I am the Sun

See...? I knew I was hot. LOL

<p align="center"><img src="www.flarn.com/~warlock/ta...uot;></p>
<h2 align="center"><b><font face="Verdana">You are The Sun</font></b><font face="Verdana"></font></h2>
<p align="center"><font face="Verdana">Happiness, Content, Joy.</font></p>
<p align="center"><font face="Verdana">The meanings for the Sun are fairly simple and consistent.</font></p>
<p align="center"><font face="Verdana">Young, healthy, new, fresh. The brain is working, things that were muddled come clear, everything falls into place, and everything seems to go your way.</font></p>
<p align="center"><font face="Verdana">The Sun is ruled by the Sun, of course. This is the light that comes after the long dark night, Apollo to the Moon's Diana. A positive card, it promises you your day in the sun. Glory, gain, triumph, pleasure, truth, success. As the moon symbolized inspiration from the unconscious, from dreams, this card symbolizes discoveries made fully consciousness and wide awake. You have an understanding and enjoyment of science and math, beautifully constructed music, carefully reasoned philosophy. It is a card of intellect, clarity of mind, and feelings of youthful energy.</font></p>
<p align="center"><font size="2" face="Verdana"><b>What Tarot Card are You?</b><br><a href="www.flarn.com/~warlock/tarot" target="_blank">Take the Test to Find Out.</a></font></p>

This weekend....

was awesome.



The end.

Maybe Swabere would appreciate this anyway...

My sister and I have this running joke that is only funny to us but we blame our dad for our sense of humor. We're kinda deadpan and sarcastic... just like dad. Chances are, if I say something completely bitchy and/or disgusting, I'm joking. I forget that the rest of the world may not appreciate my brand of humor. LOL

And I forgot last night in class. Ok, we were looking up the answers to random questions in different types of reference books, Google, and some electronic reference materials and the question was something like, "What navigable lake is at the highest elevation?" The answer was "Lake Titicaca". Anyway, I asked if that name has a meaning in another language because it sounds like a really unsanitary fetish....

Ok.... my sister and I would have been in tears laughing from that... To my surprise, no one said a word or even smiled. Actually, I got a few looks of disapproval. LOL Ok... Alrighty then, I've learned my lesson, I'll just work on being a belly dancing librarian and leave the standup comedy to those who are actually funny. :-P

I'm excited. I teach some classes tonight and then I'm leaving to go to Raleigh for the Aisha Ali workshop. YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This is the first show I've been in where I've actually choreographed exactly what I'm doing and performed it a couple of times in other places so I know it fairly well. It is really taking the level of stress out of it for me so I can just focus on going to the workshop rather than what I'm going to do on stage.

Tribe assistance...

I'm not Tribe-savvy.... I think I'm not too many tribes to keep up. On my list of tribes, I just realized that it lists the number of new posts since I last read it but there are a couple that have thousands I've missed and, to be honest, I'm not going to spend a day clicking on them to make the number go down... but if I were able to make it start at 0, I might be able to spend a little time once or twice a week reading. Is there a way to do that?

Also, I will occasionally post on someone's blog but I rarely go back and read to see if they have responded, is there an alert that will let me know if they've replied or something? I just wonder how many people have asked me something through a blog I've posted on and I never responded because I didn't know it was there. LOL

Here's the quick and dirty update on me:
1. Work = sucks

2. Outlook on new job = applied for many, heard from 0

3. School = sucks both of my teachers are sadists. If I can only survive until spring break, I may make it....

4. Lovelife = pretty good... but probably because I'm too tired to argue. :-P

5. Dance = great.... The Tuesday night class is fairly large and the Friday night classes are stable. I'm looking forward to Aisha Ali in Raleigh this weekend and then Mahsati's Shimmy Shimmy workshop on March 8th. I had a GREAT time at Zarifa's hafla on Saturday night too. Plans are coming along well for my own workshop and hafla on April 19th. My show in August is coming together and the lineup is already full if you can believe that! I'm so excited about the level of talent that is going to be on that stage!!! Oh yeah... and then Zarifa and I are bringing Cassandra here next May.... is it too soon to let that slip out??? Oh yeah, and I'm also planning a super exclusive belly dance retreat in a little cabin in the mountains of North Carolina at the end of April. Basically, there's going to be lots of food, my trusty iPod and speakers, a big hardwood floor, and a hot tub. I plan to use the retreat to review my dance goals and vision, write choreography, dance for FUN, relax, and work on belly dance certification.

