Fire and Tribal and Swords, oh my!

That's my plan for the evening. Sounds pretty awesome, doesn't it? Classes were a lot of fun last week. I'm enjoying learning Palm Flame and Sword, as they're two props that I'd love to be able to perform with someday (not at the same time!), and Tribal is always awesome. This session we're focusing on honing technique even more, layering shimmies, adding zills, and still learning some new moves, because Anaya Tribal has a huge vocabulary and we want to know it allllll.

I also got some new beading books in the mail today, which I've only had a little time to flip through, but hopefully I'll read them this weekend and get a chance to post some book reviews next week, as well as probably posting my Egg Moon necklace, which I got back to work on this morning.

Aww man

I was really excited for Sunday, because I was going to take a 4-hour workshop called "Fire For Bellydancers." It was going to cover fire fans and palm torches. What could be more awesome than adding fire props to my dancing?* Unfortunately, I got an e-mail this morning saying that the class was canceled due to lack of interest. Lack of interest? Seriously Tucson, what is wrong with you? How could there not be enough interest in Fire For Bellydancers.

Apparently they're going to try again in January. I may have to find random people and convince them to sign up for the class.

Anyway, today I went back to the gym for the first time since Monday, and I did a really hard workout. I even learned some new things. Hopefully I won't be too sore tomorrow, since I want to go to the Saturday afternoon workout.

*Actually getting good at the moves I already know, which is what I'll do instead.

Spending the night out.

Just a quick post. I'm on my way out soon, to spend some time with my family. Then us young folks (that is to say Chris, myself, my brother, and his crazy friends) will go burn stuff in a strictly non-arsonist sort of way. We're the kinder, gentler pyromaniacs!

I'm still mulling over necklace ideas. I think I'll get some good beading time in tomorrow, I don't have too much housework to do. I'll probably also get some more packing done. Everyone knows, though, that beads are the last thing you pack! You never know when you might need them.

My day at the Faire.

Ahhh, the Arizona Renaissance Festival. This was my 10th year going. It's been a tradition for Chris and I, ever since it was our first* date. We traditionally go during mid-March to mark our anniversary, but this year we finally decided that from now on we'll go in February. What prompted this decision? It was hot on Sunday. Rumor has it that it was 90! And as you can see, I was not dressed for 90.

Yep, the above is me in my Gothic/Tribal dance clothes, with my little shoulder dragon! This is the same thing that I wore for Halloween (well, I didn't wear the dragon then). You can see the yarn belt that I made, although my yarn hair isn't showing too well. It isn't full enough, I think I need to go buy some more green chenille and add to it. The skirt and the lace top are both thrift store finds, and the choli is something that I asked Mom to make to go with last year's costume. All in all, I feel that it turned out fairly well. A random little girl who was walking by looked up at me and said "You look really pretty" which basically made my day. Plus at one point, a woman grabbed my belt and showed another lady that this is what she was planning on making for herself.

Chris doesn't like me sharing pictures of him, but you can see his shadow in this picture, and see that he is wearing a cool hat. He bought it in NY from a drum vendor that also sells at our Faire. It's a woven straw hat from Africa, with leather accents. They're pretty sturdy and pretty cool looking, and a lot of vendors, employees, and musicians at the Faire also wear them. It was like Chris was part of some secret club... he and another hat-wearer would see each other, and either say "Cool hat!" or give each other the chin**. And two separate people stopped him and asked him where he bought it -- including one guy when we were standing in front of the drum booth!

So, the Faire itself. Other than the hot weather, it was a good time. Not too crowded, but busy enough that you didn't feel bad for the vendors and performers. We caught two shows of the band Tartanic, because we like them that much. We saw the falconry show for the first time, and that was pretty cool. The white-backed vulture decided to go rambling, so I got some pretty close looks at her. What an impressive bird! She was so close that, had I been a stupid person, I could have leaned forward and touched her. And we also saw two different music and dance troupes, which are the highlight of the day for me!

