Lakshmi Amman's Journal

Lakshmi, Emine and Dr. Utpola Borah at KWDMS - last minute of last day before we fly like the wind to get me on the plane home.

I had a super great time at KWDMS last weekend.  I shared a room with HRH Thura and Master Valizan.  That makes us all sound quite classy, but in truth we were anything but.  Three enthusiastic dancers is bound to be energetic, enthusiastic and not at all decorious.  Just the way I like it.  My classes and performances went well overall, and I had a great time.  The experts brought in by Chandara where out of this world - I particularly fell in love with Dr. Utpola Borah and her husband Dr. Hans Utter - they are both Indian Hindustani music experts, and their skill and teaching was simply awesome.  I'd go on at length to make all of you jealous, but I have other things I want to write about, so please take an action to feel jealous for having missed it and do that later.

For the moment, I was struck last night by wanting to point out how much belief can affect your abilty to move the universe in the direction of your choice.  It's come up in my head many times in the last week, so I thought I'd highlight a few stories along this line:...


( Believe you can fly )

Well... got a lot done:
- studied for midterms, finished reading
- face/mouth healing nicely
- Folkwear Flamenco Dress - found the right size (large), got fabric, 2/3 done cutting fabric
- saw jezebelpussycat, always pleasure
- did Baby Dolls Practice on Sunday

DIDN'T do a few things I really should have:
- pay bills
- finish Carolingia webpage transition

Planning to do the latter at lunch, and the former after class (bleh), even if it just means I've started. Reminding self that playing with shiny faux silk is super-fun, but I must be a grownup. Bleh.

Got lots of sleep - very important, and lots of friend-time in - also important. Am daunted by the number of people I care about that I HAVEN'T given time to. Sigh. And also that I probably won't do any yoga classes with the November Baby Doll Show flying at me as quickly as it is. Must find a way to balance my current dance classes, and Baby Dolls...

( dance geekery - Baby Dolls )

The happy exhaustion of DONE.

Well... homework isn't done, enough, I got the bare minimum done, but didn't have much concentration to spare. I think I needed a break. And.. the prof mailed me today with things he things are problems in my code - and one of them is (IMO) a classic problem with his code... so that's upsetting.

But - Baby Doll tasks are DONE. Obviously the show isn't done, but the prep-work is on target, and all the making of stuff is done. Now it's time to work the stage, learn the space, and make changes when people + space + lighting + sound + Scratch (the director/manager/producer) are all blended together. The list of done is:
( Read more... )

Last night, I slept the sleep of the exhausted and relieved. I haven't always had a good night's sleep - lately, even when I lied down, my heart would be racing and it would be hard to settle down. Not last night. Oh boy. Pasties were finished, and *plunk* out like a light.

Now I go to Waltham to get mee-self some stage makeup. Praying they have someone with a clue on their staff, as I could really use a bit of a refresher.

Class was OK. The idea of locking makes sense on a meta-level but the details of how to do it for real are hard -- hard enough that my brain was having real trouble staying tuned in. My prof seems to have the belief that the project is not hard *enough* we should go and play and do a little extra. I know it's in the project spec that a little extra is required, but AHHHH!!!!!! I don't have time for that. I have time (barely) to get the project done. No more. Fuck.

On the drive home, found out that our group should do an extra rehearsal a week. Argh. I knew that was coming. I really did. Somehow, I managed to gloss over it on Sunday, and know need to edge it into my week. Ick.

And need to beat the crap out of "You're the Boss" (the dance formerly known as Satan's dance). Need to get practiced with my second, evil head.

Aparna's back in town and I start class tonight. A thrill - but also a time commitment. Right now, I think the priority scale is:
1 - work - because they pay me
2 - class - because I could loose big money if I don't pass
3 - Baby Dolls - because they also pay me, because those I love would get screwed, otherwise - because I made a commitment
4 - Indian dance - class with Aparna, teaching Padme
5 - sleeping and eating - yeah, that should be a higher priority.
6 - everything else - family (desperately need some "it's OK" time with the Mom... maybe an email will help), friends (who I hope love me enough to be OK with not seeing me this month), belly dance, other kinds of fun.

So... maybe spending any time at all on a #4 priority is not right. Sigh. But will not cancel on tonight. May cancel on next week. Will definitely bow out of the two weeks of show time.

Ameliorated the growing panic by charting out the time sequence for You're the Boss, and then working out this morning.

Am thankful that new_man is managing the big picture. Wish like hell I could find a way to reduce the vast stress involved in his recent post. No way to rationalize out of it... a professional show needs to deliver high quality and make money. That's the mission.

I will beg of you, gentle readers, the same thing new_man does - if you can be in Boston, please come see the show. Tickets can be bought here -

http://www.theatermania.com/content/show.cfm/show/114374

Better yet, convince others. People we don't know. Even if you don't live and Boston, contact a friend who does (not me, duh) and convince them to see the show...

Work wise:
- document is out. Now the customer's email is screening out any attachment format known to man... but that's not my problem. My boss is handling it.
- slides are 1/2 done, and my boss liked the first half, with minor tweaks. Yay!

