Anime Matsuri

I want to apologize for this post being so late. I’ve been having some internet issues at my house but thankfully that problem has been fixed. But anyway this post is all about mine and May-May’s trip to Houston where we went to Anime Matsuri.

Starting the trip off right we went to bed early, for us that is, and woke up around seven. We ended up leaving the house around ten and began our five hour road trip. Now I love road trips but the only thing I hate about them is that I see so much beautiful scenery. If I had my way we would have stopped at least fifty thousand times to take a picture of flowers, trees, puppies, hills, or roll down said hills, etc, etc. At one point in time our GPS, named Slagathor, took us on a random detour but it was still nice, very scenic. And it no time we were in Houston. After roaming around for a few minutes we found parking and then we lugged all of our bags and boxes to get signed in.

(I told him I was going to post this picture)

After unloading we went to Registration. Now at this point I thought I would have to buy a whole new pass. May-May was telling me that I was supposed to print off my conformation email which of course I didn’t do. So the entire way down the stairs (which is my only complaint about the Con but we’ll get to that later) I was a little depressed. $45 wasted on nothing. But then we get to the line, which was super fast, and I ask the lady if I needed the email and she smiled and said no before handing my badge. At that point I knew this trip was going to be golden.

So we began to set up for the show. As we’re getting ready May decides to tell me that I’ll be doing the majority of my own hair and make up. Instantly I began to panic. I had done only minor, and I do mean minor, make up before. But, according to May, I did a good job for my first time.

(What do you think?)

 He did help my eyes. I’ve always had an issue with eye make up but with the help of my Fairy Ho’ Mother we were off to perform a show!

(“We gonna make you look like a ho’”)

The turn out was smaller than we had hoped but due to the fact we had to change times at the last minute we were just happy to have people in our commandeered hotel room. And it was fun. There were plenty of laughs and we attempted the longest awkward silence ever. I’ll tell May to hurry up with that video because it was just perfect. Another thing that really made was finally getting to meet a very special Sprinkle in person.

I’m pretty sure it was it was Anime Matsuri 2010 when May-May met Alyssa and she fell in love with C.C. She was always so sweet to us and she emailed me a few times asking if I was going to go to AM and the past couple of times I just wasn't unable to. But finally I was and I am so glad I did. She enjoyed the show very much. Especially when May sang her favorite song The Raven.

With the show over and after we made promises to see everyone again the next day, May-May and I went to go see our first Rocky Horror Picture Shadowcast. Unfortunately we missed cast picking out all the virgins

Virgin-Noun-1^st definition. Someone who has never partaken in sexual activity. 2^nd definition a person who has never been to a Rocky Horror Picture Show Shadowcast

But we watched and laughed and then the show began. So much yelling, so much cursing, so much toilet paper being thrown everywhere. Oh it was magical. I loved dancing the Time Warp and even more doing Columbia’s tap dance routine with another girl. The show was spectacular. As we got up to go to the rave upstairs a lady with incredibly long fingernails pulled us aside. Her name was Claws.

“So what shadowcast are you two from?” she asked us.

“We’re not.” We told her.

“But you know all the words to the audience participation.”

“We’re Rocky Horror enthusiasts.”

And from there we began to tell her about our band and how we too wanted to perform a Rocky Horror Shadowcast. She gave us some good tips and told us that she wanted to see us at more conventions. For more on these amazing people click here and like them on Facebook here.

So we went upstairs to the rave. May-May danced some but I laid down with a few friends from previous conventions.

And so around 2 or 3 am I went upstairs to shower, shave, and get some sleep for the next day. Then around 10 am I got up and started my rounds around Artist Alley and then the Dealer Room.

Then May and I stopped for a quick bite to eat before I went back upstairs to take a short nap. Funny thing happened though, I slept for six hours. It just hits you sometimes I guess. May and I got ready for the rave and I had a lot of fun getting ready. Honestly I thought I looked pretty kick ass.

And we danced and danced till we couldn’t dance anymore. I had to sit down for a bit but watched all the lights and that was just as good.

Again we crashed at a late time but we got up before check out, loaded up the car, and did one last trip around the con. We made 30 bucks off of what we sold the whole weekend and gave out at least half of our business cards. Plenty of people were asking us about future cons. I know I can’t do A-Kon because I have previous engagements but I know A-Fest is extremely possible.

