So I don't have to talk about Real Life™ (yet) let's talk about DOLLS! *falls over*

A year of not shopping has sent me scurrying to the internet for sporadic and vicarious dolly fixes. And I've recently caved and made a couple wee purchases. This year's CWC Blythe releases have left me breathless and gnawing my knuckles off (attractive, no?)... for all the girls I've had to pass up, I've just committed sweet revenge by pre-ordering Swiss Cousin Olivia and Miss Sally Rice!

And another recent obsession is Kimono edition Licca, Jenny, Momoko etc. fashion dolls. There are so many that I'm trying to be choosey, but I have grabby hands. I haven't seen any recent Annz editions... wah!?!?

These two sold out so quickly (when I couldn't buy them any way) that I had to stalk YJP... well, like a stalker!

I've been so busy with Real Life™ that I just don't have the time to spend 1:37 hours posting randomly on the internet (the time it took to post this bit o' fluff) and it is making me very sad. And the only reason I'm doing so now is that I happen to be on vacation! Work, for a change, has been very rewarding, and ironically a hell of a lot more demanding. I'm struggling to keep the Blastmilk dream alive but obviously it has been a challenge, and it hasn't seen the love from me that I still want to give. But this past year was full of enormous changes, struggles, and sacrifice. There have been some happy sunshine days, I've got the sunburn to prove it, so I'm not in perma-doom mode. But yeah, the past twelve months have kicked my ASS.

One good thing is that the House O' Blastmilk has seen massive technology upgrades this year. Our six year old PC died (or rather, was so broken that we could no longer turn it off for fear of it not rebooting at all), and the television blew up which all meant that we got to go SHOPPING. We're a bit poorer, but everything is so happy, fast, and shiney that I could just about pee. Have I mentioned recently that TiVo is the most amazing toy in the whole world!?!?!

All that and not to mention work promotions came with bonuses of cash and equipment and I am one hooked up pro-style webmaster on the GO.

Now if I could just figure out how to hook this blackberry up to my brain and blog by thought alone, I'd be all set! Rawr!

See, I knew I shouldn't have talked about real life. WHERE ARE MY BLYTHES!?!?!

And then [queue the dreamy music] I saw this. An empire waisted swimdress, square neckline, polkadot bodice with buckle detail, and an a-line skirt that skims past the waist, coming to rest finally mid-thigh. That's right. It is proper mini-dress length. ZOMG! It has super boob support, with armholes cut high-enough under the arms to hold all your squishy bits in. Dreamy!!! I kid you not, I was ready to put on some combat boots and hit the discos in this thing.

Lane Bryant. YAY.

Sad bit is, I realized that this is the first bathing suit I've had since, um... puberty. D'oh! That is more a reflection on the state of swimsuit designs for the past *cough* thirty years than it is of my modesty. Nyah.

July 9th, 1938 - May 17th 2008

I know I said I was back, but I lied :(

My mom passed away yesterday. She broke her femur in a fall a month ago, but she's been checking out these past 6 months. I think the day she stopped yelling at the nursing care center (I got an email from my brother last week she'd finally stopped) was probably when her body finally started shutting down.

She had a stroke nearly twenty years ago, I've been mourning the loss of my "mommy" for a long time. She as a mad, crazy old lady and it was by sheer stubborness that she made it this long. And independently too.

I feel like this is more a note to all my internet loved ones who haven't seen much of me recently. Hugs to all, I think about drinky-poos and dolly tea parties all the time... just can't quite muster the will. The garden has gotten all my attention this spring, and I can't apologize for that!

So much love to all, and especially to my Mother. ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

Pottery Barn's Apothecary Bath Collection. Mrwowr.

Sweet Dream Tae (Tae!)... four sisters Yo! Omg, tiny Megu.

Um... *#&$*&^Q@#%♥!!!♥!!!♥!!!

:P

Saturday my brother invited us over to Meathenge Labs for a little crawfish mayhem. The critters were shipped in live from Lousiana (he'll post about the vender soon I'm sure).

We nabbed my friend Laura who, as a one time vegan, surprised me on a trip to NOLA as she tucked into a steaming pile of crawfish with amazing gusto, gleefully ripping the heads off and slurping out the gooey insides. Uncle Steph (brother in law) was there and my brother. Wowie, what fun. Personally, I like playing with the crawfish more than I like eating them (this one armed wonder is called Lobby, Laura ate him).

