Rajazad (Jazmanian Devil)

brazenbronzer @ 11:53pm: [Log] Family Values
Who: C'mryn, Halba (NPC), Tiriana, X'lar
When: Day 11, Month 1, Turn 17
Where: Living Cavern, Telgar Weyr
What: X'lar swings by Telgar again and runs into Tiriana and C'mryn.

( Family Values )

thatjazz, posting in bellydancing @ 12:42am: Tactfully asking about alternate classes? Sorry for the long story.
I'm in a weird situation. I danced with "Teacher 1" for around two years. She only teaches thursday nights at 6:30. I enjoyed her classes very much, aside from the fact that she was very chatty at the beginning, so we would start late, but we would also finish late, so I didn't feel that I was getting a short class. Also sometimes she smokes in class, which I'm not crazy about, but that's another story. Other than this, I really loved her teaching style, and she was incredibly experienced and knowledgeable. For a while, I had a university class on that night, so I started classes with another local teacher (I'll call her Teacher 2), who I wasn't crazy about. She started on time, and we had nicer studio, but I didn't feel like I was learning anything, it was all very basic and reminded me of a gym-style bellydance class. (No offense to those who teach or learn at gyms, I'm sure there's great programs. but this class was basically the same, beginner level class every week, no focus on choreography or really dancing, just drills.) That semester ended and I went back to Teacher 1. Then I graduated school, and now I'm working on thursday nights, with no possibility of a schedule change. Teacher 2 is no longer teaching, but I wasn't wild about her class anyway.

My question: Is it totally tactless to ask teacher 1 for a recommendation for another teacher? I would hate to stop dancing all together, and I would respect teacher 1's recommendation, but I would feel totally weird asking her in the first place. Do any teachers have any input on this situation? Should I just pick someone new all together?

kwolfhard @ 9:33am: Nearly 31
So I'm back to being grumpy about being single and unwanted.

After I got over the major hump of me feeling it all the time, it normally only happens when I'm close to getting older.

Which is fine. 

Feeling like I'm somehow wrong as a person only once  year is way better than feeling it once a week.

I mean, where the hell did I go wrong?

Normally at 31 a guy would have at least had more than one and a half dates in his life.

I'm not talking about sex - though that might be nice too at some point - I'm talking about simple dating.

Having dinner with someone of the opposite sex. Talking. 

And that's it. That's all.

Am I asking for too much?

I don't know any more.

Is it, as Kelly has said, that I'm simply taking the long way around?

Or am I going to find myself in an old age home clinging to a date I had in 1995 and a lunch I had with someone else in 2004?

Again, is this not lame?

Most people my age have had at least more than a dozen dates. Most people -half- my age have had at least a dozen dates. 

The majority of people my age even have kids and are married. I mean, I don't think I'm that much younger than my landlords and they're married, have a two year old and a new baby.

I understand going the long way around to get there. I respect that. 

But how long is long?

It's just frustrating. And depressing.

But as usual, I'll just rise above it and keep moving on. That's what I do.

And all I'm asking for is just one more date with a woman.

Company, conversation, food and drink. 

That's it. Am I asking for too much? 

afoundobject, posting in bellydancing @ 6:45am: Baltimore, MD: Zafira! Show and Workshops

lumpyone @ 10:56pm: Weekend
Ahhh, the 4th of July weekend. This one was quiet and relaxing. After a pretty harsh week at work (not worth going into details about), being away for 3 days with the company radio turned off was just what I needed. 

One great part of the weekend was doing something I told myself I'd NEVER do.  I dropped my Dish Network, AT&T phone line and Sonic.net DSL service and signed up with Comcast.  *gasp* 

There are 2 big reasons for this:
1) The price. For cable internet service itself for starters, which is insanely faster than anything else I can get in my current location even with Sonic or AT&T's new "no phone line  3 Mbps" DSL service (which wouldn't even give me 3 Mbps because of my current distance from the switching station). Its also cheaper than what I'm paying for DSL because they just upped my rate because my one year contract ended and there is no new one year contract at a lower rate.  Also, with the tv service, I can get all the same HD channels as Dish and a few other things which again are cheaper than what Dish provided.  As we continue to save for a house, saving even just $30/month is a big thing. Not to mention, at the end of 6 months I get a $200 cash back from them for signing up. No catches I see yet, but I'm still on the lookout for them!

