Funky

Today is one of those days, a mood day. I'm funky, moody, slightly bitchy. But mainly I'm non-chalant, nothing makes me really bat a lash. Except for maybe this cute pic of Miss. Honey:

It's an X-ray of her belly. See that white dot?
That's a be-be pellet. Sad.

This weekend is the weekend before Halloween. It's weird being out of gay town, Halloween just isn't the same. Gay town is full of gay ghouls and goblins.

This year I am slated to attend a party at some che-che hotel downtown.... I am suppose to dress up as a celebrity, these are the party 'rules.' I have chosen to dress as Dita Von Teese, that is if I go. Dita's hot and refined. I'm considering instead to be Britney that way if I end up getting trashed and flashing my boobs I can say it's all about the costume.

I should rent some scary flicks for the weekend. I could rewatch Knocked Up that is one scary movie—scary to think that load of crap made people laugh.

Seriously, what's a truly scary movie? When I was nine that movie was Children of the Corn; who freaked me out more Isaac or Malakai? Isaac. Even though Malakai killed with a machete, Isaac killed with one darn awful creepy sneer. Chilling. Steven King certainly offered up some truly chilling characters.

One word: Pennywise.

A movie that I recommend for a chill is Fire in the Sky. Its about these men that swear their friend was abducted by aliens in 1975 Arizona, why it's so chilling is that it's based on a true story.

Renting a classically scary movie can always be a real treat, try Rosemary's Baby, The Omen, and of course, The Shining!

Well my mood hasn't changed with this post... I thought it may help, instead it's just made me realize I need to plan a trip to the movie store...also I must get my other costume ready. On Wednesday the girls here at work and I will be dressing as Mary Kay girls... that means hosiery, face powder, pink lipstick and super high-heels. It is my hope that at lunch we will harass real MK girls.

Have a happy and safe Halloween. Make sure you keep your kitties safe, especially the black ones, there are way too many freaks out on Halloween.

-Dita

Halloween Inspiration

Burlesque performer and MAC Viva Glam spokesperson, Dita Von Teese... is my Halloween Inspiration...What do you think, can I pull off this absolutely flawless specimen of glam? I'll be lucky to absorb even one percent of the glamazon. Photo by David Azia.

Next to Butter

Aaaah reminiscing...This was my first solo apartment on Grand Avenue in Minneapolis. I lived in the top right corner apartment...for five years. I painted the walls lavender, yellow, and rosy pink. I had that much room. Two walk-in closets, a dining room, full kitchen, separate bedroom and spacious living room. My rent for that first year was $550 a month. Weep.

The building is right next to Butter. But when I moved Butter was still Sweetskies—super pink and girly with to die for eclairs and a very butch lesbian owner. Prior to Sweetskies it was the Good Food Cafe, a strictly vegan restaurant. It took sometime to figure out why they hated me so much when I came in for coffee. It hit me a year later, I was wearing my leather jacket there...

Ahhhh those were the days of a young naive Minnesota girl... now I'm just a tidge bit older, still a sweet Minnesotan and only about 10 percent less naive.... oh if you happen to be around in the hood, do keep an eye out for Miss. Xena. This was her last home with me and Miss. H.

One thousand and 80 bazillion kisses to her.

Keen on Keane

You know you've seen them: big eyes; big, sad eyes; giant, depressed, sad eyes on sweet little girls, puppies, and kitties. I am speaking of the paintings of Margaret Keane. Popular in the 60s and 70s, Keane's paintings often adorned many young girls' bedrooms.

Funny thing is Keane's paintings were credited to her second husband Walter Keane. As the Wikipedia site stated, under the name Margaret Keane, "Many reasons might be put forward to explain this, but it was also one of the reasons they divorced."

The site also says that Keane did not want to relinquish the rights to the artwork when they divorced. Thank God! So the divorce went all the way to Federal court. At the hearing, to prove she was the artist of the Keane paintings, Margaret painted in front of the judge, which showed her obvious talent. Of course Walter couldn't do this and deniied the chance to paint. In 1965, the courts sided with her, enabling her to paint under her own name.

