Jason Alan Griffin :: The Blog

My 49th birthday is June 15, 2015. Forty-nine is a big year for me because it completes the seventh cycle of seven years.  Every seven years I undergo a major shift in personality and perspective.  It isn't usually an instantaneous thing, but something that happens over a several-year period. The most recent change could be felt beginning in February of 2014 during my First Degree Black Belt training and continued throughout most of the year. And I feel like I'm still adjusting to the new me; I can't wait to see what I become this time. In the meantime, to celebrate this event, I'm inviting all of my Nia family to come and party with me. I have reserved the Century Ballroom on June 13 from noon to 4pm. At noon I plan to teach my latest routine, Frankie Say Nia.  I have taught it plenty of times in Seattle, but that was before I took it on the road. When I take it around from place to place, I get a chance to refine and improve it at every stop, based on how th...

I started this trip the next day after a Wisdom Comes Dancing playshop with Phillipe and Sabine. It was a beautiful send-off to a long and eventful Nia adventure. I taught my latest routine, Frankie Say Nia in 22 cities: Forest Grove, OR Eugene, OR Nevada City, CA Campbell, CA San Diego, CA Santa Monica, CA Phoenix, AZ Flagstaff, AZ Durango, CO Albuquerque, NM Santa Fe, NM Austin, TX San Antonio, TX Corpus Christi, TX Houston, TX Dallas, TX Kansas City, MO Lyons, CO Boulder, CO Boise, ID Spokane, WA Bellingham, WA Eight of the engagements listed above were at places I had never been before. The rest were return engagements. In addition to that, I taught my FreeDance Playshop three times and a Choreography Co-Creation playshop three times. In one city, I focused on teaching the local teachers my Rock & Roll Nia routine. In another city I participated in a teacher Jam and in another I battled it out with a fellow teacher, pitting my classic 80's songs...

Every day I have a special moment with my coffee mug. It is fleeting but important. And every morning on this last road trip, I took a picture of my coffee mug and posted it to Facebook so that my friend could get an accurate idea of the size of it.  Usually once it was posted on Facebook, I'd delete it from my phone, but here is a collection of coffee mug photos that, for some reason or another, didn't get deleted. Perhaps there is some special secret message in them, but I haven't found it yet. I'm posting them here in the hopes that one of my clever friends can decipher the meaning and let me know. Spokane, WA Thornton, CO Thornton, CO Salt Lake City, UT Denver, CO Lenexa, KS Tempe, AZ Addison, TX Dallas, TX Oklahoma City, OK Addison, TX Sedona, AZ Campbell, CA Medford, OR Jacinto City, TX Evanston, WY Salt Lake City, UT Spokane, WA Seattle, WA

I visited and had significant business in 37 cities in 12 states. 
I wait in the car a lot these days. When we arrive at motels or at studios or sometimes to other people’s homes, the human goes in first with the cage and then comes back to get the luggage and gets me last. Its much better than how we used to do it. When he brought me and the crate in at the same time, we’d often run into logistical problems in doorways or on stairs, or if we ran into someone before we were set up, it was awkward. Also, waiting in the car before classes prevents me from having to busy myself while he sets up the cage and other people are poking at me and trying to grab my head or look into my eyes. Now, I just hop out of the car when everything is all set up for me. I might visit a couple of bushes on the way in, but then I go directly into my crate, curl up and lie down. I can watch the human or fall asleep when I hear him do his routine. I’ve been in 22 different facilities where the human ha...

In the garage in Seattle before leaving. River and Babe, ready to go! She only had 6 miles on her when we started on March 21. This trip was 7850 miles and we averaged about 36 mpg. The average price for gasoline along the way was about $2.75. It was highest in Boise, at $2.89 and the lowest I paid was $2.49. Most of the time I was able to find pretty good gas. I like to use gas rated at 93, but I'll go as low as 91. There was only one time I had to use gas rated at 90. When I do, I notice a distinct difference in the way the coopers run. I got into the habit of refilling the tank just after it was down to half empty. I’d pay with a $20 bill and most of the time, I’d get change back after the tank was filled. Mini recommends using BP gasoline. In the past, I had used BP quite a bit and used Chevron as a second choice. But this year, I didn't see a single BP station the whole time I was out. I even did a few navigation searches for BP stations, but the few times I foun...