I Wish I Knew

It has occurred to me that in my last post, I quoted a song title in my title that approximately 0.01% of readers will recognize. "What Do The Simple Folks Do?" is from Camelot. Camelot is a musical that seems to have almost been forgotten. It doesn't seem to be produced often, even in regional theatre. With book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Lowe, it's a beautiful score with a song or two that you might recognize. You should give it a listen; but just the original Broadway recording, don't listen to the movie. And that is my musical theatre trivia for this post. You're welcome. Work has been taking up a lot of my time. So much so that I work weekends and should be working now. There has been no consistency in my skating time for the last three weeks. This is due to having one coach who is a technical specialist for competitions, another coach who runs the test sessions at the rink and a third coach who visited her child in college. As a result, I've been sleeping in... shhhhh.... don't tell. However, I have been skating with a lovely group of adults (with a few exceptions that I will explain in a minute). They are so talented. Jumps, spins, footwork.... they're great. And I feel that I belong in a Learn-to-Skate class. Not there is anything wrong with Learn-to-Skate classes. However, at this stage of the game, I expected to be getting better; not worse. There is major hesitation before doing anything. I look like I've just started skating and I've been doing it for years. I have no idea what's going on. And it changes not just from day to day but minute to minute. Suddenly I have trouble doing a waltz jump. Then I can land my loop. Then my salchow goes away and doesn't ever really return. I seem to have lost the ability to spin, but was hitting a decent backspin just two months ago. I can blame this all on a lack of sleep, no exercise, more extra pounds than I need, but I just don't know what's going on. I skated better when my skates hurt so much that my feet would go numb. Now? I just know what to do. Don't get me wrong, my lesson are going fairly well. I have mastered the Rhythm Blues and almost the Swing Dance. Next on the list is the Cha-Cha and something else (I'm still having timing issues with the mohawk on the Swing; it's not my favorite). I can jump, sometimes, when in lesson. My spins, which were my best element, still elude me. And I'm still working on the right forward inside 3 turn which comes and goes like Joe Turner. (Joe Turner's Come and Gone is a play by August Wilson. Read it; it's good. Non-musical theatre trivia for this post.) Once again, I blame everything on my weight. Maybe that's the issue; I don't know. I do know it's frustrating because I look like I can skate and then I try to do something and it doesn't work. It tends to all work when I get really angry. This brings me back to the other adults I've been skating with. These are the idiots who spin in the corners. Who see you doing a program and don't move for you. These are the people you ask to move over because you're about to do an element in your program there, who say "sure" and then don't move. These are the people who cause YOU to fall because they've decided to dart in front of you. These are the people who, after telling them that spinning in the corner is dangerous, almost cut you in the face doing a camel spin. These are the people I threatened to sue if I got hurt because of them. These are the people who cause parents to say, "adults shouldn't skate on sessions with kids" because they don't look where they're going and they don't think the rules apply to them. If you are one of those people, STOP IT. STOP IT RIGHT NOW! Jumps go in the corners. Spins are ONLY in the center, unless you are doing your program. No ifs, ands or buts. Those are the rules of EVERY rink I have skated in, regardless of the state the rink is located in. It's for safety and to prevent someone like me from suing you. Back when I was ice monitor, that would get you kicked off the ice. No refunds. I have music to cut since I signed up for a holiday show. Wish me luck.

What Do the Simple Folks Do?

