1.  Although she’s probably best known as Beyonce’s guitarist and musical director, particularly following her standout performance during the Superbowl halftime show, she got her big break playing for Pink in a Saturday Night Live performance (as well as MTV, Jay Leno, and other nationally broadcast performances) in 2001.

2.  She has a degree in Music Scoring and Arrangements from the University of Colorado.

3.  She counts 70s funk (including The Isley Brothers and Earth, Wind and Fire) and heavier rock (especially Led Zeppelin, Iron Maiden, and Black Sabbath) as her earliest musical influences.

4.  In addition to her career in the music industry, she is also a well-respected and experienced yoga instructor.

5.  Bibi is currently working on producing a series of yoga DVDs, which she describes as having an “urban feel,” with the mission of promoting yoga-driven holistic fitness in inner-city communities.  She is also involved with the nonprofit organization Street Yoga.

6.  From her interview with Ebony Magazine, on her advice to readers aspiring to pursue multiple passions simultaneously:

“We are so conditioned to listening to what outside sources are telling us we should do.  You know we listen to the media.  We listen to our families and friends.  We listen to people that really don’t have any right to orchestrate what makes us happy.  I think it’s time to sit down and be quiet and listen to what it is you really want to do.  Listen to your heart.  Listen to your intuition and then follow your passion.”

7.  She is the CEO and Chief Branding Officer of Bibi Kale Chips, a hand-crafted organic kale-based snack food that is marketed as a healthier but equally tasty alternative to potato chips.

8.  Bibi auctioned off two of the guitars she used while touring with Beyonce to generate part of the initial funding for the production of her kale chips.

9.  Some harmless facebook-stalking of her profile (I “follow” her updates now) shows that Bibi has Krishnamacharya: His Life and Teachings listed as her favorite book.  Krishnamacharya, an ayurvedic healer and scholar who lived to be over 100 years old, is considered the father of modern yoga; the book was written by a longtime disciple.

10.  She is a recreational kayaker.

What a fantastic role model and inspiration!

1. Have a raspy-voiced (sexy!) lead vocalist/guitarist who cites Simone de Beauvoir, bell hooks, and other feminists as embodying the original punk ethos
2. Have an adorable, scruffy bass player who at one point manages to rock his glasses right off his head

Who am I kidding?  Those two points – combined with, you know, the band’s actual talent, stage presence, and great songs – bode well for a fantastic night.  But for good measure:

3. Play your set at The Earl, which is rapidly reaching the ranks of the Tabernacle, Masquerade, and Smith’s as a venue where I’m virtually guaranteed to have an amazing live-music experience
4. Since The Earl is a 21+ venue, hold a pop-up show the next day at Criminal Records so your underage fans can see you live – before immediately hopping on the bus to drive to Athens for your next gig
5. Close out the show by bringing fantastic-in-their-own-right supporting acts The So So Glos and Carnivores on stage for covers of, among other things, “I Love Rock and Roll” and Tom Petty’s “American Girl.”  Bonus points if some of the guys evidently spent their post-set interval throwing back a number of drinks. That’s rock ‘n roll, baby.

Patrick in his boxers at Criminal Records… and I told you that bass player was a smokeshow (via this guy’s twitter)

There was a small (controlled chaos) pit and some crowd surfing at The Earl, but not to the unholy-clusterfuck level the Masquerade achieves (devolves into?) sometimes.  There’s a place for each in the punk/rock scene, and my elderly ass has resigned itself to standing in the back at most punk and hardcore shows anyway.  Incidentally, doing so is a good way to (a) be generally left alone during the music, and (b) have multiple people approach you after to ask who in the band you know and/or if they can get an introduction.  (Pro tip:  instead of approaching a random, albeit clearly badass, gal in the back, go buy the band’s merch — it’s a win-win situation — you get a shirt or CD and the chance to say hello, the band gets money for gas and food. )

Criminal Records kicks ass for hosting the pop-up show.  I hadn’t realized that this was something they do on a somewhat regular basis, but I follow them on twitter now so that I can stay apprised of future events.  At one point Patrick (vocals/guitar) stripped off all of his clothes and put a huge traffic cone entirely over his head, although he still managed to stuff the microphone underneath to sing.  That pretty much sums up the afternoon.

