You meet your true friends at War

and first you decide
what you've gotta do
then you go out and do it
and maybe the most we can do
is just to see each other through it
~ Ani DiFranco

This is my Pennsic gratitude blog. Baris and I would never have made it without the love and support of our friends, so I humbly raise a glass to those of you that made this year so very special.

First, there is Elena, who carpooled with us, going out of her usual Pennsic route to pick us up, and talking me down from weird pre-Pennsic stress born of car disasters and wayward paychecks. We almost didn’t go this year, but then we did. Thanks to Elena and Waian we had a roof over our heads after arriving at 5 AM, a car for emergency work-related town runs, and entertainment to and from the event.

In camp, Atesh stepped up to provide a roof for the next nine days of camping. A loaner tent is no small thing! Hugs, hugs, hugs!

Thanks to my sis, Meagen (aka Catamander on Tribe) who handcrafted 170 kick-ass glass lampwork beads for Orluk Hafla tokens. They were bee-yoo-ti-ful!

Saahira was amazing and gracious as always! She brightens every day at Pennsic and guides us all with her verve and exuberance.

Neefa helped me dress the part in Kimono for the Japanese Tea Ceremony.

Thanks to Shakti for the salwar. You inspire me to learn to sew… some day. And thanks for the hugs on my most stressful of days-- I needed that.

My old high school friend Stephanie was a good sport as she tried to catch up with me for several days.

Ask and ye shall receive--- I’m ALWAYS happy to see Brett, but this year I was especially so. Mere hours after I said “I wish I could talk to a lawyer. Is Brett at Pennsic?” he appeared at our camp gate. And he has the best hugs!! Thanks for putting things into perspective for me, Brett. And for playing at the hafla; everyone really enjoyed having you there.

I could go on for quite a while thanking everyone at Orluk, but I’ll be brief with a group “thank you”. Our camp rocks, and I cherish the time we spend together. Thanks for the conversation, the laughs, and for just being the best camp ever. We are so fortunate to have met you all.

Thanks to my friends (for brevity’s sake, I won’t name you all here) who distracted me, took care of me, gave me warm, dry clothes on a rainy night, tucked me in to a comfy bed when I was far from home, fed me, laughed with me, introduced me to new Pennsic experiences, and made me feel so cared for. I truly love you all.

Things change, but it all works out...

It's funny how things really do work out the way they're supposed, if I let them. More than once Baris has told me that nothing that has to "forced" to work ever really works out, and I see that over and over now.

This is what has happened to the Pennsic Plans:

The initial drama was that my co-worker was being unreasonable about working out vacation time. I took care of that, by deciding I should find a new job. Soon thereafter, I got a great offer and the promise that I could go to Pennsic, I just wouldn't get paid vacation for it. I could deal with that, and I got to take an early vacation, visit my sister, and then leave the sucky job and not have this ordeal every year.

Fast-forward about a month, and I am preparing to transition to my new job. I keep driving by a house for sale, which I only noticed because the new job sends me this way to see a patient. It's cute. I want it. So I did something very uncharacteristic of me, which was to call the agent, look at the house, and make an offer. Bam. I bought a house!

But with not without some sacrifice, of course. We are *so* busy! And I dipped into my vacation resources for the house and some things we need for it, and for moving expenses. Baris can't go to Pennsic for the whole two weeks because he doesn't have enough vacation time. I decide to skip the first week, so we don't have to make several trips back and forth with gas prices at a ridiculous amount.

And I'm thinking to my self, hey self, I want some new furniture. So then, my old manager calls and asks if I want to fill in for, you guessed, the woman who started the whole vacation mess! My first instinct was to decline, but I could easily make enough money that week to buy a new bed, maybe a sofa, or just to replenish the ol' savings account. At first, I was like "I'm not going to miss any of Pennsic, no matter what."

So perhaps she really did me a favor by a) making me realize that I was unhappy and open myself up for a change (and a raise, and a company car...) b) sort-of contribute to me finding the house, in a round-a-bout way c) contribute to my re-establishing a comfy level in the savings account by going on vacation and therefore giving me the opportunity to score some extra cash.

See, it all works out!

Thanks, Universe!

:)

I Had a Great Day

Meagen's birthday is tomorrow, and I sent out her gift a whole week early.

We closed on a house.

Baris and I spent $2 on celebratory house-buying scratch-off tickets, and won $7.

I found out that I get a free company cell phone; look for a new number soon.

I may get that company car sooner than I expected.

Hellboy the shitten has arrived safely and happily at his forever home.

I may have to scale back on Pennsic, but I can probably be there for "war week".

No love for the haters...

OK, I just have to ask...

I know that we are all unhappy sometimes, we are all bitter sometimes, we are all negative sometimes, we are all a little jealous, a little bitchy, a little whiny, a little snarky and rude... sometimes.

But what is it with people who are like this MOST of the time? And how are they to be handled?

A personal weakness of mine seems to be tolerating boorish, self-absorbed people for long. Depending on my mood, which I freely admit changes with the wind, I can be quite tolerant; I can ignore a bit of whining or negativity. Everything's OK, until it's not.