I was watching an Instagram video (SHOUT-OUT to all the Instagram adult skaters out there!) where a woman explained her day going to the rink. It had me thinking that maybe (without the video because I pride myself on not having any images of me on the internet. How else am I supposed to hide?) I should do the same thing. So, without further ado, here are two skate days: one during the week, the other on the weekend. Weekday: 4:50am: Clock goes off. It takes me a moment to remember WHY the clock has gone off and then my other clock goes off. I usually hit snooze and drift back off for eight minutes... 4:58am: Okay, I'm up. The daily morning ritual we all go through once we're out of bed. On some days, you can hear the distant popping and cracking of various bones and joints as I will my body to do what I want it to do. This is usually accompanied by soft groans of slight discomfort. 5:12am: For those of you who don't wear make-up, more power to you. For those of us who do, I usually do "a light beat" so that I look like I've had some sleep without looking like I've spent three hours putting on make-up. 5:25am: Get dressed. This includes looking around aimlessly for 30 seconds for the clothes that I put out the night before. I have come to the conclusion that I should turn on more lights in my bedroom (strangely, there is no overhead light) so I don't waste time. My skating clothing usually consists of a pair of yoga pants from Old Navy or one of the two pairs of leggings I own (I save those for special occasions and for when I'm wearing a coat because I am not walking around in leggings in an average length tee-shirt without something more substantial covering my rear end), a girdle to support my iffy back, a sports bra because I'd rather not get a black eye, a long sleeve tee shirt and a yoga headband. The headband is because I hate having little fly-away hairs in my face while I'm skating. I am not a fan of hairspray (the product, not the musical) and I'm only going to have to re-do my hair later anyway. 5:40am: If I'm heading to my office (affectionately known as Hell, not just by me, but by many of my co-workers), I will have a change of shirts. I try to get away with wearing those yoga pants as my work pants. So far, no one has noticed. 5:50am: 6 minute walk to the subway. I think those blocks are uphill in both directions. 6:02am: The subway pulls in (if it's on-time) and I sit and try to figure out where everyone else is going this early in the morning. 6:11am: Change trains at the express station. 6:30am: With a line from the old song "Taking Care of Business" by BTO (Bachman Turner Overdrive) stuck in my head about the train being on time, I get off the subway and wait for the crosstown bus. 6:45am: I am at the rink, heading for the locker room. I usually sit at a bench near my friends, but that's only if I arrive before this little girl and her mother. For reasons I cannot comprehend, they take up the entire bench. For reference, four people fit on the bench with plenty of room to spare. The mom waits until she gets to the rink to comb the girl's hair. Shouldn't she do that at home? They live in Manhattan; they take a cab. Comb the kid's hair at home. 7:00am: On the ice, skating the one session per day I usually get to skate. Recently, I started working with my former coach on my Moves in the Field. One lesson in and I think they've already started to improve. YAY!!! 7:50am: Session is over (Yes, they're 50 minutes long. Yes, I agree, they should be longer.) I am off the ice and peeling off my tee shirt, freshening up and heading to downtown Manhattan (World Trade Center) to go to work. I am carrying a backpack with my work laptop, my toiletries, office supplies, phone, id card and wallet. My tote bag carries my breakfast, lunch, snack and lemon for my water. It also carried my other shirt and most likely a cardigan that I wear to cover up the insecurities I have about my weight. 8:50am: I'm at work. I unpack my backpack and sit in the "hotel space" or at a desk that actually belongs to my co-worker who only comes into the office once a week, but my manager thinks she's the next best thing to sliced bread so, she gets the desk and I haul my stuff like a pack mule. I only get up to get coffee, get water, go to the restroom or get a print out. I don't go to lunch. I haven't gone to lunch since I started school. According to my manager, I don't work enough hours. For the record, I never work less than 9 hours per day. 6:15pm: I start to get ready to leave. Lately, I've been doing a lot of service hours for school at a theatre where there are interpreted performances. No, I'm not interpreting, I am a volunteer for the front of house, if someone who signs shows up and needs assistance. Along with skating, this is the best part of my day. 7:00pm: Arrive at the theatre and hope someone shows up. 8:30pm: Curtain has gone up and I am finished at the theatre. I grab my stuff and walk the two and a half blocks back to my subway. Unless the NYC MTA screws up (which is a daily occurance) I should be home by 9:30ish. I've only made it twice. 10:00pm: I should work out, but I'm usually so tired that it's not happening. So I eat. I need to really stop eating when I get home that late. Sometimes when you're really tired, you eat. I should do a light workout, shower and go to bed. So, that's my skate day when I go to work. If I have class, I must leave at 4:40pm. I usually don't skate in the morning on days I have to leave early for class. Those days I arrive at work at 7:30. Weekends: If I'm skating in Manhattan, I am skating the 8:00am, but the travel times are the same because the NYC MTA likes to screw with the subways on the weekend to see if you'll tolerate having to go past the stop you need to then take a train back to that stop so you can reach your destination. I live on a local stop. The trains almost never stop there on the weekends, so I either walk to the express stop or I go back one stop to go forward several. Don't you love that? If I'm skating in Queens, the subways situation is basically the same, except that I change trains at the express stop and go upstairs to take an elevated train. For those of you unfamiliar with that term, it means the train is above ground rather than below. If you know old musicals, you know the song "New York, New York" No, not the one from the movie musical starring Liza Minnelli and Robert DeNiro entitled "New York, New York" with the song butchered by Frank Sinatra (sorry, not sorry, not a fan. Plus, he screwed up the lyrics and hits notes not found on a piano). This one is from "On the Town", the show about sailors coming to NYC for the first time during World War II. Most people think of the title as New York A Helluva Town. Anyway, there's a line "The Bronx is up, but the Battery's down. The people ride in a hole in the groun'"... That's the subway; a hole in the ground. Except for the ones that are elevated... I really went off the subject there... Where was I? Oh yes, skating in Queens. Since it's closer and a little bit later, I usually leave at 7:00am. 8:00am - Manhattan - skate the session. I have an ice dancing lesson in which I am semi-tortured by having to skate mohawks in time with the music. I am NEVER on time with those mohawks. Ugh! 8:50am: Finish skating. Freshen up. I probably have a matinee to do at the theatre, so I have brought something for breakfast with me and will hope that the snack bar opens up reasonably soon so I can get a cup of coffee. For the record, the coffee is weak. 10:00am: Try to figure out what I'm doing to kill time. Do I go shopping? Do I go to a movie? Have I brought my laptop with me? If so, I'm sitting in the rink, watching ASL videos to practice. 12:30pm: Head downtown to the theatre. 1:00pm: Stand in the lobby of the theatre and wait. 2:30pm: The show has started and I head home. 8:30am - Queens - skate the session. It's 80 minutes and I skate hard the entire session. Usually, I'm in pain. 10:00am: There is no place to go. The locker rooms are for hockey, so you know what they smell like. I debate taking the bus into the city (because it'll take longer) or just getting on the subway. The subway almost always wins. 10:40am: I'll walk around 14th Street before heading further downtown to the theatre. After that, the schedule for the theatre is the same. Going home, well it's about the same. The subway doesn't run correctly and it takes about 90 minutes to get home. I usually take a nap at that point. So there you have it. Those are my skate days.