July 14, 2008

And Now...A Gratuitous Poem By My Fiance'

I was sorting my in-box (not a euphemism) and found this email Jeff sent me last year. Too cute not to share! (The email I mean, not Jeff.)


Oh do you remember sweet Dixie LaRue? 

She's sometimes a Stoic and sometimes a Jew,

And sometimes a vixen who rides on the trains,

Asking men what they're reading and clouding their brains.

 

She lives with her multiform psittacine friends,

And to their quotidian needs she attends,

Bananas and cashews for Clemmie and Butch

(Pearl, Smitty, and Jonesy get not quite so much).

 

And don't forget Lulu, the Havanese pup

Who barks if the water's too low in her cup, 

And pitches a fit when you come through the door,

And once took a shit on the Time-Warner floor!

 

Sweet Dixie wears Diane von Furstenberg wraps

And tank-tops and flip-flops (but NOT baseball caps).

The spots of the leopard are pinstripes to her,

So long as the garment is not real fur!

 

Sweet Dixie's affectionate, funny and smart,

And lives in a riot of tchotchkes and art,

And loves fifties clothing and flour-based food

And plays the accordion when in the mood.

 

She reads the philosophers, classic and pop,

And dances the Shorty George and Lindy Hop,

And runs around Central Park by several routes,

And goes to the gym to blast hams, delts and glutes.

 

She trolls the flea market for vintage couture,

And sometimes goes out for a dark manicure,

And has her hair blow-dried to make is less curled,

And I am the luckiest man in the world -

 

For Dixie picked me on the Brooklyn-bound R

And gave me her e-mail as she left the car,

And answered my letters with humor and charm,

And said, "Yes!" to pancakes and leaned on my arm.

 

And that is my story of Dixie LaRue,

Who brightened my winter and broke my streak, too,

And won't dress in run-of-the-mill underwear,

And speeds up my heartbeat by just standing there.



Teen Talk at Ypulse

This week I’m in San Francisco at the Ypulse Mash-up -- a conference on reaching teens via media and technology. This year is particularly interesting because there was a pre-conference “mini-conference” on YA (Young Adult) books and publishing. As Editorial Director of a network aimed at teens, I’m always eager to learn the best -- most effective, most creative, most interesting – ways to speak to our audience. What do they respond to, what breaks through the clutter, what is persuasive without setting off cheese alarms? What language is resonant and entertaining and not cliché nor reeking of trying-too-harditis?

I’m frequently frustrated in this latter curiosity because editorial voice is really never addressed, beyond the obvious warning not to overly use teen vernacular. I try to get around the argot issue by not mirroring what teens say so much as mirroring what they do when it comes to language.

For example, rather than rely on slang, I encourage our writers/producers at The N to 1) convey the unique passion, excitement and hyperbole teens use, 2) be playful with language the way teens are (especially girls and gays), and 3) use a teen lens – “teen goggles” - on whatever we’re talking about so we can best understand, describe and promote. We strive to understand and convey the “electricity of teen experience.” This is easier and easier for adults nowadays as many of us (in media in particular) don’t have to wear the grown-up masks our generation would have felt it necessary to adopt in years past. We get to remain young and playful in behavior and language well into adulthood. Personally, I do not find maturity and the elasticity of language to be mutually exclusive. This is only an issue when one needs to gain the acceptance or approval of those who judge or disdain playful language because they read it as frivolous and silly rather than clever. But anyone who’s enjoyed the writing on so-called teen shows like Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Veronica Mars or My So-Called Life know that when teens communicate with creativity and no filters the results can be especially witty or poignant.

Back to Ypulse: While I didn’t get to hear abut “voice,” language or story-telling as much as I’d liked, I was really intrigued by what the YA Publishing speakers had to say about the future of reading in digital age. I’ll go into a bit of detail later; right now I need to go mingle (my least favorite sport, but since it will be coupled with caffeine and cookies I will soldier on.)

 

 

July 08, 2008

My Engagement FAQ

Thank you so much everyone for all your sweet, kind words; the outpouring of emotion — and the squealing — has been overwhelming, and I’m really so appreciative. There have been many questions though, so to simplify and clarify things, here is the FAQ I sent out to acquaintances:

Strange how the things that
I thought the future would bring – robot maids, jet-packs, my own army of chimpanzees – have not come to pass, while things no one foretold – the Internet, iPods, Ryan Seacrest  – have. And now, another unlikely event that no one would have ever predicted: I am engaged. To be married.  To a man.  A real live, non-incarcerated man. (I’m so sorry, would you like a glass of water? Some smelling salts?)  

