PhotoDiva & DeLano

In The Zone

2008-05-03T15:00:57Z

I'm still very much on overwhelm with all the family stuff that's been going on in my life. It's been making it hard for me to get things done, adhere to deadlines, remember all the things I'm committed to do & yes, post here. What I've found however is that when I can clear the debris & anxiety away & make room for art it's a huge relief. And not just a relief ... a joy. An energizing joyful act.

I first experienced that on our Seattle trip; I thought it was the effect of being out of town, being away from all of It. And in part it was. But it was also connecting to a core part of what makes me, me. I realized that a couple of weeks ago while I was shooting DeLano in Domina Skye's rope. Despite everything that was going on with family, despite all the stress & exhaustion I was dancing around the room, happy to be in this little bubble of making art with people I'm close to. It was the same feeling I had at SEAF & the shoots I did in Seattle. My art zone makes me happy & brings positive balance to the way my life has been these last 6 months. How great is that?

Up this weekend ... shooting our friend B over at The Genius Metalworker's loft. I have to ask him if I can post about him by name but he's this guy who makes awesome metal bondage furniture. And that's another post in itself. I have a lot of catching up to do here.

one of us one of us

2008-03-08T06:18:54Z

Today was almost made of suck but then it got saved by Firefly.

Slammed back into NYC on the red eye Wed AM, slept weird for a couple days, made it uptown & east to check in on stepmom (who's a bit better than when I left, yay) & then woke up this morning to:
monthly budget & bills
taxes
realization that I was going to set up all those doctordentistetc app'ts when I got back & uh yeah, I'm back
errand running in the rain
more taxes. taxes are suck of the never-ending variety.

But then tonight there was Firefly. seraphin_13 was a Firefly newbie. We've been marathon watching it with her. Today she learned the Jayne song. Indoctrinating a Firefly virgin along with a big bowl of rocky road ice cream, I feel almost better. Still annoyed that I have to get ready for my tax app't before I allow myself to dive into the photos from the Seattle trip or go out & have fun but ... still, today wasn't entirely made of suck.

~~Also, I can kill you with my brain.~~

I mean, also, we scored Eddie Izzard tix for the *official* tour in June. And so did some certain other kool kids out in Seattle. Oh yeah, we rock.

Thank you Seattle!

2008-03-04T18:15:06Z

What can I say about such a fantastic weekend except "thank you" to all our friends in Seattle who made the trip so great? Everyone there was so wonderful to us that it was difficult to say goodbye when it's time to leave. Not only that but being able to see friends from other places and meeting new people as well. Seattle and our friends there, old and new, hold a very special place in my heart - not the one reserved for people who talk at the theater (geek reference alert!), though.

So from the bottom of my heart, thank you all!

Sidecar In Seattle

2008-03-01T18:39:12Z

Two things came to mind last night as I was whizzing along next to twistedmonk:

1. "My diary is in Berlin"
and
2. "This unit has it's own controls. How does it detach?"

Yes, I'm a geek and you'll prove how much of a geek you are if guess where the two references come from. :D

Best impressions of this trip to Seattle so far: An hour and a half at the Sci-Fi museum and only just making it to the second floor before it closed for the day. Us having lunch with fd_midori, sfracerx, our friend and local rope guru Max and dinner with Alena G. Hanging out at the Center Annex with silvergoth and playing with rope on Michele. Vivace Coffee! Having pizza with grimwish and Monk then going to Monk's house to ostensibly recored a video blog but getting totally sidetracked playing Rock Band (I'm apparently a very good faux bass player). Did I say Vivace Coffee?

I'm very much looking forward to the SEAF Gala tonight. I brought some good arm candy clothes so that I can look good standing next to Michele.

And the most wonderful thing about this trip so far is that I finished the first round of edits on my play! Now I just have to transcribe the edits (I did them the old-fashioned way -- pen and ink to printed copy) to my writing software and then I'll e-mail it to several friends for constructive criticism and help in the next round of edits. I know I'll get good feedback from these people and I'm fully ready to take this to the next phase.

Wow. I'm so jazzed about this!

