My idea with this year's Mardi Gras has been to bring home the lush (elegant, decadent) flavor of the holiday. I knew it would be too hard to pull off what I wanted for myself, so I enlisted the help of two friends who have their own reasons for wanting to get into the spirit of things.
King Rex, a native of New Orleans who was evicted by Hurricane Katrina, will be supplying some of the culinary muscle for our endeavor. I will be dishing up a few of my standby favorites, including the jambalaya I learned how to make from my dear late aunt, a cajun culinary powerhouse also born in the Big Easy. So I think we will have some delightful dishes.
Of course, there will be intoxicants. So this alters the mood of things.
But HGM came over this evening and turned on his PowerGay Transformer Ray and freaking worked over the place. We daydreamed up the ideas together. I collected candlesticks and decorations and platters from friends (The Florist and S2) and used my personal supply of masks. HGM and I visited a fabric store and bought a bunch of materials. And HGM brought over more candles and holiday lights.
The end result of about three or four leisurely but work-filled hours this evening is ... well, let's just say we've gone off and created that mood-altering atmosphere I had in mind -- with HGM's queer panache creating an over-the-top effect well beyond my expectations. When it comes to staging decadent, dark, voluptuous atmosphere, the dude ROCKS!
I have no idea who will show up to this party and who will bail. I have had a couple last minute maybes and one rather grim I-don't-think-so from a friend who may not be up for socializing. Otherwise, all I can say is that those who do show up to this colorful affair will be entering into an mood-altering space, just as I wanted.
But I'll be honest about something: It kind of creeps me out to go to sleep in the middle of this bizarro-world that has overtaken my loft. There is some drapery hanging above my bed, atop which sits the most magnificent mask I own, which is adorned with a large headdress of black feathers. I'm a little worried about waking up in the middle of the night and seeing that thing staring down at me.
Also, I'm afraid of waking up and seeing this place in the daylight. It is staged like a ballroom party. There is drapery and tulle and ribbon and damask everywhere. I'm worried that when I wake up, I'll look around and feel like I fell asleep in the middle of a Macy's window display or something. I really don't like that particular startle that comes with feeling like I've accidentally fallen asleep while I was supposed to be entertaining guests. This is a recurrent experience for me, and in truth, I'm writing about it partly in hopes that I can stem off that experience tomorrow.
Anyway, that is also a way of illustrating just how much my living space has been altered. It has a very Cinderella meets "Eyes Wide Shut" thing going on. If it's hard for you to imagine, I assure you, one look at what's going on here, and you would know I have described it perfectly.
In the middle of it will be yours truly -- dressed as pirate. To be more accurate, that means that I, a fashion-conservative female, will be dressed as a male-to-female cross-dressing pirate. Seems like those kinds of roles are normally Oscar material. I'll do my best....
That starts with getting my beauty rest. Good night. And may you enjoy this here Mardi Gras.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment