Faces In Places

Late in a recent afternoon I decided to have a little snooze. The darkness was just beginning to settle into my bedroom. The light was soft, I was wrapped in my blankie and just about to doze off when I saw The Face In My King Gee Overalls. Said overalls where crumpled against my towel rack, and this hooded visage was looking right at me. Against more regular logic it was curiously disturbing, and kept me awake (but not awake enough to actually rearrange the overalls into a less face-y pile) for ages. And now, the ever-quirky Ali sends me this link to the FacesInPlaces blog. Brilliant!

Oh, time to get to my free Uni drinks now. Such a marvellous sunny day I've been having! Watched gorgeous friend get gorgeously tattooed (oh, the SMELL OF INK! *whimper*), hung out with some of my family for a bit, ran into Princess and remembered just why I think she is so fabulous (such a positive energy about her!), found myself and some of my lovelies in the social pages of SX, had an organic fetta and pumpkin tart for lunch, and ran into MimInBoots and finally scheduled a time to make our first short film piece. We're doing it this Saturday, and its looking VERY promising! And that's about the half of it! So INSPIRED at the moment!

Too Sexy For Our Cherries

Sexy magazine, sexy launch. Featuring sexy sex writers, sexy journalist and sexy muse. Pop!

Cherrie Online

For all you interstate and overseas readers, you can access Cherrie online now. Simply go to www.cherrie.com.au and click on media kit/issues and download the entire magazine.

Ex-Hex

(Heaven knows I am finding my life a bit too much to handle today, not so much bad but BIG, so am tackling it little bit by little bit with the aid of seemingly endless blog ramblings).

In less than 72 hours I have had one ex-entanglement drunkenly imply that I should revisit a certain 3some of the deep dark past, quite without the desire of either myself or the other party. Another sang my praises to strangers in the street and acted like a proud parent upon hearing of my recent achievements, whcih was actually a lot stranger than it sounds. Yet another spent strange drunken moments reminding me in unnecessary detail just how intense and hot our shagging used to be- shagging that most certainly did not end because I chose to end it! Oh, and enquiring in much detail as to how far I had gone and in what direction with certain current Objects of Horniness. (If recognising that the sex was that bloody hot all along why dump my arse for some vanilla hetero reproduction in the first place?) The final ex of this quadruplet of curiosity met me for coffee and earbashed me with abandon as to his rather bewildering thoughts on just what I was doing for my PhD, and as per usual it all ended up in some talk on theology and Bible historicity (is that even a word?). Bleeding heck... I think sometimes if I wasn't for SauerKraut I would have to instigate a blanket ban on ever speaking to anyone I had done the deed (indeed, any of the deeds) with more than once! And before anyone says 'lesbian drama' (you know who you are) only one quarter of these creatures is a lesbian. Yes Sir, its all about the BOYS this week!

Tit Bits Too

Just writing to M'OM about our friend's tit-shredding tomorrow, and realised that it has been playing on my mind all day. My own breats ache to offer comfort for pains both physical and psychological. As I wrote:

you know, i feel like there should be some sort of ritual, not just for the people doing it but those around them. a bon vogage boobies party perhaps, or a symbolic bra or binder burning (though not REAL binders, for we need to keep them in circulation), a celebration of stitches and scars and sensitivities gone- and gained.

Doesn't seem right that these loaded lumps of flesh should be dismissed and consigned biohazard status without some sort of commemoration other than a couple of beers and a few new shirts. In losing the breasts one is gaining the chest, I know. But loss is still loss, even when the loss is consciously considered as profit.

On a much brighter note, to imagine to look on his face when he first hits the surf shirtless makes me smile a lot...

Inky Cravings

Magnificent tattoos from the magnificent Xed can be found here. I'm am utterly ravenous for ink!