I had told Mr. Kallisti about the crawfish boils I had been to in New Orleans, and the special tables they'd set up to feed dozens. I came home Friday afternoon to find he'd made a mini table-top sized version! A large hole would be cut into the center of a door, placed on sawhorses and a garbage can placed underneath the hole. The steaming pot of berled crawfish would be dumped on the table and the party-goers would stand shoulder to shoulder, ripping, shucking and sucking and tossing the shells and bits into the center receptical. This way there was no limit to the amount of wee critters one could eat, and you didn't need to pause for anything but taking another sip of beer.

There were porkchops and locally made artisinal El Salvadorean chorizo for appetizers. Oh, and I made creole potato salad. YUM.

Surprisingly out of 10 lbs worth only ten didn't survive the trip.

What? We had to get to them before the racoons did...

See the whole flickr set. What the hell is lagniappe!?!

Wanna know how Butter is???

Volks has posted a sentimental history of super dollfie, contests and games, and a nearly complete sketch of their events for the year! This includes TWO US Dolpas for June and November. View: Super Dollfie 10th Anniversary Events Schedule

Dolpa3 in NYC.

June 7th - 8th 2008

Fashion Institute of Technology NYC, NY

In conjunction with FDQ. Registration will be through the Volks site, when they post it. It looks like Volks is beta-testing a new store interface on the Japanese side. Neat!

Also: greatest thing about the writer's strike? It sent us scurrying for downloadable content on the internet. Yay for BBC programming! Mr. Kallisti has been on a quest to get me mostly Eastenders (I died a little when they cancelled the series on BBC America), every available costume drama and mystery thriller airing. We just transfer it over via wifi on the TiVo and blammo! Plays like TEEVEE.

New favorite show EVAR: Phoo Action

From the genius who brought you Tank Girl and Gorillaz, Jamie Hewlett. Whitey with the red hair back there is wearing Buddha's magic underpants!

(gosh it is hard to post even when I'm in the moooooood! bizzy, bizzy!)

I've never had such a deep winter slumber. We had a marvelously wet and early spring, the above was taken in February. A miniature daffodil hill sprung up in the middle of the garden. While only a few flowers bloomed, there are dozens of the plants in an ancient raised bed surrounded by a stone circle. We've since weeded and now wait to see if any more blooms will happen or whether we'll need to unearth the bulbs come fall to put the daffy back in the daffodil.

We've started an absinthe garden and sprinkled the earth will drifts of california wildflower seeds. The herb bed I planted in the old stone pond has exploded, yay!

Apologies to those near and far for the silence. My inbox is a wasteland and I'll be touching base with all of you soon.

*stretch!*

P.S. Oh, see the new site design? I'm still sweeping up, more to come!

Craigslist.org + + Unemployed Mr. Kallisti =

Stay tuned!

My winter has been all about low profile. We've had a rough and wonderful year, hard to take it all in. But now I'm hibernating in what little downtime I have. Work has been non-stop, so the quiet moments are like tiny baby birds that are easily squashed! I'm busy though, just not online much. Lots of writing and research, it gives me some awesome pleasure. Rainy days with small dogs and kitties and books and needlework. One is never too young to be grandmotherly.

And I uploaded a bunch of our pictures from the trip to London last June. Click thumbnails to be magically wisked away to Flickr!

Favorite:

Needless to say we are preparing fun postage for the severed head gallery. Woot!

Croisures à la victime, 1798
from "Fashion in the French Revolution" by Aileen Ribiero

The celebratory atmosphere following the "Reign of Terror" gave way to a number of frivolous yet gruesome fashions and pastimes, one of which was the Victim's Ball. In order to qualify for admittance in one of these sought after soirees one had to to be a close relative or spouse of one who had lost their life under the blade of the guillotine. Invitations were so coveted that papers proving your right to attend had to be shown at the door, and some were even known to forge this certificate in their eagerness. All the rage at these grand balls was to have the hair cut high up off the neck, in imitation of "le toilette du condamne" where the victim's hair is cut to make way for the kiss of the blade, this led to several popular hairstyles including cheveux à la titus or à la victime for both women and men, where the hair is given very short and choppy cut, and the "dog ears" worn by Muscadins, where long flops of hair are left on either side of the face, but cut right up to the hairline on the back of the neck. And for the ladies, a thin red velvet ribbon worn round the neck, or red ribbons worn à la croisures, a kind of reverse fichu, or ceinture croisée, across the back of the bodice forming a symbolic "x marks the spot" across the upper back.

