Christmas 2009!

The Santa letter was handwritten this year and I didn't get a scan of it before it was put away. "Santa" and "Ms. Claus" have promised that they will scan it as soon as they get their scanner hooked up. However, I have lots of great pictures and stuff.

This year, everyone came down to our house. I cooked green bean casserole, macaroni and cheese and a low-calorie pumpkin pie with a special healthy crust.
Chris brined a turkey and it was probably the best turkey we've all ever had. Beth/Mom made snappy corn and My mother-in-law, Lynne brought all kinds of pies and goodies.

Sadly, I did not get any pictures of our feast, but everything cooked nicely without any problems, looked fabulous and was very delicious.

Mom went to church while everyone else vegged out and stared at all the pretty presents.



After she got back we watched "A christmas Story" at least once while munching on candy and sharing stories. Then I wrote my Santa Letter and we all headed for bed so we could get up plenty early to open presents.

The next morning, Santa had come!



While I waited on everyone to wake up enough that we could open presents, I made fruit trifles for the breakfast we would have later.



then we opened presents and even Ahboo got in one the fun.





Chris and I got tons of games along with all kinds of other great gifts.



The best gift, was, of course, Harriet!



My aunt bought Harriet from a garage sale and then painted her purple, and added glitter and butterflies. Then she had mom put gift cards in her as another part of my present. Harriet is awesome.

Once We were done opening presents, we had breakfast!

Christmas Donations

First, Both http://hippybeads.etsy.com and http://artfulunity.etsy.com started keeping a collection for Child's Play on thanksgiving. 20% of all sales from Thanksgiving until Dec 30th will be donated to Child's Play.

Second, I wanted to share the gifts I made for the child I sponsored from King's Ranch,
a local group home for children who have been victims of abuse, neglect, and abandonment. My uncle Eric's request for his Christmas present every year is that we give something to a teen shelter or charity of our choice. This year, I chose a 13 year old girl who asked for a "purple butterfly necklace". Here is what I made:





and here's her stocking:


In addition to what's in the picture, I included a scarf, hat and mittens. Hopefully she will be warm and happy. :)

I won!

Artful Unity, one of my jewelry businesses won this month's eSMArts Challenge! You can see the announcement here.
My blog post about my inspiration behind the piece are here.

Wine Tour '09

Here's a bunch of pictures from our family wine tour on nov 7, 2009. I had a blast but between the bailey's cocoa, the wine and all the silliness, the day is kind of a blur, so don't ask me to match pictures with wineries... I don't know, I was just having fun. :)

Things I'm Thankful for

This took me a minute to type up, So I am late but, I am thankful for:

-a husband who doesn't mind if i look like a comic book character, loves indie movies, lets me be myself and eats ice cream sundaes at 10 in the morning.

-friends who also think that carcasonne, thebes, rock band and watching shuttles fly overhead are better pass times than getting drunk and watching football

-friends who love me despite the above

-Supportive and unique family members who never hesitate to offer help or advice despite the fact that I am not always as nice as I should be to them and don't visit as often as i could

-A boss who let me off 2.5 hours early the day before thanksgiving

-Coworkers who work hard for a great cause and are all brilliant in their own way

-Volunteers who BAO would not be standing without

-A husband, family friends and co-workers who will help me me when I feel like giving up, put up with my cursing around the holidays, hold my hand when i'm afraid, sit through 4.5 hour chess games, bring me chocolate when I'm sad, not disown me when I probably deserve it, hug me when i'm tired, encourage me to be myself and are just generally awesome.

I'm usually too busy, too cranky or too shy to say something, but you absolutely do not go unnoticed. Thank you.

scan of the newspaper article we were in

Best Hairstyle Ever

Cut and color by Angie at Fringe in Birmingham, AL.

actually... we really are famous.

well...
http://www.al.com/news/birminghamnews/metro.ssf?/base/news/1243152931159740.xml&coll=2

Our picture... The picture I linked earlier was on the front page of the local section of The Sunday edition of the Birmingham news.

we're famous!

...Okay not really, but we're attending a gaming convention this weekend and one of the Birmingham news reports put a little gallery up on AL.com and we're in it!

http://photos.al.com/gallery/4461/Play%20On%20Con

crossposted review of daikaiju/the green seed/broken letters show at workply this past march

The Green Seed - They surprised both me and my husband. We knew this was a hip-hop group, but we had no idea that they were a hip-hop group who rapped about video games, x-men and sci-fi movies. I love the nerd references, and I loved that these guys are absolutely not afraid to do what they want with their art. Nerd rap is not a big genre and not even MC Chris will ever have the kind of fame that Brittany Spears or Nickleback has. Yet, there were three black guys playing to an audience of pasty white children like me and getting a decent audience response from 25 people, half of whom appeared to be friends, crew, etc. of the headliners. They will never get love from a lot of people, but they will got a lot of really genuine love from the few of us who appreciate what they're doing. I love anyone who's willing to tow the line to make the art they think they should make.
Aside from that, these guys are genuinely talented. Complet is the main MC and it was his lyrics that turned my head and made laugh. He went completely off during "Xmess", a song where he lambasted the creators of the Xmen movies, all the time showing off his rhythm and rhyme. It was catchy, musically viable, and hysterical all at once. Rtist is usually the 'back up' MC and his rhythm is insane. I have never heard anyone that can rap that fast, use syncopation and keep right on the beat the whole time. He also added a lot of character to the show by joking around in between songs. Their DJ/mixmaster DJ FX is ridiculously talented. He did a great job of mixing and his scratching was indescribably brilliant -- the rhythms were so cool I have been staring at my screen for 2 minutes to come up with the right words.

