Nope, I still don't do Facebook, but via this LJ post of querca-robur this game of questions spilled over. It works like this: someone gives you a number and you need to state that amount of personal things about yourself, preferably things that people don't know yet. I got the number 9 (!) from querca-robur, so here goes in random order. I hope I can think of things..

1. I dislike my arm pits. Say what? Well, when belly dancing there are some moves or poses where you lift your arms over your head, and when wearing a sleeveless top your arm pits are exposed. Mine are darker than I would like them, even though I epilate the hairs instead of shaving. The skin is darker there for some reason and I detest that. The question is: is it something to worry about or am I the only one who notices it?
2. I don't like playing games much. At least not games where you should try your best to win. So Arkham Horror is an exception. I'm a lousy strategist and don't have much luck with dice either and not winning makes me feel stupid. That's why I always declined when my little brother wanted to play Hotel (you have to manage money and build a hotel emporium) on Sundays.
3. When I was a kid I wanted to become an animal caretaker at Pieterburen: taking care of seals. Either that or an art teacher (tekenlerares). So no actress, police officer, nurse or other cliche thing. However, I have become a web programmer and this is not my dream job. Whatever my dream job might be, I don't know.
4. I seldom have a higher goal in mind when doing something. For example choosing my study (Interaction Design), I didn't do that to better the world with better designed interfaces (good thing too because the study was not that useful) but because 'I had to choose something after high school'. Then when I had to motivate why I wanted to do my Master I thought "well du'h, because it's the highest grade to obtain here. Why not?" and not some deep emotional reason or because I felt I had a 'calling'. Most of the time I want to perform my best, but only because I want to have done well and not because I need to prove something to someone (but perhaps to myself?).
5. I like my hobbies, I'm glad that I have a job that pays well (even though I don't like it much), a good house to live in, a lovely boyfriend, two cute (though sometimes annoyingly meowing) cats and that I am in good health. Still, I can get quite miserable when I think about other people who seem to have a goal in life. Be it working at their dream job, or traveling the world doing volunteer jobs. I sometimes yearn for such a 'calling' and feel like I'm just drifting along without purpose.
6. I am still insecure about my fake right eye. When watching videos of myself performing belly dance or playing in a musical, I always notice my right eye screwing up my expression. That's why last year, when playing the Tin Man in Oz, I covered that eye with a steampunk like 'metal' inset. This year I catch myself thinking of ways to cover up that eye again... People keep ensuring me that "gosh, is it fake. I didn't notice anything" and I never ever believe them. Even when they do know I can't see with my right eye, it is something that is easy to forget for others. When you offer me something on my right side it might take a while before you are noticed...
7. If you are pregnant it is hard for me, near impossible, to be happy for you. I see pregnancy as something that any mammal can accomplish and not something to aspire to. So don't talk about your pregnancy or show me photos of your echo and expect a friendly response. I can be civil, but I can't be overjoyed. Don't expect me to admire the baby either, it's just an ugly little human resembling a potato. Yes, it is a miracle that it is healthy and has 10 fingers and 10 toes and everything, still it is another human being on this already too overcrowded doomed planet.
8. I am not afraid of semi-dark roads in the late (or early) evening. Some women at streetdance think I am very brave to cycle to the lesson instead of going by car like they all do. "It's so dark out there". Yeah, so? It's not like there's a rapist at every street corner waiting for you or werewolves to jump out of every bush. I even think that the chance of something happening to you is smaller at a deserted road than at, say, a more busy street between to towns. An evil doer should have a lot of patience when waiting for a victim at a deserted road, so he's less likely to be there. Heck, I took a 45 minute (22:10 - 22:55) hike through the middle of nowhere last Saturday when going from Bosch en Duin to the station of Den Dolder. On my own. The only thing I was worried about was if I was going in the right direction and if I would make it on time. I am not afraid of semi-dark, deserted roads. However, stepping into a black gaping hole of a bicycle path through the woods (and not knowing where it leads) is just stupid.
9. I'm very proud of my weight loss since the 10th of September this year. Last Friday I had lost 8,5 kilograms already, tomorrow I will weigh myself again. The first goal is 10 kilograms, to get to a BMI of 25. However, I think I want to proceed. My belly dance teacher says I should stop now, that I look good and "really, I think you should not loose more weight", but something in the back of my head wonders what I would look like with another 5 kilograms less and if I can manage that. Something else is worrying what will happen when I stop weighing every bit of food that I plan to eat (to keep track of the calories one has to do this but it is tiresome). And I should really watch out that it is not muscle that I'm loosing, but fat. I've heard success stories from people that loose weight quickly because they stop unhealthy habits (like drinking soda's, eating snacks and such) or they just have a lot to spare. For me it hasn't been that simple. I didn't have much unhealthy habits to begin with and not so much to spare either (though I am really not missing those 8,5 kilograms), so I really have reason to be proud.

And there you have them: 9 things about me.

Now back to a busy week. This evening we have to spent a total of 3 hours in the car to visit a possible location for a new Exit, in Limburg (!). Tomorrow I will go shopping for a bra for my belly dance outfit, and perhaps a new pair of sweatpants for streetdance. Then in the evening we have to work on the new registration system for EE, Saturday we celebrate Sinterklaas in Harderwijk, Sunday we go to the Maker Fair in Hengelo and afterwards have dinner with my grandparents in Ermelo. And then we're already at the new workweek which has only 1 free evening left (Thursday) and another packed weekend.

In other news. The 17th of January there's a belly dance party again with performances and free dancing. I will be doing 3 or 4 dances that evening! Two of them are with our current group and 1 or 2 solos depending on if my teacher has the time to prepare a solo. The first plan was for me to do 1 solo, but I have added another one so one of my 'classmates' has time to change costumes between her solo and the next group dance. If my teacher has the time to prepare a solo she will take over the slot of my extra solo, but she said I shouldn't count on that. So, if you come to see me (and the rest of the show) on the 17th of January, you will really get your money's worth. ;-)

Last weekend was Cadansa, a balfolk festival in Utrecht. Had a great time with lovely dances and nice people. It had been a while since I danced balfolk but the dances are so simple that it all came back rather quick.

I even had the guts to ask a particular Frenchman that I had noticed before on Damada and last year Cadansa (because he's handsome) and I got asked by various gentleman. This was good for my self esteem! What helped for my 'happy feeling' too was that I fitted the green dress again that I made back in 2008. It had been too tight around the chest area so the buttons would be under pressure. That's all fixed now that I've dropped a total of 7,5 kilograms.

The dieting is doing wonders for my self esteem. I feel prettier. The only hard thing is to ignore all temptations and keep my calories around 1500 a day. Last weekend the sound guys (among them of course Matthijs) had a huge pile of snacks and all I got to eat (self imposed) was tangerines. (which, fortunately, tasted good) The other hard thing is that with a few basics like whole grain bread and a big apple or pear a breakfast or evening meal races towards the 400 calories, and that's without stuff to put on your bread. That is disheartening sometimes.

The weight loss is going slower now. I only dropped half a kilogram last week. However, I'm a woman so this might have something to do with hormones and periods and stuff. Still, I'm "worrying" that I might need to add more exercise to my schedule to drop the last 2,5 kilograms (and perhaps a bit more to be more on the safe side of the BMI 25). Last weekend might have helped, however I "splurged" on lasagna for dinner yesterday (food for the volunteers) and got to about 2050 calories. I haven't weighed myself today because what good would it do? I'll keep on trying to stay near 1500 this week and on Friday I'll weigh myself again.

Yay for feeling prettier! Let's keep going. Oh, and I continued working on a new belly dance costume (second one this year) for which I'm planning to pimp a bra, so bare belly! The skirt is lovely and I'm working on the belt now. I used a pattern that I made in the first year I started belly dancing (2009/2010) and I had to take it in for a better fit! I still need to buy the bra for the top and make some loose sleeves. I've got lots of beads for decoration but still need to decide on a design. Next to actually performing for an audience, this is the best thing about this hobby: creating costumes.