She Likes Coffee and I Like Tea

When my grandparents and parents immigrated from Sicily to this fine country in the 1960's, most of them had to find work in the garment business, as there weren't many jobs for high school educated Sicilians elsewhere (most were skilled in trades, just lacking in the book learning). They worked in the sweatshops in Brooklyn for years, even my mom did for a few summers when she was in high school.

HOWEVER, my dad's dad was a little higher up on the garment making food chain because in Sicily he had been a tailor like his father before him and his father before him. And when he went to get a job (so I'm told) he was hired as a pattern maker. Designers would draw up their designs, and since they were generally ignorant in how to translate those drawings into clothes that were cheap and easy to produce, the drawings would be send to my grandda and he'd figure out the actual pattern for it.

I mention this long winded background of personal family history because right now, I think I'm making the poor man turn in his grave. Without any experience in these matters except for nearly breaking my mom's sewing machine several times and teaching myself how to work around a needle and thread for emergencies, I'm making a Wizard of Oz Dorothy costume for the camp Wizard of Oz skit on Friday. I dragged my grandfather's clothing manikin from the guest room, and right now I have…

( This! )

I need to shorten the torso, but right now it's just all pinned there, waiting for me to take it downstairs and nearly break mom's sewing machine again sewing it together.

All this I'm doing, as if I didn't have ENOUGH on my plate to get done for camp tomorrow.

May God Have Mercy On My Soul.

EDIT: Finished in two and a half hours?

I AM WOMAN SEE ME SEW!!

( Finished dress!! )

Well, I've many, many a thing to squee over tonight, let me tell you that!

1)tomorrow begins the last week of camp, and my mom came up with a CORKING idea of how to make "The Good Shepard" western, involving counting sheep and cowpokes, which the youngest group will not only have a blast doing, but will be fucking adorable to boot!

2) mosellegreen has asked me to draw Klaus and Dorian art for the "From Eroica with Love" fanzine. She's sent me one of the fanfics that will be in the fall issue to illustrate, but I can't tell you what it's about, top secret you know, very hush hush. ;) I'm rather excited about it. This is definitely "Brave New World" territory for this Nella, let me tell you that!

3) As I was walking through Grand Central Station to get to the 6 train yesterday, I saw what was both the oddest, most WTF-est, and strangely enjoyable ad campaign PLASTERED ALL OVER the walkway leading from the S (...is it the S, the one that goes across from Times Sq to Grand Central?) to the 6. It was a series of ads featuring a woman clad only in the German flag, with various tags like "Germany is so forward-minded it starts celebrating Ocktober-fest in September" and another one about how great a country is that has no designated speed limit, with the catch line being: "Invest in Germany". I wish I remembered more of them. The worse part however, was I was TOTALLY expecting to see one of the ads praising the purity of the German race or some such thing. Can you blame me really though? All the ads were doing was going ON and ON about how fucking awesome Germany is. Even though I always secretly suspected this. And singealiene confirmed it on her romp through Europe.

4) SQUEE!! I FINALLY found these pictures of when I was Flute the Bellowsmender back in 9th grade!! How I miss high school theater something fierce, what with the Shakespeare and the perfect excuse to cross dress.

There's me all the way on the left, trying to be all bumbling and boyish and put upon for being forced to play Thisbee in the mechanical's play.

And here's me playing Flute playing Thisbee, or, me playing a boy that's playing a girl.
All that's important about this picture though, is that this is SOLEMN proof that I SHOULD NEVER. UNDER PAIN OF DEATH OR ANY OTHER CIRCUMSTANCES...Dye my hair blonde.

Well, farewell for now! Tis late and I need to be up oh so very early in the morning.