2) The second is fact I'm not bound my any contract with them. If for any reason, like say... we may be buying a house and moving within 6-7 months.. we can cancel service with no worries about all that "early termination" BS that Dish wanted me to sign up for when I upgraded to their HD service. Oh yeah.. on top of paying like $200 just to upgrade and a higher monthly fee.

Soooo... got it all hooked up and found their On Demand channels, only to stumble across a show which has been on AMC called "Mad Men".  A show set in the 60's New York about an advertising firm, and one creative director more specifically. Great drama. The aspect which impresses me the most is their pointing at things which back then folks didn't think twice about but today people would look at in horror. One such scene had a boy and girl playing "space man" with one of them wearing a plastic dry-cleaning bag.  The response by the mother was so fitting of that time.  I liked it, for its authenticity to such aspects of the culture and its throughout the show. 

fatimaner @ 11:59pm: Squee! Neil Patrick Harris! Squee, I say!
Because da_zhuang is the awesome and clued me in on this!

sageincave, posting in bellydancing @ 11:28pm: Costuming Don'ts
Glamour's photographer apparently caught an off-duty belly dancer.  Is he full of hot air, or is this the best argument yet for cover-ups?

brazenbronzer @ 11:07pm: [Log] Turnover Wishes
Who: Tiriana, X'lar
When: Day 1, Month 1, Turn 17
Where: Lakeshore, Telgar Weyr
What: Tiriana and X'lar run into each other while they take a break from their respective Weyrs' Turnover parties.

( Turnover Wishes )

kinadancer, posting in bellydancing @ 9:41pm: Summer Shimmies!

vellanya, posting in bellydancing @ 4:28pm: Shimmies for the Cure - Baltimore, MD
Allrighty Boys and Girls, I have hot little tickets to the Shimmies for the Cure in my hands. For the admission price of $40, we will feed you, provide fantastic entertainment for your viewing pleasure, as well as some outstanding shopping at the silent auction.

You can contact me via email for your tickets, storm_kin@yahoo.com.

:)

Some of the items up for auction include, but are not limited to

Three custom corsets by www. damseldress. com.
Pick a design, pick a fabric and it's yours.

:)

A braveheart sword.

Glass vase from the glass blowers at the PA Renn Faire.

Leather bracers, belt, and journal.

Leather Manacles.

Matted photo of Ireland.

Various jewelry.

Bellydance Costumes.

Night at a Historic B&B in Ellicott city.
http://www.waysideinnmd.com.

Dance Lessons at Swingtime Ballroom.
http://www.swingtimeballroom.com/

Tickets to Autumn Festivals at Boordy Vineyards.

Signed CD's by the bands Albannach and The Tartan Terrors.

And this is just a partial list. We will be sending out a catalog of items shortly. So hurry up and contact me for your tickets to our show. You know you want to be there.

Performers are:

Naimah
Basema's Student Troupe
Bellydance Delight
Verve Tribal
Lorelai
Helena Zahra
Awamil (my troupe)
Sifya
Sestraluna
Yosha Radha

You know you want to come out to see the show, and bid on some awesome auction items. :)

evinumen, posting in bellydancing @ 1:39pm: Zoe Jakes


click for larger

I recently had the pleasure of photographing the one and only Zoe Jakes,
of the Indigo and the Bellydance Superstars, at the Union Pool in Brooklyn, NYC.
Visit my journal for more of Zoe and other dancers :)

chanter_greenie @ 11:31am: go figure
I never would have thought I'd be as happy to see Wisconsin asI was when my plain touched down yesterday. Waupun's a drag, and I'm most certainly not living here, but that's just one town. I never realized just how much I actually liked about my state until I left it. I'm no homebody, but everybody needs a base to work from, and I think this state is mine.

