31.01.06 :: how from there did i get here

i've been gone for a few days. well, the weekend and yesterday. i didn't go anywhere, but i was away.

i actually had a really great weekend, and i woke up yesterday feeling kind of worn out from it, so i took a sick day to rest.

i'm lucky that i can do that from time to time. i took yesterday to rediscover some things, including lamya, who i just love.

her song east of anywhere i could use to sum up my thought process yesterday.

feelin lost - in familiar places
havin' fallen from a few good graces
so many sandy years
dusted and wasted
how from there did i get here

i wanna be east of anywhere
(take me) out of the everywhere
into the here
sublime to ride
reside
up high
in wide-open big sky country
sweet space to satisfy me

alone on the frontline of life
with no foundation
return to my train of tought
but i miss the station
wake up every morning
heading for yesterday
how do i make all my troubles go far away

it was easier for me to see
without looking too far
(but) the more that it changes
the more it stays the same
plus ca change
plus c'est la meme chose

and so it goes
nobody knows
why we're here

sweet space to elevate me
sweet space to satisfy me
sweet space to be when i've become
sweet fate only knows when
i will be done

posted by lonestarsteve on tue 31.01.06 8:15 AM

i wanted to send a brief shout out (and thank you) to david of a sober thought for calling to my attention that nick verreos of project runway has a blog site. (the photo to the right is from his blog site). check it out here. nick also has a professional design site to showcase his nikolaki clothes line here.

i wanted to let nick know that i'm pulling for him to get into the final 3 for fashion week. since chloe lives and works in houston, i have it in my right mind to drive on over to her shop and grill her about who the final 3 designers were, even though i know she would never, never tell me.

(although it's a hard call, i would like for chloe, andrae, nick, and daniel v. to make it to the final 4; i don't want to see anyone cut from that group, so making a decision beyond that is a tough one).

peace out. have great weekends.

posted by lonestarsteve on fri 27.01.06 2:10 PM

so, what drives the creativity of the 7 remaining designers on project runway, season 2? this was the backbone for the most recent challenge, which aired last night on bravo tv in episode 8, entitled "inspiration." the remaining designers met with michael kors in his studio for a "motivational talk." each designer was then given a digital camera and an hour to walk around manhattan to take inspirational photos that would serve as the launching pad for yet another design challenge.

congratulations to daniel v., who won last night's challenge with his orchid-inspired stretch tweed skirt and sculptural silk organza top.

to echo tim gunn from his blog, daniel's ensemble was "breathtaking." and this is now daniel v.'s third win, which makes him a designer to be feared by all in the upcoming challenges. i knew that daniel was being too quiet. he was hiding just what a threat he was to the other contestants. way to go, daniel!

so, who is out? everyone together now: zulema! she took a photo of an african-american woman in a traditional african dress and instead of using the picture as a point of departure, she essentially copied the outfit.

not only that, though. she also fucked up (and fucked herself over) in other ways. in the beginning of the episode, instead of choosing her same model for the next challenge, she made three models compete in a walkoff (or, as daniel v. put it, "it's a mother-fuckin' walkoff!"). one of the models was nick's favorite model, tarah. and when zulema stole tarah away from nick, the feathers of all of the designers got ruffled. the other designers gave zulema the cold shoulder. and with this loss, there were no tears shed for her departure. and rightfully so.

gunn wrote of zulema's final design, "i stumbled and nearly fell when i saw the atrocious construction," adding, "was this a joke? no. i believe she lost her bearings. and she lost her judgment. she was lost. period." and lost she was and ever will be. she just ain't right!

nick, down and depressed for losing tarah, was lucky to finish the challenge at all. he was showing sure signs of throwing in the towel, er, swatch, but after getting a pep talk from daniel v., he sucked it up and rallied. nick's problem, as gunn wrote, was defaulting back to his overplayed fishtail skirts, which in this case he used as a "crutch." his new model, rachel, however, moved much better for him than she ever did for zulema in previous challenges. hang in there, nick! i had picked nick to win this week, but he'll have to pull out all the stops next week.

andrae was a close contender for the win. gunn wrote, "he really pushed himself creatively and it showed, big time." andrae also caught the attention of guest judge, and last season's winner, jay mccarroll. gunn wrote: "from a photograph of filthy new york city gutter water (ugh! and yuck!) evolved a design ready to wow the red carpet. his bias cut dress with a dramatic braided sash and beautifully articulated beading was a complete knockout." not only that, but as heidi klum put it, andrae's dress -- materials for which cost less than $100 -- looked very expensive.

i didn't care for chloe's, kara's, and santino's dresses. although chloe "stepped away from her comfort zone," as gunn wrote, i thought the design wasn't up to her normal high standards of execution. but, to agree with gunn again, i did admire her for "pioneering new territory."

kara, like zulema, was way too literal with her design. her black jersey column dress she wrapped in a black-and-yellow "danger" tape. girl! what were you thinking? and when on the runway, she went into this long, drawn-out explanation for the design. jay commented, "that's a lot of talk. and the talk doesn't match the dress." here, here. good call, jay. good thing zulema sucked even worse, or it would have been kara who was out.

and last but not least, santino. he listened to the judges' advice from last week and pulled back from his usual deconstructive, over-embellished designs. but can the boy sew? or is he covering up for lack of real talent?

oh, and just as a sidenote, guess what i purchased online yesterday? that's right. my very own nick-designed my scene barbie. it ships out feb. 10.

jealous much?

posted by lonestarsteve on thu 26.01.06 9:00 AM

two things:

001 :: i miss marky mark's calvin klein underwear ads. (did you know that he has a third nipple that usually gets airbrushed out of his photos? in this case, the airbrush artist must have been out to lunch. do you see it?)

002 :: i can't wait to see project runway guest judge jay mccarroll lay in on this season's designers tonight. fur will fly.

that's all i'm sayin'...

posted by lonestarsteve on wed 25.01.06 8:14 AM

at a crossroads. yet again. what is it with change? it can really sneak up on you. bam! out of nowhere.

the thing is that this time, i have no clue what's coming. there have been some really wonderful, happy moments over this past year. many good moments. this new year will mark so many milestones for me -- some good, some bad, all different.

so where does that leave me? where is my place? where from here? who, what, when from here? and here? there? and how?

new job? new place? new state?

decisions to make. chances to take. all a mistake?

standing still won't do anymore. movement is key. growth through change = good. stagnating in place = bad.

i'll figure it out. or pay someone to figure it out for me...

posted by lonestarsteve on tue 24.01.06 7:47 AM

today in houston is so cold, wet, and miserable outside that i'm taking advantage of being forced to stay indoors and getting some shit done. it's been a freaky weekend (after a really freaky week), but i'm rolling with it.

i just read on onegayatatime that jim is being monitored by a bunch of lawyers. he's involved in some case, being asked to testify, and they needed to check out his every angle. jesus. aren't wire taps enough? now we have to watch what we write on our web-based "memoirs?" it make me think about what one would be able to find out about me if they were to print out this blog. quite a lot, actually. more that i would be willing to share with strangers (although i share with you, many of whom are strangers to me). but that's different somehow. i just don't know how.

chadfox is collecting desktops from people. i think that the corky did that once. i would send my desktop to chadfox, but i think he's probably getting innundated with replies, so i probably won't.

lazy sunday, people. more to be revealed tomorrow i'm sure.

posted by lonestarsteve on sun 22.01.06 2:40 PM

episode 7 of project runway, which aired last night on bravo, was entitled "on thin ice." the eight remaining designers each received a "package" containing details about their next challenge (the packages are delivered to them by none other than pr - season 1 hottie robert plotkin, doning his usps uniform.) in each box was a spandex outfit, some worse than others. the designers were then instructed to put on their gear and meet tim gunn in the lobby of the atlas.

contestants then took a field trip to an ice skating rink in new jersey to get details about their next challenge. while there, they met national gold medalist, world silver medalist, and olympian sasha cohen. sasha instructed the designers to design and construct a skating costume for her.

after skating about the rink for fun -- even forming a human conga line of nerdy, gay designers -- the contestants returned to their workroom to sketch, shop for fabric, and begin their 2-day project.

this was probably one of the most difficult challenges for the designers to date: designing a simple, elegant outfit that can actually be worn on the ice (by sasha) to perform in.

in his blog, tim gunn puts each of the designers' outfits into three categories: "innovative," "ho-hum," and "a float in a parade."

