now, THIS weekend....

is going to be another adventure altogether. I really am trying to update this thing more often. I am debating whether or not i should link this blog to my other blog....jury's still out on that one...

I consider myself one of the luckiest persons in the entire world. I live in an amazing place, and I am gifted to get to do some of the coolest stuff EVER!

THIS thursday, I am participating in a fashion show. If you had asked me even a year ago if I thought Iwould ever be a model, I would have laughed at you. I am a big girl, and not what a lot of people would consider traditionally pretty. Then I started talking to my friend Lauren. Last Winter, at the beginning of December, she did a show called "Luscious Ladies: A Fat Girl Fashion Show". It was amazing. I'd never had hair and makeup done before like that. I felt like a diva, and the clothes Lauren made were amazing. They were made for ME and they were designed to make ME look awesome! I so appreciate her for that, she's cool like that. Here's a pic from that show:

Well she is doing it again, this Thursday, as part of a more mainstream fashion show. Here are details, I hope this pic is big enough to see details:

This is a great opportunity for folks to see what can be made from recycled stuff. See that awesome tuxedo coat above there in the first pic? That was made from a bedspread that was found at a thrift store. A-MAZING. Lauren is so amazingly talented when it comes to sewing. Really. She's one of my hero's. Then Friday begins another adventure. I work for the University. It's what I think is one of the coolest departments because we get to host and help produce many of the funky and cool events and programs on campus. This weekend will be the 48th annual Reno Jazz Festival. I have been lucky enough to get to volunteer for this amazing festival for the last ten years. The Jazz Festival has a special place in my heart because when I was a teenager, I got to participate in the Jazz Festival, and now I get to work it. I have met some of the coolest people one will ever know, and I have seen talent that cannot be believed. I am sure some day I will see someone I've heard sing at this festival on American Idol or other famous venue. I've also met some amazing artists and adjudicators. My role in this wild thing is varied....I am the site coordinator for Lawlor Events Center. This is what the outside of Lawlor looks like during the festival, but there's often more people milling about:

Once someone comes inside, they see our tables all setup:

Those are my coworkers Debbie and Julie. They work at Extended Studies with me year-round and also volunteer to work the Jazz Festival. We sell t-shirts, and we direct people where to go, sell wrist bands, and pretty much handle festival logistics for this venue. We handle only two different things at Lawlor. We do vocal groups or choirs and we do B & C bands, in the President's Room. We also post the scores for the choirs ONLY at Lawlor, here is someone checking them out:

Here is the sign outside Lawlor, advertising last years showcase concert:

These are all for last years festival, by the way. Last year, we had this really cool cat named Scott Barnett from UNR Insight Magazine who hung out with us and took all these pictures. He was way fun to talk to, and he got some great shots of the festival. Credit where credit is due an all that. This year, I will likely take my own pics =)

So, back to my day in the life... Here's what the inside of the President's Room looks like, with a band playing:

And here's a sound board. One really can't say enough about the technical staff that works this festival. These guys do amazing things several times a day trying to make all the groups happy with sound. Their days are at least as long as ours. At least we get to leave the rooms and walk around!

Here are the judges in the Presidents room, concentrating intently on having good comments for the performing group:

 

Here's inside the choir room, with Madeline Eastman teaching two girls during her clinic last year:

 

Saturday, after competition ends, we make a mad dash to get all the awards ready for the festival participants, while at the same time, trying to get the showcase groups situated based on who will play that night. Here's the awards, all layed out:

Here's my favorite shot from the one's taken of the showcase. The secret knowledge and expression on this guys face is priceless:

And finally, after months of preparation, hours of work, two days of long shifts, stiff competition, and all the drama that goes along with it, we are almost at the end, so here's a group shot with my compadres and me:

I'm going to have a great weekend! How about you?!?! Peace!

*whew* and so....

The lack of updating continues =) I have, however, been busy, and life is good for me.

We are going to do another Compression! Celebration of Fire and Performance Art,  so much time has been spent in figuring out logistics for that. This year we are closing down Virginia Street, which is one of the major streets in Reno, so there was a much larger meeting for my permit, and there are more logistics to deal with. Not that this is an excuse for not updating here, but it does let one know what's going on...

Above there are my lovely friends the Asha World Dancers at the Festival last year. They are doing super cool stuff this year, too. They are bringing a home town girl, Kami Liddle, who left Reno and became a belly dance superstar, back to Reno for a kick ass show and some workshops. I have kind of been helping with that, too.

I began this post in February, and here it is near the end of April and I am just getting back to it. I need to make it a priority to put more stuff here and catalog all the stuff I am doing. Some day, it will be important, if only to me so I can relive my glory days when I can no longer remember it as easily!

I've had an online journal for over nine years. I began that journal on February 15, 2001. SO much has happened in that amount of time, but I find that I also no longer update there, at least not often. Since I got this domain, it's mine, and it seems if I am going to do any sort of online journal thing, since I have access to making my own, it makes the most sense to do it here. So, I stopped paying for my subscription. I am sort of conflicted about that, but  not really. Time is too short and resources too scarce to spread one's self so thin that they don't have time to update every where they need to. I don't know if the domain name will stay the same, but for the time being, this is my home.

There's tons of stuff happening, as there always is with me. I have decided to not be so involved with my fire group, although I am still completely committed to the festival we produce. There are a lot of reasons, but I still care very much about the group and what happens, I think I just need a break for awhile.

The first part of April because I am a big fat (hey, no fat jokes!) nerd, I helped a bunch of my Burning Man friends celebrate Yuri's Night in Reno. My awesome friend Lauren made me a corset and we decided to be space twins. This is an awesome themed party that we hold each year to commemorate Yuri Gagarin's first manned space flight from 1961. Our local event, though, also raises funds for awesome Burning Man art. I am proud to participate in this event each year!

This is Lauren, our friend Lenae, and myself, sporting our space-wear. here's another one of Lauren and I, so you can sort of see the twin-ness:

In the middle of that one is our friend Kelley, also known as Pinktini. Damn, we had fun that night! It was a good night, and the next day, Lauren and I drove to Vegas to attend the International Lingerie Convention. Lauren owns an awesome store called "Prism Magic" and I got to help her shop for the store.  Boy was that fun....but that adventure should probably have it's own entry =)

I am still dancing, and we just had our Spring public performance, at an event called "Night of All Nations" that is inspired by the University where I work.

Here's our group pic from that performance...

I love dancing more than I can even express and now have gotten in to a tad bit of teaching, and a new endeavor, called the S.E.E.D.S program. It's a mentorship program that teaches young girls to connect positively with their bodies and also helps them learn life skills that will help them be empowered women. Our program is called daDima, which means "pomegranate" in Sanskrit. SEEDS is an acronym for "self-esteem, empowerment and education through dance".

That's just this month so far. See why I say *whew*?!?

In the near future, I am participating in a circus freak show, traveling to Scotland and Ireland in June of next year, continuing to work on the fire festival, do more fun web stuff, and see what other sort of interesting trouble I can get in to....but I will try to update more often. I still have the Paris posts pending. I need to write it all down before I forget. That might just be a project for next week....after the Jazz Festival!

Oh yeah, and my son is in Afghanistan. I will think good and safe thoughts for him each day. He is my baby!

Peace! A girl can hope....