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Thursday, November 29th, 2001
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12:24p - Glad Tidings
I think, and don't get too excited just yet but do knock on wood with me, that the National Certification Board for Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork has at long last confirmed that I am eligible to sit for the National Certification Examination.
As I've mentioned in the past, I've been certified in Integrative Massage Therapy (AKA Transformative Massage Therapy) through my teachers at the Green Mountain Institute for Integrative Therapy and the School for International Bodywork for nigh on three years now, and have been caught up in paperwork of one phase or another for far, far too long. Toward the end of October, I at last mailed my formal application and transcripts and such, as well as a very nice letter stating to them what I was sure they </u>must</u> already know, which was that Vermont - where the school is based - is one of twenty-something states that do not have or require any statewide licensure (aside from legitimate certification through a valid institute) of massage therapy. And yet, they sent me a letter of denial on the grounds that my school was not licensed or exempt from state licensure. This is what one of my teachers, Judith, had to say about that:
How do I send a photocopy of the statute exempting us from a law that doesn't exist? Will I be able to find a list of all possible exemptions to some law saying certain types of school need licensure? (You do not need a license to teach fly fishing, dog walking, dance, yoga, massage, riding, basket making, psychotherapy, sandcastle building, ceramics, philosophy, sushi making, sewing,.......)
And so my teachers and I bombarded the ridiculous Board with telephone calls and emails requesting clarity on this, before they suddenly just issued the school a number of their own accord, even after swearing to me that my teachers had never mailed in any of the paperwork that they specifically told me they had mailed in over a week before that. I was told at that time that all was well, that my application would not be invalidated, and that it would go through the proper channels and be reviewed from there. I decided, however, based on the now-notorious levels of ineptitude continuously exhibited by this company, that I ought to have that in writing. Other people have in the past been royally screwed over my this company (and make no mistake about it, this is a for-profit company that I have to deal with, here, one that charged me well over two hundred dollars just to ask their permission to take their bloody exam) and their disorganisation, because they didn't make sure to have the company document its assertions and assurances. So in the interest of preventing that from happening to me, I continued to 'phone them and mail them with increasing vigour, asking them to document and mail to me what they had told me over the telephone. They like to pride themselves on their promptness, and their claim that all correspondence will be answered within twenty-four hours, but it has taken me over a week to cajole and bully them into living up to their word. Michael, my other teacher at GMI/SIB, said that when he finally managed to get someone from the NCB to return his telephone calls, that the man had sounded scared for some reason...I really think that it's because they have very little idea of what they're doing, and thus any deviation from a very specific formula or very formulaic look-alike applications causes major confusion for them, which in turn causes panic.
I just spoke with someone at the NCBTMB, though, who maintained that she left a message for me earlier this morning. She left it on an old voice mail that I hardly ever check, rather than calling me on my cell 'phone even though I left the number for said 'phone on the voice mail of the NCB three times in one message yesterday alone. "No," the woman said. "You did not leave a number." There's another thing I've spoken of before, which is an enormous pet peeve of mine, a huge irritation, and an easy contender for Most Ludicrous Thing Ever - proof-positive of idiocy, to adamantly try to convince someone of something which both parties unequivocally know to be untrue. At any rate, this message, supposedly, stated that a letter had been mailed out to me on this past Tuesday, supposedly, which confirmed my eligibility to sit for that exam.
This is good news, to be sure - but I will believe it when I see it. I'm continually shown that it's a bad idea to make any assumptions about much of anything at all, and although by nature I'm a very trusting soul it's bad practise to trust fools, especially poorly-organised self-important fools who fib all the time about a good many things.
Just a few days ago I was listening to Morphine, which was a band with a sound I quite liked, and thinking about Mark Sandman's untimely death in 1999. I had heard at the time that his death had been the result of a heroin overdose - but no, come to find out: he collapsed onstage during a performance in Rome, and died of a heart attack. That seems even more tragic to me. He was only 47. His band was really taking off at that point.
I'll wrap up with a few final thoughts from Judith re. the exam itself and what I should study to prepare:
(...for goodness sake make sure you are up on talcum powder massage and thoracic outlet syndrome and and when you wouldn't use hydropressure spray massage and how many months you have to wait after terminating before you have sex with a client etc)
The talcum powder bit comes from this question, which is an actual question that appears on this exam:
Q.: What should you avoid when you are doing a powder massage?
A.: Inhaling the powder.
current music: Rachel's: Music for Egon Schiele (2 louches | share your thoughts)
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3:50p - Mission of Burma, Beloved
Two links:
First, Beloved. Beloved is a Sufi band that my dear friend Cybele plays with. I think there are still some sound clips up on this site; Cybele is one of the singers, and plays sarangi with the band.
And, Mission of Burma is reforming.
current music: The Smiths: "Handsome Devil" (share your thoughts)
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4:31p - Television
I hardly ever watch television. Thus, it was something of an event when, two nights ago, I stayed up late solely to watch television. Goldfrapp was performing on "Late Night with Conan O'Brien," and I wanted to see that. Of course, they were only able to perform one song, and of course they chose "Utopia," the 'single' from Felt Mountain. But it was very well done, and if I had been in the audience, I'm sure I would have had that pleasant feeling of having seen something quite good which had left me wanting more - not because of any lack on the part of the music or the performance, but on the contrary, because it was so good. (I got that feeling even from watching on a television screen.) I thought it was great, too, that they were being given that push - not many people in America know Goldfrapp, strangely; at least that's the impression I get.
I was curious about their live instrumentation, and was interested to see their setup: drums, violin, and two keyboardists, one playing a Korg and the other a Korg and a Moog. And of course Allison Goldfrapp singing. I really like her voice quite a lot. It's reminiscent of Anneli Marian Drecker. Both vocally and musically, Goldfrapp reminds me a lot of Bel Canto, another tragically underrated band that more people really ought to be paying attention to.
current music: The Boredoms: "Super-Going" (I was into Pop Tatari when it first came out, but kind of lost interest; the noise thing just wasn't doing it for me. But this, probably my favourite song of theirs, is very different; it's like The Boredoms doing slow and dreamy space-rock.)
(2 louches | share your thoughts)
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