It’s almost the weekend, but that’s no reason to shirk fitness! I’ve been slacking on my Interrogation Station posts, but I did notice that there are quite a few questions about how I stay in shape in there. NOW YOU PAY. I’ll be adding fitness to my Blush Response posts from time to time, starting right now.

So, I loathe gyms. One day I hope to go back to martial arts and/or dance as means of physical maintenance, but for now I do the bulk of my exercising at home. For years I’ve been told I shouldn’t jog or do high-impact exercises because of relatively mild scoliosis, so I usually just do stretches, sit-ups, push-ups, and booty exercises. However, I decided to throw caution to the wind and go for a short run a couple of weeks ago, just to see how it would affect me. And because I love running. Ultimately, I was fine, but my knees and back did hurt a little bit. I’ll be checking with a doc next week to see whether it’s OK for me to occasionally run anyway.

Meanwhile though, I needed to find something else to get my blood pumping and my heart rate up. This week Ive been using the video below. Disclaimer: I have no idea what SparkPeople is and I am not endorsing it in any way. However, I recommend this 10-minute ass-kicker to anyone who wants cardio, but doesn’t have much space or time. It’s deceptively simple, but I assure you, you’ll be feeling the benefits within one day. I suggest you keep your arms up and out for most of it for extra toning power. You need: 10 minutes and about 4 square feet. Give it a go and enjoy!

This edition of Blush Response is brought to you by the lush eye shadows of Aromaleigh [again] and the recent Master and Margarita session of Sketchy’s NYC. I was going for an updated super-vamp look when shooting the promo image for this event, with soft curls, dark, smoky eyes and deep cherry lips.

HAIR

1. Separating 2-inch-wide sections, curl with a medium-barrel curling iron
2. Spray each curled section and let cool – I use Big Sexy Hair Spray & Play
3. Once hair is curled and cool, run your fingers through it to transform curled sections from doll-like ringlets into softer waves
4. Use a comb to tease and mess
5. Pin with bobby-pins to taste

EYES

I used Aromaleigh* Victoria’s Revenge eye shadow line for 75% of my look, including blush and eyebrows.

1. Prime. Prime, prime, prime! These shadows do not do well without a base.
2. Dust Cyanide Sorrow all over the upper lid, blending out near the brow
3. Use Magick & Metal to accentuate the crease & lower lash line under the eye
4. With Ruthless Indulgence [hawtt damn I love this one] accentuate the outer creases, blending up and out
5. Highlight the inner lid corners and brow bone with Infernal Chaos
6. Using Prestige liquid eye liner, create a cat eye, then carefully and minimally line around the entire eye
7. Use a small smudging brush and blend under the eye with a bit of black shadow. I used Sugarpill’s Bulletproof.
8. Mascara! Lots of it. I’ve just switched to CoverGirl’s LashBlast Volume, with that adorable rubber brush and I may never go back.

LIPS

9. Line with a dark red liner, then fill in with dark red lipstick — I used cheap-o drug store brands for this and it worked out just fine.

CHEEKS

10. Brush Magick & Metal on your cheeks and blend

SKIN

11. I used Bare Escentuals mineral foundation in Fairly Light. Sometimes I apply my foundation first, sometimes last, depending on how much cleanup I think the eye makeup will need. In the case of extra dark shadows, I tend to do the foundation last.

*Sadly, Aromaleigh is going out of business, but the good news is that they are offering a 35% discount on their site right now, with the code ADIEU35. Go forth and order, before it’s all gone forever!

Happy sleep, mind you. Though, as always, I didn’t get to see every panel or every attending friend that I wanted to, this was one of the best Cons ever for me. In part because I got to meet a ton of shifty internet types I’d been in orbit with over the past few years, in part because I finally managed to make it to all the parties I’d missed in the past, in part because Ales came, too, and had in implausibly productive time. Also because the Sheraton’s beds are among the most comfortable I’ve ever slept on.

DISCLAIMER: hair is much shorter now

So, despite the exhaustion and the back in knots thanks to a particularly unwieldy zoom lens and that remarkable Con smell, I had a good time. I also shot a ton of photos for Chinashop, most of which are now up in conjunction with posts by staff writer Jeff Nau.

1. TRON: Legacy panel and booth

The panel was incredibly difficult to get into, but I managed to sneak in, using both my charm and my laser machete. 3D glasses were handed out at the doors, tons of clips were show, Jeff Bridges talked about the importance of recycling, and a few sound-clips were recorded using the voices of the audience. As a bonus, Guillermo Del Toro made a surprise appearance toward the end. Click here to see more.

2. Creepy resurrection signing at the Dark Horse booth

Creepy is back! This was fun to shoot, and I got to chat with artists Dennis Calero and Rahsan Ekedal. Click here to see the gallery and rejoice.

3. Geek Girls Panel

From the program:

Kristin Rielly (Geek Girls Network) leads a discussion about growing up geek, turning passions into careers, and who shot first. Representing the many awesome aspects of the geek culture, panelists Morgan Romine (The Frag Dolls), Bonnie Burton (The Star Wars Craft Book), Marian Call (singer/songwriter), Sarah Kuhn (One Con Glory), Jill Pantozzi (Has Boobs Reads Comics blog), Veronica Belmont (Qore), Kari Byron (MythBusters), and Kiala Kazebee (GeekWeek.com) school you on what it means to be a real geeky girl and even make you LOL IRL.

Click here for MOAR.

4. Yo, Gabba Gabba! Panel and Dance-Off

The cutest thing at the entire Con, complete with a dance contest, tribute paid to influences, and hilarious Q&A. More right this way.

