Erin O'Riordan writes smart, whimsical erotica. Her erotic romance novel trilogy, Pagan Spirits, is now available. With her husband, she also writes crime novels. Visit her home page at ko-fi.com.
In
case you missed seashell-bikini-clad Lady Gaga's Video Music Awards
performance on Sunday, August 25th,
don't worry: you'll hear her new hit single "Applause"
everywhere you go soon enough. Mother Monster's lead-off single from
her upcoming ARTPOP
album currently sits at #3 on the iTunes Top Songs chart.
Although
forced to cancel her Born This Way Ball tour in February 2013 due to
a hip injury, Lady Gaga has hardly been out of the limelight leading
up to the August 12th
release of the "Applause" single. Was she always destined
for stardom?
Yes,
says Brendan Jay Sullivan, the author of a book released this week.
In Sullivan's memoir Rivington
Was Ours: Lady Gaga, the Lower East Side and the Prime of Our Lives,
the former DJ, bartender and aspiring novelist, then known as VH1,
tells of the chaotic year he spent DJing for Gaga as she evolved from
a go-go dancer to a magnetic on-stage presence. Even in 2006, he knew
Stefani Germanotta – who already called herself Gaga – would make
it as a pop star.
In
an interview with Salon.com writer Eric R. Danton, Sullivan confesses
he had no hesitation about writing the memoir exposing Gaga's early
days. He actually wanted to set the record straight, to let
mainstream music fans know the singer's New York City nightlife
wasn't as "filthy" and debauched as is sometimes reported.
Club-kid
Gaga, however, did learn her flair for outrageous fashion early, as
"almost a survival skill" for gaining access, getting into
clubs and parties, Sullivan writes.
Rivington
Was Ours
was published August 27, 2013 by !t Books, an imprint of
HarperCollins. Find it at major book retailers including Amazon,
Barnes and Noble, Books-A-Million and the Apple iBookstore.
Lady Gaga's
legion of Little Monsters now have something to read while the await
the November 11th
release of ARTPOP.
Being at the forefront of the contemporary music scene, Lady Gaga certainly knows how to spread news fast in the era of social media. Rather than holding a press conference or a private interview, the 2012 Grammy performer released a ‘leak’ of her 2012-2013 tour details via Twitter.
Recently, followers of Lady Gaga’s Twitter account were treated to a first look at the official poster for the Born This Way Ball, which will start touring sometime later this year and run through into 2013. Gaga described the poster as “a bit of homework” that she “finished early and felt compelled to leak after too much wine.”
The poster displays an apocalyptic scene with the singer’s memorable visage materializing out of wisps of smoke and clouds. Below this image is a gothic castle structure, complete with a medieval tower to one side and a stone staircase climbing backwards. At the front of the stage is Gaga herself accompanied by four men in suits, all of whom are standing casually against the ominous backdrop. And below all of this: simply the words “Lady Gaga” and “The Born This Way Ball” in large block letters. The overall style of the poster is quite powerful, with elements of pink and turquoise neon cutting through the gothic monochrome that dominates the scene. Gaga has made strong efforts to set the tone for her new tour, even in this early stage of development. If the poster is to be any indication it will be as theatrical as fans have come to expect from the singer over the years.
As well as preserving the eccentric Gaga flourish that all of her fans are familiar with, it can be noted that this image is very different in style from any other work previously offered by Lady Gaga, including her previous live outing, The Monster Ball Tour. That tour, which ran from November 2009 to May 2011 in hundreds of sold out venues around the world, saw Gaga perform her best songs in a modern-day New York City backdrop, that the singer went to great lengths to ensure was authentic and unique (a subway car, lighted marquees, and giant monster all added to the show’s weirdness).
In the lead-up to the reveal of the new poster, Lady Gaga described the elaborate stage set. “I'm so excited. The Haus has been working so hard, we can't wait for you to see it!!' she teased, before adding, 'Love you Little Monsters, have the time of your life.” With this new poster, along with an accompanying sketch of her forthcoming tour stage, fans can begin to get excited for what’s to come on the tour. The only real question now is when fans can expect the first tour dates to be announced. Gaga herself put any rumors to bed, again in the form of a tweet: “Tomorrow at 11AM PST the first tour dates for THE BORN THIS WAY BALL will be released. I will also tweet the 1st official tour poster!”
(Do you love that Gaga's co-star in "You & I"/current boyfriend is Taylor Kinney, who played werewolf Mason Lockwood on The Vampire Diaries? The song is actually about her ex, Luc Carl, but it's Kinney who gets to play Dr. Frankenstein here.)
22. "Material Girl" - Kris Bowers. From the Bridgerton soundtrack; I've neither read nor watched the Netflix Regency romance series, but I like these pop songs done in a chamber music style.
