Travel & Adventure: 2005 Archives

I'm home today with a terrible infection that makes me unhappy. My skin is not my friend. But I'm waiting for Liebchen which cheers me up a bit, but then she's not here and it is 4:33pm which again makes me sad.

Mr. Kallisti is obsessively finishing up his Batgirl Dollfie project. He started her last year, and then half way through the root job he rested her head on the heater and melted all his hard work. He's just now got over the devastation enough to finish her up. He's finished rooting and he's now gel'ing and setting her hair into flip curls. I'M SO IN LOVE!

Saw King Kong last night. Peter Jackson is the only director you can throw $3478234 billion dollars at and he'll still make a movie with heart. REAL sweet monkey heart, not fake Ron Spielberg heart :p Best. Movie. Ever. For now anyway...

It has been raining non-stop for almost three weeks. Really puts a cramp in the one commission I took for the holidays but I finally found a few dry hours this weekend. Also repainted Medora. She's lovely, but has really scary thin eyelids! Careful kids, I imagine they'd break easily!

More pictures in April when we have sunlight. Nyah.

Still searching for couture for all the smaller dolls that are here and on the way.

Um, what else. Oh! Yeah... bad week hormonally and medication wise. I've been rolling down the car window in small yuppified mountain towns and screaming "I HATE YOU!!!" at all the latte swilling mofo's that have ruined the universe. As well as standing in the middle of a Berkeley Super Market yelling "I HATE HIPPIES! Fookin' pumpkin, zucchini, raisin tamales! I hate you!"

K, for those that know me you might be a little shocked. Mr. Kallisti thinks it is hilarious, as do I... but the sudden tear bursters that go along with this sort of erratic behavior are making me feel like a crazy person. So back on the lexapro with me.

I still hate hippies. I think there should be a concentration camp for people who put raisins on their pizza. SERIOUS.

Everytime I sit down to write about it my head is so swirly with all the joy and magic of the weekend that I get all spacey and can't make decent prose to save my life. So forgive me if I go a little purple! I really do feel like Cinderella.

Or, skip right to the pictures... and the important bits!

I won the one-off I entered for, and a long time coveted dream girl: sweet dream nana! in pure skin snow! OMG! I have actually made several failed attempts to get her previously and it never worked out. You have no idea... she's brilliant. They've updated the sd10 girl body since Sylvie's, two years old now, and it is perfect! Knees and legs click into place and are really lovely... she's in the special limited snow, so she's a bit different than Miette. She GLOWS. I can't even stand it. Her face-up is brilliant! Will have to take better pix later, a bunch included in the gallery linked above though. But her eyes are all pink and smokey with dark dark lashes. I will probably replace the lashes with the new fancy volks lashes and paint her teeth so they show. I love dolls with teeth! Her dress and wig are to die for... the wig is custom cut floor length in a light brown. So lovely.

I don't know her name yet.

I dare you to read the long froofy love fest below.

Working on a rare commission this weekend. I loves how she came out.

She's a Dollstown Estella, she still needs eyelashes. Fun! If it doesn't rain tonight I can do the body blushing tomorrow.

Thanks so much to everyone for kitty wishes! Zman is doing really well. She's more sprightly than she's been a long while. I think the pain reliever is helping with her arthritic hips and she's been dashing about in small spurts. Amazing!

Went to see Kamikaze Girls at the Lumiere this afternoon. BEST GIRL MOVIE EVER. Totally loved it. For real. Rawr.

Also ran into fellow LJ buddy Pekochan in the lobby! We'd never met but she recognized me and said "hi" and we all had really nice chats in the lobby. But our meter ran out so we had to go... went to Japan Town for miso ramen and sashimi and spicy tuna handrolls, omg. YUM. Bought more dolly books, duh.

Sigh.

SAVE MONEY, dammint.

Spent the weekend in Tahoe with Todd & Ben. It was super fantastic. I miss them so much already, I DIE! Loverly weekend, very relaxing. Only lost about $40 at the penny slots (we're saying nothing of Mr. Kallisti's losses :p ).

