With heat in the neighborhood of 103F, & a charming 1940s flat that does not cool well, my summer has been spent embroidering in the dark to a flickring computer screen.
Summer brings mysterious bruises. I have them in colonies, it seems. Sometimes they make a face: two eyes, crooked smile. I think I get them from clanging my bike around.
I only dress up to attend night functions, so my daily outfit shots look as if I’ve stuck a camera under a bed to take a flash photo.
This week, Action for Animals held a silent protest against the Ringling Bros. Circus which just rolled into town. I have been going to all of the information sessions and support groups, and attended opening night with 160 members of Vegans Rock Austin, VegAustin, and more. The majority of the evening I stood next to a woman who had to be in her late 60s and I was struck by her passion for the cause. I hope I get to see her again! I handed out little comic books about the lives of elephants when they are not in captivity.

This week also I learned where I will be student teaching. Back to school means endless professionalism meetings where they instruct us on how to act, how to dress, and what not to put on our facebook or other social networking pages. Specifically, they tell us not to “friend” our students, have photos that depict alcohol use or to have status updates that rag on co-workers (duh).  However, I’m torn on if I should have activist/political photos of myself online. They never touched on that subject. So, future students, (if you find this) here I am, standing up for what I believe in. I hope you choose to enjoy Cirque du Soleil or other animal-free circuses.

During the daylight, it’s really too hot to wear anything other than 1940s lingerie and real flowers pinned as a headband. If I wear makeup, it has to be blended enough to where I can slide it back in place after it melts on my bike rides. My summer imagery has been punctuated by the arrival of this print from Austin tattoo artist Stacy Martin’s Etsy Store. This design is based on my friend Niku’s tattoo, although it could be based on scenes from my decor! Niku and I got phonograph lady tattoos around the same time and didn’t even know it! (We are psychic collectors: we also collect human teeth and typewriter imagery). I know I promised that my last tattoo would be my last, but seeing Miss Martin’s work is changing my mind!

It’s been a whirlwind two weeks since my last Calico post! I hosted two separate tasting events for my ice cream and went back to work full time at the toy store. Last Thursday I handed out nearly 300 vegan root beer floats at an art show and on Sunday I hosted a vegan milkshake tasting event in the cafe.
Special things from the past two weeks:

• Shower picnics. Eating grapefruit and drinking iced green tea while in the shower is the greatest way to wake the senses and get ready for a long day. I get a little peppermint essential oil in there to wake me up and then watch out, cause it’s really a party!
• Getting a library card for the first time since moving to Texas and promptly checking out 40lbs of library books.
• Buying a skimpy bathing suit because I’m getting toned from riding my bicycle so much every day! Now I just need to make time to go to the springs to swim a few times a week. Summer will be over before I know it.
• Working at two vegan jobs in one day! Counter Culture celebrated one year and I helped out making sandwiches and corndogs.
• Austin unpredictableness. Last night I went to a Brizm Nation dance party, full expecting a typical bar set up with dance party. WRONG! What I found was a automotive warehouse that had been converted to a dance floor, with a waster mister system from the ceiling and spacious open courtyard. Everyone was (un)dressed in their birthday best, & in a best case scenario, it looked like a pool party rap video gone awry. I went alone, but was so happy to see so many friends from different pockets of Austin: I was dancing with my celestial birthday twin, Tony, astronomer friend Gully, floppy mohawk dancer Sam who I know from co-op dances, and the ever loverly Angeliska.
• Austin Texas, I think we were meant to be.

Marion Davies-1928-The Cardboard Lover

With summertime comes yearning for ice cream. When I wake up, I have frozen treats on the brain, which leads me down avenues of tasty research on my days off. This is one tidbit I found from the brothers who run the Franklin Fountain in Philadelphia, a true-to-life soda fountain revival shoppe. Emphasis on the shoppe, and emphasis on the living history, as even their 1920s phone is wired and functional and the fan blades are authentic. As a fellow anachronistic history lover with a penchant for time travel, I have a predilection for their wares. If I’m ever in Philly I want to stop by – but I’m afraid I’ll only be able to admire. Curse you, dairy!

