Blood And Pudding

I've been working hard at the tarot deck and once again giving you a peek at what's been done. This one's a work in progress. Just fixing up the swords a little but I want it to remain fairly raw.


Off to lunch with best friend John and then back to the Tackle Box to finish these cards and Constellation layouts. My Godfather ochanilele comes in from Florida tomorrow.

Burroughs in the Franklin St apt. This picture makes me dance many dances of joy as I have made cowboy coffee, Indian food from scratch, and been groped in that very kitchen. Pictured here my friends is my second home in NYC.

It's been a busy few days. I met up with Rev Billy's manager today and we had a wonderful brunch where he heard me proclaim to a business contact "I will slit your throat if you do not get this to me." And yet he still talks to me.
Dru and I worked on our zine for a bit and I'll post the cover of that. It's a terrible scan but an interesting read if your into cyborgs, dive bars,strange harmonica playing Brits,junkies, and how the streets will always be my one true love. The nice thing about it is that I don't have to art direct. We just cut and paste. It's a nice break from everything else. And if you are a creator of a zine or know of one please email me at: katelan@knickerbockercircus.com and let me know what you are up to.
( Picture Heavy )

I'm sitting here at B Cup, on a sparkly swivel chair drinking cafe mochas in a polka dot dress. This image itself makes me fantastically happy. My life has recently gotten very busy but also ver inspiring. My friend Drucilla and I are collaborating on a zine. Constellation is getting more and more popular and we have some wonderful people lined up for interviews and I started collaborating with a few other artist and writers on some new projects associated with Knickerbocker Circus. There is a certain flow and consistency in my life that hasn't really been there before and I can honestly say I am looking forward to each new project with a great amount of enthusiasm.

Paul and I sat in a cafe yesterday while the rain poured in Brooklyn. He had copied M'Hashish for me and wanted to know my thoughts on it for a project we are doing. I've read it an will be writing my thoughts on it in 35-24 (me and Drucilla's zine). Paul thinks I was born in the wrong era. He thinks I would have made a fabulous punk in the 70's. I told him that it all worked out really because I was born when punk was establishing itself (well sorta kinda) so in a way I did get the tale end of it. He laughed. We shared scandalous tales of our past and came up with interesting ways to write novels in one night. We'll be putting these to the test in a month or so.

This morning while researching one of the projects Knickerbocker Circus will be putting out I came across a contact sheet of Bill Burroughs in the Franklin St apt. I'll scan them and post them later. For those of you who don't know, I spent the end of my teenage years in that place. The kitchen is pictured and it still is set up the same but I think Old Bill liked his white walls a bit more than Val did. The apt's gotten more lived in since Bill's been gone. But the images made me smile and the fact that I can share that space with my literary idol is amazing. It's just too bad he died before I could meet him.

Till the scans go through here are a few links for you:

http://theybewe.wordpress.com

Includes:
Interview with Anya Kless from the TBW collective
TBW has a twitter and a facebook page maintained by the wonderful amandakcampbell
NYC Zine Fest
Vintage Bellydance pics
and more...

There is also a little tutorial on how to take a self portrait here:
http://theybewe.wordpress.com/2009/06/16/how-to-take-a-self-portrait/

Of course you can purchase the book right here:

Constellation magazine is interviewing Amanda for our Sept/October issue. We are including fan questions. I already have one co-interviewer (that would be you she_with_teeth so we'll be publishing approx 5 fan questions If you have a question you would like to ask the glorious Ms. Palmer send them to katelanfoisy@gmail.com
I will notify you if your question is chosen(yes, you can send more than one question)
Along with questions please include your full name and where you are from.

Photo from Paste Magazine

1. Orien just got back from Venice sailing with Swoon on her boats. Since she isn't doing the project next year he asked me to come and design the boats with him, except this time we'd sail the Ganges. I believe he called it the "Blood in the River Tour". I gave him a tentative yes as Ori and I work extremely well together and often our ideas combined become balanced and aesthetically pleasing as well as practical. The reason the yes is tentative is because he is also my ex and running off to build boats with your ex for two months can sometimes be a mistake. Although I would love to sail the Ganges and visit Kali's temple. I always was a Kali girl.


2. Constellation Magazine

What would you like to see in Constellation?
-Book reviews?
-More short stories?
-Poetry?

If there is anything you would like to see more of or need secret spells on how to turn your ex boyfriends into slimy creatures either comment here or email me at katelanfoisy@gmail.com

( Constellation Goodness )

3. Tarot

I've decided to show you a sneak peek at my tarot deck. Here's the Devil:

It's a shotty scan, I know but it's just a little bit of what is to come.

