hobbies, interests, ennui-eradicators and blissful hopefuls
Sometimes I think I grew up too fast and felt the weight of responsibility at an early age as a result of my own acceptance and the circumstance of short-lived childhoods in different places. However so, it got me rather obsessed with exploring opportunities, business ideas, and actual tasks rather than really playful things//though those are slowly surfacing now so I share them first//followed by concepts, ideas, thoughts of fancy in snapshot form.
yoga
Bending in ways I never thought I could. I've done yoga sporadically for about 6 years but didn't take it more seriously until about 2007, when my body kind of gave out on me after a difficult bout of insomnia and I needed something which would realign me. Chiropractics did it structurally, food and medicine did it chemically, my attention to my environment and surroundings did it elementally, and yoga did it spiritually. I am now furthering my practice to eventually get a certification in understanding yoga beyond a physical challenge and daily routine but as a philosophical approach to the world, deeper anatomical confrontation with the body, and ultimate calming of the mind. But laterally, it has opened my eyes to the very act of doing something as "one's meditation"--be it singing, carpentry, sitting still or chopping cabbage. It's all in the intention of the action.
singing
I grew up in a very musical family; the Schlaikjer side always had a guitar around family tables and three of my father's sisters sing regularly as a group, one of them an accomplished opera singer. In the Lee-side, I believe singing to be genetically imprinted in the very being that makes the Amis culture what it is: a loving community that puts family at the core...many times accomplished with food, music and meriment. I've always been a closeted lounge singer and fantasized about slinking across a grand piano in a silky dress doing it straight up 'Fabulous Baker Boys' style. My 10 jazz classes led me in front of my first audience and took care of that initial stage fright...and now singing is slowly creeping out of my shower and into other rooms of the house.
archery
A new love which I don't spend enough time on. If we lived in a perfect world, I'd have an archery range right next to my office and do at least a dozen quivers before the start of my day. It's an amazing battle sport--in many ways like yoga or golf--where the mind must focus intently on all the variables (particularly within the body) that would affect the eventual outcome. The catch is too much focus and frustration laps fluidity and the accuracy of the shot...a particularly difficult balance to find that always ends up being a personal battle.
dance
I'll never forget my first time on stage tap dancing in a black and white stripped outfit, hat and cane. I was 6 and for the following 12 years, pursued this non-professionally. Even now, I still get dreams of choreographing Fosse-type cabaret numbers and some times get lost when watching dance performances. You know the way some people twitch when they're playing video games with their consoles? I do that when sitting in an audience watching live performances and sweaty dancers on stage.
makeup artistry
I've always been fascinated by people's faces and exercised that passion by going to beauty school after graduating from Columbia University...much to the dismay of my parents. It continued a bit into a short career with a cosmetics start-up and a cosmetics giant, many weekends glamming up many girlfriends (and guys), and years of torture on my little sister and mother as I practiced. It is now an occasional hobby yet still rooted in a fascination with faces and transformation.
dream photo shoots
Reshooting, with friends and family, a collection of images that left a deep impression when I grew up.
Herb Ritts. Supermodels.
Sade. Cover Album.
Billie Holliday. Lady Day.
Flashdance. Film Cover.
Annie Lennox. Why.
Elvis Presley on motorcycle.
Nefertiti head bust.
Imoi Picture.
MAC male nude with paint.
the pure, self-healing body
Some Things I'm Working On:
Emotional Management Through Traditional Chinese Medicine by Dr. Zhang Yi Fang (translated by Amena Lee Schlaikjer)
Interviewing different experts on the body and gaining an insight on new perspectives of healing and mind-body relationships.