Both troupes had sword dances, which were incredible. I was very impressed at both dancers' ability to balance the blade on their head while doing floorwork, including some serious back-bends. And the first troupe also had a dancer who did fire eating while dancing, which was very cool. Actually, I noticed a lot more fire at the Faire this year, as there was also a whip trick guy whose finale was performing with two flaming Kevlar whips, and more jugglers with fire tricks. I have to wonder if there was some sort of ban lifted or something.

Shopping-wise, I didn't see too much that was wow-inspiring. It was mostly the same things as previous years, and the new vendors weren't too impressive. I did notice that they seem to be down to one maille vendor, and there may have been less leather vendors than usual, too. Some of the vendors that seemed absent really struck me as major productions in the past, but I have to wonder if this bad economy is really hurting them, and perhaps like many bead sellers, they've decided to stay closer to home for their shows.

As such, instead of making lots of little purchases, we limited ourselves to one large purchase each: Chris got the pants to match his leather doublet*** and I got some beautiful silk dance clothes. Plus we picked up a new Tartanic CD, and got our traditional end-of-the-day chocolate.

All in all it was a great day, and as is usually the case after the Faire, I'm really feeling inspired to improve my dancing -- starting tonight!

*Well, we say it was our first date, because that was the plan, but the weather ended up being bad and no one wanted to go with us, so instead we saw The Man in the Iron Mask and then went to the Faire the next day. However, since the movie wasn't that great, and we went with a friend who slept through it, I'm not sure it even really counts as a date, so the Faire may technically still be our first.

**I don't know what the rest of the world calls this, but in our circle of friends "giving someone the chin" is the reverse nod where you tip your chin towards someone in acknowledgment. In our gaming, it's a frequent form of greeting among stoic samurai warriors.

***This is the main reason for going in February. Chris wants to wear his leather doublet, without getting heat stroke.

Home again, home again

I'm back in Arizona! My last few days in NY were far too busy for me to find any time to blog, and my first two days home were far too sick for me to find energy for anything other than sleep and Dr. Who. I'd felt this sickness coming for days, and although it's annoying to be under the weather when I should be unpacking and getting back into the daily grind, I'm glad that I managed to stave it off until I left NY. I wouldn't have wanted to miss out on all the fun, and the time with my in-laws. Oh, and the delicious food. Mmmm, Exotic Mango Chicken.

On Thursday, we went into New York City. I simply love NYC. Yeah, it's crowded, and dirty, and some parts of it smell funny, but it's still an awesome city. I love window shopping. I love people watching. I love looking at all the cool old buildings, with their frescos and other architectural niftiness. I love glancing at the menus of the restaurants I pass by, knowing that I'll never, ever eat there. Oh, and I love Chinatown, which was our main destination for the day.

In all fairness, I most disclose a certain amount of hypocrisy. Chris's stepfather didn't want to go spend all day shopping with us in NYC, but he did have breakfast with us before we left. There was a TV in the diner playing news about the toy recall, so naturally our conversation turned towards China and its business practices. We complained about poor quality control, bad employee treatment, how they're driving other countries' industries under, and how our country blithely goes along with it... and then we took off to Chinatown, where we purchased cheap goods from China... *sigh* Well, ok, a lot of what I bought actually came from Japan, but I am still a freakin' hypocrite.

My problem, of course, is that I want to like China. I enjoy learning Mandarin. I love Chinese food (and while I realize it's highly Americanized, the inspiration had to come from somewhere, right?). I'm a martial arts movie junkie. Etc etc. It's hard to accept that all of these things that I enjoy come from a country whose policies and actions I can't really support.

Moral quandaries aside, I really did have a good time in the city. It was a pretty nice day, with just a little rain, so we walked the entire way from Penn Station to the store we love, Pearl River. I'm not sure exactly how far we walked, but I believe it was something like a zillion blocks. In fact, the only way I can justify all the food that I eat while I'm in NY is by pointing out how much I walk while I'm in NY! Anyway, Pearl River is the only place we shop in Chinatown, because it's the only place we need to shop. They seriously have everything there. Clothes, food, dishes, knick-knacks, musical instruments, furnishings, housewares, everything. And not just imports from China, but also a lot of stuff from Japan, and maybe a couple of other Asian countries. All of this is held in a clean, bright, well-organized store. We must have spent a couple of hours there, getting things for ourselves and presents for our friends.