1. luncheon old fashioned sundae, 2. Sundae at Lula Sweet, 3. The “When in the Course of Human Events” Sundae,
4. Saveur, 5. Stocking the Shelves at The Franklin Fountain, 6. Rose Nylund’s World Famous Ice Cream Clown Sundaes,
7. Ice Cream & Sailor Shorts, 8. Strawberry Vanilla Twist Soft Serve from Toy Joy, 9. Blythe – Crocheted Sundae Hat – Vanilla

Here are a few scenes of my new home:

I have been living in collective houses of 15-25 people since 2005, so the only thing I really own kitchen-wise is a tea strainer and a few errant tea cups. I don’t even own a knife! The task of stocking a kitchen from the ground-up when I’ve been so spoiled on restaurant grade equipment was a bit scary. Thankfully, the thrift gods were kind to me and I was able to furnish my kitchen for about $100. 99 cents for a can opener? $1 teacups! And, an apple peeler/corer/slicer (seen in the top left of the photo) was my favorite find. ALSO!!!! I have been looking at bonnet dryers on Amazon.com, but I found a tabletop folding model for $9. Who wants to come over for front porch beauty parlor?
Our house was built in the mid-late 1940s for the troops coming back from WWII, and lots of the fixtures are original. The counters and sinks are a little short and the shower nozzle doesn’t even hit me mid-chest, it’s so far down! The back of this little medicine cabinet was spiffed up by cut outs from a book of 1920s French women who guard my toothpaste and face lotions. The book was bought for relatively no money at The Blue Hanger, a Goodwill outlet warehouse. Hello little beauties!

Good things have been happening to me in doubles lately – I hope this week is treating you all just fine!

• My finals are nearly over (which is partly why I’ve been absent) so I’ll have a month off before summer school starts.
• Blog girlfriends becoming IRL girlfriends - Louise Black, Andrea and more! Keep them coming, universe!
• Getting my phonograph lady tattoo filled in with another 5 hours of work
• Glorious visions of my future where I don’t teach BUT I spend my time writing really imaginative lesson plans that involve Woody Guthrie teaching about the Dust Bowl thru songs or studying artifacts instead of text books!
• Also, I wrote a 40 page curriculum unit on the Dust Bowl and 1930s. I’ll just pat myself on the back for that one.
• Yann Tiersen playing violin under the stars in Austin (although no accordion- boo!)
• The city of Austin painted bike lanes on my street on Earth Day!
• Spring thunderstorms and hiding out under fragrant jasmine vines.
• Putting aforementioned jasmine blossoms into my underclothes and reveling in the all-day scent.
• My embroidery was featured in Time Out New York this week also! I spend the day literally skipping, I was so pleased.

As it gets hotter, I’m yearning for some syrupy old 78s to lift my mood and get me through to the evening. Some of my favorites:

• Ruckus Juice & Chitlin‘ – Memphis Jug Band
• I Scream You Scream, We All Scream for Ice Cream – Waring’s Pennsylvanians (scroll down to the song title)
• Sweet Georgia Brown – Rose Murphy the “chee chee” girl. If you’ve never heard Rose Murphy, prepare to fall in love!

And if you’re in Austin or thereabouts, there’s some awesome film series coming up at The Alamo and The Paramount:

• Cinema Club is showing Night Nurse this Sunday evening.
• Summer Film Series at Paramount -there’s a double feature of The Thin Man movies in May that I can’t wait to see!

Important blog posts you may have missed this week:

• Kathy of 16 Sparrows discusses 20s and 30s class gaps
• Julia from A l’allure Garconniere discusses the critical fashion lover’s basic guide to cultural appropriation
• Karin from Lily of the Valley links to documentaries discussing water – Thanks for this, Karin! After watching I decided that I was not going to sell water bottles in my cafe anymore, so you’ve helped to make a difference with me!

1. Dolly Sisters, 2. Sisters G, 3. Marian and Vivian Brown the San Francisco Twins,

4. trout and twig, 5. siamese twins, 6. Rainy Day Parade & Punkaholic People,

7. The Dolly Sisters (again) 8. Mattie + Penny, 9. Mattie + Penny

Today Andrea and I of A Cat of Impossible Color met up during her brief trip to Austin. I took her for a Bouldin Breakfast and we petted adoptable doggies and walked for miles under our parasols in the Texas heat. We sipped nectar from Honeysuckles, drank cucumber sodas and limeades, and saw lots of treasures at Uncommon Objects. I can’t wait for her to come back at the end of the summer! (I’ll be practicing my ukulele in preparation!)

• Black lace netting and gold glitter eyeshadow and whiskey and dancing at White Ghost Shivers
• Hiding my giggles when my 8th grade class recalled that David Bowie fought at the Alamo
• Eating cacao/goji/almond/energy chunks, sunflower sprouts and grape kombucha
• Putting some much needed hippy magic into my day
• Making 18 vegan pizzas from scratch for my collective and then eating them on my rooftop
• Petting the poppy blossoms in the front of the McSweeny’s reading on SoCo
• Planning to save the youth of Austin with harebrained vegetable eating schemes (anyone want to fund my restaurant idea/dream?)
• Pinpointing exactly when to have Hello Kitty (aka me dressed up in a giant HK suit) visit my job
• Bike dates… Ice cream dates… Figs/Dates… Accordian dates

“The Daring Young Man on the Flying Trapeze,” from It Happened One Night (1934)
This movie was one of the first 1930s movies I ever saw and I instantly fell in love with the whole era! I love this clip because it’s when Claudette first starts to look at Clark with a certain *look* and the chemistry sails sky high. I also love the community knit on this bus -with everyone bobbing along to the fiddle and joining in on the singing. There’s a certain hollowness to this feeling, but I hope that paradise is a bus full of strangers heading to different destinations, all singing in unison to the maladroit lyrics.