Overall this trip was incredible and I can’t believe I missed out on this for three years. I can’t wait to go back.

(My badge and my gift from Alyssa. Anime Matsuri, I'll be dreaming about you)

Icing kisses,

J.S.

P.S. we also have a new video up!

Dealing With Depression

So for the past two weeks I’ve neglected the blog and I’m sorry for that. The reason why is I was really tired and depressed. The week of Anime Matsuri May-May and I spent most of the time packing and finishing things up for the weekend. The following week I woke up and I didn’t want to do anything. Pure laziness and felt like I really let myself and you Sprinkles down. There are times in life where you have to pick yourself up and run the extra mile. So this week I want to talk about ways to deal with depression and get you out of a funk.

1.) Music- I had a pretty tough day at work today. I opened at 7:30 am and worked until 6 pm and it was a pretty busy day. I had to deal with some really rude people also and it was really trying my patience. As soon as I get off work and I turned on my Ipod and hit I shuffle. The first song that came up was Always look on the Brightside of Life. I smiled and laughed because it was really what I needed to hear after today. Music can instantly change the atmosphere in any situation. If you put on some good tunes it’ll easily lift your spirits.

2.) Write It Out-Whenever I have a lot on my mind I write it out in my journal. It’s like the emotions escape onto the page and my mind is clear. Now my journal is really special because I draw and paste or glue things in it as well. It’s almost like a scrapbook. So for you people that journal find some pictures, flowers, material, clips from magazines or newspapers, and start putting them in the pages. Incorporate your words and drawings with your own findings and make it your own. And for those of you who don’t journal trying doing this instead. Try writing out your emotions in a poem. It really helps me out.

3.) Connect With Nature-Sometimes the best thing you can do is go outside for a walk. There’s a nice little park that’s about ten minutes away from my house. I love to go there and read or walk. Also there is a pretty tree that I always hug when I go by it. That’s right. I’m a tree hugger. Sitting outside on a pretty day and watching and listening to your surrounding is a great way to reconnect. And it’s a great way to clear off the negative vibes.

4.) Retail Therapy-Sometimes a little splurge is good. Buying something for yourself can be a good thing and it’s even better if you can find a deal. When we went to Anime Matsuri I had saved up some cash to splurge on myself. I bought books, some movies, jewelry, and a couples pieces of clothes. But there have been times when I’ve gone to the clearance bin at my local bookstore, Hobby Lobby, or Hot Topic and I’ve scored big time. So spend, either a lot or a little, on yourself and it could really turn your entire day around.

5.) Pamper Yourself-One of my favorite things to do is to take a bath. My amazing boyfriend bought me some great soaps for Christmas. I love soaps and all the smells that come with them. Another thing that instantly breaks my depression is using a bath bomb. A bath bomb is fizzy bubble bath and aromatherapy all in one. Check out LUSH or Etsy for bath bombs. Trust me on this they are fucking fantastic. Lights some candles and wash away all your troubles.

Well that’s all for this week you guys and you’ll hear all about our trip to Houston next week.

Love 

J.S.

VIP with OED

Currently I am in a very nice hotel room with the love of my life after driving for a good three and a half hours to Little Rock, AR. Oh the adventures we have together but that is going to have to be a story for another week, Sprinkles…

This week is all about One-Eyed Doll. Now May-May met OED at Ikki-kon 2011. Thanks to our car wreck we actually missed the show. However, when we got to the con we were able to meet Kimberly. We told her about our wreck and missing the show and she hugged us both and autographed some stickers for us. We asked her if she would promote our album, FVITD, and she happily agreed. That video can be seen here. Well one night I was on the computer and I got an email from the One-Eyed Doll mailing list saying that OED would be coming to our hometown. Of course I booked our tickets and told May, who then immediately got us VIP passes.

So on St. Patty’s Day we headed to one of the local bars where the show was going to start. There we met Melinda, One-Eyed Doll’s Merch Monkey. She was really sweet to both of us and later in the evening we found out she was a Sprinkle! We had nice chat with her but then the show was starting.

