Once upon a time…

I loved, and I lost. Years ago now, I met someone whom I loved in a way no one else understood, and despite circumstance and distance we fell in love. He braved the better part of the country to come to me. Three days of timelessness. Then disaster… well, near disaster. Narrowly averted disaster. Madness, violence, scrambling for safety. He was gone. He went home. I tried to put pieces back together any which way they seemed they could make sense. I swam upstream. And I drowned. I drowned because I got tired and gave up. And the thing is, when I went under I didn’t feel released… just dead. And he, rightfully, left me for dead. Now we live in parallel worlds. We exist but never communicate. I’ve written him… Haven’t heard back. He moved on a long time ago. I’ve moved on too. Fully resuscitated. Actually, life is better than ever.

But I still wish I would check my messages one day and find one from him that says he’s well and happy and it’s all okay…

re·sus·ci·tate [ri-suhs-i-teyt]
–verb (used with object), -tat·ed, -tat·ing.
to revive, esp. from apparent death or from unconsciousness.
[Origin: 1525–35; < L resuscitātus (ptp. of resuscitāre to reawaken), equiv. to re- re- + sus- sus- + cit(āre) to move, arouse (see cite1) + -ātus ate1]

re·sus·ci·tate (rĭ-sŭs’ĭ-tāt’) Pronunciation Key
v. re·sus·ci·tat·ed, re·sus·ci·tat·ing, re·sus·ci·tates
v. tr.
To restore consciousness, vigor, or life to. See Synonyms at revive.
v. intr.
To regain consciousness.
[Latin resuscitāre, resuscitāt- : re-, re- + suscitāre, to stir up (sus-, sub-, sub- + citāre, to move violently, frequentative of ciēre, to set in motion; see kei-2 in Indo-European roots).]

I saw myself…

I got to watch the rough cut of the movie I worked on this summer. Laurel Nakadate is the director and she’s a supergenius. Stay The Same Never Change is the movie. Check out the site and links! It is going to be the best movie to slap you in your gut since ever.

On an unrelated note, I’ve noticed that if I talk about nipples my blog suddenly gets more popular… So, NIPPLES. There you go.

I’m getting a teensy bit nervous about the Eyeful Tower show in Austin… I can’t believe December 29th is almost here! I’m happy, butterflies-in-the-stomach nervous, not puke-and-run nervous. The good kind, in other words. Here’s the deal: We girls have been rehearsing here, while the boys in the band have been rehearsing in Austin. We don’t rehearse together until the DAY OF THE SHOW. A bit tricky, eh? Well, we can do it… Continental Club, here we come!

And also: My car is officially TOTALED! Stay away from those concrete highway barriers, kiddos.

My Chair.

I used to do a chair routine in all the Eyeful Tower shows. I originally found said chair on the curb, I can’t quite remember where. I sanded it, reinforced any loose or weak spots, primed and painted it in an artistic fashion, and used it in my routine. Then my ex set it on fire. Literally, took it into the yard and poured gasoline on it and set it on fire. The legs are burned off. I still have it. I can’t seem to get rid of it. I think I’ll take it apart and use the pieces that are salvageable and build something new. Kind of like I’ve been doing with my life.

Work it out.

I’ve decided that when I turn 30 I will be in the best physical condition of my life. So I’ve been trying to fit in workouts in fun and creative ways. Ice skating once a week, aerial fabrics acrobatics (though I’ve been slacking on that one), chasing my four-year-old around, whatever. For a holiday gift this year my dear friend Betsy gave me a membership to her gym. It’s a ‘lady gym’, and I like this about it. The bathrooms, changing rooms and showers all have fancy soaps, body sprays, etc. There aren’t muscle-head dudes coming over to criticize how I’m using the equipment… Some of it does feel a little bit condescending, though. The cute little roly-poly fat chick magnets. The prizes for doing however many workouts. I mean, I guess people need rewards, but for me the reward is not feeling or looking like a lard ass, rather than a purple tee-shirt with a daisy on it that I wouldn’t be caught dead in. The shirt might as well say “200 workouts! Geez I was fat!” If I’ve done 200 workouts I want to be able to wear a string bikini that says so… not a tee-shirt. I do like the concept of a women’s only gym, but I don’t ever want to condescended to. I like that the workout is sort of pre-fab. You just move from station to station every thirty seconds for half an hour. Brainless and effective. I’m a fan.

