some girls wander by mistake.

waiting for the sun to rise.

i had an outstanding visit to nyc. the conference location was optimal, just a few minutes walk from central park (which had ice skating all over the ground, i had no idea), random house publishers (where i had lunch with teamradvak), radio city music hall (where chrissigrl was working an event and staying nearby), and so forth. seriously, for a town so "big," nothing seemed further than 15 minutes away, on foot or by subway.

i will probably devote a separate post to TOC/O'reilley, but for those of you who asked about margaret atwood's keynote, it was incredible. filled with humor and insight. she was so humble, so wise and didn't miss a beat. i tweeted a lot, and i am sure video or transcript is out there. short version: completely charming and inspiring.

monday night i met verybadhorse's sister for sushi and a nightcap near union square.

tuesday m. and i met up for dinner at a little thai place in hell's kitchen, then went to see "la cages aux folles" (qc: style for musical ok as set?) on broadway, the debut evening of the new cast featuring harvey fierstein's first time in the role of zsa-zsa (a role he all but created when he wrote/adapted the script in the early 80s). the cast also featured the original angel from "RENT." (!!!) the entire performance was stellar. i've never felt more gay.

wednesday i had a VIP pass for a filming of the jimmy fallon show. i tried to get tickets for letterman before i left to no avail; my friend c. had a hook up for NBC so i figured i better run with it. NO JOKE, the same day i was expected at NBC studios, my phone rang twice with a call from a 212 number, no voicemail: i called back and it was someone from letterman.

seeing a television filming is an impressive, well-oiled vehicle. i should have figured, but i had no idea. the experience is seamless, with virtually no down time, and a constant and tangible high energy level. (the VIP entry was a sweet deal, but it did seem that general admission can be a bit of an ordeal and time suck.) from the minute the audience is assembled and seated, the "entertainment" begins, first with a crowd warmer, then the band (the roots, with a special guest appearance by mos def). fallon comes on and there are absolutely no re-shoots, probably the biggest surprise to me. there are something like 7 cameras, 2 women who blot-and-powder fallon between breaks. a crew of maybe 30. the band plays the entire time that would be a commercial break. and then it's done.

wednesday evening was my last in town, and i was able to fit in a whole lot of socializing. took the subway into the east village for drinks at a fancy tequila bar with sparkle_m0ti0n and his partner, then back up to a pub to have a nightcap with c., manningkrull & m., who had just come from the gipsy kings show. it was a perfect night.

thursday i checked out of my hotel and met k. for breakfast and a tour around MOMA, which i somehow never got around to visiting before this trip, but the splendor and breadth of its collection ensures i will definitely return. then, off to newark (which i definitely won't do again).

and the rest you know.

mail arrived today: letters and postcards from from amsterdam and france. it is always a much-needed reminder that the world is so large and full of wonder.

it's going to busy-busy for the next month, but i'm totally OK with this.

friday night i met up with thetathrees and her harem of wonderfulness at east end for pre-birthday antics of costume-dress-up and photoboothing. saturday was early-morning car rental pick-up, IKEA, then driving up to seattle for fraxl & gehn's housewarming party. the party was a huge success and an insane amount of fun. sunday was glorious brunch at cafe flora with our wonderful hosts, then back home to portland, stopping off at H&M on the way. ($200 worth of damage, but on 11 items and all completely amazing/essential finds.)

last night i took solace in my empty house and did some very essential things:
-5 loads of laundry.
-pasta makin' for lunches.
-reorganizing of my closet with new IKEA cubbies, also switching out "summer" with "winter" clothes for closet space. the sweaters are in season, folks.
-trial run of both costumes with great success. the make-up wasn't great for either of them but i have time to figure out what to do.
-music-gathering for the bitch magazine event. i've got a lot more to take care of before the big event but the music issue is the most daunting.

countdown:
-10/22 final bitch meeting, secure donated liquor
-10/25 bitch magazine sm[art] auction
-10/26 portland zombie walk
-10/30 fraxl & gehn in town!
-10/31 halloween
-11/01 par-tay

last thursday on alberta is easily one of my favorite things to do in portland...made more awesome by the fact it's in my neighborhood! i think it's inevitable to say i'll be posting pictures pretty regularly of the spectacle.

last month we got a late start (as i wrote about here), but there was still time to explore. and picture-take. and celebrate.


my ladiez: ph0enixinflight and thetatrees.