Greetings from Seattle, the Sunshine State

2008-02-29T19:24:27Z

Yes, I know the state industry is rain but it's been sunny most of the time since we got here. I'm looking out a big window onto blue skies & snowcapped mountains in the distance. Yesterday we got "home" in time to catch the most beautiful sunset. I got some great photos of the Space Needle against a sky swirling with clouds & colors, snowcapped mountains in the background. I'm so happy I've got goosebumps. I really really really needed some vacation time & Seattle always throws so much love my way. I'm happy to be here.

Yesterday we ran around doing some SEAF prep, then down to Broadway for lunch with Max, fd_midori & sfracerx. I had coconut juice & DeLano didn't even make *that* face. Then we got touristy & went to the SciFi Museum & the Experience Music Project. We lost D in the SciFi part for a looooong time while we explored the EMP. That was fun, and I need to go back to really check out the whole thing. D would probably tell you he's not done with the SciFi part. I didn't spend long SciFi-ing this trip ... once last year was enough for me for a bit. D out-geeks me, I guess ;) Later that night was dinner out & then Grinding & Chilling. We got to spend some quality time with our very sweet hostess, silvergoth. And then there was collapsing into bed happy & exhausted once we got back.

Today is a shoot with the lovely soapysophie . I'm excited. I haven't had time or energy for making art for way, way too long. Tonight I'll be joining every woman in Seattle at Bang For the Buck while D has stinky pizza with twistedmonk. He's very excited. There's a rumor he's going to get to ride in a sidecar ......

SEAF Gala

2008-02-27T19:22:40Z

Lest I forget about self promotion ...

I've got 3 pieces in the SEAF Gala exhibition on Saturday night, March 1st.
Two of fd_midori, including one print of this shot: http://www.photodiva.com/newwork.html The other is a cigar fetish photo, a bit less clothing, rather more cleavage ...
And one of seraphin_13 all naked & rolling around in garage dirt.

And I'll have more stuff for sale at the SEAF Store, lots of different photos on fridge magnets & greeting cards.

March 1st 6pm-2am
Seattle Center Exhibition Hall (Mercer Street @ 3rd Ave N)
$20 in advance, $25 at the door.
No host bar. 21+ with valid photo ID

Advance Tickets
Brown Paper Tickets
220 Nickerson Street (Fremont)
Seattle, WA 98109
877.278.4842
Mon-Fri 8am-4pm, Sat 10am-4pm

Why else should you come out?

The Gala stages will be throbbing all night with performers including Host and Master of Ceremonies Aleksa Manila, Arnaldo!, Seattle's premiere drag chanteuse; world-class aerialist artists; live psychoclassical music by EQlateral Ensemble; daring bondage suspension; seductive world-class tango; a selection of Seattle's finest burlesque stars; erotic spoken word and much more...

Participate in interactive installations: have your photo taken at Barb Penoyar's popular Photo Booth, or if you prefer, The Virgin Project will sketch your portrait. Feel like making some art yourself? Dr. Sketchy will be there with Seattle's hottest art models, including burlesque star ULTRA, to lead you through a tantalizing life-drawing session that you'll never forget.

Enjoy dancing to Michael Holden's sexy, stylish and sultry eclectic grooves.

packing frenzy

2008-02-27T19:06:36Z

Almost almost almost. Whew, packing for 2 days .... traveling heavier this trip than I ever have before. Packed: artwork for SEAF Gala; paperwork; merchandise & product displays for SEAF store; photo gear; rain gear (Seattle. Portland. Rain.); appropriate clothes/shoes for 3 or 4 parties, appropriate clothes/shoes for shooting & city wandering about for oh, 7 days; girlie cosmetics; music; books; etcetera etcetera etcetera. Toys for niece & nephew & various gifty things. Must remember ... and food for airplane. I mean, food for me to eat on the airplane. Right.

Holy hell. Meeting D uptown in 2 hrs. So I've got TWO pieces checked luggage & a lead heavy carry on & my knapsack, um personal item stowbelowseat thing. And six flights of stairs to get down. Holy holy hell.

I can't wait to get to Seattle!!!