After their set, I left my beloved L5P comfort zone for dreaded Midtown ATL, onward to Lionize / The Sword / Clutch at Center Stage!

Lionize (via the band’s facebook page)

I always make it a point to get to shows in time to see the opening acts:  it’s a great way to discover new music and groups “on the verge,” and I want to feel like I’m getting my money’s worth for the price of my ticket.  Lionize was a pleasant surprise, and they were a perfect fit for the tour package.  They’re typically a four-piece lineup (bass, drums, guitar, and keys, with the guys sharing vocal duties) but one of the dudes from Clutch joined them for a couple songs, which was a very cool move.  I happened to be planted right in front of him in the perfect position to gaze in admiration at his technique.  Call him a Master of Distortion.  (See what I did there, my goodness the wit.)

The main reason I was there was for The Sword, which released one of my Top 10 Favorite Albums of 2012.  They were so good!  Oh, I’m still giddy about it!  I want to track them down in another city, like, immediately!  They were that badass.  I realized that I only own 3 of their 4 albums, oddly enough – I guess it’s time to buy Gods of the Earth – so there were maybe 2 or 3 songs I hadn’t heard before.  That’s not a complaint though — their set list was pretty much perfect heavy stoner metal gloriousness.  I’m typing this in my new Sword t-shirt right now (with the neck cut out, obviously).

Clutch at Center Stage (tagged fb photo)

I ended up missing about half of Clutch’s set because at this point I am a walking parody of myself and was regaling Lionize’s bassist with stories of how awesome I am while throwing back a Jamo and cran.  But when I did stop running my mouth, I was rewarded with the remainder of a great show.  As far as venues go, I think I’ve underrated Center Stage/Vinyl.  Over the past year or so, I’ve seen a number of fantastic artists in a relatively intimate setting, the acoustics are impressive (not that big stadium impersonal garbage I hate), and all the staff (security, bartenders, etc.) with whom I’ve interacted have been very cool.  I’ll be back at the end of the month for Baroness, and I’m already stoked.

But of course, I have an absurd number of other shows to hit up at other venues between now and then…

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For me, no one will ever surpass the staggeringly beautiful Sophia Loren, but Gene has that timeless Hollywood beauty magnetism all her own.

Incidentally, Billy Idol is performing at the Tabernacle in Atlanta about one month from now, which means it’s time for me to dig out my neon rainbow jelly bracelets anyway.

Magenta pants revealing strappy neon yellow heels with a white top	Bright yellow blazer and strappy shoes with rainbow neon necklace and neon orange clutch
Lacy dress with neon green details and ribbing, plus a matching solid clutch	Neon peach (?!) cutoff shorts with a leopard print bag and cuff… plus open-toed boots
Neon yellow striped white tank top with white shorts and aqua flip flops	Sports jersey style tank, multicolored necklaces, and bright pink shorts
All black with an oversized neon pink bag and magenta lips	Muted yellow pullover, cuffed denim, and standout blocky neon yellow shoes
Off-the-shoulder white t-shirt, gold cat eye sunglasses, and neon blue peep toe high heels	All white outfit with neon aqua and turquoise accessories
Sport style hot pink bandana and jacket, black and neon shoes with yellow laces	Standout neon blue earring and coordinated cobalt shorts with a sleek black & white clutch
A basic black tank highlights lavender-gone-neon pants, earrings, and even eyeshadow	Sheer sunshine yellow blouse with top knotted hair and neon orange lips
Floppy hat, breezy white sweater, and hot pink shorts with coordinated purse	High waisted gold skirt with white blouse and neon green shoes and necklace. Plus, puppy!!!
Sleek and sophisticated black shirt and pants with hot pink jacket and hot pink & purple necklace	Neon aqua scarf against a cobalt blue sweater with slim white pants and neutral heels
Shades of brown with neon yellow pants and accessories – who would’ve thought?!	Bell-sleeved blouse, cobalt shoes, patterned skirt, and neon yellow clutch
Hot pink blazer, flamingo orange shirt, shoes, and bag, and flowery white shorts with both colors	Sheer neon green shirt with tight higher-waisted black shirt and a studded clutch

If you’re craving additional colorful style inspiration, I’ve put up similar, shade-specific posts (e.g., A Kick of Yellow, Pretty in Hot Pink) as well.  Original photo sources are available on my Neon board via Chicisimo.

