More festivals, please!

This is My Precious, the best purchase I made at Tribal Fest... possibly the best purchase ever? I suppose that depends on if dog adoption counts as a purchase, because I DO love my corgis more than this fascinator... but they're living animals, not things. This is the coolest thing ever. It's made by Dusty Paik of Snake Church, and yeah, that insect is made out of dead beetle parts and there are two extra dead beetle heads attached to the Art Nouveau lace applique. It takes a very special person to say "I am going to put insect parts on this antique textile" and an equally special person to shout "PUT IT ON MY HEAD NOW!!!" and a special event to bring those two people together. Tribal Fest 13 was just that event.

So now I am back home in Tucson, have been for just over a week. I didn't intend to not post any updates, but I had a custom jewelry order to fill, and friends to catch up with, and work to do, and of course, the usual post-vacation mixed feelings. On the one hand, there's all the warm fuzzy memories, but on the other, back to the daily grind. *sigh*

Not that my "daily grind" has been particularly awful. Hours of dance class, a quick jaunt up to Phoenix to see my best friend before her vacation, lots of chat about how amazing Tribal Fest was, make jewelry for a fellow dancer, snuggle my corgis and cats, and read lots of books. And of course the slow unpacking and post-vacation laundry, and wondering where I'm going to put all of these wonderful new costumes (and when will I wear them?).

I'm already daydreaming about my next chance to attend a dance festival (probably the Las Vegas Intensive in Sept). When I got together with Jolie to tell her about my TF experience, she asked if I was thinking of going to other events in the future and I rattled off probably 8 or 9, only to later realize that it wasn't even all of the things I'd like to attend. There are so many fun-sound dance festivals, intensives, workshop weeks (Mira! In Mexico!) and I just want to be at all of them! Learning, shopping, making new friends, learning some more, watching performances, maybe performing myself?

Although I know I want to go to Tribal Fest again next year, I also know I don't want to fall into a rut of that being the only event I go to. I want to see different places and different teachers and different performers. Depending on the workshop offerings, maybe a shorter TF visit will be in order, to leave more money to attend another event or two as well. Whatever I decide to do, you know you'll see it on this blog!