Amelia

In short:

-afrikate and her awesome kitty S. are staying with us. It's really fun. I am a little bummed that they are leaving, but very happy afrikate is getting her new place!

-I now have 8 students in my class and we're past add/drop. This means I get my full salary. Awesome!

-We're doing Renaissance art this week. It's fun.

-Good thing I'm getting paid because I went to this woman's basement in Severna Park MD last week and bought two very expensive bellydance costumes.

-And then brought them to class and were told how much they did not fit properly.

-So I went back today with backup (afrikate and L. from bellydance class) and have 2 different, more expensive, costumes that I hope will be better.

-I am still undecided/ambivalent about performing in the class recital next week at Mem Sahib.

-Two weeks ago I did a 2-day Ravenchase in rural VA. It was pretty awesome. Especially visiting yogaville. That big lotus shrine out in rural Virginia. (We had to run around it looking for information to break our codes, not very yoga-like, still awesome.)

-We also spent way too much time in Farmville, VA. Yeah.

-Last weekend we went to Brooklyn to Come Out and Play.

-There were many awesome games. My favorite was one put on by the Disney imagineers called Unwritten Storybook. We were the elves (complete with ears) and had to join with other groups (royals, outlaws, etc.) to complete tasks (testing out the castle's defenses with a big ball and water balloons, "jousting" with balloons, archery with nerf weapons, etc.). After each battle or event we went back to these tables and filled in storybook pages with our own narrative (eg the elves went to the thief's forest and battled the fairies in an archery contest...) and decorated the pages with stickers and glitter! Games with art and crafts. We have a book. It was awesomely fun and they fed us a tasty lunch feast afterwards. Did I mention the entire event was free. Fantastic.

-We also played:
Shabbat-put! Olympic games, Sabbath rules. (Fun, funner if I had been the fastest, lightest, or strongest of my team.)
Cross My Heart + Hope to Die A game inspired by the labyrinth of Daedalus, set in a life-size maze. (Interesting. Lots of running and confusion, would have been better if the room hadn't been so hot. The maze "walls" were hanging strips of fabric.)
It Lurks in Gowanas. Solve the canals mystery before you're whacked. (A fun mix of using microsoft tag reader, walking to different locations, and a story told through youtube videos, with a little "chose your own adventure" thrown in.)

-Sunday we played The Time Traveler's Knife Brave time travelers take man's first tentative steps into the future, but before they can see the future, they will have to iron out the knots of the past. (Incredible concept, game play could have been streamlined. I had more fun than most of my team because aside from our main mission I was a secret cyborg. I had to meet other cyborgs, and together we brought about the cyborg revolution in 1965).

-The best part of Sunday was being in Green-Wood cemetery. If you're in the area you should totally check it out. Beautiful with lots of famous people buried there as well.

-This weekend I'm going to a family reunion in West Virgina.

-The next weekend it's con.txt (yay!)

-The next weekend is Adam Lambert, although I am only going to 2 of the 3 of the east coast shows that many of my friends are attending.

-The next weekend in July 4th.

-The next weekend is the end of my summer class and mid-July. WTF.

For You: The BP Oil Spill Re-Enacted By Cats in 1 Minute

Last night a smaller version of my bollywood performance class from last fall danced at a Muscular Dystrophy benefit. It was nice to be there and to do something for charity. We performed twice and the rest of the time were "decorative accessories" ie costumed greeters. (We had different costumes from last time, these were gorgeous.) We stood near the door or the Taj Mahal ice sculpture and smiled and bowed at people. It was sort of an odd thing to do, but fine. Great people watching.

Pictures here.

Fox news clip before the event.

One of my teachers is performing at Palace of Wonders tonight. http://palaceofwonders.com/home.html
Anyone want to check it out? I've been meaning to drop by Palace of Wonders for a while. Looks like doors are at 7, the show's at 9:30pm.

(It's my tribal teacher performing a cabaret piece. If you don't know what that means no worries. It's bellydance is pretty much all you need to know).

You know you want to. Make Thursday Suck Less.

A lovely woman from Cape Cod sent me some pictures of my Women's Challenge performance. (Aren't curlers just the nicest people!) I think they came out pretty well for things taken while I was dancing (or perhaps she just didn't send me the unflattering ones).

As I forgot to ask anyone to take pictures for me these, and the cell phone videos from flt (thanks!), are the only documentation I have.

Major differences from the dress rehearsal:
-I'm wearing false eyelashes and a lot more eye makeup
-I have a silver headband instead of black clips in my hair
-my straps are taped to my shoulders (last minute decision that caused a delay but prevented a wardrobe malfunction, thanks for the help cmshaw)
-it was really, really dark (this woman has a very effective flash) so the costume and makeup looked more mysterious and less gaudy
-I was a million times more nervous

There's one behind the cut and they're all here (you may need to scroll down).

( I remembered to smile )

I missed our Thursday game due to dance class, but heard we shook after the 6th.

Friday's game we were up two after the 4th. In the 5th they took 6 :(
So we're down 4 with three ends to go, not great, but not insurmountable. We took 1 in the 6th so down 3.
Then in the 7th they took 4 so I shook. I think we played well but couldn't recover from the 6-point end.

Saturday we were tied after the 6th (all 1 point ends, btw). We stole 3 in the 7th. The beginning of the 8th went well, we threw through and hit. Then we missed a few shots. I missed my first shot. My second shot was right on the broom with the correct weight, but then it picked, switched handle, and went through. So disappointing! (Someone in the warm room said I was robbed). Their final shot was good. We had to measure three stones and it turned out they had 4. We got as close to winning as you possibly could while still losing.

Thanks for excellent playing by insptr_penguin, ellen_fremedon, and afrikate. Despite all of the illness, injury, and exhaustion suffered by our team we pulled together and played well. (And thanks for giving me the opportunity to skip!) I had a great time at the bonspiel with you!

The bellydance show went well. Many, many thanks to all of the people who helped me get ready and put up with me fretting and bossing everyone around. (And who figured out how to operate the glitter brush.) I was super nervous going out, but they did a great job leaving me lots of room to dance, dimming the lights, and having the music at the right volume. Because I had so much room and people almost all the way around the room I had to adjust my routine to face different directions. I also got "tips" and because of people coming up had to abandon my choreography part way through (I don't think it showed too much though). I had a really good time, the energy in the room was great, and people we really supportive. I had $200 in funny money and $3 in real money :)

Thanks especially to flt for the opportunity for my debut!


(Now I just need to find other opportunities to perform. If anyone has any suggestions please let me know.)

I just bought a professional bellydance costume!!!

My teacher was selling her very first costume for half price. It's only slightly used, she said she only wore the top a time or two since it didn't really fit. It's so pretty, black fabric with silver designs over red fabric, and lots of silver coins. I have to extend the back strap of the top a couple inches (it seems my chest is just a little too awesome) but that seems within even my rudimentary sewing skills. I even think I can extend the beading (just black seed beads looped around the edge). There are concentric loops of black seed beads that hang down over my stomach and when I do belly rolls it looks really cool. The costume seems somewhat unusual, It wasn't what I was expecting at all. The tag says made in Egypt so I guess it's "authentic". So excited!!!  (I'd post a picture but the top doesn't fit yet and while it looks hot topless that's not really the type of dancing I'm doing.)

Now I just need a gig :)