ebonlock | Coin-operated boy

The subject line is the title of a song I heard on the radio last night that has become my new personal theme. It's by an incredible group The Dresden Dolls

coin operated boy

coin operated boy
sitting on the shelf he is just a toy
but i turn him on and he comes to life
automatic joy
that is why i want a coin operated boy

made of plastic and elastic
he is rugged and long-lasting
who could ever ever ask for more
love without complications galore
many shapes and weights to choose from
i will never leave my bedroom
i will never cry at night again
wrap my arms around him and pretend....

coin operated boy
all the other real ones that i destroy
cannot hold a candle to my new boy and i'll
never let him go and i'll never be alone
not with my coin operated boy......

this bridge was written to make you feel smittener
with my sad picture of girl getting bitterer
can you extract me from my plastic fantasy
i didnt think so but im still convinceable
will you persist even after i bet you
a billion dollars that i'll never love you
will you persist even after i kiss you
goodbye for the last time
will you keep on trying to prove it?
i'm dying to lose it...
i want it
i want you
i want a coin operated boy.

and if i had a star to wish on
for my life i cant imagine
any flesh and blood could be his match
i can even take him in the bath

coin operated boy
he may not be real experienced with girls
but i know he feels like a boy should feel
isnt that the point that is why i want a
coin operated boy
with his pretty coin operated voice
saying that he loves me that hes thinking of me
straight and to the point
that is why i want
a coin operated boy.

If all their stuff is this entertaining I will need to buy their CD.

Anyway, the weekend. DDF was...well like nothing else I've ever done in my life. Hectic, scary, invigorating, fun, joyful, and exhausting all at once. In a way I can't quite believe it's come and gone already. And in another I'm quite glad it's over and as one of the troupe members commented, "Now I can go back to my non-dance life."

Spent Friday night doing costume fixes while watching some more Hellsing episodes with

cyranocyrano and

aelfsciene, then got to work on a replacement silver veil to go with my larger green. I just wasn't satisfied with the other two I'd already made. What, me obsessive-compulsive?

Saturday we got up fairly early and I ran some last minute errands before zooming back to finish up the last veil. Packed and re-packed my dance bag then took off for the show. I was extremely good the first day and just did a little window shopping before settling in to see some dancing. It was the usual mixed-bag, but it had a definite calming effect on me. Hey, if they could get up there and dance so could I. J- from the troupe came over and sat with me, then Aelf joined us for a bit. We then headed backstage to start getting ready.

I'm not sure where Alyne got the idea that we'd have a dressing room to ourselves, but it wasn't the case, so we crammed into one of the bigger ones and got "tarted up" for the performance. We looked amazing, if I do say so myself. The other performances ended a half an hour before the Extravaganza so we had time to go and play on the stage and figure out where we needed to be. C- and I went through some last minute double veil moves then we split off into two teams, one on each side of the wings to wait for our cue.

Two troupes went on before us, giving Aelf time to go out front and grab a spot to watch while

silkblade stayed with us to help out with props, water, etc. All the other troupes were insanely jealous that we'd brought along some roadies to help out :)

Personally I think our Saturday night performance was the better of the two, I know I felt more comfortable that night, that's for sure. It helped knowing that most of the audience out there were the true faithful (the show didn't start until 9 after all), mostly vendors, real enthusiasts and family members. The most incredible moment for me was when A-, C- and I came onstage at the beginning of "Hinko" with our double veils and there was this collective gasp from the audience. You could just feel the excitement, they knew we were about to do something amazing and quite rare (almost nobody does double veil, which just puzzles me). When we launched into our 32 count airplanes there were whoops and spontaneous applause and oh my god did I eat it right up. All three of us were moving together effortlessly, and given how little time we've had working all together that's something. It felt...magical.

Trying to curb our enthusiasm backstage was actually kind of tough, we were bouncing up and down and babbling non-stop through the end of the show. Although one of the funniest moments occurred when an onstage troupe used the music we do our "TicTic" drum solo to. We all started doing it backstage in time to the music and grinning like idiots. After taking our bows we gratefully shucked our costumes and called it a night around 11. Ended up getting to bed somewhere near 1 at which point I passed blissfully out.

Sunday was much calmer as all my costume needs were taken care of and all I had to do was relax before the show. Aelf and I ended up having lunch/dinner at the Bay Leaf Cafe in PA. Oh my god good stuff! We splurged and treated ourselves to dessert as well, she got this amazing banana/sesame crepe and I had non-dairy blueberry cheesecake that was to die for. I tried to tell myself it was clearly not as high cal as the dairy variety and that I'd dance it off later. As rationalizations go, not a terrible one.

Then we headed back to the apartment for last minute stuff before going to DDF. I learned an important lesson yesterday, it is a very bad idea to go shopping with troupe members. Between them and Aelf I was coaxed into buying this amazing (but expensive) costume. It's called "Tribaret", a one of a kind bra and skirt set that I fell madly in love with as soon as I set eyes on it. It'll require some modification, but that's not a big deal, and...well, it is unique. It is also the drop-dead sexiest thing I've ever laid eyes on, and my new incentive to drag out the rowing machine and get back to my regularly scheduled weight-loss.

Fortunately two of the other troupe members splurged and bought themselves one of Saqqara's creations as well so at least I wasn't alone in my decadence. We all decided to show them off to Alyne and the others and see if we couldn't do something a bit wilder costume-wise in the future.

After plunking down our cash we headed backstage before we could be lured into spending more and got spiffed up for the performance. I didn't feel we were quite as together on Sunday night, but that may have just been my take on it. We were well received and had a great time nonetheless. I was delighted by how many people stayed after the performance to say hello and tell us how much they'd enjoyed it. I was doubly delighted to see that

cyranocyrano had liked it. We were then whisked off to do a number of photo shoots and we got to ham it up and pretend to be sultry harem girls which is always fun.

Then as quickly as it had started it was all over and we de-glammed while chatting and the three of us who'd made purchases showed off our newly acquired costumes. Alyne went ga-ga over mine and said it's the kind of thing she'd always wanted to put together herself but didn't have quite the skill to do herself. Yay!

Everyone started slowly filtering out, as tired as we all were we were still reluctant to have the weekend end I think. Still, there are plenty of performances coming up in the not too distant future and there's always next year's DDF to look forward to. And now to get back to my "real" life and finally have a chance to clean my damn apartment.