My only constructive criticism is this: Sometimes their "references" consisted of them just spouting off a bunch of game and movie titles, and it wouldn't hurt if sometimes they were a little more clever with their references. MC Chris has always done a great job with this, and it wouldn't hurt them to borrow from him in this aspect just a little. They are nothing like MC Chris and overall that's a really good thing, but I'd just like to see them figure out how to make their references a little less direct in some of their songs.
That said, any and all nerds out there who like music should go check out the green seed.

Broken Letters- they're definitely talented, and definitely don't sound like Nickelback. I generally love any indy rock sound over any standard radio rock anytime. I'm not saying that to sound cool, I'm saying it because it's true. That said, I felt like I didn't know what they sounded like. I heard a lot of influences and I heard a little bit of their own sound emerging, but I really wanted to hear more. Also, I like my music to move and go somewhere, and theirs kind of meandered. For me, it wasn't bad, it was just kind of... there. But maybe me not "feeling" them is like me not "feeling" 'lost in translation' -- it may just be a style that I don't really get.

Daikaiju- Wow. I don't think I can possibly really explain to you what I heard from them on that Saturday. It was absolutely unreal. The problem in my trying to explain the sound is that their myspace clips don't even do it justice, never mind mere words. The recorded version of their music is so much less intense and energetic than what I heard Saturday. This is not to say that the CD wouldn't be good, in fact the clips on myspace sound great, but this band is one who's true nature cannot be captured in a recording studio. I would call them "Hardcore Surf Fusion".

They played so hard and so fast at Workplay that it was unreal. The thing is, it still sounded amazing. All the rhythm complexities, chord progressions, and variances in sound came through very clearly even though they were playing at a blistering pace. And it was definitely loud, but it wasn't "speed metal" loud and it wasn't ALWAYS loud. Like I mentioned before, they used different sounds, volumes, tempos, rhythms, etc. Each song was unique and they even had a couple with a darker feel like "Escape from Nebula M" (which happens to be on their myspace page).
I do not play an instrument, so sometimes I am impressed by things that really aren't that remarkable. So, on the way home, I asked my husband who plays guitar as a hobby "was the lead guitarist as good as I think he was?" His response was "the progressions in surf rock are not as difficult as they are in something like blues, but you're playing them 20 times faster, so it still takes a lot of skill. So, yeah... He was really good."

I don't want to just trumpet the lead guitarist because they were all talented. Rhythm guitar is honestly hard to tell one way or another how talented someone is because they're playing the rhythm part, but he kept up and he definitely added to the sound.

I don't play bass, but I sometimes play bass in a video game, and my general observation is that with a bass line it's really simple: if it sounds hard, it usually is, and if it doesn't, it's not. I know that even good music video games have only a passing resemblance to real life, so I'm not claiming to be an expert based on my experience playing a video game. But, if I'm right, then the bassist was brilliant. Actually, just watching him, I could see he had equally nimble fingers to the lead guitarist and, in some places, was all over the fret board just as much as the lead guitarist... sorry that can't be easy. Actually, they played a very bass heavy song that I loved, and he was pretty much the one leading the pack on that song. He did a great job.

I don't play drums, but I am a tap dancer, which means I know something about rhythms, and which ones are hard and which ones are easy. You might be thinking "yes, but drum sticks and feet are very different." Yes they are, but brains are brains. The hardest type of rhythm to wrap your head around is a repeating pattern that has a slight alteration occasionally. I heard/saw a lot of these... at like 2398203948 BPM no less. There were also several songs with at least a few tempo changes, which are hard for all members of the band, but as the drummer, you have to be spot on or the whole band looks like a bunch of rhythmless morons. Not a problem.

Daikaiju is one of the most intense, most musically interesting and most talented bands I have ever seen. I was absolutely blown away. I think my brain is splattered all over the back wall of Workplay from that show.

I really don't have criticism but if I were forced to give some, I would say that they don't need the theatrics: they wear masks, they have fancy lighting, they have a disco robot on stage... it's really not necessary. When you're that good, you don't need a gimmick. However, if it makes them happy to wear masks and have disco robots, who am I to judge? As long as they play like that, they could come out naked for all I care.

review of choreography competition part 1

The sanspointe piece in choreography finals was nothing short of brilliant and it won the modern category. This was absolutely the best year for choreography in almost every way.

I say almost because there were only two of three tap mics working at all and only one working enough to matter. For those of you who are unaware, tap performed in a large concert hall requires some manner of amplification to be heard well by everyone in said concert hall. The mics on that stage used to pick up for the whole stage reasonably well, but they've been getting worse and worse as the years went on. In pre-lims this year, the stage was very quiet, but it wasn't impossible to hear. In finals, there was a group of 12 girls on stage tapping, I was only about 6-8 rows back from the stage, and I could barely hear them.

