Dulcissime

Wow, so... "new livejournal." It's pretty Tumblr-esque. I'll have to see if it grows on me.

Today, I am having a relaxing day. This weekend was about hunting for a new place to live (hence why I skipped the Transcendence performance at Fez Tones), and then some chilled out social time afterwards. Unfortunately, nothing promising yet on the living space front, though I am making some calls and tracking down private rentals to visit for next weekend. But social time was good! Saturday night, we played Cards Against Humanity with Brooke & Tim. Sunday was Thai food and another fun card game, Gloom, with Jenn & Todd. Gloom is, essentially, Edward Gorey meets Aubrey Beardsley: The Game. If you like the Lemony Snicket books, you'll probably like this, too. Anyhow, really fun! Will have to get a copy.

What things have I not talked about in my flurry of activity? Well, Spoutwood went well. I made enough $$$ to dig myself out of the financial hole that being too sick to work for two months caused. I may not have much left over, but that's infinitely preferable to being in the red. Performing with Transcendence was good, as usual, but I preferred last year's stage to this one. We were mainstage performers this year, which is exciting, but that meant we were sharing the stage with large bands and all of their equipment. Even when they did their best to clear room for us, I was still tripping over mics and trying not to run into drum kits. I never felt like I was entirely focusing on the performance aspect, and so next year I hope we can figure out a better workaround or go back to a less-cluttered stage.

The cats are doing well. Nox is putting some weight back on and overall being less fussy about food. The chemo regimen is greatly bettering his quality of life. We have been spending a lot of cuddle time together, he and I. He is a very happy cat who takes his pills and gets on with his life. I love him so much sometimes I think my heart will burst.

I am NOT looking forward to packing/moving. I have SO. MUCH. STUFF. in my studio that all I can think is "noooooooooooooooo."

My nephew is at that five month old stage where he looks like the Michelin Man. It is very likely my parents will try to attain custody after some preliminary legal hurdles are out of the way. The further away that child is from my sister, the more functional he will be.

My brother is being moved to Hawaii for three years by his job. I am intensely jealous. And sad, because I genuinely like hanging out with my brother. Genuinely liking hanging out with any member of my family is such an anomaly that I'm pretty bummed. But happy for him.

Fandom is good right now. If you're not watching Orphan Black, ye gods and little fishes, you ought to be. The Emmys need to be just a shower of awards for that show, and a crown for Tatiana Maslany. Anything less is a crime.

Jason is adjusting to his CGMS. It's working well as an early warning system, but he's having other health issues right now that are still complicating his efforts to keep his blood sugars consistent. Diabetes sucks not only because it sucks all by itself, but because it causes other, seemingly unrelated things not to work, too. Fuck diabetes, is what I'm saying.

I've been less consistent with the beauty blog, but back to posting this week. I bought myself a really pretty lipstick at Sephora that should be delivered tomorrow, and I can't WAIT to write about that. /magpie

So, there you have it. Nothing terribly interesting. But after the winter I had, uninteresting is okay by me.

I am here to tell you that cultural appropriation exists. It is a real thing. It is not some term that those mean brown people made up so that they can "play the race card." There is an entire field of sociological study and race theory that deals with issues of appropriation. It is not fucking Santa Claus.

Likewise, "cultural appropriation" does not mean that you should not like Japanese food or listen to rap or enjoy Bollywood films or take salsa lessons, or any number of things that those minorities share with us in the US.

What it means is that we should think about how we enjoy things of cultures not our own, and how we present those things if we perform them.

It means that we should not feel entitled to cherry pick from another culture. It means that we should listen if someone from that culture criticizes how we are presenting those things from their culture.

And not everyone from that culture is going to say the same thing. I have heard Indian women criticize white women wearing bindis in any context. For them, it galls to see a white woman praised as ~worldly and ~cultural for playing dress-up with a bindi, while they themselves receive racist hate when they wear an article from their own culture. And I absolutely understand that.

I have also been given bindis by Indian women to wear in performance.