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  Kill Baby… Kill (via tagged photo on facebook)

  Atlanta SurfFest 2013, which was compellingly advertised as offering “great local food and reverb drenched tunes.”  Despite a brief downpour, the mini-festival delivered on both.  Thumbs up to Atlanta’s food truck companies for their surprisingly numerous vegan options!  Alabama band Kill Baby… Kill brought a ton of energy and, well, killed it, and supporting act Moonbase was fantastic as well.  Alas, no link for the latter, as I haven’t been able to find any more info on them – although I’m certainly not keyed into the instrumental surf rock community in any manner that would assist that search.

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  The Dirty Souls, by Lyndsay Sweeney Photography, as posted to the band’s facebook page.

  Old Fourth Ward held a multi-location music festival on Saturday featuring dozens of bands playing at various neighborhood businesses and venues.  Unsurprisingly, I opted for the Masquerade’s free show in Purgatory (a.k.a. the VIP lounge from last weekend’s Shaky Knees festival) featuring 5 local bands.  I had seen both The Dirty Souls and Dirty Hotel Sunshine play before and was psyched to check them out again.  Neither disappointed, stepping up their game to meet the awesomeness of the venue.  (Yes, I probably love the Masquerade too much.)  My absolute star band of the weekend, though, was Radio Birds — formerly, JK and the Lost Boys, although I hadn’t caught them under either identity.  Wow!  Solid, crowd-moving, rock ‘n roll.  Also, 2013 has been the year where a show-stealing bass player will win my heart, and the Radio Birds get a check plus in that column for sure.

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  Charlie Mars, via his facebook page. Of course I borrowed the one that was scruffy and with sunglasses

  Unplugged in the Park is a weekly free acoustic show at Piedmont Park and provides a great way to close out the weekend.  Occasionally some of the audience members can be frustrating – how is it not common sense that it is extremely disrespectful, both to the artist and to those around you who are trying to enjoy the music, to take over a front-and-center table and spend the duration of an acoustic set talking at full volume and screwing around with your friends, particularly when there are less conspicuous seating areas available? – but this Sunday’s audience (at least in my vicinity) was great.  I’ll attribute it to the presence of so many mothers in attendance.  Anyway!  Charlie Mars was just adorable and had a fantastic, smooth voice.  He also capitalized on my favorite part of solo acoustic acts, namely, engaging the audience on a different level by telling stories about the origin or significance of his songs, and occasionally just rambling and cracking jokes in general.  (BJ Barham of American Aquarium occasionally does solo tours and comes to mind immediately as someone who has this particular skill mastered.)  I liked the mellower vibe enough that I’ll make it a point to catch Charlie again when he returns to Atlanta/Decatur at Eddie’s Attic in June.

Free, free, free!  This weekend was definitely easier on my wallet than normal – a fact which was particularly appreciated given that this whole vegan trial run is already proving to be way more expensive than I anticipated.  But that’s another post for another day.

Now go out there and support your local bands!

Belted black cutoffs with ankle high lace-up dark red boots	Rolled up short shorts, thigh high stockings, and cute chunky heel shoes
Too-short-to-really-be-businesslike shorts and gold tipped pointy toed heels	White thick rimmed glasses, Guns ‘N Roses tank, aqua nail polish, inflatable guitar: let’s be BFF
Subtly edgy with great shapes in black, white, and gray	Gold studded black leather shorts with knee high red boots
Slim white sweatshirt, pale jeans, and pencil heeled white booties	Simple and casual basics with two-toned ankle strap open-toed heels
White blazer with a neon yellow necklace and shorts, plus black & white pumps	Side-swept ponytail braid, paint splatter effect shorts, and those same two-toned shoe
Brightening up basic jean shorts and white tank with bright yellow accessories	Head to toe different shades of neutrals with belted camel shorts
Evoking early 90s grunge (in a good way) with plaid and leather	Army green pullover, cutoff grey shorts, and studded ankle strap shoes
Black vest over a Stones t-shirt with light colored denim shorts	Red letterman jacket, black shorts, and above-the-ankle boots
Sheer pale yellow long sleeved shirt with black shorts and high heels	Military style parka with cutoffs, torn stockings, and lace-up boots
Deep red shorts with those darn rainboots I saw everywhere at Shaky Knees	Black shirt on top, black boots on the bottom, cuffed denim shorts: she has my go-to uniform
Patterned shorts, red sweater, and coordinated red high heels	Leather jacket, studded boots, dark cutoff denim, and a bold necklace
Sparkly gold three-quarter length sleeve top with crisp white shorts and neutral booties	Sheer neon top, tattered blue denim shorts, and hot pink high heels
Navy blue blazer with wife beater tank top and sexy leopard print heels	Animal print shorts, white button up, chunky gold bracelet, and bright yellow pumps
Sheer top, huge hoop earrings, studded shorts, and snake skin high heels	Cute and casual pink tank top, dream catcher necklace, and chunky white boots