Like all fads, these reactionary styles and those of the Incroyable et Merveilleuse crowd that ruled Paris the days after 9 Thermidor, this one was over before it began. By the end of the decade once mutually exclusive sartorial insignia such as knee breeches (monarchist) and the tricoloure were sported together with verve. The hair cut à la titus never caught on outside of France for women, but lasted there into the next century. Men's hair never recovered. From the unpowdered long locks of the revolutionary sympathizer, to the dashingly short titus, men have endeavored to look unfussed ever since, even if it took a whole lot of fussing to achieve.

Sources:

• Gothic Thermidor: The Bals des victimes


• Journal des Dames et des Modes (Costume Parisien): [source] [source] and eBay ^_^
  
• The Art of Louis-Leopold Boilly: Modern Life in Napoleonic France


• Fashion in the French Revolution by Aileen Ribeiro

Being summoned to execution

1796 Les Incroyables
by Jean-Louis Darcy after Carles Vernet
Muscadin on the left wears his hair in the "dog eared" style

1795-96 Note the hair à la victime, in immitation of the toilette du condamne.

Madame Arnault de Gorse
by Louis-Leopold Boilly
the subject wears her hair à la titus

1796 The Painter in her Studio
by Louis-Leopold Boilly
subject wears red or violet ribbon à la croisures

1797
Chignon à la Grecque, entrelacé avec un Fichu de couleur, Bandeau en Cheveux, Collier de Perles, Ceinture à la Victime

1797 Capote Anglaise, garnie en Crêpe Bandeau de Velourz, Guilloche en Or, Petit fichu croise

1797 Fichu en Croise detail

1798 Ceinture Croisée, Robe Overte sur le Côte
from Journal des Dames et des Modes

1799 Turban au Balloon, Ceinture Croisée. Redicule à Chiffre
from Journal des Dames et des Modes

Marie-Antoinette and the Petit Trianon at Versailles

Legion of Honor, San Francisco

November 17, 2007 — February 17, 2008

Now, if my google alert box weren't quite so overwhelming, I might have caught this press release when it went out. But due to the sharp eyes of a good friend, Nadja (♥), I have the link!

Aieeeee!

The blurb:

Marie-Antoinette, the Austrian-born queen of Louis XVI of France, was given the Petit Trianon, a small château secluded in the park at Versailles, upon her accession in
1774. An icon of French neoclassicism, it exemplifies the perfection of 18th-century French architecture through its delicate balance of form and proportion. Its interiors were furnished to the queen's order with pieces of the utmost elegance, restraint, and beauty. This exhibition gives a visual history of the Petit Trianon through 88 pieces of the finest furniture, paintings, and sculpture from this château. It is complemented by watercolors, prints, and drawings of the house and its innovative landscaping, including the picturesque Hameau, a rustic village where the queen and her favorites could relax away from the prying eyes of the court at Versailles. This is the only venue of the exhibition, which is organized by the Musée National of the Château de Versailles.

One of my favorite things about trumpeting your hobbies loud and proud (on the internet and otherwise) is that friends and strangers alike are sure to let you know of something dead or decapitated... in case you missed it. Yay!

I'd be running down there this instant if I didn't have so much going on this week with Dolpa & Work & Thanksgiving & OH GAWD! Heh.

In any case, it is showing at San Francisco's Legion of Honor from today til 2/17/2008, with lots of very cool special events planned.

We'll report back. For reals. I still have 2837434 pictures from my Severed Head, er, Absinthe tour of Europe last summer! And more on the revolutionary fashion stuff. I'm a busy girl. But it is all coming along.

Mwah!

Kallisti

I don't have them very often. Are my drag queen roots showing???

Aside from that, we've gone into production on a new website at work, which has me MIA for a while. That's why I'm looking at, uh... shoes. Hahahaha!

Kiss!

I'm looking forward to having another shot at the Salopette A&P outfit... but even if I don't win (the chance to buy) one, I still have this. ♥

I'm usually super good at picking out sculpts, but I don't know who this is (clicky here)! I'm in love with her face-up and lips. The only thing I can think of is one of the Rozen Maiden twins?

My grandmother! Kate Overstreet (Prince O'Brien) circa... erm, mid 1920's.