as the title of this post suggests, zulema won the challenge with this "swan lake" number. her idea was to pay homage to an ugly ducking who evolves into a beautiful ice princess. gunn writes, "she took on a very ambitious design and really made it work. her sinuous use of the trim over the flesh-colored mesh was stunning, and the pleated skirt was a wonderful counterpoint. the total look was sexy while still being appropriate for sasha." that's all good and fine, but why, then, did zulema dress as a clown?

emmett was cast out. (actually, before the show aired, i had guessed that he would be the one to go last night.) tim writes, "[emmett] chose dark, light-absorbing fabrics, and even though there was some bling going on, it read 'matronly' to me." elle magazine's anne slowey, one of the judges of the competition, said that emmett's creation was "vulgar" and that it showed too much "tooty." i didn't see all this. i did see a boring skating outfit. plus, if i had to hear one more time emmett complain that he only designs menwear, i was going to have to bust something. emmett tried to defend his outfit, but something about doing so in a pink glittery spandex top lost the seriousness of his message. good grief!

andrae, chloe, daniel v., kara, nick, and santino all did fair-to-good work on their respective outfits.

andrae named his look "princess cyclone," which evoked "a dark princess who is both dramatic and menacing." gunn wrote that andrae achieved his goal and applauded his risk-taking. "this outfit was innovative without being a joke. it possessed buoyancy and visual effervescence, yet it was serious."

chloe, stepping away from her "chloe blue," used a fabulous color for her piece, one that is rarely seen on skaters. tim called it a "breath of blue in silk chiffon." her design resembled a christmas tree, but i really liked the look and i think that it was probably a contender for the win.

daniel v.'s design was rather "ho-hum," as tim would say. his choice of aubergine was a good one for color, but there was no "pop" to his design.

kara ended up playing it really, really safe. tim said that her attempt "was a basic silhouette with little if anything in the way of innovation." what might have gotten her kicked off the show was her use of fringe as a skirt -- something that wouldn't have been very flattering to a twirling ice dancer making leaps into the air.

nick, who i chose before the show aired to win this week's competition, put together a pasty oatmeal and peach asymetrical number that really didn't impress me much.

and last but not least, santino. what can be said. the boy's days are numbered in my opinion. his "phoenix rising from the flames" outfit last night was overdone, overdone, overdone. and i think that the judges are getting sick of it. elle magazine's anne slowey called santino's look "carmen miranda on acid." that it was, anne. that it was.

posted by lonestarsteve on thu 19.01.06 7:18 AM

in the nearly 2 years that i've had this blog, i've never done one of these dreaded lists, so here goes...

::: the first 25 of 100 things about lonestarsteve :::

001 :: i'd love to have abs of steel, but don't want to have to work for them
002 :: i am primarily right-handed, but am ambidextrous when it comes to certain things
003 :: i can cook, but chose to dine out or order in pretty regularly
004 :: i am not a native southerner (although i play one on tv)
005 :: i participated in, and completed, a marathon in 1999
006 :: i came in 2,260th place in a field of 4,326; my time was 4 hours, 30 minutes, 9 seconds.
007 :: i'll probably never do that again (what was i thinking?)
008 :: i am clean, but not always tidy
009 :: i've never liked my middle name
010 :: it sounds much too catholic
011 :: i've twice hiked to the bottom of the grand canyon and back out again
012 :: the first time i hiked it, i smoked cigarettes during the entire trek
013 :: i chew gum all the time
014 :: i hate mosquitos
015 :: saturday is my favorite day of the week
016 :: mondays are my least favorite day (yeah, mine and everyone else's in the free world...)
017 :: i purchase books all the time, but don't always get to read them right away
018 :: i would like to read more, but i always think that i could be doing something more active
019 :: i prefer warm weather to cold
020 :: that's one of the reasons that i moved to the south
021 :: when i was a kid, midgets used to terrify me
022 :: now they just frighten me a little bit (pun intended)
023 :: want to push my buttons? rush me to get ready to go out somewhere...
024 :: ...or tailgate me on the highway, especially if you're driving a piece of shit car, like a geo metro or a ford aspire
025 :: i love receiving flowers

posted by lonestarsteve on wed 18.01.06 8:31 AM

i first have to apologize to ethan at bratboyschool for my comments about him in my last post. a reader -- and fellow blogger -- pointed out that mr. reynolds has made his web site his full-time job and it is more of a sales platform than a blog anyway. so, even though i have a personal policy to not alter anything i've written in past posts, i do want to take this time to tell ethan that i'm sorry. he probably didn't have to suck anybody's dick to get on the cover of instinct magazine. i must have come off as so jealous and jaded in my post, and for that i'm quite embarrassed about. (i'm just a bitter old queen anyway, honey. don't pay any attention to me. no one else does.)