( lots about dance )

new_man had another great idea yesterday - make the Baby Doll's first night at Axis into a New Orleans fundraiser. I think that's fabulous - good publicity for us, and good deeds rock.

So... here's the beginnings of our promotion:

( fabulous picture behind the cut )

I'm home - safe and happy, if not healthy. Among the many things I am glad to take home from Pennsic, this head cold is not one of them. 12 hours of sleep has done alot, but I'm still dopey and congested, although I am imitating a vertical, functioning human being here at work.

But that's not what I want to talk about. I don't even know where to begin. I think I should begin and end with an ENORMOUS thank you to all the people who make this Pennsic the most magical, most amazing Pennsic I hope ever to have had. In case the rumor mill hasn't gotten to you, gentle reader, I was elevated into the noble Order of the Laurel at Pennsic this year. (For those non-SCAdians reading this - this award is the single highest award for the Arts and Sciences that this organization gives. It is awarded for both excellence in research and recreation of some medieval area and for having good character.) That, on it's own is quite enough to be dizzying. But what is even more moving is how very, very many friends put so very, very much time and energy and money and good will into this endeavor.

From start to finish, the vigil and the ceremony where everything I could have ever dreamed of and more, much more. To see so many friends put so much love into this.... I am touched and hardly feel I deserve all of you.

Thank you so very much.

I will probably write more on this... I'm trying to collect pictures now, so that I may put together a little collection of images and words for those who could not make it to War or the vigil or ceremony. So... if you have images that you would be willing to share - please email them to me - I am beth at pir dot net

Along with this most wonderful suprise, this would have been a really fabulous war, anyway. I had a great camp, classes went well, the performances I was involved in were well-recieved, I saw many friends - both new and old, great shopping, and so many other wonderful experiences that I think it will take me weeks to put down all the special moments. But I hope to jot down some of them here, so I may remember them better.

But... once again, thank you to everyone. I don't even know what to say to express how truly awed by the time, effort and love that went into Wednesday at War.

Thank you.

So... last night was another dancing ladies' night. Kicked if off with a run to Bard Wire so that I am now the possessor of 50 CDs of my voice. Beyond the strange thought my voice trapped in 50 little plastic disks, I'm immensely pleased and relieved to have them in my grubby little hands, and ready to pack for Pennsic.

Dancing lady practice was... hectic, frenzied and just about right.

( Read more... )

Dentist - a-OK. Mouth did hurt after novicaine, but nailed it with Motrin real fast. Ate rice & bread and mushy stuff, and drank ice water at dinner, not a problem. Had Dentist, Senior, not Dentist, Junior (father and son practice) - on which some credit might be laid. He's super-slick - of course, he's been doing this for 30 or 40 years... I don't think Dentist Junior messed up, just that if you have to go in to the dentist - super terrified and in pain - then it's nice to know that the guy could probably do this half-asleep and has 30 years of good judgement calls behind him.

Best part of day - Aparna's class. Oh the humility. :) The expert becomes the student, and gets totally exhausted. Luckily, survived humidity OK, and so my screw-ups are all mine. Lots of mistakes, but the latest peice, pushpanjali, hasn't slipped and is ready for hardcore work. And, best of all, I got to pick the next peice to work on - a choice of more abhinaya (expression) or more rhythm (nritta). I felt like I was being offered a big plate of pate or a Godiva chocolate sunday. How can you loose? :) I decided on the sunday - the expressive stuff. It's less physical work, and a whole lot of theatrical work, which will carry well into both SCA life and Middle Eastern dance. Even if it won't burn calories so well. That's why it's dessert. :)

After being a teacher for a dedicated class I have a new appreciation for two things:
- how hard it is to wrap your brain around new concepts as a student
- how hard it is to hit on the right words for these concepts as a teacher

And... mostly, an appreciation of how damn good Aparna is. I look spiff... next to folks how have just started this journey. Take that delta and multiply it by 100 and you get how much better Aparna looks than me. Wow. I'm having trouble not just gazing in awe as we do the new piece. Boy, I missed her.

Wrapped the class up with dinner at Helmond - Afghani food - which is out of my way... unless I'm at dance class. Mmmm.... happiness. And did the traditional post-dance-dinner activity of scribbling moves down furiously in my notebook, while trying to eat delicately. Ummm... trying. "Delicate" is difficult when you are trying not to scarf down yummy, just out of clay oven, flatbread.

And just hammered out the last roundup for the exam tomorrow. Even more happiness. Stupid, evil class will be OVER. No more logistical pains! YAY!! No more thinking about this stuff. Yay! Several brain cells freed up for Pennsic. Phew!

ARGH!  I had a lot of stuff written.  I ham-handed a control sequence, and now the interface has changed (I have a set of text formatting buttons), and my writing is gone.  Here goes... take two.

Went to dance class last Thursday.  Generally good - got a chance to rant, learned a bunch, got some exercise.  We were pretty energetic, but not so focused as a group.  Probably Pennsic energy.

( dance geekery )