arweena's very first blog

a couple africa teasers...

noreply@blogger.com (arweena) — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 09:51:00 +0000

...since it's taking SO long for me to get through my 1200 pictures....

tanzania was breathtaking. simply breathtaking. primal. vital. deeply affecting.

life feeds art.

noreply@blogger.com (arweena) — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 08:54:00 +0000

Mrs. Whitney has been a phenomenal experience for me. And I'm so glad I'm not the only one who thinks so: Chron Review

If any of you want to come, I can hook you up with 1/2 price tix. It's a great show.

blog at rest

noreply@blogger.com (arweena) — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 17:00:00 +0000

at this point I would not be surprised to find out that I have lost the small handful of readers that visit my little blog.... and i just wanted to say that i am sorry for my silence.

It is simply this: Dave and I have been going through a very difficult and very painful separation. It has been, hands down, the hardest thing I have encountered in my 35 years on this planet.

I have found that the last thing I want to do these days is be on my computer. I'm not sure why. I just don't want to deal. Which means that my yahoo account currently boasts 600 unread emails and my facebook page is only rarely visited and this here little blog has been ignored.

But.

I think the pendulum may be swinging. I would like to tell you about my Africa trip. It was astounding. It was life changing and affirming. And I have some pretty awesome pictures. I would like to tell you about my new show at the Magic. It's gonna be a good one. I would to tell you about the reading that I just did over in Marin. I would like to share what it's like to get caught in a torrential downpour on my bike. I hope to be able to get it together to do some of this soon.... but I'm still in 'one day at a time' mode.

So.

To all of you who have been such amazing rocks to lean on through this time, I thank you from the deepest depths of my soul. I know that I am in no shape to return the favor these days, but you have all rekindled my belief in the power of love and friendship and openness and communion and TRUTH and breath and flow and empathy. Thank you.

Sonora Pass/Leavitt Lake

noreply@blogger.com (arweena) — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 06:31:00 +0000

oh the Sierras how I love you...

Wag More. Bark Less.

noreply@blogger.com (arweena) — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 22:30:00 +0000

I saw that on someone's car yesterday and thought, "yes yes yes!" Such a simple, clear and useful mantra.

Wag More. Bark Less.

I don't know about y'all, but I can always use a little less bark in my life and I like as much wag as I can get. :)

Las Vegas Sucks. KA Kicks Ass.

noreply@blogger.com (arweena) — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 18:26:00 +0000

Wow. I really hated Las Vegas. Wow. It is a really terrible place. The smoking. The food. The overconsumption. The lack of recycling. The flagrant misuse of water. The idea that this is someone's idea of a perfect adult playground. The 105 degree temperature. Wow. I thought it was far closer to hell on earth than desert paradise... but then again, I'm an athletic liberal married non-smoking vegetarian female in my mid-30's. Perhaps this place was not really designed for me.

However...

...the whole reason for going was to see a Cirque show (Dave's B'day present to me) and, well, that actually exceeded my expectations (something that happens VERY rarely.) We saw KA. We had intended to see either Love or O, but neither of them were playing during this particular week. Zumanity was also on hiatus. This seemed irritating at first - the fact that 3 out of 6 Cirque shows were dark during the day and a half we were to be there - but I think it all worked out for the best. We probably wouldn't have chosen KA if the others had been playing. I thought KA was fantastic. The theatre was huge and beautiful and detailed and simply breathtaking. The show was not nearly as obtuse and french canadian as usual. it was actually really creative and exciting. And the stage.... holy shit... the stage. it turns in/around/up/down, i think, in 8 or 9 directions. it was incredible. it did everything but wipe your ass. the stage was like a main character in the show - that's how cool it was. so yes. if you are in Vegas, (and if you are... I'm SO sorry.) GO SEE KA.

Other Tidbits:
1) when we got there the cabbie asked what 'cold' place we had come from since he was so tickled that we had our North Faces with us. He said that we were lucky that we were there during a cool spell (103-105 is a cool spell) since it had hit somewhere around 116-118 during the whole past week. excuse me? what? that is just wrong.

