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Is this the light of a new day dawning? A future bright that you can walk in?
No it's just another Monday morning, do it all over again oh baby!

I guess it's now another Monday afternoon, but same difference. The sunlight today is almost disorienting. Due to exhaustion, illness and unrelenting darkness I slept between 10 and 12 hours Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights. Which in one way is good, because if I was able to sleep that much I obviously needed it, but the weekend feels a bit lost.

Still, it was a good weekend, apart from lingering illness making my lungs heavy and sinuses ache. Went to a very lovely wedding on Saturday, lots of fun dancing. Sunday was productivity day--threw on some Cheb i Sabah, made a pot of peppermint tea and got to work on costuming stuff for Friday. My black and silver corset belt is the gothiest thing ever with its dangling ankhs and pleather grommet tape. I'm pretty pleased with it. Discovered that the added bonus of using upholstry fabric is that you don't need a backing for the panels, they're sturdy enough on their own. My sewing machine didn't even complain that much about it, even when going through two layers of upholstry fabric and the aforementioned pleather grommet tape. Wanted to do some dancing to test out the belt and to try out my new pants, but after all those hours of sleeping my body was too stiff to have any of it. So I just put together my costuming, and I'll dance on Wednesday night. (that is to say, I'll do my own dancing on Wednesday night, because I will dance with Amira Jamal and Sarab tonight, Seyyide on Tuesday, Ghawazee rehearsal for Sunday on Thursday, and then the performance on Friday, more Ghawazee on Saturday and then a workshop/show on Sunday, then Amira Jamal on Monday, Seyyide on Tuesday, Sarab on Weds... so technically I am dancing every night for the foreseeable future. Dear foot, please hold together, love, me)

I also made a lasagne last night since I have been craving big heavy warm food. I made it up as I went along, but it turned out tasty. Instead of having a separate sauce layer, I sauteed plum tomatoes, garlic, wild mushroom mix, zucchini and spinach together, sort of like a ragout. I also used pesto, made from the rainy weather second fall crop of basil that grew last week. I remembered what Alton Brown said on Good Eats about alcohol releasing the flavors of tomatoes, so after ascertaining that there was no wine in the house, I added some vodka to the tomatoes as they sauteed and that did the trick. It really does make a big difference.

Now I am hungry.

Upcoming Performances

Here's what I've got going on over the next couple of weeks:

Friday, Oct. 21: Burlesque! a benefit for Habitat for Humanity at Gallery 119 in Lowell, gothic bellydance along side many lovely and talented performers, a true variety show with burlesque, magicians, ukulele playing, video and more. Doors are at 8, edited to add and the event ends at 10, so be prompt!

Sunday, Oct. 23: Belly dance benefit at the Middle East for the Red Cross Hurricane Relief Fund--I'll be doing a reprise with Jemileh of our Ghawazee number from A Gypsy in Cairo, and Troupe Sarab will be performing to an Egyptian pop number. This will be a great event with workshops, performances, etc.--lots more info under the cut tag:
( workshop/hafli benefit )

Sunday, Oct. 23: 10:15pm at the Middle East in the Corner, my regular 10 minute set. No cover. Yes, I will be spending my entire day at the Middle East.

Sunday, Oct. 30: Mass Morgue, performing three sets including the debut of my new wings! Doors are at 7:30, Seven Sunless Days are also playing. Tickets are $10 in advance or $12 day of show, both M and I have tickets to sell if you'd like to save a couple of dollars. More info behind cut tag:
( mass morgue )

Saturday, Nov. 5: Troupe Sarab is participating in Johara's Annual Boston Bellydance Awards, competing in the troupe category. I am toying with the idea of entering the fusion category as well, we'll see how my next wing rehearsal goes. The contest runs from 2:30-4:00pm, admission is $15 at the door. The contest is followed by a belly dance fashion show and open floor dancing. Location is Baladi, upstairs at the Greek-American Club, 288 Green Street, Central Square, Cambridge. There are also workshops associated with this event, more info after cut. I'm not sure if I'll attend the workshops or not, it depends how hectic things are.
( contest workshops )