My Dennis Hopper story is....

that I met him and some of the cast and crew of Cool Hand Luke when it was made in the late 60s in California. It made a HUGE impression on me. I've never forgotten Dennis Hopper.....He was a person that is so magnetic...you knew you were in the presence of an amazing and an original spirit.....

here he is with Matt Dillon, in Rumble Fish.

In The Sons of Katie Elder, with John Wayne.

Dennis, standing in front of Paul Newman, from Cool Hand Luke.

And below, Dennis in Easy Rider.

and I shall now go watch this movie..
Flashback.......I fucking love this movie!
If you haven't seen this yet....I think you should (for free on IMDB).
Listen to the speech Dennis/Huey gives near the end...
there ya go.
Here's a repost from 2007.

Maybe I'm just goofy, and I probably am.....but the world needs more Originals......
and that is the premise behind funkoma vintage.....Dressing and living as an original person...rather than mindlessly traipsing thru the mall...
Because wearing vintage and decorating your home and style with the good stuff from the years past takes some brainpower.....
If it was great back then, it still is now.....style recycle.


Since Twiggy, from my Seventeen magazine-reading days, uh, back in the 60s.....and my lust for the 70s Lauren Hutton....here with Dennis Hopper...



I haven't desired to look like anyone else on the planet....not that I'm so cute....it's just that I like to do my own thing and since plastic surgery is never gonna be in my budget....well, I've had to spend my time Just Be'n ME !
There is one gal, however that really makes me happy.....
Yes I am a Chloe-Girl...Sevigny, that is....

from fashionista.com is the Early Chloe....Great fashion sense...and there's the reason why I love her.....even though
she's Tall, Blonde, Slim & Has Straight White Teeth...(which makes life easier...)
She seems so "normal"..like if you saw her in the grocery store she'd say Hi! (if you didn't act like a big goober) and mush and lush all over her...which would turn anyone off, or should....

City of Tacoma Loves Brothels

In the early 2000's the City of Tacoma named Court C between 7th and St. Helens "Opera Alley" to pay homage to the historic preponderance of brothels...and the many drinking establishments.

So...I'm not a politically correct type person...but I really find the naming of a street to honor brothels to be disgusting. But, the City of Tacoma thinks that is a fine name for a street.

(from the City's website:)Opera Alley
One of Downtown’s oldest and newest districts, this little slice of Tacoma is a collection of beautifully restored buildings. It is anchored by a café, a yarn shop and an interior décor shop, and offers many other retail shops. Stroll along St. Helen’s, north of 9th, and veer off to the right, just past the guitar shop. It's a step back in time to a more genteel era.

Brothels are "a more genteel era.".......Really?
More from the City of Tacoma website....
In 1892, the worst section of town was Court ‘C’, from 9th to 17th Streets. Known as "Opera Alley", it was lined with dance halls, gambling dens, and brothels. This was considered one of the toughest police beats on the West Coast and many dangerous criminals made it their destination. Saloons were also a major problem, and in early Tacoma, they stayed open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. There were 17 saloons on the upper Pacific beat alone, which covered Commerce and ‘A’ Streets from 7th to 13th Streets.

2 Be A Bee

well, I certainly cannot wear yellow above my belly button......but I sure love yellow...and when paired with black....I'm a Bee!

a Bee Girl grows up!


everything you want to know about Beekeeping...from Cornell's collection



Here's some Bee ness from etsy sellers......

Bee Dress !!
from seller alysonmq



A Bee Tee !
from seller retroEra



A honey pot and a bee....from seller studiostebbylee



2 kids bee books...from seller vvpaperemporium

Fresh Funkomavintage......

The latest and greatest !
Classic wiggle black lace Little Black Dress....



Fitted 60s style....with a wiggle pencil skirt....
this is very old lady chic...and steampunk too.
It's a classic style that's sexy and pretty covered up...which is the very definition of grandma chic....Add a big rhinestone pin to the ruffle collar or wear tons of long pearls and crucifixi...