Caught With The Meat In Your Mouth

I beautified my myspace the other day, and in the process went through and adjusted some of my stats. For reasons best left unspoken, I got all huffy about the gay/lesbian orientation choice and decided to swap my stated sexual identity to 'bi'. A BIG decision given my past experiences *knowing wink to certain readers*! But lacking an omni/poly/fluid type category, it best suited my mood. This was probably Wednesday or so, and by post-Hellfire on Friday night I was... ummm... I've gone all coy... there were leather (bio) gayboys in leather harnesses (at least they were in them at the start of the party), lots of amyl, some spanking, something about a spa, the most intense breath play I have ever engaged in (courtesy of a sissy boy!) a bit of milk and lots of... Bioboy bits! All very surreal, and certainly not what young Zoo is used to anymore- if ever I was. It wasn't so much that I was playing with bboys, just that I didn't feel much like a girl when I was doing it. Maybe I never did? I don't know, it felt like something had changed? Probably more a shift in my perception than theirs, but a pleasant shift all the same...

Swedish Sensibility

It seems that in Sweden some brides are being told that Daddy can't walk them down the aisle, because the pratice is sexist. Which clearly it is! From the Daily Telegraph, who have declared the ruling 'bizarre' of course:

"In Sweden we have worked hard in many different ways to eliminate everything that is unequal," a Lutheran Church vicar in the Stockholm region, Yvonne Hallin, said. She said she would not allow the custom in her parish, and noted that Stockholm's bishop issued a recommendation in 2003 that pastors discourage it. Couples who marry "are equal when it comes to finances, politics, values ... but when they come to the church ... the woman suddenly turns into a man's property", she said. Hallin said she has informed a father who was to walk his daughter down the aisle tomorrow that he will not be doing so. The mother of the bride, who was shocked by the news, told Swedish news agency TT that the ceremony will go ahead as planned but the couple has had to give in to the pastor's wishes. "In this case it wasn't the couple who became angry but the parents," Hallin said, adding that most people "don't find it strange".

Tit Bits

My tits have ached for the last couple of weeks, feel bigger and fuller and tighter. I've not been pumping, I'm certainly not pregnant, and I've not much milk at all. Don't bleed, so not pre-menstrual. Have felt hormonally out-of-whack, very close to the water (SK's delightful German term for being teary or misty). Its a bit of a wild call, but I'm thining it may somehow be linked to the fact that one of 'my boys' is having his chest surgery tomorrow. Going back through old blog posts, I came across my 'Ain't Got No T-Bone' entry from the 31st of January. It was the day before another mate did the same thing, and there are certain correlations...

EURO TRASH ZOO

I HAVE BEEN GRANTED THE CONFERENCE TRAVEL FUNDING!!!!

Still gonna cost me a bloody fortune, but hey, I'M GOING TO EUROPE!!!!!! HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY FRAGGLE DANCING ALL ROUND!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

First stop is Salzburg, to give a couple of papers and schmooze academically around a couple of conferences. That should be over by the 18th November or so. Then, well, The Continent (and beyond) awaits.

So far, am planning to visit: Stockholm (hejsan Rollmop), London/Manchester/Blackpool (hugs to LLL), Lund/Malmo/Copenhagen (woof to THAT Bear), France (mwah! to The Last Bastian), Berlin (blessings to Berghein and De Made) and am open to being lead astray in other directions.

So, who wants a Zoo for Christmas? Who has a floor/bed/couch/beanbag for me to crash on? Who wants to be naughty? Who wants to make art? Who wants to take me dancing? Who knows good tattoo and body modification artists I can get to work on me? Who wants to drink julebryg and gluhwein? When and where are the good festivals? Who's up for rollmops and sauerkraut? Schnitzel and noodles?

Please get back to me ASAP if you want to catch up or can suggest any other excitement for my agenda. Need to book my tickets in the next week or so, and want to see as many of you as I can whilst I am over there.

