What a weekend!!
Where to start?
Saturday started off rainy, but ended up sunny, hot, & humid as hell. Despite all this, I had a super-fun time hanging out with blacktarblood!
Got in a titch late (missed the 9:58 train by, like, 2 minutes, so I had to catch the 10:29), but made it to the place we’d arranged to meet. On the way, I could swear one of the road worker dudes said, “Nice” to his co-workers, in reference to me, which he followed up with, “Now she & I could get along...”
There was a little park-ish area right by the place where we were meeting (we’d spoken on the phone & I mentioned I’d be a little late, though I wasn’t quite as late as I thought I’d be), & I watched a squirrel dig for something tasty & pop his head up from behind the bushes. I was never fast enough to catch him with my camera, though it would’ve made a cute shot. I guess it was just one of those fleeting things to be enjoyed rather than captured.
My friend soon arrived, & we first went to the ultra-fabulous New York Costumes/Halloween Adventure, where I bought some supplies for Sunday’s horror convention (a bruise-related colour wheel, rigid collodion, & some spirit gum w/remover), she picked up a few goodies, & we spent oodles of time ogling all the groovy stuff! I swear, I could LIVE in that store! (It’s so sizeable & has so much, they actually have “store maps” available.) We saw costumes, masks, all manner of accessories, statues, furniture, it was really amazing & fun (& yes, just a little bit gruesome). Watching her try on various pairs of amusing sunglasses & Venetian masks was a particular highlight. Oh, & a group of scavenger hunters asked me to take their photo! (Naturally, I obliged.) The store had treats, too, like these big, rubber centipedes that smelled like Fruit Loops.
There was a downstairs, as well, with ‘naughty’ costumes/accessories, & other pretty-but-expensive things. They had one of those Japanese parasols which I like but can’t seem to find (I’ll prob’ly have to wait ‘til I can get back to Japan to snag one), & we asked the guy who worked there - who introduced himself as “Aries” & told me I was pretty - but they ended up not actually selling them there. Oh well.
Back upstairs, we paid for our acquisitions & headed next door to Gothic Renaissance, which has a very large & groovy gargoyle standing guard at its front entrance. So much gorgeous stuff! (Unfortunately, it was very expensive) Dresses, pants, cloaks, jackets, skirts, jewelry, shoes, bags, etc. Umbrellas, too (but not the Japanese kind). A little music & a few ‘zines, as well. And a nifty flat-screen over the check-out counter, broadcasting very cool imagery, like a slowly rotating brain-in-jar image, & a pan-shot of some sort of meat, possibly entrails. But not a gore-hound kind of thing. It was pretty, almost serene.
Oh, & I saw Aries again. He said hi.
We did a great deal of gawking but didn’t end up buying anything. It had started pouring while we were in there (thankfully, we’d both had the good sense to bring our umbrellas), but by the time we got outside, it had stopped.
Next, we went to a little bookstore I can’t recall the name of (but it’s blacktarblood‘s favourite), where I got an inexpensive copy of “Dark Water” by Koji Suzuki. I’ve seen the film (Japanese, not US), but had yet to read the book (I do have all the “Ring“ books, though, which I love). That place is cool - wall to wall, ceiling to floor, there are shelves packed with books of all kinds. They had a bust of Beethoven on a table, & a Keith Haring book.
We were hoping to duck into someplace for lunch, eventually deciding on Whole Foods. First, however, we passed through a few tables of street vendors, & a line of guys giving out free hugs! I only ever saw free huggers in Japan, I didn’t know we had them here. ^_^ I was gonna just hug one, but then the other guys kind of suggested they wanted hugs, too (one of them was, like, “Goth hugs!”), so I hugged them. blacktarblood & I hugged the last guy together, so he got the “double hug”.
Whole Foods was jam-packed! We were gonna pick up some eats & take them upstairs to the little sitting area by the coffee/juice/snack bar, but you couldn‘t pay for anything unless you got in the loooooooooong-@$$ line. They had a sushi 'bar', but you couldn’t even pay for the sushi where the register was, you had to go through the regular check-out. Blah. So, we ended up going to upstairs & getting power bars. I got some water. (She’d already gotten a drink when we stopped at a little convenience-type place on the way.) Took a little time for chatting, people-watching, & the chance to snack & rest our weary feet.
Then it was off once again, this time to Forbidden Planet, a groovy comics shop with all kinds of awesome grooviness! There were toys (so many toys!), comics & manga, even some videos. We gawked at everything (& gawking, you must understand, is not just idly passing by & saying, “Ooh, that’s nice”; gawking can - & occasionally does - take hours), & upstairs in manga-land, I spotted an edition of the Gothic Lolita Bible. Yes, Mana’s in it. I swear, he’s in all of them. Every issue I’ve ever come across, he’s in there someplace. :) And if you have no idea who I’m talking about, click here.
Also spotted an issue of Gothic Beauty, where one of the featured people (I guess it was a model? Maybe a designer? I can’t remember, I just know she was African-American, & it’s kind of few-&-far-between to see people of colour featured in Goth ‘zines) said that Malice Mizer was her fave band, & Moi-Meme-Moitie was one of her fave fashion labels! (See the link for Mana to learn about both of these, if you don’t already know.)
Picked up a copy of L: Change the World, which I’d been looking for (thanks to ventorus01 for letting me know it was out, with subs), & we were soon on our way to The Strand, where blacktarblood thought we might find the book she’d wanted (but had been unable) to get me for my birthday, Gothic & Lolita by Masayuki Yoshinaga. (She’d thought we might find it at Forbidden Planet, but they didn’t have it there.) After asking at the info desk, we learned it was upstairs (there are, like, 3 floors to this place), on one of the “art book tables”. Of course, there are 2 dozen art book tables! So we proceeded to scour as many as possible to look for it, stopping here & there to peruse books on subjects of interest (& a few of a little dismay, like the ones with, um, anatomical photos, lol).
