Coke... Bad BAD COMPANY!

My friend Conan had a link to this on his blog... I was both astonished and appalled. If this is even vaguely true I am NEVER buying Coke products again!


http://www.killercoke.org/crimes.htm

Milk... it's good for you...

This was just waaaay too funny. The guy is really deadpan but I enjoyed it nonetheless...

Bag of Milk Video

On dragons and dragonflies...

This dragonfly was kind enough to pose for Derek for quite a while the other night and again in the morning... He is very pretty...

As I have mentioned in a previous post we are selling out '81 Chevy Van. I have been amazed at the number of responses we have been getting the posts we have put out there but we have yet to show the van. If you know anyone looking for a van with GREAT camping potential please send them my way.

Well, next week is the big IABC Gold Quill Banquet happening at the Hotel Vancouver and I am going to be harping and singing for it. I am truly excited about this opportunity. I have been organizing my repertoire to best highlight my talents and am really hoping that this will be the next big step in forwarding my music career.
In terms of where I am with things right now: I have picked out the songs that I want to be on my next CD and have made most of them "Folk Hits" (i.e. Greensleeves, Danny Boy, etc.) I will likely throw a couple of original tunes and a couple of more obscure ones on there just to mix things up a little bit. In making my first CD (Aria A cappella) and selling it the one largest contributing factor to whether someone decides to buy it or not seems to be whether they recognize the songs or not (and since most of the songs on that album are relatively obscure I have lost a few sales this way). I guess you have to establish yourself with things people know and are familiar with first before they will buy it strictly based on the "brand name" or talent alone. Feedback on this would be GREATLY appreciated.
Also I have made up a tentative cover for the CD and will be working on a label soon. In terms of recording: as soon as I have arranged the songs to my satisfaction I will be heading to a studio in Richmond to lay down the tracks and get to editing. The tentative release date is still late August/early September.

I love that SCA camping season has begun again. Our next event is in a week and a half and should be fun. It is an annual event called Sealion War between the Baronies of Seagirt (Victoria) and Lions Gate (Vancouver). It is a great group of people to hang out with and an event I look forward to every year. I will post on how it goes.
Of course, I will be sewing this week and next in preparation for the event. It is really nice having Derek to travel to events with. He is a very good inspiration to finally get my act together in terms of SCA organization etc. At the last event we bought a brazier (for $40... a TOTAL steal!) so now we are able to have a fire at our encampment in almost all events (except in the case of a total fire ban). I am trying to figure out the most cost effective way to put together a pavilion so that we have a little more room when spending time at long events (and I DO want to make it to Pennsic this year).

Massage is still going well. I did four days in a row (though the first day I didn't actually have anyone come in for one ): and I am feeling pretty good. My thumbs are a _little_ bit sore but that should pass by the end of today.
I will most likely be doing massage at a Yogathon this weekend on Saturday. I don't know the details yet but I will post more as I know more.

Well, I'm off to have a nice, relaxing day off... cleaning... and practicing harp... and maybe going to rapier tonight... hmmm.... I'm gonna be busy!

:)

Rapier is GOOD!

I had a great time at Academie Duello last night. The warm-ups were both fun and challenging. I am doing my best to push myself only as far as I can _without_ injuring myself (a mistake I have made a few times previously). I also realized that I really want to become a cadet again. It has been a long mental process getting over blocks that were holding me back. I may not be entirely over those blocks but I am willing to give it a go now. I am really looking forward to my next practice.

The way they teach at Academie is excellent. At other practices I have been at there is (usually) about 1/3 of the time spent on drills and any teaching that might occur in a given week. The remainder of the time ends up being fighting time. It may be that the practices I have been to have changed since I have been away but I must say that I very much appreciate the way they do things at the Academie, with most of the time being devoted to general fitness and strength training (about 1 hour) and learning techniques (about one and a half hours) and then having some free fight time at the end of the class.

I was also very happy that Derek came with me to the practice. In past years of rapier I haven't really understood how important it has been to have my "inspiration" present but it really did help. I can't tell if it is just knowing that he will understand at the end of the day what it was I went through, or just having the sense of joy knowing he is there supporting me. Thank you Derek!

