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Showing posts with label make-up. Show all posts
Showing posts with label make-up. Show all posts

Friday, January 30, 2015

Lisa's Private Thoughts October 12th, 2011 "Vintage Clothing, Nathan, and Burlesque"

Uncle Nathan is the coolest guy ever!  

Back when we'd been in Europe he'd promised to take me to some places that had vintage clothing and today he did just that.  It was a raining today so we didn't have to worry about the sun bothering him as we drove around.  At the first place we stopped I found this really nice-looking old bustle skirt in black that fit just perfect.  Unfortunately, it was a little out of my price range, but not Nathan's.  He bought if for me.  


"It looked perfect on you," he explained.  "And I would know, I spent a lot of time looking at women from the front, from behind, all around in fact."

I gently slugged him on the arm for that one and called him a pervert to which he replied, "Excuse me, I did work in theater for a coupled of decades doing a lot of different jobs, including helping with people's outfits.  I had to make sure they looked right before they went on stage."

"Sure, you did," I teased back.

"Right, that does it," he announced and took me to a theater that was running a burlesque show.


Now before anyone freaks out, the show wasn't going to be on until later.  So the only people there were a couple of the girls who were rehearsing and the troupe's leader, a woman named Olivia.  Much to my surprise when she spotted Nathan her face lit up and she came running over to give him a big hug crying, "Uncle Nate!  Oh, how I've missed you.  Hey, everyone Nate's here!"

I swear one of these days I'm going to find out exactly how many people are part of his 'extended family' besides mine.  Back in Europe there were quite a few, but now I'm beginning to think that the the actual numbers are much larger.  

In this case it made sense.  Apparently a number of friends and cousins were in charge of this burlesque troupe.  I don't think all of them know his real secret as a couple of the people mentioned how unusual it was to see him in the day.  "You usually only come around at night when we have a show going," one mentioned.

Uncle Nate merely waggled his eyebrows and said, "Well, you have to admit the sites around here are much more interesting at night."

While everyone burst out laughing, I was given the grand tour backstage while Nathan was giving people a hand here and there with the backstage equipment and event he costumes.  Apparently he was telling the truth as several of the girls asked for his opinion and help with some of their outfits.  I think a few were trying to flirt, but mostly they did want his advice and help.


It was interesting to see all the inner workings of a theater backstage.  I'd never been behind the scenes before, so this was a real treat for me.  

Plus I got to see inside one of the dressing rooms where they kept all the clothing and make-up.   One of the things they all stressed to me was although I wanted to go for an authentic look I should also keep in mind, be able to move and breathe.  

"We don't just get out there and start stripping, we're dancing," one girl told me.  "We do splits and a lot of other acrobatics.  And some of us are wearing corsets and those can be constricting so if you're not careful you could make your life really miserable.  So choose items that allow movement and fabrics that breathe and you'll be okay."


I thought this was great advice, because the theater teacher at my high school has been complimenting me on my outfits lately.  She says I have an eye for style and authentic looks and has been hinting I should maybe join her class.  I told her I'd think about it and now I really am.  This could be a great experience for me and open up some doors down the road.  I may do it since I have more time to myself these days.  Marisa is still being distant, but at least now I know what's going on.  Her dad is fighting cancer and she's spending as much time with him as possible in case things go bad.   

I'd love to be there for her, but my parents say I should respect her wishes to be with her family more, so I'm giving her her space.  I'm still going to try and be there for her as much as possible, especially at school.  But I'm going to do as my parents say and giver her her space.  I just hope things go well so we can start hanging together again.  I really miss her.





Monday, August 11, 2014

Lisa's "Private" Journal June 16th, 2011

*Author's note: Today I'm introducing Brian's daughter Lisa, who is also Marisa's best friend.  Like her father, Lisa is fully aware of what Nathaniel is and has no problem with it as you will soon see.  She too will be a key player in the actual novel.  So please sit back and relax as Lisa introduces herself to you all.  I hope you'll find her as charming and fun as I do...*

SQUEEEE... ENGLAND IS SO COOL!



Oh my God, I've been having the best time since we got here.  This place is so incredible.  I really didn't know what I was going to think of this place when I was told we were going, but I'm so glad we came.  My whole attitude about coming was kind of 'mixed' so to speak.  I'd really been looking forward to enjoying the summer with my best friend Marisa, only to be told we were heading overseas for three months touring Europe.

My dad is teaches history over at New River Tech College and had been wanting to visit the continent for some time in order to take in some 'history' in person.  But he didn't want to just visit, he wanted to really explore and have the time to do his research.



Enter my godfather, Uncle Nate, who thanks to his inhumanly long life, was heading to England to visit some of his 'extended' family there and other parts of Europe.  While he was looking to going, he hates to travel alone.  So he decided to 'drag' us along with him on this trip.

As exciting as the trip sounded, I was pretty annoyed about not being with my bestie as planned.  I even tried to talk my parents into letting her come with us.  Much to their credit, they did like the idea and would've loved to have had her along.  They like to think of Marisa as another daughter and would've watched over her like a pair of hawks.  However... there was Uncle Nate to think about.  Marisa does not know about his being a hundred and sixty-four year old vampyre.  None of my friends know, which is why I have to keep this blog "PRIVATE".  It's more like a personal diary where I share my adventures and experiences involving Uncle Nate.  The only people who will ever read these entries are myself and any children I have when I'm older.  I want them to know and understand what makes Uncle Nate so very special and amazing.  He's been part of our family since 1866 when he married the widow of his best friend and commanding officer in the Union Army.  He's been our 'guardian angel' ever since.

And we're not the only family he watches over.  Since coming here I've met at least a dozen families who know and adore him as much as we do.  They too know his secret and guard it with a vengeance.  I've been told that before we finally head back home, I'll have met many more who call him "Uncle", "Friend" and even an "Angel" with dark wings..

But what I want to talk about right now is this new thing I'm getting into.  As soon as we arrived in London's Heathrow Airport I started seeing people in the most amazing outfits.  They're Goths, but not like the ones I've seen in school who do the dark clothing and black hair routines.  These people take it a step further into like living history meets art.  We're talking Classic Goth clothing and make-up done with STYLE.





I totally fell in love with the clothing at first.  I mean, some of the styles border on historical with an added touch of modern clothing.  Like this dress...


But I'm not just getting into the clothes.  The make-up is fascinating me as well.  It turns out one of my 'cousins' over here is into the Goth scene, and she's been taking me under her wing.  She's been showing me all kinds of cool make-up and looks I can go for, like this one she did for a party we went to...


I've started accumulating a new wardrobe.  Kate (my cousin) gave me this little outfit to take home with me.


I can hardly wait to show it to Marisa when I get back.  That's one of the major drawbacks to being here.  I can't phone her from here because it's too expensive to make an overseas call.  And we're kind of on the move a lot, so I don't get much of a chance to get online except for a few minutes, like now.  So I'm mainly using my computer time to write all this stuff up, while I keep sending postcards and short letters back to  her.  I hope I can tell her about Uncle Nate one of these days, he's really an amazing guy and I think she'd really like him.

Great, Mom's getting on my case about getting off so I have to stop for now.  We're heading to Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum tonight and in a few days we'll be in France.  What a wild trip this is turning out to be.  I can hardly wait to see what comes next.

Later all! (kiss)