Todd & Ben got the rockstar suite. So we got the best-friend-of-rockstar suite. OMG. The bathroom. AGH! And every time a hotel type person came to the door they handed us a fistful of Godiva chocolates.

Very nice.

Unfortunately FATBURGER now joins Krispy Kreme (don't even get me started) on the list of what-should-a-bebastion-of-yumminess-but-is-NOT. Give me In-N-Out Burger or give me death!

We of course decended the mountain Sunday morning to hit our favorite crap emporium in downtown Reno. They did not disappoint. I came out with a Fistful o' Dollies. Not least of all was this tall beauty:

Sorry for the crappy photo, but it still dark out and I am impatient! She's marked Kaysam 1961 (see pic of similar girl stolen from ebay below). She has ice blue hair, cat eyes and ultra tweezed brows! Weirdest of all, it is not a trick of the light, the whites of her eyes really are blue! Her hair at one point was in an elaborate up-do, but it is smashed. However, most of it is in silky smooth condition. Can the experts tell me the best way to clean and smooth her hair!?!?! She's so fabulous, I want to make her look uber glamourous. She's 24" tall and has the serious va-va-voom figure! Her outfit might be original. She needs shoes. She needs a little brightening on her makeup, one cat-eye eyeliner is rubbed off etc.

Um, isn't she FAB?

A Kaysam glamour bride from ebay:

Couple reference lines, from the internet: one and two
More later. Oh boy.

Ever hear a Kallisti's blood curdling scream? Well, Mr. Kallisti did when I got this in the mail today...

There's a reason they don't actually put "20 Year High School Reunion"... so they are not liable for my coronary. Someone, fan me!

And then there's this:

Mr. Kallisti: "Kallisti, a porn room and "Slerpis at home".
Now I really do have everything I need."

Everyone say Happy Birthday! He's 37 on Saturday... now we're off to Tahoe in the morning. I want mountains, a pedicure and thou. Oh, and maybe all you can eat crab at the buffet. Mmmmmm!!!

So great to meet everyone and see all the gorgeous and much loved dollies.

Click for a whole gallery! A lot more would have made it if I hadn't shot them over exposed :/ Bleh. They're not badly photographed, they're artistic!

Funniest thing, when a very nice gent set up his Hound there was (literally) a collective sigh from all surrounding females (and there were a lot of us). As if hypnotized we all moved a little bit closer and sort of hovered, breathless and in awe. It was as if the resin emanated testosterone, really amazing, and very funny. If you are on the fence about Hound, get off it. Amazing.

Another new crush? Soah... Devon brought his Soah and she is exquisite. She had the most gorgeously painted eyebrows, hands down. Truly looks like the old Japanese doll painting. So in awe.

Thanks to everyone, twas loverly!

Heading to the dolly meet on the Berkeley campus. I couldn't decide whom to bring so it is just going to be Lulu & Miette. I was in one of those moods that if I couldn't bring them all I was going to give up going altogether. Crazy lady, me. So I got a grip and am going to make it easier on myself and bring what I can carry. Mr. Kallisti can get the picnic basket. The theme is "back to school," what with the time of year and location and all... but I don't really have that theme down. So we're going somewhat Fragonard today... teehee!

In the mean time, I leave you with the Badly-Photographed-Kitten-O'-the-Week™ picture!

"I hate it when people shoot me from this angle, it makes me look fat. I'm not fat!" says Biscuit.

Did I tell you? Liz has shipped? I can still hardly believe it. She's left Florida. She's on her way. OMG.

Still don't have tales or photos of the weekend sorted out. Too tired and lazy. Drove 238473487 miles in three days, all over Oregon. To buy bacon.

We bought $70 worth of bacon and sausage o_0 My vegetarian friends can be horrified now. But DANG, this sheet is GOOD.

My li'l beetle was a trooper! Boy does she dig those windy Cascades.

But our favorite of the trip was a leetle town called Oakland, Oregon. There are about seven buildings downtown, all built about 1890, and all of them antique shops. Got some cheap loot, yo. Suzy Homemaker oven that lights up and bakes cakes, woot!

