Today, despite a short downpour we did a 35 mile bike trek mostly along [...]]]> Victoria and I have joined Molly in Seattle! While awaiting the arrival of our tandem (which is making its way across the country via Greyhound Package Express and should be here soon!), we’ve been going on bike rides on Molly’s family’s bikes.

Today, despite a short downpour we did a 35 mile bike trek mostly along the gorgeous Burke-Gilman Trail, from Molly’s house just outside Seattle all the way in to Seattle Center. There, where we jaunted around the Folklife festival, enjoying great folk music and street performers, contradancing, and playing with newfound fellow circus folk. Lots of fun despite the gloomy weather.

Tara and Luke juggle at Folklife.

Now we’re staying with a lovely bearded man, Bryan, in Georgetown, in a little house with its own bike rack out front. He’s involved with Alleycat Acres, an urban farming collective that “transforms vacant spaces to create a network of sustainable urban farms that reconnect people to food while helping to increase food security on a community level.” So, he’s awesome. And he’s letting us stay on his couch(es)!

Victoria and Tara do acro at Folklife.

]]> http://downsideupcircus.org/wordpress/2010/05/gearing-up-in-seattle/feed/ 0 http://downsideupcircus.org/wordpress/2009/10/it-will-be-a-great-day-when-the-circus-gets-all-the-money-it-needs-and-the-air-force-has-to-hold-a-bake-sale-to-buy-a-bomber/ http://downsideupcircus.org/wordpress/2009/10/it-will-be-a-great-day-when-the-circus-gets-all-the-money-it-needs-and-the-air-force-has-to-hold-a-bake-sale-to-buy-a-bomber/#comments Wed, 07 Oct 2009 03:47:00 +0000 Tara http://downsideupcircus.org/wordpress/?p=302 Victoria is excited. Molly is studious.

But until that day, bake sales it is! We’ve been having semi-regular bake sales, featuring such delicious home-made fare such as raspberry cupcakes, chocolate cheerio chunk cookies, gluten-free brown sugar walnut muffins with cream cheese frosting, and chocolate fudge brownies. Hungry students, sweet-toothed staff, and curious passersby all [...]]]>

Victoria is excited. Molly is studious.

But until that day, bake sales it is! We’ve been having semi-regular bake sales, featuring such delicious home-made fare such as raspberry cupcakes, chocolate cheerio chunk cookies, gluten-free brown sugar walnut muffins with cream cheese frosting, and chocolate fudge brownies. Hungry students, sweet-toothed staff, and curious passersby all seem to appreciate our donations-only choose-your-own-price system, and initial profits are decent. Which means that the bake sales are all set to become a fortnightly fixture…

Other tactics include: grants! We applied for the Clif Bar Family Foundation Grant, because we think they’re cool, and to the New Belgium Brewing Company, because we think they’re REALLY cool. No word yet from Clif Bar, but New Belgium got back to us pretty quickly – in the negative. We still think they’re really cool. After all, they organize the Tour de Fat bicycle art festival that Molly reviewed a few weeks ago!

Finally, for the altruistic reader we have compiled a short Wishlist of in-kind donations that we would be eternally grateful to receive:

+ lightweight sleeping bags, lightweight tents, lightweight camping stoves
+ frequent flyer miles (for getting troupe members from the East coast to the West)
+ used bike trailers (the child-pulling kind)
+ bike lights (especially dynamo lights that generate energy from the motion of the wheel!)

And of course, come tour time, we will be looking for backyards to camp in, couches to sleep on, and kitchens to cook in!  and maybe showers…

On our lovely new website, which I’ve been working hard on all summer, there are so many things you can do!  including:

+ Read about our mission and vision [...]]]> Greetings and welcome to the unveiling of the Downside-Up Circus!  We’ve been planning, dreaming, and scheming since February, and now we’re finally ready to publicly proclaim our plans.

On our lovely new website, which I’ve been working hard on all summer, there are so many things you can do!  including:

+ Read about our mission and vision statements

+ Find out all about our summer 2010 INTERROBANG tour

+ Check out our first-rate troupe lineup

+ See how you can support, sponsor, or book us

+ Explore photos and videos from our past performances and tours

Here on our blog over the next year we will be documenting the process and planning of our first year of operation, leading up to our summer tour.  We’ll also post all the things that inspire us along the way.

Please drop us a line, leave a comment, or forward this on to a friend! We’d love to hear from you and we’re hoping to meet and inspire as many people as possible.

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