Yummilicious

Not in focus but the light is yummy...
Originally uploaded by DragonFly24.

What a wonderful shot of a grrl and her cat.

Grampa Brune

Grampa Brune
Originally uploaded by DragonFly24.

My dad. It's a great portrait. John thinks it looks like an author's portrait for the back cover of a book.

For more holiday shots, go to my Flickr account by clicking on the photo.

The Cats-mas Tree

The Cats-mas Tree
Originally uploaded by DragonFly24.

We decided this year we'd be honest and buy a tree the cats can actually climb and we're very okay with it! Talk about no stress!

We tossed and stapled a bunch of cat toys all over it and called it decorated :).

The cats love it!

Go, us!

Merry Christmas, ya'll ;o).

P.S. Mara took the picture. She inherited the Olympus point-and-shoot.

John Cleese and Laughter Yoga

The Dark Mother and Arthur Dent

The Dark Mother and Arthur Dent
Originally uploaded by DragonFly24.

Here John and I are at the Melears' Halloween party. Check those dreads! I worked hard on them. I thought the teeth were particularly awful. ;o) They are mine. I used this paint-on goo that really made them look rotten. I used the voodoo woman from the Pirates of the Caribbean as a model.

I scared the cr*p out of everyone and I think a lot of people didn’t recognize me. I had a leather bag with all sorts of gruesome candy in it and the children had to call me by one of my Names in order to get candy out of the bag. It was great fun!

Arty Angle of Birthday Flowers

Arty Angle of Birthday Flowers
Originally uploaded by DragonFly24.

Mom and Dad and Grandmother sent me flowers for my 40th! Aren't they gorgeous?

They are from The Flower Studio by Coby Neal.

I just love them! :)

Knitted Birthday Cake

I found one! How lovely is that?

Yummy!

Xo's, Andrea.


The photo is from Truly Scrumptious Knitted Foods. Really fun! :)

It's My Birthday!

Brown & Pink Birthday Cake
Originally uploaded by PinkCakeBox.

I'm 40 today! Woo hoo!

I found this luscious cake on Flickr... How gorgeous is that? Now if I could find I knitted one... LOL!

Happy birthday to me! Happy birthday to me...

[skips off into the distance...]

Andrea in a Lava Tube

Andrea in a Lava Tube
Originally uploaded by DragonFly24.

Here's one of the photos from my Flickr stream. I'm in a lava tube on the coast line of Maui.

For more Maui photos go to my Maui collection on Flickr. :)

Enjoy! (I sure did! ;o)

Man Rules

These are our rules! Please note.. these are all numbered "1 " ON PURPOSE!

1. Men are NOT mind readers.

1. Learn to work the toilet seat. You're a big girl. If it's up, put it down. We need it up, you need it down. You don't hear us complaining about you leaving it down.

1. Sunday sports It's like the full moon or the changing of the tides. Let it be.

1. Crying is blackmail.

1. Ask for what you want. Let us be clear on this one: Subtle hints do not work! Strong hints do not work! Obvious hints do not work! Just say it!

1. Yes and No are perfectly acceptable answers to almost every question.

1. Come to us with a problem only if you want help solving it. That's what we do. Sympathy is what your girlfriends are for.

1. Anything we said 6 months ago is inadmissible in an argument. In fact, all comments become Null and void after 7 Days.

1. If something we said can be interpreted two ways and one of the ways makes you sad or angry, we meant the other one.

1. You can either ask us to do something Or tell us how you want it done. Not both. If you already know best how to do it, just do it yourself.

1. Whenever possible, Please say whatever you have to say during commercials.

1. Christopher Columbus did NOT need directions and neither do we.

1. ALL men see in only 16 colors, like Windows default settings. Peach, for example, is a fruit, not A color. Pumpkin is also a fruit. We have no idea what mauve is.

1. If it itches, it will be scratched. We do that.

1. If we ask what is wrong and you say "nothing," We will act like nothing's wrong.. We know you are lying, but it is just not worth the hassle.

1. If you ask a question you don't want an answer to, Expect an answer you don't want to hear.

1. When we have to go somewhere, absolutely anything you wear is fine... Really.

1. Don't ask us what we're thinking about unless you are prepared to discuss such topics as baseball or golf.

1. You have enough clothes.

1. You have too many shoes.

1. I am in shape. Round IS a shape!

1. Thank you for reading this. Yes, I know, I have to sleep on the couch tonight... But did you know men really don't mind that? It's like camping.

Portrait of Mara

Portrait of Mara
Originally uploaded by DragonFly24.

Got a new camera for my 40th! Woo hoo! DSLR Pentax K10D. Niiiiice. Here's one of the first shots taken with it.

I'm in lurve! [G]

Thanks, John & Mara for my new toy!

New Yarn Store in (North) Central Austin!!