As many of you know, the man whom I’ll be slowly driving insane for the rest of his natural life is Jeffrey Laite (pronounced ‘late’). Jeff is just about the greatest guy in the whole wide world.  He’s loaded with character, busting with brains, and chock full of integrity, sweetness and knowledge. Basically, he’s better than any of you and way, way better than me in every way. If you want more details... Here are the questions I’ve been getting, and their condign answers:


Will you be keeping your last name?
Hells no! I will be Dixie Laite.  I am all over that capital  L; it just looks cool.

What do you say to all the feminists whom  you are betraying?
Um...kiss my big, fat, affianced ass?

Is  this your first marriage? Is it his?
Yep. We are both over our 45  and this is our first marriage ever.  If memory serves, odds were  better that I’d be killed by a terrorist. (Somewhere a terrorist is shaking  his little terrorist fist in frustration.)

How did you  meet?
You mean, “The Cutest Story Ever Told”™ ? It involves Marcus  Aurelius, the New York Transit Authority, and ridiculously expensive panties.  Really.

Is he Jewish?
Uh, his name is Jeffrey Harrison  Laite. You do the math.

What’s he like?
Completely  wonderful. My pet name for him is “tangible evidence of God.” He’s going to be  a great husband. (You can see his picture on my Facebook and MySpace  pages.)
 
When is the wedding?
Not sure. Probably next  March. Depending on how hard it is to get elephants and white tigers this  Fall.

Will you be wearing a wedding dress?
People, I’m  46. It would certainly be too Diane Arbus-y. And the whole  wearing white thing? I think that ship has sailed. The jig is, as they say,  UP.
 
Will it be a religious ceremony?
I’m the only  “religious” one in both families, so I’d say no. But, I am hoping for lots of  dry ice, and maybe a catapult or spears or something.
 
What  about all your pets, your dogs and birds?
Well, we’ll let them decide  what religion they want for themselves when they grow  up.
 
Thanks again for all the well wishes, and much love for, and to, you all.

June 26, 2008

Barbara Stanwyck is Awesomer Than Anyone

First, a trailer for BABY FACE, a 1933 movie that instigated the infamous Production Code:

Next, a great scene with Fred MacMurray in DOUBLE INDEMNITY:  

And this famous scene from THE LADY EVE:

Stripper as Role Model...?

When it's Barbara Stanwyck, hells yeah! 


In LADY OF BURLESQUE ( a film based on Gypsy Rose Lee's mystery novel THE G-STRING MURDERS) Babs plays Dixie Daisy, a burlesque headliner and the smartest, savviest, least whiny member of the troupe. In many of her films, notably THE LADY EVE and BALL OF FIRE, Stanwyck embodies the quintessential dame. Supremely feminine but also sharp as a tack (certainly sharper than the men around her), self-reliant, quick with a quip to defuse and debunk, and clearly as tender as she is tough. It's hard to get a decent print of LADY OF BURLESQUE, but it's practically a manual for how to get by in life living la vida dame.


Sorry about the cheesy music;  couldn't find another clip without this. But what a great example of how we may have advanced technologically, yet culturally...maybe not. In 1943 pop culture strippers were whipsmart heroines, while today they're relegated to objects or tired plot devices. They're maybe holding a whip, but not so smart.

June 20, 2008

I Just Got Engaged!

I know, riiiight? 

Look, this thing is so huge and overwhelming that I need to process it a bit before writing. I mean, I'm in that age group between 40 and Death, and 2 years ago I would have bet BIG money I'd never have a boyfriend, much less a fiance.  (Fiance, fiance!)

What I do know now though is this: ladies, never say never. And that, now that is HUGE.

June 17, 2008

If Jules Verne Had a Baby with Liberace...Under the Sea

I am the luckiest girl in the world to come home every evening greeted by a giant pink octopus chandelier. Here is a photo of it before the artist, Adam Wallacavage, personally installed it on my foyer ceiling. 

Dixie-Chandelier-base2

Adam is a great artist with at heart, a great soul, and a prodigious talent for making under-the-sea creatures chandeliers. If you're in New York, check out his upcoming exhibition at the Jonathan Levine Gallery, June 28 through July 26th. (I'll be at the opening reception the night of the 28th.)