Now why's my cat on the top damn shelf again. Cat!! Oh well. Not under bed at least .... note for cat sitter? Check. Cat food. Check. I'm sure she can get down from there without totally wrecking the living room, right? Ha!! Right. Must clear everything breakable off surfaces in cat flight path. Check.

maybe better

2008-02-19T14:12:36Z

Planning a shoot with soapysophie is making me feel better. I can't wrap my mind around making things happen here in NYC but taking it out of town gives me a little ... I don't know. Breathing room, maybe. I've also got a plot in the works with Alex & twistedmonk. This morning I'm getting glimmers of being able to focus some creative energy on both projects.

Slooowly making logistical planning happen. Does anyone know if Utrecht is the best place for me to buy ready made, exhibition quality frames in Seattle?

Also, trying to figure out what to do on my free day in Portland. Any ideas anyone? Besides Powell's books, I mean. Something accessible via mass transit ...

The Doldrums

2008-02-18T14:29:37Z

As a kid one of my favorite books was The Phantom Tollbooth. In it, a little boy named Milo is on a quest & at one point gets lost in the Doldrums, a gloomy locale populated by Lethargians, where thinking is not allowed. I posted a while back about having a load of unhappy stress-y stuff going on with friends & family - people being ill & all that goes along with that. It's still ongoing & there's a maintenance level of stress that goes along with having people you love being ill. The result is that some days, some weeks, my brain turns to mush . There's a wash of sad over things & I can't think, can't move, can't plan. Imagination doesn't quite work. I'm in the Doldrums.

This makes planning & logistics difficult. My capacity for forethought & my ability think things through, to strategize for travel, projects, etc is limited. Right now, putting together the pieces for our upcoming Seattle travel for SEAF & my solo jaunt afterwards to Portland feels like pulling teeth. So, I've been making lists. Lots & lots of lists. Things to do before travel, people to contact. Questions to answer, things to pack. It's slow going.

The hardest part about that for me right now is feeling like there's a barrier between me & my creative process. I feel a bit lost & kind of sad, partly about loved ones being ill of course, but also partly about feeling too drained most days to do the things that feed me. The part of my brain that needs to engage & get excited & make things happen is full of fog & hard to access. I hate this. I need to be able to go there in order to be me & it's so. very. damned. difficult right now. Lists for travel I can deal with but jump starting my "make art" engines is harder. I've set up shooting out in Seattle & I think that will help ... being with DeLano & away from home for a bit, being with people who are jazzed about making stuff, turning on my camera & jumping in. I'm looking forward to the SEAF Gala, seeing friends, playing, & making art happen. I just need to get out of the Doldrums for long enough to get myself there.

more things that make me happy

2008-02-09T03:17:14Z

Here's what I've been looking at.

dropdeadgorgeous

Yum.

EDDIE!!!!

2008-02-08T00:46:32Z

We just scored Eddie Izzard tix.

*****wheeeeee******

We are SUCH fans. Really. And I'm not the fan type, but Eddie rocks. We saw him workshopping his latest act 2 yrs ago in a teeny tiny theater on Bleecker St & it was great but it will be REALLY REALLY great to go see the official whole show.

OK, going to cook dinner. So excited. Wheee!

boring photo post

2008-02-05T23:32:24Z

I was going to post this while I was still flaming mad. Unfortunately I was busy & the mad's worn off but ... Lexington Photo Labs blows.
Just saying.

I had a print order for some BW work. Needed a fine art archival blahblah exhibition quality print. Went to Lexington because it's my fallback position for this kind of stuff. In the past 10 yrs Lex Labs has gone from being good BW lab w big staff to being joined at the hip with a color lab, with the owner being the printer & full customer service interface on the BW side. Anyway. Dropped off work, gave verbal instructions & contacts with RED GREASE PENCIL crop marks to snooty French lab owner. Went home.

Went back following week to pick up day before big trip, hoping to ship to client before leaving. And ... was given a full frame, not cropped print of mediocre tonal range quality. Ummmm. Clerk from the sister lab agreed order had been botched, said they'd call me with turn around for re-do. So I waited. And waited.
Call back .... Mr Owner still not in.
Call back ... Mr Owner has left for day, and he said he's not re-doing your order. Yes, we know he's wrong. You'll have to come in & talk to him. "He's difficult."

