Baltimore Comic Con 2014

Baltimore Comic Con took place September 5-7 at the Baltimore Convention Center. It marks my one year anniversary of comic cons, my first costume contest entry, and the first time I wore my solo dress to a comic con.

For my costume contest costume, there was very little prep that needed to be done since most of the parts were completed! I spent a bit of every night the week before painting a pair of hard shoes to go with my costume. I think I used three coats of a red acrylic paint, followed by three coats of red glitter. The night before we left, I sprayed them with four coats of clear acrylic sealer to make sure things stayed put (and for a bonus shine factor!).

I really felt like I was packing for a feis because I had all the usual culprits (and more). Dress bag? Check. Wig box and make up? Double check. Blue hair dye? Check.

My boyfriend and I drove up to Baltimore on Saturday morning to have one full day of the con, thinking (correctly) that the costume contest would take up all of Sunday. I was dressed as Ultimate Katie Bishop from the new Ultimate Spider-Man books. He dressed as a shinigami from Bleach.

We spent Saturday night in a hotel near the inner harbor (thanks to the Hotel Tonight app!), and got ready for Sunday at the con. (Namely, I dyed my hair blue.)

On Sunday, I showed up wearing my solo dress. I got many stares (sparkles do that), appreciation from an actual Irish dancing family, and many many compliments on my original idea. Irish dancing Captain Americas are hard to come by (probably because I'm the only one). It was cool to have people recognize my costume first as Captain America themed and then as an Irish costume, rather than an Irish costume with a patriotic theme.

The afternoon was taken up by the costume contest. I did in fact get up on stage and do a treble reel for the crowd! I was hoping to take home the prize for 'crowd favorite,' but though it was advertised in the program, they didn't award it this year. Though I didn't take home an award, I did get many pictures snapped of my costume, as well as a few videos, and lots and lots on compliments on my Irish dancing.





I know that I will be wearing my solo dress at future comic book conventions. It is too much fun to pass up! Next time I may wear my ghillies though because hard shoes for five plus hours is very uncomfortable!

Enjoy a ton of pictures from many different photographers from around the con! Also, be sure to check out blog content from Pete Goes to Comic Con, Geek Girl Ramblings, DC Comics News, and a feature in ABC 2 Baltimore News.

Ms. Marvel, Star Lord, me, and Deadpool

Ladies costume contestants side stage

 

Goals: Downfall rhythms and timing

Days till Os: 60

Surgery Update, part 3

I am now done and graduated from physical therapy. My next doctor appointment is a month away. I am a regular participant in everything at dance class, even leading a fitness class during our Oireachtas prep Saturdays.

Did I really heal this fast?

Three months seriously flew by! Maybe I just feel that way because the past month has been a blur with the beginning of the school year and my own insistence that I never have days off to do nothing.

For the most part this past month, when I wasn't working, I was doing something to improve my physical fitness. I was at physical therapy getting essentially an hour and a half personal training session. I was running (yes, running!) in the fitness center on the treadmill. I was choreographing a show treble reel for the Baltimore Comic Con.

So, yes, I finally got to attend a comic con in my Captain America dress! I entered a costume contest for fun, and danced on stage for a bit of an audience. They went wild! My costume was totally a hit, and I loved getting all the comments on how cool an Irish dancing Captain America is. Now, I'm going to dedicate a whole post to this outing very soon, but until then, have a picture!

I have officially registered for two feiseanna this fall before the Oireachtas. I will be doing only the set dance competition at Rhythm of Ireland to try out my new Downfall of Paris without the stress of having to push myself to have the other rounds ready (namely slip jig). Hopefully all goes well, and if not, there's still time to perfect it before the SRO (and if not, there's the ol' standby Planxty Drury). My one and only three round competition will be Feis Culkin a few weeks after.

And now for something completely not related to healing... Remember when I mentioned I won an instagram contest hosted by Marvel and Dr. Pepper that was run during San Diego Comic Con? My prize came in the mail last month. I was expecting five Dr. Pepper cans, which I got. What completely blew my mind was that they came in a fantastic case signed by the Avengers: Age of Ultron cast! Consider me blown away.

Goals: Stamina all around
Days till Os: 66

Solo Dress Spotlight

Dearest readers, I hope you accept all my apologies in forgetting to write my injured girl fitness blog post when I said I would.  I promise that you will be getting the scoop on how I've been staying fit while injured next week, because the post is already queued up!  In other news, my solo dress has been making the social media rounds recently!

The end of July is always very exciting for me because it marks the weekend of the San Diego Comic Con!   It is my dream to one day attend the convention of all things geekery, but until then, I am sated with instant updates from twitter, live blogs, and all the content that gets posted on tumblr.  One of my biggest dreams is to be able to participate in the Marvel costume contest where, you guessed it, I will wear my solo dress and dance on stage for all those at the Marvel booth.

This year's costume contest was also hosted by Dr. Pepper, and boasted the theme of (and special awards for) being "One of a Kind."  The winner of the contest was this super awesome steampunk Iron Man, who won a very limited edition set of Avengers Dr. Pepper cans.  At the same time, Marvel and Dr. Pepper ran an instagram contest where fans could submit their One of a Kind Marvel costume for a chance to win the same set of soda cans.

All this is leading up to say that I entered and was chosen as a winner!

Just a few days later, I was also deemed "Fangirl of the Day" on the Her Universe website, which specializes in apparel and accessories for some of the biggest sci-fi and fantasy fandoms.  Fangirl of the Day is a submission-based endeavor on their blog to promote how awesome being a fangirl is!  If you'd like to shine the spotlight on your favorite fangirl (or even yourself as I did), go check it out!

And with that, Rince go Bragh's 200th post is done! Thanks for your support and interest over the years!

Goals: Continue turn out exercises, PT exercises, and daily workouts
Days till Os: 122

Surgery Update, part 1

As you all possibly know, I had my ankle surgery on June 18th to clean up scar tissue and tighten up some lateral ankle ligaments (with the Bröstrom procedure).  My podiatrist deemed it a success!  It has now officially been three weeks since surgery, and look how my ankle is healing!  Even through the really messy pictures from 1-2 weeks after my surgery, my podiatrist said ,"Looking good."

Weeks 1-3

The first week after my surgery was the most difficult, as I was the most "helpless."  I got to stay at my parents' house since they have less stairs, and someone there to take care of me at all times of the day.  I spent a lot of time on the couch, mainly watching soccer and napping while listening to audio books.  I also celebrated turning a quarter of a century with a Captain America themed party (of course).

The second week after my surgery, I moved back to my apartment.  In the latter part of the week, I was able to get rid of the splint, and go into the boot with partial weight bearing on my ankle--one week ahead of schedule!  Having a removable boot made it possible for me to spend time at the pool now, in supplement to spending time on the couch, this time watching Orange is the New Black.

This third week after surgery was spent voraciously keeping up with information from the North American Irish Dance Championships.  QuickFeis was very helpful this year!  I also got to participate in the lighting of fireworks!

I went back to the podiatrist this past Monday, and while I'm still in the boot, my goal for this week is to wean myself off crutches (still ahead of schedule!), and start physical therapy (I go tomorrow).

From the last day of June onwards, I have also been completing a daily workout routine (modified of course because of my injury), and I promise to share more about that with you in my next blog post!

Goal: Get rid of the crutches
Days till Os:150

North American Nationals, Everything Else

I arrived at LAX and was delighted to share a Super Shuttle van with dancers from Boston and Vancouver.

I checked into the Hylton and was excited that I had a room that faced Disneyland, basically in-line with Cinderella's Castle.  I got to enjoy Disney fireworks from the comfort of my own hotel room for three of the four nights I stayed in Anaheim.

I spent some time practicing to limber up after a five and a half hour flight.

I met the amazing dancers of TapTronic.  They were truly the celebrities of nationals, especially with their live performances before awards on the 4th and 5th.  I was able to catch both performances, and even got a (slightly crummy because of the lighting where I was) video of Crave You, that you can watch by clicking here.  They have also released their own video of their time at nationals, which you should totally check out.

I met new friends and was able to hang out with other dancers in my region who traveled alone.  I can't wait to see them again at local feiseanna and the Oireachtas in December.

