Friday Tip!

Dear Constant Reader,

Happy Friday! Here’s your New Year, New Habit tip:

Use your stash. Hoarding is no good.

There’s a saying amongst those who practice the fabric-based arts “She who dies with the most fabric, wins”. Not true. If you have it and don’t use it, what’s the point? I have nothing against having a stash — it’s awesome when you can whip up a garment or accessory without buying a single item. The problem is boxes & boxes of fabric & trim that just sit there, year after year, while you buy more.

I’m hardly innocent of this myself. Part of my own New Year, New Habit is to figure out what’s worth keeping and what I should sell or give away.

Go through your stash. Figure out some fabulous uses for that great fabric and then do it!

M2

Published in: on 23 January 2015 at 11:00 am  Leave a Comment  
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Friday Tip!

Dear Constant Reader,

Happy Friday!

I’m sorry that I’ve been a less than stellar correspondent lately. I been feeling a little overwhelmed lately, what with the New Year’s Eve Spectacular followed immediately by Bumps Upon a Grind and The Expo*. Also, preparing for some festivals as a soloist (to appear and to apply), making costumes, trying to keep Stately Babydoll Manor from squalor, and generally suffering from winter malaise.

But I will leave it all behind for a moment to deliver your much anticipated weekly tip.

Here’s your latest New Year, New Habit suggestion:

Answer your email in the order you receive it and as promptly as possible.

M2
*The Expo is a massive undertaking and relies on a *lot* of people. Want to volunteer? How about displaying a costume? Do you know someone who wants to sponsor my tea party? Or just attend.

Published in: on 14 January 2015 at 3:56 pm  Leave a Comment  
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Friday Tip!

Dear Constant Reader,

Continuing on the theme of New Year, New Habit, here’s your tip:

Scan your receipts.

You keep your burlesque-related receipts, right? So you can take your business expenses off your taxes? All that paper really clutters a place up, so scan them. If you fear an audit, the IRS has been accepting electronic proof for almost 20 years (Rev. Proc. 97-22).

When I have a business expense, I plug the info into my spreadsheet, scan the receipt, and save it to my computer *and* back it up to my Google drive. Then shred those babies.

M2

Published in: on 9 January 2015 at 11:14 am  Leave a Comment  
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Review: Banned in Boston

Dear Constant Reader,

I realized that I had reviewed a number of books in the Library at Stately Babydoll Manor elsewhere. I’ll be sharing them here with you, probably updated as I re-read the books and see them through a filter of more years in the business.

Banned in Boston: Memoirs of a Stripper by Lillian Kiernan Brown (2003).

This is a rather charming memoir of the short burlesque career of Lily Ann Rose. It’s got some good information about burlesque in Boston and the northeast in the late 1940’s. Lily Ann was a chorus girl, a soloist, Sally Keith’s protégée, banned by the Watch & Ward committee, and arrested for lewd and lascivious behavior — all before she was 17. She’s honest about the ups and downs of the life of a burlesque performer and has some amusing stories (believing her grandmother’s warning that kissing made babies) and some horrible ones (assault by a man she trusted). The descriptions of acts, hers and others, are always treasures.

Ms. Brown occasionally repeats herself (she tells the same story about stripping for Ann Corio when she was three years old twice, in almost exactly the same words) and she has the naive tone of the teenager she was at the time that she’s recalling. Like I said, the book is charming, clearly a labor of love. My main complaint is about the layout of the book itself. The text is double-spaced like a school essay and filled with errors, like double periods, stray quotation marks, and other misplaced punctuation that a capable editor should have caught. It made me kind of crazy and I actually read it with red pen in hand.

Since I originally wrote this review, I had the privilege of talking with Ms. Brown and learning a little more about her career, which did not end when the book does. She continued stripping in Boston burlesque houses for a few more years, and after her retirement, managed to keep her early career a secret from her family for decades. She has one gown left from her burlesque days, which I wrote about in The Berlesker.

M2

Published in: on 7 January 2015 at 11:15 am  Leave a Comment  
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In the Kitchen with Mina: Roasted Chickpeas

Dear Constant Reader,

It’s been a while since I was in the kitchen. I’m hoping to remedy this in the coming year. I have a number of midcentury cookbooks that I’m just dying to play with.

There’s nothing earth-shattering about this recipe. It’s for a quick, easy snack that’s pretty good for you too.

Roasted Chickpeas

Preheat the oven to 400F.

Grab a can of chickpeas and drain & rinse the chickpeas. Throw out any of the loose skins.

Warm 1 tablespoon of oil in a pan and then add 1 minced clove of garlic. Cook that around for a minute or so until it’s fragrant, then throw in the chickpeas.

Stir them around for about 5 minutes, then dump onto a baking sheet. Season however you like. I used some ras al hanout that friends brought back from Morocco.

Bake for as little as 5 minutes to as long as an hour. After 5-10 minutes, they’ll be warm through but still soft. Serve immediately. For longer storage, keep baking them until they’re crispy (that’s how Scratch likes them).

The Wrathskellar has been known to serve these to patrons as part of their Knucklebones mix with wasabi peas and toasted hazelnuts.

M2

Published in: on 5 January 2015 at 11:00 am  Leave a Comment  
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Friday Tip!

Dear Constant Reader,

Happy 2015! For the next month Friday Tips are going to be on the theme of New Year, New Habit.

Here’s the first one!

Once a month, go through your makeup kit. Replenish anything that’s running low. Replace anything that’s old. Get rid of anything you just don’t use. Clean your brushes. Organize everything.

A tidy makeup kit means peace of mind on show day.

This is the new makeup bag Scratch gave me for the holidays.

It’s the perfect size for my Beauty Butler palettes!

Wishing you peace, prosperity, and organization in the new year!

M2

Published in: on 2 January 2015 at 4:32 pm  Leave a Comment  
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Tomorrow!

Dear Constant Reader,

Tomorrow is our New Year’s Eve Spectacular. I have to say this has been a very rocky road, but it’s leading to a really fabulous show.  I will tell you all about it afterwards — the on-stage glory and the off-stage agonies. Because I know what you really want to hear about.

We’ve got some really amazing acts for you, including some we only bring out for very special occasions, some old favorites, and at least one that I don’t think you’ll be able to see again for a long time…

I hope I’ll see you in the audience!

M2

Published in: on 30 December 2014 at 10:07 am  Leave a Comment  
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Friday Tip!

Dear Constant Reader,

Happy Friday! I hope you’ve been enjoying whatever festivities you celebrate this month.

Here’s your tip!

When you’re not able to iron a wrinkled garment, hang it up in the bathroom and take a very hot shower.

The steam will relax the fabric and you’ll get clean at the same time! You’ll want to keep the door and windows shut tight and keep any kind of fan off to trap the steam in the bathroom.

You can also use this trick to fluff boas. Just make sure they don’t get too wet in the process.

M2

Published in: on 26 December 2014 at 10:36 am  Leave a Comment  
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We Shall Return

Dear Constant Reader,

I just got some exciting news from Scratch. We have the Davis Square Theatre booked for the month of October. That means…

The Wrathskellar will reopen!

It’s been two years since I last set foot in that decrepit cabaret. Two years since The Diva preened, The Countess plotted, The Martinette abused the wenches, The Broad lusted, The Innocent lost her way, and the Lost Girl lost everything. And Bücher held sway over all.

But we have a lot going on before we can return to that shadowy venue…

New Year’s Eve Spectacular! Bumps Upon a Grind! The Expo! The MalTease Falcon!

M2

Published in: on 23 December 2014 at 3:02 pm  Leave a Comment  
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A Recommendation

Dear Constant Reader,

The holidays are fast approaching and there’s a burlesque performer in your life. What little gifts can you give her to show you care? Red Snapper can help you out! Check out her Showgirl Stocking Stuffers on Facebook.

M2

Published in: on 22 December 2014 at 11:21 am  Leave a Comment  
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