I am really hoping that my friend, Conan, will come out and try it. He has a fascination with weapons in general and I think he would have a really good time. For anyone else interested you might like to check out a workshop happening at the Academie Duello this Friday night. It is an Introduction to Italian Swordplay. They have more information on their website at:
http://www.academieduello.com/

Today truly feels like a day off. Even though I will be doing a lot of housework later on and QUITE a lot of harp practicing I feel energetic and rested. I am ready to do my four days of massage in a row. I will be at the Robson St. Saje tomorrow (Thursday) and Friday and then at the W. 4th Saje Saturday and Sunday (for those of you needing some work done on your backs).

I may also get time to do some sewing. I would really like to get a T-tunic and a few pairs of pants done for Derek by Sealion War (June 9-11 in Aldergrove). Summer is soooo busy! I am already booked through until the end of July with a huge chunk of August taken up by (hopefully) Pennsic.

Well, it's off to the cleaning go I... Yay! :)

Singing lessons...

One of the grad photos Derek took of me last year...

It has been a while since I had a voice student and I am happy to say that I am now teaching a gentleman who has both talent and (it seems) drive. It is a very refreshing thing to teach someone actually interested in learning and working on the things you have to show them.

I have tonight free and think I might try dropping by the Academie Duello (a western martial arts academy run by my friends Devon and Randy). Getting back into rapier is something I have been only talking about for long enough. It is time to get back into the game. One person commented (when I asked what my motivation should be) that I should go back simply for the love of the game. This seems like very good advice. I will keep everyone posted on how it is going.

I have also been more motivated to sew lately. It seems that there are too few hours in the day for all I am longing to accomplish these days but at least I am having fun being out in the world. It is as if I needed a good long break from school to get myself back into the swing of things in the real world.

On May 25 (two days from now) it will be exactly one year since I graduated from music school. I have learned a lot in that time about business, music, life and love. It is said by some that the ages of man go in seven year cycles. If this is true I am entering the next phase of my life this summer. I can hardly wait to see where it will lead.

I have started harping up a storm again. It is now two weeks until my big gig at the IABC conference downtown at the Hotel Vancouver. I'm both excited and a little nervous. In the past several months I have been spending a fair amount of time talking with different business people about how to get started and succeed. I still don't know how much of what I have learned is applicable to the business of music but the one thing that everyone says that resonates with me is this:

Just Begin!

Sunday Massage Day

I am off to do chair massage at W. 4th Saje today for anyone interested in coming by and losing some stress...

Shopping with Jessica - yay!

I am so excited! Even though I won't be able to make it to Mike and Jessica's wedding I am getting to go and help her pick out her wedding dress today (I managed to make Derek twitch once or twice mentioning that ;). Apparantly the shop doesn't open until noon so we are going to go for a quick breakfast first and then shopping. I am going to bring Derek's camera so I can take LOTS of pictures of the lovely Jessica in many splendiferous dresses.
Later today I am going to pick up my friend Sam and she and I are going to go for a walk/hike until 5:00ish when I am going downtown to pick up Derek so we can drive to Abbotsford to watch a friend's production of Pirates of Penzance. Wowie! It's gonna be a BUSY day!

Massage at Robson Street Saje went really great yesterday. It started out kinda slow but the afternoon got VERY busy. I am thinking that I might show up later and stay later next week since they are open until 7:30 and everyone downtown seems to shop after they get off work.

And a BIG YAY for the onset of tourist season! I love you all and cannot WAIT for you to descend upon our fair city. I find that not only is tourist season a great economic stimulus but I can't help but meet a few really interesting people every year.

Well... it's off to brunch and a wonderful day with friends for me...

Good morning!

Another picture from this weekend. This is the new dress that I was up working on for so long last week. It still needs some tweaking but looked pretty last weekend nonetheless. (I love the parachute factor with the sleeves!)


