Sick Creativity

Ug. I am officially suffering from a guilty cold. This is day three of an upper respiratory collection of gross. And it's at that point where I feel sick, but I'm not missing limbs and not dead so I should probably go in. One of those illnesses where my attempt to get out and get some air turns into skirting the edge of playing hooky.  The conversation in my head goes something like this: "I'd love to take an easy bike ride to the local thrift store to move and get some fresh air." " Um, hey. If you can ride a bike and shop, then shouldn't you be at work?" "But the biking and shopping is part of the healing!" "But it's fun, and if you're having fun then you're obviously not sick enough to stay home from work." It's a cycle of shame.

Yesterday was a good dose of official "ick", so I harbored no feelings of remorse for working from home. There was enough to do on the computer to rationalize moving my work space to one conveniently surrounded by Kleenex, cold medication, and ice cream (the last of which I'm sure is some kind of mana from heaven when it comes to making sore throats feel better).

Between work stuff I managed to construct another portion of my first costuming project. I really hope this turns out well. I actually have little to no idea what I'm doing. One of my dance friends gave wise advice when I started though: "Oh, just stop worrying so much about patterns and measurements and stuff and just start making something." So here is the something. There's a lot of work to still be done. The beading needs finishing on the left side strap & cup. I'm also putting a round charm/glittery thing/clasp in the center with a few strands of beads looping up to the sides. Those are the easy parts. The hard part is being able to fit it and judge whether or not this is a costuming success or failure. Of course, it still needs a hip scarf to go with it - which will be a new challenge in fringe and avoiding weird patterns on butt cheeks and crotch.

A big shout out to Naima, of Naima's Bellydance Blog, for her post on how to do a blanket stitch to put the lining onto the back of the bra. Mine isn't quite perfect, but it covers up the crazy mess of beading stitches. :) And a HUGE shout out to Amulya and her What Were They Thinking blog. It's been an extremely valuable resource in what NOT to do with a bra top. For example:

 - Putting gigantic round rhinestones dead center on each cup will remind your audience that, not only do you have nipples, but that they're IN YO FACE NIPPLES! In fact, stay away from large circles on the boobs all together, as many of these designs have the tendency to look like targets or eyes. Then again, some people just go for straight up eyes. Creepy... ("Mommy! That dancer's chest is looking at me! Make it stop!")

 - Fringe, when used in excess, can make your chest look like it's crying. When the color of your fringe happens to match the color of your hair, having it on your chest creates the illusion that you need to shave in a place that doesn't often need shaving. In this case, there's some kind of bellydancng Cthulhu.

 - Too much creativity (i.e. not incorporating similar elements throughout the top) can come off looking like a little old lady barfed her antiques collection all over you. Then the top got caught in a vacuum cleaner. Then someone tried to fix it with hot glue. Also, it was probably fought over by several dogs... who had yarn fringe in their mouths.

 - There are just some designs that shouldn't be. This costume would make me feel like E.T.

P.S. I finished adding in the ET picture at 9:30AM. It's currently noon, I've been at work since 10:30AM, am sneezing, coughing, and hacking up a storm, have had three coworkers tell me to go home and one coworker refuse to come near me. It's official: I'm sick enough to be at home recuperating. I am validated and free of my sick guilt. So I'm going to pack up by 1PM, go home, have lunch, and gladly take that therapeutic bike ride.