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.

Oh My little tiny Greekish garden...

Whilst I was in the tiny garden on Monday planting the nasturtium seeds several folks said Hi ! and let me know they were so happy to see a sweet little thing in the midst of brokeness and leftovers.
Daniel was entranced by this sleepy little bee ! He gave it a voice "Hey you said it was Spring!"
(Nature has been tricking us all lately!)



I don't mind the busted ness of downtown.....it's kinda interesting......I love to look over the edge down to the parking lot next to the Spanish Steps...It's a dizzying view! and then lift my eyes to The Old City Hall......the bluest sky and the cotton clouds.......and the beautiful saltyness.....the industry of burly men and determined women........

My my my...Industrious little daffs......went from this on February 23.......to.......



This on March 1 !!



The pansies and the primroses are spritely !



I adore how this little daff is folded......so much like a butterfly emerging from a coccoon..


Most of the daffs are King Alfred type, but there are a few renegades mixed in.....I wish I'd have planted a bag or 3 or 7 of Poet's Narcissus...they are my favorites of the Narcissus.......I adore the teeny minis also........





Narcissus flowers are named for the son of the River God, Cephissus and Leiriope, a nymph, in Greek mythology.........This boy Narcissus was a hawt babe according to legend. A prophet told Leiriope her son would live long and prosper if he avoided ever seeing himself in a reflection.
The boy had many women and men (this is a Greek legend) fall in love with him as he grew up into a man, but he chose none of them for a lover.

A nymph, Echo, who had her own curse to deal with, goddess Hera made poor Echo repeat again the last words she heard said to her.......loved Narcissus. But he did not have eyes for her!
Ameinias, another hopeful lover was also rejected by the handsome Narcissus, and Ameinias killed himself. Just before taking his life he asked for the gods to punish the sexy beast Narcissus.
The gods then set Narcissus to gaze on his loveliness in a clear pond......He fell in love with himself!
When he went to touch the beautiful image, he fell in and drowned......or he killed himself also....we're not too clear on that.
The gods thought the tragedy (this is a Greek legend) ought to be commemorated......and so named the lovely yellow late winter flower.......Narcissus.

Let this be a lesson to you Pretty People....Love one another....and don't be stuck-up!

Here's a Poet's Narcissus.....

and clicky here for another sassy sweet blog post about Narcissus.......

What Inspires me today/What I'm working on...

I don't think I will ever tire of dresses/skirts with boots...and really cute sandals.....especially if they have buckles and straps........

A Blue dress for the Alice in you.......on etsy....







A tailcoat of ivory with toile, crochet and shells....and lots of lace......with a blue silk party dress.......
fairytale.........






...................................................................................................................
and this song was playing last night in the "new" Thriftway...as I was shopping for pie and lotion kleenex for my husband......I sometimes forget that I love Christine McVie

It Is All About Karl !!

Who is Karl?
we'll get to that in a minute..


Remember when my car had it's inner guts tampered with? Yes. good.
While it was being repaired at the Mechanic it developed this horrific putrefying baby-Bambi-and-a-herd-of-lemurs-killing... odor inside the car ! Yes. bad.

Big Lebowski reference #1...
[after recovering his car from the Auto circus]
The Dude: Oh, Jesus, what's that smell, man?
Auto Circus Cop: Yes, probably a vagrant slept in the car. Or maybe just used it as a toilet and moved on.



Mark and I traced it down to the front passenger floor mats and long story short....they are now buried in the Tacoma Dump for some future digger to discover...(sorry.) But the carpet held on to the stink...like a baby grips your lips and won't let go until you break/unwrap his fat little fingers from your mouth......



We sprayed it with that Cat Puke digester stuff you buy at the Fred Meyer, the one you mix with warm water just Seconds Before You Need To Use It...
weird.
Nope.
Still STANK.

Then we tried Forest Flowers of Mars scent Lysol Spray in a can........
That helped. I hate Lysol. It smells like a decaying stomach operation and a demented grandpa TV chair......
So I like to avoid Lysol.
Mark and I even had a bit of a "dust up" over my sensible/crazy hatred of Lysol.



But while perusing the line up of Products To Make You Impressive To Others (aka...Scent Products For Your Home and Car) at the Albertsons...
I found this pretty can of spray Lysol that doesn't smell like Lysol, or a surgical procedure from the 1920s or a dog urine chair/potty.