It's another perfect day outside today! I had been feeling a little lethargic since returning from WA this past weekend (maybe I was recovering from all the heat) and had been contemplating calling up the Robson St. Saje store to see if they wanted to have me come in and do massage sometime this week. I hadn't gotten around to doing that yet when my phone rang and it was Shelagh from Robson calling to ask me if I could cover Sitaj (chair massage) for Wednesday and Thursday. Convenient, yes?
So I got down there and oriented but didn't get a whole lot of clients. The Robsons store has only been open since December and they are still working on building their client base. So after waiting quite a while for someone to come in for a massage I grabbed some lotion and went outside with the intention of giving out hand rubs until someone decided to come in and get a back rub.
As SOON as I got out there a woman and her daughter came up and were looking at the store and their dog was drinking from the water dish outside. I offered a hand massage and the daughter immediately perked up with, "Can I Mom?" After she got a quick one I gave her mom's hand a rub and the daughter launched into, "You should go in and get one Mom, you really should!" I could not have possibly had a better supporter so: Thank you, little girl!
Her mom popped in and had a 15 minute and came out all relaxed and happy. I think I will try the hand massage again today...

Adventures and Misadventures in the USA

It is safe to say that we had a FABULOUS time this past weekend down in Randle, WA at the 40 Year Celebration (40YC) of the SCA (Society for Creative Anachronism). The weather was gorgeous (though a LITTLE bit cold at night) and the people were great.

Friday:
As they had been asked to, Dorothy and Jessica showed up promptly a little before 8:30 in the morning so that we could get an early start (as I had stressed to both of them). Luckily for me they were expecting that things would be running on SCA time (about an hour or two later than scheduled).
Because I had spent the entire previous day sewing my new garb and driving to Burnaby and then Kitsilano to pick up Jessica and Dorothy's things (not getting home until 9:00 at night) we didn't have time to pack the night before so that was the first order of business.
Dorothy and Jessica were a great help with everything that morning. I did a lot of packing, Derek did a lot of van preparations (checking coolant, loading everything in nice and tight, etc.)
By 10:30 (ONLY two hours late) we were on the road with our music mix in the cd player and Jessica passed out in the back of the van (having worked a twelve hour graveyard shift the night before).
We made rather a lot of stops for pee-breaks, gas and food on the way down and had a TINY detour that involved circumnavigating SeaTac Airport (and taking the road that runs underneath the airstrip... it was quite exciting really). Derek was a little put off by this but we did end up making it to the site (only six or seven hours later than expected) by 8:00 that night.
We were smart about our eating and had stopped in Randle to have a wonderful porkchop dinner just before we arrived on site (so that at the very least we wouldn't be hungry while setting up.
The van was unloaded and tents were set up in RECORD time. By full dark all our tents were happily put up near the river that ran through the site.
Derek and I spent some time chatting and watching the moon rise over on of the surrounding mountains... what a beautiful sight!

