New York City, part 4

Sep. 20th, 2025 09:57 am
sistawendy: my 2006 Prius at the dealership (Prius)
[personal profile] sistawendy
I tried to take it easy yesterday in an attempt to let my feet heal. Read on to see how successful I was.

I took the subway to 86th & Central Park West with every intention of walking straight across the park to be at the Met (the art museum, not the opera house). The thing is, Central Park was designed to facilitate relaxation via meandering paths. So I got turned around in the park a couple of times, thereby exploring way more of it than I meant to. Favorite part: the big, OTT fountain where you can row boats. Less favorite part: serious cyclists hauling ass on what, it must be said, are well-engineered paths for them. They wanna ride, I get it, but the laws of physics demand caution from pedestrians.

But on to the Met! Which is gigantic! And the same price as MoMA! Navigation wasn’t easy for me: I ended up going up, over, and down to get to the Man Ray exhibit, nomming sushi along the way. During that wander I learned that a French artist in the 1870’s got grief from critics because the women in his painting weren’t pretty enough; most of the models were his sisters.

So yeah, the intensity of the “fuck you” that the early twentieth century art movements delivered to the art establishment makes a lot of sense in that context. And who better than Man Ray, MKA Emanuel Radnitzky, an outsider even to the Paris art scene where he flourished, to mess with things? He moved from painting to airbrushing, then basically invented contact prints (“rayographs”), made experimental short films, and made everyone from his artist friends to an Italian countess love looking weird in his photos. Yeah, he was clearly a het dude, but.

Here’s why you should always read the blurb: you might not immediately notice that the 16th-century Dutch print you’re looking at is porn. And at least when it came to ceramics, the Greeks got their act together less than 200 years after the Bronze Age collapse, in the so-called geometric period.

Recovered in my hotel room for a couple of hours. Had a fancy BBQ sandwich down the street. (I’ll be getting to restaurant recommendations today.) Then crashed at a reasonable hour in this time zone. Je ne regrette rien.

New York City, part 3

Sep. 19th, 2025 10:45 am
sistawendy: my 2006 Prius at the dealership (Prius)
[personal profile] sistawendy
I was at the Museum of Modern Art, MoMA, from opening to closing yesterday. Duh, I loved it! You know how my favorite piece at SFMOMA is a big Rosenquist? Well, MoMA has a Rosenquist that fills an entire room: “F-111”, from 1964, with a pointed juxtaposition of consumerism and the military-industrial complex. Pity Rosenquist died back in ‘17; we could used more of that.

And the macrame craze of the ‘70s? Apparently got its start in downtown lofts here a decade earlier. And op art? Got a big boost from MoMA itself back in the day. Clearly, I love this stuff. My only regret is that I didn’t leave enough time for the gift shop.

I couldn’t help noticing the abundance of attractive women at MoMA, some of whom were gothed up. Sure, everyone knows sexxy deth chix are into art, as well as hot normal chicks, but they were surprisingly numerous.

As you might expect, the MoMA cafe has healthier, artier sandwiches than the Guggenheim. Not that the Guggenheim sando was bad.

Speaking of eats, I had a seriously mediocre dinner last night. I need to do more research about eats.

I also did something that locals tell tourists not to do: I took the subway during the evening rush. But the downtown E wasn’t bad; I’ve ridden worse on BART. I did see a packed A zip by, though. (The A is the 8th Avenue express. It zips by a lot of stations.)

After a two-hour break to let my feet recover, I got on a commuter train bound for Newark to check out QXT’s, the recommend local goth joint. But let me say that as tolerable as the subway was earlier, the last train to Newark was packed. Notable among the passengers were young delivery men with bicycles, who needed lots of space.

Edited to add: don’t be a mook like me and get on a PATH train at Penn Station if you’re going to Newark, because you’ll have to transfer in New Jersey where a bunch of arrival boards don’t work. Get on at the World Trade Center.

But anyway, how’s Newark? Kinda normal, and not in a bad way. People drive faster. It’s quiet after 2100. It’s America.

How’s QXT’s? Let me preface this by saying I knew I was going on a burlesque night. I would have gone Saturday, but I have (ahem) something else planned then. QXT’s is friendly, but the drinks and the sound are better at all of the west coast goth joints I’ve been to: the Mercury, the Coffin Club (PDX), the Cat Club (SFO), and a couple of defunct places in Seattle.

How was the burlesque? Not bad! There was an angle grinder involved, which reminded me of [Bad username or unknown identity: “leenerella”]. Chatted with the MC during her smoke break.

