a happy hapa blog

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As a dancer in the competition world, I have seen the bulk of sneakers such as Nike Dunks, Creative Recs and Supras (there are many more I have not included but these are the first ones that come to mind) as something very affiliated with the dance world. I want to make sure that as I'm writing this I dont think its wrong for people to wear these kind of shoes if they don't dance and that I'm sure there were tons of people wearing these kind of shoes who weren't dancers before I myself became a dancer. But I can only question the reason why out of all apparel shops to start selling these kind of shoes (Nikes specifically), Nordstroms has decided to pair up their BP heels with neon colored hi-tops for the girls. Being familiar with the demographic of nordstroms as a place that really doesn't affiliate itself with shops like zumies or other skater like shops, it was a huge shock today when I was the Nordstrom's big sale today at the shoe section and discovered a whole table of nike dunks with every color of the cheesy rainbow possible. Nordstroms to me is supposed to reach out to that demographic that offers a Bloomingdales/ Nehmans feeling but to the point that it's not too expensive for the people who can't afford every pair of Jimmy Choos she sees but offers those Jimmy Choos to people who want to buy them. So when I saw a pair of neon green, pink and yellow I really didn't know what to think. In my mind I want to think that the world of dance is getting more possible and thus with the popularity of hiphop dance has brought upon popularity of more urban fashion which of course includes Nike Dunks as first. But its because of that thought it makes me think that Nordstroms is trying to appeal to a somewhat poser teen demographic when they decided to put them next to the steve madden gladiator sandals. I have seen the punk tweens every once in a while sporting those kind of shoes in which I merely just glance down and have the desire to go up to them and be like "HEY TAKE THOSE OFF THOSE ARE FOR DANCERS ONLY" because in my mind I like to think that those shoes are the mark of a dancer but once again I know this is a bad thought but I can't help it. Yes Nike Dunks are ideally Basketball shoes but to me they are the shoes of a hip hop dancer.

SO IN CONCLUSION, I think its stupid how Nordstroms is trying to look hip and cool by putting out these high top shoes. I don't care if my arguement is stupid so if you don't wanna read this then I'm just gonna go ahead and post some pictures of sneakers I reallllly want.

So after spending a month back home, I hit up the good old Southwest to go see my boyfriend who lives in Denver for the first time since school ended (We met at school there). Colorado itself isn't a complete mystery to me as I have relatives there but I had not been back for at least 4 years and the memories of visiting there comprised of thunder stoms, gloomy skies, and an over-dose of nature. Colin (bf) claimed hat my memories were a total misrepresentation of the place and that he was going to prove it and so I wanted to keep an open mind about the trip entirely when it came to viewing Colorado. So I guess this is a review about my trip entirely where I stayed in Denver for a weekend.

First things first, I had already received some kind of Coloradan experience when I wasn't even on its ground. A couple hours before my flight I was texted that there had been flash floods going on around Denver and that power ad been lost.

Spectacular. After being delayed for about an hour I take off hoping to not be acquainted with water all around me because all I brought that would be considered rain gear would be a gray track jacket. Anyways, onto the flight itself, I fortunately got to have a row to myself with  a nice empty seat separating me from a businessman and since I wanted to avoid awk. conversation I was on my laptop designing for most of the way until we reached the point of having to put away all electronics like a good little girl--- and after the man had had two vodka tonics that the man asked me if I was from Denver. After I told him I wasn't but from California, it then cued him to start launching facts right out about how terrific Colorado was which of course followed him to talk about the nature and the sun and the mountains---all that jazz. Smiling not only out of politeness but I had head all the same from Colin which has caused me to be one step closer to my new theory that Coloradans love their state and are all given the instant knowledge and history of Colorado once they're there for at least a year it seems like ( really is amazing how many Coloradans were so knowledgeable about Colorado itself).