Blahblahblah long story short, Mr Lex Labs said my crop marks & verbal instructions meant nothing & refused to comply. "Zees mahhrrrks means nossing to me, you understand?" ~~(that's the French accent part.~~. My Canadian friend said I was being biased against French accented people so I have ~~struck out~~ the French accent comment. But in the interest of honesty the man was snooty. And happened to be French.)
Yes, I got a full refund. Yes, there was much running & scrambling about before my flight the next day. And cursing. No, I'll never go back again.

Anyone out there work with 68 Degrees recently? If yes, are they as great as they used to be? Or am I having all my BW work done as digital output until I can afford to buy a house & put a BW darkroom in the basement?

Siriusly

2008-01-30T19:25:59Z

I'll be on Diana Cage's OutQ Sirius Radio show tomorrow night. Diana & I worked together when she was the Editor at On Our Backs & I was their east coast Photography Associate. We made a lot of sex shoots happen, yes we did. This will be fun :)

The show airs live, Thursday night, 11PM, channel 109.

Sirus OutQ Radio

geek moment

2008-01-25T17:33:00Z

Geek interlude on our recent SF trip for Rope Dojo. Seems the flight crew now creates a channel where passengers can listen in on the air traffic control banter during the flight. So, after they did the "put your electronics away or the plane will CRASH putitawaynow" thing on the return flight I listened in. Yeah, it's boring shit but my inner geek had great fun hearing them tell us to turn & then feel the plane turn & identify which plane was behind us, can you see them? And hear the pilots acknowledge visual contact (as in: don't crash guys, you're close). I dunno. It was a lot like watching commands scroll across the main mainframe console & being able to read what people are doing all over the network ... or ... ok, I've lost most of you. But I had a few moments of fun listening to air traffic control bring us in.

Erotic Signature Viewer's Choice

2008-01-24T05:57:36Z

I think I mentioned last post that I'd been selected in this year's Erotic Signature competition. There's a book & all that stuff to come. Right now there's a Viewer's Choice vote up. I won't ask you to go vote for mine (although my ego would love the attention, fussy noisy little brat that she is), there's lots of good work to choose from. The socially redeeming important bit is that after you vote for the sex stuff there's a vote for one of four AIDS charities that could benefit from book sales. Go take a look & pick the one that you think does the best work & feel socially redeemed for looking at sexy eye candy. And only vote once, ok? Pass it on.

Link is NSFW: Erotic Sig Viewer's Choice Awards

(Clue: mistressyin is one of the subjects in my photo entry.)

in brief, longwindedly

2008-01-07T22:12:34Z

I'm still rather AWOL from a lot of the things I'd rather not be AWOL from. I owe more than one person prints, I haven't set up any new shoots, I don't get out much, I've missed the gym & yoga. I've missed at least a couple of dinners & one dim sum brunch. I probably owe several people phone calls, too. And not that I'd rather be cleaning but I'd rather have a clean apt & right now I see cat hair clumps big enough to choke, well, a cat.

In brief, what's up with me: I had the tech class from hell this semester. I survived it, it survived me. Rent job was frantic with cross training; I lived. I did some shoots, I even traveled twice. I got what to most folks would be a good grade. But then towards the end of the semester a dear friend was diagnosed with a terminal illness. Immediately after finals my stepmom landed in the hospital. That was early Dec. It was scary, we almost lost her. She's still there, it's still dicey but she's no longer in ICU. Immediately following that 2 more people I adore were diagnosed with other scary things, possibly curable, possibly not. I've been at the hospital a lot with family. There were a lot of frayed nerves. Christmas was weird.

It's been hard. I've been showing up for the sick friends as well as I can. My back's been dicey but I did manage to get to a friend's dinner soiree on New Year's day. It was wonderful but then my hair caught on fire. I cried. Just singed, you wouldn't notice it but I do. Now I have a cold. I'm home, I've seen a lot of movies. My DVD stash will need more replenishing soon. There's been other stuff but that's the main bits about where I've been.