So, maybe I'm not going to be polite to or ignore the rude, snarky people anymore. Maybe I won't accept backhanded compliments or insincere well-wishes. If you can't be sincerely, genuinely happy and supportive, keep your big maw shut. Don't say "I hope that works out for you." in that voice that is really saying "I hope you've effing really screwed up this time!"

It's true what Mom always said, "If you can't say something nice (and mean it!), don't say anything at all.

That is all for this rant. Enjoy your Tribing as usual!

~R


I do it for the joy it brings
because I'm a joyful girl
because the world owes me nothing
and we owe each other the world
I do it because it's the least I can do
I do it because I learned it from you
I do it just because I want to
because I want to
~Ani DiFranco

Fantastic job, Isenfir!

Journey Down the Silk Road was terrific! I really, really loved the line dance class. The food was awesome. The classes were great. Johara rocked the zils, as usual. It makes me so homesick for Pennsic, though, seeing all of the beautiful pavilions set up and everyone in garb.

Oh, and Nadira the "Booze Fairy" was there! Haven't seen her in two Pennsics, since we didn't make it to Pandora's Box last year.

Thank you, musicians, for playing into the night. Nothing compares to dancing by firelight.

RIP George Carlin

The Secret News
Good Evening ladies and gentlemen, it’s time for the secret news.
Sshh.
Here’s the secret news:
All people are afraid.
No one knows what they’re doing.
Everything is getting worse.
Some people deserve to die.
Your money is worthless.
No one is properly dressed.
At least one of your children will disappoint you.
The system is rigged.
Your house will never be completely clean.
All teachers are incompetent.
There are people who really dislike you.
Nothing is as good as it seems.
Things don’t last.
No one is paying attention.
The country is dying.
God doesn’t care.
Sshh

~ George Carlin
georgecarlin.com/

B4B shirts...

We have several extra shirts, due to the minimum order we had to meet. I know we have a few M, L, and XL left. I can bring some to Charlottesville's "Journey Down the Silk Road" next month. They are $20.00 each (that's our cost-- no mark-up) and are black with Josie's B4B Bellydancer on the back. I'll post a pic soon. There are just a few left, so let me know soon if anyone wants one!

It's National Stroke Awareness Month!

In my "real life", I'm a speech-language pathologist, and I work daily with stroke survivors. So, please take a moment out of your Tribe adventures for a public service announcement, courtesy of The National Stroke Association's website:

www.stroke.org/site/PageServer


Stroke is the third leading cause of death in America and the No. 1 cause of adult disability.

80% of strokes are preventable; you can prevent a stroke!

Twice as many women die of stroke than breast cancer every year.
Despite this startling statistic, women are more worried about their risk of getting breast cancer than their stroke risk. What's more, women think stroke is a men's disease. But the truth is more women than men will die from stroke.

One half of all African American women will die from stroke or heart disease.

African Americans are twice as likely to die from stroke as Caucasians. The rate of first strokes in African Americans is almost double that of Caucasians. The statistics are staggering -- African Americans are affected by stroke more often than any other group

A stroke or "brain attack" occurs when a blood clot blocks an artery (a blood vessel that carries blood from the heart to the body) or a blood vessel (a tube through which the blood moves through the body) breaks, interrupting blood flow to an area of the brain. When either of these things happen, brain cells begin to die and brain damage occurs.

When brain cells die during a stroke, abilities controlled by that area of the brain are lost. These abilities include speech, movement and memory. How a stroke patient is affected depends on where the stroke occurs in the brain and how much the brain is damaged.

Stroke Symptoms include:

SUDDEN numbness or weakness of face, arm or leg - especially on one side of the body.

SUDDEN confusion, trouble speaking or understanding.

SUDDEN trouble seeing in one or both eyes.

SUDDEN trouble walking, dizziness, loss of balance or coordination.

SUDDEN severe headache with no known cause.

Call 9-1-1 immediately if you have any of these symptoms

...And now back to your normal Tribe fun!

Last B4B Blog for a while...

The Walk to Empower was inspiring, and despite the cold, muddy ground at the National Mall, we had a great day. I barely slept the night before, so it was nice to share a ride up to the metro station with Yaalini, who's fun and can keep me awake! Some of the team participated in the walk, while Yaalini and I stayed behind to guard swords and other valuables, and to make sure there were dancers by the stage in case our group was running (er, walking?) behind schedule. The walk did seem longer than 3 miles, and the after-walk presentations/ entertainment was put back because all of the walkers were still out, but our girls came in at the front of the pack!

I met so many amazing, strong women that day. One woman came up to compliment Yaalini and I on our costumes, and said that she was a survivor. How long, I asked. Four months in remission. Four months. I can't imagine. I got all teary eyed-- yes, I'm all mushy in the middle; don't tell anyone!

The performance went very well, and we've got ideas for next year already.

I know I say it all the time (and mean it!) but thanks to the whole team for all you've done! It's a lot of work, but I'm so proud to be part of the Bellies for Breasts Team. Natalie, Allison, Monica, Gayle, Cynthia, Judith and Chi--- thanks for everything!!!