Life certainly hasn’t slowed down.

I’m still bellydancing here and there, and part of the movement to get a local MECDA chapter up and running. We’re well on our way with that. There are a good number of local people ready for a thriving bellydance community here, and I think it will be a very good thing.

Still burlesquing. Just not as actively. It’s still fun, and fabulous. I just have to reignite my inspiration (and lose 30 pounds so I FEEL inspired).

I have a couple business ventures I’ve started. One is my own Lia Sophia business, helping people host jewelry parties in their homes, so THEY can get free jewelry and other awesome bonuses, while earning income myself. It’s a good fit. I like sparkly things. I like to share sparkly things with other people… Presenting to other people isn’t a problem, and I get to keep and wear all the jewelry I use as sample/display, so it’s all good. So what if it’s not fine jewelry? It’s still pretty.

I’m also dabbling in a Visalus business, more to use the product than anything, but my parents have been doing it, and they’ve both lost weight and had improved blood sugar levels! (They both have diabetes.)

Still Suicide Lounge-ing here and there, and it’s still fun. We keep adding new material every so often, so it never gets stale.

The rest of life is… life. Mostly frustrating, sometimes exhilarating, nearly always interesting. (The old curse “may you live in interesting times” comes to mind.) I could still use a job and a steady income. Not necessarily in that order. I do keep busy.

Maybe I’ll update here more often. Talk about new things I’ve tried recently, etc…

OH! Speaking of which… I got a new toy! It’s not a big deal, but I like this sort of thing. Intuit gave me a credit card reader that I can use with my iphone and Intuit’s GoPayment app… so when I’m getting paid for a gig, or getting paid for some costume-y thing I’m selling, I can tell people that I accept credit cards. Just swipe it through the reader, input the dollar amount, have them sign the touch screen and we’re done. If you have a smart phone, you can get one too. They send it to you for free, and it’s a small transaction percentage, but totally worth it to me, for the convenience. Just go to the Intuit site to read more about it.

and I’m fuckin’ around with everything else.

I sort of don’t care, though. Does anybody care if I do well in school? Is it going to do me any good? No.

Maybe I should head to New Orleans and look for this house I’m singin’ about.

So there it is, part of what I did on Sunday night. It wasn’t bad, I’ll admit to that. I wasn’t as good as I think I should have been… and at one time I COULD have been as good as my standards demand. I don’t know if I’ll reach that again, but it’ll be fun to kill some time trying.

Yeah, it wasn’t bad. It was just as good as lecram’s part of the set (and I wish he’d put up video of some of that, too… not to mention the postal song). I hope he doesn’t really do as he’s threatened and not sing with us again.

Sunday was nice. It was fun. I got reacquainted with a microphone after many years. I pulled it off. (Even if it wasn’t up to par by my standards.) People were very kind and complimentary. Two people from school even ACTUALLY came to see me. And hung out with me afterward!

The guys are very cool to me. They’re tolerant, and encouraging, and SO damned easy to sing for. They’re so good they make it easier for me. And I have a very easy part to start with. All I have to do is be the singing monkey. They actually gots skillz. So I’m honored that they’ll have me singing with them. I’m looking forward to more to come.

THEN… when all that was over, it was verrry satisfying to sit and watch Tale End. What a fantastic play. What fantastic people bringing the story to life. And I SO dig all the twisting and turning. It’s just the sort of unrelenting, sadistic mindfuck I like in my fiction.

Great night, was Sunday.

I know it was. I just wish I could feel it instead of being emotionally numb.

OH! An aside… I had my first taste of Jägermeister before the show. I tried to decline, but the boys were having shots… and insisted I have one as well. You can’t desert the band in this way. Not a good idea before a show. Though they did accede to me just sipping rather than slinging it back.

This was a good thing, because after about 4-5 ‘sips’… I started to get that weird, slightly unfocused halo around everything… and I couldn’t…quite… zero in on any one thing or person. I discovered that my brows were knit in concentration (and consternation) as I tried to remain in control. At which point I STOPPED sipping. And pushed away my Cap’n and Coke as well.

Otherwise it might have been a REALLY amusing show when the girl toppled off the stage for no apparent reason, after forgetting every word of every song…

But why didn’t anyone tell me Jäger tastes GOOD? Geez. Lemme splain dat. When I was a teen… I found that I had become dependent on (read that… addicted to) a liquid allergy medication I had been on for many years. I mean… I really did need an allergy med, but I spent a good deal of time slightly woozy in the spring and fall every year. And THAT stuff… bore a striking taste similarity to the Jägermeister. Nostalgia? Something.

