Woohoo! I'm making progress on the new pattern designs! I just had to shout it out--I have to keep up the momentum because I am so overloaded right now, I'm really concerned that I'm not going to reach all my sewing project deadlines. I have deadlines because I am trying desperately to get certain things done before Pennsic. Yes, it's just 64 days until land grab and I don't have much time for having any kind of LIFE until then.

In other news, my blog is now linked from the PGHGoth.com journals page. Why am I associated with these people? I'm not sure. I'm listed on the PGHGoth Personality index, and I lurk on the pgh-goth-list@nine.org, but you might not guess me a goth if you saw me on the street. I have been a corporate drone for many years and my wardrobe has suffered as a result. Also, I am what you call a geriatric goth. I am about 5-10 years older than the more active prominant people on the scene, and somewhat out-of-touch--but I am trying to catch up these days. Coloring my hair red was probably the most drastic thing I've done in a good long while. With recent layoffs in my workplace, I've decided as a silent protest that I will WEAR WHAT I WANT--but I usually don't dress too weird anyway. Gothness is something you never really outgrow, although you may internalize it.

My feedback rating on eBay finally hit the big 50 mark!!! Now I can list "dutch" auctions (not that I actually have anything to list for dutch auctions right now, but if I wanted to, I could). I do have a few auctions going on right now, if you want to check them out--mostly summer stuff left over from last year: some light-weight cotton voile choli/salwar sets, a pair of embroidered rajasthani sandals that don't fit me, some silk scarves. Unless I do any further closet cleaning, I won't have many more auctions for pre-made stuff in the near future. I want to spend more time designing new patterns, and I will be publishing those and selling them on eBay as soon as I can. I am working on costumes for a wedding and trying to get as much done on that this month as I can.

In other news...members of Khafif will be playing this Saturday at the Casablanca drum shop grand opening in Squirrel Hill. If you are in the neighborhood, please drop by.

Ahhh, finally saw Attack of the Clones--it was awesome. The critics are full of crap. It was everything I wanted it to be and more. I am now deeply in love with Hayden Christensen. I couldn't have asked for a more convincing performance, or better action sequences. I can die now. No, wait, I have to wait until Episode III comes out in two agonizing years.

Well, this past week was really really rough. I've been living on the change I found in my couch and the generosity of friends. There have been many layoffs at my workplace and many long faces as a result. Luckily, I survived the cut. Today was a payday, so my relief-impulse purchase this morning was the latest Starbucks Hear Music compilation: Ambient Luxe. very groovy. I just bought it with my coffee this morning, along with Yo-Yo Ma's Silk Road Journeys--sounds a lot like the Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon soundtrack. Looking forward to a long weekend...

Patience...pictures loading...

Some pix from past events, for your enjoyment

Blackstone Raids:

Sor and I.

Men in my pants;-)

They look menacing, don't they?

My Cousin's Wedding Reception on the Gateway Clipper:

My brother, cousins and I.

So, War Practice was COLD! I mean really really REALLY COLD. And it rained rained rained. It was awful. Usually, the weather, no matter how bad, does not hamper our fun that much, etc. but the mood was definitely not as festive as usual. I have camped in worse, but I just wasn't prepared for this. Friday night, the rain came down and never let up and we stood around the fires quietly trying to survive. Whiskey was much appreciated for its warming qualities, but seemed to have no other effect, being quickly metabolized with all the shivering and trying to stay warm. I slept tightly clenched in a fetal position, waking up the next day with muscle aches. The rain stopped, but it never got warmer. I walked around the merchants area, watched some of the fighting, but my spirits never lifted. By evening, a lot of other people were packing up and leaving, not willing to spend another night like the previous one. So, I packed up too and came home Saturday night. What a bummer. It might have been worth if for the fighters--they like it when it is cold, but it was a total waste of time for me. Even if I did see anything in the merchants area of interest, I did not have any money to buy it. I don't think I'm going to any other events for a while.

So depressed....the granny situation is not good, money is tight, and I have such a backlog of sewing work to do that I had to plan out all my weekends from now until Pennsic! Dont' worry--anyone who has already commissioned me to do something--it will get done. I can even give you a delivery date. But I can just forget about doing any sewing for myself for a while. On top of that, my SO did something very stupid, and is sorry about it, but nevertheless, my emotional state is quite dull.