4. Questions:

If you had to make postcards out of a few of my self portrait images which ones would you use?
http://katelanfoisy.tumblr.com/
5 pages of self portraits, which should I use? Click on the little x's to make the pics bigger.

There was another question but I forgot what it was. Silly me.

I had to grab this from my friend Warren's blog. It just makes me laugh because I think he is a brilliant, brilliant, crazy man.

At lunchtime, while everyone else was at the conference.
http://www.warrenellis.com

Friday night in a Cuban restaurant the waiter hummed a tune softly, then broke out into lyrics. Our table of belly dancers and those closest to them recognized the lyrics as Michael Jackson's and immediately followed along clapping and singing, this was followed by the entire restaurant doing the same. It was one of those moments when you realize how human we all are; How sometimes we make someone out to be such an icon, star, or freak of nature that we forget that they are a human being. Sometimes death brings us back to that point.

Today I ventured into Brooklyn for the NY Zine Fest. I haven't been to one since my days in Seattle and it felt good to rifle through stacks of stapled, photocopied paper again. I spent most my time talking to the wonderful people at the ABC No Rio table and then had a great conversation on independent publishers and small printing presses with a guy who dated an old friend of mine. Turns out our exes are working together. We decided we simply must network together as well. Later I was joined by my partner in crime Emily Poole along with Kelly Mudge and her husband Justin Criswell. Good times were had, zines and prints purchased and coffee was consumed.

I must say if you want to go to a cool little venue check out the Brooklyn Lyceum. The people who work there are downright fabulous and there's a neat upright piano and dark red drapery.

Poster by my friend Swoon
( More pics from today )

"Vintage Bellydance takes us to the set of director Michel’s latest project, in a studio in Egypt, around 1959. Michel is holding auditions for his latest project, as he needs to find a replacement for his lead actress, Kalthoum--a superstar, who has gone missing. Michel sees six young dancers: the ingénue, the gypsy, the siren, the diva, and even his wife, in hopes of finding a replacement 4 his star. Will Kalthoun show her face? What is the future of Michel’s film? Vintage Bellydance takes us behind the scenes of Michel’s film in order to explore the real lives of these diverse vintage starlets, through their dreams and their realities." -Sherene Vismaya

I'll post pics of the performances as soon as I get them, until then here are some lovely shots of the wonderful people of Vintage Belly Dance.

Anasma Vuong, Jeniviva, Sherene Vismaya, Kelly, and me

My outfit for the show
( VBD )

R.I.P Effie
R.I.P Mr. John
R.I.P Elaine

Three deaths in the past few weeks and then a few more celebrity ones today. The world is a strange place sometimes. I'm just trying to take it day by day. Although I am blessed with amazing people in my life. Went to a clients house the other day where she gave me two amazing dresses, a bottle of baby Phat perfume and liquid eyeliner. I adore her. We became fast friends with similar pasts and relationship cycles. Today I received a wonderful package from the Ninja himself which included an amazing feather (it's in one of the photos) and Tough trip Through Paradise which I want to sleep next to with it's smoky campfire scent. It's been a rough few days for reasons i don't really want to get into, recent wounds reopened. Sometimes life hurts.

( Native Punk )

The Invitation

It doesn’t interest me what you do for a living.

I want to know what you ache for,
And if you dare to dream of meeting your heart’s longing.

It doesn’t interest me how old you are.

I want to know if you will risk looking like a fool for love,
For your dreams, for the adventure of being alive.

It doesn’t interest me what planets are squaring your moon.

I want to know if you have touched the center of your own sorrow,
If you have been opened by life’s betrayals or
Have become shriveled and closed from fear or further pain!

I want to know if you can sit with pain, mine or your own;
If you can dance with wildness and let the ecstasy fill you
To the tips of your fingers and toes without cautioning us to be careful,
Be realistic, or to remember the limitations of being human.

It doesn’t interest me if the story you’re telling me is true.

I want to know if you can disappoint another to be true to yourself,
If you can bear the accusation of betrayal and not betray your own soul.

I want to know if you can see beauty
Even when it is not pretty every day,
And if you can source your life from God’s presence.

I want to know if you can live with failure, yours and mine,
And still stand on the edge of a lake and shout to the silver of the full moon, “Yes!”

It doesn’t interest me to know where you live or how much money you have,

I want to know if you can get up after the night of grief and despair,
Weary and bruised to the bone, and do what needs to be done for the children.