It’s good to be back!  And this seems like the appropriate follow up to my (slightly past the due date) Preppy, Cozy, Sexy Sweaters post.  Sources for these images can be found on my “Shorts + Heels” board via Chicisimo.

And so it began.  Although I’m still baffled that anyone would want either to be a reality TV “star” or to read about one, I must admit that I now know enough about the following 8 celebrities to have developed a soft spot for them, and to feel ashamed about it.  I’ll leave my metalhead credentials at the door for the appropriate personnel to confiscate.

1.  Miley Cyrus

Anyone who risks enraging the Disney juggernaut and losing a steady stream of teeny-bopper income in order to dye her hair platinum blonde (and shave half of it off) is cool with me.  She’s adorable with just enough naughty rock ‘n roll style.

2.  Pamela Anderson

After a childhood spent running in slow-motion around the pool with tennis balls stuffed in the top of my Speedo one-piece, I have a special affection for the 90s television masterpiece that was Baywatch.  (I still love you, Mitch!)  I get the sense that Pam sees the humor in her public persona.  Plus, she digs bad boy musicians.

3.  Mary Kate & Ashley Olsen

They built an empire as wholesome toddler twins, the reinvented themselves as fashion icons with distinct but complementary identities and styles.  Although they remain in the public eye, they don’t seem to seek the spotlight aggressively – rather, just enough to retain the viabilities of their celebrity names and status-oriented businesses.

4.  Kristen Stewart

I can’t speak to her performance in the Twilight movies (I’ve never seen any of them), but I loved her in The Runaways and I like that she doesn’t feel compelled to adopt a saccharine, cloying image at every (or any) corny press event attendant to the promotional aspect of her job.   Lest I provoke the ire of legions of internet Twi-hards, I’ll refrain from any additional commentary on the R.Patz/K.Stew saga.

5.  Rhianna

My experience working in the Domestic Violence & Special Victims unit of the Prosecutor’s Office renders me simultaneously more sympathetic too and more frustrated with the singer’s well-documented decision to resume a relationship with the man who badly (and unremorsefully) abused her.  But as long as I remain able to compartmentalize her personal life and her pop artist career, her beauty and those consistently catchy dance tunes will continue to win my affection.

6.  Kelly Osbourne

Even though Black Sabbath was one of the foundational pillars of my introduction to hard rock and heavy metal, I never watched more than a few minutes of Ozzy and his family’s MTV show.  I am aware, however, that the reality series managed to capture and disseminate those awkward adolescent moments that most of us can confine to a middle school yearbook buried in the back of a storage closet.  Today Kelly is a gorgeous woman with killer rockabilly-infused style and envy-inducing lavender/gray hair, who speaks bluntly about her struggles (with weight, family, whatever) in a way that humanizes her.

7.  Victoria Beckham

Although I favored Sport and Scary over Posh during the mid-90s Spice Girls’ reign (yes, I confess, I did own their CD and I did watch Spice World… more than once), the wife of smokin’ hot tattooed soccer star, David, transformed herself from a pop princess into a style icon / supermom / successful businesswoman with a keen sense of humor and wit.

8.  Taylor Momsen

It might be tempting to scoff at some of her past antics or extreme outfits until one remembers that she is a teenager, experimenting with self-expression under relentless and unforgiving public scrutiny.  She’s a conventionally stunning girl who embraces unconventional beauty – and if anyone can pull off those tattered, leather, skin-tight rock ‘n roll ensembles, it has to be her.

