Mapping The Road To World Domination: A Class With Veronica Varlow

This is to make up for the very somber post from a few days ago. I hope you enjoy.

I have always been a fan of Veronica. Ever since I saw my very first video of her on Youtube I was determined to meet this woman. And thankfully I was able to do this, not once but, twice! Here at the college I go to I've been going to all these motivational speakings. It has been very inspirational and after I met a man, Mr. Criox Sather, who was running across America, from coast to coast, I realized that there was something that I had never done. Once in high school my amazing Theatre teacher told us to write to someone that inspired us or was a hero to us. She wanted us to see if we would do it and to see if we would get a response. I sent my to Dean Koontz and I did get a reply. He was a very nice guy to do so but he wasn't really a hero of mine. He was the hero of my then,one and only, girlfriend. But I started to think...who is a real hero to me? Who is someone that makes me feel inspired? That makes me feel alive? Someone that is my family or loved one or friend. And then it came to me. Veronica Varlow.

After that first video I went on to research more about this woman and her profession. All I knew was that she was apart of Emilie Autumn's Bloody Crumpets and that was it. So I got on the Danger Dame website and started to read her blog. She has been through a lot and it inspired me to do more with my life. I started researching more on burlesque and boylesque and practicing my ass off. I started watching more videos and writing down all the ideas of routines I wanted to do. Getting to meet her was amazing but after the speech I realized that I wanted to write to her, my hero. So I did and I got a reply. She was really sweet and she offered me to take her class (see the title) for free. She wanted a personal C.C. CDs for her birthday this upcoming Friday as an exchange and I eagerly agreed.

At first I thought the class would have been a dance class but I was wrong and boy I was happy to be wrong. It was another motivational class so this week has left me completely inspired. In the class we talked about parts of her life and questioned ourselves about what truly makes us happy. I had an amazing time with her and everyone else that was in the webinar. She gave a lot of good points. One of which is that you shouldn't let other people run your life. Don't follow their expectations of you or their "map". Tear that shit up and start drawing your own. And for this map you will need a check list. So let's begin our road trip.

1 Fuel tank of gas-You are the car and you most fuel yourself up with positive and inspirational things. Veronica talked about visual maps. They are very easy to make too. You take some poster board and decorated it with things that you want to have come into your life or things that you wish to see on your journey. I'm going to start making on very soon and I can't wait to start.

2 Maintenance for your vehicle-You are the car and you must be taken care of. This means eating right, exercising, staying healthy, and of course having fun every once in a while.  No one can be work and all play or else that makes you a dull person and in which case causes you to try and murder your family in a haunted hotel. But that's why we have fun so these things don't happen. Veronica talked about how she likes to put exotic scented oils on her bed sheets to help her relax.

3 TRAVEL COMPANIONS!-This was one of my favorite ones. Who is your travel companion? It can be a friend, a lover, a family member, whoever you want but as long as the person is enjoying the trip you are on. Meaning that people have to support you and what you do and if they don't you need to be around people that do. People that care about you and love you for who you are. This is what we all need. Great travel companions.

4 Baggage-It is always better to travel light. Whatever problems or issues that you're holding on to....Throw....Them....Out. You don't need it. It only weighs you down. Veronica had baggage from when she was a five-year-old and her ballet teacher told her that she was dancing "with clouds behind your eyeballs".  Being five, and having no idea what the woman was talking about, Veronica never liked dancing until five years ago. She was afraid to do it and no she's a better person for dumping the unneeded bags.

5 Proper Wardrobe-If you're going to be something you need to dress the part. Veronica is working on a book and when she writes she wear a beret because that is what she believes a writer should wear when they are writing. So she goes down to the cafe' and starts typing out her book and she watches people stop by and ask if she is a writer. Make other people see your dream when they see you. So start wondering what is that you want to be and how can you show it?

6 Stop For Scenic Lookouts-Every good road trip has little stops along the way. We have to be taking pictures of these things. There are several beautiful places on this earth and we should get to see them. Beauty is in everything and when you see it stop and get a good look. Smell the roses and enjoy yourself. Don't let the good things in life pass you by. You may regret it later.

7 Postcards-Whenever you're on vacation make sure that you send these. It shows that you are having a good time. No one writes a postcard saying "wow, this sucks. I wish I wasn't here". They talk about how they wish the person receiving the letter was with them. So Veronica gave us an assignment. Once a month we write a postcard to ourselves and reflect on the good things of that month.

She was a very inspirational teacher and I can't wait to take another one of her classes. I can't wait to go to New York someday and take an actual dance class with her. I also can't wait for the road trips I'm going to take this summer with my amazing boyfriend and of course my partners in crime, May and Roadie. And of course I'll be sending you tons of postcards, Sprinkles! I hope you guys can take some of the stuff I talked about an apply it to your lives. If not wait another month and sign up for Veronica's class. You'll see all the great stuff I got to see and I may even see you there.

Until next time, Sprinkles


Hugs and icing kisses,


Jay Scarlet

RIP Grandmother

My grandmother passed away a few weeks ago. She had had an ongoing battle with Parkinson's Disease for a large portion of her life. For the last few years she slowly wasted away in a hospital bed. She lost her mobility, her ability to eat, and finally her speech. In the last week of her life she stayed a sleep most of the time. On Sunday, March 27, 2011 she was no longer suffering.

My grandmother was an amazing woman. She always treated me like an adult even when I was just a child. She would always let me stay at her house on weekends instead of going to my older brother's baseball games. I loved her house and I loved her. When I was very little she would let me go across the street, a privilege not many children had, to go and get pizza for lunch. Halloween is one of my favorite holidays and she never once made that holiday anything but amazing. Christmas Eve was always at her house and she made her annual Christmas Cider, a recipe that no one has ever been able to duplicate. We would always open presents there and eat to our stomachs ached. She was District Clerk for a long time and everyone in town knew her. She was loved by many people.

As her sickness started to worsen, my grandmother was no longer able to live in her house alone. She had to moved into Assisted Living. Soon it was very easy to see that she was getting worse. Her appearance began to change and not for the better either. I would actually make excuses not to go see her because the woman in that bed was not my grandmother. I had convinced myself that she had died and that the woman in the bed was nothing more than a husk, a shell. As time passed I felt guilty for doing this but I did not change. Even when the hospice people told us that "this is it" or "she won't last the week". But my grandmother was a stubborn woman and she would not leave this earth until she was ready. In the last month I started seeing her again and as much as I was able to. She could hardly speak at this point. I would get down on my knees, so that I was eye-level with her, and I would talk to her. Her eyes would lock on mine and I knew that she was hanging on every word. I wanted to get the book that I had written last year and read it to her but I didn't get the chance to. I said goodbye to her the Thursday before her death. I kissed her head and did my best not to cry, which was all but impossible.

At her funeral I had an idea. As some of you know the album is going to be short a song and I thought that maybe I could write a song in honor of my grandmother. I had several conflicting thoughts later. Would any of my family want this? Would it be in bad taste? My grandmother never got the chance to know of Casanova Cupcake, as much as my family is right now, but I know she would have supported me in it no matter what. Or at least in the outfits.  So yesterday I finally finished writing the lyrics to our next song. We'll start recording ASAP. I hope when it comes out you'll all enjoy it.

Also thank you to all the amazing people that wished me the best and said prayers for my family. We owe all of you so much.

Asylum Letters will continue some time next week.


With much love,


J.S.