Family Costuming

Here's a neat family activity: group costuming! I've long wished my family would do the same thing, but it never worked out.

The picture is from Millenicon 2003, six years ago. I came across it while going through some old photos last week. It's now of personal interest to me, especially the young man on the end in the everyday school uniform. The young man who is not too many years older than my daughter...

The Wedding

On October 10th, 2009, Katie Van Atta and Daryl Mercier were formally married in an outdoor ceremony. After expressing their vows to each other and exchanging rings, the couple took turns pouring sand into a large vase that would demonstrate how their lives were now combined. Afterwards, the couple announced their new last name, which is a combination of their pre-marriage names, and will henceforth be known as Mr. and Mrs. Van Mercetta.








To the right is the Mercier Clan, the groom's side of the family. Sister Sarah did not make it, nor our mother, but we had a fairly hefty representation.

When they return from their honeymoon in Ireland, they will find that the rest of the family has decided that this did not go far enough, and are now to be known as Datie and Karyl Van Mercetta.

Daily Prompt #2

From:
http://campaign.constantcontact.com/render?v=001zDZ-9a8-K6y9C78WbH5TikvhKqEeR8ODu6dtHAZs-g7u1bLLZtMmRMgoLF0CL5hs6w5looCGSYSUtWL3u7zBtCqoUwOUrfWM0dgeAR5_Phs%3D

Fiction Prompt:
the Intersection of Main and Elm

Here's a simple sentence with a lot of opportunity. See where you can take it!Cyrus Markham stopped abruptly at the intersection of Main and Elm streets, forgetting which way he was supposed to turn.

***

Cyrus Markham stopped abruptly at the intersection of Main and Elm streets, forgetting which way he was supposed to turn. Did he go in the direction of the dancing pink elephants, with their little bottles of soda pop carried in their trunks, or toward the purple dolphins which arced up from the asphalt, balanced on their tails above a sign for a popular travel agency, then dove down into the sidewalk. Glancing from one to the other, he felt a wave of dizziness followed by nausea and stomach cramps.Stupid, horrible, nasty decongestant, he thought. The drug turned a normally pleasurable stroll through the virtual ads into a painful nightmare.

A woman waltzed up to him, wearing a costume of garish red and orange feathers and carrying a tray of beers. Her painted lips formed a broad smile, then she opened her mouth to began her speil about the wonders of her product. Cyrus swept his hand through her image to shut her off.

Only she wasn't a hologram.

She crashed to the ground, her beers shattering on the pavement, her feathers ripping. She screamed. A police whistle screeched in Cyrus's ear, and a beefy, non-holographic hands grabbed his shoulders.

The woman pointed at him and jabbered in a foreign accent, the few recognizable words accusing him of various abuses and sex crimes.

"Spread 'em, buddy," growled the gorrila-sized cop into his ear.Cyrus sighed. Mondays had never been his favorite day.

****

I think we can assume I have a migrane today.

Helen

Thirty-One Days, Thirty-One prompts

There's a writing school here in town which I'm checking out. One thing they offer for free is a program of prompt's for October.

http://campaign.constantcontact.com:80/render?v=001zDZ-9a8-K6y9C78WbH5TikvhKqEeR8ODu6dtHAZs-g7u1bLLZtMmRMgoLF0CL5hs6w5looCGSYRDJF1qRFlPREP3G8vjhjAscmxdabOKeXc%3D

This is yesterday's prompt, and my response:

Fiction Prompt

Something OldWrite about a character who finds something old that they had forgotten about and have come across in the back of a closet, bottom of a drawer, or under a car seat. Use this item to write a flashback in which the character relives the excitement once associated with the object.

And:

"I believe this is yours." Zaytalle held up a gold Bardlands coin, a pretty smirk on his delicate face.

Treble snatched it out of his hands. "Where did you get this?"

"You dropped it when you were called out of Bartiese by the Wizardling."

"It was in my pants pocket! Where are the rest of my clothes?" Treble hated the robes that the men of the Wizardlands wore, thin little dresses, and the loincloths that they wore beneath were a poor substitute for a proper pair of pants.

"Actually, it was in the hands of one of the guards. He gave it to me, and I'm giving it back to you."He actually looked as if he deserved thanks for doing Treble a favor.

Treble turned away from him.He looked at the coin, marked with the head of the King of the Bardlands, and words written in Bardtongue. master Irvinghad given him this coin, just before he started his journey. It was for spending in Bartiese, for a little enjoyment of his own, the old master had said. Now it was the only thing he had left of his home, a place where the nights were cool and the people were sane. His only link.As Master Irving had given it to him, he had also made Treble swear that he would return.

And I will, Treble vowed, curling his fingers around the cool metal. I will.

Cincinnati Drivers

Observed while walking through the University of Cincinnati campus on Sunday. I imagine that they drove onto the loading dock by mistake, then weren't too careful as they backed up to turn around.

Return of Adventure Turtle

Yes, Adventure Turtle sticks to the walls. He wouldn't be fun if he just did normal things!

Fancy Dancing

I've been working for a couple of weeks to have a video of a Fancy Dancer on my blog. This has involved putting a new optical drive in a laptop computer. One of those things which starts as a simple project, and turns into something quite complicated.



Most Native American Dances are highly symbolic and meaningful to the dancers. Some are sacred. The dancers do not wear costumes, but Regalia, and each piece of their Regalia has a specific and special meaning. Regalia is often passed down from parents to children.

Fancy Dancing, however, is show dancing. It was invented for The Wild West Show. Wild Bill brought Native Americans into his show, and they did some dances for the audience. But as these dances were considered too dull for the audience, a new form was invented with much more colorful costumes and more active moves.

Nowadays, Fancy Dancing is a competitive activity, with the dancers competing for prizes. There was only one Fancy Dancer at this time at this Pow-wow, and so he was not competing during this dance, but showing off.