GAUGE: A MODERN KNIT SHOP

http://www.gaugeknit.com/

5406 Parkcrest Drive, Austin, TX 78731 US
512.371.9300

10a - 9p Monday - Saturday
1p - 7p Sunday

A new hip knit store run by two fabu local knit grrls... One of whom is Karli Capps, formerly from Hill Country Weavers. (If you know Karli, you know Gauge friendly place with a hip vibe.) And the other is Afsaneh Taki, who is just as enthusiastic and knowledgable and ready to help.

The yarn is arranged by gauge! You see the variety of yarns in cubbies situated around the store. There is a collection of magazines and books available as well as needles in various types, sizes and lengths.

Classes will be added soon.

There is an open patio for knitting gatherings when the weather allows.

For photos of the shop and the grand opening, see http://www.gaugeknit.com/grand.html.
(Karli and Afsaneh are featured in pic #15.)

This review is a recap of C.J.'s review on the SNBaustin Yahoo Group.

Knit Night Cupcakes

Knit Night Cupcakes
Originally uploaded by teenytinyturkey.

Feast your eyes on this... No really.


Amazing.


Her blog and how to are here:


http://veganyumyum.com/...

Wow.

Improv Tribal Style Belly Dance

New tribe on Tribe.net, folks!

http://tribes.tribe.net/improvtribalstylebellydance

Hosted by yours truly and Riven, a tribal dancer in Ft. Hood.

Improv Tribal Style (ITS) bellydance is a group of dancers with tribal style bellydance traits composing choreography on the spot (i.e. improvising) through previously arranged cued moves. Solos are performed, but are generally supported in a group environment. Improv Tribal Style is a sub-group of Tribal Style bellydance. [Also known as: Tribal Group Improv, American Improv Tribal, Group Improv Tribal.]

Although this style of modern fusion world dance is rooted in the United States, Improv Tribal Style has grown, and continues to grow, internationally and can be found in Australia, Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Buenos Aires, Columbia, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, Sweden, United Kingdom, Sweden and other countries.

Enjoy! :`)

Therapy / Yoga / Spirituality

Some interesting integral philosophy from David Daida (his ideas, my translation... any mistakes are most likely mine. Especially if they are grammatical in nature. ;o)

Therapy / Yoga / Spirituality

These things really get mixed up and they are very much their own entities.

Therapy takes dysfunction to function. (Physical, emotional, mental, spiritual, etc.) You need a safe environment to do this work. You need to do this work in order to properly support yourself. Therapy fixes that which is broken. Like in a stained glass window.

Yoga is art. It works with edges. It is the Flow. It's always pushing us into the very realm of the impossible. It is not safe. But it should be done carefully, with compassion and kindness. Yoga clears the dust and grime off of the window. Yoga can be done while broken. Obviously, it would be a more full experience to fix things before clearing things out. But life does not always allow things to proceed in a logical, rational manner and art is anything but logical and rational in a lot of ways.

Spirituality is The Glowing. The light shines through and it is a way of Being. You can be broken and have no particular edge and have a spiritual epiphany. But the light shining through a gorgeous clear stained glass window is quite spectacular, no?

Function, Flow, Glow.

For more: Integral Naked: A Seminar on Sexual Yoga with David Daida

FatChanceBellyDance & Lynette, 1991 "The Revolutionary Nutcracker Sweetie"

Get ready for some vintage FatChanceBellyDance!

Quoted from Lynette's (publisher of _The Gilded Serpent_) YouTube Post:

"In 1991, Lynette attempts to perform with Fat Chance belly dance, Medusa and Juliet. FCBD does tribal style and Lynette attempts to blend her cabaret style with theirs. Medusa her snake magically transforms into 6 year old Juliet. This performance was part of a larger production by the Dance Brigade called the Revolutionary Nutcracker Sweetie. This was a gorgeous production by the brilliant Nina Ficter and Krissy Keffer. The show was a parody of the original and included many progressive issues such as war, homelessness, poverty, women's rights and more. "

clipped from www.youtube.com

Googlism:Andrea

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generated in part by Googlism

Tea-time

Tea-time
Originally uploaded by DragonFly24.

I don't think I ever shared this one either! Dang, I'm such the slacker! LOL Guess I'd rather knit and felt than blog. [grin]

This was made as a Yule giftie for Brie, on request! :) Aren't the colors scrummy? Gotta love Kureyon.

Mara's Commuter Bag

Mara's Commuter Bag
Originally uploaded by DragonFly24.

This is another one of those cool felted bags from Knitty.com. The flower is a felted one from Nicky Epstein's latest felted flower book. I'm very pleased with this bag. I used Cascade 220.

Our Lovely Lady

Our Lovely Lady
Originally uploaded by DragonFly24.

This is "Carnaval" by Pat Taylor, a fine artist and instructor here in Austin. She's also a very fun and talented bellydancer and instructor.

