Red Hat Rocky Horror Costume

I put together a new, improved costume for The Rocky Horror Picture Show and I wore it to a Red Hat event in Sacramento. I'm not sure they "got" it, because I didn't even get an honorable mention. I certainly got noticed, however.

So far, so demure.

Here am I in all my tarted-up glory next to the very elegant Miss Carolina 1963. In spite of my 4" heels, she still topped me by several inches. She is Jeanne Robertson, a very, very funny motivational speaker. On Saturday night, she had us laughing ourselves incontinent. I need to stand next to tall, beautiful women more often - this is actually a fairly decent picture of me.



The Shriners provided policing for the event. I got questioned pretty closely and cited for numerous offenses. Fortunately Charlotte was present and bailed me out of jail.

I also got my bottom pinched by the guy on my right. Lee warned me I presented a tempting target. The only other bottom on display at the event was a fake pink plastic one, worn by a dark angel with her skirt rucked up in back. She got the award for Funniest Costume, but I doubt anybody pinched her.

Evan the Brave & the Pink Hat Princesses

Princess Jeni Bean, Squire Evan & Princess Eri Bear

to be continued...

Rocky Horror Picture Show

Mother, Son & his Decoy Girlfriend
(so Granddaddy doesn't Suspect)

Evan's girl friends managed to convince him to get dressed up for the Rocky Horror Picture Show midnight performance at our local theater last Friday. I lent him everything but the hat and the Speedos, which are his own. I also liberally applied kohl and black eyeliner (neither of which I can use myself) and a dusting of shimmer powder. His lips, eyelashes and incredible cheekbones are his own, unvarnished. He mostly went around in his stocking feet, since the shoes are not only tight on him, he's not at all used to high heels for some reason.

Proud Mom & Handsome Son

Pix from the '60's

When I took Daddy to Lancaster yesterday, I spent a few minutes looking through a box labeled photos. Most of them were Bob's, but I found a few I brought home to scan.

I was a real fox when I was eleven or twelve, and I loved that Mondrian-style dress. It was one of the few fashionable garments I ever owned, although I never got the go-go boots that properly went with it.

By the time I got to 10th grade, I had really started to lard on the pounds. I can't remember whether mother or I cut my bangs this time, but I do wish I'd used a mirror as well as a comb.

Here's a picture of Mother and Charlotte taken in September 1969. Charlotte would have been about the same age here as I was in the photo up top. By September 1970, though, she had gone through a serious growth spurt as well as filling out. I'm also somewhat taken aback by Mother's wrinkles. She was only 38 here. She was quite beautiful, though. I wish she could have kept her hair more like that instead of perming it to death, and after she quit smoking, she gained a lot of weight.


That's all for now. I have a few more pictures, not many, from other times, that I'll try to get around to eventually. For example, I found my favorite turquoise-color squaw dress from when I was 5 hanging in the closet, and I also found a photo of me wearing it in my baby book. I need to do some kind of montage with that.

I need to give an account of the trip to New Mexico with Daddy in June, but for the moment, here are some photos.

Daddy's New Toy

On Wednesday I received word that the insurance company considered my dad's car totaled and planned to send him a check. After taking my dad to the body shop, I took him to the Ford dealership and told the salesman what we were looking for. I had already done my research, so I knew what we could get for the money, and more importantly, I knew what my dad really wanted. For him to be happy, his new vehicle needed to be a big American truck or SUV from the Consumer Reports' "Used Cars to Avoid" list. Even if he might prefer an Extravaganza, even he couldn't imagine why he would need anything bigger than an Explorer, which is still plenty muscular.

So far the only problems with the Explorer are its color (white, like 75% of the SUVs out there), a tendency for the radio antenna to hum in a crosswind, and a lack of things for my dad to complain about. It's big enough, it's American enough, it's comfortable, it has the right trailer hitch, and the door pockets are big enough to hold lots of junk.

Now, for my part, I'm surprised it doesn't have a locking gas flap. My Corolla, with its itty bitty gas tank has an inside fuel door release, but the Explorer, a veritable rolling Fort Knox of Fuel, has no such protection. I also wonder what the big deal about leather seats is. As a luxury extra, they're a bust. I drove from my valley, which was a balmy 92F to my dad's valley 70 miles north and ten degrees warmer. The air conditioning kept my front cool, but my back was damp when I got out of the car. Oh, well, I prefer sheepswool, and if I'm going to Pep Boys to buy a front window sunshade and a locking gas cap anyway, I'll see what they have in the way of shearling seat covers.

Perhaps I should continue to pretend it's a chore, but it's actually kind of fun driving an Urban Assault Vehicle. For one thing, it's a lot harder for SUVs to intimidate me when my car is the same size as theirs. And my dad seems to enjoy having a chauffeur.