Random Babbling

Tribal Fest Baby!

bronwen — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 16:52:08 GMT

Catching up on life.... Our recent adventure to Tribal Fest in California was freakin awesome!!! Na'la and Hil headed out early in the week to teach two workshops and I arrived on Friday morning. I had one of those crazy travel days... waking up before dawn to catch a plane (Virgin America rules by the way)... then staying up into the wee hours of the morn after we danced. An incredibly full and exciting 24 hours... then I got to relax and chill and truly enjoy. Sebastopol is such a cute town and I loved getting to see some of the famous beauty of Northern Cali wine country. Our hotel was spacious, nice and packed full of other festival goers. There was even a little boutique/ restaurant/ coffee shop and a wine store across the street! Our performance felt really good. There were little things I messed up, but the energy was on between us! I love my Shakra gals! :) It really meant a lot to me on a personal level to be able to perform there. It felt healing and empowering in many ways. There were so many kick ass performances throughout the weekend.... I can't begin to explain how inspiring the festival is! Asharah freakin rocked it! Unmata was mind blowing live as was Verbatim- the energy!! Tabu brought tears to my eyes- I love what those gals are doing. Romka's new sword piece is so sexy and dynamic and Eugenia made an excellent creepy debut! The Sexy Scallywags had me busting out with laughter! There were so so so many others I know I am forgetting.... Sera and Solstice, Ariellah and her girls, Artemis, Superkate, Tempest, Sashi, the cool peeps we met from the UK... and of course the Indigo gals. Kajira and Chuck put so much heart into this festival... and it shows! The shopping was to die for... I got the most amazing things!! I even bought my first pair of Melodia pants. My favorite items came from Black Lotus (http://www.blacklotusclothing.com). Christina is a genius and a sweet heart and gives amazing hugs and understanding at needed moments! I managed to get myself somewhat under control by Sunday... and realized that I needed to buy gifts too! :) There were so many amazing moments... dancing at the afterparty to a live set by Maduro, picnicing in the hotel room with Na'la and Hil, catching up with good friends, meeting new amazing folks, sharing creative energy, drinking wine, eating pizza, sitting in the grass outside the fest and hugging my gals before and after our performance! I had a truly magical moment with a fellow burner. She commented on my Greenman pendant- saying that she had seen it last year at Burning Man and loved it. I only got 100 made... and there were over 40,000 people there. I explained the story behind it... that it was one of my dad's pieces of art and I made them to commemorate him and his life. It was good for me to talk about it because his sudden and unexpected death was the reason I had to miss Tribal Fest the previous year. She explained that she also had made a pendant for Burning Man for her father who had passed.... it was one of those moments of pure connection and understanding... an unexpected gift. I sent her a pendant as soon as I got home. Thanks to everyone who puts their time and energy into making Tribal Fest happen. Thanks to all of the amazing performers, volunteers, vendors and others who come together to create a venue with such a good vibe. Thanks to Michael for making us bad ass staves. Thanks to Bella, Mavi and Asharah for helping out with our performance. Thanks to Na'la and Hilary for being there for me... for being such amazing women... for sharing their art and passion! Thanks to my family of friends who put up with me through my crazy busy times! Here is our performance on You-Tube... be sure to watch all 3 parts! :) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YNKRS03zctY http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ioCcCUXrBG8&feature=related http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k7vgzn9HCqc&feature=related