Pat's work has the honor of being the first thing we've ever formally framed for ourselves. My parents have always graced our household with framed art and it's always been such a blessing because framing is so danged expensive! Got this done at Hobby Lobby and it's not perfect, but is pretty darn gorgeous and we're happy!

Thank you, Pat, for your fine work. She looks great across the room. :) I can see her from where I sit in my office.

Impossible Demands

“If someone condemned you because, say, you failed to prevent Hurricane Andrew, you wouldn’t dissolve in shame or work to overcome your inadequacy. You’d dismiss the whole issue. That’s the wonderful thing about seeing that our society makes impossible demands on all women.” — MARTHA BECK

I think our society makes impossible demands on *all* of us, not just women. That's being too narrow-minded IMO. I think it doesn't take into consideration all of the ramifications. It lays blame on those who are not women. Silly. We all have choices we make and we made this bed together.

Still, the sentiment is excellent.

Big Bend Knitting, 2007

Big Bend Knitting, 2007
Originally uploaded by DragonFly24.

Of course I knit something while I was on vacation in Big Bend! I *always* knit on the road. 8 hours of sitting in the car does that to a person. BTW, if you get car sick, I *highly* recommend the Relief Band. It's expensive, but ever so worth it. Mara and I are hooked! No Dramamine for us!

The scorpion is my souvenir for the trip. She was there last time Dad and I went, but she was too expensive. So I got a lizard instead. This time, she was on sale, 30% off! So SNAG!

The knitting is the ball band washcloth pattern from "Mason Dixon Knitting" (and the pattern is written completely inside out, so I basically used the picture and my brilliant engineering mind to figure it out) and the hat is the Easy First Hat from Tracey Ullman's "Knit 2 Together" (and that pattern is great ;).

I didn't realize until I composed the photo that I chose the colors from the scorpion go with the knitting. I picked the yarn color before I bought the scorpion.

The hat came in handy on our last day (47F with high winds and rain... brrrr!) and the washcloth was very fun to knit once I figured out the pattern (and that was satisfying on it's own).

Our Trip to Big Bend 2007

Big Bend National Geographic Feature

Big Bend National Geographic Photo Gallery

The menu on the National Geographic site has some more features like a map and such.

John took lots of pictures while we were there, so we'll see how those turn out. He took them on film, so we'll have to get them developed... The National Geographic photos are amazing, but they do not really give you the idea of the vastness and the starkness. John and Paul (my dad) found survey maps and worked out a theory about the area being a collection of calderas (old volcanoes). It's a very convincing argument. Have a look at http://alnk.org/baldgame (Yahoo maps, in hybrid or satellite format) to see what they mean.

We enjoyed our cabin at Wild Horses Station 5 miles north of Study Butte (Stoo-dee Beaut) and had some fabulous dinners at the Starlight Café in Terlingua. We floated down the river in rafts with guides for two days down the Santa Elena Canyon and saw prehistoric ferns growing in a tiny off-shoot canyon. The ferns aren't found anywhere else in the area. We drank water that was filtered through 1000 ft of rock and it was delicious. We camped on the Mexican side and had a fabulous view of the mouth of the canyon. The water was up and the weather was gorgeous. We hit 97F on Thursday. We came back in and fired up the grill, enjoyed some seriously wonderful chicken breasts with an amazing sunset on our porch, which was set way up on the foot of a mesa. We hiked up the Lost Mine trail in Big Bend Park proper and Mara did a fine job! She meet lots of friends and had a great time.

It is a harsh life there, to be sure. You have to be made of stern stuff to live there year-round. Water is precious. Some crazy blankety-blank person from Austin decided that this area was the perfect place for a 5 star resort with a golf course, so we saw what current over-use can do to the desert.

People's wells are being sucked up to grow grass(!) for the putting greens.

Overgrazing when the area was first discovered (late 1800's) has made some serious impacts on the land. It used to be grass land and now it is fierce desert. If it doesn't stick you, poke you, or bite you, it's a rock. We watched a dust storm fly through and hit us. It looked like rain at first.

The last day we were there, it rained and was windy and very cold. The old adage "If you don't like the weather, wait five minutes." Is certainly true for Big Bend country!

But the sunsets are generally viewed in the east, painting the mountains gorgeous pinks and golds and having a cold one while sitting on the benches outside of the General Store is a treat not to be missed.

When we get the photos back from the developers, I will send you the link to Flickr.

I hope everyone had a great spring break! Hopefully next year, Texas won't have it all in one week! Gas stations were running out of gas while we were on our trip... Exciting!

You don't *have* to be pretty...

A great cross-post:

A Dress A Day: You Don't Have To Be Pretty...

An excerpt:

"You Don't Have to Be Pretty. You don't owe prettiness to anyone. Not to your boyfriend/spouse/partner, not to your co-workers, especially not to random men on the street. You don't owe it to your mother, you don't owe it to your children, you don't owe it to civilization in general. Prettiness is not a rent you pay for occupying a space marked "female"."