Year: 2016

“Office holiday party” outfit

Published by

Red hot with some solid gold balls. Working it. Disclaimer: Not actually my office holiday party outfit, which had a flashy sewn-in pearl collar, as one often sees in the workplace.  vintage Pendleton red wool skirt – $5, I can’t remember which thrift store; Mei Ji Li Na gold polka dot on black poly-mesh turtleneck top – $3, ReStyle thrift store | Frye deep brown leather riding boots – $125, Vinyl of the Holiday Party: I talked my work into having a vinyl-themed holiday party, and we all dug “The Nutcracker,” so Tchaikovsky’s “Swan Lake” is the closest thing I have at home.

“The forest for the trees” outfit

Published by

Can’t you see it? Backstage blue lace tank dress, $12 – LUX Fashion Lounge | Material Girl blue mist trees leggings, $2 – Idaho Youth Ranch thrift store | vintage 1970s/1980s Needles and Yarn white pastel pull over, Free, clothing exchange party at Serendipity |  Minnetonka studded boots, $30 (on sale), Red Village or something in the middle of nowhere, Utah Album of the day: The Grateful Dead, Europe ’72 Cheep it from the treetops.

“Pilgrim’s progress” outfit

Published by

“From This World to That Which Is to Come; Delivered under the Similitude of a Dream” – subhead of Pilgrim’s Progress Why is it—with all our privileged pilgrim’s progress and all our fever dreams of thanksgiving—that we always have to look back, repeating, “What have we done?” vintage, label cut off sheer tan & pink tie-collar peacock dress – $35, Pursuing Andie online vintage boutique | vintage Lorraine bright pink petticoat – $3, ReStyle thrift store | Minnetonka studded leather boots, some gift shop place in the deserts of Utah (last season sale), $30 Vinyl of the day: Blood on the Tracks – Bob Dylan Cheep, all you pilgrims.

“Turn and face the strange, ch-ch-changes” speech

Published by

This is keynote speech I gave to a cohort of certified change makers for the Idaho Commission on the Arts on Nov. 4. It now serves as an uncanny pep talk/reminder to my profoundly-changed future self on Nov. 14. But that’s how stories happen by nature. They take you by surprise.  A CHANGE WILL DO YOU GOOD? It’s a complete honor to be here before you amazing souls and creators and community powerhouses. I feel like saying… Much respect Namaste, like in yoga. Or, “we’re not worthy,” like in Wayne’s World. I’ve been meaning to plot out this speech on change-making for weeks and weeks, but instead, I’ve just had that one song playing over and over in my head, “A change will do you good.” And as if from over your shoulder, “Will do you good.” [looks back] Shut up song! Because, really? Will it? Really? I think we raw, raw, siss, boom-bah change all the time. It’s hip and rock star and bold and stuff. Without really acknowledging the fear and chaos it unleashes in …

“I voted” outfit

Published by

I’m sure it’s not easy growing up as any type of human, or lifeform for that matter, but evolving as a woman is a real mindfuck. A real onion of a mindfuck that only reveals itself over time through the tear-stinging process of peeling off—layer by layer—the stink of utter societal and historical bullshit, already seeping through your skin. Though probably somewhere in the deep internet of my brain, it blew my mind anew that women were only “granted” the right to vote in this country in 1920. #seriouslywhatthefucketyfuckingfuck! I voted this year so teary-eyed grateful for all the daring suffragettes like Susan B. Anthony. And to all the women throughout time—especially in this last 96 years in the US—who kept pushing forward in the face of a roar of disdain, dismissiveness, derision. To bring me, us, here. Today. “Now they’re gonna hear me roar,” Katy Perry and Hillary Clinton would say. You go girl. (Hopefully as I am currently freaking the fuck out.) vintage Liz Claiborne white tuxedo jacket w/ “I voted” sticker, $1 (sale) – ReStyle thrift store | Forever 21 …

“Ivanka Trump’s bidet” outfit

Published by

Do you ever have that not so fresh feeling? Maybe you’ve got a real douche bag on your hands. We all feel a little unclean after this political season. But especially for Ivanka Trump—that enigmatic scion—all the gold-plated bidets & all the gaudy bathroom wallpaper & all the pussy bows in the world can’t wash that icky feeling away. (The above facial expressions made by imagining Donald is my creep dad.) But you can still wash your hands clean. Vote! vintage Joan Curtis pussy bow gaudy print dress (just imagine it as Ivanka Trump’s childhood bathroom wallpaper, because that’s what I did), $15 – Super Fantastic Triple Yard Sale | Shoe Strings red leather shoes made in Spain, $8 – Super Fantastic Triple Yard Sale Photography by Kim Philley.  Voting is cheap, cheep!

“Hard rain” outfit

Published by

Bob Dylan won the Nobel Prize in Literature today. I squealed like a schoolgirl at a Beatles concert. Or I should say, a Bob Dylan concert. I love Bob Dylan. I first saw him at 18 with my dad & he hit lit something on fire in me—with that nasal voice, those brilliant lyrics, that effortless scathing genius. I took him into my subconscious & into the wilderness. I wrote college papers comparing his writing to Walt Whitman’s. I memorized the battle-rap-like lyrics of “Subterranean Homesick Blues” on a long daily commute from the cow-dung hell of Caldwell to the corporate hell of DirecTV.  I soundtracked my last break-up with Blood on the Tracks & Blonde on Blonde. Thanks & cheers to you, Bob Dylan, the true love of mine. Oh, what’ll you do now, my blue-eyed son? Oh, what’ll you do now, my darling young one? I’m a-goin’ back out ’fore the rain starts a-fallin’ I’ll walk to the depths of the deepest black forest Where the people are many and their hands are all empty Where the pellets of poison …

“Last gasp” outfit

Published by

Fill this in like a mad libs. Last gasp of: ____. Fall colors. Summer blossom dresses. Our democracy? Alice Polynesian Fashions orange & pink blossom print cotton dress – $7-$15, I can’t remember if this is from a yard sale or thrift store | Chia orange leather Victorian bomber jacket – $7.99 Serendipity Boutique vintage 1980s? Made in Korea | Frye ‘Sacha Moto’ black leather shootie – $100 (MSRP: $278), Bombshell Salon‘s Head to Boots Fall Make-Up Event Cheep, cheep.

“Mom jeans without a cause” outfit

Published by

With a rebel yell, they cry, no more because you’ll spoil your appetite. Pleione black w/ gold & white diamond print ruffle blouse – $5, Super Fantastic Triple Yard Sale (c/o the fabulous Danielle Hurd) | Twins Leather Collection (TLC) half mom-jean / half black-leather high-waisted pant – $8.50 (originally $16.99), LUX Fashion Lounge | Frye ‘Sacha Moto’ black leather shootie – $100 (MSRP: $278), Bombshell Salon‘s Head to Boots Fall Make-Up Event | cream w/ black polka dot print silk head scarf – $2, ReStyle thrift store Cheep! Because the early bird gets the worm. Now listen to your mother.

“The heart is a lonely hunter” outfit

Published by

How frail the human heart must be—a mirrored pool of thought – says the Nietzsche-like cat on the side of my fridge, a screen-print given to me by this sweet girl at a Mostly Muff Valentine’s show at the Visual Arts Collective. The Heart is a Lonely Hunter – says Carson McCullers on a book jacket at the high school library. I never finished reading that book, but I still remember that title. I was sixteen. One-score years later, I wonder if I will ever let myself be hunted. Take off the camouflage. Or put it on, maybe. Wait in blinds, coo into the fog, send decoys, just shoot. At the very least, cock a gun, take a shot. (Even if it’s Dick Cheney shooting his 78-year-old friend in the face as this is my leading mental reference point for hunting.) But, mostly, I wonder if I painstakingly designed my own heart to be this wild longing untended thing—in a private purgatory of hunger—a permanent state of lonely hunter. no label-handmade? fall hunter camo dress – $15, Super Fantastic Triple Yard Sale …