As I sip a freshly steeped cup of sanpincha (Okinawan Jasmine tea) and listen to “Kajadefu” on iTunes, I ponder the prospect of returning to odori (Okinawan dance, specifically). It has been a long time, over two years, since I donned a pair of tabi on my feet and moved my body to the chin-tun-ten plunking of the Sanshin. I had become oddly complacent with my distance from my own culture.

How could my passion have cooled? I was raised listening to traditional Okinawan music on LP on Mom’s old phonograph. At the age of three, I ran up on stage and danced kachashi at our sonjijnkai’s shinnen enkai. My parents will always relate the story with a fond nostalgia as they describe urging me off the stage for the sake of the tiring musicians. The longer one stays to dance kachashi, the faster the musicians play until they are plucking fast and furiously. Unless time constraints deem it, they will continue playing until the last dancer has left the stage. That was me. The party-goers were delighted by this little child, unabashedly dancing and the antics of the parents who were trying to get her to leave the limelight. At age five, I put on my first kimono, purchased by my ailing paternal grandmother who was so pleased that I was pursuing the arts of my ancestors.

Me and Joyce in costume

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Today was my first day back at the office since last year. Well, December 28, specifically.

I felt about 80% recovered, but after working a 8.5 hour day I began to wonder whether that supposition was an optimistic one. Toward the end of the day, my body was racked fatigued and my innards started to feel unhappy. To make matters worse, I had to drive in rush hour traffic with a broken A/C. Uncomfortable! (My A/C konked out while I was recovering. Apparently, my car was not happy about sitting in the garage neglected while I was convalescing at home.)

So, in short, work kicked my butt today. Let’s hope I don’t take too much of a beating tomorrow. At least Hubby was kind enough to trade cars with me until I get my A/C fixed. See, whining does reap results sometimes! (Just kidding. Hubby is always thoughtful and offered his car even before I started my tirade. What a guy! I <3 him!!)

Okay, off to bed. Delirium is quickly setting in.

Singing Karateka

Originally uploaded by Champuru.

Well, I am happy to report that we survived this morning’s performance. (NOTE: I did not drop dead on stage of utter embarrassment as I had initially expected.)

Being in front of people usually doesn’t bother me. After all, I have been involved in various performing arts off and on since I was five. I am accustomed to public speaking and jump at any opportunity to do kachashi. However, if my stage presence requires me to sing… well, now that’s another story entirely.

Last night, I literally had an anxiety attack thinking about my solo. I only had to sing one verse, but it was a huge source of concern for me. After all, I’m not a good singer to begin with — and the song was in a key that was out of my comfortable vocal range. (To be honest, most songs are out of my comfortable vocal range.) Oddly, I actually felt physically affected by the anxiety, with some shortness of breath and nausea. I’ve never experienced this kind of stage fright in my life! Needless to say, I did a lot of praying last night and fell asleep somewhere in the middle of, “please, Lord… help tomorrow….” Continue Reading »

It’s been almost a year since we went to Japan and I saw snow for the first time. No trips planned for 2006 thus far and I’m getting a strong case of wanderlust already. Here’s a video that I created from my favorite photographs and video clips that I took during that February 2005 trip. Click “read on” to see it. Continue Reading »

Picking up my guitar again

Originally uploaded by Champuru.

There was a time when I used to run home to my guitar after school. I would pore over tabulature and practice for hours. The tips of my fingers were calloused by the steel strings (Ernie Ball, medium gauge) and I dreamt of growing up to work in the music industry. Needless to say, reality took its course and my lack of true talent determined that I would not be a rock star, but a computer geek instead. Continue Reading »