Took a Lyft back to Manhattan, which was less expensive and more educational than I expected.

TL;DR: success.
cupcake_goth: (Default)
[personal profile] cupcake_goth

- I had a dream last night where I was in some sort of high-end, very posh mall, and spent ages looking at a mysterious cosmetics counter that had lipsticks that were exact matches for the OG Chanel Vamp and MAC Verushka. They had tubes of those discontinued lipsticks to swatch and match. I woke up as my dream self was about to spend $160 for two lipsticks. I'll admit I'd be tempted to do that in real life if the company did indeed have the OG tubes to swatch against.

- The US leg of the MCR tour ended last weeked. HOWever, as of yesterday, new ads related to MCR have been seen in New York, Detroit, Minneapolis, and San Diego. Some are just spray painted logos in parking lots outside of stadiums, but some have been bulletin boards and signs of either one or more of the band in the Black Parade uniform, or the Keposhka MCR logo. The fandom, no surprise, are losing our MINDS. Does this mean there's going to be another US leg of the tour? If there is, does it mean more weird storyline/lore that the band is potentially in some sort of stasis or time loop? (I won't give you the whole breakdown, but over the course of the tour Gerard has become more and more corpse-like; paler, wounds on his face, etc., and he's stabbed to death at the end of each Black Parade segment of the concert. There's more. There's a lot more.) Does this mean there's going to be a DVD or something? Should I start saving money for tickets and travel just in case? Who knows? Not the fandom, that's for sure.

- I've been tired ALL THE TIME lately. I'm sure some of it is the ambient stress level we're all dealing with plus the ongoing varying stress levels of work, but the rest may be my chronic health issues flaring up? My body trying to stage a coup and force me to rest? I don't like any of these answers.

- I'm finally getting back into a rhythm of witchy things. I'm pulling a tarot card most days, and I did some ritual work this week. It felt good. I need to do more, because it helps me approach things with more clarity and giving myself grace. And whooooo-boy, do I need both of those things.

So! How are you folks doing?

New York City, part 2

Sep. 18th, 2025 09:37 am
sistawendy: my 2006 Prius at the dealership (Prius)
[personal profile] sistawendy
First, a small surprise: there are some subway stations, usually the less busy ones, that won’t let you double back without exiting. So it’s good to be sure which train you need in advance, and for that, the MTA is clearer than Google.

I’m glad I’m a Florida girl who likes to dress lightly: the subway stations are warm and humid.

On to Central Park! Such mellow. Very exercise. Dawgz. Also a park bench dedicated to a late FDNY chief admonishing people to “check your smoke detectors or you’ll end up sleeping here.” Truly a New York moment.

But I had a destination on the far side of the park: the Guggenheim Museum, whose building, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, features an iconic spiral ramp around a central rotunda.

The building does indeed kick butt, with the permanent collection in side galleries that branch discreetly off the spiral ramp. Another New York moment: the Guggenheim’s curators mince no words about Gaugin’s gross attitudes.

The artist featured on the main ramp was Rashid Johnson, who I’d never heard of. He’s what was once called a race man: his work is full of allusions to Black and West African culture and history. I dug some of it.

There was a trans docent talking to a group at the top of the ramp. Go us!

On the way back through the park, I saw the obelisk from a distance, but I didn’t check it out because my feet were trashed. Two hours of horizontal time ensued.

After dinner, I took a C downtown to the west Village, wherein lies the most adorable and compact lesbian bar I’ve ever seen, the Cubby Hole. I ended up chatting with a trans woman who (of course) works for Google. We talked about trans things, boy howdy.

I’m not quite sure why I’m neither hung over nor crippled. I figured goddess wants me to go to MoMA as soon as I pay for breakfast.

New York City, part 1

Sep. 17th, 2025 09:12 am
sistawendy: my 2006 Prius at the dealership (Prius)
[personal profile] sistawendy
Getting on the plane was easy peasy, lemon squeezy. Props to my adopted hometown for getting its airport act together.

But next, a gripe: Alaska Airlines by default doesn’t really feed you on a five-hour flight.

I have taken the A train, famed in song. About an hour from JFK through most of Queens and all of Brooklyn to midtown, which isn’t bad at all. I got on at 2030, and it didn’t really get crowded until Manhattan.

And let me tell you, Times Square is bananas even at 2130 on a Tuesday. Times Square is also Blade Runner: everyone knows about the Jumbotrons everywhere, but even 15 floors up my room is behind two of them. I can see the access and support structures and some AC units. I may be a replicant.

