Clever Manka is dressed and undressed

Questionable eating choices yesterday. Today = massive bloating and hives have spread to right hand. Yay. It hurts to wear clothes.

This morning I pushed myself at Flowfit until I got workout-nausea. I think the dizziness was exacerbated by all the back-and-forth movement, so Wednesday morning I'm going to make an effort to move slower and smooth out the transitions.

I'm getting a new computer at work today.

Update: Computer is here and I'm back up and running. A few little snafus, like, oh, the motherboard doesn't include an IDE controller for my DVD burner, but resolvable. In other words = New DVD Burner. I hope.

I didn't think it was possible to end the day more bloated than I started it. In an effort to purge this bloat, I fasted today (except for some coffee because I'm not ready to go that far yet) and yes, I'm more bloated than I was this morning. This is an objective observation, I swear. I'm not just having a fat day.

My body is amazing. These jeans that were falling off me this time last week are so tight that my stomach is bulging over the waistband, even when I stand up. If I suck in my gut as hard as I can, my jeans fit the way they did less than seven days ago.

Really. Uncomfortable.

Tomorrow, I take a water pill. I'm also cutting out starches for the time being (no rice, corn, oats, etc.), completely nixing sugar, and cutting back drastically on the nuts and nut butters.

Wow. This week kinda zoomed by.

Sore throat = still here. It's much worse during the night (I woke up again from it hurting) and in the morning. That shores up the allergy diagnosis since it's likely that the irritation is caused by post-nasal drip. Yum! Still no headache (beyond a typical allergy throb) and no fever or body aches. So yeah, probably allergies. I'm going to make another NMT appointment with Dr. Adams for next week.

Which, it turns out, might not be so much of a vacation week after all. Many faculty members, GTAs, and lecturers failed to submit their course descriptions on time (looks at mckitterick). So instead of compiling them today, I'll be spending time doing that next week as they filter in. My revised plan is to work half days Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, then take all of Thursday and Friday off. No matter what, I'm taking a full vacation day on Friday--course descriptions be damned--because I haz awsum planz, peepuls. Aw yeah. It's going to be a total day of indulgence. Mmmmmm.....

...wow, I got completely distracted there, no lie.

So, it's the last weekend for KCRF and I can't believe we're looking at a possible high of 80 on Saturday. We can (I suppose) agree to disagree on the causes of climate change. But anyone who is still saying it's not happening? Come on over here--within slapping distance, please.

Last night I had dinner with a faculty member couple (both of whom have turned in their course descriptions, thank you very much). M. is a wonderful cook and B. makes some really strong martinis, let me tell you--not frou-frou martinis, either. These were straight up gin and vermouth (with a couple bleu cheese-stuffed olives--mmmm). It's a good thing they didn't mind me staying to chat for two hours after we finished dinner, because that with the wine at dinner? Damn. Woo! M. cooked the vegetables on one of these and I think I need one now. I like vegetables okay, but this thing turned zucchini into something absolutely delightful. I wonder if Bay Leaf carries them.

Tonight, the Lord Mayor's Company and a few members of Madam Red's Brothel will visit Buddies in Kansas City for a KCRF promo. I'll be in belly dance mode to promote the Royal Cigar Society Smoker and will, if encouraged, perform. I am thrilled and terrified at the prospect of dancing for a drunken crowd of gay men. This could be a great time or it could end in tears. Oh, the suspense! We plan to descend upon the unsuspecting masses around 9:00 p.m.

Big news: On Wednesday, mckitterick and I drove to Salina to pick up a car. ( Cut for image )
Cute, no? It's a 1971 VW Type 3. Right now it's at Das Autohaus to get a mechanic's opinion on if the troubles we had driving it home are worth fixing or if we're gonna need to put the smack down on the seller. Hey, at least we made it to Topeka before the oil fire. I hope we get a thumbs-up on it because it's absolutely beautiful and once the major issues are ironed out (gearing it a little lower, fixing the idle) it'll be great fun to drive. Most of the people who passed us on the long drive home (we never went above 65mph) slowed down to get a good look at the little VW as they passed. I was driving the Crossfire behind, so I got to see all the reactions. It was fun--can't wait to drive it myself, but I'm waiting until it's better tuned. I killed it three times in the dealer parking lot before handing the keys over to mckitterick. A wise woman knows her limits.

While in Salina, mckitterick and I ate at a restaurant recommended by one of the car dealership guys. It was called The Hickory Hut and it was, possibly, some of the best BBQ I've ever had. The chicken bordered on divine. We talked about making the drive back out to Salina again sometime just to eat there. I despise road trips, so that should tell you just how amazingly good this food was. I think, though, that one meal provided my annual requirement for sodium. I was still bloated from it yesterday afternoon--to the point where my stomach drooped over the edge of my belly dance belt by a good inch or so. Even mckitterick, who is never critical of my physique (and also is used to the way I blow up like a balloon after restaurant meals) looked at me and said "You know, it's just water, right? Um, and it'll be gone by your performance tomorrow...won't it?"

