Undine's Pool

undinesprite — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 17:50:56 GMT

I'm taking an online course which involves digesting things such as the following:

All SGML applications contain an SGML declaration that describes the characters and delimiters that appear in the application. they also contain a DTD that includes the syntax of the markup constructs used in the application. Additional definitions such as character entry references can also be included in a DTD.

Wow. Could that be any more boring??

undinesprite — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 17:02:20 GMT

Hahaha, I am Craig.

undinesprite — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 14:51:54 GMT

View Poll: Music for Bellydance Performance

If you're not familiar with the above, some YouTube links:
Coming Undone
Wiretrip
Vampires

undinesprite — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 04:00:12 GMT

So the Prince took me to see a digital encore presentation of the Met's performance of Madame Butterfly. Very minimalist approach to the set design. Also bun ra ku type puppets were used for some characters like Butterfly's son. I thought that it might be distracting but it was actually quite effective. And zowie, those were some seriously talented puppeteers; it took three of them to puppet Sorrow. Gorgeously tragic story. The Prince and I were both crying by the finale.

undinesprite — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 15:29:48 GMT

It's Saturday Morning Watchmen! Which made me snorkle.

undinesprite — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 03:24:50 GMT

Dear webernetz,

FaceBook is no longer cool as my mom now has a profile up. I swear it's not my fault!

Me

Benefit hafla March 2009

undinesprite — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 23:07:20 GMT

Benefit hafla march 2009
Originally uploaded by undinesprite

From last night's show. The whole thing was a lot of fun; I hope we raised some serious funds for local no kill shelters. Performing with the drag queens definitely added a saucy fun element missing at the typical belly dance show =)

Special thanks to the Prince for starting off the tipping, being part of my personal cheering section, and playing paparazzi after a long day at work.

Thanks as well to marmalade_jack for his artistic input, pinning all of the beads and pompoms onto my skirt and actually being brave/foolish enough to get onstage with me.

View more photos here.

undinesprite — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 04:14:18 GMT

Hello local people! The Blu Foundation is presenting the First Ever No Kill Shelter Benefit on March 7th at St. Paul's Episcopal Church Reception Hall at 7 Court Place in Newport. Doors open at 8 with performances starting at 9. There will be belly dancers (including me) and drag queens. Nibbly bits included in the $15 admission fee, all of which goes to the shelters.

If you're available, come support a good cause and watch me get my shimmy on =)

undinesprite — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 17:08:48 GMT

Bwah! Tentacle love. From the Onion, Lovecraftian School Board Member Wants Madness Added to the Curriculum.

undinesprite — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 02:54:33 GMT

Books read in February

50 Ways to Hex Your Lover by Linda Wisdom
Chalice by Robin McKinley. Absolutely gorgeous writing as usual.
Evermore by Alyson Noel
Fairyville by Emma Holly. I wonder how many people bought this expecting your typical urban fantasy romance and were surprised that the first sex scene is between two hot guys.
MZB's Sword and Sorceress 23 edited by Elisabeth Waters
Undone by Rachel Caine
Unusual Suspects edited by Dana Stabenow
Would-Be Witch by Kimberly Frost

undinesprite — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 17:45:12 GMT

A roll of duct tape + scissors + an invisible dog on a leash =

a. A surrealist bit of performance art
b. A disaster in the making
c. A bit of prop modification for next week's performance
d. All of the above

undinesprite — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 18:26:48 GMT

What's your mental age? Take this test to find out.

Translation of the directions:

1. Touch "Start"
2. Wait for 3,2,1
3. Memorize the numbers’ position on the screen, and then click the circle from the smallest number to the largest.
4. At the end of the game, the age of your brain will be calculated.

I'm 37 mentally.

undinesprite — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 03:47:23 GMT

Mmm, the past 24 hours have been full of edible goodness. Last night, picked up food from Lac Viet, a Vietnamese restaurant which we hadn't tried before. I had my first ever banh mi thit and banh mi ga. We also shared some pho which is perfect on a cold night.

Later there was aged irish cheddar that had been bathed in whiskey. The alcohol was a far more pronounced taste than with the wine soaked cheeses I've had. Really enhanced the cheese.

For dessert there were spiced cupcakes with either a ginger frosting or cream cheese frosting. Nom.

This morning it was scrambled eggs a la Gordon Ramsay with ham and cheddar scones. Doing it GD's way creates the most amazingly creamy texture for the eggs.

Later it was Dungeness Crab and Corn Chowder, Potato Leek Soup, and a bit of Manchego cheese from Zingerman's Dairy.