This is a clip of Claudette Colbert in 1982 saluting Frank Capra. Isn’t she a doll?
Speaking of sassy older women, here is one of the most important fashion blogs:Advanced Style. Of course it’s easy for 22 year olds with $450 pair of Miu Miu shoes and tiny thighs take cute photos – but these Advanced Style gals have true gusto. My friend Tony once forecasted that I would grow up to be an old lady with a purple mohawk with crooked fingers and lipstick on my teeth. I can only hope so!

1. Old Snapshot School Play, 2. Claudette Colbert, 3. flapper peacock, 4. the follies sisters, 5. Vanity Fair- It Happened One Night, 6. Betty Compson, movie actress, 1922, 7. anatomical phrenology, 8. Herringbone-stitch, 9. Henry Darger Wrist Cuff

1. italian vogue, 2. Unknown, 3. Vogue Parisian Fashion, 4. From a Smashing Pumpkins Video, 5. norma_shearer_12, 6. Vogue, 7. Dandrew, lion of Russia, 8. November 22, 9. Me at the Musee Mechanique

White Ghost Shivers, “Mama Said” at the Parish, Austin, Texas, 2006

Last night Bellewether and I went to see the White Ghost Shivers at the Continental Club. We hadn’t been to a show of theirs since Halloween due to WGS being on tour in Germany and other wonderful places, but I think they play on their home turf the best! It was an excellent show with lots of dancing, confetti, Pixi Sticks flung to the crowd, Chinese fans, false moustaches, and New Orleans style gutter punk accordian band opening.
Black netting, thick gold glitter for eyeshadow and painted on lashes! It all came together when I put in the peacock feathers – before this it all looked a little too goth. I couldn’t find any Ben Nye black lipstick, so I settled for a dark dark plum from MAC called “Cyber.” I like it alright, but it’s not matte which means I end up eating it instead of wearing it. I read somewhere that a woman eats 6 pounds of lipstick in her lifetime. If this is true than my lymph nodes are colored Russian Red and Ruby Woo.

Bellewether looks radiant as usual. She’s been setting her hair in fingerwaves and I quite fancy it!

The biggest thrill of the night was that I didn’t have to wear a sweater at all!! Spring is here!

Things I love this week:

Since my Paris/SXSW vacation is finally at an end, I’ve been having one helluva time getting back in a school mind set. Me doing my homework is like silent game of kicking and screaming. Some things this week are making me fall back in love with school.

• Seriously considering making a traveling vegan sundae bar and hauling it around Austin. I would sell the vegan soft serve that I make at Toy Joy and have a slew of sprinkles and cookie toppings. Of course I would have a ridiculous outfit to go with it. This is better than a career, right? Plus, if you are always hauling a cart of ice cream, no one can ever be mad at you… right?
• Applying for dream jobs at G/T schools instead of doing actual homework
• Making vegan chickn n waffles for my collective house involved nearly forty homemade waffles and the chickpea cutlet recipe from veganomicon and we had a Kool-Aid moustache contest!
• I got a small scholarship for the fall, which makes paying tuition to teach for free in a public school a little less daunting. Still sucks.
• I watched “The Business of being Born” last night and it made me cry so much! It was such a beautiful movie and I feel really fortunate that lots of my friends have chosen midwifes (or are midwives!) and have had a more connected birthing experience.
• Missing (and refinding!) the old crust punk jugbands that played in my neighborhood in Eugene, Oregon when I lived there in 2007. There were at least two that I regularly saw at Sam Bond’s or the Saturday market. I found a website where you can listen to The Inkwell Rhythm Makers and buy it if you like it.

Photo from the Christian Dior F09 RTW.
For my outfit for the Snoop Dog/Hole show last Saturday, I prepped the night before by spraypainting a bunch of bobby pins with gold spray paint. I stuck them onto a bit of cardstock so that I could spray them with an even coat and also they wouldn’t stick together. It worked out beautifully and they looked very sweet against my red hair. Also, this is a faux fur thingie that I thifted in Paris for 2€ has become my newest favorite accessory. Although the show was too crowded for me to actually get in to (Perez Hilton said 25,000 people tried to go, which I believe!) I bet I was the hottest girl with spraypainted accessories standing in a four hour line!