The fact that I was able to create this list at all is… problematic.  If someone subscribes me to Star, I’m screwed.

She’s the Old Hollywood actress about whom the lyric “Bette Davis eyes” refers.   And while I certainly adore perusing vintage photos of classic cinematic vixens and reading about their glamorous/sordid/surprisingly mundane lives, I’m talking about another Betty Davis.

I was listening to the fabulously titled “Take It Sleazy” playlist on Songza – best described as a compilation of blues rock songs tinged with funk and 70s stoner rock influences – when Betty’s song “They Say I’m Different” started to play.  I immediately stopped what I was doing; it was time to find out everything I could about this artist.

She has this raspy, soulful, edgy voice unlike any other; as a point of reference, her sound is reminiscent of my generation’s Macy Gray, although obviously any creative influence flowed in the other direction.  Perhaps it’s due to my musical predilections generally, but despite the fact that she is clearly a funk artist (you can’t miss those bass lines), I end up consumed by the fuzzy rock ‘n roll guitar licks that permeate her songs. That is, when I’m not falling off my chair in admiration of her vocals.  This is the music I’ll turn on next time I’m getting ready for a night out and want to feel like the baddest bitch on the planet.

Not only is Betty exceptionally talented, she has led a fascinating life.  Here are ten tidbits about Ms. Davis you ought to know:

1.  Betty grew up in Durham, NC.  I’m including this seemingly minor fact on the list because I am officially convinced that the state of North Carolina (and the Research Triangle area in particular) is a wildly underrated font of amazing musical talent and creativity… although a detailed argument for this assertion can wait until another post.

2.  Betty was a successful model before and during her music career, appearing in Glamour and Ebony magazines, among others.  Despite her thriving modeling career, her heart was never in the work.  She is purported to have said, “I didn’t like modeling because you didn’t need brains to do it. It’s only going to last as long as you look good.”

3.  When she was in her late teens/early 20s, she found an investor, recruited girls with whom she was friends to dance, relied on her contacts to avoid some of the licensing and bureaucratic hassles, and opened her own private club in New York City!  She was a DJ there.

Betty with then-husband Miles

4.  Betty married jazz legend Miles Davis for about one year; part of the reason their marriage dissolved was because Miles believed Betty had an affair (never confirmed) with Jimi Hendrix.  Betty was the one who introduced the two men.

Betty’s image provided the cover art for Miles Davis’s album Fillies de Kilimanjaro, which also included a track named after her

5.  The metallic silver go-go boots she wore on the cover of her first album were rumored to be a gift from one-time boyfriend Eric Clapton.

6.  Some of her shows were boycotted and many radio stations refused to play her songs following pressures from religious groups and the NAACP, which objected to her bold feminine sexuality.

7.  Notwithstanding any puritanical outrage at her sexual oppenness, Betty was known for avoiding the drinking and drug culture of the scene and living a healthy, body-conscious life.

8.  Lightnin’ Hopkins is her favorite blues artist.  This video has great footage of his hands while he plays; it is mesmerizing.

9.  As to her decision to step away from the music industry, she explains:

“In your life, when you’re an artist, or a musician or a singer, or a dancer or whatever, you have a time period normally. I think that was my [creative] time period really, when I did all those albums.”  (source)

10.  Although she has given relatively few interviews throughout her career, she has consistently maintained that she views herself primarily as a writer, rather than a singer.  In addition to her own songs, she has written for the Chambers Brothers and the Commodores, among others.

I’ll be listening to the They Say I’m Different album straight through this evening!  Can you think of any contemporary up-and-coming / underrated artists with a similar funk/bluesy/rock fusion sound?  Please share in the comments!

Irrespective of whatever merit there might be to various criticisms relating to the ongoing relevance and integrity of Rolling Stone, the magazine nailed its interview with Louis CK in its April 25, 2013 issue.  I’m hardly courting controversy by praising the brilliance of the comedian – owning at least one of his comedy specials or seasons of Louie is almost obligatory for members of my generation – and, after having attended several of his live performances, including two within the past year, my own status as a long-term fan is firmly solidified.  Almost all celebrity profiles fall victim to a certain amount of sycophancy (on the part of the interviewer) or sterile PR-team directed, carefully constructed responses (on the part of the interviewee),  however;  so even with Louis CK as the subject, a candid, content-rich cover story was never guaranteed.

