wakeiseiyo | Entries tagged with tea

So. Saturday went about as awful as I expected it to, and then some. (93 degrees and we had to stand outside in kimono. It's like a really fancy sauna suit, at that point.) I shouldn't be as torn up as I am over it, but I guess I was holding onto hope, somewhere deep down, that this time would prove me wrong, that it wouldn't suck. Nope. I paid $45 to be on my feet from 1:30-midnight, get barely 30 minutes for a sub-par boxed meal (that had been sitting for hours), and not once did I get to actually sit and have Tea -- the whole goddamn point of a Tea gathering. Instead, all the other ladies who were working decided that our station should be the last one of the night. Fine, but do you think one of them might have maybe asked if those of us working would like to sit and be waited on afterward? It's not hard to offer 5 minutes of simple courtesy. It really isn't. (Especially when the other group of ladies sharing the tent space left US a pile of dirty bowls to clean and took half of ours, rather than wash their own. I mean really, WTF?) It took 4 Advil to even take the edge off my back pain to get to sleep, and I woke up with a splitting headache along with the back ache. Plans to get to kickboxing/the gym were nixed after that.

(And after digging out the kimono items I was supposed to loan, I get to Sensei's house and I'm told they "figured out how to make it work" and didn't need what I'd brought. So really, that just tells me that the next time I'm asked to do something, she may or may not mean it.)

I have decided that I am never participating in a chapter event again, unless it is as a guest. I'm angry to the point of tears over this; part of me feels betrayed by Sensei because she wouldn't look out for her own students (that last seating? She was supposed to go ask that we actually get to stop and have tea, and didn't), part of me feels like the whole local chapter doesn't even grasp the fact that Tea has four basic principles (purity, harmony, respect, tranquility) and just MAYBE those could be applied to events, too. About the only people I'm not pissed at from Saturday are Sensei's husband (he knows his way around the mizuya and worked his butt off) and the head of the chapter (who was super sweet and made sure to get those of us suffering outside a cooler full of cold water bottles, etc). So. From now on, it's lessons only and events-as-guest. Period. I'm done wasting my time, money, and energy on this mess.

Current Mood: crushed

I am getting SO sick of being the "responsible one" for Tea, lately.

I have offered REPEATEDLY to help fellow students get what they need, learn how to wear it, etc., only to get an "I'm good, thanks" or no response at all. I have given them information, shopping lists, etc. You name it, the resource has been made available to them.

And now, my kimono drawer has suddenly been volunteered to be the lending library for everyone else because they never got their act in gear.

How the fuck are these people responsible adults in the other parts of their lives?

Current Mood: bitchy

Tea class tonight went well - we had five guests who weren't regular Tea folks (gone once, max, or were at the Bowers demo two weeks back, or never at all), and I only screwed up a few times, mostly because I was trying to LOOK serene while inwardly trying to quell a panic attack. Being in front of strangers who are all. staring. at. me. does that, sometimes. But Sensei thanked me for my help (I didn't do that much, just kinda tried to act like I knew what I was doing - I guess I should have been a theater major?) and sent me home with another project. If anyone has tips or pointers on cutting out a large fabric square so that it's even and not lopsided or weird, I'd sure appreciate the info. Right now, I'm pondering how feasible folding into fourths or halves would be, but it's pretty flimsy cotton...

The WEIRDEST part of my day, though -- G left a card on my desk this morning. A thank-you card. (I at first wondered if she'd thought it was my birthday or something, because I couldn't figure out why there would be any reason for the card, yanno?) In that card was not only the Hallmark sentiment 'hope you know you are appreciated' but a full paragraph expressing her thanks for my help and how she didn't know what she'd do without me, etc. AND $25 in cash with a little post-it that said 'this is just to express my appreciation, nothing more'. While the cash gift makes me uncomfortable (I'm doing my job, yo - I don't expect extra compensation for it), it is within the bounds of the "as long as it is clear it is a gift" rule in the handbook about presents and whatnot. I'm going to double-check with my supervisor tomorrow. But WOW. I mean, seriously, after two years of this woman driving me absolutely, positively BATTY sometimes (and last year's review is still a sore point with me, and probably always will be), she's gone a complete 180 and is now vocally appreciative. Repeatedly. Not just once or twice.

... So I suppose that means I have to focus all my bitching energy on other people, like Nice (stalker) Guy, instead.

Seriously. I was FLOORED by this - the note, more than the cash. Part of me is like, "She noticed! :D :D" and the other half is like, "About freakin' TIME, lady! I've been doing this stuff for a year and a half, now!"

