Inn of the Wandering Dragon

Yes, I have been playing with the borrowed scanner! This is a little painting of my feline friend done in acrylics a couple months ago.

I have been getting a range of reactions from people when I tell them I am learning belly dance. These reactions range from the very positive (that is so cool and great exercise, have fun!!) to ambivalent (that's nice.) to the very unsure (um... OK.. isn't that like... stripping, or something? Isn't that all sexual and women performing for men..?) OK I haven't been been asked those questions outright but the significant pause in conversation and the frantic look in their eyes as they struggle to find something nice to say pretty much gets the point across.

Belly dancing originated in the middle eastern countries, and while there is a fair amount of speculation regarding its origins, all the sources I have gone through indicate that folk dance is the main inspiration. For some this dance would have been public at various festivities, remembering of course that they would be dancing in regular everyday clothes - not the costume made popular in mass media. Both men and women could perform these dances. For others this was a form of entertainment for women to perform with other women. In many areas of the middle east it would have been inappropriate for a woman to be entertained by male dancers. Several sources indicate some moves in belly dancing provided a way to express the contractions and muscle spasms of giving birth, which again would go back to the folklore roots.

Much of the confusion steps in when belly dancing gets introduced to North America. Firstly there has been a huge amount of romanticising "the Orient" in popular culture which has resulted in a very skewed concept of the traditions, people and dress. Would Hollywood have made as much money on the movies if they were accurate? I doubt it. Secondly this form of dancing was introduced in the late 1800's - can you picture an audience with Victorian sensibilities watching belly dancers (who did not wear corsets - gasp!)? There was a lot of cultural misunderstanding about what the dance actually represented and the imitations in the burlesque halls and carnivals did nothing to help the situation. It was considered an erotic dance, and that view has persisted to this day. Admitably there are some dancers that have helped perpetuate this idea, while other dancers try to overcome the stigma. In the meantime I think most would agree that the moves have changed and evolved into something beyond the village folk dance traditions.

Belly dancing has become more popular in recent years. For one thing it is a very good work out which focuses on the body core strength as well as leg strength. Many of the moves focus on isolating specific muscle groups in specific movements which takes a lot of patience and control to do well. Then go ahead and layer these moves together in a routine and you have a demanding cardio workout, now who says that is not good for your health? But I have found another very important factor for many women in chooseing to learn this art form, you do not have to be that ideal athletic shape that so few women can safely and practically achieve. This is an art and an activity that actively welcomes women of all shapes and sizes.

We are bombarded daily in popular media, to loose weight, change our hair colour, get botox treatments and plastic surgury. We are told that we are not beautiful unless we buy this product and wear that fashion. We are told over and over that our bodies are not good enough, and by extension we are not good enough. We have been told growing up that areas of our bodies must remain still and remain covered and are somehow shameful. I am not just talking about breasts or hips, how many women do you know who would rather hide stretch marks or a soft belly? These areas are given prominence in the movements of the dance in a way that is not lewd or overly sexual but shows strength and gracefulness. And I for one think there is real value in that. Belly dancing for many women is about comming to terms with our own bodies as something that is beautiful and worthwhile.

Isn't it about time?

The past week has been busy to say the least both at work and in my personal life. Work wise there really isn't anything new. We had our annual open house which, due to the short notice and relative lack of advertising, went over fairly quiet compared to last year. It still required some extra hours on everybody's part to pull together but that is to be expected. Our neighbors went all out with the pancake breakfast and the radio spots. They had a decent turnout and we basically took advantage of the traffic. Last year it went the other way, we did all the promoting and they enjoyed the increased traffic. So all is fair in retail sales, in reality our relations with the people next door are pretty good so there are no hard feelings over it. Otherwise we are experiencing our usual spring increase in activity.

I have enrolled in a belly dancing class! I get to shimmy and twist and quite frankly my abs will never be the same! Neither will my knees for that matter, I think I better do some extra exercises to strengthen them for the dancing to come. To make things even better some friends are also enrolled so we get some fun girl time on the side. We picked up hip scarves this week so we get to jingle as we move. After the last class one of my girlfriends and I decided to hang out with a massive birthday cake and season one of Heroes - not a bad way to enjoy the evening. I also discovered the sound of the hip scarf scared the daylights out of my cat, he was fluffed out about twice his size when I first walked in the room.