I'd wear it with brown leather shoes and a beat up vintage military jacket...for a bit of Amelia feelin'...


Pretty vintage big floral 60s blouse...
I love the blue and green prints of the early 60s...I've read they are based on stained glass windows of European churches...




Wow! Long fitted psychedelic party dress....I'd wear this almost everyday in the summer...the colors are so damn fantastic!




I love this one too! Oh so pretty...sheer voile has lavender flowers, with brown branches and green leaves. It's 3 big tiers lined in a satin fabric, with an elastic waist and around the top. The lining stops at the thighs...so it's a real mini!!
(or wear leggings underneath or a half slip)




and another in my favorite color....Purple velvet...in an easy to wear bolero length...this will be a go-to jacket for so many things...I show it open and closed with a big pin for another look....

Outsourcing is the way to make Money....

Affiliated Computer Services (ACS), Inc. will be firing workers in Kentucky, as..........
Tacoma City Council approves parking pay station contract
we learn from Tacoma Daily Index---
"Tacoma City Council approved a purchase resolution Tuesday that authorizes the execution of a $4.185 million agreement between the City and Affiliated Computer Services (ACS), Inc. to begin the process of installing electronic pay stations in the central business district. "
--------------------------------------
So who/what is the company that will be collecting more money from shoppers and local folks who want to go downtown......
from Current it Market.......
Xerox, ACS buy set to bring in more jobs to India
[Thursday, October 01, 2009 | 0 comments ]

Xerox Corporation’s move to acquire Dallas-based Affiliated Computer Services for $6.4 billion comes just a week after Dell’s buyout of Perot Systems for $3.9-billion.

The Xerox deal is expected to create “significant number" of additional jobs in India as cost optimisation is going to be great focus for the copier giant. In fact, Xerox expects to achieve annualised cost synergies in the range of $300- $400 million in the first three years by using ACS’ back-office expertise to handle the latter’s internal functions.

Aman Mustafa, country manager (India), ACS Global Operations Support, told TOI: “There will be a greater flow in the back-office work related to document management space. The coming together of Xerox and ACS will throw up significantly higher job opportunities in the country.’’

ACS is a 74,000-people strong company with global revenues of $6.5 billion. It employs 5,500 people in India across Bangalore, Kochi, Chennai and Noida. ACS will now on be called a Xerox company. Based in Sohna, near Gurgaon, Xerox currently has 500 people in the country, mostly in the marketing, sales and support functions.
____________________________________
Because there are no companies in Washington that can manage this kind of complex data collection. And there are no workers to be found here in Washington...to do this kind of work.
So, Outsourcing.......and unnecessary parking fees.....is good......for .......someone.
But I'm not really sure who....
Oh, yeah. MEGA Transnational Corporations that are not Headquartered in Washington.


So, off to buy some beer and check my tools out in the garage......

Gotta Have an Idea

of what you want, but you don't need to know everything when you decorate.
frinstance....
I don't want no....
1). Gimmicks.

see that bowl-used-as-a-sink thing? Gimmick. Just buy.A.Sink.
what a pain in the ass to clean, I guess. I don't have one. I live in a rental. But, if I owned my own trailerhouse, I wouldn't do that. Dumb and tricky.
pic stolen from My Favorite and My Best....

Also. The Red Wall. So sick of that gimmick. It went something like this: "Look, I have nothing going on in this room, so I'll paint it a wild bold color!!!!!!"
I had one. It was a huge mistake. If your house is just a big blah box, so what. Choose good stuff and get on with life.
I'll revisit this "box" topic again in another post because my new house has very little architectural interest, being a WWII working class starter home...but, still it does have charm! You just have to "seeee" it, and get past the idea of rich-people envy.

Yes, I am gonna paint one of my walls brown. Because. Someone painted it RED. Brown is pretty and a sweet basic color, and it will cover the RED. I really want dark grey but in my cool grey climate...it will just be cold. So a nice brown (with some grey).