So.

Maybe this year I'll get a 4 or 5 on my annual? Maybe? Pretty please? I've been a good lil' worker bee and trying SO HARD OMG to get a score better than 'average - meets job expectations'. Because really? I bust my butt at the office, and sometimes, I'd like for that to go recognized somewhere in a permanent file, yanno? (Especially since the next four weeks are probably going to be HELL. Yay renewal season!)

Current Mood: surprised

"Well guess what..... this is now a big event. Apparently it was published in the newspaper with my name. The month before, at the same exhibit, the iemoto of Edosenke, will be performing the demo. I am apparently representing Urasenke School. There was a meeting in L.A. of all the Urasenke teachers and everyone says they are now coming to our demo. Sensei herself is coming. I am so glad I have you all to help."

OHSNAP we're all going to DIE.

And it's May 30th. No unlined, no summer kimono. In SoCal. And we're not sure it's indoors with the A/C.

At least I'm not performing - I'm serving (not hanto-ing). And I'm going to hold her to that!

I would just like to say that in running an errand to Burlington Coat Factory tonight, I have found a hat easily as fierce as Aretha's. Perhaps two hats. Just, yanno, FYI. The next time I have $30 lying around that I don't need... I'm going to get me a fierce goin'-a'church hat to wear.

The tea event went well (and was a complete work day spent entirely on my feet, 9am to 4pm with one short lunch break... it's going to be a LONG week). No drama that I was aware of, no crazy hijinks, etc. I don't think anyone even realized who I was because I wasn't wearing a kimono. (Seriously, I must have some odd claim to fame that I'm the youngest whitey there that can tie an otaiko knot, because today I got nothing but blank 'who the fuck are you?' looks from people. It was hilarious.) Better camoflage than the army - button down shirt, black pants, and sensible shoes. No one even looks twice. [It also makes it fantastically easy to help lift, carry, sort, etc. I was never so efficient in wafuku.]

The lunch was good, but it seems to be getting less good each year, if that makes sense -- last year's was better (though the sake pudding from this year was AWESOME and I really wanted to go into the kitchen and ask for seconds and thirds), the year before better than last... I suspect some of it is that the restaurant has probably catered to the lowest common denominator for so long that fried shrimp is fancy food, now. It's also been boiled down to two stops to the table - one brief appetizer consisting of three pieces of sushi/sashimi/something bite-sized and the main tray of food. No fuss with a second tray or dessert course - it's all consolidated. Ah well. I can understand it from a logistic point of view, but at the same time, the ticket price went up, too. So... I suppose I rather want the 'fancy' dining experience.

We sold some things, and I was bummed I missed out on the obijime bargains because I was still setting up the table when they were snapped up by someone. The obidome/glass art lady was there, but I'd exhausted my funds on my bargain finds that were just a better deal - a silk clutch purse, brand new, for $10, a fukusa for $5, a mint condition eggshell white silk fukuro obi with bamboo on it for $20, and the best find of all, 6 years' worth of monthly tea utensil books for $1 a year. I think my car's mileage dropped to nil after dumping that in the trunk. ^_____^ (Another awesome find - 25-cent over-the-knee socks in fuschia and purple stripes on black. They look AWESOME with The Boots. Wearing them right now.) I also picked up some odds and ends for fifty or twenty-five cents - a mirror/toothpick compact that was brand new, a little silk wallet that's the perfect size for some cash and cards, one of the plastic pouches for the koicha kaishi papers, and a cotton handkerchief that's large enough to use as a furoshiki. Oh, and a $5 hanhaba obi that's magenta on one side and bright purple on the other. I couldn't resist that one. It's so delightfully gaudy. And matches my new 25-cent socks... ^__^ [Bloodhound-for-bargains shopper that I am, I found a tea vest for Sensei before it was even on the table to be sold. Hah! And she got two new polyester kimono to wear, which is good, as well as some tea bowls to use for practice, and a few other goodies. :) ]

tsuji_kiri, there was a brand new men's yukata there that woud have been only $6, and I was going to get it until they told me it would be too short/small for someone 6' tall. :( Sowwy.

I was super helpful cleaning up and packing away, so I think Koizumi sensei forgave me for not wearing a kimono* even though she knows I have one ~~or two bajillion of them~~. Maybe next year I'll wear my formal green houmongi, since I have shoes to match, now. ^_^ Yay eBay bargains! (I may even spring for the LLL sized cream zori on the tea-circle//tea-passage site one of these days, if I'm going to spend all day wearing rather uncomfortable shoes, yanno?)