in other, more important news, yesterday i celebrated my third year of sobriety. you heard that right: 1,095 days since my last drink or drug. pretty damned awesome. and i must say that although the road hasn't always been a smooth one -- and it continues to have its bumps every now and again -- i am a much happier person today than i ever was in my entire life. i have actual relationships with people based on trust and respect, and i live up to my word, and i strive to become a better person each and every day. i have identified many of my character defects and attempt to understand and correct them.

is it all perfect now? of course not. but i love the fact that i handle situations differently today than i did in the past. and i wouldn't have made it without my friends, my program, my sponsor, and my god. this i know to be true.

posted by lonestarsteve on tue 17.01.06 8:29 AM

it's a lazy day in the montrose today. people buzzing around, here and there, enjoying the overcast, 70° weather.

i'm at the montrose (hawthorne) starbucks, sitting out on their patio, checking out the boy action. not much going on at the moment, but the day is still young.

i've been doing a lot of thinking lately about this blog of mine, its intent, and where i'd like it to go from its humble beginnings nearly 2 years ago. i recently read the article in instinct magazine about model-turned-webmaster ethan reynolds and his bratboyschool web site. first to come to my mind was, of course, who's dick(s) did he have to suck to get such a spread in instinct. after quickly coming to my own conclusions about that, i thought: you know, my site is my site and those who want to read it do, and those who don't, don't. it's that simple. also, i still enjoy doing it and i've gotten some positive feedback about it. why do i have to have a gimmick to be widely read? if i keep doing my own thing, i won't have to pimp my blog like so many have done.

of course even in writing this, i run the risk of losing some of you. turning you off. you might feel as though i'm just throwing a hissy about what i don't have. well, in many ways i am, but i think that most importantly i just want to stay truthful to myself. this site should always reflect me, myself, and i. and i hope to keep doing that.

posted by lonestarsteve on sun 15.01.06 2:31 PM

not much on the agenda for today. i'm going to have my hair did (long, long overdue; looking a little like chewbacca the wookiee), then maybe shop a little (i need even more jeans and shoes), then tonight, i'm going to the saturday night live meeting to hear my friend, beau, tell his story. it should be as entertaining as it is poinient.

there will be a full moon tonight. look for it. and watch those drivers out tonight (as if they don't drive bad enough to begin with...they drive even worse under the influence of the moon's gravitational pull).

also, houston runs its marathon tomorrow morning. i know a few people running in it. [fact: i ran in the houston marathon in january 1999. and i finished it. i haven't run in one since. i find it hard to juggle an ashtray as well as a water bottle when i run. pity.]

have a good saturday. should be nice in the montrose. see you around in it.

posted by lonestarsteve on sat 14.01.06 10:20 AM

i didn't feel much like waking up on this friday the 13th morning. it had nothing to do with jason, or hockey masks, or babysitters, or sleepaway camp. i've just been pretty tired most of this week and last. this is due to long days at work paired with late-night activities. i've been making up for the lost sleep on the weekends.

what's up for the weekend? dunno. i'm really never sure. i let the weekend do with me what it will. always do.

i wanted to thank my friend, mark, for such a great night last night: dinner out, coffee back at his place, talking, listening to tori and others on his back patio. it really helped me to escape a little from the pressures i've been under. you're a great friend.

peace out. have a good friday.

posted by lonestarsteve on fri 13.01.06 8:27 AM

last night's episode of project runway was about as predictable as they come. not only did bore-fest designers marla and diana prophetically-- yet randomly -- pair-up together to jointly complete the "window shopping" challenge, but they were both finally cast out for seriously lacking the skills needed to carry them through to the end of the show. (santino said of diana: "she's grasping at straws" and that he hated the very sound of her voice.) well, we love to hate you too, santino!

the challenge for the designers in episode 6, aired last night, was to design a day-into-night outfit for customers of banana republic. (br is a major sponsor of pr).