62. "Mo Money, Mo Problems," The Notorious B.I.G., Mase, Diddy
63. "What's Up?" - 4 Non Blondes
64. "Our Love Is Done" - Hannah Juanita
65. "Do What You Want" - Lady Gaga, Christina Aguilera
66. "Glory of the 80s" - Tori Amos
67. "The River of Dreams" - Billy Joel
68. "No Myth" - Michael Penn
69. "How Will I Know?" - Whitney Houston - Tit and I also saw The Bodyguard, the musical, live on stage in 2023.
70. "Tonight I'll Be Staying Here" - Bob Dylan
71. "Sirius" - The Alan Parsons Project. Which I believe was some kind of hovercraft. (That's a Simpsons reference, but in real life, this is the song that traditionally introduces the starting lineup of the Chicago Bulls.)
72. "Bitch I'm Madonna" - Madonna with Nicki Minaj
94. "Rock Your Baby" - Wanda Jackson. Goddess bless Wanda Jackson. She is 86 years old and recently put out a cover of Juice Newton's "Queen of Hearts" with Leilah Safka. (Leilah's mother Melanie Safka, who performed under the mononym Melanie, had such hits as "Brand New Key.")
Happy Krampusnacht to all who celebrate. Don't forget to leave your shoes out for St. Nicholas to fill with goodies tonight, if you haven't been naughty and carried away by Krampus in his sack!
I bought this for my nephews.
My Top 100 Songs of the Spotify Year*:
1. Hymn to Virgil - Hozier: Not my literary art-rock ass loving a song about Dante's Inferno.
10. Nina Cried Power - Hozier: It's not the waking, it's the rising.
11. Disease - Lady Gaga: Up from its #50 position last year, when it had barely come out before the Wrapped cutoff date came up.
12. Cold Cold Ground - Tom Waits: In September 2024,Homicide: Life on the Street actors Kyle Secor and Reed Diamond started a podcast. I re-listened to some of the songs that were on the series when it originally aired (although not used in the streaming version on the Peacock network).
13. Spirits - The Devil Makes Three: I learned this song from a playlist on Jessie Lynn McMains's Substack.
14. The Devil's Nine Questions - Carolyn Kendrick: This neo-folk recommendation came from a podcast but I forgot which one.
23. Stay - Maurice Williams and the Zodiacs. These oldies are from Perry's Mix Tape for Truman.
24. Cruel Summer - Taylor Swift: My #4 song last year and probably the Taylor Swift song that brings me the purest joy. But I can only listen to it in the summer. I abandon it when autumn comes. I forgot that I started listened to it because of Good Omens.
I have to admit, the revelation that Neil Gaiman is a garbage heap of a human being really dulled my enthusiasm for Ineffable Spouses. David Tennant and Michael Sheen, it's not your fault.
25. Burn Your Village - Kiki Rockwell
26. Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening - Robert Frost, Blake X: This poem is really nicely set to a melody. And I can only listen to it in the winter. I'm a mood listener as much as I am a mood reader.
27. Poet - Bastille: My #6 song from last year, I made myself chill out on listening to it quite so much so it wouldn't completely lose its power to affect me.
38. Kill of the Night - Gin Wigmore: I know this one from the first season of The Umbrella Academy.
39. Gin House Blues - Nina Simone
40. Ava Adore - The Smashing Pumpkins
41. Aloha Lucifer - Melanie [Safka], Charming Disaster: This is a particularly cute song, in which the singer claims to have ended up at Hell's gate by confusing the mellow "hang loose" hand gesture of Hawaiian culture with the "horned hands" hand gesture of Satanists and heavy metal enthusiasts.
49. How Bad Do U Want Me - Lady Gaga: Mayhem again.
50. Take Me to Church - MILCK
51. Where Did You Sleep Last Night - Sleigh Bells
52. Saints - The Breeders
53. Peacefield - Ghost: This one is about the Russian Revolution, I'm pretty sure.
54. Danger - The Vantages
55. Yes, I'm a Witch - Yoko Ono
56. Lover Please - Melissa Etheridge: Up from its #92 spot on last year's list.
57. True Religion - Shygirl, Club Shy
58. Kiss the Go-goat - Ghost
59. Goddess - PVRIS: Honestly? I can't remember what this song sounds like or what inspired me to listen to it. It's, like, deleted from my memory banks.
60. Building a Mystery - Goodwerks: The Sarah McLachlan song with a male vocalist; it's so Dean Winchester-coded that I put it on the Destiel playlist.
67. Creep - Scala & Kolaczny Bros.: I know this cover from the Simpsons episode "The D'oh-cial Network." I know the Radiohead original from being a teenager in the '90s.
68. 1979 - The Smashing Pumpkins
69. Down Bad - Taylor Swift: This one is so brilliantly written, with its comparison of a failed love affair to an alien abduction.
70. Super Bon Bon - Soul Coughing: This one was also used on the Homicide: Life on the Street soundtrack in its original run.
83. Paparazzi - Lady Gaga: Because Alexander Skarsgard was in the music video and I remembered that when I watched Skarsgard as a self-aware robot construct on the tv series Murderbot.
