Indigo Girls cover of Tangled Up in Blue by Bob Dylan
Janis Joplin's cover of Bobby McGee originally performed by Roger Miller
The Proclaimers cover of Five O' Clock World by The Vogues
Also, I really like Pomplamoose, especially their take on Single Ladies by Beyonce when she skips the lyrics she doesn't like.

leighleighla, a cover mixtape sounds like a great idea.

Last night, I arrived in Michigan, ready to begin my new life here. I have decided to start a blog to chronicle my adventures as part of this major change and to support my endeavors to support myself via Etsy while I look for a job. Because of this, I have made my previous posts friends only. I may go through and open up posts, since there are plenty of posts that I feel fine about having public, but it's much easier to make the change en masse. If you would like to be added to my friends list here on my journal, which I consider a more private space, please contact me. You can follow my new blog at http://gaidigt.blogspot.com/.

Why do the new ADA regulations include "Transvestism, transsexualism, ... gender identity disorders not resulting from physical impairments, or other sexual behavior disorders" in the same list as "pedophilia, exhibitionism, voyeurism"? I agree that "The term disability does not include" any of these, but I don't like these being lumped together in the same list in a legal document, or what is implied by including transgender people in a list of "sexual behavior disorders".

This evening, I taught dance for probably the last time in Atlanta.

Some of the highlights of the evening were running the newbie who I didn't expect to show up through both corner figures and allemande for the first time, not realizing that she hadn't learned Allemande.

I ended up making up a dance for her to learn allemande properly with, based on the number of dancers we had tonight. Ever since I lost that dance that I made up for Jane, which she wanted a copy of, I have resolved to make sure I have a record of the dances I create, especially if people respond well to them.

An Allemande for Melanie (S3x32) 3C Set

1-8: 1st couple cross RH, cast to 2nd place, 2nd couple stepping up on 3 and 4. 1st couple and 3rd couple dance RH Across.
9-16: 1st couple cross LH, cast up to 1st place, 2nd couple stepping down on 11 and 12. 1st couple and 2nd couple dance LH Across.
17-24: 1st couple lead down the middle for four and lead back to 2nd place, staying in the center. 2nd couple step up on 19 and 20.
15-32: 1st couple and 3rd couple dance the Allemande.

Repeat with a new active couple.

Not the most interesting dance, but I think it worked well, especially for my purposes.

Another dance we did that I wrote is one I specifically devised, and we tweaked before.

Prospero's Storm (R8x32) 3C (4C set)
1-4: 1st couple cross by the right and cast off into the center in 2nd place, passing left shoulders to end back to back in the center facing own sides. 2nd couple step in and up on 3 and 4.
5-12: Double Triangles
13-16: 1st couple set and 1/2 turn and twirl to face 1st corners.
17-24: Set to and turn corners.
25-32: 6 bar reel of 3 on the sides, beginning with 1st couple giving left shoulder to 1st corner. Cross by the right.

Repeat having passed a couple.

We danced it to Sleepy Maggie, which is a great tune for it. It is essential to get those first four bars done in four bars. The cross should probably be one bar so that you have time for the rest. If you get there in time, then the double triangles feel like they fit the music, even though they straddle two phrases.

1) My friend was bonded out of jail. Yay! They finally processed her stuff today and my friends went to pick her up.

2) The Extraordinary Contraptions will be performing in Chicago on Memorial Day, at The Elbo Room. Go forth and see my roommates' band perform. It should be a good time.

The reason I haven't been posting is that I have been busy. And I have magically been keeping up with my google reader feed, which certainly cuts in on my LJ time. Here's a bit of what I've been up to:

The weekend before last, I went to the Steampunk in the Park TerminuSteam event. A fair number of people showed up, many of whom were new acquaintances for me, but I enjoyed talking to them. There were even some good photos taken of me.



After that, I went to the Mechanical Masquerade, which was also a good time. I think I threw the Contraptions off a bit by requesting Nocturnus, and I really enjoyed waltzing to it.



Last Friday, Duien was leaving the office when DJSpinmonkey's car broke down. Since her car has been sitting in the driveway out of commission thanks to a coolant leak, this was especially bad, since this was the only working car between the two of them. She called me for a pickup as I was leaving work, but decided I should wait and pick her up from the shop after the tow truck dropped them off. I didn't get a final call until after 9:00. Talk about late tow truck! In the mean time, I photographed my stash for (belated) Flash Your Stash Day.

My yarn stash:

Note: Everything to the right of and including the black and white yarn is stuff I spun from stash.

My works in progress:


My fiber stash:



Compared to last year, it's a big improvement, and I can see it.

Saturday, after I dyed my duvet cover red, I picked up some Australian Bakery meat pies and headed over to DJSpinmonkey's. Duien helped me install my new backup program and my new OS, while I took her to get food for them, etc. She also helped me identify the noise my car started making on Friday night. My car is loosing oil, but I am seeing neither smoke nor puddles. I'm not sure what that's all about. Fortunately, with a little manly help in getting the stuck oil cap off, we dealt with that and went out to dinner.

Sunday, I went to my parents' house and worked on some refashioning as well as going out to dinner with them. Their neighbors happened in as well, and JdeN paid their dinner bill, and they paid for our dessert.

Tuesday at knitting, I ended up deciding to rip out all of the progress I had made on my pullover since the last time I ripped it out, when I realized I didn't have enough yarn to complete the original design. I redesigned the neckline to be wider. Also, we had a few new people at knitting and three more of the girls joined us for dinner, which was fun.

Wednesday, I almost took Duien to buy cars, but she ended up finding out that there was a bus from the train station she was starting at to join me that would take her to the dealership, so she went there and managed to not even need a ride home because she successfully bought the car she wanted that night.

