Sidenote (The Eat Pray Love Experiment)

I have started up a new blog on Tumblr. My friend Megan Hartmann is starting an experiment based on the book Eat Pray Love. She is choosing three things to focus on and explore in her life and is encouraging friends to do the same. I have taken this to heart and have begun a blog to document my progress. Both of us are committed to dancing and so that is a big part of each of our "experiments." Megan is currently working on getting a forum together so that anyone who is interested can talk about their developments with their goals. I imagine there will be a huge degree of variation in the types of things people are choosing from the regular New Years type of resolution with fitness and nutrition to other more personal endeavors. Feel free to join in. I will post more information, especially about the forum, as it becomes available.

Megan's entry: http://meganhartmann.wordpress.com/2009/11/18/the-eat-pray-love-experiment/ (her blog is definitely worth the read!)

My new tumblr account: http://theepljournal.tumblr.com/ (the first entry describes the set-up and aim of the account)

Picture Post (Web 2.0 Training)

I had been writing a novel the other week at work when I had time to go through the second week of web 2.0 training. Unfortunately, I didn't have time to finish it though I would like to work on it some more and post it later. This section included a blog post with pictures.

I'd like to share some pictures of tribal bellydancers. One of my favorite dancers, Ariellah (photo one), once spoke in a video about how she loved to "be adorned." While movement creates the heart of a performance, tribal dancers are deeply concerned with the "aesthetics" of their dance, particularly in costuming. Tribal is a break away genre in which dancers shunned the typical "feminine" costuming and mannerisms for something more primal. More traditional costumes might include the typical bra/belt set, sequins, beads, bright colors and other flirty, sensual elements. Dancers like Rachel Brice (photo two) diverged from this trend, choosing instead to wear pants, along with more elaborate fringed belts, bras and headgear. (She is a major trendsetter in the bellydance world). Tribal girls are also more likely to display tattoos and piercings as part of their costuming.

Matrons of the dance in the US, women like Jamila Salimpour (photo three) and Caroleena Nericcio (photo four) explored combining existing and imagined folkloric elements into their ensembles. The typical American Tribal Style costume would include a full tribal skirt, belt with an overskirt, choli top or coin bra with a Turkish vest, and headgear that might include headbands with accessories spraying out or turbans. Caroleena once mentioned that this type of uniform gave the dance an appearance of looking old when in fact it was the complete opposite.

I love both Middle Eastern and American versions of bellydance and have been trying to find a happy medium between the two with costuming. Since the dance itself is constantly evolving, I'm happy to find its costuming is as well. This allows a dancer a number of variations to try in order to find the best form of self-expression in her "aesthetics." This makes the process of self-adornment a much more spiritual and personal one.

One Little List

Books I will always recommend to people as being most near and dear to my heart:

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn - Betty Smith
Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden
Sabriel - Garth Nix
The Haunting of Alaizabel Cray - Chris Wooding
We - Zamyatin
The Narnia Chronicles - C. S. Lewis
Shiva's Fire - Suzanne Fischer Staples

In some ways, each of these stories has given me comfort, hope, inspiration, truth, and joy where other people could not. They have built up a piece of who I am and who I wish to become.