Mood: Alternatively excited (I get to see so many of my mates), panicked (2 papers to write, and a book article to submit before I go), wet (I remember the dark spaces of Europe primarily by their scents and sensations), hungry (for art and new academic adventures), nostalgic (for past EU loves and lusts), hard (in anticipation of carnal delights) and deliriously dizzy (all of the above, and then some).

Ooooh, so much to organise! Must CALM DOWN! Make lists! Pack up my belongings! Budget! Investigate possibilities! Email people! Post to lists! Write! Arggggggggggggggh!

New Upstart Alley Pix

Available right here, right now. Yummy!

Feast On This

Skip breakfast, undo that top button and don't wear your tighest corset, for it is Feastability again next Sunday, at Newtown School Of Performing Arts:

Whatever culinary delights take your fancy, Feastability 2007, Newtown's annual food and wine festival, will satisfy your tastes. More than 40 stalls showcase the eclectic international cuisines of Newtown Precinct along with Australian wines, boutique beers, confectioners, bakers and ice-cream makers.

Sensational entertainment hosted by comedian Jackie Loeb includes reggae-rock, blues/roots, African and indie performers, comedy and hip hop.

Bask in the spring sunshine as you try a new wine, munch on a tempting delight and finish with a tantalising treat such as gelato or confectionery from a local baker.

Nocturnal Emissions

'I saw two shooting stars last night
I wished on them, but they were only satellites'

- Billy Bragg
'New England'

Bad Dog for Sleaze recovery, or as its own reward. I'm thinking shooting stars, shiny silver space sperm, stellar spectacles, wet electric dreams... (Still haven't worked on my Zirkus costume, though figure I might just go with the Kewpie Doll theme again, all frilly knickers and feathers and glitter and tutu).

Doggie details here:

->:: This just in. Signals of unknown origin are currently being
->:: received and undergoing decryption at Bad Dog Headquarters on
->:: Crown. Most likely coming from an advanced species, the depth and
->:: funk of the interstellar communications is a wonder to behold.

.. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .................................

->:: The transmission will be made available for public broadcast at Bad
->:: Dog's Nocturnal Emissions, Sunday September 30th, commencing at 10
->:: pm at the Marrickville Bowling Club Signals Receiving Facility, on
->:: the corner of Sydenham Road and Fitzroy Street. Run time is
->:: anticipated to expire approximately
->:: 6 am of the Labour Day public holiday.

.. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .................................

->:: Space-y engineers on this project are Steve 'Saturn V' Sonius, Ben
->:: 'DarlingHz' Drayton, Annabelle 'Hairy BlackHole' Gaspar and Bill
->:: 'Super Massive Singularity' Cotsis.
->::All mission hardware supplied by Kevin
->:: Davidson. Visual evidence of intelligent life will be provided by
->:: Professors Jade and Vandal.
->:: And of course Trash will be on the coatcheck.

'I Want A Girl...

Just like the girl
Who married dear old Dad'

Or so the song goes. And the older I get, the more it dawns on me that I am looking for someone a lot like my dad. Which is not a bad thing at all (my father being a nice variety of bloke). So, here is my current wish list of partner-features, in not much particular order. Some of it is influenced by my old man, and some is influenced by folk I have known and loved and lusted. And some of it is essential, and some is just a bonus:

Funny. Appreciates the absurd. And British comedies.
Loyal. Won't just run at the first sign of trouble. Willing to work at relationships.
Dependable. Will turn up for dinner before it burns.
Polite. Says thankyou for kind gestures. Apologises for mistakes. Holds doors open for others and RSVPs when asked.
Honest. Never minds the bollocks.
Decent. Even when being distinctly indecent.
Brings me flowers. Yes, I am a shameless romantic.
Brings poppers. Yes, I am a shameless faggot.
Switches.
Likes to give a good spanking. With or without leather gloves.
Capable. Of making own money. Of cooking and cleaning. Of fixing stuff. And is willing to do it.
Is physically stronger than me. And plays on the fact.
Family-oriented. Whether biological family or logical family, appreciates the benefits of kinship.
Not only can read, but likes to and does.
Generally optimistic. Accepts responsibility for own happiness.
Not afraid to work up a sweat. Or get hands dirty. And not afraid to stay sweaty and dirty.
Likes body hair. On both of us.
Energetic. Can keep up the pace.
Has own interests. And mates.
Willing to lead me by my choke chain/leash in public.
Smells like WD40 and salt.
Secure. Not threatened by creativite fits, large libidos or bears in tutus.
Genderqueer. Healthy disrespect for binaries.
Appreciates the benefits of a good lube. And that saliva is by far the sexiest.
Smiles a lot.
Flags yellow, either side. Black on the left. And red on the right. Willing to negotiate.
Omnisexual. And happy to cruise gay bars together, alone.
Has a c*&t and isn't afraid to use it, one way or another.
Passionate. Openly and joyously.
Can spit polish boots.
Can spit polish Zoo.
Knows that nice girls don't spit.
Is fond of beer and BBQs.
Willing to consider children. Not necessarily 'our own' either.
Likes to watch. And assist.
Owns a big dog or two.
Modified. Pierced, tattooed, surgically altered, chemically enhanced, branded, scarred, built.
Happy to holiday in a tent, spending days splashing in the ocean and beating about the bush.
Makes good coffee and porridge.
Willing to co-top willing bottoms.
Has an affinity for fluids.
Can skip stones and spot shooting stars.

C.A.C.A. Reporting For Duty

Dazza and Shazza went out APECin' one rainy mornin'. It was grouse representing the Concerned Alert Citizens of Australia (C.A.C.A.), and we got to spend quality time together and waste some irony and fake tan. Note Dazza's new wifebeater.

Back In Olympic Sodom* Again

Ah, so much adventure was had as we traipsed and traversed Melbournia! So much cheese! So much vodka! So much beer! So many trips to Borsch, Vodka and Tears! So much perfect $4 Organica pizza (pumpkin, soy cheese, rosemary, pine nuts) at Bimbo Deluxe! So much art! Heck, we even got to meet Armistead Maupin! He has a new book out, Michael Tolliver Lives, which follows on from the Tales series. It is brilliant, of course, and Mouse being one of my favourite characters it has made me very happy. And Armistaed is such a sweet and charming man. Here's a pic from the reading at Hares and Hyenas.

More pix and details to come I imagine. But for now, I am a sleepy Zoo with much to do on the morrow. G'nite all...

* A name coined by dear Nathanwi I think? Most appropriate!

Facebook Sucks, But Not Milky Breasts It Seems

Facebook is apparently deleting some photos of mothers breastfeeding their kids, according to this here article 'Facebook ban incurs 'lactivist' wrath'! And not only that but 'In addition to removing particular photos from the site, Facebook has permanently revoked the membership of some of the mothers.' Blah blah blah, something about them being 'obscene', blah blah blah. Grrrr!

VERY VERY VERY EXCITED NERDYPANTS ZOO

I have just been hanging out with my supervisor discussing my thesis and... wow! She has suggested I do most of it as a series of creative works, meaning performance pieces and photo shoots and written fictional work etc (combined with explanatory texts and a literature review etc) and now I have just conjured up a big induced lactation endurance piece I want to work on (check it out at www.galactablogue.blogspot.com) and... wow!!! So much fun to be had making things! Off to chat with a lecturer from performance studies now to see if she can help me out with the technicalities and maybe even co-supervise my doctorate. Oh, this is all so exciting!

Oh, And One More For Olympic Sodom This Week

Its the finals of The Newtown amateur strip competition this Thursday. A few Zoo friends are in it... go along and cheer for A and S! It should be obvious which ones they are *lol*.

