Last night was fairly uneventful. I was trying to figure out what I was going to wear for the Halloween show on Friday. After much thought and a look at my budget, I decided to go with something I already had. It was between a drunken prom queen, a hippie, or something else that I couldn�t think of. So I went into my storage and pulled out my old costume trunk from college. That�s when I found my belly dancing costume. Yes, I used to be a belly dancer, once upon a time. I used to be really good, but I�ve lost most of my muscle control, and I�m too lazy to get it back. So, I tried it on and it still fit!!! Actually I ended up having to take it in a little around the waste. I was so happy. I have a few things that I need to do to it, before Friday, but not much. There are some things I really miss, and belly dancing is one of them. I was in my brother�s troop and I did a lot of solo stuff for birthday parties and occasional bachelor parties. I would do the dance of the seven veils�those were the days. I would come out strutting like a peacock completely covered in different colored veils and one I would wrap around my self and lift it over my head like giant bat wings, or something like that. I never showed much skin, maybe a little leg here, a bit of stomach there. Then I would remove the final veil and the music would end, and the cheerful disappointment from the crowd of adoring drunk men was always a pay off for me. That and the easy hundred dollars I would make. For an extra hundred, I would dress the lucky man like a sheik and feed him grapes and fan him for half an hour. I once got propositioned by a best man�I don�t know if he can have children anymore. I always made it clear that I was not a stripper and I was not a prostitute, I was a dancer and that was what they were paying for, nothing else. I would make the �buyer� agree to this in writing, and I would have my brother come along just in case. He�s a big guy, very muscular. Lines were rarely crossed.

I would also dance at this Greek restaurant in the �party� district. That was always fun. I would belly dance on the weekends and then I would do hula on the side, too. If you can belly dance you can easily hula dance; my brother and I did both. The only problem is that sometimes moves can get confused, which isn�t always a bad thing. It�s strange how people�s lives can change so quickly. I went from a dancer to an actress to a singer in a matter of three years. I never even thought about being a singer, growing up. I wanted to be a dancer, and that was it; like my brother. He was famous in the dancing world for many years until his knee went out. He still practices, and I think he�s starting another troop in Illinois, but he just doesn�t have the stamina that he used to have. It�s sad really, a real shame. He is one of the most talented male belly dancers in the US. He even has the title: Mr. Belly Dancer of America 1992. I think that�s the year. Oh well, I think I�m done with my boring reminiscing.