So I sprayed my carpet ...again and again....and again.
The smell was quite masked. But. Still. There.

I just gave up for 2 weeks and decided I was just gonna have to pretend my life was going just fine despite having a Toxic Bomb for a car.

Mark had a secret weapon....Why did he save the Best for Last?


A couple of years ago he took possession of a "used car" and in the back seat was forgotten bottle of
KARL LAGERFELD men's cologne.
So. f'n. Trashy. But, hey it smelled good !



I mean, it's Karl f'n Lagerfeld ....(you can buy it at Sears)...
Every once in awhile we'd squirt a bit in the bathroom for "those special occasions"..
Hey, it smelled good !



The other night Mark and I decided to drive my car to get some viddles Jethro, and he carried a small black vial of some mystery substance with him........
He showed me the KARL...


...and said this was a last ditch effort before we pay Mr. Bueno a small sum to steal the car and light it on fire.



I told Mark that KARL was superspecialchilipeppercoagulated, and to please, only splash a drop or 2 on the carpet for fear of burning the carpet right then and there, without the benefit of Mr. Bueno "stealing" the car for "show business"
At first my eyes burned and my nose dripped, and my ears rang as the KARL seeped into the putrifying carpet....


Big Lebowski reference #2...
We started joking about "Karl"...and since my car sports at least 2 Big Lebowski bumper stickers, our jokes also included "Karl" the man who comes to fix the cobble.
[Maude shows the porn video starring Bunny to the Dude]
Sherry in 'Logjammin': [on video] You must be here to fix the cable.
Maude Lebowski: Lord. You can imagine where it goes from here.
The Dude: He fixes the cable?
Maude Lebowski: Don't be fatuous, Jeffrey.


It's all about Karl !
Even A Dress A Day bows to the greatness that is KARL !!


We rolled our windows down as we drove my hooptie to North Compton to have a nice dinner of Harbor Lights martinis.


On the way home, a tidy little jaunt of just a mile or 2 down Ruston Way to Pacific Ave, and to home......a Miracle Occured.




The stench has Left The Carpet !!!!
yes.
Good.
Well, that and the sunshine in the last few days, I'm sure.

PRAISE KARL LAGERFELD !!
He's a f'n GENIUS.

I think his marketing department needs this story.

Dystopia Style

I don't go to many parties much,and Mark really doesn't but we are quite excited about Jada's Salvation party on January 30.

Some inspirations:


No really.........before the Bible and uh, Noah and his ark.......




As I was outside on Thursday afternoon, burning holes in my camo pants, soon to be skirt......of course anyone who walked by was darn curious about what I was doing.
Picute this: a lady (me) sitting in the driveway in front of my shop burning her laid-out pants, lighting wooden matches and holding the flame to folds of fabric.

I simply explained I was working on my costume...I was doing an art project...
Ron said: "hot pants!" Which honestly, I hadn't thought of! Others said "Burning Man Pants"..."Burning pants not bras"......I have some funny neighbors !

While I'm sure folks don't see this sort of activity everyday, I like to think that I'm doing my part to Keep It Weird.
Mark was watching me, and asking why I didn't use his propane torch. I explained that I wanted to use a flame-making device that I was familiar with, since I didn't know how quickly the fabric might flame up. Standing off to the side was a young man, tossing a football between his left hand and his right. He was nervous, as he watched me make holes, & pat out the small fires.



He finally asked me what I was doing. I explained. He told me that seeing camo pants being burned was very upsetting to him, since he was recently discharged from the military and he had buddies that died in the muck, in the war.

I was surprised that my art project, my afternoon fun, had caused such a strong reaction. I told the man that I understood his feelings..that seeing camo being burned would have an emotional effect on him.

We chatted some more about camo, burning, why was I using camo.
I said that I'm making a costume for an Apocalypse-theme party here on Broadway on Saturday night.
My thinking, I told him, was that after the war or devastation that might happen to plunge us into a post-apocalyptic world....that there would be lots of camo and military clothes around, and if I was to make clothes, which is what I do with my real life, I might use what is most plentiful and just keep on creating. And since I'm going to a party, I was going to make a party dress. Post-Apocalyptic Finery from bits of whatever is left ..........