Anyway. More later if I think of it. It was a good day, though, and since nothing went wrong, not much more than the awesome bargains really left an impression on me. So. (Well, the bargains and the incredible amount of kimono lust I had for all the pretty, pretty obis that the women were wearing... The teacher no one really likes had the most fantastic obi with cottages and scenery on it, all in gorgeous ice-blue and silver tones... I have to give her credit for gorgeous wafuku, if nothing else.)

* I just have to put on the record that I found it rather depressing half the women looking at the eri-shin on the table for sale had NO IDEA what it was for... and it showed. And I felt that much better about not being all that great at tying my obi or keeping my collars even, most of the time.

Current Mood: complacent

Hmph. Lazy day.

But that was a good thing! No cramps, no awkward bits of erg or ouch. I have my sheets in the dryer, so clean linens for bed tonight, I got in an episode of Tudors on the DVD, and had dinner at El Torito with Mom and our cousin (who's something like an eighth cousin, but came from the next-door town in Old Norway and share a few ancestors, donchaknow). Good times. Didn't get much else done other than a much-needed coloring on my hair to hide the grey and bland ashy roots. (I really hate my natural color. It's just godawful. I look perpetually depressed, like a bad sepia-grey photograph.)

One rebate of two has arrived from AT&T - hopefully the other will be here by next Friday so I can drag mom to the bank and have her deposit them in my account. :) [If that doesn't work, can I upload them to Paypal and do a transfer?]

Tomorrow it's the ochakai at 9am sharp (ugh), where I show up in NOT kimono and help work the bazaar table like a good little minion (and where I won't be told to do something vague and then my sensei scolded for having a useless student - I'm still pissed about that from two or three years ago. If you tell me there's nothing I can help with (because I asked, because no one was talking to me/telling me anything) and I go help somewhere else*, don't complain later that I walked off and didn't help! Dumbasses.] I need to make sure to use slightly garish eye makeup to look less hale and hearty, as the main excuse for my not wearing wafuku** and serving Tea is that I'm still sick and doing poorly. It just won't do to show up looking hale and hearty and thoroughly put together. I'm thinking unflattering hair and very blah clothes. Maybe all black - that always serves to make me look pale and sickly. Perhaps I'll just forget the undereye concealer - that alone will put me in the ranks of plague victims from the fourteenth century, I think.

Hopefully, there will be some good bargains to take home, or some old kimono magazines worth snapping up for 25 cents each. :) I have cash this year! I went to the ATM tonight. If the glass artist brings her obidome again, I may buy one or two of them - she has adorable things! (I should dig up her card and plug her [all in Japanese] site so she could get some potential business. Prices are pretty reasonable, I think - $12-50 for most one-of-a-kind plates and bowls, hina matsuri dolls, etc. You'd have to order by email - she doesn't really have any sort of shopping cart or Etsy setup or anything.)

* Or, heaven forbid, stop to eat the lunch I PAID FOR ALREADY before the kitchen closes, because dammit, that's a $45 lunch! [And that $45 is the discounted member price, yo.]

** I really do wish I could dress in kimono, but that means serving Tea and that's just a can of worms I don't have the patience for this year -- and it happens every year. One of these times, I'm going to show up early enough that they're still putting the rooms together and just take over layout, because it's IMPOSSIBLE to walk between the chairs or serve Tea with any efficiency the way they set things up each time. And if they give me crap, I'm going to hand it right back with a blunt "I'm drafted into this bullshit every year and for once, let's at least make it somewhat easy on the people on their feet in these miserably too-small fancy sandals, shall we?" and see where that goes. I mean, I scare half of them because I'm twice their size. Maybe I should use that to my advantage sometime. [Yes, I know, Tea is about good manners and Zen and making everyone feel welcome. Most of the folks who 'do' Tea don't get this, if our chapter's behavior at the annual fundraiser is any indication. I get this - it's big, it's busy. That doesn't mean the Old Skool Japan folks get carte blanche to be bitchy powermongers. Sorry. If this year goes badly, I have NO problem telling Sensei that I won't be attending again, because I don't pay for lessons on how to do all this just to be abused at the annual event that's focused on the local Tea community gathering together. If that's how this community is supposed to be, I don't want to be a part of it. And it's taken me long enough to get the backbone to say that aloud to anyone other than my mother, but there you have it. I understand work being disappointing sometimes - I have my hobbies to gain some satisfaction and enjoyment. If my hobbies turn into bad days at work, they stop being hobbies, and I'm going to stop doing them. There is a Tea chapter in Los Angeles that has Saturday classes. It wouldn't kill me to drive to downtown LA once a week to get my hobby time in.

