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...but we have some phenomenal, kickass, beautiful and amazing Belly Dancers!!!

I'm 2 weeks late in making this post partly because I'm still just floored by the whole experience. I can't thank Rising Sun Tribe enough for having me at Darkside of the Sun. Nor can I thank my Raven's Wing sisters enough for allowing me to dance the group piece with them.

Yes, I'm the insane chick that danced a solo AND a group piece LOL. I'm in the process of downloading the solo video from dropbox now but in the mean time, I figured I'd post a picture or 3.


Picture ©Margaret Pribble (Thank you!)


Picture ©Alison Rhodes (Thank You!!)


Picture ©Jussi Laine (Thank You, M'love!>

The track I danced was Black No.1 in tribute to Peter.

And here's a pic of me in dragon persona.



Which I think was also taken by Alison :)

The group piece was a hell of a lot of fun. We wanted to eat the audience, but the music kept pausing and wouldn't let us :( LOL

Thank you to everyone who came out and all my fellow dancers for the encouragement. You all Raq, HARD!

Craziness!

Yep, that's my life the last few months.

I danced the We Will Raq You show and the Boho Stage Show. Left the troupe I was part of and have now joined a troupe 45 minutes away. The women in Raven's Wing are AH-MAY-ZING!!! Seriously I've never been among a group that is this supportive. So much so, that at Darkside III next month I get to put something into my dancing that I've wanted to for a while, my spirituality. I'm also in the planning stages of bringing the lovely Aepril Schaile down here next year for a weekend of workshops.

This past weekend I spent a day in Morganton at UBL Expo. I got to do makeup demos, hang out with my dance family and get to know my instructor a little better.

Earlier this month my little one turned 2!!! Here she is outside playing after the opening of presents.



She's growing up so fast.

The weekend before we spent at Lake Keowee with my oldest sister and brother-in-law. All in all, it was a really great summer and fall/winter are looking to be just as wonderful.

We have so many projects that we're working on right now and more are being added all the time. Good things come to those who reach out and grab them! Even if sometimes it does get a little nutty around here. I love every second of it.

Day 52 and the Werewolf soon comes to call.

Today I've reached day 52 of being a non-smoker. I am nothing short of amazed that I've managed to do this. As I sit here this afternoon, vaping Chocolate chip cookies and Banana Nut Bread I realize just how much healthier I feel. Is vaping totally without risks? Is walking down the street totally without risks? No. It is, however, a hell of a lot safer than putting 4000 chemicals in the temple that is my body!

I've begun working on bringing my nic level down. I may be choosing a really bad time to do so. I do know that chain vaping is better than chain smoking. Thus far though, I'm not having too much of an issue with that.

I eventually plan to get some reviews done. Right now though, it's not possible to get the time I need to dedicate to doing so. The next 8 days are sure to be nothing but practice and nerves. Lots of both, even.

Next Saturday we'll wake up early to make the 3 hour drive to Concord. That's right, We Will Raq You is a mere 8 days away. The crunch has begun! My beloved will be home at 4:30 and we'll be spending the next 3 hours after that practicing our collective ass off. I know that it won't go perfectly (let's face it, whether the audience can tell or not, they're never perfect) I just want to have it to the point that if something goes pear shaped, no one will know!

I will have the honor of dancing with some of the best performers in the state. To make some more amazing new friends and to be among my sisters and brothers in dance. I know it sounds sappy but I truly am honored to be a member of this amazing tribe. Thank you all for the friendships you've shown me.

6 days after the show I will have the honor of performing with my troupemates at the Boho Stage Show and Festival. Which is the show my instructor is hosting. We'll have Storytellers, Aeriel Artists, some very talented Bellydancers. These are certainly exciting times and I can't wait to report back on how things go!!!

Thankfully, July appears to be shaping up as a quiet month. That means I get to start on Fluffy Rufflie Pants, Pantaloons and Leg Ruffles. Not sure what August holds, but it looks like Sept. it'll all start back up again.

I'm truly blessed to have an amazing family, wonderful friends and supportive dancers surrounding me. Thank you ALL for everything!!!

