Going away is very good for you. As I was walking around Los Angeles, looking at frippery, longingly caressing 80% of the stock at Maxfield, I felt like I had been jolted awake. I felt energised & excited again. I remembered that life can be fancy ALL THE TIME. Yes, all the time! You can surround yourself with beauty constantly! When I remembered, I made a silent pledge to myself to do exactly that.

Nubbenstein! It was wonderful to see Nubby again. Last time we were together was a year ago (!!!) in New York. So much has changed since then, but we are still the same people & we still get along famously. We both freak out over the same things & have the same travel agenda (Shop! Photos! Shop! Photos! Disney!). Even better, she’s coming to NYC next month for our birthday (we’re a day apart — Virgo Power!) & I can’t wait!

Disneyland adventures! On Monday, Kevin, Amy, Nubby, Zo, Danielle, Joel & I piled into a couple of cars & drove to Anaheim for Disneyland madness. Zoetica hadn’t been since 1999 & when I found that out, I was even more excited! We had such a great time: Haunted Mansion, Indiana Jones, Pirates of the Caribbean, Captain EO (long live the King of Pop!), Spinning Teacups & Tower of Terror (which is absolutely my new favourite!). $6 corn dogs were eaten, bubble guns were menacingly brandished, sequinned ears were worn & many, many, many pictures were taken. When I have everyone’s photos, I’ll post them! (D Y I N G ! Send me your pictures NOW!)

Coming home again & seeing my man & our puppies. I missed them so much while I was away & was so glad to see their faces once more. Have I told you recently that I love my boyfriend? I really do. He is amazing.

The littles: Helping Nubby write blog posts (“Definitely mention something about your ghostly pallour“); waking up at 4am & unpacking my suitcase, cleaning out my closet, writing my content for the day & scanning my photos all before the rest of the house is up; a hotel room strewn with vintage dresses & psychedelic shifts, glitter-covered flowers & oversized puffy hair bows; IHOP; valet at IHOP?!; 70 year old women at IHOP wearing t-shirts which say, “I heart West Hollywood dykes” (!!!); roadtripping from San Francisco to L.A. with Kevin & Amy (I LOVE THEM); getting silhouette portraits at Disneyland; “How much do you think this jacket is?” “Hmm, $10,000?” “$10,250… God, you’re good”; my “Oh Merde!” t-shirt; exploring old houses which have been transformed into magical vintage clothing stores (& going into the secret back room — “Scarlett Johansson likes this box of stuff the best” — WHAT!); Sex Is Fun!: Creative Ideas for Exciting Sex (cute & totally illustrated!); cream angora sweaters with Mickey Mouse ears in sequins on the front; onion rings; sharing a hotel room with Nubs (always a good time); the fact that my mother is coming to NYC in October!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!; taking photos of Dolly which make her look as if she’s reading a copy of Modern Motorcycle Mechanics; Agent Provocateur; doing accents all week long; photobooth fun with Violet; wearing pink & leopard print all the time; laughing constantly; seeing Francesca Lia Block in person (I didn’t stay for the reading though, too crowded); wearing hats; seeing Simon & eating Chinese food in San Francisco; macaroons for breakfast; “The buttcrack of dawn is the best time to eat pancakes!!!!!!!!!!”… & the list goes on. LOTS TO LOVE!

Amy: “The other day I thought, you know, if I spent as much time exercising as I do Photoshopping myself, I could be hot enough where I don’t even HAVE to Photoshop myself. But then I thought “neh” & ordered a pizza.”

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I love this treasury from Etsy: Let’s do a tarot reading in the desert!

Sarah Wilson, of course… I stopped & had a good hard look at myself & why I love ugly walking shoes.

Oh, this is so rad! Drive-In Intermissions is a collection of drive-in intermission videos from the 1950s!

The blind leading the blind makes me laugh.

Bad Yearbook Photos is so funny! Kinda painful, too.

The Book Of Awesome is out in New Zealand & Australia! Go pick yourself up a copy.

Esquire’s self improvements guide!

Porn star Lorelei Lee talks obscenity: An actress at the center of the case against John Stagliano opens up about the darker sides of the adult business. This is brilliant.

We also discussed the possibility of my testifying to the reasons I make these kinds of films. I think this imagery is important as a contrast to the majority of mainstream representation of women’s sexuality. The prevailing message women receive is that sexual aggression is unfeminine, that a woman’s primary sexual role is as regulator of male desire — to say yes or no, but not to pursue desires of our own. Women are still often taught that sexy is the same as “pretty,” that it means dressing a certain way and then waiting to be approached. These films show women being sexually aggressive and powerful in a way that sometimes isn’t pretty, but is definitely sexy.

I also don’t think you can take imagery out of context and say that it has inherent meaning — any interpretation of an image has to do with the social and cultural context in which it’s viewed. If we lived in a society in which women’s sexuality was celebrated, and was seen as usually proactive rather than usually passive, I don’t think people would jump so quickly to the concepts of exploitation and dehumanization when they thought of female performers.

What’s this? An anti-rape campaign that focuses on preventing rape instead of preventing women leaving the house?

My friend Bei is an amazing artist & she has an art blog now! Subscribe to it for mega-inspiration & lots of sweetness.

OH MY GOD, I LOVE IT. Their big fat leopard-print lesbian wedding! !! !!! What a beautiful couple! SWOON!

The most Rock n Roll moment was perhaps the epic wedding cake food fight at the end of the night or me breaking my toe….And one thing we both wanted to achieve was to prove that lesbian weddings can be fun and stylish and tattooed and be completely free of bad white suits!!!

Color Scheme Designer is a rad resource!

All a-tremble with a case of wanderlust? Check out This Battered Suitcase. Warning: it may make your tremors worse!

Have a peek at your August horoscope from the AstroTwins!

Back Door Play: Which State Is The Most Anal? Oh, ALASKA! I’m shocked!

Alaska, Vermont, New Hampshire… they all share one thing in common: long winters, and many dark, dark nights. It makes sense that folks who have to endure the endless days of snow and cold turn to warm nights in bed and explore the limits of what can be done there. Add in the fact that Maine, Massachusetts, Montana and Minnesota also indulge in the anal toy habit, you can really see a pattern.

OkCupid warns, Don’t Be Ugly By Accident! Oh my god I love their blog. Did you know that using the flash in a photo ages you by 7 years (on average)? Or that iPhone users are the most sexually active? You should dig around their blog, it is completely fascinating.

Awwhhhhhhhh um this made me cry so maybe don’t watch it at work?!

Kris Carr (who I love love love) recently did some work with EFT & here is a video of her experiences. Word up! I love EFT & encourage everyone to use it. So watch it, okay? You’ll enjoy it. She is rad & very charismatic to watch!

Have an amazing weekend!