Anyways, that a civic center and/or panoply organization issue that has nothing to do with the brilliance of choreographers or judges, which are the two things making me say this was the best year ever. The judges this year were at the honorable mention performances and they stood up on stage to hug/shake hands with all of the winning choreographers. In the over twenty years I have attended the Panoply choreography competition, I have never seen the judges do either of these things, and neither has my mom, who has attended more than I have. They also picked the pieces that it made sense for them to pick. Sure, dance is a subjective thing, but there are a few clear guidelines
that make up the basics of good choreography. I have many times seen pieces without said elements, which were also generally boring and un-artistic on top of that, make it into finals or even win over pieces that clearly demonstrated these basics and were interesting and very artistic. This year, both their knowledge and appreciation for artistry showed through. All I could say was Hallellujah!

The main part of what made this year so amazing was the Choregraphy. This was by far some of the most innovative, intriguing, engaging and brilliant choreography I have ever seen in any venue, with few exceptions (sorry, it's hard to beat Pilobolous unless you are Pilobolus). Honestly, that was as good as any show I've paid $40 or more to see. I breathed sighs of relief, I was in tears, I sat slacked jawed, I wanted to jump out of my set and dance, and I was mesmerized at different points in the show. I have always loved panoply choreography competition, and I always encourage people to go, but this year floored me.

In the next few days, I'll try to post a review of each of the category winners. These guys deserve some recognition.

Panoply choreography

Today I participated in the preliminary round of Panoply Choreography Competition. I took a tap piece called "stop and smell the roses" about how you sometimes have to get out of the daily grind and "smell the roses" in order to be able to keep going. I got nowhere per usual, but it was fun. I'm not entirely surprised because a. I'm very non-traditional and odd and b. I honestly wasn't entirely sure that the performance was good enough to give a clear picture of the choreography -- the gist of the piece definitely came across, but I don't know if the whole picture did.

Anyways, conceiving a piece and developing it over time is always a fun process, and I will keep doing it until I can't--even if I never get so much as an honorable mention. As much as I would really like a little recognition, It's not about that.

When I was freshman in college, we had to do reviews of dance shows, and one of the required ones was a faculty choreographed show. My ballet teacher, Bill, apparently didn't like the way we wrote our earlier dance critiques and was giving us an explanation when one of the theater majors blurted out "Will you give us an F if we bash your piece?" He very calmly turned and said "No. I didn't put it [the dance] out there for you. I put it out there for me." That changed my whole way of thinking about dance and choreography. Prior to that my dance experience had been performing something or creating something for the purpose of winning a competition or otherwise getting praise. Now, I create for me, even if it means spending a lot of time on something that I perform only once for a small crowd. That's 1000 times better than having something in me to say with dance and never saying it.





P.S. I would like to give a shout out to Sanspointe who has a piece in finals tomorrow. Michelle Wittington, the founder of Sanspointe, has made Panoply Choreography finals several times and has won both category and overall awards. I am definitely looking forward to seeing their piece tomorrow.

bothersome budgets in the state of alabama

I found out today that the proposed budget for HIV/AIDS for the state of AL is significantly lower than what our health state muckity-muck official guy is recommending. The problem here is that it is also much lower than what is required for federal matching funds... meaning our federal dollars would be cut in half. Bad news for everyone. In theory the budget passed the senate today but it can still be changed before it is made final. I wrote an email and even called the office of a state senator. I hate phone calls like this because I am much more articulate in written form, but I called anyways because this is important. I was much more articulate in writing, but I made one guys phone ring one more time about this thing and maybe that will help.

If the budget isn't changed, I don't know what will happen to my job, but more importantly, I don't know what will happen to our clients. The people who handle most of the contracts for the provision of HIV services in this area seem to think it will mean waiting lists for meds and other programs for those who cannot afford basic needs like medications, dr appts, housing, etc. I would honestly give up my job if it meant that the money would go directly to the medication programs.

The "population" I work with is one of the most diverse and amazing I have ever had the privelege to work with and it would be a shame for any of them to be in ill health because of stupid money nonsense. People with HIVwho get on a good medication regimen and keep up with their healthcare, generally live a full life and have a full life span -- dr's in hiv are more worried now about aging than they ever have been. Most of the clients that I see in my office that have been in the hospital lately have been in due to surgery on a broken hip or due to cancer or something else completely unrelated to HIV. This honestly could change in this state if the budget stays the way it is. No good.

the many things I have been up to

I have been a busy bee. I set up an etsy shop and a blog for hippybeads. Hippybeads.com will be comeing down within the next couple of weeks, so update your bookmarks accordingly. I have not gotten many of my pieces moved over yet, so email me if there was one you liked and would like me to list on etsy.

I also set up an etsy and a blog for a new business I am opening for high quality jewelry. The respective blogs explain the direction that each one will be going in.

There's lot's more, but those are the 2 things I wanted to let you know for now.