(And it’s just cool that it’s a historical family name. Tha’s right. I have some hunter in me.)

It’s only been 18 years or so since I’ve sung in public. I’m not so much worried about the singing part. I can do that. I’ve always been able to do that. It’s just… not being a complete dork in front of people… and remembering all the words… and…

Yes. I’m making a cheat sheet. I shall sing via cheat sheet.

I’m looking forward to it being a fun night, though. All the songs I might get to sing are songs that I love doing… and I will NOT being singing everything, which is cool, because I love the stuff the other guys are doing too.

It’s just all-around a fun little show, with or without me. It was a surprise hit at Rogue 2007, before they brought me in. I hope I can live up to what they’ve already accomplished.

And after we’re done, there’s a one-time chance to see Tale End once more. Definitely one of the most talked about shows of the Rogue, it is, in my opinion, undeniably fantastic. If you’re in Fresno, and you wanted to see it, but missed it because it was sold out or playing opposite your own show, or you just couldn’t quite make it in time… SEE IT NOW.

I honestly can’t believe Rogue Year Round is doing 2 shows for the price of $10, when any one show would be worth that price.

But I’m nervous. And singing incessantly around the house. Good thing the podling is on vacation with her dad this week. It annoys her when I wander around warbling. She says things like, “Mom, I really like the way you sing… it’s just that you NEVER STOP!”

heh.

Story of my life.

Friday, May 25, is going to be a fun night. Come out to the Full Circle Brewery (620 F. Street, Fresno) for some piratical fun.

Pirate’s Booty Buccaneer Bellydance will start off the night with a debut performance of swashbuckling swishy-ness and scalawag shimmies. It’s bellydance with a twist, darlin’. That’s right, a vulgar display of piratical terpsichore.

I’ll be on me glasses… AND… I’m pulling me belly beads out of mothballs. JUST for you.

Oh… and we do have Beeeeeyooooteefull Hats. You have to see these hats. Mine especially.

Full Circle will, of course, be serving their fabulous brews of many kinds; ale, porter, mead… try them all! (But do be certain to have a designated driver…)

There will be a Cap’n Jack Look-Alike Contest, and Prizes for Best Pirate & Wench Costumes… visit the Fortune Teller if you dare, get decorated by a Henna Artist…

But we’re all going to be there to hear Tempest, Celtic Rock at its very finest!

Admission $14, or $12 with pirate costume.

Join us for the fun.

Or else.

We have swords.

I’m just sayin’.

If you like me, or can PRETEND to like me (or you can pretend to appreciate and respect me in some manner), you, too, can be my reference.

That’s right, the person whose information I give to potential employers so they can bug you and ask deep and probing questions about me.

Oh, and you’ll have to write a letter of reference, too.

Yes, dear friends and acquaintances, I need references. And I need them RIGHT NOW.

Because I have this class… and I have to compile the information NOW, and turn it in. Now. Or, at least, very soon. Like… this week.

So let’s get on this. IF you really think you want to be the nice person I just know you are, get me the following information. Soonly. Por favor.

Your Name
Your Title and Organization
Your mailing address, city, state, zip
Your contact telephone, specifiy if it’s home/work/fax (or all of the above, if you like)
Email address (for contact by prospective employers)
How you know me (this won’t go on the resume or anything, but I have to have a good excuse for having your name, and I need to know what YOU are going to answer when asked, so I can say something like the same thing when interviewed. Because, you know, consistency and getting the story straight is really a valuable skill to an employer.)

So yeah. Do please email that info to me. Send it to hopfro at hotmail dot com.

And if you’re feeling saucy, and want to compose a BRILLIANT and complimentary letter of reference, I won’t spit on it.

No, I will not.

Have a lovely day.

Problem: It can’t be family (a given) or a friend. That last is difficult. The only people I know are people I consider friends. Everyone else is an acquaintance that probably doesn’t know me well enough to qualify to be a reliable reference… so how does one get around THAT?

Anyway, if you kinda know me, and think I’m cool, and would like to be a reference that could vouch for me if/when I apply for jobs… you know… let me know and stuff.