Ran across cousin Andy's repository of family pictures, and there are a bunch I'd never seen. My grandmother's family hails from just south of San Jose, in Hollister. They were fruit farmers... all those vintage california fruit crate labels? Casa de Fruta? Neighbors anyway. Yeah, that was us ^_^

I found these after the photoshoot I did the other day, honest! I was tickled to see this one of my uncle in a sailor suit and my great aunt Edith sporting it up in what even then was an old-fashioned bathing costume.

You can see a gallery of the Prince/Overstreet family on flickr!

I like to share.

When it rains (on the high seas), it pours (on the high seas). Everybody's got their summer sailors on. Ondine has dragged Lysander off to the sea side for his health. Miss Ardelphia is helping, of course.

The scenery is not google-sourced, I might add! An actual shot I took of the Brighton Pier last summer. (kisses to Alex--we miss you!) Please ignore the fall garden in the rest of 'em. Masking is laborious, and I'm not frugal enough to refrain from showing all 2837434 pictures of my pretties. Including Butter, of course, who was cavorting in the background throughout.

I actually caught Mr. Kallisti off-guard yesterday. I had repainted Miette last week, and did her up properly last night with a new frock from Volks and new wig from Leeke (both the girls are wearing the new "champagne pink" color). I told him she was my NEW DOLL. Knowing that I'd gotten a box from Volks that day (which was really just the outfit and art supplies), and then I kicked him for not recognizing her.  Not fair really.  :p

Anyway, some new pix of Astræa and Miette in the garden. Not good for showing off Miette's new face-up, or anything other than my sucking at the chiaroscuro with a camera :p But you can see Astræa's new dress that I somehow whipped up between hell & high water this summer. It is made out of three different scraps of embroidered edwardian batiste, over tea dyed seersucker. I luvs it.

And here, my lovelies, are my first plants planted.

We get coastal fog and are much breezier than most of California, but
our yard is on a sun facing hillside and gets the full blast all
day. So I'm going full-on mediterranean. Not intentional at first, originally just a matter of taste, until I started reading up on it and how all the hot, dry, low
water plants (aside from native) that I've chosen are common med
varieties. Just starting with the fragrant shrubs that I can eat:
lavender, rosemary, with oregano and thyme in the tiny herb patch we're
putting in what was once an oval pond!  About ten by three feet, there are still traces of blue paint.
This was entirely covered over with dirt when we arrived, only much
scraping has revealed it. I put in a little bird bath in the corner. We
hadn't even gotten the lavender and rosemary in the ground before the
bees and butterflies were fluttering. This garden is amazing. So many
birds. We have four hummingbirds that hang out at our feeder, Mr.
Kallisti (and Biscuit) can tell them all apart!

Yeah, so I'm a famous plant killer. One of the reasons I really need
shrubs etc that thrive well naturally. I'm going to try to baby them to
get them started. I love the smells already! Gah! It is a start anyhow,
we'll be getting more top soil to pretty up the surfaces soon. Our
nursery was out. Meh!?!?

And on that note, I'm cooking pasta with fresh garden vegetables given to us as a welcome to the neighborhood prezzie from one of our lovely neighbors.  We're the only couple under 85 on our block, and most of them have been here since just after WWII.  It is really lovely up here! Sigh...

Wowie, something new-NEW out of the Volks arsenal. Original Fashion Dollfie, Masami (light skinned) & Tomoko (dark, and darker than their normal "tan"!). New dollfie based on the EB Slim bodies, same as Who's That Girl. So they'll have the fashion line-up of the WTG behind them to boot.

I love them! The face-mold looks similar to the romantic Century Models, sweet yet still sassy. Perhaps their trying a different tactic from their fashion Century Models? I don't think they ever appealed much this side of the pond.

On a side note, I have been slowly working on fixing the glitches with my blog, and have been doing some housecleaning with the categories. Trying to trim them down a bit,and replace too specific categories with tags. You can use the search function or the "tag cloud" list to find specific things like "dollfie" or "unoa" and I've tried to add my doll names in a consistent manner, so you can search on "St. Trinian" and come up with all the posts I've ever made about her. Neat!

I don't usually work piecemeal with the site, but with current time constraints I update a style tag here, some brokey js there. Bleh. I'm still getting settled into the new house. But I've managed to have some quality dolly hobby time, just not documented. Yet. Bwahahaha!

I missed last month's Azone FOD announcement (wah). Not again!

Two, count them, two Fairies of Darkness releases in a row! This month it is some rather plain vanilla Alice dresses, but very cute. Either in sets, or separates, for 1/6th & 60cm. YAY!