I’m glad I’m staying at the W, though: everything works, and it’s convenient to everything. I let them upsell me because they have a deal with the Guggenheim Museum, and it’s definitely on my to-do list.

house grump

Sep. 15th, 2025 06:32 am
sistawendy: me in a Gorey vamp costume looking up (skeptic coy Gorey tilted down)
[personal profile] sistawendy
It's a good thing I went to bed early last night, because my smoke alarm started screaming just after midnight, having given it a rest for more than a day. And this time, I couldn't fan it into silence.

I pushed and held the big button, but it only gave me an hour's respite. So I flipped the breaker after gracefully shutting down my work computer.

I discovered this morning that the circuit for the loft, where the offending smoke detector is, is the same circuit where the router is plugged in on the far side of the living room.

The good news is that pulling hard enough on the smoke detector unplugged it from its wired-in power connector, which doesn't look damaged. I have no intention of replacing the smoke detector until I get back from vacation. Good thing my son doesn't like using my gas stove.

travels present and future

Sep. 14th, 2025 01:46 pm
sistawendy: me in C18-inspired makeup looking amused (amused eighteenthcent)
[personal profile] sistawendy
I spent a long and lovely night in with Tacoma Girl last night. She regaled me with tales of her trip to Amsterdam with her mom. I regaled her with plans for New York. I was astounded that she'd never heard "Take the A Train", so I found the Duke Ellington version on Youtube. She was dismayed that I'd never heard the Who's LP Quadrophenia, and partially remedied that.

Happiness.

reconnecting

Sep. 13th, 2025 09:26 am
sistawendy: me in C18-inspired makeup looking amused (amused eighteenthcent)
[personal profile] sistawendy
I had a lovely dinner at the Gainesbourg with [profile] ack_yeahright, one of my very first Burner buddies. I didn't even realize she was still living in the area until a few weeks ago; I thought she'd moved to Oregon as planned.

Nope. And what's more, she's on better terms with her ex. He's... not a great guy in several ways, but as long as [profile] ack_yeahright keeps him at arm's length as she seems to be doing, it's not cause for alarm.

We talked about the playa, natch, and plans to return. Her mobility is reduced enough these days that that would be a major logistical undertaking for her. Even more major, that is, than Burning Man is for everyone else. If it happens, it happens, but if it doesn't, I won't be too surprised.

The one dark spot to all this was talking about a certain vile, transphobic ex. She couldn't quite believe that he's as vile as he is, but I've seen the receipts and I told her about them.

OK, there was another dark spot: I lost my ORCA, the Seattle area-transit pass. I shut it down online right after I said my goodbyes and installed the Transit Go app. The trouble with the latter, though, is that you can't use it for inter-system transfers. I do those all the time from (King County Metro) bus to (Sound Transit) light rail or occasional long-haul bus. This means I need to schlep to another neighborhood to buy another ORCA. Le sigh.

Nun gets breaks.

Sep. 12th, 2025 06:49 am
sistawendy: me in the Mercury's alley with the wind catching my hair (smoldering windblown Merc alley)
[personal profile] sistawendy
It's been more than 24 hours since my smoke alarm last went off. Maybe it's the lower temperatures, or maybe it's the closed windows because of the lower temperatures, but I care way less about the explanation than the actual fact.

I seem to have relearned how to sleep. Again, maybe temperature, maybe late-night (for me on a weeknight) circumflatulation.

I've made plans and bought tickets for not one but two nights when I'll need to wear latex in New York*, namely Fetish Tribe, and QXT's. Don't google the former from work. So much for packing light. Yup, I'm definitely psyched.



*The goth joint, QXT's, is actually in Newark, NJ, which is a commuter train ride away. Good thing New York has commuter trains that run outside rush hour! Ahem.
cupcake_goth: (Default)
[personal profile] cupcake_goth
A week or two ago a dear friend sent me a care package of Trader Joe's marshmallows, which are entirely corn free! No corn syrup! No cornstarch laden powdered sugar!

This afternoon, feeling incredibly groggy, I decided I needed a cup of my fancy cocoa (with half a scoop of protein powder), and instead of using sugar or honey, I would use a few of the marshmallows for sweetness. 

YES. This was a good idea. This helped stave off a mild panic attack because of my stupid brain deciding it wants to freak out over everything ever said to it. Cocoa and marshmallows made my brain be quiet. I need to remember this. Not the cocoa with protein powder, I've been doing that for a bit, but that 1) adding marshmallows is GOOOOOOD, and 2) maybe have this treat a bit more often because maybe it helps with the fucking anxiety.

So yeah. That's where I'm at right now. 
sistawendy: me looking confident in a black '50s retro dress (mad woman)
[personal profile] sistawendy
For the second time in as many weeks, I skipped bleepy goodness because my body told me not to. It may be just as well: I'm going on vacation next week and I don't want to get sick before then.

But I managed to stay awake long enough for the Tickler to debrief me about Dragoncon. I think maybe I might like to go someday? It sounds like the kind of thing I might enjoy, but there are so many other events I'd like to travel to first.

I also managed to stay awake for my latest circumflatulation project: I used some of my inheritance to buy a Roland Juno-X synthesizer. (Yeah, I love raver music and I'm a trans woman. It was inevitable.) I've got Apple Logic Pro as my digital audio workstation, and in the last few days I've figured out how to record MIDI, edit sounds, etc. If I ever put something on Bandcamp, you'll be the first to know.

My smoke alarm went off twice last night, but I miraculously got enough sleep anyway. I think it's time to get a HEPA filter. Come to think of it, even when there isn't smoke in the air there's tire dust because I live fairly close to a big arterial.
cupcake_goth: (Vampire Governess)
[personal profile] cupcake_goth
The Vampire Masquerade Ball weekend was fantastic! My outfit was everything I'd hoped for.


To what will be the actual shock of everyone who knows me, I didn't go to Powell's. I waffled about it, because Powell's, but I haven't finished the stack of books I bought there last year. On the suggestion from someone on FB, the Renfields and I went to Black Cat Frozen Custard, which is a spooky-themed frozen custard place. It was lovely, but we weren't there for the custard, we were there to go to Conspirators Coffee Lounge, which is a coffee speakeasy hidden in the custard shop. You have to know the password to whisper to one of the staff at the custard counter. You enter via a door hidden behind a wardrobe, and step into someplace that looks like a reading room in an antique occult library; velvet chairs, (fake) candles everywhere, curiosity cabinets, a spiral staircase to another section, and so on. We were there strictly for vibes, but to our joy the coffee (and chai and matcha) were delicious!

The ball itself was wonderful. So many pretty people, guests and performers alike! If you are on IG, check out the one for the VMB. One of the performances was an aerialist who, instead of using silks or straps, used metal chains. She was wonderful to watch, but I felt they sympathetic need to coat myself in arnica.

Of importance to [personal profile] jengalicious: I saw your ex and his ladyfriend, but had no interaction with them. However, I can say that my all-white outfit was far better than theirs (I could tell he made her outfit by the usual last-minute construction flaws that were visible across a darkened room), and that he looks like the result of Baby's First Necromancy Kit. I took petty glee in both of those things.

---

Yesterday I woke up with a terrible migraine. See, this is why I make sure I schedule a recovery day after an event, because I know my body hates me. Ugh.

---

I may have figured out next year's VMB outfit. The white coat I wore for this year also comes in B&W stripes! All I'll need to do is remove that lace trim, add metal buttons on the front, and have the Madwoman in the Attic add pockets. Oh, and decide what color skirt and (sleeveless!) blouse I'll wear with it.

 

Nun cuts rug.

Sep. 7th, 2025 04:10 pm
sistawendy: a cartoon of me in club clothes (dolly)
[personal profile] sistawendy
I celebrated the end of a hellacious work week at the Mercury. Shallow fashion details: bra-like top with cone shaped studs (good for scratching people), short pink sparkly circle skirt, and for the first time in over a decade, thigh high boots. I'd kind of promised Funny Lady and DJ Hana Solo I'd wear the boots, so I did. I don't regret that too much, but you know you're going to pay a price when cis women younger than you are say they can't walk in heels like that. I was dancing in them.

Funny Lady invited me to an afterparty, and you know I don't say no to invitations from her if I can help it. So, Temptress is dating two fellas, which is sort of good news: one of them is vile, and the other is Bearded Decent Guy. BDG lives just a short walk from the Merc in what, it must be said, is a nice place with really high ceilings. There were kitties to pet and clothes that mysteriously came off as we afterpartied.

I finally bailed at 0220, having scratched a few people, as the last of the Red Bull was wearing off. Oddly, I couldn't find BDG on my way out the door to say goodbye. There weren't many places he could have hidden. [Edited to add: Funny Lady thinks he was having a smoke on the roof.]

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