5. Grant Morrison and Usagi Ujimbo’s Stan Sakai

Not really sure how these two made it into the same post but HEY. That’s what Con is all about! Besides, a samurai bunny can totally be a transsexual shaman’s vision. And vice versa.

6. Artists’ advice on making it, with shotsof V for Vendetta’s David Lloid and Tony Millionaire

A mixed bag of Jeff Nau’s Con experiences and advice to aspiring comics artists, with a collection of images by yours truly. Check it!

7. Moody Mondays: Ben Templesmith

The man behind Squid Girls names his top 5 songs for when he’s feeling moody. Now with youtubes!

Just a quick last-minute reminder for our fellow Comic-KHAAANNNgoers: Nadya, Zoetica and Meredith will be selling and signing copies of Coilhouse 05 from 11am to noon today (Saturday, July 24th) at the Weta booth (#2615). We’ll also bring along copies of 1-4 for folks to peruse, but not to buy, sorry! (Sincerely, we don’t mean to be teases– we figure folks will appreciate at least having a look at these rare, out-of-print editions.) However, everybody should stay tuned to this same bat-channel for news of an upcoming charity auction wherein a full set of Coilhouse Magazines (issues 1-5) will be sold off to the highest Ebay bidder. More on that later this week.

Meanwhile, check out Zo and Mer geeking out with LA WEEKLY columnist Liz Ohanesian about SDCC! Nadya was supposed to participate as well, but was found lying in a crumpled heap next to her laptop shortly before the deadline, unconscious, with an erratic pulse and her responses unfinished. We figure she was either asphyxiated by one of those uber-deadly roving Funyuns nerdfart doom clouds, or sustained internal injuries after being jabbed by a facehugger-on-a-stick. She’s still pretty out of it, but don’t worry– we’re sure she’ll be fine by tomorrow morning. Hope to see some of you there!

It’s that special time again, when we pack extra rations of vitamin C, deodorant, surgical masks, and hand sanitizer in preparation for San Diego’s ComicCon. It seems like only yesterday I stood in the Avatar Press booth with my Coilhouse cohorts, signing Coilhouse 03. This time around, we’ll be selling and signing copies of Issue 05,and displaying all of our back issues, too. Come say hello on Saturday morning, from 11am to 12pm at the Weta Workshop booth.

Micron and me in our home environment, from the Coilhouse 05 editors’ portrait by R. Stevens

In addition to reppin’ Coilhouse on Saturday morning, I’ll be around for the duration of the Con, shooting event coverage for Chinashop. I trust you to behave if we run into each other.

And speaking of Chinashop, I haven’t returned from NYC empty-handed! My words and Kate Black’s photos of the Master and Margarita Dr. Sketchy’s are here:

Click the jump at the end of this post for some of my favorite sketches from the night. If you were there and have sketches to share, post them in the comments, please.

Also during this trip, which, by the way, turned out to be my favorite New York trip yet, I finally got to visit the strange and fascinating Coney Island.

There, Molly and I gorged on deep-fried things, admired decaying amusements, rode the Wonder Wheel and made friends, and I took many, many pictures of our expedition. Click below to see:

There are tons more photos and thoughts about the trip, but that’s for another day. Now, naptime!

By Campatron Design:

By Kristin Chiappone:

I believe the above image accurately sums up our NYC stay so far. Ales and I have been staying at Molly Crabapple and Fred Harper‘s bohemian wonderland of a studio, going on extensive walks through the city and exploring the ever-unfolding aspects of this place. Ales is already trying to build a case for moving here, to which I respond with approval of NYC as a winter residence. The scorching, humid summers however? No thank you, no sir.

Despite the constant battle against the spiteful elements, it’s been a beautiful trip. I’ve met so, so many excellent people, and got to catch up with old friends, too. We’ve walked through night-time Chelsea and sipped mint iced tea in Williamsburg, consumed incredible steaks at Dumont and art at Joshua Liner and Last Rites galleries, inhaled raspberry hookah smoke and looted CB’s I Hate Perfume gallery. I even had my parachute dress soiled by an angry ice cream man with a neck tattoo! It’s safe to say this trip is a sensory feast.

I also touched Molly’s reverse mermaid inappropriately.

Today, we’re moving camp to Samantha‘s, whom I’ve missed sorely since her move back to New York from LA. Which reminds me that it’s time to scrub off last night’s glitter and get to it. Four more days!

After a weekend of intense Coilhouse meetings and signing one thousand copies of Issue 05 with my esteemed co-editors Nadya and Mer, yesterday was for the chill things in life: a hike to the dog park, a trip to our favorite Korean BBQ place and watching Videodrome to the sound of exploding fireworks outside. Catching a redeye on Wednesday night to land in NYC at 6am the following morning. I’ve been there a handful of times, but, of course, there is always more to discover. I’ll leave the rest of this Photo Flurry light on words, except one pressing question:

What are your favorite things to do in New York City?

Please leave your answers in the comments section! Now, on to the photos.

The last of the Dark Arts Festival adventure coverage is now up on Chinashop. In gallery 04, we discover the dark art of cake-eating — unlike anything I’d ever seen. Click the graphic to read all about it.

Gallery 05 is my favorite of all, and documents the drive itself. I even did my own captions for this one, and it has over 80 images. Roadside stimulants, open road, and the omnipresent Big Boy Burger mascot [rivaled only by the Bun Boy].

The 800 thread count sheets my mom gifted us for our first wedding anniversary

Micron’s towering behind

Eggs over easy with Kalonji seed and black truffle salt

Pasta and Brussels sprouts salad with Parmesan and cracked black pepper

Me, ready for a jog. And a jig.