Wet Blankets

1) Talking to MadamePhantasm today about those people who are such downers that you feel kinda guilty being cheery* in their presence. Have had a couple of partners like that, to the point that I would have to 'crap down' my day when I relayed it at home so that it didn't seem like I had had THAT much more fun than they did in their stressypants lives. Sod that for a joke. And I have been thinking lately about people who are sad, and how some folk can be sad without dragging you down with them, but some just seem to need to make you as miserable as they are. And was talking to someone else about how she was trying to surround herself with more cheery folk of late, to not be party to the rants and the wallowing and thought to myself: what a jolly good idea! Misery does indeed love company, and breeds with itself. I don't need to be around wet blankets. Sad, troubled, freaked, distressed, stressed, depressed, bewidered- fine. But not miseryguts. There is quite a difference.

2) A friend was flagging yellow the other day, and made me cast my mind back to watery activities of old. Wet blankets cooling over sweaty skin, stinking in the laundry hamper and stuffed into mouths.

*And mentioning cheery, my cutting/holepunching is very making me very smily and wriggly whenever it rubs against the beanbag. Thankyou again MrM!

Jets Film

The Final Winter follows the fading fortunes of the Newtown Jets, one of the original clubs ditched from the main competition in 1983, and a fictional player, Grub (Nable), who must acknowledge his grasp on the culture of football is failing him even if his grasp of the pigskin is not. He is a limping warrior fighting on every conceivable front, at home and on the field, and in the backrooms and change rooms, of his beloved sport.

Now showing at The Dendy in Newtown. Who's up for it when I get back?

A Few Hours After This

The look before I go
Is the look for you
You only have to look and it will all come true
And we can fall outside
Into the fizzy night
Or pull me down in here
You know it's all the same
I only want to see if you are happy again
Or we can roll around
And find out upside down

A few hours after this and we're apart again
Like two white checks
Like opposite poles
In a secret game
(Like nothing like these I suppose...)
I really should have known by the cut of your smile
That the answer would be simple
It still took you awhile to get it out of me
I thought you'd do it easily

- The Cure
'A Few Hours After This'

Ah, the bittersweet joy of Cure B-sides! Makes me want to skip
down the street in my new top hat and a big swooshy frock, getting all wibbly
at the thought of holding hands with cute boys and revelling in the knowing that
something truly delicious is brewing and if you just hold your breath for another moment...


Current mood: Optimistic
Current activity: Counting my blessings.

Lesbian Drama

This month's LOTL (Lesbians On The Loose- strange old-school lesbian magazine from Sydney) has an article, I kid you not, discussing how hard it is to buy shoes as a lesbian. Really! Those damn lesbians will make a drama out of everything! IT IS NOT HARD TO BUY SHOES BECAUSE OF YOUR SEXUALITY. Straight women wanting non-debilitating footwear also have a hard time finding anything appropriate in the aisles full of stilettos and kitten heels, all teensy straps and impractical slippy-soles. Trust me, I used to be one. It is, in my opinion, stupid that women are EXPECTED to want to walk more slowly and carefully, that somehow 'we' don't need any grip or the ability to run for public transport without an exacerbated risk of twisting an ankle. But not because I am a lesbian, or ever have been.

(Warning: Gross generalisations ahead. Just bear with me and try and get the point)

The topic of 'lesbian drama' has come up in conversation twice with different people recently. Not as in a form of theatre or soap opera, but as in the ways in which women-who-love-women perform relationships (yes, same same!). And whilst I have always been fairly certain I am not a lesbian (not female-identified, and often not desiring female-identified folk), it suddenly dawned on me that I do mix with an awful lot of these creature and in many large circles of women generally these days. And find myself in dramas that I can't follow but somehow feel obliged to participate in. But why? Its all rather bewildering, and I don't think I am explaining myself ever clearly here.