               

 

I had a really fantastic time at my photo session with Prine Photography that I won from the instagram contest.  There are a ton of fun pictures, and they all turned out wonderfully! (Some of my favorites are below)

                

 

Most importantly, I spent some quality time by the pool to enjoy the beautiful California weather.

Goals: Eat clean, train dirty!
Days till Os: 123

CCE Feis 2013

In my first local feis since 2011 (hello, injury year), I was able to debut my new look!

I am now the Star Spangled Girl With the Curls full time at every feis or major I will go to.  I cannot express just how much confidence wearing this beautiful dress gives me.  I am so happy with how it turned out from my initial concept, to Elevation's digital design, to real life dress.  I can now truly embody the spirit and fortitude of Captain America.  I'm not a perfect dancer, but (hopefully) a good person.

Being that I had only competed twice in the past year and a half, my feis morning was spent fighting nerves.  I was on an adrenaline high just from anticipation alone.  Anticipating competing, not forgetting my steps, and just how my new costume would go over.  Moving certainly helped my uneasiness.  When I found a quiet place or my own corner of a stage to warm up on, I was fine.  It was the sitting still that was the worst part.

Senior ladies were the first thing after lunch.  The stage manager allowed us to choose our own order for the day which, while not a mistake, is definitely not something most dancers want to do before we compete.  Personally, I'd just like someone to tell me the order so that we all don't have to piddle around and wait for a brave soul to volunteer to be first up.  Having danced with these ladies for years now, we just did the mature thing and played the nose game.

Somehow, I still ended up in the first rotation for reel.  My first round didn't feel completely horrible, but I felt bored by my steps (a problem which has since been solved).  My set round was something I was actually looking forward to for a change.  Since the Oireachtas, I have slowed the speed down by one click, and it's made a difference with my rhythms.

Although I didn't end up placing (7th out of 12, missed it by one measly point), I still feel like I'm right on track with my dancing.  This is one of the best placements I've had since I've moved to opens, and right now I'm after consistency (and improving my turnout and rhythms and arch...).  I also greatly enjoyed, and am still touched by, how many compliments I've received on my Marvel-ous new dress.

Goals: Master new reel changes
Days till NANs: 38

The Oireachtas (solos)

The Star Spangled Girl With the Curls makes an appearance!

Something about the Oireachtas morning warm up session had me off.  I kept confusing my second and third treble jig step as I ran through them.  Getting on stage to actually dance my treble jig, all that I forced to go through my brain was my body knows what to do, stop brain-ing it up.  So what did I do?  I forgot how the beginning of my third step went on the left foot.  Right in front of my TCRG and one of the judges. (Who I happened to meet in the elevator that morning and she consequently told me to stretch out and travel because the stages were huge.)  I knew I at least had a solid second round.  I could not have nailed my slip jig any more than what I did that Saturday.  Of all the times I wish I had a video of myself dancing, that would be the moment I want on film.  My stamina didn't give out.  I smiled.  I was so magnificently confident in how I danced.

Maple senior dancers

Waiting for recalls was a time for multi-tasking.  The senior ladies received a participators' patch.  We took pictures with the Christmas scenery.  I prepared another senior dancer's make up for teams later that afternoon.  I managed to stuff down half of a roast beef sandwich for lunch.  I knew that this was one of the last moments of calm to myself during the day, as I had three team dances to get through yet, so I isolated myself to get my thoughts in order for my set.

I have a history of weak set dances at Oireachtas.  In 2010, I died so much at the end of Drunken Gauger that I missed a part at the end.  With last year's Planxty Drury, I lacked rhythm.  With this year's Planxty Drury, I danced hard, but I missed so may beats that unless the judges were deaf (they weren't), I would be docked.  It's all because of my catch-22: to dance now, I have to tape my ankles.  If I tape my ankles, I miss trebles because my ankles are restricted.  I loosened the tape, but still I have troubles.

I am so not impressed.