Skarsgard Aside: I have to see the above-mentioned Swede in his recent film Pillion. He plays the leader of a biker gang who enters a BDSM relationship with a repressed young man. The young man is played by Harry Melling.
84. Stay ( Faraway, So Close!) - U2
85. Shallow - Lady Gaga, Bradley Cooper
86. Black Parade - Beyonce
87. Gimme Shelter - Merry Clayton
88. Love Potion No. 9 - The Clovers
89. So Cruel - U2
90. I Need - Meredith Brooks
91. Wish I Knew You - The Revivalists
92. II Most Wanted - Beyonce, Miley Cyrus
93. Bodies Hit the Floor - Sofi Tukker, Drowning Pool
98. Damn I Wish I Was Your Lover - Sophie B. Hawkins
99. Low - Cracker
100. Venus - Bananarama: Yep, I love my girl groups.
*Fuck ICE. Chinga la migra. Yes, I share a Spotify subscription with my spouse. No, we do not agree with Spotify's decision to accept advertisements from the United States equivalent of the Gestapo.
On Saturday I went to the discount bookstore, as I may have mentioned. I picked up three books in Nalini Singh's Psy Changeling series, as well as a stack of magazines (they sell them for $1 each) and, for only $1.40, Breaking the Da Vinci Code by Darrell L. Bock, Ph.D.
This last one is a 2004 book about Dan Brown's book that was first published in 2001. I know this is a subject that was popular 100 years ago in pop culture time, but if you've been reading this blog very long, you know I love to read about books I've read. This isn't the first time I've read a book that supplements The Da Vinci Code. I already own Da Vinci Code Decoded by Martin Lunn (which I've read) and The Unauthorized Dan Brown Companion edited by John Helfers (2006 - I have skimmed it, but not read it the whole way through).
Now I've read Breaking the Da Vinci Code. I very much enjoyed it. Bock is a Protestant Biblical scholar, and his book looks at various ancient texts mentioned in Dan Brown's book to show systematically, using the original source material, that 1) the books of the Bible are as authentic a historical source as any other ancient text, and probably much more so, and 2) the ancient texts show very clearly that the relationship between Jesus and Mary Magdalene was understood by witnesses of their time to be teacher/student, not sexual or a marriage relationship.
One of the sources that Bock addresses is Against Heresies (Adversus Haereses in Latin), a second-century work by Irenaeus, considered one of the "church fathers" and a Catholic saint. Irenaeus, a bishop of what is now Lyons, France, but which was then part of the Roman Empire, wrote in part to combat the Gnostic writings of Valentinus, which were popular in Lyons at the time. Valentinus was a Hellenic Egyptian; he or his followers wrote The Gospel of Truth, which was rediscovered in modern times at Nag Hammadi in 1945.
Bock quotes Frederica Mathewes-Green, an Eastern Orthodox Biblical scholar, in her magazine article "What Heresy?" (Books and Culture, November-December 2003). Mathewes-Green wrote:
"The version attributed to Valentinus, the best-known Gnostic, is typical. Valentinus supposedly taught a hierarchy of spiritual beings called 'aeons.' One of the lowest aeons, Sophia, fell and gave birth to the Demiurge, the God of the Hebrew Scriptures. This evil Demiurge created the visible world, which was a bad thing, because now we pure spirits are all tangled up in fleshy bodies. Christ was an aeon who took possession of the body of the human Jesus, and came to free us from the prison of materiality.
"'Us,' by the way, didn't mean everybody. Not all people have a divine spark within, just intellectuals; 'gnosis,' by definition, concerns what you know. Some few who are able to grasp these insights could be initiated into deeper mysteries. Ordinary Christians, who lacked sufficient brainpower, could only obtain the Demiurge's middle realm. Everyone else was doomed. Under Gnosticism, there was no hope of salvation for most of the human race."
Bock explains that "demiurge" is simple a Greek word that means "maker" or "builder," referring to the making of the material world.
If the story of the cosmic spirit-being Sophia giving birth to evil sounds vaguely familiar, it may be that you, like me, are a fan of Lady Gaga. It's the bones of what Lady Gaga wrote in "The Manifesto of Mother Monster" in the full-length "Born This Way" video.
This is the text of the manifesto:
This is the manifesto of Mother Monster:On G.O.A.T, a Government Owned Alien Territory in space, a birth of magnificent and magical proportions took place. But the birth was not finite; it was infinite. As the wombs numbered, and the mitosis of the future began, it was perceived that this infamous moment in life is not temporal; it is eternal. And thus began the beginning of the new race: a race within the race of humanity, a race which bears no prejudice, no judgment, but boundless freedom. But on that same day, as the eternal mother hovered in the multiverse, another more terrifying birth took place: the birth of evil. And as she herself split into two, rotating in agony between two ultimate forces, the pendulum of choice began its dance. It seems easy, you imagine, to gravitate instantly and unwaveringly towards good. But she wondered, “How can I protect something so perfect without evil?”