Some of my favorite humans and dog

Fat stack of Coilhouse

Pretty

Next Saturday July 10, my husband Ales and I are paying tribute to one of the greatest novels of the twentieth century, Mikhail Bulgakov’s The Master and Margarita. Along with our very own Begemot the demon-cat [portrayed by Nik Sinn], we’ll be posing at the original branch of Doctor Sketchy’s in New York City, hosted by its notorious madam, Molly Crabapple herself.

Begemot and Azazello by Coilhouse 05 featured artist, Chris Conn Askew

In parallel but separate ways, The Master and Margarita acutely affected mine and Ales’ lives when we each read it for the first time years before we met [Nadya and I even had to fight over who got to write about it on Coilhouse back in the day], and Molly is a huge fan of the book as well, so this is a truly unique and momentous opportunity. Also, I’ll be wearing a bejeweled flesh-tone mesh bodysuit in the end. We hope that all you New Yorkers can join us! The cast of characters below, event info here and after the photos.

MASTER
Ales Kot

MARGARITA
yours truly

BEGEMOT
Nik Sinn [the fetching young man, not the kitty]

This session marks the first at Sketchy’s new home, the Parkside Lounge. Please be sure to note the location change!

Parkside Lounge
317 East Houston St
between Clinton and Attorney Sts
$10 online, $15 at the door.

Tickets are $10 in advance, or $15 at the door, and can be purchased at www.drsketchy.com or at the door. See you there!

Coilhouse 05 will hit stores in just under two weeks, but signed copies with special inserts are already 3/4 gone from our web shop. You can see a comprehensive by-article assessment of the issue here. From the post:

Zoetica imagined a blithe, enchanted world of dancing sheiks and courtesans when working on this issue’s Inform/Inspire/Infect section headers. Powdered wigs and perfect maquillage complement tassels and cymbals, as these bejeweled vixens shimmy you into each section. The headers also feature the Far East-inspired patterns that creative director Courtney Riot used on the masthead and the table of contents.

The original color was meant to be all milky pastels, but as the issue came together, Courtney and I brightened these to accommodate the emerging theme. The original versions are below for your perusal.

INFORM
Garnet Siren

INSPIRE
Emerald Emir

INFECT
Turquoise Tart

Why, hello tharr. It feels like I haven’t written here in ages, and I do apologize. Work and unpacking have been usurping much of my time and I’ve neglected Biorequiem and Coilhouse and almost everyone I know, too. Part XTREEM busyness, part XTREEM burnout. However, the house is about two days from 100% unpacked and all manner of exciting things are afoot, so your pilot is coming back in effect.

1. Coilhouse issue 05 is almost out! We’ve revealed the cover and ask you to sign up for our Mailing List to be sure you don’t miss out when the issue goes on sale.

2. In my previous post, I promised that I would be documenting my trip to Salt Lake City, where I drove with Clint Catalyst and Paris Sadonis to wreak artsy havoc on unsuspecting Dark Arts Festival attendees. As it was told, so it shall be done. Three of my five scheduled Chinashop posts are up and ready for viewing*. First up: Ten Years of Dark Arts in Salt Lake City, an introduction to DAF and tons of pictures.

Second, a most disturbing Mummy-Wrapping Contest, where I expect to see everything from live evisceration to bondage, yet end up seeing something else altogether.

Last, but most certainly not least, an Impromptu Fashion Show at Deseret Industries, a Mormon-owned thrift shop where we got away with being rowdy, sleep-deprived monkeys for over an hour with no repercussions.

Next time I’ll show a few photos and maybe even a video from our Butoh-inspired performance at the festival. And there are two more galleries to come! A hilarious cake-eating contest and perhaps the most hilarious post of all – an epic [actually epic] gallery and tale of the drive there and back again, complete with further overcaffeination and sleep deprivation, Clint scandalizing Subway employees in the middle of nowhere with breakdance moves, me taking pictures of and with things that say “Beaver” on them, and curious truck stop finds galore. A preview:

*Be advised I didn’t write the image captions in the Chinashop galleries. They keep telling me that as long as I don’t write my own I have to submit to the will of the Chinashop captions guy. Look, I know I should probably write them, but can you imagine how long that would take? Also, this way I don’t have to be embarrassed because of my wit deteriorating after writing 30 to 40 captions per post. You understand.

I’ll be covering our trip and much of the festival for Chinashop, so keep your peepers peeled for what will likely be a most hilarious adventure. For more information about the festival and its lineup, please visit darkartsfestival.com.

It’s time to pack, pedicure and iron out last-minute details. See you there!

Please join me and featured performer Clint Catalyst at what’s sure to be an unforgettable night of delights and debauchery. This installment’s theme is “The Best Little Whorehouse in Los Angeles”, time to bust out those tassels and spurs!

The Poetry Brothel
House of Blues, Foundation Room
8430 West Sunset Blvd. Hollywood, CA
Doors at 8:00 p.m.; event concludes at 11:59 p.m.
21 & over, w/valid I.D.
$15 at the door, $10 with RSVP via thepoetrybrothelrsvp@gmail.com
or via Facebook

I’ll be covering and shooting for Chinashop, so come say hello and get your soul eaten picture taken. More about the event beyond the jump:

Join us on June 5th for steamy readings, cold drinks and lovely ladies performing burlesque for your titillation. In the old fashioned style of everyone’s favorite Dolly Parton flick, dress to the nines and get ready to be sauced and saucy.