Travels- Barcelona, Paris and Beyond

bronwen — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 19:08:05 GMT

Wow... what a whirlwind time it's been.... traveling, dance, traveling, family, traveling, friends, dance, festivals, emotions, projects, traveling..... LIFE! Whew. So much has happened in the past couple of months.... where do I start. Our travels to Barcelona and Paris were amazing in many ways, frustrating in some... and a very good learning and growing experience over all. Cael and I started with an intensely long day of traveling.... DC metro to the airport.... flight to NYC... flight to Paris... Paris metro to the train station... train to Barcelona.... cab to hotel. I think we were traveling for over 24 hours with all of the waiting.... it was intense. It felt so amazing to crash out! Our hotel was beautiful- modern and super fancy... but a ways out of the city. The biggest challenge we faced in Barcelona was the transportation to and back from our hotel... it was a bit of a nightmare at times. The second challenge was communication. Cael speaks some Spanish... but in Barcelona they speak Catalonian... which is different and presented us with some frustrating situations. The city itself is simply beautiful... my favorite days were those we spent climbing around the parks and gardens that spread across the hills overlooking the city from the old Palace. Bright blue skies and golden days.... the Mediterranean Sea stretching out from the city into the distance..... The gothic section of the city is fantastic as well- tight twisting streets with plants and clothes hanging in colorful patterns of life from every balcony....people eating and drinking in the street- performers, mopeds and skateboards and everywhere beautiful graffiti. I was blown away by the quality of the prolific gorilla art form. It seemed every old block wall... every train car... every retaining wall was covered in vibrant skillful art. We played in Gaudi's magical masterpieces... feeling the natural forms in the architecture. We drank sangria and ate bad tapas and paella and spent waaaaaaay too much money at little coffee shops on espresso. We had a silly night drinking absynthe, eating room service and watching a Cindi Lauper marathon on Spanish tv. We met up with a friend of a friend who has lived in Barcelona for 2 years and had a wonderful night being filled in on the ins and outs of Spanish politics and the fact that even though there is no word in Catelonian for "mullet" they seemed to be the most popular haircut. Keith was friendly and hilarious and gave us such good advice. We had our fights and emotional ups and downs, but also found the time to really talk to each other for the first time in a long time. Cael's foot is still healing and gave him some issues and we have a lot that we are working out together right now... so it wasn't all happy times.... but it was all good stuff to be finally getting out. The time away gave us the space to talk about some really hard things we have been avoiding in our relationship. Things aren't fixed... but the honest openness has started. We had a travel issue from Barcelona to Paris... a strike by the French train workers left us stranded in Barcelona for a few hours... until they figured out how to re-route us to get us to Paris... so in the pattern of our tiring travel disasters... what was supposed to be a 6 1/2 hour train ride turned into a 12 hour train ride with 2 transfers! We did get to see some beautiful country side out the windows. We finally got to Paris and had Cael's parents welcome us with dinner and drinks at our gorgeous hotel on the Champs Elysee. Paris is truly a capital city. She wears her crown with a beautiful and ancient grace that DC lacks in it's youth. I had been there 11 years ago... and it felt good to be coming back. Our trip shifted somewhat. We spent a lot of time doing touristy things with Cael's folks and shared in their experiences. We didn't have the trip we would have planned, but we got to do all sorts of things that we would never be able to afford on our own. We were again graced by perfect springtime weather... blue skies... sunshine and warmth. We ate the best meal of my lfe at the Eiffel Tower restaurant. The view is to die for... and the food was just as beautiful as it was delicious. A lot of our time in Paris was about eating, drinking, relaxing and feeling on vacation. We went on a dinner cruise on the Seine and saw the new Moulin Rouge. The show was one of the worst, over the top, hilarious, ridiculous, terrifying things I have ever seen in my life. I can't even begin to describe the horror of pink feathers and sparkly boobs.... but we survived somehow. :) One of my favorite places we happened upon was the Rodin gardens. Rodin sculpts emotion. His figures are twisting- turning-writhing in joy or agony and they were so powerful against the lush green trees. The museum is in the middle of the city, but feels like a safe haven- a quiet escape from the bustle. We drank wine, shared stories, talked of life, fought about emotions, cried about losses and took the time to breathe. I got to see an old and dear friend who happened to be in Paris at the same time! My best pal from early college- Mel who I hadn't gotten to see in 3 years! We had a day overlap in our trips and got to have a wonderful dinner together. I took the time to think... write and vent a lot during my travels. I am still processing through many of those thoughts and putting together the experiences. I am so grateful to have been able to take the time to travel. It reminded me that the world is vast and beautiful and full of adventure.