Thursday, I taught dance class, and I'll be teaching it again next week. Mom briefed a dance, and I think I'll be getting her to try another next week. I'm also hoping to try a dance I wrote to see how it works.

Friday, on my way to game night, I reached the turn-in to my friends' apartment complex and found it occupied by the back half of a car that had ploughed into a telephone pole and a cop car. I admit that I was beeped at for being a bit of a rubbernecker when I saw a girl standing there with waist length dark brown hair, but fortunately, it wasn't Duien. What I didn't know until I pulled around to the other entrance and joined my friends was that another friend was in the other car involved in the wreck, and she had managed to pull off into the parking lot across the street. Unfortunately, though her license was supposedly in the mail, she didn't have it in her hot little hands, and the system said that it had been suspended in Florida and she was in contempt of court, so even though she had been through a lot to clear all of that up, she was arrested. She was in jail for 17 hours before they even managed to process her, so the officer's hope that she would be able to see a judge Friday night and be out quickly was long gone. We couldn't even bail her out. Hopefully she'll see someone tomorrow. The phone system wouldn't even work for her, despite the fact that we kept accepting the calls, and we couldn't get word until she broke down crying and they let her use a real phone.

Saturday, I went to Athens for a social dance, and stupidly thought I would be coming home that afternoon. I should have known than every time I see GirlGeologist and her friends, I need to bring an overnight bag. I ended up going out for a pint and dinner, then to a local bakery for some coffee and dessert, then to a friend's Rock Band party until the wee hours of the night, or at least until the point I really thought I needed to drive back. I was still much more sleepy on the road than I expected once I got out there on the empty highway in the dark.

Today, I found it difficult to get out of bed. I ended up spending most of the day cleaning up and dealing with financial stuff, rather than the sewing or leatherwork I had planned. At least I got some things taken care of that I have been putting off for a long time. Hopefully these will help me save a bit more, and I'll be earning some interest and cash back.

Here's the yarn I made last week, which was a lovely gift from a swap-mate on the Folklore & Fairy Tales group on Ravelry. I am currently working on this pullover, the color of which is actually considerably deeper and richer:



Those two photos were taken on the same mahogany table, so you can see that the color is a bit off.

I just spent far too much time when I have work to do reading a thought provoking post on Silver Goggles about Orientalism, which is to say, Western treatment of Eastern people via the lens of exoticism and stereotype. I think it's an interesting topic, and also falls into a greater discussion of the treatment of cultures and stereotypes that could just as easily apply to the Irish pub I went to for lunch today, or the Scottish Country Dance I will be doing this weekend.

I have also been thinking about some of the themes in King Lear that I discussed or started to discuss with my mother when we went to see it on Saturday at the Shakespeare Tavern. One thing we remarked on was the treatment of the bastard son of Gloucester, Edmund. At first, we felt sorry for him, because he was treated poorly for something he couldn't control - the condition of his birth. Then, he turned out to be morally base, and Shakespeare reconfirmed the idea of aristocracy and bloodlines being a valid judge of character and fitness to rule. We also considered the rather odd situation of his confession upon his deathbed, and what would have triggered such a thing. Another theme is of course that of the daughters' terrible treatment of their father, and the difference between flattery and true feeling, which is a difference very important to me, personally. Still, thinking about it, I could also see how the majority of the play could be slanted very differently, depending on the director, though Shakespeare himself clearly wanted the daughters to be in the wrong, or they wouldn't have fawned all over Edmund. Really, how many people do I know who have bad parents? If a parent of some of my friends disowned their favorite child over a few inelegant words, I would certainly advise my friends to band together for their own protection, because who knows what undeserved treatment they would get next. I would even advise them to work together if the parent were just pitting them against each other emotionally. I wouldn't necessarily think they should throw their father out in the storm once they had control over all of his lands, holdings, and power, but at the same time, it was also his obstinate pride that put him there. Furthermore, being married off to someone for political reasons doesn't exactly encourage marital fidelity in a woman. In fact, today we would see that sort of thing as culturally sanctioned rape. I also found it very interesting that the Duke of Albany, despite disagreeing with his wife's actions and being more inclined to support the king and despite receiving the information about his wife's treason before the battle, fought against France and Cordelia, rather than initiating a parlay and going up against Cornwall and Glouchester the bastard in support of Lear.

Well, it's been a while since I have reported on my projects. I finished the yarn I posted about a while ago. Here is the final product:


I put the Gatsby Girl sweater down during the kitting Olympics/Ravelympics and knitted a pair of sicks:



This took about half the time I remember taking when I made socks before, even if they fit the first time.

Also, last month, while working on the interminable pullover, I knit my first handspun into a Calorimetry:


Finally, yesterday I finished some more handspun yarn:



I wish I could get a good photo of the colors I am swatching for my next project. They're gorgeous.

In support of The Uniform Project I am jazzing up my little black dress today to help raise funds for school children in India.

You may remember my post about this project earlier. Sheena is wearing the same "uniform" little black dress every day for 365 days, and styling it differently every day to raise awareness and gather donations for underprivileged school children in India. Just $360 can pay for an child's entire schooling. She has raised enough to put 153 children in school, but with today's Little Black Dress Monday, we can raise enough awareness to bump that number up. I will be donating an additional $1 for every comment I get on my outfit today.

I don't know what it is about me, but I'm having trouble doing the really important things this weekend. On the other hand, I am getting things done. I got my emissions tested and I replaced my tires, so I will hopefully slide less the next time I have to deal with black ice.

I haven't been working on any of the knitting projects I had planned to start, though I did figure out what I am going to do with my first handspun now that I realize I don't have enough for the hat I had started.

Instead, I took this fluffy cloud of wool that I dyed several years ago:



And started turning it into this: