Poetry
I’ve recently cleaned off of my computer, and found a bunch of poetry I wrote a few years ago. It was once a dream of mine to write my own book of poems, and I think I will pick back up on that project again. Here is one of the poems I found, which was written after a trip to Europe.
Whenever we speak of you and I
There comes the whim to drive, sail or fly
To New York, or Florida, or across the sea
Because together is what we’d prefer to be
Different lives, different places
We each have seen a thousand faces
But I rarely see yours
And there you sit, behind closed doors
Writing letters to faces when you’ve discovered their names
Because talking to strangers is one of our favorite games
We send the poems we love, the stories we know
The letters we write, and the dreams we grow
I once traveled the world and found myself quite alone
and I dialed the wrong number on a worn out pay phone
I lost my last bit of hard earned change
which put you too far out of my range
and the world outside the hostel window grew dark
I recalled a card with a foreign postmark-
“You may travel the wide world over, find lots of things to do
But the place I’ll always remember…” is where your face is in view
I sat on a bench in a far away city and I was alone
so I wrote letters to some of the people I’ve known
Some have been good, some have been bad
But regardless, I’m grateful for friendships I’ve had
I have letters scattered all across my floor
I don’t really want to wander aimlessly anymore
And buying plane tickets home becomes such a regret
when leaving the friends I will never ever forget
Their absence is noted as the seasons continue to turn
And a growing cause of my concern
It that we rarely write ‘you’ next to ‘me.’
And as I sit here and write poems quietly
I just wish this one thought would be true
That ‘and’ be the only thing keeping me away from you.
Metamorphix Collaboration Project
My friends Laura Clark, a writer, and Brittany Scott, a graphic designer, started a really cool non profit publication called Outlet to publish work by local artists. I got to work on the first collaborative project which involved two photographers, a sequential artist/fashion designer, a graphic designer and myself. We decided to create our own super heros, and this is what we ended up with!
This is the opening spread! I did the background and colors. Nicole, who you will see if you scroll down, drew the characters. There was also type on this but I don’t have a copy of that image yet!
Me as Thuraya- I did all of the drawings on top of the photographs.
Colin Gray, a photographer, as VelociRapper
Nicole Edge, a sequential artist/fashion designer and bellydancer, as Neko
Nathan Jones, a photographer, as Ed
Nick Grappone, a graphic designer, as Antiiq. He did the typography.
Soldier’s Angel Helmet
This is a visor shield for a helicopter pilot’s helmet that I painted for a soldier named Steve who is currently deployed. The last time he was deployed his helicopter got shot down in enemy territory and he was rescued- his story really was nothing short of a miracle, and the helmet is to symbolize protection. It was a really inspiring project to work on and I hope that one day there will be peace again. God bless all our soldiers, and I hope everyone is praying for our troops!
This is Steve’s Story:
A little about myself, my last deployment myself and my copilot were shot down in a Triangle of Death Ambush in Iraq. We were engaged by 3 heavy caliber machine guns along with 2-3 dozen individual Al-Queda insurgents. Once down we evaded the crash site to a 30 foot wide canal about 20 yards away. About half way across the canal we got stuck and couldnt move any further due to the criss-crossing reeds and neck high water. Once stuck the insurgents closed in our positions and circled the canal from both sides and commenced shooting at us at nearly point blank range with their AK-47’s for almost 10 minutes at which point a 14.5mm antiaircraft gun began to shoot at us. The rounds were impacting the water around our bodies only mere inches away. After a half hour of insurgents firing on us help arrived and we were lifted out of there by an Apache helicopter, my co-pilot strapped to the wing of the bird and me in the front seat. We were the first and only pilots since the war broke out in 2001 that has survived a Triangle of Death Shootdown. By all normal standards we shoot be dead and the fact that we’re alive today still troubles me.
Cavalia
My dad got me tickets to see Cavalia in Atlanta for my birthday! Its basically Cirque Du Soliel, but with horses. It was an amazing show- especially for anyone who has ever worked with or bonded with a horse!
Here is the trailer for the show! I could write about it, but words really cannot describe adequately what I feel for horses, and awe they inspire. I remember in particular one time at my summer camp, I was in the woods by myself for some reason and my coworkers were driving the herd from the field, through the woods to the barn on the other side, and I heard the thunder of hooves and turned and saw them all rushing towards me. I ran to the nearest tree so I wouldn’t get trampled, and they all rushed past me… I can’t describe how that makes you feel. This show really captures the fascination and freedom I’ve always found among horses.
We drove several hours to get there! It was boring. I hate driving.
I brought my friend Diana with me and it was a lot of fun! We got sushi before at a restaurant called Strip. It was good. I always love sushi.
Then I got chased back to Savannah by wild horses. No really, though- the show is well worth seeing, and beautifully staged. I recommend it!
HIP-notize Art Show at DeSoto Row Gallery
My friends and I arranged an art show at DeSoto Row called HIPnotize, about Bellydancers! There were 6 of us involved, most of us recent SCAD alumni. It went really well! And of course we had live bellydancers at the opening. Being a bellydancer, I was obligated
The artists! Anna Cooper, Carrie Padgett, Mary Larsen, Me and Alexandra!
Here is Carrie hanging up some of the artwork. She did the swirly paintings, and Mary did the dancers.
These are Anna’s paintings. She does them in acrylic with a super small paintbrush. The piece on the left turns from a skirt to fossils in the ground. Awesome!
Here are Mary’s girls. There was a ton of other art and Anna has a great blog post with pictures of everything.
Here is my contribution to the show- two 16″x40″ acrylic paintings. I’m so glad to have them done. I finished them half an hour before we hung the show- hahaha. It took me two days longer than I expected to finish them, since I’m so used to working digitally I forgot how much patience it takes.
Here I am after we hung the paintings! You can’t tell but I was spastically happy. And I had a cute outfit.

