Nutcracker Reflections

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The performance DVDs and photobooks from the Nutcracker performance I was part of in December recently arrived, and reminded to me to take a moment to pause and reflect on the show. The recording and photography are really nicely done and will be an excellent souvenir of the performances, which were a lot of fun!

I performed as the Marzipan/Mirliton soloist in the second act of the show, as well as part of the Snow corps. It was a lot of work to learn and perfect the choreography, but it was definitely worth it in the end. We originally only had one performance planned, but demand for tickets was so high that we actually added a second performance!

My only regret is not having had time to get the right assortment of pointe shoes and thus had to worry about whether they would last through both performances. Fortunately, with some shellac and jet glue, it worked out ^_^

As always, ballerinas are perfectionists, and looking my dancing in the video, I'm happy that my footwork and extensions through the legs has improved greatly, but going forward, I do want to focus more on extending that energy through my upper body and arms as well, because I think that was my weak point in both pieces.

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Goals for 2016

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I know it's already a month into 2016, but I have been thinking a lot about all of the things, big and small, that I want to work on or accomplish this year. I think a lot of New Year's resolutions end up fizzling out because they are often too vague or too unrealistic. Thus, in setting my goals, I chose mostly small things that I think are feasible, and limit myself to just one broad conceptual goal for this year:

Allow myself to be imperfect.

That is my theme for 2016 (and beyond, really). I am too often a perfectionist, and I feel like that holds me back from progress in improving my skills and just getting things done even if they are not 100% to my satisfaction. This year, I want to remember to allow myself to be imperfect, and to be able to finish and appreciate things that I do while still being critical of what I need to improve and learning from them. A lot of my smaller, more concrete goals are things I've wanted or hoped to do, but never actually achieved because I wouldn't allow myself to call a project finished until I thought it was perfect. Unfortunately, many of those projects have just never been finished. I would like to work on changing that this year.


And now for smaller, more specific things I would like to do in 2016:

- Explore more - Madison is such a lovely city with lots of venues both natural and urban to explore. I tend to be a bit of a shut-in if left to my own devices, and I want to push myself to venture out to places by myself more. Perhaps an expedition each month would be a good place to start!

- Send more snail mail - There's a certain charm to old-fashioned snail mail that I was reminded of over Christmas when I participated in a card exchange. I've also made a few new penpals, and I want to set a goal of writing each of them at least once a month.

- Dress up more - And take more outfit photos! Over the past year, I've stopped dressing up so much, only really putting on workout clothes to head to dance classes and rehearsals. I'd like to this year just dress up for no reason, and take pretty photos, even if I'm not planning to go anywhere special. I love wearing Lolita and the way the fashion makes me feel, and I think it would really help pick up my mood just to wear something pretty and froofy even if I'm just faffing about the house.

- Make more Youtube videos - I want to post a new video every month in 2016. Every year, I start out hoping to make more videos, but only ever sporadically finish anything I consider "good enough" to post, whether because of recording or artwork not meeting my own standards. I'd like to force myself to create and upload something every month this year, even if it's not perfect.

- Be more active in Youtube singing - In keeping with wanting to make and post more videos, I also would like to meet more people and make new friends who also enjoy singing covers of Japanese pop songs on Youtube. I used to be active in the groupdubbing community, but due to personal reasons as well as an overall decline of the community, I have become a mostly lone singer the last few years. I would like to reconnect with other online singers. To do so, I will push myself to search out and participate in chorus battles (starting with the Museical Trio Chorus Battle with some old friends from my groupdubbing days).

- Play more music - I have a lot of instruments, and am pretty good at playing at least half of them. I want to set a goal to play at least one of them for some amount of time every day this year, whether that's five minutes or a couple of hours. I love playing the piano especially, and I do miss it and want to make myself start playing more again.

- Record five acoustic covers - I'm actually trained primarily as an instrumental musician, I have no real voice training other than from choir, so it's actually a bit funny that pretty much all of my covers are just vocals (with a pre-made backing track). So, to change that, I want to make five acoustic covers this year (that's a nice round number...).

- Write a song - I have composed several pieces of instrumental music in the past, and I really enjoy it. It's something I want to push myself to do more, so I'm setting a goal of writing at least one song in 2016.


And some art-related goals for 2016:

- Share and be brave - I tend to be shy about showing people my artwork, because I consider most, if not all of it, to be mediocre at best. But in keeping with my goal of allowing myself to learn and grow while acknowledging my progress to reach where I am at the moment, I will reblog each of my own artwork posts at least once, preferably twice (this is my assignment from my good friend Jazzmoth).

- Start commissions - And in keeping with being brave, I want to set up a good commission information page, and allow myself to promote / advertise it once every 3 months this year.

- Do an Artist Alley - I have been thinking about doing an Artist Alley for quite awhile now, and I in fact have done several, but as an artisan / craftsperson rather than as an illustrator. I want to do an Artist Alley this year in which I feature some of my illustration work, even if I do still offer my small accessories for sale as well. To start modestly, I am currently thinking of trying for a table at Geek Kon because that is local to me and would be less stressful in terms of travel logistics.

- Make more art - Because I am still at a stage with my art that requires some amount of inspiration to really get good results, I am hesitant to put any hard numbers on this goal, and will let it rest as a broader overarching resolution. I would like not only to draw more overall, but to also explore different repertoire, even if I am not good at them. I want especially to learn how to retain the dynamism and spontaneity of my sketches in the polishing process for my more refined pieces.

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Flavors of Sri Lanka

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We've been getting coupon packets in the mail, and decided to use one of them to explore a new restaurant in Madison. We thought it would be interesting to try out a Sri Lankan restaurant, KJ's Curry Bowl.

