Personal Rambling: 2006 Archives

For Ondine.

And then:

for Christmas? I'm waiting for more peektures. And there's a whole slew of Dolpa 16 goodies we haven't seen yet. *smacks head*

But for sure:

Hurrah! & 3-6 months would be good. Some time next year Ginevra & Ermengarde will get their Dollstown body!

And not to mention the eventual release of the Hypermaniac dollies. Ugh!

In the meantime: Reno this weekend with Toddums and Switzerland in June for the 10th Anniversary of FeeVerte.net at the Boveresse Absinthe Fest.

Seriously. I hate to fly, the only reason why I waffle. I must pray to ye gods of dutch courage and get my ass on that plane. Gar.

a day of cooking, and going through boxes of artifacts from my gramma's garage. you may see more of this today. eeeeeeeeeee! my hands are still that pudgy.

The Robots got married today (yes, they are changing their name to "Robot"). Best. Wedding. Ever.

We have no pictures. Just our memories. But we looked really awesome. Really.

It was held at The Parkway Theater in Oakland. They came out shooting lasers and were married by a paper robot with a curiously analog paper scroll screen we all read his lines from.

Those of us whose eye prescriptions aren't horribly out of date any way.

I cried like a baby. And then ate TWO cupcakes. The end.

Swoon and die.

I've updated Décolleté with my review of Marie Antoinette, half way down the entry.

I'm now accepting comments on Décolleté, you can also add a news feed subscription via this link. Here's the Livejournal ready feed, add me!

Is there an entomologist in the house? (Keith, I'm looking at yooooou!)

Mr. Kallisti found Mr. Creepy on our back porch a couple days ago (he's since been let free in the marshes very far from our house). He's about 1 1/4" long.

Now, this is California. We don't get bugs here. Not discounting Augie's recent wrangle with a brown recluse. The weirdest bug we have are the indigenous potato bugs (the mere mention of which will give a native californian the serious willies).

EDIT: after several people suggested http://whatsthatbug.com I combed the beetle archives and think he's a Brown Prionid:

http://whatsthatbug.com/beetles5.html

Near the bottom. Google image search scares up many more pictures that are similar! Will post when/if it is confirmed.

I love bugs.

We go to The City infrequently. So it is always the awesome to run into someone unexpectedly. This time it was Augie! We were picking up a wee blobpi for Mr. Kallisti's birthday (mwah!) at Super 7. And in walks Augie with flyers/posters for his latest: "Shock It To Me" Halloween Horrorfest at the Castro. I jumped all over him and whisked him off to din-din around the corner at that really good ramen place that we hadn't been to yet. Yay!

We were friends when I was in HS. And roommates briefly when I first moved to The City. Last time I saw him he was putting on Godzilla fest. He's just written a book (editing) and got bitten by a brown recluse earlier this year... eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeek! For real.

So yeah, the fest is the same weekend as the Volks party, but we'll try to make the Friday night Hammer fest. Aaaaah!

I also brought up the Cerrito Theater happening a couple blocks away, since it will be run by the folks at the Parkway in Oakland. He says they currently have plans to move Thrillville to El Cerrito! Swoon & die! Totally stumbling distance from our house.

Came home Tuesday to find the biggest box in the world, all wrapped in minty green paper that perfectly matched our decor. Tearing it open revealed a dream come true! The full set of Camille Rose Garcia vinyls. They're so much bigger than I thought! 12" or more? Only one girl has come out so far. Don't actually have room for them right now :/ but expect more peektures of them coming soon. And then the girl vinyls will fight the boy vinyls TO THE DEATH!

Regarding this post I am going to try preordering from one of Volks' new fangled authorized US dealers: Rochelle at Kerbey Lane Doll Shop [post here]. No guarantees, but at least I'm on a list for that swimsuit, and no CA tax if I get it (not such a big deal on smaller items, but still). I've bought stuff from her back in the olden days and she was super nice, both my Pirate Sylvie outfit and The US Convention outfit designed by Nat came from her, at totally reasonable prices etc.

I will report back my findings! So far it seems really similar to how it worked with Frank. You just kind of point and say "I want that, the white one w/ blue trim" and they say "alright, you're on the list if we get enough! 20% deposit on all dolls!" etc etc.

I dream often of living some place less expensive, where I could afford to buy a house, where the people are a little less politically correct, and the cars are fewer... (insert "Swiss Family Robinson" theme music here)...

But I've had such an amazing week, all due to local color and local comforts.

Last thursday we took my uncle to see "Restoration Comedy" at Cal Shakes theater, which neither of us had ever been to. A gorgeous outdoor theater in the wilds of Orinda, nestled amongst the hills in a glade of giant eucalyptus, we were dive bombed by dragonflies throughout the performance, but no mosquitos (pronounced muskeetas if you're like me and yer mama is from the midwest)!