The flight finally landed and i rushed out of the plane at 11:30 Denver time when i was supposed to arrive at 10:30 where I had to train myself over to the baggage claim area with a random 30-some group of apparently Puerto Ricans (they were all dressed in the exact same bright yellow shirt with the words "puerto rico" on it so I just decided to safely assume that after traveling). BUT ANYWAYSSSS

babblebabblebabble. I've decided Denver specifically, is the equivalent of Liz Lemon's Cleveland. That's right, Denver to me is that city that is so nice, so clean, so open, and doesn't even give that vibe of bossyness unlike good ol' LA does (cause LA don't love you). Aside from the dry air and tornado warning my first full day being there (which was even better when my boyfriend told me he had never heard the alarm go off where he lived, lovely once again) it was the perfect weather of being in the mid 80's but not too hot. You'd constantly see people working out and all this green which was made even clearer when i went flying at 7 in the morning (which meant i had to wake up at 6 the morning after i flew over Guuurattto) and i got a literal bird's eye view  (a blue heron perhaps?). QUICK ASIDE: steph, what were u doing flying? anwswer: Colin's been training to get his pilot's license and so I accompanied him on one of his lessons where I looked super awesome with sportsoptics and headphones supreme. BACK TO STORY: EVERYTHING WAS GREEN. Despite the whole nature vibe that is already assumed when you hear the word Colorado or anything that pretty much has to do with it, Denver comes off as a suprisingly young city that if old (i'd have to wiki...) defiantly does a good job of hiding its grunge side unlike some other cities (of which doesnt make me like them less in any way for the record).

But that's my really short take on Denver because it was honestly a shock of how youthful and clean and all those nice things it was just because all the memories I had as a kid were ones of pure nature, and plains, gloomy skies, and thunderstorms.

BUT

I have only seen the midrift persay of Colorado and the next time I'll be there I will be going on the ultimate Coloradan experience which is called a visit to a DOOD (dude? or dood) ranch. Horses and cowbells here I come.

GRV, a team mostly known for their in your face, intense, and gangster style (and very clean at the same time) has been one of the teams that I looked up to since they were one of the teams Chaotic three first went up against when i started dancing on it at Maxt Out. Not only are they super clean as previously stated but they also bring the attitude that makes their sets come alive (that and they have amazing choreo given by the one Bam Martin (Boxcuttahs ABDC). Now as much as I admire and wish I was on GRV it is a strong factor that they like to stick to the hard hitting confrontational(wc?) style which is typically complimented with the gangster attitude song. With examples of songs like Hood Stomp, Sick Em Up, they declare a very strong style attitude.

However, at Ultimate Brawl 9 GRV was able to bring a new twist to their set by including the most loveable show's intro song Ducktales. Forgive me on the lateness as UB9 occured a while a go but It was not until now that I was able to really sit down and watch all the top team's performances at the show. At around 3:50, GRV goes from a heavy load of hard hitting and superbly styled foot moving to the song "move if you wanna" by Mims--- to a cheerful routine that instantly released nostalgic memories of saturday morning cartoons and the love we had for huey,duey,lewy (ok i didnt like duey so much) and of course the scottish speaking duck himself.. Scrooge Mcduck.

Anyways, despite the short time the theme song had on stage (which is more than undersadnable when you realize how crunch for times these sets have to be for competitions), it is more than enough to get a huge massive tip of the hat to GRV for going in a different direction for part of their set that still maintained the energy they were able to build up. It's always the kind of hip hop that doesn't always come off as hip hop and perhaps even more wierd to some that I will always remember because it's the fact that they dared to do something highly unsual of their style that I admire a lot. Now not to just put GRV in top in the styles category as this year many of the top teams (and not top teams who are still damn good) have made an effort to spread to different styles (house, locking, contemporary) instead of commercial hip hop and that's also a big tip of the hat.

Conclusion: thank you GRV for putting ducktales in your UB set and I love Cali hiphop teams :)

After spending a more than appreciated dosage of highway five I am now officially moved out of my Freshman dorm and back at home in my nice big and comfy bed surrounded by the things that I had left behind when I went to college. But I'm not gonna lie, I miss college so freaking much and so for the sake of documentation I'm going to write down everything that pops up in my head...