Most of their menu items seem to be Asian fusion cuisine type items, but I decided to try out a couple of things that they advertised as being iconic Sri Lankan dishes, because after all that's why we went there!

For a beverage, I ordered a Faluda, which is a sweet (and very pink) drink with rose syrup, jelly, and a scoop of vanilla ice cream. This one came with some soursop as well.

It was delicious, but very intense. I'd probably consider it a standalone dessert rather than an accompanying beverage for a meal. It was soooo good though, and was almost too pretty to drink.

As my main course, I tried the "string hopper" dish which was a mound of white rice noodles with two different curries (a dhal and a chicken curry) as well as some chutney. The noodles themselves did not taste strongly of anything other than plain rice, but they are definitely an interesting way to add bulk to a meal. The whole thing was quite delicious, and the noodles did a great job of soaking up the curries and adding a smooth starchy texture to each bite. Yummy!

The decor in the restaurant was fairly sparse, but they did have some nice wall hangings like this one.

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Fairy Lights

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While walking in the woods after sunset, I found a circle of fairy lights on a path by the lake.

Flickering, flitting in the distance

The beguiling fairy lights

Draw near and you may see

Dancing fairies

Gossamer wings

Golden pearls of dew

But draw too close

And those glimmers may hold you

Forever

Artfully arranged candles are perfect for setting a pretty atmosphere, even out in the woods. Just make sure to watch them carefully!

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Duck Duck... Duck

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The lake is often full of ducks, anytime other than winter, and the area near the Terrace is no exception. Ducks often share the water with people wading in the shallow areas or just dipping their toes into the lake.

This little flock was particularly bold, as there were several children splashing around in the water nearby. I guess they've gotten used to people and maybe even approach them hoping for free food!

For brief little outings like this, I tend to keep my outfits simple, especially if I'm going to be riding my bicycle to get there.

Shirt ~ Target

Skirt ~ Bodyline

Shoes ~ Converse

And yes, I do bike in skirts and dresses! I'm always wearing shorts or bloomers underneath, so gusts of wind don't particularly worry me. Besides, who goes around watching people bike in skirts anyways... that's just weird :-P

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Reminders of Summer

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As much as I adore winter, it is still cheering to see the bright colors of summer in pictures. I took these photos while wandering the farmer's market in August, and they certainly capture the feel of summer in Madison for me.

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Happy New Year 2016!

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To my wonderful subscribers and supporters:

Thank you so much for a great year! I hope I can continue to bring you all happiness through my music and dancing in the coming year. May 2016 be wonderful and full of joy. Happy New Year!

With Love

From: Kyttyee (and Flopper)

"Start in My Life" 

Original by: Kuraki Mai (Detective Conan)

~ COVER ~

Vocals: Kyttyee (http://www.youtube.com/KyttyeeChii)

Artwork/Animation: Kyttyee

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Merry Christmas 2015!

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Another year, another Christmas already!

Thank you so much to all my subscribers, and to everyone who has watched my videos, whether just this year or for a long time! I hope you all have a wonderful holiday season and an amazing year in 2016!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

"Happy Merry Christmas"
Original music and lyrics: kuibel (https://twitter.com/kuibel)

~ COVER ~
Vocals: Kyttyee (http://www.youtube.com/KyttyeeChii)
Artwork/Animation: Kyttyee // Papillon de Nuit (http://www.papillondenuit.net/)

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Moonrise

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Sunset is beautiful to watch over the lake, but I think I actually like seeing the moonrise even more. It's especially lovely when the moon is full (or nearly full) because it's more prominent in the sky.  When photographing the moon, I am always surprised by how small it actually is. The moon illusion is an amazing thing indeed.

The child's wonder
At the old moon
Comes back nightly.
She points her finger
To the far silent yellow thing
Shining through the branches
Filtering on the leaves a golden sand,
Crying with her little tongue, “See the moon!”
And in her bed fading to sleep
With babblings of the moon on her little mouth. 


"Child Moon" ~ Carl Sandburg

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A Loony Lake

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During the autumn as birds start migrating south, many flocks of loons and geese make pit stops in the various lakes near Madison. The one near my apartment particularly tends to fill with loons from early autumn even into winter when it's partially frozen.

A+ and I took a short jaunt to go loon-watching, when the first little flocks started to arrive. They look a bit more sparse in the photo somehow than they did in real life, but there's still quite a high density of loons!

My favorite part about them is the hilarious sounds they make. If you've never heard a loon, at least these particular ones, they sound to me kind of like plugged ducks. It sounds like are trying to quack, but they get stuffed up halfway, so it comes out as a super short, high-pitched, slightly quacky peep. "Peep peep peep." And they constantly make sounds, so it's just a chorus of hilarious peeping anytime you get close to a bunch of loons.

Unlike ducks, the loons are definitely not accustomed to people approaching, so as soon as you walk near the waterline, they all turn around and frantically paddle away. Come back loons, I just want to get a picture!

These ducks, though, are definitely ruling the roost. That branch is theirs and they're not moving for anybody. I actually didn't notice the female duck when I was taking the photos. It was only afterwards when A+ said something about two ducks that I realized there was a second one. I guess camouflage works on me ^_^

We also encountered a woolly bear caterpillar on the walking path next to the lake. This one had made its way mostly across the path by the time we saw it, but there were a lot of other ones trying to cross the road. They look so cuddly and cute!

On the way back, I noticed this beautiful tree that had turned completely red. It's such a lovely symbol of autumn! On a follow-up note, this same tree was completely bald the next time I saw it (about a week later). I found that surprising and a bit hilarious, but so it goes.

The view of autumn trees from across the lake makes such a nice landscape. It's almost like being inside a Bob Ross painting.

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