So one night last week I'd had it, I couldn't take any more. Not one more sick person, not one more person I loved being crazy with worry & acting weird. Just. No. More. So I called an old, wise leatherman therapist type friend of mine & he advised that I spend some real time focusing on what's positive around me because I'm going to really need it. So here goes. In public, even:

I have people who love me, 2 warm fuzzy cats (one purring on my lap now, and she's not in renal failure as we thought she was), and a warm safe apartment to live in. Despite all of our individual bits of dysfunction & momentary lapses, my family has rallied around each other in dealing with my stepmom's illness. I have a wonderful, supportive partner who's been making some great strides in his own life. I have a rent job & it fills that need, the rent is paid & really they're nice folks; and, they send me home to be sick when I'm sick. I get to be part of Rope Dojo (tm) & will be doing another one in SF in a couple of weeks. I was able to organize at least one photo submission over the fall & as a result one of my photos was selected for this year's Erotic Signature whoosie (one of my photos of mistressyin from this past fall). I've found & listened to the archived weeks of Vin Scelsa's Idiot's Delight on WFUV.org, and his shows always comfort & cheer me. Oh, and there's a very pretty sunset outside my window right now.

I miss you all. I will wrap up old project loose ends, prints, cd's I owe folks as soon as this being sick on the couch thing relents. Dim sum soon, when I feel better, when I'm not running to the hospital in all my spare time. More photo shoots! Going out to play. I do miss all that. I just can't do it much right now. OK ... going off to focus on something positive & edible. I think my sense of taste just might be coming back & there's some nice things in my fridge.

I am full.

2008-01-01T00:43:43Z

And when I say "full", I mean "complete". Just this morning I finished writing the first draft of a one-act play, my first play in more years than I care to count. It's been so long since I typed the words "The End" that I was feeling a like a fraud telling anyone I was a writer. What? You didn't know I was a writer? I've been keeping a very low profile since I haven't been able to complete anything because my life and my artistic process were in such chaos and turmoil. My former life took a big bite out of my creative instincts and ability, so big a bite that I began to feel somewhat dead inside to my love of stringing sentences together to tell a story. One divorce, one dissolved writing partnership and nearly a year of therapy and I'm finally reclaiming a part of myself that I almost didn't know was missing.

Many years ago I wrote, produced and directed a one-act play here in New York. I'd never had a more exciting, exhausting and fulfilling experience as an artist but I didn't follow it up with another; I drifted back into trying to break into film writing. Between that first play and this one, I buried myself in what eventually became an emotional Sargasso for me and a doomed writing partnership with folks whom I still love dearly and see as often as I can. I drifted so far from my own artistic center that couldn't see how to finish anything I started.

I started working on the play in the summer but had to put it down a couple of times. Even considering that, I knew this was the right thing for me to do; I could feel it in every line I wrote. So, when I typed the words "The End" at the bottom of the page this morning, thereby hitting a goal of finishing by the end of the year, I threw my hands up in triumph and joy! It's been a long time coming, with several false starts along the way, but I'm finally seeing my way clearly again. I'm now able to say with some conviction: "I am a writer."

Michele and I started this blog to talk about our art and now, finally, I can talk about all of my art, not just my rope art. And the great thing is that I've got more percolating back there, just waiting to spill onto the page. I'm starting to see the next two plays. It's been so long.

What now? The rewrite! A reading or two! And then let's get that sucker produced!

I'm home.

Happy New Year!

radio silence

2007-12-18T18:15:04Z

I haven't posted in about forever. I haven't even been meaning to. I've been so busy & stressed & stressed & busy that I haven't even considered topics to post on. After showing up, participating & doing all the stuff life is spitting out at me, writing about it is unfathomable. There's nothing left. I can comment sometimes on other people's LJs but beyond that, it's all drool & dribble.

It's going to be that way for a little while longer, I think.

So ... sorry, stress ate my brain. No words. Miss you all. Back later when the weather clears.

Six Months Later...An Update!