Ultimately, though, writer Brian Hiatt published a piece that evoked CK’s characteristic observational wit in a manner that seemed spontaneous and casually conversational, with such repartee punctuated by moments of sincerity, vulnerability, and insight on the comedian’s part.  A few excerpts, which collectively embody why I will continue to seek out pretty much any project with which he is involved:

On the peril of mediocrity and the necessity of a willingness to fail in order to achieve something extraordinary:

“I don’t mind when it’s just tragically, terribly bad, because that’s someone really taking a big swing and missing, but when TV is just OK, I get really upset….  [Y]ou should be trying to be unbelievably great.”

“You have to be willing to have a bad time.  People that need to feel like a star and like they’re succeeding every time will not ever get better….  The first thing that happens is your best gets better, but what really matters is when your worst gets better….  [Y]our worst show has to be above everybody’s best – that’s what you really want…  To want everything that you ever dreamed of, to the exclusion of anything hard, that feels common to me know in a way that is hurting people.”

CK’s frame of reference is show business, but his words are applicable to any industry or ambition.  Complacency is the stealthily brutal assailant of innovation, drive, and self-fulfillment.  Indeed, much to my disgust, I’ve learned all too well how easy it is to laze down that comfortable slide of regression to the mean, justified on the grounds that you “deserve a break” or that the hiatus will be “temporary,” without much internal or external resistance, until suddenly you find yourself entrenched in the muck of mediocrity.  If you don’t strive for anything exceptional, you won’t suffer the exhaustion of extended effort or the frustration of delayed gratification or the ache of failure, and that absence of pain is readily mistaken for contentment.

It’s a 12-way tie for first place: everyone’s a winner!

I wish I had Louis (or someone) to shake my by the shoulders six months ago and tell me that I was better than what I was allowing myself to become.  One of the toughest parts about emerging from a haze of apathy is that being just okay is no longer okay at all; it is insufferable, contemptible, infuriating, simultaneously motivating and devastating, to have to embrace and become consumed by the challenging of hoisting yourself out of the swamp of averageness that now seems a worse fate than spectacular failure.

On instant gratification, modern media, and internet culture:

“When it’s time to write, I have one computer that has no ability to get on the Internet.  Because the ability to just move your finger less than a millimeter and be looking straight into someone’s pussy or at the new Porsche or a whole movie – To Kill a Mockingbird, let’s just sit here and watch the whole thing! – it’s too much….  When I hit a stopping moment in what I’m writing, a moment of agitation – that itch always leads to a brand new thing, to inspiration.  But if you bail out and buy a product online, you’re robbing yourself….  The worst thing happening to this generation is that they’re taking discomfort away from themselves.”

“What most people do with these events that happen, the violence in our country, is really disgusting, which is to pore over it.  Everyone congratulates each other about how upset they are….  Every time there’s a tragedy in America, there’s all this gawky fascination and a lot of fucking exploitation.”

Confession:  since I’ve started writing this blog post, I’ve already clicked over to facebook a couple of times, even with the words above circling through my mind as I did so.  This borderline compulsive screen toggling is all the more absurd given that a disconcerting amount of my time on facebook constitutes hate-viewing (i.e., courting an aneurysm as I scroll down my newsfeed and confront a relentless stream of incomprehensible txt-spk, religious and political zealotry, passive aggressiveness, and self-aggrandizement, scarcely punctuated  by the legitimate life updates, fun pictures, insightful posts, and entertaining links that justify not deleting my account completely).

I have systematically eliminated my exposure to most of the major culprits of the gleeful schadenfreude and histrionics associated with modern news dissemination that Louis mentions in the second excerpted quote above; but my glorious and recently concluded two-month hiatus from that time-suck notwithstanding, I haven’t been able to bring myself to permanently delete my facebook account, and the social network remains one of the most egregious offenders.  I’ll grant that informing one’s peers about a breaking news story by posting a link is helpful, and people are entitled to grieve over a tragedy by posting a public declaration of support or prayer; but these responses are intertwined with, and occasionally indistinguishable from, twisting such an incident to appease one’s narcissism by generating status “likes” or to propagandize a tangentially related political position.

