Dear Constant Reader,
Have a bewitching Halloween! 
Photo: Vintage Girl Studios
May it be spooky, scary, safe, and fun!
These writings and other creative projects are supported by my 18 Patrons. Thank you so much! To become a Patron, go to my Patreon page. Or you can just tip me if you liked this.
Dear Constant Reader,
If you want to add some flowing fabric to your acts, you need to check out Silk Electric.
I first met Dulce when we performed at Burlesque Bingo in Longbeach, CA in 2019. Since then she’s been producing gorgeous dyed silk items for flow arts, bellydance, and burlesque. If you want veils, silk fans, flags, streamers, or similar, this is the place. She does periodic Silk Drops with her new items, so set your reminders because they go fast.
Scratch bought me a weighted veil from her at BHoF a few years ago and I absolutely love it. A weighted veil, you may ask… It’s a big hunk of silk fabric with a weight in one corner, making it possible to do some moves that regular, floaty silk can’t. I was introduced to them by Gaea Lady in New Orleans in 2018 and I was hooked.
You can see it in use here in this snippet of my act “Satanic Panic”:
(Filmed by Ava Fox at last year’s Halloween show at Deacon Giles)
I recently bought a set of fishbone fans and getting them was a saga, but I’ll just say Dulce went above and beyond with the customer service. While I’ll never give up my feather fans, I’m having a lot of fun with this style. If you want to see those fans in action (or are wondering what the heck a fishbone fan is) come to The Spookeasy Lab on October 18th.
If you’re tempted by the silk, but don’t know what to do with it, Dulce’s got you — she has a series of video tutorials. As a instructor myself, I’m impressed with her clear and friendly teaching style. And if you want something special, she does do custom work.
These writings and other creative projects are supported by my 18 Patrons. Thank you so much! To become a Patron, go to my Patreon page. Or you can just tip me if you liked this.
Dear Constant Reader,
Happy Friday! We’re just over a week away from The Spookeasy Lab, our Halloween show at Deacon Giles’ Speakeasy Lab (see what we did there…) I’ll be doing a brand new act, along with a duet with Betty that hasn’t been seen in a very long time. I hope to see you there! And now for your tip:
When negotiating a gig make sure that you and the person booking you are on the same page.
You want to make sure that expectations are going to be met on both sides. You should all be in agreement as to how many performers, at what time, how many acts, how much money, &c. Also, making sure they understand what burlesque is and what level of stripping is okay for the venue.
As I’ve recommended before, get it in writing. This doesn’t have to be a formal contract; it could be an email or text that explains what you both have agreed to. If you had a phone call or in-person conversations, this is where you lay out your understanding of the scope of the gig, and the other person can approve or make changes. Miscommunications are hammered out in advance and if there is some discrepency later, you have a record to fall back on.
Your goal is to have everyone happy — you, the booker, and the audience!
These writings and other creative projects are supported by my 18 Patrons. Thank you so much! To become a Patron, go to my Patreon page. Or you can just tip me if you liked this.
Dear Constant Reader,
We have lost another Legend. April March, The First Lady of Burlesque, has died.
I was once very close to April and worked with her to create a tribute act that debuted at The Great Burlesque Expo of 2011.
Nil nisi bonum.
Dear Constant Reader,
It’s September! Anyone have exciting plans for the fall?
This tip is for audience members. Not you, Dear Reader, you would never even think of this.
That is their real name.
Sometime an audience member will ask a performer, “So, what’s your real name?”. There’s no need to know that. Performers use stage names for all sorts of reasons, but names have power. Just having bought a ticket does not give someone the right to know a secret name. For some, it’s a matter of keeping their job or themselves safe to conceal their “real world” identity. Others, just want to preserve the mystique — that’s why they want to know — you’re keeping a secret and that makes you interesting.
If you’re a performer and someone asks for your “real name” and isn’t dissuaded with a “that’s private” or something similar, just thank them for coming to the show and walk away. Don’t be cute or coy, because that can encouraging. If they get belligerent, get security.
Fortunately, most folks aren’t like this and instead think stage names are creative and fun — and will respect performers’ off-stage privacy
These writings and other creative projects are supported by my 18 Patrons. Thank you so much! To become a Patron, go to my Patreon page. Or you can just tip me if you liked this.
