Naimaland State of the Union July 2014

Australia and the US bonding over dance.

APRIL:

I met my Australian dance pal Kis, husband, and daughter in St. Louis for some costume shopping at Dahlal International's warehouse. We had a great morning walk around downtown St. Louis in search for breakfast. Then Kis and I took off to Dahlal's so we could nerd out over costumes. I custom ordered a Pharonics bedlah and Kis went home with an amazing black, orange, and yellow number. Custom ordering was pretty painless. I told Dahlal what I was looking for. She showed me a selection of bra and belt designs that could be custom ordered. I tried on one to decide on cup size. Then she took my measurements and color choices. I paid the down payment and that was that.

One third of one room inside the harem at the Dahlal Intenational warehouse in St. Louis.

 "To the window (to da window), to da wall, (to da wall) Till the sweat drop down my..."

Awards for most cut-outs goes to this dress. Even the sleeves and space between my knees in front had cut-outs. Sadly it did not come home with me.

I also went on a "glamping" trip to Huzzah Valley with my lady friends at the end of April. We lounged, we crafted, we went thrift shopping, we had a fire, and played games.

 

 Photo of me with Princess Farhana's The Belly Dance Handbook taken by the book's photographer and designer, Maharet Christina Hughes.

MAY:

I attended friends, Dean and Janice's pirate wedding and met up with dance friend Maharet. She has been living and working in LA since last year and came back to Springfield to photograph for the wedding. I off-handedly mentioned how I haven't ordered Princess Farhana's new book, which was designed by Marharet, because you cannot order the book signed by the designer. She promptly went to her car and brought back a copy of the book. She handed it to me saying she brought a copy to give to the first person who mentioned it. The wedding got underway before she had a chance to sign it for me but she managed to snap this pic before she left. I have yet to read it cover to cover only because I've been skipping to the parts that are most pertinent to me (and looking at the pictures.) I will say, out of the other BD books in my library, this is the most comprehensive and will be my go to reference for a while yet.

Yoga. I started doing yoga ten minutes-ish very day from May 21st to now (July.) My knee no longer hurts. My shoulders, neck, and wrists are doing great. My back pain has greatly improved.

I added 2 pallets to the existing flower bed in the back yard at the end of April.  May gave me purple, yellow, and salmon colored irises and the beginnings of day lillies.

JULY:

I will be making my first ever trip to the state of Indiana for ISAMETD's DANCING INSIDE THE MUSIC with Jonatan Gomes Derbaq and Deniz (OH.) on Saturday July 26, 2014. Naia and I will be headed out that Friday for the 6.5 hour drive to Indianapolis. I am crossing my fingures the custom bedleh I ordered at Dahlal's back in April will be in before our trip. It takes 12-14 weeks for the order to be completed and shipped from Egypt. I should be getting an email any day now. 

Dance has taken a backseat to X Files and gardening. The Husband Person and I are also doing an X Files marathon beginning to end, all 200 plus episodes and movies, which is taking us weeks to get through. The rest of the time I am outside picking bugs off of the vegetables and making homemade garden bug sprays.  Two more pallets and two more months in the garden and we've got radishes, cucumbers, pole beans, pumpkins, tomatoes, okra, squash, herbs, and wild flowers growing. I also added a border bed around the patio slab. 

I have to get back on the dance wagon ASAP. Greek Night was moved up to August 2nd. Then Bahia will be here for a workshop August 22nd. I am exited about both.

BONUS PIC: From my late February awards trip to Disney World. Guess who found the most fabulous pair of mouse ears in the whole park. Sequins AND appliques AND feathers, oh my!

~N

Naimaland State of the Union 02/03/14

I've been away from blogging since December for mental health reasons. The day after my last post I won an award at work. They mailed an award plaque and balloons to my home as congratulations. The awards dinner will be held in Disney World. Paid round trip and everything. The same night, a family friend passed away at 36 years old. He passed away sometime between the phone call and us arriving at the hospital. The Husband Person had the misfortune and shock of seeing his body still laid out on the bed before we had been informed he had passed away. It was fairly traumatizing. I've never experienced a day of both a high and a low of such extremes.

That weekend I performed as Rosie the Riveter in the Big Show, Girlz. The following weekend at the Malaika holiday hafla. I think both went well. I see myself in the pictures but I honestly don't remember much. It felt more like those times when you drive home but don't remember how you got there.

The Husband Person's birthday came shortly thereafter. It was not a happy one seeing as how his mind was still at the hospital with his friend and that now they were the same age. I tried to stay positive and accommodating to his needs. Christmas came and went. It felt awkward and sad. Then New Year's. I went to bed early.

On top of all of this, I was hired into a new department at the tail end of November. I was going through all of the growing pains of a transition into a new job and by January I ran out of steam. I am the proverbial introvert and had not had any time to myself for my own thoughts or needs. I wrote in my journal for the first time ever, "I am depressed." Hitting bottom one day, I hardly spoke for 24 hours. This was followed by a few days of doing mindless quiet tasks alone for hours so I could get my mind back into a feeling of normalcy. I did talk to a few friends and family about what I was dealing with but reaching out isn't what helps me. Reaching within, privately, is what helps me to process.

My "alone" time helped greatly. I kept January as low-key as possible. It is now February. I have been planing what to pack for my Disney trip at the end of the month. Visioncon is also a top priority. Meetings have been weekly since the beginning of January. I will actually miss the first day of con due to my Disney trip so I have to have all of my registration duties taken care of before I leave. I don't know when I'll get back to more regular blogging. I have a couple projects in the works that aren't quite ready to go online yet. "Easy does it," is my motto right now. On a lighter note, I finished the Harry Potter book series for the first time. I heart them.

