I wake up and read the news and want to die lately, so it’s been hard to think about pole lately.
But then my iphone was playing music on shuffle and this song came up, and I had my first real, hearty laugh since Tuesday.
Try and guess what I was thinking about.
Keep laughing so you don’t cry, y’all.
<3<3<3
Please tell me! Email is fine too 🙂 just click my “contact me” box so I don’t have to put it out here in front of everybody.
I’m working on a school project to potentially solve a problem for a niche audience (obviously I chose my pole fam), but first, I’d like to know what annoys you about polin’.
(that just autocorrect to “polio”… yikes, that puts things into perspective).
Examples:
-Do you feel anxious about sharing pole pics and videos with EVERYONE vs. just a few dance people on social media?
-Do you worry about sharing progress pics/video knowing you’re not “perfect” yet?
-Do you feel bored and uninspired rehearsing by yourself?
-Do you have a place to store moves you’ve worked on/track advancement?
-Do you need a new way to show people your skills? (Photos/video of you in the studio is looking boring?)
Or anything else?
Also, hope you had a very spoopy Halloween 😀
Remember I said I was making a video about a favorite pole instructor of mine? It’s here!!
I first met Nicole while I was feverishly taking Groupon-fueled classes about 6 months into my illustrious pole career. She was teaching at Sacred in Brooklyn (which has sadly discontinued its pole program) and I remembered her long after the studio closed for the following reasons:
Nicole did something truly badass when Sacred closed its pole doors, and started her own studio. It’s kind of far (in Kingston) so it wasn’t until I had a truly good excuse, like a class project, that I was able to visit her in her new space.
Huge thanks to Nicole for letting me camp out in her space and awkwardly film inanimate objects for several minutes at a time, then ask her all kinds of questions over and over.
It’s a beautiful space and I think Nicole’s amazing personality shines through here, so I seriously encourage you to check out her studio if you’re ever in the area. And if you’re NOT in the area, you need to be following her on socials anyway because she’s a f***ing riot and her combo videos are fire.
Hope you like this little video!
So occasionally, I’ll see something that costs more money than I actually have and go YASS LIFE IS SHORT and buy it.
I almost never regret these decisions, because I make them so seldomly, and because they add spice and flavor to my life that careful thought and reason would excise.
This happened with pole. I saw a Groupon and was like FUCK IT I’M IN, and my life has never been the same.
And then there are other times where I don’t do my research and just buy something and drag someone else and it’s not what I thought it was at all. But that’s also okay because ***mEmOrIeS***
The latter was the case with Love Jones: The Musical.
If y’all know me… you know I have a minor Musiq Soulchild obsession.
Which is a tough obsession to have because like… he’s not drake. There are not concerts popping near me yearly, you know?
So I saw this dude was in something near me in a week and I was like “Take all my money, I don’t even have questions.”
These was especially because Raheem Devaughn was in it too.
And Dave Hollister. (This song has been intermittently stuck my head from the first time I heard it, so roughly 4 years).
Chrisette Michele was also there, and ended up shocking me with her talent live. (Actually, a note on this: everybody’s talent live was pretty damn shocking).
So, onto the surprises: there was airport style security. I have never encountered this at a “musical” before. But I guess I should have expected it on Flatbush Ave in Brooklyn? Is that normal? I don’t know. But it was  pretty obnoxious to walk through a metal detector and have to throw my UNOPENED bottle of seltzer out. More disturbing was that the mostly black audience didn’t seem surprised or even to particularly mind being barked at by security guards on their way into an 80-dollar-a-ticket event. This gave me a lot of pause, but that’s probably a conversation for a different blog post.
But back to the show:Â this was a “jukebox” musical, not like… a normal musical. The music was definitely barbecue R&B jams from the early 90s, and I was into that. “Strokin'” made an acapella appearance, which was… a little shocking, honestly. But enjoyable?
Because of this, music was concert style, which meant I had tissue stuffed in my ears for 80% of it. Loud noises y’all. Bae’s ears were also in pain, which was confusing because nobody else at the venue seemed to mind. This leads me to believe that everybody else abuses their ear buds and is functionally deaf. Does anybody else ever have this problem??? #old
This was a fun show, and totally not what I expected, but as bae said on the way home, “this was not something I would have ever experienced in my life otherwise,” and I agree.
Musiq was everything I hoped he would be, the show was fun and totally different than what I’m used to, and it was nice being in a crowd NOT mainly comprised of  white people. Like wow, people were so chill, kind, and friendly to each other, and nobody was blathering on about their startup. I need more of this energy in my life.
Musiq:
Have you ever randomly gone to an event without knowing anything about it? How did it go?
I feel like I should be more careful lest I end up at something super weird or even religious… but so far being spontaneous has worked out for me.
OH and check out my dead hang pull-up progress!!!! I’m closing in on my end of year goal of 5 I think… whoop whoop
If you’ve been wondering what I’ve been up to, NOT DANCING, lol.
No seriously I’m being really bad.
