it's like the eye of a duck

I've been so busy with new car research this past week that I completely forgot to post about last weekend's other activities, in which I did two new things.

First off, I used Skype for the first time. I've long known about it (how could I not?) but given my disinclination to use the phone I had no reason to use it until C.* moved to Germany and it became the best/cheapest way to call her.

Setting it up was easy, though it took some Googling to assure me that my laptop had both microphone and speakers (the extent of miniaturization of all these things never ceases to amaze me).

We had a nice long chat without having to worry about fees, time, or bars/coverage, etc. Also the video was nice because we could show each other our houses!

The other new thing was a bit harder. A fencing buddy, C., has been taking horseback riding lessons with the aim of learning to herd cattle and/or joust. I have no real interest in either of these but I do like horses and riding them, though I hadn't been on one since I was a kid, and then it was mostly for walking along park trails or the like. So, I thought some instruction wouldn't hurt: activities help me be social and this would be another social skill, and I thought it might be something D. and I could do together. Also, C. said it was good for core strength and core strength helps the fencing, so I signed D. and I up.

The lesson was great, as was the stable, but horseback riding more involved than I thought it would be! I enjoyed that we were told how to approach and lead the horse to the indoor ring, and I finally learned the names of bits and bridles and the other odd array of leather horse trappings that bewildered me as a child.

Riding went...ok. Walking felt familiar, but trotting is tons harder than it looked. Staying upright while bouncing in time with the horse's rhythm is a workout and not easy (and yes, it is FANTASTIC for posture!); I would need a lot more instruction to do this confidently.

So, I'm not going out riding with my friends anytime soon, though D. and I both had fun and agreed while we're not at the enthusiasm level of "OMG let's sign up for 20 lessons NOW!!" we'd definitely do it again.

*For the uninitiated: C. is my best friend/"sister from another mister" who I've known since I was 11. Her husband is military so they move around a lot, hence Germany.

Last weekend I stuck to my initiative to get out more and went to see the Diaghilev and the Ballets Russes exhibit with Badger.

( rambling, and linkage )

Picked up the catalog (I've learned my lesson re: Smithsonian publications: snag it when it's there, because they do very small runs) and it's very well illustrated (ObFencing: one of the costumes employs a fencing mask).

So, glad I went, would heartily recommend.

It got off to a rocky-ish start, but it's a fine little con :)

The rocky: driving in traffic in 90F weather with no A/C. Also, my calf seized from freezing on the brake too long and the "ping" took the rest of the weekend to work itself out up my right side - not pleasant.

But, the good:

Good people! Dress U is small (only 35 people, but, hey, it's only their 2nd year) so it was easy to keep track of names and faces. I got to hang with danabren and co., and conversation flowed easily and hilariously. I was surprised but pleased at the number of people who came from way out of town - New Orleans and SF were represented along with much of the mid Atlantic.

The classes: many were Victorian-oriented, which isn't necessarily my cup of tea, but I find that I can find something unusual and interesting in almost any costume-related presentation, and this was no different. The class on presentation at the Edwardian court was a nice slice of social history, in which I learned to curtsey in a train. And speaking of trains, I attended a class on dust ruffles which illuminated just how one kept one's dress train clean during the 19th century.

Possibly the one most immediately useful were tips and tricks on how to get decent costume photos. Simply changing the angle and lighting can make a huge difference, even with a smart phone. Need to employ this new knowledge SOON.

The events: I enjoyed that there wasn't the pressure of a competition or masquerade, but plenty of events to dress for: formal dinner, mad tea party, tiara and jampagne (which unfortunately I couldn't stick around for). It inspired me to pull out the stops, bring my gear and make an effort! I couldn't hold a candle to most of the people there - these folks are disciplined and far more talented than I, and it was a joy to just look...

I am also starting to see the appeal of tiaras, though I imagine it would take some doing to find one that will stay in short hair.

My wardrobe: not as cumbersome as expected; I got most of it into a single large Tupperware bin, 1 hat box, and a couple of hangers. I restricted myself to two changes a day for convenience, with a fairly even split between women's (mock Fortuny, front lacing kirtle, Regency ball gown) and men's (tux and top hat, doublet and venetians, militaryesque vest and bicorne) throughout the weekend.

danabren was kind enough to help me get into my Regency outfit and I was pleased that it still fit after ~3 years. Even with shift, stays, and petticoat underneath it was still surprisingly cool, and I DID finish the accessories to go with (picture forthcoming).

Give my muscle twinge it was convenient that I spent most of the first day in stays of one sort or another, as they helped support my back (as an aside, they also make doing push-ups easier. But I digress).