Now the first band that played I didn’t catch their name. I knew they were from Italy but I, and the venue, had no idea why they were playing in the first place. Not to say that they weren’t good but they weren’t on the posters. But after they gave a wonderful show, Picture Me Broken began and holy fucking fuck they were spectacular. I loved watching them and I was really sad that I had already spent all of my money on OED merch but I made sure to remember their name because I was definitely going to get some of their music later.

 And then the band that we had been waiting for had arrived.  

I had forgotten how cute this woman is. Seriously if you have never seen a One-Eyed Doll show I implore you all to go to one. Expect Kimberly to jump out into the audience, also except costume changes, and props being thrown at you as well. Words cannot give Kimberly or Jr. justice. I loved singing Plumes of Death (as heard on the Titanic soundtrack, My Little Pony, and The Passion of the Christ 3-D) and having Kimberly step on my shoulder for support as she sang to the crowd. I thoroughly enjoy yelling “Hail Satan!” during Be My Friend. I really wish that they had been head-lining because they give a good show every single time.

But after that was over we got in line for merch. We were at the end of it and when got to Kimberly (after touching her finger and getting hugged) she said that we looked familiar. We reminded her of our story to Austin and she grabbed Jr. and said “Hey it’s the guy’s from Ikki-kon”.

“Wait…you remember us?”

“Yeah you guys were the most memorable part of that trip.”

Then she noticed that we had VIP passes and started freaking out as did we. Jr. went out for something and Kimberly kept signing autographs. While that was going on May-May and I watched OTEP’s show. Wow. That is all I will say on the matter. Wow. My face and everything was rocked so hard.

Following that everyone started packing up their stuff and May and I helped Melinda and Jr. load up the van. Afterwards we all loaded up and cruised around town for a little bit.

We gave Kimberly her C.C. CD that we had promised two years ago and she loved it. We have another video of her endorsing it so watch out for that one. Besides that we just hung out and chilled and listened to music in the van. It was really peaceful and nice. We talked about growing up in small towns where people really don’t understand you and I feel like we all really connected. We drove back to the bar and then we had cupcakes. Which I would love to make it a rule that we should end every visit like this whether it be with friends or VIPs or whatever. Cupcakes make everything better.  And what made it even better was that our cupcakes came with little bow rings. So now May-May, Kimberly, Melinda, and I are all engaged. We haven’t set a date yet but I already know that the bridal shower is going to be kick-ass.

And then we said our goodbyes to everyone. Melinda promised to mention us on her blog and we promised to mention her in ours. I really hope we all see each other again soon. And maybe, if the fates allow, we’ll play with One-Eyed Doll.

P.S. Kimberly I went to the Arkansas Music Hall today and I found the OED sticker on the wall. They said they can’t wait to see you guys again.

Till next Thursday,

Love

Jay

Wake Up To Make Up

My mom was a secretary for eighteen years. Every day she would wake up at five in the morning and get ready for a long day. She’d shower and then start on her make up and hair. I remember waking up early and watching her put on her face. I always loved watching her becoming more beautiful and I was a little jealous. I wanted to look just as beautiful.

When I was a little kid I was asked to be a part of our high school’s fall production of The Wizard of Oz . They were looking for kids to be munchkins and I was excited to be on stage. There are plenty of stories I could give about this whole experience but I want to focus on what one of my co-actors said to me. We were in the boy’s dressing room getting ready for practice. I noticed that a couple of the older boys were grabbing brushes and Halloween paints before they started to apply it. I was confused. Growing up I was taught that only girls wore make up. This did not compute. I sat there marveled that boys were putting on blush, powder, and lipstick. What was this? One of the main characters looked at me.

“Why aren’t you getting ready?” The incredibly flamboyant Tin Man asked me.

“I don’t know how to do that.” I motioned to the older kids getting ready.

“Well, you’re going to learn.” He said taking some lipstick. “Wake up to make up, honey”.

I really wish that I could say that he helped me put on my lipstick and I thought I was pretty and that I knew I would always want to do this. But that would be a huge lie. In fact I actually ran away from the Tin Man and even accidently slammed his fingers in a door. This caused him, along with our director and the other main characters (except Glinda and the Wicked Witch, my cousin) to hate me. And to this day I feel awful for what I did to the guy and I really wished I had embraced what he was trying to do for me.