Again, I met personal disappointment as solo results were called that evening.  Being the last number on the program, I waited with bated breath through all the other numbers, watching my friends be named as world qualifiers.  When the announcer called "...and number 81," I could feel the reality of my own personal let down sink into my stomach.  As I was coming to terms with yet another year of not qualifying, the group waiting backstage became smaller and smaller. All I could hope for was not 16th.  Not again, for the third year in a row did I want to be the first non-qualifier.  I was announced as 19th, so I took the stage with my fellow senior ladies to watch the rest of the results unfold.

It took until the next day for it to sink in that I had only been preparing since October, due to spending most of the year injured.  With all that, I still placed 19th.  I haven't improved much in my placements, but I also didn't do any worse than before injuries.

Goals: Learn hornpipes/reels
Days till NANs: 205

Bonus: Watch the senior ladies' results!

Mini Update

Injury recovery

• I have finished my first round of physical therapy!  Already, my ankle is nearly back to full strength and flexibility.
• I began my second round of physical therapy three weeks ago and will finish the day before I leave for New Orleans.  This was recommended for extra strength since I'm still not 100% back with my dancing abilities.
• At my recent visit to my podiatrist, he said that everything was healing nice and tight like it should. 
• My dancing is improving on the daily.  As of Monday, my slip jig is finally feeling back to it's pre-injury self, I even added an over back into my lead!  My hard shoe focus is mainly getting my stamina back up.
• Fun fact: I use a roll and a half of athletic tape each day I dance to tape up both ankles for injury prevention and maintenance.  I own a case of athletic tape for this reason, and I will probably be halfway through this box by Oireachtas.

Oireachtas news

• My confirmed dances for the big day: solos (senior ladies), mixed four-hand, ladies eight-hand, and figure choreography.  It promises to be a long day since the southern region so lovingly puts all the senior solos and all teams on the same day.
• I designed the shirts you'll see my dance school wearing at this years Oireachtas.  I won't give any sneak previews, though.  You'll have to wait till the SRO to see them, but let me say, we will stand out.
• We recently were on a two week break with dance classes, and while it doesn't fall at the most opportune time, I was able to fit in small drilling sessions at home, which have had varying degrees of success.  Less success after Sandy hit and I got behind in job things.

Other dance things

• October has passed, and with it my five year dance-iversary!  Happy five years of dancing to me.
• This past weekend was Feis Culkin, which I chose not dance in.  I decided to save my ankles from intense competition until my Oireachtas marathon day.  Regardless, I did have nightmares the night before the feis about showing up late to dance even though I wasn't registered.
• Check out these pants.  Just look at how perfectly they match my solo.  Plan on me wearing them at the Oireachtas.

• Also in my Oireachtas fashion suitcase: this Captain America shirt to rock on the day that I'm dancing so I can be the Star Spangled Girl with the Curls.  I still have to do some tailoring for easy over the wig removal...

Goals: Stamina/sharpen steps

Days till Os: 25

The Star Spangled Girl with the Curls.

I am drawing a lot of inspiration from Captain America at the moment.  He is my superhero role model.  This is partly because Chris Evans is ohmygosh gorgeous and Avengers is my favorite movie.  Besides that, here's why:

I am a pre-serum Steve Rogers.  My leg is scrawny from all the time spent immobilized in my boot.  I have ankle issues.  My strength is not the best.  But will I give up?  No.  Steve didn't back down from bullies, so I'm not going to give up on this Oireachtas dream.

Steve was approached by Dr. Erksine and agreed to undergo the transformation to a super solider.  Lucky for him, he had a whole team of scientists there to assist the transformation, including Howard Stark.  All he did was show up, jump in a machine, and bam, super solider.  I on the other hand will be undergoing my transformation with my own will power and help from my humble little team of my TCRG, my podiatrist, and my physical therapist.

Captain America is a peak physical and mental condition, an aspect I'm striving for in my own dancing.  He is hard-working, loyal, and noble.  He is the best of the best in the Marvel universe.  Plus, Captain America's personality is just so intrinsically good, how can he not be a good role model for everything aspect of life?

All I need is a portable plushie Cap toy to keep in my dance bag and remind me to be the best of the best.

And also, how cool would this be as a solo dress?!

Goals: Treble jig stamina
Days till Os: 53