2013 Abarth

I picked up my new car today -- and she's a beauty!  Stylish and fits me like a glove.

This is the first new car I've ever owned and I'm enjoying it already.  Now I just need to figure out her name.  She's Italian, exotic and beautiful...

 

 

 

Stuff I Found

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Diversity

I like where I live because it's economically diverse.  My house is middle-middle-class and yet, within walking distance, there are mansions worth more than $1 Million.  The neighborhood also has several horse-farms and there's a polo-field nearby.

At the other end, here's the view of my neighbor's house from my back-steps...

What's your neighborhood like?  Suburban? City? Rural? Rich? Poor? Middle-class?

A Challenge For Us

I like artistic challenges because they push us to experiment and grow.  I'm facing one of my own right now and could use your help.

I was shopping in Wet Seal, a store for young women, and saw something cute.  I bought the piece without any idea how to wear it.  The item is certainly eye-catching -- it's red and sequined.  It looks like a bra but isn't meant to be hidden beneath clothes; it's obviously designed to be seen.  Here it is...

Now the question is how to wear it.  Most women my age wouldn't have bought this piece, thinking it's too young for them.  I refuse to think that way.  There are no young clothes, just women who choose to be old ladies.

A girl might wear this is a garish way, exposing skin, but that won't work for me.  I want to be classy while using this item as an accent.  I'm tossing ideas around in my mind how to wear this and, truth be told, I'm coming up blank.  I can't figure out a classy way to incorporate this dramatic piece into an outfit.  Can you? 

All ideas are welcomed.

Largess

I am lucky to have good friends.  My pal Gracey understands the difficulties of being big -- we're both six feet tall.  With understanding and largess, Gracey sent me a dress last week that fits me perfectly.  In her note, she said she'd tried it on herself to make sure it'd fit me since we're the same size.  What a gal!

I love the dress -- it's a fashionable style and my favorite color. 

Unfortunately, I have bad news.  I paired the dress with super-cute peep-toe pumps Fuzzy gave me for my birthday and that was a tragic mistake.  I was so sure the two items would go together that I didn't rehearse them before putting on the show.  After completing a lengthy photoshoot, I suddenly realized that, as wonderful as these items are, they clash horribly.  The pink of the shoes is in the same color-family as the purple of the dress but the pink is much too light making the colors look terrible together.  Ouch!

With that regret, I'm showing you my outfit.  Try looking at me from the ankles up or the ankles down.

On the plus side, I love these clothes and simply wearing them made my day.  While putting on a pretty dress may be routine to you, it is a thrill to me.  A big thrill.

Do you ever find clothes don't match after believing in your mind that they will?

 

 

 

What's Her Name?

Do you name your cars?  I do.  All things have personalities and names help us relate to them.

For example, would you expect a Hummer named Arnold to be warm and nurturing?  Or a Mini named Suzie to be thoughtless and leave you stranded?  Of course not.

My baby is about to arrive.  She was built in Italy and the boys at the factory say she speaks with an accent.  Oh, and she is definitely a girl -- something this beautiful and stylish couldn't be anything but.  Her colors are black with red stripes, seats and accents.  A fashion queen!

I'm searching for a name for her.  Maybe you can help.  I invite all suggestions.  Let's crowd-source this, as the young people say.

Obviously it will be a girl's name and, equally clear, it should have an Italian flavor.  I've always admired those exotic Italian names like Angelica and Sophia.  Something along those lines might work.  They're beautiful and sexy, like my new car.  Naturally, a long name would lend itself to a shorter nickname, as Ally is for Allison.  (That piece of trivia is on a future "How Well Do You Know Ally" test, so pay attention.)

My ideas so far are: Abrielle, Adrianna, Allegra, Ambretta, Aurella, Dianora, Sabatina, Sebastiana, Serafina, Susetta, Zabra and Zita.

What suggestions do you have?  If you propose a name that ultimately gets chosen, there's a prize involved!

Happy Thanksgiving

 

 

Are you hosting or coasting?

 

Either way, have a wonderful holiday!

Ally Cat

 

One of my friends (Bella) recently called me "Ally Cat" -- and I like it!  It's wordplay on the old expression Alley Cat which refers to a domestic cat who lacks a home.  I feel like that at times.

 

There's something naturally feminine about felines.  When I was young, I mistakenly thought all cats were girls and all dogs were boys.  That's the impression I got from cartoons. 

Is there a totemic animal you identify with?

Oh, and something else.  I like to play with photographs for art purposes.  This morning, I selected and edited a picture from a recent photoshoot.  The thing I like best about the picture is the shadow on the wall -- the shadow reveals the silhouette of my dream.  Both dream and reality are displayed here, side by side.  The real-me (unshapely, unfeminine) is looking at the dream-me (idealic), with poignant, aching, palpable desire.  Physically, the dream-me is larger, as it is symbolically in my mind.

Who knew a picture could say so much?!

New Necklace

Thanks to the Internet, I have friends around the world.  Literally.  My friend Lynn lives in South Africa which is really far from New York.

Despite the distance, Lynn is very kind to me.  Lynn has a blog, as does her sister Wendy who also lives in South Africa and is a good friend of mine (blog).

For my birthday, Lynn sent me a handmade card (how cool is that?!) and a pretty necklace.  The necklace looks regal and makes me feel like a Queen.  Also, the sentiment behind it is as important to me as the object itself.

Do you ever give jewelry as a gift?

Exploring The Outer Edge

When I find something I like, I explore it.  I venture toward its outer edge to see what joys it might contain.  It's my nature to be an explorer and often I discover wonders unseen by ordinary folk.

On the other hand, sometimes I just look weird.

When hunting for my birthday gift to myself, I stumbled upon an item that combines two of my favorites -- tights and colors.  I love tights.  I love bright colors.  They are joined together in a pair of multi-colored fishnet tights ($6) offered by my prized dance store.

I am wearing these as an artistic experiment.  I like 'em.  One might or might not wear them in normal life.  What do you think?

I have to say that I'm not entirely pleased with how this photoshoot turned out.  It is very difficult to be both model and photographer.  You can't see what you're shooting until too late and, here, I tried an unusual camera-angle which made that even more unpredictable.  This was a hard shoot to perform and I wish the results were better but they aren't.  You need to cut me some slack here, unless you want to come over my house and help me take pictures.

 

 

 

 

Thanks to Toadmama for the scarf and pretty ring.

Mr. Potato Head

I've got a terrific idea for an artistic outfit but work has been so demanding this week I haven't had a minute to execute it.  Tomorrow's looking good, so tune in then for something special.

In the meantime, I just saw something fun in the news.  Mr. Potato Head was one of my favorite toys growing up.  Hasbro is celebrating the 60th anniversary of the toy by issuing new celebrity models.  Here are a few. 

I'm nuts over Mr. P and Darth Tator.  Which do you like?

 

 

 

 

(The other three are Spiderman, Alfred E. Neuman and Joey Ramone.)

Back To Normal...

... or at least what passes for normal in my life.  :)

With electricity and light, I can return to outfit photos.  Creating and wearing outfits affects me the same way motorcycle-riding does.  Both make me happy and, when I'm unable to engage in them, I turn blue.  Returning to these activities after a spell makes me wonder, "Why haven't I been doing this?"  The reaction reminds me how much I love to dress up in pretty clothes and ride motorcycles really fast.

Displayed below is my birthday present to myself.  Of course, it isn't a "real" outfit for ordinary life, but I find exploring fantasy is fun.  Fantasy exercises our creativity and expands our imagination.  Do you ever play with fantasy?

I'd love to hear your reaction to these photos.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Power!

They finally restored electricity to my home today.  The heat is slowly coming up.  I'm heading into the bathtub for a hopefully delicious soak.

Life will gradually return to normal.  I just cleaned the (empty) refrigerator and need to go out to buy groceries -- after I wait in line for two hours to buy gas.  A quarter of the homes on Long Island still don't have power and people are crowding gas-stations for fuel.

Because of this circumstance, I haven't been able to do any photoshoots (no lights).  I plan to remedy that this weekend.  Maybe I'll even show you the birthday present I bought myself (purple dance-leotard and tutu).

Lacking any other pictures to show you, let me entertain you with some photos I've collected of real buildings around the world.  These are real structures built by clever architects.  If you want any details on them, e-mail me and I'll clue you in.

Happy Power Day!

 

 

 

It's Coming!

 

 

When I ordered my 2013 Fiat Abarth in September, they told me there were none in stock and they'd have to build me one.  They predicted it'd be ready by Nov/Dec.  I didn't mind the wait because they were building the car to my particular specifications and I don't need a car until it starts snowing (which is when I can't ride my motorcycles).

 

I've been getting weekly status reports from the factory where the elves have been hard at work.  Today, they reported the car is done!  All finished.  They expect to deliver it to me in about two weeks.

 

I can't wait to pop the clutch and squeal the tires.  And, of course, pose for pictures.

Birthday Bikes

Singer Billy Joel collects motorcycles; he has dozens of 'em.  Unlike most rich guys who squirrel their fancy bike collection in garages out of view, Billy displays his bikes in public.  He rents a storefront in tony Oyster Bay where his motorcycles are on display for everyone to enjoy.  The only thing the store sells is t-shirts.  It's like a private museum.

I visited Billy's place on my birthday to admire the motorcycles.  I took pictures, shown below.  Even if you don't know anything about motorcycles, you can still appreciate the colors, shapes and beauty of these handsome machines.