Gorgeous Day

The Brides invited us to the Bayou City Art Festival today. I was doing some editing that was interrupted by the migraine last week, and I wanted to get back to it, so Tom went without me. But the day was so beautiful that I didn’t want to be stuck inside. First, I spent some time outside with Margot, Guinness, Rex, and Sugar. I got a photo of Margot sunbathing that I really like:

Then I took my work to one of my favorite restaurants, Baba Yega, where I haven’t been in a long time. This was the view from my table:

After eating and working, I did a tiny bit of Christmas shopping, then got a call from the art-gazers, who invited me to meet them for ice cream at the Marble Slab Creamery. It was a lovely way to spend an afternoon.

Birds!

Whenever anyone talks about Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds, I always think of my friend Geof, who does a great impression of Tippi Hedren from that movie. You can’t imagine the self-control it took for me not to buy this* when my sister and I were on our recent trip:


I especially like the three birds who are on her.

*This does not mean you should buy this for me.
I don’t have room for it.
You know who you are.

The Lazy Woman’s Commentary

This past Sunday, I mentioned on here that today, October 11, is National Coming Out Day. Although that’s the name that began it, it’s now a worldwide day of awareness. Since I’m sewing until my fingers bleed for the entertainment of the masses, I hope you don’t mind if I link to previous posts on this subject for anyone who may have missed them.

I applaud everyone who’s had the courage to share the truth about themselves. I understand that coming out is ongoing and takes courage every time. I love my GLBT friends and the new perspectives and awareness they’ve brought to my life.

If someone who’s gay has made a positive difference in your life, why not blog a tribute to that person today, or simply a thank you?

Button Sunday Commentary

National Coming Out Day, 2007
National Coming Out Day, 2006
National Coming Out Day, 2005
Bonus Post: Don’t Call Him a “Waste”
Bonus Post: Plea to Parents of Gay Children

Two Spirits Dancing

So long ago.
Was it in a dream?
Was it just a dream?
I know, yes I know.
It seemed so very real,
seemed so real to me.
Took a walk down the street.
Through the heat
whispered trees.
I thought I could hear.
Hear. Hear. Hear.
Somebody call out my name (John)
as it started to rain.
Two spirits dancing
so strange…

Dream, dream away.
Magic in the air.
Was magic in the air?
I believe, yes I believe.
More I cannot say.
What more can I say?
On a river of sound.
Through the mirror go
round, round.
I thought I could feel.
Feel. Feel. Feel.
Music touching my soul.
Something warm, sudden cold.
The spirit dance
was unfolding…

John Lennon, “No. 9 Dream”

Last night, I was on the phone with Marika, looking back through my e-mail filing cabinet for something. I realized that I’d fallen completely silent and quickly told her goodbye. I’d stumbled across some e-mails from 2004 between Riley and me, and as usual with our interchanges, talk turned to John Lennon and his artistry–John Lennon being Riley’s forever muse, inspiration, hero…

Today would be John Lennon’s sixty-eighth birthday, and I try to imagine how many ways he’d have stayed relevant and rebellious as he aged. But mostly, I think of these two kindred spirits moving across the infinite dance floor.


      John Lennon         John Riley Morris

Riley archives for my reference

Runway Monday results


Summer, no doubt annoyed that I previously won with Nikki as my model, did her best for me this week–and we won! You can read what the judges had to say about each of the designs here.

Thank you to my fellow designers, Timothy and Mark, who did great jobs for:

Nikki

and Figaro
.

Thanks also to the judges for giving their time and consideration to the designs, and to Heidi Gunn for producing us.

Bravo’s Project Runway designers are now into their final collection phase, with no more weekly challenges. That means the challenge the Runway Monday designers just completed is also our last regular challenge. I’m not sure what goodies we’ll have in store for you on Monday, October 13–workroom drama? an unexpected curve thrown at us by Heidi Gunn because of something that happens on the show? a model meltdown or two?–but we’ll have our final collections ready for the judges’–and your–consideration on Monday, October 20.

Thanks for following along while we did this. It was done in fun, but it was surprisingly hard work–at least for me–to conceive of a design each week then try to make it–since I don’t know much about fashion and I don’t know how to sew! The most fun has been hearing from people–friends and strangers–who I never expected would be so amused and eager to see our designs each week.