All that walking and shopping built up some hearty appetites, so we made our way over to Singapore Cafe. If you read last year's NY trip report, you'll remember that we absolutely loved that place. It was just as good this year. Delicious food, food service, and incredibly fast for a sit-down dinner. If you go there, definitely get the lemonade iced tea to drink! It is delicious and refreshing.

After dinner, it was time to make our way towards the theater for the Blue Man Group show. We arrived there with over an hour to spare, so we went around the block to Barnes and Noble, where Chris and I picked up some reading material for the flight home, and I also got a cute plush dragon, made out of that soft chenille fur. We got done right in time for the show. I really enjoy Blue Man Group's music, so I kind of wish that the show had been more music and less... stuff, but it was still a lot of fun. By the time the show was done, we were all tired enough to take the subway back to Penn Station, then we took the train back to Long Island and were home somewhere close to midnight.

Well, this post is getting way too long, so let's do a quick rundown of other things I did while in NY: We saw my sister-in-law's band, The Good Luck Affair, play at a local club. I don't have the exact URL, but you can find them on Myspace. They're a rock kind of band, but Grace plays violin, cello, and sax on some songs, which changes things up a bit. We walked the Brooklyn Bridge, which was kind of cool, except I was exhausted so I kept wondering if I could close my eyes and walk on auto-pilot. We went into Little Italy and ate delicious dessert. Coincidentally, we were in Brooklyn right when the fire at the Deutsche Bank fire started, so we saw a lot of fire trucks going by. Luckily we were not anywhere near the fire itself.

In a way, I'm glad to be back home, with my kitties, and my beads at hand, and my friends nearby, and the ability to just laze around in quiet... But I also can't help but miss NY, with all of the fun things to do, the great people to do them with, and the delicious food to eat when we're done.

The Birth of Flaming Teeth -- Part Four.

Here it is, in all its completed glory: Flaming Teeth!

As you can see, I've added a picot embellishment along the top, to give added visual and textural interest to the otherwise plain base strip. Then I attached the teeth, using crystals as a bridge between them and the base. This allows them to flare out nicely along the neck and shoulders. For added toothiness, I placed the pearl white niblet beads between every tooth. It has a very talismanic look, just like I'd hoped.

And then there's the clasp. Check out the perfect button I found at the bead shop:

Not only are the colors just right, but I feel that the slightly wavy lines really echo the theme of the piece. The clasp has four loops to make the size adjustable. With a choker like this, fit is always very important.

I hope you've enjoyed following the progress of my 2008 Layne's Legacy: Beading For A Cure project. I've certainly enjoyed sharing it with you!

The Birth of Flaming Teeth Part Two.

Well, I took a picture of the finished base strip, but it didn't turn out, so I'll do another one in the next chapter. For today, I present to you... Two of the "teeth" that will make up my Flaming Teeth necklace! The one with Lois's awesome lampworked bead attached to it will be the focal point at the center. The little guy will go at the end. I haven't decided yet exactly what size(s) I want to go between them. That's something I'll work on figuring out tonight.

And of course in this image you get to see my added bead! Because I'm not a fan of the opaque beads, I decided that I had to add something with more pizazz, and due to the nature of my design, I also knew that it would have to be a Japanese size 11 seed bead. I checked my stash and found that *gasp* I only have about 4 different oranges in my collection! I have got to fix that. But this transparent iridescent orange that I had was just perfect. Bright, fiery, and a nice compliment to the opaque orange seed beads and the fire opal Swarovski crystals. I've decided to make it the predominant color in the teeth, as fire really should be transparent.

I know that I want to make matching earrings to go with Flaming Teeth, but I haven't decided yet if I want to make them beaded triangles, or order these cool Sterling triangle chandelier findings that I found and use those. Maybe I'll do both. We'll see what I'm feeling like when the necklace is done.

Today's Cool Thing is another awesome BFAC auction! Shelley MacGregor's quilted wallhanging is just beautiful, and I love how she picked fabric that goes well with the bead kit, but takes her project way out of the green and pink range of most of the rest. If I had more wall space, I'd probably be bidding on it myself.

