A few quick notes:
Sep. 25th, 2012 01:24 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
alt_sinistraOffice hours Saturday, 2-5, as well as my usual this week. Do stop by, if you’re worrying about your work so far. Or if you just want to chat. (I promise biscuits, tea and tisane, and maybe other treats.)
5th years: I know some of you are worried already about exams. I expect to have all your charts marked by Friday, but so far I’m not seeing any unwelcome surprises - and a few pleasant ones. (Remember you can always arrange to do practice charts, especially as we take a break for a few weeks for other topics.)
7th years: I’ve had a few questions about the topic list. Again, the list is just to get you thinking. I’m glad to consider any project that can be done and written up in the course of the school year. (Can be practical, theoretical or a mix.) Come talk to me if you’re still confused.
All my NEWTs: With the unusually large jump in size of our 2nd year class (especially as they’re starting the complications of chart work) I could really use another pair of hands or two during our practical sessions until they’re more comfortable with the process. If any of you would be willing to help out, (without shorting yourself on sleep, mind), please talk to me. They meet Thursday nights, or see below.
2nd years who’d like more time and feedback than our hour allows, I’m also looking to set up some additional sessions with the projection stones (or the last hour before curfew, if it’s clear) where we can work in smaller groups: please come to class with some times that might work for you.
5th years: I know some of you are worried already about exams. I expect to have all your charts marked by Friday, but so far I’m not seeing any unwelcome surprises - and a few pleasant ones. (Remember you can always arrange to do practice charts, especially as we take a break for a few weeks for other topics.)
7th years: I’ve had a few questions about the topic list. Again, the list is just to get you thinking. I’m glad to consider any project that can be done and written up in the course of the school year. (Can be practical, theoretical or a mix.) Come talk to me if you’re still confused.
All my NEWTs: With the unusually large jump in size of our 2nd year class (especially as they’re starting the complications of chart work) I could really use another pair of hands or two during our practical sessions until they’re more comfortable with the process. If any of you would be willing to help out, (without shorting yourself on sleep, mind), please talk to me. They meet Thursday nights, or see below.
2nd years who’d like more time and feedback than our hour allows, I’m also looking to set up some additional sessions with the projection stones (or the last hour before curfew, if it’s clear) where we can work in smaller groups: please come to class with some times that might work for you.
Private message to Narcissa Malfoy
Date: 2012-09-25 09:46 pm (UTC)I am so very glad you were there today. Watching you in your element is - well, Antosha was on at me on Friday about recognising and appreciating excellence. I am entirely in awe of your ability to get at what I wanted and couldn’t find words for.
Thank you, too, for talking both Mum and Diane out of the piles of tulle and froth. I don’t think I’d have managed it on my own. And once we got through the “No, really, try this, some people discover they like it” and the things that were entirely too young for me, it was incredibly helpful to have your comments about what does and doesn’t work for my body.
Who do you suggest for further conversations? I’m certainly comfortable working with Revati, and there’s something to be said for that. But I do trust your recommendations on how to hit exactly the right note.
I hope Diane wasn’t too wearing. (She means well, just it’s a bit much sometimes.) And Mum has already said how glad she was you were there. I do think this whole thing - now it’s hitting home for her - is a little overwhelming. And much as we love each other and get on well, I’ve always been a bit of a puzzle to her, so we’ve never really gone clothes shopping since I was old enough to buy my own.
At any rate - I hope more time to just chat, sometime soon, without my family along. In the meantime, I am entirely appreciative, and I’m sure Raz will be when he sees the end results.
Re: Private message to Narcissa Malfoy
Date: 2012-09-26 12:07 am (UTC)Tell your mother I found her charming. And as for your sister, I do understand. After all, I've an elder sister as well.
The trouble with family is that they rarely are able to see past what they would select, rather than focusing on your own style and personality, to say nothing of what looks good or not.
As to where to go, since the last two gowns were Joosh and Fairchild, I see no reason not to discuss it with them directly. (Although. I hope you shan't think it indelicate to ask, but the robes you were trying were within the budget you told the associates? They didn't just put you in things because I suggested them, regardless of the pricing? I don't wish to pry; I only ask because if you're arranging with Gerard, in particular, but even Fairchild to some extent, and having either of them design you custom robes to order with six months' notice at most .... Well. I just hope you're prepared to haggle, compromise or otherwise ensure they do not take advantage. On the other hand, I know you require no particular encrustation of lace, crystal or pearl to bring out your own lustre, and the cut, if they do it properly, will say as much or more as any ornamentation to the frock itself.)
Now, I would say that Fairchild is probably more used to working with a fuller figure but Gerard understands the Art Deco period a bit more intuitively. So in truth, it probably would not hurt to ask each of them to draw up a proposed design and see which one comes closer to the right look.
Re: Private message to Narcissa Malfoy
Date: 2012-09-26 12:31 am (UTC)Right. I'll get on to both Joosh and Fairchild tomorrow, and see if I can arrange to talk to them both next Tuesday. (May I say you made the suggestion to ask them both? I suspect it would help a good deal as a comparative bargaining position. Nothing beyond that, of course - I'd never put words in your mouth.)
As to your very delicate question - I didn't want to go into it while Diane was around, because she's being touchy about it, but I've no problems with your knowing privately.
What we eventually settled - my parents and Raz and I - is that they're paying for my robes, and he's handling near everything else. (And he's being stubborn about not letting me dip into my savings, but if the robes need to go above where I think my parents are comfortable, I'll make up the rest myself.) So in some ways, it costing a bit saves them some face, quietly. But at the same time, I've two younger sisters, and - well, mid-level Ministry salaries are what they are.
I'm quite clear that my robes - well, whatever they are, they're one of the major statements of the wedding. I knew going into this that would likely cost to get right. So - as much as today was a bit uncomfortable in places (I have not spent so long staring at myself in a mirror for at least a decade), it was very worthwhile, and I'm much more confident of having the right thing in the end.