Later it was absolute decadence with ice cream from Jeni's; we had the Bittersweet Orange with Chocolate Flecks, Cocoa Mint, and Creme Fraiche with Amarena Cherries. *food bliss*

I should fast all day tomorrow to make up for all of the unbelievably rich food.

undinesprite — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 20:03:25 GMT

Thanks to herefox, I'm currently reading Death: A Life with George Pendle. Bits like the following have had me snorking:

"When I got to know the trees better, I found out that God had originally planned on populating the Earth solely with trees, but His ardor for arbor had cooled somewhat when He had discovered the joys of creeping things.

As it was, the history of trees would end up closely paralleling that of humans,with the trees even having their own wooden Messiah; a humble olive tree, whose sap, it was alleged, could heal oak wilt, Dutch elm disease, and spike phytoplasma. but the tree Messiah was betrayed by flora envious of its powers, and it suffered horrible tortures; being whittled, sawed, and carved into the shape of a cross, where, in a remarkable twist of fate, it found itself nailed to the back of the human Messiah. Many orthodox deciduous trees still blamed this terrible episode on the Yews."

undinesprite — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 04:34:41 GMT

To quote Bucky, "I eat fish to assert my dominance over them. No olive ever got all up in my grill and disrespected me."

undinesprite — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 21:10:44 GMT

Okay, this is too much fun! Save a word! I've already adopted agonyclite and vocidate. Do your part!

undinesprite — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 15:31:11 GMT

Being stressed makes me overly sensitive and forgetful. Not a good combination. I'm taking offense at non-offensive things. Forgetting important things like paying the water bill. And crying about all of the ensuing cockups. Apologizing for the cockups and the crying and then feeling more stressed.

Hi Universe?
I'd like to get off the merrygoround of crazy please. And sooner rather than later if you can manage. Really appreciate it.
Thanks,
Me

undinesprite — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 01:48:46 GMT

Today, I'm scented deliciously, Eat Me.

In other news, my new favorite word to be used incessantly until everyone around me wants to shove a gag in my mouth (which may be the case, no matter what I'm saying) is shens. It's short for shenanigans. Old favorite word? Ba-noodles.

undinesprite — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 14:56:33 GMT

Today I smell of naughty wrongness, Perversion.

undinesprite — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 21:49:40 GMT

Dear Universe,

WtF? The amount of delicious cupcakes I've recently consumed in no way balances all of the crap you've been dishing out. Please look into redressing this immediately.

Also? How about showing some love and/or cupcakes to all of my loved ones who are also on the receiving end of Bad Stuff.

Thx,
Me

undinesprite — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 01:59:05 GMT

Wow. I totally slacked in January when it came to reading.

New Tricks by John Levitt. Second in a series. If you like the Harry Dresden books or the Nightside books, give him a try.

Salvation in Death by JD Robb. I usually really enjoy the Eve Dallas series but this one felt like Robb (aka Nora Roberts) was just going through the motions. Disappointing.

Surviving Demon Island by Jaci Burton. I should've known better when the heroine's name was Gina Bliss. I mean, really? Seriously? Awful.

Unnatural Inquirer by Simon Green. Solid urban fantasy.

Havemercy by Jaida Jones. Interesting world building although the characters were fairly standard. Still, I'm looking forward to reading more.

Dead Reign by TA Pratt. Another enjoyable urban fantasy series.

undinesprite — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 23:34:01 GMT

A new Jacqueline Carey book is coming out in June, Naamah's Kiss.

An excerpt from Bone Crossed, the new Mercy book by Patricia Briggs.

An excerpt from Dead and Gone, the new Sookie book by Charlaine Harris due out in May.

undinesprite — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 16:26:36 GMT

I know that a lot of you are urban fantasy readers, so if you haven't already, vote in the Urban Fantasy Land Readers' Choice Awards.

undinesprite — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 00:00:16 GMT

As someone who gets stuck proofing for co-irkers, I want this poster sized for my cubicell:

more animals

undinesprite — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 04:19:01 GMT

The Prince and I had a fantastic meal tonight at Bella Luna. We started off with the fungi al forno, mushroom caps stuffed with parmesan, cream, and shallots. Warm foccacia with garlic and herb butter. I had a simple salad; it was field green with shaved parmesan and a honey balsamic dressing. The Prince had a classic caesar. He had penne with an arribiatta sauce, spicy and perfect on a cold evening. I had cheese ravioli with the most amazingly light pumpkin and cream sauce. And for dessert, we split a piece of the world's best bread pudding. Totally and completely NOM.

Lovely food, attentive w/out being annoying service, in a funky ambiance plus fun dinner conversation made for a really wonderful time.