All of the resident ‘whores’ are available for these sequestered readings at any time during the event. Of course, any good brothel need a furtive ‘front’ or cover; ours is part saloon and part salon, offering a full bar with music, burlesque dancing, fortune-tellers, and installations from our poets and other artists at each event. [In addition to the featured readers], each night we will also introduce several “New Girls”…[performers] who punctuate the evening with a few special public performances.

Featured performers: Clint Catalyst and Julia Voth
Featured visual artists: Joshua Burian Mohr and Zoetica Ebb
Music provided by Daniel Ribiat

Bringing a new twist to the tradition of poetry reading, The Poetry Brothel showcases a diverse roster of emerging and established poets. Our events are also interactive performance art pieces based on the concept of the prewar brothels in the United States and Europe.

This is going to be good.

We have arrived. More or less. There are still some things to be put into storage or brought here at the old apartment, but the Big Scary U-haul Move is over and done.

Last night, after many hours of boxing, moving, stairs and sweat, we laid our mattress on the floor, covered our new windows with blankets and celebrated with Frighteners, Mexican Coke, Champagne and raspberry-filled chocolate. We only made it through 30 minutes of the movie, but it matters not. We’re home.

It’s all an unmarked box maze for now, but today is going to be the first day of rest since we decided to move. I’d be shocked to find a single muscle in my body that isn’t tired and screaming. So today, we’ll venture out for groceries and I may try to locate my toiletries and underwear, but there will be no major unpacking until tomorrow.

We couldn’t have made the move without the help of our awesome friends, so big, squishy THANK YOUS go out to Ginny, Kevin The Intrepid U-haul master, Gretta, Matt, Courtney, Katie, Annah, Josh, Daniel, Chris, Jhonen, and Q. You’re all amazing and I’m looking forward to inviting you to our first BBQ deck soiree.

We’re thrilled about exploring the new neighborhood and Micron is thrilled about making friends with our landlord’s border collie, but for now the empty fridge demands fulfillment, so I take my leave.

How to Paint a Two-bedroom House in 24 Hours…

…Is a post I would write if at least half of my normal brain activity was in effect. Since that’s not the case, allow me to instead plop these here photos on your screen, say “I can’t believe we Duddits!”, and attempt to soak the throbbing pain away in a bath of herbs and Jojoba oil. Also, I know the following picture is crooked and I’ll try to take it again when I can hold anything steady.

This is what you see when standing at the end of the little hallway between the bedroom and the rest of the house.

That’s the gold bathroom, right next to the lilac and lavender bedroom.

Here be the sea-foam and coral kitchen, ready for hawtt cooking action.

The black cherry and deep sea-foam workroom, and a little piece of the mustard green living room, plus a view of the bedroom from the deck.

The silver bathroom. Thus concludes our mini-tour.

I can’t feel my legs.

Realistically, I shouldn’t even be typing right now, considering how tired I am, but I GOTTA. You see, Relocation 2010 is well underway now, with the soon-to-be-former Shadow Gallery about 2/3rds packed, and looking like this:

It’s still difficult to wrap my mind around it, but after today’s labors I’m even more ready and PUMPED to move on. I’ve packed about twelve massive boxes so far, we’ve settled on eleven colors after picking from the below samples, and the ordination of our new home is now well underway.

Earlier today, a merry, precarious paint and supply pile in the back of the ol’ spacebucket:

New master bedroom has a tiled floor and little ledge along two walls. This ledge and one of the walls are now a deep lilac, with the rest of the walls to be a dusty lavender as of tomorrow. Explanatory smears of the lavender in the shot below.

Moving into a new place calls for some form of initiation. A house built in the 1920s calls for a little extra. I’m grateful for such wonderful and understanding friends, who not only offered their helping hands, but didn’t seem to mind waiting while we smoked the place up with sage and sprayed every nook, crack and corner with lavender and frankincense oil. Man, it smells good in there.

Below, Ales sprays Ginny and Kevin in an attempt at a quickie exorcism. Also below, our mustard yellow living room and eggplant fireplace, after one coat of paint.

When some form of normalcy resumes, I’ll write up a how-to on painting, whether you’re transforming a house or a room. Meanwhile, here is our handsome paintcrew, gloating and enjoying a break of pesto-ricotta-shrimp pizza and beer.

Now off to pass out, so I can do it all over again in the morning. Aww yeahh!

‘Suup! I’m dedicating today to learning new visualization techniques. There is a lot of exciting stuff in motion, and the next couple of months are going to be a beautiful tornado of activity, travel and, oh shneep, most likely moving in the midst of it all. As such, extra helpings of level-headed tranquility and organization are in order. Hence today’s plans. Here’s what’s going down.

June

MOVING

Unless something goes horribly wrong, in the next 24 hours Ales and I will be signing a lease for a little amethyst house nestled on a hillside in Echo Park. It’s magic.

Naturally, preliminary painting plans are in place, albeit a little prematurely. Here is what we hope to do with the place, assuming our Feng Shui adviser approves. Ales’ mother studied the art for ten years and is a seasoned interior decorator, so we shan’t spill a drop of paint until she gives the go-ahead.

If you’re in LA and have spare boxes, I’ll be most grateful, because literally the moment the lease is signed we’re going to start packing. You see, the move must be swift, because…

DARK ARTS FESTIVAL

In the second week of June, I’ll be hitting the road to make an appearance on the 11th at the Dark Arts Festival in Salt Lake City with a certain Clint Catalyst and Paris Sadonis. I haven’t taken a road trip in ages, and even though this one will be brief, I’m very much looking forward to the drive. Will be documenting everything. EVERYTHING. Details to come.