Alternatively, I suppose I could find a new mechanism of keeping up with the touring schedules, releases, specials, and other news relating to my favorite bands and venues.

On appreciating art without pretension:

“[H]e’s a fucking artsy, French, crazy filmmaker who doesn’t give a shit what anybody understands about the story, which is very exciting to me, but there’s a little bit of ‘full of shit’ to that.  It’s so much more interesting to look at art of any kind and say, ‘Why did they do this this way, what’s their tradition, where did they come from, what were they influenced by and why are you doing this.’”

I love this!  There’s certainly much to be said in favor of appreciating art (broadly defined to include music, film, literature, and so forth, as well as traditional visual arts like painting and sculpture) based on raw emotional response alone; indeed, up until a few years ago, this was primarily how I approached and understood artistic endeavors.  But I’ve come to believe that learning even just the basics of, say, various fine art movements or elements of music theory (inter alia) can refine one’s perception of others’ work, inspire creativity in one’s own undertakings, and facilitate conversations with experts, aficionados, and the artists themselves.

That said, I’ll commence appropriate self-mockery if and when I catch myself starting to indulge in any sort of douchey art-school-wannabe pretensions.

Have a given away too many spoilers at this point?  Given that the issue is well over a week old at this point, and notwithstanding the fact that I ended up going a bit overboard with this post, I’m inclined to say no.  It’s worth tracking down a copy for the Louis CK feature alone.

My friend’s witch costume was actually quite similar to this baby’s — except, you know, pre-teen size

We met in eighth grade when we were both volunteering at a community Halloween festival and were each tasked with the role of being witches in the kids’ haunted house attraction.  She caught my attention immediately.  I approached her – my store-bought basic black costume wholly overshadowed by the intricate details and unique custom-made design of hers – and said, “You are the most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen.  Want to be witch sisters?”

Bless her heart, she wasn’t visibly freaked out and agreed.  We spent the next several hours being pleasantly spooky to the children who visited our cauldron and falling into easy conversation whenever there was a lull in the crowds.  We explored the other festival attractions after our shift was over and quickly grew closer, in that way only young teenage girls can, after that.

Incidentally, reminiscing about how I initiated that first conversation cracks me up, because it’s basically the same bold, candid manner I use when I hit on pretty gals today.  At the time, I hadn’t yet realized that I like the ladies, and I meant it in a completely innocent admiring way.  But in retrospect, I do kind of understand why so many folks suspected that I might not be traditionally hetero before I was ever consciously aware.

I’ll concede Zooey is stunning, even though any character that can be described as “adorkable” or a “manic pixie dream girl” makes me cringe

All of this lead-in is related to substantive content, I promise!  The thing is, I wasn’t kidding about her being the most beautiful girl I had ever seen.  Her eyes, in particular, were striking – think Zooey Deschenal, except green and gold in color.  And every day, she brushed a mosaic onto her lids, with fascinating color combinations, swirls, sparkles, details that only she could have imagined and implemented in a way that was both dramatic and graceful.

Urban Decay’s S&M eyeshadow

Even though I typically stick to black eyeliner (and maybe some gold eyeshadow if I’m feeling fancy) for myself, watercolor, neon, metallic, whatever eyes have always held a special allure.  I guess my bestie was years ahead of her time on this trend, because I’ve been seeing similar looks pop up in magazines and on pinterest lately.  I was inspired enough to buy Urban Decay’s S&M eyeshadow during my quarterly “what the heck is wrong with you, you can’t afford to splurge on miscellaneous overpriced beauty products like this” trips to Ulta, and the amazing silver shade is worthy of its badass name.  Alas, I’ve been a bit of a hermit, so I haven’t had an excuse to wear it out yet.

Enjoy these eyelids-as-a-canvas, eyeshadow-as-a-color-palette looks!  I think my high school BFF would be proud.

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Note:  One of the perils of pinterest and dead links is that a lot of the above images are unsourceable.  That said, I was able to determine that a number of them are from a makeup artist who runs the blog GlitterGirlC; it’s really impressive just to peruse the pictures, and it has tutorials for those who’d like to try out the looks themselves.