Okay, finally found the cable for my camera and was able to download photos (supplemented with several from the incomparable Lee Jordan).
I was happy to see that Los Angeles really rolled out the red carpet for Lisa Petrucci and I, there was definitely a buzz in the air and I could feel the excitement building as it got closer to the time for our Double Trouble book signing…
How sweet is that? (Lee, how did you pull that off? You’re not just a publicist, you’re a magician!) Miss Kitty and I made a pit stop to the roof deck of the Standard Hotel for a quick libation and to admire the sunset.
Aren’t those red pods completely groovy? Inside they have white terry cloth covered waterbeds, totally delish after a dip in the pool, and usually crawling with groping drunks after dark. (I hope they wash the covers daily. Kitty and I have seen some goings on in those pods, let me tell you.)
Somebody hoist me outta this thing!
I’ve never felt quite the same about topiary animals ever since reading “The Shining” (they didn’t have a silly hedge maze in the novel). That damn book scared me so much when I read it as a kid that the actual, physical book itself started to freak me out — I’d have to pile other books on top of it at night when I went to sleep. To, you know, keep it pinned down and closed while I slept.
Then it was off to La Luz for the signing — but we couldn’t leave the Standard without giving the folks a quick musical treat, so Kitty and I hit the organ for a brief medley of catchy Icelandic folk/old school punk mash-ups. You haven’t lived till you’ve heard us warble ”I Wanna Be Your Dog/Lofsöngur.”
Oh no, we couldn't, well... maybe just one more!
And then it was showtime! Billy Shire was kind enough to host us at La Luz de Jesus, and Lee Jordan did a fabulous job getting the word out far and wide, so we actually had a decent turn-out, which was muy fantastico.
Billy, book-ended by broads
Apparently even Billy got the “totes rock the red and black!” memo. Old and new faces showed up — wait, none of you have old faces (there go all my friends, stomping off into the distance). G showed up so we could take our annual photo of me peering over his back:
And yes that is my painting tattooed on his fine flesh canvas.
If you’ve ever been in Wacko you know it’s just about damn near impossible to get out of that place without dropping a couple hundred bucks. They’ve got an epic and drool-worthy selection of books and miles of tchotchkes n’ do-dads and decorative items and art, art, art. G scored this awesome, verrrrry classy item:
Don't be hatin' -- you know you want one too.
And then it was down to business — the business of having a great time! I swear Lisa and didn’t actually coordinate our outfits (very un-girly of us, I know) but check us out. (She did tell me she was going to do “hair up” since I was likely to be “hair down” so we wouldn’t look like twins.)
We even, briefly, had a little line of people waiting to get their stuff signed. (I think they were actually all there to see Lisa, but I gabbed with anybody within gabbing distance.)
And big, big props to Lee — when I originally suggested to Lisa that we should do a signing together in LA, she talked to Lee and he made it happen!
And we signed and signed and signed and signed and… you get the idea…
Someone admired my black nails and I admitted that I’d done them in the airport, waiting for my flight that afternoon. And that I’d also done my toes. Which prompted G to say “Why not just give yourself a bikini wax while you’re at it?”
I think these four, wholesome gals could sell you just about anything. (Let the caption contest begin…)
And if you were pining, wishing you could make it down there to score one of our button sets, well let me tell you that this is your lucky day — I have a couple left. They’re a numbered edition, signed by both of us, for just $10. (Only 32 shopping days left till Christmas!) Just drop me a line.
Up next, Liz McGrath’s opening at BSFA, Andrew Brandou’s awesome studio, ghetto fish with The Pizz, and the Long Beach Swap Meet!