Photo-break

RECENT FOODS

1. Breakfast of soft-boiled eggs, sliced tomato and French cheese
2. Maple bacon-wrapped garlic and rosemary pork roast, about to be cooked. FUCK this is good, and here is the recipe.
3. Sesame oil scrambled eggs with crackers topped with chipotle hummus

RECENT TUBS

Right. So! Here is what’s happening immediately after Salt Lake City.

E3

Sawa and I will be shooting Suicidegirls and guests at the APB booth in the South Meeting Hall of the LA Convention Center. This is going to be quite an undertaking, as we’ll be at the booth all day, every day of the convention. Then…

July

NYC

Ales and I are heading to NYC, 8th through the 14th. On July 10 we’ll be posing for a very special Doctor Sketchy as Bulgakov’s Master and Margarita. It’s a Devil in Moscow Sketchy’s, so be there or be damned for all eternity.

On the 12th I’ll finally be getting my back tattoo finished by the incomparable Tim Kern. Those are the only in-stone plans as of this moment, and more slowly brewing. Very much looking forward to squishing my East coast peeps.

COMIC CON

Ales and I will make our annual pilgrimage to San Diego. I’ll be covering all sorts of fun stuff for Chinashop, while Ales zooms around taking care of bidness.

I love Poladroid so very much. Here is my head:

So that’s my grand 2-month battle plan, as I see it. I also want to shoot more, draw more, Coilhouse more, spend more time with Ales, read more [currently reading A Rebours, as it's perfect for moving time], blog more, travel more, and spend more time doing nothing at all. Doable, right?

…Right?

What’s your plan?

Adorable spirit guides to ensure that your week is a success.

Interrogation Station is here to answer questions from YOU. To give it a go, just submit a question through my Formspring page. You can ask anything you like, it doesn’t have to be about style or art. All I request is that you check out my FAQ and previously asked questions beforehand. I can’t guarantee that I’ll get to every single question, but I will certainly try. You can see previous installments of I.S. here.

I´m intrigued by the glimpses of your living space. Any chance for more photos of your home?

Timely question! This space just might be done with very soon. It’s almost inconceivable. I lived here when I went to high school, and again for the past nine [!] years. It’s seen enough roommates, drama, and action for several lifetimes. This apartment is saturated with so, so many memories that it almost feels like a part of me. It is a part of me, really, except that it’s a “me” that existed and will continue to exist in another time. In the present, Ales and I want to make a home in a place that’s ours, not mine, and that’s exactly what we’re going to do. So, to answer your question, there will be moving photos and, eventually, photos of our new quarters.

Were you ever an angsty teenager with sub-par self confidence? If so, how did you get past it and what helped you grow into the person you are today? Any advice for some of us angsty teens?

1. Mhmm.

2. Hesitated to answer this one, because I don’t exactly want the mothers of the internet on my tail, but ultimately I’m not here to skim over the big stuff, so pull up a chair, and grampa Zo will tell you a little tale. See, I did it by putting myself through some deep, reckless, irresponsible shit. For years, at that. From the time I was a kid and until about the age of 20, I felt a compulsion to experience and understand things I knew no one would ever teach me at home, or in school, but I sensed were lurking just below the surface. Things I knew couldn’t be taught, and had to be lived, sonny! Having sufficiently traversed the aforementioned shit-mountain, I emerged aware of my capacity to endure, and thus self-assured.

3. Obviously, I do not advise anyone follow that route. Here is some advice I wish I was given, instead: do what you feel, as long as you maintain a balance and can be sure you’re not hurting anyone. That usually means a degree of openness and a lot of self-examination. Avoidance is the enemy.

Also, read more books and eat your greens. Grampa has spoken.

I’m pretty down in the dumps now, and you feel like a strong (emotionally) lady. Have you been heartbroken before? (If yes) How did you get over it?

I’m sorry to be answering this late. It’s been Coilhouse Issue 05 madness and I haven’t peeped at Formspring in a bit. But let me say now, BOY, have I. It’s tough to conceive the depths of the dumps of my past, dude. I’ve been in megadumps of such proportions that I couldn’t even begin to describe them here, nor should I, really. Suffice to say that I got over it because I had to, and not always in the most constructive ways. These days, I do have a specific way I get over things, and that’s by looking at the bigger picture, always. Living is all we humans get, and the less of it we spend being heartbroken, the better. It can be an exquisite, lovely pain, but indulging in it too much is just like any overindulgence – you end up missing the point.

How many hours do you sleep regularly?

At least 6, ideally 8. I love early mornings and have a hard time staying asleep once awake, and my husband wakes up at 5:30am, which generally springs me to life, too. On undersleepy days, I try to nap for an hour around 1 or 2pm. Often unsuccessfully.

What´s the idea or inspiration behind the “reflection” style photos?

I’m pasting my statement from the glorious fail of a contest that was The Power of Self, because it sums things up:

I try to pin down and preserve dream states, like the moment when you look at the warm sun through the red of your closed eyelids and drift. The ambiguous in-between minutes separating lucidity and sleep. The tricks our eyes play in dim light and then, the way we wonder if the world is quietly opening its shutters to grant us a peek at another side and then another. Often, the hours of friendly discourse over too much coffee on the subject of what might happen if every reflective surface was Lewis Caroll’s looking glass.

Were you planning on selling more clothing on Ebay any time soon?

As a matter of fact yes, NOW. I listed a bunch yesterday, though two sold already. Ch-ch-check it out!

Where did you learn the delicious make-up skills? Self-taught? I’m an avid fan of your “Blush Response” segment on your website. It gives me inspiration to do strange things to my face!