Craziness.

It's mostly gone now. I took a Diurex pill last night and another one this morning, just to be safe. While I don't mind my little jelly roll belly, there is a point where jelly roll becomes a full dozen of cream cheese stuffed danish. And that, friends, is not sexy.

Despite adding an automobile to my list of belongings, I'm starting another purge, this time of the sewing room. *cue dramatic music*

I'm considering taking a huge step in my artistic development (details later), and that means less room for the secondary hobby pursuits. As I was telling roya_spirit, while there is nothing wrong with being a dilletante, I am tired of being one. I want to focus on one or two major things, and then have a couple occasional side projects to use as a breather/booster for my main areas of art.

One thing I am nixing is knitting. I just don't enjoy or do it enough to justify the time and space. I'm going to use the rest of my expensive wool to make a few more pairs of felted slippers because those are ridiculously easy and fast. But the rest of my yarn has gotta go. Contact me if you want to buy some of the recycled silk yarn. I have about six skeins left. My massive collection of patterns (free patterns, printed from the web) will be available to anyone who wants to come get them.

I'm going to try to organize regular alternative craft days for projects like portable altars, visual journaling, shrine building, etc. I think stuff like that is good for a shake-up and break-up of stale mental patterns. Maybe do it as a quarterly thing? bestill, if you'd like to be involved, that would be super-duper. Since it won't happen too often, perhaps everyone interested could scrape up enough cash to make it worth your while to host. Might be a nice way for you to make a little bit of money between workshops? We can talk about it later.

Thank you, Mr. Thunder, for waking me earlier than I needed to get up this morning. That was great.

This, however, really is awesome. ( Cut for embedded YouTube of a squirrel delaying a Cleveland Indians game )

Regarding Faire: A layer of Lip Ink eyeliner traced over with Temptu tattoo paint and powdered well between layers stayed on well. Of course I didn't sweat much yesterday, so that might have as much to do with it as anything. The blue stripe costume will not make a reappearance. It doesn't hold tips well at all and I was dropping bills all over Smoker. Not good. Saturday's crowds were ridiculously large and boisterous, considering it was rainy. Sunday's crowds were sparse and low energy, despite glorious weather. WTF. Smoker is going super well. I'm enjoying myself so much! I said it before, but it's still wonderful to be dancing out there again, and this is the perfect venue for me. Thanks so much to the Lord Mayor's Company for organizing and running the show.

Discovery: I'm slightly allergic to spirit gum (anyone surprised?), which means my bindi leaves a red bump on my forehead for a couple days after the weekend. I put cortisone cream on it this morning--will see if that helps.

I was all excited when I first started reading Zenhabits. But for the past few months, it's been the same information, reposted in a slightly different format, or posts by guest authors. Seems to me if the blog author is so busy with other tasks and responsibilities, he should consider going to a weekly format instead of daily posting the same old stuff. It's not bad stuff, it's just the same stuff. Boo. Disappointing. I guess removing an RSS feed is one way to simplify, eh?

This weekend I've got a bunch of stuff I must get done, both costuming (repairs, finishing touches) and general house maintenance. The sewing room is a disaster and let's not even discuss the state of the bedroom. Ugh. Sheets will get themselves laundered tonight.

Aaaaaaand I just remembered something I was supposed to bring to campus today. Damn. Perhaps I'll have the energy to go get it at lunch...Dang. looks guiltily in cedarsong's direction

UPDATE: Oooo! I just got an email from someone with a photo. I ran into these girls at ConQuest this year--not positive they're a couple, but I think so. I was just all over the boi-ish little elf girl and made a complete fool of myself cooing at her. Then I saw them at Faire this weekend and YAY! got to do it all over again! What fun! ( Cut for photo of me and OMG Cutest Thing Ever )

This morning Dr. Adams told me I was a "done girl" and to call her if I started having more allergy issues after Renfest/Autumn started. In the past two weeks I've only taken my allergy medication once. Very little drip, no itchy eyes. Keen.

I took most of Monday and all yesterday and today off work. I had planned to take off the whole week, but ... Things are weird and I'm frustrated with lots of stuff right now. I might go ahead and work Thursday and Friday. I dunno. I didn't get as much done on the costuming that I wanted. I still haven't tried on the bodices.

I'm in a total state of denial in regards to just about everything right now.

Bah.

