So tonight's the Gaskell's Ball. For those of you who don't know, Gaskell's is a bi-monthly formal recreation ball in Oakland. People dress in formalwear from any time or place in the last 250 years and dance. Waltzes, Schottishes, Polkas, Mazurkas, a few set dances like Sir Roger de Coverly and Sallenger's Round, and the Congress of Vienna are examples of the dances.

I've been going pretty much constantly for the last four years, and it's taken a place in my life that mirrors its historical purpose; essentially, it's an occasion to see friends you don't regularly get to see, make new friends, dress up, and feel good about yourself. This is pretty much the purpose of 19th century Vienese bals, except hopefully with a little less snobbery and class distinction.

I've taken pictures at Gaskells before, but with a traditional camera or large digital camera, I didn't end up taking very many because I'd have to put it away when I actually wanted to dance. Now that I have my Digital Elph I have a camera I can actually slip in a pocket while dancing.

So, tonight I'm going to try to truly journal the Gaskell's experience, and try to bring some of what I like about the event to this weblog. To whet your appetite, here's a picture taken at the Christmas Gaskells about 4 years ago:

I hope you all have a great weekend, and I'll try to put the pictures up tomorrow or Monday.

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Argh. My costume isn't comping together the way I'd hoped it would. Looks like I'll be wearing something more formal-ish and less costume-ish. Ah well. I'll have to save going oer-the-top for next week's Le Bal des Vampyres.