-move in day
-meeting my roommate for the first time & being scared to death cause she was freakishly gorgeous
- realizing my roommate is the sweetest girl ever
-Phi Delt Invite as cowboy and indian theme
-going out on a tuesday and realizing that was the biggest nono to do.
-Chaotic Three Audtions/ The stress that went down that one week.
-Making friends with the infamous Jennifer at ATO
-The numerous thursday nights with great fun and that other not so great stuff which will not be disgussed
-Catchphrase with the floor
-The first C3 bonding party
-All the Football Games / Pwning Ohio State
-Maxt Out
-Practice for Prelude
-Prelude itself
-Writ 140 (never again)
-Having only one final fall semester and being incredibly sad that I had to leave when everyone was still there
-Coming back to SC in January and having an overbearing amount of happiness join me as well.
- Allowing my video game persona to come out of the closet thanks to a certain someone
-Realizing COMM will never suit me
- Design 102.... that's all I have to say
-Gousche/ guoce/ however you spell that god forbidden paint (ok so maybe I had something more to say)
-the never ending support I got when I was in that class
-staying up till 5 am before my color wheel project was due. (that was death)
-Kollaboration performance
-Discovering all the amazing dance teams in SoCal (serious prop to choreo cookies, CADC and NSU modern)
-Discovering people who have the same passion for dance that I do
-ALLCAL
-Placing third at ALLCAL (so freaking amazing)
-Kyle Hanagami Workshop
-Taking adventures on the bus just to get off campus and out of south central
-VanGuard Sessions but not really cause I suck at break dancing
-Trying to learn punking... woups
-The Fishbowl and its skeptical glass walls
-Teen Wolf
-EVK vs. P-side food debate... even though there was no debate at all
- attempting to make mac and cheese at EVK..
-WAFFLES!
-Housing Drama
-visiting the 624

and finally

leaving knowing I have a family to always come back to in SoCal

I LOVE USC!!!

Ending my freshmen year, things are starting to come to a temporary close. Classes have ended and finals will start soon but that's all side stuff. I was so scared when coming to USC because I feared it woudl be like highschool in that I wouldn't be able to fit in really anywhere. And then I came to C3 tryouts. I remember arriving at heritage hall for the first time, seeing a sea of nike dunks, vandals, and airs combined with basketball shorts and feeling nervous and thinking that I was about to make a fool of myself. After learning the piece we all had to break into groups then and do not only formations but come up with an extra 2 8-counts of choreography.

shit.

But somehow I was able to make it by and then I found a second family. Chaotic Three, USC's "premiere hip-hop team" a term that is o so overused in the college hiphop competition world became my second family. Struggling to learn pieces, baring out practices that would sometimes last for six hours at a time, straining through the cleaning, the aches, the sweat and the academic work (painful obstacle there). It's all worth it not only to perform after such hard work but to have people that you see sometimes everyday to be able to talk to about whatever you want and be awkward with too! (trust me I enjoy it).

Chaotic Three has grown so much in the one year I've been on the team. Prelude was only a start for great things to come and our 3rd place win at ALLCAL was the perfect way to tell us that we worked damn hard this year to get better. And that's just the start of great things to come.

And since C3 is a family to me, it pains me so much to see the seniors who are to me my big brothers and sister leave and continue on with their lives, but I know we'll see them again. It'll be wierd now not having anything to do on Mondays and Wednesday Nights until late august, but I'll be counting down the days until then.

Hello,

so as it can be seen by blog activity I decided that I wanted my site to collect a mountain of dust.

BUT THIS SHALL ALL CHANGE.

I have almost finished my first year of college at USC (no not the south carolina one) and am currently procrastinating from a 10 page paper like the typical college student (I fit in well).

And I intend to update this bloggin soon about all sorts of stuff (expect lots of dance stuff which will soon be later explained).

But this post is really meant a a motivation post so I will write more often during my summer off.

And so to start off I will hand out this link:

Kyle Hanagami is a very accomplished (and freakin young) choreographer who started out in the Bay Area but is now literally traveliing the world to teach his unique choreography that not only involved hard hitting isolation techniques but a mix of contemporary style that is out of the box hip hop. I took his workshop last sunday at HYPE studio where he tought us a quick dance that was not only enthusing but unique and that I felt captured the contemporary side of Kyle's work.

The entire dance isn't posted since HYPE likes to be like that with their workshops but you can get glimpses of what he does.

envious? yes. absolutely.

As I casually glazed over my daily amount of Facebook toiling I noticed a new link that inclined me.

http://new.facebook.com

Yes the shiny (yet slightly fearful) aura of the word “new” inclined me to click the link as if I had found a dollar bill on the road as you walk (and please I don’t want to get into the ethics of ‘what would u do if u found a dollar on the floor? My answer is that I would take it. The end). I wait as what would appear to be almost a nightmare to the daily Facebook automaton. Navigation bar on top?! Ads on the profile on the Right? Wall first? The reversal organization the new interface presented had me panicked as when I proceeded to go back to the old look it wouldn’t let me until I finally found the ‘back to the old Facebook’ link.