That the text represents Gnosticism is not my idea, but rather something I read at MKCulture (which you may remember from last year's conspiracy theory post), an inactive blog that is, as of this writing, still able to be accessed. The blogger doesn't elaborate much in the blog post "Descendants of Sophia," but writes, "In my last post I explored the ever-present theme of the Goddess archetype within the context of pop culture. That inquiry ended with 'Born This Way,' the latest [as of April 2011] music video from pop star Lady Gaga. In the video Lady Gaga embodies Gnostic Goddess Sophia." The rest of the post veers off into Kate Bush's album, Elliot* Page's career, and then goddesses associated with the owl and the peacock.
The blogger has a YouTube account as well, on which this video can be found. It explains the Gaga-as-Sophia concept in a little bit of detail.
If you want the full "Illuminati" explanation of this same video, visit Vigilant Citizen's "Born This Way" post. I'm not much for Illuminati conspiracy theories. I don't doubt that a small group of people has far more power than it should in this world, and that they probably have some screwed-up ideas about how the world should run, but I also believe pop culture is run more by a quest for increased profit than by some sort of ideological (Masonic/Luciferian/Satanic - depends on who you ask) cabal. But it's there to read, if you want it.
Madonna may be the Material Girl, but Lady Gaga-as-Sophia gave birth to the creator of the material world. Maybe that's why "Born This Way" subtly samples Madonna's "Express Yourself," according to some listeners.
My trusty Woman's Encyclopedia of Myths and Secrets has more than two pages on Sophia, under the heading "Saint Sophia."
Barbara J. Walker describes Sophia (the name literally means "wisdom" in Greek) as "God's mother" but also the shakti, or female soul/power source, of God. Her symbol was the dove, as some of her incarnations include Aphrodite, Isis/Hathor, and "The Holy Ghost." She writes:
"Some said Jesus became Sophia's spouse and his glory depended on this sacred marriage; for he was only one of the Aeons, a minor spirit, the 'common fruit' of the Pleroma [the Gnostic "one true God," a transcendent being].
"Some said Sophia was also Jesus's mother, for she was the Virgin of Light whose spirit entered into the body of Mary to conceive him...Some said Sophia was to God as Metis was to Zeus, his 'mind.'"
Walker goes on to report that when the Church of Hagia Sophia was constructed in Constantinople in the 6th century, it was a shrine to Sophia the Goddess, but to cover up the appearance of goddess worship, Christians made up the "virgin martyr" Saint Sophia. Walker cites the 8th and 9th chapters of the Biblical book of Proverbs as having an ambivalent attitude toward Sophia, or wisdom.
In one passage, following Wisdom is to be praised, but in another, "she sitteth at the door of her house, on a seat in the high places of the city [her temple]," calling to passersby to turn toward her, but if anyone turns into her temple "he knoweth not that the dead are there; and that her guests are in the depths of hell." Walker sees this as two factions - one in favor of worshiping the Goddess Sophia and another that worships only the male God - having a debate.
If Sophia is thought of as the mother/spouse of Jesus, and she's associated with the "high places of the city" (the temple or watchtower, magdala in Hebrew), it's possibly Sophia is also associated with Mary Magdalene.
Perhaps this is another reason why Lady Gaga appears as a Mary Magdalene figure in her "Judas" video, which came out after "Born This Way."
(However, after having watched a little video about Kenneth Anger and Hollywood Babylon the other day, I learned about Anger's experimental film Scorpio Rising. In it, Anger intercut clips of a Biblical drama featuring Jesus with footage of a leather-clad biker, set to 1950s rock 'n roll. The "Judas" video may be an homage to Scorpio Rising. Now, Kenneth Anger - he was openly a Satanist, and would proudly have told you he followed the teachings of Aleister Crowley.)
Neo-Gnosticism is a favorite topic of a blogger I mentioned yesterday, Christopher Loring Knowles. He seems to genuinely believe there is a world of spiritual or energy beings, hidden from us most of the time in the material world, but which seems to break through at times and communicates with us in a language of symbols and coincidences (synchronicities).
VISUP will occasionally mention Gnosticism as well. In one post, VISUP mentions that some Gnostics referred to the Demiurge as Samael, which VISUP says means "blind idiot." Where have I read that name before? In Devil's In the Details, where Samael is the name of Satan's fiance. Synchronicity? Maybe. Dog days of summer weirdness? It's a little early for that, but perhaps.
On Sunday, December 22nd, I watched Joker: Folie à Deux. I didn't enjoy it. I thought I would after roughly the first third, but it descends quickly into grimness after that.
It's a movie that could have been an email. That email would go approximately like this:
From: Todd Phillips
To: Joker Fanboys
Some of you undersocialized incels* took the completely wrong message from the first Joker film. In response, here are three pumps and an apology. Now fuck off forever, weirdos.
With all due respect, which is none,
Todd
*For a nuanced discussion of the so-called manosphere and its relationship to misogyny and male supremacy, please listen to Jamie Loftus's manosphere series on her Sixteenth Minute (Of Fame) podcast.