Also of note: much as I love historic women's clothing, I am too severe looking to meet the ideals of most historic periods' ideals of female beauty, but damn, can I rock the menswear! (It's also easier to dress myself).

My only regret is that there wasn't more conversation. The first night was an absinthe-fueled gabfest of getting to know you and wild costume adventures, but by Saturday many of us were tired. In a way it was for the best - I needed to spend some time flat on my back.

Will definitely consider doing this one again, for the chat aspects at the very least!

I've often mused out loud that sometime in this lifetime I'm going to have to make it to what I consider to be the 3* geek/alternative/genre events on the calendar year: 1) DragonCon 2) ComicCon 3) Pennsic War.

All of these look interesting for various reasons (Classes! Costumes! Nerdery!) but also HUGE and intimidating to the uninitiated/introverts, which is why I've never made much effort to do anything about my curiosity.

But in the spirit of "new things are how we grow", how does one manage potential sensory overload at an event of multiple thousands of people/hotels/events? And how does one prepare (because all require costumes, and some camping equipment)?

Veterans of any of these events (particularly if social is fun but sucks the air out of you), I ask for your wisdom/advice.

*I have a passing curiosity about Burning Man but given that I've never camped before I think desert endurance camping is beyond my physical capabilities. I have no interest in heatstroke/dehydration, etc.

After being felled by a rotten cold last weekend, I used this one to do all the stuff I'd not been able to:

Local sari shop: that I've known about for months but never visited due to my astounding capacity for passivity, I finally found it after passing it 3 times and it was worth the effort :) I was looking for fabrics that I could potentially use to create a turban and/or lightweight wrap to wear with my Regency gown, and found both a cotton (day) and silk-like-enough polyester (evening). One sari = ~7-9 yards of fabric, so I might be able to get quite a bit more else out of them.

Went with D., Badger, and C. to the latest Star Trek, which I enjoyed. No spoilers, but while I thought the intro scene was a bit over the top (which I guess it had to be, they had to try and top the first movie somehow), I thought Benedict Cumberbatch made a spectacular monologuing baddie, we finally get to see Kirk learn to be less of a jerk, and there was Moar Pegg, which makes everything better.

(Aside - I've also seen Iron Man 3, which D. and I saw opening weekend, because Iron Man. Also enjoyed, though it felt like they were trying to cram in too many different story lines. It also had more badass/competent Rhodey and I didn't think I could enjoy the Pepper/Tony dynamic more until I saw it).

I'm juggling several sewing projects: patching a saber mask for a fencing buddy (I want to see how good my curved mattress needles are at these kinds of repairs), D.'s scholar's robe (which needs a draping, to figure out just what the neckline is doing) and a sized-up Miyake (to see if sizing up one of those cracky patterns is even possible). Save the turbans/wraps I don't think I'm making anything new for Dress U due to lack of time - needing a summer skirt for work is a larger priority. I am also discovering that I make more headway when I stop fidgeting with notions and fscking do it already.

If you can't tell by my typing rhythm here, I'm also drinking more coffee than usual. This may or may not be a good thing, but it's acclimating me to upcoming greater caffeine requirements created by a con (1st weekend of June) followed the next week by an uncon (the second).

Saturday. D. and I went to see Epic Win Burlesque, a show of, by, and for sci fi/comic book/pop culture geeks.

I'd heard of these guys, or something like them, but didn't know they were going to be in town until nminusone mentioned it on his Facebook feed. I'd enjoyed the burlesque I saw with C. in Las Vegas and thought D. would at least enjoy the nerdy angle, so I got tix and we met up with nminusone and geekchick at the venue.

Oh, it was AWESOME! Just the right blend of silly and sexy. They did only a sampling of their repertoire but they've covered almost every major fandom I can think of and encourage the audience to post their videos and photos, so there's a lot more on YouTube, etc. Both men and women perform, though IMHO on this particular evening the women were hotter [YouTube]. ObCostume: evidently at least some of the performers make their own, and go to a great deal of effort on them as well.

Perhaps the funniest part of the evening was when it dawned on us that "KittenBot" was doing her act to the "Fruity Oaty Bar" song from Serenity [YouTube].

So if these guys come your way, go out and show some support, 'cos there's not enough of it in the world. We'd definitely go again!

P.S. Obviously none of the links are work safe. Wouldn't want y'all getting in trouble at work :P

No, not that kind :P

It seems I spent most of the weekend sweating, mostly because I didn't realize how warm it was going to be. I shouldn't complain, as the weather was BEAUTIFUL and I got to go out into it, I just wish I hadn't worn long sleeves!

I visited with my friend G. who I've not seen in a couple of years, though she only lives across town. She's just bought a house in a quiet, historic-y neighborhood that was once considered kind of sketchy, but due to low rents and abundant warehouse space has become something of an artist's enclave.

