Portugal's interesting art

Visiting a slew of the old castles, cathedrals, and temples in Portugal was truly amazing. Written above the chapel door of the bone ossuary in Evora was this message: "Nos ossos que aqui estamos, pelos vossos esperamos" or "We bones that are here, for your bones we wait."

Some of the interesting things I couldn't help but notice was some of the random art. This first winged creature was in a giant cathedral possibly in the Se de Lisboa cathedral, one of Losbon's oldest churches in Belem (a riverside precinct of Lisbon).

A Unicorn! I believe this and the rest are in the Alcazar in Seville.

 Bird-nuzzling-boobed-dude-animal?

 Sad, wrists-bound, dreaded hair-jester-angel-lady?

 I can't help but wonder what the story or inspiration for pieces of art like these are... and in some buildings, they would cover entire rooms with it. The final two tile pieces were just one small part of large wall murals. It is a wonderful thing to have to ponder while traveling... the art of a culture and it's history. 

Portugal, where art is underfoot

One of many personal notables about Portugal were the streets. They were pieces of art! Cobblestone pathways, roadways, walkways, anyways... they varied from downtrodden to immaculate. I was so impressed by the vision and pre-planning of it all, I decided to take these photos as a planned, themed project for the blog. Here it is...

 One thing I wish I could have captured is the size of these pieces... the ones above were about 12"x12". The octo-squid was about the size of an adult snow-angel...or larger.

 Portuguese Batman...?

 There was an entire sequence of astrological signs done in this form... here are Taurus and Pisces.

 One of many "regular" sidewalk designs...

 Here's for a bit of perspective...

 This continued over quite a distance... about the same as the photo above.

So, pretty much... Portugal rocks!

Puerto Rico

And We´re off! Leaving the cold, windy city of Anacortes via public transit to Seattle. Then two nights in Puerto Rico, then our much awaited trans-Atlantic cruise!

A sleepless redeye from Seattle,

And then we are there! And its hot...like 90. And thats awesome. We walked a bit ate lunch rice n bean then bussed back to Miramar and checked into our hostel... The Palace Hostle.A quick nap and dinner at Papa Johns (where, somehow, Wren had never been!). We walked to the beach n on the was stopped at a lake and saw this iguana! 

 We also saw this hilarious sign at a park... tee hee!

Here was a fun fountain next to the gorgeous beach.

At the beach we made a splash and then a stinky sphinx foot castle.

Here is our favorite eatery, a place called Vagon. The owner, Victor, was super awesome and gave us these two drinks while we waited... then two more! And Since Wren doesn´t drink... well, someone had to!

These were our favorite gender-distinguishing bathroom signs.

We also ate frosties, saw Pelicans, read a bunch...

juggled,

and found geo-caches!... guess who found them?

At our hostle (number 666!) we met a nice fella named Greg who we bussed into town with the next day. All in all, this trip is starting out GREAT!

Halloween on April Fools

April 1st had a great event at the Cirque Lab. Justin Credible organized a fundraiser for his sideshow that included the Bard Rock Hens, Skitnik, and a small cast of circus acts (Strangely and Jeremiah, Chipps, Chelsea, Greg, Justin, and me). The evening included a square dance called by Lisa Macavoy, bobbing for apples, a weird-old movie playing on a projector screen, a costume contest, line dancing, and a display of Justin's touchies and oddities. I decided t try out a new version of the chair dance, and being it was a costume party, I tried it as a princess. Maybe not for the chair dance in the future, but I think I really enjoy being a princess!

Being a Monday and all, there weren't a ton of people, but enough for a really fun time. I'm excited for the upcoming Justin Credible Sideshow! Here are some photos for inspiration, starting with Skitnik!

Skitnik member Jeff Lefferts tap dancing and musicing on Strangely during a Justin Credible Sideshow Show!

And Justin himself performing his dangerously notorious sword swallowing act!

April Fools and Halloween together at last... thanks Justin Credible!

Moisture Festival!

I love Moisture Festival. This year is the 3rd year I've been part of the Shows. This year I was in two shows for one night and shared the stage with Ron Bailey, Kevin Kent, Al Simmons, Hacky and Moeppi, Charly Castors, Sourdough Slim, Paper Doll Militia, Nu Klezmer Army, Jonathan Rose, Splinter Dance Company, Zebra Kings, Lee Zimmerman, Lara Paxton, Niels Duinker, Poldello, and Shoehorn. Here are some photos of these folks, starting with the joy-inducing Al Simmons!

Hacky and Moeppi the clowns!

Charly Castors the foot juggler!

Sourdough Slim, the yodeling cowboy!

Paper Doll Militia the aerialists!

It's always been such a welcoming, organized, professional and appreciative event. It's been so amazing to see the acts and meet the performers. I feel so lucky to be part of it. I even sold a book!

The Chair Dance Book

We did it! Wren and I finished the book. With cute-as-a-freaking-kitten illustrations by Stef, and a sweet bio photo of me by Michelle Bates, and inspiration, love and support by many more, we finished it. So without further ado... here it is!

It is a fun, quaint, playful instruction manual on how to "Learn the sexiest dance of all time". Complete with a link to an instructional dance-along track for readers to practice by. Anyone can purchase it for $10 in person, or I'll mail 'em too. Soon, they can be purchased on my (Coming Soon) website! DellaMoustachella.com!