Zoo On Tour Again/Sydney Gig Guide

Will be roadtripping down to Melbourne with Beculum, Ali and Unwanted Faerie this week. Depart Wednesday, back the following Tuesday night. Its mostly 'cos I am doing an Upstart Alley show (refer to previous posts). I am much excited about it all, but sad that I am missing so much in Sydney. Its a big week here in Olympic Sodom... and here are some bits and pieces I would be doing if I wasn't south of the border:

USYD Verge Festival- The Queer Kids Go Off!

*Gender as Performance: Come listen to a down to earth version of gender as performance through the exploration of Judith Butler's ideas on performativity. This will be a hands

on, accessible workshop for all those of you who want to expand the way you
view your surroundings. September 10th,1pm-2pm,Verge Tent

*Unfucking Gender; A discussion: Come listen to some perspectives that bring some question to the gender binaries that constrain our world. Food will be provided and you'll be able
to put in your on views on how to bring ideas of performance, art and
imagination to help bring out the diversity in ideas of gender. September 12th, 1pm-3pm,
Reading Room, Holme Building

*Fuck Gender, lets dance: Come celebrate your new found deconstructions through a butlerian discoteque of burlesque and cabaret. It's where theory, art, performance, music and
dancing meld into a conflation of euphoria and social experimentation. Come
undermine the constrained repetition of norms and dance your self into a new
world order. DJ's, VJ's, Burlesque, Performance art and Bands all night.See the Union website for details.$5 entry/ Free for USU. Hermann's Bar,14th of September,8pm-late

Earthdance

Sydney Park, all day on Sunday 16th. Just go, will you? And don't blab on to me afterwards about what a fantastic day you had dooofin' and drinkin' and dancin' or I'll probably blubber at you.

Black and White Ball

I have never made it to this Dykes on Bikes event, but if you like your grrrrrrrrrrls in leather and with some grunt I wouldn't hesitate to go along to The Jets Club at Tempe on Saturday 15th. Further details here.

QueerDoc

Yes, there is a bear film, and much other interesting flix besides. Bugger for me, but you can look up the program here and then spend many hours getting yourself queerly educated in an entertaining fashion. Lucky bastards.

Random odds and ends

* It be Wife's birthday at some point during the week I think. Give her a hug.
* The LLL be departing these shores for further frolicking abroad. Give him a big hug, and tell him to get his arse back Down Under SOON. Damn travellers, just as I get to know them they disappear! Still, with so many foreign friends it makes for further excuses to head OS all the time, as have local tour guides and usually a place to crash your weary bones and someone to translate maps and menus.

Now, can you see why I am sad to miss this week? And now that I have given you the lowdown on Sydney happenings, who knows of anything dirty/kinky/queer/performance-y/etc going down in Melbourne between the 13th and the 17th? In the mood for mischief, of a fashion anyway...

Thanks Be To Perverts

My Mate M has a thing for poking holes in people. Last night at the play party he poked me with his new biopsy punch (will post pic or two soon- juts got to download them). It kind of worked, in that it made nice round cuts, but didn't remove much flesh so he had to lift the skin with tweezers and then cut it with a scalpel to remove it. This was not nearly as much ouchy as I anticipated, which was both a good and a bad thing. Somehow it was then decided that the pattern of pretty dots looked just like the side of a dice, so then suddenly I was agreeing to having the outline cut around it as well and... dang, its kinda neat really. Just had first hot shower on it... Swoooooooooooooon... Thankyou MMM! Oh, and thankyou to the extremely yummy pervert in the extremely yummy PVC outfit who tied me to a chair and did extremely yummy things to my terrorised/quivering/milky/happy nipples with a violet wand. BIG WET PATCH. And thankyou muchly to the kindly host and hostess for allowing me to share the joy at the end (I had not organised my own) and for the one who spent a large period of time reminding me that some boys aren't THAT icky- especially if they have been properly trained by a tough woman... And thanks to the rest of you for letting me watch and listen to your naughtiness and roll around on top of you and chatting with me and plying me tequila and ensuring that I wandered back to my housesitting gig just before lunchtime, and with a certain swagger to my stumble...