Shakra... Adventures, Projects, Youtube clip and Pre-order!!

bronwen — Thu, 15 May 2008 14:10:22 GMT

Whew! It has been a super duper busy time for dance projects recently! Na'la and Hil are already out in Cali at Tribal Fest- teaching workshops... recruiting for the Shakra army and generally being fabulous... I fly out tomorrow morning. I can't wait to meet everyone and get to see all of the amazing dancers perform! It's such an honor to be closing the show Friday night with our brand spankin new dances!! We just finished the final editing of our Industrial Strength Dance Workout dvd! Pre-order is up and running on the "Gear" section on our webpage- we should have the dvds in hand and ready to ship in about 4 weeks! There is also a preview clip up on Youtube! We had a blast filming it up in NYC with the fantastic folks of World Dance New York... a big huge thank you to Neon and Scott! http://shakra.tribalgrove.com/ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2UjbV_2qJ0 http://www.worlddancenewyork.com/ We have workshops and shows in the works for the Summer and Fall... check out our tribe page for updates!!

Off to Barcelona and Paris!! :)

bronwen — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 13:07:38 GMT

We fly out today! I can hardly believe it. It seemed so crazy to be traveling at this time... with everything else being so busy and this time of year being so full, but it was the only time that worked.... and now it feels perfect. Cael and I are flying to Paris... then training to Barcelona... chillin... then back to Paris... more chillin... then home. I am so grateful for the opportunity to get to travel to these amazing places. I was in Paris for a few days about 11 years ago and can still feel the magic of that city... and I have never been to Spain- so there will be a nice mix of totally new.... and bizarrely familiar. We will be home in early May and will hopefully bring back with us many silly stories and adventures and hopefully some new perspective. It's time to take a pause.... take a breath..... and open our eyes to the beauty of the old world... to let ourselves experience each moment and take the time to appreciate this gift. Love to all of my family of friends! See you in a couple of weeks! :)

A Weekend with the Pixie

bronwen — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 15:57:42 GMT

Wow... life is moving so fast right now! I'm barely catching up from last week.... The weekend before last, we had an amazing visit from the vibrant Pixie - in town from LA. We adventured, played, laughed, created, shared, talked, drank chocolate martinis, danced in the sun, rain and fire.... were attacked by zombie squirrels, people from other planets and boy-lesque! Our living room and backyard were transformed into a magical land of beautiful dancers being captured by Pixie's camera! There were many photos (new Shakra ones to come soon!) and many many exquisite moments. A huge hug and thank you to Pixie for being so wonderful and sharing her art and energy with us.... a super shakra squeeeeeze to Scott for letting us drag him out in the rain to find cool places for pics and for letting us dress him up and generally horrify him all weekend.... a big ol kiss to Lou for bringing over the fire gear and fuel and talent that facilitated our magical Friday night fire shoot.... and lots of love to Na'la and Hil (my girls!) for coming together to make another kick ass Shakra photo adventure! http://www.pixievisionproductions.com

Shakra Secret Springtime Adventures and Projects!!!

bronwen — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 17:01:15 GMT

Well it's been a winter full of creative energy and projects... and now that it's Spring everything is starting to come to fruition! We have been busy busy little Shakra bees... putting together all sorts of new and exciting things. First of all, we have just announced that World Dance New York will be releasing an all SHAKRA dvd this summer!!! http://shakra.tribe.net/thread/4329941f-c1ab-4d8d-8a89-1e212fc84143 Second, we will be bringing a whole new performance to Tribal Fest... closing the show Friday night!!! AND we are teaching two workshops there: http://shakra.tribe.net/thread/145cd946-feb4-4043-ad44-451c3cab8c99 We are also putting together an entirely Shakra... entirely new... entirely STOMPY workshop format!! It's almost finished and will be ready to scare the world with after Tribal Fest! We already have a workshop scheduled in Richmond in the fall and a few more in the works.... Finally... Our friend Pixie is traveling out from LA will be setting up a studio in our house and doing shoots April 11, 12 and 13. She is simply amazing. We did a shoot with her in the PEX warehouse last fall and fell in love with her! Here is her website for examples of her work~ www.PixieVisionProductions.com Her rate for shooting is $250 per hour. Please email pixie@pixievisionproductions.com for more info~ :) Check out our website for all of the photos she took of Shakra last year! She is an amazing artist and so much fun to work with! shakra.tribalgrove.com/ Happy Springtime to everyone!!

