War Practice Pix/Going Away on Business...

I'll be taking off for Zurich, Switzerland in a few days to teach a class for work. Then, I'll be teaching another class in Aachen, Germany. Then, I'm speaking at a technical conference in Orlando, Fla. I've never been so in-demand at work. Needless to say, I might be out of touch with my blog for a while. I'll post pictures if I get any good ones. Speaking of which, War Practice was a good time. The weather was much milder than last year. It wasn't very well-attended, though. At least not by the merchants. I heard that some of them chose go to Baron Wars instead. Father Dun was sorely missed. My big purchase was several yards of trim from Calontir Trim.

An Elizabethan couple and their "mini-me's."

Shopping...

Just hanging around...

Aethelmearc War Practice...

Going to War Practice this weekend...most of Khafif is still in Greece so I will be the lone fiddler at the fireside once again. Got some pix back from the photoshoot with SFS and they are fab! I can actually enjoy pictures of myself again, whereas before the weightloss I was not real happy with them. This photo montage was put together by Timothy Harshman of Shadow Factory Studios--an extremely talented person-behind-a-lense:

Violin by ColorViolin.com.

New Toys...

Got a new toy recently. I was going to wait until my b-day but found a good price and glad I didn't wait too long--got a new violin from this place, ColorViolin. Starburst red--last one. For the price, it is not a bad violin at all. Sounds really great with the PiZo pickup, even better than my old violin with the Fishman pickup. It has a built-in jack but it's not connected to the PiZo; I will have to get someone to soulder it. I actually spent some time practicing with it last night, so it is a good motivation.

New X-men movie--forgot to mention that I did see this and it's good.

Currently reading: Oryx and Crake, by Margaret Atwood--really good read so far. Same author who wrote The Handmaid's Tale (1985), which was turned into an equally remarkable film. I should read more by this author. She has the ability to describe a very disturbing and bizarre, yet believable future Earth.

Yaatra

Was a very good show if you like that sort of thing. The first half, entitled "Yaatra" was a modern dance piece with classical Indian dance influence--this is the part that Neefa of Khafif performed in. The second half featured three impressive classical Indian dance pieces from the Kuchipudi, Odissi, and Bharata Natyam traditions. The occasion was an opportunity to wear one of my saris.

This last one is of Narah posing in front of some Indian architecture on the CFA building.

Yaatra this Weekend...

I will be checking out "Yaatra," an Indian dance show, at CMU. One of my troupemates who has been studying Odissi dance will be performing. Details about the Srishti dance company here and buy tickets here.