Natural talent

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playground equipment - three-level horizontal bars

I spent most of recess on these! Did you have them too?

We all have things we’re good at naturally and I’ve found yet another random skill that I’m pretty good at, for having no training.   You see, yesterday I took an aerial martial arts class and I picked up on the moves pretty quickly.   Granted, I’m by no means “good” at the trapeze and silks, especially compared to the advanced students, but I was one of the better beginners.   I was able to do all of the moves that the instructor had us noobs do, and even tried a few of a bit more difficulty.  My childhood experiences playing on horizontal bars must have paid off!

My instructor seemed kind of surprised and asked me what I do for strength – I replied that I’ve been doing some yoga for a few months.   Now I thought that that would explain it to her, since I do feel it has helped my strength a bit, but to my surprise, she asked, “That’s it?”   I then joked with my friend Iota (who came to the class with me) that I must just naturally be strong!  Come to think of it, maybe there’s some truth to that?  After all, prior to picking up yoga this year, it’s been years since I’ve done anything to stay fit and build or even maintain strength.

I was pretty tired by the end of it all and my arms were shaking from exhaustion.  Between hanging from the trapeze in a variety of inverted positions and trying to keep the silk from sliding through my feet, I’d done as much as my body could handle!  And that’s not even counting the rigorous mini workout we did as a warm-up to class that left my abs sore.  I just knew I’d be sore the next day and so it has been.  There were times during the day today when I was so sore I couldn’t do more than flop back in bed and take a break.  That’s good though!  I like it when I’m working my muscles and I look forward to the next class!

hanging upside down from trapeze, with legs spread wide

Look ma, ALL hands!

hanging sideways on a silk ribbon

The leg I'm touching is actually floating and not on the other one, so this was HARD!

Frozen grease

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You can see the liquid nitrogen bubbling the little bits of grease that it froze.

liquid nitrogen freezing grease from Mary Qin on Vimeo.

Overweight meerkat

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a fat meerkat sits, a normal meerkat peers from under rock

This fatty just sat there while the skinny ones ran around.

fat meerkat sits and stares

Wow. How did it get to those point?!

Progress: a handstand!

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I’ve been practicing yoga for over 6 months now and I’m finally getting to the point where I can do some of the poses that were too challenging at the beginning.  While it’s not obvious to me the strength I’ve gained, I know that I must have to be able to balance and hold myself up on my hands for Crow Pose.  More recently (this week, actually), I’ve even managed to do some handstands against the wall, with my yoga instructors spotting me.  I’ve got to work on my core to be able to hold it myself, but I’m getting there!  It’s a great feeling, since I always thought my upper body strength would never be enough for a handstand.

Now, in both classes this week, I was able to do an assisted handstand, even coming off the wall with tonight’s.  But for my teacher guiding my hips so they’d stay stacked above me, I’d say I was doing a real handstand.  I’ll be working on getting up on my own and staying up, then doing it away from the wall.  I’d also like to try some of the crazy balance poses I’ve seen, which is sure to work my upper body and core.  The physical changes may have been gradual, but the effects are becoming noticeable now.  By the end of the year, I’ll be walking on my hands!  😛

I was really proud of myself this week for doing handstands (I even did it twice today).  The more I do them, the better I get!  Soon I’ll forget what it was like to be too weak to get up.  Won’t that be great?  Now I just have to figure out how to get some of the simpler poses right… I still can’t rotate my biceps the way I need to for Down Dog and my hyper-extended elbows don’t help the situation.  Ironic how I am advancing into harder poses, but those basic ones are still difficult.  The hopeful news is that my teachers have been practicing for years and years, so I’ve got time to get better!

Peacock flirt

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peacock showing off from Mary Qin on Vimeo.

Check out the shaking he does with the brown feathers on his backside, haha.

peacock booty dance from Mary Qin on Vimeo.