(I realize that having vented all this here, Murphy's Law means that tomorrow will go smoothly and next year's event will suck balls.)

ETA: Murphy's Law accomplished. Today was a good day. :) Next year will undoubtedly suck.

Current Mood: blah

Guh. I've been managing anywhere from 12-14 hours of sleep a night and I STILL feel like warmed-over-death. Fuck. AND I have a test on Wednesday in accounting, so even though Monday's a holiday, I may wind up calling in sick Tuesday, or at least showing up late. Waah. I want this plague stuff OUT of me already. It's gone from a head cold to a head cold with flu, to a head cold with flu AND GI upset. If I come down with measles next, I will be sorely disappointed.

Also, Tuesday night is a Tea lesson, and I earlier expressed my preference for being a guest at the 22nd fundraiser, rather than staff. We'll see how much shit I get for this one. Because the other option is simply not going, since it's $45-$50 per person. I don't really have $45 lying around, anyway. Furthermore, an all-day stress-out on Sunday means Monday is going to suck mightily, and with my work on going UP the corporate ladder, I really can't afford to have any bad days between now and April.

So. Sunday the 22nd just may be a sleep-in day. Because while the food is FANTASTIC, the amount of stress and my-feet-are-killing-me is NOT worth it. [Which means the two ochakai I attend in any given year will shrink to one, the Zenshuji event, which is one where I can be a guest and do nothing but eat and drink.]

Current Mood: crappy

So, I'm going to go see Liza Dalby on Tuesday! ^__________^ Awesomeness. (I need to reread Kimono tomorrow night so I don't look like a complete dunce, since it's been about 7 years since I bought the paperbacks in the British Museum bookstore...)

I was going to wear a relatively formal komon ensemble with my latest obi acquisition, but I couldn't quite make it all 'match' right, and gave up. I'm going to wear a poly unlined (that's heavy enough to be double-lined! oops.) in a casual wavy stripe, and my purple-grey Chucks, and a newsie cap (borrowing a page from the IG Forums' Lyuba-chan) and a casual hanhaba obi that has butterflies and whatnot on it. (My collar, sadly, will be boring and white, as I don't have the fun fabrics available to coordinate something in bubblegum pink and/or polka dots.) Since, yanno, it's a 2+ hour drive up to Santa Barbara and I'm going to make a day of it with tsuji-kun anyway, why worry about silk and a taiko knot (and the fact I can only stand wearing zori - even my broken-in comfy ones - for about two hours? I may as well be comfortable. :D

(I *am* tempted to get the Airwalk 'Tattoo' slip-ons that the Payless.com site is showing, if the local store has them, only because I like the look and I'd probably wear them all the time anyway, rather than just for my 'funky' kimono ensemble plans... But they're money I shouldn't be spending, so... erk. Dilemma. Look awesome without spending anything, look awesome-r and spend $25. *flail* )

Anyone ever wash tennis shoes in the machine? Do they come out all right? Mine are a bit dingy, but I'm worried that because of their age they'll fall apart in the wash, too. Hm. (And I am NOT going to try and battle the Block's crowds, assuming the Converse store is even still there.)

Current Mood: excited
Current Music: Loreena McKennitt -- Tango To Evora

I got my adagio.com order today - samples of "Christmas", "Oriental Spice", "Spiced Green" and "Vanilla Green" as well as a small (4? ounce) tin of White Tangerine.

The vanilla green is really pleasant and mild, and even after being forgotten for longer than necessary when steeping, didn't turn bitter. Very nice - not too perfume-y, either, as some vanillas can be. I just may have to add this to my wishlist for the larger size, later.

Current Mood: calm

Project Bumblefuck can be considered a success, I think. If you consider it's a kimono that's for someone half my size (literally), from the vintage-fugly phase of the kimono era, made of summer something (silk? I dunno), and had been hung in front of my windows as a curtain until faded near-white from its dark blue-grey color, run through the washer AND dryer*, and is now cut neatly in half into a vest for Tea lessons, with matching obi piece. (The 'obi' piece is a *project* on an epic scale - each tweak seems to fix one problem and present another. I'm not sure where to go with it.) I do know I need to go buy more $holyshit/yard 2" wide velcro, as sewing down the Joann's $1 bin velcro in 2" wide swaths just doesn't do it. :P That and it has NO grip. So. Save that for creative cord control or something. Also, stabilizer of the thick, nearly foam, non-fusible variety, which is about $yourfirstborn per yard. Good thing they don't take much. Oy.