This weekend was the annual open studio tour so we walked down to a group of galleries near her house and drove out to studios further away. I enjoyed seeing the studios in their cluttered glory more than the somewhat antiseptic galleries because I like seeing the tools and "in progress" work, it makes it so much more tangible for me to know how these pieces came to be.

Many things were noteworthy but my favorite was an artist who works in unbaked clay and earth - the texture of her white-on-white unfinished clay/porcelain tempted me to touch, but I was a good kid and kept my hands to myself :P There's something about textured monochromatics that I keep coming back to again and again.

Sunday was my weekly fencing lesson, but due to the humidity I was a sweaty mess before I even suited up. I didn't drink enough water to compensate so within an hour of my lesson I was so wrung out that I felt like I was going to fall asleep on the strip :( Left 1/2 hour earlier than usual, had an extra cup of coffee to muster the energy to get to the grocery, and took a fitful nap in the afternoon.

I think I need to seriously look into getting the A/C in my car fixed, especially if this summer threatens to be anything like last year's.

I know why I keep dithering on whether I'm going to Dress U or not.

It's not that I "have nothing to wear!" My costume collection isn't massive but it's enough for 3 days. There are even some that haven't been worn yet (white Regency), and given that I can drive I don't have to worry about how much/how to get it on a plane.

It's that I know I won't have anything new to wear. Yes, it's almost 2 months away, in theory I could whip up something. I've been sewing for over 20 years, and I AM good - not the best, but good, and am confident that I can make whatever I set my mind to amd I DO feel the urge to show off!

But for me making a good piece is kind of like quality software development: good, cheap, or fast, pick 2 :P And I always pick good and cheap(ish) over fast. Even when I'm working from a purchased pattern I have so many other things going on that the time manages to stretch forever.

Soooo...I perhaps I should just get over myself. Wear my polyester "mock Fortuny" to the Titanic dinner (hey, he was making them in the 19teens!)!

Coming out of the winter lethargy:

A couple of weekends ago D. and I caught the Anglo Saxon hoard exhibit. It is small, but excellent, and not only is the detailed work breathtakingly beautiful (I'm still in awe that tiny filigree and inlay could be done in the 7th century, and in such volume!) but the story behind it is one of incredible good luck: a weekend metal detector treasure hunter found it after searching for half an hour on an acquaintance's farmland. No catalog because it's going to be years before all of the thousands of pieces are sorted, cleaned, cataloged and restored.

Given that we don't get downtown often it seemed a shame to pop back out, so we went out for truly dangerous pies afterwards: all fresh ingredients and real fruit instead of processed everything and corn syrup!

This coming weekend has a lot going on as well: a morning of Federal/regency-o-rama costume lectures followed by lunch with skill_grl, finishing with summer nationals qualifiers in the afternoon. Whether I qualify or not it's gonna be a good day :)

And I got permission today to view another museum's 6(!) Fortuny gowns behind the scenes! I'm excited but nervous, as I indicated in my application for viewing that I'd be open to publishing my findings if I discover anything worth sharing. While this is true, my research on the Peplos gown construction has been going on intermittently for about 2 years now and at this rate I'm skeptical that I'll be making any sort of breakthroughs - this is to satisfy my own curiosity.

Badger is inviting me onto Pinterest to share shoe pictures. A worthy endeavor to fill out gaps in my schedule (haha!)

Last night I went to my first concert in.....awhile. geekchick and nminusone told me Bryan Ferry was playing in town (literally in town, in my 'burb, not in the city), and as it was nearby and I'd not seen them in an age it sounded good.

And it was good, but plenty unusual compared to most of my concerts/raves/nightlifey things. The crowd was older, say, 40s-50s, so we were some of the youngest people there. The venue was new and very polished, with velvet covered seats and inlaid wood everything, angled in such a way that there really aren't any bad seats. It was kind of like going to an opera or play, but with rock music.

Of course, this is Bryan Ferry*, so it was slick and classy, with quality musicians and backup dancers (when was the last time I saw those?). The crowd was lively but polite. It was 2 1/2 hours with intermission and ended at a reasonable hour.

Not the wild life, but I've got to admit, I like it! Good music without hauling downtown, staying up till all hours, scraping gunge off my shoes, or navigating a sea of crowded feet and elbows.

Yes, I am old and boring, but I do a hell of lot more activities post-work than I used to when I only went out at weekends, so I think I can be excused for wanting my 8 hours :P

*Who is not the same person as Bryan Adams. Ferry = glam, europop, was born in a suit. Adams = mainstream rock, jeans. If you want musical differences, that's what YouTube is for.