2.) Trends.

This is so trendy... white (painted) objects, pastels, hipster art, weirdly mcm/orla keily-type print pillows. So much of decor today is taking old furniture and covering it in wack print fabric, or pastel velvet. Since I have only ever bought 2 new pieces of furniture in my 55 years, I fully understand the before/after thing....but I also think sometimes the old shit needs to be "respected". Not everything needs a wack print...not everything needs a new paint job. Sometimes a simple respectable print or solid is nice enough, and a wood item just needs a damn good cleaning and wax.


stolen from My Favorite and My Best....
and where Decorno left a comment about.
(Decorno only ever "allowed" one comment I ever left there...fascist)

this is what Decorno said:

"Dear Angie,

It's too cutesy, indeed. In fact, it looks like "blogger decor" to me. Totally well-executed and more mature, but it has all the signs: pops of pinky/blue color, the usual suspects for furniture style, cute art, girly to the max... cute. Cute, cute, cute. I think that room will date fast because everyone is crushing so hard on that look. That living room looks like a Polyvore mashup of every blogger's wet dream. When your reaction is that strong - run. It might mean you've been seduced by trends.

xoxo
Decorno"

And these....
come on! enough of this now. And I LOVE letters, alphabets, typography...but this is now the 2010 version of 70s owls and mushrooms. Enough of the long rolls, but OK on the framed One word (or 2).(and of course, the Keep Calm poster thing....it was boring from the get-go)

from:FrenchByDesign

Another thing that's trendy right now. Letters. Single letters from signs. Or old signs, period.
Hey, I've been using letters as decor for decades. Ever since I saw Alexander Girard in home decor in the 60s...I was hooked. And once you go look at the Girard collection, you'll see where So Many Hipster Designers are getting their ideas!
more that's trendy---

Bones. I'm goth. Go figure. I'll still be displaying my bones. And my fossils.

Old stuff from the flea market/yard sale. I've always been poor. And clever. Therefore I have always decorated with used stuff, and stuff I just found somewhere. I am especially fond of branches and dried weeds. And rust. And old frosted bottles.

update ** holy crap! The f'king Buddah Head is everywhere in home decor right now!!**
I love Buddha, trying to limit desires...for the good of someone/thing.... but are folks really trying to be Buddahlike with that head,or just following a trend? Because following trends, and buying shit just to be buying shit is very unBuddha.

3.) Clutter.
Do I need to show pics?
Yes.
from ApartmentTherapy....

It's going in its place or it's going in the garbage. Important, but I don't need to see it.....it will go in one of these:



or in one of my trunks, or suitcases....

I love a little sugar in my bowl.....

Mary J. Blige...and Nina Simone...
together!

Nina Simone!!
Nina Simone!!





With financing in place, says the news......Miss Blige will portray Nina in a new movie to begin shooting very soon. I am quite happy about that.
and please Lord, protect this production so it doesn't become...Mahogany....or ...even worse....Lady Sings the Blues.




I like Mary J.
And I adore..
Nina Simone. Oh Yes.
(suck it Beyonce.)



But is Mary J. Blige the right choice? I'm not convinced.
Here's a great post on the subject....from IBWFF. Who ..What is IBWFF?
From the website:"The International Black Women’s Film Festival was established in 2002 by Adrienne Anderson, a San Francisco Bay Area-resident and San Francisco-native."




Who is Cindy Mort, the director/screenwriter? Here. Naughty!





Miss Simone.

As I Was Packing and Perusing...

I came across a jacket and dress set I made to wear to go see Nanci Griffith in the mid 80s.
yikes.
My kids, I am quite sure, can sing you, from memory, the lyrics to "Ford Econoline".

"She drove west from Salt Lake City, to the California coastline...
She hit the San Diego Freeway doing 60 miles an hour..
She had a husband on her bumper, she had 5 restless children,
She was singing sweet as a mocking bird in the Ford Econoline......"

