Birthday Gift to You Guys

As part of my birthday present to her, I hosted Marie for Norwescon. This came with a couple days before and after the con at my house. The cats, after a bit of shyness, decided that Marie was fabulous. (I agree.) She was accepted by all the clowder, even the littlest diva, Leeloo. Mena loved Marie from the start. Pharaoh accepted all proper adoration as is his due. Isis flirted hard, but really, she was just trying to convince Marie to give her treats. It didn’t hurt that Marie got up hours before me to write because of the time zone differences. That meant there was a human up and about way earlier than normal. I know at least Mena took advantage of that. She got so much love in the mornings that after Marie went home, Mena sat in the library nook and yowled for her. It sounded like...

My introduction to burlesque happened when a friend asked if I wanted to go see a show. It was the Von Foxies’ “Bye Bye Bush” right after the 2008 election. Now imagine three full figured women standing with their backs to the audience. In each of the women’s right hand is a can of shaving cream. In the other hand they make a mound of shaving cream and apply it to, well, their mound. The razors come out and in long dramatic stokes the shaving cream is quickly removed. In unison, they turn to face the audience in nothing more than heels, pasties, and little American flag merkins*. From the moment of that first reveal a small fire started to burn deep inside my soul. A little over four years later, my love for this amazing art form hasn’t waned in the slightest. I have met amazing and beautiful women...