Public art, Central Square

Public art, Central Square, originally uploaded by madduane.

Hello, down there!

Hello, down there!, originally uploaded by madduane.

Project Runway Season 8, Ep 3

°They start the episode with Gretchen's bigheadedness.
°Then, the very truncated "Models of the Runway" ep, illustrating why the show was so unnecessary.
°Challenge is to use materials from a party supplies store.
°A. J. is under pressure to produce, because of his audition garment, and apparently much of his output is in this genre.
°Casanova is complaining that he doesn't know what to use as material.
°Peach uses -- surprise! -- pink.
°Casanova killed a plush puppy (actually, two plush puppies)!!! OH, NO!!!
°Andy is braiding pieces of black & silver ribbon. This looks like a lot of work.
°Michael C. doesn't say what he's thinking to people's faces, only to the camera later. Do not trust him!
°Gretchen needs to take a dose of STFU. Seriously.
°Kristen made Tim say "Wooly balls!" He turns a lovely shade of bright red.
°Lots of glue guns! Right before the runway, it seemed like every designer had a glue gun in their hands.
°Kudos to April and Peach for helping Andy finish his dress. It is really beautiful.
°A. J.'s dress is kind of a disaster.
°Gretchen made something nice. Damn her.
°Someone described Kristen's dress as a jellyfish. How apt.
°Sarah! Sorry about that dress. It is so sad!
°Valerie's dress is a knockout. The black & white napkins give a nice volume, and the lines are so cool.
°They had the designers in the middle of the pack in the green room talking about the high & low end designers that were still out on the runway. They seemed to have a really good idea who was on top and who was in trouble. Nailed it, in fact, in my opinion.
°A. J. is so stressed. He's really seeming high strung.
°At least Gretchen didn't win.
°Casanova survives yet again.
°And then at the end, there's a michegoss involving ambulances. There are 3, but we only see 1 person in trouble. I think Ivy inhaled too many glue fumes.

Status Report

Today's kind of a big day. Kind of. There's bigger coming.

But today, I talk to my bosses about being Diane at work. I'm thinking it will be a good conversation (I think both R. and K. are awesome!) but it's making me a little nervous. I'll report back on the meeting after, though it may take me a couple of days to get to it. Today & tomorrow are pretty chock-full.

A little story I'd like to relate briefly: I was at the bus stop for the commute in, and this older guy (probably in his 60s) in his big boat of a Mercedes convertible, top down, blasting the Grateful Dead, is obviously just enjoying the morning & his music. At some point, I get the feeling he's checking me out. "Really?" I think. "Me?" I kind of mentally shrug. OK, that's cool. I assume it's because I was the only female object in viewing distance, but I'll take it. It felt good, actually.

Which brings me back to my situation today. I basically wear what I would call low-key female dress these days. I've talked about the t-shirt and jeans thing before, and that's what I have on today. Usually, I'm in this little space in the basement with my immediate supervisor, D, and what I wear doesn't matter so much. K. wants to meet in her office, so I'm thinking I may have misjudged a little. I tend to worry about what I'm wearing, so I'm nervous for that reason. I'll ask D what she thinks.

Another topic: My life has been really full lately, I get on these jags where there's a lot going on socially & tonight I have a couple of medical appointments & tomorrow I have a discussion group thing, so I'm borrowing a few minutes to make this post, but it's going to take me probably until Friday to get to episode 3 of Runway. I'll probably blog both 3 and 4 on Friday.

That's it! Stay cool, people! :)

Project Runway Season 8 Ep 2

°So, I find myself hoping that Jason and Casanova go home, in that order. That should come as no surprise.
°Mondo is cute, but shy. I hope he finds some friends on the show.
°Jason’s “8 for infinity” idea seems really dumb. I have no idea how he can make that flattering and beautiful.
°Peach has picked a print on white again. At least she realizes immediately that she’s got a problem.
°I feel like Casanova is asking other people to do his design work for him. I find it annoying, but I can also see another side of it. He’s trying to be social and to reach out. I just think it’s not the most appropriate way to go about it. Am I wrong?
°Tim walks in, and it’s obvious that everyone’s stressing…
°I like Tim giving Mondo props.
°Jason has concerned Tim again. I’m with Tim on this one.
°In the background I’m noticing Michael’s dress, and I love the fabric he’s chosen!
°They really are ratcheting up the tension on this season. At times it’s more palatable than in any of the seasons’s I’ve watched before.
°Gretchen is helping Casanova. Why does this annoy me so much? “Hips buddies” makes me laugh, though.
°Peach is really struggling. I like Peach a lot, but I’m really not clear what’s going to happen with her. It’s early to say, and I think there’s some kind of breakthrough coming, but what will it be? I love that she’s mad good & fast at sewing. But even she is unhappy with what she’s made this week.
°OK, so Mondo also gets some help from Valerie, so maybe I have to ease up on Casanova. Mondo wasn’t asking about his garment, though, only accessories.
°The photo shoot does show the dresses in a different light.
°Jason’s dress is a complete disaster. Safety pins. Swear to God! And he wants the judges to go easy on him. Bye, bye, Jason. Please!
°On the runway, Jason’s dress looks even worse, and he totally doesn’t even realize it.
°Michael D.’s dress is too short! Sad!
°Casanova’s dress is OK.
°Not sure how I feel about Kristen’s outfit. All the hems are so weird. I just can’t sort it out for myself.
°Mondo’s outfit is pretty awesome.
°Casanova survives for another week.
°Michael Kors says you could wear a tank top under Gretchen’s thing. I’m picturing that, and it’s totally blowing my mind! Nothing I would have thought of. That’s something simple. I have lots to learn…

Being Read

Today I was out doing a little exercise walk and a little food shopping and got read twice.