In the end, though, after consulting yet another information desk, we eventually came across it! (It wasn’t on the table, it was on the shelf underneath.) In the manga section, I also spotted a copy of Banana Fish #1. I’d wanted to delve into that a bit, ‘cuz one of my favourite Gackt songs was written about it. Plus, it was marked down from $10 to $2.50! ^_^
Down the street from The Strand is Grace Church, a church & private school. It’s quite beautiful, in the old, Gothic fashion, & I took several shots of it. blacktarblood even took some photo/video of me taking pictures of it! :D Just to give you a taste, here is a little of what I snapped.
I think those were all the major points, weren’t they, blacktarblood? I’m sure she’ll let me know if I’ve missed anything, though I hope I haven’t!
We floated around a bit more, but, sadly, it became time to part ways. We said our good-byes, & I made my way back to Penn Station (fortunately, I’d purchased a 4-ride Metro Card, so I didn’t have to pay at each subway station independently - you just swipe the card & go). Thankfully, Penn Sushi (my fave little place to pick up Japanese goodies on the way home from any day in the City) was still open (the last couple of times I was in the area, I got back late & they were closed). They still didn’t have my green tea roll cake (the last time I was there, they didn’t have it, either), but they did have the tsubu-an (crushed red bean paste cake) & green tea daifuku (a sort of marshmallow-type treat) that I love. I also got some veggie sushi (this one had red cabbage in it, so they called it “purple veggie”), gyoza (stuffed dumplings, sometimes known as “potstickers” - these were shrimp) & green tea with honey. I gave them a tip for their tip jar.
I just barely made the train (they’d called for boarding while I was buying my food), & read half of Banana Fish on the ride home.
Called blacktarblood when I got in to let her know I made it okay, ate half my sushi, gyoza, & daifuku (drank all the tea), then talked to my mom, to tell her about my day. Then I called my brother (Mark), who’d left a message. We spoke briefly, but he had company over. He was gonna call me back, but I haven’t heard from him. (I tried calling him, leaving a message on his voice-mail. Ah, the joys of phone-tag.)
After that, it was practise time! As I had to get ready for the following day, & had zero knowledge of what to do with the stuff I’d bought - outside of what they told me at the costume place - I figured it’d be good to do a little to be on the safe side. The collodion “cuts” actually looked quite nice! Though, to be safe, I looked up a site or 2 about making bruises to go with them, since I wanted it to look at least vaguely authentic. I’d thought about that in advance, which is why I got the colour-wheel.
I prob’ly would’ve left the “cuts” ‘til the morning, but with my sensitivity to chemical things, I thought better of it. Put some baby oil in my hair to get it down (the least sign of moisture & it goes into afro-drive - it gets frizzy AND curly, & I don’t have naturally curly hair!) & ready for Sunday. Watched a little tv, & went to bed.
Was excited to get to the Monster Mania horror convention. For anybody reading this that doesn’t know, charaxinae & I were cosplaying (dressing as characters) for it. I was trying to replicate this series of scars. It’s from the second of the Ginger Snaps films, as werewolves were a running theme of the convention, & Katharine Isabelle, one of the stars, was scheduled to be there. (Once again, so much thanks to lovelysofar for posting about it in ginger__snaps, or I never would have known!). charaxinae was going as Katharine’s character, Ginger, from the first movie. Her outfit is on this page (sorry if this is a little image heavy). It’s the last shot, the one that says, “Written by Karen Walton”. To cement things, charaxinae made replicas of the special necklaces the girls wear, & they turned out fantastically!
Unfortunately, I had an absolutely atrocious morning. If I ever meet that Murphy guy they named that law after, he’s got a LOT to answer for!
Woke up about 2 hours earlier than I’d scheduled. I was afraid I wouldn’t be on time if I waited, ‘cuz I didn’t experiment with the bruises, & I thought it might take more time than I was giving myself.
Felt a bit sick, but had the tsubu-an for breakfast anyway. I think it was nerves. Sometimes, eating something makes me feel better.
The cuts weren’t working quite as nicely as they had the night before, ‘cuz a) the brush was a little frazzly (it was like that when I opened it, but they still looked good when I did them), but even moreso, b) the stuff was, like, hardening between applications. Not to mention the fact that every time I put the fake blood & “bruises” on, the stuff would get “dirty” & start peeling off! I did & re-did that arm at least six times.
Then, my hair wouldn’t work out right. I’d iron it, fluff it, pin it down strategically, then unpin it & shake/brush/rinse the whole thing out again. Did that a few times. My face wasn’t entirely cooperative, either (though, like my hair, it rarely is).
After about 5 hours (including rests in between, to let my poor arm settle from all the applying & washing), I finally managed to get to a point where I was comfortable with things.
For anyone not familiar with these films, I was doing Ginger’s sister, Brigitte (played by Emily Perkins). I was kind of combining her look in a couple of scenes, but this look is basically what I was going for. It was so hard for me to not look like my usual self! Going for accuracy (or, as much as I am capable of), I wasn’t even wearing nail polish!
I also had the ear (yes, I know hers is technically the left, since the reference shot is a mirror’s reflection, but mine were left over from some fairy/elf outfits, & I’d “pierced” the left one with a ring so I could tell them apart), a rubber or latex appliance held on by spirit gum. It’s a good thing I bought more on Saturday, my old stuff was either solid or evaporated!
I’d made an utter mess of my computer room, & tried to clean it up. Naturally, in accordance with the events of the day so far, sometime between getting myself together & tidying the disaster I’d created, I ended up with a big dark spot on my perfectly-coloured shirt! (NOTE: The cuts can be seen very well in the original of this shot - as can the stain - but come out less-than-stellar when shrunken, cropped, & uploaded.)
I tried soap & water, Spray & Wash, & 20 minutes in the dryer, with no luck.
Insert photo of me with one of those Charlie Brown “AAAAAUUUGH!” captions here.
Luckily, I’d bought 2 green shirts, & though the other one was a bit lighter, I guessed it would have to do. Now, where the heck did I put the darn thing???
At last, after much searching, I found it. I just prayed I could get it on without my arm or hair getting messed up, or either of those messing up my shirt!!