Vaguely introspective rambling aside, guess who's home visiting family for a week? We all had the option of a week off after convention, and with one thing and another (I'll go into *far* greater detail about that next post) I took it. The girls are in the area, but Mom and Dad are tooling around the north woods on a bike tour, so I'll see them Friday. I'm just glad to see family again, and to have breathing space of my own. I forgot how nice it is when everybody else is out of the house and it's just Bosco and I. Most of the windows are open, the AC isn't anywhere near being on, and there's a ceiling fan in the living room stirring the air. There's apartment and job hunting in my future, the former right now, the latter after I ring DVR. And you know what?

I'm happy. I slept like a baby last night, and woke up remembering just how nice it is to be *me* again, quirks, surliness under stress, meds, torch and all. I've missed that feeling. It's been a month and a half since I had it.

And Bosco's happy to be home too, of course. I bet he's picking at least a little of it up from me.

Full story, including what the hell I've been up to for the last month, later. Or sooner. Soon, anyway.

thedamenoir, posting in bellydancing @ 11:56am: This week in Atlanta Burlesque
xposted: Atlanta, Atlanta_Acting, AtlantaTheatre, atlburlesque, Bellydancing, burlesque, Burlesque_today, dark_atlanta, downtownatlanta, ljatlanta 

cera, posting in bellydancing @ 11:33pm: Video post
So, usually we do way more fuisony stuff - so this is a really unusual set for us (it's for a themed party)
we use veils, and we're very cabaret nekkid. and jingly! i see how you cab girls can get used to that!
it's really fun! (but i kindof miss my pants.)

kiten, posting in bellydancing @ 12:40am: Another video post
I had the pleasure of performing at the Sacred World Independence Day festival this past weekend. It was wonderfully fun! I did a Tribal Fusion improv to two songs. My partner was kind enough to shoot a short video for me of my dancing. The second half of the dance is also posted, if you double click the video it will take you to YouTube, and you can click on my name (alluringshadows) to get to the second video. I'm excited to have been a part of this community building event :) Watching these videos also reminded me how valuable it is to be able to watch yourself for critique. Actually, though, I'm pretty happy with my performance. I didn't fall over in the wet grass or step on the loose dog, and I seemed to be making eye contact even though I couldn't see past the lights at all, hehehe...good times:

pamcash, posting in bellydancing @ 1:19am: Do any of you  do a jazz-middle eastern fusion? What kind of music do you use? Have you seen any good videos online?

Any hip hop or pop fusion dancers are welcome to comment as well. I just want to know what yall are up to. I'm from a cabaret (caberet? spelling??) background, but have been taking jazz and hip hop and contemporary pop classes for the past couple of years.

khall @ 5:04am: It's only sex if it hurts
( Close your eyes and the monsters will not see you )

K.

heyadria, posting in bellydancing @ 10:03pm: hipscarf storage
I'm pretty new to this community, so I'm terribly sorry if this has been asked and answered multiple times already, but I was wondering how you ladies store your hip scarves?

Over time I've slowly been building up a bit of a collection, and I'm running out of ideas on how to keep them safe.
Ideally I'd like to display them in some way, as they are quite beautiful, but at the same time they have to remain easily accessible.

The only problems involved is that I live in a really small place where space is an issue, and also I can't really put nails in the walls.

Even if your storage doesn't relate exactly to my situation I'd be interested to hear, I'd love to hear how others keep theirs, anyway - if they're displayed, or not.

Thank you!

peppygrowlithe @ 3:21am: The ones that you looooove
You know, it's really weird that Schrodinger's Cat is so well-known as an aspect of science, because man, it is one heck of a confusing concept to grasp. I've been looking at websites for over half an hour now. I think I understand it about 75%, but it still hasn't fully clicked. Each website gives slightly different information, but nothing seems to give the full picture and complete implications of what is meant! It's something to do with quantum mechanics requiring probability over set-in-stone results, something to do with observations manipulating reality, something to do with the ability to only see the aftermath of a reaction, something to do with a cat being 100% in two separate states... I'm getting there, but it's a headache!