Here's the thing: neither perspective is more valid. Neither is invalid. Both are valid responses to their own lived experience within their culture. Minorities are not a monolith, and I don't believe it's fair or right to write off a perspective simply because it makes me uncomfortable, or forces me to examine an aspect of my behavior, or clarify if/why wearing a bindi is important to my performance. (For those not in the know, bindis are a pretty standard costume element in ATS, which is a fusion bellydance that fuses Middle Eastern, Turkish, and Indian folk dances with flamenco and modern improv.)

What this means is that with each voice, I add another layer of understanding. I refine my idea of when and where it is appropriate for me to wear a bindi. (For example, now I will wear one within the context of a strongly Indian-influenced fusion piece, which is pretty rare. I will not wear one if I am doing more generally fusion dance. I will never wear one for just fashion.) This is a sensitive issue, and not everybody is going to have the same data or conclusions. But I do think it's one that needs to be more closely examined by our community.

So, in short: you are not a terrible person for genuinely liking, learning, and performing bellydance. But you do have the added responsibility of constantly thinking about how you are presenting cultures that are not your own when you use elements of those cultures in your artistic performance, and adjust your presentation accordingly.

I know there are many professional dancers who do this regularly-- they are scholars of Middle Eastern & Turkish cultures. Who have lived and practiced their art in Egypt. Who have spent years or decades studying those cultures because they understand that you cannot decontextualize bellydance from the cultures from which it comes. For those people, I'm sure I'm preaching to the choir.

I am also tired of hearing that white women wearing articles of clothing from minority cultures (which may have religious meaning) is no different from Arab women wearing blue jeans. Cultural exchange is not evenly weighted on both ends. Institutional racism plays a HUGE role in what is appropriation and what isn't. Educate yourself and stop making these dishonest false equivalencies.

Look, I'm not perfect. There is no world in which I will ever BE perfect on this issue. But I do know that as a white woman who performs a dance that is fused from cultures not my own that appropriation is something I should always be grappling with, and if I'm not, then I'm doing it wrong. There are things I do that I know are problematic, and I'm still grappling with what parts of my dance are genuine love of culture and dance, and which may be appropriating parts of other cultures for the sake of my magpie nature. It's a thing. Pretending it's not is just... to be completely bereft of self-awareness.

Yeah, reading something like Randa Jarrar's article stung a bit, and yeah, that article was chockablock full of inaccuracies and fallacies of its own, both in regards to individual dancers and this history of bellydance. Here's what I know: we can critique that without ignoring the valid points because of her tone. We can not question if she's "brown enough" to talk about her culture because a Googled picture of her shows a woman with lighter skin. We can use more nuanced definitions of "racism" and "prejudice" that include elements of institutional power when we have these sticky discussions so that we don't make false equivalencies. We can not say hateful things, even if we perceive her as having done so.

I also know this: this week's discussions on the topic of appropriation exposed a LOT of ugliness within the bellydance community. It didn't damage the community. It exposed the damage that was already there. And it's damage we need to fix. As long as there are new dancers and new developments to the form, this is a discussion we need to keep returning to. We all need to keep learning and keep listening. Not pretend that cultural appropriation is a term that minorities use to make us feel guilty for liking things.

I've defriended at least five people on facebook today for acting like appropriation is the goddamn tooth fairy. I've BEEN defriended for clarifying terminology. I've cringed in shame at supposed teachers within our community. Can we please stop showing our asses now?

As a result of the discussion, a Decolonizing Bellydance group was founded for those of us who don't want to roll our eyes at the topic. Who want to look at bellydance and issues of Orientalism and appropriation and learn. There's also a Tumblr. I am really glad this is happening. I have a lot to learn.

Things here are good. The Autumn update went up, and now I'm focusing on marketing and expanding my base. I have the most amazing repeat customers, but in order to expand, I need to target new people as well. So I'm doing some FB advertising, with mixed results. If you're someone who has good tips on this sort of thing, I'd love to hear them. I wear so many hats re: my company, and marketing is still something I'm a bit mystified by.