On the bright side, we now have two Tea vest... thingummies. (I am thinking of making an obi thingummie for the lone male student with a little kangaroo pocket in the very front, since men carry their items slightly different than women due to the differences in kimono.) I've started a trend of finding the most godawful kimono I can to justify cutting wearable (barely) things to pieces. Kyoei had one the other day in lime green and neon hunter orange. It looked like a bad 70s acid trip puked on the fabric. Mom agreed it was absolutely horrid. I did NOT pay the steep $6 price for it. I just might go back and do so if it's still there on my next trip up. It's just SO bad. (And cheaper than winning one for 99 cents and then paying $20 in shipping. So.)

Which means I now have other projects to do, like Mom's tote bag that she's been asking for forever (and finally picked out the fabric and notions for all of two weeks ago). Once THAT is done, I'll play around with the d20 dice bag thing, since I have everything I need for it (note: we will be using only black thread, damn the matchy-matchy needs of our more compulsive side, because I REFUSE to re-thread the machine and serger 20-something different times.)

Also, I just now went through

cleolinda's Twilight series recaps (except Midnight Sun, as I haven't read it but want to and the only thing Amazon[hiss] has is some vampire smut novel of an entirely different, non-sparkly nature. Sadness. I guess it really was pulled, not delayed. Boo.) -- I haven't laughed so hard in ages. Also, there is a

sparklpires community that is ever so amusing to skim through. [It's true - it's like getting to be a goofy teen - in a good way - all over again, fangirling about these nutty books. They're so bad they've come 'round to good again, in some ways, and in others, well... you just have to laugh, because the other response is looking into the abyss...) Now to see the movie, then read the

m15m version. :D (I see the movies first, because otherwise, well, I probably miss half the jokes.) I plan on re-reading the book once my coworker returns it to me (I lent her New Moon so she has a seamless transition from one sparkly! adventure to the next, though I may send her the links to Cleo's reviews, too...)

* If you tell me I shouldn't or can't, what do you THINK I'm going to do? ("Don't wash kimono!" "Right. Spin cycle with non-chlorine bleach it is.")

Now I'm off to bed and I'll try not to wonder if LJ will vanish in smoke before this time tomorrow - I'm fond of the place and I'd be put out if it went away, but there's not a whole lot in entries worth archiving (a few, maybe one or three a year, at most). I think I'd actually miss the community stuff - I do all my passive research (I let the research come to me) for SCA things through the communities. All y'all on the friends list? Go get blogs. I'll RSS your asses or something. ^_^

Current Mood: apathetic
Current Music: P!nk -- Bad Influence

Rambly run-down of my day...

I have had the headache that won't quit for three days now. And it's one of those above-my-eye/behind-my-eye sinus ones, too, where even sleeping and copious amounts of Advil aren't helping. I've added some Bailey's and caffeine to the pharmacy buffet to see if that helps. It might - I'll try just about anything that sounds helpful at this point, because it's looking like I will be calling in sick tomorrow if I wake up with it.

(Muphry's Law: the instant I'm about to kvetch about the abundance of illegible typos on one of the forums, my whole first sentence took three tries to type properly...)

SDMA was fun - I wore stretchy non-traditional tabi that were pink and sparkly, and my feet fared a bit better. For whatever reason, the seams on the traditional tabi just make my feet HURT after the first hour or two, whereas stretchy ones like western socks don't bother me at all. (It is strangely entertaining to field questions about kimono, now that I'm used to wearing them. Mom keeps bringing up the kimono bra that fascinates her so much, which means I then have to go into an explanation of 'kimono boob' and it just gets surreal after that. I even flashed my undies to two nice Irish ladies who wanted to know what the white sleeve was inside my regular sleeve. :P )