Ultimately, I think it’s the magic of Barbie. Whoever designed these dolls for Mattel really did create models in Summer, Nikki, and Teresa (aka Figaro). I hope they’d be amused to see that their dolls are getting to model original designs. I also hope they don’t file a cease and desist against Mark for Figaro.

Button Sunday

This button was created by Keith Haring to celebrate National Coming Out Day. National Coming Out Day has been celebrated on October 11 every year since 1988, although it wasn’t observed in 2001 out of respect for the one-month anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks. Because this year it precedes Button Sunday by one day, I decided to make it today’s button.

Last night we had dinner with The Brides, and completely unrelated to this day of awareness, our conversation turned to the process of coming out. I can’t begin to count how many coming out stories I’ve heard over the years. Each story is as unique as the person who tells it, but one thing never changes: the courage of honesty.

Having never been the one who comes out, it isn’t–and won’t be–my intention or purpose to tell people how, or when, or to whom, they should come out. As a straight ally, I encourage any straight person to learn more about how to be supportive when a friend, coworker, or family member comes out to you. The Internet is replete with resources about coming out. PFLAG (Parents, Families, and Friends of Lesbians and Gays) offers this helpful list:

Do/Don’t

Do listen to what your loved one’s life is like, and what kind of experiences he or she has had in the world.
Don’t blame your own feelings on your loved one.

Do take the time to seek information about the lives of GLBT people from parents of GLBT people, friends of your loved one, literature, and, most of all, directly from your loved one.
Don’t rush the process of trying to understand your loved one’s sexuality or gender identity.

Do get professional help for anyone in the family, including yourself, who becomes severely depressed over your loved one’s sexuality or gender identity.
Don’t assume that your loved one should see a professional counselor or encourage them to participate in “reparative therapy.”

Do accept that you are responsible for your negative reactions.
Don’t criticize your loved one for being different.

Do respect your loved one’s right to engage in loving relationships.
Don’t try to break up loving relationships.

Do try to develop trust and openness by allowing your loved one to be who she or he is without pressure.
Don’t try to force your loved one to conform to your ideas of proper sexual behavior.

Do be proud of your loved one’s capacity for having loving relationships.
Don’t blame yourself because your loved one is gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender.

Do look for the injured feelings underneath the anger and respond to them.
Don’t demand that your loved one live up to what your idea of what a man or woman should be.

Do defend him or her against discrimination.
Don’t discriminate against your loved one.

Do support your loved one’s individual goals, even though they may differ drastically from your own.
Don’t force your own life goals on your loved one.

Do say “I love you.”
Don’t insist that your morality is the only right one.

Saturday’s coffee cup

I wrote this post Saturday afternoon and forgot to post it. I blame a good evening with friends.

I got this cup when I went to the Clinton Presidential Center in Little Rock in August. It turned out to be Rhonda’s designated coffee cup during Hurricane Ike. It was well used.

I like the quote: Nothing big ever came of being small, as I’ve always felt that small minds and small hearts will never give us big ideas, big dreams, big actions, and big solutions. I could go on and on about that, but I’ll spare you.

Saturday was a real TJB kind of day. While I was talking about politics, dogs, and suspenders to Jim on one phone, Timmy called on the other, and Tom told him I’d call him back. As Jim and I were finishing our conversation, Tim and Rex showed up, and Tim and I made a quick trip to High Fashion. Afterward, I returned Timmy’s call and had one of those conversations in which we both giggle a lot (and he promises cookies).

October is one of my favorite months in Timothy James Beck history, because (1) by this month in 1997, we’d transitioned from strangers into a group of four friends in the chatroom where we met; (2) our first novel, It Had to Be You, was released on October 1, 2001; (3) a large group of diverse friends and acquaintances came together in Manhattan to celebrate that release with a party that lasted into the wee hours of the morning, followed by breakfast with a big crowd of friends; and (4) this is the month that Tim moved from Manhattan to Houston and made writing the rest of those books in my right sidebar a lot less complicated.

Big friendships. Big dreams. Big happiness. Thank you.

Yeehaw!


Thanks to Nikki’s cooperation, we won this week’s LJ Runway Monday challenge with our country music look. I’d like to congratulate my fellow designers:


Timothy, who punked out Figaro, and


Mark, who made Summer all about pop music.

Thanks also to producer Heidi Gunn, all the judges (including TWO guest judges this week!), and everybody who plays along and gives praise and snark about our designs. We’re in the final weeks of LJ Runway Monday, and it’s still fun.

See you on the runway!