So I've been on break for a little while. In actuality, it's more like a long while, but we won't get into the details. Okay, well, maybe some details, but I won't bore you...completely.

As I'm currently sitting here typing, we have approximately 3 weeks until the grand opening of the newest Indiana Jones installment. Then, the new Star Wars: Clone Wars CGI film arrives in August to tingle our senses. Throw in a Harry Potter movie which is sure to be a hit in November, and we've got ourselves a geek-fest at the theaters like no other.

Not only are the theater screens a-buzzin', but the convention threads are a-hummin' with news regarding Star Wars: Celebration Japan this summer, possible Celebration V rumors for the US, and the already-planned and ready-to-go Star Wars: Fan Days II in Plano, Texas in October of this year.

In other words, if you can't find something to at least grasp your attention, you might want to check for a pulse.

Unless, of course, you're getting frustrated with the lack of information regarding all of these upcoming events. You have my sympathies.

In the meantime, we occupy our time in other ways, pursuing the path that our geekiness has taken us down. We collect, we read, we draw, we write, we sew, we create, we make. Sometimes our paths curve and bend and intertwine with other paths we never quite imagined we'd find.

I never imagined I'd find myself at a bend in the road, facing the path of the Dark Side. And I really never imagined I'd take my first steps down that path.

After having finished the Jedi costume for Celebration IV last year, I was left without any costuming projects that I felt I wanted to complete. But over the last year, times have changed and my skills have changed. I took part in a community theater show where I was required to create my own costumes. We had two dresses which were mandatory; you were expected to find a seamstress to sew them for you.

No way, I said. Forget that. So I buckled down and did it myself. I've never sewn a dress before. Never installed a zipper. Never made poofy sleeves (ungodly things that they are), but they were great! I was so impressed!

Other projects have come and gone and left me a little more confident. So perhaps it's that boost of confidence that has left me with a taste of power, leading me ever closer to the Dark Side and my next costuming project.

If you're curious, please check out the video using the link below. I'm going to do my best to document my progress as I go, and we'll see just how this idea plays itself out.

Shadows of the Sith: Part I

Also, I figure I'll go out on a limb and share the new blog that I've created especially for these strange costuming projects that travel through my mind. So if you're ever interested, you can check out my blog here.