Considering this is my first summer without any day camps or classes, it still feels quite busy. That's not to say I've been particularly productive or anything. I haven't. But now that those artistic muses are coming back from vacation, I'm being forced to take one of my own. This weekend, my family will be going to Dayton and Cincinnati for the respective feiseanna. Then it's straight to Florida for the traditional family vacation. If all goes as planned, I'll return on July 8 with another layer to my perpetual natural tannishness and much of my summer reading done to several unfinished art pieces that I may or may not have the interest/inspiration to finish properly. But it'll all be good fun. See you the eighth!

Oekaki drawn here. Dress based on Piet Mondrian's works.

Hm, I wonder what a Mondrian Irish dance dress would look like. Anyway, I'm off to Louisville Feis tomorrow!

Toon Boom Studio is so darn nifty! Now I can make animated Flash cartoons instead of comic strips. (My comics yield has been pretty slow lately, hasn't it?) If I only had the voice and music talent to make my own audio tracks, the possibilities would be endless.

Two outdoor feiseanna in two days. I'm pooped. Things are different in open level. By this point, most dancers are very, very good. As if everyone seriously deserves first place. Makes it easier to see how inconsistent different adjudicators are. One girl got first place in reel at Chicago Feis, and nothing in reel the very next day with a similar group at Maryville. I guess you have to really stand out to be a consistent placer.

Chicago Feis: fourth in reel, third in slip jig, third in traditional set. Maryville Feis: sixth in reel, fourth in slip jig, sixth in hornpipe.

Charcoal is fun. I'm going to be addicted to the medium in no time.



So my yesterday was spent cleaning and re-setting-up computers in the library of my former elementary/junior high school with my dad. Nothing like noncompulsory, underappreciated volunteer work. But really, it was fun -- or at least different. I'm halfway through reading The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman, a book "assigned" to me by my more literary friends. Really good stuff. And my room is once again a mess, so that will probably become my project for the day.

Wow. I can't believe I'll be doing that again nearly every weekend this summer. I just wrote a review for the competition, so go there for my rambling. It went pretty well: I got third in reel, fourth in slip jig, second in treble jig, and third in traditional set.

Yep, I'm still set on reworking the whole domain. I think I have me a killer splash page already. But that's as far as I'm going to get for now. I'm off to Detroit Feis tomorrow! Must practice more!


Ain't it pretty?

Freedom! Whee! Geez, it's so hard getting into the habit of practicing Irish dance again. My feet are not a pretty sight. Anyway, here are the last of the accumulated sketches from my journal.

Acrylic on matte board -- matte board because I don't have any canvas. Spent most of today painting it. It's a gift for my friend who's graduating from junior high. Shh!

I arrived home at two this afternoon after a day of three finals. They actually weren't as bad as I thought, and now I only have one more on Wednesday. After a weekend of stress, it felt so good to come home and do "nothing."