Nyarrf, thanks! Can we have some pictures of the strange things you’ve done to your face? Entirely self-taught when it comes to beauty make up, and apprenticed with an established artist in special effects make up, prosthetics, exploding heads and the like a few years ago, too.

A lightning-fast job I did for a W.A.S.T.E. photo shoot

Do you have a haircut you really regret?

Non, je ne regrette rien.

[P.S. Several questions about my camera set up and glasses this week. Naughty birdies didn't read my FAQ.]

On Saturday, hawtt shot photographer Lou O’Bedlam and I set out for the hills [a block or two away from his place] to find the perfect fence. We were on a mission to capture a couple of new items for the Coilhouse shop.

I’d just gotten the hoodie the day before, and hadn’t had a chance to try it on before these photos, but now I CAN’T STOP WEARING IT. It’s a good thing I have several pairs of these leggings, otherwise we’d all be in trouble.

This is now my default post office/grocery store outfit. It may not be too different from my previous post office/grocery store outfit, which also consisted of canvas military boots, leggings, and an oversize top, but this one is personalized.

I still remember the AIM chat in which this Colihouse battlecry was born. I had originally envisioned the slogan being “Inform, inspire, infect – be your own architect!”.  Pfft. That is so obviously way too long. Evidently, the flatulent Commie rallying calls of my youth had a hand in my coming up with such a bulky motto. As a bonus addition to this, admittedly rambling, edition of Style Dispatch, I will demonstrate.

After a little web-scouring, I found a translation of the official list of slogans approved in 1977 by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union for the 60th Anniversary of the Socialist Revolution. First published in PRAVDA, it contains 73 KGB-approved ways to hail the Motherland and show your solidarity.

First, to put your collective ass into context, here is just one of the videos from the gargantuan parade held in 1977 Moscow to honor the anniversary. These spectacles were held and televised annually when I was a kid there in the 80s – I will always find them hypnotic, and wistfully calming, regardless of what they really stood for. Anyhow, this is October, and thousands of dedicated young gymnasts are about to perform, while the booming announcer’s voice reads off some of the slogans on the list:

A few of my personal favorites here, the rest after the jump.

Honor and praise to the historic Soviet people–the builders of communism, steadfast warriors for peace in the whole world! [LOL]

Communists! Be in the avant-garde of the national struggle to fulfill the decisions of the 25th Congress of the CPSU, be active organizers and teachers of the masses!

Long live the Leninist komsomol, the reliable assistant and fighting reserve of the Communist Party, the vanguard of the young builders of communism!

Workers of industry! Struggle for the further development and strengthening of the industrial power of our Motherland! Widen the road of new techniques and progressive technologies!

1. Long live the glorious 60th anniversary of the Great October Socialist Revolution!

2. Long live the Great October Socialist Revolution–the main event of the 20th century, the beginning of the worldwide historic turn of humanity away from capitalism and to socialism!

3. Long live Marxism-Leninism–the triumphant banner of Great October, the powerful ideological weapon of the workers of all nations in the struggle against imperialism, for the victory of socialism and communism!

4. Long live the Leninist Communist Party of the Soviet Union, the inspiration and organizer of the victorious October Revolution, the experienced avant-garde of the working class, of all the Soviet people in the struggle for communism!

5. Let live for centuries the name and work of Vladimir Ilych Lenin–the leader of the October Revolution, the creator and leader of the Communist Party and the first-in-the-world socialist government!

6. Let live forever in the people’s memory the unparalleled achievement of the Leninist guard of October, the glorious Bolsheviks-Leninists, all those who fight for the victory of socialism!

7. Honor and praise to the historic Soviet people–the builders of communism, steadfast warriors for peace in the whole world!

8. Long live the heroic working class of the Soviet nation- -the leading force in the construction of communism!

9. Long live the glorious kolkhoz peasantry–active builders of communism!

10. Long live the Soviet national intelligentsia–active builders of communism!

11. Long live the indissoluble union of the working class, kolkhoz peasantry, and national intelligentsia! Strengthen the social-political and ideological unity of Soviet society!

12. Long live the indissoluble union of the Communist Party and the Soviet people–the source of further flourishing of socialist democracy, the guarantee of the complete triumph of communism!

13. Long live the fraternal friendship and the unshakable unity of the peoples of the USSR–a great achievement of October and the Leninist nationality policy of the CPSU!

14. Long live the Soviet Constitution, the basic law of the first- in-the-world people’s socialist government!

15. Citizens of the Soviet Union–strictly adhere to the Constitution of the USSR, the Basic Law of our life.

16. Long live the Soviets of people’s deputies, the political basis of the USSR! Increase the participation of workers, peasants, and the intelligentsia in the management of government!

17. Long live socialist democracy, guaranteeing genuine people’s power and social justice!

18. Workers of the Soviet Union! Struggle to realize the decisions of the 25th Congress of the CPSU and the grand program of the 10th Five-Year Plan! Forward to new successes in the construction of communism!

19. Communists! Be in the avant-garde of the national struggle to fulfill the decisions of the 25th Congress of the CPSU, be active organizers and teachers of the masses!

20. Soviet trade unions! Expand even wider the socialist competition to raise productivity and the quality of work! Long live Soviet trade unions, the school of management, the school of economy, the school of communism!

21. Young men and women! Persistently educate yourselves in communist convictions! Learn to live, work, and struggle as Leninists, as communists!

22. Long live the Leninist komsomol, the reliable assistant and fighting reserve of the Communist Party, the vanguard of the young builders of communism!

23. Long live Soviet women, fervent patriots, active participants in the labor and social life! Honor and praise to mothers, warmly giving their hearts to the education of their children, the future builders of communism!