I took a long deep breath. And then proceeded to actually go back to the new look to further investigate.

The site has been modified in a way that seemingly looks like other similar social networking sites, just with the facebook color scheme as well as the infamous mini-feed. The top navigation bar automatically made me think of DeviantArt’s newly renovated ‘sleek’ interface look as well as the overall aura gave me a sense of ‘general’ and not unique.

Let me explain the main change in my opinion of the facebook organization. When you attempt to navigate through someone’s profile the first thing you will meet will be the profile picture to the right and the wall right next to it. Basically, facebook decided to separate the wall, the user’s info, photos, and the additional tab where you can place your (usually spam-like) applications ect.

Let’s start with how one is directly pointed towards the wall when one selects a user’s profile.

How this is good:
Needing to write a quick message to your friend and not having to scroll through the billion applications to do so.

How this is bad:
You’re an impatient person who is trying to reach multiple matters of the older interface (seeing wall and info) and having to go into another link to find it and being of course frustrated by the extra 2 seconds it may take.

This division seems to be my main concern with the new look. What facebook is doing is something I haven’t seen with its specific divisional tabs. Users are use to having the convenience of having to go to one main link and finding all the info/contact they need with the person with the exception of pictures of course which have been placed in their own separate link. Myspace, Deviantart, old facebook (OFB) have all provided that some-what comfort of direct linking and enjoy its convenience. I feel that by dividing by the way facebook has done has somewhat dissected the profile giving it a rather unsubstantial feeling when viewing each tab.

Considering Facebook’s history however (with its addition of applications that has given the site business with various companies and mini-feed that has what I felt increased the ‘stalker aspect’ of the site as well as its traffic) the company and staff may be able to sway the audience into submissively allowing the new design to make itself at home.

This is my direct first impression of the new look and so I probably missed some other possible convenient options of the look and I am looking forward to seeing how other people will view the look. I don’t want to put myself out there as a crusader of the anti-new facebook, but merely my reaction as an advent facebook user.

Cheers

Ps. I don’t think I’ve ever typed 600 words so fast in so little time. hehe

o and please excuse the grammatical/spelling errors. I'm terrible for writing this up so fast.

So It has been quite the while since I've updated this blog and I feel that there's been a lot that's been going on that Ill post later. However, I thought I would just stick to the present.

I'm in good old Georgia at the moment for the first time (first time in the South as well) with my boyfriend to meet his family and just relax. Now you may say 'oo are you in Atlanta? you partying hard there in the south'

And I will kindly reply no to both. I've been staying in Augusta for the past week doing nothing but relaxing... Cause there's not a lot to do around here. And yes. Other than relaxing there is lots of food that will keep you and your stomach busy. Pictures will be later posted so people may see.

What's interesting to note however is how Augusta, one of the biggest cities in Georgia is just covered with a variety of chain everything. Walmarts, Best Buys, Wendy's, and other not so heard of Chains like Crystals or Checkers. The mini plaza malls surround the gas stations and small family owned restaurants. The most depressing matter that got me to realize this is when we went to go see my boy friend's old middle school, it has been demolished into a new home depot to accompany the 2 other home depots there.

So much for Nostalgia.

Back to the stay itself. We were kindly welcomed to stay at the aunt and uncle house which although very nice, Seems to not be able to escape the occasional cockroach appearance. They're quite big and gross and scary. At least to me. The Aunt and Uncle are real sweet though and there kitchen is not filled with grease, but rather with whole wheat bread, fruit, and fatfree milk. Yaaay for going against the stereotype and yaay for feel-at-home food.

more to come laterz..

After 3 nights of endured hiphop dancing for my school's dance concert,  the sunday matinee show in the afternoon seemed to be doomed for low energy dancing. The one dance we had in the first act out of the two acts defiantly reflected the lack of energy and the collection of tiredness my dance group and I had. It was not until we were in the dressing room during intermission when the main dance teacher of our school came in and say " So apparently MC Hammar is in our audience." The whole room paused when they heard the 80s 'can't touch this' man was present in the tiny flo-mo theatre. After that news the energy of every since dancer shot up 10 times.

It was indeed hammer time.

And since I'm a sucker for celebrity spottings i got a pic with the hammer himself with my other dancer friend.

Great Success.

And since he let me take a pic. with him ill promote his website:  dancejam.com

that he came to talk to us about which is a site that is suppose to represent a youtube just for dancers to put down their choreography and moves.