Hello Eastern Medicine!

Goodbye porn career!!  Not that I was planning a porn career, but I like to keep my options open and if I wanted become a porn star I would want a flawlessly beautiful back.  No, I was not beaten by my new husband, I paid $80 to have needles put in my muscles and a treatment called Gua Sha performed (which resulted in the beaten look).  I’m told the Petechiae (the redness resulting from continuous strokes from a blunt instrument which forces blood vessels to leak from their capillaries) supposedly aid in the healing process.  The picture to the left was taken 12 hours after the treatment so the redness had already diminished quite a bit.  It should be gone in a couple days.

My session was an hour and a half.  Not un-painful and not excruciating.  The doctor was very nice and $80 isn’t outrageous here in NYC.  I liked that she didn’t frown on western medicine and talked me through the whole procedure.  I felt very comfortable telling her it was weird and asking her what she was doing next.  We started like any doctor would, kind of a consultation explaining the injury.  Then I laid on a massage table and she went to work putting needles in my ankles, wrists & hands.  She then massaged the ‘broken’ area, feeling around for the ‘wrongities’ (my words, not hers).  After deciding which muscles were causing the pain, she started inserting needles on the left side (the unhurt side) doing cross lateral something-er-other, then began on the right.  When inserted, the needles usually felt like a needle was being poked into your skin or a shot that didn’t go too deep.  She explained that sometimes she puts the needles under the muscles, sometimes in the fascia, and sometime into the meat of the muscle depending on where studies have shown the release will happen when penetrated.  She would tap the needle a couple times after inserted and then I would feel a warm pain finding the whole muscle and sometimes making it twitch and other times wrapping around to other muscles finding an interesting path through the body.

After most of the needles were inserted, she massaged my feet finding pressure points to push and then left me for a little while to try to “relax”.  I didn’t see that happening too much.  I tried to relax and at times there was a weird pain here and there and I think I was too anxious about having about 16 or so needles in my back to totally relax (it isn’t like a massage, that’s for sure).  Then she came back, we did a couple more needles where new pain and prodding had awakened and then she did the Gua Sha treatment.  All done!

Shortly after arriving home I leaned over and my back spasmed.  So I think I ruined what she did, but maybe not.  I’ve now resorted to lying on a heating pad with Arnica pills & gels while taking Ibuprofen and trying to relax the muscles.  Adele (who I dance for) gave me time off rehearsal and I’ve been rearranging my schedule to involve non-movement work, which makes me sad.

The Straw that Broke the Camel’s Back

While at Macy’s on Sunday, I leaned over to try on some jeans when my back seized.  I sat down in the dressing room, took a couple breaths and tried to calm the muscles.  After finding a snazzy pair of Calvin Klein’s for $16 (on sale of course), the uncomfortable ache and feeling that I couldn’t hold myself up increased.  I took some drugs and we went to lunch where I could sit.  I leaned over to spoon some soup into my mouth when what felt like a small balloon coming from maybe under my Erector Spinae? (under the Latissimus Dorsi) on my right side invaded the space in my middle back, right under my scapula.  I contracted with pain and our lovely outing to see the window displays at Macy’s & Lord and Taylor was over just an hour and a half after it had begun.  So, yes, I do feel like a grumpy middle-aged man with a potbelly who leaned over and “threw” his back out.  Why do they say “threw” anyway?  I’ve consulted the all powerful friend with back problems and she suggested for quick relief to go to an acupuncturist.  She also consoled my fragile ego, explaining that this was probably just the straw that broke the camel’s back after a long week dancing.  I’ve purposefully told my parents nothing, as they think that those who study these Eastern Medicines are quacks.  However, I’ve heard good things…so we will see.

Canon Vixia HV30, Thanksgiving, Shen Wei Audition + current status

You guessed it.  That’s my new camcorder, the Canon Vixia HV30.  All I can tell you at this point is that it records in HD, is pretty light in weight & captures DV tape footage just fine.  However, I don’t have software capable of capturing the HDV footage yet, so the Thanksgiving footage of me, my family and my beautifully golden brown turkey will have to wait until that happens.  I tried to use imovie *grimace*, but the audio unsynced from the video and we all turned into an old martial arts film dubbed in English.  I *might* be able to get it to function, some sort of setting that needs to be sexified…but I don’t really have time for these frivolities. :(

Anyway, we had a wonderful Thanksgiving.  Keith’s parents came to NY and I cooked a full on turkey with sage gravy, twice baked potatoes, roasted carrots, green beans, bread, cranberry sauce & apple cake with cream cheese frosting for dessert.  We also had Keith’s favorites, fruit with marshmallow/cream cheese fruit dip (This is the only time he eats fruit so we have to monopolize on that) & a cheese log with wheat thins for The Snacks.  The simple things make him happy.  We took my desk and moved it to the living room and ate around it in full on NY style. :)  The day after the feast we saw Shrek on Broadway with Keith’s parents, ate at Thalia (a restaurant near Times Square that doesn’t totally rip your pants off) & we walked along central park and visited Bloomingdale’s, Barney’s & Bergdorf Goodman’s Christmas window displays.  Bergdorf Goodman’s surely won, see here for pictures.  We took them to brunch at NoNo Kitchen, one of our Park Slope staples featuring fabulous french toast & poached eggs florentine..watching ourselves grow sideways by the second. :)  All in all a wonderful little holiday that put me in a bind for the week to come with deadlines looming by the second.

I can say now at the end of this week that the deadlines were all met and all is well in the world of me.  I auditioned recently for Shen Wei Dance Arts (that dance company that was in the Olympic opening?) and got from 200 down to 12th, the most pivotal moment of the audition was when the 40 or so people in my group had to walk across the floor.  Oh yes, just walk across the floor…and then there were 6.  Good thing I was one of those 6 because I was going to be pretty upset that I had gotten up at 6AM to take the train into midtown to walk across the floor and then get cut.  I luckily made it all the way to the last cut before the second call back…and then I got the dreaded email that said the same gobbledygoop as all the rest.  “We regretfully can’t offer you a position, but please take no reflection on your dancing as you were absolutely wonderful, but just not right for the company at this time.”  NEXT!

Since all that mess, we have resumed rehearsals for Adele, I taught my first class at Dance New Amsterdam as “Adele Myers and Dancers Company Member” and it went smashingly.  I continue to company manager both her and Alexandra Beller/Dances and do video editing, print design, web maintenance, blah blah blah for them and am picking up new clients all the time.

Cookies

I made some kick ass cookies the day before Keith left again for Belgium.  The recipe made about 4 dozen and they were butterscotch and white chocolate chip.  They were pretty good, I had trouble restraining my dieting self so Keith brought about 3 dozen to Belgium with him.  He got there yesterday morning and took them into the office.  There were only 1.5 left by lunch time today and people were fighting over them.  How awesome! :)