Male Mode Me goes as Scrooge for Halloween

[*sound of loud rumble of thunder and spooky organ music*]

Salutations, ghosts and goblins!  It’s Halloween!  Today is the day when many people put up haunting decorations, dress up in costumes, go trick-or-treating, go to parties, and just basically let their wild side loose on a day associated with being someone and/or expressing a personality you’d normally never reveal to the world the other 364 days of the year.

Allison’s dream swag bag

“I’m looking forward to that basket. I can’t wait to see what’s in it… I don’t care how much money you have, free stuff is always a good thing.”
— Queen Latifah in 2003, anticipating the gifts she would get for being a Best Supporting Actress nominee at the 75th Academy Awards

This week a radio commercial I remember hearing many, many years ago surfaced back into my mind.  No, the ad didn’t include any memorable slogan, catch phrase, or even a jingle.  Rather, it had this possibly spurious claim for some age-defying, wrinkle-eliminating beauty formula:

“RestoraFace [or whatever it was called] is proven to be so effective and so popular, it was included in gift bags at last year’s Emmy Awards.”

Allison Discretion Advised (or How I Got Lured Out of the House and Into Watching Bad TV)

This post and the one I will publish next will both deal with the realm of television.  Initially, I had planned to lump both into one big post.  But the story in this space is so juicy tawdry lengthy that I don’t want to overshadow the thoughts I will include in the next post… especially since they’ll be about crossdressing on television.  But, oh, do I have a “buyer beware” type of story to tell here.

SNL says “it gets better.” Well, some things at least.

Perhaps you’ve heard of the It Gets Better Project.  They are a nonprofit organization, established in 2010, that utilizes video and other forms of messaging to convey an empowering, important message to LGBT+ youth:  That you should not be bullied, discriminated, and ostracized because of your confirmed or perceived sexual or gender identity; that your life is worth living and protecting; and with the support and example of peers and allies, your life will take a positive turn over time.

Dressing up to do some (house)work

A quick heads-up:  There will be more than a few images of yours truly throughout this post, so be advised that some of my thoughts will be in between the photos and video.  (Yep, there’s a video!)

Now, with that out of the way, I thought I’d do a little bit of dressing up this past weekend, and donned this oldie but still-very goodie:

That’s me in a glamorous, one-size-fits-most gown I bought at a lingerie and exotic wear shop 16 years ago.  Yes, you read that number correctly.  It’s one of the oldest (but not the oldest) items in my female-mode closet.  Where I found it is a story in itself, but that’s a tale for another time (I promise).

Random stuff (11/2/2019 edition)

Just thought I’d share with you a few photos I had already shared on social media but also want to share to you, dear blog readers.  And I must emphasize, what you’re about to see is indeed from this past week.Yes, nice and quaint, now isn’t it?  But it’s just a storage shed covered in snow.  That’s right, snow.  At the end of October.  You want more?  By all means, take it… because we had to drive through it.Both of these images were from Thursday morning, when Madison and Southern Wisconsin was hit with a way-too-early snowstorm.  And believe it or not, it wasn’t the first bit of snowfall we saw this week, as a not-so-nasty storm hit late Monday evening.

All in all, Madison received a reported 8.1 inches of snow between the two storms.  It also left us scratching our collective heads and wondering, “It’s way too early for snow.”  I mean, more than a few trees around here still have yellow leaves on them (don’t let the lack of leaves on the above pictures tell you otherwise).  But if we’ve learned anything from previous winters in Wisconsin, it’s that Mother Nature can disrupt things any time she pleases.  Yeah, Mother Nature is one cold, evil, scheming, calculating, uncaring, unsympathetic witch!

But amidst the treachery of this early winter, I spotted a bit of levity.  No, it didn’t involve footage of people frolicking in the snow, but something even better:During my drive to work on Friday, I came across this sign in front of a dry cleaning establishment.  The intended message of the sign, of course, is to encourage people to bring their not-so-clean suits, gowns, etc. here and they’ll put them back into good use.  But to put it more succinctly, if you look good, you feel good.  In other words… look snappy, feel happy.

I got a kick out of the positive attitude of this sign’s message.  When you think of it, its words are also timely, as adverse weather, not unlike what we’ve seen this week, can prompt even the most hearty of crossdessers to stay inside.  But don’t be afraid to dress to the nines in your best outfit.  It doesn’t matter what season it is, whether you must bundle up first, or if your catwalk or red carpet is within the confines of your home.  Do so, and you’ll give Old Man Winter the fierce brushback [*insert diva finger snaps in a circle*] he clearly has coming to him.

Random Stuff: 5/28/2018 edition

Time to highlight a couple of LGBT-themed advertisements that have been released this spring.  Well, they’re lesbian-themed advertisements if you must be specific, but I imagine others in the LGBT+ spectrum might find something they’ll relate to in these ads.  The first was released last month in Great Britain for Malteasers, a malted-milk-covered-in-chocolate candy (think Whoppers, my fellow Americans).  The Malteasers ad I’ll highlight here features a quartet of women at some café or break area or whatever.  One of the four, whose name is Sarah… well, I’ll let her tell her concern.

Allison’s #TryPod: Two shows that really make me laugh

Time to add a few more recommendations to my currently ongoing list of podcast recommendations.  When I last added to this topic on Saturday, I lumped together a few podcasts that incorporate some sort of quiz or game with their humor.  This time around, I’m doing the “lumping shows together” thing again, but no games here.  Instead, it’s all humor as one is a standup show and the other incorporates standup-style humor.  Both shows really want to make me laugh out loud… though not laugh too much out loud as, well, I don’t want my neighbors at work to give me strange looks over cubicle walls.

Random stuff: SNL’s Hallmark Christmas parody

Two days ago, I took a stab at writing, or at least sketching out, my own Hallmark Channel Christmas movie.  Yes, they’re the kind of movies that feature the same things and themes every time out:  Cute girl (played by a “Hey, I know her from somewhere” actress) falls head over heels for handsome man (played by a “Hey, I know him from somewhere” actor).  They find that magical Christmas spirit together.  And they’re films that are all shot on the same Canadian studio lot that doubles for Anytown, U.S.A. and feature ample amounts of saccharin-sweet goodness.

As you may have judged from my own attempt, Hallmark Channel’s long, long list of identical/interchangeable Christmas movies are ripe for the parody… preferably not by this amateur but by skilled people who can do effective satirical parodies on a routine basis.  Well, lo and behold, the people at Saturday Night Live took that ball and ran with it on Thursday.  Or, to be more precise, a couple of weeks ago.

Allison presents “Yet Another Hallmark Christmas Movie”

I don’t need to remind you that this is the holiday season, though I should remind you that it’s only 5 days until Christmas Day as I write this (better get that shopping done très rapide).  This is the season chock full of traditions that normal people never get tired of:  There’s the tree.  The ornaments.  The decorations.  The greeting cards to send out.  The shopping for presents.  The carols and carolers.  The ugly sweaters.  And candy canes, sugar plums, and other similar stuff loaded with too much sugar.