Ouch!

So… When one begins to perform burlesque, and starts regularly stripping down to pasties and what have you, an interesting phenomenon often occurs.  You begin to realize all the different things that you could adhere to your nipples.  You’re in the hardware store, the craft shop, the grocery store, and everything that is a couple inches across and can be bought in a pair starts to look like potential pasties.  Silk flowers, fancy barrettes, Christmas ornaments, measuring cups, fried eggs (ha ha Taylor), party favors, cocktail umbrellas… It can really get ridiculous.  And really just about anything can be adhered to nipples, be it light enough, with toupee tape or spirit gum.  I’ve used sheriff’s badges, silk hibiscus flowers, electrical tape… duct tape!?  (Hey, it was an emergency… and I don’t recommend it.)  So next time you’re out shopping, look again, and imagine to yourself, “Would this pair of random items be something that would be appealing/clever/funny to glue to a ladies breasts?”  I guarantee you a whole new outlook on life.

xo,

Annie Cherry

One month until show time!

One month until my burlesque pro-am.

When I’m in a show I usually start planning a few weeks ahead, if possible. Producing is a whole other story, however. So many details to think about. So many favors to ask. Posters, venue, P.A. system, press release, etc… Not to mention coordinating performers, rehearsals, not to mention the actual show itself. The pro-am format is really great… It makes me quite proud to see one of my students with that glow on her face when she comes backstage after just receiving her first hoots, hollers, and applause!

Beyond the pro-am I have a few other projects in the works. I think I’ll drop in on the big holiday shindig at Knucklehead’s Saloon this weekend, to do a number with the Rumblejetts. I’ll be in Austin at the end of this month with Etta Vendetta and Lucky DeLuxe, at the Continental Club. Lucky and I are also working on a variety show for Stanford’s Comedy House to premier at the end of January. Beyond that I will be looking at putting together a true cabaret style variety show with entirely live musical accompaniment to debut late summer. Oh, so many exciting things to think about!

It’s nice having Mondays off… Especially when Ron Megee and Jon Fulton Adams have a party, because their parties usually fall on a Sunday night. This past Sunday Ms. De De DeVille and I performed for the Missouri Rep’s Christmas Carol cast party. I think a good time was had by all, especially myself after a slight overindulgence in bourbon. The aforementioned good time was topped off nicely by a few affectionate moments with one particularly fine, fine lady friend of mine. But I don’t kiss and tell (most of the time) so I’ll have to leave you in suspense… I don’t think it’s on YouTube or anything. Ron and I had a lovely dance in the giant gilded birdcage… I, in my new holiday costume (black with red sequins, fringe, and flowers), and he in high waisted slacks, suspenders, and a guinea tee (Thanks, Jon), with his new Dickensian chin beard. My life is comfortably surreal. I wouldn’t have it any other way.

On the romantic front, many of my friends already know I am absolutely crazy about one particularly tall gentleman from Chicago… Well, it looks like he’ll be moving to Kansas City as soon as this February, which is especially convenient as I happen to love him.

I am off to put my sweet child (read: holy terror) to bed. I haven’t been able to get him to his Dad’s this week because of the ice storm. Better safe than sorry, of course.

Goodnight, my Lovelies!

So… here’s this.

Let’s get to know each other, shall we? Well, maybe not so quickly. Baby steps. I am a twenty-eight year old mother of one. I am also a burlesque performer. I like my life interesting, and I am always attracted to the fringes of society, as long as they are fringes with plenty of style… I love burlesque, drag, vaudeville, sideshow, etc. I am building a life around it, while maintaining a stationary lifestyle due to my familial obligations. It’s a balancing act, but somehow it’s working just fine. Enough with the introductions… It’s late and I’m off to bed.