Finally, it was time to go. I threw all my necessaries (including my make-up & FX stuff, in case I needed an emergency touch-up), into my purple back-pack (in lieu of my purse - I didn’t want my good bag getting messed up or messing up anything, plus it lent an additional authenticity to the outfit, since Brigitte is on the run in the second film), & was on my way out, when...
My cuts started breaking!! They were peeling in places. Some on the end, some in the middle.
Emergency patch job!!!!
Okay, so now I’m REALLY on my way out the door. Of course, in keeping with the atrociousness, ALL my neighbours just HAD to be outside!! The lady next door kind of giggled a little. The one ear does get to people. Had a quick chat with deadfoxkyo1, who asked what was up, but I’d told him a while back about the whole thing (he’d just forgotten when it was going to be). Within moments, I was off, bound for charaxinae‘s.
I called her (“Ginger? It’s Brigitte. I’m on my way, but I’m gonna be late.”), & figured I’d be all right, even if I wasn’t on time. At least I’d made it out of the house!
Wrong.
I’m zooming down the highway & my oil light goes on. I’m terrified my car’s gonna blow up or something, but I kept going & prayed it would be okay. Despite having a GPS (I’ve only been to her place once since she moved there; usually, she comes to see me), I turned a little earlier than I should have at one point, & ended up going north instead of south!
A bit of roundabout driving in unfamiliar territory, with me getting more & more angry & upset by the moment (I figured I was either gonna transform into a real wolf by that point, or unwrap the bandaged-but-not-made-up wrist (which I did that way ‘cuz a) there’s a shot in the opening credits of what looks like her unbandaging that wrist, & b) I wasn’t about to go through all that a second time!) & make a few real-life slits. Eventually, I calmed down, though I did get a little messed up when the railroad crossing in charaxinae‘s town blocked my progression, but after another quick call to her, I was reassured & soon on my way again.
After such a treacherous start (for anyone linked directly to this point, scroll up if you want to know, or see pics detailing/explaining my outfit), I was more than relieved when the rest of the day worked out very, very well.
charaxinae & I exchanged a couple of goodies, took a few photographs of our outfits, & were off & running.
I’ll skip the, “Oh, my, I hope MapQuest hasn’t screwed us & we really are going in the right direction” part of the drive down, & get to the good stuff. The Crowne Plaza was a nice place from the outside, & I took a picture of the little landscaped bit in front, as well as a photo of the Batmobile, which was parked near the front entrance! You could pay to have your picture taken in it, but I just snapped a quickie.
Inside, it was a very nice place, & we quickly found ourselves in horror fan paradise, a cornucopia of movies & paraphernalia. I mean, there were statues & sculptures, jewelry, artwork, t-shirts, toys, screens advertising forthcoming flicks (most of these were independents that were being promoted), people (& creatures) giving out flyers, even characters walking around!
We perused the dealer’s rooms for quite some time, picking up this, that, & a bit of the other. A lot of our first pass was scoping things out, seeing what was available, & at what price, & deciding what to go back for. One table was representing Monster Bash, which el_jefe59 faithfully attends every year. We asked the guys manning the booth if they knew him, which, of course, they did. Too bad we didn’t ask their names, so we could tell our friend which of his fellow Bashers we talked to! :P
After much circling, & a little bit of buying, I was ready to find our dear Ms. Isabelle.
There were a few rooms set up for the famous folk. I think Adam West had one to himself. We’d gone through another, but didn’t see her there. At one of the dealer’s tables, the one person who actually knew what film we were from (a few of them noticed we had the same necklaces, a couple noticed my ear, one of whom was a very nice lady who told me about a humourous moment she’d had with James “Spike from Buffy” Marsters) told us about another autograph room on the other side of the conference area, in which Katharine was set up.
I know these people are just people. I never quite understand the whole notion of being “star-struck”, or nervous around someone you like (whether simply in an admiration sense, or an attraction sense). And yet, even when I go to see bands I am into, where I know there’s no chance this side of Hades that I will get to speak with them, I start getting anxious. Breathing’s always the first thing to go. Then I get shaky, possibly a little nauseous.
I was already at that point when we walked into the second autograph room & charaxinae said, “She’s right over here, on the left.”
I took a deep breath & tried to steady myself. What the heck was I gonna say to her?? charaxinae & I talked about it later, & she made a good point - she, much like myself, has a hard enough time figuring out what to say to regular people! (What the heck do other people talk to these folks about?)
Okay, here’s what you all want to know.
She’s still lovely. There’s a maturity about her, you can tell she’s aged since she did the GS films, but, I mean, this girl is so, so pretty! She’s very thin, & her hair isn’t as red as in the films, which is not a criticism or anything, just an attempt at an accurate description. (She had sunglasses on, though, so I didn’t get to see her eyes.) Such a lovely smile. And she’s very sweet. She asked our names, & introduced herself as “Katie”. She shook our hands!
We said we were big fans (I added, “huge”, hardly able to look at her in that moment, I was so star-struck!). I must’ve come off as a total doofus! But I asked her the one question I’d been intent on asking: “Please tell me you can dance better than you did in that Cinderella movie.” She smiled, good-naturedly, & said, “Yeah. I had to learn a lot of choreography for that.” I told her she & Emily MADE that movie. (What I didn’t tell her is that they were the ONLY reason I was even able to sit through what I considered unbearable tweeny-bopper tripe - no offense whatsoever to anyone who liked it for reasons other than those 2). She was, like, “Awww, thank you,” & said she had a lot of fun making it.
I’m not entirely sure what she said to charaxinae, but I did catch her saying that this convention was “the first one of these” she’d done. I added that I’d heard she & Emily were supposed to do one in Illinois (again, thanks to lovelysofar for providing that information!). She knew it was in “the Chicago area” & said she hoped the scheduling would work out, since she’s doing a movie around that time (stupid me should’ve asked her what she was working on), but she likes being able to spend time with Emily. (There was a large GS poster behind her - everybody there either had something on or over the table noting either who they were or what they were from - signed by both her & Emily.)
There were several photos laid out to choose, which she would sign. (This cost $20.) Most were GS-related, the 2-sisters shot (if that link doesn’t work, it’s the first shot on this page), her impaled on the fence, her writhing on the bed during the navel-piercing scene in the first movie, even one of the torn-up dog from the opening scene. There was, as well, a very lovely (I know, I keep using that word, but there’s no other way to describe her!) head shot with her name on it. I was torn between that one & the sisters, but, in keeping with the theme of the day (& our outfits!), I chose the sisters. I also got one for my brother, Johnathan. Katie was kind enough to double-check all the spellings before she signed everything.
On mine, she wrote, “All my love sista!” with a big heart & then her name. My brother got “XOXO”, with a heart & her signature. I later bought protectors for them, so they wouldn’t bend, tear, or smudge.
We told her it was nice to meet her & she said to enjoy the day. (I prob’ly could’ve asked for a photo with her or whatever [other people were doing it with the guests]; I may be able to ask cosplayers if I can photograph them, but I guess I’m not that daring.) We bid her good-bye & decided to go for lunch. At that point, I was about ready to die, I was so over the flaming moon!
Lunch was in a beautiful in-hotel restaurant called “Embers”, & the menu posted just outside it even gave all the entrees gruesome titles, in honour of the proceedings. charaxinae had the “tortured vegetable wrap”, I had the “headless Caesar salad”. I could’ve added “dead chicken” to that, but I said, “We’ll let the chicken live today.” XD
After much munching & talking, it was back out there to buy stuff, gawk at famous people, get my ear touched by some dude, & take some photos! There was a big wolf statue, which looked quite a bit like the wolves from The Howling, with which we were allowed to take pictures. Then, there were the characters. They had one that kind of resembled Leatherface, in a sort of Alice in Wonderland outfit. I didn’t get a shot of him, though. I did get that one of the clown-thing (he was on stilts!), & that one of charaxinae with the rag doll guy that had been following us the whole day. Seriously, everywhere we went, we’d see this guy. And he’d wave at us (well, I guess he waved at everybody), & said, “Helloooo.” I was, like, “We gotta get a shot of that guy.” After I took that photo, he hugged us! There was a very groovy little art gallery there, as well, selling framed prints.
One of the guys from Sleepaway Camp walked by us. And George “The Animal” Steele passed me outside the lavatories! There was also a guy dressed as a zombie (& lumbering, quite in-character) giving out flyers. And I got one for a group that does custom fangs! The girl there said, “With ears like that, you’ve gotta get fangs.” I’ve always wanted them, actually. I might give it a try, when I get some extra cash. There was a neat place to buy skulls & skeletons, too, all of which were sculpted, but some of which had been cast from actual remains. They also had a guy dressed as Harry, the killer from My Bloody Valentine (though I think you had to buy something to get a photo with him).
There were a lot of pretty females at this thing. I prob’ly should’ve asked them if I could take their pics. One of them, a cool-looking Goth chick (I later saw her talking to Katie), worked at one of the stalls. Another, I think, was there promoting something. She had a short, tight yellow dress on, with black thigh-highs.
I’d brought extra money with me, but I am always hesitant about buying too much. Of course, when I get home, I’ll go, “I wish I’d bought that when I had the chance!” & kick myself for a while. There were movies I’d have liked to have, but I thought they were a bit pricey (these weren’t at the $10 tables). There were others that sounded interesting, but I wasn’t sure if they were worth the money. There were quite a few Asian horror flicks there that I had heard of, & I few I hadn’t (of the latter, X-Cross looked promising). Troma even had a stall there, & I should’ve picked up Toxic Avenger 2 (the one where he goes to Japan), ‘cuz it’s so terrifically funny, but I didn’t. (I ended up not using the “extra” money I’d brought along.)
I’d thought of trying to get autographs from at least one other person, but opted out when there was a line. It kinda sucked that they charged (so much) for it, ‘cuz I’d have talked to them all (even without anything to say), but if you talk you’re kind of obligated to get autographs, which are nice, but they ADD UP. I can, however, say that, apart from Katie, I was in the same room as the likes of PJ Soles, Dick Miller, Sid Haig, Michael Berryman, John Astin, Belinda Balasky, Kelly LeBrock, & John Landis, among others!
charaxinae & I bought each other some gifties. She got me a GS necklace (this shot of the sisters; the third pic on this page), I contributed to her purchase of an Edgar Allan Poe necklace (as she so graciously covered lunch). Other goodies I got were: the uncut release of Dead Alive (under its original title, Braindead; I already have both cut versions), Ms. 45 (an old fave I’ve had on VHS for years), Nekromantik (which I’d been looking for for years), & a Guinea Pig double-feature - Mermaid in a Manhole & He Never Dies (2 films on one disc for $10, marked down from $20!). I could’ve walked out with a free tattoo, as well, but with my allergy to hair dye, I’m terrified of getting tattoos, even though I want some, for fear of an allergy to the ink.
One free thing I did get - but we had to hunt that sucker down - was a groovy tote bag from Viz Media, featuring assorted pics of anime shows like Inu-Yasha, Death Note, Bleach, Naruto, & Pokemon. I don’t know how many people we asked before we finally found the booth giving those out. It was the same table where they had the make-your-eyes-really-interesting contact lenses (the Japanese are quite fond of these). And yes, they had “wolf”. Too bad I’m scared of sticking stuff in my eyes like that.
Anywho, by 4, most of the people were packing up (stalls & stars alike). We’d pretty much maxed ourselves out monetarily, & had an abundance of memories, goodies, & photos to commemorate the ultra-fun day. But one last bit of neatness was to come: on our way driving out, I saw John Landis getting into the Batmobile! :D
It started to rain on the way back to charaxinae‘s, as you can see. I put some oil in my thirsty car, we said our good-byes, & I made off.
Got home, took some shots of my spoils (including this one), finished off my Japanese treats from Saturday, called my mom, & painted my nails. It’s good to be Goth again! ^_^
Yeah, I know, it's a LOT. I just hope I haven't forgotten any details!! XD
Saturday started off rainy, but ended up sunny, hot, & humid as hell. Despite all this, I had a super-fun time hanging out with blacktarblood!
