Last year's attempt at trying something new every month was a rousing success - ergo, I'm doing it again! This time, I'll include costs of activities and may do more than one a month, because I love it.
February - Meditate with a Monk, Shirlington Library, Arlington, VA - free
I have been tracking the progress of the Monks as they Walk for Peace, and am hopeful I will have a chance to see them as they get closer to their endpoint of Washington, DC, this week. And in the spirit of this, I took advantage of a local activity I found that provided the opportunity to "meditate with a Monk" from the Mahamevnawa Meditation Center. My husband graciously agreed to be my plus one for this activity, which took place in one of the meeting rooms of Shirlington library on a Sunday afternoon from 3:00-4:30pm. I have a hard time sitting still and focusing, so this was an excellent practice for me. The volunteers from the meditation center set out mats and cushions for all of us and we sat cross-legged and listened to the Monk, who was very helpful (and surprising to me - very witty) as he explained how anger is not productive and is essentially a disparity between what we expect and what actually happens that we can handle in much better ways, and then led us through some silent meditations. Happily, I was able to sit still and breathe and got into the zone. There's something soothing about sitting still and "being" and I really enjoyed this.
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| I had to take a very covert photo as the volunteers were setting up for the meditation. |
February - Don't Tell Comedy, Venture X, Fairfax, VA - $27/person
As it becomes increasingly difficult to find things to laugh about, this event really appealed to me. Don't Tell arranges comedy shows and keeps the exact location and comedians secret until the day of the event. Tickets were $27 per person, and they encourage you to BYOB and BYOSnacks. Yesterday morning, we learned that the event would be held at Venture X, which is a coworking space near the Mosaic District. When we arrived at the space, we were very excited - mostly to see about 60 people in the audience, as prior to arriving, I was having flashbacks to an indie film screening when my daughter and I were the ONLY people in attendance - but also because the seating and lighting made it feel very intimate and very cool. Right at 8:00pm, the emcee started the show, which consisted of five comedians (including him) and the comedy was excellent! We laughed out loud throughout, and each of the comedians had such great POVs and did not rely on raunchy humor for cheap laughs (a peeve of mine with a lot of comedy). Will definitely be going again.
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Last night was my first activity, and my friend (and one of the original Dilettantes), Amy, joined me.
January - Norwegian language lesson (beginner, obvs), Norway House, Fairfax, VA - $20/person
Back in early December, I received an email with area holiday events that included a holiday market at the Norway House in Fairfax. This place is about six miles from my house and I was not aware it existed, so I spent a few minutes perusing their web site. During this perusal, I learned that the Norway House provides Norwegian language lessons every Thursday night, with a beginner lesson at 6:00pm, and intermediate lesson at 7:00pm and conversation at 8:00pm. I emailed the instructor and she assured me that even though the class began in January of last year, anyone could drop in at any time and pick up where they were. There were about 20 people in attendance for the beginner lesson, everyone was lovely to us and made us feel welcome, and they offered Norwegian cookies and coffee before we began. And if I may steal an adage from our Greek friends, from there it was all Norwegian to me. It was obvious that over the past year we had missed some crucial vocabulary and masculine, feminine, and neutral articles that would have made this a little more "beginner." Additionally, there are some words that just don't naturally form in this American's mouth (see "kjeks" below), though I did try with varying levels of success. I so want to go back because everyone was so kind and it would be so much fun to learn this, particularly because I absolutely loved Norway when we visited a couple years ago, but I feel we missed the bat (Norwegian for "boat") in actually getting in on the beginner level. Also, sticking with something to the point of mastery goes against all that being a Dilettante means.
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| The Norway House |
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| Name of a bakery the instructor owns. I appreciate this. |
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