Oh, boy, am I smitten with my favorite flickr images this week. When I open up my windows in the morning the air is flooded with wysteria and pear blossom smells. Spring is nearly here – we’ve been flirting with 70 degree weather since Tuesday! This week I also discovered the work of Maggy Rozycki Hiltner, and I’m just head over heels with admiration and absolute love. I found her by googling “Henry Darger Embroidery” and while it does feel like that initially, her work is so complex and beautiful and unlike anything I’ve ever seen!
1. Daydream (2/4), 2. Untitled, 3. maggy rozycki hiltner, 4. Pastel Blythe Dolls, 5. Inside Cupcake Box, 6. The Vivian Girls, 7. karen elson 2, 8. Sewing Music Machine by Sunny Buick, 9. Galliano Bobby Pins

Hope all is well with y’all! Any signs of spring in your neighborhood?

Last year I organized a swan boat outing on Town Lake for when Gala Darling was coming to SXSW. It was a grand time paddling about in afternoon finery, and I wasn’t sure if this year I could top it … but a few months ago I was brainstorming events and I thought a tea party, perfect!

Using my new tattoo by Sunny Buick as a jumping off point for decor, I gathered some sweet tea party supplies in Paris, including …
Little bird-shaped sugars that are meant to perch on the edge of cups!
At the Bon Marche where I got these sugars, there were so many different kinds to choose from: little lips, puppies, hearts and even the male symbol… I guess for a Prince themed tea party? Which gives me a great idea for a future party… a Royal Purple tea party!
Spicy vanilla tea and sugar cubes in the shape of cards: hearts, diamonds, clubs and spade.
My collection of mix-match teacups, gathered from estate sales and antique stores over the years. Most of them I got for just $1 each, and when I’m not drinking whiskey or tea out of them, they hold my lipsticks and eye pencils at my boudoir table. I love how none are a complete set but all mismatch in just the right way. Underneath is antique pillow ticking fabric that I’m just crazy over.
The tree in my front yard is blooming and I stood on a stool on tip toe and cut little pieces off while the dew fell all over my face. It made the room smell lovely. I placed them in old juice bottles and a sundae cup. On the table I sprinkled little tea roses and lavender essential oils.
The roses are from my Valentine’s day bouquet that I hung upside down to dry out. These gum drops were dumpstered by one of my roommates and taste like pomegranate, black cherry, and sunny citrus.

The menu: vegan waffles with apricot jam, ginger snap cookies, lavender & blueberry chocolates, and bellinis.
Strawberry scented bubbles from Toy Joy were provided for all to use at their leisure. I also had chinese checkers.
My outfit was centered around this sparkly silver feather. I hadn’t worn silver makeup since high school!
Angel told us fantastic stories!
Gala Darling and Molly Crabapple had an adventure that morning involving put put clubs and a giant bunny!
I didn’t get a photo of the lovely Tina from Violetville Vintage, but she was wearing a lime green print dress with tiny goats on it!

Happy SXSW everyone!

My time in Paris was magical! It was one of my best weeks on earth, thus far.

Obligatory Tour Eiffel photo. During my trip, it was 18F – 35F so I wore three pairs of socks most days.

Drawing by Francois’s cousin.

Me with Jana Sterbak’s Meat Dress at Centre Pompidou. I also saw works by my heros Annette Messager and Sophie Calle.

Riding the carousel near Notre Dame in my Carousel Dress. Each time I found a carousel in the city, I took a photo of it.

Carousel by Monte Martre, you can bet they were playing the Amelie soundtrack here!

Me and Stella met for tea and vintage shopping – she is such a magical girl!

I went on a picnic and I got tattooed by Sunny Buick – please if you’re ever in Paris, pay her a visit! I got tattooed while reading a book on Tom Waits, listening to rockabilly music, and chatting with the cutest French girl named Charlotte.

This is Adrien. He was my exchange student in High School. He lived with me for four months and we went to school together and even prom together! My mom made him pancakes with Nutella on them every morning and he ate nothing for dinner except steak and lemonade. We met at a vegan restaurant in Paris and all he would have was the chocolate pudding. I have not seen him for ten years and it was good to see the he had not changed much

I met Stella at Balajo to see the most amazing burlesque performance ever! Marie Antoinette stripping to harpsichord music? Check. Charlie Chaplin strip tease? Check. Amazing Paris folk beckoning me to move there? Double check.

I love you Paris, but I’m glad to be back in the land of hot showers and cotton dresses.
If you’d like to see the rest of my Paris trip, please view my flickr set.