Got in a titch late (missed the 9:58 train by, like, 2 minutes, so I had to catch the 10:29), but made it to the place we’d arranged to meet. On the way, I could swear one of the road worker dudes said, “Nice” to his co-workers, in reference to me, which he followed up with, “Now she & I could get along...”
There was a little park-ish area right by the place where we were meeting (we’d spoken on the phone & I mentioned I’d be a little late, though I wasn’t quite as late as I thought I’d be), & I watched a squirrel dig for something tasty & pop his head up from behind the bushes. I was never fast enough to catch him with my camera, though it would’ve made a cute shot. I guess it was just one of those fleeting things to be enjoyed rather than captured.
My friend soon arrived, & we first went to the ultra-fabulous New York Costumes/Halloween Adventure, where I bought some supplies for Sunday’s horror convention (a bruise-related colour wheel, rigid collodion, & some spirit gum w/remover), she picked up a few goodies, & we spent oodles of time ogling all the groovy stuff! I swear, I could LIVE in that store! (It’s so sizeable & has so much, they actually have “store maps” available.) We saw costumes, masks, all manner of accessories, statues, furniture, it was really amazing & fun (& yes, just a little bit gruesome). Watching her try on various pairs of amusing sunglasses & Venetian masks was a particular highlight. Oh, & a group of scavenger hunters asked me to take their photo! (Naturally, I obliged.) The store had treats, too, like these big, rubber centipedes that smelled like Fruit Loops.
There was a downstairs, as well, with ‘naughty’ costumes/accessories, & other pretty-but-expensive things. They had one of those Japanese parasols which I like but can’t seem to find (I’ll prob’ly have to wait ‘til I can get back to Japan to snag one), & we asked the guy who worked there - who introduced himself as “Aries” & told me I was pretty - but they ended up not actually selling them there. Oh well.
Back upstairs, we paid for our acquisitions & headed next door to Gothic Renaissance, which has a very large & groovy gargoyle standing guard at its front entrance. So much gorgeous stuff! (Unfortunately, it was very expensive) Dresses, pants, cloaks, jackets, skirts, jewelry, shoes, bags, etc. Umbrellas, too (but not the Japanese kind). A little music & a few ‘zines, as well. And a nifty flat-screen over the check-out counter, broadcasting very cool imagery, like a slowly rotating brain-in-jar image, & a pan-shot of some sort of meat, possibly entrails. But not a gore-hound kind of thing. It was pretty, almost serene.
Oh, & I saw Aries again. He said hi.
We did a great deal of gawking but didn’t end up buying anything. It had started pouring while we were in there (thankfully, we’d both had the good sense to bring our umbrellas), but by the time we got outside, it had stopped.
Next, we went to a little bookstore I can’t recall the name of (but it’s blacktarblood‘s favourite), where I got an inexpensive copy of “Dark Water” by Koji Suzuki. I’ve seen the film (Japanese, not US), but had yet to read the book (I do have all the “Ring“ books, though, which I love). That place is cool - wall to wall, ceiling to floor, there are shelves packed with books of all kinds. They had a bust of Beethoven on a table, & a Keith Haring book.
We were hoping to duck into someplace for lunch, eventually deciding on Whole Foods. First, however, we passed through a few tables of street vendors, & a line of guys giving out free hugs! I only ever saw free huggers in Japan, I didn’t know we had them here. ^_^ I was gonna just hug one, but then the other guys kind of suggested they wanted hugs, too (one of them was, like, “Goth hugs!”), so I hugged them. blacktarblood & I hugged the last guy together, so he got the “double hug”.
Whole Foods was jam-packed! We were gonna pick up some eats & take them upstairs to the little sitting area by the coffee/juice/snack bar, but you couldn‘t pay for anything unless you got in the loooooooooong-@$$ line. They had a sushi 'bar', but you couldn’t even pay for the sushi where the register was, you had to go through the regular check-out. Blah. So, we ended up going to upstairs & getting power bars. I got some water. (She’d already gotten a drink when we stopped at a little convenience-type place on the way.) Took a little time for chatting, people-watching, & the chance to snack & rest our weary feet.
Then it was off once again, this time to Forbidden Planet, a groovy comics shop with all kinds of awesome grooviness! There were toys (so many toys!), comics & manga, even some videos. We gawked at everything (& gawking, you must understand, is not just idly passing by & saying, “Ooh, that’s nice”; gawking can - & occasionally does - take hours), & upstairs in manga-land, I spotted an edition of the Gothic Lolita Bible. Yes, Mana’s in it. I swear, he’s in all of them. Every issue I’ve ever come across, he’s in there someplace. :) And if you have no idea who I’m talking about, click here.
Also spotted an issue of Gothic Beauty, where one of the featured people (I guess it was a model? Maybe a designer? I can’t remember, I just know she was African-American, & it’s kind of few-&-far-between to see people of colour featured in Goth ‘zines) said that Malice Mizer was her fave band, & Moi-Meme-Moitie was one of her fave fashion labels! (See the link for Mana to learn about both of these, if you don’t already know.)
Picked up a copy of L: Change the World, which I’d been looking for (thanks to ventorus01 for letting me know it was out, with subs), & we were soon on our way to The Strand, where blacktarblood thought we might find the book she’d wanted (but had been unable) to get me for my birthday, Gothic & Lolita by Masayuki Yoshinaga. (She’d thought we might find it at Forbidden Planet, but they didn’t have it there.) After asking at the info desk, we learned it was upstairs (there are, like, 3 floors to this place), on one of the “art book tables”. Of course, there are 2 dozen art book tables! So we proceeded to scour as many as possible to look for it, stopping here & there to peruse books on subjects of interest (& a few of a little dismay, like the ones with, um, anatomical photos, lol).