Verve was supposed to perform at this month's Tribal Cafe, but Flissy broke her ankle two days ago, which is a bummer for all involved. I was really looking forward to some swordwork we've been planning, and I'm certain that being laid up for a bit is not her idea of super fun times, either. But! Considering the other two artists on the bill are soloists, Bella and Mavi were totally cool with me calling in reinforcements from Transcendence to do a 4-person set. So I will still be performing. What, I'm not exactly sure. Considering I will be on vacation for a week between now and September 28th, it's a damn good thing we specialize in improv. We're brainstorming ideas, which is good-- but they still don't have a venue locked down since Reef's abrupt closure, which is bad, because we have no idea about the layout we'll be walking into. Will it be a long, thin hallway like Mellow Mushroom or Asylum? A larger open spot, like Reef? Will there be room for props, or to safely bring in a sword? I don't know any of that. So. Improv. Yay for improv.

Or apparently not, because scheduling clusterfuckery that I should probably not publicly discuss. Grumble. But this means Verve will be back in the lineup when Flissy heals.

Side note: the 28th, I'm planning on being at Faire. Because Baebes.

Also, I turn 30 in 8 days omgwtf how did this happen in my brain I'm still roughly 22 omg.

I dyed my hair and added more purple. The result was a darker magenta. Which is fine, I guess. At some point, I'm going to have to use some bleach on it to lift the color a bit, but I haven't put bleach on my hair for over two years, and it's really in fantastic condition right now. It still needs a few washes until the color really settles into whatever it's going to be (Virgin Rose tends to shift from blue-based magenta to red-based fuchsia after about a week or so), and I'll assess then. My hair has also gotten ridiculously long. It's past bra length now. Next year, it'll be at my elbows, if I don't succumb to the whim to cut it first. It's also gotten a lot of natural wave back-- I'm sure that's because I finally got all the damaged bits cut out.

Autumn collections are coming out. I want approximately 30 things on Modcloth (the skull cardigan! I DIE) but I must abstain until after the October trip, where all my money lives. I keep telling myself that I'm going to have a good time and that saving is worth it. But really-- a skull cardigan. That might be worth pulling out the credit card.

Both of my care packages for the swap were sent out early, because I just can't afford to be last minute with all the stuff I have going on right now. That's a relief!

Frustratingly, this week I have to jump through a bunch of hoops to get a new ID before I travel. The Certificate of Birth that my mother was given at my birth (issued by the state, not the hospital), is no longer valid enough for me to use it to get a new state-issued ID. Apparently, after 9/11, some regulation changed, and now people in my generation in MD need a different birth certificate and we have to pay $30 for it. Because of course we do. Thanks, bureaucracy. (Also, a Certificate of Birth, Social Security Card, 2 proofs of address, and my marriage licence, in addition to my last photo ID from MD is not enough for them to issue me a new valid ID. I need the different Birth certificate that I have to pay for. Because of course I do.)

That's all I've got for the moment. Orders must be packed!

It's raining. Not even good, cleansing rain. Or a thunderstorm. It's humid, sticky rain.

My water is turned off for "routine maintenance" until noon. I have neither showered nor had coffee. My dryer finally got fixed yesterday (it was actually the ducts, not the dryer), and so I have a literal mountain of household things to wash that have piled up over two weeks. But I cannot wash them 'til noon. I am grumpier than GrumpyCat.

Still, dancing happened this past weekend. The Dance Your Heart Out Hafla was on the smallish side, but the stage was very nice. Flissy and I did Natacha Atlas's gorgeous cover of "It's A Man's World" followed by a turbo-fast Raquy drum solo. Then we had to run to our second show with Transcendence completely on the other side of Baltimore, at Stadium Playground. It was a very warm, receptive crowd. However: hardest to dance on surface I've ever been on. It's that recycled tire stuff that they use so kids don't hurt themselves when they fall down. Its whole purpose is to absorb shock. Guess what that does to shimmies? You feel like you're shimmying in quicksand. It was mildly hilarious when we circled up and a brief look of "oh shit" passed our faces. Also given the 97 degree heat and humidity, I felt a bit like a wilted flower after that set, but the audience really loved it.