Gratitude and Love

bronwen — Sat, 22 Dec 2007 04:21:54 GMT

First of all thank you to everyone for your wonderful birthday emails, texts, calls and messages. I feel so incredibly loved. I'm so blessed to have all of you wonderful people in my life... our community rocks! This is going to be a good year, I can feel it. I'm off to spend time with my family in the early morn. It will be a hard holiday in many ways, but hopefully it will also be a new start. I want to go into it with a clear head and a heart open to establishing new traditions. My brother, his family and my little sis are in their new house and I can't wait to see it. Everyone seems to be coming out of their sorrow and feeling the renewal of the coming new year. It will be an whirlwind of relatives, cats, dogs, babies and Cael with his crutches... hopefully we will survive ;). Lots of love and light to everyone in this time of feasting and celebration. Thank you for being in my life.

Santarchy in DC

bronwen — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 15:20:09 GMT

Santarchy in our Nation's capital was last Saturday and once again we took to the streets with two goals.... to scare the pants off of the tourists and to bring naughty burner style holiday joy to all. This year's event was even bigger and better than the last with a literal sea of red, white and jolly surging from one monument to the next. Swimming among the santas we had Jack Frost and the Ice Queen, Joseph, Mary and baby J, a sad Christmas gnome, a gorilla santa, santa's monkey helpers, a bunch of us as angry elves and many more creative twists on the theme. As "disgruntled youth elves" we shouted about elf rights and the mistreatment of the reindeer to anyone who would listen. "JOIN THE ELF REVOLUTION!", I yelled as I proudly wore my "Che Elf" shirt Cael made for me ;). Even Cael's broken foot came in as a handy prop... for he was an elf injured in Santa's evil unsafe workshop. We wheeled him around all day with a Santa hat on his cast and a hot chick on his lap! There was singing of "Police Navidad" to the police in front of the monuments, making out under the mistletoe in front of the white house, spankings with a Bush headed paddle and much drinking, dancing, laughter and general making merry. The day was a crazy and wild release and so much fun! Check out the link below for Santarchy in the Washington Post! You have to wait for the add to play, but then the pics will come up. Page through them and you might see some familiar faces! http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/gallery/2007/12/10/GA2007121000945.html?hpid=artslot I will be posting more pics soon! :) Happy Holidays!!

Pixie Pics of Shakra

bronwen — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 14:46:51 GMT

We finally got all of our Shakra pictures from our photo shoot with Pixie up on our website! Yay! Check them out: http://shakra.tribalgrove.com/ The website will have more and more info added to it within the next couple of weeks- so be sure to check it out from time to time. Please let me know if anything isn't functioning- we are still working out some bugs. Pixie will be coming to our city to do shoots next year!! Be sure to book your time with her now, it will fill up fast! She is an amazing artist and so much fun to work with! http://www.pixievisionproductions.com/ Here is a post from Pixie with information about her upcoming shoots: My traveling studio is coming from Los Angeles to these cities soon…. February 9th & 10th - Fullerton, CA - GOTHLA - www.gothla.com February 17th, 18th & 19th - Minneapolis February 20th, 21st & 22nd - Austin, Texas March 14th, 15th & 16th – Chicago March 18th, 19th, 20th, 21st – Albuquerque, New Mexico April 4th & 5th - Freehold, NJ April 7th & 8th - New York City April 10th, 11th & 12th - Washington, DC April 26th - Newbury Park, CA - Tribal Caravan - www.tribalcaravan.com I specialize in musicians, fire performance and belly dance photography but I also love to shoot families, hoopers, all forms of dance, performance, fashion, weddings and all kinds of events. Examples of belly dance shoots are at this link… tribes.tribe.net/pixievisi...46b25ef0cb See my website for other examples of my work~ www.PixieVisionProductions.com My rate for shooting is $200 per hour. Please email pixie@pixievisionproductions.com for more info~ :) ~Pixie ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ pixie@pixievisionproductions.com www.pixievisionproductions.com mobile 818.512.8474 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ tribes.tribe.net/pixievision www.myspace.com/pixieglittermeow www.flickr.com/people/pixievision/ modelmayhem.com/member.php