Saturday:
Why the biffy trucks insisted on coming to clean them at 7:00 am each day (except for the final day when they came at 10:00) I will never know. That was the first sound I heard that day, followed quickly by the herald (someone who runs around the site announcing things) letting us know when archery, heavy fighting and rapier would be starting.
Morgan (Derek) and I (my SCA name is Aria) got up and were greeted by Christine (Jessica) and Gwynna (Dorothy). Christine told us to check out the Dewdrop Inn and let the owner know we were her friends. So off we went!
The Dewdrop became our favorite hang out all weekend long for a few reasons: BIG reason #1: The uber-breakfast sandwich is the greatest thing ever invented. It is a sausage patty (like in an Egg Muffin thingy), a couple of fried eggs, two strips of bacon and some cheese all sandwiched between two thick slices of french toast (I think I gained about 15 pounds just from eating breakfast there all weekend, but MAN was it tasty!); reason #2: Phillipe. He is the craziest, most wonderful frenchman I have ever met at an event. Despite having had some serious personal stuff going on in the last little while he had a smile on most of the weekend and was always striving to make people happy and to make them laugh; reason #3: It was an AWFULLY fun place to be. There were always people milling about and having a good time. They had bards in and out all weekend and we all had a blast there.
After breakfast Morgan (Derek) and I went for the first (of many) shopping trips. The merchants on site were wonderful. They had anything and everything medieval you could possibly want to buy and then some. Some of the best scores this weekend were: a nice cavalier hat and bracers (armguards) for Derek, a couple of lovely haircombs for me, some gorgeous pearls (for decorating garb) and the greatest thing we got all weekend, a metal brazier that sits three feet off the ground on a tripod. We were especially proud of finding the brazier because we got a smoking deal on it.
Around noon Gwynna and Christine wanted to pop into town to get a little more cash and some water for the heat of the day. It was quite the blessing to walk into an airconditioned store and get slurpees too!
When we got back Morgan and I went to Sushi Sam's (medieval sushi merchant... yet somehow the fish was fresh... hmmm) for lunch. We had a good time playing backgammon while we waited for our order (and man, it was GOOD sushi). While there I was approached by Phillipe (earlier in the day I had offered a barter of back massage for meals at the Dewdrop). It turns out that the owner of the Dewdrop, one Silverstone (or just Stone) by name, was having some back problems and was quite happy at the idea of the exchange.
So I went and got my chair and brought it back to the Dewdrop. I managed to do enough massage for Stone and his staff that Morgan and I were fed for most of the remainder of the weekend. Everybody won! While I was doing that Morgan was shooting at the archery range and having a good time.
In the evening we spent some time wandering around the site after Morgan had a nap while I did some sewing. That night was a site-wide shopping extravaganza (ironically we didn't end up buying anything). After shopping at Midnight Madness, we headed over to the tavern/great hall (which was a great set up, all wood interior with spears and shields on the wall and long dining tables up and down. There was some bellydancing going on and Gwynna looked lovely (and was the best dancer there). Sadly, instead of the usual drum circle happening there was this one old guy who kept putting lousy music into a boom box and then drumming on (what looked like) a snare drum with drumsticks. This is quite unusual (and wrong sounding) because bellydancing calls for a very complex set of rhythms played by hand either on a doumbek, a set of tablas or similar drum set up. Gwynna, sadly, got frustrated and decided to find something better to do for the evening.
When she left Morgan, Christine and myself decided to try and find a bardic circle to sing at. After wandering for a while we found Phillipe who took us to a party happening at The Keep (another camp). They were also doing the circle of guys ogling the bellydancers (really not what we were into at that point) so we decided to head home and get some sleep.

Sunday:
In the morning I asked Morgan to pick up breakfast from the Dewdrop and bring it back as I was finishing off the sleeves for my new bodice. When he arrived back at camp he brought the news that they were not open yet so I made some museli instead and Morgan, Gwynna and I sat around and chatted for a while.
During our nice, quiet breakfast, a gentleman named Ambrose (mka Dain) came by to say hello and give Gwynna and I some absolutely AMAZING chocolates with a coffee cream center (tasted like a coffee crisp times a million on the delicious scale). We invited him to come by for dinner anytime...
Later Morgan, Christine, Gwynna and I decided that we would have a weiner roast to inaugurate the new brazier (and we invite Ambrose to this). The only problem was that none of us wanted to go into town to get the weiners. The problem was solved while I was in the great hall later that day where we were able to buy a box of 30 bratwurst sausages (it cost less to buy 30 than to buy 8... silly, isn't it?) and some buns to go with.
So we were all set for the evening and having a great time in the afternoon playing games of Mancala in the great hall and singing songs and giggling.
At one point Stone came along and asked if any of us wanted to go on a quick trip to Gig Harbour with him. Gwynna seemed up for a road trip (or an hour or two) and agreed. It turns out someone's vehical had broken down and because Stone had a flatbed trailer (and is a really good guy) he was taking their vehical home for them. They didn't get going until very late in the day but all went well and Gwynna had a good time on the trip.
At about 4:00 in the afternoon I went to check on Morgan (who had gone for a nap at about 1:00). When I got back to the tent he was still sleeping and it was stiflingly hot inside. I woke him up and it quickly became apparant that he was suffering from mild heat stroke from having been inside the hot tent for so long.
I took him out of the tent and into the shade and proceeded to slowly rub cool water into his hair and draped a wet towel around his neck, head and shoulders. After about half and hour we managed to cool him down so he only had a mild headache (which we got rid of with Peppermint Halo). Once he was better we went back to the tavern and picked up my chair, and then to the tavern to get the food for the evening.
Once we got back to camp we began to prepare for our feast. I fetched green sticks for roasting the bratwurst, Christine was the fire-maiden and Morgan spent time getting firewood and buckets of water for us.
By 7:00 we had a roaring fire going in our new (and wonderful) brazier. Sadly, Gwynna was out late and didn't end up coming back in time for our little party but we still had a great time.
Ambrose came by with a wonderful salad (which was enjoyed by all) and we also managed to drag out other neighbor, Craig, to our little happy fire. It turned out that everyone there had quite the bardic talents. We all exchanged songs and stories and jokes late into the night.
While we weren't looking a thick, low-lying fog crept around us and isolated our tents from the rest of the event (although by this time a LOT of people had packed up and gone home so the five tents of us and our guests were the only ones for a quarter mile around). We couldn't make out much beyond our circle of tents but above us the stars were clear and bright. There was a big of cloud coming over one of the hills and it was glowing an eerie but beautiful blue from the rising moon behind it.
By the time midnight rolled around I was thoroughly exhausted so I dragged my life-sized hot water bottle (aka Morgan) to our nest in the tent and fell fast asleep.