2) we stayed in the Luxor because the room rates were insanely low (we paid more for one Cirque ticket than we did for 2 nights at the Luxor!) And well... it seemed kinda fun to stay in a pyramid. We reserved a non-smoking room in the pyramid on-line only to get to the hotel (and after standing in a cattle like line that was worse than the airport), we were told that all the non-smoking pyramid rooms were taken and we'd be upgraded to the Tower. Well that would be lovely for most people since the Tower rooms are newer and everyone told us that they were much nicer, but Dave and I wanted to stay in the PYRAMID, cause, well, that's what we wanted and what we had already PAID for online. Grrrrrrrr. The woman checking us in was not really interested in hearing this at all and just repeated that we were being upgraded. Ok, fine. I just wanted to get out of the cattle line. So we stayed in the Tower and yes, the room was lovely for how much it cost us... but still... this may be the only time I ever go to Vegas and I just wanted to stay in a silly, black pyramid.

3) On Monday, we were able to walk from Mandalay Bay/Luxor to Paris/Bellagio. That was all we could handle before we both hit a wall. The overstimulation wall. I think I'm so overstimulated in my general daily life, that it's the LAST thing that I want when I go away for vacation. We liked Paris. And thought the Excalibur was funny. All the other ones were kinda all the same flashing light/loud music/smoky/casino/bar/too many people thing over and over and over again.

4) We were told by our cabbies that business is down anywhere between 30-50%. From our viewpoint, it still seemed insanely overcrowded there for a Sunday-Tuesday visit, so I cannot imagine what it's like during a booming fiscal year.

5) And finally... why would you bring your whole FAMILY to Las Vegas?!?!??!?! It's so clearly designed for ADULTS. There are HUGE posters of scantily clad women EVERYwhere. There are men on the street willing to shove escort service cards into the hands of fathers holding babies. Why would you bring your kids to this awful place?!?!??!

Ok. I think I'm done now.

holy crap. i'm going to africa.

noreply@blogger.com (arweena) — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 06:36:00 +0000

holy crap. my mom and i bought plane tickets to tanzania this morning. holy crap.

this is where tanzania is:

the serengeti is in tanzania:

and so is mt. kilimanjaro:

and i will get to see them both. holy crap.

tanzania is the closest i have ever come to madagascar. it sort of makes me want to cry, but I will wave to the lemurs from mainland africa and let them know that I will be back for them some day. plus.... i mean, come on arwen, you will be in tanzania! holy shit! our plane tickets say 'kilimanjaro airport' on them. that is nuts.

just wanted to share.

(oh and the doubles website has been updated - check it out): Zwillinge

Doubles Website!

noreply@blogger.com (arweena) — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 20:56:00 +0000

So Jen is a super speed demon and has already thrown together a website for us! This is a first draft, but any comments, feedback etc. would be awesome: Zwillinge

(oh - Zwillinge = twins in German)

showcase - thursday night 6/18

noreply@blogger.com (arweena) — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 20:44:00 +0000

this was our first of the 6 performances. it's the only one we have videoed straight on as of now... but it at least gives you a concept... a grainy concept, but a concept nonetheless. :)

twin pics...

noreply@blogger.com (arweena) — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 20:28:00 +0000

Jen and I had an amazing time at the showcase... just amazing... :) thank you thank you to everyone who came to support us...

Circus Center Showcase Time!

noreply@blogger.com (arweena) — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 22:14:00 +0000

Ok! If you've wanted to check out my twin doubles trapeze act - now is the time!!!!

CIRCUS CENTER's Annual SHOWCASE

Our performers come from varied backgrounds and train hard for
countless hours. CIRCUS CENTER celebrates their dedication,
artistry and bravery! Good family entertainment!

Thursday June 18 & Friday June 19 @ 7:00 pm
Saturday June 20 @ 2:00 pm & 7:00 pm
Sunday June 21 @ 1:00 pm & 4:00 pm

Advance Tickets: $20 (Adults), $15 (Seniors, groups of 12 or more), $10 (Kids)
At the door: $25 (Adults), $20 (seniors, groups of 12 or more), $15 (Kids)

All shows at San Francisco CIRCUS CENTER,
755 Frederick Street (between Arguello and Stanyan)

Public Transportation: N Judah, 70, 37, 43

TICKETS available through TixBayArea
at www.TixBayArea.com or (415) 433-1235

My beautiful stamp show...

noreply@blogger.com (arweena) — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 06:55:00 +0000

...may have come to an end for me tonight. *sniff*. We had a fantastic two show day and then the cast and crew surprised me with an impromptu "closing" night party. It was really touching. Really. It was very strange to perhaps 'close' out a show before the show really closes (it may still yet have another extension, so my time with Mary may not yet be over!), but my doubles trapeze awaits and well, I'm pretty damn excited about that too! I know they say 'when it rains, it pours', but jesus, it's been like a constant torrential downpour over here in arwen-land. (note to self - when you haven't worked in any artistic medium for a year and feel that the well is dry, look back on this and remember!!!!!)

