Written in the Wee Hours

Last night, I had an adventure. It wasn't the happy kind. Here's what I wrote, while experiencing sleep deprivation and considerable discomfort:

Around 11:00, I suddenly needed to pee. It burned, and I saw bright red blood in the toilet. I thought maybe I'd started my period early, but then realized no, I had not. And as the minutes passed, the burning intensified, and each time I peed, the cloudier and grosser-looking the urine became.

So I phoned Tele-Care, and the nurse barraged me with questions. At the end of the interrogation, she recommended I go to the emergency room right away.

I got to the hospital by 11:45. At the time of this writing, it is after 5 am, and although the burning has calmed itself, I now have a bit of a stomach and back ache.

This has been a hell of a week, healthwise. I guess tomorrow, er, today, is another sick day.

I'm wearing a face mask, and I've been stuck watching the Country Music Channel, which vacillates between showing bad music videos of rednecks on flatbed trucks and bad sitcoms (Reba, Roseanne, Ed, and The Dukes of Hazzard). I've watched each sitcome twice--the same episode each time--except for Dukes of Hazzard, and I'm sure that comes next. I'd better not get strep from sitting here.

On the plus side my sinuses aren't as bad as they were yesterday.

Around 4 am, there was a sudden influx of people to the emergency ward. One woman has been very upset at her long wait of an hour. I've been here 5 1/2.

By the time a doctor called me in, it was 7:30 am. I've had longer waits: my record was ten and a half hours in emergency, and that was when I was going through a whopper of an asthma attack several years back. But these long waits are unacceptable. The hospitals are extremely understaffed, and the health care professionals overworked. They have a nasty, thankless job, in my opinion. No wonder they flee the Maritimes.

Anyhow, I got a prescription for antibiotics from the doctor. As far as I know, I have a run of the mill urinary tract infection. I still piss blood, but I'm hoping the pills do their work soon. The doctor also wrote me a note, and when I left the hospital, I walked over to work to say I wouldn't be working today. They photocopied the note for their records. I called a cab home, because I was just too wiped to walk the rest of the way home. By the time I got to bed, it was 8 am.

I've had about four hours of sleep, and I feel zombielicious, but my cold seems to be retreating by the minute. Perhaps it's just because I'm too tired to be properly sick.

I felt restless this afternoon, so I went for a walk to the thrift store and the yarn shop. I bought two pairs of nice shoes for $1.50 a pair, and purchased two skeins of gorgeous yarn for $53. I only paid $3, because I had a $50 gift certificate which has been languishing in my purse for about a year. I have plans for the wool, which is in shades of purple, blue, and green. f00dave got some purple leather today, and I think I'll make myself a dance belt with some of it and the yarn.

As for the white and gold leather costume I've been planning, I've pretty much had to give up on the white leather. I simply can't find enough of it. So I'm going for purple with white accents, and maybe a bit of gold, too. f00 is planning the mini floggers/tassels for it. I'm going with four panels and four tassels on the belt, and I think I'll have to do a leather bra instead of the bustier I was planning, but it will still look good.

Now, what am I going to do with that beautiful rayon/cotton yarn I bought? Hmm....

A Review of the OceanFire Tribal Fusion Workshop: Moncton, NB

Over the weekend, I had the pleasure of attending a small workshop hosted by Naji and led by oceanfiretribal of Ottawa. The Saturday session was for advanced/intermediate dancers, and took place in a private home. OceanFire started us off with some yoga and a Hadia-influenced warmup, lubricating our joints thoroughly, before taking us through Suhaila-inspired isolation exercises. Hadia is well known for her formidable knowledge of kinaesthesia, and Suhaila for her impeccable isolation technique.

We started with the cat and cow asanas, then put them together so one flowed into the other in both directions. This exercise is used to drill undulations. We then repeated the same exercise while sitting crosslegged with our arms raised. Afterwards, we did glute isolation work, then did glute isolation variations while travelling. Although this work was not new to me, it was new to the majority of the students at the workshop.

OceanFire then asked us to do snake arms for her, and ascertained that we all do them in the fluid raqs sharqi style. So she began showing us tribal variations: FatChance Belly Dance style and Rachel Brice style.

One of the things which really stood out for me with OceanFire as an instructor is the way she can show different approaches to the same move. She has been fortunate enough to study with a large variety of well-known dancers, and we were fortunate enough to learn from her experience. She also includes caveats as to which movements may actually be harmful if done carelessly, which is very important. She is very knowledgeable about American Tribal Style dance and tribal fusion, and also about the history of the dance. For me, the history was probably the most interesting part of the workshop.

The next day, the workshop was held for mixed level dancers at le Centre Culturel Aberdeen at the DansEncorps studio. Unfortunately, I was stricken with a fast-hitting flu, and missed the first half, which covered fast movements. However, I was good to go for most of the second half, which covered slower movements. Some of the material was a rehash of what we'd been taught the day before, but this time, it was done with cueing and in sync with other dancers. For some of the dancers present, this was their first time trying the organic synchronicity that is tribal dance. We moved in unison like a flock of birds.

The workshop concluded with one last movement: a triplet shoulder shimmy. I'd never seen this movement before, and I later got OceanFire to demonstrate it for me while I filmed her with my digital camera. I hope to have the movement down by the time she next comes back east.

OceanFire is not a big name in the dance community, but is an up and coming dancer. With her friendly nature, stores of knowledge, and willingness to share, I believe she will soon make a name for herself. I recommend her workshops to anyone wishing to learn more about tribal fusion dance.

Now Engaging Zombie Design Mode

I'm about to embark on a new dance costuming adventure. Wish me luck. I've never before created a costume while in a zombie state.

This one is dark purple leather and suede with long, hand-spun, hand-coloured wool falls. It will have a diamond motif. I'm not sure on the trim. It will come to me as I work.

Here goes!

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Edit: This is shaping up to be rather interesting. I'm going with green cotton sashes, and a light, floral ribbon for trim. I was originally picturing something darker, but this is turning out more faery like. Now, to figure out what trim to use. I'm thinking of using some of my lilac jade, if I can find it. Now, to go searching through my stone beads....

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I couldn't find any of my stone beads (except for some yellow jade which simply would not work), but I did find some muted plastic flower beads which will look quite nice. Now, if I can only find my leather needle. I'll probably have to buy a new one on my break, tomorrow.