Ah, more belly-dancing pictures.

Actually, I believe the accepted term is “Middle Eastern Tribal Dance” but for a middle-aged guy like myself, “belly-dancing” is more fun.

This is a picture of my friend Sabine and her dance troupe called Tribalation!. She’s in the middle, with Arwyn to the left and Najma to the right. Those swords are real, and they are sharp. Sabine can really spin, and then it’s the human cuisinart.

Before the days of digital cameras, I used to get pictures like this in the mail, but now they show up electronically. I like the speed, don’t get me wrong, but there was something special about actually being able to touch a letter or a picture received in the mail.

As I get older, I also miss my community of friends with an artistic bent, like Sabine. Artists can be so much fun, since they tend to think about things and appreciate things we usually take for granted.

They can also be a pain, since some artists are aloof, or just not very good. I am lucky to live in an area that boasts a lot of artists, but outside of the yearly open studio tour, I don’t interact with them much. Then again, I tend not to leave the farm except for work.

We looked at a lot of art in Sydney, and even went to a modern dance performance at the Sydney Opera House. I didn’t care for it much, and I couldn’t help but think that I could’ve seen better at Durham’s yearly American Dance Festival.

Maybe next year I’ll actually go.