Why I am speaking of Keane is because her paintings certainly had an impact on Jolene's World... of course! While I did not have Keane's work adorn my childhood walls, two of her prints decorated a wall in my Grandparent's guest bathroom in Monett, Missouri. To this day I can still visualize nearly every detail of that bathroom. I loved it because it was very pink and very girly!

There was the mauve and light pink shower curtain tied back with decorative pinks ropes. In the corner of the bathtub rested a bottle of hot pink bubble bath emblazoned with a pink rhinestone brooch. Across from the toilet was a tiny bench with a deep mauve velvet bench cover.

And of course there were the Keane prints.

My father bought them in 1962 while visiting San Francisco and gave them to his mother. When I was little, visting Granny and Gramps, I'd ogle the prints and think that someday they’d make a great addition to my home.

After both my grandparents passed I received the prints and have had them hung in my home ever since. Not only are these prints reflective of my tastes, but they also have much sentimental value.

Above they are shown in the old EP suites. Now that I am getting ready to decorate my new apartment, I am reminded of how I love these prints and I am excited to see which wall will request their presence today... to find out stay tuned for more posts!

Welcome to my sale!

So I have officially moved out of the EP Suites. I had a good three-year run there—me, honey, the steel giraffes and one goat—we were all pretty happy. But considering I was in the heart of boystown, it was, I suppose, a matter of time the rent would skyrocket, and it did at a jump of one hundred dollars!

So I thought, hmmmm, I don't like moving, but $800 for a small studio apartment infested with centipedes seemed like a rotten deal." So I began my search for my new apartment and also began packing up the old. It was about this time I realized "Wow I have a lot of junk! It's time to have a sale!"

Turns out the neighborhood was hot-to-trot for a Jolene Special sale! Items that were most memorable selling include a hot pink T-Shirt with the phrase "Sun your Buns." The guy that purchased it was so excited with his 75-cent purchase, he put it on right on the sale grounds!

Another fun item that I sold was a tween-inspired pink sequined phone with feathers... (sorry mom)... I knew this phone would be happier elsewhere considering I was no longer going to have an actual phone line, and let me tell you the gentlemen, about 35, that purchased it, could not have been happier.

And then there was Karen the Quinceañera doll.

About two years ago I went to my first Quinceañeras for my co-worker's daughter, Karen. Well as you leave, part of tradition is take a gift, I immediately scooped up this doll. I was quite proud to carry her down the street and into the bar later that evening....

But with any move, sometimes it's time to part with those pieces that brought you happiness at one time, but soon just weighed you down, (kinda of like the Jennifer Lopez CD in the background.)

The phrase, "Another person's trash is another person's treasure" couldn't have been more accurate a statement than when it came to Karen, the Quinceañera doll.

This gentleman literally jumped out of his friend's moving car to pick-up Karen, and not only was he psyched about this great find he was insisting I take an extra dollar for Karen...but alas I said "the price tag is a dollar sir; your happiness and one dollar is all I ask for!"

And look how happy he is!

After he hurriedly paid, posed for this lovely pic, and then ran off back to his friend's car, I realized a mini traffic jam had occurred all because of my hot and sizzling sale!

Numerous other shoppers stopped by to pick up a great cd, or a dvd, such as the compelling Spanglish. Other happy customers included my friend Mandy and her boyfriend, Ben. Mandy left with a black skirt and pink plastic bracelet.

My best shopper though was Frank. When traffic was low Frank would jump in the middle of the sale and "pretend to shop." As passersby strolled by, Frank would make such statements as "Wow this is a collectors edition." Or "Man I remember this from my childhood!" This earned Frank the title of "best pretend shopper."

Frank's first title of the day though was "stock boy" as he unloaded all the merchandise from my apartment to the sales floor. Later, aside from being a pretend shopper, Frank was also head of loss prevention. He was quite good at all duties.

All and all, I was very happy with my sell, not to mention, $152 dollars richer!

Dead Leaves on the Dirty Ground

I found these cool leaf pics online done by Minneapolis' photographer David J. Turner; his stuff is pretty cool and he makes these dead leaves look like blooming flowers...it makes saying goodbye to summer not so bad...