Although there were many negative experiences from doing that production one thing stuck. I loved being on stage and I wanted to continue doing that.

Now, originally, I didn’t want to wear much make up for C.C. because I felt like it was too much work but I have since embraced it. 

I really wanted to show a picture of me doing my own make up for this entry but I had no time. Maybe next entry?

Instead let me tell you about you about a C.C. tradition: whore-face. Whore-face was a term that May-May and I came up with this term when I took this picture:

Whore-face is when after anytime we wear make up we try to make ourselves look as nasty as possible. Usually this is done with wetting one hand and smacking against one side of your face and then rubbing it up and down. Smearing all of your make up in the process and giving yourself a whore face. It started as just a joke but it turned into so much more. It’s a nice way to unwind after a long day and give yourself a good laugh.

Now this next picture is one we haven’t shared yet. Last week May-May and I entered in a short film contest for The Devils Carnival. 

We spent a good four or so hours filming and after being in the cold, covered in fake blood, and running in heels we grabbed some of the candy we used and did a spectacular whore-face. It was a great night and I had an amazing time. Here is our contest entry and you guys should totally watch, like, and comment on it.

Till next week, Sprinkles,

Love,

Jay

In The Beginning...

A few days ago we had a C.C. Question of the day. That question was “if you could use one word how would you describe meeting your friend”. If I could only use one word I would probably describe meeting May-May as “magic”, “fate”, or “serendipity”.

(May-May and I after we finished up on our latest project)

Growing up I was kind of a shy kid and I really didn’t have that many friends. There was one guy through named Austin and I was certain that he was my best friend. Now my definition of a best friend is someone that is there for you and supports you, and is someone that has your back in times of crisis. Austin wasn’t that type of friend. We knew each other since our first day of kindergarten and we had a lot of fun together as the years went on. That is until we both started the 4^th grade. Austin always wanted to a football player but I didn’t. It was never one of my passions. Well, 4^th grade was when kids could start play flag football and of course Austin signed up. Over the course of a few days he had made some new friends and I kept to myself either writing in my journal or using my imagination to make up some new games. One day I went to go to talk to Austin and he acted as if we had never met before. He was with his new friends and their opinions mattered more to him than mine did. Whenever we were alone together, though, he would act like the normal Austin that I knew and everything was fine. But if ever he saw any of his other friends approaching he’d become distant and cold to me. After about a couple of weeks of this I had had enough. I remember one of my classmates asking me if Austin and I weren’t friends anyone because we hardly ever talked to one another. I shrugged and said “I guess so”.

This continued on with the guy as we grew up. He always cared about what others thought of him and shunned his real friends as if they were secret shames that needed to be hidden from light of day. I never understood why he acted like this. I tried to reconnect after high school. Maybe all the peer pressure had vanished since graduation but I never really spoke to him again.

Now around my sophomore year of high school I met a young 7^th grader. We went to the same church but we never really spoke to one another. He was quiet for the most part and kept to himself. It wasn’t until we both went to a church retreat that we actually spoke to one another. And what was the first thing we discussed you ask? Horror movies. After that moment we were inseparable.

May and I have had a lot of good memories together. 

(Classic Halloween Whore-Face)

(re-hydrating after a couple of hours during a photo shoot)

And I know that we are going to have many more because he embodies what a true best friend is. 

Now I want to leave you all with a little story of one of my favorite memories with May-May.

(May-May winning Miss Horror-fest 2007)

This goes back to one of our first Halloween’s together. Halloween is one of my favorite holiday’s and it was nice to know that May felt this way too. To begin our adventure we went to the Spirit Store to shop around for items to go with our costumes. There we found a few different things. (Pics of Mason and me at Spirit). And we even scoped the place for local haunted houses which are another favorite of mine. So we began our journey around town till we found our haunted house. Fun fact, back in the day May-May was afraid of going into haunted houses due to one of the actors grabbing him one year. Me, on the other hand, I enjoy the fake monsters and their attempt to be scary because it’s just cute and funny.

“You’re totally going to leave me behind.” May said as we waited for our turn to walk through the maze.

