The morning after ...

Let us have wine and women,

myrth and laughter,

Sermons and soda water

the day after.

Lord Byron, from Don Juan

Full English in bed this morning after a long, long sleep. Was the exotic tango and dark stroll among the Willow Manor trees a dream? Wadsworth has a buffet set up downstairs with lots of yummy breakfast stuff. I asked him to make the coffee espresso strength, and have plenty of "hair of the dog" available.

Thank you for making the Sixth Annual Willow Manor Ball so much  fun! Everyone turned out in their most sublime, with bells on, and dancing feet. There were ample woolly socks for all, since the evening turned quite chilly. After I finish this coffee, I'll tiptoe downstairs to survey the damage; see who's sleeping where.

Some may think the Willow Manor Ball is just a lot of silly nonsense.  I happen to believe the fine line between fantasy and reality is the space where artists live. We should not apologize for this virtual world, but celebrate it, embrace its creativity. Thank you for dancing that beautiful dance on the border between fantasy and reality with me, dear friends. It was grand. 

The winners of the door prizes are: 

Dinosaur Hand and Rene

(please give me your email addresses for your gift certificates to Amazon.com) 

the morning after

After The Party, by Matt Larson

Let us have wine and women,

myrth and laughter,

Sermons and soda water

the day after.

Lord Byron, from Don Juan

Come in and help yourself to some delicious brunch. I instructed Stevens to make copious amounts of my favorite coffee in my little vintage Italian espresso maker. There are also some lovely Mimosas, heavy on the champagne ... hair of the dog, and so on. 

Despite a few cyber glitches and mammoth storms, the ball was a smashing success. Apparently, some guests mistook the creepy old local funeral home for Willow Manor. Once inside, they knew something was not quite right, and made a hasty retreat. I had the most fun twirling amidst pirates, steam punk, absinthe snarfing elephants, pookas, and inappropriate chickens. In the end, the mysterious naked guy was not a Willow Manor ghost, and was not actually naked. He was wearing a flesh-colored fishnet speedo. 

Thank you for dancing the lovely dance between fantasy and reality with me, dear friends. It is the splendid space where artists live.  We celebrated creativity with virtual aplomb, and of that we should be proud.  I hope it brought a bit of merriment to this sometimes not-so-merry world. 

Many thanks to Junk Thief for this adorable stop action animation piece!

Congratulations to Phil and Yoli
for winning Barnes and Noble gift cards
(please send me your e-mail addresses)

the morning after

Let us have wine and women,

myrth and laughter,

Sermons and soda water

the day after.

Lord Byron, from Don Juan

Come in and help yourself to some delicious brunch. There's plenty of my favorite press pot coffee, brewed extra strong, since most of us had a just a few too many Last Word cocktails last night, including Branwell Bronte, brother of the three famous Bronte sisters, who came along with Alan Burnett.  The Bug, didn't imbibe, but was seen flashing around a large nickel-plated revolver.  I'm not sure exactly why.

In addition to our fascinating list of guests there was quite a bit going on all evening, which miraculously lasted 24 hours, including fencing competitions, drag racing, men in kilts, and Tom, Half Moose's attempt to scuba dive in the Scioto River.  Steve Martin once again roamed the grounds of the manor without his pants, or even the rest of his clothes, for that matter.  Tom's tuxedo came loose and floated down the river, on its way to the mighty Mississippi.  Steve was only too happy to loan him his white suit, replaced by a metallic silver thong.

Reya was stunning in her fur trimmed mini Twiggy dress.  Dino Hand, looking just as stunning in his Michael Jackson glove, spent most of the evening hovering behind her.  Lord Thomas of Wellington entertained us on the piano, and Dr. Linthead, dressed in handsome Civil War general's uniform, took over, not even realizing he could play.  Brendan absolutely outdid himself by writing a glorious mythological poem in honor of the ball.

Junk Thief's film presentation of the Willow Manor Ball, included yours truly ice skating with the ever talented Archie Leach. The diligent practicing of my woolly socks triple axel truly paid off.  My personal highlight of the evening, was watching the sunrise over the Scioto, while the dashing R.A.D. Stainforth read me a passage of Lord Byron's Don Juan. He can read poetry just as well as he can tango, by the way.

Some might think this was simply a lot of silly nonsense. But, I happen to believe the fine line between fantasy and reality is the space where artists live.  We should never apologize for this virtual world, if not celebrate it, gorge in its creativity.  This is exactly what we did.  Thank you for dancing that powerful dance on the splendid border between fantasy and reality with me, dear friends.  It was good.

Congratulations to Fireblossom and Rob Kistner,

winners of the door prize of an Ohio Starbucks mug.

(please send me your mailing addresses)