I love my gaggle of perverted pals. The ones you can count on to find you a blankie when you're too blissed or bewildered to move, who will spank your arse or stick pointy things in you when you need it, who will light your smokes and make sure you know where the painkillers are before they crash out, who know where to get medical supplies and will make sure you have apaper towel souvenir of your bloodsports, who will douse your new cuttings in alcohol and set them alight, and who will make you break when you just HAVE to.

Isadora's Milky Tunic

'In Isadora Duncan's autobiography, My Life, she tells of the early separation from her baby, who was only half-weaned. She writes "Often when I danced, the milk overflowed, running down my tunic, and causing me much embarrassment"'

- FionaGiles
'Fresh Milk' (145).

There is a performance in this, somewhere. I'm thinking black and white film, soft focus and flowing tunic clinging to wet nipples... Anyone want to play with this idea?

Introducing... NixWilliams

Just added a new blog to my links, from the magnificent NixWilliams. Check it out for musings on gender, study and whether pants with pleats at the front are technically slacks or chinos...

Scat-Pack

Apparently the fact that I am not the world's biggest scatalogical humourist renders me somehow non-British. In my defence, I have collected some of my favourite crap-quotes from the screen:

1) l love you more than the sound
of bones breaking...

the sounds of death rattle!

Even...even more
than my own shit...

Connie, to Raymond in 'Pink Flamingos' by John Waters

2) In David Williamson's 'Don's Party' when Cooley, 'whose professed passions are "shaving, shitting, and shaggin' ", has a go at the Liberal-voter in the safari suit that he is so uptight that he probably doesn't even enjoy shitting.

3) Line in the film Love and Human Remains along the lines of I love you so much I could shit.

4) My most recent discovery:

Cardiovascular and lymphatic, yes, the nervous system, too!
All across the nation, we trust in defecation!
Everything comes down to poo!

From Scrubs 'Everything Comes Down To Poo'

And speaking of Number 2- who was it that was talking recently about the need to hold a Don's Party party for the upcoming election?

Sparkly Moments Of Recent Times

* Bushwalk around Jibbon Head with LLL last Saturday. Nice early start, coffee and bread purchases in Newtown then trains and a ferry to Bundeena. Was clouding over by the time we reached Central, spots of rain, getting colder- arrgh! Decided to risk it, despite lack of particularly dry or waterproof clothing. Was well worth it, as turned warmer later on and after walking and picknicking for a few hours we managed a brief swim and a lie around in the sunshine chatting and sifting through seashells. It was a very child-oriented adventure all round: LLL and I almost ending up coming home with a toddler, a bunch of superfriendly teenage skater kids who had absconded from a Christian skateboard camp (?!?) and came up to us for chats about body mods and hot chicks, and getting a kid's cone of Milo icecream while LLL purchased the alarmingly coloured teddy bears picnic sundae (gummi bears atop bubblegum-flavoured goo- though lacking the promised paper parasol). Really nice to be out in the (semi)bush with sweet easy company and backpacks full of boiled eggs and stuffed olives.

* Mz V's birthday bash on Saturday night. Took the LLL, who was rather bewildered and bedazzled by his proximity to so many stunning displays of corestry and cleavage. Yes, my friends are indeed delicious! I did a show which started almost innocently with me in a red and pink frilly negligee and knickers fluffing about with a birthday cake to The Sugarcubes' 'Birthday' and ending with me naked and feeding V a 'banana split'from... well.. you take a guess *sticks out tongue*, to Johnny Thunders' 'Everyone Knows You've Been Caught With The Meet In Your Mouth'. Think chocolate sauce, marshmallows, sprinkles, my little pony, candle wax on tits, musk sticks and raspberry lollies. Yummy! Much flirting about and chatting and schmoozing and the teensiest taste of... then back to V's for tequila and giggly gas and sleeping in the sunshine on the soft squishy lounges.

