New year's and other awwwesome stuff!

Oooh look, it's a new year, all shiny and sparkly like a drag queen's wardrobe and full of promises like a pre-election politician. And while I don't particularly want to see a politician in drag (they just wouldn't have the legs for it, daaaahling), I do like sparkly things combined with promises, like this:

I promise this year I will use the mountain of sequins I have been slyly hoarding OR I shall donate them to the op shop.

And I promise I will actually WEAR or UPCYCLE all the shiny gold lurex clothing I have somehow accumulated, usually bought at op shops in a fit of madness best described as the delusional 'I totally have the confidence to wear this' part of me screaming 'It's GOLD!! SHINY! MY PRECIOUSSSSS' while the crafter in me stands cynically to one side thinking 'sure, and if you never wear it, it will make a really great softie robot'. And if I do neither, I shall donate them to an op shop, I promise.

For lo, it is the start of the year and that means I'm thinking crazy thinks like 'gee, I really should have a good tidy up and give away crafty-type ''this will come in handy one day'' stuff that I've been keeping for the past, hmm, THIRTY YEARS that I STILL haven't got around to using', and 'some more wardrobe/ shelf/ desk/ floor/ handbag/ sock drawer/ mental space would be nice, I REALLY SHOULD DECLUTTER.' And yes, those thoughts come all in capital letters because that is the only way I will take note of them. (Sure, those mental notes will likely be discarded after about 30 seconds but it's nice to believe, at least for a moment, that I really will actually do some sorty-outy-type activities this year and will have a CLEAN, WELL-ORGANISED WORKSPACE as a result. I am pretty sure such workspaces only exist in IKEA catalogues but it's worth a try, right? As my pal KT once said, 'Luna, if you chuck out all the old crap you've been keeping YOU WILL HAVE ROOM TO COLLECT NEW CRAP.' Best motivational advice EVER.)

Anyway, so that's my sort-of new year's resolution, I now feel very resolute. And also very glad I am half Chinese because that means I get to celebrate Chinese New Year as well, so if I fail at this resolution business first time round for 2012 I can have another stab at it in a few months, phew. And I've been to Vietnam and Thailand so that means I can celebrate their new year's too, right?... right?....

And speaking of having the confidence to wear crazy-ass shit, or at least things I would not normally wear, there's never a time for dressing up like NYE and this NYE, for the first time, I did:

This is me wearing Bjork's swan costume (well, a replica anyway) for Trash Masquerade - an evening with Amanda Palmer (squeee! My very favourite muso!) and Neil Gaiman (author of, among other things, The Graveyard Book - which got me back into loving books after I'd gone through a horrible patch of reading only average novels).

And this is me doing the 'I'm a little teapot' dance. While dressed in a swan costume. Why? BECAUSE I CAN. The costume was made by my workmate Jan... there is something immensely satisfying about being able to say, quite nonchalantly, 'Oh, this? I borrowed it from my colleage WHO JUST HAPPENED TO HAVE A SWAN COSTUME HANDY.' I highly recommend you try it if, indeed, you ever borrow a swan costume from a workmate. Or even if you don't.

The night was amazing, with the beautiful Jane Austen Argument and the jaw-droppingly hot (and tres talented) Mikelangelo and Saint Clare performing, along with a bunch of other terribly clever acts - including the COMPLETELY EXCELLENT OH MY GOD I HAVE TO SEE HER AGAIN cabaret performer Meow Meow. Thank you, thank you, Amanda Palmer, for putting her on the bill - she is AMAZING.

Naturally Amanda herself was also amazing, although she did do almost eye-rollingly, sighing-with-boredom inducing stuff like JUMPING OUT OF A CAKE WEARING NOTHING BUT STOCKINGS AND UNDERPANTS and PLAYING RADIOHEAD SONGS ON THE UKELELE and, of course, snogging her husband Neil Gaiman on stage, and it made me super happy to see them so happy even though I could not snog my own husband because I was wearing a beaky swan mask and beaky swan masks make kissing quite dificult. And of course she played a bunch of her own fantastic songs (swoon) and Neil read out some of his stories and they even played a few songs together, and even though I doubt very much that he considers himself a singer he sang because she had asked him to, what a guy, and he did great and she did great and you could see how happy they are together and how well they complement each other and it reminded me how lucky I am to have such a brilliant man too and on the whole the night was just filled with awe and, even more so, awwwwwwww. Friends of mine even got ENGAGED that night, that is how full of awwwww the night was. COMPLETELY AWWWWWESOME.
Like an idiot I forgot to bring a camera along to the show, but consoled myself with the knowledge that professional photographers like Mandy Hall would be there ... and I was right. You can check out her pics from the show here.

Nights like that are the best, and you know what's even better? Knowing I will be seeing the almighty Dresden Dolls (Amanda's punk cabaret band, which she was in for ages before launching her solo career - they are doing a 10-year reunion tour) this Sunday... squeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!

Herd the one about the conjoined twin elephant brigade?

Remember the conjoined twin elephants that appeared here a while back? I've spent the past few weeks making more, since everyone who's seen them has fallen in lurve and wants one to call their own. OK, that may be an exaggeration, but I do have a few orders to fill, hurrah. I've taken to stitching them up on the train on the way to work - it gives me something to do and something for other commuters to wonder about!

Palmer-ing off critters to musos

A few of my pals have been asking WHY I made conjoined elephant twins. I am tempted to simply say, why not? But the truth is it's because Evelyn Evelyn - the "conjoined twins" who sing one of my very favourite songs, Elephant Elephant - are touring here soon and I wanted to make them a present.


The observant among you will notice there are quote marks around "conjoined twins". That is because the "twins" look remarkably like Amanda Palmer (swoon) and Jason Webley. You can read more about that here.

As for Amanda Palmer - she is my very favourite musician. This pic was taken a few years ago at my favourite bar, the Butterfly Club, after she'd done a slumber party gig there. Yep, we all turned up in our PJs at midnight and listened to the amazing Amanda pound the piano into the wee hours of the morning. And when the show was over I gave her the black rabbit you see her clutching in the pic. I'd made him just a few hours before the show and dressed him in a little stripey jumper made from an old sock.

I guess you could say I have a slightly stalkerish (in the non-creepy way, of course) obsession with giving Amanda critters whenever I have the chance. It's my way of saying that I think she's fantastic. I wish I could say so in words but I turn into a nervous wreck around people I admire so much, and generally end up babbling incoherently before running away. If only "being cool around your idols" had been offered in high school (along with "how to walk in high heels"), adult life would be so much easier. Sigh.