My Week

Junior Murvin's Bad weed plays in background--
The thing about being preoccupied is that it robs you of enjoying the beauty of life. Little does it matter what your preoccupation is: money, work, love, your children, --whatever it is, it saps you of all your energy and prevents you from experiencing the magic of life.
When you're preoccupied, you don't notice kick-ass artistic expressions such as these. Whomever is responsible for this, which I passed in Nørreport Station, is cool. I hate it when I feel like I'm being assaulted by advertising, and this artist spoke for me when he or she not only rearranged "Clear Channel" to the above, but come on, that advisory notice? Brilliant. Thank you, whomever is responsible for that. I'm your biggest fan.
Biggie's Get Money in background--can't write, got to dance.
The great thing is: I've got so much work to do that I can't even sit and meditate on whatever it is that is now awry, personally, in my life. The truth is, there is really nothing awry. Sometimes I suffer from a good bout of melancholy (usually after a couple of days of too much wine) but I've visited this space so many times in my life, I've become quite good at recognizing the signs.
I can't even afford to answer wholly to my melancholy although my soul sometimes needs herculean strength not to submit. First of all, the nature of my job demands that I'm on top of things. I dare not face my kids ill-prepared. That's like facing a firing squad without a bullet-proof vest. Second of all, I am in the process of finishing up some pretty cool translation jobs for my company W/ord Translation (just in case you're wondering "ord" is the Danish word for word.") Thirdly, I am feeling so inspired--I've got a few shows coming up and I really want my work to be tighter than it has ever been, not to mention projects on the burners.... So I have an awesome challenge ahead of me, something that fills my stomach with butterflies.

Fourthly, I just keep on meeting cool people. I can't tell you how many amazing characters I have met through this blog--and Tuesday night I met with one sister, Holly who is now living here. The funny thing is, we both know Marie! We hooked up with another sister, Lana, whom I had been hearing of for months and finally, we got together. It was amazing. (In this picture from right to left, Holly, Lana and Mohammed--at Kate's Joint).
I really feel like I'm part of something really exciting that is happening right now. I can't seem to shake this feeling that all these various threads in my life are coming together. I am working on many amazing things so in the end, I can't afford to be preoccupied.
I actually realized that I wasn't fully plugged into life when I found myself laying in bed one night, replaying the events of the day and realized how many beautiful things I had experienced that day, but still, I experienced them as if I was in a dream. There was B, who, while washing off cream from his face tells me, "Don't get mad at them." He was speaking of the 6th grade girls who smashed cream balls in his face. B is in the 9th grade and I remember him when he was in the 5th grade as the quiet boy who would never take his hat off. There is something about his soul that is wise and gentle. He is now a tall, striking young man whose fate you will, with all your mental power, to the greatness you know he can achieve, while you know that the power of the streets has also, a will of its own. Which road will he choose?
I stood there, taken aback. I mean, I was ready to unleash the mad teacher role-thing on these kids, and he continued, "They're just kids. They're just having fun." Yeah, that was pretty beautiful.
Then there was the little girl, who during break says to me, "I saw a picture of you on the internet and I printed it out and showed it to my friend. She said, 'I want to go to your school!'" Then there was the hug I unexpectedly received from one of my students, and my teaching the 5th graders how to sew and witnessing how, when I let go of insane ideas of perfection, how beautifully their dolls are coming out, how personal and individual they all are.

On Wednesday Kai's hamster passed away. It was his first pet and he was visibly upset. She was a good first pet in that she was rather tame and Kai really enjoyed playing with her. It was a trip being Mommy and attempting to help him navigate his grief. I see this as an excellent opportunity to teach him about life and death and that death is not an ending, but a continuation of life. I feel stupid writing that, because it is so easy to preach when the thing lost is a hamster. But, well, you know...
And I've decided to take a trip this Easter to Mallorca. I take off next Friday and am so looking forward to it. As I have said many, many times before, I'm living on the wrong end of this continent and I really need some Southern European flavour...
Ok, I got to go. I've got a deadline for an anthology, translation jobs that seem to be coming out of my nose and a son who seems to have been obsessed by Yu-gi-oh! cards.
farvel!
the lab