The Volunteer Park Conservatory had their spring plant sale today.  The place was kind of a madhouse, and you had to act fast, as the place was packed at 10 when they opened.

I bought a couple of ferns for the porch.

I bought the one in the light blue pot today, and the other light colored one.  The three in black plastic pots are all Japanese Painted Ferns, the new one a "Ghost" and the other two "Silver Falls".  I am a geek.  In the red pot, it''s horsetail fern, mostly considered a weed.  A weed perhaps, but a very spooky looking one for my goth garden.  In the back ground you can see the Golden Chain Tree getting ready to bloom.  The flower drops are about a foot long, and can get up to two feet!  And to think I almost cut that tree down...  It's also highly poisonous, so keep that in mind if you're over to the house and I offer you a cup of tea!

Toward the other end of the spectrum, I've spent the weekend rhinestoning a bustier...

The big stones are the size of a nickel, and are pointed on top because they are so thick.  Terrible picture, I know, but you get a sense of the thing...

Chinatown for dinner, and if I can stay up late enough, Trannyshack! @ Neumo's.

Today has been a good one.

There was a plant sale at the Japanese Garden in Portland yesterday.  I was there to deliver a dress, and had the whole day to get back, so I spent a couple of hours there learning about some new plants and geeking out over all the bizarre and lovely things out there.  I bought some black coleus and a sort of lavendar colored stonecrop that looks really cool and creepy next to the yellow orange stonecrop I already had.



Then to continue my day of self-indulgence, I stopped at Tsugawa's Japanese Nursery on the way home and got a few more things.

I'm like that.

So, today I planted everything.  It took about 6 hours.


I am sore all over.  Did I mistakenly  "exercise"?  Well, so be it then. 

The garden is looking very goth with lots of black and bruise colored plants.

My Mom is from Louisiana, and I remember her talking about how they used to use sweetened condensed milk in their coffee.

I was just doing the unthinkable -- grocery shopping while stoned -- and couldn't help but buy a can.


It is truly delicious in my afternoon coffee, and that Elsie looks so friendly with those daisies around her neck!

The Euphorbia has rather creepy, outer-space blooms


And the little tree is "Twisted Baby", a form of locust tree.  It's supposed to flower and such, but the branches alone are enough to make it gorgeous.


Not a great picture, but you get the drift.  I'll re-shoot once it's placed in the garden.

Like I mentioned, it's supposed to frost this weekend, so no planting until early next week.

Self-employment tax is NO JOKE.

Ugh.  I can't yet bring myself to write the check.

Good thing I started my day with the reward, and worked on the taxes after.

I went to City People's Nursery on Madison.  It wasn't nearly as exciting as Swanson's in Ballard, but they did have some cool things,  especially two coral bark Japanese maples that are my dream tree.  Unfortunately, I don't think we have room for one.  I'm going to try to find a dwarf version.  I bought some nice Coleus, which seem to do really well here until about September.  The colors are great, and the names are a pretty sweet as well.  I bought "Drama Queen", "Spellbound" and something about "Christmas Cheer" because you know how that word lights up every child's face.  And Kurt's.  They told me not to plant them until after the weekend because we're supposed to freeze again!  Unfair!



The front porch is starting to look good.  I bought a really corny rocker at the Goodwill on Dearborn, and salvaged some tree trunk for a table.  I plan to spend a lot of time out there this summer, enjoying beverages and snooping on the neighbors.

Finally, Glochester wants you to know he's ready.  Ready for anything.

Actually, I think I left it in the cab on the way home.  Anyway, I have NO PHONE NUMBERS.

Please text your number to me, with your name attached, or we could be in the dark forever.

(And Tom C., I owe you a fancy drink).

Below is a crappy picture of the embroidery I'm doing for a dress...  it still has a ways to go.

I spent the weekend working on a prom dress for my niece, Liz.  I told her that you can get away with showing as much skin as you want, as long as the dress is kind of princess-y.  She told me I should smoke with a bong, not a pipe.

I finally made it to the nursery yesterday and got some new plants for the front of the house.  Honeysuckle (orange) to grow up the porch columns and give us a bit more privacy, a whole lot of black mondo grass, and a red barberry bush,  The barberry bush is covered in really mean little stickers, but the color and shape are beautiful.

I'm ready for Spring, once I clean the house.

Hey friends --

A couple of things.

First, no more Fridays at the Pink Door.  If you didn't see it you missed it.  Special thanks to Campos, Tom, and Garth for their great support.  It was a fun run, but alas ...

I'm a guest Slogger for the Stranger this coming Friday the 14th.  If you have ideas for topics lemme know!


This is so GOOD!

My friend Zok is the tour manager for this Swedish band the Hives that some of you may have heard of.

My husband can't accompany me to the show on Saturday (he being always my first choice for a date), and I don't want to go alone in case Zok is busy and I don't know anyone (it could happen) because then I'd have to just watch the show, which might be boring since I don't really know what this band is about.

It's at that new Showbox SODO thing, which is a little creepy too.

So, really, I'm just looking for a date Saturday night.

I promise I'll be fun.

To be loving Lady Gaga?

It's been awhile since I've posted other than my plea for attendance at my Friday show, so I thought I'd update on life at the Pagoda...

I'm still the most happily married person I know.  KBR is a rock, a blessing, truly the best thing that ever happened to me if you want to get all Gladys Knight about it.  Our 6th anniversary is in February and we're having a Sunday open house on the 24th.  Mark your calendars now.  It has replaced my birthday as my favorite non-X-mess holiday.  And the traditional gift for the 6th year is CANDY!