June 12, 2008

Bluebird Manor Hearts Apartment Therapy

I love me some Apartment Therapy. The first book was genius and very influential to me and my current apartment. Although I didn't maintain the purity of my Girlie Kitsch Moderne vision (Maxwell says pick a theme for your abode and stick to it) I am much the better for having read his book years ago. I was honored to have my first apartment on his site, and my current apartment, aka Bluebird Manor, is not only on the site but in the new book! Though they took the photos soon after I moved in and the pictures do not reflect the lavish, fabulous dame den I have now (I actually have a real bed now, for example, and a gorgeous pink octopus chandelier) how cool is it to be in a book with cool people? The answer: Very.


There was even a book party. I was videoed. I was incoherent. (I was drunk on Rick's Phat Beets. Really.)

By the way, check out some of  the vitriol my apartment(s) inspire on the Apartment Therapy boards. Wow, some people just have a lot of time on their hands. And really take home decor seriously.

Plus, they're assholes.

Les Dames du Boeuf Were the Boeufiest

Despite it taking over an hour to get a cab (!) I finally made it to Le Boeuf a la Mode for last night's swingin' soiree with the infamous Les Dames du Boeuf. The dames were as fetching, fascinating and well-dressed as advertised. One cute vintage outfit after another, oh, and the hairdos!  I was among many women who share my abiding love for the short bang. I don't know what the other patrons thought of the big, loud table of women sporting Eisenhower era frocks and Bettie Page fringe. Each of the women though had her own unique style and story to tell and I was thrilled to be with so many like-minded vintage vixens. 

Dix and the DamesduBoeuf




After polishing off my 2 salads (I'm a vegetarian after all, no boeuf or rabbit sausages for Dixie) I had a plate of frites. Around dessert I regaled the poor, trapped ladies with The Cutest Story Ever Told tm -- the story of how I met my boyfriend which involves metaphysics, pricey underwear, philosophy, the New York Transit System, pancakes and adultery. It takes about 8 hours to tell and they were all very patient. I made it home close to midnight and Dr. Waffles and Lulu were mighty glad to see me, especially their bladders.

Cocoandme


And here's my adorable palsy walsy, the cute cute cute Coco Doane, with me apres le Boeuf bash. She is hilariously showcasing my business card, whilst I look on, apparently, musing on man's inhumanity to man.


(And check out my groovy 50's "Try Your Luck" Las Vegas purse with  glitter and real dice.)

June 11, 2008

Let Us Eat Boeuf Cake

You can keep your Nobel Prizes, your Emmys, Grammys, Tonys, Sneezys and Grumpys; I am about to receive one of the highest honors known to dames. The Dames du Boeuf have invited me to one of their rarefied outingss tonight. Les Dames are a select group of groovy ladies who appreciate the finer, older things in life. These vintage vixens get together every few months or so to have some smart cocktails and dine at one of New York City's old-school boites. 


As their feature in the New York Times put it: "They favor places with a sense of history and glamour, even if the former is sketchy and the latter has faded. And they dress the part, donning vintage clothing culled from years of diligent thrift shopping. With their combination of appetite, style and moxie, they manage to resurrect and inhabit a bygone New York most of us know only from the movies." 

And, as if that weren't enough -- and let's face it, it IS -- the Dames even have their own insignia. I'm down with anyone or anything with an insignia. (I'm thinking mine would include a picture of a lipstick, a puppy, and maybe a stack of pancakes on it.) The insignia is "shaped like a heraldic crest...[and] features a fork and a knife, a cocktail shaker, a diamond and a "No squares" symbol. Many of the Dames proudly wear the emblem on a notebook, a wallet or some other accessory. The other marker is a medallion with a steer's head depicted on the front. (It was a part of the uniform Miriam Linna, a Dame member, wore when she waited tables at a Brew Burger in Manhattan in the 1970's.) At the conclusion of each outing, the medallion is awarded to the Dame who best exemplified the group's ethos that night." 

Anyway, my friend the preternaturally adorable Coco Doane is one of the beefy "dame-sels" and through her sweet efforts tonight they have seen fit to let me in on the action. As if eating weren't enough -- and let's face it, it is -- I get to meet some fabulous women who love les vielles choses as much as I. For once I won't be the only woman in the joint flossin' a wasp-waist and rhinestones. 

True to form, tonight's restaurant is charmingly antiquated; there's apparently no door, one has to be buzzed in. When I arrive I won't be a bit surprised if I see Anita Loos and Robert Benchley at the bar, telling me yes, I am in fact dead and I've arrived in heaven just in time for cocktails. Whee!