I am looking forward to War Practice and Pennsic and there is another new event that I am considering, Sylvan Crusade, and I will sneak in the personal sewing time somewhere, but it will not be easy. I have lots of yummy fabric in my personal stash thanks to recent sales at JoAnn and Pheonix Textiles. And EBay has been good to me, too.

Still RED...it will be an ongoing struggle to keep this color throughout the summer but I'm going to do it!!! My granny's back in the hospital AGAIN so it was not a very pleasant weekend. The prognosis is not good, and I lost my other grandma around this time last year. I am fast running out of grandmas and I don't like it much, but I'm just going to take each day as it comes. I went to a "hafla" (that means party) at a friends house and it was fun. We (Khafif) played well together. We have been practicing together for almost a year and we are starting to sound like group. Attempted to dance but didn't feel quite up to it. All I could do was coax some sad sounds from my instrument. Looking forward to this weekend and another SCA event Aethelmearc War Practice. This one's always a blast and our camp is party central. My group might be playing in the marketplace.

I HATE HealthAmerica...I HATE HealthAmerica...I HATE HealthAmerica...they are ruining my life right now but I don't really want to go into that here. I used to have better insurance, but my employer switched the HMO option to HealthAmerica and now it seems I can just forget about trying to get decent healthcare without hassle these days. I spent more time on the phone yesterday trying to resolve my "issues" than I actually did work, so if my employer thinks they saved money by downgrading the benefits, they sacrificed my productivity. Anyway...it was a productive week on other fronts: dance class, music practice, sewing, EBay, etc. Someone sent me this funny rendition of Hamlet. Enjoy.

Ah...good weekend. Did lots of self-indulgent things while the SO was away at magician's convention. Friday, went to the salon, Puccini in Oakland, and changed from blonde to extreme RED. LOVE IT. I was always too cynical for blonde anyway. I even feel smarter. After that, got stuffed at Sushi Two--BEST sushi place in Da'Burgh. Then my rampage took me to The Lava Lounge. Very good mix of retro/80s there on Friday nights. Saturday, did the usual Middle Eastern dance class at Yoga Sadhana Studio, then saw The Scorpion King that evening. I was slightly disappointed. They could have done a lot more with this film, but they really aimed low with the dialogue, character development was weak, and action sequences were not original or impressive enough to make up for it. Should've gone to Spiderman, but maybe I'll do that next week. Back to the salt mines...

Back again. As I figure out how to to this blogging thing, I will add more interesting stuff. Firstly, how about some links related to the costuming stuff I do...DARKTHREADS.com...is the main Web page I set up. Unfortunately, it is being held hostage by my procrastinating SO, who is my Web developer. I usually have to ask about 578 times before he will make updates to it, and of course, I don't have the passwords or anything to do it myself. Oops, that sounded like a hateful rant. Anyway, I also have a storefront on EBay: DarkThreads Designs. This is kind-of a new thing, and people are just starting to get tuned into it. I can list fixed-price (non-auction) items there for longer periods of time, but these items don't show up in the regular auction listings. You have to specifically search the stores to find items in there. So I occasionally list an item as a regular auction and a pointer to my storefront. The business trickles in slowly, but it is all I can handle right now anyway. And, I am getting rave reviews from my customers. EBay has enabled me to broaden my audience--I have customers in England, Germany, France...but the thing I don't like is that it takes such a bite out of my profits. Anyway....

What am I working on this week? Well, I have four gypsy/Ghawazee/Ghawazi vests on the cutting table for a local dance troupe. And I got a custom order that came through via EBay: matching belly dance top and skirt, and I am working on a Rennaissance wedding--a total of 11 outfits for the wedding party (I'm doing all but the bridal gown, which, thank (insert deity of choice here), is being done by another vendor.

Oh... and as if I don't have enough to do, I also play in a Middle-Eastern music and dance ensemble, Khafif. We are working on some new pieces of music and I have been having fun learning how to use Noteworthy music notation software.

So, here I am. I do a lot of sewing and clothing design. Specifically, corsets and bellydance gear--an odd combo, I know. I also do a lot of garb for playing in the SCA, the occasional "Rennaissance" wedding party, and I help out my friends who do the 18th c./Rev War/French&Indian/Blackpowder stuff. Oh, and did I mention corsets? I love making corsets in all shapes and sizes. I do this outside of my REAL job, which has nothing to do with costuming, but does fund the fabric habit.