The Curious Mind of Xta

One of these days I'll figure out how the heck formatting these pics is suppose to work. Anyway.. so, here's the two-day-old-but-not-"final"-product.. that will take a few more months! The dreads-all-down shot, the dreads-in-a-pony-tail shot, and the "Wow, I've never looked so much like the way Heather looks in photos before, I think.." shot... something about my smile and eyes just looks so Heatherish.. its cool :)

Nothing new to report, other than I'm still on a mad Burning Man high, was at MEC today eyeballing all the things I'd like to buy, but should really beg/borrow/steal instead! (okay, maybe not the stealing.. I think the guilt from having Mom blaming other people when *I* was actually the person stealing from church, and then hearing that she had to go apologize to them and admit it was her daughter.. kinda cured me.)

So... I'm gonna borrow Vince's 10-person, shiny-side-outable tent (bigger than Dad's, and shiny, and Vince accepts the mess of Burning Man)... hopefully get nice steel tent pegs from Dad... just bought 19 yards of dayglo-pink ripstop nylon to sew into a shade structure of some sort (planning to NOT lose my way back to my camp... "Hey, anyone seen that giant pink place?")

And... now I'll need the following:

• collapsible water containers
• a sleeping bag and pad
• a solar shower would be lovely...
• hm... cooler to hold a couple gallons of milk, since I figure I won't attempt to eat any differently on the playa than I do in real life (cereal two or three times a day, yum...)
• a headlamp would rock
• so would funky-yet-effective dust goggles
• a sledgehammer for driving in stakes, and a prybar for getting them out...
• a giant duffle or two for hauling camping stuff plus costumes and hoop making supplies :)
• a foldy stadium-seaty thing
• a hammock that doesn't need trees or major structures (this may be a pipe dream..)
• candle lanterns
• dust mask(s?)
• bungee cords and rope

... and a bunch of other stuff, but I'll stop there for now. Any offers? :)

Weather: sunny enough to dress as it if was Spring, but windy enough I was regretting it at times

Chai's: One, whilst wandering Chapters (still keeping my resolution: no disposable cups!)

Water: hot tub and swim in the ODP - twas lovely, and nice to recover after last night's polo practice, which made my wonky shoulder tweaky enough to make me stop mid-scrimmage

Wardrobe: my new hippie-classy-dready look, which today includes an ankle-length black tiered skirt, green scoop-T, green pottery button-as-necklace, and lampwork earrings.. "Ooh! Look at me! I'm artsy!" Pffft.. but yeah :)

Craft in progress: all the stuff listed last time.. not doing much, so no progress to report :)

www.burningman.com

Alright, sorry about the wonky formatting here.. these pics are "the freckles from last summer, soon to be renewed" "the dreads I want to eventually have" "the amazing hair sectioning job my dad did, in only three hours!" and "the before pic".

I've decided that this is the time in my life when dreadlocks might work. My main work activity is artsy, totally suited for the look of locks. My non-main work activity is still mostly hip and casual enough that I should be able to pull off either really tidy locks (not during Month 1, from what I hear!) or get away with wearing a bandana or hat around 'em.

Burning Man happens at the end of August, so I definitely want them at least for that long.. if they are working well, and I can get all the Playa dust out, I'll keep them longer.. the one long-term goal I have that might not be dreadlock-friendly is being an international waterpolo referee... but that's a few years down the road, and I think I'll be able to wear them through the regional and provincial level stuff in the meantime.

And, it is freckle season! Yes, I DO wear sunscreen.. but I freckle anyway, and I like 'em! Spring is here, woo woo! Time to play, time to hoop, time to flake in the sun by the pool and read trash for hours... once it stops raining!

Remember: spend time doing what you love, living the way you want to live... embrace joy!

Weather: grey, overcast. Last week in Williams Lake it went from being sun-burningly hot, to hail and snow. Lovely, eh?

Chai's: back to buying them in person, but managed to keep myself to just one yesterday.. today, buying cartons!

Water: polo yesterday for the first time in a week-and-a-bit, and I totally hurt this morning. Hopefully won't be quite so bad this afternoon, and in mere moments it will be breakfast-in-the-tub time!

Wardrobe: warm jammies: blue mud-print baggy pants, the sweatshirt Dad brought back from UNB a number of years back, and my lovely Maiwa robe, the best hey-you're-self-employed-now, you-need-a-better-robe present I've ever given myself!

Craft in progress: hm... "dink" hat for Dave of Chub Creek podcast, non-felted bags for Urban Yarns (hope they don't mind my purple and green colour combo), periwinkle sleeves for the sweater I haven't fully visioned yet... yikes. That's a lot. Ah well.

PS - secret reason for all those pictures? I'm popping one into the ePlaya forum, so all of us chatting there can see who we're chatting with... and the blog was the easiest way for me to get url's for the pics! Shhh...

I called Dave my brother-in-law-ish, because he and Heather were never formally wed... but their partnership had the same quality and strength and love and playfullness as our parents' marriage.

Dave died peacefully in his sleep, of a massive heart attack. It wasn't a surprise, as he'd been diagnosed with incredibly high blood pressure in the last few months, but we are all considering it to be a blessing that he didn't die while on the road in his logging truck (potentially hurting other people) and that he didn't suffer a stroke and survive as a lesser person - he wouldn't have been happy with that.

I'm at home in Williams Lake, spending time with Heather and my parents, and looking forward to the service and celebration of Dave's life, happening on Wednesday. I'll post pictures of that when I have time, because I'll bet that you've never seen a truck memorial procession, or seen a reception held in the lot and hut of a truck detailing company... it will be good.

Be well, tell your loved ones often that you love them (or make sure that all the little things that you do carry the same meaning, if the actual words are hard for you). I love all of you. (yes, even the odd stranger who might read this blog. You are worthy of love, therefore I love you.)

X.