The highlight of the day wasn't the Tea demo, but the kimono discussion beforehand at the Mingei, because everyone was asking me about my kimono and how I dressed and where I got it, etc. The speaker listed Mamechiyo as one of the sites to order things - I now feel justified in plotting to order an obi or accessories or something from her (through Crescent shop)! :D I think my outfit came out as rather iki - I wore my dusty blue iromuji (yay polyester!) that fits me properly - the seams line up and everything! and had a navy satin han-eri, and my obi was a cream color with a painted fisherman's boat and landscape on it, which I paired with a yellow obiage and coral obijime, plus my koi obikazari (new and improved with colored glass beads instead of a boring ol' cellphone strap). Pearl earrings and a basket purse gave it a sort of fishing/seaside retreat feeling, I think. (I could be way wrong. I usually am.) The obi took three tries today - it's a slippery bastard. In the future, I'm going to have to use a himo before I use the makura to get it to stay up properly. The taiko sank quite a bit before the day was through. On the other hand, after failing to get the date-eri to work and giving up on it (a brown, shimmery accent color... just wasn't going to happen!), my collars behaved all day long. Which was nice. Hell, even my hair came out nice today on the first try - the French twist stayed twisted with the help of only one bobby pin (and a thorough shellaq of hairspray).
(Selfishly, I found it gratifying that my kitsuke was better than some of the Tea demo ladies, only because I remember being at that point in my kimono adventures and hating how dumpy I always looked because nothing laid right... I've come a long way since then, though I still have miles to go - I have yet to conquer the ohashori 'poof' next to where the front layer overlaps. It's always a bit rumpled and puffy, no matter what I do. Ah well. )

I also forgot to take pictures of my ensemble, so... oh well. Use your imaginations. Imagine I was stylish and composed and didn't trip or stumble or stutter or cuss - I know it's a stretch, but I think I did pretty well as far as being 'proper' today went. I also spoke with one of the ladies after the demo, and wound up telling her about Sensei's house, so there may or may not be some variety of goodwill message from the San Diego chapter in the future. Who knows; she said she was going to tell her sensei about it. I just hope I don't wind up creating embarrassment for Sensei in trying to be supportive. I know not everyone wants to be reached out to by others when they have hard times; some people need to retreat instead - I know Sensei prefers to bury herself in routines when she's stressed, if this summer was any indication.

I found myself giving out my email address to a ton of strangers. It was interesting - I felt like I was doing some sort of odd, Japanophile networking. especially in regards to drumming up business for Kyoei Treasures. (I really should ask for a discount one of these days for shamelessly plugging them every chance I get...) ^_^ We'll see what my inbox has in store for me later! (I also may have San Diego kimono buddies, if I can get enough advance notice and afford the gas money to drive down there once in a while.... We'll see. :D )

Current Mood: exhausted

Holeecrap today was expensive. I probably dropped close to $225 on stuff. Only about $190 of that was specifically for Sensei/Tea purposes. (I did splurge on getting myself an obiage and obijime in colors I think I will use.)

While I don't expect anyone to chip in towards this HUGE present, I am certainly going to cross my fingers and toes and braid my hair that someone might be willing to, because even with 7 hours of overtime, that's not enough to cover this all. So.

On the other hand, I was complimented quite a bit on my kimono ensemble today (and my ability to walk properly in it), so it made running errands despite a splitting migraine headache somewhat worth it. (Trying to field questions with a splitting headache, especially when they are in Japanese, is another matter entirely. I think I came across as a rather retarded but well-intentioned, bumbling idiot. Damnit.)

*thud* And now I'm off to go crawl onto the couch and watch some Netflix'd stuff until my brain melts from the agony that is my head right now.

(I have also fallen off the Tanka Challenge wagon, and will probably not be crawling back onto it until Thursday...)

SDMA tomorrow - let me know if any of you plan on going! (If you're coming from farther north, maybe you can carpool down with us? Otherwise it's just me and mom.)

Oh, and I'll be wearing my blue iromuji and cream watercolor-painting obi. :) Look for the big gaijin in blue if you go.

Current Mood: sore

It's too soon right now to know what Sensei needs - I can't offer her or her pets any sort of comfortable crash space, and I don't have the funds to provide her with much else right now - but I was thinking about something for later that I could possibly do, such as for an early Christmas present, and it occurred to me that maybe a new kimono ensemble would be worth a shot. A lined poly komon, easy-obi, and underwear set, plus the underpinnings, would be $200 or so (probably under, at Kyoei, because she's an M size and those aren't as pricey as LL!), but if the other students chipped in, we could manage that and maybe a simple tea set (like you see as gift sets? Nothing fancy, but *something*) - it would be things she wouldn't have to borrow (and thus, be reminded of her loss) if she wanted to go to a Tea event or lesson and try to forget the harshness of reality, y'know?

Does that make sense to anyone else?

Current Mood: distressed
Current Music: Clint Mansell -- The Last Man

It's always interesting to see how many places my interests overlap online - catching up on kimono communities has me link-hopping to familiar usernames from IG and recognizing others from SCA-related communities and yet other things from the Tea communities...

I find myself plagued by the urge to sing 'It's a Small World' over and over and over... o.O:

Current Mood: surprised

I forgot just how BORING my thesis was. (And somewhat incomplete at 25 pages instead of 45-50... I never did finish it the way I wanted to.)

