QWEEN!!!

All Hail the Qween!!!!!

Condragulations to the talented Yvie Oddly!!!! I feel good about her winning, and did she ever bring the fabulous, camp, drama and theatrics in her final performance!!! What a better time for her to win, showing that we all don't need to be normal, and being different and odd is ok.

 Brava dear!!!!!

Yvie definitely deserved it. This was it, the moment we’d all been waiting for —  I loved Yvie’s three-faced mirror headdress, soon as I saw that, she had me.... and there was no shortage of drama in her performance. For someone who has consistently wowed us all season with her incredible flexibility, you’d think Yvie’s final lip sync of the season would include more than a few backbends. Meanwhile, Brooke Lynn was pulling out all the stops. She had that cool reveal coat on only to reveal… yet again..a pretty but not very special bodysuit. And that was it. As much as I love Brooke Lynn, she didn't really go the extra mile for this grand moment...while Yvie switched it up with an all new routine with that ellaganza ensemble!!!!I couldn’t keep my eyes off Yvie. All hails this newest queen!

I would be remiss if I also didn't say my gals Scarlet, Shuga and Ariel respectfully, looked fabulous as well in their grand finale frocks...STUNNING GIRLS!!!!

I also was very happy for my girl Nina West, for being crowned  as Miss Congeniality, which really she did deserve...she truly is. And she always sums it up so well...one of the best lines last night

Dinner on you next time gurl.

C.A.M.P

The Mistress is up.... and what a whirlwind week. I headed back to work today for a whole two day work week, before more guest arrive this weekend. The Memorial weekend went off very fun, and I got to meet Timmy finally, a reader of mine, after all these years. He even survived all the debauchery from the pool party and seeing me in a square cut, although he was a bit bashful in the boylesque show when the cod piece came off, but loved the drag show..... but what a simply sweet guy, and very shy. We hit it off quite well, and was a bit sad to see him go back home. Tuesday was used to show him all the sights in New Hope, and then Wednesday...New York City, to the Met for the CAMP exhibit. And sweet cakes, I'm here to tell you it was fabulous!!!!!! Thank goodness for Anna Wintour featuring this creative exhibit...probably one of the best since I saw the Alexander McQueen showing. After breakfast at La Mercerie, it was off to the Met, where there was NO famine of beauty. Ensuing eye treat ahead!!!

A lot people are still confused about what "camp," the theme of this year's Met exhibit, actually means. But as soon as you set foot in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's costume exhibit, all becomes clear: Camp has nothing to do with tie-dying t-shirts at summer camp, thanks goodness!!!!! It has everything to do with basking in the fabulousness,glory, irony, and humor of being extra.

OBESSED with this next one....

From Balenciaga's towering platform Crocs to Bjork's infamous swan dress and the Mugler oyster shell gown Cardi B wore to the Grammys, the "Camp: Notes on Fashion" exhibit is an exploration of how over-the-top fashion (or more accurately, FASHUN) has been used as both a form of expression and escapism throughout history. The concept was inspired by Susan Sontag's 1964 essay that defines camp as "love of the unnatural: of artifice and exaggeration."

Christmas gift idea people.....

This next chapeau I have sought after forever....one of these days....I have loved this swan headpieces for years.

In our current divisive political landscape filled with polarizing Internet opinions and a never-ending news cycle, camp is more timelier now than ever.  In an age of toxic masculinity in Trump's America, it's now more important than ever to hold onto and highlight camp's original roots: the LGBTQ community. The first part of the exhibit looks back to queer subcultures of Europe and America that largely defined and explored homosexuality through camp in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. There are portraits of nude male bodies by photographers like Robert Mapplethorpe and Thomas Eakins, as well as a statue of the Greek God Antinous, Hadrian’s lover, which Bolton refers to as the “archetypical camp pose.” Today's camp movement can be largely defined by drag culture.

Here's some P-town looks for me this year that would be lovely....

While the first half of the exhibit highlights the early, less obvious stages of camp, the second half is an ode to "deliberate camp.  Even Anna Wintour and Andrew Bolton were even quoted as saying it is quite impossible to define "camp". But in my mind to put it most simply, it's basically just a room full of the most over the top , fabulous couture pieces from the last few decades that none of your relatives on Facebook, Instagram or close friends would ever understand—and that's the most fun part of it all, and all pieces I would gladly slip into for eye popping day looks. It was a well presented exhibit.

Timmy is there at the end of the video. He'll kill me for posting this.

Luv ya babes!

THE MEMORIAL

Any of my gentle readers will tell you I just love me some summer. and the Memorial Day holiday is generally the kick off of summer, even though it's not offical till June 21st. While I may not be happy and filled with such distain for the government, we can still be patriotic for the country itself, and not for the government till they deserve it.  We take time to honor those who defended and fought for the country and didn't return. My fair hamlet this year made lamp post banners for the 26 veterans who lived in town, with their picture on them, and the war they fought. I thought it was pretty cool and touching.