It doesn’t interest me who you are, how you came to be here,
I want to know if you will stand in the center of the Fire with me and not shrink back.
It doesn’t interest me where or what or with whom you have studied.

I want to know what sustains you from the inside when all else falls away,

I want to know if you can be alone with yourself, And if you truly like the
company you keep in the empty moments.

-Oriah Mountain Dreamer. Indian Elder

laughinggoddess and I spent a glorious night in, baking breads (kolach and banana) from scratch and then homemade Sangria. Tomorrow leads us to a Mexican brunch at Mesa Coyoacan with mikecap and then off to the New York Marble Cemetery for Gypsy music. (I have never heard either of the bands playing so don't kill me if it all goes terribly wrong.) Anyone in NYC should come and hang with us in the Graveyard. It's Solstice and what better way to celebrate than with the dead.
It was also a sad, sad day when my camera broke, but luckily I ordered a new one and it should be shipped here soon. Luckily laughinggoddess came to my rescue and even uploaded the pics after I gently coerced her(by crying uncontrollably and hanging onto her leg.) Now I must get back to finding reference for my tarot cards. My deadline is coming and I need to be prepared.

In the meantime I added some new things to the They Be We blog:
http://theybewe.wordpress.com/
The book is of course here:
http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/718832

( The ghetto guide to Sangria )

Pictures from LIFE INC. / NEXT-DOOR NEIGHBOR TEAMUP PARTY
Doug Rushkoff, SMITH Magazine, ARTHUR Magazine, & WFMU teamed-up a double-feature doozie celebrating the launch of Rushkoff's new book LIFE INC. - How The World Became A Corporation And How To Take It Back, + toasting the wrap of SMITH's NEXT-DOOR NEIGHBOR Truelife Webcomix Anthology edited by Dean Haspiel. http://lifeincorporated.net http://www.smithmag.net/nextdoorneighbor sweet sounds abounded care of Cedric IM Brooks & Kevin Batchelor of the legendary Skatalites. Check some first rate reggae/ska you probably never heard: http://www.myspace.com/cedricimbrooks http://www.myspace.com/kevinbatchelor

I love that both Doug and I look stunned by the camera. Doug's book is crazy amazing and you all should buy it right now.http://www.amazon.com/Life-Inc-World-Became-Corporation/dp/1400066891


Me and Jeff/Jah Furry

Madonna's got her toothy grin and I've got mine. Here's me and Lauren.

Come see me play a small role as Valencia, a Spanish Gypsy visiting her old friend Soraida (Sherene Vismaya) on set of a bellydance film. (I'm not dancing, just acting.)

Russ Kuhner just sent me these images from my shoot at the Trolley Museum. Check out his work at the link below.
http://www.russkuhner.com/albums/portraiturePortfolio/slideshow.html

I have no words lately and if a picture is worth a thousand words than I have no pictures either. Spent the weekend in East NY for my Godmother's Ocha birthday and discussed naughty things during off times with beautiful gay men. I did however take a few pictures of the night here in Queens. Tomorrow brings tarot readings and cleansings. Thursday I'll be attending Rushkoff LIFE INC Launch / SMITH Magazine NEXT-DOOR NEIGHBOR Webcomix Wrapand, and Friday I'm off to a show with sweeneytim. Sunday brings an event at The NY Marble Cemetery with plenty of Gypsy music to warm my soul.

Last night brought good times celebrating Jah Furry's birthday at the Radar Party with site specific installation by Color Me Katie, Dr. Sketchy's Anti-Art School, Blood soaked performance art by the Bambi Killers, and DJ Monica Sharp. Happy Birthday Jeff!

*I think I'm in love with the Bambi Killers.

I took this after the party getting ready to wind down for the night. Lipstick smeared, eyeliner running = success.

I've been enjoying splicing two pictures together way too much.




Angels Wings - Social Distortion


( Angels Wings Lyrics )

Will probably be a cross between this:

and this:

At one point my old roommate and I used to practically live here. Not sure what happened on my part but I passed it the other day and got all warm and fuzzy inside. I think I may have to submerge myself again.


http://www.abcnorio.org/

( Two other favorites )

I have been insanely busy, well, mostly insane but busy nonetheless. They Be We is finally out as well as the new issue of Constellation. Spent the weekend doing secret spells with
laughinggoddess and making beautiful gay men drink love potion from my honey jar. Yes, the times have been enchanting.

( Magic )