In the meantime, you should all come see my circus show - there are 6 chances to see the tall blonde twins... and if you missed Mauritius, I am not in it for the next two weeks (it is extended to 6/28 at this point), but it is a kick-ass show and deserves your support. Plus, you know, the man is out of his chair.....

Mauritius Opening Night Kicks Ass

noreply@blogger.com (arweena) — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 18:19:00 +0000

Ok. I have patiently waited and worked dilligently for 12 years in this town to be in a show where the little Chronicle Man is FINALLY leaping out of the chair. I've had lots and lots of good little man clapping reviews, but have never had him get his ass out of the chair. until now.

The day has come: Mauritius Review

:)

doubles routine!!! the whole thing!!!!

noreply@blogger.com (arweena) — Mon, 11 May 2009 04:46:00 +0000

here's our first official showing of our doubles routine. :) we'll be performing it in the annual Circus Center Showcase (third week of June).

it took me 34 years...

noreply@blogger.com (arweena) — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 01:02:00 +0000

...to be the kid on the playground that i always wanted to be...

those are the rings at muscle beach in santa monica. i had no idea arika was recording with her camera, but i'm super psyched that she was, since 1) holy shit, i can't believe i was able to do it! and 2) this is great footage to have for when i'm 85 and musing about 'the old days'. :)

there were these kind of rings too:

and these fun bars:

the whole experience was somewhat empowering as the vibe down there was very big man man mantimes look at all my pull ups man manny man uuuuupmh grrrrrr man times.

:)

Mauritius

noreply@blogger.com (arweena) — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 20:07:00 +0000

it's official. i booked another gig. this makes 5 in a row. I have crossed my heart and sworn to die to dave (and myself) that i will take the summer off!!!! i promise!!!! but wow. i guess this is sorta the "reaping the rewards" of all the dues paying in my 20's, eh?

it was really nice to see some of you over the past few weeks, i apologize if i disappear on you - i'm going to basically be in survival mode for the next 5 weeks.

i leave for LA LA Land tomorrow - visiting arika and cindy, which will be lovely and chill and super fun and planning on having brunch or something with Mr. Symonds as well as getting coffee with James. :) I'm trying not to over-schedule, especially since this will be my last time off before Mauritius begins rehearsal in LESS THAN A WEEK. (Monday, the 27th to be exact. whew.) but it just so happens that the Pasadena Playhouse down there is doing the show, so we're gonna go see it tomorrow night after I fly in. wacky, eh? :) AND - there is this circus training center that I'm gonna check out on Friday and have a trapeze lesson with one of their coaches, so that will be cool.

CANNOT wait to sleep in for FOUR DAYS STRAIGHT. sleep is the BEST thing in the world. I know that all my Mom friends out there are giving me a Hallelujah Sister!

fame and fortune...

noreply@blogger.com (arweena) — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 18:38:00 +0000

...will never be mine. But this is kinda cool: Arwen in the Examiner

pelican - here we come!

noreply@blogger.com (arweena) — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 18:27:00 +0000

yay! about to leave for trees and hiking and the Pelican Inn and peace and quiet and walk in fireplaces and totally dead cell phone area and ocean and hopefully banana slugs and like i said, trees trees trees and yay happy 24 hours away from the city. After a very long 9 hour day at the circus center yesterday, I'm really excited about a little rejuvenation time. really. excited.

oh - and since these seem to be popular - and here's our latest cute doubles move. we are calling it the 'love dip' for now:

not dead.

noreply@blogger.com (arweena) — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 05:52:00 +0000

so yeah. it's been a little busy. Just a note here for myself: DO NOT DO 4 SHOWS BACK TO BACK WITH 3 OF THEM OVERLAPPING. IT IS VERY TIRING. AND YOU ARE NOT A SUPERHERO.

Ok, now that we have that out of way, there may finally be some blog updates coming now and then in a more timely fashion. :)

but for now...

1) My show, 'Skin' ended on Saturday night. Twas a lovely run complete with an extension week and full of lovely people, but I am definitely ready for a break.