Shakra in October!

bronwen — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 15:43:48 GMT

Hello all! There is so much exciting dance stuff going in on October! We will be performing at 2 shows in DC (our first local shows in over a year!) October 19th and 20th at the Belly Horror Show hosted by Romka and DC Tribal- check out my earlier thread for a complete list of performers, times and ticket costs. Tickets are going fast! Buy tickets at: http://www.dcartscenter.org/ Halloween Night- October 31st for the release party of the Gothic Bellydance Revelations dvd. This will be our very first live show of the dances we perform on the dvd!! Check out our website for all of the details and to view the flyer. Come out and celebrate the best holiday of the year with the dark dances of Shakra and Mavi and the music of Terrorfakt, Dismantled, The Last Dance and Blind Till Now and DJs Vlad, Ras DNA, Pureevil, Midcage, Mellie Mel, MissGuided and Miko Lestrange. Click below to visit our website and go to the "calendar" for more information! http://shakra.tribalgrove.com/ We are so excited to announce the official release of the Gothic Bellydance Revelations dvd produced by World Dance New York. We perform two dances on the dvd and it is stocked full of other innovative and creative pieces... all of them darkly beautiful and unique! You can order the dvd for a special limited time sale price of $13 plus $5 for priority mail shipping at our website! They are in and ready to be shipped to you. You can also order shakra t-shirts (men sized), baby doll t-shirts and tank tops!! All at the "gear" section of the website. Check out the trailer for the dvd here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N0FdCKmKuvE AND We are featured in the October edition of Navel- an online bellydance magazine as part of the "Gothfia"!! Read the article here: http://www.navelmagazine.com/id24.htm

Upcoming Shakra Performance at the Belly Horror Show!!

bronwen — Tue, 18 Sep 2007 16:15:28 GMT

Yay! Our first local show in over a year! Friday, October 19th, 10pm and Saturday, Oct. 20th, 10pm Don't let our cuteness fool you... we can be scary- bwaaaaaaaaa!! AND- be sure to keep Halloween night free... there just might be something super cool going on.... more details coming soon. ;) BELLY HORROR SHOW! Romka invites you to the darker side of dance for the 2nd Annual BellyHorror Show with two nights of scintillating and sinister performances by local & national artists! Friday, October 19th, 10pm Performers: Belladonna Mavi Tempest Ariel, Shems & MiAsia Kaihea Yameena BellaTrix Eguenia Shakra Alexis and special musical performance by American Sinner! Hosted by DC's own sideshow girl of horrors: Mab! Saturday, Oct. 20th, 10pm Performers: Belladonna Mavi Tempest Ariel, Shems & MiAsia Kaihea Yameena BellaTrix Eguenia Shakra The Voodoo Sisters & Nora Hosted by DC's own sideshow girl of horrors: Mab! Limited seating available, buy your tickets early.....parental discretion advised...come enjoy...if you dare. Tickets $20 general admission. Reservations at www.dcartscenter.org More details upcoming at www.RomkaDance.com the Belly Horror Show is sponsored by: DCTribal.com

Time for Adventures

bronwen — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 14:55:48 GMT

My last Burning Man blog was all about the serious intents I have for the experience this year... this one is about the fun I want to have. ;) We fly out tomorrow evening for a few days in Tahoe for a wedding of one of my oldest and dearest friends and then on to the desert! We will be camping around 8:00 and E (or maybe F) with a camp called "8 Pod". Come and say hi! I'm sure we will be hanging at PEX a bit and running around a lot to find adventures. Alas many of our beloveds are not able to make the journey with us this year. We will miss you guys sooooooo much and bring back lots of amusing stories and love from the playa. I can't wait to come home. P.S. Maybe we will actually find the "True" jesus this year... tee-hee.