Nearing day 19 as a non-smoker

Tomorrow will be day 19 of the journey to being a vaper, not a smoker. I never, EVER expected it to be this easy. Some days are definitely harder than others. Like the days when my tastebuds are on the fritz and everything tastes like butt. Or, the coughing up of tar from my lungs but I feel a million times BETTER. That was my goal, to get healthier and I have!

Since I started I've placed several orders for juices. One company stands out to me right now, Vape-a-licious. I found my first all day vape with a sample order. It's called Vape Heaven and it lives up to its name. If I vape through the regular cart, it tastes like Sweet Tarts. But if I put it into a LR cartomizer, it's a sweet Tropical punch with a bit of a kick. Seriously, if I could drink Candy's juices, I would! I ended up ordering 20 ml bottles of 3 of her flavors, 10 ml of another and have 3 other samples I haven't gotten in big bottles...yet ;)

I also found a killer deal through the classifieds at the e-cig forum. A wonderful lady had switched from one e-cig to another and was selling what she had left of her 510 stash. So I have 4 510 threaded batteries and 5 brand new atomizers that will be here tomorrow. Along with a 5 battery charger. It cost me all of $30 with shipping.

There's also a Pay-it-forward forum and I have about 8 other juices on their way that a fellow vaper no longer needed. I've already got some juice I don't care for (I LOVE a good clove cigarette, turns out the sugar water the paper is dipped in is what makes them SO good) so those will be PiF'd in the futre.

Hubby is also going to start building box mods AND we're going to attempt some DIY juices.

I no longer am winded walking up and down the hill. I breathe better. I can even smell gummy worms sitting on hubby's side of the table in the opened bag.

And now, I don't have to hide in the corner at performances so I can get my nic fix. It's been a win-win all the way around!!!

We Will Raq You!!!

Yesterday, the lovely Wendy of Damhsa Gasra sent out the flyers for the big show in June. I was expecting just the one flyer, that is relevant to this part of the state. Imagine my surprise when there were 2 emails in my inbox.

Before I go any further, let me explain something. I am an alternative bellydancer. I firmly believe that there is room in this wonderful community for ALL styles of dance. You can rest assured though, if you have an event that caters to those of us who walk a little off the path of the "norm" I am ALL over it. I will promote your event to the point that everyone I come into contact with knows about it. I think within 5 minutes of the invite coming from the lovely ladies down in Concord, I had spoken to my beloved and accepted said invite LOL. I think Wendy and Lori have seen that and I will continue to support these events as exuberantly as I can!

So back to the flyers. I check one and it's for the mtns, which I expected. What I didn't expect was to open the other email and see that the main flyer featured me as well! My face shall be known all over Charlotte!! To say I'm excited is an understatement!

Here's the flyer for the mtns.



And here is the main flyer!



How cool is that?!? These ladies have no idea just how honored I feel. They're all just amazing and a thousand thank yous isn't enough!

Now on to something that is not so pleasant.

I just have to say I HATE Bellydance politics. I am tired of diva attitudes and bad attitudes. I am sick to death of those who seem to want to take advantage of the hospitality we afford them but never reciprocate that same hospitality. We are a tiny community in this area and when one attempts to divide that community it makes them look petty and small.

Those that are a party to it and think we don't know what's going on, you're sadly mistaken. No need for whispers in the corner. I put what I'm doing out there proudly. Maybe it's time you rethink WHY you're doing this. Fame and glory are the wrong reasons. Community and sisterhood are what I strive for. I know not everyone is like me but working to divide the community and alienate those who have stood with you are entirely the wrong ones, IMHO. If you have to be sneaky and try to hide what you're doing...then it's not the right thing to do 9 times out of 10. Just something to think about.


Now I'm off to work on a few things. I have a LOT to get done in the next month and a half ;)

Mahym

New Pics

The girls in Concord needed pics for the fliers for the We Will Raq You show. The pics we have are older than I was comfortable having represent me so we took new pics. These were taken at my grandparents grave and well they serve as pics for the band. More coming on that at the end of the week/weekend ;) These are the ones that I felt wouldn't work for what we need them for, so I figured I'd post them here.

