This was from an event in Orange County that included an airshow. What few people knew was that this guy was running the whole deal.

Now, there was a time when I attended a lot of costume parties—particularly when I lived among the Burning Man founders in San Francisco. There were always some great costumes, well executed. But this generation of fanatics puts all of that to shame. Granted, most of the costumes are based on anime characters and not just free-form freakiness, but the dedication is pretty impressive.

I love this photo because the only one looking at the camera is the furry thing, who appears to be really looking at the camera. Like maybe even flirting with me. Um… hi?

New purple trees. Check ‘em out and let me know what you think!

http://bonniehawthorne.com/photos/jacaranda/

Some other new stuff in the other categories as well, so please have a look. And more new stuff on the way, so come on back!

This is the little guy that Noëlle was waiting for (see May 21st). And this is the goofy hat I knitted for him. He looks none too happy about it, but I’m thrilled that it fits!

Thanks, Derich, for the photo.

Ladies and Gentlemen, my Web Mistress.

When I went to baby Jasper’s shower a few weeks ago, Derich casually suggested we do some pictures sometime. People often casually suggest we do pictures, but more often than not it doesn’t happen, or at least doesn’t happen right away. But since baby Jasper is most likely going to arrive on his due date (that’s my prediction anyway—May 27, which is a full moon) we realized we didn’t have much time.

I’ve gotta say, I was a little reticent to take preggers photos. I knew people who did them professionally back in the day. They always struck me as somewhat cheesy. Luckily, there ain’t nothing cheesy about Noëlle, Jasper’s mommy. Not only that, but she makes pregnancy look like it’s the easiest thing in the world. She was doing things like hopping up onto a step stool to tape up a silk, or moving furniture out of my way.  I kept saying, STOP IT! Derich will be so mad at me if I break you!

I will not be surprised to hear that Noëlle has a half hour labor and gently brings Jasper into the world while sipping a Kombucha and doing yoga. Yes, she’s that awesome!

This is my favorite time of year in Los Angeles. Lots of plants and trees—not just my dear friends the Jacaranda—are turning purple. And since my favorite color combination is purple and green, I find just walking around to be a heavenly experience. Also, the air is full of the smell of Jasmine, it’s not brutally hot yet and the hills aren’t on fire. Paradise.

I saw my first fully blooming Jacaranda of the year this weekend. It seems that the ones on the West Side always go first. Now I’m trying to decide if I should continue with my series of photos of them. You can see the series thus far under photos/Jacaranda. Guess I’ll know when I see the one that stops me in my tracks.

Oh and big thanks to the folks at Etsy!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=56KLCTR2VxM

Layla Delridge is the designer, seamstress and model for Ledthread. She came out from Brooklyn to shoot her new line of clothes in the desert with me. (And to sneak in a little rock climbing…)

The black thing in the background is Rosa Muerta, the “house” we stayed in for the weekend. It’s on a dirt road just outside the city of Joshua Tree. Layla and I had both dreamed of staying here after seeing an article about it in the New York Times last year.

There’ve been a ton of stories done about this place and its sister house down the road, Acido Dorado, so I’m not going to say much except that they are beautiful and amazing. Also that Rosa Muerta taught me something important about myself. I can’t do black on black when it comes to architecture and furniture. I bonked my head on beams and doors that were invisible to me—especially because I was wearing a hat and watching the ground for the cacti and mean plants that act as landscaping. Beams protrude unexpectedly from the sides of this structure, and they happened to be right at my forehead height. BONK. I had many near misses and two really bad goose-egg-crying-pounding-headache bonks. By the end of the weekend, I was very mad at this house.

A few years ago, when I broke my arm, (learning to walk like a gorilla in the green room at Club Fais Do-Do—thanks Derich) it was also a black on black accident. Black floor + black walls = black sofa invisible to Bonnie while walking backwards in heels and tutu.

The other thing of note about an all black house in Joshua Tree is that the little desert critters stand out really well. I camp a lot, and am not usually freaked out by creepy crawlies. But when their desert camouflage is blown, you realize just how many are around you. Eeeeesh.

There were two mice in the bedroom when we arrived Friday night. We named them Grungy and Bungy. Grungy was liberated early on, Bungy (below) in the morning. By nightfall Saturday, there were another two (or three) more mice in the bedroom.

The thing on the right was one of many that ran all over the floor at night, especially in the outdoor room, which is where I slept. Layla said they weren’t arachnids because they had ten legs. I thought they looked rather scorpion-y and therefore tried not to step on them in my bare feet. (UPDATE: a friend identified them as Wind Spiders or Wind Scorpions. They are neither spiders nor scorpions but Solifugids.)

In the morning, the spidery things were replaced by these caterpillar wormy things. They were everywhere!  Luckily, Layla and I have complimentary critter wrangling strengths. I’m good at disposing of mice, she’s better with the wormy things.

But by far, the coolest critter of all was this guy who wandered through our “set” and was all “WTF???” I wanted to pick him up, but Layla said it would not be polite. All in all a great weekend and lots of fun! Thanks, Ledthread!

P.S. these colors are unretouched. I know! Hard to believe, but it’s true.

Oh, and be sure to check out the People section of this site to see why we were out there in the first place.  Beth Dewey finally got to live out her Dorothy fantasy!