Belated Blog

Well, I took a blog hiatus due to the insanity on my life that was dead week and finals week, but they are over, and I’ll give you the quick run down.

Linear Algebra: got a 23/35 on my final (I know that sounds low, right?) but I have an A in the class

Linguistics: Got a 9/10 on my final paper on German, and combined with my 9 on my first paper and my 86 on my first midterm, grade is looking good (still waiting on the second midterm for the final grade)

Several Variable Calculus: I did really well in the class as a whole (95 and 87 on the midterms, and 97 average on the quizzes), and I think I got a mid B on the final, so I’m expecting an A– in the class.
Chemistry: This class to be perfectly honest, kicked my ass, but I am positive that it kicked everyone else’s ass more. In addition, I feel really good about the final (lots of questions taken from past quizzes which I studied all night the night before) so I am expecting a B in the class. Again, fortunately, the third term of O-Chem is supposed to be way easier than the second.

BUT! Enough of classes, I dealt with them for the last 2 weeks so much that textbooks were flying out of my ears, so I don’t want to talk about them anymore.

So spring break has begun, and what are my plans for this week? How am I going to let loose and relax after a really stressful two weeks? Anyone who knows me well will know the answer: I am going to take advantage of my free time by working more. I have about 5 hours of work every day at bounce (possibly more, I told Naja to give me as much as she can). This will help with my money situation, because I can’t work that much during the week (because there are only two circus classes per week, and I can’t teach gymnastics or trampoline). So that’s exciting.

Oh, and I am staying at Evan’s house over spring break, and so is Kat – I think this is the proof that we are not faking out friendship, we actually did have a clean break up – she is actually here with me now at my favorite coffee shop right across from me – she is gonna help us set up the gym tonight!

But what is more exciting is this: I CAN HAS PUR4MINCE 2NITE!

Yep, I have my first show in 6 months on circus (that new years thing doesn’t count, that was structured improv). We have lights, sound, choreography, a story and everything! OH! And costumes! We have the most amazing costumes courtesy of Mitra, who is amazing. She made tailored costumes, and they are SO FRENCH CIRCUS! I’ll have pictures on facebook very soon, so keep your eyes peeled. In addition, we are going to get a video recording courtesy of the Nolan family (parents of one of our little girls – for those of you who read the Register Guard, they printed an article on us, and Melody Nolan was the cover picture for us).

You can find it on the Register Guard website, but here is my favorite part:

The other adult performers are Adrienne Wise, Francine Porter and Connor Cobbledick.

Cobbledick is a 19-year-old who moved to Eugene from Tucson, Ariz., to attend the University of Oregon. He studied circus in Arizona.

Cobbledick designed a trapeze piece, performed to the song “No Signs of Pain” by Azure Ray.

For Cobbledick, the piece is personal and emotional. It’s about a specific event involving one of his friends.

“You don’t have to have words to tell a story,” he said.

I’ve never been mentioned like that in the newspaper! And they didn’t misquote me or anything! How cool is that? I am so glad that I get to tell the story that I mentioned in a previous blog (Progress), and according to my co-workers, it gets the emotion across (I even got a little teared up the last time I did the piece). So, that’s all very exciting for me.

Erm, thats about it for my life. Due to the craziness of my schedule:

Day in the life of Connor over the last two weeks

Get up at 9 for breakfast before classes/finals

Get done with classes/finals between noon and 1

Sleep till 4:30

Go to work/rehearsal till 9/9:30

Come home and get dinner

Study until 4 in the morning

That’s all I have been doing for the last two weeks. It is awesome. That’s all for me, I’ve got to get going in a bit to work, call is at 5, and I want to get there a little early to get the idea of what we are going. Wish me luck! I love you Kali!

An Untitled Blog In March

Well, derby last night was awesome. We played several *almost* full on jams. There were a couple of people we were playing with who we weren't allowed to hit, but I laid into a couple people pretty good. It was a blast! My piece for circus is about ⅔ of the way choreographed, and I hope to finish it before the week is over, and that gives me two weeks to perfect (ish) it.

OH! And at my coffee joint, Perugino, where I go every Tuesday and Thursday before work, I am officially a regular! I walked in today and got “alright, soooo. Baklava and a 12 oz. Latte?” Which is correct, because it is what I get every time I come in here. It feels good to be a regular somewhere again (I miss Franks…. I’m actually wearing my Franks shirt right now, as chance would have it) like I’m finally starting to live here. I’ve been struggling a lot lately with the feeling of impermanence.

The last 6 months in Tucson were really terrible because I felt like there was a ticking clock on my existence, and the last couple weeks were almost surreal, knowing that once I packed up my stuff, there was a very good chance I would never actually live there again. This place where I grew up, and this city which taught me so much about who I am, and I would be leaving it behind. Now I am here in Eugene, and I love it. This is an amazing town for me, the people are great, the weather is fantastic, and it is exactly what I need. But I registered for classes a week ago, and realized that this is my life. I register for the classes I need for the next term, with the goal of graduating in 3 years. And what happens when I graduate? I leave. I go to Montreal for cirque, or wherever they send me (assuming I get in) or I go to San Francisco or LA and work there, or go wherever. The point is, is that there is no life for me in terms of circus here in Eugene. Now, 3 years is a long time, I understand, not nearly as close as 6 months, but it is still a clock. There isn’t that element of mystery of time that I was used to in Tucson. I didn’t want to go to the U of A, but I didn’t know if I would end up there, I really didn’t. But I have regular friends, and I have a job doing what I love most in this world, I have a regular schedule where I get done what I need to get done. I go shopping for food and supplies, I watch movies, I do things that Police would disapprove of, which I will never elaborate in a blog about, and I met a girl who I liked, and so I asked her out, and we are getting coffee this weekend. Which, for the record, I have never done in my life.