In the end, though, after consulting yet another information desk, we eventually came across it! (It wasn’t on the table, it was on the shelf underneath.) In the manga section, I also spotted a copy of Banana Fish #1. I’d wanted to delve into that a bit, ‘cuz one of my favourite Gackt songs was written about it. Plus, it was marked down from $10 to $2.50! ^_^
Down the street from The Strand is Grace Church, a church & private school. It’s quite beautiful, in the old, Gothic fashion, & I took several shots of it. blacktarblood even took some photo/video of me taking pictures of it! :D Just to give you a taste, here is a little of what I snapped.
I think those were all the major points, weren’t they, blacktarblood? I’m sure she’ll let me know if I’ve missed anything, though I hope I haven’t!
We floated around a bit more, but, sadly, it became time to part ways. We said our good-byes, & I made my way back to Penn Station (fortunately, I’d purchased a 4-ride Metro Card, so I didn’t have to pay at each subway station independently - you just swipe the card & go). Thankfully, Penn Sushi (my fave little place to pick up Japanese goodies on the way home from any day in the City) was still open (the last couple of times I was in the area, I got back late & they were closed). They still didn’t have my green tea roll cake (the last time I was there, they didn’t have it, either), but they did have the tsubu-an (crushed red bean paste cake) & green tea daifuku (a sort of marshmallow-type treat) that I love. I also got some veggie sushi (this one had red cabbage in it, so they called it “purple veggie”), gyoza (stuffed dumplings, sometimes known as “potstickers” - these were shrimp) & green tea with honey. I gave them a tip for their tip jar.
I just barely made the train (they’d called for boarding while I was buying my food), & read half of Banana Fish on the ride home.
Called blacktarblood when I got in to let her know I made it okay, ate half my sushi, gyoza, & daifuku (drank all the tea), then talked to my mom, to tell her about my day. Then I called my brother (Mark), who’d left a message. We spoke briefly, but he had company over. He was gonna call me back, but I haven’t heard from him. (I tried calling him, leaving a message on his voice-mail. Ah, the joys of phone-tag.)
After that, it was practise time! As I had to get ready for the following day, & had zero knowledge of what to do with the stuff I’d bought - outside of what they told me at the costume place - I figured it’d be good to do a little to be on the safe side. The collodion “cuts” actually looked quite nice! Though, to be safe, I looked up a site or 2 about making bruises to go with them, since I wanted it to look at least vaguely authentic. I’d thought about that in advance, which is why I got the colour-wheel.
I prob’ly would’ve left the “cuts” ‘til the morning, but with my sensitivity to chemical things, I thought better of it. Put some baby oil in my hair to get it down (the least sign of moisture & it goes into afro-drive - it gets frizzy AND curly, & I don’t have naturally curly hair!) & ready for Sunday. Watched a little tv, & went to bed.
Was excited to get to the Monster Mania horror convention. For anybody reading this that doesn’t know, charaxinae & I were cosplaying (dressing as characters) for it. I was trying to replicate this series of scars. It’s from the second of the Ginger Snaps films, as werewolves were a running theme of the convention, & Katharine Isabelle, one of the stars, was scheduled to be there. (Once again, so much thanks to lovelysofar for posting about it in ginger__snaps, or I never would have known!). charaxinae was going as Katharine’s character, Ginger, from the first movie. Her outfit is on this page (sorry if this is a little image heavy). It’s the last shot, the one that says, “Written by Karen Walton”. To cement things, charaxinae made replicas of the special necklaces the girls wear, & they turned out fantastically!
Unfortunately, I had an absolutely atrocious morning. If I ever meet that Murphy guy they named that law after, he’s got a LOT to answer for!
Woke up about 2 hours earlier than I’d scheduled. I was afraid I wouldn’t be on time if I waited, ‘cuz I didn’t experiment with the bruises, & I thought it might take more time than I was giving myself.
Felt a bit sick, but had the tsubu-an for breakfast anyway. I think it was nerves. Sometimes, eating something makes me feel better.
The cuts weren’t working quite as nicely as they had the night before, ‘cuz a) the brush was a little frazzly (it was like that when I opened it, but they still looked good when I did them), but even moreso, b) the stuff was, like, hardening between applications. Not to mention the fact that every time I put the fake blood & “bruises” on, the stuff would get “dirty” & start peeling off! I did & re-did that arm at least six times.
Then, my hair wouldn’t work out right. I’d iron it, fluff it, pin it down strategically, then unpin it & shake/brush/rinse the whole thing out again. Did that a few times. My face wasn’t entirely cooperative, either (though, like my hair, it rarely is).
After about 5 hours (including rests in between, to let my poor arm settle from all the applying & washing), I finally managed to get to a point where I was comfortable with things.
For anyone not familiar with these films, I was doing Ginger’s sister, Brigitte (played by Emily Perkins). I was kind of combining her look in a couple of scenes, but this look is basically what I was going for. It was so hard for me to not look like my usual self! Going for accuracy (or, as much as I am capable of), I wasn’t even wearing nail polish!
I also had the ear (yes, I know hers is technically the left, since the reference shot is a mirror’s reflection, but mine were left over from some fairy/elf outfits, & I’d “pierced” the left one with a ring so I could tell them apart), a rubber or latex appliance held on by spirit gum. It’s a good thing I bought more on Saturday, my old stuff was either solid or evaporated!
I’d made an utter mess of my computer room, & tried to clean it up. Naturally, in accordance with the events of the day so far, sometime between getting myself together & tidying the disaster I’d created, I ended up with a big dark spot on my perfectly-coloured shirt! (NOTE: The cuts can be seen very well in the original of this shot - as can the stain - but come out less-than-stellar when shrunken, cropped, & uploaded.)
I tried soap & water, Spray & Wash, & 20 minutes in the dryer, with no luck.
Insert photo of me with one of those Charlie Brown “AAAAAUUUGH!” captions here.
Luckily, I’d bought 2 green shirts, & though the other one was a bit lighter, I guessed it would have to do. Now, where the heck did I put the darn thing???
At last, after much searching, I found it. I just prayed I could get it on without my arm or hair getting messed up, or either of those messing up my shirt!!