2007-11-08T21:45:58Z

I just updated my site for the first time in six months. That's definitely one of the longest times I've ever gone between updates. What took me so long? Computer problems, refinements to the site, deciding on what galleries to post where some of the reasons. But the bigger reason is that I haven't felt like it. I've been a bit ambivalent about the site because it just gets more and more difficult to find time to shoot and people to shoot with. Because of the very nature of DeLano Bound, I have an extremely small pool of shoot partners -- both tops and bottoms -- and this limits the amount of content I can post. Sometimes I want to have more ready and waiting to go. Sometimes. But then I look deep and realize what it is that I'm trying to accomplish here.

DeLano Bound is an exploration of connection through rope, not a bondage content site in the traditional sense, so I'm not going to be shooting with "models" just to get a lot of pictures. I won't be working with someone for whom this is just a paycheck or something they do to "just because". Years ago I tried to enter that world and, because boys are less profitable that girls in that world, I didn't get very far at all. But I got far enough to see how hollow a lot of it is, or can be. I got far enough to realize that my "because", and the "because" of anyone I play or shoot with, has to go deep; it has to run all the way to the core of who we are. It doesn't have to be all that we are, however, because in my opinion, that can leave a person just as hollow and burned as doing it strictly for money can.

I was looking over the galleries I just posted and there are so many elements of truth and depth of connection there, especially in the set with Skye, that it made me smile at the memory. When Skye cinched the rope tight or dug her thumbs into my carotid it was real; it was a an expression of what our bondage play life is. When we made faces at each other and hugged it was an expression of what our friendship is, of how it's evolved over the years. I felt happy and proud not only because I shared such an experience with Skye but because Michele was able to capture it so that I can share it with anyone who wants to visit my site.

That's part of my "because." There's more to it and slowly but surely I'll be able to explore and share it all.

sci fi interlude

2007-09-24T17:01:13Z

DeLano & I have been watching Firefly on DVD. It's a TV series that no one has ever heard of, which the movie Serenity was based on. I am guessing no one's ever heard of Serenity, either. Serenity kicked ass, and Firefly is addictive. I'm terribly sad that there's only 13 episodes.

Over & out.

This week

2007-09-24T15:59:56Z

This week I start vile, awful, horrid tech class. Monday nights will be interminably exhausting for next 3 months. Tuesday at 6AM won't be so hot, either.
This week I finish up packing, planning, getting ready & head out to Seattle & Portland. I wish DeLano was coming with me but this ended up having to be a solo trip. Besides everything else I have planned, I'm hoping I can lay some ground work for us both going back out in the spring around SEAF time.
This week, today actually, I am in day job hell & nothing is going right. Bother, that.
This week I get to shoot a beautiful aerialist all tied up by her hot damn rigger top in Seattle.
This week I get to have dinner w a whole gaggle of my Seattle friends.
This week I get to go to the Grind party at the Wet Spot & hang w most of said gaggle & hang out & take in the scenery.
This week I take a fast, sexy train down from Seattle to Portland. I love train rides. I especially love train rides when I can listen to my iPod & watch the world go by.
This week I get to hang with my brother & his family & go be in Portland with them. To this end, yesterday DeLano & I went dinosaur toy hunting at the Museum of Natural History gift shop. Man, I love that place. I never want to buy a kid a toy anyplace else again.
This week I get to meet a new gaggle of Portland people.
This week I will miss DeLano & seraphin13 & my cats & NY, but I won't miss Monday here in day job hell this week. I will be happy to be not doing that for a few days. Perhaps people here will have calmed down by the time I come back, which will be Next Week.

whew

It's going to be a very busy week.

GURU

2007-09-13T16:47:36Z

Note to dart_rope and cosmic_coyote: I saw a full page ad last night in the Village Voice for GURU. Seems summer 2007 was their NYC launch.

I thought this was strictly a north of the border monstrosity! Don't you Canadians have anything better to export to NYC? Some new maple products, perhaps? Or your superior health care system? ;)

(OK, this is my last ever GURU related post. Over & out.)