Also, there's this.



We never did get a chance to get a picture of all of Transcendence on the swings, but at least J got one of me throwing up the horns and scream-swinging.

Also:

 

Today I work on earring wardrobes. I'm still waiting on supplies to pour my next batch of resin, and then I get into heavy wirework. So today it's a lot of straightforward, perfunctory stuff. And making more rose copper headpins.

But! Sale at Sihaya Designs. Through Sunday night, use coupon code RAINYDAY20 at checkout for 20% off your order.

Spoutwood happened. I'm still in a state of post-event exhaustion, so I have a lack of eloquence. It was a massive undertaking, a lot of work, and I owe a debt of gratitude for everyone who helped: Jason for manning the booth and aiding in tear down. Meredith for getting me there in the first place. Sarah & Jenn D. for taking shifts while I was dancing. Amy for brainstorming a wonderful solution to display my wings. Jenn H. for painting me an emergency banner when it looked like my vinyl one was lost to the USPS. Flissy for caring after my furbabies. The list goes on.

Overall, I had very, very little time where I was not parked at my booth or dancing on stage. Something like roughly two hours total, and I spent most of that stuffing my face and hurrying from errand to errand. I did pick up one souvenir for myself, a new Dancing Pig Pottery mug, and I saw 1/2 of Cu Dubh's final set. But it was definitely a solid three days of work, so I didn't get to spectate or revel as much as I would have liked. On the other hand, I learned a lot just by jumping in and adapting, and if I decide to apply next year, I have an idea what to do differently so I can have more space for myself. I want to have time just to let the magic soak in.

Transcendence danced three hour-long sets. Day one was colorsplosion day, and my favorite parts were Eugenia reprising her fan veil flamenco piece (sooooo beautiful!), Anne's tray dance, and the energy of our first crowd (because the first performance is always the toughest while you wake up your brain and work out the kinks, like OH HEY I FORGOT THAT PART OF THE CHOREO). Sunday we did our Bal Anat-inspired costumes, and the finale piece was far and away my favorite. We danced to SJ Tucker's "Firebird's Child," with me starting solo, and then swapping out for groups of the other dancers before gathering all of us up in a big spinning frenzy and extending out to the crowd. Sunday also made me quite happy that we all have roots in improv-- one of our dancers had a severe allergic reaction Saturday night and was unable to come on Sunday, so there were a few brief moments of "oh! She was supposed to be dancing right now!," but someone stepped in on the spot and it all worked out.

I also really enjoyed collaborating with Meredith on her vision of a duet to the Medieval Baebes' "Scarborough Faire." Though I admit the song is not my favorite, I have long wanted an opportunity to work with Meredith on a dance piece, and I hope this was not a one-off, and that we can create something else together in the near future.

Business wise: I didn't quite know what to expect, so I don't know how to gauge what I made. I suppose I had hoped to sell a bit more, but from what I gather, my sales patterns were exactly on par with other similar vendors', including the well known vendors. Friday was slow, which was expected. Saturday began slow, but picked up steam by later afternoon. Sunday was gangbusters. If I had made Saturday what I made on Sunday, I would be thrilled. I'd estimate I sold about half of the huge batch of wings I made for the show, and several pieces of labradorite that I made for that purpose, as well. I sold my top dollar item, the Rani collarpiece, on Sunday, and I am thrilled about that!

One thing I did NOT expect was to battle allergies. I've never had allergies before! I suppose with 30 looming, hormones are bound to change. Friday and Saturday were absolutely miserable. I wept uncontrollably all day long, and trying to keep eye makeup on was a total lost cause. By Sunday, enough Claritin had made it into my system that I felt like a person, and not a human water fountain. At least the weather was beautiful.