( stilt-walkers, sugar, and spinna-love beneath the cut... )

thursday was the terrific sensory-overload that is last thursday on alberta. i had been asked to DJ at the nest (my regular "first wednesday" gig), but over the course of 48-hours that request wavered back and forth: by the time i got home from work on thursday, it was a yes, then briefly a no, then ultimately a yes, so i hauled all my gear through the crowds on alberta street to DJ the patio. shortly thereafter james relieved me, so i could walk around with suzie and ph0enixinflight for some photographin'. after exploring, we made our way back to the nest, and were joined by some more peeps (including lj-friends aimeegee and thetathrees! yay!). james and i did our usual tag-team DJ sets, the owner closed the patio down around 11pm, and james and i hung out for another hour or so before heading home.

friday i secured tickets to see antony and the johnsons in september, and i'm so beyond excited (he'll be playing backed by the oregon symphony). friday was also the first day of true summer heat (read: FL flashbacks), and working from home was more than fairly uncomfortable. i took a break to stop by bitch magazine to pick up some schtuff for our upcoming art auction, but found their office to be non-A/C'd as well. friday evening james and i biked downtown (my first foray into crossing the river by bike!) to hit up the fez briefly. really, the whole thing was an experiment to see how i'd do, potentially, after a show/gig/night out (since the late night buses are limited--once an hour--and cut off at 1:30am). the ride itself wasn't too laborious (5.5 miles, about a half-hour--which is pretty comparable to busing it), but i was disappointed to discover that the while the ride downtown is easy-peasy (except for a certain suicide bike lane maneuver before the broadway bridge), riding back home is practically all uphill...pretty much the opposite of my preference. still, doable.

saturday i spent the day with ben, hanging out and trying not to be miserable as portland hit 99 degrees. (it completely astounds me that this city lives without air-conditioning, though i suppose one can suffer through 6 weeks of discomfort when the evenings are cool.) saturday night, james and i attended a party (housewarming?) hosted by several apple employees that had moved close to us (but in a much sketchier part of the NE). they had A/C. and cupcakes. and really? that's all that mattered to me saturday night. the party itself was kind of boring, and we got into weird conversations with a few people who made us realize how not "normal" we are, comparatively (yes, even in freaky portland).

sunday james and i spent the day at various stores, pretending to shop but really just zombie-walking through cold cold commercial centers (like everyone else seemed to be doing). i did happen to procure a few items: shortbus on DVD (which we watched sunday evening), a $3 necklace, a fan, and a bra. we also bumped into art alexakis of everclear at forever 21: i enjoyed learning from his wikipedia entry today that he owes more than $120k in credit card debt and has filed for bankruptcy (hilariously ironic, as i saw him shopping!). on our way home, in one of portland's many "FREE" boxes, we found a rice cooker, which i've been dying for. ah, portland.

tonight is b*tch and wine and i am counting down the hours.
this bi-monthly event with ph0enixinflight and makenmelodye is proving the best therapy i could've ever asked for.

speaking of work, for those of you who haven't checked out my company's website, go to this entry. again, the site is live but not being marketed yet (trying to get the last of the bugs out), so any & all feedback would be helpful!

i love this picture. i love that it was the first picture i took, and though i subsequently took like 20 more pictures, this one came out the best. i love that i took the shot and i'm kinda in it, too.



( 1+ here at our destination. )

i biked to work today. 7-ish miles, 35 minutes (only 15 minutes more than driving). it was cool and breezy when i left the house (59 degrees), yet i still arrived to work sweltering. i'd love to keep this kind of thing up for weeks/months to come, but once the heat returns i don't see how it's possible.

yesterday i purchased not one but two items that totaled exactly $6.66.
the first was the postage on wishingforrain's parcel. (vanessa_elle, yours went out too, but with a less sinister denomination.)
the second was more cold meds.
i enjoyed these little reminders from the beast around the holidays.

***

life is pretty good right now. other than my health (which is on the up and up), i can't complain about anything. work is finally slowing down (so my stress level is reduced), all kinds of good events are happening this month, including visits from out of state friends.

our company holiday party is on saturday at a swank hotel downtown; i plan on glamming it up as much as possible. for anyone who wants to see the train wreck that is me in semi-formal-wear (yes, a dress starving_cynic!), you'll find me out and about in the bars of downtown orlando sometime after 10pm, and as per usual, i plan on closing some place down.

as some of you (who are in the sp00ktacular community) may know, i set forth a little challenge/project for halloween. last night i completed mine, with the help of wishingforrain (she made her own, too, which i have only heard described--i can't wait to see!)

the idea behind the project was to take a baby doll, found or purchased and make it...demented. spooky. horrific. whatever you see fit. this is no new idea: let it be noted that wishingforrain actually calls this damned creature a boo-boo baby dollie®, and both the creation and the process of creation both originated back in 1998. we have many times since considered going into business together (and i have since seen dolls--less beautiful of course--in a similar vein) selling custom dollies, but both time and distance make our dream difficult. since we no longer live in the same state, we decided to do a collaborative project on the phone last night...here's what transpired!


this is the baby doll i had to start with. i found her in a trashcan by my house several months ago...someone was just going to throw her beautiful-self away! i rescued this and another redhead doll, both dolls lived in james' car for about a month until he couldn't take it anymore. last night i rinsed off the chosen dollie (redhead was not used last night), cleaning her of the debris and dirt on her from her trash-land. what was especially inspiring (but not obvious from this picture) was the way her sick little eyes have cruded over--though they blink, the eyeballs themselves look an oozing maize color: i couldn't make her more appropriate if i did this myself.

( in progress shots and the final boo boo baby doll creation! )