We're loving the new puppy, and he's loving us back.  It's good to have another member of the family.  He puts himself to bed several times a day, which for some reason I find so cute that it makes my heart do that floppy thing.  Chaka, our 11 year old golden/chow mix is very furry and so has never needed sweaters and such.  The little guy gets all shivery, so that's a nice excuse for us to knit really queer things for him, like this loopy fiasco --


I'm learning to work without a set schedule, which can be difficult when one of your X-mess gifts was upgraded cable and another a Pendleton wool blanket.  Now that I have Turner Classic Movies available 24-7 and a really great nap accessory (not to mention a comfy couch) it's tricky to stay focused on work sometimes.  I have to remind myself that as much as I like the idea, I am not a trophy wife.

In other work related news, I'm going to be doing some Happy Hour bartending shifts at Moe Bar.  Steven, Mike, everybody there, have been so welcoming and nice that I think it's going to be an excellent fit.  And truly, it's a bar I enjoy.  The clientele is mixed in the best possible way and the decor is both stylish and unpretentious.  Catch me there the next two Sundays from 3-8.

The Pink Door show is going well.  Kurt is with me this month in his Stilton garb, and that makes it even more fun for me.  Really you should catch a show...  Really.  The rest of this month is killer, and next month's cast is equally bizarre.

My custom costume and fashion work is enormously satisfying.  If you need a really special garment, do me the honor of giving me a call. 

2007 was an amazing up and down year for us, and I've got to say that despite illness, severe work turnarounds, and wrangling with my health care (which sometimes seems unsurmountable) it was overall a positive one.  I have high hopes for us in 2008, and the same for all of you.

It's going to be a terrific show at the Pink Door come Friday.

We have the amazing Heather Hughes, in her songstress mode.

Pasquale, without his bulldogs, but wielding his mighty violin.

A tasty blonde who can't keep her clothes on, Miss Inga Ingenue.

That Canadian kitten Babette -- whether she takes it off or not, she's amazing entertainment. Who knows what she'll get up to with a little encouragement?

And you think you know Kurt B. Reighley? Well, get to know him as Stilton, that most capable of British housekeepers.

Of course I'll be there, talking shit and taking names.

Be there by 10:30.

Show at 11.

(I've noticed that everyone looks prettier at the Pink Door, so do yourself a favor and come bathe in the good lighting. We've been having a marvelous time, and so can you!)

Things got pretty Christmassy around here yesterday.  New puppy.  Afternoon snow that stuck around until evening.  And Yul Brynner, sexy beast in beaded Thai silks in the King and I on TMC.

I've only left the house to buy more butter and ham.  Kurt was sent out for cream yesterday.

There's still plenty of booze and snacks, but I am trying to do a little something more than eat things the next few days.

Prepare for the oncoming family (my brother, his wife and two daughters arrive Friday for the weekend).

Prepare for our last show of the year at the Pink Door on Friday.  (eleven sharp, let me know if you're coming).

Clean up some of the mess.

It's so Christmassy that we're sitting in the living room, listening to vintage Yiddish recordings, and I'm half- convinced I need to make latkes.

I had lunch yesterday with a co-worker from 15 years ago.  She is the production stage manager at the Seattle Children's Theater where I was the costume shop manager from 1988 until 1992, if I remember correctly.  I was on my way to a pleasant career as a theatrical costume designer before that big gust of AIDS in 1992 blew me sideways into what we'll call a rather dark period.

It was a perfect Thanksgiving lunch, as Paula pointed out, and brought me full circle.  She and I spent an hour talking about the trials we've been through in that 15 year period, and how strong, and unafraid, and happy we are now.

She wore to our lunch a dress that I made for her over 15 years ago.  It still fit her perfectly, suited her perfectly, and is something she still wears consistently.

The QFC on Broadway presented me with this vision of loveliness.  She said she only dressed up for church, so I caught her at a good time.  What you can't see in the photo is her really amazing high heeled ankle boots in brown leather.  She was red hot.

The first Project Runway is tonight.

I'm still playing Project Runway in my studio, making costumes for ladies to take off in public.  It's ridiculously gay in here, with bolts of chiffon, piles of ostrich feathers, and sketches flying about.  I trip over the dog, I stab myself with pins, I stitch, I fit, I re-stitch, and re-design and hope to come up with something that looks as good as I imagine it will when first designing.  The ladies seem happy so far, so that's a good sign.

Kurt's parlor maid costume unleashed something in me, and it's good to be back doing what my education and first 10 years of adult employment prepared me for.



I'm also trying to make a freaking living, so if anyone needs any custom clothing built, I hope you'll give me a call.  I can do women's, men's, and (as seen above) anything in between.

Domesticity is bliss but I'm working on a costume this morning.  I'm up to my ass in ostrich feathers, working out the pattern for a showgirl costume I'm making...





The fabric you see is just interlining.  The real fabric is as below



For anyone into fabric porn, that's Italian silk satin, French lame', and custom dyed ostrich feathers.   Deluxe indeed.

I'm home until the after the first of the year, working on costume commissions and hosting a variety show at the Pink Door, Fridays, beginning Dec 7th.  It's an open-ended engagement, but come to a show early on and help me justify my new suit.

Please?

If the Travel Gods are listening, I'm ready to take it worldwide



Due in no small part to the fact that this wallpaper is in Italy and the shipping alone would be 40 bucks a roll.

If I was traveling there I could just go pick it up!

I had a rare opportunity on the Slog (The Stranger's blog) to let an artist who's work I find especially heinous know what I felt about his contribution to our urban landscape.

http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/another_piece_of_recombinant_art

Sorry no picture to illustrate, but if you follow the link that the artist posts down in the comment thread, you'll see exactly what I mean.

A giant handbag indeed.