Chris is back!

Wow. It was an eventful episode for Project Runway fans. Jack took himself out of the competition because of an aggressive infection in his mouth. On the phone with his doctor he called it MRSA, a staph infection which has been in the news lately because of its resistance to antibiotics. Jack said he's had it before, so hopefully, he'll be fine. FYI, MRSA killed my Dad, so it's nothing to fool around with.

I truly feel sad for Jack (maybe they'll let him come back next season?) but the good news is that Chris was given a second chance. Back to bad news: I hated his design:



It actually doesn't look bad in this photo, but the judges said it made her look like a 50's hooker in Paris. Now that's specific!

For this challenge, the designers had to rework a favorite outfit of women who have lost a significant amount of weight.

Christian won with this look:


Cute!

Steve was eliminated with what Heidi called a french maid's outfit. I have to agree. He had yards of fabric from a wedding dress to work with, but used only enough to turn a black dress into pilgrim chic. I liked Steve, but he really blew it:

Green Day is Neither Green Nor a Day- Discuss!

Taylor Tuesday

COGNITO
(it's my blog and I'll make up words if I want to!)

I promised amyrebo that I'd show the flip side of my "Incognito" post of last week. I've seen Taylor interact with his fans a few times, but the one that stands out was after the show in Tampa.

There was a small crowd and since it was early in the tour, we didn't know for sure if we'd see Taylor leaving the theater. We hoped we might be able to snap a quick photo as he walked to the bus. Our cameras were ready and every time the backstage door opened, we raised them smartly into position. Roadies came out, cameras jumped up and were quickly lowered as we shared a disappointed groan. Poor guys!

People started playing with us, telling us Taylor was already gone, or opening the door slowly as a tease before they showed their faces. The opening act, The Greyhounds, came out and took OUR picture.

Finally, some excitement towards the front, flashes of light and (with a bit of straining) I could see Taylor dramatically posing. Finally, he said, "Well, don't y'all have something for me to sign?"

We were unprepared and scrambled for any paper we could come up with. A woman in front of me had him sign her candy box:


He was very patient.



The fans were nice, too. They politely moved away when they were done so the people in the back could move up and have a moment with Taylor. He signed my concert ticket and I said, "I thought Jeff Lopez was supposed to tour with you."
He answered, "Yeah, he was..."but didn't offer any more information.

I realized I should give up my plum spot to someone else, so I left before Taylor did. I don't know how long he stayed out there, but everyone who walked away was excited and happy.

He didn't have to stop. Those of us waiting would have been happy with a photo of him waving as he walked to his bus. But he did stop and offered to sign whatever we had. Look what he started!


Taylor leaving the NYC book signing.

River- Joni Mitchell

Christmas Cards

(I'm re-posting this, because I really believe in it.)

Stop right there! Before you buy your Christmas cards, I wish you would consider getting them through a charity. I used to design my own cards and print them up (Too much creative energy! See post titled, "One Crafty Mother"), but then it dawned on me that buying them from a charitable organization is a win-win situation. I need the cards, they need the money.

I'm sure you can find one that you like, but here are a few that I know about:

http://www.childrensartproject.org/
http://www.shopcardsandgifts.unicefusa.org/
http://drawbridge-store.stores.yahoo.net/cards.html

"I'm Fifty!" (not me-her!)

I have 10 months left to honestly say I'm in my forties, but I can't seem to get the number 50 outa my head. I can't believe it. How did this happen? How did I get here? There must be some mistake.

Take the time to watch this clip. It's hysterical! I guess that's me in ten months. Once again, let's be clear, I'm NOT 50. Yet.

Styles:One Year You're In, The Next- You're Out

The challenge this week on Project Runway was to take an out-of-date style and give it a modern feel. Chris wound up with an impossible task: make shoulder pads look new. Heh? Shoulder pads are shoulder pads. What the heck can you do with them?

He made a short little shrug (as you can see in the above photo) which I thought was wise since they are very much in style right now. Adding the shoulder pads, unfortunately, shoots you right back to "Dynasty" and Joan Collins. Poor Chris. Doomed. He wound up going home.

I like the looks that won:

Not crazy about this collar, though:

Taylor Tuesday

INCOGNITO?

photo by amyrebo*

March 26, 2007, People Magazine: "Of course he dons a hat so nobody knows who he is. 'I've walked through a thousand fans and nobody notices,' Hicks told People."

Not so fast, there, buddy. Some fans don't notice and some simply respect your privacy.

One of my favorite memories of the summer tour was watching Taylor pull this off in front of the Norva Theater. I was standing outside as fans started to gather for the show. A limo pulled up and spat out more people than I thought a limo could hold. Like a clown car, a seemingly endless line of drunken, giggling women spilled out on to the curb.

My little group traded eye-rolls and I casually glanced at two guys walking up from the other direction to the theater. One of them was Taylor. He had his cap pulled down low and he stared at the ground. He walked right past me.

I waited until he was just about inside, pointed at his back and said to my friends, "THAT was Taylor!" He must have heard me because he turned, looked at me through the glass door and laughed. I pointed at him as if to say, "Oh, you!" and he doubled over, laughing harder.

He dodged a bullet. What do you think would have happened if the clown car women had recognized him? Have you witnessed Taylor sneaking by his fans?

*To be fair, Taylor wasn't avoiding his fans when this photo was taken. amyrebo tells me: "The photo was taken outside of the Capital Center in Concord, NH. He wasn't trying to hide from anyone that night as he stood and chatted with our group of fans for about 10 minutes after the show. "

Ever Feel Like This?

Ramones - I Wanna Be Sedated

Twenty-twenty-twenty four hours to go I wanna be sedated
Nothin' to do and no where to go-o-oh I wanna be sedated
Just get me to the airport put me on a plane
Hurry hurry hurry before I go insane
I can't control my fingers I can't control my brain
Oh no no no no no
Twenty-twenty-twenty four hours to go....
Just put me in a wheelchair and put me on a plane
Hurry hurry hurry before I go insane
I can't control my fingers I can't control my brain
Oh no no no no no
Twenty-twenty-twenty four hours to go I wanna be sedated
Nothin' to do and no where to go-o-o I wanna be sedated
Just put me in a wheelchair get me to the show
Hurry hurry hurry before I gotta go
I can't control my fingers I can't control my toes
Oh no no no no no
Twenty-twenty-twenty four hours to go...
Just put me in a wheelchair...
Ba-ba-bamp-ba ba-ba-ba-bamp-ba I wanna be sedated
Ba-ba-bamp-ba ba-ba-ba-bamp-ba I wanna be sedated
Ba-ba-bamp-ba ba-ba-ba-bamp-ba I wanna be sedated
Ba-ba-bamp-ba ba-ba-ba-bamp-ba I wanna be sedated