“Why would I do that? You’re just being paranoid.”

“I just know you’re going to ditch me.”

“Oh, God, fine you big baby.” I took the sleeves of both of our jackets and tied them into a knot. “There, now I couldn’t leave you even if I wanted to. This seemed to satisfy my friend and we met our “guide” through the haunted house.  Our guide was man with a rotted zombie mask and he wore a sheriff’s outfit with ten gallon hat. This is Texas after all.

“Here take this rope so’s you don’t get lost.” He handed May and I a small piece of twine.  We exchanged a skeptical glance at one another before our guide yelled. “GO ON NOW!!!” We grabbed the string and he slowly guided us through the classics of all haunted house. We dodged psychotic clowns, evil dentists, werewolves, Michael Meyers, and strangest of all…Santa Clause.

“Santa?!”

“Ho, ho, ho!” The big man in red jiggled. “Happy Halloween.” May-May and I looked at each other again. Would Jack Skellington make an appearance as well?

“You do know you’re in the wrong holiday, right?” I asked.

“I just wanted to give you boys an early Christmas present. Ho, ho, ho!” He bellowed as he shoveled through boxes upon boxes. “Ho! Here it is.” Santa started to dig through his bag as May and I watched amused. Telepathically we were singing “What’s This” in our heads and wondering what St. Nick was about to pop out of his sack. Severed heads? Snakes?  A shotgun? But no all wrong. Santa pulled out a candy cane chainsaw! He “ho, ho, ho”ed as he chased us towards the end of the house.

Finally we had reached the final stretch before reaching the exit.

“Watch out for my brothers…” Our zombie cowboy guide said in his thick southern drawl.

As we continued towards the exit we saw little grim reapers throwing balls against a metal sheet. Wow, I thought, this is pretty anticlimactic. But just before we cleared the exit that lead to the parking lot our guide moan out something.

“Watch out for my big brother…”

We both stopped and look at one another. Big brother? Suddenly a metal door burst opened just a few feet of us. We both stood there unfazed. Slowly we walked towards the opened door. Peering inside I called out.

“Big brother?”

The sound of a chainsaw revving behind us made May jump and run, dragging me behind him. Our zombie cowboy guide cackling as we staggered through the exit. Me laughing my ass off and May-May running for dear life.

Well that’s it for this week. I’m looking forward to the next. Also tell me some of your favorite memories with your best friends.

Also you’re probably wondering what May-May I went for on that Halloween. Well, here it is.

Yes Emo Kids! We were so nonconforming.

Till next time,

Love, Jay

The First Step

 So it’s been a year or so since the blog was last updated.  I had an idea that I really wanted to do for the Asylum Letters but the inspiration behind it ended up falling apart before I could really do anything with it. And I feel bad that I wasn’t able to do my idea and I feel even worse for having to postpone the Letters for the time being.

May-May and I had a really good talk the other night. We celebrated having over 1,000 likes on our band page. We spent a portion of the night discussing where we wanted C.C. to go and talents that we both wanted to expand and hone.

One thing that May-May does amazingly is makeup. He’s been doing both of ours since the very beginning. I do not have his talent with a brush. All I can do is standard theatre makeup and that’s about it. Part of my goals for this year is to become more independent. I have already started this by moving out of my parent’s house. Another thing I want to do is being able to do my makeup as well as May. One of my birthday gifts from him was some liquid liner from Black Heart and for Christmas my boyfriend, Nathan, gave me some beautiful red lipstick and so marked the beginnings of my steps to becoming somewhat adequate with painting my face.  And after reading a very wonderful post by the woman who is my idol and my very reason for wanting to be on stage. I have purchased a train travel suitcase. I’ll carry my makeup and some other personal effects to bring the magic fully together and really start this.

Sometime before the end of March, May told me that we are going on a shopping spree to buy me some essentials. And I’ll start practicing and with time I’ll get better. 

(My first batch of test make up! More will come when May-May and I go shopping)

I’ll be sure to post some pictures of my first attempts. Which I know will probably be terrible but, hey, for someone who is starting out I’ll wear all the marks with pride.

And now a promise to all of you Sprinkles, old and new, about this blog.