For many others myself included, it's a time to relax a bit with family or friends to enjoy a good old fashioned cook out or picnics, and get out of doors. I have a four day weekend, with one personal day on Wednesday. The Lad is here for the duration and a reader of my blog, the very sweet Timmy from Ohio, is expected this afternoon. We have not met yet, but he will be with us tomorrow for the Raven's pool show with myself and Miriam Webster, followed by all the sights in New Hope, followed by a day in NYC to view the CAMP exhibit. Debauchery all around. I'm guessing?

I wonder where the government stand on draping nude men with the flag?

 Memorial Day isn’t just an excuse to take a long weekend and loaf around eating grilled meats—although those are certainly among the reasons to love the holiday.So before you head out to your barbecues and pool parties, here are some facts I learned about Memorial Day I didn't know.

It was originally called Decoration Day. My grandmothers always called it that.To honor the deceased, soldiers would decorate graves of their fallen comrades with flowers, flags and wreaths. Hence Decoration Day. Although Memorial Day became its official title in the 1860s, the holiday wouldn’t legally become Memorial Day until 1967.

It wasn't always observed on the last Monday of the month.After the Civil War, General John A. Logan, commander in chief of the Grand Army of the Republic, called for a holiday commemorating fallen soldiers to be observed every May 30. But due to the Uniform Monday Holiday Act, which took effect in 1971, Memorial Day was moved to the last Monday of May to ensure long weekends.

It is legally required to observe a national moment of silence. In December 2000, Congress passed a law requiring Americans to pause at 3 p.m. local time on Memorial Day to remember and honor the fallen. But this doesn’t appear to be common knowledge, or if it is, by 3 p.m. most people seem to be too deep into a gin infused hot dog-induced food coma to officially observe the moment.

At least 36 million citizens will travel at least 50 miles to be at beaches or gathering this holiday.

In 1966 Congress unanimously passed a resolution to officially recognize Waterloo as the birthplace of Memorial Day. However, it remains a contentious debate, with other towns, like Boalsburg, Pa., claiming the title of “Birthplace of Memorial Day” as well.

James A Garfield once delivered a lengthy speech at the first Memorial Day, of course then it was still called Decoration Day, and at the time, Garfield was a Civil War General and Republican Congressman, not yet a President. On May 30, 1868, he addressed the several thousand people gathered at Arlington National Cemetery. “If silence is ever golden,” Garfield said, “it must be beside the graves of 15,000 men, whose lives were more significant than speech, and whose death was a poem the music of which can never be sung.”

Of course my faithful readers will know that Memorial Day also hails one of my favorite things...Time to wear WHITE DENIM!!!! I loves me some white denims!

I 'll return sometime late next week after time off. In the meantime, however you celebrate the weekend.... Happy Memorial Day to all.

Tootles babes!

COMORANTS AND GUEST

Wild violets

I don't know about you all, but I'm quite gleeful to be having a nice long holiday weekend for four days, and kick off to the summer months. The Lad has arrived and we had a nice long sleep in today since we hadn't seen each other for a couple months. Pressing matters don't you know. Yesterday we had a great walk up at the lake. The abortorium around here is going full scale and I suspect babies are on the verge. Also in a coming post I have some snaps to share of Foxy, our grounds fox here, who has had four pups this year!!! And they are very visible. I am trying to capture some video to hopefully share. The cormorants up at the lake are nesting , and even though they are supporting me with my world domination plan, I did talk to them and sent some back to the beautiful UK for Mr . DeVice and Scarlet, since they were missing them so. I hope you all have checked out Mr. Device. His bird post are stunning as are his beach and groyne snaps. He often shows his spume a lot too. He himself is a cute tall, glass of water with more legs than a bucket of chicken. And we had a special sighting yesterday.

A large flock drying off. Their feathers don't dry off like other birds, so they must hold open their feathers for drying.

I think it's interesting that cormorants are usually on the ground, but their nest are so high up and in such large groups.

We saw both heron yesterday.

Love these Red winged blackbirds.

What are you looking at?

But the biggest shock, and might be my most amazing sighting to date was a bald eagle!!!! I had no idea they were even in the area. Not sure if it was in transit or a new resident. 

Meanwhile at the Casa, Ozzie and Harriet have been very active. I wonder if there eggs have hatched yet?

And I'm not sure what's going on with this mallard following them around, but he's been with them for about two weeks now.

Harriet nesting in the woods at the property line.

A Golden finch.

A bird house my neighbor Brison put up. It's new resident is a wren. They are so small.

The most spectacular moment in the woods was this.....

I have never seen so many blue jays together at one moment, and have no idea what in the world was in that spot to attract them. It was cool as hell to see it though. I don't even know how many there was. The jays around here are very much in abundance this year. I have several at the window, and is it ever noisy. The Lad this morning was awoken to the noise of the birds. Around 4:30 it sounded like we were in a bird arboretum with hundreds of birds. At this time  of year it is definitely the loudest with all varieties chirping at once. But it didn't take much to get the Lad to sleep once again.