Cairo on the Coast Dancing!
Unfortunately we had to dance inside the gallery because it rained all day- we’d been planning to have all the dancing outside so people could wander in and out of the gallery at will, but we just took breaks between songs instead.
Thanks to everyone who was involved and came to the show. It really was fun, and I love you all. Please excuse my copious use of exclamation points in this post.
Market Bazaar
Lately my friends and I have been going to some craft fairs to sell the things we make. This weekend was the Savannah Market Bazaar, which is the second saturday of every month.

My friends Nicole and Britt share a space. I sell my books, Nicole sells old fashioned cold process soap that she makes from scratch and Britt sells jewelry made out of tissue paper. Britt is my new roomie and she is totally awesome!
Me and Britt
I am working on a painting of a bellydancer in this picture- my friends and I arranged a belly dance art show called HIPnotize at DeSoto Row that will open Friday with live bellydancers! If you live in Savannah, you should be there.

New Handmade Books
I’ve been busting my butt to make a bunch of new books for the 3 craft shows coming up this month. Here they are- all 13 of them! They will be up on my Etsy store eventually.


Its finally fall, and I am so ready for cool weather and less mosquitos!
Gardening!
Well, I left most of the summer and my garden was horribly neglected. I’ve been poking and prodding it since I got back, weeding and reviving, and here are the re-beginnings of the growing. I planted a bunch of seeds with no expectation of them growing because it has been so hot, but within only a few days they were already sprouting!

- Carrot Seedlings

- Zucchini Seedlings

- Spinach Seedlings
My Pepper plants were really the only things that survived the summer without much effort needed to revive them. They’re producing tiny little peppers that are about 2 inches long right now.

- Baby Pepper
My basil died a horrible, tragic death while I was away and my Dad gave me a few of his little basil plants. They’re doing well, but I can’t wait for them to get huge! My last plant was about a foot and a half tall and had giant leaves. My strawberry plant, too, which was producing fruit, started shriveling up, but I saved it and now it has a few tiny new leaves. Hang on, little strawberry plant!

Basil

Strawberries
I got an aloe plant from the local wildlife center- they were selling them for $2. Hopefully I won’t ever burn myself because this plant is too cute to cut up.

Aloe
This is the part of my garden with the peppers, eggplant and new baby seeds.

Portion of my Garden
This is Bob, my boyfriend’s tomato plant. He dug it up when he was moving houses and showed up at my house in the middle of the night with it and scared the bejezus out of me. Bob isn’t doing so good, but I will try to save him.

Tomato

Sempervivum

Oregano
I had to put the catnip in a hanging basket because my outdoor kitty, Notch, and the other neighborhood cats liked it a little too much and ate most of it.

Catnip Plant
My Dad gave me this plant. It blooms pretty reddish flowers in December! We’ve had these plants around my house my whole life, and now I have my own house and my own Christmas Cactus.

Christmas Cactus from my Dad

Unknown Plant
This begonia also made it through the summer without looking neglected. I am impressed.

Begonia

Wind Chime
Bellydancing at Tantra, August 09
Cairo on the Coast, my dance troupe, did our usual gig with Mei’attah Raqs at Tantra Tapas & Sushi last night. The crowd was huge and enthusiastic, so thanks to everyone for making it a great evening! And I finally had my new green costume all put together!

I was super tired because I worked a morning shift that day and took a nap between work and bellydancing- when I woke up to my alarm, I was extremely disoriented and thought I was in highschool and had to get up, put on a uniform, and go to class. I was very upset until I remembered that I’m not a high schooler, I’m a bellydancer.

As usual, there was a token drunk lady running around. She danced by herself between our sets of dances. She was pretty into it. Unfortunately she didn’t do anything hilarious like the last drunk lady who poured a drink on her head and then went and barfed on the huge glass windows of the super expensive restaurant next door, but drunk dancing is pretty good anyway. She tried to dance with Nicole during one song and was promptly escorted off the stage by a waitress. I must say, though- apart from whoever the drunk lady is on any particular night, Tantra is a pretty classy place.

My friends and I have a tentative plan to have an art show this fall featuring belly dance art and the local troupes. It will mainly be a collection of our own work- but we will probably also have a call for entries as well. So if anyone has any belly dance art or ideas, start getting them together