Three Years and Counting....

bronwen — Tue, 19 Jun 2007 14:16:20 GMT

Happy Happy! :) Cael and I were married three years ago today! We had an amazing party with family and friends and totally cheesed out and promised to love eachother forever....not in a scary "ball and chain" sort of way...but in a celebration of finding a partner for all of life's adventures!! These past few years have held extreme ups and downs for us, but overall they have been the best years yet and I know they will continue to get better. I'm getting no work done... I'm having too much fun looking at our wedding website and getting lost in happy memories.... my dad and brother leading us in with their Celtic songs... my sister's special song for me... lots of happy tears... Na'la's sword dance for us and the spiral dance she and Jimmy organized.... good food and drinks... loving family... beautiful friends... great music and dancing... singing into the night.... Baccus would have been proud! :) I'm so blessed. If you are bored today and want to cheeese out with me... check out our website: http://tribalgrove.com/wedding/ Warning: Dorkness level.... this one goes to 11

Thank you

bronwen — Wed, 23 May 2007 16:37:14 GMT

Thank you so very very much to everyone for your kind words and support. Cael and I are back home in Takoma Park for a few days... hoping to make it back to work tomorrow. We are still planning to come to PDF.... I need the time with my family of friends. This summer is going to be rough.... lots of figuring things out and going back and forth to Floyd VA to see my family and help them. My father was an artist and he left a lot of work behind him. I was thinking of organizing a fundraiser for my brother and his wife who are adopting my orphaned half sister and who need to find a bigger place to live because of this... maybe having performances and selling some of my father's artwork and perhaps other donated items....later on in the summer... or perhaps in the fall. I know you all have expressed how much you would like to help, and I appreciate it so very very much. I thought this would be an awesome way we could all help with our different forms of art. The idea is only in it's very beginning phase right now, but it is helping me to think about it. The theme of Burning Man this year means more than I could have ever imagined. The Greenman was an icon that my father felt very close to and created this beautiful rendition of. It is one of my favorite pieces of his art and my brother Shawn already has it tattooed on his shoulder. My brother Jeremy, my sister in law Ashley, my sister Molly (when she is old enough), Cael and I have all decided to do the same. I know this summer will be intense and difficult at times, but I also know that the trek out to the playa will help me to release my saddness and anger in my own way... with the rituals that resonate with me. I feel the love coming from all around me. It is the support of all of you that is keeping me from falling apart. Because of my community and family of friends, I have been able to be strong for my family when they have needed me so very much. Thank you. I love you.

Loss and Love

bronwen — Sat, 19 May 2007 00:14:54 GMT

I lost my dad the day before yesterday. He had a sudden and unexpected heart attack....he was only 59 years old and seemed very healthy and strong. He was more than a father... he was a friend who truly knew me. He was more amazing than I can possibly express in words.... he never once judged me... he loved all of us unconditionally. He went through more hard times and tragedy in his life than anyone else I know... but through it all he remained truly open hearted, silly, fun and loving. He was a human full of light and life. His joy and love will live on forever in his art... his music and through his family who all miss him so much. I am here at home in Virginia with my family. I will be here for awhile... then probably come home for a bit... and then be back here on and off all summer. I'm not sure how much access I will have to the internet or connection I will have to my world for the next few days. To all my wonderful family of friends... please know that I feel your love and support. I know that the only way I have been able to be strong so far is through the amazing people I have in my life that take care of me. I love you all.

NEW Shakra Website!!!

bronwen — Mon, 14 May 2007 05:14:33 GMT

Check it out! http://shakra.tribalgrove.com/ Thank you to the super talented (and oh so sexy) Caelstrom for his hard work and evil genius!! Please check it out and let us know if there are any issues. There are still some "coming soon" areas... but we will have them up and running soon!

