The Many Sides Of Who We Are Part 1: Burlesque

(Some of the videos in the links are not age appropriate. Please do not click on them if you are not 18 years old or older)

So this thought came to me earlier today. I was thinking of the blog and the other times I had blogged before and how in the past I totally crashed and burned. Nobody wanted to read it, no one ever commented on it, and I just felt like I was talking to an empty black void and the only person I was hearing was myself. And then I thought about the blog now and then I thought why am I doing this again? Why am I doing a blog again when before I just got burned out? What did I want to get out of this?

And the answer to that is I wanted to connect to people more through this blog and I also wanted to something different. I wanted to talk about positive things, for once, and I wanted to show all the sides of who we are. So I'm going to be doing a series of posts and sprinkle them throughout the weeks showing all of you the many sides of us.

So, what side am I going to show you first? I figure we probably should start with the obvious. The side that many of you already know.

If you were to ask me a few years ago if I would ever want to do burlesque I would have told you straight up no. I would have been too insecure to ever do anything like that. And this was an amazing, beautiful, magical surprise that came to me in the form of an amazing performer known as Veronica Varlow.

I consider Veronica my gatekeeper that opened the door to this magical world for me. I remember watching videos of  Veronica online (because at the time EA only toured in Europe and New York) and I was mesmerized by her. Instantly I was in love and when I love something I have to know more about it. So I went into research mode and I found the Danger Dame Diary. There I got to hear Veronica's story and see all these amazing things that she was doing like  working on her movie Revolver  or being an international burlesque bombshell . 

So what was burlesque? The best description I have ever heard was "burlesque is where a person goes out on stage, magic happens, and then the performer leaves with less clothes than before". More research lead me to different performers like Vivienne Vavoom, Miss Indigo Blue, or Dinah Mite. I'm a sucker for fan dancers, sue me. But as I went on I kept finding female performers but I didn't find a lot of men. So I turned my research to boylesque (but if you ask me personally I believe that burlesque and boylesque are the same thing). And I did find a lot of guys who do an amazing job and the guys that I really look up to are The Stagedoor Johnnies.

(From left to right Jett Adore, Bazuka Joe, and Ray Gunn)

These guys are a dancing burlesque group and God do I love them. Each of them have their own solo acts along with performing as a group. These men are fantastic and they gave me plenty of inspiration for ideas routines of my own. 

Another thing that really helped with my journey in burlesque was A Wink And A Smile which can be found on the movie's website or Netflix. It's an indie documentary of burlesque and a class of women from the Academy of Burlesque in Seattle and their journey to graduation. It shows burlesque, boylesque, drag queens, drag kings, androgyny, and a lot more. I recently rewatched this because of a little adventure I'll be starting in less than two weeks.

(Movie website)

Now a couple of months ago I was feeling depressed. May-May and I were discussing the future, which isn't really a favorite topic of mine, and what each of us would do when we were older and not doing C.C. I never worry about May. He is very talented and lovable and I know that he will always find work as performer. Me on the other hand? Yeah I do worry. I love burlesque but there just isn't any place in a small town that one can do it. So we Googled Texas Burlesque and found the Austin Burlesque Festival but there wasn't any way that we could attend or afford it. And then another thing caught my eye. Dallas was about to open an Academy of Burlesque. Not only that but it was offering a six week boylesque course. I was freaking out. 

This was a sign. 

I had to do this. 

So I did. 

I paid my money for the course and on the 26th of May I'll be starting my classes. I am very excited because I really hope that I improve on what I already know, make new friends, and own that stage when I graduate. 

Well this was just one of the many sides that is Jay Scarlet. I hope you enjoyed it. 

Till next week,

Icing kisses and love,

J.S. 

I Believe In Fairies

As you all know I believe in magic. I always have and I've always have believed in all magical creatures, especially fairies. 

Now while we were at Anime Matsuril I found this amazing woman selling charms and necklaces. I stopped by her and asked her about a pretty fabric flower. She began to tell me about how back in the day people in Japan would take scrap kimono materials and fold them into flowers for necklaces. Instantly I fell in love with it but then something else caught my eye. Little porcelain cut outs and I asked her about the pieces. She told me that she took pieces of porcelain and then took ink stamps and pressed them over the pieces. The one I saw was a little fairy girl smelling flowers. I asked her about it and she told me her seven year old daughter helped her make that charm and that it was her daughter's favorite. I told that I had to have it and the fabric flower. She put them on a ring for me and told me that she was happy that the charms were going to a good home. The rest of that day I had nothing but good luck and met amazing people. I then dubbed it the Magical Fairy Necklace.

(Here is said necklace)

Now fairies can be very helpful creatures. They can bring life to your garden, bless you with good luck, but what they love more than anything is to play tricks on people.

(Courtesy of Jeph Jacques from Questionable Content)

Click the link to see the full size strip

I got tricked by some fairies earlier this week. I had come home from hanging out with May-May and I folded up my clothes before going to bed. The next day I went to go to town and I couldn't find my wallet. I knew that I had left them in my pant's pocket from the night before but my pants were nowhere to be found. Thus began the search. I ripped my house about, as well as my car, trying to find my missing wallet. I only had  about a day or two's worth of gas, plus I had groceries that I needed to buy and Mother's Day and birthday presents. I spent yesterday and today digging through the same places over and over again. At that point I knew something was amiss. I knew I had left my clothes in the house. So when I eliminated all possible places for my wallet to be I turned to the only explanation left. Fairies. Fairies love to take things and hide them. Its one of the easiest ways to trick humans. They were just playing a little joke on me but enough was enough. I chanted a little lost and found spell over and over and over as I continued my search. Finally after I checked underneath a chair in the living room for the billionth time I looked up and there they were. My missing clothes sat there all nice and neat. Quickly I grabbed my pants and I pulled out my wallet. I said thank you to the fairies for returning my things and I swear I heard laughter.

(from angelajordan)

Another thing is I've always wanted to be a fairy. I've always wanted to fly, dance on water, and play with all  kinds of animals. And finally I've decided to do something that I've always promised myself but have never done. Unfortunately I won't be able to attend A-Kon this year due to previous engagements but I am going to go to A-Fest. And on one day while I'm there I am going to dress like a fairy. I already have the materials to make my costume and even my very own fairy wings. It's going to be amazing I already know and I can't wait.

(Twig The Fairy)

So tell me what magical things do you believe in?

Love,

J.S.