If it's Dojo, I must be in New York (this time)

2007-09-11T15:36:36Z

There's something that's both exciting and terrifying about Rope Dojo weekends for me. Exciting because I love helping Midori teach, exciting because we have a new batch of students to inspire us, exciting because we get to taste the flavors of another city (or country, since we've done this in Canada as well). Terrifying because we've got a room full of people who look to us for inspiration, education and fun. This time it was no different just because we were here in New York. There's a saying that mentions something about a prophet not being accepted in his own country and I was afraid that might be the case with this weekend.

I need not have worried. We had an amazing class of some of the most interesting and exuberant people I've ever had the pleasure of teaching (and learning from). We had people from across the Northeast, the South and England to name a few places. We had a good mix of experience levels, genders, sexual orientation and scene orientation. We had lifestyle players and pro dommes. And it was beautiful to watch everyone come together and give all they had to each other and return the energy Midori and I poured out for two days.

Dojo is sixteen hours of intense drilling, demonstrating, discussing, instructing and sharing and it always leaves me with a sense of being exactly where I need to be to help people grow in their bondage skills and understanding of why we do rope in the first place. It's the kind of experience I wanted for myself when I decided the fetish club scene wasn't enough for me any more. It's one of the reasons I started DeLano Bound.com.

One of our students described the weekend as "pivotal" for him. It is for me, as well. Each and every time.

Interlude: girl time

2007-09-10T19:36:19Z

Last week fd_midori & I were able to carve out a few glorious hours in between her teaching & my day job, vet visits (Miss Bratzy is doing much better, thank you), errands & such to go do Girl Stuff.

On Thursday we went uptown to Takashimaya & then to Bendel's to touch, ooh & ahh over things we can't afford but would look amazing in, we're sure of it. Takashimaya was first. Once we were done fondling the fall fashions Midori wanted to linger in the floral arrangements & in the tea house downstairs. I was all about the scent but when it came down to it, nothing there rocked my world & I decided to save myself for the Memoire Liquide scent bar at Bendel's. Out of literally hundreds of scents I found 6 that I want to check out further & one that made me swoon.

Memoire Liquide, # 604 - Jasmine Tea .. jasmine, green tea, osmanthus & camilla flowers ... Ummmmm wow. It was so wow in fact that when we went downstairs to pick up a couple of headbands for Midori the salesgirl took one sniff of me & said, "Girl, get away from me, you're giving me goosebumps." She showed me her arms & yes, yes I was. She had goosebumps. She scolded me & said I'd get in trouble if I went out like that. Yeah so I'm buying it. Just as soon as I can afford it. Meantime, I ordered just a few sampley things from The Perfumed Court.

Friday, we got up early (at the crack of 11, at least) to go to Space NK. I first found them a couple of weeks ago with my friend B & was given such attentive, expert service from the staff there (Christine, the ass't mgr is my new makeup fairy godsister) & Midori knew the shop from London. She was in need of new foundation & I had my eye on a couple of items on my future-buying-maybe list that what the hell, I could go look at again. I ran around playing with lipsticks while she got a makeover from one of the sales staff. Fun!! (And yes, maybe I broke down & bought a small something. Blush. But I needed it. Badly.)

I still haven't written about Dojo. Maybe tomorrow, if I can. Right now I'm still Dojo-lagged & need time to gather my thoughts. Meantime, lolitasir wrote up a great review here.

I-love-my-life moment # 932

2007-09-10T03:22:52Z

We wound up NYC Rope Dojo this evening with our usual after Dojo dinner with crew & a couple of friends. Good friends, good food, good conversation. DeLano only fell asleep once. Maybe twice. It was a French place & someplace in the course of the evening La Vie En Rose was playing in the background.

The tune stuck & a couple of us walked out humming. One of our friends, A, who'd taken the weekend class with us was singing it. He was singing it quite well in fact, and we all stopped to listen. sfracerx asked him if he knew what it meant in English, and that was how we all ended up standing on a Bleecker Street corner of a late summer night, listening to a distinguished gay gentleman sing La Vie En Rose & tell us the meaning, line by line. It's a terribly romantic song & we all got a bit misty. It was a lovely little moment.

Life is full of little gorgeous moments. They're right there if you look. Now I'm going to turn in & snuggle in next to DeLano & that will be another lovely moment. Good night. :)