Black Rock Rendezvous...

so, this desert. owns a piece of my soul. so much has happened there. joy fear release creativity art mine and others. being in or on the desert when no one else is there is amazing. a friend recently shared that she had heard "absolute silence" for the first time. that sensation and feeling is like a comfortable old pair of shoes for me, but slipping back into them is always amazing, like a hug to your spirit. this weekend was special, though. this group of amazing people have this organization to help preserve and protect this amazing desert and area, and they had a shindig. we showed up early and the above picture is the weather we encountered. we huddled down in our little tent trailer, and existed. we chatted, read, spent time together, laughed, joked, and had a great time. we listened to the rain hit the canvas of the trailer. it always seemed louder on the canvas than it did when you had to walk out in it. it probably rained for near eight hours before there was any standing water on the playa, but once there was, it pretty much hung around all weekend...seeing the rivulets and wash outs where the desert chooses to put it's water as it snakes out into the playa is a beautiful thing to watch. here's the water collected in a tarp in the back of our truck at one point:

at some point before the rain started, we found a little lizard, a horned toad, i've heard from a couple of people. he was so cute and man was he cold! i don't think i would like to be a reptile:

at one point, we did seem like the only people on the planet. visibility across the playa was minimal, you couldn't see the mountains on the far side, and there was a feeling of being marooned. here's my sister, loving life in the middle of all this expanse:

later, more people came. this was both a blessing and a curse =) it was amazing to see friends, make new friends, reacquaint with those not seen for awhile, and get to know better those we had seen, but perhaps not known as well. some very awesome friends, eric and lynn, brought some amazing fire toys. the illumishrooms:

this takes creativity! i want to build something like this! with my own design, but this isn't complicated, at least not the design, but it works very well together. eric did this. he's the man. here's his little mini poofer too:

and those are all the pictures. sometimes i wish we could have one of those sieve things like they have in harry potter...where you can wisp out all your favorite memories and put them somewhere for safe-keeping and then string them out and "reinstall" them to relive them again whenever you need a pick-me-up. somehow, i think some folks, however, would become addicted to this. i might even be one of them =) this was definitely one of those weekends! caught up with the major things, at least those i am willing to write about at this moment =) there's always stuff on the horizon, but i need to think about things for awhile first before i share them with folks. i hope you understand.

 ~peace

Adventures in Insanity...

ahhh....i still marvel all the time at how lucky i am, to have the life i do =) in my last post, i mentioned the fire weekend, and graduation. before any of THAT happened, our local food coop was having a local seedling sale. i really wanted plants that were proven locally, and that real people had raised and had luck with, so tomatoes and peppers were gotten, various varieties of each.  then was graduation. here is a pic of my surrogate daughter, yurie and her mom after graduation:

i was so proud of her! i know i had nothing to do with raising her, her mom did a fantastic job of that, but since she's been here, and the entire time she's dated and been friends with my son, i have come to love this girl! i think she graduated with a double major, one was accounting and maybe international business. she was a mad woman with the taking of the classes, and dealt with all the stuff she had to do to support my son being in Afghanistan too. yes, i cried! it's likely the only time i will get to meet her mom, and while it wasn't a long moment, it was a good one... then, we were finishing up the yard, so we needed to plant and get out to the fire gathering. THAT, too, was amazing. i was worried about going ALL THE WAY out to gardnerville, but it was a quick trip, and as soon as we got there, i knew it was going to be a good time. here's some of the crowd, just chillin':

then, a few of my favorite people were there. cody, his brother cory, and cory's fiance' chelsea among them. here's cody :

and here's another of my favorite people, grin:

finally, later that night, things began to light up. here's a pic of the giant ex-propane tank that was 

converted into an amazing piece of art:

and while there was fire spinning that night, i did not personally indulge. i was having a bit of a sore back from all the yard work. cory is a kick-ass staff spinner, but in a rare moment, was caught on film spinning poi:

i was going to write about the black rock rendezvous in this post too, but i think that deserves it's own post, so that will be next. the fire gathering was ostensibly to build fire barrels and other artwork and for a variety of reasons, not much on THAT front was accomplished, but our progress in friend-making, merry-making, visiting, sharing, and general camaraderie went beyond anything i hoped for! this was a GREAT time! one of the best things about the weekend was the fact that dan came out with me. i am pretty used to doing these sorts of things alone, but it was sure nice that he was there. gosh, i love that guy =) until the rednezvous post....