Monday:
Ahhh... to sleep in with no portapotty truck showing up at 7:00 am! We had a luxurious morning, sleeping in, then having breakfast... it was great! Packing up took a while and at the end of it I managed to find a safe place to dunk myself in the swiftly flowing, glacier fed river to cool off (good thing I did too as I didn't get all the spots with sunscreen and might have been REALLY sore today otherwise).
The drive home was fairly uneventful and MUCH faster than on the way down (thank goodness). We only stopped a couple of times and made it back to Canada by 7:30ish (only a six and a half hour drive). Derek and I dropped off Jessica and Dorothy and then went for a shower, sushi and then a blessed sleep at home!

I LOVE SUMMER EVENTS!

Visitors and journeys...

A picture of (clockwise from top middle) Dorothy (Gwynna), Jessica (Christine), Briga (Sarah), and Mog (Megan) at Daffodil Tourney earlier this year.

I had a really fun couple of days yesterday and the day before. Anthony (from Australia) made it safely to Vancouver Airport (though he had to wait through an hour and a half delay between San Francisco and here) and met me (drinking beer at the pub at arrivals because, really, what else is there to do while waiting for a plane to arrive?).
So we dropped off his things at my place and we picked up Derek then went to the Cactus Club for a late dinner (it was Bellini special's night too... YUM!).
The next day Anthony and I were up early and off to pick up his friend Joe from the ferry. We then proceeded to pop by Saje, get groceries and then head off to Buntzen Lake (I LOVE THAT PLACE!).
The lake was perfection. We had a great picnic lunch down by the water and watched the baby squirrels, goslings, and humans all playing on the beach and near out bench. The sunshine was perfect, there was a light, mild breeze and the mountains rising out of the lake were beckoning.
After lunch we went for a half hour walk to the first lookout point where I dandled my feet in the water (which was VERY cold) and just hang out enjoying the day.
I met a couple of guys there, Jeff and Dave (I think... I am SO bad with names) and their gorgeous Malamute, Gus. It sounds like the lake is going to be a GREAT place to go swimming in late summer (which means I will probably be dragging many of you with me to keep me company).
After the lake we drove back to town and I sent Anthony and Joe off to get settled in their hotel room while I prepared for a BBQ at our place that evening.
We made shishkabobs, bavarian smokies and BBQ chicken... the neighbors MUST have been salivating like CRAZY! It was a wonderful dinner and we had a nice fruit salad for dessert. After dinner Anthony and Joe started back to their hotel room only to return ten minutes later for a song or two and to cover the dinner expenses (thank you very much! :)
It was a really nice evening and left time for Derek and I to get the place in some semblance of order before sleep.