Burning and BFAC.

Last night I went out with my brother and a couple of his fire-loving friends to the desert, where we had a bonfire and played with various spinning devices. Oh, and there was much roasting of marshmallows. Although it's been very warm during the day, nights out in the desert are still cool enough that it's nice to put on a long-sleeve shirt and stand next to a fire. Until my brother dumps a ton of lamp oil on it... Then you want to stand about 20 feet away from the fire! There was a bit of wind, so I decided not to do a burn with my fans -- I'm not very good with them yet, so the last thing I needed was a sudden gust to light me on fire -- but I did practice with them unlit. It was nice to be out someplace where we could all play with fire and not worry about disturbing anyone or lighting anything on fire that we didn't mean to -- Because when I say "the desert" I mean a home in the desert, with a nice cleared dirt lot. No brushfires for us!

Last night's "bit of wind" turned into today's constant wind and overcast skies. I'm really hoping for some nice Spring rain, to keep down the dust. Ren Faire this past weekend was terribly dusty... my once-black shoes are now brown.

The Layne's Legacy - Beading For A Cure auctions are doing very well this year. I'm so happy to see all the bids coming in, and I can't wait until my necklace goes up! That should be sometime next month. In the meantime, I've already received my kit for the 2008 project! I am sworn to secrecy until all of the new participants receive their kits as well. As such, I'm going to wait at least a couple of weeks to start on any projects. I'd really like to do a series of "in progress" posts on this blog for this year's BFAC project. I hope you'll all enjoy it!

Today's Cool Thing is these great Wrapped Silver Bracelets. I wish I'd seen these to be included in my most recent Fashionable Friday column! They'd be right at home on the wrist of a dancer at the Faire. They kind of remind me of something that one of the women in "300" would be wearing, too. Very stylish!

I kid you not, it snowed!

Yes, you read that right. It snowed in Tucson. If you don't believe me, read this article and look at the picture of snow on saguaros. I missed most of the snowiness, because I decided to stay inside and be warm, and sleep. But even at 3pm when I went to get the mail, there was still a little scrap of it in the lee of the building. We haven't had any snow here in a really long time, in fact, I think that in the almost 13 years that I've lived in Tucson, the winters have grown progressively warmer. I'm really not used to this really wintry weather.

All weather chatter aside, things are great here. On Saturday night, I finished the second draft of my book! This means that I feel free to start work on my next book, which I've been wanting to do for a couple of months. I also did a little beading in the past two days, which resulted in a nice Tribal necklace for me. I'll post a pic later this week.

The main thing I've been doing, of course, is finishing up the BFAC pictures. I'll be done with them tonight or tomorrow, depending on whether I decide to give in to the urge to write tonight. I want to get them done early in the week, so if there are any problems I can correct them before gem show.

Speaking of... Gem Show Countdown: 5 days!

One more random thing: Last night we watched a movie called Kill! It's a parody of the 1960s Samurai movies, from 1969. Even though it has parodic elements, it also stands pretty well as a serious movie. It helps that it's based on the same book as Yojimbo and Last Man Standing, which is just a good story. Definitely something to watch if you enjoy Japanese movies.

Today's Cool Thing is Rainbow Flame Crystals. I can't remember where I saw them (maybe in Rare Bird Finds?), but I think they're pretty awesome. If I ever go to the bonfires that my brother and his friends have, I want to bring a can of these. Heck, I might just buy my bro some for his b-day in a couple months. Lucky for me he doesn't read my blog, ha ha!

How are you today?

How's it going out there in the wide internet? Things are going good here. I had a pretty nice day, actually. Chris and I went out on a rare date. We saw Curse of the Golden Flower, had dinner at Texas Roadhouse, and went over to Barnes and Noble. My parents used to joke that it wasn't a date if they didn't go to Wal-Mart. For us it's quickly turning into not being a date if we don't hit B&N.

