Life like brandy, cheese, and furry blue meatballs

A furry blue meatball with feet, on the warming plate, that's what I look like. This is another photo from the night I went to hear photo/conceptual artist Ian Wallace speak at Rennie Collection in Chinatown, where Vancouver Barbara took these next three photos. 

The next photo is one of my favourites ever. I've stepped into a Hopper painting or a scene from a classic movie. VO: "She was a shaggy dame in Shanghai Alley with a mixed up box of Cracker Jacks as Prada, looking for a two-bit schmuck with more cents than brains." (VO means voice-over)

This next one was taken in line waiting to get into the talk. My sushi sweatshirt! from you know where - My Sister's Closet - and high-waisted pants, retail, super duper discount. My sponsored posts for Look Fabulous Forever are done but I'm wearing their makeup in these shots, Sweet Pea lipstick and their eye shadows.

And what have we here? Oh, that would be me at my latest workshop!: Diva Tales of Fashion Corruption. Oh yeeeeah, such a good time. It was produced by the Style Cabal, comprised of Barbara, Deb, and Judy, from the Vancouver Guild of Fibre Arts, where I did a talk last May, and myself.

Below I'm introducing some of my favourite inspiring style bloggers. Of course, that's Judith, Style Crone, on the monitor. Note the props everywhere. Heh.

These photos are courtesy of Vivian, whom you met on my blog HERE. Huge thanks!

The Style Cabal gals joined me for a rousing Broadway number during the show. What a riot, the crowd went wild, but no one threw their panties at the stage...!? (Thank you.) [Edit: We all wore amazing crowns, which Judy made, example HERE.] And I showcased a selection of my farked clothing. People who attended also discussed and strutted their own farking and fabulous outfits.

Below, evidence that everyone was feeling me up! That's what happens when you speak to a room of sewers. We all want to touch the fabric.

I spent a couple of hours whipping clothes off and on but the time flew by. Nothing like baring your underwear in a room full of strangers to calm the nerves. Almost like those naked dreams coming true, not necessarily in the Cinderella way.

I also showcased this T-shirt that friend Suzanne Carillo made me - "Dressed to Piss You Off," which she sells HERE. So good. 

Note the chaos. And note the Freakish Yellow Skirt!! This kind of jumble freaks me out, but when you are doing quick changes it can't be helped. I carefully returned many of these things to their numbered, annotated space bags when I got home. 

This next photo was taken by artist/poet/fibre artist Y, whom I met at the Guild talk. The photo on the monitor was taken by Vancouver Barbara when we were shopping at Dressew. Of course I had to have that wig. And a new concept was born - tag as earring.

In a discussion with Y, she brought up the topic of wrinkles in the universe. The guy who "invented" them won a Nobel Prize. Doh, of course the universe has wrinkles, it's pretty frickin' old. 

But the real prize should go to the person who invents a lotion for that. Or attempts a facelift of the cosmos with our obsession to be smooth. Then again, assuming there's time travel in space, the universe can simply rewind itself any time. 

Where's my rewind button?! Would I use it if I had it? Would you?

I'm feeling slightly Mr. Clean here, in reference to a bulky, white bald man, who dresses in white and flits around our homes making our kitchens and bathrooms sparkly fresh with his products. He used to be a cartoon and then the ad geniuses turned him into a real human. Just leave it alone!, I say.

Anyway, this outfit feels so chemically white I could melt cheese on it. There's my white moto jacket. My pants were falling down for real so after these photos and before I went on my inspiration walk, I put on my unisuspender. Wardrobe malfunction narrowly averted.

Of course I'm wearing my T-shirt "I am my own brand," which should read, "I am NOT a brand." It's very Magritte of course. My online presence is brandish because it's merely a visual representation of who I am. Which makes me brandy, a good stiff drink. (That's the Cherry Red LFF lipstick.)

Must fly. Much to do. If you want me to do a talk to your group, have your people call my people. This is a thing I do now. I quite like being a ham, with melted cheese. Yes, cheesy.

Best stop now. And you'll be glad that I followed the rule of making very SOE-friendly blog titles. I know I'll get tons more traffic with the words "furry blue meatball" in there.

I'll link up to Patti at Visible Monday, Not Dead Yet Style, and Catherine at "I will wear what I like!" at Not Dressed as Lamb.

Finding myself through unlearning

I did it. I did something huuuuge. I gave a talk about my style to the Vancouver Guild of Fabric Arts. Deb, the head of their programming, invited me several months ago. I ignored the impending date for quite a while, but then SUDDENLY, out of the blue, it was just over a week away. GAAA! Like I always do, I freaked out like a true professional.

This talk was the first time I've done public speaking since I gave my talk called "Unlearning How to Paint" a few years ago. This was more like Unlearning How to Dress or Unlearning the Style Rules. I seem to be wasting a lot of time learning then unlearning things.

I had to hike the pant legs to show off these over-the-knee boots I'm crazy for.
I had to wear them again before/if it ever gets warm.

The talk was called Confessions of a Closet Diva and it featured several costume changes. I went into it dressed a bit like a sausage, piling on layers of outfits under my oversized drop-crotch jeans and an oversized blouse like someone who'd exceeded their luggage allowance at the airport and had to wear the excess.

Bit by bit I revealed the next layers, while Vancouver Barbara, who is also a member of the Guild, held a sheet in front of me as my lovely assistant. Judy, another member of the Guild whom I've featured on my street style blog, kindly provided impromptu game-show vocal stylings during these interludes. Let me just say - the audience was STELLAR!! Simply STELLAR!! I couldn't have hoped for a more safe and encouraging environment.

So there I was, stripping down in front of a room full of strangers, pretty much, just like those dreams you have where you're naked in public. In my case, the dream came true. Too bad we can't pick and choose which dreams we have come true and when. Heh.

Did I tell you I was asked a while ago to be in StyleLikeU's What's Underneath project, the one where you strip down to your undies in front of a camera while you're being questioned about your life by someone off screen? The sessions often end in tears. It would have been excellent exposure (heh) with hundreds of thousands if not millions of viewers, but, while I was truly honoured to be asked, I declined. Definitely, it could have been another dream come true though.

That's all I'll say about the talk (and stripping), except that the feedback I've received from the presentation so far has been extremely encouraging, with even suggestions that it was more like performance art and would maybe work for the Fringe Festival, which is like an off-off-Broadway-by-several-thousand-miles theatre festival of fringy works. I love fringe! And dingle balls too! That would be awesome. Of course my reaction presupposes that comparing my talk to performance art is a good thing. Heh.

So my mind is turning, turning. Every time I scare myself by doing a new thing, my mind starts hurtling into new territory. I'm afraid of what I'll want to unlearn next.

You may note the wrinkles around the crotchal area, rather accordion-looking. That particular instrument doesn't exactly evoke the genre or rhapsody one would prefer in that area.

And this last photo, I'll explain. As a member of the media, on May 13 I attended a big fundraiser event for Positive Living BC, which assists people who are HIV positive. There were about 100 actors/models in the show, including, happily, two of the people I styled with Su Bennett for the fashion show of My Sister's Closet's parent organization, Battered Women's Shelter Society, a couple of years ago (here): Stella Panagiotidis (IG here) and Marc Swiednicki. They were outstanding.

I arrived at the venue during cocktail hour at 7 p.m. and didn't leave until the show was over around 11:30. It was a long evening but bursting with talent, generosity, and caring. While I was walking home, I ran across this man whom I'd seen inside earlier. He was waiting for a taxi to take him home. This photo I took of him standing there without his shoes on sums up the whole evening, along with the exhaustion of accomplishment. Unfortunately, I didn't get his name.

I posted on the event on my street style culture blog, Culture Serf. You can see it here.

That's it for this week, sweet chickens.

No blog post these days is complete without linking up with Patti at Not Dead Yet Style and her Visible Monday, and Catherine at Not Dressed as Lamb and her #iwillwearwhatilike. I'll probably see you there.

Have you done anything scary lately? Like drink expired milk? Walk when the hand is flashing? Do tell. I usually respond to comments but I'm later (than usual) this time.