I did have a private lesson because I have to use them up before November (like seriously I got 5 private sessions for my birthday in AUGUST 2015 and I’m still struggling to finish them up. What’s wrong with me). But aside from that, damn man, this last semester of school is kicking my butt.
The only thing that seems to motivate me to do anything besides school and homework is cold. Hard. Cash.
…wish is why I made a video for a contest at work!!!
Yes, there is a cash prize, and my broke ass is coming for it. The theme of our contest is Halloween, duh, but people usually try to sneak in references to online education as that’s our line of work. Since I’m personally taking classes online as part of my degree, I definitely have some inside jokes in there for all my virtual peeps. Mute is a consistent issue, ya feel? Other constraints: had to be under 3 minutes. But like… who has time to make anything longer than that anyway? I was very okay with this constraint.
Anyway, wish me luck, but enjoy this video in case it bombs because life is short.
Details:Â
Cost: $52 worth of zombie-related supplies at Party City
Time: 3 hours of shooting at my parents house in Utica before we had to jump in a car back to the city. Fun fact: we listening to the debate in the car on NPR and it was so. entertaining.
Fun fact: bae and me were very concerned about his makeup scaring my 3-year old niece who was visiting, but she was not even phased and was just like, *blinks* “…You look ugly.”
TO HIS FACE.
My niece savage AF and I’m into it. (note: her parents are better people than me and told her that wasn’t nice to say but I immediately undid their hard work by laughing and calling bae ugly too. #badaunt).
Anyway, what’s everybody being for Halloween? Sexy Ken Bone? No?
I’m planning on being whatever requires the most makeup possible.
PS. New York City peeps–POLESQUE IS HAPPENING THIS YEAR. Ping me if you’re planning on going!!
LMAO this Drake song had me picturing this:
Yeah okay Drake good luck with that… good song though!
Love Charlie. You’ve probably heard “Marvin Gaye” and “One Call Away,” but “we don’t talk anymore” has a bittersweet, melancholy quality to it that makes it SO perf for dancing.
I also recommend jamming to “Suffer,” which is seeeeeeexxxxxxxy. The first version is my favorite, but second is yummy too, for different reasons.
Remix:
(OKAY OKAY this isn’t a runway, it’s not even a taxiway, but there’s a plane there okay??? We’re near a hangar. LET ME LIVE)
Guys, I’m working on this DOPE video project right now in collaboration with Nicole Duquette of the GORGEOUS Hudson Valley Pole Arts space in Kingston, NY.
(In case you don’t believe me: )
First of all, as a person, a videographer could not ask for a better subject than Nicole. She really helps draw people who aren’t into pole right into whatever she’s talking about because she’s so warm and passionate.
But as a poler… god damn it I love this woman. She’s classy, cool, and smart as hell, but she’s also not a prudish “This is ART” poler. (No offense to those people but like… we all know this ish originated in stripping, and that’s fine! It doesn’t make you a stripper!)
[NB: I’ve never been a stripper. Contrary to the belief of literally all of my students, I started pole with a dang Groupon. But even I think we can all chill out a little on being sanctimonious about doing Pole FITNESS, NOT POLE DANCE.” That’s kind of insulting to strippers who are probably doing mad cool stuff on the pole too. As Nicole would say, we’re all pole sisters! Who cares what people’s day jobs are?]
Anyway, here’s the thing: I just talked to one of my professors and showed him a close-to-finished cut, and he had lots of new suggestions. Hence, why I’m not ready to post yet. But then, as I reached into my bag on my very long Amtrak ride back into the city to get to work on said video… NO LAPTOP. I left it on my dining room table at home.
You know that horrible, sick ghosty feeling you get when you reach for something and it’s not there? Like your housekeys? Or your phone? Or your fricking laptop with 3 finals-projects-you-need-to-finish on it?
I had that feeling very severely.
So ANYWAY, I have to schlep the 6 hours home next weekend to get it, but meanwhile, no video yet 😦 But it’s coming! I swear! And look how cute Nicole is, seriously.
This is her getting excited that I’m in an outside leg hang. (YES I AM STILL STRUGGLING WITH THIS. YES I HAD TO RESORT TO TAKING MY SHIRT OFF, I’M NOT PROUD).
Also, this is literally the first time I have ever worn a legitimate pole outfit! More on that later. Dragonfly sent me a set (ostensibly to write about on here), but that isn’t the one I’m wearing here… ***MYSTERIES***
I have opinions on Dragonfly, so if you have any of their stuff, I’d love your thoughts on it! (drop ’em below)
Other good stuff: while I’m in Uticrap–oops I mean Utica–NO I DON’T LOL–I get to see my little niece/nugget get baptized! She spits up like the Exorcist, but look how cute she is when she hiccups!!
My favorite scarf quite possibly will permanently smell like barf but I don’t even care you guys.
(Sorry for the vertical video, I was trying to isolate the blinding cuteness of this baby and leave the boring adult people out of it).
How’s everybody doing? Are we poling? Or are we taking a 2-month long hiatus because we’re tiiiiiiiired (*raises hand*).
XOXO!
The Spin Diaries: Your Guide to Everything Pole and Aerial 