I think he thought I was nuts and disprespectful to the military.
He told me so. (that last part, anyway)
I've heard this line of thinking many many times before. I am, after all, a flower child that grew up in the SF Bay Area, and was a war protester. I also spent my childhood growing up next to the Veterans Home in Yountville. I know veterans. I know the cost of war.


I told him I wasn't disrespecting the military. I don't know if he believed me. I do know he was quite emotional about watching me.
It struck me that ......here was a young man who had received military training. He is capable of many brave acts. And, I saw that he was somewhat afraid, apprehensive at least, to talk to a tiny middle-age woman who was sitting on the concrete burning her camo pants.

Mark asked him what he does in the office next to us. He replied "We help people refinance their mortgage rates down."
Well,neighbor, that's a good thing, I told him. Helping people stay in their homes.

Here's what I didn't tell him, because he had used up all his bravery and now just wanted to get back to his office, with the amazing view of the Tideflats and Tacoma industriousness, and the Cascades........

I know from decades of living with America's military presence all around me that I know exactly how to love the veteran, the soldier, the men and women who think they are protecting me from the Bad People. I love the military people, but I hate war.
I think the best way to show respect to those who pay the ultimate price, who sign up to give the ultimate if asked to do so.... is to work for a world that has a smaller chance of creating wars.

To oppose war is to honor the military. I would love for the world to train soldiers, for Generals, and Admirals and Presidents and Captains of Industry, on whose behalf we fight war, to look at young, oh so very very young men right straight in the eye, and tell them that our most fondest wish is to equip them with what they need in battle and to work harder to make sure they never really have to use it.



I also learned that cotton camo pants require about 6 seconds of direct flame before catching fire, and one or 2 pats will extinguish a 3 inch high flame. This information made me feel better for the soldiers who had to wear these pants in the year they were made, 2001.

yippie ! Fat purple apple is/was on etsy's frontpage

one must live for these moments!
It is an honor to be chosen...
even if I didn't actually appear there....
I was an alternate...
BUT...
it's pretty neat....

I Voted. I'm Famous. Love This Blog, Decorno.

I voted this morning for Jim Merrittttt!! I really really like Marilyn Strickland. But, I want Tacoma ruled by a person of Merit....and I don't want Tacoma ruled by Strictness.
#2. I want Marilyn to stay on the council with Jake Fey!! Next year for Halloween ...instead of Jake dressing like the current Mayor, he can be, uh, a disgraced Judge. And Marilyn can dress up as Jim Merritt !

I was asked this morning if I am Tressie. Yes, I am. They probably wanted to serve me some legal papers. I deserve it I guess. My comments are very close to libel and slander, but not exactly, because I am a comedian. I was sent to the principal's office many many many times as a child. Thank God my mom was A Big Wheel in Yountville, or I'd a had to stay after school and bang erasers or something.

Please go make Decorno a favorite blog of yours. She's in Seattle. Don't be bitter. She writes the most clever and smart stuff about design and art, mostly really nice comfortable homes that aren't precious and unattainable, but rather homes that a person of ordinary $$$ could achieve, pretty much. Sometimes she goes off the deep end, design-wise, but then everyone has to ooooh and aaaah at the things Big Money can buy. (I don't mean the downfall of Judges, tho.)
And she has fun blog friends. And she gets the whole NW-thing. And she links to The Stranger too.

and thank you RR Anderson. The only nice Anderson in Tacoma. (hate mail!!)(I'll stop being mean to Julie...she is a Greener for crying out loud...Go Goeducks!!)

Cripes, the looks I'm gonna get...I should make 22cents with the increase in hits!!
I can't comment on the feedtacoma blog because Kevin hasn't given me a new password. Probably an oversight. So I get to say what I want. And I'll say things most people won't. That's my job. How many of you have been kicked off local Tacoma blogs? I have !!!
That and making very cool stuff...like cashmere underwear. You didn't think of that now did you?

Pariah?

sign me up for EA Tacoma. I am Powerless

Electrics Anonymous® is a fellowship of men and women who share their experience, strength and hope with each other that they may solve their common problem and help others to recover their electrical services.

Early Saturday morning my building at 712 Broadway suffered the sudden realization that nearly one hundred years of using the same wires to pass electricity from some fast flowing water to provide heat and light was destroyed by the old bitch, Time and Despair.



Workmen descended upon the premises early Saturday morning to pronounce the building unusable for the purpose for which it was rented.
Therefore funkoma vintage was closed and shall remain closed until all Electrical services are restored.

