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A Phreakin' Canadian!!!
never know really how to start these things out so here goes nothing
---ahem---
My name is Belva Stone and I am addicted to performing. I have been trying to get the attention of others in a postive manner since birth.
I believe that your name helps to shape who your personality is. With the name Belva strange things are bound to come out. I have been told that it's Scanadavian in root meaning the "mischeivious beautiful one" which isn't too far off the mark--mischevious anyway [img]biggrin.gif[/img] It translates into french as well. "Belle" is beautiful and "va" is the verb to go. I am beautiful on the go. In Italian it's a different story. While travelling there I discovered that in some dialects Belva means a wild animal or beast. I tried to tell people that my name was "Belle" beautiful!! ( can you hear my Italian accent??) but the girl I was travelling with would say "Her name's BELVA! ROOOOOAAAARRR!!" So I guess I am Beauty and the Beast. That would be a great halloween costume!
Born and raised in the same small town for 20 years in the interior of British columbia I needed to break out!! thanks to an English Proffessor from College I got my butt to Vancouver where I studied Theatre with Alex Bruhanski for a year. After a year and a half of living in the constant drizzle of Vancouver weather my boyfriend (at the time) and I decided to buy a VW Bus and drive to Baja Mexico. We did and it was an adeventure I'll never forget. I mention this trip because it changed my life.
While on this trip I met some people who helped me change my surroundings and essentially the way I see life.
5 months later he and I returned to Vancouver without the Bus (we left it in Los banos California which means the toilet in Spanish) and went to live in seperate homes. Long trips bring forth the clarity of the future and my future wasn't with him. I received an email from a girl I'd met while living on a beach Southern Baja. Inside her lovely long letter she had one short line that I jumped on---"I can get you a job!". She was working in New York State at her cousin's restaraunt making butt loads of cash as a waitress. I did it. I left Vancouver and my comfort zone to jump into the unknown future before me and leaving my past behind.
New York State was a culture shock to me. I'd never heard of things like Egg Creams, Ice Cream Sodas or Hard Rolls. I was living in a small town that was the calssic American town in my naive Canadian eyes. Overall it was a hard time for me but if I had to do it all over again I would. The lessons I learned there were well worth it.
New Years 1999. i flew out to San Francisco to meet my brother who was living there. While there for the holidays I called yet another friend I'd met on the same beach in Southern Baja.
"What are ya doing?" I asked him
"Going to the desert for New Years, wanna come?"
I said "Sure!!!"
Little did I know what I was in store for. We drove ten hours into Death Valley to these natural Hot Springs complete with Palm trees and utter freedom. The surroundings were absolute bliss as were the people I met there. For the first time in my life I had found a place where I fit in. On New Years Eve as the sun was setting we all donned our best clothes ie; formal evening gowns, tuxedo jackets and sarongs, little party hats and honkers in the middle of the desert. We toasted the last sunset of the millenium and joyously brought in the New Year of 2000!!
It was in the company of these folks that I felt free from all societal boundaries. Each of us brought our pure essence of our beings with no strings attatched and no judgements to hinder our outlook. For 4 blissful days we relished in all that we were as a group.
I needed to be in San Francisco. My nephew was born during the time I was in the desert which feuled my fire to get there even more. I returned to NY with a heavy heart and realised it wasn't where I belonged. I had experienced euphoric happiness in SF and I owed it to myself to search that out farther.
I did it again. I moved to sF into the unknown as an illegal immigrant only hoping to find work. When your on the right path things just fall into place. . . and they did. A job found me, I found a place living with someone I respected and miss terribly.
Freedom of every kind offered itself to me. Most importantly the freedom to express myself was there. Non-conformity, individualism, and origionality were the key themes in my world there. If I jumped people would jump with me. If they giggled I would guffaw with them. It's one thing to be an individual in a crowd but it's empoweriing to surround yourself with like minded individuals.
So for a year I lived and played hard in the magical city of San Francisco. I lived in a bubble of creative extremeties and flourished as a person. I was surrounded by a warm blanket of people who called me their friend. It was when I left that I had the hardest time readjusting to "normal" living. I forgot that people don't let themselves free for fear of risking something. I forgot that we judge people based on their dress and actions. I forgot that society has unspoken rules that dictate who you can and can't hang out with. It frustrates me but there's nothing I can do. I don't conform to the general public views; I have learned to work around them
<img src="graemlins/jester.gif" border="0" alt="[jester]" />
SF is where I saw fire dancing for the first time. I was hooked before I knew it. I now twirl fire on a regular basis and am starting to perform publicly as well as expand my fire arts. I have also had a facination with street performers all my life. I am currently trying to put together a street show that showcases my strange talent for balancing things on my head while standing on a rola bola and twirling poi. My confidence has been growing over the past year so that I think I'm ready to hit the streets with my stuff come spring.
Somehow I have found myself back in my hometown where I grew up. It's strange to be in a place I know I don't belong. BUT Oddly enough in a traditional town that doesn't always accept new ideas my fire dancing has really taken off. It feels good to have success in such an odd place but deep down I know I belong in the company of my freaks in San Francisco.
As for the nickname Flo---it was given to me by my old roomate because I go with the flow--yo! And it rhymed with Pollo Enfermo, Reno, Limo, Chuck-O, Jock-O, Colorado, Rock-O etc.
Thanks for the time,
Belva
---ahem---
My name is Belva Stone and I am addicted to performing. I have been trying to get the attention of others in a postive manner since birth.
I believe that your name helps to shape who your personality is. With the name Belva strange things are bound to come out. I have been told that it's Scanadavian in root meaning the "mischeivious beautiful one" which isn't too far off the mark--mischevious anyway [img]biggrin.gif[/img] It translates into french as well. "Belle" is beautiful and "va" is the verb to go. I am beautiful on the go. In Italian it's a different story. While travelling there I discovered that in some dialects Belva means a wild animal or beast. I tried to tell people that my name was "Belle" beautiful!! ( can you hear my Italian accent??) but the girl I was travelling with would say "Her name's BELVA! ROOOOOAAAARRR!!" So I guess I am Beauty and the Beast. That would be a great halloween costume!
Born and raised in the same small town for 20 years in the interior of British columbia I needed to break out!! thanks to an English Proffessor from College I got my butt to Vancouver where I studied Theatre with Alex Bruhanski for a year. After a year and a half of living in the constant drizzle of Vancouver weather my boyfriend (at the time) and I decided to buy a VW Bus and drive to Baja Mexico. We did and it was an adeventure I'll never forget. I mention this trip because it changed my life.
While on this trip I met some people who helped me change my surroundings and essentially the way I see life.
5 months later he and I returned to Vancouver without the Bus (we left it in Los banos California which means the toilet in Spanish) and went to live in seperate homes. Long trips bring forth the clarity of the future and my future wasn't with him. I received an email from a girl I'd met while living on a beach Southern Baja. Inside her lovely long letter she had one short line that I jumped on---"I can get you a job!". She was working in New York State at her cousin's restaraunt making butt loads of cash as a waitress. I did it. I left Vancouver and my comfort zone to jump into the unknown future before me and leaving my past behind.
New York State was a culture shock to me. I'd never heard of things like Egg Creams, Ice Cream Sodas or Hard Rolls. I was living in a small town that was the calssic American town in my naive Canadian eyes. Overall it was a hard time for me but if I had to do it all over again I would. The lessons I learned there were well worth it.
New Years 1999. i flew out to San Francisco to meet my brother who was living there. While there for the holidays I called yet another friend I'd met on the same beach in Southern Baja.
"What are ya doing?" I asked him
"Going to the desert for New Years, wanna come?"
I said "Sure!!!"
Little did I know what I was in store for. We drove ten hours into Death Valley to these natural Hot Springs complete with Palm trees and utter freedom. The surroundings were absolute bliss as were the people I met there. For the first time in my life I had found a place where I fit in. On New Years Eve as the sun was setting we all donned our best clothes ie; formal evening gowns, tuxedo jackets and sarongs, little party hats and honkers in the middle of the desert. We toasted the last sunset of the millenium and joyously brought in the New Year of 2000!!
It was in the company of these folks that I felt free from all societal boundaries. Each of us brought our pure essence of our beings with no strings attatched and no judgements to hinder our outlook. For 4 blissful days we relished in all that we were as a group.
I needed to be in San Francisco. My nephew was born during the time I was in the desert which feuled my fire to get there even more. I returned to NY with a heavy heart and realised it wasn't where I belonged. I had experienced euphoric happiness in SF and I owed it to myself to search that out farther.
I did it again. I moved to sF into the unknown as an illegal immigrant only hoping to find work. When your on the right path things just fall into place. . . and they did. A job found me, I found a place living with someone I respected and miss terribly.
Freedom of every kind offered itself to me. Most importantly the freedom to express myself was there. Non-conformity, individualism, and origionality were the key themes in my world there. If I jumped people would jump with me. If they giggled I would guffaw with them. It's one thing to be an individual in a crowd but it's empoweriing to surround yourself with like minded individuals.
So for a year I lived and played hard in the magical city of San Francisco. I lived in a bubble of creative extremeties and flourished as a person. I was surrounded by a warm blanket of people who called me their friend. It was when I left that I had the hardest time readjusting to "normal" living. I forgot that people don't let themselves free for fear of risking something. I forgot that we judge people based on their dress and actions. I forgot that society has unspoken rules that dictate who you can and can't hang out with. It frustrates me but there's nothing I can do. I don't conform to the general public views; I have learned to work around them
<img src="graemlins/jester.gif" border="0" alt="[jester]" />
SF is where I saw fire dancing for the first time. I was hooked before I knew it. I now twirl fire on a regular basis and am starting to perform publicly as well as expand my fire arts. I have also had a facination with street performers all my life. I am currently trying to put together a street show that showcases my strange talent for balancing things on my head while standing on a rola bola and twirling poi. My confidence has been growing over the past year so that I think I'm ready to hit the streets with my stuff come spring.
Somehow I have found myself back in my hometown where I grew up. It's strange to be in a place I know I don't belong. BUT Oddly enough in a traditional town that doesn't always accept new ideas my fire dancing has really taken off. It feels good to have success in such an odd place but deep down I know I belong in the company of my freaks in San Francisco.
As for the nickname Flo---it was given to me by my old roomate because I go with the flow--yo! And it rhymed with Pollo Enfermo, Reno, Limo, Chuck-O, Jock-O, Colorado, Rock-O etc.
Thanks for the time,
Belva
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