I don't have the set here at the new house yet...but I will add a picture to this post in the next few days.......
Picture a simple sleeveless jumper dress with an empire waist, a gathered skirt just about calf length.....made of a lightweight cotton, with full blown pale pink roses and pastel old-fashioned flowers of blue and yellow and green leaves, in a summer garden floral print....(I know you remember the big flowers of the 80s!)

Then the jacket I made to match.....I was heavily into fringe (still am...). I used a lovely periwinkle blue lightweight denim for the jacket, a simple style, with a deep V western-style yoke edged in white rayon silky fringe...and I lined the jacket in the same pretty floral print.
It was so....angelic and yes, pretty. Back then I was flipping back and forth from a Laura Ashley romantic look to Cowgirl, to Morticia Addams...
Sometimes, I mixed them all together...





the reason I am listening again to Nanci Griffith, is ......she was a Fashion Sistah then, an inspiration.....and again, I feel like ...socks. all. the. time.
I wear socks a lot. I love socks. I have many many more socks than shoes, and I have a lot of shoes, and boots.....
I didn't listen to any Nanci for a while but after a 2 year hiatus, well, I kinda wore it out. I played her music so much that I felt I was in a rut. Well, Nanci is back in the rotation......and not just her music...

In the early 80s I first spotted her cassette (!) in a music store in the Country section (!) and this was the cover....

See the little socks? I wore little socks all the time with skirts and tennis shoes, and flats and sandals....With dresses!
I wore cowboy boots all the time with dresses too, having been influenced by Patsy Cline from my childhood.
I had to have this! I didn't know any other grown women outside of Utah cults, that dressed like that....(it was actually a Southern thing, and a European thing...)


So, I bought the cassette and it became one of my lifelong faves. So much so, that I hog-tied my ex-husband into spending real $$ on me and going to Seattle to see Nanci Griffith perform. I can't remember where now, but you had a choice of dinner first with the show, or just the show. I chose dinner and a show!
It was an amazing feat...my ex hated anything that didn't involve guns and John Wayne for entertainment.




All Nanci Griffith is wonderful!
And I'll be back to wearing socks with sandals all summer long...if the day isn't too hot...and I'll be...." singing as sweet as a mockingbird in my Ford pick Up Truck"....
;-)







She's a Texan and she almost always wears her LBJ button!


Here are 2 fairly recent pics of Nanci, and below, one with Janis Ian....another lady who was very important to me (still is!), but that's another post....

Back to Hilltop Tacoma Safeway

The veggie/fruit section with the pharmacy looked like this:


And now it has gray faux planks giving it a darling and rustic farm stand look. This decor makes me wanna buy even more good healthy veggies and fruits.
I wish this area was near the front entrance door. But, it's by the locked door, meaning you have to traverse the whole store........past the junk food galore, past all the aisles with endcaps full of sale items or items that may not be the healthy choices, past the checkout stands through the lines of shoppers and carts to get there. (Or you have to traverse the back wall of dairy, meat, etc, etc.)

Here's the former meat/cheese/dairy wall along the back wall. See the concrete floors, the almond vinyl sheeting and the orange stripe?

Now, the orange stripe and the brown stripe is ......gone.......



This the front door entrance with temporary crazy-ness.Most of the floors are stripped to bare concrete.

It looked like this about 7 days ago. (may 1) It's taken near the front (south) entrance, looking north towards the veggie/fruit area and near the pharmacy, past the checkstands.I hope they keep the copy machine and update the courtesy office....it's pretty tacky.


Now look!
This pic is taken from the veggie/fruit section looking south towards the main entrance......new signs, new checkout islands....much cleaner and modern. Those big yellow sale signs are gone......and the orange stripe..is gone!
I think it's kinda funny that the Express sign ...has a Train! Because a train in the modern world is Fast Speed!