* Reading Aloud tonight at NewQ. Gaggle of my nearest and dearest sharing food and words for a lazy few hours, guffaws and gossip and groans, from law textbook to picture book to 'to do' list to snippets from notebooks. Hoping to hold this event every fortnight- such a lovely way to interact with people.

* Finished my interview piece for the new dyke mag coming out soon- and my editor seems pleased with it. 'Tis the first time I interviewed anyone, and my first attempt at 'journalism'. Is nice to try my hand at new things from time to time! Will tell you when Cherrie hits the shelves so you can check it out (not just me, the whole thing).

* Nice coffee with Mistress O'Mayhem this arvo. Good to catch up properly, if too briefly!

* Got accepted for the two conferences I applied for in Salzburg. Still waiting on the funding though *sighs impatiently but optimistically*.

* Generally feeling much more together about everything. Sweet moments of blush and swoon, madly planning new study schedule and heading to Melbourne next week and lots of dressups and dancing planned for the coming weekend.

I am blessed, truly.

Devil With The Blue Dress On

Fee, fee, fi, fi, fo-fo, fum
Look at Molly now, here she comes
Wearin her wig hat and shades to match
Shes got high-heel shoes and an alligator hat
Wearin her pearls and her diamond rings
Shes got bracelets on her fingers, now, and everything
Shes the devil with the blue dress, blue dress, blue dress,
Devil with the blue dress on
Devil with the blue dress, blue dress, blue dress,
Devil with the blue dress on
Wearin her perfume, Chanel No. 5
Got to be the finest girl alive

She walks real cool, catches everybodys eye
Shes got such good lovin that they cant say goodbye
Not too skinny, shes not too fat
Shes a real humdinger and I like it like that
Shes the devil with the blue dress on, blue dress on, blue dress on,
Devil with the blue dress on
Devil with the blue dress, blue dress, blue dress,
Devil with the blue dress on

- Shorty Long
'Devil With The Blue Dress'

Was at my Gran's the other day when I realised just where my current fascination with blue frocks may have come from. She never wears anything but blue really, and hasn't for as long as I can remember. Always white hair and Yorkshire accent reminiscing about fields of bluebells she ran through many, many years ago. Soft blue cardigans, powder blue nighties and blue floral slippers sitting listening to cassettes of Pam Ayres.

Northern Lights

I blame the Northerners and the schlock radio station we listen to at work for the fact that I can't get this song out of my head at the moment:

The evening had turned to rain
Watch the water roll down the drain,
As we followed him down
To the station
And though he never would wave goodbye,
You could see it written in his eyes
As the train rolled out of sight
Bye-bye.

Ah hey ma ma ma
Life in a northern town

- Dream Academy
'Life In A Northern Town'

Aye, it be a bugger that I've not heard whether my funding application is successful yet, indeed, it seems I won't know for another couple of weeks. Am I going to Salzburg and other Euro Trash Adventurelands in November or no? Need to know- papers to write and flights to book and warm things to buy and pack and foreign perverts to organise if so. Oooh, SO excited at the thought! Fingers, eyes and even legs crossed in hope!

Passion and Pyrotechnics

Because for all Nathalie's wanting and needing everything to be so fantastically hyperbolic and transgressive all the time, for all her perpetual 1920s party attire and zany observations and bizarre take on etiquette, no matter how much she wanted to think she and and I and her life entire were some sort of brilliant freak show, I'd come to learn just how normal Nathalie was. She was normal. Just plain ol' potentially boring N-O-R-M-A-L. Seriously, strip away all the pyrotechnics and you'd find nothing truly revolutionary about Nathalie's revolution. She wanted a happy home. She wanted a man to love. And she wanted a man to love her. Passionately. Devotedly. She wanted that day in and day out. But, I also knew with absolute certaintly that nothing scared Nathalie more than how thouroughly normal she really was.

- Felicia Luna Lemus
'Like Son'