I was in the local coffee shop ordering an iced coffee, and the guy behind the counter first gets my order wrong, then rings it up wrong, then tries to give me the wrong change. I'm trying to console him about it and all of a sudden he startles a little bit, but doesn't say anything. I kind of have a feeling I know what's happened, and it's confirmed a little later when I'm walking out, and as I'm going past the counter he calls out excitedly to one of his fellow employees. I don't react and keep going. My assessment is that the guy's an idiot. The fact is that I am so over being embarrassed about this stuff. Mostly I get frustrated & feel like I need to keep improving my presentation. I know it's a process and most of the time I pass. It's just every once in a while that stuff like this happens.

A little later, I was walking through the parkland near my house and there's this totally cherubic little boy, probably about 3 years old, out enjoying the day with his mom. He's so beautiful and I smile at him. He smiles back. I look away for a second and when I look back, he's got this cross look on his face, and an accusing look in his eye directed at me.

That one is a little more difficult to sort out my feelings about. Kids and gender is a very touchy area for any number of reasons. None of them has to do with me being in the wrong for sorting out and dealing with my own gender issues. I also need to point out that for me, and for transpeople in general, these issues go back to before that stage of development. I know that I was already struggling with gender identity when I was his age. I am, however, not completely sorted about what it means for little kids, who are so wrapped up in figuring out their own identities, and the way we acculturate kids into this ironclad gender binary view. It was the cause of a lot of hell for me, for sure. It's something I really need to find out more about. I'll be talking to my therapist about it, and I guess I need to do some early childhood development research, too.

For now, I draw some of the same conclusions I draw from the first incident. I put the burden on myself to continue working on presenting as female as well as I can.

Coco Chanel

The more I look at the work of Coco Chanel, the more awestruck I become. I have posted about Paul Poiret here. I love the pictures of his work that I've seen. Coco Chanel is the designer who rendered him, and every designer that came before, obsolete. And, though she revolutionized fashion in the post World War One era, and there are many designers who have come along and also revolutionized fashion, no one has rendered Chanel obsolete.



I'm reading up on fashion history right now, and Chanel's work stands out. Her designs freed women, literally. The fashion and the rules regarding dress at the time, especially women of means, were restrictive and regimented, including a requirement to wear corsets for much of each day. Chanel's designs must have been in direct response to this. She drew long, slightly curved and sinuous lines, where prior to her, and for many decades previously, clothes were designed around an exaggerated s-curve that was idealized and not a naturally occurring female shape.

Towards the end of the video included here, there are modern runway and red carpet shots of her clothes. They seem very modern to me, and also very classic. Her color palette, at least for the designs shown here, seems very subdued, but I love all these clothes. I'll try, at some point, to do a better job of talking about why her fashion and her approach move me so much.

Project Runway Season 8, Ep 1

I have resolved to take some time with each episode this season and make some comments.

°The first line that comes across to me as something I resonate with is when Kristin Simms says "Embrace the crooked zipper!" I hope that's the spirit of this season.
°Peach is interesting. She seems to be the queen of the absurd one-liners. I'm expecting her to keep me entertained.
°I think the whole "You're not on the show yet" thing is disingenuous, because, um, yes they are. They just don't have a bed at Atlas yet. I do kind of get it though, it ratchets up the tension right from the start.
°Casanova was told the item would be incorporated into a design. He wasn't the only one who didn't hear that, though.
°I do like the more detailed sessions with Tim.
°Right from the time of Tim's kibbutz with Casanova, I feel like he's in trouble.
°When Tim looks away from Jason's backwards kimono, his expression is priceless.
°I'm liking Mondo's design, and Peach's is pleasing me, too. I don't know what it is with me and prints, but I am almost always drawn to them.
°Two of the weakest designers have brought up the idea of the mohawk: McKell & Jason. It's an idea, obviously, that is not going to catch on. I'm relieved.
°I actually like McKell's dress.
°Gretchen's LBD is pretty darn OK!
°Michael Drummond's dress really works for me. I think I'm going to like him in general. He is definitely not afraid of color!
°Casanova is a train wreck. How many times can I say it?
°Jason's just as bad.
°Gretchen is the winner, but I thought other designs were as good.
°I'm not liking Ivy arguing with the judges. Ivy is a little grating in general.
°McKell's accessorizing is an interesting mistake. The bag she pairs with the dress matches better with her outfit than with the model's.
°Another interesting connection I'm making is Peach's pants which she handed over to be redesigned and the fabric she used in her dress. Very similar, and something to watch for in future. The judges liked Peach's dress, but didn't like the pants.
°I am kind of sorry to see McKell go.