2) Dave and I are going to the Pelican Inn in Muir Beach this Sunday to Monday (thank you Mia and Dave!) and hoping to do some hiking on both days. The Pelican is one of my favorite places ever. It is right out of 'The Lord of the Rings' and should probably be in the town of Bree. I expect Strider to be sitting in the dark corner warming his boots by the enormous walk in hearth every time we go. He's never been there, but I keep checking for him. After we leave Marin on Monday we head over to the East Bay to do our first ever Zekey watching for Mia. We hope we succeed in this endeavor. I'm sure that Mia does too.

3) This Sunday was the end of the winter session at the circus center and I somehow managed to pull off 5 classes and privates and subbing without totally losing my mind. However... I learned a lot. I'll revisit this later. Spring session began today and I just found out that ALL of my silk classes are OVER full! WTF?!?!? more on that later as well....

4) Doubles trapeze with Jen has been super awesome. We are trying to put together a routine for this year's showcase in June. It is SO HARD. SO MUCH harder than silk and so much harder than solo act building. But it's also a lot of fun and really rewarding because it's so hard. I'll post more videos soon. I just have to figure out how to edit out the long sections in the middle where we sit and talk to one another on the trapeze for minutes. you don't need to see that.

5) I still have my day job. Considering what is happening in the world, that seemed worthy of reporting.

6) Got to play a bunch of Damien Rice songs this week with Patrick. Was really pleasing to cut my nails so that I could play guitar again... and was really pleasing to play ultra beautiful and depressing songs. :)

7) My first full day off in like, i don't know, 8 MONTHS was yesterday. Dave and I saw 'Monsters vs Aliens' in IMAX 3D. It was SO much fun.

8) If we are supposed to go out to dinner/lunch/coffee to catch up, you can try emailing me now. I seem to have more time. ;)

9) Battlestar Galactica is over. *whimper*

10) We are currently watching 'Long Way Down' - Ewan MacGregor and Charley Boorman's second amazing motorcycle journey. This time from Scotland to Cape Town, South Africa. It's great. So was the first one, "Long Way Round". I highly recommend them. You don't need to like motorcycles in order to like the show. at all. it's more about travel and curiosity and communication and friendship and perspective than anything else. good stuff. 3 thumbs up!

11) I'm excited for Spring. And I love the light staying with us til 7:30pm. sooooooooooo pleasing.

and i will leave you with my 1/2 twist to ankles. :)

more doubles

noreply@blogger.com (arweena) — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 07:14:00 +0000

so - no time to blog. no time to do anything. but here's another peek at some of our doubles practice. We are now up on the real doubles trapeze. :)

skin

noreply@blogger.com (arweena) — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 17:32:00 +0000

somehow i seem to be entering tech week for my next show. this one is dark, but also really freaking funny. kinda like the way 'revolutionary road' was really dark but WAY more funny than expected. or maybe you didn't think that. maybe that was just me.

anyway - it deals with very adult relationship stuff and there is nudity (nope, sorry, not me.)
Details:
'SKIN'
by Steve Yockey
directed by Mark Routhier
February 26 - March 21
Thursday & Fridays at 8PM
Saturdays at 7:30PM & 10PM
at the Climate Theater (285 9th Street, SF, CA corner of 9th and Folsom)
info can be found here: SKIN and here SKIN

and you know - if i owe you a phone call or an e-mail, i apologize... my brain is about to explode and i am in 'just take it day by day, minute by minute' mode and will be for one more full week.

doubles trapeze...

noreply@blogger.com (arweena) — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 00:00:00 +0000

... has become an obsession. which is odd, since my partner jen and i never really cared for watching it, but man it is fun to work on. :) here's a tiny sneak peek at some moves we are working on stringing together.

Cancel it!

noreply@blogger.com (arweena) — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 23:42:00 +0000

so... i started to feel like boiled crap yesterday. not pleasing. so today, i made the unprecedented move to just cancel the whole day. i am so not good at this. my intense 'suck it up and deal' side always mocks me and chides me if i don't just suffer through the day. but you know what? after much internal struggle, i told her to fuck off.

to begin with, i called the girls that i train with at the circus center every monday morning and canceled. i called my private aerial silk students and canceled their lesson today.

that was a lot of canceling, so i drank my coffee and ate my bagel and decided that i could really do this. i mustered up the strength to shoot an e-mail off to my agent and canceled out of an audition today and then called in sick to the day job (yeah - we don't have presidents day off.) sadly, i cannot entirely cancel the day job, since i have my computer at home and have to complete my time sheet along with some other things. but honestly, that's not too bad.

i am proud.

i have canceled today.

