Emphatogen

I decided to make a tutu as my first garment ever – is that ambitious? I don’t know. Bought bright green toulle and satin ribbon and some Sari silk in the same color, as an underskirt. I didn’t have a pattern, just some good how-to instructions from the internet. It turned out to be easy once I got the hang of it, and most of it I did by hand. It ended up SUPER flouffy, with yards and yards of netting. Took up half a suitcase. Then I dyed an old bra bright green, to match, and stitched dangling beads from it – the whole thing is very nymphy-bellydancerish. I ended up not even going as it turned out, but it was the impetus needed to just sit down and do it – and obviously, if you’re making it for a festival like that, it doesn’t have to look extremely polished or even last more than a few days so – I would recommend something along those lines to anyone thinking about it. Now I feel I can take on something a little more down to earth, like modifying normal clothes to be maternity clothes – that’s the new project ; )

When my California license expired I had to get a new local license – here where I live in the Czech Republic. Found a school that gives lessons in English (thank god – like learning to drive stick isn’t complicated enough with out being explained in a notorioulsy difficult language.) I’m almost done – have just a few more hours of lessons and then the exam… but I’m stalling (classic) and haven’t scheduled it yet or gone back for those few final lessons. It stresses me out so much to drive around hilly Prague in a little stick-shift Skoda with this teacher I’ve got… and the drivers here are cuh-razy. I feel like I’m going to have a heart attack every time. And the exam is SO detailed, there’s even sections in there on how to change a tire and what not. But I’m told it’s easy to pass – almost everyone does on their first go. Still – I’m in a holding pattern. I’ll update this when I finally do it.

I did my own tattoo on my ankle in high school when someone showed me the Ink of India trick, and it is a spiral (what I wanted) but very tightly wound (not like how I envisioned) and it’s right on my inner ankle bone so it looks just like a bruise. Since then I’ve postponed upgrading it because now I really REALLY want the perfect, orginal design, which must, of course, fit around a darkish inner sphere (and most designs that I like are more loose spirals, or involve an empty sphere with some subtle detailing.) I finally got a great idea for a whole wrap around, but then got pregnant – meaning no tattoos allowed. So now I’m almost losing momentum and thinking, have it removed altogether, and go back to being a blank slate. It seems more unique these days, anyway, than having a tattoo.

Anyway, I’m pregnant for the second time and by the time I’m done with that I’ll practically be 40. It’s a long time to wait to correct a drunken high school mistake!