So, now I'm home. I've had a full night's sleep. I've cuddled the furmonsters. I've replenished my empty refrigerator. I have to clean the place and vacuum, but not today. Today is for being lazy. Thursday, I begin the process of photographing unsold inventory created for the show, which basically means lots and lots and lots of wings. But for now: nap, dinner, tv catch up.

It was a pretty social weekend here, with lotsa dancing. Saturday was the Gemini show for House of Ruth, and one little (but funny) flub aside, Verve did a solid performance. I also was introduced to Eyes of Isis, a PA-based comedy bellydance duo, and I 'bout lost it laughing at their routine. They were awesome. There was also a duet of paper mache dragonlizards dancing to Prince, and technology needs to advance sufficiently to make gifs from memory, because it was a perfect example if "the shit is this? / the shit was that?" Overall, it was a good show. Well-run (kudos to Baba Ganoush & Cypress), and it raised over a grand for a great cause.

Sunday, we made it down to Tribal Cafe to see Lilam rock the house with spunky purple-ness. That said, as much as I liked the Mellow Mushroom's chipotle margaritas, I hate it as the venue for Tribal Cafe. There's not a lot of seating (which was true for Asylum as well, but I feel like there was even less), and anyone sitting around the back L of the bar (aka me) got approximately 1/3 of a show. Anytime someone stayed at the head of the bar or did any kind of floorwork, all I saw were fingertips. The sightlines are just crap. Kudos to Lilam for making it work with four dancers, though.

Today I start full steam ahead on the Autumn update, which is challenging without a laptop. There's some tentatively hopeful noise from my friend Greg that I didn't lose all of my data in the hard drive crash. Yay for that.

Anywho, if you don't LJ on the weekends, I put up an update of shinies.



Verdict on the new camera (Canon PowerShot S95) is that I love the picture quality, but the battery is crappy. I will probably end up buying one or two additional batteries so I can keep shooting an update without stopping (it takes, on average, 3-4 hours to shoot an update). The picture quality makes it way easier to do the photo-editing portion. With the exception of some brightening and color-correcting some of the purples, that part took approximately half the time.

ANYWHO, it is that time of year for the Sihaya Designs Customer Appreciation Promo. 15% off for existing customers, free shipping for new ones. For deets, check out http://sihayadesigns.blogspot.com.

I am trying not to let this sink into a "what I did with my weekend" type blog, but I've been rather busy. I'm sorry for the lack of content.

Saturday night was Charm City Tribal, and aside from the MOST EXCELLENT sangria in the green room (of which I had, of course, something like three happy-making glasses), there was fantastic dancing. I didn't get to see the first two acts because Verve was on third, so I missed Patty and Spiral (who danced to A-Ha!), but I did get to see most of the rest. I particularly loved Talis's veil piece and Hip'notic's Re/Volution choreography, which I had seen at Art of The Belly and has improved the more they've danced it. It was gorgeous up-close and in such an intimate setting.

As for Verve, we did one choreographed piece (to VAST's "Touched," which I have loved since early teenager-dom and will love forevermore), a sword improv (to Pete List's "Nuevinda,") and then followed up with improv to a Tobias Roberson drum solo. The choreography went well-- no choreography ever goes completely according to plan, but we only had one little bobble. I'm pleased that we got back on track so quickly, and I don't think anyone in the audience noticed that's not what was supposed to happen (and also why I am so happy that we have have improv skills). The one issue I was having was my damn hair. I have finally gotten my hair layers to the point where I can do long asymmetrical bangs, and so I thought it would look nice with the costuming, which was black assuit and silver sparkles. Nope. Instead it just kept wanting to cover my right eye like an emo comb-over. No pomade on this earth could contain its emo-ness. Lesson learned.

Sidenote: my mail carrier came with her daughter, and they fangirled over the dancing, and it was adorable.

Sunday was brunch at Bonjour before hiking. I had artichoke quiche and it was amazing, as well as bites of olive flatbread. I love that place. Proceeded down to Great Falls to hike Billy Goat Trail A, which is more like scrambling over rocks and boulders than actual hiking most of the way. Got suddenly and spectacularly ill halfway down the trail (food poisoning? who knows?), right before the steepest climbing part, the Traverse, which is basically a V-shaped crag in a stone wall face that ascends at something like a sixty degree angle. My legs were shaking so hard going up that damn thing, but I'd already passed the halfway point and the only way out was through. Thankfully, I did NOT plunge into the C&O, then get swept away by rapids. I have pledged to go back before the end of summer so I can make better time. Still, it was nice to be out in the sunshine.

Today is actually an R&R day. My most strenuous plans involve catching up on Tribal Fest vids and painting my toenails. I might dance later tonight if I'm up to it, as I'm trying to keep a steady practice going. But right now, I have a giant fuzzy son on my lap purring contentedly, so that will have to wait.

If you're local and free on Saturday, you should come. Flissy & I are doing a rare choreography, some sword improv, and a drum-based improv. Plus I love the other ladies (and gent) on the lineup.

In bullet point form so I don't forget.

-- No, I did not take pictures, but plenty of other people did. They'll show up eventually.
-- Lavender ice cream. OH MAN. So good.
-- Saw bits of Telesma's set (as we were scheduled overlapping), and bought the new cd to support Ian's recovery fund.
-- Blissfully was safe from most things at Father Dunn's. Found a great belt for $60 but was able to talk myself down. It was a want, not a need.
-- First set was the grass set. I HATE THAT GRASS. Not only is it uneven and hilly (and hard to dance on), but there are hard stalks growing out of the ground that catch on your skirts and shoes. No one lost a skirt like last year, but this year, in the middle of my duet with Flissy, I lost a shoe mid-spin. So if you're wondering why I almost collided with Flissy and then made my "dude, I gotta GTFO" face at her, it's because I was holding onto my shoe with my toes.
-- So. Humid. I was sweating through my TEETH, I swear it.
-- Hi ladycoldfire! Hi mizjawnson! Hi Greylen!
-- Second set was stage set. Great crowd! Music cut out halfway through the last song, so we got the crowd clapping and kept zilling and then I led the ending anyway, a-capella. It was pretty great, actually.
-- People LOVED our costumes. We must have gotten stopped for pictures at least 20 times.
-- THE LITTLE GIRLS, OMG. The little girls after our sets who wanted to dance were SOOOOO cute. Most were so shy, but then once we got them up were like OMG I AM DANCING WITH FAIRY LADIES IT IS THE BEST. One little girl was too shy, but her mom brought her over after we were done and she wanted hugs from us and it was THE CUTEST.
-- I sweated my bindi off and my costume had turned me green by 6pm.
-- Jason got an amazing hat. It makes him look like Raiden.
-- Was told that I am River Tribe and have no choice in the matter, as I was baptized in mud last year.
-- You know what I love about Spoutwood? All body types and ability levels and gender presentations are accepted, no questions asked. It's such a warm, happy, inclusive place.
-- mermaiden and I decided that next year, there will be a joint Fable Tribe / Sihaya Designs vending table. Your monies will not be safe, and we will have pink hair and the shinies will be multitudinous.
-- NOTHING compares to a post-Spoutwood shower. I do not know how those of you who camp all weekend do it.
-- Today was my day of rushing to and fro and trying to feed and hydrate myself in between. Aside from restocking tea from Cherie Ann, I did not do much vendor-browsing or show watching. Tomorrow, we should arrive around noonish and then we only have one set at 4, so I am looking to see what shines are for sale and seeing pictsy perform and maybe seeing if I can spot Twig.

Last week was a very draining week. I was still recovering from being sick while also filling in extra at the shop. My boss was released from the hospital on Tuesday (double pneumonia), but came in just to sign checks on Friday. He looks pretty good, all things considered. He's understandably weak, but seems in good spirits and his color looked a lot better than I was expecting. So by the time Friday rolled around and it was time to get in costume for the Vixen Variety show, I was... more run down than pumped. Plus the weather had taken a turn for the narsty, and Friday was cold and rainy to boot.