So first, the movie. It was beautiful but also very boring in some parts. I'm not much of a drama person, and I figured most of the intrigue out pretty quickly. There were a few good action scenes, however, and you have to see the costumes to believe them! WOW! The Empress especially has some beautiful outfits, amazing hairpieces and jewelry, too. I may have to see if I can find a screen-capture of her gold necklace and see if I can recreate it in beads. China has been making some incredibly attractive movies in recent years, with sets that are almost over-the-top and clever use of color. I found that there was almost too much color in the palace where 99% of this movie takes place. Over all, I am not sure if I liked the movie, but I enjoyed watching it from a sheer eye-candy point of view.

Next, dinner. My parents have been not really bugging us to try Texas Roadhouse, but every few months they ask if we've been there yet. So since we were in the neighborhood and wanted to try a new restaurant, we finally went there. The service was good and surprisingly fast for a crowded sit-down restaurant. My steak was good, my sweet potato was beyond delicious, and the sweet tea was just like what I always drink way too much of when I visit North Carolina. Chris, on the other hand, was disappointed with his meal. The steak was almost half fat, and the fries weren't that great, he said. He did like his chili, though, and we both liked the rolls. Neither one of us really dug the country-western atmosphere (I grew up on C&W and the music was inducing flashbacks). If you like southern American type food and country music, you'd probably enjoy your dinner there, but we'll probably be going out for teppenyaki at our favorite Japanese restaurant next time we crave steak.

And then, the book store. They didn't have Bead Unique either! I asked at the information desk and the nice man there said that although it was supposed to go on sale today, they didn't have their shipment yet and hopefully would next week. Of course we couldn't leave Barnes and Noble empty handed, so a trip to the bargain books section was in order. The first thing I found was this cool deck of stretch cards. Each deck shows how to do one stretch, lists what muscle groups it stretches, what its good for, stuff like that. I'm sure I'll get some good use out of it, as I'm always trying to learn new stretches to improve my range of movement and muscle control for dancing.

The real find of the night was spotted by Chris, however. It's a book called something like "The Secret Lives of Faeries and Elves" which purports to be transcribed from the journal of a 17th century Scottish reverend who actually traveled to Faery. The man in question, one Robert Kirk, apparently actually existed and his writings are said to be referred to in other texts of faerie lore. I own a copy of one of the books mentioned in the reference section, so I'm going to look him up in there later.

I have my doubts as to the reality of this so-called journal, however. The reverend records some faerie stories that he's heard, and the two that I've read so far are pretty well-known to me, having been mentioned in several different books. The second one concerned the tale of the faerie wife who gave her husband the following taboo: If he ever struck her three times, she would leave him. In the stories which I'm familiar with, her husband struck her three times in anger, and she left. This story takes a far more politically correct bent, one time he strikes her playfully, the other two are on accident. The way the story is changed to reflect contemporary mores makes me question its authenticity. Regardless of whether it's true, it's still proving to be an enjoyable read.

A few other things of note: I did end up dancing last night, and warmed up enough that I actually stayed warm for a few hours. This has encouraged me to not be so lazy, so as soon as I finish this post I'll dance again (it's taken this long for me to not feel like I was fit to burst from dinner!). After I got tired from dancing, I practiced with my fire fans a bit. Had they actually been lit, I would have scorched the ceiling, the carpet, my shirt and my pants. I need more practice! I also worked on my book a bit. I only have a few chapters left to edit -- thank God!

Inspired by last night's fannage, today I finally watched the DVD that came with the fans. I was hoping for some how-to info on cool fan moves (my brother sent me a video today of this guy doing some amazing dancing with paired fans), but it was all safety tips and interviews. The tips were of course good, and the interviews were interesting, but I'm still left unsure of how to properly spin a fan without dropping it or wrenching my fingers. Lots of practice will be in order, it seems. There's supposed to be a fire-spinning group here in town, so maybe I can find someone local who can give me some pointers. My brother unfortunately only spins a great big quarter staff.

Wow, did this post go on forever. I'm going to finish it up, because if I wait any longer, I'll be too sleepy to dance. Today's Cool Thing is Flexi-8 Barettes. I purchased one at the Winter 2005 4th Ave Street Fair and wore it almost daily for a couple of months. I only stopped because it had rhinestones and one fell out and I've been too lazy to replace it. I really should fix it and/or buy some new ones, because it is super comfortable!