Dapper and Undead

Dirty Martyrdom (John Waters) by Josh Stebbins
(photo kidnapped from @joshstebbinsart Instagram page)

The 10:04s

Steven Bolton, my Airbnb host in Edinburgh, and his fabulous band The 10:04s have finally released their album, A Common Wealth. I've been waiting for close to a year for this and am ecstatic. 

Halloween Day Together

Sunday I spent all day with Jackson. We started things off at Nana Rose's and Marina stopped by for some chit chat.

Then we went on some errands while listening to Jeff Wayne's The War of the Worlds and A Dark Forest Halloween. Of course, we made our way to MOM's for dinner, then for a ride on the cows, and finally to pick up some Krispy Kreme donuts for the fam!

Indecent Exposure at the BMA

Yesterday afternoon I went to Baltimore to check out the John Waters exhibit, Indecent Exposure. Needless to say, it was wonderful - fun and cheeky and a lil' bit dirty. I'm hoping to go back again in December and see it with Pax and another time to really see the whole museum, as it's got lots to offer.

(Study Art Sign (For Profit or Hobby) 2007)

(Pig Latin 2008)

(Funny Face 2003)

(Baldo 2006)

(Gay is Not Enough 2006)

(Rush 2009)

(Library Science series 2014)

(Library Science series 2014)

Sophie's Dragon

Check out this incredible pumpkin carving done by Sophie, Barbara's (of SLP) daughter. I'm wicked impressed.

Rainbow Smile from Helen

Lookee what I got!!!

Things Making Me Happy Right Now

-Reading over 100 books so far this year (and YES that includes audiobooks and kids books). I'm having the most fun reading David Walliams' delightfully original stories, the Dog Man series, and especially, Tales of the City. This weekend Jackson and I will be out looking for a copy of Mary Ann in Autumn to complete my set, even though Mary Ann is a low-down, no-good, fame-hungry, trampy trollop who doesn't deserve to occupy the same planet as the rest of the cast of beautiful characters. I loathe her like I've never loathed another character in any book I've ever read.

-Catching up with my nieces, Isabella, Ashlee, and next up, Kayla!

-Accepting that I am a lonely spinster and booking a table for two for only one for A Date with John Waters on Valentine's Day in 2019. Wisely, I picked the last two-top in the back right corner. I plan on dressing up and having a fabulous evening, just me and my favourite filth elder.

-Three new additions to the family - Liam, Michael, and Donavin

-The fab friendship I have with Jackson and how much fun we have together

-Upcoming events - BAM for John Waters exhibit, Tony Bennett with Anne, The Nap to see Alexandra Billings on Broadway, A John Waters Christmas with Pax (I know, I'm obsessed).
-2019 - Dublin in Spring (maybe?) and Honolulu to see Natalia in November (with Amy??)
-My endlessly good health. It amazes me that I have never broken any bones, no sprains or fractures, no hospital stays or surgeries and I haven't had anything more serious than a lousy cold for close to two decades. I don't eat as healthy as I should and I'm not the 100% vegan that I dream of being, but I try and when I stumble along the way, I get back on track and do my best not to be so hard on myself. (Vegans can be extremely judgmental towards other vegans that cheat every now and then and I am one of them. It's that old saying that while you're pointing a finger there's three pointing back at you.) Even with my slip-ups and weight gains, I still manage to live a very healthy life and intend to keep it that way!
-Working on Spanish lessons and feeling like I'm actually retaining a whole new glossary of words. Speaking them and understanding them when spoken are totally different...but my reading is at least up to first grade level, so that's something.
-Recognising my faults and flaws and putting a great deal of thought in to how to be a more patient and calm person. To not let my temper get the better of me. This is a struggle, but I need to work on this.

Mega Daydream

Last night I went to the 7-Eleven in Haddonfield to buy a lottery ticket. It was up to a whopping 1.6 billion dollars. The whole drive there and back I daydreamed about what I would do if I won. I mean, that's really the point of buying a ticket, isn't it? The excitement and planning of the changes you could make in your life if you were the lucky winner. Well, this is what I would do:

- put in my notice at the office and never be forced to take phone calls again
- pay off my credit cards, mortgage, buy Roark and pay back the money I owe to Mum
- book my vacation to Dublin and Edinburgh for a whole month to mentally prepare for my new existence and relax
- purchase a proper gravestone for Aunt June
- buy tickets to Honolulu to visit with Natalia
- find Truman, my old Saturn, buy him back and get all the necessary repairs to get him up and running 100%
- do the same for Roark - oil change, new tires, etc
- follow through (at last) with all those home repairs I never got around to and get the place looking really great
- plan solo mini-adventures with Zach, Kayla, Syd, Jaeden, and maybe even Jackson (Dublin and the Leprechaun Museum, mayhaps?)
- buy the entire box set of Diagnosis Murder (it seems like it would be a series I could really get into!)
- invest in a kick ass brewpub that will be run and created by two of my brothers (Dave and Xavier) with the requirement that the menu offer vegan and gluten free entrees and apps plus dessert, even if it's just fresh fruit
- buy a weekly chunk of time with WRTI radio and have Rickster Rick present his Dark Forest broadcasts and thereby change the world for the better
- take Low Budget Philosophy to a whole new level --- donate more!
- buy a plot of land in Bryn Mawr, PA then contact Alan Mascord Designs and discuss modifying The Bucklebury Studio to fit my life just right. The home would be modest, but comfortable, with a luxurious bathtub and loads of bookshelves, the land would be secluded with lots of trees and a large pond for ducks plus a fabulous swingset, vegetable garden, birdbaths, and a stone slab beneath some trees with a bench to sit and relax. What the hell, make the bench a glider, like Mum and I always dreamed of having.
- help Mum pick out her new home and pick up the tab. The old broad deserves it. (Ha! If you're reading this, Mama, I bet you just said "bitch." xoxo)
- contact a publishing house and get hooked up with a talented and exciting illustrator to bring my stories to life
- get together with Wayne and plan out an all expense paid trip together to Northeastern England
- become more involved with animal rescue and ocean/river cleanups
- invest in John Waters' new film and hopefully, his next book
- sit back and enjoy the very notion that I will never, ever have to worry about money again and can finally focus on doing good, making changes for the betterment of the world, and feeling useful

Significant Others & Sure of You

I liked most of Significant Others, but felt it was so far my least favourite in the series. Maybe it was because of Wren Douglas and Booter and the characters being split apart and away from 28 Barbary Lane. I wanted more with Mrs. Madrigal, too, but was glad for the moments with Brian and Mouse and the new guy, Thack. I quickly moved on to the 6th book in the Tales of the City series - Sure of You and it's absolutely wonderful. I'm glad that Mrs. Madrigal is in it more and for all the stories with those beloved characters. But I still despise Mary Ann...

Franky and the B.room Crew

I bought this soapie dish yesterday and he is pretty much the cutest thing in my bathroom - when I'm not in it, of course. Everytime I flick on the light-switch and see him I can't help but smile.

Bailey's Halloween Card

Apparently, just before Ashlee hit record, Bailey clutched the Halloween card I got for her and declared "best day ever!" Check out this cutie - especially when she holds an imaginary cloak in front of her face, just like Snoopy Dracula.

(ps - it thrilled me to no end that Bailey has saved her Christmas 2017 card and knew exactly where to find it. ♥♥♥)

The Ballet with Anne

Tonight Anne and I went to The Academy of Music in Philly and saw the ballet Romeo and Juliet, It was really good and our seats were excellent. And I got Anne to take a goofy photo with me! All in all, a helluva great night.

The Cool Ghoul

On the 30th of April in 2005 Cerpts, myself and a couple other friends went to North Jersey to Chiller Theatre, a horror convention. I didn't really know many of the guests, but I did have two great moments - I went peepods in the stall next to Lorraine Newman and Adrienne Barbeau was walking out the door in front of me and did that nice thing that only nice people do where they hold the door and pass it off to you, rather than allow it to smack back into your face. Anyways, the first celeb we saw was Zacherley, who I only knew from Cerpts' Halloween mixes. He was very dapper and soft spoken and when I took this, let's face it, terrible photo (note: Zacherley looks wonderful, but it's garbage. Why did I want to get the sign rather than a decent photo of the man himself? No clue...) but a terrible photo of a seriously cool ghoul indeed. And he is raising his hot dog to me, which is just plain cute. And he drinks Snapple. Adorable.

Donuts are great for dinner.

Check out this stinkin' adorable story that Jax made up for school:

bonuts would Be a 
great dinner by Jackson

jon said ma bounuts 
would b god 
for tunit mom said 
lets stick with 
spgede and metbolls.

Ray Porter - Terror Times Two!

Listening to these two spooktacular audiobooks - Hell House and The Amityville Horror, as read by Ray Porter, has me hugging Snoopy at night while playing Erik Satie on my iPhone with the lights on my digital alarm clock as bright as possible, acting as a night-light. Spoo-key! Yet, I am so loving all these scary reads this Halloween. Last week I listened to Richard Matheson's Stir of Echoes (as narrated by Scott Brick, who did a fabulous job with Atlas Shrugged) which was really good and I think next up I'll give Shirley Jackson's The Haunting of Hill House audiobook a try! Stay tuned!

Halloween 2006 at Bishop and Pax's

In 2006 I worked with Bill Tourtual who was an absolute riot as well as being one of the kindest, funniest, most genuine people I've ever known. He, dressed as a sexy bunny and I, as Karla Lagerfeld, picked up Fr. Michael and we headed over to Bishop and Pax's, they being the deadbeats that didn't get dressed up. Old pal, Jenny Penny and her hubs came as Lois Lane and Superman. We all settled in, gabbed, joked, overate, and watched Johnny Depp in Sleepy Hollow. It was such a fun night with me doing my impression of Margaret Cho's impression of Karl Lagerfeld shouting "I HATE THAT BLOUSE!!" while fanning myself and chain smoking. Good times, good times...