 ~peace

not quite a month....

since i've updated, so see, i am updating more often =) the jazz festival was amazing, as always. i think i am addicted to annual events. the jazz festival, burning man, artown, birthdays, annual celebrations of all the things that are important to us. each one seems to encapsulate a point in time, an event, a time in the history of this life. i always feel introspective about my birthday, can you tell?!? Just for random happy imaging, here's a photo from the latest fashion show:

i will be 42 in about a week and a half. my good friend lauren introduced me to this show that appears on showtime called "this american life". if you haven't seen this blog, it's totally worth it to check it out. it's introspective too. as the weather gets warmer, things start to speed up around here. this weekend, we go camping over night to a fire gathering with a bunch of groovy fire bugs i am friends with. before that i get to go to the university commencement ceremonies. my son's ex-girlfriend, still friend and his best friend from high school, calen, are graduating. i am proud of them, think if my son in afghanistan and am a tad sad, but my son tells me he's happy, so i deal with that my sadness that he's taking part in the war. in other big news concerning my life, my husband was non-retained in the national guard. after 22 years, he won't be serving his country anymore, thankyouverymuch. this is going to be a huge transition for him. i was very worried about him at first, but he is doing better these days. the same week dan found out that he was going to be retired from the national guard, we had to put our dog to sleep. mog was an awesome dog, but he was suffering. his back legs weren't working so good anymore, and i will always wonder if those strange lumps he had were cancer. he seemed happy until almost the end. this photo was taken the night before we put mog to sleep:

it's a dark picture, which i think is appropriate. i hadn't cried over him in awhile until just now =) mog was one of a kind and he will never be replaced.

now we have a bird. his name is fred:

Fred's a pretty goofy chicken. we heart him already. he was hand raised; and he's a cockatiel. we are already very attached to him. that's all i have for right now. upcoming activities:

• tonight i am going to get my bike tuned up and see how to work on it.
• this weekend is the fire thing i am excited about and unr graduation
• also working on a yard overhaul at the house, more documentation to come...
• end of may, black rock rendezvous, more camping on the black rock desert and testing camping with the fred, should be entertaining
• fire festival is just over two months away. yeeee haw

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....

eeep!

i look and can't believe it's been closer to a year than not, since i've posted. oh my...

2009 was an amazing year for me. i realized a dream in getting to travel to europe for the first time, visiting paris, normandy, and versaille in june.

here are pictures, for anyone that happens along to this site:

day one:



day two:



day three:



day four:



day five:



day six:



the france trip culminated in getting to spin fire in front of the eiffel tower. THAT was an amazing experience!

here's the video for that:



that was pretty much the highlight of my year, although i also produced an amazing celebration of fire and performance art, attended burning man, and survived the holidays!

now, as i look forward to 2010, this will not be an international travel year for me. i want to save and pay for a trip to ireland and scotland that's supposed to happen in 2011...so i am thinking perhaps a road trip or two to burning man regional events, perhaps ranger in some different places and see what else i can do...

peace, for now!

gah!

sheesh, and i thought my last entry was sort of upbeat. not so much with a title like "tis the season…of suck". heh. oh well…. 

 i really am doing pretty amazing, even though i have sad days. today is feeling like a pretty good day for the following reasons: 

1.  it’s friday 
2. my honey comes home today 
3. i have a three day weekend 
4. in 2011, i will go to ireland and scotland 
5. i am healthy 
6. i have managed to keep all my weight off and my clothes just keep getting more and more loose.