at their meeting with br's deborah lloyd, the designers were given the full run of the spring 2006 fabrics to from which to choose for their look. mentor tim gunn noted, "curiously, far too many of them selected a navy charmeuse, at least in my opinion." gunn pointed out that last season's wendy pepper won the br challenge with the same fabric -- coincidence or scandal?

after the designers were back in their workroom, tim informed them in his lispy voice ("can i have everyone gather round?") that they would be working in teams of two. with a minute (literally) to choose a parnter, they paired off as follows: zulema and kara, chloe and emmett, daniel v. and andrae, diana and marla, and santino and nick.

after working on their respective outfits, tim took the designers on a field trip to the flatiron district br store, where they were told that they would have to design a storefront window in which their models would serve as a living mannequin. with a little less than an hour to pull it all together, br customers then walked by the window displays and voted on their impression of the total impact of the display's theme of "day-to-evening." the design team receiving the highest number of votes won the challenge (and would have their design produced and sold in select br stores as well as online); the losers were determined on the runway.

andrae and daniel v. won the challenge. tim wrote in his blog, "they best understood the design challenge and the banana republic customer. their dress for rebecca looked modern and very sexy, and the addition of the cropped jacket for day was inspired, because it diminished the look's sexiness for the purpose of the workplace."

diana and marla -- there is a god -- were cast out! gunn noted, "my biggest objection was the condition of their design, which was all puckered and wrinkled, especially the skirt." gunn also thought the ladies' window display rediculous: "a bookshelf and mounds of crumpled paper? egads, this really didn't work."

chloe and emmett made a good team, and did a great job. tim admitted being "crazy" about the team's design. he wrote, "it exuded sophistication and elegance while remaining modern. the reversible jacket was not only a brilliant solution for the day to evening transition, it was a technical masterpiece, given our time constraints."

kara and zulema had their difficulties at first, but at the 11th hour -- with kara crying and zulema belting out orders -- the two of them pulled something out of their asses. tim wrote that they nearly "crashed and burned." ditching the popular navy charmeuse, the two decided (in desperation) on a large circle print and pulled it off -- just.

then there was nick and santino. poor nick. he didn't even want to pair off with ego-driven santino. as tim put it, "it was 'the santino show,' plain and simple." there weren't supposed to be any leaders on the teams, but santino found it appropriate to drag nick down his design path -- and his path only. tim sums it up, "were it not for nick's deft construction skills, this work would have been on the chopping block."

well said, tim.

posted by lonestarsteve on thu 12.01.06 11:18 AM

with winter more than half over, it's about that time again: indoor tanning season!

i don't know about you, but whenever winter comes around -- even down here in houston -- i get depressed that my skin color starts to resemble that of the paper that i print on at work everyday. also, since it gets dark so early, i miss my daily dose of sunshine. my vitamin d. my burst of energy. what have you.

but, you ask, isn't tanning, especially indoors, an act of extreme and unneccesary vanity? why, yes it is.

and isn't it dangerous for your skin and no safer than tanning outdoors in the summertime? again, yes. very much so.

but do i care? surprisingly, yes. i care very much.

but what are my alternatives? (and don't tell me to slather that fake orange tanning crap all over.)

therefore, i will work on my tanlines and get back to you on my progress. and i suggest you do the same, my gentle white readers. the world will be a better place for it.

posted by lonestarsteve on wed 11.01.06 1:49 PM

on saturday, i received in the mail a cd from my best friend, beck. beck lives in atlanta, where i lived during 1994-95. beck and i have been friends since our childhood days in pennsyltucky.

he loaded the cd up with songs from the early 90's, when he and i used to suit up and troll the bars in and around the philly area. what a fucking blast we had!

one song he included, fairground by simply red, took me back to the dancefloor of a bar in allentown called "stonewall & moose lounge" that we used to haunt almost every friday night.

the song reminds me of all those shirtless guys in kilts, stomping around the dancefloor to the primal drum beats of the song, blowing on those damned whistles. do you remember any of that?

fairground

driving down an endless road
taking friends or moving alone
pleasure at the fairground on the way
it’s always friends that feel so good
let’s make amends like all good men should
pleasure at the fairground on the way

walk around be free and roam
there’s always someone leaving alone
pleasure at the fairground on the way

and i love the thought of coming home to you
even if I know we can’t make it
i love the thought of giving hope to you
just a little ray of light shining through

jove can bend and breathe alone
until the end it finds you a home
don’t care what the people may say

it’s always friends that feel so good
let’s make amends like all good men should
pleasure at the fairground on the way

and i love the thought of coming home to you
even if I know we can’t make it
i love the thought of giving hope to you
just a little ray of light shining through...