Also, I've been to the Pacific Northwest twice. Both times it was 95 degrees +. All that rain and fog they're always talkin' about? They're lying.

Weetzie girl posted about dolly salon, you can see some hot blastmilk action here (nice cleavage shot, woo! Erin, I'm stealing this peekture, mwah!)

Oh, ah! And I have a corset pattern/article in the October issue of Haute Doll. Should be here sooooooon, I hope. Haven't seen it yet though. Eeep! You can subscribe or pick up a copy at Barnes & Noble when it hits shelves, which should be... some time. Thank you to my friends for love and suggestions and proof reading. Kisses!!! Will post more when I've seen the derned thing.

Um, also... Re: Six Feet Under. Spoilers...

(k, so I'm workin' late and didn't get these posted yesterday. meh.)

And this, my friends, is why we love glass eyes:

Just look at 'em glow.

So I've missed out holding my Bastille Day Picnic for a couple years. Poop! I'll post the pix from um... 2001? Eep! Long time ago. Before the Big Dark fell.

See Part I if'n you haven't already...

More, more, more!

This is going to be the longest post in the world. And it is only the first half!

Spent yesterday running around with a camera. Sorry these are not quite in order. I'm too disorganized for that :/ Please click on thumbnails for nice big peektures.

Graciously lifted from Anika! Super idea...

We've scheduled an at-home weekend to relax, do chores, and catch up on lagging projects.

SO. We're volunteering to take pictures of anything at or around home (since it will be the weekend) of anything you'd like to see. Stuff, projects, activities. If I don't get any requests I'll plan to just post random pictures.

The Rules (lifted pretty much straight from Anika):

♥ Each person may propose up to 2 photograph subjects.
♥ Nothing pornographic or uber gross, hello.
♥ If you want a doll in the pic, be VERY specific or I'll use my subject-of-choice.
♥ Any other existing pix in my vast archives.
♥ I reserve the right to decline any topic...but I promise I won't do that unless it involves some form of necessary house cleaning, non-existent athletic ability, waking up at a freaky hour, or a super "personal" topic (although this is variable and hard to define).
♥ Photos will be taken and posted in the order of requests received...chronological-like.

If anyone else wants to take this idea and run with it in your own journal, feel free (I did!).

We tried to see Hitchhikers last night in Emeryville with the effervescent and lovely Cola. We got to the theater early, got the best seats, but half way through the Star Wars preview the lights went on and the fire alarm started sounding. We were ordered out of the theater. When let in a few minutes later (a false alarm, duh) we of course had lost our seats. There was a long line of others who had lost their seats waiting to get refunds. So we left, went home and pouted.

I know I'm the last person on the planet to see it, but we watched Napoleon Dynamite instead. Seemed like a cross between Square Pegs, Welcome to the Dollhouse, and Ghost World. Took a long time to figure out what decade they were in. Still not sure because of all the purposely anachronistic references. But refreshing, none the less.

SO. We woke up early this morning and headed to the city to attempt to see Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy AGAIN. This time at the Sony Metreon. Where we could geek out on the rest of the surroundings before and after the movie. The film was good in its own right, but lacked the sparkle and verve of the BBC radio recordings, books & tv series. I loved Stephen Fry's narration, he sounds very close to the original (though this is not a prerequisite) and I enjoyed the Marvin/Arthur Dent cameos from the TV series.

After the movie, and a spin at the Portal One arcade, we didn't feel like going home yet so we headed to Japan Town for books & sashimi & soba.

Because I was in Tahoe for the weekend (we forgot our memory card for the camera, so please to clicky on the Marquis to see beeyootiful snow peektures)...

Aimee announced it all official like: Volks is opening a store in LA.

HOT DAMN. Some place I can actually get to. So. Excited. It is all over now. Everyone, send your condolences to Mr. Kallisti. He is gonna cry.