6. Health and weight loss = Meh. I've gained about 5 pounds in the past month. Not the end of the world but what sucks is that I was only 3 pounds from my goal and now I'm 8 pounds away. *pout* I really think it is due to the ridiculous level of stress I'm under right now and the fact that I'm only getting about 3-5 hours of sleep every night. I joined a gym with some local, non-dancing friends last night and we are planning to get together 2 or 3 times a week to work out. I think that will help me to get in some muscle building exercise and also reduce some stress. So there is potential for this to get better. :)

Time differential

Time it takes to get from work to school if I leave on time = 43 minutes
Time it takes to get from work to school if I leave late = 65 minutes or longer
Time it takes to get home from school on Wednesdays = 40 minutes
Time it takes to get home from school when Lost is on = 28 minutes

Lotus's recital and some of my upcoming stuff...

I went with Shayda to Lotus' recital last night and it was a great show! The ladies have a lot to be proud of. :)

I probably should have taken a little break from dance for a night because there is so much going on in the near future but I couldn't resist. :-P

Here's some of the things I have on my calendar...

Charlotte's Belly Dance Meet up - this Tuesday
Treasure Chest and Tent Sale - Feb 17th
Dance Demo and free intro class at Cleveland Community College - Feb 23rd
Aisha Ali workshop and show in Raleigh - March 1st
Mahsati's Shimmi Shimmi workshop in Morganton, NC (with Rising Sun Tribe) - March 8th
Workshop in Shelby at Balance Yoga Center (I'm teaching) - April 19th
And then my students and I are hosting a hafla at The Perfect Step Dance Studio in Gastonia, NC 7:00-10:30, April 19th.

(And then I'm going on sabbatical or walkabout or something the following weekend to regenerate.)

I'm sorry ya'll but if I'm performing anywhere during this time, it's going to be the same drum solo I'm teaching my students to prepare them for the demo and other things that are coming up... No time to play around with my own stuff. :)

Events on February

Friday, February 1st:
I'm having an audition for my level 3 class that will begin on Feb. 15th. That class will be held on Fridays 6:30-7:30. The audition will begin around 7:45 and will last about 30-45 minutes. If you are interested in auditioning and you aren't a current student of mine, you may want to contact me for additional information.

After the audition, I'm heading over to Prevue for Mena's hafla were I'll be performing and I hope to see many of you there!

Tuesday, February 8th:
I'm taking the evening off from teaching to attend the Charlotte Belly Dance Meetup... I suppose I should RSVP ASAP... :) I'm hoping that some of my students will come with me.

Sunday, February 17th:
I'm going to be peddling my wares at Moonlight Bellydance's Treasure Chest Tent Sale. If you are looking for some gently used dance items, this sounds like it is going to be a great event.

Namaste

Asali

Sofram

I went to Sofram last night with a group of ladies I dance with and had such a great time! The food was wonderful and the dancer was even better. Shayda was the belly dancer last night and she gave two dynamic performances, one at 7:30 and the other at 8:30.

If you are anywhere near the Pineville/South Charlotte area, I highly recommend them! I think they have a belly dancer every Thursday evening. Just make a reservation first. :)

I think that my Christmas shopping is actually done! I have a couple of things to wrap but otherwise, I'm very ready for Christmas. I have two more classes before I take a two week break from teaching - one tonight and one tomorrow morning. I know it's kind of a long break... but I'm going to need it. I have a couple of projects to work on. :)


Namaste,

Asali