Look! I took a pictures with my new camera phone:

Wow. 1.3 megapixels and it still sucks. Only use in case of emergency! New phone is cool though :p

I'll let you read more about the play here. It is only playing til the 30th. It was so brilliant and so funny, and oft times so very GAY that I was literally falling off my lawn chair I was laughing so hard. And the costumes! Oy! Lots of costume puns and general fabulousness. If this play comes to your town, SEE IT.

We had dinner downtown at "Casa Orinda"... and old timey relic of a restaurant that has gone a bit upscale but still serves awesome fried chicken and and steak and spaghetti and stuff. And they had REAL GRAVY. Like not brown gravy, or craft service yellow gravy... real gravy. I could bathe in it.

The icing on the cake of a perfect evening: when we dropped my Uncle off he loaded me up with yet another chunk of his ancient library... specifically the Restoration plays (printed late 17th century), a contemporary copy of The Beggar's Opera (18th century), and a biography of Henry VII by Sir Francis Bacon (16th century). More on those later. After I roll around in them naked for a bit.

Sunday night, in the middle of our little heat wave (yes, it was 94 in El Cerrito) we went to The Merritt Bakery for dinner in Oakland. Another relic, and old diner, again specializing in fried chicken and cake! It was sooper. We then went and saw the pirate movie at The Grand Lake, yet another beloved anachronism: the gigantic gilded movie house. Used to go there quite a bit as a kid.

Last night we drove to the City for a hair cut. And nipped down to 16th Street and Pancho Villas for burritos. It may be hard to believe, but you just can't get Mission style burritos anywhere but the Mission. Berkeley don't have it. No sir. It is only fifteen miles away, and there ain't nothin' like it no where else. Sigh.

I am replete. Living here is no punishment, despite the high cost of living. I still fantasize daily about Baltimore or Portland or New Orleans or the Wilds of BigFoot Country. Sigh.

Take the Blastmilk Tour! Kinda fun, I could get lost in there.

I found DeeDee Ramone's guitar pick in my jewelry box the other day. It has made me... melancholic. I picked it up off the stage at Berkeley Square in '83 or '84. Perhaps the same concert as the ticket in my scrapbook.

Syd Barrett died.

And to make matters even more poignant, R.I.P. Cody's Books. Oh, how my formative years have slipped away...

I looked up a past acquaintance. He was the suave King of New Wave in Berkeley circa 1984, after being the Prince of Punk Rock a few years previous. Once I shocked him by appearing in public without make-up (at 16 I wore a lot, a la crazy new wave influences). Startled, he suavely blurted "Oh my god. You're ugly!" I wasn't and I'm not, but it is amazing how these things STICK in your head. I saw him again ten years later, it was laundry day and I was in these huge awful pants and my hair was unkempt (so what else is new?). He was in fucking birkenstocks and I still wanted to crawl in a pit of shame and die. In any case, it looks like he's written a book about his young Berkeley Punk Rock exploits, pdf on Lulu.com. Mr. Sunshine is all hearts and flowers now. Irony! Sigh. Oh, the assholery of youth. How thou doth scar.

I'm 37. Imagine the meandering mind at 86! Guh!

(pic stolen from nadja)

Paul came up this last week for his show of custom painted vinyl at Super 7 (please to buy). Went to the opening friday and had a blastorama! Lots of friends, beer & plastic monsters. I fell in love with a red glitter godzilla and Mr. Kallisti promptly smacked it on the counter and brought him home for me, along with 2347834 beasties. Yay beasties! I could decorate an entire room w/ this godzilla as the centerpiece. He's just that fabulous.

"Web 2.0 is a fresh-faced starlet on the intertwingled longtail to the disruptive experience of tomorrow. Web 3.0 thinks you are so 2005." - Zeldman, as per usual

Save me from the buzzkill.

I apologize for the lack of DOLLIES AND PUPPIES, KITTENS AND BUNNIES!!! Honest. We'll be back.

I just got a new momoko today. rawr. OMG, I love her *falls over*

I'm thinking of adding a category of chamber pots in art & literature to the blog. I've been meaning to do a perma-gallery forever but just don't have the time to even update my old hobbies. So I thought maybe a random collection of images and book references posted to the blog might spice things up a little. Not scatalogical at all. Just intimate and old timey. Weeeeeeeeeeee!

Took the day off today. Finished production on yet another iteration of the corporate website and I'm totally beat. I had to work through some pain and illness so I was pretty ill tempered at work. Just hoping it didn't show too much :p

By Sylvia Plath (and sent as a prezzie by le marquis, aw! I'm all squish inside!)

What a thrill—
My thumb instead of an onion.
The top quite gone
Except for a sort of a hinge

Of skin,
A flap like a hat,
Dead white.
Then that red plush.

Little pilgrim,
The Indian's axed your scalp.
Your turkey wattle
Carpet rolls

Straight from the heart.
I step on it,
Clutching my bottle
Of pink fizz.

A celebration, this is.
Out of a gap
A million soldiers run,
Redcoats, every one.