I didn't have time to grab anything to eat in the hour between getting home and getting on the road, and once we actually got on the road, an accident that looked like it involved an 18-wheeler had caused 695 to move at 5 mph. (Serious props to marinatempest for not having a meltdown-- and were it not for her emergency Larabar, I might have.) To say we didn't make call time was an understatement. Seems many, many people had a similar experience, because we were not the last ones to arrive, and overall the event started on Bellydancer Standard Time. But considering it was a Firefly-themed event with a bar that was serving up its own (totally delicious) version of Mudder's Milk... no one really minded all that much.

marinatempest and I did a Companion-inspired piece. I am pleased to report that my makeup looked awesome-- considering my test/run-through of a new technique on Thursday night left me looking like an extra from Priscilla, Queen of the Desert. I stepped the glitter down a notch, and it worked nicely. I absolutely love how the costuming turned out-- we did deep wine cholis with gold embroidery, then attached matching silk sleeves from Flying Skirts. Very Inara-esque. Flowy sleeves + swords was a definite challenge, as a small bit of our vocabulary and hand balancing tricks were ruled out on account of snag-ability. So we devised an improv vocabulary of flowing swordwork instead, with some head balancing. I think it went really well-- the audience loved it. They went totally nuts when we did the head balancing, and we got some really wonderful praise that made all warm and wibbly inside. When I was dancing, I kept wondering what I was stepping on that was crinkling under my feet, and then I realized that people were throwing money at us. You know, with love. Plus, I grew to totally love our set music-- Knossos's "Al Sahid" (which sounds like a lost track from Serenity's soundtrack, honestly), plus "Dobro" by Kaya Project. Nice languorous pieces that meld Middle Eastern riffs with Old West sensibility.

To give you a sense of how tired I was when I got home (and frankly, two Mudder's Milks on an empty stomach was probably not my best idea): this morning when I got up to get the mail, I found my silk sleeves on the lawn. OOPS.

Props to my fellow perfomers, as well-- other highlights I remember: Nikki Murphy doing dark & twitchy, a stunning veil poi performance (in honor of Wash), a super cute Kaylee burlesque piece, a YoSaffBridge performance that was so beautiful and flowy and spinny and sassy all at once, and of course, Bella and HER sword of awesomeness (a River tribute). When she gets into a flow and starts hitting the music just right, she and her sword are one, and it is so inspiring to watch. She's definitely my sword-y role model.

This morning, I ran a bunch of errands: bank, post office, groceries (loaded up on baby spinach & fruits at Trader Joe's as well as the new cookie spread chocolate bars that are like crack tiny bites of Heaven). Then I was rewarded with a fresh fruit smoothie from Smoothie King (as marinatempest's smoothie tweets have been making me long for a better blender), a stop in Pier 1 to pick up new pillar candles, and of course, Barnes & Noble. I had to pet some books. I did see re-issues of book classics with AMAZING retro covers in faux-leather tooling for $12. I would love to pick some of those up. On a hilarious note, I saw some Jane Austens redone in the modern teen cover style, then put in the "new for teens!" section. It was a definite head-slapping moment. Oh! And I got a Carcasonne set, after enjoying it at reedrover & achaosofkittens's place.

Have to wrap gifts now-- it's baby sister Melissa's 18th birthday party today (MY BABY SISTER IS 18. HOW DID THIS HAPPEN?)-- and then I am going to come home and eat the BIGGEST SALAD EVER. All of this sunshine & fresh air is at the least giving me good food cravings.

Tomorrow, it is studio cleaning day. Piles need to be sorted and dealt with, spatters of various this and that need to be cleaned off the desk, little bits of metal need to be vaccumed out of the carpet, and the studio altar needs to be cleaned out of post-Yule winter mode and brightened. I also need to shop for new upright lamps for the living room. We currently have Japanese-inspired lamps, but the light they give off is SO yellow-y. I need something that has more of a natural sunlight tint, as the living room does not get especially good light.

Alright! Stuff to do!