• 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

“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

• 1950s navy blue tilt hat with velvet ribbon – from a junk store in Tonitown, Arkansas
• Dove earrings
• Vintage lace collar – bought from a boy who came into my toy store with a suitcase of goodies
• 1950s navy dress – I can’t even remember… I’ve had this dress for so long. I think I got it in northwest Arkansas
• Vintage sheer gloves with flower embroidery
• Remix vintage heels – Trashy Diva in NOLA

Today I got a lot of comments that I looked like a doll or like a mannequin. I suppose I have a knack for standing uncommonly still, and today I was letting myself just stare off into space while thinking of how to construct my Gadjo Disko/Halloween costume: deer antler headpiece! I have been mistaken for a mannequin in places where you usually don’t find mannequins… like the grocery store!

Here I am two years ago when I lived in Portland, Oregon. I worked part time as a living mannequin for a vintage store downtown. I posed in the window displays. When people made eye contact with me, I winked at them!

I also posed out on the sidewalk with an armless authentic. I held a dish of candy and whispered Enjoy when people took a piece. One woman yelled the loudest I’ve ever heard in real life. It was like a horror movie scream. Her friends laughed at her. The store was very close to a homeless shelter and a lot of street people would approach me and pull on my fingers to see if I was real! Oh, and people would also tip me!