Finally, it was time to go. I threw all my necessaries (including my make-up & FX stuff, in case I needed an emergency touch-up), into my purple back-pack (in lieu of my purse - I didn’t want my good bag getting messed up or messing up anything, plus it lent an additional authenticity to the outfit, since Brigitte is on the run in the second film), & was on my way out, when...
My cuts started breaking!! They were peeling in places. Some on the end, some in the middle.
Emergency patch job!!!!
Okay, so now I’m REALLY on my way out the door. Of course, in keeping with the atrociousness, ALL my neighbours just HAD to be outside!! The lady next door kind of giggled a little. The one ear does get to people. Had a quick chat with deadfoxkyo1, who asked what was up, but I’d told him a while back about the whole thing (he’d just forgotten when it was going to be). Within moments, I was off, bound for charaxinae‘s.
I called her (“Ginger? It’s Brigitte. I’m on my way, but I’m gonna be late.”), & figured I’d be all right, even if I wasn’t on time. At least I’d made it out of the house!
Wrong.
I’m zooming down the highway & my oil light goes on. I’m terrified my car’s gonna blow up or something, but I kept going & prayed it would be okay. Despite having a GPS (I’ve only been to her place once since she moved there; usually, she comes to see me), I turned a little earlier than I should have at one point, & ended up going north instead of south!
A bit of roundabout driving in unfamiliar territory, with me getting more & more angry & upset by the moment (I figured I was either gonna transform into a real wolf by that point, or unwrap the bandaged-but-not-made-up wrist (which I did that way ‘cuz a) there’s a shot in the opening credits of what looks like her unbandaging that wrist, & b) I wasn’t about to go through all that a second time!) & make a few real-life slits. Eventually, I calmed down, though I did get a little messed up when the railroad crossing in charaxinae‘s town blocked my progression, but after another quick call to her, I was reassured & soon on my way again.
After such a treacherous start (for anyone linked directly to this point, scroll up if you want to know, or see pics detailing/explaining my outfit), I was more than relieved when the rest of the day worked out very, very well.
charaxinae & I exchanged a couple of goodies, took a few photographs of our outfits, & were off & running.
I’ll skip the, “Oh, my, I hope MapQuest hasn’t screwed us & we really are going in the right direction” part of the drive down, & get to the good stuff. The Crowne Plaza was a nice place from the outside, & I took a picture of the little landscaped bit in front, as well as a photo of the Batmobile, which was parked near the front entrance! You could pay to have your picture taken in it, but I just snapped a quickie.
Inside, it was a very nice place, & we quickly found ourselves in horror fan paradise, a cornucopia of movies & paraphernalia. I mean, there were statues & sculptures, jewelry, artwork, t-shirts, toys, screens advertising forthcoming flicks (most of these were independents that were being promoted), people (& creatures) giving out flyers, even characters walking around!
We perused the dealer’s rooms for quite some time, picking up this, that, & a bit of the other. A lot of our first pass was scoping things out, seeing what was available, & at what price, & deciding what to go back for. One table was representing Monster Bash, which el_jefe59 faithfully attends every year. We asked the guys manning the booth if they knew him, which, of course, they did. Too bad we didn’t ask their names, so we could tell our friend which of his fellow Bashers we talked to! :P
After much circling, & a little bit of buying, I was ready to find our dear Ms. Isabelle.
There were a few rooms set up for the famous folk. I think Adam West had one to himself. We’d gone through another, but didn’t see her there. At one of the dealer’s tables, the one person who actually knew what film we were from (a few of them noticed we had the same necklaces, a couple noticed my ear, one of whom was a very nice lady who told me about a humourous moment she’d had with James “Spike from Buffy” Marsters) told us about another autograph room on the other side of the conference area, in which Katharine was set up.
I know these people are just people. I never quite understand the whole notion of being “star-struck”, or nervous around someone you like (whether simply in an admiration sense, or an attraction sense). And yet, even when I go to see bands I am into, where I know there’s no chance this side of Hades that I will get to speak with them, I start getting anxious. Breathing’s always the first thing to go. Then I get shaky, possibly a little nauseous.
I was already at that point when we walked into the second autograph room & charaxinae said, “She’s right over here, on the left.”
I took a deep breath & tried to steady myself. What the heck was I gonna say to her?? charaxinae & I talked about it later, & she made a good point - she, much like myself, has a hard enough time figuring out what to say to regular people! (What the heck do other people talk to these folks about?)
Okay, here’s what you all want to know.
She’s still lovely. There’s a maturity about her, you can tell she’s aged since she did the GS films, but, I mean, this girl is so, so pretty! She’s very thin, & her hair isn’t as red as in the films, which is not a criticism or anything, just an attempt at an accurate description. (She had sunglasses on, though, so I didn’t get to see her eyes.) Such a lovely smile. And she’s very sweet. She asked our names, & introduced herself as “Katie”. She shook our hands!
We said we were big fans (I added, “huge”, hardly able to look at her in that moment, I was so star-struck!). I must’ve come off as a total doofus! But I asked her the one question I’d been intent on asking: “Please tell me you can dance better than you did in that Cinderella movie.” She smiled, good-naturedly, & said, “Yeah. I had to learn a lot of choreography for that.” I told her she & Emily MADE that movie. (What I didn’t tell her is that they were the ONLY reason I was even able to sit through what I considered unbearable tweeny-bopper tripe - no offense whatsoever to anyone who liked it for reasons other than those 2). She was, like, “Awww, thank you,” & said she had a lot of fun making it.
I’m not entirely sure what she said to charaxinae, but I did catch her saying that this convention was “the first one of these” she’d done. I added that I’d heard she & Emily were supposed to do one in Illinois (again, thanks to lovelysofar for providing that information!). She knew it was in “the Chicago area” & said she hoped the scheduling would work out, since she’s doing a movie around that time (stupid me should’ve asked her what she was working on), but she likes being able to spend time with Emily. (There was a large GS poster behind her - everybody there either had something on or over the table noting either who they were or what they were from - signed by both her & Emily.)
