lucent l'amour

www.garystevens.smugmug.com/Lucent%20Lamour

do my friends throw a party, or what? check out these photos of the space: an old catholic church in downtown LA. i dare say the best energy that building's ever housed was last saturday night. the outdoor courtyard acted as gallery; shrine's 3-D sculptural organic art growths added form to the flower garden. a wall was set up for hanging pieces, and a grafitti artist worked with orange and black lines as we mingled. a glass blower station backed up to the outside hedgerow. servers offered trays of vegan dessert decadence, and helios jive bumped until quiet hour was enforced. in the sanctuary (i love saying that) your favorite porter tinsley celebrated her birthday spinning the night open, david starfire, then bassnectar's dj lorin flipped and swirled his gorgeous long hair in time with delicious grooves as the throngs enveloped the stage and mounted the speakers in dance-tastic ecstasy. a throbbing mass of costume-drenching delight. at midnight (directly before this gyrational mass-bliss) my lucent loves performed their victorian-inspired "fashion show." marge simpson-esque hair-pile wigs (one made out of VHS tape! brilliant, adele!!), frame bustles three times as wide as the girls wearing them, and men in white tights. it started out stately and postured, with models walking out one-by-one as you'd expect, and progressed into ridiculous silliness. the grand-finale being dream, strawberry, and miyo stripping each other down, layer, by layer, by layer by layer of undergarment, a lucent-tageous orgy pile, and everyone~~as if a cop shined his beam on them, or the priest just walked in~~"remembering" themselves and all ending down on their knees in prayer. i laughed out loud through much of it, and probably hooted the guy's ear off who stood in front of me in the crowd. it was hard not being a part of the backstage fretting and onstage rush, but this was my first experience at an LA event with all my friends where i didn't perform. i just got to enjoy it responsibility-free. sealion and i had a great time being glamourous and mingling and shaking our booties. the mandatory post-party 3am Denny's breakfast followed ( i love the crowd you see at Denny's at 3 in the morning) [you're right; we didn't make it to the afterparty~~we pooped out at 3! ;) beau D and friends rolled into Abundant Sugar sometime before noon the next day, i hear.].

sealion and i had a grand time getting aquainted with some of the thrift (some not so "thrifty" these days, eh?!) stores around LA, in Silverlake, on Hollywood Blvd, and Melrose. we met up with tomas verde himself (of course he knows where to find the sharpest threads!) as he performed his pre-party shopping ritual madness, avec bullhorn. tagging along with this man means you're jogging to keep up, and ducking as innocent bystanders shoot strange glances. :) he's putting a red shimmering leisure jacket with rhinestone trim on hold for a friend he "knows will have to have it!" ( i saw the guy in it later that night, sho-nuff!) and asking the cashregister clerk, would she please, try on a blue and white rabbit fur jacket b/c she looks to be the same size as (one of) his latest object of affection. hilarity ensues.

Melrose was a bit much for me. this was my first serious brush with "that kind" of LA girl. (at first i said "'real' brush with", but is there anything "real" about these girls?) we stood behind one at a coffeeshop. she wore those jeans with the legs that pull up mid-calf, some straight-outta-the-boutique "trashy" logoed tshirt that bore her midrift, a padded shoulder white leather waist-jacket, hair in sleek/relaxed ponytail with just that right amount of conservative makeup, those big-ol LA japanamashun shades~~bubble gum pink, and to finish it off: white spiked heels with rainbow colored polka dots. i'm sure her little shoulder purse cost more than i spent on clothes in 2004. talking on her phone the whole time and poised as if she were royalty. ok. i'm done. sorry about that.
the phenomenon that really put me over the top: we shopped on Melrose on saturday afternoon, noticing some places that might be good for breakfast. returned on sunday morning to eat. both days we passed this one cafe with sidewalk umbrellas, where, the ONLY thing that attracted our attention were these obviously augmented breasts bulging out of a tight pink tanktop on a girl who was standing so that her face was in the shade of an umbrella. as we walked up and down the street over the course of an hour or so, we glanced back at her.. she just stood there. took a sip of her soda, shifted her weight on her feet.. checked her makeup in her compact.. . that was her job. to stand under that umbrella on the sidewalk, where her breasts stuck out like bubble gum balls from that pink tanktop, so that passersby would do a double-take on those big ol boobies and. . what? feel like stopping for a drink? still incensed. i'm sure i have much to learn in LA if this gets me fired up, but it does. same pink tanktop on both days, too. i wonder if they specify: this pink tanktop. yup. shows just the right portion of those big roundies. keep your face under the umbrella.
we stayed at abundant sugar again. those folks are so warm. that place invites me to feel calm, grounded, and present. we walked in on friday night as amber and her fire partner were having a photoshoot with roger on the dance floor. they spun for hours in the dark, with mylar confetti raining down from above, to reflect the flame! beau D took us next door where sean was constructing his latest burningman sculptures: welded wire frames of seahorses and seadragons which get stretched over with pretty fabric, then illuminated from the inside with all kinds of lights so that it looks like you can see their internal workings! brilliant! amazing! larger than life! (larger than us.. )
sunday was sealion's proud pierced day. the superest dooperest superkate showed us the place: prix. we hung out around "famous" hollywood for celebratory tequila, and then had dinner at sealion's new-favorite Doughboy's, where the single portions are big enough to feed a family, and the chili options are "pasta, beans, both, or neither." the red velvet cake is superkate's favorite.
monday before we headed back, marsi and hollis went with us to Millie's for breakfast. (they use words like "sin" and "mess" on their menu. :)
(did i leave out any dining experiences?? oh yeah: messy baked crab with ginger sauce at Sam Woo's. yum.)
being with my friends in LA reminds me immediately of the person i want to become, my potential, and my highest, truest self. i am energized and refreshed and motivated, filled with love and gratitude. pretty darn cool.

photos: responsibility-free, i left my camera at home for the party!
superkate reclining at the beanbag store (highly recommended!)
sealion and i snuggling post-party at AS
playa fur blanket happy comfort