Spent Saturday's afternoon practicing historical dance in preparation for this year's LARP con. One of the other con-attendees had organized the whole thing with a little help (rented a fencing hall, brought tea and sandwiches, put together a training program), and so the three of us piled into my car and drove south for 1 1/2 hours.

There were twelve of us, and we spent 4 hours (re-)learning the steps of the
- Tourdion
- Schirazula
- Allemande
- Traubentritt
- Indian Queen
- Pavane "Belle qui tiens ma vie"
- En avant blonde
- Chapelloise.

... I think. Honestly, I still mix them up hopelessly - especially the step sequences. Somehow there is a disconnect between my brain and my feet. Dancing and me? Hardly ever manage to work together.

Still, historical dance is better than modern dance. Perhaps because arriving at the correct place in the dance pattern is more important than to doing exactly the night number of steps (= admittedly the goal, but as long as you glide elegantly you can cover missteps without looking like a total doofus).

Anyway, the whole thing was fun, although very exhausting. We practiced mainly in casual dress (jeans all around), but in period costumes I'm sure it'll look breathtaking.

No why am I far too certain that I'll have managed to forget most of what I learned until the con? *g*

The 12 days in Sicily were awesome. That was the first vacation ever that I just managed to lean back during, relax, and just enjoy. Planning? Sightseeing? Travel arrangements? Not my problem. That had all either been prepared in advance or else was someone else's responsibility. Hah. By the way, Etna? Is just a black desert of ashes. Vulcano? Smells like rotten eggs, and the hot springs gave me a burn mark on the sole of one foot. Stromboli? No late night lava fireworks - the trip was canceled on us due to bad weather (and therefore high waves). Drat.

My parents looked after my cats while I was on vacation, and my mother introduced them both to the concept of "roaming in the garden". In Yuki's case, on a leash, but nonetheless, even Elena learnt to creep out and take a few steps outside under the threatening sky before fleeing back to safety.

I drove back home the very night I got back to Germany, and immediately got thrown head-first into the chaos surrounding the preparation for my first-ever LARP con. The colleague and friend who'd convinced me to attend (and who'd agreed to sew a period gown for me) had miscalculated the time necessary to sew costumes for four people, and so she, her boyfriend, their buddy, and I had to pull an almost (in her case, scratch the "almost") all-nighter in order to get finished. Four people sewing against the clock - scary.

Anyway, the con was great - it was more or less an "eye-candy and atmosphere" con with an overall plot, but no battles or enemy attacks, and the masquerade ball on Friday night was breathtakingly beautiful. So many truly extraordinary costumes and masks, Baroque music and dancing... just: WOW.

( Click here to see a picture of me in my Tudor-style dress. )

On a less happy note: First day back at work today, and I manage to trip and fall so badly during lunch break that blood was dripping out of my shoe. My big toe has such a deep cut in it that I had to go to the doctor and now need someone from work to drive me there and back home each day for at least the rest of the week. Walking? Out of the question for now. Great. Well, at least I didn't fall onto my newly-bought cherries, or else I'd have ended with a different type of red fluid staining the sidewalk. /sarcasm

:::sigh:::

Isn't life just great? At least the burning in my toe has stopped now that I've taken half a pill against the pain. Painkillers are an awesome invention.