There were several photos laid out to choose, which she would sign. (This cost $20.) Most were GS-related, the 2-sisters shot (if that link doesn’t work, it’s the first shot on this page), her impaled on the fence, her writhing on the bed during the navel-piercing scene in the first movie, even one of the torn-up dog from the opening scene. There was, as well, a very lovely (I know, I keep using that word, but there’s no other way to describe her!) head shot with her name on it. I was torn between that one & the sisters, but, in keeping with the theme of the day (& our outfits!), I chose the sisters. I also got one for my brother, Johnathan. Katie was kind enough to double-check all the spellings before she signed everything.
On mine, she wrote, “All my love sista!” with a big heart & then her name. My brother got “XOXO”, with a heart & her signature. I later bought protectors for them, so they wouldn’t bend, tear, or smudge.
We told her it was nice to meet her & she said to enjoy the day. (I prob’ly could’ve asked for a photo with her or whatever [other people were doing it with the guests]; I may be able to ask cosplayers if I can photograph them, but I guess I’m not that daring.) We bid her good-bye & decided to go for lunch. At that point, I was about ready to die, I was so over the flaming moon!
Lunch was in a beautiful in-hotel restaurant called “Embers”, & the menu posted just outside it even gave all the entrees gruesome titles, in honour of the proceedings. charaxinae had the “tortured vegetable wrap”, I had the “headless Caesar salad”. I could’ve added “dead chicken” to that, but I said, “We’ll let the chicken live today.” XD
After much munching & talking, it was back out there to buy stuff, gawk at famous people, get my ear touched by some dude, & take some photos! There was a big wolf statue, which looked quite a bit like the wolves from The Howling, with which we were allowed to take pictures. Then, there were the characters. They had one that kind of resembled Leatherface, in a sort of Alice in Wonderland outfit. I didn’t get a shot of him, though. I did get that one of the clown-thing (he was on stilts!), & that one of charaxinae with the rag doll guy that had been following us the whole day. Seriously, everywhere we went, we’d see this guy. And he’d wave at us (well, I guess he waved at everybody), & said, “Helloooo.” I was, like, “We gotta get a shot of that guy.” After I took that photo, he hugged us! There was a very groovy little art gallery there, as well, selling framed prints.
One of the guys from Sleepaway Camp walked by us. And George “The Animal” Steele passed me outside the lavatories! There was also a guy dressed as a zombie (& lumbering, quite in-character) giving out flyers. And I got one for a group that does custom fangs! The girl there said, “With ears like that, you’ve gotta get fangs.” I’ve always wanted them, actually. I might give it a try, when I get some extra cash. There was a neat place to buy skulls & skeletons, too, all of which were sculpted, but some of which had been cast from actual remains. They also had a guy dressed as Harry, the killer from My Bloody Valentine (though I think you had to buy something to get a photo with him).
There were a lot of pretty females at this thing. I prob’ly should’ve asked them if I could take their pics. One of them, a cool-looking Goth chick (I later saw her talking to Katie), worked at one of the stalls. Another, I think, was there promoting something. She had a short, tight yellow dress on, with black thigh-highs.
I’d brought extra money with me, but I am always hesitant about buying too much. Of course, when I get home, I’ll go, “I wish I’d bought that when I had the chance!” & kick myself for a while. There were movies I’d have liked to have, but I thought they were a bit pricey (these weren’t at the $10 tables). There were others that sounded interesting, but I wasn’t sure if they were worth the money. There were quite a few Asian horror flicks there that I had heard of, & I few I hadn’t (of the latter, X-Cross looked promising). Troma even had a stall there, & I should’ve picked up Toxic Avenger 2 (the one where he goes to Japan), ‘cuz it’s so terrifically funny, but I didn’t. (I ended up not using the “extra” money I’d brought along.)
I’d thought of trying to get autographs from at least one other person, but opted out when there was a line. It kinda sucked that they charged (so much) for it, ‘cuz I’d have talked to them all (even without anything to say), but if you talk you’re kind of obligated to get autographs, which are nice, but they ADD UP. I can, however, say that, apart from Katie, I was in the same room as the likes of PJ Soles, Dick Miller, Sid Haig, Michael Berryman, John Astin, Belinda Balasky, Kelly LeBrock, & John Landis, among others!
charaxinae & I bought each other some gifties. She got me a GS necklace (this shot of the sisters; the third pic on this page), I contributed to her purchase of an Edgar Allan Poe necklace (as she so graciously covered lunch). Other goodies I got were: the uncut release of Dead Alive (under its original title, Braindead; I already have both cut versions), Ms. 45 (an old fave I’ve had on VHS for years), Nekromantik (which I’d been looking for for years), & a Guinea Pig double-feature - Mermaid in a Manhole & He Never Dies (2 films on one disc for $10, marked down from $20!). I could’ve walked out with a free tattoo, as well, but with my allergy to hair dye, I’m terrified of getting tattoos, even though I want some, for fear of an allergy to the ink.
One free thing I did get - but we had to hunt that sucker down - was a groovy tote bag from Viz Media, featuring assorted pics of anime shows like Inu-Yasha, Death Note, Bleach, Naruto, & Pokemon. I don’t know how many people we asked before we finally found the booth giving those out. It was the same table where they had the make-your-eyes-really-interesting contact lenses (the Japanese are quite fond of these). And yes, they had “wolf”. Too bad I’m scared of sticking stuff in my eyes like that.
Anywho, by 4, most of the people were packing up (stalls & stars alike). We’d pretty much maxed ourselves out monetarily, & had an abundance of memories, goodies, & photos to commemorate the ultra-fun day. But one last bit of neatness was to come: on our way driving out, I saw John Landis getting into the Batmobile! :D
It started to rain on the way back to charaxinae‘s, as you can see. I put some oil in my thirsty car, we said our good-byes, & I made off.
Got home, took some shots of my spoils (including this one), finished off my Japanese treats from Saturday, called my mom, & painted my nails. It’s good to be Goth again! ^_^
Yeah, I know, it's a LOT. I just hope I haven't forgotten any details!! XD