Ah...it feels good to be laced up again...I finally finished making a new leather corset for MYSELF. AFter the significant weight loss this year, none of my old ones fit me, and I had been waiting until my weight was a bit more stable before investing the time and energy into such a project. Also, I need something super-cool to wear when I visit club ManRay in Boston next week!!! Yes, I'm going to Boston and looking forward to it. Going to hang out with some friends I don't usually see outside of Pennsic, so it should be fun. As usual, pictures and details to come...

In other news, I continue to adjust to my "new lifestyle." In other words, I'll be acting like a complete fruitloop and driving my friends nuts for a while. After living with someone for 10 years, solitude takes some getting used to. I managed to pay all the bills this month on my own, so that's good news. What I miss is having someone to bitch to about work and the stuff that's not going well...now it's just me and the kitties. I complain to the kitties about the things that suck, but they just don't get it. Oh, sure, the purring and snuggling is nice...

...and here are some pictures from the show tonite!!! I know I am insane because I am up at 3 am uploading these pictures to my blog--what can I say--I am a slave to the blog...all things must be blogged...anyway: Melissa was looking especially fab...

...and here is the dancing...

Had a good turn out--even if it was mostly family and friends. We apparently have a lot of 'em! Got a lot of good reviews from audience members after the show. It was such a good experience. It gave me the best of both worlds: I felt like a musician in a band AND a dancer in a dance troupe at the same time. Thanks to Melissa's bro, Matt, for taking these pix, thanks to my bro, Ryan, and to Eric for playing with us tonite and making it extra-special, and thanks to Between the Waters for inviting us to play.

Back home again...DONT FORGET--Khafif is opening for Between the Waters at the Bloomfield Bridge Tavern TONITE!

The Marrakesh Restaurant in Costa Mesa was awesome! I just love Morroccan restaurants to begin with, and this one was particularly good: good food and a good dancer. A little on the expensive side, but the honey lamb was to-die-for and I will be forever trying to figure out how the couscous was seasoned. The dancer, Tiffany, has been dancing there for 7 years, studied with Suhaila, and teaches her own classes in the area of Orange County. I thought her undulations were particularly good. Here we are posed after her show (she had already changed out of uniform). My colleague, Gary took some pictures of us dancing and I will post those when I can. I will probably be Internet-impaired until I am back in the office on Monday, because my cable modem at home is not behaving since the SO departed.

Last night, saw the ocean, even if it was at night. That is how I usually have to experience most cities that I visit for work--in the dark. So you can't see the lovely beach in the background...I also had some delicious fish tacos and a $12 shot of tequila (Cuervo La Familia)--it was like buttah in Newport Beach.

So, I'm in California right now. It's really lovely here. I wasn't expecting to like it so much. People here complain about the traffic and pollution, but that's about all they can complain about. The weather is lovely, there are a million shops with cool clothes, people are more health-conscious, lots of old punk and metal bands still play out around here. I'm sorry I'm not staying longer to see some sites. More details to come...

Khafif is set to open for Between the Waters at the Bloomfield Bridge Tavern next Friday, Sept. 19. We are going to do some of our more rare material. I am even going to sing, so this should be interesting. And there are two haflas coming up: Nov. 8 at the Quiet Storm Cafe and Dec. 6 at Schoolhouse Yoga, so plenty of music and dance for everyone this fall.

Fun fun fun this past weekend! Went to the Irish fest with Zimra (a Pennsic camp-mate who was unexpectedly in town), afterwhich we closed the Harp & Fiddle. It was a blast. It turns out that Zimra knows the same people I know (so far) in the Irish music scene here and I was totally surprised, but then it is a small world, isn't it? And, she knows Gaelic Storm, who headlined the fest, so I got to rub elbows with the elite. I had avoided the Irish music scene here for years, but I think I have finally succombed to it. I went to an introductory jam session with a new Irish band that is forming up, and I really really really enjoyed it. So here's Gaelic Storm:

And here's me enjoying a Guiness before Gaelic Storm:

And here's Zimra enjoying a "half and half" before Gaelic storm--we were LOL when I took this picture because I have so many pictures of people drinking!!!

And here's Khafif posed with clergy!

So...this weekend...Khafif is performing at a church fair in Greensburg (we get all the glamorous gigs), and the Pgh. Irish Fest is this weekend at Station Square. The Wild Geese are playing Fri. and Sat. at 7:30 and I might go just to watch this time.

So, I decided today that I don't want to be 33. I'm just going to re-do my 20s. If I can still pass for 23, then why the heck not? I just don't feel 33. I feel like I am just starting over where I was 10 years ago. At that time, I was having bad luck with dating, and men. I was looking for a job to get some sort of career on track. I didn't know where I was going. I was depressed. Now, I'm in about the same place, but it's different. I am wiser, maybe? I'm not really looking for anything in particular. I'm not nearly so depressed--just a healthy goth chic angst.