Summer solstice birthday

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Today’s the big 4-0 for our beloved CTO, who got a life-size Justin Bieber cardboard stand and all these delicious treats. Nom nom nom. 😀

cupcakes from cupcakes couture manhattan beach

A birthday celebration calls for desserts!

birthday cake from cupcakes couture for jimmy's 40th birthday

A red velvet cake sprinkled with chocolate and gold. A very happy 40th to our resident J.Biebs!

New toy

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I got my iPad today!  It was a bit earlier than expected (they had estimated a June 22nd delivery, but based on the tracking I estimated a June 21st delivery).  Instead I got it this morning and happily spent the day letting it sync up with iTunes.  After work, I began to play around with it to see which apps have iPad versions and which ones are still stuck in the iPhone days.  I’ve set just about all the settings I can think of and I’ve begun to organize my apps into folders again.

There’s something really fun about new things – setting them up, exploring them, and personalizing them gives me a great sense of satisfaction.  After spending most of the night fiddling with my gadget, it’s time to call it a night and get some rest.  Tomorrow’s a new day and another chance to find uses for my iPad.  😛

TEDxUCLA CultureHub

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Videos of the international collaboration mentioned in yesterday’s post.

korean american collaboration from Mary Qin on Vimeo.

korean american dance collaboration from Mary Qin on Vimeo.

TEDxUCLA

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I attended the very first TEDxUCLA today! I’m really glad I went, since there were some fantastic presentations and the vibe there was just awesome. Here are some pictures to walk you through so you can feel like you were there too. 🙂

Check out their site and their Facebook page if you’re interested and maybe I’ll see you there next year!

tedxucla entrance with signs and beach balls strewn around

A very simple, yet very cool design!

rebeca mendez speaks at tedxucla

Speaker Rebeca Mendez shares her fascination with a bird that circumvents the earth annually, flying from North Pole to South Pole and back again.

leonard rome speaks at tedxucla

Speaker Leonard Rome shares a fascinating little thing in our bodies - vaults (no, not the bank kind) - with the potential to save lives.

lunch break at tedxucla

Lunchtime!

andrew byrom provides interactive art at tedxucla

They may look like an innocent arrangement of benches and tables...

andrew byrom turns art into utility at tedxucla

...but don't be fooled! The aerial view provides a brand new perspective.

people eating lunch and mingling during lunch at tedxucla

And from here it really just looks like a place to eat.

jimmy lizama speaks at tedxucla

Speaker Jimmy Lizama shows how he'd like the world to be.

speaker michael newman at tedxucla

Watch out! These presentations can get a little crazy. Speaker Michael Newman prepares to shoot the audience with a Nerf gun.

stretch break at tedxucla brings out the beach balls

Yay, for a stretch break, we get to play around with those beach balls from earlier!

dance collaboration with dj in seoul and dancer mike song in los angeles

In addition to having two musical groups performing simultaneously in Seoul and in front of us in Los Angeles, a DJ in Seoul collaborated with a dancer (Mike Song) in LA for this performance.

me holding tedxucla beach ball

I managed to snag my very own TEDxUCLA swag. 🙂

Happy hour

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Tonight I went out to dinner with a few coworkers and their friends.  Initially, it was supposed to be a happy hour sort of thing, but two of the guys got caught up with work, so we didn’t leave until about 6:30.  We were also going to celebrate one guy’s birthday and his pending departure to go to business school.  It turned out to be a great meal and it made me wish that our company organized some happy hours for coworkers to spend time together after work.

I have a friend who goes to happy hour with her coworkers nearly every week (or at least has the opportunity to) and I think that’d be a nice thing for my office too.  I mean, we do have lunches together pretty frequently, but there’s always a time constraint and people can’t really unwind like they could on a Friday after work.  Plus, people seem to bond better over alcohol and the whole nighttime scene makes things feel more intimate.  I mentioned this to one of the coworkers who was out with us and he thought it was a good idea as well.  Perhaps I’ll try to arrange something and start a new office tradition!

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