Yes, my birthday was this past week. This year I have had some issues with coming up with ideas for presents. Not that I am usually on the ball with that sort of stuff, to be honest I can say I have learned that quirk from my parents. They are just as difficult as I am.

Anyways, for this year my Mom and I agreed that my present would be a lovely dinner. I picked Rouge, a local restaurant serving a homegrown spin on french cuisine. To start with the building is an historic house near the river. It has been well maintained and the interior decor is intimate and welcoming. I chose the Seared Foie Gras with Sautéed Pear Soufflé, Sunflower Seed Butter and Maple Gelée for the appetizer. The combined flavors were excellent! And the seed butter added just the right amount of crunch to the overall texture. It was an interesting contrast with the style of fois gras I tasted in France. This was the whole duck liver, as opposed to the almost pate style served on fresh bread. My parents enjoyed a lovely crab and salmon cake for their start. For the main course: my boyfriend chose the Lamb Loin with Catalan Vegetables & Truffled Potato Purée; my Mom went with the Coriander Seared Prawns with Oven Fired Bell Pepper Polenta and Butternut Squash Coulis; my Dad and I chose the Ostrich medallions a top Rosti & Marjoram Crème Fraiche. The portions were not overwhelming and the presentation was well done. The ostrich was cooked medium rare and we both found it to be tender with a pleasant flavour. Mom very much enjoyed the prawns - coriander does have a bit of a bite to it - although she's not 100% sold on the Polenta. But it's all about trying something new for us when we do this so it's still enjoyable regardless. For the final round - dessert - I was in luck, they make everything from scratch so for once I can get a definative answer as to what is safe to eat. (translation: what does NOT have nuts). While the others indulged in Fallen Chocolate Soufflé and Lemon Meringue Crème brûlée, I enjoyed warm Ginger Cake with homemade Coconut Icecream and Orange Sauce. The kitchen staff even piped Happy Birthday in chocolate around the edge of the plate! We relaxed with some tea / coffee to finish off what was an absolutely wonderful meal. I would definately go back to this restaurant again, especially once the garden is grown in...

Saturday was the open house so I worked. The original plan was that a small group of friends would head out to play pool that night. But the week of extra early days and late nights was catching up with me and a few others. The general concensus was that a short nap was in order prior to heading out. What actually happened was that most of the people did not wake up from that nap (myself included) until it was really too late to go out. My girlfriend and I had a good laugh about it today, we're calling a raincheck and we shall try again another day. She says it's a clear sign we are getting old. Since I really don't feel "old" I just chalk it up to being short on sleep and leave it at that.

It is always a good day when I can work on some art. In this case I created a small series of art cards with gargoyles, two of which I have posted already. They are for an exchange in which the theme was "Dark Art", and seeing the vampires and other gothic images thus far posted for the swap, I figured some snarky gargoyles are just the thing to compliment it.

I have also played with pulling some prints off of a relief cut. I'm not planning to show it since it was for experimenting but it has helped to further understand the materials. I think my next experiment will be something to show. Just have to push the boundaries, right?

My boyfriend has borrowed a scanner from his friend - yet another piece of equipment I don't have a place for. Right now it is balanced on top of the printer and I have no idea where I am going to find a home for it. It can't stay on the printer since one wrong step from the cat will send it crashing to the floor and I really don't want to owe someone a scanner.

The adventure continues...

You can insert the name of whatever major cold and flu fighting drugs you prefer. The title is from a radio ad I have heard somewhat regularily but the actual name of the drug escapes me right now.

I am home sick today. It is my firm belief that most of those drugs available simply mask symptoms as opposed to actually fighting the bug in your system so for the most part I avoid them if I can. This is for two reasons: a) I build up a tolerance to the drug in no time leaving it less effective and b) I really hate the side effects like dry mouth and a mental fog. A good dose of rest, liquids and vitamin C work better for me in the long run. I will be back to work tomorrow, feeling much better (and working more effectively).

If it is just a case of the sniffles so be it. I'll still go into work. But sometimes it is worse than that, as my boss pointed out "when you get sick - you REALLY get sick!"

Back to the commercial...

