 5 months, and the concept of Object-Oriented Programming is entirely new to me, as well as the languages, the tools, and the entire environment. The good news is that I'll be doing some training in September that will hopefully clear things up (I've been mostly self-taught up to now, with generous support of my co-workers and my ever-patient brother). I also like to do web development, and maintained the website last year for The Austin Outlaws, Austin's professional women's tackle football team. And, finally, I'm trying to get into grant writing - I've written one full grant proposal by myself, and been involved in some more, but I've yet to get anything funded. I work pro bono for the moment, just for the practice. Once I can get some things funded, I'll see where things go from there.
And, finally, I'm in the process of becoming a volunteer for OutYouth, Austin's resource for queer youth. Once I'm through the process, I'll probably spend a couple of Sundays a month hanging out with rambunctious teens at the Out Youth Drop In Center. I'm looking forward to it, if with a little trepidation.
And that's all for now...
A certain individual has expressed doubt at my ability to keep this blog updated. So of course I'm motivated to prove him wrong.
So...since 2000, I've gotten married, had two kids, moved to the suburbs, bought an SUV, and registered as a Republican.
No, wait.
Sorry to get you excited, that's all wrong.
I'm not married, have two cats (Clay and Andi), drive a Nissan Sentra occasionally but mostly bike, and I'm a registered Democrat (and would be something even more left-wing, but Texas doesn't have open primaries, and I want to participate in the political process). Speaking of politics, I have a new favorite quote: "Whatever you do will be insignificant, but it is very important that you do it." - Mahatma Ghandi.
I do listen to country music now, for what it's worth. Not exclusively, but pretty regularly. I started country/western dancing a couple of years ago, and it's sort of grown on me. Some of it's pretty disturbing, but some of it is pretty good. And some of it is interesting BECAUSE it's disturbing. There's definitely a formula to a lot of country music - there's your mama songs and your daddy songs - all of which span generations (the singers starts off talking about his daddy/ her mama, and winds up talking about their own kids). Daddy songs also usually end with a verse about God. There's a lot of misogyny, and a lot of nationalism, and yes, a lot of God. There's the 'I'm a wild woman/I want to be a wild woman/my baby girl done grown up and runnt off' sub-genre, and a whole passle of celebration of rural/working class life - catering to their demographic, I imagine. A lot of it runs together and I can't put a lot of artists together with their songs. I know the names, and the songs, but not what belongs to whom. I really like the Dixie Chicks and Lyle Lovett, though. I'm wishy washy on Lucinda Williams but feel obligated to like her music, since she's from Lake Charles and all. We've pretty much got her and Tony Kushner and that's it as claims to fame go, so it's not like I can pick and choose.
Both Lyle and Lucinda (and about 120 other artists of all genres) will be playing the Austin City Limits music festival here in September. I went last year, and I'm looking forward to this year. Honestly, a lot of times I don't like music live - the great thing about the ACL fest is if I don't like something, I can just wander past the different stages (there are about 6, I think) until I find something I do like - and the venue is huge, so I don't have to worry about the crowd - last year the sound was good enough that I could hang around at the outskirts and still hear perfectly well.
Lest you think I'm lying when I say I don't listen to country music exclusively, I'm still very into Ani DeFranco, and I'm also a big fan of Dar Williams, the Bare Naked Ladies (neither Bare Naked nor ladies), Catie Curtis, John Voorhees (who?), Simon and Garfunkel, Tracy Chapman, Billy Joel, et al. I'm afraid my Ozzy Osbourne/Guns 'n Roses days are largely behind me, but I try to keep an open mind and ear.
In non-musical news, easily the most profound thing that has happened to me in the past 5 years was that I started martial arts training at Sun Dragon Martial Arts. Sun Dragon is one of only a handful of schools nationwide that offers women-only courses taught by women. I started training there in April/May of 2001, and I now have my brown belt. The style, for those interested in that sort of thing, is kyokushin karate. I now assist in teaching the kids' co-ed class, and assisted in teaching in a Saturday school program last academic year. I'm also trying to start teaching self defense. Martial arts training has changed my life immeasurably, and for the better. Most obviously, I'm in much better physical shape than I was 5 years ago. But I also have loads more confidence, and a real sense of my own power. It's a journey, and I'm still on it, but when I look back at how far I've come, it's a little mind-blowing. One of the great things about Sun Dragon is that it's a community as well as a school. It's been a really great experience for me. Physically, I've never really had a sense that I was good at anything. I've always known I was smart, but I've always considered myself unathletic. I still like to tell people (especially frustrated new students) that I'm not a talented martial artist, merely a dedicated one. And that's true - I'm not disparaging my abilities, I think they're where they ought to be for a brown belt - but I did (and do) have to work for it. But what I've learned is that if I DO work for it, I can achieve it. And that's a great feeling.
Professionally, I'm a programmer. I went through UT's analyst training program in 2002, and started working on their mainframe, building web front-ends with mainframe back-ends. Right now, I'm struggling to understand .NET, C#, and SQL. It's a steep learning curve, given that my formal programming training only lasted 5 months, and the concept of Object-Oriented Programming is entirely new to me, as well as the languages, the tools, and the entire environment. The good news is that I'll be doing some training in September that will hopefully clear things up (I've been mostly self-taught up to now, with generous support of my co-workers and my ever-patient brother). I also like to do web development, and maintained the website last year for The Austin Outlaws, Austin's professional women's tackle football team. And, finally, I'm trying to get into grant writing - I've written one full grant proposal by myself, and been involved in some more, but I've yet to get anything funded. I work pro bono for the moment, just for the practice. Once I can get some things funded, I'll see where things go from there.
And, finally, I'm in the process of becoming a volunteer for OutYouth, Austin's resource for queer youth. Once I'm through the process, I'll probably spend a couple of Sundays a month hanging out with rambunctious teens at the Out Youth Drop In Center. I'm looking forward to it, if with a little trepidation.
And that's all for now...
# posted by Amy @ 3:46 PM 
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Good to hear from you! Sounds like you've had quite the wild ride these past 5+ years. Congratulations on the kid, the man (the good one, that is), the MA, and the new job. Tell Natchitoches hello for me, and keep in touch.
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