Whose side are they on?
O my
Homunculus, I am ill.
I have taken a pill to kill

The thin
Papery feeling.
Saboteur,
Kamikaze man—

The stain on your
Gauze Ku Klux Klan
Babushka
Darkens and tarnishes and when

The balled
Pulp of your heart
Confronts its small
Mill of silence

How you jump—
Trepanned veteran,
Dirty girl,
Thumb stump.

Even though it is my pinky and not my thumb that has been sliced, it is bad enough to warrant Sylvia. Cut it dicing my veg on a mandolin last night. I've never had a bad cut, or broken bones. This was scary. It was a neat oval slice, to the muscle, and is only held on by a 1/16th" isthmus of skin. The doctor says it will prolly turn black and fall off, then I will have a wee scoop out of the side of my finger. As soon as my blubbering stopped last night I asked Mr. Kallisti if we could take a picture. He said no and kept bandaging.

Who knew skin was so thick and white on the inside?

There's nothing so apropos as Caravaggio for deep wounds. Well, except maybe Sylvia.

Thanks for the hawt link from Stitch heaven way up North.

Mommy? Why does the news suck?

Mr. Kallisti: Ooh, my shoulder is starting to cinch up on the left side!
Me: My hip has been hurting alllll day!
Mr. Kallisti: We're beginning to sound like my Grandmother and her friends
at Sunday morning service:

Catherine: How are you this Sunday, Marion?
Marion: I'm in pain and crippled by arthritis but I thank the Lord for
all his blessings.
Catherine: Oh yes, I know what you mean. My polio has been acting up
and my grandchildren were all arrested for prostitution but my heart
is unburdened by his glory!

♥

Where I whinge about unimportant things.

Scanned a flyer in for my Uncle this evening and thought I'd pass along the news. He's singing with his group for a benefit to raise funds for Daniel Barenboim's Free International Music School in Palestine.

They'll be singing a collection of Elizabethan Evensong. They're very good, he recently sang at Jerry Brown's wedding (yes, THE Jerry Brown of California Uber Alles fame). *poke*

Go see!

teehee!

Snow rarely happens here (duh. like, once every twenty years), but it is also so rare that we even get the forecast! It is fun to dream though.

Also, my volks customize figure kit came today, wow! I'm really looking forward to building her. Very cool little sculpt, nice and heavy. Unlike super dollfie (half-finished kit, just no seams sanded), these are complete kits and will take lots of work. More figure than doll than the dollfies. Though I wonder why they didn't treat them as a kind of evolution of dollfies. *ponder*

thanks to urgent PM from kelly that alerted me to my special evil status.

and on a side note, my Volks customize figure kit shipped today! woot!

hail!

oh boy. real weather. for thirty seconds.

Happy Fat Tuesday to all!

And with this, I share some very old peektures of the last time Bat & I went to Mardi Gras. We spent a month in the guest room of Chateau Bimbaux, one of the happiest 30 days of my life.

Mardi Gras 2001! Nothing like whoring oneself for gaudy baubles to cheer one up.

Oh gads! There's some pictures of people in here I can't show because they are NAKED! Hahaha. Makes me happy.

Edit: adding this picture because it makes me laugh. Taken IN New Orleans, though probably not at Mardi Gras, circa 1997.

Yep. Pretty, pretty!?!?! No wonder I used to get pick up lines like "I want to f@#^%@ck your hair."

*cry!*

You know I love the rain, but if you ruin my satellite connection for the Bleak House series finale I'll just perish! (yeah yeah, it plays on 3 other channels all week. but I want it NOW!) Also, I can't spray Mr. Super Clear in the rain (sorry Mercy, but the Eyebrows Mach II look FAB!!!), so I'm making a fairy ball gown for Aschenputtel. It might suck. But it might not. I hate when you can't tell till you've spent two days on a project whether it will suck or not.

Speaking of Gilly (Anderson), we saw Tristram Shandy on Friday night and it was fantastic! Had serious gut splitting moments where I thought my eyeballs were going to explode. But best part??? LIBERTINE PREVIEW. Dude, I think I have a bodice ripper boner. March 10th.

Love,
Me

P.S. I'm sorry I caused all that cancer.

Little Princess Alice themed Doujinshi

that is all.

My car is molding. My new, beautiful, li'l green beetle.

Um, it apparently was a driving school car (!?!?!?!) and there is a big hole in the floor where we they had the emergency brake peddle installed. We think water had been splashing up into it during the recent deluge. We didn't notice that the floors were totally soaked til last night.

And there is too much mold to clean out with rags. I'm so mortified.

And the dealership and VW aren't answering phones.

My car is molding. My new, beautiful, li'l green beetle.

Um, it apparently was a driving school car (!?!?!?!) and there is a big hole in the floor where we they had the emergency brake peddle installed. We think water had been splashing up into it during the recent deluge. We didn't notice that the floors were totally soaked til last night.

And there is too much mold to clean out with rags. I'm so mortified.

And the dealership and VW aren't answering phones.

you may already know this but type "1 dollar to yen" into google... and voila!

yay.