posted by lonestarsteve on tue 10.01.06 8:14 AM

today, january 9, i would like to send a shout out to my friend, robin (pictured left), and former president richard m. nixon (pictured right, now deceased).

today marks robin's 36th birthday. he's going to kill me for three reasons: 1) for mentioning his birthday here in this space, 2) for posting this yummy picture of him standing in my kitchen in nothing but a towel, and 3) for pairing his photo with that of mr. nixon.

you all can thank me later for not posting the not-so-yummy photo of dick nixon standing in my kitchen in nothing but a towel.

posted by lonestarsteve on mon 09.01.06 8:12 AM

i've been finding myself lately praying for strength. the strength not just for myself, but for others as well. over the last few months, i've required more strength than usual. this is because i've needed to be strong enough to pull myself through certain situations and then have some left over to carry others through other situations.

this has been a real exercise for me. i don't consider myself all that strong of a person. i rely most times on the strength of those around me to carry me through events that have me confused or frightened or sad. therefore, when others have required strength from me in the past, i found that i don't have much to spare.

this has changed over the last few months. somehow, and from somewhere, i've been able to have strength enough for myself as well as several others. it's a new feeling for me, but i like it. sometimes, however, i feel as though this newfound strength is fleeting and will leave me as quickly as it came.

so for that reason, i'm happy to be in the place that i am today. and my hope is to make it to tomorrow with the same level -- if not more -- of strength that is required for myself, with a little left over for others in need.

posted by lonestarsteve on sun 08.01.06 11:30 AM

i remember

i will never forget the first time i saw your face,
that smile of yours, it took up all the space!
the moment we met, you became my friend
instantly we clicked and then the fun began.

you taught me to be patient and how to sit still
taught me how to just be, even against my will.
all i ever had to do was call you on the phone,
you would listen, and then let me cry, complain and moan.

you never told me what i wanted to hear,
instead, your words of wisdom made it all clear.
i will never forget the love that you shared
your tears and your laughter told me you cared.

so often, i told you what i felt on the inside,
never once did i think i had anything to hide.
your loyalty as my friend was never a doubt,
i shared my dreams, my fears, leaving nothing out.

it all happened so fast it was for sure god had to know
you had your work cut out to teach me to grow.
i am grateful for you and am a much better me,
for all you have taught and helped me to see.

i will never forget the beauty of life you continue to give,
believe me, my friend, inside me it will always live.

dedicated to my friend, carol
- dani h.

posted by lonestarsteve on sat 07.01.06 12:19 PM

not much to write about today. i'm just glad that the week is over. jim (aka one gay at a time) pointed out something interesting in his post yesterday. jim writes: "a minneapolis blogger, who attacks the democratic party, is being sued by a p.r. firm for defamation. they are claiming that he should be held to the same standards as all media."

it would be a big, white-hot mess if this thing set a precendent. reason being (and unlike jim) i am a member of the print media, and i don't particularly care for what i write about for a living. i started this blog as a vehicle to release some of this pent-up creative energy of mine.

that said, and even though i thought this was implied before, let me make one thing crystal clear: i lie on this blog site all the time. in fact, there are very few, if any, truths told here.

so if you've come for the truth, be gone! or my boyfriend and i, pictured above relaxing in the woods outside my family's summer mansion in buenos aires, will come to your house in our versace underwear and shoot you with our bows and arrows.

enough said.

posted by lonestarsteve on fri 06.01.06 7:51 AM

auf wiedersehen, dear guadalupe! it was nice knowin' ya! don't let the new school door smack your ass on the way out...oh, and take that trash-bag-that-you-call-a-dress with you! and leave right now, or i'll have zulema go all wendy pepper on your ass! ("who stole my dress form? who stole my dress form?) guadalupe, your frock was a crock...of shit!

in his blog, tim gunn wrote of guadalupe's creation, "frankly, the black textured fabric that served as the mainstay of the design was exuberant enough. add to that the fabric flowers and ruched ribbonning and we were confronted with 'a hot mess' in the words of a dear colleague."