I'm sure the majority of people who refer to Schrodinger's Cat know even less than I do about it, but I wonder how it ever came to be known so well by the layman in the first place. Why can't Brownian Motion be popular too? Brownian Motion is awesome! Oh, and ionic chromotography! The ELISA test? The gel electrophoresis?

Why Schrodinger's Cat? Maybe I need to make a complicated physical theory and use a charismatic animal. "Hubert's Ferret". I'll go down in history.

enchantress13, posting in bellydancing @ 11:33pm: scared, but asking
OK I have seen how amazingly you all tend to respond when asked for serious help. I know that I am far from perfect (and have worked on my stupid hands for 3 years, only to STILL have them fall out of "pretty" and into the range of "what the heck is she doing with her hands?"), and Ive been battling with myself over whether or not I could handle it, but here it is. I need some input. I would love to know what I can do to better myself. Since you all are so nice about your criticisms (and theyre actually constructive, instead of mean lol), I'm posting here.

This was a little hafla performance that a friend of mine got on video. What do you all think? **cringes into corner, gathering courage to face the responses**

ballerinamorena, posting in bellydancing @ 11:41pm: Peformance
Hi all! Recently did a performance and wanted to share with you all :) We had a lot of fun.

raeedah, posting in bellydancing @ 4:13pm: Song name
Salaam everyone. I have two questions for this community:

What is the name of this piece of music? Stumbled upon that website today and the music is simply haunting! http://www.alhambrabellydance.com/main.html The link should take you straight to the main page, if not, click enter because otherwise you'd only be hearing part of it.

Has anyone travelled to another country specifically to learn bellydance/improve on your existing skills? How was your experience and how did you go about looking for the teachers? I was reading about Whatever Lola Wants and man, I'd like to do what she did, as fantastic as it is. I don't know where to start though. My mother suggested the various '10-day explore egypt with belly-dance' package tours that's offered by a few instructors but I am seeking more of a long term study.

stabbitydeath @ 2:47am: Interesting...
Up until last week, my "normal" pain level was a 5. Last week, it was an 8. Today? A FOUR.

Well, up until I smashed my knee into the wall. At least that's not all-over pain.

Amusing (to me) thought of the day: I'm a mutant! I have to have serum infusions to keep my mutation from eating my body! But I'll never be in the X-men. :( :P

I hate the 4th of July, by the way. It's loud, it's obnoxious, it's a waste of money (why blow up things YOU PAID FOR?), and it stands for nothing anymore. And it kept Ben awake until 12:30. His normal bedtime is 9. Yeah, he was just a LITTLE BIT CRANKY.

peppygrowlithe @ 10:32am: Sixteen stripes of fun!
Hey, you guys remember Fruit Stripes gum?

I bought a big ol' pack when I found it at World Market up in Virginia. Even if the flavor runs out in (seriously) like a minute, it's so tasty, and the stuff nostalgia dreams are made of.

When I was a kid, I used to be very frustrated by the tattoos that came with the gum. This time around, I was determined to avenge that sniveling brat that I used to be and finally apply an image of a zebra playing tennis onto my wrist, if it's the last thing I do!

I'm twenty three years old now, and I still failed it all six times I tried.

Whether or not that's an indicant of the quality of the tattoo... man, I suck!

brazenbronzer @ 2:24am: [Log] In Which Tiriana Gains a Spear
Who: C'mryn, Edlyn, Tiriana, X'lar, X'ndar
When: Day 26, Month 12, Turn 16
Where: Bowl, Telgar Weyr; Beach, Ista Weyr
What: Malsaeth and Iovniath are evasive; so are the fish.

( In Which Tiriana Gains a Spear )