Shortbus - My New Favorite Movie

bronwen — Tue, 27 Mar 2007 14:31:34 GMT

This movie is amazing... like nothing else I have ever seen. It touched me deeply- I think I fell in love with almost every character. Not appropriate to watch at work, unless your job is ultra cool! :) http://www.shortbusthemovie.com/

Pirates vs Ninjas

bronwen — Mon, 29 Jan 2007 17:55:00 GMT

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P-7vT4GSodk&mode=related&search= Why can't we all just get along? :)

Green Man of the Playa!

bronwen — Wed, 17 Jan 2007 21:32:37 GMT

We just got our tickets!!! I'm so excited. We were considering taking this year off from making the big trek out west... but the theme... THE GREEN MAN!!! How could we resist? So, plans are slowly being put in motion... the energy is starting to build. We will come home yet again this year! :) This photo is from last year... when the four horsemen thought we had found Jesus.... just to find that he was simply another false profit... but we did score some good "get outta Hell free" cards from the sandal wearing hippie... but we had to run away when he tried to steal our wine!

Its Almost Time for SANTARCHY!!!!

bronwen — Wed, 29 Nov 2006 04:37:56 GMT

Come out and help us reach critical Santa mass!!! www.santarchydc.com :) P.S. Be on the lookout for legions of naughty reindeer....

Playa Adventures

bronwen — Tue, 17 Oct 2006 14:23:09 GMT

Whew! What an amazing summer it has been! I have finally had some down time to reflect on the wonderful adventures the past couple of months have held... and I finally got some Burning Man photos up on tribe! Burning Man this year was even more incredible than last year. I was simply blown away by the level of creativity and effort put into the art installations, art cars, performances, theme camps and costumes. I left the playa full of so much inspiration! Thank you to all of my beloved family of friends for making the week so wonderful. The whole event was full of love and excitement, old friends and new friends, familiar feelings and new experiences. I am so incredibly lucky to have a life full of such amazing people and adventures! Love to you all!

Pennsic

bronwen — Mon, 21 Aug 2006 21:16:07 GMT

So... Pennsic ruled this year. Cael and I were only able to stay for a few days, but they were filled with fantastic fun!! There was good time spent with our family of friends, getting to know new lovely people, missing a few beloved faces that couldn't make it this year, fun planning for the events to come, lots of walking and shopping and sitting in the sun, good coffee and chai, wonderful food and hospitality (thank you!!!), fantastic music and drumming and dancing and lots of beautiful fantasy all around... but my most favorite thing of all at Pennsic were.... the ZOMBIE BELLYDANCERS!!! Yay! I narrowly escaped with my brains in tact... but Cael wasn't so lucky... tee-hee! :)

Playa Meetup Plans

bronwen — Mon, 21 Aug 2006 20:13:50 GMT

The excitement is building and the playa is calling! I know how difficult it can be to remember where you are, what time it is... and even who you are on the playa at times... BUT I would love to connect with lots of you fine folks out there and it may be hard to hunt eachother down. So, Cael and I will be at Center Camp Cafe on Wednesday between noon and 2 PM or so just chillin on the man side and waiting to run into our family of friends. Come and say hello! We will be camping with 8-Pod. The general location will be between 8 and 8:15 and about 3 to 4 blocks back from Esplanade... check playa info for the exact location and look for our big white van with MD plates. I can't wait to see everyone's dusty smiling faces!!

Tag your It Mutha Funka!!