These first 2 were taken by my future daughter-in-law and are ©Joy Foster



I LOVE the effect on this next one. All I had to do was adjust the brightness/contrast a smidgen, the rest was all her.



These last two were from the batch of just me that we took so I'd have some choices on what to send for posters.




And here's another we couldn't use, to show hard hard it is to be spooky on such a beautiful, 80 degree spring day ;) You can see the intense green of my eyes though. And while I do wear contacts, they're not colored at all. I just wear dark purple shadows to pull them out ;)



Friday is my anniversary. I can't believe it's been 3 years already and do I have some super special, yet completely wicked and devious plans up my sleeve ;)

Have a wonderful week!!!

The journey from smoker to non-smoker

With this post, I let you in on a dirty little secret. For the last 3 years or so...I was a smoker. I had quit when my son was 10 after he was diagnosed with asthma. A little over 3 years ago, I picked them back up again. Yes, it's a filthy, disgusting habit but most so are most other addictions. I've tried SO many times in the last 3 years to quit again. Everything from patches, to chantix (to which I'm allergic) and lobelia. Nothing worked.

Last week, after thinking about it many times, I decided to order an e-cig. I went to the largest e-cig forum on the net and began reading. I decided on a Joye eGo, from Liberty Flights. 2 complete units and 5 empty carts were just over $40. Considering I was going through a carton a week @ $30/carton, it seemed like the best deal for me. I also went and purchased a sampler pack of 10 3ml bottles of vapes in a 75/25 Pg/Vg mix with 12mg of nicotine from The Vapor Room. With that I got 1 free 15ml bottle for being a first time customer and 1 free 3ml bottle. I decided to get those in 6mg strength. All of this was ordered on Friday, I was fully prepared to quit when my eGo arrived.

Monday morning when the mail came, my first package arrived. I disassembled one of the units and put it on to charge. Then got one of the included carts loaded into the atomizer. When the charge light went green, I screwed it all back together and prepared to take my first vape hit. I won't lie, it was pretty awful. Not because it wasn't an analog, but because the included cart liquid is pretty foul, IMHO. However, I knew I only had to do this for 24 hours, until my flavors got here. I mean, it had the nicotine and sadly, analog smokers will smoke anything to get their nic fix.

I was right, Tuesday morning my package from The Vapor Room arrived. I had ordered:
Vanilla Tobacco
Crème De Menthe
Sweet Cherry
Pumpkin Spice
Peanut Butter Cookie
Orange Creamsicle
French Vanilla Coffee
Dutch Chocolate Mint
Chocolate Fudge Brownie
Blueberry Cinnamon Crumble

My two freebies were Apple Pie 3ml and Caramel 15ml.

I have finally tried all but 1 of them. I'm kind of afraid to try it. Today, I finally got to try the Crème De Menthe. It was the first time that I had a full on craving for an analog. I was never a menthol smoker but for some reason this particular vape, which reminds me of a menthol analog, had me wanting an analog. I have yet to try the Dutch Chocolate Mint and I fear it'll have the same effect, we shall see.

Anyway, I know that several had asked me to let them know how I was doing with this. In a word, successful. You have to stay hydrated. Glycerine/Glycol can dehydrate you so keep LOTS of water on hand. We all could stand to drink more water anyway. Join the e-cig forum, read and ask questions. You can easily get overwhelmed with all the info and understanding the lingo takes a bit of work, but there are sticky's to help. Having vapes (flavors) on hand when your new e-cig/PV comes is a good idea. Most importantly do NOT get discouraged. If you slip and have one or two analogs a day, it's not the end of the world. Just keep reminding yourself, an analog has 2000+ ingredients that have you hooked. You will get there, but it may take some time.

I am now dripping because the polyfill in the carts just wasn't doing it for me. I get a much stronger taste and tons of vapor. I'm sure that in due time, I'll be using a mod or two. For now...this works well for me. I'm so incredibly glad that I no longer smell like an ashtray!