Dr. Adams and I reviewed my progress with NMT this morning. We both agree that it is working. Since I started treatment, I've limited the frequency with which I take my allergy medication, and I'm down to about once a week now. My nose is still a bit drippy, and I still have the dried-up, clogged congestion that makes me occasionally breathe through my mouth when I'm not paying attention (gross), but the symptoms are at the same level of severity as they were before I started treatment, when I was taking the medication daily. Keen.

Since giving up soda, grains, processed foods, simple starches, etc. (I told someone last night that I don't eat anything that comes out of a box, bag, jar, or can), I've dropped five pounds, for a total of twelve pounds lost since I cut wheat back in...early June? That's a lot of weight for so short a time, but I think that I was always carrying around a few pounds of excess water weight all the time because of my body's histamine reactions to what I was eating. So maybe five pounds of that (!!!) could have been water. Sheesh.

femfataleatron suggested some exercises and I've been working on those, although I'm not doing them to their full effectiveness since I only have 8-lb weight dumbbells and I don't intend to sink the money into purchasing more. So I do what I can and focus on the exercises that allow me to work against my own bodyweight to build strength--a method I prefer, anyway. I haven't noticed that I'm getting stronger, though. In fact, my body is feeling run down and weak. At the risk of sounding flippant, I think a lot of it is just in my head.

I'm emotionally wiped out, and the extended mental exhaustion is creeping into my muscles and bones. Guy Forsyth's show on Monday was a great recharge. I don't think I'd have made it through this week half as well without the energy I was able to pull from dancing and sharing joy with the friends that were there. Thank you all.

I still need that vacation, massage, and drink. The massage isn't looking likely. My insurance company decided they weren't going to pay as much as I'd thought for the NMT treatments. They pay 30% for regular chiropractic treatment, but only 15% for NMT. So I'm paying more than I thought I would, thus nixing the $40 I'd planned to drop at Southwind Health Collective. I had to plunk down $70 this morning to pay for today's visit and the amount not covered by insurance for the previous three visits.

What else don't I have the money for? This fan-tab-u-lous tee shirt, heads-up courtesy of maibe.

With luck (and enough energy), I'll be able to grab that drink tonight, though.

Swamped.

Two charming things to blog about, but no time.

Campbell Conference is eating me.

Nasty-ass allergy issues. Astelin is becoming increasingly less effective and I sneezed all the way up the hill to work today. I'm so stuffy that I have a hard time getting enough air by breathing through my nose and I've caught myself breathing through my mouth a few times. Gross. Allergies are also putting a damper on my exercise. This morning I thought I was going to either fall down or throw up from the vertigo brought on by doing two ab crunches on the balance ball. And because of sinus pressure, I couldn't look down to do push-ups.

I see Mikell Adams on Monday to begin her alternative allergy treatments.

Is Guinness safe to drink on a wheat free diet?

This is a question that quite a few of you Guinness fans have sent to us. We contacted Diageo and they provided the following information:

"With the exception of Breo White Beer, none of the products produced by Guinness Ireland Group contain wheat. However all our beers are brewed from malted barley. Barley contains a protein called hordein which is somewhat similar to gluten, the protein in wheat that causes difficulty for quite a few people. While the reaction to barley protein is generally much milder than to wheat gluten, a few people may experience difficulty with barley-based products including beer."

"This information is only advisory and we recommend that you speak directly to a qualified medical advisor / dietician if you are concerned about consuming any of our products."

So it's wheat-free but not exactly gluten-free. I'll try drinking it in limited amounts. Which is So Much Better than not at all.

Did anyone else (besides curieuse) know that over half the bible is available for your reading pleasure in LOLCAT?

Hm. I think I might have to start liking Pink. Or at least start respecting her as a performer. Because damn. ( Cut for YouTube )

Not a bad song, not a bad singer, but wow, uber-gutsy and looks like she's having a hell of a good time. Doesn't get all pissy when her backup girls dance and sing right in front of her on stage, and one of them even swats her on the butt. They look like (gasp!) friends!

Anyone got a Pink CD I could borrow to see if I like her music well enough to buy it?

Thanks to cera (my newest internet-bellydancer crush) for the heads-up on that vid.

I got the jacket for the Steampunk outfit cut last night and now I'm second-guessing myself about the fabric choice. I'll go ahead and put it together, but I'm wondering if I should have opted for something other than the brown dragon brocade.

Yesterday I ate twelve pieces of cheese and a handful of Hint Of Lime corn chips. I am a healthy eating rock star. \m/ >_< \m/ I've stayed wheat/gluten free for four days, though. It's been pretty easy, but that's largely because I've been treating myself to...well, cheese and corn chips. And sushi.