bronwen — Wed, 21 Jun 2006 00:41:07 GMT

I was tagged... so I guess I gotta play the game :) I'm sure everyone already knows the rules by now... think of 8 interesting things about yourself... write them in a blog and then tag 6 other hapless victims.... Random crap about me.... I have an interesting (at least in my opinion) ethnic mix and family story. My mother is Russian/ Polish- Jewish. Her mother grew up in Brooklyn during the depression (think a Tree Grows in Brooklyn) and her father came over from London... where his parents had eloped to from Poland. My father's family has been here since the Mayflower. Lots of English blood on both sides... mixed with Native American. I'm 1/16 Seminole. The Seminole's are the only tribe that never officially surrendered to the US. My mother's parents married late in life. My grandmother was in her 30s ( a super old maid for the time) and thought she would never marry and my grandfather was in his late 40s. They married after 1 date. My father's father went on a trip to Florida to seek his Native American roots. He found his grandmother and visited her...while there he drank from her well. He got really really sick from the water and had to go to the hospital. He fell in love with the nurse who treated him. I look like her, but never got to meet her. I am a child of true- back to the land-hippies. My parents went to college in India for a year in the 60s and were at Woodstock and everything. You can see them in the big 2-page spread photo in the Time Life article about it that year. I grew up on 100+ acres of land in the middle of nowhere South West Virginia in the Blue Ridge Mountians... we had an "outhouse" until I was 6 and goats and a huge garden. My parents were both self employed artists at the time. Our driveway was almost a mile long and we used to get snowed in regularly during the winter. We would park the car at the end of the driveway and carry groceries in on sleds. We would loose electricity all of the time. After hurricane Hugo, we didn't have power for a month. I was a vegetarian until I was 13 or so because I was raised that way... and then chose to become one again a couple of years ago. I like to have lots of attention. I blame my parents. :) They tried to have children for 8 years before I came along... so I was super duper loved. My first brother didn't come along for 5 years after me... and my parent's were both at home... so I got LOTS and LOTS of special time and focus from them. I guess I can be kinda needy for attention at times... and overly dramatic. That is their fault too! They put me in ballet (thus on the stage) when I was 3... and well... it all goes into that same attention/drama thing. :) I was an angry hippie dork (and still am) in high school. I was Salutatorian of my graduating class and I gave a speech at graduation against racism.... while some redneck family in the back held up a big rebel flag. My hometown was 70% old school redneck/ mountain folk and 30% hippies who moved there in the 60s and 70s. I was generally really good at Science and Math and I read well and have a decent vocabulary... but I can't spell to save my life! I just know there are a million errors in this post... but hey, I can't tell what they are, so they don't bother me! When I was 20, I was lucky enough to participate in a study abroad program in college. I got to spend over 2 months traveling through France, Germany, Switzerland, Italy and even to Prague. It was a wonderful and life changing experience. It is the only time I haven't had a job since I was 18. I had amazing conversations and adventures and learned to truly begin to think for myself. I love long extended BBC movies about people sitting in parlors drinking tea... I can happily watch the 8 hour Pride and Prejudice dvds over and over and over.... poor Cael now knows all about Mr Darcy and Miss Bennet. I get really scared of silly things in horror movies and have an overactive imagination sometimes at night in the dark... yet, I don't actually believe in anything supernatural. I love fantasy novels, fairies, dragons and unicorns. My dad used to read the Hobbit to us when we were children and do all of the voices. He will always be Gandalf to me. Cael proposed to me by finding a white horse and making a unicorn horn for it to wear to create a magical surprise for me. He wore a satyr costume and had my mom and dad dressed as mother nature and the green man. He had my sister and Na'la dressed as fairies and Jimmy dressed as a satyr. It was the best surprise ever!! We had our wedding in the same theme.... here is our website if you are interested... photos are under "story". http://tribalgrove.com/wedding/ Yay!! Thanks to Mavi, Na'la, Zan and Paige for tagging me... you guys know how much I love to talk about myself and share inappropriate information... even when I'm sober . :) Hmmm... who to tag... who to tag..... I officially order info from.... Armando, Binky, Cael, Dingo, Kazoo, Melissa (Murphey), Michael Sirvet, Now, Pete, Smelly Melly I know it's more than 6 or 8 or whatever... but I LOVE you guys and want to know about you... besides... Cael, Kazoo,Binky, Now and Pete have all been tagged already... so I'm just trying to fan the flames a bit.

New Baby Beastie

bronwen — Thu, 11 May 2006 13:36:08 GMT

Cael and I adopted a new baby kitty this past weekend. He showed up lost on a co-worker's door and we couldn't resist his ultimate cuteness power! His name is Badger and he has become fast friends with P'nunkin who plays with him and seems to be taking on a "big brother" sort of roll. Melia is still prettty pissed off about him and hisses when he attempts to play with her, but I'm sure she will simply ignore him soon. He is super playful, talkative and purry... it's so hard to do anything but play with him and watch him be cute!