The trip: Ohmigosh, best time ever. I miss Toddums sew much I constanly wonder why we are three THOUSAND miles apart. Alas, he is in beautiful New Orleans, and I am stuck in overpriced, overpaid, 365 gorgeous days a year norcali. le sigh.

But the snow. THE SNOW! It snowed all weekend. Big. Fluffy. Snow. Besides the scintillating company (kiss, kiss!) we had lots of grand junk shopping. Day trip to Reno! More pictures later.

And Ondine had her first road trip. I so wanted her to meet le Marquis. She was such a pretty girl sitting on my nightstand every night.

Now that I'm feeling better, we've had a whirlwind weekend. Started Friday evening with a trip to El Cerrito's little Japantown at the Jay Vee strip mall. Katana-ya is the most awesome ramen/sushi place in the area. If you go too late on ANY night it is packed beyond belief. We ordered Snow Crab Shabu Shabu to split and a mess o' sushi. We brought the camera in but realized halfway through the meal that we'd forgotten to snap. Oh well, so you get the mess we made. It was, to say the least, amazing. I love food you have to crack and pull apart and pick at to eat. So fun! I call it little Japantown because in the same wee strip mall (that has been here since I was a baby) there is a Japanese food market, where we got cleaning sponges like Volks sells, and Re-ment, and little chocolate burger crackers. And there is also a Japanese dollar store next door where we bought more crap. El Cerrito rocks.

Went to the farmer's market with my brother early Saturday, got lots of fancy meats and veggies and ate like true aging hippies last night with our dandelion greens and crepinettes. Mew!

The weather has been GORGEOUS so we headed out for Martinez since we had some pennies burning holes in our pockets. Mr. Kallisti picked up a beauty. A circa 1940's Diana-F plastic camera bought for a mere pittance. Very cool, mang.

I found a boudoir doll (1920's) that I am thinking on. GORGEOUS as well. Had to research before I dropped the dosh. I can't find anything like her online or in my books. She is smaller, probably under 20"? German made with very petite composition features, hands and legs all in peach silk that looks original. And mohair marcelle waves. I um, have to have her. So I will be emptying my coin jars and maybe selling some other stuff to assuage the guilt. She's not that expensive, honest... but I am spoiled and need to justify my purchases to myself.

On the way back to the car we stopped into a shop we'd been in last winter where we had coveted a petite uranium glass apothecary jar. The woman had just got it in but hadn't priced it yet. It had a chip in the lip so she knew it would be under value but even the ballpark was more than our comfort zone. Well. It was still there! The lady wasn't there, but the owner was. And the price was a under what her previous estimate had been and he knocked off an additional 10%. Pristine, this jar is worth a lot of money. I don't spend that kind of money on collectibles usually, so a lot of the stuff I have has tiny flaws. Which is fine by me. I love the loot for itself not its value really. And this piece is gorgeous.

Mid to late 19th century, hand painted label uranium glass Valerian apothecary jar. It of course glows under black light.

And last but not least, I got Aimee's outfit by Imai. I am so happy to own this! I love the outrageous take on traditional Japanese couture. I'll do a better photo shoot with all the girls in Japanese garb, but Demelza looked so fab, and she was already wearing the neosium zouk eyes too.

Sorry for the wrinkly backdrop. I'm lazy and I suck. And I'm late to go spend the rest of my glorious weekend moving my mother into a new apartment. Eeep!

Bigfoot!

This story is late in coming and as elusive as the Great Skunk Ape itself. But honestly, I've been rather ill and alternately busy all week.

It was 4am last Saturday , and both Mr. Kallisti and I could not sleep. We'd fallen asleep rather early underneath the "2 weeks past" Christmas Tree. and were suddenly perky in the wee dark hours of the morning. I immediately think "road trip!" and then shortly thereafter "breakfast!"... what else do you do when you have the whole weekend spread out before you? You jump in the big red beast and chug off to Bigfoot Country.

Woke up at four in the morning and said "Want to go find bigfoot?" and Mr. Kallisti said "Sure! Can we hit a Denny's on the way?"

So we're off. Be back tomorrow. Woo!