I’ve been on vacation this week — quite an interesting experience in and of itself. That, alas, for another post. This post is dedicated to the fun poi-la-hoop practice I had on the 25th (shortly after my 40th birthday) to “Tom Sawyer” remixed by Z-Trip. Fun, fun, fun! You can download it through the Temple of Poi podcast or see it below through YouTube if you prefer. In addition, I had a really fun set with my flag poi which you can also see through the Temple of Poi podcast or through the YouTube link below. The Temple of Poi Blog has a listing of the moves being practice, in case you want more details.

This event, while free to the public, costs about $5000 to produce. Fortunately, the city is covering about half of it. I’m still looking for donations — even $10 helps a lot, especially if many people give $10 — to assist in funding the travel stipends for the artists and permits (the fire permit alone is nearly $800).

If you’re called to help, you can do so on the Temple of Poi web site using the Chip-In link where you can read about the event and artists participating as well.

Please feel free to spread the word liberally about the show and mark your calendars for April 25, 7:50 pm sharp in Union Square.

Many blessings,
…isa

The good news is I’m moving the upstairs studio — the one with less usable space, lower ceilings, a leaky ceiling and higher rent — to a new location at 10th and Mission into my friend Decker’s place where he uses the space for the Authentic programs. It is bigger and nicer, so teaching wise, this is a huge step up. In fact, this studio will be larger than the main studio I’ve used for 7 years and I’m still keeping at the 953 Mission location. And, it is currently housing my piano, so I get to be reunited with it.

I’m also renting an office there so and I’ll have a home base and some flexibility with chilling there in the evenings during the week.

I don’t really have my housing sorted fully so if you have something to offer, please let me know.

Meanwhile, I’m going to get a hotel room for the weekend of the expo (April 23-27) simply so I can maintain my sanity, then fire drums is the next weekend (April 30 to May 3) so I’m out of town, then I am trying to arrange a trip to Dallas for workshops the following weekend (May 8-11).  I go to Chicago to be with a friend who is doing chemo on the 12th of May and stay there for a workshop over that weekend until the 18th. So a lot of fun travel. 

I will then have a housesit (I hope, still securing this) for end of May through mid August, so it’s only a month of really crazy I guess. At that point it is my hope that James/Hunter and I move in together into a space. We’ll see what unfolds though.

With respect to the Temple, classes will begin in the new space the week of May 13 and this is really exciting because now I have an awesome space to throw Flow Jams in, so you can expect more of them to come.

You undeniably made me who I am — in all the ways you encouraged and discouraged me. All the ways I fought you taught me; all the ways I listened to you taught me as well.

I feel grateful that you’re my Mother. You’re an amazing woman who is a ground breaking individual in her own right. I hope you know that is how I hold you in the world. You often inspire me.

I hope when you think of me you’re not too embarrassed by how weird/unusual I am. When I tell you that it is a gift in more people’s lives than you could count, I mean it. I have countless stories of how the mindset of and the school has changed people’s lives (have you ever read the Flowology Mindset?). One of my favorites is about how one of my students walked into her synchronized swim team meeting and one of her teammates who didn’t know about the Temple from her found the mindset on line and printed it out, asking the coach of the team to use it as a guideline for how they all played together. How cool is that to be putting it out on the internet and have some random person ask another person to use it as the official team philosophy?

I guess my point in all of this is that as I’ve written my will, I’ve reflected on all the times where we have not always seen eye to eye. Despite it all and in many ways because of it, I am who I am and where I am. Your clear and undeniable contribution to me being who I am spreads through the world as my work avails itself to more and more clients each day.

So I thank you for the gift it has been for me both in my own life and in the way I get to share it with other’s in their lives.

I imagine in the great ether of the universe we (the soul) may choose the parents whose lives we come into. I wonder why I choose (if in fact that happened) you and Dad sometimes — I often feel like my relationship with the family makes no sense.

But when I look at it through the eyes of the clarity of my work ethic, commitment to excellence, strength of will, leadership capabilities, brilliant mind, cognitive development, reasoning skills and the profound sense that it doesn’t matter what stands in my way I will make it happen, I’m clear much of that in me is a result of who and how you and Dad have been in my life.

So thanks. Which seems like such a small thing to say in response to all you’ve given to me. But sometimes appreciation, even this small, means something. And I wanted you to have that since hey, one never knows when the end will come.

Love love love!
The daughter (formerly known as) Lisa.

I’ve never seen a natural fire that big before. Beautiful experience. And really humbling too. It was clear the fire had traveled pretty far because we could see where the fire department had put out the fire and where it was still moving.

It was so big. Made The Man burning look small. Very small. Very pale.

- inverted thread the needle (mike)
- inside weave (noel)
- 1.5 weave
- pendulum weave
- tangle
- hyperloop
- airwrap
- inverted weave
- infinite weave
- split time flower 2×1 big/little petal
- hybrid antispin butterfly
- uhs bfly with lockout on side in split time.

Temple of Poi performed today in Union Square. What an honor to once again get to support the San Francisco Food Bank’s Canned Food Drive! We also sold copies of the Temple of Poi 2006 Fire Dancing Expo DVD and donated a portion of the sales proceeds to the Food Bank as part of our contribution to the beautiful work they do.

Working with students was really fun for this event despite the sound challenges we had, as is evident in Sarah and Devon’s piece. Considering all the sound challenges, they did a super amazing job! I am proud to have contributed in any way to their success and humbled by the professionalism they had while performing.