I have a personal motto:

“Just say it, just do it”

Communication is very important. Too many times we never say what is really going on in our heads due to something like being afraid of how other people might react to something. I am a victim of this. For too long I was, and sometimes I still am, afraid of saying something that might cause a confrontation or make someone think less of me. But after re-reading a letter that I wrote to my ten-year-old self I was reminded of my personal motto and the many, many times I wrote down that very phrase.

 “Just say it.  Don’t waste so much precious time by being quiet. You have a voice. Use it”

Another one of my goals is to be more open and honest and I want to take you all on the journey. You’ve all seen the videos of our adventures but I would like to fill in the blanks for all the things you don’t get to see. I’ve always loved talking to people, trying to get more personal. But to do that you have to open yourself up first. So here I am being open and honest to all of you and hopefully make some connections along the way.

So let’s make the first step together.

Are you ready?

Love,

J.S.

Everyday Magic

Hello, Sprinkles!

First off I want to thank all of you from the bottom of my heart for being so amazing. All of you have made May and me very happy with all of the positive comments, the likes, and telling everyone and your grandmother about us. We feel very loved and blessed and we are working our little Victorian butts off to make you all proud. And hopefully we will be seeing some of you guys face to face in upcoming tours (we pray). Please stay tuned as the official release date of the CD is fast approaching. Not to mention all the new merchandise. 

So today I wanted to write something personal before we jump back through the twisted metal gates of the Bastille Asylum. I am a believer in magic. I do believe that it exists and that sometimes magic just seems to speak to us.

Two weeks ago May-May had made himself a mermaid tail and I asked him to make me one too. He did and the next week I tried mine out in the pool. Ever since I was a little boy I had always wanted to be a merperson. The idea of having a tail and swimming through the sea, collecting sunken treasure, and playing with dolphins and other little fish had always been a fantasy I wanted to make true. And now here I was in the water with a bright turquoise tail covering my legs. It wasn’t easy at first but I was able to finally swim with it. I felt at home in a way and I won’t lie I very much wanted to belt out Part of your World from the Little Mermaid. For a brief hour or so I felt like mermaid. I had visions of sitting on a rock near shore and brushing my hair with a fork and holding a piece of broken glass to gaze at my reflection. I looked over at May and he was a natural. My pyromaniac pirate friend was an absolute perfect mermaid and I was so happy to share this with him. We talked of the ocean and songs and other magical things.  I really wished I had an underwater camera so I could show you all how amazing it was. Maybe the next time I’m over at May’s I’ll get a picture of each of us in our tails. Wouldn’t that be a sight ;) ?

But the magical thing about it all was that a terrible storm was fast approaching our little mermaid paradise. The sky rumbled and cracked with lightning and yet not a single drop of water nor any powerful wind breached our sanctuary. We swam for a long time and we could see the storm was very much upon us yet it never fully reached us. Maybe it was the sea nymphs and fairies. Maybe they thought we were their kin and protected us. All I know is that as soon as we dried off and headed inside the sky opened and the rain fell.

Another moment of magic was just two days ago. I went to go visit the love of my life and he was talking on the phone with his aunt. After he finished we hugged and said our hellos and he smiled happily and told me that I needed to go see something in his room. I walked in and I saw something I hadn’t seen in a very long time. A fort, a fort made of pillows and blankets. He jumped up and down and I couldn’t help but smile and laugh with him. It was another magical moment when we crawled under the fort and held each other and watched movies later that night. I felt like I was six years old again. I remember making similar forts to read my books or watch movies or to hide under if I was ever scared. That same feeling of safety and happiness washed over me as we spent hours talking about the week and the future. We laughed as we played with the fringe and tassels from the blankets. It was wonderful. The fort felt impenetrable to the outside world and even time itself. As we snuggled watching the movie I felt the best magic of all. Love.  And just like that another happy memory in my life was born.

I guess the message in today’s post is that magic is all around us if we look hard enough. It can be something as fantastic as being a mermaid or something as simple as building of small fort and being with the one you love. Never forget the magic, Sprinkles. Take joy in all the small things.

With much love and icing kisses,

J.S.

P.S. I hope you’re ready from some new characters. The Asylum is about to gain some new members.