24. Long live the valiant Armed Forces of the USSR, standing on watch to guard the victories of October and the peaceful labor of the Soviet people!

25. Workers of the Soviet Union! Struggle for the successful completion of the plan in the anniversary year 1977! Persistently achieve the raising of productivity, the effectiveness of production, and the quality of work!

26. Praise to the leaders of production, achieving great successes in the socialist competition for early completion of the 10th Five- Year Plan!

27. Workers of industry! Struggle for the further development and strengthening of the industrial power of our Motherland! Widen the road of new techniques and progressive technologies!

28. Workers of industry! Staunchly struggle to increase production of high-quality consumer goods! Renew their assortment and more fully satisfy the needs of the Soviet people!

29. Construction workers! Build quickly, durably, economically, and on the basis of contemporary technology! Complete new sites on time!

30. Transport and communication workers! Develop and perfect the means of transport and communication! Improve by all means service to the national economy, more fully satisfy the needs of the Soviet people!

31. Workers of the Soviet Union! Actively fulfill the agrarian policy of the CPSU! Hasten the pace of the mechanization and chemicalization of agriculture and of land reclamation. Unflaggingly develop the specialization and concentration of production on the basis of interfarm cooperation and agro- industrial integration!

32. Agricultural workers! Raise the effectiveness of agricultural production! Make better use of land, technology, fertilizer, and all material resources!

33. Citizens of the Soviet Union! Make careful use of our nation’s natural resources! Struggle for their preservation and growth!

34. Workers of trade and social nutrition, consumer services, and communal housing management! Bring into wider use progressive forms and methods of work! Struggle for a high level of culture in the servicing of the Soviet people!

35. Workers of government establishments! Perfect the styles and methods of apparatus work, strictly follow government discipline, raise responsibility and initiative, pay keen attention to the needs and requests of workers!

36. Workers of the Soviet Union! Increase in all ways socialist labor discipline! Improve the organization of production! Conserve raw materials, fuel, electroenergy, metal, and other metals!

37. Workers of the Soviet Union! Fervently preserve and increase socialist property–the fruit of the collective labor of the people, the foundation of the development of all of society!

38. Workers of the national economy! Persistently elevate professional craftsmanship, master economic theory, and contemporary methods of management and direction! In production, make wider use of proper organization of labor, leading experience, and the most recent achievements of science and technology!

39. Engineers and technical workers! Rationalizers and inventors! Actively struggle to hasten scientific-technical progress!

40. Soviet scientists! Raise the effectiveness of scientific research, strengthen the connection between science and industry!

41. Activists of literature and art, cultural workers! Carry high the banner of the party and national character of Soviet art! Give your talent and craftsmanship to the service of the people, to the job of Communism, create works of art worthy of our great Motherland!

42. Workers of the people’s education! Teach the growing generation in the spirit of the ideals of Communism, a responsible attitude to study and labor! Perfect the preparation of cadres for the national economy!

43. Workers of public health and physical culture! Improve the medical service to the people, more actively introduce physical culture into the daily life of the Soviet people!

44. Veterans of the Revolution, the war, and labor! Mentors of youth! Actively participate in the education of the young generation in the revolutionary, combat, and working traditions of the Soviet people!

45. Pioneers and school children! Fervently love the Soviet Motherland, persistently acquire knowledge and labor skills! Prepare yourselves to become active fighters for the task of Lenin, for Communism!

46. Fraternal greeting to the Communist and workers parties–unflinching fighters against imperialism and for peace, democracy, national independence and socialism! Strengthen the unity and close ties of Communists the world over on the unshakable basis of Marxism-Leninism and proletarian internationalism!

47. Long live proletarian internationalism–the tested and powerful weapon of the international working class!

48. Proletarians of all nations, unite!

49. Communists of Europe! Struggle to achieve the tasks put forth by the Berlin Conference of Communist and Workers Parties!

50. Fraternal greeting to the peoples of the socialist nations! Let develop and strengthen the peaceful system of socialism–the deciding force of the anti-imperialist struggle, the bulwark of peace, democracy, and social progress!

51. Long live the unity and close ties of the peoples of the nations of the socialist community! Let strengthen the indissoluble fighting union of the Communist parties of the socialist nations on the basis of the tested principles of Marxism- Leninism and proletarian internationalism!

52. Fraternal greeting to the heroic Vietnamese people! Let strengthen and flourish the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, an important advanced outpost of the forces of peace and socialism in southeast Asia!

53. Fraternal greeting to the courageous Laotian people! Let strengthen and flourish the Laotian People’s Democratic Republic, starting on the path toward the construction of a socialist society!

54. Fraternal greeting to the working class of the capitalist nations–a selfless fighter against exploitation and the domination of monopolies and for the rights of all workers, for peace, democracy and socialism!

55. Warm greeting to the peoples who have tossed off the colonial chains and who are fighting for the strengthening of independence, for the progressive path of development, for the restructuring (perestroika) of international economic relations on a just, democratic basis!

56. Fraternal greeting to the peoples who have achieved liberation from the colonial yoke and who are carrying on a courageous struggle to strengthen national independence and social progress!

57. Warm greeting to the peoples of Africa, struggling against imperialism and racism, against all remnants of colonialism, and for freedom and national independence! Peoples of the world! Strengthen your support for the struggle of the peoples of Zimbabwe, Namibia, and South Africa for the complete liquidation of racist regimes!

58. Warm greeting to the people of Latin America, carrying on a courageous struggle against the oppression of imperialist monopolies, against reaction and fascism, for free and independent development, for peace, democracy, and social progress!