Todd Phillips, you directed Lady Gaga in A Star Is Born; you know she deserves better than to play the audience stand-in in your fan disservice film. You owe her another movie in which her character is a well-developed and fully rounded human being with complex emotions.
Which is not to say that Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga played their roles badly. I feel they did the best the could with the material they were given. Their dance sequences were lovely. The material simply wasn't very interested in their characters as much as it was interested in pathologizing (certain members of) the audience of the first movie.
Given the recent folk heroization of the 27-year-old man accused of murdering the CEO of United Healthcare, this movie was badly timed as well as uninterestingly written. Americans aren't very much in the mood for a lecture about how the televised murder of a wealthy elite is the worst thing that could happen, more punishable than the daily degradation and abuse visited upon the poor and disenfranchised.
Wasn't one of the intended messages embedded in the first film that Arthur, an abused 7-year-old boy failed by the social safety net, unable as an adult to access the medicine (health care) that would help keep him emotionally stable, deserved real help with his problems? Wasn't Joker in part about institutional failure?
A movie about how individual responses to institutional failure are pathetic, useless, wasted efforts performed by doomed sociopaths is a bit bleak for the moment, Todd Phillips. Sure, no one wants to watch a movie where people from Arthur's neighborhood run for the local housing commission seats and work together to provide more low-income housing for Gotham City's poor.
Still, Lady Gaga was there when Vice President Kamala Harris was inaugurated. She needs a less grim, more hopeful project.
"Lady Gaga enters the inauguration platform as she prepares to sing a rendition of 'The Star-Spangled Banner' at the 59th Presidential Inauguration ceremony in Washington, Jan. 20, 2021. President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris took the oath of office on the West Front of the U.S. Capitol. (DOD Photo by Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Carlos M. Vazquez II)." Carlos M. Vazquez II, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Arthur Fleck's defense attorney is played by Catherine Keener. She was in Hamlet 2, a goofy comedy about high school musicals. The actor who played her character's romantic partner in Hamlet 2 was Steve Coogan, and Steve Coogan also appeared in Folie à Deux as a smarmy tv journalist. That appears to be a coincidence; I didn't see anything that said Keener and Coogan were both friends with Phillips or that Phillips had anything to do with Hamlet 2.
Keener, of course, also played Ms. Nelle Harper Lee in Capote. Always and forever fascinated by Harper Lee and Truman Capote, I happen to be reading Deliberate Cruelty: Truman Capote, the Millionaire's Wife, and the Murder of the Century by Roseanne Montillo.
Everything always comes back to Capote, even the other movie I watched on the 22nd, Dear Santa, in which a middle school English teacher referenced To Kill a Mockingbird. And if that happens to pull once again at my Lucifer thread, then so mote it be.
___
A dream: Yesterday (April 25, 2016) I saw a screen capture from the "Book Job" episode of The Simpsons. In that drawing, a shelf of books about Southern vampires has one called Tru Blood. On the cover, Truman Capote is enjoying a blood martini.
Perhaps because of that cartoon doodle, I dreamed about Capote. In my brain's wacky scenario, I was in a 1960s prison with movie-Dick Hickok, as played by Mark Pellegrino.
I assume Perry Smith was also there, but I didn't see him.
Now, in theory, the male and female prisoners were supposed to be kept separate. In actuality, the prison looked a lot less like a prison and more like a coed dorm. My work detail involved cleaning rooms that women had vacated.
Ordinarily I was very scrupulous in my work. I didn't take any belongings left behind by the other women. But I take a small pink plastic bird and stick it in my pocket. I gave it to Dick because he told me he was saving up to buy a pigeon. He wanted to raise birds, like the Birdman of Alcatraz.
As I sit impatiently waiting for the Grammy Awards show with Lady Gaga's tribute to David Bowie (plus a musical number from the cast of Lin Manuel Miranda's brilliant show Hamilton), please enjoy this essay originally published at the now-defunct Oysters and Chocolate erotica website.
Ever since the days of Sappho, poets and songwriters have been perfecting the art of the playful, uniquely worded verbal flirtation. It didn’t begin with Lady Gaga, but the pop superstar has both blatant sexuality and a way with memorable turns of a phrase. Pluck a few lines from her songs and you’ll find an intriguing roadmap for an erotic encounter with someone special. Go forth and have a wild, fashionable time in the name of Gaga.
Eyeliner and Cigarettes
It starts with a look. Biologists will tell you the first stage of the human mating ritual is eye contact. Wide eyes signal interest; in fact, when we meet someone we’re really interested in, our pupils dilate. Eyeliner is an artificial way of making our eyes look bigger, a sort of cosmetic flirt. The effect can be especially striking on guys, for whom wearing make-up is a rebellious sign of going against society’s grain. Eyeliner instantly makes a guy look like a rock star, or like Johnny Depp in Pirates of the Caribbean. Either could be a very hot look.