And I'm scrambling to dig up my historical sources, rather than my social/cultural commentary ones. Collegium on Saturday is going to be harder than I expected.

(And I can't remember if I signed up for a laptop and projector, or just a projector. If it's the latter, I'm screwed.)

Current Mood: rushed

Tea went well tonight, and I'm pleasantly drunk right now (50-50 Gatorade and sake), so 'scuse any typos I missed.

Wore my new pink (LL) yukata that I ordered a while back. It really needs to go in the wash with some detergent to get the starch/sizing out of it, because the sleeves practically stand up on their own right now. I also need to pick up a few packages of drapery weights to toss in the sleeves of my yukata that have been washed, to avoid the same effect.

Work's crazy and aggravating (someone will sit on something for a week and only ask for it when it becomes some sort of emergency, which means that I am in turn emailing the temp help in a desperate plea for last-minute assistance for things I should have been doing without trouble. I will be emailing the Unit Manager tomorrow to clarify a few things on my to-do list, and thus subtly point out that I'm being asked to do the CSR's job on several things, which bugs me to no end. I am not a CSR, AAR, AR, AM, AE or any other licensed position - I should NOT be in contact with our clients. Period. Can you say "E&O liability," boys and girls?)

Serger class tomorrow night - I'm going to ask about the cover stitch and probably call it a night. I can't think of much else I really need to work on, so. Meh.

I'm in kimono mode lately - I have SCA sewing projects (and at least two of them aren't mine and I really need to sit down and DO them) - but all I really want to do is dick around with fusbile interfacing and make date-eri and han-eri and so on. I should make a han-eri with some lace for my yukata; I'll have to safety-pin it in place, but that's not so bad. (Or, time permitting, I would manage a running stitch on the inner layer of the collar, but this is not likely.)

Can't wait for the LLL-sized yukata to arrive, because I just *barely* fit LL where Tea is concerned. (You know there's an issue when you're yanking all your layers back into place every time you exit the tea room.)

I'm that much more decided about those New Rock boots, new computer be damned. [And toying with the offer made by a coworker that if he bought them for me, I'd prance around wearing *only* them. If a private peep show (no touching) is what it takes to get $300 boots, well... I'm tempted, dammit. In an unrelated note, another coworker tried asking me out (again) yesterday, which was flattering, though I turned him down because I know that mixing work and not-work does not end well. I remember mixing work and my perception of who my friends were. Boy, did that end up all kinds of wrong. Pay no attention to the fact that I'm going with 3 other coworkers to VEGAS in September, because we've already made the agreement that what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas, and while we'll make dirty jokes all day long about what could happen, we know none of it will. It will be a lot of drinking, a ballsy foray into Olympic Gardens, and not much else.]

I bothered with makeup today, at least. A bit of blush, a bit of the powder-foundation (now that my burn has faded to a tan and the color matches), and a bit of mascara. The mascara's bugging me, because i almost never wear it these days, but everything else is light enough that I'm not a greaseball by lunchtime, so I may try to continue this routine. I should look into getting a bronzer in a light tone and a pale, translucent highlighting powder, to try the Carmandy trick of highlighter above the apples of the cheeks, bronzer below, and blush in the middle. Lipcolor and eyeshadow are not a problem for me (though I have yet to find neutral browns/golds/beiges that I like). Liquid liner is an adventure I haven't embarked on yet. Hm. My chin is finally clearing up, though my back is breaking out, and I know it's because I'm sweating at night while I sleep. Rrgh. I need to buy some anti-acne body wash, I suppose, though it means the rest of my will be dried out, too. Phooey.

Current Mood: drunk

Yay deferred expense on getting my tooth filled! (They're billing insurance first and waiving the patient portion, assuming insurance will cover it. If they won't... I'll be on the phone raising hell.) Which means I can kill myself getting another 5-10 hours of overtime racked up and be able to pay off all my other bills before I face some monumental debt from the medical industry. [I love my dentist, but his prices are crazy-high sometimes.]

Boo having spent too much money lately. I really need to keep better track of my impulse buying. I'll remember one purchase* and forget about three others, and then wonder why my credit card balance is suddenly so high. :( Not cool. I also really need to just sign out of eBay for a few months. >.<

Work wasn't TOO crazy today, at least. G's all-day project turned out to take about half as much time, y'know? So I managed to get some class-time in, too. Tomorrow, I have no idea how things will go, but I'm crossing my fingers I'll be able to take the part two of the class from today.

Tea tomorrow, and I need to remember to hit the ATM so I can actually pay for my lesson. I hope the weather stays pleasant enough that I can wear yukata without being miserable, as it's the first lesson of the month. (And until it gets cooler, it will be yukata and not kimono...) I still have these sky-high hopes I can lose enough weight to wear an L-sized kimono around the hips**, even if it's the wrong length for the arms, mostly because all the fun and interesting patterns stop at L-size. LL (and above?) are largely solid-colored polyester because it's assumed fat and tall people will only be attending very formal events, I suppose. None of that tasteful daily wear for anyone over 5'6"! Bah.

* Ichiroya sells LLL and LLLL-sized yukata. Just, yanno, FYI. And they're only $38 each. Plus shipping. FYI. :D :D :D I'm tempted to start a campaign to petition them to seek out LL+-sized komon.

** (If I actually found the $$ to join a gym, this might be feasible. For now, it's not real likely.)

Current Mood: apathetic

I have rakubon items sorted out for tomorrow (because I don't feel like lugging the kama-furo setup and dealing with breakably awkward hishaku) and a basic mizuya setup (towels, dish cloth, tub) ready to go. I only have three bowls, so if there's more than three people at a time who want tea, well... there will be a wait. Also, I did NOT blow $25 after tax on an electric kettle that I will NEVER use more than once, so if someone happens to have one? Or something to put the hot water in to keep it hot? Yeah, that'd be pretty sweet. I DO have a bright orange extension cord for the hot plate, however. If there is power near the field, I will be ganking it if at all possible, rather than placing myself underfoot in the feast hall while they setup (though I was given permission to do so).

I just need to get the mesh popup and my green tapestry from the attic tomorrow a.m. and load everything in the car, and I should be good. And a tablecloth, while I'm thinking about it. I have a folding table (finally... Ikea only had the 40+" ones left), but it's a rather modern-looking metal thing.

Current Mood: accomplished

So, getting some feedback on my grand plan to teach at Fall Collegium. And I'm realizing that I don' t know the first dang thing about being at the front of a classroom. And that, as I answer questions from someone who DOES, I don't really have the equipment I need for the class I want to teach, either. Oh dear. (I also doubt that the cost of the equipment if I were to order it would NOT be covered on the reimbursement form. $200-plus-shipping, Urasenke-school charcoal-shaped hot plate, $150-plus-shipping-per-mat tatami, the rental of a truck to get the tatami TO Collegium... yeah. Not likely.)

Erk.

Which means the new plan is a basic(!!) demo of Tea [furo because I don't think the school will let me dig a hole in the floor for ro...] and a lot more detail in the lecture focusing on the history. And then opening everything up to questions from the guests/students/innocent bystanders.

==

In other news, I took my INS 21 test today and PASSED. HA! (And everyone who found out told me that I should be licensed FIRST, THEN take the test... But I really don't think the company's going to spring for a licensing exam and the fees for a license when I'm not looking at any kind of promotion for another two or three years, assuming there's an opening to promote to. So we'll see where that goes.)

Operation Specialest Snowflake Evar! is proceeding well enough, however. [If G is the only one with a complaint, then it probably isn't *me* at the source of the problem. Thus, I intend to do my damnedest to be the most fantastic, indespensable, wonderfullest employee ever. Neener-fuckin'-neener. I even pinned up the award she was so pissed at me for getting - right at eye level.]

Now, I'm TIRED. I think I'm going to give up on the overtime idea until next week; I don't really have the giveadamn to get much more than 8 hours into my day right now. *thud*

Current Mood: busy
Current Location: werk...
Current Music: Stella Splendens - Qntal

Or at least, one that doesn't cause me so damned much aggravation...

I'm going to be at Gyldenholt Anniversary, and I'm planning on bringing my Tea stuff (somehow; it may be in a very mundane plastic crate and padded to hell). I've even ordered the matcha just now, so it should be here no later than Thursday.

Anyone who wants to stop by for some matcha and sweets, feel free. (I won't be staying for the feast, I don't think.)

EDIT: I r moron. I already have a can of matcha, unopened, sitting in my cabinet. Ah well. The new can will be fresher, as I have no clue when I ordered the last one. (Kitchen experiments ahoy! I sense matcha ice cream in the future.)

Current Mood: blah

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和敬西洋

Wa Kei Sei Yo~

Entries tagged with tea

Tsukimi hell

Dammit.

Work and life

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!

Tea Gathering Run-Down

Weekend Report

Sicky

Fweedle!

Num

Aaaand... go!

thud Long day, but not too bad.

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Thoughts for later

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Ups and downs

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On a happier note...