My landlord, rumor has it, is vacationing in Palm Springs.
For a month. The duties of spearheading the restoration project and signing the checks and work orders will fall upon the capable office manager, Susan.

Will funkoma vintage rise again? Will she have the Power?



She admits she is powerless, and further admits that her skills concerning Stone Age trading and bartering are rusty at best.
Many have expressed shock, dismay, and sorrow when learning of the sad and dark life that has befallen funkoma vintage.
Many have rolled their eyes in hopes that funkoma vintage would just shut up already.


6 steps to recovering are outlined below:

* admitting that one cannot control one's addiction or compulsion to living with utilities;
* recognizing a greater Power that can give strength;
* examining past errors with the help of a sponsor (experienced member)such as a team of licensed electricians;
* making amends for these errors of being dependent upon simple utilities;
* learning to live a new life with a new code of behavior, and possibly more windows for daylight and/or a gasoline generator;
* helping others that suffer from the same addictions or compulsions to Electricity to enjoy warm milk and dressing in layers.

So, until funkoma vintage recovers from her dependence on Electricity and/or is mainlined to her chosen Power Provider, she wishes no one would remind her that the whole situation could be worse.
To pay proper respects to funkoma vintage and her horrific situation, she requests all her friends and acquaintances, but not her family (they have suffered enough), to live without any electricity usage in their lives for 24 hours in solidarity.

You won't be able to do it, but I forgive you.

Until funkoma vintage has her full set of Powers restored, she is finding the Power of Humor and blogging stupidity to tide her over until she can reclaim the Sewing Machine and her computer and her printer and her scanner and her coffee pot again.

'In the time of ancient Gods, Warlords and Kings, a land in turmoil cried out for a hero. She was Xena, a mighty Princess forged in the heat of battle...her courage will change the world.'

- Opening Monologue from Xena: Warrior Princess

Happy birthday to me and listening to John Gorka...

here's what the Birthday girl is listening to....October 10 is my birthday...so don't panic...yet.

had drinks with Nick at Doyles........

Just John Gorka this afternoon in the shop....

repost...Happy belated Birthday Andy...Tacoma Hated You..

uh, since you mine me for material...here...read this...Best of Tressie (a series) someone should be paying me for this...big time!
Andy would be 81 now!
******************************************
80 years old !
Oh My, what a jumpstart Tacoma woulda had waaaaay back in the early 80s if they'd chosen Andy Warhol.....
That stupid ass decision to put triangles on the Dome delayed T Town's renaissance by decades, my friends.

I think it's sad/tragic that Tacoma rejected one of the most amazing artists of all time....

Sometimes you need someone who is coloring outside the lines.
Whether you like it or not.
I still can't believe I live in a town that hated Andy Warhol !!
People woulda come from all over the world to see it!
Instead the "leadership" of Tacoma had to wait.....
and wait...
and wait........
for The Glass Museum......
and expensive taxpayer subsidized Condos.....


semi-repeating a previous blog:


This:

Not This:

So Tacoma if you want art, REAL ART, you are so on your own.
Do not look to the City for anything that is real.
The City of Tacoma and the phony arbiters of art (snicker) HATE YOU .

Oh Little Garden...how you make me smile..

Mark and I went and liberated some bricks at the other end of the parking lot on Commerce...and I built a border, and filled it with a blend of chicken shit, compost and dirt...plus the dirt that had blown in to this little space from years and years ago.

It's the remnants of a parking strip, at the entrance of a building that was torn down...I don't know exactly how long ago...about 25 years at least. So, a small maple had rooted in the 3" deep soil, a few butterfly bushes, some blackberries, and those ferns that are all connected to each other trailing off to whereever they want to pop up...

I planted nasturtium seeds....maybe a bit late for them frosty-wise, but we'll see. 70+ narcissus bulbs...a few pansies, a few johnny-jump-ups, and 4 winter kale. I tossed some alyssum seeds over the dirt...I'll still add in some dusty miller...

If it's still here...if it isn't destroyed by vandals or the City of Tacoma (replacing the sidewalks for the rich yuppies)...I'll add primroses as soon as they become available...

Glen added a broken china Little Colonel...he's headless and has only one arm. I think he's just fine....a wounded veteran...spending his last days at Tressies Vets Home............ just like where I grew up.....
this is what I do...Make Chicken Soup...out of Chicken Shit.