~N

 

 Laced Photography & Design

 Laced Photography & Design

Laced Photography & Design

Said the Universe

I was approached by Naia of Malaika Dancers about teaching between semesters at her studio, to which I hemmed and hawed without giving her a definite answer. A month or so later Miss Bee of Phenomenon Studios asked me to teach weekly at her studio. I figured they must both be completely desperate or the Universe is trying to tell me something. 

So I took the "should I teach?" question to the Husband Person knowing he is aware that I have become a Bellydance hermit, beading costumes that never seem to get finished, frowning at the calendar whenever a dance opportunity shows up and letting it pass by. He said, "YES," I should teach before I even got the whole question out much less listing my pros and cons. To which I was slightly surprised. I thought for sure he would encourage me to stay home with him and use all my free time to finish Far Cry 3 and XCOM. Instead he told me I need to get involved again or my interest in dance would become jaded and shrivel even more. Well, it was a little more eloquent than that but pretty close. And with encouragement from the third (but most important) person, I took the Universe's hint to begin teaching again.

Funny thing is, I immediately begin appling myself to dance again. I have been doing all kinds of practice, exercises, zills and even veil. I've been organizing my notes, making combos, weekly lesson plans, (I'm even blogging about it.) In general, just being excited about dance. I can see now how dancers cut off from the dance community by distance, time, or money can become apathetic and lean toward dropping it altogether.

I am teaching my first weekly Bellydance class in years at Phenomenon Studios, Studio B, Wednesdays at 7:30pm. I hope to add classes at Malaika in sometime in the spring or early summer.

~N

PS As soon as I post this I am playing Far Cry 3...so close to beating it.

Top: Studio B at Phenomenon. Bottom: Naia at Malaika Dancers Studio.

Naimaland State of the Union October 2012

I really wanted to name this post, "How a Can of Oil Paint Almost Ruined My Marriage." But that would be an exaggeration. But only slightly.

I started repainting the sewing/dance/guest room at the beginning of September during some vacation days. My vacation was interrupted when I was selected and served for jury duty. (Not guilty in case you're curious.) That whole experience set me back, at least mentally, and work on the room slowed to almost a halt. Costuming and practice also slowed down. Time spent painting was time not used for dance stuff. Time spent working on dance stuff was time not spent getting the room painted.

One month and three colors of paint later (beige, white, and blue/gray,) I finally finished painting. Never mind the "oil paint fiasco." I'll just say oil paint is the devil and should be avoided at all cost. And, despite my best efforts to remove light switch plates and tape all of the base boards and windows there are paint marks (pink, purple, and some sort of aqua,) left by previous tenants. Which makes me think maybe the walls are possessed, kind of like the "blood wall" in Johnny the Homicidal Maniac, and it demands repeated sacrifices of time and paint.

Meanwhile, I figured why not slap some paint on other things. I re-purposed an old pair of teaching sandals that I never wear and combined them with a bottle of nail polish that I also never wear. Followed by an empty coffee can that I spray painted silver and decorated with a sharpie marker.

I also took on the task of organizing my dance files. Workshop and class notes are easy. The hard part is my own personal notes, everything from costume doodles to driving directions to choreo notes scribbled on post-it notes. That will remain a work in progress.

Then, less then a week after getting the room painted, we took care of an intoxicated groom on the night of his bachelor party and he peed on my serger. More like he peed at my serger as it was on the floor next to my sewing table waiting to be set back up. Luckily it had the cover on it so most of the pee was in the carpet and under the serger instead of in it. Unfortunately, the whole room smelled like urine for about a week while we patiently cleaned the carpet.

By the way, use hydrogen peroxide to properly clean and disinfect human urine. Here is a links for a homemade cleaning recipe.

http://www.ehow.com/how_8765725_use-peroxide-old-urine-stains.html

I personally used a 1 part peroxide to 5 parts water mix, (after testing on a small patch,) as to not bleach or discolor my carpet. I completely saturated the area, waited about 20 minutes, and blotted up the access liquid with a towel. Then allowed the carpet to completely dry. I also sprinkled on some baking soda and vinegar for the odor. I have finally gotten back use of the room but it still is not completely back in order. I have changed my goal for having this room ready for business to sometime around 2015. That way I can be presently surprised when I finish ahead of schedule.

~N

Did I mention the wall is textured?

This is where I usually practice.

Beware nail polish fumes.

Nail polish plus old shoes equals awesome shoes.

Shiny!

 I store hair flowers and beads in re-purposed (plastic) coffee cans.

 All my hair flowers smell like fresh coffee, especially the ones with feathers.

 Beware spray paint AND permanent marker fumes.

Do you have a map of Egypt in your dance files?...also, "got hips?"

BONUS PIC:

The Husband person, a.k.a. prop master at our most recent photo shoot.

34

 With my birthday sister Melissa, both born in California one day apart.

 Turning 34

 Well...

 it was delicious.

K. hanging with the ever illusive Husband Person.

PartyPeople @ Phenomenon Studio

We wore like the same shirt, only different. Freaky.

Pin the tale on the Zebra.

Currently: Playing Prototype. Making smoothies with my birthday Ninja. Putting together beginner costume classes for early 2013. Hooping during my lunch break. Concocting a video exchange with Kis. 

And being pretty much awesome ;)

~N