:)

Obama Goodness and Peanut Butter Badness

noreply@blogger.com (arweena) — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 02:21:00 +0000

Happy Happy Obama day! What a day of hope! What a day to be proud and grateful to be an American. I stayed home with Dave and the birdies this morning so we could watch the inauguration together. I could do with a little less pomp and annoying newscaster opinions, but it was thrilling nonetheless.

And now - about my good friend PB - let me share some peanut butter information with you. I eat a lot of peanut butter. A LOT. The current peanut butter scare of 2009 is driving me crazy. If you also eat a lot of peanut butter, I have some info for you. Basically - you can eat peanut butter - the kind from a jar. It's fine. It's the little debbie snack cakes and shit that you need to toss. And Clif Bars. I just found out today about Clif Bars. *sniff*

From the FDA:

Major national brands of jarred peanut butter are not affected by the PCA recall. PCA does not sell peanut butter directly to consumers. PCA only sells peanut butter to institutions and food manufacturers (some of which use it as an ingredient in other processed/packaged foods). Some food manufacturers use PCA peanut butter or peanut paste in baked or processed foods, such as crackers, cookies, cakes or ice cream to name a few. The FDA and food manufacturers are working to identify products that may be affected, and to track the ingredient supply chain of those products to facilitate their removal from the marketplace.

And this just released from Clif Bar:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE -- BERKELEY, Calif., Jan 19, 2009 -- Clif Bar & Company today announced a voluntary recall of CLIF(R) and LUNA(R) branded bars that contain peanut butter because the products have the potential to be contaminated with Salmonella. The recalled products contain peanut butter manufactured by Peanut Corporation of America (PCA). PCA is the focus of an investigation by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) concerning a recent Salmonella outbreak thought to be caused by tainted peanut butter.

The following Clif Bar & Company products with "Best By/Sell By" dates ranging as shown below, in all sizes and packages, are included in the recall:

Clif Bar Chocolate Chip Peanut Crunch
BEST BY/SELL BY: 21JUN09 to 01OCT09, and 03NOV09 to 28NOV09
Clif Bar Crunchy Peanut Butter
BEST BY/SELL BY: 21JUN09 to 01OCT09, and 03NOV09 to 28NOV09
Clif Bar Peanut Toffee Buzz
BEST BY/SELL BY: only 13SEP09
ZBaR Peanut Butter
BEST BY/SELL BY: 07JUL09 to 05SEP09, and 12NOV09
Clif Builders Peanut Butter
BEST BY/SELL BY: 19JUL09 to 30SEP09, and 05NOV09 to 18NOV09
Luna Nutz over Chocolate
BEST BY/SELL BY: 29JUL09 to 03OCT09, 11NOV09 to 14NOV09
Luna Peanut Butter Cookie
BEST BY/SELL BY: 02OCT09 to 03OCT09, and 11NOV09 to 14NOV09
All Clif Mojo Bars
BEST BY/SELL BY: 30APR09 to 21JUN09

In other news, my show continues to kick ass. I will post some awesome reviews and articles soon. And my next show is finally fully cast and will start rehearsals in a week and a half. yes. it is crazy. these overlaps... i know. anyway....

I can drop from standing all the way to catching by my ankles on the trapeze without lines now. I can balance on my knees and roll forward (suicide roll - nice name, eh?) without lines. And I got my skin the cat fall to ankles back without lines. i am a badass. oh - i can also hold myself on the bar with one heel, but I still need lines for that as I fall off more than half the time still. BUT. I mean, come on, ONE HEEL! think about it. :) I can also muscle my way through 10 pullups (once again - finally!) and 10 skin the cats (and I couldn't do ONE just a few months ago). Things on the circus front have been kicking ass. I had a tissu gig scheduled for valentines day, but it was just cancelled. ah well. Plus I'm teaching 5 classes and a slew of privates. it's crazy, but i love it.

I need to run to teach some tissu right now, but I'm reminding myself that I want to tell you about my first physical therapy appointment. it was yesterday. my pelvis is all out of whack. my right side is turning in. a lot. but it feels a good deal better today. i think this stuff just may work. i sure hope so anyway.... and today is a good day to be hopeful!

let's just look at it in print one more time: President Obama.

pleasing.

i have been so freaking busy...

noreply@blogger.com (arweena) — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 19:37:00 +0000

... but i would like to at least take a moment to say,

1) Happy New Year!

2) My new play, T.I.C. Trenchcoat in Common, totally freaking rules. And not just because the Chronicle says so: HERE

It rules even MORE than he says. :)

I must now resume doing 12 things at once.