59. Let strengthen the powerful, unbeatable union of the three basic revolutionary forces of our time–peaceful socialism, the international proletariat, and the national-liberation movement!

60. Fraternal greeting to the courageous fighters for people’s freedom, democracy and socialism who are suffering in prisons and fascist walls! Communists and workers of all nations! More actively involve yourselves in the struggle to halt terror and repression! Freedom for the prisoners of imperialism and reaction!

61. Fraternal greeting to the working class, to all workers and democrats of Chile, carrying on a courageous struggle against fascist reaction! Peoples of the world! Strengthen the solidarity with the patriots of Chile! Freedom to all the prisoners of the fascists junta!

62. Peoples of the world! Strengthen the efforts in the struggle for the complete liquidation of the results of Israeli aggression, for the establishment of just peace for all the governments and peoples of the Mid East, against imperialist interference in the internal affairs of Arab nations! Strengthen and develop friendship and cooperation between the peoples of the Soviet Union and Arab nations!

63. Peoples of European nations! Persistently achieve full realization of the Final Act of the Common European Convention, turning Europe into a continent of peace, safety, cooperation, and social progress!

64. Warm greeting to the people of Cyprus, selflessly defending their independence from imperialist encroachment! Peoples of the world! Demand the expulsion of all foreign military forces from the territory of Cyprus and the respecting of its sovereignty and territorial integrity!

65. Warm greeting to the working class, communists, and all workers of Portugal, carrying on a selfless battle for the preservation and strengthening of democratic achievements, for freedom and independent development of their nation!

66. Warm greeting to the working class, communists, and all progressive forces of Spain, struggle for the democratic renewal of their nation, for its freedom and independent development!

67. Peoples of Asian nations! Struggle for the strengthening of peace, cooperation, and good neighbor relations, for the ensuring of safety in Asia on the basis of the joint efforts of the governments of the continent!

68. Peoples of the world! Struggle for the deepening of the lessening of international tension, for its expansion to all continents! Expose the efforts of the forces of aggression, revanchism, and reaction–enemies of peace and the peoples’ defense! 69. Peoples of the world! Strive so that the unacceptability of the use of force becomes the law in international relations and nuclear weapons are forever banned! Strengthen the struggle to end the arms race and to achieve universal and complete disarmament!

70. Peoples of the world! Decisively speak out against the production of the neutron bomb! The design and production of new types of weapons of mass destruction must be halted!

71. Long live the Leninist foreign policy of the Soviet Union–the policy of peace and friendship of peoples, the unity of all forces struggling against imperialism, reaction and war! Strive for the complete realization of the program worked out at the 25th Congress of the CPSU for the further struggle for peace and international cooperation, for the freedom and independence of peoples!

72. Long live our great motherland–the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics!

73. Under the banner of Marxism-Leninism, under the leadership of the Communist Party–forward to new victories in the construction of communism!

A photo essay to gently guide you into the weekend.

Visual nutrition. Feed your eyeballs.

One of the most beautiful deserts of my life thus far: sticky rice layered w/violet taro and coconut creme. Pale, velvety alien eggs.

Nails in hair

Nuclear sky over Culver City

New addition to my 36FAIL project

We meet again, my fellow aesthetes. The occasion? I just got my hands on a myriad of Aromaleigh eye shadow samples and it’s been a while since the previous edition of Blush Response, so I decided to try the new stuff with an eye look I wear all the time: burnished smoke.

It’s a quick and versatile method that’s worked on every face shape I tried it on, back in my professional face-paintin’ days. If you’re not doing this already, I encourage you to attempt it.

I went with shimmery graphite [Soul Takes Flight] and pearl [Air & Light] pigments from Les Papillons collection, and Bette [an instant favorite, just look at it] from the sultry Bete Noir collection. You probably love the product names as much as I do.

Here’s how I engineered this look:

1. After applying mineral face powder and eyebrows, I lined my water line with a black pencil, then added a little liner to the outer corners of my upper eyelids, blending it out with a smudging brush
2. With a sponge applicator, swept a layer of Soul Takes Flight all over my lids and a little under the eyes, then blended out with a brush
3. Brushed Air & Light on to the inner corners of my eyes, then blended a bit over the inner corners of the upper eyelids
4. Applied Bette to the outer creases [under the brow bone] and blended out.
5. Used a bit more of my mineral face powder to highlight along the eyebrows
6. Applied mascara
7. Finished the look with some E.L.F. lip gloss

Somehow, I didn’t have any experience with Aromaleigh products before getting these samples [madness, I know], so today I spent a bit of time poking around their website, and am thoroughly inspired and impressed by the vast array of not only colors, but types of make up. All sorts of eye shadows, eye liners, eye shadow cremes, primers, concealers, powder foundations in an extensive range of shades, skin treatments, etc. – and all mineral. The mind and wallet boggle.

Image from Aromaleigh’s description of their Papillons collection

Verdict: These are among the most multi-dimensional, richest, and longest-lasting eye shadows I’ve used. I’m going to tear through these samples like an SR-71 Blackbird, and return for more.

Do enjoy!

1. Gaze into Micron’s eyes.
2. She wants to inform you that your weekend will be made of pure win.
3. Resistance is futile.

Aaand now I go, leaving you with a new, 5-day-migraine-inspired addition to the 365 project. Until Monday, when Ales and I unleash something new and terrible upon you.

Photo is hypersaturated. In reality, my hair is approaching the pale dusty violet over gray+cobalt+amethyst+black that I asked for at a salon last month. They failed to deliver. I took matters into my own hands.