My trip to Merlland was fantastic. It was sooooo good to see The Empress again. I miss her so much it hurts sometimes, but I don't realize it hurts until I see her, and then I have to leave. She was one of my first best friends, and still the person that understands me best.

( The Laundry List )

And then I came home. Which became an event unto itself.

( Reasons the Universe is Laughing at Kat, Number 916 )

I'm now at work. My abstract for the Keystone Retrovirus conference was accepted, so now I have to work on making a 4-foot-by-4-foot poster. Color me excited. Which I can, now that I have Emotion Crayons, given to me by Stacie!

What do I find attractive in another person? I've been thinking about this lately. I've decided that I'm not entirely interested in looks, although they do help. I don't have a definite physical type, except maybe that the other person be taller than me. Since I'm 5'2" on a good day, that's not too difficult.

I like smiles. Big goofy ones, small smirks, toothy grins, it doesn't matter. A nice, ready smile can really do it for me. I like a clean appearance. It doesn't have to be neat, per se, but clean. Hair washed, no body odor, facial hair trimmed (if we are talking about the boy folk), clean clothes. I don't like sloppy, but messy is okay. I'm somewhat messy myself, with my clothes constantly wrinkled and my hair all over the place. Sloppy implies dirty, and dirty I cannot handle. I know from past experience.

In terms of personality, I like sense of humor, niceness, and some social aptitude. My sense of humor can be very sarcastic and dark. I like a person that can appreciate it, and isn't offended easily. I like niceness, but not overly nice. I'm also a bit pushy, so people that don't push back sometimes I end up running over. I know about this from experience as well. Some social aptitude is nice because it just makes life easier. I also like someone that has some drive in their life. Not necessarily a direction (lord knows, I don't have one), but a drive to be doing something. A spark and a zest for life.

I realize that I have posted nothing of substance lately. Lest the feeling of shallowness overwhelm me, I shall tell you about my weekend.

On Sunday, I went to a belly dancing workshop. A woman in my class is trying to put together a central MA chapter of PURE (Public Urban Ritual Experiment). The idea behind PURE is promote peace and community in urban settings through public dance, as well as raising awareness of belly dance as an art form. There's a basic choreography that the dancers follow when dancing in public. The workshop was learning that choreography so that we can start dancing in the spring or summer.

I love the idea behind PURE. I get so down about the state of the world sometimes. There's so much violence and negativity. The idea that I could contribute some positivity to the planet through dancing energizes me. Not to mention the sheer joy of dancing together with a group of other dancers. It was a bonding experience, and refueled my interest in dance, which has been flagging lately.

The other thing that makes me happy is that I think I found my style of belly dancing- tribal. The style I've been learning, cabaret, is pretty, but it doesn't fit very well with me. ( Cut for belly dancing geekery. ) Tribal, on the other hand, does. It resonates with me, and to less important extent, my body type. The woman that taught the PURE workshop is going to be teaching tribal style belly dancing after the New Year at the dance studio. I may defect from my regular class to take the tribal class.