Today is the day of preparations. I still haven't finished sewing (surprise, surprise) but I think I should have enough time to get what I need to done. All four of us (Derek, Dorothy, Jessica and I) can hardly wait for tomorrow (and we are REALLY crossing our fingers for good weather at the site).
The plan is to pick up Jessica's stuff at 3:00, go to Costco to get supplies, pick up Dorothy's stuff at 5:30 or 6:00 then come home and have MORE BBQ shishkabobs (with leftovers - yummy). After sustainance enters my system it will be time to pack Derek's and my things into the van. Tomorrow morning Jessica and Dorothy are going to magically appear at our doorstep at 8:30 and it is off to the event go we! If we leave on time we should be there shortly after noon (barring any hold-ups... of which there won't be any... right?).

Well... it's off to start! Have a great weekend everyone!

Procrastination is EASY!

Today has been a productive day so far... but not in the ways I had planned for it to be. Why is it that once I plan to do something I then go out of my way to avoid doing it and will fill the time with anything and everything I can?

Well... I suppose I should stop procrastinating (while writing this) and get on with my sewing... :)

Thanks for the comments!

This picture was taken by Derek last summer while camping in the Shuswap area... beautiful starry night... and a great picture.


I just wanted to say how nice it is to get comments on my blog... I know there are some of you out there stalking me through it and it is really a pleasure to know WHO YOU ARE!!! (teehee)
But seriously, thanks for taking the time to let me know that you love me... I love you too!

I am quite happy with the way tomorrow is going to go... Today I got a LOT of my chores done as planned (thinking that I wouldn't have time to do any of it tomorrow). I just checked my schedule and it turns out that I have the whole day (until 6:00) free to get a bunch of that sewing finished before Thursday (which is good because even though it IS tradition to stay up until 4 am the night before an event with the current sewing project I was hoping to avoid it this time). I also have to send off certain packages to certain wonderful ladies who have been responsible for creating me and my wonderful man (just a hint... mother's day is this weekend).

AND! I am TOTALLY EXCITED about the imminent arrival of my massage chair (which I ordered online from Relax to the Max, the people I am doing my chair massage training course through this summer). It should be arriving in about a week and a half.
It is going to be GREAT! I have been thinking about going out into the community and doing massage in various odd but fun locations... I am hoping that the beach ends up being a good place to go (I mean really... wouldn't THAT be a great place to work for summer?)

Oh yeah! Amongst all my chores and other things today I even had time to lie on the grass in the backyard and read my book with the blue sky above me, the sun shining brightly, the birds in the trees and the wind playing up and down the street... It was WONDERFUL!

RAPIER THEFT!

To any who live in theVancouver/Lower mainland of B.C:

On Sunday night there was a break in at the Academie Duello (run by my friends, Devon and Randy). A whole lot of rapiers, side-swords (look like short swords) and daggers were stolen along with other miscellanious equipment.

There were a couple of very distinctive items among these including: a rapier with an octopus worked into the hilt and a dagger with a portugese hilt.

If you notice anything suspicious please get in touch with the Vancouver police or with Devon or Randy at the Academie Duello. (e-mail: Director@academieduello.com)

Thanks very much!

SCA preparations

This is the first of four bodices I have been working on in the past few days.




Today is one of those cleaning/errand/get as much stuff done as I can sort of days.
My friend Anthony is coming from Australia to visit for Tuesday and Wednesday and then I have Thursday to finish all my sewing for the weekend (which is going very well), do all the supplies shopping, pick up Dorothy and her stuff, pick up Jessica and her stuff and potentially go to rapier pratice in New West (though that may have to wait yet another week if I can't get everything else done in time).
So today I am going to tackle as many of these things ahead of time as I can.

My sewing project (bodice and skirt) has been going really well. I spent all of Thursday (before swimming) getting my pattern drafted and laid out. On Friday the plan was to sew the red velvet bodice and the red silk skirt. Then I got to thinking, "Wouldn't it be more efficient to make a BUNCH of bodices all at once now that I have the pattern?"
So most of Friday was spent cutting out the eight copies of the bodice (four of the outter fabric and four copies of lining fabric). I also got mostly finished the first one and am quite pleased with the results (although it isn't quite as fitted as I would like... something to work on with the next couple tries) seen above.
I am also making a T-tunic for Derek (for those of you not familiar with this garment it is like an over long t-shirt with long sleeves). This will be better for him to do archery in. I am also hoping that I have time to whip up a couple pairs of pants for him as all he has right now are some sweat pants and some pj pants (which do work in a pinch but it would be great if he could have matching ensembles).