Dear Constant Reader,
You know I enjoy gardening. I grow herbs and vegetables and fruit and wild flowers in a rather laissez-faire fashion. You also know I am a member of the Slightly Sinister Secret Society. Periodically we get odd little extras, called Wildcards.
In March I received a mailing from The Slightly Sinister Botanical Supply Co. with these materials with which to participate in Project Veilroot.
I carefully opened the packet of seeds and read the experiment’s instructions carefully. There was still a danger of frost at that point, so I started the seeds indoors, hoping the cats would be merciful to them. To my great surprise, all four seeds sprouted about a week after I planted them.
I tended them in pots until I thought it was finally safe to plant them outdoors.
To plant them, I chose a location well away from my regular gardens… just in case.
The four specimens grew nicely, although one disappeared and then another. I believe it was our resident bunny, who is too cute to blame.
Eventually I noticed the taller of the two surviving specimens (Alpha) appeared to be budding — or planning to release an alien creature.
I watched it carefully for days, until…
Isn’t it glorious!
As of this writing, that initial bloom has faded, but several more appeared on Specimen Alpha and then Beta had one of its own.
It’s so different! I wish Gamma and Delta has survived so I could have more data points.
This may be my favorite of all the Wildcards — and we’ve had some good ones over the years.
These writings and other creative projects are supported by my 18 Patrons. Thank you so much! To become a Patron, go to my Patreon page. Or you can just tip me if you liked this.
Dear Constant Reader,
Happy Friday! I had a different tip for you and then I read an editorial in the NY Times, by David French and this part of it really resonated with me.
Stand up for good people under fire. Private messages are important, but even the simple act of posting public support (or offering other forms of public aid) can help mitigate the damage. It tells a person that he or she is not alone and that decency is not dead.
Now, he was specifically talking about judges who were being personally threatened because of their rulings, but I think it applies more widely. People can be vicious and loud and leave others who disagree feeling like they need to keep their heads down lest the mob turn on them as well.
Don’t let the bullies win.
These writings and other creative projects are supported by my 18 Patrons. Thank you so much! To become a Patron, go to my Patreon page. Or you can just tip me if you liked this.
Dear Constant Reader,
Happy Friday! It’s neither beastly hot nor raining right now and I am so grateful!
Today’s travel tip comes from Scratch:
Fill a zippered pillowcase with squishy clothing, like socks, underwear, and t-shirts.
You get a comfy pillow for your trip and you have more room in your suitcase.
These writings and other creative projects are supported by my 18 Patrons. Thank you so much! To become a Patron, go to my Patreon page. Or you can just tip me if you liked this.
Dear Constant Reader,
Last year, at basically the last moment, B.A.B.E. sponsored a horse at the Paragon Carousel’s Derby Day fundraiser. This year we did it again.
Although I sent in our sponsorship early this year, they didn’t contact us until a couple of days before so we weren’t in the program again. Annoying. But I did have a lovely horse. I was told that her name is usually Belle and she’s the largest horse on the carousel.
Among the privileges of sponsorship is that you get to name the horse for the night and decorate it. I named her Miss Toni, after Toni Elling, and bedecked her with a leopard fur stole with embroidered badges of the B.A.B.E. logo (made by Full Moon Creations) and coronet of roses.
She won one of the races (sadly, that was the one race where someone else was riding her) and was draped with a wreath of winner’s roses. Folks remembered that my horse won last year too. I guess I can pick winners!
Although I looked completely smashing, I don’t have any good photos of myself, but here’s Miss Toni again with her roses.
EDIT: I completely forgot that Scratch had taken pictures, so you do get to see my lovely frock and hat after all.
These writings and other creative projects are supported by my 19 Patrons. Thank you so much! To become a Patron, go to my Patreon page. Or you can just tip me if you liked this.
Dear Constant Reader,
You might recall my heartbreak last year when our cherry tree had to be taken down. However, we immediately replaced it with a new sour cherry tree.
Baby Tree, though small, is trying very hard. In the spring she was covered in blossoms
which have turned into proto-cherries.
I’m hoping for a handful of cherries, maybe enough for a dessert for two.
Some summer soon, fingers crossed, we will again have enough to share.
These writings and other creative projects are supported by my 19 Patrons. Thank you so much! To become a Patron, go to my Patreon page. Or you can just tip me if you liked this.
Oh, The Glamourous Life! 