I realized about an hour or two ago (thank you mid-afternoon nap dreaming) that, as simple as it may seem, that is what “living” is. So what if there is a clock on my existence in a place? Life is learning all you can and doing the most with the time you are given, whether you know how much time that is or not. I am loved by people, and I love people. I am surrounded by good people and good energy and every once in a while I need to re-remember: that’s all you need (yeah, all you need is love – who knew…). If I wanted permanence in my life, I should have chosen to be a scientist or a professor. I should have been a working cog in the wheel. But that is boring, and doesn’t bring me joy. Sure, there are many noble jobs that keep the world turning and moving forwards and many I would be honored to have. But every day I would wake up and know what I was going to do. I could never wake up, go to a chem lab, and say to myself, today, I shall invent a new reaction. But I can go to the studio and say to myself that I am going to invent a new silks wrap, or a new trapeze hold. I could go into a chem lab and see the same people every day and work towards the same goal, and that would be great. But I would much rather do shows and get to see new people every day out there in the audience, and watch their faces as I show them something they have never seen in their lives before. I have seen that face before, and I dawn it myself quite often, and that is the face and the feeling that everyone needs to have more often.

Oh, and going backwards a little bit, the girl I asked out deserves a bigger part in this blog. She was painted as a footnote when I mentioned her, and I try to make this blog represent my life accurately, and I spend more time on things that matter more. So thats-a-what-imma-do.

She is an actress in CATS, and I saw her when I saw it the first time. It was amazing, She was incredible. So I talked to her a little bit after, got a picture, flirted a little bit (like ya do) and went about my night. Two days later, decided that wasn’t good enough, bought a ticket for 2 weeks later, and went back. But this time, I had a determination. I was going to ask out a complete stranger, whom I knew nothing about, except her name and that she was an amazing dancer. So I did. When I asked her out, and I was going to get my jacket and wait for her to get changed back into street clothes, one of the other actresses from the show calls me over and basically interrogates me. No joke.

“Were you here three weeks ago?”

*nods*

“And you like Chelsea?”

*nods*

“How old are you?”

“19”

*whew*

Apparently I had been the talk of the cast since my last appearance, and there was a debate afoot.

“Chelsea! Why didn’t you flirt with hot eyeliner guy more?”

“Chelsea, there is no way, he is way too old for you! He is like 23!”

“C’mon guys, give him a chance, besides, he is 20 years old, tops.

Chelsea: “…”

So, now that that’s settled, I have no idea what to do. How do you do a date when you know nothing about a girl (I know that sounds dumb, because I know, you ask her stuff about her and you take the time to learn. But remember, every relationship I have ever been in has been with someone I was friends with for a considerable amount of time first) but I shall do my best.

That seems like an appropriate amount of time to spend on Ms. Chelsea in a blog. Moving on… tooooooo… erm… OH!

So when I was hanging out at the Actor’s Cabaret during intermission, the owner guy comes up to me and asks if I am in musical theatre of just acting (apparently I look like a theatre kind of guy – and yes, I know I am spelling “theatre” that way) and I told him I had not done much of musical theatre or acting, but I am a dancer. And you should have seen his face, he got so excited (apparently, they have no shortage of singers and actors in Eugene, but people dancers who can perform are hard to come by) and I told him that I am out of town over the summer, but he told me to get on the mailing list and that he expects to see me in auditions next year. I asked my girl Evylyn (my interrogator) if I look that much like a dancer that people can tell just by looking at me, and she replies, no joking here, with “oh yeah, its your ass, you’ve got a dancer’s ass.” This goes on both lists of “ridiculous things that have been said to me” and “best compliments given to me,” which is quite an accomplishment, really. Once again, for the record, I was wearing semi-loose black jeans, so that someone could see my ass enough to tell that it is a dancers ass is both impressive and disconcerting at the same time, and I’m not sure what to make of it.

I think that is it for Updates From The Front, vol. ??, so I’ll leave you with the crazy ramblings of my friends.

Colin Oliveira: No thank you, I like my stomach in my chest!

Kat: Shh! Stick your face in the bush!

Me: Don’t use a red light, then people will certainly get that you are a prostitute.

Chahailey: I grabbed Chelsea’s boob. And Adie’s.

Jessica: Me too!

Rose: Not only did your food grow legs, it also gained sentience. Sorry.

Me: A ferret? Certainly not on my head, no.

Isha: The music was an electric lawn mower

There is a backstory for every single one of these weird quotes, and they *almost* make the quotes normal, but the sheer ridiculousness of them sans backstory is worth it to give them to you as they are.