thanks, tim. i couldn't have said it better myself. well, with that out of the way, last night's episode of project runway might not have been filled with much drama, but what the cast lacked in conflict was made up for in their designing skills. other than guadalupe's piece-of-garbage-dress (and the dresses made by both diana and marla), the other designers really rose to the occasion. and what occasion would that be, you ask? put simply, last night's challenge -- called "social scene" -- was to design a party dress for none other than young socialite and fellow designer nicky hilton. hello? can we say, "pressure?"

tim gunn writes in his blog: "socialites are extremely important clients: they wear high fashion; they attend countless special events, both day and evening; and they're loyal to their favorite designers. broadly speaking, the social world tends to be more conservative about its look than its red carpet competition, the entertainment industry."

after being presented with the challenge, the designers had 30 minutes to sketch, 30 minutes to shop, and roughly a day and a half to complete nicky's party dress.

unfortunately, santino won the competition. gunn called the storm-cloud gray creation "stunning." whatever! gunn writes, "the wrapped and tied bodice included an intertwining braid that gave it definition and purpose. this topped off a multi-layered asymmetrical skirt, the layers providing movement and volume." he went on to say that santino's look was "sexy and glamorous" and that "almost anyone could envision nicky looking radiant in it."

i would have to strongly disagree with tim in this case. both nick and chloe designed better looking dresses. they just displayed some restraint at the party the night before the runway show when the designers hobb-nobbed with nicky and others.

as i said of the others -- andrae, chloe, daniel v., emmett, kara, nick, and zulema -- all made impressive dresses. and it was my opinion that nick or chloe should have won. although i also liked the dresses that andrae and daniel v. made. and even kara! other hot messes were made by marla (who would have been "out" if guadalupe hadn't gotten the ax) and diana (who remains strange and gets weirder with each show).

auf wiedersehen, everyone! until next time...

posted by lonestarsteve on thu 05.01.06 7:12 PM

i just don't want to be at work this week. doesn't my employer realize that i've got a life to live? one thing's for certain: when this workday is over, and i've spent every last brain cell at work to meet my deadline, i'm driving home, parking my ass on the sofa, ordering a giant everything-on-it pizza, and watching project runway. enough said. is this pathetic? perhaps. is this my life? sadly, yes. but it could be worse, i suppose.

i'm wondering who the socialite will be that the designers will be working for tonight? the possibilities are endless...

posted by lonestarsteve on wed 04.01.06 7:29 AM

it's finally here: the day of reckoning. most of us have to return to work today after countless days of celebration -- eating, drinking (some of us), and otherwise lazing about on our fat asses.

did anyone make it to the gym to start their 2006 workout? i didn't. but i intend to. just not this week. so i won't be looking like my friend, ivan, here any time soon. pity. and i apologize in advance for exploiting the hunky, young romanian native here again today, but my guess is that i won't receive many complaints from any of you. (except maybe from ivan, of course).

at my work, this week is one of the toughest of the year. i'll have to fabricate news stories -- since nothing of interest has happened over the last 7 days -- and publish nothing but lies. and maybe i'll even have to draw a few pictures just to fill in the empty space. i hate this week out of the 52 of the year. but hate is such a strong word, even though it's completely applicable in this case.

pace yourselves. it's going to be a bumpy day. (please just get me through to project runway tomorrow night...)

posted by lonestarsteve on tue 03.01.06 7:17 AM

i had a very low-key evening with a few friends last night/early this morning at my apartment. it was exactly how i wanted to ring in the new year. no fuss, no muss. and in about an hour from now, i'll be heading to another party. i almost don't want to go, though. i sort of want to spend the day alone -- thinking about my year past and where i'm heading this year coming.

new year's eve hasn't really ever been a big celebratory event for me, even when i was drinking and using. i don't like being out among crowds of people, especially something like what takes place each year in times square. i just would go nuts. i would feel trapped and unsafe. the point of telling you this? there's no point whatsoever. i think i'm just bored and want to be entertained.

i hope that everyone had a safe and happy new year. thanks so much for reading this damned blog. i expect to keep improving its content and format in the coming months. it has come into its own, and for that i am shocked and amazed.

enjoy today. day off tomorrow. joy.

posted by lonestarsteve on sun 01.01.06 11:53 AM