A night of passion doesn’t have to begin with eyeliner, though. Whatever kind of flair makes you feel like a sexier, flirtier version of yourself will work. The cigarettes, likewise, don’t have to be literal. Cigarettes, like eyeliner on a man, could be anything rebellious. They could also represent what relaxes you, whether it’s a dirty martini, an aromatherapy bath, or a mellow iTunes playlist. Of course, all you phlegms fatale are welcome to light up if it’s what floats your boat. Indulge yourself in a moment of relaxation and a little flair before the big night to boost your confidence.
Got your relaxation on? Good. Do you look as good as you feel? Excellent. Now go where the night takes you--drinks, dinner, dancing, maybe even something that doesn’t start with D.
French Kissed on a Subway Train
You’ve gone out, showed off your look and done whatever it is you two crazy kids do for fun these days. You’ve decided on his/her place or yours--now you have to get back there. Driving offers privacy, but you can’t drive with a buzz on. If you’re lucky enough to live in a city with a subway, elevated train or trolley car system, train cars can be an ideal spot for foreplay.
It may help to know the laws in your area about sex acts in public and semi-public places to know how far you can push it. In the U.K., public nudity and sexual expression are covered by the Sexual Offences Act of 2003. Sexuality activity is permitted in any place a couple can reasonably expect to have privacy, and an otherwise-empty subway car may fit that definition. In the U.S., laws vary by state, but you may face a fine or even probation if cited for disturbing the peace or public indecency.
Don’t let the legal mumbo-jumbo scare you off, though. Kissing and light petting aren’t likely to raise a legal eyebrow, and a public encounter can provide an intoxicating rush of adrenaline. Actor Mary-Louise Parker recommends hotel hallways for hanky-panky and calls the risk of getting caught “worth it every time.”
Leather Studded Kiss in the Sand
Like eyeliner, black leather with metals studs In the ‘50s, leather and studs were for bikers, and they were decidedly bad company. Cultural relics like Vaughan Monroe’s record “Black Denim Trousers and Motorcycle Boots” helped cement that rebellious image, and rock stars have been rocking the leather look ever since. On one hand, leather has mainstreamed. Designers like Michael Kors and Donna Karan continually draw inspiration for couture creations from vintage leathers. On the other hand, leather is increasingly politically incorrect as animal rights gain momentum.
Leather is also a fashion--and function--staple of the BDSM scene. If you’re feeling a tiny bit adventurous, spice up your night look with a studded leather collar, belt, or bustier. If you’ve got a mate with a foot or leg fetish, a pair of studded boots might be just the ticket.
For vegans and those who choose not to use animal products, there are an ever-increasing variety of sexy leather alternatives. Some are made of latex or acrylic, and others are blended microfibers. If faux leather shoes make you think of Birkenstocks, think again. You can find stylish leather alternatives from Charlotte Russe, Kate Spade, Steve Madden, Fantasia Wear, Victoria’s Secret, and perennial lingerie favorite Frederick’s of Hollywood, among many others.
Tempting as it is to have the classic From Here to Eternity moment on a tide-swept beach, the sand doesn’t have to be literal either. It can represent your mental “happy place.” The happy place is about more than mere relaxation; it’s about actively fantasizing about everything that makes you happy. Your fantasies are safely confined inside your mind, so go wherever your deepest desires want to carry you.
Love You With My Hands Tied
You’ve flirted with the BDSM look; now you might choose to kick the kink up a notch. You could try leather restraints, leashes, a body harness, a straightjacket or another type of full-body restraint. Bondage and sex toy sites, whether on the Internet or in your neighborhood, offer intriguing adult playthings for all sexual tastes.
If you’d like to try restraint play for the first time (or the first time with a new partner), use common-sense safety and comfort measures. Establish some boundaries and agree on a safe word that stops all play, no questions asked. Keep an eye on a person who’s restrained, and never cover up both the nose and mouth, especially when using a gag. Play delicately around the joints, face, neck and other body parts that can easily be injured, and realize holding one position for a long time can cause fatigue and discomfort. If you choose handcuffs, look for the kind that don’t tighten under pressure. Beyond these practical matters, your comfort level and imagination are the only limits.
Take a Ride on Your Disco Stick
One couldn’t be blamed for associating the stick with a dick, making this step rather self-evident. In the spirit of Gagaesque sexual adventure, you may want to mix it up a bit. While shopping for the leather-studded kiss in the sand, you might have come across a variety of vibrators and dildos. There seem to be as many varieties of faux dicks as flowers in the springtime. You may also have seen a strap-on harness or two; consider this permission to experiment with pegging, if you’ve ever wanted to. Make no apologies for your desires, ‘cause baby, you were born this way.
If penetration isn’t your sexual cup of tea, feel free to focus less on the stick and more on the disco. Create an aural experience with music that puts you and your partner in the mood. If your LoveGame leads you toward female-dominated play, your soundtrack might include the Velvet Underground’s “Venus in Furs,” Tina Turner’s feminist-reclamation cover of the Rolling Stones’ “Under My Thumb,” and…well, lots of Lady Gaga’s songs.
Parker, Mary-Louise. March 26, 2009. “Why Having Sex in Public is Worth It (Every Time).” Retrieved from the Esquire website: http://www.esquire.com/features/Dilemmas/sex-in-public-0409
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. (n.d.) “PETA’s Shopping Guide to Compassionate Clothing: Companies That Sell Leather and Fur Alternatives.” Retrieved from the PETA website: http://www.peta.org/living/fashion/
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Once upon a time, I used to host a link on this blog to Nibiru Planet X, a conspiracy theory blog. Its author, Ray Austin, contacted me and asked me if I wanted to host a link on my blog in exchange for a link on Nibiru. I put up his link, but I don't think he ever put up mine. But anyway...
What caught my eye about the post mentioned in the link was that it was about Lady Gaga. I'm a fan. Why, only yesterday I was moved to express my support for Mother Monster on Mandy Nicole's blog Pretty Little Endeavors, when Mandy expressed the opinion that she much preferred Madonna to Gaga. But anyway...
I ended up spending a great deal of time reading over MK Culture. Its main premise seems to be that much of pop culture is directly related to, and influenced by, something called Project MKUltra, which a Wikipedia entry defines as "a covert, illegal human research program into behavior modification run by the Central Intelligence Agency's (CIA) Office of Scientific Intelligence. The program began in the early 1950s, was officially sanctioned in 1953, was reduced in scope in 1964, further curtailed in 1967 and finally halted in 1973." Yeshua contends, however, that it still goes on, and that young pop stars all show signs of having been indoctrinated into a specific mind control program.
Creative Commons
Yeshua has a large number of posts related to Lady Gaga, dating back to 2009. One titled "Just Dance" also makes reference to Madonna, Beyonce, Rihanna, Ciara, Britney Spears, and Janet Jackson, among other pop cultural phenomena. Across several blog posts, Yeshua contends that the on-stage or on-record alternate personalities represented by pop stars (Beyonce's Sasha Fierce, Janet Jackson's Damita Jo, Madonna's Dita) actually represent alternate personalities caused by intentional personality-splitting through ritualistic abuse.
Public domain
It was an odd thing to read - and, like a supermarket tabloid, it was far too odd, disturbing and intriguing to stop reading. Here are a few highlights of the blog, in chronological order:
I notice a lot of these female pop stars are people whose names are already listed in my tags, women I've already blogged about. What does this say about me?
Branching off from Yeshua's blog, I read this intriguing post about the symbolism in The Prestige (the movie that caused me to fall in love with Christian Bale). Then I explored the blog Invoking Mother Spirit (now defunct). Some interesting stuff there, too, such as: Whitney Houston, Michael Jackson, and Amy Winehouse all died on the eve of major awards shows. To my chagrin, it didn't actually have much to do with mother spirit. I love my goddess symbolism, not because I belong to the Illuminati (or want to) but because I'm a witch. That's my spirituality.
I'm not saying I agree or disagree with any of the theories presented in the posts I read. They were just something that caught my interest today.
This November, I'm thankful for the big things and for the little things. Most importantly, I'm thankful for my awesome husband/co-writer Tit Elingtin, my family, having a warm house and food, clean water, being able to read and write, having had the chance to go to school and freedom of speech. I'm thankful whenever someone reads one of my books. I’m grateful to live within walking distance of a library.
I'm grateful to live in the U.S., where various religious groups coexist peacefully most of the time. I was raised Catholic (it didn't stick), sometimes attend Episcopalian (Church of England) services, have one Jewish grandmother, observe the Pagan wheel of the year, revere a variety of goddesses and love Shiva. I cherish being free to practice the religious traditions that are meaningful to me. I cherish learning from a wide variety of philosophies and traditions.
At the risk of being labeled a crazy cat lady writer, I’m also thankful for my feline familiar, James the cat:
His face looks a little bit like a butterfly.
Every year at Thanksgiving time, I also like to take time to be grateful for the little things that make life so pleasant and interesting. There are many of them, so I could go on and on. In the interest of avoiding endless rambling, I decided to share just ten of my many, many favorite things. In no particular order, they are:
1 - Playing in the park with my nieces
2 - The music of Lady Gaga. It works well with many kinds of video, including the Powerpuff Girls.
[2024 Update: The Lady Gaga/Powerpuff Girls mashup video is no longer available on YouTube.]
3 - The Vampire Diaries Season 3. Pretty much anything with vampires, really. Or werewolves.
4 - Wuthering Heights (and its vampire version, Wuthering Bites).
5 - Green tea with pomegranate, pumpkin spice latte, and other hot beverages that make winter a little easier to take.
6 - Dark chocolate-covered cherries. Dark chocolate in general. Milk chocolate, occasionally.
7 - Draft Guinness
8 - The Simpsons. Maybe it’s because there’s a little bit of brainy, opinionated, nature-loving Lisa Simpson in me, but I like to have my near-daily Simpsons fix. Except on Saturday; that’s when I watch Futurama.
9 - The river view out my kitchen window, and the sound of the not-too-distant waterfall.
10 - Anything and everything having to do with my #1 celebrity crush, Christian Bale.
Have a blessed and peaceful Thanksgiving, and may you have many things to be grateful for. In case you don't visit my blog again next month, I'll say it now: have a wonderful Winter Solstice, a happy Hanukkah and a merry Christ(ian Bale)mas.
Now it's your turn. What's one thing you're thankful for?
Guinness photo by Aaron Keys, public domain image.
You may recall from yesterday's post that I was eagerly, not-so-patiently awaiting the Hamilton performance on last night's Grammys telecast, as well as Lady Gaga's tribute to the recently deceased David Bowie. I wasn't disappointed by either of those musical moments! Here are some of my other favorites.
'Hamilton' genius creator/performer Lin-Manuel Miranda
Creative Commons image by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation
Taylor Swift started off the program with a performance of her "Out of the Woods," the latest single from her 1989 album. Meh. Personally I think the singles peaked at "Blank Space" and have been getting steadily less interesting ever since. "Style?" Pretty good song. I like the reference to James Dean and that Vampire Academy hottie Dominic Sherwood appears in the video. "Bad Blood?" Frankly, I think the song's a little cheesy. The "Band-Aids don't fix bullet holes" line is my favorite thing about the lyrics. "Out of the Woods" - I can barely even think of any of the lyrics other than:
Are we out of the woods yet?
Are we out of the woods yet?
Are we out of the woods yet?...
...You get the idea. Swift looked AMAZING, though, both in her daring two-piece red carpet ballgown and in the starlit bodysuit she performed in. (It did remind me a little of Beyonce's dark blue bodysuit on an awards show of several years ago.)
A performance I liked a lot better was Little Big Town's haunting live rendition of "Girl Crush." The song itself won 2 Grammys.
One thing I wasn't expecting to see during the Grammys was the trailer for the third Divergent Series movie, Allegiant. I found myself unexpectedly choked up by the sight of Shailene Woodley as Tris Prior.
Commercials give me feelings. I also choked up just a little bit when I saw the trailer for Tim Burton's Through the Looking Glass. Alice was following a blue butterfly, and when the butterfly spoke, it was in the voice of Alan Rickman, also recently deceased. The movie actually looks interesting - even though I don't love Johnny Depp's over-the-top Mad Hatter performance - but it's always bittersweet to see a beloved, late actor in one of their last roles. (See Also: Robin Williams in the surprisingly-good Night at the Museum 3.)
Shortly after the Through the Looking Glass spot, the Hamilton cast performed, and it was an exquisite pleasure. Equally moving, though? When the Hamilton cast recording won its Grammy, Lin-Manuel Miranda whipped out his acceptance speech and proceeded to perform it as a rap. This guy's a bona fide musical genius - to live at this moment is like being alive when George Gershwin put out Rhapsody in Blue.
Then, after I got Tit Elingtin hooked up on his dialysis machine, we could relax and enjoy Lady Gaga's David Bowie tribute. Which was amazing. The only thing I wished she'd have done differently was spend a little more time on "Rebel Rebel."
The part I really didn't think I would like, but that I ended up liking, was the tribute to Lionel Ritchie. Ritchie's music reminds me of my childhood- '80s kid here - but I can't exactly say I'm a fan. And, when I was a kid, "Hello" used to make me cry. It's not even a sad song, per say--more about longing than actual sadness. But I have some funny brain chemistry and slow-paced songs will sometimes affect me with mood contagion in a way that doesn't feel too good.
And yet! When Demi Lovato performed a fragment of "Hello," I genuinely enjoyed it.
But then, I like Demi Lovato. Maybe because she's a feminist. Maybe because she sang "Cool For the Summer," in which the heterosexual performer sounded decidedly heteroflexible for another girl*. Great, very catchy song, and she looks incredibly sexy in the video.
My girl crush on Demi Lovato is not platonic.
Some parts of the Grammys show I really didn't care for. I didn't like the song Adele performed, which she co-wrote with Bruno Mars. I haven't been enjoying Adele's latest album much at all. None of the singles have been upbeat rockers like "Rolling in the Deep." But even if she hadn't had technical difficulties with the microphone on the piano, I still wouldn't have enjoyed the overly-sentimental song with lyrics that didn't make much sense.
I also didn't like the duet between Tori Kelly and James Bay much. (Both of them lost Best New Artist to Meghan Trainor, who was adorably flustered and tearful when she won.) Kelly's half of the performance was good, but Bay seemed like he was whispering, tentative, or not trying as hard as Kelly. He may be very talented, but I wouldn't have known it based on the Grammys.
We turned off the TV and went to sleep during the Vampires of Hollywood performance. Overall, it was a Grammys telecast well worth watching.
*At that time, Lovato publicly identified as a woman. This was prior to their coming out as nonbinary.
All In: 25 Erotic Stories