So I am off to do my massive house cleaning (well... not really massive, just time consuming). Then maybe a little time in the sun would be good... it is a beautiful day after all!

The best laid plans o' mice and men...

I had a really great time on Thursday with my friend Dorothy. It was beautifully sunny so after spending about three or four hours working on my mock up for the new outfit I am sewing I went and picked up Dorothy. She and I then went out to the UBC outdoor pool and had fun making trouble in the deep end (we both think that it is INCREDIBLY silly that they have that beautiful large pool outside divided only into constant swimming lanes with no area for people just to play in).
After that we headed to Capers to go grocery shopping (which was fun but a LITTLE more exprensive than originally planned for this shopping trip). The plan for the rest of the evening was to try to make it to SCA Rapier practice but by the time I got home and unloaded the practice (which is about a 45 minute drive from my house) had already been going to about 20 minutes (and we would have had to leave early anyways).
Ah well... one of these days... I just hope that I do start getting back into fencing before the summer is gone. Camping events are sooo much fun.

Sewing day...

For some people that may not sound like the most fun you could have in a day but trust me... in the SCA this is GOOD TIMES! :)

This is a picture of the silk (shiny) for the skirt, lining and possibly sleeves of the outfit. The darker red in the upper left corner is the velvet for the bodice portion of the outfit.

I love that I was able to get the red silk at Little India in Vancouver. They had such good prices. I got this silk for $10.00/Yard and it is 60" wide. I am REALLY looking foward to finally having some garb that will be pretty AND cool for summer events and busking.

Well... it's off to create now! I will post a picture of the project again later.

I'm scared of math...

Derek looking super hot at his first SCA event ever last year-->

We have two gentlemen coming to our house tonight to talk about financial matters (nothing bad, just helping us figure out some things for future). I (of couse) have been cleaning like a maniac for the past hour and making Derek think that I am loopy... loopier... than normal I mean... Anyhow, now that everything is ready they can come over and I will be happy.

Busking went as well as expected yesterday (it being mid-week and not tourist season yet). I got to have lunch with my friend Mike (the one with the photography exhibit). I also got to chat with other friends from Granville Island who I haven't seen for at least a year. I am still excited about going down there more often. It has been giving me the inspiration I need to start making more garb/costumes.

Today was my first day doing an on-site chair massage session at an office downtown. It was a bit of a whirlwind day. Both myself and Nia (the other practitioner) did 16 massages back to back at ten minutes a piece. I was sooooo tired by the time I got home this afternoon.

* * * * * * *

Just finished the meeting with the guys from the IG and had a lot of fun actually. They were very nice and informative and made the whole numbers planning thing seem a little less scary... I guess math isn't soooo bad. :)

Busking Update - May 2

This picture was taken by Derek at an art show, last year, jointly produced by my friends: Jeni and Mike. Jeni did the face-painting and Mike did a photography exhibit of those faces.

It is a gorgeous day outside so, as promised, I will be busking at Granville Island today between 12:00 and 2:00. Location is still TBA but if I can find an internet kiosk down there I will specifically post which locations I will be at during certain times. If you don't see any further posts from me, it is safe to assume that I either: a) Couldn't find an internet kiosk down there; or: b) didn't have time to do another post before beginning performing. Either way, just come down and wander the market, if you see a girl singing in a medieval dress that is likely to be me.

Thanks again to those of you who have sent responses in to my questionnaire. For anyone interested in filling one in to help me out they are further down the page in bright green text.

Massage went REALLY good this weekend (though I was ready for a rest by the end of yesterday). I had a lot of really fun customers and the sun was shining into the window for the great majority of the weekend. I am really looking forward to getting my own chair so I can go and do massage at various locations this summer. It is really wonderful being able to have so many different careers going at the same time... it DEFINITELY keeps things interesting!