In the ad a womans voice lists all the things she does not do when she is sick.
I don't mope.
I don't wear fuzzy slippers.
I don't ask people to get the remote for me.
etc.
But I do take _________ !

Essentially the ad is saying take this drug and you can still go about your high speed life. If you choose not to do this you are a wimp and we all look down on you.

Go for it Superwoman / Superman! I just have one thing to say...

I do believe that masking the symptoms so you can run down your body when you are legitimately sick and increasing the chance of passing it on to your co-workers is a very stupid thing to do.

It seems this just isn't my time for dealing with institutions. I will not pretend to know the answers regarding why, but I do know that I am always puzzled by the convoluted ways things are handled.

I took some classes last year, and since those classes were with an accredited educational institution I am entitled to claim my tuition expenses as a tax credit. I am also entitled to what is known as an educational amount credit. This is a flat rate per month that you are enrolled and varies with whether you are a part or full time student. Of course, in my case my classes were technically "online" since my working hours prevented me from actually making it to the classroom. So because they are "online" I get the absolute barest amount for the educational credit - never mind that I had to spend the same as the in-class students on software etc. So I grumble about it and move on. But the real kicker this year is that I have still not received my tax form for my tuition credit. The schools are required to mail them out by the end of February and it is now April. I have received multiple "Unofficial Transcripts" showing my top of the class marks so yes, they *do* have my address. I have spoken with the school office and they say they will mail another. So I'll give it until Friday and then if it's not here I will call again. I really do not want to have to take time off work to go deal with this down town but if I have to that next week I will. Sigh...

Next up... The bank I deal with has decided to phase out both accounts that I use - claiming that less people are using these types of account and therefore they do not serve the client effectively. Since I have not changed my accounts since high school I can honestly say they serve me just fine thank you very much. So if I left it up to the bank, they would automatically convert my old accounts into new accounts with *double* the user fees. Nice. Now if I told all my customers that prices for services are doubling "just because" they would all tell me where to go in a very graphic manner. But when I phoned in this afternoon we managed to find an account that is pretty close to what I am currently paying in fees. As long as I watch my transactions I should be ok. At least the actual account numbers are not changing so I don't have to worry about the automatic payments that go through each month, that was my biggest concern.

And finally... Think back to our lovely trip to France. We had the full french experience - including transportation services going on strike. The long and the short, one of our flights was cancelled. When I attempted to get a refund for the lost flight, every "customer service"agent was completely unable to help in any way. When I followed the directions on the airlines website on getting my refund, they directed me to an 800 number and the lovely lady on the other end of the phone said: "Why are you phoning me? I cannot help you." I was given multiple addresses to send a letter to, but when I have had this much misdirection already do I really want to trust that? So finally I was frustrated enough I phoned my credit card company. I supplied all the flight numbers, dates etc. I was told I would see my credit in about 3 weeks. So far so good. My refund never showed up. I phoned again and was told there was no record of me phoning at all. So I started all over and gave this person all the details. There were two charges on my card but I only needed ONE reversed. Weeks later they reversed BOTH. Sigh... Not long after I have a letter in the mail from the credit card company stating that the airline is requesting payment for the other charge - the one that was NOT supposed to be reversed. The letter states: If you wish to dispute this charge please fax all supporting documents to blah blah blah. Since they are asking for payment for a service that I received I am perfectly ok with that and I did not dispute it. Now I see BOTH charges have been re-applied to my credit card! Of course, the gentleman on the phone with said card company acts like all of this is my fault.

When I specifically request ONE charge to be reversed and you the company reverse TWO charges - how is that my fault!? When the airline requests the ONE charge that it is entitled to and you submit TWO charges - how is that my fault?!

I have faxed in a letter along with copies of emails, letters, documents etc. I then phoned in and asked them to put a note on my file stating the fax had been sent. It looks like I will still be chasing this for a while. As I stated in my letter, this really is a simple matter that should have been taken care of last year.

*Update:
After phoning the school for my tax form, I received three forms over three days. Go figure. At least they all said the same amounts.

The credit card company has opted to 'reopen' my dispute in light of the information I faxed in. They say it will take 30 - 60 days to resolve. I say I will probably have to phone them every week to make sure they do it right. The fun never stops!