(no subject)

Getting dressed to go to the TDF sale. It's raining, which can only work in my favour, and I am hoping it's not like wedding dress sales in New York where people run and grab everything in sight and then either trade with each other or have death matches. Because I am so not up to that shit right now.

I have, however, confirmed the existence of Regency dresses in the collection, and as such am very very excited.

Then I have riding this afternoon.

meanwhile

Everyone is talking about this, and with good reason:

http://www.gnn.tv/videos/video.php?id=27

Yes, it's an Eminem video. Just trust me.

TDF costume collection

Well none of that quite went as planned.

I got there at 9. Ran into my riding instructor. When she had to go back to the barn I agreed to move my lesson to 6:30 so I could pick up costumes for the both of us (she needed hers for the barn's annual Halloween ride).

By the time I got up there anything good was gone. I think I found some stuff suitable to her needs though, and I did find a pair of breeches and a brilliant military jacket that, while in need of significant restoration work, is really really lovely (and also really realy fits me). It's also in the not quite right department (it's single breasted), but the collar is closer (the piece I own and have mentioned previously screams 1910 and is a bit big on me) to what it should be, and in fact if I don't replace the buttons on it (they are entirely missing at present), and don't close it up, it should be able to pass for what I'm going for pretty effectively. Now I just have to find a hat. My vision of this costume has been reduced to "I just want one good photo of me, back to the camera, cards in my hand, peering over my shoulder" because then like the three people I know who will be like "Jacket! Wrong!" won't be able to see enough of it to say shit and well, context is all.

Anyway. That was exhausting. And misguided in the firmest traditions of my rampant stupidity.

Now I need to make food, fidget about a bit with costumey things without roomie here to laugh at me, and then shower before lugging half this crap out to the barn.

ETA: Remember two years ago when I cooked up that Brian Slade costume, and I was like "people, this is going to weird you out!" and no one thought it could possibly be that effective until I traipsed down my stairs in that little blond wig? Well I just played about with my costume for this year, and people, this is going to weird you out. I am so pleased with myself. Muahahaahah.

Granted, I have to make the breeches fit me (they don't), but that's easy. And I have to buy a pair of cheap loafers and fetch my shoe buckles from my parents' house (why do I own these, I have no idea). And a hat would be really brilliant. And I should take some bleech to the white collar patches of the jacket, find a suitable shirt and repurpose some fabric scraps for the neckcloth, but dudes, I so win. And yes, that I have to sleep in curlers to get my hair to obey for this year's absurdity is just one of many punchlines.

Meanwhile, everything hurts, I have to ride today, and my instructor is like "have a shot before you get here so we can get the horse to trot without drama."

Yo. Weird life.

aches, pains and doing stuff

I'm really sore and achy, and it's nearly pleasant, eventhough it's merely from standing in line for six hours, carrying heavy bags of costumes around and riding. The more I manage to get stronger, the less often I feel this way (clearly, I need to push myself more), and it's a rewarding feeling.

I've not really talked about riding in detail in a while. I'm still very iffy about this trotting business, and that's being generous about it, but I'm improving. I'm also getting better with the horse understanding who is boss, and increasingly letting the horse do little horsey things that I don't need to stop it from doing most of the time. Also, I always manage to mount right on the first try now, although sometimes you can tell I'm thinking about it more than other times. I'm still weird about getting off the horse, but it's a coordination issue as opposed to a fear issue. Today I did better in that I tried to kick out of the stirrup and just get my leg over and get down in one fluid motion, and it would have worked too except I kicked the horse. Good thing Benny likes me, and knows I'm an idiot. But I brought him hats to wear from TDF (Benny likes hats), so it's all good. I'm getting there.

Meanwhile, I remain distantly preoccupied with what people think of me trying to do physical things. Most likely they don't care or find it peripherally amusing ("your horse likes to wear hats?"), but because so much of my childhood was so physical (dance) and so much of it was also about my inability at all sports and health-related melodrama, it still feels like something I'm not supposed to be doing, that people probably think is absurd and view as another one of my childish book-driven whims (actually, this childish whim is called "I used to have abs like Keira Knightly's and I want them back" and is related to the childish whim called "Oh my god, I'll engage in kooky magical thinking about my acting career that means that if I'm afraid of anything it'll never happen -- so let's ride horses!" and its distant cousin "Let's go to Australia!" -- never, ever for a second think I don't know what an odd, kooky, and obvious sod I am.).

Anyway, I'm a little bit proud of myself, mostly over tiny baby steps regarding the riding and my attempts to build strength with weights and stamina walking (and a little bit of running sometimes now too) and the little bit of dance I'm doing again via the Regency thing. It's not crap worth being impressed with, this I know, but I have to be, just a little, because I'm me, and it's how I keep going.

Erg, long sentences.

Anyway, I hurt, and it's a good thing.